News Briefs

THE DAILY FED

News Briefs

SECTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM:

Federal Webmaster Institute Leadership Training Courses

GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy is holding a series of training courses for federal webmasters, program managers and specialists. The trainings will assist in developing an awareness of policy and technical issues, trends and problems related to the implementation of the Internet and related techologies within the federal government. The two-day course is offered on Aug. 20-21 and again on Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 1997. To register or for additional course information, call the LEADS Corporation at (703) 769-5650 or e-mail to registrar@leadscorp.com.

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.

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.

IN THE NEWS--New data from the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board shows that the C-fund return was 51.88 percent for the 12 months that ended in July...and...OPM Director James B. King will leave the agency to take a senior position at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. Janice R. Lachance will be sworn in August 13 as OPM's new Deputy Director (The Washington Post).

HEALTH--Maryland is a national leader in requiring HMOs to provide more benefits to consumers. But the effort has put Maryland-based HMOs at a disadvantage in competing for customers in the federal government, where regulators hold them to standards that non-Maryland companies can avoid, government and industry sources say (The Washington Post).

SEXUAL HARASSMENT--A Northern Virginia woman, who complained she was sexually harassed by officials of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Ga., has won a $672 verdict from a federal district court jury there (The Washington Post).

MEDICAL CASE--An employee with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has won back her job after a lengthy and complicated litigation and test of rules under the Family and Medical Leave Act (The Washington Post).

OF INTEREST--In a world that's changing rapidly, how can concerned parents help their children plan careers (Managing Your Career, The Wall Street Journal).

WELFARE TO WORK--A non-profit Welfare-to-Work Partnership is underway today in St. Louis. Many businesses are already finding a higher retention rate among workers hired from welfare rolls (The Wall Street Journal, 8/12/97).

FEDERAL ISSUES--"Employees in jobs requiring them to speak two languages will not lose out during reductions in force, the Office of Personnel Management says." (Federal Times, 8/18/97)...."Today's federal workplace is officially much more family-friendly,' making it easier for parents to juggle work and home responsibilities." (Federal Times, 8/18/97).

E-MAIL PROTECTION--The technology of encryption will enable us to have privacy from prying eyes. It locks up your messages so that only the intended recipients, who has his own key, can unlock them, and you can have a cell-phone conversation without snooping from scanners (The Washington Times, 8/12/97).