Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections January 2006/Candidate statements/Mailer diablo

Question

What are your views of the proposed Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Code of Conduct and User Bill of Rights?

--HK 15:56, 6 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Both should be in place ages ago. The former is rather long though, I thought the Recusal section could be easily summarised with use common sense. - Mailer Diablo 16:12, 6 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Empty Q&A, What's This?

The reason why there was only one question on Q&A, is because I joined the elections around the last few days. I apologise for my lateness in my candidacy. I'm not sure if questions may still be posted, but if it is I welcome any new questions to be posted to clarify your doubts.

After looking at the current votes, I suppose many would like me to elaborate on my statement and direction, so here it is. Personally, I believe that punishment should be handed out on the basis that it would hopefully reform users, and giving them a second chance of change. Don't be surprised to see me in favour for shorter bans and alternative action (such as mentorship, probation, article bans, etc). A good example would be Mike Garcia, reformed member currently on mentorship under Jimbo's instructions. If you simply hardban a user outright, he/she's probably only going to jump his/her ban and continually reset the date.

I believe an arbitrator should have three important aspects that they must uphold, which are part of my principles - Integrity, civility and sense of shame :

Arbitrators are in a way seen by the community as role models and should show examplary conduct and integrity, for that they are assigned to handle the dirtiest of cases. I'm personally surprised by the length of Wikipedia:Arbitration_Committee_Code_of_Conduct, because I had previously believed that the community gives trust to the arbitrators' integrity to not to go down to almost every single scenario.
Civility is paramount. In real life, I used to get mad before, but you'll quickly realise that you won't make many friends for that. The same thing goes in Wikipedia. I believe that I have tried my best in keeping my cool, and have a clean record in civility.
For sense of shame, it is the ability to able to reflect one's actions when questioned or brought to attention, and if one does feel embarassment for his/her actions it should be corrected. It should be understood that as humans, everyone will have their shortcomings, but it depends whether one is willing to change for the better that really matters.

- Yours faithfully, Mailer Diablo 02:01, 10 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Sjakkalle

Thanks for expanding this Q&A section a bit. One question I would like to ask is your opinion on WP:IAR. What are your general thoughts on the appropriate use of it? Sjakkalle (Check!) 07:07, 10 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If strictly speaking, IAR isn't official policy. However, I think its should be treated as the same way that we treat WP:BOLD - ...but don't be reckless! pretty much sums up my views about IAR. - Mailer Diablo 12:27, 10 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Mackensen

You've indicated above support for the Code of Conduct, while implying that it and the Bill of Rights could be rendered simply as "use common sense." I agree with that view. Taken with your views on Ignore All Rules and WP:BOLD, how do you feel about the following statement: administrators wear two hats; that of a sysop and that of an editor. An editor is bold, and may ignore all rules, but a sysop does so at his peril. A good administrator always remembers which hat he is wearing. --Mackensen (talk) 00:30, 11 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

An administrator caught wearing both hats on in an editing dispute, gives people the feeling no different from being caught as a two-timer. I see sysop powers more as a janitoral tool, in which a good sysop will always remember to set them aside when one goes editing as an editor. - Mailer Diablo 13:55, 11 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]