Friday, March 13, 1998 The Newspaper of the University of Waterloo Engineering Society
Waterloo Sweeps OEC
BY Ro CHOI OEC Internal Advertising I n the last weekend of February, about 140 competitors from Engineeri ng school acros the provi nce came to Waterloo to participate in the Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC). OEC is an annual competition whose purpose is to promote engineering excellence in the areas of design and communication. The weekend was filled with presentations, debates and di plays howcasi ng the tal- ent and idea of the next generation of engineering professionals. The competition began the afternoon of Friday, February 27th with the opening ceremonies. Competitors and judges dined in the South Campus Festival Room, after the introductory speeches of Amy Lai and Susan Lee, co-chairs of the Waterloo OEC organizing committee. AcapellEng wa also in attendance at the opening cer- emonie , to perform a few songs for the guests. From there the participants were shuttled to DC and SLC, where almost all of the competition began right away. The events ran from 7- !o that evening, and afterward the organizer and volunteers joined the judges and competitor to spend the rest of the night at the Bomber. Bright and early the next morning, the competitions began again. They ran almost straight from 8:00am until 4:30pm, after which the judges deliberated and picked their winner. The awards were presented at a banquet at the Waterloo Inn, where all of the visiting competitors and judges were staying. After the banquet, the organizers and participants gathered in the hospitality suites of the Waterloo Inn and partied the night away with a good supply of batch, ending a very successful competition. Overall, the Ontario Engineering A workout and a haLf' Kate Hoye (left) alld Diane Cameron show the Waterloo trend at OEC by displaying their many amassed awards. Competition at Waterloo was a great suc- ces. Amy Lai, Susan Lee, and all of the directors and volunteers who helped to organize and run the weekend de erve a round of applause and a good beer. The Competition OEC consists of six events: Explanatory Communications, Editorial Communications, Parliamentary Debate, Corporate Design, Entrepreneurial Design and Team Design. Each category was judged by a number of Engineers in indus- try, and there was some pretty strong com- petition. All of the competitors performed excellently, but this year Waterloo had an amazing showing, winning top honours in all of the categories, and sweeping the Editorial Communications category. Explanatory Communications In this category, competitors are required to explain a complicated techni- cal issue or proce in terms that others professionals can clearly understand. Each presentation was a half hour long, followed by a 15 minute Q&A period. The explanatory communication category was the most popular for OEC participant this year, with about 15 teams competing. Some of the topics included: data encryp- (see "OEC. .. ", page 3) Bus Push Exceeds $5,000 Goal BY JENN MOTUZ Bus Push Director S ince 1984 the Waterloo Engineering Society has organized the Bus Pu h for Big Sisters and over the year we have rai ed nearly a $100 000 for the Big Sisters (and had a lot of fun while doing it) This year's Bus Pu h for Big Sisters wa a huge ucce bringing out over one hun- dred people to help pull the bu and collect donations from the pectators. With a week left to bring in pledge. we've already raised over $3000 which, com- bined with the $2500 rai ed by Big Si ters for the event urpasses our goal of raising 5000 at the event. At 9 a.m. on March 7, 100 engineers, (see "Engineers ... ", page 5) Volume 22 Issue 4 UW Places Third inACM U IVERSITY OF WATERLOO New Bureau T he University of Waterloo's tudent team fini hed third in the finals of the world' large t computer pro- gramming competition held Saturday in Atlanta. First place went to Charles Univer ity of Prague, Czech Republic, which olved the six programming problems in 919 minutes. Russia's St. Peter burg State University took second, olving the ix problems in 1021 minutes. UW solved the six problems in 1026 minutes for third spot. This i the sixth consecutive year that a UW team has competed in the World Finals of the Association for Computer Machinery's International Collegiate Programming Contest in Atlanta. In 1994, a UW team won the ACM championship. UW's team was made up of Derek Kisman, Chris Hendrie, and David Kennedy. Kisman, second-year pure mathematics and computer science, is from Calgary, while Hendrie, fourth-year com uter ience, is from Owen Sound, and Kennedy, fourth-year applied mathe- matics, is from Seaforth, Ont. The two other Canadian universities . in the finals were the University of Alberta, which placed eighth, and McGill Univer ity, which placed 17th. The top American team was the Mas achusett Institute of Technology, placing fifth. A total of 54 college and uoiver ily teams, 'elected from 1,250 around the world advanced to la t Saturday's ACM finals after a serie. of regional qualifying rounds. In This Issue ... Canadian Engineering Competition ... 3 To the Point .............. .... ... 4 Beyond Ring Road ................ 5 Interview with Doug Beynon ........ 6 The Crazy Carrot. .... ....... . .... 7 Bog's Canoon ................. 7 Engineering Ans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Humanitarian Award Submissions. 11-13 Executive Reports ........... .. 14-15 Mathematics PlaygroUnd .......... 16 "The best antidote for pseudoscience, I firmly believe, is science" - Carl Sagan 2 News & Information The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13,1998 Pledge for Continued Excellence BY BRIAN HILL 48 Electrical T he 1998 Plummer's Pledge is about to begin! It's that time of year again when representatives from the Class of '98 will be canvassing graduating classes for the Plummer's Pledge. All graduating st udents will be asked to con- sider making a three and several important projects have already been funded from the interest earnings. Thi s term the Waterloo Engineering Endowment Funding Council was able to allocate $110,000 for various projects. The Plummer's Pledge plays a criticaJ role in the Endowment Fund. One of the most important aspects of this pledge is the commitment from year pledge to the faculty. The first contribution on that pledge does not come due until one year after gradua- tion. "The Class of '98 can make a real difference to the future of the F acuity. " new graduates like you and me. We see firsthand the prob- lems under-funding is causing and we should be determi ned to maintain the quali - Thi s very important student initiative is in its 10 year - the first class to initiate this program and pledge their support was the Class of '89. The money, along with donations from the Voluntary Student Contribution, has been directed toward the Waterloo Engineering Endowment Foundation (WEEF). Thi s student run endowment has grown quickly ty and reputation of our degrees. Furthermore, when pledging our support, it is necessary for us to think carefully about the level of commitment we are making and whether we will be able to fulfill the commitment in one year's time. Follow through is criticaJ to the success of the program si nce planning takes place well in advance. Participation is the goal for this year' s program. A Plummer's Pledge director for the 1998 campaign, I have set a 70% participation goa\. I encourage all students to participate in the Plummer' s Pledge at a level with which they feel comfortable. With the current economic situation, we are focusing on the number of people par- ticipating, not necessarily the amount of money pledged. Students are encouraged to pledge what they think they can reason- ably afford a year from now. The Class of '98 can make a real dif- ference to the future of the Faculty. Our participation makes a strong statement about our commitment and it will encour- age others, such as alumni, faculty, staff, corporations and foundations to support their faculty. The pledge campaign period is March 1 toApril 10. Further information on the Plummer's Pledge is available from the WEEF Office, from a class rep near you or you can email me (bahill@novice) with any questions. Congratulations to the Class of '98, let's make it something speciaJ. Letter to the Editor: Dear Iron Warrior, side of the engineers. A train carrying a load of steel overloaded the bridge, and I guess the rest is hi story. So is that where our rings come from? I personally asked the warden at the introductory talks, he said no. However, on websites located on Queen's, Toronto and Manitoba, they all I am currently fini shing my la t term in engineering. After all these years, I've always wondered where the Iron Ring came from. I've heard about a bridge that collapsed due to poor judgement on the
Pricing for Co-op Packages:
1 1 .9 Resume Stock Copies
7.7 White Copies
Co-op Job Postings
Package Collating/Stapling
Resume Typesetting
Student Business Cards .. owned by Feder . _ < .' < nts STUDENT LIFE CENTRE, LOWER LEVEL MON-FRI 8om-8pm SAT 1 2-5pm 888-4567 ext.6868 -/
talk about the same bridge. Perhaps they just plagiarized off each others' sites (typ- ical engineering assignment habits). I am wondering if the Iron Warrior has any past articles that it can reprint. Also, the war- den mentioned that the ring used to be made of iron, but now it is made of steel. If the story about the train is true, then per- haps it was always made of steel. Another que tion I have is, "Why are we called plummers?" Thanks for the ears, Kenny Fung Editor's response: Dear Kenny, The IW Investigative Reporting Team hasfoulld out that the iron rings may have previollsly been made of iron which came from the bridge. However, this is uncon- firmed and some say that it is unlikely. In more recent years, the rings are made of stainless steel to increase their longevity. It is doubtful that any material from the bridge can be found in the rings of today 's graduates yet the myth lives on. The iron ring is a symbol which signifies thai the bearer has attended the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer and has voluntari - ly taken the obligation. Successful com- pletion of an accredited engineering program does not automatically qualify you to receive the ring. You must also attend the Ritual and make the Obligation. The Ritual is a sincere and dignified cere- mony dealing with the philosophical and practical aspects of the life of the engineer. As for your other question regarding why we are called plummers, we will have to dig a little deeper to find the answer. What we do know is that the term has been around for a long time and was once used to describe engineering officers in the armed services. Sarah Davies (EngSoc President) is particularity interested in your question. She told us she will research the topic and write an article in the next issue depending on if she can find the time.
The Newspaper of the University of Waterloo Engineering Society Editor - in - Chief Pierre Menard Assistant Editors Andrew Hately Jaime Tiampo Layout Editor Alan Cannistraro Photo Editor Chris McKillop WWWEditors Dushyant Bansal Frank Yong Staff Daryl Boyd Huyis Deez Ryan Chen-Wing RaymondHo Eugene Huang Liz Jones Yada lubandhu Lincol Lin Jenn Motuz Lynn Walker ContributorsI' Paul Ce ana Christine Cheng Gary Cheng Bogdan Chmielewski Ron Choi Ander. en Consulting Sarah Davies Chris Ford Jeff Gobatto Brian HrIl Alexis Jay Vladimir Joanovic Caroline Karlgard Dan Kim Alex Matan Rock Radovan Jame Sinton UW News Bureau The Iron Warrior is a forum for thought provolcing and infonnative anicles published by the Engineering Society. Views expressed in The Iron Warrior are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Engineering Society_ The Iron Warrior eocourages submi ssions from stu dents, faculty and members of the university COmmu- nity. Submissions should reflect the concerns and intellectual standards of the university in general. The author's name and phone number should be included. All ubmi ssions. unless otherwise Slated, become the property of The Iron Warrior. wltich reserves the right to refuse publication of material which it deems unsuitable. The Iron Warrior also reserves the right to edit grammar, spelling and text that do not meet university standards. Authors will be notified of any major changes !.hat may be required. Mail hould be addressed to The Iron Warrior. Engineering Society, CPH 1323B. University of Waterloo. Waterloo. Ontario, N2L 3G I. Our phone number is (519) 8884567 x2693. Our fax number is (S 19) 725-4872. E-mail can be sent to ... The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13, 199 ews & Information 3 OEC a Success; Waterloo Wins First Place in Every Event (continued from cover) tion, LCD display, landing gear modeling programs, helicopter de ign improvement and Lego model . Editorial Communications This category focuses on communica- tion skills, a well a the ability to formu- late and support a per onal viewpoint. Discus ion of current controversial tech- nological i sues is encouraged, and thi year a number of the pre entation dealt with genetic engineering. Some of the other topics included the afety of food irradiation and impact of intelligence te. t- ing. Waterloo dominated in this category, with 5 of the 8 conte tants coming from Waterloo Engineering. The e presenta- tions were very well prepared, and com- petitor sold hislher idea convincingly. Parliamentary Debate This event uses the style of parlia- mentary debate, where competitors must defend or refute a resolution using well- formulated arguments on short notice. All of the competitors had to think on their feet , and their arguments had to be both factual and convincing. This competition drew some of the largest crowds over the weekend, as these debates can get pretty heated and amusing. The resolutions included both the erious and the creative, ranging from 'Be it resolved that Coke is it' , to ' ... Beer is the centre of everything', to the legalization of marijuana. Corporate Design The corporate design category gives students an opportunity to develop a solu- tion to a current industrial problem. Thi s year there wer only thre team: c mp l- ing in the corporate design category, but each team had an excellent solution to a real life industry problem. Entrepreneurial Design In thi category, students are encour- aged to design a marketable product or er- vice which is currently unavailable in Canada. The projects were required to be technically feasible, with a solid marketing plan, and all of the competitors delivered. This year, the competition covered a vari- ety of innovative new product ideas, from motorized page turners to brake powered bike lights to ergonomic gynecological leg supports to traffic update ystems. Expect to . ee some of these product' on the mar- ket in year. to come. Team D ign Thi categor) feature. the [alent of only first year engineers, and is \'er) simi- lar to Enginuity competition held b) EngSoc. Thi year's problem: To de 'ign and build an apparatus (in :2 hour ') which will remove a dart from a 2.5 meter circle, and then drop the dart into the centre of a small target near the centre of the circle. The teams also had additional con traints of co t of material and tools. and limited supply of the materiaL. There was al 0 a high school team design contest, u ing the ame problem, running in parallel with the univer iry level competition, without ome of the de ign con. traints. The team were required to present and explain their solu- tion, and demon trate it in the least amount of time with the mo t-amount of accuracy . . Some of the de ign. focu ed on speed and efficiency, others on size and cost, ome on elegance and creativity, but all were excellent solutions to a difficult problem. The winners: Explanatory Commul1ications 1st Place: Parker Mitchell, Waterloo, 2nd Place: Phil Laird, Queen's, Airborne L1DAR Wind Shear Detection and Avoidance 3rd Place: Andrea Andrachuk, Rebecca Kaufman, RMC, Analysis and Redesign of Ch 124 Sea King Tail Wheel Support Editorial Communications 1st Place: Parker Mitchell, Waterloo, fier the tt' aty: h Techno 0 i I Challenges of De-mining 2nd Place: TOI1ya Sulley, Waterloo, Food Irradiation: Safer Food for the Future? 3rd Place: Timothy Burns, Waterloo, Information Technology and Flow: Do PCs in the Home Improvc Quality of Life? Parliamel1tary Debate 1st Place: Alex Pak, Doug Suerich, Waterloo 2nd Place: Colin Stairs, Dilip Andrade, Queen's 3rd Place (Tied): Bruno Bratti, Jason Worry, Waterloo Timothy Burns, William Lee, Waterloo Alex Pak (left) (llId Doug Suerich lise their c[el'er tongues 10 cleal/ up ill Parliamelllary Dehales Corporate Design 1st Place: Tyler Close. Waterloo, ertllne 2.0: GSM I landover TUl1l1lg 2nd Place: Dan O'Connell, John Paul Bowles, Shefldan I:thll.'I, WINC'I I: Waterloo IntellIgent CranL' Research 3rd Place: BCIl Seger, Lianm: Ing. Richard Ng, Vince DiStefano, Torollln, Design of an Isomerization Process Ellfreprell(!urial Desigll 1st Place: Diane Cameron, Kate Iloye, Waterloo, Ergonomic Gynecological Leg Support System 2nd Place: James Kay, Jon Carter, Western, Buddy Bar Ltd. 3rd PlilC(,: Vernon Kcc, Ryerson, Tetra Pagl' Il1Illl'l '/1'11/11 I k.li K" ht PhIl'!.' : Rim"", Jason Thalll, Kevin WOIl!! , Wllllli 'I W:llaloo 2nd 1)ltlCl': Andrl'w hll wal d, Dylan Wa\lgh, Kevin illlmiltoll, Neil Schul1l'r!,Otwwu 3rd Plal'c: ('hlis Wmkll1:lI1, Kim hancis, Monica JlorJlIlf, Nicolas Perrier, Ottawa UW Students Triumph at Canadian Engineering Contest UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO News Bureau U niversity of Waterloo engineering students excelled at the Canadian Engineering Competition held in Ottawa last weekend, building on their earlier success at a provincial qualifying round. "Against the best competitors from the other regional competition , Waterloo students won eight of the possible 21 awards at the national competition - no other Canadian university did nearly so well," said UW Prof. John McPhee, sys- tems design engineering, and faculty advi- sor for the UW team. "They succeeded in winning an amaz- ing number of awards, including the pres- tigious WR. Petrie Award and first place in three of the six competition categories." Fifteen UW st udents qualified for the Canadian competition after placing in first or second in the various contest categories of the recent Ontario place for "The Silence of the Lamb: How Dolly Changed the Face of Genetic Engineering," which, as Mitchell explains, "dealt with some of the medical and social i 'ues surrounding genetic engineering --------------------- and explained why we should continue to pursue research in this field."; Tonya Sulley, chemical engineering: third for "Food Engineering Competition. The official list of all winners i posted on the Canadian Engineering Competition home p age www.cec98.cfes.ca Here are the UW winners: "Waterloo students won eight of the possible 21 awards at the national competition. " Irradiation." Explanatory Communication - Parker Mitchell: third for "The Next Step: The Technical Challenge of Landmine Removal. " Editorial Communication - Parker Mitchell , mechanical engineering: first Entrepreneurial Design - Kate Hoye, Diane Cameron, systems design engineering: firs! for "Ergonomic Gynecological Leg Support System." Corporate Debign - Paul Bowles, Sheridan Ethier, Dan O'Connell , John O'Reilly, systems design engineering: (jrst for "Waterloo Intelligent Crane Research." Extemporaneous Debate - Alex Pak, Doug Suerich, systems design engi- neering: third. As well, UW won twO of the three auxil iary awards. The Social Awareness Award went to Parker Mitchell, while the WR. Petrie Award for best overall at the competition was won by Tyler Close, electrical and computer engineer- ing. 4 ANDERSEN CONSULTING 1997 Andersen Consulting All rights reserved. .Video on demand Improved technology boosts the sys- tem's viability In the early 1990's, video on demand (YoD) was widely heralded as the next big thing in home entertainment. But after ini - tial experiments with the technology proved too expensive and bulky to imple- ment on a large scale, pundits scoffed that YoD was one of the largest disappoint- ments in the hi tory of high-tech. Editorials proclaiming "Yideo on Demand is Dead!" appeared in business and tech- nology publications worldwide. But don't look now: Advancing technology and continued investment could bring YoD to your home after all. The potential market is enormous. International Data Corp. (TOC) finds that Americans alone spend approximately $8 billion annually renting movie in brick- and-mortar video stores. Add an estimated everal billion more for special pay-per- view shows and purchased videotapes, and it is not surprising that investors are reluc- tant to abandon their hopes for YoD. And with prices of set-top boxes falling quick- ly, the technology may finally be within reach for the average con umer. What happened? Cable TY companies have offered "near video on demand" (NVoD) for sev- eral years. NVoD is a pay-per-view s s- tem that enables customers to watch their movie selection at one of everal show- times-8:00, 8: 15, 8:30, or 8:45, for example. Viewers have no control over the broadcast and cannot pause or rewind their selection. Conversely, true VoD sys- tems give users complete control over their viewing selection, including pause, rewind, and fast-forward functions. Based on high-powered video servers, YoD sys- tems can supply the same video to a host of different users without sacrificing the quality. But, as the RBOCs quickly learned earlier this decade, the lack of eco- nomical network bandwidth limit the via- bility of any VoO project. But bandwidth is only part of the problem. Time Warner, regional Bell operating companies (RBOCs), and cable operators spent hundred of millions of dollars building and testing true YoD sys- tems in the early 19908. [n early trials, unwieldy TV set-top boxes costing several thousand dollars each were installed in consumers' homes for free. Although the tests found Significant consumer demand for enhanced home-entertainment ser- vices, the technology turned out to be pro- hibitively expensive, even for a first-generation system. Time Warner announced last May that it would limit it much-hyped "interactive TV" experiment in Orlando, Florida to a VoD-only system. Company officials ay the Orlando pilot demonstrated trong con umer demand for VoO systems, but critics argue that the set- top boxes used in the Time Warner pilot were much too expensive to be viable in the marketplace at large. So why might it work now? The main impediment to widespread adoption of YoD-cost-is beginning to change. The price of the set-top boxe that receive video streams has fallen from sev- eral thousand dollars each to approximate- News & Information The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13, 1998 To THE POINT A COMPILATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ABSTRACTS Iy $300. Cheaper, more powerful file servers can distribute video content to more clients than ever before. And the average cost of installing a single client- server "stream" has dropped to just $500, well below the $1,000 threshold of cost- effectiveness. analysts say. Even the band- width situation is gradually improving. A number of companies are betting that the "fai lure" of interactive TY in the early 1990s was no more than a bump in the road. Time Warner-continuing its push for consumer VoD- has ordered 500,000 advanced set-top boxes from NextLevel and 500,000 more from Scientific-Atlanta (http://www.sciall.com) and Pioneer. Company officials say Time Warner plan to add e-mail and basic Internet services after basic YoD takes hold in the market- place. o The Public Broadcasting Service. (PBS) has cho en streami ng technology provider VDOnet (http://www.vdonel.com) to build an architecture that will allow users to access PBS programs over the Internet from their PCs. o Cable operators in the US state of Pennsylvania are (esting a service from Diva Systems (Iztlp:llwww.diva.com) dubbed OnSet. Customers pay $5.95 per month for access to the VoD service, and pay an additional $3.95 for new release movies and $2.95 for older titles. o Intertainer (http://www.interraille!: com). a project supported by Comcast and Intel, streams movies, games, and other content to users who have high-bandwidth cable or DSL modem connections. Perhaps the most compelling example of YoD's success in the real world is one that hits close to home. Hongkong Telecommunications (HKT http://www.hkt.com) partnered with Andersen Consulting to design and launch a pilot YoD program. HKT announced in November of 1997 that it had won a gov- ernment license to roll out video on demand ervices to nearly 88,000 house- holds. Hong Kong's extremely high popu- lation density made the deployment of a special broadband network infrastructure feasible. Company officials say approxi- mately 90 percent of the territory's citizens will have access to the ervice within three years. Continued advance in video on demand make it a technology that telecom- munications companies and content providers cannot afford to ignore. And while ollle cable companies worry that VoD will only erve to cannibalize their customer ba e, the technology' potential in that industry i undeniable. Most peo- ple will not throw out their video cassette recorders ju t yet, but don't be urprised when it happen,. By Michael J. Fenner Hot Buttons Netscape releases SuiteS pot 3.5 Net cape Communications ha begun shipping version of its SuiteS pot line of bundled Web server products de igned to help companie deploy applications acros extranet. Company officials say version 3.5 includes improved performance and scalability; a faster. more reliable directory with automatic fail-over and backup; and an "express clients" facility that allows u ers to access Netscape Me saging Server or Net cape Calendar Server with any Web brow er. SuiteSpot 3.5 is the first product from any vendor to use ver- sion 3.0 of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LOAP) standard, accord- ing to Netscape. Based on "Netscape targets extranets with SuiteSpot 3.5," by Stannie Holt, InfoWorId, 16 February 1998, p. 5 I; "Netscape hits the SuiteSpot," by Ellis Booker, InternetWeek, 16 February 1998, p.27. IBM to help Sun finish the JavaOS Sun Microsystems and IBM have formed an alliance to bolster the JavaOS as a strong and reliable platform for network computers (NCs), according to company officials. The alliance is part of the com- panies' strategy to position pure Java- based NCs a a low-cost, low-mai ntenance alternative to Wintel PCs. Company officials say IBM will pool its 2,400 Java developers with Sun's team to resolve a number of difficulties with the JavaOS that have delayed the release of Java NCs. These problems include ecuri- ty, servicing, device driver, and admini - tration issues. The companies will co-develop tools and services for Java developers and will collaborate on educa- tional and certification services. IBM will also help Sun market the JavaOS in order to demonstrate that it is a non-proprietary operating sy tern, according to company officials. After lm I8-month delay, Sun will finally ship its lavaStation NC by the end of this month, and IBM is planning to release a JavaOS-based Network Station NC later this year. Based on "Sun enlists IBM for JavaOS aid," by Mary Haye, InformationWeek, 23 February 1998, p. 21. .New Age Architectures Sun to release completed Enterprise JavaBeans spe<:ification Sun Microsystems is readying its Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) specification for release later this month. EJB is a erv- er- ide, component-based model that allows Java objects to interact in distrib- uted environments. The pecification will enable developers to build business logic and database access components that can run acro s platforms. The EJB specification was developed by Sun with a number of leading industry partner including BEA Systems, IBM, Netscape, Oracle, Syba e, and WebLogic. Some functionalities-including multi- threading and location-independence- were 9mitted in order to reach a consensus among the participants. Several vendors are planning to release tools and server based on the EJB specification later this, year . Based on "JavaBean spec nears release," by Rich Levin, InformationWeek, 23 February 1998, p. 22. IBM, Intel unveil new system manage- ment te<:hnology IBM and Intel announced new jointly- deveioped hardware and oft ware technol- ogy featuring PC ystem management and asset-protection capabilitie . The Alert on LA system will alert network adminis- trations of PC problem -including con- figuration changes and operating system if the PC is turned off or connected to the network from a remote location. Company official say Alert on LAN will also protect PCs from theft and vandalism by alerting admini trators if a system is disconnected from the network or if valuable components such as memo- ry chips or microprocessors are removed. The technology will be built into Intel's forthcoming 82558 LAN-on-motherboard chipset, and will be offered in IBM's PC 300 corporate desktop devices and its IntelliStation workstations later this year. Alert on LAN is the latest product from the Advanced Manageability Alliance that was formed by IBM and Intel in 1996. Previously, the all iance offered Wake on LAN, which allows a networked PC to be turned on remotely for mainte- nance and administrative purpo es such as software updates. Based on "PC problems flagged," by Bob Francis, Information Week; 23 February 1998, p. 121; "Intel Alert on LAN announced," by Emily Fitzhoff, InfoWorld, 23 February 1998, p. 10. Universal Network British Telecommunications introduces micropayment system British Telecommunications (BT) unveiled a new Internet micropayment system, dubbed Array, designed to manage tran actions worth between 16 cents and $16.50. Micropayments allow customers to purchase small chunks of data-a single magazine article or a one-use-only digital game, for example--over the Internet. In the Array system, consumers use a credit card to obtain an account with BT. Registered users can then purchase goods and services at participating mer- chants' Web sites, which contact BT for purchase authorization and biJling. Analysts say Web content providers could be attracted to the BT micropayment sys- tem as an alternative to the sub cription- ba ed Internet sales models that have gained limited popUlarity so far. Based on "BT payment trial handles small Web transactions," by Sharon Machlis, Computerworld, 23 February 1998, p. 4. .Worldwide Marketplace Microsoft acquires Flash Communications Micro oft has acquired in tant mes- aging systems vendor Flash Communications for an undisclosed amount. Flash's technology allows PC users to participate in real-time electronic conversations via an on-screen pop-up window. Microsoft officials say the soft- ware giant intends to build Flash?s mes- saging capabilitie rnto its Exchange Server system. Analysts believe the acqui- sition illustrates Microsoft's ongoing strat- egy to integrate emerging technologies with its core software systems. Based on "Microsoft bags instant messaging company," by Barbara Darrow, Computer Reseller News, 23 February 1998, p. www.techweb.com/investorlstoryl INV19980223AOOI The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13, 1998 News & Information 5 Paul Martin announces balanced budget; Lake Champlain to become 6th Great Lake National ews O n February 24, Finance Minister Paul Martin announced the first deficit-free feder- al budget in 28 years. He also colllJlti ted the Liberal government to zero-deficit budgets for the next three years. Reform Leader Preston Manning was unimpressed with Martin' s budget, arguing the government should have gone deeper in its tax cuts. Martin's budget arso calls for a Millennium Scholarship Foundation that will hand out grants averaging $3000 to needy students over a to-year period, starting in the 2000. The endowment .of $2.5 billion will provide about 100,000 scholarships. Quebec Liberal Party leader Daniel John on resigned on March 2. Premier Lucien Bouchard commented that a Quebec referendum could be delayed while the Liberals look for a new leader. He also believed that Jean Charest would be unable to renew federalism even if Charest became the new provincial party leader. Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard will l!leet his Newfoundland counterpart Brian Tobin on March 9. They will announce the negotiations of a major hydroelectricity project between the two Beyond Ring Road by Lineol LiIl province. consi t- ing of two dam. along the Churchill Ri ver. The project i e timated to be worth 12 billion. The number of people and bu i- nesse that decl ared bankruptcy et a record high in 1997. The figure rose 4% from the previou record set in 1996. Analysts say the figure refl ected the ea e of obtaining credit. Justice for Children, a children's right group in Toronto, plans to challenge a part of the Criminal Code that allows parents to physically discipline children. It argues that courts have ruled inconsi - tently on assault charges against parents in previous cases. Ottawa and the provinces can't agree on who should pay $200 million of a $1.2- billion compensation package for people who contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood in the 1980s. They have agreed that only those infected between 1986 and 1990 should get any money. Ottawa and nine provinces signed an agreement on February 20 to end inter- provincial trade barriers. The agreement would prevent municipalities, universities, hospitals and schools from discriminating against out-of-province suppliers. The BC Minister of Employment and Investment refused the deal. Chocked 'full of Talent T 'was the mid- dle of term, and all through Engineering. Not a creature was stirring ... The incredible! D07.ens of acts filled more than 5 hours includ- Social Spot ing the amazing jug- gling guy, the by Jernlifer Motuz "Backstreet Boys" Well, that's not true. These past two weeks have been very busy, celebrity- packed and a lot of fun. and Ajay and com- =======0!1 pany doing "what they do best". Week 8: Lot's "0" fun The Weekend: The OEC (Ontario Engineering Competition for the uninitiat- ed) was held this weekend, run by the engineering society and went very smoothly. Waterloo showed it's superiori- ty as we took nearly every award that weekend (11 of 18 plus all the auxilliary awards). Congratulations to everyone who did us proud! Sunday: The Engineers held their own World Cup Soccer Toumament today at the Indoor Soccer Tourney. Spirits were high and a good time was had by all. Thursday: At the first Hick trip since the famed night at the "Outsider Road House" we found ourselves in Mimico at the Blue Goose. George Kash, the Oktoberfest King was there for a special concert just for us (and everyone else who bappened to be in the bar). Between the songs and dances (with Lisa lighting up the floor) we watched Mulder learn George's trick, AI show off his knowledge of Italian ("AI are you Italian" "Mais Oui!") and demonstrated our own impres- sive 10-man sport. Week 9: Time to show off Thursday: This term's Tal-Eng was Friday: This year's MOT drew out a huge crowd to POETS as we celebrated the middle of tflITl (and the 3B's celebrated their 365 days til IRS Pub Crawl). Saturday: For the fourteenth year in a row, the UW Engineers pulled a bus from UW to Market Square raising money for the Big Sisters of Kitchener- Waterloo. Over a hundred people came out for the Bus Push (though we pull the bus ... this will forever be a mystery of nature) and between the chants and cheers we learned how to turn the bus and gained a new respect for Bus Drivers .. those things are NOT manuverable. All in all it was a lot of fun, and definitely the best (although the first) I've ever been to. Also Saturday: Today was our "Engineer's World Cup", the Enghockey (indoor ringette) tourney. Several teams signed up, and at the time of this writing it's not over yet but I'm sure the final game was very exciting. Coming up look for: March 16: Annual ChemEng Coffee House March 19: IRS! March 25: The EngSoc Potluck (last meeting of the term) in POETS March 27: The End of Term Pub and TSN movie showing 0\\ that the 1998 Winter 01 'mpic Game. are officially over, Toronto begins to prepare its bid to host the :2008 Unlnler Games. Summer Games in Toronto will equate to a 3 billion cash flo> to the 10 al economy. International News UN Secretary General Kofi Annan wa succe ful in preventing war in the Persian Gulf. Annan reached an agree- ment with Iraq on the di pute over weapons inspection. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein agreed to open up previ- ously inacce sible ites, including presi- dential palaces, for inspection . However, Annan sai d that Iraq mu. t account for all missing POW's and return Kuwaiti prop- erty before economic sanction again t Iraq will be lifted. Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair has been seen at Roman Catholic masse several times in the last few months. His appearances are fueling talks of his poten- tial conversion from Anglican to Roman Catholicism. Lake Champlain may become the sixth Great Lake. The lake that straddles Quebec and Vermont is about IIl5 the size of Lake Ontario. A senator from Vermont is arguing for the inclusion because $56 million US in research grants is distributed to universities in Great Lake states. President Bill Clinton will likely approve of the change. 1998 mark Puerto Rico's 100th anniversary as a US territory. A vote will be held before the end of the year to decide whether if it will become an independent country, join US as thl' 51 st statc. or remain a sclfgovcrning US COIIIlIlOII wealth. Ru, sian Pre ' ident Boris Yeltsin appointed a new minister for the country's tomic Energ Ministry. Yeit in is cited for telling the new minister that Ru ia must keep its remaining arsenals of nuclear weapon. in top shape. Leader in North Korea announced on February 18 that they were ready to nego- tiate with South Korea's newly elected government. The orth i. seeking peace- ful reconciliation to end c nrrontalion that began in 1945 when the Korean peninsula wa: split into the two countries. The North will run out of dome. tic food supply by April and will have to rely on foreign aid. If Microsoft wins its current antitrust battle with the US government, Net cape Communications will bow out of the Internet browser war, c aid company co- founder Marc Andreessen. In tead, the company will focus on offering corporate cu tomers specific oftware applications and ervices. Researchers found that the inner ears of lesbians work more like those of men. This strong evidence of a physicaJ differ- ence between homosexual and heterosexu- al women support the theory that sexual orientation may be decided before birth. Jupiter's moon Europa may have a life-supporting ocean beneath the moon' s icy crust. Scientists made the peculations based on pictures taken by the spacecraft Galileo last December. 1n the wake of a dispute over the validity of Dolly the clone sheep, scien- tists in the Netherlands showcased two cloned calves, Holly and Belle, on March I Engineers Pull a Bus from the University to Downtown Kitchener (C01ltillued from cover) Big Sisters and their Little Buddies arrived for the Pre-Bus Push Breakfast in the PH foyer. Hard hats were distributed and t- shirts were sold and given to those who had raised over $75 in pledges. After many preparations (special thanks to Matt, Dan, Melanie, Scott, Ryan, Chris, Benoit and Jaime for helping set up at 8:30) it w ~ time to head out to the Bus. Finally at 9:45 we were ready. The CHYM FM vehicle led us out onto University Ave and we were off, Now, getting a 9 tonne school bus moving may not sound too difficult, but "This bus is heavy,oh this bus is heavy oh!", and with a lot of effort we got the bus rolling. For the next hour and a half there was a sea of purple shirts and yellow hard-hats as we pulled the bus down University and King chanting, cheering, and having a great time. Led by Oli Dumetz on his uni- cycle, the Big and Little Sisters and a cou- ple engineers collected donations from the crowds totalling $438.73. The tool bearers met up with us by Waterloo Town Square and brought our energy up even higher with candies and a couple helping hands. We arrived at Market Square with a cheer and soon we were back on our way to POETS for lunch and the door prizes. Thanks to everyone who raised money and came out. Hopefully you all had as much fun as I did on Saturday! Congratulations go out to John Shmek who raised $550 as of March 7. ther contenders for the grand pri ze (most money raised) are Matt larke, Jaime Tiampo, and Sarah Davies alJ with totals over $200. And now for the long list of thank- you's to people that the Bus Push wouldn't have worked without: Matt for putting together the pledge forms, Dan, Melanie, Chris and Jason for getting some of the sponsorships, Rocky for securing the liq- uid grand pri ze, Jaime for taxiing me around on my searches for free stuff for the volunteers. Thanks al so to Mary for supplying us with breakfast and letting us use the C & D coffee machines. The event was covered by CTV and Rogers, giving us a lot of positive cover- age in the community. I have a tape with the news clips on it, so if you missed the Bus Push this year, or if you want to spot yourself in the crowd, just ask me Umo- tuz@engmai/) and I'll lend it to you. So until next year, ju t remember: We are, we are, we are the Engineers, We can, we can, pull this for fourty years, Steer straight, steer straight, and watch us make a fum, We don't give a darn for any dam man who doesn't have rope bum. 6 News & Information The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13, 1998 Interview with Doug Beynon On a mission to increase awareness of humanitarian values BY PIERRE MENARD Iron Warrior Editor H ow is it that the sounds of Mozart and Beethoven can improve your performance on academic tests? How is your work performance affected when your boss constantly ignores your suggestions? r wonder how concious we are of all the different human factors that have an impact on us. Recently, I have had the pleasure of interviewing Doug Beynon, a representative of the Beynon Memorial Foundation. He is an advocate for increasing humanitarianism in the workplace as well as increasing the aware- ness of the impact of people's actions on others. Doug has a long list of achieve- menu;, one of them being a 1970 Mechanical Engineering graduate from UW. He later pursued a Master's in Management Sciences at UW and a PhD in Business at the University of Kansas. He once held the position of Regional Yice- President for the Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement only to later become the President of Waterloo Engineering Software. Today, Doug is also the Waterloo Chapter Pre. ident of the Engineering Alumni Association. Doug's interest in humanitari anism probably originate from his father for whom the Beynon Memorial Foundation is named. Doug recalls that his. father, an engineer and manager at Imperial Oil in Sarnia, was concerned and involved with humanitarian issues and activities. Doug' father w ~ respected at his organization for "treating people like people". He also served on the planning committee for the first ever Rotary Children's Centre of Canada. In memory of Doug's father, a humanitarian award is available to under- scars running down her chest. The doctor ignorantly replied without sensing the patients need for compassion and under- standing that she should become a Playboy centerfold. The doctor in the scenario described above is an example of someone who is unaware of humanitarian values. Technically, the doctor performed his job with competence. Non-technically, he was an absolute horror. Later on, the doctor was diagnosed with cancer and went through the same graduate engineering students exhibiting an interest in humanitari- an values. When asked Doug to comment on the differences between people who hold humanitarian values and those who do not he told me the "Engineers must o s s e ~ s technical excellence, however, there is an increasing demand for Engineers who process as his previ- ous patients. He found that the other doctors were insen- sitive to his needs a a patient. After hi treatment he re olved to treat his patients as he would have liked to be also possess non-technical skills. " story of "The Doctor". "The Doctor" is a movie starring William Hurt who played a surgeon pecializing in can- cer treatment , specifically women with breast cancer. Part of the procedure for removing breast cancer involves a large cut running down the center of the chest. On one occasion after this surgical proce- dure was performed on a patient she asked how she would cope with the permanent treated and that all interns become patients in the hospital to experience how it feels. The key issue in starting to hold humanitarian values is to become aware how these values, or a lack of them, impact others. 'The Doctor" show us that it is never too late to become aware. Like the medical profession, the engi- neering profession is in need of engineers possessing humanitarian value. If you're always on the go take us with you. A pager from Bell Mobility is the easy and affordable way to stay in the loop. Bell Mobility APPROVED AGENT Weavers Arms Engineers must posses technical excel- lence, however there is an increa ing demand for engineers who al 0 po e non-technical skill. Doug mention that in many organizations, engineers tend to not listen and only express their point of view. People talking past each other results in poor communication among members of an organization. A simple technique that Doug recommends is to repeat back in your own words what other are trying to tell you. In this way, the other party will feel like you attempted to under- stand their viewpoint. Using this tech- nique may also help you concentrate on what people are telling you rather than hearing them but thinking about your own ideas instead. Doug believes that engineers in the workforce could do better as far as human- itarian awareness is concerned. Of course, it is never too late to get interested in humanitarian values or to put these values into practice. There is no textbook formu- la, it is more like a philo ophy on how to conduct your life. As a spoke person for the Beynon Memorial Foundation, Doug hopes that UW undergraduate engineers realize the importance of being aware. After all, our actions do impact other peo- ple' s lives. It is our obligation to make ure the impact is a positive one. :,;,,-x- ..... =t::"'- The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13, 1998 Opinions 7 I Am Man Hear Me Grunt J USI ask the actu- arial cience students on The Other End b)' Andrew Halely a in pi ration for the young male. Following thi , a gen- eration idolizing Beavi and Butlhead i not likely to pro- duce the leaders of about hL role in ociety. campus, being male is becoming a high- risk occupation. The male populace is forecast to die sooner, be prone to alcoholism and =======;;;;;;;;J tomorrow. I don' t Back in the day.' of Canada Scholarship and employment "equity' act , I bore the fru tration of being the advantaged e . ] beli ed that there may have been good ju tification for the cat h- up initiatives for promoting a ademi sand technolog to women. M concern i that this catch-up program and, imilar initia- tive in Canada have ingrained a las inlde and tupidity in young males that \. ill be difficult to remed. The trend began in 1986, when Ontario women surpas. cd men a, the dominant number of Ontario Scholar . Thirteen year ago, 53 percent of Ontario cholar were female and that has increa ed to 60 percent in 1996 (Globe and Mail, March 7th, 1998). The qualita- tive ob ervation of teachers that "boy don't seem to be even trying" i ignalling a continuation of thi trend. women." I gues we don't need to worry about the other 55 si nce they'll tough it out a men or boy , In that statement, it i pos- , ible to 'ee the failing of the education sys- tem and so ielY. Females are being encouraged and supported more than before and the males who are watching this are not rcceiving the ame support . gambling and become horribly depressed in their early twenties. Throw on top of this a surprising new trend in male tupid- ity, it becomes clear that those of us at uni- versity now could represent the last qua i-equal generation. It's almost surprising that tech- nology and engineering programs have been dominated by males in the generation known as "X." Society was against the intelligent male and we hardly noticed. Save for MacGyver, the last 15 years has yielded some exceptionally dismal role models for the young male. The male bookworm, or geek, common to many films in the last decade can hardly be cited S tudies have shown that vegetar i ans tend to have faster metabolisms than their carnivorous counterparts (Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies, West/Wad swort h , 1997). As my friends and family will te - tify, I need to eat often, incorporating fre- quent snacks between meal. With students' fridge supplies being low, and their bank balance even lower, I thought it might be fun to introduce some of my favorite fast and yummy nack. These recipes can be made quickly and cheaply with few ingredients, and provide instant grati Hcarion. Expiring Yogurt Dip Here's a dip that 's great to make when blame the media though. I laughed at the "Nerd" and their sub equent "Revenge" with the re t of you. My con- cern rise from the often cited observation that media i a reflection of ociety. I have a legit imate concern for the males of tomorrow. Patriarchy in Canada i dying, if not dead, and defined male/female roles are disappearing with it. The female role has rightfully expanded to an extent that is cause for celebration. It brings me great joy to know that a daugh- ter or niece of mine will have almost unre- stricted opportunity. I am however, worried that if the current trend in male degradation is not reversed, that my son or nephew will bear a lack of enthusiasm It's reas uring that this trend ha been noticed. This rea suring feeling crumbles when you read quotes like "we should be concerned about the Montreal dropout rate because 45 percent are yo'ung This is probably a difficult thing to see in engi neering, where the com- plaints of male-oriented education may till hold tme. When [ examine my own attitud , however, I find that I feel more ompe1Jed to encourage a gi rl or young woman to enter science or engineering. Until recently, I . aw no need for the same Ie el of support for males. We must remember that drive and pas, ion for learn- ing is not an imph it male characteri tic, Our generation may have felt orne of the la t undue par1itioning into male/female roles. As we gain the opportunity to shape society, we should remember that retribu- tion should not be perpetuated through generations. Crazy Carrot Munchies The Crazy Carrot by Lynn Walker lVWW. eng. IlwaruJoo. ca! Sludellr5llnwolker all you seem to have left in the fridge is plain yogurt and stale pita. I've only ever tried this with plain yogurt, so I make no guarantees if you try this with strawberry yogurt or something. Spread some yogurt on a plate, and add some chili powder (the hotter the better) and some coarsely ground pepper. Serve with pita wedges, crackers, or nuked stale bread. Preya's Eggplant Dip (Choka) This recipe comes from my friend Preya, who makes the best Choka and flat - bread around. But, ince Preya i busy getting an engineering degree or some- thing, here's how to make it yourself. Take one medium eggplant and one large tomato. Cut the stems off of the eggplant and tomato. Jab some holes in the egg- plant and tomato with a fork. Microwave them on high power for about 5 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft and deflated and the tomato is mushy. Slice the egg- plant in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh, seeds and all. In a bowl, mash it all up with a fork. Add some chopped onion, alt, pepper, and whatever other spices you have left, and serve on pitas, crackers, stale bread, whatever. Crazy urry Vegetable Dip This recipe is for a vcggic dip thnl 1 practically grew up on. Always pr 'sent al every fami ly functioll, tillS dip and I go baek a long way. In a bowl, tni together the following ingredi ent s: 1/2 cup sour scream or plain yogurt 1/2 cup mayonnaise 2 tsp tarragon vinegar ( I lsI' tarragoll & 2 lSp vinegar) 1/4 tsp salt 1/8 t p thyme 112 tsp curry 2 tsp chili 2 tsp chives 2 tsp onion flakes This dip is awe orne with CARROTS, but any vegetable wi n do. it improves in flavour if you let it sit for a couple of hours or ovenight (in the fridge of course), but can be eaten immediately. So will''' thl' mlillchil.'S :-.l rikl', gil 101 these eas (1I Ild hL'lIllhy) sn:ld ..s. If ,\'/I ll hun "y, IIh' ('r",y Currof wl'h pagl: u n.:t'ipc I'll! hUIllIllUs . As a po:-. I\cript to la\1 issue's art1l'lc, I have hllppily discovelcd thut Ihe pickled gi nger for sli shi is IIvailable at University Foods.
Sc.ore.s SinGe low ha. Ve. b e.e-n
month) up f>u>ye- blj rev- >
b-f5 d- pOiYl1s :Jame. 8 Opinions The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13, 1998 Tuition Hikes Should Stay Within Engineering Author's Note: This column is a second pan to last issue :s, where I com- mented on the desti- nation of the increased revenues from deregulation. W ith all the talk about the deregulation of tuition and planned increases in the cost an individual incurs by studying engineering, certain questions must be asked: are we getting our money's worth? Will we still be getting our money's worth after the increase? To determine this, one must consider what is received in exchange for the tuition fee. An education? Yes, but this is also true of an arts program. What makes an engineering program more valuable? The crux of their argument is that engineers Consider this ... by Jej/Gobafto can expect a signifi- cantly higher salary than the arts majors. So, an engineering student should pay more for the benefit of having a better paying job upon graduation. Now, look at why the engineer can expect a higher salary. The current job market is deprived of engineering and other technical talent. A mediocre individual can demand an exhorbant salary simply based on the sup- ply and demand situation. However, how long is this glut of openings expected to last? Forever? Certainly not. In time, the market will settle, and the positions will be signi ficantly fewer. It is at thi time that engineering stu- dents should start seriously looking at the quality of their education. If the universi- ty succeeds in increasing the engineering tuition fee, one can be almost certain the fees will not be reduced once the current job bounty is exhausted. The university must then earn this extra money by pro- viding UW engineering students with the same certainty the market does today. The programs at the University of Waterloo are of an acceptable calibre for the moment. The graduates produced are successful and capable individuals. However, if this success is supposed to be met by graduates in the future, where the market is not so kind, they must have an edge. The school can only rest on the lau- rel of a co-op program for so long; with new co-op programs opening up across the country, how much longer will this be a factor? The university must rise to the challenge it will face. The question is how will the school do this? Courses with some connection to the real world is a start. All too often the CUf- riculum is muddled with theoretical hypothe e and ab tract problem. (When was the last time anyone encountered a point charge radiating electromagnetic energy while enclosed in a dielectric sphere of infinite radiu ?) Along with these new practical cour - es would be realistic labs with equipment similar to what would be encountered in the late twentieth century work world. The use of archaic equipment, while a useful history lesson (as well as a way for people to appreciate modem conveniences), does not really prepare people for the fast paced, high tech world. To implement these suggestions, the university will need more money. Certainly new laboratories and a restruc- turing of the course content is an expen- sive undertaking. However, they are asking for more money from the students. Why not let the students have some say in where the extra money i spent? Tuition Hikes Should Aid Other Faculties BY JAMES SI TO 2A ystems Design I t seems clear at this point that in the near future, there will be some ort of deregulation to the tuition fees of the engineers at the University of Waterloo. This would mean that engineers would pay more for their education than would stu- dent from faculties such as Arts or Science. However, since it is not the fac- ultie , but the university as a whole that collects the tuition, the increased revenue may not be funnelled into the Faculty of Engineoring. Previous articles in this paper have argued that these new funds should be poured directly into Engineering. While allocating funds to faculties based on revenue from tuition may seem reasonable; it does not truly make sense. L ose thirty pounds in thirty days. Become a math genius in just a few hours. Earn thou- sands of dollars from home. You've heard it all before. All of 'those wonderful, magical remedies to life's problems. Quick fixes, solutions. Over the years, they have earned themselves a bad name. Most people have learned that the only way to achieve stabil- ity, and the only way to succeed in any- thing, is to plan ahead. In a world where we have been mindlessly destroying our planet for the last century, it is reassuring to know that people have started to catch on to the concept of long-term thinking. Losing weight is not a matter of diet, nor exercise. Learning math is not a matter of study methods. Earning money is not a matter of miracles. Everyone is aware that success in any area depends on the right mind set. Commitment and planning are the key factors. If the government decided to allocate funds for services based on the taxes paid by the service users, then how would some less fortunate individuals survive? Gfanted, students in the Faculty of Arts may not be seen as "Ie s fortunate". But certainly once their univer ity education i complete, their chance of finding employ- ment i significantly lower than that of an Engineering graduate. While it is not being suggested that the Engineers fully support students from other faculties, it is not unreasonable to ask that funds be shared among faculties and departments, as needed. How can stu- dents in Engineering convince themselves that their increased tuition funds should be spent on Engineering alone when Engineering students use the services of other faculties and departments each and every day. For instance, do not Engineering students u e the Physical Activities Complex every day? Should Engineering students then, not be allowed to attend plays and public lectures organ- ised in the faculty of Arts.? Should Engineering have its own meal plan so their students do not eat Food services food? Clearly, it is not at all feasible that stu- dents be required to pay for theiT own indi- vidual service . So why then is there such a backlash when it is suggested that funds be shared among all faculties and depart- ments? Perhaps we Engineers like to believe that we somehow deserve more if we pay more. By that theory, how can it be justified that an eighty year old woman's taxes be used to pay for your education? Without a tax pooling system, your education would cost about five times more than it does now. Think about that Quick Fixes: a Lost Art The Big Picture hy RaymOlld Ho Yet in the midst of all these develop- ments, we have per- haps forgotten how to act quickly and deci- si vely. It is true that many potential prob- lems can be prevent- ed through e tablishing strong foundations and planning ahead. But what happens when the foundation start to deteriorate? Or when something happens that we didn't plan for? In many instances, there is no time to llIuli around and figure out a long term solution; the problem may require immediate attention. A quick fix is the answer. The benefits of a quick fix are best illustrated through the old adage: "a stitch in time saves nine." When you find a little tear in your clothing, what do you do? Do you sit around and think of all the po ible long term solutions? Do you throwaway that piece of clothing and buy a new one? While you're busy pondering and plan- ning, that tear in your clothing starts to grow. Sooner or later, the tear becomes so large, that you're forced to buy a new arti- cle of clothing. The new piece of clothing will definitely la t longer than the old one, you think, and you pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Had you acted right away, however, and quickly stitched up that little tear, then the same result would have been achieved. Many people look at our highways, our school systems, or our hospital, and notiCe that they are crumbling. They say it is due to lack of foresight, lack of plan- ning. This may be true to a certain extent, but more likely, it is due to a failure to act. When a crack forms in anything, be it a road, a sy tem, or even your windshield, what do you do? You don't blame it on the builder. You fix the crack right away, before it tart to grow. It's called mainte- nance. Quick, decisive, action, however, is not to be confu ed with ha teo Decisions that are hastily made can prove disastrous. But in many cases, there i little risk in coming to a quick decision. For example, when the batteries in your remote control die, then you replace them. In most cases, it's not as simplistic as that, but the same for a second. The same is true at the University of Waterloo. Would you like to pay for each hour of lecture or for each minute you use a Polaris computer station? Maybe you should have to supply or pay for your own chair for class. The point is that the finan- cial system is most efficient if all costs are "pooled" togefher and distributed as need be. Many, if not all of the individuals who attend this are proud to live in a country such as Canada; a semi-socialist country that allows everyone a fair chance in life, regardless of race, religion, or financial tatus. If it is these ideals and ethics that make our country stand above the rest, then why do we all suddenly become so selfish and individualistic when our money is used to help other ? logic applies. . History, however, has shown us that people are reluctant to perform mainte- nance on work that is not their own. Rather, they prefer to let things deteriorate, putting the blame on the creators. They wait until the work is about to collapse, and then propose costly, major over-hauls of their own. They claim that they're establishing a stronger foundation for the future. But consider our school system; contrary to general consensus, it is not in need of major reform. A couple of intelli- gent changes in a few areas can save the day. The problem is that we have lost our ability to implement quick changes, and have become obsessed with the long-term. Ironically, there is no quick and easy solution to this problem. We will have to learn through experience and through our mistakes. Unfortunately, learning may take quite some time, possibly just as long as it did for us to acquire long-term think- ing skills. And like our development of long-term thinking, we may again almost reach the point of no return before we reacquaint ourselves with the art of quick fixing. The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13, 1998 Opinions 9 Division of Power Shades of Grey by Jaime 1iampo A s with most academic institutions, UW i divided along solid lines of Departments and spheres of influence. But is there any communica- tions between these sections? The answer is Yes and No. The academic political scene is riddled with self interest and own- ership. People grip their little pieces of the pie with a tenacity only ever seen by a starving dog and a T-bone steak. Now with this segmentation comes a lack of communication and a deficiency of doing what is most efficient and best for the student or company (co-op). For example, a few technical companies want- ed to advertise themselves to engineering students for the upcoming co-op term and graduates. The FEDS, being the most aggressive political tudent unit that deals with the entire campus, were the first and only people contacted about this. Now the FEDS have a small impact on the Jives of engineering students. All the services they provide are provided by the Engineering Society and all the hustle and bustle in the back rooms talking to the departments and negotiating on behalf of the students is also done by EngSoc. So when all the notices went out and the advertising was done only a small percent of the engineering students actually found out about it. To me this is a waste of the companies' money and their time jf their not going to get to the right people. This is only one example of a lack of communication and a lack of inter-politi- cal boundary discussion, there are many many more. What I believe that Waterloo should have is an all faculty council where we can increase the communication with- in the university. The faculty societies should start playing a greater role within the university so that there is actual repre- sentation of the student body. This council would have a two fold purpose: to increase cross faculty commu- nication and organizations and to create a complete view of what is happening and where we are going at the university as a whole. This type of communication and council would not only improve the trans- fering of ideas but al 0 create a more effi- cient system for all the students. Many of the services and events that are held on campus are redundantly offered by many faculties. Some should be kept within the individual societies but things like event. that are organized for certain occasions could be cross co-ordinated just as the Canada Day celebration is. In addition, hot topics such as the dis- tribution of tuition hikes within the uni- versity can be di cussed and all sides of the issue brought forth infront of the rep- resentatives of the entire school. This type of joint council would be far more effective and helpful to the uni- versity then the current divided, uncom- munitive socities by themselves and the FEDS who are more a service provider than a student organization. .. Giving More to the Tribe rea on that the) had to S ix fir t place ~ ards at OEC. Fir t and third place standing with our concrete toboggan. Eight out of twen- ty-one awards at the Canadian Engineering The Village Idiot cho. c a universit) to attend and Wat rloo just happcned to be that s hool. But \\ hat- evcr the rea<;on is. we are all here. by A Itl/l Cm/llisl ram Competition. $6,000 rai ed for Big Sisters by pushing a bus. Top Canadian fini her in so many other competition. 3,600 ded- icated Engineering students. One awe- orne school. That's my chool; that' our school. We achieve all these great standi ngs, but where's our school pride? Many of us are here for different rea- ons. Some are here because co-op offer a chance to gain experience before enter- ing the Engineering profe ion. Some are here becau e of Waterloo's reputation and name. Yet , another group is here for the For fi \ e year: of our lives, wc belong to this community of Waterloo Engineers. Regardless of our individuality, we are all associated to each other through this common bond. There need to be a greater ense of "tribal spir- it" when one of us achieve. ac omplish- ments, uch a the ones mentioned previou ly, for two reason.. First of all , the accompli shments of one reflects on the reputation and excellence of Waterloo Engineer as a whole, which in tum, looks good on each of us as individuals in this community. Achievements of one are altrui stic because they pu h the group as a whole further. Second of all , for no other rcason than com rade ry, we all share this common relationship of belonging to the "tribe". There is a sen e of pride and glory to know that wc belong to an organization who has displayed such abundant excel- lence. atcrloo i:-; ou/' school. The accom- plishment - of the university can only be achieved by the p'ople that belong to it's ommu nity, and we nre all a part of this community. By showi ng our pride and chool spirit when onc of our members achieves great ta,k" then we are c. sential- Iy patting them on the back. We are show- ing them our appreciation and respect for their hard work and dedicated goals. o whatever your reason for attending thi great institution of hi gher learning, you are now here. If we are to reach greater height then we need to encourage each other to perform as well or better than we have been pcrfornling, because if one of us achieves, then we, as a tribe, have all achieved. Software Developers Come out to the MediaServ Information Session where you can talk to MediaServ Solutions Architects about some of our award winning enterprise software solutions ... talk about employment opportunities ... and enjoy the complimentary food & beverages University Club Wednesday, March 18th 7-10 pm Individual interviews will be scheduled for the following week MediaServ, Toronto and New York, is hiring software developers, application developers, development project managers, management consultants and system engineers to make solutions that work in the real world with real businesses. For more information join us at the Information Session [II AfediaServ INFORMATION ARCH ITECTS To contact us in Toronto: Mary Germano - Business Manager (416) 214-9711 Ext. 263 Fax (416) 214-9686 3 Church Street Suite 202 Toronto Ontario M5E 1M2 jobs@mediaserv.com ..
10 Arts
-Go The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13, 1998 Silent Warriors Like wraiths they roam the streets, Silent Striders in the night. Though they stand before you, They're completely out of sight. You see them every day, Though you know not who they are. Spirits existing in two worlds, Yet from both forever far. Ours is the world of hatred, That fuels all their fear . That strips them of all hope, And leaves them chilling tears. For while they search for shadows, At but a fleeting glance, We prey on their rrusfortunes - They never stand a chance. Our daggers of desecration Make every jeer a cru hing blow And though a tempest brews within them, They never let it show. They don happiness as their armour, Make every smile a stalwart shield. Some surround themselves in flames, All fortresses firmly sealed. And though they feel safe Beneath their tangled web of lies, Loneliness is a landmine, You can see it in their eyes. Divided souls are fragle things, So easil y t ~ apart. As fortresses slowly crumble, With a whispered cry, th.ey depart. Hail the silent warrior, Facing the battlefields each day. Though the journey makes you weary, May you never lose your way. For amid the darkness before you, There are those who'll shine a li ght Building bridges through the void, Loyal comrades in your fight. And for those who toss daggers blindly, Upon whom the war depends, Pray the next heart you rend asunder, Is not one of your friend's. - Anonymous Something's Wrong The weather is warm, the un is shining. I have plenty to eat, to drink, to see. My limbs work. I have no problem learning; Classes may be dull but they are Not what I am fearing. Something's wrong with my life . Friends...I have many; those who care And those who do not. A home, a hearth, I'm welcome to And people with whom to converse. Yet , all this while I know that Something's wrong with my life. Talk of dependence, independence, salvation and yearning; All are inconstant and all are rewarding. Time pas es quick.ly, time pas es slowly; People are coming and some people are going. I tand in the middle A life changes about me, Realization occurs: There is nothing wrong with my life. - Anonymous -- The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13, 1998 Humanities & Awareness 11 Does the Engineering curriculum prepare us for the ethical dilemmas we will face as professionals? Centre for Society, Technology and Values The following seven slIbmi sions are for the Engineering and Society Humanitarian Award. The award is sponsored b) the Beynon Memoria! FOllndation, the Centre for Science, Technology and Vallies and offered through a lI'ritillg compet;on held in the /ron Warri01: Ethics - Food for Thought, Food for Growth BY LINCOL LJ 38 Chemical, Society A AND CAROLINE KARLGARD 38 Chemical, Society 8 I n just over a year, we will get our iron rings. We will become engineers-in- training. Yet, how much do we really know about the profession and the ethical dilemma. we might face? The unfortunate answer is "in ufficient." Our profe sional illiteracy can be partly attributed to weak- nesses in the engineering curriculum. Let u. backtrack a little and talk about high school. Back then, our education consisted of a sprinkle of physics, chem- istry, biology, and math, a dash of philoso- phy, and a hint of social science such a law, history, and geography. Such combi- nation made a balanced and nutritious meal for growing minds. Our di et became more lopsided as we moved on to University. The engineering curriclI u laces emphasi on the devel- opment of technical skills. University, after all , is where we specialize in an area of study. Depending on the engineering depart- ment, students take a minimum of four or five complementary studies electives, only one of which has to be a course on social impact of engineering. However, engi- neering ethics should be an ongoing dis- cussion and an integral part of daily lectures. Currently, profes ors rarely have time to discuss the implications of the material being taught. For example, we hear about the won- ders of biochemical engineering and artifi- cial intelligence, yet we rarely addre more than the underlying theories and equations. The extra five minutes spent on considering ethical issue can greatly help students achieve a well-rounded perspec- tive of the world. Work terms constitute the other main component of the curriculum. We rely on them to teach us what we do not learn in school. Perhaps that is why minute emphasis is placed on teaching engineer- ing ethics at the University. It is true that the work environment is ideal for practic- ing technical know-how. However, it is a misconception that it i also the ideal envi- ronment for learning professional ethics. As juni or engineers, we are eager to impres t:lpon the senior engineers that we are team players, and not out to di sturb the tatus quo. That is not to say that we are incapable of rcsolving ethical dilemmas; it is our lack of experience in dealing with or identifying such that makes us vulnerable in a work environment. For e ample, supposc you worked for Bre-X and knew about the lack of gold in the Indonesian minco You that someone salted gold dust to thc otherwise worthless rocks to bolster the company\ sto k value. Would you have played along with the charade, or risked blowing the whistle? Would you have understood the consequences of either choice? Would you have known what reo ources YOLl could have turned to for council') The above example is extreme, yet it illustrates our need to learn ba ' ic profes- sional cthics at the University. Thc obviou change is to make more impact course a compulsory component of the cuniculum. However, the addition- al workload on top of a 30+-hour week would be too large of a bite to wallow, even with our appetites. We need to make students become more aware of ethical i sue in the class- room and through non-compulsory cours- es, i.e. seminars. There is a block on the student's timetable marked off as "semi- nar." If the other departmenc are at all li ke our beloved. chemical engineering department, these seminar hours are not taken full advantage of. The proposed seminars would be inftllmal and baSl' tl. Iwld Oil a wedly orbi \\ec\.,I) hasls rill'Y wOllld Ill' faculty \\ide to lhaloguc and hrainstorming hetwl'en \tulknh hom lilt' rercllt During \Cllllllar, a ""'(luld introduce an 1\.,Ul' <llId lead the ensuillg dist'lMions. SlIll'\; .,tll dents would not he graded, they would be freL: to participatc at their levrl of comfort. To add llavour 10 the discussions, there would be challenging and thought provok- ing issues such as: - electronic surveillance at the work place - value of self-interest in a team environ- ment - proprietary information versu public awarene. s A professor or a TA from Ihe CST V would take up the responsibility of con- ducting the seminars. Alternatively, stu- dents who take the STY option would lead some discussions, perhaps as a class pro- ject. To promote participation and aware- ness, other students would also be encouraged to lead. Lastly, just a. we have academic, WEEF, and recycling reps, we would have voluntary with the CSTV It is a considerable challenge to make ourselve become aware of the ethical dilemma.s we will face as professional . Tht: engineering curriculum is constantly being changed to provide up-to-date tech- nical knowledge. Changing technologies 1I1111llilll'l' IIn\ ('tilll;I1 qlll'stlllJ\\ , tllll" therl' "hulIld hc Clllllllltl'lIt \\lIm, til thl' Lill o rirulullI to IWller 11Il parI' 101 !It ,"illF \\Ilh thC\l' 'l'll\ollj'" Intq'I,lIll1l1 01 dISl' I\\SIOlb IIltO till' d,I'iSnlOIIl .II\(I 111101 llIatiw sClllinars, dille ... wOl\ld hl'l"011 Il' part 01 a lOlllpil te and nutritious Univcrsity dil.'t. Changes to Curriculum Required BY CHRJSTlNE CHE G 38 Systems Design N o, uw engineers are not adequate- ly prepared to face these "ethical" situations. This is largely the fault of the UW engineering curriculum. There are many ethical dilemmas that engineers face on a day-to-day basis (such as how to build the best widget, but do it mo t cost- effectively, and reach the largest market, and deal with office politics, and please your supervisor, and ensure that it has been properly tested, and provide thorough doc- umentation, and train those are meant to use it, etc.). And most UW engineering grads should be competent at handling these situations after 5 or 6 work terms. However, there is one ethical situation that is not given a lot of attention and that does have a serious impact on society. After all, engineering is not just about designing and implementing technical giz- mos, but creating these gizmos to better the lot of society. In this sense, the UW curriculum does not do enough to promote this concept of havi ng a respon ibility to society. To be able to handle an ethical situation requires not only a moral perspective on society, but also a subconscious agreement with this common morality. Without thi s sense of moral responsibility to society, UW engineers will not be prepared to face the ethical situations that do arise. To address the other part of thi s ques- tion, I believe that "being prepared" requires a constant awareness- the ability to quickly understand a situation such that it becomes possible to generate potential solutions. "Being prepared" means being able to assess the consequences of these solutions and make a morally justifiable decision. From the engineering course curriculum: "The professional engineer requires in addition to technical knowl- edge and skill, an understanding of society, its needs, and the engineer's role in soci- ety." A brief examination of the average UW engineering curriculum shows that of the forty courses needed to graduate from thc UW engineering program, only rivc of these courses respond directly to neeu. These courses are the complementary studies requirements that UW engineering students must fulfil before they can gradu- ate. These five courses are supposed to introduce us to not qnly our social respon- sibilities, but also our political, economic, legal, hi storical and ethical responsibilities as well. Yes, requirements like the impact of technology on society courses attempt to address this need, but the other four courses can barely serve as an introduction to understanding society. Even when engineering students become professionals, they do not have a good enough understanding of society to be able to think about the long-term and social impacts of their decisions. The pro- fessionallife of an engineer may include a stable of courses to upgrade technical skills, but not one single incentive to refine an engineer's understanding of hi s/her social context. I propose two alternatives to make us all bettcr First. thaI all engineers be required tel carry six (a\ they were requirL:d to do in the P<lst), and to make the sixth course of every term a com- plementary Alternatively, engineering should be 11 ve academic instead of four. By maintaining the same technical curricu- lum, but sprcading it out over fivc years, there will be many more opportunities to learn about society, and how we can improve it- both as engineers, and as responsible citizens. I understand that courses cannot fully prepare anyone for an ethical dilemma. I also understand that tinkering too much with the technical curri culum might also have negative effects, but as an engineer- ing student, my lack of social understand- ing may also have adverse effects that I currently do not understand. As the si tua- tion stands, it is my opinion that the UW engineering curriculum does not adequate- ly prepare its students to handle ethical dilemmas. 12 Humanities & Awareness The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13, 1998 A Philosophy that Pervades the Curriculum BY CHRIS FORD 3B Systems Design I s Waterloo preparing it. engineers as effective, consci- entious decision makers in situations having ethical implications? The answer T propose is a fork with a many prongs. The conclusion is that ethics in engineering can't be ju t a course or a pamphlet in the Davis Center library, but a philosophy that pervades the breadth of the engineering curriculum. in declaring their results. Engineers must be made to believe that the answer they arrive at i as good as any other answer until they are shown otherwise. Thi will make engineers effective advocates of the right decision. A good way to nurture this type of confidence is by encouraging student project and building public pre en- tation into the evaluation strategy for courses. Student projects are a big part of the curriculum at Waterloo but public presentati ons are scarcely required. Further, engineering students regularly find them- selves buri ed under strata upon strata of technology. Often, the specification you are trying to meet in your design is a piece of hardware whose needs are serviced by another machine, that ultimately works in a system of machines. The effect is that engineers are often pushed into uch a high orbit above the end-user that it is easy to forget what it was that was originally intended by the technol ogy. As engineers, everything we do must pivot about our abi lity to deli ver benefit to human beings and we should be reminded of this in the spirit of every course we take. Instructors should frequently illustrate the high level purpo e of the technology's they teach. training ha failed them. In this ense, the inadequacy of the engineering curriculum i glaring. It was three year of engineering before I had the opportunity to speak in front of an audience and my core course have required me to write argumentatively only once. Fear that my writ- ing skills were in decay wa part of my motivation for writing this paper. It i al 0 important for engineers to have a breadth of experience that reaches beyond the core technical engi- neering courses. Taking courses in other faculties and eeking experiences in the community wilt give engineers an alternati ve vantage point from which to evaluate prob- lems. 'Typically, ethical conflicts arise because someone isn't building factors from out ide their perspective into their decision, Engineers whose training is diverse are less likely to suffer this affl,iction. The coop program i a good application of this strategy. Let me first dispel the myth that engineers are handi- capped decision makers in situations without precise mathematical description. Engineering applications are notoriously unpredictable, difficult to quantify and com- plex. For example, my coop experience has taught me that software implementations invariably take three times as long as the technical specification will lead you to believe. Factors outside your present knowledge creep in and block you from making the progress you anticipated. Project planning is a fuzzy, nebulous activity and engi- neering students undertake project planning each term. Engineering is not just about pruggi ng numbers into for- mulae and ejecting useful result because real problems, technical or otherwise, seldom conform to descriptions that are thi s simple. The characteristics of the curriculum I identify next will be critical factors in the success of Waterloo's gradu- ates. Engineers are accustomed to making decisions and solving problems using blurred or contradictory criteria. However, it is important that when engineers converge to a solution in a conscientious way, they must be confident Most importantly, engineers must be exceptional communicators. When it is evident that a decision has ethical implications, it is the obligation of the engineer to vigorously advocate the consideration of this element in the making of a decision. Members of the community will look to engineers for guidance in times of uncertain- ty. When there is doubt, it is imperative that engineers act in accord with their conscience and not buckle under the weight of social pressure. If the engineer is unable to champion the decision that they know to be moral their Lastly, engineers must be prepared to walk away from a context in which they are asked to act contrary to their morals. If this means that the contract is declined or the job is resigned then so be it. There are enough things in this world that keep engineers up at night worrying. Engineers have immense power over what technologies are produced for human consumption. In the mid 1980's, over half of the world's scientists and engineers were employed directly or indirectly by the arms industry. We can only speculate on the predicament of man now had we redirected these resources towards a more productive focus . If the curriculum at Waterloo can adopt the philos- ophy I have described implicitly in its courses, Waterloo engineers will be well positioned for the moral mine fields that await them in the undergraduate afterlife. Devote some course content to Ethics BY EUGENE HUANG 38 Systems Design E thics is such a vague, all-encom- passing word. There is an ethical discussion in practically every aspect of our lives. We speak or environ- mental ethics, bio-ethics, gender and race ethics, and medical ethics. We must deal with temptations of compromi se, breach- of-confidentiality, and conflict-of-interest. We must decide whether or not to copy someone else's work, to lie to a friend, or even to cross a red light. Ethics cannot be avoided in engineer- ing because it affects the grand public, and the safety and welfare of the public i fun- damental to keeping some sanity to our society. Imagine not having the assurance that the toaster you use in the morning does not meet certain electrical standards. While ethics is considered a keystone of the engineering profession, it is not a fundamental component of the engineer- ing curriculum at the University of Waterloo. Nevertheless, opportunities to learn about ethics exist in the undergradu- ate experience and through engineering licencing requirements. The emphasis that professional gov- erning bodies place on ethics is clear. An article in the official journal of the PEO says: "It is increasingly apparent that engi- BY ALEX MATAN IN Electrical N o. The UW Engineering curricu- lum is graduating engineers who are incompetent to deal with ethi- cal dilemmas. Engineers are morally and legally obligated not to design contraptions that will endanger the public. The PEO's Code neerin ethics is a fundam ntal founda- tion, not just a eparate, equal and parallel pillar alongside technical competence." [2] Losing a licence due to profes ional misconduct is a grave thing. Good charac- ter and integri ty are hi ghly respected and in any person; they are required of the pro- fessional. At that magical moment when engi- neers slide the famous iron ring onto their pinky linger, a contract has been made. The ring symbolizes the union between the engineer and hi or her world. Of course, a ring does not make a professional engi- neer. It is more lik.e an 'engagement' ring. The ' marriage' occurs when the profes- sional licence is granted by the PEO (or ,another governing institution). The rights to use the designation "P. Eng." and an engineering seal come with solemn duties. Engineers are professionals because they are responsible and accountable to society, and are expected to meet standards of competence and conduct. A standard of competence ensures that an engineer is technically capable, and the University 'of Waterloo engineering cur- riculum excel in this area. A standard of conduct is much harder to define, but might imply be described as 'sound judg- ment' and 'doing the right thing'. A mini- mum acceptable level of conduct is required, as de cribed in the codes of ethics and professional conduct of all pro- fessional associations. One needs to look no further than the university calendar to discover, with dis- may, the place ethics has in the engineer- ing program: "Further objectives are that the engineering tudent develop a broader intellectual outlook, a broader understand- ing of moral, ethical and social values, and an improved ability to communicate." ll ] Ethics and values have been demoted to an afterthought! While formally recog- nized as an 'objective' , a student can - and often does - graduate from an engineering program without taking a course on ethics or profe sional conduct. A full course on ethics may be overkill. However, a broad-based core course on what it means to be a profes- ional engineer may not be a bad idea. As well as covering basic ethics of the profes- sion, it could inforJ)1 students of what licencing associations are all about, and the legal duties of an engineer. This hypo- thetical course could also include a history of engineering, from ancient times to recent engineering accomplishments in Canada. What a source of pride and inspi- ration this would be to the undergraduate engineer! It must be realized that students have Ethical Incompetence of Ethics expects that licen ed engineers regard the duty to public welfare as para- mount. But "public welfare" i not expressed in a formula that you can easily plug into a calculator (even an HP). There are cases where the moral course of action i readily apparent. If you find that reinforcing a highway overpas with Popsicle sticks instead of steel bars will cut costs by .02%, but probably end up killing a bunch of people, the ethical (and legal) cour e of action should be obvious. But what if the deci ion isn't so ea y? Let us ay that an engineer at Amalgamated Electromatic Widgetronics (a real company that I just made up) has designed a fancy new widget. This widget will vastly improve the human mind, body, and soul. And at a reasonable price, too. a life apart from classes and homework (however minimal that life might be), and are constantly being bombarded by ethical issues. In fact, as much is learned out of the classroom as in the classroom, and per- sonal development is as important as tech- nical development. Pressures and difficult situations come from all direction , and nowhere is this more intense than in uni- versity. Thus, anyone graduating from a university wilt have had fi rst-hand experi- ence in handling ethical dilemmas, even without having taken a course on ethics. Finally, a PEO requirement for obtain- ing a licence is a Professional Practice Exam. This exam has nothing to do with Taylor's series or kinematics, but has everything to do with ethics, professional practice, and engineering law. The PEO recognizes the importance of studying ethics, and so should the engineering pro- gram at the University of Waterloo, by devoting some course content to ethics. [II Complementary Studies Requirements for Engineering Students, University of Waterloo Undergraduate Calendar 1998-99, pageIO:6. [21 Ridler, Jim. ' ''The rete vance of ethics to the engineering profession and its culture", Engineering Dimensions, Professional Engineers Ontario, January/February 1998, page 52. Unfortunately, one in ten million widgets will violently explode, killing its user and anyone nearby. This problem can be solved, but the solution would quadruple the price of the widget. Unfortunately, market research has shown that quadru- pling the price would make the widget too expensive for the poor, locking them out of the grand opportunity that this widget will (see "Ethical Incompetence ... ", page 12) The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13, 1998 Humanities & Awareness Preparation by Choice BY JEFF GoBAlTO 48 Electrical T he Univer ity of Waterloo Engineering curriculum i com- pri ed of two main facet : the acad- emic cour e and the co-op work term . Both offer the student a means of prepara- tion for ethical dilemma they are likely to face as profes ional engineers. The cour e of tudy contain course dedicated to the study of ethics and values in engineering, and the work terms offer the student the opportunity to face the decisions a profes- sional would. However, there i no guar- antee every student who complete this course of study will have been adequately prepared, a none of these opportunitie are compulsory requirements for an engi- neering degree. The engineering curriculum offers the student a number of courses specifically dedicated to studying ethics. One such course is an elective generally reserved for 4B students called Ethics and the Engineering Profession, that is "an appli- cation of philosophical analy is and theo- rie of ethic to issues of moral conduct in the engineering profession" [1]. This course has been designed to prepare stu- dents for the ethical choices they will like- ly have to make when they are profes ionals. In addition to this, there are also a series of courses offered under the heading Society, Technology, and Values (STV); course titles in thi area include Society, Technology and Risk and Design and Society. These course also offer the student a way to prepare for ethical deci- sion by enabling them to study the effects BY SARAH DAVIES 3BChemical AND ROCK RAOOVAN 3B Environmental Chemical H igher education systems are won- derful institutions that provide members with the power to use big words to express simple ideas. In this instance, the ethical dilemmas future grad- uates will face is simply a matter of choo - ing between right and wrong; a curious debatable mixture that depends on the individual, their background, their educa- tion, their sense of understanding, and their ability to communkate those deci- sions. Universities have a responsibility to mass produce intelligent, skilled and edu- cated individuals. Are they also inclined to instill a sense of morality and to teach morals to every student as a result of their involvement in the teaching process? Superficially the answer is no - of course not - don't be silly. It is the role of anoth- er important institution, one that is woven into the very fabrio of humanity; the fami- ly. Of course, the choice between right and wrong is secondary to being able to communjcate it clearly and in getting other people to understand it. The Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE) has already noted that industry feels that engineering graduates are excellent techni- cally, but inept in the so-called "soft skills". 'These soft skills include personal interaction, communication, conflict reso- lution, and other relational aspects which are not necessarily included in the engi- neering curriculum. With the exception of the occasional project and/or group work, presentations and communications their work will ha e on their urrounding , but none are compul ory course. Thi. part of the curriculum can, but doe. not neces arily, prepare the ' tudent for futur deci ion making. The academic cours in the engineer- ing curriculum can be categorized into three main ection. : compul ory, technical elective and complimentary tudies elec- tive. In the compul ory cour. e there is no explicit instruction in the area of ethical deci ion making. The range of compli- mentary tudie electives is vast. but each student is required to take one impact cour e, where they study the effect tech- nology and engineering have on ociety. An STV course fulfills the requirement , and if chosen will provide the tudent with a treatment of ethic . However, there are other cour es that are acceptable for this requirement that do not involve the study of ethics. Finally, there are the five or six work term the tudent must complete to earn the co-op portion of their degree. Here, the student i placed in a real world situa- tion for an extended period of time, and in most cases expected to function as a grad- uate engineer. Depending on the type of job the student has, they may be called upon to make certain decisions that have ethical undertones. This provides the stu- dent with the best possible preparation by actually placing them in a situation where they need to make an ethical deci ion. The situation is also beneficial because co-op tudent are generally supervised, making it possible for an employer to offer the stu- dent help in developing better decision making ;' kiIL. nforrunately. the o-op program is not tandardized; each . tu- dent's work e perience diffen. from hi . or h r peers. Therefore. some student ' ma not have the opportunity to make such deci The ' ourse of , tudy in the Faculty of Engineering at the Uniwrsity of Waterloo make provL ions for IlIdents (() learn about ethical decision making and as such prepare them elve. for the deci. ions the \I ill face in th real world. in engineering ethics and ociety. t chnology and alue arc available for ' tudents, and the co-op nature of the engineering pro- gram offers the developing engineer a chance to make ethical deci ions while earning hi or her degree. It must be noted that these provisions do not nece. arily affect every tudent, since none of the mean are standardized. A tudent mayor may not take the cour es de igned, or may not have a work term placement that affords them thi opportunity. However, in every discipline tl1ere i a choice of spe- cialization, and just becau e a particular tudent does not choo e that area doe not mean the department doe not adequately prepare tudents in that field of tudy. Therefore, the engineering curriculum at the University of Waterloo does prepare future engineers for the ethical deci ions they will face. Footnotes [1) http://www.adm.uwafer/oo.ca/ infoucaIlCOURSE/course-GEN_E.lztml nglneer between student and . tudent, and student and profe or are trictly relegated to numerical solutions parlayed on paper. After aJl, if a tudent has pa sed high school it i not out ide the University braintrust to assume that one would know the basics of communication. So where do students get them from? Obviously it is a matter of learning and developing them from a young age. Little League, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, school plays and drama productions are all examples of areas where countless youngster have learned important les ons in dealing with others. But when they are young it is u u- ally not their choice to do these things. It is their parents pushing and commitment to driving them to be well-rounded indi- viduals. So why is there a lack of commu- nication skills? One di turbing possibility is that there is no need for families to send kids outside to keep them occupied. The best baby sitter in the world is sitting in the living room. How has television become uch an important institution? How is it possible that the family has been replaced and how could it get to this point? Ironically, one can trace the roots back to the late 19th century, before the advent of the televi- sion. In one of the most infamous quotes in human history Nietz che proclaimed "God is dead" and as a result has been mis- interpreted to the present day. The basis of Nietzsche's comment was the idea that a God was created in order to instill a sen e of morals and ethics on society. Nietzsche felt that society needed and could develop a new set of morals not bound to religion or belief. Year later, the motion picture is developed. Years after that the television replaces the radio as the entertainment medium for the family. Eventually it lead to 70 channels plus satellite ho\)kup:. plus VCRs with a whol' host of shows thut d 'al with fantasy, science tiction. education, comedy, drama, cooking, etc. The one thing it did not and does not do is allow two way interaclion. Television preaches and the recipient sits and stares si lently: Everything one sees during prime-time deals with characters and "ethical dilemmas" they are placed in by the production c mpanies. The enter- tainment moguls teach us our morals and we li sten and obey. How else could "The Simpsons" be called one of the most moral show on television? Homer usually does something bad/wrong with respect to pop- ular opinion. In the end he ends up doing the right thing. The watcher is taught the difference between right and wrong, how- ever he is also taught that week in and week oul he can make stupid mistakes and will always be forgiven. The glossy mate- rialistic world of televiSIon does not deal with the consequences that are the area of Profes ionals. Univer. ities are now faced with this problem - one that they may have helped to create - and now must deal with. But how? The engineering curriculum needs to address the application of generalized knowledge on a wider basis. Engineering thought processes need to be extended beyond the confines of science and mathe- matics. Courses could teach these thought patterns to have students look at public concerns of health and safety, production concerns, marketing strategies and inte- grate them into all aspects of design. Making the right decision is easy when it is an informed, intelligent one - especially one that is made by the New Moral Engineer. 13 Ethical Incompetence Continued (coTltinuedjrom page 11) provid . The engineer mu. t decide which \I idget de. ign 10 manufacture. A tough de i ion mu. t be made - between a few li\c. and wide. pread ben fit. Which option be:t promotes the "pubJi wel- fare"? The ethical cour:e of action i not a: clear as in the above PopsicJe stick bridge 'a. c. An ethical dilemma is at hand. Peopl act ethicall in most situations because th ethical choi e never needs to be reasoned out thoroughly. Over the course of our lives. we have been taught various rule. , and they co er 1110 t ethical decision. Ma ims like "Thou shalt not kill" work well when they e i. t and do 110t conflict ith each other. These are the "plug and chug" formula of ethics. But when the formula needed is not in the text- book, a solution must be worked out from cratch. Solving ethical dilemmas can be equated to putting an unproven design into practice. If a design is unproven, there is a much greater risk that the design will fail. But the risk can be reduced by u ing proven theories in generaling the design. Designing a new bridge without knowing any of the established theories of bridge design is a dangerous effort. Similarly, solving an ethical dilemma without know- ing any theories of ethic greatly increases the chance that the wrong decision will be made. Courses in ethical theory and appli- cation introduce students to some of these techniques, hopefully reducing the possi- bility that they will make unethical deci- sions. _ .......... "ou h the opportunity to take ethics courses exists, the UW Engineering cur- riculum doe not require any meaningful ethical training as a graduation require- 111\.'nl. TIll' mandatOlY fust year Il1trodlK'tion to Englll 'l:ring Ml'lhods eOUf1lC' (,EN E 16x, etc.) olter vCly lilli' di:'l:u:>sion of ethical dil'll1Jl1as. '1'111.' GEN E 16x t t (lifth cdition) devotes only one half of a pag' to lite solving or ethical dilemmas. Complementary Studies Elective (CSE) n:quircmell ts allowcngincering students to cxplor' the w()lld b 'yond engin 'cring, \0 make us b '\ler individuals and hetter enginecrs. But courseS in ethical theory and application arc only an option among many other courscs that can be Llscd to sat .isfy CSE requirement:.. It is possible to graduate with almost no CKpO 'ure to ethics in one's courscwork. Waterloo does not do enough I() ensure that graduates are prepared to Ul>e their engineering skills in an ethical man- ner. The public potentially faces unneces- sary risk from unethical decisions, while the individual engineer faces the risk of an injured cOJ1<;cience, reputation, and career. Professionals are expected to act in an eth- ical manner, and more emphasis must be placed on ethics in the curriculum if we are to say we arc in a professional pro- gram. Editor's Note: The winner of the Humanitarian Award will be announced in the next issue depending on if the winning entry meets the standards set by the panel oj judges. The award will be available again in the term. If you are interested in sub- mitting an enlly for the summer term, please email iwarrior@engmail to be put Oll all email list thaI will keep you informed on possible article topics. , .. -. 14 Internal Information The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13, 1998 EngSoc to Supply Technical Magazines W ell, we are about one m 0 nth away from finals and rounding towards the close of another excit- ing term. There are a lot of things going on with the executive and the Engineering Society in general in order to close the books on the term and end in a bIas!. Here are a few updates: I am still currently looking into the magazine subscriptions. This is where a company would donate a one-year's sub- scription to a periodical that on an engineering discipline. We are planning to have these magazines available in POETS and are looking to donating back issues (over one year old) to the fourth year study rooms. As mentioned before. Dow has already committed to this in full and we should start to get the magazines soon. We've also now got Anderson Consulting on board for sure and five other interested companies from the Waterloo region. I'm hoping that this project will be continued on for at least a few years. as it a win- win situation for both students and indus- try. As students it wi II gi ve us an opportunity to read about new innovative President Report by Sarah Davies products and ideas emerging in society and for companies, it will give them some exposure to engineering stu- dents at a fairly minimal cost. Speaking of corporate involve- ment and sponsorship, we have closed the book on the 1997 Yearbook Advertisements. Mary Bland (our Corporate Manager) has been hugely suc- cessful in acquiring advertising for the yearbooks, and as of tne final deadline we have reached our goal of subsidizing a yearbook that was cheaper for the students and paying off some of the expenses incurred. [truly believe that with Mary's drive and enthusiasm there will be nothing but growth and even more success for this project next year. We are coming up with some interesting ideas already to increase the potential profit for the yearbook next year and have started looking towards where the Corporate Manager prorlts will be spent. The proposal discussed in last issues Iron Warrior will be voted on at joint council this summer so 1 would appreciate any further comments or sug- gestions to improve it's current format. PEO Considering Student Members
I s Nationa Engineering Week From February 28 to March 8. both student and profes- sional across Canada com- memorated their industry with National Engineering Week (NEW). In Ontario. the P 0 had a display at the Ontario Science Centre that was a resounding success. Here in Waterloo, we had the Bus Push and Engcnuity. The Bus Push was also parI of a cross Canada char- ity effort that the CFES (Canadian Federation of Engineering Students) orga- nized. Every engineering school in Canada was invited to hold a charity event (with the proceeds going to a local charity organization) to show the country that us engineers are pretty cool. PEO Information As part of the Bridging the Gap series, we had a speaker from the PEO come in and speak about the organization and answer questions about it. The . peakeI', Johnny Zuccon, also left more forms for pregrad experience credits. You can find those forms in the Orifice in front of Betty's desk. There was also another talk about the PEO on March 10. Also, as many of you already know, the PEO has been working on a student member hip. I was speaking to Johnny (Zuccon) and according to him, the PEO seems more receptive to the idea. The VP External Report b\' Nina Sud/II main function of the student membership is to introduce the PEO to engineering students during their time at univer- sity instead of wait- ing until after, at which point it may be too late. The PEO is beginning to 'ee the benefits to both themselves and the students that the student membership brings, However. it will still take time - it is expected that a formal presentation will be made at November's PEO general meeting. (Nova Scotia has just recently started a similar student membership. and Quebec ha had one for a number of years now.) Events Shadow Day was held on Wednesday. March 4. Although we had a low turnout from the high schools;it went off without a hitch, and tho 'e who came had a good time. They were shown around the 'chool and attended classes with their .. hadow", a student currently in engineer- ing. This program is to give high chool students a chance to see what a day in the life of an engineering student i like. Explorations and Campus Day are coming up on March 16 and March 17. Both of these events are organized in con- junction with the Year One Office. Like Shadow Day. these event bring in younger student and show them what engineering can offer them. Explorations target elementary chool kid, and Campu Day high chool tudent. Well, that' it for me for now. Have a great day. By the time this issue of the [ron Warrior comes to print we will have elect- ed a new team of executive members. I would like to congratulate them all and hope that they keep up the good enthusi- asm and initiative. At the last council meeting, I presented a quick proposal to incorporate another member to the execu- tive. This would be an appointed position and hclp keep continuity through changing executi ves so that we can make the Engineering Society more efficient and adaptable to students needs. For an incoming, new executive, the position would preferably be held by an ex-execu- tive member or at least someone who is a senior member of the society and knows the directions and focuses of the society in general. This person would act as an advi- sor to the new executive, answering ques- tions, attending executive meetings if invited and just helping out in general. The secone;! term the executive would appoint someone who may be considering to run on the executive that term or at lea. t a director with much enthusiasm and ini- tiative to help them out on a day-to-day basis and would function as a general Vice President. This person could then help the next executive continue with the ideas and directions before them. I think that this position could help out all ....xecutives in the future a great deal. and help the Engineering Society change and adapt to it's student needs more quickly by being a much more continuou. and efficient orga- nization. If you have any suggestions about this idea, plea e let me know. As many of you may already know, Waterloo just recently held the Ontario Engineering Competition. I am very happy to say that we did extremely well in this competition, winning fir t prize in every category, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate the organizing committee for all of their hard work to en ure that the weekend was a great succes. ot only did we how other engineering students from across Ontario our friendly competitive nature, we showed them that would could orga- nize and provide an excellent weekend for them all to participate. Great job to Amy Lai and her hardworking crew! Well, that's it for me this issue. A. always, I'm plea ed to accept any com- ment or suggestions that you may have for the remaining of my term as president. My office hour is Friday, from 12:00- I :00 p.m. and my email is eng-prez@novice. Application Deadline for DOrectorships Soon H owdy, by now evcry- body knows who the new execu- tive are and you must be thinking to your- self why is Vladimir still writing these reports. Well the off- ical transfer of power is happening during our last EngSoc meet- ing of the term. Thi meeting is a PotLuck so start thinking about what to bring, there will be a sign up list in the Orifice for you to let u know what you are bringing. The date of this meeting is Wed. March 25 and the food start at around 4:30 p.m. This meeting is welcome to anyone and it is the perfect time to congratulate the new exec- utive and watch the old exec, like me, say goodbye. March has been a busy one so far and i not going to let up at all. The Explorations Directors need your help on Monday, March 16 from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. The ign up list is in the Orifice. March 17 St. Patricks Day is also Campus Day so be nice to the young high school students that will be touring the campu , be sure to let them know how much you enjoy Engineering and University Life. March 19 i a very important day for the graduat- ing clas of 1998 because thi is the day they have all been waiting for. This is day they receive their Iron Rings and party like its 1985. You'1I be able to ee them in and around POETS from Noon to 2 p.m. March 20 is the deadline for director appli- cations which will be run by the new exec- utive. These application might be web forms based because EngSoc i moving towards the new millenium with leaps and bound. The End of Term pub is March 27, and i where the End of Term video VP Internal Report by Vlad ioanovic will . be first debuted. I would like to thank the Tal Eng directors Deb Boyd, Alex Pak, and Renee Lazarowich for an awesome Tal Eng. The night was filled with great acts and a cool atmosphere to relax. The Art direc- tors are bringing another event to us, an Art Exhibit at the University Club on March 26 so stay tuned for more info. Thanks to the Althletics directors OIi Dumtez and Andrew Mulder(Boulder) which have had a Soccer, Hockey, Volleyball and now coming a Mudbowl tournament all in just three week. Thanks to the Bu Pu h director Jenn Motuz and Chris Richardson for an awesome Bus Push. All the money directly benefitted the Big Brothers and Sisters of Waterloo. This has always been our main fundraiser for the Winter term so a pat on the bacl\ goes out to everyone who participated and raised money for such a good cause. I'd also like to thank the amazing IW team for putting together a fantastic paper, good job guys. Remember there is a comment and suggestion box just outside the Orifice which I check regularly but has yet to have any comments or uggestions. This sug- gention box is there for anyone who has feedback positive or negative with any- thing to do with the society, like problems with POETS, Orifice resources, executive, etc. As usual feel free to contact me. I can be found in such places as the Orifice and POETS. You can email me at eng_vpint@llovice or call me at horne 725-2048. " . ,. The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 13, 1998 Internal Information 15 Teams for Fundraising Initiative Cesana Name Lives On BY ALEXIS JAY ChESoc-A President W ell, Lhe Chemical Engineering Society A (ChESoc-A) i well underway with its fund raising efforts for the 48th CSChE National Conference. We are sending 48 delegates to this conference, and to tackle thi mam- moth (but accomplishable) task we have formed four fundraising team . These teams are: - WEEF Team - Co-Chairs: Ryan Penty and Rock Radovan On Wednesday, March 4, Rock and Ryan did an excellent job presenting our proposal to send the ChESoc-A delegates to the conference. To send all the dele- gates will require approximately $4000, and we hope to receive partial funding from WEEF. - Letter Campaign Team - Chair: Michael Robinson With the help of Dr. Chatzis, Mike and his team will be writing to various organizations to seek potential sponsor- ship. The letters have been sent out on March 9. With a little bit of luck and some H ello everyone. With under a month of lec- tures left in the term, everyone should be getting busier now approaching deadlines reports and presenta- tions. It's a good thing we have a week break before final exams. First of all, I would like to thank all the candidates who ran for an executive position in the election. Without people like you who are willing to sacrifice thei r own personal time in order to help improve the lives of others, the Engineering Society with all it services BY ROCK RAOOVAN ChESoc-A Environmental Representative R ecently an old division of the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) resurrected itself. The Environment Division resurfaced in June 1997 with a renewed focus. It is dedkat- ed to excellence, promotion and encour- agement of those who practice chemical engineering, the chemical sciences and the associated professions. But big deal, what has it done for Environmental Engineers recently? The Division has many goals for the future. Most obviously it is involved in organising special topic symposiums and programs at national conferences. The National COIlference in Edmonton this past October is one example of this, and the upcoming National Conference in London in the fall will also deal with a variety of environmental topics. The Division also wants to offer, in co-opera- tion with local chapters a wide variety of self improvement, training and networking opportunities to broaden member skills and career opportunities. The Environmental Improvement Award has been reactivated. This award is crafty writing. I am ure that Mike and hi team' effort will be met with ucce . - Internal Sources Team - Chair: Naomi Wong The ChESoc-A has been very fortu- nate with the generou donations that it has received in the past from internal sources. Past donations have come from sources uch as the Chemical Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Institute for Polymer Research, and EngSoc. Naomi and her team will be contacting our previous internal ponsor with our new proposal, and at the same time locating potential new sponsors. - Activities Team - Co-Chairs: Justina Luke and Vincent C. Thomas Last summer the ChESoc-A had a very successful car wash in the parking lot located by East Campus Hall. This term Vince and Justina will be heading up the wash. With the outstanding quality of ser- vice and satisfied clientele from last sum- mer, I am sure that Vince, Justina and their team will be washing many dirty cars. Please wish us luck with our fundrais- ing efforts! T he tiL t item of bu. ines thi fortnight is to i" ue a heartfelt apolog, to Ian Gallaway in 3A Mechanical Engineering. In a past article 1 mistak- enl y identified him a Ian McGregor. How many Ians are there in that la. anyway? Ian Gallaway has been an in trumental part in keeping his cIa 'WEEF participation rate well over 90% for two consecuri ve term ,and I am truly sorry for mixing up the two Ians. This term's $110,000 wil1 be allocated to various project by the Funding Council on Monday, March 16th. The location will be announced. If your WEEF rep has not done so yet, a k him or her to circulate the WEEF proposal booklet around the cIas . Do not forget to add comment to the pro- posal booklet. Your WEEF rep i voting on behalf of your class, so let .your voice be heard! After the Funding Council meeting, the preliminary funding decision will be presented to the Board of Directors on April 1st for final ratification. For those of you who are unaware, the Expectations Within Budget VPFinance Report would not exist and could not continue to prosper. Congratulations to those candidates who were elected for theIr respective positions. I can guarantee you al1 that there will be a lot of work ahead of you in the next six- teen months but I also promise you that your work will be enjoyable (most of the time) and the experience that you gain will definitely be a rewarding one. YOli will playa dominant role in the direction of the Engineeri ng Society in the future. Second, I would like to congratulate all the graduating people who will be receiving their iron rings next Thursday. I'm sure that you've all have worked hard for the past five years and deserve the reward you are all about to receive. I am truly happy for you (and a bit jealous too). EnjOy your Sana ai1UlBiill. e WI be two of your last memories of your undergraduate careers. 1 he budget ror this It'rlll IS 100k.11lt' grcat. Scvcral an' t'Oll\ill' dose to thcir 1IIlllts but nOIll' arc III dall 't'r or cxcccding thcir pmjcctlon b) allY sig- nilicnnt amoullt. On thaI note. the lk'ml - line for expcnl\c forms for this term willlw Tuesday, March J I. Suhll1l SSIOIl 01 expense forms by this datt' wtll you rCllnburscment hdore Ihe t'nd oj ll'c- The Environment Division Report given to a company, individual, team or organisation in Canada for a significant achievement in pollution prevention, and treatment or remediation in Canada. The award is made annually unless the Selection Committee feels there are no uitable nominees. The specific criteria can be found in the ChESoc office. The Environment Division has a web page at www.cciw.ca/cicenv. There was a Workshop/Conference scheduled for October J 997 which has been postponed. As information on this is made available it will be forwarded to the Environmental classes. The Enviro Conference Report Since this position has been created just this year, there is a lot of information that has become available that is out of date. For example, there are environmen- tal conferences that are occurring in March - Globe98 (Vancouver), April -1998 International Environmental Conference & Exhibit (Vancouver), and May - EnviroAnalysis 1998 (Ottawa). By the time this was found out it was too late to organise. Hopefully this will not occur in the future because of a better communica- tion system (i.e. this section and ChESoc meetings). For information on upcoming meetings and conferences the ACCN pub- lication is a great source. It is available in the ChESoc office and you can even take a copy home for FREE! The CECAB con- ference may be a possibility see below for more. Enviro-Certification Report Guess what? Once again Canada is the only country that has decided that the "newest" and fastest growing private sec- tor industry needs to be certified in order to make sure there is a national standard. In this case it is CECAB - Canadian Environmental Certification Approvals Board and the certification program for environmental practitioners. The follow- ing information was provided to me from on the certification initiative: - Eight Town Hall meetings were com- pleted - Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, St. John's, and Fredericton - Oct. to Dec., 1997. - "Record of Town Hall Meetings" was released Jan.23, 1998 and mailed to all participants and registrants. It was placed on the Web, Feb.3, 1998 at www.chatsubo.comlcchrei WEEF Report by Palll CeSIlIl(l WEEF Director for the next 16 months was acclaimed. A few people approached me about running for the po i- tion but in the end, Mark Cesana wa the only one willing to do the job. And yes, the similarity in , urname i not a coinci- dence, the next WEEF Director will be my younger brother. Mark will be entering 2A Mechani al Engi neering next term and has already been an assistant director for both hi , I A and I B term, . I have the greate t of confidence in him and know he will do an outstanding job. Hmmm ... I have a siSler in grade 10 who will be enter- ing univer ity when Mark graduates. I wonder ... ? This term, there will be a few vacan- cies left on the WEEF Board of Directors due to graduating students. If you would like to find out more about the BoD and what the responsibilities of a student member is, please come talk to me in the WEEF Office (or POETS, my other office) or e-mail me at endowmenf@heiix. tures. If any of the directors would like to know how much they have remaining, please see me and I will tell you. There are till a lot of events remain- ing before the end of the term - Mudbowl, Explorations, Campus Day, and the second n mp; (0 name a eW. ere-', 0 the EngSoc Potluck, the last Council meet- ing of the term, on Wednesday, March 25. \1' yOU'H' IIl'\'l'! bel'lI to Bn So 'jet)' (\IUIll'illllu'ttll' , why \lot Itlake Ihis ylllll t'trst (It W:1" Ill ' Illst IlICl'\l1lg). So l'Vt'1I though lillll'S IIli 'ht lw lou,h now ,ith school, try tn takl a bleak and Ipllte ill orw 01 1I100l' or Ihl remainin' l'Vt'llIs. Rememher we'V(" '01 a whole wed; lIrtlr leLIlll'lS arc done 10 study. You cilll'h lip then. Four 'Task Forces are III the process of being established: tthlCS, Disciplinary ActiQn, Gntlldparenting, Certification Proccss & Procl!dul'cs A CECAB o{'fjcc has been opened in Calgary - A Logo has been developed A document, responding to questions asked at the Town Hall meetings will be released March, 1998 - There will be a CECAB booth at Globe 98, in Vancouver, March 18-20, 1998 - The Founding Convention for CECAB is planned for the Spring, J 998 - Grandparenting to begin FaJllWinter, 1998 Unfortunately, at this time representa- tives from CECAB and the CCHREI (Canadian Council for Human Resources in the Environment Industry) are unable to come down and give a presentation on this. This may be possible in the future, With luck, the Founding Convention may provide an excellent opportunity for Environmental Engineering students to learn, and express ideas regarding this pro- gram. To try and keep abreast of all this information do not hesitate to contact me (through the ChESoc webpage). Mathematics Playground BY HUYIS DEEZ 38 Electrical Engineering "Think of the biggest number you can. Now add five. Now imagine if you had that many Twinkies. W0111, that's five more than the biggest number you could think of!" - Age 6 Figure 1. Prof" "So 'it'S P llP2 = exp(f*phi). Now how can we maximize power trans- mission?" Student: "Increase the angle phi ... or change the value of e." - ME 322 Sometililes the an wer is right in front of us but our formal traj ning condition us to attack problems in a pecific way lead- ing us away from the obvious answer. I wa di cussing thi with a friend and he showed me a problem which tricked me (the problem i formulated below). My friend also tells me that Nobel laureate Linus Pauling fell into the same trap as I did and chances are a. .:: I \ it instantaneously turn around and flies toward the other car again at a peed of 80kmlh. The bird keeps flying between both cars until the car hit each other. What distance does the bird travel? Take a look again at the quote at the top of this article. You can see how much fun the child is having applying mathemat- ics to Twinkies. You too can have this much fun applying mathematics to real world problems. Here's a neat a signment that you may later find useful: You have just graduated from univer- sity and have moved to the high technolo- gy region of Perth, Ontario. You are looking for a place to live when you real- ize that if you put a down payment on a hou e with the little money you have now that you will 10 e a lot of money in interest payments. However, if you rent for too long then you are merely throwing money out of the window. Somewhere between these two extremes lie an optimal time you should wait and accumulate a larger down payment that will lead to less money lost through interest payments. A sume that the time value of money i negligible (generally a bad a umption) and cash flows on a monthly basis. See if you can come up with a simple model. H ello friend . Mathematics is a lot ea ier to understand when you can attach it to some sort of physical reality (at least I think it does). Take last is ue's problem for example where the pop can tower problem was posed. I suspect many of you didn't try this becau e you couldn't visualize what a tower in dimen- sions greater than three would look li ke. However, this visualizat ion wasn't neces- sary. Indeed, I would pay large sums of money to someone who can in fact con- struct a four dimensional pop can tower. The trick was to see what remains the same when constructing towers in the first three dimensions and using some intuition to extrapolate to higher order dimen ions. I fai led to mention that J was seeki ng a closed form expression for the pop can pyramid ]Jroblem rather than expressed as summat ions of summations. Congratulations to those of you who found the open form an weT especially Dan Kim of 3B Sy terns and Peter Durie of 38 Electrical who were the first to submit their solutions. However, since nobody found the clo ed form expression I wi ll leave it as a problem for you to solve along with a $ 10 reward to whomever can derive the result. Therefore, the fi rst problem is to find the closed form expres ion for the summat ions of summations found in you will be bamboo- zled as well. However, the solu- tion is so obvious that it freaks me out that I overlooked it the first ti me. The problem is as fol - lows: Two cars sepa- rated by 80km are each travelling at a constant velocity of 40krnlh towards each other at 1=0. There is a bird perched on top of one of the cars and at t=O it flies toward the oncomi ng car at a speed of 80kmlh rel- ative to the ground. Once the bird reach- es the oncoming car "'---- = k SU,M , e. S, cV) te.VWlS Df Y\ 4 k \V\ The Sandford Fleming Foundation CPH 4306 Waterloo Campus Activities sff@dean 888-4008 The John Fisher Award for Leadership The John Fisher Award for Leadership is made from time to time to a graduating student whose activities throughout his/her academic career have made significant contributions to Co-operative Engineering Education. Nominations for the Award can originate from student groups, faculty members and the Foundation. Nominations should document the nominee's contriputions and include other support for the nomination. Contributions are to have a professional orientation and can involve student activities, the Sandford Fleming Foundation work or other appropriate functions. Letters from colleagues, faculty members, and others knowledgeable of the nominee's efforts will be given consideration. The Award at Convocation, consists of a Citation and an Honorarium of $1,000. - For more information, contact the Sandford Fleming Foundation. Nominations are to be addressed to Jeff Weller, Executive Secretaryrrreasurer by April 1, 1998. Teaching Assistantship Awards Please submit your nominations by March 27th to the Engineering Undergraduate Office. Funding for this award comes from your student contributions and depends on it for continuation. An organization devoted to the advancement of engineering education.