Talk:University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt

message: Someone anonymous recently changed this: "most teams have members who are not even students anymore, or never were affiliated with the University to begin with."
to this: "many claim members who are not students any more, but return as alumni specifically to particiapte."
I'm not sure why this person was under the impression that only students and alumni ever participate, but I know that it's true that people who are unaffiliated with the University do participate. By "unaffiliated" I mean are neither students, former students, alumni, staff, or faculty. There were at least four people on FIST and one on Vegans this year whose only affiliation with the University were through acquaintance/relation to some U of C student. I guess the edit gets across effectively the same point, but I just want to say that there certainly ARE people who do scav who aren't students/alumni/staff.
Actually, I was just trying to get the passage to sound better.  DirectorStratton 07:41, July 28, 2005 (UTC)
The article currently has a couple of sentences about the Mike Royko items of years past. The way it's worded leaves me with an understanding of those items that I'm not sure is correct. I'm researching those items right now. When I get the history of those items figured out, I'll come back and edit that bit to make it more clear.
Cmcfaul August 5, 2005
:It's nice to see you on Wikipedia, Herr McLazy.  This article got a lot of POV edits last May I've been slowly untangling. DirectorStratton 22:28, August 5, 2005 (UTC)
:I did the Royko edits, so let me provide some background.  I was on the Shorey House team for the three years I was at the school (1989-91), and captained it in '91 (if memory serves).  The lists each year had a "Mike Royko" item, and, one year, it was a pair of sweat socks.  I believe it was Cassie who told me that Royko was always out of town during the ScavHunt. DegreeAbsolute 11:28, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled

message: I've made some changes--cleaning up language, removing misleading links to Max Palevsky (they suggest the man is involved in the event) and removing unverified claims.  I think this article can probably be refined further still. Doctofunk 17:03, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm of the opinion that everything here that can't be cited from a reliable source should should be removed, and that some effort should be put into this.  There are some things here that are inaccurate oversimplifications (the one that make me most sad are the ones about my team), and sources would help with that.  However, I don't think it's appropriate for me to edit this article, because of my personal involvement in ScavHunt and the likelihood that my edits would be seen as partisan mudslinging.  (See concerns about agit-prop above.)  Interestingly, the names of the teams may often be citable from Chicago Maroon articles. -- SCZenz 21:43, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: This is where I get confused a little by wikipedia policy.  As an example, the results for 2006 are unverifiable--they don't appear on the official site, nor has the maroon written anything about them.  And yet, I'm confident they're accurate 100% accurate, so what's the harm in leaving them there?  (If this isn't the right place to ask this question, feel free to direct me there.)  Insofar as you see inaccuracy or contestable content, feel free to point it out/change it.  But I'm confused as to why the response to inaccuracy is to remove everything that can't be directly verified.  Not that I have a problem with doing that.  I just don't see that it's necessarily the best course of action for this article right now.  But I am pretty new to this. Doctofunk 21:20, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, in practice this article tends not to be held to the full-bore Wikipedia standards, because it tends to fly under the radar and any hoax is likely to be corrected. But in principle Wikipedia an encyclopedia and therefore a secondary source; thus everything in the entire thing is supposed to be verifiable from other sources.  If there weren't any primary sources, how could anyone tell that a few people didn't just make ScavHunt up? -- SCZenz 19:59, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

text: I removed the team names because I thought they were irrelevant, not unverifiable. Doctofunk 21:20, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

text: Hilariously enough, if you post the results yourself, you don't count as a reliable source according to Wikipedia rules.  If it goes up on the official website first, then it can be cited and is kosher.  This applies even to scientists who do research; they can only cite their own journal results like anyone else could.  See Wikipedia:Original research.  I admit it is funny in this case. -- SCZenz 19:54, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  May 30 Cleanup 

message: After considering SCZenz's comments and further exploring wikipedia policy, I've made some changes to this article, mostly by removing content. I support the existence of this article but agree with SCZenz that it should contain only information that is verifiable, notable and not biased oversimplifications. I've deleted the following concepts after finding myself unable to rewrite them in a suitable way:
*Reference to Mike Royko
*Team size/affiliations
*Historical trend towards fewer, larger teams
*Historical trend towards more obscure items that require greater interpretation
*Road-trip destinations
*Detail about specific teams and their strategies
*Some specific items in the notable items section
Doctofunk 17:58, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Aug 7 Cleanup 

message: I assumed that when they referred to an LDS "temple", they meant a chapel, as non-LDS individuals are not allowed inside LDS temples but are in LDS chapels. Based on that assumption, I changed it; if that is incorrect, it should be changed back. Eran of Arcadia 18:40, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I got the impression they were in the parking lot, but chapel is much more plausible. We should have a cite for these items anyway. As a Mormon, I love this story, but all claims not tied to reliable sources should be removed, and school papers don't count. Cool Hand Luke 19:00, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The only cite that I can offer is that I was the scav hunt judge who wrote that item in the first place and who judged that item, and the team that introduced Norman to me told me the story.  But I don't think Wikipedia has a citation format for "I was there". Spikebrennan 20:22, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

text: The school newspaper doesn't count as a reliable newssource??? Any Maroon reporter would be insulted.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.144.209.8 (talk) 18:59, 23 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Norman the Mormon 

message: I'm trying to get a link added for my team, GASH.  Yes, I have an obvious conflict of interest in that my team needs to recruit people.  However, I think that it would be appropriate to include external links to those teams with webpages.  To my knowledge, this is The F.I.S.T. (thefist.net) and GASH (scavhunt.net).  Can we get these links added?  I'm trying to follow Wikipedia's policy on external links and not to have a bot remove them.  Yes, The FIST's website is a wiki page.  GASH's is an auto redirect to our blog.  However, given that Scav is played by teams, it makes sense to at least keep a listing of teams (the Judges do it) and to include links to said teams provided they exist. Buws (talk) 09:06, 31 December 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Unfortunately I don't think links to team websites would be appropriate. External links are for web resources that provide relevant encyclopedic information that would inappropriate for whatever reason to include in the article (detail inappropriate for an introduction to the topic, etc.).  Remember, Wikipedia is not a directory of links. — DroEsperanto (talk) 17:34, 31 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Teams?

message: This article has needed a rewrite for a loooong time. While I have an admitted COI (I'm an emeritus judge for the hunt), I promise I'll try to revamp it from an NPOV. Please call me out on any POV I introduce and we can talk about it at length, as both scavvies and wikipedians are wont to do. My main focus will be on reflecting what the hunt is actually like, and also what the format is, the history, etc, all better sourced from the NUMEROUS reputable news sources that Scav has been written up in.--Shibbolethink (♔ ♕) 15:11, 14 May 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Will do, and thanks so much! I feel like at some point I tried to improve the article but I had a hard time finding good sources on the subject. Feel free to share them on the talk page even if you haven't found a way to integrate them into the content of the article yet. — DroEsperanto (talk) 16:18, 14 May 2015 (UTC)
replies: text:  Def! here are all the refs I'm going to try and incorporate:
http://www.wbez.org/story/its-25th-year-university-chicago-scavenger-hunt-breaks-world-record-86200
http://www.wbez.org/blogs/claire-zulkey/2013-05/list-best-items-university-chicago-scavenger-hunt-107149
http://chicagomaroon.com/2013/05/17/dispatches-from-the-scav-road-trip/
http://chicagomaroon.com/2013/05/14/scav-fever-spreads-to-zimmers/
http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/05/09/highlights-from-the-2014-scav-list/
http://www.businessinsider.com/university-of-chicago-2014-scavenger-hunt-2014-5
http://chicagoist.com/2015/05/07/a_shark_nato_trailer_glasses_for_in.php
http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2010/5/8/the-university-of-chicago-scavenger-hunt.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/19/us/campus-it-s-that-season-chicago-phd-s-have-taken-back-seat-degree-silliness.html
some of these: http://chicagomaroon.com/tag/scav-hunt/
http://chicagomaroon.com/2011/05/10/b-j-dethrones-snitchcock-at-scav/
http://gawker.com/the-university-of-chicagos-weird-as-hell-scav-is-unde-1574711090
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2008-05-12/news/0805110199_1_scavenger-hunt-las-vegas-brain-power
http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/news-cms/news/?dept=1127&id=47783
http://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/chicago/the-weirdest-things-in-chicago
http://www.cockeyed.com/inside/meilcarek/meilcarek.shtml
http://universe.byu.edu/2014/09/16/provo-breaks-record-for-worlds-largest-scavenger-hunt1/
https://uchicagocareeradvancement.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/scavenger-hunt-and-the-art-of-the-spin/
http://www.chicagoweekly.org/2010/01/28/scav-hunt-incorporated-four-alumni-of-the-world%E2%80%99s-largest-scavenger-hunt-turn-a-hobby-into-a-business/
http://jasondrowley.com/2011/05/08/a-supposedly-fun-thing-ill-never-do-again/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/19/misha-collins-supernatural-season-8-gishwhes_n_1990234.html
http://spectator.org/blog/59145/hunt-end-all-scavenger-hunts
I would propose the removal of the sub-section Scavvenfeast. It does not appear to be mentioned in any secondary materials and is minor relative to the overall hunt. Dingomate (talk) 09:04, 18 May 2015 (UTC)

text: True, I wish it were mentioned more by WP:RSes. MAYBE ONE DAY. But yeah, if we can't find WP:RSes for it, then let's delete the subheading.--Shibbolethink (♔ ♕) 13:20, 18 May 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Revamping 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 2 external links on University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150514031748/http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150508/hyde-park/scavwedding-highlights-annual-u-of-c-scavenger-hunt to https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150508/hyde-park/scavwedding-highlights-annual-u-of-c-scavenger-hunt
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080309222750/http://scavhunt1.uchicago.edu/lists/1999/node2.html to http://scavhunt1.uchicago.edu/lists/1999/node2.html
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: There's no source for scav404.org being the official 2020 Scav hunt.
Hey, Scav teams. I award 2 bonus points to whoever adds a reliable source for that. Not sure if the hunt is already over, but don't worry, you'll get your points. - Alexis Jazz 18:41, 17 May 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Citation needed