Talk:College of the Atlantic

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[edit] Deletions

It seems like this article is having a hard time developing into anything more than a couple of basic paragraphs. So I'd like to ask editors to refrain from deleting any more material from it, and instead seek out and cite some sources for further article development, and contribute some new material to grow the article. If some of the article's current (slim) content is really objectionable for some reason, please explain why in more detail here, before deleting it. -- Rbellin|Talk 19:59, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

On further review I see that a lot of apparently useful content has been deleted since this older version of the article, without any real explanation. Can anyone explain why that material doesn't belong in this article? I may restore it until an explanation can be provided. It's much preferable to fix problem material rather than simply remove it, whenever possible. -- Rbellin|Talk 22:33, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

I would agree that some useful content was deleted since the revision you mention. However: My goal, rather than to return to material created by one editor and then deleted by another was to first delete information that seemed extraneous - including a whole paragraph on other colleges and rather negative wording "students only receive B.A.'s in Human Ecology" - and then add sections on the various aspects of the school, as has been done with many other colleges. The previous material did have a few good sections, but as I am new to wikipedia i assumed that to simply change (and copy paste) from a previous version would be as easy as restoring and then changing.

In addition, the previous version you mention has a few sections that do not, it seems to me, deserve to be sections, such as the sustainability or notable alumni (because only one name is included and who knows who a "notable" alumna is.) 76.24.24.60 17:12, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the reply. I have no problem with the removal of the "Partnerships" paragraph; you're right, there's no point in this article containing such a list of other schools. The alumni section is a matter of indifference to me as well, though people always seem to add them eventually and I do not see a strong case for removing it (if the alumni are "notable" in the sense that they have their own Wikipedia articles). But sustainability seems to me like a part of the COA's personality, what makes it different from other schools, as does the human ecology major (I do not see "only" as "negative," just descriptive; I'm not sure how you got the idea it was somehow deprecating). The article could really use more detail about the curriculum and history of the college, and since the old version provided a bit of such detail I'd suggest we restore it as a starting-point (or write something comparable in a few new paragraphs, if you prefer) and then improve it when possible. The current article is too skimpy for us to be choosy with imperfect material. -- Rbellin|Talk 17:23, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

I'm fine with reverting and then editing and adding content to that version. Can you do that? I also agree about what areas need adding. My issue with only is that only means "merely: and nothing more" while for example solely means "entirely." I was also the person who deleted the alternative. The school is alternative, but, for example if you look at the Hampshire College wiki you can see that their alternative nature is not mentioned until farther down in the article. 76.24.24.60 18:13, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Sure, I'll restore the material from the old version as discussed above, and please continue to improve it any way you can (especially by adding citations to sources that you likely know better than I do). And if you prefer another similar adjective besides "only," that's absolutely fine. Regarding "alternative," the first sentence in Hampshire College uses that school's preferred self-description, "experimenting," and I've tried hard to keep that word from being removed too. The drift there seems the same to me; it's a principle of Wikipedia's house style that a lead sentence needs to mention what makes the article's subject interesting and what distinguishes it from other things like it (i.e., in this case, from conventional liberal arts colleges). If we had an article on alternative colleges, there could be a link to further explanation as well, but for now I think the first sentence/paragraph ought to stay about the same. -- Rbellin|Talk 18:21, 29 June 2007 (UTC)