I’ve been writing a lot of columns preaching to the underclassmen, but I’ll make my last column in this paper one for the seniors.

In just eleven days, the class of 2003 will graduate and join an exclusive club of just over 10,000 BS recipients. We’ll all get a nice piece of paper and earn the title of Caltech alumnus or alumna. But what does that really mean?

There was a barbecue for seniors a few weeks ago where the Alumni Association and Alumni Fund gave us free t-shirts and told us a little bit about being alumni. However, I think most seniors got a somewhat skewed impression from that event. So first off, I want to explain the difference between the Alumni Association and the Alumni Fund.

The Alumni Fund is really just a nice name for Caltech’s fundraising efforts, which center on calling alumni and asking them for donations. This is the way basically every university works. Tuition never covers the full cost of operating a university, so every school keeps a large endowment. At Caltech, the interest from this endowment provides almost ten times the amount of money collected in tuition each year, so the Alumni Fund plays a critical role in keeping the Institute running. However, from an alumni perspective, they’re not much different from telemarketers.

On the other hand, the Alumni Association is completely separate from the Alumni Fund and distinct from the Institute. Like ASCIT, the Alumni Association is independently incorporated as a non-profit organization. The similarities with ASCIT don’t stop there. Members of the Association pay yearly dues (although the first 5 years are free) and the money goes toward a few social events – reunions, lectures, vacations, networking opportunities, and a few others. Members also get a copy of the Caltech News, a quarterly newspaper. The Alumni Association also maintains an alumni directory and provides funding for student clubs and Houses. Money you give to the Alumni Association will never be used to pay the salaries of Caltech administrators but will only support services for alumni and current students.

The Alumni Association also provides opportunities for alumni to volunteer their time for Caltech Admissions. Most high school students would never hear anything about Caltech if there weren’t a few alumni going to college fairs and holding information sessions across the country. For other volunteer opportunities, the Caltech Y can be as good of an outlet for alumni as it is for current students. For just $100 a year, you can become a Friend of the Caltech Y, which gets you invited to various functions and keeps you up to date on Y activities. The Y is also its own distinct non-profit entity, so money you give to the Y will stay with the Y.

I’ve already said it a couple times, but you shouldn’t overlook the fact that ASCIT is a non-profit corporation. This means that donations to ASCIT are tax deductible just like donations to Caltech, the Alumni Association, or the Caltech Y. Earlier this year, Janet Zhou, the ASCIT Treasurer, and I took this one step further by setting up 8 funds through Caltech Development. You can now write checks to “ASCIT General Fund” and “ASCIT *Booty* House Fund” where *Booty* is replaced by the name of one of the seven Houses. Give the check to the ASCIT Treasurer along with your address for a receipt, and you will be able to donate money to ASCIT or your House of choice and subtract that amount from your taxable income.

Of course, one of the easiest ways to give money to ASCIT is to subscribe to this newspaper.

I’ve listed a few non-traditional options for alumni donations, but we shouldn’t forget that there is a big capital campaign going on. If you are perfectly happy with the things Caltech is doing with its money or you want to support many different causes all at once, now is as good a time as any to contribute to the Alumni Fund.

If you want to target your contributions at particular areas of Caltech, the campaign actually gives you several ways to do that too. If you thought summer research was the best thing about Caltech, donate to the SURF endowment – if you can come up with $125k they will even name a SURF after you. If you want to see the Houses renovated, there is money being collected for that cause. A Campus Center is another major construction project that will greatly benefit students.

Of course, you can always give money in creative ways that are outside of the campaign’s listed objectives. Right now, about $3 million is sitting in the Gordon and Betty Moore Fund and the Honorable Shirley M. Hufstedler Fund for Enhanced Quality of Student Life. Starting next year, this endowment will provide some $150k a year to fund proposals for improving student life.

Many of us have spent four years at Caltech struggling to improve student life, and when we become alumni, there is no reason we should stop. In many ways, alumni have more power than students. Instead of meeting with administrators or holding protests, alumni can effect change with their checkbooks. If you thought the Y was the best thing about Caltech, become a Y Friend. If you want to support the student Houses, donate to the ASCIT House Funds or to the renovation project. If it is your fellow students and alumni that you care about most, join the Alumni Association.

The unfortunate truth is that it takes money to make things work As students, all we could really do was ask for things we wanted and hope someone did something about it. As alumni, we will have the power to support only the things we like and an opportunity to shape Caltech’s future. Once you have the money, put it where your mouth is – if we all do it Caltech will start looking a lot more like the place we want it to be.