Basically, the operationof the CULT depends on a predicable set of pub dates, which in turn depends on Members writing to the next FR editor; whether or not the preceding FR reached them; on FR editors publishing on schedule or near to it, whether or not the preceding FR was published at all; and on fairly hard-nosed handling (and dropping) of people who aren't willing to keep the flow of CULTic activing going. The OA can OAfficiate best when he persuades, shames, or bullies the Members into performing their FReditorial duties on their own. The OA should avoid making Rulings by phone or in person: the CULT is a correspondence organization, not an in-person one.
(There's nothing in the CULT Constitution to bar the OA from making an ex post facto Ruling; and some OAs would pass a Bill of Attainder if they could only figure out how.)
A major crisis blew up during the Third Cycle, when pubdates became so thoroughly wucked up by latepub that it became necessary to re-establish both the schedule and the Roster in mid-Period -- which is why some Memberships (See OC:, Ted White, above) begin or end at f/r30 1/2.
By the time Scithers joined the CULT's waiting list, around the Seventh Cycle, the CULTstitution had settled down to approximately its present form. The Members, however, were feuding furiously: Eney, Harness, White, Breen, and Tapscott were having at each other, and OAs such as Eney, Champion, and Johnstone were OAfficiating in interesting times, as the Chinese would put it. Champion was an unusually compenent, level-headed chap, one of the Eugene (OR) fans (others were Lars Bourne and Tapscott); Champion's sudden death in an auto accident was a shock to all of the CULT at the time.
Notable CULT publications of the time include one of Ted White's, which included an issue of the professional magazineHeavy Metal, which White was editing at the time; some interesting multi-color affairs by Scithers, who had a small offset duplicator that was -- at the time -- old enough to vote; and the four-volume affair, produced largely by Tapscott, although Scithers was the nominal editor, to celebrate the end of the CULT's first Tridecycle.
Scotty Tapscott and George R. Heap contributed to the CULT's documentation with divers editions of the CULTstitution and establishment of The Complete Roster, which lists everyone who was a Member (and most Wait Listers), along with the Periods of Membership. By now, however, TCR badly needs updating.
The CULT's Waiting List, which over the past 50 Cycles of CULTic time has usually carried about 10 to 30 hopefuls, including 5 Active and the however-many Inactive WaitListers, is the lowest Scithers has seen it in the past 40 Cycles. As a result, those who join the Waiting List now can expect to reach full Membership quite soon, and must be prepared to assume the responsibility of publishing.
While the CULT began with spirit-duplicated FRs and f/ractionals and then moved on to mimeography, the usual means of reproduction now is by xerography. A few FR editors prefer to retype; most simply duplicate letters as they come in, add their own comments and the all-important Roster page, and apply a cover of varying originality and taste.