Presidential Edicts
August 3rd, 2008 to December 6th 2009
Every president must have a motto
Every president must have a motto
Office of the President on Starfleet Command
Posted 3 August 2008 - 8:58am by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #1
"All your dead are belong to us!"
And here's the first edict of the term. During the election I stated that roughly 50% of the cabinet would be composed of members who had previously not had the opportunity to serve in government and/or had shown outstanding promise, enthusiasm and drive. We've pretty much held to that. Without further ado, I present to you your cabinet for the term. Strangely, I haven't had the usual harrasment.. I feel left out :(
Joe Bradley is hereby appointed FComm-1
John Robert Lucas is hereby appointed FComm-2
Kendra Abbott is hereby appointed FComm-3
Rick Gruby is hereby appointed FComm-4
Gene Gibbs is hereby appointed FComm-5
Missy Bradley is hereby appointed FComm-6
Brian Olinski is hereby appointed Personnel Director
Wail Qasim is hereby retained as Engineering Director
Phillip Stonness is hereby retained as Gamemaster Director
Jack Dipper is hereby retained as Academy Commandant
William Kappler is hereby appointed Internet Director
The former Fleet Command Officers are sincerely thanked for their service.
For those departments which have changed hands, the current staff are sincerely thanked for their service and are requested to assist their replacements in whatever training needs they have in order to settle in as smoothly as possible.
All cabinet officers, please have your assistants named within 14 days.
Outgoing Internet Department officers, please have all email forwards and appropriate access amended within 7 days.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
3rd August 2008
Posted 17 August 2008 - 1:42pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #2
"The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills..."
And coming blindingly into my second edict, surprisingly two weeks after the first.... Quite slow by my standards :P
Because of how closely tied everyone was on the M&A discussion, I'm fairly sure 55% of you will love me and the the other 45% will hate me.... Of course I'm also your elected dictator for the next eight months, so nyeh :P
The Marketing and Advertising Coordinator will be granted a top level directory titled "MAC" and a notes area to be listed as a child of the 'Starfleet Command' menu item.
The MAC 'ship' is required to maintain an ongoing activity level in order to retain its status. Should it fail to maintain an active posting level at any point (active shall be defined here as at least ten valid posts in any fourteen day period) it shall be decommissioned in favour of a static page(s) to be linked to from the Primary Links area.
The MAC 'ship' shall be reviewed three months from this date (17th November 2008). Should it be maintained after this point it shall be further reviewed five months from this date (17th January 2008) and seven months from this date (17th March 2008).
If at any of these review dates it is found that the MAC 'ship' has failed to achieve and maintain its stated activity level, it shall be decommissioned in favour of a static page(s) to be linked from the Primary Links area.
Whilst the club is split on this decision in terms of how best to proceed, the majority (by a slim margin) was in favour of a full notes area and I have included multiple reviews to ensure that it maintains its mandate.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
17th August 2008
Posted 17 August 2008 - 2:19pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #3
"Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder's eye on the last Day."
Robert Thompson is hereby appointed Marketing and Advertising Coordinator
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
17th August 2008
Posted 24 August 2008 - 4:42am by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #4
"But trust is the color of a dark seed growing.
Trust is the color of a heart's blood flowing.
Trust is the color of a soul's last breath.
Trust is the color of death."
I've largely written myself into an early grave over the past few days, so I'll make this one brief :P
Kendra Abbott has requested that she be retained as FComm-3, as circumstances which she previously feared would hold her time up have not come to pass. I have consented to this and she remains FComm-3.
Kendra, welcome back and please have your assistant named within three days or I steal your pancake supplies.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
23rd August 2008
Posted 24 August 2008 - 7:33pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #5
"We rode on the winds of the rising storm
We ran to the sounds of the thunder
We danced among the lightning bolts
And tore the world asunder."
I do like the pleasant edicts.
On the advice and recommendation of the Academy Commandant, after a great deal of excellent and consistent service as XO under no less than 3 CO's, Katherine Dedul is hereby given command of the U.S.S Columbia in the Academy. As she's a Commodore, she obviously doesn't need promoting to Captain.
Congratulations Kat, a well earned honour.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
24th August 2008
Posted 30 August 2008 - 11:05pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #6
"Three threads woven together share one another's doom. When one is cut, all are. Fate can kill you if it does not do worse."
From time to time, a very special talent, drive and enthusiasm finds itself a part of STF. Sometimes they find themselves stalled at a fairly low rank for a long time, unrecognised, but fortunately sometimes they are recognised for their skill and dogged determination, given opportunities and allowed to show their true worth.
Wail Qasim has, in his time served outstandingly as Academy Fleet Liaison Officer, Yearbook Coordinator and XO of the Endeavor. In the past few months, he has also not only revived the Engineering Department from its deathly grave, but has also undertaken a massive effort to brign new reviewers into the department, realising what we'd known for many years but never codified, that reviewing is not necessarily all about nitpicking technical details, but also about analysing and asessing the playability of a design and the accuracy of the smaller details.
He has shown his worth a hundred times over, with a maturity and wisdom far beyond his young years, handling a number of difficult situations that would have had some older and more senior members acting in a very undignified manner. I have every hope that Wail will progress much further than he already has and, over time become a more valued member even than he is now.
On the advice and recommendation of the Second Fleet Commander, Wail Qasim is hereby promoted to the rank of Captain with all the rights and priveleges contained therein.
He is further assigned Command of the U.S.S Lexington in Fleet 2.
Congratulations Wail, I know you'll do the Lexington and her crew proud.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
30th August 2008
Posted 30 August 2008 - 11:06pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #7
"Let the algai'd'siswai dance. Dead vipers bite no one."
On the advice and recommendation of the Sixth Fleet Commander, D Grisham is hereby given command of the U.S.S Europa. As she's already a Captain she doesn't need promoting.
Congratulations D and well done Europa, you've pulled yourself an outstanding CO to step into Bob's well sized shoes.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
26th August 2008
Posted 7 September 2008 - 1:19pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #8
"The leaf lives its appointed time,and does not struggle against the wind that carries it away. The leaf does no harm, and finally falls to nourish new leaves. So it should be with all men. And women."
William Kapler is thanked for his service and excused from the position of Internet Director.
Applications will be taken for the position until 15th September 2008.
Until Larry returns to be acting Internet Director, Ed Brough will hold the position.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
6th August 2008
Posted 10 October 2008 - 7:59am by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #9
"Hey! Let's hear it for a nuclear holocaust!"
Russell Watt is hereby appointed Internet Director. Russell, please have your updated staff named within seven days.
Congratulations!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
9th October 2008
Posted 19 October 2008 - 7:10am by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #10
"I'm only an old gleeman. Who could I possibly be dangerous to?"
With Rick Gruby's resignation as Fleet Commander, Fleet Four is in need of a replacement. It is with great pleasure and trust that I appoint Krystell Bromilow to the position, effective immediately.
Congratulations Krys, and whatever you do, don't break the damn thing
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
18th October 2008
Posted 19 October 2008 - 7:11am by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #11
"Some oaths are more important than others."
Based upon the recommendation of the Fourth Fleet Commander, I hereby promote Robin Bird to the rank of Captain, with all the rights and priveleges therein. I further appoint her to the Columbus in Fleet Four as her new Commanding Officer.
You've shown yourself to be an excellent roleplayer and a steady administrator, Robin. Congratulations and good luck.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
18th October 2008
Posted 5 November 2008 - 6:48pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #12
"A woman's flaming rights are whatever she flaming says they are. That's what women in Shienar say, anyway."
Based upon the advice of the Third Fleet Commander, I have the great pleasure of putting Cale Reilly back into the centre seat. I hereby appoint her to command of the U.S.S Brandywine in Fleet 3. As she's already a Captain she doesn't need promotion.
Have fun with the new drapes, Cale.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
5th November 2008
Posted 5 November 2008 - 6:48pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #13
"Wouldn't it be easier to cremate a tree?"
To round out all but one of our open command positions in Fleet 3, based upon the advice of the Third Fleet Commander, Anthony Martin is hereby appointed to command Outpost 42. As he's already a Captain he doesn't require a promotion.
Take good care of the old girl, Anthony, she's a little rough around the edges, but some paint and some neon lighting should have her up and running in no time.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
5th November 2008
Posted 10 November 2008 - 2:15pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #14
"Are you so eager to destroy us?"
I hate having to write this kind of edict, but unfortunately, it's proven necessary.
On the 8th of November, Jon Page sent an email to 24 members advertising an external roleplay group and requesting that these members join said group. That email was brought to my attention by one of those members as an unsolicited breach of the Terms Of Service. In conducting an investigation into the email I spoke to Jon and he admitted that the email was unsolicited advertisement.
The Terms Of Service which each member has to agree to in order to join clearly state that unsolicited email spam is prohibited. Further, advertisements for other roleplay resources, without specific permission from the President or Vice President are prohibited.
I would remind each and every member that email communication to members, where you have obtained email addresses through official STF communication must be either solicited or related to STF or a position within STF. Unsolicited email or email advertising other groups utilising email addresses gathered through STF are prohibited and breach the Terms Of Service.
Penalties for breaching the terms of service can range from official warnings to permanent bans from the club and all resources including the official IRC channel.
I do not believe that Jon acted maliciously, nor do I believe that he intended to deliberately breach the Terms Of Service and that this act was simply made in poor judgement without appropriate forethought.
However, this act does breach the Terms Of Service and that is a serious matter.
This edict constitutes an official warning to Jon Page that any further breach of the Terms Of Service will be treated with immediate punitive action, including but not limited to, demotion, banning (either temporary or permanent) and restriction from STF resources, including the official IRC channel.
I would urge every member to bear this edict in mind when communicating to large groups of members through email. I take complaints about unsolicited email very seriously and will act in the interests of the membership when such complaints are received.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
10th November 2008
Posted 13 November 2008 - 12:18am by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #15
?I suggest a new strategy, R2. Let the wookiee win.?
I've dropped my usual edict quote convention for this one edict in honour of what is about to be done here. At the end of July 2002, President Larry Garfield created the Crell roleplaying environment in Fleet 4. Since then, and with the assistance of the fleetwides that took place at that time, Crell has become a piece of Fleet 4 legend.
As a part of Fleet 4 history, Crell is an outstanding piece of STF lore that should be used by every fleet as a benchmark for what I would like to see this club become.
As an active roleplaying environment however, Crell has been failing for some time and now even its creator has seen the need for things to move on.
It is with a heavy heart and at the request of Fleet Four Commander, Krys Bromilow and Crell Administrator Larry Garfield that I hereby decomission Crell as a roleplaying environment.
The Internet Department is directed to hide Crell and archive all data for posterity.
Hopefully at some point in the future Crell will be able to return to its former glory, but at the moment it's not a viable area.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
12th November 2008
Posted 14 November 2008 - 5:06pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #16
"Only now change blows on the winds of time. Change. This time there is no drifting back."
I write this edict with a sincere sense of sadness. I never enjoy having to replace officers, particularly when they have previously demonstrated an outstanding skill for leadership.
Wail Qasim has been under some severe RL stress recently and I've granted him as much leeway as I can, but after four weeks without his influence, the Lexington is beginning to suffer and, per the conditions laid out in MOO (Member Order and Organisation), with no clear return date and no response to emails sent by this office and the Fleet Two Commander, Wail Qasim is hereby relieved of his command. Provisions for recruiting a new Commanding Officer for the Lexington will be laid out further by the Fleet Two Commander in the Personnel Department. Until such time as a new Commanding Officer is chosen, the Fleet Two Commander has appointed the Lexington's XO, Samuel Bibb to the position of acting CO.
Further to this and under the same aegis, Wail Qasim is relieved from his position as Engineering Director. With the Assistant Engineering Director AWOL, with no sign of return, I shall be acting Engineering Director until such time as a new Engineering Director is appointed.
Wail is sincerely thanked for everything he has done and it should be understood that this should in no way reflect badly on either his character or career. Each of us, in our own time gets overwhelmed by RL and I know he would understand that the needs of the Lexington's crew must be considered first and foremost.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
14th November 2008
Posted 16 November 2008 - 2:48pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #17
"They killed Mother! I saw them! I might have saved her, if I had a sword. I could have saved her!"
With Gene's resignation as Fleet Five Commander and Wail's removal from both the Lexington and Engineering Department, we're left in something of a pickle as concerns fleet 5.
The applications period has been extended to the end of the month, along with that for Engineering Director. However, in the meantime Fleet 5 needs leadership and that means we need someone to hold the position temporarily until a permanent replacement is appointed.
Jim Hosick, current Entente XO and former Curie CO is hereby appointed acting Fleet Five Commander until a permanent replacement is chosen.
Personnel Department, please ensure Jim has the appropriate access as soon as possible.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
16th November 2008
Posted 19 November 2008 - 12:21pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #18
"The Three-fold Land is not soft, Aes Sedai. Soft things die here."
During the last three months, the Lexington has seen some amazing advances, returning from a near grave to an active and friendly roleplaying environment with a solid core crew. The roster has remained active and despite GM issues and a CO eaten by the RL monster, the ship hasn't slipped again. It cannot be denied that this is largely down to the dedication and commitment of a single individual.
Despite some initial troubles with the club and a mouth that has occasionally run a little faster than his brain, he has shown his ability to command and administer not one, but two ships, bringing both back from near extinction.
Based upon the advice and recommendation of the Fleet Two Commander, I hereby promote Samuel Bibb to the rank of Captain, with all the rights and priveleges therein. Further, I assign him command of the USS Lexington in Fleet 2.
Good luck Sam, I know you'll justify our faith in you.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
18th November 2008
Posted 19 November 2008 - 11:48pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #19
"*neigh*"
With the resignation of Tim Martin, the Dresden has been in need of a new CO. One member however has stepped up to the plate, running an impressive side sim whilst the crew has been waiting for a new GM to be found and ensuring that the administrative needs of the ship are maintained. The crew speak highly of him and nothing but praise can be found from his recommenders. As the Dresden's XO, he has ensured that the roster is maintained and the ship remains as active as possible.
Based upon the advice and recommendation of the Fleet Three Commander, Edward Brough is hereby promoted to the rank of Captain with all the rights and priveleges therein. He is further assigned Command of the USS Dresden in Fleet 3.
Good luck Ed, do us proud.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
18th November 2008
Posted 25 November 2008 - 9:52pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
#Edict 20
"One pretty woman means fun at the dance. Two pretty women mean trouble in the house. Three pretty women mean run for the hills."
With Wail's unfortunate departure we've been looking for a new Engineering Director. In my application request I placed a number of conditions, including a requirement for at least a solid framework for an agenda to carry the department through to the end of term. There were several applicants, but only two fulfilled that criteria. Both agenda's were solid and well considered, but one did stand out above the other in terms of content, quality and compatability with my own thoughts on the department. I hope that our new Engineering Director can use the skills she has demonstrated in Command of the Genesis, in her multiple roles as President, Personnel Director, Assistant Personnel director and everything inbetween to give the department that final push back into activity.
It is with great pleasure that I welcome back Jen Herr to the government and appoint her Engineering Director.
Personnel Department please ensure she has appropriate access.
Jen, if you could have your assistant named within 14 days.
A big round of applause for the refrocked Sloth!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
25th November 2008
Posted 25 November 2008 - 10:07pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
#Edict 21
"Men always believe they are in control of everything around them. When they find out they are not, they think they have failed, instead of learning a simple truth women already know."
A surprisingly large number of applications came in for the Fifth Fleet Commander's position. I wasn't even aware that some of them qualified :P
It seems that Fleet Five is just as popular now as it ever was and I'm glad to see such a fervent interest in helping to build on what former FComm's have achieved. Several didn't come with agenda's despite requests and ultimately I managed to whittle it down to two. Neither had offered written agenda's but had approached me in IRC to discuss it in person, which I found quite refreshing. Both had quite clearly designed paths towards my goals in developing fleet identity and building upon what was already there in conjunction with the crews of each of the ships. Both had different ways of accomplishing this and though both would be interesting to see, one was both more refined and more complete in plans for application.
It is with great pleasure that I make our acting Fleet Commander a not so acting Fleet Commander. Jim Hosick is hereby appointed Fleet Five Commander.
He already has the appropriate access and thus doesn't need it granting.
Jim, please have your assistant named within 14 days.
Dougall is back!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
25th November 2008
Posted 1 December 2008 - 6:38am by Vice-Fleet Admiral Brian "Bear" Olinski (Vice-President) (Brian Olinski)
Edict #22
So, the Bear finally has a chance to write an Edict!
This is one that I take pleasure in having to write, being a promotion and granting command of a ship.
Ryan Empson is a person that I had the pleasure of taking under my wing when he first joined STF and am very happy to see find success. He has grown into a talented role-player, a capable leader and a nice friend.
So, without further ado, by consent of the Fifth Fleet Commander, and the approval of the President, I hereby promote Ryan Empson to the rank of Captain, with all the rights and privileges therein. I further appoint Ryan as Commanding Officer of the USS Entente.
Congratulations, Ryan! Good luck and treat her well.
Vice Fleet Admiral Brian "Bear" Olinski
STF Vice President
30th November 2008
Posted 10 December 2008 - 2:57pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #23
"I always get what I want in the end. And I think I want ... ornamental ironwork. For the windows of my bedchamber."
This one has been a while in coming, but it's been a tough call and I know John wanted to be sure that he got every piece of information he could before he made his decision.
Outpost 45 has been vacant a CO for some time now and John eventually managed to whittle the list down to two very capable candidates. His final decision was based on the ships needs and I left it entirely to him because I knew it was so close that I couldn't make the right call.
It is with great pleasure that I promote Elizabeth Caro to the rank of Captain with all the rights and priveleges therein and further appoint her Commanding Officer aboard Outpost 45.
Congratulations Liz, I know you'll do OP45, John and the club proud!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
10th December 2008
Posted 11 December 2008 - 12:17pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #24
"We come, brother. We hunt"
With Joe Bradley's unfortunate resignation, we've been left with a vacancy in Fleet One for a commander. I received two applications and have examined both thoroughly. It was a tough call and eventually the decision was made through a commitment to monitoring posts and the time that the candidates could commit to the role.
It is with great pleasure that I hereby appoint David Wonderly Fleet Commander for Fleet One.
Well done Dave and welcome back to the Government. Please have your assistant named within seven days.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
11th December 2008
Posted 14 December 2008 - 4:51pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
#Edict 25
"What is a nine horse hitch, anyway?"
On 24th March 2005, after much debate the STF Q&A ship was commissioned in the Academy Fleet. The purpose of this ship was to provide a forum in which questions about all aspects of STF, both IC and OOC could be aired and answered by the Academy staff, Course Tutors and Cabinet. Three months later that trial period was extended to give the ship a further chance to prove its worth and on the 7th October 2005, the ship was retained indefinately by President Jack Dipper.
For some time since then, despite repeated efforts by Academy staff, the ship has died and receives almost no attention whatsoever. What few questions there are don't come frequently enough or require enough debate to warrant its continued existence as a seperate entity.
At the behest of Academy Commandant Jack Dipper, Dipper Edict #26 is hereby rescinded and superseded by this edict and the STF Q&A ship is decommissioned from this day.
In the interests of maintaining an area in which Q&A questions can be proposed, the Internet Department is directed to add a "Q&A" link to the primary links bar. This link is to take the user to the Academy Headquarters ship, where suchq questions shall continue to be posed under the authority of the Academy Commandant. The Course Proctors continue to be required to read this ship regularly to check for updates.
It is always a shame to lose what was once a valuable asset, but as I stated in the election campaign I will not maintain a non-viable resource when there is a more effective alternative.
The Internet Department is directed to close access to the Q&A ship and remove it from public view until such time as it can be archived for legacy.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
14th December 2008
Posted 14 December 2008 - 5:28pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #26
"Some commands are too important to be known even by those who carry them out."
It's been a year in the making, but we've finally got a working, WeBBspace compliant upgrade to the Personnel Department Edict, otherwise known as PDICT. Many thanks go out to Brian and all of those in the Personnel Department who helped craft PDICT and to those who commented on it during its drafting stages. The finished product is outstanding!
"Personnel Department edICT" (PDICT)
Supersedence of Previous Edicts
Edict Dipper #16 is hereby rescinded and superseded by this edict.
Establishment of the Personnel Department
An Executive Department is hereby established under the name "Personnel Department"
The Personnel Department shall serve as the primary department responsible for tasks relating to member accounts, including but not limited to creating new accounts, new member placement, requested new character member placement, providing assistance with password reset issues, granting individuals administrative access for use in specific ship applications, as defined in this edict, and ensuring compliance with the STF Accounts Terms of Service. The Personnel Department may also operate and maintain a range of resources that serves to help fleets fill their personnel needs, as set by departmental mandate.
The daily activity and administration of the Personnel Department shall be overseen by the Personnel Director, who shall be appointed by the President. Personnel Director is a cabinet position, and is equal in power to other Departmental Directors and Fleet Commanders.
The Personnel Director shall appoint an Assistant Personnel Director. The Assistant Personnel Director answers directly to the Personnel Director, and is responsible for departmental decisions in the event the Personnel Director is not available. Additional responsibilities may be given at the discretion of the Personnel Director.
The Personnel Director or a named delegate may create other staff positions in the Personnel Department, issued in departmental mandate to fulfill any needs he may deem necessary. The Personnel Director may delegate any duty or authority granted him in this edict or any other to any member of the Personnel Department. The Personnel Department is required to maintain a list of current departmental policies as decreed in departmental mandate in a publicly accessible format. The Personnel Department is required to maintain a list of all current staff members, including those created by departmental mandate in a publicly accessible format.
The Personnel Director may set departmental policy within his range of influence through the issuance of departmental mandates. These shall serve to determine the most efficient manner in which to administer his department and its responsibilities.
Ship placements
The Personnel Department is solely responsible for placing new members on ships. Members who request the Academy will be assigned to the Academy on a space available basis, at the rank of Cadet. The Personnel Department will only assign new member applicants to the Academy. All other applicants will be assigned to a Standard Ship not classified as Second Character Only, at the rank of Ensign, and in a manner and pattern determined most appropriate by the Personnel Department and laid out in departmental mandate.
The Personnel Department may also assist any member in finding a ship for additional characters. Such placements may only be made at the rank of Ensign, and to a mainstream ship with a need for role players in the requested department.
Access Levels
The Personnel Department shall be responsible for granting individual members administrative access to specified individual ships or groups of ships based on that member's position within the club, which shall be governed by the following list:
-Administrative access to the Command ship shall be given to the President and Vice-President.
-Administrative access to any Executive Department's ship (including the Academy) shall be given to the Executive Department's Director, Assistant Director, and anyone else named by that Executive Department's policy, or mandate.
-Administrative access to any Executive Assistant's ship shall be given to the Executive Assistant, Assistant Executive Assistant, and anyone else named by that Executive Assistant's policy.
-Administrative access to any Fleet administrative ship shall be given to the Fleet Commander and Assistant Fleet Commander.
-Administrative access to any Standard ship or Alternate RPG Area shall be given to the ship's Fleet Commander, Assistant Fleet Commander, Commanding Officer, Executive Officer, and Gamemaster (including any Gamemaster Mentors and Gamemaster Trainees).
-Administrative access to any Academy ship shall be given to the Academy Commandant, Vice Commandant, and the ship's Commanding Officer, Executive Officer, Counselor, and Gamemaster.
-Administrative access to any ship not already covered shall be determined by the President.
-Additional temporary administrative access may be given to any member by the ship's governing Executive Department Director, Executive Assistant, Fleet Commander, or Commanding Officer for the purpose of assistance with the design or maintenance of the ship's MOTD. Pursuant to this, the page's maintainer is responsible and accountable for those whom he grants access, as well as removing that access in a timely manner.
No administrative access to a specific individual ship or group of ships shall be provided to a member that is not covered by the above list. The Personnel Department is not responsible for providing club-wide administrative access to all ships, based on a given position held by a single member. The Personnel Department is not responsible for providing administrative access to internal fleet or department managed pages, as well as the fleet entry pages. The Personnel Department is not responsible for providing any other type of administrative access to STF.
The Personnel Director may delegate the responsibility for providing administrative access by departmental mandate, including delegating such responsibility to members who are not staff members of the Personnel Department, but may still reserve the right to enforce that administrative access to ships are not given beyond what is allowed by this edict.
In addition, the Personnel Director and Assistant Personnel Director should be given sufficient access in order to allow them to have administrative and subscription access to all ships in STF, access to edit all membership accounts, access to activate and block any membership account, access to the text of all automatic emails sent to members, access to the format and text of the membership application, and access to all administrative logs relevant to enforcing club rules, policies, and Terms of Service within the scope of the Personnel Department's responsibilities.
Mentors program
The Personnel Department shall maintain a Mentors Program. This program is tasked with creating and maintaining a list of available people to mentor new members, and assigning mentors to new members who request them.
A Mentor must be a current member in STF with at least three months service in STF. The Personnel Department reserves the right to approve or deny any Mentor application on any basis. All new members who request a Mentor will be assigned one.
The Mentor's main responsibility is to provide a personal contact for the new member who requests it. This is done in order to assist new members who feel they need that little bit of extra help to settle in and role-play on their ships. Mentors are available to help with problems or queries the new member may have, and offer role-playing tips and advise on how to best fit into our RPG.
No new member requesting a mentor may be placed upon a ship which has no active mentors in its roster. Should a ship not have active mentors, it shall be the duty of that ships Commanding Officer to recruit mentors and inform the Personnel Director and Mentors Coordinator of this.
The Mentors Program shall be maintained by the Mentors Coordinator, a permanent Personnel Department staff position. The Mentors Coordinator shall be appointed by the Personnel Director or named delegate. The Mentors Coordinator shall be responsible for maintaining the Mentors Program, maintaining an updated list of all current mentors, all current mentorees and shall track the status of mentorees monthly through a three month period from assignment. The Mentors Coordinator shall be responsible for assigning mentors to all mentorees within a 72 hour period from notification of their request by the Personnel Director or named delegate. The Mentors Coordinator shall be responsible for tracking the status of all mentors monthly.
The Mentors Coordinator shall be responsible for providing a monthly status report for publication by the Personnel Department as a part of their own monthly Departmental update report. This will include, but is not limited to, current mentor numbers, current mentoree numbers, mentoree status at the end of each 30 day period from assignment and any ships which are currently in need of mentors.
Yearbook
The Personnel Department will maintain the STF Yearbook. The Yearbook is a place where any member can submit a real life photograph of themselves, and a bit of personal information about themselves. All information given is strictly voluntary, though a photograph is required for participation. Any photograph or information may be added or removed at any time by the Personnel Department for any reason. Any member may request that their photograph is added or removed for any reason. All photographs and content must adhere to the STF Terms of Service.
The Yearbook shall be maintained by the Yearbook Coordinator, a permanent Personnel Department staff position. The Yearbook Coordinator shall be appointed by the Personnel Director or named delegate. The Yearbook Coordinator shall be responsible for maintaining the outward appearance of the Yearbook, updating the yearbook with new submissions, removing inappropriate submissions and ensuring that each standing gallery folder is accurate in placing Gatherings, Current Members and Past Members.
The Yearbook Coordinator shall be responsible for providing a monthly status report for publication by the Personnel Department as a part of their own monthly Departmental update report. This will include, but is not limited to, number of submissions within the previous 30 days and status of any current efforts to increase submissions.
Statistics
The Personnel Department shall be required to maintain and publish monthly statistics regarding the membership, including, but not limited to, total number of applicants per month, and how many of those members are still posting actively. Additional statistics are at the discretion of the Personnel Department.
Disputes
Any dispute involving the Personnel Department or its tasked areas of influence shall be moderated by the Personnel Director. Should any involved parties be the Personnel Director, the dispute shall be moderated by the Assistant Personnel Director. Should any of the involved parties be both Personnel Director and Assistant Personnel Director, the dispute shall be moderated by the President.
The decision of the moderating officer shall be considered final.
Posted 15 December 2008 - 12:45am by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #27
"Madness waits for some. It creeps up on others."
After an absence of two months spent in rewrites and further adjustment, MIRAGE is finally ready. Each of the points covered in the final round of review has been taken into account and the structure and wording of the edict has been revised to reflect the issues raised. Unfortunately it means that the rosters which are currently dropped below the MOTD must now be raised back, but Larry has a working theory as to how to make it a permanent feature across the site. Once the upgrade to Drupal 6 is complete (projected at February 2009) this will be one of the first priorities.
The Internet Department is directed to begin a thirty day grace and notification period, after which they are authorised to begin enforcing this edict if any MOTD's have failed to adhere to the guidelines laid out here.
Motd Instituted Restrictions And Governance Edict (MIRAGE)
DEFINITIONS
The administrator of every Board in the system (CO, FComm, QDir, or the Internet Department for other boards) shall be provided with an editable region on the home page of that board known as an MOTD (Message of the Day). This individual is recognized as the Maintainer of that MOTD.
The page layout of every Board page is divided into three nested regions: The Page (the entire content that appears in the browser), the Content area, and the MOTD. The Content area is a subset of the Page, and the MOTD is a subset of the Content area. The Internet Department is responsible for defining and documenting the exact boundaries of the Content area and MOTD of the site theme in such a way that they may be easily distinguished by page authors (such as a specific CSS id).
MAINTAINER AUTHORITY
A Maintainer may make implement whatever design he wishes within the MOTD, subject to the restrictions below. However, good care should be paid to established conventions for usability and accessibility.
A Maintainer may implement color changes only within the Content area, provided that said changes do not interfere with the usability of the site.
A Maintainer may make no changes outside of the Content area whatsoever, unless specific support for such changes is provided by the system.
RESTRICTIONS
1) The general layout of the page may not be altered or supplanted.
2) No graphics may be added or removed outside of the MOTD area.
3) No dynamic navigational components may be altered, aside from color changes. Those include, but are not limited to, site breadcrumbs and navigation menus. As a special exception, the ship's roster may be altered vis CSS (color, font, spacing, etc.) provided that the alterations do not interfere with its functioning or positioning.
4) The use of any malicious code, be it PHP, Javascript, or CSS, is strictly forbidden. "Malicious code" is considered any code which poses a danger to the security or stability of the system or to users of the system, regardless of whether that was the intent of the author or not.
5) No email addresses other than official @star-fleet.com address or contact information may be published to any MOTD without the prior consent of the person to whom those addresses belong.
ENFORCEMENT
The Internet Department is responsible for enforcing this edict. The Internet Department may not normally alter an MOTD without five (5) days prior notice to the appropriate Maintainer and his immediate superior. Should the Internet Department have reason to believe that a given MOTD poses a security risk to the site or its users, renders a page or navigation elements on it unusable, or inhibits the stability of the system, then it may alter the MOTD as needed immediately. It must retain a backup of the MOTD and inform the President and Maintainer immediately of the actions it has taken.
DISPUTES
Any disputes involving the application or enforcement of this edict shall be moderated by the Internet Director. Should any of the involved parties be the Internet Director the dispute shall be moderated by the President. Should any of the parties involved be the President and Internet Director, the dispute shall be moderated by the Vice President. The decision of the moderating officer shall be considered final.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
14th December 2008
Posted 28 December 2008 - 1:03pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #28
"Blessed be the name of the Lord Dragon in the Light."
Throughout his time with us, Alasdair Sutherland, from his early days aboard the Discovery to his current position as Columbia and Olympic XO has shown maturity, professionalism, dedication and a commitment to ensuring that the members of the crew aboard his ship are not only accomodated, motivated and helped but also (and most importantly) having fun.
When the GM of the Olympic was forced to take an extended LOA, Al kept the crew occupied and the ship did not suffer. I have little doubt that in his new position aboard Columbia as her XO he'll show us this same dedication and drive as he helps teach the next generation of members.
He has repeatedly demonstrated his skill as both a player and an administrator and I have no choice but to promote the poor fool
Alasdair Sutherland is hereby promoted to the rank of Captain with all the rights and priveleges therein.
Further to this and as a slight downpoint, the Vanguard in Fleet 6 has been suffering for a very long time and with the loss of Dan as her XO, the last driving force behind the ship was lost. Her CO was unwilling to perform her duties and unfortunately, after an extended series of communications it became plain that nothing further could be achieved without decomissioning the ship and I was not willing to do that. The alternative was to remedy the issues with her command staff
For conduct unbecoming an officer and gross dereliction of duty in a command position, Cheryl Butler is hereby relieved of her command.
On the brighter side of this though, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Based upon the recommendation of the Sixth Fleet Commander, the newly promoted Captain Sutherland is hereby assigned command of the USS Vanguard in Fleet 6.
I have no doubt whatsoever that Al will bring the same drive, commitment and enthusiasm he's shown aboard each of his ships to the Vanguard and that with the assistance of the solid core of Vanguard crew who have remained, as well as the assistance of his soon to be chosen XO and the faithful Wookie who serves as their GM, the Vanguard will once more take its place as one of the finest ships in STF.
Tom Hillman and Katy Connor have both the thanks and the admiration of this Administration for stepping so readily into the breach as aCO an aXO despite having never served in either position. I have little doubt that should they choose to pursue it, both will receive their own commands in time.
Congratulations Al, I know you will do the Vanguard and the club proud in your new position!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
28th December 2008
Posted 29 December 2008 - 1:47pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #29
"Only now change blows on the winds of time. Change. This time there is no drifting back."
This edict took far too long to get into the works and that is entirely my own fault. My apologies go to both Cale and Kendra for taking so long with this.
The Trafalgar Class USS Brandywine NCC-84707-A is hereby rechristened the Pendragon Class USS Saracen NCC 86205.
This change is to take place immediately OOC and as practicable IC.
Internet Department, please have the ship name changed within seven days.
Enjoy the bubble wrap Cale, it's been long in the coming.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
29th December 2008
Posted 1 January 2009 - 11:41am by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #30
"I always get what I want in the end. And I think I want ... ornamental ironwork. For the windows of my bedchamber."
This is a little late in the coming considering I'd set the review date for the Marketing ship at 17th November, but there have been some delays in a few of my edicts lately and the holiday season has screwed up my timekeeping.
In its comissioning edict, it was stated that the Marketing ship must maintain an active posting level, that level being defined as at least ten posts within any given 14 day period.
Since it went live on 23rd August, it has received 179 relevant posts. Breaking that down, in the 17 weeks it has been live that equates to 10.5 posts per week, or 21 posts per 14 days.
In the 14 days prior to this edict, the ship received 20 relevant posts.
Given these figures alone, the ship has maintained the stricture laid out in its comissioning edict. However, I felt it more important to analyse the quality of posts and the topics covered as well as the achievements of the Marketing ship to date as activity alone isn't and shouldn't be what reasonably determines a ships viability.
Those 179 posts have covered the following topics:
1) The Creation of STF specific Banners for use in advertising and any banner exchanges that may take place.
Thus far we have yet to see anything specific concerning banners, though I understand that several are in production, the initial one to be used to replace our current rather small insignia used on the Krillmeeds site.
2) The implementation and update of convention dates for the coming months/year
This has now expired for 2008 but the convention sites have yet to release their updated schedules for 2009.
3) The implementation, upkeep, format and viability of reviving the STF newsletter format.
The newsletter discussion ended on a high note with a lot of ideas but thus far we've not seen production notes or an update on where we stand here.
4) The correct format of discussions within the MAC
This was followed up with and discussions are now headed more sensibly.
5) The creation of an STF "Fleet" group within the Star Trek Online MMORPG once its released for the purposes of advertising.
This ended with an affirmative and once STO is released, there are assurances that a group will be created.
6) The implementation of a banner creation competition.
Sadly the response for this was rather low and both Rob and I were dissapointed that no entries were submitted, but Rob has now comissioned several specific designs and I'm told several are in the works.
7) The holding of a one man STF Aussie-Con
Our very own tribble reported this as a success, though we definately need more Aussies in the club to make this a success.
8) The entering of STF into the Krillmeeds top 100 roleplay groups site
This has been an outstanding success and based upon our current voting rates we should be bottoming out at number 3 within a month. It will take several months to get to number one from there because of the disparity in voting numbers between 3 and 1, but I have every faith that we will get there.
9) Better methods of advertising alt-rpg's and better ways of advertising alt-rpg's to both external and internal consumers.
This discussion is still ongoing, but thus far has begun generating new ideas and I look forward to seeing what this generates.
10) Various updates on our position within the Krillmeeds site (currently number 7)
11) An update on the status of next years convention listings.
These have yet to be released, but I'm hoping they'll be up and covering as much of the world as possible by the end of January.
CONCLUSION
There have been a number of downpoints throughout the MAC's life as a ship and there is still a long way to go in terms of developing greater communication and promoting awareness of the MAC's current activities but there have also been some strides forward and despite its very shakey start, the ship has developed.
It is my belief that the Marketing ship is worth further consideration and development time and thus it is retained for a further three months. It will be reviewed again on March 1st 2009.
Congratulations Rob, you have an extension. Make wise use of it and show us the potential the department has.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
1st January 2009
Posted 1 January 2009 - 5:26pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #31
"I swear if one more of you monkeys submits "blood and ashes" as a quote..."
I hadn't really thought about writing an edict like this until at least the end of my term, but sadly I have no choice. There is a serious matter which must be addressed early.
In 2000, John Robert Lucas joined STF. Three years later Emma Rouse-Deane promoted him to Captain and he commanded the Lexington until, in a peculiar twist, one of the most unusual circumstances in STF history arose and we all thought he'd been killed whilst serving in Iraq with the United States Army. When he reappeared in 2005 it was unusual to say the least and we were very happy to have him back.
Since then however, I have to report that he has unfortunately performed extraordinarily well. He's dedicated time, effort and energy to every character he's had and brought the Trinitron (now the Samurai) a complete 180 as its CO, with a full complement and consistent activity.
Further to this, during his tenure as Fleet Commander for Fleet 2 this term, John has not only brought the fleet pages back in line, but has also revived every struggling ship in the fleet. Every component of Fleet 2 is currently healthy and active, with Outpost 45 and the Constellation well on the road to full recovery. It is an absolutely disgusting display of quite how good he is at what he does, as well as his appalling commitment to both the fleet and the club.
It is therefore clear that based upon these devilish and villainous acts, I have no choice but to promote the man.
John Robert Lucas is hereby promoted to the rank of Fleet Captain, with all the rights and priveleges therein.
In all seriousness, congratulations John, this has been a long time in coming and it is more than well earned.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
1st January 2009
Posted 1 January 2009 - 6:57pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #32
"If you must mount the gallows, give a jest to the crowd, a coin to the hangman, and make the drop with a smile on your lips."
State of the Onion
Introduction
A hefty greetings to one and all from both Brian and I as well as the Cabinet and Government at large. During the election the State of the Onion speech was proposed as a midterm method of communicating our goals to date, as well as our objectives for the remainder of the term. Unfortunately this report is a month late, but the holiday season and a trip to the other side of the country has delayed me quite a bit. Hopefully what was lost in punctuality can be made up for in information provided.
Throughout the term we've made some incredible strides, in places far more than I thought we would. We have unfortunately also made some mistakes and there have been things that we've not yet managed to achieve that we had slated for the first half of the term. The following sections will highlight both the achievements and expectations for the remainder of the term.
For ease of digestion (failing that we have rennie available in the gold trays at the end of the report) the State of the Onion has been broken down into sections, by department, fleet, EA and miscellaneous headings. I've made the SOTO an edict to ensure that it remains a part of my administration permanently. I can hope that my successors will take note of it and would encourage its use in future administrations as a method of better communicating achievements and goals to the membership at large.
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STATE OF THE ONION
Command
Thus far in the term we've seen some hectic activity in command. There have been a myriad of discussions and a number of very important changes in the operation of the club. At times passions have been inflamed and I have had to issue warnings about conduct. I've also had to make unpopular decisions when the club has been split about the merits of a given discussion, but ultimately it is my belief that what has been achieved has been done in the interests and advancement of the membership and the club.
To the plus side though, we've seen a number of promotions through the term and I've been pleased to appoint a number of new CO's who have proven their worth over and again and are now holding their own centre seats very well indeed. I take great pleasure in providing each of them a personal mention in this report:
Wail Qasim was promoted to Captain and given command of the Lexington in Fleet 2
Robin Bird was promoted to Captain and given command of the Columbus in Fleet 4
Samuel Bibb was promoted to Captain and given command of the Lexington in Fleet 2 after Wail's unfortunate removal from command.
Edward Brough was promoted to Captain and given command of the Dresden in Fleet 3
Ryan Empson was promoted to Captain and given command of the Entente in Fleet 5
Elizabeth Caro was promoted to Captain and given command of Outpost 45 in Fleet 2
Alasdair Sutherland was promoted to Captain and given command of the Vanguard in Fleet 6
John Robert Lucas was promoted to Fleet Captain for his services to STF and in particular Fleet 2
Along with those promotions were a number of appointments worthy of note. Many of these were made to people who had more than proved themselves worthy of the positions. Those mentioned here were of particular note because of the selfless manner in which they offered to fill the shoes of a suddenly departing predecessor:
D Grisham was appointed to command the Europa in Fleet 6 after her previous CO, Bob Spicer was forced to resign due to real life commitments.
Russell Watt was appointed Internet Director after his predecessor William Kappler was removed from the position.
Krystelle Bromilow was appointed Fleet 4 Commander after Rick Gruby resigned due to real life commitments.
Cale Reilly was appointed to command the Brandywine in Fleet 3 after Catt Bennett was forced to resign due to other online commitments.
Anthony Martin was assigned to command Outpost 42 after Alexandra Bowley was forced to resign due to real life commitments.
Jim Hosick was appointed Fleet 5 Commander after Gene Gibbs was forced to resign due to real life commitments.
Jen Herr was appointed Engineering Director after Wail Qasim was removed from the position due to real life issues that kept him away from us.
David Wonderly was appointed Fleet 1 Commander after Joe Bradley was forced to resign due to real life commitments.
And because they are so rarely thanked, it is worth noting some of those brave and committed souls who step into the breach and temporarily hold a ship or department together after a sudden departure:
Jen Herr, who stepped into the breach as Outpost 45's interim CO after Daniel Dabrowski was relieved of his command.
Katey Conner and Tom Hillman who stepped in as acting CO and acting XO of the Vanguard after Cheryl Butler was relieved of her command.
Samuel Bibb who stepped in as acting CO and later CO of the Lexington after Wail Qasim was relieved of his command.
Jim Hosick who stepped in as acting CO of the Entente after Daniel Lerner was forced to resign due to real life commitments.
Joshua Posey who held the Europa and Olympic together during more than one CO's sudden absence.
There are of course always more out there who I'm too blond to remember to mention, but I offer my sincere thanks and admiration to each of those who have stepped into a void and held a ship together. It takes a lot to do that, particularly when the member in question has little previous experience of that position and their cojones are clearly both large and brass.
Unfortunately, whilst I would like to think that the entire term has been roses and pie, there have been a number of downturns and unfortunate incidents. I shan't dwell upon them but we have seen a number of resignations and removals from command that whilst unpleasant and dissapointing were unfortunately necessary and in the greater interests of the club and its members. During several discussions there were also a number of dissapointing moments on both sides of the aisle which saw some acrimonious relationships develop. Whilst no one in this administration is naive enough to believe that we can always please everybody all of the time, we are realistic enough to realise that we will have our detractors. We will always accept critique and criticism with as good a humour as we muster and can hope that in time those detractors will come to realise that what we have done we have done in the greater interests of STF and its members.
Moving beyond those unfortunate events though, there have been a number of new changes throughout the club. Whilst not all have been happy ones, each of the involved parties hopes that these changes will be both lasting and ultimately proven for the best:
Motd Instituted Restrictions And Governance Edict - This edict was the most hotly debated topic of the term and caused a great deal of passion to rise on both sides. Eventually, I had no choice but to draw what I felt was the best from both sides and craft what has now become the MIRAGE edict, governing the acceptable practices of MOTD design now that we operate on a system that allows such varied expression. Whilst at times the discussion was difficult and even rude, I believe that the rapid exchange of ideas ultimately gave us all a better grasp of where we needed to stand in terms of what was acceptable and what was damaging to WeBBspace whilst maintaining maximum artistic licence and freedom of creativity.
Marketing Ship: This was one of the first things that was achieved this term and it has just received an extension after a successful first few months. Receiving a top level directory and the resources of a Department without the authority to affect club policy, the Marketing and Advertising staff have managed to achieve a great deal and I expect great things from them during the remainder of the term. I shall expand on this later in Marketing's own section.
Crell Decomissioning: Unfortunately, after much discussion and a long term decline in activity, the Crell administrator and Fleet 4 Commander requested that Crell be decomissioned. It is my fervent hope that in the future there will be an opportunity to recomission Crell and give it back to the Fleet as an active and viable roleplaying environment.
Q&A Ship Decomission: After an extended lack of use and months without a single post, the Q&A ship was also decomissioned. I never enjoy having to decomission an area, but if it's no longer viable it simply clutters the site and uses resources without giving anything back and that just isn't in the best interests of the club.
Personnel Department edICT (PDICT): After months of discussion and a number of rewrites going back to Dan's term as President and my own as Personnel Director, we finally saw the updated Personnel Department Edict in place. It is the first of our major edict rewrites to bring standards back up to date after the change to WeBBspace and with the Internet Department Edict currently in a drafting phase for a rewrite I hope to have the process completed by the end of the term.
Standardised Universal Report Forms (SURF): This was one of our first discussions and produced a number of excellent ideas. The Internet Department is currently in the process of implementing the SURF's after analysing the concepts developed and the feature requests put forward. I hope to have at least a draft of these up and discussed before the end of the term.
Alt-RPG's: The discussion concerning the alternate roleplaying environments was a fairly recent one and spanned into the Marketing Department after it became clear that we are not adequately making members aware of what alt-rpg's are available. The discussion concerning alt-rpg's that people would like to see implemented within the coming months. I believe this is worth follow up at a later time and pending any applications for new alt-rpg's I'm aiming to utilise this discussion as part of a pending WeBBspace review discussed later in this report.
New Trek Movie: With the pending release of the new Star Trek movie in 2009 and the discussion which took place in conjunction with the alt-rpg thread, there has been clear support established for an "Abramsverse" ship. Whilst the idea has merit and I would like to see it pursued, it was decided that until the movie was released we have no real basis for establishing this ship. Once the movie is released and we have what it is hoped will be a surge in membership requests I hope to have this followed up on. As this will take place after this term expires, I hope that the President of the day will remember this report and refer back to it concerning this concept.
Guide to Government: A discreet proposal made by Wail Qasim, the Guide To Government is designed to enable those who have previously not had experience with STF politics to find their way in government, particularly in pursuing a desire to serve in government. It aims to provide people the basic understanding of government and a guide to how to get involved, in applications for positions, posting in command, on the department ships and fleet HQ's. It's aimed at demystifying some of our processes and opening us up to the general membership more than we currently are to allow a greater part of the silent majority to participate in discussions about club policy.
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The Cabinet
During the election, Brian and I stated repeatedly that we wished to see new members who have no previously had the opportunity to serve in government have the opportunity to do so. At the time of my initial cabinet announcement, roughly 50% of it was composed of new members who had little or no government experience. Since that time we've seen the cabinet change in places, but we have also seen a number of further new appointments, including several extremely new members appointed to serve in both the Academy and the Engineering Department as well as newer members brought into more senior positions within government such as Wail Qasim's brief stint operating the Personnel Department whilst the staff took a well deserved LOA over the holiday season.
Gamemaster Department: The Gamemaster department began this term with a strong agenda. The Goal, by term end was and still is 100% archive update and completion along with the impementation and update of the new Reference Manual. There is also a plan still in production to implement a GMT FAQ to better facilitate the interest of prospective GMT's as they enter the programme. In the past months of the term, the archive has been updated and is now fully operating, though the GMDept staff are still putting together a plan to begin a process of filling in the gaps from GM's who have not submitted forms to the archive in its past. Along with this is a plan to streamline the GMT process in order to make the programme both more accessible and more user friendly with shorter waiting times for exam grading and ship placement. This is a heartland department and I look forward to the achievements I expect through the remainder of the term. The Reference Manual mandate is now completed after its last round of discussion and will come into force as soon as it is posted. With the library now operating once more this will become a practical measure and I look forward to reading new submissions, the first that will have been submitted in more than two years. Further to this was the proposal for a "Sim Bank" of ideas submitted by GM's and Members for GM usage. This is now completed as a concept and is ready for launch once some further ideas are submitted.
Internet Department: The Internet Department is one of our most important departments and once Russell came aboard, he proposed a new agenda focusing on the more basic core aspects of the department and its day to day functioning. Through his time in the department we have seen some massive improvements, most notably updating the report archive in fullness for the first time since its inception. The archive is now complete for the previous two years with each report up to date. There are now plans to go back further and pull reports from the post archives to fill in the gaps. Each of the STF forwards has been brought up to date, along with the regular uploads in a timely manner. Support Documentation and a volunteer list of technically proficient members is being compiled, including a proper IDept FAQ. The IDept played a key feature in finally producing a method of ordering our rosters in any way the CO chooses using a weighting system and each of the bugs, issues and feature requests has been followed up on in a timely fashion. In the coming months, the Internet Director and I hope to see the last of his agenda proposals implemented, the SURF standardised report forms. These are in progress and, whilst a custom coding effort will hopefully be online and testing by term end. Most importantly of all though, in cooperation with the Librarian, the Library code is currently up and running again after an absence of more than 18 months and new entries are currently being added.
Engineering Department: Prior to the start of this term, the Engineering Department had recently begun a revival with Wail Qasim at the helm. We'd seen the approval of the Templar fighter spec and a significant increase in departmental activity. After the term began, that continued for a time, though the department unfortunately began to slip after Wail's extended absence. After his removal, I took the helm as acting Director despite the objections of our resident pain in the... errr... Parliamentarian... and began encouraging off board discussion to gather interest in the department. Despite only being back for a short time Jen Herr was appointed director and she brought a hefty agenda with her. Having only been in the department a short time she's not had the opportunity to achieve a great deal however what she has done is impressive. She's organised the directory, tidied and updated the internal pages and proposed a design mentors list to encourage less experienced designers to become involved with technical assistance provided by volunteers. In the coming months I'd like to see further development and discussion concerning the EDept's plans for introducing a ship designer hierarchy of recognition, similar in style to the GM classification system as well as discussion concerning the phased design reviews proposed. There has been a focus placed on playability of specs versus the technical detail included and this is something I support and will work with Jen to ensure is further developed.
Starfleet Academy: During the last five months we've seen a lot of discussion within the Academy. The Q&A ship has been decomissioned in favour of a top page link to the Academy headquarters. With the Players Handbook now complete, we're waiting for the Librarian to have it added. A cadet feedback form is in the process of construction after the discussion that took place concerning cadet retention. In response to the feedback received, the note posting and review links along the bottom of each MOTD have been made larger and more obvious to enable cadets easier access. In the coming months Jack and his staff intend to begin work on a more condensed help page, bringing the disparate pieces of helpful information together into an FAQ style format linking back to their parent documents. A newsletter for the Academy has been discussed and met with good feedback and Jack is currently eager to get this off the ground. It would be good to see this complete and at least one issue released by term end.
Personnel Department: The Personnel Department has seen a lot of very good changes but also has a great deal yet to accomplish this term if it is to meet its proposed agenda. The major part of the agenda was the PDICT and that has now been achieved which was a truly herculean effort. The update of the internal pages has also been completed, along with a review of the access levels within the club, though Brian reports that this still needs further work in refining the access granted to each member of the administration and ship command. Content of the internal pages has been brought up to date now and with the implementation of a new MOTD the universal theme of internal pages will finally be in place. Some of the major tasks I'd like to see completed before term end are an implementation of an integrated WeBBgallery system to replace the current Gallery software we use. As I mentioned earlier, a major focus needs to be the further refinement of access priveleges and the creation of more specific 'roles' to grant those who require it to ensure that only that access absolutely necessary to perform duties is granted to any given position. With the introduction of the Second Assistant Personnel Director I hope to see enough spare time freed up to complete these goals.
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The Fleets
The six mainstream fleets have been a major focus throughout the term and if there is a single goal I would like to see achieved by the end of my time in office, I would like it to be all of our 37 active roleplaying environments healthy, with full command staffs and crews who report their experiences as enjoyable. Employing this policy has unfortunately meant that we've experienced a higher than usual command staff turnover as people realise that they do not have the time to commit to such important positions or they are removed from their positions. Whilst people have occasionally commented that some of my actions with regards to ship command staffs have been particularly harsh, it is vital that each of our CO's, XO's and GM's realise that when taking a command position they accept that certain extra responsibilities are taken along with that, including a commitment to their ship beyond that expected of their crew as well as certain administrative functions.
Fleet One: Fleet One has been a relatively stable and healthy fleet for some time now, though it does still have issues which need addressing. With Dave Wonderly recently taking the helm from Joe Bradley, we're still looking at consolidating a long term agenda for the remainder of the term, but a number of goals have been achieved, including boosting roster and posting levels aboard the Ark Angel and Bonaventure, which were two of the more struggling ships within the fleet five months ago. In the coming months I'd like to see each of the MOTD's in the fleet updated and brought into full compliance with MIRAGE as well as a concerted recruitment drive for each of those ships still struggling.
Fleet Two: At the beginning of the term, Fleet 2 was in an unfortunately sorry state, with posting rates at an all time low on several ships and some disturbing reports about how unhappy crews were with their ships. Through the intervening 5 months, we've seen the Lexington become a thriving roleplaying environment once more with a complete turnaround in posting rates and a massive injection of stable players. Outpost 45 has received a new CO an in the interm with Jen acting as aCO recruiting efforts were begun to bring the ship back up to standards as the jewel of the fleet, as it once was and always should have been. The Fleet MOTD has been updated and a fleet history is now almost complete to ensure that we don't lose the vital history of our oldest fleet. The Starbase 93 MOTD has been updated and is now fully working. The Constellation has a new GM and her posting rate has improved dramatically as the crew become more involved in the sim and find their place once more. The Samurai is now up to a full 20 player complement of active players and her already impressive posting rate has boosted even further. The Polaris and Rogue, which were the two most active ships in the fleet continue to thrive and light the way for the fleet. John Robert Lucas has done a truly outstanding job as Fleet 2 Commander and, against all hope has dragged Fleet 2 into the 21st century. This fleet has gone from being our worst to quite possibly our best in terms of standards, activity and quality. With the introduction of the Fleet 2 history, which I hope to see complete by the end of the term, I see no reason whatsoever why this fleet cannot become the standard by which all others measure themselves.
Fleet Three: Seven months ago, Fleet 3 was struggling quite severely, with the Athena and Atlantis both losing CO's for extended periods of time due to resignations. With Kendra Kerr's appointment as Fleet Commander, she has guided the fleet through the rough waters despite losing almost every CO in the fleet at some point. She has rapidly filled the appointments and her guidance to the new CO's in the fleet as well as her constant reassurance and prodding when necessary has turned the fleet around. Whilst the MOTD may not be to everyones taste, the fleet is without a doubt a hundred times better than it was five months ago and I never thought anyone could help solve the myriad of problems or fight against the constant crises as well as Kendra has. Kendra has also been one of the first Fleet Commanders to begin introducing elements of individuality to a fleet which previously didn't have any with the introduction of the Titan Awards and the plans to introduce the "Get to know your fellow Fleet 3'ers". With a change of both her own name and the Fleets name from Coreward to Pioneer, I'm eager to see what further elements Kendra will introduce towards the end of the term. I'd like to see the introduction of some more IC elements to give the fleet an internal identity.
Fleet Four: Fleet 4 has historically been our most individual fleet with its history of fleetwide sims and the introduction of the Crag and Seetha. With Rick's departure early into the term, Krys Bromilow took over and since her ascension, Crell has been decomissioned, Starbase 202 has been stabilised and is beginning the long road towards a turnaround, though they're still looking for a new GM. The Alliance has been struggling for a long time and is still searching for an XO to assist Larry in administering the ship. Columbus has made a hefty turnaround with Robin Bird at the helm and I'm confident that the current troubles still plaguing Starbase 202 and Alliance will soon be solved with the addition of the aforementioned command staff. Krys has begun gathering records of the Fleets historical sims to craft a more solid and updated fleet history to aid in taking the fleet back to its former status as our most unique fleet. In the coming months the focus needs to be on the Alliance and Starbase 202, in ensuring that their posting rates, crew levels and quality are enhanced as well as compliance with MIRAGE.
Fleet Five: Fleet 5 has historically been a hit and miss affair and after Gene's unfortunate resignation early in the sim, Jim was left with some hefty work. The Draco and Entente are two of the strongest ships in the club and once the command staff aboard Entente was stabilised the ship settled down once more. The Odin has always been a slow poster, but has had a stable core of very happy roleplayers who enjoy posting there. This has continued. Endeavor and Seraph have experienced some problems. It is my hope that in the coming months, Jim will focus on reviving and enhancing the Seraph in particular. There are plans in the work to offer a fleetwide sim, though support is still too low in my opinion to enable it to go ahead. In terms of Fleet Identity, Jim is building on the work I began in integrating the IC elements of the long term GM's in the fleet to craft an in character individuality. The Fleet 5 history, which has been two years in the making has finally been completed and will soon be added as a full OOC record of the fleet from inception to the current day.
Fleet Six: Fleet 6 has seen some upheaval this term, but was traditionally one of our more stable fleets. The serious problem with the fleet came from the Vanguard. With Cheryl's removal from command and Alasdairs appointment I'm hoping that he will be able to begin the turnaround the ship so desperately needs. He has a solid core of players behind him and I have every faith in Missy's ability to assist him. OED V is the key to the Fleets history, both IC and OOC and should be built upon to create a fleet identity. Russell has begun the OED history and his race, the Vren appear to be the fleet bad guys in the making. Under Missy's guidance I expect to see the fleet grow within the next few months and with the Vanguard issues resolved, I hope that Missy will have enough time to devote to this.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Executive Assistants
Marketing and Advertising: The Marketing ship was designed to offer the MAC the tools of a Department without the ability to affect clubwide policy. As has been seen in my recent edict, the Marketing ship has thus far met its charter and has had its review period extended. The current concern with the Marketing ship is that whilst there is a great deal of discussion, there is very little action and within the next few months this must change. The Marketing ship should be a launching platform for all advertising and marketing efforts tailored towards both internal and external consumers, but more specifically geared towards thing such as the newsletter, further Top 100 site programmes and exploring establishing a presence within online MMORPG's such as Star Trek Online and at conventions.
The Library: For more than 18 months the Library was broken. During the term, with a concerted effort on the part of the Internet Director and Coder, those scripts are now fully functional. New items are now being added to the Library and a new Assistant Librarian has been taken on to assist Larry with the workload. In the coming months, the focus must be on the speed with which items are added. The Library can be one of our greatest assets if utilised properly and now that the cabinet are in a position to do that, the Librarian must be able to meet the challenge of ensuring that all content is up to date with a turnaround no later than seven days in new additions.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
WeBBspace development
During the last few months, we have established what I hope will become a fairly basic routine for security and functionality updates that don't affect the core of WeBBspace. We've introduced the roster weighting system as well as several minor and major updates to core components of the system. The primary focus at the moment is preparing the software for the update to Drupal 6, which Larry tells me will be taking place this month. This will provide us a number of feature request options including enabling us to create the Master Roster once more and enabling us to severely streamline the member application processing system.
Further features would include a better management system for the Organic Groups that form the ships on which we play. There is also a plan to implement a new STF theme, something more manageable and customisable than that which we currently employ. This theme could then be adapted by user account making it more customisable for users as well as administrators.
With the shift complete, I'll be looking towards a focus on implementing the master roster and easier administrative elements that will ease the load on the Personnel Department as well as the possibility of reviving the status column, implementing the WeBBgallery in place of the Yearbook and introducing the ability to include character pictures in biographies.
I would also like to conduct a review of WeBBspace and the memberships perceptions and comments on it. This would be conducted in a similar format to the Survey that was conducted under Sarah's tenure and would give us a greater idea of what direction the members would like us to take the club in further development. Because of the nature of how STF functions, we rarely get a full idea of what the silent majority and our newer members want and getting those opinions is vital to our continued existence and development. I'm not sure if this will be achievable within the remainder of the term, but with a year of active service behind it, it is time to take stock of where we are with WeBBspace and where we need to be. I woul like to have at least the framework for the review in place for the winner of the next election to put into effect if not the full review itself.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
STF Awards
The STF Awards are due to be held in February, with Russell Watt as the suggested Master of Ceremonies, considering he did such an outstanding job last year. Whilst they are generally viewed as a popularity contest, it is a nice bit of fun that brings dozens of people together in IRC who would not normally be present and I always enjoy the ceremony and the sheer hilarity of it all.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
Thank you all for having read this far. As you can see, we have achieved a great deal thus far in this term, but there is still a long way to go. WeBBspace is developing still and will continue to develop throughout its life, but it's the changes and features we implement now that will last. We must always maintain our focus on the membership, just as we must ensure that every action is taken in the best interests of the club and its members. Through the coming months, as we look towards the end of my term as President, it is my hope that we will all be able to look back at a successfull term in office that achieved some important things.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
1st January 2009
Posted 2 January 2009 - 8:12pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #33
"You put your cat in your hat and stuff it down your breeches, Rand al'Thor."
Edict Hughes #30-A is hereby rescinded and superseded by this edict.
From this point forward any edict issued by an acting President shall not be appended to the last edict the President posted with a suffix but shall be posted in the same manner as any edict posted by the President.
In order to be considered legal, any edict posted by an acting President must state that they are posting said edict in their role as acting President either in the body or as part of the signature.
This action is taken because appending an edict issued by an acting President with a suffix is pointless. Provided there is sufficient identification that the edict is issued by an acting President there is no reason that said edict should not be posted normally.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
2nd January 2009
Posted 5 January 2009 - 11:30pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
#Edict 34
"Almost dead yesterday, maybe dead tomorrow, but alive, gloriously alive, today."
I had genuinely hoped not to have to write one of these edicts during my time as President and had thought I was doing rather well on that front. Apparently that wasn't to last though.
A week or so ago, I officially relieved Cheryl Butler of her command of the Vanguard and appointed Al Sutherland to replace her.
Prior to that, I had actualy officially relieved her on the 2nd December, which prompted the opening of the position to applicants. During that time, she conducted several extremely inappropriate PM's with members of the government in IRC and sent out aggressive and offensive emails for which she was warned.
She then made a number of inappropriate and offensive posts aboard the Vanguard, which I hid to prevent them disrupting the ship further than it already had been. I sent another warning to her cautioning that she direct all issues concerning my actions to me directly rather than attempting to involve the Vanguard crew.
On 4th January, Cheryl entered IRC and made a number of inappropriate statements concerning her firing, and flamed a number of members, none of whom had been involved in that decision. She was warned by one of the Operators to calm down and left several minutes later.
She followed this with another post aboard the vanguard which directed insults against the Government, the Vanguard, the Vanguard's crew and the Vanguard's new command staff. I have hidden this post also to prevent the same disruption I had feared when hiding the previous notes.
It has become abundantly clear that despite numerous warnings and attempts to discuss the situation rationally, Cheryl is unable to act in an appropriate manner when addressing her concerns.
For conduct unbecoming an STF member, repeatedly harassing members and breaching IRC rules, Cheryl Butler is hereby banned from STF and all related resources, including the #star-fleet IRC channel for a period of 90 days. After this time, she will be permited to return to STF only with the issuance of a public apology in Command for her actions. The Personnel Department is directed to block Cheryl's account.
I can only hope that a little time away to cool off will allow Cheryl to see how and why her actions are inappropriate.
I cannot and will not tolerate abuse and harrassment of any member by any other member, more particularly when that should have been directed at me and me alone as the President who relieved her of her command. I sincerely hope that this is the only edict of this type that I will have to issue during my term.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
5th January 2008
Posted 6 January 2009 - 9:28pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #35
"Weep for Manetheren. Weep for what is lost forever."
In my previous edict, I stated that I had hoped not to have to write an edict of this type at all and ended it with a fervent desire not to need to do so again. Unfortunately the fates, it would seem, are conspiring.
Several hours after my last edict was posted, Therle Dregansky, a former member who retired some years ago and has recently made a number of posts, responded to a recent discussion concerning ENERGIE and spec ownership which he had begun by posting a still inexplicable statement that he would not relinquish ownership of his designs. We accepted that, with more than a little confusion, though it did prompt a semi discussion concerning ENERGIE's authority over spec ownership.
As one of the two authors of that edict, I can quite clearly state that it is very clear on who owns what and when and how, and it states this deliberately so.
Having thought the discussion had ended with the agreement that it did in fact say what everyone thought it had, we moved on.
Therle's response to this thread displays itself not only as the most despicable, obvious, reprehensible and unacceptable character attack against a member no longer with us to defend herself but also three terms worth of cabinets and both the current STF government and membership.
As I stated in Edict #34 I will not tolerate harrassment or abuse of any member by any member and that extends to former members by former members when said abuse takes place within STF controlled resources.
For blatant character attacks, unwarranted abuse of current and former members and for publically stating that he would refuse to accept the Terms Of Service, Therle Dregansky is hereby banned from STF and all STF related resources, including the #star-fleet IRC channel for a period of six months. The Personnel Department is directed to block his account.
There is no place in this club for behaviour such as this. We are a group of Star Trek fans who roleplay together because we enjoy it. The site is administered by volunteers who give up massive amounts of their free time to help maintain the club we love and I will not allow anyone to act in this apalling manner.
Whilst I will accept critique of any administration, including my own and myself personally as well as encourage those who disagree with policy and edict to speak up without censorship I will not tolerate ranting and unsubstantiated attacks against any member, current or former.
Therle will be permitted to return after six months only upon the issuance of a public apology to every member of the club for his actions.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
6th January 2009
Posted 6 January 2009 - 11:09pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #36
"Are you deaf as well as blind, woman? I'm not a carpet to walk over and I distinctly heard myself speak. If I pinch your bottom, you can slap my face, but until I do, I expect a civil word for a civil word!"
It's nice to be able to end this day on a positive note and there's little I enjoy more than being able to appoint new CO's.
Since he got a good one from his first promotion, I'll make it a brief one :P
Based upon the recommendation of the Academy Commandant, Brian Olinski is hereby appointed to command the U.S.S Apollo in the Academy. As he's already a Fleet Captain, he doesn't need promoting.
Congratulations Brian, I know the Academy has missed your presence and I have little doubt you'll bring the same drive, charisma and Bear-like talent you do to everything else.
He's smarther than the average bear, don't you know :P
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
6th January 2009
Posted 16 January 2009 - 1:44pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #37
"When the poor blind fool they've chosen out for their Amyrlin gets here, I will do the talking. She can't be very bright, or they'd never have been able to shove
her into the job."
My tonsilitus addled brain can't be flowery about this one but if I don't post it I'm worried Jim might hurt me....
Douglass Van Ness is thanked for his long service aboard the USS Seraph and is relieved of his command.
Based upon the advice and recommendation of the Fifth Fleet Commander, Jack Dipper is hereby assigned command of the USS Seraph in Fleet 5. As he's already a
Commodore, he clearly doesn't need promoting.
A little bittersweet, particularly given my long association with Fleet 5, but I fully expect the Seraph to flourish under Jack's hand.
Welcome back to the centre seat, St Dippington.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
16th January 2009
Posted 17 January 2009 - 3:22am by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #38
"The worst sin a general can commit, worse than blundering, worse than losing, worse than anything, is to desert the men who depend on him."
Earlier this month I issued a six month ban against Therle Dregansky for refusing to accept the Terms Of Service and severe personal attacks against current and
former members.
Since that time he has made several responses to his ban in email, culminating in an unwarranted and fallacious promise that he would be obtaining an injunction
to have STF closed permanently. I take threats against the club very seriously and will not tolerate this in any shape or form.
It is clear that Therle has no intention of reforming and that he has severed all ties with STF.
Therle Dregansky is hereby permanently banned from STF and all STF controlled resources, including the official IRC Channel.
He has requested that no member of the STF government make contact with him again and I shall honour that request. If any member of the government needs to
contact Therle about anything STF related, please inform me and I'll ensure that it gets to him.
This has been a dissapointing culmination to an unneccesary situation and I sincerely hope that this is the only time I ever have to issue this most severe of
penalties. This now stands as the end of this situation.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
17th January 2009
Posted 8 February 2009 - 3:38pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #39
"Oh, I do remember you. The one with the fla- the mouth. Ragan thought you could skin and butcher a blo- bull at ten paces with your tongue. Chaena and Nangu
thought fifty."
Well, without too much pomp and ceremony, the Genesis command chair has lain vacant for too long now and It's time to bring someone back. Several years ago the
Genesis was in a dire state and since then things have drastically improved, creating a healthy and vibrant ship. A fair chunk of the effort involved in bringing
the ship back to life can be laid at Jen Herr's feet and it is with this in mind that based upon the recommendation of the Sixth Fleet Commander, Jen Herr is
given command of the USS Genesis in Fleet 6.
As she's already a Fleet Captain, she doesn't need promoting.
Welcome back to the centre seat oh Slothy one.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
8th February 2009
Posted 8 February 2009 - 5:48pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #40
"Death comes for us all. We can only chose how to face it when it comes."
On January 25th 2007, Aaron Carroll was permanently banned from STF and all related resources by President Sarah Hemenway.
Aaron has approached me in email since taking office, informing me that in the intervening two years he had had time to grow and reflect on his actions. He made a
request to be readmitted to the club. After speaking with a number of the members directly involved with and impacted by, his banning I reached a decision. Each
member agreed that given his penitent demeanour and the time taken to petition for readmittance, it was time to allow him a second chance.
Edict Hemenway #23 is hereby rescinded and superseded by this edict. Aaron Carroll will be permitted to once more apply for an account and access external STF
resources, including the IRC channel.
He will begin at the rank of Ensign and may not be promoted beyond this point for 90 days.
This readmittance is contingent upon the issuance of a public apology in command for the actions which first resulted in his ban. Whilst this is not the first
rescinding of a permanent ban, it should be understood that the reason this particular ban has been rescinded is in large part due to the positive response from
the member who originally logged the complaint which led to his ban.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
8th February 2009
Posted 14 February 2009 - 10:04pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #41
"Only a fool obeys another's command to push him over a cliff."
With Robert Thompsons resignation from the position of Marketing and Advertising Coordinator, our trial ship and its assistants branch is in need of a new hand at
the tiller.
With an outstanding proposed agenda and an impressive RL resume dealing with Marketing and PR, I hereby appoint Jerome Davis Marketing and Advertising
Coordinator.
The Internet Department is directed to amend forwards appropriately.
Congratulations Jerome and welcome to the administration! Now get Marketing and.... Advertising.... Stuff.....
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
14th February 2009
Posted 14 February 2009 - 10:04pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #42
"As my Lord says, my Lord's leg is not a side of beef. Thank you, my Lord, for instructing me."
Per the regulations laid out in LEGOE, the time has come to announce election related business.
Larry Garfield is hereby appointed Election Coordinator
Gene Gibbs is hereby appointed Assistant Election Coordinator
The Internet Department is directed to update the relevant forwards, provide appropriate administrative access and reopen the Election Ship within the next seven
days.
Good luck boys. Try not to drive yourselves insane.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
14th February 2009
Posted 14 February 2009 - 10:04pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #43
"You are all dead! All dead!"
The Viking Class USS Endeavor, NCC-76801-B is hereby rechristened the Maverick Class USS Endeavor, NCC-76801-C.
These changes are to take place immediately OOC and as soon as praticably possible IC. Considering our dearest GM Tribble destroyed the old girl, I imagine that
would be rather soon :P
Enjoy the bubble wrap boys, and don't blow this one up!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
14th Februrary 2009
Posted 15 February 2009 - 10:26am by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe"
Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #44
"I will make you a gift and you will take it if I have to chain it
around your neck."
With Dave Wonderly's resignation from the club through injury, this once
again leaves Fleet 1 leaderless.
Throughout all the recent troubles in Fleet 1, there has been a constant
presence handling each issue that arose. He's proven himself a
consistent and reliable leader and I can think of no one more deserving
of the role.
Jody Romero is hereby appointed First Fleet Commander.
Congratulations Jody, look after the old girl for us :P
Of course, with Jody's current LOA for his daughters thespian duties,
Samuel Bibb is appointed acting FComm-1 until his return.
Don't break anything, Bulldog!
The Internet Department is directed to update the Fleet One forwards and
temporarily grant Sam the administrative access he needs to perform his
duties.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
15th February 2009
Posted 15 February 2009 - 12:11pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe"
Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #45
"If you must mount the gallows, give a jest to the crowd, a coin to the
hangman, and make the drop with a smile on your lips."
This one has been a while in the coming and with the discussion period
lapsing, I present to you your new Terms Of Service. The Internet
Department is directed to implement them immediately. This will require
that each member agree to them once more upon their next sign in. A
small inconvenience but this sets the limits on age that have been
discussed repeatedly.
__________________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION TO THE TERMS OF SERVICE
Star-Fleet ("STF") is a membership based role play game hosted at
www.star-fleet.com and related resources maintained by STF. Your use of
this service and continued membership is subject to your agreement to
the following terms and conditions. STF ("we") wants each visitor to STF
("you") and members of STF ("members") to have a safe and enjoyable
experience, so we have established the following terms and conditions so
that all parties know what to expect from each other. By using STF you
agree to and are bound by the terms set forth herein. We may make
changes to STF, these Terms of Service, or the policies and conditions
that govern the use of STF at any time. We encourage you to review these
terms periodically for any updates or changes. Your continued access to
STF shall be deemed your acceptance of these changes and the
reasonableness of these standards for notice of changes.
YOUR CONDUCT
i) General
Any conduct by you that in our sole discretion restricts or inhibits any
other party from using or enjoying STF will not be permitted. You agree
to use STF only for lawful purposes. You are prohibited from posting on
or transmitting through STF any unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive,
harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, sexually explicit, profane,
hateful, fraudulent, racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable
material of any kind, including but not limited to any material that
encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise
to civil liability, or otherwise violate any applicable local, state,
national, or international law. You are also prohibited from posting or
transmitting through STF any advertisements of other role-playing game
services without the express permission of the Club President or
Vice-President. These terms also apply to all STF controlled resources,
including but not limited to our official STF chat channel.
ii) Reproduction of Material
You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for
any commercial purposes, any portion of STF, use of STF, or access to
STF (including but not limited to use of graphics, CGI code, Perl,
JavaScript, PHP, HTML, text, or data contained within STF) without the
permission of the material's copyright holder.
iii) Membership Account Requirements and Restrictions
Holding more than one (1) membership account for any reason is strictly
forbidden. The minimum requirements for a membership account are: a)
either a first name initial and full surname (for example, J Smith) or a
full first name and last name initial (for example, John S) in the
Personal Information section, and b) a valid email address. BY AGREEING
TO THESE TERMS OF SERVICE, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ARE THIRTEEN (13)
YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AND DEMONSTRATE YOUR UNDERSTANDING THAT NO ONE MAY
BECOME A MEMBER OF STF UNLESS THEY MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THESE TERMS.
Should it be found that you are not thirteen (13) years of age or older
after agreeing to these Terms of Service, you understand that your
membership will be terminated, and all personal information STF received
from you will be deleted. STF accepts no legal liability in determining
and affirming the age of its members except by agreement to these Terms
Of Service, and specifically warrants that STF is not directed to people
under the age of thirteen (13).
iv) Contact
By holding a position in STF, including a general membership position,
you agree to receive messages from other members relating to your
position or positions. Members may request to not receive communication
from other members that is not related to a position they hold. All
members are expected to honor such requests. Harassment of any STF
members or former members is strictly forbidden.
v) Failure to Comply
Violation of any or all of these policies can lead to penalties,
including but not limited to removal from STF and banning from its
servers and related resources. STF is, furthermore, at liberty to
contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) with complaints regarding
the violation of these guidelines if such action is determined to be
necessary. Any illegal activity will be reported to appropriate law
enforcement officials.
STF CONTENT
i) Copyright of STF Content
You acknowledge that STF contains or may contain information, data,
software, photographs, graphics, videos, text, images, typefaces,
sounds, and other material (collectively "Content") that are protected
by copyrights, trademarks, or other proprietary rights, and that these
rights are valid and protected in all forms, media and technologies
existing now or hereinafter developed. All Content is copyrighted as a
collective work under the U.S. copyright laws, and we own a copyright in
the selection, coordination, arrangement, and enhancement of such
Content. You may not modify, remove, delete, participate in the sale of,
create derivative works from, or in any way exploit any of the Content,
in whole or in part, without the permission of the material's copyright
holder. If no specific restrictions are displayed, you may make copies
of select portions of the Content, provided that the copies are made
only for your personal information and non-commercial use and that you
do not alter or modify the Content in any way, and maintain any notices
contained in the Content, such as all copyright notices, trademark
legends, or other proprietary rights notices.
ii) Third-Party Copyrighted Material
Except as provided in the preceding sentence or as permitted by the fair
use privilege under the U.S. copyright laws (see e.g. 17 U.S.C. Section
107), you may not upload, post, reproduce, or distribute in any way
Content protected by copyright, or other proprietary right, without
obtaining permission of the owner of the copyright or other proprietary
right. STF does not presume ownership of images or material designated
as (copyright) Paramount and/or it's parent company, Viacom.
iii) Restrictions on Using Copyrighted Characters
STF restricts the use by its members of any character from the Star Trek
franchise (including, but not limited to, The Original Series and its
subsidiary films, The Next Generation and its subsidiary films, Deep
Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise) in any context that would involve
the Member using the character beyond what is permitted by fair use.
That includes, but is not limited to, using copyrighted characters as
user controlled characters, user controlled characters being related to
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Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
15th February 2009
Posted 17 February 2009 - 3:59pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #46
"I swear if one more of you monkeys submits "blood and ashes" as a quote..."
Rarely have I found myself so prodded, pushed and cajoled as I have in finding a new Captain for the Rogue. The entire command staff of the ship as well as numerous
other senior members have unanimously given glowing recommendations and without a doubt based upon everything that I've heard there can be little doubt that this
individual is ready for command and ready for the Rogue.
Based upon the recommendation of the Second Fleet Commander, Robert Archer is hereby promoted to the rank of Captain with all the rights and priveleges therein.
Further, he is assigned command of the USS Rogue in Fleet 2.
Congratulations, Robert. Clearly the crew of the Rogue and the Fleet 2 command staff have every faith in your ability and I expect to be hearing great things in the
days to come.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
17th February 2009
Posted 22 February 2009 - 12:31pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #47
"You can have her back, Kinslayer. The Great Lord of the Dark can make her live again, if you will serve him. If you will serve me."
With Missy Bradley's resignation as CO of the Olympic, she passed authority for selecting her replacement to her AFComm Ryan Empson. It was certainly not an easy
decision for Ryan with some truly outstanding applicants but a decision had to be made and I commend Ryan on his maturity in dealing with a difficult task.
It's not often I do anything to uphold and advance the evil and twisted agendas of the followers of Carrotism, least of all their vaunted founder, but occasionally
even a Dark Wolfe has to step aside in favour of his trusted minions.
Based upon the recommendation of the Sixth Fleet Assistant Fleet Commander, it gives me great pleasure to welcome a venerable member back to the centre seat. Symon
"Bunny" Silvester is hereby assigned command of the USS Olympic in Fleet Six.
As he's already a Commodore, he quite clearly doesn't need promoting.
Congratulations dear Bunny and welcome back to the centre seat!
Fleet Captain Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
22nd February 2009
Posted 2 March 2009 - 3:01pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #48
"The lions sing and the hills take flight.
The moon by day, and the sun by night.
Blind woman, deaf man, jackdaw fool.
Let the Lord of Chaos rule."
With Dave Wonderly's departure as CO of the Asimov, she has been some time without a Captain.
After receiving the Fleet Four Commander's recommendation for a replacement I concur heartily. Having been with us for many years and having, despite some earlier
hiccups, developed incredibly in the last few years, without a doubt he is worthy of finally receiving the opportunity to command one of our finest ships.
It is with great pleasure that I promote Jimmy Merrett to the rank of Captain, with all the rights and priveleges therein.
I also further appoint him Commanding Officer of the USS Asimov in Fleet 4.
Many congratulations Jimmy, this has been a long time in the coming and you've well earned it.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
2nd March 2009
Posted 7 March 2009 - 7:30am by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #49
"You'll use it, boy, and as long as you hate using it, you will use it more wisely than most men would. Wait. If ever you don't hate it any longer, then will be the
time to throw it as far as you can and run the other way."
Well, I left the comments period open somewhat longer than I'd originally planned to make sure that everyone had the opportunity to offer their views. Given the
overwhelming positive response to this revision, versus the few negative comments that were received, I thank everyone for their views and move ahead with the edict.
Larry did point out that I'd made a minor fubar in accidentally removing the original member/character rank link restrictions and this version could be read as
people being able to play any rank they want up to Commander, so i've edited it enough to make it plain that any character rank played cannot be higher than member
rank rather than just linking it to Captain and above, which I'd inadvertently done previously.
Member Order and Organisation (MOO)
Supersedence of Previous Edicts
Edict Hemenway #34 is hereby rescinded and superseded by this Edict.
Membership
A Member of STF is defined as an individual who has at least one active role-playing or Gamemaster position within the club.
Club rank structure
The club rank structure (for out of character usage) of STF is defined as, from junior to senior: Cadet/Ensign, Lieutenant junior grade, Lieutenant, Lieutenant
Commander, Commander, Captain, Fleet Captain, Commodore, Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral and Admiral. Cadet and Ensign are equivalent for the purposes of club rank.
A Member's club rank, below the rank of Captain, is defined as the highest role-playing rank that a Member has achieved since he joined STF. Club rank at and above
the rank of Captain is determined by the most recent Presidential Edict. A Member at or above the rank of Captain may be recognized for exemplary role-playing and
service to the club by promotion by the President in an Edict to the next highest club rank.
Character rank is defined as the rank that a Member's individual role-playing character has attained. The rank structure for character rank is, from junior to
senior:
- Civilian
- Crewman
- Cadet
- Ensign
- Lieutenant Junior Grade
- Lieutenant
- Lieutenant Commander
- Commander
- Captain
- Fleet Captain
- Commodore
- Rear Admiral
- Vice Admiral
- Admiral.
Alternate Role-playing Areas may have a different character rank system. No Member shall have a character with a character rank higher than the Member's club rank.
A Marine rank structure exists within STF and follows that of the United States Marine Corp as follows, junior to senior
Enlisted:
- Private First Class
- Lance Corporal
- Corporal
- Sergeant
- Staff Sergeant
- Gunnery Sergeant
- Master Sergeant
- Sergeant Major
- Warrant Officer
- Chief Warrant Officer
Officer:
- Second Lieutenant
- First Lieutenant
- Captain
- Major
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Colonel
- Brigadier General
- Major General
- Lieutenant General
- General
Each marine officer rank has an equivalent within the regular fleet. No member may hold a marine character with a rank higher than their club member rank.
Absence from the club
A Member is determined to be Absent without Leave (AWOL) if he is not within the defined AWOL limits for his club position. A Member who has a club rank of Captain
or above may be subject to a club rank penalty for AWOL; each case will be considered individually by the President.
A Member is entitled to take a Leave of Absence (LOA) if they are unable to post within the defined AWOL limits for his club positions. A Leave of Absence is defined
as any period of declared leave from club posting duties that is less than thirty days. Any LOA for a period of less than 30 days will have no effect on an
individual's positions; however, multiple LOAs within a short time scale by a Commanding Officer or an Executive Officer may result in the removal of an individual
with the approval of the Fleet Commander and the President. The individual's removal from department head and junior officer positions is at the discretion of the
appropriate ship's Commanding Officer.
Any leave of absence of 30 days and beyond is considered to be an Extended Leave of Absence (eLOA). Any leave of absence with an unspecified end date is considered
to be an Indefinite Leave of Absence (iLOA). Any individual taking an eLOA or an iLOA understands that no position they hold is guaranteed to remain open for when
they return to the club. This covers any position including that of a Commanding Officer (CO) and government positions. This ruling is not absolute and will not
cover any individual arrangements that may be subject to approval by either the Fleet Commander or President.
Promotions Guidelines
For exceptional service to the club at large a member may be promoted beyond the rank of Captain by Presidential Edict. Promotions beyond the rank of Captain should
be considered using the following guidelines as a benchmark:
Fleet Captain (Flt Capt): For exceptional service to the club, the President can promote members beyond the rank of Captain. Fleet Captain is a mark of commitment or
contribution to the club above and beyond the usual requirements.
Commodore (Cdre): Somewhat Rare, Commodore is a promotion usually given to those who have not only made exceptional commitments to the club above and beyond that
which is required, but have done so consistently over a number of years. This is considered the first of the 'Flag Ranks'
Rear Admiral (RAdm): Rare. Rear Admiral is a promotion given to those who have not only made exceptional commitments to the club above and beyond that which is
required for a number of years, but have also had a permanent and lasting impact in developing the club through government work in Fleets or Departments.
Vice Admiral (VAdm): Very Rare. Vice Admiral is a promotion given to those who have made exceptional, lasting and long term impacts on the way in which the club
operates and functions. Usually given to those members who have served as President at least once and have a long history of government work developing new
procedures and working tirelessly to develop the best procedures and policies for any Department or Fleet that they turn their hand to.
Admiral (Adm): Ultra Rare. The highest member rank achievable in the club, Admiral is given by the President to those rare few members who have given their all for
many years and have had a significant lasting impact on the club in terms of its development through government and technology as well as a profound impact on how we
function and operate through the implementation of long lasting changes that revolutionise the Government, the platform on which we operate or the Presidency.
Posted 8 March 2009 - 10:00am by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #50
"The Red Ajah, those that like hunting for men who mess with the One Power, they wanted to gentle me, once. I told them to their faces they were Black Ajah; served
the Dark One, I said, and they didn't like that at all."
With the revisions to the Member Order and Organisation edict, it is incumbent, based upon discussion points raised during its review that certain members be
grandfathered. It has been determined that as these grandfatherings are directed against a specific group of members rather than the club at large, they be seperate
from the edict itself.
Admiral Larry Garfield and Admiral Greg Hertzsch shall retain their ranks at full standing.
Any past member who may rejoin who previously held the rank of full Admiral shall be reduced in rank to that of Rear Admiral upon the activation of their account.
This edict is not designed to penalise those who have previously been promoted to our clubs highest rank but reflects the continued dedication and service that has
been given by our two longest serving members, whereas many of those who previously held this rank have been absent for a number of years.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
8th March 2009
Posted 10 March 2009 - 7:45pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #51
"Always plan for the worst, that way all your surprises will be pleasant ones."
With my first term as President rolling to its end and the second now on the way to beginning, it's time for those interminable promotions edicts :P
With the introduction of the new version of MOO and the addition of our new ranks as well as the promotions guidelines, there will be some changes. The most notable
will be that each promotion will be made solely on merit. Hell, I don't even like some of these people :P (I kid, of course).
The first and biggest of these promotions is going to be a little unconventional.
Having served as a member in good standing for six years now, our man of the hour has seen through terms as Academy Commandant through no less than six Presidents,
ensuring that countless generations of cadets are trained by competent, caring and polite staffs. He has introduced the CADET edict and put it through umpteen
revisions until we had the perfect incarnation as well as introducing the CO course, the DH course, the XO course, the creation of the Academy Fleet Liaison Officers
position(s), the new and current Players Handbook, a complete revision to procedures and standards within the Academy that has seen its transformation into a
professional, respected and flawless school of excellence.
Besides that he has served as President and has seen service as Vice President to two others. He has served as acting President uncounted times, ensuring that the
club continues to run smoothly no matter the occurence and whenever an issue has arisen he has always been there for the club despite a hectic rl schedule. Without a
doubt he fulfills every criteria for a most unusual of promotions. He has also served as Internet Director and the Fleet One Commander through some very difficult
times.
He is counsellor, advisor, bitch slapper and friend and I am proud to name him as my first end of term promotion.
With years of government service in a number of capacities and an undeniable long lasting, permanent and positive effect on the way in which one of our most
important Fleets operates, it is my great pleasure to offer not one, but two promotions simultaneously to a single person
Commodore Jack Dipper is hereby promoted past the rank of Rear Admiral, to the rank of Vice Admiral with all the rights and priveleges therein. One of our most
determined, consistent, passionate and committed members, Jack is well deserving of his new rank. May all the venerated Captains, Admirals and Animals of past,
present and future have mercy on his poor soul.
Congratulations, Vice Admiral Dipper!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
10th March 2009
Posted 11 March 2009 - 4:17pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #52
"A woman's flaming rights are whatever she flaming says they are. That's what women in Shienar say, anyway."
Our second promotion edict is another that's been long in the coming. It's also been written by our very own trusted Vice Presidential Bear. Here's what he said,
"Having experienced nearly nine years in STF, the next recipient of promotion has served in quite a few positions in the club. He has faced the test of time and
prevailed.
Having served us in this past term in such administrative capacities as Academy Vice Commandant, Assistant Fleet Commander of Fleet 4 and Mentors Coordinator. His in
character positions are varied, but among them he successfully serves Starbase 202 as Commanding Officer, the USS Odin as Executive Officer, and the USS Apollo in
the Academy as her Executive Officer.
Clearly the Pony has his hands full, and makes his mark throughout STF in various ways. To show that his contributions, both in character and out of character have
not gone unnoticed or unwelcomed, it is my distinct pleasure to promote Joe "Pony" Fahey to the rank of Commodore, with all the right and privileges therein.
Congratulations, Commodore Fahey!"
Addenda to this, I would like to add that Joe does all of these things despite a very hectic personal schedule which sees him as a substitute school teacher as well
as providing summer camps for elementary school children and working with a youth group for his church. Despite all of this he maintains his positions and has served
in many government capacities throughout the years.
I will add my own congratulations to Commodore Fahey!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
11th March 2009
Posted 11 March 2009 - 4:47pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #53
"You wait here - and try not to eat the table."
Our third promotion requires that all picanic baskets be removed from the vicinity. /me quickly does this, avoiding the urge to check for a stray rabbit stew.
This picnic basket thieving member and I joined at almost the same time back in 2004. Since then he has served outstandingly as Personnel Director, Fifth Fleet
Commander, Assistant Fifth Fleet Commander, Entente Commanding Officer, has been Vice President through my first term, CO Command Course Tutor, Academy Commandant,
Academy Vice Commandant and following the Academy theme has served as CO aboard both Columbia and, more recently, Apollo. Along with his Vice Commandant of the time,
Jack Dipper, Brian created the Academy Fleet Liaison Officers position and comissioned the creation of the Academy Command courses. We have also seen the comission
of the latest incarnation of the Personnel Department Edict (PDICT) and the creation of the Second Assistant Personnel Director position.
He has been counsellor, advisor and dear friend through almost all of my Command, Government and Administrative work.
Without a doubt our Bear has done great things for the club he loves and it gives me very great pleasure to promote Brian "Bear" Olinski to the rank of Commodore,
with all the rights and priveleges therein.
Congratulations Commodore Bear!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
11th March 2009
Posted 11 March 2009 - 4:47pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #54
"Wouldn't it be easier to cremate a tree?"
Well, after much discussion, the charter has been completed and there is a good crew complement, CO, XO and GM ready to go as well as an MOTD and Fleet.
_________________________________________________________________________
An alternative roleplaying environment is hereby established in Fleet 4 named 403rd Platoon.
403rd Platoon is a Marine RPG. It is a primarily Marine based Roleplaying Area whereby a Specialized Marine contingent is required to complete certain missions as a
platoon where ever they are dropped. It will consist of a Commanding Officers and Enlisted Personnel
403rd Platoon will remain an active Roleplaying Area, provided that it meets the following criteria:
1. 403rd Platoon must maintain a healthy roleplaying environment with a cast of reliable players who remain on the whole within the outlined AWOL guidelines.
2. 403rd Platoon must continue its function solely as a Marine based environment successfully.
If 403rd Platoon should deviate from the criteria set in this charter at any time, it shall be decommissioned.
403rd Platoon shall have a similar command structure to a Starfleet vessel however it shall utilize Marine Ranks, both officer and Enlisted. The commanding officer
shall be a Marine Lieutenant; executive officer shall be a Staff Sergeant as is consistent with a standard with a regular marine platoon. These members shall hold
Member ranks of there ship side counterparts (captain and commander respectively) and shall count towards the CO/XO limit of the member however the characters rank
must reflect realistically the command structure of a Marine Platoon. The bulk of the Platoons force shall be enlisted personnel performing a variety of tasks. The
Departments shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
Field Medics
Assault
Recon
Technician
Each of these shall be commanded by either a SNCO and staffed by enlisted personnel primarily.
The platoon shall be split into 4 separate squads. The first shall contain the Lieutenant, Staff Sergeant, Medic and Technician. The other three shall be headed by a
Sergeant and will consist of a force of Privates and corporals. The CO may decide to reinforce certain squads with other personnel or reorder the squads and their
compliment depending on the mission. Any changes made to the Platoon structure must be reasonable and are done at the Captains discretion. Ranks specified in this
charter are only a guidline and the CO may decide to promote personel if they have done an exceptional Job, as would be the same on a regular ship.
The premise for each mission shall be the platoon being dropped on a Planet or Base with a particular mission to accomplish. They then proceed under the GM.s
direction to complete their assigned objective. It should be noted that the Platoon does not operate on a ship environment so transport to and from each mission is
via an NPC ship that shall not be utilized within the mission itself.
_______________________________________________________________________
Captain Jim Hosick is hereby appointed Commanding Officer of 403rd Platoon. As he's already a Captain, he doesn't need promoting.
The Internet Department is directed to create the ship as a child of the Fleet 4 menu within seven days. The Personnel Department is directed to provide appropriate
administrative access for this ship.
403rd Platoon shall receive a full review after 90 days to determine whether it still fulfills the terms laid out in this edict and its charter.
As a vague and completely unrelated note, this 54th Edict means that I have now officially issued more edicts in a single term than any other President in the
history of our club... I can well imagine some would argue that this is a bad thing :P
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
Posted 11 March 2009 - 5:49pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #55
"We'll toss the dice however they fall,
and snuggle the girls be they short or tall,
then follow young Mat whenever he calls,
to dance with Jak o' the Shadows."
Our fourth promotion is, surprisingly, one that has been well earned in recent terms. Since joining the club many many years ago as a bright eyed and bushy tailed
young teenager, he has served as First Fleet Commander, Gamemaster Director, Academy Commandant, Academy Vice Commandant and numerous other assistants positions. He
was the comissioning Commanding Officer of the USS Apollo in the Academy and he has made the Valkyrie in Fleet 1 quite possibly the foremost ship of the Fleet.
However and more importantly, he has been and remains one of our most outstanding GM's (myself excluded of course :P). Having served no less than 12 ships and
conducting 22 sims that have earned him a slew of awards in a number of STF Awards ceremonies there is no doubt that his skill as a GM is one of the great assets of
this club.
His is a skill and awesome commitment that I envy and it is with the greatest of pleasure that I promote Phill.. No... Kev... No Phil.... No Kev.... :P
Kevin "Roadrunner" Harbison is hereby promoted to the rank of Commodore, with all the rights and priveleges therein.
Congratulations Commodore Roadrunner!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
11th March 2009
Posted 12 March 2009 - 1:15pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #56
"My mother always told me the best way to learn to deal with a man was to learn to ride a mule. She said they have about equal brains most of the time. Sometimes the
mule is smarter."
This is certainly not an edict I enjoy writing, but whilst I still heartily disapprove, I must respect Jack's decision in this.
Edict Robinson #51 is hereby rescinded.
This officially returns Jack Dipper to the rank of Commodore.
However, having said that, I cannot in good conscience allow this to stand as it is. Having spent some significant time speaking with Jack, I am refusing to accept
his return to Commodore
Jack Dipper is hereby promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral, with all the rights and priveleges therein. Jack has agreed to accept this promotion, though if he backs
out of this one again I just might hunt him down and shoot him :P
I would like to state, officially, that I still recognise the great works that Jack has performed and reiterate every single word in Edict #51. It is my sincere
belief that Jack Dipper fulfills the guidelines laid out in MOO for the rank of Vice Admiral and then some. I further commend him on his maturity, nobility and
understanding in making this decision. It is these very qualities combined with the amazing works he has performed for this club that justify his original promotion
and it is my fervent hope that he be given his due at the earliest possible convenience either by myself or a President who follows me.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
12th March 2009
Posted 28 March 2009 - 12:44pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #57
"If I had told Mother I think you are handsome, she certainly would have had you locked in a cell"
With the furore surrounding my last batch of promotions, I decided to leave the last one a little while to allow things to settle down.
The recipient of the final promotion for this term holds a position that is very close to my heart. In 2005 when I was first promoted to Captain, the Draco in Fleet
5 was a mess. Over time, with the remaining core of players we managed to turn the ship around and when I resigned as her CO she was in good shape. Since then she
has seen two further CO's and has gone from strength to strength.
In October 2007 she received a new CO who took what I and our own Tribble had done and enhanced it. Since then, Draco has been a model ship, consistently providing a
happy, healthy and active roleplaying environment that no FComm has had to worry about. This is a rare thing in our club and, whilst it has certainly improved in the
past term, the few ships like Draco which have led the way are worthy of recognition, particularly those who are the driving force behind that consistent strength.
In recognition of his excellent work as Commanding Officer of the USS Draco, I hereby promote Gene Gibbs to the rank of Fleet Captain, with all the rights and
priveleges therein.
Congratulations Wookie, may you keep showing us the way for many years to come.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
28th March 2009
Posted 29 March 2009 - 5:12pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #58
"We rode on the winds of the rising storm
We ran to the sounds of the thunder
We danced among the lightning bolts
And tore the world asunder."
This one is a little late, since the second term has technically started, but I was abruptly halted in my tracks last night by that beast we call RL. I've made a number of promotions and that's all well and good but I would like to single out a few individuals who have been truly invaluable to the administration this term. They have been friends, advisors, sounding boards, reality checkers and punching bags. We've had some ups and downs this term and we got off to a shakey start but without the assistance of these members, things could have been a hell of a lot more down than up.
Brian Olinski:
My trusted right hand man, Vice President extraordinaire and an exceptional Personnel Director. Whilst Brian has not been as visible as some Vice President's have, he has done massive and time consuming amounts of work behind the scenes that deserve recognition. He has advised my every decision and been my primary sounding board, he has handled dozens of brush fires and a massive, months long investigation on behalf of the administration dealing with another club. He has ghost written edicts, given me information whenever I've not had the time to investigate something directly and has been a shoulder and a rock throughout the term. Without Brian, I am positive that we'd not have achieved half as much as we have during this term. He has given us an updated and WeBBspace compliant PDICT, streamlined the application handling process in the Personnel Department and has dropped the average turnaround for applications from 72 hours to less than 24, an absolutely vital component to retaining new members. For this and more, Brian has been given a promotion but I couldn't end the term without first offering this thanks to him for all of his hard work. I have no doubt that he will continue to serve in the same outstanding way through our second term.
Jack Dipper:
In previous administrations, Presidents have had an inner circle of sorts, advisors who are used to bounce official ideas off and pose ideas for future discussions or policy shifts before presenting them to the membership. This term I made that a somewhat more formal group and Jack was one of my advisors. His experience as a former President and his years of government wrangling have proven invaluable in proofing edict drafts, handling internal discussion proposals and the dozens of policy and procedure shifts that have helped refine concepts before presenting them to the membership. He has given me untold advise concerning the appropriate wording for edicts and has been an integral part of my decisionmaking process. Despite the kerfuffle concerning his promotion, I sincerely thank him for his assistance, guidance and experience through the high and low points of the past eight months.
Russell Watt
Our Tribble has been a truly invaluable friend this term. When needs required, he stepped into the breach as Internet Director, making his first task updating the edict archives that had been out of date for several months and the report archives which, frankly, have never been in date. No one who has not previously performed such a feat can understand how tedious, time consuming and banal this task can be and without a doubt that, if nothing else, requires a lifetime of Tribble treats. Russ has taken on every burden laid upon him and has worked effectively with the Coder to ensure that WeBBspace development continues apace. He has been a beacon example of dedication and commitment as well as organisational and leadership skills. Atop this, he has now, for the second time, been master of ceremonies for the STF Awards, a thankless and massive task which requires endless hours of coding and data collation. He has well and truly put his own stamp on the awards and I don't think any other awards ceremony will now be complete without the All Dancing, all Singing Tribblets halftime show. My thanks and respect go out to him for his tireless dedication to the club.
Geoff Joosten:
Another member of the inner circle, Geoff has been the voice of the people throughout the term, offering the outside the box viewpoints that we sometimes lose when bowed down under the weight of STF politics. He has reminded me frequently of the reason that we are here, to serve the membership and his unbiased opinions as a member serving outside of Government have been invaluable. Despite his incredibly busy real life schedule, Geoff has always been there to offer an ear and a thought to any email discussion. My thanks go to him for his unrecognised and unknown service.
Dan Lerner:
In the first days of the term, when things were still very uncertain and I was going through the period of adjustment any first term President does, Dan's advice was indispensible. He provided me the initial push I needed to get through the first weeks without making a complete cock up of it all. Atop this, his legal background has allowed him to offer more formal structure to discussions and decisions that have been difficult to make. He has undertaken several email investigations on my behalf concerning several major and minor issues and as the final member of the inner circle has been outstanding in offering a realists viewpoint of every discussion. His work on the Terms Of Service (it was Dan that first raised it in email as a requirement under COPPA) has given us the cover we have needed for so long and has closed a major loophole that could have left us open to legal action. Whilst he has vanished in recent months, I sincerely thank him and hope that he can return to us soon.
Ryan Empson:
Before the start of this last term, I hadn't really had much contact with Ryan other than his application to be Engineering Director at the start of the term. Since then, we have seen his promotion to Captain and he has become one of my closest friends. He has offered a shoulder to cry on, an ear to scream at and has always been willing to indulge my wicked side when I've needed to blow off steam. He has cajoled, flattered, beaten and battered me whenever I've needed the encouragement to continue and without him it's possible I'd have made some very bad decisions this term. His outstanding work on Entente as her CO has seen the ship win one of our most coveted awards in Best Ship which stands it in stead as the clubs flagship and it continues to go from strength to strength under his leadership. I see a bright future for Ryan and know that the club will benefit from his experience, drive and passion in future administrations.
Joe Fahey:
What is there to say about our Pony? Joe is one of our longest serving members and has always been one of the quiet ones. His work is often behind the scenes, unnoticed and sometimes unfairly, unrecognised. He always has time to offer a few words about any topic I might raise and his experience and historical knowledge has proven invaluable. He is a steadfast, loyal and honourable man who is often the comic relief we all need at times in what is so often the very serious business of administering the club. My thanks go out to him for his work as Mentors Coordinator, friend and comforting ear.
John Lucas:
John has always been a dark horse to me. The soldier we thought lost who rose from the dead (almost literally) and came back with a passion to the club. His is without a doubt one of the most massive personal commitments to the club that I have ever witnessed. In eight short months he has completely turned Fleet 2 around, taking it from a struggling, outdated and underutilised fleet to the brightest, most active and most efficient fleet in the club. He is never far away and his professional, mature and dedicated leadership has given us all an example to follow in all our Government dealings. He has often been the voice of reason in command and always has a solid opinion to offer when it's needed. It is my sincere hope that we all take to heart his example in our Government roles, because doing so will undoubtedly leave us all the better for it.
_____________________________________________
As a final afterword to the term, I would like to thank the membership itself for giving us all the very reason we exist. Without you, there would be no reason for any of us to do what we do and it is your passion, skill and dedication to our fine club that marks us easily the very best online roleplay site on the net. Thank you, one and all and thank you for giving me a second term to serve you as President.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
29th March 2009
P.S. : For those few who might have wondered, my edict quotes this term (with the exception of the Crell edict) have all been taken from the Wheel Of Time saga by the late, great, Robert Jordan.
Posted 29 March 2009 - 5:12pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #59
"Permission to barge in, Sir?"
The first edict of the second term. Following the theme that we have always devoted ourselves to, we have continued to offer members who have not previously had the opportunity to serve in government the chance to do so and would encourage each member of the new cabinet to follow our example and make the same offer when selecting their assistants.
Samuel Bibb is hereby appointed FComm-1
John Robert Lucas is hereby retained as FComm-2
Anthony Martin is hereby appointed FComm-3
Krystelle Bromilow is hereby retained as FComm-4
Ryan Empson is hereby appointed FComm-5
Symon Silvester is hereby appointed FComm-6
Brian Olinski is hereby retained as Personnel Director
Jen Herr is hereby retained as Engineering Director
Jack Dipper is hereby retained as Academy Commandant
Russell Watt is hereby retained as Internet Director
I would like to personally thank Jody, Kendra, Jim, Missy and Kevin for their service this term. Each of you has done a truly outstanding job and you are more than worthy of your recognition.
For those Fleets which have changed hands, the current staff are sincerely thanked for their service and are requested to assist their replacements in whatever training needs they have in order to settle in as smoothly as possible.
I realise that I haven't named a Gamemaster Director, but given the difficulties in selecting a candidate I'm opening the position for applications for a period of 10 days and will announce the new Director on the 9th April. Applicants, please include an explanation of what you feel you would bring to the position and a few agenda points to get you started. Being a licensed GM is preferred but not required as organisational and administrative ability are the primary requirements.
All cabinet officers, please have your assistants named within 14 days.
Internet Department, please have all email forwards and appropriate access amended within 7 days.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
29th March 2009
Posted 29 March 2009 - 5:12pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #60
"Perfect. If any little rocks sneak up on us, we will have plenty of warning."
A nice quick and easy one to launch the second term.
Based upon the recommendation of the Academy Commandant, Jim Hosick is hereby appointed command of the U.S.S Challenger in the Academy. As he's already a Captain he obviously doesn't need promoting.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
29th March 2009
Posted 12 April 2009 - 2:49pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #61
"Now we die." "Well, that's a bad plan"
A little later than I had planned, but that's what I get for putting my pronouncement in the middle of Easter....
David Wonderly is hereby appointed Gamemaster Director.
Congratulations Dave, please have your assistant named within seven days.
The Internet Department is directed to provide him with the appropriate access.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
12th April 2009
Posted 23 April 2009 - 5:13pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #62
"Well, it's hard to say."
"Some sort of state secret?"
"No, just difficult to pronounce"
I'll make this one brief, since we're all obsessed with policy discussions and such.
Based upon the advice and recommendation of the Fleet Four Commander, Robert Thompson is hereby appointed CO of the USS Columbus.
As he's already a Captain, he obviously doesn't need promoting.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
23rd April 2009
Posted 16 May 2009 - 6:44pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #63
"You know that "we come in peace" business? Bite me."
It's not often I get to recognise one of the less frequent public faces in STF, particularly one who has been with us for a number of years. Fortunately it's one of the better duties. It's all too easy to overlook those who don't don't frequent Command or IRC and it's a real pleasure to write this.
After five years of membership, she has been XO aboard the Victorious and is currently XO aboard the Montgomery. She is an excellent and motivated roleplayer who always ensures that her JO's are occupied and that any department she commands is active an enthused. She's reliable, hard working and creative. She has mastered the OOC administrative duties and each of her recommenders made the statement that this is long overdue.
With Jody's resignation as CO of the Victorious, we have a vacant space. Based upon the recommendation and advice of the Fleet One Commander, it gives me great pleasure to promote Amber Hagen to the rank of Captain with all the rights and priveleges therein. Further, I direct her to take command of the USS Victorious in Fleet 1 immediately.
Congratulations Amber, it's been a long time coming.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
16th May 2009
Posted 31 May 2009 - 3:02pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #64
"You get well soon. And when you do, you can do anything you want... and I mean... professionally. Anything. Well not... anything."
Member Order and Organisation (MOO)
Supersession of Previous Edicts
Edicts Hemenway #34 and Robinson #49 are hereby rescinded and superseded by this Edict.
Membership
A Member of STF is defined as an individual who has at least one active role-playing or Gamemaster position within the club.
Club rank structure
The club rank structure (for out of character usage) of STF is defined as, from junior to senior: Cadet/Ensign, Lieutenant junior grade, Lieutenant, Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain, Fleet Captain, Commodore, Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral and Admiral. Cadet and Ensign are equivalent for the purposes of club rank.
A Member's club rank, below the rank of Captain, is defined as the highest role-playing rank that a Member has achieved since he joined STF. Club rank at and above the rank of Captain is determined by the most recent Presidential Edict. A Member at or above the rank of Captain may be recognized for exemplary role-playing and service to the club by promotion by the President in an Edict to the next highest club rank.
Character rank is defined as the rank that a Member's individual role-playing character has attained. The rank structure for character rank is, from junior to senior:
- Civilian
- Crewman
- Cadet
- Ensign
- Lieutenant Junior Grade
- Lieutenant
- Lieutenant Commander
- Commander
- Captain
- Fleet Captain
- Commodore
- Rear Admiral
- Vice Admiral
- Admiral.
Alternate Role-playing Areas may have a different character rank system. No Member shall have a character with a character rank higher than the Member's club rank.
A Marine rank structure exists within STF and follows that of the United States Marine Corp as follows, junior to senior
Enlisted:
- Private First Class
- Lance Corporal
- Corporal
- Sergeant
- Staff Sergeant
- Gunnery Sergeant
- Master Sergeant
- Sergeant Major
- Warrant Officer
- Chief Warrant Officer
Officer:
- Second Lieutenant
- First Lieutenant
- Captain
- Major
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Colonel
- Brigadier General
- Major General
- Lieutenant General
- General
Each marine officer rank has an equivalent within the regular fleet. No member may hold a marine character with a rank higher than their club member rank.
Absence from the club
A Member is determined to be Absent without Leave (AWOL) if he is not within the defined AWOL limits for his club position. A Member who has a club rank of Captain or above may be subject to a club rank penalty for AWOL; each case will be considered individually by the President.
A Member is entitled to take a Leave of Absence (LOA) if they are unable to post within the defined AWOL limits for his club positions. A Leave of Absence is defined as any period of declared leave from club posting duties that is less than thirty days. Any LOA for a period of less than 30 days will have no effect on an individual's positions; however, multiple LOAs within a short time scale by a Commanding Officer or an Executive Officer may result in the removal of an individual with the approval of the Fleet Commander and the President. The individual's removal from department head and junior officer positions is at the discretion of the appropriate ship's Commanding Officer.
Any leave of absence of 30 days and beyond is considered to be an Extended Leave of Absence (eLOA). Any leave of absence with an unspecified end date is considered to be an Indefinite Leave of Absence (iLOA). Any individual taking an eLOA or an iLOA understands that no position they hold is guaranteed to remain open for when they return to the club. This covers any position including that of a Commanding Officer (CO) and government positions. This ruling is not absolute and will not cover any individual arrangements that may be subject to approval by either the Fleet Commander or President.
Promotions Guidelines
For exceptional service to the club at large a member may be promoted beyond the rank of Captain by Presidential Edict. Promotions beyond the rank of Captain should be considered using the following guidelines as a benchmark:
Fleet Captain (Flt Capt): For exceptional service to the club, the President can promote members beyond the rank of Captain. Fleet Captain is a mark of commitment or contribution to the club above and beyond the usual requirements.
Commodore (Cdre): Somewhat Rare, Commodore is a promotion usually given to those who have not only made exceptional commitments to the club above and beyond that which is required, but have done so consistently over a number of years. This is considered the first of the 'Flag Ranks'
Rear Admiral (RAdm): Rare. Rear Admiral is a promotion given to those who have not only made exceptional commitments to the club above and beyond that which is required for a number of years, but have also had a permanent and lasting impact in developing the club through government work in Fleets or Departments.
Vice Admiral (VAdm): Very Rare. Vice Admiral is a promotion given to those who have made exceptional, lasting and long term impacts on the way in which the club operates and functions. Usually given to those members who have served as President at least once and have a long history of government work developing new procedures and working tirelessly to develop the best procedures and policies for any Department or Fleet that they turn their hand to.
Admiral (Adm): Ultra Rare. The highest member rank achievable in the club, Admiral is given by the President to those rare few members who have given their all for many years and have had a significant lasting impact on the club in terms of its development through government and technology as well as a profound impact on how we function and operate through the implementation of long lasting changes that revolutionise the Government, the platform on which we operate or the Presidency.
Promotions Limits
Beyond the rank of Captain, no member may be promoted more than once in any eight month period. Members may only be promoted in this manner to the next highest rank as outlined in the Chain Of Command.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
31st May 2009
Posted 31 May 2009 - 3:25pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #65
"We shall have to cross that bridge when we come to it."
"You know, that particular clich? doesn't... always work. "
Based upon comments from the crew and recommendations from the CO, XO, GM and Fleet Four Commander, 403rd Platoon in the Fourth Fleet is hereby granted a 30 day extension to its review period. The new date for review will be 11th July 2009.
This is largely due to both a LOA from the GM and exam season coming for those members of the crew who are British and in school. Despite a dip after the initial hype had died, 403rd is starting to settle into a good routine and it has been felt that it would be better to continue with the review once they have weathered what is going to be a hectic period in June.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
31st May 2009
Posted 31 May 2009 - 3:31pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #66
"You all know I take great pride in my title as Mr. Positive, however, we did destroy their de-Goa'ulding thing, might not they look unkindly on that?"
I truly dislike writing these particular edicts. It's never good to have to replace anyone, but it's unfortunately proven necessary in this instance for the good of the membership.
David Wonderly is thanked for his service and excused as Gamemaster Director.
When choosing his replacement, there was an obvious choice. He has seen the department through three directors and has done a truly outstanding job in their absence. He is conscientious and more than deserving of this position after demonstrating his commitment to the club and its GM's.
Joe Bradley is hereby appointed Gamemaster Director.
Congratulations, Joe. Please have your staff named within seven days.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
31st May 2009
Posted 31 May 2009 - 3:43pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #67
"Apparently I have lost the fallatus to speak properly. That wasn't a joke! I didn't do that on purpose!"
With Mick Lee's resignation from the USS Curie, we've been left with an absence to fill. I hadn't thought it would take this long to get around to it and I apologise to the crew of the Curie and Ryan as FComm-5 for being so tardy with this.
Mick's replacement actually has the unique distinction of being able to say I was on his Academy cruise with him, in my single foray into the Academy as Columbia's GM. Even in those early days he demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the ship and was very rapidly graduated to become CSO. He and a few others on that cruise gave me one of the very best and most satisfying sims I've ever had the privelege of running and his posting style and OOC leadership talents were manifest even back then. Since then he has risen incredibly rapidly in the ranks and is now the Bonaventures XO, a postition of extreme dubiousness, considering how much her Mongoose CO smells up the place....
Based upon the advice and recommendation of the Fleet Five Commander, it is with a distinct pleasure that I hereby promote Luke Hung to the rank of Captain, with all the rights and priveleges therein. I further assign him Command of the USS Curie in Fleet Five.
Congratulations Luke, an incredibly well deserved promotion. I know you'll do the Curie, Fleet Five and the club proud.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
31st May 2009
Posted 8 June 2009 - 4:37am by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #68
"I think I cracked a rib, too."
"Why didn't you say something?"
"I was afraid you'd try to put a splint on it."
With Russells resignation as Internet Director we're left with a vacancy.
After his outstanding performance in keeping the members informed through the Facebook group during our recent server crisis whilst Jack, Larry and I worked to get the place back up and running, there is a single clear choice to fill the Tribbles shoes.
Wail Qasim is hereby appointed Internet Director.
Congratulations Wail. Please have all passwords and access ammended within the next three days and have your staff named within the next seven.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
8th June 2009
Posted 8 June 2009 - 1:44pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #69
"You wouldn't think jagged bone digging into raw nerves would hurt, but it does."
With John Lucas taking an eLOA, we're left with a vacancy in the cabinet. Fortunately this has been one of my easier decisions. With nearly a decade in the club and a number of years of command experience under his belt, it is my pleasure to appoint Chris Grinder as the Fleet Two Commander.
Congratulations Chris. I'm confident that you can continue the outstanding work that John began.
Please have your assistant named within seven days.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
8th June 2009
Posted 17 June 2009 - 5:48pm by Vice-Fleet Admiral Brian "Bear" Olinski (Vice-President) (Brian Olinski)
Edict #70
A second term, a second Edict from the Bear!
I am lucky, I get to write another Edict that allows for the promotion and placement of a member to their first command.
On the advice and recommendation of the Fleet Four Commander, I am pleased to announce the promotion of Lloyd Hibdon to the rank of Captain, with all the rights and privileges therein.
It is my further pleasure to grant Lloyd command of the USS Columbus, in Fleet Four.
Congratulations, Lloyd! I know you'll serve the Columbus and her crew with honor and distinction.
Vice Fleet Admiral Brian "Bear" Olinski
STF Vice President
17 June 2009
Posted 22 June 2009 - 3:41pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson)
Edict #71
"You dare mock me?!"
"Come on you, you should know. Of course I dare mock you!"
At the risk of continuing the Fleet 5 dynasty that seems to have developed over the past four years it is a great pleasure to welcome back one of the Fleet Five Triad to the Meridian Throne. Replacing the outgoing Ryan Empson is our very own Wombat!
I hereby appoint Geoff Joosten the Fifth Fleet Commander.
Congratulations Geoff. It just aint right without a Wolfe, a Bear or a Wombat at the helm :P
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
22nd June 2009
Edict #72
While the Wolfe is away, the Bear will play!
After his years of dedicated service, and following the advice of the Fleet Two Commander it is my pleasure to promote Derek O'Brien to the rank of Captain, with all the rights and privileges therein.
Further to this, I hereby name Derek CO of the USS Samurai, in Fleet Two.
The Sammy has had strong leadership and dedicated service from John Robert Lucas, and his faithful commitment is applauded. You have large shoes to fill, Derek. I know that you're up to the job and will perform admirably. Congratulations!
Vice Fleet Admiral Brian "Bear" Olinski
STF Vice President
3 July 2009
Edict #73
A Bear's gotta do what a Bear's gotta do.
As per Edict Robinson-54, dated 11 March 2009, which commissioned the 403rd Platoon in Fleet 4, I have performed it's 90 day review. In speaking with both the FComm and the CO, many topics were addressed; such as the health of the 403rd, the posting rate, the amount of activity in general, as well as it's long-term viability.
A unanimous conclusion was reached; the 403rd Platoon, as it is now, is neither proving itself to be a healthy role-play environment, nor is it showing itself to be a viable sim area in it's current condition. Out of a rostered crew of thirteen, only half of those are active on a regular basis. Roughly half of the crew hasn't made a post in five days or longer. There is no way that the remaining crew can carry the weight of the entire ship, let alone make it a healthy and viable sim location.
In the last 30 days, the number of active crew has fallen by approximately 25%. At present there are three active and IC post threads, with the same subset of the active roster creating that content.
Taking these factors into consideration, in conjunction with the recommendation of both the Commanding Officer, and the Fleet Four Commander, it has been decided that the 403rd Platoon hereby be disbanded and decommissioned.
I want to thank the command staff, the gamemaster and the entire crew of the 403rd Platoon for putting forth their best effort to maintain a healthy marine role-play environment. The task was large, maybe even insurmountable, but I commend all involved for their dedication and energy to their common goal. Perhaps we can revisit this theme for an alternate role-play environment once again in the future.
Allowing the crew a two week period to wrap up their activities, the Internet Department is directed to hide the 403rd Platoon and archive all data for posterity.
Vice Fleet Admiral Brian "Bear" Olinski
STF Vice President
11 July 2009
Edict #74
One more from the Bear.
With the resignation of Jerome Davis as Marketing and Advertising Coordinator, the department has stood unattended for long enough.
After a discussion of what she can bring to the position and with some clever ideas, I hereby appoint Liz Caro as the new Marketing and Advertising Coordinator.
The Internet Department is requested to update the email forwards as necessary.
Congratulations, Lizzie! Please have your assistant named within seven days. Best of luck, Dove, I know you will do the position proud!
Vice Fleet Admiral Brian "Bear" Olinski
STF Vice President
18 July 2009
Edict #75
"You didn't think the Colonel had a telescope on his roof just to look at the neighbors, did you?"
"Not... initially"
First edict back from my LOA and it'll be a nice quick one, to save you all reading time.
Entente has been CO'less (officially) since Ryan was forced to resign by that beastly RL creature a few months ago... Since then however, he has managed to return to us, with the issues resolved. This is going to be slightly unusual, at least for me.
Based upon the advice and recommendation of the Fleet Five Commander, Ryan Empson is hereby re-appointed CO of the USS Entente in Fleet 5.
Obviously no promotion is necessary here.
Have I mentioned that thanks to Brian and his multi-edicting during my LOA I'm now the most verbose President of all time with edicts?
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
23rd July 2009
Edict #76
"Symptoms may include: dizziness, irritability?"
"Nausea?"
"Mitchell: Mild nausea. And a condition known as "hot dog fingers.""
Well, I do love writing these edicts... We sadly lost Amber Hagen earlier this month, which was a great loss of a promising CO, and Victorious has lain vacant since then. Fortunately, after some wrangling, we have managed to locate an able replacement.
With time served as one of our most junior Assistant Personnel Directors not once, or even twice, but three times, she has more than proven her commitment to the club, and her roleplaying abilities are outstanding. She has demonstrated dedication and enthusiasm for some of the most mind numbing jobs our club has to offer and has always come back for more, despite battling RL issues that would have never brought less able people back.
It is with great pleasure that I promote Jemma Farrugia to the rank of Captain, with all the rights and priveleges therein.
Further, based upon the recommendation and advice of the First Fleet Commander, I appoint her command of the USS Victorious.
Congratulations Jemma, you've done us all proud and I know you will be an outstanding CO for the Victorious.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
18th August 2009
Edict #77
"Actually, I'm a Major now."
"Oh. Well, how very important. I'll inform the galaxy."
Two in a row for this one... If I can make it three by the end of the day it'll be some sort of record...
Sadly, we lost our favourite Panda earlier this month. She shall be sorely missed and it leaves the Saracen's Captains chair without a furry bum to sit in it.... However, it just so happens that the three headed dog I have running my Third Fleet (I appreciate the irony every time I say that), has come up with a recommendation.
It seems that one of our unsung heroes, currently hiding away on my very first Command, has caught one of the heads attention (I'm not sure which one, but I'd assume it's the horny one).
It is with great pleasure that I promote Linda Gray to the rank of Captain with all the rights and priveleges therein.
Further, based upon the advice and recommendation of the Third Fleet Commander (all three of him), I hereby appoint her Command of the USS Saracen in that fleet.
Congratulations Linda, it was unanimously agreed that you've well earned it.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
18th August 2009
Edict #78
"We've been out here in the scorching heat for days. I haven't showered."
"None of us have."
"That is painfully obvious."
This is going to be one of those few edicts which covers more than one action. The Bonaventure has lain unfortunately absent for some time and after much discussion and debate, an unusual and extremely rare (for me) agreement has been reached.
After extended consultation and based upon the advice and with the consent of the Fleet Two Commander and the Fleet One Assistant Commander, Samuel Bibb is hereby relieved of his command of the USS Lexington in Fleet 2. He is directed, through transfer, to assume command of the USS Bonaventure in Fleet 1 immediately.
This leaves a vacancy aboard the Lady Lex and a duty that gives me immense pleasure.
Based upon the advice and recommendation of the Fleet Two Commander, Ian Kirby is hereby promoted to the rank of Captain, with all the rights and priveleges therein. Further, he is assigned command of the USS Lexington in that fleet.
Ian is one of the brightest, most dedicated, enthusiastic and creative people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I know that the Lexington is going to rapidly rise as one of the very best ships this great club has to offer under his fair minded and even handed leadership.
Congratulations Sam and Ian. Make us all proud!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
25th August 2009
Edict #79
"Listen, we're not rejoining the fleet. You're coming with me."
"No. I can't abandon my army."
"It's not your army."
"Of course it is."
"Well as your mother I'm putting my foot down. You're too young to have an army."
The Academy is a special fleet and one of her ships has been absent a CO for far too long. Fortunately, we have just the sloth for the job
Based upon the advice and recommendation of the Academy Commandant, Jen Herr is hereby appointed CO of the USS Challenger in the Academy Fleet.
Congratulations Jen, let the Cadet Chaos begin!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
10th September 2009
Edict #80
"You know I think We really got off on the wrong foot. Who am I kidding? I knew you were an asshole from the moment we met."
Earlier this month, we saw Larry Garfield step down as CO of the Alliance after nearly a decade in command. This has left us with quite a hole to fill. Fortunately, we have just the fish for the job.
Based upon the advice and recommendation of the Fleet Four Commander, Robert Spicer is hereby appointed commnd of the USS Alliance in Fleet 4.
As he's already a Captain, he doesn't need promoting.
Congratulations Catfish! May your fins never be weary!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
11th September 2009
Edict #81
"No! You can't take away my power!"
"I think... we just did."
I swear I'll be glad when we have bills and I can just do this with one paragraph instead of reposting entire edicts....... This is the updated MOO with the new version of membership that includes governmental positions to qualify as a member.
Member Order and Organisation (MOO)
Supersession of Previous Edicts
Edicts Hemenway #34, Robinson #49 and Robinson #64 are hereby rescinded and superseded by this Edict.
Membership
A Member is defined as any person holding an active STF account and at least one of the following; a governmental position, an active roleplaying character, a gamemaster position. These must be held for no less than 30 days to qualify as a Member.
Club rank structure
The club rank structure (for out of character usage) of STF is defined as, from junior to senior: Cadet/Ensign, Lieutenant junior grade, Lieutenant, Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain, Fleet Captain, Commodore, Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral and Admiral. Cadet and Ensign are equivalent for the purposes of club rank.
A Member's club rank, below the rank of Captain, is defined as the highest role-playing rank that a Member has achieved since he joined STF. Club rank at and above the rank of Captain is determined by the most recent Presidential Edict. A Member at or above the rank of Captain may be recognized for exemplary role-playing and service to the club by promotion by the President in an Edict to the next highest club rank.
Character rank is defined as the rank that a Member's individual role-playing character has attained. The rank structure for character rank is, from junior to senior:
- Civilian
- Crewman
- Cadet
- Ensign
- Lieutenant Junior Grade
- Lieutenant
- Lieutenant Commander
- Commander
- Captain
- Fleet Captain
- Commodore
- Rear Admiral
- Vice Admiral
- Admiral.
Alternate Role-playing Areas may have a different character rank system. No Member shall have a character with a character rank higher than the Member's club rank.
A Marine rank structure exists within STF and follows that of the United States Marine Corp as follows, junior to senior
Enlisted:
- Private First Class
- Lance Corporal
- Corporal
- Sergeant
- Staff Sergeant
- Gunnery Sergeant
- Master Sergeant
- Sergeant Major
- Warrant Officer
- Chief Warrant Officer
Officer:
- Second Lieutenant
- First Lieutenant
- Captain
- Major
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Colonel
- Brigadier General
- Major General
- Lieutenant General
- General
Each marine officer rank has an equivalent within the regular fleet. No member may hold a marine character with a rank higher than their club member rank.
Absence from the club
A Member is determined to be Absent without Leave (AWOL) if he is not within the defined AWOL limits for his club position. A Member who has a club rank of Captain or above may be subject to a club rank penalty for AWOL; each case will be considered individually by the President.
A Member is entitled to take a Leave of Absence (LOA) if they are unable to post within the defined AWOL limits for his club positions. A Leave of Absence is defined as any period of declared leave from club posting duties that is less than thirty days. Any LOA for a period of less than 30 days will have no effect on an individual's positions; however, multiple LOAs within a short time scale by a Commanding Officer or an Executive Officer may result in the removal of an individual with the approval of the Fleet Commander and the President. The individual's removal from department head and junior officer positions is at the discretion of the appropriate ship's Commanding Officer.
Any leave of absence of 30 days and beyond is considered to be an Extended Leave of Absence (eLOA). Any leave of absence with an unspecified end date is considered to be an Indefinite Leave of Absence (iLOA). Any individual taking an eLOA or an iLOA understands that no position they hold is guaranteed to remain open for when they return to the club. This covers any position including that of a Commanding Officer (CO) and government positions. This ruling is not absolute and will not cover any individual arrangements that may be subject to approval by either the Fleet Commander or President.
Promotions Guidelines
For exceptional service to the club at large a member may be promoted beyond the rank of Captain by Presidential Edict. Promotions beyond the rank of Captain should be considered using the following guidelines as a benchmark:
Fleet Captain (Flt Capt): For exceptional service to the club, the President can promote members beyond the rank of Captain. Fleet Captain is a mark of commitment or contribution to the club above and beyond the usual requirements.
Commodore (Cdre): Somewhat Rare, Commodore is a promotion usually given to those who have not only made exceptional commitments to the club above and beyond that which is required, but have done so consistently over a number of years. This is considered the first of the 'Flag Ranks'
Rear Admiral (RAdm): Rare. Rear Admiral is a promotion given to those who have not only made exceptional commitments to the club above and beyond that which is required for a number of years, but have also had a permanent and lasting impact in developing the club through government work in Fleets or Departments.
Vice Admiral (VAdm): Very Rare. Vice Admiral is a promotion given to those who have made exceptional, lasting and long term impacts on the way in which the club operates and functions. Usually given to those members who have served as President at least once and have a long history of government work developing new procedures and working tirelessly to develop the best procedures and policies for any Department or Fleet that they turn their hand to.
Admiral (Adm): Ultra Rare. The highest member rank achievable in the club, Admiral is given by the President to those rare few members who have given their all for many years and have had a significant lasting impact on the club in terms of its development through government and technology as well as a profound impact on how we function and operate through the implementation of long lasting changes that revolutionise the Government, the platform on which we operate or the Presidency.
Promotions Limits
Beyond the rank of Captain, no member may be promoted more than once in any eight month period. Members may only be promoted in this manner to the next highest rank as outlined in the Chain Of Command.
Edict #82
"Looks like Merlin's drawbridge no longer goes all the way across the moat if you catch my meaning."
With the loss of Ed Brough, we're left with an opening aboard the Dresden. After much searching across all the great lands of STF (I may have been playing too much Risk lately.....), our three headed dog has found a replacement.
Our intrepid incoming CO is a member that legend tells us is as old as WeBBspace. As XO of Outpost 42, he's demonstrated excellent background and character development skills as well as fine leadership qualities that will undoubtedly serve him in his new role.
Based upon the advice and recommendation of the Fleet Three Commander (all three of his heads too), it is with great pleasure that I hereby promote Anthony Findora to the rank of Captain with all the rights and priveleges therein. Further, I appoint him command of the USS Dresden in Fleet Three.
Congratulations Anthony!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
4th October 2009
Edict #83
"I thought you said it was Greek."
"Oh, um, Mycenae was an ancient city in the southern Peloponnesus region."
"Where's that?"
"Greece."
"Why do I do that?"
I'll make this a relatively quick one. Sadly, Joe Bradley has had to leave the club for a while thanks to that stupid real life thing I like to pretend doesn't exist.
That leaves a vacancy in the big GM's chair.
Amanda Noon is hereby appointed Gamemaster Director.
Congratulations Amanda. Please have your assistant named within seven days.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
10th October 2009
Edict #84
"You ever think of writing a book about your military exploits?"
"I've thought about it. But then I'd have to shoot anybody that actually read it."
And here we begin Prezolution. Once these five edicts have been posted, we mark the culmination of a long and very hard road for a lot of President's and the members who advised them. My thanks go to Jack Dipper for starting the process and Jen Herr and Sarah Hemenway for continuing it in completing the change to the Charter Edicts system that allowed me the headstart to get this far with everything. My thanks also go to everyone involved in the Prezolutions discussion that helped us to establish a working, sensible and (hopefully) effective Presidential Oversight and Impeachment system as well as the Bills and Bylaws system. Further thanks go to Larry Garfield for his work establishing the Library that holds our Charters system and which will hold our Bylaws. Proactive thanks go to him also for the amount of work he and I have to do in the coming term to complete the transfer from Charters Books to Bylaw Document. I'm sure that before we're done, I'll have lost a lot more hair and he will likely have considered at least 400 different methods of torture and death for Wolves...
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Government Organisation (GO)
Supersedence of previous edicts
Edict Dipper #7 and Hemenway #33 are hereby rescinded and superseded by this Edict.
Government appointments
There shall be three general types of governmental appointment made by the President of STF:
Fleet Commander
The Fleet Commander of each Fleet shall be appointed by the President, who shall name his own Assistant Fleet Commander. The Fleet Commander is considered a member of the Cabinet.
Executive Departments
An Executive Department is a governmental department responsible for overseeing some aspect of STF's administration that is established in that department's charter. A Department may set internal policy as well as general policy for those matters relating to its sphere of influence, with the consultation of the President. An Executive Department is headed by a Departmental Director, appointed by the President, who shall name his own Assistant Director and, if needed, any other internal departmental positions. The Departmental Director is considered a member of the Cabinet. Further details of Departmental activity can be found elsewhere in other edicts.
Executive Assistant
An Executive Assistant is a governmental "at large" officer responsible for some stated activity as defined by Edict. An Executive Assistant may set internal policy relating to his responsibilities, but is not empowered to set policy for the club at large. An Executive Assistant is appointed by the President, but is not required to appoint an assistant unless explicitly stated by Edict and is not considered a member of the Cabinet.
As of the date of this Edict, the following Executive Departments exist, per their chartering Edicts: Personnel Department, Internet Department, Engineering Department, Gamemaster Department, and Starfleet Academy. The Cabinet comprises the Engineering Director, the Gamemaster Director, the Personnel Director, the Internet Director, the Academy Commandant, the Fleet Commander of Fleet 1, the Fleet Commander of Fleet 2, the Fleet Commander of Fleet 3, the Fleet Commander of Fleet 4, the Fleet Commander of Fleet 5, and the Fleet Commander of Fleet 6, as well as the Vice President. The Librarian, the Marketing and Advertising Coordinator, the Election Coordinator and the Coder exist as Executive Assistant positions, per their chartering Edicts.
Chain of command
An Out Of Character Chain of Command exists within STF. As of the issuance of this document, it stands thus:
President
Vice President
Cabinet members by order of rank.
Club members by order of rank
The members of Executive Government Oversight (Egotists) exist outside of the Chain of Command for the purposes of discharging their duties as Egotists.
Presidential Succession
Should the Presidency become vacant through AWOL, resignation or impeachment, succession falls to the next available member in the Chain of Command, who shall serve until the next Presidential election.
Exceptions
Any member in the Chain of Command who simultaneously serves on Executive Government Oversight at the time of the Presidency becoming vacant may not be considered for succession to the Presidency under any circumstances and succession instead falls to the next available member in the Chain of Command
Should two members in the Chain of Command hold the same rank, time served in that rank (minus any eLOA or iLOA) shall be the determining factor in Presidential Succession or acting Presidential or Vice Presidential status.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
13th October 2009
Edict #85
"You know, I never thought I'd agree with my father but now I'm starting to remember about how he used to go about, you nurture them, and you raise them, and you teach them the best that you can, and then all they do is break your heart. I always assumed that his experience was just tainted by me."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well she started off all sweet and innocent and now she's hellbent on domination of the galaxy."
"What? How old is she?"
"A few hours. They used me to sneak one of their own over the border."
Establishment Edict for Executive Governmental Oversight (EEEGO)
ESTABLISHMENT OF EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT
A body is hereby established, known as Executive Government Oversight (EGO)
This body exists for the purpose of retaining a sense of institutional memory and ensuring the political stability of STF. EGO is tasked with overseeing the actions of the President pursuant to the conditions and procedures laid out in this edict.
COMPOSITION
EGO is comprised of three members (Egotists) holding at least the rank of Fleet Captain. These members shall serve a term of two years (24 months). These two year terms shall be staggered so that one new member is elected every eight months, rotating through each of the three Egotists as their two year term expires. The Chief Egotist, who is responsible for issuing all public EGO statements, shall be the Egotist with the shortest remaining time in office. Once the Chief Egotist has rotated out, the next shortest term Egotist assumes the title.
Term Limits
Egotists may not stand for incumbent reelection. In this manner, at least eight months must pass between an Egotist leaving office and standing for election again.
SELECTION
Election Rules
Egotists shall be selected by popular vote from those members holding the rank of Fleet Captain or higher. Eligible voting members must hold at least the rank of Fleet Captain. In order to be considered an eligible member, that member ranked Fleet Captain or higher must have been an active member for at least eight months prior to the election being held. EGO elections shall be held at the expiration of an Egotists term or upon their resignation or impeachment from office and shall last a period of fourteen or twenty one days. No campaigning is permitted before or during this time. No discussions may be held concerning EGO elections in public STF areas (including any area of the star-fleet.com website or officially controlled resources such as the #star-fleet IRC channel) which may imply support for or voice opinions against any candidate standing for selection. Neutral announcements concerning the election may be made. No support messages in IRC quit messages are permitted.
Should the vacancy in EGO occur through resignation or impeachment, the most senior Cabinet member not currently serving in EGO shall assume temporary office for the duration of the election to deal with all official matters in which EGO is required to function during this time.
Should the situation arise that only a single viable candidate from the eligible pool seeks selection, the Election Coordinator is granted the discretion to expand the eligible pool to the next lowest rank. In the case of the standard Fleet Captain and above pool, this would open selection to Captains and above. This procedure may be repeated as often as necessary to ensure that at least two candidates are available in any EGO election.
Should the EGO elections occur concurrently with the Presidential elections, no EGO candidate may stand as a Presidential candidate and no Presidential candidate may stand as an EGO candidate.
Election Procedure
The sitting Egotists, one month prior to the expiration of a members term or immediately upon the resignation or impeachment of one of their number, shall call for an Election. The Election Coordinator who presided over the most recently held Presidential Election shall be appointed to serve in that capacity in the EGO Election. Should the Election Coordinator wish to be placed on the ballot or should they be unavailable (through real life commitments, LOA or resignation), they must contact both EGO and the President, making this wish known. In this instance, the Assistant Election Coordinator shall take their place. Should the Assistant Election Coordinator wish to be placed on the ballot or should they be unavailable (through real life commitments, LOA or resignation), they must contact both EGO and the President, making this wish known. In this instance, the President must then select a replacement.
Once an Election Coordinator has been named, the Election shall begin. Any eligible member wishing to stand for election must submit their name to the Election Coordinator within seven days of the Election being called. At the end of that seven day period, voting shall begin. Voting is by secret ballot, utilizing a method decided upon by the Election Coordinator that allows for votes to be "locked" and has appropriate security. The voting booth shall remain open for a period of seven days. Every eligible Member may vote once, with the exception of the Election Coordinator, who does not vote unless needed as a method of tie-breaking. Should the Election Coordinator hold a rank below that of Fleet Captain, they shall be permitted a vote for the purposes of tie breaking. During the voting period, the Election Coordinator shall post a message on the main club announcement area that voting has started and that eligible members should have voting access. The winning candidate is the one with the highest number of votes.
If there are more than two candidates standing in the election, a primary round of voting shall be held before the final round of voting. In this instance, the Election shall be extended by seven days to accomodate the primary voting round, thus the election shall last 21 days rather than 14. Only the two candidates with the highest number of votes cast for them in the primary round of voting shall be on the ballot for the final round of voting.
Results
The Election Coordinator is responsible for tallying all votes cast and announcing the results publicly on the Command Ship. The announced results shall include the number of votes cast for each candidate. The winner shall take their seat at the formal expiration of the outgoing Egotists term. Should the election in question have been to replace a resigning Egotist, the winner shall take their seat immediately upon announcement of their win and shall serve only the remainder of that Egotists term.
Irregularities
In the event that the procedure outlined in this Bylaw is not properly followed, the Election Coordinator may note an irregularity.
If in the judgment of the Election Coordinator the irregularity does not violate the integrity of the election process then he must state so publicly and provide reasoning.
If in the judgment of the Election Coordinator the procedure outlined in this Bylaw may be adjusted to account for the irregularity without violating the integrity of the election process, he must state so publicly and explain what temporary adjustments will be made and why.
If in the judgment of the Election Coordinator the irregularity does violate the integrity of the election process or render a fair and honest result impossible to determine, the Election Coordinator may declare a Irregular Election. A Irregular Election may only be declared in extreme circumstances, upon the advise and consent of the sitting President and must include a detailed explanation of why it is impossible to recover from the irregularity.
If an Irregular Election is declared, the election is considered void. The Election Coordinator must immediately restart the election process with fresh nominations. The new election process will follow the same procedure as a normal election unless explicitly stated otherwise by the Election Coordinator.
Restrictions
This bylaw may not be amended during an election season, except with the posted consent of the President, Election Coordinator and sitting Egotists. No sitting President or Vice President may serve on EGO. Any Egotist wishing to run in a Presidential election must surrender their seat, providing enough notice to ensure that they can be replaced prior to the start of a Presidential Election Season.
POWERS
In order to assist EGO in performing its duties, a number of tools are at their disposal. All votes conducted relating to EGO shall be overseen by the Election Coordinator using those rules outlined in this document.
Veto
Up to ten (10) days after the posting of a Bill by the sitting President or acting President, two of the three Egotists may issue a public veto of that Bill. When issuing a veto, it must be posted as a reply to the original Bill posting in the Command Ship and a full explanation must be issued (including the title and number of the bill being Vetoed) along with the veto as to the reasoning behind it. A veto may be issued by any Egotist but must be seconded by at least one other within the ten day time frame in order to become valid. Should a veto pass, the Bill shall be considered void and archived along with the veto.
At the beginning of Election Season, the sitting President selects an Election Coordinator as outlined in other Bylaws. Two of the three EGO members may, within three days of the announcement of that Election Coordinator, veto that appointment. This veto must be issued in the manner prescribed above (including the edict number naming the Election Coordinator which is to be overturned). A veto may be issued by any Egotist but must be seconded by at least one other within the three day time frame in order to become valid. Should a veto pass, the edict that names the Election Coordinator shall be considered void and archived along with the veto. Upon the issuance of a veto, the President must make another selection for Election Coordinator. A veto issued in this manner supersedes Presidential edict.
Overturning a Temporary/Lifetime Ban
Should a President issue a temporary or lifetime ban, the member who is banned may, within 30 days, lodge an appeal with EGO. It is incumbent upon any member lodging such an appeal to argue the case as to the unfairness of such a ban. The President must be consulted by EGO during the course of their investigation. The President is required to provide a full accounting of the reasoning behind the ban and provide all evidence taken into account prior to the decision to ban. Should it be deemed by at least two of the three Egotists that the ban was unfair, they will issue a veto in the proscribed manner superseding the banning edict which must include a full accounting of the reasoning behind overturning the ban (including the edict number issuing the ban). A veto may be issued by any Egotist but must be seconded by at least one other in order to become valid.A veto issued in this manner supersedes Presidential edict. Should a veto pass, the edict that issued the ban shall be considered void and archived along with the veto.
Should it be determined by an EGO investigation that a lifetime ban was issued legally and does not warrant overturning, the banned member may re-lodge an appeal no more than once every eight months.
Impeachment
Should the President, or a member of EGO perform an action or group of actions which act against the best interests of the membership or which do harm to the club and there is a clear consensus that there is a majority objection to such action(s), it may be, on such rare occasions, necessary to consider initiating impeachment proceedings against that individual. The following procedure outlines the process which must be followed in such situations. It should be noted that the Impeachment procedure is not to be taken lightly, nor is a complaint to be lodged simply to soothe ego or seek revenge.
Rules
- The Impeachment Process is established to remove the President and Egotists.
- A complaint may only be brought against a single official at a time
Process:
- A complaint must be lodged in Command by a member stating their desire to Impeach and a full accounting of their reasoning behind the complaint.
- The accused Official will be given a seven day grace period in which to address the complaint. This may take the form of corrective actions which address the complaint or convincing the Impeaching member that their complaint is in error.
- In order to proceed after that seven day period, a majority of EGO members must publicly validate the complaint by posting their agreement that the matter should proceed further in a reply to the original note. Should the complaint be made against an Egotist, the President shall serve in his place for the purpose of this procedure. Should the Impeaching member feel at this point that their complaint has been adequately addressed, they may publicly withdraw their Impeachment request.
- If the complaint is validated, a public statement of Investigation will be made and EGO will conduct a seven day investigation into the matter. The accused must be interviewed as part of this investigation. The investigation must include an examination of the circumstances which led to the complaint as well as discussions with those members involved. At this stage in proceedings, the accused shall have all administrative club access (server access, government access, IRC administrative access, but not that required to perform the duties of CO, XO or GM) removed until the final decision is made.
- At the conclusion of their investigation, EGO will publish their findings in Command. Should they determine that the cause for impeachment is valid at the conclusion of that investigation, a Notice of Intent to Impeach will be published in Command not to exceed 500 words. This notice of intent must include a full list of charges as well as the conclusions reached during the course of the investigation. If they deem the complaint to be invalid, a Notice of Failure to Impeach will be published in Command not to exceed 500 words This notice must include the conclusions reached by EGO and a full explanation of why they feel the complaint lacks merit. Should notice of Intent to Impeach be posted, the accused must be provided the opportunity to post a rebuttal not to exceed 500 words. Should the rebuttal not be posted within 72 hours, this procedure shall continue regardless.
- Within the seven day period following the publishing of Intent to Impeach and the rebuttal, ten endorsements must be posted in support of the impeachment to validate it. At least one of these must be from a member with at least the rank of Fleet Captain.
- Should the conditions of impeachment fail to be met within this period, the matter shall be dropped.
- Should the conditions of impeachment be met within the seven day period, Impeachment shall continue. The Notice of Impeachment and the rebuttal statement shall be posted within a publicly accessible area through which members must travel in order to reach the voting booth, and a seven day recall vote shall be held.
- Should the majority of votes cast call for Impeachment, the official in question shall be forcibly removed from his position and all presidential access and authority terminated.
- Should the votes cast in favour of impeachment not exceed 50%, the accused shall be exonerated and the matter shall be considered closed.
- No elected official may be Impeached for the same offense twice (Double Jeopardy)
- Successful Impeachment shall not reverse any actions taken by the official in question. However, failure to rectify a situation that led to an Impeachment may, if appropriate, be held against the successor to the position.
- In the case of President, the Vice President shall assume office, in the case of an Egotist, the election rules in place must be observed to provide a replacement to serve out the remainder of that members term.
REVIEW
From the implementation of this bylaw, EGO shall undergo three review periods staggered at eight month intervals. This review shall be conducted by a club member not serving as President, Vice President or Egotist. This shall be presented in the form or a report, to which the President and Egotists shall be permitted space to present their thoughts on EGO and its viability. This report shall then be subjected to a discussion period in order to determine any improvements that may be required. At the end of the third review period, it shall be determined whether further reviews are required. A period of discussion shall be held within the Command ship and further reviews shall be approved or denied at the conclusion of this discussion with the consent of the President and sitting Egotists.
DISPUTES
All decisions issued by EGO shall be considered final and may not be appealed.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
13th October 2009
Edict #86
"There's a man... He's bald and wears a short-sleeved shirt, and somehow he's very important to me. I think his name is Homer."
Bills And Bylaws Edict (BABE)
Supersession of Previous Edicts
Edicts Cramer #4 and Robinson #33 are hereby rescinded and superseded by this edict.
Establishment
A Bills and Bylaws system is hereby established as a primary tool of clubwide governance. The Bills and Bylaws system is designed to streamline ammendments to pillar edicts as well as ensure that those ammendments made are undertaken with the best interests of the club membership in mind
Bylaws:
A Bylaw is defined as any edict which establishes clubwide policy or governs administrative features of the club. The litmus test for determining what constitutes a Bylaw is to decide whether or not it has a profound and long term impact upon the club or its administration.
Bylaws shall be maintained by the STF Librarian.
The Librarian may make non-substantive changes to a Bylaw dealing with spelling, grammar and format which do not impact the meaning, interpretation or spirit of the bylaw. No substantive changes may be made to a Bylaw without the issuance of a Bill by the sitting President or acting President.
Bills
A Bill is an ammendment to any Bylaw or the implementation of a new Bylaw.
Any change determined necessary to a Bylaw must be issued by the sitting President or acting President as a Bill. This will be presented as a section/paragraph reference and the proposed ammendment to that section. Any Bill must first be presented as a proposition to the Membership within Command for discussion. When a Bill is readied for issuance, it must be posted within the STF Command Ship under the topic "Office Of The President". Each bill must contain the Bill number, issuing authorities name, the date of issuance and their capacity as either President or acting President.
Once a Bill is issued, the Librarian is required to make the ammendments to the Bylaw within the Library. The Bill will be archived in its issued format for reference.
Edicts
An Edict is a presidential tool for managing the club in its day to day operation and includes any action not defined as either a Bill or a Bylaw.
In order for an Edict to be legal, it must be posted within the STF Command Ship under the topic "Office Of The President". Each Edict must contain the Edict number, issuing authorities name, the date of issuance and their capacity as either President or Acting President.
Edicts may not include more than a single topic base. For example, multiple promotions may be issued within a single edict, but promotions and establishments of new role play areas may not be included within a single edict. Multiple disciplinary actions may be issued within a single edict, but not disciplinary actions and promotions.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
13th October 2009
Edict #87
"The loons! Don't forget the loons!"
Prezolution Implementations Edict (PIE)
INTRODUCTION
This edict is designed to establish the initial implementation rules for the process referred to as 'Prezolution'. This process includes the implementation of Executive Government Oversight and their initial selections and first term limits to establish the eight month rolling elections for two year terms. It also establishes the timeline for EGO elections to ensure that they occur regularly in relation to the Presidential election cycle. This edict also serves to establish rules for the integration of the Charters book of edicts within the Library into a Bylaws book and the changes which may be necessary in order to accomplish this.
INITIAL EGO ELECTIONS
For the purposes of the initial EGO elections, there shall be a single use set of rules in effect. The election procedure outlined in the EEEGO Bylaw shall be used with the following exceptions
- The Election Coordinator chosen to serve during the elections is not required to be the same chosen for the previous Presidential election.
- At least three standing candidates for the available seats are required. Should three eligible members from the pool of those members ranked Fleet Captain and above not be presented, the Election Coordinator is permitted to expand the pool to include the next lowest rank as outlined in EEEGO.
- Each eligible member shall be granted the option to provide up to three votes, one vote for each of their three preferred candidates. Each candidate may only receive a single vote from each voting member. This is to allow the winners to be ranked in order of preference for initial election.
- There shall be only a single voting period. At the conclusion of this voting period, the three candidates with the highest number of votes shall be the winners.
- Of these three members, the member with the highest number of votes shall serve one full two year term. The member with the second highest number of votes shall serve a 16 month term. The member with the third highest number of votes shall serve an eight month term.
EGO ELECTIONS CYCLE
The initial EGO elections shall take place at least two weeks prior to the next scheduled Presidential election cycle. This shall ensure that all future EGO elections shall take place in the month prior to the Presidential election. This is to ensure that candidate pools for EGO and Presidential elections aren't narrowed unnecessarily.
TRANSITION FROM CHARTER EDICTS TO BYLAWS
The Librarian is charged with the aggregation of these edicts into a single cohesive document. The final format of this document shall be determined by the Librarian in consultation with the President. The Library is empowered to make non-substantive changes to the Bylaws for the purposes of establishing their new format. Non-substantive changes are defined as anything which does not affect the interpretation, intent or spirit of a Bylaw in its original form but which may include changes in sentence structure, punctuation, grammar, layout, and the removal of "tracking" content (such as specifying which previous edicts are superseded by which new edicts). Once a given edict has been recast as a bylaw by the Librarian the edict will be considered superseded.
If the Librarian feels that any potentially substantive changes are necessary in order to establish a proper cohesive structure, he may make recommendations to the President for what changes need to be made. Such changes if approved must be issued as a Bill the same as any other Bill.
Presidential approval is required for all non-substantive changes.
From the posting of this Edict, the following current edicts shall form the provisional Bylaws base :
Robinson #2
Robinson #26
Robinson #27
Robinson #45
Robinson #81
Robinson #84
Robinson #85
Robinson #86
Dipper #8
Dipper #31
Hemenway #26
Hemenway #39
Hemenway #43
Lerner #3
Lerner #18
Herr #18
Rouse-Deane-2 #7
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
13th October 2009
Edict #88
"I see you are one who speaks your mind."
"Yes, which is why I don't say much."
And with Prezolution in full swing, it's time to begin the first EGO election season.
As outlined in PIE, the Election Coordinator for this election is not required to be the same used in the previous Presidential election.
Andrew Robinson is hereby appointed Election Coordinator for the first EGO election.
Helen Hosick is hereby appointed Assistant Election Coordinator for the first EGO election
The Internet Department is directed to update the relevant forwards, provide appropriate access and reopen the election ship within seven days.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
13th October 2009
Edict #89
"Hey, Major? How do I know what color to wear?"
"We call each other every morning."
And just for good measure, here's one normal one to bring you down from the Prezolution high.
In respect to the long service the Alliance saw with Larry Garfield as her Captain, her incoming CO, the Fourth Fleet Commander and I have agreed to let the name stand for his tenure alone.
With that in mind, the Viking Class U.S.S Alliance NCC 82369 - C is hereby rechristened the Viking Class U.S.S Viking NCC 88750.
A hefty good luck to the new Captain of the USS Viking!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
13th October 2009
Edict #90
"Do you not know the pain you will suffer for this impudence?"
"I don't know the meaning of the word. pause Seriously, "impudence," what does that mean?"
And topping off the Prezolution day, one final edict.
The other election season is also upon us and with my eighth month arriving next month, that means I have to get this one in two weeks ahead.
Larry Garfield is hereby appointed Election Coordinator for the Presidential election.
Robert Burnham is hereby appointed Assistant Election Coordinator for the Presidential election.
I now return you to your not so regularly scheduled other election.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
13th October 2009
Edict #91
"Maybe I'm not the only one around here who needs to relax."
"I'll try not to shoot you before morning."
"Thank you, sir."
Well, we're rapidly approaching 100 and Krys gave me an excuse to step into the 90's...
With Lloyd having to extend his LOA to an indefinite length, it has left a void aboard the Columbus. Throughout Lloyds absence, the ship has been held together by its very capable XO, maintaining an accurate and up to date MOTD, administering the roster, answering OOC questions and ensuring that the sim continued unabated with everyone being kept busy by his frequent and encourageing posts. This combined with the *many* outstanding recommendations from current crew and command staff leave me no other choice.
Based upon the advice and recommendation of the Fourth Fleet Commander, it is my great pleasure to hereby promote Mike Montemayor to the rank of Captain with all the rights and priveleges therein.
I further appoint him command of the USS Columbus in Fleet Four.
Congratulations Mike, you've more than earned the shot and I know that you'll make Krys proud!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
25th October 2009
Edict #92
"I think I cracked a rib, too."
"Why didn't you say something?"
"I was afraid you'd try to put a splint on it"
I'll make this a quick one, since I know the cadets and crew of the Discovery are waiting with baited breath.
Based upon the advice and recommendation of the acting Academy Commandant, Robin Bird is hereby appointed command of the USS Discovery in the Academy.
You've shown yourself to be more than capable of handling the rough and tumble and I know you'll be eagerly welcomed Robin.
Well done!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
20th November 2009
Edict #93
"It took us 15 years and 3 super computers to MacGyver a system for the gate on Earth."
State of the Onion
Introduction
Here we have it, ladies and McGerms, the last State Of The Onion, the last gasp, of the Robinson Administration. When the idea was initially proposed for a termly speech that spoke to the goals, aspirations and achievements of a term, it was my hope to do two, one at half term and one at full term. Sadly (though perhaps not unfortunately, given the incredible length of the things), I've only managed one per term. I still consider it an excellent tool, not only as a measure of achievement and aspiration but also as a method of recognising those events and individuals that would perhaps otherwise be left out.
For ease of digestion (failing that we have rennie available in the gold trays at the end of the report) the State of the Onion has been broken down into sections, by department, fleet, EA and miscellaneous headings. As before, i've made the SOTO an edict to ensure that it remains a part of my administration permanently. I continue to hope that my successors will take note of it and would encourage its use in future administrations as a method of better communicating achievements and goals to the membership at large.
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STATE OF THE ONION
Promotions and Appointments
First things first, we have some vitally important issues to discuss. A number of promotions have been made since my last report, each one of them worthy of note and recognition:
- Robert Archer was promoted to Captain and assigned command of the USS Rogue.
- James Merrett was promoted to Captain and assigned command of the USS Asimov
- Jack Dipper was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral for his long and distinguished service to the club, particularly to the Academy
- Joe Fahey was promoted to the rank of Commodore for his long service to the club, particularly in his frequent Academy and FComm performances.
- Brian Olinski was promoted to the rank of Commodore for his outstanding service in a number of departments, as Captain of the Entente, Apollo and in his tireless work as Personnel Director
- Kevin Harbison was promoted to the rank of Commodore for his long service to the club, particularly for the untold hours spent updating and completing the GM Department mission archive.
- Gene Gibbs was promoted to the rank of Fleet Captain for his outstanding service and commitment aboard the USS Draco in taking her from strength to strength.
- Amber Hagan was promoted to the rank of Captain and assigned command of the USS Victorious
- Luke Hung was promoted to the rank of Captain and assigned command of the USS Curie
- Emily Stephenson was promoted to the rank of Captain and assigned command of the USS Victorious
- Linda Gray was promoted to the rank of Captain and assigned command of the USS Saracen
- Ian Kirby was promoted to the rank of Captain and assigned command of the USS Lexington
- Anthony Findora was promoted to the rank of Captain and assigned command of the USS Dresden
- Mike Montemayor was promoted to the rank of Captain and assigned command of the USS Columbus
Along with those promotions were a number of appointments worthy of note. Many of these were made to people who had more than proved themselves worthy of the positions. Those mentioned here were of particular note because of the selfless manner in which they offered to fill the shoes of a suddenly departing predecessor:
- Jack Dipper was assigned command of the USS Seraph after his predecessor Doug VanNess was removed from his position
- Brian Olinski was assigned command of the USS Apollo in the Academy after her previous CO was sadly forced to resign due to real life commitments
- Jen Herr was re-assigned command of her old ship, the USS Genesis after her previous CO was forced to resign due to real life commitments
- Jerome Davis was appointed Marketing and Advertising Coordinator after his predecessor was forced to resign due to real life commitments
- Jody Romero was appointed Fleet One Commander after Dave Wonderly was forced to resign due to injuries he'd sustained in the performance of his duties in the US Navy.
- Symon Silvester was appointed command of the USS Olympic after his predecessor Missy Bradley was forced to cut back due to real life commitments
- Jim Hosick was appointed command of the academy ship USS Challenger after his predecessor Krys Bromilow was forced to cut back due to real life commitments
- Joe Bradley was appointed Gamemaster Director after his predecessor Dave Wonderly was forced to resign due to injuries he'd sustained in the performance of his duties in the US Navy
- Wail Qasim was appointed Internet Director after his predecessor Russell Watt was forced to resign due to real life commitments
- Chris Grinder was appointed Fleet 2 Commander after his predecessor John Lucas was forced to resign due to real life commitments
- Geoff Joosten was appointed Fleet 5 Commander after his predecessor Ryan Empson was forced to cut back due to real life commitments
- Jen Herr was appointed command of the academy ship USS Challenger after her predecessor Jim Hosick was forced to resign due to real life commitments
- Robert Spicer was appointed command of the USS Alliance after our longest serving continuous CO Larry Garfield was forced to cut back due to real life commitments
- Amanda Noon was appointed Gamemaster Director after her predecessor Joe Bradley was forced to resign due to real life commitments
- Robin Bird was appointed command of the Academy ship USS Columbia after her predecessor Gene Gibbs was forced to resign due to real life commitments.
And because they are so rarely thanked, it is worth noting some of those brave and committed souls who step into the breach and temporarily hold a ship or department together after a sudden departure:
-Anthony Martin, who stepped into the breach as Internet Director and has held the position throughout the past six weeks after Wail Qasim was was forced to step down due to real life issues.
-Amanda Noon, who stepped up when Joe Bradley was forced to resign and held the acting GMDir position before being offered the position permanently.
-Joe Fahey, who was willing to fill Jack Dippers immensely large RAF sized shoes after he was forced to resign as Academy Commandant due to real life commitments.
If I have forgotten or overlooked anyone, you have my sincere apologies and I must point to what remains of my blond head for doing so. You also have my thanks and respect for the job that you have done.
My thanks go to each and every person mentioned above. In instances of promotion, it's clear recognition of their hard work, colossal effort and incredible commitment. In particular, special thanks go to those individuals who are so rarely recognised for their hard work in holding a ship, department or fleet together when real life grabs their QDir/CO. It takes a massive amount of commitment to perform multiple duties at once (as Anthony Martin has in holding down both FComm-3 and aIDir in the past few weeks) and quite clearly anyone who is willing to do so has balls that are both large and muchly brassed.
Command
I think everyone involved will agree, the last eight months of Command activity have been, to say the least, hectic. We've seen the most revolutionary changes the Presidency has ever undergone and the end of a very long road towards a bills and bylaws system of governance. There have been some very heated discussions and at times things have gotten out of hand, but these were very passionate issues that establish the future of STF's method of government and I think we can all understand the occasional heated exchange or unthinking offensive comment. By the end of the discussions, when the documents we needed had been hammered out, we had in our hands the single biggest revolution since the creation of the Presidency. It has been a very long, very complex and very tiring process. My thanks go to each and every participant in any of those discussions for their thoughts, ideas, patience, determination, drive and their unfaltering stubbornness when it came to a point they were convinced was a good idea (that's how EGO came into being after all).
Prezolution: Such a simple term for such a massive concept. Prezolution encompasses the Bills and Bylaws Edict (BABE), the Prezolution Implementation Edict (PIE), the Establishment of Executive Government Oversight (EEGO) edict, the latest version of the Government Organisation (GO) edict and the most recent amendments to the Member Order and Organisation (MOO) edict. These documents in collection have established a system of membership control, limiting the powers of the President, establishing a three member oversight council, established an impeachment system, a new bills and bylaws system that provides for the membership to take action against unfair or unwise legislation and the redefinition of the term member, expanding it to those people who may not have the time to commit to a roleplaying position but want to give something back to the club that has offered them so very much. We've seen the election of the first Egotists, Symon Silvester, Larry Garfield and Jack Dipper, as well as the beginnings of the final move from a set of charter documents to their final incarnation as a unified bylaws document. Much of the coming term will be taken up in the library by this conversion, but the end product will be well worth the wait. Despite what my own ego (my actual ego, not the council EGO) would like, I cannot take all of the credit for this though. It took a lot of hard work from a number of Presidents to establish the library, charter edicts and to begin refining the STF legal process into a smaller group of manageable edicts that can now, with my final additions, become the bylaws document:
- Mike Ballway, who held the very first constitution discussion in ye olde mists of time (otherwise known as 1996)
- Scott Dale Robison, who gave us the very first unified departmental edict in 2001 with the Omnibus GMD Revisions Edict (OGRE)
- Larry Garfield, who sowed the first germs of the idea with his Articles of Organisation (with Mike Ballway) back in 1997 that competed against STF Charter (text for which has, in the intervening years become the basis for many of our charter edicts), as well as the creation of the first unified policy edict, Fleet Command and Other Mundane Matters (FCOMM) in 2001
- Pamela Dugan, who gave us the first Academy Edict and a revision to OGRE as well as the Constitution Committee Report which served as the basis for our final impeachment process.
- Jack Dipper, who began the process in its current form in 2005 with the establishment of the Library which granted a place to store those few existing charter edicts for easy reference, the first Personnel Department Edict (PDICT), revision to the Academy Edict (CADET) and gave us the Internet Department Edict (SCSI)
- Jen Herr, who continued the process with the first Engineering Department Edict, a revision to FCOMM and CADET and the first version of the Elections (LEGOE) edict.
- Sarah Hemenway, who further refined the process with a further two versions of FCOMM, two revisions to LEGOE, the STF Awards Edict, the Coder Edict (CODE), Government Organisation (GO), Member Order and Organisation (MOO), the creation of the Marketing and Advertising Coordinator and a new version of the Terms Of Service.
Further Changes And Amendments
Prezolution hasn't been the only achievement since the last State Of The Onion, we've seen a number of additional legislative changes, amendments, revisions and creations, including:
- The final abolition of the acting presidents? requirement to append any edict issued in their capacity with an alphabetical suffix to the last full Presidential edict.
- The amendment to our Terms of Service that finally brought us in line with US legislation concerning online privacy and the membership of minors which limited membership age to 13 years and older.
- The addition of the ranks Rear Admiral and Vice Admiral to the STF Chain of Command.
- The introduction of promotions guidelines defining the basic criteria a member must achieve in order to be considered for a rank above that of Captain.
- The introduction of promotions restrictions preventing more than one promotion for any member within an eight month period and the restriction of promotions to a single step at a time.
- The amendment to the definition of member to include those who hold administrative positions but not roleplay positions.
Discipline
Unfortunately, the last term and a bit hasn't been all lightness and pie. Shortly after the last SOTO, I was forced to ban two members, one temporarily and one permanently. It's never a good situation, but it's one that every president must face at least once. I believe that my reasoning was sound and my judgements fair, attested, hopefully, by the fact that there was no public outcry when they were issued. Cheryl has returned to us after the expiration of her ban and seems to have settled well into life back aboard the Polaris as their counsellor. Therle, unfortunately, will remain banned indefinitely (provided he chooses not to pursue the EGO overturn route). After his threats against the site and our host, I still believe that at no point in the future should he be permitted to return to the club. Atop that of course, we've seen a couple of firings of both CO's and cabinet members. It's never a good thing to have to fire anyone in the club, but the interests of the members must come first and sometimes that means that when all other options have been exhausted, it's time to get someone new into the position. Undoubtedly and perhaps understandably, it's created some bad blood, but I stand by each decision and hope that in time, the members involved come to realise that the decision was the right one, made for the right reasons.
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The Cabinet
In my previous SOTO, I made a point to highlight achievements within each of the departments and fleets, but through the last term I've deliberately taken a more hands off approach, partly because of the energy required to craft Prezolution, and also because people were beginning to itch underneath the weight of the Wolfe on their shoulders. Because of that, I'm going to focus on the more specific outstanding achievements in departments during the last term.
Personnel Department: By far the busiest department throughout the last term, the PD staff have performed far in excess of the call of duty. With the release of the new movie, we saw a truly massive influx of new members, handled at an astounding pace by each member of the PD team. They handled both member placements and mentor requests with a degree of professionalism and commitment I have not seen outside of paid employment. With the release of the movie on DVD and the continued rekindled interest in the franchise, the team has continued to handle their duties with speed, efficiency and determination, despite two thirds of the senior staff running in the election. I would like to personally thank Brian, Emily and Harley for their outstanding work in the past months. There will be some very big shoes to fill in the coming term and I hope that everyone remembers their sacrifice, determination and commitment to their duties. Throughout the last term we saw not one, but two versions of the Personnel Department Edict (PDICT) as well as the official removal of the Yearbook Coordinator position in line with the plans to further integrate the yearbook into WeBBspace. The discussions that led to these decisions and the final drafts of both PDICT's reflect the highest standards of this club and thanks go also to everyone who participated in those discussions.
Engineering Department: With the sad removal of Wail as Engineering Director we were looking at a very shaky ED. With Jen Herr taking over from my temporary handling of the position we have seen an influx of new designs, new ideas and new concepts that I have not witnessed for many a long year. The open door policy and the return of several former ship designers as well as the opening of a new Dreadnought contract to replace the obsolete Nimitz Class have contributed to the massive workload the department currently handles. We've also begun a review and revision of the New Navy Plan, the first since its inception nearly a decade ago. This combined with an aggressively pro alt-rpg stance has allowed us all to become a part of the revitalisation of imaginative design that makes this Engineering Department one of our strongest in at least five years. My thanks go to all of those who have made the ED what it is today, but special mentions go to Jen Herr, Sam Bibb, Lee Bridegford and his New New Navy Plan team and all of the designers who have graced the ED's halls in the past eight months.
Starfleet Academy: The Academy has seen some upheaval recently. With Jack Dipper stepping down after a marathon stint that has literally changed the face of the fleet and department, we have a lot to be grateful for. He provided us with the groundwork and eventual evolution of rules that have led to the current Academy standards in the CADET edict. There were a lot of goals for the Academy in the 2009 election campaign and, through a combination of my hands off approach and the curse that is RL, we've missed out on a lot of those goals. The most important recent achievement in the Academy was the final slog to the finish post and the publishing of the first Academy newsletter after massive discussions, prodding and near war on many fronts to get it off the ground. With its publication, we see the start of yet another new era for the Academy, an era that brings the Academy both closer to the mainstream club and provides an avenue for early administrative involvement for newer members and cadets that they previously didn't have. It's an important step forwards and one that I hope my successor and the person chosen to fill Jack's massive shoes will continue to support. In the coming months, I would encourage the new administration to look at the discussions had throughout the election concerning the Academy and begin to look closer at the ideas put forwards for revitalising the Academy and supporting the recent steps forwards. My thanks go to Jack Dipper, Joe Fahey, Helen Hosick and Harry Matthews for their outstanding work in the past few months.
Internet Department: The Internet Department has always been one of the most difficult to staff, often seeing the introduction of near dynastic groups of directors and assistant directors borne from the sparse expertise available amongst volunteers at any given time. With the loss of both Wail and Russ as IDir, we've had a rough time of it, but the work of the department has continued, seeing the introduction of some new and not so new STF faces. Rob Burnham, a returning member with an incredibly impressive resum? has been introduced as Assistant Internet Director and has demonstrated an almost limitless enthusiasm and drive to learn and adapt his skills to better serve the club. Peter Hinton Smith, by far the most junior member selected for ID service in quite some time, has taken to his role as 2AIDir like a fish to water and is learning everything that he can. These two are ably and expertly managed by the only man I could consider holding the top spot through the last month of the term, Anthony Martin. Despite maintaining his duties as FComm-3, Tony took the reins of the department and has maintained the day to day management of the department without a single complaint despite the enhanced workload. Each and every member of the department deserves to be recognised for their contribution and the next President could do far worse than consider these members for continued service in one of our most important departments.
Gamemaster Department: The GMD has taken some hard knocks in the past term and RL has been a curse upon every director who has sat in the chair. It's an unfortunate occurrence that seems to have hit us hardest here during the past eight months. With the loss first of Kevin Harbison to RL, Dave Wonderly to injuries sustained whilst serving in the US Navy and then Joe Bradley to RL, the department took a big toll in terms of its agenda for the term. There has however been a silver lining in the form of Amanda Noon, repeatedly taking on the acting GMDir role and finally holding it permanently through the last months of the term despite a hectic RL schedule. By the end of this administration, the GM archive should once more be back up to date, missions logged and referenced correctly and I foresee no problems in a handoff to her successor in transition. My thanks to her for her continued service and dedication to a department she has been involved in for a long time.
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The Mainstream Fleets
Fleet One: The first term saw a lot of troubles strike our first fleet. We saw three Fleet Commanders rotate through as they were each attacked by RL and, as is always the case with the RL disease, ships began to suffer. With the appointment of a first time cabinet member in Sam Bibb as the new face of the fleet at the beginning of the second term we saw him apply the same outstanding drive and enthusiasm that made the Lexington the ship it is today. For the first time in many years, Fleet one is stable, healthy and active on every ship. With the adjustments of some posting speeds and the reinvigoration of many of the fleets MOTD's, new life has been breathed into our Foremost Fleet and Sam and Sidney both have my appreciation and admiration for their outstanding work these past eight months.
Fleet Two: With the loss of John Lucas to the evil and now thematic RL, I had thought that all of the incredible work (quite literally blood, sweat and tears) that John and Cale had put into the fleet was going to be lost whilst the fleet slipped back into a depression. I couldn't have been more wrong. With the appointment of Chris Grinder as his replacement and the continued support of trusty AFComm Cale Reilly, they have more than met my expectations. John set the bar incredibly high, making Fleet Two one of, if not the (don't tell Fleet Five I said it) finest fleet in the club. I didn't think it would be possible to maintain those incredible standards, but Chris has managed to do so. Each ship in the fleet continues to be very healthy, with rosters bursting at the seams (just look at Polaris if you don't believe me). It was a Herculean task to rebuild the fleets health after the long period of slump it had experienced and it requires so much more to maintain those levels. Both Chris and Cale as well as the command staffs and crews of the Fleet Two ships have my thanks for their dedication and determination to maintain their place at the forefront of the club.
Fleet Three: Speaking from my own experiences, it is very tough to balance more than a single cabinet position at a time, particularly when one or both are struggling or historically difficult to manage, but Anthony Martin has been truly outstanding in his role as FComm-3. It can be intimidating to have the President as one of your subordinate CO's within a fleet and I encouraged Tony from the very beginning to tell me when I was doing my ship and her crew a disservice. He never balked, never sweet talked or tippy-toed around me when the ship began to suffer as the Prezolution discussions ate more and more of my free time. When my CO/GM posting faltered and the ship began to fail, he kicked me, smacked me, poked, prodded and pushed me to keep going, to do what needed to be done including updating my MOTD regularly, maintaining proper sim updates and even little things like actually posting using the right character so that it didn't look like my GM hadn't posted for months. The amazing thing is that he did this whilst not only managing the other ships in his fleet, but reinvigorating one of our most struggling ships after taking command of Outpost 42 and then not only participating heavily in the terms Prezolution discussions but also, at the end, managing this all alongside his role as acting Internet Director. My thanks, my respect and my admiration to the two Tony's (Martin and Findora) for their outstanding work this past term.
Fleet Four: In my last SOTO, I offered praise to Krys Bromilow for her outstanding work in turning the fleet around in the first months of my first term after taking over from resigning member Rick Gruby. This has made her, alongside Jack Dipper, the second longest serving single cabinet officer of my administration and she has earned that title well. Since the last SOTO, those ships which had continued to struggle during the first term have seen massive improvement. Even Starbase 202, which has been one of our most difficult ships since I first joined the club has turned around despite some initial issues with GMT placements. The decommissioning of Crell left a hole in the fleet and Krys has sought to fill that. As well as providing some truly outstanding MOTD's for her fleet ships, we have seen the first outlines of the first fleetwide sim this club has seen... Well.. Since the last fleet four fleetwide many moons ago. It is my hope that my successor will recognise Krys' hard work throughout the last fourteen months of her time in post and her continued goals as she and Larry Garfield continue to plan what looks to be a truly exciting adventure.
Fleet Five: I have always considered Fleet Five my STF home. My first command was the Draco, my first cabinet experience as FComm-5, a position I have held four times now. I always find it tough to criticise a place I love so well, but we did have some struggling ships throughout the end of my first and the start of my second terms. The Curie, Seraph and Odin were heavily bogged down, posting rates plummeting and crew rotating out almost as fast as they could be added. This unfortunately culminated in one CO resigning and another being relieved of his command. Since then, and with the return of some of Fleet Five's golden boys to the Meridian Chair, including Ryan Empson and Geoff Joosten, the fleet has begun its turnaround. Seraph is continuing its careful rise under the care of Jack Dipper and the Curie has seen a complete turnaround under the hand of one of our newest CO's, Luke Hung. After taking aboard TJ Morgan as XO, the Odin has gone from strength to strength, with a comfortable roster and some excellent posting statistics. Despite some troubles due to various RL situations cropping up, Entente, Draco and Endeavor remain some of the strongest ships in the club and it is my hope that in building upon the recent efforts within the fleet, the coming term will see Fleet Five steal the crown back from Fleet Two and take its rightful place as the best fleet in the club. My thanks to each of those mentioned as well as the command staffs and crews of every Fleet Five ship.
Fleet Six: At the beginning of my second term, Fleet Six was beginning to suffer. We saw the removal of the Vanguard CO from her position and the installation of Al "Nessie" Sutherland as her new Captain, a position that he has fulfilled admirably. The fleet has suffered a spate of RL issues taking many of its senior members away on LOA's and there has been a high rate or turnover throughout the last eight months. With the installation of Sy "Bunny" Silvester as FComm-6 at the beginning of the second term we have seen some outstanding achievements in terms of improving ship health, maintaining MOTD's and being the most dominant in rebranding the fleet with a new identity and the beginnings of a back story for the Fleet. There are few people who have managed to effectively contain the madness that seeps from OEDV and infects the rest of the fleet, but Sy is uniquely suited to this position and he has both my thanks and my respect for his achievements since returning to the club. With the continued work on developing a full and unique backstory and identity for this most chaotic of fleets, I would encourage my successor to look at the great strides taken in the last term when considering their cabinet. My thanks to both Sy, his laser encrusted Tribble sidekick and their Slothly companion for their outstanding work in rebranding and revitalising the Fleet.
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The Executive Assistants
Marketing and Advertising Coordinator: MAC has been a position plagued with troubles since its first inception, largely due to the specialised experience and commitment that are needed to make full use of it as an effective marketing platform. We saw a number of Coordinators roll in and out of the MAC Ship throughout the first and start of the second terms, but in recent months we've begun to see some improvements with Liz Caro taking the role. The introduction of an STF briefing and marketing pack to be used at expositions and conventions as well as the further expansion into roleplay listing sites and the enhancement of our listing position on search engines has been a positive step forward that I hope will continue into the next term. This is still one of our most underutilised assets and it can become one of our strongest in the coming term and beyond.
The Library: The Library will take on a monumental task within the coming term in converting the standing charters book into a single, unified bylaws document. It is my expectation that this will take at least the larger portion of the next eight months, if not longer. It is a vital step in finalising the Prezolution process and I am confident that with the support of the newly elected Egotists and a successor to my Presidency, the Library can continue to grow in its role into areas such as Q&A and navigation assistance as we continue to seek ways to integrate the library components into WeBBspace.
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WeBB OOC Area
In the past few months, a renaissance of sorts has occurred, with the surprise discussion in the middle of the slog of Prezolution concerning the WeBB OOC Area. It was determined by a fair few members that it could be better utilised and despite my initial scepticism, I encouraged them to explore alternative ways of updating and bringing to the fore the WeBB OOC Area as a method of encouraging community spirit and teambuilding. I couldn't be more pleased with the results. It has been a truly outstanding process that has left us with a completely new WeBB OOC Area, new discussions, monthly quizzes, the beginnings of gaming leagues for the first time in many years, random jokes and the potential introduction of the official STF Animal Petting Zoo to keep track of the myriad of STF Captains Animal Nicks that have grown up over the past few years. The OOC Area has become vital again, brimming with enthusiasm, drive, humour and, most importantly, fun. My thanks, respect and admiration on behalf of a grateful President go to Helen Hosick, Sam Bibb and TJ Morgan for their incredible work in reviving an area that has been devoid of life for many many years.
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WeBBspace Development and Drupal 6
It has become something of a golden legend whispered in hushed tones when the Tribbles aren't looking that one day we might actually achieve the mighty ascension to Drupal 6 and be able to institute the myriad of feature requests and new modules that have been floating around since WeBBspace first went live. Unfortunately we've spent the past 18 months waiting for external volunteer assets to finish the last few components needed to complete the upgrade and it is my sincere hope after two terms of little movement that we may achieve this mythical state within the next eight months. It will come and with it will come some massive and positive developments within the WeBBspace system, but until they do, I urge everyone to continue to be patient, to pray to all the Bunnies, Wolves, Bears, Garfields and Bourdaa's who may be listening that someone plants a size 13 on the heads of whoever is still holding us up!
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Conclusion
And thus ends the Robinson Era. All that remains is that last mad dash to the curtain calls, promotions, official thank you's and the 100 edict record. Completely boring or irrelevant as it may be, my time in office has officially made me the most verbose president in the history of STF three times over. I've broken records for most first term edicts, most second term edicts, most edicts of all time and, hopefully, the only President to ever issue 100 edicts. This confirms for all time my status as a Windbagged Wolfe Of Wicked Presidential Proportions (I was going for alliteration there but ran out of W's). it is my hope that the future will regard my administration kindly, but I know I?ve made mistakes. I've turned left when I should have turned right, issued warnings that were perhaps a touch too harsh. I've been alternately accused of being too hard arsed and too soft, but I have been grateful for the opportunity to give something back to the club that has given me so much enjoyment during the past five years. I hope to continue to do so in whatever capacity I may for many years to come and thank all of those who have supported me throughout my time in STF.
I would urge my successor to take note of both my mistakes and my achievements, to learn from them and encourage them to always act in the very best interests of the membership and never their own. I thank you, one and all for the chances that you have offered me during the past sixteen months. To anyone that has managed to slog through this near *six thousand* word document (there's a bottle of scotch for anyone who has), It's been a blast and from the top of my soon to be passed baton of Fleet Admiralness to the bottom of my secretly stashed Fleet Captainly pips I offer my parting goodbyes from this Wolfely president!
Farewell, adieu, auf wiedersehen my friends!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
3rd December 2009
Edict #94
"There is one thing I do know for sure. If we're going to hell then you're coming with us. You can go burst into flames if you'd like."
The first of my end of term promotion edicts! In the last round of my first term, I tried to give all of my promotion edicts a day apart to let all the congratulatory posts flood in between postings, but due to the election running to full length, It's the traditional final edict slog all in a day.
When sending out my promotion recommendations emails to the cabinet earlier in the month, there was an almost universally recommended candidate and I certainly can't fault them for the belief they've shown in him. Since first joining the club, he has served as Assistant Personnel Director, Second Assistant Internet Director, Fourth Fleet Commander, Election Coordinator, and most recently my own Third Fleet Commander and acting Internet Director during the second term. He has commanded the Montgomery in Fleet Four and during the last term and a bit, Outpost 42 in Fleet Three. He has demonstrated an incredible commitment, not only turning around one of our most struggling ships in Outpost 42, but also stepping into any breach needed and bringing the ships in Fleet 3 back to full strength with both his gentle and not so gentle approach :P. Most recently he has stepped into the dubious role of acting Internet Director to see through the end of the term on top of his commitment as FComm-3, keeping the department functioning and handling my constant edict archive nagging without smacking me.
His is a commitment born of love and I have no doubt that he will become one of the giants of STF history. He is friend, comfort, counsellor, fellow Top Gear enthusiast and the most lovable three headed, doggy breathed companion a man could ever want.
It is with the greatest of pleasure that I hereby promote Anthony "Cerberus" Martin to the rank of Fleet Captain, with all the rights and priveleges therein.
Congratulations CerbsStig, you have more than earned the privilege and I know that you will continue to do the club proud!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
6th December 2009
Edict #95
"Hey, I'm all about a noble death. A pointless noble death on the other hand..."
And rolling into the second promotion, we come to a member who has truly made his presence felt in the last term. I'd been aware of him for a number of years, but we'd never really come into contact prior to the first term STF Awards. When we sadly lost John Lucas to that beastly real life earlier in the second term, there was one candidates name on everyones lips. Since taking the office in June, he has maintained the incredibly high standards John set and the fleet continues to be our most active and populated. He has been a member of the club for nearly a decade, making him one of our oldest members and during the past three years commanding the Polaris (actually two years and 363 days :P), he has made the ship one of the most consistently strong in the club. He always has a smile, a good word and a ready ear when anyone needs advice and he is one of those rare individuals who, when he isn't sure of something, isn't afraid to ask. This makes him not only an outstanding Fleet Commander and CO, but also a good leader.
It is with great pleasure that I hereby bestow upon Chris "Dragon" Grinder the long overdue promotion to the rank of Fleet Captain, with all the rights and priviliges therein.
Congratulations Chris, you've earned it!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
6th December 2009
Edict #96
"So no IOA... No television program about dancing with supposed celebrities?"
"Actually that part was real."
"How very disturbing."
"Mm hm."
"Yeah."
This is one of those long boring ones where I extoll virtues endlessly to make a point :P
There are a few very special people in the club who have had the patience, good humour and stubbornness to remain my friend through my many tantrums, rants, odd segue's into the realm of madness and general incomprehensible waffle. Our next recipient has done that and still manages to quip his way through life despite his carrotly god complex. We've been through a great deal together in the last five years, our occasionally concurrent stints as FComm-5 and FComm-6 have given us frequent discussions about crossover sims and permanently extended invitations to visit each others flagships (there's a double entendre in there somewhere). Between us, in a moment of madness we managed to kickstart the animal nickname tradition with our beastially (read it twice) animal personas and the constant war between Carrotism and the Dark Hordes of Wolfeania (I was young, gimme a break) have generated much oddity and mirth through the years.
In the eight years that he has been foisting himself upon us, he has served as commanding officer aboard the Agamemnon (Vanguard), Bonaventure, Discovery and Olympic. He has been Vice President, Fleet One Commander, Academy Commandant, Gamemaster Director and has twice been Fleet Six Commander. He is the author of the Academy's Commanding Officer Course, Executive Officer Course and Department Head Course. In recent times he has been responsible for the rebranding of Fleet Six and the continued work developing a unique fleet identity for one of our finest fleets. By far though, his best work was done in the four years he spent as Governor of OED V. When Sy first took over, OED V was a relatively standard attempt at an alt-rpg that had gone through multiple rewrites, relaunches and still kept sliding down the scale. He relaunched the OED, wrote a new charter, packed the roster with outstanding up and coming players (such as our beloved Tribble, the only man who could fill those Bunny shoes as Governor... Mostly because tribbles have no feet..) and turned OED into one of the most odd, quirky and fun places in the club. His name is synonymous with the OED and his Bunny prints can still be seen there now.
Occasionally he has had to leave us for that most cruel of mistresses (real life, not Jack) but he has always returned with a vengeance and I'm proud to call him my friend.
It is with humble Wolfely pleasure that I hereby Promote Symon "Bunny" Silvester to the rank of Rear Admiral, with all the rights and mocking privileges therein.
Congratulations, you sexy golden carroted Bunny you!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
6th December 2009
Edict #97
"So, why don't you just send her right on through. Before you know it, you'll have old camel ass back in your grubby old mits."
This last promotion is very close to my heart. Our unlucky recipient has a lot to answer for. She was the person who gave me my first ever shot at government, in a time when it was very difficult to get involved in the running of the club as a new member. Together we recreated the Mentors Programme and reinvented the Yearbook. We created the first comprehensive ship awards system and worked together very closely for a long long time, collaborating on a massive number of projects. When I first joined the club, she'd been a member for a year and a bit and we hit it off straight away in IRC. She appointed me to both Yearbook Coordinator and Mentors Coordinator positions after her appointment as Personnel Director and, in 2005 promoted me to my current member rank of Fleet Captain. Other than Brian, she is the person with whom I've worked most during my five years with the club. The first time I burned out, my COS character aboard the Genesis was the only roleplay character I kept and a post she made during our time together on Starbase 202 remains the finest example of creative writing i've ever seen in STF.
In the near seven years since she first joined the club, she has been President, twice Vice President, Personnel Director, Assistant Personnel Director, Academy Course Proctor, twice Genesis Commanding Officer, Challenger Commanding Officer and Engineering Director. She created the first comprehensive Personnel Department Edict and was instrumental in creating the member tracking, statistical analysis and management systems that were the basis for what the Personnel Department staff still use today more than four years later. She has demonstrated time and time again her commitment to the club through government and administrative work, always leaving a position better than when she arrived. When Outpost 45's centre seat became vacant, she stepped into the breach and before I could even find a new CO, had already begun turning it around, packing the roster with new crew members and revitalising the existing crews posting level. When Wail Qasim was forced to leave us, she stepped into the breach as Engineering Director despite having little knowledge of the nitpicking technical points that are the staple of any TrekTech Geek (TM). Through her expert leadership skills, she has brought the department storming back to life and we have seen more specs reviewed and passed in the last eight months than we have in the past four years. She is also soon to back into the big chair in my soon to be vacant Wolfely shoes.
She is a good friend and a strong leader. The people in this club that I have cared as much for in my time here could be counted on a single hand and it is an honour to hereby promote Jen "Sloth" Herr to the rank of Commodore, with all the rights and privileges therein. She may only have an hour to enjoy it right now before stealing my big chair, pointy hat and shiny pips, but she is more than deserving.
Congratulations Jen, and well done.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
6th December 2009
Edict #98
"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it."
"No, the bridge is too well guarded".
"No, actually, there I was using a cliche."
It is long past time to correct a mistake that was made six years ago. During the situation which became known as Electiongate, voting records were falsified, exploiting a breach in effWeBB's security in order to alter the outcome of the August 2002 Presidential election. Following the investigation into this action, Mackael Stockhausen and Simon Kelly were permanently banned from STF by then President Emma Rouse-Deane. At the time, Simon and Mackie lived together and with the access logs coming from a single IP, it was the only considerable action at the time.
Later events and testimony from several members of the time have since revealed that Simon in fact played no part in the hacking of effWeBB or the alteration of voting records. It has often been discussed that the ban should be overturned but Simon has expressed no desire to return. Having said that, it doesn't mean that an injustice shouldn't be corrected.
Edict Rouse-Deane-1 #32 is hereby rescinded and superseded by this edict.
Simon Kelly is no longer banned and may return to STF at his previous member rank. The Office Of The President offers its apologises and welcomes a lost brother back with open arms.
Mackael Stockhausen is hereby permanently banned from STF and all related resources, including the #star-fleet IRC channel.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
6th December 2009
Edict #99
"Some say, that one of his heads once married its own sister, and that the population of an island in the Confederated States of Micronesia worships an altar that looks mysteriously like a three headed dog... All we know is, he's called CerbsStig!"
Establishment Of The Vice Clarkson
A position is hereby created entitled Vice Clarkson. This position carries with it no authority whatsoever and has no bearing on any official functions or governing bylaws. This position also has absolutely no relation to the Chain Of Command. Vice Clarkson is a lifetime position which carries with it the duty to embody the spirit of scrooge, miser and supremely sarcastic lead presenter with a penchant for perpetual foot-in-mouth disease that has become legendary within the Top Gear empire.
Appointment Of The Vice Clarkson
Anthony Martin is hereby appointed Vice Clarkson.
All Hail The Vice Clarkson! May Captain Slow and The Hamster have mercy upon our souls!
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
6th December 2009
Edict #100
"You wouldn't think jagged bone digging into raw nerves would hurt, but it does."
In continuing the tradition from last term, there are a number of people without whom I couldn't have survived this second term with my Wolfely mind intact. I would like to take a few moments to thank them and explain why and how they have been so invaluable in supporting both me and the membership during the last eight months. On a completely unrelated note, for those who were asleep or smoking less than legal substances, my edict quotes this term (with the exception of my 'guest star' edicts) have been taken from the ten seasons of Stargate SG-1.
Brian Olinski
What is there to say about one of my closest friends in the world. Brian Olinski, a powerhouse Vice President and a man without whom I would never have been able to achieve a fraction of my goals this term. At the end of last term, I made special mention of the work that Brian does behind the scenes. He's done that and more this term. Open government is a good idea and something that every President should encourage, but there are times in which, either for legal or security reasons, or to avoid public humiliation of other members, it's not practical or wise to publically notify the membership about difficult situations. There have been three during this second term and Brian has been an integral part of resolving each of them. His advice, counsel, pragmatism and keen mind have been invaluable in handling each of these situations. He has headed some extremely sensitive investigations with thoughtfulness, integrity, fairness and a patience that would have long since been exhausted had anyone else been subjected to some of the email and IM content that was launched his way.
Brian and I work well together because we share similar ideals and goals, but we have not always agreed. In those rare situations in which we have disagreed, it's usually because I've been running headlong into a mistake and he has managed to talk me out of it. Beyond his role as Vice President of course, Brian has also spent the two most tumultuous terms the Personnel Department has seen as its Director and his work has been incredible, far above and beyond the base standards of the role. He and his staff have handled the largest single influx of members we have seen since records began, processing upwards of 100 applications a month, many of which included mentor requests, special considerations and singular requirements. All of these required a personal response and he didn't let them down. This atop his two revisions to the Personnel Department Edict and the Herculean task of cataloguing and analysing the status of every crewmember aboard every ship in the club in the absence of an official census has given us the most informed, professional and committed department that I've seen in my half decade of membership. He is my friend, my counsellor and a man worthy of respect and admiration. Thank you Brian, my beary eggcellent friend.
Jack Dipper
One of the hardest parts of life as President is the constant need to remain calm, controlled and professional in the face of some truly infuriating and frequently offensive commentary. The key component to handling this is to have someone with whom you can privately vent the bile, vitriol and rampant soapboxesque ranting that keeps any President sane. Jack Dipper has been the recipient of more than his fair share of this and whilst managing to perpetually weather this storm of abuse, he also manages to cheer me up or at least make me feel better about myself. He's also never been afraid to tell me when i'm being a moron or when i'm about to do something monumentally stupid. He's steered me clear of many rash actions and his advice and counsel have been invaluable through both of my terms in office. Despite our occasionally heated exchanges, he remains someone to whom I offer my respect and my admiration. Thank you for putting up with the endless streams of very un PG-13 words Jack and thank you for giving me the first idea for this terms edict quotes :P
Larry Garfield
I've often had a very complicated relationship with Larry (in a non-dating sense, though there was that one night in a hotel room with the gerbils.... Bygones...). I've often referred to him as my nemesis and we've very rarely agreed on anything when it comes to managing STF, particularly anything that relates to the Engineering Department (the first time we ever met, people very deliberately steered us away from talking about STF in case one of us ended up bleeding). We've had more blazing arguments than I could ever hope to count, many of them the literary equivalent of a thermonuclear incursion. Over the years though, I've come to rely on his historical perspective. He is the closest thing we have to an STF grandfather and i've learned that his counsel can be worth its weight in gold. He is a clear and decisive thinker with a very solid idea of where the club is going wrong and how we should go about fixing it. This doesn't always endear him to people, but it would be a fool who didn't look for the sense in his words. Five years ago we were very nearly at war, but now I count Larry amongst a very select group of friends. We don't always agree and I think that if we did, our friendship would suffer for it. He'll often very bluntly tell me i'm an idiot when I do something he disaproves of and naturally my fur will be ruffled but i'll take a breath, settle down and I'll know when he has a point. I shall forever be in his debt for introducing me to my wife, for being a groomsman at my wedding and for helping me through some of the most difficult times in my life, both in and out of STF. Larry has my admiration, my respect and my thanks for always being there when I need a shoulder, an opinion or a spanking.
Helen Hosick
I didn't really know Helen eight months ago. We'd shared the occasional passed word through my friendship with Jim (otherwise known as the balls and chain :P) but it wasn't until she'd graduated from the Academy and began to become a more frequent presence in IRC that we started talking regularly. Helen has an interesting view of the world and she's always willing to cheer me up when I feel terrible. We share a similar sense of humour that frequently gets us both in trouble and her relative newness to the world of STF politics gives her a very outside-the-box view that has helped me take a step back and consider difficult situations from an angle that wouldn't otherwise have ocurred to me. It's very easy to become jaded in the world of STF politics, to get dragged under by the often difficult and rarely obvious undercurrents that shift through the command ships and Helen has allowed me to avoid taking myself too seriously, especially when I put my Fleet Admiral hat on for too long and I start to channel my father. Helen is an up and comer and I have no doubt that she will contribute a great deal to the club in the coming years. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be saluting her :p
Joe Fahey
Joe Fahey is the little devil sitting on our shoulder that tells us to stop being stupid. He's a quiet and publically reserved personality who is often underestimated and more often overlooked in the work he does. His work as Mentors Coordinator these last two and a half terms has been outstanding. He is always willing to step into the breach when an issue crops up and he has probably held more aFComm, aAFComm, aCO and aXO titles than any other member in history. He has a very wry wit and a frequently surprising sense of humour that is always entertaining. The amount of posts, emails, edicts, proposals, crack brained lunatic ideas and rambling rants that Joe has critiqued in the past 16 months would take far too long to list and longer still to fully appreciate. Joe Fahey is a true workhorse in STF and he deserves recognition for his ceaseless efforts over the years. If ever I get some stables, our favourite Pony will always have a home with me.
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As a last hoorah, I would like to thank every single member who makes the club what it is. Without you, we have nothing and no reason to exist. You are the heart and soul of this club and it has been an honour and a privilege to serve you these last sixteen months as your President. I thank you for the opportunity and the faith that you have placed in me. It is my hope that history will judge my administration kindly, but no matter what, I am very proud of what we have accomplished together. We've made the club a more democratic, fair and fun place to be. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
6th December 2009
Posted 6 November 2009 - 12:43pm by Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson (President) (Andrew Robinson )
Well, the very first STF Bill... This one will hopefully give future Presidents an idea of how to format them. It's going to be slightly different in that we don't yet have the bylaws document established in format, so I'm having to take PDICT in its original form as a single bylaw and use that for subsection headings. From this point on the Internet Department is going to need to establish a method of archiving bills along with edicts.
Bill #1
Personnel Department Bylaw - Subsection Six, Paragraph Two
Yearbook maintenance includes maintaining the outward appearance of the Yearbook, updating the yearbook with new submissions, removing inappropriate submissions and ensuring that each standing gallery folder is accurate in placing Gatherings, Current Members and Past Members.
Fleet Admiral Andrew "Wolfe" Robinson
STF President
6th November 2009