E=MC2

Ask yourself, what attracted your eye and drew your attention here? Likely it was because you recognized the headline as Einstein's famous formula to explain the connection between mass and energy and you thought to yourself, "How did 'Energy=Mass times the speed of light squared' find its way into the editorial page of NRL News?"

The purpose of the headline was to illustrate a new reality that we ignore at our peril. No matter how cogent, clever, or consistent our airtight case for protecting unborn babies may be, if we are unable to grab the attention of today's ultra-busy, information-soaked population our effectiveness will be severely compromised.

If this applies even to our faithful subscribers as they go about choosing what to read from "the right to life newspaper of record," how much more true must that be when defenders of unborn babies compete for the attention of the average harried citizen?

With that in mind, please stay with me on this for just four minutes. I promise this tiny expenditure of time will make a huge difference to the outreach of NRL News.

Let's start with a startling truth. Potentially, there are nearly 400,000 NRL News ambassadors: YOU, our wonderful readers. It is astonishing how many have of you have written to tell me that you routinely pass your copy of the paper on to others, including family members, libraries, ministers, youth workers, and physicians. This is the multiplier effect at its finest and is one of the reasons our name is becoming increasingly familiar to more and more people.

My job today is to build on the solid foundation you have established by suggesting quick, easy ways to greatly enhance your effectiveness in the task to which you have dedicated your lives - - helping the unborn and the medically dependent. Let me quickly mention the indispensable standbys that have fueled our progress before turning to exciting new venues which are making major educational and motivational breakthroughs possible.

There are four proven delivery routes to spread the News. Regardless of the path chosen, each puts print copies into the hands of people who likely would otherwise never see the paper. The options are giving gift subscriptions, sending a subscription to libraries, ordering bulk subscriptions (in which we send a given quantity of the paper to one address to be distributed at chapter meetings, crisis pregnancy centers, or at churches) - - and, of course, renewing your own subscription. We would never minimize the importance of these time-tested methods of sowing seeds, only add to them. (See page 16.)

And in the age of a computer-in-every-home and (courtesy of the World Wide Web) the possible emergence of something resembling McLuhan's "Global Village," there are exciting new opportunities. They qualify as "twofers." They make spreading the message to others more doable but also make it easier for you personally to take maximum advantage of what is the most effective, wide-ranging single-issue pro-life newspaper published anywhere.

#1. NRL News is on the web at www.nrlc.org/news/index.html. You'll find the current issue and all of the previous editions back through December 9, 1997. [More back issues will be added along the way.] Thus, the truly unique educational tool that is NRL News can be read whether one lives in Bangor, Maine, or Bangkok, Thailand. Another resource to make your life easier is that the paper is indexed for the years 1997-99.

#2. Viola! NRL News can now be accessed electronically through the Gale Group, one of the nation's premier producers of databases. You, your children, teachers, anyone can access the Gale Group through the computers found at most libraries. (Many libraries will allow you to perform the same functions at home by merely dialing up the library's home page.)

All they need do is go online, dial up what the library computer will typically label "electronic resources," and they will often be taken to the Gale Group's "InfoTrac." For now, we are listed under three of its databases: Gen'l Reference Center Select; Student Edition; and Gen'l Reference Ctr (Magazine Index).

You can find and download NRL News stories in either of two ways.

One is to go to any of the three databases mentioned above, click on the black "PowerTrac" icon found on the left-hand side of the screen, and select "Journal Name List (jn=)" found in the left-hand box. Type in "National Right to Life" in the right-hand box, and then hit the "Search" button. All that remains is to click on "View" under the title and then hit the "View" icon. This will bring up all National Right to Life News articles in the database in chronological order.

The other route is to research what we've written by topic. Simply go to one of the databases mentioned above. There you'll find abortion and euthanasia, for example, subdivided in dozens of useful ways. Take "Abortion: Pill - - Mifeprist-one" [RU 486], for instance. Just click on that and you find what we've written about the abortifacient RU 486. (Note: the full text of all of our articles can be instantly downloaded. And there is no charge!)

In the very near future we will be included on other databases, making it even easier for the average man or woman, boy or girl to learn the real story behind everything from lethal fetal stem cell research to alternatives to abortion to so-called campaign finance "reform" proposals.

If for some reason your library - - including local college libraries - - does not carry the Gale Group informational services, in general, or these databases on which our newspaper is listed, in particular, encourage them to subscribe. They'll be glad they did.

#3. Beginning next month, I will post a short, hopefully inspiring vignette every day at our site. [What was that address again? www.nrlc.org/news/index.html.] It's intended to be an easy, enjoyable way for you and NRL News to connect. I trust you will let me know if you like what's posted and offer suggestions/ newsclips that I can mine for material to share with the hundreds and hundreds of people who contact the web page every day.

Let me end where I began with three simple but crucial points. First, if we are going to return legal protection to the unborn and the medically vulnerable, more people need to be exposed to the factually accurate, emotionally compelling material that appears in every issue of our publication.

Second, even if we are able to multiply the number of individuals and families many times over, few people in today's fast-paced world have the time to read any publication cover-to-cover in one sitting - - even the wonderful readers of NRL News. People tend to read in spurts.

Moreover, even if they did have the luxury of sitting down with a cup of coffee and leisurely perusing the every article, memories fade and, in any event, newspapers - - even NRL News - - get thrown out or lent. What if, suddenly, you need something from the current issue and you can't remember to whom you gave your copy? Or you're writing a letter to the editor and you need information from an article that appeared two years back? Dial up our page - - www.nrlc.org/ news/index.html.

Third, regardless of all that we do, there will still be millions of people who won't ever handle a copy or visit our web page. But most will own computers that can access InfoTrac. Countless students and reporters will run across us as they research the issues. Others can be directed there by people like you! The potential is unlimited!

For 26 years we have, with ample justification, complained that the "mainstream" media filters our message through a biased lens. But if each of us does his or her part, we can now outflank them. The public will finally have access to the uncensored truth about the littlest Americans.

I gotta tell you, these are very exciting times to be a pro-lifer!

(dave andrusko can be reached at dha1245@juno.com)

Editor's note. As we go to press, an arrangement we've worked on for months has been finalized. You can now also take advantage of the resources found in NRLNews via the powerful search engine Northern Lights. This search engine provides the largest index of web pages of any search engine. Its web address is www.northernlights.com.