antennae vs antennas

[John Grehan]

Roger Kuhlman responded to my questions and perceptions of
Jeffrey Glassberg as follows:

>Jeffrey Glassberg has done a tremendous amount for popularizing
>butterflies and butterflying to a wider audience in America. In reading
>his book and the NABA magazine he edits I have never seen him presenting
>some kind of insidious agenda with an ideological axe to grind. The only
>agenda I see him working on is the protection of butterflies and their
>habitats and if that is a terrible agenda hooray for him.
>
>Also I wonder about the motivations of some people attacking him. He did
>not post his article to this mailing list but all kinds of people are
>trashing him. That does not seem right to me.

My comments were not in disregard for what he may be doing for
popularizing or protecting butterflies, and perhaps I have not looked
at the other emails carefully enough, but in general, if not exclusively,
people attacked his positions on terminology, not on the individual. There
is a diference.

Attacks on positions held is a legitemate and necessary
part of science (at least). In some sense this may be construed as
a personal attack since an individual is responsible as the source
of a position, but this would necessitate the obliteration of debate.
Some people on the list tend to be a bit sharp in their responses, but it
does not come across to me that they are focused on personal
attack.

Agendas and ideological axes are rarely explicit, but a matter of
subtle indications of another context. In regard to Glassberg, it
has come across to me, for example, that his position on
collecting is based on an ideological position that seems to have
little to do with protecting butterflies. Similarly, I wondered if the
 debate over  terminology may not be the actual issue
the issue, but another context that is not directly apparent. On these
issues I expressed an open mind (as much as anyone can have
one) on what the possibilities may or may not be.

Even though Glassberg did not contribute directly to the
discussion, as long as he has made certain issues a matter
of public domain it would seem that there is nothing wrong
with publicly discussion the issues in question.

John Grehan