<div dir="ltr">Dear all,<br><br>In response to a number of comments made on UCC platforms, I would like to encourage anyone reading this to please consider seeking professional support if you are experiencing difficulties in relation to mental health.<br><br>Below are a list of free emergency support services which I recommend you use if you believe that you or someone you know is at risk:<br><br> Mental Health Emergency Response Line Perth<br> Metro - 1300 555 788<br> Peel - 1800 676 822<br> TTY - 1800 720 101<br> Rurallink - 1800 552 002 (A/H and weekends)<br> Suicide Call Back Service - 1300 659 467 (<a href="http://suicidecallbackservice.org.au">suicidecallbackservice.org.au</a>)<br> Lifeline - 13 11 14 (<a href="http://lifeline.org.au">lifeline.org.au</a>)<br><br>Here are also some information services related to mental health:<br><br> Beyond Blue - 1300 22 4636 - <a href="http://www.beyondblue.org.au">www.beyondblue.org.au</a><br> Black Dog Institute - <a href="http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au">www.blackdoginstitute.org.au</a><br> SANE - 1300 18 7263 - <a href="http://www.sane.org">www.sane.org</a><br><br><div>The university also offers a number of mental health services:</div><div><br></div> Student Assist - 6488 2292 - <a href="http://www.uwastudentguild.com/assist/welfare">www.uwastudentguild.com/assist/welfare</a><br> UniAccess - 6488 2423 - <a href="http://www.student.uwa.edu.au/life/health/uniaccess">www.student.uwa.edu.au/life/health/uniaccess</a><br><br>Kind regards,<br>Tom Almeida [THA]<br>UCC Treasurer<br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Aug 5, 2019 at 1:31 AM Melissa Star <<a href="mailto:melissa@netexperts.com.au">melissa@netexperts.com.au</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">BOB and Committee,<br><br>Tl;dr one page version from my previous e-mail:<br><br><br><font color="#ff36ff">The Cease and Desist Request Yesterday</font><br><br>* BOB told me on Facebook yesterday that he needed my address to send a cease and desist letter (normally a prelude to litigation).<br><br>* He refused to tell me what to cease and desist. But later other UCC members on discord who I thought were sympathetic to BOB suggested that I should not say anything about past UCC issues on the Internet, and that any responsible lawyer would be angry at me for doing so.<div><br></div><div><div>* The next day (today) he launched a formal complaint against Felix as per this email.</div><div><br></div><div>* COMMITTEE - do you believe it is fair to judge someone while those who could defend them do so with the proverbial sword of Damacles hanging over their head?</div><div><br></div><div><br><font color="#ff13ff">Transphobia and Consequences</font><br><br>* Transphobia can be defined narrowly as calling transwomen "sir" and objecting to their use of female bathrooms, or deciding not to treat them equally in ways that seriously impact their lives.<div><br></div><div>* However, consider the definition from <a href="http://www.plannedparenthood.org" target="_blank">www.plannedparenthood.org</a>:</div><div><br></div><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><font color="#ff13ff">Transphobia is the fear, hatred, disbelief, or </font><font color="#ff0000">mistrust</font><font color="#ff13ff"> of people who are transgender, thought to be transgender, or whose gender expression doesn’t conform to traditional gender roles. </font><div><span><font color="#ff13ff"><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>Transphobia can prevent transgender and gender nonconforming people from living full lives free from harm.</font></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div>* BOB told me on the day I was elected as secretary that <font color="#ff0000">he does not trust me, and would not ever allow me to join wheel</font> that I honestly believed was necessary to fulfil my role as club secretary without breaching the Associations Act. No serious effort was made to meet my request for an alternative solution that made me comfortable in regards to my compliance. </div><div><br></div><div>* In regards to everything that is discussed below in BOB's complaint this is a causal event based on the definition under Western Australian law. None of this would have happened "but for" BOB's distrust and subsequent actions that I genuinely believed were intended to prevent me from acting as club secretary in accordance with the act. Moreover, it was a significant and substantial cause of the subsequent events. </div><div><br></div><div><font color="#ff13ff"><span>Allegations etc</span></font></div><div><br></div><div>* Throwing someone out of a club based on rumours in unfair but that is NOT what happened or was intended to happen.</div><div><br></div><div>* Not investigating allegations of financial misconduct or insurance fraud did not seem to be to be a safe course of action, especially as a law student.</div><div><br></div><div>* These type of investigations are often conducted in secret, with the accused later given plenty of time to defend themselves.</div><div><br></div><div>* Regardless of any procedural faults in the investigation, from what I have read here it achieved its purpose and BOB was cleared of financial misconduct, and given an apology and allowed to keep his position within UCC.</div><div><br></div><div><span style="color:rgb(255,19,255)">Revenge and Spite </span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(255,19,255)"><br></span></div><div>* Regardless of who placed the anonymous agenda items, BOB's incredible hour long effort to either get them voted on or the OGM terminated should arguably mean he now 'owns them'.</div><div><br></div><div>* If you don't agree with that, consider that he then told me on Facebook that 'now the shoe in on the other foot' which caused me incredible distress.</div><div><br></div><div>* Comparing the planned punishments for me and for Felix, it was proposed that he be removed as president but remain a member of the club, but I (who was new to the club, subordinate to him, and acting under his guidance) should be banned indefinitely (in effect permanently) from even entering the club room.</div><div><br></div><div>* Assuming that this is a reasonable way to punish procedural or due process flaws in an investigation, was the increased harshness towards me transphobia? Or if not, why was a punishment so stereotypical of what is done towards transgender people used? It's kind of like burning someone at the stake and insisting that you really aren't doing it because she's a witch.</div><div><br></div><div><div><span style="color:rgb(255,19,255)">Unfair and biased evidence</span></div></div><div><span style="color:rgb(255,19,255)"><br></span></div><div>* The account presented by BOB below is NOT the whole truth, and does not in my opinion present an accurate or objective assessment of the sitatuation.</div><div><br></div><div><div>* It glosses over my grievances with BOB, the fact that I chose not to file a formal complaint, and the fact that if Felix resigns that will be the third committee member to be pushed out this year as a direct consequence of BOB's disapproval. </div></div><div><br></div><div>* <font color="#ff0000">BOB's argument stands on the allegations against him being unsubstantiated, but how can these allegations be substantiated if threatens to sends witnesses letters to cease and desist, and agenda items appear to ban them from the club for life.</font></div><div><br></div><div><span style="color:rgb(255,19,255)"><br></span></div><div><span><br><blockquote type="cite">On 4 Aug 2019, at 6:59 pm, bob <<a href="mailto:bob@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au" target="_blank">bob@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au</a>> wrote:<br><br>Third time's the charm...outlook didn't want to play nicely with html.<br><br>Dear Committee,<br><br>I would like to lodge a formal complaint under section 22.2 of the club’s constitution. I have been the subject of persistent and ongoing prejudice and bullying from Felix Von Perger since March 8 this year (the day of the AGM). I believe Felix went into his presidency with an agenda to remove me from wheel and/or the club. A number of the following events happened in closed forums, however certain individuals and members of committee thought the discussions were not above board and so shared them with me at the time. I have not previously made this information public because I recognise that UCC is a learning environment and that people make mistakes, and instead opted to speak to Felix at the time and urge him to change his actions. However, Felix has persisted with his bullying since March 18, and I feel I have no choice but to make this public. I have condensed this as much as practicable for the sake of expediency, however if anyone wants more details of incidents, I am happy to answer them.<br><br>8/3/19<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Background: Incident with Melissa on the day of the AGM. On that day I tried to help Melissa with handover by giving her a list of things that needed to be done at handover, some of which required assistance from wheel, however she took it to mean that I disapproved of her becoming secretary. The interaction also put me in the unfortunate position of saying “no” to Melissa – both to being immediately put on wheel, and to fully unfirewalling her co-located machine. The details of this interaction are long and contended by Melissa, however the crux of it is that I was subsequently labelled by Melissa as transphobic, and she went to Felix and offered to resign later that day.<br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Felix manipulated Melissa into not resigning by threatening to resign himself if Melissa did<br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Rather than speaking to me, or making any attempt to defuse the issue, Felix spoke with Melissa and let her know about a number of rumours that he had heard, including that I had committed insurance fraud, bank fraud, had copied clubroom keys without permission, and had unethically locked the account of Tom Almeida for reinstalling a windows machine. These conversations were quoted at the March 29 meeting by Melissa, and subsequently confirmed by Felix at the same meeting. This hearsay and allegations are all false and I reject them completely, however they shaped all subsequent interactions between Melissa and myself. To quote Melissa at the March 29th meeting: “What I'm going to say is this. I went to [FVP], I told [FVP] that I wanted to resign. I did not say anything that anyone should be removed from anything. [FVP] then responded that this was his nightmare, that he really did not want me to resign, that he might consider resigning too if I resign, and then told me a bunch of stuff about these various allegations, and about, that he thinks you (bob) should be removed, and at first, I disagreed with him, but then after what he told me, I began to concur”. There are various other quotes in the March 29 minutes which detail the assorted allegations and I encourage all members who wish to be informed on the issue to read those minutes in full.<br>9/3/19<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Felix called an unofficial exec-only meeting to discuss how to remove me from wheel. The following excerpt is from his email to exec at approx. 2pm:<br>“Apologies for the short notice. I believe I have contacted everyone<br>individually about these issues, and I would like to schedule a meeting<br>for the current exec to come to an agreement about what plan of action<br>we should take, and how we should best broach these issues with the rest<br>of committee.<br><br>Note that this is potentially sensitive information so it would be much<br>appreciated if this could be kept in confidence. I have invited the IPP<br>(Andrew Gozzard) and IPPP (Chris Forbes) to this meeting so that we can<br>get some context on Bob's behaviour and input on how to deal with him<br>and the rest of the wheel group.<br><br>It would be very much appreciated if everyone could fill in this form<br>[REDACTED] with your availabilities for the next<br>week. I will get back to you with the final meeting time and date. <br><br>There's a rudimentary agenda at<br>[REDACTED],<br>feel free to add whatever else you think is worth discussing in the<br>context of the Bob / Wheel issues.”<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• The agenda in the “REDACTED” link contained the following text, where Melissa called for cancelling my membership. She subsequently claimed at the March 29 meeting that she had made no such calls:<br>“- Bob is a problem<br> - Repeated abuse of Wheel powers / breach of ethics<br> - Email to Tom Almeida “Windows Reinstall”, 21/05/2018, threatening account locking<br> - (MSX) Report re my experience of Bob’s behaviour, including interference with my projects and his attempt to prevent me from taking my role on committee.<br> - Suggested solution: removal from wheel and cancelling membership<br>- Wheel culture is toxic<br> - Schedule wheel meetings more often<br> - Make wheel reapplications a thing<br> - Afford more control to the democratically elected executive/committee over the administration of the computer systems<br>- (MSX) Legally committee must maintain root control of UCC systems, and of the clubroom, potential severe consequences to us if we don’t.<br>- (MSX) Perception on campus of UCC as an unfriendly place and “wheel” as a dark shadow committee. Need for cultural change.”<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Later that day on the committee-only discord channel, Felix gloated about being able to kick me off wheel:<br>"[6:36 PM] frekk: Ah yes btw we get to be the committee to kick Bob off wheel. More to come at our first actual meeting!"<br><br>12/3/19<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Provided for context: Melissa lets slip that an exec-only meeting is happening, which is quickly followed by condemnation of this on the wheel@ and committee-only@ mailing lists<br>14/3/19<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Exec-only meeting happened unofficially. I believe the whole committee was invited to this meeting after the wheel uproar. Note that at the time I was aware of this unofficial meeting, was unable to attend it, was having my membership of both the club and wheel discussed in a closed forum, and had no opportunity to defend myself at this point. I was extremely stressed, unable to sleep, and unable to focus on my work, and this continued until March 29.<br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Subsequent to this meeting, Felix emailed committee and suggested ways to remove me from wheel without any due process:<br>“Hi committee,<br><br>In light of the discussions at the meeting on Wednesday (earlier today...? or yesterday... :P), I would like to suggest that we implement a system of regular wheel applications, in a similar manner to what we [should] do with door members.<br><br>In particular, regarding the issues raised with Bob, this may provide a less "hostile" way for us to remove Bob from wheel with the same effect. Given the circumstances, I do not believe kicking out Bob individually, which regardless of our reasoning may be seen as us making an example to the rest of wheel, is the most tactical way to go about this. I do not believe there are many, if any, other (active) wheel members who are similarly problematic, and as such if we did kick Bob out to make an example then I think it would have many consequences which are undesirable (such as potentially losing many of our other active wheel members).<br><br>However, if a system of wheel reapplications cannot be decided upon and enacted in the short term, then I would see a necessary intermediary step being the removal of Bob from wheel as soon as is reasonable in the eyes of committee (preferably effective immediately).<br><br>Regarding the potential reapplication process, I do not believe that it is disrespectful to ask current or prospective wheel members to justify why they should have administrative access to club systems and what benefit they bring to the club. Such access is not a right nor an entitlement, but a power granted by committee that comes with great responsibility and only given to those who can be trusted. As such, I would propose an open-ended application process whereby current / new members simply explain why they should be on wheel, with only a small number of criteria provided (such as "benefit to the club", "benefit to yourself / what you want to learn", "trustworthiness", etc) so the applicant at least has some idea what we are looking for.<br><br>Regarding "the short term", I believe that we should aim to discuss, decide upon and vote in a wheel reapplication system ASAP (ie. this Friday) such that applications can be submitted from the date of the meeting until, say, one month from then. At that point, committee will review the applicants and vote to re-add members to wheel as appropriate, to be determined by committee. In the meantime, current wheel members could retain their privileges, however it would be a good opportunity to work out and discuss further strategies in an open and transparent manner to improve the application/reapplication system. This extra time will also allow us to come up with strategies to deal with wheel members upon their removal (such as to deal with the possibility of Bob going rogue). I am sure contributions to discussions about such will be many and "juicy" (for lack of a better word) given the relatively controversial nature of a wheel application/reapplication system in general. Not only will this provide food for thought but will likely be very amusing (hahaha).”<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• At the March 29 meeting, Melissa referenced Felix’s allusions to me possibly going rogue as another item on her list of complaints.<br>18/3/19<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Myself, [NTU] and [LE@] have a sit-down meeting with Felix and urge him to be open and fair in his dealings with me. I consider this meeting to satisfy the requirements under 22.1 of the constitution regarding dispute resolution: “The parties to a dispute must attempt to resolve the dispute between themselves within 14 days after the dispute has come to the attention of each party.”<br>26/3/19<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Felix proposes annual wheel purges (see wheel@ and committee@ lists).<br>29/3/19<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• This was the day of a committee meeting. Leading up to the meeting, I was aware that the issue has not been resolved, but that it had continued to be discussed behind closed doors. I had been held in suspense for nearly three weeks at this point, and basically had to be on standby to attend any of the intervening meetings.<br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• There was no agenda item pertaining to the complaints/issues that had been raised regarding the day of the AGM, no formal notification that my membership would be discussed (again I was relying on club insiders to let me know).<br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• This meeting was scheduled at 3pm – during work hours for me. I was only able to make it at 3:50pm.<br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• This meeting was three hours long, in which I was forced to defend myself against spurious accusations which had sprung from Felix’s initial rumour spreading.<br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• During the meeting, Felix moved to give me a formal warning before I was able to speak to the allegations, and other committee members had to point out that they had not yet heard from me<br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• I strongly urge all members who wish to be informed about this issue to read the March 29 meeting transcription in full, however, here are a few relevant quotes:<br>“- [BOB] I'm going to rewind a little bit. I believe I am here to answer to a complaint. I have not been told what that complaint is.<br>- [FVP] Right, well, unfortunately you missed that part of the meeting.” <br><br>“- [BOB] I want to actually get a clarification of what the issue is /cutoff<br>- [MSX] And I'd like the other issues that you ([FVP]) told me from before, being the issues from 2010<br> - To be talked about and not have my name on them because they were told to me<br>- [FVP] Yes. I was going to get onto that. [MPT] can you finish up then please.”<br><br>“- [JGM] (to [FVP]) based on what you just said, it sounds like you've got a strong bias towards believing [BOB] is guilty - And I am questioning the chairing of this meeting, including as such ignoring instances where people are interrupting and not being held accountable for this. I'd like that minuted”<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• At the end of the meeting, I believe I had addressed the concerns of all parties, including those regarding allegations of fraud and transphobia. The committee voted unanimously to apologise to me for their overall treatment of me, and it was generally agreed that the events on the day of the AGM were a comedy of misunderstandings.<br>2/4/19<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• I provided a dump of all my communications regarding the 2010 insurance claim to committee and requested an audit. I have had confirmation from the Treasurer today that he is satisfied with it all.<br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• At the same time I presented a scan of the welcome letter from Westpac, dated 12 days *before* the hail storm. Turns out we were 100% legally setting up a bank account with Westpac so that we could accept paypal payments.<br>30/4/19<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Felix motions to require a full review of all group memberships at an OGM and the motion is passed.<br>28/6/19<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• With less than one days’ notice to committee, Felix attended a meeting with the Guild president to respond to a complaint that had been made against the club. At that meeting, Felix states “non-students aren't the problem, problem members are the problem”.<br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Following this meeting Felix made the following entries in his report into his report for the upcoming meeting, which was then sent out with the 4-day meeting notice:<br>“- Had meeting with Guild President this morning, forwarded minutes to committee@<br>- lol bob”<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• When asked what the “lol bob” statement meant via IRC, Felix refused to answer. I asked Felix several times what the statement was across multiple days before he removed it from his report. He finally insisted that if I wanted an answer, I would have to add it as an agenda item for the upcoming meeting. I did so.<br>5/7/19<br><br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Committee meeting. Regarding the “lol bob” statement in his report, Felix responds that “It was irrelevant and not appropriate, and a bad meme. No further explanation necessary.”<br><span class="gmail-m_-8652230383188589249Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>• Felix made no apology to me for a statement that he acknowledges was inappropriate and had yet again kept me on tenterhooks for a week.<br>I am honestly not sure where to go from here. Felix’s bullying and rumour spreading has led to minor disagreements being blown monumentally out of proportion, and the ongoing fallout from it has been damaging to all parties and the club. I think that anyone who knows me knows that I am not transphobic, and even some people who think I’m an ass have attested to that. I feel that if Felix had a shred of decency left, he would step down from the President role, as he has very clearly abused his position. If that were to happen then I would consider this dispute settled.<br><br>I believe Felix went into his presidency with the attitude that I am too involved in the club and am holding onto the reigns too tightly, and hence jumped on an opportunity to get rid of me. I come into the club once a week in the evenings and am active on the mailing lists. I admit that it is hard to not keep an eye on something that I have put so much work into, however this year the effort spent defending my work has far surpassed the original effort I put in. I am tired of the revolving door of student politics and thus have been looking to move on from UCC. I would like to be able to do this while remaining a distant member, however I am reluctant to step back while my name is being dragged through the mud.<br><br>Sincerely, Andrew (Bob) Adamson<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>List Archives: <a href="http://lists.ucc.asn.au/pipermail/ucc" target="_blank">http://lists.ucc.asn.au/pipermail/ucc</a><br><br>Unsubscribe here: <a href="https://lists.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/mailman/options/ucc/melissa%40melissastar.com.au" target="_blank">https://lists.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/mailman/options/ucc/melissa%40melissastar.com.au</a><br></blockquote><br></span></div></div></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>
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