From the new look for ScienceWriters to an eye-popping win for the Grievance Committee, news in the newest NASW Update is a telling reflection of the value of NASW. Please read on and, as always, your feedback and suggestions are welcome.

NASW and three other journalism organizations have submitted a joint letter to The Honorable John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and The Honorable Lamar Smith (R-TX), Ranking Republican of the House Judiciary Committee, urging them to reject a recently introduced bill that would severely limit public access to taxpayer-funded scientific research.

The National Association of Science Writers invites all interested members to apply for a Laura Van Dam Travel Fellowship to this June's meeting of the World Federation of Science Journalists in London.

As had been announced, Diane McGurgan leaves NASW in June, after 30 years of dedicated service. At a luncheon at the ScienceWriters 2008 meeting, a couple hundred attendees gathered to honor her. The sunny patio of the Crowne Plaza hotel, in Palo Alto, was filled with longtime friends and new members, alike in their appreciation of Diane's monumental contributions to our organization. Inside the hotel, friends viewed a slideshow and wrote fond wishes in an overflowing scrapbook.