Chess Horizons Abril - Junio 2010 | Page 6

Letter from the President

CHESS HORIZONS
It has been at least fifteen years since MACA r a i s e d memberships dues . Yet , given the financial stresses that many families are still feeing in this economy , the board is reluctant to raise dues across the board . I n s t e a d , we have decided to adopt a model that many membership organizations with publications have embraced .
Starting soon , Chess Horizons will be available online on our website . It will be available to all , at no additional cost . Those who want to continue to receive a printed copy of Chess Horizons can do so , at a supplemental membership fee of $ 8 . Those who prefer to read their copy online , or are trying to cut down on their use of paper in general , will see no increase in their membership cost .
• These membership categories will take effect on May 1st , 2010 . The new dues structure will be as follows :
• Adult membership : $ 12
• Adult Membership with Printed Magazine : $ 20
• Junior Membership *: $ 6
• Junior Membership with Printed Magazine : $ 14 * available to those 18 and under
We are discontinuing Family Memberships , which was a membership built around the idea that one household should only receive one copy of the printed magazine .
We will be in individual contact with individual Life Members . Life Members who wish to continue receiving the printed magazine will have that wish honored , at no additional cost . However , we have decided not to accept applications for new Life Memberships until we have the data to determine whether our new membership categories can support the number of magazines we need to print .
I do hope our new membership categories satisfy the wishes of a diverse membership . Many of you have been questioning why we continue to print a magazine , at considerable financial and environmental cost , while so many associations have moved their magazines and newsletters online . But others have told us how much you appreciate your hard copy of Chess Horizons and that it is , in fact , an important aspect of your MACA membership . I hope that we have created a solution that gives all of you what you want . As always , I am happy to receive your questions and comments .
Best ,
Maryanne Reilly MACA President
FROM THE ACTING EDITOR
As the acting editor for the April issue of Chess Horizons , first let me say : we ' re looking for a new editor ! Since I ' m already MACA ' s treasurer and membership secretary , as well as being a busy tournament director , I ' m not looking for new jobs to do for MACA . Interested candidates should contact one of MACA ' s officers , or send email to editor @ masschess . org .
We ' re also looking for a photographer to replace Tony Cortizas , who did such a fine job for so many years . We ' re grateful for the photographs contributed by several people for this issue , but we ' d like to have a single photographer who we can rely on to take photographs at all of MACA ' s events .
Congratulations to the Cambridge Springers team ( Bill Kelleher , Joe Fang , Anatoly Levin , Len Morrissey , and Vesna Dimitrijevic ), who finished first at the U . S . Amateur Team East , and congratulations also to Max Lu , who won the junior high section of the New York State Scholastic Championships . Max was warming up for MACA ' s own Hurvitz and Spiegel Cup championships . Some warmup !
As MACA president Maryanne Reilly says in her letter to members , MACA is implementing a new dues structure starting May 1st . The intent is that members who want a printed copy of Chess Horizons will pay for it , while the content of the issue will be available on the MACA web site to everyone with access to the Internet . Junior and life members should notify me by June 1st if they want to continue to receive a printed copy of Chess Horizons .
Bob Messenger
6 WWW . MASSCHESS . ORG