After considering
/Evidence and discussing proposals with other Arbitrators, parties and others at
/Workshop, Arbitrators may place proposals which are ready for voting here. Arbitrators should vote for or against each point or abstain. Only items that receive a majority "support" vote will be passed. Conditional votes for or against and abstentions should be explained by the Arbitrator before or after his/her time-stamped signature. For example, an Arbitrator can state that she/he would only favor a particular remedy based on whether or not another remedy/remedies were passed. Only Arbitrators or Clerks should edit this page; non-Arbitrators may comment on the talk page.
For this case there are 15 active arbitrators. 8 support or oppose votes are a majority.
If observing editors notice any discrepancies between the arbitrators' tallies and the final decision or the
#Implementation notes, you should
post to the
Clerk talk page. Similarly, arbitrators may request clerk assistance via the same method.
Proposed motions
None.
Proposed temporary injunctions
None.
Proposed final decision Information
Proposed principles
Purpose of Wikipedia
1) The purpose of Wikipedia is to create a high-quality, free-content encyclopedia in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual respect among contributors. Use of the site for
other purposes, such as
advocacy or propaganda,
furtherance of outside conflicts, publishing or promoting
original research, and political or ideological struggle, is prohibited.
Although it's worth mentioning here that by reaffirming a principle such as this, we aren't necessarily saying that every aspect of the principle is implicated in this case.
Newyorkbrad (
talk)
03:31, 12 March 2011 (UTC)reply
2) Wikipedia works by building consensus through the use of polite discussion—involving the wider community, if necessary—and
dispute resolution, rather than through adversarial or tendentious editing. Sustained editorial conflict or edit-warring is not an appropriate method of resolving disputes.
3) Wikipedia is not a venue for advocating or advancing a viewpoint or position. Editors should ensure that the reporting of different views on a subject adequately reflects the relative levels of support for those views, and that it does not give a false impression of parity, or give
undue weight to a particular view.
I could quibble slightly with the wording—one could say that by writing about a consensus view on a topic, one is "advancing" that view in some sense—but the substance is sound.
Newyorkbrad (
talk)
03:31, 12 March 2011 (UTC)reply
First choice, though I might prefer something like: "Articles containing units of scientific measurement should generally use the units and notations that are used most often by contemporary reliable sources within the field. Exceptions may be made for valid reasons, such as in historical contexts, or in articles concerning the units of measurement themselves."
Newyorkbrad (
talk)
03:31, 12 March 2011 (UTC)reply
This seems to be an example of ArbCom creating policy. More critically, it's ambiguous and likely counter-intuitive to science editors; we mean to say something like "units of measurement"—"
scientific notation" is a term of art that has nothing to do with this dispute, as far as I can tell.
Cool HandLuke21:42, 11 March 2011 (UTC)reply
This creates issues with accessibility - in fact we try to use common English as much as possible as long as meaning is not lost or compromised....
Casliber (
talk·contribs)
03:33, 12 March 2011 (UTC)reply
Scientific notation
4.1) As in all cases where there are varying views in the sources, the matter of which unit to use is one of
verifiability and
weight within the mainstream
reliable sources.
Second choice. Most units of measurement are human constructs and not facts that can be scientifically verified, although I agree that the prevalence of usage can.
Newyorkbrad (
talk)
03:31, 12 March 2011 (UTC)reply
This is even less intelligible than 4, and intelligibility was one of my key concerns. I think Elen had a good proposal, but it needs some formatting to use as a finding. This proposal buries context deep in the sentence, at which time the reader might ask herself "which 'unit'? huh?"
Cool HandLuke03:52, 12 March 2011 (UTC)reply
4.2) Articles containing units of scientific measurement should generally use the units and notations that are used most often by contemporary
reliable sources within the field. Exceptions may be made for valid reasons, such as in historical contexts, or in articles concerning the units of measurement themselves.
5) Wikipedia does not publish
original thought. Articles may not contain any original synthesis, that is, a combination or analysis of published material that serves to advance a position not clearly stated by the sources.
1) The focus of the dispute is a disagreement over the proper unit for measuring
Kendrick mass; namely, whether to use Dalton or Kendrick units.
Kkmurray(
talk·contribs·deleted contribs·logs·filter log·block user·block log) and others say the Dalton unit is the most commonly used and accepted, while
Kehrli (
talk·contribs) asserts that the Dalton is not commonly accepted, and that its use violates Wikipedia's guidelines against inaccessible
jargon.
I would have also noted his single-handed monopolization of relevant pages to advance an idiosyncratic POV,
[1][2][3][4] his unfounded accusations of bad faith,
[5] and his incivility.
[6] But I agree that improper sourcing is one of the worst possible problems in our effort to write a reliable encyclopedia.
Cool HandLuke21:50, 11 March 2011 (UTC)reply
I've had the opportunity to say this before in past case, but I believe there is no "crime" in the construction of an encyclopedia greater than willfully misrepresenting sources: it destroys the most important foundational principle of what we're trying to do. —
Coren(talk)23:14, 12 March 2011 (UTC)reply
Note: All remedies that refer to a period of time, for example to a ban of X months or a revert parole of Y months, are to run concurrently unless otherwise stated.
Kehrli topic banned
1.1) Kehrli is topic banned from metrology-related articles, including talk pages and discussions.
1.2) Kehrli is indefinitely topic banned from metrology-related articles, broadly defined, including talk pages and discussions.
Support:
Proposed as an alternative, given that this POV pushing is a continuation and slight variation from user's previous case. See
Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Kehrli. This clarifies that the topic ban is indefinite, and expands it to "broadly defined." In fact, I fear it may not be broad enough. Recall David Tombe. That user was not allowed to directly POV push his theories about Maxwell's equation, so he then set up camp at
speed of light and other articles that loosely related to his fringe theories—it's easy to imagine that here.
Cool HandLuke22:10, 11 March 2011 (UTC)reply
1) Should Kehrli violate any ban placed on him by this decision or engage in substitution of notation, he may be blocked for an appropriate time by any uninvolved administrator.
Although not sure about 'engage in substitution of notation' - if this is a remedy it needs to be included in the relevant section.
PhilKnight (
talk)
01:50, 12 March 2011 (UTC)reply
Per PhilKnight, a copyedit somewhere above might be helpful. But I suppose that an edit substituting notation of one unit of measure for another would be a metrology-related edit, and thus prohibited already.
Newyorkbrad (
talk)
03:39, 12 March 2011 (UTC)reply
Clerks and Arbitrators should use this section to clarify their understanding of the final decision--at a minimum, a list of items that have passed. Additionally, a list of which remedies are conditional on others (for instance a ban that should only be implemented if a mentorship should fail), and so on. Arbitrators should not pass the motion until they are satisfied with the implementation notes.
Important: Please ask the case clerk to author
the implementation notes before initiating a motion to close, so that the final decision is clear.
Four net "support" votes needed to close case (each "oppose" vote subtracts a "support"). 24 hours from the first motion is normally the fastest a case will close. The
Clerks will close the case either immediately, or 24 hours after the fourth net support vote has been cast, depending on whether the arbitrators have voted unanimously on the entirety of the case's proposed decision or not.