news-record.com

A piece of now-famous state legislation that aimed to boldly go where no bill has gone before ... is going nowhere.

For now. At least.

Filed by state Rep. Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat, the bill would have provided seed money for a Starfleet Academy Complex at N.C. A&T.

Yup, you heard right. A Starfleet Academy.

Lampooned in a Web video that became a YouTube hit, the bill has attracted national attention. But it failed to launch in the state House, and is nowhere to be found in the just-passed $19 billion state budget.

The bill would have earmarked $1.7 million to buy land, conduct a feasibility study and develop a master plan for the facility.

Jones said he knew the bill had little chance. But he added that the Civitas parody actually has given it new life. (And as everyone knows, in science fiction, nothing ever really stays dead).

"A blessing in disguise," Jones called the video.

He also gave credit where it was due. The Star Fleet Academy Complex was not his idea. It's the brainchild of a 51-year-old Greensboro architect, Sharon Graeber.

Graeber giggled last week when asked about the concept. "I've been giggling all day," she said over the phone. But she wouldn't say much more. "This is one of those projects I can't explain over the phone."

So, she explained it days later in person, in a modest, sparsely furnished conference room in her northeast Greensboro office.

Graeber, a Smith High School graduate, went on to N.C. State University, where she earned bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture.

She has been a Trekkie most of her life, and she had been working on the concept of the Starfleet Academy since 1996. The Starfleet name, she conceded, was an attempt to brand the project ,which she expects to take five years to develop. "It's an international brand," she said, "something that people can relate to."

And why did she choose Greensboro and A&T for the enterprise (sorry)?

"This is home," she said. "It's time to look for something different, something innovative. Why not here?

Graeber's company, Sci-Eco (Scientific and Economic Development Corp.) obtained rights for use of the trademarked name from CBS for a fee she would not disclose. "CBS liked our concept because of the educational component," she said. "And because it takes venues of this type to the next level."

The link to "Star Trek" appears to have worked. To a point. The video spoof by the conservative, Raleigh-based Civitas Institute, poked fun at possible course offerings in Klingon and overacting (a la William "James T. Kirk" Shatner). It also depicts a doctored photo of Gov. Bev Perdue as a member of the ruthless half-machine, half-human alien race, the Borg.

The parody tickled even her Graeber admits. "It's actually a cute video," she said.

But she did express concern that the humor may overshadow what she sees as the substance of the proposal. "I can't say they hurt us," she said. "They just created an uncomfortable situation. But I want people to understand that the project isn't as frivolous as has been portrayed. Some of the craziest ideas have turned out to be the most successful. History has shown us that."

Even so, Graeber won't reveal much about the project, citing "nondisclosure agreements" at nearly every turn.

She can't disclose her partners.

She can't disclose the terms of the deal with CBS.

She won't share a detailed proposal.

All she will share are the sketchy details contained in a three-paragraph news release that describes the proposed complex as a "$1 B (as in $1 billion) development project in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina" that will bring "+/- 12,000 non-seasonal full- and part-time jobs to the region."

Those job estimates, it appears, must breed like Tribbles. Jones' bill placed them at "more than 1,000."

Still, Graeber is right: Some of what are dismissed as the goofiest ideas wind up being brilliant in retrospect. (I should know; I work for the company that conceived "The Weather Channel.") And if a Trekkie can't dream big dreams, then who can?

Problem is, $1.7 million in public money is a lot to invest in a project in which so few details are public. As Mr. Spock might say: "That would be illogical."

But as a fellow Trekkie, I wish Graeber the very best and would not mind one bit, if, on a stardate in the not-too-distant future, she says, in her very best Kirk voice, that ... she ... told ... me ... so.

"Live long and prosper," I said to her as I headed to my car.

But not on the taxpayer's dime.