Friday, March 26,1999 The Magazine o/the University o/Waterloo Engineering $ociety Volume 23 Issue 5

Tuition Deregulation
... page 8
"Assuming either the Left Wing or the Right Wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles. "
- Pat Paulsen
-
-

This is the end, my friend
Letter From The
Editor
Luke Windisch
flicting feeling of a fresh new
outlook for the upcoming
work term, and all that the
next school term has to offer.
2A Systems Design
So here in all of these
faceL'i is where new and old,
youthful vigour and age old
A
s the term winds down, a certain
sobering mood has clenched me,
and I am left feeling that perhaps I
should go home and sit in a dark room,
playing the Doors' "The End" while hold-
ing a small vigil for Marlon Brando. But
then on second thought...maybe I wont.
No matter what I do though, I cannot
escape this strange, sobering feeling,
which is one that I have never quite expe-
rienced before. At r thought it might
be the strange feeling of writing my edito-
rial before I :00 am of the day the paper
was scheduled to be printed, but I've since
learned that this is only a good feeling.
No, instead this feeling is a strange brew of
finality and youthful vigour, mixing and
swirling to' create a difficult emotion to
describe. I think that for the most part, this
is a result of the winter term and how there
are so many opportunities for new and old
to starkly contrast. To begin with, here we
all are, inundated for the past 3 months
with vicarious roars reminding us how
many days there were until IRS. Now it's
done. The grads that many of us have
come to know over the years (or in my
case, the term) are leaving, about to
embark upon a completely new path where
the traditional road-sign of formal school-
ing no longer exist as they have for the past
20 years to help guide their journey. But
despite this 'end', every so-often, we here
th ca\Hn cry of the new grad , remind,n
us that their moment of truth is soon upon
them.
There is al 0 the changing of the guard,
so to speak, as the old executive steps out
of the roles they have held for the past 16
months, and the new executive assumes
their respective duties.
And of course there is the personal
change for me, as I finish my time as
Editor, battle weary, but my head held high
as I pass to the capable hands of the next
Editor, the reigns of the Iron Warrior (or
the "Iron Horse", as I have so amusingly
heard it called).
Finally, there is the usual feeling of
'ending' as another academic term draws to
a close, all the while mixing with the con-
wi. dom, begin to pool and
mix and create that strange feeling that is
neither complete finality, nor a completely
new beginning. As strange as this emotion
is though, it is one that makes me happy. It
gives me confidence in the future when old
and new blend, one learning from the other
to create changes that are meaningful and
significant, but also keeping traditions that
are imponant and uplifting. There are so
many areas where this is the case, and my
experiences with the paper have been no
different.
Beginning the term in the role of
Editor-in-Chief, I was apprehensive to ay
the least. I questioned how and if I would
be able to create a meaningful and insight-
ful paper that I could be proud of. I
believe now - if the feedback I have
received over the term is an accurate indi-
cation - that I achieved this goal. And I
could not have done thi without the com-
ing together of new and old. Old staff and
traditions (the magazine format of the 'B'
Society paper for example) gave me a base
of confidence from which I could step for-
ward, bring in new staff and ideas, and
move ahead with new concepts (the theme
article of each issue). And I want to thank
all of the JW staff for all the help and ded-
ication they showed - I would have been
lost without you.
But finishing as Editor now, 1 hope that
the paper this term inspired you. I hope
that is has in pired you to think about the
choices you make each day in your life.
Without doubt, these choices have been a
common thread throughout my editorials,
because our ability to make choices
affords us so many opportunities. We can
chose to treat each other equally and fair-
ly, no matter what discipline, faculty,
country, or walk of life we come from; this
is the only way we will ever all flouri h.
We can choose to have faith in ourselves,
and faith in others, giving us a confidence
that we will persevere through even the
most difficult times. We can choose to
care for our world and ourselves: without
it, we cannot survive, no matter how much
faith we have. And ultimately, we can
choose our path in life, which is one of the
greatest gifts of all.
Most importantly however, I sincerely
hope that this paper has made you 'feel'.
The tirst issue of the term asked a question
of all of you: "Are you apathetic?" I asked
you to demonstrate that you have a pas ion
not just for engineering, but a passion for
the position you have that affords each of
you so many possibilities to make a differ-
ence; thi is where your choices begin to
count. Your demonstration could have
taken many forms, from getting involved
outside of class, to writing a letter to the
editor, to anything else (perhaps a little
less tangible, but no les important). 0
matter how tangible it was though, my
deepest hope is that the paper at least made
you react , whether that reaction was to
agree with what was said, or to counter an
argument presented. My intent has never
been to preach a truth (or to preach any-
thing for that matter), it has simply been to
present a topic or view that everyone could
react to. If the paper has done this, than r,
the IW staff, and all engineering as a group
have succeeded by starting to make a dif-
ference.
With that thought in mind, I introduce
the theme of the final issue for Winter '99,
and my final issue at the helm of the paper.
The fifth issue focuses on tuition deregula-
tion, which is important in that it undeni-
ably effects all of us, even the leaving
grads, si nce they may one day be paying
for their own child's education. And the
importance of this issue is more broad
sweeping than just some extra cash, for it
defines so many of our ideals as a society,
such as our view of appropriate social
infrastructure. There are infinite ways to
react to the deregulation issue, from sim-
ply finding a ood paying job and paying
the increased tuition, hardly giving it a
second thought, to sitting in a class and
bitching about accumulat ing debts, to tak-
ing a definitive stand and advocating what-
ever approach to tuition you think is right.
Some reactions wont make much differ-
ence, but some might just cause a pro-
found change. Whatever you do though,
realize tbat sitting back to let omeone else
make the difference doesn't work, espe-
cially if we all expect someone else to
make the first move. To put it simply, in
everything you do, never refrain from
reacting simply because you have closed
off your emotions. In everything you do,
never forget to feel.
iron warrior highlights
Defining the term 'engineering'
pg 7
The Iron Warrior Friday, March 26. 1999
Tuition Deregulation
pg 8
The Iron Inquisition
9
WEEF Funding
17
The New Executive
pg 19
The Magazine of the University of
Waterloo EngineeriTig Society
Editor - in - Chief
Luke Windisch
Assistant Editor
Mat Pigozzo
The Iron Warrior is a forum for thought provoking
and infonnative articles published by the Engineering
Sociely. Views expressed in The Iron Warrior are
those of the authors and do nOI necessarily reflect the
opinions of the Engineering Society.
The Iron Warrior encourages submissions from stu-
dents. faculty and members of the university commu-
nity. Submission should reflecl the concerns and
inlellectual 'tandards of the university in general. The
aulllor's name and phone number should be included.
AU SUbmissions, unle,,, otherwise stated, become the
propeny of The Iron Warrior. which reserves the
nght 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 nOlified of any
major change, thal may be required.
Mail should be addressed to The Iron Warrior,
Engineering Society. CPH 1327, Univel"'ity of
Waterloo, Onlano. N2L 3GL Our phone
number is (519) 888-4567 x2693. Our fax number is
(519) 7254872. Emall Can he ",ntlo
il1'arrior@

-
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor,
I must confe s that I ha e not been a regular reader of
the Iron Warrior during my time here at UW. However,
the last two issues have dealt with issues that are relevant
to all of us, not just the folk who are socially involved
within the faculty. As I wa reacting the late t is ue on
population, I was concerned about some of the viewpoints
expres ed by my fellow engineers.
The question posed to engineering tudent regarding
over-population was an wered in a number of way, but
more than one answer referred to the idea of carrying
capacity. I suppose that a person could have their own
definition of such an idea, and that would be fine, but the
scientific community has their definition as well, and I
think that this scientific definition was often overlooked.
The scientific definition suggests that one of the major
symptoms that a component of a system has reached its
carrying capacity is that the system as a whole begins to
degrade. In so called 'natural' systems, this is generally
prevented by disease, famine or predation.
We definitely live in a natural system, and in fact, as
Dr. Suzuki pointed out during his visit here, we are an
inseparable part of this system. There certainly are still
disease and famine in the system, but we have them tem-
porarily in check. At least we are currently outgrowing
them. The price we pay to keep ahead of them is contin-
ued degradation of dle various 'Components within the sys-
tem. A we are taught in thermodynamics, entropy keeps
all systems heading towards equilibrium, unless there are
inputs. We have a steady source of input from the sun, and
it has resulted in the complex and diverse system that we
find ourselves a part of. Does the sun's continuous con-
tribution of high quality energy offset the damage we are
doing to the complex and diverse phys ical element s
around us? Well , according to the graph in the last issue
plotting human population growth throughout history, this
. y tern is not following a gradual path to equilibrium. In
any ca e, the un's pre ence pretty much guarantee . ome
form of life on Earth for Ihe next few billion year, but
will human be a part of it?
One of the other piece in the Warrior \.va ab ut
povetty and birth rate. There wa. mention of the
extremely poor familie of the world tending towards high
birth rate de pite high infant monality and wide pread
famine in their countrie . It was also noted that birth rate
are significantly lower in place. where education and
health care are accessible. I don't think that it is po ' sible
to mi s the obvious connection here, but th truth is dlat
the familie with many children are much beller off in the
poorest places because they need higher numbers to help
do all that are nece . ary to get by. As soon a il becomes
pos ible for the e families to get along widl only two or
three children, they will. We hould ee the ne d to help
out with real aid, not just peri hables or loans with huge
interest rates or binding trade 'agreements' attached.
Intere tingly, consumption level are often used as a
measurement when assessing carrying capacity, and a a
side to the issue of how many children is too many, one
notes that the average North American child consumes
between 100 and 300 times as much as her 'Third-World'
peers.
The real issue here is empowerment, and those who
honestly believe that these people will achieve our stan-
dards of living under the (so-called) free market system
are fooling themselves. That system has created the
poverty, and is continuing to increase the gap between rich
and poor all over our globe. There never has been any
invisible hand moving the mystical elements of the econ-
omy (apologies to Adam Smith). Our markets are found-
ed on the blood of slavery and are fuelled by the whims of
the speculators backed by the biggest guns.
'Many are poor becau e few are rich' -Marc Xuereb.
That statement might not take you very far in the formal
rhetorical sense, but it's all too true. We are leveraging our
lifestyles on the fulcrum of billions of people's poverty
and mi ery, and thi fulcrum is re ting on a continually
degraded co- ystem. Thi stem (apparently insepara-
ble from all y tern. ) mll. t approach equilibrium as well.
The input to this sy tem are our exponential growth rates,
wild economic change., and severe degradation of our
physi al surroundings, and they how lhat we ure not
working to approach that equilibrium in a controlled man-
ner.
It seems that thi. leIter to the editor has indeed grown
10 much broader than ] ec hat happens
when you practice creative wliting? Either way. [ think
that David Suzuki is right. and W' CelOnot eparate our-
selves fr0111 our environment. So, we must realize that our
actions have immediate and . igniflcant reactions that are
felt everywhere around u . even if these results are not
immediately visible to us. The que. tion becomes whether
we are seeking reactions that help smooth the approach to
equilibrium, or perpetuate the degmdation that will lead to
severe di ruplion. If entropy has the last . ay, and it sure
seem to, I don't look forward to the crash on the down
ide of our population curve.
We Are The Champ ODS
Arthur Law
2A Systems
W
hat do all the rumours, speculation, and for-
tune telling of tuition deregulation, really
mean for Waterloo Engineers? Do we have
to worry about the big bad government gouging our
wallets? Of course not! We're protected with our status
as Waterloo Engineers.
Of any engineering program in the country, we have
the advantage of integrating every engineer into the Co-
op program. We're not the premiere Co-op University in
the country on just hearsay. Our Co-op program is
world renowned, a model for the rest of the continent,
and a jewel to the Ontario government.
Our fellow 'A' Soc engineers are currently at an
employment rate of 99.28%. This is largely due to our
Co-op program doing a beautiful job for lining up work
for us. We don't have to go running around, looking for
jobs since there are always hundreds of jobs on every
posting, all on one convenient job board. We also don't
have to play phone tag with HR people; even when we
get interviews, we make the employers come to us,
some travelling from as far away as Washjngton.
Employers are lining up at the door to hire from
Waterloo, so we make them wait for 4 weeks before we
give them our working preference. Choosing a job call
always be tough work, so W' n(;cd lhis lime 10 make thc
right choice.
Our reputation as Waterloo Engineers cllptures the
attention of employers, as Lhey must be ignoring the
other universities' Co-op programs, sin(;e othcr universi-
ties, have to bend over backwards to attract employers
while we can wave the Waterloo name around. We are
so good that a Waterloo Engineer costs around $125
more per week, then Uy.1 Guelph Engineer.
Looking at industry today, we can sec that it's
always going to be bright. The expansion of lhe famous
Er.vironmental Engineering into the Co-op program is
no exception. In the information technology industry
alone, our engineers arc adding fuel to the firc of thc
Waterloo name.
So if there's more griping about tuition increases, we
can be assured that it will not affect us at aiL We're in
high demand, and our pay will offset those increases,
because Waterloo Engi neers are the Champions.
The Iron Warrior Friday. March 26. 1999
-
-

..
-
Braen Drain,
Taxes,
-
41-
Peter Cresswell
2A Systems Design
I
f you've been following politics for any part of the past
10 years or so, you would probably know a few thing .
Two of those would be the following:
I. Over taxation has helped create a massive brain
drain in Canada.
2. The only solution to outrageous si tuation,
according to big business, is to decrease taxes.
For the vast majority of the time, these two claims
were rather weak. Usually they were based on faith and
little else.
To change this, the C.D. Howe Institute, a large, most-
ly Bay Street funded think-tank, undertook the task of
backing up what they had been saying for years through a
study conducted by academics Don DeVoretz and Samuel
A. Laryea. Surely the task of proving such obvious state-
ments as the two above would be trivial, sort of like a walk
in the park.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, things took
a wrong turn.
In a ovember 2nd article published in the National
Post, Linda McQuaig reviews the study which found, like-
ly much to her pleasure and the C.D. Howe Institute'S dis-
may, that in fact there is no mas ive brain drain at all.
Instead she summarizes the study' findings by the state-
ment, "if the movement of high-income professionals was
any small er, it would be hard to detect with the human
eye."
The CD. Howe study did find evidence of a brain
drain, estimated at I % of the total manpower which the
authors could only label as "modest" at best. In compar-
ison, the brain drain experienced during the 50's and 60's
was ten times greater (approximately 10% of managers
and professionals were leaving Canada for the United
States.) Pressing through this initial faller, Mr. DeVoret?
and Mr. Laryea find another interesting point: Among the


Pub, Restaurant,
Pizzeria, and
Pool Place
Open Monday, Tuesday and
Thursday 12 noon to I a.m.
Wednesday, Friday and
Saturday noon to 2 a.m.
Sunday noon to midnight
and a Walk in the Park
groups leaving Canada, the fastest growing rate was for
unskilled workers. It would seem that somewhere the
authors must have taken a wrong step.
In a corrective effort, they then decide to narrow their
scope to managers and professionals; the group frequent-
ly cited as being drained the most. Once again, however,
things went wrong. Instead of a net drain here, the study
notes a Statistics Canada finding that found there to be
approximately 4 times as many professionals entering the
country as are leaving for the United State . J ndeed,
among the professionals, the largest drain wa. in nursing;
a fact due largely to government cutbacks and layoffs.
Things are definitely getting off course here. In fact, we
might almost say we're lost
Never admitting defeat however, the authors continued
their task. Using the argument that resettlement costs are
high for new immigrants and that the wages earned by
new workers are lower than rhe wages of tho e that left,
the study ended up pointing in a whole new direction, con-
cluding that despite everything, the brain drain is costly
and is due to excessive taxation. Now we're definitely
lost.
So now the truth has finally been revealed, once and
for all. The C.D.Howe Institute has made everything
clear. But what about tho e tax cuts? Who benefits from
those? For that, a simple analysis of the Ontario
Government's 30% tax cut will provide the answer.
In his March 10th 1999 article for the Toronto Star,
Joel Ruimy, with the help of the Alternative Budget, (a
budget prepared by a coalition of labour unions and social
groups), analyses the results of the Mike Harris lax cuts.
The results are interesting.
The'coalition found that the average family in Ontario
will save 738 dollars as a result or tax cuts. Unfortunately,
however, the budget also notes that this money is "offset
by at least $766 in increased user fees, property taxes and
other costs." Indeed, the group found that "Only in top
25% of income does tax cut outweigh increases."
This conclusion is partly confirmed by a recent visit
by Jim Wilson, Minister of something called Science,
Technology and Energy, when he described how surprised
he was to have to tell people about the tax cuts the PC
Government has made over the past few years.
Apparently they hadn't noticed a difference; I wonder
why?
It would seem a though the Harris Tax cuts have not
exactly helped out those that they were supposed to help.
Or have they?
In what has recently become a rather popular quote,
Paul Desmarais Sr., a Montreal billionaire, is quoted in the
National Post as saying that "anyone i better off in the
U.S." Quite a powerful and blanketing statement. Also
one that, although his billiqIlaire friends may agree with,
is not even close to being universally accepted.
So now, if you've been following politic for any part
of the past 10 or 0 years, you would know 3 things:
I. There is a massive brain drain in Canada caused by
over taxation.
2. The only solution to this outrageous situation,
according to big business, is to decrease taxe .
3. Sometimes you get lost while walking in the park.
..... L-________________________________ __

The Iron War nor Fnday. Marcil 26. 1999

I
Should Waterloo Engineering students pay for the increasing
cost in the delivery of their education?
Point
Allison Annan
3A Comp
T
he cost of maintaining our education system is
increasing. is nothing that anyone can do
to change that, but should we, as engineering stu-
dents, be the ones to chip in and help pay the bill. Of
cour e we should. After all, it is OUR education that we
are talking about. We are the ones who are demanding
and expecting a fulfill ing education and we should be
prepared to help pay for it.
As university students we should look at our univer-
sity career as a learning experience, as well as prepara-
tion for the working world. There is no better time for us
to begin to learn some responsibility. I know that our
years at university will be the best years of our lives (or
so I've heard), but there is no reason for us not to take on
some responsibility. What better way for us to learn this
than to mMe an effort to contribute something towards
our future? We know the importance of education and
we need to realize that there simply is not enough money
to maintain the quality of education at Waterloo without
having a source of additional funds. We, the students
receiving this service, should be prepared to shoulder
some of this increasing cost.
As Waterloo engineers we are required to participate
in the Co-op program. What does this mean? It means
that every four months we are out earning money in the
work force. And 1 don't just mean a few dollars.
LoolOng at the average Co-op salary, the majority of us
make more than enough to cover the cost of one semes-
ter of school. So why are we complaining about a 20%
increase (approximately $400) in tuition? I don't know.
If we want the education, we have to learn to make some
sacrifices. Even if some of us do graduate from univer-
sity a little in debt, it won't take us long to pay it off. I
have no doubt that our future careers will compensate for
any debts or penny-pinching that we had to do during our
university years, especially given the Co-op experience
that we graduate with.
If we compare the cost of university to the overall
cost of living after we graduate, university costs look like
nothing. Compared to the mortgages, the car loans and
the living expenses of a family, our total cost of educa-
tion is a very small percentage of our overall lifetime
costs. A few years after graduation, when we are in the
midst of our mortgage payments, we will look back on
this raise in tuition and laugh at how seriously we are
talOng it now. A 20% increase in tuition is nothing in
comparison to the debts and costs we will face in the
future.
I'm not suggesting that I am happy that we will be
experiencing a 20% increase in tuitioD. I like to save my
money as much as the rest of you, but I do think that we
need to take responsibility for our education. We need to
realize that there simply isn't enough money from out-
side sources to maintain our education and we need to
act responsibly and contribute towards a solution to that
problem. If that solution is a 20% raise in tuiti.on, so be
it. As mature and responsible students we should
acknowledge the fact that our education is an investment
in our future and we should be responsible and help pay
for the increasing cost of this education.
vs.
Counterpoint
George Roter
-IA Mpch
T
he Univer lty of Waterloo has ranked first in the entire nation in the Maclean" University
. Survey categories of Be t OVenin and Be t Reputation for lhe majority of the decade. The con-
tribution of the Engineering programme to this rank.ing is profound. Combined with the Co-
op progranune that remains unique. Waterloo Engineering is arguably the best engilleering
programme in the nation, and certainly recognized throughout the world,
All of the aforementioned praise \Vas earned during the current decade, which has been the mo t
unsettling concerning financial matters in the bi tory of the university. Let u revisit this decade for
a moment. In I <}90, the economY was booming. government funding of post-secondary education wa,
high, and tuition was low. Between 1991 and 1994, the economy slowed somewhat, but government
fVnding of education remai.ned bigh, and tuition remained low. From 1995 to 1998,
the econom.y began to charge forward again, government funding of post-secoodary education dwjn-
dIed, and fuition skyrocketed. the present year is 1999; the economy is relatively stable,
. government funding of post-secondary education remains stable (and is predicted to continue stable),
and taition is p(ecticted.to increase. The pre$ent case is a complete anomaly. Why should tuition con-
. W;lUeto increase when the both the economy and gove11,llnent spending on post-secondary education
ar'e stable? The university admioistration argues that additional money is required to pay for the
,. increasing cost in the delivery of education, and that Sludents are respon ible to furnish Ihis increas-
, ing cost. Despite the daill!s by the upiversity administration, there is no evidence that additional
" money e,gual to the proposed 20% tuition increase is tequited, and furthermore, raiding the pockets
of students to this magnitude is indefensJble.
In each of the last tWo years, students' have witnessed minor increases in their tuition, doting rel-
ative stable g;ovemment, funding education. The \11ajOrity of lhe student population
these inctease&1a '. .. .
the .increasingcost in the delivery of education. The defense of these minor tuition increases by the
university adminjstratioo concurS with reasons for student acceptance - to pay for tile increasing cost
in the delivery of education. Recall that the of Wotcrloo hns be n rankeo Bcst ()vn1.l11 and
Best Reputation for th past two yean;, while the Wl're l')\p .. \ri .. nuly minor t\lItioJl
increases. This begs the queStion: Why a 20<'!() tuition tJ) 'n') 'II)
pay for the increasing cost in lht.: delivery of cducillitm. Ncxl Thl:1I how hilS rhl' utl1v(J'sity
managed to do without a 20% tuition increase in each of thll past two ycurs and still rl'lllilin Ihe hest
university in Canada'? Why the 20% tuition increul>c'l The truthful answer: Thc g()vcrl1llwlll has
allowed us to deregulate tuition, so we will this opportunity to 1\1\11" money h '!"UIC the
next shortsighted government gains power. There is no c idCIl(,C that 1his ndditiol1nl funding is
required.
Assuming, for two paragraphs, Ihat this additional func.ling is required; (he insistence tlHlt stllocnts
supply this money is ludicrous. First, increases of the magnitude proposed will h,lVl' a direct impact
on the live of current and prospective sludents. Current sludellts in the engineering laculty h:lve the
benejit of Co-op jobs to subsidize their tuition. "Subsidize" is the key word in Ih(' previous sentence,
as few students break-even on the combill<uions. Increasing tuition by 20%
wi(} substantially drop the number of students breaking-evcn. and thus, more students will be forced
(0 carry a throughout university and into "real life". Furthermore, there <Ire a significant
number of prospective students that view current tuition levels as Il challenge and u deterrellt. With a
20% increase in tuition, Waterloo Engineering will become financially inaccessible 10 a greater num-
ber of prospective students. Students should not be subjected. to either nf these si tuatinns that would
stem from a 20% tuition increase.
Secondly, those who gain the most from the level of the Waterloo Engineering education hOllld
proportionately provide the additional funding required. The gain by students is negligible compared
to the gain by the group that currently provides only a minor amount of funding - industry. Industrial
profits are driven upward, in large part, by the quality of the employees in each company. Waterloo
Engineering happens to produce some of the highest quality employees, but industry fails to pay,
directly, for their training. The problem is magnified when foreign companies, that do not pay any tax
money, hire a Waterloo Bngineering student. These foreign companies are not even providing partial
funding in the form of tax dollars. Overall, funding is not being proportionately provided by indus-
try. the group that gains the most from continued excellence in the WaterJoo Engineering education.
There is nO justification for a 20% tuition increase beyond "we can", and jf there were valid argu-
m.entS supporting this increase, placing the burden on students unjustifiably releases industry from
responstbility and makes Waterloo Engineering more financially restrictive to a greater number of
students. Should the students be the proletarians of the university administration, having problems
dumped at their feet, or should the university adminisU"ation begin acting in a respon$ible manner by
justifying the need for increased funding and its sources? The second option must be adhered to avoid
continwng the pattern of student exploitation by industry, py gove.(llment. and by the university
administration. Surely. some of society must begin to recognize that bighly trained studenl$ are
our country's greatest resource and shm1Jd be t.feated accordingly.
The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the authors, or the Iron Warrior staff. Point Counter Point articles are meant to be a
thought-provoking debate on a prevalent issues related to engineers. They are not meant to be a statement offact.
The Iron Warrior Friday Mar'ch 26. 1999
-
-
-

-
.'-
Si,gnat , ~ <
\" / or .. ,., 1 '
"', ,'" ::'.N <i'. 5@
~ . /-:..).
,
I
PlanA
Ian Tien
O?
2A Comp
Offstream
W
hy did Richard Kimbl e kill his wife? He did it
for the money. No, he was a vascular surgeon.
He already had money, so why did he kill his
wife?
Urn, he wanted more money.
Believe in money or believe in the one-armed man.
Money makes the world go round. We work for money,
we endure for money, we're nice to people we don't li ke
for the sake of money.
What would you do for a million dollars? Would you
give your right arm? Would you sell out a friend? Would
you sleep with Robert Redford? (A friend of mine once
went on a rather di sturbing litany of what he would do for
a million dollars: You don't want to go there.)
300 years ago, Daniel Bernoulli made an assertion: the
satisfaction resulting from a small increase in wealth "will
be inversely proportionate to the quantity of goods previ-
ously possessed" . That is, the more you have to begin with
the less thrill ed you are with incremental gai ns.
Notice the revelation flies straight in the face of that
annoying "investing is all about money" cliche.
Warren Buffet, the world's greatest investor, i 68
years old and worth over $80 billion dollars. Why does he
show up to work every morning? For that matter, why
does anyone work on Wall Street? In 1984, according to
the IRS, 14,834 Americans report ed earni ngs in excess of
$1 million. In 1996 the number had skyrocketed to
j ) 1,728, thanks largely to the bull market. If investing
were about money and nothing else downtown Manhattan
would he a ghost town.
In the last decade the lion's share oj the new rich have
been emerging rrom one of two places, either New York or
Silicon Valley. This tale of two cities begins decades ago
when Billl-Jcwiell and Davit! Packard sold IIP200A audio
oscillators out of their garage in sunny Cali fornia. The talc
continues today, on Wall Street, where llP is a $72 bi llion
dollar company and a component of the Dow Jones
Industrial Average; HP reported gross revenues of $47 bil-
li on in 1998 and employs 124,600 employees worldwide.
There are two ways you could have profited from HP's
success: you could have invested in the company, or you
could have invested in tlle company.
Investment Plan A: You worked for HP, Maybe you
were a designer, a manager, or a salesman. You received
rewards for your performance in the form of stock options
or maybe in an automatic stock purchase plan. As HP' s
fortu ne grew, so did your stake in the company.
Eventually you were rewarded for the years you had
inve ted. All that time you never bought a single share of
NYSE:HWP on the open market.
Investment Plan B: You realize HP was selling at a dis-
count last September. You bought in at $50 and sold at $80
six months later, netting a 60% return before commission
charges and taxes.
Hey! Hold on, that's not fair. All you did was buy and
sell some stock. You didn't spend any time in a cubicle; the
money was never earned. The money is ill gotten and so
investing is bad. An honest day' s work for an honest day's
pay-that's how the world works .
An honest day's pay is when you walk into an office
building and sit in front of a computer terminal for 7.5
hours. You couldn't care less if the company lost money,
so long as there's a pay stub on your desk every second
Friday. You take two-hour lunches whenever the boss is
gone for the day and you never pass up the chance to
swipe a pen from the supply cabinet. An honest day's
work means filling out your time sheet.
So it's not the most magnanimous job in the world, but
at least it's better than investi ng. What does investing do
anyway? It just shifts money from one place to another.
Sell that buy this. Sell this buy the other thing; something
more productive.
How hard could it be? Buy into a productive company
and money rolls in.
Sounds easy. So which one's productive?
Hmmm.
Coca-Cola's productive, but it's seIling at a high price
right now, you might make 10% on it this year. AOL is
productive too, not as productive as Coca-Cola relative to
its share price, but it's increasing its share of a
rapidly growing market and the stock might double
thi s year on expectations alone.
Which to buy?
Good question. In investing, as in life, deci sions are a
matter of balancing risk and reward. Reward is a function
of ri sk. High-ri sk investments must be associated with
proportionally high returns, otherwise investors would
never buy into the company to begin with.
Suppose a $10 stock had a 60% chance of becoming a
$15 stock in a certai n period of time. The expected value
of said investment is 0.60 x $15, or roughly $10. So the
stock trades at $10. One day, the probability of the stock
reaching $) 5 falls from 60% to 30%. The expected value
of the investment falls from $10 to $5. The stock's market
price drops to refl ect the increase in risk.
But what does 30% mean? How do you quantify ri sk?
You can't really, not in the case o,f capital markets.
Risk is a complex function of market sentiment, funda-
mental developments. economic activity, interest rates,
inllalion. monetary policy, and other good things.
One catchall model for risk b derived from the volatil-
ity of a given security in relation to the lluctuations expe-
rienced by the market in general. The Greek letter beta is
used to represent the historical variability of a stock rela-
tive to a given index, such as the S&P 500. The index is
assigned a beta of I. A stock with a beta of 2 would be
expected to vary twice as much a the index. The index
goes up 10%, the stock goes up 20%. The market falls 5%,
the stock fall 10%. Beta value are u ed to approximate
the systematic risk involved in owning a given stock.
The concept has come under fire in recent years.
Studies show that the beta values can fluctuate wildly
depending on which index you're u ing as a yardstick.
Nevertheless, beta continues to be taught at the world' s
best busine s schools, probably becau e it's easy to calcu-
late. Plus it' s really no less valid than any of the other ri k
quantification models. On Wall Street, a simple quotient
can outsmart a billion-dollar supercomputer any day of
the week, and vice versa.
Measuring risk is hard to do; tomorrow is anybody's
guess.
Therein lies the essence of investing. When you buy a
stock, what you're really buying is a piece of risk. The
more risk you buy, the greater your prospective returns.
The most successful investors are the ones who have
insight into the future. They're able to reduce risk by find-
ing something to bel ieve in.
They believed in Federal Express, cellular phone ,and
cable television-projects that requi red huge amounts of
money to start up.
1973. Some yahoo fresh out of Connecticut tells you
he's going to start a mailing service. He'll ship a package
to anywhere in the United States" absolutely, positively
overnight". They're going to use a "hub and spoke" distri-
bution model that routes all packages through a central
sorting facility in Memphis. All he needs is couple hun-
dred million dollars to buy a fleet of 727s. Any takers?
Let's see. First, are the prospective returns substantial?
Yes. Second, do you believe that companies would pay
$20 for a package to be shipped across the country
overnight? Do you believe Federal Express is able to pro-
vide this service at a profit? If you do, then you can buy
into the company at a deep discount. If you believe in
Federal Express, you're taking on a low risk investment
that offers the same rerum as a high risk one.
Sounds kind of magical doesn't it? Reducing risk. It's
like you're striking a deal with the forces of nature, getting
some sort of VIP bonus on life.
Investing isn't about money. It's about managing risk.
It's about predicting the future and having an edge over
those who couldn't be bothered. Investors are driven by a
solitary sentiment: faith in enterprise. Faith that the world
will be better place next year: And thou shall reap what
thou has sown--except that dude there, he gets an extra
20% on whatever he sows. He didn't just throw his seeds
to the four winds, he didn't hand his seeds over to a mutu-
al seed planting corporation. He walked around the field
and found some nice fertile patches of earth to plant his
hard-earned seeds. When harvest time rolls around he's
got Cadill ac-sized produce.
His is a five- igma event, but in the end, all the farm-
ers make out well. At the very least, they're better off than
where they started.
Vill agers on the other hand, are a grumpy lot. Most of
them work at the village software company, earning 5
seed an hour, 25 seeds a week. They never had the ba ll s
to pl ant their seeds. They kept them in their pockets,
where they would be safe.
They don't like the farmers . All the farmers care about
is getting more seeds from the produce they grow. All they
ever talk about i growing. How' s the weather. How's the
soil? What' your take on the direction of long-term pre-
cipitation rates? Seeds, seed , . eeds, it's all about the
eeds.
All they do is plant and reap. They never spent time in
a cubicle; the seeds were never earned.
Damn farmers. Damn farmers and their ill-gotten
gains.
Time to check the score board: Signal or Noise Fall
1998 Index (GLW, MSFf, AAPL, CSCO, ATY.TO) is up
58.95% since inception. Signal or Noi e Winter 1999
Index (AOL, KO, LU, YHOO, CPQ) i up 8.68% ince
inception.
The Sandford Fleming Foundation
4306 Carl Pollock Hall
Waterloo Campus Activities
888-4008
sff@dean
TRAVEL GRANTS
The Sandford Fleming Foundation provides grant money to students for Conference Registration. Conference Presentations,T echnical
Team Projects and Non-Academic Professional Conferences.
No official "form" is required for travel grants. A letter addressed to the 1ravel grants officer (Prof: Herb Ratz) can be delivered to the SFF
office and should provide the following Information:
Name(s) of applicant{s);
a contact telephone number and address;

projected costs for the activity;


the type of grant requested;
a description of the event and the time/date &
location of the event;
Only engineering undergraduates are eligible to apply. and only work carried out while at the University will be considered for grants.
Funding for these awards comes from engineering student contributions and depends on them for continuation.
An organiZation devoted to the advancement of englneeftng education.
.... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~

Tile 11'011 Wall tOr Fncic1V Mclrch 26 1999
Protecting The Public
"Engineering" Under The Storm
George Roter
4A Mech
A
two-year battle between the Association of
Profe sional Engineers and Geoscientists of
ewfoundland (APEGN), the Newfoundland
equivalent of the Professional Engineer of Ontario
(PEO), and the Memorial University of ewfoundland
(MUN) has recentl y heated up. The dispute between the
two partie stems from a deci ion by Memorial
University's Computer Science department to create a
departmental option called "Software engineering".
Below is a summary of the events thu far:
'L . .... Q. I
January/February 1997
The MUN Senate approves an option in the Computer
Science department termed "Software engineering". The
option requires that students enrolled in the Computer
Science programme replace three foulth-year electives
with three compulsory fourth-year "Software engineer-
ing" courses. Additionally, the honours fourth-year project
must be completed in the area of "Software engineering".
Subsequent to the MUN Senate approving this new
option, APEGN expresses their displeasure with the
option name and asks that MUN consider renaming the
programme without including the trademarked phrases
"engineer" or "engineeri ng".
July 1997
MUN applies for and is granted a Canadian trademark
on the phrase "Software engineering". APEGN and the
Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE)
respond by filing a lawsuit with the Federal Court of
Canada to stop MUN from using the term" oftware engi-
neering".
March 1998
MUN, APEON, and CCPE representatives begin talks
mediated by a federal court judge to attempt an out-of-
court settlement.
January 1999
The aforementioned talks from March 1998 end with-
out success. A spokesperson from MUN states that "the
universi ty certainly won't [change their minds)." Allen
Steeves, executive director of APEGN, states that
"[APEGN' ] position right from the beginning was that
the u e of the description of a computer science cour. e as
, oftware engineering' was improper and misleading and
in violation of the trademarks rights that the [CCPE] holds
on the words 'engineer' and 'engineering' in that context."
February 13, 1999
A motion that "APEGN advise the CCPE that its con-
sent for accreditation given by a letter, dated May 18,
1972 is hereby rescinded" was passed unanimously at a
special meeting of APEON's Council. The motion was
brought forward in response to the" oftware engineering"
Jegal issue.
February 25, 1999
The CCPE inform MUN Engineering that the "evalu-
ation of the four engineering programmes has ceased
pending reinstatement of consent." The present accredita-
tion will expire on June 30, 1999 without the completion
of this evaluation.
March 3, 1999
MUN applies to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland
Trial Divi ion seeking an order to force APEGN to rein-
tate its consent for the continuation of the MUN
Engineering accreditation process. MUN's president, Dr.
Arthur May, states that the "effort by APEGN to link
accreditation of Memorial's programmes with
the separate dispute we have over the phrase 'software
engineering' in a computer science programme is unethi-
cal and unfair to our engineering students, and to the uni-
versity."
Additionally, MUN Engineering faculty council
passed a resolution demanding APEGN reinstate its con-
ent for accreditation. Simultaneou Iy, the A ociation of
Uni ersitie and College of Canada (A C ), the group
repre enting mo t po t-secondary in. titution aero the
country, pa ed a resolution trongly condemning the
action of APEG . The AUCC also agreed to cover 80
percent of the legal co t for MU that are a reo ul! of any
court action rclating to " oftware engineering".
March 10, 1999
The MU Engineering Students' Association brings a
motion before M Senate to drop th word "cngineer-
ing" from the name of "software engineering" and to
abandon it trademark right to the term "software engi-
neering". The motion wa . upported b) students currently
enrolled in the "software engineering" option at M
Sifting through all of the legal and political rambling.
and the overabundance of acronyms. there are two is:-ues
that are yet to be ettled by the Canadian legal system.
First. the hearing of [he initial Federal Court of Canada
lawsuit by the CCPE and APEG is scheduled for this
September. Secondly, the application by MU to the
Supreme Court of Canada will be ruled upon before Ihis
June.
Note: The sumlllw)' above is completely factual, 11011' -
eve,; the analysis presented beloll' is the opillioll
Concenred Students and Faculty.
What are the issues and implication of the above legal
events and political positioning? Superficially, this
appear to be a case regarding rhetoric and copyrights, but
the real i sues are more complex. First, the fact that the
MUN case is being greatly funded by the AUCC reveals
that this case is being used as a national battleground. If
MUN and the AUCC compose one of the warring factions
(herein referred to as The Universities) then APEGN and
the CCPE (herein referred to a The Engineers) form-up
on the other side of the battlefield. Secondly, the real posi-
tions being defended by each side are but cousins of lhe
actual copyright confrontation.
From the perspective of The Universities, this dispute
is about protecting the rights of universities to set their
own academic programmes. The Universities have never
been enthralled about the engineering accred-
itation proces. that i determined by The Engineers, and
have consi tenlly expre. sed this discontent. The
Universities contend that having th provincial prof
iorial engineering association regulate the enginccrin
profession by defining curriculum is an
infringement upon any university'S rights. The "software
engineering" issue at MUN has been The Universities first
national opportunity to express their disapproval and to
confront The Engineers on the deeper issue of control
over academic programmes.
The issue of control also weighs on the collective
mind of The Engineers, but the control in question is that
of the "engineer/engineering" designation. The initial
rationale by The Engineers for copyrighting the terms
"engineer" and "engineering" was
lion.
While it may not be readily apparent that a software
engineer ould endanger the public, there are many exam-
ple, of areas where software failure could be catastrophic.
uclear power plant., nuclear weapons, subways, air-
planes. elevators: $ ftware failure \ ithin nny of the e ys-
tems could trigger a disaster. Are computer cienti ts in
the softwan.:'nginc ring 0Plion trained to apply engineer-
ing prill iples and accept respoll . ihility for software fail -
ure? Tht: late. t version of Corel's WordPerfect required
users to download a "fix" just days after the software
rclca:e. Microsoft Office 97 has IWO "ser,ice pack"
updates of o\'er 20 1>.1B each to fix problems within the
software. E\amplcs of software failures arc plentiful, and
all demonstnll ' the fact that computer .Ticntists graduat-
ing from software engineering options arc not qualified to
appl} engillt'ering principles to produce products that are
"fit for use". Only three extra "software engineering"
COl\J:ses differentiate the "software engineering" option at
M from the standard computer science programme,
and these thr.::e e\tra courses can not possibly replace a
four-year enginl.:.::ri ng curriculum.
The arguments presented abo e have proven the truth
of two separatl.: First, thl.: professional desig-
nation or "engineer" generates a certain degree of public
trust, and any misu. e of this designation can directly
threaten puhlic safety. Secondly, student:- graduating from
the "software engineering" options of Computer Science
programmes are not qualified to apply engineering princi-
ples and are not prepared to take responsibility for their
designs. Following logically from the concept. of these
two statements, " oftware engineering" should not be
used in the context of the aforementioned computer sci-
ence option. That i , students of the "software engineer-
ing" option are not in a po. ilion to make responsible
engineering decisions, but their title suggests that they are
in a position to make these decisions - a conflict clearly
exists. Thu , graduating "software engineers" from a
Computer Science option onty weakens the trust i.n the
professional "engineer/engineering" designation, and
places the public safety jeopardy.
A recent article in The Globe and Mail displayed a
Mlr l'y of with !-!,mds t\l tlwil opinio1ls \)f Cl'r
tain pmfe\sions. Of courM' doctm ... Wl'l L' .It th ' lOp of 111('
li,t with tcadll'rs, and pohtlCHlilS Wl'H' :lIthe hOItOill of tit
list with lawyers. Whl'r' did en 'llweis l'llll LIP'! Neur tht:
top'! Ncar the bottom? Neith 'I. They not ('wn on the
list! The cnlire profession of I.'nginl.'l" illg is hehind Ihe
scene:. in nature, and th only inSUrUlIl.'l' of' preservlltion
fro1lt Engincering" desiglllllioll. Wl'
must protect the links in the chain 01 responsihility from
cOIT()sion and ensure that lhe "Prokssional Engineering"
designatioll carric, with it integrity and social fl'spol1sibil
ity. We must protect tit pUblic.
related to public safety. Within the
profession of engineering, decisions
are frequently made that could have a
direct impact on public safety, and
thu. , the Professional
Engineer/Engineering designation
was created to establi sh a chain of
responsibility. Taking the classic
example of bridge design, thi profes-
sional designation ensures that di as-
ters such as the Tacoma Narrows
Bridge collapse are not repeated. The
profess ional designation serves to
legally bind an engineer to the impli -
cations of hi s or her design, which
leads to more caution and ultimately
safer designs. Thus, regulating the
use of the terms "engineer" and "engi-
neering" directly relate to public safe-
ty. This implies that any misuse of the
terms "engineer" or "engineering"
directly relates to public safety, and in
fact, has the potential to put public
safety in jeopardy. So follows the
problem of Computer Scientists using
the "software engineering" designa-
Explorations and
Campus Day
Volunteers
Thank You
The Faculty of Engineering would like to
thank all those students who took time
away from their studies to help out at
Explorations and Campus Day.
Without your generous support
Explorations and Campus Day would be a
shadow of what they are today. Thank you.
The Irrm Warrior Fnday. Mardl 26 1999
-
-

,
Mat Pigozzo
2A Mech
T
here is much to be worried about with the Canadian
government's developing policy on post secondary
education. The cunent government has been exten-
sively involved in reducing and eliminating the current
deficit with the goal of moving towards a balanced budget.
Clearly this is a worthy goal to strive for. There is no rea-
son not to have a balanced budget in such a wealthy
province with the healthy economy we all enjoy. One
must ask, in light of the suffering and hardship faced by
many people who rely on government funded programs
that have been a chief source of governmental 'fat- trim-
ming', if the price is worth it. Are we going about this in
the best way? It seems that the current governments
(provincial and federal) are desperately trying to pass off
many fiscal responsibilities onto other parties, particular-
ly the middle class. Of particular concern to many Ontario
tudents is that of funding in post econdary education.
Operating grants are being dramatically reduced and stu-
dents are expected to make up the difference in the form
of increased tuition. In the past ten years, seven billion
dollars has been eliminated from funding to post sec-
ondary education and training. These cuts have been
downloaded to students who have seen tuition more than
double in the same time period to fill the void of evapo-
rating government support.
Post-secondary institutions have three main sources of
income available to satisfy financial needs: government
grants, tuition, and other fees (such as donations, a portion
of research grants and interest from short-term accounts).
Of these, the first two comprise 85-90% of the average
operating budget of a university. When the government
reduces it funding, the only avenue for the institutions to
recoup the fi scal losse is through increases to tuiti on.
Such fee increases are becoming more important to main-
taining the fiscal health of post secondary institutions as
funding decreases, other income fluctuates and costs rise.
"The essential problem is to balance
students' needs for affordable tuition
and as much certainty as possible
about tuition levels against the
University's need for adequate funds
and flexibility to set fees."
In the face of all this, the University does need a certain
amount of flexibility and control in setting its fees. The
universities have an outlet for fiscal burden - the students.
But where do the students go when they need assistance?
The government, while focusing it efforts on post-sec-
ondary cost reduction and downloading educational
expenses to students, ha not been expanding the student
aid infrastructure the increasing numbers of students
require to meet the growing needs this added fiscal burden
inevitably creates. With the dramatic fee increases expect-
ed in deregulated programs and a shortfall of adequate
student aid, accessibility to programs become a serious
issue. If poor; but otherwise qualified tudents have to
turn away from such high priced degree due to insuffi-
cient funds then the quality of the programs themselves
are undoubtedly going to suffer as acceptance move from
a policy of accepting only the best students to accepting
the best students of those who can afford to pay. Students
should not have to compete for the opportunity of acade-
mic enrichment on a financial level.
Page flve of 'Building on Accomplishment, A Plan for
the University of Waterloo's Fifth Decade' tates that the
mission of The University of Waterloo is " ... to advance
learnjng and knowledge through teaching, research, and
scholarship, nationally and internationally, in an environ-
ment of free inquiry and expre sion. The University fulfils
this mission by offering undergraduate and graduate stu-
dents the best possible education experience ... " (Quoted
from page A 7 of the 'Report of the Provost' Task Force on
Tuition and Student Financial Support). Will the
University be able to continue to uphold thi proud tradi-
_ tion of educational excellence in the face of the seeming-
_ ly inevitable deregulation of many of the programs upon
-

The 111)1i Wall ,l)' Fnday March 26. 1999
The
Cost
Of
Education:
Deregulation in Perspective
which this institution's fine reputation was built?
To address this issue a special task force was created
to study the matter of tuition and the changing economic
situation of students. The chief goal of the task force was
to develop a policy to advise on " ... the principles which
should guide the University of Waterloo in setting tuition
policy and tuition fees, including the feasibility of setting
Marks, experience, desire to learn and
ambition are becoming secondary to
the ability of the student to meet the
ever-growing cost of his or her educa-
tion. The philosophy seems to be
emerging that rather than attending
university to earn a degree, a student
is there to purchase one.
fees for an entire program of study ... " among such other
things as financial aid and communication. (ibid, p. A6)
The general conclusion regarding tuition of the report was
to recognize" ... that the University needs to have the flex-
ibility to collect sufflcient funds to support quality pro-
grams, and the students need quality programs that are
affordable and are available at a known price." (ibid, p.
A8) The report goes on to state "The essential problem is
to balance students' needs for affordable tuition and as
much certainty as possible about tuition levels against the
University's need for adequate funds and flexibility to set
fees." (ibid, p. A 12). The report continues with the rec-
ommendation " .. . that the University should commit to
ensuring a transparent consultative process for setting
tuition that involves meaningful coll aboration with tu-
dents." (ibid, p. A13)
The Task Force created to debate and study this issue
was an excellent first step, but there is still much more to
be done as little concrete direction was provided.
Discussion and debate (as called for in the report) needs to
continue on these issues that challenge the University
community.
R
ecently, the government has announced that it will
give ' hort term funding grants to universities to
rei.nvest in the educational future of Canada
through the Acces to Opportunities Program (ATOP).
Thi money, however, is intended for very specific pur-
poses, namely to meet industrial demands for skilled grad-
uate in high technology fields, specifically information
technology (IT). To receive some of this provincial nest
egg, institutions must commit to significant increases in
entrance level enrolments in computer science, and com-
puter and electrical engineering. As added incentive to
universities to increase enrolment in these fields, the gov-
ernment will allow the deregulation of tuition for such
programs. This means that the institution rather than the
government will have the control and responsibility of
determining the tuition fee it will charge those entering
into and participating in uch program . Under deregula-
tion, tuition could double, triple even quadruple in a sin-
gle year. In effect, there i no limit to what the institute
could charge its students. If this seems unreasonable, con-
sider the recently deregulated Computer Animation pro-
gram at Sheridan College. Fees jumped 480% from 1997
to 1998 alone as students face tuition rates of almost
$8800!
The Ontario Government seem to be embracing the
concept of deregulation. This should not be surprising as
it gives universities the ability to function in the face of
continued underfunding of post-secondary education, and
make the universities the 'bad guys' as they are now the
ones setting the fee . Individual institutions are now able
to set fees in several college and university level pro-
grams. As the CFS reports in the November 1998 issue
fact sheet on 'Deregulation of Tuition Fees' , college pro-
grams including po t diploma programs and those "[the
Boards of Governors] decide are in high-demand, offer
strong employment pro pect and high incomes after
graduation." ewly deregulated university programs
include graduate programs, second-entry business pro-
grams and professional programs such as medicine, law,
optometry and pharmacy. The tatement regarding college
programs that are in high demand is particularly indicative
of a dangerous mindset our governing bodies seem to be
adopting in regards to educational institutes that will aid
in creating an elitist atmosphere in the post-secondary
academic sphere. Those institutions whose current focus
and strength lie in technical fields of study will receive
privilege and greater benefits - monetary or otherwise.
These institutions will thus be better able to develop the
resources and capabilities to continue to attract prejudicial
governmental funding so as to maintain a monopoly either
by being able to offer better salaries and benefits to pro-
fessors, or better facilities, research opportunities etc. The
effect is the creation of a two tiered, elitist educational
system with technically oriented institutions maintaining
a monopoly on the technological market and funding.
This attitude suggests that the bodies establishing pro-
gram fee structures base their decisions upon market fac-
tors. Such factors are highly subjective, historically
inaccurate and fluctuate wildly. They are by no means the
criteria to decide the future of a generation. If the bottom
falls out of the IT market in a few years (not likely but
entirely plausible); universities will be graduating a lot of
young people into unemployment with a high debt load to
keep them warm - debt that they cannot even seek protec-
tion from. Under the recent changes to the bankruptcy act
students are prevented from defaulting on student loans
for at least ten years after graduation. This is a clear exam-
ple of govemmental attack on students to protect corpo-
rate interests - in this case the banks iss uing student loans.
Further, such policy only considers the average graduate.
What of the student who goes to work in government or
for a charitable organization. Such an individual could not
be expected to earn the juicy salaries large corporations
payout, yet their fiscal burden for education remains the
same. It is impos ible to predict the earning potential,
marketability and career path of a student. It is possible
that a student considering such a career path; or even one
leading to wealth and affluence in industry would opt out
of this field of study in light of the risk and high up-front
cost of attaining that piece of paper so valued by society
that can land such a job. Many students cannot afford to
follow this path, regardless of the potential benefits, as
future wealth does no good in the present.
Prime Minister Chretien stated on
September 24, 1997 "There can be no
greater millennium project for Canada
and no better role for government than
to help young Canadians prepare for
the knowledge-based society of the
next century."
Canada is selling its students rather than fostering
them. The country is blatantly catering to the demands of
the corporate elite. Soon, only the rich will be able to
afford to be smart; only the well off will be able to afford
to pursue higher intellectual enrichment and training to be
uccessful in a competitive, fast paced, technological
workplace. Hundreds of years of progress towards equi-
table and accessible education are slowly being eroded by
current fiscal policy. Marks, experience, desire to learn
and ambition are becoming secondary to the ability of the
tudent to meet the ever-growing cost of his or her educa-
tion. The philosophy seems Eo be emerging that rather
than attending university to earn a degree, a student is
there to purchase one. T'he system will undoubtedly
improve the education Ayseee; bet only for those few who
can afford it. At the .........
of students who cannot
ing student poor, will .....
sibility diminish.
If the government wabb to download its fiscal
(continued on page 8)
The
TO
u
u
u
Do you think that tuition
deregulation will improve the
quality of education at UW?
Sudeep Sanyal
4B Mechanical
By Alison Kudelka and Jenny Mitchell
Yes, it's great because they can afford to fund more projects, but on the other
hand, less people will have acce to the projects because they wont's b able
to afford chool.
Evan Young
3A Electrical
I would say not, I think it will just replace current funding. The only way it
will improve our education is if it gives students more control over how it's
going to be spent.
Ron Choi
4B Electrical
I don't care, I got my ring.
Allsion Annan
3A Computer
Yes, if it', actually going to go into bettering our educalion and our facilities
but not if we're paying to subsidize improvemenls to other p r t ~ or campus.
Liz Parry
2A Systems
I think it should improve the quality of the programs because we. will have.
more money for facilities, etc., but I think at the same lime, some programs
may be affected detrimentallly because they aren't high on (he priority list
compared to others. If we recognize this, it should be okay.
Lisa Kropf
3B Chemical
No. It's not more money, it's just replacing the money they aren't getting
from the geovernment.
The Iron Warrior Friday. March 26. 1999
-
-

( contin ued from page 8)
burdens more onto Canadians based on earning potential
it already has a vehicle in place to do so. It is referred to
as the income tax system. Instead, what did the govern-
ment use the recent three and a half bill ion-dollar budget
surplus for? It offered a signifi cant (30%) tax cut to per-
sonal income tax. Whil e thi s makes the average voter
happy and seems li ke a very positive step on the surface it
is more of a distraction from the increased costs average
income ci ti zens are forced to bear - additional costs onl y
parti all y offset by thi s government's tax savings. Whi le a
family earning $60,000 combined income annually woul d
see an average of about $ 1400 in annual tax savings, the
family is expected to contribute approximately six times
thi s amount annually to the educati on of each of their chil -
dren. Clearly, Ontario's recent tax relief is being funded in
large part by its studenL<; - one of the group's least able to
handle extra fi nancial burden - again to support the affiu-
ent as they will receive signi ficantly greater benefi ts from
these tax cuts than the average Canadi an fa mil y.
ty must be faced by a united uni versity communi ty, requir-
ing the University to willingly share this ri sk by providing
some measure of fiscal security to its students in an era of
deregul ation and differentiation of fees. Such commit-
ments will require open, honest communication between
administration, students and faculty. If this does not hap-
pen I fear for not only my future and that of my peers, but
of my younger siblings and my own the very
future of Canada. Prime Mini ster Chretien stated on
September 24, 1997 "There can be no greater millennium
project for Canada and no better role for government than
to help young Canadians prepare for the knowledge-based
society of the next century." It is definitely a positive
statement, indicating an inarguably worthwhile venture
for all Canadians to be involved in. Whether the Prime
Minister can live up to this ideal - and how he plans to
make it a reali ty - remains to be seen. Thus far, Canadi an
students (and their parents) have seen little to reassure
them that the government is committed to this future.
Perhaps it is time for students and parents to organize
themselves, to show the government that we want, and in
fact need them to make good on this promise - and soon,
if there is to be any kind of future for young Canadians.
It is up to each and every concerned citizen to become
aware and invol ved, to j oin the fi ght for the future of
Canada's youth.
If you want to find out more about this issue or want
to have your say, attend the meeting of the Board of
Governors on April 6, 1999 from 2:30-7:30 p.m. in
Needles Hall room 300 I. At this meeting, the Board will
ratify the deregulation package, including the recent
tuition hikes Waterloo is faci ng, put forth by the
University and James Kalbflei ch, Vice President,
Academic and Provost. For those unaware of what this
contains, the Provost has recommended a 19% (of a max-
imum 20% al lowed by government) increase to under-
graduate engi neeri ng, computer science and optometry,
and a 9% (maximum allowed) increase for all other pro-
grams. This means that as engineers, we will be paying
$2314 for tuition alone in September, for a total cost of
$3063 for the Fall-99 academic term al one. It is at thi s
meeting that the future direction the University will take
regarding deregulation and the proposed expansions under
the ATOP program will be laid out. It is here that the stu-
dent voice has a chance of being heard.
The government wants to appear as if it is committed
to its students' futures but is really only impoveri shing
them, leading to an economically crippl ed generation of
future Canadians. On October 17th 1998, a thousand students from the
Waterloo area joined ten thousand of their peers at Queens
Park in Ottawa to protest the current governmental poli-
cies and attitudes towards post-secondary education that
are impoveri shing many students and restricting access to
others. Action has been taken, and progress is being made.
An official detailed report on exactly what will be dis-
cussed by the Board will be issued Tuesday March 30,
1999. To obtain a copy of this report visit the office of the
secretariat (Secretary of the University) Lois Claxton in
Needles Hall room 3060.
Whether the Uni.versity can make and live up to the
commitment to accessible, equitable, quality education
where students are protected and supported by the institu-
tion that our tuition supports in fiscal kind in the current
upheaval remains to be seen. The risks of fi scal uncertain-
Tuition Facts and
Points of Interest:
In 199:2/93 tUlt10n comprised
approximately 20% ({)r :?5 million dol-
lars) of the budget.
ln1998/99 that number bas risen to over
(over 52.5 million doJl<J.fS)
1M Cllt'renl 1)\IdgeL UDder consideration
by the Senate and Board of Ooverrtots
wUl see a further 8 million dollars of
tuiti,OT:l money. 6.9 million of this win 00
irQm tuition increases and the remainder ;
from the increased enrohnentuu(iex U);;;' -,
AcCess To Oppo(tunities . Pro,tram
The Goverrunent is gt1.l!ftlog OW .12
" . " . " ,.
,.' 1> I3 mmicm in operating gran
9 million in start-up funds)
The government bas mandated tlJ,at 3Q%.
of all tuition fcc increases must he given
to a University wide student assi!ilk'lnce
pot
There is expected t<l be uver $4,OOO,(X)()
in the fund for the neXl academic yenr
Ontario Universities recdve the lowelSt
j.;(.wcmment funding in all of Canada
Tuition rates have been frozen for sever
al years in the provinces of
Newf{)undlund, British Columbia and
Quebec
" The average tuition increase at universi-
ties in Be WQ& 0.7% in 1998199. In
Ontario the average was 11.3%
Average student debt upon graduation
was $25.000 io 1998/99 for a four year
degree. .
Canada Is one of only two industtial
k,ed Will\oJlt a,nationa!system of
'grants for studentl othefis Japan)
The first year' the Hanis O()vel'llmtllt
it cUt 15% from univetShy
anD budgets.
1998 Statistics canada
tn post-$eCOOdaly
d1irIed S.6%' since the
1991tt3 academic year. .
'enrolment felt
z.. 11997 199&.lth4s
24% 1992193 $ca.
StatiStics "
. WPIRG Forum: Deregulation Awareness
W
ednesday evening on March 24, 1999 WPIRG held on
information forum on the tuition issues currently fac-
ing students at UW. A number of speakers were pre-
sent from WPIRG and from The Federation of Students to speak
on the issue and raise the awareness of those who attended. There
was a good turnout to the forum, with definite representation from
Engineering as approximately half of the attendees were of the
faculty. About a quarter of the students present were from
Computer Science and there were several others present, incl ud-
ing several people from Optometry and some members of local
medi a. The forum was quite successful in achieving its goal of
rai sing awareness as several intelligent questions were asked
throughout
The essential position the FEDS have adopted with
regard to this issue is one of diplomacy. Robin Stewart (current
Vice Pres ident Education for the PEDS and their representative
ket rule and privitization among the focus issue of deregulation
Grower argues that this is a globalist type of perspective, a dol-
lars and cents as bottom line political philosophy with little
humanity. In contrast to this he argues that society as a whole
has a vested interest in our education as society as a whole ulti -
mately benefit s from it.
Several other interesting and j usti fied perspectives
emerged in di scussions foll owing the speakers. Foremost among
these was the iss ue of the seemingly great power of the Provost
in setting fees and the belief that students should have greater
power in the University administration to match the increased
amounts of money we contribute to it. Thi lead to another point
that was well received by those present, that there.should be
more and better planning of di scussions on fees and that fee
decisions should be announced sooner, to provide greater lead
time for student organizations to become involved in the process
and more time with which to enact changes. The proposed bud-
at this forum) indicated, the
FEDS are attempting to work
within the system to make the
vi ews of the student populous
known. According to Stewart
the PEDS have spent great
amounts of time over the past
__ __ __ -,,!, __ currently under consideration was
"We should not charge lower fees than announced on Monday, March 22, 1999 a mere
the universities with which we com- two weeks before the Board of Governors con-
pete unless we believe that our degrees venes to rati fy it.
to be inferior. People judge quality by Personal Commentary:
price."
few months lobbying with the - James Kal bfl eisch, Vice-President, Academic & The WPIRG representati ves di stributed a
Provost. the Senate, Board of Provost brief fact sheet on some of the interesting
Governors and other authorita- ------------------- poi nts on the tuition debate, particularly at
tive bodies at the University as well as meeting with Provincial
Government personalities such as the Lieutenant Governor of
Ontario. The FEDS issued a detailed re ponse to the report
issued by the Provost' s tuition Task Force, calling for the
University to adopt specific policies outlined in the report. The
basic position of the FEDS is that they want the University to
institute a freeze in tuition increa. es until there is reform to stu-
dent assistance programs to match what is becoming a growing
need, and until some reliable, concrete research is done on the
impact of tuition rates on accessibility. Following this, the FEDS
are seeking a definite policy being instituted at the University to
address consistent and dramatic fee increases that will require
consultation and collaboration with the student body on pro-
posed tuition change.
The WPIRG representatives raised several other impor-
tant issues and comments as well. There was an initial examina-
tion of the financial picture of the University by John Wilkinson,
a CS lab technician, who believes that although things are not
excellent fi cally at present there is room to make changes that
will not require such significant increases in student fees. Marc
LeBlanc, a graduate student of Engineering, then went on to
illustrate how such things as budgets are passed through admin-
istration, The Provost, Jame Kalbfleisch, after several months
of meetings and discussion, recommends a budget to Senate and
the Board of Governor who are called to ratify it. Typically tlUs
is done with little debate or is tie. Thus the budget is essentially
decided at the Provost's level. It is still pos ible to have input
(although limited) into this budget, even though it has pas ed the
Provost, at the meeting of the Board of Governors April 6, 1999
(Needles Hall 3001) and discussion will likely begin soon after
for next year's budget. The final speaker of the evening was Pat
Grower, a student in Engineering Graduate Studies, provided a
stronger activist perspective on the issue comparing current gov-
ernment policy to Neo-Liberalism. Citing such concepts as mar-
Waterloo. Many of these facts have been reported in the facts sec-
tion of this feature. There is one particular item that is disturbing
and worthy of discussion and debate. James Kalbfleisch, Vice-
President, Academic & Provost on page two of his 1999/2000
budget recommendation to Senate and the Board of Governors
reads as follows "We should not charge lower fees than the uni-
versities with which we compete unless we believe that our
degrees to be inferior. People judge quality by price."
This comment shows how the University is lacking in
the justification of why it is opting to raise tuition to near the
maximum amount. The above statement is a decidedly weak
argument with which to stand behind. I for one will not be upset
if the University decides to lower my tuition. The quality of a
degree is relevant to an institute'S reputation, which is produced
by its students, not the amount of money one must devote. By
maintaining low tuition rates, we avoid th.e pitfall of limiting the
accessibility of our programs to the affluent and this can only
result into better students, wlUch is what produces a quality pro-
gram. In contrast, high tuition rates can force students away
from such programs. As the WPIRG fact sheet further states:
"Tuition fees along with ancillary fees and the cost of supplies
and textbooks deter potential students from applying for and
entering full time studies." This is to the detriment of the
University community in general and should be avoided as
much as possible. To play 'follow the leader' with other institu-
tions is a pathetic policy with which to set fees. By this logic,
tuition should be raised above all other universities for only then
could we have the superior program, that is until another school
decided to charge more and a tuition bidding war ensues.
Contrary to this, tuition fees do not equate to the quality of a
program. The financial situation of other schools is entirely dif-
ferent than that at Waterloo. If this is to be the policy of the
University - an institution with a reputation as a leader in many
spheres of influence, I shudder to think what the future holds.
The Iroll Warrior Fnday. March 26. 1999
TakeA
Off Topic
I have come up with a topic of di cu ion for over 10 fa -
cinaring arti Ie . You're in for a treat thi time as I reyeal
a little of m} wTiting ecrets 10 you in thi arti Ie.
The harde t part about \\Titing an article for every
i ue i coming up a topic that ati ' fie three ba ' ic ele-
ment : imere t. engineering. and randomn',s.
I must find a topic that is intere:ting enough for me to
be able to write enough to fill up m) place in the paper.
Furthern10re. me topic mu t be of inlere, t to the reader a
well. If the reader doe n '( find m) topi interesting then
my article would , impl) fall upon blind eye '. The goal is
to write about a topic mat will entice the reader to contin-
ue readi ng until the end of me article, onl) 10 finish and
till want more.
my head at any given time, many of them related to engi-
neeri ng. omelime I grab ont o an idea thaI appears
amazing when r , tart, but then I reali ze I can' t write more
than two mcaningful sentences about the topic . Then,
there are other times when an idea j u. t pop. in my head
and I ju. t . t lrting clicking away at th keyboard or crib-
bling with my pen. My b . I articles and poems are the
ones wh 'fC 1 start with my idea and don '( top until I am
finished m . produ I. The re ult i. the ollective work of
an intiOlt number of po ibilitie coming together to cre-
ate a beautiful work of art and I sincerely hope that you
\ic\\ m writings (1,' work. of an.
Zhan Huan Zhou
Since thi is a tudent engi neering ne\\ spaper, I try to
relate all of my topic to engineering and how they affect
your ti me in Waterloo Engineering. A you rna} have
noticed, my focus has trayed a li ttle from engineeri ng
thi term, however, r believe that my topic and arguments
are valid becau e they are applicable to all tudent and
disciplines.
'0 there ou ha\ c it, n gl imps' into the inner workings
of the writer of thi. column. 1 hope that this arti cle will
inspire you to pick up a pen and write whenever you have
an imere, li ng idea. Don't gi v ' up on dead ends. If! gave
lip on dead ends duri ng my time wri ting for this column,
there would barely he enough cont ent for a , ingle is. li e.
Keep working at it unt il everything click and you , ee the
words write them, elve . Of ourse, thi: metaphor can be
extended pa t creati e writing into the realm of engineer-
ing. Perhap there are times when your C++ code writes
it elf, or you can feel the law of thermodynamic . At any
rate, take a chance and perhap everything will fall into
place in your future.
3A Comp
C
an you believe it? For the die-hard fans of this
column, you will notice that as of this issue, "Take
A Zhance" has appeared in 15 consecutive issues
of the B-Soc edition of the Iron Warrior plus 5 issues of
the A-Soc version. Including my poems and submissions
before the inception of this column in Fall 1997, I have
over 30 articles to my credit published in the Iron Warrior.
Many of you probably don't care about that little triv-
ia tidbit. Some of you, however, may be wondering how
The final element and, probably the mo t important, i
the randomne s factor. Perhap the "???" factor i a bet-
ter term to u e, but "randomne " is a word we can use in
normal conversation. As with almo t everything that
affects us in life, randomness brings us the joy; little,
unsuspected outcomes, or an unanticipated action where
everything happens to fall into place and rewards you in
ways unimaginable. The same random factor that make
life interesting is the biggest factor when I write. I have
an uncountable number of interesting thought floating in
'fake A Zh<U)('c has been regularly featured in The Ir<m
Warrior since September 1997. Pa, t article can be found al
htrp:l /wlVw.ellg. ulVater/oo. ra/stlldMtll.h::. llol1
The
European
Student
Gosia Garus
2A Systems
for other needs. I need
W
ith all the recent controversy
and di cussion concerning
the almost inevitable tuition
deregulation I couldn't help but notice
the tark contrast between thi s govem-
ment's attitude towards education com-
pared to that of the majority of
European countrie . Having immigrat-
ed from Europe myself, I have always
been aware of thi s difference. My par-
ents both finished university in Poland.
Free of charge. With all the short com-
ings and inferior tandards of living of a
communist country, the education was
free, all you had to do is work for it. The
jobs were guaranteed too, but let us not
get into details about communist social
structures. What I do want to draw your
attention to is Western Europe's socialist
structures. I was quite taken aback
when I recently received an e-mail from
my cousin studying in Denmark. I
always knew Western European coun-
tries did not charge tuition from any stu-
dents, what I didn't know is that some
European countries, like Denmark, also
paid their students to study. Yes, you
read correctly. Not only do our
European counterpart not have to deal
with paying their tuition, they are given
money too. How much, you might ask.
Enough to cover the basics. Every
Danish student receives a monthly quota
of 3500DK from the government. This
translates to approximately $770 CDN a
month. What does this cover?
Remembering that tuition is free once
again, the average housing cost per
month is 1200-2000DK ($260-440
CON) and food averages about 1000-
) 300DK ($220-280CDN) a month. In
total, the average student can expect to
spend about 28000K (or about
$600CDN) a month on basic living
expenses. This still leaves about $170
not remind you of the typ-
ical Canadian student'S monetary situa-
tion, we all know the numbers.
Yeah, but were' still better than the
States you might cry. Sure we are, but
I'm sure we're better than any third
world country you can name too. Being
better than something inadequate is not
omething to be proud of. Simply being
adequate is not what we should stri ve
for. We should do the best we can, and
being one of the riche t countries in the
world, we can.
1 believe that the current government
has not learned from history, from previ -
ous example, from the endless indica-
tors present in modern society that all
point to the fact that education is essen-
tial for a healthy society. Highly edu-
cated societies are highly productive
ones. They are innovative, leading
humani'ty towards a better future.
Although the United States is the cur-
rent econ,omical super-power, their soci-
ety is far from healthy. Widespread
poverty and social unrest pervade. It is
my belief that a just and progressive
society, one striving to attain a high
quality of life for all its citizens, has to
ensure everyone has access to the same
level education, no matter what their
economic status. Financial aid to stu-
dents is just one such way the govern-
ment can ensure this takes place. All the
wars and revolution of the past two cen-
turies have centred on human freedoms
and equality. Should we not continue
with the struggle for a better society?
Putting money into education now
will result in fewer societal problems
tomorrow. Better education for all
means less crime, less poverty, and bet-
ter quality of life for more of us, not just
big business. I believe it is time for the
government to stop being near-sighted,
and look at the big picture. Stop the
deregulation of tuition.
At RIM, we beUeve that the edge is the Ollly p'ace to fie if ,ou're seriOQ about
being th.e bfJst. And we are. leading dte wireless industry with two-way pagers,
wi reless PC cards and radio ml\dems, our innovative ideas r8 changing the Wity
the world communicates. Yo can too. 0 if you', looking fOf C f r lhat
takes you to the edge and Vou to achieve your b t. COrl ide RI
We're looking for Innovators - peop'e wilh Ifte drive 10 develop th next 8f"ralion of
wireless technologies. Whether you',. co-op student. I recent grad or someone with
experience, if you'vi got the creativity end drive Co b. th best, joi. us on th edg .
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
HARDWARE
ANALOG ASIC DESIGN ENGINEER
HARDWARE DESIGN ENGINEER
RF ENGINEERS
SOfTWARE
OSP SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS
EMBEDDED OIS ENGINEERS
SOFTWARE OUAUTY SPCIAUSTS
WIRELESS PROOUCl OEVElOPEAS
MANUfACTURING
PROCESS ENGINEER
QUALITY ENGINEER
TEST ENGINEER
The fUM
ImeT@r:li"e
Page(
SALES AND MARKETING
ACCOUNT MANAGERS
8USINESS O(vrt OPM[NT MANAG( RS
OeVELOPER SUPPORT [NGINEHl
ENGINEfRING DEVElOPMENT MANAGERS
MARKfTlNG PRODUCT MANAGERS
MARKETING PAOGRAM MANAGERS
MICROSOFT EXCHANGE GURU
TECHNICAL SUPPORT MANAGER
WIRELESS EMAIL EVANGELISTS
RESEARCH
IN MOTIUN
Send os your cover letter and resome in confidence and
let us know that ready to loin us on the edge.
Pleiise mtewocu
295 Phillip Street, Waterloo
Ontario, Canada N2L
Tel 1.519.888.7465
We thank all applicants. but only those selected for an
interlljew will be cOfltacted.
fal(. 1.519.888.7884
-mail C8(8ers@rim.nel
V I :, I t !J t. I '<1; e I) :; I 1 I .. t 'IJ /1.'1 f 1 1:. 11 L !
The Iron Warrior FridCly. Match 26. 1999
-
-

ust a chr
Caroline Page
Women ill Engineering
Director
Balancing career with family
Life at home and in the workplace are much different
from when our parents were young, and even from when
we were growing up. A generation ago, most Canadians
were part of two-parent families, where the father was
employed outside the home while the mother worked in
the house. Nowadays, Canada is made up of many differ-
ent kind of families: nuclear, extended, blended, child-
less, lone parent and common law.
ln addition, more than half of all women are in the
paid labour forcc. This increase of women in the work
force has affected many families as parents struggle t9
balance their work and family obligations. Family-mind-
ed career women are forced to choose between career and
family. In many situations, the woman does not have a
choice, as the financial needs of the family make her deci-
sions for her. More kids spend more of their time in day-
care. But research shows that the stronger your family is,
the better family members are able to cope with work and
family conflicts. ]n two-parent families, the emotional ties
between the parents are important. Parents need to spend
time with their children, with their spouses, and at work.
They also need to make sure that everything else in their
lives gets accomplished. This can result in more stress
than lA.
How many times have you worked for someone who
is at the office for more than 9 hours a day without over-
time? How often have you seen your boss bring work
home with himlher? How many of your employers have
had weeks and weeks of banked holiday time that they are
"just too busy to take"? Do you ever wonder how they
spend enough time with their spouses and/or children?
Did you ever say to yourself "] don't ever want to live like
that"? So how do you avoid this?
There are many ways of reducing stress that will help
you balance home, family, and life with work. Most
important is Icarning to say no so that you don't overcom-
mit yourself. This is valuable at work and at home. If YOLi
don't have time for an extra project, don't take it. But if
you don't have time for a tenants meeting, don't commit to
it either. Priolitizc what is really important to you. After
all, different strokes for different folks.
Another tool for stress management is learning how to
delegate. This is another skill that will help you at work
Stuart Doherty
2A Systems Design
and at home. Just remember that there is no need for you
to do it all yourself, even if you think you can do it best.
On the homefront, set up designated limes to spend
doing things. Make sure thal you make time to meet with
your spouse, interact with your kids, and most important-
ly spend time with yourself. Learn to relax. You're done
school now. Let yourself enjoy the benefits of what you've
accomplished.
Employers that have introduced family-friendly poli-
cies and practices have found them to be positive for over-
all corporate performance. If family is important to you,
consider company polici.es on features such as maternity
and paternity leave, day-care, and family facilities such as
gyms and recreational facilities.
Part-time schedules, flexible work schedules, com-
pressed work week, onsite day care, tele-commuting and
job sharing can be considered the "givens" in the area of
policies that support the balance between work and fami-
ly. Developments in policies and practices include addi-
tional vacation, family and individual counselling, family
fitness memberships, family care reimbursement, well-
ness programs and the lap top and cell phone.
While companies are making positive steps to encour-
age women to have families and hold down positions of
authority, a lot still remains on a woman's shoulders. I
found this list, written by a woman who held numerous
top management positions in firms in Calgary. According
to her, these are the top ten things that you can do to man-
age yourself, your family, and your career.
1. Put yourself and your family first.
2. Think carefully about the choices you must make in
the coming years.
3. Know for certain the choices are yours to make.
4. Take initiative to act on those choices.
5. Trust yourself and your skills.
6. Learning and skill development never, ever ends.
7. Don't be afraid to take risks.
8. Realize that most mistake are usually not fatal and
can even build character.
9. Be honest with your family and your employer.
10. Most tmportantly, be honest with yourself.
Women and Wealth
This may be lightly off topic, but [ think it is pretty
relevant.
Balancing a career with home, family, and life in gen-
eral is very time-consuming. Even today, married women
tend to leave the financial decision-making to their hus-
C
ontrary to what the name of my column may suggest, I was not
researching my next submission the other day at the kitchen table,
Wi!. (Wil Aballe, for those who don't know him, is on the Iron
Warrior staff, and also happens to be my roommate and re ident wise-
guy). I put lots of time and energy into the research of content for my
articles. Okay, it's not exactly research, but I do wa te valuable
Differential Equations class time thinking these thing up.
In this issue, I'd like to shift to more of a serious ubject. I'd like
to talk about finance, and issues of that sort. About a year or two ago, I
got onto this little kick that was motivated by one of those lovey dovey
forwards that are propagated through the Internet. The forward had
something to do with things you should do in life to save a little boy with
Ltukaemia, win a free trip to Disney World from Bill Gates, and score the
person of your dreams; the more people you forward it to, the faster it all
happens. Anyway, one of the postulates for good living that it mentioned
was to pick up pennies from the ground, and give them to someone as a
token of wishing them good luck. I thought thi was a pretty neat idea in

bands. But, whether single or married, women in general
remain at a disadvantage when it comes to managing their
finances.
There are good reasons for a woman to be knowledge-
able in financial matters. On average, women live six
years longer than men. At the same time, they till earn
(on average) 70 cents for every dollar made by a man.
This means that they live longer on less money. If a
woman takes a year (or more) off to have a child, she may
not be able to contribute to her RRSP due to reduced
income.
It is relatively simple for a woman to ellsure a more
financially secure future. Women should be aware of their
financial situation as early as possible. Awareness ensures
two things: a knowledgeable woman will be less likely to
be taken advantage of, and, a knowledgeable woman will
be more prepared and will bounce back faster or be less
affected by a financial crisis or disaster (e.g. death of a
spouse, separation or divorce, personal injury, theft, or
stock market loss). Keeping a portion of your cash liquid
also helps in case of a crisis. Professional financial advi-
sors recommend that everyone should have a readily
accessible emergency fund equal to three months' salary.
Because they live longer, women should look at more
aggressive investments. Investments such as mutual funds
will help women make their money work harder.
Depending on her personal risk tolerance, a woman will
also benefit considerably by being knowledgeable in the
workings and the potential of the stock market.
Historically, more women have spent their later years in
poverty. This is especially common after divorce or the
death of a spouse. Just because we are engineers does not
mean that we will be immune to financial instability. If a
woman remains actively aware of her financial situation,
she is much more likely to succeed financially.
Another important concern for a married women is
that she maintain an investment plan separate from that of
her spouse. Not that spouses shouldn't co-ordinate their
finances, but women should have separate investment
plans, bank accounts, and RRSP's. These provisions pro-
tect against the potential for divorce or death of a spouse.
We are all coming close to entering the real world. We
should be aware of the difficulties that we may encounter
well in advance, realizing that life wa never meant to be
easy, and that we have chosen a potentially high-stress
path for ourselves. I hope that everyone succeeds, but
more than that, I hope that everyone is happy.
_ and of itself. Then I started to think of the logistics behind picking up a
_ penny from the ground, and the whole concept made even more sense
then simply bestowing good luck upon a person. I've explained my rea-
soning to many of my friends, and I think all of them think I'm crazy, but
I know that the Engineering student body is much smarter than the peo-
ple that I've spoken to so far. I figure it takes, at the very most, two sec-
onds to pick a penny up off the ground. Lets work out an hourly salary,
shall we. Thirty cents a minute works out to eighteen dollar an hour.
Wow, that's orne serious cash for the nature of the job you're doing.
That's more than most Co-op jobs pay. Granted you don't get very many
hours a week, in fact, you probably don't get very many hours a lifetime,
but the job has extremely flexible hours. You work when you want to
work. Come to think of it, you're your own boss. You answer to nobody
but yourself. If you want to call in sick, you can. It's great. Another awe-
some thing about this job i. that it doesn't have to interfere with anything
else in your life. You could be on your lunch break from a Co-op job, see
a penny, and cha-ching, you got scheduled for another shift at your other
job. The government can't even tax this job. On another angle, if you find
anything more than a penny, you are seriously rolling in it. I'm not going
to do the math, but multiply eighteen dollars an hour by as little as five,
and you get the picture. If you find a five dollar bill, which I did the other
day, you practically just won the money-picking-up lottery. I don't think
my logic makes me cheap, although my Scottish blood maybe does, I just
think it makes cents. Next time you see a penny, whether it's heads or
tails up, think about how lucky it may be, but also think about the kind of
money you could be making by picking that penny up. Don't think too
long though, your hourly wage goes down the longer you spend contem-
plating.
-

The Imn Warrior Friday. March 26, 1999
The

of
L
Jenny Mitchell
3A Ellviro-Chem
O
nce upon a time, in a far away land called
Loowater there existed a small. happy village of
Gineers. They lived.in peace and harmony in their
slowly expanding community. Within this community,
each Gineer had a specific trade or duty. The Ivils built
the structures, the Micals processed the food, and the
Roments cared for the water, air, and land. The Ologs
managed the mines, the Anicals designed and built
machinery, while the Tems cared for health and safety of
the Gineers. And finally, the Puters designed the software
systems for the Gineers and the Lectric designed the
hardware.
All was fine and dandy until a Puter came back from
an afternoon walk one day. The Puter had gone off into
the Enchanted forest, where many areas remain unchart-
ed. It was from here that the Puter unknowingly picked up
a virus and carried it back to the village. It was a strange
virus in that it only affected the Puters a11d the Lectrics. It
caused the Puters and Lectrics to rapidly mUltiply. In
other words, it everely affected their ex drives, which
made them reproduce like crazy! At first the Gineers did-
n't see a problem with this, however, before long, the
Puters and Lectrics began taking over the village. They
had such a large base of voters that anything they wanted
done would become reality for the rest of the Gineers.
They wanted to automate everything, eliminating the need
for many of the Micals and Anical . Feeling alienated and
rejected, many of them moved to other villages where
they would be appreciated and loved. The Ivils and Olog
soon followed, for the overpowering Puters and Lectric
r
oon cru hed their carefree pirit. Many of the original
Gineer and their familie left, and the town , oon became
known a the Colony of Erd and Eeks. The town rapidly
expanded, consuming all other in it path. All other
Gineers had no choice but to run for cover and hide in the
dark, unfamiliar land of the Enchanted fore t. The haunt-
ing stories of the PuterlLectric take-over are till passed
on from Gineer to Gineer (well , the few remaining now
with the limited resources). However, one day every year,
Gineer come out to wreak havoc on the Colony of Erd
and Eek , in remembrance of the once thriving communi-
ty. Thi day is now known, throughout the land of
Loowater, as the Day of IRS.
The question now i , will Waterloo uffer the same
fate as the Gineer of Loowater?
In this coming September, we will be . eeing an
increase in enrolment of Electrical and Computer engi-
neers, a result of the Access to Opportunities program
(ATOP) that the provincial government has introduced.
This program will increase E&CE enrolment by 36% by
the year 2003. There will also be an influx of money from
the province in the form of grants (based on the number of
incoming students), and from high-tech industries spon-
soring the school in this program. The University of
Waterloo has always been known as an innovative, high-
tech chool (especially with respect to Engineering), but
one question still remains: how will this influx of new
'High-Tech' students affect the traditionally 'low-tech' dis-
ciplines in engineering?
We currently have a program in engi neering that has
no graduates. The first official graduating class of
Environmental Engineering (bOth civil and che cal) will
be this year, 1999 (by the way, congratulations!).
However, the focus has already shifted from this program
and development, to the initiation of ATOP. The COil
cern for the Environmental program. as well as programs
such a Chemical, Civil. Geological and Mechanical is
whether or not they will be able to benefit from ATOP and
the inc rea. cd numb r of E& E students. On e ATOP is
up and running and all the facilities built , how will the
incoming sponsor money be distributed? At the
Engineering Tl.lil'ioll Deregulation forum, Dean Chaudhuri
(fonner Chair of E&CE) noted the concerns of student
and . aid that efforts will be made to ensure that the entire
Engineering community at Waterloo benefit from ATOP.
I am per on ally concerned since I am in 3A Enviro-Chem
and still have two long years until r graduate. Bllt how will
we benefit? How will we b (affected? The worst ca e
scenario would probably be the eventual eliminalion of all
discipline at Waterloo, except for Electrical and
Computer (a little far-fetched, I know). However, it
hould be noted that at the Univer ity of Guelph, their
Food Engineering program has been phased out from
admissions based on poor enrolment. If Waterloo
becomes primarily an Electrical and Computer university,
it is po ible that tudents interested in Chemical or Civil
Engineering will be turned away by Waterloo's high-tech
reputation and all the stereotypes that fo llow. It is also
possible that the E&CE department will overshadow the
reputations of the Mechanical and Systems Design pro-
grams. I do not want to see any of this happen. I am
proud to be part of an excellent faculty, and to be obtain-
ing a respected and valued degree. I urge all student in
all discipline to find out how you will be affected and
take any of your anxieties or opinions to the VP-Education
or to your department. Diversity is good, and it would be
horrible if Waterloo suffered from this change li ke the
Gineer of Loowater did.
What Has Co-op Done For You Lately?
Herbert Noriega
48 Mech
A
s any other student here in engineering, I had my
opportunities to curse the system through-
out my years. The many tnps to "Needless Hell"
and the tedious search for that job that many of us would
say never appeared made the experience even more exas-
perating. Nonetheless, term after term, somehow we
ended up with jobs that paid the bills. and in one way or
another gave us some experience to face the real world,
experience that extended from paper-Shuffling and filing
to actual engineering design, to technical as well as busi-
ness applications. We've held jobs that paid, some would
say, barely enough to cover our living expenses during the
work-terms and others that proved to be quite lucrative,
almost spoiling us; leaving us sitting around term after
term demanding for more. RegardJes of the job, some-
how, most of us ended up with a satisfactory outcome that
kept us busy and relatively entertained :for a series of four-
month periods.
I personally like to think that in tim.e I learned to take
advantage of the system. It all started with a job in
Montreal; my first time being expOsed to what some
would call a different culture within Canada, a great expe-
rience. This was followed by a job in Toronto, the clos-
est I ever got to working near Waterloo. Some people live
their entire university life within Waterloo and the whole
Metro Toronto area; that of course is by choice. I on the
other hand, saw the Co-op. ystem as having the capabili-
ty to take me places. Those who know me probably have
an idea where thi s article is going, those who don't, keep
on reading you might find this interesting. and I promise
I'll keep it fairly short. My following work term took me
to Fort McMurray in northern Alberta; boony-Iand and the
vast area of the largest oil sand deposits in the world.
This term was illuminated with numerous road trips to
Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and, of course, skiing in
Banff. Not to mention my first ever sighting of the beau-
tiful dancing Northern lights. As if thi wasn't far enough
away. I continued to pursue distinct jobs in strange
places. Before I knew it, I was on a First Air flight on my
way to Nanisivik in northern Baffin Island during the
summer of '97. Nanisivik, a mining town of approxi-
mately 300 habitants was located about 32km away from
Arctic Bay.
Outside of Nanisivik however, I found myself isolated
in the great Canadian Arctic thousands of kilometres away
from civilization. Here, I experienced absolute silence.
where you can actually listen to your heart thump and
nothing el e, making you realize your location in time and
space and the insigniticance of us all. Some say I was
crazy, but you know what? I loved it. I spent 14 weeks
there. during which time I lived under the righteous
Midnight sun, 24-hour daylight, and I got exposed to the
Inuit culture and their ways of life. That, without a ques-
tion, was a fantastic experience.
Later on, having developed a great affection for the
Rockies and the outdoors, I landed myself a job in
Calgary through job cOllllcctiolls I mode in Illy prl'violiS

Finally. as my last work term appro,lched I wa'; trying
to figure out what to do. Go back out west'! Maybe get
a taste of Toronto again'? Instead, I weill further away.
As I sai d, I never did stay too close to Waterloo. J inves-
tigated the possibilities and opportunities available
through the Exchange program and othcr international
organizations. Having acquired the "travel bug" Iman-
aged to obtain ajob offer with the University or I famburg-
Harburg in Hamburg, Gennany. Needless to say, we arc
talking Europe, further cultural exposure and more travel -
ling.
So what has Co-op done for you lately? ] got it to take
me places, encounter different cultures and ways of life,
and I got it to expose me to a great variety of people yield-
ing some phenomenal friendships and extremeJy valuable
business connections. I visited places and did things that
in any other situation I would not have experienced even
in my wildest of dreams. J like to think I took advantage
of the system, and now as I am crunching with projects
and prepare to write my final set of university exams I
look back and realize that Co-op actually did work for me.
So as r prepare to sign off. allow me to say that cursing tile
system is good, it encourages changes. However, next
-time yotl walk towards "Needless Hell" to check the
boards, or on your way to an interview, think about what
the system can do for you, and how you can get it to work
for you. Believe it or not, the Co-op system does wor
Tile Irun Wan (' f-' Iday March 26 1999 -

-
-

AMNESTY
A Journey For Equality
And Human Rights
Caroline Page
Women in Engineering
DirecfOr
Wednesday night. You and some friends go to the
Bomber and (possibly) consume a few beverages. Then a
few more. And a few more. EvenLually talk turnf., as it
often does, to politics. You stand Lip and starts complain-
ing loudly about the Harris government, tuition increases,
the juice selection in the C&D ... all or a sudden, you are
yanked away from your table and dragged orf to a prison.
You are beaten, raped, and tortured. You are left in prison
for weeks, given only minimal amounts of food and water.
And you haven't been given a fair trial.
I'd like to think that if anything like this ever happened
to me, there would be some recourse. I'd like to believe
that there would be someone who cared enough to help
me. And there would.
Amnesty International (AI) is a world-wide non-pruti-
san organization devoted to protecting human rights. AI
works to free aU prisoners of conscience (people who are
imprisoned because of their sex, race, culture, beliefs,
etc); ensure fair and prompt trials for political prisoners;
abolish the death penalty, torture, and other cruel treat-
ment of prisoners; end political executions and disappear-
ances; and end all human rights violations world-wide.
When we think of human rights violations, countries
like Nigeria, Cuba, Kosovo, and Sri Lanka come to mind.
In the 1998 copy or a book published by AI that docu-
ments all reported human rights violations, there are 3
pages of violations in Cuba alone. There arc also 3 pages
worth of violation in the United Kingdom, and 4 pages
worth of violations in the United States. Human rights
violations range from unreasonable imprisonment without
a fair trial to torture and execution. In some countries,
people are imprisoned for voicing opinions that are con-
trary to those of the government. In others, they are
The I rOil Vv'cm lor Fndcw. MC:l! ch 26. 1999
imprisoned simply becau e of their racial heritage.
Nothing is ever proven. Associations with "enemies of the
state" are assumed. Crimes like "disrespect" are punish-
able by death. We know about these things. We hear about
them in the news, and we feel horrible. And we swear to
do something about it. And then we breathe a sigh of relief
that we aren't there. And then we go back to class. And
then we forget.
So let's refresh our memories. Elsewhere in the world,
people sit in prisons for years before a trial. They get to
see their government appointed lawyer for the first time
011 the day of the trial. The lawyer is afraid of challenging
the arrest for fear of being arrested himself. Prisons are
characterized by anaemia, diabetes. parasites, and tuber-
culosis. Prison withhold soap, medical supplies,
rations, and light. Even after release from prison, people
are subjected to punitive measures, such as loss of jobs
and harassment.
Elsewhere in the world, the victims of political wars
are innocent and unrumed. Torture. is an epidemic, as are
arbitrary arrest, rape, genocide, disappearances, and extra-
judicial execution. People fear repercussions, not only
from the government but also from militant groups that
oppose the government. Censorship prevents the true sto-
ries of the people from even leaving the country.
Amnesty International has contacts in nearly every
country. Al makes a point of getting the information and
proving that it is vaJid. Because AI is non-partisan, they do
not criticize governments or favour opposition groups.
Instead, they pressure aJl human-ri ght violators to stop
committing crimes against humanity. The primary mech-
anism of this pre sure is letter writing. Letters get sent to
the people committing the crimes, asking for the release
of prisoners or an inquisition into an execution. Letters get
sent to the victims themselves, offering hope. Letters also
get sent to the Canadian government, pressuring action at
the federal level. Canadian trade interests in countries
where crimes take place often cau e the government to
ignore the problems. But the letter-writing campaigns are
worldng. Prisoners get released. Governments admit to
deaths, investigate, and make arrests. Perpetrators are
forced to take responsibility for their actions. They realize
that people outside of their country know what they are
doing. Granted, these are small steps in a battle that has so
many victims, but it will lead to more steps, and will pave
the road to impunity.
As humans who live in a relative state of peace and.
well being, we must realize that we are all going to be vic-
timized, sometime, somehow. Chances are, we will have
recour e for any victimization, but others are not so fortu-
nate. We have the power and perhaps the obligation to
ensure equality: lhat everybody is treated fairly and with
the rights that all of us deserve.
for the Bus
2-4-1 Pizza
for thefood
Dean of Engineering
for everything!
Sam
for Taking the Driver's Seat
CIJ
W
D..
o
o
CIJ
o
a:
o
:I:
Nick Gaganiaras
2A Mech
Aquarius (January 21.February 18):
Take out your aggre sion on a rock and not on
yourself. thaJ f1iave"'U) say to you. If you
don't unders ..' pi . rock and hitting
yourself on the until enlighten
ment occurs. to go to the ho pital.
Note: If you seriously considered the above eek
psychiatric help, or at least u e a oft rock.
Pisces (19 February.March 20):
Creativity flows through you this week. Harness
it and spread .. .... F wind until you
find a nice pas . :0 ittdlnderstand that you
may not see .rvc .. e ih..tr .. in following your
dreams, but that your future
rests on the ct&fsions yo';1'ifah today. Make the
most of it - and send a postcard.
Aries (March 21-ApriJ 20):
Your time has The.iorthcoming week will
bring much . must harness all
energies and as&' Don't forget
those that have hel , d ou during your travels.
Their continuing 10 : ty will guarantee a much-
deserved vacation fr ' ading those too foolish to
lead themselves.
Taurus (April 21-May 21):
This is the of revela .. on. Those around you
- "" and even your under a new light.
This new . d would allow you
to step a .. . o.rw. ard way that you react
and deal with .' aroan'(j' . Also, you will find
new insight into " 00 ' : character and discover
flaws and strengths that will be source of your vic-
tory.
Gemini (May 22-June 21):
Another person ha set foot into your life in
the recent pa t. Thil) person Will be end of your
quiet exi te :Iu ' , Thjs!Jierson bring mix.ed
feeling of a'fld II ' ve. You mn t embrace all
feeling and..Jt e to your benefit. The
trength that from within thi
week and nor your environment. You mu, t nur-
ture this trength and allo\ it to grow and eventual-
ly you will overcome all ob tacle in your path.
Leo (July 23-August 23):
You may have desire close but it i
time to let 0 an. v.;herever it takes you.
You must un s di like the out
come, but it .' A time of change
has begun an embrace any such
change for the better. Eventually there will be a time
when you can face this change, but for now, allow it
to sweep you away.
Virgo (August 24September 22):
The ideas that you will soon encounter will
broaden your hori into old habits of
not accepting ne ; i tradict your cur-
rent views. Thes hat lead to enlight-
"
enment. You will . e . person for showing a
broader understa beliefs that you hold
dear. Understand that with each new revelation.
three new questions will appear.
Libra (September 230ctober 23):
The winds of freedq,Ol. have finally come your
way. Rid like you er ridden before and
enjoy the new many a peets
and may come" expect. Embrace
tho e near and ear to you an bring the freedom
with you. Feeling of control will fly out the win-
dow and you shall feel a new innocence around you.
Scorpio (October 24-November 22):
Di tru, t will engulf you if you continue on the
present course e around you are there
to help you. n]6' . ' QU. The e are the people
that will play p 'fo I' .ih. of your
goals. They wi lj , e , ) p'ire a living hell if
you do not real if let go of respon-
ibility. You are not the only one that is equipped to
make deci. ion. Let tho e around you help you. You
may ju t realize that you have surrounded yourself
with loving. competent people.
Sagittarius (November 23-December 21):
Explorations and new di scoveries will test your
ability to concentr'ale futum. Do not
allow the distraction )0 Js.a<l:you astray. Stand
strong and yo The tempta-
tions will stil th u to ex.plore after your
obstacles hav n overcome. Take the time to do
proper work now so that you can enjoy the forth-
coming adventures to their fullest.
Capricorn (December 22-January 20):
Peace is what you need to overcome the upcom-
ing trials. TakeJ .. now and relax before
the crunch. before you
understand It may re ult in a
more stressfui ..l j nvyonrTl .. . fb9t th . e will
show you .' av paid off.
Understand 0 that Ymi cannot take on all th.e
responsibilities thrown on you. You must delegate to
get furt.her in life. Let those around you help you
out. After all, you've helped them when they were in
a bind.
The Universtiy of Waterloo Drama Department presents
odnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
'-'V'Ju"ight Desdemona (Good Morning
Juliet) is both a hilarious
Shakes'pearean parody and a thought-
provoking comedy of the sexes. At the
centre of the story is a spinsterly
Queen's University lecturer named
Constance LedbeUy. Connie has
become a laughingstock in her small
academic circle, not just for her hop-
less crush on teaching colleague
Claude Night, but also for her obses-
sion with an odballliterary theory -
that the tragadies of Othello and
Romeo and Juliet are hasty rewrites of
earlier (now lost) comedies. Suddenly
Constance has the opportunity to prove
her theory true, when a hallucinatory
tornado whisks her off to the worlds of
these two Shakespearean plays.
Tickets are available by calling the
Theatre Box Office
(519)888-4908
by Ann-Marie McaDonald
March 24-27, 1999
8pm
Humanities Theatre, Hagey Hall
The Iron Warrior' Fr IcJay. March 26. 1999
-
-
-

-
Purpose
Gliding through life,
an idyllic journey,
as a dead man, a shell , a burnt out husk
The greatest tragedy - beyong all tears,
death awaits me beyond the bend.
The fires of.JTlY spirit,
my torch against the cold of Reality,
my inspiration,
My life
It is weakening, wavering
The once raging inferno
of thought and expression,
my inner drive
is going
out
Thr: I rOil Wal 1101 Fllday. Mdl ell 26. 1999
- - ----------------------
IRST
EAR
Elliot Biro
Old WEEF Director
W
ell the term for WEEF is pretty much over, and a usual we
spent your money on more thing to make Waterloo a bet-
ter place to be. The fina l amount that we had to . pend this
year was $85000 (as I said earlier this term, the market wa n't as good
as we thought it would be this year). What this means in real terms
is that for every $75 that was donated thi term we spent $58.50. If
you have any que tions about either the funding allocation or our
financial position, please don't hesitate to contact me at weef@helix or
I can usually be found in the WEEF office.
See you all next term!
Shauna Hutton
New WEEF Director
H
ey there! I was informed sometime on Friday afternoon that
I had to write a little blurb for the IW. And it had to be writ-
ten by the end of the day ... .. you've got to love Elliot and his
wonderful communication skills. Anyways - just to quickly introduce
myself my name is Shauna Hutton. Starting in a couple of weeks I'll
be your new WEEF director. This past term I was serving as the assis-
tant director and since no one seemed to want to run against me, I was
acclaimed for the position of director. I've got to say I'm really look-
ing forward to the fall. I'll have the opportunity to hopefully make a
few changes to the way WEEF runs in order to make more of you
aware of what is happening and how you can get involved (and the
reasons you want to). It will also be the first term that we'll be putting
a new pilot project into action: EMC (Employer Matching
Contributions). I'll be bringing you more information concerning this
project in future editions of the IW. In the meantime, I think I'm done
my blurb. Talk to you later!
NTEGRATION
D
espite it possi-
bl) confusing
title, FYIC is
not a alculu. conven-
tion. Ratht!r the idea of il
is a chance for fin-I year
ONFERENCE
Mike Olley
stud nts from engineering facultie. across Ontnrit) 10 meet I.:ach other and Jearn
about other univer. ities and organilations outside of their own, as well as to hone
some leadership kills. The conference surpassed these goals, especially for the first
year. tudents from the ho. t school, McMaster. who organi7ed the conference them-
elves with the help of only one second year student.
The conference began on the evening of Friday, March 5th with all of the
delegate, arriving at the hotel and then participating in icc-breakers followed by a
mixer. Waterloo donned "golden" apparel for the occasion, complementing
McMa ter's red coveralls. An early start the ne't day was
. lightly delayed due to the now. torm, but one by one the speakers appeared.
First up, Elena Shusterman, outgoing president of the McMaster Engineering
Socicty, poke to the group of 50 about the purpose and the structure of engineering
ocieties. We then learned about thc dilemma of
" oftware engineering" fTom Professor Parnas, the software engineering pro-
gram co-ordinator at Mc Master. The morning was completed by a guest speaker
from Celie tica, who spoke about visions and goal setting, and involved us all in the
proce. s. After lunch, a series of workshops were given on the PEO (Prores ional
Engineer of Ontario). the CFES (Canadian Federation of Engineering Students, and
ESSCO (Engineering Student Societies Council of Ontario), which basically con-
si ted of an introduction to the organization. , ervices they provide for engineering
tudents, followed by a feedback session on some specific topics facing the organi-
zation. After these sessions we once again heard from Elena, however this time
about leadership skill and how to be a good leader. Last, but certainly not lea. t, we
heard from Duncan Forester about engineering culture, a difficult topic as you may
well imagine. He spoke of what is possible when you put your mind to it and how
to motivate others and find the thing that each person wants to do.
After a night at the local engineering establishment, the next morning yield-
ed a mini-Olympics, and a set of discus ion groups about what people had thought
of the conference, how to improve it, and whether it should continue. The an. wer to
that question was a unanimous yes. After the discussion, mini-Olympics and lunch,
we said goodbye to all our new friend and headed back to Waterloo, with fresh
ideas and perspectives. I would like to thank my B-Society delegates for so
. r b r ntil . t rl I i il nf 11-, a
Clegg, Meagan Gibbons, and our last minute replacement, Prem G u r u r ~ a n
Sub-Total Student Groups
TOTAL
The Iron Warrior Friday. March 26. 1999
-
-
III
.,.
}-
Report
Ryan Chen-Wing
President
eng_prez@engmail
Kelly Fawcett
VP Internal
eng_ vpint@engmail
Mike Hermann
VP External
eng_ vpext@engmail
Mike Olley
VP Finance
eng_ vpfin @engmail
George Roter
Comissioner
EducationNP Education
From the desk of the President
Twenty-one issues of the [ron Warrior ago wa the first
issue after I and the current executive were elected. In my
first report I spoke about looking ahead to the future as we
all were very much doing. We were thinking and planning
for the terms to come. A lot has happened since we were
elected, and arriving at this transition time I find myself
being a bit retrospective.
When I talk to the new executive, however, I once
again look to the future. Seeing Melissa, Sabrina, Jenny,
Luke and Ryan working together fills me with confidence
for what they will achieve and the continued strength of
our society.
Transition'
Last week Melissa and I had our first transition meet-
ing 10 help give her the benefit of my experiences. We also
mel with AI C'annistraro, A Soc President, to discus:.. joint
issues and continue the strong lies between the presidents.
in April I will be completing the first President's Report in
many years to report to succeeding presidents the events
of this term of office. ~ well, I am drafting a resource
manual. for the position of president which will be more
accurate and extensive than the current section of the
EngSoc Resource Manual.
In closing, 1 would like to pass thanks on to Kelly,
Mike 0 , Mike H, Chris, and George for the time, effort
and skill they applied to serving their fellow student. To
the directors, I thank you for the fun and interesting time
you provided everyone in the running of events and work-
ing for the society. For the rest of you, who have partici-
pated and contributed to the lives your peers if just by
laughing much and often and being a friend, thank you for
being a part of our great ociety.
Let me say to the grads of 1999 and to the younger
grads of later years, all of whom J may soon never see
again, it was very fine knowing you have an amazing life.
Knib High football rules, I'm outta here!
From the desk of the VP External
ESSCOAGM
Applications for this summer's ESSCO AGM are now
open, and are available on-line at engsoc.uwaterloo.ca.
Thi conference will be hosted here at the University of
Waterloo and takes place on June 4-6th. The incoming VP
- External Jenny Mitchell will be taking three other dele-
gates to represent Eng Soc 'B'. The ESSCO AGM is the
yearly meeting for the Engineering Student Societies
Council of Ontario. ESSCO is e entially the Eng Soc for
all of Ontario as a whole. At the AGM there will be
numerous workshops on topics such as PEO Student
Membership, ATOP, Frosh Week, External Relation and
more. ESSCO also has an executive consisting of a
President, VP Communications, VP Education, and VP
end of this AGM till AGM 2000. lnformation on ESSCO
can be found at www.esco.on.ca. If you have any ques-
tions about ESSCO, the executive positions, or the con-
ference, please don't hesitate to contact me at
nzhermann@engnzail.
Explorations
On Monday, March I Sth, Waterloo Engineering host-
ed the incredibly sliccessful Explorations '99. Almost
2000 children and parents came to see 36 exhibits and 7
presentations on what we do as Engineers. Over 80 vol-
unteers made this evening possible, and a huge "THANK
YOU!!" goes out to each and everyone. There was also a
very hard-working and dedicated team of organizers who
pulled it all together from day one till the very last minute.
Jacqueline ra and nareW Roszko deserve a lot of the
credit for the evening's uccess; they put in 0 much work
on behalf of the faculty and the Engineering Society.
Karen Dubois, Prof. Roydon Fraser, Prof. Carl Thompson,
and faculty representatives from every department also
contributed to the running of this event.
From the desk of the VP Internal
Well this will be my last Spew as VPIt It has been a
long 16 months that I have really enjoyed, and I want to
congratulate Sabrina Cannistraro again on her uccessful
campaign for VPI. I am still here for another two years
and I look forward to continuing working with Sabrina
and the rest of the exec.
Director's Reports
DIRECTORS! Get your reports in! I will be hunting
you all down, he he. So the term is over and I really want
to thank some of my directors that have really stood out in
my mind, I am only going to mention a few so please don't
be offended if you are not mentioned because you all
de erve a 'pat on the back'. I would like to give more but...
Many Thanks
Tammy - Blotter, and Publicity director and someone
who took initiatives on her own; JonBoy and Leon -
Athletics, great mud bowl; Tunazzina - Shadow days,
Fro h Mentoring and some one who was always around
with lots of spirit; Adrian Ennis - tbe E-mail master who
lightened my work load significantly thi term; Ajay
Badwhar - Engweek, Enginuity and thousands of little
events that make all the difference, thanks!; Dave Clegg-
secretary for our Council meetings who took minutes to a
whole new level of excellence; Carolyn, Mike, Aron -
Enginewsletter director who have a great sense of
humour; The environmental group, who is too large to
mention, dealt with lots of red tape to initiate one sided
recycling and whiteboards; Zhan and Aaron, P**5 direc-
tors whose class is not going to win; There are many more
but I must stop now.
future and I wish the new exec the greatest luck. Thanks
all, and I hope to see everyone back in the fall term, have
a great summer!
From the desk of the VP Finance
Expense Forms
Keep in mind that the last deadline for the forms is
Friday at 3:30, with cheques being ready for pick-up in
the Orifi ce on Tuesday.
From the desk of the VP
Education
Good luck to the first ever elected Vice Pre ident,
Education, Ryan Stammers. These are challenging time
ahead, and I trust that you will repre ent the Society well
through them all.
_ Finance. AU of these positions will be elected for the
_ coming year at the AGM, with the term running from the
Being an executive of our Engineering Society has
been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. The
experience and the life skills will be invaluable in my
-

The I ron Warrior FndCiy. March 26 1999
1rIHIJE
PRESIDENT
Melissa B'ond
H
ey there everyone. Thank you for electing me
as your Engineering Society President! I am
looking forward to a great sixteen months.
Our new executive has a lot of new ideas to make
school better for you. Also, please feel free to
approach anyone of us with any thoughts or sugge -
tions that you may have. I know I look pretty scary
right now (yes, I'm the purple creature you see walk-
ing through the halls), but I promise I don't bite.
I won't take up too much of your time right now,
because I know that you all have projects to hand in
and studying to do. Congratulations to the graduating
class of '99, and good luck. We'll miss you. Everyone
else, good luck on your exams, and have a great work
term! See you in September!
VPINTERNAL
Sabrina Cannistraro
PI
i, ['m Sabrina Cannistraro, and I'll be your
new VP o "the FaH-ef 99 and the Summer of
2000. I'm really excited about these next two
terms, and I think they are goi ng to be a lot of fun.
I'm looking forward to meeting and working with as
many of you as possible.
As many of you may know, directorship applica-
tions are out, and we've filled lots of spots, but there
are still some available. If you're interested, please
try to get your application in quickly so we can let
everyone know the results as soon as possible. Jf you
have already applied, we will be sending out an email
soon to let you know which directorships you got.
Next term is going to be awesome. We are think-
ing of revamping the main hallway in CPR and mak-
ing it our information hallway, getting all the posters,
and information more organized so that everyone
knows where to look for what they need. We are also
looking forward to CircusEng next term, our big char-
ity event for the fall. This event was started in the Fall
'98 term, and we're hoping to make it a huge success
again this fall. Another event we will be continuing is
the Off Road Classic. We have a variety of people in
Engineering, and we are going to try to accommodate
everyone's interests. So, I hope everyone has an
amazing workterm, wherever you may be. I wish all
the grads luck in the future, and I look forward to see-
ing everyone in the fall.
VPFINANCE
Unappointed
T
he position of Vice President, Finance,
Engineering Society B, is currently unfilled. For
all those interested in taking on the position, there
will likely be a by-election at the start of the Fall '99
term.
VP EDUCATION
Ryan Stammers
A
long with my fellow exec., I am so glad to be
at the beginning of a new adventure; there is
no doubt that these are interesting times
when it comes to education. In a few weeks I will be
heading to Toronto for the summer. I want to wish a
successful summer term to everyone embarking on a
Co-op work term, and to those with other plans.
During the summer, I'll be poking in and oul of
Waterloo a few times with a view to prepare and plan
for the fall. When fall does roll around many of the
changes you may have heard about will be taking
root. Come September, you will have likely voted in
a provincial election. In the fall, developments in
projects such as the replacement of the Access com-
puter system as well as the introduction of a Frosh
Mentoring program by EngSoc will represent excit-
ing improvements. Finally, fall will bring with it a
greater financial responsibility for Engineering stu-
dents as tuition rises by about twenty percent. If you
are interested in getting involved in educational
issues, I encourage you to do so. There are still direc-
torships available for Fall '99, a few educationally
related. Notably, representatives are needed to
sit on the Co-op lmprovement Commission, the
new student body that will advise Co-op. Please feel
free to talk to me about directorships, as well as
about any other education concerns, initiatives, or
ideas. Or give me a shout at
jrstamme@engmail.uwaterloo.ca. Thanks and have
a splendid ummer.
VPEXTERNAL
Jenny Mitchell
W
ell, it looks a I j I will be your VP-
External for Fall '99 and J am defi-
nitely looking forward to it! A
VP-X, I will generally be responsible for inter-
faculty, inter-university, and community rela-
tions. I am also responsible for a number of
directorships that are designated as ex.ternal
activities.
While 1 am on the EngSoc Executive, my
focu will be reuniting engineer with the rest
of the university. There are a lot of really cool
events and activities that are put on by various
organizations and clubs at this university, and it
would be nice to see engineers have a voice and
get involved (and get away from this corner of
campus). I want to make ure that engineers
know what is going on not only in other school
and the community, but also in our own univer-
sity. The Faculty of Engineering is the second
largest on campus and we need to be more
in rmed and betler
You may have noticed while wondering the
halls that directorship application for positions
in the fall term were due on March 22. [f you
forgo! to apply, theft' til' a llul1Ihn of IWW lind
cxciti ng dirL'ctOlship:- thut :-lill IICt't! ll1o!ivated
and ctlcrgellc people! II you :I lL' illl 'rl'slt.'d III
any of tilese din:ctorships, but urI.' 1I0t sun.' whilt
Ihey involve, fccl frce 10 COlltat'l me OJ' lilly
mhcr Excc mcmher for infO! IMliot! .
are attempting to diwrsify EngSul' and provide
services and activities til those who arcn't U:-lI
ally involved, bUI wc need some help from Hil
of you volunleers!
In Ihl.! Fall , bcon the lookout rorConferencc
announcemenls and application deadlines. )
would really like 10 sec somc Il(!W faces I ravel-
ling with the B Society delegates. so if you arc
interested in doing a lillie weekend travelling
and would like (0 meel engineering students
from across the province and (;ountry, be ')ure to
apply!
That's all from me folks! Good luck on all
your finals and enjoy your summer, and be pre-
pared for a fun and exciting fall term when you
return to campus!
The Iron Warrior Friday, March 26, 1999
-
-

ENGINEERING SENATE
CANDIDATES
Introductions
Nominations for Engineering Senator closed at
3:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 16, 1999 and, con e-
quently, there will be an election. The candidates
and their statement :
Milton Chan (Computer Engineering)
The Senate looks after your academic rights and
has a major influence on your educational career. A
Student Senator must recognize the importance of
the academic issues and be accountable to the stu-
dent population. Through my current role on Senate
Undergraduate and Students' Councils, I speak to the
students, and take issues seriously. My commitment
to accountability/accessibility is shown through my
"Accountability Website" http://www.eng.uwater-
loo.calothers/m6chan. As a Senator I will ensure
that your concern are heard at the administration
level. Please contact me with questions. I will lis-
ten to your ideas and take an aggressive stand in the
Senate, on your behalf.
Simon Dimuantes (Systems Design Engineering)
As an outspoken and vocal Engineering Society
class representative for the past three terms, I have
always felt that my biggest strength as a representa-
tive was my ability to speak so vocally on behalf of
those who'd chosen me to represent them. I am
always heard, and my presence is always known. If
I am chosen to be the Engineering student on the
Senate, engineers will be able to take heart in the
fact that their representative is no shrinking violet,
and will always make sure the Senate is fully
apprised of what matters to the students.
Sanjay Kulkarni (Systems Design Engineering)
Hey everyone. My name i Sanjay Kulkarni, and
I'm joining the race for Senate.
Strong student representation on Senate is essen-
tial. As government funding to our University con-
tInues to decrease, it becomes increasingly
important for UW administration to hear an effec-
tive, rational student voice. I have the experience
and ability to bring that voice to Senate. My involve-
ment with FEDS Students' Council and EngSoc
have given me the opportunity to represent you on
issues like deregulation and student aid, and I'd like
to continue by representing you on Senate.
Ballots will be mailed to off-campus co-op stu-
dents on Monday, March 22, 1999 (to be returned by
3:00 p.m., Friday, April 9); on-campus voting will
take place on Tuesday, March 30 from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. in the foyer of Carl Pollock Hall.
A group of tudents from the
Univer ity of Waterloo ha initiated a
project called "Cycling for
Opportunity". Thi project invol e
even young men and women who
will be cycling from Vancouver to
Waterloo to raise awarene sand
money for third world education
funds. The tudents, who are all
graduating this year, view the tour as
a way of contributing towards
enabling access to higher education
among students who would normally
be deprived of such opportunities.
The project goal is to raise $4
500: one dollar per kilometer cycled.
All proceeds wiiJ go towards "the
Fair Opportunities Group" and
"Escuela de E panol Pop Wuj," two
institutions with education bursary
funds that disburse scholarships to
underprivileged students in poverty-
stricken neighbourhoods of
Nicaragua and Guatemala.
Pledges are welcome. Please
con t a c
cyclingJor _opportunity@yahoo.co
m for more information about this
project and its future fundraising
activities.
\ '
o
p
p
o
R
T
u
N
I
T
y