Description: Call for articles, book reviews, and other pieces for the newsletter.

Description: The Society of Actuaries Board of Governors decided in June 1996 to discontinue the printed version of the Record in favor of electronic distribution, with the objectives of 1.hastening the availability of session transcripts to the members, 2. reducing publication costs, and 3. taking advantage of technological advances. This article introduces the availability of sessions for the 1996 Society of Actuaries meetings.

Description: A personal account of how humor in the workplace improved productivity.

Description: This article is an interview of the 1,000th person to join the Actuaries Online system, Frank Stone. He is asked questions regarding his use of the service.

Description: An invitation to the readers of CompAct to enter a fiction writing contest.

Description: Report on the SOA's 1st Annual LTC Operations and Technology Benchmark Survey. Its goals were to provide data to support the development of time and cost benchmarks for LTC operations, identify the most pressing operations and technology issues, and gain insights into the technologies that are being used to administer Long Term Care business.

Description: Over the last two years, we experimented with online peer assessment platforms in undergraduate courses and saw them deliver major learning advantages and be highly popular with students. We explain why peer assessment shows great promise for actuarial science education and the main factors to consider when designing peer assessment activities. We also detail our use of online platforms in two undergraduate courses. By sharing our experience, we hope to provide you, our fellow educators, with a solid starting point for experimenting with this format.

Description: Article that discusses Web 2.0 and associated strategies for productively using today's social media.

Description: Editor discusses feedback on new format of newsletter and solicits volunteers for more articles.

Description: Help consumers understand their rights in health care and understand how technology is embedded into the health care industry. On top of that, you will also hear about topics related to professionalism. During this webcast, you will learn about: ▪ An overview of the health insurance market ▪ Health care provider billing and contracting ▪ Recent trends with insurers and health care providers ▪ Identify areas of excessive billing and fraud ▪ The impacts of technology on billing practices ▪ An understanding pharmacy benefits, including discounts and rebates