texascavers Digest 10 Dec 2008 04:31:49 -0000 Issue 663
Topics (messages 9623 through 9632):
Re: Guanoslide Etymology
9623 by: Geary Schindel
Name That Bat!
9624 by: Allan B. Cobb
Re: NSS Business pages
9625 by: Alex Sproul
9626 by: Philip L Moss
the Witchâs Well of Tuhala
9627 by: mlmiller.gvtc.com
Shaping Sound
9628 by: Nancy Weaver
Re: [Allcavers] 2008 DFWG Holiday Party
9629 by: mark gee
NO DECEMBER PBSS Meeting
9630 by: Bill Bentley
Rock painting reveals unknown bat
9631 by: Geoff H
want Toyota pickup
9632 by: Mixon Bill
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Gil,
That is one talented linguist, I'm not sure I can pronounce most of
these but maybe we'll have a contest at the Bexar Grotto Party on
Saturday to see who does the best job - especially after a couple of Joe
R's margaritas and some hot wings.
We'll use the criteria for what sounds best to the ear and with the
least amount of spray.
Geary
-----Original Message-----
From: Gill Ediger [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2008 7:53 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Texascavers] Guanoslide Etymology
Occupying a room in one of my houses is a cunning linguist of some
renown. In addition to having studied Greek, Latin, French, German, &
Russian he has become fluent enough in Spanish to have translated a
couple of Mexican books of historical importance. He also seems to
have at least a minimal command of several North American Indian
languages. With this fountain of knowledge at my disposal I enlisted
him to tackle the problem. Here are his offerings:
coproballomenon--(from the Greek) literally: excrement being thrown
down (in a passive sense--sorta like falling). (Not exactly guano
specific, but a damned neat word I'll have to admit. --GE)
lapsus stercoris--(Latin) dung slide. (I'd suggest a combining form
such as lapstercor. --GE)
Fledermausmistrutsch--(German) literally: bat manure slide.
Fledermaus being the bat, of course. Mist is dung or manure. Rutsch
being a slide (Erdrutsch = landslide; Schlammrutsch = mudslide, etc)
(Perhaps this could be shortened to something like FMR--as the
Germans themselves are wont to do--for casual references. --GE)
Has anybody been keeping a tab on this? Maybe David or somebody with
time on their hands can compile the entire list of submissions and we
can take a vote on our favorites sometime this week. Geary should
appreciate everyone's help with his philosophical question.
--Ediger
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Would you like to name a bat species for a family member or friend this
holiday season, and help support important environmental research and
conservation efforts?
Purdue University is offering the naming rights to a newly discovered
species in honor of a donor to the Center for the Environment. This unique
species is a rare family member of the little yellow bat, the smallest known
bats in the New World. They weigh less than a tablespoon of water, and are
sensitive environmental sentinels of their habitat.
http://www.purdue.edu/dp/environment/species/
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Phillip and all --
>Even if other organizations don't put their budget, agenda, and minutes
>
online for the public to see, that is no reason for us not to do so.
They don't, and we shouldn't, for the same reason, as exemplified by this
recent incident reported by former OVP Cheryl Jones to the BOG, which has
now gotten all stirred up (again) about this issue:
"A couple years ago, the NSS was offered a lot to purchase in the Shelta
neighborhood. The owner called and told me about having read the
minutes, officer reports, and financial information, and thus that he knew we
were interested in purchasing property, how much we were prepared to
spend on another lot we'd considered buying, how much money the NSS
had, what various restricted funds we had and what they were used for, and
some other tidbits from minutes, officer reports, and the Board Manual.
Some information didn't even relate to purchasing property.
"I felt as if someone had broken in our "house," rummaged in our drawers
and files, and spied upon us. He was snooping for information to leverage
his position and use against us. No good came of his visits to the business
page. Our cards were pretty much exposed and our bargaining position
compromised.
"That incident is what got me thinking about the risks and ramifications of
allowing anyone to view our business affairs, and questioning the need to do
so.
"I know of no other organization, or certainly no other large, successful
organizations/corporations, that have their operational directives posted on
the Web for the world to see, or even their Board meeting minutes, officer
reports, and/or detailed fiscal information. And I have looked. It just could
be that they know something -- that they are aware of the risks of exposing
their business to the world and hanging out their laundry for all to see. It is
important for any corporation or organization to control the information that
is available to the public.
"Aside from fulfilling legal requirements, our responsibility for providing
information is to our members, not to the general public. The Members
Manual and the annual/biennial reports contain the audited fiscal reports,
and the reports are freely available online to the world. They are our
business and corporate face to the public, and pretty much all that an
agency, potential grantor, other organization, or non-member needs to see
to see about "corporate NSS." Other information about the NSS is on the
public area of the Web site.
"Individual pages of the Board Manual are linked from Web pages to provide
additional information, such as IO policies, "Definitions and Policies for
Society Activities," and "Organization Structure." Also linked for public view
are the Bylaws, Constitution, and Current Personnel pages. The
Conservation Policy has its own page. Any member may send a link to a
page from the Board Manual to anyone. (The rest of the Manual cannot then
be accessed via that page.)
"There are no benefits to the NSS of posting operational directives, minutes,
officer reports, fiscal information, and other business details on the Web for
the world to see. Instead, there is risk to the Society. Our responsibility is to
do what is best for the Society and limit risk, not to do what is best for non-
members.
"We've made it very simple for members to access the Business page. The
lock isn't secure of course, but keeps out casual non-member visitors."
So there you have it, the reason why the protection of most of the BOG
Manual by a firewall was directed. I'm sure that will get your blood-pressure
up, Phillip, but all three of your 'good reasons' are specious.
Alex
--
Alex Sproul
NSS 8086RL/FE
NSS Webmaster
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Alex and all:
Yes, this kind of ass-backwards thinking does get my blood pressure up.
First, we would not be giving much away if the NSS Board followed it Acts
and Policies (it would be nice if the Board was familiar with the same;
they were not during my tenure). From Appendix L of the Board Manual
(http://www.caves.org/nss-business/bog/Append-L.pdf): "The NSS, as a
guideline, shall not pay more than 10% over fair market value as
documented by a credible appraisal. This is an IRS recommendation for
non-profit corporations." If an organization is only willing to pay
appraised value, then a negotiating position is not given away by having
such in the public record.
Secondly and more importantly, most of the NSS Business is not sensitive.
However, the sensitive business is supposed to be conducted in closed
session for which there are no minutes, published or otherwise. I tried
to get a closed session policy adopted that included acquisition
discussion and authorization as closed session business. However, the
Board voted it down twice. Just because there is a perceived problem in
one area, does not mean that it is to the NSS' advantage to hide all of
our business.
Doug Medville had a motion authorizing the NSS to spend up to $220,000
for an entrance to Great Ex (see
http://www.caves.org/nss-business/minutes/oct02bog.html) and that was
done without an appraisal. That certainly had a great deal of potential
to undermine any potential negotiating potion. What if the property had
been appraised and had come in at $45,000. Kind of hard for a landowner
to walk away from that kind of money.
Hiding our business pages is no substitute for good business practices or
the ability to think critically.
Philip L. Moss
[email protected]
____________________________________________________________
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An interesting place in Estonia. I wonder if there is a local caving community?
-Marvin Miller
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Title: Shaping Sound
thought the Maya references might be of
interest. The link to the entire article is provided.
Along these lines, I watched of a video of
some friends climbing out of Golondrinas last night. One of them
was singing Amazing Grace around the midpoint and the reverb was
astonishing.. Two observers on the surface had distincly
different experiences - the one at the lip where the rope was
rigged heard each word of the song distinctly. The other, on the
low side, heard only a long swelling oooooooooooommmmmmmmmmm for the
duration of the song.
Nancy
Shaping Sound
Structures can be designed to
create auditory effects
By Alan Hall
One speaker at the conference who
was not at all surprised by Meseguer's findings was acoustical
consultant David Lubman of Westminster, Calif. Lubman is one of a
small but growing number of researchers who are pioneering a new
discipline that might be called "paleoacoustics" or
"archaeoacoustics." These investigators are intrigued by the
curious sound phenomena reported at many ancient sites. And, unlike
many archaeologists, they do not believe they are accidental but proof
that some ancient people had a sophisticated knowledge of acoustics
and built it into their structures.
Lubman first became intrigued by
reports of a curious echo from the Mayan pyramid of Kukulkan at
Chichen Itza, in Mexico's Yucatan region. The odd "chirped"
echo resounds from the pyramid's staircases in response to hand claps
of people standing near its base. To hear for himself, Lubman packed
up his recording gear and traveled to Chichen Itza last
January.
Like the tubes in Sempere's
sculpture, the treads of the stairs at Kukulkan consist of elements
that are repeated at regular intervals, or are "spatially
periodic." "When periodic design elements are composed of
sound reflective materials [such as stone], and if certain other
conditions are met, odd echoes or other strange acoustical effects may
result," says Lubman. He contends that the oddly narrow steps
with abnormally high risers (an illogical configuration for people
whose descendants are of short stature) were built to voice the call
of the sacred bird.
Other investigators have noticed the
relationship between structure and sound in many ancient sites. Steven
Waller, for one, made a seminal observation while admiring Neolithic
cave art in Spain--the paintings seemed to be placed at locations
where there were strong acoustical resonances. He and others have
since identified hundreds of such sites around the world. "Human
uses for sound, no less than the other perceptual modalities, must
surely have shaped human habitations in many ways not yet considered,"
says Lubman.
Unfortunately, in the modern world
such acoustical effects are unusually considered unwanted artifacts
caused by an architect's failure to consider acoustics. Even when
acoustics are considered to be paramount, there have been
glitches--such as the concert hall in New York's Lincoln Center that
raised an outcry in 1962 and was eventually gutted and reconstructed
at great expense.
So maybe modern architects, who are
mainly concerned with the visual impact of their work, should borrow a
page from the artists and ancients to create environments that
apprehend an equally important human sense--hearing. The next time you
are in the lobby of a building or facing a grand staircase, clap your
hands.
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I am going to try to drive back frm Colorado Bend and make it to the party on
time.
If I dont show then it must have been to late.
________________________________
From: John P. Brooks <[email protected]>
To: Butch Fralia <[email protected]>; [email protected];
Texas Cavers <[email protected]>; Mark Alman <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2008 6:33:09 AM
Subject: [Allcavers] 2008 DFWG Holiday Party
Metroplex Cavers,
Its that time of year again.....dig those white elelphant gifts out of the
closet....and plan on attending the DFWG Holiday Party.
The details:
December 13, 2008
7:30 pm until 1:00 am
6879 Avalon Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75214
214.320.0166
What to bring ?
BYOB.
Potluck food ( wouldn’t it be nice if everyone cooked their favorite holiday
dish?)
Pictures of of your latest caving adventures ( we will have a slide projector
and digital projector )
Tales of daring, heroic trips
and don’t forget....bring a white elephant gift to recycle through the
grotto....
THE RULES:
1. All white elephant gifts brought or received must be removed from
the premises after the party. We will keep a list of who is naughty and
nice....
2. Please do not park in the yard.
3. Friends or relatives recently released from prison or mental
hospitals are encouraged to attend the Bexar Grotto Holiday party.
4. All Metroplex and Texas cavers are invited; however the formation of
new Grottoes at the party is strictly prohibited.
5. Please drink responsibly and designate a driver.
6. Objects with large steel wheels should not be rolled around inside
of the house.
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There will be no meeting of the PBSS for December 2008
Stay tuned for January 2009 meeting notice...
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(reply-to [email protected] or list)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7765136.stm
Rock painting reveals unknown bat
By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News
An ancient cave painting from northern Australia depicts a previously
unknown species of large bat, researchers say.
The team thinks the rock art from Australia's Kimberley region could
date to the height of the last Ice Age - about 20-25,000 years ago.
The painting depicts eight roosting fruit bats - also called flying foxes.
They have features that do not match any Australian bats alive today,
suggesting the art depicts a species that is now extinct.
The findings have been published online in the scholarly journal Antiquity.
The bats would not have lived in the same cave as the painting; they
are depicted hanging on a vine, which indicates a lowland forest
habitat. Jack Pettigrew, from the University of Queensland, and
colleagues report that the eight bats in the painting have white
markings on their faces.
No present day Australian flying foxes possess these features.
Megabats
Dr Pettigrew and his team then considered whether the bat matched any
living "megabats" from other parts of the world.
Worldwide there are six such species, two in Africa and four living in
islands off South-East Asia.
The two African species have irregular white markings, unlike the
depiction.
One of the Asian species has a white patch above the eyes - which is
inconsistent with the rock art; the other lacks the pale belly shown in
the Kimberley painting.
This left
Styloctenium wallacei
, from the island of Sulawesi,
Stylocteniummindorensis
from Mindoro in the Philippines.
All are medium-sized with the distinctive white facial stripe shown in
the cave art. All are fruit eaters living in lowland forest. Although
Styloctenium
have small white markings just above the eyes, these would not have been
visible in profile, say the researchers.
On balance, say the researchers,
Styloctenium
is the closest living genus to the ancient species in the painting.
No fossil bats that could fit the bill are known from the local area.
"Fossilisation is notoriously poor in the rocky tropical environment of
the Kimberley," Dr Pettigrew told BBC News.
Small fossil bats are known from Queensland's Riversleigh rocks, from
which they can be extracted using acetic acid. But no flying fox
remains have been found. The Queensland fossils are 30 million years
older than the Kimberley flying fox.
Stripey face
The bat depictions were found on a sandstone wall protected by
overhangs, near Kalumburu. They belong to a type of rock art known as
"Bradshaw". This Bradshaw rock art was painted more than 17,500
years ago by sophisticated artists. The style is spread over an area
belonging to several Aboriginal nations, each of which has a different
name for the rock art. "The art site has been chosen so that it is not exposed
to sun, has a flat wall for the art and a cap to protect the wall from
the weather," Dr Pettigrew said. There is considerable debate about whether
past mammal
extinctions in Australia were caused by human hunting pressure or by
climate change.
The researchers regard bats as too mobile to have been hunted to
extinction by the culture that produced the cave art.
The demise of the Kimberley white-faced megabats is more likely to have
resulted from the climatic and ecological changes that followed the end
of the Ice Age, say the scientists.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7765136.stm
Published: 2008/12/04 23:09:42 GMT
_________________________________________________________________
Send e-mail anywhere. No map, no compass.
http://windowslive.com/Explore/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_anywhere_122008
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forwarded by Bill Mixon:
hola a todos!!!
I sold my old toyota 1993. I need to buy another one less older than
the last one. I would like to know if some of you can help me to fine
another there in states, please.
I whould like to have a tacoma 1999, 4x4, better if it's V4, access
cab, speed manual and for sure a cheepes one!!!
I will apreciate your help.
best regards
Gustavo [Vela, [email protected]]
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