(I) The use of radio waves as a medium for making interstellar contact is discouraging. (II) The galaxy's enormous distances inevitably require fantastic measures such as stunningly high transmitter power or huge antennas and impractically narrow beams. (Ill) Certainly the kinds of systems that would be needed to mount a realistic project to beam a signal to a group of stars are probably beyond the resources of the world. (IV) Furthermore, even if contact could somehow be made, the time delay before a response to a message could be received might very well stretch into many centuries. (V) For four decades, researchers have sporadically scanned the heavens for any radio signals.