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the
Vol. 5, No.1 2000

edition

January
A publication of the East Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists

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January meeting Freelance panel Christmas party Ugly tree, goofy dog top gift exchange Toys for tots Loquacious elves say 'thanks' U.N. Budget a concern, Benesch says

Freelancers to offer advice

The East Tennessee chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the East Tennessee Writers Guild will cohost a panel of full-time freelancers at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 25, in Room 225 of the University Center at the University of Tennessee. Topics will include getting started as a freelancer, finding markets, managing your time, what to do about health benefits and more. The panelists will also answer questions from the audience. Brown, moderator Wynne Brown, moderator, recently left her day job at The Knoxville News-Sentinel to re-join the freelance world as a writer, editor and designer. She has written for national horse magazines, is editor and designer of a newsletter for Sequoyah Museum and serves as a graphic design and editorial consultant for several local businesses. A freelance writer for 5 1/2 years, Dorothy Foltz-Gray is a contributing editor for Health Magazine; a health columnist for American Way, the in-flight magazine for American

Airlines; and a past contributing editor of Family Fun. She has also written for Bon Appetit, Cooking Light, National Geographic Traveler, Parenting, Ladies Home Journal, McCalls, and Redbook. She is currently revising a book on fibromyalgia for the Arthritis Foundation, and is writing a memoir, With and Without Her, about being and losing a twin. Weaver, rose writer Mary Weaver is a freelancer with 17 years experience editing, writing for, and managing magazines, books and corporate communications. Her clients have included Home & Garden Television, Whittle Communications, the National Storytelling Association, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Catholic University of America, and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. She has also written a beginners guide to growing roses, Burpee Basics: Roses, which was published by Macmillan in 1998. Murphy-Racey, photographer Patrick Murphy-Racey, a native of Chicago, graduated from journalism school at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He has worked for the Milwaukee Journal, Palm Beach Post, Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Mesa Tribune in Arizona and The Knoxville News-Sentinel. He resigned from the News-Sentinel in June 1992 to start his freelance company, Patrick Murphy-Racey Photography. And Ive never looked back, he said. Its been a great ride. He describes his business as one-third sports (work for Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine, the NFL and the NBA, among others), one-third corporate annual reports (companies such as Goodys and Clayton Homes) and one-third advertising (companies such as Adidas).

Ugly dog, goofy tree top gift exchange

Can you imagine adultsprofessionals, they call themselves, clamoring to take home a Christmas tree with bug eyes and false eyelashes? Or a stuffed Taco Bell-like Chihuahua that, according to Wynne Brown whose

husband Hedley Bond won it, not only shimmies (sort of) but also sings La Bamba and holds a place of honor in the Bond/Brown living room? The strange (someone called it obscene) tree and annoying dog were two very popular items at the ETSPJ Christmas party crazy gift exchange. Who ended up with that tree anyway? Other memorable and not so memorable gifts from the December party:

Snuggliest -- the furry brown moose that went to Fatima Hyder (stolen from Brown and Dorothy Bowles); Cutest -- mice finger puppets that went to Sally Guthrie (who pleaded her case and saved them from theft by Brown); Farthest travelled (and most, umm, interesting) was the Chinese tape dispenser. Most beautiful was the card collection and handmade paper created by Suzanne Neal. And the person most often stolen from must have been Jean Ash.

What else did people take home? Calendars, jelly beans, soup fixings, coffee mugs, books, a toy Volkswagen, and a giant candle. Approximately 30 members and guests attended the Dec. 9 party held at the University Club.

Loquacious elves say 'thanks' for ETSPJ-donated toys

SPJ member-donated Barbie dolls, Toy Story movie figures, Legos, a totem pole paint kit and toddler-sized stuffed animals were among the estimated 3,000 toys that the Marine Corps Reserve Centers Toys for Tots program expected to distribute to East Tennessee children this Christmas. A couple of dozen toys were collected at the annual ETSPJ Christmas Party and taken to the Marine Corps Reserve

Base on Alcoa Highway before the holiday. Local Toys for Tots coordinator Staff Sgt. Jeff Staines said they planned to sort the toys and match them to applications received from about 250 needy families in Knox County. We have programs in Roane, Loudon, and Sevier counties, too, he said. This year were also working with an orphanage in Cocke County and with the Mountain Womens Organization in Jellico. He joins the ETSPJ Board in thanking members who generously helped make a lot of little girls and boys holidays brighter. Note: Last year when Ash delivered the toys, she encountered what she referred to as a laconic elf. We can only guess what the millennium elf will be.

U.N. budget a concern, Benesch tells SPJ

by Bryan Tinsley, former Journalism 200 student

Deputy Director of U.N. Political Affairs, Tony Benesch, told an ETSPJ audience that the U.S. State Department is attempting to become more accessible to the public in hopes of dispelling some common misconceptions about the role of the United States in U.N. affairs. One of these myths is the idea that the United States is allocating too much money to foreign affairs and the United Nations, according to Benesch. We spend one percent of our annual budget on all foreign affairs combined. Thats half of the total amount of money spend on gambling in this country. U.N. budget concerns A big concern, said Benesch, is not our own budget as a country, but that of the United Nations itself. Currently, the United States pays 25 percent of the United Nations annual budget, but it often refuses to pay certain dues for projects deemed disagreeable by Congress. Although we are not paying our total dues, we are still being charged

and have created a deficit of $600 million, Benesch said. He added that this creates an imbalance in the United Nations and could cause other countries not to pay their dues as well. Benesch said he believes the United Nations is vital to the overall peace and well-being of the people of the world. He added that the State Department is not looking to pour money into the United Nations, but to cut its budget, reduce the size of its council and to make it more efficient. Press coverage If the United States continues to ignore its financial obligations, it could lose its General Assembly vote, Benesch said. The formula for determining the percentage of the budget that a particular country pays to the United Nations is based on things like gross national product and assets. The United States ranks last among the worlds richest countries in percentage of wealth given to the United Nations. Benesch said he believes there should be more press coverage in Washington. This would help keep the public better informed about State Department affairs. He believes a lack of accuracy in reporting occurs because more press coverage comes from the U.N. building in New York than from the headquarters of the State Department in Washington. Benesch, a former graduate student at the University of Tennessee, was the guest speaker at the Nov. 18 meeting, held at the University Center. Approximately 15 members and guests attended.
Updated January 2000 by Sally A. Guthrie