A fact from Oakland Buddha appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 13 August 2019 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
Did you know... that after a Buddha statue was installed on an Oakland traffic median, neighborhood crime dropped by 82 percent?
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The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
In reviews I conduct, I may make small copyedits. These will only be limited to spelling and punctuation (removal of double spaces and such). I will only make substantive edits that change the flow and structure of the prose if I previously suggested and it is necessary. For replying to Reviewer comment, please use Done, Fixed, Added, Not done, Doing..., or Removed, followed by any comment you'd like to make. I will be crossing out my comments as they are redressed, and only mine. A detailed, section-by-section review will follow. —♠Vami_IV†♠15:51, 16 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
As this the first of the reviewee's articles that I have reviewed, they should note that I am a grammar pendant and will nitpick in the interest of prose quality. –♠Vami_IV†♠15:51, 16 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Though Stevenson is not Buddhist, he stated Shouldn't be present-tense. I suggest Though not a Buddhist, Stevenson [...]
Done, yes, that's a better way to word it.
In 2010, Vietnamese residents from a local church "local Vietnamese residents" would be better, I think. "local church" doesn't make me think of a Buddhist affair.
Done, on a closer reading of the reference, it does not assert that those who created the shrine were from that church.
had been painted white [...] The residents cleaned, painted, and decorated the statue, Repainted?
Done
Buddhist goddess of compassion Guan Yin "goddess" is not an accurate descriptor of a Bodhisattva. I am aware the lead of Guan Yin's article calls her a goddess, but it also says that title was given to her by the Jesuits. There is also a "the" missing before "Buddhist".
Done, while I'm not particularly uncomfortable with "goddess" given that the source and article both use that term, we can paraphrase, so changed to "icon".
For a GAN, this article is rather short. That in itself is not a problem, however, there is important context missing, and a bold and implied claim. First the elephant in the room: Can you prove that the installation of the statue and its conversion into and use as a shrine is responsible for the drop in crime its area? Where is the statue located? Who's the guy who put it up? What happened in the 19 years between its installation in 1999 and its conversion to a shrine in 2010? The article needs expansion. –♠Vami_IV†♠15:51, 16 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Added location information. Doing... a search for any more studies on the crime statistics. Awaiting feedback on what further about the man who installed it would be desirable. SeraphimbladeTalk to me03:23, 17 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Introduce Stevenson in the article prose and his role, or "title". If you have any more information on his struggles with the city of Oakland, add it to "Statue installation", but if not, then that's okay. –♠Vami_IV†♠15:51, 17 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
I was not able to find any definitive studies regarding the crime drop, so I Added text to make clear that the police did not definitively assert the shrine as the cause for it. Doing... on finding some additional material about Stevenson. The theft attempt is really the only thing I can find information on between the 1999 installation and 2010 conversion to a shrine. SeraphimbladeTalk to me23:02, 17 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Added additional details about the history of the statue before the shrine's construction. Added some additional detail about the removal attempt and complaints leading to it. Not done on Stevenson's occupation (I presume that's what you meant by "title?"), as I could not find any RS which has that information. SeraphimbladeTalk to me22:19, 26 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, regarding the theft attempt, I don't find any information that the statue was damaged. However, I also don't see any sources stating it wasn't damaged, so I don't think I'd be comfortable saying it wasn't just from that lack of information on it. SeraphimbladeTalk to me22:55, 26 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Vami IV, thank you for your advice and review. I have added the time frame to the article's lead. So far as the identity of the man who installed it, the article contains the following in the lead already: The statue was placed by neighborhood resident Dan Stevenson who was upset about the frequent use of the median for illegal dumping. What would you suggest adding? So far as proof of the link between the statue and reduced crime, I do not believe that could be proven dispositively, but the statement about crime dropping after its installation is sourced to the Oakland police. I am not certain I could do any better than that, but I will see if there were any actual studies done. I will get more specific location information as well. SeraphimbladeTalk to me19:37, 16 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.