If you would like to be a WSS science fair judge, or if you would like additional information about this activity, please contact Lee Abramson at (301) 415-6180 or e-mail at lxa@nrc.gov. (If you judged last spring, there is no need to contact Lee unless your mailing address or phone number has changed.)

We send the newsletter out via email to several hundred folks each month. Mail for the following people has 'bounced' recently.

If your name is on the list, please send a note to Vince Massimini (svm@mitre.org) with a new email address. If you know someone on the list (or can get a current address for them), please contact Vince or have them contact Vince.

(The list is Name, ASA #, and last known email address)

Charles E. White ASA 17562
  (Chuck.White@WorldNet.ATT.Net)
Mark Pierzchala ASA 13111 (mpierzchala@ag.gov)
Cary E. Priebe ASA Unknown
  (priebe@kronecker.mts.jhs.edu)
Peg Young ASA 17128 (pegyoung@ix.netcom.com)
Jim Colliver ASA Unknown
  (jcollive@aoada.ssw.dhhs.gov)
Joe Gfroerer ASA 9660 (jgfroere@aoa2.ssw.dhhs.gov)
Mary Foulkes ASA 6736
  (mary_foulkes@exec.niaid.pc.niaid.nih.gov)
William Davis ASA 2149 (davisw@cna.org)
A.A. Khan ASA 2515 (khan@vail.caa.army.mil)
Harold Johnson ASA Unknown
  (johnsonh@oaio.psb.bls.gov)
S.K. Katti ASA (skatti@capaccess.org)

Try the WSS newsletter via email! WSS now distributes the newsletter electronically to nearly 240 members (over 20% of the membership). These members get the newsletter a week or more prior to folks who get the surface mail version, and can get updates on recent events and changes. During the summer, we also published electronic-only newsletters to give folks advanced notice of August and September events. Also, WSS saves printing and postage, since we don't need to send a paper copy to the electronic folks.

If you would like to receive the newsletter by email, please send a note to Vince Massimini (svm@mitre.org) listing your name, organization, and internet email address. If you are an ASA member, it would help if you could include your ASA number and mailing address with Zip code, but this is not critical.

The newsletter can also be viewed as a part of the WSS WWW page, or can be downloaded in Adobe format to be read or printed. This is in addition to the usual employment, seminars, and other useful information. Again we thank Dan Rope of BLS and Jim Gentle of GMW for developing the page and providing the site, respectively. The WSS WWW page is at URL http://www.scs.gmu.edu/wss/ if you would like to give it a try.

Also, if your email address has changed, please let Vince know. Your messages may be bouncing and he can't get them to you.

SIGSTAT is the Special Interest Group in Statistics for the Capital PC User Group (CPCUG) and WORMSC, Washington Operations Research and Management Science Council. All meetings are from 12:30 - 1:30 in Room 1208, 1301 New York Ave, NW. First-time attendees should contact Charlie Hallahan at 202-501-6928 or hallahan@econ.ag.gov. Further information is at http://www.ers.usda.govsigstat or the Members/Sigs page of http://www.cpcug.org.

Forecast Pro is a Windows package for forecasting univariate time series. Forecast methods included are exponential smoothing, Box-Jenkins ARIMA models and dynamic regression. An expert system option is available to automatically analyze the data and recommend a forecast technique based on out-of-sample MAD.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announces the availability of Turning Administrative Systems Into Information Systems: 1995, the latest edition of a set of IRS Methodological Reports produced by the Statistics of Income (SOI) Division. This report draws together selected papers on administrative record research presented at professional conferences. Most of the presentations in this volume were made at the 1995 Annual Meetings of the American Statistical Association, held in Orlando, Florida.

This year's compilation has been divided into five major sections, each focusing on a somewhat different area of research:

• The first section describes SOI's migration data and a brief example of how this unique dataset can be used by demographers and policy researchers.
• The second section contains four papers on sample designs and redesigns, drawing on work by the Federal Reserve Board -- which used SOI data as a sampling frame -- and on recent SOI efforts in the corporation and partnership areas.
• Section 3 presents five papers on weighing and estimation research.
• The next section focuses on analytical approaches to quality improvement.
• The volume concludes with papers from an invited session on record linkage applications for health care policy.

         Statistics of Income Division  CP:R:S:S:P
         Internal Revenue Service
         P.O. Box 2608
         Washington, DC  20013-2608
         Phone:    (202) 874-0410 
         Fax:      (202) 874-0964
         E-mail:   soi.sis@wpgate.irs.gov

Lecture Series at SRI International - Fall 1996

• November 21: Dr. Keith McDonald Satellite Navigation Pioneer
• Topic: "Satellite Navigation from NAVSTAR to GPS and Beyond"
• Time: 6:00 p.m. social with light snacks 6:45 p.m. talk begins promptly
• Place: 7th floor conference room, SRI International 1611 N. Kent Street, Arlington, VA.
  This facility is two blocks east of the Rosslyn Metro station and has free parking after 5 p.m. in the PMI Garage, with entry from North Arlington Ridge Road. Garage and building entry must be before 6:45 p.m., but exit can be made at any time.

There will be no lecture in December. Lectures will resume in January.

Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., one of the nation's leading independent research firms, recently expanded its Survey and Information Services Division by opening a Washington, DC, office. The new office, located at 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, complements Mathematica's DC-based Research Division and its research affiliate, the Center for Studying Health System Change, at the same location.

George Carcagno, director of the Surveys and Information Services Division and executive vice president of Mathematica, announced the creation of the new office. Carcagno reports that "the new office expands the survey research, data collection, and information services capabilities we have long offered to our clients. These services contribute to Mathematica's unique combination of direct data collection capabilities, evaluation expertise, and insight into the socioeconomic issues that drive public policy."

The associate director of the new office is Margaret Cahalan, an expert in education surveys and survey management. Staff also includes Brenda G. Cox, a Mathematica senior fellow and senior sampling statistician, and Donsig Jang, a sampling statistician. In October, two new senior staff will join the staff, senior fellow James Massey, formerly of the National Center for Health Statistics, and senior survey researcher Susan Mitchell, formerly of the National Research Council.

Mathematica conducts public policy research and surveys for federal and state governments as well as private clients. Its services include large-scale computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) and computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) surveys. The firm, with offices in Princeton, N.J., and Washington, D.C., has conducted some of the most significant evaluations of public programs and demonstrations undertaken in the United States on issues involving health care, education, welfare, employment, and other public policy issues.

The Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics will host a seminar on "STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE". The seminar will focus on a variety of topics that have been explored in the Statistical Policy Working Paper series developed under the auspices of the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodolgy. Topics to be covered will include the dissemination of Federal statistics, the sharing of data, administrative records, and the training of Federal statisticians.

Seminar participants will include federal statisticians, economists, and managers, as well as others in the broader statistical community who share an interest in the quality of federal data. Users and producers of federal statistics who participate in the seminar will have the opportunity to share experiences and ideas, discuss technical issues, and consider future policy initiatives.

The cost for the two-day seminar, which will be held at the Holiday Inn, Bethesda, 8120 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland, will be $125.00 per person. Registration will be limited to 250 participants. For further information, contact Edward Spar or Susan Cohen in the COPAFS office (703-836-0404).

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President                         Past President                
Phillip Kott (703) 235-5211       Ron Fecso (703) 235-5211
                   ext. 102                       ext. 142

President-Elect
Graham Kalton (301) 251-8253

Secretary                          Treasurer
Elizabeth Sweet  (301) 457-4860    Carolyn Shettle  (703) 306-1780

WSS Program Chairs

Agriculture & Natural Resources    Economics
Mike Steiner     (202) 690-2486    Linda Atkinson   (202) 219-0934
Robert Latta     (202) 586-1385    Art Kennickell   (202) 452-2247
                          
Methodology                        Public Health and Biostatistics
Julia Bienias    (301) 457-2696    Vance Berger     (301) 594-5756
Karol Krotki     (202) 944-5243    Julie Legler     (301) 493-6832
                                   
Public Policy                      Quality Assurance                  
Carolee Bush     (202) 366-6946    Harold Johnson    (202) 606-7758
Phil Ross        (202) 260-5244    Amrut Champaneri  (202) 268-2299
                                   Paul L. Zador     (301) 294-2825 

Social & Demographic Statistics    Statistical Computing                                            
Michael Horrigan (202) 606-5905    Bob Jernigan      (202) 885-3170 
Myron Katzoff    (703) 670-8917    Mike Fleming      (703) 235-5213
                                                           ext. 170

Short Courses                      Data Collection Methods     
Fritz Scheuren   (703) 549-1120    Brad Edwards      (301) 294-2021
                                   Linda Stinson     (202) 606-7528

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Employment
Bill Arends          (202) 720-6812                 

WSS NEWS Editors
Mike Feil            (301) 443-1330                 
Fran Chevarley       (301) 436-7093
                           ext. 153   
Membership
Antionette Martin    (202) 426-1110
Renee Miller         (202) 426-1117
Fritz Scheuren       (703) 549-1120

Videotapes
Mel Kollander        (202) 973-2820 

Quantitative Literacy
Shail Butani         (202) 606-6347

Local Arrangement
Robie Sangster       (202) 606-7517

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