================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 96 ISSN 1069-7799 August 17, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (87 lines) LETTER TO APPLICANTS FROM IRA FISHMAN _________________________________________________________________ Note: The following is a August 13, 1998 E-rate Newsflash from the Schools and Libraries Corp. LETTER TO APPLICANTS FROM IRA FISHMAN Dear School, Library, and Telecommunications Leader: On August 28, I will leave my position as CEO of the Schools and Libraries Corporation. Over the past five years, I have committed myself to helping create and launch the E-rate as well as a number of other public policy initiatives. Unfortunately, I no longer can fulfill both this commitment and my commitments to my wife and children. For too long, I have asked them to take a back seat. It has been tremendously rewarding both professionally and personally to work with you. Together, we have persevered through thick and thin in this great venture to bring technology to all of our nation's schools and libraries. You have been patient and willing to offer support, suggestions, constructive criticism, and assistance. E-rate is one of the most challenging start-up operations one can imagine. Without your help, we would never have made it. I wish I could have done my job better so that you would have seen smoother, faster operations. But we have learned together, and I appreciate your teaching me. As I leave, I can confidently tell you that virtually all of the pieces for this year and next year are in place. We still face challenges in finishing the processing of applications and in finalizing our computer systems. But together we have met every challenge to date, and we will meet these as well. More importantly, I can tell you that the E-rate is being left in superior hands. Kate Moore, our Chief Operating Officer, will become Acting CEO. Over the past nine months, Kate has tackled all of the difficult operations issues and knows the E-rate inside-out. As the former Chief Financial Officer of the United Way of America, who arrived in the aftermath of its financial difficulties, she has the skills and vision to successfully carry out the E-rate mission. And, of course, Debra Kriete, Mickey Revenaugh, Tom Carroll, and their teams will continue to provide an unsurpassed level of support, service, and commitment. I know that all of you who have dealt with them share the firm conclusion that the SLC staff is an extraordinary group of people. I will miss the E-rate, SLC, and you a great deal -- more than I can ever come close to expressing. I hope that we will stay in touch. It has been an honor to serve you. Sincerely, Ira Fishman _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================