The AHS has now turned Marshall Trimble loose on the mineral
museum controversy with a mixture of old and new misinformation. Some was
presented in a short clip on Channel 3 (Friday March 11 at 5:30 PM) and some
was included in an online article: http://www.azfamily.com/story/31441475/battle-over-mining-and-mineral-museum
Among the false assertions made were:
The AHS had no choice
but to close the mineral museum because fundraising failed. In fact, the
AHS had a statutory obligation to keep operating the mineral museum and was
funded to do so.
The mineral museum did
not comply with State education standards.
The statement is nonsense because there was no formal requirement to do
so. Nevertheless, the mineral museum K-12
earth science programs did meet or exceed state standards and did assist
teachers who brought 25,000 students a year to the museum. Parents and scout
leaders brought another 15,000.
The mineral museum was
in poor condition and the collection was in disarray. A complete set of
museum photos on www.miningmineralmuseum.com and a
complete collection inventory (pre
AHS takeover) prove that statement is false.
AHS takeover) prove that statement is false.
The minerals are now
where they should be and the new arrangement is working. Since everything is
now fixed, restoring the mineral museum at the old location again would be a
waste of resources. These statements are so preposterous a somewhat more
detailed rebuttal is called for:
The AHS has been and is wasting the entire mineral museum
budget and the people of Arizona are receiving absolutely no benefit. They are
being funded to operate a museum that does not exist.
The AHS museum in Tempe is the worst possible example of
wasted resources. When facility cost is included, each visitor is costing
taxpayers hundreds of dollars per year. The situation continues to deteriorate as
attendance drops further each year. Moving a portion of a scientific collection
to a history museum was bad enough. Moving it to a failing history museum was
worse. The mineral museum had over 50,000 visitors per year. The AHS Tempe
museum has only 3,000 every year, and attendance keeps dropping.
Furthermore, the AHS high balled the cost of reopening the
mineral museum. Their outrageous $2.1 million estimate has been shown to be a hoax.
Whether or not Marshal Trimble believes what he is saying is
unknown. However, if he does, he is hopelessly misinformed.
That 3,000 attendance figure for the Phoenix museum may include the people coming in for "party rentals" or the research library?How many of the 3,000 are real museum visitors? Either from Arizona or from out of state? 3,000 for a museum that size is more than shameful.
ReplyDeleteAnd Trimble is the president of AHS? The AHS wanted the Mineral Museum. Nobody told them to take it. Maybe he should go and talk to Ann Woosley about this.
ReplyDeleteMaybe at some point Marshall Trimble and a majority of the AHS Board will realize that have been taken for a long and ugly ride by Ann Woosley. Maybe they will grow a spine and solve their problem.
ReplyDeleteOne question for the Board?....Did you ever vote as a Board for taking over the Mineral Museum. And a question for Mr. Trimble you defend the AHS action on this but you never voted for it. A little strange isn't it?
On point number 3. The AHS has been in bad condition too.
ReplyDeleteAHS did want the MMM-from the lobbiest, it was always the plan to get rid of it,and AHS,agreed to destroy a very successful and well-attended museum in order to get control of the building for themselves. Trimble is off base, and is basically changing the story to "the MMM was not a good museum so it was OK to destroy it". He thinks two displays at their Tempe museum, one of which they originally threw out, fixes the problem! The problem is the 40,000 students per year that didn't follow and the fact that getting the MMM back has much support. WHY ARE TAX PAYERS HAVING TO FORK OVER MILLIONS EACH YEAR FOR THIS!
ReplyDeleteThe "state historian" has flunked recent Arizona history.
DeleteTrimble forgot to mention that AHS still pays rent on the MMM building and all of the "real" mining equipment and the incredible working mining dispay with head frame is still in front of the building. But the self-appointed scientific judge isn't explaining why students are being denied these pieces of history! His litany of excuses for closing the MMM were not the ones given by AHS at the time they slammed the doors in the faces of our science students.We were told they had to get ready for the new and better museum--you know --the one they hadn't raised money for. If AZ spent half the amount they give to AHS on science education we could start digging out of our education quagmire. Gee, Trimble forgot to tell us what science standards AHS is meeting!!
ReplyDeleteDoesn't the AHS Director even talk to the Board President? You would think so --so they can get their lies put together right.
ReplyDeleteLies or confusion and delusion? History rewritten or forgotten? No way to know, but statements coming out of AHS are certainly incorrect.
DeleteNo way for an agency of the State of Arizona to act. Or a private history organization since 1884. That's right 1884.
DeleteSee the Nov 25 and Dec 6, 2015 posts for an explanation of the referral to 1884. The AHS is misrepresenting its own history.
DeleteI'm surprised that no one has commented on the splashy picture of water in the
ReplyDeleteMMM to help snow you into believing that the museum was in such bad shape that the AHS had to close it. Who took that picture? On the day AHS fired the staff (Saturday Night Massacre)I was in the building and there was no sign of all that water!
When meeting with former employees today, I asked if they saw it--no one did either. I'm sure at some time after the doors were slammed shut there could have been water as maintenance was not always prompt. Channel 3 or 5 fell for a sensational
gimmick.
Just look into the roof leakage history of the Arizona Historical Society. Lots to see there.
DeleteWhen a State organization violates the law (AHS violates the legislative act that gave them the MMM in so many ways) who in State government holds them accountable? Why won't that action be taken by whoever should do it?
ReplyDeleteThe Auditor General's office was given complete details on the AHS's knowing defiance of state statutes but ignored it. Perhaps the next reviewer will do a more complete job.
Delete