da bomb August 31, 2006
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentIs it true that the Manhattan Project started in a building owned by Columbia University on 125th St in Harlem? Is there a plaque or something somewhere there?
You are da bomb!
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: It was called the Manhattan Project due to its beginnings in Manhattan, even before the U.S. entry into WWII, in 1939.
Pupin Hall, on 120th Street at Broadway, is a designated National Historic Landmark. The statement of significance reads: “Initial experiments on the nuclear fission of uranium were conducted here by Enrico Fermi. The uranium atom was split here on January 25, 1939, ten days after the world’s first atom-splitting in Copenhagen, Denmark.”
Here’s a photo of a plaque at the building: http://www.atomictraveler.com/pgcolumbia5.jpg
There was also Manahattan Project research that went on at the Havemeyer Building, at 3200 Broadway between 116th and 120th.
without top August 31, 2006
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentIs it true that it’s legal for women to go topless in New York? I heard there was a legal battle a long time ago, and the courts decided that if men could be topless, when could be too. If so, where are all the topless women?
QP
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: They legally can, if they avoid lewd behavior and it’s not for commercial purposes. (The intent might be a little fuzzy in many cases.) I suspect that most women are uncomfortable going topless in public, hence the reason you don’t see many.
This goes back to a New York Court of Appeals opinion of July 7, 1992:
80 N.Y.2d 875 or 600 N.E.2d 232
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Ramona SANTORELLI and Mary Lou Schloss, Appellants, et al., Defendants.
The majority opinion and concurrence can be found at Cornell’s FindLaw site:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/nyctap/I92_0160.htm
A summary from the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle on March 22, 2006:
“In June 1986, seven women at Cobbs Hill Park [in Rochester] removed their shirts to protest a state law prohibiting public breast-baring. They were arrested for indecent exposure. City Court Judge Herman J. Walz dismissed the charges six months later, ruling that the protesters were exercising their right to freedom of speech. But he didn’t concede their main argument — that the breast-baring law was unconstitutional.
“Topfree 7 leaders Mary Lou Schloss and Ramona Santorelli waged a six-year court battle that ended with victory in 1992. The Court of Appeals gave women the right to appear topless in public if they avoided lewd behavior or exposure for commercial purposes.”
If you look at the opinion, it refers to the legal statute below, saying its context was to prohibit such behavior for commercial purposes, and is therefore not applicable in cases such as mentioned above. Also, the opinion touches on the issue of treating women and men differently.
NY Penal Laws
§ 245.01. Exposure of a person
“A person is guilty of exposure if he appears in a public place in such a manner that the private or intimate parts of his body are unclothed or exposed. For purposes of this section, the private or intimate parts of a female person shall include that portion of the breast which is below the top of the areola. This section shall not apply to the breastfeeding of infants or to any person entertaining or performing in a play, exhibition, show or entertainment.”
jersey August 31, 2006
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentIn Jersey City, right by the entrance to the PATH train at Exchange Place, there is a wacky statue of a russian dude with a rifle stabbed into his back. What is that all about? Who put that thing there and what is it commemorating?
Thanks.
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: The website of the City College of New Jersey has the statement. The statue depicts a Polish soldier.
“The imposing Katyn Forest Massacre Monument stands at the end of Montgomery Street. It was sculpted by Polish-born Andrzej Pitynski of New York. The bronze statue of a soldier–mouth gagged, hands bound, and struck in the back by a bayoneted rifle–stands atop a granite base that holds Katyn soil. It commemorates the massacre of thousands of Polish prisoners by the Soviets in April and May 1940. The Soviet troops had invaded eastern Poland by order of Joseph Stalin. The event led to the partition of Poland and the dissolution of the nation during World War II. The eastside of the pediment has a bronze relief depicting the plight of starving Poles sent to Siberia.”
http://www.njcu.edu/Programs/jchistory/Pages/E_Pages/Exchange_Place.htm
This artist came to the U.S. in 1974, but the statue was there by Sept. 11, 2001, since there are some strking photos of the statue with the smoke from Manhattan billowing overhead. There are a number of other memorials to the Katyn Forest Massacre around the world.
reference August 14, 2006
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentWill you act as a reference for me? I have a job interview in a few weeks. I could explain that you are only reachable by visiting your website or the Duke Library.
Thank you in advance!
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: “I know this job candidate (who won’t tell me his/her name or sex) through his/her habit of anonymously asking me goofy questions worthy only of smart-alec replies. I’m sure this candidate will prove to be a valuable addition to your organization by keeping everyone amused and thus raising morale from its current low level.”
How’s that? Will that help you get the job?
cough medicine August 8, 2006
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentWhy do they ask you to turn and cough at the doctor? Just male patients actually.
Thanks.
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: This relates to an inguinal hernia, where part of the small intestine falls through a weak spot in the muscles at the bottom of the abdomen and finds a new resting place. (It can occur in women, too, when the intestine goes through the abdominal muscles and may create a visible bulge in the lower abdomen.)
Although I recommend that you search Medline Plus at http://medlineplus.gov/ for inguinal hernia, or ask your doctor, to get more information, the following information culled from links at Medline Plus may help.
Coughing, forcing movement of the muscles, seems to make any defect in the muscle walls or a protruding intestine more obvious to the touch, hence this method of exam in men, whose physiology lends itself to this type of hernia and to detection through this type of exam. Persistent heavy coughing apparently can even be one of the causes of this, having something to do with putting stress on the muscles.
toe nails August 8, 2006
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentHow did people in former times trim their toe nails and finger nails? I thinking of 200 hundred years ago and also 2,000 years ago.
Nailfully yours,
QP
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: The nail clipper was supposedly invented by someone named Chapel Carter (no relation to Chapel Hill) in 1896. Before that time, people just bit their fingernails and got a spouse, friend, or relative to bite their toenails (unless they were especially flexible and could do so themselves). They may also have used scissors (invented in some form or another thousands of years ago) or other sharp object to cut them, or some sort of abrasive material to grind them down.
how we hear an octave August 8, 2006
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentWhy is it that our ears hear Middle C and High C and Low C as the same tone (but up an “octave”)? Ie, what do notes 8 steps apart have in common that makes us hear them similarly?
Also, on an unrelated note, what is the absense of flavor? You wrote in an answer to a question that pure water had the absense of flavor. What gives it that characteristic?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Notes that are an “octave” apart have frequencies that are half or double the other. Two octaves apart have the frequency ratio 4:1, three octaves apart 8:1, etc. (powers of two). For more detail on the complexities of musical scales and pitches, you very well may wish to consult with the folks at the Music Library, to exploit their knowledge of sources relating to music theory.
Pure, distilled water? Nothing in it to tickle the taste buds, which seem to react only to other sorts of chemicals. That doesn’t mean it isn’t refreshing.
community boards August 3, 2006
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentHow do you become a member of a New York City Community Board? Are there elections?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: There are 59 Community Boards throughout the city, the members of which are appointed by the Bourough President (i.e, they aren’t elected). Half are nominated by the City Council member representing the particular community district. There is more information at the following web site and from the links on it: http://www.nyc.gov/html/cau/html/cb/cb_main.shtml
Unmasking the Answer Person August 3, 2006
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentWhat if I had a somewhat elaborate scheme to discover your true identity and then anonymously reveal it to the entire school. I don’t want to spoil the fun, but what would you do if I went forth with it?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: So now it’s other people who want to be anonymous! Have I started a trend?
Since you *would* be spoiling others’ fun, I’d have to devise some sort of punishment. I guess since you’d be the anonymous one, you’d then have to be the new answer person, which would be unbelievably difficult for an imposter to pull off.
