The Council meeting in Los Angeles was notable because the treasurer, Newell Fischer, was instructed to create an allocation in the 1997 budget for research. The groundswell for this move grew from the prior Steering Committee meeting at which the diminishing voluntary contributions to the fund were noted with pain, and solutions were sought. The committee was faced with two excellent research projects, one from Peter Fonagy, the other from Mary Main, and was unable to fund the appropriate amounts for either.

A line item clearly puts The American behind research as never before. Additional funds were raised at the Friday cocktail party by incorporating a twenty-five dollar donation into each ticket. In addition, a tie, contributed by a lobby store, that had a pattern of analytic couches and slogans, was raffled off to add to the coffers.

It appears that The American's budget will benefit from a tax abatement as a not-for-profit educational institution for the first time since our purchase of the condo, and therefore the budget will be in better balance. We should not rest on this windfal, but make every effort to use the fund to celebrate notable events in our institutes, societies, and families by contributions throughout the year. There are many ways to invest in the future of psychoanalysis, but this is undoubtedly one of the best.

Judith S. Schachter