May Day--Mayday!

Stay tuned: we'll be sending out another e-mail broadcast to the class on May Day, so check your inbox or check back here for the latest news about reunion!

Naomi's Thrift Blog in the Press

I write a blog called "Thrift" that is a "clear and simple guide to saving money."

I discovered today that it was referenced in a feature story (part of a six-part series) by the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram on March 23rd.

If you'd like to read the article, click here.

Rachel Sontag '97 Publishes Memoir of Abuse

Rachel Sontag '97, who left Smith during her sophomore year, has written a memoir of the emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, Dr. Stephen Sontag.

You can read a review by June Sawyers published in the San Francisco Chronicle here.

Honest to Blog

Two enterprising Smithies have come up with a fantastic idea. Amanda '06 and Sarah '05 have created the Association of Smith College Alum Blogs. Basically, a blog about Smithie bloggers. It's fantastic.

From them:

"There are over 53,000 Smith College alums, in all 50 states and in over 100 countries.

How many of them have blogs?

We're on a mission to find out.

Check us out: http://smithalumblogs.wordpress.com/

Want to be indexed? Know a Smithie with a blog? Send an email to smithalumblogs@gmail.com."

You can view the blogs by year--starting with a blogger from the class of '61, all the way up to the current graduating class ('08).

So far, three '94ers are represented. If you have a blog, send the link to them.

Update Your Contact Info

In order to receive reunion (or other class-related news and items via e-mail or snail mail) the college must have your current e-mail and/or snail mail address. As a class, we prefer to contact you via e-mail because it saves money (we have a very small treasury) and because it saves resources. ("No trees were harmed in the writing of this e-mail.")

Unfortunately, figuring out how to update your information at the AASC Web site is a bit baffling. To get the steps, I contacted Mike Yargeau, the AASC Web master. He said:

>>The process of updating your e-mail address or contact information is relatively straight forward. Once you are logged in to the Directory you simply click on the "Directory" text link on the left of the page to expose some options, then click on "My Personal Information", and then on the resulting page click on the "Edit" button on the top right corner of your profile. On the page where you actually update your data you have to click on "save" at the bottom of the page to retain any changes you make. Our records staff does receive these updates, but they still go through them manually to maintain consistency and accuracy so it can take a bit of time for changes to be implemented.

There is also an animated tutorial for this on the website at: http://alumnae.smith.edu/tutorials/

Just click on the link that says: "Change your personal information in the Alumnae Directory"
>>

Thank you, Mike!

However, there is one lingering question, right? How does one log in to the Directory??

First, go to the AASC Web site. At the top of the left-hand column are dialog boxes where you can enter your username and password to log in to the Alumnae Directory.

If you have never created a username and password, click on the New User link below the dialog boxes.

If you remember your username, but not your password, click on the Lost Password? link below the dialog boxes.

If you have no idea whether you created an account before, or if you know that you did, but can't recall your username OR your password...well...I don't know what you do.

I've written to Mike to find out and will post that information when I get it.

There is also a link at the bottom of the AASC page, which will allow you to update your mailing address and provide your e-mail address. I don't know for certain if this will mean that the e-mail address you provide will be entered into the same database that the broadcasts draw from, but it's a start. And you don't need a username or a password to do it.

Just go here.