Third minority seminar gets high marks.

For the third year in a row, participants have given high marks to the NCEW Foundation's Minority Writers Seminar.

Ruby Bailey, a feature writer for The Detroit News, called the April 30 through May 3 sessions at The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University inspiring. "It opens the window of opportunity, while never hiding the challenges of editorial writing," she said in a post-seminar survey.

With a faculty staffed by NCEW members, the three days in Nashville offered a dozen experienced minority journalists the opportunity to learn more about opinion writing as a possible new career.

That is certainly the goal of Angela Alcala-Bach, who covers city government for the San Antonio Express-News. "I enjoyed it [the seminar] more than I expected," she said. 'This is something I know I'll pursue within the next five years."

Even those who have been in the opinion writing business for years can identify with the sentiments of Robert Jamieson, a reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "For anyone who ever thought about becoming an editorial writer but had more questions than answers, this valuable weekend clears the fog," he said.

A dedicated pool of NCEW members contributed to this year's program. Leading the simulated editorial board meetings and critique sessions were Sue Ryon, vice president of the Foundation and deputy editorial page editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Tommy Denton, treasurer of the Foundation and editorial page editor of The Roanoke Timex and Chuck Stokes, a Foundation board member and editorial director of XYZ-TV in Detroit. Joan Armour, who handles NCEW's public relations, pulled together all the details.

Speakers included Dorothy Gilliam of The Washington Post; Jacqueline Thomas, editorial page editor of The Sun in Baltimore; and Art Coulsen, deputy editorial page editor of Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle.

Thanks also go to The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University for its financial support of the seminar, and for hosting most of the sessions. On Friday night, a field trip took participants to historic Fisk University for a tour and discussion.

So far, almost 50 minority journalists have graduated from this intense but fun opportunity to learn and bond. Some - like Cary Clack of the San Antonio Express-News, Douglas Lyons of the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, and Deborah Locke of the St. Paul Pioneer Press - have become editorial writers. Others are hoping to do so in the near future. We are building a network among seminar alumni to keep them in touch with NCEW and to make them aware of opinion-writing job opportunities.

With your support, NCEW Foundation can continue to make this important contribution to diversity among opinion writers and, in so doing, to live up to its mission of improving the quality of opinion writing. Plans already are in the works for 1999.

You can help ensure the success of the seminar and the Foundation's many other programs in the years ahead. Send your contributions to NCEW Foundation, 6223 Executive Boulevard, Rockville MD 20852-3906. And please don't forget to check with your newspaper or station about matching donations.

NCEW past president Edward W. Jones is managing editor of The Free-Lance Star in Fredericksburg, Va., and president of NCEW Foundation.