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vol. 16 no. 5 - September 2000
The U.S.S. Alaric is a North Carolina chapter of STARFLEET, the International Star Trek Fan Association. Starfleet and the Alaric recognize Paramount’s sole ownership of all Star Trek copyrights. Annual individual member dues to the international club are $15.00 per year.
Andromeda Ascendant Commanding Officer, Captain Dylan Hunt (Kevin Sorbo), from Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, premiering now!
Source: http://www.andromedatv.com
(c) Tribune Entertainment Company
U.S.S. Alaric
How To Join:
The U.S.S. Alaric currently does not charge local membership dues. However, since the Alaric is a Starfleet chapter, in order to join the Alaric, you must first join Starfleet. When you join, you will receive a member packet which includes a Little White Card (LWC, or LBWC). To join the Alaric, bring this verification to a meeting, or mail it to the Alaric chapter president at the address below:
U.S.S. Alaric
P.O. Box 2072
Asheville, NC 28802 U.S.A.
Membership Renewal:
The first step is to renew your membership with Starfleet. Once you receive your LWC, send it to the chapter president. It is important that you renew your Starfleet membership 2 to 3 months in advance, since it might take that long for headquarters to process it. Other means of verification include an address label from the national newsletter, or a canceled check or money order in case of delays.
Alaric Meeting Schedule:
The Alaric holds regular monthly meetings at the South Buncombe Branch Library meeting room, 260 Overlook Road (near TC Roberson High School, in Skyland, NC), generally the afternoon of the second Saturday of the month.
October 14 - monthly meeting, 1 p.m.
November 11 - monthly meeting, 1 p.m.
December 9 - monthly meeting, 1 p.m.
Staff meetings, when necessary, are held generally the weekend before the regular monthly meeting (i.e., first Saturday of the month). However, most staff meeting-related business is conducted via email.
Check out the USS Alaric's club home page at:
http://home.sprynet.com/~ian/alaric/alaric.htm
The U.S.S. Alaric is the oldest and first Starfleet starship in North Carolina. The Alaric's logo, a starship silhouette orbiting a Starfleet insignia over the state of North Carolina, reflects our roots.
The U.S.S. Alaric, a starship in Starfleet's Region One, is the science flagship for Region One.
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CC 0009 Contents:
Carolina Communicator (c) 2000 by USS Alaric.
Promotional materials copyrighted by Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, and other companies, and selected submissions copyrighted by individual contributors.
INTERIM EDITOR: Fleet Captain Richard Heim
Next Issue Deadline:
All submissions for the next CC are due by:
October 29, 2000.
Please observe the deadline. This helps get the CC out on time!
Submission Guidelines:
Send submissions to the address above, or email to: AlaricRH@sprynet.com
Please follow these guidelines:
- Include the submission as text inside your email.
- On a 3 & 1/2-inch computer disk (save as a WordPerfect 6.1 file, or use ASCII text file).
- Typed submission (2 pages maximum). Please keep submissions around 100 to 1000 words.
Subscriptions:
The Carolina Communicator is published six times a year. You can subscribe one of two ways:
- To subscribe to the online electronic CC, send an email to AlaricRH@sprynet.com telling me so and include your name, mailing address, and affiliation (ship, regional position, etc.). I will send you an email every two months telling you the url for the latest published issue.
- To subscribe to the paper copy of the online CC, send a letter to: Carolina Communicator, P.O. Box 2072, Asheville, NC 28802. Include your name, mailing address, and a check or money order for $8.00 made payable to RICHARD HEIM.
Back issues of the CC are available for $2.00 plus $1.00 S&H each.
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The views expressed in the Carolina Communicator do not necessarily reflect those of the staff,
or all of the members of the Alaric.
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Alaric
Command
Reports
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ELECTED OFFICERS:
President (Captain) - Richard Heim
Vice-President (First Officer) -
Dale Anderson
Executive Secretary (Second Officer) -
(currently vacant)
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FCapt. Richard Heim
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Welcome to the 0009 Carolina Communicator! With this issue, we are back to our normal publishing schedule. Please note the deadline for submissions to the 0011 issue, which is October 29, 2000.
New XO: With Commander Ian "Krell" Johnsson's resignation last issue, Second Officer Lieutenant Dale Anderson becomes our new XO (per the Alaric Constitution). I'm pleased with the work Dale is doing on the Vessel Readiness Certification Program -- check out his report for details. Let's give him our full support!
Even with Ian's loss from the Alaric roster, the ship continues to grow. We gained two new members over the summer. Keep up the great recruiting efforts!
Roster & Chiefs: In the weeks ahead, I'll be updating our Position Assignments Roster. There have been a number of personnel changes, least of which are lots of Department Chief positions open. The following departments need chiefs: Computer Operations, Communications, Flight Operations, Recreation/Entertainment, Recreation/Gaming, Recreation/Sports, Science/Fortean Research Dept., Planetary Sciences, Security, Starfleet Marines, and Weapons. Let me know which one(s) you want: by email, AlaricRH@sprynet.com, or regular mail, P.O. Box 2072, Asheville, NC 28802. Check the Alaric Handbook for requirements. Two important requirements are: you must be OTS-qualified, and you need to make regular reports.
Starfleet Academy: Speaking of OTS (Officer Training School), there are a number of very good Starfleet Academy courses. I encourage everyone to take as many as they are interested in. Congratulations to Dale Anderson for earning a BS degree in Genetics, with an elective in Anthropology, from the Vulcan Academy of Science! Dale graduated with Honors, received an Academy Commendation, and was inducted into the Vulcan Legion of Honor with a Uni-Star rating. That's quite an achievement!
Starfleet News: We are in the midst of an election for a new Commander, STARFLEET. I hope everyone has received their ballots and has voted or will vote, both for the candidate of their choice and also on seven very important constitutional amendments. Remember, the ballots must be received by the CPA by November 15 of this year.
Region One News: As I write this, the R/1 staff and CO's are in the midst of an important discussion concerning Starfleet financial reporting. We can discuss this in more detail at the meeting. In the meantime, Dale, Joe, and I had a great time at the USS Reprisal's End of Summer Bash September 16. Maybe next time more Alaric crew can join us, hmm? Also, the Bennu has suggested some get-togethers. I think joint activities between the Alaric and nearby R/1 ships is an excellent idea!
Alaric Meeting Reports: Following is the last meeting report (for August) prepared by Dale in his Second Officer role. Following that is the September meeting report prepared by yours truly.
EXCERPTS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE AUGUST GBM
The August 12, 2000, General Business Meeting was held at the South Buncombe Branch
of the Asheville-Buncombe County Library System. With a quorum present, it
was called to order at 1310 Hrs, by its CO, Fleet Captain Richard Heim.
FCapt Heim gave a Treasury Report. Officers and Department Chiefs Reports were received.
The CC 0007 was still being produced, due to the fact the Communications
Officer's post is currently vacant. This has produced an extra workload for
Richard. A new CC Editor is very desperately needed.
There was much discussion concerning the XO's resignation. Richard relayed
Ian’s discussions with the Fleet Admiral and Mike Smith's confrontative
replies to Ian. We were all appalled by the insensitivity of our Fleet
Admiral. We were deeply remorsed by Ian’s resignation, which
will take effect at the publication date of the July 2000 Carolina
Communicator. Ian has volunteered to stay on as the CC’s editor, which was
welcomed by a consensus, of a large degree, at the meeting. However, there
was much pursuing discussion about the forms of Alaric membership. The Alaric Council
postponed the subject for more discussion during future meetings.
The 'Vessel Readiness Program' was introduced at the meeting. There is an
urgent call for anyone awarded a SFA Diploma to bring it to the next GBM.
Ideas for fun activities at the Alaric’s GBM were discussed. Sheila
tentatively proposed that she might lead trading card activities in the
future. David suggested that we gather at a local movie theater to watch the
movie X-Men, whose details would be made by means of e-mails and the
Internet.
The GBM was adjourned at 1605 hrs.
0009.09 REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING REPORT
As always, an agenda for the meeting was distributed by email a week before the meeting. A treasury report and regular officer and department chief reports were made, and the meeting was concluded with the regular monthly doorprize drawing. CO Richard Heim reported on the status of the Carolina Communicator, ballots received for the Starfleet election, the upcoming 2001 R/1 Summit bid, and the upcoming trip to Tri-Cities, TN for the End of Summer Bash picnic.
With the 0007 issue of the CC published, Dale Anderson became our new XO. Dale discussed the Vessel Readiness Program and asked for donations of Campbell's food product labels to support our Eliada Children's Home project.
Shirley noted that the ship's annual Christmas party would probably be during a late afternoon or early evening at the Heim's residence.
David continues as the collection point for our aluminum can recycling project.
We discussed possible fun activities for future club activities, and came up with the following. David will bring a video for the October meeting. At future meetings, Sheila will organize a trading cards session, Dale may get a Star Trek Monopoly game, and David will organize Star Trek trivia quizzes for the meetings (and for the CC).
Pastimes: I'd like to take a moment to thank our friends at Pastimes for distributing our flyers and newsletters. If you're interested in Music - Comics - Games, then drop by Pastimes, 175 Weaverville Highway, Asheville, NC 28804, or give them a call (828-658-0588) or send them a fax (828-645-8342). Pastimes moved a few months ago and is now located in the Town & Country Square just past the New Bridge exit off of Highway 19/23.
That's all for this report. Live Long, and Prosper!
FCapt. Richard Heim
Commanding Officer, USS Alaric
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LT. Dale Anderson
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Ian’s resignation as XO has created a vacancy in the vice presidency of
the USS Alaric. As the Executive Secretary, the Alaric’s constitution
directs me to assume the role of Vice President. On order from FCAPT
Richard Heim, CO of the Alaric, I hereby accept the position of First
Officer of the USS Alaric and pledge my fullest attention and utilize the
best of my abilities to serve the Alaric the remainder of his term.
I sincerely hope, and even pray, that Ian will remain with us, if not as an
active member, then most certainly as an associate member. His
service, fellowship, and camaraderie have been exemplary and heartfelt
from the first day I reported aboard the Alaric. I can assume his position
as XO, but I could never, ever, replace him. Ian, may fair winds and
favourable seas steer your journeys to a rewarding, self fulfilling, and
prosperous life, and help guide your safe return to us. In the Navy, we
sailors used to say, ‘I’d like to not say Good Bye, but farewell, until our
paths cross again.’
The Alaric’s Vessel Readiness Condition has become underway. Our
first department, our ‘Command’ structure, has achieved Fleet
recognition, by being certified by STARFLEET Command. I would like
express my thanks and gratitude to Sheila Hand, Susan, Sarah, and
Sam Bolick, and David Moxley for their participation and assistance in
the program. I am still in GREAT need for copies of everybody's
diplomas they've earned from STARFLEET Academy. Please bring
your diplomas to the next meeting so that I can photocopy them, You
may also email copies of them to me at SocSiChief@aol.com or snail
mail them to me at:
Dale Anderson
P. O. Box 2741
Asheville, NC 28802
Please get them to me straight away!!! After I receive copies of
everybody's diploma, I can implement a program to achieve vessel
certified readiness.
I would like to congratulate our two cadets, Sam and Sarah Bolick, for a
very special achievement. They both have graduated from the
STARFLEET Academy Cadet School. Special recognition needs to be
given to Sarah for graduating with honors.
The Alaric hasn't forgotten about "our" children at the Eliada Home.
They have always had a special place in our hearts. We can greatly
enhance their lives by participating in the Campbell's Labels For Education
Program to get educational and recreational equipment. Please help me
save labels from Campbell Soup cans and other Campbells products. One way to easily remove the
labels is to place the cans in a pot or basin of water. Soaking the
cans/labels can remove them quite easily. Please bring them to the
Alaric meetings or mail them to me at one of addresses above.
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Alaric Department Reports
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DEPARTMENT HEADS:
Chief Science Officer - Richard Heim
Chief, Social Sciences - Dale Anderson
Chief, Astrophysics - Susan Vaughn
Chief Engineering Officer - Sheila Hand
Chief Quartermaster - Janice Self
Chief Medical Officer - Susan Bolick
Recruitment Officer - Mark Bolick
Chaplain/Counselor - Shirley Heim
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Chief Science Officer
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FCapt. Richard Heim
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A wonderful thing happened at this year's Starfleet International Conference in Burlington, Vermont! As announced by Fleet Admiral Mike Smith: "For her 22 years of service to her chapter, her Region, STARFLEET Academy and STARFLEET itself, I'm pleased to announce that MARLENE MILLER has been awarded Lifetime membership within STARFLEET. Marlene, thank you very much for your past and continued future service to our fine organization!" I wanted to echo Mike's words, for Marlene is a wonderful person to correspond with. Vice Admiral Miller has been commandant of Starfleet Academy for a little while now, but she has been director of SFA's Vulcan Academy of Sciences for, it seems like, forever! Marlene, you deserve this award ... congratulations!
Check out the Alaric's science department web page:
http://alaricrh.home.sprynet.com/science/AlaricSci.htm
As you noticed in my reports in the last couple Carolina Communicators, I've been a little busy this year. In the weeks ahead, I'll be updating the Alaric science department web page, adding some of those science reports I've written for The Alaric Heim Page newsletter over the years. I might even find time to write some new ones!
Here's some science news from the October 2000 Starlog. The Discovery Channel's next event broadcast will be Watch With the World: Inside the Space Station. It'll show the 16-nation international space station being built. They didn't give a date for broadcast.
From the same issue, some science-fiction news: Christopher Lee has joined the cast of Star Wars II ... he plays a separatist. Even though odds are low that Paramount will produce an Adventures of the U.S.S. Excelsior with Captain Sulu tv show, there is still a campaign in support of one. The web page printed in Starlog was
http://www.excelsior.iftcommand.com
but it didn't work when I tried surfing to it. I hope it was down just then, but is still good.
FCapt. Richard Heim
Chief Science Officer
USS Alaric
RDC REGION ONE SCIENCES NEWS
At the Starfleet Internatiional Conference this year, it was announced that the winners of the STARFLEET 1999 Newsletter Contest included the Region One Sciences newsletter, which won in the Most Informative Black and White newsletter category. (Yeah!)
Check out the R/1 Science web page:
http://alaricrh.home.sprynet.com/science/R1Science.htm
In other news, I'm still searching for a new Assistant RDC and for a Region One Sciences newsletter editor. Deadline for sending me your applications is December 1, 2000. Send them to me via email (AlaricRH@sprynet.com) or land mail (Richard Heim, P.O. Box 2072, Asheville, NC 28802).
The June/September double issue of the Region One Sciences newsletter should go online the same time this issue of the Carolina Communicator goes online.
FCapt. Richard Heim
Regional Division Chief, Sciences
Starfleet Region One
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Social Sciences Dept.
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LT. Dale Anderson
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We, the members of the Alaric, and of Starfleet alike, are easily whisked
up in the futuristic vision of Gene Roddenberry and the 4 ‘Star Trek’
series and the subsequent movies. Yet, my personal feeling is that
humanity, the Earth, and the cosmos are really all one. The relationship of
the three is, well, quite mystical. One story that I find close to my heart
is the narrative of the cherished Big Horn Medicine Wheel.
The Big Horn Medicine Wheel is a prehistoric Native American cosmological
rock structure laid down about 2,500 years ago by an Aztec-Tanoan culture
that occupied the infamous Bighorn Canyon and adjacent areas between 1500 BC
and 500 AD. The Wheel lies at an elevation of 9,642 feet, 11 miles south of
the Montana border. It is the only true North American antiquity that can
be reached by public or private transportation. Lovell, Wyoming, 30 miles to
the west and 6,000 feet lower, is the nearest town to the site.
The Medicine Wheel was first discovered by Crow Indian hunters nearly 300
years ago. They became deathly afraid of its "bad medicine" and no Indians of
any tribe dared go near it after the news had spread across the Plains.
Because of the structure's resemblance to a giant wagon wheel with hub,
spokes, and a rim, white trappers called it a wheel. Until 1992 its true
interpretation was unknown, although many theories were advanced without real
study.
As an archeolinguistic artifact, the Medicine Wheel tells how the first
people on earth, i.e., only Uto-Aztecan speakers, emerged as spirits out of
the Underworld via a conduit topped by the large central rock cairn, to be
driven by a spirit vectored force into an inwardly opening rim-touching cairn
where they became born as human beings. Where an offset cairn lies 12 feet
outside the Wheel's rim, the greatly feared evil ghosts of dead Uto-Aztecan
were uplifted into the Afterworld in the Milky Way directly above the
structure's central exit cairn.
The rim of the structure symbolized the cosmological horizon of the Milky
Way. Four external rim-touching cairns symbolize the four preceding eras in
the world's history closed completely in time; they could not be entered by
either the spirits rising from the Underworld nor by the ghosts en route to
the Afterworld. On the inside a rim-touching, larger cairn opens toward the
central cairn via a spoked channel to symbolize the Fifth Era of Current
Existence in which all humanity plays its varied parts. In this era the
Underworld spirits become human beings living a normal life span.
The Wheels' rim measures 245 feet. There are 20 aboriginal "spokes" that
connect the rim only to the central cairn in five groups of four spokes each.
These symbolize the number of days in the Uto-Aztecan month and their
counting system to the base 20 (fingers and toes). Another seven spokes
connect the central cairn to the other rim-touching elements. The total of 27
aboriginal spokes symbolized the number of nights between the New Moon
crescent and the Old Moon crescent when the moon is actually visible each
month. This lunar visibility symbolized the forces of darkness, evil. On the
central cairn lay a very decayed bison skull that symbolized the sun (light),
beneficence or goodness. Two symbolizations represented the eternal warfare
between light and dark, i.e., good vs. evil.
All across Wyoming, with radii up to 200 miles, giant stone arrows direct the
way to the Medicine Wheel to show the greatly feared evil ghosts of
Uto-Aztecan dead the way to the Afterworld of Darkness. Thus the Medicine
Wheel was also a mythological cemetery for ghosts, a place of great fear to
be avoided forever and a place totally lacking in religious sentiments.
The Aztec-Tanoan culture mentioned earlier originated around 4,500 years ago
in Southern Alberta, Canada, where the Majorville Cairn is the oldest
wheel-like cosmological rock structure belonging to the Medicine Wheel
Complex. A second and follow-on structure based on five is the Moose Mountain
Cairn in Southern Saskatchewan and dates to around 3,000 years ago. Third in
the southward migrational order is the Big Horn Medicine Wheel at 2,500 years
of age. The fourth and final rock symbolization appears to be the famed Aztec
Calendar Stone (which is not a calendar at all!) carved in today's Mexico
City in 1481 AD. All of these four structured linguistic artifacts (none are
archaeological midden-heap type remnants of prehistory) symbolize the same
mythological story of the creation of Uto-Aztecan humanity -- the "Origin
Myth" of which every tribe on earth had its own version -- and the
disposition of the ghosts of Uto-Aztecan dead in an Afterworld of Darkness
located in the cosmological horizon of the Milky Way.
The cosmology patterned into these four rock structures is common only to
Native American tribal groups speaking branches of the Uto-Aztecan (Numic)
stock language with its origins in far Eastern Asia. No other Western
Hemisphere tribe or society entertained this particular view of man's place
in the cosmos of the earth exactly half way between the Underworld of his
mythological creation and the Afterworld high above.
The Big Horn Medicine Wheel (as also its Canadian predecessors and its
Aztec successor) is a linguistic artifact that reflects the "thought world"
of a very ancient primitive Siberian people immersed also in the eternal
warfare between the forces of darkness (evil) and the forces of light (good),
i.e., originating as between the bitter darkness of arctic winters vs. the
perpetual daylight of warm summers. This never-ending warfare is clearly
portrayed in the Medicine Wheel Complex rock patterns and exists today in the
legends of many of the Numic-speaking tribes between Southern Canada and
Central America.
All of these prehistoric rock structures are based in the mystical number
five, which meant POWER, as any detailed analysis of the patternings reveals.
All other Western Hemisphere Native Americans revered the number four of the
cardinal directions north, south, east, and west. None of the Medicine Wheel
Complex structures bear the slightest relationship to the number four, and
for this reason their entire interpretation must necessarily be in terms of
the Uto-Aztecan "thought world" stock language. No religion whatsoever
connects to the Medicine Wheel.
Since the Bighorn Medicine Wheel was first discovered by white men, many
fanciful myths and stories have grown up around the mysterious arrangements
of its limestone rocks; none have any scientific validity. Contemporary
Native American claims of "religious rights" to the site because of
"traditional ceremonial usages" did not surface until 1985 with the American
Indian Movement. All such "claims" are patently false and unrelated in any
way to the Wheel's paleoethnological time span of 2,500 years. There is no
recorded evidence of any Twentieth Century Native American of any tribe
visiting the Big Horn Medicine Wheel prior to 1985.
As a true National Treasure, the Big Horn Medicine Wheel (with its giant
stone arrows pointing to it across Western and Southern Wyoming) should be
forever protected and preserved for all of posterity on an exactly equal
basis that gives no preferences to any ethnic or religious group,
irrespective of race, color, affiliation, creed, or belief system.
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Medical Sciences Dept.
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RAdm. Susan Bolick
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I'm continuing to take Starfleet Academy College of Medicine (SACOM)
courses. Currently working my way through the Field Medic exams and doing
well. I plan on taking some of the specialty exams once I'm done with the
basic ones.
I continue to be active in the community as a Child Passenger Safety Tech
teaching parents how to best protect their children in
vehicles. Nationally, the current emphasis is on the so-called "forgotten
children", or those ages 4-8 years. Most parents use car seats for their
infants and toddlers, but correct restraint use drops off dramatically for
preschoolers and young schoolage children. Kids should stay in harnessed
car seats till 40 lbs, and then go to boosters till about 80 lbs (around
age 8) before moving into seat belts alone, which are designed for adults.
Am donating platelets and plasma (pheresis) at the Red Cross every couple
months. Husband Mark has also been donating regularly, and the whole
family will be going to the Red Cross annual pheresis picnic in a couple
days...on daughter Sarah's thirteenth birthday. We're taking a cake along!
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STAR TREK TRIVIA QUIZ
by LT.jg. David Moxley
- In "Where No Man Has Gone Before", what member of the U.S.S. Enterprise crew is mentioned to have attended Starfleet Academy with Kirk?
a. Gary Mitchell
b. Lee Kelso
c. Mark Piper
d. Elizabeth Dehner
- Who was Kirk's Nemesis at the Academy?
- The Horta found what aspect of Spock's appearance most appealing?
- What was Spock's dual position aboard the Enterprise NCC-1701?
- What was Kirk's nickname for McCoy?
- Picard has an artificial
a. eye
b. lung
c. heart
d. leg
- When Picard was assimilated by the Borg, his designation was
- Name the shipyards where the Enterprise-D was built.
- True or False: Q once appeared to Picard in a stream of cigar smoke.
- True or False: Sisko had a brother named Cal.
- The Defiant was originally developed as a prototype for a class of ship specifically intended to fight and defeat
a. the Dominion
b. the Borg
c. the Cardassians
d. the Klingons
- What class of starship is Voyager?
- What visible change occurs to the Voyager when it goes to warp?
a. The hull changes color.
b. The bridge descends into the body of the ship.
c. The warp nacelles swing upward.
d. The warp nacelles swing downward.
- Which two Voyager crew members combined into one being after a transporter accident?
- What is Tuvok's job on Voyager?
- Name Tuvok's wife.
- What Starfleet rank does Paris' father hold?
- Name the new type of shuttle that Paris conceived.
- What was Seven of Nine's original human name?
- Seven does not sleep. What does she do instead?
- As a girl, what was Seven of Nine's favorite color?
- In "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", who left the U.S.S. Enterprise without permission in an attempt to contact V'ger?
- Who was called "Tiny" in "The Search for Spock"?
- Who pretended to be captain of the Enterprise in "The Final Frontier"?
- In "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", who among these original characters was the only one not to have been promoted from his rank in the original series?
a. James T. Kirk
b. Spock
c. Hikaru Sulu
d. Pavel Chekov
Click Here for the trivia quiz answers.
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This issue of the Carolina Communicator welcomes you as visitor number:
Free counters provided by Honesty.com.
This issue prepared 9/30/2000 by Richard Heim and uploaded
to the Alaric's web site by Krell.
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