From:    Brian Tassey <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Public AHB Hysteria
 
>     Does anyone have an E-Mail address for Norman Gary (U.C. Davis).  I
>caught the movie "Deadly Invasion" the other night.  Being from a typical
>"Agrarian California community" (TVguide synopsis) I would like to express
>my appreciation for helping to intensify the ignorance and hysteria of
>the general public.
 
Norm's e-mail address is: [log in to unmask]
 
but I believe he recently retired and may not check his e-mail very often--
you can write to him via snail mail care of: Department of Entomology;
University of California/Davis; Davis, California  95616.  Norm has always
struck me as someone who enjoys notoriety and that he'd rather be the
center of attention for something negative than not get noticed at all.  I'm
sure he'd enjoy hearing from you even if it's to get flamed ;-)
 
I've often thought that "bee experts" were blowing that "killer bee"
horn too hard ;-)  Alerting the public to a relatively rare
hazard is one thing, alarming them with misinformation is quite another.
The problem will always be more of a beekeeping
issue than one of public safety.  Compare how much more public
awareness there is around "killer bees" as compared to german yellow
jackets, the latter being of similar nastiness as far as hazard
potential.  But public panic means more research bucks can be generated.
 
Just my perceptions-- any dissenters out there may flame me at their
leisure (although I would just as soon _not_ receive the attention :-p
 
 
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