Talk:Vrije Universiteit Brussel

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Higher education

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Unreliable source[edit]

Does anyone have an idea why ref. 15 was marked as an "unreliable source"? It is an official publication of the university, so they probably know themselves what their basic principles are... PhiRho (talk) 03:58, 25 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Translation[edit]

The policy of publication at the 'Vrije Universiteit Brussel' is that the name of the university should never be translated. Certainly not in French, because that would refer to the ULB. But also the English translation of 'Free University of Brussels' is disliked by the university's administration. The original name is preferred in all publications, in any language. -- Wouter Lievens

Why is it "disliked"? Just because of the confusion? I think most European universities' official English names are the native names -- and I think it's usually not because of there's another university by the same English name. --Menchi 11:01, 3 Dec 2003 (UTC)

It is the policy of the university itself! I think organisations have the right to choose their own names, and have the right to restrict their translations. -- Wouter Lievens

No need to get so defensive. I was not saying I don't support VUB's decision. Before I even asked you my question above, I had already changed the sentence re: "Free University of Brussels", didn't I? I was curious to see if you know why European universities in general don't translate. --Menchi 04:44, 4 Dec 2003 (UTC)

May be they think that the "Free" is ambiguous, studies at VUB isn't free actually... -- TheSpecialist Dec 4, 2003; 8:21 (UTC)

I wasn't being offensive, Menchi. Sorry if it seemed like that. The word 'free' is a bad translation because 'free' is associated with 'free of charge', i.e. you needn't pay. That's definately not the case for the VUB! The word 'vrije' is better described in French perhaps, as 'Libre'. On the other hand, Liberal University is an even worse translation (as Liberal has at several possible political meanings across the world). So, with there being no good translation at all, they choose not to translate it. Makes sense to me :-) -- Wouter Lievens

It makes perfect sense. If I said I study at the Free University of Brussels, where do I study? At the VUB or the ULB? Both names translate to Free University of Brussels, and if both universities would use the name Free University of Brussels it would become very confusing very quickly. Leprecon (talk) 22:52, 23 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This quote may explain what is meant by the word 'Free' in the translation. "Free speech, not free beer."

Scientia vincere tenebras[edit]

This motto was translated correctly, then changed to "Science will triumph over darkness" which is blatantly incorrect!

Scientia in this motto is an ablative, and not the subject of the phrase. The motto should thus be translated as:

"Conquering the darkness through science" -- User:LHOON

Given that the Latin motto of the VUB and the ULB are the same, wouldn't it be best to include the same English translations on their pages? At the moment it is translated as "Conquering darkness with knowledge" on ULB, and "Conquering darkness by science" here. Perhaps some Latin-speaking Wikipedians can form a consensus? N3hima (talk) 14:37, 29 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Public or private?[edit]

What exactly is the VUB's statute? It gets most of its funding from state sources but it was not founded by the state, so should we classify it as a public or as a private school?

Random Nonsense 22:55, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

In Belgium every university recieves funding from state sources, so maybe the person who wrote the article thought of it being irrelevant. Mykeyspace 22:35, 18 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Well it isn't that easy. There are 2 major school-"systems" in Belgium; Catholic and Free education (again not as in free beer). Both get funded by the state but not equally. Free education is mostly state funded, Catholic schools are mostly funded by the diocese, which gets funded for offering education by the state ... and so on. I am no expert and i'm not posting an entry about this, but this has to be added. MrHefnner (talk) 22:11, 17 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

True, but that's only primary and secondary education, no? As far as I know, all universities get funded by the state at the same rate, regardless of their religious/ethical orientation. Random Nonsense (talk) 23:29, 17 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The VUB is a private institution, as opposed to for example the University of Ghent which is state-owned. 81.83.106.115 (talk) 17:40, 29 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Alumni - politicians[edit]

In the articles about K.U.Leuven and UGent, politicians have been omitted in the list of "famous alumni" because the lists would become too long. I suggest that we also skip them in the VUB article. MaartenVidal 21:39, 20 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I see no real need for that. It's not like the "alumni" list is all that big, and to arbitrarily delete this section seems a bit biased against politicians. :p

Random Nonsense 14:53, 26 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I wouldn't omit politicians. First of all because i see no reason for omitting certain people based on their profession. Besides, putting politicians on an alumni list might give a good impression of the ideology of a university, so it might not be entirely irrelevant. Second of all it would go against the spirit of the VUB, they list the politicians explicitly on their alumni list and on panels at events on campus. I guess they are rather proud of it. I can't really blame the University of Antwerp for not wanting to have e.g. Filip Dewinter on their alumni list. And thirdly, since quite a few politicians seem to have gone to the VUB, it would be quite unfair if they couldn't list them. It's part of the heritage of the VUB. Mykeyspace 22:54, 18 January 2007 (UTC)mykeyspace[reply]