crunch@well.UUCP (John Draper) (12/28/88)
I just recieved another fairly long response from Moscow. It comes
in 2 parts, so I'll post them that way. One is a complete summary of
the recent ICC Convention in Moscow, and the other one (Most important)
is a plea for help in the Armenian Relief effort. The message was
addressed to Me, but it's intended for any of those who can help out.
Below, is an un-edited version of the message I got from ICC, relating
to the Armenian relief effort. This should give one an idea of the
stuff they need, and how they are working on the problem.
I encourage anyone out there, who has access to InterNet and ARPANET
to please get this posted where it would do the most good. And anyone
who has access to Genie, Compuserve, and other networks. I got
BIX, and the WELL already covered.
All Correspondence and offers for help should be directed to me at
the Email box below. I shall pass them on to the Soviets. They need
things like Error correcting Modems, Old PC's currently not being used,
Etc. You can send this stuff to:
Armenian Relief Society
51 Commonwealth Ave
San Francisco, Calif. 94118
Message follows:
*****************
Now, I have to tell you a few things that are not
so cheerful but still need our full devotion. We at the
Conference announced that the first project of the Club will be
devoted to the ARMENIA relief effort. The following
priorities were specified:
1. To establish data banks helping to trace the
location of Armenian children evacuated in a hurry to different
places in the USSR from the devastated regions. Parents
and relatives that survived or live in other parts of the
Soviet Union want to find and take care of them and it's URGENT.
ICC is going to set up a central data bank facility and have
local correspondents collecting data on children's
whereabouts, etc. But the Club does not have enough PCs, modems, etc.
to set up a network and though we have brilliant people we
also need a solid experience in organizing electronic rescue
service of that magnitude. Also a lot of Armenians live
abroad and they start enquiring about what happened to
their relatives here. We would have to link our data bank
"on peoples fate" to hosts in USA and some other countries.
We can't manage it by ourselves in such a short period
of time... We should have had it yesterday... Perhaps, you
would think of ways to help ICC cope with this task? Maybe
people on all networks in USA and the whole world would come up
with a quick solution? Can we, after having a conference
"Let's talk to the Soviets", launch a new conference "The
Russians (Armenians) love their children too" (Springsteen's
song)? Would it be possible to set up an enquiry center for
Armenians living in America electronically linked to ICC
center in Moscow and Yerevan? Via San-Francisco - Moscow
Teleport?
We have already prepared the site for ICC center in
Moscow and have a direct link to Yerevan. The center is located
in Moscow Institute of Aviation and is serviced by
well-trained programmers. Student teams are ready to take telephone
enquiries and work on-line with other teams in other cities.
If there are volunteers to come here, bring over the
necessary equipment and help animate it, they all would be ICC
guests and all their expenses (including air fares on
Aeroflot flights, board, lodging and pocket money) would be taken
care of by the Club. May be there would be people wishing to
donate their computers for this purpose? Will somebody
collect the equipment and bring it over to air companies for
transportation? The list of questions can go on. We are asking
the same questions ourselves now and the snowball of answers
has already started to roll.
2. ICC has received a donation of 20 PCs for two
class rooms to be located in schools where evacuated Armenian
children are now studying. This came from one of the
cofounding organizations - Industrial and scientific consortium
called "Scientific Search" in Zelenograd near Moscow known as a
center of electronic industry in the USSR. This is a first
step to fulfill our second priority - to help organize
education process for evacuated children in new locations and to
make it as interesting for them as possible. Computer training
is part of it. We also think of finding resources to cover
all the electronic equipment lost in the Quake and to
reconstruct computer training classes for Armenian schools in the
region.
Maybe we can do it together as well! Volunteer teachers
in computer literacy will be welcomed by the Club.
3. Now, on a medium term basis we face the problem
of creating a reliable telecommunication system of ICC
(besides those existing on a government level and used for
government purposes) linking Yerevan to Moscow and to the rest of
the world to help process some information on the help needed
and received that would be used by social organizations,
particular companies and individuals. This system would be
the backbone of what we think to be the core of ICC
Armenian project in the long run. That brings us to the fourth
priority.
4. ICC would like to create a global data bank
accumulating international knowledge and experience in coping
with such natural disasters as the Armenian Quake. This data
bank should be constructed from peaces of intelligence
(covering seismology, medicine, construction, etc. etc.) from all
countries which have gone through the same ordeal and from
all those who know how to cope and to provide help in such
situations. We think that this global bank of knowledge
providing guidance in crisis situations, be it an earthquake or
another ecological disaster, is essential for the survival of
humanity and should be free and easily accessible to use by
anynation in trouble. The Council of Founders of the
International Computer Club is therefore appealing to everyone
who is in the position to contribute to this common effort
to send over the relative information to ICC Headquarters
in Moscow via all available means of communication.
******************
John, the Armenian relief project is very important
to us and we highly appreciate that you are able (like you
said) "to use this fantastic publishing power to help those in
Ar menia, by getting messages to those people over here that
can help". This is the one message that should reach them and
we would be very obliged if you would pass it on to the
American Computer Network users and post it to every system on
the Network. We believe, and already we have proof of that
from messages you have transmitted to us, that very few people
on the Network would be left untouched by our appeal. I want
to quote here only one message that came from Apple
Mackintosh Conference when it was linked to "Let's talk with the
Soviets!" from a man called David Jospeh Brightbill (djb)
Sat, Dec 11, '88 (11:39). He said: "I'd also like to say, that
as a disaster volunteer with the American Red Cross, I know
that the Soviet people are in the middle of a terrible
situation with the earthquake last week. The thoughts and prayers
of much of the world are focused on your country. Peace."
Thank you, David! Your words strengthen our belief that helping
one another even by an encouraging word is essentially the
purpose of the Network and ICC wants to become part of it.
John, let me thank you one again for already serving as our
"Gateway" into the Network and bringing us news full of
interest and goodwill.
-------------------------------
The Soviets have asked that I post this on the Net, in the hopes that
someone out there can help in SOME capacity. I will post the results
of the ICC meeting later... Stay tuned.
Please Email me at: uunet!acad!well!crunch if you, or your organization
can help.
John Draper
Programmers Network