upon my induction into uw's president's club

yesterday, i received a snail mail letter from mark emmert, the president of the university of washington. it read:

Dear David,

Thank you very much for your generous support of the University of Washington, and welcome to the President's Club 2005-2006. Your annual giving exceeds $5,000, and I am delighted to inform you that you are eligible for recognition at the President's Club Purple-level.

the letter was accompanied by a president's club car decal and a president's club ID card which gives me, through june 30, 2007, borrowing privileges at the university libraries, reduced rates on visitor parking, and reduced user fees at hec ed pavilion pool, the waterfront activities center, and the golf driving range.

sweet!

it is not exactly clear to me whether or not this is a mistake. on the one hand, i have never donated $5,000+ to the university of washington. therefore, i don't deserve membership into uw's president's club.

on the other hand, in the last two years, i have received three unrestricted grants totalling $12,500 from what is now the social computing area of microsoft research. because the grants were made out to "david silver, assistant professor, university of washington," i "gave" them to the college of arts and sciences so i could spend the money on the september project. therefore, i do deserve membership into uw's president's club.

whether i deserve it or not, i'm totally taking it. an extra year of borrowing privileges at uw libraries, one of the best academic library systems in the nation, is a great deal - especially when it's for free. plus, anytime a university offers a professor any kind of reduced parking, we must take it, immediately, no questions asked. and finally, through the waterfront activities center, maybe i'll rent a canoe one of these sunny summer days and troll around lake union.