MAR 2004 - USS Bexar

BEXARFAX
Volume 10, Issue 9
MARCH 2004
CAPTAIN’S LOG...
Our last meeting was held
on February14th at Main Street Pasta
& Pizza and we decided to move our
next crew meeting to the Quarry
movie theatre and have a short meeting after the movie.
Movie! What Movie?
Good question, I will send out a list
of the new and current movies showing (we will only select General audience, PG or PG13 movies) because
we do have cadets and that will limit
the ratings of movies we can see. I
will also be asking for suggestions of
movies, be realistic, and keep in
mind of the age, variety and diversity
of our club. I don’t make policy but
we must keep in mind that we must
select movies with a general audience
membership in mind.
We were anticipating the
news about the ‘Slanted Fedora’ convention coming to San Antonio on
February 21st. I checked the web site
and there was an interesting message.
The ‘Slanted Fedora’ convention that had been rescheduled for
Saturday, February 21st with guests
Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips and
Rick Searfoss did not occur. According to the Slanted Fedora web site
(which was updated on Saturday Feb.
21st the date of the convention) it states
“to collect a meaningful email list, an
idea of interest, and suggestions from
interested fans”, there were not coming
to San Antonio.
Since Slanted Fedora originally
re-scheduled their first trip in December
5, 2003, no explanation as to why they
choose to re-schedule, they changed the
date after the 5th of December.
According to most people that
called me, “how can I plan to attend the
convention when there was NEVER a
location of the convention indicated on
the Slanted Fedora web site? With all of
the legal problems Slanted Fedora recently had how could they expect people
to send in their money early for registration? How could someone plan on attending when they posted their reason
for not coming on the very same day?
http://www.sfedora.com/
sanantonio,tx.htm
Slanted Fedora is currently
seeking emails with “suggestions and
ideas of expectations” so they will come
to San Antonio, please send your messages to: SFedora1@aol.com. You can
drop them a message, about your concerns, questions, etc.
How can someone be excited
about your event when you do not let us,
Inside this issue:
the fans, know what other criteria are
needed for you to come to a city? If
you look at the other cities they have
listed on their web site (other than
Houston, Texas) they indicate the
location of the events.
I did email them and asked
them if we could have a fan table and
help them with set up and security
etc, if they wanted us to post posters
or schedules of the convention or
there were no advertisements or announcements about them coming to
San Antonio. I would have been
happy to help post them at book
stores, hobby stores, and comic book
and toy stores. Slanted Fedora would
like to have 100 emails supporting
the idea, then they will consider coming to San Antonio.
We will be presenting many
new ideas and present them to the
crew, it is important that all members
attend the meetings and respond to
emails. Some of the activities include and are not limited to doing
more charity work, working with
other science fiction clubs in the San
Antonio area.
I have contacted a member
of the Star Wars StormTroopers 501st
(Continued on page 2)
Special points of interest:
Captain’s Log
1
XO’s Corner
2
Technobabble
3
Science Logs
3
Club Calendar
4
Club Information
5
Kevin & Kell
6
•
General Club Information.
Page 2
BEXARFAX
CAPTAIN’S LOG CONT.
(Continued from page 1)
club and will be trying to set up a social meeting with them and try to plan some joint club activities.
The monthly activity would encourage attendance of regular crew members; we hope it would make more sense due
to decline of interest in the Star-Trek universe. Some other ideas that came up were attending the San Antonio Zoo, the Scobee Planetarium, movies, miniature golf, and more. Coordinating with other sci-fi groups to volunteer at the children hospitals, San Antonio Library, help Adult literacy, Star gazing with telescopes, etc…. Stay tuned for more details.
Continue to support the EMS Trauma Buddy program by bringing your stuffed animals to each meeting. The EMS
Trauma Buddy program gives children a toy when they are involved in a traumatic experience or accident to help them keep
calm. Last year we donated 165 stuffed animals to the EMS Trauma Buddy program.
Start collecting your pennies, and silver coins, we will be having a departmental challenge where we will be collecting money for a charity and for the club and we will also need to think of different charities we will be donating money to.
On February 7th the Region Three retreat will be held in Lubbock, Texas. Unfortunately I just started my new job
and did not attend.
The Susan G. Komen ‘Race for the Cure’ is scheduled on Saturday March 27th at the Alamodome. My daughter
Stephanie and I will be volunteering in the run walk event and I hope more members will participate in this event.
Last year my daughter and I volunteered at the Texas Folklife Festival and we had a great time. I hope this year we
get the message out early enough maybe we can get more volunteers from the club.
Next month’s meeting will be held on April 10th 2004.
Make It So!
Commodore Robert Ybarra
CO, USS Bexar
XO’S CORNER
If you missed last month’s meeting, you didn’t get to voice your opinion on who you think is better, Mr. Rogers or Tigger.
You also missed out on where you could go to legally marry your dog. So, if you are into topics like these, you missed out.
Because I for one can go forever without discussing them again.
Jamie has been working on his story for the Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators contest. His title is “My Day At
The Rodeo.” It still needs a little more work. He left out the part when we went into the petting zoo and, while Lisa was showing him how to feed the animals, a deer was chewing on her shirt. It got about five inches of her shirt-tail in its mouth before
she noticed. I watched the whole thing.
Don’t forget we’re meeting at the Alamo Quarry Theater for this month’s meeting. Everyone is welcome to bring in suggestions for future club meeting places or outings. Hope to see y’all there.
Capt. Henry Gutierrez
XO USS Bexar
VOLUME 10, ISSUE 7
Page 3
TECHNOBABBLE
When will the United States send another space shuttle into space? According to an article by AP Aerospace Writer,
Marcia Dunn, “space shuttles will not fly again until next year”.
Although the space agency had been aiming for a fall 2004 launch, lingering work and engineering concerns have
caused the mission to be pushed back to March 2005. According to NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe NASA is “not going
to be driven by the calendar. This is going to be a milestone-driven event.”
NASA is currently still battling to come up with shuttle wing repair kits and inspection booms for astronauts in orbit,
as well as finding out how to prevent the fuel tank foam insulation from breaking off as it did during Columbia’s doomed
flight one year ago February.
Not to mention the corrosion they are still dealing with in the rudder speed brakes. Upon completion of these and
other minor projects, Space Shuttle Discovery will be the first shuttle to take the trip to space and NASA will have the Atlantis ready and on stand-by as a rescue craft should the need arise.
Due to the Columbia tragedy, all shuttles from now on will be devoted to completing the international space station.
With the completion of the space station, the astronauts can inspect and repair their ships at the orbiting outpost and await
rescue if the damage were too grave.
The space station contains enough food, oxygen, and other supplies to sustain the additional crew of seven for up to
90 days, allowing enough time for NASA to get the rescue shuttle off the ground save the crew.
Lt. Julie Gohlke
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Bexar
Science log
Next time you see a roach, don’t be too quick to find the Raid. Your tiny intruder may actually be a secret government agent, employed to detect chemical warfare. WHAT ?!?
It actually makes sense! Roaches are highly available and cheap. Their natural tendency to explore every nook and
cranny also doesn’t hurt. Their small size gives them access to many places we humans cannot penetrate. They have to be
good for something. Besides, the Pentagon is already funding a project to harness bees as explosive device detection scouts.
How does a roach get a job with ease that would make many humans jealous? Genetically altered yeast cells are
glued to the body of the near-invincible beast. When the yeast cells come into contact with certain chemical agents, a reaction causes them to glow, thus shining a beacon of light on the harmful substance. A team at Sandia National Laboratories
has altered yeast cells to detect the presence of cholera. They are working on anthrax and hope to add many more toxin detectors to their insect arsenal.
What will they think of next? For more information, refer to ‘Popular Science’ March, 2004.
With the insects protecting us, who could possibly be worried about a chemical attack?
Lt. Lisa Owens
Chief Science Officer
PAGE 4
BEXARFAX
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
MARCH 2004
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13 Bexar
Activity Mtg.
2:30pm TBA
14
15 Lisa
Owen’s BDay
16
17 St. Patrick’s Day
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27 Jason
Davis’s BDay
28
29
30
31
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2 Henry
Gut. B-Day
3
APRIL 2004
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
4 Daylight
Savings
Time Begins
5
6
7
8
9 Good Friday
10 Club Mtg.
2:30pm
Place TBA
11 Easter
Sunday
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23 Battle of
Flowers Parade
24 Fiesta
Flambeau
Parade
25
26
27
28
29
30
VOLUME 10, ISSUE 8
PAGE 5
GENERAL CLUB INFORMATION
COMMAND OFFICERS:
CO
COMMODORE
ROBERT YBARRA
co@ussbexar.org
XO
CAPTAIN
HENRY GUTIERREZ
xo@ussbexar.org
COO CMDR.
CYNTHIA TREVINO
ops@ussbexar.org
CSO FCAPT
JASON DAVIS
sec@ussbexar.org
CEO LIEUTENANT
JULIE GOHLKE
eng@ussbexar.org
CMO
OPEN
med@ussbexar.org
CCO FCAPT
ALEX TREVINO, JR.
comm@ussbexar.org
CscO LIEUTENANT
LISA OWENS
sci@ussbexar.org
CLUB TREASURER:
CYNTHIA LIZ VALDEZ-TREVINO
NEWSLETTER EDITORS:
ALEX TREVINO, JR./ROBERT YBARRA
CLUB WEBSITE:
http://www.ussbexar.org
WEBMASTER:
ALEX TREVINO, JR.
COMMAND STAFF:
webmaster@ussbexar.org
* Acting rank pending completion of STARFLEET OTS and other requirements.
** Appointment is temporary for 6 months pending approval of Command Staff Members &
that they meet other job requirements.
NOTE: A Department Head must have:
1. An active and current SCC#
2. Is required to attend both Regular and Monthly Staff Meetings (job requirements permitting)
3. Must attend most of the other ship activities or have a representative from the Department
present.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
The “BEXARFAX” is the Official Monthly
Newsletter of the USS Bexar, STARFLEET
San Antonio Fan Club. This newsletter is written for the entertainment of the Staff, Members,
other STARFLEET personnel, and Star Trek
friends. This publication is not intended to
infringe on the copyrights or trademarks of Star
Trek ™, as held by Viacom. The opinions
presented in this newsletter are not necessarily
those of the Editors, the Crew of the USS
Bexar, Region 3 or STARFLEET—The
International Star Trek Fan Association.
We’re On The Web!
www.ussbexar.org
Kevin & Kell