SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS SPONSORS OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS ACT FORUMS The importance of knowing which records are public and how to request them is not a topic usually covered in class, but is an essential topic for students interested in journalism, law, political science, or any topic that requires understanding of government. For this reason, New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) is an imperative law for any student and citizen to know about. Although the law was designed to make getting public records easy, many have complained that subtle nuances in the law have allowed record keepers to complicate and delay the process. Record-keepers, meanwhile, complain that students and other citizens often are imprecise in their requests or fail to describe a document properly. This session will clarify this process and give some of the basics that students or citizens need to find out what their government — local, state, or University — is doing. The last Rutgers chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists OPRA Forum was held on Wednesday, October 14, 2009, from 7 to 9 p.m. The seminar took place in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Rutgers Student Center on the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. For directions, go to this web location:http://search.rutgers.edu/buildings.html?q=student%20center. Inasmuch as the seminar has been held for three years in a row, we hope to make this an annual event. Last year, experts John Paff and Walter Luers discussed the New Jersey Open Public Records Act to help students and the public with obtaining paper and electronic records for assignments or any use. John Paff chairs the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government Advocacy Project, which works for greater governmental transparency, especially at the local level.  He also serves as a board member of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government. Attorney Walter M. Luers specializes in cases regarding the Open Public Records Act and Open Public Meetings Act.  As a member of the board of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government, he regularly represents clients in New Jersey Superior Court and the Government Records Council against public agencies who have violated the Open Public Records Act. The night was co-sponsored by the Journalism & Media Studies Department, the Journalism Resources Institute, and The New Jersey Foundation for Open Government.