Do hovercraft actually exist? Where and for what are they in use? Also, what is a hydrofoil, and why, if it is not a hovercraft, does it have such a cool name?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Hovercraft and hydrofoils are, strictly speaking, both terms for craft that are supported over water (and ground). They are supported by a cushion of air, usually using propeller or jet engines to provide horizontal motion. They exist all over the world, and are used for fast, relatively smooth transportation over smaller bodies of water (channels, such as the English Channel, river crossings, etc.). See, for example, the Hovercraft Museum Trust inventory (http://www.hovercraft-museum.org/inventory.html).

Related types of vehicles are air-cushioned trains, helicopters(!) and VTOLs (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) planes such as the British Harrier jet–they can all hover.

I was taught that gentleman always shoot scissors first in Rock, Paper, Scissors. My friends think this is ridiculous (and some go rock every time to punish me). Is this an actual rule?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Now isn’t that the silliest thing you have ever heard! Maybe the home team at a football game should spot the visitors a touchdown, or in baseball a home run, or in basketball a three-pointer. This is a cutthroat sport, with three deadly weapons: a sharp cutting tool, and heavy blunt instrument, and a legal document capable of tying at least one of them into futile litigation. So when your friends meet you again on the field of battle, pull out that restraining order!

Why don’t people vote in elections even if they have in other years? Is it their income/financial stability or things like education, health care status that makes people decide to vote in a certain election? Or is it the weather?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: You hit the nail on the head with the topic of your question. When people are apathetic, it takes special efforts to make them do something for others, the masses, sometimes even themselves.
Excuses, well, there are always plenty of those.

why did the Spanish conquer Central America from the west coast and not the east?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: It was easier to recruit soldiers, especially when they knew they would get R&R in Acapulco. (Cancun was too crowded with college kids.) In fact, the issue was more north-south than east-west, as the Spanish entered Central America from both Mexico and Panama. That far down you had fewer severe storms on the west coast. It also depends with where you want to start your conquest timeline; perhaps with Columbus first arriving in in Central America in Honduras–from the east.

Who are the six men on either side of the main entrance to the chapel? If one of them is indeed Gen. Robert Lee, isn’t that a bit sacreligious?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: One of the men is indeed the South’s most revered general, who, while not a religious figure as such, brought a host of other admirable qualities and accomplishments to the table. On his side of the entranceway are two other honored southerners, poet Sydney Lanier and Thomas Jefferson. The gentlemen on the left are Dominican friar Girolamo Savanorola, John Wycliffe and Martin Luther. Up above them you may have missed the seventh figure, John Wesley. The placement at the entrance, and outside the church internal, by the way, does not imply religious reverence, but respect and honor.

the library gets the journal water resources research, but does not have online access, even though it is available, the library should have this access for the convenience of students, especially since wrr is kept at biosci, which is locked most of the time for those of us who are not biology students, but use wrr all the time.

jessica thompson
earth & ocean sciences
jln@duke.edu

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Dear Jessica:

Believe it or not, the problem is with the publisher. Here is the response we got from them:

“Currently, AGU offers online access to individual member subscribers only for selected journals. As our electronic journals programs expand, we will be offering institutional access. Your institutional and will be notified as new subscription options become available.”

We will make online access available as soon as it is an option, institutionally. In the meantime, enjoy the personal subscription.

Nowadays, nobody seems care about the notice of
“Food and drink are not permitted in the Perkins library” at the entrance of the library.
Get rid of the notice or keep the rule.

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Answer Person has sent your comments to higher powers for an authoritative reply. More later.

Please consider the website “1stHeadlines” for inclusion in your web site’s list of news links.

1stHeadlines
http://www.1stheadlines.com
—
1stHeadlines is a search engine for current news which makes it easy to search the headlines and access news stories from regional, national and international online news sources. The headlines, which are updated continuously 24 hours a day, can be searched by keyword, topic and news source.

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: News flash! The ever vigilant Answer Person, up to date and up to the moment, takes only nine days to respond to this urgent suggestion! Let’s just see the Hearst News Service match this record!

I’ll immediately wire this to the guru of the Virtual Reference Desk.

Many belated thanx, and happy holidays!

I spent all day in the library combing through the past 10 years worth of local phone books — including the Duke University Phone book! There is not a single listing for a Dr./Ms./Mr. Answer Person . Dr. Person, I contend you are a fraud! Reveal yourself or I shall be forced to ask tougher questions.

Signed,
Mr. Anon Ymous, Esq.

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: A fraud, you say! Have I ever pretended to be something other than what I am, a lonely fighter against the armies of ignorance, a savior to those struggling to find the . . . answer? Do you really need to know my address and phone number, when you already know how to reach me.

As with all super heroes, maintaining my physical anonymity, and an alternate “real world” identity, is vital to completing my mission. So I don’t put my picture or my mortal name on the web page or by the suggestion book, I don’t have a listing in phone books.

So accept my mystery for what it is, as I accept the fact that I can’t be recognized in my own time. Someday I may reveal myself: when the answers are all known, the suggestions all implemented, all those bizzare social problems have been solved, and there is adequate lighting in all the Duke libraries.

Is pretty good. Its a time when everyone comes together and studies for a common good. You see classmates helping each other and working really hard during the scant time before their exams. It’s really refreshing to actually get *time* to study for stuff instead of doing a half-ass job during the semester when everyone is so busy. School should always be like this.

And that 24 hour thing is cool.

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: It could be that this is one of the ideas behind exams–an opportunity to put it together in many respects. Glad to hear it is working well for you, and that we could be a part of the process.

Good luck on finals, and happy holidays!

–The Joyous Answer Person