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Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!sunybcs!dmark
From: dmark@cs.Buffalo.EDU (David Mark)
Newsgroups: news.groups,sci.bio
Subject: Re: CALL FOR VOTES -- Creation of a SCI.GEO newsgroup.
Summary: I vote "NO" because of the name
Keywords: Geology, Geophysics, Planetology, Meteorology, Climatology, Geography
Message-ID: <5983@cs.Buffalo.EDU>
Date: 20 May 89 15:35:47 GMT
References: <1775@leah.albany.edu> <1849@leah.Albany.Edu>
Reply-To: dmark@sunybcs.UUCP (David Mark)
Organization: SUNY/Buffalo Geography
Lines: 47

In article <1849@leah.Albany.Edu> ss6349@leah.albany.edu.UUCP (Steven H Schimmrich) writes:
>
       [some lines deleted]

>		   What is SCI.GEO and why is it needed?
>		   -------------------------------------
>
>   SCI.GEO  is the proposed name for an unmoderated newsgroup to discuss the
>earth and planetary sciences.  There currently does not exist any  newsgroup
>for  the  discussion  of  geology,  paleontology,  geophysics,  planetology,
>meteorology, climatology, etc.  except  where  they  might  fit  into  other
>newsgroups  such  as  SCI.BIO,  SCI.ASTRO, SCI.CHEM, SCI.PHYSICS, SCI.SPACE,
>etc. There are  no  SCI  newsgroups  dealing  specifically  with  the  earth
>sciences  and  this  one  would  fill that gap. ...
>
           [35 lines deleted]

>                 ...  Don't bother suggesting new names for  the  newsgroup,
>that  stage  has  passed. It will be named SCI.GEO or it will not be created
>(at least through my efforts).

I sent my "official" vote directly, but decided also to post this follow-up
in case anyone feels the way I do, and may wish to vote similarly.

==========================copy of my "vote" and reason below==================

I hereby vote "NO" on sci.geo, strictly because of the name.

Since your recent posting took the hard line "Don't bother suggesting new
names... It will be named SCI.GEO or it will not be created", I am forced to
vote "No", because GEO is also the first 3 letters of a major discipline,
GEOgraphy, which is primarliy concerned with the Social Sciences, and the
links between humans and environments.  And let's not forget an even older
discipline, GEOmetry, a branch of mathematiccs.  Since GEOgraphy itself might 
easily deserve a newsgroup, to say nothing of GEOmetry, I feel that establish-
ment of a group, un-negotiably named SCI.GEO, yet restricted to Earth Sciences,
would lead to confusion and ambiguity, and should not be done.

I would have voted "YES" for SCI.GEOLOGY, or SCI.EARTH_SCIENCE, and will do so,
if this attempt fails, and if you try again with a more appropriate name.

David Mark
Professor
Department of GEOgraphy
SUNY at Buffalo

dmark@cs.buffalo.edu