Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2008 August 16

= August 16 =

concession fees
what are concession fees as they apply to 401k funds and the fees paid to manage them? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.107.108.140 (talk) 03:05, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Can't remember what it's called...
I'm trying to find the name of something I've heard in psychology class... I remember that you chose six adjectives that you think best describe you (there was a version with good adjectives and bad adjectives) and then invite a lot of other people to do the same about you. Depending on what other people picked based on what you picked, the adjectives would be sorted into four categories. I'd like to do more research on this but, as I've forgot what this is called, I can't look it up. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Thanks in advance! --216.110.206.253 (talk) 03:40, 16 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Semantic_differential? AnonMoos (talk) 05:04, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Confirmation_bias?--El aprendelenguas (talk) 21:22, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Johari window 86.44.30.180 (talk) 00:23, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

Diminishing marginal utility of education
Is diminishing marginal utility a significant concern in formal education? At what point does it become noticeable -- does it affect the value of a PhD? A master's degree? The fourth year of a bachelor's degree? Neon Merlin  03:44, 16 August 2008 (UTC)


 * If all you're interested in is maximizing the ratio of expected income to years spent in education, then you would probably do best to get an MBA or professional qualification after your bachelor's degree (instead of a typical academic Master's or PhD). AnonMoos (talk) 05:08, 16 August 2008 (UTC)


 * It depends on the definition. If you define marginal utility of education as the "increased satisfaction from consuming the goods and services purchased with the increased income that resulted from more education" then the usual diminishing marginal returns to income apply as long as you assume that equal increments in amount of education (which needs to be defined) result in equal or decreasing increments in income. This is not necessarily the case. Note also that people with qualifications such as a PhD do not necessarily seek out the most lucrative form of employment.


 * You could also define the marginal utility of education as "the increased satisfaction gained from knowing/learning more". Or are you perhaps interested in allowing for the utility lost due to time spent at study? I've also seen people use diminishing marginal returns to studying to justify spending less time to prepare for an exam but I'm sure you're not referring to that. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 08:18, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Who was Zhongyin (仲尹)?
I am doing some research on early China, and have come across the two characters "zhong" (仲) and "yin" (尹) right next to each other. I am nowhere near a library with the resources to look this up and haven't been able to find it on the web. I am almost positive that this is a name, and would like to know who he was. The source is the Jiaoshi Yilin (焦氏易林) which would have been no later than Warring states, if I remember correctly. The sentence itself is "膳夫仲尹，便我噏聊. “ Thanks in advance!! Jen (talk) 16:16, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

I know absolutely nothing about Chinese, but it might help if we knew what "膳夫仲尹，便我噏聊" translates. Google translate only manages "Shan Fu Zhong Yin, I have nothing Xi."78.150.213.68 (talk) 21:20, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Translation! Sorry!! Here we go: First off, I just noticed a typo in the original text, which probably wasn't helping. It should be 使, not 便. So it reads: 膳夫仲尹，使我噏聊. An approxmate translation is "Chef 'zhongyin', makes me breath and chatter." The thing is, with this form of Chinese, there is no way to know whether 'chef' is a title or if it should actually be 'the Chef and Zhongyin' or if 'zhongyin' isn't a proper noun, then it could be modifying the 'chef' part. I'm really quite stumped, as you can tell.... Jen (talk) 23:36, 18 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Extra - I just noticed on the Confucius page that Confucius' courtesy name is 仲尼. It doesn't help much, but it does imply that there's a possibility that 仲尹 is a usable name in antiquity. Steewi (talk) 01:46, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Mulatto Arabs
Are Anwar Sadat and Sidig from "Syriana" considered as Mulatto Arabs? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.64.129.88 (talk) 16:27, 16 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Have no idea about the movie, but if you mean half-Arab and half-Black, the answer might be "yes", but if you mean half-Arab but not half-black, then the answer is definitely "no"... AnonMoos (talk) 16:43, 16 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Mulatto generally referred to a person with part-black part-white ancestry, so wouldn't have included those of part Arabian descent. As our article notes it did originally refer to "any kind of hybrid", including animals, so in that sense you could apply the word, but only if you didn't mind running the risk of being horribly offensive. DJ Clayworth (talk) 17:08, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

What? Since when have Arabs stopped being white? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.7.54.224 (talk) 22:07, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

When beinb discharged, how would military label field of op. for covert work?
I may never finish this Hogan's Heroes fai fiction idea of mine, but I do need one question answered. If a person served in World War Two, and was in some sort of Intelligence or covert work (not OSS), how would their job ddesignation be listed on their dischrage papers? The reason is, I'm thinking that those who volutneer at Stalag 13 would have this label on their discharge papers, so their families think they weren't prisoners but were just told that. After all, as Hogan says in mys tory, the mliitary can fake anything, even postmarks from Germany when people send letters home.

I'm actually curious just in genreal, too. I'm thinking "special operations" but not sure; actually, just "Top Secret" is possible.209.244.187.155 (talk) 17:32, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

German Vordiplom in the UK or US
What can you do with a German Vordiplom in the UK or US Q! Is it possible to enter a graduate degree program with it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mr.K. (talk • contribs) 19:24, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Generally not in the UK, without additional qualifications or experience. For example, to begin a postgraduate degree at the University of Warwick, one requires "Vordiplom plus 1 year of study/ Fachhochschuldiplomdiplom/ Diplom/ Erstes Staatsexamen/ Magister Artium". At the London School of Economics, "Vordiplom, or the Zwischenpruefung, does not meet the minimum entrance requirement [for postgraduate study], but applicants are eligible to be considered if they have the Vordiplom or the Zwischenpruefung and a third year of substantive study (either the school's general course, or a third year of study in Germany)." Dostioffski (talk) 05:32, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

Wigan
In parliamentary terms Wigan is currently represented by Wigan (UK Parliament constituency). Does anyone know what constituency represented this area pre-1885? Ironholds 21:52, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
 * It's always been Wigan, see Leigh Rayments records, the constituency was formed in 1295 and sent two members to the Model Parliament. Nanonic (talk) 22:56, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Excellent, thanks for the help. The page is obviously just incomplete; i'll add it to my list of "things to do"..

Law question
This (fastcase.com) appears to be an excerpt from a document titled People v. Winley, 432 N.Y.S.2d 429, 105 Misc.2d 474 (N.Y.Sup., 1980). My question is, what is the status of this document? Who is doing the writing, as in "In what is purported to be a first prosecution of its kind in New York State"? Is it Justice Stecher as a Supreme Court judge? 86.44.17.5 (talk) 23:18, 16 August 2008 (UTC)


 * It appears to be Justice Martin Stecher. Also, to avoid confusion, note that the New York Supreme Court is New York's trial court, not the highest court of the state, which is called the Supreme Court in other states.  GreatManTheory (talk) 00:44, 17 August 2008 (UTC)


 * If you have access to a citator, like Shepard's Citations, you can "shepardize" this case and see if it has been overturned. OtherDave (talk) 01:49, 17 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I agree that the quoted phrase is by Justice Stecher himself, not by a court reporter or commentator. By the way, the standard format for citing this decision in legal writing would be: People v. Winley, 105 Misc. 2d 474, 432 N.Y.S.2d 429 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. 1980).  The "N.Y. Co." specifies that the case was heard in New York County, not just somewhere in New York state. JamesMLane t c 02:42, 17 August 2008 (UTC)


 * All very helpful, thank you all very much. 86.44.22.3 (talk) 05:14, 17 August 2008 (UTC)