HHS gives NYU $40,000 to study why children 'favor Whiteness and maleness'

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded over $40,000 for New York University (NYU) researchers to conduct a study on why children "favor Whiteness and maleness over other identities."

The project titled, "Societal assumptions regarding typical personhood and their effects on reasoning development," seeks to uncover the developmental processes by which children "acquire the belief that White males represent the default person – a pattern rooted in the ideologies of androcentrism (centering the experiences of men) and ethnocentrism (centering the experiences of White people) prevalent in the United States," according to the grant summary on USASpending.gov.

HHS awarded NYU a total of $40,391 for the 3-year project, which began in February and will conclude on January 31, 2025.

"Despite national rises and racial and gender diversity, White men remain vastly overrepresented across a host of domains within the U.S., from media, to politics, to clinical research," the project description states. "Such overrepresentation poses severe costs to the rest of society – women of all races, men of color, and gender-nonconforming individuals – particularly within the domain of health, where clinical trials have historically prioritized the experiences, perspectives, and health outcomes of White men."

NYU researchers hope to discover through their research the "developmental trajectory" by which children’s default representations of people "begin to favor Whiteness and maleness over other identities."

"Young children actively construct knowledge to make sense of their social environments. As part of this process, children absorb complex streams of information from the sources around them, including parents, peers, and broader societal institutions (e.g. media)," the description continues. "Thus, the beliefs children acquire tend to reflect the dominant ideologies embedded in their specific cultural contexts: Within the United States, androcentrism and ethnocentrism represent two such ideologies."

The grant was awarded as part of a program by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that "enables promising predoctoral students to obtain mentored research training while conducting dissertation research. The purpose of the training grant is to help postdoctoral students gain the research skills needed to eventually become independent researchers," NIH told Fox News Digital in a statement.

"As part of the doctoral dissertation research plan for this specific training grant, the researcher is developing a study to assess how children form ideas and assumptions about what a typical person looks like and how this view may develop and change across childhood," the statement read. "This research will address the developmental trajectory of children’s beliefs that often tend to select Whiteness and maleness over other identities when thinking of who represents a typical person. The research will test whether this belief is established early in development, or if children’s representations of a typical person may first reflect their own-gender biases (i.e., with girls favoring females and boys favoring males) and then may shift in middle-childhood."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hhs-gives-nyu-40000-study-children-favor-whiteness-maleness

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Private student loan interest rates slip for 5- and 10-year loans

Average private student loan rates for borrowers with credit scores of 720 or higher who used the Credible marketplace to take out student loans fell for 10-year fixed rates and 5-year variable rates during the week of June 27, 2022:

Rates for private student loans fell more than a quarter point this week for both 10-year fixed rate and 5-year variable rate loans. Rates for both loan terms are higher than they were this time last year.

Still, it's worth noting that borrowers with good credit may find a lower rate with a private student loan than with federal loans. For the 2022-2023 academic school year, federal student loan rates will range from 4.99% to 7.54%. Private student loan rates for borrowers with good to excellent credit are lower right now.

Because federal loans come with certain benefits like access to income-driven repayment plans, you should always exhaust federal student loan options first before turning to private student loans to cover any funding gaps. Private lenders such as banks, credit unions and online lenders provide private student loans. You can use private loans to pay for education costs and living expenses, which might not be covered by your federal education loans.

Interest rates and terms on private student loans can vary depending on your financial situation, credit history and the lender you choose.

Who sets federal and private interest rates?

Congress sets federal student loan interest rates each year. These fixed interest rates depend on the type of federal loan you take out, your dependency status and your year in school.

Private student loan interest rates can be fixed or variable and depend on your credit, repayment term and other factors. As a general rule, the better your credit score, the lower your interest rate is likely to be.

How does student loan interest work?

An interest rate is a percentage of the loan periodically tacked onto your balance – essentially the cost of borrowing money. Interest is one way lenders can make money from loans. Your monthly payment often pays interest first, with the rest going to the amount you initially borrowed (the principal).

Getting a low interest rate could help you save money over the life of the loan and pay off your debt faster.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/private-student-loan-rates-july-6-2022

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NY elementary school student, age 7, saves choking classmate with Heimlich maneuver

A 7-year-old elementary school student is being hailed a hero after he saved his classmate’s life during lunch by using the Heimlich maneuver.

David Diaz Jr., a second-grader from Woodrow Wilson Elementary in Binghamton, New York, stepped into action when he noticed his friend had begun choking on pizza at school.

He said he learned the life-saving move from "The Good Doctor," a TV medical drama he had been watching with his father, David Diaz Sr., during the last year.

"If anybody is choking or is in danger, you always have to save them," David Diaz Jr. told Fox News Digital during a recent phone interview.

"If you don’t, then that could be really sad," the boy added.

David said he did not know for sure that he would be able to save his friend when he put his arms around him, but he hoped that he could — since he was closer to the choking student than his teachers were at the time.

Kristin Korba, a second-grade teacher at Woodrow Wilson Elementary, told Fox News Digital that David had been sitting across from the choking student.

"The adults were circulating the cafeteria, monitoring," Korba recalled. "David rushed behind [the choking student] and performed the Heimlich."

"I went over right after it happened and checked [on the student who choked]," Korba added. "He was cleared by the nurse and parents [were] contacted."

When Korba spoke with David, she learned he had seen the Heimlich maneuver performed on a TV show and made a note to "remember" it, since it looked like something "important" to know.

The Heimlich maneuver, also known as an abdominal thrust, is a first-aid procedure in which a person must apply pressure between someone else's navel and rib cage in order to dislodge an obstruction in the victim's windpipe, according to the National Library of Medicine.

People can perform the Heimlich on themselves or others in the event of choking.

David’s bravery was recognized on June 13 when Binghamton City School District superintendent Dr. Tonia Thompson and New York State Sen. Fred Akshar paid him a visit.

He was presented with a New York State Senate Commendation Award for his heroic deed.

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/ny-elementary-student-saves-choking-classmate-heimlich

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