Talk:Robert Spitzer (political scientist)/Archive 1

Archive 1

Archive 2

Wikipedia BLP Policy

"Unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material about living persons must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous."

It is very clear. There is a LOT of work to do on this page. I have kept sections even if they only had one citation. The two sections cut had no citations at all. If citations are found, they can be put back in, but there is already plenty of work to do with the salvagable part of the article. BLP policy is arguably the most important policy on Wikipedia and must be aggressively enforced, as Jimbo says. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 00:17, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Wow. I had only been working on this stubby article an hour before being - helped?

There is a source citation added now - not by me - that doesn't work. I tried to figure out what it was supposed to link to, but I couldn't. Also notice that "political activist" has been added to the lead. Not sure I would add that at all to a living scholar's article... let alone the lead.

On a related note, I have created a stub article for Robert J. Cottrol. I hope I will be given a little time to work on that before being "helped" there, too. Lightbreather (talk) 00:51, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Concern about the direction this article suddenly took

I was working on the Gun politics in the United States article when I realized how undeveloped this (Robert Spitzer) article was. I decided to update this article AND to create an article for Robert Cottrol, who is also cited on the U.S. gun politics page. As I have argued in Talk:Gun_politics_in_the_United_States#Qualifying scholars I think we should emphasize their scholarly positions. Another editor immediately (within one hour) followed me to this page, added that he is a "political activist" to the lead, and added a political activism section. This brings up the same darn argument that has been made on the gun politics tak page. For comparison, if you go to John Lott's page, you'll see he is called an economist and "political commentator" even though he is cited regularly by gun-rights advocates and has written numerous articles and books advocating for gun rights.

I would like to nip this pro- gun rights (or maybe anti- gun control) pushing in the bud and I am asking for help. It seems to me that it can only heat-up already prickly working relationships (rather than cooling them down). Certainly if Lott is not identified as an "activist" there is no reason to be pushing that label on Spitzer. Lightbreather (talk) 03:41, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

It is not good to have article ownership issues, and you know for a fact that I am pro-gun-control, as well as a fan of Spitzer. There are serious Wikipedia BLP issues with this article, and if you look at my user-page, you will see how important these things are to me. The edits are not politically motivated, and you know that. Politically I am on the same side you are, Lightbreather, but we need to put Wikipedia ahead of our politics. You do not own the article. The only thing that needs to be "nipped at the bud" is the lack of sourcing. Read the Jimbo quotes at the top of my user page if you still do not understand. Be well. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 04:22, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

I hope no-one feels that they own this page. I sure don't - nor any other on Wikipedia, with the exception maybe of my own space. As I stated above, when I realized how undeveloped this one was, I came to improve it (I was gathering information, including source citations), and within an hour you were over here too, deleting pretty basic existing material (and certainly not a "TON"), which I was easily finding sources for, and you were adding controversial material, which has only one source - and an unverifiable one at that. (Unless you've fixed it in the last hour or so - the URL did not work.)

I am an experienced real-world editor, and an intermediate level Wikipedia editor. I certainly have the skills necessary to improve this article on my own. I think rushing to add the terms "political activist" and a "political activism" is odd at the very least. I wonder how other editors would feel if I followed them around and edited pages they chose to work on? WITH THAT, I will wait to see what other feedback this page gets, if any. Lightbreather (talk) 05:01, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Following you around?? I am going to pretend that you did not say that. You are the person who invited me to these gun control articles. It is very odd to hear you make such an accusation now that I am here, and I hope you retract it. Thank you. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 05:17, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Wow, someone - not me - has also added a JPG labeled Robert_Spitzer_Political_Activist to Dr/Professor Spitzer's Wikipedia article. Prior to last night, I could find no preponderence of reliable, verifiable sources that calls this man a "political activist." And voila! overnight, thanks to one editor on Wikipedia, he is now a "political activist" for anyone who googles him. (PS: I only ever explicitly invited you to one page, five months ago.) Lightbreather (talk) 15:00, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Robert Spitzer as an activist

My dictionary states: ac·tiv·ist [ak-tuh-vist] noun 1. an active advocate of a cause, especially a political cause.

How does this not apply to Robert Spitzer? It's the proper word.

(Preceding - dictionary definition of "activist" - inserted by Sue Rangell 15:36 13 JAN 2014) Lightbreather (talk) 22:56, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

I do not understand the resistance to saying that Robert Spitzer is an activist. There is nothing wrong or negative about being an activist. I say this as one of his fans. He is clearly on one side of the issue. He uses very passionate language. He speaks at Gun Control Rallys. I believe he has even called himself an activist in one of his books. What is the problem? There are MANY possible sources that can be used to cite that he uses words such as "fight" and "war". here is just one of them, a transcript from a radio show. http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-01-07/update-effortsto-prevent-gun-violence/transcript It was the first one that came up in the search, it's easy to get more if needed. can we put this issue to rest? --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 20:28, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

I believe the decision is based on what reliable, verifiable sources call him. And when it comes to WP:BLP, the highest quality reliable, verifiable sources. Am I wrong about this? Lightbreather (talk) 20:41, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Well, I've cited his own words into the article. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 21:29, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Which words are you referring to? The ones that you attached the Huffington Post citation to is: "On several occasions, Spitzer has referred to the gun control debate as a "war" or has described the cause of gun control as a "fight", establishing himself as a passionate supporter of Gun Control." That citation does NOT support that choice of words. And the longer statement (paragraph) that follows has NO citations. Lightbreather (talk) 22:13, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Can't find an instance of the word "fight" in the source you gave (an interview between Diane Rehm and a panel of five guests, including Professor Spitzer). Two quotes (Spitzer's) include the word "war".

1. In response to Rehm's question: [Do] you think that carrying a running total publicly of every single person killed in this country by guns of one sort or another would help to raise the public awareness of what's happening? "Well, I certainly think it would. Americans read about local crime in their newspapers and the ways they obtain media information from the local communities, but it's hard to have a sense of kind of the overall national picture. One of the things it does underscore, though, is the war over information on this issue, and this is one subject that has received very little attention, and it's also a subject where it's very difficult to kind of make political hay out of, yes, we need more information."

2. In response to a listerner's email comment: I find it odd that the NRA is saying mental health issues are the cause of the recent mass shooting and should be addressed, yet they managed to have a law put in place in some bill that makes it illegal for doctors to ask patients about their gun ownership. "Yeah. It's symptomatic of this notion of throwing up as many barriers as possible to obtaining better information. And it's really kind of a hidden political war behind much of what's going on, which is to essentially keep us as ignorant as possible about what is going on with respect to gun ownership, gun trafficking and related matters, which are..." [Rehm interrupts with a comment]

In both of these statements, he's commenting on a lack of information, not fighting for gun control. Still, based on these two statements - from which the word "war" has been taken out of context - Wikipedia should declare a living scholar a "political activist"? As I said, until you gave him that label last night, his name and that label were not connected in any high-quality sources that I found. Why pigeonhole him in this way? (Again, Wikipedia refers to John Lott as an economist and political commentator - a much more neutral term.) edit conflict Lightbreather (talk) 21:32, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

There is little point in belaboring this. As I said, his own words speak for themselves. I don't appreciate you depicting me as some sort of attack dog. I am a big fan of Spitzer, and have all of his books. I am pro-control. So is Spitzer. It isn't pidgeon-holing the man, it's just a simple statement of fact. He is a passionate supporter of Gun Control and there is nothing wrong with that. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 22:00, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

I hope to own more of his books. I traveled to a nearby city just to see his entries in the most recent edition of Guns in American Society (not in my city's library). And I bought the most recent edition of The Politics of Gun Control. I just don't think a living scholar merits such a restrictive label - but more importantly: no preponderance of high-quality sources call him that. Lightbreather (talk) 22:19, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

His books are excellent. Being an activist isn't a bad thing, and one can be a scholar and an activist at the same time. You may be surprised to find him calling himself an activist in one of his books and as soon as I find the reference, I will cite it. If the term doesn't bother him, why should it bother you? There is no negative connotation to it. It just means that person is passionate about whatever it is that they do. Anyhoo, definitely get the rest of his books, they are all good. be well. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 22:30, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Robert Spitzer has edited this article

I don't want to revert the edit because I think it was done in good faith even though it's technically a WP:COI violation. I doubt if the man has the time to spend learning wikipedia rules. Shall we keep the content? I think we should, at least this one time. I have mentioned this at ANI to make sure an admin can ok it. I think his edits were done in good faith and overall added to Wikipedia.

• Support - a proposer. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 23:29, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Hello--I am Robert Spitzer, the subject of this entry. Forgive me if I am not entering this information in the appropriate place, but this is all quite confusing--I do hope it makes its way to the proper person or persons. In any event, I check my Wikipedia page periodically, and discovered a series of dramatic changes. Most notably, it now identifies me as a "political activist." I am not. I am a college professor who comes to the subject of gun control (which seems to be the chief bone of contention) through nearly 30 years of research and writing on the subject. I have never spoken at a political rally in my life, nor campaigned for candidates. While my research has and does have public policy consequences, that is a consequence of its content. It is neither my vocation nor my avocation to be an "activist" and this misrepresents my career. As for the edits I made, it was my observation that there seemed to be some kind of dissatisfaction with a dearth of footnotes, so I have inserted them, along with an expanded explanation of my research to cover not just gun control, but other areas as well. None of this seems to be in violation of any rules of Wikipedia that I can discern. I am not lavishing praise upon myself, but simply describing, in biographical fashion, my work. And the reference to my comments on the Diane Rehm Show do not in any respect buttress any notion of me as an "activist." As the extended quote makes clear, I was offering my analysis of the "hot" politics of the gun issue. The "war" analogy pertaining to one aspect of it is just that--an analogy. I am offering analysis, and that is what I do. I am more than willing to provide additional citations, etc. to buttress and clarify all this. Please advise. Thanks for your time, Bob Spitzer67.255.22.154 (talk) 00:02, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Thank you, Dr. Spitzer. We will study what you've added and let you know if we have any questions. Thanks for the update. Lightbreather (talk) 00:10, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Thank you for the info! I have sorted through it. Some of your sources did not qualify and have been removed (Not by me, I'm a fan). Also please be aware that it is considered a Conflict of Interests on Wikipedia to edit one's own article, please in the future make your proposals here, and allow other editors to make changes. I know this may be frustrating, but the WP:COI policies exist for very good reasons. Thank you again for the information and citations they have been very helpful. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 00:20, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

OK. But let me be clear one one point--it is factually incorrect to label me a "political activist"--I am a scholar whose writings are about public policy subjects, but I do not come to this subject, nor am I paid by my employer to be a "political activist." I am well aware of the meaning of this term, as I am a lifelong student of politics/political science. It is inappropriate. And I give many public talks, but they are either at colleges/universities or before public civic groups, such as the League of Women Voters, local historical societies, and (most recently) our local "Lawman of the Year" dinner. Someone in this exchange mentioned John Lott who, by way of comparison, does not have a university affiliation (although he did in the past), did have an affiliation with a political think tank (AEI), which I have never had, and has engaged in specfic political advocacy. For example, he spoke at a rally of the Second Amendment Sisters (a gun rights advocacy group) on Mother's Day in 2000 in Washington, DC on behalf of their cause. He is perfectly entitled to do these things; I mention his example to clarify the difference between political advocacy and political/policy analysis. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.255.22.154 (talk) 00:28, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

I respect the (Wikipedia) project, but equally Dr. Spitzer's right to contribute to his own page, within the rules, per WP:BLPEDIT. Also, per WP:BLP, the burden is on us - that is to say, Wikipedia - to provide the highest-quality sources for claims that are challenged or likely to be challenged. Lightbreather (talk) 00:36, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

I am beginning to wonder if you are actually Robert Spitzer. You are not writing in your normal style. I have all of your books, and I am pretty certain that you have actually referred to yourself as an activist. I am going to try to find the citation. If I find it I am going to report this IP as a sock-puppet. The dictionary definition of an activist is above, and by definition, Robert Spitzer is definately a gun control activist. I have seen him speak in person, and am a big fan. Don't be offended, but an IP account could be anybody. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 00:37, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

PS Please don't take that as a negative. I hope you understand, but you wouldn't want somebody coming to Wikipedia imitating you, correct? You can rest assured that nobody will do that here for very long without being caught. You have too many fans here. I suggest that you create a Wikipedia account and go through the WP:Identification process as a security measure. That is the best defense against imitators who sometimes make trouble for high profile authors such as yourself. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 00:47, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

I find no citations in the article referring to Dr. Spitzer as an activist in this article or anywhere on the Internet, except this article. I think he may have been confused with another Dr. Spitzer who had created controversy with activists in another area. In any case, there is no basis for calling him an activist unless merely being interviewed makes one an activist. I'll wait a bit for comments, but I think this claim should be removed as soon as possible. I am One of Many (talk) 01:10, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Since there is now a consensus to remove the term. I will remove it. I don't understand this, but I will go with the flow at least for now. It's a bit like someone who races bicycles insisting on being called a "Racer" instead of a "bicyclist". It's not as if the word doesn't apply. I will replace the terminology when I find where he called himself an activist in his book. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 01:20, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

I think that is the right thing to do. In academia, being an activist is not generally viewed as a positive thing. So, unless we have a couple of good sources for this claim like the New York Times and NPR, we are removing a claim that good be construed negatively without sources. I am One of Many (talk) 01:30, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Fair enough. Maybe it's just that I don't see the negative connotation to the word. But a consensus is a consensus, and I am here for Wikipedia. I removed the offending word. be well. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 01:56, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Hello again--this is Bob Spitzer. This is indeed me, and not a cheap imitation. I do not know how I can demonstrate this to a certainty to anyone who doubts that this is me, but I would welcome any suggestions, and be more than happy to comply. I could send/email a PDF of my driver's license perhaps (with the ID number covered up). Would that do? To Ms. Rangell, you have all of my books? I am flattered, but also frankly stunned. Let me say that I am most grateful that you have agreed to remove "political activist"; however, there are a number of organizational problems that remain. In the spirit of following the proprieties, let me propose the following: --at the top, I am initially identified as "Robert J. Spitzer is an American political scientist, active proponent of gun control, and author." "active proponent of gun control" is inappropriate--when listing a few key words, it should do just that. I would propose the simpler and cleaner: "Robert J. Spitzer is an American political scientist and author, specialist in American politics, gun policy, American presidency, and the U.S. Constitution." These are my areas of expertise, as is clearly reflected in the corpus of my writings. "Active proponent" is a synonym for "activist," and is similarly problematic. The text to follow can get into specifics about the nature of these writings, but it is neither appropriate nor accurate to load the top brief descriptor in this way. --instead of "gun control advocacy" (which is also problematic), I propose a heading "Gun Control Research" (which is more accurate, as my writings are not about advocacy). I am not, per se, a "gun control advocate." That is not what I am about. Yes, there are certainly gun policy recommendations that flow from what I write (e.g. my Huffington piece that you cited about gun carrying on college campuses), so I can see the legitimacy of that notion, but the heading as is is really not correct. My job is not "advocate." It is incorrect. This section can then be the repository of information about what I have done on the gun issue, including the information on gun policy writings under the heading "Books" (which doesn't make sense either, as my books are also discussed in the section above it, headed "Public Policy Research"--note the P and R should also be capitalized). --I propose rewriting the first sentence under the current heading "gun control advocacy" roughly like this: "Since the 1980s, Spitzer has written books, given many lectures and talks, written articles for newspapers, and appeared on countless radio and television programs in large part on the gun issue. Spitzer’s analysis of the gun issue finds most gun regulations to be compatible with America’s political and legal history and traditions, as well as with viable contemporary public policy." It is an inappropriate overreach to say that I am "a passionate and robust supporter of gun control." On what basis would someone who does not know me validate such an assertion? As it turns out, I am passionate/robust about my work as a scholar generally, which extends well beyond my work on the gun issue, because I enjoy what I do, but that is a different thing. (While my wife might consider me "passionate and robust" -- or so I hope! -- that is hardly appropriate to insert as a descriptor in an encyclopedic entry about my professional life.) --in the last sentence in the section currently titled "Gun Control Advocacy," there is a quote, at the end of which appears "citation needed." The citation for this article is that the quote is from "The Politics of Gun Control" and appears on page 39 in the 5th edition, but I do not know how to insert this electronically. Can you do so? Or perhaps insert an old-fashioned footnote indicating this citation with page number without an electronic link? Let me know if I can assist. --I would propose changing the heading of "Books" to "Other Scholarly Work" or "Other Writings" which can then be the place for description of my work on matters other than gun policy, including the presidency, the veto power, etc. etc. This makes the important point that gun policy is not, by any means, the only focus of my research and writing. Indeed, as you know from having my books, most of what I have written is on subjects other than gun policy. Does this make sense? And again, I can supply electronic citations for most things, as needed.

I believe this covers everything. Again, let me know if I can be of assistance. Thank you all for your time and effort.67.255.22.154 (talk) 16:22, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Hello again, Dr. Spitzer. I will try to explain a few things until/unless Sue is able to explain better/more. First, re: verifying who you are, a Wikipedia admin (neither Sue or I are admins) will soon make something of a determination based on your IP address. I think that's how it works. You might also consider the WP:SIGNUP process as Sue suggested - though it is NOT required - and maybe the WP:IDENT process she suggested, too.

If this helps, follow this link and you can see the history of your article over the past several days. If you scroll up and down through those history pages, using the "Next edit" to move up toward the most recent edits, it will give you an idea of the WP edit process and how your article got to its present version. Also, WP:CS1 gives some WP citation formats. You don't want to edit the history pages, but even if you did - don't worry because mistakes can be reverted.

Wikipedia has its own unique style rules, and when it comes to section headers, we only capitalize the first word, except for proper nouns. As for your body of work, although I am content to accept your word, the WP rule (for biographies of living persons) is sources must be the highest quality reliable, verifiable source. I see your CV is on one of the URLs. I don't know if that counts, but if it does, we can probably cite that. I will wait for feedback from some of the more senior editors.

BTW: On your Google sites page, a copyright notice and date might help, as I see its been tagged on your WP article as a possibly self-published source. That's OK... it would just be helpful to know. Hope these comments help. Lightbreather (talk) 17:38, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Hi Lightbreather, we don't have to verify his identity. We can evaluate the requests independent of knowing for sure (though I see little reason for doubt). As far as I can see, the suggested edits are all quite accurate for his academic research. In addition, the IP address does serve New York and he has announced his conflict of interest, and thus it is not against policy for him to edit the article. If there are any problems, edits can be changed, reverted, and discussed here. Cheers. I am One of Many (talk) 18:54, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Thanks very much for this response immediately above by "I am One of Many"; much appreciated. Based on this, it seems that I am clear to engage in direct editing of my entry (i.e. "it is not against policy for him [i.e. me] to edit the article," and that my proposed edits are "all quite accurate for his [i.e. my] academic research." Unless other issues or questions, I will plan to proceed on this basis. Thanks again to all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.255.22.154 (talk) 20:53, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Yes, it is not against policy for you to edit your article. Of course, it is up to the Wikipedia community to make sure that your edits (which holds for everyone) conform to policy such as including only sourced information, that is neutral, and not promotional. Basically, what one should expect to see in an encyclopedia. I am One of Many (talk) 21:22, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

This seems quite fine. I am a great fan of footnotes, frankly, and was impeded only by the fact that I was unfamiliar with how to insert them. I think I have the hang of it, but will keep at it. One other question: there is a box at the very top of the entry saying that the entry needs more footnotes. How can I satisfy the sourcing requirements in order for this box to be removed, and is there some particular procedure for this? Thanks again--Moak7509 (talk) 21:48, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

I am happy to remove it for you. I think the qualifications have been satisfied at this point. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 01:29, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

Problem with images used in this article

I have two problems with images used in this article. They are "http://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/File:Robert_Spitzer_Political_Activist.jpg" and "http://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/File:Politics_of_gun_control_book_cover_-_written_by_activist_Robert_Spitzer.jpg". Both image files have "activist" in their names - which is absolutely unnecessary. They should simply be Robert_Spitzer_Political_Scientist.jpg and Politics_of_gun_control_book_cover.jpg. Lightbreather (talk) 18:02, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

I think enough is enough. The word was removed from the article. You are free to upload your own images if you like, but if you plan to upload identical images just with the intention of whitewashing a single word, that seems a little crazy. The man is an activist. If you don't like the dictionary definition, or see some negative connotation to it, there are plenty of synonyms to use. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 19:58, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

If Robert J. Spitzer, political scientist, is an activist, there should be plenty of high-quality, reliable, verifiable sources who call him an activist. You (and by extension, the Wikipedia project) are calling him that based on your own research and a dictionary definition. That's WP:OR and against WP:BLP, IMO. I hope more, better editors (than you or I) come along to fix this. I'm tired of having my edits reverted. Lightbreather (talk) 20:07, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

I am not calling him anything. I removed the word per consensus. I even removed it from other pages. But that's all I'm doing, as I am not the one taking issue with the word. I am not on a crusade. Use whatever word you like, so long as it accurately describes the man's politics. (ie. "advocate", "proponent", "promoter", etc., all are fine) --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 20:42, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

The word "advocate"

I will point out that if you look at the Wikipedia Category Structure, you will find that the word "advocate" is the word Wikipedia uses for people on BOTH sides of the issue, for example "Category:Gun Rights Advocates" or "Category:American Gun Control Advocates". There is already a wide consensus to use that neutral word, so it should be the word we use. Those categories literally have hundreds of happy BLPs in them. Hopefully, this information will allow us to move on to more important things now. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 02:29, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

Lightbreather, you broke the page

Lightbreather, if you do not know how to upload images, please have someone help you. I replaced the broken image with a new one. It does not use the word "activist". Also please use the discussion page and get a consensus before making these edits. You do not own the page. Wikipedia is a community effort. Thank you. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 01:26, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

I didn't upload anything. Are you maybe referring to the renames that User:ANGELUS made by request? There is a history of those changes on the talk pages for the image files. I made the request per advice at the Teahouse. Lightbreather (talk) 04:58, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

My apologies for making that assumption, you did the right thing attempting to get someone to help you. I will take the issue up with him. --Sue Rangell ✍ ✉ 05:06, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

Spitzer is not an activist or an advocate.

This article unacceptably labels a researcher as an activist or advocate.

Sue, I am very sorry to see that your zeal to keep checking the details of Lightbreather's editing has carried over into an article about a living person and has lead to concerns by that person. You need to back off here and leave the editing of this article to other editors. Others can watch what Lightbreather does. You have stepped outside your area of expertise here. Articles about living people carry certain responsibilities. And you are not familiar with the academic world.

About sources: Biographies of living persons may never use self-published sources as sources about the subject unless they are written or published by the subject. See Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons#Avoid self-published sources. As long as the article is not based primarily on sources written by the subject they may be used as sources of information about themselves. See Wikipedia:Verifiability#Self-published or questionable sources as sources on themselves. What is that self-published source tag doing on the first reference? We expect to see professors' websites as sources on their pages.

About pictures: Using a copyrighted image of a living person in an article is not "fair use". It is a copyright violation. See Wikipedia:Non-free content#Unacceptable use.

About the academic world: Spitzer is a political scientist. His work is studying gun control, not advocating for gun control. He is not a gun control activist. He is often interviewed as an expert on gun control. An appearance on the Diane Rehm show is not advocacy. He is there as an expert who studies the area and can answer questions about and analyze what is going on. Nothing in that interview nor the one in the Huffington post shows him doing the advocating. Neither Activist Views nor Gun Control Advocacy is an appropriate name for a section in this article. Both labels could be used to argue that he is not an unbiased researcher. He is correct in objecting to this.

Sue, you have written the sentence "Since the 1980s, Spitzer has written books, spoken at public gatherings, written articles for newspapers, and appeared on countless radio and television shows in support of gun control, and has established himself as a passionate and robust supporter of gun control." The references that you put at the end of the sentence don't say this. They are just the record of two interviews (the npr link only goes to the main page). The conclusion appears to be your own. An encyclopedia article just reports. It does not do analysis nor draw conclusions, though it may report on analysis done by others. A paragraph on who has interviewed Spitzer belongs in a "puff piece", not here. In this state this article reflects poorly on Wikipedia.

StarryGrandma (talk) 14:16, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

Hello to StarryGrandma, thanks for your thoughtful comments. I am the aforementioned Robert Spitzer. I have approval to make changes in this entry (above), which I will proceed to do. I did include a reference to my google page because earlier, information about the degrees I earned and other very basic biographical information was deleted, and in an effort to provide a place for readers to go to see this information, I cited the google page. I would most welcome any suggestion regarding this, especially since there is now a warning box at the top of the entry regarding citation to a self-published source. Again, any suggestions or assistance most welcome.Moak7509 (talk) 16:42, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

I just wanted to make the point again that you don't need permission from anyone to edit this or any article. You have stated your conflict of interest, which is all that is asked. Keep in mind that anything that you add that anything you added that is not neutral or is promotional will likely be removed, but as long as it is reliably sourced, there should be no problem. Cheers. I am One of Many (talk) 17:42, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

Thank you. But I am having difficulty right now in completing the edits that have been discussed above. They were finally ready, but when I pressed the button to submit them as final changes, I received an error message saying that someone else was also editing the entry, and when I looked at those changes, they were again deleting some of my basic biographical information and referring to me inappropriately as an "advocate" or "activist" or the like, which I thought had been resolved (above). I will return to try and post this. Any advice/assistance welcome. Thanks!Moak7509 (talk) 18:04, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

I have completed the basic changes (bizarrely, some of the changes were undone, including restoration of a self-published source I had previously deleted). I have since eliminated the one self-published source with an outside, objective source. Can the flag at the top of the entry about self-published sourcing now be removed? Thanks.Moak7509 (talk) 18:25, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, Prof. Spitzer. I have removed that tag. BTW, please don't think that self-published sources are never acceptable. They are under certain circumstances described at the WP:BLP page under Using the subject as a self-published source. Thanks for working with us on this. Lightbreather (talk) 19:41, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

Much appreciated. Thanks to all of you for your work.Moak7509 (talk) 20:17, 15 January 2014 (UTC)