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Susannah Darwin

Susannah Darwin (née Wedgwood, 3 January 1765 – 15 July 1817) was the wife of Robert Darwin, a wealthy doctor, and mother of naturalist Charles Darwin, and part of the Wedgwood pottery family.

Life
She was the daughter of Josiah and Sarah Wedgwood and grew up at Etruria Hall, the Wedgwood family home in Stoke on Trent (completed in 1771). Josiah Wedgwood's business was already successful and expanding when she was born, and she grew up in increasingly comfortable circumstances. She was the oldest of the Wedgwood's eight children, known as "Sukey" within the family. Her baptism in January 1765, at home because of bad weather, was followed by a lobster dinner, with port, for the family, though as a sign of things to come, her father had to leave early to deal with business matters.

At the age of seven, she was sent to a boarding school in Manchester but returned home for the summer holidays "full of pouks, & boils & humours", according to a letter by her father, so was taken to the spa at Buxton to recover, and thereafter tutored at home, with occasional visits to London to stay with her father's friend and business partner Thomas Bentley.

Erasmus Darwin, father of Robert Darwin, had long been a friend of Josiah, and she had known the family since childhood, at one point giving Erasmus Junior music lessons (she was an accomplished harpsichordist). Robert and Sukey became engaged in 1794, at the ages of 29 and 28 respectively. They did not marry until 18 April 1796, by which time Robert's medical practice in Shrewsbury was well-established. Josiah had died in January 1795, leaving his daughter £25,000, a very considerable sum at the time. Despite the families living in the Midlands, the marriage was at St Marylebone, Middlesex, even then part of London. This was not the present St Marylebone Parish Church, not built until 1813, but what is now called St Peter, Vere Street, appropriately very near Harley Street.

From 1800, when it was completed, the family lived at The Mount, Shrewsbury, which still stands. She gave birth to Charles Darwin, the fifth of her six children, on 12 February 1809.

In 1817, she started growing ill, with gastrointestinal symptoms that were probably a sign of either a severe ulcer or stomach cancer. She died on 15 July 1817 aged 52. She, her husband, and their daughter Susan are buried in St Chad's Church, Montford, near Shrewsbury.

Children

 * Marianne Darwin (1798–1858), married Henry Parker (1788–1858) in 1824.
 * Caroline Sarah Darwin (1800–1888) married her cousin Josiah Wedgwood III
 * Susan Elizabeth Darwin (1803–1866), unmarried.
 * Erasmus Alvey Darwin (1804–1881)
 * Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882)
 * Emily Catherine Darwin (1810–1866), married 1863, Charles Langton clergyman and widower of her cousin Charlotte Wedgwood.

title: Susannah Darwin


text:
Talk:Global Environment Facility

Untitled, May 2004
Editor at IP 81.* seems to have a grudge against the World Bank, IMF and, by factually incorrect extension, the GEF -- as presented in this article. Hence the article as of 2004-05-06 does not reflect a NPOV. The version which pre-dates this person's edit of 2003-12-08 DOES appear to reflect a NPOV. I vote to revert! (Unsigned)

Untitled, November 2004
The entirely uncritical description of the GEF as it originally appeared was almost certainly posted by someone deeply supportive of, or most likely paid by, the institution itself. Given widespread international ignorance and/or unease about the GEF, the original version was in no sense neutral - if such a position is even possible about an organisation with instructions to conserve global nature from inside the offices of one of nature's biggest despoilers.

I vote to maintain the additions, and if possible to add more diverse perspectives - ideally procuring them from outside 'the world of books and computers' (as a forest dweller of my aquaintance put it) i.e. from where real world environmental action, not to mention destruction, takes place. Thanks. (Unsigned)

Untitled, January 2005
The Global Environment Facility is NOT run from within the World Bank -- it is an organizationally distinct entity, as much as the UN is NOT "run from within the United States" by virtue of having its headquarters located in the US. The GEF is an organizationally separate entity from the World Bank, which is one (of many) of its partners. Hence, NPOV removed by the politically-charged editor resulted in factual inconsistencies. That the commentor above admits that the current version (as this author suspects that the above commentor had revised it circa 2003-12-08) is no longer an "entirely uncritical description of the GEF" is clearly an admission that subsequent updates have resulted in modification of NPOV. Author of subsequent edits clearly had an [understandable] axe to grind regarding the paltry amount of global funding going towards global environmental protection. While this stance is admirable, distorting facts in order to make one's case via what is supposed to be a NPOV article on a subject is NOT admirable. It is, in fact, ignorant vandalism. Article should revert to previous (pre- 2003-12-08) version.

The original version was indeed adapted from the GEF's own Web site. It was not, however, an opinion piece. The current version IS an opinion piece with clearly charged language which is not appropriate for a NPOV article. Take the opinion piece to the New York Times, leave Wikipedia as a concensus-based NPOV reference. Please revert. (Unsigned)

Untitled, May 2005
"The Global Environment Facility is NOT run from within the World Bank"

Hmmm. Tricky one, this. GEF has always had to be presented to the world as an entity separate from the World Bank, because so many people in the global South and social/environmental justice movements know exactly what the World Bank is about, and will therefore never trust a GEF that is closely connected with it. However, at the same time, GEF would never have received the level of political support and funding it has from Western governments if it were not under the aegis of the World Bank, thus persuading the rich countries' treasuries that any money they give for global green aid will be managed 'responsibly' through the influence of an institution they can control.

In which context, the facts are as follows.

The GEF's secretariat is physically based inside the offices of the World Bank. GEF secretariat staff are paid by the World Bank (at Bank standard, very lucrative, rates). They even have World Bank e-mail addresses.

However, it might still be reasonable to claim that

"The GEF is an organizationally separate entity from the World Bank"

IF the GEF Council was not legally situated within the Bretton Woods framework.

But then, if it were a legally separate and independent, democratically controlled body, the GEF might not have won so many of its battles with UN bodies (for example the Convention on Biological Diversity) over what exactly should, and should not, be funded with GEF cash for global environmental protection. Because as a World Bank lawyer told me, it is precisely because the GEF is legally part of the Bretton Woods system (est. 1944) that it cannot effectively be challenged by an agency legally hosted within the United Nations system (established after the second world war). And this is what ensured that the GEF got the 'little' money it has (actually billions), rather than UNEP or any other, UN based global institution for international environmental conservation.

"Author of subsequent edits clearly had an [understandable] axe to grind regarding the paltry amount of global funding going towards global environmental protection."

Not really. It may be a common complaint of the big NGOs who seek money and influence through the GEF, but I am not from that community, and (perhaps as a result) I don't think throwing money at problems like mass poverty, environmental degradation etc will do much to solve the situation until or unless their root causes - greed, structural inequality, cultivated ignorance etc - are tackled.

Maybe THIS is an opinion of mine, reflecting a particular political perspective. But if so, isn't it also a matter of opinion whether the GEF website can present anything like a neutral point of view when it is written and created by people whose current livelihood is dependent on the survival of the GEF...??? (Unsigned)

Untitled, October 2005
1: Initially, let me declare an interest in the issues discussed; I work in the environment ministry of a donor country, I have taken part in most negotiations of GEFs statutes and replenishments as well as meetings of the GEF council (its governing body) since its inception - although not as a member of the council. Contrary to the implication of one of the comments above, I do not think that professional familiarity with an issue is disqualifying.

2. My impression of the Wikipedia article is that it does not reflect fairly what the GEF is and does. Below are some points to support that view.

 * The GEF is not governed under World bank rules where voting power follows from share of bank capital. If a vote is required, a double, qualified majority (60%) of both donors shares and countries is required.

 * The GEF does not only contribute to developing countries as defined by OECD-DAC -whether they are so-called DCs or not is not quite so interesting as which countries actually occur on the list.

All countries eligible for World Bank loans or UNDP support may receive GEF funds. This is important because it includes Russia and eastern European countries, which for instance are excluded from the provisions of the Montreal protocol on Oxone depleting substances.

 * The GEF does not simply pay out for projects with global environmental benefits. It is mandated to cover the "agreed incremental costs" which means that it may cover some or all costs incurred in expanding a project with local and national benefits so that it provides more global benefits. For example if a country wishes to build a coal fired power station GEF could cover some or all of the extra costs of running an energy efficiency programme or say solar energy systems that would yield the same amount of energy. GEF is not, however, a development aid fund and cannot cover the basic costs. These will have to be covered by the country itself and any donor or agency aid available.

 * GEF projects are not initiated by GEF council, they have to be transmitted through the Government of the countries that wish to have the projects and are carried out by the GEF executing and implementing agencies, including the World Bank, UNDP and UNEP as well as the African Development Bank and many others, including NGOs.

 * The global conventions provide their priorities as guidance to GEF, they are not mandated to have a say in project choice, but it the same governments that have seats in the COPs and the GEF. Some of the friction experienced may stem from less than ideal internal coordination in countries, some from the fact that governments do not agree with each other.

 * As opposed to many other international organizations, all documents for council meeting are openly available on the GEF website at the same time that council members receive them.

3. The recent independent reviews of GEF provide a thorough description of the difficulties of implementing concepts such as "global environmental benefits" and "incremental costs". It is a rich vein of informed criticism as well as positive suggestions for change -which is currently being considered by all parties. I propose that the Wikipedia article be structured so that it gives a fair view of the "mechanics" of GEF, and that different views on how it works and should work be set out separately.

paul hofseth

Untitled, February 2005
This quantity of information provided on this page seems to have been slashed since last time I looked; I wonder why? Is it to do with the fear of japes and libel claims that now challenges wikipedia? At least the short descriptions now provided do seem reasonably balanced, and presumably anyone interested can follow the links to more info....

zoe young

Untitled, July 2008
Looking again, the page seems to have reverted to resembling a page fr0m the GEF's own website... full of what it says it is doing, nothing on what is is actually doing, critical perspectives etc. Given that this Facility spends Billions of dollars of taxpayers' money supposedly to 'save the global environment' with very little to show for it, surely a vaguely critical and 'objective' perspective would be reasonable? Would therefore vote to revert to previous version.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.129.189.141 (talk) 16:38, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Untitled, August 2008
Once more the GEF's staff have been hard at work here, with the latest text even more self-serving than before..... is wikipedia really meant to serve just an extension of their PR materials? Damn I wish someone paid me to add a little note of reality.. anyone else interested in this little struggle? come on in, the water's tepid! 86.129.96.148 (talk) 00:28, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

Some suggestions to move forward with this article
The controversial debate on this discussion page is quite rich, and I wonder how the article could be improved based on some of the previously posted comments. Here are some suggestions on the article and on the framework of how to discuss the article.

About the article itself

 * The article lacks references, except one. References should be added after each paragraph.
 * As pointed out above, the article indeed reads as if it was written by staff of the GEF secreteriat, repeating information already on the GEF website. Some of the edits do come from User:GEFSec. So it least these edits are not done anonymously. However, Username policy says the following:"Use of a company or group name as a username is not explicitly prohibited, but it is not recommended, and depending on the circumstances may be seen as a problem. Similarly, editing with a possible conflict of interest, such as editing an article about your employer, is not disallowed, but anyone wishing to do so is advised to read the Business' FAQ."
 * The article so far lacks examples of concrete projects financed by GEF and specific benefits provided by these projects, as pointed out above. It should not be too difficult to add those, and they would greatly enhance the article.
 * The article mentions an independent GEF evaluation office. The discussion page mentions independent reviews of GEF. It would be very useful to include a summary of both evaluations and the independent reviews in the article. The web page of the evaluation office is an obvious starting point:http://www.gefweb.org/gefevaluation.aspx?id=148
 * It would be useful to have a separate section on criticism of GEF, if there has been criticism of the GEF from credible sources. A quick web search did not yield much of substance, but I may be proven wrong.
 * There are some repetitions, e.g. on the GEF executing agencies which are listed both under structure and under history.
 * The various conventions listed in the article should be converted to internal links.
 * There seem to be a few factual mistakes in the article. For example, the Rio Earth Summit took place in 1992, not in 1994.
 * As the article stands now, I believe it should be tagged as lacking references, and perhaps also for not having a neutral point of view. Views from others on this would be appreciated.

About how to discuss the article

 * It would be useful if contributors to the discussion would register themselves as individuals and discontinue the use of the corporate user account
 * It would be good to sign contributions, as it is customary on Wikipedia
 * The early comments (apparently from 2005) are detailed and there are reactions to comments. Recent comments remain unanswered. It is always nice to see reactions to comments.--Mschiffler (talk) 04:03, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Untitled, May 2011
GEFSec is just trying to describe what the GEF does. As far as I know an encyclopedia should provide only true information without judgment. The information provided by GEFSec is based on documents and publicly available data. Criticism should be supported with examples and not by modifying the text in a malicious way. (GEFSec (talk) 14:59, 18 May 2011 (UTC))

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

title: Talk:Global Environment Facility


text:
Mike Danton

Michael Sage Danton (né Jefferson, October 21, 1980) is a Canadian-Polish former professional ice hockey player who last played for Rivière-du-Loup 3L in the LNAH.

Danton played for the New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League between 2000 and 2004, before being imprisoned for a conspiracy to commit murder. He was released on parole on September 11, 2009 after 63 months in jail, the original sentence being 90 months.

After being released from prison, he resumed his professional ice hockey career in various European leagues and in North America.

Junior hockey career
Danton was known as Mike Jefferson during his junior hockey career. As a youth, Jefferson played in the 1994 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto Young Nationals minor ice hockey team. He began junior hockey in the 1996–97 season with the Quinte Hawks of the Metro Junior A Hockey League. He played in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997 to 2000 with the Sarnia Sting, the Toronto St. Michael's Majors, and the Barrie Colts. Playing for the Colts during the 2000 Memorial Cup, Jefferson commented that Brad Richards would not last five games in the Ontario Hockey League. and later refused to shake Richards' hand after he had been named tournament MVP.

Professional hockey career (2000-2004)
Selected 135th overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Danton was a left winger for the St. Louis Blues, who traded a 3rd round draft pick to New Jersey to obtain him. He played 68 games for the Blues in the 2003–04 season. While with the Devils organization, he changed his last name from Jefferson to Danton after becoming estranged from his family. He admitted he adopted the surname "Danton" from the name of a 13-year-old boy at David Frost's hockey camp, because the name sounded "cool". He also feuded with Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello and was suspended by the team, prompting his eventual trade to St. Louis.

Arrest and imprisonment (2004–2009)
On April 16, 2004, two days after the Blues were eliminated from the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the San Jose Sharks, Danton was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. On July 16, 2004, he pleaded guilty to attempting to hire a hitman, who was actually a police dispatcher, to murder David Frost, his agent, and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Stiehl to seven-and-a-half years in a United States federal prison. To this day, however, Frost denies that he was the target. In 2011, Danton claimed in an interview with ESPN that his original target was his estranged father, Steve Jefferson.

In November 2005, the CBC program The Fifth Estate aired a documentary, Rogue Agent, about the history between Danton and Frost. In it, the documentary casts light on the controlling relationship Frost had with Danton and how he encouraged Danton to estrange himself from his parents, as well as an alleged incident where Frost and a group of his players abused Danton's younger brother. The documentary also focuses on a taped telephone call Danton made to Frost a week after his arrest. In it, Frost instructs Danton to plead guilty and ends the conversation demanding Danton say "I love you," which Danton does, further fueling speculation of a homosexual relationship between the two. In 2006, Frost was charged with 12 counts of sexual exploitation related to acts on three females and four young boys between the ages of 14 and 16, alleged to have occurred during the time that Frost was Danton's junior hockey coach, with the Quinte Hawks. Frost was acquitted of all charges on November 28, 2008; the trial included testimony from women who had participated in threesomes with other players and Danton. In an unrelated matter, Frost was also acquitted on February 14, 2009 of fraud charges related to the use of one of Danton's credit cards; Danton stated that Frost had his permission to use the card.

In July 2008, in an article in the Denver Post, it was revealed that Howard Kieffer, the lawyer who represented Danton in his murder conspiracy case, had never graduated from law school, and so was not licensed to practice law. In September 2008, Kieffer pleaded not guilty to two felony charges, and news reports revealed that he would not be representing himself.

On March 19, 2009, the United States Bureau of Prisons granted Danton's request to be transferred to a Canadian prison after five years at FCI Sandstone; he was housed at the Pittsburgh Institution in Joyceville, Ontario. Under Canadian law, Danton was eligible for parole, which was granted on September 11, 2009. Conditions of his parole include no contact with his father (who Danton now claims was the intended target), and no face-to-face meetings with Frost (widely believed to be Danton's actual target).

University hockey career (2010–2011)
Danton took university correspondence courses at Queen's University while imprisoned. In fall 2009 he applied to Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia for January 2010 entry. Danton initially enrolled in three courses for the winter 2010 semester and joined the Saint Mary's Huskies varsity men's hockey team.

On January 27, 2010, Danton played in his first game since being released from prison, and scored a goal for the Saint Mary's Huskies, during their 4-1 loss to the Acadia Axemen, played at the Halifax Forum in Halifax. On January 30, 2010, Danton played for the Huskies during a 5-3 loss to the UPEI Panthers played at the MacLauchlan Arena in Charlottetown. On March 28, 2010, the Huskies defeated the Alberta Golden Bears to win the 2010 University Cup, played in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

It was announced by Canadian Interuniversity Sport on October 4, 2010 that Danton had been named an Academic All-Canadian based on a student CIS athlete achieving a grade point average of 3.7 or higher. Danton achieved a 3.9 GPA overall through the winter and spring semesters as well as summer school, and it was revealed in a media story that his study ethic keeps him in the Patrick Power Library at Saint Mary's until 11pm each night.

Return to professional hockey (2011–2017)
On July 28, 2011, Danton announced on his Twitter account that he had signed with a Swedish professional club for the 2011–12 season. The following day, this was confirmed to be the Division 1 club IFK Ore. The club explained that "We're obviously aware of his background but it was years ago". The club further explained that Danton's playing knowledge was the reason why the club chose to acquire him. The club made him team captain upon his arrival in Sweden.

On September 18, 2011, while playing his first game for Ore, Danton saved teammate and linemate Marcus Bengtsson's life using skills he learned in prison. Following a hard hit, Bengtsson's head struck the ice, and he started convulsing. Danton waited for his teammate's mouth to release before using his hand to prevent Bengtsson from choking on his own tongue. Ore won the game 4–3 against Söderhamn/Ljusne HC. Playing in 27 games, Danton scored 16 goals and 25 assists for a total of 41 points.

On December 17, 2011, following Ore's failure to reach the spring series called "Allettan", Orli Znojmo of the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga announced their signing of Danton. He spent the remainder of the season with the South Moravian club.

On May 20, 2012, Coventry Blaze of the Elite Ice Hockey League announced their signing of Danton, although his place at the club was brought to an abrupt end due to the UK Border Agency twice rejecting his application for a UK entry visa.

On September 29, 2012, after the departure of defenseman Dean Moore and forward Bill Keenan to IF Sundsvall of HockeyAllsvenskan, Kramfors-Alliansen of the Swedish Division 1 league signed Danton to a one-year contract.

On January 9, 2013, Danton signed a contract with the HC ’05 Banská Bystrica in the Slovak Extraliga. He then started the 2013–14 season playing for Beibarys Atyrau in Kazakhstan. After complaining about breaches in his contract, he had it terminated and moved to HSC Csíkszereda in Romania.

On January 24, 2014, Danton signed for Ciarko PBS Bank KH Sanok of the Polish Hockey League, until the end of the season. With Sanok, he won the 2013–14 playoff championship. He re-signed for both the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons. Due to financial difficulty, the team did not compete in the 2016–17 season, so Danton went back to North America, signing with Rivière-du-Loup 3L of the LNAH. After one season in the LNAH, he retired from professional hockey.

title: Mike Danton


text:
Agatha Barbara

Agatha Barbara, (11 March 1923 – 4 February 2002) was a Maltese politician, having served as a Labour Member of Parliament and Minister. She was the first woman to serve as president of Malta, and remains the longest-serving woman Member of Parliament in Maltese political history.

Early life

Barbara was born in Żabbar, Malta, in 1923. Her father worked as a tug master (a skilled pilot of tugboats) for the Royal Navy, and was very poorly paid. Her mother struggled to feed the nine children on her husband's wages. Agatha was the second child and the eldest daughter.

She pleaded her parents to send her to school and attended grammar school in Valletta, but World War II prevented her from continuing to college. She had to work as an air raid warden and supervised one of the kitchens set up by the British military to feed the population.

After the war she became a school teacher and got involved in politics. She became a member of the Malta Labour Party (MLP), was very active in party affairs, became member of the MLP executive committee, headed the party women's branch and founded the Women's Political Movement in Malta.

Political life
From 1947, Malta had limited self-government. Voting rights for women were raised by the Women of Malta Association and the Malta Labour Party against loud protests from the Church. The proposal was adopted by a narrow majority. The clashes spurred Barbara to show what women could do, so when people encouraged her, she stood for election in 1947. She became the first and only woman among the 40 MPs, and she was the only woman candidate to successfully contest in ten consecutive elections, until 1982, when she resigned to become president.

Agatha Barbara became known as a warm defender of economic and social reforms. She was Malta's first and until the end of the 1990s  only woman cabinet minister. When MLP came to power for the first time in 1955, she was appointed as education minister by Dom Mintoff from 1955 to 1958. She undertook comprehensive reforms: instituted compulsory full-time basic education for all children, established a teacher training college and special schools for the disabled, made secondary school free and provided science classes for both girls and boys. In 1958 relations between the British and the Maltese deteriorated. Protests erupted in the streets and Mintoff resigned. Barbara participated in the demonstrations and was sentenced to 43 days "with hard labour".

When Mintoff came to power again in 1971, Agatha Barbara was appointed minister of education again. Now compulsory basic education was extended from the age of 14 to 16, trade and technical schools were established and university fees were abolished. In 1974 she became minister for labour, culture and welfare. She worked to reduce unemployment and improve workers' pay and conditions and industrial relations. She introduced a law on equal pay for women and men, paid maternity leave, a 40-hour working week and retirement and unemployment benefits. She also set up a number of national museums. In 1976 Agatha Barbara became deputy chair of the MLP parliamentary group, but not of the party, and deputy prime minister. For shorter periods she served as deputy for Mintoff.

Barbara also took a prominent role in protecting Maltese heritage, playing a crucial role in the restoration of historic buildings in Mdina and Valletta, and promoting their use as museums.

Presidency
In 1981 elections led to a constitutional crisis because the Nationalist Party (PN) won a majority of the votes, but only got a minority in parliament: 31 seats against 34 for MLP. PN boycotted parliament and organized protests. Nevertheless, Mintoff took power, but instead of becoming minister, Barbara was appointed as the first woman president, 59 years old, on 15 February 1982. She was the third President of the Republic.

Usually the position was mainly ceremonial, but her task now was to resolve the constitutional crises. At the end of her term in 1987, Barbara presided over the presentation and acceptance of the 1987 Constitutional reform, ranging from the cementing of Malta's independence from foreign powers, to the allocation of additional Parliamentary seats in case a Party obtains an absolute majority of votes at a general election without achieving a Parliamentary majority. In 1987 her term expired and she withdrew from politics.

Barbara appeared on a series of Maltese banknotes which were issued in 1986. She retired in Żabbar, where she was born, and died in 2002. A monument in her honor was unveiled in Żabbar on 23 April 2006 by the then President of Malta, Dr. Edward Fenech Adami.

Private life
Barbara was never married. Maltese-Australian author Joseph Chetcuti claimed Barbara was a lesbian in his 2009 book on the LGBT history of Malta, based on interviews with her contemporaries.

In 2014 alleged "romantic letters" written by Barbara to Derek Barnes, a Royal Navy signalman stationed in Malta during World War II, were made public by Barnes' sister.

National honours

 * MLT_National_Order_of_Merit_BAR.svg Companion of Honour of the National Order of Merit (1990) by right as a former Prime Minister of Malta
 * [[File:MLT Malta Self-Government Re-introduction Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Medal ribbon.png|80px]] Malta Self-Government Re-introduction Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Medal (1996)
 * MLT Medal for Service to the Republic BAR.svg Malta Independence Fiftieth Anniversary Medal (2014) posthumous

Foreign honours

 * BUL Order Stara planina ribbon.svg Order of the Balkan Mountains 1st Class
 * DPRK ribbon bar - Order of National Flag 1st Class.svg Order of the National Flag 1st Class (1985)
 * Nishan-e-Pakistan.png Nishan-e-Pakistan

title: Agatha Barbara


text:
Chartreux

The Chartreux is a rare breed of cat from France, and is recognised by a number of registries around the world. The Chartreux is large and muscular (called cobby) with relatively short, fine-boned limbs, and very fast reflexes. They are known for their blue (silver-grey) water-resistant short hair double coats which are often slightly thick in texture (often showing "breaks" like a sheepskin) and orange or copper-coloured eyes. Chartreux cats are also known for their "smile"; due to the structure of their heads and their tapered muzzles, they often appear to be smiling. Chartreux are exceptional hunters and are highly prized by farmers.

As for every French cat with a pedigree, the first letter of the official name of a Chartreux cat encodes the year of its birth. All Chartreux born in the same year have official names beginning with the same letter. The code letters rotate through the alphabet each year, omitting the letters K, Q, W, X, Y, and Z. For example, a Chartreux born in 2021 would have an official name starting with the letter S.

History
The Chartreux is mentioned for the first time in 1558 by Joachim du Bellay in a poem entitled Vers Français sur la mort d'un petit chat, or "French verse on the death of a small cat" in English.

There is another representation of a Chartreux in 1747 in the Jean-Baptiste Perronneau's painting Magdaleine Pinceloup de la Grange, into which the cat is painted as a pet, quite rare for the time.

There is a legend that the Chartreux are descended from cats brought to France by Carthusian monks to live in the order's head monastery, the Grande Chartreuse, located in the Chartreuse Mountains north of the city of Grenoble. But in 1972, the Prior of the Grande Chartreuse denied that the monastery's archives held any records of the monks' use of any breed of cat resembling the Chartreux.

Legend also has it that the Chartreux's ancestors were feral mountain cats from what is now Syria, brought back to France by returning Crusaders in the 13th century, many of whom entered the Carthusian monastic order.

The first documented mention of the breed was by the French naturalist Buffon in the 18th century. The breed was greatly diminished during the first World War and wild populations were not seen after World War II, except perhaps in Belle-Île-en-Mer where the Léger sisters started breeding the best subjects. A later concerted effort by European cat fanciers-breeders kept the Chartreux from extinction. The first Chartreux were brought to the U.S. in 1971 by Helen and John Gamon of La Jolla, California. In 1987, the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) advanced the Chartreux breed to championship status. There are fewer than two dozen active Chartreux breeders in North America.

Historically, famous Chartreux owners include the French novelist Colette, Charles Baudelaire and the French president Charles de Gaulle.

Temperament
Chartreux cats tend to be quiet, rarely making noises such as meowing or crying, and some are even completely mute. They are quite observant and intelligent, with some Chartreux learning to operate radio on/off buttons and to open screen door latches. They take about two years to reach adulthood. Chartreux cats are playful cats well into their adult years; some can be taught to fetch small objects in the same manner as a dog. Chartreux are good with children and other animals. They are non-aggressive, affectionate, good travelers and generally very healthy. Chartreux tend to bond with one person in their household, preferring to be in their general vicinity (often following their favoured person from room to room), though they are still loving and affectionate to the other members of the household.

In popular culture

 * The mascot of the world's largest jazz festival, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, is a blue Chartreux affectionately named 'Ste Cat' after the festival's hub, Sainte Catherine Street in Montreal.
 * Gris-Gris, Charles de Gaulle's cat, followed him from room to room.
 * French writer Colette made one of her Chartreux the heroine of her books La Chatte and Les Vrilles de la Vigne.

Literature

 * (This book's ISBNdb.com page lists "Auerbach Pub" as the publisher, but the book itself gives "Synchro Company, Paris" on an unnumbered page immediately following page 190.)
 * (This book's ISBNdb.com page lists "Auerbach Pub" as the publisher, but the book itself gives "Synchro Company, Paris" on an unnumbered page immediately following page 190.)
 * (This book's ISBNdb.com page lists "Auerbach Pub" as the publisher, but the book itself gives "Synchro Company, Paris" on an unnumbered page immediately following page 190.)

title: Chartreux


text:
Talk:Lada Niva

Australia
"In Australia, this vehicle is very poorly regarded and unpopular because parts are extremely difficult to get..." This is simply not true now days. All parts can be ordered online (and at quite reasonable prices too). The main reason that the Niva was not universally popular in Australia is that it was sold in the face of better equipped and more powerful Japanese 4WDs. Tartanperil 02:37, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

"In Australia, popularity is limited as the vehicle is manufactured for a very different climate and many Nivas imported to Australia were rejects from the European Market" This is also unfounded. Niva's operate fine in hot climates. It is unlikley that the ones sold here were rejects from Europe as we are right hand drive and they are left hand drive. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.96.96.167 (talk) 11:18, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

"recirculating ball truck steering box"? the Aus model I was familiar with had a lightweight cast aluminium steering box that suffered catestphoic failure and had to be replaced, info at the time (1999) suggested this was common. I didnt see any recirculating balls. Perhaps that was a later modification to compensate for the original being so weak. Cant remember if it was the water pump or the termostat housing (also cast aluminium) that spontainiously developed a pin-hole leak because the casting was paper thin in that spot.

Awaiting verification:

The Niva has seen competition in rally racing and finishing in good standing. In 1981, a Niva won the Rally Algeria, and placed 3rd in the Paris-Dakar Rally. In 1982, it won both the Rally Algeria and Pharaoh Rally, and took second in the Paris Dakar. In 1983, it won the Pharaoh Rally and came in second in the Paris-Dakar.

Source: http://users.skynet.be/vger/canaris/niva.htm

TimothyPilgrim 14:47, May 6, 2004 (UTC)

Even though the Lada Niva is occasionally sited in Australia, it couldn't really be considered popular. I think that Australia should be removed from the list.

Tigre?
I remember seeing these vehicles advertised in the early 1990s on New Zealand television. Lada sponsored the programme 'Country Calendar', which was (and I quote) "brought to you by the Lada Niva, Cossack and Tigre". The Tigre appeared similar to the other vehicles, but I can't spot it in the Niva wiki... does anyone know more? --Samf-nz 05:07, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I don't know anything about Tigre but in my opinion we should add a better picture of Niva here. Maybe a commercial photo because this picture is really bad. With respect, Deliogul 21:22, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

 * Better photo added. // Liftarn

Chevrolet Niva with Ecotec Family 1 engine
The GM-Avtovaz website lists a model called the Niva FAM1 ("Characteristics CHEVROLET NIVA with FAM1 1,8 L Ecotec engine, 4-cylindric, 16 valved"), so it looks as if it is now in production. GagHalfrunt 23:23, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Plymouth-Dakar (Lo-Cost) enthusiast rally
I wanna get one of these and fix it up for the Plymouth-Dakar enthusiast rally. (See also the Budapest-Bamako run). Lo-tech, rugged, good ground clearance, few electricals to get 'gremlined' during the long and hard run. So Basic, you can fix it with a few tools (included :-) ) Eddyholland 10:35, 12 March 2007 (UTC) Eddyholland 10:35, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Niva isn't back to Brazil
The Niva was the number one jeep in sells, in Brazil between 1990 and 1993.Problems in Russia, lack of parts,etc. doomed Lada in Brazil.Today, the niva is back to Brazil.See these sites, in portugese: CAOA Niva and [Niva Autoesporte.[[User:Agre22|Agre22]] (talk) 20:23, 23 November 2008 (UTC)agre22

This Brazilian site: [Niva won't be back] that this Russiann jeep isn't back to Brazil. The Brazilian Grupo CAOA decided not to return this vehicle.Agre22 (talk) 00:59, 6 September 2009 (UTC)agre22

Needs to be checked
"Bognor Diva Car manufacturer Bognor in Uruguay assembled a version, the Bognor Diva released in 2004." - Sounds like vandalisim to me... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.145.164.49 (talk) 20:30, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Check here --100.34.59.122 (talk) 18:38, 23 September 2018 (UTC)

Some fixes
In basic form, the Niva has a carbureted 1.6-litre overhead cam four-cylinder petrol engine

Actually, new cars with carbureted engines currently are not sold in Russia. The Niva currently is called LADA 4x4 and has 1.7L engine with fuel injection - (link in Russian). 95.79.20.134 (talk) 17:47, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

 * The Lada Niva and Chevrolet Niva are two different vehicles, although both produced by Avtovaz. Santamoly (talk) 21:33, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

 * I have moved part of the text from the introduction into another paragraph, since it is obviously not necessary to write about Putin's personal offroader in the preface of the article, and brought it to a neutral point of view. Eriba-Marduk (talk) 06:18, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

Putin
I think the press may have gotten Putin’s side of the story wrong. In 2006, Lada started offering the Niva with an Opel engine as the result of a design study with Chevrolet about export markets. This became the top-tier engine on the Chevy Niva domestically, Niva FAM1.

I think Putin was saying that he ordered the standard Opel engine option - not a custom car. Telegraph not knowing this, extrapolated that it was a custom car - inferring Putin was not buying the same car any average Russian could buy.

Not sure just yet if it should be edited, but “custom car” doesn’t seem like a good fit. Perhaps, it would be better to say that he ordered one with an Opel engine, similar to Chevrolet models of the Niva. Tabris06 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 11:15, 22 December 2015 (UTC)

 * Thank you for clarifying things here. I've edited that part of the article to avoid misunderstanding. Eriba-Marduk (talk) 13:25, 22 December 2015 (UTC)

Transmission and full time 4WD
The article states that the transmission was changed from 4 to 5 speed in 1985 which is wrong, since I personally own a 1988 production Lada Niva 1600 (VAZ-2121) with originally build 4 speed transmission. Moreover, I checked many post 1985 and even post 1990 production Nivas which all also have the usual 4 speed manual transmission.

Actually, the transmission really was changed, but yet on the new model (Lada Niva 1,7/VAZ-21213) starting from 1993 when the previous one was discontinued. So, there is no 5 speed Niva 1600, except maybe some exceptions - either some export models which were often tuned up by foreign Lada importers for their market, or some of the sole Niva owners, which sometimes changed 4 speed transmission with 5 speed one, mainly to achieve lower fuel consumption on higher engine RPM.

Other thing, it is also stated that Niva today does not use full time 4 wheel drive anymore, which is even more incorrect. From where is that info pulled at all? All Nivas, starting from 1977 with the old Niva 1600 to latest, 2014 LADA 4x4 always had permanent, that is, full time, 4WD. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.201.226.146 (talk) 18:10, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

Naming conventions, clusterfuck of typos
In a listing of short models, there was speak of "Landole" models. This is, as far as I know, essentially "landaulet", but I need a citation for that. I suppose I could use the pronunciation of Ландоле in Russian but I don't know Russian... And then there was a clusterfuck of "Used a limited demand because of low high-torque motor for off-road and poor speakers on public roads." Aeaaaeaeaee?? what is this? Ellenor2000 (talk) 20:52, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

Crash test
insists on adding a preface to the paragraph about safety to specify that the car was designed in the 70s, "long before the modern car safety assessment progammes". This material is not found in the reference, and only exists to support a specific POV. I have removed it several times, but they keep adding it back.--eh bien mon prince (talk) 13:17, 18 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Because it is an old car designed in the 1970s; merely stating that a car is from 1977, whereas the test is from 2001, is neither POV nor original research. Both dates are found in the articles about the Lada Niva and the ARCAP; one can also check the Euro NCAP article to see when such safety programmes were established and that the car is actually older than modern tests. Pushing a POV like yours is at odds with WP:NPOV. And I have no idea why the article should start with the "Safety" paragraph placed before "History"; that's a very unusual way in car-related articles here. 90.155.195.3 (talk) 13:34, 18 December 2017 (UTC)
 * WP:STICKTOSOURCE seems pretty unambiguous to me: "take care not to go beyond what is expressed in the sources, or to use them in ways inconsistent with the intention of the source, such as using material out of context". There are no exceptions for 'basic facts' if they're not supported by a relevant, reliable source.
 * If you want to move the safety section further down the article, that's fine by me.--eh bien mon prince (talk) 13:38, 18 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Then I can solve this issue by adding sources, I guess. As for the "Safety" section, I believe it should be left where it is, i.e. after "History". 90.155.195.3 (talk) 13:53, 18 December 2017 (UTC)
 * That's pretty much the problem. If it really was that unusual to test older cars under modern safety standards, you'd expect the reviewer to mention it somewhere in the article. From what I could find, this isn't the case. In fact, there are plenty of other old VAZ and GAZ cars that were tested by AutoReview in the early 2000s. There is nothing that leads us to believe that the Niva test was unusual in this regard.--eh bien mon prince (talk) 14:06, 18 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Well, their descriptions are traditionally very short, as the authors are not interested in adding any explanations or additional comments, such as telling the reader that one shouldn't expect a vintage car to meet modern safety standards, etc. All their tests are always described in the most brief manner, limited only to the results of a crash test.
 * Anyway, I've added a bit of information and references to the safety section. 90.155.195.3 (talk) 14:57, 18 December 2017 (UTC)
 * I'm not too happy with the use of sources unrelated to the crash-test to draw conclusions not supported by the reference. That's a form of OR, see WP:SYN.--eh bien mon prince (talk) 13:05, 20 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Sounds very dubious to me. As this section mentions a car and a crash test of that car, there is hardly any OR in adding the dates when the car and the test were introduced. 90.155.195.3 (talk) 20:58, 20 December 2017 (UTC)
 * It is OR if you're combining multiple facts to draw conclusions that are not supported by the sources in any way.--eh bien mon prince (talk) 00:22, 21 December 2017 (UTC)
 * I've got your point. 90.155.195.3 (talk) 01:05, 21 December 2017 (UTC)

"their descriptions are traditionally very short" -- only in the free demo mode on their website. On the pages of their magazine they do get into details and make it perfectly clear that many of the crash tested cars were old in design and had little to no chances of having a good result: "...let's not forget that this abbreviation (Euro NCAP) stands for "The European New Car Assessment Programme". New cars. And can the heroes of our crash tests be considered as such? This, perhaps, is the most contentious issue". Their more detailed reviews are available on paper and for subscribers on the official website, many have been published on other web sources as well and can be easily reached there (free of charge). I will, perhaps, add a few sentences in order to make the authors' views on this subject a bit clearer to the reader. VietLove (talk) 00:11, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
 * If it's in the source it should be reflected in the wiki article, I agree.--eh bien mon prince (talk) 00:29, 22 December 2017 (UTC)

Requested move 23 September 2018

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Not moved L293D (☎ • ✎) 01:58, 10 October 2018 (UTC)

Lada Niva → Lada 4x4 – The Lada Niva was remaned the Lada 4x4 by AutoVaZ due to an agreement with General Motors as GM produceda highly modified version called the Chevorlet Niva as GM now has the naming rights. Degen Earthfast (talk) 19:02, 23 September 2018 (UTC) --Relisting. Dreamy Jazz 🎷 talk to me | my contributions 16:47, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

 * Comment – What is your opinion related to article titles policy, specifically WP:OFFICIALNAMES and WP:COMMONNAME? Does your proposal meet these criteria? Does your proposed new name have a "prevalence in a significant majority of independent, reliable English-language sources"? Are they present in the article's references? A relatively similar discussion has taken place at the Lada Riva article some time ago. Personally, I'm not sure which name is better to be used as the article title, I might tend to the current official one, but based on reliable arguments that have to be brought to the discussion. (I believe that on recent topics, considering the car is and has still been manufactured recently, newer official names might be preferred if they are used in those required sources that I mentioned before.) Your nom's description does not seem enough to me. Please consider a reply based on the policies I provided. I'm not any kind of administrator type of user, just a random one. Regards, BaboneCar (talk) 19:22, 24 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Oppose. It had been Lada Niva for almost 40 years and history will remember it as such. We use common names, not official names, and it's more so for artifacts that had a significant history behind one name. No such user (talk) 20:55, 25 September 2018 (UTC)

Guess it is not an easy question. On one hand, the car has been known as Niva for decades. But on the other, it is produced under a different name, officially, and we cannot ignore the name change. 126.122.108.119 (talk) 18:46, 27 September 2018 (UTC)

 * Oppose - once people start calling it the "Lada 4x4" rather than the Lada Niva, then we will talk. The car's common name will remain the Niva for quite some time, I believe.  Mr.choppers |   ✎  19:00, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Two Nivas
And now there are two Lada Nivas, the Lada 4x4 and the Lada Niva II, an incorrect appelation, formerly the Chevrolet Niva.Degen Earthfast (talk) 18:33, 16 August 2020 (UTC)
 * I don't know why the new article was moved to Lada Niva II. Perhaps it ought to be called VAZ-2123 Niva? Do articles always have to have the most recent name of a car? I looked at the automotive naming conventions and they do not really cover cars whose names changed.  Mr.choppers |   ✎  20:14, 2 September 2020 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 20:24, 4 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Niva travel.jpg

False and unnecessary comparison with Land Rover
The mentioned comparison of Niva with Land Rover Series and Land Rover Defender in the introductory section of the article is both false and unecessary due to two very obvious reasons.

First and foremost, those two are actually completely different types of cars. The Land Rover on the one hand, is a purebred off-road vehicle with classic, boxy-alike body with no-sloped rear section and which features removable roof (for placing tarpaulin), an externally placed spare wheel as well as having a simple rear door instead of a tailgate (which, thus, opens either to the side or downwards) and whose trunk compartment features two foldable and removable benches placed in configuration facing each other (like on a flatbed truck) instead of featuring a single rear seat, like found on all passenger cars. Taking these above stated design features into account, the Land Rover can and should be comparable exclusively to the other vehicles of such type, which in Russian case falls only to two models of their military 4x4 vehicles; the GAZ-69 or UAZ-469/3151 (nowadays UAZ "Hunter") - but by no means Niva.

The Niva on the other hand, is something totally different than anything described above. It is an truly revolutionary and highly innovative design, since it is, purely and simply stated, an "off-road vehicle hidden in body of a classic passenger car", as was described by its own creators, the late Vladimir Solovyev and Pyotr Prusov. The Niva features a typical semi-coupe (three-door) hatchback body of its time (conceptually nothing different than body of VW Golf Mk-I, Renault 5, VAZ-2108 Sputnik/Lada Samara or Zastava Yugo/Koral 45 - both externally as well as internally) due to which also features an unibody structure (integrated chassis), but placed on a 4x4 suspension - with springs and shock absorbers featuring hightened ground clearance and with wheels and tires appropriate for such type. Exactly due to this very distinct and specific appearance, the Niva is very often misconcepted as being a "classic/usual off-road vehicle" (especially when compared to modern/21th century cars featuring oblique body with aerodynamic profile, where its classic, "boxy-alike" body even more resembles "pure" off-road vehicle and which only additionally draws to false conclusions to which type of car it actually belongs).

Furthermore, the article itself points-out the fact that Niva was described as "Renault 5 put on a Land Rover chassis", which at the end turns out even more contradictory to the stated comparison with Defender - which has nothing to do with such concept nor design. Niva can be barely even described as being an SUV, since all of the SUVs naturally never feature any kind of (serious) off-road capabilities, in contrast to Niva and all the usual off-road vehicles.

To additionaly clarify the point, the basic off-road vehicles (like Defender, UAZ-469, GAZ-69, Willys MB, Fiat Campagnola, Mercedes G class/Steyr Puch G, and etc.) in official Russian terminology regarding vehicle types are all described as "Внедорожник" ("Vnedorožnik", anglicized as "Vnedorozhnik") and simply meaning; "off-roader", while the Niva is the sole and the only car featuring off-road capabilities which is described as "Автомобили повышенной проходимости" ("Avtomobil povišennoj prohodimosti"/"Avtomobil povishennoy prokhodimosty") which translated as "car with improved capabilities", additionally pointing to the fact that it belongs to unique and very different type of vehicle which is thus, simply uncomparable to classic off-road cars, or in other words - to all other vehicles featuring off-road capabilities.

To simplify, Niva is not an off-road vehicle but it still features the off-road capabilities (it is a literal hybrid of a passenger car and off-road vehicle), which makes it so unique and almost completely uncomparable to Land Rover or any other "ordinary" off-road vehicle. Exactly due to this, it does not have and actually never had any counterparts by class and type - it is actually the sole car of its class and which it represents (a short digression here; this is also the first and the main reason why it is still in production for currently 44 years so far - also making it the third longest-produced car in the entire history of automotive industry), so it simply cannot be directly compared to any other "usual" off-road vehicles, or vice-versa. Its sole feature than can be comparable lies exclusively in its off-road capabilities (which are straight in-line with the ordinary off-road vehicles), but it cannot be compared by class, that is, by type in any means.

Second and arguably even more obvious reason why this comparison is false lies in fact that Defender actually came to production and market six full years after Niva (yet in 1983), which makes comparison of Niva to Defender even more nonsense. So, the Defender can be eventually comapared to Niva in production-length, but not the opposite and not in anything else - beside their off-road capabilities. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.227.2.28 (talk) 13:45, 13 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Lada Niva is an off-road car: 1234. Jirka.h23 (talk) 07:43, 14 October 2021 (UTC)

With full respect sir, It is indeed not, as I have stated above and fulfilled my claims with decent arguments, as I believe. Despite the fact that it feaures serious off-road capabilities, due to its classic hatchback body as well as interiors it still cannot be categorized as an "off-road car/vehicle" by any means, which makes it so specific in appearance. The Defender, UAZ, GAZ, Willys MB, Steyr Puch and so on, are off-road cars.

Also, another thing which I have previously omitted - in contrast to Defender (as well as all other off-road cars), the Niva was literally never officially used nor was ever intended to be used by any military through both Europe and rest of the world, which only additionally ponts to the fact that it is not an off-road vehicle, but simply a civilian passenger car featuring off-road capabilities, what makes it an unique hybrid which is simply not found anywhere else in the entire automotive industry.

But, as You wish, since I am not going to start a debate over this. I just wanted to point out this illogicalitiy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.227.2.28 (talk) 09:40, 14 October 2021 (UTC)
 * With full respect to your opinions, they have no value here, original research is here forbidden. Wikipedia RS. Jirka.h23 (talk) 10:01, 14 October 2021 (UTC)

I am terribly sorry for Your misunderstanding of the point regarding this observation of mine, but the things I have stated here have absolutely noting to do with nobody's "opinions" and less indeed some kind of "original research", but are actually more than obvious and easily checkable facts. I am well aware that Wikipedia does not allow original research, but the stated here really does not and should not fall into category of such in an way, since it contains very easily verifiable content.

Furthermore, I noticed that academic-level discussion is unfortunately not welcomed here when You have not provided any of arguments to support Your contrary claims in the first place.

Ironically, my mistake here was thinking that the fact-supported arguments are welcomed to so-called "Encyclopedic" page. But it appears that I have turned out of just being naive. With kind regards. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.227.2.28 (talk) 10:48, 14 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not. Jirka.h23 (talk) 19:10, 20 October 2021 (UTC)

Suzuki Samurai Inspiration
The article says: "It was the only Soviet car that was ever sold in Japan, starting from the early 1980s, inspiring their Suzuki Samurai".

The source of that information is listed just as "Thompson, p.187". I have not been able to find any additional information that supports this claim. I don't see how a Lada Niva released in 1977 could be the inspiration for a car that was released in 1970. 201.49.154.3 (talk) 21:02, 25 January 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Lada Niva


text:
Samford University

Samford University is a private Baptist university in Homewood, Alabama. It was founded in 1841 as Howard College by Baptists. In the fall of 2023, the university enrolled 5,791 students from 49 states, 1 U.S. territory, and 16 other countries.

19th century
In 1841, Samford University was founded as Howard College in Marion, Alabama. It was named for the eighteenth-century English philanthropist John Howard. Some of the land was donated by Reverend James H. DeVotie, who served on the Samford Board of Trustees for fifteen years and as its president for two years. The first financial gift, $4,000, was given by Julia Tarrant Barron and both she and her son also gave land to establish the college. The university also honors the Reverend Milo P. Jewett and Edwin D. King as founders. The university was established after the Alabama Baptist State Convention decided to build a school for men in Perry County, Alabama. The college's first nine students began studies in January 1842 with a traditional curriculum of language, literature and sciences. In those early years, the graduation addresses of several distinguished speakers were published, including those by Thomas G. Keen of Mobile, Joseph Walters Taylor, Noah K. Davis and Samuel Sterling Sherman. In October 1854, a fire destroyed all of the college's property, including its only building. While the college recovered from the fire, the Civil War began. Howard College was converted to a military hospital by the Confederate government in 1863. During this time, the college's remaining faculty offered basic instruction to soldiers recovering at the hospital. For a short period after the war, federal troops occupied the college and sheltered freed slaves on its campus.

In 1865, the college reopened. Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry, an attorney, former US Congressman and Confederate military officer, served as president from 1865 to 1868. He was committed to the cause of broader education, and supported expansion of normal school training.

In 1887, Howard College's board of trustees accepted an offer of land from the East Lake Land Company owned by Robert Jemison, Sr. and relocated to the newly developing community of East Lake, six miles from the center of Birmingham, Alabama, and moved the institution there. Faculty who remained in Marion formed Marion Military Institute (MMI) on the old campus. MMI continues to operate in Marion.

20th century
In 1913, the college became fully and permanently coeducational. Howard College added its School of Music in 1914 and School of Education and Journalism the following year. The college introduced its Department of Pharmacy in 1927. At the time, it was the only program of its kind in the Southeastern United States. During World War II, Howard College hosted a V-12 Navy College Training Program, allowing enlisted sailors to earn college degrees while receiving military training.

After the war, the number of veterans attending the college under the GI Bill boosted enrollment beyond capacity. The college moved to the Shades Valley in Homewood, Alabama. Construction on the new campus began in 1955. It opened in 1957. In 1961, the college acquired Cumberland School of Law, one of the nation's oldest law schools.

In addition to the law school, Howard College added a new school of business and reorganized to achieve university status in 1965. Since the name "Howard University" was already in use by a school in Washington, D.C., Howard College was renamed as "Samford University" in honor of Frank Park Samford, a longtime trustee of the school. In 1973, the university acquired Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing. Samford University established a study center in 1984 for students to study abroad in Kensington, England. On September 21, 1989, a Samford University professor, William Lee Slagle, fatally stabbed one of his debating team students and escaped. Slagle was finally captured six months later.

In 1994, Samford's board of trustees voted to allow the board to elect its own members. This gave the university formal independence from the Alabama Baptist State Convention, but until 2017 convention leaders retained ex officio seats on the board, were consulted on trustee selection, and the new trustees were presented to the convention for affirmation.

Civil rights
As a private, segregated institution, Samford University was to some degree insulated from the activities of leaders and protesters of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and early 1960s. The officers of the Samford Student Government Association challenged a segregated concert held on campus by the Birmingham Symphony by inviting as guests the student government officers of nearby Miles College, a historically black school.

Segregation by private universities was outlawed by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Initially, the school's leaders declined to express their commitment to desegregation. For example, the university declined to apply for the NDEA Student Loan Program for 1965-66 because it would have to affirm desegregation. Cumberland School of Law faced the greatest immediate risk of losing accreditation. In 1967, it admitted Samford's first black student, Audrey Lattimore Gaston. The entire university proceeded with desegregation. In the fall of 1969 Elizabeth Sloan Ragland became the first African American student to live on campus. On June 1, 2020, the university announced the installation of a memorial honoring "the sacrifices of many African Americans for the mission and vision of Samford University even in days when their efforts were invisible or barely acknowledged." It specifically named Gaston and an enslaved servant named Harry who died while saving students from the 1854 fire. A public dedication of the memorial was held on February 15, 2022.

21st century
Andrew Westmoreland was appointed president of the university in 2006. That year, the Jane Hollock Brock Recital Hall was dedicated as part of the university’s fine arts complex. A new soccer and track facility opened in 2011, part of a decade-long expansion of new athletics facilities that included a tennis center, a basketball arena, a football field house and a softball stadium. For the 2016–17 academic year, the economic and fiscal impacts of the university on Alabama were $424.8 million, 2,424 jobs, $16.1 million in state income and sales taxes, and $6 million in local sales tax. In 2013, the university established a new College of Health Sciences, including the existing Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing and McWhorter School of Pharmacy, and the newly created School of Health Professions and the School of Public Health. The dean of the nursing school, Nena Sanders, was named vice-provost of the new college, and after her retirement in 2020 the nursing school was renamed the Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing. In 2013, the university announced the construction of a new facility to house Brock School of Business. In 2014, the West Village residence complex opened. That December, the university purchased the adjacent headquarters of Southern Progress, a subsidiary of Time, Inc., that houses the College of Health Sciences.

The university ended its long financial connection with the Alabama Baptist State Convention in July 2017 when the trustees announced they would no longer accept funds from the convention. Later that year Samford and the state convention agreed that Samford would no longer present its slate of trustees to the convention for affirmation and that convention officers would no longer have an ex officio position on the board. This ended key aspects of Samford's formal connection to the state convention that had existed for decades. Still, by the trustees’ own rule, all trustees must be members of Baptist churches and 75% from Alabama. Samford is a collaborative partner of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. In August 2020, Westmoreland announced he would retire on June 30, 2021. On March 10, 2021, it was announced that he will be succeeded by Whitworth University president Beck A. Taylor. Taylor took office on July 1, 2021.

In May 2022, the university received a $100 million gift from the estate of alumnus Marvin Mann, making it the largest single-donor gift ever made to a higher education institution in Alabama.

LGBTQ rights
Samford has been involved in several well publicized incidents in which the university rejected LGBTQ+ students' requests to form student organizations or refused to work with Christian groups that were LGBTQ+ affirming. In 2017, President Westmoreland rejected Samford Together, an organization that sought to create a space for students to discuss topics related to sexual orientation and gender identity “in an open-minded and accepting environment,” even though the organization had been approved by both the Student Government Association and the faculty.

Similar actions occurred again in 2022. In late August, Samford administration “uninvited” representatives of Episcopalian and Presbyterian campus ministries from a campus event because these ministries were affirming of LGBTQ+ individuals. In justifying the move, Vice President of Student Affairs Phil Kimrey stated, “Throughout its history, the university has consistently subscribed to and practiced biblically orthodox beliefs," and "the university has a responsibility to formally partner with ministry organizations that share our beliefs.” On-campus protests against the change included a silent vigil outside a university-wide worship service on September 20. On September 30, President Beck Taylor stated more explicitly in a video message that "we decided to limit Samford’s formal ministry partnerships to churches and to organizations that support Samford’s traditional view of human sexuality and marriage." This ended Samford’s nearly thirty-year relationship with Birmingham Episcopal Campus Ministries. In October, Taylor declined university recognition to a chapter of OUTLaw at Samford's Cumberland School of Law. OUTLaw is a national organization supporting LGBTQ+ law students.

As of 2023, an off-campus student group, Samford Prism, had been formed to support LGBTQ+ students. Another group of alumni and other community members, SAFE Samford, also advocated on behalf of students.

Academics
Samford, a Christian university, offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs, with 170 undergraduate majors, minors and concentrations. The university is divided into the School of the Arts, Howard College of Arts and Sciences, Brock School of Business, Beeson Divinity School, Orlean Beeson School of Education, Cumberland School of Law, Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, School of Health Professions, and School of Public Health. The faculty-to-student ratio at Samford University is 1:13. Approximately two-thirds of the university's classes have fewer than 20 students.

Admissions
In 2023, the college accepted 83.3% of applicants, with those admitted having an average 3.8 GPA and an average 1160 SAT score or average 26 ACT score.

Campus
Samford has moved four times during its history. Originally, Howard College was located in Marion, Alabama, a black-belt town between Selma and Tuscaloosa; it was later the birthplace of Coretta Scott King. The college moved twice in the town. Its second campus is now the home of Marion Military Institute. In 1887, the college moved to the East Lake community in Birmingham across the street from Ruhama Baptist Church. The university is now located approximately 5 mi south of downtown Birmingham in Homewood, Alabama's Shades Valley along Lakeshore Drive in Homewood, just 2 mi from Interstate 65. It is built in the Georgian Colonial style based on Colonial Williamsburg as envisioned by Lena Vail Davis, wife of then President Harwell Davis when the campus was moved to the Shades Valley area of Jefferson County in 1953-57. The campus was designed by the Birmingham architectural firm Van Keuren & Davis, and most later buildings have also been designed by the same firm, known as Davis Architects since 1986.

In 1983 the university established a study center in London, England, to facilitate students studying abroad. Named the Daniel House, the center is located at 12 Ashburn Gardens in South Kensington and hosts 15-24 students each semester.

In 2014 the university purchased the campus of the Southern Progress Corporation which borders its main campus to the east. (The land had originally been part of Samford's undeveloped campus and was previously sold by Samford to Southern Progress.) The three huge buildings on the former Southern Progress campus are strikingly modern in their architecture and nestled among trees. This contrasts with the Georgian Colonial classicism of the central campus.

Student demographics
In 2023, Samford University enrolled 3,832 undergraduate and 1,959 graduate and professional students. Students from 49 states and 16 countries attend Samford, with 74 percent of the undergraduate student body coming from outside the state of Alabama. 97 percent of all May 2019 undergraduate alumni were employed or enrolled in graduate school or in internships within six months of graduation. 81 percent of May 2015 graduates completed an internship during their time at Samford. During 2015, Samford students completed 716,902 hours of community service.

Athletics
The university fields 17 varsity sports and participates in the NCAA at the Division I level as a member of the Southern Conference. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, tennis and indoor and outdoor track and field. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field and volleyball.

In the NCAA's 2013 report, Samford student-athletes achieved an average Academic Progress Rate of 990, the highest in Alabama. It marked the eighth consecutive year that Samford has been a leader in APR measures, beginning in 2005 when it placed 7th in the nation in the inaugural ranking. The university is one of only 61 schools to have received an NCAA Public Recognition Award for academic excellence in the past eight years.

In 2019, Samford's athletics teams were ranked first in Alabama and the Southern Conference and 18th in the country among all NCAA Division 1 schools for Graduation Success Rate by the NCAA with an average score of 97%. Nine teams posted perfect scores. Samford is first among Division I schools in Alabama and in the Southern Conference. The Bulldogs have won 74 conference championships since joining the Southern Conference in 2008. In the last 20 years, 28 Samford baseball players have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, and 19 Bulldog football players have been chosen in the National Football League Draft. Past student-athletes include national-championship football coaches Bobby Bowden and Jimbo Fisher All-Pro defensive back Cortland Finnegan, NFL standouts include James Bradberry (Carolina Panthers), Michael Pierce (Baltimore Ravens) and Jaquiski Tartt (San Francisco 49ers), and baseball’s Phillip Ervin, who has had success with the Cincinnati Reds.

Notable alumni
The university has more than 57,000 alumni, including U.S. congressmen, seven state governors, two U.S. Supreme Court justices, four Rhodes Scholars, multiple Emmy and Grammy award-winning artists, two national championship football coaches, and recipients of the Pulitzer and Nobel Peace prizes. Some notable alumni include:

Politics and government

 * Robert Aderholt (1990), United States Congressman from Alabama
 * Michael F. Bolin (1970), associate justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama (2005-2023)
 * Karon O. Bowdre (1977), United States district judge
 * Andrew L. Brasher, United States District Judge (Samford University, Harvard School of Law)
 * Benjamin Franklin Cameron, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
 * Joyce Chandler, former educator and member of Georgia House of Representatives.
 * Charles Crist, former Florida governor, graduated from Cumberland School of Law (1955-1964)
 * Stephen Louis A. Dillard (1992), Chief Judge, Court of Appeals of Georgia
 * Jim Folsom (non-graduate), governor of Alabama from 1947-1951 and 1955-1959
 * Cordell Hull, 47th U.S. secretary of state (1933-1944), Nobel Peace Prize winner (1945)
 * Jody Hunt (1982), United States Assistant Attorney General (2018-2020)
 * Howell Edmunds Jackson, U.S. Supreme Court justice
 * Lem Johns, U.S. Secret Service agent
 * Doug Jones, United States Senator from Alabama (2018-2021)
 * Horace Harmon Lurton, U.S. Supreme Court justice
 * Carter Manasco, Congressman from Alabama (1941-1949)
 * Nina Miglionico (1932), Birmingham City Council, 1963-1985
 * Eric Motley (1996) State Department official
 * Michael Patrick Mulroy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Secretary of Defense James Mattis
 * Edwin L. Nelson, United States federal judge (Samford University, Cumberland School of Law - 1969)
 * Kevin Newsom, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
 * Rusty Paul, 2nd Mayor of Sandy Springs, Georgia
 * Stacey E. Pickering, State Auditor of Mississippi
 * John Russell Tyson (1877), judge of Supreme Court of Alabama and U.S. Representative for the State of Alabama.
 * Janie Shores (1992), judge on the Supreme Court of Alabama, the first woman on that court and considered by Bill Clinton as nominee to the Supreme Court
 * Randall Woodfin, mayor of Birmingham, Alabama (Samford University Cumberland School of Law)

Arts and letters

 * Mary Anderson, actress
 * Zane Birdwell (2003), recording engineer
 * Philip Birnbaum, author and translator of Jewish works
 * John Crist, comedian
 * Karen Fairchild & Kimberly Schlapman of the Country Group Little Big Town
 * Wayne Flynt (1961), historian
 * Elizabeth Futral, opera singer
 * Anne George, mystery author
 * Tony Hale, TV actor
 * Harold E. Martin (1923–2007), newspaper man
 * Gail Patrick, motion picture actress and television producer
 * Susan Patterson, international opera star
 * Jeanne Ellison Shaffer (2007), composer and musician
 * Kristian Stanfill, Christian rock singer-songwriter

Religion

 * Charles Billingsley, singer
 * Cedrick D. Bridgeforth, United Methodist bishop
 * Scott Dawson, evangelist
 * Adam W. Greenway, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (2019-2022)
 * Herschel Hobbs, pastor, Southern Baptist Convention president
 * Derek LS Jones, Anglican Church in North America bishop
 * David Gordon Lyon, Hollis Chair at Harvard Divinity School
 * Andrew Manis, clergyman and civil rights historian
 * Albert Mohler, president, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
 * Harold H. Oliver, Professor of New Testament and Theology, Boston University School of Theology
 * Ed Stetzer, author

Sports

 * James Bradberry, professional football player
 * Bobby Bowden, second all-time winningest coach in Division I college football.
 * Marv Breeding (1952), professional baseball player
 * Phillip Ervin, professional baseball player
 * Cortland Finnegan, professional football player
 * Jennifer Pharr Davis, long-distance hiker and author
 * Jimbo Fisher, college football coach, formerly head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies
 * Sam Goldman, professional football player
 * Devlin Hodges, professional football player
 * Slick Lollar, professional football player
 * Wendell Magee, professional baseball player
 * Michael Pierce, professional football player
 * Travis Peterson, professional soccer player
 * Marc Salyers, professional soccer player
 * Jaquiski Tartt, professional football player
 * Jeremy Towns, professional football player and physician
 * Montrell Washington, professional football player
 * Corey White, professional football player
 * Nick Williams, professional football player

Other

 * Bubba Cathy, businessman, Chick-fil-A
 * Deidre Downs, (2002), Miss America 2005.
 * Amie Beth Dickinson, first runner-up to Heather Whitestone in the 1994 Miss Alabama pageant. When Whitestone was crowned Miss America, Dickinson was elevated to Miss Alabama.
 * Jimmy Rane, (1971) founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Great Southern Wood Preserving
 * Melinda Toole, (2006), Miss Alabama 2006, 4th runnerup to Miss America

title: Samford University


text:
Gilaki and Mazandarani

Gilaki and Mazandarani may refer to:

 * Gilaki people, people native to the northern Iran province of Gilan
 * Gilaki language, a Caspian language spoken in Iran's Gilan, Mazanderan, Qazvin Province
 * Mazanderani people, Iranian people whose homeland is the North of Iran (Tabaristan)
 * Mazanderani language, an Iranian language spoken mainly in Iran's Mazandaran, Tehran and Golestan provinces

title: Gilaki and Mazandarani


text:
Xanadu (Titan)

Xanadu (often called "Xanadu Regio", though this is not its official name) is a highly reflective area on the leading hemisphere of Saturn's moon Titan. Its name comes from an alternate transcription of Shangdu, the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty established by Kublai Khan and made famous by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

The feature was first identified in 1994 by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope at infrared wavelengths, and has recently been imaged in more detail by the Cassini space probe. Xanadu is about the size of Australia. Preliminary observations indicate that Xanadu is a plateau-like region of highly reflective water ice, contrasting somewhat with the darker lower regions. These in turn seem to contrast quite sharply with the very dark maria, which were once believed to be seas of liquid hydrocarbons, but are now thought to be plains.

Images by Cassini during encounters in October and December 2004 reveal complex albedo patterns in the western portion of Xanadu. While scientists are still debating the significance and cause of the albedo patterns, one likely culprit is tectonism. Evidence for this exists in a pattern of criss-crossing dark lineaments near the western side of Xanadu. Scientists are also investigating the boundary between Xanadu and Shangri-La, a dark region to the west. The shape of the boundary suggests that the dark material embays the bright terrain.

Radar images taken by Cassini have revealed dunes, hills, rivers and valleys present on Xanadu. The features are likely carved in water ice by liquid methane or ethane. Water ice behaves similarly to rock at the pressures and temperatures present on Titan's surface.

title: Xanadu (Titan)


text: Talk:Cat breed

title: Talk:Cat breed