MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE USS GYGAX
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GYGAX
LAUNCHES
USSGYGAX . COM
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Achievement Unlocked: September 2011 Michael D. Garcia, Publisher (mgarcia@ussgygax.com) Larry L. Balsley, Editor-in-Chief (comms@ussgygax.com) Star Trek and All Related Marks and Logos are Trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. All rights reserved. The Achievement Unlocked is a publication of the Communications Department of the USS Gygax, a correspondence chapter of STARFLEET, The International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc. It is intended for the private use of our members. USS Gygax and STARFLEET hold no claims to any trademarks, copyrights, or properties held by CBS Studios nor Paramount Pictures. All content from Star Trek including still images and character names is the property of Paramount Pictures Corporation and CBS Studios, Inc. and no infringement is intended. STARFLEET The International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc. operates as a non-profit fan club and is committed to promoting Star Trek. The contents of this publication are Copyright Š 2011 USSGygax.com and/or the original authors. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be copied or republished in any way or form without prior written consent. The rank insignias in this publication were created by Kuro-chan of Kuro-RPG. If you wish to obtain them and an up-to-date copy, access kuro-rpg.net
USS Gygax NX-63545 www.ussgygax.com 2059 Camden Avenue Box 103 San Jose, CA 95124 .
2011 SEPTEMBER
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE Department Reports
CO’s Report “Rolling for Initiative” XO’s Report “XO’s Corner” Ops Report “Modus Operandi” OIC Report “From the Desk of the OIC” Promotions Board Academic Report Appointments Board
Features
It All Began With Begin Featured Crew Member, Monica Ayhens Region Welcome
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2011 SEPTEMBER
OLLING FOR IN Though we may be one of the youngest chapters in STARFLEET International (SFI), I think the
greatest aspect about having Gygax in Region 4 is that we're setting the whole region on fire with our energy and momentum toward making this a model correspondence chapter. Full credit goes to our crew and how much our enthusiasm is being felt in all corners of the region, so far. The chapter is barely a month old (at the time of publication) and we're planning on attending the Region 4 Conference in Las Vegas to meet our sister chapters, exchange ideas, and make our presence known by participating. Aaron Sorkin paraphrased Woody Allen when he said that "Decisions are made by those who show up." Nothing could be truer about the crew of Gygax. If we keep showing up, then I think our demonstrable enthusiasm will breed more enthusiasm from others. As we grow into a mature chapter within the region, we will see the fruits of that enthusiasm in how we make our mark in the national and regional organizations. We have come so far with a long way to go toward commissioning. October will see a lot of us participating in Extra Life, the charity for children's hospitals all over the country. We will attend the
aforementioned conference for the region. We will continue to serve the name Gygax by participating in role-play games like Where No One Has Gone Before, while also spreading our wings and expanding our experiences with online gaming by covering other avenues like Star Trek Online and dipping our feet in some cooperative events like Artemis: The Starship Bridge Simulator. Let us blaze a trail toward the goal of being the premiere gaming chapter in SFI. We started this chapter with eight plank owners and four additional crewmembers who signed on shortly after we filed our Vehicle Registration Request with SFI Operations. This brings us to an impressive crew of twelve at the start of September. We can continue to grow this chapter as we publicize ourselves on WNOHGB, but also within the organization. I want to name a few of our officers and their accomplishments thus far (as of September 15th):
LCDR Tia Marie and LT Melissa Hadley, for assuming the roles of Executive and Second Officers, respectively. Already, both officers have put in more than their fair share of work. LTCOL Jon Madon, for working hard as our Designated Certification Officer, as we begin our long journey toward VRCP and MURP. Additionally, for getting the "Natural 20s" (20th MSG) up and running with the Fourth Brigade.
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NITIATIVE
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LTJG Larry Balsley, for his willingness to take on the mantle of (acting) Chief of Communications and edit the newsletter for us. If he does as good a job as he has so far, we might be able to talk him into dropping the "acting" part of his title!
We've addressed our short and amazing past thus far; let's turn an eye toward the future. While we are rather eventful this coming October, I would like for the chapter to focus on taking as many courses as possible from Starfleet Academy. Our crew has already shown that zeal for posting their proud diplomas in the training board, but I think we can do better if we show up on enough announcements for earning those training awards with regularity. Let's not only continue that drive, let's exceed expectations. I would like for all officers to have passed OCC by November 1st, 2011. I would like for all enlisted members to at least have five courses from FAC completed by the same
Michael D. Garcia is the Commanding Officer of the USS Gygax and the Founder and Head Administrator of WNOHGB.org. He can be reached at mgarcia@ussgygax.com.
date. More importantly, before we see our commission, I would like for us to ratify our chapter constitution no later than January 31, 2012. Please join the discussion in the Command board regarding how we should run our chapter going forward. This is important to our commissioning program. I am collecting chapter constitutions from our sister chapters in the region as examples for how we might go about doing this. Finally, I firmly believe that this newsletter will be a great way to showcase all the efforts of this ship's crew. I encourage you all to contribute as much as possible, as we post these for not only ourselves, but also to others. Let's come together each month to provide original content and prove that a correspondence chapter is every bit as engaged as a meeting chapter is. Ahead full speed,
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Commander Michael D. Garcia Commanding Officer NX-63545 (USS Gygax)
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XO’S CORNER
Believe it or not, one of my favourite parts of being involved in
they finally got a copy of the warrant affidavit that had been
an SFI Chapter is our Humanitarian missions. Being from San
sealed by the Secret Service's request. The answer was guilt
Francisco, activism and charity work is just another part of life
by association, you see Loyd Blankenship was known in hack-
for me. That's why I wanted to use this monthly column to
ing circles as "+++The Mentor+++" author of the famous
share with you the charities and non-profit organizations that
"Hacker Manifesto" originally written January 8th 1986 for pop-
are very dear to my heart.
ular underground ezine "Phrack." Loyd had run a BBS from his home called The Phoe-
This month, I want to give you
nix Project, which he
a history lesson on the birth of
used to distribute
the non-profit organization that
Phrack.
I've dedicated a great deal of time, resources and passion
In response to to the
towards: The Electronic Fron-
search and seizure on
tier Foundation. Come back
Steve Jackson Games
with me in history, the date is
by the US Secret Ser-
March 1st 1990 at the offices
vice, three incredible men got together in July of 1990 to form
of Steve Jackson Games when with- the Electronic Frontier Foundation. John Perry Barlow, Mitch Tia Marie is the Executive Officer of the USS Gygax. She can be reached at xo@ussgygax.com.
out warning, a force of armed Se-
Kapor and John Gilmore banded together to form the EFF with
cret Service agents accompanied
a mission dedicated to the preservation of Constitutional rights
by Austin police and one civilian
of computer users everywhere. The EFF provided the financial
"expert" from the phone company.
backing that made it all possible for Steve Jackson Games to
The Secret Service agents searched for computer equipment
file suit against the Secret Service.
in both the home of Loyd Blankenship (writer of GURPS Cy-
It was then in 1993 when Steve Jackson Games vs. The Se-
berpunk) and the offices of Steve Jackson Games. Many piec-
cret Service finally came to trial and they won. The judge gave
es of equipment were seized, including four
the Secret Service a lecture of a lifetime and
computers, two laser printers, some loose hard
awarded Steve Jackson Games over $50,000 in
disks and a great deal of assorted hardware.
damages as well as over $250,000 in attorney's
One of the computers was the one running
fees. This epic win for Steve Jackson Games
the Illuminati BBS. The only computers taken
and the EFF was only the first of many victories
were those that held GURPS Cyberpunk files,
the EFF would gain in the protection of our Digi-
but agents did a great deal of damage to other
tal Rights.
assets in the warehouses. Why were they raided you ask? That would remain a question unanswered to Steve and Loyd until October 21st 1990, when
tl;dr Watch Adam Savage tell this story and more: Part 1 and Part 2
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Moving Up the Rank Ladder The following is an excerpt from the 2002 Member Handbook regarding rank advancement in STARFLEET: SECTION 02:06 - RANK AND ADVANCEMENT WITHIN STARFLEET
3)
By authority of the Executive Committee.
The Executive Committee, serving as the Promotion Board for STARFLEET, awards all grades of O-7 and higher, which are known as Flag Ranks. The EC is also
One of the ways STARFLEET recognizes effort and work on
the only body that may reduce an officer of O-6 or higher grade
behalf of the organization is through the granting of fictional
in rank. Any member may recommend another member of the
ranks. Promotion involves participation within, and contribution
grade of O-6 or higher for promotion to Flag Rank. Flag Rank
to, STARFLEET. What you put into your membership is what
nomination and requirements forms are available from the
you will get out. If you participate within STARFLEET, at any
documents section of the STARFLEET web site.
level and in any capacity, you will be promoted in due course. It is as simple as that. Appendix D outlines the STARFLEET Promotion Policy and Appendix E lists the current STARFLEET Rank Structure. Because STARFLEET has multiple Branches of Service, the Membership Handbook refers too ranks by there Grade Equivalent (E-x / O-x). You are encouraged to refer to Appendix E, which has a full explanation of the Grades and their titles. Upon payment of your initial membership dues to STARFLEET, and joining a chapter, you will be accorded a starting rank by your Commanding Officer. For those chapters that use Enlisted Ranks, this is usually the grade of E-1. For those chapters that do not use Enlisted Ranks, this is usually the grade of O-1. Again, initial ranks are at the discretion of the chapter and will vary. Your chapter Commanding Officer has the authority to promote up too the grade of O-5 (Commander / Lieutenant Colonel) and is responsible for creating and administering the Chapter’s
A few words are needed about promotions… First of all, you don't have to hold a high office in STARFLEET too be promoted to Captain or the Flag Ranks. There are not that many positions too go around and there are hard working and dedicated members at all levels within STARFLEET who are worthy of promotion. Just because you work hard only at the chapter level doesn’t mean that you don’t have a chance to get promoted to the grade of O-6 or beyond. Second, these ranks are fictitious and do not mean that one member is superior to another and must NEVER be used too belittle or demean a member. Such things as hazing, pulling rank, and expecting exclusive privileges can get you in trouble quickly in STARFLEET, whether you are an Admiral or a Crewman. These ranks are for FUN and are only used to enhance the Star Trek feel of the organization. Third, ranks are meant to be awarded for service and responsibility within STARFLEET, not for political or personal favors.
Promotion Policy for all grades through O-5. Please contact
Lastly, authority is sometimes confused with rank. These are
your chapter Commanding Officer regarding your Chapter’s
two different ideas. Rank is fictitious, authority is real. The au-
Promotion Policy guidelines.
thority of the Executive Committee, the Regional Coordinators,
The grade of O-6 (Captain / Colonel) may be awarded in one of three ways: 1)
2)
and the chapter Commanding Officers is given to them in order to enable them to perform there administrative and management jobs within STARFLEET. They must be able to make
Upon becoming the Commanding Officer of a STAR-
policies and guidelines in order for STARFLEET to function.
FLEET chapter.
This authority makes the FUN possible. The watchword for
By authority of the Regional Coordinator of your Region.
both rank and authority is SERVICE.
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ModusOperandi One of the awesome things about STARFLEET International
Extra Life is an annual 24-hour game marathon to raise money for
chapters is not only the opportunity to come together under a
Children's Miracle Network hospitals. Taking place starting at
common love of Star Trek, and gaming in our chapter's case, but
8am on October 15, 2011, participants will be playing non-stop
also being able to work together for charity. It is a wonderful way
until the marathon completes. Each participant will be sponsored
to contribute to our communities.
by others for their participation. The recommended donation is How can a group so broken up by geography participate
just $1 per hour ($24 total). As of this writing, we
in charities together? Being a only have four parcorrespondence chapter
ticipants from the
really does not matter; with-
ship, with almost
Ops Links
out borders, so much can still $400 already be done on the internet.
pledged, but our
Fundraising charities being a
team can always
great way to start.
use more great
Before the USS Gygax even launched, plans were well
officers. But what about be-
underway to participate in our yond Extra Life?
Melissa Hadley is the Second Officer and Chief Operations Officer of the USS Gygax. She can be reached at ops@ussgygax.com.
Extra Life Team Page: wnohgb.me/15DytK Child's Play: www.childsplaycharity.org
first humanitarian mission,
Child's Play, the
Extra Life. Many WNOHGB
game/toy donation
players were already partici-
drive by the people at Penny Arcade, is coming up around the
pating in it, having the
corner for its drive, which takes place in November. It also allows
WNOHGB team set up for
for monitary donations year round. We will be discussing this and
the past couple of years, but
a few more options as we continue building as a crew.
considering the participating members were also part of the upcoming USS Gygax, it made perfect sense for the ship to jump in nacelles first.
Extra Life: www.extra-life.org
If you have any questions about helping organize or participate in these, please let Melissa know.
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UPCOMING EVENTS •
Extra Life 2011
Oct. 15: Join the USS Gygax-WNOHGB Extra Life team as we play games and raise money for Children's Miracle Network hospitals. See Modus Operandi for more information on the 2011 campaign.
• WNOHGB.ORG: In-Game Launch of USS Gyggax At some point in the next few months, we’d like to launch the in-game USS Gygax and allow alts to be created. There are many ideas out there for how we can interact with the WNO universe. If you have ideas, share them on the Gygax Forums.
• Artemis Live Gaming Event Plans are in the works for our first live gaming event utilizing the Artemis Starship Bridge Simulator software. If you have not seen the YouTube videos for this game format, they are worth checking out.
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FROM THE DESK OF THE OIC Greetings and confabulations, shipmates. This is your Marine OIC in to WNOHGB or the forums of the USS Gygax to cheer on our filling you in with what's new across my desk. Let me be the first (given the appropriate bribes made it to the layout guy by deadline, because I know this article didn't) to welcome you to the very first issue of the newsletter of the
team. Second. The USS Gygax now has its own STARFLEET Marine Corps contingent. In true gamer style, the 20th MSG (the Natural Twenties) are here. There's still a few
USS Gygax. As of this writing, I still
things to set up which we'll be going
don't know what it's called but it's
over in the next couple of weeks. I
doubtlessly going to be great. There's
hope everyone stops in and partici-
a few things I wouldn't mind terribly
pates in our MSG activities.
bringing to your attention.
One of the things I look to do is create
First and foremost being Extra Life.
a motto, slogan and unit patch. The
Extra Life is a sponsored, marathon-
leading motto in my mind at the mo-
style event where donors sponsor
ment is “Nos Ludere.” Roughly (20
gamers to play their favorite games John Madon is the SFMC Officer-in-Charge of the USS Gygax. He can be reached at many of our crew have taken part of it oic@ussgygax.com. for 24 hours straight. I know that
in the past, and at least one of our crew has personally benefited from it in a very big way. So if you know you're going to be playing video games for 24 hours anyway, or are willing to do so, please join in. If you have work in the
grit) translated as “We play.” Thank goodness it's not up to me, but the crew of the USS Gygax. I hope every-
one remembers that you can take part in your MSG whether you're an Ensign or a Second Lieutenant. In conclusion, I'm looking forward to working and playing with
morning, or some kind of somnolence issue, don't hesitate to drop every one of you in the near future.
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Join us at the Sunset Station Hotel and Casino in Henderson, Nevada this October 7th through 9th for the 2011 Region 4 Conference! Join us in Nevada to congregate, conduct business, and most importantly, have fun! Visit region4.org today for more information.
USS Gygax at the Butterfly Nebula. Background image courtesy of nasa.gov.
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It All Began W By CDR Michael D. Garcia
Later that year, I attended a
Since this is a memoir of my childhood, I will be writing in the
sleepover at a friend's house. And
first person for this feature.
he owned a Tandy PC, which was
My older sister had just gotten married earlier that year and her husband and my new brother-in-law handed me a five and a half inch floppy disk with a single word on it: BEGIN. I had no idea what he just handed me, but he told me that I would love it. It was a game and he and his buddies in the Air Force played when they were off-duty and it had made the rounds. One night before he was due to come down and visit my parents and I with my sister, he went out and bought a blank diskette and brought it in to have it copied over. I did what any twelve-year-old with a computer and new computer game did: I hightailed it to my computer and slapped that disk in there so fast that the com-
exactly what I was looking for. I
BE
brought over that disk and with my friend sitting next to me, we ran it and the green-colored screen at ten at night lit up with the start-up screen of a game called "STAR FLEET I: THE WAR BEGINS!" I'm greeted by an ANSI animation of two ships fighting each other and then the victor warps off into space. This is 1988, folks. This was the height of graphics back then. I was immediately enamored by the prospect of what this game offered and with was I recall was a dumb smile on my face, I hit the ANY key to continue to a screen that asked me to sign in with my name.
puter barely had time to
After doing so, I
boot before I realized
was now a mem-
something...
ber of the United
I don't own an IBMcompatible PC. I was trying to run this a Commodore 64. He neglected to mention it, and well... I was so excited by the prospect of a new game that I didn't bother to ask. Crestfallen, I offered to return the disk to him, but he held up his hand with a smile on his lips and told me that eventually, I'd find a computer to play it on. I put it away.
Galactic Alliance Star Fleet as a Cadet Ensign. Be still my beating heart. We stayed up taking turns, and at one point, we start giving each other orders like we were commanding a starship, standing over our helmsman as he entered in the commands we passed. We didn't sleep past the dawn, and his father stepped in on us midmorning and was deeply upset by the manner in which we
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ing in the Training Dep
rum. Also, please atta of your diploma.
With
EGIN
spent our nights; sitting in front of a green screen in a darkened office transfixed by a game that only had the barest of graphics to it. Though, his concern was about how we didn't sleep that Saturday night (now Sunday morning). To add to my friend's woes, his father grounded him from using the computer for a month over the complete lack of judgment.
until his dad opened the door. Yes, we played so much, we didn't even stop to use the bathroom. That was my introduction to Star Trek gaming. After that, that floppy disk hung out in the inside flap of my history binder everywhere I went, on the off-chance I might happen upon a PC that I could access long enough to get a few missions in. I was caught with it in the computer lab. I was caught with it in the school's administration office. I was caught with it in the library, after I disabled the startup program so I could play it.
To our defense, the office had a window that was covered by
Until I actually had a PC in my house years later, I would play
a rather thick material and we didn't know it was daylight out
that game wherever I could
Continued, page 14.
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BEGIN (cont.) get away with playing it during that month. Once that month was over, my friend and I would scurry over to his place before his dad returned from work and he was severely upset that I managed to make it to Commander before he did. There was a bit of a row before I realized that I would make it up to him by playing his conn officer for the whole hour we had before I had to go home. That seemed to help. By the time I left, he made full lieutenant. That was my introduction to level pacts, years before I would enjoy
Star Trek universe from Paramount. Distraught but not undaunted, Doctor Sorenson went through his game and renamed everything. He removed the Klingons and Romulans for the Krellans and the insectoid Zaldron. Enterprise was removed from the list of available ships one could command, and Starfleet became Star Fleet. Once he had completed the names and a friend helped him
level pacts with friends on games such as City of Heroes. The emotion- design the backstory to comal fallout of which is that when you level without your friend around, they pletely disown its Trek origins, feel left out and left behind. I was twelve. I didn't know. Doctor Trevor Sorenson, the creator and author of Star Fleet I, originally wrote his own version of another Trek game called BEGIN. It was not a commercial release: in fact it was circulated around computer labs across the US in universities and colleges for use on mainframe computers. When he played it, he realized he could suggest a lot of features that he felt were missing. He couldn't contact the original authors, so he decided to code a game from scratch using some the game basic structure. This game was built in BASIC on a desktop computer with a whopping four kilobytes of RAM.
Intersel released the game commercially for the first time in 1987. The game was popular enough to spawn a sequel, Star Fleet II: Krellan Commander. In the sequel, you take on the role of the "enemy" and command your ship into UGA territory against Star Fleet ships. Unfortunately, the execution was vastly different from the first game and introduce a new and daunting level of complexity that most players felt
He had set out to copy the Star Trek universe when he first built the
was unnecessary. As a result, the sequel was the last game of the
game. It was coded with Starfleet, the United Federation of Planets,
series until recently, when Doctor Sorenson took to the Internet and
and you were supposed to be able to command the Enterprise herself.
released Star Fleet Deluxe, which is a graphical version of the original
However, Intersel (the original publisher) did not secure the rights to the game with sounds and animation. In the 80s, Trek games were commercially-licensed to the media conglomerate Simon & Schuster, who also held the literature license under their Pocket Books label. Trek text adventures such as The Promethean Prophecy and The Kobayashi Alternative were making the rounds. In fact, a year before I laid my hands on Star Fleet I, S&S had published The Rebel Universe, the third and last in their text-story trilogy of games (for the record, I never played these until well after, while in college). Back in the present, I still hold fond memories of playing this game, and I'm glad that I was able to find one that runs in
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USS G YGAX NX-63545
PROMOTIONS BOARD Congratulations to all who have advanced in rank since the launch of the USS Gygax:
LT Melissa Hadley, Operations
LTJG Larry Balsley, Operations
ENS Arnold Comeau III, Command
ENS Duane Watts, Operations DOSBox under Windows. If you'd like a copy of the game for your own enjoyment, head over to http://www.symbioticsoftware.net/ starfleet and download both games to your Windows PC, now. At the very least, you'll be indulging in a bit of history, and maybe find
ENS Monica Ayhens, Science
a bit of the same enjoyment that served to spark my own passion for Star Trek gaming.
ENS Paschall Freeman, Command
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ACADEMIC ACC
Officer’s Training School Arnold Comeau (Distinction) Michael Garcia (Honors) Larry Balsley (Honors) Melissa Hadley (Honors) Tia Marie (Honors) George Schadler (Honors) Josh Benner (Honors) Paschall Freeman (Honors) Monica Ayhens (Honors) Duane Watts
Officer’s Command College Larry Balsley (Distinction) Melissa Hadley (Honors) Michael Garcia COS102 Basic Security Officer Larry Balsley (Distinction) Melissa Hadley (Distinction) Michael Garcia (Honors) COS 301 Intermediate Security Officer Larry Balsley Michael Garcia COS104 TNG Early Rank Recognition Michael Garcia: (Distinction) Melissa Hadley (Distinction) Monica Ayhens (Distinction) Larry Balsley (Honors) TGA104 Gorns in ENT: Larry Balsley SORS101 Radio in TOS: Larry Balsley (Distinction) Michael Garcia (Distinction) Melissa Hadley (Distinction) SORS 106 Radio in ENT: Larry Balsley (Distinction) Michael Garcia (Distinction)
SIM105 Intell. in Movies— Sneakers: Larry Balsley
COC101 Interspecies Interaction: Michael Garcia (Distinction) Larry Balsley (Honors)
TGA201 Gorn Culture: Larry Balsley
CSCS101 Duties of Chaplain: Melissa Hadley (Distinction)
TGA202 Gorn History Larry Balsley (Honors)
CSCS102: Spiritual Counseling: Melissa Hadley (Distinction)
SORS102 Radio in TAS Michael Garcia (Distinction) Melissa Hadley (Distinction)
COL101 Federation Law George Shadler (Honors) Michael Garcia (Honors)
SORS103 Radio in TNG Michael Garcia (Distinction)
COL102 Prime Directive Michael Garcia (Honors)
SORS104 Radio in DS9 Michael Garcia (Honors)
AOS101: Andorian System & Culture Larry Balsley (Honors)
SORS105 Radio in VOY Michael Garcia (Distinction) TGA203 Gorn Biology Larry Balsley (Honors) SORS201 Beginnings of Radio Michael Garcia COS101 TOS Rank Recognition Melissa Hadley (Distinction) Duane Watts (Distinction) Michael Garcia (Honors) Early Law Enforcement History Larry Balsley (Distinction) Melissa Hadley (Honors) Michael Garcia COS105 ENT Rank Recognition Michael Garcia (Distinction) Melissa Hadley (Distinction) COS102 Convention Security Officer Course: Michael Garcia (Distinction) Melissa Hadley (Distinction)
B5101: Babylon 5 Station Michael Garcia (Distinction) SOE101: Espionage Larry Balsley (Honors) COL103: Xenojurisprudence Michael Garcia (Honors) ENT101: Enterprise Characters Larry Balsley (Honors) ENT102: Main Characters Larry Balsley (Distinction) BOC101: Georgraphy of Bajor Larry Balsley (Distinction) TOS101: TOS Characters Michael Garcia (Distinction) *** Courses are listed in the chronological order they are posted to the ussgygax.com Training Department forum. Diploma recipients are listed by order of distinction and then chronological order of posting to the forum.
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COLADES OCTOBER 2011 ACADEMY CHALLENGE The October Academy Challenge focuses on the Starfleet Officer’s Radio School. These Level 100 courses are all about various radio technology and jargon through the series. These courses may be taken on-line at sfaquiz.com. Accomplish all six courses by October 31, 2011, post that you have completed the challenge in the forums, and be listed for special recognition in the November edition of Achievement Unlocked. Be sure to post course diplomas to the Gygax forums upon completion of each class.
STARFLEET OFFICER'S RADIO SCHOOL This school deals with Radio in all it’s forms. The Level 100 courses will deal with Radio in each of the Star Trek series.
Level 100 Courses SORS101 (FAC) Radio in The Orginal Series (TOS) The Original Series Course deals with radio usage in various TOS episodes. Each episode is listed in or after the question. This test includes 10 multiple choice and True/ False questions. A very nice certificate can be printed out when the student passes this course. SORS102 (FAC) Radio in The Animated Series (TAS)
The course deals with radio usage in various Animated Series episodes. This test includes 10 multiple choice and True/False questions. A very nice certificate can be printed out when the student passes this course. SORS103 (FAC) Radio in The Next Generation (TNG) This course is based on the usage of radio in the Next Generation series episodes. This test includes 10 multiple choice and True/False questions. A very nice certificate can be printed out when the student passes this course. SORS104 (FAC) Radio in Deep Space Nine (DS9) This course is based on radio usage in the Deep Space Nine series episodes. This test includes 10 multiple choice and True/False
questions. A very nice certificate can be printed out when the student passes this course. SORS105 (FAC) Radio in Voyager (VOY) This course is based on the usage of radio in the Voyager series episodes. This test includes 10 multiple choice and True/False questions. A very nice certificate can be printed out when the student passes this course. SORS106 (FAC) Radio in Enterprise (ENT) This course is based on radio usage in the Enterprise series episodes. This test includes 10 multiple choice and True/False questions. A very nice certificate can be printed out when the student passes this course.
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USS Gygax Featured Crew Member:
SCC 56209 ENS MONICA AYHENS Name:
Monica Ayhens
Rank:
Ensign
Assignment:
Science Department
Age:
32
Location:
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Career Aspirations:
Current graduate student in history. Eventual guru in naval medical history.
Hobbies:
Knitting, cooking/baking, wondering why my penchant for domesticity doesn't extend to cleaning.
Pets:
None at present! Plans to foster a tornado kitty in the works.
Favorite Trek era:
DS9
Favorite Trek character:
Jadzia Dax. As if that is any great surprise. :)
Favorite Game:
Apples to Apples
Describe the craziest character concept that you've ever played: Well, the craziest scenario a character of mine ever did was a Joined Trill who, thanks to science, knocked up her human hus band. What are you currently reading?:
The Spanish Frontier in North America. Oh, you
thought grad students got to read things for fun?! What was the last movie you watched? Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows part 2.
Achievement Unlocked:
2011 SEPTEMBER
19
INCOMING COMMUNICATIONS FROM REGION 4 AND SFI The launch of the USS Gygax on August 30, 2011 came with its share of well-
“Well I go to work and look what happens… The launch of
wishers from around the fleet:
another chapter. Wonderful! Welcome fellow Commander! The Fourth Fleet is even better with your presence!”
“Welcome to STARFLEET!”
— Commander Joshua Andrews, K’Ehleyr Station
— BGN Joe Sare, Chief of Operations, STARFLEET
“Welcome to fold! Look forward to meeting you and your “Welcome from the USS Golden Gate!”
Crew in Vegas.”
— Jim Monroe, USS William O. Darby
— Admiral David Nottage
“Greeting and welcome from the USS Wessex! Glad to “Welcome to the Gygax and the soon to be 20th MSG. May
have you aboard!”
— Captain Dave Jamison, USS Wessex
you always roll exactly what you need to succeed!” — BGN Fleona Dysast’ar
USS Gygax NX-63545
APPOINTMENTS BOARD Congratulations to all who have received appointments since the launch of the USS Gygax: CDR Michael Garcia, Commanding Officer
LCDR Tia Marie, Executive Officer
LT Melissa Hadley, Chief of Operations
LTCOL John Madon, Marine Officer-in-Charge
LTJG Larry Balsley, Acting Chief of Communications
Download the latest issue of the Region 4 newsletter, Subspace Communicator, at region4.org.