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Alcor News Bulletin
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Number 20: January 7th 2004
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Contributors to this issue: Tanya Jones [TJ], Joe Waynick
[JW], and Mike Perry [MP].
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First Words
The beginning of 2004 finds us at Alcor busily preparing for
a new administration with a budgetary review and some new
policies. Tanya Jones as usual has most of the say-so in
this issue, with an added message from our new CEO, Joe
Waynick. [MP]
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New CEO and President
At the December 13, 2003 meeting, Alcor's Board of Directors
selected Joseph Waynick as Alcor's new CEO, President and
member of the Board. Mr. Waynick took office January 1,
2004, succeeding Dr. Jerry Lemler, who continues as Alcor’s
Medical Director and chief spokesperson.
Joe Waynick began his career in 1980 as a computer
programmer in the U.S. Marine Corps. He then relocated to
San Diego, California and joined California First Bank as a
senior systems programmer. By 1993 he was Vice President in
charge of Technical Support. In 1997 he again relocated,
this time to Phoenix, Arizona as Vice President and
Technology Leader of Technical Support with American Express
and later transferred to Vice President and Technology
Leader of Computer Operations. He retired from the
information technology industry in April 2001 to pursue
private business interests. He completed his signup and
became an Alcor member in September 2001. In 2002 he
acquired Custom Impressions, LLC, a printing and graphics
design company.
We're all impressed with the management skills Joe has
displayed since arriving on the scene, and are looking
forward to working closely with him to improve the long-term
protection and preservation of our patients and the quality
of Alcor's research and cryopreservation capability that
sound management practices will afford. Welcome, Joe!
[TJ, MP]
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A Message from Joe Waynick
It is a great privilege and honor to have been selected by
the Board of Directors as the new CEO/President of Alcor. I
am looking forward to continuing Alcor’s progress by
improving our ability to provide the best suspension
capability current science can offer as well improving the
long-term care of our patients.
Alcor and the cryonics industry itself are facing increasing
challenges from society all the way from government
regulation and public acceptance, to legal opposition to our
pursuit of longevity and ultimately reanimation. I am
confident that our organization will overcome any social and
technological obstacles we encounter.
The coming year looms before us with the prospect of great
opportunity as well as great challenges. In the opportunity
category, I am excited about some of the innovative
fundraising options we plan to introduce this year. They
represent new sources of revenue that will help reinforce
Alcor’s financial foundation while at the same time allow
members to support the organization in a unique fashion
without adding yet another financial burden.
In the obstacles category, Alcor continues to battle those
who would try to divert us from our mission. Add to that our
efforts to upgrade the facility with a new and improved
Patient Care Bay, new Operating Room, the retrofit of the
new Ambulance, and many other enhancement projects on the
drawing board, and you can see that we really have our work
cut out for us.
Rest assured, that the team here at Alcor Central is more
determined than ever to make the organization bigger, better
and stronger in the new year. Your continued support and
encouragement is always greatly appreciated. [JW]
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Intermediate Temperature Storage Project Progressing
Work on the intermediate temperature storage for neuro
patients has moved into a new phase. After extensive
testing Todd Huffman is convinced Brian Wowk’s design is
sufficiently robust and resistant to failure. Some changes
are being made to the design, and Brian is currently
constructing a version with those changes.
Besides the unit designed by Brian Wowk there are various
support mechanisms needed. The Bigfoot dewars will need to
be retrofitted to accommodate the new containers, and safety
measures will have to be put in place to ensure
uninterrupted operation. There is also a control
infrastructure needed to manage multiple, independent
storage units. Currently, these components are being
designed and will be built as soon as funds allow. [TJ]
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Administrative Report
Alcor ended the year with 661 cryopreservation members,
having started the year with 611. This represents an 8.2%
growth in membership during a time of some turmoil in the
cryonics community. While respectable considering the lack
of coordinated marketing, we still hope to improve the
growth rate to 10% or more for 2004.
For the past few weeks, the executive team has been
developing the 2004 budget. Admittedly, we're a little
behind on the scheduling, but we hope to have this task
complete by the end of the month. It has been a while since
Alcor has operated strictly to a budget, and we're looking
forward to making cryonics less of a sinkhole for funding.
For now, all projects are on temporary hold as we determine
the minimum requirements for maintaining our current level
of service. We'll be prioritizing and re-introducing
specific projects and upgrades as the funding becomes
available.
Budgetary considerations were also important in the
dismissal of Katherine Waters from the Alcor staff last
week. Katherine was hired by Alcor in 2002 to assist in
accounting duties; and she has performed those duties well,
taking much of the load from Joe Hovey. Joe had hoped to
move to a half-time schedule later this quarter, but this
plan is now on hold with the abolishing of Katherine's
position as our accounting department is reorganized. We
thank Katherine for her hard work over the past couple of
years, and wish her the best in her future endeavors. [TJ]
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Alcor Central Meeting
Alcor's first meeting of the year will be held on Saturday,
January 10, at 11am MST (10am PST, noon CST, 1pm EST).
Alcor meetings are now held in the new conference room at
the facility's location in Scottsdale. [MP]
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End of Alcor News bulletin #20 dated January 7th, 2004.
Distribution: 424 subscribers.
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