Talk:William Howard Taft Charter High School

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This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 15 January 2019 and 28 February 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Bash2012.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 12:59, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Regional Competition

How is it that Taft has "Taft has also won the Los Angeles Regional Competition every year since 1994, with the exception of 1999 and 2007." When El Camino Real won at least 6 straight (1995-2001). I think El Camino won more after 2001 but Im not sure. I will check the LA Academic Decathlon site and edit this article appropriately.Gojutremere (talk) 19:47, 5 January 2008 (UTC)gojutremere

• Basically it's a complete falsehood. I'm removing that line now. - Yohhans (talk) 00:21, 20 March 2008 (UTC)
• It's a technicality; Taft may have been one of the "wild card" teams advancing from Regionals to Statewide in some of those years. I was on the AcaDeca team a few years back and we came in 6th during Regionals, but were invited to the Sacramento competition along with a few other wild card schools. It's still considered "winning" although it isn't first place. --Sareenie (talk) 06:36, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Cleanup Tag Added

There are numerous places in this article that show editor bias and POV violations. I'd go through and clean it up now, but am extremely busy with other things (read "life") at the moment. I'll get back to it when I can, but others may have more time before I do. Manway (talk) 20:04, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

• And on that point we disagree. Wikipedia is not a news source. Shootings, gang wars, and other current events should not be included in an encyclopedic article. Stick to the facts about the school. If it's known as a dangerous school - say so and provide references to your statement. But to use Wiki as a news dump where current events are inserted into the article, no. The only time news belongs on Wiki is an event of world, national, or regional importance - and then highly referenced and placed in its own category. A student bringing a gun to school may make local news, but it's not Wiki-worthy and should properly be reverted. --Manway (talk) 03:51, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm sorry you misunderstood my point. I just thought that since it makes the school look perfect, it wasn't a very neutral point of view. I removed my comment and apologize for anything this may have caused. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chicken0895 (talk • contribs) 03:13, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Hey Chicken - no offense taken. That's what a talk page is for! We can disagree civilly here. Sorry if I came off too heavy handed. I'll post this on your talk page, as well, so I make sure you see it. --Manway (talk) 05:12, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Notable alumni

15 years is more than enough time for any entries to have been added to the existing list with necessary sourcing, and at this point this is just confusing people.

Brad Kearns (Professional Triathlete, author) Brad Wilk (drummer, Rage Against the Machine) Bruce Gary (Drummer in The Knack) Bob Bergen (voice of Luke Skywalker, Porky Pig, and Tweety Bird) Cherie Currie (singer of The Runaways) Craig Buck (Olympic volleyball player) Dale Launer (screenwriter) Ruthless People, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, My Cousin Vinny, Love Potion #9 Danny Boy O' Connor (founding member of House of Pain and La Coka Nostra) Dave Koz (saxophonist, jazz recording artist) Duffy Waldorf (Pro Golfer, PGA Tour) Epic Mazur (Bret Mazur - co-founder / co-frontman of Crazy Town) Eazy-E - Rapper Erik Schrody (Everlast) Gabe Kapler - MLB player James Domine (Musical Director/Conductor, San Fernando Valley Symphany Orchestra, composer, guitarist, novelist, poet and playwright.) Jan Smithers (Bailey on WKRP) - Actress Jane Wiedlin (founding member of The Go-Go's) Jason Bateman- Actor Jeff Fisher (head coach Tennessee Titans) Jeff Stork (pro volleyball player) Joan Jett (guitarist for The Runaways,singer/guitarist Joan Jett and The Black Hearts) Darrell Johnson (K-Dee)-rapper with Ice Cube Jordan Farmar - NBA player, Los Angeles Lakers Justine Bateman- Actress Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan (NASA astronaut, first American woman to walk in space) Kelly Paris - MLB player Kevin Kennedy (manager Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox) Larry Dierker - MLB player, manager Houston Astros Lisa Kudrow - Actress Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady of TV's Brady Bunch) Michael D. Rich - Executive Vice President of the RAND Corporation O'Shea Jackson (Ice Cube) - Rapper and actor Pete LaCock (MLB) Peter Gordon (American experimental composer and musician) Quincy Watts - Olympic gold medalist Rick Auerbach - MLB player Larry Yount (MLB) Robin Yount (MLB) Hall of Fame Steve Bartek of Oingo Boingo Steve Hartman, Sportscaster, KLAC Radio, KCBS Television Steve Smith (former USC starting wide receiver). Now with the New York Giants Strawberry Alarm Clock (1960's rock group) Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady of TV's Brady Bunch) Taco Wallace (NFL) Tiffanie Anderson(pop group) Girlicious The Electric Prunes (1960s rock group) Willard Huyck (screenwriter) American Graffiti, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Radioland Murders William Smith- Guitarist, songwriter — Preceding unsigned comment added by Manway (talk • contribs)

In the media

Taft starred as the high school used in 1976's The Boy in the Plastic Bubble with John Travolta, 1985's Mask (film), starring Cher, 1995's The Brady Bunch Movie , 2005's American Pie: Band Camp, 2006's Monk (TV series), 2007's Keith starring Jesse McCartney, 2008's music video for If I Didn't Have You by Hannah Montana co-stars Mitchel Musso and Emily Osment, and 2011's Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Taft High was mentioned in the pop-up version of the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical (2006) as the winner of the United States Academic Decathlon.

Also, Taft has been featured in many commercials, most recently for Home Depot, Skittles and the video game Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Taft High was also used in the production of the NBC show Chuck, the episode aired October 20, 2008.

Most recently, Taft High School was used as a filming location for the music video "You Better Pray" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

On many weekends and when the high school is out of session it is not unusual for it to be seen used as a filming location.

Often times, Taft is also a place during lunch time where new artists can come and entertain the students as well as promote their new music. Artists such as LAX and Franklin are an example of this statement. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brilovescollege (talk • contribs) 19:36, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

--Manway (talk) 06:08, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

School map

• http://www.tafthigh.org/school_map.jsp = http://www.webcitation.org/6OMMoo7bL

WhisperToMe (talk) 10:31, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

rolled back

I've rolled this back to a version from September; it had turned into a massive piece of puffery. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 06:23, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Scum

User:Chris3dl: Though nobody will disagree that Elliot Rodger, the perpetrator of the 2014 Isla Vista killings, is scum, he indeed is a Taft graduate, and it is inappropriate to keep removing his listing. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇} 18:06, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

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Add Elliot Rodger as notable alumni

If you do a search for "Matteo Barzini" who is listed as a notable alumni within the article, you only get About 259,000 results on google. However, if you search for "Elliot Rodger" you get about About 1,850,000 results. Elliot Rodger has had a greater cultural impact than some of the people listed on this article. So why shouldn't he be included on the list of notable alumni? Are people so adamant about not including him because he was a mass murderer? He might be a bad person, but that doesn't make him not noteworthy. Either add Elliot Rodger or remove less relevant people from the alumni list. 2601:58C:200:BCF0:61D3:BA52:5C2C:72B2 (talk) 04:56, 30 June 2023 (UTC)

His removal from this article has nothing to do with whether he is a mass murderer. We generally do not list alumni unless they have an English Wikipedia article to establish their notability. The incident is notable and has an article, 2014 Isla Vista killings, but it has no connection to the school other than the perpetrator. If you think the perpetrator Elliot Rodger is individually notable then WP:WTAF about him. Note that such an article previously existed and was redirected by user:Serial Number 54129 [1], and attempts to undo that redirect were undone by four different admins admins as WP:BIO1E. Meters (talk) 05:21, 30 June 2023 (UTC)

Elliot Rodger is obviously personally notable. I support the idea, at least at the time close to the event, to not have a Wikipedia page on him because it draws attention to killers and incels, which is what they want. However, he is more than notable, and this is a bit obvious. That's why there was a Wikipedia page on him already.

See:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Elliot_Rodger#Merger_proposal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:2014_Isla_Vista_killings#Rodger_having_a_separate_article

Chamaemelum (talk) 05:30, 30 June 2023 (UTC)

And as I already wrote, the article was redirected, and that redirect was supported by no less than four admins, so its temporary existence is not proof of his notability.

This thread is about whether he should be listed in this article, not whether there should be an article about him. Meters (talk) 05:50, 30 June 2023 (UTC)

He went to Taft. He's entirely notable. He doesn't have an article to himself because that's how Wikipedia works. We _generally_ do not list alumni unless they have articles. This is a good example of where we do include him. The Alumni list is not any sort of roll of honor. His name, ptui, should remain on the list. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 14:34, 4 July 2023 (UTC)

I concur with above. School PR would like for him to be removed from the list, but to be perfectly honest I have no idea how it is possible to think Elliot Rodger is less notable than Jeff Stork, Steve Hartman, Barry Green, Craig Buck, or Matteo Barzini. Walk outside and ask people who those people are and then ask them who Elliot Rodger is, and see whose name they recognize. Chamaemelum (talk) 18:28, 4 July 2023 (UTC)

Who cares what School PR wants? Not our concern. He was a student there. On the other hand, he was a student there for one week only, not enough to make an impression on the school or for it to have made an impression on him; it would make more sense to mention him in the World of Warcraft article as a player who became famous, since he seems to have spent a lot more time in that world than in Taft's. (Full disclosure: Taft alum here.) --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 22:19, 4 July 2023 (UTC)

If he's notable, write an article about him. No article, no inclusion. Magnolia677 (talk) 23:06, 4 July 2023 (UTC)

"Mass murderer named in article" is how we do mass murderers. It does not reduce the notability of the mass murderer. There already is an article including more about him than about, say, Sandra Black (economist), Matteo Barzini, or my friend Steve Bartek. You're trying to hold to the letter of the general rule, not to the intent of that rule (to keep people from listing their classmates and so on.) --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 23:55, 4 July 2023 (UTC)

Completely agree with the above. Also good point about if he went there for only a week--that is more relevant than the fact he doesn't have an article. Chamaemelum (talk) 00:11, 5 July 2023 (UTC)

I'm gonna kinda make a declaration here. Let's see if it holds up. Nobody who went to a school for only a week has any reason to be listed in a school's "notable alumni" list. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 23:30, 13 July 2023 (UTC)