The 109^th meeting of the USS (MAV) Aquila was held on Saturday April 14, 2001 at the Barnes & Noble bookstore on Mall Road, Florence, KY. The following persons were in attendance: Diane Baker, Mark Bradford, Tamara Borchardt, Nelson Charette, Mary Doyle, Noi Hearld, Sam Hearld, Glenna Juilfs, Rob Langenderfer, Chris Langsdale, Cynthia Pence, Erin Pence, Rebecca Poff, Brian Widener.

• June 15, 2001 at Eastminister Presbyterian Church, Rob Langenderfer will be appearing in the production of "Our Town". Also featuring the production of "Bridal Terror".
• Klingon Year Games will be held at the same campground as last year, on July 13-15.
• Next work meeting will be on Friday April 20 at 5pm.
• Nelson will be "Pa" with the USS Aquila Players for Dover.
• We will rent karaoke equipment from Rainbow Party Supplies in Dover for the Friday night.
• The Aquila may be offered the chance to do Jail & Bail at Millenicon next year if the klingons decide not to do it. We can take polaroids of those in jail for $3 each.
• Star Trek: Voyager News: The title of the final episode of Star Trek: Voyager has been officially announced: "Endgame" will resolve the ultimate fate of the USS Voyager and its combined Starfleet-Maquis crew. Of course, no specific plot information has been revealed, but the two-hour finale will air on Wednesday, May 23, at 8:00 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific time) on UPN. "Endgame" was written by Rick Berman, Ken Biller, Brannon Braga and Robert Doherty, and directed by Allan Kroeker.
• New Star Trek series rumored to star Scott Bakula in a prequil, will be shown on UPN.
• A baby shower for Heather Blair-Collins was suggested to be held during Year Games. Diane & Mary will organize.

The meeting was adjourned.

Video Viewpoints

By Rob Langenderfer

The way that Star Trek: Voyager has gone in recent years I have come to see even less of a purpose in writing individual reviews of the episodes than I did before, and sometimes I questioned the purpose of those reviews. When I last reviewed an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the show was at the exact midpoint of its fourth season, 13 episodes into the season. The next story shown at this point proved to be "Message in a Bottle", and it was an important episode for the series.

"Message in a Bottle" and its follow-up episode "Hunters" demonstrate to the crew that Starfleet is in the process of looking for them. They also introduce a new alien race, the Hirogen, extremely physically tall beings who love the thrill of the hunt.

"Hunters" is sort of a nice episode because it features the crew reading letters from their family, and in those moments of reflective relaxation the show touches upon the feelings of the crew in general and their families, an element that a show like Voyager, with the crew being in the situation that they are, desperately needs.

Some of the following episodes deal with the crew's struggles with the Hirogen. They come to a head in the two-part episode "The Killing Game". This story is not perfect, but, unlike most shows from the series, it is worth seeing again because it at least attempts to show change and development and real complexity among the members of an alien race. The elaborate sets that are used in the Hirogen recreation of World War II as well as the other characters that the regulars unwittingly play in the simulation are worth another look.

More often Voyager is stuck with episodes like "Vis a Vis", the tale that follows "The Killing Game" in which Tom Paris's desire for wandering and self-indulgence gets him into trouble when an alien takes

advantage of him. The emotions that Tom experienced at the beginning of the story are never resolved at the end of the story once the alien is defeated.

There are many times in the series in which potentially interesting plot lines are not developed the way they should be, and the viewer really feels cheated. The stories of this series are not truly bad most of the time, but there is little about them that really engages the viewer. The fact that the show's characters at this point remain largely unengaging, as was described in the last review, continues to hurt the series.

"The Omega Directive" is a story that is better than the norm because it deals with Seven of Nine's quest for perfection and touches on the need of every being to have an experience of the Infinite - God. It is also nice that it is able to create a different kind of threat that actually seems threatening, and it is nice to have a tie in the episode to Starfleet so the viewer can remember where the crew came from originally.

"Unforgettable" is a episode that is one of those extremely disturbing stories that isn't very fun to watch. Unexpected betrayals are not usually portrayed very credibly, and this is one tale that I would take out with the trash.

"Living Witness", on the other hand, rates among the very best stories that Voyager has to offer. The Doctor is faced with the challenge of restoring the reputations of the Voyager crew hundreds of years after they left a particular planet. This is a wonderful, entertaining story that shows why it is important not to forget the past and to always be open to re-interpreting the past without passing judgement on an idea just because it is particularly new or particular old and well-established. It's probably not quite as engaging as "Deconstruction of Falling Stars" from Babylon 5, but it still rates as one of Star Trek: Voyager's few classic stories.

"Demon" is an adequate story that is noteworthy for showing the preparation that goes into exploring a truly alien world. It is something to think about as we consider humanity's future exploration of space. It's not going to be easy, folks, but the wonder and the pride of achievement it will engender and the possibilities that it could lead to will make it worth it. "Demon" spawned a sequel episode later in the series. This is probably worth watching if only to see the different approach that it takes to things.

"One" is basically Seven of Nine's story, practically more than any other tale. If you like her character a lot, this will be an episode you won't want to miss. She is forced to helm Voyager through a dangerous region of space. She encounters an alien that she must deal ith, while attempting to preserve her own sanity.

"Hope and Fear" is a pretty decent season finale that takes us full circle back to the events of the season premiere. The premise will be re-used somewhat in the finale of the next season (but to better effect). This story seems to be a decent stopping point for this review as the next season would introduce new aliens that were yawningly boring and would intensify a feeling in the viewer of staying in place.

Cadet Corner

The USS Aquila Players      

Directed by Tamara Borchardt

Nelson, Brittany, Sara, Cynthia, Saundra, Rebecca, & Diane

Chaplain's Corner

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took a hold on the rope and started up the face of that rock.

Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens. Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there. Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it.

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there as a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?" Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it.

Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to, I'll carry it for You."

I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will." God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Yes, I do love GOD. He is my source of existence and my savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil 4:13)

Submitted by:

Greg Turner

Helping Hands

DO I HAVE AN ALLERGY?

1. After I wear my favorite wristwatch, there is a red circle on my wrist.
2. If I use new bedsheets right from the package, my skin feels itchy and has small red bumps on it
3. I work in a cafeteria. My hands have started to get red and itchy after my shift, even though I put on lotion beforehand
4. I get a stomachache when I drink milk, eat ice cream, or consume other dairy products
5. My throat feels itchy when I eat melon.
6. I usually get a bad cold in the spring and fall that lasts for months.
7. I have a runny nose, congestion, coughing and sneezing that gets worse at bedtime.
8. I recently took a sulfa drug to treat a urinary tract infection. After a few doses, my face got flushed. Then my neck got red and itchy.
   

If you can answer "yes" to any of these questions, you MAY have an allergy. Check with your doctor before you take any medication.

Having an allergy means that your body perceives a harmless substance (the allergen) as dangerous and is mounting an internal battle to take care of it. This hypersensitive process is called an allergic reaction.

An allergen is a substance which your body perceives as dangerous, but which a non-allergic person's body ignores. Common allergens are pollen, molds, dust mites, animal dander, certain foods and medications, and latex.

An allergic reaction is the process your body goes through when it senses the presence of an allergen. The allergen may be ingested as food or medication, inhaled through the mouth or nose, or come in contact with the skin. When the body senses the presence of an allergen, antibodies are produced. The antibodies attach to mast cells, which release a substance called histamine. Histamine's job is to narrow the bronchial tubes in the lungs, dilate blood vessels, and produce secretions, such as mucus. Histamine is the main substance responsible for the symptoms characteristic of an allergic reaction. Medications that inhibit the release of histamines are called anti-histamines. An allergic reaction is a hypersensitive reaction to a substance to which most people do not react.

Most allergies are not dangerous, although they can make life miserable! The exception is anaphylaxis, which is a life-threatening emergency, requiring immediate medical attention.

Project Genesis

On March 20th, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christie Whitman suspended the revised arsenic standard for drinking water issued by the outgoing Clinton administration in January. Since then, the Bush administration has announced it will re-open the issue to further research and review, in the meantime reverting back to the previous, outdated, unhealthy standard.

The National Academy of Sciences has determined that arsenic-poisoned water causes bladder, lung and skin cancer, and may cause kidney and liver cancer, birth defects and reproductive problems. Arsenic also harms the central nervous system, heart and blood vessels, and causes serious skin problems. Drinking water containing arsenic at the current standard could easily result in a 1-in-100 total risk of dying from cancer -- about 10,000 times higher than the risk the EPA would allow for carcinogens in food.

The old U.S. arsenic-in-drinking-water standard of 50 parts per billion (ppb) was set in 1942, before health officials knew that arsenic causes cancer. The decision to strengthen the standard to 10 ppb was the result of more than a decade of scientific reviews, public hearings and discussions with health experts and industry.

While the EPA had originally proposed a 5 ppb standard, and environmental, public health and consumer groups had urged a 3 ppb standard, industry pressure forced a compromise of 10 ppb (the same international standard adopted several years ago by the World Health Organization and the European Union). Almost immediately after the Bush administration took office, however, the mining and wood preservative industries and others renewed their opposition to the standard and in early March sued the EPA to revoke the new rule.

The arsenic rule withdrawal is just one in a series of assaults on public health and the environment that the Bush administration has initiated during its first months in office. Tell EPA administrator Whitman to stop caving in to industry pressure and to start protecting our health by getting the arsenic out of our drinking water -- now.

Galactic Gems

Directions:

From Dayton take Rt. 35 east to the 1^st Chillecothe exit (Rt. 104) Turn right going into town on High St. Turn left on Mill St. (light just after the Dairy Queen). Continue through the next light into the partk. Turn left at the first road in the park, as though you were going to the pool. Follow this road around the pool area. The road will veer sharply right then left. After this, you will see a round shelter on your left. This is the handicapped shelter. Next to it is the paved parking lot it shares with the Pump House Art Gallery. You may park there.

From Cincinnati & N. KY take either 71 north to Rt. 35 and follow dirctions as above or take the Appalachian Highway (Rt. 32) to Rt. 23 at Piketon. Go north on 23 the the 1^st Chillecothe exit (104 north-Bridge St.) Go past Mead & the bridge construction – 3 lights north of Main St. At the 3^rd light (Riverside Dr), turn left (Shell station on the corner). Keep right and turn into the park at the 1^st stop sign. The Pump House will be on your right with the parking lot & shelter just beyond.

The Odyssey will provide cold drinks, hot grills, and table service. Bring your own meat for the grill & other food items to share. Grilling begins at 12:30 and we will eat around 1pm. Water games are planned so be prepared if you wish to participate. Bring your favorite outdoor games or favorite outdoor activity. Join us and have fun!

The Fox and Hound is located at:

671 Lyons Road

Dayton, OH 45459

The restaurant's phone number is 937-432-9904.

Russ Grubb is coordinating this and would like to get an idea how many will be coming by May 15th, Russ's number is 937-275-1064

Klingon Year Games

– Olive Branch Campground – Ft. Ancient

July 13-15, 2001

Directions to the Klingon Year Games:

From Greater Cincinnati/Northern KY

take I 71 North to Wilmington Road Exit

turn right on Wilmington Road

turn right into driveway of campgrounds

USS (MAV) Aquila

NCC 42297

Florence, KY