I really liked that novel too and I’m going to have to give it another read, I think. It added a lot of character to Kirk’s actions in rigging the game so he could win. That’s one thing that I found frustrating about the 2009 reboot. None of the reasoning behind what he did was there; it was all replaced by Smug Cadet Kirk eating an apple in front of everyone while being dressed down for his actions.
I remember the book. My favorite was Scotty’s solution and how he got “busted down” to engineering corps for noticing a flaw in the computer programming.
Hey, I liked ST:ENT, or at least I started to once they got that Xindi crap out of the way.
Though on reflection, the Xindi themselves might have been tolerable if they hadn’t kept hammering on that “the fate of EARTH!” button.
Yeah, we were all relieved, and then disappointed, and often alcohol impaired.
True, though a Vulcan cadet would have a very different reaction to a human. Then again what logical reason would there be to continue to play the distress calls over the bridge speakers after it’s been determined that rescue is impossible. Other than being more dramatic for anyone that happened to be watching. 
I’m kinda curious about the cadet who figures “if this a legit distress call, I’ll broadcast a general signal to any and all Klingon vessels requesting permission to enter the Zone. If nobody answers, that’s suspicious and this is obviously a trap. If they do answer, I’ll see if I can talk them into rescuing the ship and delivering the survivors to some neutral base.”
For that matter, once the Federation ship enters the zone, it’s in violation of treaty, right? So aren’t the Klingon ships already there in violation of treaty as well? Attack them!
For some reason, when Star Trek says “neutral zone” they mean “region patrolled and defended by the other race”. Starfleet stays on the Federation side of the line, Klingons stay on the Klingon side, the line is about a meter wide. Same thing for Romulans.
Yeah, they’re pretty stupid that way.
On the contrary, the scene is foreshadowing, it’s the theme of the whole movie in microcosm. The battle with Khan is repeatedly compared to the KM sim. We see the no-win scenario. We see the need to face death. We learn how Kirk has always cheated death, and then can’t stand the death of a friend. Thwe thing is utterly essential to the drama of the film.
That’s *part *of it, yes.
As for Starfleet being military, I think of it as being sort of a Swiss Army knife. It has many functions including scientific research, exploration, diplomacy, emergency rescue, transportation of colonists and equipment, and so on. Military is one of its ‘blades’ as it were, but not the most important one. So *mostly *Starfleet isn’t military…mostly.
I almost said ‘Nelson’ but it turns out that’s a misconception.
Sure the scene as presented serves its purpose within the film. McIntyre, though, had to write a follow-up scene for the novelization where the purpose of the Kobayashi Maru simulation was discussed, and I’m guessing there isn’t really a good way to do that, since its value as a teaching tool is questionable at best.
And Kirk ended up cheating death again, tho not by his design, with the Genesis Torpedo regenerating Spock. Net result: win.
The problem isn’t with the test, it’s with how the test breaks down where Magic Kirk is involved.
I disagree. It is useful to see how people react when everything they do goes wrong.
Well, it’s not the cadet who’s being taught, then, is it?
I assume he pre-ripped his shirt on the third try.
That’s because it’s not a teaching tool; it’s an assessment tool.