User talk:Mindgoneawol

Welcome

Hello, Mindgoneawol, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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Finally, in case you are interested, similar boards exist at Russia portal as many editors contribute to topics related to both countries. The respective boards there are: Portal:Russia/New article announcements and Portal:Russia/Russia-related Wikipedia notice board. Of course there are also many other portals at Wikipedia or you may just get right into editing.

Again, welcome! . --Kuban Cossack 13:03, 22 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Cossacks

The entire topic of Cossacks has been expanded upon in a piecemeal manner, as most topics are in WP. Perhaps you are interested in fleshing out the articles on individual hosts, or historical events, by adding more materials and text. By increasing the scope of those articles, you will attract more editors and could possibly get a Wikiproject started dealing solely with Cossacks. The more work you put in to all the articles will result in a standardization that does not exist. You'll notice that articles pertaining to Cossacks swing back and forth with regards to the perspective used therein, and are within your rights expressing the obvious bias present in some of the articles. However, you'll find that you'll accomplish more by earning the respect of your fellow editors by diligently entering content into WP, content which will help your case for clarifying any evidence of bias.
Thanks for joining and please stick around!--tufkaa 19:16, 22 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I second that comment, you have every right to an opinion, and a Point of View (POV), but head diving into articles that previously were subjected to heavy dispute on neutrality is never a way to start. Remember WP:NOR and WP:POINT. Most of all WP:FAITH. Good luck. Yours. -Kuban Cossack

19:21, 22 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Use of "Brother" or "Sister" on the Villanova page

Mindgoneawol: What is it with this generation?!!. I have had a discussion about this issue on the Sydney page. If you speak Serb or Russian you will understand the point I am making (although culturally slavs tend to call nations by the masculine gender of "Fatherland" too).

These schools (like Villanova) are Latin rite Catholic schools. Among Romance peoples, Schools have always been referred to (in my hearing and in the rest of Western Civilization for millenia) and by the Augustinian friars as "sister schools" because it's not about the gender of the students, but as I recall, the gender of the latin word "schola" (school) which is of the feminine gender in the language. Likewise nations are called "she" in English (like in Latin Britain as "Brittannia" or France as "Gallia" - whose images are females), and cities are called "she" (ie. sister-cities, not brother cities (although urbs/urbem in neuter gender in Latin I think. The Germans weirdly call their nation the "Fatherland" (and look where it got them). No aspersions are being cast onto the boys of the school (or aged alumni like me either) by reference to "sister schools". I'll go away and look into this - but I'm pretty sure you're using a novel term here that is not traditionally the ways the schools have been described (and is in fact just wrong). By the way, I think you will find that Loreto is not a sister school to Villanova. It is not Augustinian and is therefore not a sister school - even if your sister went there.

I take back my previous comment on the Augustinian stuff. You are largely right. When I checked in detail I realise there is a lot of blather on the page which is neither footnoted nor referenced, and I didn't write it. Maybe you should remove the unfootnoted stuff? Be bold with editing as they say.

Cor Unum 11:51, 4 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You should remember to sign your contributions. As to your questions, not Villanova, I am an alumnus of the (only real) sister school in Sydney (St Augustine's; class of '79). I know Michael Morahan slightly (he always taught at the Brisbane Sister school where he was filling the minds of students with incorrect English), but the Augustinians who taught me were Patrick Crilly, Patrick, Codd, John McCall, Ron Bopf, Ralph Cameron, Rod Cameron, Senan Ward, Kevin Burman, Michael Slack, Noel Hackett, John Paul Whelan and others. And I'm surprised that you say Loreto is an official sister school of Villanova. As per wikipedia policy you should suppluy a refernece for this, and there wouldn't be any any need for to-ing and fro-ing. My gues is that Loreto is not really a sister school, just one Villanova likes. Not sure what the Augustinians are thinking if they have done this officially - but if Loreto is now really a sister school to Villanove then it now has direct financial connections (because as far as I know, Loreto doesn't have an Augustian philosophy which is the only other way it can be a genuine sister school). Have you got a reference for this status of Loreto as "sister school"? I'd be interested to see it, and by wiki standards you should provide it if you are making an assertion.

As to the stuff on "sister" or "brother" schools, I still stand by what I have said. Schools are sisters. They just are in the English I learned. BUT Having been an English teacher in a past life, I am also aware that the English language changes too. Maybe your generation is starting to use the term "brother" school in a new way (since the study of Latin is now declining)- because I have heard this said once before in Sydney too (by a St Augustine's student who I suspect didn't study Latin). Once something gets used frequently enough in English, it becomes a justified variant- though I don't concede it is yet- my view is that you young people (and Michael Morahan) are making it up and watering down the customs of Latin-rite English speaking Catholics. We genuine Augustinian students of Ancient lore will continue to use the traditional style of "sister" school to mean the (only) other Augustinian school in Australia.