What's in the GKB Anyway?

 

 

What was the tuition at the University of Washington in 1896? I am interested in the 19th-century marriage and divorce law in New York State that disallowed the "guilty party" from remarrying. What is the term for curse word substitutions in comic books?  For example, %$@# for the F word.  I just read it somewhere and now cannot find it. [From a chat transcript] Is there a way to verify Thomas Jefferson is indeed the person who spoke all the quotes attributed to him? Are most polar bears left handed/pawed? In Beatrix Potter's stories, what is the name of Peter Rabbit's wife? In what way are quantum mechanics and natural language processing similar? Are horses that participate in a President's funeral "put down"? (Answered via the Global Reference Network) Who are the New York City police officers trained in suicide intervention? If a baby is born on an airplane, what nationality is it? What is the primary language of television programs in Belgium? (Answered via the Global Reference Network) Which has the longer perimeter - a one-acre square or a one-acre oblong rectangle?

 

What was the tuition at the University of Washington in 1896?

GKB Record ID: 169787

Question posed at The University of Washington

Answered by University of Washington Library - Special Collections

 

Answer:  According to the Catalog from that time period tuition was free for residents of Washington in all departments. The only cost was for graduating degrees and diplomas, which were $5 for baccalaureates and $3 for diplomas done other than that resulting in the conferring of a baccalaureate.

The other costs associated with a year of school were made up of books, and monthly room and board.

 

I am interested in the 19th-century marriage and divorce law in New York State that disallowed the "guilty party" from remarrying.

GKB Record ID: 150364

Question posed at: The Peoples Network Online Enquiry Service (UK)

Answered by:  24/7 Back-up Librarian and the Supreme Court Law Library, Criminal (New York)

 

Answer:  Here's a webpage I found on the history of divorce in New York. http://www.brandeslaw.com/grounds_for_divorce/history.htm

It does talk about "guilty party" remarriage, I believe.

[Supreme Court Law Library]

We cannot send you the full text of the following due to copyright considerations but perhaps you will be able to obtain this information from a law library in your vicinity. If you do contact a law library you can tell them that we used the following natural language search within the TP-ALL database on Westlaw:

prevent "guilty party" from marrying again "ninteenth century"

After examing the 20 documents retreived we did a "search within the search" for all those 20 documents retreived which mentioned "New York".

Here are the items from the searches described above that we thought would be most appropriate, based on your question.: [For complete answer, search the GKB for KB # 150364]

 

What is the term for curse word substitutions in comic books?  For example, %$@# for the F word.  I just read it somewhere and now cannot find it. [From a chat transcript]

GKB Record ID:  4107969

Contributed by: New York Public Library

 

Answer:

After some false tries, the librarian hit on the term the patron was trying to remember.  It is "grawlix."  The answer was found at http://www.typography.com/ask/index.php?kwID=33.  

 

Is there a way to verify Thomas Jefferson is indeed the person who spoke all the quotes attributed to him?

GKB Record ID:  171106

Contributed by:  Library of Congress, American Memory

Question date:  27 June 2008

 

Answer:

Your concern is commendable! Especially in today's Internet-driven world, it is more important--and more difficult--than ever to be scrupulously accurate in the attribution of quotations.

 

Fortunately, there are a number of resources to help you, as follows:

 

1. The new Thomas Jefferson Wiki at Monticello has an extremely helpful section on Jefferson quotations--both those by him and those incorrectly attributed to him ("spurious quotations")--at http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Category:Quo.

tations

 

2. Monticello has also assembled an excellent guide to online sources for Jefferson quotations at http://www.monticello.org/library/reference/quotes.html.

 

3. Our unparalleled collection of Jefferson papers here at the Library of Congress has been digitized and placed online at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/. Please note, however, that while many of the documents have transcriptions and are therefore keyword-searchable, many others have no transcriptions and therefore have no searchable text beyond the designation of who wrote them, to whom, and when. To accompany this collection, we have provided a page of Jefferson quotations at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/mt, and you may find that useful also.

jquote.html

 

4. One letter in our online collection which has not been transcribed may nevertheless be worth your attention: it was written near the end of Jefferson's life, to be given someday to the newborn son of some friends, who had just been named for him. In addition to a poetic rendition of one of the psalms (at the bottom of the first page), it includes general advice in language simple enough for a young person to understand. You can find this two-page document beginning at http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=m.

tj1page054.db&recNum=1266

 

5. Some accurate--and attributed--quotations by Jefferson may be found at http://www.bartleby.com/100/.

 

6. Finally, let me suggest one other angle. Jefferson wrote beautiful eighteenth-century (and early-nineteenth-century) English, but his language in his political writings and correspondence with adults is not easy for today's children to understand. For that reason, you may wish to consult a copy of the book that includes all extant letters to his children and grandchildren (those to his grandchildren are particularly charming):

 

The Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Edwin Morris Betts and James Adam Bear, Jr. 1966; rpt. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1986.

[Find in a library near you: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/425171]

---

Are most polar bears left handed/pawed?

GKB Record ID: 152283

Contributed by: Peoples Network Online Enquiry Service/Blackburn Library Services

Question date: 4 September 2007

 

Answer: 

Polar bears are left-handed, according to Inupiaq (IN-yoo-pack) elders.

 

The Inupiaq dwell in the icy lands on the North Slope of Alaska near present-day Barrow. These Inuits have lived with such creatures over the past several thousand years. They know.

 

"Avoid his lethal left!" They say.

 

I was unable to find any scientific studies of polar-bear handedness. Instead, I based my answer on anthropologist Richard Nelson's account. In the 1960s, Nelson spent about a year living with the Inupiaq in the tiny village of Wainwright.

 

"Inupiaq elders say polar-bears are left-handed, so you have a slightly better chance to avoid their right paw, which is slower and less accurate," says Nelson.

Apparently, all polar bears are left handed. When stalking prey on the ice, a polar bear draws his right paw across his black nose, hiding his primary dark body part, the better to successfully sneak up on his next meal. (Some polar bears also squeeze their eyes almost closed, for even more complete camouflage.) Then, the bear batters his lunch to death with his stronger, dominant, left paw.

---

  

In Beatrix Potter's stories, what is the name of Peter Rabbit's wife?

GKB Record ID:  168500

Contributed by:  Back-up Librarian

Question date:  29 September 2006

 

Answer:

[From an e-mail sent to the publisher]

 

Thank you very much for emailing us with your query regarding Peter Rabbit's potential wife.

There is no evidence in the Beatrix Potter books that Peter Rabbit ever married. The unnamed female rabbit shown helping Peter in 'The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies' could be his wife, but other suggestions have been that she might be his mother or even his married sister Mopsy.

I am sorry not to be able to clarify things for you, due to lack of

indication as to who this unnamed female could be.

 

Thank you for your curiosity, and if I do come accross any affirmation of identity of this rabbit, please be assured that I will be in touch with you.

 

Best wishes,

 

Preschool Editorial Assistant

Ladybird, Warne, Brands & Licensing

Penguin Group (UK),

80 Strand WC2R 0RL

Tel: +44 (0)20 7010 4476

www.penguin.co.uk

 

----------------------------

Fri, Sep 15, 2006 at 9:46 AM

To: peterrabbit@penguin.co.uk

 

Hi,

 

I am a librarian and I received a question about the name of Peter Rabbit's wife.

 

I did some investigating and found the information which I will detail below, but the main issue is that some sites have captioned one of the illustrations from "The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies" as "Peter Rabbit and his wife..." though the text itself does not mention his wife.

 

Do you have any information you can give me about this illustration, a wife character, or the captioning of that picture?

 

I'm pasting the information I found below:

 

There are several issues going on here:

 

1) There is a Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Peter Rabbit by the same name, unaffiliated with Beatrix Potter's characters, story written by Thornton W. Burgess:

 

_Mrs. Peter Rabbit_ by Thornton W. Burgess with illus. by Harrison Cady. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1919, c.1919. 205p. 21½cm. The Green Meadow Series.

 

http://www.thorntonburgess.org/Burgess%20Books.htm

 

2) Peter Rabbit is an adult in "The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies" where Benjamin Bunny has married Peter's sister Flopsy, but the text does not mention his wife:

 

http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=PotFlop.sgm

&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all

 

3) There is an illustration in that story where some people on the internet have captioned it "Peter Rabbit and his wife..."

 

Original illustration without captioning:

http://etext.virginia.edu/images/modeng/public/PotFlop/PotF

lo17.jpg

 

Illustrations with captioning:

 

a) "Peter Rabbit and wife being asked for cabbages by Benjamin and Flopsy Bunny in The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies"

 

http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Peter_Rabbit

 

b) "Peter Rabbit and wife being importuned by Benjamin and Flopsy Bunny - anthropomorphic characters from Beatrix Potter books"

 

http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/personify

(scroll down a couple of times)

 

4) So far, I have not found any mention of a character's name on the official Peter Rabbit/Beatrix Potter sites:

 

http://www.peterrabbit.co.uk/

http://www.copyrights.co.uk/en/1/porbpo.html

http://www.copyrights.co.uk/en/1/porprb.html

 

Thank you for your assistance!

 

---

 

 

 

In what way are quantum mechanics and natural language processing similar?

GKB Record ID:  146783

Contributed by:   New York Public Library - Ask Librarians Online

Question date:    06 June 2007

Answer:

. . . A brief description of the parallels between quantum mechanics and NLP comes from an article titled "HUMANISTIC NEURO-LINGUISTIC PSYCHOLOGY:

QUANTUM THEORY IN NLP" by John Overdurf, C.A.C. and Julie Silverthorn, M.S.

http://www.nlptrainings.com/humanistic.html

"... Humanistic Neuro-Linguistic Psychology is the study of how Mind creates reality though language and behavior. We are using the word Mind with a capital M on purpose. Many scientists want us to believe that our mind is our brain. Much of what is taught in traditional treatment approaches and even in 'alternative healing methods,' such as NLP, is based upon premises about reality which physicists abandoned roughly 30 years ago. Recent research and advances in quantum physics support what ancient wisdom has taught for thousands of years: we are more than our bodies, we are more than our brains, we are part of an interconnected whole. ...

 

"The quantum 'field' is unlimited potentiality. It is pure information and creativity. It has no form as we know it. It only exists as probabilities. The quantum field is referred to in many spiritual systems as the Void in Buddhism, the Akasha in Hinduism, the I'o in Hawaiian, to name a few which we have studied. It is everything that is, was, and will be simultaneously. In other words it is beyond time, space, matter and energy. Just think if you could learn to tap into this? You can. There are systematic ways to do this and they are easier than you might think!

 

"How does creation occur?

"Physicists say that what turns the quantum field into matter is measurement. Our observation is a measurement. In fact the words 'matter' and 'measurement' come from the same Greek root 'metra' which meant 'uterus.' Thought gives birth to matter through measurement. Our thoughts behave as wave forms until we identify with them. Before we have thoughts, pure potentiality exists. Once we have a thought and we put it into language (symbols, sounds and words), we are well on the way to creating a reality. This is when we begin to make something out of nothing. Language is how we do it. Our language then becomes, in large part, our map for reality and it dictates how we perceive our reality. Look around. Everything that you can sense wherever you are right now, started with a thought (including you!). The fact that you can sense it means that sufficient energy accompanied it, and as the thought developed its reality became more and more material. We create our own reality. ..."

 . . .

 

---

 

 

Are horses that participate in a President's funeral "put down"? (Answered via the Global Reference Network)

GKB Reocrd ID:   144894

Contributed by:    Springfield-Greene County Library (Springfield, MO)

Answered by:       USA Armor School Research Library (Ft. Knox)

Answer:

The following is the procedure regarding horses used in military funerals, including that of the Commander-in-Chief (found at http://www.il.ngb.army.mil/Funeral/customs.htm):

 

"Caisson and Riderless Horse

 

"Six horses are used to pull the caisson, although all six are saddled, the three on the left side have riders, while the three on the right do not. This custom evolved from the days when horse-drawn caissons were the primary means of moving artillery ammunition and cannon, and the riderless horses carried provisions.

 

T"he single riderless horse that followed the caisson with boots reversed in the stirrups is called the "Caparisoned Horse" in reference to its ornamental coverings, which have a detailed protocol all to themselves. By tradition in military funeral honors, a Caparisoned Horse follows the casket of an Army or Marine Corps officer who was a colonel or above, or the casket of a president, by virtue of having been the nation's military Commander in Chief.

 

"The custom is believed to date back to the time of Genghis Khan, when a horse was sacrificed to serve the fallen warrior in the next world. The Caparisoned Horse later came to symbolize a warrior who would ride no more. Abraham Lincoln, who was killed in 1865, was the first U.S. president to be honored with a Caparisoned Horse at his funeral."

---------------------------------

The answer provided is correct as far as military regulations and customs are concerned. The horses are not "put down" but rather perform this service more or less "professionally," full time at Arlington National Cemetery with the 3rd Infanrty Regiment, the "Old Guard."

see the following:

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/photo_gallery/1-1-07.html

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/photo_gallery/3-13-06.html

 

---

 

 

Who are the New York City police officers trained in suicide intervention?

GKB Record ID:   144693

Contributed by:   New York Public Library - Ask Librarians Online

Question date:    30 April 2007

Answer:

The Unit of NYPD that seems to be called upon for such unfortunate situations is the Emergency Service Unit:  http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/pct/esu.html

 

You can mail your inquiry directly to the FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) Unit of The New York City Police Department (http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/nypd/home.html) at the following mailing address:

 

New York City Police Department

Foil Unit

1 Police Plaza, Room 110C

New York, NY 10038

 

Please allow three months for the NYPD to respond to your letter once it has been received. If you wish to speak to the FOIL Unit directly, its telephone number is (646) 610-5296.

 

The New York City Police Museum may be able to help (http://www.nycpolicemuseum.org/):

 

Curator

NYC Police Museum

100 Old Slip

New York, NY 10005

 

From 1995 to 2005, journalist Leonard Levitt wrote a column about the New York City police department called "One Police Plaza" for the newspaper Newsday. These columns are available on his Web page "NYPD Confidential: An Inside Look at the New York Police Department":

http://nypdconfidential.com/

 

You can contact Mr. Levitt at: levitt@nypdconfidential.com

 

There are a few Web pages that cover the topic you're researching, including:

 

"... The Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations is dedicated to presenting practical information on dealing with critical emergency situations. It gives you the edge with the latest tactics for reducing the danger of hostage incidents, crisis intervention, terrorism, attempted suicide, domestic disputes, and barricaded subjects. It is the only journal in the world aimed at making the nerve-wracking art of negotiation safer and more effective.

Instead of high-flown theory, the Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations presents tested, proven strategies. Articles are peer-reviewed by a team consisting of a negotiator and a police psychologist as well as an academician. The first criterion for review is immediate applicability in the field. The editorial board consists of experienced crisis professionals, including the father of modern police hostage negotiations, Captain Frank Bolz, Jr., now retired from the New York City Police Department. ...":

http://www.haworthpress.com/store/product.asp?sku=J173

 

"Guide To Crisis Negotiations" by Bruce A. Wind of the Seattle, WA, Police Dept. Hostage Negotiations Team:

http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cjs10.htm

"Incidents involving barricaded subjects, hostage takers, or persons

threatening suicide represent especially trying and stressful moments

for law enforcement personnel who respond to them. Officers first

responding to the scene must quickly assess the totality of the situation, secure the area, gauge the threat to hostages or bystanders, and request additional units as appropriate. Crisis negotiators must establish contact with subjects, identify their demands, and work to resolve tense and often volatile standoffs without loss of life.

Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams must prepare to neutralize subjects through swift tactical means. Field commanders assume ultimate responsibility for every aspect of the police response.

For such a coordinated response to be successful, each component needs to understand clearly the functions of the others. This article

clarifies the role of crisis negotiators for field commanders, of whatever rank, who find themselves in command of hostage or other critical incidents. ...

TYPES OF INCIDENTS

Most negotiations teams group incidents into three main categories --

hostage takings, barricade situations, and suicide attempts. ..."

 

SOURCES:

All Web pages accessed May 17, 2007.

 

 

---

 

 

If a baby is born on an airplane, what nationality is it?

 

 

Record ID:   143964

Contributor:  Peoples Network Online Enquiry Service

QuestionDate:  02 Feburary 2007

Answer: 

You might like to have a look at these websites:

1. http://www.immigrateusa.us/index.php?op tion=com_content&task=view&id=523&Itemid =48

 

2. http://familytravel.suite101.com/blog.cfm/baby_born_on_a_plane

 

3. The woman, Egyptian, was flying from London to Boston... According to U.N. rules, the birthplace would actually be the airplane's registered country. That could be almost anywhere! Citizenship could actually be determined based on whether you are flying into or out of a country.

 

---

 

 

What is the primary language of television programs in Belgium? (Answered via the Global Reference Network)

 

Record ID:  143000

Question posed to:   New York Public Library - Ask Librarians Online

Question answered by:  Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften (Germany)

Question date:  29 March 2007

Question:

My question concerns television providers in Belgium. I need to know if the following platforms carry broadcasters primarily in Flemish or French: Telenet Belgacom TV Vlaanderen Integan Interelectra PBE WVEM If these platforms carry broadcasters in both languages, I would like to get a general idea of what the ratio is for each with respect to these two languages.

Answer:

I found out, that the companies you named do not offer television programs themselves, but offer packages of stations to their clients. The links you find below lead to pages, where stations are listed that are offered by the concerning companies: Telenet http://televisie.telenet.be/51/0/1/meer-zien/zenderaanbod.h tml (Zenderaanbod means: Stations offered) Website provided in Flemish and French Belgacom http://www.belgacom.be/private/nl/jsp/dynamic/minisite.jsp? path=templatedata/site/MiniSite/data/belgacomtv Click for example "ons aanbod" (our offers) -> "Classic +" and then enter for example 1000 as your postal code. The Website is offered in Flemish and French language. tv-vlaanderen http://www.tv-vlaanderen.be/default.asp?id=109&t=TV%20VLAAN DEREN Website provided only in Flemish language. Integan http://www.integan.be/particulier/televisie/frequenties/tel evisie_frequenties01.html Website only in Flemish language Interelectra from http://www.interelectra.be/ there is a link to http://www.interelectra.be/ there: http://www.indi.be/aanbod/basis_TV Website only in Flemish language PBE http://www.pbe.be/ Stations analog: http://www.pbe.be/N_D_A_zenderaanbod_T.asp Stations digital: http://www.pbe.be/N_D_D_zenderaanbod.asp Website in Flemish and French WVEM http://www.wvem.be/prg/selfware.pl?language=NL&id_sitemap=75 Website only in Flemish Below are the Flemish language stations (Dutch and Flemish are nearly identical languages). This list is probably not complete, please check the single stations in the lists linked above. It is not clear, how much of the program of these stations is in English, German or French language, because international movies or serials are not translated to Flemish language, they are shown with subtitles. Also there might be French news or similar provided on these stations. - atv - Kanaal 2 - Kanaal z - Netherland 1 - Netherland 2 - Netherland 3 - Ketnet - MTV NL - TMF Vlaanderen - een - vijf Here are the French stations: This list is probably not complete, please check the single stations in the lists linked above. - Arte - TF 1 - France 2 - France 3 - France 5 - La Deux - La Une The companies above also provide many English and German language stations.

Which has the longer perimeter - a one-acre square or a one-acre oblong rectangle?

Record ID:  147729

Question posed to:   Library of Congress - Learning Page

Question answered by:  San Antonio Library, San Antonio, TX

Question date:  21 June 2007

Question:	Say you have a fence built around a square acre of land. now say you take that same acre of land and make it one inch wide and stretch it out until it is one acre of land, and now put a fence along both sides and both ends of that acre. Would it take more fence than the square acre of land or would the same amount of fence be used on both acres?
Requesting Institution:	Library of Congress - Learning Page
Knowledge Base:	QP Global Reference Network
Source of Request:	Automatic Submittal
Education Level:	Secondary
Question Keywords:	measurement, mathematics, geometry, farming
Category:	FAQ
Date Requested:	06/21/2007
Subject:	Subject Broad Class: QA: Mathematics
Geographic Code:
Reason:	General Interest
Language of Question:	English
Sources Checked:

 

 

Answer

 

 

Answer:	Stretching out the acre into an elongated figure requires more fence to surround the same area. Given a constant area (a single acre, for example), the rectangular figure that requires the least fencing is the square.
Responding Institution:	San Antonio Public Library (San Antonio, Texas)
Answer Keywords:	measurement, mathematics
Source Citation:
Additional Sources Checked:
Required Update Date:
Answer Date:	06/22/2007
Format:
Language of Answer:	English
Public Access:	Yes
Current Record Status:	Active