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Date: Sun, 20 May 2001 08:40:56 -0400
From: Philip Cantino <cantino@ohiou.edu>
To: PhyloCode@ouvaxa.cats.ohiou.edu
Subject: Re: finalization of PhyloCode "behind closed doors"
> >At 08:25 AM 5/18/01 -0400, Philip Cantino wrote [regarding forebearance of >conversion of genus names): > >No, it isn't being seriously considered. A clade is a clade, Jonathan Wagner wrote: > I must admit that I am a bit taken aback by this. As the author of >this (one of these?) proposal(s), I am interested in knowing who determines >that it is not being seriously considered? There was, to my knowledge, no >final discussion of why it was not to be considered, and I was not informed >of any official decision on the matter. > Is the PhyloCode being finalized behind closed doors? Perhaps I made too strong an assertion in saying that excluding genus names from the first implementation of the PhyloCode was not being seriously considered. All I meant is that I was unaware of any member of the PhyloCode advisory group espousing this view. Perhaps I am mistaken about this, in which case the persons (if any) who support this view should speak up. Most (and perhaps all) members of the advisory group are also subscribers to this listserver, and I wish many of them would participate more actively in the discussions (some, such as Kevin, have of course participated regularly, but others rarely or never do). Too often, I find myself having to act as spokesman for the group because no one else speaks up, though I am just one member and have not been asked to serve this role. An important function of this listserver is to inform the advisory group about the views of a much broader segment of the systematics community--including many potential users of the PhyloCode but also (as we have recently seen) some opponents. At some point (in the not too distant future, I hope), the advisory group will meet again and decide how to proceed. The discussions that have occurred in the meanwhile, on this listserver and elsewhere (e.g., at SSB/SSE and other professional society meetings) will undoubtedly be taken into consideration in all future decisions of the advisory group. The PhyloCode is not being finalized behind closed doors. It is my understanding that, before the PhyloCode is implemented, a Society of Phylogenetic Nomenclature will be established (see Art. 21), one committee of which will be the International Committee on Phylogenetic Nomenclature (ICPN). The Society will be open to anyone who wants to join. The ICPN will be elected by the membership of the Society. The ICPN will have the power and responsibility to amend provisions of the PhyloCode and produce future editions. Presumably, the ICPN will also have to approve the first edition of the code before it is implemented. (Although the latter point is not specifically stated in Art. 21, this is my understanding. If I am wrong about this, I hope someone on the advisory group will correct me.) Phil Philip D. Cantino Professor and Chair Department of Environmental and Plant Biology Ohio University Athens, OH 45701-2979 U.S.A. Phone: (740) 593-1128; 593-1126 Fax: (740) 593-1130 e-mail: cantino@ohio.edu