This issue marks the beginning of my tenure as Editor. I accepted the job because I have a strong conviction that the Newsletter can perform a vital function for the membership, and I believe that I can continue the excellent work of the previous Editors in developing this function along the following lines.
In the next few years both the Association and psychoanalysis as a profession face formidable challenges. We are already grappling with such difficult problems as third-party payment, peer review, independent accreditation, nonmedical practice of psychoanalysis, etc. To meet these challenges successfully, it is imperative that our members be well informed. The Newsletter should meet this need by reporting both the news relevant to our field and the activities of our Association.
In addition, the Newsletter should serve as an independent forum to facilitate communication between members, as well as between the Administration and the membership. In the Point of View feature and the Letters to the Editor, legitimate controversy should be thoroughly aired, and articulate espousals of differing positions will be solicited. The President's Page, inaugurated with this issue, will permit direct communication from the President to our members, thus restoring the original purpose of this publication, which started as the President's Newsletter.
In recognition of the increasing role that government regulation plays in our profession, another new feature is introduced in this issue—the Washington Update. Here, such items as new bills introduced, regulations proposed, hearings held, will be reported and analyzed.
Beyond the two new features mentioned, there is little change in this issue. This is my first attempt to be editor of anything, and I'm busy learning such arcane matters as proofreader's marks, headlining, type fonts, paste-ups, etc. In subsequent issues, however, you may be surprised by experiments in format and typeface, designed to improve legibility and readability. Again, opinions pro and con will be welcomed.
Though problems abound in our field, the Newsletter should not be confined to sober reporting of portentous events and analysis of weighty issues. The joys of success—honors awarded, appointments received, offices achieved—all these should be shared with the members, as well. Laughter and humor, too, deserve a place in its pages. Among our members, there must be some with the graphic talent and wit to enliven some issues with cartoons that will remind us how to laugh at ourselves. Please make yourselves known. Then, in the best tradition of the printed word, the Newsletter will be able to “instruct and delight.”