What is going on here?

[William Gibson Parker <wgp@dana.ucc.nau.edu>]

What is going on here?  I just sifted through 70 posts and we have...
1)Attacks on dinogeorge.
2)Dinogeorge firing back.
3)Gripes about costs, lack of money, poverty, etc...
4)people saying they would get out of paleo if they could because the
money is bad and the field is demanding(!!!!????) Did I see this right?
5)A request for fossils for a three-year-old boy....?
6)Posts suggesting this could be a scam to obtain money $$$$

After reading all of these I have to admit I am pretty bummed out with the
list.  Is this why we are on the list...to attack each other, to gripe
about money and funding, to actually decide whether paleontology is worth
it.  I think the point is being missed here, science is about discovering
new things, reveling in the wonder of it all, and sharing this wonderment
with others (including the public).   The best thing the past day on this
list was Larry F.'s hypothesis and Dr. Holtz's giving him advice and
further motivating him to continue rather than slamming him, telling him
he hasn't looked at enough material, or why should he bother because it
would just be too much trouble or expensive to do the research.  All I've
gotten from this list today is that if I do paleo I'll starve or be
frustrated.  I refuse to believe that the list members here are all living
in poverty while they have access to computers and time to e-mail all day.
Sure maybe no one is really wealthy material-wise but hopefully everyone
is getting rich intellectually and enjoying themselves.  That is what
motivates myself and if I do die of starvation from being a paleontologist
they are going to find me face down at a fossiliferous outcrop with
my rock hammer in hand and a big grin on my face.
-Bill Parker Northern
Arizona University