Wonderful, exciting news in this report…mostly

Real Life Stuff

Normally I’d wait until the end to mention this, but I wanted to bring it up first. I’d like to thank all of you for being patient with us here in the SA staff, specifically Dranik and myself. I won’t go into details, but suffice to say, things weren’t exactly rosy for either of us this past week. Your continued patience is greatly appreciated.

Speaking of real life, I was looking at my calendar today and I realized that my Spring Break is only 2 weeks away. Well, I’m not going anywhere for Spring Break. I’m staying at school, and getting paid to do so (can’t argue with that). I’ll be using that week to get ahead in my school work and to work on Brotherhood things. I’ll be doing this because I am going to Switzerland at the end of March (March 24-April 2), and I’ll be out of touch then. Yes, I’ll actually be taking a leave from the DB :P

Trivia and Other Competitions

Congrats go out to Halc and RevengeX for taking first and second place in last week’s trivia, and Kalak and Raken won this week. Awards are in the mail. As for other SA competitions, they’re kind of on hold for the time being. I’ve got some ideas, but a break is warranted, especially to let the clans do their thing, and we do have the RoS and GJW coming up, and I don’t want to be responsible for burning people out to early.

New Courses

Sith Empire III is finally up and running. Big thanks go out to Aabsdu and Orzon for working on this, and for being patient. With Sith Empire III done, I’m going to reopen the new course proposals (Dranik will be removing that nice red, bold text soon). You must follow the guidelines on the Shadow Academy site, step by step. This helps keep things nice and orderly, and it may save you from a crap load of wasted work. Yes, I do reject course proposals. But, I can also approve them, or ask for further information.

Core Rewrites are moving along, still. These rewrites are being done in order to bring the core exams up to date with the rest of the Brotherhood. Also, to further strengthen the Brotherhood, Kir is working on a Judicial System course. More info on that will come out later.

EP Changes

Welshman has taken over the grading of Sith Core. Sato stepped down from grading the Test of Wisdom, and I have reassumed grading that exam as well. Korras has taken over the grading of Obelisk Core. There are no EP positions open at this moment in time, but you never know when there will be. I didn’t ask for applications for the Obelisk or Sith Core because, with the rewrites, I needed people very familiar with the Orders from the start.

A Few Comments on Leadership

This past week has seen a change in Grandmasters. For some of us, this is not a first. For others, it is a first. The transition, though, has been smooth and orderly, and everyone in the Brotherhood, typically through their Consul but also through the other DC members, was represented in the selection of Sarin as Grandmaster. And this is the biggest point I want to emphasize: we, and every leader on every level, represent and work for the members. The Brotherhood is meant to be a place of fun, but it only operates as well as it does because various members agree to take on some stress to make things better for you. And, make no mistake about it: the higher you go in the Brotherhood’s leadership structure, the more you have to deal with, and it can get stressful. Jac lasted quite awhile as Grandmaster and I know he had to do a lot.

I have seen many people fill leadership positions during my time in the Brotherhood, but the ones who get them just to advance in rank usually (though not always) last the least amount of time. It is the ones who do the jobs to provide for the general welfare that typically last longer and provide more. I know that some of you might be thinking “he’s bragging about himself, isn’t he?” Well, in part, yes, because I am in one of these positions, and let’s just say I haven’t expanded the course offerings at the Shadow Academy because I like the process it takes to do it. No, I do it because I know the membership wants it. So, what’s the point of all this?

Simple. Fictionally speaking, all the leaders in the Brotherhood wield great power over their respective units. Our newly appointed Grandmaster wields great authority above all and your Consuls wield virtually absolute authority over the clans. Practically, though, we’re here to serve you. If anyone in the chain of command becomes unresponsive to member concerns (which includes providing the activity and rewarding), then they don’t need to be there. Be polite, but be frank as well. My door is always open and though I loathe to interfere in the clans, I am always willing to bring serious issues up with clan leaders.</P.

Conclusion and Summary

<p>So, that’s all the preaching for today, and I probably won’t do it again, at least not to that extent. But, I felt that this was a good time to bring up these comments again. I think a lot of people forget about them. So, on to the summary:

• Real life can suck. Thanks for being patient.

• Yay to trivia winners; other SA comps on hold

• Sith Empire III up; you may now propose new courses, but follow the guidelines.

• A few EP changes made

• Sarin is now GM: death, destruction, and mayhem are on their way, if not already here :P</p>