The Future of Miller Fountain at Trinity University

Lifeless empty Miller Fountain at Trinity University due to water restrictions imposed by SAWS. Photo: Digital Subway

Trinity University has experienced a temporary albeit important loss in its essence and tradition ever since Miller Fountain stopped sprouting water. Dry and lifeless, it no longer adorns Trinity’s iconic Bell Tower or the Northrup Building, which houses the “Oval Office of Trinity”. Instead, it sits mournfully among the adjacent rubble from drilling and construction sites.

The Miller Fountain has remained shut for a long time in compliance with San Antonio Water System’s (SAWS) Phase Two Drought water restrictions. The last time it sprouted was during Senior’s graduation (see picture below) and that was only for a day. The fountain has remained shut before that due to Phase One water restrictions imposed by SAWS. The sprouts that gushed forth out of fountain’s nozzles had served to palliate souls that took refuge in its solace. Instead of offering a repose to humans (who visited it for occasional escapes), an empty fountain now further aggravates feelings of emptiness and failure.

 Paurakh and me during his graduation. Best of luck for his Ph.D program at Stanford University. 

Furthermore, Trinity students have not celebrated their birthdays in the old-fashioned way ever since the fountains went dry. An important tradition has been to throw the student in the fountain on the midnight of their birthday. This has been followed without any ordinance or mention in Student Handbook. A reason to rejoice though is that some Trinity students have not given up on this tradition despite this. On one occasion, my friends and I hand-carried water in our bottles and mugs to the fountain and poured it on the birthday boy as a symbolic gesture of celebrating birthday and also upholding the Trinity tradition. I have seen some others do the same.

Water level in Edwards Aquifer for the recent 12 months. Source: SAWS website.

It is natural to ask then, when will the drought restrictions be lifted? When will Trinity students start enjoying the beauty, serenity and the tradition offered by Miller Fountain they had hitherto taken for granted? The answer lies on SAWS website. Currently, San Antonio is in Phase Two water restrictions due to drought which has decreased the water level in Edwards Aquifer. Edwards Aquifer is the only source of clean drinking water from the underground in San Antonio. The water level has been receding due to lack of rainfall but continued usage by city dwellers. Phase I is enacted when the water level drops below 660 ft below sea level. And Phase II is enacted when it drops below 650 ft below sea level. Currently, the water level is around 643 ft. Following the water level trend in the last two months, SAWS might have to declare Phase III soon if, the water level drops below 640 ft. The water restrictions will be even stricter and seeing sprouts in Miller Fountain might be a distant dream.

So, is it all doom for Trinity students  and residents of San Antonio? Should we all start praying to the God for showering us with some love and rain? Of course, there is an option for us to reduce our water consumption by taking shorter showers and using electric razors among others. We are talking about a drastic change in water consumption habits here. And that is not easy.

Verdant grass despite SAWS restrictions because Trinity uses recycled/reclaimed water. Photo: Digital Subway

On the positive side, the grasses and lawns at Trinity have still remained verdant and green, thanks to sprinkling that has been performed duly. During phase II, use of non-handheld sprinklers are prohibited, but Trinity seems to have gotten around that because it uses recycled, treated water. 

Another note to SAWS and other city dwellers (who might be jealous) to justify Trinity's use of sprinklers. Photo: Digital Subway

A short term and a hell lot easier solution to get Miller Fountain operational is to get a waiver from SAWS. If Trinity can convince SAWS that fountain’s operation is essential for reasons other than aesthetics alone and that only secondary (treated) water is being used, an exception might be granted. If not, Trinity could always use the condensate from its cooling and heating units. Condensates in most air conditioning units go to waste by default. Harvesting rainwater and treating it for circulation in the fountains is also a possibility. If all fails, the talented students and professors in Chemistry department might devise an experiment to produce inexpensive water that does not come from SAWS and thus not subject to drought restrictions. The dry fountains should serve as the innovation bed for Trinity’s creative minds.

Trinity Construction: Upgrading Tennis Courts

Tennis Courts at Trinity University in midst of upgrade. Photo: Digital Subway

In the wake of recession, most universities' endowments suffered a major blow. However, anyone would be skeptical to believe this given the aggressiveness of construction projects at Trinity University. A perfectly good tennis court in great condition, with a capacity for eight simultaneous games was torn down for an upgrade right before our eyes. I overheard a Trinity student saying, "They took down a freakin' good tennis court, it better look damn good once it's completed."

This is how the tennis courts shown above looked before  upgrade. Source:  http://bit.ly/qV7EQR

The administration has proclaimed that the tennis court was in dire need for a major face-lift, additional seating capacity, shading for spectators, a scoreboard and extra space between individual courts. It can be agreed that shading, scoreboard and extra spaces are welcome attributes to an already awesome tennis court in red and green. However, it will be an arduous task to find supporters who would agree that the tennis ground itself needed a major face-lift. 

Tennis Court beside Murchison is also being upgraded. Photo: Digital Subway

Spending more than 2 million dollars for just adding shade, extra space between courts and a scoreboard appears as an imprudent move in terms of economics and value obtained. However, there is little room for argument among amateur economists (including me) when decisions like these are thoughtfully approved by economic scholar and university president Dr. Dennis Ahlburg and other wise board members in the light of all possible investment opportunities.

Trinity Construction: Utility Plants and Horizontal Drilling (video)

Trinity University in a maze. Photo: Digital Subway

If you miss the exhilaration and excitement of finding your way through a maze, consider visiting Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. It is free and open to public which makse it the best deal anyone could find in these tough economic times. A green and beautiful campus has become a maze and a sight of bustling activities due to simultaneous construction projects being undertaken. 

Laying out of pipelines for consolidation of utility plants at Trinity. Photo: Digital Subway

One of the projects in the process is the consolidation of three utility plants into two in order to be efficient and save space for Center for Sciences and Innovation. Currently, three central heating/cooling units service the university's needs for hot and cold water. These shall be consolidated into two energy-efficient units - one boiler and chiller each separately. 

Drilling Machine used for horizontal drilling. Photo: Digital Subway

At first, it might seem like a multi-million dollar project like this may not be cost-effective keeping in mind the elimination of benefit from heat exchange that could take place between boiler and chiller if placed in the same plant. However, the new chillers use modern technology to cool water and thus their operational costs will be lower in the long run and result in net savings. I have neither looked at economics nor technical details behind the equipment used in this project so I can not comment any further. But it has been acclaimed that the project will be completed before university reopens in Fall 2011.

A worker joining pipes for injecting drilling fluid. Photo: Digital Subway

A project of this magnitude is no easy task and requires rigorous drilling at multiple sites to re-channel pipelines for flow of hot/cold waters. The Californian contractor performing this task is using horizontal drilling, the same controversial technique using in extracting natural gas from shale formations - also known as fracking. The only difference in this project that has exempted it from being criticized by environmental groups, students or professors alike is the lack of use of hazardous chemicals. However, upon closer inspection, I discovered that a drilling liquid (see below) is being injected while drilling. Since I was unable to obtain a sample or conduct any tests, its nature and toxicity remains a mystery.

A Gel/Drilling fluid of unknown toxicity injected during horizontal drilling. Photo: Digital Subway

Pipes for chiller and boiler. Photo: Digital Subway

An anonymous Californian worker (anonymous because I forgot to ask his name) described that the tip of the drilling machine has a 2 degrees bend which allows easy maneuvering and makes horizontal drilling possible. A metallic pipe of 2 inches in diameter and 10 or 15 feet in length is first used to drill a hole from one end to another, which can be as long as 1000 feet. As drills are made, more pipes are joined using a socket. Furthermore, once the initial drill is made, other drills are made around it to accommodate the larger pipe which could be several inches in diameter. See a video demonstration of this process below. He admitted that it is a difficult task and requires both strength and technique. However, it pays well since he is part of a labor union back in California.

               Video clip of horizontal drilling process at Trinity University. By Digital Subway

If you have any questions, concerns about this report, please leave your comment below. All digital media in this post is copyrighted by Digital Subway.

3-Day Start-up @ Rackspace in San Antonio

This is what our board looked like today while developing ideas. Photo by: Digital Subway

Organized by Trinity University and hosted by Rackspace, 3 Day Startup event has been so intense yet interesting. Ideas about startups were pitched and among them six ideas were chosen to develop further. A basic working principle with marketing results, business model and expansion has to be developed for each of these ideas.

Sample of another board. These cool models were drawn by Dustin. Photo by: Digital Subway

I am working with the group that is trying to develop a "Collaborative Inventory Management" for local farmers in order to sell their produce efficiently. It is a really cool idea with an expanding market. This model is already working in Georgia state in the U.S. according to the research of Dustin Larimer. Since this is an idea for a tech startup, this is all I can tell you without diving into the details. I can't spill the beans. 

It's a lot of fun and a 3 day event, hence the name 3DS (3 Day Start-up). I am really glad to be participating in it. Let's see how tomorrow goes while pitching final ideas to the investors.

More pictures of 3DS. Photo by: Digital Subway

Algorithm for Securing an Internship

I wrote an algorithm for securing an internship. It worked for me and I hope it works for you too.

I created this flowchart and to know more about how this algorithm really works, you will have to become a premium reader of this blog. Calm down. I don't need your credit card number for that. All it means is that you will have to click on the right on Follow button in order to follow my blog and leave a comment so that I can get back to me. 

Good luck.

Meeting Engineering Professionals

Networking is the proven way to get hired. Source: http://bit.ly/8up18u

Recently, I have been meeting quite a few professionals from engineering industry. It is mainly because I have more or less decided that I do not want to go graduate school immediately after graduation. Instead, I want to go into workforce and see what work is like, assess what field of work I like the best and then decide about graduate school. Imagine getting a degree in an engineering field such as Electrical, Mechanical or Chemical and not liking the work afterward. You will then be stuck up with that degree for the rest of your life.

In addition, it seems like I will be able to graduate with double degrees. A double degree is different than a double major. You can get a double degree if you major in a Bachelor of Science and also a Bachelor of Arts. In order to get a double degree, you need to have at least 159 credit hours. To give you a sense of what this number means, imagine taking a full load of 18 hours (the maximum allowed at Trinity) every semester for eight semesters. A quick math in your head should tell you that totals 144 hours, still 15 hours short of required 159. You would have to spend an extra semester just to get a double degree. That would be pretty stupid. Furthermore, if you study abroad during your college, you will probably not be able to transfer 18 hours. It could be a maximum of 16 hours. That will increase the deficit further. My solution is: using AP/Advanced Level credits that I received from high school. Still, obtaining a double degree is difficult without attending summer school. I have not and will not be attending summer school but it seems I may just be able to get a double degree if everything works perfectly.

What I intended to get across is that, my interests are diverse and I do not know yet which field I want to focus on for graduate school. A few years in workforce will hopefully give me some insights on what my future path should be.

Just a funny cartoon about why Engineering is cool. Source: http://bit.ly/1zsn34

Yesterday, I met civil, petroleum and mechanical engineers working at various companies or as consultants. I was surprised by how many engineers identified themselves as consultants. In order to be a consultant, you need to have an Engineering degree and then get a Professional Engineer license for which you have to have practice in the field for at least two years. They shared lots of stories about their first jobs, what they wish they knew on their first day at the first job and advice to students about how to network or look for a job. One thing I realized from the networking session is that, the proven way of obtaining a job is through networking. It is unlikely that you fill out an application, will get an interview and boom, get hired. It just doesn't happen that way. Instead, you know someone at the company, you send your resume, she forwards it to someone else and testifies how good of a person you are. You then get an interview and likely get selected.

So, lesson learned: start networking and start early.

Trinity Engineering Science Program: A Mismatch

Spring Break has officially begun. I can't tell you how stressful this semester has been. I promised I would update this blog more frequently but Trinity's overly demanding Engineering professors are making it so much difficult for me to do anything besides coursework. I don't think this Trinity's Engineering degree will get me very far anyway. No company wants to hire Engineering Science students. They are always looking specifically Electrical/Mechanical/Computer/Chemical/Civil Engineering etc. Anyway, I'm stuck and I have to try get the best out of it.

I really want to take courses related to Energy and Environmental Engineering. The Engineering department offers only elective called "Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering" which I have already taken. And it's taught by Dr. Uddin who is amusing in class. I liked his teaching style but can't say I learnt a lot because he didn't push us hard enough. He has amazing lecture slideshows for the class and that was the best part. But the course covered a broad field in one semester and there was not much depth in any field. It was a general introduction course.

Currently I am taking Fluid Mechanics and Embedded Microcomputer Systems. I like latter one than the former. I absolutely dislike having to enroll in Fluid mechanics course. Unfortunately, it is mandatory. I sit in the class and none of the stuff excites me but instead enters my brain and exits at the same rate with zero retention rate. The professor is funny but cannot deliver the ideas properly. It is mandatory courses like these that make me feel I am in the wrong program. I have already completed seven semesters of Trinity Engineering. It would be immature to try to change major or transfer to another college. If I could do it all over again, I would probably try to be a Computer Science major. There is so much flexibility as a Comp Sci major. If course is not interesting, I could learn programming and take up projects on my own in my free time. Recently, I have developed this fetish for programming. I want to be a geek. Not that I was a Greek and want to take a U-turn. I was a semi-geek anyway, it's just I want to be a proper one now. Geeks have made it big and become famous. Take Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Linus Torvalds, Sergey Brin, Larry Page and numerous others for example.

Is it too late to become a geek now? I guess one cannot become a geek, one needs to be born as one. I am planning maybe I can get started with fundamentals of C-programming this Spring Break and take it from there. My inspiration arose from reading "Just for Fun" by Linus Torvalds, the guy who created the kernel for Linux Operating System. I stumbled upon this book quite randomly while perusing through book shelves at Trinity University. He is my icon from now, the one I can look up to in life besides others that I already adore and revere. Blame it on my laziness, I have not gotten started on learning programming yet. I have been still reading "Just for Fun", tweeting, watching TV and cricket among my other pastimes. Wish me good luck and send some encouragement my way.

I promise once I start learning programming and spend more time with my computer, I will update this blog more frequently.

Revolutions in Arabian World and Trinity

What a way to write my 200th post. There couldn't have been a better time. The Arab world has woken up and have led revolutions for democracy. This will certainly add new chapters in political science books in trying to define democracy and how a revolution is waged. It's no longer waged by elites or opposition parties. A new model has come into place where youths with little or no prior political experience are using social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Google to launch organized demonstrations. Who would have thought that the internet could have been used this way? I am very excited about what has happened in Tunisia and Egypt and is still happening in Bahrain, Yemen and Libya yet saddened to hear about Gaddafi's monstrous atrocities. How can anyone order its security forces to open fire on its own people? Did the world not already make it clear that we don't want any Hitlers no more?

If I were in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt, China or Iran, I could have blogged about the mass protests and situation on ground. Fortunately, I am in the U.S. shielded from violence and influence of repressive regimes writing this in the cozy air conditioned "dorms like palaces" of Trinity University. What a contrast!

Talking about stories on campus, I am glad to see the improvement in the Trinitonian's quality of articles. Also, Dr. Ahlburg has set aside some time from his busy schedule to hold Open Door Hours to talk to students and faculty. What a positive gesture by the University President, will serve him good at a time when the Trinitonian published a story chronicling his criticism in a review by Leeds Business School of Colorado. Someone had sent me that review several months ago in comment section on my blog. I thought it still reflected positively on Dr. Ahlburg since he seemed to care more for undergraduates than graduates or faculty, according to the review. 

Another story in the Trinitonian was bashing the ASR for missing the deadline to send a proposal for student activity fee increase. ASR is finally getting a lot of attention on campus, not for good reasons this time though. ASR is facing a tough time in allocating resources properly. Maybe it can start by cutting back on funding for the Trinitonian. The Trinitonian probably receives the biggest chunk of the Student Activity Fee and the difference between what it asked for and what it received last year was the least for it compared to other organizations. It can certainly survive by increasing its advertisement and doing better marketing. Besides, there are always piles of unread Trinitonians in Coates, Mabee, Chapman, MMS and almost everywhere until Thursday. It can try to be wiser by printing only the amount that is demanded. Simple economics. Plus it will also add to our goal of trying to be green. Why print more than is read? 

Btw, I am planning to apply to work as a photographer for the Trinitonian. So, please Trinitonian staff, don't read this post. If you do, don't make it count against me because this is just an unbiased opinion of an anonymous author who does not want to be associated with his real name for anything expressed here.

Will write more about both external and internal revolutions in the coming days. Take lite!

I am one post away from 200th!

Folks, life has been busy, but it's been real good. I'm participating in this MCM Mathematics modeling competition. Wish me luck. Need to go sleep. it's 3:22 am already.f

Snow at Trinity

Ok, so I have decided to write again. And I won't write about Wellesley Student Apartments this time. Enough bad publicity already. Topic change! Life after study abroad in Aotearoa has been hard to adjust. Now, I have to actually do assignments instead of spend the afternoons sun bathing in Albert Park in Auckland, New Zealand. It is hard to get more than five hours of sleep on Tuesday to Thursdays. 

But besides all these, the best thing that happened was THE SNOW!!!! I don't complain about having to deal with two winters consecutively now, one in Southern and the other in Northern Hemisphere. Below are the snow pictures. Enjoy them and I promise I will write again!

Overlooking the Athletics Field from the South Residence Hall. Photo by: Digital Subway

Slippery Walkway outside the South Residence Hall. Photo by: Digital Subway

Overlooking the Parking Lot beside Thomas Residence Hall. Photo by: Digital Subway

On Reflection of Study Abroad in New Zealand

New Zealand is a great place to be at and I am sure others who have been there will agree with me. N for New Zealand and N for Nature; New Zealand is Naturally beautiful. I am glad I chose New Zealand for my study abroad and got to see both North and South Islands, both of which are beautiful in their own aspects. Studying at a world class university which was also the nation’s best was a privilege but the experience was made memorable due to wonderful company of friends. 

Everyone changes a little bit after their study abroad. For example, some become a “C” – just pass student from an “A” student while others change their status from “in a relationship” to “single”. I changed too, and by a lot. Gears shifted in my academic and social life. I went from a geek to party animal and my academic motivation to do well plummeted. For the first time, I spent more time basking in the park under the Sun than in the library under piles of books. I went to more bars and pubs in a semester than I had been in my whole life. I made more American friends and spent more time with Americans in New Zealand than I had in America itself. Most surprisingly of all, I got dreadlocks which drastically changed my appearance and attitude, both internally and externally.

I spent these five months happily during my study abroad. And I am thankful to my home and host universities plus study abroad program IFSA-Butler for this. If I were to study abroad again, I would want to change would be accommodation facilities. I stayed at Wellesley Student Apartments in Auckland and it was run like a tight security prison which was annoying and kind of ruined living experience. I would also want to live with people from different countries rather than all Americans as arranged by IFSA-Butler. 

Also, I would want to study abroad independently instead of seeking support from a study abroad program like Butler because I want to arrange everything on my own and it will also be significantly cheaper. I am confident I can arrange everything on my own, just like other non-Americans who study abroad independently.

First Week of Classes at Univ of Auckland

New Zealand Travel Diary, Entry #5

The moment I walked in my Anthropology Class my professor looked at me and said, 

Oh my God, you look like Jesus!

I looked at her and said, "Oh really?" I said to myself, "Is that a good thing or bad thing?" Guess what course? "Worldview and Religion". 

Of course this was not the first time someone had said so. My unshaven beard and disheveled long hair has gotten me a lot of comments, some of which I don't know how to interpret. After the class, I came back to my apartment and looked at the mirror trying to decide if it was time to shave. After a quick debate, my laziness scored a victory(as it usually does) and I decided I was not in a shaving mood.

And in my Thermodynamics course, the professor started out by saying, 

19 years before when I took this Thermodynamics course at Cambridge, I failed it. So when I was asked to teach this course, I said, "Oh my God." I had to learn everything again.

From listening to his three lectures so far, I feel he has not learnt it quite yet. He does a terrible job at explaining concepts. He makes fun of himself several times in the class and that's the only time people are not yawning or leaving their seats for the door. He seems like a nice guy and a nice human being but he struggles with delivering clearly what he wants to say.

My Control Systems professor seems to be quite good. Looking at the handouts and future course materials that contain plenty of graphs, it seemed to me those would be appropriate for learning in labs. We learn most of those concepts involving graphs in labs but here they have labs only three times a semester for this course which is why I guess this difference. 

Anyway, I don't want to be super-judgemental about everything here. I am quite impressed with their state of technology in classrooms. Every classroom has multiple projectors and screens along with laser pointers and magnifier for hard copies too. Not all of our classes have these back at Trinity University. But the size of student body is huge here and since I am taking four classes in four different departments (Electrical Engr, Chemical Engr, Anthropology and Politics), there is not a single person with whom I have more than one class.

Read Entry #4 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here.

Read Entry #3 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here.

Read Entry #2 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here.
Read Entry #1 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here. 

Laundry Nightmare at WSA in Auckland

New Zealand Diary, Entry #3

Living in a foreign country has its good and not-so-good times. Little deviations from what happens and what was expected could become frustrating. Take laundry for example. It costs NZ $3 for using a washer and another NZ $3 for using a dryer. In US $ that's a little more than US $2 for washer and the same amount for dryer. Isn't that too steep? Well, that's hardly part of my frustration though. I wouldn't mind paying an extra buck or two as long as the work gets done.

Wellesley student Apartment Building, Photo by: Digital Subway

Let me brief you about my unfortunate laundry experience yesterday. I live in Welleseley Student Apartments, managed by AUT (Auckland University of Technology). The laundry machines only accept coins but coin change machine was broken. I had all my clothes and laundry detergent already in the washer. (My fault, I know). I walked down the streets to a mini mart and asked for change at which my request was rejected. It turned out more students went to the same mart for a change than to make a purchase. His frustration was understandable. I did manage to get some change at another store by resorting to my emotional appeal and making it clear that I already had all my clothes inside the washer.

After completion of washing cycle, I loaded my clothes into the dryer. 40 minutes after, I opened the washer door only to find the clothes were still soaked without any signs of dryer even doing its work. I checked to see if I had forgotten to press the start button. Nope. My coins were already deposited into it's coffers and the machine had indeed started when I had left. Arrgggh!!!! I had to do repeat drying cycle. Time for more coins. No way! I was not going to those stores again. I went upstairs to  my room, on 9th floor and checked all over. I found one NZ $1 coin and one NZ $2 coin. Fortunately enough, the coin change machine worked if you were exchanging coins only. I dropped my NZ $2 coin and got two NZ $1 coins.

I loaded my wet clothes into another dryer (just to be extra-careful) and put coins and started the machine. This time I made sure the machine had started. 40 minutes later, I opened the dryer door again only to find my clothes had merely been transported  in space but unchanged along time domain. Not a single drop of water or moisture had evaporated from any of clothes' surface. Their state had not changed a bit since I loaded them from washer to first dryer and then second. This was absolutely ridiculous. No more coins to redo it. Fu@k. I missed laundrying at Trinity for the first time. For US $1 each, I could use washer and dryer. And I didn't have to worry about getting coins since all it required was a swipe of my Tiger Card.

Calmly, without kicking any of the dryers, I took out all my wet clothes and carried it back to my ninth floor apartments and hung it out to dry on  a cloth drying hanger. With so many clothes all around, my room looks like a drying room. I opened my windows to let in air to speed the process. Of course since it is the peak of winter, it didn't take long for my room to become frigid. I woke up next morning to find none of my jackets or sweaters had dried up. I was stupid enough to laundry all my warm clothes at once. I had to wear my semi-dry jacket to class at 8 in the morning. Welcome to a life in foreign country.

I could go rambling on and on about other little unsatisfactory experiences here but these are all of course part of learning to live in a foreign country.

Read Entry #2 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here.
Read Entry #1 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here.

Deepshore Drilling at Trinity

This post is intended as humor only. Contents of this post are not verified and reader discretion is advised.

A very confidential source has confided that deep-shore drilling has moved from Louisiana to Trinity University after a disastrous drilling experiment in Louisiana. Unfortunately, an undercover journalist was able to sneak in and capture several shots. All construction and drilling zones were sealed off without letting golf carts drive even on grasses. All pavements and sidewalks for pedestrians were torn apart so that it could be hidden away from public observation. Pedestrians had to snake around and take longer paths. Shown below are pictures snapped by investigative journalist Digital Subway.

 Deep-shore drilling at Trinity University. Photo by Digital Subway

Lots of heavy machinery has been reported to be sneaked in at Trinity. Photo by Digital Subway

This hole is allegedly to lay down pipeline for oil flow. Photo by Digital Subway

Large areas have been dug to lay down the secretive pipeline. Photo by Digital Subway

 Bell Tower is no longer the tallest structure at Trinity University. Photo by Digital Subway

This machine with cutter is to cut the pipeline in case of any emergency. Photo: Digital Subway

Construction Begins at Trinity during Summer

Heavy Construction has begun at Trinity University. Between Moody Engineering, Cowles Life Science and Chapman, in that open area, the huge project for a big Science building has begun. The area has already been sealed off and bright orange markings with numbers and lines can be seen all around, even on grasses.

Construction at Trinity during Summer. Photographer: Digital Subway

Construction has also begun outside Mars McLean Building on the way towards Coates Library at Trinity. Several dozers are already in action and look like little monsters digging the earth furiously and diligently.

Numerous bulldozers aka "little monsters" at work. Photo: Digital Subway

What would you call it? Creative Destruction. Photo: Digital Subway

Holes everywhere. Can you dig it? Photo: Digital Subway

 Some path has been paved with stones. Are we going back to Stone Age? Even more perplexing is the covering of trees with a wooden ring like structure. See in the picture below. Make some sense of it if you can. I do not know what it is and what purpose it serves.

Stone paved path. Notice the trees. Photo: Digital Subway

Summer in San Antonio

What would it be like to spend a summer in San Antonio? I asked this question to myself last summer and figured it would not be so fun with unbearable San Antonio heat. I packed my stuff and headed towards North East to stay with my friends. This summer however, I decided to stay in San Antonio. And it was a wise choice keeping in mind that I will be leaving for New Zealand in July.

                            Musuem itself is so artistic. Photo: Digital Subway 

That's right. I am leaving for NZ in July to study abroad for a whole semester. I know, it's so exciting. I came to realize that the common misconception "engineering majors don't get to study abroad, period" was not true. At least not at Trinity. For engineers, it is difficult because courses are structured for all four years in progression and if you miss a semester, you don't have the pre-requisites for the next semester's courses. Also, it is extremely rare to earn transfer credits for an accredited Engineering program because each country has a different program. However, Dr. Mahbub Uddin, an engineering professor at Trinity visited several engineering colleges in New Zealand and Australia to determine compatibility last year and now we can get transfer credits for engineering courses if it meets core course content.

Morale of the story: Engineers can study abroad too.

I will also be taking some Anthropology and Politics courses for my International Studies major. I am excited for my venture into NZ, an exotic place and a favorite among directors to film exotic movies like Lord of the Ring and Avatar among others.

                                

I was telling you about spending a summer in San Antonio. It has been pretty fulfilling so far. Last weekend, with a group of friends I went to San Antonio Museum of Art that is about 10 minutes away from Trinity. It charges a small fee to students but with Trinity I.D., it is absolutely free! We were impressed with richness of its collections and got to learn a great deal about ancient, medieval and modern art. My favorite section was the gallery containing Psychedelic Art.

         From left: Jaskirat Batra, Me, Kang Chon Kim and Sawan Vaidya. Photo: A stranger

                          My favorite pyschedelic art. Photo: Digital Subway

I was glad to see some artistic idols of Hindu Gods and Goddesses from Nepal too. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of those. Below is the image of a cupid that I thought was pretty photogenic.

 Cupid. Photo: Digital Subway                                                                     

I will brief you about my other ventures into San Antonio in the future.

Note: This blog was written as a post for Official Student Blogger Program for Trinity University.