Justin Timberlake’s selfie at a Tennessee voting booth sparked questions of legality and raised concerns about vote buying – we dive into the issue; the CDC’s new report shows a spike in CA’s STI numbers; why women choose to change or keep their surnames; plus, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has two seat openings – we host debates for the candidates.
Ballot booth selfies create risk of vote buying & intimidation, but encourage participation
From the likes of Justin Timberlake to Beyonce, selfies are making their way into polling places.
Voters across the country are sharing their completed ballots with the world via social media. It's currently illegal to do so in California, but a new law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown allowing the practice will go into effect soon after this year’s election. Opponents worry the phenomena could lead to vote buying and election fraud. Supporters say it’s constitutionally protected speech.
Are polling place selfies a good way to promote voting, or a better way to sell your vote?
Guest:
Josh Douglas, Professor of Law specializing in Election Law and Voting Rights, University of Kentucky
Public health expert looks at why California is at 20 year high for STI cases
Sexually transmitted infections are on the rise across the country and here in California. Nationally, gonorrhea is up 13% year-to-year.
Chlamydia up six-percent. But the biggest increase is in syphilis. It's up 19%, to a level we haven't seen in 20 years. Here in California, gonorrhea cases have doubled in five years.
Why the increase? Is it simply the result of the Affordable Care Act and more people going to doctors than in the past? Could it be more people avoiding use of condoms, given HIV's ability to be managed as a chronic condition? Larry talks with a medical expert about what might explain some of the alarming numbers.
Guest:
Richard Seidman, M.D., chief medical officer for Northeast Valley Health Corporation
What’s in a (maiden) name?
Earlier this month, a Tokyo District Court dismissed a newlywed female teacher’s request to use her maiden name at work.
The context here is a society in which a Meiji-era law, upheld by Japan’s highest court in 2015, dictates that all married couples share a surname. In practice, this translates to 96 percent of brides taking their husband’s last names.
Many Japanese women continue to use maiden names in their professional lives, but the Tokyo District Court’s decision undermines this practice. Some in Japan see the decision as a win for traditional values, while others see it as an obstruction to gender equality.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., an estimated 1 in 5 women keep their maiden names. The reasons why women change or don’t change their surnames are as varied as they are nuanced, and involve negotiating issues of heritage, feminism, identity, convenience, tradition and children, to name just a few.
We want to hear from you. Why did you make the decision to change or not change your surname? What were the subsequent challenges and benefits of your decision? Or did you take an alternate route, like a hyphenated or compound last name, and how did that work for you?
Guest:
Laurie Scheuble, Senior Lecturer of Sociology at Penn State, whose research interests include marital naming and parenting