Disputatio:Georgius Beverly Shea

message: I wouldn't, myself. Shea didn't complete his studies at either of the first two colleges (I think). He didn't attend the third one at all (I think) and I don't see honorary degrees as worthwhile category fodder. My way of thinking may be approximately shared on en:wiki, since the article there doesn't apply any alumni categories. I'd suggest Shea's notability lies elsewhere than as a university alumnus. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 12:30, 18 Aprilis 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: An alumnus is "one who has attended or graduated from a particular school, college, or university" (Merriam-Webster, emphasis added). Harvard University, whose influence has some weight in the world, counts among its alumni anybody who has matriculated in the college or one of its graduate schools, and anybody to whom it has granted an honorary degree. For example, in Harvard Alumni Directory 1986 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: President and Fellows of Harvard College), on page 425 you'll find the record of
replies: text: :GATES, William H, 3509 43rd Ave, Seattle, WA 98105 Cu C 77 (73-77) IS

text: These annotations mean he resided in Currier House (Cu) while enrolled in the college (C) as of the class of 1977 during the period 1973–1977 and at the time of publication was occupying himself in the field of information systems (IS)—but since no degree is indicated (in place of "C 77 (73-77)" it would read merely "AB 77"), the university is stating that he did not graduate. On page 927 in the same publication, you'll find the academic record of
replies: text: :Pahlavi, Mohammad R, d July 27, 1980, LLD 68 (hon)

text: It doesn't take much cogitation to figure out that this was the Shah of Iran, who never "attended" at all. IacobusAmor (disputatio) 13:22, 18 Aprilis 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: :I'm just giving a tentatively phrased opinion. All encyclopedia-writing is a question of judging what's notable and what isn't, and, while making such nice judgments, we add in another factor: how we best use our limited time on this earth :) Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 13:29, 18 Aprilis 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: ::The English wikipedia's article on Harvard University includes Bill Gates among the people listed under the heading Alumni, even though, as documented above, he dropped out before earning his A.B. degree. IacobusAmor (disputatio) 13:32, 18 Aprilis 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: :::How is that relevant? Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 13:34, 18 Aprilis 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: ::::It shows that he can fairly be regarded as an alumnus, even though he never got his degree—just like Shea and the colleges out of which he dropped. ;) IacobusAmor (disputatio) 13:37, 18 Aprilis 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: :::::So it's not relevant. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 13:38, 18 Aprilis 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: ::::::The opposite conclusion is correct. IacobusAmor (disputatio) 13:41, 18 Aprilis 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: :::::::Sorry, I wasn't being helpful. I mean, it's not relevant because the issue I raised is the use of categories, not the definition of "alumnus". What's relevant, possibly, is that Bill Gates, though his Harvard history is discussed in his English biography, is not categorized there under Harvard alumni. It makes me think that en:wiki rules-of-thumb are similar to what I'm suggesting. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 14:08, 18 Aprilis 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: ::::::::Wikipedia categorizes Bill Gates among "Harvard University people"—a grouping that seems to have been devised to distinguish non-degree-holding Harvard alumni (and others) from degree-holding Harvard alumni. To follow that plan, each of Vicipaedia's categories having the form "Alumni Universitatis X" would want to become a subcategory of a category having a form something like "Homines Universitatis X." IacobusAmor (disputatio) 14:22, 18 Aprilis 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: :::::::::In our few similar cases, I've used the university category unsubdivided. But I still think the time spent organizing any of that for Shea could be better spent otherwise. That's my last comment in this thread, fun though it's been, Iacobe :) Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 14:34, 18 Aprilis 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Alumni categories 

message: I took out this category and its explanation:
* Categoria:Actores Civitatum Foederatarum
because this is a Latin encyclopaedia. If we want to categorize him as an actor (or as anything at all), we make the statement in the article, in Latin. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 18:57, 29 Maii 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Seemed simpler, on reflexion, to add the word "histrio" to the text, so I've done that now :) Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 20:07, 29 Maii 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Not thus