X-Message-Number: 17796
From: Alcor <>
Subject: This Week at Alcor
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 15:09:23 -0700 (PST)

The following can be found on our website at:
http://www.alcor.org/this_week_at_alcor.html


Week of October 15 through 21, 2001


*please note:  staff member names are hyperlinked to 
profiles where available


                 


Hugh Hixon, Facilities Engineer


Friday, with Mike Perry, took an LN2 delivery.  With 
Jennifer and Dr. Lemler, talked with, and gave a tour 
to, a possible member.  Talked with a welding 
fabricator about a bid for more more neuropatient 
carrier pods for the Bigfoots (10 neurocans/pod).  
Message answering questions about roller pumps. 


Monday, seminar with Dr. Newport.  Got in more 
filters for the neuro tubing packs.  Deal with 
problems of a Russian member, as much as possible.  
Letter edit.  Edit Charles Platt's newsletter stories 
a little. 


Tuesday, staff meeting.  Finish with newsletter and 
return to Charles. Disassemble LR-40 cooldown lid to 
have its plywood parts done in polypropylene, and to 
make more lids for FutureBound. Thought up an easier 
way to use the head holder ring. 


Wednesday, run over to the plastics shop with the 
cooldown lid motor for a fit test.  Got to medical 
surplus place in central Phoenix for some instruments 
for FutureBound.  Check over medications worksheet 
for Mathew. 


Thursday, get checked out on the Powerpoint system in 
preparation for a presentation at Laughlin, NV.  Did 
an interview for some sort of independent 
production.  Check SOP for use of recording 
thermocouple 


                 


Jessica Lemler, Administrative Associate/Webmaster


This week we had our Communications Seminar with Dr. 
Bob Newport.  The meeting was held outdoors, and it 
was a nice break to spend a morning outside in our 
wonderful Arizona weather.  I certainly enjoyed not 
only getting out of the office for awhile, but being 
with my co-workers and learning methods to better 
communicate with them.  Overall, I found the meeting 
to be a positive experience, and I am looking forward 
to our next Communications Seminar with Dr. Newport 
this coming Wednesday.


For the most part, my week has consisted of lots of 
typing and correspondence.  I did some more work on 
the minutes and re-sent them to Board Members and 
Advisors.   I did take some time to look at laptop 
computers, as I would very much like to have one for 
taking notes during the Board Meetings.  It would 
save me a lot of time at the Board Meetings and 
afterwards.  Today I'm working on posting this page 
and later this afternoon I will be going with some of 
the other staff members to get my flu shot.


Also, I have again compiled some photos this week for 
everyone to see.  You can access them by clicking 
here:


http://www.alcor.org/this_week_pictures.htm


                 


Mathew Sullivan, Facility Operations Manager &
Patient Care Manager


Project Future Bound UK and Canada continues as 
follows: 


1) Product research and order, and shopping. 


2) UK's pump and controller box arrived.  I assembled 
the equipment and mounted it to the bottom ATP plate. 


3) Stopped by UPS to return an extra pump and 
controller due to ordering too many.  I forgot that 
UK had a 115-volt pump which could be traded for a 
230-volt, then transferred to Canada.  Part of the 
complexity of the UK Future Bound Project is that no 
one here at Alcor knows exactly what 


equipment the UK group has, and no information has 
been forthcoming. 


4) Continued to progress on eight ATP plates. 


5) Finished putting together two perfusate cases. 


6) Started to work on five perfusate plate frames. 


In preparation for the Laughlin training class, I 
reworked the meds calculation and cheat sheet.  
Fifteen meds training packs were also put together 
for the class.


Facility Operations-- Attended a communications 
meeting at a member's home.  Phone system 
reprogramming.  Helped the staff with some minor 
computer issues. 


                 


Dr. Jerry Lemler, President, CEO


"On the road again" seems the appropriate operative 
phrase for my October calendar.  My thanks go out to 
Tim Freeman and all the good and gracious Alcor folks 
who welcomed me to the Northern California quarterly 
meeting in Sunnyvale last Sunday.  I guess we 
gathered around 25 strong, and what a vibrant group 
it was!  Out comes the suitcase again, though.  This 
coming Sunday, Hugh Hixon and I will drive to 
Laughlin, Nevada, to conduct a three day ADR training 
session at the Riverside Hotel and Casino.  We'll be 
joined there by ADR-A team leader Joe Tennant to help 
with the instruction.


Thanks also go to Dr. Robert Newport for his 
stewardship in convening the first of three 
Communication Seminars in Scottsdale this past week.  
The second will take place (again in Scottsdale) on 
Wednesday.  Dr. Robert is teaching interactive 
communication skills for all Alcor Central staff, 
and, I would add, without any remuneration for 
considerable his time and expertise.


And, just when I was on the illusionary verge of 
believing things couldn't get any better, Mathew 
Sullivan reminded me we're getting our flu shots 
later today!


                 


Jennifer Chapman, Membership Administrator


Along with my fellow co-workers, I began this week by 
attending a Communication Seminar hosted by Dr. 
Robert Newport, who discussed how we can improve our 
interactions with one another.  While he emphasized 
that the first step to achieving this is to honestly 
evaluate our feelings, he also suggested that it is 
beneficial to view these reactions to one another as 
data, rather than to define ourselves by the emotions 
that are upon us at any given moment.  Instead, we 
should consider taking time to draw rational 
conclusions based upon the present data and initiate 
efforts to resolve these emotional disturbances, both 
by communicating honestly with ourselves and with 
others. 


  Although, we all agree that it is important for us 
to perform our work to the best of our ability, Dr. 
Newport explained that the effectiveness of our 
communication skills does influence our overall 
productivity.  He also emphasized that, although it 
is necessary to resolve disturbances, it is perhaps 
more necessary to express appreciation for one 
another when all operations are functioning 
smoothly.  In recognition of this, I would like to 
express my utmost regard for all Alcor supporters, 
which includes employees, volunteers, consultants, 
officers, advisors, directors, members, applicants, 
and subscribers.  We all deserve recognition for our 
involvement with this exceptional organization. 


  On Wednesday, I accompanied Dr. Lemler and Joe 
Hovey to the office of a local attorney to discuss 
various issues.  Of primary interest to me was the 
discussion of Alcor&#8217;s Last Will and Testament 
and 
Authorization for Anatomical Donation, where the 
content of this document was considered.  We inquired 
about the relationship between Alcor&#8217;s Last 
Will and 
that of a personal will, whereby the assets of the 
estate are distributed.  The attorney approved of 
Alcor&#8217;s description of our document as a will 
on the 
basis that it attempts to  grant value to the 
remains.  He explained that ordinarily an individual 
cannot determine the disposition of their own remains 
because they are not considered an asset of the 
deceased.  Under these circumstances, even if an 
individual requests cremation or burial, the 
surviving family members can typically override this 
request with minimal resistance. 


  Further, a discussion was initiated in response to 
concerns recently expressed that a member might 
execute an &#8220;estate&#8221; will which revokes 
all previously 
executed wills and thereby unintentionally invalidate 
the anatomical donation.  The attorney advised us 
that this would be an unlikely occurrence because the 
full title of the document would have to be 
referenced (Last Will and Testament and Authorization 
for Anatomical Donation) to substantiate revocation 
of the donation.  He also suggested that Alcor revise 
our document to specifically state this, if such 
wording is not already present.  The attorney has 
agreed to further review Alcor&#8217;s current and 
past 
documentation.




                 


Mike Perry, PhD., Patient Care Assistant 


This week, at the request of management, I prepared 
some electronic picture images of Alcor  activities 
and emailed them to the Timeship project. (In some 
cases the images could be sent out "as is" but in 
others some processing was needed.) I completed a 
first draft of a "For the Record" column dealing with 
Alcor events 25 and 10 years ago; this should appear 
in the fourth quarter of the magazine, now titled 
*Alcor Reaching for Tomorrow*. On Thursday I was 
interviewed, along with some other staff members, by 
Sergio Myers of a company called 7ponies, based in 
Los Angeles. I understand that the resulting 
documentary, when completed, will be offered to the 
media, though 7ponies itself is not into public 
broadcasting. For me much of the interest centered on 
the Patient Care Bay, where I am doing daily checks, 
and where the bigfoot dewars, standing tall and 
proud, are quite photogenic and willing to have their 
pictures made. I should mention Aido my cat, too, 
who, I explained, had a busy schedule, what with 
eating, sleeping, getting petted and the like, but 
might pose for a few shots (and he did). 


             


Joe Hovey, Accounting Manager


Monday: Spent half the day on a communications 
seminar conducted by Dr. Bob Newport at an offsite 
location. Went well. Worked on some correspondence 
that had fallen behind with some members on some 
accounting matters. 


Tuesday: Worked on the budget through the third 
quarter of the year. Hope to have it ready by Friday. 


Wednesday: Attended with Jerry Lemler and Jennifer 
Chapman an extensive conference with Ron Carmichael 
on a string of matters with legal implications for 
Alcor. Very productive meeting. 


Thursday: Follow up to the conference yesterday with 
Carmichael. Wrote a few items to some Directors and 
to Jerry about the matters we discussed. More e-mail 
correspondence on Alcor contracts and 
Receivables/Payables between Alcor and Cells4Life. 
Went to bank to make deposit and entered latest 
receivables data into accounting system.  


Friday: Submitted payroll data for last two weeks. 
More correspondence on large receivable from 
emergency medical firm. Meeting this afternoon with 
programmer who is revamping our database system. Hope 
to finish 3rd quarter budget figures today. 


                 


Paula Lemler, Volunteer


This week I wrote checks for bills, and posted 
entries into the data base for deposits.  
Additionally I helped with logistics concerning the 
upcoming training session in Laughlin, NV.

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=17796