X-Message-Number: 893 Subject: CRYONICS - April 26 ACS Meeting Rpt From: (Edgar W. Swank) Date: Wed, 10 Jun 92 19:13:19 PDT Report of the Meeting of the American Cryonics Society Board of Governors April 26, 1992 Trans Time Facility 10208 Pearmain St., Oakland, CA The meeting was called to order by Dr. Avi Ben-Abraham, President of the American Cryonics Society (ACS) at 7:30 p.m. who welcomed members and guests. After discussion of Agenda items the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Governors Present Governors Absent Avi Ben-Abraham, M.D. Kent Cullers, Ph.D. Carmen Brewer John Day Dick Marsh, Ph.D. Jerry White Jim Yount Publicity Dr. Michael Breen, M.D. who is the medical reporter for television station WCCO, a CBS affiliate in Minnesota, was a guest at the Trans Time meeting which preceded the ACS meeting. A number of ACS members were interviewed for a show on cryonics scheduled for May 4, 1992. We hope to get a video-tape of the show from Dr. Breen. Jerry reported further on his plans to visit England. He said his trip was a vacation but he will use the opportunity to promote cryonics if he can. We have been contacted by a man in Gatewick, England who is interested in promoting cryonics and possibly establishing a chapter of ACS. If travel plans permit Jerry will meet with this person. Jim reported that both he and Dr. Ben-Abraham had discussed cryonics with a southern California movie script writer who is writing a made-for-TV movie about cryonics. Jerry White was also interviewed. He spoke to her about his mother's case. We have been contacted by yet another radio station who wants to give away a membership and suspension through the American Cryonics Society to a lucky listener as first prize in a contest. C.I. Contract A final version of the proposed contract between ACS and the Cryonics Institute (CI) was presented to Governors. There are two basic contract forms. The first form is the agreement between ACS and CI; the second is for use by suspension members choosing CI as their suspension service and/or long term storage provider. Jim read the contract after which there was discussion of various contract provisions. Under this agreement ACS members may take advantage of CI's services with ACS having rights of inspection and the authority to remove frozen members and place them elsewhere if, for any reason, we thought such replacement would be in the member's best interest. Jerry White commented on the fact that, under this agreement, if ACS removes the body of any of our members who are stored at the CI facility in Michigan the $28,000 fee paid to CI would be forfeited. He said that at first glance people may believe this is not a good deal for ACS. Jerry pointed out that CI has made a major effort to keep long term storage costs very low. These low costs make it important that there not be added unforeseen costs associated with removal. After further discussion Dr. Ben-Abraham signed the contract. We will prepare an information mailing to our members which describes suspension and storage options now available through the Cryonics Institute. Recent Suspension There was further discussion of the recent suspension of Carol, a long-time ACS member. Carol is now being stored with dry ice in a temperature chest at the Trans Time facility. There was a lengthy discussion on what role ACS should play in a suspension and what part Trans Time or other service providers should play as well as what fees are appropriate for the various services. In this most recent suspension a number of ACS members spent many hours on stand-by at the hospital prepared to initiate "cryonics first aid" right after pronouncement of death. Dr. Ben-Abraham had spent many hours on the phone in an effort to line up a medical doctor to perform surgery connected with perfusion. Other members, including attorney Jack Zinn, also spent many hours to help ACS, Carol, and her family. Dr. Ben-Abrahamn said ACS must implement a policy which provides appropriate compensation to ACS for the very important role it plays in suspensions and the long-term responsibility we take for our members in long-term storage. There was general agreement on the need for such a policy and extended discussion on ways of determining appropriate compensation. ACS officers agreed to review the question further in Executive Committee or at future meetings. Facility Purchase Report Carmen Brewer reported that escrow had closed on the purchase of the new cryonics building. The American Cryonics Society expects to move its offices into this new building within the week. The building was purchased under a co-tenancy agreement between ACS members who formed a limited partnership named Alavie expressly for the purpose of building acquisition, and Trans Time who expect to locate its offices, research, suspension, and long-term storage facilities there. Carmen Brewer invited all ACS members to become investors in this building. We still need new capital for building improvements and to meet expenses until a significant portion of the building is rented. ACS Lease ACS wishes to move its offices into the building as planned. We hope that a lease will soon be signed whereby ACS will get 500 square feet of office space and 250 square feet of warehouse space free with ACS paying equitable rates for any space it needs above this amount. Legal Review of ACS Forms The legal review of the ACS short forms has now been completed by attorney Jim Bianchi. A copy of Jim's letter, outlining his review and several revised forms Jim prepared were made available to Governors. Jim was generally pleased with our short forms, which will now be available for use by non-Californians as well as California residents. Mr. Bianchi also reviewed recent court cases, including Roe v. Mitchell, as they pertain to cryonic suspension in California. Jim believes the outcome of this case has significantly strengthened our legal basis for suspension in California. Publications There was discussion of our co-publishing The Immortalist magazine with The Immortalist Society. Avi Ben-Abraham stated he believed our presence in this magazine is not sufficient. Avi suggested we explore changing the cover to make it more obvious to our members that this is our magazine too. There was a suggestion that we produce a second cover to be used for magazines we send out directly from our office to prospects. Jerry White pointed out that CI is perfectly willing to publish additional material from ACS members and encourages such submission. He also said submissions could be as simple as clipping articles which appear in other publications of interest to cryonicists and sending them in for publication. Peter said he clips and sends in such articles frequently. Avi said changes he would like to see included: putting our name on the front cover, publishing the names of our board of Governors along with the names of CI Governors on the inside front cover, and changing our membership application so it is simpler and more prominently displayed. Avi suggested Jim and Peter work with Robert and Mae Ettinger to implement these changes. Avi said we should be sure and list our 800 number in the publication. Dick suggested mixing type-style and clearly identifying the author of articles. Upcoming meetings The next meetings of the American Cryonics Society are Sunday, May 31, at 1:00 p.m. and Sunday June 28, at 6:00 p.m. Both will be held at: The New Cryonics Building 165 Gibraltar Court Sunnyvale, CA 94089 (408) 734-4111 -- (Edgar W. Swank) SPECTROX SYSTEMS +1.408.252.1005 Silicon Valley, Ca Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=893