NJTS 25th Souvenir

GÎ ªü˜C îI›„ êƒè‹ 25-‹ ݇´ CøŠ¹ ñô˜ 116 A s an activemember of NJTS for the bulk of the silver jubilee period, I’d like to present my vision for the Academy. Inherit the past: NJTSadministrationchangesevery two year period. Tamil Sangam acquires the tasteand character of thePresident and the committee members. There is nothing wrong with this. This is the democratic way. However the new administration should have the knowledge of the history of Tamil Sangam- what events were conducted in the past, how well the community was reached,howwellthecommunityresponded and what are the areas for further improvement. To do this, NJTS can cash on its current strength of website and web- information. The NJTS website should be regarded as an asset of NJTS and every administrationshould inherit thisand record itsactivitiesandaccomplishmentsandpass it on to the next administration. A website administrator canhold theposition inseveral administrations if there is interest from the person handling it. This person can provide the continuity to the new administration. Probable sections on the website are : Current Events Past Events Souvenir Cindhanai Vattam Special Events (such as Short Film Festival) Newsletter Youth Corner FeTNA Outdoor activities (such as hiking) Newsletter: In 1997, we tried a newsletter by the name- Kurinji. It lists the news about Tamil Sangam, its members and community. It also gave a financial balance sheet of NJTS for a particular year. We tried it for two issues but we did not pursue it further. The news letter could be a section in the above mentioned website. This can be a permanent interactive forum, inviting letters and opinion of community and publishing it on a quarterly basis. There is noneed for paper copiessince thewebsite reaches everyone in the e-mail list. Inform people by e-mail whenever the newsletter is ready. Souvenir: Every fourth newsletter can be designed as a souvenir. This can be an expanded newsletter or a souvenir with specific theme. It can be printed in book form and distributed at the annual function. Cindhanai Vattam : I conducted Cindhanai Vattam for about 10 years. It was an enjoyable experience. Smaller crowd,more flexibility with time, freedom to go into specialized subjects and we can carry out special projects such as short film festival. Someone should take the responsibility for running this study group and also to summarize the events with photos in the website. Short film festival: It is easy to get commercial films but hard to get art movies. There are beautiful short films being produced by Tamilians around the world. Cindhanai Vattam can conduct short filmfestival onceayear. If you establish contact with art magazine editors in Chennai, it is easy to know what is available during that year in Tamilnadu. Youth Corner: Promote ongoing music lessons, Tamil classes, drama opportunities etc for the benefit of parents who want to train their children in those activities. There could be write ups on various concerts, events from such groups and individuals performing it. FeTNA: Promotion of FeTNA acivities to NJTS members and attendees. Outdoor Activities: We can interact with Sierra Club, Mountaineering clubs, Appalachian Club, Audubon Society, Astronomy Clubs, New Jersey Trail Association etc to expand our interests intonaturestudy.Tristateareahas lots of opportunities. Invite children to participate. Tamil community in tri-statearea isever growing. We have to make sure that New Jersey Tamil Sangam will be able to meet all the challenges using its strength accumulatedover theyearswithdedication and innovation. We also need to make use of the opportunities offered by the tri-state area especially New York city and the various Indian associations. NJTS- Vision for Tomorrow AnandNMuruganandam Hillsborough, NJ