So the guy from HR calls and says I am now “on vacation.” I’m reading that as an olive branch from U-T. Thanks to all who spoke up for me.

— Tim Sullivan (@TimSullivan714) June 7, 2012

Veteran U-T San Diego sports columnist Tim Sullivan was fired last Friday, simply told his services were no longer required. There was angry reaction to his ouster, and now Sullivan tweets that paper tells him he’s been “on vacation.”

I’m trying to find out more.

Meanwhile, U-T San Diego’s CEO and editor are meeting with the sports staff next Wednesday. The memo:

Fireside Chat with John Lynch and Jeff Light – SPORTS
When: Wednesday, June 13, 2012 4:00 PM-5:00 PM
Where: Conf Room – 5th Floor Manchester Boardroom

These sessions are a chance to help the newsroom get up to speed on changes inside the company, to exchange ideas with John and to help build a common vision of our future.
It’s an open forum but we do have two main points we want to cover:

· We expect all of our employees to be advocates for our company and enthusiasts for change.
· We expect our journalists to always act with independence, integrity and fairness.

Earlier JimRomenesko.com stories:
* U-T San Diego fires veteran sports columnist Tim Sullivan
* Sullivan questioned new initiatives, but “I wasn’t told my job was in danger”

The Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group says 20% of the proceeds from each $8 Save the Picayune drink will go to “adversely effected” Times-Picayune employees.

A restaurant vice president tells the Times-Picayune’s Brett Anderson that the drinks will be offered “every day, not just 3 days a week” — a reference to the paper’s new printing schedule, of course — and that one cocktail name that was rejected was News You Can Booze.

* Save the Picayune cocktails coming to 5 restaurants (noladefender.com)
* Ralph Brennan’s restaurants putting booze in the news (Times-Picayune)
* Editor of New Orleans’ alt-weekly talks about Times-Picayune’s troubles (Capital New York)

The Boston Globe’s Mary Carmichael points out that journalist Fareed Zakaria gave essentially the same speeches at 2012 Harvard and Duke graduation ceremonies. His defense:

Those are students from two very similar institutions graduating within two weeks of each other. I don’t see how I could have come up with two completely different speeches without giving one group a second-rate talk. I’d rather come up with the same important message I think they need to hear.

The Time columnist/CNN talker pointed out that many other commencement speakers recycle their own material. “That is true,” writes Carmichael. “Governor Deval Patrick spoke at six commencements in 2009; they overlapped so much that some students listened with homemade Bingo cards in hand.”

* Fareed Zakaria’s speeches strike a similar tone (Boston Globe)