<p>I'm counted as an alumnus contributor at my alma mater because I renew my alumni association membership each year and contribute to the library--which actions make me a "friend of the library" able to circulate books from alma mater's wonderfully huge collection. At the meeting in my town where I met Mini, I told a librarian that I got my degrees from Alma Mater, but I got my education from Alma Mater Library. </p>
<p>I would probably give a lot more, out of genuine gratitude, if I ever got into an elite college and was offered enough financial aid to be able to afford to go. Certainly I would want future needy applicants to be able to afford to go to the school of their dreams.</p>
<p>that superior returns by HMC and Swenson are due merely to their ability to access private equity and hedge fund vehicles. Plenty of billion-dollar insitutional investors, including endowment funds for Duke and Texas, also have access to such vehicles and do not show similarly high returns. In fact, as anyone familiar with private equity and hedge funds will tell you, the bigger the fund, the more difficult it is to find worthwhile high-quality investments (viz. the LTCM dilemma).</p>
<p>If Stein thinks he could match Swenson with if he were trusted with a one-billion dollar investment, he is either a total fool, or has a serious ego problem.</p>
<p>We donate regularly to my alma mater. Not big donations with any expectations of a boost for any of my kids that might apply, but something. The reason is that I feel I owe it to the current students there. There were many anonymous alums who supported the school with donations when I was attending, so I owe the same support the kids there now.</p>
<p>"Alma mater" means "generous mother" in Latin. A generous mother should give rise to a grateful and generous child.</p>
<p>I give to my prep school and college and always earmark them for the scholarship fund. H refuses to give to his Ivy because he said they have enough already.</p>