User talk:BX9438Q/2008

Linda Darling-Hammond
I see that you have added in content to Dr. Darling-Hammond's page that was removed. That content was removed because it is not a statement of fact on the work of Dr. Darling Hammond, but an opinion posted by someone with objections to Darling-Hammond's research. This is a biography page, and that study is one of dozens of studies Dr. Darling-Hammond has conducted over her long career. To give it that level of detail without doing so with her other studies on principal education, student assessment, school redesign, district redesign, and leadership preparation is inappropriate on her biographical page. As I suggested to others who object to her research, there is no problem with objections and debates, but those shoud take place on the page covering that topic (i.e., the TFA page), not Darling-Hammond's biographical page. If you wish to discuss this, I am reachable at bmckenna@stanford.edu. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Barbaramckenna (talk • contribs) 18:21, 10 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Resolution: Compromise reached. See Controversy section of Talk:Linda Darling-Hammond.Flyte35 (talk) 06:56, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

Only warning
Your recent editing to Linda Darling-Hammond has been problematic. Please cease restoring that section by edit warring. Until you can demonstrate explicitly (ie. via an article RfC) that consensus supports readding the content, you cannot restore it; this is specifically noted at our policy regarding biographies of living persons. Please also aquaint yourself with this decision. Daniel (talk) 17:16, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Resolution: Compromise reached. See Controversy section of Talk:Linda Darling-Hammond.Flyte35 (talk) 07:06, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Hey, Flyte, what's up with your pruning of the Columbia Journalism School "notable alumni" list? Your edits do not seem to be informed by knowing much about who is or is not notable in the world of journalism -- or at least TV journalism. Aside from Bettag, above, you now excise Phil Scheffler. Scheffler was the senior producer of 60 Minutes for many years. I understand (like you am irritated by) the unparalleled opportunity Wikipedia offers to puff up the importance of people who are truly not notable. But I think your bar is set improperly here. In the world in which the Columbia Journalism School operates, both of these guys are, in fact, very important people. While Wikipedia may not have (nor, possibly, need) independent bios of them their inclusion in a list of people who are important and notable is appropriate.

I agree that not every person who ever graduated from CJS who went on to get a job in the industry should be included in a notable alumni list, there are important leaders in the industry who are worthy of mention -- particularly in this context. Scheffler, like Bettag, is one of them. Again, I do applaud your diligence and share many of your sentiments. It is entirely possible that you are in the journalism industry, but are a member of a generation that has yet to learn about the people who have led it up until now. If so, I suggest you treat this as a learning opportunity. These are the guys who shaped the journalistic world we live in. If you don't recognize their names, that may illustrate a gap in your own knowledge. Before you assume such mentions as mistaken attempts to inflate someone's importance, find out who they are. Once you have, then your assessments of who should be excised may become more reliable. Roregan (talk) 14:49, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Tom Bettag
I undid your removal of Bettag from the Columbia J School "notable alumni" list. Bettag is one of the most important and respected producers of tv journalism in the industry today. While the list has him as former EP of Nightline, he is now the EP of Ted Koppel's Discovery Channel documentaries. It is an odd lacuna in the popular understanding of who does what in television that correspondents -- no matter how obscure -- are considered notable and those who are often much more responsible for the content of what we all see are overlooked. Bettag is an important figure in tv journalism and, as such, belongs on this list. Roregan (talk) 22:40, 2 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Resolution: Tom Bettag retained in Notable alumni section of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.Flyte35 (talk) 06:59, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

Notables
Re: Your idea that people are notable on lists because they have no separate article already devoted to them misses one of the main ways that Wikipedia grows. Quite often the biographies of people follow their inclusion in lists of things like notable alumni and award winners and the like. We're dealing with a constantly-changing and growing body of knowledge here. As you have explained, you look for people in lists of notables who don't have independent articles and then remove the mentions of them without having any idea who those people are. How is that helpful? As for creating articles about those people, while I appreciate your suggestion that I take your excisions as an assignment sheet for myself, I have other things to do right now. In the meantime, I reiterate my suggestion that you learn from this experience. There are reasons these people are notable, even if you don't know them. Roregan (talk) 12:02, 8 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Resolution: see re: Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism at User talk:Roregan. Philip Scheffler continues to have no Wikipedia entry.Flyte35 (talk) 07:05, 25 January 2010 (UTC)