What do I want from Star Trek Lower Decks?

CBS has announced that Star Trek Lower Decks premiers August 6th.  The first animated Star Trek series since the 1970s is also the first Trek series to be produced as a comedy. It tells the story of a group of low-ranking crewmembers of the USS Cerritos, which has a mission of second contact with new "new life and new civilization" which had first contact with some other Starfleet ship.

The very first trailer that came out did not impress me, but I will give Lower Decks a chance because I have seen every Star Trek episode of every series and it's nice to keep the collection complete.  BUT here are some things that will determine whether I keep watching:

• Good continuity.  This animated series is clearly intended for young audiences, but I still want stories that are consistent with the rest of Star Trek continuity.  Don't break the rules that we know so well.
• Social messages. Star Trek is always (or at least usually) about social messages. I want to see thoughtful morals to the stories. Even South Park has worthwhile "messages" embedded in its juvenile humor.
• Interesting characters.  In animation, it is easy to have cardboard cutouts for characters.  I want to see some depth, backstories, and something other than slapstick.
• In-Jokes.  Yes, I do want to see some references to other incarnations of Star Trek, obvious or even better subtle.

This series is set after the final TNG movie, Star Trek Nemesis, a period of time not addressed in detail on-screen, except for the snippets of back history given in Star Trek Picard. That gives them a little elbow room. I HOPE that in catering to children, they don't forget that they are likely to have their grown-up Trek fans watching, as well.

The series was originally announced as being produced for Nickelodeon, but the latest word is that the ten episodes of the first season will be on CBS All Access now, and will appear on Nik sometime in 2021.  A second season of Lower Decks is already in the works.  Curiously enough, ten episodes, one a week, take us up right up the premier of the third season of Star Trek Discovery in October.

All Good Things 2: Accomplishments

On the occasion of my retirement, I have been thinking back over the past 16 years.

I have been the radio station advisor and Radio Workshop teacher for almost a third of the lifetime of KWSC-FM, which begins its 50th year this fall. When I inherited the station, it had a transmitter that was past its design lifetime, aging studio equipment, no AP service, bootlegged software on its production computers, and a programming automation system that somehow kept playing outdated things we tried time after time to remove. The station was also facing a $10,000 fine for FCC violations, committed before my time.  One of the main things I was charged with when hired was to "get things under control."

Today, the station has a new tower and transmitter site, audio consoles with years left in their lifetimes, a constantly updated production music library, a constantly updated on-air music service, and an automation system that works effectively (except for occasional glitch caused by human learning curves). We have recently-purchased BluTooth sports remote equipment, recently-purchased standardized studio microphones, and we are using a podcasting platform that I researched and brought to the table. My partner in all of these technology updates was our engineer, Tom Schmitz.

I have also been a leader for many curriculum updates.  What we now call "Electronic Media" was "Broadcasting' but the industry had moved beyond that "silo."  Collaborating with Maureen Carrigg and Max McElwain, we updated the name of the major and began the ongoing process of converging the student media to make them multi-platform, as the industry expects.  I also like to think that I helped find critical resources and the curriculum structure for the very popular digital film coursework of the "Hot Attic Film School", which is probably leading Mass Communication to a record enrollment, possibly as soon as this fall.

I have had multiple service roles at the school, including serving on the vital Academic Policies committee, the Institutional Review Board, chairing multiple hiring committees (they were all good hires), and some years ago chairing the Technology for Learning and Teaching (TLTC) committee as we revitalized it.  I also served on the WSC Centennial Committee.

There was a time recently, due to unexpected faculty changes, in which I was the ONLY full-time faculty member in mass communication. I do believe that I was an important part of holding things together during that challenging time.

For the record, there are things at WSC that only I know how to do, particularly involving the radio station, and I say that literally.  In anticipation of having Emeritus status, I am fully intending to assist and mentor whoever comes next teaching the classes that have been mine and in operating KWSC-FM.

All Good Things

I am today formally announcing that I am retiring and will not be teaching at Wayne State College this fall, at least not as a regular faculty member.

This has been a very difficult decision, but my wife and I are at elevated risk from the coronavirus. Even though WSC is taking admirable steps to attempt to control the virus, I would still be in a poorly-ventilated classroom that would be crowded at or beyond social distance capacity for a certain number of hours a week, not to mention other possible "walking about" exposures on campus.  We did a lot of soul-searching and decided that this is the best course for us.

Some people will probably be unhappy about this. I am sorry for students who may feel let down because they were expecting me to teach a class they will take this coming year. I am sorry for the short notice to whoever ends up teaching these courses. I will be available as a resource to the faculty (I will not tell them WHAT to do, but I will tell them how I taught the courses, how the systems work, etc.).

As for myself, I have always intended that when the time came for me to retire I would give plenty of official notice, to allow the college to either hire a replacement or at least find a fully-qualified interim. That plan, unfortunately, did not take into account the safety concerns from the current pandemic, which too many people around the country are politicizing and not taking seriously. I intend to seek emeritus professor rank, which could mean that I might possibly teach now and then in the future. 

It has been a good 16 years, but as they say, "all good things must come to an end." I have few regrets about my time at Wayne State College.