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234 lines
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Plaintext
From sherman@trln.lib.unc.edu Wed Jun 30 10:44:53 1993
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EDT
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Date: Wed, 30 Jun 1993 13:45:58 EDT
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From: "Dennis R. Sherman" <sherman@trln.lib.unc.edu>
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To: andrew@bransle.ucs.mun.ca, WEW@naucse.cse.nau.edu
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Message-Id: <0096ECD5.5A17D960.30122@trln.lib.unc.edu>
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Subject: sca-faq/part03
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Status: OR
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Newsgroups: rec.org.sca,rec.answers,news.answers
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Subject: rec.org.sca / Rialto Frequently Asked Questions - part03/04
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From: dennis_sherman@unc.edu
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Followup-To: poster
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Summary: FAQs with Answers for the Rialto - rec.org.sca and mailing
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list sca@mc.lcs.mit.edu. The Society for Creative Anachronism is
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an organization that studies the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and
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recreates those parts we find most interesting.
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Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
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Archive-name: sca-faq/part03
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Last-modified: 05/11/1993
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rec.org.sca and sca@mc.lcs.mit.edu FAQ
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or
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Questions Frequently Asked on the Rialto
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----------------------------------------
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This article is part 3 of the complete Frequently Asked Questions
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posting for the Rialto. An introduction and table of contents are
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included in part 1. The complete Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list
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is available via FTP from rtfm.mit.edu in directory
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/pub/usenet/rec.org.sca. Those without FTP access should send e-mail to
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mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with "send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources"
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in the body to find out how to do FTP by e-mail.
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For more complete introductions to the SCA, see the recurring postings
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"Come on in -- the water's fine" (by Hal Ravn [whheydt@pacbell.com] ) and
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"Life in the Current Middle Ages." (by Arval Benicour
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[mittle@watson.ibm.com] ).
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Section 3: Miscellaneous questions.
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3.1 What does AS stand for?
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Anno Societatis, or Year of the Society, counted from May 1, 1966
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CE. (CE = Common Era, used to avoid the religious connotations of AD,
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or Anno Domini)
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3.2 Other abbreviations you may run across:
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A&S - Arts and Sciences (not to be confused with AS, above)
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BTW - By The Way
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CMA - Current Middle Ages
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FAQ - Frequently Asked Question(s)
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FYI - For Your Information
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IMHO - In My Honest/Humble Opinion
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MKA - Modernly (or Mundanely) Known As
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OOP - Out Of Period
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:-) - not really an abbreviation, the "smiley" informally
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indicates humor. Turn your head sideways to the left to
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understand it.
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3.3 Why don't we have a badge for all the Rialto people to wear?
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We have an informal agreement that a piece of netting worn on your
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person or hanging about your camp indicates you visit the Rialto.
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Remember there are people that have nets around that do *not* visit
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here.
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3.4 What is Period?
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The period (and place) of interest to the SCA, as defined in
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Corpora and the By-Laws, is Western Europe and cultures that had
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contact with Western Europe before the 17th Century.
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Section 4: Recurring events:
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4.1 What is Pennsic? When is Pennsic?
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Pennsic is an annual war, with the main contenders being the East
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and Middle Kingdoms. It is the largest recurring event in the Laurel
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Kingdoms, with attendance in 1992 of about 8000. It has taken place
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since 1972, and has been held at Coopers Lake Campground near Slippery
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Rock, PA since 1977. The main battles of the war are held the third
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weekend in August, with other activities taking place the week and
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weekend preceding that. Pennsic was so named from "Pennsylvania" on the
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model of "Punic."
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4.2 What is Estrella? When is Estrella?
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Estrella is an annual war, with the main contenders being Atenveldt
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and Caid. The West and Outlands often contribute to the mayhem :-) It
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has taken place since 1985, and is held at Estrella Mountain Park near
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Goodyear, AZ, west of Phoenix. It is held on President's Day weekend
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(February).
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4.3 What is Lilies? When is Lilies?
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Lilies is an annual war that takes place in Calontir. Each year
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a new scenario is developed to vary the sides. Past scenarios
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have included Winter Queens vs. Summer Queens, Laurels vs.
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Pelicans, Baronies vs. Shires, and so on. It takes place near
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Kansas City. Attendance in 1992 was 800+.
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Section 5: Difficult topics:
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There are some topics that recur fairly regularly that are
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almost guaranteed to cause heated debate. These topics generally
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involve matters of opinion, where debate can be entertaining,
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amusing, or informative, but often devolves into name-calling or
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worse. Below is a listing of some such topics, including a brief
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summary of the major points of view on each. If you decide to bring
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up one of these topics on the Rialto, be prepared for lengthy, and
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perhaps unfriendly, argument. If you seriously are interested in
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changing how the SCA as an organization deals with these topics,
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remember you *MUST* *WRITE* the Board of Directors with your
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opinions to effect any change on the organization as a whole. You
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will *not* change anything simply through discussing it on the
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Rialto.
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5.1 Same-sex consorts.
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Current situation: According to Corpora the Sovereign and Consort
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must be of opposite gender, i.e. one male and one female by
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plumbing, regardless of affectional preference.
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Pro: Those people in favor of allowing same-sex consorts feel that
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modern sensibilities are more important than historical practice,
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and that in the spirit of making the SCA as inclusive as possible,
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people should be allowed to fight in Crown Tourney for their
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significant other, regardless of their affectional preference.
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Con: Those people against allowing same-sex consorts feel that
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historical accuracy is important, and that as there are no
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historical examples of a sovereign having a consort of the same sex,
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the SCA should not permit it. An additional argument is that the
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majority of the SCA is heterosexual, and that by having two members
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of the same sex on the throne, approximately half the SCA is
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deprived of a role model during that reign.
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5.2 Selecting the Crown.
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Current situation: In all kingdoms, the Sovereign is chosen by a
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regularly recurring, double elimination Crown Tourney. The
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frequency of this tourney varies by kingdom. The victor of this
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tourney becomes the Heir to the throne (title varies by kingdom),
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and the person for whom the victor fought becomes the Heir's
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Consort. After some period of time as Heirs, they are crowned
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Sovereign and Consort.
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Proposals: We have seen many varied proposals on the Rialto for
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alternative ways of selecting the Sovereign. Each is treated
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separately below. In all cases, take as given the opinion (both Pro
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and Con) "We've never done it that way before."
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1. Allow champions in Crown Tourney. A person would fight in Crown
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Tourney for a couple. If they are victorious, the couple would
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become Sovereign and Consort. The fighter, in most versions of this
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proposal, would be required to serve as Champion throughout the
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reign, and would not be permitted to fight in Crown Tourney while
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they are Champion.
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Pro: allows non-fighters to be Sovereign.
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Con: people express worries about 'kingmakers' and hiring of
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champions.
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2. Structure Crown Tourney as some combination of single combat and
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melee.
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Pro: better selects the Sovereign for leadership abilities. Looks
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more like historical 'wars of succession' to some people.
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Con: too much opportunity for ugly politics in deciding who fights
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on which team(s). Too unwieldy a tournament to finish in one day.
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3. Select the Sovereign using some methods other than fighting
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tournament. Various combinations of A&S combination, archery,
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fencing, and so on have all been suggested at one time or another.
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Pro: allows non-fighters to be Sovereign. Emphasizes something
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other than fighting as the way to get ahead.
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Con: subjective nature of judging leaves too much opportunity for
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ugly politics. There are no historical examples of rulers being
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chosen by similar means.
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Section 6: How do you join the SCA?
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Find your local group and show up. To attend an event, you must
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wear some attempt at pre-17th century clothing. If you like it, you
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may want to become a registered member, which among other things
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gets you newsletters. The Office of the Registry will provide basic
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introductory material, including a copy of your kingdom newsletter,
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on request. They also have packets of material available for
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teachers.
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The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
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Office of the Registry
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P.O. Box 360743
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Milpitas, CA 95036-0743
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In Australia (The Principality of Lochac), contact:
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Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
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PO Box 607
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UNLEY SA 5061
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AUSTRALIA
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---------- End of Part 03 ----------
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========================================================================
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Thanks to all who have contributed to this article.
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This article is a work in progress. If you have other topics you'd like to
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see included, send me email with the question(s) and your suggested
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answer(s). If you have comment on the items included, please send me
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(polite) email.
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PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE RIALTO! ! !
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The whole point of this effort is to reduce traffic. I will summarize
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comments sent to me, if it seems necessary.
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--
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Robyyan Torr d'Elandris Kapellenberg, Windmaster's Hill Atlantia
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Dennis R. Sherman Triangle Research Libraries Network
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dennis_sherman@unc.edu Univ. of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
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