From popserver Fri Jul 20 01:21:14 GMT 1995 X-POP3-Rcpt: paradis@netrail Return-Path: Date: Wed, 19 Jul 1995 20:53:31 -0400 From: Leo the Lion To: paradis@netrail.net Subject: [paradis@era.ERA.COM: [sashi@feith1.FEITH.COM: IC - AB Notes I (Sashi German)]] X-POP3-Rcpt: paradis@netrail Return-Path: From: "Sashi Alexandra German" Date: Wed, 19 Jul 1995 02:39:41 -0400 X-Mailer: ZM-Win (3.2.1 09Sep94) To: starfleet@mailhost.panix.com, rgn7sf@hr.bellcore.com Subject: IC - AB Notes I (Sashi German) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Welcome to the first of four postings I have for you all. This first two posts contains my detailed notes (including facts and direct quotes from the participants) from all the Admiralty Board meetings. The Third posting contains detailed notes (including quotes) of the public events, including Opening Grand Ceremonies on Saturday and the open Executive Committee and Admiralty Board meetings later in the weekend. The fourth posting reflects my person thoughts on what I saw and heard - more feelings than relating facts - just my reactions to the facts as I saw them. Anyone has my permission to pass these reviews and comments as far as the eye can see. As a former journalist I have tried to be as objective as possible with relating the facts as I saw them. I hope those of you reading this material will get at least SOME sense of what was said and done. It should clear up some of the confusion I have sensed on the Internet the last couple of days. Any comments or questions or flames are welcome. Live Long & Prosper, Fleet Captain Sashi (Alexandra) German Deputy Chief of Staff, Region-7 CO - USS Thagard, Philadelphia PA sashi@feith.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following are detailed notes I took at all Admiralty Board meetings the weekend of the Starfleet International Conference in Atlanta the weekend of July 14-16, 1995. I was able to attend these meetings with the permission of Region 7 RC Bob Vosseller as Region 7 Deputy Chief of Staff and assistant to Region-7 Proxy Michael D. Smith. I was never a voting member at any time. I was just an observer who took notes and spoke up only twice. I apologize for any information I may have gotten wrong, including misspellings or wrong last names. I got the best information I could. I hope the information is not too confusing... Please keep in mind that in no way shape or form are these OFFICIAL notes of any kind: they are *MY* personal notes and reflect many many facts as well as a little bit of commentary taken at the time. These notes are not sanctioned by any party, including the McGinnis Administration or Region-7. As a former network news journalist, I have tried to be as objective as possible. I think that anyone reading these notes can see that many people looked good and bad at many points: I did not hide anything, I simply wrote things as I saw them. You can all decide for yourselves what happened. Take care, and please try and get the FACTS FIRST before making any rash decisions about leaving Fleet or striking back. Thanks for your time. All flames welcome! I have nothing to hide! Peace and Long Life, Fleet Captain Sashi (Alexandra) German Deputy Chief of Staff, Region-7 CO - USS Thagard, Philadelphia PA sashi@feith.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST ADMIRALTY BOARD MEETING 7/14/1995 11:04PM Meeting was held in the International Room downstairs, with everyone seated in random order. PRESENT: Dan McGinnis, FADM Debra Nelson, VCOMdr Linda Reynolds, Chief of Shuttle Operations Doug Glenn, Chief of Communications Cindy Krell, Chief of Operations Wayne Cavalier, Acting Chief of Computer Operations Bjo Trimble and a PROXY present for the Academy Dr. David Miller, McGinnis Chief of Staff ********** Nelson Chief of Staff (never got the name) Jack Hopkins, Inspector General Jeanette Maddox, former FADM (attended some, but not all the meetings) Region-1: Debra Leafy PROXY for RC Linda Neighbors Region-2: RC Kelly Hilliard with Mike Henigan as PROXY later in the weekend Region-3: RC Brad Pense (with PROXY Friday Evening) Region-4: Acting RC Gary Decker Region 5: Lisa Berkenbilt PROXY for RC Robert Hilton Region-6: RC Dave Kloempken Region-7: Michael D. Smith PROXY for RC Bob Vosseller Region-9: Zack **** (didn't get last name) for RC Beate Gellings Region-10: Laura Reardon PROXY for RC April Gorman Region-11: Marian Muprhey-Tompkins PROXY for RC Jennifer Yates Region-12: Coyote Region-13: Linda **** (didn't get last name) as PROXY for RC Linda Ciaschini Region-14: Shirley Weaver PROXY for RC Dean Strickland Region-15: RC Alan Ravitch Region-16: Eric Gaye PROXY for RC Adam Self Region-17: Debra Daniels PROXY for RC Charlotte Hower - FADM Dan McGinnis began the meeting, with various programming changes discussed, most Regional Coordinators and whatnot unable to attend scheduled AB meetings Saturday because of conflicts with panels. - Dan thanked Kelly Hilliard and Mike Henigan for their organizing of the IC. - This is the first time every region in Starfleet has been represented at an International convention. - He said there was a packet he was going to distribute shortly to the RCs, which included several motions. The plan was to go through all these proposals -- or as many as possible over the weekend. Any OTHER topics people wanted introduced would occur AFTER the booklet was completed. Then people could introduce items when they want (My personal impression was that everyone KNEW what he meant when he said 'any other proposals' - i.e. the Questar matter.) - Every Admiralty Board vote will be recorded and printed in the Communiqui. Proxy votes will be stated as such. - We were told that the contents of briefing package were NOT to be discussed with anyone this weekend outside the AB and personal staff, i.e. Gag Order. Contents of package were also not to appear on any electronic service while the IC was on. - Task force reports, such as election reform & constitution reform were included in the handouts. - FADM McGinnis then announced he wanted to meet individually with each AB member, for about 5 minutes to get to know one another better??? - Packets were handed out to members where each regional Rep or RC having to sign for their copies. - FADM McGinnis said all material from the IC must go from Proxies to their RCs: responsibility of the that falling to the proxie. - FADM McGinnis was asked if contents of package could be shared with any staff present at the convention: YES, however gag order applied to them as well. Just for the weekend. - In the handout, one of the final motions was regarding a porposal on how RCs were to be removed. Dan announced that motion was to be considered tabled and removed. - FADM McGinnis said the packet addressed several issues that Starfleet has had over the years and it is time to have closure on these issues - that's the goal for the weekend. - In the packet there are suggestions, some offered as areas for discussion, some specific motions with possible amendments. - Policy is to be set by the Admiralty Board present - since all of them there. - Acting R4RC Gary Decker asked about being able to bring into the AB meetings an outside agenda: FADM McGinnis said as soon as ALL the agenda items were completed, THEN other motions could be entertained. (With over 20 items on the agenda, it occurred to many that there was NO WAY any 'outside motions' could possibly be brought in this weekend). - Decker asked rules for meeting procedures: could we bring in new motions. FADM McGinnis said rules would not be used unless needed. - The very first AB meeting scheduled for Saturday would be at 1:00pm and would last two hours. - Issue concerning R15RC Alan Ravitch and R5 Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt came up, because the AB meeting was scheduled to go into their 2pm-3pm panel time. IC organizer Mike Henigan said the panel HAD to go on as scheduled, with Alan excused from panel, but Lisa would HAVE to do the panel because of her Proxy status (not being an RC). - FADM McGinnis said the AB meeting time and schedule would NOT be changed. He said the principal responsibility this weekend was for the RCs to attend AB meetings. He said it's a scheduling issue with the convention (Hilliard & Hennigan) not him. - He reminded people this is a fan club. No name calling required, etc. Said he wants to get through agenda - which is going to be difficult. - FADM McGinnis reminded everyone that we can't solve 20 years worth of problems in a few months (something he said a lot over the weekend). - AB is to meet Saturday afternoon, then after the banquet dinner, and again on Sunday afternoon at the open AB meeting. - FADM McGinnis and Debra Nelson then left the room and took aside every RC, after asking them all to make sure they had read the very first page of the handout (Regarding four new committees AB members would be staff). SECOND ADMIRALTY BOARD MEETING 7/15/1995 1:19PM (There were specific documents and their numbers discussed at this meeting, some of which I missed because I did not have the documents in front me as all the AB members did. Apologies for the missing information. Lisa Berkenbilt and Shirley Weaver are in a better position to explain those specifics). - All Regional coordinators present and EC. - Others present: FCaptain Sashi German (R7/USS Thagard), Captain Max Majios (R4), Captain Unicorn Escabedo(R4/USS Atradies), Captain Andrea Haag (R5/USS Valkyrie), Laura Flippin with CoO Cindy Krell, Reid Stanley with Deb Leafy (R1) - FADM McGinnis asked if any AB members had objections to extra observers being present and their were no objections (big sigh of relief from the back of the room...) - Alan Ravitch proposal AB95-0011 was discussed (briefly). - FADM McGinnis wanted to go over the four committees he presented in the Friday meeting and handout: Idea was to divide the AB members into four committees: * FINANCE COMMITTEE: - Committee would handle budgetary concerns. Committee would talk about expanding budget. Create budget for Starfleet to work with. - Committee would also get regular reports about the treasury and get regular financial records. This would be a 5-member committee - Acting R4RC Gary Decker asked who would be the approving body regarding finances, FADM McGinnis said committee would receive the reports on financial status of Starfleet. (did FADM answer the question?) - FADM McGinnis said each AB member can only serve on one committee. Creating this committee requires an amendment to the Constitution for Committee to determine expenses. - SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE: - Scholarship funds have been separate and are to be handles differently. This committee would be the oversight committee, and would oversee how the awards are given out. FADM McGinnis mentioned how there is money in these scholarships available, but no one is applying for them. R5Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt said many people do not know how to apply for the awards and get the rules, but FADM McGinnis said all info has often been included the Communiqui. - R12RC Coyote commented that lack of Communiquis did not help in latter 1994. - It was asked about how Sue Hampton's position with the scholarships would be effected by this Committee, FADM McGinnis said he didn't think that would effect her. - R15RC Alan Ravitch suggested the information about the scholarships should be included in membership packages and handbooks to try and make sure people are aware of the programs. - R5Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt mentioned that the new Starfleet handbooks sent out upon renewal and joining the Fleet takes some time to get out to everyone. The new handbooks issued in January are not even out yet to all the membership. CORPORATION COMMITTEE: - Would handle the tax and business aspect of Starfleet. - Tax returns would go to this committee, and Committee would receive specifications to make sure the organization KEPT its corporate non-profit status. A check list would be created to make sure we were to stay legal. MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE: - Oversee what other committees do not. - FADM McGinnis said NO committee would have total jurisdiction over its own topic. AB members should feel free to be able to give proposals to other committees. - Proposals take 45 days to get decisions on. The corporation committee would most likely have national/American committee members because International members would not be that familiar with American law. - Committee terms: staggered, rotating, by one year, etc. FADM McGinnis asked everyone for suggestions on how length of terms should be handled. - FADM McGinnis said he was looking to have 5 committee people per board, with 23 AB members. - R5Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt asked FADM McGinnis if this extra Committee work could be handled by the AB members who already have a lot of responsibility? Isn't this just even more of a workload? - FADM McGinnis responded that there were now many regions with at least two VRCs, so it's a case of the RC deciding to delegate authority properly. - FADM McGinnis reminded people that these committees supersede the Constitution - we should expect that. - Staggered years seems to be the best way to go for Committee terms. (At this point it got so hot in the room, Mike Henigan was sent out to try and get a fan or two for the meeting room. He was unsuccessful). - The measure regarding Committees was put up for vote when R5Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt came forward with an objection, saying there were "more pressing issues" that really needed to be dealt with first by the AB. Acting R4RC Gary Decker seconded Lisa's objection to the vote, and brought up the fact that many ships in the Fleet have made votes of their own on an issue that effects the entire organization. Decker urged the AB to look at issue. - R5Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt, R7Proxy Mike Smith, R15RC Alan Ravitch, R14Proxy Shirley Weaver and Acting R4RC Gary Decker all voted for going to discussion on the Questar issue. - R16Proxy Eric Gay and R12RC Coyote both called for the return to the voting issue on the floor for Committees: And discussion continued on the Committees. - Acting R5RC Gary Decker said Constitutional amendments must require membership approval. He said AB members needed more than a little over 12 hours to review the material handed our Friday evening. FADM McGinnis said Region 4 will probably object to everything and objection is noted. The Committees amendment was passed. FADM McGinnis saying all amendments are to be moved on to the membership. AB95-0001 entered as officially passed with 5 abstentions: Regions 4, 5, 7, 17, 14 (in protest to Questar matter not being brought up). Throughout the afternoon session, these regions voted to abstain in objection to the Questar Issue not being recognized for discussion. - Captain Unicorn Escobedo (USS Atradies/R1) objected to the Gag rule, after Marian Murphey-Tompkins pointed out that everyone is under the gag rule and needs to remember that with the voting taking place. Escobedo quoted the Fleet Constitution saying we all have the right to voice our opinions at any level of Starfleet. - FADM McGinnis ignored the comment and went on with the meeting and the working of the packet. - FAMILY MEMBERSHIP RATE ADJUSTMENTS - Abuses are being detected, with some applications listing 15 to 25 people as family members. - Issue became WHAT it is families want: premium gift, pad, handbook, Communiquis. - R14Proxy Shirley Weaver talked about how traditional families are YES, a part of Starfleet, but so are other types of non-traditional families that need to be taken into account. - Family membership was finally redefined as 'household,' with up to 10 people considered a household, and a charge of $2 per person after that. To go into effect: January 1, 1996. - Household defined as related by blood, marriage, guardianship or life partnership residing in the same household. LIFETIME & HONORARY MEMBERSHIPS - R1Proxy Debra Leafy requested the honorary and lifetime memberships be separate issues to vote on. Was granted. - It was suggested that free/honorary Starfleet memberships be given away to all 'major Star Trek stars.' It was asked if that was really necessary because of current monetary concerns in Starfleet. - Motioned passed to have honorary Starfleet membership NOT given to Trek stars, Motion: 95004: Motion not passed 7- 10 - 6 with 6 abstentions - Wording was then changed to OFFER honorary membership instead of just give away (wording of the motion was changed after the official vote. What happened?) STUDENT MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM - R12RC Coyote's project, getting school children and their teachers to join Starfleet in groups. Her initial plan: 1 adult 5 kids, 5-9th grade, $45 annually with $5 per child. 5-years to 17 years old. - This project was sent to the Membership Committee because it seemed to fall into their pervue. It was moved to have the meeting adjourned until 8:00pm after the evening banquet. THIRD ADMIRALTY BOARD MEETING 7/15/1995 8:33pm - Region 3 Regional Coordinator Brad Pence joined the meetings for the first time (wasn't able to make it to the IC until Sat evening). - VCOMdr Debra Nelson wanted to make a motion that we limited topic discussion to 10 minutes. If, after 10 minutes the subject was not resolved, than discussion was to be tabled. This was generally agreed to everyone because the previous meeting (Saturday afternoon) had gone so slowly). MODIFICATION OF THE MEMBERSHIP PACKET - R1Proxy Deb Leafy recommended a committee look into membership materials being mailed separately or together. - There was a recommendation to send materials 2nd class, but FADM McGinnis stated that Starfleet was not approved for 2nd class mail status. Starfleet failed in the educational aspect, even with its scholarship programs. - Proposal was made to send membership certificate first, and everything else later. - R5Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt asked about how strapped Starfleet was for money, with all this consideration going into how to send the membership packages more cheaply. FADM McGinnis said Starfleet is NOT strapped for money, however we're just trying to reduce costs. Lisa asked about cost analysis and by then Debra Nelson announced we had reached the 10 minute limit -- R7Proxy Michael Smith moved the matter be put to committee. It was passed. FOREIGN DISTRIBUTION POINTS FOR MEMBERSHIP MATERIALS: - R5Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt asked about International laws, cost-benefit analysis regarding creating a foreign hub for membership processing. R13Proxy Linda ***** (didn't get last name) said the problem in Canada is it takes about 2 weeks for mail to get around. - Linda said it would be great to be able to create a program where Canadian money could be accepted for membership money instead of only American dollars. She said the exchange rate is often so poor for American dollars, potential members wind up holding off on joining, waiting got the exchange rate to go up (which often never happens) and potential members are just lost. - AB debate ensued regarding making provisions for other foreign countries, but it came back to Canada being closer, and with someone there willing to volunteer to enact a program, Region 13, Canada was a good place to start. - Operations Chief Cindy Krell talked about how this was a good thing to see because this was a natural progression of a growing organization in being able to handle its International members. She said it's a great opportunity. - Motion was passed to put the subject to Committee. PROMOTION CRITERIA & PROCEDURE - Proposal to make sure people are recognized for their efforts AND standardize the promoting format of Starfleet Officers. - Subject was moved to Committee. - R7Proxy Mike Smith commented that Flag rank promotion recommendations should go through the RCs. - Motion to refer to Committees was passed. NOMINATION TO FILL VACANCIES POLICY & PROCEDURE - R1Proxy Deb Leafy moved to pass the measure as written (I didn't have the measure to write here for your reference) - R15RC Alan Ravitch brought up how there problems with Wayne Cavalier having been appointed as Chief of Computer Operations without proper procedure. - Issue regarding the Regional Coordinators came up and how they should be put into office. FADM McGinnis maintained that if the majority of a region wanted to chose one particular individual to serve as RC, that was fine, but he insisted that the FADM was to retain the right to appoint who he wanted. It was asked that even if an entire region wanted ONE person, did that mean the FADM would still appoint someone else? FADM McGinnis said yes. - At this point I (FCaptain Sashi German R7/USS Thagard) pointed out how this exact issue being discussed had ALREADY been covered in detail by the Constitution Reform Task Force headed by Anita Davis and included in the handout package by FADM McGinnis. I said that as someone who had served on that reform committee, it was very clear in feedback from the membership that people wanted the RCs ELECTED not APPOINTED by the FADM. - Motion to have FADM appoint the position was passed 7-5-1 CHAPTER CHARTER PROGRAM: - Motion was to begin to charge shuttles $15 for the right to begin their journey as a shuttle in Starfleet. This money would be due every year from chapters to renew their charter (?). - FADM McGinnis said more money was needed and this was one way to do it. The majority of the money Starfleet received is through membership. Much of that money goes toward the membership packet. FADM McGinnis said Starfleet certainly isn't broke, but more funds coming in would be good to cover extra expenses. - R5Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt passed on that R5RC Robert Hilton said the current membership fees do not equal the benefits. She said he does not feel any extra fee is needed. - FADM McGinnis responded that for starters, Starfleet's annual audit is $1,200 and the money for that must come from somewhere. - VCOMdr Debra Nelson said extra moneys are needed for the publication of the handbook, forms, charters, rosters, master forms, etc. - R15RC Alan Ravitch proposed having direct e-mail through Internet and other electronic services as a way to save money to exchange information. R11Proxy Marian Murphey-Tompkins and R1Proxy Deb Leafy both objected to e-mail proposal. - Original fee proposal was to have fee changed from $20 to $10. It was then voted to change it to $12 instead. 7-5-1. Motion was passed. MEMBERSHIP HANDBOOK MODIFICATIONS: (Submitted by R5RC Robert Hilton before conference) - Much of Hilton's proposal had to do (it seemed) with Paramount and legalities. Also, it was generally not understand by the AB what Hilton was inferring in some of his proposals, FADM McGinnis guessing it had to do with the Handbook, R15RC Alan Ravitch saying he thought it was in reference to the DTS mess of earlier in the year. - Academy Director Bjo Trimble said it was not a good idea to seek Paramount approval for anything, which is what it looked like Hilton was proposing. Bjo said Paramount was interested in money ONLY and that some of Hilton's wording could actually get Starfleet into trouble. - R12RC Coyote said she needed to understand the 2nd part of Hilton's proposal, R5Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt trying to explain it: Lisa said the issue dealt with both DTs and the handbook, but mostly with DTS. - FADM McGinnis moved to introduce the measure for the sake of discussion (can't discuss something without a motion being moved I guess). - The motion was denied, with R5Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt against the motion denial - everyone else for it. - Regarding the third measure of Robert Hilton's, R15RC Alan Ravitch said the measure was redundant because it was already covered in the handbook. - FADM McGinnis declared he wanted to create a policy to go from the EC to the AB. Debate went along the lines of DTS, FADM McGinnis saying NO changes had ever taken effect under his administration (this was stated after the whole Michael Corwat/DTS debacle was mention with reference to the On-line networks, where DTS policy was apparently changed, but FADM McGinnis stated it never had been changed). - It was stated that any handbook changes should go through AB -- reason being that changes were made between FADM Lerman and FADM McGinnis handbooks... and those changes should have been brought to the attention of the AB. - Motion not passed by a vote of 7-14-2 - FADM McGinnis proposed that for the future, starting after HIS current handbook, no changes be made without 'consulting' the AB. - FADM McGinnis proposal accepted, after changing to 'approval' of the AB, and not 'consulting.' ((((BREAK TAKEN)))) ADMIRALTY BOARD MEETING RESUMED 10:09pm - Acting R4RC Gary Decker opened the session concerning the new handbook, wondering about its approval by the AB. Dan said handbook has been put into effect since January 1, 1995 and that it's the starting handbook from which we can work from. Several AB members said they had no copies of the handbook, and Dr. David Miller passed out extra copies. - Decker said he had never even seen the handbook before which is why he was wondering where it came from and how it came about. COMPOSITION OF REGIONS - R12RC Coyote moved, and R11Proxy Marian Murphey-Tompkins seconded, to keep the current Starfleet regions as they are. - R15RC Alan Ravitch brought up the idea of changing representation of the AB to more accurately reflect the regional membership, with larger regions containing more members to have more representation (like the US Congress). - R16Proxy Eric Gay asked about the state of Hawaii, and how it changed from one region to another. Apparently it was done because a number of military Fleet members were transferred and they wanted to stay in the same region (something like that). General discussion about issue of military personnel transferring ensued, as well as the issue of postage cost to military personnel. - Motion was made to accept regions as they are, but to look into international boundaries. - Motion officially tabled. CITY OF CHARTER RESOLUTION CLARIFICATIONS: - Idea is that chapters must declare a city of charter, this issue caused by chapters on regional boundary lines. Example of Lisa Berkenbilt with the USS IDIC in Region 7 was brought up, where she is on the boundary of Regions 1 + 7, and is off a Region-7 mothership, but her shuttle Athena is in Region-1. - R15RC Alan Ravitch asked about COs living far away from their city of charter. - Motion stated: Each chapter must have its CO within a reasonable location of its chartered city. - Motion to adjourn the meeting until 8:00am Sunday. There had no meeting been scheduled at 8:00am, however many felt it was necessary to get together one more time before the Open AB meeting Sunday afternoon at 1pm. FOURTH ADMIRALTY BOARD MEETING 7/16/1995 8:43AM (The meeting was scheduled to start at 8:00am. However FADM McGinnis and the EC were missing until 8:45am when they all walked in together. Dan took his place at the head of the room with the entire EC standing behind him, unlike previous sessions where everyone, except FADM McGinnis, was seated in front in rows of tables. I have to personally comment here that it came across as rather confrontational.) - Operations Chief Cindy Krell immediately started handing out Operations material, to be used as a guidelines for RCs in passing on information to her department. She said the forms didn't have to be used... but she wanted all the information indicated on her new forms. - FADM McGinnis addressed the RCs in front of him and announced that the EC had three new resolutions it wished to bring up for immediately vote before the AB: 1) Janis Moore has been removed as R4 RC. EC has passed it unanimously. He wanted the Admiralty Board to pass it as well. - After the shock and mumbling had worn off, Acting R4RC Gary Decker asked WHY and FADM McGinnis asked Academy Director Bjo Trimble to speak up: - Bjo said Janis Moore was Maqui, had an account on Internet even though Moore denied it profusely, and had spent much of her time spreading lies and creating problems, including discouraging people from joining Starfleet and/or renewing their membership. - FADM McGinnis addressed the AB again and said dilatory tactics in general had been involved all weekend to hurt Starfleet, the EC feeling that the Questar issue has nothing to do with Starfleet, and that matter would be delt with in other venues. - FADM McGinnis said he had been open about everything. He said he was very 'amused' by Acting R4RC Gary Decker's statements that he had never seen the new handbook before. He said that was a reason why Janis Moore needed to be removed -- she wasn't informing her region of happenings on Fleet level such as a new handbook. - Operations Chief Cindy Krell said some people have chosen to make Questar the business of Starfleet. She feels it is a legal matter, and until legal action is taken, there is nothing to do. She said she does not agree with everything Dan has done, but the running of the Fleet has been better than ever before. Any movement to remove Dan and Debra would tear the organization to shreds. People are innocent until proven guilty and so far Dan is not guilty of anything. She said it is not in our constitution to remove someone on the basis we are talking about. Part II in next Posting -- -*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,. SASHI ALEXANDRA GERMAN CO - USS Thagard, Starfleet, Region-7 -- Philadelphia, PA (USA) Star Trek Club - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Trek The Internet [Internet based Science Fiction newsletter - $15 a year] [For those with too little time to keep up with it all!] PO Box 255 Ardmore, PA 19003 sashi@feith.com -*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,. From popserver Fri Jul 20 01:21:20 GMT 1995 X-POP3-Rcpt: paradis@netrail Return-Path: Date: Wed, 19 Jul 1995 20:53:48 -0400 From: Leo the Lion To: paradis@netrail.net Subject: [paradis@era.ERA.COM: [sashi@feith1.FEITH.COM: IC - AM Notes II (Sashi German)]] X-POP3-Rcpt: paradis@netrail Return-Path: From: "Sashi Alexandra German" Date: Wed, 19 Jul 1995 02:41:04 -0400 X-Mailer: ZM-Win (3.2.1 09Sep94) To: starfleet@mailhost.panix.com, rgn7sf@hr.bellcore.com Subject: IC - AM Notes II (Sashi German) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Ab Meetings Post II - Acting R4RC Gary Decker argued that the Constitution was being used to squelch freedom of speech. Cindy Krell responded that Janis Moore should have gone to Dan first using the Chain of Command and THEN send out letters she sent (not being from R4 or privy to that information I personally had NO idea WHAT they were talking about. I assume everyone else did).. - FADM McGinnis said Janis had broken every rule of Starfleet's Code of Conduct. In addition to that, he felt the general welfare of region was pretty bad. - Gary Decker said he wanted the names of the COs in Seattle who apparently had such big problems with Janis. - R1Proxy Deb Leafy said that Janis Moore HAS rights, just as FADM McGinnis does, and that proof IS needed to dismiss her. If Janis did what she is accused of, than Linda Neighbors would go with dismissal. But if she was innocent, she would not want removal. - R2Proxy Mike Henigan brought up the report of a Vote of Confidence taken recently at a regional conference. He said the poll came out 50-50. - Gary Decker brought up the Jack Hopkins Inspector General report on Janis Moore (that was handed out at the Friday AB), Hopkins saying he still had wanted specifics from David Miller of e-mail and where it came from which complained about Moore. Gary implied lack of proof to dismiss Janis even with the FADM's own IG's report. - Deb Leafy maintained that Region 1 wanted to make Moore's removal based on the accusation that she wasn't reporting to Headquarters (to FADM McGinnis, not just Operations/Cindy Krell). Removal had to based on that, not on other unsubstantiated issues. - RCs were asked to generally comment on the Janis Moore situation, R1Proxy Deb Leafy and Operations Chief Cindy Krell both stating that Janis Moore should have known better and should have been directly reporting to FADM McGinnis all this time. Jeannette Maddox, former Starfleet FADM, said Moore never even reported to headquarters when SHE was in office over two years ago. - R12RC Coyote talked about the dissemination of information and what is required of an RC. Coyote said she is considered 'the bad girl of Starfleet' because she chose not to poll her chapters on the Questar issue and removal of Dan & Debra. She said she felt it was a personal matter... so what was she suppose to do other than spread rumors? Coyote said she felt Janis Moore had not lived up to her duty as an RC, is not reporting, is playing games, and not acting like an adult. Said if a new handbook has been in effect for several months and why hadn't she spread that information to her other chapters, including senior VRC Gary Decker? - At this point FADM McGinnis angrily stated that R5Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt was only typing on her laptop comments made by him and not by Coyote. Lisa said she did. FADM McGinnis said he watched her the entire time and she didn't type one thing Coyote said - only his comments. Lisa responded that her intention was to later transcribe more accurately from the audio tape she had running. - The motion for removal of Janis Moore was passed: Passed 15 -5 -1. Several regions, including 5 and 7 chose to abstain because they felt they needed to contact their RCs for instructions and did not feel comfortable making such an important vote without instructions. 2) The EC by unanimous vote has removed Alan Ravitch as Region 15 RC because of information brought up that was to be distributed later (?????) - Bill Herman, Director of Subspace Communications came up and said in tears that he felt he has been used, manipulated and even burned in effigy but said he is now in complete solidarity with the EC. He said the whole effort behind bringing the Questar issue to the forefront was being done to destroy the leadership of the organization. - He said when the Questar matter broke, he tried to find out information and facts about the matter. He said he tried to find the truth. He talked to people and get information from both sides and tried desperately to consolidate the two sides. But when private letters he sent to Dan were distributed to the Wheatons and then publicly, he couldn't believe such tactics could be taking place. He was very VERY upset because his name was on all these documents that were never suppose to get out. - R15RC Alan Ravitch at this point said he wanted evidence that he was involved with what was going on because so far he hadn't heard any. He stated for the record that there was no evidence at all that he was involved in possible distribution of material involving a taped phone call with Wil Wheaton where the TNG star apparently explained the entire Questar situation and named names, places and dates and his problems with Dan. - Alan Ravitch said he wanted due process just like everyone else. He said that he wanted the same rights that every member had. He said he knew it was a matter of time before he was removed and was amazed he had lasted in office this long. He stated that the political reality of the weekend was that anything FADM McGinnis wanted done this weekend WOULD be done and was in fact taking place. - Inspector General Jack Hopkins asked FADM McGinnis specifically what the charges against Alan Ravitch were (we had gone almost 5-10 minutes without even hearing what the charges were...) IG asked for charges. - FADM McGinnis stated that over last 8 months his administration had tried to reconcile with Alan, but had failed. That Alan took all his problems and accusations against the McGinnis Administration to the Internet and electronic services and NOT directly to Dan and his people. He said many RCs had asked for Alan's removal. - At this point R11Proxy Marian Murphey-Tompkins said her region 11 RC wanted to have Alan removed, especially because she (Jennifer Yates) had received material regarding the Questar matter that she didn't want. She felt the material was full of innuendo. She quoted Article 4 section 2 of the Constitution where RCs are appointed by FADM, and they want Alan removed because he has attempted to intervene in the Internal politics of other regions. That he has brought private, business-related aspects of a member into the public as an issue. Marian then read the Code of Conduct saying Alan had blatantly violated many of the rules. Marian said the 'Pace Setters' of the Fleet live by that code, and he has violated it. - Marian then moved to have Alan be removed from office AND have his Starfleet membership revoked. After several mumblings in the room, FADM McGinnis responded that the motion stood for Alan's removal as RC ONLY. - FADM McGinnis then said it was time to move on. That time has been taken from efforts to form the modern Starfleet. And even with "dilatory tactics" by others, business has been able to go on. He then thanked Alan Ravitch for voting during the AB meetings during the weekend, while others had chosen not to (namely Regions 4, 5, 7, 14 and 17). - R16Proxy Eric Gay seconded the motion for Alan Ravitch's removal. - R13Proxy Linda ***** (didn't get the last name) said the region is in full support of FADM McGinnis, that personal business is not to be involved in Fleet business, that if Fleet is not careful, it will go the way of IFT and the problems they had (not specifics were mentioned). - R2Proxy Mike Henigan said he has talked about facts, on how he has agreed and disagreed with Dan. Brought up the CNN quote of Alan's on the Mailing List saying Alan made the whole situation MUCh worse in talking about bad publicity, etc. That it went on much longer than it should have and he was just making things worse. - R7Proxy Mike Smith said many On-line have been quite are sick of what has been going on politicaly. It was pointed out that R2RC Kelly Hilliard actually left the AB meetings because he was so sick about what was going on. - Inspector General Jack Hopkins said he had seen Alan fan the flames for weeks on Internet and that it was his personal opinion that Alan's On-line behavior had been unconscionable. He said the whole CNN issue brought up was grossly inappropriate. He then pleaded with Alan to resign instead of being removed. H also told FADM McGinnis that if his expressing a personal opinion as IG was a violation of his office, he would gladly resign, but he felt the need to express his feelings in the matter. - Alan Ravitch replied that he would not step down because his region was 100% behind him, and as was pointed out at the meeting, he had a 100% perfect reporting record. R1Proxy Deb Leafy said she saw no other way to go than to have Alan removed even with a perfect reporting record. That the harm he had inflicted via the Internet was just too much. - Alan Ravitch replied that he felt he did what he had to do, and now the AB was doing what it felt it had to do. - R7Proxy Mike Smith said he would have to check with R7RC Bob Vosseller first before voting because of the gravity of the situation, and that personally he felt he could not vote on the issue because of his negative feelings against Alan over the years. - The vote was Called: 15-3-4, with several abstentions from proxies who felt they could not vote on this issue without first speaking with their RC. - Acting R4RC Gary Decker asked if Alan had to leave the room now that he was no longer an RC. R11Proxy Marian Murphy-Tompkins said it was necessary for him to leave because of his actions relating to the Internet and what he would do with the information. - Alan replied that he was going to leave because he did not want to stay. He said the AB had done more harm this weekend than anything he had been accused of. He wished the peace of God with everyone and that this was the first time he was ever ashamed to be with the Fleet. He said he prayed that Fleet would find its voice and return to an atmosphere of fun and decency and not punish people for condemnation. - Academy Director Bjo Trimble shot back that there were people who specifically stated that they had not joined Starfleet because of what Alan had said on the Internet. She said she had names she could back up that claim with. - With the actions just taken, FADM McGinnis stated that the group had just had gotten stronger not weaker. - At this point former Starfleet FADM Jeanette Maddox stood up and addressed the AB. She said that Star Trek is a set of ideals that we all live by. That it's suppose to be a fan club. It's a way of looking at your fellow man and trying to make a difference. The world is full people who want to make a difference. She said she felt Starfleet had changed over the years, for the better, the organization now filled with a vast diversity of people. She said it's a club that is full of credibility. What fan club does what Starfleet does? She said that Starfleet was still a fragile flower that we mist take care of, and that subversive tactics were just not acceptable on any level. (At this point there seemed to be quite a commotion outside the closed doors of the AB meeting. There were several loud voiced of people yelling -- I was sitting at the back of the room and even I couldn't really make out what was being said. Mike Henigan and Debra Nelson said later that they were a group of angry members who had been waiting for over an hour for a scheduled panel to begin in the room the AB was in, and that they were angry there was such a wait.) - Jeanette continued, saying Starfleet would be destroyed if FADM McGinnis was removed. Too many people had put their time and lives into the organization over the last 21 years. "Don't destroy the Fleet" she said. She said we need to quit trying to destroy the fleet or the 21 years of building or the structure that 8,000 people who are members. "Fleet is great because we meet the people we are akin to. We represent a place of refuge for people." She said if people didn;t like things the way they were, they were more than welcome to stay on long enough to vote out Dan come 1996. - VCOMdr Debra Nelson stepped in at this point and said basically all Sunday morning panels were now canceled because the AB had to meet longer, impinging on member's rights. She continued, saying she felt that when they (she and Dan) initially took office, they would keep everyone (all the RCs), as long as they did their jobs and followed the Code of Conduct. But there continued an atmosphere of constant innuendo, incomplete information, falsified information by name or anonymously. Debra said this had been very upsetting and this was not the reason why she was with Starfleet. She said this was terrible to go through, but that she would stick it out. She said she felt it necessary for the AB to offer a public apology for eliminating the morning panels to make Starfleet better. - Debra Nelson said she had never seen eye to eye with Alan Ravitch, and understands the reason and justification for his removal. She then praised Alan for actually voting in the morning AB sessions (unlike other regions...) She said it was his actions on a personal issue that brought about his dismissal. - R7Proxy Mike Smith spoke up and said the problem with Questar constantly being considered a 'personal issue' was a problem in itself because they were so many Starfleet members who were concerned about the issue, and as a result it is something that should be addressed. He said he would not be surprised if the third EC motion included his own firing, but that he would save them the trouble by quitting. He concluded by saying that people should just be moving on. - Operations Chief Cindy Krell said there was no doubt that there has been an effect from the Questar issue, but on the other hand, FADM McGinnis is ALSO running the Fleet better than anyone else she had ever seen. - Acting R4RC Gary Decker talked about "fear" and how the administration seemed to look with fear at the opposition. Gary said if the Administration had been more open, perhaps none of this would have happened. He said that many people ARE being compassionate about the Questar problem, but many, at least in Region 4, are perceiving FADM McGinnis as acting with strong arm tactics and distancing himself from his membership. - FADM McGinnis replied that Gary Decker of all people should know problems of releasing information on legal issues ahead of litigation. - Academy Director Bjo Trimble spoke up, saying there IS fear involved, especially concerning the Internet. She said that there are people out there using her name illegally on Internet and she is having quotes attributed to her that she never said. She said she has an account on Genie but has never once used it . This is called Slander. - Regarding the whole problem Starfleet is facing (imminent split, people taking sides, slander against one another), R16Proxy Eric Gay said he was involved in something similar a few years ago on a more local Starfleet level in just 1 state (he didn't say which one). He said it took 7 years for Starfleet to fix its reputation in that instance. Look at this whole situation now, and how can we recover? He said the slander on the Internet and other electronic networks was an impossible situation to deal with. He said (quite accurately) that America On-line is showing us and our problems to the world ( presumably he was referring to the AOL Starfleet forum?) - Acting R4RC Gary Decker said if FADM McGinnis doesn't feel he (Gary) can do the job as new Region 4RC, than he will resign as well. That is if he is still the stand-in/Acting RC after the dismissal of Janis Moore. - FADM McGinnis said he felt Decker had a lot to contribute to the organization, but that Decker's attitude as an attorney is just not right. FADM McGinnis said Decker called the Fleet attorney about a possible lawsuit with Japan earlier in the year. Starfleet paid $185 for an 1.45 hour conversation with the Starfleet attorney. (At this point Dan and Gary went back and forth and back and forth on the specifics of the case that definitely lost some of us....). They discussed issue of counsel and consulting the FADM on important issues (as in Chain of Command), the cost of contacting attorneys, etc. - VCOMdr Debra Nelson honed in at this point on the Chain of Command aspect. That Gary Decker simply didn't follow it and that was the problem. (At this point in my notes I wrote the following: "We have a minor pack mentality here, with the EC standing up there behind Dan and going after people publicly. Could be effecting any RC's ability to speak out?"). - R2Proxy Mike Henigan said people are very angry outside the AB meeting doors and some have left Starfleet this weekend because of this problem. Mike introduced two general members who wanted to say something after having watched some of the going-ons the past hour or so. - I didn't get the name of this person, but he was a Region Zone coordinator from some region, and he said his message from the membership outside was: "get over yourselves." That this was all bullsh*t that the hierarchy of Starfleet was fighting about. - R11Proxy Marian Murphey-Tompkins replied that the AB was aware of what is going on, but that what they were doing was important. The CO of the USS Continuum said this is was all bullsh*t, but Marian replied that many things WERE getting done. - I spoke out at this point and told the two gentlemen briefly that they had not attended the previous AB meetings this weekend and had not seen some of the real work being done. They weren't seeing the whole picture of what the AB had been doing the last two days. - At this point, R5Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt, R2Proxy Mike Henigan and others agreed that they were ALL tired of the politics this weekend. - R7Proxy Mike Smith said there are two ways to see what happened this morning: the necessity of the AB meeting and the panels the membership were missing. - FADM McGinnis said the priorities for all AB members was to attend the AB meetings. Any conflicts should have been dealt with earlier. He apologized to the two gentlemen that the room had been needed for panels earlier in the morning. - Dan then starting getting rather angry. He said Region 12 has always been criticized. It has had the largest bank account of any region and has had some of the best qualities of the Fleet, yet it has always been under attack. He said he was tired of the Region 12 Finances issue - it is over and done with (I was personally surprised he made this remark because there were never ANY comments made at the AB meetings regarding this issue. I was unsure of why it was brought up.) - He said he was tired of all the criticism and akined it to a cancer that must be removed. He said you don't treat cancer with biopsies. He said you have to cut them out. He said a simple "Thank You" would be nice every once in awhile. He said people in general should be grateful for what they're getting. He said we should be hearing more about things like R12RC Coyote's project with chapter involvement making the world a better place. - He talked about the "lies on the Internet," angry about people who accused him of lying about $15,000 worth of flood damage to his home - which is not covered by any insurance. He said he was out raged that people could accuse him of that kind of thing and make up these lies. - R11Proxy Marian Murphey-Tompkins talked about her Internet problems with me (Sashi) and how a conversation with John Townsend in Philadelphia was related incorrectly to the Internet, and as a result, she saw someone who she felt was usually pretty level-headed (Me? Thanks, Marian!) suddenly start screaming about Region-12 and accusing them of interfering with R7 politics. (This was regarding a conversation Marian had with USS Malverne XO John Townsend, where Townsend reported that Marian offered to get rid of R7RC Bob Vosseller in exchange for regional support for FADM McGinnis). It appeared on this Listserve several weeks ago for you who missed it). - Marian said she wrote a long letter to me that she never sent because it was a nasty, angry letter, Marian saying she was hurt that I never checked the facts (and I apologized to her personally about that three times over the weekend. In the future I WILL check my facts.) She states flatly that she NEVER told Townsend she could make a deal like that and claimed that if she even had the power to do that she "wouldn't waste it on Bob Vosseller.' - Marian said Starfleet saved her life and she will not let the organization fail. - R1 assistant Reid Stanley stood up at this point, thanking everyone for the chance to speak up and said he had spent most of his time this weekend just observing what was going on. He said it is so very sad to see how so many people in the room have been so torn apart by what has been happening and he has to wonder if its worth staying on. But he said in a way he is glad people have been upset because it means people really DO care about what's been happening. - VCOMdr Debra Nelson stepped in, in tears, talking about Starfleet being a family for her, and how she thought she could really give a lot, but that this constant negativity has been so much of a stress on her ill fiancie that she has stopped opening her mail. She is very concerned about all of this hate going around. - Bill Herman stepped up again and criticized the politics of the whole mess. He said we should all be ashamed that anything this organization has done could even be a threat to someone like Bjo - 'the woman who saved Star Trek.' That we should be ashamed of ourselves. - Former FADM Jeanette Maddox stepped in and said the Internet and electronic networks should be used for positive things - not negative things. - R5Proxy Lisa Berkenbilt responded to Jeanette that the networks HAVE been used for positive things at times, especially for her. R12RC Coyote replied that yes, that was the case, however for every 1 positive message there have always been 10 negative ones. - Inspector General Jack Hopkins pleaded with everyone to follow the Code of Conduct and that we have got to get along and save Starfleet. He talked about how in school he - and everyone one of us - was "the geek, and the outcast" in our lives. That we all grew up feeling hurt and annoyed at people around us who were cruel and criticized us for our love of Star Trek - just a TV show. He said why should we make those nasty people right? Why should we let them win and come out being the bad people they thought we were instead of being above all of this? (He was very moving and tearful in his remarks). Shortly after Jack's speech, Debra Nelson suggested we all take a 5 minute break (we had been meeting for over two solid hours). She asked that we not rush upstairs to the Lobby and speak with people. She asked that we just go to the bathrooms, take a smoke and come back to wrap up. (((BREAK))) We returned about 10 minutes later to wrap up: - FADM McGinnis stated that the rest of the AB handout had been officially tabled. He said the AB Committees would formed and given the material left over and would be given adequate time to complete discussion on the issues. - Among the issues NOT covered: The Election and Constitution Reform Task Force Reports. - FADM McGinnis asked all RC Proxies to condense their notes from the meetings and send the handout booklet and all notes through the mail with a return receipt requested. - When the morning AB session began, FADM McGinnis stated that there were THREE motions he wanted the AB to vote on. The first two were the removal of RCs Janis Moore and Alan Ravitch. The third motion was a proposal by Region 1's Ried Stanley: AB0019: "* It is resolved by the AB that Starfleet the International Star Trek Fan Association is its members. * It is further resolved that the AB does NOT support the use if personal attacks and character assassination. * It is further resolved that STARFLEET the International Star Trek Fan association and its members should endeavor to work together for the betterment of Starfleet and our lives." - The motion was passed unanimously. - Reid Stanley addressed the AB and said we had all had had a very cathartic time this morning and it was now time to move on and get the work done. - R2Proxy Mike Henigan moved to have the canceled morning panels moved to the afternoon to satisfy the already angry membership. - Kelly Hilliard and Mike Henigan apologized for the Closed Door AB meeting policy, saying it was something THEY had arranged because of the "zoos" of past open AB meetings where there were so many people present, very little was done. - Acting R4RC Gary Decker asked FADM McGinnis what his status was as RC with Region 4. FADM McGinnis said he would get back to Gary. - Reid Stanley asked that the final motion be brought before the public membership at 1:00pm and have the Ab vote on it again publicly to show support and unification. Everyone agreed that would be done. A copy of the Stanley motion was written on a large notepad and displayed out by the Starfleet table where all AB members were asked to sign it. Meeting was adjourned. Everyone would meet again at the open AB meeting at 1:00pm. --------- Time for a little personal commentary here. It is VERY difficult for me to relate, even with these halfway decent notes, what happened Sunday morning. It was a very difficult time where people were laughing and crying and screaming and were very upset. I hate to put it this way but I guess "you had to be there" to really understand what was going on and what was said. Much of what I related about what people said was done by AB members who were in tears and very very upset (Deb Leafy and Marian Murphey-Tompkins among them). This Sunday morning session moved a great many people, including myself, and it was after this session that I resolved within myself to let the Questar issue go. I am willing to let certain things go for the good of the Fleet, and I really can't explain otherwise very well, at least right now... ------------ Please see my other postings which includes the Morning Ceremonies and Saturday open EC meeting to see what happened at the Open AB meeting Sunday. From popserver Fri Jul 20 01:21:26 GMT 1995 X-POP3-Rcpt: paradis@netrail Return-Path: Date: Wed, 19 Jul 1995 20:54:04 -0400 From: Leo the Lion To: paradis@netrail.net Subject: [paradis@era.ERA.COM: [sashi@feith1.FEITH.COM: IC - Open Mtng Notes (Sashi German)]] This is my third posting regarding the International Starfleet Conference in Atlanta the weekend of July 14-16, 1995. These notes were taken from: Saturday Morning's Opening Ceremonies Saturday afternoon Open to the public Executive Committee Meeting Sunday afternoon Open to the Public Admiralty Board meeting Again, these are unofficial notes of mine not sanctioned by anyone. I just sat there with my little Sharp Wizard 9520 and typed away. All mistakes including misspellings and whatnot are mine. All questions, comments and flames can be thrown here. Peace and Long Life, Fleet Captain Sashi (Alexandra) German Deputy Chief of Staff, Region-7 CO - USS Thagard, Philadelphia PA sashi@feith.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ INTERNATIONAL STARFLEET CONFERENCE OPENING CEREMONIES - The COs and regional representatives were asked to report to the main room at 8:00am Saturday morning. We were put through a roll call and lined up in one room with ceremonies scheduled in the next room. Shortly before the ceremonies began, Region 12 RC Coyote passed out almost two dozen Star Trek TNG hand puppets, asking people to take a character and be prepared to sing that terrific song from the movie "Beatlejuice" "Day-O." - Shortly after 9:00am (when the ceremonies were scheduled to begin), everyone with puppets paraded into the large room, singing. I was in the room first room with the remaining RCs and COs so I did not see their performance, only that when they returned there were several remarks to the effect: "Tough crowd." - Then, as tradition, all the officers filed into the other room and went up to the microphone and gave their rank, name, chapter name, registry number, and if they felt like it, their ship's motto. - When everyone was seated, Dan McGinnis was introduced by convention organizer Mandy Herman and the FADM gave an opening speech. - First he introduced all the members of the Admiralty Board who were seated behind him. The interesting part was when Chief of Operations Cindy Krell got more applause than FADM McGinnis and several other officers... - FADM McGinnis spoke about a growing Starfleet with over 8,000 members -- the largest membership ever. He talked about how with the growth of membership, the organization has grown to expand services, in areas such as charity and electronic communication with BBSs and the Internet. He said we are much more than just a non-profit organization. - He gave a special thanks to former Fleet Admiral Jeanette Maddox who was in attendance and sitting behind FADM McGinnis along with the Admiralty Board. Jeanette stood up and received louder and more applause than McGinnis did when he was introduced (but less applause than for Cindy Krell). More people also stood up for Jeanette than for FADM McGinnis. - FADM McGinnis said biggest issue concerning Starfleet was its tax status, and that has essentially been solved with the Fleet having been officially approved for non-profit status. He said even with that issue finally put to rest, other issues such as political infighting were still to be dealt with. - He said members care about the Communiqui and other services -- THAT is what is important to the membership. - He talked about the various people who had worked very hard for Starfleet, including his mother who volunteered HER time to open thousands of pieces of mail and record their receipt, and process vouchers. - He said VCOMdr Debra Nelson and her staff had been invaluable with their help the last six months. He thanked Debra for her hard work (lottsa applause). - Operations Chief Cindy Krell got much applause. - Communication Chief Doug Glenn was thanked. - A representative for Bjo Trimble and Starfleet Academy was there and thanked. - Chief of Shuttle Operations, Linda Reynolds was thanked. - Acting Computer Operations Chief Wayne Cavalier was thanked - FADM McGinnis then thanked all the Regional Coordinators for their work, and thanked them for being the eyes & ears of Starfleet. - Moving on in his speech, the FADM said he was aware of how not everyone was happy with some of his Administration's proposed changes. But you can't please everyone... - He talked about how criticism is easy, but that getting to the real problems are the real work. As a volunteer organization, sometimes we have major problems develop, such as Real Life getting in the way. - The FADM talked about "forces at work" in the Fleet that cannot be permitted to continue. In recent weeks, he said he and his staff have been the focus of plans to end the administration. He said his personal business is of no concern to the Fleet (loud applause here). He said in his personal life, he is a business man who has had successes and failures. He said "we" have all done things that we would have liked to change or take back because of mistakes. He says people should not be condemned because they made a mistake. He said the administration will not fail because some perceive personal business as Fleet business. - He said no one should undergo the scrutiny that HE has undergone the last six months. He said the AB *will* concentrate on the issues at hand. - He said many have complained and criticized on the Internet and Listserve. People there have utilized their positions to accuse others of the very thing they are doing themselves. In speaking with a friend recently, he was reminded that "You cannot deal with honor with those who are not honorable." - He said "The time has come and we have had enough." The future of the organization is the priority. - He then quoted back to the Administration of former President Ronald Reagan, talking about the air traffic controller fiasco years ago, where thousands of employees had to be let go for the good of the country. FADM McGinnis said he would not allow a few people to ruin Starfleet. - He said, and I quote: "Those who work to destroy the organization will not be permitted to continue in leadership positions in Starfleet." - He continued on to say that the challenges of 21 years cannot be fixed in six months. The next year holds many challenges: The Constitution, Communiqui, the Handbook. Focus will continue on the needs of the many. Four new committees will be formed by the AB regarding changes, including making Starfleet more democratic. VCOMdr Debra Nelson then stepped up to speak: DEBRA NELSON SPEECH: - Thanked Kelly Hilliard for arranging the International Conference. - She referred to the FADM's speech and how Dan McGinnis touched on some of the high and low points of the year so far. The plan is to continue the good work of the last six months. To paraphrase Gene Roddenberry, it's time to get past the petty differences. - Four years ago she put together an International program, a fund-raising effort to run in six-month cycles. It is now an official working plan, with the first six months fund-raising going toward HIV and AIDS research. Local Chapters are being asked to donate. Former Olympic diver Greg Luganis has donated items for fund-raising auction - The VCOMdr said she felt the rumor and bad stuff had taken a back seat to the real important things. She said her fianci was recently diagnosed with HIV a year ago, and said it focused her priorities. - Mandy Herman, convention organizer (one of many) came back to the podium and introduced Operations Chief Cindy Krell. CINDY KRELL: (came to the podium to loud applause). - Cindy started by saying that Starfleet officially has 285 chartered chapters (hurray!) - She said this is the first time in Starfleet history that Operations is up to snuff: EVERY chapter has a file with names. She thanked her excellent staff for all their hard work. - She said one of the more interesting aspects of her job has been getting letters of comment from various COs, something to the effect of, "Cool! Someone actually READS these reports??" - Five shuttles were then commissioned! * USS Aslan * USS Lewis & Clark * USS Magellan * USS Griffin * USS Wolverine * USS New Horizons - Cindy spoke directly to the new chapter COs and talked about how Command is a double-edged sword, but enjoy and keep your crews happy!! - Region 12 Regional Coordinator Commodore Coyote presented Champaign to the USS Griffin to be opened exactly one year after this commissioning date. She also presented the Captain with a beautiful Indian "Dream Catcher" gift, representing the idea that it will help with getting good dreams and keeping the bad ones away. FADM Dan McGinnis and VCOMdr Debra Nelson then presented several promotions: * Karen Cushing to Captain * Linda Kersher to Captain * Laura Flippin to Commander * Amanda Herman to Captain * Margaret Grunwell to Captain * Carlos Moldanado to Captain * Carey Macey to Captain * Cicillia Horn to Captain * Paul Hudson to Fleet Captain * Dean Strickland to Fleet Captain * Robert Clinger to Fleet Captain * Joy Menges(?) to Fleet Captain * Linda Eppinger to Fleet Captain * Betsy Mateese to Fleet Captain * J.R. Fisher to Fleet Captain * Katherinee Ramsey to Fleet Captain * Zack Horn to Fleet Captain * Debra Leafy to Fleet Captain * Mike Fergasan to Commodore * Marlene Miller to Rear Admiral * April Goreman to Vice Admiral * Beata Gillings Vice Admiral * Anita Davis to Admiral - Awards Director Marian Murphey-Tompkins then came to the podium with assistant Eric Gay (They were very funny together on stage through the whole announcement process. They looked like they were having a lot of fun). Marian talked about how the Awards Program was important because is singled people out for special honors in cases where the three most important words were not "I Love You" but "Can I Help?" A case of people sharing Gene Roddenberry's dream, and who never forget that we can and DO make a difference in this world. * Gave out various wards. - USS Concord, Commodore Mike Fergasan, USS Charlamagne, USS Marage, USS Oklahoma, all of them commended for their participation on the Oklahoma City Relief effort. $4,000 raised so far for the effort. - Marian then read a letter from the Governor of Oklahoma stating how Starfleet helpers represented the best in people. - There were no qualified submissions for best shuttle award so no award was given. - Best Chapter: USS Joan of Ark, Region 3 - Member of the year: Elisabeth Weber, Region 3 Then Inspector General Jack Hopkins came to the stage, Coordinator for "Project Thanks." - Awards were presented for members of previous Executive Committee members serving both Jeanette Maddox and Rob Lerman. Jeannette was personally presented her plaque. - Jeanette accepted Sue Hampton's award and publicly thanked her for four years of working for her. She talked about how those four years were certainly an adventure, as well as a growing process for herself, and others and for the Fleet. - She said she joined Starfleet back in 1981 because of the various people she came across in the organization. She said during her four years in office she always felt like she was treading water, but that she stayed on because she met more and more good people that enriched her life so much (she became quite teary at this point, very sweet). - She gave a very inspiring speech about Starfleet and its wonderful future, and how the ideals of Star Trek are what keep us all together. IC Organizer Mike Henigan stepped up to bat: - He asked the crowd who was hosting next year's International Conference, to which the entire crowd replied: "Oklahoma City." He said he was kind of sad that his surprised had been ruined, but that he wished the best of luck to the next group. - Henigan thanked people for attending and appreciated their hard work. He recognized fellow organizer and acting Region 2 RC Kelly Hilliard. - He said he has had to beg, borrow and steal to get people to submit convention bids. There were only two bids for 1996 and Oklahoma City won. Mark Smith from the USS Oklahoma will be the Chair for next year. The Star Trek guests for that convention are to be the three Klingons from the Original Series: Michael Ansara, John Colicos and William Campbell. - Bids will be accepted this Fall for the 1997 and 1998 conferences. Mike said he wanted to see more locations bid than just the mid-west. How about one of the coasts? At this point the opening ceremonies were concluded and everyone left the room and went on to panels, lunch, whatever. Ceremonies took a little over 2 hours. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SATURDAY AFTERNOON OPEN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING Open to the General Public. This meeting took place after the conclusion of a rather heated 2-hour AB meeting between 1 and 3pm. PRESENT: Eventually ALL the Executive Committee members were present, including FADM Dan McGinnis, VCOMdr Debra Nelson and Academy Director Bjo Trimble who made her first convention appearance. - The very first question was for Acting Computer Operations Chief Wayne Cavalier regarding late membership packages. A general member related problems with not being able to get SCC numbers for the crew so they could take academy courses, etc. - Captain Cavalier responded that there were delays in part because he had inherited a number of packets from the Lerman Administration and had been working from a pile from the top down, and eventually changed that to try and make the process go faster. - He said that if you have received your canceled check, than you have a current membership. - When it was asked what people should do who don't get their checks back from the bank, FADM Debra Nelson said check your bank statements. - There were complaints from members who had received their canceled checks but had not yet received their membership materials. One person complained about not being able to do much without an SCC number. - Wayne Cavalier said he had computers here at the convention, but did not want to be moving the equipment from room to room and all over the place. He wanted to keep it all in one place. People could come to him at points at the convention and try to settle problems. - FADM Dan McGinnis stepped in at this point and said any membership or certificate problems before January 1st, 1995 were not his problem but that of the Lerman Administration . - FADM McGinnis said there was a problem with many checks being cashed between November and December 1994 but no membership packets sent out. - Cavalier was asked what software was being used to run the Starfleet database. He said it was a personalized program created by the previous administration that works through the IBM program FoxPro. (Personal note here: Wayne in the early part of the EC panel got most of the questions. My impression was that he looked a bit flustered, but that he was really trying to do things the best way he could). - With the statement that Computer Operations is allegedly caught up on all its membership packages and still people are waiting, it was asked if it was possible for the members to help out in some way to speed up the process. - Cavalier asked COs to make sure any roster lists sent in are clear and to the point. Anything handwritten would be not be very useful. Something neatly typed would be nice. - A member of the USS Charleston (Sal Lazar?) than specifically addressed FADM Dan McGinnis, saying he was just a member of a chapter (held no important positions) and just wanted some simple questions answered. - Lazar touched on how he felt the failure of a personal business CAN effect another. He said he felt the regular membership had NOT been informed about the Questar situation or the Starfleet tax situation. He felt communication was really the key and that he's had the impression that communication has not been forthcoming. He felt that if the FADM and his Administration were not going to respond to questions, than why should the membership be expected to respond to certain things? - He said he felt the Communiquis certainly looked good, but at no point ever addressed the problems that are going on. He said the membership is not aware of what is going on. - FADM McGinnis said the current Communiqui is at the printers and the information in it is already one month old. He said it not possible to send out current information in the Communiquis - there is a big lag time. He said it's the Commanding Officers of Starfleet's chapters who have the responsibility to pass on the current information. - Sal Lazar (?) responded that the electronic networks were doing more than just informing On-line members of what was going on in Starfleet -- that that information is always being passed on to those who are off-line. - FADM McGinnis said the on-line forum cannot be used in any official capacity for several reasons: 1) The RCs and the COs must be informed FIRST of what is going on. That is the priority. 2) Not all Starfleet members are On-line. If they were, maybe electronic communication would become a better way to get information out, "but until every single member of Starfleet has access" to the electronic medium, it will not be an official medium. - Another Starfleet member talked about Internet can get out of hand, his company recently dealing with Babylon-5 creator J. Michael Straczynksi who condemned a big Babylon-5 convention in Chicago (The Big Bang last month). He said it was terrible the criticism and complaints received just by on-line people with incorrect or bad information. - USS Avenger representative Michael Klufas spoke up and asked the FADM about some of the comments he made during the morning opening ceremonies. Klufas talked about how some people actually left during the FADM's speech because they felt threatened with by one of his comments. - At this point, Michael looked for the exact quote, couldn't find it, and *I* stepped in reading it out loud: "Those who work to destroy the organization will not be permitted to continue in leadership positions in Starfleet." - FADM McGinnis responded that what he meant by that, was he felt he and his Administration had let a number of people get away with a number of things the last few months and that something needed to be done. He said these people got away with more than they should have been able to. - I chimed in, as did some other people regarding the Questar issue, saying that membership was very concerned that Questar was damaging the reputation of Starfleet. That even Paramount has been contacted about this and that they are aware of the matter. - One member spoke up saying that the Questar matter has been and always will be a personal matter and not part of Starfleet (lots of applause). I responded that when someone on the Starfleet Internet mailing list had contacted Paramount about this by phone, Paramount's response was that McGinnis + Starfleet = same thing. No difference. So they can go after Fleet and McGinnis and we all suffer as a result. - At this point Bjo Trimble jumped in, fighting rather furiously that Paramount couldn't care less with what's going on with Starfleet or McGinnis, and that the only statements Paramount makes is on legal paper, signed by a lawyer. That anything on Internet or allegedly by phone was not of any consideration. - The conversation then fell (rather conveniently) into the whole aspect of the electronic networks and how useful they really are, etc. - The conversation turned to another subject when a member up front said he had spoken with then Deputy Chief of Staff Michael D. Smith about getting promotion certificates. Smith had told the guy to write in and request them, and the man said he never received them. (I think he was told to check with Wayne Cavalier or Cindy Krell). - Academy Director Bjo Trimble said her Academy is making many changes, including the opening of a new survival and tactical skills school. She said there was some other neat stuff coming. She asked anyone to contribute ideas for more schools as well as critique current programs. - Bjo also said that things at the Academy are not working as fast as they could be. She has been having some big problems with her mail and vouchers addressed to her as "Captain Bjo Trimble." She said her mail carrier is a former Vietnam Vet who doesn't like non-military people getting mail addressed with official ranks, even though Bjo served in the service many years ago. She requested that ALL mail sent to her MUST be mailed to just "Bjo Trimble" - do not use any rank. She says some of her mail has mysteriously been held up for weeks... - One of the last issues that came up before the EC before time was out was USS IDIC CO, Captain Ravella Russell. She rather eloquently talked about the image problem Starfleet is facing. She said yes, she understands there are legal matters involved with the Questar issue that FADM McGinnis cannot discuss, however what can the organization do when people are threatening to leave the club or not join because of the Fleet's tainted image? - FADM McGinnis responded by saying that Starfleet is at 8,006 memberships - the highest numbers ever. Where are people leaving???? That was the end of the Open EC Meeting Saturday afternoon. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUNDAY AFTERNOON OPEN ADMIRALTY BOARD MEETING - Like other larger events this one started late, around 1:20pm. FADM McGinnis and the entire AB were sitting up on stage. - Convention organizer Mike Henigan spoke to the crowd first and officially apologized for the cancellation and postponement of the morning panels and how they have had to be moved around in the afternoon. - Dan McGinnis was introduced: The FADM also apologized for canceled panels. - For the first time in history he said, every member of the EC and a representative from every Region in Starfleet was present in one place at one time. He introduced each member (Once again, Chief of Operations Cindy Krell received more applause than anyone else, including the FADM). - FADM McGinnis talked about his Saturday morning speech and how, unfortunately, not all the plans for the weekend were accomplished by the AB. He announced that four committees had been formed by the AB, with uncompleted business going to those committees after this weekend. - FADM McGinnis talked about how the AB had had lengthy and emotional discussions over the weekend about a variety of things. And in the process they were able to come up with this resolution, approved unanimously this morning. He then called out the AB members for their vote for Reid Stanley's motion: AB0019: "* It is resolved by the AB that Starfleet the International Star Trek Fan Association is its members. * It is further resolved that the AB does NOT support the use if personal attacks and character assassination. * It is further resolved that STARFLEET the International Star Trek Fan association and its members should endeavor to work together for the betterment of Starfleet and our lives." - Once again the measure was passed unanimously. The FADM asked that all Starfleet members should feel free to sign the measure which was taped up to a wall to show their commitment to the cause. - VCOMdr Debra Nelson came to the mic and said the long meetings came out with the consensus that the AB is suppose to represent the fleet, and thanks for the support. The Floor was opened for Questions: - Was this resolution to be passed by members and then published in Communiqui? FADM McGinnis said yes, and it was passed as a matter of policy. - FADM McGinnis said he hoped that proposed changes to the Constitution would be included by this Fall in a Communiqui issue for the membership to vote on. - Someone asked if the RCs were voting on behalf of themselves or their regions? The answer was: on behalf of their regions. - Yes, all Committee members will be solely from the Admiralty Board, which consists of RCs and EC members. - What were some of the issues discussed over the weekend? * Policy changed regarding memberships: family memberships are now "households" and there is a charge for more than 10 members per household. * Looking into establishing a Canadian membership hub * Motions regarding regional alignment and how it could be considered in the future to include International boundaries. * Policies regarding lifetime memberships - VCOMdr Debra Nelson's "Challenge of the Heart" project was asked about, of perhaps a place for it could be placed on new Starfleet membership forms so it could be checked along with donations to the Gene Roddenberry, Jimmy Doohan and other charitable funds. The measure was officially introduced and the whole Starfleet membership in the room voted to have it added to the membership forms. - Transcripts from the AB meetings were asked for, FADM McGinnis saying they would be made available (never was it stated how or when). Were copies going to be made available? FADM McGinnis said yes, but did not say how or when. - USS Thagard member Rhonda E. Green asked about the absence on the stage of Region 15 Regional Coordinator Alan Ravitch. FADM McGinnis replied that the AB this weekend had considered two motions to remove two RCs: Regions 4 and 15. The reasons for those removals would be made available in the released minutes (never said how or when that would be. The question was in fact NOT answered). - The absence of Region 2 Regional Coordinator Kelly Hilliard was asked about. Proxy Mike Henigan said that Kelly had become ill over the weekend and had asked him to step in. Mike said he had discussed specific issues with Kelly and felt prepared to be able to vote on his and the region's behalf. - Kelly Hilliard as Region 2 RC was brought up -- he is apparently the acting RC after the previous RC Ed Danley stepped down "due to personal conflicts." - It was asked if there would be any official photographs available for members to buy? There was a man seen taking a lot of pictures with a fancy camera. The man said that all his film was going to Kelly Hilliard for his use. Mike said pictures could be made available if people inquire about a specific event or place. - International Conference merchandise was talked about: T-shirts and mugs and whatnot. It was requested by some members that smaller T-shirt sizes be ordered. At this IC there were only Larges and above available. Some members (okay, including myself!) wanted Smalls and Mediums available for next time. - Starfleet is an official 501C7 non-profit corporation, a status with a TAX-ID number that CAN be used by chapters, but cannot be applied toward discount on mailings. - Captain Unicorn Escobedo of the USS Atreides asked how interim or final RCs would be appointed to their positions. - Inspector General Jack Hopkins said postcards will be sent to the chapters asking them to nominate people who would be good for the job of RC. He said in many regions usually one or two people immediately come to mind. He said the Fleet was aware of how fast this needs to be done. Upon return of postcards, if there was a 50-51 majority in favor of one person, than that person would become the new RC (I must add here that seemed to go directly against what FADM McGinnis had said was the RC choosing process earlier in the convention. He said he retained the right to appoint anyone he wanted, regardless of who the region nominated.) - Captain Escobedo asked of the relieved RCs were eligible to be reinstated or nominated again for the RC positions. The answer was no. At this point the open AB meeting was closed, although FADM McGinnis said that members should feel free to come up to the stage and speak one-on-one with the AB members. At this point I left. From popserver Fri Jul 20 01:21:32 GMT 1995 X-POP3-Rcpt: paradis@netrail Return-Path: Date: Wed, 19 Jul 1995 20:54:23 -0400 From: Leo the Lion To: paradis@netrail.net Subject: [paradis@era.ERA.COM: [sashi@feith1.FEITH.COM: IC - Personal Comments (Sashi German)]] This is my fourth and and final posting regarding the International Starfleet Conference in Atlanta July 14-16, 1995. After two postings of just facts, I am now going into straight commentary about my feelings and impressions about the weekend.... Lord knows I had enough mixed emotions coming out of that whole mess. After writing up all the notes here for summaries to be passed on to others, I was able to review in my mind more accurately what happened during the weekend... and I come out of the review feeling a little darker about Starfleet... All comments are my own. All quotes and facts I state are ones I observed and recorded during the IC. I apologize for any inaccuracies or problems with people's names, etc. All comments, questions and flames are to head right here! Fleet Captain Sashi (Alexandra) German Deputy Chief of Staff, Region-7 CO - USS Thagard, Philadelphia PA sashi@feith.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First off, I'll say that I made plans to go the IC a full three months ago before this whole Questar thing broke. What was suppose to be a fun little trip to Atlanta to meet and greet people I had known on here on-line without faces, suddenly turned into a massive working business weekend, after I was asked by Region 7 to attend the Admiralty Board meetings and take notes on behalf of RC Bob Voseller and R7 Proxy Michael D. Smith. Once the Questar matter broke, it was downhill from there. I knew I was no longer going to a con for fun, I knew I was going because I was very concerned (along with many others) about the direction the Fleet was going in under the direction of FADM McGinnis. I had heard and read quite a lot around the Fleet regarding Questar and I think I (and many others) were understandably worried. I realized again how big a deal this con was getting when I started getting phone calls from more and more people asking if I had room space because they had suddenly decided to attend the IC because of the Questar matter. It was quite an omen.... That all said, I'll start with some of the really good things that happened over the weekend: Starting with the Friday evening reception, it was terrific to finally meet so any people I had known only as Communiqui authors or Fleet people on-line: Kelly Hilliard Gary Decker Unicorn Escobedo Gail Rushing Debra Daniels Dan McGinnis Debra Nelson Cindy Krell (heck, the whole EC!) John Bunton Reid Stanley Deb Leafy David Miller Andrea Haag And there were so many others! I thank you all for grabbing me (yeah!) over the weekend and introducing yourselves - it was a real treat! Another neat thing over the weekend was Gail Rushing's project for all female CO's and XOs. (Gail Rushing, you all may remember, is the CO of the USS Joshua and heads the Starfleet Stampede program. She is a VERY cool lady!!). Anyway, all female commander-types were asked to come to her table and record a message on video for none other than - Kate Mulgrew! Give some words of wisdom or advice and say something to the new female Captain in Star Trek!! I, personally did do this on Sunday and got a real kick out of it. I also conned a number of others to do it, including shuttle Athena CO Lisa Berkenbilt, USS Valkyrie CO Andrea Haag and USS Alpha Centauri CO Shirley Weaver (who was proxy for Region 14 this weekend). I thought the idea was GREAT and all the more power to Gail!! Another unexpected pirk of the weekend was meeting Cindy Krell. As you may have seen from the previous postings about the business aspects of the IC, Cindy Krell came across as an extremely level-headed individual and VERY popular with the troops. She received more applause than anyone else at that convention in all public appearances. That says something. Looks like she's doing more than just her job. Remember -- this is the woman who actually RESPONDS to comments we COs make on our monthly reports! We actually feel like the reports are no longer for nothing - yeah! Seriously, though... she was very likable and seemed to have a good head on her shoulders, knowing what's going, etc. I also found her to be a voice of reason in some heated topics at the AB meetings. She made a lot of sense and changed my mind on a coupld of things. Another great thing about the convention was, as FADM McGinnis mentioned several times, the fact that the ENTIRE Executive Committee was present for the event, AND there were RC and reps for every single region. Apparently that has never happened before, and I was rather impressed. It was neat to see every single Region represented in not only the AB meetings but the other meetings as well. Had I been 'just a member' coming to the con, I would have enjoyed the fact that I could ask questions of every department and every region in Starfleet. I congratulate the FADM and his staff for seeing to it that this was the case. I was pleased that former Starfleet FADM Jeanette Maddox was there, and was someone you could walk up to and talk with. I have only heard about Jeanette through several people, including former Chief of Communications Cari Brandy, our USS Thagard founder. I was glad to finally be able to meet the woman that Cari and so many people had talked about for so long. I found Jeanette very agreeable, friendly, straight forward... and when push came to shove, both at the Opening Ceremonies and at the critical AB meetings, SHE was the one who brought people into focus through her love of Trek and its ideals. I admired that a GREAT DEAL. I also came out of this convention with the feeling that things (business-wise) were actually accomplished. I may not have agreed a great deal with what was being done, and I have never experienced any previous AB meetings, but I was impressed with the aggressive agenda that McGinnis' Administration had put together and the fact they wanted to make so many changes. FADM McGinnis was correct when he said that 21 years worth of problems cannot be fixed in six months, a year or even two years. But you can sure as Hell try. Now comes the part where I comment on the things I didn't like. Skip over this if you don't wanna read the negative stuff.... but it must be said and read... 1) I knew things were going downhill when FADM McGinnis basically came before the membership Saturday morning during the Grand Ceremonies and basically threatened people with the following statement: "Those who work to destroy the organization will not be permitted to continue in leadership positions in Starfleet." I know I did a double take when I heard him say that, and I was sad to hear that two of my Thagard crew walked out on the FADM's speech at that point when they heard it because they felt THEY had been threatened too (even people who had not felt one way or another on the Questar issue. They felt they had been threatened). I got the feeling from Mr. McGinnis that if you objected to his policies or disagreed with him on certain matters you would be removed. Needless to say it was a major foreshadowing of events to come Sunday morning when suspended Region 4 RC Janis Moore and current Region 15 RC Alan Ravitch were both removed. That statement made me very VERY uncomfortable and I think caused a lot of concern in the membership that weekend. How does someone know if what they are doing is considered 'destroying the organization' to the point that they would be removed. At the end of Sunday's open AB meeting, one CO was openly threatened by the FADM, told that if he did not stop his act (concerning the asking about Questar and continuing the issue) that he "would be taken care of." That is not a leader who is promoting warm fuzzies in an organization. That is a leader who is trying to destroy his opposition by firing people around him. As he said in an AB meeting, the opposition is like a cancer and it must be removed. Think about that. After openly challenging the FADM on Saturday at the open EC meeting on this exactly issue, I suddenly felt threatened, thinking how could be I be so stupid as to question the FADM in front of 100 people like that! Was I asking for it? Was I looking to be removed from my position? In the Sunday morning AB meeting (the real emotional one) there were people who thought they were going to also be removed on the spot. Heck, Janis and Alan were already gone. Who else was on the chopping block for the third resolution? More on this issue later. 2) It disturbed me that during the AB meetings that whenever the Questar issue was brought up, it was squashed by supporting Dan members (and by Dan himself) who simply IGNORED the comments and questions about Questar and moved on with another subject. The issues was blatantly ignored time and again. Lisa Berkenbilt would say other pressing issues must be discussed, and suddenly we were voting on a resolution regarding something else completely. It was as if Lisa and Gary Decker and Alan Ravitch had not even said a word. I suppose that's ONE way to fight opposition: you simply ignore everything they have to say and pretend they didn't say anything and move on with the majority of your members. I would think the POLITE thing to do would be to acknowledge what the Hell was going on..... but I guess that would be too risky, perhaps? 3) FADM McGinnis contradicted himself several times on various issues, two of which were close to me and bothered me a great deal (which is why I guess I caught them): * The electronic medium of BBSs and the Internet. In the FADM's speech Saturday morning he praised the expansion of the electronic frontier because it expanded with our growing membership. Then in the same speech, he blasted the on-line medium and its membership because of all the problems with lies and innuendo and false information, etc. As a matter of fact, much of the Saturday's open EC meeting was dedicated to that discussion. Basically almost everything on the Internet was not true... or faked or whatever. It was not be trusted at all because it was so negative and had no checks and balances. (no control, eh?) This torked me because the McGinnis Administration has chosen to declare the electronic medium unofficial and wants nothing to do with it, yet that same medium is being praised as helping a growing membership. Make up your minds, gang. I don't think you can have it both ways. *The RC selection process. As someone who served with Anita Davis on the Constitution Reform Committee, I was quite angry when, while Dan was declaring to the AB and the free world that he wanted to take every step to make Starfleet more of a democracy, he instead flew right into the face of that statement by declaring at the Saturday afternoon AB meeting that he wanted the FADM position to retain the right to appoint his own RC. The Constitution Reform Task Force CLEARLY stated that the will of the membership was to have the Regional Coordinators as ELECTED positions within the region, NOT appointed. I had to seriously question the FADM's view of wanting to go with the will of the membership in a democracy when he said that even if every member of a region voted for one particular candidate, if the FADM wanted to appoint someone else, HE WOULD. That does NOT speak to the membership. That speaks to the Dictatorship powers of the FADM. As a member of the Task Force, I suddenly felt as if my hard work into suggesting ideas for Constitutional reform had gone right out the airlock. This was a SERIOUS issue on the minds of MANY members, and nothing was done to change to the will of the membership. 4) I'm going to get into trouble with this one, but I was rather concerned with some of the proxy voting. Specifically regions 11 and 16, represented respectively by Marian Murphey-Tompkins and Eric Gay, both of Region 12. During the open AB meeting Sunday, it was asked if the RCs were voting on behalf of themselves or the region. I sat in all the AB meetings and was able to tell BEFORE the votes took place WHO was going to vote what way, based on their relationship with the FADM. I know this is strong, biased accusation... but looking at the way votes went, I have to question how Regions 11 and 16 almost unanimously went with FADM McGinnis on every single issue. Every single one. I saw other regions vote differently on a couple of issues... but I didn't see that with 11 and 16. From MY perspective (and this is MY opinion, although others noticed it, too) the AB was stacked with enough people in the FADM's favor to assure him of enough votes to pass anything he wanted. I may be hallucinating, but I have to tell you that it sure as Hell looked that way, and this coming from someone who doesn't know even a fifth of the AB members. I just got this impression by seeing how the voting was going. I would like to state for the record that Eric Gay and Marion Murphey-Tompkins DID argue with the FADM on some issues... but in the end they were rather crucial in not only moving any discussion away from Questar, but also crucial in passing critical votes that FADM McGinnis was heavily in favor of. On the other hand, I could be completely wrong.... 5) I was kinda annoyed about the Reid Stanley warm & fuzzy resolution that the AB voted on and passed during the Sunday morning and afternoon sessions. This is NOTHING against Reid (who I met for the first time at this convention!) but like Jeanette Maddox who commented likewise, I was kinda appalled that this kind of resolution was even necessary, and why were we wasting any time on it? Two RCs had just been removed, the AB was in crying chaos, and I understand that a warm & fuzzy resolution felt nice and looked good to the general membership Sunday afternoon, but what the Hell did it REALLY accomplish? Just my personal opinion, but I honestly felt that other more important work could have been accomplished. And Dan accused so many others of dilatory tactics -- this could certainly look like one if you caught it from a certain angle. It certainly prevented anything constructive from being done, regardless of the emotional wrecks everyone had become by the end of Sunday morning's meeting. 6) Bjo Trimble. I have to admit that I like Bjo for a lot of reasons.... there are some obvious ones (like her work with Trek over the years). I also like her because she's got a real fire inside her. She really comes after you with an energy that is good to see. I like her enthusiasm. Buuuuuuuut: In another classic case of contradicting oneself, I was kinda put out by some of the comments she made over the weekend. On the one hand she spent MUCH of the weekend (the parts she was present for) criticizing the computer networks and saying how dangerous they are and how she has been impersonated on the Internet with someone claiming to be her.. and having quotes she never said attributed to her. She complained about how inaccurate information over Internet was and how people could be so slanderous and dangerous on the electronic networks. She even talked about how she had an account on Genie but had never touched it - never logged on to it (she never stated the reason for that). My head started spinning when she said that because that e-mail address had been announced as access for the Academy many many weeks ago, AND was listed in the Communiqui as a way to reach Bjo. If Bjo had never even LOGGED ON to that account a couple of things came to mind: a) Is that an inactive account that has never been used? Is so, why has the address been given out as a means of communication? Is there mail just sitting there unread, people thinking the Academy is EVENTUALLY going to get back to them? b) If there have been any responses from that address it hasn't been from Bjo, which means WHO is using that address and whose name are they signing? And why was this address given out at all if Bjo was technically not On-line if she wasn't using the address? To make matters even worse, in a flash late Sunday afternoon at closing ceremonies, Bjo announces that her Genie Internet address has changed (achem, like, the one she wasn't using anyway) because she has just been hired by the Microsoft network to host their science fiction On-line forum and she would be working with a new address. Several eyes popped out at her announcement as comments around me followed: a) Does she even have TIME for yet ANOTHER project like that? There are complaints (most notably from the former Starfleet School of Linguistics) that Bjo is never around as it is. What is THIS extra job going to do to her time for Starfleet? b) Will she be checking mail at THIS address? c) Hurray for Bjo! That sounds like a great job! Hope Microsoft is paying her a lot of $$$ d) For someone who seems to hate the on-line computer networks so much, she sure jumped awfully fast into another job involving the On-line networks. Wonder how much of a problem she really does have with Internet.... 7) (Last one, I promise) - Star Trek guest Tony Todd. Okay, some of you may have seen some of my earlier comments before the IC when it was announced that Tony Todd had to replace Robert Duncan McNiel. I complained that I had personally seen Todd at least three different conventions and he was a drunken jerk at every single one. This was no exception (except he didn't seem to be drunk). Granted I was at AB meetings most of the weekend so the only time I really saw him was at the Saturday evening Banquet which was billed as "Dinner with FADM McGinnis and Tony Todd." Todd ate food for 15 minutes, went up to the mic to accept gifts, then read off his next 6 upcoming projects and fled back to DragonCon three hotels away where apparently the whole evening Masquerade was being held up just for him. His autograph session was canceled earlier in the day Saturday because his agent was quoted as saying "he has too many fans at DragonCon and must remain there." Am I the ONLY one who thinks when you give a committement, you kinda like SHOW UP??? He was poorly dressed for the banquet, wearing sunglasses at the table and didn't look like he was associating with anyone. This was my FOURTH bad experience with this actor. He really comes across as such a jerk. Can anyone fill us in on Sunday? Did he ever show up for the auction? Did he ever sign autographs? Was he sober or really hung over??? I really tried to came to the IC with an open mind regarding him. Never again. "Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I've been fooled four times now in three different states. FORGET IT. I will now close with this comment. As I stated in one of my earlier postings, I have decided to let go of the Questar issue. I understand there are growing questions regarding the/any Starfleet Treasurer of the last six months, but I am rather tired of a lot of things right now and am not going to get actively all upset about that. In being able to put behind many of the nasty specifics I have just listed.... in being able to get past certain issues.... there are three things I CANNOT GET PAST: 1) The FADM's assertion that "Those who work to destroy the organization will not be permitted to continue in leadership positions in Starfleet." I cannot get warm fuzzies from a man who says that kind of thing. It is an OPEN THREATENING STATEMENT to all Starfleet members. He can say it was only aimed at the dismissed RCs... but it can also be read as a real threat to everyone. 2) The FADM threatening a Region 4 CO that if he did not stop his disruptive behavior he "would be taken care of." That means ANY CO in this organization is at threat if they do something the FADM (McGinnis or no) does not like. Perhaps McGinnis did not mean it that way, but that's certainly how it came across. 3) The FADM was told matter-of-factly that chapters and many members would probably leave because of various actions taken this weekend. FADM McGinnis said himself that he expected that kind of thing to happen anyway because of actions taken by the AB over the weekend (or in general). FADM McGinnis stated that any unhappy chapters were free to go if they didn't like things. He gave the impression that he didn't care that chapters left -- that they could just take off. This does not promote warm fuzzies for me either. I know I have brought up this "fuzzy" thing a few times... but I think it's kind of an important point. So many people spent so much time to declare that Starfleet is their family and that's where all their friends were, etc. Yet we have an Administration that is openly threatening its members and giving the impression that it doesn't care. And I guess that's really the most important point: Perhaps the FADM doesn't realize that this is what is coming across to the membership (at least some members like me). He may think that everything is fine and that he made himself clear, etc. But when you have members walking out of speeches because they feel they have been threatened... I feel you need to take a look at that. See how it is you are coming across. Hear what the reactions are from your membership. Things out here are not the best. People feel threatened. At least one CO already has been directly threatened. This is above and beyond the removal of the RCs. What reason do I have to say with Starfleet if my leader is treating its membership this way and either doesn't realize it or doesn't care or both? The reason I stay is because when you get down to it, unless I am relieved of Command, this does not really effect me. I still file my reports. I still express my opinions. I still have chapter meetings and events and charity fund-raisers. I still command Philadelphia's largest chapter. FADM Dan McGinnis and his administration have no direct effect on my Command or my chapter. As long as it stays that way I can really live with what's going on. I'm willing to forgive and forget and move past Questar. But I'll got to events... and I'll go to sleep at night knowing that I and my entire crew and my entire region and the ENTIRE FLEET have been threatened by the very leader who is suppose to be looking out for us. No warm fuzzies from Illinois.... although several from Region 12 where I met some really cool people (Marion - I really DO like you!). Take this all as you wish. Just a few comments from someone who was there and tried to see the truth of what was going on from an observer's point of view. I just hope the Administration takes the time to listen to feedback from its membership and get a clue as to what the truth on OUR SIDE (general membership) is. -- -*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,. SASHI ALEXANDRA GERMAN CO - USS Thagard, Starfleet, Region-7 -- Philadelphia, PA (USA) Star Trek Club - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Trek The Internet [Internet based Science Fiction newsletter - $15 a year] [For those with too little time to keep up with it all!] PO Box 255 Ardmore, PA 19003 sashi@feith.com -*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,.