(re)
Pekka T. Lehtinen
pekleh at UTU.FI
Thu Aug 13 11:19:16 CDT 1998
At 09.23 12.8.1998 -0400, robert fogel wrote:
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 09:39:01 -0400
>From: "William R. Anderson" <wra at umich.edu>
>To: Herbarium at umich.edu, dulcesh at cib.uaem.mx, peberry at facstaff.wisc.edu,
> gkbrown at uwyo.edu, bbuck at nybg.org, kcameron.ecology at mhs.unc.edu,
> mc03kg at lion.rbgkew.org.uk, ibone at espacio.com.ar,
> TDANIEL at CASMAIL.CALACADEMY.ORG, pdavilaa at servidor.unam.mx,
> pdelprete at nybg.org, oscarsh at cib.uaem.mx, dubs at systbot.unizh.ch,
> pfritsch at cas.calacademy.org, pfryxell at mail.utexas.edu,
> giannasi at dogwood.botany.uga.edu, mharker at maiz.cucba.udg.mx,
> hensold at fmppr.fmnh.org, jacquemoud at cjb.unige.ch, dmjohnso at cc.owu.edu=
,
> pjorgensen at lehmann.mobot.org, jkallunki at nybg.org,
> rkiger+ at andrew.cmu.edu, chapa at colpos.colpos.mx, ejlott at aol.com,
> mal8 at cornell.edu, macdougj at mobot.org, mcpherso at mobot.org,
> smori at nybg.org, mmulgura at darwin.edu.ar, panero at mail.utexas.edu,
> grogers at caribnet.net, iecolog at zeus.ccu.umich.mx, beryl at mail.utexas.e=
du,
> solomon at mobot.org, stevens at mobot.mobot.org, tellez at servidor.unam.mx,
> ulloa at mobot.org, vrios at ibiologia.unam.mx, glwebster at ucdavis.edu,
> rwilbur at acpub.duke.edu, ewood at oeb.harvard.edu, fzuloaga at darwin.edu.a=
r,
> smith at ucjeps.herb.berkeley.edu
>Subject: IAPT
>
>Dear friends and colleagues:
>The letter that follows is self-explanatory. Please read it and, if you
>agree that there is a serious problem in IAPT, do two things:
>1. Send Vicki Funk a message saying that you are willing to have your na=
me
>associated with our protest to Greuter.
>2. Forward this message to other plant taxonomists who should see it.
>If you are going to do anything, please do it *today*, because time is v=
ery
>short. If we are to have any hope of persuading Greuter to allow meaning=
ful
>choice in the imminent IAPT elections, we must show him in the next few
>days that a large number of the members of IAPT are opposed to his
>entrenched and self-perpetuating autocracy. If you have already received
>this letter from another source, I apologize for the duplication.
>With best regards, Bill Anderson
>*******************************************************
>
>IAPT ALTERNATIVE WEBSITE
>Update 10 August 1998
>URGENT REQUEST FOR YOUR SUPPORT
>
>Dear Colleague:
>You may have received a mailing a few weeks ago notifying you of an IAPT
>Alternative Website and asking for nominations for Officers and Council
>members for IAPT. The response to this request was gratifying and this
>letter is written to accomplish three things. First, to thank you for y=
our
>input, second, to bring you up to date on what has transpired, and third=
,
>to make an URGENT REQUEST FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
>
>I. The Nominations for IAPT Officers and Council.
>One nomination was received for each of the Officer positions and it was
>felt that these individuals constituted a group that has the interest an=
d
>the institutional support necessary to carry IAPT into the next century.
>Also, many nominations were received for the Council positions. Several
>drafts of the proposed council nominations have been circulated, and you
>may have seen another longer version. Perhaps some explanation of how t=
he
>list below came about is in order. There are only 10 positions on the
>Council and if many individuals are nominated, there is the possibility
>that it would split the vote. As it is there are 13 people and it was f=
elt
>that the number could go no higher. Since nearly everyone nominated was
>experienced and willing to run for Council, the final list was a delicat=
e
>balance between the country of residence of those nominated and their
>institution. It is regrettable that it was not possible to include
>everyone on the ballot. It seems likely that all nominated individuals
>will be asked to serve in some capacity at a future date. Your interest =
and
>support are appreciated. It is hoped that you will be able to vote for =
the
>nominees listed below.
>
>Nominated for: Name Country of Residence
>President Sir Ghillean Prance (UK)
>Vice-President Teuvo Ahti (Finland)
>Secretary Patricia Holmgren (USA)
>Treasurer Marshall Crosby (USA)
>Admin. of Finances Judy West (Australia)
>Council Fred Barrie (USA)
>Council Steve Blackmore (UK)
>Council Herve Burdet (Switzerland)
>Council Vincent Desmoulins (Belgium)
>Council Enrique Forero (Colombia)
>Council Peter Linder (South Africa)
>Council David Mabberley (Australia)
>Council Anthony Orchard (Australia)
>Council Sebsebe D. (Ethiopia)
>Council Sy Sohmer (USA)
>Council Peter Stevens (USA)
>Council Tod Stuessy (Austria)
>Council Warren Wagner (USA)
>
>II. The Ballot
>The above list was submitted on the 29th of July (nomination of Treasure=
r
>was on the 31st). No acknowledgment of the list was received from Berli=
n,
>but a few days later Dr. Patricia Holmgren received a phone call from th=
e
>Secretary, Dr. Werner Greuter. He informed her that the Officers would =
not
>allow anyone to run against him for Secretary nor would they allow anyon=
e
>else to be nominated for Treasurer other than his colleague Dr. B. Zimme=
r,
>the current Treasurer. As an historical point, while it is true that in
>the past candidates for the offices of the Secretary and Treasurer have
>often run unopposed, it is also true that there have been instances wher=
e
>more than one candidate was nominated (Dr. Greuter was an unsuccessfully
>candidate for Secretary in 1975). Dr. Greuter then asked Dr. Holmgren t=
o
>run for President instead, and suggested that he would put three people =
on
>the ballot for President (not including Prance). Dr. Holmgren has told =
us
>that she has no interest in running for President, and she has reconfirm=
ed
>her willingness to be nominated for Secretary. Dr. Greuter also mention=
ed
>that he was trying to finalize the ballot form as soon as this week, whi=
ch
>would apparently give us minimal time to convince him to accept the abov=
e
>nominations for Officer. It seems likely that, unless he changes his mi=
nd,
>the ballots will not include the names of Prance for President, Holmgren
>for Secretary, and Crosby for Treasurer. Further, it appears Dr. Greute=
r
>may try to nominate several people for the other Officers and Council
>positions, which may result in a divided vote and so reduce the chance o=
f
>the individuals on the above list being elected.
>
>III. URGENT REQUEST FOR YOUR SUPPORT
>We believe that this reported refusal to nominate Prance, Holmgren, and
>Crosby is unfortunate and indicative of the fact that IAPT is operating
>with no accountability to the membership. It is this lack of due proces=
s
>and democracy that has so irritated many of the members of IAPT and has
>likely led to the decrease in membership. The website was established t=
o
>increase membership participation in IAPT, and in the process it has
>exposed yet another instance of disregard for the wishes of the membersh=
ip
>and the lack of any type of checks and balances in IAPT (e.g., no
>nominating committee for officers and council members). All of the powe=
r
>is in the hands of a few individuals. Indeed, Dr. Greuter alone holds
>nearly all positions of power (Secretary of IAPT, Chairman of the Genera=
l
>Committee, Editor of the Association*s journal Taxon, Editor of Regnum
>Vegetabile, Rapporteur General, Secretary of the Bureau of Nomenclature,
>member of the Nominating Committee which appoints all other committees a=
nd
>the Rapporteur General, and Chairman of the Editorial Committee for the
>Code), and there is little recourse except revolt.
>
>We Ask That You Do Several Things:
>1. Send a message to V. Funk (contact information below) and ask that y=
our
>name be listed on the website indicating your support for competiton for
>all offices in the upcoming IAPT elections. Even better would be to wri=
te
>a short note to be posted on the website. You can also write or email D=
r.
>Greuter directly (wg at zedat.fu-berlin.de). [Participation by non-IAPT
>members is welcome since these issues affect the whole of taxonomy]
>2. Pass this letter along to everyone you think may be interested.
>3. Make sure that your dues are paid for 1998 so that you can vote in t=
his
>election.
>4. Vote for the individuals listed above if they are on the ballot form.
>If their names are not on the ballot form you should request a new ballo=
t.
>
>We ignore this situation at our own peril. At stake is the future of IA=
PT
>and international cooperation on nomenclature issues. Time is very
>important because decisions on the content of the ballot form may very w=
ell
>be made in the next few days. Please take a few minutes to register you=
r
>opinion on this most recent example of flagrant disregard for the wishes=
of
>the membership of IAPT.
>
>Signed: C. Anderson, W. Anderson, R. Brummitt, V. Funk, and L. Skog
>
>email: *funkv at nmnh.si.edu* or *hollowell.tom at nmnh.si.edu*
>fax: 202-786-2563
>address: Dept. of Botany MRC 166, Smithsonian Inst., Washington D.C. 205=
60
USA
>website: http://mason.gmu.edu/~ckelloff/vfunk
>
>**********
>William R. Anderson
>University of Michigan Herbarium
>North University Building
>Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1057
>wra at umich.edu Tel.: 734-764-2432 Fax: 734-647-5719
>
>Dear Botanist Colleagues,
Through TAXACOM the above message could also be read by non-members of
IAFT. Without a possibility for actual vote I want to comment this attemp=
t
for "revolution". I do not personally know the majority of names referred
to in the above list and in this situation I can give my general comments
as a neutral person.
This message was addressed (in addition to TAXACOM) to several people in
United States, a few in South America and a single one in Europe.
The list of "alternative candidates" includes six names from USA
(including two important officers), three from Australia, two from Africa
and one from South America, but no candidates at all from several west
European countries with long and strong tradition in taxonomy (Germany,
France, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, all Scandinavia) and no candidates fro=
m
Eastern Europe, Asia (including Japan & China !). For a person with long
experience in various international organizations such a list is
geographically extremely unbalanced and I therefore cannot accept or
recommend this kind of action in any international organization.
As I don=B4t know Dr. Greuter's activities within IAFT, I don=B4t want t=
o make
any comments about his personal candidacy. I know him well through his
activities in the cooperation of nomenclaturists and we actually have
different opinions in many details in regard to the future of
bionomenclature. However, I am sure that even the botanists need also a l=
ot
of experienced non-American people in their international cooperation.
with best wishes
=20
Pekka T. Lehtinen
Pekka T. Lehtinen, Curator Tel. +358 2 3335773
Zoological Museum Fax +358 2 3336590
University of Turku Email pekleh at utu.fi
FIN-20014 Turku, Finland
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