Message-ID: Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:49:56 -0600 From: "Rich Cifelli" Sender: rich.cifelli@gmail.com To: "Mike Taylor" , "Mathew Wedel" Delivery-date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:50:06 +0100 Subject: aetogate Dear Mike and Matt: Well, since you asked....I have written a few comments on aetogate. You are most welcome to use or lose these as you see fit. I don't know if I told you, but the Poles contacted me right after the NMMNH Bulletin was published. They forwarded me copies of all relevant e-mails and other documents, which is the basis for my statement in the penultimate sentence....rich Given the extensive comments that have already been posted, I cannot add anything original here. I will state, for the record, that I, too, regard this as a very serious matter, one well deserving of the broad visibility it has gotten. This is particularly so because it involves alleged wrongdoing on the part of senior investigators who should know better. Like many others in the field of vertebrate paleontology, it has been my great pleasure to enjoy the exchange of ideas and information among friends, colleagues, and students having similar interests. Through my career, I have also benefited enormously from the good will of people at institutions worldwide, great and small, in gaining access to specimens (many unpublished) for study. This system depends upon mutual trust and adherence to an unwritten but commonsense code of professional ethics. From the internal documents I have seen, I find it difficult to believe that all of this involves simple misunderstandings, particularly-as Dr. Padian astutely observed-where permission to study specimens should be formally agreed upon. Whatever went wrong, an unfortunate result of this sad affair is that our community will probably not be as open as it once was--and here we all stand to lose. -- Richard L. Cifelli Presidential Professor and Curator Oklahoma Museum of Natural History 2401 Chautauqua Ave. Norman, OK 73072 (405) 325-8978 (voice); 325-7699 (fax)