6 I Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007 New mom denied extra A Harvard student sued after being denied extra time during an exam to pump breast milk. By Denise Lavoie ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER BOSTON A judge rejected a Harvard student's request yesterday for extra break time during her nine hour medical licensing exam so she could pump breast milk for her infant daughter. Sophie Currier, 33, sued after the Philadelphia-based National Board of Medical Examiners turned down her request to take more than the stan dard 45 minutes in breaks during the exam. She said that if she does not nurse her 4-month-old daughter, Lea, or pump breast milk every two to three hours, she risks medical complica tions. Norfolk Superior Court Judge Patrick Brady said Currier has other options, beyond asking the board to change its rules for her. “The plaintiff may take the test and pass, notwithstanding what she con siders to be unfavorable conditions. The plaintiff may delay the test, Ills. Fraser St. | State College, PA 16801 | 234-1328 which is offered numerous times dur ing the year, until she has finished her breast-feeding and the need to express milk," he said. Currier, of Brookline, has finished a joint M.D.-Ph.D. program at Har vard University while having two babies in two years. She has been offered a residency in clinical pathol ogy at Massachusetts General Hospi tal in November, but cannot accept it unless she passes the test. Her goal is a career in medical research. Currier has taken the test once already, in April when she was 8G months pregnant, but she failed by a few points. “The judge's conclusion that there is no harm to a woman to putting her career off for a year is the basis of discrimination, ' Currier said. “Men do not have to put off their careers because they are feeding a child.” Her lawyer, Christine Smith Collins, said she would ask the state Appeals Court to hear the case and issue a ruling before Currier takes the test again next week. Currier has already received spe cial accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act for dyslexia and attention deficit hyper activity disorder, including being granted permission to take the test over two davs instead of one. LOCAL & STATE exam time In the lawsuit, she was seeking an additional 60-minute break on each day. The board cited the need to be consistent in the amount of time given to doctoral candidates and said other nursing mothers who have taken the exam have found the 45 minutes of permitted break time suf ficient. The judge said the board offered Currier several special accommoda tions, including a separate testing room where she could express milk during the test or during break time, and the option to leave the test center to breast-feed during break times. Federal anti-discrimination laws do not protect nursing mothers. The Breastfeeding Promotion Act that is pending in Congress would protect women from being fired or punished for pumping milk or nursing. “Where she’s disabled, we’ve addressed that under federal law, but this is something that is not a disabil ity,” said the board’s attorney, Joseph Savage. “This means it will be some what more difficult for her to take the test, but there are a lot of people who face challenges in taking the test childcare obligations, medical condi tions that make it harder and we just can’t change the test for every body who faces a challenge.” follow the leader toi- our wo r d for it; GE woo America's Most Admired Company by FORTUht 3E ;s most odmir ot, we wo s global reputation speaks volumes, Put named both World's Most Admired Company ana wnts to be adm Pd. bt j sci because of trie people we hire, it you consider yours Social networking sites created that cater to greeks By Caitlin Cullerot COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER | cmcs2l7@psu.edu Facebook.com could become obso lete for members of the greek com munity looking for social networking. FraternityLive.com and Soror ityLive.com, free networking sites launched by parent company TSOT Inc., are a new way for fraternity and sorority members to connect with their chapter and other greeks online. The sites, which are currently the largest online greek communities in the world, are exclusive to the greek community and new members must be verified before they are able to log on. “We will contact organizations, and we will check official registries, or if they’re newer students then we will approach individual administra tors,” said Corina Newby, the public relations manager for the sites. The sites share a number of simi lar features with Facebook.com, such as the ability for members to add photo albums, tag photos, post messages on individual pages, add links and add friends. The site also offers features spe cific to the greek community, like a phone list builder, mass messaging, text messaging and an unlimited family tree builder. Administrators are also able to use the site to help collect dues and fines and to manage chapter budgets. “You get all the fim features of typ ical networking sites, but the func tionality is built into it to make chap ters stronger,” Newby said. Since the inception of the sites in mid-January, the number of active users has grown to about 13,000. There are also 32,000 inactive users, which includes people who have been invited to join the site who have not yet registered and users whose accounts are in the process of being verified. Of the 175 greek organizations at 668 campuses currently registered with the sites, eight fraternity chap ters and five sorority chapters at Penn State have members who have joined. However, many members of the registered chapters said they did not know who registered their fraterni ties for the site, adding they were unaware that the sites even exist. “I can’t remember ever being on the Web site or hearing of it,” said Zach Noel, Tau Kappa Epsilon fra ternity president. :<!k with " severs times ;n the past e ; even Nr/ The Daily Collegian Registered PSU fraternities Phi Mu Alpha Phi Sigma Kappa Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Pi Tau Epsilon Phi Tau Kappa Epsilon Theta Delta Chi Acacia Registered PSU sororities Alpha Delta Pi Delta Gamma Phi Mu Sigma Delta Tau Sigma Sigma Sigma Franklin Del Valle, a member of Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity, also said he was unaware that his chapter is registered on the site. “I have absolutely no idea [what the site is],” Del Valle said. For greeks who do use the site, Newby said security is of major importance. The creators of the sites empha size security, Newby said. Although the networks are free for students to use, the company spends about $50,000 each month on security. The sites currently rely on investors to cover costs but will soon turn to ad sales to fund operations. “We don’t want alcohol or tobacco advertisements,” Newby said. “We want to maintain integrity of the The network staff and chapter administrators also have the ability to remove pictures and postings deemed inappropriate. “There was an instance where people were blindfolded in a picture and the photo was taken down,” Newby said when asked about pho tos of hazing. Maintaining a professional image is important to the creators of the site. “We’re not looking to replace sites like Eacebook or MySpace,” Newby said. “We’re only looking to be a more exclusive and more profes sional alternative.”
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