User talk:Groupuscule

Hello!

Your edits to Johns Hopkins University on May 9, 2012

Hey Groupuscule, could you please clarify why you added the {{Unbalanced}} and {{Advert}} templates to Johns Hopkins University with this edit? According to Wikipedia's policy for tagging articles, "anyone who sees a tag, but does not see the purported problem with the article and does not see any detailed complaint on the talk page, may remove the tag." I saw that a previous editor removed your tags earlier, and I would like to help you avoid the frustration of having future editors removing your tags if you have an important issue to address.

• If you have a general issue that you want to address, then please be helpful by leaving a message on Talk:Johns Hopkins University so that other editors can know how we can fix the article. Per WP:TAGGING, even if the problem is obvious it's useful to leave a short note on the talk page describing the issue, and suggesting an approach to fixing it if you know how. If you leave a comment on the talk page, then other editors will be welcoming and help you address the article's problems.
• If you have a more specific issue, then feel free to use some of the section-specific templates or inline templates listed at Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup. Inline templates are particularly helpful because they allow you to place captions within the text itself,(example: ) thus increasing the chances that the problems with the article will be noticed/fixed.
• Even better, if you spot a particular error in the article and know how to fix it, then be bold and fix the mistake directly by editing Johns Hopkins University.
• If you are unsure which tags to use or how to use them, then Wikipedia:Responsible tagging provides helpful advice about how to maximize the likelihood that other editors will be able to address your concerns and fix the article's mistakes.

In general it is best to provide the fewest number of the most specific possible tags. Placing tags on an article is not a means of improving the encyclopedia: It is only a means of asking other people to improve an article that you cannot or will not improve yourself. Thank you for your edits, and feel free to leave your concerns on Talk:Johns Hopkins University. If you need help doing this, then you may read Help:Using talk pages or Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines for assistance. --Apollo1758 (talk) 21:14, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Thanks Apollo, but you'll notice we did leave a message on the Talk page. Granted there is more work to be done here, but it will take a little research. We don't use these flags lightly—in fact this is the only page where we've added them. Groupuscule (talk) 23:56, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Oh my mistake! I forgot to check there and I read the article that you linked to. I agree that the page should detail the university's controversial relationship with the Baltimore community, including its actions in East Baltimore. But just try to be more explicit next time; it looks like maybe you can try flagging the History section for being unbalanced and creating a new Controversies section related to the university's controversial relation to the community. Though feel free to take your time to address the article's issues. --Apollo1758 (talk) 19:18, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

Help:Citation tools

Try Help:Citation tools --DThomsen8 (talk) 17:51, 10 July 2012 (UTC)

Hello Again

Here's the link: WikiProject:Pollution --Ne0 (talk) 02:43, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

Felon vs. Ex-Felon

I only made the change for sake of accuracy. In a standard dictionary, "felon" is listed as a noun meaning a person who has committed a felony. "Ex-felon" generally will not be found in a dictionary. Of the two, the word listed in a dictionary is preferable in Wikipedia for obvious reasons. Even if "ex-felon" were a standard English language word, its meaning presumably would be a person who was formerly a felon. In the edited articles, this would be an inaccurate term to use, as the people addressed by that word are, in fact, felons - not people who were once convicted of a felony but then had that status changed so that they are no longer felons, as by an appellate court or a pardon. Using "felon" is not judgmental; it is the simplest and most accurate and specific term for what it means, and in fact is a rather sterile term that avoids connotations that come from terms such as "criminal" or "offender". "Felon" is also the term that is almost universally used by courts and statutes in addressing this class of people, and in most of those articles, the term is used because of its legal relevance: felons deprived of the right to vote by operation of law due to their felon status; difficulty in securing or retaining employment due to being a felon; etc. It is the most appropriate and useful term for what is communicated in those articles.

I would reiterate what the dictionary says as being the strongest authority on this topic, but I also want to share a few thoughts generated by your most recent discussion of this subject on my page. Your citation for negative connotations of the word "felon" ("evil, bad, immoral") cites its infrequent adjective form. In each instance we're discussing, the word was used as a noun, and as a simple, objective noun, signifying that the person or persons in question were convicted of a felony, and nothing more. If you want to differentiate between people who are incarcerated and those who are not, the term to use would generally be "prisoner", or in some instances "inmate". "Ex-felon" is not an accurate term to describe all (or even most) people who were formerly prisoners.

But I would suggest something else to consider. You are right that felons face stigma in society, but using a different but less accurate or precise word to describe them on Wikipedia isn't appropriate, even (or perhaps especially) if motivated by a good faith intention to lessen or combat that stigma, including for reasons I didn't mention earlier. I'd suggest that using the term "ex-felon" in place of the more accurate term "felon" will for some people confuse the issue - especially those who are casual readers or not invested or particularly interested in the issue. Using the term "ex-felon" indicates that felons somehow escape their felon status and the stigma and social disabilities that go with it, but as we know, for the vast majority of felons, that does not happen. Using that inaccurate term "ex-felon" could lead readers to the easy (as written) but inaccurate conclusion that felon status is not usually an inescapable lifelong designation, but instead something that is temporary. Perhaps worse, it could indicate to many readers that felons are prisoners and ex-prisoners are ex-felons, and therefore the stigma and disabilities borne by felons are only borne by prisoners. That, I think, would be at odds with the concerns you've mentioned.

I hope you'll give these comments some thought especially as they relate to your concerns about judgmental reading, conclusions drawn and recognition of obstacles faced by felons (often or usually for life). I'm not sure we're really at cross-purposes here, as you might have initially supposed.

EduWiki Conference 5-6 September in Leicester, UK

I am writing to you as you have signed up to the Education Meetup at Wikimania 2012 and perhaps are interested in how Wikipedia links to education. Wikimedia UK is now running a education related event that may be of interest to you: the EduWiki Conference on 5-6 September in Leicester. This event will be looking at Wikipedia and related charitable projects in terms of educational practice, including good faith collaboration, open review, and global participation. It's a chance to talk about innovative work in your institution or online community, and shape the future of Wikimedia UK's work in this area!

The conference will be of interest to educators, scholarly societies members, contributors to Wikipedia and other open education projects, and students.

For details please visit the UK Chapter Wiki.

Please feel welcome to register or promote within your network.

Thank you, Daria Cybulska (talk) 16:23, 25 July 2012 (UTC)