X-Message-Number: 18463
Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2002 15:24:54 -0700
From: Jessica  Lemler Sikes <>
Subject: This Week at Alcor

Week of January 28 through February 2, 2002

The following can also be viewed on our website at
<http://www.alcor.org/>http://www.alcor.org


Joe Hovey, Accounting Manager 
Finished preparing and mailing all the donation/dues tax forms for 2001!
Got it
done just under the wire yesterday afternoon, just in time to make the last
mail
delivery of the day. What a relief! I don t have to do this again for another
year. 
Now I can turn my attention to more normal activities like balancing the bank
accounts and preparing the financial statements. More immediately, I have to
prepare the February billings. They are nowhere near as large as the January
ones. 
Mathew Sullivan, Facility Operations Manager 
Facility Operations: 
With some assistance from Hugh Hixon and an other Alcor member I completed the
installation of our new network cards, bringing the total up to nine, plus I
recycled an older network card because one of the computers did not have any
more PCI slots left open. Part of our problem with the network was due to
several computers being unable to download Windows or Norton's patches, making
them more vulnerable to outside threats. The computers in question would get
partially through the download then grind to a halt. Thankfully, replacing the
network cards did solve the problem, but there were complications with the
installation that perplexed both Hugh and me. Oddly, the computers that were
using the older cat. 4 cables were more likely to work than those that were
using cat. 5 or 5e. The resolution to this issue turned out to be spending the
extra money to get some 100ft cat. 5e with the RJ-45 connectors already
attached. 
As you might have expected, I was in an out of the stores to get what I
needed.
I wiped out a shelf or two and I had to find other stores that had what I
needed
in stock, only to return that material because I did not need it in the
end. I'm
now in the process of tiding everything up and downloading data that I was not
able to previously. 
I have been doing a little research on getting Alcor a faster internet
connection. Initially, I was just thinking about increasing the DSL speed,
but I
am also gathering information which would allow us to package our various
communication and internet providers under one company to help minimize any
increase in internet costs. 
I started to move 150+ cases of ALEFI which is the replacement for Cryonics
Reaching for Tomorrow (CRFT). Four pallets of the books (10,000) were
placed in
the cooldown bay sometime ago and would likely interfere with our ability to
perform a whole body suspension. The only difficulty other than time is
finding
a place to put them that meets everyone's satisfaction. 
Our pager Rep stopped by and dropped off our new pagers, and I either made
arrangements to have them picked up or I sent them out in the mail. 
Updated Alcor's membership stats file and added the data to the graphs. 
I've started my Facility Operations Report in preparation for the upcoming
Board
meeting. 
Hugh Hixon, Facilities Engineer 
Friday, administrative stuff. With Mathew Sullivan and Leonard Zubkoff,
troubleshoot new network connection. 
Saturday, more troubleshooting. Pull new Cat 5e cable. Back on line. 
Sunday, troubleshoot someone else. Pull another 5e cable, and they're up.
Leave
the hard ones for Mathew. 
Monday, hear sales pitch for an information research service. Button up
ceiling
after cable pulls. Bank run. Deal with e-mail. 
Tuesday, staff meeting. Assorted administrative stuff. Computer maintenance
and
hard drive swap. 
Wednesday, visit with member. Bank run. To-do list for a member that likes
to be
prepared. 
Thursday, with Mathew Sullivan look at some computer and communications
problems. Talk to Dr. Lemler about our floor space problem. Science reading.
Fiddle with new pagers. Work on high-temperature storage proposal. With Jeff
Benjamin, sort out some problems in the OR data collection system programming
he's working on. 
Jessica Lemler Sikes, Administrative Associate/Webmaster 
It was exactly one year ago today I boarded a plane in Knoxville, Tennessee,
headed for Phoenix. I had never been to Arizona before, and had no idea how
much my life would change over the course of the next year. Over the course of
that week, I visited Alcor Central for the very first time. What an amazing
feeling it was to be in the same room with the dewars that first day--
indescribable. For anyone who has not visited us here at Alcor Central, I
highly suggest you do so. What an incredible year it has been, and how many
Alcor people I am indebted to for making it possible for me. 
We are busy preparing for Sunday's Board meeting. There are many issues to be
discussed at this month's meeting, so I have my typing fingers ready to take
the minutes (thank goodness for that laptop!) I have also spent this week
doing
some work in Front Page and familiarizing myself with some html codes. I am
learning-- slowly but surely! 
Mike Perry, PhD., Patient Care Assistant 
This week I continued writing the "For the Record" column on Robert Prehoda
and
his book, *Suspended Animation*. The book is read (the first step) and the
article is about half done. Another project I was involved in is to prepare a
text-only electronic version of ALEFI, Alcor's new replacement of Cryonics:
Reaching for Tomorrow. This is for a member who is blind, but others will
probably be interested. I am waiting to hear back from the member (or anyone
else) before proceeding further. At my instigation and with management
approval,
future issues of our magazine should carry an automatic granting of permission
for authors of articles to use their own work in other publications. 
Dr. Jerry Lemler, President, CEO 
We've got another Board of Directors meeting this Sunday, February 3, and my
week was somewhat consumed in preparations. Our token concession to the Super
Bowl is to conduct the meeting one hour earlier than customary in deference to
the impending kickoff time. For anyone who cares, I'll predict Rams 30,
Patriots 17. 
Once again, I've met with several prospective members, giving tours of our
Scottsdale facility again this week. I've also been contacted by a Hollywood
producer who wishes to use our services for a national network television
program, shooting an episode on cryonics. 
Jennifer Chapman, Membership Administrator 
MEMBERSHIP GROWTH
Jerry Searcy, a local volunteer, is deserving of my appreciation for assisting
me with various projects this week, including processing four membership
applications. His efforts significantly reduce the amount of time I must spend
copying, stapling, and mailing. This leaves me with more time to focus upon
boosting membership growth, which was achieved this week by approving three
memberships. 
CONTRACTS 
A significant amount of time and effort has been devoted to editing Alcor s
legal contracts to accommodate memberships for minors. After undergoing
multiple legal reviews, the revised documents were recently approved and
forwarded to various parents who had previously submitted an application on
the
behalf of their child or children. According to general contract law, a minor
cannot enter into a legal contract. With this in mind, our membership
documents
were altered to name the legal guardians, not the minor member, as the
individuals responsible for upholding the membership duties. 
VISITORS 
In addition to meeting with Dr. Lemler and Hugh Hixon to tour the facility and
discuss technical inquiries, a group of prospective clients joined me in
Alcor s conference room to review the specifics of Alcor s membership program.
Such visits are recommended for all individuals interested in furthering their
knowledge of cryonics, Alcor Foundation, and the life extension community.

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