[Geysers] The community of geyser gazers

[Michael Goldberg]

I got more than I bargained for in today's geyser summary.
There are too many tangled issues here to consider them all at once, or 
even individually.  At the very least I can spot:

1. Are geyser gazers clique-ish and territorial?  How often do they run 
into conflict with park visitors and NPS employees?
I'll wait for Dave M to kick-start that discussion.

2. Who owns the OFVEC logbook?
It is the property of the NPS.  I'll guess that it belongs first and 
foremost to the park geologist, even if the Old Faithful interpretive 
staff might have a valid claim on it as well.

The question of who is authorized to enter times in the logbook has always 
created trouble.  Different geyser gazers have different standards of 
accuracy in their watches, different ideas about which events are 
noteworthy, and in some instances a different notion of what constitutes 
an eruption.  The end result is that an open logbook gets filled with 
moderately inconsistent data.  With occasional episodes of complete 
gobbledegook.

Limiting logbook entry to a short list of trusted sources (and/or marking 
other reports with a "vr") does improve the quality of data recorded.
But then you have to know the right people to get on the short list,
and it ticks off everyone who doesn't get the official seal of approval, 
and they get discouraged from sharing their observations at all. 
Is that a fair trade-off?  For the OFVEC logbook's owner, it probably is.

3. Who owns the FRS "geyser channel"?
It is public-access spectrum. I imagine any attempt to police traffic on 
the FRS airwaves is a clear violation of FCC regulations.  On the other 
hand a personal request not to call repeated times for preplay splashing 
at Lion seems within the rules.  Somewhere in between there's a legal 
threshold, and I don't know the applicable law well enough to say where 
it is.

4. What geysers should be called on the radio?
I've been out of the park for too long and don't know the current social 
conventions.

5. What counts as an eruption?
For certain geysers this is also a social convention.  So are the 
nicknames of features (either with or without an official USGS name), 
the notion of an "event cycle" at Fan and Mortar, and whether Pump Geyser 
is a perpetual spouter.

Personally, I've never considered the 1-foot boils from North Goggle as 
an eruption and I was unaware until now of anyone who did.  That makes a 
big difference if you're going to compare some of the recently recorded 
11-minute intervals to past historical activity.

6. What does any of this have to do with GOSA, the listserv, the chat 
pages, and/or online logbooks?
In a strict legal sense, nothing.  However many of the same people who 
routinely visit Yellowstone and call times on the radio also send 
reports to the listserv, spend time on geyser-related internet sites, post 
times to the publicly accessible logbooks, and contribute to the nonprofit 
organization GOSA.  So a dispute in any one arena tends to resurface 
everywhere else.  And confuse a lot of people who weren't privy to the 
origins of the dispute.

I guess we'll have a lot to talk about this week, even if F&M and Giant 
both stay dormant...

Michael Goldberg
Michael.Goldberg at uc.edu

On Sun, 13 May 2012, inezaustin at aol.com wrote:

> Well, I am done.  I will no longer contribute to the Sput, post on the 
> listserv, announce on the radio or write on the CamChat.  My 55 years of 
> notebooks will not be going anywhere.  Once I am done I will trash them.
>
> Today, Jim decreed that no North Goggle minors less than 8 feet are to 
> be recorded in the book or announced on the radio.
>
> In addition, he said that I had gone into the Visitor Center managed to 
> get the log book and written times in it.  The truth being that I was in 
> the Visitor Center 2 nights ago giving them times, that they need to 
> lock up, handed me the book and pen and said to enter them.  Not quite 
> the same thing.  It seems that my name is no longer in the book, only 
> folks that Jim vets are allowed to be in the book.  Apparently the 
> ranger thought I was someone else, although we had talked several times. 
> I even asked him as he hurried away "you want me the write these in" and 
> he replied yes, and to listen to the radio and record any I heard.  So 
> since the story being touted is a lie, I am done.
>
> Jim and his cronies may be great gazers, but they stifle many of the 
> other folks and it is tolerated because he is great about recording 
> times.
>
> So no need to post my message I sent originally, no need to post my 
> photos of Black Sand Pool and certainly no need to publish or discuss my 
> info for North Google. Which by the way today was interesting.  North 
> Google for the latest Lion Series stayed up after the Lion eruption. 
> North Google has 1 foot minors every 11 to 12 minutes until the next 
> Lion eruption.  This explains the steam spikes that can be seen on the 
> web cam. When Lion appears to go out of series Google stayed up contuing 
> its 11 minute minors, finally draining at 12:16 (last Lion minor at 
> noon).  North Google then came back and had a 4-5 foot minor at 1301.
>
> Inez
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Monteith <dmonteit at comcast.net>
> To: inezaustin <inezaustin at aol.com>
> Sent: Fri, May 4, 2012 11:23 pm
> Subject: Re: Geyser Gazing, chat page and the Sput (GOSA)
>
> Inez:
>
> I read your submission to the geyser list with interest.  You make many
> good points.  The behavior of some geyser gazers can appear cliquish,
> rude and/or indifferent.  It has been a problem for years. I remember
> running into the same issues when I started gazing in the early 90's and
> feeling hurt when it happened.
>
> I don't like that geyser gazers are often perceived as being rude but
> I'm not certain how to address this issue.  What I've learned over the
> years is that the issue is very touchy.  When confronted by those that
> feel hurt by geyser gazers' discourtesy, geyser gazers end up feeling
> hurt.  Most geyser gazers truly try to be inclusive so it hurts when
> they discover that others see them differently.  When people have hurt
> feelings they stop listening.  This is true of both sides.  Instead of
> working to fix a real problem when this issue is brought up, everyone
> gets hurt, stops listening and gets defensive.  Ultimately, confronting
> geyser gazers with their perceived rudeness doesn't help to solve the
> problem, it actually makes the problem worse.
>
> I'm not certain how to address this issue in a way that won't put the
> geyser gazers on the defensive.  I'd like to hear your thoughts.
>
> Two other issues you should be aware of.  First, I'm heading out of town
> and won't be able to post the list until I get home.  Second, I'm not
> certain where you wanted your message printed other than the geyser
> list.
>
> Dave