Re: PALEONEWS: BIDDING ON BONES... Long

[Ccookk@aol.com]

Here we go again... it just seems we cant let the "them against us" 
professional vs commercial thing die a silent death. This  post is not a 
criticism of any individual, but rather a discussion of some points that seem 
to be lacking in the article.
    Dont we all cringe at the thought of scientifically signigicant fossils 
being bought and placed where they will never be seen? On the other hand, how 
many fossils are now ( and have been for many years) sitting in field jackets 
in storehouses around the world, not being seen, not being studied? Is it ok 
for this to happen when it is engineered by a professional? Why doesnt this 
make the professional bristle?
    Do commecial dealers desire to obtain rare and significant fossils? Of 
course they do, and most for the same reason as the  professional, the pride 
of discovery or ownership, the attention and the recognition, the opportunity 
to study the specimen. In the case of the professional, it is his backers, 
the institution, the agency of his employment, that foots the bill for the 
specimen, and he still gets the the attention, recognition, and actually 
pretty much the ownership since he can be in touch with the specimen at his 
will. Could the commercial dealer provide a significant specimen to a 
professional for study, research, exhibition? Of course, and this does 
happen. Could the professional make public requests for certain specimens to 
be loaned from the commercial or private collector that may have them? Again 
of course, this can and does happen. Sadly,  problems sometime arise when the 
professional feels it is his "duty" to retain the specimen for posterity and 
refuses to return the specimen to the owner when asked/or agreed upon. This 
is not an infrequent situation, and I am myself a victim of this type of 
"holier than thou" mentality.
    How outraged can professionals be when they as a group are also involved 
in the sales or auctions of fossils? We dont need to name the most publicized 
ones, and there are still many others that occur as well. So, now that some 
people want to report on fossil sales, or auctions take place on public 
media, we professionals dont want to interact with them anymore. We will be 
taking our marbles and going home. Lets deprive the entire public of 
information on fossils unless it comes only from the us the, Professionals. 
Lets act to create laws that will encourage black market trade in fossils, so 
that no one (including the professional) can find that significant specimen 
at the fossils shows anymore. Does anyone really think that the person that 
purchases a complete cave bear "coveted" by the professional, would not 
provide the specimen for study if requested appropriately? The concerns again 
come into play that the fear is the specimen wont be returned. Does the 
professional study the specimen 24/7? Does it need to reside in the 
professional setting for ever in order to be studied for a period of time? 
The answer to the last two questions is, of course not! But, with the last 
statement of the article, it points out that the proof of anything is in the 
actions.    The point of this; If professionals want to ensure specimens for 
study and research, they can make a peace with the commercial/private 
collectors, and enlist their aid to bring about a win/win collaboration. They 
can be honest, open, and far less critical in their dealings with 
commercial/private collectors, and by such actions remove the fear of 
confiscation or conscription of the collectors specimens. Remember another 
thing... a couple of highly prized and publicized specimens were recently 
acquired by "professional institutions" or "professionals themselves", and 
the funding came from "commercial interests". 
Carl
"Power sometimes comes not from position, but lack of it"