News surrounding the UW Geological Museum closure has slowed a bit recently. A Board of Trustees meeting was held yesterday, but there was no time scheduled for public comments. The Provost stayed afterward to speak to the members of the public that had come to the meeting, and told the members of the board they could do the same, and all hung up. The Provost did indicate that if private funds could be raised to keep the museum open that would be an option (prior to what some potential donors had been told - that their money could go to better things).
The museum will in fact be closing its doors to the general public at the end of the day on June 30, 2009. It will remain open upon appointment to UW students and visiting researchers.
The petition is doing good and it now has over 1500 signatures. Way to go folks! I will be mailing a copy of the petition signatures in with my letter to the Board of Trustees. Please keep passing it around and take a moment to sign it if you have not yet.
I did send an email to Matt Haigler, President of the Associated Students of the University of Wyoming. He told me that he supports the budget cuts and they he does support the effort to raise private funds for the museum, and that he would be happy to provide support and help in this effort. He said that he had several ideas and would be willing to speak to me about them, but I was unable to reach him by phone. I plan on attempting to contact him again soon (I have been sick for the last two days).
If you would like to send in a letter to the editor, please consider these local Wyoming publications: Casper Star-Tribune, Wyoming Tribune Eagle, & Laramie Boomerang. It would also be beneficial to contact the local TV news stations (Email: K2 ABC, KCWY13 NBC, KGWN CBS 5). It might also be benificial to contact the Wyoming State Tourism Board & the local Laramie Chamber of Commerce.
The petition is doing good and it now has over 1500 signatures. Way to go folks! I will be mailing a copy of the petition signatures in with my letter to the Board of Trustees. Please keep passing it around and take a moment to sign it if you have not yet.
I did send an email to Matt Haigler, President of the Associated Students of the University of Wyoming. He told me that he supports the budget cuts and they he does support the effort to raise private funds for the museum, and that he would be happy to provide support and help in this effort. He said that he had several ideas and would be willing to speak to me about them, but I was unable to reach him by phone. I plan on attempting to contact him again soon (I have been sick for the last two days).
If you would like to send in a letter to the editor, please consider these local Wyoming publications: Casper Star-Tribune, Wyoming Tribune Eagle, & Laramie Boomerang. It would also be beneficial to contact the local TV news stations (Email: K2 ABC, KCWY13 NBC, KGWN CBS 5). It might also be benificial to contact the Wyoming State Tourism Board & the local Laramie Chamber of Commerce.
Below is a list of the recent press surrounding the mueum closure.
(6-16-09) Museum comments sidestepped [Wyoming Tribune Eagle]
(6-15-09) UW reacts to concern about the closing of the Geology Museum [Wyoming Public Radio]
(6-12-09) Paleontologists don't dig closing Wyo. dino museum [AP story, covered in the Fort Mill Times, NewsTimes, San Francisco Chronicle, Casper Star-Tribune, KJCT News Grand Junction, Local News 8]
(6-11-09) Dinosaur museum in Laramie closing [Wyoming Tribune Eagle]
(6-4-09) University Response to State Budget Reductions [University of Wyoming News]
Letters to the Editor:
(6-16-09) Museum exemplifies UW's mission [Casper Star-Tribune]
(6-16-09) Money for sports but not museum? [Casper Star-Tribune]
(6-16-09) UW must not ignore public [Casper Star-Tribune]
(6-14-09) Museum is too valuable to cut [Casper Star-Tribune]
(6-11-09) Pouring gas on UW's fire [Casper Star-Tribune]
(6-10-09) Museum is part of UW's mission [Casper Star-Tribune]
(6-8-09) Keep Geological Museum open [Casper Star-Tribune]
(6-8-09) Keep Geological Museum open [Casper Star-Tribune]
Memos:
6 comments:
Thanks for putting the work into synthesizing all of this information into one post. This is an important issue and hopefully the easy access will draw in a few supporters!
I'm currently sending the petition link to everyone I know that might be remotely interested, hopefully others will do the same.
Thanks Thomas! I am trying to do anything I can. I appreciate you passing the word on!
As of right now, there is no plan to accomodate ANYONE (students/visiting researchers) in getting in to the Museum once it is closed. They simply don't have the manpower for that. It'll be a sad day on June 30th, and I plan on being there with my children. Hopefully donors can come up with the $ to open it again. I think you can send money to the Geology Dept. made out to the "riends of the S.H. Knight Geological Museum." I'll post the address if anyone wants it.
Please do post the address.
I just talked to the administrative asst. at the Dept. of Geology and Geophysics here at UW, and she said she wasn't sure what address they would use. They are trying to raise $ to start an endowment fund. Since the "Friends of the S.H. Knight Geological Museum" is not related to the University, she wasn't sure if the money would be coming to a university address. I'll post the address as soon as I know it.
OK, I got the information. Checks can be made out to "Friends of the S.H. Knight Geological Museum" and sent to:
Friends of the S.H. Knight Geological Musem
PO Box 1752
Laramie, WY 82073
There is also a website at www.keeplaramiedinos.blogspot.com. Its seems there will also be info tables at Washington Park at Freedom Has a Birthday (July 4th) and at Jubilee Days downtown.
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