Dear Readers, In this issue, we'd like to officially welcome a new board member and a new team member. Videos on education will be coming to our website in the next few months, thanks to the help of producer/director Duncan Scott. We'll also be uploading all our previous newsletters to our website soon, including my articles on education. To our many supporters, thank you for making our work possible...

Here's what you'll find: New member elected to the Board of Trustees. A new member has been elected to the Board of Trustees • The new logo and website have been finished and published • The campaign to raise expense money for the Capital Campaign has netted over $89,000 so far• Presentation to Objectivist Salon in Boca Raton • RIFI will have a booth at FreedomFest, July 5-7 Las Vegas • $28 Billion donated to U.S. colleges in 2006 • University of Connecticut study finds students exit college with less knowledge than upon entrance • Fundraising Campaign So far, we have raised over $89,000 towards the $150,000 we need to pursue the Capital Campaign for the College project...

Active Listening is a valuable skill for anyone, but a must for a good teacher: we'll discuss its importance in this issue, as well as introduce our new advisor Joel Franck. • Joel Franck, M.D. Joins Advisory Board We are pleased to welcome noted neurosurgeon Joel Franck to our advisory board. A polymath, Dr. Franck is known not only as a neurosurgeon, but as a researcher and inventor of the STarFix stereotactic functional neurosurgery system. STarFix received the National Gold Medal Medical Design Excellence Award from the Medical DeviceDiagnostic Industry Journal. In addition to his private practice, Dr. Franck is Assistant Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at Tufts University School of Medicine...

We're featuring news on our advisor Stan Broitman this month in our highlights, as well as the honor accorded Marsha Familaro Enright's Council Oak Montessori School, by Chicago Magazine. Marsha continues her article on education with a discussion of the importance of teaching. • Advisor Stan Broitman on "Today" Saturday morning September 16th, our advisor Stan Broitman was on the "Today" show, in a discussion about the 'new' retirement. Baby Boomers are retiring with more money and health than any previous generation. Consequently, many are looking for new pursuits of great interest and meaning for the many years ahead of them. A career banker, Stan now runs a retirement coaching business, The Retirement Network helping retirees find new, meaningful directions in life...

Today on the fifth anniversary of September 11th, let us dedicate ourselves to increasing reason, individualism and freedom in the world - the best hope for peace and prosperity - through education. Professor William B. Allen, our latest Advisory Board addition, is featured this month, and Marsha Familaro Enright examines 'versatilists,' the nature of creativity and education at the College. • New Advisor William B. Allen, Ph.D. This month we are very happy to welcome a new member to our Advisory Board: Professor William B. Allen a professor of Political Philosophy at Michigan State University currently on leave to Princeton for the James Madison Program on American Ideals and Institutions. Dr. Allen is an expert on liberal arts education, its history, importance and problems...