X-Message-Number: 727
Date: 12 Apr 92 04:36:59 EDT
From: STEVE BRIDGE <>
Subject: ACS President Problem

TO: KEVIN

In reply to:  Message: #722 - Re: Unanswered ACS Policy Questions
       (Edgar W. Swank)
 
***Steven Harris asked:
 
>>Wouldn't it be even neater if Dr.  Ben-Abraham, Smartest Man in the
>>World and President of ACS, signed up for cryonics himself?
 
***Edgar Swank replied:
 
>>Without Avi's permission, I can't either confirm or deny his
>>suspension membership status (was that a trick question?).  I will
>>forward your question to the ACS office where Avi can, if he wishes,
>>offer his own comments.


     I am astounded!  Is this a joke, Edgar?  Steve's question was hardly 
a "trick!  Avi Ben-Abraham is not some private member; he is the PRESIDENT 
of the American Cryonics Society.  His participation in cryonics is public 
by legal definition, as well as by choice.  He has been interviewed dozens 
of times in the press and on television.  He has constantly promoted 
cryonics.  Are you seriously trying to persuade us that you can't state 
whether or not he is SIGNED UP HIMSELF?

     If he IS signed up, it would be silly for him to deny it or refuse to 
comment.  How much privacy could he lose in being signed up that does not 
already occur by being President?  If he is NOT signed up, he is a 
hypocrite (or worse) and the members of ACS appear to be very foolish.  
How can he promote something he does not believe in himself?  Is the 
President of American Airlines afraid to fly?  Does Lee Iacocca drive a 
Toyota?

     If he is the "Smartest Man in the World" (as has been claimed in ACS 
publications) but is not signed up, how smart can he really be?   Are the 
other 500 or so signed up cryonicists in the world really less intelligent 
than Dr. Ben-Abraham?

     Edgar, you have been around cryonics for at least 15 years.  Do you 
really not see how naive and paradoxical your reply appears to be?  Is it 
not a reasonable assumption that anyone who is President of a major 
cryonics organization surely must be signed up; how else to be believed by 
the members and the public?  A President is a public figure, with the 
credibility of his organization depending on his actions and statements.  
He does not have the luxury of keeping his suspension membership private.  
How could a cryonics group elect such a President?  If Dr. Ben-Abraham is 
NOT signed up, should we assume that ACS is merely using him for his title 
and demeanor?  If he IS signed up, how could he not be open about it?

     In any case, you refuse to confirm or deny the very membership of 
your PRESIDENT in one message, yet casually drop the name of a celebrity 
who MIGHT sign up someday in an earlier message.  This is not the same 
understanding of "privacy" that I have.

     Are the other members of the ACS Board signed up?  They are also 
public figures and in positions of trust.


Steve Bridge (an Alcor member, but not speaking for Alcor).

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