POINT
OF
REFERENCE

Editorial

On behalf of the staff of Point of Reference, I would like to introduce our newest issue of this publication. After many long hours of hard work and perseverance, we believe we have put together a collection of essays, poems and pictures that is indicative of Hellenic thought and culture at this time. Our aspirations to mimic the diversity and uniqueness of Hellenic culture have hopefully been fulfilled by our choosing such pieces as book reviews on occupied Greece of the early 1940's, an in-depth article on the privatization of Modern Greece, and a series of poems by a poet from Thessaloniki.

As many of our readers may already know, Point of Reference is a not-for-profit organization at Harvard University. What this means, however, is that hundreds of volunteer hours have been donated by undergraduate students, who have taken time away from their studies, to produce this project. We are neither professional publishers nor salaried employees. Rather, we have noticed a certain void in publications concerning Hellenism and it is this niche that we hope to fill.

Although our efforts may be noble, without the support of our readers and our contributors, we would not have succeeded. For this reason we would like to send out a general thank you to everyone who has supported Point of Reference during its initial start-up and through consequent turbulent times. And by support, we do not only mean financial. We are grateful for all the advice, the comments and the suggestions given to us. They have guided us along the way, and we encourage all of our readers to comment to us on any aspect of this publication. It is only through crticism that we may improve our efforts.

We hope that you enjoy our latest issue and we look forward to your continued support.