Senate Activities
As written in the Senate Handbook, version 3.02.
Senatorial Address:
The Senatorial Address is the Senate’s monthly publication distributed throughout the Emperor’s Hammer Territories detailing the month’s events; but more pertinently, events within the Imperial Senate (it is first a foremost a political publication, after all). There are several categories of submission: writing, graphics, instructional, and miscellaneous. Writing does not consist of fiction unless in the form of an article detailing a fictional event. Stories will be submitted to the EH Newsletter; poetry, unless of excellent quality, is also subject to this restriction. "News flashes" are no longer acceptable content for submission, and the "instructional" section will be limited to works that pertain to Star Wars (it can't have RL or Earth implications). Otherwise, those "instructional" submissions will stand as a criterion for the writing category. Another submission to the Senatorial Address, though seemingly trivial, would be IRC logs if they pertain to Senate occurrences, debate, the EH, etc.
Graphics is the other essential element to the SA. Not every member has an interest in writing, so there will be some leeway in submission to this category. If graphics are of excellent quality, they could be taken from the EH Newsletter and pasted with someone else's article, depending of course on whether they pertain to each other. If no submissions turn out to be compatible, then there's always the option to create an "Arts", "Properties", or "Advertisements" section. Don't think that you can't send whatever silly graphics or pictures you find laying on your hard-drive, because that's where the most interesting articles come from. Cities, landscapes, ships, etc. shouldn't be too hard to dig up.
There's a restriction to graphics, however. Submissions pertaining to other subgroups, such as the Dark Brotherhood, will not be accepted and certainly not awarded a [CoS]. Of course, there won't be any use for these graphics in the SA anyway, unless there's an article pertaining to the DB that has some pertinence to the Senate. Note that the EH NL is the first priority for submission, followed by the SA.
Miscellaneous is pretty straightforward. It could consist of inter-subgroup articles or graphics. For example, fictionally, you could detail subgroup politics such as the inutility of the Medical Corps or the tyranny of the Directorate compared to the civil methods of the Imperial Senate. It’s highly suggested that you write something about inter-club activities, such as the Outer Rim Wars. This could be under "writing", but there are definite legislative possibilities for this category. Other submissions that would be accepted are information from other SG's or interviews with officers etc.
Senate-wide Competitions:
There are several phases to a Senate competition: fiction/run-on, graphics, debate, and legislation. The latter is explained in various parts of the manual.
Fiction is the primary phase of the competition. It is either in the form of a run-on or personal submission. They are awarded depending on the quality of writing or the content introduced to the competition. Graphics, while usually unessential to the content of the storyline, are the secondary phase. It can be on the individual level or party/planet level. The graphic will typically be graded by its aesthetical appeal, but might also be awarded depending on effort or meaning. Debates are another essential element to the competition. Like fiction, they can be submitted from the individual, party, or planet. Usually, a Party Whip will be the only voice from the party on competition issues, whereas everyone can participate from a personal or planetary perspective. Legislation is the last phase of the competition, concluding with bill creation, proposals (by Senators, Party Whips, or High Councilors), and voting, which is determined by many factors explained in the Planets section of the manual.
Planetary Issues:
This is perhaps the most alluring and fun activity within the Imperial Senate. Depending on Delegation’s activity, the Minister of State or Chancellor will forward issues (via database) to a planet (displayed in the planetary profile). The issues will also depend on the social structure, government, and political sentiments outlined in the descriptions and planetary analyses of the planet. A message board is included in every planetary profile to discuss these issues in detail. It’s expected that these issues will prepare newer members from the responsibilities intrinsic to Senators, who vote on a much larger scale. None-the-less, Planetary Issues provide a great amount of enjoyment for the serious or casual Senate member. For more information, see the Planets section of the manual or the Senate Entrance Examination at the Imperial University.
Trivia:
Trivia involves both the creation and answering of questions about Star Wars, the Senate or Emperor's Hammer. Members can create trivia for the Senate meeting or for their parties.
Message Board Posting:
The Imperial Senate message board (The Senate Forum) is located on the EHNet.org system of boards and all members can post on the board on a range of topics from debates to fun topics and announcements. Additionally, the Senate Floor is located here: http://senatefloor.minos.net. It is solely reserved for Senate oriented business rather than casual discussion.
IRC Chat:
Members can join #Imperial_Senate on the Undernet server of Internet Relay Chat. The weekly Senate meeting is on Saturday at 2:30 PM GMT which has news announcements and trivia after the meeting. The Code of Conduct of the Emperor's Hammer applies to all IRC channels, and all Senators *must* obey these regulations, along with the Articles of War.
