Susan Krauss Whitbourne
President, Division 20
This is the point in the year when we all take stock and wonder where the academic year has gone. When you read the contents of this newsletter, though, you will undoubtedly conclude, as I have, that there are many exciting events and activities left in the year to make it a memorable one. I hope you will look carefully through the opportunities described in the newsletter and take advantage of ones that match your interests in adult development and aging.
I am also taking stock of the year and seeing what those of us on the Executive Board can be doing to serve the membership more effectively. Perhaps our biggest accomplishment for the year will have been the establishment of the World Wide Web page, which is allowing us to put in one location a large amount of information regarding the activities of the Division as well as information about aging for the general public. If you do not have a connection to the "information superhighway" (I really dislike that phrase!), and are wondering what all the fuss is about, you may be less than impressed with this accomplishment. If this is the case, I hope you will try to track down a web connection through your university, local library, a friend, colleague or perhaps one of your net-surfing children or students! The folks at Wayne State have done a fabulous job of constructing our Division 20 home page, and they are constantly working to update it. If you have "stopped by" to visit the site, I hope that you will send suggestions or comments along to Michael Marsiske, who is coordinating this project. The success of the web page really will depend in part on its frequency of use, and we want to make it as user-friendly and helpful as possible.
If you prefer "people contact" to net-scaping, there are also many opportunities in the coming months for you to make connections to Division 20 members and programs. By now you may be thinking about your schedule for the APA Convention in Toronto. Please plan to attend this year, as it will be a wonderful meeting. Toronto is a beautiful city, and if there isn't enough at the convention to keep you busy, you can find many wonderful sights and events ranging from the arts to sports. We are planning some exciting pre-Convention workshops, a program full of speakers representing the latest and greatest in the field, and to top it all off, a dinner cruise in the lovely Toronto harbor. The cruise will be Division 20's contribution to the festivities surrounding APA's 50th Anniversary of the Divisions, and we plan to make it a terrific party. The evening will also be geared toward honoring those who have received Distinguished Contribution Awards to the Division, so there is a serious purpose as well. Please check the details in the newsletter and plan to spend your Sunday night of APA (August 11) at the Division 20 party (families are of course invited).
If for some reason you are not coming to APA (and I can't think why not!), there are other Division 20 events for you to choose from. The workshop being held at Wayne State, described in Peter Lichtenberg's column, will be an excellent opportunity to learn about late-life depression. There are also funding opportunities for members, including student funding and post-doctoral awards announced in this Newsletter. I would especially like to urge you to consider submitting a proposal or piece of completed research written by a student to the Student Awards competition. We have been fortunate enough to obtain another round of funding for this very successful project, and I think it is a wonderful way to bring new people into the field.
So, as you can see, there truly is "something for everyone" in Division 20, and I welcome your participation!
To direct comments about the information contained in these pages, please write to marsiske@ufl.edu