Re: Stop It!!

On 14 Nov 2005 19:48:41 -0800, pbowles@xxxxxxx wrote:

..
..Mike Vandeman wrote:
..> On 14 Nov 2005 13:31:48 -0800, pbowles@xxxxxxx wrote:
..>
..> .
..> .Mike Vandeman wrote:
..> .> On 13 Nov 2005 08:35:13 -0800, "Josh Campbell" <jcampbell.joshua@xxxxxxxxx>
..> .> wrote:
..> .>
..> .> .I joined this group thinking it was a professional list-serve.
..> .>
..> .> Very funny. How can that be true, for a newsgroup open to the entire world? Why
..> .> not offer something more constructive?
..> .
..> .The problem is that "sci.bio" is something of a misnomer - another
..> .group I frequent in this heirarchy is a talking shop for professionals
..> .in the field; yes, amateurs are welcome and questions are answered (I
..> .myself am an amateur in that field), and based on that experience when
..> .I first discovered this group I expected something equivalent for
..> .ecologists.
..> .
..> .Philip Bowles
..>
..> God forbid that you might have to talk to some "non-professionals". You couldn't
..> possibly learn anything from any of them.
..
..On the contrary; reread the above - on other sci.bio groups amateurs
..are welcome and contributions appreciated where constructive. However,
..as one would expect from the nature of the group the majority are
..interested professionals, and ecology would certainly benefit from
..having a similar Usenet group. Quite aside from all the off-topic
..political stuff and flame wars, there are a number of other groups that
..are set up for people to talk about the environmental ramifications of
..the politics of the day, the best policy approach to the designation of
..protected areas, and simply wildlife appreciation for that matter.
..Sci.bio.paleontology isn't dominated by laypeople who think dinosaurs
..are kewl; why has sci.bio.ecology just become a clone of all the other
..amateur nature-appreciation societies on Usenet?

I don't think it has. You'd do better to ask yourself why YOU don't treat it as
a scientific forum, and choose instead to disparage someone who posts something
you don't like, for some unnamed reason.

It's hard to see the
..value to anyone - it doesn't spark debate among professionals, it
..doesn't give interested amateurs anywhere to go for answers to
..questions about ecology, and those who are simply amateur wildlife
..enthusiasts have to trawl through four or five nigh-identical groups
..rather than just one.
..
..Let's just keep the focus reflecting the group's purpose, shall we? The
..group description in Google is headed "Ecological research". That's it
..- simply research into organisms and their interaction with their
..environment.

And that's what I posted: a summary of research and its implications.

.. Not conservation policy.

Heaven forbid that someone might make a statement in favor of conservation! If
we don't conserve wildlife, ecologists won't have anything to discuss! Your
subject matter will be EXTINCT!

Not climate change treaties. And,
..while I'm as frustrated as anyone with the short-term nature of current
..political thinking with regards to the environment, this is not the
..place for "George Bush Suxxors" threads and similar polemics, and we've
..had a fair few of those in the past.

I haven't posted anything like that, and can't prevent it. If you want to
censor, create a moderated group.

..A very quick Google reveals the existence of such groups as
..sci.environment, talk.environment, uk.politics.environment (and
..apparently 477 more for the keyword "environment"). "Animals" produces
..talk.politics.animals, among others. There's rec.animals.wildlife. And
..so on and so forth. Why is an ecological research group a more
..appropriate forum for what you have to say than any of these others?

Because I want to talk with and hear from scientists. DUH! I don't care to argue
with ignoramuses.

Is
..there some feeling that, if wildlife and trees are involved and the
..name begins with "E", environmental disciplines are somehow synonymous?
..They aren't - an *ecology* newsgroup is no more the place for
..discussion of policy or politics than it is for discussion of waste
..disposal or water quality.
..
..Please, take what you have to say somewhere relevant where it will be
..appreciated by the members of those groups and won't cause congestion
..in unrelated ones. That's all the original poster was asking. By all
..means contribute or start any threads relevant to the subject of the
..group, be it as a professional or an interested amateur, but try to
..keep them on-topic.

Then why don't YOU do that? You could easily post the kind of information you
advocate, but don't. Instead, you are tilting against windmills and have no
possibility of convincing anyone -- especially when you don't practice what you
preach.

..Philip Bowles
..philip.bowles@xxxxxxxxxx

===
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Stop It!!
    ... > .group I frequent in this heirarchy is a talking shop for professionals ... and ecology would certainly benefit from ... amateur nature-appreciation societies on Usenet? ... political thinking with regards to the environment, ...
    (sci.bio.ecology)
  • Re: Release of Improved Tria Image Processing Program
    ... and mine that of the amateur who also has a general interest in howdeconvolutiontechnology advances. ... the high cost packages unless the vendors sensibly took the view that ... I think it must be difficult even for professionals such as ... we hope to add some simple metrics to Tria in the near ...
    (sci.techniques.microscopy)
  • Re: replicating "old" science
    ... astronomy educators, not professional astronomy researchers. ... > It seems to me you are right in the heart of what "amateur" astronomy is all ... > "professionals" at universities and colleges operate below the level of ... > beginning to rely on what amateurs are doing including club observatories. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Musing about professional vs hobby vs amateur woodturners.
    ... what springs to my mind is who the hell cares? ... surely an amateur in it's proper sense means one who ... consider yourselves to be professionals, ...
    (rec.crafts.woodturning)
  • Re: Recommend Flash for 20D Canon now proffesional or not?
    ... professionals and amateurs alike. ... In my view one can be an amateur ... "recreational photographer" simply to differentiate whether one makes ... filters but others may use them up faster. ...
    (rec.photo.digital)