RE: Thanks

[Brian Mansur <bmansur@oc.edu>]

>From Brian

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TO:   SSD Discussion Group                  March 13, 1996
FROM: Rex Finke

Thank you for including me in your design discussion group.
Thanks also to Kelly Starks for the excellent summary; it
indicates to me that you have made significant progress since
week 29 (early Feb '95), which was the last Project Newsletter
that I have read through.  I am familiar with most of your names
from your contributions up to that point.

Regarding my future contribution to "mail-box overflow," I'm not
known to be wordy.  "Terse" is the usual complaint.  But in spite
of my apparent age, I have not outgrown being an enthusiast, so
you can expect active participation.  (Note: proper time is
always less than apparent time.)

I'll hold any other remarks until after I've digested Kelly's
summary.  (I think I still should review all the old Newsletters;
it may be just as important to find out what you don't know as to
find out what you do know.)
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Brian
Welcome aboard the Asimov.  Would you like to be reffered to by your first 
or last name?  Mine is Brian Vance Mansur, but you can call me Brian for the 
least amount of typing.  I'm a 20 year old student at Oklahoma Christian 
University of Science and Arts in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  My major is 
pre-med biochemistry, but I've always been a science enthusiast (especially 
sci-fi).  LIT's starship design project seemed a unique opportunity to be at 
least a small part of helping future generations fulfill the age old dream 
of reaching out to the stars.  And in some ways, designing a ship to reach 
the heavens is like going yourself.

Since we aim to boldly go where no starship design project has gone before 
(or something like that), we could certainly use someone with your 
experience.  We have A LOT of questions pertaining to engine efficiencies, 
heat loads, AI's, . . . I'd better give my personal list after I've had a 
spring break to do my Calculus.

By the way, if you we younger, I'd tell you to log off immediately and 
consider yourself lucky that you avoided a very addictive and timeconsuming 
hobby.  This starship design project has been a source of strain to my 
classes, which is one thing I plan to correct over break.  But since you are 
retired, I should hope you have some free time.

A word of consolation (consolation in light of what we have called the 
recent e-mail avalanche) you won't hear from me nearly as much as the group 
has in the last few weeks, but I'll still be here for another month and a 
half.  Then it is off-line time until summer vacation ends.   Speaking of 
vacations, after this spring break, expect a paper detailing a maser 
launched starship design that I've named the Argosy class.  I hope it will 
end up as a permanent addition to the LIT pages, but we'll have to see if it 
gets that good.