I assume it is a case of viewing an academic degree as the easiest way of
assessing knowledge and status. Of course, there are many flaws with this
system: successful academicians can be nitwits and frauds, and people
without certain diplomas make contributions to society that far outshine
those of many people with degrees. In a hiring situation, where the
sponsors might be reviewing a dozen to a hundred candidates, looking deeper
into a person's background is feasible, but imagine trying to do so for the
many thousands of signers a petition drive typically seeks. When you hear
someone utter the phrase "...the ol' sheepskin," it is a usually in the
context of an acknowledgement of this truth. I expect that this contributes
greatly toward the survival of degree-granting institutions: people will pay
to earn a degree just so they can say they have a degree. Don't expect much
support from academia in trying to earn recognition for achievements outside
of their walls.
The denigrators of the Lake Baikal (or any other petition) would
love to be able to toss it off as a bunch of kooks, and the sponsors want to
be able to say that all signers meet the highest qualifications. It's a
public relations battle, where issues will be decided based on phrases that
can fit on bumper stickers. Warren, please don't take it personally, and
keep up the good work.
Martin M. Meiss
2010/3/25 Warren W. Aney <a...@coho.net>
> It's interesting how this petition process only wants signatures from PhD
> scientists with institutional affiliation. That leaves me out, since I
> have
> only an MA in ecological statistics, ESA Senior Ecologist certification,
> The
> Wildlife Society's certification as a Wildlife Biologist, several decades
> of
> practical field experience including aquatic habitat management, and some
> knowledge of Siberian environmental management.
>
> Warren W. Aney
> Senior Wildlife Ecologist
> 9403 SW 74th Ave
> Tigard, OR 97223
> (503) 539-1009
> (503) 246-2605 fax
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news
> [mailto:ecolo...@listserv.umd.edu] On Behalf Of Dennis Lavrov
> Sent: Thursday, 25 March, 2010 15:29
> To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU
> Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Petition to protect Lake Baikal
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> It's not publicized much in the news, but there has been a
> very unfortunate turn of events for Lake Baikal, the largest and the
> most ancient lake on the planet and one of the UNESCO World Nature
> Heritage Sites. On January 13, the Russian government made several
> changes in the list of activities prohibited in the area of Lake
> Baikal that allowed the re-opening of the Baikalsk pulp and paper
> mill, the main air and water polluter in the region. This decision is
> very unpopular in Russia, but the opposition is being suppressed
> (e.g., http://www.www.greengrants.org/breakingnews.php?news_id=271).
> Furthermore, the government is propagating the myth that there is no
> scientific evidence for the negative effect of the mill on Lake
> Baikal. I am trying to gather support from the scientific community in
> order to convince Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to revert the
> changes in the regulation. I posted an open letter at
> http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/baikal/ and ask you to sign it.
> You can find more information at
>
> http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/03/biologist-petitions-russia
> -to-sa.html<http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/03/biologist-petitions-russia%0A-to-sa.html>
> .
>
> Thank you very much in advance and sorry for a potential double posting,
> Dennis
>
> Dennis V. Lavrov, Assistant Professor
> Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology,
> Iowa State University,
> 343A Bessey Hall, Ames, IA 50011
> phone: (515) 294-9091; fax: (515) 294-1337
> http://www.eeob.iastate.edu/faculty/LavrovD/
>
