Dear All:
One more posting on this subject and I'm out.  I want to clear up one
aspect of this discussion.  My diatribes of late were not meant to
completely trash the academic community at large, although it may have
sounded like they were.  There are many hundreds of very competent, very
ethical, very diligent researchers out there working on very meaningful
projects which will indeed change the courses of mankind and snaildom.
However, they are forced to work in a political system which has aspects to
it that I have personally found distasteful.  And within this system there
are those who thrive in it, which I find even more distasteful.  I should
be able to say, "More power to them.", but I can't.  I apologize to anyone
who may have been offended.

The main thrust of my perhaps vitriolic attack was that more moola and
emphasis should be placed on field work of an alpha-taxonomic nature at
this point in our history.  The rest of our questions can wait awhile.  The
next decade or two spell biologic disaster in the terrestrial Tropics of
the World.  We need to get these critters (OK, plants too) in museums so
future generations of enthusiasts can marvel as we have.

OK, time to get some work done.   Everyone, have a great weekend.  Kurt