Trinitonian Serving Trinity University Since 1902
Volume 115 Issue 05
Rumors of shortage create gas frenzy Trinity reacts to chaotic atmosphere of San Antonio gas stations CATHY TERRACE
NEWS REPORTER Earlier this month, Texas faced extreme gas shortages and long lines at filling stations around the state. Following Hurricane Harvey, rumors spread that gas would run out. Though no evidence was supported by state and local governments, gas stations were unable to cope with the sudden surge of customers. This craze left San Antonians in a constant search for gas, leaving people to wonder whether or not the frenzy was genuine or self-induced. “It really has a lot more to do with social media than anything else,” said Glenn Kroeger, associate professor of geosciences. “Refineries did shut down along the coast, but most of those refineries were back up and running in pretty short order. There are still a couple refineries east of here that are not up, but the ones down by Corpus Christi were really spared because the hurricane came in east of there, so they were back up and running a couple of days later.” While San Antonio itself avoided the brunt of damage caused by Hurricane Harvey, many concerns were still raised over whether or not the city would run out of gas. As people flooded to gas stations, many pumps started to run out. “Everything that I saw in the media from city officials, like Mayor Ron Nirenberg, all said that there was not a gas shortage, but so many people panicked about not having gas,” said Jennifer Mathews, professor of anthropology. “Those who would normally let their tanks go relatively empty and then fill up were going to the gas station because they were worried about running out. I even saw reports of a guy who had garbage cans in the back of his pickup truck, which is a terrible idea. The rush on the gas artificially created this perceived shortage.” Matthews is referring to a statement that Ron Nirenberg, mayor of San Antonio, posted to Facebook and Twitter on Sept. 3. That same day, the news website mySA reported that of 630 San Antonio gas stations, 72 percent had run out of available gas by Friday, Sept. 1. “San Antonio, I feel your frustrations and share them with you,” Nirenberg wrote. “We’ve asked the state regulatory authorities to provide more frequent updates for the SA public, are in consistent communication with refineries ... Demand has not decreased, with our city consuming more fuel than average largely due to panic and hoarding.” continued on PAGE 3
September 15, 2017
Trinity promotes fire safety Film about dorm fire, TUPD demonstrations promote awareness KENDRA DERRIG
NEWS REPORTER A crowd of about 100 students gathered in Laurie Auditorium on Tuesday, Sept. 5, to watch Alvaro Llanos and Shawn Simons present their documentary, “After the Fire: A True Story of Heroes and Cowards.” Llanos and Simons are burn victims from the Seton Hall University dormitory fire that occurred on Jan. 19, 2000. The fire, a product of arson, killed three of their classmates. Their documentary follows their recovery from major burns, as well as the arson investigation. Llanos and Simons’ mission in touring the country and sharing their story is to prevent such tragedies through education on fire safety. “We do this presentation somewhere between 220 and 250 times per year. It’s difficult to talk about the most difficult time of our lives, but it’s something that we are passionate about because we don’t want it to happen on any other campus. We want people to realize the importance of fire safety, especially with the young adults who think they are invincible,” Simons said. The majority of student attendants were first-year students and members of Residential Life, such as Ari Fletcher, a resident assistant in Witt-Winn residence hall. “I want to learn more about what happens when people actually have fire crises because I’m an RA, and I want to learn how real people have dealt with these things,” Fletcher said. This is the second year Llanos and Simons
A student tests out a fire extinguisher at a fire safety demonstration held in front of the Witt Center. photo by CHLOE SONNIER
have visited Trinity. Their presentation was discovered by Paul Chapa, chief of the Trinity University Police Department, at a campus law enforcement conference in Montreal in 2014. “Llanos and Simons’ presentation was so compelling to me that I knew that this was a presentation that we had to bring to Trinity. Based on my experiences here, when fire alarms go off, students may not evacuate as quickly as they need to. If their story just impacted one Trinity student who knew when that alarm went off, it was time to get out of there, then we just saved that one life,” Chapa said. Students at Trinity are no stranger to 5 a.m. fire alarms. Ivan Pendergast, crisis management team coordinator, asserts that even though you may think the alarm is
misfiring, you should get out of the building as quickly as possible. “Our fire alarms sometimes go off a little more than we want them to. They’re not malfunctions, they’re undesired alarms where somebody burnt the popcorn, or somebody boiled too much water in the kitchenette,” Pendergast said. “They are very sensitive, and they will go off quickly. In any instance when you’re sitting in your room and you hear the fire alarm, get out, because that’s when the fire is going to be at its smallest. That’s when the greatest possibility of getting out unscathed and unharmed is going to be, and every moment that you delay inside the building increases the danger.” continued on PAGE 2
Ballooning project soars for data Chemistry department collects information CLAIRE NAKAYAMA
PULSE REPORTER If you’ve seen giant balloons floating into the sky on the weekends and thought you were hallucinating, your eyes haven’t deceived you — it’s just the chemistry department’s latest project. Funded by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the Tropospheric Ozone Pollution Project was founded by Gary Morris in mid-2004, and involves collecting measurements of atmospheric ozone above metropolitan areas using helium-filled balloons. Data has been collected from other cities, including Houston, El Paso and Austin. Now it’s San Antonio’s turn. “Dr. Wooten and I are co-sponsors of the Trinity Ballooning Project. We received a sub-contract award from St. Edward’s from Dr. Morris to participate over the summer
and into the fall. We’re trying to have about 30 launches over the two-and-a-half month time span to get the data for our local environment,” said Leslie Bleamaster, the science facilities manager for the Center for Sciences and Innovations and adjunct geosciences professor. After checking the ozone predictions for the day, and depending on how high the ozone levels are predicted to be, students will launch the balloon into the atmosphere and collect data while the balloon is ascending and also after the balloon pops and the monitor is falling back to the ground. “We normally stick to Friday, Saturday and Sunday to launch the balloons, when there’s not a lot of traffic and not a lot of people out and about. The balloon pops and then the whole thing comes down,” said Huda Syed, a senior biology major. “If someone finds it, there’s a number on the box to call, and it also says, ‘Reward: This is not dangerous.’ The device is beeping, so people do get freaked out, but if you call the number, you get a $50 reward for returning it to us.” continued on PAGE 12
Junior HUDA SYED, senior GABRIEL LEVINE and senior MALCOLM CONNER test balloons. photo by ALLISON WOLFF
DACA Dreamers’ reality: part two in immigration series
“To Be Honest” premiere looks into view of Islam
Trinity rugby team looks for action
Micaela Hoffman returns to dispel common misconceptions regarding the program.
Professors create a play from research conducted in the summer of 2016.
The club team doubled in size, seeks fans to experience niche sport.
PAGE 7 OPINION
PAGE 14 A&E
PAGE 18 SPORTS