> Now that I've thought more about it, "alumnus"
> doesn't really fit either, since you're only an
> alumnus of a college or university if you've
> matriculated. I have friends who I went to
> college with, but they never graduated, so
> they're not alumni of my alma mater. I am. I've
> never heard of the term used in metellurgy.

According to dictionary.com, "Matriculation" is the act of enrolling in a college, rather than graduating.

> Perhaps it had something to do with
> Starfleet's change of policy concerning
> commanding officers taking part in landing
> parties. Red shirts made for more obvious
> targets (hence the higher mortality rate); now
> that ship captains don't beam down as often,
> perhaps they decided to try to lower the
> casualty rate among the marines.

But... They still send officers on away missions. Even if they're not captains, they're still wearing red. And gold is hardly a good camoflage colour itself.

Although it would explain the trend in Starfleet uniforms of reducing the amount of colour. By DS9 you're down to a coloured poloneck, that's almost completely covered by a standard uniform. And the colours become more muted, too.

winter"Spends way too long worrying about these things"mute