Talk:History of Columbia University/GA1

GA Review[edit]

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Reviewer: Racepacket (talk) 10:38, 4 June 2011 (UTC) Thank you for nominating this article. I enjoyed it. Please fix King's College as a disamb. link. and fn.55 has a dead link.[reply]

GA review (see here for criteria)

It is reasonably well written.
a (prose): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):
Please expand lead paragraph to include summary of rest of history. Probably should be two or three paragraphs, perhaps lifted from Columbia University article.

"Although the City of New York had come under the control of the English in 1674,"->"Although the English had taken control of the City of New York from the Dutch in 1674," - set up language issue for next sentence.

"the founding of Boston, Massachusetts, a colony"->"the founding of Massachusetts, a colony" - Havard was in Cambridge, and the colony was not "Boston."

"Colonel Lewis Morris wrote to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,"->"Colonel Lewis Morris wrote to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts in England," - make clear where the Society was based.

"In 1746 an act was passed by the general assembly of New York to raise"->"In 1746, the New York general assembly passed an act to raise" - active voice please

"towards the foundation of a college. [6]"->"towards founding a college.[6]" - no space before footnotes please.

"which settled the problem of the college's first campus"->"which settled the location of the college's first campus" - it was not a "problem" and buildings were still needed to have a campus.

"on May 1, 1784, it passed"->"on May 1, 1784, passed" - pronount antecedent problem; use two verb phrases rather than two independent clauses.

"the schools various professors"->"the schools' various professors" - possessive?

"between the schools faculties."->"between the schools' faculties."

"a new charter was adopted for the college,"->"the New York legislature adopted a new charter for the college," ???

"Trustees of Columbia attempted to block the founding of NYU, issuing pamphlets to dissuade the Legislature " - define NYU abbreviation; was it the legislature or the Regents that chartered NYU ???? NYU website suggests it is the state legislature that chartered NYU as a corporation. But the Regents regulated NYU as an educational institution. The NYU archives catalog show evidence of Columbia's pre-incorporation interference, but the first reference to reporting to the Regents is 1838.

"mainly owing to the cities rapidly increasing population."->"mainly owing to the city's rapidly increasing population."

"Barnard College for women,"->"A separate Barnard College for women," - give a hint that it was separate from the men-only Columbia.

"the first nuclear pile was built to start what became the Manhattan Project.[50]" - this is a bit misleading and needs to be unbundled and rewritten. The source correctly says it was headquartered downtown as the "Manhattan Engineer District." Perhaps, ""the first nuclear pile was built in an early phase of what became the Manhattan Project.[50]"

"is now considered one of the three colleges of Columbia University." - this is very confusing to the reader in terms of "schools" vs. "colleges." Obviously, Columbia has more than three academic units.
Is it factually accurate and verifiable?
A. References to sources:

B. Citation of reliable sources where necessary:
please add footnote for "The main building which housed the College was decayed and unsightly in appearance;" - maybe even add quote marks

C. No original research:
It is broad in its coverage.
a (major aspects): b (focused):
Explain to the reader that the Board under the King's charter was self-perpetuating. So, when the Torries left town, the Board was not able to reconstitute itself after the revolution.

Please explain that although a new board was established for just Columbia in 1787, it is still subject to visitation by the Board of Regents who still control all higher education in New York State. Technically, Columbia is still a part of the "University of the State of New York" (not SUNY) and receives state aid ("Bundy aid") for each student taught. So we have a transition from Columbia being the institution of higher learning of New York State to being one of many that still receive state support and state quality control.

You correctly note that Columbia was the first higher education institution in NY, but you should also explain how long it was before others were chartered. - Try, "Columbia was the only higher education institution in New York State until 1795, when the Regents chartered [[Union College]].<ref>Fortenbaugh, Jr., Samuel B. (1978). In Order to Form a More Perfect Union: An Inquiry into the Origins of a College. Schenectady: Union College Press. ISBN 0912756063. p. 3</ref>"

"a revived Columbia thrived under the auspices of Federalists" - what does this mean? Explain how Columbia was funded at this time. What did the Federalist do to help the University? When did the Anglican Church cut off financial support?

Explain how a Botanical Garden could generate income. Was it developed into housing?

Explain how the student body changed. When were African-americans first admitted? When were women first admitted in the graduate programs and in Columbia College? (If you have paid access, take a look at http://www.jstor.org/pss/3559064)

Explain that the 1968 occupation was notable for its duration rather than size. It also attracted national media attention. (For example, in Fall 1968, I told my poorly-informed High School guidance counselor that I wanted to apply to Cornell, and she said something about the building takeover, confusing it with Columbia. :-) )

Focus, I would drop "The school is popularly referred to as "SEAS" or simply "the engineering school."[56]"

There are many other notable things involving Columbia, for example the Pulitzer Prize and the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library. Should the history of those be incorporated into this article?
It follows the neutral point of view policy.
Fair representation without bias:
It is stable.
No edit wars, etc.:
No edit wars.
It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.
a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):
File:Young alexander hamilton.jpg - I believe this has the wrong copyright tag.

No post-WW II photos. Not even of the 1960s demonstrations of which there are many.
Overall:
Pass/Fail:
I am placing the article on hold so that you may address the above noted concerns. Racepacket (talk) 16:36, 4 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Again, many thanks to Nowhereman86 for nominating the article. However, we have discussed the amount of work entailed by the review, which exceeds the amount of time the nominator has available. So we are closing the review to leave Nowhereman86 to work on these items at his own pace. Racepacket (talk) 11:57, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]