X-Message-Number: 750
Date: 18 Apr 92 17:11:03 EDT
From: "Russell E. Whitaker" <>
Subject: Alcor UK minutes: April 1992

Minutes of the Sunday, 5 April 1992 meeting (4)92 of Alcor UK Ltd
at the Alcor UK Potts Marsh facility near Eastbourne, England

Minutes taken & prepared by: Michael Price [with amendments and
corrections made by Steve Whitrow and Russell Whitaker]

Distribution:
     CryoNetUK
     cryonet
     Alcor Life Extension Foundation, by electronic mail
     Alan Sinclair, by facsimile
     Local membership at large, by post

Meeting began at 11:00 BST

Present were:
     Chris Benatar
     Michael Price
     Alan Sinclair
     Steve Strong
     Russell Earl Whitaker
     Steve Whitrow

Apologies for absence received from:
     Andrew Clifford
     Patrica Cross
     Garret Smyth

1    Previous Minutes

     The minutes of the 2 March 1992 Alcor UK meeting were
     accepted, by those present.

2    Actions (format: action#meeting#/actionee)

     1(2)92/REW  AUK Newsletter.  Awaits arrival of above
     printer.  Action Continues.

     1(3)92/MCP  UK mailing list (phone numbers and addresses). 
     Michael has sent copies to Russell, Garret and Steve
     Whitrow.  Action Complete

     2(3)92/REW  Post labels.  Now typed in.  Awaiting printer
     to print (ETA 30-April-1992). Action Continues

     3(3)92/MCP  Michael to provide guidelines for a AUK letter-
     head to Russell.  Action Continues.

     4(3)92/REW  FAX local (UK) requests for information letters
     to Alcor US.  Letters faxed off to Alcor.  Action Complete.

     5(3)92/REW  Email Alcor about part return of dues to defray
     local running costs.  No response yet.  Action Complete.

     6(3)92/REW  Email distribution of Alcor charter for
     comments.  E-mail version not released yet - Tanya Jones
     still making changes to it.  Action Continues.

     7(3)92/REW  Russell to get a pager in the near future.  ETA
     is 8-April-1992.  Action Continues.

     8(3)92/REW  Russell to ask a non-member, DB, to fax over
     the insurance companies' data.  DB reports that he has
     faxed off the material to Alcor, but Tanya has not received
     said fax.  Russell will ask DB to fax it again.   Action
     Complete.

3    Progress

3.1  HL (a pseudonym).  Since the last meeting HL has spoken to
     Russell, Michael and Alan.  There was a discussion about
     whether we wanted to do business with him, the pros and
     cons of chemical versus cryogenic suspensions, etc etc. 
     The conclusion was that there may be some benefit in
     storing a patient in the UK to test out the legal
     situation.  But this must be offset against the fact that 
     -    HL is very unforthcoming with information
     -    HL owes Alcor US some money ($315.05) 
     -    there's not much hope for the patients HL wants to
          store here (his father and an associate's mother) -
          which casts doubts on HL understanding of cryonics
     -    we don't want to store chemically "preserved" patients
          since we have grave doubts as to the scientific
          validity of such a procedure.
     -    we have no full time cover at the facility.

     HL has been told that :
     -    HL must make his peace with Alcor US before we will
          consider anything.
     -    Alcor US offers superior storage facilities.
     -    AUK is a transhipment facility, not a storage
          facility, at present.

3.2  Bills

     There was a review of the bills that were dished out at the
     last meeting.  It was confirmed that they had all been paid
     and any reminders must have crossed with the cheques
     (especially since they'd all been drawn).  Steve Whitrow
     was given  a telephone bill reminder to follow up [post-
     meeting it transpired that this was for one of Alan's
     private lines, and passed back to Alan].  

     Action 1(4)92/MCP:  Michael to contact Janet Blake to
     change the name and address of the various accounts.

     The business rates (a local government tax) on the facility
     are due for payment.  Michael agreed to pay the first
     installment, but it is hoped that funds can be raised to pay
     for the later installments (see below).

     Action 2(4)92/MCP:  Michael to pay first installment.

     Following up Andrew Clifford's idea at a previous meeting
     it was agreed that we would ask UK-resident Alcor
     suspension members in the UK to stump up some money to
     cover local running costs.  It was thought that something
     commensurate with the dues we send Alcor US would be
     reasonable.

     The list of people would be all the UK Alcor suspension
     members (plus anyone well on the way to signing up).

     Action 3(4)92/MCP:  Michael to sound out people on how much
     seems reasonable.

     Action 4(2)92/MCP:  Russell to continue to press Alcor US
     for a response to our request for the 3/4 return of UK
     dues.

3.3  Medication

     After asking Alan it transpires that the medications which
     we had thought missing are present - they had been moved
     from the freezer (which doesn't work properly) to the
     fridge (which does) to maintain their integrity.

3.4  Videotape

     Garret has made the videotape for the Alcor US anniversary
     banquet.  Max More left yesterday, for the US, with the
     tape.  The banquet should have taken place about 5 hours
     ago - no feedback yet.

3.5  Publicity

     Email - Steve Strong explained how AUK could use the UK
     academic e-mail networks (JANET = Joint Academic NETwork)
     by dropping quasi-advertisements into college newsgroups.

     Action 5(4)92/SS:  Steve Strong will continue to
     investigate JANET when he returns to college.

     Times article - an article appeared in the Times (4-April-
     1992, by Nick Nutall, whom we have dealt with before)
     announcing the Alcor anniversary parties, including the one
     at Russell's (in Wapping) on Friday.

     GQ magazine - have been trying to get hold of Michael for
     a photosession.  Russell volunteered to stand in.  Michael
     passed on the contact.  

     Action 6(4)92/REW: Russell to contact GQ.

     Both Garret and Russell have now spoken to Patrick Kessler,
     about appearing on Clive Anderson Talks Back.  Michael will
     call Patrick Kessler.  

     Action 7(4)92/MCP: Michael to call Patrick Kessler.

3.6  Pagers

     Russell is expecting to get a pager from London Pager (for
     private and business use, in addition to acting as an Alcor
     co-ordinator) on Wednesday.  The London Pager will cover
     the Thames Basin and can accept up to 40 162-character
     messages in its buffer.  Russell passed on to Alan the
     details of another pager service, Aircall, which covers
     more of the UK.

     Action 8(4)92/MCP: Russell to confirm arrival and issue
     pager number.

3.7  Alcor membership list

     Russell handed over the sealed Alcor membership list to
     Alan for safe keeping.  It was agreed not to store it at
     the facility in case of a "Paddy Ashdown" or "Watergate"
     style break-in.  Alan will store it at a secure location
     (known to the AUK Board).

3.8  It was agreed after the meeting that an ambulance driving
     session (around the industrial estate, to begin with) would
     be held.  [post-meeting: The experience was very valuable
     for everyone (except Alan, who's already an expert).  Most
     of us were unfamiliar with automatic transmissions, placing
     the gear stick in "neutral" rather than "park".  Alan gave
     us a quick guide to preventative maintenance.  An oil leak
     was detected.  It was agreed to continue the driving
     lessons.]

4    Any Other Business

4.1  Russell will be giving a lecture at the next AUK meeting. 
     The title is "The Mechanisms of Ischemia".

4.2  Another ambulance driving session will take place at the
     next AUK meeting.

4.3  The date of the next AUK meeting is 10th of May.  The first
     Sunday of the month falls close to a public holiday.

[Standard disclaimer: Alcor UK Ltd is a legal entity incorporated
in the United Kingdom.  There exists no statutory or contractual
tie between it and the Alcor Life Extension Foundation of
Riverside, California, United States of America.]

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