TOP STORY: TSP AND ALBION JOIN FORCES FOR THE SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE FESTIVAL
By Scylla


Minister of Regional Affairs Kris Kringle announced on Thursday that a festival jointly organised by the South Pacific and Albion will be held. Called the Spirit of Adventure Festival, it is set to begin on October 1 and will include several games and activities focused on the theme of adventure and discovery, according to sources from the Ministry.

Planning reportedly began at the beginning of September, between the South Pacific Ministry of Regional Affairs and the Albion Foreign Affairs Office. It is known that there will be a roleplayed film festival, as confirmed by Minister Kringle through a post on Treasure Island, but there have been no similar announcements on the other activities planned for the festival. However, this newspaper has been informed that activities will be divided among both regional forums, making use of redirect forums to lead citizens of one region to the activities in the other. Based on previous festivals, it is expected that avatar and caption contests will be featured, as well as online games organised by Albion.

Throughout the festival there will also be state visits from Delegate Feirmont to Albion and from King Charles Cerebella to the South Pacific, aimed at increasing formal contact between regional governments and allow citizens to know more about foreign leaders. It is expected that Feirmont will be interviewed by Albion media during his state visit.

Relations between the South Pacific and Albion have been historically nonexistent. Recently Albion issued a statement highlighting its commitment to a culture-focused regional policy, something that may have resounded with likeminded officials in the South Pacific. Foreign Minister Hileville told this newspaper that "Albion is a region [we wish] to draw a closer relationship with" and called the festival a step in the right direction. On her side, Albion Knight Foreign Olivia said she felt both governments "have managed to create something that will not only cater for everyone, but will be thoroughly enjoyable for both Albion and The South Pacific".

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Logreston wins the Ejection Contest
by Kris Kringle


Logreston won today the second South Pacific Ejection Contest, following thirty five days of fierce competition amongst thirty contestants. He defeated Pshizzle in a final round that lasted for days, since the host nation kept being selected last in various consecutive World Census rankings.

In its previous issue, this newspaper included an analysis by Pshizzle predicting that Logreston would attain the first place. However, the analysis was mistaken regarding the rest of the top ten finalists, since Pshizzle and TSP-Karnetvor finished in second and third place, respectively, in contrast with the lower places the analysis predicted.

Though there has been no confirmation from the Ministry of Regional Affairs, there have been hints at a third edition of the Regional Games to be held at some point in October, another gameside-specific activity that involves competition among different nations.

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ProfessorHenn and Sandaoguo convene a Great Council
by Kris Kringle


Yesterday the Assembly rejected a resolution that would have established ground rules for a Great Council to be held in October, with a focus on passing electoral and judicial reform.

Chair of the Assembly Farengeto proposed the resolution on September 15, with provisions to convene the Council and allow the Delegate and the Chair to decide when it would finish. It also included a provision to suspend all special elections until the conclusion of the Council.

Response to the resolution was largely critical. Several citizens have expressed their opposition to a Great Council, arguing that one is not needed at this time and that any reform should be passed through the normal legislative process. Former Chair Sandaoguo is strongly supportive of a Great Council but was critical of the provision that allowed the Delegate and Chair to regulate it, since he believed Councils should be citizen initiatives that bypassed the normal government channels.

Deputy Chair Awe certified that the vote had failed 7-9. Chair Farengeto said he would respect the will of the Assembly and withdraw his proposal for a Council, since he was not sure whether he could call one unilaterally. ProfessorHenn and Sandaoguo took the lead and convened a Council, under the justification that previous Councils only required one citizen to convene them. Shortly after, Sandaoguo proposed a bill titled the "Great Council Organizing Act", which codifies longstanding conventions regarding the ability of individual citizens to convene a Council and enshrines their condition as free from government oversight, except for administrative processes such as voting on proposed reforms.

Sandaoguo has told this newspaper that he has convened a Great Council to "allow for more open debate on changing larger aspects of how our region works". He also questioned the continued reliance on conventions, when often these might be ignored by elected officials, according to his view, and suggested taking adventage of this Council to codify longstanding conventions.

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Were we Tsu-Pen-dous?
Analysing the Tsunamy Administration based on the results of the Government Approval Surveys.


Tsunamy was originally elected Delegate of the South Pacific on the promise of making the region tsu-pen-dous, a bold claim that placed a huge amount of responsibility on his shoulders and implied he would have a personal hand in the improvement of South Pacifican culture and society. Throughout his two terms, the Southern Journal conducted several surveys that measured public perception on his administration and the performance of other government officials.

While a full month has already passed since Tsunamy left the delegacy, the results from all these surveys are useful as a way of seeing how the public perceived his tenure and whether he succeeded in his primary aim of making the region tsu-pen-dous. We are now releasing the results of these surveys as a six-part series, with each part containing analysis on one Cabinet member during Tsunamy's second term. We hope this will shed some light and encourage debate about an important period in our recent history.

PART 2: SAM111


Sam111 served as Vice Delegate during the final two months of the Tsunamy Administration. A newcomer who had been serving as the Chairman of the Local Council, he was portrayed as bringing a fresh perspective to the Cabinet and was unanimously confirmed by the Assembly. He was included only once in the Government Approval Survey, but his results were quite interesting and gave us an idea of how the public perceived him and his position:


Sam111 received and overal positive rating. His sole inclusion in the monthly survey resulted in a 52% approval, which is quite positive considering his status as a newcomer and the historical lack of awareness on the presence and duties of the Vice Delegate.

Most positive comments highlighted his personal involvement in the region. He was applauded for regularly posting on the Regional Message Board and the Regional Forum. In contrast, negative comments related to the more general duties of the Vice Delegate, which remained largely a mystery to most respondents. It is worth establishing a contrast with the comments received by Tsunamy, which were focused at his performance as Delegate, whereas Sam111 was rated based on his personal performance.

It is impossible to say how his rating would have evolved had he been afforded a chance to feature in subsequent surveys. It is also true that his relatively low rating, second to Sandaoguo as Foreign Minister, cannot be solely attributed to his performance as Vice Delegate, since his predecessors have also struggled with recognition and visibility. Often their duties involve advising the Delegate and assisting the Cabinet, which is not the most visible of tasks and might impact on whatever rating the sitting Vice Delegate receives.

That being said, Sam111 did get a positive rating, which reflects on how he was viewed by the region, particularly in contrast with the drastically lower, though justified, activity from his predecessor.

PART 3: FARENGETO will be published in the next issue!

Technical Data: Data was taken from four surveys conducted on February, April, May and June 2015. Residents of the South Pacific were the sample. Raw data may be provided upon request.