Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2014 February 11

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February 11[edit]

Richard Sherman[edit]

how was Richard Sherman child wood? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.2.74.117 (talk) 00:00, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Who? What? --Orange Mike | Talk 00:15, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
See Richard Sherman? Dismas|(talk) 07:04, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I see that one of the links on that disambiguation page is a redlink for a Richard Sherman who was a member of the English parliament in the 14th century. This seems unhelpful. Is there a policy that all members of governments (suitably defined) ought to have articles? Maproom (talk) 07:29, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
No but there is a guideline that says redlinks should be avoided.--Shantavira|feed me 09:13, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Right. I have deleted the redlink. Maproom (talk) 09:51, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
It says "Don't add red links that aren't used in any articles." Special:WhatLinksHere/Richard Sherman (MP) shows it's used in one article, but the use is so insignificant that I don't object to the deletion in this case. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:41, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, WP:POLITICIAN says that members of national legislatures are prima facie notable. Redlinks in a context like this are messages that there is an article we are missing at this point. --Orange Mike | Talk 18:56, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you, Orange Mike. I thought there might have been such a guideline somewhere. I have put the 14th-century Richard Sherman back. Maproom (talk) 21:22, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

How do I start a page on my professional achievements?[edit]

I have garnered national and international stature and achievement and would like to initiate a Wikipedia page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.137.186.6 (talk) 01:25, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In general, you don't. See our guideline on autobiographies and the one on Conflict of interest. If you are truly notable (see WP:BIO), someone else will create an article sooner or later. If you just can't wait, try requested articles or articles for creation and clearly disclose that the article is about yourself. DES (talk) 01:47, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
And phrasing like "I have garnered national and international stature and achievement" is going to make it hard for anybody to take you seriously. --Orange Mike | Talk 02:37, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I can find no trace of an article created/submitted in the article wizard[edit]

Hi,

On 10.02.14 I tried to create a short factual article about established company Delta-T Devices - One of only 6 high tech worker cooperative based in the UK (with a notable history) - dating from 1971.

This is in response to many similar companies having similar pages.

I created a user name Environment11 and proceeded to use the Article Wizrd to create and submit the article. I subsequently realized that I should have added a "stub template" to this submission, but hey, I am very new to this.

My concern is that there is no record in my user profile of this article, e.g there is nothing relating to it in "contributions".

Is this normal, or has my article somehow disappeared? or have I done something wrong? I'm worried that 3 or 4 hours work may have been to no avail. I do of course realize that the article may be deemed unfit and deleted. But it is the fact that I don't seem to have any way of knowing that is most concerning to me.

Yours appreciatively, Dominic Cahalin

Environment11 (talk) 08:42, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Dominic. I'm sorry to have to say this, but it really does look as though your work hasn't been saved - there's nothing in your account's history to suggest you've created anything other than your userpage and the above message (as an admin, I'm also able to check your deleted edits, so I'd be able to tell you if the page had previously existed but has been deleted - it hasn't). There's also no page named Delta-T Devices (or Delta-T devices, or any other variant I could think of) on Wikipedia, deleted or otherwise, and there's nothing in Articles for creation either. We have a page called Delta-T (it's a redirect), but that doesn't appear to have been edited by you either. I'm very sorry, but I can only assume that the page you created wasn't saved - there's nothing for it but to start over from scratch. Yunshui  08:49, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Isn't it at User:Environment11/sandbox? -- John of Reading (talk) 11:18, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I have just reviewed the draft and given you some tips on how to show that the subject is a Notable company. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 11:51, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
@Environment11: Are you talking about this article? It was created on 10 February. Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Delta-T Devices Cyphoidbomb (talk) 13:52, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Ooh, good find. How did I miss that? Yunshui  13:57, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I am confused as to whether my article "stub" has been submitted to review or not. Also confused about the title of a page.[edit]

I am having a few issues assessing whether or not I have correctly submitted a new stub.

My user name is Environment11.This is the first time I have tried to create a stub.

Could anyone please let me know if the article I created this morning has been submitted or not? There seemed to have been conflicting messages on the page as to this point.

Also, I created the article originally in my sand box. I cannot remember seeing a place to put the article "title". Therefore I think I may have created a stub without a "title".

An experts help on these two issues would be very very welcome.

Thank you so much. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Environment11 (talkcontribs) 09:44, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You have now (today, subsequent to your previous question on this Help Desk) created a short article in your sandbox. You have not submitted it for review: it says, right at the top, in boldface, "Draft article not currently submitted for review."
While it remains in your sandbox, it will not have a title. If and when it is approved, it will be converted to an article, by moving it to "mainspace". This process will involve assigning a title to it. Maproom (talk) 09:58, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Incidentally, I see that you have added a "stub" tag to it. This does not matter much, but is a mistake. It produces the message "This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it", which is misleading. For one thing it is not an article; for another, while it is in your sandbox, it is "yours", and other editors will be reluctant to change it. (I believe I could help, by changing the citations to something closer to the approved style; but while it's in your sandbox, I'm not going to do that without your permission.) Maproom (talk) 10:09, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Help regarding global account[edit]

Hello, I want some help regarding my global user account. Recently I've created my user account in some other language Wikipedia in curiosity, but when I see my global account it shows that I'm active in 110 projects. I want to delete my user pages in those Wikipedia and specially I want to see only those wikis where I'm active or contributing in my Global user page details. Can somebody help me --Jnanaranjan Sahu (ଜ୍ଞାନ) talk 10:22, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I know, the account is global but that doesn't create a userpage for you on each language. I have visited other languages Wikipedias and never seen any user page for myself on those since I haven't created one. And as for seeing your global contributions, go to your contributions page here and follow the link at the bottom of that page to your global contributions. Dismas|(talk) 10:42, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for the reply. I've created user account in some wikipedia wikisource and wikitionary projects. can you please tell me how can I remove them ? and yes I want hide all wikipedia projects in which I'm not active in my Global user page. Is it possible ?--Jnanaranjan Sahu (ଜ୍ଞାନ) talk 10:50, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
If you view any page at a Wikimedia wiki while you are logged in to your global account at another Wikimedia wiki, your account is automatically created. A user page is not the same as a user account. Your user page is not created automatically. Accounts cannot be deleted. They can be renamed but it has to be requested and done one at a time at each wiki. You shouldn't bother the editors performing renames for this. You can click the "Edit count" heading at Special:CentralAuth/Jnanaranjan sahu to sort by that column. Click twice to sort in descending order. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:35, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Thank You very much PrimeHunter. My doubts got cleared. :) --Jnanaranjan Sahu (ଜ୍ଞାନ) talk 06:42, 12 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Tamar.com wikipedia[edit]

Hi, I updated wikipedia page for Tamar.com to make it sound less like an advert, what more can I do? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Belcapes (talkcontribs) 11:46, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You could delete the "Awards" section. I think that is now the biggest contributor to making the article look promotional. Maproom (talk) 12:00, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Unbalanced tags[edit]

Hi everyone!

How do you help to "balance" an article? When an article is labelled as "unbalanced" what are you supposed to do?

Thank you! — Preceding unsigned comment added by LorenzoMed (talkcontribs)

I am not sure whether you are asking about "balanced tags", or about balance of content of an article. If an article has unbalanced tags, e.g. a <ref> tag with no </ref> tag, it is a simple error which needs to be corrected. But if an article's content is unbalanced, e.g. it is about a football game, and is written entirely by supporters of the losing team and says why they should have won, achieving balance is more difficult, and should be done by editors with no personal or commercial interest in the subject. Maproom (talk) 12:09, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Is this about Dmitry Rybolovlev? PrimeHunter (talk) 13:17, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The first step is to go to the talk page to see why someone thinks its "unbalanced".
Then begin addressing the concerns raised by providing reliably published sources in a manner that as accurately as possible reflects the current best understanding and view of the subject as held by mainstream academia. In some cases where a minor fringe view is given excessive ink, it is appropriate to radically condense or event remove the fringe views. Otherwise, all viewpoints should be represented proportionately. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 13:35, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
or it could be that editing has already addressed the issues, but no one bothered to remove the tag. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 13:49, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

professional; wiki article.[edit]

Can I hire someone to make a wiki page for me? --StupidFeminist1999 (talk) 11:51, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. But here, at least, it is very strongly discouraged. Maproom (talk) 12:03, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Indeed. You should read Wikipedia's conflict of interest policy, which has a section on paid editing. Gandalf61 (talk) 12:11, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Given your username I'm guessing that you might be able to get relevant, neutral, unpaid assistance and advice at WP:WikiProject Feminism - paid editing tends to face a lot of opposition and even outright hostility here. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 12:34, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

help....[edit]

one of your bots is claiming I'm infringing on an MTV copyright when, in fact, MTV has nothing to do with the page I've created. Help me out here, I'm not very tech savvy. This band is about to start touring again and they really need a WIKI page:

Here's my page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoughts_of_Ionesco_%28American_band%29 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Profane Existence (talkcontribs) 15:39, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The deletion tag has been removed, the similarity seems to have been merely the list of band member names. :The article Thoughts of Ionesco (American_band) could use better references. By the was the article says that they were "active from 1996 to 1999." If they are "about to start touring again" then that info should be included, if it can be sourced. DES (talk) 15:53, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]


Hello, Profane Existence. I don't want to sound discouraging, but no band (person, company, organisation ...) in the world "needs" a Wikipedia page. Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia, and its articles are for Wikipedia's purposes, not for the subject's. Promotion of any kind is forbidden. If the band has already been written about in multiple reliable sources, then there may be an article about it. Even if the band does meet this criterion and somebody writes an article about it, that article may not contain information about an intended tour unless the intention to start touring again has already been written about in reliable sources unconnected with the band, --ColinFine (talk) 17:40, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Colin,

I see your point. The band doesn't "need" a Wiki page. However, they were a significant act in the '90s music scene and have been often written about since, covered by everyone from Spin to Alternative Press. They are widely known in the history of "extreme music," and have sold roughly 30,000 records in the US and Europe. I think having a page for the band makes sense.

The MTV content in question (http://www.mtv.com/artists/thoughts-of-ionesco/) is taken from All Music (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/thoughts-of-ionesco-mn0002317436/biography).... the originator of this content—that citation is already provided. Can you let me know what else I need to do to get this page up? Profane Existence (talk) 18:55, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a recommended/standard article format for places (cities, towns, counties?)[edit]

I've been trying to clean up the articles on cities, counties and other institutions in my local area and was wondering of there was a Wikipedia standard or recommended form for such articles. (I've looked and can't find one, but that may be user error.) Most pages on geographic locations seem to have the same parts (History, Geography, Population, Government, Attractions) but in no particular order. I would like to help beat things into some kind of regular shape, if it exists. Thanks!

--Digitalican (talk) 16:29, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The talk page of the Geography Wikiproject may be a better place to ask: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Geography.--ukexpat (talk) 17:33, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

changing page[edit]

I want to make a change on this Dąbrowa coat of arms

Specifically on the right side of this page is a list of families that use this coat of arms. The Tatur family needs to be included. Going to edit does not enable me to change this list of families. How can it be done? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:5B0:21FF:EF0:0:0:0:3D (talk) 16:31, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The list at Dąbrowa_coat_of_arms#Notable_bearers does not aim to include all families that use the coat of arms, just those that are notable in the sense used in Wikipedia. I have therefore removed the Tatur family, and several others. Maproom (talk) 16:54, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The OP referred to the right hand side of the page, so presumably was talking about the infobox? I don't know why the OP couldn't see the list when trying to edit. --David Biddulph (talk) 19:15, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I have added the name "Tatur" to the list in the info box. A reference would be good, but none of the 141 other names there have one. Maproom (talk) 21:25, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Prominent Americans of Middle Eastern Descent, Norse Deities, and Role-Playing Games[edit]

In these three categories, in the past two years, I have noticed that articles pertaining to these three categories keep getting deleted.

I realize why this might be happening. There are portions of the U.S. population which are prejudiced against each of these groups, and who have decided that they have the right to delete these things from American life.

Religion and patriotism NOTWITHSTANDING, this is Wikipedia, not somebody's private forum for deciding what is right and proper for people to know about. It's supposed to be an encyclopedia. As a user, I frequently research people and topics I disagree with, and I don't edit the articles or mark them for deletion, even when I hate the topic or person involved.

Please get control of the people who DO perform these disgusting acts, promptly. Wikipedia has ALREADY become something of a joke to the general populace. We don't need it to get worse.

Thank you very much, Duncan Beach (talk) 16:51, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

If there room for doubt about whether an article should be deleted, its proposed deletion is discussed at Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion. Have you been reading these discussions? Have you contributed to them? Can you tell us which articles have been deleted, that you think should have been kept? Maproom (talk) 17:01, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Is it possible that rather than the articles being deleted they are just being removed from the categories? This could happen if they are re-categorized into a more specific category, the category is deemed not to be correct or the category is deemed not to be significant. Unfortunately, there is no automated process to track former members of a category, only current members. In order for us to specifically address articles that have been removed you would need to tell us specifically which articles are no longer in the category. RJFJR (talk) 17:03, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I think RJFJR is on to something here. To my surprise, Category:Norse deities does not include three of the best-known Norse deities, Odin, Thor and Loki. It does have a subcategory Norse gods, which in turn does not include these three. I find this puzzling. Maproom (talk) 17:13, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Side note, that's cause they're in Category:Æsir. Howicus (Did I mess up?) 17:18, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
We have more than four million articles and you didn't give examples so it's hard to comment on but our editors are from around the World (I'm Danish) and your theory sounds like conspiracy nonsense. Category:American people of Middle Eastern descent and its subcategories have thousands of articles. See Wikipedia:Deletion policy for how articles are deleted and how you can contribute to discussions. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:40, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

With markAdmins.js you can mark admins, commons-admins, checkuser etc. on en.wiki. It is similar to de:Benutzer:PDD/markAdmins.js at de.wiki - maybe someone knows it already... If you're interested, just put

importScript('User:Brackenheim/markAdmins.js'); // [[User:Brackenheim/markAdmins.js]]

on your monobook.js or common.js to try it out. At de.wiki you can activate this function in your Preferences via de:MediaWiki:Gadget-markAdmins.js. I think this would be interesting for en.wiki, too. --Brackenheim (talk) 17:17, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

If you don't want to mark Commons-admins you can put
@import url("//tools.wmflabs.org/ggu/?format=cssmarker&localuser=User&query=sysop@enwiki@A|bot@enwiki@B|bureaucrat@enwiki@B|checkuser@enwiki@C|oversight@enwiki@O|steward@metawiki@S&bold=0");
on your monobook.css or common.css. --Brackenheim (talk) 20:20, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Second battle of Khe sahn[edit]

Battle of Khe Sanh (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

Extended content

There were two battles of khe Sahn. The second was as a result of Lam son 719.No where in all histories is Khe Sahn is mentioned in this manner. Many Americans died in Laos and at Khe Sahn from January to March of 1971. The 101st Abn.Division was assigned to protect the air base as the troops of South Viet Nam and some Americans were in Laos attempting to close the Ho Chi Men Trail from the Northern soldiers continually using it for the bringing of more men and equipment to the south. Some of the most vicious battles of the war were fought in Laos and at the air base itself. There were many news reports from those three months as the Americans and South Vietnamese Soldiers attempted to complete the mission. It was obvious this was not to be, just as the mission of 1968 at the base was not. The Marines were sent from Khe Sahn knowing they were not victorious. We were sent from the base, also, knowing we were not successful. Although the operation was a failure, there was not only death , but times of heroism by the soldiers sent there to protect and do what they were told. I would like to see and it put to the people there was more than one battle that the United States undertook to help thwart the north from an overpowering that soon would come. The reason for this is that there were so many things the American soldiers did that created some Medals Of Honor to be awarded. One battle at the base began on the early hours of march 23, 1971. Michael John Fitzmaurice,a member of Delta Troop, 2/17th Cavalry, 101st. Abn. Division received the Medal of Honor as a result of his actions that kept he and many others alive.

It would please me very much if this three month period could be mentioned as an important time in the war, just as the 1968 battle there is mentioned. No one knows of this 2nd battle, but all know of the first. I am hoping there is some mention of this for those that were there and for the American public. I was there with Michael Fitzmaurice that morning. I would like the people of America to read and understand what occurred, just as they know what occurred in 1968. I thank you for your time and I can provide other information needed, if you like. There is an article in the April 2, 1971 Like Magazine giving some details as to what the mission was and what the Americans contributed and suffered. I do than you for your time and patience for reading my note to you — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.177.78.184 (talk) 17:23, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You will need to provide details of that article, because unfortunately your personal experiences are not an acceptable source on Wikipedia. Wikipedia does not publish "original research" only what others have said before. --Anon126 (talk - contribs) 23:15, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Where should I report this old Afc submission[edit]

Dear editors: This page: Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Thomas A Law seems to be about an interesting person, and I would like to report it at a Wikiproject to see if he is notable. However, I'm not sure which one. Any opinions? —Anne Delong (talk) 17:48, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

No great ideas, Wikipedia:WikiProject Companies seems the closest, and that's quite broad.--S Philbrick(Talk) 18:20, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
WP:WPBIO?--ukexpat (talk) 19:35, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
WP:WikiProject Invention might also be interested. I don't know how active the project is. Deor (talk) 20:24, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
As far as I can tell, this Thomas Law has a well-documented claim to have invented the photocopier. This surely qualifies him as notable. But the article needs some work on its formatting. Maproom (talk) 21:30, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Well, it's been edited now, so deletion is postponed for six months. —Anne Delong (talk) 23:28, 12 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Article "reviewing"[edit]

Hey all, a quickie: I'm looking at the New pages feed aka the "Magic Firehose of Sewage" (a nod to Orangemike). Are there specific guidelines for "reviewing"? That is are we just spotchecking for vandalism/BLP issues and such like we do as reviewers on semi-protected pages, (I have reviewer permissions) or is there a different review process that includes tagging with cleanup templates and such? I've seen Wikipedia:Reviewing but it seems to focus on articles marked with pending changes. Thanks, Cyphoidbomb (talk) 18:27, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'd say it's like any other "assignment" here: do as much as you care to, beyond the basic of stopping the spammers, vandals and promoters. Leave the common playground cleaner than you found it, and thank you for whatever you choose to do. Cleanup is always welcome, be it grammatical fixes or tagging for needed refs and the like. --Orange Mike | Talk 18:52, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
@Orangemike: I guess where I'm hung up, is that when I start at Special:NewPagesFeed and follow the blue Review button to an article, there is a floating (javascript?) toolbar on the right with a large checkmark that asks me to "mark as reviewed". Wait a second. I think I just found the answer to my question here. Geez, that could have been easier to find. After you click "Mark as reviewed" there's a "learn more >>" link to Wikipedia:Page_Curation/Help#MarkReviewed. Well this case is resolved. Now I'll live-Tweet my experience opening a medicine bottle. Oy. I think I'll leave this real-time discovery here so scientists can learn more about how thinking works. Thanks for the help. Cyphoidbomb (talk) 19:26, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

American Jewish University[edit]

Hello I recently submitted some edits for the American Jewish University home page. I was wondering what the is status of the changes? I have attached the correct information below and I have some nice pictures to submit as well and the mission statement.

Extended content

American Jewish University

American Jewish University (AJU) is a private, nonprofit university with two campuses located in Los Angeles, California. The university maintains a faculty-to-student ratio of seven to one. The individual attention AJU students receive from their professors is one of several reasons why the school has been repeatedly acknowledged by the editors of The Princeton Review as one of the Best Western Colleges. The University places an emphasis on ethics and leadership with students and also provides the broader community with diverse educational experiences.

HISTORY

American Jewish University is the outcome of the 2007 union of Brandeis-Bardin Institute (BBI) and the University of Judaism (UJ). In 1947, the University of Judaism was founded in Los Angeles as the vision of Dr. Mordecai Kaplan, the author of Judaism as a Civilization, who advocated the creation of an educational institution incorporating diverse elements of Jewish civilization and culture under one roof. To carry out his dream, he received the support of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and the then Bureau of Jewish Education of Los Angeles - currently BJE.

Six years earlier, Brandeis Camp Institute (BCI) -currently the Marilyn & Sigi Ziering Brandeis Collegiate Institute - was founded by Dr. Shlomo Bardin to safeguard against assimilation of young American Jews by making “the great ethical heritage of Judaism” relevant to them. BCI was named to honor America’s first Jewish Supreme Court Justice, Louis D. Brandeis, who was instrumental as the visionary and primary funder of Dr. Bardin’s initial programmatic endeavor. BBI was located for brief periods of time in Amherst, NH, Winterdale, PA and Hendersonville, NC before finding its home in 1947 in Simi Valley, California.

The UJ was originally housed in the vacant Sinai Temple building and relocated to a number of Los Angeles sites before moving to the Familian Campus in Bel Air in 1977. Thanks to the foresight and leadership of the founding President, Dr. Simon Greenberg, his successor, Dr. David Lieber, and first Chairman of the


Board, Dore Schary, the UJ became well known early on for its teacher training and adult education programs. In 1979 the UJ began the Graduate School of Nonprofit Management, an additional program to further the vision of Mordecai Kaplan. In 1982 a four-year liberal arts college (College of Arts and Sciences) was launched. These in turn were followed in 1986 by the establishment of the Graduate Center for Education and in 1996 by the creation of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, the first independent ordaining rabbinical school in the western United States.

In 1947, BCI purchased and eventually moved to 2,200 acres of land in what is now called Simi Valley. During the fifties, Max Helfman and Raikin Ben-Ari elevated the realm of creative music and drama and the BCI model was adapted for adults, launching the concept of adult weekend retreats known as House of the Book Weekends. A residential summer camp for children 8-16, Camp Alonim, opened in 1953, soon followed by the expanded use of facilities for non-summer activities for youth. In 1960 the House of the Book Association was organized by couples who had participated in weekend programs, leading to the 1970 groundbreaking of the House of the Book, a mountaintop facility used for large group presentations and celebrations.

Impressed and inspired by Dr. Bardin’s vision and educational philosophy, neighbor James Arness (star of “Gunsmoke”) gifted his entire ranch to the institute, increasing BCI’s acreage by 40% and making it the largest parcel of land owned by a Jewish institution outside the State of Israel. In 1977, the BCI Board of Directors changed the name of the Institute to Brandeis-Bardin Institute (BBI) in honor of the late founder. The two institutions united in 2007, establishing American Jewish University.


TWO CAMPUSES

The Familian Campus is characterized by contemporary open-air architecture and grassy, tree-lined walkways. It is set on 27 acres in Bel Air, one of the most desirable residential neighborhoods in L.A., and is within a 30 minute drive to Hollywood, the beaches and other major L.A. sites. Located on a rustic hilltop, the scenic campus is host to a wide variety of events including conferences, retreats, business gatherings, performances and life cycle events.

The Brandeis-Bardin Campus is located on 2,700 acres in the Santa Susana Mountains of Metropolitan Los Angeles’s Simi Valley. It is a working ranch with hiking trails, camping areas, swimming pools, gardens and wildlife and provides the experiential nature lab for AJU students. Visitors can see horses running down the hillside, wild cattle grazing, and peacocks wandering through the campus. Each summer, the campus welcomes 800 youths, ages 8-16, to Camp Alonim, and scores of young adults to the Marilyn & Sigi Ziering Brandeis Collegiate Institute program. This campus is also host to a wide variety of events including weddings, performances, business gatherings, retreats and conferences.



ACADEMIC SCHOOLS

The College of Arts & Sciences emphasizes individualized attention to its students and maintains a 7:1 student-faculty ratio. Degrees are offered by the following departments: Behavioral Sciences; Bioethics and Natural Sciences; Business; Jewish Studies; Liberal Studies; Literature, Communication and Media; and Political Science. Each student has a department chair act as their advisor. The University offers two Dual Degree programs: the BA/MBA in Nonprofit Management, and the BA/MAED in Education. Both of these programs allow qualified upper-classmen to take graduate-level courses during their undergraduate years. This dual-level approach allows qualified students to graduate with Bachelor and Master degrees within five years.

All students participate in the multi-disciplinary Core Curriculum Program and are required to earn a minimum of 120 academic credits to graduate. Credits are earned in Core requirements, the major and electives. The College welcomes transfer students; a maximum of 70 credits are accepted from two-year colleges, while there is no maximum on the credits that may be accepted from an accredited four-year college. The minimum residency requirement for graduation is 45 units, 15 of which must be in the major.

In addition to classroom studies, students may become involved in a range of co-curricular activities. Among them are: participating in the facilitation of the annual city-wide Prejudice Awareness summit or the intercollegiate Model United Nations; producing the college's digital newspaper; performing in the annual College Theatre Production and/or the Literary/Arts event, Cymbals Underground; and partnering with the Arava Institute for Desert Research through AJU’s Business Department.

Students in the College of Arts & Sciences also have available to them internships and mentor programs designed to meet individual student’s interests. Partnering organizations that provide internship and mentoring opportunities are: Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Dreamworks, AIPAC, Universal Studios and the Shoah Foundation. Upon graduation, ninety-five percent of AJU students continuing on to graduate school are accepted by the school of their choice.

The Graduate School of Nonprofit Management focuses on the business of running a nonprofit organization: the strategic planning, marketing, fundraising, accounting and innovative thinking necessary to manage and create change within the nonprofit world. The program allows students to continue to work during the day while attending classes in the evening. It is the only MBA program in the western United States solely focused on the nonprofit sector.

The Graduate Center for Jewish Education has a curriculum built upon a synthesis of four pillars: 1) Fundamental and cutting edge theories and methods of pedagogy, curriculum design and administration 2) Conceptual frameworks of philosophy, psychology and sociology of education 3) Reflective Practice and Inquiry linked to fieldwork and 4) Judaic Studies through scholarly and educators’ lenses. The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies is a five-year rabbinical school that values rigorous scholarship as well as spirituality. In an atmosphere that places great emphasis on personalized teaching, students study Jewish texts and traditions, feel the presence of God in their lives and assume the ever-expanding roles and responsibilities offered to those entering the Conservative rabbinate of the 21st century.


GAP YEAR PROGRAMS

American Jewish University College in Israel (AJUCI) is an accredited program that works with both Year Course and Aardvark Israel to provide academically qualified gap year participants an opportunity to earn academic credit. Through AJUCI, Course and Aardvark Israel participants can earn nearly a year’s worth of college credit while studying, volunteering, and experiencing Israel.

RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES

American Jewish University considers residential life, especially the undergraduate residence hall experience, to be an integral part of its educational mission. This stems from AJU’s principle that the academic and social dimensions of university life should be integrated. There are four residence halls, each featuring 24 modern and spacious rooms. Additionally, the Residence Life Complex features sixteen 1 Bed/1 Bath apartments and four 2 Bed/1 Bath apartments. All dorms and apartments are located in a park-like setting adjacent to main the campus. Every residence hall room and apartment is fully furnished, each including a private bath and air-conditioning, and is cable and Wi-Fi ready. The Residence Life Complex is equipped with a laundry facility, study lounges, computer centers, kitchens, an outdoor basketball court and a fully-stocked gym.


YOUTH PROGRAMS

Camp Alonim is an overnight camp housed at AJU’s Brandeis-Bardin campus for children ages 8-16. The camp strives to instill a love for Jewish culture, tradition and community by exposing campers to a multitude of ways to be Jewish. Camp Alonim is a complete immersion experience, where Jewish values are lived and modeled by the staff and Jewish culture is brought to life through song, dance and experiential education. The Marilyn and Sigi Ziering Brandeis Collegiate Institute (BCI) offers young adults ages 18-26, an intensive experience in Jewish learning, culture and community. BCI is a 26-day exploration of self and Judaism, set in the context of the American recreational summer camp, bringing together young Jews from around the world with some of Judaism’s most compelling, talented scholars and artists to experience the multifaceted aspects of Jewish life.


COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

The Whizin Center for Continuing Education (WCCE) is the largest Jewish continuing education program in the country and offers courses in Jewish studies, Hebrew language, fine arts and personal growth, as well as seminars, all-day institutes, public lectures and residential study experiences.

Jewish Television Network (JTN) joined American Jewish University in 2010 to create a third and virtual campus complete with extensive academic and community resources in addition to a community broadband network featuring a mix of news, entertainment and culture.


THINK TANKS

American Jewish University is home to two think tanks. The Sigi Ziering Institute (SZI) explores the ethical and religious implications of the Holocaust and challenges our understanding of divinity, humanity, responsibility and mankind’s capacity to do evil. The Center for Israel Studies (CIS) promotes greater understanding of the history, culture and policies of the State of Israel through education, media outreach and policy studies/reviews.


COMMUNITY RESOURCES

The Bel and Jack Ostrow Academic Library is designed to meet the needs of the University's faculty and students, as well as scholars conducting research in all fields of Jewish culture and civilization. Members of the general public are invited to use the Library’s materials free of charge. With approximately 110,000 print volumes, the library's collections have grown consistently through endowments, gifts of major private collections and an ongoing acquisition program.

The Burton Sperber Jewish Community Library sponsors programs for children and adults alike, including Jewish holiday celebrations, Sunday story hours, and regular lectures by prominent Jewish authors. The library is the successor of the Jewish Community Library formerly housed at the Los Angeles Jewish Federation. It also features a special collection on the history of Jews in magic.

Lowy-Winkler Family Rare Book Center has impressive holdings in this specially acclimatized center. The Maslan Bible Collection includes hundreds of rare bibles dating back to the inception of printing in the 15th century.

Phoebe & Werner Frank Family Learning Center houses special collections on Jewish genealogy, Jewish historical works and Yizkor books commemorating communities destroyed in the Holocaust. The Frank Center is a place for families to explore their roots and experience the diverse communities of the Jewish world.

The David Alan Shapiro Memorial Synagogue Center, dedicated in his memory, is available for prayer services and lifecycle events and serves as a multipurpose center for classes and meetings.

The Sondra and Marvin Smalley Sculpture Garden, dedicated in 1981, features works by Aldo Casanova, Fletcher Benton, George Rickey, Jenny Holzer and Sir Anthony Caro and is one of Los Angeles’s outstanding sculpture gardens. It hosts a growing collection by preeminent artists from the second half of the 20th century. Wendie’s Garden, in memory of Wendie Jo Sperber, is a succulent garden punctuating the west side of the Familian campus.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Rensin (talkcontribs) 18:28, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

@Rensin: Hi, the content you are proposing has elements that are overly promotional in tone. Content about rustic hilltops and desirable neighborhoods don't belong in an encyclopedia article, they belong in real estate listings. Wikipedia does not exist to advertise or promote organizations or to make them look warm and inviting. Wikipedia is also not an indiscriminate collection of information, so we don't need to list every feature or service or function that the school offers. Contrarily, the current article describes the school succinctly with facts and clear language. The content you've provided is also largely unsourced, which makes verification difficult. You might have better luck proposing smaller changes on the article's talk page, rather than proposing massive replacement. That's my reply in a nutshell. Regards, Cyphoidbomb (talk) 18:57, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I'll second what Cyphoid said, and add that mission statements are generally rejected, since even when they are not semantic nulls, they are pious generalizations, not encyclopedic content, and don't belong in a reference work. --Orange Mike | Talk 20:51, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
In general I agree, but mission statements, when presented as direct attributed quotes, can in some cases help give an institution's view of itself. DES (talk) 21:54, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Are mission statements copyrighted material? RJFJR (talk) 21:58, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
NOrmally, yes. But direct attributed and sourced quotes of copyrighted text that are not excessive in length are specifically allowed. Most quotes (that are not of pre-1923 text) are of copyrighted material after all. DES (talk) 22:30, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Page move request[edit]

I've just finished a bunch of articles on Navy aircraft squadrons. See the list HERE. Many of them are of the form "VA-nn", where "nn" is a number. This causes confusion with articles about highways in Virginia, many of which have names or redirect pages of the form "VA-nn". I've addressed this by naming most of my new articles as "VA-nn (U.S. Navy)", but a few lack the " (U.S. Navy)". I'm hoping that someone can help me by renaming VA-1L, VA-21A, VA-22A, and Second VA-36 to include " (U.S. Navy)" at the end. IMHO that would be a step towards eliminating a bunch of confusion. Lou Sander (talk) 21:09, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You can move the pages yourself by following the instructions here. However, I don't believe this is necessary (at least for the ones you listed) because I'm confident that Virginia highway numbers don't have letters after them. --Anon126 (talk - contribs) 23:09, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The other one that is out of place is VA-65 (US Navy) since it has US rather than U.S. Naraht (talk) 02:05, 12 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe I'm reading something in to your question but just in case I'm not... Every squadron's article doesn't need to end with "(U.S. Navy)". Just because some of the items in the series end that way does not mean that they all have to. For instance, some (but not all) of the episode articles for Star Trek:The Next Generation end with "(Star Trek: The Next Generation)". Most are simply the title of the episode with no disambiguator. Dismas|(talk) 02:59, 12 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for all the information and advice, fellows! I've moved the articles in question. There IS method in my (U.S. Navy) madness -- there's meaningful confusion between some of the Virginia highway articles and U.S. Navy ones. Not that it's a big deal, but it DOES make it hard to find what you're looking for. There are also several ways of styling the titles of articles about U.S. Navy squadrons. I want there to be some consistency in the ones I start. Lou Sander (talk) 03:08, 12 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I think you are missing the point. We only use disambigation (the stuff in parentheses) when there is a need to disambiguate from something with a similar name. The starting point for consistency should be no disambiguating parentheses, and only using them when there is a need to. So, IMHO, your moves of, for example, VA-1L, VA-21A, VA-22A to titles including disambiguation need to be undone.--ukexpat (talk) 17:29, 12 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
@Ukexpat: Thanks for your observation, which is appreciated. IMHO this is a thorny matter that extends beyond disambiguation, though there are tons of disambiguation implications. Some of the latter are illustrated HERE, where I'm starting to work on a solution for one specific case. The underlying problem is that there are hundreds of U.S. Navy aircraft squadrons, each identified by a code (my term) such as those you mentioned above, but also referred to by other names. Many of the squadrons that Wikipedia editors have covered can be seen at List of United States Navy aircraft squadrons and List of inactive United States Navy aircraft squadrons. There are many ways to refer to these squadrons, but the only "universal" one is by the codes previously mentioned. Among the legitimate ways to style VA-176 are Attack Squadron One Seven Six, Attack Squadron 176, ATKRON 176, to name a few. Sometimes U.S. Navy or similar is tacked onto the end. Also, the currency and legitimacy of these alternative names have changed over time, so that readers or editors familiar with one style may not even know about the others. As if that weren't enough, many squadrons' codes have changed over time, and there are cases where several different squadrons have had the same code. There is a real challenge in naming Wikipedia articles about these squadrons, since everybody has their favorite way to refer to them, and since not every article creator is aware of what others have done, what the alternatives are, etc. The main authority for squadron names is THIS BOOK, which uses the short codes and hardly ever anything else.
I've recently been immersed for tens of hours in all this stuff, and in my best judgment the way to title an article about a squadron is to call it VA-999 (U.S. Navy). That gives uniformity and makes it easy to disambiguate the article when that is required (which I believe is most often with the "VA-nnn" squadrons). I've adopted that style for articles I create, and IMHO it is more helpful than harmful. I think that others who have depth knowledge of the situation would agree, but of course there's no telling for sure. Lou Sander (talk) 18:45, 12 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'd say that the simplest guide is the Stereotypical example of Disambiguation. Just because Mercury has to be disambiguated into Mercury (Element) and Mercury (Planet) doesn't mean that we should use Venus (Planet) instead of Venus. The only question would be whether it would be appropriate to create redirect from Venus (Planet) to Venus

(Note, I just previewed this and there is a redirect from Venus (Planet).)20:37, 12 February 2014 (UTC)— Preceding unsigned comment added by Naraht (talkcontribs)

Maybe the folks at WP:MILHIST have a view on this.--ukexpat (talk) 21:15, 12 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
No need to disamibiguate a page that is unique like VA-1L, if the code causes confusion then it may be better to use the form Attack Squadron 1L as articles like Attack Squadron 163 (United States Navy) already exit (although again you can get rid of the (United States Navy) as in the form Attack Squadron 163 they are unique without it. MilborneOne (talk) 19:37, 14 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
And I am sure that Second VA-55 (U.S. Navy) is not really an acceptable article title and should be something like VA-55 (1983-1991) or Attack Squadron 55 (1983-1991). MilborneOne (talk) 10:36, 15 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I have noticed an inconsistency in articles about US Navy and USMC flying squadrons. Some use the abbreviations for the units (as in VA-55), while others use the name of the squadron (Attack Squadron 55). It seems that the use of the proper name of the unit instead of an abbreviation would entirely dodge the problem of distingusishing naval attack squadrons from Virginia highways. --Lineagegeek (talk) 22:21, 15 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Dear Sir/Madam

I had provided certain links which already appeared in the page but the comment on the top still remains. See below

This article is an orphan, as no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; try the Find links tool for suggestions. (January 2013).

Kindly advisePanank (talk) 21:15, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Panank. Once you fix the issue, you can remove the tag yourself. --NeilN talk to me 21:19, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Note to fix an "orphan" tag, one must edit other articles, so that they link to the "orphan", and give readers a way to get to the article through links. Links from the article to others (where appropriate) are also good, but do not address the orphan issue. DES (talk) 21:56, 11 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]