Why do a Kolvoord Starburst in "The First Duty"?

[eepruls]

It's akin to buzzing the tower in Top Gun. It's showing off that you're a hotshot - part of the psyche that makes for a good officer in the first place.
I'm really rather surprised that so many (young?) viewers don't get that.

I understand wanting to do something daring and that's why I suggested that the Starburst should not have been written where it resulted in an expulsion and shame if you attempt it. It should have just been a really hard, really dangerous trick that nobody had ever done successfully. That would make sense for young people to risk their lives for the glory of succeeding. If you succeed at it, you would be a total hero. That would make sense that the 'jocks' as someone called them, would try something like that.

The way the Starburst was written in the actual show was that it was totally against the rules and punishable by expulsion. Starfleet would not turn a blind eye even if you did it successfully because that would set a very bad precedent (i.e. why make it against the rules if doing it is okay?). I likened it to Drinking and Driving in my early posts where it's wrong and against the law. Just because you drove home pretty well won't make the cops look the other way. So, the issue isn't about young kids wanting to do something dangerous, it's why they thought everyone would be cool with it if they did it successfully.

 

[eepruls]

It's that they covered up and lied about how they were responsible for the death of a cadet that's at the heart of the matter. They committed perjury and homicide (what degree or kind I don't know, but I'm thinking Negligent Homicide.) If all they did was practice the maneuver and got caught, or if the accident did happen and everyone got out alive, then I can see the slap on the wrist as being a somewhat fair punishment. But a kid died. They were responsible because they knew he wasn't up to it and they pushed him into it and then they covered it up by committing perjury. They all should have been expelled and turned over to a civilian court, or if possible, court martialed. Can a cadet be court martialed?

Good point. Not sure if they can be court martialed.

 

[sbk1234]

I may have missed something, but where in the episode did it state that performing the move at all would result in expulsion?

 

[eepruls]

I may have missed something, but where in the episode did it state that performing the move at all would result in expulsion?

I double checked and it doesn't say they'll get expelled however I would suspect it would result in serious punishment (probably expulsion). From Memory Alpha:

"The maneuver was banned at Starfleet Academy since the 2260s following an accident in which all five cadets attempting to perform the maneuver were killed."

Starfleet would not turn a blind eye if they did the maneuver successfully. They banned it for a reason and the cadets knew it. So again, why try it at Commencement Ceremony? Even if they didn't think it would get them expelled, they were surely get the book thrown at them since it was banned.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Starfleet Academy seemed to assume that cadets are always able to make a distinction between these two. Well, they didn't.

Maybe the ability to make a distinction like that is one of the things they look for in an officer who may end up on a deep space or undercover assignment, out of touch with Starfleet Command for long periods of time?

Can a cadet be court martialed?

If precedent set by the current United States military means anything, then yes, absolutely.

 

[sbk1234]

I may have missed something, but where in the episode did it state that performing the move at all would result in expulsion?

I double checked and it doesn't say they'll get expelled however I would suspect it would result in serious punishment (probably expulsion). From Memory Alpha:

"The maneuver was banned at Starfleet Academy since the 2260s following an accident in which all five cadets attempting to perform the maneuver were killed."

Starfleet would not turn a blind eye if they did the maneuver successfully. They banned it for a reason and the cadets knew it. So again, why try it at Commencement Ceremony? Even if they didn't think it would get them expelled, they were surely get the book thrown at them since it was banned.

Logically, you're right. But these cadets were treated like "gods." (As Boothby put it.) They probably really thought they could get away with it because they were them. Unfortunately many "big men on campus" often have this inflated idea of themselves.

 

[Anwar]

Right, let's not forget "Red Squad" when they were in charge of the Valiant...

 

[eepruls]

Logically, you're right. But these cadets were treated like "gods." (As Boothby put it.) They probably really thought they could get away with it because they were them. Unfortunately many "big men on campus" often have this inflated idea of themselves.

Great point. Makes a lot of sense. They thought they were untouchable and could do anything. It's just hard for me to grasp how during all the planning for the maneuver, they all thought that if they did it successfully at Commencement, Starfleet would say, "Way to go team! We're going to graduate you all and show everyone here that they should just ignore anything we ban in the future! I mean, to hell with rules as long as you do it succesfully!"

Usually the jocks and show-offs do shit to impress their peers at times when they won't get caught. If they do, it's by accident, and not intended. In the case of the episode, it seemed like they were going to brazenly show off right in front of their commanding officers instead of just their peers.

Right, let's not forget "Red Squad" when they were in charge of the Valiant...

Red Squad was on their own and Starfleet didn't know what they were doing. I don't think they would have attacked a Dominion warship if there were Admirals and Captains there!

 

[The Borg Queen]

This episode yet again points out a logical flaw in Starfleet's "superadvanced" technology.

You're telling me it's not possible to link all the navigational computers together and have them function as a single vehicle and manoeuvre in synch with each other?

 

[Vassa]

You're telling me it's not possible to link all the navigational computers together and have them function as a single vehicle and manoeuvre in synch with each other?

There ya go bringing IT into it...

 

[sbk1234]

Something that TNG mentioned (I think in one of the show's "Bibles" is that for all the advanced technology that they have, the antagonists would probably have something to nullify it. One of the conceits of story telling.

 

[Vanyel]

You're telling me it's not possible to link all the navigational computers together and have them function as a single vehicle and manoeuvre in synch with each other?

There ya go bringing IT into it...

In that case Nova Squad wouldn't be doing the maneuver, the computers would be. What's the point of doing a daring maneuver, that would have you graduate in a "blaze of glory", if you're not doing it?

 

[Red Ranger]

Why? Because they thought doing a Kolvoord Starburst would be . . . cool.

 

[Corran Horn]

I think that they would've had a hard time because they should've been expelled. As for the Starburst they probably thought that they wold get away with it if they were successful.

We can pretty much see already that they wouldn't have gotten expelled had it worked. I didn't work. Somebody died. They lied about it. And in the end only Locarno got expelled.

 

[Delta1]

Kolvoord starburst wasn't illegal. It was just banned by the Academy.

Disobeying orders and regulations is illegal. That's how the military works*. If someone with command authority over you bans something, and you do it anyway, you can face nonjudicial punishment or court martial. There doesn't have to be a Preserving and Defending the Starfleet Corps of Cadets from the Dangers of the Kolvoord Starburst Act.

*Pre-empting the inevitable "But Starfleet isn't military, Picard said so!" retort: Starfleet utilizes courts martial, therefore it is under military law, therefore lawful orders impose legal obligations.