FNN Edition 31

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Federation News Network

Headlines

Earth-centric Protests on the Rise

RACHEL CHRISTIE
Editor-in-Chief
Stardate 21101.01

STAR BASE ALPHA – Days before the Federation ushered in the new year, trouble started brewing that suggests peace may not be in the future for citizens. A political faction calling themselves the Society of One raised a protest on the promenades of Star Base Alpha and Star Base Delta, demanding that Earth pull itself out of the United Federation of Planets.

The Society of One believes that Humans are superior races in the galaxy and that Earth's involvement with the UFP and other worlds has lead to a dissolving of what makes Humans human.

The rally on SBA drew the attention of many, and drew the support of many listeners. Since the end of the most recent Romulan war, many have been questioning Star Fleet and the UFP's decision to aid the Romulans. With the increase of xenophobia, even those within Star Fleet are beginning to question the actions of Star Fleet Command. During the event several Star Fleet officers demonstrated their sympathies towards the Society of One.

Star Fleet Command staff are not immune to such sympathies either, as demonstrated by Commander Giordano Santiago who joined the protest on the promenade. Santiago served as Acting First Officer of Star Fleet's flagship, the USS Enterprise, and earned two Purple Hearts during the Second Romulan War.

Representatives from Star Fleet denied to comment on the protest or Commander Santiago's involvement in it.

If this is a case of history repeating itself remains to be seen. Earth and the UFP have experienced similar backlashes of racism in the past. From Earth's own history during the World Wars, to the rise of the Terra Prime movement during the Federation's founding days, racism is not a sentiment that seems to rest for very long.

Should We Have a Voice

ARTEMIS WALKER
Staff Reporter
21101.01

STAR BASE DELTA – With anti-Star Fleet sentiments on the rise, protests have begun appearing in busy areas occupied by Humans and other Federation civilians alike. Most who do not agree with such protests merely file a complaint with Star Fleet security and carry on their way, while some stop to listen to what the protestors have to say.

Recently there was a peaceful protest by the Society of One on Star Base Delta that has many raising their eyes at the reaction by Star Fleet. Many eye-witnesses claim that though the protest by noisy, those who took part did not harm or interrupt the daily comings and goings of the SBD population.

Many question how far we would go for safety to sacrifice our freedoms.

"It's freedom of speech!" Declared Tony Oregani, a transport captain who had witnessed the entire thing. "It makes me question our freedoms a little," said one witness, Human, who chose to stay anonymous, "That woman was just yanked off the crate by a Star Fleet officer. But all she was doing was protesting on her soapbox. It wasn't like she was harming people."

Others admit that though the officer's reaction was abrupt, it was perhaps for the best. "[The protestors] hadn't caused trouble, but you could see they were wanting something to happen. It didn't feel safe on the promenade at all," Says Moira Grady, a produce merchant on SBD's promenade. "I'm full blood human, and I didn't feel safe. I can't imagine how any non-Humans felt!"

"I was frightened," Said D'Lore Tay, a Bajoran who was on a transport stopover with her children, "As soon as I heard the anti-Federation protests I was out of there quickly."

Star Fleet officials were unavailable for comment. Sources tell the FNN that the officer who pulled the protestor off the crate was Lieutenant Kyle DeWitt, Chief Tactical Officer of the USS Pegasus.

Travel the Galaxy

New Year Travels

ARTEMIS WALKER
Editor-in-Chief
Stardate 21101.01

The New Year tends to be a very busy travel time in the Federation, as those with itchy feet look back on their previous travel year. Goals are set to explore the planets and see new sites, visit new cultures. We here at the FNN decided to do a pole and find out what your top travel destinations would be for the new year.

  • 10. Ferenginar Home to torrential rains, rotting vegetation, and rivers of muck.
  • 9. Earth Home of the United Federation of Planets and Star Fleet, Earth has many great historical sites for those of us that like stepping back in time.
  • 8. Betazed From the Janaran Falls to the Opal Sea, who doesn't like to spend time on Betazed?
  • 7. Bajor Those of you who are looking to get in touch with your spiritual selves will love the tour of the Dakeen Monastery.
  • 6. Risa With several other pleasurable locations to visit, the original holiday destination has dropped from last year's number one spot.
  • 5. Archer IV Visit the legendary planets named for Jonathan Archer, and don't forget to try a climbing trek up the great mountain peaks.
  • 4. Rigel X If cold is more your thing, why not visit this snowy planet?
  • 3. Vulcan For those who don't like the cold.
  • 2. Denobula This vibrant planet is a great destination for those social butterflies.
  • 1. Trill Home to the Tenaran Ice Cliffs. What more could you want?

FedSpace News

Headlines

2010 in Review

RACHEL CHRISTIE
Editor-in-Chief
Stardate 21101.01

It's hard to believe another year has come and gone. Here's a look back at some of the big stories that happened to the site the past year.

JANUARY

  • Short Story contest returns – To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the site, RAdm Grant revived the annual Short Story contest. To make it tougher, stories could be no longer than 800 words, a format known as flash fiction.
  • The USS Enterprise, CV-07 is retired.

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

  • FNN's Second Anniversary – Our site's newsletter has been relaunched for two years.
  • Vice Admiral Jhalan zh'Matis is named Fleet Commander of the 2nd Fleet.

MAY

  • Paul Braggins is promoted to commanding officer of the Ticonderoga.
  • The President's Medal is awarded to Riov Sevala, Captain Tregelen, Rear Admiral Grayson, and Commander Nielson, for their hard work on the site the past year.
  • The Philadelphia is relaunched, with Captain Aloysia Yvette as commanding officer.
  • The 4th Fleet is launched with Rear Admiral Thomas Grayson as Fleet Commander.

JULY

  • The Yeager is relaunched, with Captain Julia Nielson as commanding officer.

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

DECEMBER

  • The Shadowhawk is retired as a PC vessel.
  • The Columbia is launched, with Captain Adaran 225 as commanding officer.

Future of FedSpace

RACHEL CHRISTIE
Editor-in-Chief
Stardate 21101.01

The New Year is typically marked by fresh starts, changes, and resolutions. While the past year had lots of changes and landmark events (we launched/relaunched six ships!), what this new year will bring us is already being planned by the site's administration.

I had the chance to speak with Rear Admiral Thomas Grayson, FedSpace's Vice President, about what's in the works for the site in 2011.

Can you tell me what's up the admins' sleeves for 2011?

Fleet plans are to scrap Star Fleet, teach everyone Ferengi, and re-launch the site as "Ferengi Space".

Actually our plans for the fleet are to hopefully have a year of stable, steady, growth, filling in things. We want to see the ships get filled up fairly well and only once we see 2-3 ships that are stable and full (meaning 3 in at least 3 depts) and a handful of good CO and FO candidates we will consider adding a new ship. My guess is this will be 4th quarter. At that time we'll make a determination as to what we will be adding, whether it's a new ship wit a new CO; bringing back the Pulsar with Dan, the Nova with me, or something completely different (a few things are being considered).

In 2010 we rocked the boat a lot… many changes. I'd like 2011 to be a year to stabilize and hopefully have more organic growth.

Mission wise, will we be looking to more exploration plots?

I'm hoping for a fairly balanced year. I'm putting a lot of power (and responsibility) on the GC's to develop their plot directions, so that is mostly up to the individual GC. 4th will start out with a large battle plot involving all 3 PC ships, and then will go on an extended exploration mission which will actually be revisiting a plot that we did 5 years ago.

Politically the galaxy will be in a state of tense peace… all of the major players will be working mostly on internal matters, with perhaps a few border issues here and there. We are going to build up to a sort of 'cold war' this year, with the hope that in 2012 we can have some covert activity type missions, and keep building the tension. We also have a few surprises that I won't reveal.

As for site-wide missions, any on the horizons?

End of 2011 to early 2012 there might be something along those lines. During 2011 we'll have 3-4 concurrent 'site wide' plots running behind the scenes, one or two of which may spawn some missions spanning multiple fleets.

With OPFOR being wrapped up, are there any plans to give it a try again in the future?

Absolutely there are. I suspect after we let the dust settle for a bit, we'll look at how it can be done again. I would like to see it start back up but ONLY as an NPC endeavor to start with… and if it grows again we'll let it grow at its own pace. I think part of the problem is we pushed it too hard before, and lost our focus on the core of Federation Space—Star Fleet. I also want us to be VERY cautious on picking command crews on OPFOR ships in the future. I want to make sure, for example, if we have someone slated to command a Cardassian ship, that they have proven themselves capable. I believe that, with no prejudice against the player, Kotram ended up being a poor choice for CO Dreamslayer. He didn't have "a Klingon heart" if you will… and I can say that it was a bad choice because I was the one who recommended he get the job.

With the former Apparition and now the Challenger, are there any plans for further NPC vessels outside Intelligence?

I'd like to see more… (And the Apparition may come back… but more on that at another time. ;)). I'd love to see people explore some things that we can't effectively do with a PC ship. President Beckett has, in the past, been opposed to NPC ships like that, but we've change the formula a bit and I think it's working out marvelously now, with his full support.

It certainly looks like we're in store for some great missions. Thanks to Rear Admiral Grayson for giving us a glimpse of what's to come.

Dear Abby

Dear Jimmy

CDR JAMES ESPERENSON
Guest Columnist
Stardate 21101.01

Abby is taking a break from the Dear Abby section this month, so she asked me to answer the questions she received. So this month you get Dear Jimmy.

Each month I will be taking your questions regarding FedSpace procedure and protocols, and getting answers from various Academy personnel and FedSpace admins. No question is too small!

Do I need a new character if I want to change departments?
You are welcome to create a new character if you want to change departments however it is not needed. Talk it over with your CO and they can help you with the transition.

How is it decided to start a new ship?
When all ships are fully staffed or close enough to it the senior admins will begin talking about starting a new ship. If it is decided to start a new ship then the process continues and a new CO is selected and a new ship is born.

How do I get access to edit the wiki?
Short answer, you don't. To gain access to edit the wiki you must either become a command officer (FO or above), be the designated wiki editor for your ship (normally the CO but they can designate anyone on their ship although its normally the FO) or be part of a Div Heads wiki team for a designated department. If you feel that you can contribute to the wiki feel free to email the content manager.

Why do we have rank caps?
The simple answer is that if we didnt we would eventually have a fleet full of Admirals with no where for them to go. To keep things more realistic we have implemented rank caps with the only way to go past these is to be promoted to higher duties for example FO, CO etc.


Do you have a question for Abby (or Jimmy)? Please email Abby or the editor-in-chief.

Academy Graduates

CAPT ABIGAIL TAYLOR
Guest Columnist
Stardate 21101.01

Please join me in welcoming all the recent graduates to Federation Space! Please note that this table reflects the new Midshipman who graduated in December.

Rank Name Ship
Sec-mid.jpg Pickern, Scarlet USS Ticonderoga, CA-1471

Trek News

Trek Favourites

Favourite Doctor

RACHEL CHRISTIE
Editor-in-Chief
Stardate 21101.01

Each month we poll the FedSpace players to see what their favourite things about Star Trek are.

This month we ask…
Who's your favourite Medical officer?

  • Leonard McCoy (TOS)
  • Christine Chapel
  • Beverly Crusher
  • Katherine Pulaski
  • Julian Bashir
  • The Doctor
  • Phlox
  • Leonard McCoy (STXI)

Cast your vote now!

Favourite Series Results

Last month we asked which was your favourite series and the clear winner is… Deep Space 9!

Dec2010poll.png

Trek Trivia

RACHEL CHRISTIE
Editor-in-Chief
Stardate 21101.01

Each month on the FNN we ask 10 Trek Trivia questions! Some may be easy, some may be difficult. Think you know some or all of the answers? Submit them to the Editor-In-Chief. Each month we'll post the Top 10 Scoreboard and Top 10 All Around Champs, along with the previous month's answers and new trivia questions. Good luck!

This Month's Questions

Q10. Name this species.

1. Who was the only character to cross over from the original Trek pilot, "The Cage," to the regular series?
2. In The Next Generation, what term is used to describe what was known as a "landing party" in The Original Series?
3. By the end of the Cardassian Occupation, how many orbs have been found by the Bajorans?
4. What is Tuvok's job aboard Voyager?
5. What was Janice Rand's job in The Motion Picture?
6. In "Balance of Terror," Kirk and crew had never seen a Romulan before. They were surprised to find that the Romulans strongly resembled _________.
7. Where was Kathryn Janeway born?
8. Name Dax's ninth host.
9. Finish the Klingon proverb: "Revenge is a dish ______________." 10. Name the species pictured to the right.

Submit your answers here or you can email them.

Last Month's Answers

A10. This is a Kressari Freighter.

1. What ship captain became first citizen of a parallel Roman Empire in the episode "Bread and Circuses"?

  • RM Merrick

2. What is the small captain's office located just off the bridge typically called?

  • Ready Room

3. The command center of Deep Space 9 is typically called what?

  • Ops

4. In what spatial phenomenon did the Komar live?

  • A dark matter nebula

5. By the end of The Motion Picture, two of James Kirk's officers were no longer part of the crew. How did Kirk instruct Uhura to explain their absence for the record?

  • Missing

6. Who was Sarek's first human wife?

  • Amanda Grayson

7. Who was Kirk's history teacher at Starfleet Academy?

  • John Gill

8. In what childhood hobby did O'Brien and Picard both indulge?

  • Building ships in bottles

9. Which series does the episode "Afterimage" belong to?

  • Deep Space 9

10. Name the species that operates the vessel pictured to the right.

  • Kressari Freighter

Last Month's Winners

1. Alice Dega
2. Jonathan Cooper
3. Rachel Christie

All Around Champs

Rank Player Score
1. Alice Dega 7
2. Jonathan Cooper 5
3. Rachel Christie 3
Hall of Fame
Player Points Year
Kyle DeWitt 86 2010
Laura Macleod 91 2009

Joke of the Month

Why did the Chicken

Q: Why did the Klingon cross the road?
A: To conquer the other side.

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: James T. Kirk: To boldly go where no chicken has gone before.

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: Mr. Scott: 'Cos ma wee transporter beam was na functioning properly. Ah canna work miracles, Captain.

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: Dr. McCoy: Dammit Jim!! I'm a doctor, not a farmer!

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: Mr. Spock: Obviously, it was the logical thing to do.

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: Mr. Data: Why is a barn yard fowl crossing a thoroughfare humorous?

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: Mr. Worf: For the honor of all chickens.

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: Counsilor Troi: I knew it was going to happen. I could sense it.

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: Computer: Insufficient information.

Science News

Astropic

Jan2011astropic.jpg
M82: Galaxy with a Supergalactic Wind
Credit: NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team, (STScI / AURA)
Acknowledgement: M. Mountain (STScI), P. Puxley (NSF), J. Gallagher (U. Wisconsin)

Astronomy

Russia Makes Changes to Program Structure

NINA GARCIA JENKINS
Staff Reporter
Stardate 21101.01

Russia has decided that after a failure to launch three Glonass-M Navigation satellites that they will fire two space agency officials and officially remanded the chief of the national space agency.

The December 5th, 2010 satellite failure lead to an extensive investigation that uncovered that the rocket ‘s upper stage booster had 1,000 to 2,000 kilograms more fueled then it was planned which caused the rocket to never reach orbit and just crash north of Hawaii. President Dmitry Medvedev considered this an embarrassing and expensive finding.

As a result, the deputy chief of Russia’s Federal Space Agency Viktor Remishevsky and the vice president & deputy chief of the rocket manufacturer RSC Energia Vyacheslav Filin were fired “For the errors made in the calculations for refueling the vehicle’s Block DM-3 upper stage.” Additionally Medvedev also reprimanded Anatoly Perminov, chief of Russia’s Federal Space Agency.

The changes to the Roscosmos (the Russian Federal Space Agency) reminds how costly mistakes can be even when the accident doesn’t cost any human lives. The public firings and the reprimand continues to show how any mistakes in made by a space agency will be dealt with swiftly even if the launch schedule returns to normal.

This Month in Astronomy History

Amelia Earhart

NINA GARCIA JENKINS
Staff Reporter
Stardate 21101.01

Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo from Hawaii to the mainland United States on January 11, 1935. This was an important flight that helped to promote women’s piloting skills and create some of Amelia Earhart’s notoriety.

The eighteen hour and 15 minute flight from Wheeler Field in Honolulu to Oakland, California was not an easy flight for Amelia. Instead she flew through adverse weather. By having a rough flight, it showed how determined she was and her piloting skills.