[NHCOLL-L:1948] Ironic quotes from Bioscience

[Elaine Hoagland]

Paul D. Thacker, 2003.  Morphology: The Shape of Things to Come.
Bioscience, June 2003/Vol. 53, no. 6, pp 544-549.  Quote from Page 545:

"As molecules became more important, traditional taxonomy, with its reliance
on large specimen collections, became an antiquated backwater.  It recalled
too many memories of 20th century naturalists, butterfly catchers, and John
Steinbeck's "Doc" -- a marine biologist who collected specimens off the
rocks on Cannery Row.  Many of the gene jockeys questioned whether taxonomy
was ever a science at all.
As if in response to this growing concensus, financing for taxonomy took a
nosedive.  Traditional taxonomists, those who have full knowledge of a
single taxon, are now in short supply."

(Paul Thacker is a freelance science writer.  Clearly, he is not a
taxonomist.)


Robert E. Gropp, 2003.  Are University Natural Science Collections Going
Extinct?  Bioscience, June 2003/Vol. 53, no. 6, p 550:

"...the chancellor of the University of Nebraska has announced the
elimination of several collections ad all research divisions at UNSM.
Museum supporters have not capitulated, however.  In early May, amid growing
faculty tension and national media attention, the chancellor announced he
would put his planned cuts to a vote of the faculty.  If a majority agree
with the chancellor's budget plan, it will take effect; if not, he will
resign, he says, and university deans will make budget cuts."

(I hope the faculty members don't read Thacker before they vote.)

Elaine