James and Forum (Please note that my use of CAPITALS is not intended to imply shouting, but to replace italics, which are not supported by the ecolog-l system.)
I did not intend to imply that there was anything "wrong" with the email; on the contrary, I intended to imply that I was STIMULATED by it. I believe that my remarks supported your contention--perhaps in excessive detail. Were my suggestions to be followed (and I am under no illusion that they will), students would have that "appropriate background," and then some. My further intended point was that NO course should be "soft" in the sense of being superficial or taken less seriously than others. I am more than fully aware that mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc. are considered "hard," while ecology is considered "soft" by the dominant hue and cry, but I think they are wrong--seriously wrong. Ecology should be THE integrative science, leading to all the others. Too few mathematicians and engineers and statisticians, for example, have any understanding of life at all, living as they do, in an illusory, transitory, "plastic" bubble, supported only by the sacking of the earth for its entertainment value, ad nauseam. For example, did you know that, for one carat of diamond, something approaching fifty thousand tons of earth must be moved, not to mention the human misery and loss of habitat, species, and other resources, not to mention so-called "indirect" effects such as the release of contaminants affecting distant ecosystems? What if all ecologists and their spouses sold their diamonds and ostracized all who don't? Absurd, of course. But to the point, eh? WT At 11:45 AM 11/21/2007, James J. Roper wrote: >Wayne, > >I believe your "soapbox" was because you misunderstood the >e-mail. My point was merely that students must have the appropriate >background to take any "higher level" class - especially true for ecology. > >Jim > >On 11/20/07, Wayne Tyson <<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >I share the contempt for "soft" in the sense of sham (for which all >too many courses, degrees, and institutions qualify),
