News Briefs

THE DAILY FED

News Briefs

SECTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM:

20th Annual May Training Program

The 20th annual May Training Program will be held at the Arlington [Texas] Convention Center from 8:00am to 4:00pm on Tuesday, May 13th and Wednesday, May 14, 1997. The two-day training program consists of 13 professional speakers who will present 20 different workshops on a wide variety of topics such as motivation, organizational improvement, successful writing, sexual harrassment, communication strategies, career advancement, and many more. Some workshop titles include:

• How to Manage Projects, Priorities, and Deadlines;
  
• Communicate With Clarity, Confidence, andCreditability;
  
• Technology Never Stands Still.. Neither Should Your Career;
  
• Leapfrogging Roadblocks to Organizational Harmony;
  

Conference costs are $45 per day. Complete conference details are available at http://r6ser1.r06.epa.gov:8000/dfwfeb/calfwp.htm. The registration deadline is April 11,1997. For questions, please call Cheryl Moore, FWPC President, at 817-847-3898.

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) Seminar

This two-day seminar scheduled for May 1 and 2 at OPM [in Washington, DC], is designed to help Employee Assistance Program counselors and other mental health professionals in developing and managing a CISD team. The seminar prepares participants to provide a variety of crisis services for distressed employees after a traumatic event occurs at work. For more information call Sheila Rozier at (202) 606-1269.

Third Annual Performance Management Conference

May 13-14, 1997, in McLean, VA, at the McLean Hilton Hotel. This conference is designed to provide practical, cutting-edge information on a wide variety of topics related to performance appraisals and awards. To receive a brochure, call (202) 606-2720, or fax a request to (202) 606-2395. For additional conference information, call Digna Carballosa at (202) 606-1778 or E-Mail dmcarbal@opm.gov.

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.

A CRUCIAL COLA TEST--"An apparent White House-congressional budget agreement could mean smaller inflation raises for federal civilian retirees or smaller future pension benefits for people still on the payroll. Budget watchers believe that the White House and Republican congressional leaders have reached tentative agreement on a five-year budget to reduce federal retirement costs. If that's true, it means that only' the $6.2 billion in savings proposed by President Clinton will be sought. The dollar amount of those proposed savings may be scored' at $6.8 billion by the Congressional Budget Office" (The Federal Diary, The Washington Post).

LEADERSHIP SLOW TO COME TO THE FAA--"White House officials say President Clinton soon will name the top administrators at the Federal Aviation Administration....Clinton's impending choice of Jane Garvey, acting administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, as FAA administrator and FAA associate administrator George Donohue as her deputy are expected to win broad support. If confirmed, by Congress, Garvey, 53, would be the first woman to head the FAA. Clinton is expected to announce the nominations this month" (USA Today).

STATE DEPT. CATALOGUES WORLD ENVIRONMENT WOES--"Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright marked Earth Day yesterday by issuing the State Department's first annual assessment of the global environment, a gloomy catalogue of problems in the world's air, oceans and forests that she said threaten security of the American people....The Environmental Diplomacy' report will be published each year on Earth Day, taking its place alongside the department's annual assessments of human rights and narcotics traffic around the world" (The Washington Post).

TAKE DAUGHTERS TO WORK? UNION OFFERS ANOTHER IDEA--"Upset that so many New York garment factories still use child labor, the nation's largest clothing union has come up with a novel approach to combat this longstanding problem--it is called Don't Bring Our Daughters to Work Day. While the union says it applauds the American parents who will take their daughters to work tomorrow to excite them about potential careers, the garment union will spend the day telling thousands of garment workers, many of them struggling immigrants from China, not to take their daughters to work tomorrow, or any other day for that matter" (The New York Times).

MANY AMERICANS QUIETLY SERVE AS VOLUNTEERS EVEN AS SUMMIT STRESSES NEED FOR MANY MORE--"Volunteerism, a classic American solution to social problems, appears to be on the rise. Starting this Sunday, it will be celebrated at The Presidents' Summit for America's Future,' a joint venture of President Clinton, former President Bush and Mr. Powell. They will use the three-day session to promote more volunteerism" (Wall Street Journal).