AWTeen Charter (2002)

This is a historic document related to the previous workings of AWTeen, which has been preserved here.

AWTeen Charter

AWTeen Committee Charter

2nd Revision

July 6, 2002

Preamble

We, the members of the Activeworlds community, do hereby form ourselves into an organization in order to give organized expression to our needs and desires, to serve as a bridge of communication between Activeworlds Corp. and the community, to conduct world management in an ethically responsible manner, and to foster a sense of community furthering teenagers' welfare throughout the Activeworlds Universe.

Article 1: The Caretakers

AWTeen, with its diverse population of visitors from all parts of the world, is managed better by a group of people who visit the world regularly rather than an outside body who knows little about what its visitors want. In order to provide unity and to carry out actions decided upon AWTeen's population, two Caretakers will be appointed by Activeworlds staff.

Section 1: Duties of the Caretakers

1. The Caretakers will hereby be referred to as the "Primary" and "Vice" Caretakers.
2. In most cases, the Caretakers will work together as a single entity (referred to elsewhere in this document as "The Caretakers"). However, when there is a disagreement between the two Caretakers, the Primary Caretaker always overrules, except where otherwise stated.
3. The Caretakers, unlike other members of the population, may lead more than one committee simultaneously.
4. Each Caretaker is granted a single vote on most matters, except where indicated.
5. If either of the Caretakers is or plans to be unavailable for a period of time exceeding five days, the other Caretaker will fill both positions until both Caretakers have returned.

Section 2: The Primary Caretaker

The responsibilities of the Primary Caretaker lie mainly in dealings with Activeworlds staff and the greater Activeworlds community.

1. The Primary Caretaker is responsible for all official correspondence between AWTeen and Activeworlds Corp..
2. The Primary has the sole authority to send official correspondence to other organizations on behalf of AWTeen. Telegrams, E-Mails, or other methods of communication by any other AWTeen community member without the support of the Primary will not be considered to be AWTeen's official stance on any issue.
3. The Caretaker is responsible for the upkeep of all information pertaining to AWTeen's activities (see Section 4).
4. The Primary Caretaker determines who receives which privilege passwords and rights (see Article IV, Section 1).

Section 3: The Vice Caretaker

1. The Vice Caretaker is responsible for ensuring the effective implementation of AWTeen's committee system.
2. The Vice Caretaker is required to maintain communication with members of all committees and between committees, and be up to date on all current projects at any given time.
3. The Vice Caretaker will fill the role of facilitator in discussions about AWTeen policy, regardless of the form of communication used (see Article 2, Section X).
4. In the event of a dispute between two committees over an area of jurisdiction, the Vice Caretaker will make a final decision deciding which committee is responsible for which actions.

Section 4: The Secretaries' Committee

Past AWTeen Caretakers have been overloaded with a great deal of information regarding to all aspects of AWTeen's governing. Unfortunately, the maintenance of this information requires a great deal of time and energy of the Caretakers, both of which are better concentrated on other matters. The Secretaries' Committee is created to address the issue of information management and to reduce the problem of miscommunication between committees.

1. The Secretaries' Committee shall be lead by the Caretaker at all times.
2. The Caretaker, like any other committee leader, is responsible for choosing and maintaining the Secretaries' Committee's members.
3. The Secretaries' Committee is required to have access to all information pertaining to AWTeen's activities, whether that information be concentrated in a newsgroup, in General Assembly meetings, or any other form of communication.
4. The Secretaries' Committee is created in the idea of remaining unbiased in all Assembly affairs, and as such, carries no votes within the Assembly other than the Caretaker's one vote.
5. The Committee is required to keep the following information up to date:
   • Lists of all Assembly votes and their outcomes
   • A compilation of the current members of all standing committees, as well as their leaders
   • An index of the privilege passwords to which each member of AWTeen's committees or community is entitled, but not necessarily the passwords themselves
   • A list of all past committee and Assembly representatives, as well as their reasons for leaving AWTeen
   • A list of all past and future events that are currently scheduled involving AWTeen
   • A copy of this Charter modified to include any Amendments (see Article IV, Section 7)
   • A list of each committee's decisions regarding issues within its jurisdiction
6. The committee may be given additional responsibilities by the Primary Caretaker at any time.
7. The Secretaries' committee must make any and all information under its control (with the exception of privilege passwords) available to any member of the public or AWTeen's government when requested.
8. The information listed in Clause V is to be provided to the Secretaries' committee on a regular basis by all AWTeen volunteers. Committee members who do not provide this information will be considered to be derelict in their duties.
9. The right of a Vote of No Confidence can not be exercised within the Secretaries' committee.

Section 5: Inauguration

1. The Caretakers shall repeat the following oath upon their inauguration. After completing the oath, they are immediately vested with all of the powers of their respective offices, and shall maintain these powers until they resign, or are removed by the Activeworlds Community Liason.

   With the Activeworlds community as a witness, I do solemnly affirm that I will faithfully execute the office of {Caretaker/Vice Caretaker} of the AWTeen Activeworlds Community. I swear, to the best of my ability, to uphold the interests of AWTeen's visitors, as well as those of all Activeworlds citizens, while remaining in a state of agreement with the goals of Activeworlds Corp.. I will maintain the integrity of my office, and work to promote good ethics to the community. I will strive to transmit a greater inheritance than that which I now receive, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the AWTeen Committee Charter.

Article II: The Committees

AWTeen is based on a committee system that allows those who enjoy specializing in a particular area. The committee system has several advantages. Members can join committees in areas of interest while ignoring committees outside their area of specialty. Committees reduce the workload to be processed by the Caretakers by allowing relatively minor decisions in a particular area to be made by committee leaders instead of the Caretakers.

Prior generations have shown that a committee system of government is efficient and achieves the goals of the people. Many government organizations, even as complex as the United States Congress, utilize a committee system. In Activeworlds itself, history has shown that committee-based systems, such as the Cy Awards organization, have generally outlasted autocratic systems, such as the Active Worlds Historical Society. Furthermore, committees encourage active participation by the community because community members can easily become involved in a committee even if they have little or no prior experience.

Section 1: The Definition of a Committee

1. A committee shall be defined as a group of people who share a common interest and who manage a particular area of AWTeen's affairs.
2. Committees must consist of at least three members (including the leader) at all times, and must provide an continually updated list of membership to the Secretaries' Committee.
3. Committees may be created or disbanded at any time by the Caretakers.
4. A committee that falls below three members at any given time shall be disbanded immediately by the Vice Caretaker.

Section 2: Committee Leaders

Committee Leaders serve as representatives from their committees to AWTeen's public and to the Activeworlds community in general. Since the actions or inaction of committee leaders can reflect positively or negatively on the Caretakers, the Caretakers should be able to appoint these leaders and accept sole responsibility for their actions.

1. One member of each committee is to be selected as the Committee's leader by the Caretakers.
2. It is up to the committee leader to select a method of government within the committee. Work within a committee does not necessarily need to follow Robert's Rules of Order, but the leader takes responsibility for what form is adopted.
3. The committee leader serves as a representative to the General Assembly and answers to the Caretakers. The General Assembly is defined later in this document.
4. With the exception of the Caretaker, one person may not lead two or more committees simultaneously.
5. If a Committee Leader plans to be unavailable for a period of time lasting more than five days, he or she is obligated to appoint a replacement from within the committee to take over as Leader and Assembly representative until the original leader's return.

Section 3: Committee Affairs

1. Committees must communicate frequently. It is the responsibility of the Vice Caretaker to ensure that adequate communication is occurring between all Committee members. "Adequate communication" is defined as meeting one of the following requirements:
   • Holding a meeting using the Activeworlds browser, PalTalk, or other communications software where a significant percentage of the committee's members are in attendance and the meetings are held semi-monthly or more frequently
   • Using an electronic bulletin board system or newsgroup that is continuously accessible (for both reading and posting) by all members of the committee, and where each member makes an average of greater than one post per day.
2. The public must be informed of all committee happenings, by either being allowed to read (but not necessarily post to) the specified bulletin board system, or by being allowed to attend (but not necessarily contribute to) the committee's meetings.
3. If adequate communication is not occurring as determined by the Vice Caretaker, the Caretakers are obligated to appoint a new committee leader as soon as the shortcoming is perceived.
4. Committees are free to make and enforce decisions on areas within their jurisdiction that:
   • Will not affect AWTeen's community as a whole, or
   • Will affect the entire AWTeen community, but are decisions that come as a result of a previous referendum

Section 4: Votes of No Confidence

At times, committees can run into difficulties when their leaders are unable to continue working as efficiently as they had before. In these cases, committees must take action to ensure that they are able to continue working. Votes of No Confidence assist committees in performing their duties at all times.

1. A Vote of No Confidence may be called at any time by any member of any committee (with the exception of the Secretaries' Committee).
2. After a vote is called, each committee member must decide whether the committee leader is performing his or her duties of: * Maintaining adequate communication among the members of the committee * Representing the committee's views by voting in the committee's best interest in General Assembly votes * Assisting committee members in excelling in the committee's area of jurisdiction
3. This vote will last for twenty-four hours.
4. While a vote is ongoing, the committee leader may not make staffing changes to the committee.
5. Votes of No Confidence may not be called more than once per week for each committee, regardless of which committee member calls the vote.
6. All committee members must agree when a vote is called to take any action. If one committee member disagrees, the vote is defeated.
7. Committee members may not abstain from a Vote of No Confidence.
8. Upon unanimous agreement, the Vice Caretaker is required to select a member of the community NOT already part of the committee to take the position of committee leader within 48 hours.

Section 5: Approval of committee leaders

1. A committee leader may be appointed or removed at any time by the Caretakers, for any reason.
2. The Vice Caretaker shall be the Liason for all committee leaders and thus is responsible for first selecting or removing committee leaders, unless overruled by the Caretaker on a particular choice.

Article III: The General Assembly

The General Assembly (formerly known as the "Core") was created to serve as the governing body of AWTeen in previous versions of this charter. Unfortunately, previous Cores did not always make decisions in the best interests of AWTeen's citizens, because Core members were not always held accountable to their actions. The General Assembly functions similarly to the Core but has several changes that enable it to run more efficiently.

Section 1: The makeup of the Assembly

1. The General Assembly shall consist of the leaders of all of AWTeen's committees as recognized by the Caretakers and recorded by the Secretaries' committee.
2. Each General Assembly representative shall have one vote in matters of AWTeen issues.
3. The Vice Caretaker is always a member of the Assembly, regardless of whether the Vice Caretaker leads any committees or not.
4. Each Assembly representative is expected to represent the views of his or her committee at all times.

Section 2: Special rights of the Assembly

1. Being representatives for AWTeen's committees, the General Assembly representatives are the official voices of AWTeen's committees, and represent the committees in Assembly discussions.
2. Discussions of the Assembly may take place in one of two fashions:
   • Holding a meeting using the Activeworlds browser, PalTalk, or other communications software wherein a significant percentage of the committee's members are in attendance and the meetings are held semi-monthly
   • Using an electronic bulletin board system or newsgroup that is continuously accessible (for both reading and posting) by all members of the committee
3. Committee members and the public are not entitled to vote on Assembly business.
4. All arguments on both sides of all issues, as well as the results of all votes, must be made public. This may be accomplished in one of two fashions:
   • Allowing community and committee members to listen to or read the conversation during an Assembly meeting (but not necessarily share their views)
   • Allowing public read-only or full access to the electronic bulletin board or newsgroup that is used by the Assembly

Section 3: Voting Procedure

1. The General Assembly will discuss issues that are of interest to AWTeen's citizens, or that encompass the work of several committees.
2. Any member of the General Assembly may propose a referendum.
3. The Caretakers receive one vote each in the Assembly, regardless of how many committees they lead.
4. A referendum may not be proposed without a mandatory discussion period taking place prior to the voting. During a discussion period, changes may be made to the referendum before its final proposal in order to reach a compromise.
5. Referendums may pass and be implemented immediately after a majority has supported an issue only if the issue is time sensitive. In all other cases, a reasonable time must pass to ensure that all Assembly representatives have the opportunity to weigh the issue and place their votes.
6. The Assembly may not pass a referendum to appoint a new Caretaker or Vice Caretaker, and the Assembly may not propose staffing changes within the Assembly or within individual committees.
7. Referendums may not be modified during a vote. All changes to a referendum must be made during the discussion period.
8. The Assembly may not pass a referendum that forces a committee to change the manner in which it conducts business, and the Assembly may not overrule an implementation detail that would normally fall under a committee's jurisdiction.
9. Committee members are expected to be aware of all proposed Assembly referendums and to ensure that their leaders are representing them with their actions.
10. In the case of a tie in the Assembly, the Caretakers are to make a final, and binding, decision.

Article IV: The System

Section 1: Seniority and rights usage

1. Committee members, General Assembly representatives, and the Caretakers are not entitled to any privilege passwords or special rights simply because of their titles.
2. The Primary Caretaker is the sole distributor of rights within AWTeen, and controls access to privilege passwords as well as world rights.
3. No member of AWTeen's government has the authority to control privilege passwords privately owned by any community member, committee member, Assembly representative, or Caretakers.
4. Rights and privilege passwords may be bestowed only if a member's position requires use of those rights or privileges.
5. A member is not entitled to unnecessary passwords or rights, regardless of level of experience or seniority.
6. Rights or passwords may be revoked at any time, for any reason, at the Primary Caretaker's discretion.
7. The Primary Caretaker, as leader of the Secretaries' Committee, is responsible for updating or delegating the authority to update the committee's records when passwords are changed, or when a privilege is given or revoked to any AWTeen volunteer.

Section 2: World Greetings

1. The Caretakers are responsible for any greetings that are provided upon entrance to the world, including the Immigration Officer, console messages, and future technologies with a similar purpose.
2. The Caretakers may choose to delegate this privilege to others, but they maintain responsibility for any messages that are posted.

Section 3: Vote Carryover

1. All votes taken since June 26, 2001 with previous versions of this Charter remain in effect unless they conflict with provisions of this revision of the Charter.
2. All votes that have not been recorded, either electronically or in print, since June 26, 2001, or votes that the Secretaries' Committee does not record while this charter is in effect, are hereby considered void.

Section 4: Enforcement

1. The Activeworlds Community Liason is responsible for enforcing and interpreting this Charter.
2. Because the Activeworlds Community Liason is generally overwhelmed with other tasks, the Primary Caretaker may act on behalf of the Liason in enforcing the Charter except in cases of appeal.
3. Any member of the General Assembly may appeal a decision he or she believes in violation of the Charter to the Community Liason for a final decision. The Liason then has up to ninety-six hours from the time of appeal to make a ruling. The Liason's ruling is final and binding.
4. If the Liason is on an extended leave lasting more than two weeks, any Activeworlds staff member may make a final and binding interpretation of this Charter in lieu of the Liason, under the same restrictions and time constraints.

Section 5: Equality

This Charter is written with the intention of allowing maximum community involvement. General Assembly representatives simply represent committees and work in AWTeen's best interests, and the Caretakers' main responsibility is to select the best staffing to achieve AWTeen's goals. In short, all members of AWTeen are considered first and foremost community members, and no visitor is considered of a higher rank than another.

Section 6: The Community Liason

1. The Activeworlds Community Liason has the authority to remove either of the Caretakers with just cause at any time, but must appoint a permanent replacement within two weeks or make an announcement regarding a new form of government.
2. The Community Liason has the power to overrule the Caretakers, General Assembly, or committees on any decision.

Section 7: Amendment

1. This Charter may be amended at any time with a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly and the approval of both Caretakers, or at the request of the Community Liason.

External links

• AWTeen History Archive