Well, this is now my last year as president of RIANA.This year will be filled with interesting changes. Our annual business meeting was held at Chelos Restaurant in Cranston. Thank you to the thirteen members for your attendance. Since attendance has been so low in the past few years I will be sending out RSVP cards so I can then plan and not waste money on extra food. Those that RSVP will then get weekly reminders of the event. I hope this helps to get more members interested in meetings. I realize everyone is busy with their careers and family, but let us remember it is our responsibility to ensure our quality lifestyle. The first Anesthesia Assistant will be starting soon up in Massachusetts. Monsters arise when we sleep. We cannot be asleep at the wheel when this happens here. Do you all know your state representatives? Well, this year is your chance to meet with them. We will be hosting a wine tasting in February and we will be inviting all representatives so you can meet them in a relaxed setting. Please keep an eye open for this upcoming event. The Bill Sullivan Memorial Scholarship fund has now been changed to an educational fund that would help all members. We voted on this at the meeting, although we had a great community response from the road race, the lack of student interest in the scholarship money forced us to look at how much effort was going into these events. We also presented three students with $1000. The fund will now be used for educational meetings. We are hoping to put together an educational meeting for a Saturday morning. This is still a work in progress, I will keep you informed with the content and CEU credits available. This would be a free event to any RIANA CRNA or SRNA. We also voted on revising the Bylaws. The Bylaws have not been changed since 1998. If anyone is interested in a copy of the Bylaws email me at lcurranhome@cox.net . I will be happy to mail a copy to anyone interested. If there are any parts of the Bylaws you would like to see changed email me with the suggestions and I will forward them to the Bylaws Committee. My final suggestion to you, don't rely on others to do this job. Do you really want thirteen members voting on how your money is being utilized? Do you really trust a board you hardly know with the your money? Remember, the money from the Organizational Health Allocation Fund as well as the Strategic Reserve Fund is your money. Do you know how much is in these funds? Do you know what your board is doing with these funds? In order for this organization to stay focused on political and educational issues it takes all members. Don’t shy away from your responsibility to your career: this will ultimately effect your family…. If you stay asleep at the wheel. Respectfully submitted, Lynn Curran, CRNA