Re: paleonet Decline of Paleontology (sample letter)

[John Huss <hus2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am not sure of myself on this point, but might not letters to the
authorities be more effective were they from scientists other than
paleontologists?  Are there any systematists/biogeographers/molecular
biologists and members of other allied fields willing to take up the
cause?  I should think that letters from such people might have
greater impact.

John Huss

>Hi again,
>
>Below, you will find a sample letter provided by Dr. Schultze (the
>letter was actually written and sent by another person).  Based on
>Dr. Schultze's original message (with Dr. Evans' correction on one
>of the fax numbers), your letter of support should be faxed and/or
>e-mailed to the following German authorities:
>
>
>An den
>Regierenden Bürgermeister
>Klaus Wowereit
>Berliner Rathaus
>Rathausstr. 15
>10173 Berlin
>GERMANY
>Fax:  XX49-30-9026-2013
>email:  Der-Regierende-Buergermeister@SKZL.Verwalt-Berlin.de
>
>
>Senator fur Wissenschaft, Forschung, and Kultur
>des Landes Berlin
>Herrn Dr. Thomas Flierl
>Brunnenstr. 188-190
>D-10119 Berlin
>GERMANY
>Telefax: ++49 30 9022 8450 or 8451
>
>
>Der Präsident
>Prof. Dr. J. Mlynek
>Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
>Under den Linden 6
>D-10099 Berlin
>GERMANY
>Telefax:  XX49-30-2093-2729
>email:  praesident@hu-berlin.de
>
>
>SAMPLE LETTER
>>>>  "Schultze, H.P." <H-P.Schultze@MUSEUM.HU-Berlin.de> 05/17/02 03:03AM >>>
>______________________________________________
>
>Address
>Address
>Address
>Address
>
>	14 May 2002
>
>Dear *******************,
>
>Future of the Palaeontological Institute, Museum für Naturkunde
>
>I learnt today that the Expert Commission, set up to determine the
>future of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, has recommended that
>the professorship of Palaeontology at the Museum be replaced with a
>professorship of Systematics and Biogeography, and that the
>Institute of Palaeontology should cease to exist as a distinct
>entity within the Museum. I am writing to express my deep concern at
>this proposal. As a palaeontologist and systematic biologist with 17
>years' academic experience in the Zoology Departments of the
>universities of Cambridge and Oxford, as well as the Palaeontology
>Department of the Natural History Museum (formerly British Museum of
>Natural History), I believe I am qualified to comment on the
>situation.
>	The statement by the Expert Commission, that palaeontology
>"has no scientific autonomy" and is therefore inappropriate for a
>professorship, is so extraordinary that it cannot be allowed to pass
>unchallenged. At one level, no branch of science is "autonomous", as
>all connect with adjacent disciplines to form part of a greater
>whole. However, it is a grave misunderstanding to claim that
>palaeontology has no internal coherence beyond the fact that it
>deals with fossils.
>	In the first instance, all areas of palaeontology are unified
>conceptually by the unique challenges and possibilities offered by
>the study of evolution and ecosystem change through deep time, using
>a time-extensive but incomplete record of organismal diversity.
>There is an extensive literature dealing with the highly distinctive
>methodological framework for this science, including numerous
>publications in the highest-profile international journals such as
>Nature and Science. Secondly, from a collections management
>perspective, palaeontological collections present a set of
>distinctive challenges in terms of specimen conservation, locality
>documentation, conservation and ownership of localities, and so on,
>all of which differ substantially from those attaching to
>collections of modern organisms. Thirdly, from the point of view of
>the visiting public, palaeontology most certainly does form a
>distinctive and coherent whole - and is usually the overwhelmingly
>most popular part of a museum's displays: children come to see
>dinosaurs, not "the fossilized forms of zoology"!
>	For all these reasons, I believe it is essential that the
>Institute of Palaeontology is retained in its present form within
>the Museum für Naturkunde, and continues to be headed by a Professor
>of Palaeontology - as is normal practice at almost all comparable
>institutions in other countries. The Institute commands
>international respect as one of the world leaders in
>palaeontological research and curation: it would be a tragedy, and a
>significant blow to the Museum's international standing in this
>area, for it to be dismembered.
>
>							Yours sincerely,
>
>
>
>
>
>							****your name*****
>
>_________________________________
>Kenshu Shimada, Ph.D.
>Assistant Professor
>Environmental Science Program
>    and Department of Biological Sciences
>DePaul University
>2325 N. Clifton Avenue
>Chicago, IL 60614, USA
>         AND
>Research Associate
>Sternberg Museum of Natural History
>Fort Hays State University
>Hays, KS 67601, USA