Talk:Union of Students of the University of Alaska Anchorage

I am just making a page that goes along with ASUAF - one of the other schools in our university system. I don't have all the information myself but if this page is up others can add to it. Ak.alterego 19:05, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

merge proposal
The result was merge into University of Alaska Anchorage. -- RedShiftPA (talk) 16:48, 12 March 2008 (UTC)
 * I disagree with your proposed merge; separate articles exist on student government bodies at many universities and colleges, including the Associated Students of the University of California, Oregon Student Association and Associated Students of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. See also Category:Student governments in the United States. FCYTravis (talk) 18:39, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
 * This student government is not notable because there is no independent news coverage of it, simple as that. Many of those other articles may not be notable either, but that is irrelevant (see WP:OTHERCRAP). It should be merged into the UAA article. Calliopejen1 (talk) 18:45, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I would surmise that there are reliable, independent sources covering it; starting with articles from The Northern Light. I'll poke around their site later today and this weekend to add some refs. FCYTravis (talk) 18:46, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
 * The Northern Light is not sufficient to prove notability (it must be notable outside the school)--you would need sources from outside the school. Rarely are student groups at universities notable. Calliopejen1 (talk) 18:47, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
 * That's false. Student newspapers are reliable sources for essentially all purposes. I would love to see you cite the policy that says something has to be "notable outside the school." Please link to it here.
 * While I would agree that student clubs are not encyclopedic, as they come and go with the whims of student interests, student government groups are different. For one, they are permanent; for two, they often manage multi-million-dollar budgets and can become powerful platforms at their respective institutions; for three, their history is often interrelated with any number of national trends, including the 1960s rise in student activism. FCYTravis (talk) 18:56, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
 * School newspapers may be reliable but they do not prove the notability of school clubs. Every non-notable school newspaper will cover its school's own non-notable student government.  The Anchorage Daily News has 0 stories about the USUAA so I don't this can possibly be influential.  See also Articles_for_deletion/Common_outcomes, which says school clubs are typically deleted. (Though this is not a school club, I do not see the fundamental difference. The USUAA is really just not that important. Maybe the student government that runs all the UC schools is quite notable, but that is not the case here.) I can just AFD this if you'd like and we'll see how it goes. Calliopejen1 (talk) 19:04, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Like I said five times, USUAA is not a club. Student governments are not clubs. There is a fundamental difference between a temporary, fleeting student club, and a permanent, institutional student government association which operates student functions, has a publicly-funded budget and is an integral part of university life.
 * By the way, The Northern Light (college newspaper) is not non-notable. Nor is The Advocate (Contra Costa College) or the Sun Star or, God forbid, The Harvard Crimson. FCYTravis (talk) 19:06, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm making no argument about the notability of the Northern Light, but notice it was also tagged as possibly non-notable until about five seconds ago, when you took the tag off.... Calliopejen1 (talk) 19:11, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Really? You want to show me the diff there before making up stuff? The last edit to that page by anyone was one of my vandalism reverts in December, 2007. I know this is a dispute, but please don't lie. FCYTravis (talk) 19:19, 8 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Merge. A couple of sentences and a single reference make this a perfect candidate for merger. This is a notable topic, but it's not notable enough for its own article. Lovelac 7 20:58, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Strong Merge A student government is probably going to be not notable. Its scope is inherently local (limited to the university), and will probably not have significant third party coverage, which is a required criteria for WP:Notability. And, no, student newspapers don't count as independent 3rd party sources.--RedShiftPA (talk) 00:29, 8 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, student newspapers are independent, reliable third-party sources - just as a small-town newspaper is an independent, reliable third-party source about goings-on in a given small town. Student newspapers are generally independent organizations with complete editorial freedom, formal editing and content vetting processes, unbiased and well-trained student reporters, and long traditions of excellence in journalism. I am tired of the misconception that we cannot use student newspapers as sources. It's false.
 * All that said, if there is a consensus to merge this in, I will not object as long as it is actually merged. FCYTravis (talk) 07:14, 8 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Merged in its entirety. I also cleaned up the parent article a bit. Lovelac 7 16:17, 9 March 2008 (UTC)