vol. 16 no. 6 - November 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.

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.

December 9 - monthly meeting, 1 p.m.
January 13 - 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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Carolina Communicator

CC 0011 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.

CC EDITOR: Ian "Krell" Johnsson

Next Issue Deadline:
All submissions for the next CC are due by:
December 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:

  1. Include the submission as text inside your email.
  2. On a 3 & 1/2-inch computer disk (save as a WordPerfect 6.1 file, or use ASCII text file).
  3. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

The views expressed in the Carolina Communicator do not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or all of the members of the Alaric.

Alaric
Command
Reports

 ELECTED OFFICERS:

President (Captain) - Richard Heim
Vice-President (First Officer) -
Dale Anderson
Executive Secretary (Second Officer) -
(currently vacant)

FCapt. Richard Heim

Welcome to the 0011 issue of the Carolina Communicator! With this issue I am gradually turning over the editorial reigns to Ian Johnsson. Ian has been hosting the Alaric's web presence for years now, and he has graciously offered to help out with the editing chore. Thanks Ian! I'd also like to thank all who contributed. Maybe next time we can have contributions and reports from ALL of our department chiefs.

Speaking of the web page, you may have noticed it's a little out of date. We are in the process of updating it. It may take a couple months, so please be patient.

The U.S.S. Alaric has traditionally held a Christmas party every December. This year the schedules of the organizers are extremely hectic, so instead of having a Christmas party, we've decided to have a Christmas dinner club get-together. We'll be discussing details, including date, time, and which restaurant to go to, when we meet this month (November 11).

I'd like to remind everyone of the special club activities. These include collecting Campbells product labels in support of Eliada Children's Home, and aluminum can recycling as a club fund raiser. Our XO, Dale Anderson, is heading up our participation in the Vessel Readiness Certification Program -- check out his report for details. We recently received our Command Department certification. Great work, Dale! I call upon the Alaric crew to please support these acitivities.

The subject of changing our monthly meeting place came up at the October meeting. As a result, I'm taking a survey of the membership and visitors to guide us in deciding what to do next.

    ALARIC MEETING PLACE SURVEY

    First I'll give you some background, then I'll get to the survey.

    Background: Right now we're meeting at the South Buncombe Branch of the Asheville-Buncombe Library, at 260 Overlook Road (near TC Roberson High School, in Skyland, NC). Advantages are: parking is free and we can bring food into the meeting room. Disadvantages: the meeting room is small, and the branch is located in south Buncombe county, which is a long drive for some.

    A few years ago, we met in the Lord Auditorium. Advantages: centrally located in downtown Asheville at Pack Memorial Library, large meeting room. Disadvantages: NO food or drink allowed in the auditorium, you may have to pay to park downtown.

    Some groups hold meetings at restaurants. Advantages: plenty of food, free parking. Disadvantages: we are limited in what we can do and say (no videos, no games, etc.), we have to pay for our food (can't bring our own), seating is limited and uncomfortable, we are limited in how long we can meet there (the restaurant owners will want to move us out as soon as we're done eating, since they are in the business of making money not serving as a meeting place). I cannot support this option.

    Some Starfleet chapters hold meetings at church fellowship halls. Advantages: free parking, probably large meeting room, can probably bring food & drink. Disadvantages: the church may impose restrictions.

    Now for the survey. There are two parts. Please indicate your answers and send your response back to me by November 30, 2000, either by email (AlaricRH@sprynet.com) or print a copy of this section and mail your response to be (Richard Heim, P.O. Box 2072, Asheville, NC 28802).

    Part 1: Where to Meet. Choose one of the following:

    A. _____ stay at South Buncombe Branch Library meeting room

    B. _____ move to another location. Specify where: _______________

    Part 2: When to Meet. Choose one of the following:

    A. _____ keep meeting on second Saturday of each month

    B. _____ change meeting date to a Sunday

    Thanks for your input!

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LT. Dale Anderson

I'm still working closely with STARFLEET'S VCRP initiative. According to our tentative department structure, I need the following SFA diplomas from the Alaric's crewmembers:

For the Science/Medical Readiness Certification:

    One diploma from Vulcan Academy of Science, Starfleet Medical, College of Survival Studies College of Cultural Anthropology, College of Alien History & Culture, and any future class in Alien studies

Operations (OPS):

    Three diplomas from College of Starship Operations, College of Computer History.

Communications Readiness Certification:

    Three diplomas from College of Communications, College of Computer History, School of Language Studies, Starfleet Officers Radio School, School of Music, Acrocademy, College of Trek Humor.

Security/Tactical Readiness Certification:

    Four diplomas from School of Strategy and Tactics, Security School, College of Survival Studies.

Engineering Readiness Certification:

    Four diplomas from School of Engineering, College of Starship Operations, School of Treknology, College of Computer History.

Marine Strike Group Certification:

    Completion Confirmations for PD-10, PD-20 and choice of two other -10/-20 level courses in the Branch of the ship's MSG. If copies of the confirmations are not available, the CO or IOC of the MSG should submit a letter stating which courses have been completed and by whom.

Education-Recreation (EDREC) Readiness Certification:

    Four diplomas from any class that does not fit anywhere else in the VRCP program.

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Alaric Department Reports

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

Chief Science Officer FCapt. Richard Heim

The Alaric sent an away team to Atlanta last month for the MOCtoberfest party convention. It was a nice small convention that was a lot of fun! While in Georgia, I picked up some flyers on science-related organizations and activities. In this issue of the Carolina Communicator, I'd like to review the National Science Center at Fort Discovery.

The brochure invites you to "grasp, learn, and experience the technologies involved with communications, electronics, automation, and computers. Children and adults alike can immerse themselves in the wonders of science through live demonstrations, virtual realities, and hands-on exhibits." In fact, there are 250 interactive exhibits, including:

  • a medical helicopter that transmits your vital signs to an aid station inside the center;
  • a gravity-defying 1,000 pound floating stone you can spin with your fingertips;
  • a sensor fountain;
  • a power generating water wheel;
  • the "Gravichron";
  • NASA's vision enhancement system;
  • 10-foot-long lightning bolts generated by Fort Discovery's million-volt Tesla Coil;
  • explore the inner workings of radios, telephones, facsimile, copiers, television, and computers;
  • learn scientific principles by playing with gyroscopes, solar powered cars, robotic arms, and pendulums;
  • and much more!
Fort Discovery sounds fascinating, both as a fun place to visit and as a teacher resource center! It is located at: One Seventh Street on the Riverwalk, Augusta, Georgia 30901. There is an admission charge. Additional information can be found on the web at http://www.nscdiscovery.org/ or by calling 1-800-325-5445.

Check out the Alaric's science department web page:
http://alaricr h.home.sprynet.com/science/AlaricSci.htm

FCapt. Richard Heim
Chief Science Officer
USS Alaric

RDC REGION ONE SCIENCES NEWS

The June-September double issue of the Region One Sciences newsletter webzine is finally published. You can print your copy by going to http:// alaricrh.home.sprynet.com/science/nl/r1sci00060009.htm. The deadline for submissions to the December issue is November 30, 2000.

Last month I updated the Region One Sciences web page. Check it out: http://alaricr h.home.sprynet.com/science/R1Science.htm

One of my goals as R/1 Sciences RDC is science education. I'd like to see a listing somewhere of all of the science-related facilities in Region One (heck, let's think big: throughout the WORLD!) that we can visit if we're in the area. Everyone interested in science could write a review (like I did above) of science facilities and organizations in their area for publication in their local newsletters or in the Region One Sciences newsletter. Consider yourselves challenged!

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).

FCapt. Richard Heim
Regional Division Chief, Sciences
Starfleet Region One

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Social Sciences Dept. LT. Dale Anderson

Let's soup up our Campbell's label campaign for the Eliada's Home For Children by collecting labels from Campbell's Soup products! Also taken are proof of purchase seals from Franco-American products.

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Engineering Dept. Cmdr. Sheila Hand

The Engineering Department is running smoothly. However, the Chief Engineer has been in and out of Sickbay several times lately. The doctors are still trying to figure out why I am sick. The following are the current results:

  1. I am anemic from losing blood.
  2. I have inflammation somewhere in my body.
  3. The problem is not due to stomach ulcers or tumors, or a hernia.

I am scheduled for future doctor visits and more testing. Hopefully, soon they will locate the cause of the anemia and inflammation, and then cure it.

Otherwise, I am continuing working, catching up on Fleet stuff, and attending Starfleet Academy.

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Medical Sciences Dept. RAdm. Susan Bolick

Automatic Shoulder Belts Alone Increase Injury Risk

We all know seat belts save lives -- but that's only part of the picture. There are over 10 million cars on the road with automatic shoulder belts. Maybe yours is one of them. They're in cars made from 1987 to 1994. You get in and the shoulder belt moves into place over you. Sounds like a great idea -- instant protection!

But what three-fourths of automatic shoulder belt users forget is that the lap belt has to be buckled manually for the system to work as it's designed, with three points of restraint: at one shoulder and both hips.

A recent review of crash injury data in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that unrestrained occupants (no belt at all) have more chance of dying than those with some type of belt restraining them. We already knew that, right?

But another finding in the review is very sobering: people using automatic shoulder belts alone, without manually buckling the lap belt, have a seven times higher risk of chest and abdominal injury than those with no belt at all!

This doesn't mean that we should disable those automatic belts. They were a good idea, as far as they went. But the system requires human intervention. Buckle your lap belt! Keep it low over your hips and thighs, not over your abdomen. Pull it snug. Open your jacket or coat and pull the sides out from under it. Three points of restraint, with two over the strong hip bones, close to the center of gravity, will hold you in place far better than an unbalanced two-point restraint (shoulder belt alone).

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The Greedy Gift Exchange
Joseph M. McCollum

Christmas is nearly upon us, and you may be getting ready for those holiday parties. Perhaps you know the "Greedy Gift Exchange," or have even played it. In case you don't know the game, it works in the following manner: a set of n players each contribute one gift and draw numbers from 1 to n. The player that draws number 1 selects a gift and unwraps it in the presence of the other players. The player that draws number 2 may, on his turn, take that gift or choose another unopened gift and unwrap it. In the former case, the player that drew number 1 must select another gift and unwrap it. Constraints may be added to shorten the time the game takes, such as:

  1. Restricting the kth player to a choice of selecting a unopened gift or one from the a (a=1, perhaps) most recently opened gifts.
  2. Restricting any gift from changing hands more than b times (b=3, perhaps) during the entire game.
  3. Restricting any gift from changing hands more than c times (c=1, perhaps) during any one round.
  4. Requiring players who take others' gifts to drink a cup of spiked punch.

To me, the object of the game should be to distribute gifts to the players such that each player has the gift with which he or she is most happy: economists call this maximizing utility. This objective may not be possible, and in that instance, the object should still be to maximize utility among the players but ensure that the game ends in a finite number of turns.

Suppose there are two players, A and B, and two gifts, a compact disc (CD) and a coupon book (CB). Player A has a utility of $8 for the coupon book but $7 for the compact disc, and player B has a utility of $7 for the coupon book but $8 for the compact disc. Then the utility matrix appears in Table 1:

Each player must estimate the utility of all unwrapped gifts, and if the guidelines of the game were to buy a gift worth between $5 and $10, players might estimate unwrapped gifts to have a utility of $7.50. In that case, if player A goes first and unwraps the first gift which turns out to be a coupon book, player B looks at it, sees that it has a lower utility than the unopened gift, opens the second gift and ends the game. (We shall ignore the fact that each player knows what he or she contributed.)

Players may not necessarily have their first choice. The utility matrix could look like it does in Table 2:

If player A opens the first gift, player B sees that it is a gift of higher utility than the unopened gift, trade, and player A is forced to open the remaining unopened gift and thereby end the game. If in the list of constraints, a = n, b = n, and c = 1, then the last player clearly has an advantage. However, if a and b are small, then popular gifts may be retired from the game early, so there is a higher chance that players will not receive their preferred gift.

If the last player has the largest advantage, which player has the largest disadvantage? In general, that is a difficult question to answer. One must model the utility matrix - and that is not an easy task to complete. There are some gifts that almost anyone might enjoy receiving - such as the coupon book. Other gifts have a limited audience - for instance, many people do not smoke and would not enjoy receiving a box of cigars. Also, there are Pollyannas out there who would be happy with almost any gift. There are others who would not be happy unless they got their one preferred gift. However, if the rules of the game were to buy a gift that costs between $5 and $10, one might model the utility as a random normal matrix with mean $7.50 and variance $0.75. Three standard deviations above the mean would be $9.75, and three standard deviations below the mean would be $5.25. Any one gift, although it has a unique retail sales price, would have different utility for each player.

I wrote a computer program to simulate the greedy gift exchange game, where players would take the gift with the highest utility (to that one player) if that highest utility was greater than $7.50, if not, then the player would take an unopened gift. Gifts could be taken once per round, but up to n times during the game. The simulation was repeated 500 times and the results were averaged. For a 20-person game, the final average utility curve appeared as in Figure 1:

The utility curve is shown in blue. One can see that the 20th player has a definite advantage; the 20th player has seen 19 gifts opened and may take any one of them without fear that it may be taken away. The red line represents the average utility of the player who has held his gift the longest. If a particular gift has been opened early in the game and no one has taken it away, the gift could be a white elephant that no one prefers. It could also be a gift such as a box of cigars that has high utility for one person but low utility for everyone else.

My solution to the game in this case is that when the last person's turn comes, the final player and the player who has held his gift the longest should flip a coin for the final turn. The winner of the flip gets the choice of the opened gift or the turn, and the loser of the flip gets what the winner turns down. That would ensure that the utility curve is relatively flat from 1 to 20 and that all players have a gift with which they are reasonably happy.

I considered an alternate model of utility - one that would recognize that the prices of the gifts would have a distribution (between $5 and $10) but also that the utility of any player for that gift would vary from the retail price. Suppose the gifts are priced with mean $7.50 and standard deviation $0.75, and also that utility would have an additional standard deviation of $0.75. Then, the utility curve appears as it does in Figure 2:

In this case, there appear to be about three valuable gifts which gravitate toward the 18th, 19th, and 20th players. The red line once again represents the utility of the player who has held his gift the longest. In this case, a flip between this player and the 20th players would flatten out that part of the curve, but the 18th and 19th players still hold an advantage. Such a design for a utility matrix would argue in favor of using constraints (1) and (2) - removing gifts from play as the game goes on. Of course, one could counter that when numbers are drawn, each player has the same chance of drawing the 20th position as any other player.

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Krell's Cache: Software Review
Ian "Krell" Johnsson

Star Trek Voyager Elite Force

I've played a lot of computer games in my time, and many of them have been Star Trek related. I can remember, many many Stardates ago, going on a field trip to UNCA for a tour of their computer system. While we were there we saw million dollar systems used to model weather patterns, a state-of-the-art color plotter capable of rendering 3-D maps, and massive banks of tape drive units (which probably had about the same storage capacity as my current hard drive...). But the thing that impressed me most was a lone computer terminal off in one corner where a student was playing an old Star Trek combat game. The game was slow, had no sound, offered only a few play options, and used black and white 'ASCII graphics'.

Side Note: For those of you too new to computers to remember ASCII graphics, that's where you use alpha-numeric characters to make rather primitive pictures. Mainly because true vector graphics would have taken up too much of the CPU's processing power. Using ASCII, a Star Wars tie fighter would have looked like this: <-o->

As primitive as it was, I thought it was the most exciting computer game I had ever seen. I know, sounds hard to believe, but remember this was back before the days of 'TV Ping Pong' games even. Oh how times have changed...

Star Trek Voyager Elite Force is what is known in the computer gaming community as a first person shooter. That is, you view the game through the eyes of your character as if you were actually there, and most of the action is oriented around picking off countless enemies with a variety of weapons. So if you aren't much into combat games you'll probably be disappointed with Elite Force. If on the other hand you've always wanted to pick up a phaser rifle and waste a few Borg, then this just might be the game for you. As the game manual proudly states, 'Set phasers for frag!'

The storyline behind the game is typically Trek but with an interesting twist. Realizing that Voyager is facing an increasingly hostile environment, the senior staff has decided to create an elite security force, the Hazard Team, to deal with the more dangerous situations Voyager frequently finds itself in. Under the direction of Lt. Tuvok, the Hazard Team has been specially trained in military tactics, combat, stealth and weapons/armor usage. Without giving away any of the plot line, I'll just say that once again Voyager has been caught and is threatened by an alien force bent on galactic domination. And it's up to the Hazard Team to help find a way for Voyager to escape, while at the same time putting an end to the alien menace.

In the single player mode you play the part of Ensign Monroe, second in command of the Hazard Team. You'll lead your team mates on a series of adventures: exploring alien ships, invading Borg cubes, and even defending Voyager against space pirate boarding parties. You'll get to battle Borg drones, weird new aliens, robots, klingons, and even classic era 'mirror universe' goons using a variety of weapons ranging from a traditional hand phaser to the experimental Borg-killing 'infinity modulator'.

And when you get tired to playing the set storyline you can always take a break and play in Holomatch game mode. Holomatch is basically a free-for-all combat game set on the holodeck, so it gives you the chance to play in a variety of environments. Pre-set scenrios including a Borg cube, a Klingon fortress, a low-tech castle, and even Voyager itself. Or you can create your own combat scenerio. In Holomatch the computer will control your opponents, and you have the full range of characters from the game to pick from for both yourself and your opponents. You can be a Borg invading Voyager; set up a team match and play Federation vs. Klingon; play 'capture the flag' aboard Voyager and pit the men against the women. In Holomatch you can create whatever combat scenerio you want. And when you're tired of playing against computer controlled characters, use an Internet or LAN connection and play against actual human opponents (now there's an idea for an Alaric gaming activity!).

PROS: The graphics are fantastic, complete with actual sound effects straight from Paramount's own archives. The storyline is interesting and well crafted, and the missions include plenty of puzzles and traps to work around in order to keep it from being just another Doom-type shooting gallery. There are several different levels of difficulty which vary the number of opponents as well as their skill level, so once you master the game on one level you can turn things up and try it on a harder setting. And the Holomatch is a nice addition; even when you've grown tired of the single player missions you can always whip up an interesting match on the holodeck and frag computer-controlled or human opponents all you like.

CONS: First off, when I installed the game and ran it for the first time I had a problem getting the game to recognize my video card. However the game disk includes a very handy trouble-shooting utility and even contains updated drivers for most common brands of video cards, so it only took a few minutes for me to get things running smoothly. And that's really about the only technical beef I had with the game. The rest of my gripes concern the single player missions.

First the minor complaints...I was disappointed that the phaser doesn't have a stun setting. Even though this is supposed to be an elite military force, Federation types should always have the option of stunning an opponent rather than just blowing their head off. And while the computer character AI is overall well done there were a few times when it was a problem. Several times I had trouble getting my team mates to follow me correctly, and once when I stepped into the line of fire between one of my comrades and an enemy the computer somehow got the AI targeting mixed up and he started attacking me! It would have been nice if the game allowed you to give your subordinates a few simple commands, such as 'attack', 'wait here' and (most importantly) 'cease fire'.

As far as major complaints I really only have two, but they are the main reason for my overall rating of this game. The first is regarding the two major 'boss levels'. Most games of this type have several points in the game where you'll encounter an enemy who's a lot more powerful than the average opponent. The idea is that this 'boss' is supposed to be a lot more challenging, forcing you to be more creative in your combat strategies. The problem is that many games (Elite Force included) equate 'challenging' with 'impossible'. They make the boss so powerful that instead of experiencing an enjoyable challenge you develop high blood pressure and a stress disorder. Elite Force has two main boss levels and on both of them I found it to be so difficult to take them out that I eventually had to resort to using cheat codes.

The other problem is that the single player game is just too short. The Holomatch allows a near infinite variety of scenerioes, but the single player game only has 14 missions. While individual missions can be rather long, some are quite short and it only took me about 3-4 days to work through all of them. Even when you figure that several of those days I played for several hours at a time, the entire course of missions took me less than 20 hours total to complete. Personally, I expect a lot more playing time out of a game that retails for $50!

KRELL'S "LATINUM RATING": 6 Bars (out of 10)
COMMENTS: I would have rated it 4 bars, but the Holomatch feature helps make up for the brevity of the missions to a degree.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: A 233 MHz PII (or 350 MHz AMD K6-2) processor; 8 MB video card; 64 MB RAM; 720 MB hard drive space; quad-speed CD-ROM or better; Windows 95/98/NT 4.0. (These are minimum requirements; for best performance you really should have a 400 MHz or better processor, 128 MB RAM and at least a 16 MB video card.)

Manufactured by: Ravensoft Software
Suggested Retail Price: $49.99

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This issue prepared & posted 12/18/2000 by Richard Heim and Ian "Krell" Johnsson.