From the Editor:

Ramesh Rao

Professor Michelle Effros takes over as the Editor of the Newsletter from January of 1996. Thus, this issue marks the last of the Newsletter issues that I will have the pleasure of editing. It is therefore time for me to come clean and reveal some well kept secrets. Foremost among them is Ann Scrupski of IEEE Magazines. Her skills at technical typesetting and page layout are superb. If that weren't enough, Ann is most adept at juggling her schedule to accommodate last minute changes and revisions that come up with frightening regularity. Working under deadline pressure can sometimes be a bit stressful but Ann's ability to cope with changes cheerfully made my task that much easier. We all owe her a debt of gratitude.

The best kept secret though is how an issue really comes together. And here is the simple answer - it just happens! If the last three years is any basis for judgement, the Newsletter Editor's task is mostly sending out friendly reminders to an army of volunteers who step up at appropriate points in time and volunteer to write an article. What could be easier ? I have nonetheless lost some sleep, on occasion, wondering what if anything I would have for a particular issue! Each issue involved the exchange of an average of 100 e-mail messages and took about two whole working days spread out over two to three months.

Special thanks to the regular contributors, Tony Ephremides, Solomon Golomb and Raymond Yeung for faithfully mailing in their contributions. Thanks also to Stu Schwartz, Chris Heegard and Bruce Hajek, the three past Presidents, for lending me their ear and serving as a sounding board. At one time I thought that proof reading would be the least enjoyable part of the Editor's responsibilities but to my surprise I found myself enjoying the carefull reading of certain articles. The Reflections series and the Shannon Lecture series both come to mind. I hope these and other such articles remain a part of our tradition as Michelle Effros takes over as Editor of the Newsletter.