The SOPA v. ROPA debate reminds me of a town meeting where our police chief made
 a case
for increasing the police force to ten full time officers; this in a town of per
haps
1200 people, most of whom barely made a living and could ill-afford the requisit
e
increase in taxes. The chief raised the spector of drug sales, although he hadn'
t
actually caught any dealers. The monthly police report listed minor infractions.
 
In more than 20 years as an archaeologist, mostly in compliance work around the
USA, I
have seen some aggressive business behavior, but I have no personal knowledge of
 
outright unethical behavior. I have heard a good deal of inuendo, mostly from pu
blic
sector colleagues directed at contractors. Since such remarks are usually accomp
anied by
statements to the effect that contractors make enormous sums of money, I usually
 regard
them as uninformed.
 
I have before me a list, recently issued by the Maryland Historical Trust, of
individuals and firms conducting historic preservation work in Maryland. I know
most of
the archaeologists personally or from having read their reports. Each has his or
 her
strengths and weakness, but I regard all of them as honest, ethical, competent,
committed archaeologists. To my knowledge, all of these people meet or exceed cu
rrent
basic SOPA membership standards. How many are actually members, I don't know, bu
t I
support their voluntary association with, and support of, that organization. I d
o not,
however, believe in involuntary support, and that is what the formation of ROPA
will
entail.
 
Frankly, I find all of this handwringing over the need for a grievance forum a l
ittle
insulting. It suggests significant and frequent unethical, and possibly illegal,
 
behavior among people with whom I have worked for years; people who have contrib
uted
their time and resources to the improvement and publicizing of archaeology.
 
If the supporters of ROPA want my support, they should detail precisely the natu
re of
the problem, its scale, and its effect on the growth of the field and the public
's
perception of our work. Not abstractions, but details. Demonstrate to me, and ou
r
colleagues around the world, why we should support ROPA through our SHA and SAA
dues (I
am a member of both organizations), as well as through our individual initial an
d annual
membership fees. Explain to me why SHA, which went through some very deep budget
 cutting
this calender year, should shell out $5,000 for its start up fee and another $5,
000 as
its annual membership fee. Surely the various SHA committees could use that mone
y much
more effectively in promoting public education and lobbying efforts. I know my t
ime will
be better spent researching, writing, and publicizing rather than filling out le
ngthy
application forms and short, but very large bank checks.
 
Skeptically Yours,
 
Jim Gibb
Annapolis, Maryland