Here are a couple of the responses I received to the "My old friend needs some help" column.
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Boy - I think your U and my U must be linked to the CIA.... or some other organization that keeps track of where we live.... maybe the IRS.
I have not ONCE donated to my U.... yet they have managed to track me through six moves, two of them to a different state, and back home again. How do they keep up with me? Heck, I was still putting my OLD address on my envelopes six months after I moved... they managed to find me within two weeks of the mailbox transfer.
I do not know how they do this.
Maybe they are connected to those people who keep sending me those pesky juror summons.
I'll put my U requests right in the same place as I do those little red cards telling me to show up in court.
Need a coaster for your drink??
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I went to an Ivy, which uses the technique of forcing students to call alumnae and explain the exciting benefits of donating at various levels. I feel so sorry, hearing their hopeful voices, knowing that I have to disappoint them (4 kids! Three in college NOW!). And the letters and brochures I get in the mail, which I know from experience have been professionally produced, must be a significant expense.
