Religious systems such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. The various religions and traditions of India that were created by these amalgamations have influenced other parts of the world too.

[QUOTE id="da788901-756d-4b18-90a8-0059f9289679"]But Dr Gutmann got a 40% raise this summer, so hey, it all balances out. The University really needs the people responsible for financial decision making to make responsible decisions. How many of these people would still have their jobs if not for Dr Gutmann's raise?[/QUOTE] I totally agree. The University is so proud to publicize the recent Anthro Museum Rhodes Scholar recipient. Lucky she wasn't working for pay. So, it's the glory to the U that matters, not really the research underpinning the museum.... sad.

It remains unclear how the University can continue the constant, shrill claim that the museum is a global leader given the intellectual gutting the museum is currently experiencing. Perhaps the Penn Museum is a global leader only when measured against other underfunded, regional museums in 3rd and 4th tier cities. I sense that the University wishes to see the Museum as a cash cow -- a bazaar of t-shirts and resin replicas.

This is an ill-advised decision. It will diminish the reputation of the Museum, the Anthropology Department and Penn as a whole. Penn can hardly claim to be a place of academic excellence when it is simultaneously firing droves of researchers.

A long term oriented organization as the PennMuseum allways was shouldn't be blown out that fast when the direction of the wind changes. Behind such a fast desicion seems to be a more substantial financial crisis. (Hopefully I am wrong with this)

This is an awful decision. It will deprive Penn of some of its most accomplished and talented researchers, and inevitably the student body will suffer. If Penn can afford to buy more land and build new buildings, surely it can afford to keep researchers on staff. This decision shames us all.

But Dr Gutmann got a 40% raise this summer, so hey, it all balances out. The University really needs the people responsible for financial decision making to make responsible decisions. How many of these people would still have their jobs if not for Dr Gutmann's raise?

Contra Abigail Seldin, this comes as a *huge* surprise to graduate students who work closely with researchers in the museum. Her glib remarks clearly show that she is NOT a spokesperson for the student body at large, and we graduate students are very concerned about who will be affected by this terrible decision. In difficult economic conditions, I would expect--and hope--that the Museum and the University would prioritize the research, which contributes to the education of undergraduate and graduate students at this institution, over all else.

[QUOTE id="1cdca6e5-0bcb-4c0c-a4aa-2e534248c5b4"]It remains unclear how the University can continue the constant, shrill claim that the museum is a global leader given the intellectual gutting the museum is currently experiencing. Perhaps the Penn Museum is a global leader only when measured against other underfunded, regional museums in 3rd and 4th tier cities. I sense that the University wishes to see the Museum as a cash cow -- a bazaar of t-shirts and resin replicas.[/QUOTE] This post seems to have hit the nail on the head. This reminds me of Jefferson University threatening to sell "The Gross Clinic" therby creating a spasm of fund raising to keep it in Philadelphia. I believe the Penn Museum is largely unknown to the outside non-academic world. Since it is a jewel and a fantastic resource, this clearly has to change. But academic self-immolation is not the proper way to secure a needed financial base.

This news sound bite from The Daily Pennsylvanian gives the reader almost nothing that tells the story. What research is being cut? What experience and expertise is being cut? What is being retained? What do the anonymous sources have to say? How do these cuts relate to the Museum's budget? I want details. I smell hidden agendas. Maybe this management boondoggle is typical for the Museum. The Museum hasn't answered my last letter asking for information on some research the Museum sponsored many years ago. We can look forward to a lot of unanswered mail in the future. Don't ask any hard questions, and don't ask anything that goes back too far.

Just as the university never addressed the outrage over Dr. Gutman's 40% increase, or the naming of Claudia Cohen Hall, they will not address this. Basically, because they don't have to. Not saying she doesn't work hard (she does, she is a very smart lady who helps to bring in some big bucks and initiates many important projects and events), but she needs to show up at a few things on campus and become a little more a part of the students. She should be giving some of that nutty salary increase to make some kind of statement.......like I care more about my university then getting money I can't possibly spend....

One would think there were other places (administration or athletics?) to cut. I suppose all those billions we're raising through the campaign can't just be thrown away on scholars and museums. One does begin to wonder if the CEOs at American colleges and universities are engaged in an academic version of what their counterparts in business have done to the world economy.

Financial crises come and go. That's not to diminish the short-term suffering that it brings people. It's to emphasize that Penn over the centuries has survived many financial crises, and it will survive this one too. It's a foolish decision to cut these jobs and diminish the standing of the University as a center for curatorial research. Destroying such a research program has taken only days, while re-building it will take years. Plus, how much can 18 jobs save the University? If the University wants to save money, cut the waste in other ways. Turn off some of the lights in Hunstman at night. Turn off the escalators. That will by itself pay for these researchers' salaries.

do we actually know how much contact these people had with students? I know people who work in the Museum, and some of these researchers haven't published anything for years, maybe even decades -- but they don't teach, either, and don't bring in grants that could support their salaries, so maybe the Museum has been paying them to take up space. harsh, but possible.

[QUOTE id="66026b22-4be4-41b0-a70f-9debf76c38f9"]do we actually know how much contact these people had with students? I know people who work in the Museum, and some of these researchers haven't published anything for years, maybe even decades -- but they don't teach, either, and don't bring in grants that could support their salaries, so maybe the Museum has been paying them to take up space. harsh, but possible.[/QUOTE] That's some painfully uninformed speculation on your part. "Harsh, but possible"...and pulled straight out of your a**. Some of these researchers do, in fact, teach and employ students in their labs. Probably most do. And none of them fails to publish their research. (It's a matter of personal and professional pride.) Some of them, in fact, are regularly in the national and international press for their work. And even if MASCA costs more than it brings in, it is certainly true that these researchers do bring in grant money to support their work. They also increase the school's visibility and help raise the Museum to the level of a world-class institution instead of some rinky-dink regional museum. As far as I'm concerned, the University is being penny wise and pound foolish in this decision. Some worthless bean counters should lose their jobs instead.

I have to concur with these comments. The university is choosing to cut out one of its core missions: creating new knowledge through research. The motto is "from excellence to eminence," but you don't do that by giving the axe to researchers and scrimping on salaries for professors while you pump up salaries of administrators.

Right on! Institutions like Penn should exist for the sake of research and teaching, not the other way around. Their resources should be used to support such activities, especially those that don't bring in money. Since when are colleges and universities capitalist institutions concerned with profit? (I'm sure someone will provide a date.) Probably about the same time University presses became more concerned with sales and the bottom line than with scholarly content (with the resultant stream of poorly edited but intellectually faddish books--editors just aren't worth their salaries). Jeff Paul said: "Some of these researchers do, in fact, teach and employ students in their labs. Probably most do. And none of them fails to publish their research. (It's a matter of personal and professional pride.) Some of them, in fact, are regularly in the national and international press for their work. And even if MASCA costs more than it brings in, it is certainly true that these researchers do bring in grant money to support their work. They also increase the school's visibility and help raise the Museum to the level of a world-class institution instead of some rinky-dink regional museum. As far as I'm concerned, the University is being penny wise and pound foolish in this decision. Some worthless bean counters should lose their jobs instead."

Dear Colleague: The recent precipitate firing of researchers at the Penn Museum includes another world-class scholar and scientist in Near Eastern archaeology and archaeological science among its casualties. Why was Patrick McGovern, who heads MASCAÃ?s Biomolecular Archaeology Laboratory, fired? McGovern, who received his Ph.D. at Penn in Near Eastern Archaeology, has made a series of stunning discoveries and set a standard for how the sciences and the humanities can be effectively integrated together in his 40+ year career at Penn (C.V. posted on his personal website, below). Indeed, McGovernÃ?s academic achievements embody the interdisciplinary research that the university espouses in The Penn Compact and its new PIK (Ã?Penn Integrates KnowledgeÃ?) Professorships. His Vita reads like a compendium of major scientific breakthroughs and accomplishments: Pioneered the rapidly developing, interdisciplinary field of Biomolecular Archaeology. This field is at the technological cutting-edge of modern archaeology. Discovered the earliest Royal Purple (the famous dye of the Phoenicians), grape wine, barley beer, alcoholic beverages generally (China, ca. 7000 B.C.), and chocolate. Published these findings in high-impact scientific journals, including three in Nature (one as the cover story) and two in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (one as the cover story) . Published 10 peer-reviewed books, most recently Ancient Wine (Princeton University Press), which garnered numerous awards. Uncorking the Past (University of California), in press, traces alcoholic beverages around the world and as far back in time as possible from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Published 50 peer-reviewed articles, ranging from geophysical prospecting for archaeological sites to some of the earliest steel ever found to the earliest DNA evidence for wine yeast, and another 70 additional articles, reviews, and book chapters. Directed major excavations in Jordan, and collaborated on archaeological projects throughout the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. His Baq`ah Valley Project was one of the first excavations in the Near East to successfully incorporate scientific methodology in the field and the laboratory (published as a museum monograph). An older excavation (Beth Shan, Israel), part of the museumÃ?s Near East collection, was subjected to similar scientific scrutiny (published as a museum monograph). Built up a state-of-the-art laboratory in MASCA for archaeological chemical research (with Fourier-transform Infrared Spectrometer, High-performance Liquid Chromatograph, and other instruments). It is one of the few such facilities in the U.S., and is staffed by Ph.D. chemists and Penn students. Numerous close collaborations with laboratories at Penn and around the world have given his lab access to the latest, most sensitive instrumentation. Developed an innovative, cost-effective ceramic analysis program which combines multiple analytical techniques (Neutron Activation Analysis, petrography and heavy-mineral analysis, xeroradiography, etc.) to solve important anthropological questions. Established an academic program in the archaeological sciences by teaching (cross-listed in Penn archaeological and science departments). Students, who were trained in his lab, have gone on to careers in archaeology and conservation science. Received grants from the NEH, NSF, American Philosophical Society, Wine Institute, Fulbright Foundation, universities, and many other funding agencies and private individuals world-wide, together with in-kind contributions (i.e., equipment donations, gratis analyses at outside labs, and the expertise of volunteer chemists). These monies, combined with the value of his publicity for the museum and university, amount to millions of dollars. He has leveraged a very small budget into a very productive research program. Re-created the Ã?King MidasÃ? funerary feast, the first time that a historic meal has been reconstructed by chemical analysis of ancient organic residues His ground-breaking research has resulted in 15 international stories, and widespread public and scholarly exposure and acclaim. It has been profiled in ten video programs, including a full-length feature filmed at the Midas Tumulus in Turkey, and has been the focus of museum exhibits in Philadelphia, Athens, the Napa Valley, France, and elsewhere. Given keynote addresses around the world (most recently at the National Museum in Tblisi, Georgia, after the Russian invasion), and has collaborated with over 400 scientists and archaeologists in museum and academic institutions in more than 30 countries. On-going studies include testing ancient compounds for their anti-cancer and medicinal effects (Abramson Cancer Center and Penn Medical School), grape and yeast DNA, prehistoric Chinese fermented beverages, New World chocolate, and early wine, ranging from Neolithic villages in the Taurus and Caucasus Mountains to Iron Age shipwrecks in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. In short, McGovern has made a huge contribution to both Near Eastern Archaeology and archaeological science. Few other museum researchers has the distinction of so many peer-reviewed books and articles, which is the ultimate measure of research success. At a time when science and technology have become increasingly important in our society, why would a museum, which is supposedly looking to the future, fire a researcher of McGovernÃ?s caliber? To destroy a laboratory which took years to create, in a matter of days, is not only short-sighted, it is contradictory to the very essence of a university and museum in advancing human knowledge and preserving the past. The loss in human capital and facilities is incalculable, and not easily rebuilt. Why werenÃ?t other, less draconian, measures explored before firing McGovern? During the Great Depression, all Penn employees pulled together and took an across-the-board 10% pay cut. Some of the fired researchers might even have been willing to take larger cuts, to continue their careers. Moreover, if McGovern had been evaluated as an individual, based on his annual performance evaluations, peer-reviewed publications, grants received, teaching, etc., he could never have been fired. We urge our colleagues, who have benefitted from Dr. McGovernÃ?s research, to not let this decision stand, but to express their objections to the museum Director Richard Hodges, the Deputy Director Brian Rose, university President Amy Gutmann, and Provost Ronald Daniels (addresses, below). Specifically, we encourage our colleagues to stress that by firing McGovern, the professions of Near Eastern archaeology and the archaeological sciences, the museum, the university, and the academic world generally will suffer serious losses. The Penn administration needs to find another solution in keeping with McGovernÃ?s significant contributions and world-wide reputation. If enough colleagues register their dissatisfaction with the decision and highlight different aspects of McGovernÃ?s career, the combined effect might well provide a compelling argument for the administration to find another solution. Please consider submitting one such letter, and feel free to forward this request to other colleagues. Sincerely, Ofer Bar-Yosef MacCurdy Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology Department of Anthropology Harvard University Garman Harbottle Research Professor Department of Geosciences Stony Brook University Timothy Harrison Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology University of Toronto President of the American Schools of Oriental Research Victor H. Mair Professor of Chinese Language and Literature Consulting Scholar, Museum Asian Section University of Pennsylvania Jennifer L. Mass Director, Scientific Research and Analysis Laboratory Winterthur Museum Winterthur Delaware Lawrence E. Stager Dorot Professor of the Archaeology of Israel Director of the Semitic Museum Harvard University. News releases on Penn firings: Daily Pennsylvanian (also look for responses under Article Tools): http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2008/11/26/News/Financial.Crisis.Forces.Firing.Of.18.Penn.Museum.Researchers-3562067.shtml http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2008/12/04/News/Museum.Researchers.Speak.Out.Against.Firings-3569218.shtml Philadelphia Inquirer: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/36286004.html Dr. Patrick McGovernÃ?s websites Personal website: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~mcgovern/ http://www.upenn.edu/museum/Wine/wineintro.html http://www.museum.upenn.edu/Midas/intro.html http://www.upenn.edu/museum/News/beer.html http://pup.princeton.edu/titles/7591.html http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/research/Exp_Rese_Disc/masca/jiahu/jiahu.shtml : Addresses of Penn administrators: Dr. Richard Hodges, Director rhodges@sas.upenn.edu University of Pennsylvania Museum 3260 South Street Philadelphia, PA 19104 Dr. Brian Rose, Deputy Director and Chief-of-Curators roseb@sas.upenn.edu University of Pennsylvania Museum 3260 South Street Philadelphia, PA 19104 Dr. Amy Gutmann president@pobox.upenn.edu Office of the President University of Pennsylvania 100 College Hall Philadelphia, PA 19104-6380 Ronald Daniels, Provost provost@upenn.edu University of Pennsylvania 122 College Hall Philadelphia, PA 19104-6303

Sick, shortsighted, and embaressing