NPW elects new officers

By Jan Treffer Thompson
NORTH PLATTE – Nebraska Press Women members elected four women to lead the organization through 2008 at the fall 2006 convention in North Platte.

Stephanie Geery-Zink, a freelance writer from Lincoln, was re-elected as NPW president. She has served as president since 2004, and was previously vice president and secretary. In comments during the convention’s candidate forum, Geery-Zink said among the issues she wants to address during her second term is member recruitment, including an emphasis on greater involvement from journalism students at Nebraska’s universities and colleges.

Ruth Brown, an associate professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, will be the NPW vice president in the coming term. Brown has previously been an officer for South Dakota Press Women, and served on the Nebraska Press Women board.

Elected as treasurer was Diane Wetzel, a North Platte Telegraph reporter and columnist. She is also the author of "I’ve Already Told You More Than I Know," a book based on her personal columns. She has been a Press Women member for two years.

Serving as secretary for the next term will be Emily Springer McCreery. A former copy editor and special-sections coordinator for the North Platte Telegraph, Springer McCreery has been a member of NPW since 2003 and led the committee that organized the North Platte convention. As a candidate, she said she was eager to begin work as part of the organization’s leadership and hopes to continue as an officer in future terms.

Board members are:

Past President/Newsletter: Terri Hahn
Parliamentarian: Teresa Wickens
Achievement Award: Mary Pat Finn-Hoag
Communications Contest: Lori Potter and Bette Pore
High School Contest: Barb Micek
Historian: Andrea Cranford
Legislative/First Amendment: Jan Thompson
Member Services: Laurie Cicotello
Membership: Judy Nelson
Scholarship: Glennis Nagel
Publicity: Doreen Pfost