Appeals Procedure:

So your story was suitable for alt.startrek.creative.all-ages 
but was rejected by the moderators? So the moderators allowed a
story you felt was inappropriate? How do you appeal?

Of the moderators, Stephen Ratliff will be handling all
appeals and you should direct your comments and concerns about
the appeal process to her. Also once a story has been formally
appealed, for fairness' sake there will be no direct or private
discussions relating to the story in question involving any of
the three moderators, and moderators will not take part in public
discussions on ASC relating to the appeal, save a general post
as to the moderators reasoning for the rejection, and a notice
when the discussion has passed the allotted time.

No annonymous appeals will be considered.

For a story you feel has been unfairly rejected:

1) Resubmit your story to Stephen be reevaluated and ask for an
explanation of why it was rejected. Read the comments carefully
and see if the moderators have a point. Consider removing or
rewriting the disputed portions to allow for the moderators
concerns.

2) If your story is still rejected after a review and you still
feel it has been unfairly rejected, then inform the moderators
you are seeking an appeal.

3) Post the story on alt.startrek.creative and call for
discussion of the story. Stephen will post an explanation of why
the story was determined to be unsuitable for ASCA on ASC as well
as posting an announcement on ASCA that a story has been rejected
and is being appealed on ASC. The name of the author, the title
of the story, and brief plot summary will be included in the
announcement and ASCA readers will be invited to read the story
on ASC and submit their opinions of the moderators decision on
ASC. (Children and young teenagers will be expected to have their
parents read the story for them first, leaving parents to make
the decision.)

4) Once any interested parties have expressed their opinions on
ASC, the five appeal board members will consider all objections
and comments and prepare a concensus statement that represents
the views of the appeal board and takes into consideration the
comments made by the ASC readership. If the appeal board
disagrees with the moderators decision after careful
consideration, the concensus statement is then submitted to the
moderators (through Stephen) for reconsideration of the story in
question.

5) The moderators will review the consensus statement and
reconsider their original rejection in light of the appeal
board's recommendation. If they agree with the appeal board after
consideration, the story will be posted on ASCA. (The agreement
must be unanimous.) If the moderators still reject the story,
they will post both the concensus statement and a summary of
their reasons for still rejecting the story on ASCA and ASC.
Simultaneously, the story will be reposted on by Stephen on ASC
and readers on ASCA will again be invited to read the story on
ASC and make their own decisions on the matter. 

For an inappropriate story you feel should not have been posted
on ASCA:

1) Write to Stephen expressing your concerns. He will write back
with an explanation of why the story was considered appropriate.
Read the comments carefully and see if the moderators have a
point.

2) If the you feel the story is still inappropriate after a
review, then inform the moderators you are seeking an appeal and
why. For a period of three weeks the story will not appear on
ASCA in a repost nor will it be archived in the ASCA archive.

3) The story in question will be posted on alt.startrek.creative
by Stephen and there will be a call for discussion of the story.
Stephen will post an explanation of why the story was determined
to be suitable on ASCA for ASC as well as posting an announcement
on ASCA that the a story has been included that a reader felt was
inappropriate and the decision is being appealed on ASC. Your
comments will also be posted on ASCA and ASC. The name of the
author, the title of the story, and a brief plot summary will be
included in the announcement. ASCA readers will be invited to
read the story on ASC and submit their opinions of the moderators
decision on ASC. (Children and young teenagers will be expected
to have their parents read the story for them first, leaving
parents to make the decision.)

4) Once any interested parties have expressed their opinions on
ASC, the five appeal board members will consider all objections
and comments and prepare a concensus statement that represents
the views of the appeal board and takes into consideration the
comments made by the ASC readership. If the appeal board
disagrees with the moderators decision after careful
consideration, the concensus statement is then submitted to the
moderators (through Stephen) for reconsideration of the story in
question.

5) The moderators will review the consensus statement and
reconsider their original rejection in light of the appeal
board's recommendation. The story will be reposted on ASC (with
an announcement on ASCA) but will not appear on ASCA or be placed
in the ASCA archive. A reference to the story in question and the
fact that the story was rejected after appeal will be placed in
the ASCA archive.

To prevent all of this from creating too much work for everyone
to avoid repeat repeat appeals by a single author or a single
reader, once a story has gone through the appeal process, it can
not be resubmitted for a second appeal. Also, if one story by a
particular author has been rejected and a second story which is
substantially the same, is written by that same author and
rejected by the moderators for the same reasons as an appealed
story, the second story will not go through the appeal process.

The current Appeals Board is:
   Patti, aka Dangermom
   Alara Rogers
   Constable Katie
   J.A. Toner aka Auntie Jamelia

The Appeals board currently requires one more member.  Should
there not be a fifth member by the time it is required again, A
member of the ASC-VSO will fill that position.