X-Message-Number: 2708
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 94 21:46:57
From: Steve Bridge <>
Subject: CRYONICS Alcor update
To CryoNet
>From Steve Bridge, President,
Alcor Life Extension Foundation
April 28, 1994
It's been quite a while since I've posted anything here on CryoNet.
I've worked mostly 12-hour days since Alcor's move to Scottsdale and
haven't much time for news-spreading. But since I had to write a long
summary article for CRYONICS Magazine this month (yes, it's late, as
usual. Sorry, but we may actually catch up in the next two months now
that our offices are organized.), I figured I could shorten it for you
all.
A couple of important events coming up this week. Alcor's first
official Open House is Saturday, May 7th from 1-6 p.m., with the bi-
monthly Board Meeting the next day at 1:00 p.m. You're all invited.
On Friday the 6th on NBC, the Emmy-winning show "Picket Fences" will
have a cryonics-oriented plot. They got information from us, but we have
not seen the script nor know much else. We don't even know if it will be
positive or negative. It HAS to be better than the cryonics episodes on
"Wiseguy" four years ago.
We're pretty well settled in here now, although there are many
projects yet to be done. It took years to do all that work in Riverside.
I guess it was naive to think we would accomplish it all in the first two
months here. One of our biggest physical goals here in the next few
months will be to beef up patient care security (primarily security from
intrusion). And we are beginning to discuss our research plans, which
should become more concrete in the next few weeks.
I have shortened up the following article, leaving out a lot already
posted on CryoNet in the past. Anyone who is new to CryoNet and doesn't
get Cryonics Magazine can request a full e-mail copy of the article from
me. This begins about half way through the published article.
****************************************************************
On February 21, 1994, the patients made their trip to Scottsdale.
We then spent two frantic weeks packing for the move of the operating
room, offices, and personal items of Mike Perry, Joe Hovey and Hugh Hixon.
It is amazing how much stuff (that is the only word to describe the
variety) can be crowded into one building and two mini-warehouses. It is
also amazing how much of it should have been thrown away years ago.
(Anyone inclined to sneer should first examine *their own* possessions
next time they move.) Of course, Ralph, Tanya , Derek Ryan, and myself
also had to find a few dozen hours at our homes to pack up our household
items.
The two truck loads of administrative items and one truck load of our
personal possessions finally arrived in Scottsdale the first week in
March, along with several pretty exhausted Alcor employees and volunteers.
Even at that we hadn't quite gotten everything, and we had been one person
short for driving vehicles. Hugh drove the ambulance to Arizona and left
his own vehicle at the airport. So a few days later we sent Hugh and
Scott back to Riverside one last time to get Hugh's vehicle, empty Hugh's
mini-warehouse, and finish cleaning up the old building.
Setting up the operating room had been first priority, of course, and
we were only down for less than 48 hours. Even then we had the capability
to perform a patient stabilization, transport, and beginning stages of a
suspension in our ambulance and remote transport kit.
We were extremely fortunate in finding a solution to one huge problem
we had completely failed to see: what do you do with three truckloads of
equipment, desks, boxes, refrigerators, etc. while you're deciding where
to place everything? The truckers have to have the truck unpacked as
rapidly as possible, and it would have been chaotic to simply fill all
available space in the new units with boxes and equipment. Leaving
everything out in the parking lot for two weeks didn't look like much of
an option.
Happily for us, the imported beer distributor next door was at the
low point of their cycle for stock (and probably had too much space leased
to begin with), and they had the unit closest to us (#108) entirely empty.
Alcor leased 108 for a staging area and the crisis was averted. It
appears likely that for the time being Alcor will lease a small room in
that unit for continued storage, and Hugh Hixon and Joe Hovey will lease
another small area for personal storage instead of getting mini-
warehouses.
The other major problem that occurred early in the move was a
"problem" that we have begged for in the past and could rarely get:
immense media interest. In the weeks before we moved from Riverside, the
*San Diego Union* and the *Los Angeles Times* had been preparing major
articles on Alcor and cryonics. They added material about the move and
sent reports out over the Associated Press wire. As a matter of fact, I
read the *LA Times* article at breakfast on my way out of Riverside on
March 3rd. And of course the Phoenix-Scottsdale media had been primed for
the move for months.
Once we got here, the phone never stopped ringing. Television,
radio, newspapers, magazines: everyone wanted the scoop on "Frozen
Patients on Wheels." Fairly rapidly I arranged for print interviews with
the *Scottsdale Progress-Tribune*, the *Arizona Republic,* and the
*Phoenix Business Journal*. Since the building's interior didn't exactly
look snappy and professional, I put off the television stations as long as
I could. Finally, I allowed two local television stations in for stories,
both of which were prominently featured on the evening news and which were
completely positive. I made one station, whose crew just showed up at the
door our first day here, go to the bottom of the list; but when they
finally did our story, it was even more upbeat than that of the other
stations. Other prominent print media included *Tempo* magazine of
Germany, "Yes" magazine from England, the *New York Times,* the *Chicago
Tribune*, the *Indianapolis Star* (my residence for 18 years), and ...
(trumpets blare, please) *U.S.A. Today.*
Ralph, Derek, and I did about 28 interviews the first month we were
here, and just as things started to ease off a bit, on April 6th the
*U.S.A. Today* article came out. They call themselves the nation's
newspaper, and they must be so for radio stations at least. All of a
sudden the phones went crazy again, with requests for live radio
interviews and talk shows. We did interviews in Chicago, Florida, San
Antonio, Palm Springs, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas,
Atlanta, Connecticut, Seattle, Detroit, and a bunch of others I've
forgotten. Most prominently, we were on "Canadian World Tonight" with
Phillip Till and Mutual Network's "Jim Bohannon Show."
Amazingly, with the exception of some insensitive sarcasm on the part
of the *LA Times* and one couple of idiot morning "comedians" in San
Bernadino (who didn't even bother to talk to us), the press coverage was
*completely positive and friendly.* This was exceptionally true here in
Arizona, but was scarcely diminished elsewhere. I have been involved in
cryonics since 1977, when most press coverage (if you could get a writer
or editor to write some space filler) and most audience reaction at talks
(if anyone came at all) was "Look at these weirdos!" Beginning in 1986
with the publication of *Engines of Creation* (K. Eric Drexler, Anchor-
Doubleday), we noticed a significant change in the seriousness with which
people took this idea. The initial bad press surrounding the Dora Kent
case in early 1988 slowly changed to positive stories about the brave
individualists battling the government, a change that became more marked
in the reporting of Thomas Donaldson's court battle to preserve his brain
in 1990.
But it seems that even more has changed today. The attitude of most
of the reporters and interviewers this year seems to be: "There are lot of
amazing developments in science and medicine today. Here are some people
banking on those developments to change the way we look at death." Yes, a
lot of the writers actually get the point of cryonics! Those of you who
are newcomers to the field or who have not dealt with the press over the
years may not fully appreciate what a massive change this represents. I'm
not saying this means thousands of people will rush to sign up next month.
But positive reporting from a large number of writers provides a start for
*more* positive reporting from the next wave. An increasing number of
people out of there will be getting the unconscious message that cryonics
is "interesting" (instead of "weird"), "future-oriented" (instead of "sci-
fi"), and "a positive choice" (instead of "desperate" or "a scam.")
Our reactions from Arizona businesses and government have also been
positive. When my new auto insurance agent came by to set up my policy,
she was very friendly and excited to meet us. She said that she would
"really have some status with my kids now." This attitude seems to
prevail with most visitors, even the ones that don't know they are coming
to a cryonics facility. Quite a number of students have already been in
for tours and we have spoken to two "Death and Dying" classes and a
retired adults club at a local community center.
This week we also had a tour for representatives of the Department of
Health Services, the Attorney General's Office, and the head of the
Committee on Health Care of the Arizona House of Representatives. It is
clear we will continue to deal with these agencies and individuals in the
future, and I think we are off to a very positive start. I think it is
likely that some kind of cryonics regulations may be put in place here in
the next year or two; but we look on this as potentially positive. We are
getting the opportunity to influence those regulations in an active
manner, and regulation in itself can provide a type of acceptance or
legitimization. These are perhaps scary words to our more libertarian
members and readers; but states WILL eventually regulate cryonics. That's
what states DO. It could be to our advantage to have the first
regulations here where we are building comparatively friendly relations.
Most of you will want to know how the money worked out. We had
raised just about enough money for our initial moving and remodeling
plans. Unfortunately part of that money is still in donated shares of
Symbex Property Group (the company which owns the Riverside Building),
which can't become cash until the building is sold. Our cash flow for
finishing some tasks has become tight, and we would still welcome
donations toward making this building the best we can.
In future issues of the magazine we will begin listing plans we are
developing for improvements in suspension patient security, laboratory and
operating room equipment, and transport capability. This week we have
also begun taking the first steps toward developing a new research plan
and plans for suspension team training. Please let us know if any of
these areas interest you. We will be needed advice, volunteers, and
funding for each of them.
Finally, most of you have previously received an invitation to our
first Scottsdale Open House on May 7th. This issue of *Cryonics* will
reach you after that date; but we will plan other opportunities to visit
in the months ahead. The next Open House will be Friday night, June 10th,
from 5:00-9:00 p.m., in conjunction with the Venturist Weekend gathering.
Now we've parked our wagons, put up the new home, and settled in.
We're proud of our new home and would love to show it off to you. Hope to
see you soon.
****************************************************************
Steve Bridge
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