From the Editor

Beverly Waldron

Welcome to 1998! As I began to put together my thoughts for this first column a cliché popped to mind, third time's the charm. Or was that, three strikes and you're out? Either way, I'm happy to be back for another year and pleased to be working with an outstanding cast of associate editors -- Déonda Scott, Ilene Gast, Jeff Feuquay, and Mike Aamodt. We hope that this year's ACN meets your needs and exceeds your expectations.

I recently saw an article that said 87% of all Americans make at least 1 new year's resolution but that 90% of the resolutions were broken by the end of January. Even though the ACN readers constitute a truly exceptional group, I think it is safe to assume that many of you have abandoned your original resolutions. Don't despair or berate yourself. There is no rule that says resolutions can only be made on January 1^st. Perhaps, a resolution made at another time, without all the "New Year's" pressure, might have a great chance of success. So take heart and use this first issue of the ACN as a second shot at making and keeping a few resolutions. If you need help in coming up with resolutions, I do have one to offer. . . How about resolving to become more actively involved in IPMAAC during the coming year. It's not a resolution which would require a great deal of time and effort over the course of the year and it would provide benefit to you and to the other members of our volunteer organization. The key work here is "volunteer." Without your help it is difficult, if not impossible, to carry out plans and meet the expectations of our membership, of ourselves. So be firmly resolved and become more active. (Any other resolutions you might wish to make are up to you!)

With that resolution firmly in your mind I would like to pass on the following:

A Message from President-Elect, David Dye:

Even though we have just started the new year under Jeff Feuquay's leadership, it is time to begin planning and deciding on committee membership for 1999. Now is the time for all of those who have been on the sidelines for too long to consider becoming more actively involved in leading IPMAAC's initiatives. I would especially encourage many of our newer members to become involved. IPMAAC's success depends on the active involvement and commitment of its membership. From the results of our recent membership survey, one of the areas rated as being important was the ability to network with others both within and outside IPMAAC. Serving on a committee is a perfect opportunity to accomplish this need. The current committees and their respective chairpersons can be found elsewhere in this newsletter. Please feel free to call them to discuss their ideas and plans for the year. If you have an interest in serving either as a committee chair or on a committee for 1999, I would appreciate hearing from you by March 14.

David can be reached by phone at (703) 917-2134, by fax: (703) 902-3553, or by e-mail at dye_david@bah.com. David's message should help make it easy to keep your new made resolution.

For those of you who aren't interested in making any resolutions at this time I offer the following:

Procrastinator's Creed

I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.
I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or find excuses.
I will never rush into a job without a lifetime of consideration.
I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.
I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations.
I truly believe that all deadlines are unreasonable regardless of the amount of time given.
If at first I don't succeed, there is always next year.
I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I decide to change my mind.
I shall always begin, start, initiate, take the first step, and/or write the first word, when I get around to it.
I will never put off tomorrow, what I can forget about forever.

The Host Committee is busy at work gathering information and planning social opportunities and options for our visit to Chicago this summer. For those of you who like to start planning early the following web sites can provide you with interesting information on Chicago:

http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Tourism/
Yahoo Chicago
City.Net

You can also call 1-800-2-CONNECT (TTY: 1-800-406-6418) to receive a free visitor information packet on Chicago events and attractions. Information can also be e-mailed and faxed to you.

The January issue of The Florida Labor Letter contained an insert which you might find of interest:

The In-box

Like most organizations, the one I work for subscribes to numerous personnel related newsletters, magazines, and journals that we route through the department for the reading pleasure and enlightenment of staff. In my own office they pile up in my in-box until just one more addition would be the magical straw, breaking the camel's back, and sending them all cascading to the floor. When this critical mass is reached, I usually relent and declare a reading afternoon and go through the stack. During a recent reading session, an "interesting" note about an EEOC first caught my attention. Since you may not be caught up with your own reading list, I thought I would pass on this tidbit of news. Seems the EEOC has decided to provide $200,000 to two civil rights groups. This money will be used to develop pilot programs using "testers" to uncover employment discrimination. For those of you unfamiliar with this form of "testing," they send equally qualified pairs of individuals to apply for positions to try to discover whether protected characteristics (i.e., age, gender, race, disability religion, etc.) has an impact on obtaining employment. They are just "testing" whether or not your employment procedures are discriminatory. An EEOC representative also said that, depending on the results of these pilot programs, it may increase its use of private organization testers.

Well, that's all for this issue. Don't forget your resolutions! As always, I look forward to hearing from you in the near future!