From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Msuck: nntp://news.gmane.io/gmane.science.mathematics.categories/3777 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: "Marta Bunge" Newsgroups: gmane.science.mathematics.categories Subject: FW: Victory: Reed Elsevier gives in Date: Fri, 01 Jun 2007 12:37:45 -0400 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1241019515 10244 80.91.229.2 (29 Apr 2009 15:38:35 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:38:35 +0000 (UTC) To: categories@mta.ca Original-X-From: rrosebru@mta.ca Sun Jun 3 21:50:19 2007 -0300 Return-path: Envelope-to: categories-list@mta.ca Delivery-date: Sun, 03 Jun 2007 21:50:19 -0300 Original-Received: from Majordom by mailserv.mta.ca with local (Exim 4.61) (envelope-from ) id 1Hv0em-0000tX-Tc for categories-list@mta.ca; Sun, 03 Jun 2007 21:42:48 -0300 Original-Sender: cat-dist@mta.ca Precedence: bulk X-Keywords: X-UID: 2 Original-Lines: 92 Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.science.mathematics.categories:3777 Archived-At: >From: "Nick Gill" >To: nickgill@cantab.net >CC: "Tom Stafford" >Subject: Victory: Reed Elsevier gives in >Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 17:12:40 +0100 (BST) > >Dear friend, > >Reed Elsevier today announced that they are "withdrawing from the defence >industry". The reason they cite is the criticism that they have received >from the scientific and medical community, as well as from their own >employees. > >Their press release can be found here: >http://www.reed-elsevier.com/index.cfm?articleid=2084 >A message from Sir Crispin Davis, CEO of Reed Elsevier, is copied at the >bottom of this email. > >This announcement represents a brilliant victory for all of you who have >participated in the campaign against Reed Elsevier in a multitude of >different ways. People have signed petitions, joined the boycott, written >personal and collective letters, forwarded emails and told their friends, >attended vigils, protested at Reed's AGM and the list goes on. > >Unfortunately it would appear likely that Reed Elsevier will still >organise the DSEi arms fair in London later this year. This arms fair is >one of the biggest in the world - the 2005 event was targeted by >protestors who highlighted the cluster bombs manufacturers who attended, >as well as representatives of regimes with appalling human rights records. >Nonetheless DSEi 2007 is likely to be one of the very last arms fairs >organised by Reed Elsevier. > >There are still good reasons for academics to dislike Reed Elsevier. I >refer the interested reader to this excellent article by Prof John Baez: >http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/journals.html > >Best wishes and many, many thanks for your support, >Nick Gill > >------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Message from Sir Crispin Davis, Reed Elsevier CEO: > >Dear Colleagues > >We are announcing today that we plan to exit the defence exhibitions >business. > >Over the last year or so it has become increasingly clear that growing >numbers of important customers and authors, particularly in the science and >medical markets, have very real concerns with our involvement in this >sector. They believe strongly that our presence here is incompatible with >the aims of the science and medical communities. I am also very aware this >is a view shared by a number of our employees. We have listened closely to >these concerns and we have concluded that the long term interests of Reed >Elsevier as a leading publisher of science, medical, legal and business >content would be best served by withdrawing from defence exhibitions. We >intend to complete the withdrawal during the second half of 2007. > >We will of course fulfil all our contractual obligations with our partners >in the defence business in the interim. > >This has not been an easy decision. While the defence exhibitions business >is quite small, accounting for around 0.5% of total Group revenue, it is a >high quality business, with strong management and good growth. It is an >important industry in ensuring countries have effective defence capability, >as enshrined in the UN Charter. Our people in Reed Exhibitions have worked >very hard to make these businesses successful and run them to the highest >standards, for which I would like to thank them. Nevertheless, we believe >the growing and genuine concerns of increasing numbers of our customers >must >be paramount. > >Regards ************************************************ Marta Bunge Professor Emerita Dept of Mathematics and Statistics McGill University 805 Sherbrooke St. West Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 2K6 Office: (514) 398-3810 Home: (514) 935-3618 marta.bunge@mcgill.ca http://www.math.mcgill.ca/~bunge/ ************************************************