Region
2 "Newsletter of the Year" Award, 2nd Place, 2011, 2014. 2015
Number
100
Region
2 "Best Electronic Newsletter" Award, 2009
July
(Early December) 2016
CONTENTS
UPCOMING
EVENTS •
Saturday, Dec. 17: Holiday Party,
MOTY Award & CO Election
NEWS
& ANNOUNCEMENTS
• Treklanta directors
stepping down
• Treklanta welcomes new
directors
• Half-price
Treklanta discounts for STARFLEET and KAG •
Personnel Records
• Library Computer
• Recent Chapter Event Photos
SIDEBAR
• Belated July Birthdays
• December Membership Renewals
• About the Republic
• For More Information
• USS Republic Online
• Crew Roster
• News from TrekMovie.com — Bryan
Fuller's departure from Star
Trek: Discovery is bittersweet and final — Star
Trek: Discovery executive producer Alex Kurtzman elated
over new castings — Theme
of Star Trek: Discovery
is "Understand each other," says former showrunner Bryan Fuller
UPCOMING
EVENTS USS
Republic Holiday Potluck Party, Member of the Year
Award Ceremony & Commanding Officer Election
7:00 p.m., Saturday, December 17, 2016
Challenges
Games and Comics
North DeKalb Mall, Westside Entrance
2050 Lawrenceville Hwy, Decatur GA 30033
(678) 973-0410
It's
one of the most important occasions of the year! Plan
to attend the USS Republic's annual Holiday Potluck
Party on Saturday, December 17, at
Challenges
Games & Comics
in North DeKalb Mall in Decatur! All
members and friends of the USS Republic are cordially
invited to attend!
CLICK
IMAGE TO ENLARGE: Members and friends of the USS Republic
at last year's Holiday Potluck Party. Seated:
Adm Mike Henigan, Adm Kelly Hilliard, ENS1 Tracey S. Harwell,
ENS1 Sue Lin Lange. Standing: Melissa Cowart, Henry
Cowart, Ens Daniel Cowart, Matt Steinberg, Lt JG Lee Johnson,
Lt JG Tiffany Johnson, Kathy Graham Wynn, FCapt Eric L.
Watts, Ens Vicki Greve, Ens Gaylen Greve, ENS1 Zannetta
Tucker, ENS1 Richard Tucker, CDT4 Zarena Tucker, (Ens) Chris
Jones.
Our
Annual Holiday Potluck Dinner
FCapt Eric L. Watts will once again be cooking a turkey
for all to enjoy, so please bring your own favorite side
dish or dessert to help make this a holiday feast! The
Republic will also be providing a selection of adult
libations, but feel free to BYOB and enjoy yourselves responsibly.
Please plan to come for an evening of fun, festivity
and friendship!
Member
of the Year Award
Around 9:00 or so, Captain Eric will present the USS Republic's
Member of the Year award to someone whose service to the chapter
in 2016 deserves special recognition. Please plan
to attend, bring a couple of friends and a side dish or two,
and spend an evening with your friends and shipmates aboard
the USS Republic!
USS
Republic Members of the Year, 2007-2015 CLICK
ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE
2007
Member of the Year
ENS1 Zannetta Law Tucker
2008
Member of the Year
ENS1 Hal Doby
2009
Member of the Year
ENS1 Joanne Trew
2010
Member of the Year
ENS1 Sue Lin Lange
2011
Member of the Year
ENS3 Barry Bynum
2012
Member of the Year
FCapt Eric L. Watts
2013
Member of the Year
Adm Mike Henigan
2014
Member of the Year
Adm Kelly S. Hilliard
2015
Members of the Year
Lts. JG Tiffany & Lee Johnson
Commanding
Officer Election
Fleet Captain Eric L. Watts' fifth two-year term
as Commanding Officer of the USS Republic will be
coming to an end on December 31. Having been
in command of the ship for 10½ years, Captain Eric
has now been CO for more than a third of the Republic's
28½-year history. Members in good standing
must now decide who they want to lead and administrate this
chapter for the next two years.
Candidates
for the position must be a member in good standing of STARFLEET
International, must be at least 18 years of age, and must
have taken and passed—or must take and pass within
30 days of election—the Officers Training School (OTS)
and Officers Command College (OCC) courses offered by STARFLEET
Academy (SFA). Members interested in taking OTS
and/or OCC should visit the SFA web
site. In accordance with the Republic's
Rank
Assignment & Promotions Policy, members who take
and pass both courses receive an automatic promotion to
Lieutenant, Junior Grade (Lt. JG).
As of December 10, there are five members of the Republic
in good standing who hold the necessary credentials to hold
the office of Commanding Officer. In alphabetical
order, they are:
• Captain
Matt Ebeling, former CO, currently unavailable
• Admiral
Mike Henigan, former CO, currently Executive
Officer
• Admiral
Kelly Hilliard, former
CO, currently member-at-large
• Lt.
JG Robert Louis Simon, member-at-large
• Fleet
Captain Eric L. Watts, the incumbent Commanding
Officer
In addition
to these individuals, four additional members have completed
the OTS requirement and could be eligible for the office
of CO should they complete the OCC requirement within 30
days. Those members are Ens Brent Chapman,
ENS3 Vicki Greve, ENS1 Tracey S. Harwell and
ENS1 Julianne Trew.
Call for nominations and voice vote
While it is certainly hoped that all members of the Republic
will attend our annual Holiday Potluck Party, it is especially
important for anyone interested in serving as Commanding
Officer for the next two years to attend. Former
CO Admiral Kelly Hilliard, in accordance with Robert's
Rules of Order, will conduct a call for nominations and
a voice vote among all current members in good standing
(listed in the Crew Roster in the sidebar at right). Any
member whose dues are expired and wishes to vote in the
election should renew
their dues no later than Friday, December 16.
The new Commanding Officer, if any, will assume office on
January 1, 2017.
It
is with a heavy heart that the USS Republic must report
we have regretfully accepted the resignations of two of our
most important Treklanta
senior directors: Matt Steinberg and Marcia Patterson.
Mr.
Steinberg had been with the convention since the very beginning,
as a staff volunteer in our Technical Operations department
in 2011 and 2012. In 2013, he was promoted to Director
of Technical Operations, a position he held for three years
and to which he brought an unparalleled level of expertise.
In 2015, he was promoted again to Director of Operations,
overseeing and supervising both the Technical Operations and
Convention Operations departments. Mr. Steinberg juggled
these departments with a grace and skill and level of competence
that amazed everyone who attended the convention. The
breadth and scope of his knowledge, ranging from audio/visual
and computer equipment and convention operations to business
communications and unwavering diplomacy, as well as his infinite
patience and indefatiguable energy, were tremendous assets
to the convention and directly responsible for the success
of the convention over the last several years. Nevertheless,
he has decided to move on and pursue new challenges. Treklanta
thanks Mr. Steinberg for his outstanding service over the
last six years and wishes him the very best of luck in all
his future endeavors.
Ms.
Patterson joined Treklanta in 2014 as Director of Space Opera
Programming, a position created when the convention decided
to expand its scope from only Star Trek to include
all live-action space opera franchises. She was the
perfect choice for the position, as she had held a similar
position for several years at Dragon*Con. With very
little guidance and almost no supervision, Ms. Patterson created
an entire track of space opera-based programming for Treklanta
and ran the track with a skill and expertise that would be
the envy of any convention. Unfortunately, after three
years of exceptional service to the convention, she is unable
to return due to personal and family challenges. Ms.
Patterson's contributions to Treklanta have made us a stronger
and better convention, and we could not have done it without
her. We thank her for her service and wish her the very
best for the future.
Treklanta
welcomes new directors
The
USS Republic is pleased to announce the addition of
two new directors to the Treklanta
senior staff. William E. MacLeod and Cindy
MacLeod have joined Treklanta as Director of Convention
Operations and Director of Dealer Relations, respectively.
Mr. & Mrs. MacLeod bring a wealth of convention-running
experience and expertise to Treklanta.
Mr.
MacLeod has been involved in the convention scene since 2000.
He spent many years working at Dragon*Con and other
smaller conventions in the metro Atlanta area. He is
one of three co-founders of AnachroCon, the very successful
alternate history (a.k.a. "steampunk") convention launched
in Atlanta in 2009, and served as their chairman for its first
six years. An avid Star Trek fan, Mr. MacLeod
also enjoys other properties such as Starship Troopers,
Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who,
the Tom Corbett series and others, including the superhero
universes; specifically, Batman.
Mr. MacLeod is a veteran of the United States Army (1985-1990).
As a polymath, he has his irons in many fires, including
Business, Information Technology, Theoretical Physics, Costuming,
Music Composition & Performance, Blacksmithing and American
History, as well as antique repair and restoration... just
to name a few.
Mrs.
MacLeod is also one of the three co-founders of AnachroCon
and currently serves as their Director of Vendor Relations.
She was also one of the creators of Dragon*Con's Alternate
History Track, and served as their Track Director from 2009
to 2011. Mrs. MacLeod's published works include one
full-length novel, Some Unforeseen Event, and two steampunk-based
short stories, "The Big Golden Apple" and "The Clockwork Cockroaches
of Thelema," published in Dreams of Steam 2: Of Bolts and
Brass and Dreams of Steam 4: Gizmos, respectively.
Mrs. MacLeod is an accomplished cosplayer with unparalleled
taste in cosplay fashion. She has fond memories of watching
the original Star Trek series on a black-and-white
console TV in the late 1960s and cosplaying Star Trek
before she was even in kindergarten.
Treklanta is delighted to have the MacLeods join us as senior
directors and looks forward to a very successful convention
in 2017 under their leadership.
Half-price
Treklanta membership discounts for STARFLEET and KAG
Treklanta
is pleased to introduce a HALF-PRICE membership discount
to members of STARFLEET International (SFI) and the Klingon
Assault Group (KAG). Treklanta memberships, currently
priced at $40 for adults and $20 for children, are now only
$20 and $10 for adult members of SFI and KAG and their kids,
respectively. To take advantage of this exclusive
offer for SFI and KAG members only, visit www.treklanta.org/STARFLEET
or www.treklanta.org/KAG
and click the MEMBERSHIPS button. This offer expires
on December 31, so don't delay, purchase your membership
today!
Please note: The SFI and KAG membership discounts
are available only on full weekend preregistered memberships
and will not be available at the door or for one-day badges. Also:
Our exclusive VIP Champagne Reception is available only
with the purchase of a full-priced Ambassador membership. Ambassador
memberships are not discounted and VIP Champagne Reception
tickets are not available for purchase separately.
Click the banner below to purchase YOUR half-price membership!
Personnel
Records
STARFLEET
Academy is a special collection of correspondence courses
available to every STARFLEET member. Over 60 Academy
Colleges offer courses spanning all aspects of Star
Trek and science fiction; some courses even cover non-sci-fi
real world topics. Each college offers dozens of different
courses at varying levels of challenge from super-easy to
really hard. In total, there are nearly 1,000 different
courses available. Take
a course today!
Something
special going on in your life? Submit
your Personnel Record for publication in the next
issue of The Republiqué!
Library
Computer CLICK THUMBNAIL TO PLAY VIDEO
Ensigns
Third Class Chris & Tina Jones talk about why they attend—and
got married at—Treklanta.
Written by Eric L. Watts and Chris & Tina Jones. Directed
and produced by Eric L. Watts. Video editing and post-production
by Eric Hendrix.
Recent
Chapter Event Photos CLICK ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE
TimeGate || May
27-29, 2016
Atlanta
Marriott Century Center || Atlanta,
Georgia
USS
Republic CO FCapt Eric L. Watts and Treklanta Director
of Star Trek Programming Operations (Cmdr) Brian
Holloway work the Treklanta fan table at TimeGate.
Left:
FCapt Eric L. Watts, (Cmdr) Brian Holloway and ENS3 Gaylen
Greve check out the other fan tables at TimeGate.
Right: FCapt Eric L. Watts and (Cmdr) Brian Holloway demonstrate
their support of Star Trek: New Voyages.
Left:
TimeGate's special guests (standing) are thanked for their
participation in this year's convention by senior staff
(at table).
Right: The audience at Closing Ceremonies listens attentively
as TimeGate announces its name change to WHOlanta and rebranding
as Atlanta's Doctor Who and British media and culture
convention.
Friday, July 1
Adm Michael Henigan
ENS1 Zannetta Law Tucker
Thursday, July 7
Ens Shannon Patricia Kennedy
Friday, July 8
CRA Karl Dissinger
Ens Jennifer Foley
Wednesday, July 13
ENS1 Todd Dissinger
Tuesday, July 19
ENS3 Vicki Greve
DECEMBER
MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS These members' dues will expire in December.
Please renew now!
ENS1 Hal Doby
CAPT Matthew D. Ebeling
ENS1 James P. Gronski
ENS1 Leslie C. Gronski
ENS James King
ENS3 Carly May
ENS3 John May
ENS1 Karen Neal
ABOUT
THE REPUBLIC
The
USS Republic NCC-1371 was originally commissioned
as a chapter of STARFLEET International on May 14, 1988,
at the Dixie-Trek convention in Atlanta, Georgia. As
of December 10, 2016, the Republic crew includes 38
members who are active members of STARFLEET in good
standing.
The
Republic plans and coordinates an active schedule
of events for its members, but does not hold meetings
on a consistently fixed date each month.
Because
the USS Republic is a duly commissioned chapter
of STARFLEET International and is bound and governed by
its Constitution and By-Laws, membership in STARFLEET
is a prerequisite for membership in the Republic. STARFLEET
and Republic membership dues are $10 each for one
person ($20 total) and are typically remitted as a single
payment to the Republic. STARFLEET offers
family discounts for additional members as shown below. Additional
information about membership options, amounts due for
additional family members, payment options and instructions
for other forms of payment is on the "How to Join" page
of our award-winning web site.
Bryan
Fuller's departure from Star Trek: Discovery is bittersweet
and final
By Laurie Ulster
December 2, 2016
Ever
since the news broke that Bryan Fuller "stepped down" as
the showrunner for Star Trek: Discovery, fans were
still thinking of him as a driving force behind the show,
and still working in an active executive producer role.
But an exclusive interview with Newsweek reveals
that he's no longer involved in the series at all.
"Ultimately,
with my responsibilities [elsewhere], I could not do what
CBS needed to have done in the time they needed it done
for Star Trek," Fuller said. "It felt like
it was best for me to focus on landing the plane with American
Gods and making sure that was delivered in as elegant
and sophisticated a fashion as I could possibly do."
"It
is bittersweet," he added. "But it was just a situation
that couldn't be resolved otherwise... so I had to step
away."
Fuller
will keep his executive producer credit and has written
the first two episodes of the show, as well as developed
the story arc that will unfold over all 13 episodes of the
first season. Sources close to the production have
reported that the creative vision he set forth for the series
is still the guiding force behind the show. But he
told Newsweek that he's no longer directly involved
with the series.
"I'm
not involved in production or postproduction, so I can only
give them the material I've given them and hope that it
is helpful for them. I'm curious to see what
they do with it."
He
adds that his plans were always to respect Gene Roddenberry's
original vision in:
"...creating
[Discovery] and getting to the heart of what the
important themes were to me as a Star Trek fan—how
do we get along with people who are different than ourselves?
How do we find common ground? How do move into
the future together? Those themes were implicit in
the scripts that I wrote before I left."
Will
he return for season two? Right now there's no
plan on the table for that, but he told Newsweek,
"They have my number and if they need me I will absolutely
be there for them."
The
latest casting news for Star Trek: Discovery is that
Michelle Yeoh, Doug Jones and Anthony Rapp are all aboard.
Star
Trek: Discovery executive producer Alex Kurtzman elated
over new castings
By John Duchak
December 5, 2016
Star
Trek: Discovery executive producer Alex Kurtzman expressed
his excitement at the casting of Michelle Yeoh, Anthony
Rapp and Doug Jones in a recent interview with IGN.
Reflecting
on his enthusiasm and the role played by Michelle Yeoh as
Captain Georgiou of the USS Shenzhou, Kurtzman said,
"I think that Michelle gets to play a part that has so many
dimensions to it and is so perfect for where we want to
go over the course of the season and maybe even beyond."
On
Doug Jones' casting of new alien officer Lieutenant Saru,
Kurtzman stated:
"Doug
Jones, you know, [is] one of the greatest. What he
did in Pan's Labyrinth has embedded itself in my
mind forever. So when you think about the opportunity,
what you want to do when you're creating a creature of some
kind is cast an actor who has the ability to pull off the
bulk of it in a practical way and that requires a real understanding
of movement. And again, Sofia [Boutella]'s ability,
because she's a dancer, she had an innate understanding.
It's just in her DNA to understand how to move in
that way. Doug obviously carries the same thing."
Kurtzman
drew parallels between Jones and Star Trek Beyond's
Sofia Boutella, who will play Ahmanet in 2017's The Mummy,
which Kurtzman is directing.
Commenting
on Anthony Rapp's casting as Lieutenant Stamets, a science
officer aboard the Discovery, Kurtzman had this to
say:
"I've
been a fan of Anthony's for a long time. He's just
a brilliant actor. It's always just about how do you
find actors who are, it's always who's right for the part,
but it's also there's a lovely diversity that Star Trek
has always been about. As we build the cast, because
there are still a lot of parts to cast, we were excited
that people seemed to be so excited about our first three
choices."
Theme
of Star Trek: Discovery is "Understand each
other," says former showrunner Bryan Fuller
By John Duchak
December 8, 2016
Bryan
Fuller continues to discuss the reasons for his departure
from Star Trek: Discovery. While most interviews
have rehashed the well-known explanations, he expanded upon
a strong theme for the new series in an interview with the
Radio Times.
Fuller
remains tight-lipped and almost certainly bound to a non-disclosure
agreement regarding significant details about Discovery,
but he summed up the theme of the new series in three words:
"Understand
each other."
Fuller
said that this was the theme of Discovery at the
time of his departure, and he noted that he is curious to
see how it unfolds. Beyond writing the first two episodes
and charting a course for the first season of the series,
Fuller also wrote story treatments for other first-season
episodes. In Fuller's view, that completes his responsibilities
to the show.
Asked
how the tone of the series would compare to the recent films
and the original series, he continued:
"You
know, it's interesting to ponder, because I won't have anything
to do with the actual production, and I won't have anything
to do with post, which are really places where I dig in
and do a lot of work. I know where we were going before
I left, but I don't know where they were going to take it
after I've left."
Fuller
reiterated his willingness to rejoin Discovery, saying,
"If they need me, they have my number and they can call
me, otherwise, I'm plowing ahead on American Gods."
Commanding
Officer Election
