Fellowship Allows Diverse Reporters To Cultivate Public Awareness Of Aging Issues

Source: Todd Kluss - The Gerontological Society of America

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and New America Media (NAM) have selected 15 journalists for the new MetLife Foundation Journalists in Aging Fellows Program. They represent a wide range of traditional, new, and ethnic media, such as USA Today, Sing Tao Daily, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and TheAtlantic.com.

The fellows will convene during GSA's Annual Scientific Meeting - scheduled for November 19 to 23 in New Orleans - and tap into the conference's 500 presentations and 3,500 expert attendees to develop a major aging-focused story or series. Their proposed projects, to be published early in 2011, will focus on issues such as the struggles of grandparents raising grandchildren, innovations in elder-friendly housing for seniors, challenges for elderly immigrants in the U.S., retirement planning in the recession, seniors' use of new technology, and elders coping with the aftermath of multiple disasters on the Gulf Coast.

These journalists also will report on new research from the meeting and participate in a day-long pre-conference session, where GSA will showcase the latest developments in the field of aging and host discussions with veteran reporters on how to position stories in the current media environment.
"At a time when so much of America seems divided along generational, ethnic, and ideological lines, the stories of aging can bring us together with a new lifelong perspective," said Sandy Close, founder and executive editor of NAM. "Journalists need to tell stories that reveal how today's families depend on each other from their youngest to older members."

The fellowship program - funded by a $75,000 grant from the MetLife Foundation - comes just as the first of the 78 million baby boomers prepare to turn age 65 on January 1, 2011. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the nation's older population will almost double to 70 million by 2030. Also, the proportion of ethnic elders will double to 40 percent of America's population aged 65 and over by 2050.
Full Article including Selected Journalists List

2010 Gene D. Cohen Award

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and the National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA) have chosen Helga Noice, PhD, and Tony Noice, PhD, of Elmhurst College as the 2010 recipients of the Gene D. Cohen Research Award in Creativity and Aging.

This award recognizes and honors the seminal work of Gene Cohen, MD, whose research in the field of creativity and aging shifted the conceptual focus from a problem paradigm to one of promise and potential. Cohen inspired individuals to approach longevity asking what wonders can be achieved, not in spite of age, but because of age. The award is presented annually to a professional whose research in the field of creativity and aging demonstrates these positive attributes.

The award presentation will take place at GSA's 63rd Annual Scientific Meeting, which will be held from November 19 to 23, 2010, in New Orleans, LA. This conference is organized to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, educators, and practitioners who specialize in the study of the aging process. Visit www.geron.org/2010 for further details.

For over a dozen years, the Noices have been researching the use of theater arts as a means of enhancing healthy cognitive aging. This husband and wife team is ideally equipped to investigate art‐science connections; he is an actor, director, and professor of theater, and she is a cognitive scientist and professor of psychology. Their groundbreaking aging intervention employs multi‐modal (mental-physical‐ emotional‐social) theater acting instruction.

For two decades, they have been conducting experimental studies of how actors learn and retain information. In controlled field studies, they have been teaching theater classes - to older adults - designed to enhance cognitive function and thereby delay cognitive aging.

The Noices have produced 30 peer‐reviewed publications and given more than 40 conference presentations on the connections between the arts and human cognition. In addition, their work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, The Schweizer Nationalfond in Switzerland, and three successive awards from the National Institute on Aging.

Source: Todd Kluss-The Gerontological Society of America

Private Pensions: GAO Survey of 401(k) Plan Sponsor Practices (GAO-08-870SP, July 2008), an E-supplement to GAO-08-774

American workers are increasingly reliant on 401(k) plans for their retirement security, and sponsors of 401(k) plans have critical obligations under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). To administer these plans, the sponsor—typically the employer offering the 401(k) plan—selects plan features and other characteristics, including the types of investment options offered to participants. To learn more about how sponsors select plan features and oversee plan operations, we conducted a Web-based survey of sponsors in coordination with Plansponsor Magazine (Plansponsor). This e-supplement presents results from our survey and includes a summary of respondent views on proposed legislative changes to 401(k) requirements.

FY 2009 Maximum Per Diem Rates for the Continental United States (CONUS)

The General Services Administration's (GSA's) annual per diem review has resulted in lodging and meal allowance changes for locations within the continental United States (CONUS) to provide for the reimbursement of Federal employees' expenses covered by per diem. Per Diem Bulletin 09-01 updates the maximum per diem amounts in existing per diem localities. The CONUS per diem rates prescribed in Bulletin 09-01 may be found at http://www.gsa.gov/perdiem.