Arek'Jaalan General Meeting #4 - Minutes

Compiled by Morwen Lagann

Hour One (Matters raised by Tukoss)

17:58 - Dr. Tukoss arrives

18:05 - Meeting begins

• Dr. Tukoss briefly mentions new Mission Statement. (Current page)
• Emphasises stance on development of new technologies mentioned in particular - we're not in the business of creating them, only the science that may be used to create them. That work is for others.
• Those working with A'J will be focused on the three goals of the project: Research, Document and Educate - corps may do with the research what they wish on their own time and dime.
• Can be flexible if the development is itself for the purpose of furthering research.

18:21 - Project status

• Dr. Tukoss would like to create a regularly-updated report that tracks research and paper reviews to help organize things and make sure they're not forgotten. (Current Page)
• Better-defined stages would be helpful for clarifying exactly what state a project is in.

18:31 - Funding for archivists

• Documentation is critical to the Education goal of Arek'Jaalan. This isn't something we can easily "farm" out fo baseliners, so capsuleers should be paid for their time at competitive rates.
• Limited funding from the Republic and other non-capsuleer entities may be possible, but likely to stretch favors thin when we don't want this.
• Approximate amount at current workloads is 1B ISK/month.
• The Antiquarian Suggested investing in Market Discussion community to supplement funding with monthly interest.
• How we handle donations, what exactly we need to fund work - need clearer answers on. An issue that needs discussion but not immediate resolution.
• We'll draw on MRID expertise for seeking donations, as well as helping get the word out.
• We'll also hold off on donation drives until there is a process in place, so that risks of claims of money going missing and "other fun things" are minimized.

18:51 - Break. Meeting will resume around 19:00

Hour Two (Matters raised by Tukoss)

19:02 - Discussion of last round of funding; do we want to continue incentivizing self-documentation?

• Dr. Tukoss believes the ISK is well-invested. Some don't.
• CA count currently stands at three - Akasha Prime, Morwen Lagann, and Qansh. Dr. Tukoss will be putting some focus this week on hiring a few more archivists, which may mean a brief period of less progress on research.
• We are not paying "per word", but on the quality of the documentation. If good research is documented well, people get a little bonus to motivate further work along those lines.
• Abuse should be easily identified and avoided.
• Multiple possible solutions - self-funded projects, increasing Arek'Jaalan funding, lower-profile payments, all of the above.
• The focus needs to remain research however, and the motivation should be deeper than just ISK.

19:21 - Joint construction project in Eram

• Dr. Tukoss announces that he and his staff are going to build a library to house research, and a museum to house archived materials and artifacts, with assistance from the Republic and Federation, and eventually Arek'Jaalan capsuleer members.
• In time, perhaps, more can be added, such as in-space analytical equipment.
• Phase I is aimed at providing the baseline structures ahead of time, before we populate the area with libraries and documented research. Plans will be drawn up in the coming days, and released sometime next week. There are requirements on the end of Arek'Jaalan's capsuleers, if we want to see it built.
• It is still unclear if such a library will be possible, but in that event, we can use the site for other purposes. It will be located in deadspace, although the exact coordinates are still being debated.
• Dr. Tukoss' hope is that over time we can build on the site and expand outwards to other systems. "Our goal is ultimately one of education, and we can't achieve that from a singular base in Republic high-sec."
• If we cannot complete material acquisition before funding is reorganized, there is a chance the Republic may not be able to make the same offer of assistance and security afterwards.
• Dr. Tukoss is still working out a deadline with the Republic and will have more information very shortly. The deadline for Phase I as a whole is late November/early December.
• If we are unable to acquire the materials in time, we may end up dealing with other hosts.
• The list of required materials is being built, and will likely contain a range of items from a number of market categories, including construction and station components, industrial tools, and recovered Sleeper materials. Dr. Tukoss noted that "the Sleeper technology is purely heuristic selfassemblers," and that "we'll be using them to accelerate construction." The list will be sent to all of Arek'Jaalan as soon as it's available. Dr. Tukoss suggests that we prepare for its arrival ahead of time.
• Dr. Tukoss again apologizes for lack of details, adding that he has been pushing hard for them; he also adds that things are moving as quickly as possible and he is confident we'll have a list of requirements shortly - rather than wait for full confirmation and all the details, he's raising it now so that we're ready when it comes.
• Dr. Tukoss stresses again that Phase I won't be much more than a skeleton for us to build on.
• Dr. Tukoss will be forwarding more information to the Arek'Jaalan list as it becomes available. It was suggested to pilots that they keep an eye on it over the weekend, as well as during next week.
• When asked exactly what sort of budget and logistics the project may require, Dr. Tukoss stated "it is a library for capsuleers, so the logistics of building it are somewhat different to the average. In any case, we are not talking hundreds of billions of ISK. It's not a fully-fledged station."

19:44 - Eifyr & Co. Research/Review Process

• Dr. Tukoss raises possiblity of periodic "Proposal Freezes" on research papers to allow time to process work that has already been done and finalize it as much as possible.
• Rather than time-based, Dr. Tukoss imagines it would be project-based, i.e., cnce a certain number of projects were complete, room would be made for others. (A processing/review queue?)
• In this method, research would be split into "cohorts", and processed in phases. The upside is increased focus on projects, the downside is that important research could be delayed.
• Query raised about how projects would be picked from the waiting list. First-come-first-served, E&C-decided merit? Both? Dr. Tukoss notes that this idea would only stagger work, rather than indefinitely postponing it.

19:55 - Another break. Meeting will resume around 20:00.

Hour Three (Matters raised by members)

20:00 - SEC/Ethics Issue

- Heated discussion continues for a bit, before Dr. Tukoss states he will speak to both Valerie and Myxx privately; there will also be an Ethics Committee meeting on the matter at a later date.

20:26 - Query on Eifyr's assistance being "enough". Would Arek'Jaalan benefit from bringing in other corporations?

• Dr. Tukoss responds yes; some help has already been brought from the Federation. Others (State, Empire) are being invited but might "take a little further wrangling."
• Dr. Tukoss places a personal preference on educational institutions, for both "symbolic and pragmatic reasons." He offers the University of Caille, Hedion University, the School of Applied Knowledge, and the Republic University as suggestions.
• The Servant Sisters of EVE are suggested as another option; Dr. Tukoss responds that while they would be useful, they have their own research and work to do.
• Dr. Tukoss states he is "not the kind to see the world in four colors" and that he and his staff have been "busy talking with just about any group [they] could get a hold of." He also reaffirms that he bears the State no ill-will, and that the situation there will have to be asked of someone representing the State.

20:37 - Project Huntress Green

• Gaia Ma'chello asks if her project still fits within the scope of Arek'Jaalan.
• Basic comparative analyses would be "good to have", so it still has value for Arek'Jaalan. Dr. Tukoss apologises for it being scoped out of the Dutch Gun reports; Eifyr "wanted to wrap things up there."
• Gaia restates that part of the goal is to look for disease-causing agents that may relate to the fate of the Sleeper and Talocan civilizations within w-space.
• "... gathering planetary samples is a good avenue for such investigations and it's of course intricately related to our work on the Sleepers, so by all means continue."
• Dr. Tukoss requests Gaia send along her samples like in the past, and says they will be added to the batches already stored.

20:43 - Gentlemen Viking asks what applications Dr. Tukoss foresees for Sleeper technology

• Dr. Tukoss replies that we would need to know what is possible first, and to do that we need to understand the Sleepers themselves to a greater extent than we currently do.
• Dr. Tukoss also adds that he could "say 'Medicine!' or something, and offer [Viking] up a clear, easily contrasted moral dichotomy between war and lifesaving, but [he is] afraid we just don't know enough to make these claims."
• The irony of using warships to study the Sleepers in an effort to understand how their technology can be adapted to benefit non-military fields is not lost on Dr. Tukoss or others present.

20:47 - New MRID Lead

• Myrhial Arkenath offers to step up as new MRID lead in Anslo's absense. Dr. Tukoss encourages this move.

21:05 - Meeting Ends

• Dr. Tukoss ends the meeting after things break into smaller conversations; he also notes that his hours for the weekend have been updated in his profile before disconnecting from the channel.