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Risker

Voice your opinion (talk page) (25/7/2); Scheduled to end 22:05, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Risker (talk · contribs) - There has been a lot of discussion lately about how qualified candidates are afraid to run for RfA. Last month we witnessed the fewest number of new admins in over three years. When I saw SandyGeorgia's vote on PeterSymonds' RfA it reminded me of how much I respect her opinion. So I asked her if she knew anybody who might be interested in running for adminship that might be missing the "RfA regular's" radars. She suggested Risker. All you need to know about Risker you can find out from her user page.

Risker has been actively editing since September 2006 and has amassed over 6000 edits. She is a copy editor at heart and her talk page is full of requests from various people.

She has also given insightful information on WT:RFA dealing with Checkuser and in several arbcom cases. A quick perusal of her edits will reveal somebody who is thoughtful and committed. For example, The "incivil" term is one that is used regularly as a weapon to silence critics and create strawman arguments. Or Now, both of those issues were eventually resolved with sound editorial judgment coming to the fore; but both of these issues resulted in a phenomenal amount of sturm und drang all over the place. And both of these users are respected editors who have demonstrated good editorial judgment in the past; they are simply interpreting the same words in a different way than other respected editors with good editorial judgment. I encourage anybody who has questions about her judgement or policy knowledge to read any of these edits to important discussions!

Again, she is not your typical RfA candidate. But part of the problem with the RfA process is, IMHO, that we've come to demand a certain model for admin. This chases away qualified individuals who don't fit our preconceived notions. The question really boils down to, do I trust her with the tools? In that regard, I firmly believe that she will be a net positive! It doesn't take long to realize that she will be an asset as an admin. Balloonman (talk) 07:04, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

If I may, I would like to co-nominate Risker, having offered to do so the other day. I'll try not to say too much that hasn't been said by Balloonman, I simply wish to add my endorsement that what this project desperately needs is a good overhaul of admins actively involved in, and interested in, the content creation/review processes. Risker's editing philosophy on her userpage summarises perfectly what I would dearly like to see more of in administrators; "Our readers do not care one whit who adds information to articles; they care only that the information is correct." (I know I just violated MOS:ITALICS, don't bite me please! :)). Rather than endless reversion, endless deletion, and endless blocking, I foresee Risker using the administrative tools to help better the projects, in tricky situations where a cool head, calm commentary, and cool buttons, are highly useful. (As is alliteration!) It is for this reason I nominate Risker for adminship. dihydrogen monoxide (H₂O) 08:20, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Candidate, please indicate acceptance of the nomination here: Thank you. I accept. Risker (talk) 21:37, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

Dear candidate, thank you for offering to serve Misplaced Pages as an administrator. It is recommended that you answer these optional questions to provide guidance for participants:

1. What admin work do you intend to take part in?

A: I plan to start slowly and build confidence in the use of the various tools, in keeping with there being no deadline. I see that WP:PROD always has a backlog, and because few proposed deletions involve copyvio or BLP issues, there's greater opportunity for reflective decision-making; that's where I'd probably start when it comes to deletions. I've made up a page here so people can see my thinking process when it comes to PROD. I see myself userfying deleted content where appropriate and requested; assisting editors in page moves; and pitching in to help address the page move vandalism we've recently seen. I'd also be looking at WP:RFPP and other more content-oriented admin areas. On the other hand, I don't plan to do anything significant with images; nor do I see myself doing a lot of blocking, except for obvious vandalism. Recently, I did some work developing evidence for an RfAR; I would like to collect similar factual data for future cases to assist the arbitrators in making informed decisions, and the ability to look at deleted versions will be very helpful.

2. What are your best contributions to Misplaced Pages, and why?

A: From the perspective of the encyclopedia itself, I think the articles I've collaborated on are my finest legacy (for example, Jacques Plante, Hockey Hall of Fame, James Blunt, Bezhin Meadow); they have an impact beyond our community itself. Within the community, I'd like to think that my comments on various policy talk pages and other community forums (various arbitration cases, WP:ANI, and so on) have encouraged people to look beyond the specific situation involved to see the broader impact of a particular action or proposal.

3. Have you been in any conflicts over editing in the past or have other users caused you stress? How have you dealt with it and how will you deal with it in the future?

A: This is a difficult question for me to answer; I can think of very few on-wiki situations I've considered to be "conflicts", but perhaps I simply have a high tolerance compared to others. From the editing side, the most intense discussions were on the Essjay controversy article over a year ago; as some may recall, there was quite a challenge in keeping the article focused, and several side skirmishes broke out along the way. My main thrust was to try to keep the discussions focused on the content of the article and how various WP content policies applied to that content. Outside of the article sphere, I've found myself in some fairly intense policy and community discussions; again, I've tried to keep things focused on "content, not contributor" as best it can be applied in project space, and to focus on "big picture" issues or, alternately, to illustrate the policy issues and questions behind a specific incident. I'm well aware that my opinions aren't the only valid ones, and I have a lot of respect for those of other people. On the rare occasion where I have gained the impression there is a conflict between myself and another editor, and where I find that there is unlikely to be a point where we can agree, my tendency is to withdraw; if my point is valid, others are likely to pick it up, and if I am off-base, then it's time for me to stop talking.

Optional questions from jc37

In order to illustrate that you have at least a passing knowledge/understanding of the tools and responsibilities that go along with adminship, please answer the following questions:

• 4. Would you describe/summarise why and when it would be appropriate for:
• 4a. ...an editor to be blocked?

• A: The most common reason for blocking is vandalism; of course, that generally applies to new accounts and IP addresses, as editors with experience very rarely vandalise, unless the account is compromised. Other content-related reasons for blocking include persistent insertion of copyrighted materials or information contrary to WP:BLP, spamming, or edit/revert-warring. Less commonly, blocks are warranted for behaviours such as making legal threats, persistently harassing another user, or other serious conduct issues. As noted above, I think the block button is one I'll be extremely careful with, at least until I have a greater comfort level with admin functions.

• 4b. ...a page to be protected?

• A: The most common reason for protecting a page is because there is an ongoing edit war, often involving several editors; unless there is a serious BLP or copyright violation, it's best to simply protect the page in whatever version it's in at the time of protection. Rarely, the user talk page of a blocked user can be protected, if the blocked user is posting inappropriately. Pages can also be move-protected (such as WP:ANI and articles scheduled to be WP:TFA); or semi-protected, as many articles are when there are increased levels of IP vandalism. A few deleted (or never created) articles are creation-protected—I believe that's what's often referred to as "salted"—to prevent their (re-)creation.

• 4c. ...a page to be speedily deleted?

• A: Some speedy deletion reasons are very clearcut (e.g., userpages at author request, talk pages of already deleted pages, and attack pages). More nuanced are the criteria that include recreations of deleted material (careful checks between the new content and the deleted content are important, as it may simply be a new editor starting from scratch); A3 (no content), which might be an editor just starting an article and getting tagged before having a chance to add much content (perhaps waiting a short while would be a good choice, or even asking on the article's or author's talk page); and A7, which is probably the trickiest of them all, and requires an admin with a deft touch to determine whether the subject is notable enough (even without a direct assertion of notability) to keep, but the article is simply very poorly written. An example of the latter is here, an article I stumbled on when doing new page patrol. Before I could even reformat it, I got edit conflicted by another editor adding an "under construction" tag, and a third editor adding a CSD:A7 tag. I quickly added a {{hangon}} tag. Luckily, the admin reviewing the CSD request recognised that several of us had by now started cleaning the article up and looking for references, so instead he sent it to AfD, where it was promptly kept because the subject was notable. Yes, the article still needs work (it's one on my to-do list), but it's readable and doesn't contain any BLP violations or terribly excessive hyperbole now.

• 5. How does one determine consensus? And how may it be determined differently on a talk page discussion, an WP:XFD discussion, a WP:DRV discussion, and an WP:RM discussion.

• A: The first step in determining consensus is to make an edit, and then see if anyone disagrees with it, either by reverting it, modifying it, or taking it to the talk page. An unchanged or undiscussed edit to an article could be considered presumed consensus, in that nobody appears to disagree with it, and likely the majority of edits made fall into this category. The second level would be if Editor A makes an edit, then Editor B modifies it, and after the modification everyone seems satisfied. An example of this is seen here, where User:Shoemaker's Holiday proposed a change, I modified it (with a summary indicating I'd be willing to discuss it on talk), and we both seemed fine with the modified version; nobody else reverted it either, so I guess that is now part of our WP:NPA policy. Talk page discussions can often lead to consensus, although sometimes it takes quite a while to get there. I've been watching the talk page of Rosalind Picard for the last few days, having bowed out of the discussion there fairly early on; after some rather heated exchanges, it appears that the rather large group of editors participating in that discussion are slowly coming to a consensus on the key area of contention. Sometimes an uninvolved party can be asked to give an opinion when there is a deadlock, as in WP:3O, or an RfC may be helpful to get different perspectives.

With XfDs, consensus is often dependent upon the strength of rationale of the various positions; it's not to be considered a straight-up vote. Policy-based positions should be weighed against each other; if there is no clear consensus one way or the other, then the default position is to keep. DRVs are intended to be reviews of the deletion process undertaken with a particular article, and include an option to undelete any article deleted improperly; especial care needs to be taken in weighing the arguments to ensure they relate to the original deletion process and aren't just a re-run of the XfD, and I like to see administrators with lots of experience closing these decisions.

Page move consensus isn't nearly as big a deal, and there's no expectation of minimum participation; the presumption is to move, unless there are objections to the proposal.

• 6. User:JohnQ leaves you a message on your talk page that User:JohnDoe and User:JaneRoe have been reverting an article back and forth, each to their own preferred version. What steps would you take?

• A: This is often a grey area, because it is where the editor intersects with the administrator. My actions would be determined by several factors: a) whether or not I have edited the article or participated in discussions about it in the past, b) the nature of the dispute, c) whether or not I have an established editing relationship with any of the involved parties and d) whether or not other admins have been working on resolving the dispute. First off, if it is an article I've invested time in, I will deal with the dispute strictly as an interested editor and would not use administrative tools; I feel quite strongly about perceived conflicts of interest, and would ask non-involved administrators to step in if admin actions might be appropriate. That would extend even to management of any apparent BLP violations. Secondly, I'd determine the nature of the dispute. Is it a slow edit war extending over days or weeks? If so, I'd ask all parties to come to the talk page and try to hammer things out, involving our various dispute resolution mechanisms as required. If it's a BLP issue, I'd remove the contentious material and discuss it on the talk page, explaining why it needs to be out and working with the other editors to see if there are reliable sources and a good reason for its inclusion before agreeing to its reinsertion; I participated in a (now archived) discussion like this at Richard Gere, which involved an RfC, discussions on WT:BLP, and WP:BLPN as well. (Yes, this was the apparently endless discussion involving rodents.) If it is an edit war occurring over a very brief period of time, I might temporarily protect the article and invite all parties to the talk page to discuss things. This is more dependent on the histories of the respective editors; particularly if they are newer members to our community, they may be unaware of how we work to achieve consensus, whereas experienced editors may require either a reminder or a firmer hand (particularly if WP:3RR has been violated). Like Winston Churchill, I believe that "(t)o jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war". Dependent on the relationship I may already have established with one or more of the involved editors, I may feel it is necessary to recuse from a discussion; it's important for the participants to feel their positions are being dealt with respectfully, and it's hard to do that if someone thinks I'm a buddy of the other editor or, worse, that I'm there to perpetuate a previous disagreement with them. Finally, if another administrator has already taken on a dispute-resolution role, I will ask that admin if my assistance would be of value, or if it would be better to hold off. It's my opinion that admins should do their best to respect each other's administrative decisions where possible; if they have a concern, the right thing to do is talk with the other admin first, and move on to a neutral noticeboard if it cannot be easily resolved. (Apologies for the very lengthy response, but I think it's a really important question.)

General comments

• See Risker's edit summary usage with mathbot's tool. For the edit count, see the talk page.

• Links for Risker: Risker (talk · contribs · deleted · count · AfD · logs · block log · lu · rfar · spi)

Please keep discussion constructive and civil. If you are unfamiliar with the nominee, please thoroughly review Special:Contributions/Risker before commenting.

Discussion

Support

1. Beat the noms support « Milk's Favorite Cookie 22:05, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
2. Support For the response to Q3 and for the quote on the top of her user page. --RegentsPark (talk) 22:07, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
3. Support per nomBalloonman (talk) 22:11, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
4. You're not an admin? Seriously? You certainly act like one. Support without hesitation. Keep on truckin. Keeper | 76 | Disclaimer 22:13, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
5. Support. Give me a content-oriented administrator over a career wikimandarin any day. --Malleus Fatuorum (talk) 22:18, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
6. Weak Support: See no immediate problems, but having little experience with her, I can't say full support for now--Bedford 22:20, 7 May 2008 (UTC).
7. Seems like it's moral support time, for whatever reason. Dorftrottel (bait) 23:07, May 7, 2008

   I wouldn't say so just yet. I think Risker will have many people supporting her, it's just that they haven't had chance yet. I fully expect the support percentage to raise significantly over the next 12/24 hours. Ryan Postlethwaite 23:10, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   At any rate, she has my genuine support. Btw: I could have sworn she were one... Dorftrottel (complain) 23:44, May 7, 2008

8. Weak Support. Mmmm. I don't like DRAHMAZ, but I do like the attitude toward Misplaced Pages that you convey. And like Balloonman said—she is not your typical RFA candidate. Let's shake things up a bit. Malinaccier Public (talk) 23:14, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
9. Support. Clear article builder who isn't afraid to be bold when needed.Gazimoff _Read 23:18, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
10. a very gentle support, with comma splices, to drive her mad; but to wish her luck. with the hope that she's careful with deletions. Dan Beale-Cocks 23:26, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
11. Support. Closer inspection reveals a thoughtful editor, who analyzes carefully and astutely, and actually does not jump in disputes head first, but tries to avoid drama for drama's sake. Anyway, good content editor. Make that strong support. ---Sluzzelin talk 23:38, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
12. Support - DiligentTerrier (and friends) 23:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
13. Support very strong content credentials, and reasonable when I've seen her around in discussions. Johnbod (talk) 23:58, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
14. Support No problems here. --Siva1979 00:01, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
15. Support per noms. Good seems to outweigh bad. Dlohcierekim 00:03, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
16. Support—Thoughtful editor. The opposers' diffs so far leave me wondering why this editor's opinions are considered "drama". –Outriggr § 00:11, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
17. Support, good experiences with this editor. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 01:03, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
18. Enjoyed working on Jacques Plante with her. Maxim_(talk) 01:16, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
19. Strong Support Per Nom. I admire the fact that she was one of those who stood up to the BADSITES policy-pushers as a voice of reason. We need more, not less, administrators who can think critically. --Dragon695 (talk) 02:57, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
20. Support as a net positive to the project. GlassCobra 03:07, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
21. Support Just because I think she will do good with the tools. <3 Tinkleheimer TALK!! 04:20, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
22. Support. I'm uncomfortable with editors who are dramaholics, but I can't see from below that this is at all the case. Risker participated in discussing, yes, a relatively small handful of some ugly dramas. But hers was always a calm voice that never fanned the flames and often helped move toward resolution. Her approach to BLP is firm and principled while not couched in unhelpful histrionics about "what moral right etc. etc." In short, the sort of candidate we need, and I encourage the opposers to give this one a careful reappraisal. --JayHenry (talk) 05:02, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
23. Strong support - great admin material Alex Bakharev (talk) 05:28, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
24. Support. Her contributions are solid and valuable, and don't find the problems pointed out by the opposers very problematic at all. I also disapprove of the tendency to label getting into any sort of policy debate as "wikidrama" and use it as a reason to oppose. rspeer / ɹəədsɹ 05:43, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
25. Support - I'm willing to take a risk. :) Dfrg_msc 05:51, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
26. Support I see no reason not to support here. ·Add§hore· /_Cont 06:56, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
27. the_undertow 07:59, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
28. Support. The admin corps can do with more great content contributors like this, for balance, and, per JayHenry, with calm voices in the storms. Bishonen | talk 08:17, 8 May 2008 (UTC).
29. Per my nom and those above. dihydrogen monoxide (H₂O) 08:38, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
30. Support - Highly qualified candidate. No major concerns for me. Lradrama 09:10, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
31. Support Fuck it, why not. ⇒SWATJester 10:04, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
32. Support per Swat Nick (talk) 10:19, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
33. Support: Well informed, temperate, and interested in both the issues (and some people call that "drama") and best practices. An administrator who takes a stand is going to be accused of "drama" by someone. There is neither policy nor reason to suggest that this is a valid criterion for rejection. Every time someone, below, says "drama," just translate that in your mind as "took a position." Now, are administrators better for taking positions or worse? Are they better or worse for being involved? Are they better or worse for caring? To me, it's a reason to support, unless there is some reason to think the new candidate would use the buttons against policy. Nothing like that is present here. Geogre (talk) 10:48, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Oppose

1. Way way too much drama to be an effective administrator. He has tendencies to jump in head first to disputes and ask questions later and I really don't think that makes a good administrator. Ryan Postlethwaite 22:09, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   You know this needs diffs Ryan, accusational is one thing. Proof is another. Right now, this just sounds like a personal beef instead of a legitimate oppose, if I'm being honest. Keeper | 76 | Disclaimer 22:14, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   It's not personal beef - I've just had that impression of him over the past few months since I've been aware of his editing. It's not one situation, more a wider view of how I see him jump into situations that he knows will cause drama. Ryan Postlethwaite 22:17, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   Proof? Diffs? Scenarios? Links? Anything to substantiate? I'm not not believing you, just not seeing it in my own digging. Where? Keeper | 76 | Disclaimer 22:18, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   I'm not asking you to change, this is just my interpretation, but his actions on both the IRC arbitration request, and Durova arbitration request tended to increase the drama levels rather than reduce them. It's my opinion that both cases would have been smoother, and led to the same conclusions if he had stayed clear. Ryan Postlethwaite 22:20, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   The only question I asked you was "Diffs", as are to be expected when saying an editor is filled with "way too much drama", along with "tendency to jump in head first". Diffs? Proof? Evidence? Just a feeling? and I'm going offline in 12 seconds, so I'll look at this tomorrow, thanks RP...) Keeper | 76 | Disclaimer 22:25, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   Sorry Keeper, I've given areas where I think he created too much drama. I said specifically it's not one or two comments, it's small things over a much wider number of diffs hence why I've believe Risker is unsuitable to being an administrator. Ryan Postlethwaite 22:55, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   Minor point he's a she ;-) Balloonman (talk) 22:23, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   I do appologise, I hope no offence was caused. Ryan Postlethwaite 22:24, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   (moved to neutral - see below)Oppose (sorry, as I do respect both noms' judgement). As any AfD regular knows, I'm all for deleting things that have no place here, but having just gone through your last 500 wikipedia-space contributions you seem to be one of the most obsessive deletionists around with a WP:IDONTLIKEIT hairtrigger; with one exception, every XfD comment you've made in the last month has been to add "delete" !votes to discussions; the one exception was this piece of zOMG DRAMA (a quick search of the BADSITE I assume is the one you're avoiding naming reveals only 17 mentions of you, all in the context of side-mentions of you in threads attacking someone else; neither of our other two favourite attack sites mentions you once). Deletionism isn't necessarily a bad thing, and I've no doubt you are going to pass this RFA, but I don't feel comfortable supporting. — iridescent 22:39, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   Thanks for your comment, Iridescent. I won't link to the attack page, which names about 100 people at Misplaced Pages, but there is a thread about it at Misplaced Pages Review. Apparently I am an abusive administrator closely linked to David Gerard, Josh Gordon, Jayjg, SlimVirgin, Musical Linguist and MONGO. It's difficult to take it too seriously, especially when one looks at my contribs, but it did come as a bit of a surprise to find my name on the list. Risker (talk) 22:51, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   At least they're attacking you - apparently, "Mailer Diablo, Giano, Alkivar, Iridescent" are "the good guys". — iridescent 23:24, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   Oh dear, I hadn't noticed! You certainly got the short end of the stick there! Risker (talk) 23:27, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

2. Weak oppose - I was going to support per WP:WTHN, but this drama has me worried. asenine 22:55, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
3. Oppose - Per Wikidrama presented at XfD and Arbcom and the issues raised with AfD's. Wisdom89 _{(T / )} 22:58, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
4. Oppose. I remember the ad hominem and strawman arguments she made at the Essjay controversy talk. She is one of the top wikilawyers I have ever seen. She loves calling me a quack. QuackGuru (talk) 23:02, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

   Neither of those diffs display what you are saying. asenine 06:28, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

   Quack, I'm sure there must be some reason that she would refer to you as 'Quack.' Know what I mean, Quack? the_undertow 07:56, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

5. Oppose per Ryan and Iridescent. -Chunky Rice (talk) 23:38, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
6. Oppose a tendency to spend too high a percentage of time in argument. We have too many admins already who like to participate fully in the drama. The tendency to get too much involved in a negative argument such as at WP:Articles for deletion/Bob Kinnear concerns me. DGG (talk) 05:12, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
7. Oppose, after looking at the link supplied by DGG. Ashton1983 (talk) 09:13, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Neutral

1. Change to Neutral; this is shaping up to be close and I don't want to be the one to derail it. I still have some issues (see above) but on reflection, none of them are deal-breakers (and she's explained the dubious vote on Lauren Harries to my satisfaction). Although should she pass, I do urge her to rein in the drama. — iridescent 23:44, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
2. Neutral I agree, this user is grat admin material, but the amount of time arguing this user spends cannot make me support. Editorofthewiki 10:40, 8 May 2008 (UTC)