[Wikipedia-l] Repost: clear guidelines and the power to enforce them

[Poor, Edmund W]

We must have clear guidelines and the power to enforce them, or valuable contributors like Julie, Larry, Maveric, Elian and many more will just quit -- the aggravation is just not worth it.

If the rules are not clear, we have to rely on Jimbo or Lee or Brion to make a decision, inform us and then we have to spend a week or two discussing it.

When I taught Sunday School, I just gave trouble-makers a time-out for:
* hitting another pupil
* grabbing something (a book, a chair) from another pupil
* teasing another pupil

Within a half-dozen classes, I had nearly perfect order -- and, to top it off, my class doubled in size! Kids started calling me Uncle Ed, and everyone wanted to be in my class? Why? Because they liked getting time-outs?

No, because they knew that no one would (1) hit them, (2) grab their things, or (3) tease them.

Let's come up with a set of guidelines and figure out how to give admins the power to enforce them -- in a way that does not curtail the ability of contributors to fulfill the mission of Wikipedia.