Announcements II

1. Gacked from my friend Nadia's LiveJournal, Fox News Channel is seeking a fact writer. Not a fact checker or a fact editor, mind you -- a fact WRITER. "Responsibilities include writing on-air facts and press conference quotes for daytime programming. . . . A successful candidate will have the ability to write in a concise, conversational and colorful style at an extremely fast pace. Fox News is an Equal Opportunity Employer."

I wonder what kind of political bias tests they run before they hire you. Word-association games, maybe, where they say "Donald Rumsfeld" and you say -- "God"? "Gerald Ford"? "automatic signing machine"? "Poetry"? Or maybe they put you on a blood-pressure monitor and hold up pictures of Dick Cheney, Hillary Clinton, Condoleeza Rice, Karl Rove, barbecue, foie gras, puppies, kittens, etc. to see what gets you going.

2. I am pleased to announce two recent awards for Arthur A. Levine Books. First, Ana Juan has won the 2005 Ezra Jack Keats Award for Illustration for her book The Night Eater -- a book we would consider gorgeous even if we hadn't published it. Second, Kate Constable's The Singer of All Songs has been recognized by the ALA's Amelia Bloomer Project, which honors books with strong female role models and quality feminist content. Congratulations Ana and Kate!

3. I am also pleased to announce that the New York Carleton Club won the 2005 Carleton Nationwide Alumni Trivia Challenge held yesterday! We clinched the victory in the fourth round thanks to solid contributions from club co-chair Hiro Oshima and an unknown young alum who knew that "Sam Fujiyama" was the sidekick on the medical show "Quincy." (Ah, the benefits of a liberal-arts education.) A good time was had by all.

4. Valentine's Day may be over, but the pleasures of "Master and Commander" Valentine's Day cards never cease: To view To send

Happy President's Day, everyone!