| Issue VIII |
TOP STORY: RIKUCHAR JOINS TSSS AND IMKITOPIA AS NEWEST MEMBER OF THE LOCAL COUNCIL Residents are called to elect the second Local Council Elections just finished for the Local Council, a relatively recent institution whose goals is to bridge the gap between the gameside and forumside communities in the South Pacific. Seven residents contested the three available seats in an election that has been celebrated by some as unusually active. Incuments Imkitopia and The Solar System Scope for reelected to serve another term, while newcomer Rikuchar has been elected to her first ever government position. The Solar System Scope becomes the senior councillor, having served on the Local Council since it was first created earlier this year and garnering fourteen votes, the highest out of all the candidates. He is consistently active on the Regional Message Board and is know for his passion for astronomy, which was particularly prominent during his early days in the region. While he did not post a campaign, his first election was based on making the regional government more visible to the gameside community and encouraging residents to use the Message Board more often. Rikuchar currently works at the Historical Office of the Ministry of Regional Affairs, where she writes historical reports for future publication and has become an active contributed on the Regional Message Board. Her campaign highlighted the need to be more welcoming and supportive of newcomers and ensuring they find incentives to stay in the South Pacific, sometimes with actions as simple as greeting them or offering to walk them through the different options on how to get involved. In a short statement, Rikuchar expressed her gratitude to the twelve residents that voted for her, calling them "brilliant" and said she could not have made it anywhere without a positive attitude. Imkitopia has been elected to her first full term, having been appointed by the Cabinet to serve the remainder of the term, after the election of Ryccia and Darkstrait to the High Court. She is known in the regional forum for her design skills and is credited for designing the current seals of the High Court, the Special Forces and the Ministry of Regional Affairs, as well as the state images of several nations on the roleplay forum. While she admitted never having campaigned for a position, she said her previous experience as a three-year administrator of a Minecraft server made her particularly able to encourage growth in a community. Her campaign focused on organising regular multiplayer games and tournaments for the gameside community. Minor candidates included Dipperton, Zadiner, Anfra and Scyllaland, whose counts, at either one or two, failed to surpass the three votes for Re-Open Nominations. Earlier today there were some concerns that Imkitopia would not have enough votes to overtake RON, but ultimately she managed to double the three votes and finish with a comfortable third place. Assembly increases the powers of the Council Yesterday the Assembly passed an amendment to the Charter that increased the powers of the Local Council in matters of municipal ordinances. While the original text required Assembly approval before any municipal ordinances could take place, the Council may not pass ordinances at its pleasure, though the Assembly retains the power to repeal them at any time. Minister of Regional Affairs Kringalia proposed the amendment on September 2, citing the need to give the Council "the tools to discharge its duties easily and without bureaucratic barriers", particularly in view of the large amount of candidates currently running for a seat. Without much opposition, the bill was brought to a vote and passed 19-0. What is the Local Council? Former Chair of the Assembly Unibot proposed the creation of the Local Council due to the failure of the various bicameralism and gameside integration proposals during the 2015 Great Council. Its main duties are to promote regional activity and serve as the voice of the gameside community before the Assembly. The Solar System Scope served alongside Darkstrait and Ryccia as members of the first Local Council. Throughout that time their most prominent actions were assisting the Delegate with ideas for regional polls. This led to some commenting, particularly in government surveys, that the Council had no visible role in the region. With the recent passage of legislation that allows non-citizen residents to run for the Council, some hope that it will become a more active and relevant institution. Hileville revives the Foreign Service Foreign Minister Hileville unveiled on September 4 the revived Foreign Service Foreign Minister Hileville completed one of the main promises in his successful July campaign when he announced on September 4 the revival of the Foreign Service, the body of citizens who are tasked with posting updates on foreign forums and reporting back on the status of their assigned regions on a regular basis. Hileville explained the revival of the Foreign Service as a multiple-step process, while the current Phase 1 involves the assignment of ambassadors to allied embassies and kindred regions like Equinox and Albion. In addition, the Foreign Service will consist of multiple ranks that can be achieved by accumulating a certain amount of points, earned for completing different tasks throughout the time of service. Tasks include posting foreign updates, filing reports on assigned regions and contributing to the writing of foreign updates or regional newspaper. Previously dissolved by Foreign Minister Sandaoguo in March 2014, the potential revival of the Foreign Service was a point of contention in all his elections, where opponents suggested that appointing ambassadors would be a good way to involve newcomers, while Sandaoguo countered that foreign updates were seldon read, as opposed to regional newspapers, and posting updates in other forums offered no useful foreign policy experience to ambassadors. Journey of a e-Lifetime Pshizzle comments the happenings at the South Pacific Ejection Contest 21 days ago, thirty nations went out on the journey of a e-lifetime. Now, nine nations remain, fighting for the coveted gold medal and the title "Winner of the South Pacific Ejection Contest", as well as the right to post something on the World Factbook Entry. The Winning Puppet has experience, having won a previous edition of the Ejection Contest. Logreston has the coveted Get Out of Elimination pass waiting in the wings. By perhaps one of the luckiest graces of fate, TSP-Karnetvor managed to avoid elimination from not posting in the Alphabet Challenge and going on to survive the middle eliminations narrowly. Sheenwing and Pshizzle both recovered from early mishaps and are doing well in the later challenges, Pshizzle even being ranked 1st Most Politically Active. Lajorvia quickly became one of the most frequent posters, as well as becoming well-liked by the majority of the region. Gregorinia's transformation from "Sagev Sal" to minigame beast is perhaps one of the quickest transformations seen in either edition of the Ejection Contest. Grand Coffee also performanced excellently in the minigames, although being relatively quiet. Last and perhaps least, The Ethereal Contest is almost certain to be eliminated soon, based on his lack of activity. ANALYSIS Who will win? Pshizzle took a good look at the current stats of all remaining contestants, to determine who is most likely to win or lose the Ejection Contest. Here are their predictions: 8th - Gregorinia: IDK why, I just get this bad feeling. 7th - TSP-Karnetvor: I actually know next to nothing about him. 6th - Grand Coffe: As much as I like a good underdog story, this seems the farthest possible, unfortunately. 5th - Pshizzle: I can't put too much trust in myself. 4th - Sheenwind: An under-the-radar type of player, definitely someone to watch out for if he gets to Top 4. 3rd - Lajorvia: A solid contender for sure. 2nd - The Winning Puppet: It would be amazing if he won twice. 1st - Logreston: Elimination-Out pass and well-balanced states, I don't think Logreston will finish outside of the Top 3. Were we Tsu-Pen-dous? Analysing the Tsunamy Administration based on the results of the Government Approval Surveys. [Image: fn25aPm.jpg?1]
Having joined the South Pacific in early 2003, Tsunamy has served two full terms as Delegate 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 1: TSUNAMY Tsunamy enjoyed healthy approval levels throughout his second term. As shown in the above graphic, most respondents described his delegacy as Excellent, Good or at worst Regular, while only a small amount thought it lacked visibility. It is interesting to see his Excellent rating rise in June, just as his Regular rating decreased by eleven points. It gives us an idea of an improving public opinion, as can be seen from the following comments by respondents: "He is very personal and able to manage everything very well."
"He certainly makes things interesting with the dispatches and polls done." "He's doing a good job, but he could be a bit more visible." "He hasn't been super visible, but when he does make appearances, it's usually something to pay attention to." "Tsunamy is friendly and a leader. Maybe not the most active RMB side." Most positive comments highlight his efforts to keep the region informed on important developments and his friendliness when dealing with others. Indeed, this has been one of the qualities that citizens often bring up when talking about Tsunamy. His delegacy featured numerous attempts at increasing WA membership by congratulating new members on the Regional Message Board and he championed greater gameside political integration, first with his bicameralism proposal during the 2015 Great Council, and later with the establishment of the Local Council. Although no respondent gave Tsunamy a negative rating, some comments were no as enthusiastic as the above, as can be seen here: "Compared to past Delegates, Tsunamy seems indecisive. But he's getting better."
"Compared to Kringlia [Kringalia], it seemed that there was less participation or interaction from Tsunamy in various actiites/events." "He's no Roosevelt, but he by no means a Buchanan" "Good Delegate, but a little on the quiet side. Well, a lot on the quiet side." "He isn't active on the RMB as far as I've seen and not much on the forums either, kind of like William Howard Taft following Theodore Roosevelt, or in this case, Kringalia." It would be easy to characterise the above comments as prove that Tsunamy was not so good as delegate. After all, it is true that he was not the most active or involved head of state, which he himself confirmed when he said, during his latest campaign, that he prefered to take a backseat while ministers ran their areas. However, it is telling that these comments belonged to respondents who rated Tsunamy with either a Regular or a Lacks Visibility. While not the best ratings, these are far from a Bad or Terrible, which shows that, even in his percieved failings, Tsunamy was also seen as a capable leader. We have taken a close look at the second term of the Tsunamy Administration. Let us now take a broader look at his entire delegacy, based on the surveys taken throughout his second term and the one survey taken at the end of his first term: Tsunamy had a slightly higher approval during his first term, with relatively equal Excellent and Good ratings, along with a lower Regular and extremely low Bad and Lacks Visibility. He kept the relatively equal Excellent and Good ratings in his second term, but his Regular rating doubled from 12% to 25%, while his Lacks Visibility almost doubled from 4% to 7%. Comments on his first term brought up his participation in the Great Council, though mostly in a neutral or negative light. One comment said that the Great Council "seemed to devolve into a cluster fuck in ways that it shouldn't have", while other comment said about the bicameral legislature that Tsunamy "effectively killed it" by submitting his proposal to a 75% vote at the Assembly. Unlike comments in his second term, which were often positive or at least balanced, most comments on his first term were quite decisive. Positive comments praised his willingness to help others, while negative comments criticised a lack of presence or said there had been nothing to show for his delegacy. This could possibly be due to the contrast between the hands on style of his predecessor and his own hands off style. With that in mind, Tsunamy did prove to be much more active in his first term, since most of the well publicised activity in which he had a personal hand happened during that term: his WA congratulations messages and the Great Council are two such examples. Overall, Tsunamy kept high approval ratings throughout his delegacy. It can be said that his hands off did cost him some approval, since some confused his personal management style for genuine absence from the region, something that was not explicitly addressed until his July 2015 campaign. Still, more respondents considered him a friendly and capable delegate, an opinion that, term variations in rating notwithstanding, remained consistent throughout his eight months in office. PART 2: SAM111 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. Former Delegate of the South Pacific
Posts outside High Court venues should be taken as those of any other legislator. I do not participate in the regional server, but I am happy to talk through instant messaging or on the forum. Legal Resources: THE MATT-DUCK Law Archive | Mavenu Diplomatic Archive | Rules of the High Court | Case Submission System | Online Rulings Consultation System
Nice! Gotta love them graphs!
 One of the comments by respondents was listed twice, just saying! "Tsunamy is friendly and a leader. Maybe not the most active RMB side." <33
This is a cool issue, gotta love the Soutern Journal
I am Zadiner/Zak. Part of Assembly, some other stuff, Founder of some other region.
Hey, I have a bunch of issues. You don't need to care. Emoji of the week: :dodgy:
Southern Journal Best Journal. 100000000000% Ryccia approved.
Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)
Local Council Member(April 24-August 11) Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)
I like the issues however I think you showed ask people in the FP to review it first so any mistakes can be removed. e.g:
"Her campaign highlighted the ned" And you posted: "Tsunamy is friendly and a leader. Maybe not the most active RMB side." Twice however I don't know if you were ment to do that. You may be Minister however you like everyone else do make mistakes. Europeian Ambassador to The South Pacific
Former Local Council Member Former Minister of Regional Affairs Former High Court Justice
(09-11-2015, 07:36 AM)rhinotaz Wrote: Nice! Gotta love them graphs! (09-11-2015, 07:37 AM)Zak6858 Wrote: This is a cool issue, gotta love the Soutern Journal (09-11-2015, 12:02 PM)Ryccia Wrote: Southern Journal Best Journal. 100000000000% Ryccia approved. Thanks!  (09-11-2015, 07:36 AM)rhinotaz Wrote: One of the comments by respondents was listed twice, just saying! Fixed! (09-11-2015, 12:03 PM)Punchwood Wrote: You may be Minister however you like everyone else do make mistakes. We've been there before, Punchwood. Can we not do it again? Former Delegate of the South Pacific
Posts outside High Court venues should be taken as those of any other legislator. I do not participate in the regional server, but I am happy to talk through instant messaging or on the forum. Legal Resources: THE MATT-DUCK Law Archive | Mavenu Diplomatic Archive | Rules of the High Court | Case Submission System | Online Rulings Consultation System
We have? I'm just saying you like everyone else on this planet make the odd mistake so to make sure those mistakes don't end up on the final issue you should ask us to see if there are any mistakes before hand.
Europeian Ambassador to The South Pacific
Former Local Council Member Former Minister of Regional Affairs Former High Court Justice
(a.k.a. You could use a bit of proofreading.
)
<33
I wonder if he could have some proofreading done before he posts...
Anyway. Great issue, Kris.
"...if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader." - Christopher Titus
Deranged in NS since 2011 One and ONLY minion of LadyRebels The OUTRAGEOUS CRAZY other half of LadyElysium |
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