Subject: New electronic brochure
Date: Fri, 06 Sep 91 23:11:35 PDT
From: eroberts@Eeyore.Stanford.EDU



            COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

is a public-interest alliance of computer scientists and others
interested in the impact of computer technology on society.  We work
to influence decisions regarding the development and use of computers
because those decisions have far-reaching consequences and reflect
basic values and priorities.

As technical experts, CPSR members provide the public and policymakers
with realistic assessments of the power, promise, and limitations of
computer technology.  As concerned citizens, we direct public attention
to critical choices concerning the applications of computing and how
those choices affect society.

Members of CPSR believe that computer technology should make life more
enjoyable, productive, and secure.  We are working for a world in which
science and technology are used not to produce weapons of war, but to
foster a safe and just society.  These concerns impel us to many forms
of action:

  o  We encourage public discussion of and public responsibility for
     decisions involving the use of computers in systems critical to
     society.

  o  We work to dispel popular myths about the infallibility of
     technological systems.

  o  We challenge the assumption that technology alone can solve
     political and social problems.

  o  We encourage critical examination of social and technical issues
     within the computer profession, nationally and internationally.

  o  We encourage the use of computer technology to improve the quality
     of life.

                              CPSR HISTORY
                              ------------
Since its beginnings as a small discussion group formed over a Palo
Alto computer mail network in 1981, CPSR has grown into a national
organization with 21 chapters throughout the United States.  We are also
affiliated with similar groups in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Great
Britain, Germany, Finland, and Italy.  Membership is open to all.

                              CPSR PROJECTS
                              -------------
Risk and Reliability:

Overreliance on computing technology can lead to unacceptable risks.
This project analyzes application areas in which those risks seem
particularly serious:

  o  SDI software problems
  o  dangers of autonomous weapons
  o  the inadequacy of simulation as a means for testing complex systems
  o  the potential for software failure in life-critical systems

Civil Liberties and Privacy:

The growing use of computers for record-keeping has brought with it the
danger that the vast amount of information maintained about individuals
threatens our privacy.  Centered in our Washington D.C. office, the
Civil Liberties and Privacy Project is concerned with such topics as:

  o  the FBI National Crime Information Center
  o  the growing use of databases of personal information by both
     government and private industry
  o  the right of public access to government information
  o  extension of First Amendment rights to electronic communication
  o  establishing legal protections for privacy of computerized
     information

The CPSR Workplace Project:

By the mid-1990s, most U.S. workers will use a computer on the job.
The increasing use of computers in the workplace raises important
social issues, and CPSR believes that it is important for computer
professionals to be involved in this debate.  CPSR's Computers in the
Workplace Project has concentrated on the following topics:

  o  design methodologies for workplace software
  o  electronic monitoring of workers on the job
  o  health problems associated with computer use

The 21st Century Project:

Since the Second World War, most U.S. research in science and technology
has been funded by the military and directed toward military needs.
With the end of the Cold War and the changes that have swept Eastern
Europe and the Soviet Union, it is time to refocus our scientific and
technological research toward the problems that society faces as we
enter the next century.

The 21st Century Project, led by CPSR from our Cambridge office, is a
coalition of professional organizations working to redirect national
science and technology priorities, so that they more closely match
social needs.

Grassroots Projects:

CPSR's chapter-based projects and national interest groups span a wide
range of issues, including:

  o  computers in education
  o  computers and the environment
  o  viruses and threats to computer security
  o  computerized vote-counting systems
  o  status of women in computer science
  o  implications of speculative technologies such as nanotechnology
     and virtual reality

                               HIGHLIGHTS
                               ----------
In the ten years since CPSR's creation, CPSR has been effective in
alerting the public and key decision-makers in the U.S. and abroad
about the impact of computers on society:

  o  CPSR published the first papers and held the first public debates
     on the computing aspects of the Strategic Defense Initiative, or
     "Star Wars."

  o  CPSR members testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on the
     feasibility of SDI.

  o  CPSR/Boston produced an award-winning slide show and videotape
     called "Reliability and Risk: Computers and Nuclear War."

  o  CPSR members produced the first book for general audiences on the
     ways in which computers revolutionize modern weapons systems,
     *Computers in Battle: Will they Work?*

  o  At the request of a House subcommittee, CPSR studied the FBI's
     proposed National Crime Information Center upgrade (NCIC 2000).
     CPSR's report was widely credited for the FBI's subsequent decision
     to drop a proposal to track individuals who had not been charged
     with any crime.

  o  CPSR co-produced a "Special Report on Computers and Elections"
     for the 1988 Presidential Campaign, highlighting the potential
     for errors in electronic vote-counting systems.

  o  CPSR filed lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act to force
     the FBI and Secret Service to reveal whether they monitor computer
     bulletin boards and electronic mail.

  o  CPSR/Portland hosted a conference on Computers and the Environment.

  o  The CPSR Workplace Project organized PDC'90--the first U.S.
     conference on participatory design, in which users work together
     with software designers to ensure that systems meet workers' needs.

  o  CPSR helped lead a successful grassroots campaign to convince the
     Lotus Development Corporation not to release their proposed
     Marketplace: Households product, which would have included data
     on 120 million Americans.

  o  CPSR/Berkeley organized a media campaign to register our concern
     over the deadly role of computing technology in the Persian Gulf
     War.

                          MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS
                          -------------------
  o  The CPSR Newsletter--a highly regarded magazine with reviews of
     CPSR's activites and analyses of issues of concern to CPSR members.

  o  Invitations and discounts to CPSR events, including the annual
     meeting, our biannual conference on Directions and Implications
     of Advanced Computing, and various special events.

  o  Notice of new CPSR educational materials, including videotapes,
     research papers, and books.

  o  Automatic membership in a local CPSR chapter (if available) and
     notices of chapter meetings and activities.


                         MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES
                         ---------------------
The attached reply form lists several categories of membership.  The $40
"basic" membership covers only the costs of sending you the newsletter
and the basic administrative services we provide.  If you want to help
support CPSR's program work, please consider joining at the $75
"regular" rate, or at whatever higher level you can afford.  CPSR's
accomplishments during our first ten years were possible because we had
strong membership support.  Such support will be continue to be critical
as we try to make our second decade even more successful.

                             PRIVACY NOTICE
                             --------------
The CPSR membership database is never sold, rented, lent, exchanged, or
used for anything other than official CPSR activity.  CPSR may elect
to send members mailings with information from other groups, but the
mailings will always originate with CPSR.

                       ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION
                       --------------------------
CPSR National Office
P.O. Box 717
Palo Alto, CA  94302
415-322-3778, 415-322-3798 (FAX)
E-mail: cpsr@csli.stanford.edu

CPSR Cambridge Office
P.O. Box 962
Cambridge, MA  02142
617-497-7440
chapman@saffron.lcs.mit.edu

CPSR Washington Office
666 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Suite 303
Washington, DC  20003
202-544-9240, 202-547-5482 (FAX)
rotenberg@washofc.cpsr.org

Senior Staff
    Gary Chapman         Cambridge Director
    Marc Rotenberg       Washington Director
    Barbara Thomas       Director of Development

National Advisory Board
    Herbert L. Abrams    Richard Karp         Anthony Ralston
    John Backus          Barbara Liskov       John Shattuck
    Paul Brest           James Martin         Herbert Simon
    David Burnham        Elliot Maxwell       Robert E. Tarjan
    Dorothy Denning      Eli Noam             Robert W. Taylor
    Douglas Engelbart    Karen Nussbaum       Lawrence Tesler
    Admiral Noel Gayler  Severo M. Ornstein   Sherry Turkle
    Adele Goldberg

Board of Directors
    Eric Roberts         President
    Jeff Johnson         Chair
    Steve Adams          Secretary
    Rodney Hoffman       Treasurer

    Ronni Rosenberg      Director-at-Large
    Dan Williams         Director-at-Large

    Paul Hyland          Middle Atlantic Director
    Lesley Kalmin        Western Director
    Patti Lowe           Midwestern Director
    Ivan Milman          Southern Director
    Douglas Schuler      Northwestern Director
    Coralee Whitcomb     New England Director

    Terry Winograd       Special Director


============================  clip and mail  ===========================

CPSR MEMBERSHIP FORM

Name     ____________________________________________________________

Address  ____________________________________________________________

         ____________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip  _____________________________________________________

Home phone  _____________________  Work phone  ______________________

Company  ____________________________________________________________

Type of work  _______________________________________________________

E-mail address  _____________________________________________________

CPSR Chapter
    __ Acadiana       __ Austin       __ Berkeley
    __ Boston         __ Chicago      __ Denver/Boulder
    __ Los Angeles    __ Madison      __ Maine
    __ Milwaukee      __ Minnesota    __ New Haven
    __ New York       __ Palo Alto    __ Philadelphia
    __ Pittsburgh     __ Portland     __ San Diego
    __ Santa Cruz     __ Seattle      __ Washington, DC
    __ No chapter in my area

CPSR Membership Categories
    __  $  20  Student/low income member
    __  $  40  Basic member
    __  $  50  Library/institutional subscriber
    __  $  75  REGULAR MEMBER
    __  $ 150  Supporting member
    __  $ 500  Sponsoring member
    __  $1000  Lifetime member

Additional tax-deductible contribution to support CPSR projects:
    __  $50     __  $75      __  $100    __  $250
    __  $500    __  $1000    __  Other

Please add $10 for memberships outside the U.S.

Total Enclosed:  $ ________

Make check out to CPSR and mail to:
    CPSR
    P.O. Box 717
    Palo Alto, CA  94302-0717

You can also pay your CPSR dues using your Visa, Mastercard, or
automatic bank transfer.   For details, call (415) 322-3778 or send
E-mail to:  cpsr@csli.stanford.edu

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