Fall 2000 Page 10

 
From the Desk of the Editor

Doreen Schroeder
As I look out my window, I see the signs of Nature preparing for the challenge of the winter ahead. The trees are dropping their leaves, perennials are dying back to their roots, and squirrels are scurrying about even more feverishly than usual. This is, without a doubt, my favorite time of year. Not only because of the beauty of the multi-colored leaves and the crisp days, but because I see it as a time of new beginnings, as much as spring or the New Year. Having spent much of my life in academia, I am sure that much of this attitude has to do with the beginning of a new academic year each fall. There are new students to get to know and new colleagues with whom to work, so even the same classes present a new challenge.

Doreen Schroeder
Mail# OWS390, University of St. Thomas
2115 Summit Ave.
St. Paul MN 55105

This year, I have undertaken another challenge, the editorship of Labstracts and I am thoroughly looking forward to the next several years in this position. It is an opportunity to give some time back to ABLE, which has been an important part of my professional life. More than getting ideas and techniques for new laboratory exercises and teaching, I have made met and made contacts with colleagues in institutions all over North America. I see Labstracts as a vital means of communication and maintaining those contacts between the members of our organization. I hope that it continues to be not only a way of dispersing information, but also of getting to know a little more about the members who contribute. Perhaps this might be from a bio at the end of an article, or learning more about what is important to them as educators from their choice of topics. It is this personal connection that is possibly the most important reason for a newsletter such as Labstracts. So I want to acknowledge and thank the previous editors, Roberta Williams, Leigh Callan, and Ed Andrews, for their efforts in beginning and carrying on this tradition.

There are others that I want to thank for their assistance with this issue: Corey Goldman for putting the documents into the web-based format and for his patience with me as a new editor, Ed Andrews for his invaluable aid and support as a former editor, and last, but perhaps most importantly, the members who contributed articles.

 

 

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