Talk:R. A. Long High School

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Notability

Someone named TeaDrinker removed on April 1 2007 several individuals from the "Notable" section, apparently because they were "red-inked".
Just because they don't (yet) have a Wikipedia entry, does that make them "non-notable"?
These were all published authors; RA Long has so few published authors despite its 80-year history that these graduates are all notable for RA Long HS.
Especially EJ Taylor, whose series of children's books are not only well-known but also critically acclaimed. Just not on Wikipedia, apparently...
Besides, isn't there supposed to be some kind of discussion before entries are removed? Or is this just some ludicrous April Fool prank?
Farnsworth1968 23:21, 2 April 2007 (UTC)Farnsworth1968[reply]

Thanks for bringing this to the talk page. I removed the authors of several books and one basketball player in this edit. Notability is key, and to my mind being an author is not really enough. My view is that if the author is not notable enough for their own article, they certainly are not notable enough for a list of notable alumni. To my mind, simply having written a book is not enough to make someone notable. The Wikipedia:Notability (people) guideline contains some more information on this. I will admit, however, that I may have been a bit hasty in my determination. Looking over the list again, I probably should not have removed Urgel Wintermute, since he appears to have won a notable award for basketball. I have restored all of them while we discuss it, but I still have qualms about their notability. I am also curious if it would be possible to add sources indicating these folks attended RA Long. Thanks, --TeaDrinker 02:01, 3 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I should add that discussions do preceed most substantive deletions of articles, but not usually material in articles, since that is part of editing and any material removed can be restored (see Help:Reverting). What I was looking for, more specifically, to indicate notability was published coverage beyond the work itself (reviews by notable reviewers, etc.). --TeaDrinker 02:15, 3 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know about the authors, but I do feel that Steve de Jarnatt should remain on there, even though there's currently not an article about him. He's directed a number of episodes of ER and Lizzie McGuire, and was recently featured in The Daily News as part of a series on semi-famous people with local ties (along with David Korten). He was also recently inducted into the RAL sports Hall of Fame.Kearby 04:02, 3 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the clarification, TeaDrinker (and thanks also for the warm welcome to the Wikipedia community).
I guess several of my candidates for "notable" apparently MAY not meet the guidelines. Yet. But what would you accept as sources to indicate that these individuals attended RA Long? Aside from the fact that I know them personally and can verify that they attended (those from the class of 1963 anyway).
There was, BTW, a Daily News article on Darrel Bob Houston that identified him as an RA Long grad when DB: King of the Midnight Blue was published.
Farnsworth1968 23:45, 3 April 2007 (UTC)Farnsworth1968[reply]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. The reliable sources requirements are in reliable sources. A news article should be fine. The main thing, I hink, is to determine if they are really notable... It is tricky to defined, but some criteria are in WP:BIO, which is primarily aimed at creation of entire articles, but may have some relavent ideas. Thanks, --TeaDrinker 06:25, 10 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I guess I would argue -- against current Wiki rules, apparently -- for a "relativist" approach rather than a "strict constructionist" approach to the whole notability question. These individuals would not be considered notable enough to include under the Washington State article, nor probably even in the City of Longview article, but they should be notable enough among the other graduates of R. A. Long High School...

I realize that this is not really the forum to discuss such high-level policy issues, but I'm just kind of putting out there for a grass-roots look at it. Any comments?

(BTW, thanks, TeaDrinker, for keeping it civil; I'm sure you've seen other talk pages that have degenerated into a series of pointless and counterproductive name-calling and I'm glad to see that this discussion is being held among adults.)

Farnsworth1968 23:33, 14 April 2007 (UTC)Farnsworth1968[reply]

Infobox and graduation tradition

I recently updated the infobox with the name of the new principal, Rich Reeves (http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/06/02/area_news/doc4a24c1398f288636190236.txt), and the paragraph concerning the graduation tradition of seniors handing of a small token to the principal. However, these edits were reverted for some reason. The information is accurate. Any reason the edits were reverted? 71.59.191.66 (talk) 03:29, 24 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"rv per http://www.longview.k12.wa.us/ralong/staff/" I see now. This page is outdated. Ken Sparks and John Foges have since retired. Possibly even a few others on this list, including, of course, Jack...er, sorry, Andrew Frost. Also, [this page] lists Rich Reeves as principle of R.A. Long. 71.236.169.13 (talk) 17:50, 7 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]