Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Shalom

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Shalom

Voice your opinion (talk page) (12/7/3); Scheduled to end 01:26, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

Shalom (talk · contribs) - It's my pleasure to nominate Shalom for adminship. Some of you may know of Shalom under his old name of YechielMan, a user who underwent several unpleasant RfAs. His last one was in June of this year, and since then he has worked hard to gain/regain the trust that wasn't present in that one. Shalom has made a stack of edits to AIV (74), MFD (88), and ANI (126), and he is highly competent in those areas. He has also done great work on many articles including Template:GAicon Endgame tablebase. It is my belief that Shalom would make an excellent administrator, so I submit him to the community for judgement. Dihydrogen Monoxide 02:45, 11 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Co-nom from Riana - I'd just like to get in a word at this one :) Shalom aka Yechiel is a wonderful contributor, who has made many brilliant edits to articles related to chess and Judaism. Most of you have probably seen him at XfDs, where his comments are always pertinent and insightful. Yechiel's last RfAs failed because of an incident of vandalism and Google-bombing when he first joined Wikipedia. However, his attitude towards Wikipedia has changed vastly - I would go so far as to call him a model of the success we can achieve with our contributors given a good dose of second chances and good faith. I ask the community to consider his many thousands of good contributions since that incident - I know we are a forgiving lot, generally speaking, and would love to see that manifest itself in appointing Shalom as a worthy addition to the current administrative ranks.

Yechiel is invariably polite and constructive when dealing with fellow contributors, and is also very introspective, as shown by his reviews of his RfAs - a good trait in an admin, given that there's always a 50% chance you've done something wrong when you've blocked/deleted/protected :)

As far as paperwork goes, he has more than enough edits to satisfy edit counters, doesn't have a nasty userpage or signature, uses edit summaries and has e-mail enabled.

This is a great candidate - I hope he passes. :) ~ Riana ⁂ 02:54, 11 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Candidate, please indicate acceptance of the nomination here: Amen. Shalom (Hello • Peace) 23:08, 12 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Why I want to become an administrator
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.


As everyone knows, Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. Accordingly, we should offer the highest respect to the folks who write the articles. I have enjoyed reading articles written by the following users, among others:

  • User:V8rik, who has authored several hundred articles about chemistry
  • User:Awadewit, a graduate student, who has shared her interest in 19th century feminist literature by submitting many Good Articles and Featured Articles
  • User:Freechild, who has produced a wealth of information on the history of Omaha, Nebraska
  • User:Eliyak, a friend in real life, who has systematically improved a broad range of articles relating to Judaism.

My own article contributions, by comparison to the All-Stars, are nothing to cheer about. I have authored one Good Article on endgame tablebases, which have strongly solved the game of chess for all positions with six men or fewer on the board. I have created or added information to about fifty other articles, as listed on my userpage. (A recent statistical study found that I created about 90 article pages, but half of those are disambiguation pages and material submitted by anonymous users via Wikipedia:Articles for creation.) Currently I am working to translate some articles about kibbutzim in the Beit She'an Valley from the Hebrew Wikipedia into English. I have listed several other ideas for new articles on my writing list.

However, I spend less than half of my time on Wikipedia contributing new content. Rather, I focus the majority of my efforts to process other people's contributions and to perform various administrative tasks. I used to clean up dead-end pages, and I frequently categorize uncategorized pages. An article without wikilinks or categories generally needs to be reviewed by an experienced Wikipedia editor who can bring it closer to the standard of excellence which is our collective goal. In the process of adding wikilinks and categories, I look for other ways to improve these articles.

Of necessity, a desire to improve bad articles must be balanced by a willingness to abide by the notability guidelines. I have sent hundreds of articles to Wikipedia:Articles for deletion, Wikipedia:Proposed deletion, and Wikipedia:Speedy deletion. I also comment frequently in deletion debates. Based on my extensive experience with the deletion process, I hope to close deletion debates and to process the never-ending backlogs at CAT:CSD and CAT:PROD.

Occasionally, I patrol recent changes and Special:Newpages to revert vandalism, apply speedy deletion tags, and welcome or warn new users. Although I feel patrolling is a comparatively unproductive way to spend time on Wikipedia, I do it because I sometimes get bored, and I wish to share in the burden that the regular vandal-fighters carry every day. As an administrator, I will occasionally check WP:AIV and WP:UAA to block disruptive users and usernames.

I enjoy the opportunity to review the contribution logs of various users for sad reasons or for happy reasons. The sad reasons are the oft-ignored requests for administrator attention at Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets. Here, more than anywhere else, sysop access would be very useful for me. Noticing the slow response time for these reports, I have been analyzing some of them for the past few months. It is not always easy to make a determination, and I've developed the personality trait to ignore some of the nastier comments that arrive on my talk page when people don't like the way I feel about a sock puppetry case.

The happy reason to review contribution logs is the editor review process. I have been involved there since I requested an editor review from User:Delldot in February. I personally have reviewed about 100 users, including a dozen current administrators, in my editor review archive. I try to make sure that everyone who requests a review receives one eventually, even if it's more than a month after the request. I also maintain Wikipedia:Editor review/Archive. I encourage all of you to consider participating in Editor review as a reviewer or reviewee. I learn a lot from the sundry users who have sought my advice. It builds a sense of community which is defined not by massive discussions involving hundreds of users, but rather by one-to-one communication where the goal is to make small, steady improvements. Similarly, I have done about twenty peer reviews.

If this request succeeds, I will add a number of administrative pages, such as CAT:CSD, to the list of project pages I frequently visit. Regardless of the outcome, I will continue to do many of the content-building and maintenance tasks that have defined my role for the last several months. Shalom (Hello • Peace) 00:07, 13 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A note about my past actions of vandalism
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.


I have applied twice before for adminship under my previous username:

Both requests failed because it was revealed that I had vandalized Wikipedia, especially when I was a new editor. After the second request, I sent a long message to everyone who commented at either RFA, explaining what I had done. I will summarize the relevant information briefly.

  1. Under my main user account (YechielMan), I attempted to set up a Google bomb by planting external links into Wikipedia articles. These were literally my very first edits on Wikipedia in December 2005, about two years ago. (Riana referred to this incident in her nomination statement.) I also made a few edits of simple vandalism in late 2006, after I became aware of the policies against vandalism and disruption. Details can be found in oppose #1 of my first RFA.
  2. I also vandalized a number of times under IP addresses without logging in, during the period between November 2006 and May 2007. I was once blocked for vandalism while editing under an IP address.
  3. I created a number of alternate accounts to impersonate other users, during the period between February and June 2007. All of these accounts were indef-blocked within hours of their creation.

For the last five months, I have followed all policies and guidelines on Wikipedia to the best of my ability, and I will continue to do so. I am now asking for permission to enforce those policies as an administrator.

I apologized to the individual editors who cleaned up after my vandalism. Some of them have explicitly forgiven me; some of them did not respond to my message; and some, such as User:Interiot, are no longer active on Wikipedia. I hope you will understand that I regret what I did, and that I have changed my ways. Shalom (Hello • Peace) 00:07, 13 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A note about early XFD closures and my interpretation of IAR
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.


I was notified that some of my recent XFD closures were being questioned on the Administrators' noticeboard. Some people offered the opinion that I acted within the rules, but others wrote that I should not have closed the discussions early.

The rules on Wikipedia:Speedy keep and Wikipedia:Deletion policy do not support all of the AFD, MFD, TFD and RFD closures I have performed. The rules do not allow a non-admin to exercise judgment, but permit only the most technical actions. For example, if an administrator deleted a page, but did not yet place archive templates, a non-admin may "close" the discussion because there is nothing to discuss. (I have done this several times.)

There are some cases where I have exercised judgment while relying on the snowball clause. Usually I stick to the following criteria when I close an XFD, especially when I do it before the 5 or 7 day period has elapsed:

  1. I check that the discussion has produced a nearly unanimous result. An early closure is only appropriate if the consensus is unambiguous.
  2. I scan the article to see if there is a counterargument that someone has missed, that would call this consensus into question. If there is, I would write a dissenting opinion, or I might not comment at all. If not, I project that further comments by other users are not likely to change the result. I may also check the page history to see if the article has improved significantly since it was nominated for deletion.
  3. I close the XFD, offering a clear rationale for why I think an early closure is appropriate.

I believe that Wikipedia:Ignore all rules can be used to defend the active exercise of judgment by an experienced non-admin in clear-cut cases. Although Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Seattle MLS was not a bad-faith nomination, it also did not need to wait another four days before it could be closed. The guidelines recommending a 5-day wait for AFDs, or a 7-day wait for TFDs, are not firm policies. In some cases, 5 days is not long enough (usually because nobody has commented), or 1 day may already be long enough (usually because many people have commented). Consensus can be reached before or after the prescribed number of days. Whenever consensus is reached, that's a good time to close the discussion.

In a broader view, "Ignore all rules" is not the same as "Violate all policies." Certain policies, such as Wikipedia:No legal threats, are immutable. Some guidelines, such as the proper formatting of a disambiguation page, are so unimportant that I would consider it okay to deviate from these guidelines for any reason. Early closures of AFD belong somewhere in the middle of this continuum. I am more willing to make an early "keep" closure than an early "delete" closure, because "keep" closures are easier to undo in case of a mistake. (Thus, I would be more willing to "speedy keep" than to "speedy delete" if the criteria are not fulfilled.) I am also more willing to make an early closure after 3 days than after 1 day because most comments on most XFDs are made in the first two days or so.

I stand by the decisions I have made, but I understand that every case requires careful consideration. I will try to be even more careful in the future. From now on, I will not close an XFD early, based solely on WP:SNOW, before 24 hours have passed. Under this principle, I would not have closed the last two discussions here. Shalom (Hello • Peace) 00:23, 14 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Questions for the candidate

Dear candidate, thank you for offering to serve Wikipedia as an administrator. It is recommended that you answer these optional questions to provide guidance for participants:

1. What admin work do you intend to take part in?
A: See my statement above. Briefly, I will add CAT:CSD, CAT:PROD, WP:AIV, and WP:UAA to the list of pages I frequently visit. I will also make administrative decisions at WP:SSP and various XFDs. Shalom (Hello • Peace) 00:07, 13 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
2. What are your best contributions to Wikipedia, and why?
A: See my userpage and my statement above. My best article contribution is endgame tablebase. My best project-space contribution, taken as a whole, is my work at Wikipedia:Editor review. Shalom (Hello • Peace) 00:07, 13 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
3. Have you been in any conflicts over editing in the past or have other users caused you stress? How have you dealt with it and how will you deal with it in the future?
A: My talk page archives preserve records of several conflicts with individual editors, but these conflicts were all short-lived and are not worth discussing here. I mentioned a few examples when I answered this question at previous RFAs. On the rare occasions when I am dealing with a conflict, I try to stay focused on the issue at hand, and to treat the other user with respect. I am aware of my limitations, and if an issue (such as a determination of sock puppetry at WP:SSP) is too difficult for me to decide, I will defer to another administrator. Shalom (Hello • Peace) 00:07, 13 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Optional question from Keepscases
4. Do you plan on updating Wikipedia while under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs? Keepscases (talk) 02:15, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
--Agüeybaná (talk) 02:47, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
A:
Optional question fron Yahel Guhan
5. When is it acceptable and proper to close an xfd as delete when the majority seems to say keep, or vice versa? Yahel Guhan 03:55, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
A:


6. Going by time statistics, you have been breaking the rules longer than you have been following them, so why should I (or anyone else in the community) believe you are going to act any differnt in the future? How are we to know we can trust you will not jsut resort to your old ways, possibly doing something with the tools that can only be reverted by another admin, and mybe not even then? Yahel Guhan 03:42, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
A:


Optional questions from Kathryn NicDhàna
7. You state above that "'For the last five months, I have followed all policies and guidelines on Wikipedia to the best of my ability, and I will continue to do so." However, in your last RfA you stated that you were no longer vandalising. During that RfA it was discovered that you were still vandalising, sometimes extensively, under sockpuppet and IP accounts.[1] You lied.[2] So, why should we believe you this time? - Kathryn NicDhàna ♫♦♫ 04:31, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
A:


8. You stated here that one of your reasons for requesting adminship was: "And of course there is the ulterior motive: everyone want to be come part of the Cabal. I know adminship does not confer special status, and I have never been confused about this point. Still, I have a sense that I'm not on level with Riana and WJBscribe and all the other admins I respect unless I can do the same things they can do."[3] Do you still feel you need to be an admin to "be on level" with these other editors, and is this one of your reasons for again seeking adminship? - Kathryn NicDhàna ♫♦♫ 05:46, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
A:


9. When your vandalism was discovered, this is part of what you said in your defense: "In some cases, I have made hours' worth of good edits, then I suddenly decide I can't stand Wikipedia anymore, and the only way to remove myself from its grasp is to vandalize it and demonstrate its worthlessness to myself. I learned quickly that vandalizing under my account was a no-no, so I vandalized under IP addresses, and occasionally under throwaway socks. (I do not have any active socks, nor have I engaged in more "traditional" sockpuppetry.) Then I realized that these could be traced to my main account using Checkuser if anyone got suspicious, so I started vandalizing wikis in other languages." [4] Again, why should we believe that you will not use the extra buttons to damage the project when you are feeling angry at the project? - Kathryn NicDhàna ♫♦♫ 04:31, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
A:


10. You state above: "I created a number of alternate accounts to impersonate other users, during the period between February and June 2007. All of these accounts were indef-blocked within hours of their creation." I would like to know who you impersonated and why, and what you did to get indef-blocked. Thank you. - Kathryn NicDhàna ♫♦♫ 05:41, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
A:

General comments

RfAs for this user:

Please keep discussion constructive and civil. If you are unfamiliar with the nominee, please thoroughly review Special:Contributions/Shalom before commenting.

Discussion

Support
  1. Support - I think enough time has past since the google bomb incident and I've been impressed with the way you've handled earlier misdemeanors. I checked your contibs last week when I noticed you were wanting to run for adminship and I feel confident that you'll use the tools wisely. Ryan Postlethwaite 01:29, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Support. I have always found Shalom a very competent and helpful user. He has a lot of experience of Wikipedia's policies and processes and would clearly benefit from sysop tools. His long term dedication to this project should more than make up for his few mistakes in the past. I supported him last time and I do so again. In my opinion it is our loss that he has not been made an admin previously. WjBscribe 01:32, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Forgive and forget. Firm support per Ryan and WJBscribe. Maxim 01:37, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Support, with no reservations. Húsönd 02:01, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Support – Actions are better than words, as they always say, and Shalom has acted very sensibly thus far. —Animum (talk) 02:35, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  6. I strongly support this nomination. My interactions with Shalom have been positive, and I have found him to be a skilled user with a high amount of knowledge of policy. Wikipedia will be benefiting greatly from Shalom being an administrator. Acalamari 02:53, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  7. Support I think Shalom has learned from his past lives' mistakes and it is time. --Shirahadasha (talk) 02:57, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  8. Support Who is perfect? The question is what happens after the mistakes. Shalom has proven that he will make a great admin. --Brewcrewer (talk) 03:11, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  9. I find honesty a very important aspect in a user, especially whey they are up for admin/bureaucratship, and Shalom has applied just that in the nomination statements above. No reason to not forget the past misdemeanours. Firm user overall. 哦， 是吗？(User:O) 03:52, 20 November 2007 (GMT)
  10. I trust Shalom sufficiently given his efforts since the incidents that led me to oppose last time. Daniel 03:53, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  11. I will support. Shalom means peace in Hebrew. New York Dreams (talk)
  12. the_undertow talk 04:40, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose
  1. Absolutely not. Apologies, mate, but given your past silliness, I'm rather leery of supporting your request for extra buttons. Wikipedia has plenty of admins and will-be admins that have displayed their trustworthiness and passions for volunteering for the Wikimedia Foundation, and more specifically the English Wikipedia that we can do without someone who has engaged in ridiculous behaviour such as disparaging other's hard work and creating sockpuppets for that sole purpose. Obviously, I'm not willing to write anyone off completely, but I'm strongly opposed to you retaining extra buttons for the present. Again, apologies gaillimhConas tá tú? 03:17, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Oppose. There were serious concerns raised during your last RfA, including vandalism incidents earlier this year. It will take more time for you to regain my confidence. Sorry. Majoreditor (talk) 03:24, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Weak oppose per Majoreditor. NHRHS2010 talk 04:11, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Absolutely not, per the quotes and diffs in the optional questions I added above, and incidents like Shalom's March 2007 Devil's advocate IP vandalism that was hard to catch and disrupted links to 10 wikis, and which Shalom did not disclose in his last RfA, but later admitted to here after I found it. I was so disturbed by the findings in his last RfA that I saved diffs and watchlisted this page. He was so very determined to be an admin, so I knew this would come up. I do not believe he is a reformed vandal. He stated in his last RfA he was a reformed vandal and was found to be vandalising during the RfA and lying about it. This is stunning to me. I do not believe he has been honest above, or he would have disclosed more about his vandalism and lying rather than keeping his answers brief and making readers click to read what disclosures are there. This is the most opposed I have ever been to an RfA. - Kathryn NicDhàna ♫♦♫ 04:40, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Oppose per Kathryn. Your last RFA seemed genuine enough but you were up to no good all along. No reason to believe otherwise here. --Bloodzombie (talk) 04:45, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  6. Oppose: Sorry. I do believe that "rehabilitated vandals" can have a successful RfA, and I'd even support if I feel confident in the user. However, given your past, and the short amount of time since the last RfA, I am a bit hesitant for to support you at this time. Wait a while longer, and keep up the good work, as you are clearly on the right track. - Rjd0060 (talk) 05:41, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  7. Oppose This editor has admitted to getting fed up with the project and subsequently vandalizing it. I see no reason to believe that this might not happen again in the future, and with the admin tools, the damage that could possibly be inflicted would be magnitudes worse than simple vandalism. While I believe that vandals can be reformed, a few months just isn't enough time to see that the user is truly reformed, as per my reasons for opposition. -MBK004 (talk) 05:48, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Neutral
  1. I don't find some of your comments at AfD to be particularly productive or indicative of your knowledge of our deletion policy (for example, [5], [6], [7], and [8]), and some of your recent articles are unreferenced; WP:V is a core policy, FYI. However, you're a great person, a hard worker, and excellent to work with, regardless of what you may have done in the past. So, this is a neutral right now. מזל טוב! --Agüeybaná (talk) 03:05, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Neutral, with much respect for the candidate and his body of work. The vandalism is troubling, but I believe the candidate is unlikely to vandalize again. I think the candidate is one of the rare editors who starts out as an unproductive editor with some vandalism, and then becomes a productive contributor to the project. Doesn't happen often. My main concern is the statement regarding the closure of articles for deletion. The candidate advocates the use of WP:SNOW in cases when the debate is "nearly unanimous". In my mind, so long as the dissenting editors have valid arguments, the debate is an uphill battle which would not fall under the auspices of WP:SNOW. The main reason for having a 5 day debate is specifically to permit editors who don't happen to be editing right then to have an opportunity to provide input into the decision to remove content from the encyclopedia. I've seen articles nominated and deleted in the span of a weekend, only to be overturned at DRV and relisted by Wednesday. I'm concerned that WP:SNOW is one of several everyday tools in the candidate's toolkit, when it should be the old screwdriver hanging on the wall, taken down once in a long while when circumstances merit. I intend to further consider Shalom and his candidacy, but (regretfully) cannot offer my support at this time. Best, ZZ Claims ~ Evidence 04:30, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Mixed Feelings I dunno... I'm glad to see that your trying to get past your old vandalism ways, but I don't think that your actions during your past RFA were honorable. I'm really on the fence right now. Icestorm815 (talk) 04:50, 20 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
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