The Status of Women in Utah Politics: Counties, Mayors, City Councils, and Boards of Education

Several national reports earlier in the past decade ranked Utah last or near last in terms of women being in positions of decision making and leadership, including a 2013 Center for American Progress report titled “The State of Women in America: A 50-State Analysis of How Women Are Faring Across the Nation” (Chu & Posner, 2013). These and other rankings most often use the following four criteria: 1) gender wage gap, 2) educational attainment, 3) women in management roles, and 4) women serving in state legislatures. Research released through the Utah Women & Leadership Project and the Utah Women & Edu-cation Initiative has also confirmed that Utah has been below the national average in these areas (see http://www.uvu.edu/uwlp/research/briefs.html), although more recently, some improvement has been seen (McCann, 2019)

A Historical View of Women in Utah’s Top Political Roles

According to Better Days 2020, “The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of Utah women being the first in the nation to vote under an equal suffrage law. It also marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, extending women’s voting rights throughout the United States, and the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, protecting voting rights of women and men of racial minorities.” In honoring these anniversaries, this historical snapshot documents the women who have served in prominent elected positions within Utah since its statehood. The appendices were compiled by Rhoda Struhs and former Utah House Representative Beverly White, in collaboration with Better Days 2020. The state has a rich history of pioneer women leading, including Utah’s own Martha Hughes Cannon, the first woman in the country to serve as a state senator. This snapshot provides a brief overview of women in Utah who have served in statewide executive offices, Congress, and the state legislature

The Status of Women in Utah Politics: A 2017 Update

In 2014, the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) released four research and policy briefs on the status of women in Utah politics, education, nonprofits, and business. These were initially prompted by the Center for American Progress report titled “The State of Women in America: A 50-State Analysis of How Women Are Faring Across the Nation” that ranked Utah last in terms of women being in positions of decision making and leadership. Soon after, a series of other national reports also gave Utah poor rankings, and most used the following four criteria: 1) gender wage gap, 2) educational attainment, 3) women in management roles, and 4) women serving in state legislatures. Research released through the Utah Women & Education Initiative and the Utah Women & Leadership Project has also confirmed that Utah is below the national average in these areas

The Status of Women in Utah Politics: Congress, Statewide Executive Offices, and the State Legislature

A host of national reports and media (e.g., Chu & Posner, 2013) in the past decade have ranked Utah last or near last in terms of women being in positions of decision making and leadership, and women in Utah politics is foundational to this issue. Raising awareness of the reasons why this is the case is critical to social change efforts focused on improving the representation of women in political roles within the state. Women serving in public office within the state of Utah have positive implications for women’s health. Research shows that when more women are involved in decision-making roles related to public policy, families and societies benefit (Madsen, 2015). Female legislators tend to extend greater support than their male counterparts toward legislation focused on health, education, and social programs that tend to positively impact families and society. This report compares current Utah data to national trends in terms of women in Utah politics, with a specific focus on Congress, state executive offices, and state legislatures. Tracking progress through updated status reports is an important way to help decision makers and other influencers clarify what is working and to determine and refine best steps moving forward

Perceptions of Women Elected Officials in Utah: Challenges, Benefits, and Lessons Learned

For many years, Utah has been at the bottom of the rankings for women running for and serving in elected office. Although significant strides have been made in increasing the number of women serving in these roles in recent years, there is still work to be done. For example, Utah is currently ranked 32nd in the country for female representation in state and federal office, Utah has never elected a female governor or a US Senator, and only two women have served in statewide executive offices. In addition, research in recent years has documented lower percentages of women in county and municipal elected positions compared to nationwide averages. Yet, American democracy is grounded in the idea of representation, and research has found that residents and communities benefit when more equal numbers of men and women work together in decision making and problem solving

Voting and Civic Engagement Among Utah Women: A 2021 Update

In 2016, the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) released a research snapshot called “Voting and Civic Engagement Among Utah Women.” At the time, despite having a strong history of women’s political and civic involvement, Utah had fallen to the bottom of national rankings in terms of women’s political participation. In 2019, UWLP released an update of this report, which showed some improvement in voter participation rates for both the United States and for Utah women. Since 2016, the level of political engagement among women in Utah and the United States has grown, and civic engagement—a critical element of change for municipalities, counties, and states—has remained high. Importantly, Kamala Harris was elected the first female vice president, which made 2020 a historic year for women in the US. Additionally, Utah elected former state Senator Deidre Henderson its second female lieutenant governor

A new record of the invasive seaweed Caulerpa cylindracea Sonder in the South Adriatic Sea

The green alga Caulerpa cylindracea Sonder is one of the most infamous and threatening invasive species in the Mediterranean Sea. Since 1985, it started rapidly spreading to all Mediterranean regions causing many ecological changes on natural communities. In the present study, we present an example of this proliferation with the first record in the Marine Protected Area of Tremiti Island (MPATI) in the South Adriatic Sea. Fifteen sites along the coast and 5 different depths have been investigated. Our results provide eveidence of a wide invasion of this pest in three islands, San Domino, San Nicola and Capraia. This study fills a particular data gap in the ongoing biomonitoring of invasive seaweeds in the Mediterranean Sea representing a base line of this invasive species for the MPATI

The Status of Women Leaders in Government–Utah Cities and Towns

Research shows that communities and organizations increasingly thrive when men and women work together in leadership roles. Gender inclusivity benefits not only businesses, churches, schools, and state legislatures, but also state and local governments. American democracy is grounded in the idea of representation. “Representative bureaucracy” is the term for government entities employing a workforce that shares the demographic characteristics of the communities they serve, and the combined experiences and perspectives of that workforce represent and benefit all residents within its purview. This includes the thousands of government professionals who run the daily functions of municipalities within the State of Utah

Supraorganized Collagen Enhances Schwann Cell Reactivity And Organization In Vitro.

We investigated the reactivity and expression of basal lamina collagen by Schwann cells (SCs) cultivated on a supraorganized bovine-derived collagen substrate. SC cultures were obtained from sciatic nerves of neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats and seeded on 24-well culture plates containing collagen substrate. The homogeneity of the cultures was evaluated with an SC marker antibody (anti-S-100). After 1 week, the cultures were fixed and processed for immunocytochemistry by using antibodies against type IV collagen, S-100 and p75NTR (pan neurotrophin receptor) and for scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Positive labeling with antibodies to the cited molecules was observed, indicating that the collagen substrate stimulates SC alignment and adhesion (collagen IV labeling - organized collagen substrate: 706.33 ± 370.86, non-organized collagen substrate: 744.00 ± 262.09; S-100 labeling - organized collagen: 3809.00 ± 120.28, non-organized collagen: 3026.00 ± 144.63, P < 0.05) and reactivity (p75NTR labeling - organized collagen: 2156.33 ± 561.78, non-organized collagen: 1424.00 ± 405.90, P < 0.05; means ± standard error of the mean in absorbance units). Cell alignment and adhesion to the substrate were confirmed by SEM analysis. The present results indicate that the collagen substrate with an aligned suprastructure, as seen by polarized light microscopy, provides an adequate scaffold for SCs, which in turn may increase the efficiency of the nerve regenerative process after in vivo repair.44682-

The FAAH inhibitor URB597 suppresses hippocampal maximal dentate afterdischarges and restores seizure-induced impairment of short and long-term synaptic plasticity

Synthetic cannabinoids and phytocannabinoids have been shown to suppress seizures both in humans and experimental models of epilepsy. However, they generally have a detrimental effect on memory and memory-related processes. Here we compared the effect of the inhibition of the endocannabinoid (eCB) degradation versus synthetic CB agonist on limbic seizures induced by maximal dentate activation (MDA) acute kindling. Moreover, we investigated the dentate gyrus (DG) granule cell reactivity and synaptic plasticity in naïve and in MDA-kindled anaesthetised rats. We found that both the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor URB597 and the synthetic cannabinoid agonist WIN55,212-2 displayed AM251-sensitive anti-seizure effects. WIN55,212-2, dose-dependently (0.5–2 mg/kg, i.p.) impaired short-term plasticity (STP) and long-term potentiation (LTP) at perforant path-DG synapses in naïve rats. Strikingly, URB597 (1 mg/kg, i.p.) was devoid of any deleterious effects in normal conditions, while it prevented seizure-induced alterations of both STP and LTP. Our evidence indicates that boosting the eCB tone rather than general CB1 activation might represent a potential strategy for the development of a new class of drugs for treatment of both seizures and comorbid memory impairments associated with epilepsy.peer-reviewe