YESTERDAY Tattle was one of the guest speakers at the Daily Pennsylvanian's 24th Annual Steven A. Marquez Journalism Conference. (For you longtime readers of the Daily News, Steve was a reporter here when he died in 1987 at age 29.)

One of the popular topics as always for the student journalists was career advice in media. The basic tip from the professionals on hand was that in this economy you need to get your foot in the door and any job, no matter how menial, was a great way to do that.

"Go for it," we told the students, most of them young women.

But you might want to think twice about entry-level work with David Letterman.

To be fair, Dave hasn't broken any laws - that we know of - and all of his reported intra-office hound-dogging was allegedly before he got married. And let's be real, if you removed all the insanely wealthy middle-aged men who were getting a little extra extra at work from their positions of power, we could probably make a dent in the unemployment numbers.

That's not to give Dave a free pass - who knows what uncensored "Stupid Pet Tricks" may yet surface - but Tom Keaney, spokesman for Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants (obviously those pants need to be a little loose in the inseam) said Dave was "not in violation" of the company's harassment policy "and no one has ever raised a complaint against him."

Yet.

Dave's alleged extorter, Robert J. "Joe" Halderman, a producer for the true-crime show "48 Hours Mystery," pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court Friday to one count of attempted first-degree grand larceny, punishable by five to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors said Halderman, who was released after posting $200,000 bail, was desperate and deep in debt from his divorce.

On the Daily Beast Web site, Lloyd Grove reported that Halderman also had a reputation as a womanizer who carried on office romances.

Halderman's connection to Letterman - except for picking up women at work - was not immediately clear, but public records show that until August, he lived in Norwalk, Conn., with Stephanie Birkitt, a 34-year-old woman who works on the "Late Show" staff and used to work at "48 Hours."

Birkitt was an assistant to Letterman on the "Late Show" and frequently appeared on camera with Dave as a comedic foil.

Last month, Birkitt dumped Halderman, 51, and moved to Manhattan. (Cue suspicious music.)

Halderman's lawyer, Gerald Shargel, said his client worked at CBS for 27 years and had no prior criminal record. He described him as an involved father (thus besmirching involved fathers) who coached soccer, baseball and football and has two children, ages 11 and 18.

"This story is far more complicated than what you heard this afternoon," Shargel said outside court, but he would not elaborate.

They rarely do.

Halderman allegedly left an envelope in Letterman's car early Sept. 9. According to authorities, he wrote that he needed money and said Letterman's world would "collapse around him" if damaging information about him were made public.

"This is obviously a tragedy," human quote-machine and former "48 Hours" colleague, Dan Rather, said of Halderman's (not Letterman's) plight. "Frankly, I couldn't be more astonished that this guy was involved in something like this than if you came riding through my apartment on a hippopotamus."

In other sex case news . . .

U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys in Chicago is expected to decide today whether Michael David Barrett, the man accused of stalking ESPN reporter Erin Andrews and secretly video taping her nude, should be returned to L.A. to face charges as a federal prisoner or free on bail.

Barrett, 47, of Westmont, Ill., was held in jail over the weekend after his arrest Friday at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Investigators believe he recorded Andrews by aiming a cell phone camera through an altered peephole in the door of her hotel room.

Huh? So he allegedly stood in the hall and did it?

An FBI affidavit said Barrett requested and stayed in a room near Andrews at a Tennessee hotel where seven videos were likely taken. An eighth video may have been shot at a Milwaukee hotel. Barrett is accused of posting the videos online and trying to sell them to celebrity Web site TMZ.com.

Barrett, clad in the bright orange jumpsuit of a federal prisoner, made a brief initial appearance before Judge Keys on Saturday. He faces charges in L.A., where TMZ is based, of interstate stalking and could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

"I don't think he's even had a traffic ticket," said his lawyer, Rick Beuke, who said he has known Barrett for a decade.

"He's as regular a guy as you'll ever meet - a great friend," Beuke added (thus besmirching regular guys). "I must have calls from 30 people wanting to know what they could do to help."

Beuke said Barrett has been divorced for some time and has children.

Dolares Shea, the head of Barrett's neighborhood association, who lives across the street from him, called the allegations shocking and said there's nothing that made Barrett stand out in a community favored by retirees, doctors and lawyers.

Perhaps, but had Barrett lived in a community favored by attractive ESPN sideline reporters, something might have stood out.

Barrett's father, Frank Barrett, 78, of Milwaukie, Ore., was also shocked by the arrest and said the situation "does not match the Mike I know."

"He's always been an upstanding, hardworking guy," Frank Barrett said.

That probably should be "hard, working guy."

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

E-mail gensleh@phillynews.com