What does “Ibid” mean when used in citation?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Ibid. is the abbreviation for the Latin word ibidem, “in the same place.” In some styles for bibliographies, footnotes, or in-text citations, it’s used to refer to the same source as the immediately preceding citation, so the writer doesn’t need to repeat the same information all over again.
What is the difference between payroll and income tax? Is payroll merely the weekly form of income tax or is it different since it raises money specifically for social security and medicare/medicaid.
Is the govt trying to screw over the poor by making us pay more in payroll taxes that are more regressive than income taxes?? I hate how they only have a sales tax for goods, which the poor (and everyone) need, and not for services, of which the rich buy a larger share proportionally.
Thanks!
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Technically, a payroll tax is a tax paid by the employer based on its payroll. An example would be the employer portion of U.S. Social Security (Old Age and Survivor’s Insurance or OASI) or unemployment insurance (FUTA, for Federal Unemployment Tax Act). There may be all sorts of variations, such as limits on the level of wages on which the Social Security tax is applied. Colloquially, I’ve heard the term used for the entire Social Security program, including the employee portion, as you suggest. The income tax comes from the employee based on their income and, from a theoretical or policy (but perhaps not from a psychological) standpoint, is considered distinct. The money isn’t earmarked the same way as OASI or FUTA money. You can read about these topics in standard textbooks or dictionaries of economic or public policy terminology.
The topics of tax policy and tax incidence (e.g., who ultimately pays for the employer portion of OASI, or corporate income taxes, or property taxes — is it “passed on”?) has been studied extensively in academic literature (but probably not so much by politicians!). You’re correct that Social Security and sales taxes are generally considered more regressive than some other taxes, although ultimate incidence can be debated and you also have to consider the recipients of expenditures funded by a tax (which might make it less or even more regressive). I invite you to search our library’s catalog or databases that index articles or ask at our Reference Dept.
Do dogs get bored? Do dogs sweat? Why do they smell bad, even if freshly-washed? Maybe not bad, but like dog.
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Oh yeah, they get bored. Anything that’s cooped up will suffer boredom, maybe even crickets. Although dogs don’t sweat, their boredom makes them emit putrid oils into their coat. Lack of boredom is why wild dogs don’t have this odor problem. (Still, AP thinks you’ll notice an improvement in the smell if wash your dog a little better, and rinse well, too.)
AP, do they have email access in Japan? I have tried contacting my friend in Japan, but he does not email back.
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: The last that AP heard, they still had email access in Japan. Have you tried writing your friend in Japanese?
Does McDonalds put potatos in their Apple Pie?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Not according to the listing of ingredients at their website, unless some of those Greek words mean “potato.” The starch product in the delectable crust is based on wheat and the thickener in the apple filling is corn starch. “Apples, corn syrup, sugar, water, modified corn starch, sorbitol, dextrose, brown sugar, sodium alginate, spices, citric acid, salt, dicalcium phosphate. Pastry consisting of: Enriched bleached wheat flour (niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), vegetable shortening (partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil), water, sugar, less than 2% of salt, yeast, l-cysteine (dough conditioner), lecithin. Topping: sugar, spice, partially hydrogenated soybean oil.” The real question is whether the french fries contain potatoes (warning: they’re not for vegetarians).
Answer Person, since the Japanese teams seem to be consistently beating the Americans in the Olympics (men’s gymnastics, swimming, judo, table tennis, etc.), have any Duke sports teams ever played games in Japan? Also, who is the better Japanese player in America, Ichiro or Matsui?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Yes, AP knows of at least one event in Japan. On December 1, 1991 the Duke football team played Clemson in the Coca-Cola Bowl in Tokyo. The Coca-Cola Bowl was really just a regular season game, often two teams in the same conference, held in Tokyo each year. See http://goblue.jp/football/ncaainjapan.htm . There may have been other Duke sports events in Japan, perhaps many others. This doesn’t seem to have been compiled in any one place, but you’re welcome to visit the University Archives on the 3rd floor of Perkins Library and tediously look through the records of all the sports programs over the years. Regarding baseball players, AP prefers to stay out of arguments about which sports stars are tops, and maybe it’s best to wait a few years and look back in hindsight. Matsui is a more gentlemanly guy (isn’t he?), which counts for something in my book regardless of his relative playing ability.
Why does my friend Jonas become irrationally angry when he doesn’t eat?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: All psychological problems have to do with one’s attachment or lack thereof to one’s mother. Jonas’s mother no doubt used to punish him by withholding his dessert. This has scarred him for life, resulting in anger anytime he’s hungry and lacks food.
How much do taxpayers pay per year to keep someone serving a life sentance in prison?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2001 the average cost of a prisoner in a state prison system was $22,650/year and in the federal prison system $22,632/year (see pages 2 and 3 of Acrobat version of State Prison Expenditures, 2001 at at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/spe01.htm ). This report doesn’t distinguish between those prisoners serving life sentences and those spending less time, and I suppose they’d differ if there are variations in security levels between these groups. There is a large variation among states, which is discussed in the report. A story in the Christian Science Monitor at http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0512/p02s02-usju.html in May 2004 says that the average “lifer” now serves 29 years in prison.
How does the pressure of scuba diving compare to that of flying in an airplane?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: If this is a medical question, I suggest you get advice from a medical practitioner because AP isn’t one. I’ve heard that you should leave enough acclimation time between a Scuba dive and an airplane flight so you won’t experience too big a difference between the high pressure of a dive and the lower pressure (even in pressurized cabins) of a flight. The pressures in the atmosphere are about cut in half for every 18,000 feet in altitude. The pressure in the ocean increases by one atmosphere (that is, doubles) for about every 10 meters in depth. Lots of web sites go into the physics of this. I guess that’s why you can’t Scuba dive a mile deep but there are a whole lot of people living in Denver or Mexico City or La Paz.
AP, just how sexy is the Blue Devil? Present company excluded (you and I are both 11’s on a 1-10 scale), would you say the Blue Devil is the sexiest Dukie?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: I don’t want to be an arbiter of taste, so although I’ll say up front that I’ve never been physically attracted to people with superhero outfits and giant sized caricature heads, brandishing tridents, I’ll accept the fact that some fetishists find this really sexy. Or maybe it’s the goatee that drives ’em wild. I’ve got to admit that I like the fact that the Blue Devil always has that big smile. And so athletic, too! While these traits definitely make the BD more attractive than some of those Cameron Crazies with the paint on their not-so-athletic torsos, I’m afraid I’ll still have to avoid calling the BD the sexiest Dukie. You and I still don’t have any close competition. (Check out some of the Blue Devil’s ancestors at the University Archives website: http://www.lib.duke.edu/archives/exhibits/BlueDevil/blue_devil-exhibit.html )