This time, I would like to share the essays written by my 2016 summer course students. I assigned them The Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (Autonomous University in Santo Domingo) as a general subject. They wrote about the part of their interest in the university. Did you enjoy reading the essays? How do you like the work the students have done? Leave a comment, please.
I would like to thank all of you for your visits. Sorry for the delay in the posting of new materials. I will do my best and update this blog more often.
The Pedro Mir Library
By
Luz Iraysa Victoria
The Pedro Mir Library at UASD is the most
complete and modern library in Santo Domingo. This library is a space for
students to spend a quiet time while they study. Not only UASD students can use
this library but also people interested in research, study, or reading a good
book. The Pedro Mir Library is devoted for people to learn and enjoy
literature. In other words, it is the perfect place for students to disconnect
themselves from the routine, discover a good book, or just study without
interruptions.
Firstly, the study areas at Pedro Mir Library
at UASD are equipped with everything necessary to study. In these areas,
students can find big tables made of hardboard, and chairs made of wood and
stainless steel where they can study in groups. Besides, there are also
cubicles where students can work individually.
Some of them have computers so students can do online research. The Pedro Mir
Library study areas are also very bright. Natural light comes through the large
windows, and the ceilings have recessed lightning in circular and rectangular
shapes. Moreover, each study area has a spare room dedicate
to reading, which is called the reading rooms,
in which students can find a variety of bookshelves with literature books. The
study areas are located in the second and third floors. Each floor has an
information area where there is a team responsible of providing information and
helping with the books borrowing system. On the second floor, the books are
about social science, religion, philosophy, and literature while on the third
floor, books are about medical science, technology, applied science, pure
science, and pharmacology. Therefore, to research and study a specific field, it is important to choose the right floor for the
team to help with the books. In addition, to use the study areas, students must
follow certain rules that are specified in little boards in some of the tables
in the room. The study areas are qualified to provide the students with a
suitable study environment.
Secondly, The Pedro Mir Library has a
borrowing system that consists of a series of steps. The first thing to do is
go to the online catalog modules located at the second,
third, or forth floors of the library. These modules have availability
for 42 users on each floor. To get the books, students must open the catalog
which has an index of authors and book titles, and look for a code. The library
uses a numerical system for the codes. After that, students must go to the
information area to show the corresponding code of the book and they will find
it. In addition to that, students need to fill a little form with their
personal information and hand in give their personal ID card. Finally, students will be able to
use the books for as much time as they need. Once the students finish using the
books, they have to return them to the information area and the team will
verify that the books are in good conditions to give students their IDs back.
For a different use of the books, such as to make copies, the team gives the
students another form to fill out. This time, the books will be lent for limited time, so they can take the books out
of the library to make the copies. The books will be verified by a member of
the library staff at the main entrance before leaving the library. However, the Pedro Mir Library does not lend the students books
to take home. The books are to be used
exclusively in the library area. Damage to the books will be fined with an
amount of money to replenish the books.
Thirdly,
The Pedro Mir Library has some technological resources available for the
students. It has about 790 modern computers with flat screens, UPS system, and online
service in each room. Moreover, in the library, students can find a
video-conference room equipped with screens, projectors, and computers with CD
and DVD players. The Library also has a very wide database system where
students can find lots of publications, electronic magazines,
and texts in English and Spanish on different fields such as business, science,
and medical science. Medical science database is called OCENET, and it is
available for medicine, nursing and pharmacy students. For a better service, the
library uses the VOYAGER system to manage library organization and terms.
VOYAGER system is a data base of high technology based on
the ORACLE data system to simplify the personnel
work, which guarantees the customized search of library service. Additionally, the Pedro Mir Library has a
complete online catalog system organized by index of titles and authors where
students can search books by themselves. Last, but not least, The Library has a
photocopy and print room available for the students. Technological resources at
this library are for the users to have an easy access to them.
In
conclusion, The Pedro Mir Library at UASD has the most complete library service
in Santo Domingo, with access to high technology and the most comfortable study
areas. So if the Students are looking for a place to enjoy a quality experience
while studying, the Pedro Mir Library at UASD is
the best place for them.
Santo
Domingo, 2016
Monday, July 18, 2016
The Central Library at
Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo in Bonao
By
Fernando Villa
The perfect place for the students to study is the central library at Universidad
Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) in Bonao. The
library offers books that are an essential part of the academic development of
students in college. The adventure of studying can be different when visiting
the library. In one single place, students can live that great adventure. There are many things students can do
at this comfortable place. Besides homework, students can study, read, discuss,
write, and enjoy the service offered by big
staff. The library is the place where students are the ones they really are.
This library introduces students in their essence, knowledge.
Furthermore, students cannot complain about the service in the library.
The library opens from Monday to Saturday. It opens from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
weekdays and from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays. At this library, people can find a
variety of books which are organized by categories. The books are on the second
floor, so when people go upstairs, to the right side of the entrance, they can
find the books in the following order: Pure Science, Linguistics, Social
Studies, Religion, Philosophy, and Law. On the other side, students will find
the following categories: Applied Science, Music-Art and Sport, Literature,
History, and a big area for reading. The library also offers a small room for
small groups. There, students can discuss and that way, they will not be
interrupted by any other people out of the group. The librarian´s office is
pretty cool and it is next to the printing office on the second floor. There
are many computers to use in case the content is not found in any of the books
from this library. There is also a master control who works with the computers
and supervises the content the students are working with in each computer.
Additionally, there are 14 employees working at the library. Five people
work during the morning shift and the other nine people work during the
afternoon and the evening shift. There is no supervisor. They divide the work
by areas. They have a very good relationship. They like to work in the first
floor because the second floor has no air conditioner. There is no solution for
the problem yet. They say whoever is at the place is a supervisor. One example
of this is when a student is at the studying area, he or she has to pay attention
to what it is around. Out of the five workers in the morning shift, two of them
are females. A woman is the librarian because she is the only employee
graduated in this field there. The afternoon shift counts with four women. They
all work together in both shifts. There are eight men working, too. Two of them
are not graduated from college yet. The ungraduated one is the master control. According
to some employees, there is one with a bad attitude towards the other people who work there. Out of the eight men, six
of them work during the morning shift. They all belong to the UASD Employees
Association. Some of them even think that there are too many people working at
this library.
Also, there are many study areas at the central library. People use
these areas for many things. In all, there are 29 chairs in the common areas of
study. There, chairs and desks are very close to the books. The chairs have
desks, and some others have computer-desks. On
the left side of the library, there are 15 chairs, different from the ones in the right side, in which there are 14
chairs only. Four people can sit at one desk. However, they can just read or
write. The students cannot speak loudly at these desks because they have a
piece of rectangular brown wood on top. That does not allow students to see one
another face to face. It avoids eye contact. Therefore, when students want to
discuss a topic, they should go to one of these big comfortable rooms made of
glass. Those rooms have their own chairs. In the biggest one, there are 14
computers. Some computers are not working. There are 5 rooms for reunions. They
have no air conditioner, just like the whole second floor in the library.
Students can see who is in the reunion room since these rooms are all made of
glass. The capacity of these rooms depends on what the students are going to do
there. For example, if the students just want to talk or discuss any topic,
they can use only chairs. It means more people fit in.
In conclusion, it is not the service, the staff or the study areas that
bring students to the library, but knowledge. In spite of the library´s lack of
books, it is fine for students to work with the ones it has.
Santo Domingo 2016
Tuesday,
July 19, 2016
The Languages School at Autonomous University in Santo
Domingo
By Ibanna Ventura Sánchez.
The Languages School is an interesting
place to know about. That is the place where many professors do their work, and
where Modern Languages students spend most of their time studying and taking
classes. It is a place with a peaceful environment to read. Even though some
students do not study languages, they like to go there to study.
The First thing that is important to know
about the Languages School is its physical structure. It is located in front of
the High Technology Laboratories, near the restaurant and the Physics
Laboratories, which are to the northwest of Pedro Mir Library. It is one of the
smallest buildings at UASD. Its latitude is 18,462,780 sexagesimal degrees and its longitude is
69,927,601 sexagesimal degrees. The Languages School has a rectangular shape in
its physical structure and is made of concrete. It has only one floor and its
floor is covered with simple red ceramics. The school has some sidewalks around
it in order to be more comfortable to get in. The school has 15 rooms divided
in the following way: the teachers´ room, the bathroom, the library, the former
languages department, the Languages Students Association, and 11 classrooms. The
building has nine windows in all, which are divided in the following way: three
of the classrooms have two windows each, the two halls have one window each,
the Languages Students Association has one window, and the other 12 rooms do
not have windows, which gives the Languages
School the appearance of a small jail. The Languages School physical structure
was built to have electricity and air conditioning working all the time.
The second aspect that is important to
know is the Languages School Library. It is named Dennis Recio Arnaud. Even
though there is a library in the Languages School, a lot of students do not
even know there is one there. It is located right in the Languages School. Go
through the front door, take the hall that is to
the right, and to the left is the library. Some
time ago, it was a place for students to read and study, but it is not
functioning as a library anymore. Nowadays, the library is closed most of the
time. It is used as a classroom for teachers who have key to it. It does not
have windows, and even though it has air conditioning, sometimes it is not
working. Another thing is that if there is not electricity, people cannot study
there because of the darkness. Next to the walls, there are shelves where the
books are. Those shelves are made of wood and glass, which are broken nowadays.
There is a bookcase where they place the thesis and monographs, and in the
other shelves, there are different textbooks, novels, and story books in
different languages. All is disorganized. There is a board on the wall, and in
front of the board, there is a teacher´s desk. Next to the teacher´s desk, there
is a table that is full of books, all in a messy way most of the time. The room
is full of seats, and behind the seats, sometimes there are some boxes messing
the place. The library sometimes looks like a mice´s cave, because when
students are there taking classes, they can see mice walking around the roof
banks and enjoying their walking. Even though the library does not have the
best conditions, it is a quiet place to study.
Third, it is important to know about the
Languages School conditions. The Languages School is one of the buildings at UASD
that is immersed in bad conditions. At first sight, its painting shows that it has
not been repainted in a long time. Also, when people get in, they can realize
that some rooms are painted without being covered with cement. Second, the ceiling
has been falling apart for semesters. Next, the ceramics that the floor has are
breaking away. Even though the seats are very old, they can be used. However,
there are not enough of them. Another thing is the air conditioning system is
not given the appropriate maintenance. Because of that, sometimes it stops
working. The pollution is another issue. The school is infected with rats,
which are visible when students are taking classes. Due to that situation,
teachers and students have decided to complain. After their complaint about the
Languages School conditions, the authorities said that there is not money in
the university budget for rebuilding it. They also said that in the budget for
remodeling Humanities Faculty, some money is included to give better conditions
to the school. Now, in order to fix the school, they have moved the classes to
other places. They plan is to clean, throw the trash away, and repaint the
school. In spite of the bad conditions of the school, it was good to take
classes in it.
In summary, the Languages School has a
physical structure that allows students to study in a peaceful environment. It
has a languages library that even though it does not have the necessary
equipments, it is a good place to read in it. Also, classes have been moved in
order to give the school better conditions. The Languages School at UASD is a
good place where you can learn languages and become an excellent professional.
Santo Domingo 2016
Tuesday, June 19th 2016
THE RESTAURANT AT THE AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY
IN SANTO DOMINGO
The Universidad Autónoma de Santo
Domingo, UASD Restaurant is an important place to know about. It is a place
where many people with lack of money can go and eat. This place has made a
before and after at UASD history because it has given a special touch to it. It
is a place for students to relax and have a good lunch or dinner.
First, The UASD Restaurant
Management is very organized. The management of this place takes into account
every single detail in order to keep the good functioning of the restaurant.
The management staff has quality control of the business, and they are open to
receive any complaint from the users. As all the restaurants, this one has a
manager or director who is in charge of the business. He and a group of workers
take care of the food that comes into the restaurant. The positions are given
to a specific group of people. There are some who are in charge of the kitchen.
Others are in charge of cleaning up the physical structure. The security guards,
and a general supervisor meets with the staff every day in order to choose what
is going to be cooked the next day. The management of the food is 50% responsibility
of the government, which assigns them a 50% of the food that is delivered
there. The restaurant management is usually criticized by many students around
the university because of their policies. On the other hand, there are others
who do not agree with most of them because those people
really make an effort in order to have it organized.
Second, The UASD Restaurant Food
Service is the most requested by many. The restaurant is also the most visited
by many students from UASD and other universities around. How come? Well, its service
has a very important particularity. In order to get it, people just need to buy
a five-peso ticket, which means that it is a very affordable price for
students. Also, the food is healthy and delicious. This is why it is preferred
by so many people. There are plenty of students who eat this food from Monday
to Saturday. Around 14,000 students including professors and the management
staff from all the faculties eat there. They have two shifts to deliver the
food, which are lunch time and dinner time. They do not cook breakfast. Even
though sometimes they repeat the menu, they try to cook something different
every day. Some dishes are rice with beans and chicken with salad. Also, they
serve rice with green beans, pasta, and salad. For dinner, they usually serve
rice with milk, chocolate and bread, and other foods. Usually, in order to
offer a good service, there is a process to follow. First, people need to buy a
five-peso ticket in the case of students, and a thirty-five-peso ticket in the
case of professors. Then a line must be made, which is usually very long,
especially from 11:00 a m to 2:00 p m. The restaurant opens at 11:30 a m and closes at 3:00 p m.
For dinner time, they are open from 5:30 p m to
8:00 p m. The UASD Restaurant food service is
very famous not only for the food quality, but also for its price. Many say
that it is very delicious and rarely, news have been heard about the poisoning
of any person.
Third, The UASD Restaurant Staff
is very privileged. They are in charge of keeping the good functioning of the
restaurant. There are around 150 people working there. Most of them have been
working there for many years, but there are others who are new. It is a very
qualified staff, which is noticeable because of the quality of their job and
also because of the management. This staff gets paid by the head departments of
the university. According to them, they get a good salary. They say that it is
the reward of their job. They also have some privileges at the university,
especially if the ones who want to work there are students because they
collaborate with the university and at the same time, they get the chance to choose subjects earlier than others. There
are two shifts at this restaurant. There is a group that works from 7:00 a m to 3:00 p m. Also,
there is another group that works from 4:00 p m to 8:00 p m. The
positions are divided in an organized way. There is the management. Besides,
there is the staff in charge of cleaning up the physical structure, the
security guards, and the chefs, who are in charge of the most important parts,
which is cooking a delicious food for everyone. They are chosen by a
specialized group of people. Something else that must be said about the staff
of this restaurant is that most of them are respectful to others, and they do
their best to give a good service.
In summary, it must be said that
the UASD Restaurant has more advantages than disadvantages. It is necessary to
acknowledge the effort that day to day the management staff makes, in order for more than 14,000 students from all over the
university to have a proper food service. When people know that with just five-peso ticket students
can eat lunch, they get surprised. They realize that it is not possible
anywhere else. However, most of this work would not be possible without the
professionalism of the staff at this place,
which is one of the keys for its success. The most important thing to have in
mind by students from this university is that it is necessary to collaborate in
order to keep this place still functioning for the future generations.
Santo
Domingo 2016
Monday, July 19th, 2016
THE ARTS SCHOOL AT THE
AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY IN SANTO DOMINGO
By Osvaldo
Mieses
The Arts School at The Autonomous University in Santo
Domingo, UASD, has qualities that make it interesting. The
Arts School graduates artists. Those artists create fashion and publicity designs,
paintings, sculptures, movies, and so on. Nowadays, it has a high level.
First of all, the Arts School at UASD has a
great physical structure. In front of the Arts School, there is a great
reflection of its building. It has a beautiful green area. Along this area,
there are mango trees, fig trees, and so on. There is a platform that crosses
from the left to the right side. On each side of the platform, there is a large
square bench, which is useful for everybody to sit, relax, or do homework. In the
platform, there is a beautiful porch that makes that building look great. The
porch has nine columns around it. Also, there is a painting on one of the
columns. In the middle, just on top of the porch, there is a big square with
little multicolored plastic squares in it. Inside the porch, there is a wooden
sculpture of an ancient taino. Over the porch, there is a big room. In both
sides the porch, there is a gap that makes the porch
an ornament to the building. To the right, there are four palm trees, just in
front of the six sets of windows that the building has. Next to these windows,
there is another little gap, and besides this gap, there are some pieces of
wood with flowers on them. Those characteristics make the Arts School Physical
Structure amazing.
Secondly, the Management of the
Arts School at UASD works very well. The Dean of the Arts School, Juan Tiburcio,
is responsible in the school leadership. This
management system works very well because it is organized, and the result of this work is visible on the daily routine.
It is divided by several organisms. Each leader has to follow the dean´s
orders, which also has an associate dean, Dionis
Rufino, who helps him to do that work. Some of the schools are Visual Arts,
Music, Theatre and Dancing, Advertising, Industrial and Fashion Design, Film,
Photography, Criticism, and Arts History. Besides,
there are some departments such as the Postgraduate Unit. The other departments
are Planning (Oseplandi), and Extension. Each school has an associate
assistant, and a secretary. Thus, this management system works in order to do
the work well.
Last, but not least, the
professors of the Arts School at UASD have an aligned requirement to work.
First of all, they have to have a Bachelor´s Degree, and a Master´s Degree.
Secondly, they must use an appropriate method to teach. Some examples are
lecturing, demonstrating, collaborating, classroom discussion, debriefing,
classroom action research, or a combination of these. Also, they should use the
student-centered method approach to learning.
Teachers
are an authority figure in this model. Teachers
and students play an equally active role in the learning process. The teacher´s
primary role is to coach and facilitate student learning and overall
comprehension of material. Student learning is measured through both formal and
informal forms of assessment, including group projects, students portfolios,
and class participation. Teachers have to perform discipline by showing a respectable
attitude and professionalism with their clothing. They have to develop a critical
sense in their students. They must provide professionals to the country in
order to increase its levels of arts. They have to provide materials or assign the
materials needed to achieve the course goals. They need to make changes in
order to use the teaching methods that their
students need. They are responsible to coach their students to see if they are
increasing or freezing their knowledge. By supervising their students, professors
have to provide a record with the grades of the students at the end of each period of class. Professors
miss classes. In case that they get sick, they
have to make a report showing that they are not able to work that day. In addition,
they have to be on time in each class. Thus, this line up range of rules helps
the professors of the Arts School at UASD.
In summary, in the Arts School at UASD the
physical structure is great. Coordinately, the management is very organized. Subsequently,
the professors have an aligned requirement to work. All those features make this School the best to study arts. It is the safest and most suitable place to build a future.
Santo Domingo 2016
