Okinashima Academy

Structure

While ultimately under the purview of UNICEF, Okinashima Academy's day to day operations are coordinated by the Student Council, who are officially 'elected' but in practice chosen through a violent meritocracy and the favor of existing council members. The highest ranking 'official' is the Student Council President, who is responsible for coordinating all the various officers under her. The position has fluctuated quite frequently in the past, and is often awarded to the premier member of the particular clique in power, but for the past four years it has consistently been held by <SCP>, a commanding young woman who has deftly made herself the lynchpin of the alliance between half a dozen 'political' groups, to the point all fear the consequences too much to attempt supplanting her. Beneath the President are the mandate offices of Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer, plus the functional offices of Housing, Maintenance, and Class Heads 0-5. The former are required by the Academy's charter, the latter exist at the discretion of the President (but have existed in more-or-less their present form for over a decade, when the Disciplinary office was folded into that of the Vice President).   The role of the Vice President is to coordinate between the President and the Upper Council, and the Upper Council and the student body, especially those who work for the Council in one way or another. The de-facto role of the Vice President has settled into roughly that of 'enforcer', persuading various factions to fall in line by diplomacy, bribery, or force. The current Vice-Principal is a brutal and licentious girl, known for her extreme measures against those who cross her, and formerly the President's main rival. They apparently made some level of truce, or at least consider each other more useful in place. The Secretary is in charge of maintaining all records and coordinating communication between apparti. This has, in the contentious climate of Okinashima, expanded to cover not just research, such as it is, but also inteliigence. The Treasurer's role is to oversee the Duel Point system, as well as the release of 'bonus' points to agents of the Council. This is essentially a tremendous amount of power, which can be easily manipulated into tremendous privilege and the position of Treasurer is highly contested, much like that of the president prior to the current occupant. The discretionary office of Housing is responsible for the allotment and good order of the Academy's dormitories - in other words, their job is to make sure no one burns the place down. This is harder than it might sound, and the position is a necessary but unprestigious one, and the position and subordinate department tend to be occupied by actual civic-minded individuals more often than not. That, or busybodies. Maintenance is among the smallest offices, as the heavily automated academy complex mostly takes care of itself. It does have some emergency management duties, but primarily deals in matters of punishment. Though real 'law enforcement' is relatively lax, those who are too disruptive may be confined to quarters or even exiled - Maintenance is responsible for enforcing both these conditions. The Class Heads, as the name suggests, are responsible for the 'well being' of the designated class group, as well as the selection of teachers, organization of classes, and the like. Officially, each class (except 0) is meant to be represented by one of its own members, but this has not been the case for a long time. Prestige of the office more or less goes up numerically, but even the Class 1 Head is too tempting to actually leave to a Class 1 member. Class 0, consisting of all the Academy's inhabitants age ~14 or under, is a special case, as it lacks normal classes and does not participate in the Duel Point system. The position of Class 0 Head is considered one of considerable importance, too sensitive to be trusted to one person, and, by public insistence, consists of a group of three - one appointed by the president, one elected from Class 0, and one elected by the remaining student body.

Demography and Population

By definition, every student of Okinashima Academy is a DRIVEr (there have been precisely two exceptions), with all that implies. Of those students, most are below the age of 21, almost all are below the age of 30. This is mostly due to the relative 'newness' of the DRIVE phenomenon, but also partly due to the inherent danger of the practices commonplace among DRIVErs, and partly because those older than 30, tend to be reassigned to different Asylums, such as Okinawa, Busan, Katchenko, <China>, Salt Lake, or even Utopia or Koriander Fjord.   Besides the 'normal' demographic categories, students at the Academy are divided into various different classes based on 'academic' (combat) achievement and seniority. A student's Class is immediately recognizable, both represented in their uniforms and broadcasted via their Social Networking Access chip. The dynamic fabric uniforms can actually adjust their appearance in real time to reflect not only a student's Class, but also their Duel Score or similar concerns.   There are six classes, ranging from 0 to 5. The 0th class, though not officially part of the Academy charter, consists of all the Academy's students of 14 years of age or younger. Most of those sent to the Academy are sent after an accidental DRIVE, or following their 15th birthday if pre-screened, but occasionally a DRIVE occurs earlier, or an individual is deemed 'high risk' and sent at a younger age. By Student Council regulations, members of Class 0 receive an additional Duel Score bonus, and are not permitted to permitted to participate in actual Duels, and as a rule, challenging, bullying, seducing, or generally bothering Class 0 students is considered a severe impropriety. Likewise, Class 0 students are given a 'curriculum', but it covers only general liberal arts, purely theoretical DRIVE tactics, and occasional combat practice with normal non-ARMA training weapons (which have to be handmade as they are not included in the AISRU library). Additionally, Class 0 students are given small private rooms in a dedicated dormitory. Students of Class 2 can (by mutual assent) become a mentor to a Class 0 student, not only allowing the older student to show their junior the campus and island layout, as well as day-to-day life at the academy, but also giving the Class 0 student someone to rely on when they age up into Class 1 - a formalization of the general mentorship practice seen among many junior/senior students. Social stigma and the possibility of actual punishment keeps these mentors mostly trustworthy - as well as the fact that Class 0 students almost never engage in DRIVE by which their talent might be judged - but still... it's a convenient way to make sure someone is pretty dependent on you.
Type
Education, Magic
Parent Organization

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