Talk:James E. Boyd (scientist)

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Featured articleJames E. Boyd (scientist) is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.
Main Page trophyThis article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on July 18, 2011.
Did You Know Article milestones
DateProcessResult
April 15, 2010Good article nomineeListed
March 8, 2011Featured article candidateNot promoted
June 12, 2011Featured article candidatePromoted
Did You Know A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "Did you know?" column on April 9, 2010.
The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that James E. Boyd started nuclear research at the Georgia Institute of Technology while leading the Georgia Tech Research Institute?
Current status: Featured article

Georgia Tech section[edit]

I do not know if it is appropriate for me to comment on Good Article review, but I think there are some issues with the Georgia Tech section that should be addressed. The article mentions two problems that Boyd faced, but then fails to make clear what Boyd's involvement was in the resolution of those problems. The paragraph about Bud Carson does not mention Boyd at all (and also has a "see also" sentence at the end that should probably be integrated in the sentence somewhere), and there is no explanation of the Georgia Tech Research Institute takeover. James McBride (talk) 03:45, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Good points. I'll have a look at that. —Disavian (talk/contribs) 03:56, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
How's that looking? —Disavian (talk/contribs) 05:29, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
That looks really great. The length may be giving it undue weight, but it is an interesting story, and the background seems necessary to explain Boyd's role. James McBride (talk) 05:47, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I agree that in retrospect it is quite long, but I felt that the context was important to understand the story, and the citations are definitely there. It needs some pictures to liven that up, but I only know of the one in the infobox. Hmm. —Disavian (talk/contribs) 06:14, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I've beefed up the lead to compensate a bit. Sadly, I'm more or less using every fact I can find on him. It's a miracle the article is this long. I'm sure there are other sources out there, though. —Disavian (talk/contribs) 06:50, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Just a note in passing - GA is generally a one person process, but that's only to keep the workload down. More critical eyes and opinions are always good! Modest Genius talk 22:09, 12 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

West Georgia College president[edit]

The West Georgia College president section discusses the number of 'degrees' and 'programs' that Boyd introduced, but does not explain the distinction between them. I've been unable to find a useful link to explain the difference between the two, which I don't think anyone outside the US university system will know. Could someone add an explanatory note? Modest Genius talk 20:45, 17 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

'Programs' include degree programs and non-degree programs. A program can exist without there being a corresponding degree at the end. For example, at Georgia Tech, there is a music program - but until very recently there was not a corresponding music degree. Does that help? —Disavian (talk/contribs) 22:11, 17 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Not massively... Do you mean it's possible to take courses on music, but they don't count for anything? In which case, what's the point? Modest Genius talk 22:17, 17 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
They're considered electives and in some cases you can get a minor or a certificate in them, which isn't considered a degree, but more of a designation. At Georgia Tech, (again, for example) everyone has to take English I and English II but you can't get a degree in English there. —Disavian (talk/contribs) 23:22, 17 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, so it's part of the major/minor system? No wonder it didn't make sense to me (or, presumably, anyone else from Europe). So by saying e.g. '15 degrees and 45 programs' you mean that there are courses in 45 different subjects, but only 15 of those subjects are possible majors? Modest Genius talk 23:57, 17 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Sourcing[edit]

Anybody who can explain how this article, heavily dependent on information provided by the very institute this guy ran and containing virtually no biographical third party references, can be a "good article" and be worthy of featured article gets a gold star. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.95.213.142 (talk) 12:01, 18 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

That was brought up during the FAC nomination, where the reviewers concluded that the sourcing was reliable. Of course, others may disagree. Modest Genius talk 15:05, 18 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

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