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| Volume 49, Number 3, Fall 2000 |
President's Letterby Joe Palca One of the things that NASW's new constitution does not call for is a State of the Association speech. That's probably a good thing, since who needs another speech?
Happily, my assessment of the state of NASW is that we're in extremely good shape. And don't think I'm tooting my own horn here. There've been plenty of people who can claim credit for NASW's healthy circumstances. In fact, we're in such good shape that I think I can now give a good answer to what I call the Joanne Silberner question. Joanne is my colleague here at NPR, and an excellent science writer. I first met her when she was a writer for Science News in the mid-1980s. In 1987, Joanne was one of the founders of the DC Science Writers Association, which has since grown to become one the most active science-writing groups in the country. But Joanne is not a member of NASW. I always used to tease her about it, and she always answered, "You'll lend me your copy of ScienceWriters, and that's the only real benefit of joining, so why should I join?" That's the Joanne Silberner question. I stopped teasing her in 1992, since Joanne now reports primarily on health-care policy, and has helped form the Association of Health Care Journalists to address her new professional issues. But for the entire time I've been an officer of NASW, it's been my goal to give Joanne--or any other science writer--a good answer to the question "Why join NASW?"
I believe this is just the start. I see NASW offering more services and getting involved in more professional issues. To my mind, this is good. I want to see the day when no self-respecting science writer would dream of not being a member of NASW. Including Joanne Silberner. But I must add a warning here. These new activities have put enormous strains on NASW's human resources. Diane McGurgan, Bob Finn, Lynne Friedmann, and Brian Lavendel are putting heroic amounts of time into NASW, and while they are compensated financially, they ain't exactly getting rich from what NASW's paying them. Moreover, without the work of dozens of volunteers, many of these activities would never get off the ground. I feel a day must come soon when we raise dues for the organization, and raise the price of the workshops to a level more in line with what it costs to run them. Right now NASW membership and workshop participation is an incredible bargain, but we are not in a stable position for the long term, and either we'll have to scale back our activities (a mistake, in my opinion) or get people to pay more. A final note. With the end of my term, you all are free of the four-year tyrannical grip of broadcasters at the head of a writing organization. In case anyone wonders how it happened that two NPR correspondents wound up being president in consecutive terms, I can only say it wasn't intentional. I was asked by the nominating committee to become treasurer in late Summer 1992. At the time, I was working at Science magazine. But in October, I got offered a job at NPR. As far as I know, Raeburn is staying at Business Week . . . or rather, I don't think NPR has any openings. At the moment. Joe Palca is a science correspondent with National Public Radio. He can be reached at 202-513-2776, jpalca@npr.org. |
At the same time, having reached
the end of my two-year tenure as NASW president, I feel a need
to assess where things stand as NASW prepares to enter the new
millennium (see, Lee Siegel, I can get it right when it suits
me).