X-Message-Number: 638 Date: 07 Feb 92 01:01:56 EST From: STEPHEN BRIDGE <> Subject: Alcor Indiana Newsletter #2 ALCOR INDIANA NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2 January/February 1992 Editor: Richard Shock WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? A message from Steve Bridge Alcor Midwest Coordinator Most of the people receiving this second issue of our Newsletter will know who I am. Many of you know me personally as a friend; some of you have heard me speak about cryonics or have read my articles in CRYONICS Magazine. I have been part of cryonics in Indianapolis since 1977, when Mike Darwin and I started The Institute for Advanced Biological Studies. In 1982, IABS merged with the Alcor Life Extension Foundation of Riverside, California, and I have been an Alcor member ever since. Professionally, I am a children's librarian with the Indianapolis- Marion County Public library. While my occupation may seem incongruous with my avocation, both are a part of my commitment to making the world a better place. The millions of children who cannot or will not read are not learning to think in a manner which will contribute to the world. The millions of people who die every year deplete the human race of minds and experience which could enrich our lives and help solve the problems of this planet. I am also part of cryonics for personal reasons. I want to see the future and be a part of it. Every day is an adventure and I see no reason for that adventure to end. I am not a fan of death. I do not believe, as Elizabeth Kubler-Ross has said, that "death will be your last and best experience." I see nothing good in the death of humans. The argument that "death is natural" is meaningless. From one restricted point of view, nothing that the human race has done in the last 500,000 years is "natural." "Natural" is running around in the woods naked, eating berries and mice, and being eaten by tigers and fleas. From fire, spears, and farming to moon rockets, computers, and libraries, every activity of the human race has existed in order to overcome nature. From a more comprehensive point of view, EVERYTHING the human race does is natural, because we have brains which naturally enable us and require us to surpass our limits. It was natural for us to invent language, the wheel, mathematics, and science, to create writing, books, and television. It was natural for us to invent stethoscopes, microscopes, and telescopes, to cause the extinction of the smallpox virus, and to seek the answers to cancer, heart disease, genetic diseases, and to death itself -- because we have BRAINS, CURIOSITY, and the WILL TO LIVE. It is natural for human beings to improve upon the limits of "nature." Cryonics is simply an extension of that curiosity and will to live. It is apparent that future medical technologies will be able to cure many more conditions than are possible today. It is also clear that brain damage and "death" will be reversible at longer and longer periods following the cessation of heartbeat. Many, if not most, patients who are declared "dead" by today's standards would be called "near death, but alive and able to be repaired" by the standards of 2092. If patients would be called "alive" in the next century, then we should consider them that way NOW, and try to find some way to move them to that future unchanged. Cryonics may be that way. In future issues of this newsletter we will develop these thoughts in greater detail. ************* Why do this newsletter and why send it to YOU? Any group which wants to share its ideas with other like-minded individuals (or FIND or DEVELOP such individuals) must have a way of communicating. Since we can't all share a telephone line or travel to each other's homes every few weeks, a newsletter is the only alternative. Words on paper are sometimes a poor substitute for face-to-face and voice-to- voice; but you CAN re-read them whenever you want, and it makes sure you get SOMETHING every two months. We plan this newsletter to be more of a magazine for beginners than is Alcor's monthly, CRYONICS. CRYONICS must publish detailed reports on recent cryonic suspensions, legal actions, finances, and research for a wide variety of members, new and old, so it sometimes becomes overly complex for people newly interested in cryonics. We'll publish news summaries, too, but in a simpler manner, which will also attempt to give you more perspective. We'll try to give you more understanding of the whys and hows of cryonics, with discussions of history, basic principles, and who's who. Of course, in doing so, we hope to explore our own ideas in more detail and get feedback from you on how to improve our explanations. Besides the general purpose of cryonics education, we have a more personal, emotional objective for this newsletter. Right now there are five active cryonicists in Indianapolis and perhaps ten or so others widely scattered in the four states surrounding Indiana. Five local people are too few to be very effective. But we five know that someday WE may need the services of Alcor. The only way that a local suspension is likely to happen efficiently is if we build up local membership and local capability. That will require more people, more skills, more money -- the three indispensable needs of every volunteer organization. Finally, we want to add friends to our lives. Friends to make our lives fuller and happier now -- and friends who will be with us to share the challenges of an uncertain, but exciting, future. We are sending you this newsletter because we want you to join us in making this world a better place and in staying alive to enjoy the benefits of our labor. This newsletter will never be sufficient by itself for you to understand cryonics. We hope that you will take advantages of the other literature and opportunities for communication which we and Alcor offer. From Alcor, you may obtain a striking and well-written introduction to cryonics, "Cryonics -- Reaching for Tomorrow." This book is free if you have not written for information before; $5.00 if you have. Alcor's office staff would be delighted, however, for even first-timers to send $5.00 to help cut down the costs -- and you'll probably get the book more quickly. You'll also receive a list of the many books and reprints which Alcor has for sale. Also from Alcor is the award-winning (OK., it was only a LITTLE award, but it made us feel good) monthly CRYONICS magazine. You may subscribe for your first year at $11.00 -- a real bargain; the price is regularly $25.00 per year. From us you may obtain the personal touch. We hold monthly meetings to discuss recent goings-on and to plan improvements. They are not regularly scheduled but are usually on a Sunday afternoon. You are welcome to attend and meet us; we'd be delighted to meet you. From basic questions on philosophy and technology to the intricacies of filling out the legal paperwork, we can help. Or we can come to YOU. This requires a bit more scheduling; but I have a slide show introduction to cryonics which I can give to groups of five or more (I would prefer MORE if I have to travel a long way). I am willing to travel to nearby states for open meetings as long as you do the set-up work and publicity and provide some help with expenses. Call or write me for details. If you are in a club which needs a speaker, I can make connections to just about any interest (well, maybe not a gardening or knitting club). Cryonics should be of interest to any group with scientific, medical, philosophical, educational, political, or community purposes. ***** MEETING NOTES -- December 8, 1991, at the home of Bob and Margaret Schwarz. Present were all five members of ALCOR INDIANA: Stephen Bridge, Angalee Shepherd, Bob Schwarz, Margaret Schwarz, and Richard Shock. Because of prior commitments, Mr. and Mrs. Schwarz could host only a two-hour meeting. Anticipating this, Mr. Shock had prepared a brief discussion agenda to save time. 1) Mr. Schwarz and Mr. Shock gave a synopsis of their meeting with Alcor member Paul Wakfer on the day before. Mr. Wakfer was on his way to New York after spending a few weeks at Alcor Headquarters in Riverside, California. During his lunch with the ALCOR INDIANA members, he spoke of recent personnel changes at the California facility, noting the transition as relatively stable. He also mentioned plans for resumption of basic research by the Alcor associate group Cryovita Laboratories (founded by Jerry Leaf, who was placed in suspension as of July 1991). 2) Mr. Shock suggested that ALCOR INDIANA needed "tighter" organizational structure, within the limitations of its size and members' time. Noting that Mr. Bridge, as ALCOR Midwest Coordinator, kept a folder of information pertinent to his function (addresses and phone numbers for ALCOR members and individuals who might be of assistance during a suspension, plus inventories of ALCOR INDIANA equipment and up-to-date notes on cryonics procedures), Mr. Shock voiced the possibility that each member ought to have something similar. Mr. and Mrs. Schwarz revealed that they always carried addresses and phone numbers of all ALCOR INDIANA members. This was generally deemed to be a good first step to a closer network. 3) Mr. Shock then brought up the topic of training sessions for cryonics transport. Mr. Bridge cited techniques from the ALCOR training session he and Mr. Schwarz had attended the previous May. According to Mr. Bridge, among the most useful of these were "role-playing exercises," where trainees practiced what they might say to hospital administrators or coroners in the event of a member's deanimation. Since no ALCOR INDIANA member was a likely candidate for "natural death" any time in the near future, emergencies would entail dealing with the authorities. Mr. Bridge pointed out that unless these people could be persuaded to release a member's body, further training would be useless. 4) Mrs. Schwarz suggested that someone be appointed to act as observer to the local Coroner's Office, noting elections, personnel, etc. Mr. Bridge admitted that he had been doing so to some extent, but that "Coroner" was not a highly political post in Indianapolis, and so it generated little news. 5) Hearing the number of suggestions raised at this meeting, Mr. Bridge advised Mr. Shock that the NEWSLETTER should contain an "Action Notes" section to remind members of activities. 6) Mr. Shock passed out copies of the first ALCOR INDIANA NEWSLETTER for members' approval. The issue was accepted with only a few minor amendments. 7) Regarding business of the November meeting, Mr. Bridge reported that he had not yet received information on HLR prices, and Mr. Schwarz had not yet received construction plans for a Squid. ****** [ End of Part 1 of 2 - KQB ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=638