(As reported by Mary K. to the dinolist.
I've been volunteering and working there since 1998 and have seen the
drastic cuts over the years. It's a fantastic and priceless place
that is undervalued by the city and the public in general. it would
be great to get strong leadership in the president's office this next
time around, as well as the drastic upgrade the museum needs! The
article is incisive and well-researched. - Patti)
_______________________________________________________
Dinosaur museum is itself threatened"
"The Academy of Natural Sciences has been harmed by cuts in staffing
and
years of financial troubles."
By Patricia Horn
Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted on Sun, Dec. 04, 2005
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/living/health/13324126.htm
To generations of parents and children, the Academy of Natural
Sciences is
Philadelphia's dinosaur museum.
But to scientists who study climate change, the extinction of
species, and
other critical ecological matters, the academy is the home of one of
the
world's most valuable collections of biological specimens, critical to
understanding life on Earth.
"The academy is not just another museum," said Piotr Naskrecki, a
Harvard
University-based director of Conservation International. "It is a
priceless
library of biodiversity."
And it is all at risk.
The academy, at 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, is struggling
financially,
and has been for more than a decade. It ran deficits through much of
the
1980s, and from 1993 through last year, the academy ran annual
deficits averaging
about $700,000 a year.
The shortfalls have forced the academy over the last 15 years to shed
many
of the people who care for its 25 million specimens of fish, moss,
coral,
diatoms, dinosaur bones, birds, mammals, mollusks and plants.
The cuts continued last year, as it reduced its already shrunken
scientific
staff by a third, trimmed other staff, and restructured.
All that has left scientists in and out of the academy worried about
the
welfare of the collection and the future of the institution.
_____
<SNIP> of long, interesting article.
Mary
Patricia Kane-Vanni, Esq.
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
pkv1@erols.com or paleopatti@hotmail.com
http://groups.msn.com/DinosaurandFossilDigs
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small
people always do that, but really great ones make you feel that you
too, can become great." - Mark Twain