Time has been given many names – the great healer, the great restorer and, of course, the great mover. No one has, however, explained what time really is. Time is a great carrier; it just carries us through our joys and our sorrows, our achievements and our frustrations, our high times and our low. It carries us on its shoulders – invariably to a point where we say, "oh, it could have been"! Time is the greatest incentive for doing great things and also the greatest excuse for not doing anything. The fact that time does not wait for anyone is an excuse we all use to explain why we did not try as much as we should have. Truth is we are what we are; and time is just a dot on the universal continuum.

When we started, we thought we could conquer the world; we did not. But we made some valuable contribution to the bonding efforts with our alma mater. We made both physical and emotional connections with our peers there; we tried to meet some of their needs, and we created a bond among ourselves here in the Washington area. These are achievements that we should be proud of. The point is that we are now falling into the rut- we are taking CUSCAA for granted. May be it happens in every organization and that is why they talk about "inventing oneself" in the social sciences. Just as a human being should take stock of his/ her life from time to time, so should organizations. May be a time has come for us to do some introspection: can we do something more? Can we make CUSCAA a little more meaningful in strengthening the bond between the university science college and so many of us in this country and, may be even in Europe? I think all of us should take a deep breath and try to add value to CUSCAA

Three of our members paid a visit to the Science College this year. Tarak Bhar went in the beginning of the year. He took the opportunity of meeting his peers at the Department of Physics to discuss matters of mutual interest. He also donated the two books that our friends at the University had shown interest in. These were: (1) "Solid state electronic devices" by Ben J. Streetman – published by Prentice Hall and (2) Logic and computer design fundamentals" by M. Morris Mano and Charles R. Kime – published by Prentice Hall.

Ranjit Dasgupta and Dilip Som also visited the Science College in the month of October. They managed to meet Mr. Ashoke Thakur of the department of Biophysics, who expressed thanks for the computers that the Basu family had donated last year. They handed over the award check to the student in the Radio Physics department on our behalf. They tried to impress upon their peers the need to maintain contact with CUSCAA on a regular basis. They also got the names of the students who would be eligible for CUSCAA award this year in chemistry.

Atin Datta and Madhuchhanda Mukhopadhyay went to the university in summer this year and renewed met their peers in the department of Botany.

Finally, Mridul Pathak – an alumni of the Science College, currently of New York and connected with the famous Internet magazine www.calonline.com visited the college and at our request established contact with the department of Geology there. We hope that over time this relationship will grow into something productive. Mridul has promised to help us in spreading the message of our activities among the alumni living in other cities of Canada and US.

The Working Committee met four times during the year to discuss the program and activities of the organization. The committee also discussed the financial position. It was decided that we should make more efforts in bringing in new and younger members who have not yet joined us.

The last general meeting held on November, 21 ’98 was a great success. The meeting ended with a cultural evening and a contributory dinner. Members were present with their family and friends and everybody had a good time.

Annual Picnic - 1999

We thank our members and their family members who have devoted their valuable time in making the programs a success. We specifically thank our members and their spouses who have been making those delicacies during the picnic and the annual functions. Their culinary skills and hospitality are things that we cherish from the bottom of our heart.