Hello world! I’m the Cloyne network coordinator. Like most co-op manager/coordinator positions, the role of network coordinator is really about being a steward of resources, not a manager of people. With the exception of Board Directors, co-op managers are not political representatives, nor are we part of “the management” in the traditional sense – we are elected to carry out specific responsibilities determined by the members.

As network coordinator, my housemates have empowered me to make sure the internet works, to keep the servers running so that all members can use and benefit from the services we host, and to provide education so that other members can get hands-on educational experience with out network infrastructure.

Exercising editorial discretion over the content of the Cloyne blog, however, is not within the scope of what my housemates have empowered me to do. This is why I refused a request from a BSC employee to remove a post publicizing a memorandum endorsed by members as an official act of Council. Instead of removing the post, I’ve helped other coordinators to redact the name of the staff member who resigned, and taken steps to ensure that Google’s cache updated to reflect this. I am also making this post to clarify how the blog works.

Cloyne’s network infrastructure and web services are an important part of our academic theme, and I am proud to be a steward of those resources in the specific context of an academic-themed cooperative. That’s why I have chosen to continue the long-standing practice of creating accounts for all Cloyne members right when they move in, at the same time as I add them to the mailing list. Other examples of posts made by members include a recipe for beans and rice, a tutorial for Cloyne’s online council tool, an editorial about “Cloyne is Suck” (a phrase with a contested place in Cloyne lore), and a story about a Cloyne mural‘s original creator coming back 30 years later to touch it up.

In addition, the Cloyne blog has a shared account that any member can use to post anonymously. Posts with the author Cloyne Cloaca, are from this shared account. Like all cooperatively-controlled resources, the Cloyne Cloaca account belongs to the membership, and it is up to each member to be cooperative in how they use that resource.

Each coordinator email also has an account, and posts made from those accounts (such as this one) represent that coordinator’s views as a coordinator, but do not have to go through council and therefore do not necessarily represent the house as a whole. The only body empowered to speak for Cloyne as a whole, is Cloyne Council.

Nothing on the blog should be considered to represent Cloyne as a whole unless it is noted in council minutes. We are in the process of making all of our minutes available online in a single location, https://council.cloyne.org/meeting. If you are looking for minutes from a particular council that have not been posted there, please reach out to the Cloyne Secretary at closec@bsc.coop.