News/Blog/Whatever
Archive for December, 2009
Semester Done!
02 years ago
by abarna
in HPU Blog Mirror
So the semester is finally over *and* I got my grades, without gettinf specific I did well. Apologies for the incredibly late post with finals then traveling and the distractions at home, I just wasn’t thinking about posting. Well let’s recap the semester in this for what I have to look forward to.
The semester started like any other so far, apprehension with excitement about the new courses I was taking. Lucky for me I was able to relax by catching a few waves.
Of course the water wasn’t the only place for weekend adventures. I also made it to the top of Olomana, a mountain not to far from the Windward campus and a prominent feature of the windward side of Oahu
As for academics I don’t actually have much to “show” for it in the way of photos. The most exciting class was General Oceanography 1. The lab for this class frequently involved going offshore aboard R/V Kaholo to obtain water or sediment samples (among other things). I have been informed that all the labs in this class will be offshore next semester. As such, I received a set of foul weather gear for Christmas. Although I can’t talk about the specifics of the lab due to an NDA signed by me. I can say that learned a lot about the subjects of bathymetry, sediments, and hydrography. I’m looking forward to next semesters labs.
The last week before finals saw the arrival of waves on the north shore of Oahu the likes of which had not been seen for 5 years. This caused a good deal of absences from class. Instead of missing class I chose to venture to see the waves on a day when I did not have class.
It might be hard to tell but the streak on the wave is someone surfing it. The day after this photo was taken The Eddie was held at Waimea Bay. Though I did not get the chance to actually watch the competition by being there, it was conveniently streamed live on the internet. Waves, sadly, were not the discussion in the oceanography class, though they will be next semester (or so I’m told).
Looking forward to next semester I have a full load including: General Oceanography 2, General Oceanography 2 Lab, Communication, Biological Oceanography, and Cross Cultural Psychology. I will have classes at almost all the main campuses of HPU including: Hawaii Loa (Windward), Downtown, Oceanic Institute (Mokapu’u Point), and aboard R/V Kaholo. I it will be a busy semester that is for sure.
I have a meeting with some people at SIO regarding the AGU Ocean Sciences meeting in Portland Oregon in 2010. Hopefully I’ll have some (very good) news regarding it.
-Andrew
Deep in Finals
02 years ago
by abarna
in HPU Blog Mirror
It is finals week here at HPU. This is where the past semester usually cumulates into an intense session of recall and quick thinking. As has become tradition before finals, the Sunday before finals is reserved for some outdoor activity. Last semester we climbed Konahuanui an intense 8 hour ordeal that was well rewarded when the summit was reached. This semester we decided to swim out to what we call flat island (Popoi’a Island) just off shore of Kailua beach. The island itself is a bird sanctuary, though one can walk around the edge of the island.
In other news, some of the largest waves to hit the north shore in the past 5 or so years rolled in last week. This allowed to the Eddie Aikau surf contest. Many people were absent from class last week due to the events going on at the north shore. I, not having class on monday, took a trip to Waimea bay where the waves were up to 10 meters high. It was an awesome sight.
2 finals down, 2 to go!
-Andrew
Mainland Trip
02 years ago
by abarna
in HPU Blog Mirror
Seems I’ve been away for longer than a week now (looks to be almost two). Here are some of my “adventures” for the past few weeks. Probably the most awesome thing to happen in class is the lab I did on the 18th. During this lab we performed a micro Winkler titration of the samples we had collected two weeks earlier. As any future oceanographer will learn in their studies, this method measured dissolved oxygen in the water. This was the final form of analysis we performed, the first two being a BOD Oxygen electrode which measured dissolved oxygen in the 10 or so sample we took while offshore. The other was using a lowered O2 electrode that was attached to a CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Depth). The data was quite good if I might say so myself.
Thanksgiving was just last week. One of the common questions I’ve gotten is what people generally do for thanksgiving. I’ve seen many things happen, a lot of people just stay in Hawaii, some people use the opportunity to visit an adjacent island, others have their family fly out and everyone spends thanksgiving in the islands. I however, flew to the mainland to visit my family in Portland, Oregon with the intention of surprising the grandparents. I flew over on Wednesday arriving around 2100PST. From the airport we went almost immediately to get some crepes. The next morning I was left alone in the house with the task of cooking breakfast for everyone, and to surprise my grandparents when they arrived. It was a great success. Thanksgiving dinner involved a fried turkey, something I’ve never had before. The trip to the mainland was a welcome break to the activities associated with school. I returned to the islands on Monday and am now in the “home stretch” with only 2 weeks until finals week.
-Andrew
