Talk:William S. Gaither

Biography of Living Persons reminder
Just a reminder that in articles about living people it is particularly important that information be cited from reliable sources. Information without references will likely be tagged with fact on sight and removed after a reasonable period of time if references are not supplied. davidwr/ (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  23:36, 6 December 2008 (UTC)
 * As of September, 11, 2009, Dr. Gaither is now believed to be deceased. See below.  davidwr/  (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  13:35, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

Reminder to editors with a Conflict Of Interest
People with conflicts of interest, in particular, people who are "close" to the subject, professionally, by family ties, or otherwise, are strongly discouraged from making significant changes to the article except to remove untrue material or material which is presented in a non-neutral point of view. They may of course do copy-editing and other minor changes. If such an editor does make a significant edit to the article, he must be very careful to adhere to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines for biographical articles, and err on the side of caution.

Editors with conflicts of interests are encouraged to recommend changes here, on the talk page, with supporting references. Other editors who are less likely to be biased will use the suggestions to improve the article. davidwr/ (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  23:36, 6 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Note: The editor  may be affiliated with Drexel University. davidwr/  (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  22:17, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: The editor  claims to be William S. Gaither.  Although this claim has not been authenticated, there is no reason for anyone to make this claim falsely and good faith is assumed.  davidwr/  (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  22:17, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

The assistance of these editors is greatly appreciated. davidwr/ (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  22:17, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Special COI exemption for early/mid-December 2008
I'm working with the subject of this biography, User:Gaitherws311, to improve it. See User talk:Gaitherws311 for more details. This is copied from there: "If you can do so while keeping a neutral point of view, go ahead and make the changes, I'll remove any new material that's unsourced as well as stuff that's "too much detail" or which sounds too self-promotional. See my notes above about what I would do if I were editing and had references available for guidelines on what I'm likely to remove as being "too much detail." If you can find references for the stuff that's already there, please add them as well.  In the edit summary put "COI edit - see talk page for discussion" or something along those lines so you don't get reverted by other well-meaning editors.  I have this page on my watchlist, if there are changes I'll see them within 24 hours. davidwr/  (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  15:38, 8 December 2008 (UTC)"

davidwr/ (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  15:49, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. Since you have too much material already (from my last post to the site several days ago) why don't you choose from what I've already provided. Who'sWho in America has a fairly compact entry under my name with a uniform level of detail. The place I'll take a closer look is at the list of accomplishments at Drexel. There is the trustee resolution dated October 21, 1987 that gives the brief official summary of my accomplishments while president. This will be available in the trustee minutes of that date's meeting which should be in the archives. In addition, the Drexel archives should contain a copy of the 89-page document titled: "The Stewardship of President William S. Gaither for the Three-Year Period September 1,1984-August 31, 1987." Thanks again for keeping your eye on this write-up. I'll watch for further postings and contribute comments for you consideration as I see deficiencies or errors. WSG —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gaitherws311 (talk • contribs) 17:34, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't have ready-access to offline sources, they require a trip to the library and possibly inter-library loan. If Who's Who, the trustee resolution, and the 89-page document are online please please post links here, or wait until I have time to Google for them.  davidwr/  (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  17:59, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I can provide links to those documents in the next few days.DrexelArchives (talk) 21:33, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I'll keep watching this article, but do drop me a line on my talk page when they are ready. davidwr/  (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  22:13, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Disclaimer section - opening a discussion on WikiProject Biography
This is quite unorthodox but it may be the creative solution this article needs to balance the need for encyclopedic content, the conflict of interest policy, WP:HARM, and WP:BLP, at least in the short term until the article can be overhauled.

I've opened a disucssion at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Biography to get the opinion of experienced biography-article writers about this. I'll also drop a note on the editor's talk page. davidwr/ (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  19:21, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Totally disputed tag
See this and subsequent edits of Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Biography for discussion. davidwr/ (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  22:37, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

As I watch the comings and goings of anonymous contributors to my biography I am reminded of a writhing bunch of maggots working on a decaying corpse which means nothing to them except providing short-term nourishment for their appetites.

William S. Gaither  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gaitherws311 (talk • contribs) 23:26, 26 December 2008 (UTC)


 * An interesting analogy, but I think it best if we put that on one side for the moment.
 * To progress this issue I think it is best if we begin by clarifying all the areas of dispute that you have with this article. Once all the problems have been identified we can work towards a solution that is hopefully acceptable to everyone.
 * From reading the previous discussions, I believe that your main bone of contention is that the circumstances leading up to your resignation are given undue weight when compared to the entirety of your life. Would that be a fair summary of your complaint? Are there any other issues that you have a problem with? Road Wizard (talk) 23:42, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

I have made a number of suggestions to correct errors and increase scope of biographical coverage. Only one modest, and largely inconsequential, change has been made in the write-up. In an effort to understand why this site was set up and why its limited contents, On December 5, 2008 I called the Drexel University Office of the Archivist and spoke to Rob Sieczkiewicv (sp?) at (215) 895-1757 and Rebecca Goldman (215) 895-1853. Rob promised to look into the article and said he would be in touch via e-mail very soon. He has never contacted me.

I feel like I'm in a Lewis Carroll Alice-in-Wonderland situation where I am talking to individuals with strange names such as ImmortalGoddezz, Lightbot, AnomieBOT, Bradv, ChildofMidnight, Road Wizard, Rosiestep, and Davidwr. I had no idea that Wikipedia was such a playground for people who will not identify themselves and speak to me directly to improve the site. This experience diminishes my opinion of Wikipedia and the process it follows to create and improve articles of supposed factual information. I leave this site to the mischievous fairies of the internet. Enjoy --- —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gaitherws311 (talk • contribs) 03:32, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Obituary is a single source and needs verification
I've tried to find mention of the death of Dr. Gaither elsewhere and I can't. I expect to have more news later this week.

In the meantime I'm rolling back all changes to the article and talk page that say he died - it's better to err on the side of caution here. davidwr/ (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  02:50, 22 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Further information from : "GAITHER, William S., December 3, 1932 - September 11, 2009. William S. Gaither lived a full and adventurous life. He was born during the Great Depression on a farm in Indiana. His mother died when he was seven and he was sent to live with foster parents on a nearby farm. Work was hard but fulfilling. Bill graduated from New Richmond High School, first in his class of eight students, earned an engineering degree at Rose Polytechnic Institute and later three graduate degrees from Princeton. In addition to his work as a civil engineer, he served as a college dean and a university president. He is survived by his wife, Robin Cornwall McGraw; his daughter, Sarah Gaither Setton; and two grandchildren, Hannah and Jack. Arrangements by BRING'S BROADWAY CHAPEL, 6910 E. Broadway."
 * The obit linked above indicates a memorial service will be held in Arizona in the Spring.  This is consistent with information that he was involved with the Solar Bullet rail project in Arizona.   See, , and other sources. The year of birth is also consistent with existing information.
 * Therefore, I am restoring the information indicating he is deceased. davidwr/ (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  13:31, 22 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Confirmed deceased through private correspondence. davidwr/  (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  22:41, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

removing POV tag with no active discussion per Template:POV
I've removed an old neutrality tag from this page that appears to have no active discussion per the instructions at Template:POV:
 * This template is not meant to be a permanent resident on any article. Remove this template whenever:
 * There is consensus on the talkpage or the NPOV Noticeboard that the issue has been resolved
 * It is not clear what the neutrality issue is, and no satisfactory explanation has been given
 * In the absence of any discussion, or if the discussion has become dormant.

Since there's no evidence of ongoing discussion, I'm removing the tag for now. If discussion is continuing and I've failed to see it, however, please feel free to restore the template and continue to address the issues. Thanks to everybody working on this one! -- Khazar2 (talk) 01:43, 22 June 2013 (UTC)