Talk:Stevens Point, Wisconsin

Early History

Moved from subject page: "As far as this author knows, it was founded as a stopping-point along the Wisconsin River between lumber camps in northern Wisconsin and southern Wisconsin, hence the name "Stevens Point" (the apostrophe got lost at some point, apparently)."

"This author" is not identified, and in any case it would be nice to know who Steven was. Vicki Rosenzweig

Mr. "Stevens" is actually George Stevens, who was somehow involved with the logging industry in Wisconsin in early 19th century. From from what I've heard, Stevens built a small shed on the bank of the Wisconsin River (somewhere near where Pffifner Park currently is), as a stop between the logging towns of Big Bull Falls (Wausau) and Portage. Several sawmills then sprung up along the river. Josh Johnson

Redirect?

Shouldn't this and Stevens Point be combined, with that page redirecting to this one?Jason

Self-Servings Links

An external link to a composer's website was deleted on the grounds that it serves no purpose in the context of the city of Stevens Point itself. No mention of this musician or their impact on the city was mentioned in the article itself, and although I do not consider the target site to be commercial in nature, the composer no doubt benefits from the link, which, again, has nothing to do with the city itself, other than that she is from there. I welcome the user who added the links to create a new article dedicated to the musicians of Stevens Point, and a link to that article, from the original Point page, would be welcome.Craig

I also moved a reference to a country music artist from Stevens Point to the Civic Features section from the article lead; I don't think it belongs there either, though. Perhaps (for internal links) there should be a Famous Residents section?Hobbes

Prior text

Prior to being changed to a redirect, the following were the contents of the article Stevens Point:

(article lead)

Stevens Point is a city of approximately 25,000, centrally located in Portage County, Wisconsin. It was named after its founder, George Stevens, who ran several saloons on what is today known as "The Square". Loggers on the Wisconsin River found this a convenient stopping point, as the river bends slightly and one could tell from far upstream whether Stevens' point was open for business.

(A local legend also claims that Stevens Point is a bastardization of "Stevens Pint", a reference to Stevens' alleged practice of serving whiskey by the pint.)

Physical Features

Currently, Stevens Point occupies a land area of 16.5 square miles at an elevation of 1093 feet above sea level. It is surrounded by several smaller villages and towns, including Plover, Whiting, Custer, and the Town of Hull. On average, the temperature ranges from 80° to 20° Fahrenheit. All four seasons can be distinctly observed, with snow falling most heavily in December and January and temperatures rising to their summer levels of about 70° in July and August.

Demographics

Stevens Point boasts a significantly low median resident age of approximately 26 years old. According to the 2000 census, residents are 90% Caucasian, 3.5% Asian, and 1.6% Hispanic, with a significantly lower-than-average African-American population. The city has a reputation for being largely Democratic in political leaning, though it recorded one of the highest Green Party turnouts in the state in the 2000 Presidential election.

Civic Features

Major businesses in the area include Stora Enso North America paper mill, Sentry Insurance, and the Stevens Point Brewery; educational institutions include the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point and Mid-state Technical College.

The area has 20 developed parks, a 20-mile bicycle trail, an 18-hole golf course, public and private elementary/high school systems, a community theatre group (cwACT), many small businesses (including the locally famous Belts' Soft Serve), churches of various denominations, and city-wide events ranging from the Fourth of July Riverfront Rendezvous to the Portage County Cultural Festival.

External links and resources

Help Wikipedia by expanding this article!

Information from Stevens Point's city site, the Stevens Point Journal, and Stevens Point's city profile.

Legends and hearsay from former and current residents of the city. Written 16 Mar 2005 by Hobbes.

history on pj jacobs

when was the construction started for the school and how much money did it take to buid it?

Nudists

I can not see how this is relevant to the article. It is a fairly minor current event (I've never heard of it, and I've lived in the Point area now for 3 years). It is written up very biasedly, and is unencyclopedic in almost every way. I can almost see up in a scandle section under Andrew Halverson's page (if he had one). I am going to once again remove it, but if someone can give reason why it should stay, I would be happy to hear it. - IanCheesman (talk) 05:23, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

I agree with you, IanCheesman. Sounds like classic wp:soapbox.--BaronLarf 05:38, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

I third, this content doesn't belong. Royalbroil 12:43, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

Still being added by anon.--BaronLarf 10:14, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

If this keeps up much more, I think it would be fine to semi-protect the article for a while to keep out this content. Royalbroil 13:08, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

Removal of Harassment by Mayor Andrew Halverson and Police Chief of Camp NCN Swingers Group

Well it appears that two people from Stevens Point and Wisconsin, IanCheeseman and BaronLeaf, keep removing, censoring my posts about the how Mayor Andrew Halverson and Police Chief Ruder of Stevens Point threatened the Royal Inn when they were going to host a swingers party.

"Harassment by Mayor Andrew Halverson and Police Chief of Camp NCN Swingers Group"

On February 12th and 13th, 2010 the swing club, Camp NCN = No Clothing Required, of Black River Falls, was scheduled to hold a total hotel takeover party at a motel in Stevens Point.

On January 25th, 2010 Stevens Point Mayor Andrew Halverson, who was elected in 2007 as a Progressive Democrat, and Police Chief Kevin Rudder announced that they would do everything to stop this party.

Chief Ruder threatened the owners and management of the hotel where the party was to take place with massive fines and the lose of their liquor license it the party went forward. Under pressure from Sheriff Ruder, the motel canceled NCN's reservation..

However the owner of Club NCN has hired leading Madison civil rights attorney, Jeff Scott Olson, who has said that the City of Stevens Point is misapplying the law and has threatened legal action. The owner of Club NCN has said the party will proceed.

I thoroughly documented my posts with at least 5 or 6 sources from news organizations around Stevens Point. Now BaronLeaf has threatened that my editing privileges in Wikipedia will be revoked if I keep posting "non-neutral points of view", i.e. material he doesn't like. I thought Wikipedia was supposed to be an open forum, but apparently, if you post true and honest material that editors like IanCheeseman and BaronLeaf don't like they threaten you. I wonder if they will try and remove this too.Daniel D. Dobson 18:57, 28 February 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dann Dobson (talk • contribs)

Daniel - First of all, I apologize if my actions seemed like censorship, that was never my intention. Of the 6 notations you included above (note however, the "ref" tag doesn't work well on talk pages), 2 of them were links to the group. Good for background, but not a source of information for the page, especially as I could find nothing on the page in 20 minutes of searching about anything dealing with this issue other than the event you spoke of, that says it was to be held in Madison (I could find no information about other locations, cancellation, or even whether it happened).

You next make three links to individuals and their election platform. Again, while potential background, linking to the administative roster of the city is not actually a helpful link in this situation. Likewise, at the end you mention that a lawyer was involved, but only link to the lawyer's webpage, which again says nothing about the situation.

There are two links to local news broadcasts about the subject. The second one was interesting to watch (the first is no longer available), as I had not seen them before. Local news is not very often unbiased, what we strive towards on Wikipedia, and thus not often used. Print media is more stringently researched, and thus is the preferred source.

That being said, the news brief (which lasted only 35 seconds) mentioned that the reason the hotel was being threatened with loosing their license was because they would be breaking the law if they hosted the event. You mention nothing like this, nor do you present anything from the hotel, the city, or anything from NCN directly.

Do you understand why it appears to be a fringe attack, when no real sources are presented, the sources that are presented are insufficient, and the topic has no place in the article? If you still feel this courtcase (has it been taken to court? Has any lawsuits been filed?) needs documentation, than it should be its own wikipedia page. I could present the best information on how pork costs have increased at Copps in the last 20 years at Stevens Point, but it still doesn't mean it should be on the Stevens Point wiki page. The information you have presented thus far is not encyclopedic, not well sourced, and does not belong on that page.

Again, I hope you do not take this as censorship, meanness, or anything else. I made some massively poor edits when I first started hanging around on wikipedia, but others passed on their knowledge to me, as I am trying to do with you. - IanCheesman (talk) 23:49, 28 February 2010 (UTC

I agree with the concerns that IanCheesman has raised. First there is a problem with Verifiability. The allegations are for the most part not backed up. Secondly there is a problem with Notability. Even if something verifiable happened here, has it received "significant coverage"? Seems to just have been (allegedly) mentioned on the TV news twice. Third, there is a problem with a Neutral Point of View. The edits presented a biased pro-sex party point of view ("harrassment"?). Fourth, there is a problem with Undue Weight. Even if everything in those edits were true, do they really justify that much coverage? Four paragraphs, 2000 characters? I think not. After reverting the edits, IanCheeseman presented his reasons, and Royalbroil and I concurred. Consensus and Wikipedia guidelines suggest the material should not be included. Cheers--BaronLarf 00:22, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

I agree with BaronLarf's assessment - my biggest problem with the content is his point #4 - undue weight. My opinion wouldn't be changed even if it were verified by a very reliable source like the New York Times - it's very far off-topic. This is an article about a city, so who cares about this incident? Will it be discussed in 100 years from now? Certainly no is the answer to that question. Consensus is clearly against including this minority opinion. Royalbroil 04:31, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

Sorry but I think both IanCheeseman and BaronLarf are wrong and you both are engaging in censorship. You are both from the area and I believe want to preserve StevensPoint's reputation as the "Best City of live in America". This is a dispute that does not reflect well in Steven's Point and not about the price of pork, but is about a Mayor and a police chief distorting the law.

Royalbroil's comments, "Will it be discussed in 100 years from now? Certainly no is the answer to that question." is pretty weak. By his standard 99.9% of the material on Wikipedia would be irrelevant and should not be posted.

I also was very disturbed by BaronLarf's threats that he would seek to have me banned from editiing if I persisted in making edits. He did not post that on my talk page, so I cannot find it. Apparently he does this a lot by reviewing his talk page.

What I posted was well sourced and well documented. Instead of correcting what I wrote, Ian and Baron simply kept deleting it. I would like to take this to a neutral source for an independent review. Intially I considered filing complaints against both of you, for abuse of your editing priviledges, but at this point I will be satisified taking our dispute to a neutral third party for review.

Please let's discuss where to take this.Daniel D. Dobson 17:12, 5 March 2010 (UTC)

If you really feel that asking for dispute resolution is what is needed, I guess that is your right, and I will not attempt to stop you. Again, I make the suggestion that your sources are not as high quality as you think they are, and the addition does not belong on this particular page. I welcome you to write up a page on the court case (if there was/is/will be one, still seen no evidence of this) as have many others been written up. If it is well written, I would support linking to that page from this page. As for trying to "preserve Stevens Point's reputation", I actually couldn't care less about that. I've only lived here for 3 years, I have no real connection to the place. I have developed a connection to the ideas of Wikipedia, however, and am attempting to "preserve" Wikipedia's standards. May I ask what is your connection to the other group, or to the police chief? You seem very interested in blasting him and protecting this poor defenseless group, so might the bias lie on the other side of the issue? Not accusing, just asking. Connection does not equal bias, but it does increase the likelihood. - IanCheesman (talk) 18:24, 5 March 2010 (UTC)

Please read WP:INDISCRIMINATE point #4 to understand my point about 100 years. I was being a third neutral party when I gave my comments. I have no connection to the community with the exception of having visited the community as a resident of the state. I have reviewed the actions of all three of you and agree with BaronLarf and IanChesman. Your editing, Daniel, has been deleted because it causes problems with Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons which is a strong policy to protect living people from advocacy against them. We need to not have this content in the article because we have a strong ethical and legal responsibility to do it right. To quote the policy: "We must get the article right.[1] Be very firm about the use of high quality references. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced—whether the material is negative, positive, neutral, or just questionable—should be removed immediately and without waiting for discussion." There has been plenty of discussion and consensus has been reached that this content does not belong. Royalbroil 05:07, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

References

Notable people associated with Stevens Point

This list seems too long. What does "associated with" mean, anyhow? Born here, grew up here, lived here all their lives, passed through once on a trip to Madison? HuskyHuskie (talk) 12:25, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Anyone who has been a resident - born or lived here. They're a lucky city to have so many notable people. Royalbroil 01:49, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

Copyedit

Per request, edited this. Feedback encouraged! I'm happy to remedy any errors I created. Comments:

• Needs more footnotes, especially in earlier sections
• Climate?
• Ice fishing? Hockey?

Cheers! Lfstevens (talk) 18:50, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Sister cities

I've removed the unreferenced sister cities from this article. It looks like references for two sister cities were deleated, with no rationale given for the edit. -- Mikeblas (talk) 03:08, 14 July 2015 (UTC)

Notable people

A list has been repeatedly added to this article enumerating "notable people". This list was most recently added again with the claim that WP:USCITIES says such a list is acceptable. Quite the opposite: WP:USCITIES says that a bulleted list is not acceptable, and that such an enumeration should be in prose form; WP:USEPROSE echoes this standard. The list, as offered, has no clear bar of inclusion: the only standard offered is "notable people". We don't know if people in this list are current residents, the tenure of their residency, or the seasonality of their residency. We further don't know if they were born in this town (or nearby?), and no references are given to establish any verifiability (the fundamental requirement of WP:V).

Because the material isn't verifiable and is unencyclopedic as presented, I've removed it from the article again. -- Mikeblas (talk) 03:13, 14 July 2015 (UTC)

External links modified

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Popular culture

Obviously the Liv and Maddie mention is notable and does not violate IPC at all. That policy states that detailing a topic's impact upon popular culture can be a worthwhile contribution to an article, provided that the content is properly sourced and consistent with policies and guidelines. It's neutral, it's well-sourced, and it's not, well, irrelevant or overly lengthy.

(Plus, this was the only mention I could find for that section.) Epic Genius (talk) 21:42, 20 September 2015 (UTC)

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Depot Park

According to our article on the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad, Depot Park in Stevens Point contains a preserved "Soo Line" steam locomotive and caboose. Can anyone tell us about Depot Park? J S Ayer (talk) 00:53, 30 June 2016 (UTC)

Resolved: by Google Maps, confirmed by a telephone call, it's actually Veterans Memorial Park. J S Ayer (talk) 19:05, 21 July 2016 (UTC)

The caboose, by its number, was one of fifty built in 1908 for the Wisconsin Central Railway (1897-1954), which the next year came under the control of the Soo Line. J S Ayer (talk) 01:31, 30 June 2016 (UTC)

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Daily Journal

Stevens Point Daily Journal has been used as a source elsewhere, but is not noted here. One sentence in Culture might be enough. Also, archives at the Journal may support an article upgrade. — Rgdboer (talk) 21:20, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

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Hmong community?

We have a very visible and integrated Hmong population here. They're an inseparable part of our community, so it seems weird that it isn't mentioned at all. If you read the article as an outsider you'd just see the census data and think we're as homogenous as Maine and that's not an accurate picture. Desktopview (talk) 16:05, 30 September 2023 (UTC)