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Debates bring out best in candidates
By Larry Garfield, Who's Hair Looks Like Peter Jennings'
#STF-DEBATE, DAL.NET -- In the second ever STF Presidential IRC Debates, presidential candidates Bob Spurlin, Greg Hertzsch, and Mark Longanbach met in #STF-Debate on 12 February to address questions from fellow STFers in a real-time setting.  Hertzsch's running mate, Alan Felts, was also in attendance, but Colin Wyers and Bill Gunty were unable to attend.  Following the opening remarks, moderators Seamus Hughes (who is also serving as Election Coordinator) and Mike Bourdaa opened the floor to anonymous questions from the audience.  Several serious questions were asked, including ship and fleet autonomy, leadership roles, and making sure that members do not fear their superiors.  Numerous questions were also asked of specific candidates, some of which were relevant and others which STF President Mike Bourdaa later referred to as "hitting below the belt."  All of the candidates, however, handled themselves well.  Once questions from the audience were completed, candidates were encouraged to ask questions of each other.  The candidates grilled each other about why they want to be president, what they would do to make life better on ships, and the definition of "Leadership."  Most commentators noted that Longanbach probably benefited most from the debates, as up until now he has been essentially silent during the campaign.  He demonstrated himself to be a real candidate.  Spurlin and Hertzsch performed admirably as well.  The official transcript of the debate can be found on the President's web site, although after elections are over it will likely be moved to a more permanent location. 

Prez endorses Spurlin
By Bob Woodward, On Loan from the Washington Post
#STAR-FLEET, DAL.NET -- Following the debates candidates Spurlin and Hertzsch and President Bourdaa stepped out of the debate room into the main chat area, where they were immediately assailed by SNN's own Peter Jennings and Bob Woodward.  President Bourdaa was the first to make a statement, saying that while he had done his best to remain impartial during the debates, he supported Bob Spurlin for President.  Although Bourdaa also mentioned something about the tapes being in the desk, further information was not forthcoming.  Following the debate Bourdaa was joined by several other members of STF endorsing Spurlin.  The first was FComm-5 Fleet Captain Deanne Morgan, not surprising as she is Spurlin's campaign manager.  Lt. Cmdr. Mohamed Younis, XO of the USS Asimov in Fleet Four also endorsed Mr. Spurlin in the ensuing discussions.  Mr. Younis stated "I still have no idea what Greg's angle is, what he intends on doing in STF...  I don't know what Greg's intentions were behind [the no-sin-is-too-great] ideology, I can only speculate, but I do think it is a bad idea since people tend to abuse power."  Later actions on the WeBB brought formal endorsements from these STFers, as well as FComm-4 Fleet Captain Larry Garfield and Commander Steve Ashton.  All stated that they preferred Spurlin's slow, controlled growth of STF over Hertzsch's and Longanbach's plans to expand to a Fleet Seven.  They also stated that Spurlin was the only candidate to make "Fun" a cornerstone of his campaign, a major plus in their opinions. 

Polls now open
Voting for the office of STF President officially opened at midnight on 15 February EST.  The polls close at midnight 28 February EST.  To vote, send an e-mail to vote99@star-fleet.com.  The subject of the e-mail should be the ticket for which you are voting, either:
 

The body of the message should include your real name, rank, and highest ranking position (if you have several positions, list the highest only).  For example:

Subject:  Garfield/Ballway
Body:  Lt. Franklin Foobar, CE, USS Grizzlefritz

All votes are strictly confidential.  For more information, see the Office of the Election Coordinator web site.

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Edicts #30, #31 limit power of EDir
By Larry Garfield, Engineering Editor
STF COMMAND, SAN FRANCISCO -- Following the numerous instances when former EDirs Owen Townes and Randy McCullick signed off on ship classes and technologies which they themselves had designed, STF President Mike Bourdaa and new EDir Larry Garfield began recently to consider ways to avoid such abuses of power in the future.  President Bourdaa's proposal, which came in the form of Edict #30 on 8 February, established a council of the Dockmaster, AEDir, and one other secret cabinet member appointed by the President, all of whom would have to approve of a design of the EDir by secret vote for it to pass.  Garfield responded with his full support, but pointed out two difficulties with the plan.  First, the Dockmaster position was not a permanent position of the ED, and therefore could not be used for Edict matters, because there was no guarantee that it would continue to exist.  Second, it would be harder for an EDir to fire an AEDir who went against him if the vote was known, because people would suspect that was the reason.  Instead, Garfield proposed an open-vote system with the AEDir, VP, and one other cabinet member voting.  Bourdaa agreed, and incorporated these changes into Edict #31.  Garfield intends to comply with these new rules fully, as he has been pushing for them for a year now. 

Ginger Johnson found spamming OOC
By Larry Garfield, Spam Editor
OOC AREA, RISA -- As the Jello Wars dragged on, several STFers decided that enough was enough. Chief among these dissidents was Ginger Johnson, who in disgust began writing spam letters to several people in the OOC.  As spamming is against STF regulations, as per Edict MBourd-1-2, a committee was quickly called to deal with the issue swiftly and justly.  Larry Garfield, Israel Harris, Jaret Haregreaves, and several others came together to decide on a course of action.  Harris advocated shooting her, which he did, approximately 47 times.  When that failed, however, the committee was left with a quandary.  If assassination wouldn't work, what other option was there?  Harris again tried to alleviate the problem by banging his head against a wall for several days, but only succeeded in giving himself a massive headache.  After Harris was turned into a dart board, the rest of the team continued to question what action to take.  Spamming was clearly against the rules, so why not simply evict her?  Fortunately for Johnson, before the team could recommend expulsion to STF President Bourdaa Dr. Taemhcnul Toidi of Pakled University contacted the team with startling news:  Johnson was not referring to mass e-mails but to lunchmeat.  "Cold cuts are not enough to make her her strong," he told the Nameless Ensigns' Weekly Standard.  "She needs spam to make her grow up and be strong.  Can you help her be strong?"  Relieved, the team blamed Harris for the confusion and rammed his head into a wall a few more times before apologizing to Johnson and returning to their former activities; throwing Jello at the Presidential candidates. 

Training ship new challenge for Acad
By Larry Garfield, Editor-in-Training
USS CHALLENGER, STF COMMAND -- As part of a plan formulated by Jim Armstrong and Seamus Hughes, STF President Mike Bourdaa announced on 9 February the commissioning of a Training Ship, under the auspices of the Academy, as part of Edict #32.  The Training Ship is to be placed in the Command Area Fleet unless more were added, at which point it would be moved to a seperate Academy Fleet.  The Training Ship is intended to be another option for people joining STF to learn the ropes as well as for people seeking promotion to Captain.  The XO and Counselor positions on the Training Ship will be permanent positions, as the Captain will be a CO-in-training.  People graduating from Department Head slots on the Training Ship must be given preference when a DH slot opens up on existing ships over non-graduates.  The Edict also commissioned the Columbus-class USS Challenger as the first training ship, with Steve Ashton as XO.  Currently, Kristina Humphreys, Cordell Stewart, John Anglin, and Ginger Johnson are being considered for CO-in-training positions on the Challenger.  Further details regarding new procedures for the training ship can be found at our web site at, no, wait, this is the web site.  Um, can be found in the President's web site at http://www.star-fleet.com/prez/bourdaa.html#e32.

Columbus still exploring the world
By Bob Spurlin, Guest Politician
USS COLUMBUS, FLEET FOUR -- Back in, uh what year was that again? Well anyway a while back, Christopher Columbus set off to find the new world.  He was in search of new places and new people and was willing to traverse the globe to find them.  STF’s USS Columbus is carrying on that tradition.  The Columbus is, unless I miscounted (Which I could have done since I get those fingers confused) the most international ship in STF.  The Columbus boasts a British CO (Paul Jones) and an Australian XO (Nikole Burchett).  In addition the Columbus has crew from five other countries.  Sinead Doyle from Ireland, Stuart Coll is also an Irishman but he lives in Spain and teaches English (Go figure).  Mohamed Younis hails from Canada but is of Jordanian descent (Hey can we count him twice?)  Jeanne Celtan is the Scottish representative and of course it has  a scattering of Americans as well.  In the grand style of TOS the Columbus is an international crew that gets along the vast majority of the time.  The ship transcends race, color creed and even sex (You knew I had to get that word in here somewhere).  The Columbus truly brings the concept of IDIC to STF like no other ship, boasting seven different nationalities (or eight, depending on if Mohamed is counted twice.)

MicroNews
By Peter Peterson, Desert Editor
SNN CENTER, CHICAGO

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Bob feels that expansion of STF is inevitable, but feels that it should be taken with care.  Before any new ships are added, all rosters should be cleaned of AWOL members so that we are sure we need extra ships.  He also feels that STF7 is at this point premature, as the move of STF1 to the WeBB and the expansion of existing fleets should be enough to hold new members for the near future.  Bob feels STF's greatest strength is its people, who come from around the world to have FUN.  On the other hand, the greatest challenge to STF is ensuring that in a club this size, every member is treated with the utmost respect.  As with any organization this size, Bob feels the greatest weakness of STF is the potential for people to become complacent with our current high quality and allow it to slip.  He feels that we have to do more to help new members get acclimated to the club as well.  "Larry Garfield's '12 Steps to the WeBB' is a great start.  It does us no good to recruit a new member who never posts."  Bob feels that "CO and FComm flexibility is tantamount to STF's future," and that ships should be encouraged to develop their own unique character, as should fleets.  Bob believes that "the role of the President is to provide leadership and to administer the existing rules of the club," and that his experience in business and in the military makes him well prepared for the job. 

Bob has so far been endorsed by STF President Mike Bourdaa, Deanne Morgan, Mohamed Younis, Larry Garfield, and Steve Ashton. 

Colin Wyers, Vice President
By Larry Garfield, Evil Editor
DAVENPORT, IOWA -- Colin Wyers, 17, joined STF in Septermber of 1997, when he was recruited by Mike Bourdaa out of STC.  He initially served as XO of the newly recommissioned USS Dresden.  More recently, Colin serves as FComm-6, GMDir, CO of the USS Independence, an Engineering Aide in the ED, and GM of the USS Montgomery, USS Hopper, and USS Genesis.  He is also the designer of the Independence-class starship.

Colin favors a very cautious expansion of STF, starting with the assimilation of STF1 into the WeBB.  After that, he wants to make sure AWOL and retention policies are sound as well as make use of the Academy.  He feels that STF's greatest strength is "a bunch of cool and froody people who like to RP."  Nonetheless, he feels that human nature is STF's greatest weakness, in that sometimes people just don't get along.  STF's greatest challenge presently, Colin states, is making sure we survive the transition from a Prodigy-rooted club to a WeBB-only club.  Colin feels that a balance needs to be struck between maintaining STF as a single club and allowing FComms to do more than simply rubber stamp stuff.  Colin believes that "The Vice President is a president's advisor, right hand man, and, Bourdaa, forbid, his emergency replacement," but does not have any intrinsic power of his own. 

POLITICAL FOCI ™
Greg Hertzsch, President
By Larry Garfield, Former Editor
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY -- Greg Hertzsch, 35, joined STF in May of 1995 back when STF existed only on Prodigy.  He has held numerous jobs since then, and served two terms as President, from 2 February 1997 until October 1997, when he ran again unopposed for a second term.  He was defeated in June of 1998 by current President Mike Bourdaa.  Greg currently serves as Personnel Director, CO of the USS Dresden, XO and GM of the USS Kestrel, and Sci-1 on the USS Genesis. 

Greg feels STF should expand along with the number of entering new members.  He feels the greatest challenge facing STF right now is retaining new members, many of whom never show up and never post.  Greg wants to deal with this problem by means of e-mails to new recruits and an expansion of the Personnel Department.  Greg feels STF's greatest strength is its members, but does not see any weaknesses other than the communication problems involved with new members.  Greg favors the current level of CO autonomy, which gives COs a wide berth with a few standard rules club-wide.  Greg believes that "the President's role is to lead the club, to live by example, and to be a role model to its members," and that the most important thing a President can do is keep an open ear to anyone and everyone in STF. 

Alan Felts, Vice President
By Larry Garfield, Young Editor
KANEOHE, HAWAII -- Alan Felts, 14, joined STF in May of 1996.  His first WeBB posting was on the USS Ares.  Currently, he serves as CO of the USS Kestrel and also on the USS Dresden. He is also Assistant Personnel Director. 

Alan feels that STF needs to expand, but needs to be cautious about how fast.  The job of CO or FComm is not to be taken lightly.  However, he also feels that COs should clean their rosters more often, and that STF1 should move to the WeBB with all apparent speed.  Alan also agrees that STF's greatest strength is its wonderful members, but it's greatest challenge is holding onto new members.  He feels that Larry Garfield's "12 Steps to the WeBB" is a good start, but more needs to be done.  Alan feels that bickering is STF's greatest problem, but is certain that with the proper handling it can be dealt with far more efficiently than it is now.  He favors fleet and ship autonomy to a point, but wants to make it clear that STF is a single club.  Alan believes that the Vice President is primarily a spare President-in-waiting.  "The role of Vice President is not a heavy one, but the person needs to be capable of handling situations that may arise."

POLITICAL FOCI ™
Mark Longanbach, President
By Larry Garfield, SNN XXX
MESA, ARIZONA -- Mark Longanbach, 15, joined STF in March of 1998.  At this time he serves as AFComm-2 and AACmdt.  His characters include Captain Kelgar of the USS Nautilus, Lt. Cmdr. Kanar, XO of Outpost 42, and Lt. Cmdr. Krall, COO of Starbase 202. Mark ran for President in June 1998 with Bill Gunty as his Vice President, and was defeated by current President Mike Bourdaa.  

Mark favors a rapid expansion of STF to deal with the growing membership, but at the same time wants to be cautious to make sure we retain all of our new members.  "Disappearing" new members, he feels, is STF's greatest challenge.  Mark supports efforts to educate new members into STF-style RPing, and would like to see more work along the same lines as Larry Garfield's "12 Steps to the WeBB."  [Gee.  All three tickets support it.  I guess it really was a good idea. --Ed.]  Mark feels that STF's greatest strength is its leaders, including COs/XOs and the Department Directors.  He feels that STF's greatest weakness is interpersonal conflicts that can occur between people of all levels of experience, and wants to ensure that all members are treated with enough respect that STF can remain a peaceful place.  Mark supports a good deal of ship and fleet autonomy, but also states that there should be a few simple guidelines for all ships to adhere to.  Mark believes that "the role of the President is to act in the best interests of the club and the people, however he may need to do that," and feels that the President is entrusted to make sure that STF remains a fun place.  

Bill Gunty, Vice President
By Larry Garfield, SNN XXX
MESA, ARIZONA -- Bill Gunty, 15, first came to STF in March of 1998.  Presently, he serves as Captain of Starbase 202, XO of the USS Nautilus, and CE of the USS Kestrel.  He ran for Vice President along side Mark Longanbach in the June 1998 elections as well, and was defeated by current President Mike Bourdaa. 

Bill supports a slow, cautious expansion of STF, expanding only when needed.  He cites the example of the Boston Market food chain as a situation to avoid.  Bill feels that the greatest challenge facing STF is unreliable, inexperienced crew members, many of whom never post.  He supports, therefore, the efforts of the new Training Ship, and would like to see it expanded.  Teamwork, he states, is STF's greatest strength, while interpersonal conflicts stand as STF's only major weakness.  Bill feels that ship and fleet individuality tie into club-wide unity, and therefore cannot be said to be more or less important than club-wide unity.  Bill believes that "the role of the Vice President is to help the President, and to let the President know when the VP disagrees with something the President has done," in addition to being a spare for when the Prez goes on LOA or AWOL. 

PART 2 OF AN SNN SPECIAL REPORT
Love and Lust, Starfleet style
A Valentine's Day Special
by Deanne Morgan, STF Romantic and Sexual Expert
USS MONTGOMERY, FLEET FOUR -- Hello and welcome to the special Valentine's Day Edition of L&L.  In honor (honour for our British readers) of this holiday of love, our focus today rests on the couples within STF who are guided by their hearts rather than libidos.  In keeping with our theme of “Eye contact to intimacy in 1.5 posts,” our first featured couple was engaged by the third date: XO Connie Rysarn and CMO Dalton Hodge of the USS Columbus.

This duo served together for quite awhile without even noticing each other.  Then one day, Hodge deliberately bumped into Rysarn so he could quietly convey his concerns about the ship's mission.  That bump led to another and ultimately a first date.  A couple of days later, they were engaged.

The USS Montgomery's Murri Kep and Kristina Humphreys are taking the slower route.  After one and a half posts, these two have actually shared only one
small kiss.  Humphreys has been smiling a lot, and Kep’s Trill spots have been blushing purple more frequently.  So the odds are good that these two
senior officers will find themselves swimming in the sea of love before too long.

Recently, the USS Montgomery was dubbed “The New Love Boat,” and for good reason.  Besides Kep and Humphreys, another romance is blossoming between security chief Nicholas Drake and CSO Kianna, a half Klingon, half Trill.  Currently on their first date, the mutual infatuation is obvious.  Unfortunately, medical officer James Haregreaves also has a thing for Kianna.  The outcome of this triangle is uncertain.

Before Kianna and Drake met or Kep and Humphreys shared a blushing session, science officer Zith and medical officer Nicole Kalius fell in love.  They
met three years ago (STF time, not real time) aboard the USS Dresden, where Nicole was doing field training while still a cadet.  What began as a friendship slowly blossomed into something more.  When they recently found themselves serving together again aboard the Montgomery, they solidified their bond.  What makes this couple unique is that Zith is a Vulcan and Nicole is half Bajoran, half human.  Their portrayers have endeavored to demonstrate their concept of a Vulcan courtship, which will culminate before too long when Zith enters the inevitable Ponn Farr.

A slightly different dating tact was taken by the  USS Titania’s Nathanael Tavorak and Tavorak Rhiannen; they were married before they ever set foot on a STF ship.  When Nathanael’s portrayer, Nathan Miller, was offered the first officer position on the USS Montgomery, he got together with yours truly, to create the happily married couple.  When he was offered his first command, the Tavoraks were transferred to the Titania, where they continue in wedded bliss (except for a little incident with a plasma grenade).

And speaking of the Miller/Morgan character collection, one cannot address an article about character romance without mentioning Daniel and Tallen Hawkins.  These characters first met nearly a year ago (real time) while serving as ensigns aboard Outpost 42.  Thrown together during the tumultuous fleetwide sim, they became fond of each other, eventually sharing a few chaste kisses.  Separated by duty assignments, the two found themselves together again on the USS Independence.  And it was there that Hawkins finally proposed.  Several weeks later, on 99010.2, Daniel and Tallen were married on Crell in the biggest round-robin posting session in STF history.

COMMENTARY
A Day in the life of...
by Lance Eddington, WeBBsights Editor of Dead Guys
CREWEL, CRELL -- I was fortunate enough this weekend to discuss the state of affairs with a man you might know.  He's been in many of the trade papers, and is quite well-known around the globe.  We toured the different shops there were to see and then sat down for a nice, quiet, eventful interview.  My guest is William Shakespeare, playwright, actor, carriage mechanic.  I greeted him, and we sat down for something to eat.

"This pastry is unpalatable, to be sure," was what he said about the pretzels after tasting them.  "Indeed, I would rather die a hundred times than ever again be made to digest this rubbish."  A finicky eater, apparently.  I asked Mr. Shakespeare the question burning in my mind -- did he write those plays?
 "Ah ha," he began, tilting his head back, "many have question'd my motives as thou hast.  'Tis true; I wrote them all."  His favorite play to write?  "They be to me like children.  I cannot choose among them.  If forc'd, though, unwillingly, I would admit that I adore The Twelfth Night greater than any before."  Does he have a thing for cross-dressing?  "I know not of what thou speakest.  I find humour in the situation of the switch'd dress of the two characters."  Naive to the last, apparently.

William Shakespeare had the opportunity to live during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the last of the Tudors.  What did he think of her?  "She was a delightful woman, to say the least," he started.  "The queen has, though I fear, a tendency to relieve people of their heads, like her father before her."  Shakespeare seemed to come back to life in the Elizabethan era again and again, commenting about the times.  "'Twas filthy, if anything.  Inhabitants of houses threw their garbage to the streets.  Mangy dogs would crowd around each other, attempting to feast upon the doubtless fetid matter that lurk'd within.  The Thames, as well, had to it a sickly greenish-brown color; the Avon was a bluish-green, of utmost purity, flowing with life.  The Thames was a feculent sewer that flow'd through London and gave nothing to the city; it took with it the health of the citizens."

Shakespeare was also interested in knowing how his plays were received.  "When I wrote the plays for which you say I gained popularity, the theatre was nothing more than a haphazardly collected troupe of actors.  They not only perform'd the shows, but worked the carpentry as well.  After the fire at the Globe Theatre, my men worked to rebuild it as it appeared before.  I believe they were successful."

The Bard was quick to interpret, correctly, his own works in the shadow of other's beliefs.  "Julius Caesar shows us that one cannot rule with complete dominance, lest one become corrupt'd by one's own authority. King Lear displays the torment and destruction of family feuds, and how 'tis always the innocent persons that are most harm'd.  I have always believed A Midsummer Night's Dream to be my flight of fancy; a tale purely of mystery and intrigue.  Those things that are unexplainable to us are manifested here."

Though I could not stay with him much longer, I asked William Shakespeare what he thought of modern writers.  "Too bland," he said with disgust, "they have not the ability to delve into thine own souls and reach for stories . . . such is the fate of one's predecessors."  As quickly as he left, he was gone, leaving me with uneaten pretzels and a carriage that was in need of repair.  I walked home, instead, wondering if anyone would believe my tale of a day with Shakespeare.  Surely they would, as I am an honest Puck.

THIS MONTH IN STF HISTORY
Politics, politics, politics
By Larry Garfield, Who Had to Actually do Some Research for this Column
STF ARCHIVES, MEMORY PRIME -- February is the month of love!  And apparently of politics, too.  See what politicking was going on...

AYE ON THE COMPETITION
WeBBpapers proliferate
By Larry Garfield, SNN Associate Editor
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- WeBBsights and Headline news have been joined by numerous new competitors now, including IveSTFya by Colin Wyers, The Tangled WeBB we Weave by Jim Armstrong, and an attempt by Seamus Hughes to resurrect PUN, the Plumbers Union Network.  In response, the SNN Editorial staff has released the following official statement:

ROTFLMAO!

WeBBsights welcomes any and all comments and criticisms from its readers -- yes, both of you.
Direct any messages to the Editors. 

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Vice-Fleet Admiral Michael J. Ballway SNN Executive Editor Layout Chief	Fleet Captain Laurence O. Garfield SNN Associate Editor News Chief
Fleet Captain Deanne Morgan Fleet Correspondent	Captain Mark Wilson Contributing Columnist
Bob the Blob SNN Presidential Candidate

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© 1999 Zygweebil Mufasa Productions -- distributed by The Starfleet News Network. 

The WeBBsights management will not be held responsible if any of the above information is true.
No votes were stolen during the making of this newspaper.