User:Mary Ash

© Image: Photo by Mary Ash
Photo of my brown tabby shorthair cat Andy. He was about 13-years-old when this photo was taken. He's also my first kitten that I raised.

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. Mark Twain found at Wikiquote under the Creative Commons 3.0 license.

• My wikiHow User Page [1]
• Sandbox My sandbox
• Reference tool Reference Tool [2]
• Dilbert: [3]

Biography

• Military brat
• Former Republican Women's Club president
• Retired journalist
• Professional cooking experience as a short order cook
• Old, tired and retired wikiHow contributor
• Married 30 plus years to a Vietnam era war draftee
• Married to a Mechanical engineer who loves to build stereo speakers for a hobby.
• Mother to two special needs children
• Avid gardener who believes in Xeriscaping
• Cat owner and feline friend

My biography

There has been some discussion about the removal of my biography from my user page. I removed my biography once the new charter was in place as the new charter allows users to edit their own user pages as they see fit. I edited mine. Once it was shown that there may be some issues with this, based on the fact that no one realized the disappearance of biographies could take place on personal user pages, I immediately returned my biography until the situation is resolved. I did this as I do believe that it was the best for Citizendium which I am a proud member.

The reason why I believe so strongly about the allowing the removal of biographies (or resumes) on user pages is in the interest of personal safety. It has been long encouraged to safeguard personal information when using the Internet. I subscribe to this school of thought. The placement of concentrated personal information in one location could open me, and my family, up to potential risk. I value my personal safety and my family's safety above all else. I do not want to become a victim of identity theft.

I can remember long ago when the Internet was a much smaller place and everyone knew almost everyone else. Back in the "good old days" emails used to be placed online for all to see. Today, email addys are hidden to prevent spam and to promote privacy. The same could be written for the placement of personal CZ biographies. The Internet is no longer a small cadre of fellow Netziens. It has grown to become a large worldwide commercial enterprise.

Finally, the powers that be have read all personal information when an applicant applies for CZ membership. Along with this personal information is a biography or resume. This should be proof enough for all concerned.

The best way to handle the situation is to allow the option of emailing personal biographies or resumes if so requested by a registered CZ member.

Just some thoughts....

MA

Volunteerism and Respect

What does it mean to volunteer? It means to give something freely. Volunteers are not required to do anything, nor should demands be made upon them, as they offer skills without remuneration. Volunteers are not paid employees. Volunteers should be treated with respect and encouraged.

Respect

All volunteers, and just about anyone else, should be treated with respect and courtesy. No one likes to hear (or read)

• You MUST
• You WILL
• You SHOULD

What people do like to hear (or read)

• Please could you help me...or would you like some help?
• Thank you for helping you did a wonderful rewrite on that article
• You are welcome for offering to help
• Why don't we give this a try

Just some thoughts....

Editorial Council Campaign Statement

While I have written a few articles at Citizendium, I do have a degree in English/Communications and an extensive writing history as a reporter. I have spent close to 10 years writing professionally. I also spent approximately three years writing how to articles at wikiHow. At wikiHow I was also one of the first beta testers for New Article Boost. Before leaving wikiHow I edited and brought up to format 5,900 articles performing the NAB process. NAB was designed to edit and format articles to wikiHow standards.

I am married to an engineer, we have two adult special needs children, and I am owned by three cats.

At Citizendium I have done some minor editing and have written several cat articles. I plan to write more when time permits.

Key Points

• Allow fair and objective review of all articles.
• Ensure articles are fact-based and referenced using reliable information.
• Promote clear and concise writing.
• Discourage perceived but well meaning censorship. Both editors and authors need to have the freedom, and to feel comfortable when making contributions, without worry of censorship as someone took a personal dislike to an article.
• Allow user pages to choose whether to display a biography or resume. Constables review applications before Citizens memberships are approved so any and all personal information is known when the application is approved. I make this proposal as some people do not feel comfortable providing so much personal information on the Internet as it makes them feel unsafe. Please review my user page to see my comments concerning online safety: [[4]].
• Encourage an ambassador program to welcome and encourage new Citizens. While at wikiHow numerous "awards" and other friendly messages were created and sent to fellow volunteers. Here are a couple templates I created at wikiHow: http://www.wikihow.com/Template:Kindness2 or http://www.wikihow.com/Template:Kindness. Both are samples of things that can be created to promote a friendlier more harmonious place for volunteers to volunteer at. Welcoming and encouraging templates could be created at Citizendium for the same reason.

I promise to be fair and objective. A good reporter and a good editorial council member needs those qualities. I also believe Citizendium should encompass a wide range of fact-based articles that is documented with proven reliable research. While we may not always agree on all articles, my vision of Citizendium includes making it the best encyclopedia online. Limiting or censoring articles based on personal beliefs would not allow this to happen.

Thank you for nominating me as I am a relative new comer. I promise to work hard, learn lots, and hopefully with your help make Citizendium a better place. Mary Ash 04:02, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

MA