eChaser: April 2001


	Society of Professional Journalists, Fort Worth Professional Chapter Public Relations Society of America, Greater Fort Worth Chapter International Association of Business Communicators, Fort Worth Chapter eChaser archive [graphics format] April 2001 MEETINGS Next at IABC ... Want to Change Your Life? This Lady Knows How Ever wish you could take your communications skills and fashion the perfect job? Maybe it would be with a Fortune 500 company. Or maybe, like Ruth Cogswell, it would be living in the rolling hills of Weatherford, Texas, surrounded by wide-open spaces, trees and horses. Cogswell will tell the April IABC luncheon how she made the transition from a high-powered communications professional with 25 years experience in network TV news, corporate PR and special events management to freelance consultant living out her dream of being a cowgirl. The first step, she says, was asking herself what made her happy. True, she works with such companies as Dell Computer, Verizon Online, the Kimbell Art Foundation and TXI, but she does so on her own terms. "People in the communications field have transportable skills," she says. "This gives us the unique ability to shape our lives." She will also warn of potential roadblocks along the way. But since Cogswell escaped from "inside the Beltway," she says that many of her PR friends have taken the same journey and found this new way of life far more rewarding both personally and financially. * Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, April 10 * Place: Petroleum Club, Continental Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor; garage is at Seventh and Commerce streets (get ticket stamped for discount) * Cost: $17 members, $22 nonmembers, $12 students * RSVP by April 6: Dan Frost at (817) 735-6157 or mailto:frostdg@c-b.com ----- Next at PRSA ... Dealing with Tragedy When You'd Rather Just Cry: PR During the A&M Bonfire Crisis and One Year Later The speaker for PRSA's special Pro-Am Day luncheon has been in a position few PR professionals envy. As executive director of university relations at Texas A&M, Cindy Lawson was dealt the devil's hand when the school's homecoming bonfire collapsed, killing 11 students (six of them freshmen) and one alumnus, and injuring 27 more. Join us as Lawson recounts the hours after the tragedy from the crisis communicator's perspective, including how she and her staff handled media briefings and more than 5,000 media calls, responded to rumors, notified family members and planned a memorial service. She'll share insight into how the university's lack of a written crisis plan hindered the flow of communication and response. And she'll relate what lessons the administration learned about the critical role communication played in minimizing the tragedy's impact and aiding in the ongoing healing. * Time & date: 11:30 a.m. Friday, April 20 * Place: Los Vaqueros Restaurant, 2629 N. Main St., across from Billy Bob's * Cost: $20 members, $23 nonmembers, $10 special rate for students participating in Pro-Am Day activities * RSVP by noon April 18: Elizabeth Eslick at mailto:elizabeth@stuartbacon.com ----- Next at SPJ ... Don't Bet the Mortgage: It's a Dot-Eat-Dot World Nobody knows better the highs and lows of techno-journalism than two former Fort Worth Star-Telegram staffers who were wooed by better-paying dot.com jobs, only to lose them in the recent implosion of Internet commerce Web sites. Worth Wren Jr. and Steve Smith will give the April meeting a tell-all peek at life on this new and shaky journalism frontier. After 23 years as an S-T business reporter, Wren was excited to land an editing/reporting job with StoreAlliance.com -- an offer he said he couldn't refuse. Within eight months, his job was history. Now with the Fort Worth Business Press, he will share his up-and-down experience. Smith spent 10 months as a content editor for LifeCast.com ("Online services for the private club lifestyle") before being laid off in March. Prior to that, he was senior editor at Internet SportStations, a company that covered amateur sports until it cratered in March last year. He crossed into the dot.com world after eight years on the S-T sports desk. * Date: Wednesday, April 18 * Time: mingling and buffet 5:30 p.m., program at 6:30 * Place: Blue Mesa Grill, 1600 S. University Drive * Cost: $13 members, $17 nonmembers, $5 students * Menu: chicken taquitos, beef quesadillas topped with carmelized onions, cheese enchiladas, rice and beans, guacamole, tea or soft drink and coffee; cash bar * RSVP: (817) 877-1171 or mailto:doti1@aol.com ======================================= STRAIGHT STUFF IABC/Fort Worth Bronze Quill entries, for outstanding work in a broad range of categories, are due April 5 (late ones taken through April 9). Info from Debbie Young, (817) 735-7229 or mailto:dwy@freese.com. ... The Network of Hispanic Communicators meets at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 12, at Gloria's Restaurant in Oak Cliff, 600 W. Davis St. between Bishop and Taylor. The NAHC awards banquet comes off nine days later; contact Elena Cortez, (214) 941-2269 or mailto:emmcortez65@hotmail.com. ... Applications deadline is April 5 for the National Conference of Editorial Writers (http://ncew.org/) minority writers seminar, May 17-20 in Nashville, for minority journalists interested in opinion writing. ... SPJ national update: "Digital trunking" technology enables radio frequencies in the 800Mhz range to be encrypted so that most police radio scanners cannot receive transmissions. The Queen City (Cincinnati) pro chapter has raised concerns over one Ohio county's switch to a digital system. Details in the FOI Alert; for free subscription, send your name, organization, mailing address, e-mail address, phone number and fax to mailto:spj@spj.org or call (317) 927-8000. ... National SPJ president Ray Marcano announces the society's first membership phone drive for May 7-11. Chapters will be asked to call former and prospective members; headquarters will provide phone scripts. The individual who revives the most lapsed memberships receives full registration to the national convention Oct. 4-6 in Seattle/Bellevue, Wash. Contact chapter president John Dycus, mailto:jdycus@attbi.com. More from Marcano: "SPJ membership is holding steady at around 9,600; like most other businesses, gas prices are hurting us but otherwise our revenues are solid. While we're healthy, it appears we will not have the funds needed to establish a full-time Washington presence for SPJ. We believe such a presence would cost about $40,000." ----- Calling All Pros for Pro-Am Day It's not too late to sign up to have a shadow for PRSA Pro-Am Day on Friday, April 20. The students will be in professional development sessions throughout the morning. They will have the option of shadowing a professional during the afternoon, and this is where we need your help. Professionals are still needed from a variety of areas -- agency, nonprofit, corporate, government, etc. -- to give the students a feel of the "real world" in the venue of their choice. Also, employers with job and internship openings can advertise these free by sending in their company name and address, phone, e-mail, job title and description (25 words or less), salary, application deadline and where to address inquiries, and the information will be distributed to the students. To publicize a job or internship, or to have a shadow, contact Carroll Cole, (817) 735-5152 or mailto:ccole@hsc.unt.edu. ----- Journalist Under Siege: Reporting in Cameroon Comes at High Cost by Frank Perkins Covering sports is not usually considered a dangerous job, but don't tell that to Pius Njawe, 47, publisher of Le Messager, a leftist newspaper (http://lemessager.net/) in Cameroon, an African state on the shores of the Gulf of Guinea just under the continent's western shoulder bulging into the Atlantic Ocean. Covering the 1997 Cameroon Soccer Cup wound up with him being jailed for 17 months -- another of the arrests, incarcerations, beatings and attempts on his life that have marked his 25 years championing press freedom in the African country. Njawe was jailed after he confirmed and then reported -- under the headline "Is the President Sick?" -- that Cameroon President Paul Biva had suffered a heart attack during the cup finals and had to leave the match for treatment. The story enraged Biva, who attributed his absence to having to conduct official business. Other newspapers refuted the story, and two days later Njawe was arrested for "false reporting" and jailed without a hearing. He received a two-year jail term, which the Cameroon Supreme Court later reduced to 17 months. Njawe, currently a guest lecturer at the University of North Texas in Denton, called upon SPJ members at the March meeting to battle for freedom of the press here and abroad. "American journalists have to know and remember where you are from; people have paid a heavy price for your press freedom," he said. "American patriots like Benjamin Franklin and John Peter Zenger gave you your free press, and now you need to support others in the world seeking that freedom." Since beginning Le Messager at age 22, Njawe has been arrested 136 times, jailed three times, had copies of his newspaper seized by the government more than 200 times and been beaten because of his stories countless numbers of times. One beating involved his wife, a Cameroon customs worker, causing her to lose their unborn child. Honored around the world for his battle to bring press freedom to sub-Saharan Africa, Njawe also has been recognized by the International Press Institute as one of the world's 50 "Press Freedom Heroes." There is a thirst for free press in Cameroon and the rest of the world, he said. "Sometimes my paper contains almost nothing in it because the government has censored all my stories, but my readers still buy it as a show of support for press freedom." It is that type of support that keeps him in the battle. "I am tired, old, but I don't have the right to quit. Journalism is my religion. I believe in the words. ... I will continue to do my job." And he warned that American journalism is in danger, a danger from within. "In America, there are too many single owners of newspapers and other media," he said. "There must be diversity and less reliance on making money, because this emphasis on making money is killing the profession in America." ======================================== GET A JOB The James L. West Center near downtown Fort Worth seeks a community relations director to manage its marketing and public relations program, maintain census and coordinate the admissions process. Bachelor's degree and marketing experience required, preferably in health care. E-mail Pam Wood at mailto:pamwmcc@flash.net. ... It's testimonial time for the 24-hour Communicators' Job Bank Hotline from Kim Speairs, Stuart Bacon senior vice president, account services: "Within an hour after our job descriptions were posted to the Web site, we received our first resume. And we continue to have a tremendous response -- more than 30 highly qualified individuals submitting resumes to date. No other local job listing offers such economical value and access to a qualified pool of talent." Call (972) 684-8301, or go to http://dallasiabc.com. For more information, contact Ann Genett-Schrader, GFW PRSA job bank coordinator, at (817) 412-5353 or mailto:aschrader@carterbloodcare.org. ======================================== PEOPLE & PLACES Kudos & Contracts ... Witherspoon, Blanchard Schaefer Advertising, Graphic Concepts Group and Quorum International shared best of show honors at the Advertising Club of Fort Worth's 2001 American Advertising Awards, the ADDYs. Witherspoon took home the most awards -- 50. The top winners: Graphic Concepts, 24 awards; Blanchard Schaefer, nine; Circle R Group, eight; Quorum, seven; Williamson-Dickie in-house, five; Grey Worldwide, three; DPC Group, RadioShack.com, Stuart Bacon Advertising and Public Relations, and The Balcom Agency, all two each; and Bill Brammer Design, Graphic Technologies, Marketing Management Inc., Murray/Brown Creative Group, Short Design and TCU Publications, one each. Kudos II ... The community relations staff at Cook Children's Medical Center is a finalist in the PRSA National Silver Anvil Award competition for helping create a program that introduces the concept of philanthropy to children. ... The Columbia Scholastic Press Association has named the UTA newspaper one of the year's top eight college papers nationwide. Likewise, The Shorthorn has been lauded as SPJ Region 8's best college newspaper. ... The Associated Press Sports Editors rate Star-Telegram sports one of the 10 best daily sections in the country and the S-T's T.R. Sullivan one of the nation's top 10 sports writers. In the under 40,000 circulation category, Arlington Morning News sports nailed a top-10 ranking in daily, Sunday and special sections, and UTA Shorthorn exes Danny Woodward and Brandon George each placed an entry among the top 10 in a writing category. ... Monica Mendoza in the S-T Northeast newsroom and Jennifer Autrey of the paper's enterprise team picked up a special citation from the Education Writers Association for their story, "Uncharted Territory," about the poor record of Texas charter schools. The EWA is the national professional association of education reporters and writers. ======================================== NEW MEMBERS, WELCOME IABC ... Larry Commons, with Carter and Burgess PRSA ... Tracy Jones, Alcon Laboratories marketing communications administrator, pharmaceutical (her title appeared incorrectly last month as coordinator) ... Lance Blann, PR coordinator at Crescent Real Estate Equities ... Amy McDonald, PR manager for the Salvation Army, Tarrant County ... Cynthia J. McCormack, marketing director, Arlington Cancer Center ======================================== A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT Mary Dulle, GFW PRSA Remember when you were in school and around this time of year the reality of too-much-to-do-and-not-enough-time-to-fit-it-all-in hit home? Well, we have some college students interested in PR who are in that mode right about now, with projects and papers due and exams staring them in the face. But they've decided to take a day to see what the real world of PR is like, so Friday, April 20, they'll join us for our annual Pro-Am Day. You'll find information about the event elsewhere in this missive, but I want to extend an early "Thank you!" to all the pros who are working to make the day a success. And since we're on the track of success, the Fort Worth chapter is again working with Dallas PRSA to host a successful Southwest District Conference. Our first attempt, way back in the time of Y2K terror, was the most successful such event in our district in years. So good were we, in fact, that the powers-that-be asked us for a repeat in 2002. Kristie Aylett is leading the effort, and we'll be reaching out for volunteers later in the year. But mark your calendars right now for Feb. 21-22, 2002, to partake of some dynamite professional development activities and to get to know your colleagues from around the region. In the meantime, don't forget about this year's district conference, May 10-12 in Oklahoma City, and the World Congress in Atlanta in October. More information is coming in the weeks ahead. Congratulations to Carolyn Bobo and her staff at Cook Children's Medical Center for being named finalists in the PRSA National Silver Anvil Award competition. Winners will be announced in June. Cook Children's and the Peter Pan Children's Fund created the Peter Pan Birthday Club to encourage philanthropy in children. Focus groups, a survey of children and a literature search found no formal program of this type in existence. Participating children celebrate their birthday by inviting friends to attend a party and bring a donation to Cook Children's in lieu of gifts. Targeted mailings explain the birthday club. The first year's 14 participants and nine parties exceeded expectations and raised $31,643 from 146 donors, most ages 8-12. ----- OVER & OUT John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ Thanks to Susan McKee, Frank Perkins, Mark Permenter, Donna Darovich, Mike Blackman, Lloyd Goodman, Joe Guerrini, Tim Sager, Kristin Sullivan, Kristi Payne and Gary Hardee for judging SPJ contests for professionals (feature writing) and high school students (free-press essay); to Bill Hornaday for recommending Pius Njawe and his inspiring life story as the March program; to SPJ executive director Jim Gray and national president-elect Robert Leger for their convention-groundwork visit (and to convention queen Kay Pirtle for coordinating it). Good people, all. ... And our apologies to '71-'72 chapter major domo and recent Star-T guest columnist Horace "Chief" Craig, who is very much alive, that asterisk listing in the new directory notwithstanding. Jim Conlin, chuckling, brought it to our attention. ... R.I.P., Arlington Morning News as a stand-alone entity. Wonder how good it would've been if some of those Belo bucks poured into cue:cat had instead found their way to Copeland Road.

Ever wish you could take your communications skills and fashion the perfect job? Maybe it would be with a Fortune 500 company. Or maybe, like Ruth Cogswell, it would be living in the rolling hills of Weatherford, Texas, surrounded by wide-open spaces, trees and horses. Cogswell will tell the April IABC luncheon how she made the transition from a high-powered communications professional with 25 years experience in network TV news, corporate PR and special events management to freelance consultant living out her dream of being a cowgirl.

The first step, she says, was asking herself what made her happy. True, she works with such companies as Dell Computer, Verizon Online, the Kimbell Art Foundation and TXI, but she does so on her own terms. "People in the communications field have transportable skills," she says. "This gives us the unique ability to shape our lives."

She will also warn of potential roadblocks along the way. But since Cogswell escaped from "inside the Beltway," she says that many of her PR friends have taken the same journey and found this new way of life far more rewarding both personally and financially.

* Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, April 10

* Place: Petroleum Club, Continental Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor; garage is at Seventh and Commerce streets (get ticket stamped for discount)

* Cost: $17 members, $22 nonmembers, $12 students

* RSVP by April 6: Dan Frost at (817) 735-6157 or mailto:frostdg@c-b.com

Dealing with Tragedy When You'd Rather Just Cry:

PR During the A&M Bonfire Crisis and One Year Later

The speaker for PRSA's special Pro-Am Day luncheon has been in a position few PR professionals envy. As executive director of university relations at Texas A&M, Cindy Lawson was dealt the devil's hand when the school's homecoming bonfire collapsed, killing 11 students (six of them freshmen) and one alumnus, and injuring 27 more.

Join us as Lawson recounts the hours after the tragedy from the crisis communicator's perspective, including how she and her staff handled media briefings and more than 5,000 media calls, responded to rumors, notified family members and planned a memorial service. She'll share insight into how the university's lack of a written crisis plan hindered the flow of communication and response. And she'll relate what lessons the administration learned about the critical role communication played in minimizing the tragedy's impact and aiding in the ongoing healing.

* Time & date: 11:30 a.m. Friday, April 20

* Place: Los Vaqueros Restaurant, 2629 N. Main St., across from Billy Bob's

* Cost: $20 members, $23 nonmembers, $10 special rate for students participating in Pro-Am Day activities

* RSVP by noon April 18: Elizabeth Eslick at mailto:elizabeth@stuartbacon.com

Don't Bet the Mortgage: It's a Dot-Eat-Dot World

Nobody knows better the highs and lows of techno-journalism than two former Fort Worth Star-Telegram staffers who were wooed by better-paying dot.com jobs, only to lose them in the recent implosion of Internet commerce Web sites. Worth Wren Jr. and Steve Smith will give the April meeting a tell-all peek at life on this new and shaky journalism frontier.

After 23 years as an S-T business reporter, Wren was excited to land an editing/reporting job with StoreAlliance.com -- an offer he said he couldn't refuse. Within eight months, his job was history. Now with the Fort Worth Business Press, he will share his up-and-down experience.

Smith spent 10 months as a content editor for LifeCast.com ("Online services for the private club lifestyle") before being laid off in March. Prior to that, he was senior editor at Internet SportStations, a company that covered amateur sports until it cratered in March last year. He crossed into the dot.com world after eight years on the S-T sports desk.

* Date: Wednesday, April 18

* Time: mingling and buffet 5:30 p.m., program at 6:30

* Place: Blue Mesa Grill, 1600 S. University Drive

* Cost: $13 members, $17 nonmembers, $5 students

* Menu: chicken taquitos, beef quesadillas topped with carmelized onions, cheese enchiladas, rice and beans, guacamole, tea or soft drink and coffee; cash bar

* RSVP: (817) 877-1171 or mailto:doti1@aol.com

=======================================

IABC/Fort Worth Bronze Quill entries, for outstanding work in a broad range of categories, are due April 5 (late ones taken through April 9). Info from Debbie Young, (817) 735-7229 or mailto:dwy@freese.com. ... The Network of Hispanic Communicators meets at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 12, at Gloria's Restaurant in Oak Cliff, 600 W. Davis St. between Bishop and Taylor. The NAHC awards banquet comes off nine days later; contact Elena Cortez, (214) 941-2269 or mailto:emmcortez65@hotmail.com. ... Applications deadline is April 5 for the National Conference of Editorial Writers (http://ncew.org/) minority writers seminar, May 17-20 in Nashville, for minority journalists interested in opinion writing. ...

SPJ national update: "Digital trunking" technology enables radio frequencies in the 800Mhz range to be encrypted so that most police radio scanners cannot receive transmissions. The Queen City (Cincinnati) pro chapter has raised concerns over one Ohio county's switch to a digital system. Details in the FOI Alert; for free subscription, send your name, organization, mailing address, e-mail address, phone number and fax to mailto:spj@spj.org or call (317) 927-8000. ... National SPJ president Ray Marcano announces the society's first membership phone drive for May 7-11. Chapters will be asked to call former and prospective members; headquarters will provide phone scripts. The individual who revives the most lapsed memberships receives full registration to the national convention Oct. 4-6 in Seattle/Bellevue, Wash. Contact chapter president John Dycus, mailto:jdycus@attbi.com. More from Marcano: "SPJ membership is holding steady at around 9,600; like most other businesses, gas prices are hurting us but otherwise our revenues are solid. While we're healthy, it appears we will not have the funds needed to establish a full-time Washington presence for SPJ. We believe such a presence would cost about $40,000."

Calling All Pros for Pro-Am Day

It's not too late to sign up to have a shadow for PRSA Pro-Am Day on Friday, April 20. The students will be in professional development sessions throughout the morning. They will have the option of shadowing a professional during the afternoon, and this is where we need your help. Professionals are still needed from a variety of areas -- agency, nonprofit, corporate, government, etc. -- to give the students a feel of the "real world" in the venue of their choice.

Also, employers with job and internship openings can advertise these free by sending in their company name and address, phone, e-mail, job title and description (25 words or less), salary, application deadline and where to address inquiries, and the information will be distributed to the students. To publicize a job or internship, or to have a shadow, contact Carroll Cole, (817) 735-5152 or mailto:ccole@hsc.unt.edu.

Journalist Under Siege:

Reporting in Cameroon Comes at High Cost

Covering sports is not usually considered a dangerous job, but don't tell that to Pius Njawe, 47, publisher of Le Messager, a leftist newspaper (http://lemessager.net/) in Cameroon, an African state on the shores of the Gulf of Guinea just under the continent's western shoulder bulging into the Atlantic Ocean. Covering the 1997 Cameroon Soccer Cup wound up with him being jailed for 17 months -- another of the arrests, incarcerations, beatings and attempts on his life that have marked his 25 years championing press freedom in the African country.

Njawe was jailed after he confirmed and then reported -- under the headline "Is the President Sick?" -- that Cameroon President Paul Biva had suffered a heart attack during the cup finals and had to leave the match for treatment. The story enraged Biva, who attributed his absence to having to conduct official business. Other newspapers refuted the story, and two days later Njawe was arrested for "false reporting" and jailed without a hearing. He received a two-year jail term, which the Cameroon Supreme Court later reduced to 17 months.

Njawe, currently a guest lecturer at the University of North Texas in Denton, called upon SPJ members at the March meeting to battle for freedom of the press here and abroad. "American journalists have to know and remember where you are from; people have paid a heavy price for your press freedom," he said. "American patriots like Benjamin Franklin and John Peter Zenger gave you your free press, and now you need to support others in the world seeking that freedom."

Since beginning Le Messager at age 22, Njawe has been arrested 136 times, jailed three times, had copies of his newspaper seized by the government more than 200 times and been beaten because of his stories countless numbers of times. One beating involved his wife, a Cameroon customs worker, causing her to lose their unborn child. Honored around the world for his battle to bring press freedom to sub-Saharan Africa, Njawe also has been recognized by the International Press Institute as one of the world's 50 "Press Freedom Heroes."

There is a thirst for free press in Cameroon and the rest of the world, he said. "Sometimes my paper contains almost nothing in it because the government has censored all my stories, but my readers still buy it as a show of support for press freedom." It is that type of support that keeps him in the battle. "I am tired, old, but I don't have the right to quit. Journalism is my religion. I believe in the words. ... I will continue to do my job."

And he warned that American journalism is in danger, a danger from within. "In America, there are too many single owners of newspapers and other media," he said. "There must be diversity and less reliance on making money, because this emphasis on making money is killing the profession in America."

========================================

The James L. West Center near downtown Fort Worth seeks a community relations director to manage its marketing and public relations program, maintain census and coordinate the admissions process. Bachelor's degree and marketing experience required, preferably in health care. E-mail Pam Wood at mailto:pamwmcc@flash.net. ... It's testimonial time for the 24-hour Communicators' Job Bank Hotline from Kim Speairs, Stuart Bacon senior vice president, account services: "Within an hour after our job descriptions were posted to the Web site, we received our first resume. And we continue to have a tremendous response -- more than 30 highly qualified individuals submitting resumes to date. No other local job listing offers such economical value and access to a qualified pool of talent." Call (972) 684-8301, or go to http://dallasiabc.com. For more information, contact Ann Genett-Schrader, GFW PRSA job bank coordinator, at (817) 412-5353 or mailto:aschrader@carterbloodcare.org.

========================================

Kudos & Contracts ... Witherspoon, Blanchard Schaefer Advertising, Graphic Concepts Group and Quorum International shared best of show honors at the Advertising Club of Fort Worth's 2001 American Advertising Awards, the ADDYs. Witherspoon took home the most awards -- 50. The top winners: Graphic Concepts, 24 awards; Blanchard Schaefer, nine; Circle R Group, eight; Quorum, seven; Williamson-Dickie in-house, five; Grey Worldwide, three; DPC Group, RadioShack.com, Stuart Bacon Advertising and Public Relations, and The Balcom Agency, all two each; and Bill Brammer Design, Graphic Technologies, Marketing Management Inc., Murray/Brown Creative Group, Short Design and TCU Publications, one each.

Kudos II ... The community relations staff at Cook Children's Medical Center is a finalist in the PRSA National Silver Anvil Award competition for helping create a program that introduces the concept of philanthropy to children. ... The Columbia Scholastic Press Association has named the UTA newspaper one of the year's top eight college papers nationwide. Likewise, The Shorthorn has been lauded as SPJ Region 8's best college newspaper. ... The Associated Press Sports Editors rate Star-Telegram sports one of the 10 best daily sections in the country and the S-T's T.R. Sullivan one of the nation's top 10 sports writers. In the under 40,000 circulation category, Arlington Morning News sports nailed a top-10 ranking in daily, Sunday and special sections, and UTA Shorthorn exes Danny Woodward and Brandon George each placed an entry among the top 10 in a writing category. ... Monica Mendoza in the S-T Northeast newsroom and Jennifer Autrey of the paper's enterprise team picked up a special citation from the Education Writers Association for their story, "Uncharted Territory," about the poor record of Texas charter schools. The EWA is the national professional association of education reporters and writers.

========================================

NEW MEMBERS, WELCOME

IABC ... Larry Commons, with Carter and Burgess

PRSA ... Tracy Jones, Alcon Laboratories marketing communications administrator, pharmaceutical (her title appeared incorrectly last month as coordinator) ... Lance Blann, PR coordinator at Crescent Real Estate Equities ... Amy McDonald, PR manager for the Salvation Army, Tarrant County ... Cynthia J. McCormack, marketing director, Arlington Cancer Center

========================================

A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Mary Dulle, GFW PRSA

Remember when you were in school and around this time of year the reality of too-much-to-do-and-not-enough-time-to-fit-it-all-in hit home? Well, we have some college students interested in PR who are in that mode right about now, with projects and papers due and exams staring them in the face. But they've decided to take a day to see what the real world of PR is like, so Friday, April 20, they'll join us for our annual Pro-Am Day. You'll find information about the event elsewhere in this missive, but I want to extend an early "Thank you!" to all the pros who are working to make the day a success.

And since we're on the track of success, the Fort Worth chapter is again working with Dallas PRSA to host a successful Southwest District Conference. Our first attempt, way back in the time of Y2K terror, was the most successful such event in our district in years. So good were we, in fact, that the powers-that-be asked us for a repeat in 2002. Kristie Aylett is leading the effort, and we'll be reaching out for volunteers later in the year. But mark your calendars right now for Feb. 21-22, 2002, to partake of some dynamite professional development activities and to get to know your colleagues from around the region. In the meantime, don't forget about this year's district conference, May 10-12 in Oklahoma City, and the World Congress in Atlanta in October. More information is coming in the weeks ahead.

Congratulations to Carolyn Bobo and her staff at Cook Children's Medical Center for being named finalists in the PRSA National Silver Anvil Award competition. Winners will be announced in June. Cook Children's and the Peter Pan Children's Fund created the Peter Pan Birthday Club to encourage philanthropy in children. Focus groups, a survey of children and a literature search found no formal program of this type in existence. Participating children celebrate their birthday by inviting friends to attend a party and bring a donation to Cook Children's in lieu of gifts. Targeted mailings explain the birthday club. The first year's 14 participants and nine parties exceeded expectations and raised $31,643 from 146 donors, most ages 8-12.

John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ

Thanks to Susan McKee, Frank Perkins, Mark Permenter, Donna Darovich, Mike Blackman, Lloyd Goodman, Joe Guerrini, Tim Sager, Kristin Sullivan, Kristi Payne and Gary Hardee for judging SPJ contests for professionals (feature writing) and high school students (free-press essay); to Bill Hornaday for recommending Pius Njawe and his inspiring life story as the March program; to SPJ executive director Jim Gray and national president-elect Robert Leger for their convention-groundwork visit (and to convention queen Kay Pirtle for coordinating it). Good people, all. ... And our apologies to '71-'72 chapter major domo and recent Star-T guest columnist Horace "Chief" Craig, who is very much alive, that asterisk listing in the new directory notwithstanding. Jim Conlin, chuckling, brought it to our attention. ...