1998 has been an unusual year, in that some of the things that have been of major concern to the Directors and Management have been, largely, out of our control.

The Supreme Court case regarding our membership rights and the resulting battle in the legislature are very important to us. The legislation has made its way through the House, passed by a huge margin. It is now in the Senate, where we also hope it will pass. Please refer to the article on the front page about what you can do to help insure it passes. This is basic to our survival, we have to be able to grow.

The other major thing of interest to us is the banks "merge-a -mania."

Members of the House and Senate banking committees have received nearly $8 million in campaign donations from the financial services industry since the beginning of 1997. The banking community want the Bank Act of 1933 repealed. The Act basically is designed to keep financial institutions from mingling federally insured bank deposits with Wall Street trading. In some quarters the feeling is that this could very well result in the sort of mess that resulted when S and L's were deregulated.

If you listen to the banking industry, fewer banks will result in better, cheaper services for customers. In the short run that may be true. In the long run we must wait and see.

Even community banks are buying out other community banks. Everyone is in the game. It's all about profit and bank profits are huge.

What is important is that Credit Unions be financially strong and capable of offering an alternative to the changes that will be coming in banks. We thrive on personal service and competitive rates, that's what we need to continue. And we need to position our selves strongly as new technology makes its way into the business. We don't have to be on the "bleeding edge" but we need to be involved. Technology, like computer banking will make us competitive in the future. We won't need a branch on the South-side, if our South-side members can do their transactions from home.

We expect competition to increase. Both from banks and from other credit unions. We need to continue to serve our members better than any other financial