RAINDROPS RAIN staff meetings have, for the past several months, borne an unfortunate resemblance to Boy Scout gatherings. It was certainly never our wish to become, even momentarily, a nearly all-male staff, but Nancy left us last spring for health reasons (see her report below), and Ann departed in September to pursue an M.A. in Urban Planning with a concentration in community development. Both remain close to RAIN, Nancy serving on our Board and Ann functioning as our all-purpose advisor. But somehow, without the daily infusion of their considerable talent, energy, and good humor, things just aren't the same.. .. The good news is that we are adding some exciting new talent and moving back toward gender balance. Sara LaBorde, our new intern, recently received her M.S. in Natural Resources/Environmental Education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. She has taken on some of the tasks connected with our administration of the U.S. Department of Energy's Appropriate Technology Small Grants Program for Oregon. By the time you read this, our new editor, Tanya Kucak, will have arrived from California. Tanya previously served on RAIN's staff in 1981 during the production of our book Knowing Home. She has since worked as an editor with InfoWorld, a weekly computer newsmagazine. She has one of those typically eclectic Rainmaker backgrounds: food co-op organizer, solar activist, geologist, stained glass artist, and magna cum laude graduate from Princeton. Her interests are easily as broad as RAIN's, but she lists her particular passions as "words, rocks, and architecture." I'll be leaving RAIN, for the second time, shortly before this issue goes to press, but in the usual manner of Rainmakers emeritus. I'll be standing by, watching RAIN's continuing evolution with parental pride, and helping out as needed. I'm sure all of us in the extended RAIN family—subscribers, contributors, and former staffers—can look forward to much stimulating reading in issues to come. —JF In A Bitter Fog (see review in RAIN IX:5) Carol Van Strum points out that we all carry in our bodies the burden of indiscriminate use of herbicides and pesticides. Too, we are subject to any number of environmental poisons—in our soil, water, or air. Because of these and other factors, including diet, stress, genetic tendency, food additives, and/or corporate drugs licensed by the Environmental Protection Agency without proper investigation, one out of four people will deal with cancer before the end of this century. Having cancer has been both a frustration and a challenge in my life. It has also afforded me momentous insights that would have otherwise been unavailable. Among the many messages of love and healing I have received in the last six months, this one holds a special meaning for me: "It seems we have a responsibility to fight for freedom on any level we can, and my dear sister, you have the opportunity to do this in a profound way." It is an opportunity for all of us. Like the insects that evolve so rapidly they can outlive the effects of the toxins used against them, we are called on by cancer to transform physically as we transform politically, socially, and spiritually. I have thought about East Indian mystics who walk through fire knowing they will be unharmed. These are rites of purification. We heal together, all of us. We walk through fire to heal ourselves and the world. —Nancy Cosper Nancy would like to thank the RAIN readers who have sent their good wishes since we mentioned her illness in our June I July '83 issue. She is feeling better now, and remains active in RAIN affairs. UPDATE: The RAIN Reader Survey We received an excellent response to the reader survey that went out with our August '83 Sprinkle newsletter. We'll be reporting in detail on the results of that survey in our next issue, but in the meantime, your many thoughtful comments and suggestions are already bringing changes to RAIN. A number of you indicated an interest in our financial situation or expressed your willingness to help out by paying more than the usual cost of a RAIN subscription, so we are preparing a detailed financial report to appear in our next issue, and we are establishing two new subscriber categories— Contributing and Sustaining—with this issue. (See page 39.) Many of you also told us you would like to see more news in RAIN about interesting developments in your particular area of the country, so in our next issue, we plan to initiate a regular "Guest Bioregion Report" to complement our "Pacific Northwest Bioregion Report." Thanks to all of you who took the time to send us your praise, criticism, and constructive comments. Look for our article on the survey results in the March/April RAIN. —JF
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