In June, 1994, many of you were in attendance at the Friday luncheon of our 50th Class Reunion. You might recall that on that occasion the Class presented a $63,250.00 check to the University Librarian - the presentation photo-graph appears opposite. This sizable donation was to underwrite our ’44 Periodicals Project, one in which 127 members of our Class made an individual contribution. While this gift was acknowledged at the time by University Librarian Alain Seznec, we subsequently were never furnished with any other year-to-year information on our project.

     During our 55th Reunion in ’99, many of us participated in a ’44 walking tour to view the several on-campus projects that we’d underwritten as a Class, and during this tour we visited the Uris Library to check on our 1994 Periodicals Project . . No problem. . We were quickly taken to the several Library shelves on which we found many of the actual periodicals we had supported.. We particularly remember one ’44 humorist holding up a copy of some magazine and saying, "Hey, this copy of "Playboy" is pretty dogeared. Maybe we should double our order." The lady librarian didn’t think this was funny.

     Anxious to dig a little deeper, your Webmaster corresponded with the interim University Librarian, Anne F. Kenney, who promptly provided us the answers to all of our questions . . For example, she reported that "we currently subscribe to 48 periodicals with this fund. Two of these ("Atlantic" and "McCleans") are in duplicate, the duplicate being in microfiche for longer term use" The fund's principal as at December11, 2007 stood at $69,772.00 with the return - the sum that the Library has to spend - standing at $5,774.00.

     Ms. Kenney further indicated that the endowment's periodicals range from the scholarly to the popular. All are reported to receive very heavy use with a few even winding up in tatters. The key quote: "As a group, they have a major impact on the quality of life of the undergraduates, and there is no question that they are greatly appreciated."

     What appears below is the complete list of the 48 periodicals that we ’44's currently underwrite - the choice remaining with the Library, as it should. You’ll find the list to be quite comprehensive with the magazines covering a myriad of subject areas. The separate photograph (above) shows a sampling of the periodicals while a close-up snapshot (shown below) depicts the manner in which the Library acknowledges our gift - affixing labels on the shelves under the appropriate periodicals.

     Newspaper subscriptions provided through the Class of 1944 Fund include: The Daily News, Ithaca Journal, Ithaca Times, New York Times, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Village Voice.

     It was - and still remains - an excellent Class project, and ’44's may take pride in knowing that their 1994 donations are still at work year after year.