Yahoo Forum Archive

Because some people have voiced concerns about how some things are handled
on this group, I've put together a Code of Conduct. Consider this an
Executive Decision, a constitution of sorts to go along with the Mission and
Charter. It has been posted to the Files section and several disclaimers
have been added to the web site.

And before you go any further: I am still looking for an overseas Moderator.
Why Overseas? To handle the "night" shift which, of course, wouldn't
necessarily be night for someone overseas.

The Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards'
Code of Conduct for MEFAwards at YahooGroups

I: Civility reigns

A. At all times, all members should remain civil and refrain
from being uncivil. While discussion and debate are allowed,
all such discussion and debate should be kept rational and
unheated.

B. Personal attacks against anyone on this list, whether Staff
or simply a Member, are automatically "uncivil", and therefore
not allowed.

C. Trolling, by definition, is uncivil and therefore not allowed.

D. The authority to officially decide something is uncivil rests
with the Moderators.

1. If the moderators decide that a poster is being uncivil,
that poster will be placed on Moderated status and contacted

privately until things can be worked out.

2. If things cannot be worked out, the poster will remain on

Moderated status, may choose to leave, or may be asked to
leave,
depending on the context and the specific nature of the
infraction.

II: Off-Topic

A. "Off-Topic" is anything not pertaining in some way to the awards

group's business

B. In order to provide a friendly atmosphere, off-topic comments by
members (including Staff) are allowed so long as they meets all of
the
following criteria:

1. They are clearly marked with "OT:" in the subject or the
off-
topic portion of the post,

2. They are kept to a minimum,

and

3. The primary "business" of these awards remains the
primary
focus of posts.

C. Comment that is personal and which will not be allowed to
dominate this
group:

1. Religious and/or political and/or other personal beliefs
that make
up the heart of a post are off-topic and should be
noted as such in
the subject line by the use of the "OT:" code.

2. Opinions based on religion, politics or other personal
beliefs
that are not the focus of the post should be clearly noted
through
context or clues (IMHO, "My belief is....",
"Personally,...") in
such a way as to indicate an awareness and respect for the
positions
of others.

a. Any such statements should refrain from being
pushy
or proselytizing. Nor should they be of a
campaigning nature.

b. All members (Staff included) should remain
respectful
of different beliefs.

1) This includes respecting the right of any
member,
of whatever background, to speak from a
position
informed by his or her faith or political
leanings, etc.
SO LONG AS such remarks fall within the
scope of the
present Code of Conduct.

2) It also includes respecting the right of
others,
whether of religious and/or political
background or
not, to refrain in all cases from mentioning
or
responding to religiously- or politically-
informed
comments, and refraining from making
assumptions about
a member's background.

2. Off the cuff remarks such as "I'm off to church" etc.,
merely
explaining an absence are not considered to be religious
beliefs
or opinions. It would make no sense to say, "In my opinion,
I'm
off to church."

3. In respect to religion, these Awards and the group uphold
and
abide by the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States.
As such, we take the wording from said document and revise
it to
pertain to this group and the awards:

[The MEFAs and MEFAwards] shall make no [rule] respecting an
establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof[.]

In other words: the awards and the group:

a. have no tie or obligation to any particularly
religion

b. will not establish a religion as the official
religion of
the group or the awards

c. will not restrain members (including Staff when
posting in
a non-official capacity) from having or expressing
their
religious beliefs when

1) that expression is relevant to the
current discussion

and

2) that expression abides by the tenets set
forth in the
Code of Conduct in general and those
pertaining to
religious and political comments in
particular.

d. The same holds for political parties or
affiliations. There
are none for the group, though there may be for
individuals.

D. Spam is off-topic. Anyone posting spam will be automatically
banned from
membership.

F. Arguments and debates *not* pertaining to the awards,
administration of
the awards, etc. (ie. "business") should be taken off the list at
the
earliest opportunity.

G. The authority to officially decide if a poster or his or her post
has
not abided by these tenets for Off-Topic comments rests with the
Moderators.

1. If the moderators decide that a poster is being too
off-topic, or
disrespectful of others, etc., that poster will be placed on

Moderated status until things can be worked out.

2. If things cannot be worked out, the poster will remain on

Moderated status, may choose to leave, or may be asked to
leave,
depending on the context and the specific nature of
the infraction.

III. Member Redress
A. If an individual member feels offended by another member's
(including
Staff when not posting "officially") post, that individual member
should
and may take the following course:

1. Give the poster the benefit of the doubt:

a. Do not assume the poster meant to offend

b. Do not look for offense in something clearly
marked as
opinion or belief as set forth in the above tenets.

c. When in doubt, ask for clarification.

2. If clarification is not forth-coming or not
satisfactory,
member should

a. contact the poster privately, taking the
disucssion offlist.

b. bring it to the attention of the moderators for
the purpose
of mediation. (Moderator contacts can be found under
the
Members section of the YahooGroup site.)

B. If an individual member feels offended by a Staff member's
posting
"officially"), that individual member should and may take the same
course,
with the exception below

2.
b. If offended by a non-Moderator staffmember,
contact a
Moderator

c. If offended by a Moderator, contact a different
Moderator.

IV. The right to revise this Code of Conduct resides solely with the MEFA
Administrator.

Created: 5/18/04. Revised: N/A

--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Administrator

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.

http://www.stormpages.com/gabrielle/lotr Land of Myth and Memory
Blog: http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com



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