A free National Press Foundation/UT School of Journalism/National Academy of Social Insurance seminar for journalists on Social Security hits the UT Austin campus from 9 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Friday, June 10. The program has gotten excellent reviews ("I loved the basic explanations of what the system does now and the proposed changes, and the potential impact. They spoke English."). Register with Kashmir Hill, (202) 663-7282 or khill@nationalpress.org. Info here. ...
Harvard is offering free tuition for students whose family income is below $40,000. Really. See adm-is.fas.harvard.edu/FAO/index.htm, or call the school's financial aid office at (617) 495-1581. ... Postmark deadline is July 15 to enter the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' annual competition for outstanding investigative global journalism. First prize: $20,000. Five finalists will receive $1,000. Entries must have been produced between June 1, 2004, and June 1, 2005. See publicintegrity.org, or call (202) 466-1300. ... Register at expo.ncmonline.com/news/ for daylong -- Thursday, June 9 -- workshops at Columbia U. on ethnic media with, among others, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, FCC Chairman Michael Copps and Nicholas Lemann, dean of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism. ... Deadlines are June 24 and 25, respectively, to apply for the East-West Center's fall 2005 Jefferson Fellowships, a program for mid-level broadcast and print journalists from the U.S., Asia and the Pacific, and to submit a proposal to the South Asian Journalists Association that focuses on the tsunami aftermath. More at eastwestcenter.org/sem-mp.asp and saja.org/srf.html. ...
New York columnist supreme Pete Hamill will conduct a session, accept an award and sign your cast if you ask with the proper respect at the 29th annual National Society of Newspaper Columnists conference, June 23-26 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Conference Center. Not enough of a draw? Then weigh the presence of Laura Miller, who wrote Dallas Observer columns before entering elected life. No betting line on whether she'll call someone at the conference an idiot. Details here, or e- head perp Dave Lieber at conference@yankeecowboy.com. A month later, at the Grapevine Hilton DFW Lakes, "The Orchid Thief" author Susan Orlean headlines the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference of the Southwest. More at mayborninstitute.unt.edu/.
PRSA local update: Larry Lauer, TCU vice chancellor for marketing and communication and author of "Competing for Students, Money and Reputation: Marketing the Academy in the 21st Century," will front the Education SIG's 2005 Integrated Marketing Communications Forum from 10-11:30 a.m. Thursday, June 30, at the TCU Tucker Technology Center, 2840 W. Bowie St.; park in the Mary Couts Burnett Library lot east of the library and north of Tucker. Breakfast refreshments are free to Education SIG members, $5 for nonmembers. RSVP: chris.smith@tccd.edu. ... The Independent Practitioners SIG will meet Friday, June 17, at Central Market, I-30 and Hulen Street. ... If you want someone to call you, update your profile at prsa.org. The FW chapter will print a directory soon and covets current addresses and phone numbers of its people.
PRSA local update II: A reminder that the offer to join ($225 dues, plus $65 initiation fee) and get a one-year membership in one of the 19 professional interest sections ends June 30. Reinstating members who've been inactive for at least a year are also eligible. More here or from membership chair Holly Ellman, hellman@fwcds.org. The chapter earned a $100 Incentive Award for most members added during this promotion last year. Three people joined as a result of the section push, placing Fort Worth in a three-way tie for chapters of 100-199 members with the California Capital (Calif.) and Hampton Roads (Va.) chapters. Current chapter president Heather Senter was the membership chair.
PRSA local update III: Former Dallas Observer columnist Laura Miller will discuss how a communications background helped her become mayor, and what communications pros can learn and expect from Dallas City Hall, at the annual Joint Communicators Luncheon on Tuesday, June 21. More here. ... ACU senior Amanda Van Noort and Matthew B. Eaton of TCU have received $500 Greater Fort Worth chapter scholarships for 2005-06. Van Noort, an integrated marketing communications major from Sioux Falls, S.D., will be ACU chapter president in the coming school year. Eaton is an ad/PR major and PRSSA officer, and a 2001 graduate of Nolan Catholic High School.
