Talk:Al Runte

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Request for Comment: Al Runte
[edit]

This is a dispute about the proper inclusion of material regarding Seattle politician Al Runte. 04:08, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Statements by editors previously involved in dispute

Al Runte made many references to his history as a college educator, using the word "professor" (which has been disputed) and making other references to his past academic stature. Mr. Runte was denied tenure, then re-employment at the University of Washington repeatedly between 1980 and 1998. This resulted in lawsuits against the UW involving charges of discrimination and conspiracy. All of this is backed up by the references (one of which Lehigh Valley disputes for vague reasons), but was removed by User:LehighValley. - Keith D. Tyler ¶ (AMA) 04:08, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

User:LehighValley added material focusing on Al Runte's publication and award history and accolades. Whether or not the material is true, it should be referenced. - Keith D. Tyler ¶ (AMA) 04:08, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Comments

"He spoke before a crowd of diverse neighborhood groups in early 2006 which marched on Woodland Park Zoo to protest the mayor's failure to appease neighborhood interests on upcoming city park developments.". The use of the phrase "failure to appease" is wholly inappropriate. There are many more neutral ways to describe the debate without talking about "appeasement".
Well, I think at least that the phrase is an honest reflection of the sentiment of the diverse neighborhood groups that took part in the event. Also, I contest User:LehighValley's insistence that the protest was only about "building a parking garage in a city park". While the protest did take place at that park, and the garage was one of the contested actions, there were many other concerns represented. See P-I story in the references. Now, Runte did speak at that protest (OR), and maybe his speech only focused on the WPZ plan, but that's a characterization of Runte's words, not of the protest he spoke at. - Keith D. Tyler ¶ (AMA) 17:55, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

About the use of the title "Professor"-- what was the reference that mentions the controversy? My own experience has been that asssistant professors are, in fact, colloquially refered to as "Professor", but if there's a reputable source showing that Runte was implying he was a full proefessor, obviously, that's a different story.
One of the other mayoral candidates challenged his use of the term "professor". The source on that is that person's own materials. However, I can't find the same challenge in another source. Maybe it's NN. As far as implying, it's a hard call, I think. Certainly he placed emphasis on his having been "a professor" during the campaign. [1] - Keith D. Tyler ¶ (AMA) 17:55, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

The bio details should be referenced, but let's not remove them if they're not disputed. Ideally every fact in Wikipedia should be referenced, but in practice, much of the content isn't controversial, so it isn't referenced.
I don't dispute them, but there's so many specific details that I think a simple reference would be good. The contributor flatly refused to come up with a single one. - Keith D. Tyler ¶ (AMA) 17:55, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

A little of the current version of the article was a little too Pro-Runte. The praise for his book was a little excessive, for example. The emphasis that the park was a century old. Calling him an authority on X,Y, and Z-- it might be better to just say what his work focuses on X,Y, and Z. So, I've made some changes.

--Alecmconroy 05:31, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Biography assessment rating comment

The article may be improved by following the WikiProject Biography 11 easy steps to producing at least a B article. -- Jreferee 17:49, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]