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                Frequently Asked Questions List
            for alt.fan.surak and vulcan-l@netcom.com
                  Last updated October 3, 1995
		  Edited May 14th, 2003

 

This list attempts to answer some common questions about Surak and the related topics which are discussed on alt.fan.surak and the vulcan-l mailing list. Please send comments, suggestions, and material to be added to the list to rmt7@po.cwru.edu.

The FAQ is currently being updated and expanded to include more information. Since I'm working from memory here, information which is uncertain or has not been verified is presented in brackets with a question mark. [?] I will verify information as soon as possible, but any help will be much appreciated.

This file is posted twice per month. The most recent version is available on the web at

http://eek.cwru.edu/~surak/Vulcan/faqsurak.txt



Table of Contents

 <1.>   What is alt.fan.surak and vulcan-l@netcom.com?
 <2.>   Surak?  Isn't that Spock's father?  
 <3.>   What is IDIC?
+<4.>   Who is Tuvok?
 <5.>   What about the Romulans?
 <6.>   Mailing List Administrivia
 <7.>   Spoiler Policy
 <8.>   Flame Policy
 <9.>   Canon
 <10.>  Is there an archive? 
+<11.>  Where can I get more information?
(+ indicates changes since last revision)

1. What is alt.fan.surak and vulcan-l@netcom.com?

The newsgroup alt.fan.surak was started around December 1993 as a forum for discussion of the teachings and philosophies of the mytho-historical character of Surak from the Star Trek universe. The vulcan-l@netcom.com mailing list spun off from the newsgroup in June 1994 for the benefit of those who weren't receiving the newsgroup consistently, with a slightly more diverse range of topics that includes all aspects of life on Vulcan. The mailing list is echoed in the alt.fan.surak newsgroup at many sites.

2. Surak? Isn't that Spock's father?

No, Spock's father is Ambassador Sarek. Surak is an historical figure from ancient Vulcan. Described by Spock as the father of Vulcan civilization, he founded and popularized the philosophies of peace, logic, mastery over one's emotions, and IDIC. These philosophies form the basis for modern Vulcan culture. Before Surak's Reformation, Vulcans were warlike and ruled by their passions. The planet nearly had been destroyed by devastating wars, and another war was on the verge of starting, when Surak and his followers intervened. They sent emissaries of peace to their enemies. These emissaries were killed at first, but they sent more, and more, until eventually people began to listen and the idea of peace took hold. There has been no war since then. It is widely believed that the Reformation saved the Vulcans from self-destruction. [Those who did not agree with Surak's teachings left Vulcan in a mass exodus and became the Romulans, who have retained the warlike ways of their ancestors. (Pending verification of information from "Unification")?]

3. What is IDIC?

It stands for "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations". What precisely this means has been the subject of much debate on the group/list. Some of the aspects that have been discussed include celebration of the diversity of the universe, or at least tolerance of other cultures and how far this tolerance should go. Some schools of thought say that IDIC tolerates all differences without necessarily adopting them, while others disagree.

Here's what The Star Trek Encyclopedia has to say:

IDIC: Acronym for Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, a cornerstone of the Vulcan philosophy. Spock wore an IDIC medallion to the shipboard dinner in honor of Dr. Jones. ("Is There in Truth no Beauty?" [TOS] ).

The triangle-circle IDIC pendant in this episode was designed by Gene Roddenberry and has been used as a Vulcan national symbol.

That's all there is. Taken from _The Star Trek Encyclopedia_, ISBN 0-671-86905-1.


4. Who is Tuvok?

Lieutenant Tuvok is the chief of security of the USS Voyager on Star Trek: Voyager. He had been Captain Janeway's security officer for some time prior to the beginning of the series, but his assignment at the beginning of the pilot episode was to infiltrate the Maquis as an undercover agent for Starfleet security. He also taught at the Academy for 16 years.

A black Vulcan?

Yes. No official explanation has been given, but there has been extensive speculation. One possibility is that Tuvok is not actually black but is merely portrayed by a black actor. Another possibility that has been discussed here is that it is a natural genetic variation resulting in a variety of skin tones and hair colors, and we simply have not seen black Vulcans featured prominently before. There have been a few minor appearances of black Vulcanoids in the background: the Vulcan midwife in the memory of Spock's birth in _Star Trek V: The Final Frontier_ was black, and there have been black Romulans in TNG "The Pegasus" and DS9 "The Die is Cast". However, Tuvok is the first instance of a black Vulcan in a starring role.

How old is Tuvok?

He has been married for 67 years. Depending on whether he is counting from the date of bonding or the actual marriage, his age is somewhere between 74 and about 100.

So does he have any children?

Yes. Tuvok stated in "Elogium" that he has four children, three sons and one daughter.

Since Vulcans never lie, how could Tuvok have served as an undercover security agent, which required pretending to be something he is not?

Chakotay asked Tuvok about this in "State of Flux". Tuvok responded by claiming that he was true to his own convictions within the parameters of his mission. At another point [in the same episode?] Chakotay was losing rather badly to Tuvok at gin, and asked how Tuvok could bluff since bluffing was lying. Tuvok countered that since all parties understood that a bluff was a ruse or misdirection, he wasn't lying.

Aren't Vulcans pacifists? How can Tuvok be security officer, a position which requires the use of force?

We don't have a good answer to this yet. It has been suggested that Tuvok does not strictly adhere to the teachings of Surak, particularly since his name does not begin with an S. Tuvok may also avoid the use of force except where absolutely necessary, such as in self-defense. Although Surak died rather than meet aggression with aggression, Spock stated in "Journey to Babel" that his father Sarek was capable of killing efficiently if he found it logical to do so.


5. What about the Romulans?

The Romulans are decendants of a group who left Vulcan thousands of years ago, probably during Vulcan's aggressive colonizing days. However, as Vulcan moved towards peace, the Romulans retained the warlike ways of their ancestors. While the Vulcans were unaware of the ancestry of the Romulans before the incidents in "Balance of Terror", the Romulans apparently remembered their origins. In later years, there was a movement lead by Spock and a handful of prominent Romulans to reunify their two worlds, but so far this has not produced results.

6. Mailing List Administrivia

Just a reminder that vulcan-l is a mailing list. Because of the way the list is configured, only subscribers can post directly to the list without listowner approval. (If you are posting to the newsgroup, which is echoed in the list, this doesn't affect you.) If you are not a subscriber, and you attempt to post to vulcan-l@netcom.com, your post will be bounced to the listowner (Randall Raemon ) for approval at his discretion.
To subscribe to the list, send a one line message of

   subscribe vulcan-l
to
   listserv@netcom.com
The listserv processor will extract your email address from the header, and add you to the subscription list. You will get back a vulcan-l info mailing as confirmation.

7. Spoiler Policy

Because the Vulcan tactical officer on Voyager, Tuvok, is the subject of frequent debate on the list and newsgroup, a spoiler policy is needed for those people in the United States who do not get the new episodes on Monday night and those people outside the United States who will not be getting the new episodes for many months.

A spoiler is any information which is important to the plot of the episode. Please do not put any spoiler information in the subject line! It is nearly impossible to avoid reading it in that case for people who do not want to be spoiled. In the subject line, put "Voyager [episode name] SPOILERS" or something similar. In the body of the message, put at least 24 blank lines (one screen) before writing any spoiler information. Note that ^L will not work with many of the mail readers used on the mailing list, so only blank lines will be effective.


8. Flame Policy

As a group dedicated to diversity, we welcome all opinions and viewpoints. However, please remember that there are real live thinking and feeling human beings on the other end of the connection. We want to hear your opinions on the topics of discussion, but no one likes being attacked personally in a flame.

9. Canon

The debate over what material should be considered canon, or at the very least mutually acceptable as a starting point for debate, has failed to produce a clear consensus. In general, if it's on film it's canon, but any source (print or film) is fair game for discussion. Where possible, give references for information. Not only do the books frequently contradict each other and the episodes, but occasionally episodes are contradictory, resulting in much confusion.

10. Is there an archive?

The archive of old messages is available via anonymous FTP. FTP to ftp.cs.cmu.edu directory /afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr8/bh2b/public files vulcan-l.zip and surak.zip

Note that you must cd in 1 step. You cannot cd to /afs/andrew.cmu.edu and then cd to usr8/bh2b/public

This archive site is available courtesy of Benjamin Hsu [BenHsu+@CMU.EDU].


11. Where can I get more information?

*World Wide Web*

alt.fan.surak http://www.marketaz.co.uk/StarTrek/Vulcan/Vulcan.html

http://vulcan.mrklingon.org

*Film and Television*

_The Original Series_
"Amok Time"  Our first visit to planet Vulcan
"Is There in Truth No Beauty?"  Spock wears the IDIC emblem
"The Immunity Syndrome"  Mentioned the USS Intrepid, an all-Vulcan ship
"Journey to Babel"  We meet Spock's father, Sarek
"The Savage Curtain"  Surak is recreated in a fight between good and evil

_Star Trek 3:  The Search for Spock_
_Star Trek 5:  The Final Frontier_

_The Next Generation_
"Sarek"  Ambassador Sarek's last mission
"Unification"  Ambassador Spock works to reunite Vulcan and Romulus
"Gambit"  Renegades search for an ancient Vulcan weapon

_Deep Space Nine_
"The Maquis" parts 1 and 2  Features Sekona, a Vulcan in the Maquis

_Voyager_
Features a Vulcan, Tuvok, as chief of security

*Books*

_The Star Trek Encyclopedia_ by Okuda, Okuda, and Mirek, ISBN 0-671-86905-1 _The Star Trek Chronology_ by Okuda and Okuda, ISBN 0-671-79611-9 (The following aren't canon, but they are a good source of information.) _Spock's World_ by Diane Duane, ISBN 0-671-66773-4 _The Vulcan Academy Murders_ by Jean Lorrah, ISBN 0-671-50054-6 _The IDIC Epidemic_ by Jean Lorrah, ISBN 0-671-70768-X _Vulcan's Glory_ by D. C. Fontana, ISBN 0-671-65667-8 _The Romulan Way_ by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood, ISBN 0-671-63498-4 _Strangers From the Sky_ by Margaret Wander Bonnano, ISBN 0-671-64049-6 _Sarek_ by A. C. Crispin, ISBN 0-671-79562-7 _Unification_ by Jeri Taylor, ISBN 0-671-77056-X _The Pandora Principle_ by Carolyn Clowes, ISBN 0-671-65815-8


Joel Anderson's Vulcan Dictionary Page
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These pages are not authorized or approved by Paramount Pictures. they are not published for profit. they are not to be redistributed without the express consent of the creator, but links to these pages may be created freely.