Subject: Re: [DocNomic] Re: Epidemiologist Report

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 10:39:32 -0800

Does the Epidemiologist even track the cures? Rule 18 only mentions
diseases...

- - -
Jeffrey J. Weston
[email-masked]
PGP Public Key : http://www.sir-toby.com/pgp-key.asc
- - -

Feyd wrote:

None really, except that cures are not necessarily part of rule 10,
and this keeps it all together. The database isn't part of the game
state, but a weekly report is mandated by the Epidemiology rule.

---

From: Ottis Airhart <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 13:25:53 -0600

The E. doesn't have to, but they can be kept in the db anyways. The Nurse
doesn't track the diseases per player, but they are in that db the Nurse
uses for pill counts.

At 10:39 AM 12/19/2000 -0800, you wrote:
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>[email-masked]
>
>

---

From: "Feyd " <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 20:32:12 -0000

Ottis Airhart clearly misspells Epidemiologist below as "E.". I 
therefore invoke Rule 18 Paragraph 4 and infect Ottis Airhart with 
Agoraphobia! This cost me 5 soul points. 

Please spell my position correctly in the future. Congratulations to 
Mr. Weston below for his exemplary spelling skills.

Feyd

--- In [email-masked], Ottis Airhart <oairhart@i...> wrote:
> >jjweston@t...

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: 19 Dec 2000 15:55:26 -0500

> Agoraphobia! This cost me 5 soul points. 

Doc rules that an abbreviation is not a misspelling. Your soul is
intact, as is Ottis's sanity.

-- 
- Doc

---

From: Ottis Airhart <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 14:41:57 -0600

AH, you are a NASTY MAN. I was not mis-spelling it, I was abbreviating it
to avoid mis-spelling it. How can you mis-spell something you haven't even
spelled. I will from now on refer to your position as the NASTY MAN.

---

From: "Feyd " <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 21:11:10 -0000

Doc,
Your decision below is incorrect. I invoke point of order.

Reasoning:
If abbreviations are allowed, paragraph 4 has no meaning. "E." is 
not an accepted abbreviation for "Epidemiologist" in any medical 
text. The *clear* intent of the rule is to prevent such callous 
twisting of the bitter Epidemiologist's name.

If you overrule this Point, then ANY charge of misspelling can be 
answered with, "Oh, I didn't misspell Epidemiologist, that's just an 
abbreviation." 

Feyd

--- In [email-masked], rsholmes@m... wrote:
> "Feyd " <Nomic1@a...> writes:
>

---

From: "Feyd " <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 21:13:54 -0000

>spelled. I will from now on refer to your position as the NASTY MAN.

Am NOT! I've already offered to help heal someone. And, um, and....
Hell, you are right.

ROTFL. Less than 20 rules and I'm already a bad person!
Feyd

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: 19 Dec 2000 17:32:27 -0500

> answered with, "Oh, I didn't misspell Epidemiologist, that's just an 

Ottis, or anyone else: care to comment on this before I pass
judgement? 

-- 
- Doc

---

From: Ottis Airhart <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 18:28:35 -0600

I would submit the following examples of where 'E' has been used to refer
specifically to Epidemiology.

EDEN - European Dermato-Epidemiology Network
ENARE - European Network for Antibiotic Resistance and Epidemiology
EPO - Epidemiology Program Office

These are all official abbreviations as found at:
http://www.geocities.com/~mlshams/acronym/acrE.htm

I quote from http://www.dictionary.com that an abbreviation is: 
"A shortened form of a word or phrase used chiefly in writing to represent
the complete form, such as Mass. for Massachusetts or USMC for United
States Marine Corps."

Also, the definition of "spell" according to the same source is:
"To name or write in order the letters constituting (a word or part of a
word)."

Note that is says PART of a word. So I have correctly spelled
Epidemiologist by simply spelling it with an 'E'.

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: 19 Dec 2000 19:55:38 -0500

"Feyd " <[email-masked]> writes:

> text. 

Irrelevant. I never said it was accepted in medical texts. I merely
said it was an abbreviation and not a misspelling.

> The *clear* intent of the rule is to prevent such callous 

Intent also is irrelevant. The rule deals with misspellings, not with
abbreviations. 

> answered with, "Oh, I didn't misspell Epidemiologist, that's just an 

Exaggeration. No one is going to persuade me that "Epadimmeealogous"
is an abbreviation for Epidemiologist.

> http://www.geocities.com/~mlshams/acronym/acrE.htm

Ha! Good job of research, though not particularly relevant either.
Those are acronyms and cannot be arbitrarily cut up into their
constituent letters.

> the complete form, such as Mass. for Massachusetts or USMC for United

OK.

> Epidemiologist by simply spelling it with an 'E'.

Oh dear. Surely you must understand that when you "write in order the
letters constituting part of a word", you have spelled, but you've
spelled part of a word, not a whole word. If you could spell
"Epidemiologist" as "E", spelling bees would be a whole lot less
traumatic than they are.

Doc's judgement: The speciousness of that last point doesn't alter the
fact that "E." as used here was a legitimate and understandable
abbreviation for Epidemiologist, not a misspelling thereof. Rule 18,
Paragraph 4 does not deal with abbreviations (or with circumlocutions
such as "NASTY MAN".) The attempt to inflict Agoraphobia on Ottis is
invalid. 

-- 
- Doc

---

From: Ottis Airhart <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 19:17:30 -0600

Thank you, Doc.

---

From: Ottis Airhart <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 19:20:59 -0600

In light of recent discussions and rulings by the Doc, our wonderful
Epidemiologist, a.k.a. Feyd, is not a Nasty Man as before thought. E (heh
heh, him or her) is truly a saint in eir field (and very bitter as the rule
indicates). E (heh) is merely misunderstood as all truly great scientists are.

---

From: "Feyd " <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 02:44:46 -0000

I love this game!! And this particular rulest ;-)
In recompence for Doctorial analysis I hereby gift Otis with 50 
cash. 

As E. I of course am still bitter. :-).

Feyd

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: 19 Dec 2000 22:08:10 -0500

> In recompence for Doctorial analysis I hereby gift Otis with 50 

Hmm, is that legal? The rules don't provide for cash gifts between
players. On the other hand they don't prohibit it. On the other
other hand they don't prohibit counterfeiting 100,000 cash either.
Still, why not? OK.

-- 
- Doc

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 10:11:53 -0000

> other hand they don't prohibit counterfeiting 100,000 cash either.

I don't think it's allowed, actually. Rule 1 says that "The Ruleset 
and Gamestate may not be altered except as specified in the Rules.", 
and Player's Cash Points are clearly defined as being part of the 
gamestate.

Kevan

--
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"In the days when you were hopelessly poor, I just liked you more."

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 10:26:57 -0000

> Ottis, or anyone else: care to comment on this before I pass

The abbreviation seems perfectly reasonable in context - Jeffrey 
mentions the "Epidemiologist", Ottis refers to the "E." in his 
immediate response. It doesn't matter whether "E." is an acceptable 
medical abbreviation or not; it doesn't even matter whether "E." 
makes any sense or not. It's no more a mis-spelling than saying "him" 
or "that person" or "NASTY MAN". You can't mis-spell something you 
weren't trying to spell.

I applaud the attempt, all the same.

K.

--
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"I am playing the right notes - but not necessarily in the right 
order."

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: 20 Dec 2000 15:11:17 -0500

> and Player's Cash Points are clearly defined as being part of the 

Aha... good point. Sorry, Ottis.

-- 
- Doc