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From: barnett@ut-sally.UUCP (Lewis Barnett)
Newsgroups: net.startrek
Subject: Re: the controls
Message-ID: <2258@ut-sally.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 4-Jul-85 14:29:05 EDT
Article-I.D.: ut-sally.2258
Posted: Thu Jul  4 14:29:05 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 8-Jul-85 01:24:29 EDT
References: <344@ll1.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas
Lines: 38

> Do you realize that
> not a single control or indicator on the entire ship was labeled? 
> Okay, so the regular man at that post would know the controls, but
> how about someone filling in during an emergency?  Not even the
> emergency type equipment was labeled!  Everyone would have to know
> every single control on the ship!!!
> 
> ...ihnp4!mgnetp!ll1!cej		Llewellyn Jones
> ------------------------------------------------------------

I can think of one pretty good rationale for this situation, based on
some things that go on in _Downbelow Station_ by C.J. Cherryh.  In that
book, a civilian space station is taken over by the military because
an invasion is feared.  The military commander's first order is that
all section identifiers and "you are here" type maps and such be 
removed.  This makes some sense;  people who have never been on the
station before (invaders) will have a lot tougher time getting around without
all the helpful little clues the citizens were used to.

Granted, the Enterprise is not so large and complex as an orbiting
station, and has seldom been boarded, but I think the same reasoning
applies.  Remember the trouble Sulu and Chekov had with the controls
of the Klingon ship in TSFS?  (I don't remember if that was because
none of them could read Klingonaase or what...)

Sadly, there is some evidence against this point of view from the
series.  Nobody ever really seemed to have that hard a time figuring
out what was what in spite of no labels...e.g. the Kelvans in 
"By Any Other Name," Dr. Sevrin's gang in "The Way to Eden," and
Khan's bunch in TWOK.  In most of these cases, the "boarders" were
posessed of "superior" intellect, so I suppose that would explain
their quick familiarization with the workings of the Enterprise.


Lewis Barnett,CS Dept, Painter Hall 3.28, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX 78712

-- barnett@ut-sally.ARPA, barnett@ut-sally.UUCP,
      {ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!barnett