From: nathans@coos.dartmouth.edu (Nathan Shafer)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: Locarno = Kirk (Spoilers "First Duty"))
Date: 8 Apr 92 16:35:40 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH


In article <1992Apr7.220953.13877@acsu.buffalo.edu> v075q5fr@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Scott J Gorcey) writes:
>In article <1992Apr7.182322.28548@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>, nathans@coos.dartmouth.edu (Nathan Shafer) writes...
>>In article <1992Apr5.221926.12208@acsu.buffalo.edu> v075q5fr@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Scott J Gorcey) writes:
>>>Important Pieces of the Discussion After Spoiler:
>>>     Is hiding on Vulcan for three months while being tried in absentia
>>>     the act of a man willing to immediately face the music?
>> 
>>    No, it's the act of a man who is waiting for his friend to recuperate,
>>and knows (wisely) that once things at home run their course, and tempers
>>cool, then the music he will face will likely be just and fair music, and
>>not an "Off with 'is 'head!" reaction.
>
>     Why is Kirk allowed the breadth of discretion to ^think^ and ^plan^
>     when he is going to follow Starfleet orders and Federation subpoenas
>     and Locarno is not?

1) Because there was no missing information that Kirk had to provide;
   they knew what he did, and why. The only one he could possibly harm
   by waiting to go back was himself. Well, he could hurt the ones who
   collaborated as well, but it's my guess he gave them the option to
   go back on their own.

2) The fact is he did go back. There was no going back from the course
   that Locarno chose, that of hiding the truth. Once they had successfully
   done that, going back later and telling what really happened would have
   been suicide.

3) Motives. Locarno hid the truth, and was willing to disgrace the memory
   of a comrade, all for the sake of his career (and, if we are to be gene-
   rous, the careers of his surviving comrades). Kirk may have stayed on
   Vulcan to save his neck, but it's my suspicion that the larger reason
   he stayed was to wait for (and probably assist in) his friend's re-
   cuperation.

4) More motives. Kirk did what he did (hijacked the Enterprise, disobeyed
   orders, and then destroyed the Enterprise) for the sake of his friend;
   Locarno did what he did (coerced his teammates into performing the
   whatsiscalled maneuver) for personal aggrandizement (and again, if we
   are to be generous, for the prestige it would bring to his team as a
   whole).


>>>     Let's remember who cheated on the Kobyashi Maru simulation.
>> 
>>    Cheating on the Kobyashi Maru simulation was not likely to get anyone
>>even hurt, much less killed. Therefore, it is a totally different issue.
>
>     Beyond the death involved, cheating on an incredibly important
>     Academy exit-exam is a much bigger breach of regulations than
>          performing an against-the-rules maneuver.

1) We're not talking about regulations, we're talking about ethics.

2) While there is evidence that the Kobayishi Maru is a major test that
   every cadet must take, there is no evidence that it is an exit-exam.
   What would be the point of making the exit-exam one that everyone
   would fail, and one that anyone could retake as many times as they
   wanted?

3) "Beyond the death involved"? That's the bloody point!! The maneuver was
   made illegal BECAUSE of the possibility for death involved!!

4) If it is in fact a bigger issue, regulations-wise, why then was Kirk
   given a commendation?

5) back to point #1: I just realized that I opened myself up for the
   response, "Yeah right, ethics! Cheating on a major exam is a HUGE
   breach of ethics!" It seems clear, from the fact that the Kobayashi
   Maru test could be retaken many times (Kirk took it three times) that
   normal rules of exam-taking do not apply. This is a test, it seems,
   that is meant more to TEACH than to actually evaluate the worth of
   the cadet.

Regards,
Nathan Shafer
Dartmouth College, NH
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current