Talk:University of the Witwatersrand/Archive 1

Fossil find could rewrite human history
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/231442.stm >:

Thursday, 10 December, 1998, 10:24 GMT Fossil find could rewrite human history


 * Dr Ron Clarke is excited by his find

The story of the origin of man looks likely to be rewritten yet again after the discovery in South Africa of a near-complete skeleton of an ape-man thought to be three million years old. If confirmed, this would make the remains 500,000 years older than anything previously unearthed south of Tanzania.

The 1.22-metre-tall (four feet) hominid (ape-man) was discovered at Sterkfontein, north of Johannesburg. Professor Phillip Tobias, who led the team of researchers from South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand, said on Wednesday that the find would aid the search for the missing link in man's evolution from ape to human.

Thank You.

&#91;&#91; hopiakuta &#124; &#91;&#91; &#91;&#91;%c2%a1]] &#91;&#91;%c2%bf]] &#91;&#91; %7e%7e%7e%7e ]] -]] 14:22, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Alumni
Eduardo Mondlane did not graduate from Wits, why is he listed as an alumn? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.189.117.243 (talk) 02:56, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

Hi

I added several notable alumni to the list. All of them are listed as alumni or former faculty in wikipedia itself, except for Lionel Abrahams, who is only listed as being awarded an honourary doctorate. However, he did graduate from Wits (biography).

Also, Jonathan Moyo's article links to the Wits page but he appears to have only been visiting faculty; I don't think that counts, but I could be wrong.

Finally, does anybody know who Paul Stevenson is? I can't find any useful information on him.

-- Gdk 21:23, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Later: added three judges, Chaskalson, Mahomed and Goldstone, who are not listed on wikipedia as being graduates but in fact are:

* Chaskalson * Goldstone * Mahomed

I also added Johnny Clegg, who lectured at Wits for a few years link.

--Gdk 23:36, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)

There seems to be missing a number of notable Afrikaner alums. Unless I'm mistaken, the majority of the Apartheid-era NP presidents were Wits grads. -Joe unregistered amateur

You're mistaken. Malan, Verwoerd and Vorster went to Stellenbosch. PW Botha went to UOVS but dropped out to start a career in politics. FW De Klerk went to Potchefstroom. I can't find any mention of where JG Strijdom went. So not a single Prime Minister or Executive President during the Apartheid era went to Wits, as far as I can find. (I didn't bother to go through the Ceremonial Presidents from 1948-61 but you can if you like)

As for Afrikaaner alumni, we already have quite a few but feel free to add anyone else who you can actually show went to Wits.

Gdk 02:11, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Shouldn't Philip Tobias be included in list ?

Alumni on another page
Would it not be better to list the alumni on another page? The current list is long and doesn't add much relevance to the page. --196.41.30.38 (talk) 05:38, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

Wits
I'm rather annoyed that the article for Wits has been usurped by a redirection to this page! While I concede that Wiki is not a dictionary, there is clearly a case for one's wits to be listed within. 210.9.193.66 03:49, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't think it's appropriate for Wits to redirect here anyway. I think it ought to redirect to Wits (disambiguation) since it's really not a clear connection for anybody not familiar with this university. &mdash;/M endaliv /2¢/Δ's/ 23:46, 18 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Since no further comments have been made, I find it appropriate for Wits to redirect to the disambiguation page and will do so promptly.Purple Duke (talk) 13:57, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

Wits Business School
"West of the education campus (across Victoria Avenue) lies the Wits Business School. It is the leading and most acclaimed business school in South Africa" - I question the accuracy of this statement, on which ranking system or in whose opinion is Wits regarded better as UCT, USB or GIBS? Please could this statement be substantiated, edited or removed.Purple Duke (talk) 13:51, 1 October 2009 (UTC)
 * It has been removed. Purple Duke (talk) 20:24, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

Revision as of 13 December 2011
I've been conducting a series of major revisions to this article, which are so far uncompleted. Comments are welcome. I'm rather tired though, so I'll get back to work editing tomorrow.--Life in General (Talk) 15:19, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

Moscow
I have heard UCT, which certainly lies on a hill, being referred to as Moscow on the Hill-was this moniker used for both universities? -- Unsigned post originally by Halfsnail (Talk), 25 July 2005, 14:07 (UTC) (as found in revision history).
 * This message got me searching for references to Wits as "Moscow on the hill", and I have found a few. However, these all appear to copy a line from the Wikipedia article on Johannesburg in which Wits was once referred to as "Moscow on the hill". Wits is definitely on a hill (although years of construction and development have obscured that fact), but it appears that references to it as having been called "Moscow on the hill" all come from Wikipedia. Clearly, this is one of the potential loopholes in the Wikipedia system: one can easily make an untrue claim in a Wikipedia article, hope it survives there long enough to be used by other websites, and then use those websites as sources to justify the inclusion of the untrue claim in the Wikipedia article. My advice: until a reliable source can be found for the claim, "Moscow on the hill" should not be mentioned in this article as a nickname for Wits. And sources that appear to rely on Wikipedia for their information cannot be considered reliable sources. Anyway, to the best of my knowledge, Wits was never called "Moscow on the hill". — Life in General (Talk) 23:34, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Reassessment for WikiProject South Africa and WikiProject Universities
I've taken the liberty of reassessing this article to B class for both of its associated WikiProjects. I feel it now meets the criteria for that assessment. Nonetheless, if there are any objections, I'm open to discussion on the matter. — Life in General (Talk) 02:15, 3 January 2012 (UTC)

Pronunciation
That the W is pronounced V and the d is pronounced t needs to be noted. Paul Beardsell 12:46, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)


 * You are more than welcome to note it! Páll 17:47, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Well, of course, I wasn't asking your permission. But phonetic alphabets are not something I have yet had to come to grips with, nor do I yet know the Wikipedia standard in this regard. Don't let me get in your way if the quicker way to get it done is for you to do it. Paul Beardsell 19:07, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * I have noticed the same thing, in 2018. I too lack a grip on the IPA. Let's hope this can get done before another 13 years pass...Park3r (talk) 09:56, 25 March 2018 (UTC)
 * I've added what sounds like a good approximation in the IPA: (vəts). I'm sure it'll be corrected if it is wrong, now that it's there. Witwatersrand needs to be added still. Park3r (talk) 15:04, 25 March 2018 (UTC)

What to say about the fossils of Homo naledi
What should be said in this article about the Homo naledi fossils?
 * The vault were the fossils from Homo naledi were held for the Rising Star Expedition workshop - what faculty/department does it belong to?
 * Where in the article should one tell about the uni's permanent task of curating these fossils?
 * The curation of these fossils are mainly done in the uni's buildings or off the premises. Here to sway (talk) 22:59, 28 September 2015 (UTC)

Reputation and ranking
I have added the citation that was required. The source is an article on the website "Show me: South Africa," and another source with the same information is the 2008 Wits Annual Report page 6 (https://www.wits.ac.za/media/wits-university/footer/about-wits/governance/documents/annual%20report%202008final.pdf) Harold Rollskie (talk) 13:42, 14 March 2020 (UTC)

Merger proposal - Wits Enterprise
I propose to merge Wits Enterprise into University of the Witwatersrand. I don't think the former has enough info or encyclopedic value to warrant its own page. &#124; MK17b &#124;  (talk)  04:01, 11 August 2020 (UTC)

as contributors to Wits Enterprise, pinging you for your thoughts. &#124; MK17b &#124;  (talk)  04:05, 11 August 2020 (UTC)

Should this article be moved to Wits University?
Under WP:COMMONNAME this article could be moved to Wits University since that's by far the more common usage. The university website calls it that, and it's not really referred to as University of the Witwatersrand outside of official contexts, and there is precedent with Stellenbosch University whose official name is University of Stellenbosch. On the other hand, Stellenbosch has updated its logo, while Wits hasn't. This doesn't have to be rushed, but just putting it out there. Park3r (talk) 07:14, 23 January 2021 (UTC)


 * The university's own website uses both the long and short forms, as far as I can see. I would say no to the move - I don't see it as much different from the case of abbreviations. I mean we talk about "UCT" much more commonly than "the University of Cape Town" but we don't have the article at the abbreviated name. - htonl (talk) 22:24, 23 January 2021 (UTC)