*foot notes

If you haven’t wished your secretary happy Professional Secretaries Week yet, don’t worry, you still have time--it ends Saturday.

* As with so many things these days, Professional Secretaries Week is not what it used to be. Earlier this year its name was officially changed to Administrative Professionals Week. The International Assn. of Administrative Professionals, the sponsoring organization, made the change to reflect the changing office work force.

* Secretaries Week was founded in 1952, the brainchild of Harry F. Klemfuss of the public relations firm Young & Rubicam, the Dictaphone Corp. and the National Secretaries Assn. (the former name of the IAAP). Facing a shortage of skilled office workers, the idea was to recognize the contributions of secretaries and encourage young people to make secretarial work their career. It worked.

* More than 3.4 million secretaries, er, administrative professionals, and 1.4 million clerical supervisors toil each day in American offices--answering phones, making appointments, typing letters, stonewalling salespeople, filing reports, doing whatever it takes. It is one of the largest occupations in the U.S. economy. Average salaries range from about $20,000 to about $40,000 a year. Occupational hazards include eyestrain, carpal tunnel syndrome and many headaches.

* The IAAP suggests employers observe Administrative Professionals Week by providing seminars and other training for their administrative pros. Flowers, lunch, candy or a convincingly heartfelt “Good job!” are other options. At the very least, a virtual greeting card is free and easy to send. Several styles to choose from are available at htto://www.freewebcard.com. The Web site includes original poetry written specifically for the occasion, such as-:

“For things that go right/From morning ‘til night/It’s Secretaries Day/And I wanted to say/Thank you Thank you Thank you!”

Or better yet, write something yourself.