Talk:Kansas

Flatter than a pancake

The sentence "Later some scientists worked out that it is true, Kansas really is flatter than a pancake." seems to be a reference to this news story: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2003/jul/27/holy_hotcakes_study/ Is this really necessary for the article? Kansan (talk) 00:43, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

In my opinion, no. Not encyclopedic at all. Feel free to remove. Griffinofwales (talk) 00:53, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Some comments on PVGA

First, this looks like a very good article to me. It is well-organized, covers important topics, and the writing is clear. I've noted a few small points and suggestions below. I hope they are helpful.

History

Early history: Nothing happened before the Spanish arrived? Compared with the model, Oklahoma, this picks up pretty late in the 1500s. But, I don't know any specifics to suggest.

Not much. However, I'll add a paragraph on Native American presence. Albacore (talk · changes) 14:22, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

Can't find much, KS doesn't have as much Native American influence as OK. Albacore (talk · changes) 16:25, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Civil War: A very small point, but something about the word "hosted" in this sentence seems strange to me. "Kansas had a minor impact on the war, and hosted four well known battles." You might host a battle between sports teams or clubs, but I don't think people host warfare. Sorry, I don't have a better suggestion

Rewritten the paragraph. Albacore (talk · changes) 13:48, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

Dust Bowl: Front the subject of sentence and simplify "This caused thousands of farmers to go into poverty and forced them to move to other parts of the United States." Simplify idiomatic "see the loss" in "From 1930 to 1940, the state saw its only loss in population". And please check "It lost 4.3 percent of the people who lived there." More precisely the number went down. It is possible (probable?) that more than 4.3% left and some others came in or were born.

Suggested: "From 1930 to 1936, Kansas went through a period of time called the Dust Bowl. During this time, Kansas had little rainfall and high temperatures. Thousands of farmers became very poor and and had to move to other parts of the United States. From 1930 to 1940 was the only time the population of the state went down. The number of people living in Kansas decreased 4.3 percent."

I'll look into it. Albacore (talk · changes) 15:01, 26 February 2011 (UTC) Added that 400,000 people left the Great Plains area during the Dust Bowl. Albacore (talk · changes) 15:12, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

Great added detail. Gotanda (talk) 00:50, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Timing/sequence problem

Post Civil War

See also: Great Migration (African American)

After the Civil War, many free slaves came to Oklahoma and Kansas. In fact, between the years of 1879 and 1881...

The Great Migration didn't begin until the 20th century--long after 1879-81--and continued until well after the next time period listed, The Dustbowl. I'm not sure what to suggest here.

Removed the see also. Is this OK? Albacore (talk · changes) 15:15, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

Agreed. Probably safest to just leave it out here. Gotanda (talk) 00:50, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Economy

1. Avoid embedded clauses like this as per MOS. Is: For example, the Sprint Nextel Corporation, which is one of the largest telephone companies in the United States, has its main operational offices in Overland Park, Kansas.

Suggested: For example, the Sprint Nextel Corporation is one of the largest telephone companies in the United States. Its main operational offices are in Overland Park, Kansas.

2. Define acronyms on first use, and maybe avoid one repetition

Is: The Gross domestic product for Kansas was $122,700,000,000 in 2008. Overall, Kansas' GDP accounts for less than 1 percent of total U.S. gross domestic product.

Suggested: The Gross domestic product (GDP) for Kansas was $122,700,000,000 in 2008. Overall, Kansas' GDP accounts for less than 1 percent of total U.S. economy.

Both taken care of. Also decapitalized the G in gross domestic product. Albacore (talk · changes) 01:49, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

Good catch on the "G". Gotanda (talk) 00:50, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

That's all!

Thanks for working this article into shape. Gotanda (talk) 00:06, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

Look forward to this going to promotion. Gotanda (talk) 00:50, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

One more! How about maps?

There is a map showing Kansas location in the US, but how about a map showing more detail?

Two suggestions from Commons:

• Population Map
• Counties Map

Just an idea, Gotanda (talk) 00:57, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

I'm busy now, but before the VGA ends I will add a section on demographics incorporating the first map. Also want to wait until the 2010 Census data on Kansas comes out. Albacore (talk · changes) 02:30, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Out of curiosity, do you have any idea when they expect to release the data? Kansan (talk) 17:48, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

It's been released and incorporated into the population section. Here is an article on it. Albacore (talk · changes) 17:51, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

Excellent. I know I'm a little late coming in on this, but I see that the review process seems to have stalled somewhat, and I don't see many barriers to it being promoted, so I'll try to take one last look at it this afternoon (I see some minor simplifications that perhaps could be made) and try to weigh in, unless there are any other changes that could be made. Kansan (talk) 17:55, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

I took a final look at it...

I made a couple of very minor grammar/simplification changes. The only thing left before I formally endorse this is taking care of a redlink in the state info template, which is Languages in the United States. I would say the best way to deal with this is to create it, perhaps using some statistics from English's similarly named "Languages of the United States". Alternatively, I suppose the link could simply be removed from the template. Thoughts? Kansan (talk) 15:42, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Been taken care of. I'll also create Ad astra per Aspera tomorrow. Albacore (talk · changes) 03:12, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

English translated Saying, delinked it too. Albacore (talk · changes) 00:36, 10 March 2011 (UTC)