OK! Magazine‘s East Coast editor and frequent reality TV commentator Shauna Bass had a sick (and very cute) Pomeranian named Simba that sadly died of its illnesses. Bass spent tons of money at the vet in ultimately vain attempts to save little Simba.

Bass’ sister set up a memorial fund to compensate Bass for the cost of the vet bills, which is actually not really in the charitable spirit of what a memorial fund is intended to do. The Simba Bass Memorial Fund is designed to “help Shauna focus on healing after this tragedy.” Bloody hell.

So far, the fund has raised more than $5,000, a chunk of it from PRs who could very well be pitching her stories. Gawker has a list of some of those charitable PR souls.

We asked the PRSA for their ethical take on this situation. A response from the chair and CEO Gerard Corbett, after the jump.

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Democratic Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill and Republican Sen. Rob Portman (OH) have launched an investigation into how the White House has spent federal dollars on PR and advertising. Leaders of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Housing and Urban Development, and the Departments of Energy and Labor were among the agency heads who received the request for details. They’ve been asked for information going back to October 2008.

According to Roll Call, there is precedent for this sort of investigation but the the two Senators here “concede that what the administration is doing likely is legal.” Makes sense right?

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PRSA's Gerard Corbett

In addition to talking about the PRSA‘s opposition to SOPA and PIPA during our conversation late last week, we also spoke with the organization’s chair and CEO, Gerard Corbett, about the progress being made in the #PRDefined campaign.

When last we heard, the results had been pushed back to the end of February. Corbett says they’re hoping to make the announcement the week of the 27th. The commentary about the proposed definitions continues, with some saying the definition should be a combination of what’s been proposed, others suggesting the use of the word “ethics,” and other critiques.

“I think what it says about the art of PR is there’s no single description that will do it justice for everyone that is touched by the business,” said Corbett. But while it may seem that someone somewhere in the world of PR is destined to be unhappy with what comes of this process, Corbett says the goal is to communicate to people outside of the industry.

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In a blog post, incoming chair and CEO of the organization Gerard Corbett says the partners “wouldn’t mind having more time” to review the possibilities, with the ultimate goal of taking input from the entire industry into account.

“I think it’s appropriate for us to take a refreshed perspective and implement a slightly modified direction for#PRDefined; one that will allow for greater input from our partners and the profession, in a manner befitting the project’s stature,” he writes.

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The numbers are in and this year’s PRSA conference had 3,129 attendees, according to the organization, a number that falls in line with its yearly anticipated range.

While attending the conference earlier this week, PRNewser sat down with Gary McCormick, chair and CEO of PRSA. In the clip above, he talks about PRSA’s offerings, which focus on bringing the value of PR to clients. And McCormick discusses the value of the annual conference, which he says gives attendees the chance to sit across from colleagues and contacts in a way that online correspondence doesn’t.

If you’re one of the 3,100+ who attended, what did you think? And if you didn’t, why not?

Gerard Corbett, founder and president of RedPhlag, was named the 2012 chair and CEO of the PRSA. What suggestions do you have for him and the other newly-selected leaders of the organization?

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