User:Paul August/Subpage 13

I was born in 1950, received a PhD in mathematics in 1980. I live in Cambridge, MA.

I have been a Wikipedian since Jul 2004, and an admin since May 2005. I have over 26,000 edits. I have participated in a wide range of activities on WP. My writing has been mainly in the areas of mathematics and classical history. I have written one FA and contributed to a few others. I'm an active participant in the Mathematics Project. I've performed maintenance and fought vandalism. I'm familiar with the policy and procedures of Wikipedia. I've never opened or been the subject of an RfC or ArbCom case, but I've closely followed and contributed to several.

I care deeply about our encyclopedia.

Since I now have the luxury of no longer needing to work for a living (I married well and invested wisely ;-), Wikipedia has become my life's work. And it is more fulfilling than any work I've done before.

For me, contributing to Wikipedia is a noble act. Knowledge is power. We can all feel justifiably proud that the words we are helping to write, will help to empower untold millions of people, all over the world.

However Wikipedia is not a perfect world. There are plenty of people, who go out of their way to attack and disrupt, more of us need to go out of our way to cherish and support. It is probably not enough for us to simply be polite, reasonable and constructive. We need to do more. We need to actively cultivate, nurture and sustain our fellow editors.

The job of the ArbCom, then, is to serve the writers of the encyclopedia by helping to maintain a positive and productive working environment. This is an important job. I would like to help.

On the other hand, it has not been the ArbCom's job to decide content, nor to write policy, nor to govern. There are those who feel that ArbCom's role should be expanded to include these things. I do not. As a member of ArbCom I would work to keep its power properly circumscribed.

I am cool headed. I can say without exaggeration that I have never typed a word in anger on Wikipedia. Filiocht (perhaps the editor I've most respected and admired) once told me that I was the most considered editor he knew. I think it might have been a polite way of saying I was slow, but I do think before I type. I also consider myself able to be objective and impartial (but then don't we all).