Is there an alternative to "alter session disable parallel query"?

Oracle 10.2.0.1/Sun Solaris 8

We have tried a number of things like the no_parallel hints, parallel degree 0, outlines, rule hints, but they all end up using parallel query for a particular table (with parallel specified in the DDL). As we are trying to tune one specific query and not all queries against this table, we are not yet interested in changing the system-wide parallel parameters, nor the DDL. Are there any other tricks we can look at other than explicitly altering the session?

On top of this, why does the no_parallel hint (and the sister index hint) not prohibit parallel operations?

TIA charles schultz
oracle dba
aits - adsd
university of illinois

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