Comments on: Judge: Hurricane Katrina Flooding Army Corps Fault

By: Tim V

Tim V — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:18:17 +0000

what is up with hearing a radio type thing on shakira ? i find it annoying.

By: Tim V

Tim V — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:25 +0000

NOLA is a ridiculous spot to build a city. it was and is a disaster waiting to happen.

By: Tim V

Tim V — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:57:50 +0000

an “act of God” is a typical EXCLUSION in a property/casualty insurance policy.

By: Ron

Ron — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:03:47 +0000

Micky, if you cannot see that mother nature is overwhelmingly stronger than man I don’t know what to tell ya, because that’s my point. Maybe you are suggesting that man can dominate over the forces of the Earth far enough to prevent or overcome a natural disaster then you’re WRONG.

Under normal cercumstances, NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES perhaps, but during one of the worst hurricanes to hit the gulf coast or any other abnormal force is another story. This judgement is bull!

By: Rhayader

Rhayader — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:48:28 +0000

Yeah the interplay between technical and political issues is a unique facet of Civil Engineering that I, for one, would want to avoid like the plague. Solving novel and challenging technical problems is hard enough without having to count on bureaucrats to grease the right wheels. The nature of most Civil Engineering work is public, making it tough to establish an income stream not dependent on the whims of politicians. More power to you on that front.

And thanks for the comments about Union. I really enjoyed my time there, although I’m the last guy to get all hung up on academic reputations and rankings and such. For me, it was a nice mix of strong technical departments existing within a largely liberal arts environment. Better girls and dope with that sort of setup; and really, what else is college for?

By: ghost of kn_r

ghost of kn_r — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:28:29 +0000

You are right about Civil not being sexy. It is a very conservative business that attracts mostly conservative and pretty selfless individuals. The ASCE is always talking about how we aren’t vocal enough with our contributions (of course all the while wanting government to spend lots of money on them.) The only time that people recognize us or know what we do is when there is a spectacular failure that results in catastrophic loss of life. (BTW, the Bay Bridge will be next. 70 years old and being constantly retrofitted for loads it was never designed to take.) That is why Civils make up around 70% of all registered professional engineers, as we are responsible for the well being of the public. The one problem with Civil is that much of the work revolves around politics, and the engineers are many times not strong enough to say when something is wrong. A little backbone would not hurt.

When discussing the windmills I was speaking specifically of the structure, foundation and the non moving parts…you know the things where the sum of the forces and the sum of the moments better equal zero. ME’s and EE’s can take care of the moving parts and current

You did in fact mention that you went to Union. I have a good memory, and I meant what I said about the school and the students. The reputation is excellent.