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Advanced Mobility Systems
Advanced Mobility Systems
December 2006
"Gone from us too soon, too young" ...
ELIZABETH DEMPSEY SOLOMON, 1962-2006
Tenacious and tireless, her co-workers called her. Adept multitasker. Excellent writer. Great mom. The attributes tumbled forth from friends and colleagues following the death of Beth Solomon on Nov. 3, due to a brain tumor. She had been diagnosed around Labor Day. She was 44.
"Beth continued working until the end -- writing, editing, organizing. We had to laugh with her, while marveling at her tenacity," colleague Susan Schoolfield said. Mrs. Solomon produced "Children's Promise," the Cook Children's Foundation quarterly magazine targeted at donors. "She passionately described the health and treatment of children who were patients at Cook Children's, helping build the funds that would support future patients," Schoolfield said.
This was one of several ongoing projects for which she was responsible.
"Beth built relationships with members of the media for which Cook Children's still benefits and will for years to come," Schoolfield said. "Whether it was the media, physicians and staff throughout the medical center, members of PRSA or any of a number of other groups, she was a friend and a professional. She is greatly missed."
Mrs. Solomon worked for nine years in PR at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth and received numerous local and national awards for her work. She was the primary responder to the news media in 1999 when Carolyn Bobo, APR, joined the hospital as her supervisor.
"Within a few months, Beth was juggling pager and cellphone in response to the Wedgwood church shootings. She stayed at work until 3 a.m., taking calls from more than 100 journalists, including national and international media, all in search of information about our pediatric victim," Bobo said.
"I had to insist that Beth take a sleep break while I responded. She was back in a few hours, coordinating a 'Good Morning America' interview broadcast live from the hospital. That's the kind of dedication and expertise Beth brought to her job -- and it wasn't a good idea to get in her way!"
Mrs. Solomon exhibited the same enthusiasm with volunteer activities -- she was a PRSA member and had served as chapter accreditation chair -- and with her family, especially her and husband Randy's three sons, whose pictures, usually in hockey uniforms, decorated her office. "She was a good person and a good friend," Bobo said. "Gone from us too soon, too young."
Memorials may be made to the college fund for sons Kevin, Nick and Mark, payable to College Savings Plan of Nebraska, in care of Schoolfield at P.O. Box 11944, Fort Worth 76110. Gifts may also be made to the Cook Children's Medical Center Pastoral Care or Child Life departments.
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MEETINGS
Next at IABC Fort Worth ...
No program development meeting this month, but members have discussed with some vigor attending the SPJ-hosted Christmas party / John Peter Smith Hospital book benefit and gift drawing Wednesday evening, Dec. 6, at Coors Distributing Co. on 'way north I-35. RSVP by Monday evening, Dec. 4, to mkpirtle@yahoo.com. Details on p. 3.
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Next at Greater Fort Worth PRSA ...
Program development meetings will resume in January.
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Next at Fort Worth SPJ ...
It's a party! See p. 3. RSVP by Monday evening, Dec. 4, to mkpirtle@yahoo.com.
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STRAIGHT STUFF
Two-time Peabody Award winner Marvin Kalb will discuss "The Changing Influence and Credibility of the Media" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4, at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, sponsored by the 5th Annual Nasher Forum. Reservations are required; call Dana Moffat at (214) 706-0000 ext. 136. A 4:45 p.m. media briefing will be held in the lobby of the Park Cities Hilton, 5954 Luther Lane. NBC News on Nov. 27 labeled the Iraq war a "civil war" after U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan used the phrase in addressing the need to stop the escalation of violence in the region. Kalb's presentation will address similar issues that illustrate how the media can impact public opinion and government response. In a 30-year journalism career, Kalb, the founding director of Harvard University's Joan Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics, and Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government and now a senior fellow in the center's D.C. office, garnered national recognition as chief diplomatic correspondent, Moscow bureau chief and host of "Meet the Press" for CBS and NBC News. The Nasher Forum, founded by philanthropist and civic leader Raymond Nasher and the Nasher Foundation, works to promote a moral community for the 21st century by presenting lectures that stimulate thought, discussion and action on compelling social and ethical issues. More here. ...
Former CNN foreign correspondent Ralph Begleiter will discuss "Global Media and the Power of Images" at a Fort Worth Club luncheon Thursday, Dec. 7, sponsored by the World Affairs Council. As CNN's international affairs correspondent from 1981 to 1999, Begleiter flew more than two million miles to 91 countries on six continents. He covered every major story during that time and interviewed such high-profile individuals as Jordan's King Hussein, Nelson Mandela, Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng and various prime ministers and heads of state. He gained notoriety in August 1990 for being the first Western correspondent to interview a Soviet foreign minister, Eduard Shevardnadze. More at dfwworld.org. SPJ is partnering with the World Affairs Council on the speech, and SPJ members get in for the $30 WAC member price. ...
The Urban League of Greater Dallas seeks volunteer assistance in PR and media planning for three 40th anniversary events -- the Heritage Day Celebration, Saturday, Feb. 24; Festival in the Park, in May; and the Annual Gala, Saturday, Aug. 11. The volunteer's responsibilities will include creating press releases, media advisories and biographies. Call Sherelyn Roberts at 214-915-4607 or 214-226-8913. ...
The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University has established the Mirror Awards to honor those who hold a mirror to their industry for the public's benefit. The awards are open to anyone who conducts reporting, commentary or criticism of the media industries -- TV, newspaper, magazine, radio, advertising, PR, the internet -- in a format intended for a mass audience. Entry deadline will be in mid-January. E- Jean Brooks at jabroo01@syr.edu. ... Submissions are being accepted for the National Low Income Housing Coalition's Cushing Niles Dolbeare Media Awards, which recognize print journalists who illuminate the affordable housing crisis in America. Three first-prize winners will receive $2,500. Entries must have been published in 2006. Deadline is Jan. 5. Details at nlihc.org. ...
The American Academy of Neurology seeks entries for its 2007 AAN Journalism Fellowship Award recognizing excellence in medical and health reporting. Fellows will receive a trip to the academy's 2007 annual meeting. E- ababb@aan.com. ... The Religion Newswriters Association invites applicants to its Lilly Scholarships in Religion program, which provides full-time journalists with up to $5,000 for college tuition, books, registration fees, parking and other costs. Jan. 1 is the next quarterly applications deadline. The scholarships can be used at any accredited college, university, seminary or similar institution, and recipients can take any courses as long as they are in religion. More at rna.org, or call Amy Schiska at 614-891-9001 ext. 3.
PRSA local update: Independent Practitioners SIG members will celebrate the season from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, at Nancy Farrar's home, 5924 Forest Lane, Fort Worth. RSVP by Dec. 8.
PRSA local update II: PRSA Dallas will collect canned goods or nonperishable foods for the North Texas Food Bank at its "giving and receiving" holiday party Monday, Dec. 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Sambuca on McKinney Avenue. More here.
SPJ national update: LAT editor fired; AP, military spar; and for Iraqis, news is a deadly business. Los Angeles Times editor Dean Baquet, who defied orders to cut jobs, was forced out of his own job Nov. 7, shocking the newsroom just as it geared up to cover election returns. The paper's publisher, Jeffrey M. Johnson, who openly objected to cuts ordered by the Tribune Co. in September, was fired last month. While the company maintained that further cuts might be necessary, Baquet considered them excessive. More here. ... The Associated Press is standing by its Nov. 24 report that six Sunni men were burned to death in Baghdad by Shiites. But military officials say they cannot confirm that the incident took place and asked AP to retract the story, which was repeated by media around the world and cited as an example of Shiites taking revenge for a bombing that killed more than 200 people the day before. More here. ... The label "independent" media in Iraq has become a death sentence. Fifty-five Iraqi journalists had been killed in 2006 through November -- more than in any other year -- and four remained hostages. There have been a string of media murders against print, radio and TV journalists. When Al Shabiya TV was hit, it was the second such attack in a fortnight. More here.
SPJ national update II: Administration shutters bomb-making tutorial; and lab breach could be "devastating." The Bush administration has removed a government web site containing material captured during the Iraq war that told how to build an atom bomb. The "Operation Iraqi Freedom Document Portal" contained a dozen Arabic-language documents with diagrams and long narratives on bomb building that nuclear experts say went beyond what's available on the internet and in other forums. "For the U.S. to toss a match into this flammable area is very irresponsible," said A. Bryan Siebert, a former official at the U.S. Energy Department, which runs the country's nuclear arms program. The New York Times said the administration started the site under pressure from congressional Republicans who hoped to find evidence of dangers posed by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. More here and here. ... In a recent security breach at Los Alamos National Laboratory, sensitive information -- possibly how to deactivate locks on nuclear weapons -- left the facility. Secret documents apparently taken from the lab were found during a drug raid at a Los Alamos-area home in October. More here.
SPJ national update II: Administration shutters bomb-making tutorial; and lab breach could be "devastating." The Bush administration has removed a government web site containing material captured during the Iraq war that told how to build an atom bomb. The "Operation Iraqi Freedom Document Portal" contained a dozen Arabic-language documents with diagrams and long narratives on bomb building that nuclear experts say went beyond what's available on the internet and in other forums. "For the U.S. to toss a match into this flammable area is very irresponsible," said A. Bryan Siebert, a former official at the U.S. Energy Department, which runs the country's nuclear arms program. The New York Times said the administration started the site under pressure from congressional Republicans who hoped to find evidence of dangers posed by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. More here and here. ... In a recent security breach at Los Alamos National Laboratory, sensitive information -- possibly how to deactivate locks on nuclear weapons -- left the facility. Secret documents apparently taken from the lab were found during a drug raid at a Los Alamos-area home in October. More here.
SPJ national update III: Journalists threatened with arrest at polls; and what the Democrats' win means for tech. A writer and photographer for the Cincinnati Enquirer were threatened with arrest at a polling site Nov. 7, the paper reported, after attempting to photograph a congressman as he voted. Tony Jones was trying to photograph GOP Rep. John Boehner at a Butler County polling place when Jones and reporter Janice Morse were stopped by poll workers. "Boehner had told the media he would be available for interviews this morning, but Jones and Morse were told by poll workers that they could not come into the polling place," the web site stated in a story. More here. ... It was the narrowest of Republican margins in the U.S. Senate that doomed a vote on internet neutrality earlier this year. By an 11-11 tie, a GOP-dominated committee failed in June to approve rules requiring that all internet traffic be treated the same regardless of its source or destination. A similar measure failed in the House of Representatives. But now that control of Congress has switched back to the Democrats, the outlook for technology-related legislation on a wealth of topics -- digital copyright, merger approval, data retention, internet censorship -- has changed dramatically. More here.
SPJ national update IV: Republicans and the profits of porn; and print skills translate online. Despite running an ad accusing a Democratic senatorial candidate of accepting money from "porn movie producers," the Republican National Committee itself has accepted donations from the president of Marina Pacific Distributors, which calls itself "the leader in adult video distribution." Nicholas Boyias has personally given to the Republican Party several times over the last few years, six times to the RNC. The donations range from $200 to $500 and total around $2,000, according to a search of federal election records. No contributions to Democrats were found in the records search. More here. ... An Online News Association report evaluated the top skills needed to function in an online newsroom, and tech savvy didn't make the list. Of 400 people questioned, the skills that emerged are the same ones needed for print -- attention to detail; news judgment; grammar skills and style; and ability to work under pressure and multitask. More here.
SPJ national update V: Bloggers win one; the phrase (and issue) that won't go away; and NY Times carries rare photos of funerals for Iraq fallen. The California Supreme Court ruled Nov. 20 that individuals cannot be held liable for publishing defamatory statements written by others. The ruling clarifies that a 1996 law, the Communications Decency Act, protects not only content providers, but also users of online services who republish content. More here. ... The media didn't cut and run when it comes to one of the White House's favorite slogans, "stay the course." On Oct. 23, press secretary Tony Snow tried to banish the term by asserting that it mischaracterized U.S. policy in Iraq and that President Bush had stopped using it. So in a Google News search in the eight days after Snow's press briefing, the number of stories about Iraq containing the term "stay the course" more than doubled over the previous week's total, jumping to 2,570 from 1,030. Compared to Oct 9-15, it nearly tripled. More here. ... Images of the remains of Americans killed in Iraq as they are brought home for burial tend to be prohibited either by the military, local officials or families. But The New York Times on Oct. 30 ran a photo essay to mark what it calls the "regularity" of such moments. More here.
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Everyone's a Critic
by Susan Tallant
Everything from "Friday Night Lights" to the Friday-night news got a healthy dusting from three area entertainment critics at the Fort Worth SPJ November meeting. The Star-Telegram's Christopher Kelly, Kristian Lin at Fort Worth Weekly and Ed Bark (unclebarky.com), formerly of The Dallas Morning News, shared with the audience what it takes to be a good critic, not a jaded one.
Lin said that becoming jaded can definitely happen. "When you see 250 movies a year, you get a different idea of what something new is and place more value in that than the audience does," he said.
Kelly teased about critics needing term appointments but said the key to staying fresh is audience awareness -- "paying attention, asking why this [movie] is such a phenomenon and why is it connecting with people."
Since leaving the DMN, Bark has a new internet role. "I found now that I am liberated," he said. He added that being a critic is gratifying and exhausting work but that if one can establish that he is being fair and doesn't have an ax to grind, the audience will respect him.
While Kelly, Lin and Bark have similar roles, they face varied challenges. Kelly said he tries to see new values in each film. "My goal is to try and look at [the film] and find something I haven't seen before. I ask, 'Is there something here no one else sees?' "
Lin tries to look at each film from different perspectives but has learned to trust his instincts. "The main thing is to keep an open mind and stay true to yourself. If you can't trust that initial impulse, what can you trust?"
Bark noted that the web is a tough market to break into with so many sites available. He also said that reviewing television is a totally different process than reviewing movies. "You can't just review a [television] show in a vacuum. You have to look at what it is up against."
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PEOPLE & PLACES
John Miller, professional-in-residence in broadcast journalism at TCU's Schieffer School of Journalism, has been appointed to the nine-member jury for the Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Awards. WFAA-TV received duPonts, considered broadcast journalism's most prestigious award, in 1991 and 1996, when Miller was news director there. As a past winner, he accepted Columbia's invitation to become a screener. Members of the jury serve three-year terms, renewable for up to nine years. Miller joined the TCU faculty in 2003 after a 35-year television news career in the Fort Worth-Dallas market, including news directorships at WFAA and KTVT/CBS 11. He is the faculty adviser for TCU News Now, the Schieffer School's weekly newscast. The 2005-06 du Pont awards will be presented Jan. 17 in a nationally televised ceremony at the Low Library at Columbia in New York City. ...
Bill Lawrence, APR, Fellow PRSA, was named to the PRSA College of Fellows in 2005, but the induction dinner was postponed, along with the entire Miami conference, due to Hurricane Wilma. He was honored with the 2005 and 2006 inductees at this year's Annual Assembly, Nov. 11 in Salt Lake City, Utah. A TCU graduate and principal in Lawrence and Associates, he joins Greater Fort Worth PRSA members Mary Dulle, APR, Fellow PRSA; Dr. Doug Newsom, APR, Fellow PRSA; and Carolyn Bobo, APR, Fellow PRSA, on the elite list. Of PRSA's 22,000 members, 436 have been elected to the College of Fellows. Also at the assembly, Kristie Aylett, APR, was elected delegate-at-large. She will represent PRSA members who are not affiliated with a local chapter at the 2007 assembly in Philadelphia. She also is the national PRSA membership chair. Aylett leads the KARD Group, a PR consulting firm based on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. ...
UTA Shorthorn exes Reese Dunklin, Mike Hashimoto, Mary Schlangenstein, Michael Currie, Tom Pennington, Matt Slocum, Heidi Cannella, Mark Hoffer and Steve Wilson all won a Katie Award in the six-state 2006 competition. The Press Club of Dallas presented its 48th annual Katie Awards on Nov. 18 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dallas. Other Fort Worth pros in the win column: Steve Pickett, Billy Sexton, Sandie Newton, Ram Guzman, Mona Khanna, Jay Gormley, Karen Borta, Tracy Rowlett and Kris Kennedy (KTVT/CBS 11); Jeff Prince, Betty Brink and Peter Gorman (Fort Worth Weekly); Barry Shlachter, Leila Fadel, Clif Bosler, Ross Hailey and Khampha Bouaphanh (Star-Telegram); Robert Francis and Nathan Rich (Fort Worth Business Press); Sandra Velazquez and Jose Castillo (Diario La Estrella); John Pendolino and Rick Hadley (WBAP); Brian Curtis, Kristi Nelson and Raul Rangel (KXAS-TV/NBC 5); and Drenda Witt (JPS Health Network).
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NEW MEMBERS
SPJ ... Sarah Angle, TCU ... Bob Cox, Star-Telegram
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PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Holly Ellman, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
In 1986, 12 people in Fort Worth got together to sign an important document. Sami Roop; Paul Ridings, APR; Dennis Roberson; Sally Werst; Carolyn Stephens; B. Kim Forman, APR; Loyd Turner; Roger Rienstra, APR; John Seeling, APR; Drenda Witt; Karen Cook; and Jim Wilson all had enough faith that they could grow a chapter of the Public Relations Society of America that they requested that one be established. Another two dozen people signed as being interested in joining the chapter once it was formed. Sami served as the founding president.
Twenty years later, the Greater Fort Worth Chapter of PRSA celebrated the vision and dedication of these individuals at a party at Shady Oaks Country Club on Nov. 29. As the current chapter president, I can attest to the long hours necessary to serve in such a position. I can only imagine what Sami went through in the organization's first year! I am grateful for her dedication along with that of the 17 other presidents who have served. (Yes, 17. Carolyn Stephens must have had so much fun her first year as president that they elected her for another term.)
Although sustaining a chapter for 20 years hasn't always been easy, it has been rewarding. With top-notch speakers at our monthly luncheons, biannual professional development seminars, community service and mentoring opportunities, and outstanding Southwest District and PRSA international conferences, we're proud of what we give to our members and the community.
Speaking of those program meetings, didn't Lyndsay Nantz, VP/programs, and professional development chairs Laura Squires, APR, and Lisa Orr do a wonderful job this year of providing speakers and topics that piqued our interest. Chris Smith, next year's VP/programs, is already busy planning meetings. Contact her with ideas -- chris.smith@tccd.edu.
And let me thank the board members for their efforts. We have accomplished a lot in the past few months. I look forward to passing the reigns to Marc Flake, but I am thankful for the opportunity to serve with such stellar professionals. It has been a wonderful experience.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season.
Oh, and there's no chapter meeting this month. For the past several years, we've used the December meeting as a social. However, with a large portion of our 20th anniversary celebration dedicated to networking, we decided it would be our end-of-the-year gathering.
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PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
Ken Roberts, IABC Fort Worth
It was 1999 when I attended my first IABC Fort Worth meeting. The person who met me at the door that day was Julie Trowbridge.
Julie, the chapter treasurer, was responsible for collecting everyone's payment for the lunch meeting. But she did so much more than take the money. She made me feel welcome. She made sure I had a name tag and told me where the buffet line was and said I could sit anywhere. And she really meant it when she said, "We're glad you're here."
No one is certain, including Julie herself, when she agreed to serve as treasurer. What is certain is she has been the treasurer for several years and has done a tremendous job. She understands that volunteers are absolutely necessary for a chapter such as ours to succeed. She serves willingly without ever calling attention to herself or seeking praise for her work.
Julie's employer, Carter & Burgess, has opened an office in Atlanta and offered her the marketing manager's position. Carter & Burgess made a great choice.
Julie isn't leaving town yet, but since we don't meet in December, November's meeting marked the final time she was at the table by the door welcoming us as we entered, telling us, "We're glad you're here."
IABC Fort Worth is very glad you've been here, Julie. We're a better chapter because of the leadership you provided.
Thank you for your service as our treasurer. Thank you for welcoming us at the door. Thank you for making reservations each month with the Petroleum Club. Thank you for handling the details that simply got done ... and the ones we never knew about because you took care of them.
We will miss you, but we're excited for you and your new opportunity. Best wishes as you begin this next phase of your career.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
Recall from last month, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann's outrage over the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which President Bush recently signed into law. Alert reader Tonie Auer posits that Olbermann "didn't have all his facts straight" and offers as a facts straightener an "insightful lay-person's read" of the act. Thanks, Tonie. ...
Kevin Tillman joined the Army with his brother Pat in 2002, and they served together in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pat was killed in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. Kevin, who was discharged in 2005, has written a powerful, must-read essay. ...
This is as handy as pockets on a shirt. Thanks, Jordan Raphael at OJR. "One recent morning, as I was fiddling under my desk to connect my tape-recorder to my phone line, I was hit by a sudden brainstorm. I noticed that the jack on the device that connects my tape recorder to the phone looked like it would fit perfectly into a slot on my computer's multimedia sound card. 'I'll bet I can record interviews directly into the computer,' I thought. I plugged the unit into my sound card, and sure enough, it worked. Within 15 minutes, I was interviewing a source and recording our conversation digitally. While it would be an overstatement to say that digital recording changed my life, it has certainly made my job a lot easier. For one thing, I am no longer burdened with boxes and boxes of 90-minute tapes. Except for in-person interviews, I don't use tapes at all. I plan to buy a digital voice recorder, which will eliminate tapes from my life altogether. ... "
On a dreary news landscape, a ray of (unfiltered) sunshine. NASA's most famous observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, will get a life extension after all, in the form of a shuttle servicing mission, NASA administrator Michael Griffin announced Oct. 31 to applause at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The move, though not unexpected, still had astronomers on the edge of their seats. The telescope has beamed a wealth of data since its launch aboard a space shuttle in 1990 and "has been the greatest telescope since Galileo invented the first one," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who pushed NASA to reconsider a final servicing mission. Good for her. And while we're at it, for Galileo, too.
Closing words, on war: "The crueler the war gets, the crueler the attacks get on anybody who doesn't salute or play the game. And then one day, the people who are doing the attacking look around and they've used up their credibility." -- Pulitzer-prize winning war correspondent David Halberstam, who wrote about Vietnam for The New York Times, at a recent conference with other combat reporters ... "All this madness, all this rage, all this flaming death of our civilization and our hopes, has been brought about because a set of official gentlemen, living luxurious lives, mostly stupid, and all without imagination or heart, have chosen that it should occur rather than that any one of them should suffer some infinitesimal rebuff to his country's pride." -- philosopher Bertrand Russell on World War I ... "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower ... "Anti-war books are as likely to stop war as anti-glacier books are to stop glaciers." -- author Kurt Vonnegut ... "Wherever there's injustice, oppression and suffering, America will show up six months late and bomb the country next to where it's happening." -- humorist P.J. O'Rourke