text:
User:Jessica Perkins/The Olympic Games as a Political Driver and its Impacts on the Australian Sports System

Sport within Australia and around the world has experienced major changes in regards to development and organisation. These changes have transformed sport from recreation into what is now big business for all stakeholders in sport and also the economy. With this, sport is also being used as a political tool, particularly through major events, having both positive and negative impacts on the sporting community at all levels. This article explores how politics within the Olympic Games has impacted Australia and how it continues to shape and direct our sport system.

Introduction
The sports system in Australia has been shaped by lesson learnt in the past in sport at all levels. These lessons have come from the shifting nature of sport and the historical events that have dictated the organisation and participation in sport and recreation. The Olympic Games provides an example of the ways in which sport has moved from recreation and competition onto a more business driven industry where money, power and politics play a major role. This article outlines the current system of sport in Australia and explores the politics that have been present in the history of the Olympic Games. The article also looks at the positive and negative impacts that Olympic politics have had on the sports system in Australia.

Sport as a Political Driver
The sporting business is a significant part of the Australian economy, providing employment for approximately 275,000 people and contributing to the gross domestic product through corporate sponsorships, sporting goods and services as well as exports. (Stewart et al 2004: 29). Once a recreational activity, carried out for leisure and enjoyment, Sport in Australia and around the world has seen major changes, particularly in the past century in relation to the way it is organised and the way it is viewed in a societal context. Modern sport can be seen as big business in terms of advertising and media, broadcasting rights and athlete salaries and contracts. Due to its changing nature, sport has become a political arena that needs recognising and managing in order to ensure the continued success of sport worldwide.

Politics within sport in general has the potential to have both positive and negative effects on sport as recreation and sport as business. Participation in sport whether direct or indirect can be largely influenced by the presence of business and politics in the sporting context, whether the issues are rising from outside the sporting arena or from within. Politics in sport at local, state and national levels is primarily based around the fact that the industry has become money-driven in most areas regarding organisation and personnel. Sport at an international level however, has been used by countries to express political opinions and messages.

The political history of the Olympic Games has seen gender and racial discrimination particularly in the early years of the modern Olympics, terrorism at the games held in Munich in 1972 and boycotting which has appeared often, largely during the 19th Century. These issues and events within the games has the potential to effect the sports systems of the countries involved, either directly or indirectly, and may dictate the future of sport in terms of organisation and participation.

The Australian Sports System
Sport not only plays a major role in Australia’s economy but has a strong presence in the Australian culture. Stewart et al. (2004, p.1) believes that sport followers in Australia find a personal and national identity through their sport experiences. ‘Sport has a passion, profile and influence unmatched throughout the world’(Dover, J 2011). It is this passion and profile that has highlighted the need to have proactive and collaborating sports systems in place on a national and international scale. The national system of sport in Australia encourages and provides opportunities for everyone to participate in sport and supports talented athletes in reaching their potential. Sporting organisations at local, state and national level along with governing bodies and private organisations work together in making the Australian sporting system ‘unique and one of the most successful in the world’ (Australian Government, 2008).

Australian Government involvement in sport introduced the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) in 1984. The ASC was set up to provide funding, technology, programs and procedures to improve and assist in managing the sports system within Australia. The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) was developed in 1981 and is a primary division of the Sports Commission. ‘The AIS was dubbed the ‘gold medal factory’, indicating its primary function in the Australian sporting environment’ (Green 2007, p.926). These two organisations have played a major part in developing community sport as well as high performance athletes to represent Australia in both team and individual sports. The Australian Government have also been active in promoting sport at every level, from the provision of community grants to the large amounts of funding provided for major events such as the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000. In 2009 the government released a strategy for ‘improved opportunities for community participation in sport and excellence in high performance athletes’(Australian Government, 2009, p.353). One of the outcomes identified in the strategy was to focus on developing the sports system in Australia to support high performance and excellence in this area. The government’s aim was through the encouragement of participation in sport at grassroots level which would provide greater opportunities to produce and develop elite athletes in Australian sport.

Participation in sport at local levels is not only beneficial in terms of health and social wellbeing but is the starting block for achievement at higher levels. The 2011 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Overview identified that there were 11.1 million people participating in sport and recreation activities during 2009 and 2010. The ABS research also discovered that 1.7 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 participated in sport outside of school, with the most popular activities being soccer and swimming (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011). It is through this participation and the development systems put in place by governing bodies and private sporting organisations that supports sporting success at elite levels on a national and international scale.

The Olympic Games
‘The Olympic Games, the world's most prestigious sporting event, has been held for over one hundred years with significant consequences for the host cities’ (Chalkley & Essex, 1999). These consequences have been positive in terms of economic benefits, improved infrastructure and international exposure. Some host cities have also experienced negative impacts in the form of terrorism and security fears. ‘From the outset, the Olympic games were conceived as an event that should be separate from political considerations’ (Pound, R. 2004, p. 88). Despite this envisagement, from the beginnings of the Olympics in Ancient Greece to the upcoming 2012 London Games, there has been a history of politics in the area of sport across many countries who share the same passion for the competition and comradery in sport. Pound (2004) states that the games were meant to be ‘contests between individuals coming from different countries, but not competitions between countries’ (p. 88). During the history of the Olympic Games many governments have used the event to deliver political messages in the form of organised boycotts which in most cases has overshadowed the sporting events themselves (Bayliss et al, 2004). Before the First World War there was no one trying to use the Olympic Games for political purposes (Pound, 2004), however, there were a number of events that could be viewed as boycotts, such as the lack of participation by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) because of their view the games were too conformable. It was the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936 that identified the beginning of what would be a history of boycotting in the Games. Before these games the sports community of a number of countries debated the decision on whether to participate due to the Nazi party and the knowledge of the persecution of Jewish people. The next two games were cancelled due to the Second World War and were then held in London in 1948. From this time Boycotts began to ‘become more fashionable’ (Pound, 2004, p.91).

The 1980 boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games was the event that is believed to have changed Australian Sport (Forrest, 2008). The invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR prompted the Australian Government, under the ruling of Fraser, to ask the Australian Olympic Federation (AOF) to boycott the games. Forest (2008) believes that this event caused a ‘division within Australian sport and within the individual sports themselves (p.227). The Munich Olympic Games in 1972, which saw the terrorist attack on the Israeli team, is perhaps the most documented political event in the history the games. More recently in 2010 we saw the media coverage around the security issues at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and the terrorist fears that raised questions about athlete’s safety and participation. Australian athletes were not obliged to compete in the games if they had security fears and for those who did compete they were accompanied by Australian Federal Police and had bodyguards in the village. (Hurst and Packham 2009). These political events that have occurred within sport internationally have impacted sport on all levels and confirm that both business and politics are determining the way sport is regarded and organised in Australia and around the world.

Impacts of Politics on Sport
‘The history of politics and sport goes back beyond the modern Olympics of Pierre de Coubertin and it will continue to influence every Olympics, Soccer World Cup and local netball competition into the future’ (Dover, J 2011) Improvements in technology, increased funding, athlete and coaching contracts and sponsorship have played a part in the changing nature of sport and have introduced new politics that have, and will continue to play a role in the sporting arena.

When hosting or participating in a mega event such as the Olympic Games, there are many impacts, both positive and negative that may be experience by individuals, sporting communities or nations as a whole. ‘Australia has competed at every Olympics, one of only a handful of nations to do so’ (Haynes, 2001, p. 3). The participation of Australian in every games has meant that Olympic politics has had an impact on the Australian sports system in many ways. Positive impacts have included the recognition of the need for the Australian Sports Commission and Institute of Sport and consequential recognition of the importance of sport at grassroots level. On the other hand there have been negative outcomes for the sports system in Australia and these are to be seen as the division that occurred in Australian sport during and after the Moscow Olympic Games and the effects that it had on the careers of athletes pressured not to attend. These circumstances and events have made the Australian sports system what it is today and Olympic politics and politics in sport in general will continue to dictate sport in Australia in the future.

Conclusion
The political events that have occurred throughout the history of Olympic Games can be seen to have had consequences on the sports system in Australia. These consequences, both positive and negative, have influenced the way sport is organised at local, state and national levels and the way it is viewed in a societal context. Since the time when sport was simply a recreational activity, the nature of sport has developed and changed with modern society and technology. It is these changes that have seen money become a major part of the sporting industry through media, sponsorship and merchandise. Not only has sport become a big business but it is also seen as a podium where political messages can be communicated. This has raised the question of whether sport should be used in this manner or if international sporting events such as the Olympics should be promoting peace and unity and celebrating competitive success and the shared passion of sport.


text:
Talk:Motivation and emotion/Book/Eating and emotion

Comments
Heya,

Just doing some research and I thought this might be useful to your chapter - particularly the theories on anxiety http://peer.ccsd.cnrs.fr/docs/00/54/06/53/PDF/PEER_stage2_10.1016%252Fj.jesp.2007.01.005.pdf Good luck! Claremw 06:16, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

Heya, Thanks for your comment on my 'motivation to overeat page'. I would be happy to link our two chapters together. I think they may end up being pretty complimentary. Cheers Claremw 05:40, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Hey I was reading through your page and it seems really good so far. Am looking forward to seeing the quiz develop. Nutrition is an interest of mine so it's really interesting reading your page. I was wondering though have you thought about chocolate and how we often turn to chocolate when we are sad or depressed does it elevate our mood? and is it a long term fix or something that just gives us a rush at the time? Also about foods that have endorphins in them and how this can affect our emotions? Do they really make us happy? Hopefully these are good things for you to consider. Good luck with the assignment and am looking forward to seeing the end product.Rednoodles 02:58, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Hi, as someone who has struggled with 'comfort eating' I can really relate to what you have written so far. I'd love to see a quiz which tests "What sort of eater are you ie. comfort, emotional, stress etc". Maybe a couple of pics to emphasise the emotion involved in eating problems would also enhance the text. So far, looks great, well ordered and very interesting.Crazydaisy 03:26, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Hi Ashlee, possible video link for you - youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_qYKCc9m0A&NR=1 Jeanette 07:32, 4 November 2011 (UTC)

Hi. Your chapter is looking great so far. You've covered a wealth of infomation in a clear and consice manner. The picutres you've selected also add interest to the page. Can't wait for the quiz to be put up though! Regards, U3033746 02:04, 5 November 2011 (UTC)

Loved the lay out and pictures - I need one of those pics for my fridge - great information - really well done - Magnolia

Hi Ashlee, your book chapter looks really good and it's interesting and easy to read. I think our chapters have some interesting points in common. DId you want to link our pages together? http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Motivation_and_emotion/Book/Diet,_weight_loss,_and_emotion. Cheers

Rfoster 04:13, 28 November 2011 (UTC)

-- Jtneill - Talk - c 02:37, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Motivation and emotion/Book/2011/Rule-breaking

Introduction
Every day, people's behaviour is governed by rules, whether they are laws, social norms or moral convictions. There are different reasons for following them, and different reasons for breaking them. This chapter looks at individuals' motivations for breaking the rules in the domains of driving, file-sharing, and plagiarism.

So, how about you?
Increasing the self-evaluation skills of drivers improves road-rule compliance and driving safety (Berg, 2006). So take a moment:

What was your main motivation last time you drove a car? (Jovanovic, Stanojevic & Stanojevic, 2011)
 * I wanted to get somewhere (I wish I could fly!)
 * Just for fun (Yeehah!)
 * To impress people (Yeah, baby!)
 * For the power and control (I am the Master of the Universe!)

What aggressive driving behaviours do you engage in? (Jovanovic, Stanojevic & Stanojevic, 2011)
 * I might, possibly, occasionally, drive just a little bit fast
 * I’ll sit on someone’s bumper to encourage them to drive a bit faster or get out of the way
 * I’ll weave in and out of a line of traffic to try to get ahead
 * I’ll run a red light if it’s only a little bit red
 * I honk my horn like an elephant with hayfever
 * I swear like a sailor at other drivers
 * I could knock myself out with my hand gestures
 * I flash my lights like a strobe on the dance floor
 * I sit on the speed limit in the overtaking lane to keep everyone else in line

On your last driving trip (Bone & Mowen, 2006):
 * Were you a young male? (Maybe not much you can do about this...)
 * Were you stressed? (Fact of life, sigh)
 * Was it hot? (Crack a window, try the AC)
 * Were you drunk? (Hope not!)
 * Was there a lot of traffic? (Ah, peak hour...)

Driving
The need for rules about driving behaviour is illustrated by the fact that the leading cause of death among 15 to 44 year-olds is injury-related to driving (Berg, 2006). So, why do people break road rules if the potential consequences are so severe?

To begin, people have different reasons for getting behind the wheel: a desire to reach a destination, the pleasure of fast driving, to make an impression on others, and to experience feelings of power and control (Jovanovic, Stanojevic & Stanojevic, 2011). The goals of driving are important in improving driving safety (Berg, 2006) and have been found to change with age (Berg, 2006). Motives for driving are important predictors of aggressive driving (Jovanovic et al., 2011).

Jovanovic et al. (2011) identified tailgating, weaving, speeding, running red lights, blocking passing lanes, honking horns, using profanity, making obscene gestures and flashing headlights as instances of aggressive driving behaviour. In a study of Serbian drivers, they found these behaviours were associated with a habit of rushing, deliberately exhibiting disrespect to other people and taking pleasure from risky behaviour (Jovanovic et al., 2011). Bone and Mowen (2006) found that time pressure, a tendency towards risk and arousal and the widespread acceptance of competitive behaviour contributed to individuals' willingness to drive aggressively, breaking road rules. Bone and Mowen (2006) also found that aggressive driving was positively associated with the number of miles driven per year, a need to win and emotional instability, while aggressive driving was negatively associated with conscientiousness and the need for learning.

Jovanovic et al. (2011) suggest that the personality traits associated with aggressive driving and driving anger are expressed when situations arise which provoke them. Risk factors and provocative situations include traffic congestion, stress, heat, alcohol and drug use, smoking, being a young male and being unmarried (Bone & Mowen, 2006).

So why would you break the rules if you believe it is morally wrong to do so? Holding a moral conviction predicts the intention to act, but there is a gap between intentions and behaviour (Godin, Conner & Sheeran, 2005). Godin et al., (2005) examined the relationship between intentions, behaviour and moral norms in various health-related behaviours, including driving over the speed limit, and found that moral norms are most predictive of behaviour when the behaviour is considered by individuals in moral terms. This suggests that if drivers are, for instance, more focused on being late, enjoying the experience of driving fast or getting where they need to go than on the moral implications of their actions, they may be more likely to break the rules.

Other influences on driving behaviours are external incentives and sanctions. An incentive is an inducement to perform a behaviour, such as offering lower insurance premiums for safer drivers (Berg, 2006). A sanction is intended to decrease the likelihood of a behaviour by acting as a punishment and a deterrent; for example, a fine for exceeding the speed limit (Mulder, Verboon & de Cremer, 2009).

Mulder et al. (2009) manipulated sanction severity in a lottery ticket distribution situation. Participants were asked to share at least two of their lottery tickets with other participants whom the experimenters said had no lottery tickets. Participants were told they could choose not to share, but would be fined for not doing so. Mulder et al. found that the severity of the sanction imposed influenced participants’ views of how morally wrong it was not to share the tickets. Severe sanctions encouraged a stronger sense of moral wrong-doing than did mild sanctions.

In a second experiment, Mulder et al. (2009) manipulated the strength of sanctions imposed on cheating in an exam setting and measured participants’ attitudes towards the authority of the university. The experiment demonstrated that an increase in moral norms only occurred for those with a high degree of trust in the authority of the university. For those with a low level of trust, larger sanctions for cheating behaviour caused no corresponding increase in the moral norms. Reasons for individuals’ low trust in authority included doubt about authorities’ moral intentions and disagreement with the authorities’ moral judgments.

How do lottery tickets and cheating on an exam relate to breaking the road rules? It suggests that large fines may encourage moral disapproval of breaking the rules, but only in people who trust the authority of the government or police who are setting and enforcing the fines. Mulder et al. (2008) also note that individuals’ perceptions of the fines matter too. They found that a fine seen as a form of compensation to a victim made people judge a behaviour as less morally wrong, while a fine seen as a punishment to the perpetrator made them judge the behaviour as more morally wrong. Extreme sanctions can also serve to decrease moral norms due to the perception of their unfairness (Mulder et al., 2008). However, Godin et al. (2005) found that individuals’ moral norms only apply when a situation is viewed in moral terms. It is possible that morality and the deterrent effect of sanctions take a backseat when drivers get behind the wheel.

File-sharing
Copyright laws cover the reproduction, publication, distribution and broadcasting of original musical compositions (Clark, 2007), however these concepts have become more difficult to apply in the digital information age (Scharf, 2011). Different laws exist in different jurisdictions regarding the illegality of and personal liability for the unauthorised distribution of music files (Clark, 2007), so what is the effect of this inconsistency and ambiguity on behaviour?

Clark (2007) suggests that a myth exists in the community that file-sharing is a generally legal thing to do and that only around 25% of people who download using peer-to-peer technology are willing to pay for the material they download. The research finding by Godin et al. (2005) that individuals’ health-related behaviours are only predicted by their moral norms when the behaviour is considered in moral terms may have relevance here. If file-sharers do not consider the act of file-sharing to be illegal, moral motivations not to engage in the behaviour become less important. Clark (2007) states that the legal action being undertaken by companies against file-sharers is partly to serve as a deterrent by raising awareness of the legal consequences of file-sharing.

The role of trust in authorities (Mulder et al., 2009) may also apply. Mulder et al. (2009) suggest that doubt regarding the authorities’ moral intentions contributes to low trust in authorities. Viewing legal action against file-sharing as an attempt by copyright holders to regain a monopoly on the control and distribution of music (Scharf, 2011) as well as the belief that companies maintain too high profit margins (Clark, 2007) may contribute to doubt about the moral intentions of the copyright holders. Raising awareness of the legal consequences of file-sharing (Clark, 2007) may not be enough to shift decision-making about the practice into the moral domain. Mulder et al. (2008) found that people can disagree with the moral judgments of the authorities, decreasing trust in authorities, which reduces the effect of the severity of sanctions imposed on rule-breakers.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is conceived of as a type of theft or fraud, the passing off of another person’s work as your own (Gullifer & Tyson, 2010). It has traditionally been considered that plagiarism occurs due to ignorance of the norms regarding academic integrity, a lack of skill and experience when using academic standards, a deliberate disregard for the standards and a lack of morality on the part of individuals (East, 2010). In a focus group study of first- and third-year students in an Australian university, Gullifer and Tyson (2010) found students expressed a great deal of fear and confusion about plagiarism, and that students generally lacked a proper understanding of plagiarism and were unable to identify examples reliably. When do students plagiarise, and what motivates students to plagiarise on purpose?

Gullifer and Tyson (2010) suggest that not only is plagiarism a concept which needs to be taught to students to be understood, but that the reasons why plagiarism is wrong must also be taught. The reasons they cite for why plagiarism is considered wrong include that hard work becomes less rewarded, the value of honesty is undermined, the value of assessments in educational institutions is threatened and the public may be endangered through exposure to graduates lacking proper skills and training.

East (2010) suggests that plagiarism can be considered as either a failure to follow conventions, which can be addressed with education and training, or as a moral transgression, which can be punished. Gullifer and Tyson’s (2010) study of Australian students found that acts of plagiarism are thought of as fairly minor offences, while other acts of academic misconduct, such as cheating, are considered to be much worse. They found that a poor understanding of university policy, combined with a fear of being unfairly and severely punished for what students considered a minor transgression, led to feelings of resentment against the university and a sense of helplessness when it came to completing assignments. Gullifer and Tyson’s (2010) study suggests that students complied with rules about plagiarism less out of moral conviction and more out of fear of being caught and punished. East (2010) also reports that academic standards can be seen as impositions which unfairly impede success.

The feelings of resentment and the belief of the arbitrary nature of the university’s rules regarding plagiarism expressed in Gullifer and Tyson’s (2010) study is interesting to consider the findings regarding trust in authorities by Mulder et al. (2009). Mulder et al. suggest that disagreeing with an authority’s moral judgment decreases trust in the authority, which makes its sanctions less influential on morals. This suggests that for students to develop a moral conviction that plagiarism is wrong, knowing that it is heavily punished by the institution may not be convincing enough on its own.

Gullifer and Tyson’s (2010) and East’s (2010) studies suggest that students’ motivation not to plagiarise is largely external. Possible motivations for students to plagiarise include running out of time, a mismatch between the effort involved in an assignment and the grade, problems with workload and pressure to achieve success (Gullifer & Tyson, 2010). While people do behave in particular ways simply to avoid sanctions and punishments (Mulder et al., 2009), students face the task of balancing the risk of punishment against the pressures and stresses of the environment until they can adopt the moral standpoint of the academic setting as their own (Gullifer & Tyson, 2010).

For more information about plagiarism, see the University of Canberra’s Academic Skills page: http://www.canberra.edu.au/studyskills/writing/sources

Plagiarism checklist
The University of Canberra Academic Integrity Module (2011) identifies the following as forms of plagiarism:
 * copying from others, including words, ideas and graphics
 * getting someone else to write part or all of an assignment
 * copying without quotation marks
 * taking ideas and concepts from others without acknowledgement

Could any of the following tempt you to consider plagiarising? (Gullifer & Tyson, 2010).
 * I’m running out of time
 * the assignment isn’t worth enough to justify the effort required to complete it
 * I’ve got too much to do for too many subjects
 * there’s a lot of pressure on me to succeed
 * I don’t think I’ll get caught
 * I’m not sure if this is plagiarism or not, but I’ll risk it

Is plagiarism really going to hurt anyone?

Would you mind if someone copied from you?

Would you trust your doctor if he or she had copy-and-pasted their way through their degree?

How about the bridge you are driving on if the engineer who designed it had paid someone to complete assignments?

What do these signs mean to you?

 * Stop and think about your motivations for following or ignoring these rules

Cognitive dissonance theory
According to Cognitive Dissonance Theory, people can hold two or more conflicting beliefs at the same time (Izuma et al., 2010). Making a choice between the two can be uncomfortable and threaten one’s self-concept, leading to a change in preference towards the chosen behaviour (Stone & Focella, 2011). Changes in preferences have been observed using both self-report and brain-imaging techniques (Izuma et al., 2010).

A Driving Behaviour Example:

The conflicting beliefs:
 * keeping to the speed limit improves road safety
 * following behind a truck limits visibility and decreases road safety

The choiceL
 * overtake the truck

The cognitive dissonance:
 * unhappiness or discomfort at speeding to overtake the truck

Dissonance is reduced by changing beliefs to match behaviour:
 * good visibility is more important to road safety than maintaining the speed limit.

Try it yourself!
According to Stone and Focella (2011), cognitive dissonance can be used to encourage behaviour change. Try this: (Stone & Focella, 2011).
 * 1) Think of something which makes you feel good about yourself.  Stone and Focella (2011) found the following is more effective for people with higher self-esteem, as they feel the threat to their sincerity and honesty more keenly.
 * 2) Publicly advocate a behaviour.  Tell someone that you think downloading mp3s illegally or plagiarising is wrong, or tell them that a particular road rule is important.  Tell them why.  The audience makes this step more effective.
 * 3) Think of some instances when you’ve behaved differently from what you’ve just been saying.  Don’t tell anyone.  Feeling too ashamed could make you resistant to change.
 * 4) You should now be feeling a little uncomfortable at having behaved "badly".  This is cognitive dissonance  Your concept of yourself as a sincere and honest person has been threatened.
 * 5) Feel the motivation to change.  People generally like to think they have integrity, and will be motivated to behave in a manner which will improve their perception of their sincerity and honesty.


text:
Tunnel

A tunnel is an underground passage. Some tunnels are used for cars, and others are used for trains. Sometimes, a tunnel is used for movement of ships. Some tunnels are built for communication cables and some are built for electricity cables. Other tunnels are built for animals.

The Channel Tunnel between France and England is one of the longest tunnels in the world. It is 50 kilometers long. The longest tunnel in the world, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, is being dug in Switzerland.

Some reasons to build a tunnel

 * A subway is based on a network of tunnels that are dug underground so the trains will not disturb and will not be disturbed by the local transport.
 * On the path of a railroad track or a road, a tunnel is dug when the lane encounters an obstacle such as a mountain to avoid bypassing the obstacle.
 * A tunnel is built sometimes to overcome a water obstacle as a replacement for building a bridge structure above it.
 * A tunnel is built to connect between military posts so the movement between them will not be visible for the enemy.
 * A tunnel is built for infrastructure like electricity cables, water, communication and sewerage to avoid damage and disruption above ground.

title: Tunnel


text:
User:Semaphor

Welcome to my Page. For information about my person see my user page in Wikimedia Commons.

 * I invite you to be bold on my user pages, too. You don't always have to use Talk pages to comment on things in progress; I keep track of the changes on the Pages themselves.

At the English Wikiversity:

= Third Age Online = TAO
 * /TAO/News and links
 * /TAO/tmp
 * /TAO/Watchlist
 * commons:User:Semaphor/Working on MediaWiki and Wikimedia projects
 * User:TAOBot

Mockups to be transferred to the official project pages:
 * /TAO/Draft 1
 * /TAO/Schematic

Memo:
 * Wiki_101

ToDo:
 * Ask for deletion. Where?
 * [[File:TAO-Wikiversity-Explanation and Wording-A cheats heet.svg]] Tyop in filename --Simon Lüke 11:24, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

title: User:Semaphor


text:
Civil engineering

Civil engineering is the term for the work of planning, designing and building infrastructure. It usually means large structures, like bridges, dams, buildings, towers and tunnels. It also covers complicated networks such as water, irrigation, transportation and sewerage networks. Civil engineers can be involved in all stages in the life of infrastructure, from planning and construction to maintenance and demolition.

Civil engineers are responsible for lots of the things that are required for a society to function properly. Safe water supplies, sewage treatment, roads, railways and buildings are all part of civil engineering.

To be a professional in civil engineering requires study at a university or college. Civil engineers often study subjects like structures, hydraulics, geotechnics, surveying, materials, physics and calculus.

The profession of civil engineering is represented by professional bodies in various countries. In the UK the Institution of Civil Engineers promotes civil engineering as a discipline and supports engineers throughout their careers. The American Society of Civil Engineers performs a similar task in the USA.

Other pages

 * Earthquake engineering
 * Engineering
 * Structure Engineering

Wikipedia

 * Civil engineering
 * Construction engineering
 * Environmental engineering
 * Forensic engineering
 * Materials science
 * Civil engineer
 * Civil engineering (Category)
 * List of civil engineers
 * American Society of Civil Engineers
 * Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge
 * Institution of Civil Engineers
 * Civil Engineering Database
 * Civil engineering software
 * Structural engineering
 * Geotechnical engineering
 * Index of civil engineering articles
 * Highway engineering
 * Coastal engineering

Other websites

 * List of Civil Engineering Words
 * Civil Engineering Resources online
 * Pro Civil Engineer

title: Civil engineering


text:
Graphitic carbon nitride

Graphitic carbon nitride carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is a family of compounds with general formula near to C3N4 which depending on reaction conditions exhibit different degrees of condensation, properties and reactivities.

Graphitic carbon nitride can be made by polymerization of cyanamide, dicyandiamide or melamine. The firstly formed polymeric C3N4 structure, melon, with pendant amino groups, is a highly ordered polymer. Further reaction leads to more condensed and less defective C3N4 species, based on tri-s-triazine (C6N7) units as elementary building blocks (1).

Graphitic carbon nitride can also be prepared by electrodeposition on Si(100) substrate from a saturated acetone solution of cyanuric trichloride and melamine (ratio =1: 1.5) at room temperature (2).

Well-crystallized graphitic carbon nitride nanocrystallites also can be have prepared via benzene-thermal reaction between C3N3Cl3 and NaNH2 at 180–220 °C for 8–12 h (3).

Recently, a new method of syntheses of graphitic carbon nitrides by heating at 400-600ºC of a mixture of  melamine and uric acid in presence of alumina has been reported. Alumina favored the deposition of the graphitic carbon nitrides layers on the exposed surface. This method can be assimilated to an in situ chemical vapor deposition (CVD)(4).

Characterisation of crystalline g-C3N4 can be carried out by identifying the triazine ring existed in the products by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements, photoluminescence spectra and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum (peaks at 800 cm-1, 1310 cm-1 and 1610 cm-1).

Due to the special semiconductor properties of carbon nitrides, they show unexpected catalytic activity for a variety of reactions, such as for the activation of benzene, trimerization reactions, and also the activation of carbon dioxide (artificial photosynthesis)(5).

A commercial graphitic carbon nitride available under the brand name Nicanite® can, in its micron-sized graphitic form, be used for tribological coatings, biocompatible medical coatings, chemically inert coatings, insulators and for energy-storage solutions (6).

title: Graphitic carbon nitride


text:
User talk:MehranVB

Your request for usurpation
While bureaucrats on en.wikiversity have the technical ability to usurp an account, unless you are an active participant on this project it's not going to happen soon - there are still requests for usurpation which haven't received bureaucrat attention from February. There's a lot of disagreement in the community about whether we should allow usurpations here at all. Abd, who is a custodian, tends to clerk the process, but he hasn't had much success in persuading the 'crats to take some action. -- Simone 08:41, 20 October 2011 (UTC)
 * In the meantime, you should confirm that this account MehranVB is yours via your account on fa.wikipedia. -- Simone 08:42, 20 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your guidance, so what should I do exactly to prove that I'm Mehran in fa.wiki? I put a link that confirms I'm him (please note that I usurped about 10 user accounts in several wiki projects in the recent week). So please inform me what's the next step? Thanks again. MehranVB 12:55, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

title: User talk:MehranVB


text:
User talk:Semaphor

 Hello Semaphor, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. All users are expected to abide by our Privacy policy, Civility policy, and the Terms of Use while at Wikiversity.

To get started, you may

 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit.
 * Visit a (kind of) random project.
 * Browse Wikiversity, or visit a portal corresponding to your educational level: pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, non-formal education.
 * Find out about research activities on Wikiversity.
 * Explore Wikiversity with the links to your left.

 * Read an introduction for teachers and find out how to write an educational resource for Wikiversity.
 * Give feedback about your initial observations
 * Discuss Wikiversity issues or ask questions at the colloquium.
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.
 * Follow Wikiversity on twitter (http://twitter.com/Wikiversity) and identi.ca (http://identi.ca/group/wikiversity).

You don't need to be an educator to edit. You only need to be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage. See you around Wikiversity! -- Simone 08:44, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

Hi !
You have a reply to your message on my talk page. -- Simone 09:53, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

title: User talk:Semaphor


text:
User talk:Ann Kittenplan

 Hello Ann Kittenplan, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. All users are expected to abide by our Privacy policy, Civility policy, and the Terms of Use while at Wikiversity.

To get started, you may

 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit.
 * Visit a (kind of) random project.
 * Browse Wikiversity, or visit a portal corresponding to your educational level: pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, non-formal education.
 * Find out about research activities on Wikiversity.
 * Explore Wikiversity with the links to your left.

 * Read an introduction for teachers and find out how to write an educational resource for Wikiversity.
 * Give feedback about your initial observations
 * Discuss Wikiversity issues or ask questions at the colloquium.
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.
 * Follow Wikiversity on twitter (http://twitter.com/Wikiversity) and identi.ca (http://identi.ca/group/wikiversity).

You don't need to be an educator to edit. You only need to be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage. See you around Wikiversity! -- Simone 08:47, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

title: User talk:Ann Kittenplan


title: User:Saraem7


text: User talk:Saraem7

title: User talk:Saraem7


text:
BCP/Rorippa austriaca

Rorippa austriaca

title: BCP/Rorippa austriaca


text:
BCP/Rorippa austriaca/Logs

Recent Logs

 * Anna reg 10:17, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

title: BCP/Rorippa austriaca/Logs


text:
User:S Larctia/Maths

A maths course being created in userspace

title: User:S Larctia/Maths


text:
User:S Larctia/Maths/Coordinate geometry

Consider a line, with gradient $$ m$$, which passes through the point A at coordinates $$ (x_1 $$,$$ y_1) $$. Suppose that point P, at $$ (x $$,$$  y) $$, is also on the line.
 * Then:
 * $$ m = \frac {y - y_1}{x - x_1} $$
 * And by trivial rearrangement, the equation of the line is:
 * $$ {y - y_1} = m({x - x_1}) $$


text:
User:Erkan Yilmaz/observations/2011 October

observations from Erkan Yilmaz for 2011 October

You are invited to add your comments (e.g. but my perception of this issue is different) - please sign anything you add (howto Signature).

2011 October 25 - announcement: I released my book
I announced it like this:

time to release "My book"

as the title says it's a personal book by Erkan YILMAZ (though it's collaborative work by currently >40 authors)

He has been contributing to this since 2007 it contains >1200 pages + has >500k views (in October 2011)

I think you'll be surprised ;-) by it...

read it here

Why btw?
I find it funny how people nowadays "release" books + want even money for this... see Standing on the shoulders of giants This is now a satirical approach to this, but as well shows a little summary what I've been doing with my wiki. I guess I'll need to polish some more things with this... I think with my WV contributions I could bring it to >5k pages ;-)

I've to look into the book extension if it would actually be possible somehow to get a "book" from "my" WV contributions?

2011 October 24 - share your learning goals
Learning goals - last edit 1 year ago :-(

2011 October 24 - emotions while reading an old chat log
it's about this: Wikiversity:Meetings/Learning on Wikiversity (June 2008, summary for meeting)

here's some short things that came to mind, I did not review this in points of why and how, just the emotions it brought to me, ordered chronologically:
 * Nazi POV (5:41pm-5:42pm)
 * I smiled at some of wknight8111's comments
 * hah, nice to read after so many years: chat log from: 5:58pm - 5:59pm
 *  so far .. I like the chat log
 *  it sums pretty nicely up what we thought
 *  and I must say nothing changed from back then
 *  this time preserving aspect of pages is fantastic

 *  man, I was genial back then:
 *  [6:46pm] cormaggio: Erkan - the notion of how to include people into the process of learning, when they might first appear to be radical POV's or vandals etc
 *  [6:46pm] Erkan_Yilmaz: well isn't there - assume good faith and don't bite newcomers?

see this edit which shows what I think about reviewing (old things)

2011 October 24 - would now more focus on brick and mortar institutions help WV ?
Let's start first with: And now take a look at the RecentChanges I remember we created the beta-wikiversity page because it was not so easily visible to see by whom WV is also used (if I remember correct it helped us get the message to people in one of those discussions about shutting down WV, see here).
 * Brick and mortar collaboration - a page at beta WV showing the global effort
 * probably for some of you the first time you visit beta Wikiversity
 * when I did: there seems brick + mortar (b+m) activity, but also has been in the past

From what I see there has not been so much effort to identify current b+m institutions (that's also why I asked: any news to present people on Main page - since April 2011?)

My thoughts (hypothesis?)

 * discussions if a learning resource should stay (as it is) here at WV is caused by a small percentage of WV editors
 * Something like the Pareto principle though even smaller, let's say: <1% of editors tend to make 80% of the "hot" discussions?
 * probably it's also often about cases/situations which are not yet experienced here or will not be
 * can the focus on b+m institutions help
 * that those hot discussions become relative? (e.g. not only visible by RecentChanges but that "public" places like the Colloquium are filled with other topics e.g. b+m learners have? there are also places like the Help Desk )
 * reputation: WV is not anymore considered a place of "crazy people"/trolls... ?

internal factors

 * pride/ego
 * of the editors of those "unfit" considered learning resources?
 * to create something new + to distinguish oneself?
 * personal dislike
 * nothing to do?
 * (no will to) help learners (from brick and mortar institutions)?
 * because they have already an instructor + own internal syllabus?
 * creating a fork costs (time)?
 * one is not really interested to help others to learn (or understand views: theirs/mine)?
 * my definition of learning is different than yours, so I see things in view of this specific learning only?
 * without "hot discussions" it's too boring (e.g. WV not having - for me - good enough learning resources? ;-))

external factors

 * not formulated policy?

I'm not saying b+m related topics should have only focus, because individual learning (see Personal learning environment) plays a role also (if not more, because each editor is (first?) an individual)

feedback by brick + mortar institutions
I've now contacted some b+m people + asked for their feedback (e.g. ), while doing that another thought came to mind:
 * do b+m institutions review (or even more: reuse) other b+m's work here? What do they think of that? They could share each other (better?) feedback because?
 * I mean it's still all here new-land, but I find it good that people step out of their institutions + share OER
 * I also would like to know how people see things in 7 years: e.g. did their work here at WV help that their OWN understanding/efforts develop better?
 * One should not forget the multiplying effect: when b+m use WV this means that the students/participants learn about WV, OER initiatives + they again use it or share with others

2011 October 23 - reconstructing my thoughts (on RFC actions)
this will probably not be 100% complete (but let's see what can I think of), it's triggered by a comment here + my thoughts what would help WV greatly (thoughts on learning, PLE)

 * it started with this (15 October)
 * at that time tbh I did not care much if the files would be deleted or not
 * why? because the Sandbox Server (idea) was dead
 * though I've a thought right now: in terms of preserving WV history it should not be deleted + tried to fix so it can stay
 * I was merely concerned people did not use the tools to find out more before requesting a deletion
 * 5h later User:S Larctia deleted the files
 * I was still more concerned about tool usage
 * which resulted in an improvement (summary: ying yang)
 * but did not yet see need to write something
 * I was actually asked if I write something which I declined (I think the emotion back then being: too much effort)

 * concerns about this block (20 October)
 * I didn't want to intervene myself yet, but I saw others contacted SLarctica
 * because my view: blocks do not help in such cases, they can stop spammers for a short time, but that's it
 * thought of as personal gain

 * When I saw SBJ's edit (21 October) I thought I should also write my opinion
 * I think without SBJ's edit I would not have edited on that page besides this (summary comment: re: deletion comment + lazyness? or else?)
 * one reason being: Slarctica redacted before, and with a huge removal like this I was wondering what the mentee would learn from this for the future

 * I remember after posting this: that I adressed only SBJ and not Ottava also, thought about writing both names or removing, but left it anyways
 * perhaps due to adressing me specifically? and therefore fixating only on this?

 * : here I was not sure when I not adress also SLarctica if it was clear what e.g. I meant

 * another thought I had was: if actions from SBJ specifically triggered things by me. Must think if there's (still?) some feelings from back then

 * another thought I had was: that my oppose (which was actually: needs more time to learn) would be used by other parties for their cause :-(

 * private communication between mentor + mentee ("circumstances as ... described"):
 * at begin: I did not find much bad thing here, since some users/situation require this
 * but since it was later on mentioned a few more times I did not find this fair/neutral
 * such things tend to exclude people + they feel left out (either we play open or I don't know what kind of conspiracy theories we can read more later)
 * another thing is: that with limited/less info players tend to make decisions "only" on this info (or worse: imagine the missing info in their terms)
 * so, what would be best in my opinion is: to not mention such private communication
 * even if it is to say "you can trust me, that was ok. You can extend your trust in me to also user X"
 * somehow right now this "extending" reminded me to Delegable proxy / Assembly

 * one thought here was: epic fail - not a big deal, it's all part of learning. learning in terms of fail or success is not helpful I think

So, if I'd dare to do a summary at this point already:
 * my conscience is not loaded with guilt or so yet
 * not sure how it would be though if Slarctica would not have done a childish thing like blocking that user again (22 October) before leaving <- such things trigger more thoughts like: omg we saved some more trouble for the future

2011 October 22 - What's (the status on) personal learning environment (PLE)?
In my view anything (here) can be classified as learning, since it can trigger thoughts. If we stay close just to the words of PLE:

definition

 * personal
 * well we could say if you write it, it's personal, but it's probably not. One can also "just" attend a course or just do patrolling of RecentChanges, ... I think it gets personal when emotions get in. When one reviews actions + thinks about the why? how?

 * learning
 * see my sentence above

 * environment
 * the environment is the software (Mediawiki MW) with its users? NO, I call any place where I can interact with Wikiversity (WV) editors the environment, so also the WV:Chat. Correct? No, we can also count emails since MW allows that. I know also that some WV editors have external pages/(micro) blogs where I interacted with them. And surely I have not mentioned some others

PLE at other locations
Let's find out about PLE at other places:

Wikipedia

 * Personal learning environment (Permalink)
 * not a lengthy article, but a lot references
 * no talk page entry
 * edits in years:
 * {| class="prettytable"

!year !edits !editors
 * 2006
 * 1
 * 1
 * 2007
 * 7
 * 2
 * 2010
 * 17
 * 5 + 3 bots
 * 2011
 * 7
 * 4
 * }
 * History of personal learning environments
 * has more interactions
 * todo: analyze
 * }
 * History of personal learning environments
 * has more interactions
 * todo: analyze
 * todo: analyze

Wikiversity
(e.g. at Personal learning environment):
 * only 5 users have listed themselves here
 * I don't think it's just 5, there are more, but people do not call it PLE
 * Perhaps also they did never hear of the term PLE?
 * Perhaps it would be good to make a PLE template?

Google
search results for:
 * {| class="prettytable"

!search term !results (in mio.) 2011 October 22 !results (in mio.) 2012 February 13 !comment
 * personal learning environment
 * 67.7
 * 130 (192%)
 * "personal learning environment"
 * 3.41
 * 1.54 (45%)
 * decrease
 * PLE "personal learning environment"
 * 1.86
 * 5.42 (343%)
 * PLE personal learning environment
 * 0.374
 * 0.639 (171%)
 * PLE "personal learning environment" wikiversity
 * 0.00341
 * 0.0101 (296%)
 * PLE personal learning environment wikiversity
 * 0.000716
 * 0.00112 (156%)
 * }
 * please update this table in the future
 * todo: look more into these
 * edit 2012-02-13: Google trends tells me: "do not have enough search volume to show graphs"
 * 0.0101 (296%)
 * PLE personal learning environment wikiversity
 * 0.000716
 * 0.00112 (156%)
 * }
 * please update this table in the future
 * todo: look more into these
 * edit 2012-02-13: Google trends tells me: "do not have enough search volume to show graphs"
 * }
 * please update this table in the future
 * todo: look more into these
 * edit 2012-02-13: Google trends tells me: "do not have enough search volume to show graphs"

general
My so called PLE diary is here now available publically for more than 3.5 years. I'd say it's a positive experience to have one. Though at begin I used it just to make some kind of status notices on learning activities/resources. Later I added a section called "What can I do better while walking in the wiki-verse ?" which also involves reviewing how "bad" I interacted. A recent chat reminded me that I'd like to see by more people review activities on how fruitful things on their learning were (what did I learn? where did I not succeed yet? why?). That's what's in my view missing to make WV more distinct as a learning place. I think also starting a blog is a nice way to approach things...

I think for a wiki(versity) newcomer the PLE concept is too blurry? Perhaps they still need to figure out what learning means for them? Perhaps there's also needed some familiarity (with WV)? I mean if they mature here as editors, interactors with others they see the real goal of WV? (yeah, I know, goals are different, but if you do not talk about them, they just stay in your head, ...) Or when they mature they dare more, since in my view WV is just an environment to help one in its learning activities.

data control
In regards to control of data (e.g. why leave here, since it's sensible data?) time (>3.5 years) has shown that it's quiet and leaves room for your concentration. If someone has another opinion + edits it should be seen as a positive thing + discussed or if I don't have time, revert + make a reminder to that person or let him write his ideas in his own PLE.

unfinishedness
Another notion of fear may be: others watch me, I should not make a mistake? I should not put something out there that's unfinished? Such thoughts are probably general for some new wiki editors. I can say in a wiki there's hardly a page (aka learning resource) which is 100% final. You'll see with time that such things will not keep your thoughts for long. Just be bold + edit...

sharing: what do I view, where do I click, ...
Personal data collection: I put this here, but do not run away, it's a thought model. In theory someone having access to the Mediawiki database (e.g. also checkusers) can see what you do here. This is in general bad (but good to find out socks + such things). There was an idea (Research:User editing patterns and collaboration) where people wanted to share their sensible data (e.g. what do I view? paths, editing patterns, ...) because it could provide info on their learning. Also others (researchers, other editors here, ...) could benefit from this data... I was one of those wanting to share this for myself, but somehow it never got off the ground...

interaction with other learners
Another aspect is: how was the interaction with other learners? By facilitating the courses or projects or my blog I got into contact of course. My blog somehow never invited people to comment much (I think <7 editors, considering that anyone can edit: strange, or the content is not interesting enough) - it got attraction in 2008 because I used it in the course: Composing free and open online educational resources. The PLE itself - besides User:Cormaggio and this - I think did not gather much response (to inspire others? that is another goal, since PLE is personal?) By being a custodian I got into contact way more with people (also in terms of learning what they learn currently)... I think the federation aspect below (for wikis) would have a huge effect...

used technology
It's this wiki + more (see above: chat, email, external pages). Besides this people set up an additional server with various services (jabber, Moodle, mailing list, ssh access, Quicktime streaming) but due to operating costs it was shut down... though also it felt like because it was not operated by WMF people did not like it? There was some time ago another try to set up one (this time funded by WMF Germany). but I think it has also come to a halt (see here). So, why additional server? some say the existing MediaWiki environment is not sufficient (see also: Technical needs, Vision/2009 + Vision/2010), though I guess everyone has to decide for themselves. I've come to like Mediawiki + IRC (summary over 5 years) - because of its simplicity. And tbh renting a server does not cost much these days...

not finished yet, I think when I revamp Personal learning environment a little I talk about more aspects...

2011 October 21 - federation (in form of e.g. micro blogging, federated wiki, ...)
federation is a nice thing:
 * one advantage it makes sure you control your own data and not a company
 * I created an account at Identi.ca in Feb. 2010
 * though I didn't put much thought into the concept of federation, I just used identi.ca as a service (e.g. because twitter did not allow me to choose a free licence + because of its good display of conversations)
 * I got into concept with federation in 2011
 * more on this here + here: aspects of federation

I didn't try the concept of federated wiki by Ward Cunningham since I find that system has higher requirements than Mediawiki (Ruby instead of php)
 * but I think it would be a sensational thing when using this in conjunction with Mediawiki
 * perhaps discussions about deletions, revert waring become less? and people focus more on the learning part? (or as some see: creating learning resources)

see also: Federation (information technology)

2012-01-17: the express version is less restrictive, looks fine: What is a federated wiki? 2012-05-28: section "Serving Static Files with PHP" in: Hosting and Installation Guide 2014-07-31:
 * for Mediwiki a distributed wiki is possible too :-)
 * got the extension DSWM working, see walkthrough in pictures here
 * see also the Mw extension Send2StatusNet which sends your wiki pages/edits to micro-blogs

2011 October 20 - what can be added to "teach" probationary custodians
the energy you put to teach custodians after their probationary period is probably higher than before when not having/using:

blog

 * a blog (to show what was learned? not only that, should be more)
 * a blog is in my view the easiest way to make your mindset available to others (see also this)
 * it can help the mentor to find an easy entry point for discussion which seems important for the mentee
 * perhaps a story to illustrate:
 * two strangers (a female + male) meet in the woods
 * as it is with strangers trust is not yet established
 * the female must go to toilet, but also wants to make sure the guy does not peek
 * so, she asks him to sing something
 * with this she can hear if he approaches or not + can relaxed do her thing
 * hearing the voice brings security for her, same is e.g. when you are here
 * if others can hear what you think (e.g. read your opinions) they get to feel safer (there's no true guarantee though, but WV's trust contingent is large)
 * (btw: do not analyze me for this example)
 * it can help future probationary custodians as well as mentors to see how others approached this
 * helps oneself recapture learning thoughts from previous times + see how one has matured (or not ;-))
 * my blog experiences

other approaches: language, reviewing, summarizing

 * there are more things one can do additionally (which help you understand WV + its environment better)
 * formulate templates positive and/or
 * some examples or
 * wikis are unfortunately only written text + we can not cover all if-then-scenarios (also in real life) so at least we should make things positive
 * e.g. there was an example in The Tipping Point where they discussed how small actions in a neighbourhood done by many can have a lasting effect in perceiving the neighbourhood as safe or welcome-friendly
 * my experience so far is: that your thinking shows in actions + I've used for some time translations to help me rethink things (see e.g. Translate to think more (TTM)). I think (though your situation may be different), thinking about how to formulate things different will change your thoughts
 * review other/previous custodians' edits and/or
 * can be something like: one prob. custodians takes edits 1-x, reviews + makes notes somewhere (see blog above), next prob. custodian continues from x+1 to y, ...
 * this also ensures that people grasp a little history of WV
 * summarize (past) CRs
 * summary creation of discussions, ...
 * this is a valuable task since it ensures that others save time (though one has an initial cost, but I think such activities will ensure you get more credit in others eyes - if that's what you want)

One can not review all prob. custodian actions (also after probation period is over), also many things could be done in various forms + can be seen as controversial, but I think if the mentor + the community agree that the mindset (to handle things) + to learn from past "errors" is there: it will help you to help the community (some say: to come into possession of the custodian tools) so, some steps like 1-3 could help that the custodian understands earlier (from chat ca. 1 week ago, short points)

see also: How to be a Wikimedia sysop based on below comments this was reedited (see e.g. 2011-10-22, 14:36, 14:59)

comments

 * On the grounds that we are invited to comment - it seems like you are discussing a knowledge management system. I'm curious, though, if the problem is less a lack of understanding of institutional processes than institutional culture, or perhaps the possibility that there isn't a consistent institutional culture in which the new Custodian can embrace. Otherwise, the suggestions work for me. :) - Bilby 12:53, 22 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Sorry, but a tad more - the difficulty with KM systems is how hard it can be to capture knowledge. Using TAM, one supposes that the system either has to be very simple, or very useful, and I think only the latter is really possible. - Bilby 12:56, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

 * I think it depends on the Custodian. Some may be familiar with the culture and not the processes. Some may be familiar with the processes and not the culture. Some may be unfamiliar with both. Some may be familiar with both -- dark lama  13:02, 22 October 2011 (UTC)
 * My focus is normally a tad more on process than culture, but it seems to me that the loss of one requires the knowledge of the other to counter it. If there is no defined culture, then you need defined processes. If there are no defined processes, knowledge of institutional culture may assist. But I'm not sure that either is well defined in this case (although you may see things with better eyes than mine). :) - Bilby 13:17, 22 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I think both are likely important. The context, meaning, and purpose of processes may be lost on people without an understanding of culture. Arguments and disputes may erupt between people with a shared culture, and no understanding of processes that allow solutions to be found. -- dark lama  14:55, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

I think it's the "institutional culture" which splits people here most. I can't tell about current, documented processess since I was MIA.

If it's consistent or not could be perhaps said like this: I think we are all here because of the term learning but our definition of learning naturally is different due to our experiences (I must look up some old edits where I summarize this better). There were always some parties at WV which favoured freedom approaches and the ones which favoured more conservative approaches. The problem with liberty is that one needs to be careful to not hurt others (some people intentionally wanted to hurt (because as I understand him/them that's also a form to teach someone :-). This is unfortunately which turned differences into major clashes here at WV a few times.

I am for protecting institutions using WV for their learning activities. And as far as I know institutions + their learners were always in a safe haven here (that's good because it brings WV a good reputation). I am also for supporting individual learning (see e.g. Personal learning environment)...

Ok, enough of that for now since I did not answer your question so much...

When I look back how I got the custodian tools: I had a mentor who was one of the WV founders + there were at least >5 active custodians (one of them also a founder) + >20 active editors I interacted with. In the WV:Chat one could always find a partner to talk about some things or recent situations at WV (which also could help to cool things down first). I did learn many things (I originally came from de.WV administration and (we) Germans tend to be more rigid in things)... It was a fun time where I also was willingly giving much time for WV (or let's say supporting people I shared ideals with) ...

My above suggestions came up in a chat where also one topic was: how could Wikiversity be rebooted? We talked about how the other efforts to start a learning environment faired. It came up, some things which did not work out yet at WV which have a great potential in my view (e.g. showing thoughts on learning, Review board) It was not about a specific custodian, more of a general nature, I'm not sure how it was perceived though, considering the last RFC + that that probationary custodian left in such dramatic way. But it's hard to grasp someone's mindset... I think currently getting the tools is not so hard, since the current bureaucrats understand the WV way. The only problem may be, as SBJ truly said, to find the time to let the prob. custodian inhale the WV way. In my time probationary custodians got feedback/views from many sides which now is missing :-( Erkan Yilmaz uses the Chat + Identi.ca 13:53, 22 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I don't want to waste all of your time with my thoughts, but one brief one before I sleep. :) I found the "reboot" page interesting, as it never seemed to state what the problem was that warranted a reboot. I'm not sure if that was known, but not said, or not well enough defined to be stated.
 * Watching what happened to Simone, it felt like the en.WP RfA process, only with an undercurrent of a second (completely different) model (mostly expressed between you and SB_Johnny). Interestingly, on en.WP almost everyone interested can tell you what is wrong with the RfA process (with considerable consistency), but it seems clear that there is no chance of working out a solution. Here, perhaps, there is a good chance of working out a solution, but I'm not sure that everyone can define what needs solving. Alternatively, maybe you know, and I'm just missing that bit. :) - Bilby 15:06, 22 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Rebooting WV: let me see how I can add those historical moments/problems there (see here)
 * undercurrent things in RFC:
 * yes, the Four-sides model, let me see what we can find out with SBJ, Erkan Yilmaz uses the Chat + Identi.ca 17:25, 22 October 2011 (UTC)
 * That's a fascinating link - thanks! My field is more to do with systems theory, and in particular Soft Systems, (although more Churchman than Checkland) so the model was new to me. However, it draws nice parallels with what I was thinking of. I used to do work with Linstone's TOP (Technical, Organisational, Personal) model in Multiple Perspectives theory, and I think I have a couple of papers out on the subject. (Wikipedia doesn't have anything on it, but Allison's Essence of Decision is a major source of much of the methodology). I don't normally worry about TOP these days, as I've moved in different academic directions for various reasons, but that RfC discussion, and the four-sides model, made me think of it. My impression was that you and SB_Johnny were arguing primarily from an O perspective, Darklama and Thenub314 from a T perspective (although there's little to go on, and Darklama in particular could be using O), and Abd, John Bessa and Marshallsumter were definitely from P. I contrast this with en.WP's RfA process, where almost all of the RfA comments are T or P - O almost never appears there, being mostly confined to the talk page, and even there I find more focus on T and P.
 * I don't mean this as a critique, just as an observation, but I wonder if the idea of multiple perspectives theory might be more broadly relevant to your interests. - Bilby 06:41, 23 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the links, sounds good
 * I've tried to reconstruct here some more thoughts, Erkan Yilmaz uses the Chat + Identi.ca 13:53, 23 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Fascinating, folks. I've experience with and have developed certain organizational theories and proposals, coming from outside academia, though I'm connected with academics. Bilby, can you point me to a good coverage of Linstone's model. Definitely there are different organizational perspectives involved here, that's part of our problem. I'm aware of the limitations of various models, and do think that there is value in studying wiki history in terms of structural models. I do not believe that wiki phenomena are due to "bad actors," but rather are a result of structural conditions that encourage certain behaviors and discourage others. --Abd 00:43, 24 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Linstone had a couple of books out on the topic - I think Multiple Perspectives for Decision Making was ok, but I preferred The Unbounded Mind. There are quite a few papers by different people, myself included, but the quality jumps around a lot. Linstone has a paper at which does an ok job of explaining it through application. Hall and Davis have an ok extension, that is surprisingly like where Linstone was planning to take things.
 * As mentioned, I've moved on from it, but these models tend to have explanatory power (per Checkland), and there is a lot to be said for understanding different perspectives. - Bilby 03:15, 24 October 2011 (UTC)


text: File:My notes xiu p15.pdf

title: File:My notes xiu p15.pdf


title: File:CORDIC.VHDL.1.A.20111020.pdf


text:
TAO

TAO is both a placeholder for the Chinese ideograph 道 (Pinyin: ), meaning way or method, and an acronym for Third Age Online. The main target of the project is to highlight the ways in which the access of older persons to the opportunities offered by online communities can be facilitated. At the same time, the project aims to profit from the growing number of older persons to advance charitable projects of online communities. - Learn more about the project by checking out its official website.

title: TAO


text: File:Hailong.2011 10 20 09 15 25.djvu

title: File:Hailong.2011 10 20 09 15 25.djvu


text:
MediaWiki:Nolinkstoimage

No pages embed this file. However pages may still include links to this file.

title: MediaWiki:Nolinkstoimage


text:
User talk:Dammy125/enes100/Helicopter 2

Week1 Peer Review

 * Way to keep up with the week 0.Dkirby7518 15:08, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

 * Good pictures; keep up with the arduino and keep on documenting as much as possible. Dpatel5391 11:46, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

10/10/0 .. nothing that pushes project forward .. rewrite what was done ... english please. 1sfoerster 14:34, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Week2 Peer Review

 * Good job, keep up with the arduino. You'll have fun once you learn the basics of C++. Dpatel5391 12:39, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

10/10/50 ... good job publishing your first arduino code .. need to centralize this tutorial .. which is my task 1sfoerster 20:11, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

Week3 Peer Review
Hey try to think of things that you could present to the class. Good job with uploading pictures.Dkirby7518 04:57, 6 November 2011 (UTC)

10/10/10 ... you need to document your learning curve .. video links are good, but where did you get stuck? how did you get unstuck? where are you still stuck? .. this would get you lots of electronic points 1sfoerster 17:26, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Week4 Peer Review
I was able to make my pictures go to the center by looking at the way you put your pictures on your page. I look at your edit. Thanks.Dkirby7518 01:52, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

I also try to finish the homepage for our helicopter 2 project. Add information if you want.Dkirby7518 02:39, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

10/10/0 ... don't see how you pushed the project forward .. understand a bread board? again you need to document your learning curve 1sfoerster 17:27, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

title: User talk:Dammy125/enes100/Helicopter 2


text:
User talk:Spatel5040/enes100/Helicopter 2

Week1 Peer Review

 * I like the task your trying to accomplish. this will really help push the project forward.Dkirby7518 15:10, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

 * Great job on accomplishing what you needed to do. and i really like the pictures you took. Damilola Kukoyi Dammy125 21:20, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

 * Sunny, you did a great job in uploading all those pictures, but you haven't documented "Week1 Peer Review." so do it soon! Dpatel5391 11:40, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

10/10/50 .. great job .. now go through and describe what is in each picture .. figure out it's name, what is for 1sfoerster 14:32, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

10/10/50 ... great job ... now go through the main boards and identify the major components on them .. ultra sound, another camera, buttons and what the buttons are for, led's what the led's are for ... 1sfoerster 20:14, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

I hope you remember to get week three done. I would also like to know how you get the pictures layered.Dkirby7518 04:55, 6 November 2011 (UTC)

Good job describing the pictures Dammy125 13:28, 6 November 2011 (UTC) 10/5/10 ... week 3 grading .. 17:19, 15 November 2011 (UTC) 10/10/0 .. week 3 and week 4 are the same 1sfoerster 17:19, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Week4 Peer Review
I made the space for your week 4 comments. In order to get your my pics in the center of the page like your I would have to upload my pictures the way you did. I use wiki commands for uploading pics. but it seems like your getting good work done. good job.Dkirby7518 01:43, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

I also try to finish the homepage for our helicopter 2 project. Add information if you want.Dkirby7518 02:38, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

Good Job!!! Dammy125 05:38, 14 November 2011 (UTC)


text:
User talk:Dpatel5391/enes100/Helicopter 2

Week1 Peer Review
I am glad you are almost done with the program. we need this program to make a our helicopter work more efficiently. All we need is the plain built and attach your program.Dkirby7518 15:13, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

When I tried to write my first arduino program it gave me an error saying avr-++ createprocess: No such file or directory. How do i fix that problem? Damilola Kukoyi Dammy125 21:17, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Great job in keeping up with the project and learining more about the arduino. Damilola Kukoyi Dammy125 21:17, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

10/10/50 ... need to get the arduino info into a tutorial 1sfoerster 14:31, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Week2 Peer Review
You did really great job updating your week report. I really like how put your programming code on the wiki versity. Spatel5040 14:33, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

10/10/50 ... develop a circuit with led's that blink for the gyro also .. or take video of the serial window opening on the pc and wave the gyro in front of it so can see the motion and numbers .. 1sfoerster 20:16, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

Week3 Peer Review

 * Hey man. Where is the thing we build last class?.Dkirby7518 15:50, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

 * Hope we can start testing using the see-saw gimbel using your program. I made up the name.Dkirby7518 04:53, 6 November 2011 (UTC)

 * Good job on the motor sketches. Dammy125 13:28, 6 November 2011 (UTC)

 * Professor Scott, I'm not sure why you still have not graded my Week 3??? I was done before you graded and I do have proof for it. Thank you, Dpatel5391 20:20, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

10/10/100 .. good job 1sfoerster 17:15, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Week4 Peer Review
Thanks for the advice about the pictures. I will try to keep it in mind as I do my page. Good job on constructing the codes for the helicopter. Hopefully next week we can put it all together.Dkirby7518 01:39, 14 November 2011 (UTC) I also try to finish the homepage for our helicopter 2 project. Add information if you want.Dkirby7518 02:37, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

10/10/50 ... great job documenting with videos 1sfoerster 17:23, 15 November 2011 (UTC) Good Job!!! Dammy125 05:38, 14 November 2011 (UTC)


text:
User talk:Beat Estermann

 Hello Beat Estermann, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. All users are expected to abide by our Privacy policy, Civility policy, and the Terms of Use while at Wikiversity.

To get started, you may

 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit.
 * Visit a (kind of) random project.
 * Browse Wikiversity, or visit a portal corresponding to your educational level: pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, non-formal education.
 * Find out about research activities on Wikiversity.
 * Explore Wikiversity with the links to your left.

 * Read an introduction for teachers and find out how to write an educational resource for Wikiversity.
 * Give feedback about your initial observations
 * Discuss Wikiversity issues or ask questions at the colloquium.
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.
 * Follow Wikiversity on twitter (http://twitter.com/Wikiversity) and identi.ca (http://identi.ca/group/wikiversity).

You don't need to be an educator to edit. You only need to be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage. See you around Wikiversity! -- Ruy Pugliesi ◥ 15:15, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for experimenting with the page TAO on Wikiversity. Your test worked, and it has been reverted or removed. Please use the sandbox for any other tests you want to do. Take a look at the welcome page if you would like to learn more about contributing. Ruy Pugliesi ◥ 15:15, 20 October 2011 (UTC)
 * @Ruy Pugliesi: Depending on view all edits of any WV editors are a test :-)
 * Though these guys try to build something here
 * I must admit the page name has potential for some discussions in the future due to its name, see als o: Tao (disambiguation) - let's hope not all of those parties claim the page for themselves ;-) Another approach would be: to name it something like: Project TAO, Erkan Yilmaz uses the Chat + Identi.ca 17:55, 20 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Hi Erkan Yilmaz, thanks for your support. And thanks to Ruy Pugliesi for the patrolling and removal of vandalism ;-) User Semaphor is now going to build up a few initial pages for our project; we'll then have more and more people joining in, trying to give it some more initial structure. I guess, by the end of the year, it should become a bit clearer what is going to appear here - and that would probably also be the moment to discuss its name - moving the pages to another location shuldn't be a big deal. Unfortunately, there is no such thing on en.wv as "Project:TAO" that would fit our purposes (as for example "Projekt:TAO" on de.wv) - but let's wait and see for now, and have this discussion a bit later on the TAO discussion page. Does that make sense to you?
 * --Beat Estermann 07:44, 21 October 2011 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: April 2012
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 19:14, 2 May 2012 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: May 2012
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 21:31, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: June 2012
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 12:50, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: July 2012
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 17:23, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: August 2012
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 17:03, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: September 2012
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 18:43, 9 October 2012 (UTC)
 * From the team: Results of the This Month in GLAM survey (part 2)
 * UK report: GLAMcamp London; brief news
 * Spain report: Edit-a-thons in Spain
 * Italy report: Smithsonian Institution, Brooklyn Museum and WikiAfrica
 * Germany report: WikiCon; GLAMcamp London; Science 2.0
 * Sweden report: Sweden report
 * Switzerland report: Botanical Garden Lausanne;CERN
 * India report: Wiki Loves Monuments 2012 in India
 * Mexico report: Edit-a-thon at the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana
 * Africa report: A month in Africa's GLAMs
 * Open Access report: Open Access per default; Open Access Media Importer tests finished; Preparations for Open Access Week
 * Calendar: October's GLAM events

This Month in GLAM: October 2012
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 02:55, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: November 2012
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 18:01, 9 December 2012 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: December 2012
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 11:46, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: January 2013
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 20:37, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: February 2013
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 14:47, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: March 2013
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 12:08, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: April 2013
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 22:27, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: May 2013
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 22:55, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: June 2013
Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 15:24, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: July 2013

Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 02:06, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: August 2013

Unsubscribe · Global message delivery 08:26, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

title: User talk:Beat Estermann


title: File:Helicopter1.JPG


title: File:Pea1.f11.my.scratch.at.airport.pdf


text: File:Probability Binomial distribution.svg


text: File:Probability Poisson distribution.svg


text:
Category:Files needing fair use rationales

Files in this category are believed to need fair use rationales to remain at Wikiversity. Uploaders for files in this category should be notified and given 7 days to find a reasonable solution before deleting.


text:
User:Akshat~enwikiversity

akshat mishra born 1988, december 23rd education... currently a 3rd year MBBS student in Manipal

title: User:Akshat~enwikiversity


text: Category:Files by need

title: Category:Files by need


text:
Category:Files

Files uploaded to Wikiversity should be in one or more subcategories below, often through the use of copyright and license templates. No files should directly be in this category.

title: Category:Files


text:
Category:All non-free media

This category contains all non-free media on Wikiversity. Please do not add subcategories. Images are added using non-free image copyright tags which include the non-free media template.

 * See also
 * Orphaned images in Category 'All non-free media'

__NOGALLERY__

title: Category:All non-free media


text:
User talk:Inmookchung27/escher2

In week one, i like the plans for the weekend so that we can move this project forward. Since our partner Yoon cant come to class often, i assigned him to take over my drawing designs so he can do it at home, and i will pick up the pump mechanics and how to incorporate them into the finished waterfall design. We will talk over the weekend to see how the progress is comming along (Bmart14 16:30, 20 October 2011 (UTC)).

10/10/30 .. videos were great 1sfoerster 13:50, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

In week two, i like the progress we have made and hopefully we can incorporate the pumps/siphon over the weekend throughout the weekend. I have to work on the siphon idea a little bit over the weekend but shouldnt take me that long to learn its restrictions. (Bmart14 16:01, 27 October 2011 (UTC))

10/10/10 .. need more pictures of work in progress .. 1sfoerster 18:34, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

In week three, I have almost finished the siphon part of my project and i see you are doing finishing edits to the waterfall, so let me know when those are done so we can meet up and incorporate the siphon to the waterfall (Bmart14 16:23, 3 November 2011 (UTC)).

10/10/0... need pictures that are working 1sfoerster 15:43, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

In week 4, my siphon part is finished and hopefully we can mate the two parts (siphon and waterfall), and see how we can hide the parts.

0/0/0 .. need to solve the picture problem 1sfoerster 15:39, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

title: User talk:Inmookchung27/escher2


text:
User talk:Bmart14/enes100/2ndEscher

i think it is good that your working on the pump because i am working on rebuilding the third floor, so after it is finished you can try to incorporate the pump without it being visible. and i think it is a good idea that yoon takes over the autodesk program on the computer so we can split up the work amongst the three of us. (Inmookchung27 16:30, 20 October 2011 (UTC))

10/10/10 ... where the links to the pictures and videos you showed in class? lots of points if they ever appear in electronic documentation ... 1sfoerster 13:54, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

I think we are making great progress. I havent been able to get in contact with our other teammate, and i need the 3d drawing, so we might need to work something out where we pick his work up. We should meet up this weekened too so we can see how the waterfall is going to be incorporated. (Inmookchung27 15:58, 27 October 2011 (UTC))

10/10/10 ... would have been more points if the pictures were linked up 1sfoerster 18:36, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

I am going to upload some pictures this weekend so you can see online how im moving some of the pieces, so you can start thinking about how the tubes should be placed.

10/10/50 .. good work 1sfoerster 15:45, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

10/5/20 .. good work finding those video's ... they don't specifically relate to the details of your escher project though .. need to comment on team mates pages 1sfoerster 15:48, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

title: User talk:Bmart14/enes100/2ndEscher


text:
Category:Mathematics Media

This is a category to contain media files containing mathematical diagrams and illustrations.

title: Category:Mathematics Media


text: Template:Large category TOC

title: Template:Large category TOC


text:
Template:Large category TOC/doc

Usage
When a category has many members, place this line near the top of the category page: There are no parameters.

title: Template:Large category TOC/doc


text:
Template:Nfu

This template should only be used as

title: Template:Nfu


text:
User:Noman1234

My name is Noman Hasan.

Country- Bangladesh

Relegion- Muslim

Noman1234 19:19, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

title: User:Noman1234


text:
Dam

A dam is a large wall or barrier that obstructs or stop the flow of water, forming a reservoir or a lake. Most dams have a section called a spillway or weir over which, or through which, water flows, either sometimes or always. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water. The tallest dam in the world is the 300 meter high Nurek Dam in Tajikistan.

Some of the first dams were built in Mesopotamia up to 7,000 years ago. Modern dams are built with arched walls of steel rod-reinforced concrete. The arched wall is a very strong shape which helps the wall to withstand the huge weight of the water.

Reasons for building dams
There are a number of reasons that people build dams. Some countries build dams to control the flow of water in the downstream river systems, and prevent flooding. Other countries build dams to generate electricity using hydroelectric turbine generators. Other countries use dams to store water for use in irrigation (for farming).

title: Dam


text:
Infrastructure

Infrastructure is the facilities which support modern human life, namely: water supply, sewage plants, housing, roads, cable networks, food supply facilities, schools, hospitals, airports, community meeting places, business and government buildings, bridges, railways.

Infrastructure is closely connected with standard of living and population. Every time the population doubles, it follows that the infrastructure must at least double, often more than that.

If a country is poor – and the highest population growth is in poor countries – then its government cannot provide the needed infrastructure. Standard of living drops, and this may lead to other evils.

title: Infrastructure


text:
Roads

A road is a piece of land which connects two or more places. Usually, a road has been made easy to travel on, for example by removing trees and stones so the ground is more leveled. Although many roads are made of gravel and soil, some are made of concrete or brick.

People have been making roads for a long time. Roman roads are famous. But transport by river was usually easier and faster than transport by road. In the industrial revolution, the railway was invented. A railway is a special type of road, using rails. Roads are now usually made for wheeled vehicles, like cars, to travel on.

Road building and care is usually paid for by taxes. Some roads have tolls, where people pay to use the road.

title: Roads


text:
Explosion protection

Explosion protection is meant to protect buildings and other civil engineering objects against internal and external explosions. It was widely believed until recently that a building subject to an explosive attack had a chance to remain standing only if it possessed some extraordinary resistive capacity. This belief rested on the assumption that the blast load was fully beyond our control.

Two approaches to explosion protection

 * 1. Prevention. Prevention makes an explosion impossible to occur.
 * 2. Structural control. Structural control will limit structural damage from explosion pressure and flying debris.

Other websites

 * Curtain Wall Testing
 * Designing Buildings to Resist Explosive Threats
 * The world's top Blast Protection websites

title: Explosion protection


text:
Wikiversity:Brevity

Write enough, not more.

title: Wikiversity:Brevity


text:
Wikiversity talk:Brevity

Please don't expand this. -- Simone 22:18, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

just a diff link...
...would make the content shrink even more ;-) Erkan Yilmaz uses the Chat + Identi.ca 13:01, 21 October 2011 (UTC)

title: Wikiversity talk:Brevity


title: File:Video15.ogv