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EXPERT ALERTS
- Open Enrollment and Tips to Select the Right Benefits Plan
- Vigilance Needed to Keep Carnival Riders Safe
- All Groups Can Learn From Boy Scouts Scandal
- Falling Financial Fortunes
- Delays Test American Airlines' Flier Loyalty
- How to Protect Yourself from Cybercrime
- Surgical Advancements: 100 Years Ago to Today
MEDIA JOBS
- Assistant News Director - Pittsburgh
- Politics Reporter - Jersey City, N.J.
- Managing Editor - Manchester, N.H.
- Reporter - Torrington, Conn.
- Anchor/Reporter - Canton, Ohio
OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES
- New York Times Bans Quote Approvals
- Media News Highlight
- Upcoming Media Events
- Grammar Hammer: Abbreviating Months
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EXPERT ALERTS
Expert Alerts are listings of ProfNet members who are available to discuss timely news topics. If you are interested in interviewing any of the experts, please contact their media representative at the end of the listing. You can also find Expert Alerts online at http://bit.ly/pncalerts
Open Enrollment and Tips to Select the Right Benefits Plan
Wendy Shanahan-Richards
National Medical Director
Aetna
"I want to arm consumers with as much useful easy-to-understand information as possible to help them make more informed health benefits choices and take better control of their health. Making the right health care benefits choices during the 2013 open enrollment season can impact Americans' health care costs and access to care."
Shanahan-Richards is available to discuss trends in health care benefits, current consumer health care behavior, important questions you should ask before you select a health benefits plan and how consumers can reduce the cost of health care insurance and services. She is an M.D. and family physician, and co-author of "Navigating Your Health Benefits for Dummies."
News Contact: Rachel Sparks, rsparks@webershandwick.com
Vigilance Needed to Keep Carnival Riders Safe
Frank L. Branson
Attorney
The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson in Dallas
"Over the next month, fairgoers to the State Fair of Texas have a chance to enjoy one of the largest collections of thrilling midway carnival rides anywhere. While hair-raising mechanical rides are an important fair tradition, ride operators must be vigilant to ensure that fairgoers are safe from injury. Records show that amusement ride injuries throughout Texas jumped 18 percent in the last two years, including reports of broken teeth, whiplash and contusions, and often involved young riders. These rides are an important State Fair tradition, and history shows they can be safe - provided they're operated in a responsible way. But just one injury is too many, especially when it involves a young rider. Operators must be committed to safety."
News Contact: Robert Tharp, robert@androvett.com
All Groups Can Learn From Boy Scouts Scandal
Bill Chamblee
Trial lawyer
Chamblee, Ryan, Kershaw & Anderson
"Any organization can learn from the sexual abuse scandal that has shaken the Boy Scouts of America, which faces the real possibility of extensive litigation now that an Oregon court has ordered the group to release reports of sexual abuse at the hands of troop leaders going back to 1925. Any organization, especially those that deal with the mentoring or supervising of children, needs to conduct thorough background checks on individuals before putting them in positions of trust. If there are reports of abuse, organizations must act swiftly, not just to protect themselves, but also to prevent further abuse. As we've learned from the Catholic Church, any attempt to hide wrongdoing can make an organization a party to abuse."
News Contact: Dave Moore, dave@androvett.com
Falling Financial Fortunes
Frances Smith
Bankruptcy attorney
Shackelford, Melton & McKinley
"The financial difficulties faced by former NFL standout Vince Young should serve as a cautionary tale of how cash windfalls can lead to ruin if recipients don't play it smart. Media reports indicate that Young is virtually penniless only six years after the Tennessee Titans awarded him a $26 million contract to be the team's starting quarterback. Great wealth is a tremendous magnet for scam artists, pie-in-the-sky schemes and a carefree financial attitude, and, worst of all, a sudden influx of wealth also allows individuals to accumulate massive debt just as quickly. Individuals must pay extremely close attention to the details of their finances after receiving such windfalls or risk losing everything."
News Contact: Dave Moore, dave@androvett.com
Delays Test American Airlines' Flier Loyalty
Linda LaRue
Bankruptcy attorney
Quilling Selander Lownds Winslett & Moser PC
"Few thought that the bankruptcy process would test the loyalty of American Airlines' customers, but that might now be happening. American recently accused its pilot union of causing unnecessary flight delays and cancellations as retaliation after the pilots lost a fight in bankruptcy court to preserve many terms of their labor contract. The airline and the union may argue over the facts underlying the delays and cancellations, but one undeniable point is that the continued loyalty of the customer base is necessary in order for the airline to survive. It doesn't matter what side the public blames for its inconvenience. The issue is whether passengers will take their business elsewhere and, if so, for how long."
News Contact: Dave Moore, dave@androvett.com
How to Protect Yourself from Cybercrime
Gary Gonzales
Professor of Criminal Justice
Argosy University, San Diego
"Since the take-off of social networking and the paperless way of conducting business, cyber-based criminal activity has skyrocketed in many corners of the world. Criminals are masking themselves as potential customers, clients, or even professionals to lure innocent people into a web of deception and greed. From copyright infringement and cyberbullying to child pornography and spamming, the impact is enormous. Knowing the threats you face online and the tools available to help you keep a watchful eye is critical in protecting yourself in the digital world. There are simple precautions that computer, mobile phone and other digital users can take to ensure their safety."
Gonzalez, a detective in the San Diego Police Department, is able to discuss cybercrime's impact on consumers and businesses, and how consumers and companies can protect themselves. He is also available to speak in Spanish.
News Contact: Anne K. Dean, adean@argosy.edu
Surgical Advancements: 100 Years Ago to Today
David Hoyt, MD, FACS
American College of Surgeons
"One-hundred years ago, North American physicians worked in an unregulated, overcrowded, highly competitive and sometimes unethical medical environment. Today the quality of care for surgical patients has vastly expanded and improved."
As the American College of Surgeons begins its centennial anniversary in October, it is unveiling an interactive timeline of roughly 90 surgical milestones over the past century. Hoyt, head of the Ameircan College of Surgeons (ACS) and architect of its current effort to encourage collaboration among healthcare leaders and urge them to share best practices on quality programs that will improve outcomes and add value to the healthcare system, is available to talk about the history of surgery and what he believes we will see in the next 100 years.
News Contact: Kira Bork, kbork@webershandwick.com
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MEDIA JOBS:
Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: http://bit.ly/pncjobboard
- Assistant News Director - Pittsburgh
- Politics Reporter - Jersey City, N.J.
- Managing Editor - Manchester, N.H.
- Reporter - Torrington, Conn.
- Anchor/Reporter - Canton, Ohio
See more listings here.
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OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:
Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at profnetalerts@prnewswire.com
- NEW YORK TIMES BANS QUOTE APPROVALS: A look at the Times' new ban on "after-the-fact quote approvals" and how it impact journalists and PR professionals: http://bit.ly/RY3xNL
- MEDIA NEWS HIGHLIGHT: We read the Internet so you don't have to. Here are 10 stories relating to media and journalism from across the Web: http://bit.ly/TAPVJw
- UPCOMING MEDIA EVENTS: We regularly update our ProfNet Connect calendar to include upcoming events we think will be of interest to PR and media professionals: http://bit.ly/RcN0Tw
- GRAMMAR HAMMER: Writer Grace Lavigne looks at how to abbreviate months correctly: http://bit.ly/QjB5Aw
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PROFNET is an exclusive service of PR Newswire. To submit a request for experts: http://bit.ly/findexperts To search the ProfNet Connect experts database: http://www.profnetconnect.com To contact ProfNet by phone: +1-800-PROFNET, ext. 1 To share a thought on Expert Alerts: profnetalerts@prnewswire.com
/PRNewswire - Sept. 28/
SOURCE ProfNet
