The future of Body Cast was recently placed in peril, when we were denied reprint permission for any or all articles in a related journal. Simply put, we needed articles and we were running out. The society can ill-afford the fees to reprint every article to be published in Body Cast.

As a result of this editorial crisis, the dedicated executive of the society began to bear the burden of deciding potential operating options, if any, to keep the journal going.

Fortunately, thanks to the memory of Pam Smith and the office document from past editor-in-chief of Injury magazine, Nigel Tubbs, allowing the CSOT reprint permission for articles from Injury, we are functional again. The CSOT is grateful to the current editorial board of Injury and to Linda Brooks, Senior Administrative Editor, for their continued support and integrity to allow the CSOT to reprint articles from Injury for use in Body Cast. The membership should be very grateful for this rare privilege extended to the society and realize just how close we came to discontinuing this journal.

This unfortunate situation led me to look back over the last 22 years of Body Cast issues, only to realize the lack of contribution from the membership. To me, there is a most pressing issue demanding a solution at this time and for the future.

In the past 22 years, 88 issues of Body Cast have been published. This is a remarkable achievement for the CSOT or any group! During those 22 years, a total of 30 CSOT member articles have been published in Body Cast. Many of those articles have come from authors who have written two or more articles. Three authors account for 14 articles alone. As a corollary to this, what is lacking in the individual member not to excel within their chosen profession?

Few members, a minuscule number, have been willing or able to submit articles for publication. Even cash prizes generously provided by BSN medical for journal submissions appear to merit no attention from the membership.

Is it really possible that only a few members have the fortitude, imagination and desire to contribute to their profession?

I know many members take pride in Body Cast. The publication of our journal is an endeavour that remains a hallmark for the society. The significance of a journal like Body Cast to the CSOT is immeasurable. The journal provides instant credibility and recognition for our profession. It has evolved as a symbol of respectability that benefits us all. Submissions are appreciated-I can't tell you how much encouragement they give to those of us who volunteer to serve as our executive and produce our journal.

Do I really need to emphasize the fact that members of the society need to play a larger role as contributors within their profession?

I encourage each of you to take a more active and responsible role as a registered orthopaedic technologist.

To quote Mark Twain, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the things you did".