Paleonet: Suitable Reaction on Layoffs

Thu Jul 21 06:59:03 UTC 2011

Dear colleagues of thePaleonet mailing list,

Layoffs of curators and closure of collections seem to become fashionable, so it
is needed to rise the political burden for the decision-makers. I suggest to at
least follow the path of the successful campaign "Save the NHM-London" and set
up an online petition 
(see
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-natural-history-museum-micropalaeontology.html)
It would show how many are protesting and most likely rise their number.   

Someone needs to check, whether parts of the collection have been donated under
certain conditions such as maintaining them. So there might be a legal case
against the New York State Education Department too.  

Michael Hesemann
Foraminifera.eu Project
Hamburg, Germany 

"Weil, Anne" <anne.weil at okstate.edu> hat am 21. Juli 2011 um 00:52 geschrieben:

> Dr. Edward Davis posted the following to the VP list:
>
> Hello, VPers,
>
> It has come to my attention (see link: *http://tinyurl.com/6x6qrb5) *that 5
> curators of the NY State Museum are set to be laid off on July 23rd.  This
> accounts for about 1/3 of the curators at the museum, and includes the State
> Archaeologist, the State Paleontologist, the Curator of Prehistoric
> Archaeology, the Curator of Historic Archaeology, and the Curator of
> Mineralogy.  With these layoffs there will be no Curators left in the
> Department of Archaeology at all.  In total, the specimens in the collections
> to be left without a curator will number conservatively about 10 million
> specimens.  With the lack of Curators most of these collections will be
> mothballed, and no researchers will be able to access them.  These collections
> include some of the earliest museum collections in the entire country.  The NY
> State Museum is the oldest State Museum in the country being now 175 years
> old.
>
> With the loss of curators the museum will also lose many of the Teacher's
> Workshops that are performed as well as an Archaeological field school meant
> to educate teachers and students.
>
> The positions were targeted.  The State Education Department was required to
> let 15 people go.  5 of the 15 were chosen to be these curators.  It seems a
> conscious decision to eliminate Research and Collections from the Museum.
>
> It would be beneficial if people, particularly those in NY State, email
> letters to the following 3 people: Governor Andrew Cuomo, Chancellor Merryl
> Tisch (Head of the Board of Regents), and Commissioner Dr. John B. King
> (Commissioner of the NY State Education Department). 
> Additionally it would be beneficial for those in NY State to contact their
> State Representative, State Senator, and their Educational District's Regent.
> Addresses and links to the State Representative, State Senator, and Regent is
> below.
>
> Making a link to the importance of research and museum collections, their link
> to education (particularly P-12 education), and the importance of curators to
> look over those collections is very important.  If you are inclined to write a
> letter, please do not mention the curators by name as they were targeted, and
> their mention could be professionally harmful to them in the future. A sample
> letter is provided below.
>
> *Governor Andrew Cuomo*
> The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
> Governor of New York State
> NYS State Capitol Building
> Albany, NY 12224
> or email at: *http://tinyurl.com/68k4mcg *(need to fill out an email
> form-can't email directly)
>
> *Chancellor Merryl Tisch*
> New York State Education Department
> 89 Washington Avenue
> Board of Regents, Room 110 EB
> Albany, New York 12234
> RegentTisch at mail.nysed.gov <mailto:RegentTisch at mail.nysed.gov>
>
> *Commissioner Dr. John B. King*
> Commissioner of Education
> New York State Education Department
> 89 Washington Avenue
> Board of Regents, Room 110 EB
> Albany, New York 12234
> jking at mail.nysed.gov <mailto:jking at mail.nysed.gov>
>
> For NY State citizens:
> Regent Districts: *http://tinyurl.com/5u3yakc* NY State Representatives:
> *http://tinyurl.com/3nyhvgm *(add address to look up NY assembly member) NY
> State Senators: *http://www.nysenate.gov/ *(add address to look up NY senate
> member)
> *
> Possible Sample Letter
> *
> Dear
>
> I am writing this letter in response to the directed layoffs of five curators
> at the New York State Museum, which include the State Archaeologist, the State
> Paleontologist, the Curator of Prehistoric Archaeology, the Curator of
> Historic Archaeology, and the Curator of Mineralogy.  In light of the State's
> education agenda, I find these layoffs particularly short-sighted, and the
> savings you create by these layoffs will not offset the loss to education for
> the state.  It appears that with these layoffs the museum will be left with no
> archaeology curators.  Research, particularly collections based research, is
> the cornerstone for education, and the curators at the NY State Museum have
> made extremely important contributions (textbook-changing contributions) that
> have and will continue to directly affect the students and citizens not only
> of the state of New York, but around the world.  As you know, the NY State
> Museum is the oldest state museum in the country and the research and
> collections overseen by the curators at the museum is world-class.  With the
> loss of these curators not only is research lost, but these curators also
> create public exhibits, hold field schools, hold teacher's workshops, and
> teach students of all ages. With these layoff, the State of New York is losing
> the people that create the data and information for textbooks, losing the
> people that aid in creation of public museum exhibits, losing the people that
> teach the teachers, and losing the people that are able to teach the students
> with hands-on experience in active scientific research.  Additionally, the
> collections housed at the NY State Museum represent the history of New York.
> Without care, management, and research these collections, and the information
> that these collections contain, will be lost to all.
>
> With these facts in mind, I respectfully request that these layoffs be
> reconsidered, and the great influence and importance of museum curators in
> education be considered in the future.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> -----------
> Edward Davis
>
> --
> Edward Davis, PhD
> Fossil Collections Mgr.
> Museum of Natural and Cultural History
> and Department of Geology
> University of Oregon
> Eugene OR 97403
> Tel: (541)346-3461
>
> ________________________________________
> Anne Weil, Ph.D.
> Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology
> Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences
> 1111 W. 17th St.
> Tulsa, OK 74107
>
> ofc. phone: (918) 561-8266
> lab phone: (918) 561-8485
> e-mail: anne.weil at okstate.edu
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: paleonet-bounces at nhm.ac.uk [mailto:paleonet-bounces at nhm.ac.uk] On Behalf
> Of Roy Plotnick
> Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 5:06 PM
> To: PaleoNet
> Subject: Paleonet: Ed Landing at NYSM
>
>
> Just saw the following. Quite upsetting.   Anyone know more?  - Roy
>
> http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Preserve-jobs-at-State-Museum-1461828.php
>
> --
> Roy E. Plotnick
> Professor
> Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
> University of Illinois at Chicago
> 845 W. Taylor St.
> Chicago, IL 60607
>
> E-mail: plotnick at uic.edu
>
> office phone: 312-996-2111     fax: 312-413-2279
> lab phone: 312-355-1342
>
>
>
> web page: http://www.uic.edu/~plotnick/plotnick.htm
>
> "The scientific celebrities, forgetting their molluscs and glacial periods,
> gossiped about art, while devoting themselves to oysters and ices with
> characteristic energy.." -Little Women, Louisa  May Alcott
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Paleonet mailing list
> Paleonet at nhm.ac.uk
> http://mailman.nhm.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/paleonet
>
> _______________________________________________
> Paleonet mailing list
> Paleonet at nhm.ac.uk
> http://mailman.nhm.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/paleonet
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.paleonet.org/pipermail/paleonet/attachments/20110721/e93812f8/attachment.htm>