News Briefs

THE DAILY FED

News Briefs

The following news summaries are from OPM AM, the daily newsletter of the Office of Personnel Management. OPM AM is available on OPM Mainstreet, the agency's electronic bulletin board, at 202-606-4800.

RETIREES SATISFIED--"Civil service retirees give OPM an overall approval rating of 92 percent for the quality of service they receive from the agency, according to the agency's 1996 client satisfaction survey, and 98 percent say they receive their annuity payments on the date they are due" ([OPM] Office of Communications News Release, February 11).

TRANSITION REVIEWS--"Members of the Clinton Administration's National Partnership Council will hear reviews on the effectiveness of career transition services in finding employment for former federal employees who have lost their jobs as a result of government downsizing" ([OPM] Office of Communications News Release, February 12).

THE FEDERAL DIARY--"Officials responsible for downsizing the civilian side of government are eager to see how badly Congress, unions and the defense establishment beat up a plan to further shrink civilian and military staffing in the armed services" (The Washington Post).

AROUND GOVERNMENT--The Pentagon's top doctor urged Congress yesterday to mandate that the Defense Department offer free medical care to military reservists who have become ill since being sent to the Persian Gulf (The Washington Post)...NASA's long-term budget prospects had sunk so low that President Clinton's plan to cut its funding only slightly through 2002 looks like "up," agency officials said (The Washington Post).

STOPPING HARASSMENT--E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company has created a successful sexual-harassment awareness program which features interactive, video-based training in which participants view a variety of scenarios. The whole program is prevention driven, trying to create a positive, inclusive work environment (Workforce, February).

OTHER VIEWS--FEHB is a model for Medicare (Orange County Register, Santa Ana, CA, Jan. 15)..."Downsized, outscourced and dismayed, some librarians feel compelled to commercialize core service. Others never get the chance, such as the abruptly dismissed staffs of the Office of Personnel Management Library and the international law firm of Baker and Mackenzie" (Spectrum, Cedar City, UT, Jan. 27)...Lorraine Green goes to Amtrak (Washington Informer, Washington, DC, Jan. 16).

OF INTEREST--Fighting your body clock can make you -- and those around you -- miserable (USA TODAY).