Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2012 October 3

= October 3 =

Mombasa History
I'm currently working on the Mombasa article, and have not been able to find good history and culture resources by which to find and verify information. Does anybody have some recommendations with regard to sources? I'd also appreciate some "keywords" which I could use to search online, and get started. Thanks everybody! Van Gulik (talk) 00:39, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I was going to point you to the history on the official city website, but then realized it is identical to Wikipedia's text. . How about these books instead: Lonely Planet guide, Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century African History, Kenya: A History Since Independence, Kenya: Identity of a Nation. And for some really old stuff (I don't know whether this counts as primary sources or not), Universal history, ancient and modern: from the earliest records of time, to the general peace of 1802, A general history and collection of voyages and travels (1812), Through Masai land (1887). All of these have at least a section on the "history of Mombasa" (which was all I googled; I just used books instead of regular web search). Taknaran (talk) 18:31, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Much obliged. Thank you, these look like good resources.Van Gulik (talk) 02:56, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

Muslim nations mizrahi and sephardi jews
Which Muslim nations formerly had Jewish population that they are called as Sephardi Jews in Israel? Which Muslim nations formerly had Jewish population that they are called as Mizrahi Jews in Israel?--70.29.32.229 (talk) 01:41, 3 October 2012 (UTC)Don Mustafa
 * See Mizrahi Jews for the answer. Specifically, the opening paragraph (bold is mine):
 * "Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahim (Hebrew: מזרחים‎), also referred to as Adot HaMizrach (עֲדוֹת-הַמִּזְרָח) (Communities of the East; Mizrahi Hebrew: ʿAdot(h) Ha(m)Mizraḥ), are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa and the Caucasus. The term Mizrahi is used in Israel in the language of politics, media and some social scientists for Jews from mostly Arab-ruled geographies and adjacent, primarily Muslim-majority countries. This includes Jews from Iraq, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Iran/Persia, Afghanistan, India, Uzbekistan, Kurdish areas, Northern and Eastern Sudan, as well as Ethiopia, and within and nearby Israel. Sometimes, Sephardi Jews such as Jews from Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya or Turkey are erroneously grouped into the Mizrahi category for some historical reasons."
 * Hope it helps. -- Jethro  B  01:47, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Sometimes Jews descended from ca. 1492 emigrants from Spain and/or who spoke Ladino are described as "Sephardi", while Jews who are neither Central-European influenced (Ashkenazi) nor Spanish influenced are called "Mizrachi". However, sometimes the distinction between Sephardi and Mizrachi is ignored.  Yemen had a large Jewish community without any meaningful Spanish influences... AnonMoos (talk) 08:37, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Mizrahi and sephardi jews languages
Besides Hebrew, Arabic and Persian, what other languages do Mizrahi Jews speak? Other than Arabic, Hebrew and Turkish, what other languages do Sephardi Jews speak? --65.95.106.38 (talk) 19:32, 3 October 2012 (UTC)Don Mustafa


 * Sephardi Jews also speak Spanish. 83.49.195.42 (talk) 19:53, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Our articles on Mizrahi Jews and Sephardi Jews have sections on the respective languages spoken. You may want to use the search box (top right) to locate similar entries in the WP.  --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 20:02, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

The question is a bit vague. People can speak any language that they learn. I'm sure there are plenty of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews who speak sign langugage, having learned it in their life. There isn't anything that prevents people from learning a langugage. If you're asking about the traditional languages spoken, it depends on a degree which country they're from. If they're from Morocco or Italy, many will speak Italian. If they're from Syria or Egypt or Iraq, many will speak Arabic. If they're from Spain, many will speak Spanish. etc -- Jethro  B  20:43, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * See Ladino. μηδείς (talk) 21:05, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Pretty much by definition, Sephardi Jews are those whose ancestors spoke Ladino... AnonMoos (talk) 21:12, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I am glad we agree for once. μηδείς (talk) 22:38, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Jews in Bangladesh
Which city of Bangladesh have historically had Jewish population? Someone told me it was Rajshahi but I didn't believe it. --70.29.32.229 (talk) 01:47, 3 October 2012 (UTC)Don Mustafa — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.29.32.229 (talk) 01:46, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Typing "Jewish people in Bangladesh" into Google (you should try this sometime. Type exactly the question you want answered there first.  It's a wealth of good information) turns up this article which states that there are between 175-3500 Jewish people in Bangladesh, depending on who you ask.  At either end of that spectrum, that's a fairly tiny number.  The article notes that many Jewish people in Bangladesh disguise their faith as they fear social retribution, so teasing out where most live may be difficult to do.  -- Jayron  32  03:14, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * A good answer, but I believe the OP was referring to a few decades ago, when Bangladesh had a larger Jewish population. I could be wrong, but that's what I got from the OP writing "historically."  I don't know the answer to that though. -- Jethro   B  03:32, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Ah. In which case, a google search on History of judaism in bangladesh turns up some interesting stuff.  Just this year, a former Jewish-Bangladeshi military officer was honored as a liberator of the country: .  Another source which looks promising to answer the OP's historical question is this one.  -- Jayron  32  03:39, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

What Wikipedia has seems to be at Baghdadi Jews... AnonMoos (talk) 08:46, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Baghdad isn't in Bangladesh, though! Bangladeshi Jews is a redlink. --Tango (talk) 11:59, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * If you had looked at the article, "Baghdadi Jews" is a term for Jews who migrated from Baghdad at some point, apparently including a substantial fraction of former Bangladeshi Jews. In India, Baghdadi Jews are contrasted with Cochin Jews etc. AnonMoos (talk) 13:44, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Republic of Georgia building
What is the building at 3:09 of this video? 69.62.243.48 (talk) 03:11, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * The maker of the video wrote in the comments, "That is from Batumi city at the Black Sea shore." -- Jethro  B  03:33, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Yeah, but they didn't know what the building was. 69.62.243.48 (talk) 03:55, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Is this the building you mean: ?  Unfortunately, the only caption I see is "Divlek C. at Batumi City, Added June 19, 2012", which I take to be the name of the photographer.  Here's the site where I found it: .  You might want to contact the blogger. StuRat (talk) 11:27, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * It's the Batumi Justice House. They are apparently dancing on the roof.--Cam (talk) 11:46, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Seriously??? That's their justice house!! It's amazing... -- Jethro  B  23:25, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Thank you. 69.62.243.48 (talk) 00:01, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

Notorious lawyer known for defending war criminals, drug lords, terrorists, etc..
Not Giovanni Di Stefano or Jacques Vergès. It's Ludwig, Ludger something (I'm pretty confident on the "L") and he has a von or van attached to his name, but it was added for cosmetic reasons. He might have died recently. Eisenikov (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 05:15, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Edward von Kloberg III Found it by searching for "added "von" to his name" surprisingly it's a common practice. Eisenikov (talk) 05:31, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * According to the article, he was a lobbyist, not a lawyer. Rmhermen (talk) 14:58, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Are you sure "notorious" is really the right description? Everyone, even suspected drug bosses and terrorists have a right to be defended properly. Alansplodge (talk) 12:02, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * "Notorious" simply means famous. It carries no negative denotation whatsoever. A8875 (talk) 18:29, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Not according to wiktionary (and two others I checked):"Widely known, especially for something bad; infamous." . Interestingly, you would be right, if we were speaking medieval Latin :) SemanticMantis (talk) 18:45, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Not according to 50 years of my usage - "notorious" has a strongly negative connotation; if you just mean "famous", say "famous"! -- Arwel Parry (talk) 19:22, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Notorious sounds rather negative to me. My point is that a perfectly respectable lawyer has a duty to defend their clients to the best of their ability, no matter how odious the crimes that they are charged with. If they (the lawyer) fail to do that, then the whole adversarial system is flawed. Alansplodge (talk) 00:39, 4 October 2012 (UTC)
 * A peculiarity of English, as "notorious" acquired negative connotations a few centuries ago, while "notoriety" is pretty much neutral. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 04:59, 4 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Hmmm. I'd query that last statement –, .  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  06:06, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

Red, yellow, and green lights on the UN General Assembly podium
On the UN General Assembly podium there is a set of red, yellow, and green lights. Is there an official statement from UN indicating its purpose? Most commentators assume it's a speech timer, but there are many flaws in that theory: I'm looking for official UN documents describing the purpose of these indicator lights, or barring that, an authoritative source that describe it as a speech timer.A8875 (talk) 07:56, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * 1) Contrary to the commonly used green, yellow, red, flashing red sequence, the UN one goes from green to flashing red directly. The yellow blub is never used as far as I can tell.
 * 2) In the above video the speaker goes on for 18 more minutes after the red light starts flashing. He essentially used more than double of his allotted time.
 * 3) The light is not used at all for some speakers.
 * 4) Speech timers are generally not visible to the audience, since it can be distracting. (Hence the question. During a boring speech all I can focus on is the blinking light.)
 * I found some references to the light system (the link goes to one example of a search, I tried others too with other results). Sometimes the "orange" light is referred to and sometimes not. The time limits seem to vary by event.--Cam (talk) 12:12, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much.A8875 (talk) 16:18, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I am glad this was answered, because all I could think of was, you will find out next time The Master leads a Sontaran invasion fleet. μηδείς (talk) 22:37, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Dates of LaSalle's 1st (Ohio River) expedition
La Salle Expeditions I have done extensive searching for dates or even "three weeks later" and such of any of his 1669 voyage south of Western New York (specifically on the Allegheny River and upper Ohio River. I have searched all the links and references on the wiki articles for any specific dates south of western New York and even found this but alas no dates or time references.  Anyone have a document or journal link to the complete journey?  Marketdiamond (talk) 08:39, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Have you seen this? Starting at "In what regions" the author discusses the problem, including chronology issues and sources. He seems to conclude that there is no reliable evidence that La Salle explored the Ohio at that time. --Cam (talk) 12:35, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks for that link! However from what I see it mostly centers on years after 1670 (1681 etc.) how far he went on the Ohio and that he didn't really discover what we now know as the Mississippi until later.  I get the point though, La Salle may have been a hoaxster, for balance (and with a grain of salt) is there any similar source that by date allows for LaSalle's perspective (daily journal etc.) something that may key in the exact date he reached modern day Louisville (the falls as he calls them) and also Pittsburgh specifically in 1669-70?  Thanks and that was a great read learned a lot but now I have more questions than answers now lol.  Marketdiamond (talk) 19:22, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I found another skeptic here with more details. Basically there is no firsthand information by La Salle or any co-travelers about the first expedition; all we have is general secondhand info that La Salle discovered the Ohio and traveled to falls on the river, which, later readers guessed, referred to the Louisville rapids. There are no journals, and according to the skeptics it's because the first expedition never happened, at least not beyond the area near the western shores of Lake Ontario.--Cam (talk) 23:58, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

US presidential TV-debates
Good day all together. I am very interested in watching the TV-debates between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. I would like to watch them live but that's impossible because I live in Germany. So the debates take place in the middle of the night, therefore I have to watch it the next day. Does anyone know where I can watch them immedialtely? I doubt that someone will have uploaded it at youtube the same say. Perhaps CNN or CBS? Thanks in advance for the answers. --Jerchel (talk) 08:48, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * C-SPAN will live stream it here.A8875 (talk) 08:53, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * C-span will probably have videos online afterwards. There will also be transcripts, which are much faster to read than actually watching the videos.  It might be worth watching a minute or two of video to get a look at the candidates, but watching the whole thing is in my experience a big waste of time.  You get the info much faster from the transcripts.  67.117.130.72 (talk) 10:06, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Paramilitary education institutes in US
Hello guys! I tried to search here and on other wikis to find a list of paramilitary education institutes in US but I could not find. Could you give me a list? - Prücsök (talk) 09:20, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * The really depends on how you define "paramilitary education institutes". If you're looking for places that will teach you how to shoot a gun, most ranges will offer that. If you're looking for PMC type companies that will offer the whole training package, then take a look at Category:Security_consulting_firms and Category:Private_military_contractors.A8875 (talk) 09:29, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Do you mean something like a List of United States military schools and academies? 67.117.130.72 (talk) 10:11, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * This is what I though to. Thank you so much! - Prücsök (talk) 10:41, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Maria Francisca of Portugal
Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal's article says "A crowd of several thousand were known to have visited the village to pay their respects as her body lay at the rectory awaiting burial at the Royal Pantheon of the Braganza Dynasty...Although initially interred in Gosport Catholic Church, Maria Francisca's remains were later transferred to Trieste Cathedral in Italy, next to those of her husband and children." Where exactly was she buried? How could she be transferred from the prestigious Braganza tombs to a church in Gosport, England, then to a Church in Italy? Was she ever buried in the Braganza tombs?--The Emperor&#39;s New Spy (talk) 13:36, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * She was never buried in "the prestigious Braganza tombs". She was interred in Gosport, then her "remains were transferred to Trieste Cathedral in Italy, next to those of her husband and children". --Ghirla-трёп- 05:24, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

Which part of the paperclip product chain is, on average, the most profitable?
On average, when normalized to a per-paperclip figure, which has the highest profit margin, paperclip manufacturers who spend money on machines (amortized over life of machine, and maintenance), materials, and energy to actually make them and then sell them to wholesalers (or directly to retailers), paperclip wholesalers who spend money to buy them from manufacturers and then sell them to retailers, or retailers who spend money to get them and then sell them to customers? 20.137.18.53 (talk) 14:41, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * For low-priced items like this, the retailer typically makes the most profit. This is because the average customer is not going to do Internet research and compare prices at several stores before making a purchase, unlike, say, with a car.  So, the retailer could sell them at a 100% markup, while, with a car dealership, this would be quite difficult.  Both retailers do have the resources to compare manufacturers and choose the cheapest product. StuRat (talk) 19:55, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Shadowjams (talk) 20:18, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Why does your signature require a citation? μηδείς (talk) 22:32, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Either because he likes it that way, OR he's commenting on the edit just above while not modifying it. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 04:54, 4 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Not sure I agree Stu. Yeah high-street retailer don't have to worry so much about product comparison on low price Items, but I imagine high street sales is a very low fraction of the total compared to the amount made from bulk sales to large businesses and offices, and if you're buying 50 million of the things, I'd bet you would want to shop around-- Jac 16888 Talk 20:25, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Yes, I did mean to include an exception for large businesses, although many of them buy from wholesalers. And small businesses, like the corner bakery, are just as likely to buy the first box of paperclips they see at the local retailer as individual customers are.  BTW, what does "high-street" mean here ? StuRat (talk) 20:27, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * The low street is down by the docks where the working class lives and works. The high street is up the hill and out of the pollution and grime, where the nicer houses are. Shops on the high street are cleaner, have higher-quality merchandise with staff who don't spit tobacco juice on the floor, and charge more money, not least to keep the rabble away. If you are going to the high street to shop, you don't care about the price or at least are willing to pay more. In modern times, the stationery store near higher-end offices (lawyers, architects, etc.) would tend to be pricier than one in a commercial strip mall. Franamax (talk) 21:02, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Actually, high street is Brit-speak for everyday retail sales, referring to shops in town centres. Rojomoke (talk) 21:27, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Rojo gets the points, I was simply referring to the idea of going to a shop for small amounts as opposed to going to suppliers for bulk amounts, with bulk amounts being where the majority of money will be coming from-- Jac 16888 Talk 21:43, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Stu is basically right, the retailers make the most profits when they make them, but they also engage in the highest risk, while manufacturers make a small but more dependable margin. This is basic economics, but I haven't been able to find an article that addresses it directly. μηδείς (talk) 22:31, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

I think the OP is being led up the garden path by the simple and speculative answers above. So, first things first: I don't think any of us have ready access the the data we would need to answer the question. Not least, here will be a great deal of variation in profits made across different sectors of the paperclip supply chain, between different actors in each sector, and across different timescales for consideration of profit, such that there is no hard-and-fast answer. We can hypothesise that each link in the chain - manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer - in general cover their costs and make a profit. That means that each manages to cover their fixed and variable costs: these differ significantly in form between the three, but not in substance. The manufacturers bears the cost of materials, manufacture, overhead recovery, and repayment of investment in plant and machinery. The wholesaler bears the cost of inventory, warehousing, distribution overhead recovery and cost of sales. And the retailer bears the cost of inventory, store space, overhead recovery and the cost of sale. And although it is the case that the retailer's mark-up is likely to be way in excess of the wholesaler's mark-up, it's likely that the retailer's cost of sales and recovery of store rents is way in excess of corresponding costs for the wholesaler. In the long term, it's likely that each industry sector (manufacturing, wholeselling and retailing) has pretty much the same sort of profit to capital invested ratios, since if otherwise, one would expect the market to correct the disparity by investing more capital in the higher profit sector of the chain. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:00, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Alternatives to devaluation in the euro zone
In the past, when a national economy got in trouble, the government would devalue it. Nowadays the alternative would be reducing the wages, and put up with the outcry. But when the euro was established, did the EU thought that this would be needed? Were they aware that they were eliminating the financial instrument of devaluation and introducing something so prone to generate conflicts? OsmanRF34 (talk) 15:13, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * This information was available to them. But they were also aware that there is no possibility for currency devaluation within large nations like the USA. So the more they were thinking along the lines of a United States of Europe, the more a single currency looked appropriate. What happens in the USA when the economy of one part of the country is booming and the economy in another part is in decline? Itsmejudith (talk) 15:51, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * The USA is a different case. They are a monetary and fiscal unity, the EU is only a monetary one. If the economy in one part of the US is depressed, which is often the case, just compare NYC with New Mexico, you can ignore it, or compensate it a little through governmental programs, tax relieves, or grants. 83.49.195.42 (talk) 19:35, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * The euro often seems to be talked about as though it is unique, but there have been many examples of fixed exchange-rate systems (such as the Bretton Woods system, which fixed the exchange rates between lots of major currencies from 1945 until 1971) and currency unions (such as the CFA franc used by many West and Central African countries). Devaluation has not been feasible for many governments, and as with everything in economics, I don't think there is any consensus on whether it is actually a useful tool. 130.88.99.231 (talk) 16:45, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * It's clear to me that fixed exchange-rate systems have some pretty tough drawbacks. Fiat money is the way to go for modern economies, that have to adapt, contract and expand rapidly. Comparing the euro to such system is comparing it to the Titanic, impressive but a complete disaster. Some European countries would love to use this tool of devaluation right now, even if there is no consensus as you claim. 83.49.195.42 (talk) 19:35, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * While fiat money may deal better with minor problems, it can also suffer a total collapse during a depression. StuRat (talk) 19:49, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Has it ever happened? I know that hyperinflation is a natural consequence of making money just because you need it. 83.49.195.42 (talk) 19:51, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Yes, but also if people lose faith in it. At some point, such a currency may need to be abandoned, pegged to a more reliable currency, etc. StuRat (talk) 19:56, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Has it ever happened? Excluding the case where the government printed money to pay their debt, and not to manage the inflation and growth, have any single nation lost faith in their currency? Also excluding wars, where people tend to lose faith in government actually, and all its institutions. 83.49.195.42 (talk) 20:50, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * If you exclude all the conditions under which fiat currency has collapsed, you will eventually get to the conclusion that it has never collapsed. :-)


 * Therefore, I will concede that, in a world without war and without incompetent and/or corrupt politicians, fiat money is the best choice. StuRat (talk) 23:22, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * The Zimbabwe dollar is a recent example. Roger (talk) 15:49, 5 October 2012 (UTC)


 * It has been suggested (in my view correctly) that the Euro was primarily a political project and economic concerns were played down. A mismatch between economic and political union could have been seen as pushing more political union in the future and in the EU that is seen as an unquestionable good. The EU is rather good at dismissing criticism as nationalist and then ignoring it. It seems to me the Euro has been a classic example of groupthink and hubris. 90.212.157.32 (talk) 18:24, 6 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I'd say that before they moved to a shared currency, they needed to align their economies more closely, such as having comparable (actual) tax rates, retirement ages, benefits, proportional national debts, etc. StuRat (talk) 06:45, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

Examples of universities confronting the media
Hi all, I was having a discussion with a friend about "what would happen if.." and the scenario was basically this: a student researcher does some dangerous research, and goes missing in a foreign country. Who do the media confront? I thought the supervisor would be first in the firing line. She thought the vice chancellor. Does anyone know of cases involving universities facing this kind of unwanted attention, and what was the role the media played? I'd be interested in cases from anywhere, pref first world countries, where the university was in some kind of media storm, and the issue was something like negligence. As far as I understand it, in most countries, any lawsuit would be against the institution, but wherever the media frenzy is directed, that is where heads are most likely to roll. IBE (talk) 16:16, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Don't most universities (at least larger ones) have some kind of press officer to deal with the media? Beyond that, it would depend on the circumstances: for example, the media might blame the vice-chancellor if the problem was caused by university-wide policies, or somebody more junior if they appeared to be personally responsible for what happened. 130.88.99.231 (talk) 16:24, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * It's sad how many google hits there are for "missing university student". In lieu of a news story of the kind you are looking for (until someone else turns one up), here is some more general info similar to 130.88.99.231's point: The university will have codes both for relations with student researchers and for fieldwork. Here are two examples from the University of Edinburgh: Code of practice for supervising grad students, Health and safety code, fieldwork section. Presumably before blame is assigned the media would check whether the university had policies and if they were followed.Taknaran (talk) 18:03, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Someone does dangerous research in a dangerous country, ignoring any travel advisories, and something happens. Would that really be a big media thing, let alone a firing/liability issue for a university (assuming they didn't pretend it was a safe trip?) Unilynx (talk) 21:18, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Everything I can find with missing students no one blames the university. American student missing in Spain, Iranian-American student missing in Iran, American student arrested in Syria, American student missing in Syria. Everything I can find with criticism of universities is for controversial course content, lab practices (usually involving animals) or anti-discrimination policies on campus. Universities sued for negligence are usually for sports safety, hazing incidents or medical treatment. Perhaps your scenario is uncommon or has not happened.--184.147.123.169 (talk) 21:54, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * "...would that be a big media thing?" Maybe, since research has to be approved by the supervisors, and an ethics committee. The question might arise about their culpability, and by implication, that of the university. If it is just someone going there as a visiting student, different story, but it seems possible that there would be questions about others allowing it. I agree it's strange, but somehow duty of care seems to pop up quite often. A case does not have to be watertight for the issue to cause problems, since the threat of a lawsuit is enough to scare a lot of people. IBE (talk) 05:45, 4 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Despite ever more detailed procedures, minor problems with fieldwork crop up all the time and major ones from time to time. The answer to your question is that press queries are directed through the press office. Individual members of staff may be instructed not to speak to journalists on that question. (They can carry on talking to journalists about unrelated research.) Then an internal investigation, kept strictly at arm's length from the press, will try to work out who, if anyone, messed up. It's not the case that if some journalist opines that "the supervisor must be to blame" the university will share that assessment. Itsmejudith (talk) 06:49, 4 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I think you've pretty much summed it up, although there's quite a difference between "some journalist opines" and a real media frenzy directed at some particular target. So presumably we (me and my friend in the discussion) were both wrong, at least in that the media wouldn't get to do much "confronting", regardless of who they thought was at fault. IBE (talk) 05:27, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

Are fewer people selling their homes because of the financial/housing crisis?
See above. If you wanna post a paragraph on it make sure you put 'yes' or 'no' first. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.96.113.87 (talk) 17:02, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes, if we consider the difference before and after the housing bubble. See: here, the last graph titled "Existing Home Sales (NSA)" (as in "not seasonally adjusted", so the raw numbers).  You'll see the sharp drop between 2006 and 2007, and then it stays at that same comparatively low rate for all years following.  -- Jayron  32  17:09, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much. You'd think that such a simple question would be easy to track down the answer to, but for somebody like myself with only a very basic grasp of the subject... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.96.113.87 (talk) 17:23, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Maybe a rethink of the question is in order. If you have only a very basic grasp of the subject, how do you know it can even be answered with a simplistic "yes/no" answer.  It may be yes in some places and no in others - you didn't specify what part of the world you're interested in.  It may vary over time - you didn't specify any time period.  And what's your definition of "selling"?  Is it an actual sale as evidenced by an exchange of contracts, or is it merely a desire to sell as evidenced by a "For Sale" sign.  Are you talking about just investment properties, just the family home, or both?  And what does "fewer people" mean?  Fewer than what, and compared to when?  What if it's fewer in some places but more in others?  Is the sale of a house counted as 1 for the house, or 6 for the family of six people who are all moving?  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  20:46, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * No, more people are offering their house for sale, but that doesn't mean they are indeed selling it. 83.49.195.42 (talk) 19:37, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Where? (See Jack's post above.) HiLo48 (talk) 22:50, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Bingo. μηδείς (talk) 21:06, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Actually, "indeed selling houses" is exactly what Jayron's source says (for the US market, per Jack's comments re: clarification). There are far fewer sales now (2011-2012) than during the peak of the bubble (2005-2006), though today's sales are comparable to levels a decade ago.  Conversely, there are far fewer houses on the market now than at any point post-bubble (though levels are comparable to before and during the bubble), so there are not demonstrably more houses being offered for sale. &mdash; Lomn 21:26, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * My experience is anecdotal, but since 2011 my family has sold property, and my neighbors to my left have sold, and my right have offered, and my biggest client offered their properties.  That's a lot of selling and not so much closing.  I can't make any rational sense of the fact that home values have collapsed unless one figures that demand has fallen far below supply. μηδείς (talk) 22:22, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Where? (See Jack's post above.) HiLo48 (talk) 22:50, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * NJ & NY. (Also MA, sold, in 2009 at a good price.) μηδείς (talk) 01:46, 4 October 2012 (UTC)