X-Message-Number: 17835
Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2001 14:31:04 -0700
From: Jessica Lemler <>
Subject: This Week at Alcor

The following can also be viewed on our website at: 
<http://www.alcor.org/this_week_at_alcor.html#30-4>http://www.alcor.org/thi
s_week_at_alcor.html#30-4

Hugh Hixon, Facilities Engineer
Friday, send off a letter to our international mortuary shipping service
requesting their services (Mathew Sullivan is doing most of the work on this).
Attempt to move the old vaults out of the way for paving the parking lot;
there
are some things you cannot do with a 2,000 lb forklift. Arrange to have the
old
second ambulance hauled away. 
Sunday, work on a letter. 
Monday, note to the international mortuary shippers answering some questions.
With Mike Perry, take an LN2 delivery and partial-fill a whole-body dewar for
our probable next suspension. Finish the vault-shuffling job with a 5,000 lb
forklift; still too small for a straight lift, but its's got the power. Talk
with Russ Cheney about some of the pecularities of their training tubing pack.
Responded when a window was broken about 11:30 PM. 
Tuesday, sifted through popcorned glass from the window to see if I could find
the projectile. No luck. Weekly meeting. Look at proposed security system. 
Wednesday, finishing up on dumping the second ambulance. Rework security
system
proposal with the ADT rep, hopefully for action Sunday. Write most of a
message
to the Board and advisers about the new plan. Talk with Jeff Benjamin about a
different objective for his immediate work. 
Thursday, work on old ambulance title transfer. Talk with Leonard Zubkoff a
bit
about the new firewall machine for our intranet. Help James Sikes get
started on
making more dewar fill lines. Get the security system proposal off to Board,
staff, and advisers. Write a short report on Jeff Benjamin's activities. 


Jennifer Chapman, Membership Administrator
MEMBERS--All of Monday was devoted to completing tasks relevant to various
members, with my primary engagement being to review several memberships and
determine whether to issue a notice of cancellation due to funding
deficiencies. While reviewing the standard procedure for processing such
cancellations, substantial consideration was given to whether the interests of
both Alcor and those of our members are being adequately served. It is
probable
that revision of the current procedure will be discussed during the upcoming
board meeting. However, past procedures, as stated in previous contracts, may
remain unchanged.
A portion of my time was also allotted to addressing the comments of a member
who expressed concern about naming Alcor as the owner of his insurance policy.
It was clarified that only incoming applicants are required to name Alcor as
the owner, although Alcor is requesting that current members also comply with
this updated requirement. Several lengthy discussions ensued, whereby the
advantages and disadvantages of this ownership requirement were presented.
Yet,
such discussions did not alleviate the concerns of this member and he decided
to address the Board of Directors of Alcor.
APPLICANTS-- Several membership applications have been received for minors, as
submitted by their parents and\or legal guardians. In the past, Alcor has
approved memberships for minors by permitting one guardian to sign the legal
paperwork, as the minor child cannot enter into a contract on their own
behalf.
However, there is uncertainty regarding whether both guardians should be
required to sign and whether the existing contract is appropriate for such
circumstances. Alcor is currently attempting to resolve this matter by seeking
legal advice. 
PROSPECTS-- A mailing list was composed in preparation for the upcoming East
Coast gathering, with invitations sent to various members, applicants,
subscribers, and prospective clients in that region. Promotional assistance is
also being extended for various additional CryoFeast celebrations that are
being hosted across the country this year. 
PROJECTS-- After several days of corresponding with the company printing our
revised wallet cards, the proof has arrived. Although minor adjustments are
still pending, it is likely that the final draft will be approved this week. 


Paula Lemler, Volunteer 
This week I have been busy with the usual check-writing, and also filing of
financial reports. Additionally, Dr. Lemler assigned me the task of copying
the
cryotransport manuals, which became involved as I endeavored to update them. 


Dr. Jerry Lemler, President, CEO
I felt as though I'd at long last met the wizard! Yesterday (Thursday),
Leonard
Zubkoff paid a visit to Alcor Central, spending the better part of the day
re-working and augmenting our computer system. Observing a bonafide master of
any field of endeavor has always been a source of fascination for me. I've
witnessed the likes of Michael Jordan on a basketball court, Eugene Fodor with
a violin, Cindy Tutwiler responding to cues on Password, Neil Young rifting a
six-string, Sir George Solti leading an orchestra, and now Leonard Zubkoff
winding his way through a maze of complex hardware options. Thanks, Leonard!
I've been busy this week meeting with several prospective Alcor members,
giving
each a tour of our facilities. Additionally, I've been preparing for Sunday
afternoon's Board of Directors meeting. 
One final note-- our overseas member's once-critical medical status (leading
Alcor to go on High Alert Status earlier in the week), has significantly
improved. We are in communication with his medical surrogate in Tel Aviv, and
our hope is to be able to transport our member to the U.S. for terminal care. 
Carlos Mondragon, former Alcor President and current Board member will be in
town for the weekend. I've talked to Carlos several times on the telephone,
but
I've never had the opportunity to meet with him face-to-face. Naturally, I'm
looking forward to our first personal encounter.


Joe Hovey, Accounting Manager
Most of the week was taken up by more catch up work for the monthly financial
statements. I have now completed statements through August of 2001. I will be
distributing copies of the latest statements to the directors as soon as I can
put some finishing touches on them. Carlos Mondragon is arriving Friday for
this
Sunday's Board meeting. I am looking forward to seeing him. 
It now looks like we will recover all of the monies that were illicitly
charged
to our American Express card last August and September. American Express is
still investigating what happened. I was afraid that we would have to eat
about
$11,000 of the total, but it appears that they will credit that amount back to
us since the facts of the case are very straightforward. 
I am working on the November billing but preparation for Sunday's board
meeting
will probably delay completion of the billing until Monday. 


Jessica Lemler, Administrative Associate/Webmaster
This week I have been busy preparing reports and the agenda for Sunday's Board
Meeting. We also had our "computer guru," Leonard Zubkoff, visit us yesterday,
and we had a wonderful time lunching with him. It wasn't all fun and games,
though, as he helped us update our networking capabilities and provided us
with
a new server. We owe him many thanks! 
I have also been keeping busy learning how to use the Image Composer component
to Microsoft Front Page. This should come in handy for making changes to the
website. I have been informed my help will be needed with a major advertising
campaign, and I am very excited to be able to lend a hand with this project.
I'm working on posting the "Alcor Forum" online, but I am having some problems
with the format. I have been in touch with Charles Platt, who has been helpful
to me, and hopefully I can get this newsletter posted soon for everyone to
see.
I got some good pictures again this week, particularly of the liquid nitrogen
fill we had early in the week. Click the link below to view:

<http://www.alcor.org/this_week_pictures.htm>http://www.alcor.org/this_week
_pictures.htm

I've been watching baseball, baseball, and more baseball this week as well,
and
wow, what a World Series! It should be an interesting weekend for the
Diamondbacks! 


Mathew Sullivan, Facility Operations Manager &
Patient Care Manager
Cryotransport 
Project Future Bound UK and Canada continues as follows: 
1) Small amount of progress on ATP plates and perfusate plate brackets. 
2) New cannulae arrived. Cannulae were inventoried and added to spreadsheet. 
Gathered a few supplies for the Laughlin training class. 
Cleaned and prepared for possible suspension Reviewed and edited cryotransport
checklists 
Coordinated for possible postmortem transfer of member: This was my first
attempt at coordinating the transfer of a postmortem member. My initial
contact
was with Rowland Brothers in the UK, but the primary individual responsible
for
such coordination was out of the country. The person left in charge had little
or no experience with the type of situation we were presenting. After some
discussion, I learned that Rowland Brothers would only act as a middleman in
this type of scenario, and their primary contact in Tel Aviv would be the
Israel
Embalming Services (IES) for packing and shipment of our member. After
troubleshooting wrong numbers from both Rowland Brothers and quit a few
operators, I finally made contact with IES thanks to the internet. After
multiple discussions with Rowland Brothers and IES, I was informed the
transfer
of the member postmortem to the US on a visa could be illegal. IES also
expressed concern that I needed to get my arrangements in place before the
Sabbath, otherwise there could be serious complications trying to transfer the
individual on the Sabbath. Attempting to resolve these issues on short notice
(with no prior experience) and live up to other obligations here at Alcor was
challenging to say the least. Rowland Brothers and IES contacted the embassy,
and I called immigration and customs. After countless phone calls, I made
contact with the appropriate customs agent, and he faxed me the necessary
paper
for IES, which gave permission for us to transfer our member to the US
postmortem. Thankfully, the member stabilized long enough for us to get our
preparations fully in place, both here at Alcor and in Tel Aviv. 
More recently, the member has improved enough that it might be possible to
send
him to a hospital in the US. There are some concerns regarding a legal
requirement for embalming prior to postmortem international shipment if that
becomes necessary. 


Mike Perry, PhD., Patient Care Assistant 
This week I worked a little more on possible cover pictures for ALEFI, and
sent
jpeg images to our editor, Lisa Lock. On Monday I was involved in a bulk
fill of
our dewars which, importantly, included filling one of our presently inactive
bigfoots in preparation for an anticipated whole-body suspension. Other
projects
were to adapt and test a new, backup version of the automated cooldown program
so we are not so dependent on one wiring hookup; and to work on a "Tech News"
column for the upcoming issue of the magazine. Lesser projects included
proofreading, looking up records of liquid nitrogen expenses covered by Alcor
but chargeable to Cells4Life, sweeping the cooldown area to prepare for the
suspension, and dealing with certified mail at the post office.

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