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RESULT: rec.gardens.ecosystems moderated passes 153:41



                                RESULT
         moderated group rec.gardens.ecosystems passes 153:41

There were 153 YES votes and 41 NO votes, for a total of 194 valid
votes.  There were 2 abstentions and 6 invalid ballots.

For a group to pass, YES votes must be at least 2/3 of all valid
(YES and NO) votes.  There must also be at least 100 more YES votes
than NO votes.

A five day discussion period follows this announcement.  If no
serious allegations of voting irregularities are raised, the
moderator of news.announce.newgroups will create the group shortly
thereafter.

Newsgroups line:
rec.gardens.ecosystems	Ecosystems and organic gardening. (Moderated)

Voting closed at 23:59:59 UTC, 30 Jun 1997.

This vote was conducted by a neutral third party.  Questions
about the proposed group should be directed to the proponent.

Proponent: Bill Robinson <roseguy@flash.net>
Proponent: Ronald Zwaagstra <R.Zwaagstra@ppsw.rug.nl>
Votetaker: Dave Cornejo <dave@dogwood.com>

RATIONALE: rec.gardens.ecosystems

Organic Gardening, the magazine, conducted a survey in 1995 showing that the
number of home gardeners just in the U.S. had grown to a total of 78
million. A little over one third of those home gardenrs used mostly organic
gardening techniques, a little over one third used mostly non-organic
techniques, and the remaining one third used mostly a combination of organic
and non-organic techniques. The trend is towards increased participation in
organic gardening especially with starting home gardeners. There is no
existing newsgroup clearly focused on organic gardening or organic
techniques.

Successful organic gardening is more demanding than non-organic gardening
because it requires a working knowledge of the ways the total natural
community inter-relates with the physical and chemical enviroment of the
home garden. Rec.gardens.ecosystems is being proposed as a newsgroup with an
extensive FAQ dealing with the many issues of organic gardening and the ways
these issues inter-relate with the ecosystems of the garden and the larger
community.

The resources are in place for: 1.) Rec.gardens.ecosystems to have its own
website; 2.) to have the on-topic articles archived and made available
through WWW; and 3.) to have the group FAQ available via WWW and FTP.

Rec.gardens.ecosystems would also employ a robot moderator backed by human
moderators to minimize problems with cross-posting and to help keep the
discussions focused. The proposed newsgroup has the potential to be an
important resource for many home gardeners.

CHARTER: rec.gardens.ecosystems

Reasonable expectations in terms of scope and content:

Rec.gardens.ecosystems is intended as a newsgroup for the discussion
of the ways nature works within the garden. Successful organic
gardening is more demanding than non-organic gardening because it
requires a working knowledge of the ways the total natural community
interrelates with the physical and chemical environment of the home
garden. This is the basic meaning of the term, ecosystems. The reason
for selecting the name, "rec.gardens.ecosystems" was to emphasize that
the focus of this newsgroup is on gardening in cooperation with
nature. Michael Pollan said, "... the garden is a middle ground
between nature and culture." That middle ground should be a place
friendly to both sides.

Organic gardening can be defined as gardening with environmentally
friendly materials and environmentally friendly cultural practices.
Those materials considered as "environmentally friendly" are, for the
most part, those materials approved for use and listed in the
International Certification Standards of the Organic Crop Improvement
Association. A copy of that Standard will be included as Appendix A in
the group FAQ. Those practices that are considered as "environmentally
friendly" are those practices traditionally associated with organic
gardening and/or Integrated Pest Management.

Rec.gardens.ecosystems is also proposed as a newsgroup with a
Frequently Asked Questions or FAQ component. The FAQ will attempt to
answer the bulk of the questions asked by home gardeners employing
organic gardening techniques. Because the ecosystem of one area is
often so different from the ecosystem of another and because organic
answers tend to be so regional, the content of the FAQ will be based
on discussions in the group and on the existing knowledge and
experience of volunteers who help maintain the FAQ.

The basic content will be as follows:

     Index:

     Section A: Basic Orientation & Definition of Terms
     Section B: Soils: Structure, use of Soil Amendments & Mulches
     Section C: Composting & Use of Compost
     Section D: Plant Nutrition
     Section E: Cultural Practices
     Section F: Botany for the Home Gardener
     Section G: Plant & Soil Disease; Treatment & Prevention
     Section H: Plant & Soil Pests; Treatment & Prevention
     Section I: Gardening for Wildlife
     Section J: Growing Edible Crops/Growing Organic Foods & Products
     Section K: Vegetarian & Vegan Gardening

     Appendix A: OCIA's International Certification Standard
     Appendix B: Recommended Reading
     Appendix C: Related Newsgroups, Websites, & Off-line Addresses
     Appendix D: Moderation Policy
     Appendix E: Glossary of Botanical Terms

An updated copy of the FAQ will be posted in rec.gardens.ecosystems
every two weeks. The FAQ Maintainers may decide to change the
posting frequency if and when the FAQ becomes available by other
means such as FTP, WWW or Automated E-mail.

Maintainer: Bill Robinson <roseguy@flash.net>
Maintainer: Ronald Zwaagstra <R.Zwaagstra@ppsw.rug>

Note:The FAQ maintainers will make a concerted effort to keep the
content of the FAQ current, relevant, and accurate. The information in
the FAQ can be used freely but at one's own risk. The FAQ maintainers
can not be held responsible for any damage caused by the information
in the FAQ.

Reasonable expectations of rec.gardens.ecosystems as a whole:

Gardening with just environmentally friendly materials coupled with
just environmentally friendly cultural practices and getting good
results requires a working knowledge of the ecosystems operating in
that particular garden. For the most part, it is a more complicated
way to garden. The reader should expect some of the discussions to be
relatively technical.

Moderation Policy:

The moderation policies for rec.gardens.ecosystems have a number of
goals. One goal is to eliminate or reduce cross postings. The only
crossposted articles allowed are administrative postings like RFDs
and CFVs. A second goal is to help the discussions stay focused on
ecosystems and organic gardening. A third goal is to discourage
inappropriate postings. The moderation system consists of a robo-
moderator supported by human moderators. The planed moderation
program is expected to meet these goals.

The robomoderator is intended as the primary "moderator at work". It
has the ability and is given the authority to perform three functions
during periods in which it is the primary moderator: 1.) To reject cross
posted articles or articles containing binaries, (PGP signatures O.K).
2.) To check whether the poster has engaged in off-topic postings (such
as, but not restricted to, ‘flames' or non-authorized commercial
postings) and attempts to continue such postings even after an
explicit request by the moderating team has been sent that such
practice cease. In the event that both conditions are met, the article
is referred to the human moderators for consideration. 3.) To approve
and post all other articles independent of the human moderators.

Except for forged messages, the moderators will not cancel any
messages. The human moderators may update the robomoderator
so as to reduce the number of off-topic postings. It should be noted
that as the robomoderator is usally the only moderator at work, some
amount of off-topic (see below) posts should be expected.

The responsibilities of the human moderators are to maintain the
robomoderator and to handle those situations that require individual
attention. When the human moderators see a need to shift moderation
to their control, they will first post an advanced notice on
rec.gardens.ecosystems stating the intent to shift to human moderation
(assisted by the robomoderator) and state the reasons for doing so.
The human moderators take over for an unspecified length of time
and will be assisted by the robomoderator checking for cross-posts,
binaries, and approved posters. The human moderators may elect to give
auto-approval status to any number of posters during those periods of
human moderation. All human moderators have the right to accept or
reject articles for rec.gardens.ecosystems.

The reasoning behind the temporary shifting to human moderation is to
provide the human moderators with the means to deal with difficult
situations, these include but are not restricted to flamewars and a
high percentage of off-topic postings. Articles that are blatantly
commercial and have nothing to do with home gardening or articles that
contain foul or offensive language, e.g., flames,  are considered
inappropriate for rec.gardens.ecosystems. Articles that are aimed at
demeaning individuals as a result of their age, nationality, race,
religion, gender or sexual orientation are also considered
inappropriate. In the event that such an article should appear, the
human moderator would contact the author, attach a copy of the group
charter as a reference, and request the author's cooperation. In the
event that all efforts to gain cooperation fail, the human moderator
may elect to have all future articles from that author auto-referred
to human moderators for individual consideration. The author would be
notified by the human moderator if the decision was to reject the
article.

Articles advocating the routine application of materials prohibited by
the International Certification Standards, as specified in Appendix A
of the group FAQ, are considered inappropriate as well. The same
general procedures as described above would be followed with the
exception that if such a posting would actually appear in
rec.gardens.ecosystems, the human moderator would also post an article
stating that the application of that material in that paticular way
violates the International Certification Standard.

As technology and circumstance change, it will undoubtedly be
necessary to update the moderation policy from time to time. In which
case, the changes would be posted to rec.gardens.ecosystems. The group
FAQ will also contain the most recent version of the moderation policy
in Appendix D.

Commercial Postings:

Articles announcing or promoting commercial products, services, or
publications by commercial sources may be posted provided that they
are appropriate in an organic gardening program. The articles must be
approved by the moderator prior to posting. Commercial postings
without pre-post approval will be considered as inappropriate and
treated as above.

Replacement of moderators:

Moderators may be replaced in a vote organized by an independent
vote-counter using the automated UseVote software. The voting period
lasts for a  period of 20 to 30 days, stated in advance in the Call
For Votes. The Call For Votes must appear in rec.gardens.ecosystems.
Moderators are replaced when the replacement candidate obtains a 2/3
majority with a minimal difference of 100 votes. The results of the
vote are published in rec.gardens.ecosystems.

The original proponent for a moderator replacement is allowed one
article in the group calling for support. The subjectline for that
Call For Support should read:"Moderator replacement, Call For
Support". The formal replacement process requires the support of at
least ten past-posters with the number verified by the moderator
group. A formal discussion on the replacement may then begin. The
subjectline for the formal discussion should read:"Moderator
replacement, Request For Discussion". Calls For Support and Requests
For Discussion will only be accepted when at least six months have
passed since the last request for discussion of moderator replacement.

Resignation of moderators, expansion of office:

Moderators in office may resign or choose to increase their number. In
such case, they may appoint a new moderator without a formal group
vote. Anyone who would like to volunteer to become a moderator should
notify one of the moderators. The moderators may ask the group for
their opinions regarding a candidate moderator. Those who would wish
to reply should do so by sending their comments directly to the
moderators by private e-mail rather than posting in the group. The
acceptance of a new moderator is then posted in
rec.gardens.ecosystems.

Conflicts between moderators:

The moderator team will be supervised by a Moderator Supervisor who is
not engaged in actual moderation. If the moderators have a conflict
that they can not resolve by themselves, the Moderator Supervisor
decides the issue. The proposed moderators propose the first Moderator
Supervisor. The Moderator Supervisor may propose their successors to
the moderating team. The moderating team must agree on the selection
of the follow-up supervisor.

END CHARTER.

MODERATOR INFO: rec.gardens.ecosystems

Moderator: Bill Robinson <roseguy@flash.net>
Moderator: Ronald Zwaagstra <R.Zwaagstra@ppsw.rug.nl>
Administrative contact address: ecosys-admin@sunsite.unc.edu
Article submission address: ecosys-submit@sunsite.unc.edu

END MODERATOR INFO.

DISTRIBUTION:

Pointers directing readers to this CFV will be posted in these groups:

The bionet.* groups


rec.gardens.ecosystems Final Voter list

Voted YES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
rupitis@sydney.dialix.com.au                                      Robert Upitis
emmerik@gil.com.au                                         Margaret Van Emmerik
oliverm@wantree.com.au                                            John McKinney
constant@numbat.murdoch.edu.au                                Clare Constantine
jasmine@fl.net.au                                                Jasmine Taylor
cgottsel@pris.bc.ca                                             Carol Gottselig
rthibode@ccs.carleton.ca                                     Rachelle Thibodeau
ac288@chebucto.ns.ca                                                Ruth Bailey
paxil@inorth.on.ca                                               Trevor Tymchuk
mark.hallas@sympatico.ca                                            Mark Hallas
coltremb@rsvs.ulaval.ca                                        Colette Tremblay
jmcgarry@uoguelph.ca                                              James McGarry
Steve.Silverman@adn.alcatel.com                                 Steve Silverman
farmcity@alternatives.com                                     FarmFolk/CityFolk
Cfwripples@aol.com                                                 Carol Walker
Chrislast@aol.com                                              Christian Laster
DJAssocIL@aol.com                                                    Jerry Jung
DReyno3370@aol.com                                              Dennis Reynolds
Englishla@aol.com                                                   Ann English
FHorn101@aol.com                                                 Carol J. Brown
GURUSHAKTI@aol.com
HillerSB@aol.com                                                    Vince Denny
LaaDeDah@aol.com                                              Laura A. Archbald
LittlePua@aol.com                                               Sherry Thompson
Margsone@aol.com                                              Margaret Sinclair
Mathled@aol.com                                                   Pam Mathewson
Pollinator@aol.com                                               David L. Green
RFergu6772@aol.com                                              Elaine Ferguson
spudspa@aol.com                                                     Bill Cutler
SueCasson@aol.com                                                    Sue Casson
tibetbud@aol.com                                              Thomas Bringhurst
TipiBoy@aol.com                                                     Todd Finney
tkse04@aol.com                                                        Tim Casey
UrbanHarve@aol.com                                              Dr. Bob Randall
sjf@hrmaple.hr.att.com                                            Steve Fenster
cnorman@best.com                                                   Cyndi Norman
mike.parker@US.GASES.BOC.COM                                        Mike Parker
rls0321@pwic002.ks.boeing.com                                    Rick L. Sleppy
mary@catalogue.com                                          mary robinson crews
zed@cjnetworks.com                                                  Ned Fleming
lrfortney@compuserve.com                                       Lloyd R. Fortney
bobber@dataplusnet.com                                             Bob & Shelly
rtiemens@erols.com                                               Laurie Tiemens
trehgr@execpc.com                                               Maxine McGovern
joey@gardener.com                                                   Joey Pierce
tom@halcyon.com                                                       Tom Acree
poly_math*@hotmail.com                                             Nick LaRocca
cmn@icbdfcs7.fc.hp.com                                   Catherine Varra-Nelson
maynard@fc.hp.com                                               Maynard Hammond
ndallen@interlog.com                                                Nigel Allen
ealbrook@lewiston.com                                               Liz Albrook
lisa.rosen@lmco.com                                               Lisa E. Rosen
kwattles@mindspring.com                                            Kirk Wattles
mplewinska@mindspring.com                                   Magdalena Plewinska
strohm@escher.sps.mot.com                                            Jim Strohm
tworiver@mtnhome.com                                             Robert M. Root
jem630@ds2.ncweb.com                                                Jane Mahlig
catjam@mailbox.neosoft.com                                         Jean Messmer
animaux@ix.netcom.com                                             Victoria Rain
garrapat@ix.netcom.com                                         Richard Faulkner
lionhert@ix.netcom.com                                           Marsha Stanton
raifft@ix.netcom.com                                             Beth Greenfeld
swehe@ix.netcom.com                                               Susan K. Wehe
barbuto@no_spam_sprynet.com                                     Anthony Barbuto
tindall@panix.com                                                 Bruce Tindall
rosmanha@pinkinc.com                                               H. A. Rosman
garlicgr@pond.com                                               Dinara Peterson
w_mazur@primenet.com                                                 Walt Mazur
farley@spont.com                                                     Tom Farley
nmcul@swcp.com                                                      Todd Staats
arielle@taronga.com                                          Stephanie da Silva
debra@teleport.com                                                Debra Skinner
mwhite@therim.com                                                  Maggie White
tlange@transport.com                                               Thomas Lange
Alan@Pemberton.u-net.com                                         Alan Pemberton
jjy@xnet.com                                                       James Yorton
euthke@siam.muc.de                                               Ekkehard Uthke
Thilo.Pfennig@kiel.netsurf.de                                     Thilo Pfennig
naddy@mips.rhein-neckar.de                                 Christian Weisgerber
yount@csf.Colorado.EDU                                            Michael Yount
jill@columbia.edu                                                 Jill Williams
hartman@acpub.duke.edu                                           Steven Hartman
metzjg@hiram.edu                                              Jan Goodland Metz
lfelch@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu                                      Linda Felch
bmelone@miis.edu                                                   Brett Melone
poklembc@ucs.orst.edu                                            Chris Poklemba
cjl114@psu.edu                                                 Cheryl J. Lipton
elph@e.imap.itd.umich.edu                                   Michael Elph Morgan
skjemtru@email.unc.edu                                         Susanne Kjemtrup
paulm@thing.oit.unc.edu                                           Paul Mitchell
london@sunsite.unc.edu                                  Lawrence F. London, Jr.
crow@cs.unr.edu                                                     Windee Crow
virginia@oncology.uthscsa.edu                                  Virginia Boucher
lizacker@vt.edu                                             Elizabeth Ackermann
allyn@u.washington.edu                                              Allyn Weaks
richard_rupp@wsu.edu                                               Richard Rupp
Jean-Claude.Darchen@univ-rennes1.fr                         Jean-Claude Darchen
jpc@drum.msfc.nasa.gov                                          J. Porter Clark
atlloyd@acer.gen.tcd.ie                                            Andrew Lloyd
e.dolla@imola.nettuno.it                 Enrico Dolla  e.dolla@imola.nettuno.it
c-s-drake@worldnet.att.net                                           scpd & ced
chamisa@worldnet.att.net                                          rhiannon dent
n2rug@capital.net                                                   Thomas Roby
lec@caribnet.net                                                 Louis Chinnery
jcdill@concentric.net                                                   JC Dill
esparks@earthlink.net                                             Emilie Sparks
rrobinso@fix.net                                                Robert Robinson
bev2@flash.net                                                   Beverly Archer
roseguy@flash.net                                                 Bill Robinson
mm@foxinternet.net                                                Mike Malveaux
ellis@ftel.net                                                       Rick Ellis
jesp@intercable.net                                       Jesus Eugenio Sanchez
akers@jetlink.net                                                   Brian Akers
jawhitjr@keyway.net                                               Jay Whitcraft
mlepa@adan.kingston.net                                           Marianne Lepa
grady@mdc.net                                                        Dick Grady
bradley@net-works.net                                                 Mark Kroh
F.vd.Laan@inter.nl.net                                           Frits v/d Laan
tonyb@null.net                                                     Tony Basoglu
bigdave@olywa.net                                                        dave h
permawest@olywa.net                                                 Kirk Hanson
trif@serv.net                                                       Mary Conner
bob@sky.net                                                          Bob Batson
keithdj@sonic.net                                                 Keith Johnson
coffmans@texas.net                                                        Bobby
annbal@thecia.net                                                   Ann Balboni
j.cropper@trinidad.net                                             John Cropper
cclash@web.net                                                        Bob Ewing
lamu@wt.net                                                        Andy Richker
r.zwaagstra@ppsw.rug.nl                                        Ronald Zwaagstra
metamorf@worldaccess.nl                                   Caroline van der Hout
ilborch@online.no                                                 Ida Lau Borch
Anita.Easton@vuw.ac.nz                                             Anita Easton
njackson@clear.net.nz                                              Noel Jackson
ed@ccrwest.org                                                        Ed Bender
dwayne@cybernews.org                                         Dwayne Jones-Evans
slax@envirolink.org                                                  Shahna Lax
joed@igc.org                                                         Joe Dalsin
mcgrew@alumni.stanford.org                                         Darin McGrew
etldlcs@etlxdmx.ericsson.se                                        Dan Chalmers
pfaf@scs.leeds.ac.uk                                             Richard Morris
gillmike@argonet.co.uk                                                 M Harvey
nick@cimio.co.uk                                                  Nick Waterman
joanna@collegium.co.uk                                           Joanna Holland
brad@brad.demon.co.uk                                               Rex Bradley
Tracey@brixtonbooks.demon.co.uk                                Tracey Greenwood
sfholford@brownswell.demon.co.uk                               Sarah F. Holford
geoff@hene.demon.co.uk                                               Geoff Hogg
kate@jbaassoc.demon.co.uk                                        Kate Alexander
news97a@stejonda.demon.co.uk                                        Dave JW Day
Dormouse@thepowerfamily.demon.co.uk                                 Kathy Power
jonsg@harlequin.co.uk                                               Jon S Green

Voted NO
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
pwhite@lightspeed.bc.ca
ac391@freenet.carleton.ca                                  Elizabeth McCullough
chriseb@nortel.ca                                                Chris Ebenezer
hmoran@araucaria.cec.uchile.cl                                     Hector Moran
kruegert@agcs.com
stainles@bga.com                                                   Dwight Brown
joanm@nomorespam.bigfoot.com                                     Joan M. Mathew
ethoenen@cisco.com                                            Elizabeth Thoenen
booda@datasync.com                                              Martin H. Booda
lcs@zk3.dec.com                                                     Larry Smith
bgreveme@ford.com                                              Bryce Grevemeyer
gkiewicz@ford.com                                                George Kiewicz
bjv@herbison.com                                                  B.J. Herbison
robertb@iea.com                                                   Bob Blanchard
joe.kusterer@lmco.com                                              Joe Kusterer
cipher@mindspring.com                                              David Howard
barvian@nospam.sps.mot.com                                        Scott Barvian
olav@viking.mv.com                                              Olav Nieuwejaar
dc@panix.com                                                  David W. Crawford
john1@world.std.com                           john1@world.std.com (Fred Cherry)
kiewicz@mail.wwnet.com                                              Pat Kiewicz
stoddard@U.Arizona.EDU                                            Mari Stoddard
be810@FreeNet.Buffalo.EDU                                      Christine Dehoff
paris@byu.edu                                               Robert Craig Harman
patl@lcs.mit.edu                                            Patrick J. LoPresti
ddsack@vax1.bemidji.msus.edu                                        Dee Sackett
rick@bcm.tmc.edu                                              Richard H. Miller
gpr96002@uconnvm.uconn.edu                                            G.P. Ryan
curie@u.washington.edu                                       Susanne J. Redalje
EAHATCHER@worldnet.att.net                                           Ed Hatcher
monarch@earthling.net                                                Jason King
msoysal@mistik.express.net                                  Mustafa Soysal MS57
vpdura@hiwaay.net                                                Victor P. Dura
tburk000@user.iwaynet.net                                          Tom Burkhard
cangemi@mhv.net                                                     Kay Cangemi
marquez@pacbell.net                                               Aaron Marquez
totototo@mail.pacificcoast.net                                  Rodger Whitlock
stuart@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz                                      stuart yeates
tlawson@amug.org                                                 Todd C. Lawson
klj@efn.org                                                      Kathleen Jones
T.Bowden@Queens-Belfast.AC.UK                                       Tony Bowden

Abstained
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
adamf@vtaix.cc.vt.edu                                          Adam Finkelstein
dimmicmj@aston.ac.uk                                            Michael Dimmick

Invalid ballots
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRateaver@aol.com
    ! No vote statement in message
johanssen@matnet.com                                         Jenny S. Johanssen
    ! No vote statement in message
infomaui@mauigateway.com                                               InfoMaui
    ! No vote statement in message
haverty@cig.mot.com                                             Michael Haverty
    ! No vote statement in message
mwarren@foxnet.net                                             Cataloging Dept.
    ! No vote statement in message
Alan.Holmes@brunel.ac.uk
    ! No vote statement in message

-- 
Dave Cornejo <dave@dogwood.com>


References: