Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/PumpkinSky: Difference between revisions

Voice your opinion on this candidate (talk page) (25/4/1); Scheduled to end 22:45, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

PumpkinSky (talk · contribs) – Hello everyone. I'm here to ask that you consider for adminship one of our most experienced and hard-working editors: User:PumpkinSky. Under his previous username, User:Rlevse, this editor served English Wikipedia as an administrator, bureaucrat and arbitrator, contributing over 90,000 edits. Rlevse created over 100 new articles, performed over 5000 administrative actions, and helped over a dozen articles reach featured status, on topics ranging from U.S. presidents to Scouting to famous animators.

Despite these accomplishments, one can't give an honest history of this editor's contributions without acknowledging the mistakes of 2010. Put simply, at that time PumpkinSky did not understand copyright very well, and he inadvertently put the project at risk by including content in some articles that was improperly attributed, too closely paraphrased, or otherwise ran afoul of our copyright policies. In response to these discoveries, he resigned his tools and left the project two years ago this month.

Fortunately, he is back: hard-working as ever, but with a much better appreciation of the pitfalls of copyright issues. There were some hiccups in February, where a couple of inadequately attributed sections were found in his contributions, but if you have any concerns about PumpkinSky's current understanding of copyright, I encourage you to study both a sample of his contributions since February as well as the February 2012 PumpkinSky CCI, which should give you a full picture of this editor's contributions. Needless to say, he is quite keen to avoid a repeat of any copyright problems, and has been quick to ask other editors whenever he's concerned an addition of his needs another pair of eyes to ensure its copyright compliance.

(He has also been helping out on other editors' CCIs, both to gain more experience in the copyright realm, and to "pay forward" the work of the editors who were kind enough to clear his own CCIs.)

PumpkinSky is an experienced, helpful and hard-working editor who cares deeply about this project. I know he can do good admin work, because I've seen him do it. I hope you will agree that the time is right to allow him to resume his work as an administrator. 28bytes (talk) 21:46, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I second the nomination of PumpkinSky, as a content contributor, as an admin, and as an editor of Wikipedia.

I do not think anyone could question the competence of PumpkinSky, when he edited as Rlevse, in any of the functions he held. The worst I heard of him was that some people said he was too arrogant. I daresay his experience the last few months has taken care of that.

The circumstances of his departure, and return should not give concern, nor should he have to wait some arbitrary period before seeking adminship. Yes, he panicked over an accusation of close paraphrasing, and retired and took RTV. However, a thorough investigation of his contributions found no more problems than, say, any content contributor might see if someone very pickily audited their contributions. The circumstances of his departure do not show that he would be any less effective as admin than he was before.

On his return, there was much hot air, and an admin blocked him for "abusing multiple accounts". However, the accusation was not socking, but simply a dubious interpretation of WP:RTV. RTV isn't a blockable offense, it just says we retag all prior contributions so we can keep straight of who it is made what contributions. There was never any evidence of socking, and there was considerable good reason to believe the admin had acted mistakenly. It's unsurprising, in retrospect, that there was no drama at his unblocking, and he was welcomed back by most. I do not see how any of this makes him a less effective admin, or less worthy of the community trust he has often enjoyed.

Since his return, he has worked quietly and diligently, bringing an article he began through to FA and TFA. He recently was a major part of bringing Franz Kafka to FA, which won second place in the Core Competition. He is a solid editor, and has proven worthy of regaining the adminship he voluntarily gave up. I have been here long enough to know that this will not be accomplished without drama (I would be happy to be proved wrong though), but he will be as good an admin as he always was. Nothing which happened changes that.--Wehwalt (talk) 21:48, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm honored and humbled to be allowed to be a part of this nomination. I have some points that I'd like to make here, but before I do I want to speak from my heart. I first ran into PS as Rlevse years ago. Over the years we have disagreed on many things, but have always found a way forward. At one point I got disgusted and walked away from the project; after a few months of being away from Wikipedia - Rlevse sent me an email. He asked me to come back and contribute to the project. Eventually I did come back, and I often have mixed feelings about the project - but I do know that there are good people such as PumpkinSky who encourages people to contribute to our efforts. I've watched as he reached across the divide to find a common ground with people he had differences with, and admire his selfless devotion to the betterment of the project. This is a man that stood at the top - an arb, CU, admin., and suffered a downfall of proportions that crumbled his soul to the point where he asked to be vanished. He proved his worth to get to the top - and then took the weight of Grace Sherwood on his shoulders and bowed out. He learned what it was to suffer the indignation that Wikipedia can impose on a person - and yet had the strength and courage to return, start from scratch, and prove his worth again. I'm drifting into a personal appeal here, and I apologize for that - let me point to the simple facts I'd like to make. PS knows his way around the project, and he uses his abilities to encourage others. Not just "registered" users .. such as his helping long established editors at DYK:

• Template:Did you know nominations/Lekythion
• User_talk:PumpkinSky#DYK_help.3F
• User_talk:PumpkinSky#Brow_Monument_and_Brow_Monument_Trail

I also ran into a couple IP editors who had done work creating articles at WP:AFC and the articles deserved notice. While I was able to move the articles to mainspace .. I was not familiar with the DYK process - and when I mentioned it to PS - he took the bull by the horns and helped get the articles to front-page status, and give credit to anon. IP editors.

• IP editors: Template:Did you know nominations/Ebru Umar, Metro (Dutch newspaper). User:66.168.247.159 got a DYK for Ebru Umar and User:207.157.121.92 for Metro (Dutch newspaper).

These types of things speak to the effort in editor retention, and the encouragement of all editors to contribute to our project ; so aside from the great work in many of the FA areas, I feel we have a great need of admins. who work in this area of encouraging new editors. — Ched :  ?  22:08, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I too would like to nominate PumpkinSky for your consideration. If you’ve been around awhile, it’s likely that you better knew him as Rlevse, one of the most prolific all-around users. He was an administrator, bureaucrat, arbitrator, checkuser, oversighter, and above all, a great editor. However, faced with an allegation of close paraphrasing and copyright violation, he made a poor choice by invoking the right to vanish instead of working to allay others’ concerns. I don’t doubt that this was a bad choice, but both ensuing CCIs (contributor copyright investigation) looked at every edit of his and didn’t find much of anything. I know that a few sentences of too-close paraphrasing were found, but this does not mean that PumpkinSky does not understand copyright - in fact, I believe that having all of his contributions examined so closely means that he understands close paraphrasing (incidentally found in only a few edits) and copyright violation better. I also want to point out that the same person is still behind the screen, so his impeccable ability to determine consensus still exists. His ability to handle contentious discussions with ease means that both lazy admins like me won’t have to do it (just kidding...mostly!) and the wiki will run more efficiently.

PumpkinSky has been in every position possible on the wiki, and this will make him a better administrator. Not only has he been one of the most stalwart, trusted members of the community, but he has also been on the business end of an indef block. I believe that he will be better able to deal with the concerns of blocked users and liaise with highly-trusted ones because he has experienced both sides of the coin. I want to address, briefly, the concerns of sockpuppetry. When it was revealed that PumpkinSky and Rlevse were the same person, cries of “sock!” abounded - however, I would like to point out that the two accounts never edited concurrently and he followed the policy of Clean Starts to the letter. The current link between the accounts should have been the only consequence of that failed clean start, not a sullied block log for socking.

Finally, I want to point out PumpkinSky’s amazing content work and collaboration, because he will be an excellent content admin. His greatest accomplishment so far - in my humble opinion - is Yogo sapphire, primarily written by him and Montanabw. The amazing part is that a whole clutch of Wikipedians were involved in this achievement, and I watched from afar as many of our colleagues flocked to the article. It was wonderful to watch. Not simply content to write featured articles, PumpkinSky also has one featured list and two good articles, along with 49 DYK credits. I don’t even have to bring up his 15 FAs under his previous name to prove that he’s an excellent content contributor. He also is incredibly generous with his expertise; PumpkinSky has helped me in multiple FACs, as he has with many other editors, and the content we write is so much better for it. Like my co-nominator said in his recent RfB, “I wish everybody I unblocked went off and wrote an FA”. I wish the same, and I hope you will be thoughtful and give him the consideration he deserves. Keilana|^{Parlez ici} 22:21, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Candidate, please indicate acceptance of the nomination here: I am truly humbled that four people of this caliber are willing to co-nom me and think I am again worthy of being considered for adminship by the wiki community. While the thought of posting to WP:BN did cross my mind, I wanted the entire community to have a voice in this request; I therefore accept this nomination.PumpkinSky talk 22:31, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Dear candidate, thank you for offering to serve Wikipedia as an administrator. Please answer these questions to provide guidance for participants:

1. What administrative work do you intend to take part in?

A: I have extensive experience in many admin areas such as AN, ANI, SPI, UAA, AIV, CHU (as a former crat), 3RR, handling DYK queues, page protections, and AFD. I was also formerly on arbcom. Over on Commons I used to do a lot of dupe image deletions; since becoming active there again on July 10th I have mostly worked on closing IFDs, speedy deletions, and protecting images. I also became active again with OTRS on Sep 14th and process requests there. As an EN Wiki admin I would like to now work in areas such as deleting copies of images that have been moved to or need to be moved to Commons as there is a huge backlog in this area, once again helping with admin tasks at DYK as they could use some help there, and looking at/restoring deleted material as there are many OTRS requests that require that.

2. What are your best contributions to Wikipedia, and why?

A: I think Yogo sapphire represents my best work. I started this article in late October 2011. It became an FA in June 2012 and was on the main page as TFA 10 days later. I feel this article represents my best work ever on wiki because in my view, it is a prime example of what wiki is at its best – multiple users coming together in a collegial and cooperative manner to make an article as best as it can be. I never, in no way, could have taken this to FA alone (granted, that’s true of any FA), but it was more so in this case. I had so many people help I can’t begin to name them all. It was a true team effort. At the risk of offending some by leaving them out, there was Montanabw who did much local area research, Nikkimaria who did source checks and a very thorough copyvio check, Wehwalt with superb copyediting, Casliber and Andy Dingley with tips on how to take photos of those tiny gems, Vsmith who is the scientific/geology expert on this, and Jesse V. with a great GA review. I could go on and on. This why I think this article represents my best contribution to wiki. Similarly, I was really surprised and pleased as I recently worked with Gerda Arendt on Franz Kafka which won 2nd place in the CORE contest this year and is now a FA. Kafka was a very hard article to get to FA level.

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: Yes. My most difficult time in this regard was the Halloween 2010 Grace Sherwood issue. It was so stressful I had to leave for what I was sure at the time would be forever. I felt rather alone and isolated. The time in Jan-Feb was stressful too. I have dealt with all this by letting it all go. Real life and wiki life are much calmer now. I harbor no grudges nor ill will to anyone; not even the people I was in biggest conflict with. I simply let it all go.

4. question to self from PumpkinSky Where did you go wrong with copyright and attribution, and how can you assure the community those issues are in the past?

A: In not keeping up with current copyvio standards. I honestly thought I was in compliance as I erroneously thought if you use something and put a footnote right after it, that it was okay. Some members of the community may find this surprising, but it is the truth. Thereafter I have endeavored to learn the new, correct standards and to keep in compliance. When writing an article, I now constantly say to myself “Is this a copyvio. Is this a copyvio.” I have asked people to review any new article I write or add significantly to so that we all can be assured the writing is in compliance. It’s been some time since someone has pointed out a problem in my writing on this. This summer I began helping with Wikipedia:Contributor copyright investigations/Vanished 6551232 and it was closed on Sep 1st Since others helped me with CCI issues, I tried to reciprocate and contribute in this area as well. I am now aware of WP:UPDATE.

Additional question from Amadscientist

5. Paraphrasing is an issue many editors still do not understand. Could you tell us what you feel the standard is with paraphrasing and how it relates to copyright?

A: Paraphrasing is retelling the source in different words. If it stays too close to the source, ie "too close paraphrasing", it is a copyviolation. You need to understand what was said and then say it in your own words and sentence structure needs to be sufficiently different. You can't just be saying the same thing with a few different words.

Additional question from Skinwalker

6. Did you leak the arbcom mailing list?

A: Lord no. That was not me. The leak included arbcom discussions that occurred after I left arbcom and I had no access to. PumpkinSky talk 00:11, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Additional question from Rschen7754

7. Would you mind briefly responding to the concerns regarding your interactions with the FAC delegates earlier this year?

A: Sure, no problem. I feel the questions/concerns I brought up then are legitmate. Unfortunately, I got caught up in the discussions at that time and admittedly went too far. I regret that and apologize to those involved and the community.

Additional question from Steven Zhang

8. I apologise in advance if this seems to be a duplicate of another question. Prior to your vanishing in late 2010, you held a large number of roles on English Wikipedia. Some may feel that the lapse in judgment was severe enough to create trust issues deeming you unfit, in their minds, of being an administrator. How would you respond to these potential concerns?

A: Life is journey of perpetual learning experiences as none of us are perfect. I also learned firsthand a major lesson in that old adage, one variation of which goes something like "you don't truly understand a person (or situation) until you've been in their moccasins." I now understand what it's like to be on the other side of the fence. Hopefully, that understanding will enable me to be a better admin on wiki.

• Links for PumpkinSky: PumpkinSky (talk · contribs · deleted · count · AfD · logs · block log · lu · rfar · spi)
• Edit summary usage for PumpkinSky can be found here.

Please keep discussion constructive and civil. If you are unfamiliar with the nominee, please thoroughly review his contributions before commenting.

• Edit stats on the talk page. Keilana|^{Parlez ici} 23:05, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

1. As nom. Keilana|^{Parlez ici} 22:47, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
2. I rarely have supported RFAs in recent times because of the Archtransit effect, but I've known PS for many years, was happy to see this request pop up on my watchlist and am happy to support him. MBisanz ^talk 22:48, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
3. A wonderful attitude and dedication to the project overcomes the mistakes, especially since it's clear he won't let the same type of mistakes happen again. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 22:50, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
4. As conom.--Wehwalt (talk) 22:51, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
5. Will not cause chaos, no issues. Thine Antique Pen (talk) 22:52, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
6. Yes. Legoktm (talk) 22:54, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
7. Happy to support given my previous and my recent interactions with him. Bencherlite^Talk 22:55, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
8. Strongly. He's been a model editor since returning. Mark Arsten (talk) 22:56, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
9. Support. And if I haven't said so before - thank you for helping and walking me through the Noel F. Parrish GA. — Ched :  ?  22:57, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
10. Of course. He has the ability and knowhow we are crying out for. So he stumbled at one time -- John 8:7. Moriori (talk) 23:05, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
11. Support, unequivocally. bd2412 T 23:10, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
12. Theopolisme 23:29, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
13. Support Have seen him in many places, helping out, and could do more with the bit.--SPhilbrick(Talk) 23:40, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
14. Mistakes in 2010 as a reason to oppose? Give me a break. Support to balance out some incredible bad faith and unfounded accusations below. Ajraddatz (Talk) 23:45, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
15. Support - I'm well aware of the issues behind this and the work that was done to take care of them. However, PSky has been working harder to avoid close paraphrasing and, in my opinion, is doing a peachy job at it. He's already presented several articles to FA since his return, the most recent of which is Kafka. He's clearly not afraid of taking on big tasks where the risk of sniping may be larger than the reward. We need Admins who are willing to step up for what they see is right, and PSky fits the bill. That he's generally polite and not bitey is an added bonus. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 23:47, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
16. I think that a serious err of judgment was made some time ago, but since then PumpkinSky's hard work plus his expertise in his former roles are sufficient enough for me to support. One thing that I consider that will come up in the opposing section is trust issues. As someone who's erred severely in the past myself, all I can add is that when one is shunned or banned by the community, it's very unpleasant, and most would do everything they can to prevent that from happening again. You only stick a fork in an electric socket once. Best of luck. Steven Zhang ^{Help resolve disputes!} 00:17, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
17. Appears to have shown great improvement. Hobit (talk) 00:25, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
18. Support, one of the finest editors I've seen on the project; truly a fine individual that I think will make an excellent admin. Yes, there was a bit of a stumble with the copyright issue, but what a magnificient comeback! Great content contributor and collaborator. P'sky has my absolute trust. Dreadstar ☥ 00:42, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
19. Support – Any run-throughs I've had with PS have been favorable, and he is clearly trustworthy of the tools. TRLIJC19 (talk • contribs) 01:04, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
20. Support as nominator. 28bytes (talk) 01:08, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
21. Support I don't think the copyright issue is a problem anymore, since there's so much scrutiny. The issues with the FAC director/delegates were bad, but after such a dramatic incident in October 2010, I suppose I might blame the FAC people too, even though they had no fault in this. In short, we're all human. He can't wear the scarlet letter forever, and I have no concerns with him having the flag. Also has tried to stay out of controversy as well. --Rschen7754 01:11, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
22. Support; I'm sufficiently confident that he'll make a good administrator that I won't torture him by asking the AE question I've been waiting to spring on someone. He was fine then, he'll be fine now. The Blade of the Northern Lights (話して下さい) 01:15, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
23. Unlikely to repeat past mistakes. CharlieEchoTango (contact) 01:23, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

    You all won't count my IP vote, but PumpkinSky is a very friendly and helpful editor and you should be happy to have him around. I trust his judgment. As for the opposes--at least PumpkinSky won't have to answer a half a dozen questions by jc37, since they already oppose. Thanks PS. 66.168.247.159 (talk) 01:26, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

    (ec) I have to admit, you made me smile with that statement. I have no doubt that Rlevse/PumpkinSky could answer my typical questions in their sleep, and would likely only have asked for information concerning IAR (question 6 on that page) and why he was requesting adminship (9 on that page). But the many other concerns unfortunately preclude even getting that far. - jc37 01:40, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

    We aim to please. 66.168.247.159 (talk) 02:40, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

    Indented because, as 66.168.247.159 seems to know, IPs can't directly vote, but 66.168.247.159's comments are quite welcome. The Blade of the Northern Lights (話して下さい) 01:37, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

24. Support - Even though I might be labeled as a "new" user, I still find PumpkinSky's contributions very helpful indeed. I think that wikipedia will benefit for sure if PumpkinSky is given sysop rights. Hair^Talk 01:44, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
25. I'm Go Phightins! and I approve this message Sorry, too much presidential debate watching. With nominations from users of that caliber, how could I oppose?

1. Oppose - I strongly favour second (third, etc.) chances. (Note, in the past I strongly supported the candidate for arbcom.) But I simply do not currently feel I would trust the candidate with the tools and responsibilities of adminship at this time, per my criteria. - jc37 22:57, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

   Per User:Moriori's comments: In my recollection, he did quite a bit more than "stumble one time". Setting aside the huge amount of work that others had to do to clean up copyright concerns (paraphrasing) after him, there are the myriad levels of deception and rampant socking, and the repeated refusal to even accept he did anything problematic, amongst other things. Trust as an editor? Maybe. Trust with the tools and responsibilities of adminship (including user-rights which potentially allow for much deception and disruption)? No. - jc37 23:16, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

   I've already opposed, but the question I think worth asking (above all the many many others) would be: Is this request a first step as a ramp up to running for Arbcom again? - jc37 23:22, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

   I never used more than one account at once other than the fully disclosed "Dog" accounts before and now. Many users have these so-called "joke" accounts. I have no intention of running for Arbcom and wish I never had in the first place. Arbcom greatly diminished my joy for the project and I only wish to work with others to create good content. I've more than had my fill of wiki disputes. PumpkinSky talk 23:46, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

   Socking - that was not my impression. And that just merely noting the socking while you were supposedly "gone". Not even getting involved in the whole rtv/blocked/banned questions controversies. (AN/I is a royal pain to find diffs in.) While I would welcome evidence to the contrary, the socking is only part of the concerns leading me to oppose, though indeed a large part. - jc37 00:04, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

   How would he abuse the tools, if given them?--Wehwalt (talk) 02:01, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

   I have a better question for you: per " Arbcom greatly diminished my joy for the project and I only wish to work with others to create good content. I've more than had my fill of wiki disputes. " - If this is true, what the heck does he want with the tools? I look at his answers to q1, and I don't see how he will avoid such. There's a difference between welcoming him back as an editor, and entrusting him with these extra tools and responsiblities of adminship.

   But to try to answer your question, I don't trust him to assess consensus, the most basic and fundamental thing that an admin does. If someone doesn't understand consensus, they can't understand BOLD, IAR, and a host of other things. I don't trust him to interpret policy according to current common practice/policy/arbcom stricture. And I don't trust him to not use the tools to engage in further deception in the future.

   And no suggestion that he's contributed X amount of content as penance will change that simple fact.

   If others consider that he is valued as a content contributor, great. But he doesn't need admin tools to continue to do so. - jc37 02:39, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

   To be clear: I have no doubt that Rlevse can rattle off policy in his sleep, as I noted above. I simply do not trust him to actually adhere to it. - jc37 02:44, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2. Oppose. I'm really sorry about this, and I have a high opinion of the multitude of nominators, but I just cannot feel enough trust for the candidate in light of the copyviolations, and what appears to me to have been a grudge against some of the editors who work in the FA process, that manifested after the return under the new user name. --Tryptofish (talk) 23:14, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
3. All I can do is shake my head at the prospect that this RFA will pass easily (24-2 at the time I'm typing this) despite the candidate's colorful history, which the four lengthy nominations cheerfully shrug off. Anyone who wants to educate themselves about the candidate should take a trip through Rlevse's talk page history; I could dig up the links I remember about this candidate and post them here, but it seems pointless. It's fine for this editor to come back to edit, but returning the bit strikes me as insane. Townlake (talk) 02:35, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
4. Oppose Not sure why PumpkinSky wants to be an admin. With a spectacular implosion in the past, it doesn't seem like a very wise idea to me. Seems like you're doing a great job on content and that's a pretty good place to be in. --regentspark (comment) 02:49, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

1. Neutral - There is a trust deficit here. I fully believe that PSky is here to improve the project, and that he has the skills and experience to be an admin. I admire his drive and his courage in owning up to past mistakes. However, he misled myself and many other users. That trust doesn't reappear quickly. The admin position can cause stress (the trigger of problematic behaviour before), and I'm not sure I'm comfortable yet with him having these userrights. (I am very comfortable, nay, happy with the fact he is editing here again!) The Interior (Talk) 23:48, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

   Parking here, thinking about this a bit. --Rschen7754 00:18, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

   Moving to support. --Rschen7754 00:47, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]