We would like to recognize and thank Nic Niland for performing some important graphics work for the Association. Nic graduated from Bentworth High School in Bentleyville, Pennsylvania in 1998. Upon graduating, he started college at the Columbus College of Art and Design. He is a junior and is majoring in Advertising/Graphic Design. Nic works as an intern at Kingston where he rebuilds logos, creates fliers and catalogues and performs other graphics work. Nic recently designed a T-shirt concept for the Columbus Landsharks, a professional lacrosse team. Nic hopes to study in Europe sometime during his college education and also plans to study and work in London, England for a period of time upon graduating from college.

We had been searching for a graphic artist to assist us in improving some of the designs of our literature. After a lengthy search, Nic was recommended to me by a professor at the Columbus College of Art and Design. I asked Nic to design a logo for the Reading for Rachel Program. The logo printed in the newsletter does not do justice to the creativity and skill reflected in Nic's work. You can view the color logo on our web site, and we also invite you to go to the Reading for Rachel web site at www.myelitis.org/readingforrachel. You can see the logo and also a wonderful bookmark that Nic created for the children to use to keep track of all of the books they are reading for Rachel. We know that the great work he has performed on this project will only enhance our ability to draw attention to our cause and encourage people to participate in the program.

Nic has been great to work with on this project. He has listened to me talk for hours and hours about Transverse Myelitis, about our members, about the children with TM, and about the work of our Association. He has been very patient with me; and he has developed a very good understanding of and appreciation for the work we are trying to accomplish. He is very supportive of our efforts. Nic has donated his time, energy, talent, creativity and skill to the Association on this important project and others. He has also expressed a willingness to assist the Association in other work that we might need to have performed in the future. We could never afford to pay for this work to be done. We have been blessed to have a professional come forward to meet our needs so generously. We are very grateful to Nic and appreciate his very kind support of the Association and its members. Thank you, Nic.

If you are searching for information about TM, a tremendous resource has been made available to you by Jim Lubin. All of the presentations and workshops from the TMA Seattle Symposium were videotaped. The complete agenda of the symposium is available on our web site, and Jim has converted all of the video so that you can watch the workshops and medical presentations at home from your computer. If a presenter handed out materials, Jim has posted most of these in pdf format. You can access the Seattle page through a link on the main page of the TMA web site.