Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections January 2006/Candidate statements/Filiocht

I've been around since about July 2003, one way or the other, and became an admin around the end of that year. Anyone with an interest in the more obscure corners of 20th century literature may have seen some of my edits.

I have no position on the performance of the existing ArbCom, and nothing I say should be taken as implicit criticism. I run on a simple platform. I would aim to follow the following basic principles:

Equality of respect: the same standards of behaviour should be extended to and expected of all users. Being an admin gives me no rights that are not also extended to non-admins, I deserve no more leeway than someone who has been here for 3 months. Of course, I exclude the real newcomers, who should never be bitten.
Wikilove: enough said.
Assume good faith: ditto.
Talking is better than blocking, discussing is better than voting. In the last resort, blocking/banning is better than letting one person drain the time, energy and goodwill of the many.
We're here to build an encyclopaedia, not a playground.

Beyond these, I have no preconceptions and would expect to grow into the role according to the needs of Wikipedia. Filiocht | The kettle's on 14:42, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Questions and comments

Dear Filiocht, is your role in ArbCom going to interfere with the time you spred in improving and writing literature articles? Will you become only a bureaucrat or will you remain an editor? Cheers and all the best, muriel@pt 12:05, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Muriel, long time no see. I will indeed continue to edit in the world of literature and anything else that interests me, if I ever finish List of cultural references in The Divine Comedy. Thanks for asking, hope my answer does not disappoint you too much. Filiocht | The kettle's on 07:11, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
- Not at all because after all we're here to build an encyclopaedia, not a playground, to cite my favorite candidate. ;) muriel@pt 09:19, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Some questions being asked of all the candidates by jguk

Q: How old are you and what do you do? (If student, please state what subjects you are studying.)

A: I'm 51 and I work in scientific publishing, as well as being a widely published poet. I also occasionally teach and give talks on literary subjects.

Q: How many hours a month do you think you will need to be a good Arbitrator and are you really willing to put in the time?

A: Without seeming to evade the question, as many as are needed. How long is a piece of string?

Q: If chosen, you will need to arbitrate on disputes arising from the creation or revision of articles. Experience of creating and revising articles yourself, particularly where it has involved collaboration, is very valuable in understanding the mindset of disputants who come to arbitration. With reference to your own edits in the main article namespace, please demonstrate why you think you have the right experience to be a good arbitrator.

A: I have a lot of experience editing and creating articles, including a reasonable number of FAs, and have managed to never become involved in an edit war. I like to think that this is because I believe in achieving consensus as the primary means of defusing conflict. I think that my experience speaks for itself; however, I do not mean this in any arrogant sense. What I mean is that anyone who looks at my record as an editor will either conclude that I have handled myself reasonably or that modernist poetry is a field that is unlikely to give rise to conflict in the first place (if only!).

Q: Please list out what other Wikipedia usernames you have edited under.

A: I originally edited as an anon, then as User:Bmills. That username in combination with my field of interest made it easy for others in the same field to identify me and to start requesting articles on them or on their hobbyhorses. I will admit that this freaked me out at first, but then I came up with the simple solution of changing the name. The fact that it took me so long to do so may bring my credentials into doubt. Filiocht | The kettle's on 11:44, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Request from Dragons flight

Arbcom is overworked and no fun. Please review these discussions: [1][2] [3] Come up with a short list of suggestions for ways you would endorse for improving the arbitration process. Bonus points for actually managing to create new policy. Dragons flight 07:57, 11 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]