Post-Gazette columnist Samantha Bennett was recently elected president of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists for a two-year term at its annual convention in New Orleans. She succeeds Mike Argento of the York Daily Record. Her column is posted Thursdays on post-gazette.com and runs in the PG's North and Washington County sections on Sundays. She won first place for the best column of 2008 in her circulation category from the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors.