Talk:Dallin H. Oaks

Controversies

A new section should be added to this entry regarding controversies over his official public addresses. Specifically, he recently compared the Mormons experiencing backlash from Proposition 8 to the black civil rights movement, which drew a lot of criticism from progressive Mormons, political pundits, black advocacy groups, and civil rights groups. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.202.148.244 (talk) 04:51, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

The desire to include stuff about this could very well be a case of recentism. I would suggest waiting a few weeks or months and then assessing how significant these appear to be in the grand scheme of things. Good Ol’factory ^(talk) 05:48, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

It has been covered in the news, both in Salt Lake City and beyond, from coast to coast. So, by WP:WELLKNOWN, it merits brief mention. (BTW, here is a transcript of his speech. --> link)

Recentism in the first sense—established articles that are bloated with event-specific facts at the expense of longstanding content—is usually considered one of Wikipedia's faults. But in many cases, the recentist content can be a valuable preliminary stage in gathering information. Any encyclopedia, even Britannica, goes through rough drafts; new Wikipedia articles are published while in draft and developed/improved in real time, so rapidly developing drafts may appear to be a clutter of news links and half-developed thoughts. Later, as the big picture emerges, the least relevant content ought to be and often is eliminated.---WP:RECENTISM

↜ (‘Just M E ’here , now) 07:06, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

"Dallin Oaks"

Wikipedia tends to use only first and last names in article titles unless the name given in the media for the subject is a fuller version of hi/r name, almost always (or in some cases to help differentiate people with similar names); so, I have moved this article to the title "Dallin Oaks." For example, compare the case of "Willard Boyle," a scientist who also signs his works with a name that includes his formal, middle initial.↜ (‘Just M E ’here , now) 07:22, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

Where's the guideline that reflects what you have said? I was under the impression from WP:NAME and WP:NCP that we tend to use the most common name that is used, even for people. See the section on middle names and abbreviated names, where it says, "Generally, use the most common format of a name: if that is with a middle name or an abbreviation, make the Wikipedia article name conform to that format." He is known overwhelmingly by the initialed name, and it certainly is the most recognizable name he is known by. Absent a convention that mandates the move, I would like to see this be a formal proposal if it is to be moved. Good Ol’factory ^(talk) 20:51, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

Recent headlines and mentions in the secular media say Dallin Oaks [Edited: Oops, I stand corrected again!] -- but, hmmm...yeah, you're right: as of today, his name sans his middle initial brings up 206,000 Google hits whereas his name with his middle initial brings up 2,160,000 hits.↜ (‘Just M E ’here , now) 21:05, 18 October 2009 (UTC)↜ (‘Just M E ’here , now) 21:29, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

As a judge, author, and religious leader he's always used his abbreviated name, as far as I have seen. I think most news organizations like AP have style guides for names whereby they often drop "unnecessary" middle initials, but such practices don't always reflect how a person is referred to once you leave the so-called main-stream media world. Good Ol’factory ^(talk) 21:12, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

Threadjack: Wow, I just did the Google test and "Lyndon Johnson" won out over "Lyndon B. Johnson" by a large measure. I'd move the article -- but whatever the Wikiproject involved must have some sort of rationale for their naming conventions w/regard to US Presidents, I figure.↜ (‘Just M E ’here , now) 22:29, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

Hey, the "Google test" and the name of the Wiki-BLP align in the case of "Stephen Covey" (810,000 Google hits -- as opposed to 516,000 Google hits for "Stephen R. Covey").↜ (‘Just M E ’here , now) 00:57, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

You want to really throw the correspondence out of whack, try doing Gandhi. Good Ol’factory ^(talk) 03:30, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Broken Link

The first link under the Biography section no longer works at the web site to which it refers. 166.20.224.12 (talk) 16:52, 19 March 2010 (UTC)