Talk:State College Area High School

Latest comment: 17 years ago by Alansohn in topic WP:SCHOOLCRUFT

WP:SCHOOLCRUFT

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I'm sorry, these items just aren't notable for the school. Mind you, I attended this high school, and had similar achievements myself (e.g., PAML). If they are included, they can't be in this sprawling list format that's out to make it a boosterish type of thing. Do we really need to include each and every instance of people achieving something at this school? It's a WP:WALL problem - no one cares except people who already attend. The Evil Spartan 14:27, 25 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

  • I didn't attend the school and I don't even know where the school is located. I'm not sure what the air quotes around attended signify, but these types of awards and achievements are exactly what other editors -- most of whom surely join me in my ignorance of the location of the school -- look for in assessing notability. I welcome constructive suggestions to reorganizing and pruning the list. Removing it in its entirety is unacceptable. Alansohn 14:32, 25 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
Multiple attempts have been made to implement a wholesale removal of the Awards and Recognition section. In one case, the editor involved invoked a non-existent policy restricting inclusion of "information will not be relevant in 100 years." In both cases, a biased essay called "Wikipedia:Schoolcruft" was referenced as "justification" for removal of the entire section and all of its many sources. Having read this essay, there are a handful of items that often appear in school articles -- such as lists of teachers and details and ratings of items served in the school cafeteria -- that are non-encyclopedic and for which there is strong consensus that such material should be removed. In this case, the editor in question uses this one-sided essay to justify extensive details regarding the awards and other recognition received by the school and its academic and athletic programs. A review of the overwhelming majority of school articles that are nominated for deletion and end with a result of 'keep shows that it is exactly these achievements of school students, athletic and academic teams that is a substantial and decisive factor in demonstrating school notability. Discuss specific issues with specific items on talk page. In a rather circular abuse of an essay of already limited use, the editor in question has added his removal of this sourced material to the "Ways to spot Schoolcruft" laundry list as an example of "Endless lists, divided annually, of duxes and other students who have achieved, academically." Though I'm still not sure what a "dux" is, even after reading the definition, it's clear that none are listed here. This list of awards and achievements is indeed divided by years, a rather reasonable means to section off groups among the many awards the school has received; I'm sure that other alternative groupings could be considered. It is certainly possible that a reasoned case could be made to remove some of the items on the list based on actual Wikipedia policy, but there is no justification for wholesale removal of the entire list, and referencing a biased essay to which the editor has added his own actions as evidence proves -- and accomplishes -- absolutely nothing. Alansohn 14:32, 25 June 2007 (UTC)Reply