pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

I know where that is! (I go to school at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, which happens to be right down the road in Rapid City. I understand that they help with the fireworks.)

On another note, did you do anything in Rapid City?

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

Congrats, Al!

OK, for 10 bonus points, what are the other "schools of mines" in the US?

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

Colorado School of Mines is the only other one I know of.

For 20 bonus points, how many schools in the US still offer Mining Engineering as a major? (50 if you can name them.)

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

15 colleges as of Jan. 2 2008 offered mining engineering majors.

Colorado School of Mines
Michigan Technological University
Montana Tech
Pennsylvania State University
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Southern Illinois University - Carbondale
University of Alaska Fairbanks
University of Arizona
University of Idaho
University of Kentucky
University of Missouri - Rolla
University of Nevada, Reno
University of Utah
Virginia Tech
West Virginia University

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

You both missed the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, which was the "New Mexico School of Mines" before they added "Technology." They do offer mining engineering, too (although they call it the department of "mineral engineering" they are ABET certified in Mining Engineering).

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

All right, here's an extra bonus:

What schools (other than SDSM&T) offer Metallurgical Engineering?

(Note: trick question--will explain when somebody answers)

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

These all came up under searches for Metalurgical engineering majors

Colorado School of Mines
Missouri University of Science and Technology
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
The University of Alabama
Columbia University in the City of New York
University of Connecticut- Storrs
University of Nevada- Reno
Montana Tech of the University of Montana
The University of Texas at El Paso
University of Utah-Salt Lake City

Though I'm going to venture a guess that a degree in metalurgical engineering would probably go by a different name (maybe material sciences engineering).

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

Yeah. The Metallurgical and the Materials engineering degrees are pretty much the same as far as standards/accreditation/certification. So you should also include every school with a Materials Engineering degree as well...

Also, Missouri-Rolla and Missouri Science and Technology are the same school. It changed its name.

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

The undergraduate degree in Mining Engineering is not currently being offered at Michigan Tech. You can get a geology degree with a minor in mining. They had too few residents applying for the degree, and couldn't justify the cost if it was being spent primarily for the benefit of foreign students. The graduate programs in mining (MS, PhD) are still available.

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

I wonder if Al was looking for the secret passage to the city of gold?

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

Hope he remembered his water bottle ^_-

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

He's a few miles away, then. (Let's just say that the filmmakers took some geographic liberties.)

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

Eric,
Didn't do much in Rapid City except buy a camera and some gas. Dottie's pocket cam blew off the hood of the car in the Badlands and jammed the lens. I have it apart at home now and still can't get the lens back in the right order for the software. If I feel lucky, I will try and get the lens apart but I suspect either a damaged sensor or a broken sensor activator.

Have you had a chance to get out into the Badlands? Pretty weird scenery if you don't have someone stepping off the path and getting in your way. Had this happen on more than one occasion since there is not a lot of rangers. Some people don't get the impact they can have on an environment that gets maybe 3-4 inches of rain a summer.

For those of you who don't know this...There is a secret vault behind Lincoln's head that the sculptor, Gutzom Borgland, had intended for permanent storage of archival documents. He was only able to blast in a few feet before the war effort started pulling money away. If you look at pictures of the monument you may see the outline of Washington's coat and Lincoln's hand holding the lapel of his coat. The sculpture was intended to be waist up carving that was never added.

Re: pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore
 

I haven't gotten out into the Badlands at all. Been by there en route to soccer games in East River (anything east of the Missouri), but didn't stop.

Another fun Rushmore fact: The faces are out of order. I believe it was Jefferson that was originally supposed to be on the left, but there was a fault in the rock that would be a big problem right there. Some order-changing later, and you have the current version.

If you come out to Rapid City again at some point, try the SD Air and Space Museum (near Ellsworth AFB) or the geological museum on the campus at SDSM&T. Also, the geographical center of the U.S. is near Belle Fourche, about an hour north of Rapid City.