Talk:Brockton, Massachusetts

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Brockton, Massachusetts is part of WikiProject Massachusetts, an effort to create, expand, and improve Massachusetts-related articles to a feature-quality standard.

Brockton's talk forum is available at inBrockton.com

• I'm sure Brockton is great - - but is there a source for any of this "great place to live" business?--Hraefen 23:01, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Contents 1 Sexual Harassment case 2 Salad King 3 ZIP codes 4 Brockton's name 5 Notable residents?

[edit] Sexual Harassment case

It's already been decided (see below) to keep the info about the sexual harassment case. If you feel strongly that it should be removed, please discuss it here first - don't just remove it. Otherwise your edits will just be considered vandalism and will be reverted. AbsolutDan 16:33, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

I imagined placing the sexual harrassment case up there would not be popular. But this is Wikipedia, an encyclopedia. It is meant for facts that happened. Even if we didn't like what happened we still have to acknowledge it. I will keep it up. Yanksox 22:55, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Sorry about that. When I read the article it seemed really out of place. It's a current event dealing with a subject that gets spotlight all the time and therefore doesn't merit a spot on the page. The other notable stories (Sacco and Vanzetti, Edison throwing the switch) are things that go in history books and thusly seem pertinent to someone reading about Brockton. Some silly sexual harassment case seems to pale in comparison, doesn't it? And I don't really see how you would consider it to be vandalism either? Isn't the point of Wikipedia to edit things in and out depending on whether or not people feel they are important, accurate, or correct? This sexual harassment blurb contributes nothing and makes it seem like Brocktonians are desperate to have stories about their city on the Wikipedia page. As a Brocktonian, this doesn't sit well with me, so know that my intention was not vandalism -- it's not like I took down all of the facts and replaced them with links for discout Viagra and mail order brides --24.218.85.216 09:06, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

My initial reaction was the same as yours - I was about to take it out, when I noticed Yanksox's post here. From my (somewhat limited) experience here, i've seen that it's best to discuss controversial topics here on Talk pages before removing them, and when a topic's already been brought up on the Talk page, to reach a consensus there before making the change to the article. You make good points on this, however - i'm of the mind that articles on Cities, States, etc. should reflect truly historical information, not current events (unless the current event turns historical). Can we perhaps get a Wikipedia expert to chime in here please? AbsolutDan 13:58, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

So? Can we remove it? --24.218.85.216 21:49, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

I have posted this debate to The Village Pump. Hopefully someone can offer some insight as to how to proceed here. --AbsolutDan ^{(T a lk)} 03:18, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

Please see Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not, specifically Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information. Would a reader expect to see something about this event in an encyclopedia article about Brockton? IMO, both 24.218.85.216 and AbsolutDan have it exactly right. -- Rick Block (talk) 18:14, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

Sounds good to me. I have removed the text below per this discussion:

On Feburary 7, 2006, A first-grader was suspended from the Downey Elementary School, after school officials said he sexually harassed a female schoolmate. The young boy was accused of touching a fellow first-grader's skin underneath the rear waistband of her pants. The boy's mother was outraged stating, "He doesn’t know those things, he's only six years old."[1] The boy was later transferred to another school and the school committee revised their policy of sexual harassment. The event stirred a debate regarding sexual harassment, schools, and the age of the accused.

--AbsolutDan ^{(T a lk)} 18:25, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

I was reading over what I did before and I do feel like a jerk for posting what I did. However, I think there should be an article on the Strand Theatre Fire, which altered fire codes to the standards that exist today. Again, sorry, I feel ashamed. Yanksox 05:06, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

What should and shouldn't be included in WP isn't always black and white. As you can see from my first post I was neutral at first myself as to whether the text should remain. That's what these Talk pages are all about -- Discussion, consensus, and sometimes persuasion. --AbsolutDan ^(talk) 16:23, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Salad King

What's the deal with the Salad King? I'm assuming this is a reference to the restaurant Christos' which claims to be "home of the greek salad" or "the greek salad king"? Is this notable? --AbsolutDan ^(talk) 00:14, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

I ate at Christo's tonight. I love it as much as the next Brocktonian but there's no need to shit up the Wikipedia with your half assed attempts at promoting the restaurant. I'm sure Christo's has the money to advertise if they want to do that. --24.218.85.216 07:57, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ZIP codes

I could have sworn that Brockton had ZIP codes 02401/2/3. When was it changed to 02301? --iMb~Meow 02:54, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

When they did redistricting, which (for all states) usually occurs after a census. Yanksox 02:58, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

In what year was this change made, 2000? 1990? 1066? --iMb~Meow 03:09, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

Well, most states (notable exception being Texas) usually do it around census. When I think about it for some strange reason I think Massachusetts did it out of norm too. I want to say 1996, but I wasn't even double digits then. Yanksox 03:12, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

I found it, it was 1 July 1998. Thanks anyway!

Sorry I couldn't really help. Yanksox 03:19, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

It turns out that they turned on a new sorting facility in Waltham at that time. 024 was used for the new codes assigned to that station, all those used to be 021 (for Boston). The old 024 was shuffled over to 023. Which is all probably more than anyone but I would care to know :) --iMb~Meow 03:33, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

Wow, that's cool. Thanks! Yanksox 03:35, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Brockton's name

When I attented BHS 94-96, one of the history teachers had exclaimed that the Name of Brockton was derived from a French General that had lost a battle to the US in Michigan. His name was Brock. I'd like to add such, but I don't have any other evidence --pahsons 23:59, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

It was named after Brockville, Ontario (the name was slightly misheard, obviously) because it sounded cool. I wish there was a better story to go with it, but that's how it happened (now, if I can just dig up a citable source for this...) The Canadian city was named after Isaac Brock. --iMeowbot~Meow 02:22, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Okay, here is a so-so source from a quickie search. And another. --iMeowbot~Meow 02:32, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Notable residents?

Should there be a section for notable residents? Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler are the two biggest names that come to mind. TornVictor

I'm not against such a section in an ideal world, but in my experience they end up being irresistable magnets for vanity insertions - everyone from the local mailman to some kid who made the varsity football team thinks they belong in those sections. Realistically speaking, we're probably better off avoiding them... --AbsolutDan ^(talk) 21:38, 27 September 2006 (UTC)