Good evening, 919 Gang. In the middle of the night it hit
me that I had written “Circulation” ad takers when I meant “Classified.”
MICHELE DAVIS
writes:
Jack, I am sure you meant to state the CLASSIFIED ad dept on the 2nd
floor. Circulation does not sell ads.
As for the required need to see a physician for an injury, yes the U-T
did require a release once an injury was reported. The U-T routinely used a
physician, and I use the term loosely, who was located across the street from
Mercy Hospital. Many circulation folks went to see him as they knew he would
take them off work for at least two weeks at a time. He routinely dispensed
pain medication without the appropriate warnings on the medication bottles such
as not to drive, etc. Also, no child safety cap, etc.
Many of us knew to put in writing before an injury
occurred, the name of the physician by whom we wished to be treated in the
event of a work-related injury. Our personal physicians were not beholden to
the U-T and cared about the welfare of the patient and not where his or her pay
would come from (i.e. U-T as a client). Those who did not give such notice had
to wait 30 days before changing physicians. The U-T was happy to have employees
go to this physician as he would mitigate injury damage in the company's favor
to lessen any comp claim. I guess the U-T felt it was cheaper to use him than
face worker comp claims.
I had to go see the company physician once even while I was
being treated by my own physician (the employer's right to have an employee
examined). When he came in the room I explained I was there to be seen
(evaluated) but not treated. He was not happy about that.
RITA CALVANO writes:
Jack, with due respect, I must take umbrage with you on your rather
chauvinistic response to Preston's questions yesterday on U-T managers had to
see a shrink. Perhaps you were joking that you were disappointed that you
hadn't had to see one because you thought you might have helped the shrink
solve some of "his" problems. The fact is that, as you surely know,
lots of psychologists (but probably fewer psychiatrists) are women.
But people get counseling for any number of reasons, as you also
certainly know, and not all go because of problems. Sometimes people want
guidance to handle themselves or situations already on hand or that might
become problematic if guidance weren't sought.
I say this because some 919ers might
be reluctant to pursue counseling, even in this day and age when counseling is
as normal as doctoring. Poor mental health isn't funny, and many of us know of
people who needed but didn't get it soon enough, turning instead to addiction
or suicide.
Besides, my take is that many a U-T
manager should have seen a shrink. To be fair, lots of others, no matter the
position, should have.
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BRIAN CLARK writes:
I, too, have a Ben Bradlee story. I met him but once almost four
decades ago, and he chewed me out royally. This was back in 1976 in Manhattan
at the Democratic National Convention, when the Washington Post was at the
height of its power and he was a youthful 55.
Let me explain: I was 22, not long out
of J-school from the University of Colorado with a year or so of real newspaper
work under my belt at the Davis Daily Democrat near Sacramento. I was in New
York working on the congressional campaign of Allard Lowenstein, a former
congressman from Long Island and confidant of Gov. Jerry Brown.
Lowenstein was having some sort at
party during the Democratic National Convention, and a lot of heavy hitters
showed up, including Colorado Sen. Gary Hart – who later ran for president in
1988 before flaming out for allegedly womanizing.
In any case, Al told me he’d like to
talk to Bradlee, who was chatting with his wife and Post reporter Sally Quinn. I
got Bradlee’s attention and told him of Al's request. To which he responded irately,
“You can tell Al that if he wants to talk with me, he can call me. I’m not
going to go over there, get photographed with him and have it end up in some
campaign brochure!”
I put my hands up, retreated and told
Lowenstein what Bradlee had said. Truth be told, I rather enjoyed the
encounter. To meself I said, “this must be what it’s like to get chewed out by
a Washington Post editor.” Of course, I wanted to work there. But I never
applied and always worked for papers on the West Coast.
As a footnote, Lowenstein was not
elected. He returned to a law practice in Manhattan and was shot to death in
1980 by Dennis Sweeney, a mentally ill former Stanford student who had worked
with Al in the South during the Civil Rights movement in the 60s. Sweeney, who
had threatened Lowenstein before, had chipped out some of his own fillings
because he was convinced that the FBI and CIA were conspiring against him. He
believed Al was part of that conspiracy.
Teresa Carpenter of the Village Voice
won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for her story about Al’s life and slaying.
Ironically, she won only because the Washington Post returned Janet Cooke’s
Pulitzer after determining she’d fabricated her story – “Jimmy’s World” - about
an 8-year-old heroin addict. Bradlee later directed the scathing dissection of
how the Post came to publish the Cooke story.
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MICHAEL BURGE
writes:
If you haven’t read the ProPublica/NPR
collaboration exposing the American Red Cross, I highly recommend it. http://tinyurl.com/qhkj332
I have observed problems with the Red Cross for many years, beginning in
2003, when the mega relief agency abandoned Valley Center as it was reeling
from the Paradise Fire. Other, less endowed relief organizations, most notably
the Salvation Army, dug in while the Red Cross turned tail and ran, telling
Valley Center residents, “If you need us we’ll be in Fallbrook.” Much later the
Red Cross sent an official whose job was to organize relief efforts. He came
from Wisconsin and was so uninformed that he was considered an impediment.
The major point of the ProPublica/NPR
piece is that the Red Cross is more focused on PR than relief, and cited
instances when Red Cross officials had volunteers drive empty trucks around to
make it appear they were helping people. In the meantime victims were being
neglected. Anyone who followed the fires that broke out in May in North County
saw this dynamic at work, as local stations turned some of their fire coverage
over to repetitive appeals for donations to the Red Cross. At times the
coverage looked more like a telethon than a news report. I doubt that much of
the money collected was used to help anyone in North County, because what I’ve
heard from cities is that they get very little from the Red Cross. When I asked
some emergency officials about the Red Cross’ performance, most chose to avoid
the topic altogether. If pressed they indicated they were disappointed.
Escondido was annoyed that the Red Cross opened a relief center but failed to
provide adequate staffing. When volunteers finally showed up they had with them
bags and bags of dog food. At least the dogs were taken care of.
REBER: Two groups which impressed me during the Witch Creek fire were
Allstate Insurance Company and the Mormons. Allstate, and other insurers,
immediately opened offices in an abandoned school. In 15 minutes, they verified
I had insurance and handed me a check for $2,000. Weeks later, of course, I had
to give them an accounting. I had various expenses, most resulting from water. With
electricity out, our well stopped, and I had to have it primed. Also, when city
water was restored, the surge of water pushed through sludge that clogged us.
My major deal was a tree which had fallen against our house. I cut up and
removed the tree, and Allstate paid me $25 an hour for my work.
The Mormons sent cars down country roads, handing out
buckets of cleaning materials. No sales pitch, just things to help us clean up
soot. Portable showers and toilets were set up on the rodeo grounds, and I
heard that the Red Cross did that.
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REBER: As we
close out the month, let’s wish Happy Birthday (Oct. 31) to Charlie Starr and
Kelly Thornton.
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GINA LUBRANO forwards:
I lifted this from Facebook. Wish I knew the source. It's funny stuff.
P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.
