Stacie's Situational Essay can be found here

Start of Situational Essay...

For the second part of the Situational Tour project we chose Lake Bryan as our location because though we've heard many of our peers talk about going there, neither Gabe, Ivan or myself have ever been. Also considering the time of year and since the temperature has been in the 50s recently we really didn't know what we would find at the location. There were a few cars and workers but other than that, the lake appeared deserted.



We were greeted by a big entrance sign. Aww that's cute they made the sign look like it has water in it...



Around the corner was a booth, naturally to take our money.



But no one was home so it was on our honor... don't worry we paid, but the guy behind us sure didn't... cheap bastard.



We took the first side road we met and around the corner we found...



A plaque about the boat ramp, pretty cool I guess....



Part of the boat ramp and a neighboring dock.



On another side road we found the Fisherman's Cove with a few fishermen and some cops on a mean John Deere... they were givin’ us funny looks though so we left...



One of many signs with a bunch of rules laid down by "the man".



Some snazzy home/wheels we found... actually it looked pretty abandoned.



Standard fire pit/grill/picnic area found at all camp grounds, nothing too exciting.



Rules rules rules... or probably just an invitation for some college kids who lack respect for authority...



One of the few architectural elements out at the lake... a bridge... riveting I'm sure.



The building in the background houses a restaurant and other things I'm sure but it was closed so we couldn't go in. We weren't sure if the men in white were hired or if it was more of a community service type deal as there was a man watching them from a nearby tractor... hmmm.



A less than state-of-the-art entertainment complex... actually I don't think it's big enough to use the term "complex", but obviously a stage-space for stage-like-performances...



Pretty lake... ok it may not be the prettiest but it is still pleasant.

Round Two...

A Journey to the Center of Teh Intarwebz

First Critiques

The American University students that our group was paired with, Jermaine Baltimore and Brad Feldman, evaluated our location, words and how they related to each other.

"It was interesting to see the transformation of this building and the significance that it still holds. I think the photos captured the beautiful architecture of the building. The group's choice of topics relates well to the environment."

Our critique of their location and word choice follows:

"The words work well with the buildings you have chosen though "authority" seems a little underdeveloped compared to the others. If possible it might be interesting to see the interiors of the buildings, maybe even some personnel that work there. The detailing on some of the buildings is quite beautiful, good photos. Good job!"

Situational Tour Intro

Building: First National Bank of Bryan, TX

Location: Downtown Bryan, TX

Significance: A historical, Art-deco style building that was used as a bank for many years.





It was recently converted into a server/office building due to the fact that the building is situated on top of an enormous fiber optics junction center. The exterior blends in seamlessly with surrounding downtown Bryan and inconspicuously conceals its new function as a high-tech, fiber optics hub.



The bank actually is just one of many buildings, in the downtown district deemed "Fibertown", purchased by Astin Partners. The company is "looking to bring technology-based companies to the area to take advantage of the fiber optic cable that runs through downtown and is equipped to carry digital information over distance." More information about this development project can be found here.

For the tour we were asked to pick from a list of words and relate a few to our location. We chose Ruralism/Urbanism and Security. Security, for obvious reasons being that our location is a bank which should demonstrate dependability and reliability. The bank has taken extreme measures to ensure state-of-the-art security including retinal and fingerprint scanners, "babble" devices for confidential calls, bullet proof glass and many others. Ruralism/Urbanism because the entire district, though trying to preserve the exterior historical quality of the buildings, is being updated, restructured, and urbanized in order to keep up with the technological developments of our world.

Howdy!

Getting started on the second project of the semester...