As your Class Treasurer, I do not sit atop a heap of money . . Looking back on my current term of office that began in June, 1994, I find that our Class of '44 has always had modest annual dues and has also had equally modest annual expenses . . The bottom line from a fiscal standpoint is that as a Class we've always managed to keep our heads above water..

     Involvements . . True, we've involved ourselves in periodic undertakings that have cost anywhere between $5,000 and $63,000 per project, but these "involvements," such as our Fellowship Grants ($45,000), the Class of '44's Memorial Room ($50,000 and $43,000), and the Periodicals Project ($63,000) as three examples, were always underwritten initially by the voluntary donations made by many of our classmates. This was in accordance with the wishes of our Class Council who felt that the initial costs of these "extras" should not to be financed by our limited dues structure.

     Today, our annual Fellowship Grants and the Periodicals Project support are covered in great part by the interest we derive from the initial donations we made several years ago,and just as importantly, by the small (and sometimes) large donations that our classmates tuck into their renewal envelopes when they return their annual dues.

     Still another example . . Over the years, our five-year Class Reunions have always been major activities with fairly large gatherings and substantial expenses, but here again, the Reunion Fees have always been established at a level that took care of all Reunion expenses, giveaways, and what have you, and yet they still managed to provide '44 with a surprising four-figure carryover after each Reunion. Don't get excited! - the carryovers really weren't that big, but they still were better having than running our Reunions at a loss.

     Where do your dues monies go? . . I won't attempt to give you specific figures in every instance because so many of our annual expenses vary in amount each year . . Just like our duespayer total - which is a decided "variable" - our expenses, modest though they may be, are also constant variables . . How do you like that oxymoron from this Home Ecker?.

     Receipts . . Flowing in was some $10,360 . . 228 classmates paid $35 dues ($20 of which went to the Cornell Alumni Magazine) and 48 other '44's who paid $15 each but who did not opt to subscribe to the magazine . . Our most recent interest income was $508.00.

     Disbursements . . Our biggest expense each year is our rebate to the Alumni Magazine - a sum of $4,922 was paid for our 218 subscriptions at $20 each plus an additional $332 subsidy (or $1.48 more per person in that the actual subscription cost to '44 is $21.48 per member) . . No argument there; it's an exceedingly fine magazine in every respect.

     Organizational support . . Additionally, '44 pays $400 annual dues to the Cornell Association of Class Officers and $54.45 annual dues to the Alumni Federation . . We support the CACO Convocation in NYC each year with some 12-16 of us in attendance, the average $740 in annual costs covering CACO's Registration Fees and Luncheons.

     Communications . . Our mailings to the full Class roster and to our Class Officer structure have cost an average $2,000 a year for both printing and postage .and the Pocket Calendars we provide to our duespaying members each year cost an average $300 delivered . . There's an approximate $100 set aside for subsidizing '44 events and there's also a whopping $100 set aside for an item called "Miscellaneous." That's it. I don't think I've left out anything.

     The bottom line . . . Where do we stand? . . As at June 30, 2004, we had a bank balance of $17,875.59 as compared to a June 30, 2003 total of $18,952/58 . . . By October of 2002 our balance '44 stood at $17,875.59. . . . So we're still in the black . . Just like the headline banner above says.