Greetings again:
 
Please forgive the blurb that was mistakenly sent earlier, I regret any trouble
 caused.
 
Having been subscribed to HISTARCH for quite a while now, I can recall the
earliest postings of Mr. Johnson.  As a subscriber to several lists, I must
admit that I began ignoring this thread very early on to save myself the
time of having to read such things, as I am sure many others have done, but
I did happen to read about this voting to remove him from the list idea and
have felt obligated to drop an opinion.
 
I think it would be a mistake to remove Mr. Johnson from the list.  I feel
for those who have been offended and felt like he has wasted our time, and
must admit to agreeing with your sentiments.  I feel strongly about free
speech, both the exercising of it and the sensible use of it, but I do not
stand on this soap box as I write this.  I think Mr. Johnson needs our help
and we should stop encouraging his adolescent submissions with suggestions
to remove him.
 
Histarch is a very good listserv for archaeologists and historians (kudos to
Anita) where participants reflect many levels of interest and education.  I
have not follwed the activities of Mr. Johnson for sometime now, as stated
earlier, and therefore I am not aware of many of the issues concerned.  I do
recall from his postings last winter that he seemed to have an active
vocabulary and not a lot of substance which leads me to believe that he has
much to learn about our field.  I would think that we could do him a great
service by example and begin using the server more as a forum for debate and
learning ourselves, rather than encourage him. Perhaps then he could
contribute in a constructive manner.
 
I can not help but feel that Mr. Johnson is only hurting himself. If he is
a student of archaeology (I assume that if he is, he is not beyond the
undergraduate level), he is certainly not doing much to impress his colleagues
who he will be depending on for future scholarly input and employment. SHould
he wish to work in the field and pursue such inflamatory lines of argument,
I would think he would not find many willing to support his future
projects. Heritage considered, to be an archaeologist you must have the support
of your own education and others who have learned as such.
 
If you have stuck with it this far, thanks for listening.  If you want to flame
me, don't... I'm busy with my own work and research and probably shouldn't
have gotten involved.  If you would like to approach me for productive line
s of discussion, I would be happy to take part.
 
Sincerely,
 
David Johnson
Nautical Archaeology Program
Texas A & M University