Watch your emailbox for our upcoming newsletter

EDITORIAL: WHY A NEWSLETTER?

The Association views this newsletter as an essential part of its efforts to build and maintain the organization. Members of the association, which includes all alumni with mailing addresses close to the Princeton campus, will have varying levels of involvement and will have preferred ways of receiving information. Our website/blog (www.princetonaaa.blogspot.com)is the most current source of information about our activities, and it will be accessed by many members. Members who are on Facebook or on LinkedIn are invited to join the “Princeton Area Alumni Association (PAAA)” groups (please note that on Facebook, you need to be a member of the Princeton network in order to join).

We will have special mailings and emailings, but the newsletter will play a complementary role by reaching association members who may have missed or been missed by these other forms of communication and by providing reminders of upcoming events. So far, a publication schedule has not been established, but we anticipate issuing several electronic and paper newsletters per year.

Many thanks to Sev Onyshkevych ’83, chair of the Membership and Communication Committee, for his assistance, especially for providing sample newsletters from other associations, and, even more, for his encouragement.

I retired from the Rutgers University Libraries in 2003. I am an active participant in Graduate School Annual Giving, and I support the Princeton University Library and the Art Museum.

IN OUR BACKYARD

NIMBY (“Not in my backyard”) is an unlovely slogan used by those who object to the possible siting of prisons, waste treatment plants, and other necessary governmental activities that they deem undesirable.

However, having something in one’s backyard can be both a valuable asset and thoroughly enjoyable! We are the "IMBYs" ... being so close to the Princeton University campuses is a privilege of ours, and comes with obligations. On the one hand, we can enjoy and support the many attractions the university has for the alumni, and, through community service we can further enhance the usefulness and the reputation of Princeton University. We can contribute to “Princeton in the nation’s service” in part, and via our Association “Princeton in the community’s service.” It seems to me, therefore, this newsletter could provide an opportunity for alumni to describe their pleasant experiences with university attractions, such as the art museum, and to describe their equally enjoyable efforts to serve through our association. We could also describe our work with various offices or other elements of Princeton to provide new services and to plan events.

Benjamin R. Beede (Politics *62), Interim Newsletter Editor; Email: brbeede@rci.rutgers.edu