The following has been posted on behalf of the APL93 Russian Fund.
More information can be obtained by email to Ben or myself.
The current balance is now around $4000, and we are sponsoring
at least 4 members of the ex-USSR, including 3 authors of papers
at APL93. We believe we can sponsor several more candidates,
and will post regular updates on this.

APL93 is being held in Toronto August 15-19. Information can

text:
   send status

/rbe

                                           APL93 Russian Fund
                                           Box 384 Adelaide Street PO
                                           Toronto, Ontario M5C 2J5
                                           CANADA

                                           28 April 1993

  To all APL Local Groups:

     The APL93 Russian Fund grew to nearly  US$3,000  by  the  end  of
February,  but  there  have  been  no  contributions  for  two months.
Contributions to date can be represented geographically as follows:

        STATE/COUNTRY     AMOUNT    CONTRIBUTORS

        California        US$325     4
        Connecticut       US$ 50     1
        Hawaii            US$100     1
        Illinois          US$100     1
        Kentucky          US$ 50     1
        Massachusetts     US$100     1
        New Jersey        US$300     2
        New York          US$295     5
        Texas             US$ 60     1

        Australia         US$100     1
        Belgium           US$200     1
        Canada           Cdn$600     4
        England             75     1
        France            US$100     1
        Japan             US$300     1
        Switzerland      Cdn$500     1

     The APL93  Program  Chair  has  now  accepted  papers  from  four
Russians  for the APL93 Proceedings, three of whom cannot attend APL93
without financial support (the fourth is living  and  working  in  the
United  States).   The  first priority of the APL93 Russian Fund is to
bring these three contributors, plus one of the APL92  organizers,  to
Toronto.   Another  group of Russians have written an expert system in
APL, which they would like to demonstrate.  It would also be  nice  to
bring  some  of  the  SovAPL founders as well as APLers from the other
former Soviet Republics.  We would like to bring 8 to 10, if possible.
But this would mean much more money -- perhaps US$20,000 -- and fairly
soon, since the getting of Visas can be time-consuming.

     The average Russian income is about US$25, but Russia is not just
another  Third World country.  It is a country of many highly educated
people and many very skilled scientists.  In a country where chess  is
the  national  sport  and  computers  must  be  adapted to a different
alphabetic system, APL has a good chance to  grow  and  flourish.   By
helping Russian APLers to be a part of our community, they can acquire
the resources to promote the use of APL as part of their new, emerging
society.
                                                               Page 2

     Some people question why there should be  a  fund  for  Russians,
specifically, rather than for Eastern Europeans, students, APLers from
other poor countries, or APLers under economic  hardship.   This  fund
was  an act of gratitude for the APL92 conference in Russia -- and for
the groundbreaking efforts that made that conference a  reality.   The
fund  is  a  recognition  that the new connections that have been made
should not be lost.

     The original objectives of the APL93 Russian  Fund  were  modest.
In  fact,  there  were moments in the Fall of 1992 when one of us (Ben
Best) had fears that he would have to top the fund with money from his
own  pocket  to pay for even one Russian to attend APL93 (after having
already spent hundreds of  dollars  on  postage).   If  this  fund  is
successful,  however,  it  can  be  the  precedent  for  a  "World APL
Conference Attendance Fund".  It may be that  we  have  colleagues  in
Eastern  Europe,  India,  China, South America, etc., who would submit
papers and attend our conferences if they were  not  subject  to  such
severe economic constraints.

     Donations  from  those  in  the  United  States  should  be   tax
deductable  through the ACM.  People from other countries will have to
live with the reality that they have given  from  the  heart  and  can
expect  only  gratitude  in  return.   It  is appreciated.  If you can
contribute to this effort, please do.  Please send as much as you feel
you  can  afford to the address shown on the upper left hand corner of
this letter, as soon as possible.  And please circulate  this  request
to others in your local APL group.

                    Sincerely,

                                Robert Bernecky, ACM APLSIG Liaison
                                Benjamin Best, Treasurer APL93


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