Finally got it to work. I had to manually download the 1.02 update from the Bioware website. I did not realize I had to do this for two reasons:
1. My MassEffectConfig.exe told me that I was already using v1.02
2. I was told that I only needed the 1.02 patch for people running Windows 7.
Oh yeah, and also because I had assumed (foolishly), that EA would have ensured that the version that I downloaded from Steam was up to date. I had forgotten that EA is the sole publisher that does not fully support Steam for "business" reasons.
I give the game an A+ and the tech support and basic overall documentation a D-.