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One of the largest nonprofit blood centers in the country, New York Blood Center (NYBC), said in a statement on its website that it was hit with a ransomware attack over the weekend and is now experiencing disruptions in its services, including longer-than-normal processing times for blood donations, plus the cancelling and rescheduling of some blood donations. NYBC provides blood to over 200 hospitals in the northeast, including New York and New Jersey, and transfusion-related medical services to more than 500 hospitals across the nation. “At this time, we do not have a specific timetable for system restoration,” NYBC said in the statement. “We are working diligently with third-party experts to restore our systems as quickly and safely as possible.” What happened? On Sunday, January 26, NYBC Enterprises identified suspicious activity affecting its IT systems. It contacted cybersecurity experts who investigated and confirmed it was the result of a ransomware incident. We took immediate steps to help contain the threat, including taking certain systems offline, NYBC confirmed in its statement. The attack comes at a critical time, when blood donations in the U.S. are at a significantly low level. Currently, the New York and New Jersey region face a “blood emergency” resulting from a 30% drop in donations in recent weeks since the holidays, totaling 6,500 fewer donations and crippling the regions blood supply, according to the NYBC. What can I do to help? Donations typically decrease during the holidays, and this January poses additional challenges with colder than normal temperatures causing blood drive cancellations, and flu, COVID-19, and RSV symptoms reducing donor eligibility. Currently, donations of all blood types are urgently needed, especially Types O and B, which are down to a dangerously low 1- to 3-day supply. In the coming weeks, NYBC may have to do another push for more blood donations. If youre eligible, you can donate, but be prepared for the possibility of longer wait times or unexpected scheduling changes. Here’s more information about how to donate.
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E-Commerce
The return-to-office (RTO) push at companies such as Amazon and AT&Twhich both required employees to be back in the office full-time this monthhas been met with discontent and frustration from much of their workforces. Some Amazon employees have said they are looking for new jobs, if they haven’t left already, while people at both companies have reportedly struggled to even find an open desk. But other leaders are not letting the prospect of low morale or limited workspace derail their plans to return to the office full time in 2025. According to a memo obtained by Business Insider, the latest addition to the mix is Dell, which had already tested the waters with an RTO policy that applied to just a handful of departments. As of September, employees on the sales team and across a subset of other roles (including leadership positions) were asked to return to the office. Starting in March, however, Dell also will be “retiring the hybrid policy” and expect most employees to be in the office five days a week. The new mandate will apply to all employees who live within about an hour commute of a Dell officeregardless of whether they currently have a remote or hybrid arrangement. (A Dell spokesperson did not clarify whether employees who live farther would have to request an exemption or would automatically be allowed to continue working remotely.) According to Business Insider, employees who remained remote would not be put up for promotion without explicit approval from three senior leaders. This seems to be a slight shift from a policy Dell already had in place that rendered fully remote employees ineligible for promotion. “What we’re finding is that for all the technology in the world, nothing is faster than the speed of human interaction,” CEO Michael Dell wrote in the memo. “A 30-second conversation can replace an email back-and-forth that goes on for hours or even days.” In a statement to Fast Company, a Dell spokesperson added, “We continually evolve our business so we’re set up to deliver the best innovation, value, and service to our customers and partners. That includes more in-person connections to drive market leadership.” In his memo, the CEO noted that across departments that had started coming into the office, “we have seen these areas come alive with new speed, energy, and passion.” Other CEOs and business leaders have used similar rationale to justify bringing workers back to the office at least three days a week, with a growing number of companies ramping up to five days. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy echoed that sentiment when he announced that starting in 2025, the RTO policy would require employees to come into the office daily, rather than just three days a week. “When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant,” he wrote in a memo. “If anything, the last 15 months weve been back in the office at least three days a week has strengthened our conviction about the benefits.” Like Jassy, Michael Dell had previously expressed his support for remote work. As recently as late 2022, Dell had openly said, “From my experience, if you are counting on forced hours spent in a traditional office to create collaboration and provide a feeling of belonging within your organization, youre doing it wrong.” But as corporate America has shown over the past few years, he’s not the first business leader to make such a drastic reversal on remote workand certainly won’t be the last.
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E-Commerce
After many years of partisan politics, increasingly divisive language, finger-pointing, and inflammatory speech have contributed to an environment of fear and uncertainty, affecting not just political dynamics but also the priorities and perceptions of young people. As a developmental psychologist who studies the intersection of media and adolescent mental health, and as a mother of two Gen Z kids, I have seen firsthand how external societal factors can profoundly shape young peoples emotional well-being. This was brought into sharp relief through the results of a recent survey my colleagues and I conducted with 1,644 young people across the U.S., ages 10 to 24. The study was not designed as a political poll but rather as a window into what truly matters to adolescents. We asked participants to rate the importance of 14 personal goals. These included classic teenage desires such as being popular, having fun, and being kind. None of these ranked as the top priority. Instead, the No. 1 answer was to be safe. What was once taken for granted The findings are both illuminating and heartbreaking. As a teenager, I did countless unsafe things. My peers and I didnt dwell on harm; we chased fun and freedom. Whereas previous generations may have taken safety for granted, todays youth are growing up in an era of compounded crisesschool shootings, a worsening climate crisis, financial uncertainty, and the lingering trauma of a global pandemic. Even though our research did not pinpoint the specific causes of adolescent fears, the constant exposure to crises, amplified by social media, likely plays a significant role in fostering a pervasive sense of worry. Despite data showing that many aspects of life are safer now than in previous generations, young people just dont feel it. Their perception of danger is further shaped by events like the recent fires that devastated Los Angeles, reinforcing a belief that danger, possibly caused by global crises like climate change, lurks everywhere. This shift in perspective has profound implications for the future of this generation and those to come. Especially vulnerable time Adolescence, like early childhood, is a pivotal period for brain development. Young people are particularly sensitive to their surroundings as their brains evaluate the environment to prepare them for independence. This developmental stagewhen the capacity to regulate emotions and critically assess information is still maturingmakes them especially vulnerable to enduring impacts. Studies show that adolescents struggle to put threats into context. This makes them particularly vulnerable to fear-driven messaging prevalent in both traditional and social media, which is further amplified by political rhetoric and blame-shifting. This vulnerability has implications for their mental health, as prolonged exposure to fear and uncertainty has been linked to increased rates of anxiety, depression, and even physical health issues. So when the various media that Gen Z consumes are dominated by fearbe it through headlines, social media posts, political rhetoric, or even storylines in movies and TVit could shape their worldview in ways that may reverberate for generations to come. Enduring generational impact Historical events have long been shown to shape the worldview of entire generations. For instance, the Great Depression primarily impacted the daily lives of the Silent Generation, those born between 1928 and 1945. Moreover, its long-term effects on financial attitudes and security concerns echoed into the baby boomer generation, influencing how those born between 1946 and 1964 approached money, stability, and risk throughout their lives. Similarly, todays adolescents, growing up amid a series of compounded global crises, will likely carry the imprint of this period of heightened fear and uncertainty well into adulthood. This formative experience could shape their mental health, decision-making, and even their collective identity and values for decades to come. In addition, feelings of insecurity and instability can make people more responsive to fear-based messaging, which could potentially influence their political and social choices. In an era marked by the rise of authoritarian governments, this susceptibility could have far-reaching implications because fear often drives individuals to prioritize immediate safety over moral or ideological ideals. As such, these dynamics may profoundly shape how this generation engages with the world, the causes they champion, and the leaders they choose to follow. Room for optimism? Interestingly, being kind was rated No. 2 in our survey, irrespective of other demographics. While safety dominates their priorities, adolescents still value qualities that foster connection and community. This finding indicates a duality in their aspirations: While they feel a pervasive sense of danger, they also recognize the importance of interpersonal relationships and emotional well-being. Our findings are a call to look at the broader societal context shaping adolescent development. For instance, the rise in school-based safety drills, while intended to provide a sense of preparedness, may unintentionally reinforce feelings of insecurity. Similarly, the apocalyptic narrative around climate change may create a sense of powerlessness that could further compound their fears and leave them wanting to bury their heads in the sand. Understanding how these perceptions are formed and their implications for mental health, decision-making and behavior is essential for parents, storytellers, policymakers, and researchers. I believe we must also consider how societal systems contribute to the pervasive sense of uncertainty and fear among youth. Further research can help untangle the complex relationship between external stressors, media consumption, and youth well-being, shedding liht on how to best support adolescents during this formative stage of life. Yalda T. Uhls is a founder and executive director of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers and an assistant adjunct professor in psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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E-Commerce
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