Short and to the point, KTVQ's article, linked here, listed the facts of the recent AP release.
http://www.ktvq.com/Global/story.asp?S=10984907
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Article and Corrections
Here is a link to an article in today's Wyoming Tribune Eagle:
http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2009/08/25/news/20local_08-25-09.txt.
Please note that I have added a couple corrections in the form of a comment, which should appear after the article on the comments board.
Respectfully,
Lisa
http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2009/08/25/news/20local_08-25-09.txt.
Please note that I have added a couple corrections in the form of a comment, which should appear after the article on the comments board.
Respectfully,
Lisa
Monday, August 24, 2009
Correction on Hours
Here is a correction of the hours listed by the University of Wyoming press release of 8/22 and the Sunday Boomerang article, per Art Snoke, Department Head, Department of Geology and Geophysics:
...article on the front page of the Sunday (8/23), Boomerang lists incorrect information about the opening hours of the UW Geological Museum. The UW Geological Museum will be open TWThF from 1:00 pm-4:00 pm, Sat. 10:00 am-2 pm, and Sunday, noon-4:00 pm. Please note that there are different opening hours for Saturday and Sunday. I realize that the UW News Release of August 22nd titled: "UW Geological Museum Opens Tuesday" also listed incorrect hours for Sunday. We have posted notices on the doors to the UW Geological Museum to inform visitors of the correct opening hours.
...article on the front page of the Sunday (8/23), Boomerang lists incorrect information about the opening hours of the UW Geological Museum. The UW Geological Museum will be open TWThF from 1:00 pm-4:00 pm, Sat. 10:00 am-2 pm, and Sunday, noon-4:00 pm. Please note that there are different opening hours for Saturday and Sunday. I realize that the UW News Release of August 22nd titled: "UW Geological Museum Opens Tuesday" also listed incorrect hours for Sunday. We have posted notices on the doors to the UW Geological Museum to inform visitors of the correct opening hours.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Statement and Thanks
First, thanks to the folks at Turtle Rock Coffee for collecting $35 donations for the Friends of the SH Knight Geological Museum effort. You can find a link to Turtle Rock's website on our "Supporting Businesses" sidebar. This has been a preferred location for Friends meetings this summer.
In response to the many questions asked of us with the advent of the fall semester and announcement of part-time museum hours in a Saturday, August 22, university press release, the Friends of the SH Knight Geological Museum issues the following statement:
University of Wyoming administration decided to close the geological museum on campus effective July 1. A nonprofit community benefit organization, the Friends acknowledges the public’s general disagreement with this decision, expressed in letters to state and university leaders and newspaper editors, signing of petitions, and direct correspondence with the Friends.
A Saturday, July 18, university press release announcing the decision to reopen the museum part-time with security in place resulted in further outcry from the general public, university alumni and scientific , education, and museum communities through additional letters, editorials, professional statements and participation in an online newspaper survey.
In direct response to the August 22 press release stating “the UW Foundation provided funding for a part-time security guard to ensure the safety of the collection,” the Friends understands that in the 122 years of existence of the geological museum, those visiting from the university and wider communities had done so for the learning opportunity and that the museum display collections must be protected for the people, not from the people. In addition, presence of a curator during those years enhanced visitors’ interaction with the displays.
University administration has stated that state budget cuts were the sole factor in the closure of the museum. State block grant funding had provided the museum’s entire $80,000 annual operating budget, including curator and office assistant salaries, utilities and other operating expenses. The museum itself did not have a development director and was prohibited from seeking larger outside financial contributions over the years.
Despite these constraints, the curator was able to maintain a museum recognized not only locally and across the State of Wyoming, but nationally and internationally as well, as a topnotch scientific, educational and research facility.
The museum brought uncalculated economic benefit to Laramie and the state, including from tourists all across the country who planned vacations to Wyoming just to see Big Al.
With the sudden June announcement that the museum would close on July 1, those of the general public and scientific, educational and museum communities who know firsthand the value of the museum have helped bring awareness to the administration of its importance.
Now that administration has agreed to convene a university group and to allow the Department of Geology and Geophysics to pursue a plan for a fully staffed reopening of the museum in the future, the Friends looks forward positively. We will continue to collect and hold contributions to this effort in our nonprofit account through the Laramie Community Foundation, 505 S. Third Street, Suite 100, Laramie, WY 82070.
The Friends does not agree with the present part-time solution and has not relinquished monies given the organization to the part-time opening of the museum with a security guard. As we maintain our mission to pursue fully functional status of the museum, we will turn over those funds only to an option in which monies are insured to be used solely for this purpose.
Questions may be directed to dinos82071@gmail.com
In response to the many questions asked of us with the advent of the fall semester and announcement of part-time museum hours in a Saturday, August 22, university press release, the Friends of the SH Knight Geological Museum issues the following statement:
University of Wyoming administration decided to close the geological museum on campus effective July 1. A nonprofit community benefit organization, the Friends acknowledges the public’s general disagreement with this decision, expressed in letters to state and university leaders and newspaper editors, signing of petitions, and direct correspondence with the Friends.
A Saturday, July 18, university press release announcing the decision to reopen the museum part-time with security in place resulted in further outcry from the general public, university alumni and scientific , education, and museum communities through additional letters, editorials, professional statements and participation in an online newspaper survey.
In direct response to the August 22 press release stating “the UW Foundation provided funding for a part-time security guard to ensure the safety of the collection,” the Friends understands that in the 122 years of existence of the geological museum, those visiting from the university and wider communities had done so for the learning opportunity and that the museum display collections must be protected for the people, not from the people. In addition, presence of a curator during those years enhanced visitors’ interaction with the displays.
University administration has stated that state budget cuts were the sole factor in the closure of the museum. State block grant funding had provided the museum’s entire $80,000 annual operating budget, including curator and office assistant salaries, utilities and other operating expenses. The museum itself did not have a development director and was prohibited from seeking larger outside financial contributions over the years.
Despite these constraints, the curator was able to maintain a museum recognized not only locally and across the State of Wyoming, but nationally and internationally as well, as a topnotch scientific, educational and research facility.
The museum brought uncalculated economic benefit to Laramie and the state, including from tourists all across the country who planned vacations to Wyoming just to see Big Al.
With the sudden June announcement that the museum would close on July 1, those of the general public and scientific, educational and museum communities who know firsthand the value of the museum have helped bring awareness to the administration of its importance.
Now that administration has agreed to convene a university group and to allow the Department of Geology and Geophysics to pursue a plan for a fully staffed reopening of the museum in the future, the Friends looks forward positively. We will continue to collect and hold contributions to this effort in our nonprofit account through the Laramie Community Foundation, 505 S. Third Street, Suite 100, Laramie, WY 82070.
The Friends does not agree with the present part-time solution and has not relinquished monies given the organization to the part-time opening of the museum with a security guard. As we maintain our mission to pursue fully functional status of the museum, we will turn over those funds only to an option in which monies are insured to be used solely for this purpose.
Questions may be directed to dinos82071@gmail.com
Article in Sunday Boomerang
UW Geological Museum reopens this week
After being closed for nearly two months, the S.H. Knight Geological Museum will reopen its doors to students and the public at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
But things won’t be exactly as they were before: When the museum was overseen by former curator Brent Breithaupt, the facility operated on an $80,000 annual budget which allowed it to be open 40 hours per week. That funding came to UW in the Wyoming Legislature’s block grant of nearly $200 million.
Now, the museum will be open 20 hours per week: from 1-4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays during the academic year.
It is also being funded by monies provided by the University of Wyoming Foundation to the tune of $8,000 per semester, UW Communications Director Jessica Lowell said.
“The plan is to have someone there during those hours (of operation). These were funds that the foundation could spend on anything, so the foundation and (UW Foundation President) Ben Blaylock stepped up and found this money so we could staff it and get it open to the public again,” Lowell said.
The funds provided will pay a part-time security guard to oversee the museum and collections.
The Geological Museum was closed as just one of the many steps that UW took to cut 10 percent — or $18.3 million — from the annual budget at the request of Gov. Dave Freudenthal.
Peter Baumann’s e-mail address is lbedit9@laramieboomerang.com
By PETER BAUMANN
Boomerang Staff Writer
After being closed for nearly two months, the S.H. Knight Geological Museum will reopen its doors to students and the public at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
But things won’t be exactly as they were before: When the museum was overseen by former curator Brent Breithaupt, the facility operated on an $80,000 annual budget which allowed it to be open 40 hours per week. That funding came to UW in the Wyoming Legislature’s block grant of nearly $200 million.
Now, the museum will be open 20 hours per week: from 1-4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays during the academic year.
It is also being funded by monies provided by the University of Wyoming Foundation to the tune of $8,000 per semester, UW Communications Director Jessica Lowell said.
“The plan is to have someone there during those hours (of operation). These were funds that the foundation could spend on anything, so the foundation and (UW Foundation President) Ben Blaylock stepped up and found this money so we could staff it and get it open to the public again,” Lowell said.
The funds provided will pay a part-time security guard to oversee the museum and collections.
The Geological Museum was closed as just one of the many steps that UW took to cut 10 percent — or $18.3 million — from the annual budget at the request of Gov. Dave Freudenthal.
Peter Baumann’s e-mail address is lbedit9@laramieboomerang.com
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Another Saturday Press Release
News Release
Aug. 22, 2009 --The University of Wyoming Geological Museum will be open on a part time basis beginning Tuesday, Aug. 25. The museum hours will be 1-4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays during the 2009-0 academic year. It will be closed Mondays. The museum is able to open because the UW Foundation provided funding for a part-time security guard to ensure the safety of the collection. UW President Tom Buchanan has thanked the Foundation for its support in securing funding to make the collections accessible for public viewing. The museum closed June 30 as one of a series of steps taken to meet an $18.3 million state budget cut that took effect July 1.
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 |
Friday, August 21, 2009
7th Grader's Petition
The Friends of the S.H. Knight Geological Museum had a V.I.P. stop by the booth at Farmer's Market on Friday, August 21st.
Kyle Gonzales, the 7th Grader who started the petition to "Please reopen the geological museum"; stopped by the booth to say hello. We were able to show him that 1363 individuals, many from out of state as well as out of the country have signed the petition.
We would like to thank everyone that has taken the time to sign the petition and support Kyle in his wish to reopen the museum. The Friends would also like to thank Kyle for his initiative in starting this signature drive and giving the people of Laramie an opportunity to show their support.
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