TAR REK HE RIGINAL S T : T O SERIES SET TOUR! 1860 - http://www.sfi.org NCC VENGER 2018 2018 U.S.S. A U.S.S. ANUARY J – THE OF #155 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE… AVENGER AT A CROSSROADS... EWSLETTER N INSIDE THIS ISSUE: FFICIAL O Executive Thoughts .............................. 3 Ship’s BBS .......................................... 18 Image Gallery ................................. 6, 20 Star Trek Book News ......................... 17 Membership Alley ................................. 3 STARFLEET and Region 7 News ......... 14 HE Mission Docket .................................... 21 Starstuff ............................................... 5 T The Orville ............................................. 8 Summer Heat ....................................... 7 http://www.ussavenger.org http://www.ussavenger.org Roster Update ....................................... 6 Trekkin’ the Web ................................ 20 Second Star to the Left ........................ 2 U.S.S. Avenger Sit-Rep ........................ 9 1 Second Star to the Left BY SARAH ROSENZWEIG Hello, crew! You can’t a candle from both ends and expect it to burn First, let me apologize for how long it’s taken to get this eternally...unless it’s a magic candle. While I may be many newsletter to you. Getting back on schedule has been harder things, that’s not something I possess the ability to do. So what than we hoped, but we are still trying, and we feel bad that we follows from here on out is all you. Either we make the haven’t been better at it. commitment to real, active participation, or we accept the As we begin 2018, we face both opportunities and big consequences, that there may soon not be an organization in questions. Let me explain. which to participate. If you’re not sure how, or what you can When I first took this seat, I wrote you (the crew) a letter, do, come talk to me or Alex. I would rather that you come to telling you where things were, as gently as I could, but also me with a flurry of questions than to continue the deafening honestly. I don’t know how many of you read that letter (some silence we’ve heard over the past months. To offer a quote, in of you, obviously, weren’t yet members). That was your alarm the wise words of the King of Siam, “When a woman who has clock, on which you hit snooze. There are no more snoozes. much to say, says nothing, her silence can be deafening.” This is the time when you have to respond. There are too many conclusions, false or otherwise, that can be I’m tired of the chapter seemingly being held together by just drawn from silence. The only way I can be 100% accurate in two-to-three members. Either this bird endures or changes into my conclusions is if you come talk to Alex or myself. I promise something else, but what we are, as we are, cannot continue. to listen and to not guilt-trip you about why you haven’t I understand that some of you live farther away and cannot participated. I’ll only guilt you if you promise to do something participate as directly as those who live locally, and that you and don’t follow through. I ask only for accountability. My word have your lives, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t is my bond. participate in some way. Maybe that means making a flyer or a I will be waiting, watching, and listening. Where we go from PowerPoint presentation that we’ll use at a recruiting op. Or here depends on you. What you tell me, or just as importantly, maybe it’s as simple as posting a topic on our e-mail list (the what you don’t, will lead to the decisions that must come soon. Yahoo! group) or our Facebook group, or responding to a topic Remember, even the act of not making a choice is itself a posted by someone else, and keeping conversations going. choice. I have three division chiefs that are serving double-duty. This Your turn... is not normal. It’d be great if someone would be willing to step up and take on some of those responsibilities. I understand that we all have real-life responsibilities. I don’t Captain Sarah Rosenzweig begrudge you that for a single instant. Our first priorities always have been, and always should be, our families. As a newly-married woman, that’s not even unreasonable in my life, so how can I fairly begrudge it in yours? Add in work responsibilities and health issues, and that takes up a lot of time. Again, I understand. But...and you know something troublesome often follows that word... Avenger News is the official newsletter of the science fiction based fan Submissions for Avenger News should be emailed to club, USS Avenger, and is published bi-monthly. The USS Avenger is a [email protected] or streetmailed to: Avenger News Home Office, chapter of Starfleet, the International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc. c/o Michelle Lampson, 716 West 3rd Street, Washburn, WI 54891 The opinions contained within do not necessarily reflect those of the Permission is granted to STARFLEET members to copy any part of staff, Avenger, or STARFLEET. this newsletter as long as proper credit is given to the author and Subscription to Avenger News is free to all members and $10 Avenger News. annually to non-members. To subscribe, send check or money order, Legal Stuff payable to USS Avenger, to: All published submissions become the property of USS Avenger and Avenger News 7 Keats Road, North Brunswick, NJ 08902-3426 may be edited. DISCLAIMER: Star Trek and Starfleet are trademarks Advertisement inquiries, letters, and address corrections of CBS Studios, Inc., all rights reserved. should be sent to the above address or emailed to: [email protected] ISSUE 154 BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Layout Editor— Alex Rosenzweig Editor-In-Chief—Michelle Lampson Distribution Officer— Alex Rosenzweig Contributors—Susan Bolick, Matthew Rielly, Alex Rosenzweig, Sarah Copy Editor—Susan Bolick Rosenzweig, VENGER EWS — ANUARY 2 A N #155 J 2018 Executive Thoughts BY ALEX ROSENZWEIG Greetings, all! worse. Between the loss of formerly-active members from the group (for a variety of reasons, in all fairness) and the It’s been quite some time since I last wrote the XO’s column transformation of formerly active members to just names on for the U.S.S. Avenger. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs since the roster, the group has lost its vibrancy. Attendance at then. 2016 was a difficult year for the chapter, and in many meetings, once numbering in the 20s, has dropped so much ways 2017 has been, as well. As I write this, we have reached that often, from among the local members, only CAPT Sarah the waning months of 2017, and we face next year, a year that and myself, plus maybe one or two others, and rarely the could hold great promise for Avenger, or perhaps the same others, are seen each month. (To be fair, we do see conclusion of our journeys. several of our more distant members attending on Skype Why do I say this? Well, sit back and relax. This might not be regularly, and I don’t want to minimize the importance of that, an easy column to read, and I can assure you that it’s not been but it’s still not the same as a room full of smiling faces. The an easy column to write. But what you need to know is that the groups of people who, together, went to dinner and filled Avenger is coming to a crossroad, and the choices we make as whichever venue ended up hosting us that month with fun and members in the coming weeks will determine whether this frivolity have evaporated. Most months, the meeting will end chapter survives, or ends its mission after more than 32 years. with Sarah and me by ourselves, wondering what happened to I am sorry, by the way, to our newest members, who are just the social aspects of our social organization. joining us and encountering this situation. On the other hand, Outside of meetings, the situation has gotten even worse. you new crewmembers may find yourselves in the enviable Except for me, no one has suggested an activity for the club to position of being able to make a profound difference right from do in many months. And most of my suggestions have been the beginning. greeted with silence. Okay, maybe I don’t have a good handle Before I dive into the meat of this column, let me take a anymore on what people want to do. But we’ve asked you, the moment to welcome our newest members to the Avenger. members, what you would like, and what we heard has Please give a warm welcome to: been...silence. No one seems to want to do anything anymore. Ensign Patrick Cavanaugh And when it has come to pitching in to help boost the group, Ensign John-Austen Francisco again...crickets. We had a one-day recruiting operation in Ensign Michael O’Neal conjunction with the rerelease of “The Wrath of Khan” last fall. Ensign Nanette O’Neal Who was there? Sarah, myself, and ENS David Sastre. We Ensign Ilyse Odesky couldn’t even get to see the movie because there weren’t We hope you enjoy your time with us! And as this column enough of us to switch off between moviegoing and manning unfolds, you may see just how important you could be. the table...at least not without leaving someone alone at the Okay, back to the topic at hand... table or going to see the movie alone.