THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FORUM (11/19/00)

THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FORUM

Weekly's loss is Svoboda's gain: Jarosewich named editor-in-chief of Svoboda

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Editor Irene Jarosewich of The Ukrainian Weekly has been tapped as the new editor-in-chief of Svoboda, the Ukrainian-language weekly newspaper published by the Ukrainian National Association.

Ms. Jarosewich had been on the editorial staff of The Ukrainian Weekly since mid-December 1996, first as an independent contractor and since January 1998 as an editor. Her byline was already known to readers of The Weekly, as for some 10 years before joining the staff she had contributed occasional articles to the newspaper from both the United States and Ukraine.

Graduating in 1980 with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy and political science from the University of Wisconsin, Ms. Jarosewich remained in Madison, Wis., where she worked as a reporter until she returned to Washington in 1982 and joined the National Endowment for the Arts as a writer and editor, and later as a project manager.

In 1985 she become the managing editor of a new biweekly publication, The Washington Herald, the first newsprint publication to be fully produced with the then-emerging desktop publishing technology, receiving recognition in the national trade journals Advertising Age and Publisher's Weekly.

Ms. Jarosewich worked with the press tours organized by the Ukrainian Catholic Church in 1988 to Rome and 1991 for the return of Cardinal Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky to Lviv.

She worked for the Washington-based office of the National Committee to Commemorate the Millennium of Christianity in Rus'-Ukraine (1988) and at Rukh's information office in Kyiv, where she directed media relations with foreign correspondents (1991-1993). She remained in Ukraine as the director of public relations for UTEL, Ukraine's largest telecommunications company.

After her return to the United States in 1995, Ms. Jarosewich was the director of public relations for the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund at the time of commemorations of the 10th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster.

She was the first journalist from independent Ukraine to be accredited by the U.S. government's foreign press center in Washington, and in that capacity she covered the 1992 and 1996 U.S. presidential elections for Ukraine's parliamentary newspaper, Holos Ukrainy.

Ms. Jarosewich's appointment as editor-in-chief of Svoboda was announced to employees of the UNA Corporate Headquarters on October 18, and an announcement appeared in the Svoboda issue dated October 27. She assumed the position as of November 9, and the first Svoboda issue published under her direction was the issue dated November 17.

Ms. Jarosewich's inaugural editorial and her biography appeared in the November 17 issue of Svoboda, along with a statement from UNA President Ulana Diachuk welcoming the new chief and her success.

Ms. Diachuk also expressed thanks to Lev Chmelkovsky, who had served as acting editor-in-chief since September 22, from the time that the two-year contract of the previous editor-in-chief, Raissa Galechko, had expired and was not renewed.

Ms. Jarosewich's colleagues at The Ukrainian Weekly congratulated her at a staff gathering, raising a toast - the first of several, as it turned out - to her success (next door) at Svoboda.

In turn, Ms. Jarosewich hosted Weekly and Svoboda staffers several days later at a joint reception, and Svoboda editorial staff members welcomed their new chief at a gathering in their offices on November 10.

Northern New Jersey District Committee holds fall meeting

by Roma Hadzewycz
English-language press liaison of the Northern New Jersey District Committee

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The Northern New Jersey District Committee of the Ukrainian National Association held its fall organizing meeting here at the UNA corporate headquarters on Friday afternoon, October 20, with some 30 branch and district officers, as well as members of the UNA General Assembly present.

Among those present were: UNA President Ulana Diachuk, National Secretary Martha Lysko, Treasurer Stefan Kaczaraj, Advisor Andre Worobec and Honorary Member of the General Assembly Walter Sochan.

The meeting was chaired by Eugene Oscislawski, chairman of the Northern New Jersey District Committee. Also in attendance were Honorary District Chairmen John Chomko and Wolodymyr Bilyk.

Although the main topic of the meeting was to be the proposed amendments to the UNA By-Laws, as published in the UNA's official publications, Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly, most of the meeting focused on reports delivered by UNA executive officers, who reported on the current membership campaign, as well as the UNA's finances.

Mrs. Lysko reported on organizing efforts for 2000, noting that, as of September 30, the Northern New Jersey District had enrolled 45 new members, meeting just over 27 percent of its quota for the year. The new members were insured for a total of $1,472,650 in coverage.

Much time was spent discussing the issue of direct billing whereby a branch's members no longer receive their bills from the branch secretary, but are billed by the UNA Home Office. Several speakers noted that taking away the billing duties of branch secretaries means that the secretaries will have less contact with their members and, by extension, with the community they serve. Some argued that the direct billing arrangement renders branches basically meaningless.

Other speakers questioned why the Home Office is so strongly promoting direct billing, to which UNA officers replied that this is a requirement of New Jersey's Department of Banking and Insurance. They then offered meeting participants a copy of a letter from that department in which it is recommended that all branches be converted to direct billing as of January 1, 2001.

Mrs. Diachuk underlined that direct billing does not prevent a branch from remaining active in the realm of fraternal activity and thus remaining visible within the community, and that it frees up the time of branch officers who can focus their attention on enrolling members.

Mr. Kaczaraj reported on the financial status of the UNA and its subsidiaries, including the Ukrainian National Urban Renewal Corp., for the first six months of 2000. The UNURC, which oversees the UNA's headquarters building, this year has shown an increase in assets, and next year it expects to earn additional rental income of $500,000 annually.

As for the UNA's publications, Mr. Kaczaraj noted that deficits for both Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly have decreased significantly, at mid-year amounting to just over $61,800.

Regarding the UNA's resort, Soyuzivka, the treasurer noted that the UNA continues to pay out between $470,000 and $500,000 per year to cover its deficits. He added that a consultant has prepared a report on the resort's operations and that the General Assembly will be asked to make some decisions regarding Soyuzivka at its annual session on December 1-3.

Some discussion during the meeting was devoted to the question of why the UNA is not holding its next convention at Soyuzivka. Mrs. Diachuk responded that the Executive Committee had decided at its most recent meeting on September 9 not to change the site of the convention, but added that the General Assembly could revisit its own decision. She also underlined: "We are looking at this issue from the point of view of UNA patriotism, and we have appealed to the people for their support."

The final item on the meeting's agenda was a review of the proposed changes to the UNA By-Laws. After a brief summary of the major changes, the executive officers emphasized that - now that the proposals have been published in both official publications of the UNA - it is the UNA membership's turn to speak out about the proposals.

"What we'd like to see now is a dialogue among the membership," Mrs. Diachuk said. "This harkens back to the previous tradition of discussion of issues prior to UNA conventions on the pages of our newspapers."

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