eChaser: June 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 June 2004 MEETINGS Next at IABC/Fort Worth ... Will the Day be a Bronze Bust? Not Hardly Pat Svacina, formerly the Fort Worth public information officer and now communications director for U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, will keynote IABC/Fort Worth's awards extravaganza -- the Bronze Quill luncheon -- June 1 at the Petroleum Club. The presentation annually recognizes Tarrant County communicators' best work in a plethora of print and visual categories. Time & date: 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 1 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: $25 members, $35 nonmembers, $20 students RSVP: Julie Trowbridge at trowbridgeja@c-b.com (deadline was May 27, but it's worth a try, to see if there's still room) ----- Next at Greater Fort Worth PRSA ... Pitch a Home Run for Your Company or Client Attend the June 9 PRSA professional development seminar and leave the Petroleum Club armed with tactics to increase your coverage, cultivate newstory angles and sell the toughest business editor in 10 seconds or less. Margo Mateas of The Public Relations Training Company (San Jose, Calif.) will lead the seminar and also address the monthly luncheon. Regardless of how scintillating the news release or how crafty the strategic planning, anyone's cold-calling skills may need some fine-tuning. Mateas, a.k.a. the Media Maven, responds with "Four Things Every Editor Wants to Hear From You" and "Ten Do's and Don'ts of E-mail Pitching." A former journalist who has trained PR practitioners to secure coverage in such outlets as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN and Investor's Business Daily, Mateas founded The Public Relations Training Company in 2001. Her clients include Weber Shandwick Worldwide, Six Flags Theme Parks, Kaiser Permanente and Marshalls/TJ Maxx. Time & date: seminar 9-11:30 a.m., luncheon 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, June 9 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: seminar and luncheon $45 members, $55 nonmembers, $30 students; seminar only $25 members, $32 nonmembers, $12 students; luncheon only $20 members, $23 nonmembers, $18 students RSVP by 5 p.m. June 4: rsvp@fortworthprsa.org; due to policy changes at the Petroleum Club, RSVPs for PRSA's monthly luncheons must be received no later than Friday preceding the date (RSVP no-shows will be billed, and RSVPs received after the deadline will be charged the nonmember rate) ----- Next at Fort Worth SPJ ... Success in Life: It Begins with Knowing Your Hats Scheduling difficulties jammed the June program, and the chapter customarily takes August off. Gather among yourselves for those two months, if you like, and tell us what you learned. Professional development meetings will return full-force in September, with the first one already planned -- Star-Telegram reader advocate David House and perhaps a panel of disgruntled readers (shouldn't be hard to find) plumbing the perceptions and pitfalls of covering Iraq, the November elections, etc. Treasonous liberal rag! Wear your hardhat. No scheduling conflicts should derail the summer party in July at breathtaking Cabo San Hardee on the sun-dappled shores of west Grand Prairie. Details next month. Leave your hardhat home. ================================================== STRAIGHT STUFF A little orange juice with the agenda. The next meeting of the D/FW Network of Hispanic Communicators will be at 9:30 a.m. June 5 at IHOP in Euless at 2309 W. Airport Freeway. The Hispanic Media Fair will be June 22 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Center for Community Cooperation, 2900 Live Oak St. in Dallas. More at dfwhispanic.org. ... Deadline to file for one of seven seats on the national PRSA 2005 Board of Directors -- president-elect, treasurer, secretary, four directors -- is 5 p.m., EDT, June 28. One director position will be filled from the Southeast District and one from the Southwest District, and two are open to members from any district. Also nominated will be three Assembly delegates at-large and one Canadian delegate at-large. Candidates must be accredited and have served in local leadership positions. More at prsa.org/_about/leadership/candidates.asp or from Debbie Girard at (212) 460-1484 or debbie.girard@prsa.org. ... Application deadline is July 15 for the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation's $40,000 Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing. Pulliam fellows take courses, pursue independent study, travel or tackle any other endeavor that enriches their knowledge of a public interest issue. In some cases, the fellowship has resulted in editorials and other writings, including books. A candidate must be a full-time editorial writer at a U.S. news publication and have at least three years experience as an editorial writer. Fellows do not have to leave their jobs. More at spj.org/fellowships_pulliam.asp, or contact Joyce Dobson, Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, (317) 927-8000 ext. 213 or jdobson@spj.org. ... The next PRSA Nu Pros happy hour social will be at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 16, on the patio at Blue Mesa Grill. The Nu Pros group offers career development support and other services geared to new PR professionals. Says organizer Adrienne Gaviglio: "Join us every PRSA meeting at the Nu Pros table. We have reserved a section especially for you and your friends." Reach her at gaviglioa@aol.com. ... The American Cancer Society needs communications volunteers for leadership positions (committees meet the third Monday of the month at 6 p.m., beginning Aug. 16). Upcoming campaigns include Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Great American Smokeout, Colon Cancer Awareness Month and Relay for Life. More from Theresa Davis, (817) 927-1616. SPJ national update: Portrait of a soldier; making the world safe for Halliburton; and meet the new boss, same as the old boss. A frustrated and bitter Secretary of State Colin Powell is uneasy with the president's agenda and fatigued from battling the Pentagon, Wil Hylton writes in the June GQ. Powell's chief of staff, Larry Wilkerson: "I have some reservations about people who have never been in the face of battle, ... who are making cavalier decisions about sending men and women out to die. ... I don't care whether [these] utopians are Vladimir Lenin in a sealed train going to Moscow or Paul Wolfowitz. Utopians, I don't like." ... Twelve current and former truckers who regularly made the dangerous 300-mile resupply run from Camp Cedar in southern Iraq to Camp Anaconda near Baghdad tell Knight Ridder that the trucks were empty while their employer, a subsidiary of Halliburton, billed the U.S. for hauling what they called "sailboat fuel." More here. ... Many of the editors and reporters at al-Sabah, a U.S.-funded newspaper that occupation officials called a model for Mideast journalism, walked out May 4, citing threats to their editorial independence. More here. SPJ national update II: The dam broke; behold the unlikely defender; and "a real emotional and physical toll." The Wall Street Journal on May 7 reported that the Red Cross discovered "serious violations" of the rights of Iraqi prisoners between March and November 2003. In a 24-page document, the International Committee of the Red Cross said treatment in some cases was "tantamount to torture." More here and here and here, with must-reads here and here and here and here. ... When Howard Stern railed against White House-appointed FCC chief Michael Powell over Stern's alleged culture crimes, he looked to be a man alone. Then former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani weighed in: "I think the FCC or regulatory agencies have better things to look at than that. And I think it does get very close to inhibiting free speech." And speaking of: Clear Channel executives, whom Stern says canned him for slamming President Bush, by mid-March had given $42,200 to Bush in the 2004 race, vs. $1,750 to Democrat John Kerry. The executives and Clear Channel's political action committee gave 77 percent of their $334,501 in federal contributions to Republicans -- a bigger share than any other entertainment company, says the Center for Responsive Politics. ... As the Chicago Tribune's Michael Martinez pursued his story on the National Guard staff sergeant who quit months of hiding to challenge U.S. conduct of the Iraq war, he opened a window on the feelings of many troops. Martinez interviewed officers and GIs on the day that Camilo Mejia's unit returned home to Ft. Stewart, Ga. "These year-long deployments, my gosh, they have taken a real toll on these guys, a real emotional and physical toll," Martinez says. More here. SPJ national update III: Incomprehensible debt; unPatriotic Republicans; and dare we think of leaving? The cost of the war in Iraq could top $150 billion through the next fiscal year -- three times the White House's first estimate. And congressional researchers and outside budget experts say the continuing occupation could total $300 billion over the next decade. As a measure of the Bush administration's priorities, it has spent about $3 in Iraq for every $1 going to homeland security. More here. ... A group of libertarian-minded Republicans in Congress is blocking the president's effort to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, which he has made one of his top domestic priorities this year. More here. ... E&P editor Greg Mitchell suggests that newspaper editorials strongly consider advocating a phased U.S. pullout from Iraq, or at the minimum begin a "healthy debate" on the subject. He cites a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll in which 47 percent of respondents said they favored withdrawing some or all troops; the figure was 37 percent a month before. More here. SPJ national update IV: It's not all bad news; court-marshalled; when outsourcing's OK; and journalists are dying. Actor Gary Sinise and "Seabiscuit" author Laura Hillenbrand founded Operation Iraqi Children to give Americans a means to assist the Iraqi people. The Web site is well-developed, the smiling faces seem light years removed from Abu Ghraib, and goodness knows the need is real. More here. Meanwhile, a year after the bombs began to fall, Iraqis express ambivalence about the invasion of their country but not about its effect: Most say their lives are going well and have improved since before the war, and expectations are high. See here. ... In a lawsuit filed May 10, the AP, The Hattiesburg (Miss.) American and writers Antoinette Konz and Denise Grones accuse the U.S. Marshals Service of violating the journalists' constitutional rights by seizing their tape recorders during a speech by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. More here. ... Until recently, the fund-raising and vote-seeking campaign for the Republican Party was done partly out of India. Between May 16, 2002, and July 22, 2003, HCL BPO Services -- the 100 per cent-owned subsidiary of Shiv Nadar-promoted HCL Technologies -- had 125 agents working in seven teams soliciting financial contributions. See here. ... The death toll for journalists working in Iraq hit 30 on May 7 after two reporters were targeted and killed by gunmen. More here. SPJ national update V: It's indecent!; no, it's not!; you suppose it's politics?; and GAO says administration broke the law. Strip club owners are asking patrons to fill out a voter registration form -- and then vote against the president. "It's not to say our industry loves John Kerry or anything like that," said Dave Manack, associate publisher of E.D. Publications, which publishes Exotic Dancer magazine. "But George Bush, if he's re-elected, it could be very damaging to our industry." More here. ... Despite threats to crush perceived indecency on TV and radio, odds are better than 50/50 now that Congress won't do anything this year. There may not be enough working days left to remove hurdles stalling the legislation, which would hike indecency fines to $1 million. See here. ... Justice Department officials recently said that they're awarding $47 million to law enforcement agencies to hire police officers. Funny, President Bush just proposed cutting the budget for the program, known as Community Oriented Policing Services, by 87 percent. Then Health and Human Services says it's giving $11.7 million in grants to help 30 states provide coverage for people without health insurance. But Bush proposed ending the program in each of the last three years. More here. ... The General Accounting Office said May 20 that the administration violated federal law by producing and disseminating TV news segments that portray the new Medicare law as a boon to the elderly. The agency called the videos "covert propaganda" because the government was not identified as the source of the materials. More here. ================================================== PEOPLE & PLACES Lindsay Houghton of TCU and Rachael Campbell, Abilene Christian U., have received the Greater Fort Worth PRSA 2004-05 student scholarships. A junior from Fort Worth, Houghton completed an internship with Witherspoon and Associates last fall. She is president of the TCU PRSSA chapter. Campbell, a junior from The Colony, is a member of ACU's PRSSA chapter and interned last summer with EDS in Plano. The scholarships are funded by donations the chapter makes on behalf of the monthly luncheon speakers. ... Jerrod Resweber has been promoted to account supervisor in the Dallas office of Weber Shandwick Worldwide, managing communications projects and staff on the American Airlines account. Since joining the agency in 2000, he has coordinated a 16-city sponsorship of the Komen Race for the Cure, launched a traveling museum exhibit on space exploration in Seattle, Wash., and generated national media attention for a statewide public awareness campaign on sexual assault in Texas. ... UTA's Renegade (Vol. 1, No. 1) was named Best Magazine, theshorthorn.com was named Best Online Newspaper, and The Shorthorn placed second in the Best Newspaper category in SPJ Mark of Excellence judging announced last month in San Antonio. The publications and staffs garnered 20 awards, representing the work of Brandon Wade, David Ortez, Mark Roberts, Sanjeev Datta, Danny Woodward, Demond Reid, Angel Verdejo, Kim P. Jones, Britney Tabor, Jon Cromer, Amy Bombassaro and Melissa Reilly. ... Fort Worth SPJ handed out First Amendment Awards and 14 high school and university scholarships April 30. Doug J. Swanson, The Dallas Morning News; Jennifer Autrey, Yamil Berard and Scott Streater, Star-Telegram; Todd Bensman and Robert Riggs, KTVT/CBS 11; Wendy Lyons Sunshine, Fort Worth Weekly; Dan Malone, FWW; Carolyn Barta, DMN; and Kristen Gilbreth, The University Daily, Texas Tech, all won awards for work that defends the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, furthers the people's right to know and champions the cause of the powerless and disadvantaged, with the top accolade, Defending the Open Doors, going to Craig Flournoy, SMU. Lina Davis Scholarships went to Kevin Bueker, TCC Southeast; Stephanie Gonzales, UTA; Marcela Gonzalez, TCC Southeast; Hayley Harris, UTA; Daniel Johnson, TCC Southeast; James R. Phillips, UNT; Amanda Smith, TCC Southeast; Maria Smith, UTA; Carolyn Stephens, Baylor; and Angela Marie Tennison, Texas State U. Erin Gage, UT Austin, won the Staley and Beverly McBrayer Scholarship; James Hernandez, UNT, the Jack Tinsley Scholarship; Ebony Moore, UTA, Joe Holstead Scholarship; and Teresa Weaver, Texas A&M, Al Panzera Scholarship. ... Muhiddin Abdurasulov, a young correspondent for the Hurriyat (Freedom) Independent Weekly Newspaper in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is visiting the Star-Telegram in cooperation with Freedom House, a Washington-based organization that promotes democracy throughout the world. He writes news stories and opinion pieces and is working on his B.A. in journalism; he also has studied theory but would like to know more about how a free press operates. He'll be in town through June 18. ... Baby daze! Andrea Ahles Koos and husband Joe have a son, Alexander "Zander" Mathias Koos, born at 5:17 p.m. May 18 at Harris Methodist Hospital. Kudos & contracts ... Envision Works will create a direct marketing program for The Plant People, a Fort Worth commercial and residential landscaping company. After demographic studies, Envision Works will write, design and produce the direct mail materials and also manage the mailing to targeted homeowners. ... InterStar Marketing & Public Relations has been tapped by Promotional Products Association International to increase awareness for the promotional products industry. InterStar will develop messages and identify and develop media opportunities and strategies. The campaign will be targeted to business media in key markets with the message that promotional products work. ================================================== GET A JOB UTA Student Publications is looking for a full-time production manager and for an adviser for the student magazine, Renegade. "Renegade is new and still finding its identity," notes SP director Lloyd Goodman. "But it is attracting a creative staff, and its first issue was named Best Magazine in a number of contests." Excerpts from the latest issue -- Vol. 2, No. 2 -- are at www.renegade-magazine.com. The job description is at www3.uta.edu/employment/ (click on "Applicants," then "Staff Employment Opportunities," then "Part Time" and "All Areas"). Goodman is at lloydg@uta.edu. ... The TCU Daily Skiff seeks a production manager. The job's essentially 3 p.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday, with emphasis on maintenance and coordination of software and hardware, training and managing students. "It's not for everybody," writes Skiff adviser Robert Bohler, "but the perqs -- insurance, tuition remission -- make it attractive." Reach Bohler at r.bohler@tcu.edu. ... The Hurst-Euless-Bedford Chamber of Commerce, located in Bedford, seeks a communications director. Requirements include a bachelor's degree in journalism, PR, marketing or related field and at least two years experience, plus proficiency in QuarkXPress, Publisher, Dreamweaver, FTP applications and database software and in creating and maintaining Web sites. Salary $28,000-$32,000. Contact maryfrazior@heb.org. ... Florida-based IntelleDisc Technologies has a contract opening for a senior PR specialist with experience serving high-tech, marketing or sales-related clients. Requirements include five to seven years PR work in the software industry or related to sales automation and marketing strategy, and strong media, analyst and event contacts. Agency background a plus, as is being Dallas-based. IntelleDisc markets a CD-based sales automation system that collects customer data for delivery to a sales rep's cellphone, e-mail or the company database. E-mail résumé and cover letter to Brandon Rowe, director of business development, brandon@trend-setters.us. For information in Dallas, call (972) 467-5931. ================================================== NEW MEMBERS PRSA ... Jessica Ashby, communications specialist, AmeriCredit ... Rebekah LaMontagne, communications director, Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors ... Steve Roth, communications director, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport IABC ... Sue Austin, Aries Productions; Michelle Parker; Mariana Gomez; Laura Van Hoosier SPJ ... Alexis Wilson, editor of Fort Worth, Texas: The City's Magazine ... Knox College grad Beth Clark, mass communications teacher at Texas Woman's U. in Denton and former editor of Neil Sperry's Gardens magazine ================================================== READING MATTERS "Sea Wolf of the Confederacy: The Daring Civil War Raids of Naval Lt. Charles W. Read" / David W. Shaw / Simon & Schuster In June 1863, just days before the epic clash at Gettysburg ended the last rebel land invasion of the North, a small party of the Confederate navy mounted a devastating series of raids on the New England coast, culminating in a battle off Portland, Maine. Hotheaded young adventurer Charles W. Read, who had resigned his commission as a Union midshipman to become a lieutenant in the Confederate navy, was serving aboard the CSS Florida off the coast of Brazil when he hatched a plan to sail a captured brig into the Union's home waters and wreak havoc on its shipping lanes. Burning or capturing more than 20 merchant vessels in less than three weeks and switching ships several times to elude capture, Read's rampage caused panic in Northern cities, made headlines in the major dailies and brought enormous pressure on Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles to "stop the rebel pirate." At one point nearly 40 Union ships were hunting Read in a cat-and-mouse game that finally led to his capture off the coast of Maine. Author Shaw offers a new perspective on the divisions splitting North and South during this dark time in American history. ================================================== RESOURCES National Geographic has maybe the best mapping site on the Internet, from street maps of North America and Europe to historical maps of railroads and battles, as well as physical, political, cultural and panoramic maps. There's even a terrain map of Mars. The intro screen at plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/ presents a world map that allows zooming and navigating. ================================================== PRESIDENT'S CORNER Pamela Smith, Greater Fort Worth PRSA One often wonders why people join professional organizations. Many of us whose companies are cutting costs can't avoid the question. The bill must be justified, whether an employer pays it or the individual does. PRSA has many value-added services, with networking being perhaps the most appreciated. Then there are the luncheon programs, mentoring opportunities, job listings, project leads for agencies and sole practitioners, and access to surveys and research. One area that not enough people know about is our remote learning resources. The Greater Fort Worth chapter has proudly provided a number of teaching modules via teleseminars to members and nonmembers alike. For a low cost (many times no cost), we obtain insight to best practices and learn from the most senior people in our industry how to make a business run smoothly. Plus, we can watch or listen from a convenient location. In some cases, the chapter pays the site-fee registration, but often a local company assists. A special thanks to Alcon Laboratories, the Masonic Home and School of Texas, and UNT Health Science Center for hosting these teleseminars (and to John Peter Smith Hospital, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Texas Motor Speedway, while we're thanking people, for showing students a slice of PR life on the recent Mystery Tour). If your company is paying for a teleseminar and you want to invite others to attend, please let me know. If you have not had a chance to attend one of these meetings, keep your eyes open for future announcements. While the chapter board cannot absorb the cost of all the teleseminars offered by national, with your help many will be available to members and future members. So the next time you're asked why you are a member of PRSA, please remember this member benefit. ----- OVER & OUT John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ I didn't know Chris Neely, but still I felt a sense of loss at his passing April 30. I had edited his columns at the Star-Telegram, where he was a writer and his young widow is a page designer. People I respect used phrases like "admired colleague" and "talented and dedicated journalist" to describe him. "He had the wonderful ability to find humor in the most unlikely places and write about those situations in a way that never demeaned but celebrated the foibles in all of us," recalled his editor at the S-T Northeast, Larry Lutz. You saw it in his picture that accompanied a letters-to-the-editor tribute. Kind eyes. Intelligent. Inquisitive. No arrogance lurking in there, no smugness. Maybe some mischief, though. Bet he was a good dad. The Neelys' son, Hayden, is 7 months old. Chris was 37. His was a good life cut short. And we all lost a little. ... Even curmudgeons get it right now and again: Andy Rooney on "60 Minutes," May 23. ... So I sat down (it's a figure of speech) to condense Lucy Dalglish's address to our First Amendment Awards dinner into a tidy 400 words and couldn't do it. What was I thinking? The executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has a vital message of liberties lost under the Bush administration that must be heard. Summarizing merely dilutes it. So it's here. All of it. Read it and weep. And if you missed it live, you missed one of Fort Worth SPJ's most elegant nights ever. Worthy people won things, and -- here's how you know you did it right -- most of the 118 in attendance were in no hurry to leave. Good job, Gayle Reaves-King, Kristin Sullivan, Kay Pirtle, Dorothy Estes, Dino Chiecchi, et al. And to the poised and thought-provoking Ms. Dalglish: Regardless of how many of these dinners we do, you will always be remembered as the powerful first speaker. No one else could've christened this event with such grace. ... Quote of any month, from Brendan Gill in "Here at The New Yorker," via Star-T reader advocate David House: "Questioning a comma, he will shake his head and say in his soft voice that he realizes perfectly well what a lot of time and thought have gone into the comma and that in the ordinary course of events he would be the first to say that the comma was precisely the form of punctuation that he would have been most happy to encounter at that very place in the sentence, but isn't there the possibility -- oh, only the remotest one, to be sure, and yet perhaps worth considering for a moment in the light of the care already bestowed on the construction -- that the sentence could be made to read infinitesimally more clearly if, say, instead of a comma a semicolon were to be inserted at just that point?" Closing words: "It's devious, it's deceptive, it's dishonest, it's valueless. I can't believe they'd pull this kind of fast trick on kids who have already served." -- MariAnn Curta in the Chicago Tribune, saying that a recruiter told her 22-year-old son, Bill, who recently completed a nine-month tour of duty in Iraq, that he could be headed back there unless he enlisted in the Illinois National Guard ... "My soldiers who were at Abu Ghraib are so scared now, they're not even talking to me anymore. I'm like a villain, but would I do it again? Of course I would. ... I knew what was being reported was not true." -- Sgt. Samuel Provance, who has been disciplined by the military for giving an insider's view of the Baghdad prison to the media ... "Cruelty feeds on ignorance. And I have yet to see ignorance effectively addressed by secrecy. On all the tough problems, from AIDS to teen suicide to drug addiction to priests who abuse children, society has made progress when the truth is told." -- Geneva Overholser ... "I think a lot of people are fed up with the lack of civil rights this thing has caused. I don't think this administration is committed to democracy." -- Michael Berg on the detainment and subsequent videotaped death of his son, Nick, in Iraq ... "All it is, is lack of leadership, lack of instruction and lack of standard operating procedure, and everyone at the top is covering their butts." -- Daniel Sivits, who says he spent 22.5 years in the military and whose son, Spc. Jeremy Sivits, is the first U.S. soldier to face court martial over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib ... "The Iraqi people are now free. And they do not have to worry about the secret police coming after them in the middle of the night, and they don't have to worry about their husbands and brothers being taken off and shot, or their wives being taken to rape rooms. Those days are over." -- Paul Bremer, administrator, Coalition Provisional Authority, Sept. 2, 2003 ... "(W)e are in a situation that is no longer in control, and we can't make the fairy tale outcome that we would like to see happen in Iraq." -- Charles V. Peña, director of defense policy studies at the Cato Institute, a conservative Washington think tank ... "Art is the means we have of undoing the damage of haste. It's what everything else isn't." -- poet Theodore Roethke ... "There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." -- poet Joseph Brodsky ... "My life has been incredible. I don't believe a word of it." -- Katherine Anne Porter ... "I once had a rose named after me, and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: 'No good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.' " -- Eleanor Roosevelt

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

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

June 2004

MEETINGS

Next at IABC/Fort Worth ...

Will the Day be a Bronze Bust? Not Hardly

Pat Svacina, formerly the Fort Worth public information officer and now communications director for U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, will keynote IABC/Fort Worth's awards extravaganza -- the Bronze Quill luncheon -- June 1 at the Petroleum Club. The presentation annually recognizes Tarrant County communicators' best work in a plethora of print and visual categories.

Time & date: 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 1

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: $25 members, $35 nonmembers, $20 students

RSVP: Julie Trowbridge at trowbridgeja@c-b.com (deadline was May 27, but it's worth a try, to see if there's still room)

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Next at Greater Fort Worth PRSA ...

Pitch a Home Run for Your Company or Client

Attend the June 9 PRSA professional development seminar and leave the Petroleum Club armed with tactics to increase your coverage, cultivate newstory angles and sell the toughest business editor in 10 seconds or less. Margo Mateas of The Public Relations Training Company (San Jose, Calif.) will lead the seminar and also address the monthly luncheon.

Regardless of how scintillating the news release or how crafty the strategic planning, anyone's cold-calling skills may need some fine-tuning. Mateas, a.k.a. the Media Maven, responds with "Four Things Every Editor Wants to Hear From You" and "Ten Do's and Don'ts of E-mail Pitching."

A former journalist who has trained PR practitioners to secure coverage in such outlets as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN and Investor's Business Daily, Mateas founded The Public Relations Training Company in 2001. Her clients include Weber Shandwick Worldwide, Six Flags Theme Parks, Kaiser Permanente and Marshalls/TJ Maxx.

Time & date: seminar 9-11:30 a.m., luncheon 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, June 9

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: seminar and luncheon $45 members, $55 nonmembers, $30 students; seminar only $25 members, $32 nonmembers, $12 students; luncheon only $20 members, $23 nonmembers, $18 students

RSVP by 5 p.m. June 4: rsvp@fortworthprsa.org; due to policy changes at the Petroleum Club, RSVPs for PRSA's monthly luncheons must be received no later than Friday preceding the date (RSVP no-shows will be billed, and RSVPs received after the deadline will be charged the nonmember rate)

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Next at Fort Worth SPJ ...

Success in Life: It Begins with Knowing Your Hats

Scheduling difficulties jammed the June program, and the chapter customarily takes August off. Gather among yourselves for those two months, if you like, and tell us what you learned. Professional development meetings will return full-force in September, with the first one already planned -- Star-Telegram reader advocate David House and perhaps a panel of disgruntled readers (shouldn't be hard to find) plumbing the perceptions and pitfalls of covering Iraq, the November elections, etc. Treasonous liberal rag! Wear your hardhat.

No scheduling conflicts should derail the summer party in July at breathtaking Cabo San Hardee on the sun-dappled shores of west Grand Prairie. Details next month. Leave your hardhat home.

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

STRAIGHT STUFF

A little orange juice with the agenda. The next meeting of the D/FW Network of Hispanic Communicators will be at 9:30 a.m. June 5 at IHOP in Euless at 2309 W. Airport Freeway. The Hispanic Media Fair will be June 22 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Center for Community Cooperation, 2900 Live Oak St. in Dallas. More at dfwhispanic.org. ...

Deadline to file for one of seven seats on the national PRSA 2005 Board of Directors -- president-elect, treasurer, secretary, four directors -- is 5 p.m., EDT, June 28. One director position will be filled from the Southeast District and one from the Southwest District, and two are open to members from any district. Also nominated will be three Assembly delegates at-large and one Canadian delegate at-large. Candidates must be accredited and have served in local leadership positions. More at prsa.org/_about/leadership/candidates.asp or from Debbie Girard at (212) 460-1484 or debbie.girard@prsa.org. ...

Application deadline is July 15 for the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation's $40,000 Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing. Pulliam fellows take courses, pursue independent study, travel or tackle any other endeavor that enriches their knowledge of a public interest issue. In some cases, the fellowship has resulted in editorials and other writings, including books. A candidate must be a full-time editorial writer at a U.S. news publication and have at least three years experience as an editorial writer. Fellows do not have to leave their jobs. More at spj.org/fellowships_pulliam.asp, or contact Joyce Dobson, Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, (317) 927-8000 ext. 213 or jdobson@spj.org. ...

The next PRSA Nu Pros happy hour social will be at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 16, on the patio at Blue Mesa Grill. The Nu Pros group offers career development support and other services geared to new PR professionals. Says organizer Adrienne Gaviglio: "Join us every PRSA meeting at the Nu Pros table. We have reserved a section especially for you and your friends." Reach her at gaviglioa@aol.com. ...

The American Cancer Society needs communications volunteers for leadership positions (committees meet the third Monday of the month at 6 p.m., beginning Aug. 16). Upcoming campaigns include Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Great American Smokeout, Colon Cancer Awareness Month and Relay for Life. More from Theresa Davis, (817) 927-1616.

SPJ national update: Portrait of a soldier; making the world safe for Halliburton; and meet the new boss, same as the old boss. A frustrated and bitter Secretary of State Colin Powell is uneasy with the president's agenda and fatigued from battling the Pentagon, Wil Hylton writes in the June GQ. Powell's chief of staff, Larry Wilkerson: "I have some reservations about people who have never been in the face of battle, ... who are making cavalier decisions about sending men and women out to die. ... I don't care whether [these] utopians are Vladimir Lenin in a sealed train going to Moscow or Paul Wolfowitz. Utopians, I don't like." ... Twelve current and former truckers who regularly made the dangerous 300-mile resupply run from Camp Cedar in southern Iraq to Camp Anaconda near Baghdad tell Knight Ridder that the trucks were empty while their employer, a subsidiary of Halliburton, billed the U.S. for hauling what they called "sailboat fuel." More here. ... Many of the editors and reporters at al-Sabah, a U.S.-funded newspaper that occupation officials called a model for Mideast journalism, walked out May 4, citing threats to their editorial independence. More here.

SPJ national update II: The dam broke; behold the unlikely defender; and "a real emotional and physical toll." The Wall Street Journal on May 7 reported that the Red Cross discovered "serious violations" of the rights of Iraqi prisoners between March and November 2003. In a 24-page document, the International Committee of the Red Cross said treatment in some cases was "tantamount to torture." More here and here and here, with must-reads here and here and here and here. ... When Howard Stern railed against White House-appointed FCC chief Michael Powell over Stern's alleged culture crimes, he looked to be a man alone. Then former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani weighed in: "I think the FCC or regulatory agencies have better things to look at than that. And I think it does get very close to inhibiting free speech." And speaking of: Clear Channel executives, whom Stern says canned him for slamming President Bush, by mid-March had given $42,200 to Bush in the 2004 race, vs. $1,750 to Democrat John Kerry. The executives and Clear Channel's political action committee gave 77 percent of their $334,501 in federal contributions to Republicans -- a bigger share than any other entertainment company, says the Center for Responsive Politics. ... As the Chicago Tribune's Michael Martinez pursued his story on the National Guard staff sergeant who quit months of hiding to challenge U.S. conduct of the Iraq war, he opened a window on the feelings of many troops. Martinez interviewed officers and GIs on the day that Camilo Mejia's unit returned home to Ft. Stewart, Ga. "These year-long deployments, my gosh, they have taken a real toll on these guys, a real emotional and physical toll," Martinez says. More here.

SPJ national update III: Incomprehensible debt; unPatriotic Republicans; and dare we think of leaving? The cost of the war in Iraq could top $150 billion through the next fiscal year -- three times the White House's first estimate. And congressional researchers and outside budget experts say the continuing occupation could total $300 billion over the next decade. As a measure of the Bush administration's priorities, it has spent about $3 in Iraq for every $1 going to homeland security. More here. ... A group of libertarian-minded Republicans in Congress is blocking the president's effort to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, which he has made one of his top domestic priorities this year. More here. ... E&P editor Greg Mitchell suggests that newspaper editorials strongly consider advocating a phased U.S. pullout from Iraq, or at the minimum begin a "healthy debate" on the subject. He cites a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll in which 47 percent of respondents said they favored withdrawing some or all troops; the figure was 37 percent a month before. More here.

SPJ national update IV: It's not all bad news; court-marshalled; when outsourcing's OK; and journalists are dying. Actor Gary Sinise and "Seabiscuit" author Laura Hillenbrand founded Operation Iraqi Children to give Americans a means to assist the Iraqi people. The Web site is well-developed, the smiling faces seem light years removed from Abu Ghraib, and goodness knows the need is real. More here. Meanwhile, a year after the bombs began to fall, Iraqis express ambivalence about the invasion of their country but not about its effect: Most say their lives are going well and have improved since before the war, and expectations are high. See here. ... In a lawsuit filed May 10, the AP, The Hattiesburg (Miss.) American and writers Antoinette Konz and Denise Grones accuse the U.S. Marshals Service of violating the journalists' constitutional rights by seizing their tape recorders during a speech by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. More here. ... Until recently, the fund-raising and vote-seeking campaign for the Republican Party was done partly out of India. Between May 16, 2002, and July 22, 2003, HCL BPO Services -- the 100 per cent-owned subsidiary of Shiv Nadar-promoted HCL Technologies -- had 125 agents working in seven teams soliciting financial contributions. See here. ... The death toll for journalists working in Iraq hit 30 on May 7 after two reporters were targeted and killed by gunmen. More here.

SPJ national update V: It's indecent!; no, it's not!; you suppose it's politics?; and GAO says administration broke the law. Strip club owners are asking patrons to fill out a voter registration form -- and then vote against the president. "It's not to say our industry loves John Kerry or anything like that," said Dave Manack, associate publisher of E.D. Publications, which publishes Exotic Dancer magazine. "But George Bush, if he's re-elected, it could be very damaging to our industry." More here. ... Despite threats to crush perceived indecency on TV and radio, odds are better than 50/50 now that Congress won't do anything this year. There may not be enough working days left to remove hurdles stalling the legislation, which would hike indecency fines to $1 million. See here. ... Justice Department officials recently said that they're awarding $47 million to law enforcement agencies to hire police officers. Funny, President Bush just proposed cutting the budget for the program, known as Community Oriented Policing Services, by 87 percent. Then Health and Human Services says it's giving $11.7 million in grants to help 30 states provide coverage for people without health insurance. But Bush proposed ending the program in each of the last three years. More here. ... The General Accounting Office said May 20 that the administration violated federal law by producing and disseminating TV news segments that portray the new Medicare law as a boon to the elderly. The agency called the videos "covert propaganda" because the government was not identified as the source of the materials. More here.

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PEOPLE & PLACES

Lindsay Houghton of TCU and Rachael Campbell, Abilene Christian U., have received the Greater Fort Worth PRSA 2004-05 student scholarships. A junior from Fort Worth, Houghton completed an internship with Witherspoon and Associates last fall. She is president of the TCU PRSSA chapter. Campbell, a junior from The Colony, is a member of ACU's PRSSA chapter and interned last summer with EDS in Plano. The scholarships are funded by donations the chapter makes on behalf of the monthly luncheon speakers. ...

Jerrod Resweber has been promoted to account supervisor in the Dallas office of Weber Shandwick Worldwide, managing communications projects and staff on the American Airlines account. Since joining the agency in 2000, he has coordinated a 16-city sponsorship of the Komen Race for the Cure, launched a traveling museum exhibit on space exploration in Seattle, Wash., and generated national media attention for a statewide public awareness campaign on sexual assault in Texas. ...

UTA's Renegade (Vol. 1, No. 1) was named Best Magazine, theshorthorn.com was named Best Online Newspaper, and The Shorthorn placed second in the Best Newspaper category in SPJ Mark of Excellence judging announced last month in San Antonio. The publications and staffs garnered 20 awards, representing the work of Brandon Wade, David Ortez, Mark Roberts, Sanjeev Datta, Danny Woodward, Demond Reid, Angel Verdejo, Kim P. Jones, Britney Tabor, Jon Cromer, Amy Bombassaro and Melissa Reilly. ...

Fort Worth SPJ handed out First Amendment Awards and 14 high school and university scholarships April 30. Doug J. Swanson, The Dallas Morning News; Jennifer Autrey, Yamil Berard and Scott Streater, Star-Telegram; Todd Bensman and Robert Riggs, KTVT/CBS 11; Wendy Lyons Sunshine, Fort Worth Weekly; Dan Malone, FWW; Carolyn Barta, DMN; and Kristen Gilbreth, The University Daily, Texas Tech, all won awards for work that defends the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, furthers the people's right to know and champions the cause of the powerless and disadvantaged, with the top accolade, Defending the Open Doors, going to Craig Flournoy, SMU. Lina Davis Scholarships went to Kevin Bueker, TCC Southeast; Stephanie Gonzales, UTA; Marcela Gonzalez, TCC Southeast; Hayley Harris, UTA; Daniel Johnson, TCC Southeast; James R. Phillips, UNT; Amanda Smith, TCC Southeast; Maria Smith, UTA; Carolyn Stephens, Baylor; and Angela Marie Tennison, Texas State U. Erin Gage, UT Austin, won the Staley and Beverly McBrayer Scholarship; James Hernandez, UNT, the Jack Tinsley Scholarship; Ebony Moore, UTA, Joe Holstead Scholarship; and Teresa Weaver, Texas A&M, Al Panzera Scholarship. ...

Muhiddin Abdurasulov, a young correspondent for the Hurriyat (Freedom) Independent Weekly Newspaper in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is visiting the Star-Telegram in cooperation with Freedom House, a Washington-based organization that promotes democracy throughout the world. He writes news stories and opinion pieces and is working on his B.A. in journalism; he also has studied theory but would like to know more about how a free press operates. He'll be in town through June 18. ...

Baby daze! Andrea Ahles Koos and husband Joe have a son, Alexander "Zander" Mathias Koos, born at 5:17 p.m. May 18 at Harris Methodist Hospital.

Kudos & contracts ... Envision Works will create a direct marketing program for The Plant People, a Fort Worth commercial and residential landscaping company. After demographic studies, Envision Works will write, design and produce the direct mail materials and also manage the mailing to targeted homeowners. ... InterStar Marketing & Public Relations has been tapped by Promotional Products Association International to increase awareness for the promotional products industry. InterStar will develop messages and identify and develop media opportunities and strategies. The campaign will be targeted to business media in key markets with the message that promotional products work.

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GET A JOB

UTA Student Publications is looking for a full-time production manager and for an adviser for the student magazine, Renegade. "Renegade is new and still finding its identity," notes SP director Lloyd Goodman. "But it is attracting a creative staff, and its first issue was named Best Magazine in a number of contests." Excerpts from the latest issue -- Vol. 2, No. 2 -- are at www.renegade-magazine.com. The job description is at www3.uta.edu/employment/ (click on "Applicants," then "Staff Employment Opportunities," then "Part Time" and "All Areas"). Goodman is at lloydg@uta.edu. ...

The TCU Daily Skiff seeks a production manager. The job's essentially 3 p.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday, with emphasis on maintenance and coordination of software and hardware, training and managing students. "It's not for everybody," writes Skiff adviser Robert Bohler, "but the perqs -- insurance, tuition remission -- make it attractive." Reach Bohler at r.bohler@tcu.edu. ...

The Hurst-Euless-Bedford Chamber of Commerce, located in Bedford, seeks a communications director. Requirements include a bachelor's degree in journalism, PR, marketing or related field and at least two years experience, plus proficiency in QuarkXPress, Publisher, Dreamweaver, FTP applications and database software and in creating and maintaining Web sites. Salary $28,000-$32,000. Contact maryfrazior@heb.org. ...

Florida-based IntelleDisc Technologies has a contract opening for a senior PR specialist with experience serving high-tech, marketing or sales-related clients. Requirements include five to seven years PR work in the software industry or related to sales automation and marketing strategy, and strong media, analyst and event contacts. Agency background a plus, as is being Dallas-based. IntelleDisc markets a CD-based sales automation system that collects customer data for delivery to a sales rep's cellphone, e-mail or the company database. E-mail résumé and cover letter to Brandon Rowe, director of business development, brandon@trend-setters.us. For information in Dallas, call (972) 467-5931.

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NEW MEMBERS

PRSA ... Jessica Ashby, communications specialist, AmeriCredit ... Rebekah LaMontagne, communications director, Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors ... Steve Roth, communications director, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

IABC ... Sue Austin, Aries Productions; Michelle Parker; Mariana Gomez; Laura Van Hoosier

SPJ ... Alexis Wilson, editor of Fort Worth, Texas: The City's Magazine ... Knox College grad Beth Clark, mass communications teacher at Texas Woman's U. in Denton and former editor of Neil Sperry's Gardens magazine

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READING MATTERS

"Sea Wolf of the Confederacy: The Daring

Civil War Raids of Naval Lt. Charles W. Read" /

David W. Shaw / Simon & Schuster

In June 1863, just days before the epic clash at Gettysburg ended the last rebel land invasion of the North, a small party of the Confederate navy mounted a devastating series of raids on the New England coast, culminating in a battle off Portland, Maine. Hotheaded young adventurer Charles W. Read, who had resigned his commission as a Union midshipman to become a lieutenant in the Confederate navy, was serving aboard the CSS Florida off the coast of Brazil when he hatched a plan to sail a captured brig into the Union's home waters and wreak havoc on its shipping lanes. Burning or capturing more than 20 merchant vessels in less than three weeks and switching ships several times to elude capture, Read's rampage caused panic in Northern cities, made headlines in the major dailies and brought enormous pressure on Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles to "stop the rebel pirate." At one point nearly 40 Union ships were hunting Read in a cat-and-mouse game that finally led to his capture off the coast of Maine. Author Shaw offers a new perspective on the divisions splitting North and South during this dark time in American history.

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RESOURCES

National Geographic has maybe the best mapping site on the Internet, from street maps of North America and Europe to historical maps of railroads and battles, as well as physical, political, cultural and panoramic maps. There's even a terrain map of Mars. The intro screen at plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/ presents a world map that allows zooming and navigating.

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PRESIDENT'S CORNER

Pamela Smith, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

One often wonders why people join professional organizations. Many of us whose companies are cutting costs can't avoid the question. The bill must be justified, whether an employer pays it or the individual does. PRSA has many value-added services, with networking being perhaps the most appreciated. Then there are the luncheon programs, mentoring opportunities, job listings, project leads for agencies and sole practitioners, and access to surveys and research.

One area that not enough people know about is our remote learning resources. The Greater Fort Worth chapter has proudly provided a number of teaching modules via teleseminars to members and nonmembers alike. For a low cost (many times no cost), we obtain insight to best practices and learn from the most senior people in our industry how to make a business run smoothly. Plus, we can watch or listen from a convenient location. In some cases, the chapter pays the site-fee registration, but often a local company assists. A special thanks to Alcon Laboratories, the Masonic Home and School of Texas, and UNT Health Science Center for hosting these teleseminars (and to John Peter Smith Hospital, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Texas Motor Speedway, while we're thanking people, for showing students a slice of PR life on the recent Mystery Tour).

If your company is paying for a teleseminar and you want to invite others to attend, please let me know. If you have not had a chance to attend one of these meetings, keep your eyes open for future announcements. While the chapter board cannot absorb the cost of all the teleseminars offered by national, with your help many will be available to members and future members. So the next time you're asked why you are a member of PRSA, please remember this member benefit.

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OVER & OUT

John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ

I didn't know Chris Neely, but still I felt a sense of loss at his passing April 30. I had edited his columns at the Star-Telegram, where he was a writer and his young widow is a page designer. People I respect used phrases like "admired colleague" and "talented and dedicated journalist" to describe him. "He had the wonderful ability to find humor in the most unlikely places and write about those situations in a way that never demeaned but celebrated the foibles in all of us," recalled his editor at the S-T Northeast, Larry Lutz. You saw it in his picture that accompanied a letters-to-the-editor tribute. Kind eyes. Intelligent. Inquisitive. No arrogance lurking in there, no smugness. Maybe some mischief, though. Bet he was a good dad. The Neelys' son, Hayden, is 7 months old. Chris was 37. His was a good life cut short. And we all lost a little. ...

Even curmudgeons get it right now and again: Andy Rooney on "60 Minutes," May 23. ...

So I sat down (it's a figure of speech) to condense Lucy Dalglish's address to our First Amendment Awards dinner into a tidy 400 words and couldn't do it. What was I thinking? The executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has a vital message of liberties lost under the Bush administration that must be heard. Summarizing merely dilutes it. So it's here. All of it. Read it and weep. And if you missed it live, you missed one of Fort Worth SPJ's most elegant nights ever. Worthy people won things, and -- here's how you know you did it right -- most of the 118 in attendance were in no hurry to leave. Good job, Gayle Reaves-King, Kristin Sullivan, Kay Pirtle, Dorothy Estes, Dino Chiecchi, et al. And to the poised and thought-provoking Ms. Dalglish: Regardless of how many of these dinners we do, you will always be remembered as the powerful first speaker. No one else could've christened this event with such grace. ...

Quote of any month, from Brendan Gill in "Here at The New Yorker," via Star-T reader advocate David House: "Questioning a comma, he will shake his head and say in his soft voice that he realizes perfectly well what a lot of time and thought have gone into the comma and that in the ordinary course of events he would be the first to say that the comma was precisely the form of punctuation that he would have been most happy to encounter at that very place in the sentence, but isn't there the possibility -- oh, only the remotest one, to be sure, and yet perhaps worth considering for a moment in the light of the care already bestowed on the construction -- that the sentence could be made to read infinitesimally more clearly if, say, instead of a comma a semicolon were to be inserted at just that point?"

Closing words: "It's devious, it's deceptive, it's dishonest, it's valueless. I can't believe they'd pull this kind of fast trick on kids who have already served." -- MariAnn Curta in the Chicago Tribune, saying that a recruiter told her 22-year-old son, Bill, who recently completed a nine-month tour of duty in Iraq, that he could be headed back there unless he enlisted in the Illinois National Guard ... "My soldiers who were at Abu Ghraib are so scared now, they're not even talking to me anymore. I'm like a villain, but would I do it again? Of course I would. ... I knew what was being reported was not true." -- Sgt. Samuel Provance, who has been disciplined by the military for giving an insider's view of the Baghdad prison to the media ... "Cruelty feeds on ignorance. And I have yet to see ignorance effectively addressed by secrecy. On all the tough problems, from AIDS to teen suicide to drug addiction to priests who abuse children, society has made progress when the truth is told." -- Geneva Overholser ... "I think a lot of people are fed up with the lack of civil rights this thing has caused. I don't think this administration is committed to democracy." -- Michael Berg on the detainment and subsequent videotaped death of his son, Nick, in Iraq ... "All it is, is lack of leadership, lack of instruction and lack of standard operating procedure, and everyone at the top is covering their butts." -- Daniel Sivits, who says he spent 22.5 years in the military and whose son, Spc. Jeremy Sivits, is the first U.S. soldier to face court martial over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib ... "The Iraqi people are now free. And they do not have to worry about the secret police coming after them in the middle of the night, and they don't have to worry about their husbands and brothers being taken off and shot, or their wives being taken to rape rooms. Those days are over." -- Paul Bremer, administrator, Coalition Provisional Authority, Sept. 2, 2003 ... "(W)e are in a situation that is no longer in control, and we can't make the fairy tale outcome that we would like to see happen in Iraq." -- Charles V. Peña, director of defense policy studies at the Cato Institute, a conservative Washington think tank ... "Art is the means we have of undoing the damage of haste. It's what everything else isn't." -- poet Theodore Roethke ... "There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." -- poet Joseph Brodsky ... "My life has been incredible. I don't believe a word of it." -- Katherine Anne Porter ... "I once had a rose named after me, and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: 'No good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.' " -- Eleanor Roosevelt