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Date: | Wed, 11 Jul 2001 15:01:14 -0400 |
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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
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