University Of Wyoming Geological Museum

[Guest solius symbiosus]

The University of Wyoming Geological Museum has undergone a series of radical funding cuts and is in danger of closing its doors. The museum has lost its director and a part-time secretary. Don't forget to sign the petition, and/or write a letter.

An open letter via Dinochick:

"We are dismayed to report that the University of Wyoming has decided to include the Geological Museum in the programs to be cut as a result of a decrease in funding by the state. 45 people across the University lost their jobs, including the Director of the Geological Museum Brent Breithaupt and the part-time museum secretary. This decision was made by the University administration, and in no way reflects a lack of support from the Department of Geology and Geophysics.

The museum itself and the paleontological research program that has been built around it is an amazing educational resource that is utilized daily by everyone from university professors to preschool children. The museum was founded in 1887 by Wilbur C. Knight, shortly after the university itself was founded. One of the first curators was William Harlow Reed, one of the railroad workers who discovered the first dinosaurian fossils at Como Bluff, WY. The current museum building was built under the direction of Samuel H. “Doc” Knight, for whom the S. H. Knight Geology building is named. The museum’s physical connection to the Geology Building allows it to be routinely incorporated into laboratory and classroom activities. In addition, public and private school classes frequently tour the museum as part of their curricula, making this museum a significant educational resource not just for Laramie but for the entire state of Wyoming.

The museum houses many fossils of interest to children and researchers alike, including one of the only mounted skeletons

of Apatosaurus (“Brontosaurus”) which recently was re-mounted with its tail in the air. Visitors from across the country come to see “Big Al” the Allosaurus as well as numerous other exhibits. Several holotype specimens are on display and have been available for research. Other specimens currently under study include the Columbian mammoth (ancient DNA) and microvertebrates from the Mesaverde Fm. A working preparation station has been integrated into the museum, and visitors can ask questions while watching fossils being prepared.

We want to stress that the Collection of Fossil Vertebrates is separate from the museum, and is not affected by these cuts at this time.

...We will keep the community apprised of any further developments in regards to the status of the University of Wyoming Geological Museum.

Letters of concern and support can be addressed to:

Tom Buchanan

Office of the President

Dept. 3434

1000 E. University Ave.

Laramie, WY 82071

tombuch@uwyo.edu

Myron Allen

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dept. 3302

1000 E. University Ave.

Laramie, WY 82071

allen@uwyo.edu

Please also sign the on-line petition at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/geomuseum/

[Auspex]

Petition signed.

Thanks for the heads-up!

[Guest N.AL.hunter]

Also signed.

[RJB]

ok, ive signed it.

RB

[tracer]

well - please permit me to throw in a balancing thought or three to this petition drive. we all love fossils, we all love museums, and we all love people who work keeping their jobs.

but! has anybody done any research of this issue before taking a position on it? is there anybody here who would want to be subjected to outside pressure over a painful budget-driven decision you had to make by people elsewhere who are unfamiliar with the situation and unaffected by it?

here's why i say this. all across the globe right now, people are having to make difficult and painful decisions regarding what things MUST be curtailed as a result of the impossibility of continuing all activities in the face of forcibly diminished resourcing. those making the gut-wrenching decisions in many instances do so at great damage to their own psyches, if not their physical health. they lose sleep over it, and suffer greatly over it. not everybody, but definitely some. in many cases, the decisions which must be made seem totally unacceptable to those having to make them, but they have to make them anyway.

so back to the specific from the general -

apparently, the state of wyoming is in a money crunch, which is anticipated to get much worse next year. apparently they haven't invented a magic wand to wave that produces money, and are therefore forced to simply spend less. they are therefore cutting budgets for healthcare, medicaid, kid care, schools, corrections, community colleges, and yes, a university with a museum.

the university is apparently closing its visitor's center, getting rid of a dance team and a singing group, and of course the issue du jour, the museum. as so many entities do, they apparently are also trying to deal with some of the personnel cuts through attrition, not filling vacancies, and unfortunately, eliminating some filled positions.

my heart goes out to the people of wyoming, and everywhere else. these are difficult times...

[Traviscounty]

There you go tryin' to look at the "big picture", thinkin', and such!

[tracer]

There you go tryin' to look at the "big picture", thinkin', and such!

you're funny. good comeback.

[Guest solius symbiosus]

Points taken. Perhaps you failed to realize that a museum is different than those other programs, in that, once a museum closes its doors due to budget constraints, It is gone forever. It isn't like it can be re-funded and the museum will simply "start" up again where it left off. This museum has provided educational opportunities for all ages for over 100 years, and it will be a hard loss for the area.

As I'm sure you know, museums acquire collections over time. When one closes its doors, those collections are dispersed... never to be reassembled.

Since your fifth paragraph resorted to a fallacy to make a point, I'll include this one from PZ Myers:

This doesn't make sense. A museum is a repository of accumulated information — if you discard it this year because you don't want to maintain it, you never get it back. It's gone. You can't decide at a later date when you're more flush that maybe you'll restore it, because you can't, you have to start anew, and hope that future legislatures are a little more far-sighted than present ones. It frustrates me immensely to see academic infrastructure demolished because some bean-counter would rather throw away money on some waste of resources like abstinence-only education or locking recreational marijuana smokers in jail.

This museum is somewhat different than others; the dept. will retain the collection, but that doesn't guarantee that it can be revived in times when the funds are available. I am somewhat familiar with budgetary constraints(choking the life out of a dept., or program), and the cynicism of the staff that remains, afterward.

[bobthemoose]

Points taken. Perhaps you failed to realize that a museum is different than those other programs, in that, once a museum closes its doors due to budget constraints, It is gone forever. It isn't like it can be re-funded and the museum will simply "start" up again where it left off. This museum has provided educational opportunities for all ages for over 100 years, and it will be a hard loss for the area.

As I'm sure you know, museums acquire collections over time. When one closes its doors, those collections are dispersed... never to be reassembled.

Since your fifth paragraph resorted to a fallacy to make a point, I'll include this one from PZ Myers:

This doesn't make sense. A museum is a repository of accumulated information — if you discard it this year because you don't want to maintain it, you never get it back. It's gone. You can't decide at a later date when you're more flush that maybe you'll restore it, because you can't, you have to start anew, and hope that future legislatures are a little more far-sighted than present ones. It frustrates me immensely to see academic infrastructure demolished because some bean-counter would rather throw away money on some waste of resources like abstinence-only education or locking recreational marijuana smokers in jail.

This museum is somewhat different than others; the dept. will retain the collection, but that doesn't guarantee that it can be revived in times when the funds are available. I am somewhat familiar with budgetary constraints(choking the life out of a dept., or program), and the cynicism of the staff that remains, afterward.

isnt that abit overtly dramatic?

I hate the idea of museum closures as much as the next guy - but it's not like the contents of the geological museum are going to be taken to the rock crusher and used as base material for road construction! the accumulated information is still there, and as you said your self the department will still retain the collection.

[mommabetts]

isnt that abit overtly dramatic?

I hate the idea of museum closures as much as the next guy - but it's not like the contents of the geological museum are going to be taken to the rock crusher and used as base material for road construction! the accumulated information is still there, and as you said your self the department will still retain the collection.

Yes, but what good does it serve to be locked up, never to be seen again? If the museum staying open helps but a few kids decide that ,that field is what they want to follow then it is worth it. If the government can waste MILLIONS of our tax dollars on things that are useless to the tax payers, why can't they keep the museum open for the tax payers. Lets face it, the fly over of air force one over The Statue of Liberty, would have been enough to keep it open, which is more of a waste? Give me museums for all to enjoy than the governments stupid stunts, that only cost the tax payers and give us nothing in return.

[bobthemoose]

Yes, but what good does it serve to be locked up, never to be seen again? If the museum staying open helps but a few kids decide that ,that field is what they want to follow then it is worth it. If the government can waste MILLIONS of our tax dollars on things that are useless to the tax payers, why can't they keep the museum open for the tax payers. Lets face it, the fly over of air force one over The Statue of Liberty, would have been enough to keep it open, which is more of a waste? Give me museums for all to enjoy than the governments stupid stunts, that only cost the tax payers and give us nothing in return.

the same good that i'd wager 99% of the museums collection currently does - it makes its self accessible for scientific study.

we could go on and on about government waste all day, but remember there is likely a number of air force vetrans who would argue that the statue of liberty publicity stunt was money well spent if it encourages but a few young people to serve their country and make something good of themselves int he process. it's all just a matter of personal opinion. Some people see a bunch of old rocks as worthless junk. sad but true.

I'm certainly not trying to argue that this closing is a GOOD thing, I just think it's a bit extreme to characterize it as an irreperable loss of learning.

[va paleo]

ive signed it weeks ago