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Revision as of 23:30, 8 September 2008

Plasticup

Voice your opinion (talk page) (7/12/6); Scheduled to end 18:25, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Plasticup (talk · contribs) - I was going to perform my self-nom immediately after the Colts won a game, hoping to catch Kurt in a good mood, but after watching Peyton last night I'm not sure I can wait that long. Sorry Kurt. So anyway, on with the blurb. I've been here for a couple years: long enough that I recognize a lot of names and generally know my way around the place. For the most part I am a content contributor at the Tropical Cyclones project, where I have written four featured articles, one featured list, and a bevy of lower-quality pages. I am currently working on two featured topics, the details of which can be found on my userpage. Plasticup /C 18:25, 8 September 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 administrative work do you intend to take part in?

A: To be blunt, not much. I have never taken much interest in XfD, RfC, and all that jazz. They are very important of course, and I have participated a few times to get a feel for them, but writing articles is what I'm about and I don't intend to do much else. Writing articles is generally best accomplished with a keyboard and rarely requires a mop, which is why it has taken 13,000 edits before I found the need to make this request. This month I have had to ask administrators several times to do simple things like move pages over defunct redirects, and I would simply like to be able to do that for myself. I understand the guidelines and hope that I have demonstrated that I can be trusted with the tools.

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

A: I suppose the technically "best" would be my feature articles, but the piece of which I am most proud is Hurricane Dean, which is one FAC away from a Featured Topic nomination. (plug: FAC reviewers needed, btw)

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: I don't get particularly worked up over Misplaced Pages-issues, but a recent encounter with User:Bluenorway required a little dispute resolution. His comments are on my talk page. The gist of it is that he was inserting POV material into the Hurricane Gustav article, which eventually lead to a POV-fork. I calmed him down in his first few hours of editing and others have since picked up the NPOV torch. They seem to have it under control, and I am happy to step back. I find that if an issue requires one editor to crusade tirelessly from beginning to end then others will probably perceive her to be harassing.

Optional question from xenocidic

4. As an administrator, you will come across some extremely vulgar language and often come under attack for your actions. You will most likely have to deal with some fairly troublesome users. The users you block will sometimes ask to be unblocked. Please review the very NSFW scenario outlined at User:Xenocidic/RFAQ and describe how you would respond to the IP's request to be unblocked.

A: The user can demonstrate his newfound appreciation for the collaborative nature of the encyclopedia when the block expires in one week. I have never personally witnessed such a reformation, but I hear that it is possible. That said, as I was the one to hypothetically place both blocks I would remove myself from judgment and ask another, impartial, admin to review it.

Optional question from Juliancolton (talk · contribs)

5. Do you plan on taking more several-month breaks, as you did recently?

A. I don't plan on it, but it is a distinct possibility. I don't force myself to come here when I don't enjoy it—that only makes people irritable.

Optional question from SoWhy

6. Is there a specific reason why your edits went from 135 to 7400 to 1800 edits in the last three months? Especially, is there a specific reason for the peak in July?

A. It dropped off last year because I was finishing my Economics degree. Senior year was a bit more than I expected. As my academics drew down I came back here. The highest monthly peak was largely from some projects involving AutoWikiBrowser. I worked on a number of things that month including some typo checking, disambiguation pages with links, and a personal project with non-breaking spaces. I have never put much store in edit counts and would rather measure the value of my contributions as the articles which I have written.

Optional question from Kaaveh Ahangar (talk · contribs)

7.: If this RfA is successful, do you intend to add yourself to CAT:AOR?

A. I'm not a huge fan of the recall procedure as it currently exists, but in the absence of a viable alternative I would join the current program. My criteria would be 6 requests from editors in good standing, admins count for double, within a span of 3 weeks.

This question should not be used for the basis of one's !vote. In fact, the question itself is extremely unpopular as it poison's the well---Balloonman 22:39, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Optional questions from  Asenine 

8. In his daily editing, a newbie user edits a prominent page, and his edit is reasonably trivial. It does not violate any policies, and it contains reliable sources. Unbeknownst to them, the edit they just made was against an overwhelming consensus on the talk page. Disgruntled editors then take action and replace the edited text with their own version which was decided with consensus. Their version, however, does not include any sources at all, and is unverifiable. What should be done to resolve the issue effectively, and which editor is doing the right thing according to policy? In a nutshell: Which is more important, verifiability or consensus?

A:

9. As an administrator, many inexperienced editors will come to you for advice. Some of them will be highly puzzled as to what is going on, or even angry because of something that has happened to them in the course of their time here. It is important to keep a cool head and handle the situation well, and also be knowledgeable in how to resolve the problem; so I ask - can you give us evidence that you have successfully aided annoyed users in the past?

A:

10. Will your current activities continue if you are appointed with the mop and bucket? If so, which will you drop/be less active in/be more active in/take up?

A:

General comments

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

• Links for Plasticup: Plasticup (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/Plasticup before commenting.

Discussion

• I don't get why you have to single out Kurt. While he certainly has his opinions, albeit unpopular ones, it's not a reason to make fun of him in your nomination statement. It's bad form and I don't think that's a good sign in a user who wants to become an admin. Maxim (☎) 19:07, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

It was meant to be humorous, just poking fun at a staple of the RfA process. This section can be very stuffy and I was hoping to lighten the mood. Personally I find my favorite editors to be the ones capable of making/taking a harmless joke, and from what I've seen of him I didn't think that Kurt Weber would be offended. I am honestly surprised that so many people have jumped on this. Plasticup /C 19:18, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

There's a time and a place, and the opening statement of your nom simply isn't the place. –xeno (talk) 19:26, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Personally, I would have found it hilarious, up until you mentioned Kurt by name. That is when it crossed the line. Also, I should note, that I'm opposing for reasons above and beyond this.---Balloonman 19:36, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

I love humour, and I certainly agree RfA should be a bit less serious, but I think there should be somewhat a line drawn between when it's funny and when you're unfairly singling out another contributer. On a different note, I'm impressed by the featured content. Maxim (☎) 19:52, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

The candidate’s opening remarks were grossly misinterpreted and I find the overreaction entirely artificial. How is this any different than the good hearted joke from Misplaced Pages:Requests for adminship/Lomn? Knowing what I know about Kurt’s sense of humour and his love of the Colts, only through assumption of bad faith would I ever cosider the above mentioned joke as a sort of personal attack, incivility or some other incorrectly perceived form of transgression against Kurt. The bottom line is this: Kurt would not be offended by this, neither should you. If you doubt my assertion that Kurt might actually appreciate the above joke, please read his response in the above linked RfA. SWik78 (talk • contribs) 20:07, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

I suggest you do not describe peoples reactions as "artificial" unless you have some very sound evidence to back it up. As you don't - and I know you don't - I'd suggest you may find ad hominum attacks do not sit very well with editors around here. Pedro :  Chat  20:12, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Hrm, this statement is a little more of a "dig" than Lomn's joke, as it insinuates that kurt opposes because he's in a bad mood (or at least that he might support or not oppose if he were in a good one). Also Lomn's statement was a lot more lengthy, ending with the brief joke. this one starts with it... i wouldn't go start a job interview with an off-colour joke, nor should you start a self-nom statement with one. –xeno (talk) 20:16, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Attacks??? Who am I attacking? First of all, by "I find" I mean to say that it is my opinion that the reaction is artificial and, as such, I can’t provide concrete proof that the reaction, in fact, is artificial. Second, my attacks are ad hominem? Really??? I thought I commented on the reaction of the editors and not the editors themselves. I really think you misunderstood me and I apologize if I made it easier for you to do so but I assure you that you did misunderstand me. When I called the reaction artificial, I was referring to the fact that Kurt is an extremely sensitive subject in RfAs, especially when a candidate mentions his name without being prompted to do so. Even then, people tend to have an opinion every time Kurt voices his opinion as well as every time Kurt is mentioned by someone else. In this case, I thought the comment made by the candidate was completely benign and undeserving of the backlash it received. Had Kurt been around to respond in a playful manner before negative opinions had time to form, I’m sure we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. That’s all I wanted to say originally and I extend a sincere apology to anyone that might have been offended by what I said because no offense was meant to anyone. SWik78 (talk • contribs) 20:41, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

And I wouldn't start a nom or job off by forgetting to capitalize "I",Xeno (but you already have the job, non?) :). Anyways, I'm going to choose to ignore the whole thing with that and try not to have it influence my vote, if I cast one. I find this whole discussion pretty much useless. Kurt can take whatever view he wants on this, but I'd like to let this go. For the sake of peace in the drama-filled RfA, let's let it go. IceUnshattered 20:46, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Support

1. Support Laughed my ass off with the nom. People need to get over this whole "single-out Kurt" view. Plasticup was poking fun at a situation that pisses a bunch of people off and is a big controversy. I think what Plasticup was getting at was that he knew Kurt was going to oppose him for the self-nom, and since Kurt's sig says Go Colts! that he would try and get him in a good mood. Obviously this was a joke and not meant to disparage Kurt. We all know Kurt has taken a lot more crap then this little joke, let's judge the merit of the user. S/he is will be a net positive to the community if made administrator. « Gonzo fan2007 (talk ♦ contribs) @ 19:22, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
2. Support I know the comment about Kurt was in jest, and some people just don't have a sense of humour. 4FAs=good. I really can't see anyone's logic that content creators can't be admins. You may not block 5,000 vandals, but merely use the tools to delete articles in the way of redirects. And that's the kind of user I want. Peace man --I'm an Editorofthewiki 19:25, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
3. Support. Being a Colts fan myself, I took the comment in the nomination statement as it was intended - homorously. I'm seeing a lot of AWB-assisted edits, especially in July - but, I'm also seeing a lot of good work on a variety of articles dealing with Hurricanes, and I'm impressed. On the balance, I think this user could be a good administrator, though as Xeno notes there's a time and a place for everything, and some tact may be of benefit in dealing with potentially sticky situations. Overall, adminship here would be a net benefit, I think. UltraExactZZ ~ Evidence 19:31, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
4. Support I see no reason for concern and I doubt that even Kurt would think that the opening remarks by the candidate were meant to be derogatory in any way. SWik78 (talk • contribs) 19:39, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
5. Support I don't see the jest in the nomination as anything more than a harmless joke. Regardless, I have seen plasticups good work at the reference desks which is more than enough reason to support. What happened to supports per WP:WTHN? Best, --Cameron* 20:12, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
6. Weak support I don't really find the joke much of a problem, more people's attitudes towards it. Going with Cameron on WP:WTHN for now. —Cyclonenim (talk · contribs · email) 21:00, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
7. Support; good contributor I would have supported even without the nomination. My mom always told me, as I was growing up, that "if you're not worth a laugh, you're not worth much"— Kurt is a conspicuous feature of RfA, and is well aware that his views are both marginal and subject of regular attention; I would be surprised if he takes that particular good humored ribbing any worse than any other self-nomination.

   And besides, who knows? Maybe Plasticup is right and a Colts win would have mollified Kurt.  :-) — Coren  21:40, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

8. Support nice balance of good communication skills and useful editing. I would hope Plasticup would have the good sense not to use the tools in unfamiliar areas like deleting things. ϢereSpielChequers 23:16, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Oppose

1. Sadly, not this time. I dislike the attitude in the self-nomination, attacking another editor in the process. Answer to question 1 shows little interest in adminship, and getting the tools to assist with your own articles, as it seems to me, isn't really appropriate. I'm sure you can wait a bit for articles to be moved by an admin. Good job with your article(s) though. Show more interest in adminship, then I'll support you another time. Thank you. how do you turn this on 19:09, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
2. Oppose agree with Maxim. Not good form to single out an editor in a negative way, even in jest when opening an RfA. Oh another reason, in order for me to consider somebody an active participant, I consider 150 edits per month to be active. By this standard, he has only been active for 3 months in the last year. If you drop that down to 100 edits, then only 4 months in the past year.---Balloonman 19:10, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
3. Oppose — forcing a user to sit out a week seems unnecessarily punitive when they could start making good edits right away (as this editor did). vandals are a dime a dozen, and reblocks are cheap; constructive contributors are golden. also, the kmweber comment in the nom statement was probably meant to be funny, but it displays poor judgment. –xeno (talk) 19:18, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
4. Oppose I don't at all see the experience I come to expect. Wisdom89 _{(T / )} 19:23, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
5. Per nomination statement. It is a big deal, after what I've seen over the last few days in the popular press, and your total lack of creating the collegial atmosphere one would hope we ought to have gives me no confidence in granting a block button to you. Pedro :  Chat  19:57, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
6. I agree with Pedro; wikipedia needs to grow up. A nomination statement that justifies itself by reference to what the nominator perceives to be an unpopular editor is both childish and unconstructive. But what is worse, it leaves a taste of gang mentality. --Malleus Fatuorum (talk) 21:03, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
7. Oppose It's weird that this is the third oppose I've given in the last month that's partially based on the nominee trying to bait Kurt Weber into the RfA. Obvious maturity issues here; administrators often represent the project to outsiders without realizing it, and accordingly they need to behave like grownups. Townlake (talk) 21:13, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
8. Oppose: I view self-noms as prima facie evidence of power hunger. (Seriously.) I don't find fault in poking fun at the situation, though I'd like to see more overall experience. seicer | talk | contribs 21:29, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
9. Oppose The joke in the nom wasn't too bad but did display poor judgement for a potential admin. Question 1 also seems that admin would be almost completely wasted on you. Decent experience but I'd just expect more from an admin. --Banime (talk) 22:05, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
10. Oppose - Per Pedro. Adminship is a big deal. Also, you really have shown no need for the tools and your nomination statement along with your answer to Q1 reinforce that, remember adminship is not a trophy. Tiptoety 22:07, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
11. Oppose At this time, I am regretfully unable to support any candidate who claims to be open to recall. Skinwalker (talk) 22:14, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
12. Oppose Sorry, but I see the answer to 1. as a reason not to grant admin tools. You're saying that you don't have much experience in certain processes (e.g., XfD), but do work on those processes from time to time. Going along with How do you turn this on, I don't see a real need for access to these tools... when it happens to me, I just do something else and check my watchlist periodically. Additionally, I agree with xeno in that vandal IPs should be given a second chance in the event that they make a "sudden reversal"; it takes a little extra time to watch that user, and a persistent vandal will just come back after the block anyway. I will say however that I disagree with the above comments that the nom was in poor taste (now that I get the joke). —/Mendaliv//_Δ's/ 22:41, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
13. Oppose I'm seeing too much article writing, and not a lot of admin participation. To be honest, the joke about Kurt was funny. I don't see why anybody would get on your back about that. If someone finds "I was hoping his favorite football team would win so he'd be in a better mood" insulting/mean, they need to grow a pair. But, yeah, get more admin experience and I won't have any concerns.--KojiDude 22:52, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

    Speaking solely for myself, the problem isn't that the candidate made the joke - it's that it was made at the front end of what is supposed to be the candidate putting their best foot forward to request the tools. The nomination leads with a straw man argument against an anticipated oppose, calling out another user by name; to me, that's troublesome, even if the other user is in on the joke and is cool with it. Townlake (talk) 23:07, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

14. Oppose Per unforgiving answer to Xeno's question, jab at Kurt in the opening sentence of a self-nom, and self-admitted lack of admin work or desire for admin work. What's the point of getting the tools if you won't use them? To hang them above the fireplace? Erik the Red 2 (AVE·CAESAR) 23:22, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
15. Oppose - Seems a bit bitey to me.  Asenine  23:30, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Neutral

1. Neutral because of that nom. I realise you were only having a laugh but it's not nice to single out Kurt. I'm worried if this attitude continues into the admin role. weburiedoursecretsinthegarden 19:11, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
2. Neutral Plasticup is a great editor, and does excellent work for the WPTC, and I hate to have to go neutral. However, Maxim and Balloonman are right about your nomination statement. I'm also concerned about the answer to my question. Sorry, –Juliancolton 19:18, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
3. Neutral : Not enough adminly activities for me to support. Nice article work but talk page editing is low. Concerns about your abilities with dispute resolution. At least your honest.— Realist 19:20, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
4. Per Juliancolton mostly. I tried to state that you were a great content builder, but that comment was unacceptable. Also, I see you have not been active for six months, as usually required at RFA. Try working more at the wikipedia space and come back soon. :) —Sunday 19:26, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
5. I would oppose, but this user has also made positive contributions to Misplaced Pages, so I would make this a neutral. NHRHS2010 |  Talk to me  21:22, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
6. Neutral Mostly due to answer to Q1. Good article work, so I won't oppose, but asking for something you aren't going to commit to seems a tad pointless. --Rodhullandemu 21:51, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
7. Neutral. Malinaccier (talk) 23:12, 8 September 2008 (UTC)