News Briefs

Medical mystery: A shop steward in a unionized hospital is pressed to do amateur undercover work when a fellow union member is accused of murdering a physician in a mystery novel written by Brooklyn HSC UUPer Timothy Sheard, a nurse at Downstate Medical Center.

“This Won’t Hurt A Bit” (Creative Arts Books, 2001) is Sheard’s debut mystery. He taps into his knowledge of hospital workings and characters to enrich and intensify the novel. The book shows solidarity in a new light, as union colleagues throughout the hospital conspire to look for clues in an increasingly dangerous environment.

Sheard also has short story mysteries in print and has been published in nursing journals. His one-act plays have been performed at the Museum of Television and Radio and the Pulse Ensemble Theatre in New York City.

Buffalo HSC periodontologist earns Gold Medal Award: UUPer Sebastian Ciancio, a distinguished service professor and chair of the department of periodontology in the university’s School of Dental Medicine, has received the Gold Medal Award from the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP).

The award — the AAP’s highest honor — is given annually in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of periodontology and the diagnosis and treatment of periodontal diseases.

Card check: At Voice press time, Gov. Pataki signed a bill that enables labor leaders to use a “card check,” a streamlined method to sign up workers in some organizing drives.

“This should overcome some of the procedural hurdles that employers often put in the way of organizing drives,” said NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin. Pataki is the first governor to sign such a bill that allows workers to choose a union by signing cards saying they favor unionizing.

Scholarship available for communicators: Applications are now available for the 2002 Beryl Spector Memorial Scholarship, an annual award given by the Women’s Press Club of New York State (WPC).

For an application, send a written request and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Scholarship Committee Chair, Women’s Press Club of New York State Inc., P.O. Box 13493, Albany, N.Y. 12212-3493.

Any questions or requests for additional information should be directed to Christine Tramontano at (518) 449-3359. Scholarship entries must be postmarked by April 1.

The Beryl Spector Memorial Scholar-ship is awarded each year to a qualifying student interested in resuming or continuing studies toward a career in communications or related field. Inter-ested applicants must be matriculated no later than the start of the fall 2002 semester in a field that fosters the development of communication skills.

The WPC is a not-for-profit organization that provides support, networking and professional development opportunities to professionals in the communications industry.

Newsletter contest announced: UUP will again honor editors of the union’s best chapter newsletters when winners of the union’s third annual Journalism Competition are announced in the spring.

The contest is designed to recognize those chapters that create outstanding newsletters while, at the same time, to encourage other chapters to produce attractive, informative publications.

“This contest has proven to be popular with our chapter leaders because it offers constructive advice that makes for better publications,” said UUP President William Scheuerman. “And good newsletters are good union-building tools.”

Editors have until March 15 to submit entries in any or all of four categories: general excellence, best feature story, best editorial/column and best art/photo. Entrants will compete with like-sized chapters: Class I, 300 members or fewer; Class II, 301-500; Class III, 501-1,000; and Class IV, more than 1,000.

Entry forms were sent to chapter offices last month. They are also available from the UUP Communications Department at (800) 342-4206.

Three independent journalists from the Albany area will judge the contest. Awards will be announced at UUP’s Spring Delegate Assembly, May 3-4, in Albany.

Remember, UUP address has changed: Mail is no longer being delivered directly to the UUP Administrative Office because of stricter security precautions instituted by NYSUT, UUP’s statewide affiliate and Albany landlord.

Under the new NYSUT regulations, all mail for the unions’ Albany headquarters is being delivered to a postal caller box before it is picked up by courier.

UUP Secretary Eileen Landy emphasized that all union mail should now be addressed as follows: P.O. Box 15143, Albany, N.Y. 12212-5143. However, she said mail with the street address would continue to make its way to headquarters.

Letters and packages will be opened in the NYSUT mailroom, where hand-addressed mail and mail of unknown origin will be mechanically decontaminated of any potentially hazardous substances.

Mail and packages labeled “personal” or “confidential” will also be separated, Landy said.

Correction: The credit that ran with the photograph of Abayomi Ademuwagun of SUNY Maritime in the November issue of The Voice was incorrect. The photo was taken by UUPer Bob Sasson.