User:Frogger132

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] The Story

The Day Before

To: mdavidson@horizon.net From: mhart@horizon.net

Hello Mr. Davidson,

Thanks for taking the time to look over my idea for community service day.

As you know, I’ve been working with an organization called Reading and Math Proficiency Until Perfect (or RAMP UP!). Instead of volunteering for Habitat for Humanity or the SPCA, I was hoping to help out RAMP UP! by creating an article for them on Inter-pedia, the online free encyclopedia. They have their own website, but it is pretty limited and I hope to improve upon their on-line presence!

The article shouldn’t take too long, so after I finish, I’ll head over to help the bake sale people. Is that okay?

Thanks again,

Mike Hart

     _______________________________________________________________

To: mhart@horizon.net From: mdavidson@horizon.net

Mike,

That sounds fine. One quick question. What exactly does RAMP UP! do?

Mr. Davidson

     _______________________________________________________________

To: mdavidson@horizon.net From: mhart@horizon.net

Dear Mr. Davidson,

It’s a grassroots organization that supports the work of Charlottesville area schools. It organizes tutors and teacher’s aides that help out local elementary and middle school teachers. A lot of high school students from the area volunteer. I volunteer once a week and am very involved. That’s why I was hoping to write the article about them for community service day. You could say I’ve found my calling as far as service work goes!

Hope that helps.

Mike Hart

     _______________________________________________________________

To: mhart@horizon.net From: mdavidson@horizon.net

Mike,

It did. Shoot me an e-mail or two during community service day. I won’t be able to stop by, but I am curious to hear how it goes.

Good Luck.

Mr. Davidson

     _______________________________________________________________

The Day Of

I brought my laptop into the library, placed it on one of the large tables and settled into a big, cushion covered chair. Glancing across the icons I was tempted to goof around. But I couldn’t. I was here to work…… And sure enough, thirty minutes later, I had an article……

RAMP UP!

Background RAMP UP!, or Reading and Math Proficiency until Perfect, is a grassroots organization bent on improving young people’s math and literacy skills. It was started in Charlottesville, VA, seven years ago by a group of parents to provide a better education

for their children. Since then, it has grown into a large and influential organization that recruits and coordinates volunteers who act as teacher’s aides and tutors.

…..And click! It was published online for millions of internet surfers to see.

     _______________________________________________________________

To: mdavidson@horizon.net From: mhart@horizon.net

Hey Mr. Davidson,

I did it! Feel free to check out the article. I’m pretty proud even if it’s a bit shorter than I would like. As Inter-pedia is an open network that allows revisions, though, others should be able to add to it.

Here is the URL. www.inter-pedia.ramp-up.com

Have a nice day.

Mike Hart

     _______________________________________________________________

To: mhart@horizon.net From: mdavidson@horizon.net

Hey Mike,

I followed the URL but when I came to it, it had a big deletion notice emblazoned on the top of the page. Do you know what that’s about?

Mr. Davidson

     _______________________________________________________________       

I went to the article page and sure enough, there it was. A Speedy Deletion Notice rested on the top of the article. I followed the “Talk” link to another page where other users had begun voting on whether or not my article was appropriate for Inter-pedia. There were already two Delete votes before I fixed their “problems” with the article and subsequently jumped into the fray under the username Red Star……

Delete No links to sources to prove legitimacy. –HPLow12

• I fixed the references. I now have three outside links. – Red Star

Delete No links to outside sources. This organization is nothing other than a small-town community service group. –F.Alex

• References are fixed. But one question, is there anything wrong with an organization whose breadth of influence does not extend across the entire country? I would encourage you to take a look at some of the articles I have linked to the RAMP UP! article. They should be more than sufficient to establish this organization as prominent. –Red Star

……And after commenting on the Talk Page I went back and made a few more additions to my article……

RAMP UP!

Background RAMP UP!, or Reading and Math Proficiency until Perfect, is a non-profit grassroots organization bent on improving young people’s math and literacy skills. It was started in Charlottesville, VA, seven years ago by a group of parents to provide a better education for their children. Since then, it has grown into a large and influential organization that recruits and coordinates volunteers who act as teacher’s aides and tutors.<1>

RAMP UP! serves the Charlottesville/Albemarle community. Its mission statement consists of two main objectives: 1) Furthering the academic interests of the Charlottesville/Albemarle area elementary and middle school students. 2) Encouraging the participation of students in service activities through involvement in RAMP UP!.

RAMP UP! functions by announcing its availability to local schools. It then depends on school officials to initiate a desire for RAMP UP! involvement in student curriculum.

Its current logo consists of a silhouetted figure studying at desk.

Accomplishments RAMP UP! has been credited with numerous advancements in education by city council members and other government officials. In the past three years, local students’ standardized test scores have marked significant improvement, much of which can be attributed to RAMP UP! related projects. <2>

On December 5, 2006, over seven hundred men and women attended a RAMP UP! fundraiser. It was held at the farm of an organization member. The rally managed to raise over $15,000 for the express purpose of purchasing textbooks and other school supplies.

Membership RAMP UP! currently consists of over 250 members. 400 students have volunteered for RAMP UP! in the past year alone. <1>

In the News RAMP UP! has been the subject of many news articles as well as television shorts. On February 14, 2007 the local NBC news station ran a half hour long mini-documentary on the organization. Entitled Action and Awareness: RAMP UP! In Our Community, it gave an in-depth look into the founding, growth and current functioning of RAMP UP! <3>

Leadership The current President of RAMP UP! is Marty Craw. An active service worker for twenty-three years, he quit his job in October of 2007 to devote the entirety of his time to RAMP UP!

Sources <1> www.dailyprogress-RAMPUP!.com

<2> www.thepost.news.local.RAMPUP!.com

<3> www.timesweekly-communityorganizationgrows.com

……Then I sent Mr. Davidson a quick e-mail.

        _______________________________________________________________    

To: mdavidson@horizon.net From: mhart@horizon.net

Hey Mr. Davidson,

I think I fixed the article. Thanks for the heads up!

Mike Hart

       _______________________________________________________________     

When I checked back, though, my changes had not been applauded by new comments from other users at the RAMP UP! talk page. F.Alex had not responded to my comment, which left me a bit peeved, as he was still online. Worse, the users seemed to regard my “sources” as illegitimate……

Delete No links to sources to prove legitimacy. –HPLow12

• I fixed the references. I now have two outside links. – Red Star
  • Hmmm, okay, make sure your article meets the IP:Article guidelines, though. –HPLow12

Delete No links to outside sources. This organization is nothing other than a small-town community service group. –F.Alex

• References are fixed. But one question, is there anything wrong with an organization whose breadth of influence does not extend across the entire country? I would encourage you to take a look at some of the articles I have linked to the RAMP UP! article. They should be more than sufficient to establish this organization as prominent. –Red Star
  • Of course it is fine to criticize my article, but would it be too hard to respond to my inquiry? - Red Star

Delete As the user who posted the Speedy Deletion Notice, I returned to find very little improvement. The article has no reliable sources and is not known outside of a small area. –Hellohello

……After reading the continued criticism, I went back and found the main site for the RAMP UP! organization. I posted the link at the RAMP UP! article on Inter-pedia, hoping that if the users could see that as the organization had taken the time to make a website, it was worthy of an entry. When I did this and then returned to the article a few hours later, I saw my efforts were of no avail. In the subsequent flurry of exchanges, I lost it……

Delete No links to sources to prove legitimacy. –HPLow12

• I fixed the references. I now have two outside links. – Red Star
  • Hmmm, okay, make sure your article meets the IP:Article guidelines, though. –HPLow12
    • From what I can see, there are no guidelines concerning an article about an organization. – Red Star

Delete No links to outside sources. This organization is nothing other than a small-town community service group. –F.Alex

• References are fixed. But one question, is there anything wrong with an organization whose breadth of influence does not extend across the entire country? I would encourage you to take a look at some of the articles I have linked to the RAMP UP! article. They should be more than sufficient to establish this organization as prominent. –Red Star
  • Of course it is fine to criticize my article, but would it be too hard to respond to my inquiry? - Red Star
    • Delete, I have nothing more to say as there is nothing else to add. – F.Alex

Keep No “notable” clause refers to articles about organizations. – hp12

Delete As the user who posted the Speedy Deletion Notice, I returned to find very little improvement. The article has no reliable sources and is not known outside of a small area. –Hellohello

• Are you simply going to ignore the fact that I have made improvements to the article? I am obviously not some vandal who takes this process lightly. You and a series of other users have continued to cite ambiguous “notability” clauses that supposedly empower you to make judgments about my solid and informative writing. What is the problem? – Red Star

Delete Look, there may not be anything about “notability” in the IP:Article guidelines. It is an Inter-pedia practice, though, that articles are not notable unless they are verified by a number of independent sources. Apart from the loyal article-linker above, who continues to insist that his work is worthy, consensus has been reached as far as I am concerned. – iesc

• • • • • O.k., so I really tried to make this whole thing work. I tried to play by the rules, editing the article per your requests. I even tried to engage you in thoughtful discussions with the aim to become better acquainted with the Inter-pedia process. Despite my efforts, though, your moronic comments have done nothing but make this entire process a miserable experience. I would suggest that as member of this online community, you could all spend a little less time at your computers and a little more time in the real world, doing more valuable things than sitting at your desks, editing other people’s work. – Red Star

• Red Star please refrain from attacking other members of this community. This is both your first and last warning. – iesc
  • Forgive me, but your imbecilic comments have left me no other choice. – Red Star
    • Very well then, I just served you with a weeklong ban from Inter-pedia. When your ban is up and you have reflected on your violations of our personal conduct guidelines

you will be able to rejoin our community and create contributive, worthy articles. RAMP UP! has been deleted from the database and is no longer an article. – iesc

……And with that I logged out of Inter-pedia, turned off the computer and went home……

_______________________________________________________________

The Day After

To: mhart@horizon.net From: mdavidson@horizon.net

Hey Mike,

How did the community service day end? I wanted to check up on your article last night, but couldn’t find it. Could you maybe send the link once more? Thanks, I look forward to seeing you at school tomorrow.

Mr. Davidson

_______________________________________________________________

To: mdavidson@horizon.net From: mhart@horizon.net

Hello Mr. Davidson,

You won’t need the link. As it turns out, I decided all the effort that would go to writing the article wasn’t really worth it, so I shelved it. Next time I’ll go work at the SPCA, or something like that.

Mike Hart

The End

Post-script. I made one last futile attempt to extend the dialogue on the topic of my article. I posted this story on Wikipedia. My ban was extended indefinitely.