eChaser: May 2004


	Welcome to our newsletter ... 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] We appreciate our advertisers! Barr Printing Co. Bass Performance Hall Blue Marble Media Business Wire DFW Printing Co. Esperanza's Bakery Fort Worth Business Press Fort Worth Rail Market Friends of the Fort Worth Public Library Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center Immotion Studios InterStar Marketing and Public Relations Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Food Restaurant North Texas Daily Optimist, Abilene Christian University Pancho's Mexican Buffet PR Newswire PRSA Consultants Group The Shorthorn, UTA Star-Telegram TCU Daily Skiff Texas Wesleyan University Tony Roma's The University of Texas at Arlington Weber Shandwick Worldwide Wise County Messenger Witherspoon Advertising and Public Relations May 2004 Farewell to a Grand Old Tanker ... FRANK PERKINS, 1934-2004 Journalist. Raconteur. Friend. The description of Frank Perkins comes from Dorothy Estes, and it fit him to a T. As in "tanker," his e-mail handle, or the Army tank on his stationery. He was caring, too, a student of military history, and funny, a natural -- and much-practiced -- storyteller. If being in the Army was as hilarious as Mr. Perkins remembered, it's a shame we all couldn't go. Mr. Perkins died April 4. A TCU journalism graduate ('58) and a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, he served on active duty in Germany during the Berlin crisis, then spent the next 25 years in the 49th Armored Cavalry Division of the Texas Army National Guard, holding down command, staff and headquarters jobs, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. At the Star-Telegram, he began the long-running "Military Notes" column, the last installment of which ran Oct. 7. An aggressive and skilled journalist, Mr. Perkins was a writer, editor and producer at WBAP television (now KXAS/NBC 5) from 1961 to 1979 and a reporter and editor for the Star-Telegram from the mid-1980s until retiring about six years ago. He worked on Channel 5's "Texas News" special "President Kennedy's Visit to Texas," which won the Wells Key, one of the highest honors given by SPJ. Alex Burton, who took Frank's place when he was called into the service but got to stay at WBAP when Frank came home, recalls a "wicked sense of humor." Frank also showed him how to field strip a P-38 pistol. A stroke in October left neurological damage, but Mr. Perkins' speech and ability to hand-write letters had come back strong. He didn't have to relearn empathy and concern, as those traits never left. "Frank was a generous person who never said no to a request for help," said colleague Paul LaRocque. Added Jim Jones: "When he discovered my brother fought on Omaha Beach, a beautiful paperweight memorial of the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion suddenly showed up on my desk. We had periodic lunches with other Star-Telegrammers. Looking back, I wish there had been many more." ================================================== MEETINGS Next at IABC/Fort Worth ... Reducing Information Overload Through Integrated Strategies How can we communicate with clients when we can't communicate down the hall? Jerry Stevenson can fix the latter, which will improve the former, and the whole package -- ways to reduce info angst by combining print, Web, e-mail and face-to-face to cut through the chaos -- rolls out during lunch at the next IABC Tuesday. Stevenson, principal of Dallas-based Stevenson Consulting, is an internationally recognized authority on crafting best-practice intranets. Formerly the lead strategist behind one of the world's largest global intranets at EDS Corp., his clients include more than 10 Fortune 500 firms, representing a range of industries. Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, May 4 Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets (get ticket validated) Cost: $17 members, $22 nonmembers, $12 students RSVP: Julie Trowbridge at trowbridgeja@c-b.com ----- Next at Greater Fort Worth PRSA ... Fort Worth's Future: Seeing is Believing Trinity River Vision. The Lancaster Corridor. Magnolia Green. What does all that mean for the future of downtown Fort Worth? Well, a lot, and David Berzina, the new executive vice president of economic development for the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, will provide details at the May PRSA meeting. A highlight of his talk will be a flyover of Fort Worth created The Beck Group. The stunning sight of buildings literally growing out of the ground, coupled with artists' renderings of streetscapes and urban villages, provide an exciting idea of what economic development is all about. Berzina joined the Fort Worth Chamber just two months ago and oversees business retention and recruitment, international business development and research. A graduate of UT Austin and the University of Delaware, he previously was senior VP for economic development with the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, which Site Selection magazine named one of the nation's Top 10 economic development organizations in 2003. Time & date: 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, May 12 Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor Parking: free valet in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets (get ticket validated) Cost: $20 members, $23 nonmembers, $18 students RSVP by noon May 10: rsvp@fortworthprsa.org ----- Next at Fort Worth SPJ ... All This and the River Walk, Too Respected pros in print and photojournalism will headline the joint SPJ Region 8 spring conference/National Writers Workshop, May 22-23 in San Antonio. Among the players: Edna Buchanan, mystery novelist, author of "The Corpse Wore a Familiar Face" and winner of the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for police beat reporting at The Miami Herald; Barry Siegel, former Los Angeles Times national correspondent who won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing and now directs the literary journalism program at the University of California, Irvine; Eric Newhouse, projects editor at the Great Falls (Montana) Tribune, winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Price for explanatory journalism with the series "Alcohol: Cradle to the Grave"; and Cindy Yamanaka, staff photographer at The Orange County Register, winner of the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting on violence against women. The conference will be at the historic Sheraton Gunter Hotel, 205 E. Houston St., with registration $85 ($55 students and educators) through May 20 or $100 ($65 students and educators) at the door. More on the hotel at gunterhotel.com/gunterhome.html. An overview of the workshop is at www2.mysanantonio.com/promotions/nww/, with the agenda at www2.mysanantonio.com/promotions/nww/agenda.html. Questions? Contact site director Amy Dorsett, nww@express-news.net. ================================================== STRAIGHT STUFF Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, an assistant professor at UT Austin and a founding member of the DFW Network of Hispanic Communicators, will discuss "Hispanics in Education" as the keynote presentation at the Network's Scholarship Awards Reception on Tuesday, May 4, at the Latino Cultural Center, 2600 Live Oak in Dallas. The reception starts at 6 p.m. followed by the program at 7:15. Tickets are $45 at the door. The RSVP deadline has passed, but there still might be a plate of food for you. Contact info@dfwhispanic.org or go to dfwhispanic.org. ... Star-Telegram health reporter Mitch Mitchell is the invited guest at the quarterly meeting of PRSA's Health Care Special Interest Group on Wednesday, May 5, noon-1 p.m. in the large auditorium at the American Heart Association Tarrant County office, 2401 Scott Ave. RSVP for lunch to Sherry Miller at sherrymiller@texashealth.org, or call (817) 882-2550. ... Glenda Thompson of Gestures Marketing will lead a discussion at the next PRSA Consultants Group meeting -- 11:15 a.m. Friday, May 21, at Central Market -- of what it's like working as a PR professional in the frantic, sometimes unprofessional environment of politics. Expect insights from someone who's "been there, done that" and would probably do it again. ... Volunteers are needed for PRSA's community service committee. Contact Julie O'Neil at j.oneil@tcu.edu. ... The 2004 IABC District 5 Silver Quill call for entries is coming soon. Info at iabcusd5.com. ... PRSA national has added "Career Tools" as a member benefit. The Internet-based product offers job and career management tips, including search steps, assessments, networking and research resources, plus an online community where participants exchange ideas. Go to prsa.org/_Membership/benefits/index.asp?ident=index0. ... The Religion Newswriters Foundation is offering up to $5,000 per person to journalists taking college-level courses on religion. The new Lilly Scholarships in Religion are part of $50,000 available this year to help full-time journalists working in the general-circulation media cover tuition, books and fees at any accredited college, university or seminary. Deadlines are quarterly, with the next being July 1. More at religionwriters.com, or contact Jennifer Pearce at (614) 891-9001 ext. 3 or pearce@religionwriters.com. SPJ national update: Maybe if the memo had come with Mapsco coordinates, and just a lie in the heat of prattle. President Bush said that a memo he received a month before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks titled "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US" "said nothing about an attack on America." National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, in testimony to the independent commission investigating the attacks, spoke of a government on high alert that summer. The president "had us at battle stations during this period of time," she said. On the day after receiving the memo, reporters ran into Bush manning fortifications at the Ridgewood Country Club in Waco. He seemed carefree. "No mulligans, except on the first tee," he said to laughter. Bush spent most of August 2001 on his Crawford ranch. His staff said at the time that the biggest issues on his agenda were federal funding of stem-cell research, education, immigration and Social Security. More here and here. ... California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign had no evidence that a woman accusing him of sexual assault had a police record before it e-mailed reporters that they should check her background. Other court documents filed in Rhonda Miller's libel suit revealed that the campaign had sent an earlier e-mail that also suggested that the 53-year-old stuntwoman had a criminal record. Within hours of sending the e-mails, the documents show, Schwarzenegger's campaign determined that Miller had no record but never issued a clarification or an apology. More here. SPJ national update II: Scalded by Scalia, more fallout from weapons of mass distraction, and supporting the troops. Reporters from the AP and The Hattiesburg American were ordered to erase their tape recordings of a speech April 7 by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at a Hattiesburg high school. A deputy federal marshal confronted the AP reporter in the front row of the auditorium while Scalia talked on stage about the Constitution. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press protested, as did the Radio-Television News Directors Association and SPJ. Scalia later apologized to the reporters and said he is revising his policy to permit recording his speeches. More here and here. ... Since the 9-11 attacks, the administration has faced an exodus of counterterrorism professionals, many disappointed by a preoccupation with Iraq that they say undermines the terrorism fight. Former counterterrorism officials said at least half a dozen have left the White House Office for Combating Terrorism or related agencies. More here. ... The Army is conducting medical tests on GIs who complained of illnesses after reported exposure to depleted uranium in Iraq. Of nine members of an Orangeburg, N.Y., National Guard unit examined by a doctor at the request of the New York Daily News, four had "almost certainly" inhaled radioactive dust from spent U.S. artillery shells containing depleted uranium, the newspaper reported April 5. Six of the nine contacted the paper after unsuccessfully appealing to the Army for testing. More here. SPJ national update III: Close enough for government work, it's hard to find good help, and a big juicy burger to go. In the first year of war in Iraq, the military made 18,004 medical evacuations, the Pentagon's top health official told Congress on March 30. The data, through March 13, is nearly two-thirds higher than the 11,200 evacuations through Feb. 5 cited the previous month by the same official, William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. More here. ... About one in every 10 members of Iraq's security forces "actually worked against'' U.S. troops recently in Iraq, and 40 percent more quit due to intimidation, the commander of the 1st Armored Division says. On April 5, for example, an Iraqi battalion of several hundred soldiers refused to join Marines in an offensive in Fallujah. Before the uprising, America spent $1 billion to recruit, equip and train some 100,000 Iraqi police, soldiers and civil-defense personnel. More here. ... The U.S. Department of Agriculture has pressured its veterinarians into falsifying documents for 20 years, former agency veterinarians told UPI. "We signed export certificates almost daily ... without ever verifying their accuracy," said Tom D'Amura, a veterinarian who spent 12 years with the agency before leaving in 2000. A current USDA veterinarian and an attorney representing federal veterinarians recently made similar charges. More here. SPJ national update IV: The flag-draped reality of war, what price conscience? and the defectors' defective tips. The Pentagon lost its control over the images of coffins returning from Iraq as about 350 pictures were released under the FOI Act and The Seattle Times published a photo showing more than 20 coffins in a cargo plane about to leave Kuwait. The picture was taken by military contractor Tami Silicio, whose employer, Maytag Aircraft, then fired her and a co-worker, David Landry, whom she recently married. "I'm happy the picture is out, but it broke my heart when I found out she lost her job," said Times photo editor Barry Fitzsimmons. Managing editor David Boardman: "The administration cannot tell us what we can and cannot publish." Silicio told Editor & Publisher: "The newspapers have opened my eyes to what that picture meant for everyone in the nation. I didn't realize how censored the United States has been on what's going on in Iraq." More here and here. ... A senior Australian defense adviser says she was fired because she refused to write media briefing notes that lied about the threat of exotic weapons in Iraq. In an April 11 interview with the Herald Sun in Melbourne, Jane Errey said she took leave rather than peddle propaganda about Iraq. More here. ... Much of the information that newspapers printed based on tips from Iraqi defectors prior to the 2003 war was false, according to a lengthy report by Knight Ridder's Jonathan S. Landay and Tish Wells. The journalists obtained a June 26, 2002, letter from the Iraqi National Congress to a U.S. Senate committee that listed 108 articles based on often-fabricated information provided by the INC's "Information Collection Program," which the United States funded. More here. SPJ national update V: At least they waited an (in)decent interval, that'll stop those pesky questions, and out of the loop? what loop? Twenty-four media groups and performers on April 19 asked the FCC to reconsider its ruling against NBC for violating decency standards. NBC filed a separate petition seeking to overturn the decision, which found that the network had run afoul of federal decency standards by broadcasting a single vulgarity by the singer Bono during a live Golden Globe Awards show in 2003. The actions were formalities for a court challenge. More here. ... Student journalists from Iowa State U., the University of Iowa and Des Moines Area Community College were not allowed to cover President Bush's April 15 visit to Des Moines. They were left off the approved list, although DMACC reporter Mike Allsup said the paper faxed credential information to the White House press office a full day before the due date. More here. ... Journalist Bob Woodward on April 20 rebutted denials by administration officials and the Saudi ambassador about who knew what and when they knew it concerning plans to invade Iraq. Woodward writes in his book "Plan of Attack" that the Saudi ambassador to Washington was told of the plan two days before Secretary of State Colin Powell was. Woodward says Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney told Prince Bandar bin Sultan in a meeting Jan. 11, 2003, using phrases such as "you can take it to the bank ... this is going to happen" and "he [Saddam Hussein] is toast." More here and here. ================================================== PEOPLE & PLACES TCU grad and Amarillo native Mindia Whittier has joined the Fort Worth Zoo as marketing director. She previously was communications director at Medical Center of Arlington and worked at the zoo from 1995 to 2002 in a variety of positions, including communications manager. ... UTA and University of Washington in Seattle grad David Sims has joined Witherspoon Advertising and Public Relations as senior art director. He previously was senior art director for Carter & Burgess. ... At UTA, The Shorthorn won the top award, Sweepstakes, in Texas Intercollegiate Press Association competition this spring, and Renegade won best magazine. Shorthorn and Renegade staff members Josh Taylor, Danny Woodward, Brad Rollins, Tiffany Murphy, Demond Reid, Mark Roberts, Michael Roger, Brandon Wade, Ryan Hartsell, Cory Wells, Lisa Evans, Jessica Felkel, Amber Tafoya, Beth Francesco, Steven Morris, Missy Saunders, Amy Bombassaro, Melissa Reilly, Barry Roges, Will Thorne, Marisa Alvarado and Brandon Guidry took home 32 TIPA awards. ... Winners at the Star-Telegram. Carolyn Poirot's story "Operation Bizarre" was recognized for excellence in health news communication in the 2004 Anson Jones, MD, Awards competition. She won over 110 entries. ... Linda P. Campbell won a Gavel Award from the State Bar of Texas for her editorial series on medical malpractice. Judges deemed the entry "an outstanding example of fostering public understanding of our legal system." ... Environmental reporter Scott Streater is a finalist in the Investigative Reporters and Editors contest for a series he did for the Pensacola News Journal that documented how radioactive water had been piped to thousands of Florida residents for years even though authorities knew of high amounts of radium in fountains at an elementary school, an airport, government offices and the visitors welcome center. Streater also will attend the invitation-only Nieman Foundation for Journalism Environmental Conference at Harvard University on May 13-15. ... Ellen Schroeder has just returned from the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism's Cities, Suburbs and Beyond seminar at the University of Maryland. ... The Star-Telegram's Diario La Estrella became the first Spanish-language daily to win first place at the Texas APME awards. Delia Jalomo won first place for feature page design, and Richard Gonzales won in general column. ... The Star-T's coverage of the American Airlines concessions saga last spring was one of three winners in breaking news in Society of American Business Editors and Writers competition. The story covered the day when flight attendants approved concessions after voting had been extended for a second day; Trebor Banstetter also broke a story that day about American's executive pension trust, which quickly set off a controversy that led to Don Carty's resignation. SABEW's national conference is May 2-4 at the Renaissance Worthington. ================================================== GET A JOB The Dallas Examiner has immediate openings for a news designer/graphic artist and freelance news writers. Hours for the designer are mostly 9 a.m.-6 p.m., except on production day. Must be skillful with QuarkXPress on the Macintosh, Illustrator, Photoshop and Word; experience in copy editing helpful. Prefer someone with 3-5 years experience, but will train a talented designer with limited newspaper experience. Freelancers should be based in the Dallas area, love hard-news reporting and be able to get the "down and dirty details" of City Council and school board meetings or who would be the new Dallas police chief. Send résumé and samples to executive editor (and UTA Shorthorn ex) Sharon Egiebor, The Dallas Examiner, 1516 Corinth Ave. Dallas 75215, phone (214) 428-3446. ... The University of North Texas marketing office needs a senior editor. Required: Three years of professional writing experience at a newspaper, magazine or college/university and a bachelor's degree preferably in journalism or English, or an equivalent combination of experience, education or training. Organizational and multitasking proficiency and competence in spelling, grammar, punctuation, AP style, Word and Excel. Higher education experience, advertising/marketing experience and Spanish proficiency are preferred. Send résumé and cover letter to UNT Human Resources Office, attn: Employment, P.O. Box 311010, Denton 76203-1010. ... "CBS MarketWatch" is hiring 40 editors and reporters -- general assignment business writers (recent college grads), journalists who have covered specific financial beats -- over the next six months across several bureaus, including San Francisco, New York and Boston. Send résumés to Bettina Leong, operations manager, news, "CBS MarketWatch," bleong@marketwatch.com. ... An entry-level reporter position is open at KTXS-TV in Abilene. Send tapes to Iain Munro, KTXS-TV, 4420 N. Clack, Abilene 79601. ... Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide seeks a VP-level tech business-to-business PR person based in Dallas and with chipset experience. This would likely be a part-time contract, possibly moving into full-time salaried. Contact Ogilvy human resources managing director Mindy S. Gikas at mindy.gikas@ogilvypr.com. ================================================== COMINGS & GOINGS Additions ... at the S-T: Angelica Cortez, part-time news researcher; she graduates with a master in library science from TWU in May Promotions ... at the S-T: Tommy Cummings, formerly Arlington night metro editor, to editor of the Alliance Regional Newspapers ... Kevin Lyons, formerly higher education reporter, to night metro editor in Arlington ================================================== PRESIDENT'S CORNER Pamela Smith, Greater Fort Worth PRSA Members of the Public Relations Student Society of America ventured out on a large passenger bus April 21 for a three-island mystery tour of public relations offices. Three students and an adviser from ACU, eight students from TCU and one student from UTA went along for the ride. Pro Am Day encompassed three surprise destinations -- JPS Health Network, Burlington Northern and Texas Motor Speedway -- that either scared the students into changing majors or gave them perspective on the hard work and dedication that makes great companies and organizations. Andra Bennett, PRSA student liaison, coordinated the effort and served as the tour guide. The day concluded with a delicious meal at Joe T. Garcia's and a presentation from public affairs director Chris Lippincott of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault. He spoke on how the organization managed a $2 million grant from the Texas Attorney General's Office to embark on an integrated statewide awareness campaign -- a fitting topic, since April 18-24 was Crime Victims' Rights Week. Greater Fort Worth PRSA has been doing Pro Am Day for years because we believe in guiding students who want to advance in our profession. I just wish more students would see the value in participating; the chapter easily could sponsor twice as many. It's not every day that companies open their doors to outsiders and share their trade secrets. Considering the tight job market where job seekers need as many advantages as possible, let's encourage more students to take advantage of this learning and network opportunity. ----- OVER & OUT John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ Lucy Dalglish singed the Bush administration at Fort Worth SPJ's awards dinner April 30 over the USA Patriot Act, the Homeland Security Act and 10 specific erosions of Americans' freedoms, and she had our attention like an oncoming train. The executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press keynoted a splendid evening of awards presentations and scholarship recognition at Ridglea Country Club. Lucy has our gratitude. More on her speech and the awards and scholarship recipients in the June eChaser. ... Combat deaths mount in Iraq, while rebuilding efforts continue to expand. The BBC looks at five critical sectors -- health, education, water, oil, electricity -- and finds progress both robust and halting. Good reading. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3605557.stm. ... Have you signed up for a course, donated a book or attended an event at one of our newest advertisers -- Texas Wesleyan University, Friends of the Fort Worth Public Libraries or Bass Performance Hall? Well, you should. The list keeps growing. ... John Kerry or Drew Carey? Last month we noted that the president had praised one Fathi Jahmi as a woman imprisoned by Libya in 2002 for advocating free speech and democracy, except Dr. Rice must not have read it to him that Jahmi is a man. Now The Washington Post reports that Bush's Democratic challenger doesn't know who the U.N. special envoy to Iraq is. Two days in a row, Kerry called Lakhdar Brahimi "Brandini." Not to be confused with the Great Brandini, sword swallower. Closing words: "Being nice to each other is the best form of self-interest." -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, speaking at UTA ... "In New York City, they honk at people they want out of the way. In Hooks, we honked at people we wanted to take out." -- Star-Telegram sports writer and UTA Shorthorn ex David Thomas on strolling the Big Apple ... "Hiding the death and destruction of this war does not make it easier on anyone except those who want to keep the truth away from the people." -- Bill Mitchell, father of a U.S. Army soldier killed in Iraq; Mitchell believes that his son was in one of the caskets shown in the photograph that The Seattle Times ran ... "Let us rid ourselves of the fiction that low oil prices are somehow good for the United States." -- then-Wyoming Congressman Dick Cheney in October 1986 after he introduced legislation to create an import tax that would have raised the price of oil, and ultimately the price of gasoline paid by drivers, by billions of dollars per year ... "On '60 Minutes' last Sunday night, Bob Woodward suggested the main reason President Bush took the country to war was that he thinks he's on a mission from God; but the problem with that is that's also Osama bin Laden's reason." -- Jay Leno ... "We punched a big black bear in the eye and got him angry as hell but had no immediate plan to disable him, so of course he struck back in a very vicious way." -- Larry Diamond, senior adviser to the U.S.-led occupation authority in Baghdad, on the uprising led by Moqtada al-Sadr after the U.S. administrator of Iraq shut down a tabloid newspaper run by the Shiite Muslim cleric ... "America always does the right thing -- after it has exhausted all the alternatives." -- Winston Churchill "The lover knows much more about absolute good and universal beauty than the logician or theologian, unless the latter, too, be lovers in disguise." -- George Santayana "Make the Pie Higher!" a short poem composed entirely of quotations from George W. Bush thoughtfully arranged, for aesthetic purposes, by Washington Post writer Richard Thompson; sent in by bipartisan reader Paul LaRocque I think we all agree, the past is over. This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty And potential mental losses. Rarely is the question asked Is our children learning? Will the highways of the Internet Become more few? How many hands have I shaked? They misunderestimate me. I am a pit bull on the pantleg of opportunity. I know that the human being And the fish can coexist. Families is where our nation finds hope, Where our wings take dream. Put food on your family! Knock down the tollbooth! Vulcanize society! Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher! "Some Glad Morning" by Joyce Sutphen, from "Naming the Stars" (Holy Cow Press) One day, something very old happened again. The green came back to the branches, settling like leafy birds on the highest twigs; the ground broke open as dark as coffee beans. The clouds took up their positions in the deep stadium of the sky, gloving the bright orb of the sun before they pitched it over the horizon. It was as good as ever: the air was filled with the scent of lilacs and cherry blossoms sounded their long whistle down the track. It was some glad morning.

Journalist. Raconteur. Friend. The description of Frank Perkins comes from Dorothy Estes, and it fit him to a T. As in "tanker," his e-mail handle, or the Army tank on his stationery. He was caring, too, a student of military history, and funny, a natural -- and much-practiced -- storyteller. If being in the Army was as hilarious as Mr. Perkins remembered, it's a shame we all couldn't go.

Mr. Perkins died April 4. A TCU journalism graduate ('58) and a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, he served on active duty in Germany during the Berlin crisis, then spent the next 25 years in the 49th Armored Cavalry Division of the Texas Army National Guard, holding down command, staff and headquarters jobs, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. At the Star-Telegram, he began the long-running "Military Notes" column, the last installment of which ran Oct. 7.

An aggressive and skilled journalist, Mr. Perkins was a writer, editor and producer at WBAP television (now KXAS/NBC 5) from 1961 to 1979 and a reporter and editor for the Star-Telegram from the mid-1980s until retiring about six years ago. He worked on Channel 5's "Texas News" special "President Kennedy's Visit to Texas," which won the Wells Key, one of the highest honors given by SPJ. Alex Burton, who took Frank's place when he was called into the service but got to stay at WBAP when Frank came home, recalls a "wicked sense of humor." Frank also showed him how to field strip a P-38 pistol.

A stroke in October left neurological damage, but Mr. Perkins' speech and ability to hand-write letters had come back strong. He didn't have to relearn empathy and concern, as those traits never left. "Frank was a generous person who never said no to a request for help," said colleague Paul LaRocque. Added Jim Jones: "When he discovered my brother fought on Omaha Beach, a beautiful paperweight memorial of the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion suddenly showed up on my desk. We had periodic lunches with other Star-Telegrammers. Looking back, I wish there had been many more."

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Next at IABC/Fort Worth ... Reducing Information Overload Through Integrated Strategies

Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, May 4

Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor

Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets (get ticket validated)

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

RSVP: Julie Trowbridge at trowbridgeja@c-b.com

Next at Greater Fort Worth PRSA ... Fort Worth's Future: Seeing is Believing

Berzina joined the Fort Worth Chamber just two months ago and oversees business retention and recruitment, international business development and research. A graduate of UT Austin and the University of Delaware, he previously was senior VP for economic development with the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, which Site Selection magazine named one of the nation's Top 10 economic development organizations in 2003.

Time & date: 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, May 12

Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor

Parking: free valet in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets (get ticket validated)

Cost: $20 members, $23 nonmembers, $18 students

RSVP by noon May 10: rsvp@fortworthprsa.org

Next at Fort Worth SPJ ... All This and the River Walk, Too

Respected pros in print and photojournalism will headline the joint SPJ Region 8 spring conference/National Writers Workshop, May 22-23 in San Antonio. Among the players: Edna Buchanan, mystery novelist, author of "The Corpse Wore a Familiar Face" and winner of the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for police beat reporting at The Miami Herald; Barry Siegel, former Los Angeles Times national correspondent who won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing and now directs the literary journalism program at the University of California, Irvine; Eric Newhouse, projects editor at the Great Falls (Montana) Tribune, winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Price for explanatory journalism with the series "Alcohol: Cradle to the Grave"; and Cindy Yamanaka, staff photographer at The Orange County Register, winner of the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting on violence against women.

The conference will be at the historic Sheraton Gunter Hotel, 205 E. Houston St., with registration $85 ($55 students and educators) through May 20 or $100 ($65 students and educators) at the door. More on the hotel at gunterhotel.com/gunterhome.html. An overview of the workshop is at www2.mysanantonio.com/promotions/nww/, with the agenda at www2.mysanantonio.com/promotions/nww/agenda.html.

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Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, an assistant professor at UT Austin and a founding member of the DFW Network of Hispanic Communicators, will discuss "Hispanics in Education" as the keynote presentation at the Network's Scholarship Awards Reception on Tuesday, May 4, at the Latino Cultural Center, 2600 Live Oak in Dallas. The reception starts at 6 p.m. followed by the program at 7:15. Tickets are $45 at the door. The RSVP deadline has passed, but there still might be a plate of food for you. Contact info@dfwhispanic.org or go to dfwhispanic.org. ...

Star-Telegram health reporter Mitch Mitchell is the invited guest at the quarterly meeting of PRSA's Health Care Special Interest Group on Wednesday, May 5, noon-1 p.m. in the large auditorium at the American Heart Association Tarrant County office, 2401 Scott Ave. RSVP for lunch to Sherry Miller at sherrymiller@texashealth.org, or call (817) 882-2550. ...

Glenda Thompson of Gestures Marketing will lead a discussion at the next PRSA Consultants Group meeting -- 11:15 a.m. Friday, May 21, at Central Market -- of what it's like working as a PR professional in the frantic, sometimes unprofessional environment of politics. Expect insights from someone who's "been there, done that" and would probably do it again. ...

Volunteers are needed for PRSA's community service committee. Contact Julie O'Neil at j.oneil@tcu.edu. ... The 2004 IABC District 5 Silver Quill call for entries is coming soon. Info at iabcusd5.com. ... PRSA national has added "Career Tools" as a member benefit. The Internet-based product offers job and career management tips, including search steps, assessments, networking and research resources, plus an online community where participants exchange ideas. Go to prsa.org/_Membership/benefits/index.asp?ident=index0. ...

The Religion Newswriters Foundation is offering up to $5,000 per person to journalists taking college-level courses on religion. The new Lilly Scholarships in Religion are part of $50,000 available this year to help full-time journalists working in the general-circulation media cover tuition, books and fees at any accredited college, university or seminary. Deadlines are quarterly, with the next being July 1. More at religionwriters.com, or contact Jennifer Pearce at (614) 891-9001 ext. 3 or pearce@religionwriters.com.

SPJ national update: Maybe if the memo had come with Mapsco coordinates, and just a lie in the heat of prattle. President Bush said that a memo he received a month before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks titled "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US" "said nothing about an attack on America." National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, in testimony to the independent commission investigating the attacks, spoke of a government on high alert that summer. The president "had us at battle stations during this period of time," she said. On the day after receiving the memo, reporters ran into Bush manning fortifications at the Ridgewood Country Club in Waco. He seemed carefree. "No mulligans, except on the first tee," he said to laughter. Bush spent most of August 2001 on his Crawford ranch. His staff said at the time that the biggest issues on his agenda were federal funding of stem-cell research, education, immigration and Social Security. More here and here. ... California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign had no evidence that a woman accusing him of sexual assault had a police record before it e-mailed reporters that they should check her background. Other court documents filed in Rhonda Miller's libel suit revealed that the campaign had sent an earlier e-mail that also suggested that the 53-year-old stuntwoman had a criminal record. Within hours of sending the e-mails, the documents show, Schwarzenegger's campaign determined that Miller had no record but never issued a clarification or an apology. More here.

SPJ national update II: Scalded by Scalia, more fallout from weapons of mass distraction, and supporting the troops. Reporters from the AP and The Hattiesburg American were ordered to erase their tape recordings of a speech April 7 by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at a Hattiesburg high school. A deputy federal marshal confronted the AP reporter in the front row of the auditorium while Scalia talked on stage about the Constitution. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press protested, as did the Radio-Television News Directors Association and SPJ. Scalia later apologized to the reporters and said he is revising his policy to permit recording his speeches. More here and here. ... Since the 9-11 attacks, the administration has faced an exodus of counterterrorism professionals, many disappointed by a preoccupation with Iraq that they say undermines the terrorism fight. Former counterterrorism officials said at least half a dozen have left the White House Office for Combating Terrorism or related agencies. More here. ... The Army is conducting medical tests on GIs who complained of illnesses after reported exposure to depleted uranium in Iraq. Of nine members of an Orangeburg, N.Y., National Guard unit examined by a doctor at the request of the New York Daily News, four had "almost certainly" inhaled radioactive dust from spent U.S. artillery shells containing depleted uranium, the newspaper reported April 5. Six of the nine contacted the paper after unsuccessfully appealing to the Army for testing. More here.

SPJ national update III: Close enough for government work, it's hard to find good help, and a big juicy burger to go. In the first year of war in Iraq, the military made 18,004 medical evacuations, the Pentagon's top health official told Congress on March 30. The data, through March 13, is nearly two-thirds higher than the 11,200 evacuations through Feb. 5 cited the previous month by the same official, William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. More here. ... About one in every 10 members of Iraq's security forces "actually worked against'' U.S. troops recently in Iraq, and 40 percent more quit due to intimidation, the commander of the 1st Armored Division says. On April 5, for example, an Iraqi battalion of several hundred soldiers refused to join Marines in an offensive in Fallujah. Before the uprising, America spent $1 billion to recruit, equip and train some 100,000 Iraqi police, soldiers and civil-defense personnel. More here. ... The U.S. Department of Agriculture has pressured its veterinarians into falsifying documents for 20 years, former agency veterinarians told UPI. "We signed export certificates almost daily ... without ever verifying their accuracy," said Tom D'Amura, a veterinarian who spent 12 years with the agency before leaving in 2000. A current USDA veterinarian and an attorney representing federal veterinarians recently made similar charges. More here.

SPJ national update IV: The flag-draped reality of war, what price conscience? and the defectors' defective tips. The Pentagon lost its control over the images of coffins returning from Iraq as about 350 pictures were released under the FOI Act and The Seattle Times published a photo showing more than 20 coffins in a cargo plane about to leave Kuwait. The picture was taken by military contractor Tami Silicio, whose employer, Maytag Aircraft, then fired her and a co-worker, David Landry, whom she recently married. "I'm happy the picture is out, but it broke my heart when I found out she lost her job," said Times photo editor Barry Fitzsimmons. Managing editor David Boardman: "The administration cannot tell us what we can and cannot publish." Silicio told Editor & Publisher: "The newspapers have opened my eyes to what that picture meant for everyone in the nation. I didn't realize how censored the United States has been on what's going on in Iraq." More here and here. ... A senior Australian defense adviser says she was fired because she refused to write media briefing notes that lied about the threat of exotic weapons in Iraq. In an April 11 interview with the Herald Sun in Melbourne, Jane Errey said she took leave rather than peddle propaganda about Iraq. More here. ... Much of the information that newspapers printed based on tips from Iraqi defectors prior to the 2003 war was false, according to a lengthy report by Knight Ridder's Jonathan S. Landay and Tish Wells. The journalists obtained a June 26, 2002, letter from the Iraqi National Congress to a U.S. Senate committee that listed 108 articles based on often-fabricated information provided by the INC's "Information Collection Program," which the United States funded. More here.

SPJ national update V: At least they waited an (in)decent interval, that'll stop those pesky questions, and out of the loop? what loop? Twenty-four media groups and performers on April 19 asked the FCC to reconsider its ruling against NBC for violating decency standards. NBC filed a separate petition seeking to overturn the decision, which found that the network had run afoul of federal decency standards by broadcasting a single vulgarity by the singer Bono during a live Golden Globe Awards show in 2003. The actions were formalities for a court challenge. More here. ... Student journalists from Iowa State U., the University of Iowa and Des Moines Area Community College were not allowed to cover President Bush's April 15 visit to Des Moines. They were left off the approved list, although DMACC reporter Mike Allsup said the paper faxed credential information to the White House press office a full day before the due date. More here. ... Journalist Bob Woodward on April 20 rebutted denials by administration officials and the Saudi ambassador about who knew what and when they knew it concerning plans to invade Iraq. Woodward writes in his book "Plan of Attack" that the Saudi ambassador to Washington was told of the plan two days before Secretary of State Colin Powell was. Woodward says Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney told Prince Bandar bin Sultan in a meeting Jan. 11, 2003, using phrases such as "you can take it to the bank ... this is going to happen" and "he [Saddam Hussein] is toast." More here and here.

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TCU grad and Amarillo native Mindia Whittier has joined the Fort Worth Zoo as marketing director. She previously was communications director at Medical Center of Arlington and worked at the zoo from 1995 to 2002 in a variety of positions, including communications manager. ... UTA and University of Washington in Seattle grad David Sims has joined Witherspoon Advertising and Public Relations as senior art director. He previously was senior art director for Carter & Burgess. ...

At UTA, The Shorthorn won the top award, Sweepstakes, in Texas Intercollegiate Press Association competition this spring, and Renegade won best magazine. Shorthorn and Renegade staff members Josh Taylor, Danny Woodward, Brad Rollins, Tiffany Murphy, Demond Reid, Mark Roberts, Michael Roger, Brandon Wade, Ryan Hartsell, Cory Wells, Lisa Evans, Jessica Felkel, Amber Tafoya, Beth Francesco, Steven Morris, Missy Saunders, Amy Bombassaro, Melissa Reilly, Barry Roges, Will Thorne, Marisa Alvarado and Brandon Guidry took home 32 TIPA awards. ...

Winners at the Star-Telegram. Carolyn Poirot's story "Operation Bizarre" was recognized for excellence in health news communication in the 2004 Anson Jones, MD, Awards competition. She won over 110 entries. ... Linda P. Campbell won a Gavel Award from the State Bar of Texas for her editorial series on medical malpractice. Judges deemed the entry "an outstanding example of fostering public understanding of our legal system." ... Environmental reporter Scott Streater is a finalist in the Investigative Reporters and Editors contest for a series he did for the Pensacola News Journal that documented how radioactive water had been piped to thousands of Florida residents for years even though authorities knew of high amounts of radium in fountains at an elementary school, an airport, government offices and the visitors welcome center. Streater also will attend the invitation-only Nieman Foundation for Journalism Environmental Conference at Harvard University on May 13-15. ... Ellen Schroeder has just returned from the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism's Cities, Suburbs and Beyond seminar at the University of Maryland. ...

The Star-Telegram's Diario La Estrella became the first Spanish-language daily to win first place at the Texas APME awards. Delia Jalomo won first place for feature page design, and Richard Gonzales won in general column. ... The Star-T's coverage of the American Airlines concessions saga last spring was one of three winners in breaking news in Society of American Business Editors and Writers competition. The story covered the day when flight attendants approved concessions after voting had been extended for a second day; Trebor Banstetter also broke a story that day about American's executive pension trust, which quickly set off a controversy that led to Don Carty's resignation. SABEW's national conference is May 2-4 at the Renaissance Worthington.

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The Dallas Examiner has immediate openings for a news designer/graphic artist and freelance news writers. Hours for the designer are mostly 9 a.m.-6 p.m., except on production day. Must be skillful with QuarkXPress on the Macintosh, Illustrator, Photoshop and Word; experience in copy editing helpful. Prefer someone with 3-5 years experience, but will train a talented designer with limited newspaper experience. Freelancers should be based in the Dallas area, love hard-news reporting and be able to get the "down and dirty details" of City Council and school board meetings or who would be the new Dallas police chief. Send résumé and samples to executive editor (and UTA Shorthorn ex) Sharon Egiebor, The Dallas Examiner, 1516 Corinth Ave. Dallas 75215, phone (214) 428-3446. ...

The University of North Texas marketing office needs a senior editor. Required: Three years of professional writing experience at a newspaper, magazine or college/university and a bachelor's degree preferably in journalism or English, or an equivalent combination of experience, education or training. Organizational and multitasking proficiency and competence in spelling, grammar, punctuation, AP style, Word and Excel. Higher education experience, advertising/marketing experience and Spanish proficiency are preferred. Send résumé and cover letter to UNT Human Resources Office, attn: Employment, P.O. Box 311010, Denton 76203-1010. ...

"CBS MarketWatch" is hiring 40 editors and reporters -- general assignment business writers (recent college grads), journalists who have covered specific financial beats -- over the next six months across several bureaus, including San Francisco, New York and Boston. Send résumés to Bettina Leong, operations manager, news, "CBS MarketWatch," bleong@marketwatch.com. ... An entry-level reporter position is open at KTXS-TV in Abilene. Send tapes to Iain Munro, KTXS-TV, 4420 N. Clack, Abilene 79601. ...

Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide seeks a VP-level tech business-to-business PR person based in Dallas and with chipset experience. This would likely be a part-time contract, possibly moving into full-time salaried. Contact Ogilvy human resources managing director Mindy S. Gikas at mindy.gikas@ogilvypr.com.

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Additions ... at the S-T: Angelica Cortez, part-time news researcher; she graduates with a master in library science from TWU in May

Promotions ... at the S-T: Tommy Cummings, formerly Arlington night metro editor, to editor of the Alliance Regional Newspapers ... Kevin Lyons, formerly higher education reporter, to night metro editor in Arlington

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Pamela Smith, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

Members of the Public Relations Student Society of America ventured out on a large passenger bus April 21 for a three-island mystery tour of public relations offices. Three students and an adviser from ACU, eight students from TCU and one student from UTA went along for the ride. Pro Am Day encompassed three surprise destinations -- JPS Health Network, Burlington Northern and Texas Motor Speedway -- that either scared the students into changing majors or gave them perspective on the hard work and dedication that makes great companies and organizations. Andra Bennett, PRSA student liaison, coordinated the effort and served as the tour guide.

The day concluded with a delicious meal at Joe T. Garcia's and a presentation from public affairs director Chris Lippincott of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault. He spoke on how the organization managed a $2 million grant from the Texas Attorney General's Office to embark on an integrated statewide awareness campaign -- a fitting topic, since April 18-24 was Crime Victims' Rights Week.

Greater Fort Worth PRSA has been doing Pro Am Day for years because we believe in guiding students who want to advance in our profession. I just wish more students would see the value in participating; the chapter easily could sponsor twice as many. It's not every day that companies open their doors to outsiders and share their trade secrets. Considering the tight job market where job seekers need as many advantages as possible, let's encourage more students to take advantage of this learning and network opportunity.

John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ

Lucy Dalglish singed the Bush administration at Fort Worth SPJ's awards dinner April 30 over the USA Patriot Act, the Homeland Security Act and 10 specific erosions of Americans' freedoms, and she had our attention like an oncoming train. The executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press keynoted a splendid evening of awards presentations and scholarship recognition at Ridglea Country Club. Lucy has our gratitude. More on her speech and the awards and scholarship recipients in the June eChaser. ...

John Kerry or Drew Carey? Last month we noted that the president had praised one Fathi Jahmi as a woman imprisoned by Libya in 2002 for advocating free speech and democracy, except Dr. Rice must not have read it to him that Jahmi is a man. Now The Washington Post reports that Bush's Democratic challenger doesn't know who the U.N. special envoy to Iraq is. Two days in a row, Kerry called Lakhdar Brahimi "Brandini." Not to be confused with the Great Brandini, sword swallower.

Closing words: "Being nice to each other is the best form of self-interest." -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, speaking at UTA ... "In New York City, they honk at people they want out of the way. In Hooks, we honked at people we wanted to take out." -- Star-Telegram sports writer and UTA Shorthorn ex David Thomas on strolling the Big Apple ... "Hiding the death and destruction of this war does not make it easier on anyone except those who want to keep the truth away from the people." -- Bill Mitchell, father of a U.S. Army soldier killed in Iraq; Mitchell believes that his son was in one of the caskets shown in the photograph that The Seattle Times ran ... "Let us rid ourselves of the fiction that low oil prices are somehow good for the United States." -- then-Wyoming Congressman Dick Cheney in October 1986 after he introduced legislation to create an import tax that would have raised the price of oil, and ultimately the price of gasoline paid by drivers, by billions of dollars per year ... "On '60 Minutes' last Sunday night, Bob Woodward suggested the main reason President Bush took the country to war was that he thinks he's on a mission from God; but the problem with that is that's also Osama bin Laden's reason." -- Jay Leno ... "We punched a big black bear in the eye and got him angry as hell but had no immediate plan to disable him, so of course he struck back in a very vicious way." -- Larry Diamond, senior adviser to the U.S.-led occupation authority in Baghdad, on the uprising led by Moqtada al-Sadr after the U.S. administrator of Iraq shut down a tabloid newspaper run by the Shiite Muslim cleric ... "America always does the right thing -- after it has exhausted all the alternatives." -- Winston Churchill