Halloween October 15, 2004
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentWhat are you going to be for Halloween?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: A mild-mannered librarian. I change into this role in an abandoned carrel back in the old levels of the library.
Long Distance relationships October 15, 2004
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentWhat is the secret to a long distance romantic relationship? Forget the secret, what are some tips to making it work?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Save up lots and lots of money and travel back and forth frequently to see one another. Emails and phone calls and camera phones are fine, although you don’t want to seem like you’re “checking on” the other person too much, either. A handwritten letter now and then with lots of X’s is pretty romantic (AP, at least, finds retro expressions of affection to be romantic, maybe the last person to feel that way). Make the situation as temporary as possible; at least, have an end in sight in the foreseeable future. You can tell that AP is a cynic, but I wish you the best of luck!
pumpkin pie October 15, 2004
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentWhat is the best recipe in the world for pumpkin pie?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: That sounds like the sort of question that Laura Bush or Teresa Kerry would be asked, so I suggest you check with them. If you’re shy about that, Nancy Reagan’s and Mamie Eisenhower’s pp recipes can be found on this celebrity recipe list: http://www.recipegoldmine.com/celeb/celeb.html (along with Elvis Presley’s Fried Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich). AP suspects that my grandmother’s recipe is better than these celebrities’, so I’ll have to dig it out and give it a try when it comes time to scoop out the pumpkin.
Unconstitutional October 11, 2004
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentCould the Supreme Court rule that part of the US Constitution is unconstitional? For example, if an amendment were passed prohibiting homosexual marriage, could the Supreme Court later rule that amendment unconstitutional based on other parts of the constitution?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Hmmm … an interesting conundrum. From a practical standpoint I wouldn’t expect a really questionable amendment to actually make it through the process to become part of the Constitution (that’s not to say I can’t see it happening in this day and age). I think all the rules about 2/3 majorities and getting the state legislatures as well as the Congress to pass an amendment has something to do with making sure it’s well thought out before becoming part of the Constitution.
In its article entitled “constitutional amendments, limits on,” the Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues, 1789-2002 by John R. Vile (Perkins and Lilly Reference 342.7303 V699, E56, 2003 ; also at Law Library ) touches on this subject (its example is the flag-burning amendment). Some legal scholars believe that such an amendment could be subject to judicial invalidation due to contradictions with previously existing parts of the Constitution. The article implies, but doesn’t explicitly say, that the invalidation could come after adoption of an amendment. (But then who’s to say that the earlier part of the Constitution couldn’t be invalidated due to conflict with the new amendment, which would by then also have become an integral part of the Constitution!?) On the other hand, the vagueness of the Constitution leaves it open to a lot of interpretation, so how can anything contradict it or vice versa? There’s a lot of judgment involved, and the opinions of qualified legal scholars differ. To witness the consequences, we’ll probably have to wait until one of these amendments is ratified.
Ovarian Cysts October 8, 2004
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentWhat are ovarian cysts? Are they dangerous? Can they be treated? Is it a bad sign if they reoccur?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: First off, AP isn’t a doctor or lawyer and isn’t at all qualified to answer medical questions or give legal advice. As a librarian, I can point you in the direction of some authoritative information written for regular people. Might I suggest the Medical Encyclopedia at the National Library of Medicine website: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ There’s an entry there for ovarian cysts.
The Duke Medical Center Library has quite a number of links to consumer health information: http://www.mclibrary.duke.edu/respub/refres/consumer.html They’ve also done a nice guide here to help the consumer evaluate online medical information.
These sites are just to provide background information — to make you an informed consumer, so to speak. You should consult a medical practitioner to answer your specific questions.
Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises October 4, 2004
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentWhat are the respective differences between taxes, duties, imposts and excises? What does it mean concerning taxes when in the US Constitution it says “all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States”?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: This is from Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution: “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States…”. The glossary from the U.S. Treasury Dept’s International Trade Data System http://www.itds.treas.gov/printglossaryfrm.html defines duty as “a tax levied by a government on the import or export of goods,” imposts as “a tax, especially an import duty,” and excise taxes as “taxes on the manufacture, sale, or consumption of goods, or upon licenses to pursue certain occupations, or upon corporate privileges,” which, they explain, in current usage covers about everything besides income taxes. It seems like the writers of the Constitution were throwing in all sorts of synonyms to cover the bases, although in the usage of the 18th century the words may have had other subtle differences. You might want to check an unabridged dictionary or the Oxford English Dictionary to get earlier definitions of these terms.
The uniformity clause makes AP’s head swim when reading about it. Basically, with regard to taxation, everyone must be treated the same within a jurisdiction (same tax rate, etc.). It’s pretty obvious that tea arriving at the port of Charleston would need to have the same rate of federal duties as tea arriving at the port of Baltimore. Beyond that, interpretation gets very, very complex and there seem to be a lot of court cases on whether a tax violates this clause or not. I think the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was to get around the problem of the income tax not being uniform in some persons’ eyes, i.e., it is apportioned based on income, which varies, rather than strictly on numbers of persons from the census. Also involved was the complicated issue of “direct” (applied to all instances of a good or service) versus “indirect” (applied sort of to a potential, like a licensing fee) taxes. Whether one interpreted the income tax as one or the other affected whether it violated the uniformity clause. However, all this gets into legal areas in which AP is not an expert, so you’re forbidden to quote me! You might want to check if the Law Library has an Answer Person (or perhaps a friendly reference librarian).
