>Why is it not surprising that someone arranged for an observatory to
>be located just outside The Castle's back door? I'm assuming that
>Utena, given her apparent interest in "star gazing" or just plain
>astronomy, had a hand in that choice of location. (that, or maybe the
>Brothers already had something similar going on there?)

Coincidence, entirely, as Utena's interest in Astronomy still had yet to be fully rekindled. Truly.

>I, too, thought Hannibal Hamlin Hall would be closer to The Castle,
>but for different reasons. In Sophomore Slump Tom thinks about
>looking out the window to see if there's any activity at The Castle.
>Yeah, it's a 4th floor window, but there are several buildings (2
>dorms and the entire performing arts complex) along with Single Acre
>Wood between the two locations.

It's a Very Tall Hill.

Alternatively, I could just nudge the Castle over a few feet to the east if you really want better sightlines...

(flip side, if you're at the extreme east of Hamlin, you can see past most of the obstructions, "shooting the needle", as it were.)

>How convenient the garage, er, auto and transport engineering
>building, is right next to the drag strip. They're into hands-on work
>and testing, I take it?

Well, before the 2409-2410 school year, "The Drag Strip" was just the unofficial name for the southernmost perimeter road, seeing as it was straight for most of its length, and kids with cars with too much time on their hands on the weekends would unofficially (and technically illegally) used it for straightaway races since there was quite a bit of distance and nothing but grass on either side and either end. (besides, if there WAS an accident, there'd be a faster emergency response, as opposed to racing on die Autobahn.)

It was only with the construction of the Stanley Shops and the installation of the Top Gear hosts as professors that the use of the south road for that purpose was formalized and legalized. That may have taken some of the illicit "thrill" out of the racing, but most were happy for the exchange because they added skid-out straightaways past both ends of the road with crash protection features, automated traffic blockers for the north-heading parts of the road, and racetrack quality measuring and timing gear so that the speeds could be officially recorded.

No official word on wether or not another replica of the Top Gear track will be built on-campus or on a spur of die Autobahn, yet.

--- Philip

	Philip J. Moyer Contributing Writer, Editor and Artist (and Moderator) -- Eyrie Productions, Unlimited CEO of MTS, High Poobah Of Artwork, and High Priest Of the Church Of Aerianne -- Magnetic Terrapin Studios "Insert Pithy Comment Here"