Don't shoot the messenger

[John Ogden]

Gregor Hodgson quite appropriately airs his views on Elizabeth Pennisi's
article in the July 25 issue of Science.  Many people talked to her during
the preparation of the article and it is my opinion that the article
accurately reflects the diverse and often contentious opinions of reef
"health" and its causes in our community.

Let us continue the debate and plan the kinds of studies that may resolve
the points of contention.  Let's not flood Ms Pennisi's supervisor with
complaints and accusations.

*******PLEASE NOTE NEW PHONE AND FAX BELOW***********************

John C. Ogden        Director        Phone:  813/553-1100
Florida Institute of Oceanography    Fax:    813/553-1109
830 First Street South               St. Petersburg, Florida 33701

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 10:52:39 +0800
From: Gregor Hodgson <rcgregor at usthk.ust.hk>
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: Brighter Prospects

Re: Brighter Prospects for the World's Coral Reefs?

It is great that Science is devoting space to coral reefs, however, no
doubt a majority of us do not agree with the headline for this story,
which simply reflects the bias of the news writer who clearly tried hard
to fit the available info into her own rosy view of the world. That job
was not easy, hence, there are many logic gaps and contradictions in the
story. When juxtaposed with the headline, the best is, 

"By any criterion, though, there has been little progress toward
stemming the decline of reefs." p. 493.

If you agree that this story was a poorly written, confused
misrepresentation of the prevailing scientific view on the prospects for
the health of coral reefs and coral reef fish, please send a note to
Christine Gilbert, letters editor of Science at:

science_letters at aaas.org
-- 
Gregor Hodgson, PhD
Institute for the Environment and Sustainable Development
Research Centre, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Clearwater Bay, Kowloon, HONG KONG
e-mail: rcgregor at usthk.ust.hk        
tel: (852) 2358-8568      fax: (852) 2358-1582
Reef Check: http://www.ust.hk/~webrc/reef.html