Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 September 15

= September 15 =

Alumni of Allahabad University
Pt.Motilal (Nehru) was a student of Muir Central College of Allahabad before 1884. Allahabad University came into existence in 1887. Before 1887, Muir Central College was affiliated to Calcutta University. Thus as a student, he was not an alumnus of Allahabad University. Was this status conferred on him subsequently as an honour? If so, when?117.199.144.15 (talk) 06:32, 15 September 2012 (UTC) Ram Narain Lohkar
 * It looks like Allahabad University Alumni Association has chosen to honour Motilal Nehru as an alumnus on the grounds that he studied at (but did not graduate from) Muir Central College, which developed into the university and where the buildings in which he studied are still standing. Presumably the University of Calcutta Alumni Association could do the same thing, if they chose to, on the grounds that Muir Central College was affiliated to the U of C before MCC became Allahabad University, although we don't have information on the nature of that affiliation (was the university the degree-awarding body for MCC at that time, for example, or did it award its own qualifications?)   Neither claim is 100% accurate, and both could be said to be partially correct. In either case, the statement that he has been acknowledged in a publication by the Alumni Association - an old scholars' club - is fairly trivial in the context of the rest of the article.   -  Ka renjc 21:06, 15 September 2012 (UTC)

"Limited" form of Female Genital Mutilation
Female genital mutilation is a horrific practice, I think most would agree. My personal opinion is that men who advocate removing women's clitorises should have their penises cut off.

My question is about the specific (and relatively rare) form of FGM which involves cutting off just the clitoral hood (not doing anything to the clitoris itself). Anatomically, this would seem the closest version to the "male" circumcision equivalent. Is this version any more cruel or painful (or detrimental to sexual feeling and function) than male circumcision?

I'm well aware that there are those who claim that male circumcision, too, negatively affects sexual feeling. I'm just trying to get a comparison to this specific female version.

(Note: I am not an advocate of FGM in any form). 58.111.230.117 (talk) 14:33, 15 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Note that in the most severe form, the vagina is actually sewn shut, and grows together, so that any sex is likely to be painful and cause injury. Corrective surgery may be required to open it up again, either for menstruation or for sex (which means after marriage, in those places).  StuRat (talk) 15:59, 15 September 2012 (UTC)
 * If that's not typical, how is it relevant? Card Zero  (talk) 16:18, 15 September 2012 (UTC)

What should women who advocate or perpetuate the practice have cut off? For example, Ayaan Hirsi Ali recounts in her Infidel how it was her father who was against her being FGMmed and her granma who had it done to her. Asmrulz (talk) 17:09, 15 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Unless you have read it already: the article Clitoral hood reduction has some information on that. The article seems to deal mainly with the "cosmetic" aspects of CHR and not with any cultural practices.   --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 20:55, 15 September 2012 (UTC)

urban history research question: Croton Aqueduct and High Bridge
I read this article in the NYT, and it mentioned the High Bridge over the Harlem River between Manhattan and The Bronx. That led me to our article on the Croton Aqueduct.

Our articles on the aqueduct and the bridge, however, left me with two questions: A huge reconstruction was done on the bridge in 1928 (replacing most of the masonry arches with a much larger steel one). Was the bridge still in use as an aqueduct then?
 * 1) When was the Croton Aqueduct taken out of service?
 * 2) After that, what was the point of maintaining the High Bridge?

A $20 million project is currently underway to restore the bridge for pedestrian use by 2013. Is pedestrian access the only point of the project?

(My point in asking is partly curiosity, and partly to see our articles improved, so if you like, feel free to spend time improving the articles instead of answering here.) —Steve Summit (talk) 16:22, 15 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Doesn't the second paragraph of High Bridge (New York City) basically answer your two numbered questions, as well as the "Was the bridge still in use as an aqueduct then?" one? Deor (talk) 01:22, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

How can I write rho so it doesn't look like p?
--168.7.229.0 (talk) 18:09, 15 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Start at the bottom and draw the p upwards, with a slight slant to the right. --TammyMoet (talk) 18:12, 15 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Rho looks like this: ρ. Looie496 (talk) 18:17, 15 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Can't help you with the capital, but the article rho itself shows a loopier character that looks like a cursive lowercase 'e' with the tail below the line as the second lowercase variant. When I studied Greek in University we were taught to draw the stem at a 45 degree angle ascending to the upper right, so it looked much more slanted and less peeish than the standard font here, more like this ρ italic form (or, much better, see here).  Also, a printed 'p' is drawn stem first from the upper left down, leaving a little nub at the top, while a rho is drawn in one upward then clockwise motion, so it lacks the nub of the 'p' which is drawn in two separate strokes. μηδείς (talk) 18:31, 15 September 2012 (UTC)


 * (ec) In some fonts, that certainly could be confused with a lowercase p. Unfortunately, uppercase rho (Ρ) looks exactly like uppercase P.  Therefore, I suggest using a different slant, font, size, bolding, color, or highlighting to distinguish all your Greek letters from English ones: ρ, ρ ,  ρ ,  ρ , ρ, ρ, ρ, etc. StuRat (talk) 18:40, 15 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Here's the loopier ϱ I mentioned from the article. μηδείς (talk) 20:40, 15 September 2012 (UTC)

Mail 'Trash'
Having just installed Apple's Lion and Mountain Lion I have 'lost' the Trash box on my Mail page. Any ideas as to how restore it please?--85.211.199.83 (talk) 18:20, 15 September 2012 (UTC)
 * This would probably get better responses at the Computing Desk. Dismas |(talk) 18:43, 15 September 2012 (UTC)


 * On mail version of Mail, which is a little older, I can make the Trash appear by going to the Mailbox menu, selecting Go To, and then selecting Trash. If this isn't exactly in your version, look for something similar.  RudolfRed (talk) 04:01, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

Done that, many thanks.--85.211.199.83 (talk) 06:13, 16 September 2012 (UTC)