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Tag: prep

  • The Guys Who Made Needlepoint an SEC Uniform Explain Why It’s So Frat-Coded

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    About two years in, “there was so much interest from the Southern men’s stores, particularly, saying, ‘Look, I’m selling your belts well, but, you know, I could really sell a Clemson or a Georgia or University of Texas belt very, very well,’” Carter recalls.

    They built a book of business, proving that selling belts was a cinch, and went back to the schools for the licenses. Colleges, Greek organizations, professional sports franchises, bands, and more gave permission for the company to commit their emblems to needlepoint.

    Now Smathers & Branson offers not only belts, which can be customized with a multitude of emblems, but also embroidered key tags, hats, leather can coolers, and more. Though Bowdoin didn’t have a Greek system, the pair liken their college living situation to a frat house, touting the belts’ appeal amongst golfers, campus dwellers, and more, with tales of men showing off their belt collections.

    Branson recalls “watching [the belt trend] explode at the University of Georgia and Texas,” to name just two schools. “It’s just mind-blowing, the next level of enthusiasm and passion there is for the college experience everywhere.”

    Though needlepoint belts remain an eye-catching niche accessory, their prevalence in the preppy-leaning sartorial displays of campus bros is unsurprising, Articles of Interest podcast host and creator Avery Trufelman tells VF. Trufelman produced a full season of her show around the idea of prep, attributing the style’s prevalence to its being a “sweet spot in the American dream.” In the US, there’s no formal class system, no monarchy. Dressing preppy, a trend that Trufelman says evolved from the casual style of Princeton students who would play tennis and then—gasp!—stay in their tennis clothes, rather than spiff up, is an accessible way to signal social rank, whether real or aspirational, and belonging.

    Trufelman points to a certain IYKYK aspect of classic preppy brands, like J. Press, which never displays logos and instead may use a school’s colors in an article of clothing, for instance, as a sort of dog whistle for other alums to pick up on. The Smathers & Branson cofounders, too, call out that their pieces show the wearer’s choice of emblems, rather than any brand logo of their own, allowing the company to be both a golf brand and a tailgating brand, for example.

    Young women preparing for sorority recruitment are often advised to incorporate personal pieces into their looks to help them stand out; similarly, Trufelman points to items like the belts as a social bridge.

    “That’s the fundamental thing about preppiness: It’s an institutional look. It’s about belonging,” she says. “Even if you don’t belong, it’s a way to look like you belong. It’s a way to look like you went to these schools. It’s a way to look like you go to these clubs.”

    And though Smathers & Branson belts aren’t necessarily made by a college girlfriend, they are hand-stitched and heirloom-quality. Branson shows off a key tag that he’s carried for some 20 years, featuring a stitched depiction of a golden retriever, the breed of his childhood dog. “This is a sample, I think, from one of the first batches that we did,” he says. “It has been really loved.”

    The idea that a young man may be able to inherit his father’s needlepoint belt the same way he might wear a luxury watch passed down to him is part of the company’s success with the preppy set.

    “The men’s space that we operate in doesn’t change [in the same way as] high-end women’s fashion,” Carter says. “Some of our best-selling patterns, like American flags or dogs, although we do change them from year to year, they don’t change that dramatically. I think that’s the same thing kind of within frat life, and then collegiate stuff, the game-day clothes, they don’t change necessarily.”

    “It’s a classic, traditional men’s look that evolves,” Branson adds. “The shape of a khaki pant changes, the fit the guys are wearing different years changes, but the same basic look is consistent. While I don’t think of ourselves as, like, a Greek business necessarily, we fit into that as an element of what that customer, that demographic, has probably worn since the ’60s.”

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    Kase Wickman

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  • Boho Is Dead, Dillard’s Is King, and More Secrets of Sorority-Rush Experts

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    3. Start While You’re in High School

    Newberry and other recruitment experts paper their companies’ sites and social feeds with mood boards and ideas for not only different stages of recruitment, but also tailgates, study nights, and even dorm move-in day. In an Instagram carousel providing tips for move-in day (pack your car the night before!), Newberry includes a slide of “move-in day outfit inspo,” featuring a pastel rainbow of athleisure tennis skirts and dresses, chunky Hoka sneakers, and stylish, flowy track shorts for schlepping those extra-long sheets up the stairs.

    “You never know when you’re going to meet your future employer or future husband,” Newberry says, “so why don’t you go ahead and put on an outfit you feel cute, classy, and confident in for move-in day? Because one, you might bump into an active in a sorority. Two, you might bump into your future employer. Maybe, like, a dad on the floor that’s moving his daughter in; they might try to hire you one day. So you want to put your best foot forward in all facets of life that’ll help you for rush, but then also for years to come after that.”

    Newberry even coaches some girls as young as high school freshmen on etiquette and personal style, helping them steer clear of bikini pics and sloppy party photos on social media before they can even be posted.

    “One of the main things that we start with with girls is the importance of representing yourself well online and picking out outfits for your senior-year events, for that senior photo shoot, for prom, that are classy and that you feel confident in,” she says. “Older girls are looking at younger girls’ social media before they even get to rush itself.”

    4. Don’t Let Them See You Sweat. Seriously.

    Be prepared for situations to get a little sweaty.

    “I mean, it’s August in the South,” Newberry levels. She keeps up on continuing education and recently took a lesson on sweatproofing makeup to better advise her nervous clients, recommending they stash a bag with translucent setting powder, a towel to wipe off body sweat, oil blotting sheets, and clear roll-on deodorant for reapplication.

    It’s important to be strategic in outfit planning as well, she says, like “picking fabrics that don’t show sweat as much.”

    5. Logos Can Be No-Gos

    Opinions on donning recognizable designer logos are mixed. Newberry says she advises girls to take a less-is-more approach.

    “If you’re wearing something designer, let’s just do one piece and keep it on the down-low,” she says, “because being humble and people not knowing exactly who you’re wearing, but you carrying yourself in a classy way, is way more attractive than being flashy with Louis Vuitton shoes, belt, and earrings.” If you must indulge your logo-mania, she says, “just pick one [piece] and go with that.”

    Darnell, however, meets the topic with a shrug.

    “You should just dress in what makes you feel the best, because it’s such a nerve-racking experience,” she says. “These girls are nervous because they’re meeting these girls for the first time, and there is a lot of pressure built up behind it. If you wear something that’s comfortable, that you’re going to love, and that you’re going to feel good in, then your energy will be brought out. Myself, I will get dressed up if I’m going to go take an exam, because if I look good, I feel good, right? I am not, like, the fashion police or anything. Logos don’t bother me. I think it’s just that you should wear whatever makes you smile walking in there, whatever shows your personality.”

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    Kase Wickman

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  • Chicago Chefs Raise $30K for Hurricane Helene Relief as Locals Prep for Hurricane Milton

    Chicago Chefs Raise $30K for Hurricane Helene Relief as Locals Prep for Hurricane Milton

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    Over the weekend, Chicago Chefs raised more than $30,000 to benefit Hurricane Helene relief efforts. The fundraiser, held on Sunday, October 6 at Chicago Q in Gold Coast, was a success, says chef Art Smith.

    Smith is from Florida, which was in Helene’s path, and the chef’s connection has led to the launch of a second fundraiser as another storm, Hurricane Milton, is forecast to hit Florida on Wednesday, October 9. As the Chicago Marathon will take place this weekend, Smith is holding an event so runners — and their supporters — can carb-load before Sunday, October 13’s run.

    The event will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, October 12 on the second floor of Chicago Q, 1160 N. Dearborn Street. There’s a suggested donation of $65 with all proceeds going to World Central Kitchen’s hurricane relief efforts. Smith says he’s got a celebrity chef lined up to help at the event but can’t reveal their name due to security reasons.

    Milk Bar teams with Portillo’s

    As Christina Tosi’s Milk Bar is opening its first Chicago location, the bakery has already lined up a collaboration with another Chicago entity. Portillo’s, the Chicago street food chain with around 80 locations scattered in 10 states is, starting on Tuesday, October 8, launching the Portillo’s Chocolate Cake Cookie. It combines Portillo’s famous chocolate cake — which was the inspiration for the cake that appeared in Season 1 of The Bear, and a Milk Bar chocolate cookie. They’ll be available individually wrapped at Portillo’s or in multiples of six packed into a cookie tin available online on Milk Bar’s site.

    Portillo’s and Milk Bar are collaborating.
    Portillo’s

    La Gondola finds a new home

    Earlier this year, La Gondola closed its location inside a Lakeview strip mall after 40 years at 2914 N. Ashland Avenue. But ownership has found a new home inside a West Town restaurant with a menu of old favorites. Loyal customers can visit Mirella’s Tavern, 2056 W. Division Street, and find their old Lakeview favorites. Both Mirella’s and La Gondola coexist with the two parties working together.

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    Ashok Selvam

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  • ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ Reactions, Plus ‘The Acolyte’ Prep

    ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ Reactions, Plus ‘The Acolyte’ Prep

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    These fabulous things are here to podcast historic! Mal and Jo rev their engines to give you their reactions to Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (30:07). But before that, they assess their hype at an all-time high with some light prep for The Acolyte, premiering next week (05:22).

    Be sure to check out tickets for the Ringer Residency in Los Angeles this summer!

    Hosts: Mallory Rubin and Joanna Robinson
    Senior Producer: Steve Ahlman
    Additional Production: Arjuna Ramgopal
    Social: Jomi Adeniran

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Pandora / Google Podcasts

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    Mallory Rubin

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  • What’s Next After Judge Strikes Down Preventive Care Mandate?

    What’s Next After Judge Strikes Down Preventive Care Mandate?

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    March 31, 2023 – Health experts around the country are scrambling to determine which preventive services may no longer be free to patients after after Thursday’s ruling by a federal court judge that struck down part of Affordable Care Act. 

    U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the ACA’s prevention mandate, which provides screenings for multiple conditions from lung cancer to sexually transmitted infections with no out-of-pocket costs, violates the plaintiffs’ religious rights and is unconstitutional.

    Meanwhile, health experts were researching exactly how many preventive services might be affected and said no changes would likely occur immediately. The Department of Justice on Friday filed a notice that it plans to appeal. 

    Reactions

    Numerous health and other organizations reacted strongly against the ruling while acknowledging that no changes are expected immediately. 

    In a statement, the American Academy of Family Physicians said it is “alarmed and disappointed” by the ruling and said it will “create insurmountable barriers to screenings, counseling, and preventive medications that improve patient and population health, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medications for the prevention of HIV.”

    Margaret A. Murray, president of the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, which represents 79 health plans that provide coverage to more than 25 million people, said in a statement that the decision, if implemented, would erode access to an entire range of preventive health services. “Families deserve better than having bedrock protections of the health reform law invalidated with a two-page ruling.” 

    The the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University made clear the ruling could cause important preventive services to skyrocket in cost. 

    “Unless it is stayed, the decision will make preventive health services unaffordable for millions of Americans and limit their ability to get early treatment for diseases such as colorectal and lung cancer, diabetes, and depression, to name a few,” the group said in a statement.

    What’s Next?

    Legal experts said that a stay in the case, known as Braidwood v. Becerra, could be granted until the appeal is decided so that services remain in place.

    “It could even go to the Supreme Court,” said Cynthia Cox, vice president and director of the Program on the Affordable Care Act for the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit focused on national health issues.

    What Care Is Affected?

    Under the ACA, preventive services that have an A or B grade from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a volunteer, independent panel of experts, are covered with no out-of-pocket costs. Over the years, the USPSTF has given 53 A or B grades covering 46 recommendations.

    The ruling contends that the preventive services mandate is unconstitutional because it violates the U.S. Constitution’s Appointments Clause. That clause requires that such decisions be made by a federal official appointed by the president or a department head. The task force is an independent panel of volunteer experts who comb through evidence before making its recommendations.

    According to the court ruling, only those recommendations issued in 2010 or later, when the ACA went into effect, would be struck down. While the USPSTF website does not have a list of how many A or B grades have been issued (or upgraded to A or B) since 2010, Cox estimates that about a dozen would potentially be scrapped. 

    At a Kaiser Family Foundation seminar on the ruling Thursday, Cox and other experts speculated that some of the newer recommendations, such as lung cancer and skin cancer screenings, as well as a recommendation to provide cholesterol-lowering statins at no cost for at-risk people, might no longer be entirely free. 

    However, “I think it’s very likely insurers will still cover” those programs, said Larry Levitt, Kaiser’s executive vice president for health policy, but cost-sharing with a copay could be added to certain services.

    “This ruling does not affect vaccines,” Cox said. Recommendations for vaccines come from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Pregnancy care is also not likely to be affected, Cox and other experts said. One exception, she said, could be screening for perinatal depression. 

    “There’s a lot of concern about what this could mean for access to care,” Cox said. “Even small cost sharing [amounts] can deter people from getting preventive care.” 

    In the next few days, more clarity is expected about which preventive services remain and which do not, she said.

    Until more is known, Cox urged people to remember that “The list of services that remains free is much longer than the list that might become subject to cost sharing.” Her advice: “Don’t panic, and still get the preventive care that’s recommended to you.”

    Timelines

    Levitt and other experts said it’s unlikely any coverage changes would happen immediately, as insurer’s contracts generally are in place for the year.

    Changes would probably come, if the ruling holds, next calendar year, Levitt said. Beyond the ACA, states are free to require coverage for these services, he said, and some do. “But states can’t reach self-insured plans, which cover most people.”

    Action Plan

    Until the legal arguments are sorted out, people can take a number of steps, said Meredithe McNamara, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics and an adolescent medicine specialist at Yale University School of Medicine, who has researched the effect of eliminating coverage for the HIV preventive medication known as PrEP.

    Among them:

    • Reach out to your health care provider to discuss how it might affect care.
    • Call insurance providers and demand continued access to preventive care without cost sharing.
    • Contact elected officials and request a federal workaround.

    Preventive services “get people in the door,” she said, and provide valuable health counseling. 

    The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force makes its recommendations based on medical evidence that certain services help prevent disease spread or improve treatment through early detection.

    “If cost becomes a barrier to preventive care, that could lead to worse health outcomes, whether it’s later-stage lung cancer diagnoses or more HIV transmission,” Cox said. 

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  • HIV Infections Could Spike After Ruling on Affordable Care Act: Experts

    HIV Infections Could Spike After Ruling on Affordable Care Act: Experts

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    March 30, 2023 — A federal judge in Texas on Thursday struck down the preventive services mandate of the Affordable Care Act, ruling that the need to provide these services violated the religious rights of the plaintiffs. 

    One of the  plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit is  Steven Hotze, MD, a Texas doctor and conservative talk radio host. He said providing health insurance coverage for medication taken daily to prevent HIV to his employees would make him complicit in behaviors that he said violate his religious beliefs.

    The ruling applies nationwide, and public health experts were quick to criticize the decision. 

    “The human cost of this decision is very real,” said Meredithe McNamara, MD, an assistant professor of pediatrics and adolescent medicine specialist at Yale University. Yale researchers, anticipating the ruling, estimated in a recent study that eliminating coverage of the medication, known as PrEP (preexposure prophylaxis), which was mandated for health insurers under the Affordable Care Act, will result in at least 2,000 new HIV infections within a year.

    The two brand-name medications approved for PrEP, Truvada and Descovy, cost about $1,800 a month or more without insurance. Generic versions are available for less but are not always available, experts said. Other financial programs, including some by drugmakers, offer assistance to those who qualify. The mandate to provide PrEP coverage began in June 2020, after the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), an independent panel of experts, gave it an “A” recommendation. Federal law requires any preventive services with an A or B to be covered.

    The ruling could also affect much more than just insurance coverage of PrEP. American Medical Association President Jack Resneck Jr., MD, in a statement, said the ACA required insurers and health plans to cover dozens of preventive health services with no cost to patients for things like early detection of cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and sexually transmitted infections. 

    “Millions of patients could lose first-dollar coverage for cholesterol treatment, tobacco and alcohol cessation, immunizations, and childhood screenings for lead poisoning, hearing loss, and autism,” he said. “Care that is critical to reducing maternal mortality would also be jeopardized. These preventive-care requirements that for 10 years have enabled millions of Americans to improve their health could just go away as a result of this flawed ruling.”

    “The government will surely appeal, and has every right to do so,” said Nicholas Bagley, a professor of law at the University of Michigan. “The big question is whether the courts will enter a stay, pending the appeal. I’d expect them to do so, but we will see.”

    Even without a stay, Bagley said, most insurance plans are annual, so coverage may not change right away, but that’s not certain. The ruling applies to preventive care guidelines issued after 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was enacted. The contraceptive mandate has been challenged in this case, Bagley said, but was rejected in September. He expects that decision to be appealed.   

    HIV Prevention: Key Strategy

    Prevention, including the use of PrEP, is a key strategy of the federal initiative Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S.  It aims to decrease new diagnoses to 3,000 by 2030. New diagnoses had decreased 8% from 2016 to 2019, according to the CDC, but there is work to be done to reach the 2030 goal. In 2020, there were 30,635 new HIV diagnoses. When taken correctly, PrEP reduces the risk of becoming infected by 99%, according to the CDC.

    In 2020, about 25% of the 1.2 million people in the U.S. for whom PrEP was recommended were actually prescribed it, up from about 3% in 2015, according to the CDC.

    One of those is Dan, a gay marketing professional in the Midwest who asked that his real name not be used. He has taken PrEP for about a decade. His employer’s health insurance plan covers it, and it’s important to him. 

    “I am sexually active, but not that much,” he said. Even so, he counts on the medication for protection when he is sexually active. If the coverage is taken away? “I would probably stop taking it,” he said.

    Yale Study and the Effect of Ending the Coverage

    Researchers from Yale University estimate that eliminating the PrEP coverage would result in at least 2,000 entirely preventable HIV infections in the following year, as PrEP usage declines without the mandated coverage. That estimate only takes into account the effect on men who have sex with men, not other people also at risk for HIV infection who could benefit from PrEP, such as those who inject drugs or women who have sex with an infected person.

    As a result, the estimate is very conservative, says study leader A. David Paltiel, PhD, a professor of health policy at the Yale School of Public Health. His team used U.S.-based data on HIV infection, current rates of PrEP coverage and effectiveness, and the estimated reduction in coverage if access to private health insurance benefits were curtailed.

    “We underestimated the number knocked out of PrEP coverage” if the repeal goes national, he said. Right now, about 28% of all men who have sex with men are getting coverage for PrEP, Paltiel estimates. “For every 1% drop from the 28%, there would be 114 new infections,” he said. The researchers also calculated that the percentage of people taking the drug would drop to about 10%. “If that happened, it will result in about 2,000 new infections in the following year. OK? There are people who are going to be left high and dry.”

    More on Braidwood Management v. Becerra

    In the lawsuit, Braidwood Management v. Becerra, several Christian-owned businesses and several people in Texas sued the federal government, saying the preventive services mandate violates their religious beliefs under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a 1993 federal law that guarantees interests in religious freedom are protected.

    The plaintiffs also argue that the Affordable Care Act requirement to provide recommended preventive services violates the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, which requires people the president appoints to positions be confirmed by the Senate. The Preventive Services Task Force members are instead appointed by the heads of agencies within the Health and Human Services Department.

    Since it was created in 1984, the task force has weighed in on numerous preventive measures, such as when to screen people for diseases and other questions, making evidence-based recommendations to help health care providers care for patients. 

    More Reactions

    In a statement, Bruce J. Packett, executive director of the American Academy of HIV Medicine, said the Yale report “highlights the critical necessity of taking into account public health repercussions of judicial decisions.”

    The effects of eliminating coverage could be catastrophic for HIV reduction efforts, he said. And, he pointed out, “the report only accounts for the effects of not requiring insurers to cover PrEP through one year; the authors did not calculate primary HIV transmissions that would happen well after a year and the secondary infections from those primary infections.”

    Also at risk, Packett said, is the authority of the Preventive Services Task Force. 

    “Striking down the USPSTF’s ability to recommend important evidence-based health care preventive services would be detrimental across the entirety of the public health goals of the United States,” he said. 

    The Braidwood Management case is “misreading science,” according to McNamara and other Yale researchers. In mid-February, they posted a report, explaining how the PrEP mandate promotes public health not for a segment of the population but the population as a whole. PrEP benefits public health, much like any vaccine or other preventive measure for avoiding infection.

    The researchers call PrEP “one of the most celebrated biomedical successes in the global fight to end the HIV epidemic.” 

    The harms of granting a nationwide injunction against requiring health insurance plans to cover PrEP would affect some ethnic groups disproportionately, McNamara said. Most affected, she said, would be Black and Latino gay and bisexual men, as well as transgender women.

    Younger at-risk people would also be at a disadvantage, said McNamara, who cares for adolescents in her clinic. “I can tell you that not having cost sharing for HIV prevention essentially means they aren’t going to use it at all,” she said.

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