RT9810-P98.01.01 Submission

TITLE: ASR CHARTER

AUTHORS: Committee (Bell, Cabrero, Elwell, Green, Muir, Rowe, Sandlin)

RATIONALE: Over the years, while Alt.Starfleet.RPG (ASR) has
experienced growth and change, there have been certain basic guiding
principles which can best benefit our membership by being set down in
one simple list.

TEXT:

1.  Alt.Starfleet.RPG (ASR) is a voluntary social organization for
   the purpose of interactive storytelling over the Internet in a
   setting based on Star Trek.

2.  Story material is presented primarily by sending messages
   ("posting") to the Usenet newsgroup alt.starfleet.rpg and by e-mail.

3.  Story material is called "role-play" material (RP), and is
   produced by organized groups of player-writers called RP Units.  The
   Chain of Command present within RP Units reflects both the RP and
   non-roleplay (NRP) Chain of Command amongst players.

4.  The Unit Commanding Officers (COs) are the basis of authority and
   responsibility, individually in their Units, and collectively when
   assembled in the ASR Round Table (RT).  The Round Table has the
   ultimate authority within ASR to establish rules and set gamewide
   policies. The RT is the final arbiter of disputes and questions
   within ASR.

5.  Command, administrative, and support officers (collectively known
   as "admin" players) exist in ASR to advise and assist players and
   COs in applying agreed rules and procedures, under the supervision
   and authority of the RT.  They work to facilitate RP, taking into
   account the privileges of players and COs.

6.  The NRP chain of command is responsible for handling questions
   and problems between players.  Players should use the NRP chain of
   command in order to air questions and concerns involving their
   characters.

7.  Persons holding official positions in ASR will treat players in a
   fair and respectful manner.  Questions or concerns raised by a
   player will be answered by persons in official positions in a timely
   fashion.  Official positions include all command, administrative,
   and support positions, whether elected or appointed.

8.  Player characters (PCs) and designated ("protected") non-player
   characters (PNPCs), once introduced in RP material, can be used as
   characters in other player-writers' RP material.  However, under
   no circumstances can anyone produce RP material that kills, maims,
   or creates a situation that will have serious or permanent effects
   on such a character, without the express agreement of the
   character's creator.  The agreement, in these circumstances, of the
   character's creator applies not only to characters created by
   current players, but also to players who have left ASR since the
   creation of their characters.

9. All players can alter or withdraw RP material, which they have
   written in good faith, that they learn upon posting would have
   consequences for their characters that they cannot accept.

10. All players are free to move their characters from one Unit
   to another, subject to the agreement of any destination Unit's CO.
   Players can move their characters to and from inactive status as
   long as the NRP Chain of Command is informed of a change in status.

11. All COs are entitled to move their Units from one of ASR's
   constituent Fleets to another, subject to the agreement of the
   destination Fleet's Commander.  A CO can move a unit to
   inactive status, subject to the agreement of the rest of the active
   crew of the Unit.  A CO can move an inactive ship back to active
   status subject to the agreement of the Fleet Commander to which the
   reactivated unit will be attached.


APPENDIX: NOTES

1) Command positions (as of October 1998) form the chain of command
   as follows:  Unit XO (Executive Officer); Unit CO (Commanding
   Officer); Fleet (or Ancillary) staff (where present); Fleet (or
   Ancillary) Commander (FC or COMANC); Chief of Starfleet Operations
   (CSFO); Commander-in-Chief, Starfleet (CINCSF).

2) Administrative positions (as of October 1998) include ALB
   Commandant and staff, Personnel Officer, Public Affairs Officer and
   Commander of Logistics (COMLOG).

3) Support ("branch") positions (as of October 1998) include
   commanders and staff of:
   Office of Starfleet Intelligence (OSFI)
   Starfleet Bureau of Alien Technology Assessment (SFBATA)
   Starfleet Engineering (SFENG)
   Starfleet Judge Advocate General (SFJAG)
   Starfleet Marine Corps (SFMC)
   Starfleet Medical (SFMED)
   Starfleet Records (SFREC)
   Starfleet Sciences (SFSCI)
   United Federation of Planets Department of Colonial Affairs
   (UFPDOCA)
   United Federation of Planets Educational Scientific and Cultural
   Organisation (UFPESCO)





      REPORT OF THE RT COMMITTEE ON P98.01.01 (BILL OF RIGHTS)


  In the April session of the ASR RT, Proposal P98.01.01, entitled, ASR
Bill of Rights, was presented to the Round Table.  During discussion,
three main positions regarding this proposal emerged:

1) the Proposal was necessary and valuable, and should be passed in the
   April session, with only such minor changes as could easily be
   accomplished by its authors during the session;

2) the essence of the Proposal was necessary and valuable, but the
   form and content should be re-examined and re-formulated by more
   than the original co-authors, for passage in the October session;

3) the Proposal was neither necessary nor valuable, and nothing of the
   same nature should be passed by the RT.

  There followed a motion to send P98.01.01 to committee, which the
Chair denied.  This ruling was appealed, and a majority of the RT (36
votes to 9) indicated that position number 2, above, was the sense of
the body.  The Chair then duly appointed a committee to re-formulate
P98.01.01 and present the resulting Proposal to the October session.

  In August, committee member Trevin Sandlin began the substantive work
of the committee.  During August and September, members Andrew Bell,
Mark Elwell, and Seth Green presented various alternative drafts, and
members Rafael Cabrero and David Muir provided valuable criticism of
and improvements to those drafts.

  Discussion and consideration of the various proposed points and text
was at all times cordial and collegial.  The result is a product of
genuine consensus.  The members of the committee wish to thank their
fellow COs and the RT Chair for providing this opportunity to work
together on a project of value and importance to ASR.