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                               CFJ 887

"Andre's Proposal "General Organizations", misnumbered 2744
 by the Promotor, should be numbered 2759."

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Judge:       elJefe

Judgement:   TRUE

Eligible:    Blob, Chuck, Coren, elJefe, favor, KoJen, Michael,
             Murphy, Oerjan, Swann, Vanyel

Not eligible:
Caller:      Steve
Barred:      Andre, Morendil, Zefram
On hold:     -

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History:
  Called by Steve, Sat, 16 Nov 1996 14:44:23 +1100 (EST)
  Assigned to elJefe, Thu, 21 Nov 1996 12:26:28 +0000
  Judged TRUE by elJefe, Sat, 23 Nov 1996 17:04:17 +0000
  Published, Sun, 24 Nov 1996 13:03:44 +0000

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Judgement: TRUE

Reasons and arguments:

The caller's arguments are persuasive:

1.) Rule 109's provisions are not to be read as if they were unrelated
sentences of separate Rules, but as a whole.  In particular, the
Promotor shall give the Proposal a number, and that number shall be
the next unused proposal number.

2.) Since that had not yet happened at the time this CFJ was called,
no number was assigned to the Proposal in question.  His attempts to
assign already-used numbers could be called an instantly retractible
error, or simply not a game move.


Thus, when the CFJ was called, the only number that could be correctly
assigned, (and which was actually assigned shortly thereafter) was the
next unused number, namely 2759.

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Evidence:

Rule 109/2 (Semimutable, MI=2)
Proposal Numbers

      The Promotor shall give each submitted Proposal a Number for
      reference.  The Number of a Proposal shall be the least integer
      greater than all other Numbers previously assigned to a Proposal
      (including numbers assigned to Proposals later determined to
      have been incorrectly submitted), or 301, whichever is greater.


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(Caller's) Arguments:

I rely on a particular reading of Rule 109, which I will explain and
defend. If this reading is correct, the truth of the Statement follows
as a consequence.

Here's Rule 109:

      The Promotor shall give each submitted Proposal a Number for
      reference.  The Number of a Proposal shall be the least integer
      greater than all other Numbers previously assigned to a Proposal
      (including numbers assigned to Proposals later determined to
      have been incorrectly submitted), or 301, whichever is greater.

My interpretation relies on what should be two simple and
uncontroversial points. The first point is that the second of the Rule
is an amplification of the first sentence. That is, the Number
referred to in the second sentence is the same Number as that referred
to in the first sentence as being assigned by the Promotor.  We should
understand the second sentence as instructing the Promotor on how to
choose the Number of a submitted Proposal. To deny this first point is
to claim that Rule 109 gives the Promotor no clue at all as to which
Number it is e is meant to assign to a submitted Proposal - and that
is absurd. So the first point establishes what should already be
obvious, that Rule 109 gives instructions to the Promotor about how to
assign Proposal Numbers.

What instructions does Rule 109 give? We are not here dealing with a
question concerning incorrectly submitted Proposals, so we can ignore
the qualification in parentheses. Nor need we worry about the
comparison with 301. Effectively, then, here's what Rule 109 says
about which Number the Promotor should assign to a Proposal:

      The Number of a Proposal shall be the least integer greater
      than all other Numbers previously assigned to a Proposal...

Now we come to my second point. It is my contention that Promotor
Andre has still not assigned a Number to his Proposal "General
Organizations" in accordance with Rule 109. In order to obey that
Rule, he must therefore assign "General Organizations" a Number.
Which Number should he assign it? Obviously, he should assign it "the
least integer greater than all other Numbers previously
assigned". Since Promotor Andre has just distributed a new batch of
Proposals Numbered 2751-2758, the least integer greater than all other
Numbers previously assigned is 2759. Therefore, "General
Organizations" should be assigned that Number. Should Promotor Andre
assign any further Numbers to submitted Proposals before Numbering
"General Organizations", then, of course, the Number he should assign
to "General Organizations" will be correspondingly altered. Unless and
until this happens, however, 2759 remains the correct Number for that
Proposal.

Relevant Rules: 109, 451.

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