User:Will Beback/TM-Personal editing

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Background
I'd edited a few articles in the topics, sometimes at the request of TimidGuy, over several years but I didn't start paying attention to the topic until March 2009. I saw a complaint at WP:COI going unanswered and I soon realized that the topic was dominated by an effective, coherent group of "pro-" editors who frequently agreed between themselves to remove negative material and add positive coverage. In the edit histories and archives I found that there had been "anti-" editors in previous years but that they had all mostly left and the two active such editors were ineffective, in part due to their inappropriate behavior. I became increasingly involved over the summer of 2009, though still not following or understanding every thread, issue, or edit. I turned my full attention to the matter in September and then began researching the topic. In January 2010 I discovered by analyzing non-logged edits that several of the TM editors were using IPs in Fairfield. I started consulting privately with other users and sent the evidence to a Checkuser. He reported that seven of the TM editors I listed had shared IPs and described in vague terms some other potential issues. I then shared the evidence with others, including former ArbCom members, asking for advise on how to proceed. I've tried to follow that advice, which included making a good faith effort to avoid arbitration by repeating the request to let go of the topic and then filing an SPI request.

The TM editors in Fairfield have access to a library containing 100s of studies conducted by movement along with other works by or about the Maharishi and his movement, and they admit to decades of experience. A previously uninvolved editor such as myself is mismatched when it comes to research, though I've begun to assemble on- and off-line sources for this topic.

Personal editing
I have written five articles related to the TM movement, one in August and the rest since December. Four of them have gone through DYK.


 * David Orme-Johnson - a leading TM academic and researcher who has published over 100 peer-reviewed studies and who is repeatedly cited on Wikipedia. There have been no significant controversies about this article, though TM editors showed amusement at its creation. It's only had 154 edits, and no significant changes have been made to it since three weeks after its creation in August 2009, showing its stability. A TM editor congratulated me on the tone of the article.


 * Bevan Morris - one of the key leaders of the TM movement in the U.S. and internationally who has too many titles to list here. That article has required only 22 edits, the last made just three days after its creation on December 19. It has been a very stable article, which is a reflection of its neutrality and strong sourcing.


 * Transcendental Meditation movement - this was created as the umbrella article to put all the various programs and organizations and movement-related material into a general context. It was a particular response to TM editors who kept deleting material from the TM article on the theory that since TM is just a technique it cannot also be an organization. After much trepidation on the part of TM editors, the article I posted on November 6 was non-controversial and I was thanked by editors. Although it has been edited actively since then, that's natural because it is a large and complex movement.


 * Maharishi University of Management stabbing - this case was reported nationally and internationally. The movement says its activities create a shield of invincibility which reduces crime and violence over a large population extending even to Canada, so a murder on campus received special attention. Rather than a straightforward account of the incident, the previous text in the TM article (rather than in the MUM article where it would have made more sense) only concerned the resulting wrongful death lawsuits against the university and a movement entity, which depicted those institutions as the victims. After deciding amongst themselves that it was off-topic, it was deleted entirely by TM editors. I only noticed all of this months after it happened, while looking through the edit history. When I saw the text I started researching it and found there were enough sources to merit at least a few hundred words. I added that text to the MUM article and then some TM editors expressed a preference for it to be split off into a standalone article, which I did. Created December 22, it hasn't had a significant edit in a month, and only 58 altogether. Some TM-editors were strongly opposed to making it a DYK, one editor canvassing for input. As far as COI goes, IIRC, one of the editors said that he was present in the dining hall when the murder occurred. This is the only article I've created that can be considered at all negative, but I believe it is well-sourced, is written using the neutral POV, and there are no outstanding issues concerning it.


 * Tony Nader - now called "Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam", is the formal successor to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and nominal head of the large TM movement. Despite the fact that this is an important yet delicate BLP, the TM editors have not made a single edit to it, which I believe is evidence that it was well-written to start with. Before I wrote this article, he was not mentioned anywhere on Wikipedia. I also added the first mention of another leading successor, the Maharishi's nephew. This shows that TM editors are not objective enough to add even the most basic information about the movement..

I've been complimented by TM editors on other occasions:


 * By the way, I've been wanting to tell you how much I appreciate the work you're doing on the article, particularly all the time you spent on the references. (I still have in mind to look up the Jenssen ref.) And in general, it seems like we're collaborating more than before. I've really appreciated the times recently when you've agreed with me that a source could be represented more neutrally. And around the time you told ChemProf that it wasn't necessary to have permission to create an article, I had been thinking for several days how grateful I was that you were first discussing the movement article rather than just going ahead and creating it. So, thanks for these and other recent instances that made me feel good about our collaboration. [..]TimidGuy (talk) 01:13, 22 November 2009 (UTC)


 * You have done a good job in reorganizing this section, Will. I like your idea to move most of the ME discussion to the TM-Sidhi article, just leving a brief summary of it here as it pertains to Hagelin. --BwB (talk) 14:55, 28 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes, I think your trimmed version is a definite improvement.Hickorybark (talk) 15:43, 29 December 2009 (UTC)


 * It looks good. I think you did a nice job.-- — Kbob • Talk • 03:49, 23 December 2009 (UTC) 


 * We don't always see eye to eye on things, but still, I wanted to thank you for all of the good work you've done on the TM related articles. I've noticed and very much appreciate, your efforts. (olive (talk) 21:16, 16 December 2009 (UTC))