X-Message-Number: 1398 From: Subject: CRYONICS Drawin & Platt Date: Sat, 5 Dec 92 00:51:22 PST I was slightly amused by Mike leaving me out of the list of suspension team members. I have been on about a dozen. Mike Darwin writes: > If they hope to have quality people in any area of their operation >Ralph and the others at Alcor must realize that *issues* must be addressed >and that intelligent people (particularly those who are poorly paid or >volunteers) will only work if they are *appreciated, valued* and treated >as colleagues rather than as hired guns or political pawns. Of all the people I have ever known, I would have thought Mike to be among the least likely to have made the statement "will only work if they are *appreciated, valued* . . . ." Though there are rare exceptions, Libertarians, Objectivists, and related kinds of folks (cryonicists among them) don't seem to be worth a hoot at *expressing* appreciation to others. To give a typical example (and not to pick on Mike--he is not the worst), I once did something on a suspension quite a bit beyond what was expected. I know Mike appreciated it, because he told other people that he did, but it was only happenstance that *I* heard about it. It doesn't do much good if you keep your appreciation inside of you. Well, intellectual recognition is certainly a step in the right direction. I have not had much contact with Mike for some time, so I don't have any idea of how he is doing with his efforts to improve his ability to reward people with a kind word. This is an area where most of us can use improvement, and I think all of us closely involved with the pressure cooker business of suspensions should take Mike's advice to heart and *express* a little more appreciation for our coworkers. I certainly appreciate this part of the posting from Mike, and agree that issues are important too. Charles Platt writes: >Re:Autopsies >Ralph Merkle told me that he has made contact with his local >coroner on a personal basis Ralph, Naomi and I visited the local coroner some years back. I made the initial contact by letter, and early this year sent a copy of that letter to Brenda so the New York group could try the same thing. We were somewhat successful here; our contact was said to have helped when an ACS member became a coroner's case in San Jose about a year ago. But I think that in some cases, such as the former coroner of Riverside County, hammering the coroner with a lawsuit might be the only solution. Keith Henson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=1398