In case any recent alumni happened to miss the naming of Dr. David J. Skorton as Cornell's 12th president, Bob Berstein '97, the young alumni national chair, sent out a letter last week. "You can feel the excitement and energy on campus since the annoucement," Berstein wrote, who later called Skorton a "true Renaissance man." But, what would any correspondence from Cornell be without the pathetic plea? In this case, it only took two paragraphs: "Please join me in support of our new president and convey to him our passion for this institution by making a gift to this year's Annual Fund." It really annoys me that the only correspondence my alma mater now sends me includes an appeal for money. Give, give, give. New initiative announced? Make a donation! New president? Throw a couple dollars our way to celebrate! Want a subscription to the alumni magazine? That'll be 40 bucks! Cornell doesn't seem to understand that as young alumni, we don't have much money to give. And the fact that they're hitting us up for any spare change now won't encourage us to make a donation later in life, when (hopefully) we've really got bucks to throw around -- in fact, it might do just the opposite.
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