News Briefs

THE DAILY FED

News Briefs

SECTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM:

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.

THE FEDERAL DIARY--A second hearing is being held today by the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee into "Employment Discrimination in the Federal Workplace" (The Washington Post).

HMO'S--Three major health maintenance organizations and two patient advocate groups issued an invitation for government to require certain consumer standards for managed care. The participating organizations: Kaiser Permanente, HIP Health Insurance Plans, Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, American Association of Retired Persons and Families USA (The Washington Post).

IRS--This week, Congress is handling the easy part of fixing the IRS: airing the tax collector's dirty laundry. But it remains uncertain that, when the Senate hearings on alleged IRS abuses end today, lawmakers will be up to the hard part: agreeing on the scope of the problem and how to solve it (The New York Times).

2000--A new study shows that a large proportion of business and government agencies around the world are not properly preparing for the effect that the year 2000 will have on their computer systems (The New York Times).

VOLUNTEERISM--Some volunteer and social-service groups around the country report a surge of interest, but there is little evidence as yet of masses of individuals coming forward nationwide in response to President Clinton's call for a "nation of volunteers" (The New York Times).

INJURY--There is s growing trend among employers--especially in labor-intensive businesses--toward screen job applicants for possible hand and wrist injuries and checking for conditions that are collectively known as repetitive stress injuries (The New York Times).

OF INTEREST--Should only the paranoid get e-mail protection? (The Wall Street Journal)...In the wake of a top-ranking female executive quitting her job claiming "burnout" there is speculation among management experts that companies may be forced to change their corporate cultures--not just add flexible work programs--if they expect to hold on to top performers (USA TODAY).

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENTS

Access America Conferences

The National Performance Review (NPR), will launch a series of informational conferences aimed at providing government employees and private industry IT officials with techniques and strategies for implementing the goals of Access America, an NPR report outlining steps to increase access--via the Internet--to government services. The first conference will be held November 3 (changed from September 25) in Baltimore, Md. and then will travel to other cities across the country. Expert panels will discuss IT topics, including Internet/Intranet successes, the future of Distance Learning and collaboration, IT acquisition and procurement reform, and privacy and security.

Industry Advisory Council's Executive Leadership Conference

October 5-7, 1997 Richmond, Virginia. Forty-six hours of exciting and important keynotes, workshops and frank discussions on the topics foremost in the minds of both government and industry leaders such as "How the Internet is changing the way we do business;" "Public vs private competition: Does it make sense?" and "Past Performance of Past Performance." $265 for government attendees and $425 for industry members. Register separately at the Richmond Marriott (804) 643-3400. Contact Mary Ellen Geoffroy, Executive Director of IAC at 703-218-1965.

DTIC Annual Conference

The Defense Technical Information Center is presenting its Annual Users Meeting and Training Conference on Nov. 3-6, 1997 at the DoubleTree Hotel, National Airport, Arlington, Va. The conference theme is Information in the New Millenium. Contact Ms. Julia Foscue at 703-767-8236 or by e-mail at jfoscue@dtic.mil.