Age Beat for Oct. 4, 2005

AGE BEAT ONLINE
Newsletter of the Journalists Exchange on Aging (JEoA)

Oct. 4, 2005 -Volume 5, Number 30

NOTE: Let ABO Editor Paul Kleyman know if you have technical problems receiving issues of ABO or if you'd like to be removed from the list. Phone: (415) 974-9619; e-mail: paul@asaging.org. Thanks for help on this issue go to Mary Johnson, Evelyn Strauss and Marilynn Larkin. The most recent four issues of ABO are posted online at www.asaging.org/agebeat.


IN THIS ISSUE: No paper trail.

1. AGE BEATLES NEWS: L. A. Times' Health Editor Olmos Moves to Foundation; 10 Attend 2005 Age Boom Academy

2. THE CALENDAR: Spots Still Open for Century Foundation Seminar, Oct. 20-21; Gerontological Society of America Meeting Relocates to Orlando


3. "SAGE WATCH" on Longevity Secrets of Telomerase

4. "LARKIN'S LINKS" on Inspiring Elders to Move

1. "AGE BEATLES NEWS"
LOS ANGELES TIMES HEALTH EDITOR DAVID OLMOS, a supporter of aging coverage in the paper, is the new director of publishing and communication at the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF, www.chcf.org). Olmos, who had headed the Times' health section since 1998, was a Pulitzer Prize co-finalist for his work covering managed healthcare. He is a former director of the Association of Health Care Journalists and former director of the California Chicano News Media Association. He joins the Oakland-based nonprofit Oct. 24. The Times has not yet named a new health-section editor.

TEN ATTEND 2005 AGE BOOM ACADEMY: Ten reporters from cities ranging from London to San Francisco spent last week in New York City attending the fifth annual Age Boom Academy for journalists hosted by the International Longevity Center-USA and sponsored by the New Your Times Company Foundation. The class of 2005 comprised EILEEN BEAL, columnist and veteran age beat freelancer, Cleveland; PATRICIA CORRIGAN, reporter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; MARY BETH FALLER, health reporter, The Arizona Republic; ALEXANDRA FREAN, social affairs correspondent, The Times, London; ANN GERACIMOS, features writer, The Washington [D.C.] Times; MEG HECKMAN, Concord [N.H.] Monitor; WILLIAM O'DRISCOLL, senior reporter, Reno Gazette-Journal; MATT POMMER, state capitol correspondent, The Capital Times, Madison, Wisc.; CAROLYN SAID, business and aging reporter, San Francisco Chronicle; and SUZANNE TRAVERS, aging reporter; Herald News, West Paterson, N.J.

2. THE CALENDAR

A FEW SPOTS REMAIN OPEN FOR CENTURY FOUNDATION'S SEMINAR: The Century Foundation (www.tcf.org) has a few spots still open for its "The Life in an Older America" seminar for journalists being held at the Grand Geneva Resort and Spa in Lake Geneva, Wisc., Oct. 20-21. The foundation will cover your room costs, reimburse travel expenses and provide some meals as part of the program. Although the event is targeting reporters in the Midwest, the program is open to journalists elsewhere around the United States. The speakers lineup includes top-notch national sources slated to talk about Medicare Part D, the Social Security debate, the retirement of the boomer generation, and other prime issues. Speakers will include MARILYN MOON, president of the National Academy of Social Insurance, vice president, director of the health program at American Institutes for Research, and a former Social Security Trustee; HENRY AARON, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; ROBERT FRIEDLAND, director of the Center on an Aging Society, Georgetown University, and author of the report "Demography is Not Destiny"; and TERESA GHILARDUCCI, director of the Higgins Labor Research Center at the University of Notre Dame. The training program is designed for national and local reporters, producers, columnists, and editorial writers. Those Interested in attending should move quickly, because spaces are limited. To receive more information or to register, contact LAURIE AHLRICH at agingseminar@tcf.org or (212)452-7722, or CATE BRANDON, (212) 452-7726.

GSA MOVES TO MEETING TO ORLANDO. Just as ABO received the conference brochure announcing the Gerontological Society of America's 58th Annual Scientific Meeting - in New Orleans, GSA announced it was able to move the event to Florida's Orlando World Center Marriott Resort, Nov. 18-22. Wise move. Even if Florida were to be battered by another hurricane that late in the tropical storm season, rescue and evacuation operations have proved far more efficient and well funded in the Sunshine State than in other areas of late. Those planning to attend GSA can obtain the online schedule of presentations at http://www.agingconference.com/conference_program.cfm. To apply for press credentials contact Todd Kluss, tkluss@geron.org; (202) 842-1275, ext. 106.

3. "SAGE WATCH"

SAGE CROSSROADS DISCUSSES UNFORESEEN ROLES FOR TELOMERASE

Posted October 3: "THE SECRET LIVES OF TELOMERASE"

Telomerase has long been credited with keeping chromosomes from crumbling, a function once thought to influence longevity. Now researchers are discovering new telomerase talents that might help keep tissues young.

Check out SAGE Crossroads stories at
http://www.sagecrossroads.net/Default.aspx?tabid=28. SAGE Crossroads includes in-depth articles and webcast debates on major developments in the science of aging and their policy implications.

SAGE KE (Knowledge Environment) is Science Magazine's website on aging, providing information and analysis of cutting-edge aging-related research: http://sageke.sciencemag.org. The site requires a subscription for full-text access, but ABO members can sign up for free sample articles, abstracts, and weekly news alerts about commentary articles on new findings in the field.

4. "LARKIN'S LINKS" By MARILYNN LARKIN

ELDERS NEED INSPIRATION TO GET MOVING

A study published in the October issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine (www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.0204.x)

shows the negative power of self-fulfilling prophecies: Elders with the lowest expectations for aging-that is, for what one can do at an advanced age-were the most likely to lead sedentary livestyles. Study participants were 636 adults age 65 or older (mean age, 77) recruited from 14 Los Angeles-area community-based senior centers. Those elders with the lowest expectations were more than twice as likely to report having engaged in less than 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity during the previous week compared with those with higher age expectations. Lead researcher Catherine Sarkisian, assistant professor of medicine, geriatrics division, at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, commented: "We know that the number-one way we can improve the health of older adults is to increase physical activity-it's more powerful than common expensive medications. We might be able to help more seniors exercise if we can change what seniors believe."

The study, which was funded by the National Institute of Aging (UCLA Mentored Clinical Scientist Program in Geriatrics, Paul Beeson Career Development Award in Aging, UCLA Center for Health Improvement in Minority Elders/Resources Centers for Minority Aging Research) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Chicago Healthy Aging Research Network Center), is one more reason to try to get positive role models of healthy aging "out there." And so I urge ABO readers are urged to go to www.racingagainsttheclock.com, the home page of an award-winning film that chronicles the efforts of five women ages 50-82 to win a place in the World Masters Athletics Championships. My review of the DVD and more information on trends in older adult fitness will appear in the January-February issue of Aging Today.

Marilynn Larkin regularly contributes "Larkin's Links" to Age Beat Online. Readers can reach her at MLAgebeat@aol.com

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: In moderating a panel of editors of national magazines (Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Time, Men's Health) last week for Advertising Week in New York City, Daily show host John Stewart was quoted by the New York Times (Oct. 2) as commenting, pointedly if unfunnily, "The print media doesn't suffer from the excesses that TV and radio suffer from because it's a more measured medium. Unfortunately, print provides stability and balance in the same way that your parents provide stability and balance. And yet when you look at what advertisers think is relevant, it's not the parents, it's the kids."


The Journalists Exchange on Aging (JEoA) publishes AGE BEAT ONLINE with the assistance of the American Society on Aging (ASA). JEoA provides information and networking opportunities for journalists covering issues in aging but not those representing services, products or organizational agendas. ASA is a nonpartisan, nonlobbying organization of professionals in aging that is based in San Francisco. Its mandate is to serve as a forum for all points of view. Opinions expressed in ABO do not represent those of ASA. The most recent four issues of ABO are posted online at www.asaging.org/agebeat.