VAST 2006 Contest - A tale of Alderwood

Answer information from the originators of the dataset

Mark A. Whiting, PNNL
Carrie Varley, PNNL

Tool(s):

Brute Force, bizarre imaginations, sharpened pencils. A little Visio, Word, and TextPad.

(250 words MAX). And of course we were part of the team that imagined the plot itself…

1. Who

Conspirators	Most relevant source files (5 MAX)
Rex Luthor, mayor	Oh, so many… the Backgrounder, the Excel phone calls, 1101243338500, Starbucks pictures (showing his Laurel at work),
Augustus “Bruce” Rinz, city attorney	1101243338500, 1101162452451, 1101163452222
Laurel Sulfate	1101243338500, the Pictures, 1101163356001
Alejandro Von Ryker	The pictures with the city folk, and then their Word docs
Delwin Sanderson	The pictures with the city folk, and then their Word docs. 1101163018599 (to Argentina), 1101163595600
Unnamed FDA Official	1101163356500, 1101163977242

Bystanders and Dupes
Dr. Boynton	Just look at the poor fellow’s pictures -- he is practically comatose!
Councilman Torch	And just look at his pictures too…this time, the one with Laurel in Starbucks….

2. Important events

Scenario Time	Events	Format	Elements Revealed	Subtlety High 1>2>3	Article Key
<Jan 2002	Alderwood Baseline Conditions; Mayor's plot to "Restore Alderwood" begins	Word	Foundation for scenario	3	Background(Word)
<Jan 2002	City Atty Rinz agrees to finance Lab	Text	Link between Rinz and overall scheme	1	1101243338500
<Jan 2002	Luthor and Laurel ("Laurie") Sulfate history is tipped off	Text	Link between Luthor and Laurel	2	1101243338500
Jan-May 2002	Mayor's Overseas Phone Calls: Mayor Luthor makes several overseas phone calls from City Hall	Excel entries	Link to Switzerland	3	Excel (Phone)
Feb 2002	Rinz link to questionable scientists	Text	Link to Switzerland	1	1101162452451
May-Oct 2002	Boynton Laboratory Construction	Text	Rinz linkage	2	1101243338500
May-Oct 2002	Boynton Laboratory Construction	Text	Introduce Boynton; Laurel	3	1101240332919
May-Oct 2002	Boynton Laboratory Construction	Text	Puts laboratory under suspicion	2	1101163840166; pictures
May-Oct 2002	Boynton Laboratory Construction	Word	Scientists suspicious	3	Word(Scientists)
	Boynton Laboratory Construction	Word	Scientists work on synthetic prion research	3	Word(Scientists)
Aug 2002	John Torch becomes active in politics	Text	Challenge to Luthor	3	1101631275108
Sep 02- May 03	Influx of new Voters for Luthor	Word	Link to Mayor on influx	3	Background(Word)
	Influx of new Voters for Luthor	Excel	Amount of new voters	2	Excel (Registry)
Feb 2003	Apartments reach 100% occupancy rate	Text	Amount of new voters	1	1101163661840
Mar-Jul 2003	Foreign land buy up	Text	Another foreign link via Rinz	1	1101163452222
Jul 2003	Torch announces bid for mayor	Text	Torch challenge	3	1101631275108
Aug 2003	Torch becomes liability to Luthor	Text	Torch Challenge	2	1101163019147
Sept 2003	Sanderson out of town (he's causing the "fake" mad cow)	Text	Oddly, he's out of town just before the outbreak	1	1101163018599
Sep 2003	Boynton Labs to help w/ mad cow	Text	Oddly, the labs ready to cure the new mad cow	2	1101163018612
Oct 2003	New Voting machines procured	Text	? Coincidence with other political elements?	3	1101163017765
Jan 2004	Prion breakthru at Boynton Labs	Text	Oddly, the labs ready to cure the new mad cow	2	1101163840166
Feb 2004	Torch seen as viable contender	Text	Torch challenge	2	1101163727099
Feb 2004	New voting machines installed	Text	More voting concerns	2	1101163726024
Mar 2004	Boynton Labs cure mad cow	Text	Oddly, the lab is able to cure the mad cow	2	1101163595600
Apr 2004	FDA investigation of Boynton	Text	Is there scandal at the lab?	2	1101163356500
Apr 2004	Torch scandalous rendezvous	Text	Laurel goes to Switzerland	3	1101163356001
	Torch scandalous rendezvous	Images	Torch is caught in scandal	3	Pictures File Photo 2
Jun 2004	Boynton Labs vindicated	Text	Oddly, nothing wrong is at the lab	2	1101163977242
Jun 2004-Nov 2004	Torch campaign goes silent	Text	Torch Challenge Gone	2	Lack of text!
Aug 2004	Luthor campaign seen going well	Text	Flying high	2	1101162945890
Nov 2004	FDA investigation ends	Text	FDA investigation may be tainted	2	1101163977242
Nov 2004	Voting machine difficulties	Text	More voting concerns	2	1101162413930

3. Locations

	LOCATION	EVIDENCE
1	Alderwood	Clearly…
2	Switzerland	VonRyker and Sanderson are from there, the City Hall calls are made to there, Rinz comes from there…
3	South America	Sanderson ensures Argentina has a prion problem Boynton Labs can solve (1101163018599…), the schnook!

4. Debriefing

The City of Alderwood

Mayor Rex Luthor

Mayor Luthor was sorely distressed at the sad state of the wonderful town of Alderwood, Washington. Despite his best efforts to revitalize the community, nothing was working. The decline began when the dot-com bust virtually destroyed the tourism economy. Then, the mad cow outbreak wreaked havoc with the local agriculture industry. People were out of work. Banks were reporting defaults on loans. Voters were moving away to the larger cities of Seattle and Portland. Luthor realized if something drastic were not done, both the town and his mayorship would be lost. After all, he still had several years active service planned before his retirement.

Mad Cow look-alike

As luck would have it, Luthor taken several biology classes during his football glory days at the university. Being mayor of an agricultural community, Luthor was passing familiar with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also known as Mad Cow disease. So much so, that he concocted a brilliant, albeit nefarious, scheme: If a look-alike disease to Mad Cow could be engineered, along with a miraculous cure, his problems would melt away. He could infect a few bovines at choice locations around the world, and sell cures for a magnificent profit. With the proceeds, he could finance the renewal of Alderwood, his political career, and ensure a comfortable retirement in his dream house along the banks of the lazy Alderwood River. Perhaps, a statue in the center of Swiss Park would be in