Tuesday is deadline to apply for expense-paid trip to crime and justice conference in NYC

Tuesday, Dec. 21 is the deadline to apply for an expenses-paid fellowship to the sixth annual H.F. Guggenheim Symposium on Crime in America, to be held Jan. 31 and Feb 1 in New York City. The overall theme of the symposia are "Law & Disorder: Facing the Legal and Economic Challenges to American Criminal Justice."

The symposium is presented by the Center on Media, Crime and Justice in the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York. Fifteen fellows will be an awarded an all- expense-paid, three-day trip to attend, and those chosen will be required to attend both days of the conference in its entirety. Meals and local travel will be provided for all fellows.

The center seeks applications from journalists in a variety of beats (education, politics, health, crime, courts, etc.) to submit project or research ideas based on the major theme of the upcoming conference: "Criminal Justice Reform: What Works? What Doesn't? What Don't We Know?" The topics could include: crime and punishment (sentencing; prisons); science and crime (forensic issues, etc.), issues linking crime with environment, the economy, urban affairs or education trends; race and criminal justice; juvenile justice; homeland security and civil liberties; courts; new crime prevention and policing strategies, etc.

Applications should focus on the intersection of reporters' assigned beats with criminal justice, and be related to work in progress or proposed work slated for publication. The project should be supported by a senior editor, with a letter attesting to the commitment. Freelancers are encouraged to apply. The project pitch should be 300 words and the application should also include a 150-word biography. Apply online at www.jjay.cuny.edu/cmcj by 11:59 p.m. Dec. 21.

Journalists can access applications, contest rules and contact information at www.jjay.cuny.edu/cmcj. Fellowships will be announced Jan. 6. The fellows' work will be published on http://www.thecrimereport.org/, a criminal-justice news service published by the Center on Media, Crime and Justice and Criminal Justice Journalists. For more information, contact Deputy Director Cara Tabachnick at 212-484-1175 or ctabachnick@jjay.cuny.edu.