"Youth is wasted on the young!" So said Samuel Clemens, who is better known as Mark Twain. He was referring to the youth of his time, but his words are even more applicable to today's girls and boys who fritter away their youth in frivolous activities.

In a world of instant tea and instant replay, instant gratification seems to be the order of the day. Today's young, who are taught yesterday's lessons in the context of revisionist history do not give much thought to tomorrow. In their quest for instant nirvana, the young get mired in a quagmire of "me-too-ism", which is the religion of a hedonistic New Age.

I am thinking, not just of American youth, whether of Goan origin or not, but also, though to a lesser extent, of young people all over the world. The entertainment industry is influencing young people everywhere. E-mail (electronic mail traveling at the speed of light) is fast replacing s-mail (snail mail traveling at snail's pace through the postal services). Modern technology, particularly in the field of communica-tions, has turned the world into a global village. Unfortunately, those who believe that it takes a village to raise a child, have left the rearing of their children to the villagers, with disastrous conse-quences.

The Goan Association of New Jersey wants young Goans to enjoy their today without losing sight of their yesterday (where they came from) and their tomorrow (the bright future that awaits them, here and in the hereafter). We invite our young people to express themselves creatively through the "Goan Connection". Their views and construc-tive criticism are not only most welcome, but sincerely desired.

Some of the programs we are planning for our young are:

1. At the suggestion of Godfrey Gomes, we plan to have a "Sports Day" in the Summer of 1998. Please let us know what activities you would want for that day.
2. We invite young (under 15 y.) members of the Association to write a story, in their own words (less than 250), based on the following first paragraph by Sharmilla Carson (8 y.):
3. Once, there lived two children, who were named Katie and Andy. They lived in a little house, just by the side of the ocean. They had a cat, but the cat was missing! They had to make signs, and the signs had to have no mistakes. If there were mistakes in the signs, their cat would not be found! ..................
4. The best submission will be published in the next issue and the author will be awarded $50.00. Deadline for submission is December 15th.
5. From time to time, we hope to publish "Thoughts to live by" (see p. 6; col.3).
6. Ashley Coutinho has volunteered to launch the "Goan Connection" into the world wide web. We will be available at: http://members.tripod.com/~acoutinho/goanj/
7. Once again, we invite, young (and not so young) to contribute articles, cartoons, and interesting stories.