-----Original Message----- From: David [mailto:dlocklea...@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 10:49 PM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] ICS Texas attendees
I see at least 164 people from Texas have pre-registered for ICS. I don't think they are all cavers. ( Disclaimer: Some of these cavers may claim out of state grottos, but I think they all live in Texas or claim to be from Texas, or something like that. )... Anyone is welcome to put this list in alphabetical order or any other order that would be useful for the event. ************************************** For anyone interested in who is registered for the ICS, go to https://secure.concentric.com/ics2009.us/register/whois/. By scrolling down the page you'll find options to list people by registration number, alphabetically, country, state, and trips. The last three list people alphabetically. The information is in a database that allows easy sorting and processing of the registrants' data as needed. Currently, 199 people are registered from Texas. State affiliation on the list is not based on grottos but on the person's mailing address. For example, I still consider myself a Texas caver, but you'll find my name listed under New Mexico. Many people coming to the ICS are not cavers. They are cave and karst scientists, managers, and educators. For many years there were two camps of people working on cave and karst issues: those with caving backgrounds and those without. Many of those on the caving side believed that non-cavers couldn't grasp the realities and complexities of the karst environment, and some couldn't. Many of those on the non-caving side believed that the cavers were a bunch of enthusiasts who didn't have a good grasp of the science, and some didn't. In recent years, there has been a healing of this artificial rift. Both sides have important perspectives and insights to offer. One of my goals with this ICS was to further bring those sides together, and it is happening. Some of our symposia, meetings, field trips, and many of the papers that will be presented will be from people on the non-caving side. They have learned to appreciate the insights that caver scientists and managers have, and do excellent work by bringing in ideas and information that their caver counterparts never considered. The list of sponsors is another example of bringing in people and organizations who are outside the traditional caver circles. If we are to effectively study, manage, and educate people about caves and karst, we'll be far more effective by building partnerships with non-cavers, and the ICS is a big step in that direction. George --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
