single vs double i

[JOSEPH E. LAFERRIERE]

To: My current employer
CC: One or two other people (for my own legal protection)

Dear sir,
    As you are well aware, you and I have been debating the
issue of correct spelling of scientific names. Current
practice in botany (as specified by the International Code
of Botanical Nomenclature) is to add a double "i" to the
ending of commemorative names (with certain exceptions, as we
have already discussed). You have insisted, however, on
shortening this to  a single i, rendering "Yucca schottii" as
"Yucca schotti."
   This morning you requested that I go through the portion
of your database that I have entered and delete the second i.
I did just the opposite.You said this was necessary for
consistancy. I went through the portions of the database you
and others have entered, attaching the second i when needed.
   You are welcome to fire me for this. When you hired me, I
assumed you were doing so because of my training in botany,
and that you wished to make use of my expertise. I would
not have accepted the position had I known you would
request me to do things wrong intentionally. I did not
spend 15 years of my life as a college student learning how
to do botany correctly in order to do it wrong on purpose.
   We are preparing to use the afroementioned database to
print labels to distribute specimens to various herbaria.
My name will be associated with many of those specimens. I
cannot have my name associated with such an unprofesional
practice as the deliberate misspelling of scientific names.

Respectfully yours,

Dr. Joseph E. Laferriere

--
"There are two secrets to success. The first is not telling
everything you know."

Dr. Joseph E. Laferriere