SFHQ Scientist's Manual by Katherine Dedul

(Reproduced with permission from Katherine Dedul)

Introduction:

This manual will help you becoming one of the more important positions on a starship. The Engineers, Security Officers and Medical Officers typically get all the glory, but scientists arguably are some of the smartest folk on a starship. One of the orders of a starship is to explore new worlds and seek out new life...you can't do this effectively without a scientist!

We're going to start with the absolute basics and go into a bit more complex matters. This manual will cover the basics, but will provide you with links to excellent websites like Memory Alpha which contain more detailed information if you wish to use them. Our goal here isn't to bombard you with a bunch of information that may be of use to you, but rather to give you the tools necessary to succeed in a science posting on a ship.

Positions in Science:

There are two main types of science officer, the Chief Science Officer(CSO) and the Science JO(Sci). However, a science vessel may further specify their scientists into categories like "Geologist", "Biologist", "Chemist", etc.

A. Chief Science Officer

This is the senior most scientists onboard. They generally have a specialty, but have enough knowledge in all areas of science to act as an expert in that field if required. They represent the science department in senior staff meetings and will delegate tasks to the scientists assigned to their team. Typically, the CSO will also be part of the away missions if the Commanding Officer assigns a science officer to the mission.

B. Scientist

These folks are junior officers who report directly to the CSO. They will have one or two key areas of specialization(ie: Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, etc) and will work to advance their work in that field when permitted. They will also be called upon when the ship is facing a problem that fits within their field of specialty, particularly if the CSO merely knows the basics of that field.

You may also hear terms like "ranking biologist" or something similar, this has nothing to do with the rank of the officer in question, but rather the depth of their understanding. A ranking biologist for example would mean that this particular scientist is more experienced in the field of biology than anyone else on the starship.

The Fields of Scientific Exploration:

This section concerns some basic concepts you might want to take with you as you play your medical character. I've included some links to the articles on Wikipedia and Memory Alpha, but you can always google these disciplines for a lot more articles and information. These fields and sub-fields are not how everyone would describe science, but rather one way of many. The field of science is constantly changing, with each new discovery in fact. It's not important for our purposes that you learn all you can about the field(s) of expertise you might choose for a character, but rather that you learn what types of work they might do in a day-to-day situation. Scientists are concerned with answering questions, making comparisons and furthering our understanding of the universe in general, but each scientific field is concerned with one particular area of the universe. Once you're through this section, you'll see why, there's simply not enough time in the span of the life of a typical Humanoid to learn it all!

A. Basic Scientific Fields

i)Physics - Basically defined as the study of matter and its motion through the universe. It can be further subdivided into the branches of:
a. Classical Mechanics
b. Electromagnetism
c. Statistical Mechanics
d. Thermodynamics
e. Quantum mechanics
f. Relativity

More information on Physics can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Physics (Memory Alpha)

ii)Chemistry - Defined as a study of matter and the changes it undergoes. It differs from physics because it studies primarily the composition, behavior, structure and the properties of matter. It can be further subdivided into branches of:
a. Biochemistry
b. Inorganic
c. Nuclear
d. Organic
e. Physical
f. Theoretical

More information on Chemistry can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistry (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Chemistry (Memory Alpha)

B. Spatial Sciences

i)Astronomy - Defined as the study of celestial objects and other associated phenomena. Some people may refer to this field as "Astrophysics", generally they are seen to be one and the same. It can be further subdivided into the branches of:
a. Stellar/Solar
b. Galactic
c. Extragalactic
d. Cosmology

More information on Astronomy can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy (wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Astronomy (Memory Alpha)

Note: While not required, it is highly recommended that your character have at least a secondary specialization in this field, particularly if you're on a starship as this field would get the most "screen" time since the bulk of discoveries on starships involve spatial phenomenon. Most scientists on a starship would have a fairly solid grounding in this field.

C. Planetary Sciences

i)Geology - is the study of physical matter that constitutes a planet. It includes the study of composition, structure, properties and history of a planet's physical material and the processes by which it is formed, moved and changed. It can be subdivided into such categories as:
a. Economic
b. Engineering
c. Hydrology
d. Natural Hazards
e. Regional

More information can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Geology (Memory Alpha)

ii)Geography - Geographers are typically concerned with the study of the spatical and temporal distribution of land forms, processes and features as well as the interactions Humanoids have with their natural environment. The main branches of Geography include:
a. Physical
b. Humanoid
c. Environmental
d. Geomatics
e. Regional

More information can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Geography (Memory Alpha)

D. Life Sciences

i)Biology - Concerned with the study of life and living organisms. There are quite a few distinct branches of biology, some of them are:
a. Biochemistry
b. Agriculture
c. Botany
d. Entomology
e. Genetics
f. Paleontology

More information can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Biology (Memory Alpha)

ii)Archaeology - Is the study of past Humanoid civilizations through recovery and analysis of material remains. Some sub-disciplines include:
a. Historical
b. Ethnoarchaeology
c. Experimental Archaeology
d. Archaeometry

More information can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archeology (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Archeology (Memory Alpha)

iii)Anthropology - Is concerned with the study of humanity. It looks at the origins of humanoids, how they developed culture and language. There are various subfields of Anthroplogy, some of which include:
a. Social
b. Cultural
c. Ethnology
d. Forensic
e. Urban

More information can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Anthropology (Memory Alpha)

Tools of the Trade:

As stated in the previous section, you don't need to know everything about the field you've selected as your characters area of expertise. You don't even need to study up on principles that the field is concerns with. Scientists have their own form of "techno-babble" that differs from engineers in that they're concerned with explaining the universe. This section will cover the common problems a scientist will be faced with on a starship.

A. A Strange New Phenomenon

Typically this is a new type of nebula, star, gaseous cloud, etc. Astronomers typically handle these types of problems(Hence why it's recommended that your character at least have a secondary interest in this field. Chemists and physicists may also see some use of their field here as well and if the new phenomenon is a space faring creature, then likely biologists may also be called upon.

This heading is also where you'll discover that wonderful five letter word...Probe. Probes will extend the sensor capabilities of a starship, it's important to keep in mind the specs of your ship(certain ships will have a certain set of probes in their inventory). Probes come in different classes and sizes, smaller ships will likely have only basic probes in their inventory and their number will vary based upon the space the ship has. When in doubt, consult the specs, if that doesn't clear up any confusion, check with your CSO or CO, they'll give you a definitive answer.

Typically the GM will provide you with details of the new anomaly. Your job will be to role-play your character checking the ever so useful Federation database for similar spatial phenomenon for comparison. GMs will typically base their creation off of something similar they've read about or seen on television, putting their own little "twist" on it, so they will typically give you details of the "original" phenomenon(or at least a link to where you can view it yourself!)

B. Planetary Story-lines

Another common science use is exploring a new planet or revisiting an old planet that is faced with a new problem(for example, a Federation world we know quite well facing a new weather phenomenon they haven't faced before).

Earth-based and life scientists will likely be involved here(physicists and chemists as well, depending upon the problem their involvement will manifest in different ways). Like spatially based problems, it will involve comparing the new problem with similar problems faced prior by other crews and starships by searching the Federation Database. Comparison is the basic method of understanding something new, by doing so, it may be possible to predict the behavior of the lifeform, predict the use of each part of a set of ruins or predict what may work to contain a phenomenon for further study.

C. Some Things to Keep in Mind

Scientists may not be able to relieve officers of duty like medical doctors and counselors can, but they can sometimes convince a superior officer to do as they wish by using their smarts.

Some scientists may come across as a bit arrogant(think: Nella Daren from the TNG ep "Lessons"), others can be more humble(think: Samantha Wildman from Voyager), both officers were certainly skilled in their area of expertise, but had different personalities. So it's up to you, whether you want to have an egomaniac of a character who thinks that his or her specific field of scientific study is the most important thing since sliced bread, or someone who is a bit more willing to listen to other fields of scientific research.

Don't be afraid to be creative, COs don't promote you based upon whether or not they believe the ideas of your scientist have solid academic grounding, they promote you based upon your ability to both post in response to specific direction from the GM and avoiding going AWOL when the mission doesn't involve you directly.

What to do When You're Bored:

You may sometimes find yourself waiting around for action in a mission, particularly if you are on a combat or diplomatic vessel. This section deals with some hints and tips on how to keep yourself busy when the mission isn't otherwise providing you with chances to post.

The idea is to create a few little sub-plots that can be easily ignored when the mission is keeping you busy, but ones that you can consistently turn to when the mission storyline isn't providing you with enough posting chances.

Some suggestions:

-Character development. Have your character do some independent research on their favorite topic.(Read our Article on Posting IC and Developing a Character)
-Visit the holodeck.
-Run diagnostics on all the lab equipment.
-Have a get together with other scientists in the messhall.

Conclusion:

This concludes our lesson on the basics of playing in the science department. Hopefully you found this informative and are even more excited at the prospect of playing a science officer out there in SFHQ!

Testing Materials:

The following are scenarios that the science course instructor may use when testing the cadets on the Academy ship. Instructors may come up with an entirely new scenario for you, but these should give you a pretty good idea of what will be expected of you when you are tested. It's up to you to make up any details that are not otherwise provided in the scenarios. All answers to these scenarios on the academy ship must be written by way of a IC post.

A. Exploring A New World:

i) You are the ranking biologist on your starship and as such the CSO has picked you as part of the away team to go down and explore the new planet.(Hint: As a biologist, what might you be interested in collecting and exploring?)

ii) You are the ranking geologist on your starship and as such the CSO wants you to head down on the away mission to a new planet.(Hint: What sorts of things might you be interested in as a geologist?)

iii) You are the ranking archeologist on your starship and the away team has discovered some ancient ruins, so naturally your CSO wants you to beam down and join the away team.(Hint: What sorts of things might you be looking for as an archeologist?)

B. Exploring A New Spacial Phenomenon:

i) You are the ranking astronomer on a starship and the ship has just discovered a new nebula, the CSO has put you in charge of the research on it.(Hint: What sorts of things might you want to start doing with the scans of that nebula?)

ii) You are the CSO on a starship that has been assigned to examine a new expanse of space. Delegate your staff appropriately.

iii) You are the CSO on a starship that has been trapped by a strange phenomenon, what are some of the things you'll need to do to begin to help the ship free itself?

C. Keeping Busy On Your Own:

i) You're on a mission and guess what...the science department literally has nothing to do....how are you going to keep yourself from being bored out of your mind?

ii) The CSO of your ship is busy with the away team, you're on the ship because as a astronomer, you aren't needed on the planet's surface, what might you do to keep yourself busy and productive?

iii) The CSO of your ship is busy helping the space based scientists map a new nebula, you are a anthropologist, you aren't needed. So what are you going to do to make sure you remain productive in the department?

Power Vacuum in SFHQ as CCP Granger resigns

SFHQ is in the midst of a power vacuum.

Following William Smith's discover that the Council Chairperson, Peter Granger, had gone AWOL, Silent Hunter proposed a motion to impeach him.

In the end, it proved unneeded, as Mr. Granger submitted his resignation via email to President Giesbrecht.

Peter never appointed a Vice Council Chairperson. Ty Shanahan, the previous vCCP, has offered to step in, but he was never appointed by this administration- and does not have a character in the club.

Legal clarification is awaited, but it's not good news for the troubled club.

An Baile Ùr is open

Robert Longtin, CO of An Baile Ùr, officially opened the sim at 10:06am PST yesterday.

It looks like it's going to be very successful.

Please, come and join us for some spectacular craic!

Editorial: Katherine Dedul creates a Medical Manual

As part of the planned Academy, Katherine Dedul has drafted a manual for Medical characters and posted it in Starfleet Command (time code 2010-05-11 16:48:49).

I have to say it is an excellent document and should be posted in Member Support as soon as possible.

IKV Vindicator Closes after CO resigns

Appointment #90

Silent Hunter is relieved of command of the IKV Vindicator, as previously announced.

The IKV Vindicator is hereby regrettably closed as well.

Kat
C in C
****
The sim had been in serious trouble for a while, with the CO having a GM vanish and having to dual-hat as GM. Activity was too low and he finally resigned on 30 April.

RTE limits votes to RTE members and senior AJJE leadership

Resolution #4

 

By a vote of 14 to 3, with two abstentions, the Township has resolved the following:

 

Only the votes cast by the Township, the AJJE Games Board of Founders or the AJJE Games Role-Playing Division's President and Vice-Presidents are legal votes. All others shall be ignored, but those whose votes are ignored will be invited to join RTE.

 

Silent Hunter

RTE Administrator

30 April 2010

 

This brings RTE into harmony with the rest of AJJE. The motion was proposed in December, but changes of Election Coordinators have delayed the vote until now.

Male vs. Female: the COs of AJJE

Just something for a bit of amusing discussion: a comparison of the genders of characters leading sims in AJJE.

LOTW: 12 male, 1 female
RTE: 5 male, 4(*) female
SFHQ: 11 male, 3 female
SGU: 7(*) male, 2 female

(*: Covert-81 has two SL equivalent characters, both female. For this discussion, they are counted as one. Also Goa'ulds are sexless, it's just that the SL of Goa'uld Empire has a male host.)

Total: 35 male, 10 female

LOTW extends terms of Admin Directors

Resolution #38

LOTW voted on the motion to permanently extend the term of office for elected Administration Directors to 12 months. This is subsequent to Resolution #17, February 15th, 2009, which extended the following term (our current term) from 8 months to 12.

It was another exceedingly well-run event thanks to EC Robert, AEC Matt, the COs, and the club's members. Some of the sims which have never previously produced a very high turnout are now climbing the ladder - a sign that more and more members are becoming aware of their right to vote and are putting that right to use!

The results are 38 for, 4 against, and 3 abstained from voting. The resolution is therefore passed.

This produces a 61.6% turnout of the LOTW Membership - roughly a 6% decrease since the last vote, but nevertheless an increase in our turnout at the beginning of this calendar year.

We have Elections coming up in June and this will be everyone's opportunity to have our say and to set the standard for the next year's voter turnouts!

So in gearing up for the Election in two months, I would encourage all of you to become involved in the elections in some way! We are currently looking at ways of improving awareness during the build-up to the elections. As ever, the admin team is open to all your thoughts and suggestions.

Ashley Leighton Plom
Parliament Leader
April 25th, 2010

The Academy heads towards a launch

SFHQ is taking the final steps towards creating a new Academy sim in a bid to boost its diminishing membership base.

This sim will allow new players to learn about Trek and AJJE's RPing environment in a controlled manner.

We'll be reviewing it in some depth as it launches.

Daniel Taylor named Public Relations Director

Vice President of Support Chris Wilkinson is pleased to announce the
appointment of Daniel Taylor to the position of PR Director. Dan is replacing
Gemma Holden, who has had to step down due to RL pressures.

Daniel Taylor has been with AJJE Games since 2007. He is very enthusiastic, experienced and I believe he
will be a wonderful addition to the Support team.

Congratulations, Dan!

Chris Wilkinson
Vice President of Support

Matt Forbes becomes Fundraising Director

The Board of Founders has oversight over two autonomous departments in addition to the AJJE Roleplaying division: Server Management and Fundraising. The Fundraising group is defined in the AJJE GP as the group that manages the Marketplace, Google Ads, and Paypal donation pages for AJJE Games. The Board hereby assigns Matt Forbes to the position of Fundraising Director for the Fundraising Division. Matt's task will be to review and evaluate the current programs in use, as well as generate proposals on how to elevate each program. Although Matt is new to AJJE Games, he has shown to the Board an ability to look at current AJJE functions in a new light, and new angle. We are excited to assign him to this position and hope that everyone will give him the support he needs in the coming weeks.

Thanks,

Alex Verdusco
Jud Bennett
Jamie Chamberlain
Edgar Cramer

Design AJJE Games's T-Shirt!

Update your graphic programs, break out your pens and get your creative juices flowing. AJJE Games is looking for designs to put on T- shirts, hats, coffee cups and anything else we can think of to help spread the word about our fabulous site. The designs must be original, with original artwork (if used) inspired by the shows upon which our clubs are based. The designs should also include (but certainly not be limited to) the following:

1) The name AJJE Games
2) The URL ajjegames.com
3) The phrase 'RPGs that Ride the Edge'

After that, it's all up to you. The winning design(s) will be chosen by the AJJE Games senior leadership on June 1, 2010.

Please submit your designs to either your club's administrative leader, AJJE Games President, VP Support, VP Anchor Clubs or VP Development.

Editorial: Changes and Challenges

By Silent Hunter

 

I’ve been feeling this blog is a bit too much press releases and could do with some more diverse content, namely original reporting and editorials.

 

So here it is. All opinions are my own and do not necessary reflect the official view of AJJE Games or anyone else involved.

 

The first year of a new decade has seen some changes in AJJE, with several new and exciting ideas about to come to fruition and some new challenges.

 

Let’s go through this club by club.

 

LOTW

 

The strongest club in AJJE currently runs at 13 sims. I say 13 as the Alliance Camp has now closed due to inactivity. I don’t know whether it was the reason for it, but this and the Independent Camp had a shared RP thread using a system called X-LINK, now being used for a cross-over sim between IPS Dakota and Raug’Moss. I  was XO of the latter until lately, so I didn’t get to use it to the full potential, but it’s something we could use elsewhere in AJJE.

 

Replacing Alliance Camp in the “Other Times, Other Places” area, when Server Management get the sim set up, will be something called An Baile Ur, giving LOTW back a sim with a Gaelic name after the renaming of Tain Bo Cualinge. Set in the year 2300, i.e. the early years of the ‘Verse as envisioned by Mr. Whedon, it’s set on An Baile Ur (The New Home), an Irish colony where people go to escape from the hectic pace of modern life. Or if you’re Caitlin Regan (yes, I’ve signed up for it) to hide out after a con has gone wrong.

 

RTE

 

When I handed out the Player of the Year Award for RTE at the Award Ceremony earlier this year (yes, all the Admin Leaders did speeches), I described what you could do in “my” club in four sentences, each covering two sims. I guess I’ll have to do a different speech as we’ve now got 9 and may well get two or three more.

 

We now have a second Harry Potter sim, Diagon Alley, set in the magical London area that has a lot of wizarding shops and taverns, a resting place before boarding the train at platform 9 ¾ to go to Hogwarts.

 

However, we’ve got some other sims in the pipeline. Teddie Dollins is unleashing romance and vampires on us with a Twilight sim, while Eddie Cramer is working on a pirates-based sim that I will be joining. While I’ve shelved my planned naval sim due to lack of interest, rest assured that this particular “sim-creating monster” (thank you Jeannette) have another idea brewing. Let’s just say that it will be arresting. OK, that’s an awful pun...

 

SFHQ

 

SFHQ is facing a major challenge. Half of the sims are unhealthy and the club’s membership numbers are declining. Last year, a number of sims were shutdown because of inactivity and I think we may get others going.

 

In an attempt to arrest this alarming trend, SFHQ is opening a new Academy sim, which may well replace an existing ship in the club, to improve recruit retention. I wish this sim every success. It’s a fairly steep learning curve to get into Trek despite the fact that the key characters and concepts have filtered into popular culture in a huge way. Anything that can help people with this is a great idea.

 

SGU

 

SGU is going to do the Timewarp. A motion was passed to jump the sims outside the expansion fleet forward a year to between Season 9 and 10 of the original SG-1. That means that the Ori (religious fanatics) have arrived in the Milky Way. The sim I run, Argos, is in the expansion fleet, but will also do the jump.

 

Overall

 

We’re doing well, but we need to keep there. In particular we need to broaden our leadership base- we have people doing several jobs.

 

There are ideas for this. Stay tuned...

Chris Wilkinson named VP Support

AJJE Games President Jeannette Giesbrecht is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Wilkinson to VP Support. Chris is replacing Richard Thompson, who has had to step down due to RL pressures.

Chris Wilkinson has been with AJJE Games since 2007 and is active in all four clubs. He is very enthusiastic, experienced and I believe he will be a wonderful addition to the AJJE senior government.

Congratulations, Chris!

Jeannette Giesbrecht
President

Latest RPing News 2

The latest low-down on what's going on in the RPing world of AJJE.

Leaf on the Wind
Freedom of Wealth: The Freedom of Wealth is full of mystery and intrigue. Our chief purser has been shot by one of his assistants and his other assistant is dead in the infirmary, foul play is suspected. The engineering team has also found a device attached to the engines that was apparently designed by the XO's corporation to alter our course installed with the help of one of the black gang.
IPS Dakota: After a prison ship transporting Hashim, the purported head of the criminal organization known as the Syndicate goes missing, the crew of the Dakota is sent to Athens to discover the fate of the ship and re-apprehend Hashim. Little do they know that the Raug'Moss, which also has ties to Hashim, is docked at Athens. They will be getting more than they expected.
Shadow: After successfully hijacking the Tain Bo Cuailnge on Akers Bluff the pirate crew of the newly christened Shadow have arrived at the pirate controlled space station True Port to recruiter and upgrade the ship to better suit its use for piracy.
Claudia: After a narrow escape from Reavers, the battered Claudia – low on fuel, parts and supplies – has found her way to Regina, where the crew is hoping for a job. But why are so many pirate ships surrounding the moon?
Elemental: A salvage vessel - an older model - crewed with misfits and the rudderless lost, eking out a living as best they can between the Core and the raggedy edge. Currently refitting as a mercenary band of vigilantes for hire, turning the ship's sensor suite and powerful salvage arms to finding and taking down the badguys...
St. Michael: While picking up the pieces in Shatytown after the fire, a small posse including the Dockmaster and members of the Governor’s staff are out to shut down a child slavery ring. Meanwhile the folks from the electronics shop narrowly escape capture after killing the lowlife that set them up. Rick tries to coerce Virgil into a risky raid on the Blue Sun facility at Rocky Hollow.
Raug'Moss: A damaged ship seeks mechanics, but other things are coming too... that want the ship.
Prinz Eugen: The Fire Team is currently on Haven attempting to assist the rebels there as they conduct an uprising against the Corsair King. The Prinz Eugen herself is just beginning a high speed chase through the Black, as we pursue the Corsair King's personal vessel.
Independence Camp: The Independent forces were responding to a distress call off planet. Due to the vanishing of our GM for the length of time, I took it upon myself to drop the plot and go with a ship in distress (us) idea. We were hit by a chunk of debris, myself knocked unconscious, and am currently relying on my unreliable crew to keep the plot going. We are falling through atmo with a hull breech and precious little posting to keep us from being Reaver-bait.

Ride The Edge
Covert-81: A new thrilling tale is about to begin as Chameleon have to win an auction and Section 91 must infiltrate one of the most heavily-defended areas on Earth...

Starfleet Headquarters
USS Resolution: The crew of the Resolution aborts their planetary survey to rescue the first officer who was transported to a distant world. The young crew and their reptilian captain must overcome their difference to ascertain the potential threat by an advanced alien culture.
IKV Vindicator: While arriving on a Federation ship, the crew of this Klingon vessel encounter a Cardassian attack. The Cardassians are encountering something else...


Stargate Universe
SGU-2: Major Wuthering 'Worthy' Summers has assembled a large team of crack personnel for exploring the Milky Way. Encounters have included Anglo-Romans with guns, astral projection, spiritual manifestations, and a kraken at a beach party.
SGU-3: It is a sim that has been restarted after almost being shut down, due to non activity. The sim can be now called the Experimental Unit, they use this unit as Guinea Pigs, so come & be part of the great experiment.
Argos: The crew tackle the moral dilemma over whether to intervene in a planetary war.

Jeannette Giesbrecht becomes SFHQ Member Support Director

Resolution 26

I here by appoint Jeannette Giesbrecht to the position of Member Support Director.

Please welcome and give her your full support.

Peter Granger CCP

Edgar Cramer moves to new Harry Potter sim Diagon Alley

Appointment #56

Edgar Cramer is hereby relieved as SL of Hogwarts.

Eddie

****

Appointment #57

It is with great pride that we the Council of Elders are able to introduce another second sim for a genre in RTE. This sim is Diagon Alley and it will be part of the Harry Potter Genre.

Edgar Cramer will be taking the position of SL of Diagon Alley.

Congratulations Edgar, make us proud.

Eddie

****
Appointment #58

Due to Edgar's removal as SL of Hogwarts in order for him to take the role of SL at Diagon Alley the Council of Elders looked at two candidates to take over as the SL of Hogwarts.

The first candidate was Alexius ('Lex) Pendragon. 'Lex was considered due to the fact that he was the original SL of Hogwarts and under his guidance Hogwarts reigned as the best Sim of RTE for many months often appearing in the top five of the SSR's.

The second candidate was Dondi Ratliff. Dondi served as the ASL under Edgar and has excelled in keeping the Sim moving in one direction or another as well as handling the wonderful job of contacting new members on the roster and assisting them in getting acclimated into the sim.

The members of the Council felt that either the original SL or the current ASL would do a great job of keeping Hogwarts as one of the strongest sims in RTE.

So after many debates as well as many listings of pros and cons it was finally decided to offer the new SL the position.

So without further adieu it is with great pride and deepest pleasure that we the Council of Elders appoint Dondi Ratliff to the position of Sim Leader of Hogwarts.

Along with this promotion to SL Dondi is also hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice.

Congratulations Dondi, make us proud.

Eddie

Jamie Chamberlain elected to Board of Founders

Over the last few months Board Member Edgar Cramer has led a search for a replacement for the open Board of Founder spot which resulted from Jessica McClary's retirement from AJJE Games. The Board wishes her well in all she does and took the task of replacing her seriously. Almost a dozen potential candidates were reviewed. Of those, a half dozen or so were given a set of questions by the Board of Founders and in some cases asked follow up questions.

We are pleased to announce that Jamie Chamberlain has been elected to the Board of Founders effective immediately. Jamie joined AJJE Games in April of 2006, almost four years ago. Jamie was one of the original players to join his home club, LOTW, when it had its grand opening in March of 2006. Since that time he has served as a CO in LOTW as well as one of the Operational Leaders of the Operations Team in LOTW.

In accordance with the AJJE Guiding Principles, the 20% ownership in AJJE Games that was once held by Jessica McClary shall transfer over to Jamie Chamberlain and he shall have one vote in all situations requiring a Board of Founder vote.

Please join us in welcoming Jamie to the Board of Founders.

Regards,

Alex Verdusco
Edgar Cramer
Jud Bennett

LOTW votes to update Administration Handbook

Resolution #35

LOTW voted that we update the Administration Handbook, essentially because there are a couple of things that could do with being added (like the job description for the OOC Lounge Moderators and how that department works). The Handbook itself can be found linked from the MOTD here in Parliament.

The vote results are as follows:

For: 44
Against: 1
Abstain: 7

The Resolution has therefore passed!

The total turnout percent was 67.5% (56 out of some 83 members), a significant increase on the 60.27% of our last election (44 voters out of 73 members)!

It may also be worth mentioning that within four days of voting, we had ten of our fourteen sims at over 50% turn-out, and four at over 70%. About half a week later we had our first sim reach 100% turn-out. By the close of voting, some sims had soared up the 'turn-out league', and we had two at 100%, eight at over 75%, and all our sims had reached at least 50% turn-out.

Something Election Coordinator Robert Longtin said during the campaign to publicise the vote really spoke to me. He shared with the COs the turn-out percentages and called it their "personal contribution". I'm so moved by this, it is so true. Our turning out to vote on issues that direct our club is our personal contribution to the growth and success of this awesome community.

It's my pleasure to serve you. The best is still ahead.

Ashley Leighton Plom
Parliament Leader
March 26th, 2010

Alliance Camp to close

The Leaders of the Wave have determined that due to continuous low participation rates and a general lack of enthusiam, the Alliance Camp of OTOP's Unification War is to be deactivated and its players transferred to other active sims. The Independent Camp will comntinue, as it is a viable sim with an active story line and players.

Mike Palmer
Chief Area Leader