texascavers Digest 4 Oct 2009 02:19:06 -0000 Issue 864 Topics (messages 12230 through 12251):
Re: new Texas laws
12230 by: Ed Alexander
12231 by: wwildchild.aol.com
12235 by: caverarch.aol.com
new laws
12232 by: Mixon Bill
12233 by: Fritz Holt
12234 by: Nancy Weaver
12236 by: Katherine Arens
12237 by: Gill Edigar
12239 by: caverarch.aol.com
12247 by: Ed Alexander
Updated photos of NCKRI Headquarters construction
12238 by: George Veni
Museum of Speleology
12240 by: David
laws and border crossings
12241 by: David
Speleotherapy related
12242 by: David
12244 by: Matt Turner
12245 by: John P. Brooks
Seeking Brian Vauter
12243 by: germanyj.aol.com
Paging Thomas Sitch
12246 by: Mark Alman
Slide scanning services?
12248 by: John P. Brooks
12249 by: Carl Kunath
12250 by: Michael Pugliese
Book reviews
12251 by: Carl Kunath
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--- Begin Message --- I'm surprised that the law doesn't require water activated emergency latches for tailgates. Would have prevented the deaths of the three boys.Frank Binney wrote:There was a �riding in a pickup bed� tragedy with some Missouri cavers a few years back. Three boys from the Deep Ozarks Grotto were riding in the back of an open pickup truck on the way home from a cave trip when the driver lost control and the truck went off the highway and into the Buffalo River. The Missourians in the back of the truck couldn�t get the tailgate down in time and drowned./ /
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--- Begin Message ---I think all the occupants on the Powerwagon Bus have to be strapped in. Unless there are 16 cavers on board ). Feel free to correct me on that. Unless you remove the seatbelts behind the front seats. :-7 The law is specific in that it is only an offense "Provided the vehicle is equiped with a safety belt". And per Section 547.601 which outlines what "equiped with a seatbelt" means: § 547.601. SAFETY BELTS REQUIRED. A motor vehicle required by Chapter 548 to be inspected shall be equipped with front safety belts if safety belt anchorages were part of the manufacturer's original equipment on the vehicle. There is not a requirement for a vehicle to have rear seatbelts even if there are anchorages provided by the manufacturer. Doesn't mean you won't get sued and all of that when someone exits the vehicle through a window because there wasn't a seatbelt, but the law itself kind of makes a loophole. I found this when reserching for an art car I'm building. Puppy =:-) Sec. 545.413. Safety Belts; Offense. (a) A person commits an offense if: (1) the person: (A) is at least 15 years of age; (B) is riding in [the front seat of] a passenger vehicle while the vehicle is being operated; (C) is occupying a seat that is equipped with a safety belt; and (D) is not secured by a safety belt; or (2) as the operator of a school bus equipped with a safety20belt for the operator's seat, the person is not secured by the safety belt. (b) A person commits an offense if the person: (1) operates a passenger vehicle that is equipped with safety belts; and (2) allows a child who is younger than 17 years of age and who is not required to be secured in a child passenger safety seat system under Section 545.412(a) to ride in the vehicle without requiring the child to be secured by a safety belt, provided the child is occupying a seat that is equipped with a safety belt. (b-1) A person commits an offense if the person allows a child who is younger than 17 years of age and who is not required to be secured in a child passenger safety seat system under Section 545.412(a) to ride in a passenger van designed to transport 15 or fewer passengers, including the driver, without securing the child individually by a safety belt, if the child is occupying a seat that is equipped with a safety belt. (c) A passenger vehicle or a seat in a passenger vehicle is considered to be equipped with a safety belt if the vehicle is required under Section 547.601 to be equipped with safety belts. (d) An offense under Subsection (a) is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $25 or more than $50. An offense under Subsection (b) is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $100 or more than $200.
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--- Begin Message ---I bought an old cargo van from my cousin years ago, and I didn't like the fact that it only had two captain's seats. I found another seat with seatbelts at a junkyard, and had it installed for not much money. Roger Moore -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Fri, Oct 2, 2009 12:25 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] new Texas laws I think all the occupants on the Powerwagon Bus have to be strapped in. ( Unless there are 16 cavers on board ). Feel free to correct me on that. Unless you remove the seatbelts behind the front seats. :-7 The law is specific in that it is only an offense "Provided the vehicle is equiped with a safety belt". And per Section 547.601 which outlines what "equiped with a seatbelt" means: § 547.601. SAFETY BELTS REQUIRED. A motor vehicle required by Chapter 548 to be inspected shall be equipped with front safety belts if safety belt anchorages were part of the manufacturer's original equipment on the vehicle. There is
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--- Begin Message --- When I think of the fun I had when I was a kid doing things that are now illegal.... -- Mixon---------------------------------------- The world did not end yesterday, as I had predicted. I regret any inconvenience. ---------------------------------------- You may "reply" to the address this message came from, but for long-term use, save: Personal: [email protected] AMCS: [email protected] or [email protected]
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--- Begin Message ---I think that I had the same fun in the 40's and 50's that would be illegal now and probably was then. Fritz -----Original Message----- From: Mixon Bill [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 1:17 PM To: Cavers Texas Subject: [Texascavers] new laws When I think of the fun I had when I was a kid doing things that are now illegal.... -- Mixon ---------------------------------------- The world did not end yesterday, as I had predicted. I regret any inconvenience. ---------------------------------------- You may "reply" to the address this message came from, but for long-term use, save: Personal: [email protected] AMCS: [email protected] or [email protected] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
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--- Begin Message ---When I think of the fun I had when I was a kid doing things that are now illegal.... -- MixonReally. My dad used to let the 3 of us (ages 3 - 9) ride all over Rockport on the tailgate of the station wagon holding onto whatever we could find. Thank god for growing up in the 50's.
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--- Begin Message --- Sorry, gang, in the midwest in the 1950s, riding in a pickup truck bed was already considered either child abuse or organ donation -- it was illegal.Think of it as environmental classism . . . -kWhen I think of the fun I had when I was a kid doing things that are now illegal.... -- MixonReally. My dad used to let the 3 of us (ages 3 - 9) ride all over Rockport on the tailgate of the station wagon holding onto whatever we could find. Thank god for growing up in the 50's.--------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]-- ************************ Katherine Arens (Professor) Office:Burdine 320; Phone: (512) 232-6363 Dept. of Germanic Studies Dept. Phone: (512) 471-4123 1 University Station C3300 FAX (512) 471-4025 University of Texas at Austin Dept. office: Burdine 336 Austin, TX 78712-0304 [email protected]President: Modern Austrian Literature and Culture Association; Editor: Teaching Austria-. .- _..-'( )`-.._ ./'. '||\\. (\_/) .//||` .`\. ./'.|'.'||||\\|.. )O O( ..|//||||`.`|.`\. ./'..|'.|| |||||\`````` '`"'` ''''''/||||| ||.`|..`\. ./'.||'.|||| ||||||||||||. .|||||||||||| ||||.`||.`\. /'|||'.|||||| ||||||||||||{ }|||||||||||| ||||||.`|||`\ '.|||'.||||||| ||||||||||||{ }|||||||||||| |||||||.`|||.` '.||| ||||||||| |/' ``\||`` ''||/'' `\| ||||||||| |||.` |/' \./' `\./ \!|\ /|!/ \./' `\./ `\| V V V }' `\ /' `{ V V V ` ` ` V ' ' '
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--- Begin Message ---My daddy raised chickens and pheasants so we had a lot of rotten eggs whenever a new batch hatched (not all of them hatched). We'd get a bucket or two full of rotten eggs, climb in the back of the pickup (not sitting down but leaning on the top of the cab), and drive out of town on FM 881 tossing eggs at the road signs out over the cab like a tank firing it's cannon. Splash and splatter. The local cops saw us from time to time and never said a word. Riding back there was a normal as 10 year olds driving the tractor to town because they didn't need the license they didn't have to drive a car on the street but there were no restrictions on tractors. --Ediger On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 1:17 PM, Mixon Bill <[email protected]> wrote: > > When I think of the fun I had when I was a kid doing things that are now > illegal.... -- Mixon > ---------------------------------------- > The world did not end yesterday, as I had predicted. > I regret any inconvenience. > ---------------------------------------- > You may "reply" to the address this message > came from, but for long-term use, save: > Personal: [email protected] > AMCS: [email protected] or [email protected] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > >
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--- Begin Message ---Nowadays, the kids drive ATVs at a tender age, as evidenced by this improbable story in yesterday's Houston Chronicle: 5-year-old boy's kill: gator 20 times his size http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/moms/6645997.html ...Simon learned to drive all-terrain vehicles and shoot firearms when he was only 4. So he was primed and ready to go on an alligator hunt this past weekend with his father, Scott Hughes, a sixth-generation rancher, and hunting guide Chuck CottonSimon had a new junior-sized .410-gauge shotgun. ..“That's the way it is in rural areas,” Scott Hughes said. “We don't think of guns as playthings or something used in videogames.” Must have been different for Southern city boys back when I was a kid: we generally weren't allowed to own guns or have have unrestricted access to them until we were 13 or 14 back in the early Sixties. But I knew about the rural tractor-driving, and boy was I jealous! Roger Moore Greater Houston Grotto -----Original Message----- From: Gill Edigar <[email protected]> Riding back there was a normal as 10 year olds driving the tractor to town because they didn't need the license they didn't have to drive a car on the street but there were no restrictions on tractors. --Ediger On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 1:17 PM, Mixon Bill <[email protected]> wrote: When I think of the fun I had when I was a kid doing things that are now illegal.... -- Mixon ------------------------- --------------- The world did not end yesterday, as I had predicted. I regret any inconvenience. ---------------------------------------- You may "reply" to the address this message came from, but for long-term use, save: Personal: [email protected] AMCS: [email protected] or [email protected] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
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--- Begin Message ---Mimi's favorite ride is on top of the Trooper. Nancy Weaver wrote:When I think of the fun I had when I was a kid doing things that are now illegal.... -- MixonReally. My dad used to let the 3 of us (ages 3 - 9) ride all over Rockport on the tailgate of the station wagon holding onto whatever we could find. Thank god for growing up in the 50's.
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--- Begin Message ---Dear Friends of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute, The good people at the Carlsbad Department of Development (CDOD) continue to work hard at promoting Carlsbad, including NCKRI. CDOD's Jeff Campbell recently updated their website to show updated time-lapsed photographs of the construction of NCKRI Headquarters from November of last year into September. They take about a half minute to see and are located at http://nm-carlsbaddod.civicplus.com/index.aspx?NID=483 <http://nm-carlsbaddod.civicplus.com/index.aspx?NID=483&ART=1681&admin=1> &ART=1681&admin=1. Just go there; there is nothing to click or do except watch the photos change. You won't see much change in the first four sets of photos, which show when the ground was prepared and the foundation poured, but the last six show the framing and covering of the building. If you are not familiar with the location, the photo series on the left shows the northwest side of the building from Cascade Drive. The round section of the building is our bookstore. The photos on the right show the northeast side of the building. A decorative canal (currently drained of water during construction) is in the foreground. The red iron core of our colonnade is on the left side of the photo (the arches for the colonnade were all installed today, so it will soon be covered and completed). Behind it are the classroom (first floor), library (above it), and stairwell. The entrance vestibule and elevator shaft are in the central part of the photo. The narrow window is the tallest in Carlsbad. The gray wall on the right leads left to the entrance. The wall will soon be faced with limestone, with the NCKRI logo beautifully done in metals extending from it. Water will flow down that limestone wall behind the logo The exterior appearance of the building won't change much in the coming months as the work now focuses on the interior. We don't yet have a target date for opening. We're looking for additional funds to complete parts of the interior that we can't finish under the current contract, as well as to build some outstanding museum exhibits we have planned. If you have suggestions or contacts for potential sponsors, please let me know. Thank you for your interest and support, George *********************** George Veni, Ph.D. Executive Director National Cave and Karst Research Institute 1400 Commerce Dr. Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220 USA [email protected] www.nckri.org 001-575-887-5517 (office) 001-210-863-5919 (mobile) 001-413-383-2276 (fax)
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--- Begin Message ---Here is an article about the Museum of Speleology: http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/10/02/793091_into-the-dark
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--- Begin Message ---This is only of interest to any cavers crossing the border, coming back from Mexico. If you buy prescription medication in Mexico at the "farmacia" it is perfectly legal to bring it into the country, as long as the medication is FDA approved. However, it is apparently ILLEGAL to have it on your possession ( even with a doctor's prescription ), once you leave the customs office, and if the police pull you over and find it in the car, they can take you to jail, and you will have to hire an expensive defense attorney. I guess the trick is to unpack the medication and put it in something that the police would not find, such as a bottle labeled "Vitamin D" or something. I don't think you are allowed to bring back Tylenol that has traces of codeine in it. Nor Valium. But you should declare it if you are trying to bring it back, and show the clerk your doctor's prescription, even if it is a doctor in Mexico ( the doctor has to be licensed in Texas though for it to be legal ) I don't know if this is a new law. But I saw it posted today on the wall in the line at the driver's license office. The sign was very vague, and made it sound like you couldn't buy medication in Mexico. I have been getting my anti-biotics down there for 25 years with no problems that I am aware of. I wouldn't try to bring back more than one package though. David Locklear Ref: http://www.mombu.com/medicine/laboratory/t-wright-v-state-defense-of-lawful-foreign-prescription-2489953.html
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--- Begin Message ---This is some kind of health spa in the Himalayas: http://media1.pioneerlocal.com/multimedia/ch-saltcave-100109-p4_pp_feed_20090929_22_21_45_4411-400-283.imageContent Here is one in Vermont that advertises as, "Speleotherapy Clinic." http://www.pyramidvt.com/pyramid_holistic_wellness_center_009.htm Does the 2010 NSS Convention registration include a session there ? Here is a company that claims to sell materials to build your very own "Speleotherapy" chamber http://www.paksalts.com/index.php?controller=category&path=32 Anybody out there had a salt cave session ? David Locklear Ref: http://www.showcaves.com/english/explain/Misc/Speleotherapy.html http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab001741.html http://www.halotherapy.com/ http://www.natural-salt-lamps.com/polishsaltmines.html http://www.qsensei.com/content/14vsss
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--- Begin Message ---Those are some awesome Pseudo-science websites you found there. Seems everyone is getting on the Ionized Air craze. http://www.thebiomatcompany.us/ Who knew that the all the human races' ills could be healed by Salt, Amethyst, and Infrared? Man you would have thought nature would just provide such things................oh wait. Matt Turner "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle "Empty pockets never held anyone back.Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that."- Norman Vincent Peale ________________________________ From: David <[email protected]> To: Cavers Texas <[email protected]> Sent: Sat, October 3, 2009 12:45:20 AM Subject: [Texascavers] Speleotherapy related This is some kind of health spa in the Himalayas: http://media1.pioneerlocal.com/multimedia/ch-saltcave-100109-p4_pp_feed_20090929_22_21_45_4411-400-283.imageContent Here is one in Vermont that advertises as, "Speleotherapy Clinic." http://www.pyramidvt.com/pyramid_holistic_wellness_center_009.htm Does the 2010 NSS Convention registration include a session there ? Here is a company that claims to sell materials to build your very own "Speleotherapy" chamber http://www.paksalts.com/index.php?controller=category&path=32 Anybody out there had a salt cave session ? David Locklear Ref: http://www.showcaves.com/english/explain/Misc/Speleotherapy.html http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab001741.html http://www.halotherapy.com/ http://www.natural-salt-lamps.com/polishsaltmines.html http://www.qsensei.com/content/14vsss --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
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--- Begin Message ---I wonder if they serve pretzels, pop corn or beer in the salt cave? On 10/3/09 2:05 PM, "Matt Turner" <[email protected]> wrote: > Those are some awesome Pseudo-science websites you found there. Seems > everyone is getting on the Ionized Air craze. > > http://www.thebiomatcompany.us/ > > Who knew that the all the human races' ills could be healed by Salt, Amethyst, > and Infrared? Man you would have thought nature would just provide such > things................oh wait. > > Matt Turner > > > "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without > accepting it." - Aristotle > > > "Empty pockets never held anyone back.Only empty heads and empty hearts can do > that."- Norman Vincent Peale > > > > From: David <[email protected]> > To: Cavers Texas <[email protected]> > Sent: Sat, October 3, 2009 12:45:20 AM > Subject: [Texascavers] Speleotherapy related > > This is some kind of health spa in the Himalayas: > > > http://media1.pioneerlocal.com/multimedia/ch-saltcave-100109-p4_pp_feed_200909 > 29_22_21_45_4411-400-283.imageContent > > > Here is one in Vermont that advertises as, "Speleotherapy Clinic." > > http://www.pyramidvt.com/pyramid_holistic_wellness_center_009.htm > > > Does the 2010 NSS Convention registration include a session there ? > > > Here is a company that claims to sell materials to build your very own > "Speleotherapy" chamber > > http://www.paksalts.com/index.php?controller=category&path=32 > > > Anybody out there had a salt cave session ? > > David Locklear > > > Ref: > > http://www.showcaves.com/english/explain/Misc/Speleotherapy.html > > http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab001741.html > > http://www.halotherapy.com/ > > http://www.natural-salt-lamps.com/polishsaltmines.html > > http://www.qsensei.com/content/14vsss > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > > >
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--- Begin Message ---Hey Brian! I tried to send you an email to your AOL account, but I got a message that your mail box is full.? Do you have an alternate email address?? Please contact me off list. Thanks! julia
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--- Begin Message ---I need your new address, as your TEXAS CAVER bounced back to me. Thanks! Mark
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--- Begin Message ---Can anyone recommend a good slide scanning service? Have thousands of old caving slides.....and would like to get some scanned.
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--- Begin Message ---John, if you actually have "thousands" of slides you want scanned, you better have very deep pockets for the task. You would be much better off to do it yourself not only from a financial point of view but also because you would then have the opportunity to "improve" your images at the scanning stage rather than farther down the line. Every transparency used in the 50 YEARS OF TEXAS CAVING book was scanned with a Nikon Supercoolscan 4000. There is now a model 5000 so the older 4000 is available used for around $500. Buy one, scan your collection, and sell it to the next guy. Still want to have someone else do the job? Here is one of many Google hits (sorry for the lengthy URL): http://www.scancafe.com/services/slide-scanning?cid=GOOG&ovchn=GGL&ovcpn=Scan&ovcrn=sr3_101721318_go+scan+your+slides&ovtac=PPC&SR=sr3_101721318_go&gclid=COH859yUop0CFado5QodsCA53A ===Carl Kunath ----- Original Message ----- From: John P. Brooks To: Cavers Texas Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 6:00 PM Subject: [Texascavers] Slide scanning services? Can anyone recommend a good slide scanning service? Have thousands of old caving slides.....and would like to get some scanned.
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--- Begin Message --- I have a Coolscan 9000, ~ the very best film scanner available unless you've got $20,000 to spare. Next up is a drum scanner. If you've got a handful that are important enough that they will get published, I'll scan them for free as long as I am credited.I'd be glad to help if it's for a good cause (like a book or article). _____________________ Michael Pugliese Director of Photography www.MPCINE.com 570.898.3011 John P. Brooks wrote:Can anyone recommend a good slide scanning service? Have thousands of old caving slides.....and would like to get some scanned. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]--<<attachment: mike.vcf>>
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--- Begin Message ---I certainly didn't intend to criticize Bill Mixon's reviews. He does an excellent job and "calls them as he sees them." He would be remiss not to point out things that are less well done than we might expect and is eminently qualified to do so. If you want see nice layouts and experience good journalism, take a look at the AMCS Activities Newsletter as edited by Bill. My comments were more intended to enlighten the general readership in the caving world who often haven't a clue about the realities of how many caving publications are actually done. Our expectations for the quality of a publication are related to the source and the personnel involved. For example, our expectations are high for National Geographic and higher for something from Cave Books than for the Texas Caver. ===Carl Kunath (Sorry, I've been out of town for a couple of weeks and am just now catching up with earlier e-mails, and sorry for repeating the previous portions of this thread but context is important in this case.) ----- Original Message ----- From: Gill Edigar To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 7:42 AM Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Book editing and proofreading All of that is perfectly true--as based on actual publications readily to hand. Still, it is completely fair for the reviewer to point out those shortcomings--and I would suggest expected as we should want an honest assessment. Just because a book is sloppily done does not mean that the reviewer (who is ultimately being challenged in this thread) must be equally sloppy in reviewing it. --Ediger On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 10:26 PM, Carl Kunath <[email protected]> wrote: Many caving publications are done with very low budgets. As a result, there is no staff of well-paid graphic artists and proofreaders standing by to take over when the manuscript and illustrations are plopped upon the publisher's desk. As a result, volunteer, non-professionals do the best they can with the time and resources available. Results vary depending on deadlines, level of interest, ability, and (perhaps most importantly) the personal standards of those involved. Fortunately for many authors/publishers, the caving community is not too picky about such things and many readers are satisfied with mediocre journalism, sloppy layout, muddy-looking illustrations, and slip-shod indexes. The production of a work of any significant size is a major undertaking and, when the end appears near, some things are pushed aside in the last minute fervor to "get the job done." Indexes are often casualties in such situations. As Pete has mentioned, the job of indexing is very important and offers a last opportunity to catch errors, particularly in spelling of proper names. A good index is a vital part of a book and deserves just as much care as any other portion. The indexes for 50 YEARS OF TEXAS CAVING (22 three-column pages) were meant to be as thorough as possible and are the result of many, many hours of labor by Katie Arens, Logan McNatt, Jerry Atkinson, and myself. Human indexing to the max! ===Carl Kunath ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 9:41 AM Subject: Re: Re: [Texascavers] Re: book review: Huautla Computer indexing is often nearly a joke. Human indexing, alas, is seldom done any more. T Sep 16, 2009 04:08:33 PM, [email protected] wrote: You can always do additional editing and checking, but I suspect in this case it was deemed more important to have the book out in time for the ICS. One way to catch the errors that Mark mentioned is to do an index. Particularly for a book like this, where there are a number of people and a number of places mentioned, an index is valuable for folks to find a particular name. And when you index such a volume you always end up with "almost duplicate" or similar spellings that can then be discovered and corrected. The Atlas of the Great Caves of the World is a good example where the index paid off big time because of the amount of "foreign" names that went well beyond the 128 character fonts available at the time. The solution was to design a special 256 character font with all the special accents, etc. Fortunately computer technology has come a long way since that 20 year old edition. I thought it was a great read and look forward to similar books by both Bill and others cavers. - Pete CaveBooks.com On Sep 16, 2009, at 1:14 PM, Mark Minton wrote: Charles Goldsmith said: >Bill, just my opinion on it, but I disagree on your critique. >It was probably edited too much, so no, it shouldn't have been edited more. I have to disagree about the editing, Charles. It _did_ need more, as Mixon said. Sure, it reads well and makes a great story, but there are things an editor should have caught. For example, the large room in San Agustín where Camp III was located is spelled at least three ways: Sala Grande de la Sierra Mazateca (p. 26), Sala Grande de las Sierra Mazateca (p. 109), and Sala Grande de las Sierra Mazatecas (p. 146). The first is correct. Swiss caver Philippe Rouiller's last name is also spelled three different ways on pages 193-4. Or how about on p. 201 where it says that a row of stalagmites hung on the ceiling? However the most egregious error is that the north arrow on all of the line maps in the chapters points the wrong way, although it is correct inside the front cover. That can be very confusing if one doesn't know the system and tries to make sense of some of the progress described in the book. There are also several minor factual errors, but those are mostly inconsequential and would not be detectable by the casual reader. Don't get me wrong, I like the book and found it to be fast reading. I too look forward to Steele's next book. But I hope it is better edited. Mark Minton
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