4 minute read

Tech oil rig draws ethics debate

Finding acceptance for my culture

Whether it is obvious or not, Texas Tech is an engineering school. With an entire key dedicated to the practices within engineering, Tech has made it a mission to ensure their students build a skillset to set them apart from other universities.

According to the Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering’s website, the undergraduate program is ranked fourth in the nation.

Recently, the Department of Petroleum Engineering opened the Oilfield Technology Center for students to gain hands-on experience. This spring, engineering students can visit the center to work with a real, full-scale oil rig. Although the department is working with exciting tools and giving an advantageous education, it seems no one wants to talk about it.

Originally, I took a trip to the Terry Fuller Petroleum Engineering Research Building to find more information about this new oil rig and what its use means for the environment.

I spent time walking around the building to see if anyone had an opinion on the new oil rig. Coincidentally, I ran into Talal Gamadi, associate chair for undergraduate studies and assistant professor. area, is it worth adding to our water crisis?

Dr. Gamadi guided me around the building but had no official comment on the oil rig’s academic benefits or environmental implications. Despite there being several students in the building, most of them were not within the Department of Petroleum Engineering.

Drilling for oil is inarguably horrible for the environment. Water and air quality are threatened by the process of drilling or related methods, according to The Wilderness Society. The development of fossil fuels continuously leaks toxic substances into the soil and drinking water.

While Lubbock’s tap water is in compliance with EPA standards, it has traces of arsenic, lead, chromium 6 and disinfection byproducts according to Hydroviv, a water filtration company website.

With a persistent use of these fossil fuels, our world is heating up. Climate change is inevitable, whether you believe it or not. Continuously drilling for oil on any land possible also threatens wildlife. Not only are these creatures displaced from their habitats, but oil spills make the situation much more direct in terms of toxicity.

Fortunately, the Department of Petroleum Engineering is aware of these implications and aims to teach its students an ethical approach to the industry. In fact, the Oilfield Technology Center is in pursuit of newer alternative energy sources like geothermal drilling.

Geothermal energy could be the largest untapped renewable energy source to date, according to Matt Houde in a TEDx conference. Geothermal energy aims to use microwaves to drill deeper into the Earth’s crust since mechanical equipment cannot withstand the tough surface.

While the news is promising, we cannot ignore the fact that oil is inevitably bad for our livelihood. So yes, the first oil rig to be built on a satellite campus may perpetuate this endless cycle of harming our environment, but it also sheds some light on finding newer energy sources that are more reliable than wind and solar energy.

Knowing this information, it would be ideal to trust the Department of Petroleum Engineering to work toward the future. Unfortunately, no one from within has the willingness to share any bright news about the program. With such little information about something that has contrasting implications for our world, how much longer should we wait to question the project’s validity? Thankfully, our education is a top priority and students can transform textbook ideas into real-life action. However, does it come at the expense of feeding into manufacturing resources we know damage our world?

@MalachiMatsDT

“What’s your zodiac sign?” is a dreaded or favorite question, depending on whom you ask. For some individuals, this question is utilized for romantic prospects.

What if their crush’s zodiac sign is what that random TikTok user said is a compatible match?

When people first think about zodiac compatibility, assumptions are made based on sun sign compatibility. However, this comparison merely scrapes the tip of the iceberg; in fact, this comparison does not explain the full-potential astrological compatibility between two people.

An individual’s sun sign is the zodiac corresponding to the day they are born. This is the common answer people provide when asked what their zodiac is. For example, I was born on May 7, making me a Taurus.

However, a sun sign provides information only about our personality traits, according to Cafe Astrology. With this in mind, there are many other factors to consider if one decides to measure a relationship based on astrology.

For starters, a birth chart contains several placements that make up an individual. Another term commonly brought up is ‘big three’; this relates to a person’s sun, moon and rising sign. Outside of this, there are other aspects of a natal chart, but the ones closely related to relationship compatibility are a person’s Venus, Mercury and Mars placement, according to Cafe Astrology.

While this sounds like a lot more information to learn about, these aspects can provide useful insight about a person.

Venus is the placement ruled by love, relationships and beauty, meaning the zodiac sign a person’s Venus is in can explain their prospects in relationships.

Mercury is the placement that describes how we communicate, another useful factor. Mars is the placement that describes passion and conflict.

The zodiac that falls in these planets of a person’s birth chart can help further explain the romantic character of an individual. For example, my Mercury is in Taurus, making me a stubborn communicator. Characteristics like these are useful in the process of understanding the romantic possibilities between individuals.

Beyond the planets I listed, there are many more aspects that share further information about astrological compatibility.

Each zodiac sign falling under each planet placement has their own meanings and explanations for how they act alongside other placements. Putting ‘incompatible’ placements together does not necessarily mean the relationship will fail, it means there may be some clash in morals, personality or outlooks. Exploring this information makes learning about a person fascinating.

People are familiar with taking personality quizzes. Reading someone’s birth chart is similar, except the findings are backed by when a person was born. With all this being said, I still believe a relationship should blossom from human interaction. Zodiac compatibility is just a fun subject that tells us more about people based off their birth.