www.whyville.net Jan 2, 2004 Weekly Issue



8DyayD8
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Signing for Clams

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I am disgusted by the current petitions, these three among them:

300clams to first 300ppl who sign this
Author: heyman09
Created: Wednesday Dec 3 -- 7:03 PM
Petition: I think we should have a lottery, like a powerball or something, and you can buy tickets and their can be scratch offs and powerball and there can be like a bank where you can redeem your money.and the first 300 people who sign this get 300 clams thanks and spread the word

Doesn't anyone realize that that would be 90,000 clams?? Where would he get that money? I Why-Mailed a bit with him, and this is what he said:

Me: Do you actually plan to pay the people?
Heyman09: It should give them the money since it was in the petition and has gotten more then 300 votes
Me: Do you think Whyville will take your petition as seriously as it would if there were no clams promised?
Heyman09: Um... well, I hope they take it seriously.
Me: oh, so you didn't mean to say that YOU would give them the money?
Heyman09: Riiiiight, this is what the end of my petition says: the first 300 people who sign this get 300 clams thanks and spread the word i never said i was going to give them too them, and since its in my petition, when city hall looks at it, they should give them the clams

So the author of one of these many petitions somehow thought that City Hall would pay people these clams. Editor's Note: THAT is AMAZING. I'm utterly stunned. Does this person promise other people's money in the real world? Wow. Just wow.

800 CLAMZ FOR VOTERS
Author: Rondogrl
Created: Friday Nov 21 -- 2:06 PM
Petition: Attion Whyvillians. I ROndogrl think that Whyville should have a president,prefably me. I know that with a president more things would be accomplished. That is also why if you vote for me to be your new Whyville president I will notonly give you leader ship freedom and other desires i will also give you 800 clamz each.

I was amazed -- this petition had gotten 1336 votes, and all it did was say she should be president!! I guess no one actually took the time to READ it, as I doubt that they would consider this girl that has only been in our town since August 5 and only earns 18 clams a day a good president.

Me: Do you actually plan to pay the people?
Rondogrl: Yes, I do plan to pay the 800 clams. I think that a lot of peeps read it wrong, though because they all think that they are getting 800 clams each but they are only getting one clam.
Me: Do you think Whyville will take your pool as seriously as it would if there were no clams promised?
Rondogrl: Yes, a lot of people have told me that they don't want clams, just a prez

So, basically, she is saying that she will only give each voter ONE clam -- but the petition DOES say "800 clamz each." Is this really a good president?

35 clams to the first 120 ppl to sign it
Author: tommy114
Created: Thursday Dec 4 -- 12:02 PM
Petition: i think Whyville should have jobs so we can get more clams and it will also help us with real life so if you feel the same

That's 4,200 clams!

Me: Do you actually plan to pay the people?
Tommy114: Yes, I do plan to pay people cause I've already paid a few
Me: Do you think Whyville will take your pool as seriously as it would if there were no clams promised?
Tommy114: No, I don't think they'll take it seriously but I've had one before and nobody would sign it so I tried it this way and it's working. I just want to be heard and for somebody to listen.

Finally, one who had what they're doing in perspective, although I doubt he's really going to shell out the 4,200 clams.

Please don't sign these petitions, or any other that promises cash. Sign the ones that you think can and should actually happen.

Thank you!
8Dyay8D

Editor's Note: Thank you, 8DyayD8. And to those of you who are foolish enough to offer clams for signatures, please read the instructions. I notice that the current version did not have this spelled out, so I just added it. Offering money to get votes is totally uncool. If you did that in real life, you'd be arrested! The fact is, if your petition's idea truly is GOOD, then you'll get votes. If you have to offer clams in order to get votes, then it can't be a very good idea, now can it? City Hall has to assume that people gave you their vote in order to get money, not because they believe in your petition.

 

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