We had a recent incident in Lincoln, Nebraska, where one or more local
     bottle collectors looted a privy exposed in a construction zone on
     university property.  Dr. Peter Bleed of the Univ of Nebraska
     Anthropology Department had been working in the area with cooperation
     of the constuction team, but had not been able to excavate one privy
     discovered late on a Friday.  He discovered on the following Monday
     that the feature had been looted over the weekend.  It was publicized
     in the local paper, and it wasn't long before a suspect was identified
     and charged with criminal trespass, theft, and various other minor
     crimes.  The university and city attorney are pursuing prosecution,
     and the city is even considering a new historic preservation ordinance
     to address such incidents.

     Meanwhile, through the university public relations department, a
     writer for the Wall Street Journal has become interested in cultural
     resource crime, and he would like to develop a feature article on the
     subject with particular emphasis on privy looting.  For context, he
     needs to know how widespread a problem privy looting is, particularly
     in urban areas.  Anyone with pertinent information about recent
     incidents of a similar kind should contact us off-list with a brief
     description of the incident and contact information (name and phone
     number) that can be passed along to the newspaper writer, who possibly
     will follow up with telephone interviews.  This solicitation is not
     limited to U.S. cases. In fact, I think it is important to show that
     this is a widespread problem, certainly not unique to Lincoln.

     Please respond to me with a copy of the message to Peter Bleed:

     <[log in to unmask]>

     Thanks for your assistance in heightening public awareness of these
     issues.  A Wall Street Journal article on the subject would generate
     considerable attention to this problem among a readership not usually
     atuned to such issues.


     Vergil Noble
     US National Park Service
     SHA President-Elect