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30 November 2001

George Bailey Syndrome

by Shawn Carlson

That most famous Capra classic will have a new resonance for me this holiday season.

As you probably recall, several weeks ago I sent out a special message to inform SASers about our dire financial situation. Even though we were providing more services to more members than ever before, SAS could no longer afford to pay Nancy's salary and it had $6,000 in credit card debts that I was personally liable for. I was depressed and frankly, a little desperate. So I was forced to ask our members to get more personally involved by supporting us with their hard-earned money. Today I feel like George Bailey-- the richest man in Bedford Falls. And it's all thanks to the generosity of our membership.

Over seventy of you reached deep to help us, and for that you have my most profound thanks. You will find a complete list of our donors below.

Let me highlight the extraordinary generosity of several of our supporters.

After receiving my email, Fritz and Ping Faulhaber formed the Faulhaber Foundation to support organizations they believe in. They then donated (I hope you're sitting down) $50,000 to SAS for this year, and they have pledged to do the same for the next two years for a total contribution of $150,000. This is by far the largest contribution SAS has ever received. With one stroke, Fritz and Ping placed SAS on a solid foundation from which we can build for the future. The entire citizen scientist community owes them a tremendous debt of gratitude for their support.

Next, Jim Lindelien Founder and CEO of TimeLogic Corporation directed his corporation to deposit $10,000 into our coffers this year, and he promised to offer another $10,000 next year as a matching grant challenge. If our challenge grant is fully matched, Jim's generosity could be worth $30,000 to SAS over the next two years.

Then Geoffrey Clark M.D., pitched in an extremely generous $2,000 from his personal account.

Peter Foskett, an SAS Lifetime member came through once again for us with a $1,000 contribution. Peter has given us a lot of help over the last few years, including very generous donations and sage advice and wisdom that we rely on. Thank you Peter once more for moving us a big step forwards.

Wasyl Malyj, James Vaughn and Arthur Winfree all contributed a very much appreciated $500. Bertho Boman, Herman Flynn, Kevin Kilty, Gary Oliver, Stephen Pranulis, and John Rictchie all gave $200. Joseph Roxborough set himself apart by donating $150. And all of the following members gave $100. Walter Allan, M.D., James Carr, Morrel Cohen, Randy Davis, Thomas Davis, Frank Frazier, John Hurford, Mike Hurt, Terrell Koken, Raymond Lee M.D., Shawn Legrand, Bruce Lerner, Katherine Lindner, Robert McDougall, Allen Mears, William Melcher, Fernando Paludi, Jessica Parets, David Quick, Thomas Roberts, Marc Rubin, Christopher Seo, James Simmonds, Norman Stanley and Burt Wolder.

The remaining donations are too many to list here (check out the table below for the complete tally), but I want you all to know that we deeply appreciate each and every donation of whatever amount. Even a modest contribution helps us do more for citizen scientists.

In all, we have received just shy of $70,000. Our debts are all paid and our survival is assured. And I am personally so very grateful

Just don’t think that our good fortune gets you off the support hook. SAS's survival may be for the next few years. But as in most things in life, one can only reap benefits from SAS in proportion to one's contributions. The more support we have the more great things we can do. So if you can provide financial support above and beyond your membership dues, please do so. Nancy can make easy payment arrangements on your credit card of as little as $10 per month, if that makes your giving easier. Also, if you have a special expertise in or around the lab, (and nearly everyone one of our members knows something interesting or useful) please write it up as a Lab Note, or a Feature Article for the E-Bulletin so we can share it with thousands of your fellow citizen scientists around the world. And if you've got a lot to give, let Sheldon know so he can set you up with your very own bi-weekly or monthly column on the E-Bulletin.

 

Donor		Amount
Faulhaber Foundation		$50,000
Time Logic Corporation		$10,000
Geoffrey	Clark M.D.	$2,000
Peter	Foskett	$1,000
Wasyl	Malyj	$500
James	Vaughn	$500
Arthur	Winfree	$500
Bertho	Boman	$200
Herman	Flynn	$200
Kevin	Kilty	$200
Gary	Oliver	$200
Stephen	Pranulis	$200
John	Ritchie	$200
Joseph	Roxborough	$150
Walter	Allan M.D.	$100
James	Carr	$100
Morrel	Cohen	$100
Randy	Davis	$100
Thomas	Davis	$100
Frank	Frazier	$100
John	Hurford	$100
Mike	Hurt	$100
Terrell	Koken	$100
Raymond	Lee, MD	$100
Shawn	Legrand	$100
Bruce	Lerner	$100
Katharine	Lindner	$100
Robert	McDougall	$100
Allen	Mears	$100
William	Melcher	$100
Fernando	Paludi	$100
Jessica	Parets	$100
David	Quick	$100
Thomas	Roberts	$100
Marc	Rubin	$100
Christopher	Seo	$100
James	Simmonds	$100
Norman	Stanley	$100
Burt	Wolder	$100
H. Peter	Friedrichs	$75
Harlan	Brothers	$52
Mitchell	Berkson	$50
Robert	Bond	$50
Matthew	Dearing	$50
Bill	Delaney	$50
Tim	Dolan	$50
Colby	Gilbert	$50
Doug	Graham	$50
John	Hale, M.D.	$50
Dave	Hamilton	$50
Paul	Harness	$50
Jeff	Hecht	$50
Frank	Jung	$50
Averett	Lee Lidzy	$50
Michael	McKinney	$50
Paul	Nagy	$50
Lloyd	Roberts	$50
Justin	Sanders	$50
Steven	Shaiman	$50
Steve	Taylor	$50
Mehran	Thomson	$50
Cutler	Umbach	$50
Wayne	Wilson	$50
Wolfgang	Wokurek	$50
Robert	Alexander	$25
Walter	Anderson	$25
Louis	Faine	$25
Jim	Frank	$25
John	Kaufmann	$25
Ray	Lahr	$25
Addison	Pollock	$25
Jennifer	Regina	$25
Michael	Thwaites	$25
Wes	Walter	$25
Peter	Winter	$25
William	Connors	$10
	Total	$69,912

 

Should SAS Start a Research Journal?

We here in the home office are kicking around the idea of starting a world-class peer-reviewed research journal specifically for citizen scientists. We envision it as a quarterly printed publication, with a publishing arm on the Web. We expect that it will cost something like $150,000 a year to run and we'd need to get some foundation money to set the thing up and keep it going.

My question to the membership is, do you think this is a good idea? Please drop me a line and let me know what you think.