User:VanTucky

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What "VanTucky" means
According to Urban Dictionary, vantucky is a popular (and somewhat derogatory) portmanteau term for my hometown of Vancouver, WA. I chose this to identify with the place I was born and raised. I keep using the pseudonym because of its recognizability for those I collaborate with here, but my real name is Steven Walling.
Who I am
A proud Wikipedian since August, 8th 2006, I was born and raised in that other city named after Captain George, and am now an Oregonian happily residing in the urban paradise that is Little Beirut. I was granted administrative powers by the English Wikipedia community on April 23rd 2008, and would be happy to provide you with assistance in this capacity. Elsewhere in the wikiverse, I am active on Wikimedia Commons, Wikiquote, WikiHow, RecentChangesCamp, Vinismo, Wikitravel and Wikibooks. I am especially pleased to have joined the spectacular team at the AboutUs wiki. My personal page on AboutUs is to be found here. As a cinematic, literary, and performing arts critic, I have written for Willamette Week and The Vancouver Voice. You are welcome to read some of my current published work for free. I also contribute to the blog for WikiProject Oregon. If there is any way I might assist you, please contact me either on my public talk page within Wikipedia, or by email.
My purpose on this site
The stated mission of the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization that hosts Wikipedia and other projects, is "...to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally." In my efforts to make this vision a reality, I edit this website through a technology called wiki, expanding and revising encyclopedic content. I also perform administrative functions, in addition to general editing.

Here are some of my responses to an academic survey on wiki use. My personal reasons for using wikis include:

  • I believe that the free distribution of human knowledge is the most positive force that the internet can exert, and that the collaborative style of wiki is the best way of doing so.
  • The positive results that the open, collaborative process of a wiki has produced, and the reliance on the merit of an individual's behavior and contributions to the wiki in judging their fitness to contribute (instead of on prejudicial factors such as ethnicity, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation or academic credentials) reaffirms my faith in the essentially good nature of humanity and our power to change the world.
  • Wikis have proved to be a source of reliable information for me that I could not find elsewhere or as easily, and I feel that improving and expanding that well of knowledge is the best way of showing my personal gratitude to the collective body of wiki contributors.

I hope you find Wikipedia and all wikis to be useful, and understand that if they aren't useful, it's our collective prerogative to make them more so.
Articles I have worked on significantly
Articles I created

VanTucky and one of his hens
Much wikilove and gratitude to Phaedriel for this userpage design.


Who
What
Why

This Paranormal Barnstar is hereby awarded for your assistance in bringing the parapsychology article to Good Article status.
Nealparr 04:27, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

Paranormal Barnstar I'm awarding you this barnstar for your having worked hard to help me get Parapsychology to FA status. Congratulations. Wikidudeman (talk) 21:20, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

The Martial Arts Barnstar This one is for you for being such a big contributor. Thanks. --Fire Star 火星

The Barnstar of Resilience Keep up the excellent work; my first RFA didn't pan out either. The fact that you haven't let up on your diligence immediately after your RFA withdrawal demonstrates your dedication to Wikipedia. OhNoitsJamie Talk 21:42, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

The Good Article Medal of Merit Congratulations, I have chosen you as my GAN Reviewer of the Week for the week ending 24rd November 2007. Epbr123 (talk) 16:11, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

The Socratic Barnstar I'm impressed, VanTucky, with your in-depth knowledge of the GA process and thank you for the good GA work you do... Johnfos (talk) 03:59, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

The Mammal Barnstar Thanks for your great work on Muskrat. Steve Dufour (talk) 21:35, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

The Good Heart Barnstar This is for having a good heart and being a kind and friendly person. Thank you, buddy :-) ScarianCall me Pat 22:26, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

The Original Barnstar I, Basketball110, on behalf of Wikipedia, would like to thank you for your numerous (over 700) edits to Domestic Sheep. However weird that sounds, your edits are still appreciated. Basketballone10 05:20, 28 January 2008 (UTC)
The Zen Garden Award

Zen Garden Award for Infinite Patience..for taking on Domestic Sheep and being put through the meat-grinder at FAC...cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 02:22, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
The Editor's Barnstar
The Editor's Barnstar For your judicious improvements to Taoist Tai Chi in the face of editorial adversity Ahunt (talk) 11:03, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
This is a Wikipedia user page.

This is not an encyclopedia article. If you find this page on any site other than Wikipedia, you are viewing a mirror site. Be aware that the page may be outdated and that the user to whom this page belongs may have no personal affiliation with any site other than Wikipedia itself. The original page is located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:VanTucky.