1) We are now integrating (thanks to Dave!) the email addresses that Student Affairs had, plus those that Sharon, Tex, and Cynthia had for BurnOut, and those that emailed Dave directly. It won't be a complete list, but we will be able to communicate quickly with this group at least. My hope is that in the future some form that has to be filled out will ask for parent email addresses.

2) The Fall fundraiser letter has gone out and we'll send another in the spring. Hopefully I'll be able to report on a $ amount at the general meeting. Don't know yet what impact the economy is having on the effort.

3) The last Group Interview luncheon is this Friday and I must say this has been a delightful experience. I tell each group about our organization and all the things we do for students to give them a glimpse of the warm family atmosphere at our school. I think we are the only med school to have such an organization and you never know what the deciding factor might be for those prospective students. Anyway they seemed genuinely pleased to be welcomed by us and appreciate being wished good luck on their interviews by a Mom!

4) BurnOut dinners were a great success thanks to the hard work of Saron and Tex Allen and Cynthia Schulte, our Chairmen for the dinners. I think we concluded that from now on we need to plan for 300! The increased numbers in each class were very apparent when the students showed up to eat! The word was that the food was great
and nobody should miss out! Great job, Chairs!

5) Besides our regular donation for the Retreat, this year we had great door prizes for those new MS1's. We'll continue with Match Day activities and Senior Banquet, both of which come in the spring.

6) Short term loans continue to be one important (and useful) function of our organization. Good news! Scott Schurdell says they are no longer sending negative credit reports for those students who are in a financial bind and fall behind. Collection has not been a problem.

7) The Christmas party for the children of med students was great fun and over 80 attended! Many thanks to Sandy Louis, Trish Greaser, and Pat Caver from our Steering Committee who came to help that day. Claire Lindsey and others in the Development Office also came to help and brought Santa! Dr. Kellaway and Dr. Gleason in Admissions and Dr. Joel Dunnington, a faculty member and parent, were also a big help in providing refreshments for all. Many of the children were very young, so the Sun Room at Children's Memorial Hermann was perfect. We had activities set up but the play equipment was a big hit with the young ones! The Santa Fund was quite successful as well. We collected enough to give $40 MasterCard giftcards to each of the 41 children registered for the Fund. You should read some of the precious thank you notes! Pictures from the party and the notes will shortly be on the Website. Be sure to take a look. Thank you, too, to all of you who contributed to the Fund.

8) The Parking Question has resolved itself into an opportunity for parents to purchase parking vouchers for their students for the Professional Building across the street. These are $5 vouchers and can be purchased from Student Affairs. There was a coupon emailed to everyone we had email addresses for before Christmas. Made a great stocking stuffer! My son couldn't wait to redeem his! It won't do as an answer for full time parking but it does help to have those vouchers on hand if they're running late or the weather's bad. Short of going to the Board of Regents this was the best we could come up with for now.

9) Information on available medical insurance is now available on a form in the Student Affairs office (thanks to Patti Ardeel!). This should be very helpful to students.
Just wanted to give you an update on progress toward our goals and let you know that Dr. Dunnington and his wife have agreed to serve on our Steering Committee. Does anyone have any other candidates? We need at least two sets of MS1 parents. BurnOut Chairs do any names come to mind? Will send new lists when all new members have been identified.
Also some first year parents have asked to have a tour of the school available at the next general meeting so we're planning on that. We're thinking we may even offer an indoctrination session for new parents that includes a tour in the afternoon before the White Coat ceremony. This will be a collaborative effort with Admissions and the Development Office. Our Organization will probably have a short presentation with slides to show us at work! No details yet. Will keep you posted.
Have a happy and prosperous new year!
Sincerely,
Tom and Mary Seiter