iron warrior: volume 12, issue 12

8/14/2019 Iron Warrior: Volume 12, Issue 12

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RONW RRFriday Oct 25, 99 THE ENGINEERING SOCIETY S STUDENT FORUM Friday Oct 25, 99

Oktoberfest

Chris DeBruskIW Staff

Oktoberfest was once againembraced by the U of W engineers lastFriday. About 500 of us, suitablywarmed up at one of the many partiesbefore the event, piled onto shuttlebuses for the ride to Ruby s at theWaterloo Inn.

t took a while for the party to getstarted, as many people were late incoming, but once the band, outfittedin traditional garb, began the polkas,the dance floor was rarely empty.Under the watchful of eye of theSecurity guards and the few policewho showed up, the entire group gotvery social and partied hard right upto am.Mention must go to Sean andSherri, who organized the night, andto Woody Chemmunists) andStephan (a systems grad) whoproceeded to clean up at the charityblackjack tables.


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Career or ContractUpon graduation from aninstitution of higher learning such asWaterloo, engineers in the computingfield have some very .difficult choicesto make. These choices affect thedirection their careers (and therefore

their lives) will take. Here are acouple of things to think about whenyou are making your decision:TECHNICAL vs. MANAGEMENT

Iron Warrior

from 2 months to one year long and

Friday October 25, 1991

EditorsChris DeBruskKevin Johnson

the contractors do not receive 1 ~ , : ? l \ ( l I y . . ~ i t ~ ~ j n ~ ~company benefits (usually).The main necessity ~ r - ~ ( I ~ ~ ; l i I ~ ~ ~ ~ I ~ ~ ~ l ~ i N t ; ~successful contractor is planning. You I,need to continuously plan your

I think one of the most difficultchoices a new graduate must make iswhether to start a career in a technicalarea or to land a management jobright away. In the computingindustry neither one of thesedecisions could be considered wrong.There are, however, some pitfalls youshould be wary of when decidingbetween the two.

simple enough... you have thetechnical background and jobexperience to be able to handle thejob. This might be true now .. but itwill not always be the case. One ofthe most difficult jobs top managershave is being able to keep up with thenew technology. Sure, you'l l know ofthe technical concepts but your'hands-on' skills will begin todiminish. Not only will you lag innew technology but you could run therisk of losing your existing technicalabilities as well. f you are headingtowards a career in management besure to either accept this fact or setyourself some 'educational goals' tokeep up with technology.CAREERS vs CONTRACTING

career, both in time and technology. f i 1 i ~ ~ ~ ; i ; ~ i i i i ' ' ' ; : ; ~ ; I ~ ; ~ I ; ~ t i ~ ~ l m ~ i l ~ i ~ . ~ , . ~When this contract is finished where Itwill you go, what will you do, how r ~ l i 1 1 1 ~ l i l ; I I ~ l iill you make your Ferrari payments?

If you jump into a technical jobyou can definitely make good use ofthe knowledge you have strived toobtain here at Waterloo. You will beable to keep up on the latesttechnology .. play with the latest toys.You have the capability to become a'guru' in your chosen field. Thedanger here lies in two areas; you runthe risk of jumping into a field thatcould become obsolete 20 years downthe road (if you're not careful), andyou could make yourself 'too useful'to the company (i.e. no promotioninto management .. they need youwhere you are).

A decision just as important as theone above is whether you willactually look for a full time 'career' orseek a career as an independentcontractor. To qualify as a contractor(in the eyes of the larger companies),you will most likely need to haveseveral years experience developing aspecialized skill that is in highdemand. For a lot of us, this couldalready be achieved through ou r workterms by the time we graduate.

Two years from know will you stillhave skills that are in demand in theworkforce? } W ~ ; N ? r } . The main thing to rememberwhen choosing a career path is to do

what makes you happy, especiallywhen you are young. As a newgraduate you have opportunities thatyou will never have again. You canexperiment with new things withouthaving to worry about your mortgagepayments or clothing for the baby. Sostart making inquiries now .. When n tt@WfVthe time to graduate comes you needto be ready to make a stance.

The alternative to an immediatetechnical job is management. Seems

Contracting is a very lucrativeoption. Contractors are usually paid avery high premium for their work (inthe range of 20 to 60 an hour). Thishigh rate of pay mainly comes fromthe fact that most contracts are fairlyshort-termed, typically anywhere ~

pinionA week or so ago thegovernment came out withanother one of their studies.This one deals with theeffectiveness of ouruniversities. An area thatwas identified forimprovement was thequality of teaching by ourprofessors.As each of us know, thelevel of teaching that ispresent in Engineering atthe University of Waterloois sometimes less thangreat. In fact, often thequality of the 20 to 30 hoursof lectures that we sit

aforum for provoki.ngand . nformative articles) t ~ d by the acadel'lt(ecommuroty ?t the University ofWaterloo, Views expressed iii ,Tbe Irqn Warrior. otber thanthe editorials, are th.oSe of the'auth9T Bt ld do 1l )t n ~ $ s a r i l y

.... ~ : : : - :

through (or don't sitthrough) each week is fairlylow. The question is - howcan this time, considered tobe one of the primary waysof learning, be fully used?To be perfectly fair,

many of the professors atthis school are excellentteachers. I've had four or soin the two years ofacademic study that I havespent here. Additionalpraise must be placed onthese people because thisability to connect with theirclasses comes througheffort and hard work - sincethey are never taught howto teach as such.Yet, many of thesepeople, all very intelligentand dedicated to theirchosen profession, fail

miserably when it becomesnecessary to impart someof their knowledge to aclass of bright, but lesseducated people.This failure comes inmany forms. There areprofessors who simply have

no desire to be teachinglectures and their disgust atbeing asked to performsuch a task is very clear tothose they teach. There arealso those people who wantto help the class but havenever been taught how toteach. There are also thoseprofessors who's english issub-standard and whoseclasses spend most of thelecture time trying to makeout what they are saying.I'm sure I could listseveral more common

problems with the lecturesgiven here on campus, butmy point is made.The teaching in theFaculty of Engineering isnot up to standard and it is I ; . . ,.,,,? , , ..necessary for the school totake steps to raise it.A professor at auniversity is there for tworeason: to perform researchand to teach. These twoobjectives are equallyimportant to the quality ofthe school and should bedealt with equally. Perhapsi t is time a few of ourprofessors were asked to go t t ; ; ; ; ? ] . : l i ; e : [ 1 9 . K P ' ~back to school so theycould learn how to teach toa level expected at this one.

' . ;

~ t + T h ~ Iton Wartibi J ~ . . .Layout was performed onencOurages submission s fromstudents, faculty and other.,.members of the university'community. SubmissionsshOuld reflect the concerns alldintellectual stclndards of th.euniversity in general. andshOUld be t y p e w l ' i ~ t e n on a;: :/All submissions, I,dverti ins shouldforwarded t t ;

. QuarkXPress using a Macintosh ncoLaser Printing by Graphics Services

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Friday October 25, 1991 Iron Warriorrez SpewsSean MurphyB-Soc President

Hello again from the new andimproved Orifice Come and checkout the new and social EngineeringSociety Office . All services areavailable for you, the student. t is mymandate to make all of the servicesthat EngSoc offers more available toyou.

And for the newsThe Engineering Student CentreFeasibility meetings are continuing.We have held two meetings with littleturnout. t is imperative that all classreps attend as it is a building for you.

f you like the idea or you hate it, letthe committee know so they havesomething to report to council onNovember 13, 1991.People are needed for the Facultyof Engineering Teaching Committee.Again, this concerns you - thestudents. This committee will examinecourse critiques and what can be doneto change or improve them. KristinePoirier, the course critiques directorwill be part of this committee and willbe looking for all the help she can get.BE SOCIALPublic Service Announcement :

The MathSoc office was

Serge GravelleVP External

apparently toilet papered over theholiday weekend. They are lookingfor the people responsible . (NiceSocial Stunt )The Feds are asking us to includeany events that engineering isrunning on the Fed Page of theImprint. Submissions are due at theFed Office Monday Nights. ContactDoug, the Board of Communicationschair.Student Life Building FocusGroups are continuing. They arelooking for your input on whether ornot this building should happen.Charities will be holding a blooddonor clinic on October 13, 1991. Theyare looking for volunteers for the day.p s points will be given, Signup withCheryl in the Orifice,Buy your semi-formal tickets fromCheryl in the Orifice. Come and seethe Rhinos on November 8, 1991 atthe Walper Terrace Hotel. The cost is$26.00. Sign up a table with peoplefrom your class.

Look for the TOOL and be proud.f you have any social ideas, cometalk to me in the Orifice, f you can'tfind me, my schedule is posted telling

when I'm available.Have you seen the Maclean's

article regarding the report onuniversities? In this report they havegraded all of the universities across

I think not. This article is sure toinfluence graduating high schoolstudents, who at this time of the year,are trying to fill out their university

f you read the October 21st issue application forms. Is Waterloo goingof Maclean's magazine, you'll be to lose it's reputation?

Canada on the basis of their Scienceand Arts faculties, Everybody knowsthat Engineering is the best, so whyare they wasting their time? f youhave any comments I will be sendinga letter to the editor.

Congrats to Hammer and Screwfor a great Scunt. As well, best wishesto D.A.W.G,S for the next one. A mechdynasty is born.A SOCIAL idea ..have you seenthe Pepsi commercial "You got theright one baby .... ? Well Pepsi isaccepting auditions via video tape forthe next commercial. Slovak and have

on its co-op system. Is there more?What do you think?VPUPDATES:CONFERENCES:disappointed to see that Waterloo Reading further into the report,came out 22nd of 46 in a ranking of November 8,9,]0Canadian universities. 1. . . . . .RESSA Regionalfound this a bit surprising, (Quebec Ontario)having always been told that Conference hosted byWaterloo had one of the best University of Ottawa.engineering programs in the WE STILL NEED

country. This urged me to DELEGATES. Fees areread this special report in funded by the dean. Amore detail. guaranteed good timeThe report was So fill an applicationinteresting. The top four form in the orificewere McGill, Queen's and todayMount Allison, followed by Uof T. The last three were January 6-12, ]992Carleton, Quebec (Montreal CCES Nationalcampus), and Cape Breton. Conference inAnd how about our Montreal. Apply toneighbour university? represe nt Waterloo.Wilfrid Laurier ranked 37 out This is more than aof 46. t turns out that t h e ~ - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ' g o o d t i m echart ranking is based only on the artsand sciences undergraduate programsof the 46 selected universities. Thisclearly explains our ranking at 22,since Waterloo's two largest facultiesare engineering and math, Not fairyou might say? That's exactly howour dean is thinking, and he will bewriting to the editor to stress thispoint.You might think he is overacting,

one will find a spotlight on Waterloo.A whole article praises our famous coop education system. Some studentsmight not agree that co-op is the bestthing since sliced bread. But mostwill agree that the idea of doing workterms for money and experienceinfluenced our decision to study here.I guess we can conclude thatWaterloo's reputation is based mostly

ENGINEERING PROMOTIONCOMMITTEE:The last meeting went very well.Next meeting, Wednesday November2nd, 3:30 in the Orifice. Everybody iswelcome (and we'll have donutstoo .. )

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I cooked up an idea to get 300 to 400engineers with some hardhats and theEngineering BNAD in ELlOl for agreat big SING-A-LONG. f you haveany ideas or i f you want to help,contact Rob Gorbel and Joel Singer(EngSoc Spirit Types). They areorganizing the whole thing (GODluv'em)

Remember this is a social term.Therefore, have some fun, and have agood time.Party Hard and work sometimes.

FREE DROPIN LEGAL

LINISponsor d By:Zinster, Cooke, PinchenBarristers & SolicitorsIn association with:Waterloo Co-OperativeResidence Inc.

Thursday November 14From 3pm to 6pm

One or more lawyers will bein attendance at:

WCRI Main OfficeOayfield BuildingBlock 2268 Phillip St.

w h ~ r e they will be able toprovide free legalconsultation to any memebrof the university and co-op,on any matter requiringprofessional legal advice.


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Dear IW,One dark and stormy Fridayafternoon (It was dark and stormy) acouple of friends and I decided to goto the Bombshelter (A campus pub)in order to have a frew drinks after agruelling week in engineering. Uponentering we noticed a sign that readQuarts of beer $3.75 . A bit of quick

math led us to believe that this wouldbe a great deal, so we proceded toorder 3 quarts of SO . Now accordingto the 61st edition of the CRCHandbook of Chemistry and Physics,a British quart is 1.136590 liters, and aU.S. quart (liquid) is 0.9463264 liters.According to the label on the bottles,we received only 675 ml of beer. Isthis false advertising?? f not, I wouldlike to suggest advertising gallons ofbeer in POETS for only $2.35 andwhen someone orders one, give thema regular 341 ml bottle. I als o feel thatthe Bombshelter should refund allpatrons the difference between thadvertised and the actual amounts ofbeer served (about a normal beer foreach quart)Jerry Schuryk2BChem

Iron WarriorDearIW,

This may be old news by the timeit appears in print, but I have somethoughts to speak about the Scunt.First of all I d like to thank HammerScrew for organizing such a greatnight. Many of the events wereimaginative and challenging. All ofthem were fun for the participants, ifnot for the car dealers and librarystaff. The event that prompted thisletter is the Mystery Tour, which hascaused some inaccurate debate andunfair accusations.

For those who don t know whatthe event involved, it began with a listof verses that contained cryptic clues.These clues led to a trail in the woodsa few kilometers south ofCollingwood. Along that trail w rhidden various items that symbolizedadvances in human technology fromprehistoric times until the present.The teams were to follow the trail,write down what items they found,and give the list to the judge.

Our team (WHAT) was the onlyone to arrive on time, and we beganthe tour. We really enjoyed the event,the items were .a challenge to find andthe clues were fun to solve. H owever,the weather was not very favourable.The trail was on some rough terrain.While you could get hurt i f youweren t watching where you weregoing, the trail itself wasn t thatdifficult to follow in most places.

We completed the tour andreturned to the judge just as severalother teams were arriving. We toldthe judge that the wet weather hadmade the trail slippery, and that itcould be dangerous for someone whowas inattentive or irresponsible. That,combined with the fact that the otherteams were three hours late,

prompted the judge to cancel the tour.The event was over and we were allon our way back to the car when oneof our classmates fell and was injuredon some rocks.

I would like to stress that theevent had been cancelled at the timeof the accident. Without the badweather, the trail would have been asimple hike through the woods. Tomy knowledge, it is a regularly hikedtrail. When wet weather made thetrail more difficult, the judge incharge acted prudently and cancelledthe event. The accident could, if oneinsists on blaming something, beblamed on us not watching where wewere going.I heard people discussing theaccident in the days following theScunt, and to my disgust there alwaysseemed to be people who felt theyhad to decide why the accidentoccurred. Some said the event wasdangerous. f there had been a caraccident, would those same peoplehave said that driving is dangerous,and that there should be no road tripson the scunt? An accident does notby any means make an eventdangerous. Accidents are onlyinevitable in perfect hindsight.

My opinion is of course just that,an opinion just like all those that I mcriticizing. However, my position, tenfeet from the accident, and the factthat only three of us actuallyparticipated in the event, are why Iwrote this letter. I would prefer thatpeople hear an eyewitness accountrather than distorted rumours.

I would like to end this bythanking Hammer Screw fororganizing the Mystery Tour. It sunfortunate that bad weatherprevented it from running properly, alot of people could have had a lot ofTrez pews

Amy AlfredB-Soc TreasurerHAVING FUN? Are we allowed to

have fun while at school? What doesfun mean in our crowded, assignmentfilled days? Our society continues toput more and more constraints onwhich activities are O.K. and whichactivities are bad for us and for theworld in general.

Fun provides a release of somepent up energy, a chance for ourbrains to take a break and our bodiesto burn off some excess energy. Ihave fun talking with people anddoing team activities like flag footballor Eng Soc. I spend time every daymaking sure I'll have fun even i f all Ican do is take a fifteen minute studybreak to count the weekly deposit.

Can time management skillsenhance our time for fun or do weforego sponteneity and excitement inour lives if we pack every day withplanned activities? How can weensure we have enough fun withoutharming the quality time we spend onother pursuits? Are midterms thefaculties way of telling us to have alittle less FUN?

November will be a month full ofFUN throughout UW and Eng Soc.

The SEMI, a road trip to Toronto sBrunswick House, Joint Exec (Eng SocA comes to find out what Eng Soc Bhas been up to), Fed events,Homecoming, Eng Weekend, TheBomber, EOT pub, sports and moresports, TAL-ENG, and so forth.

On the financial front, as we passthe half-way point of the term EngSoc is progressing smoothly. As ofSept. 30, one-third of the budget hadbeen spent and one-third of thebudget had been earned.

NOTICE TO ALL STREAM-8FROSH AND GRADS: Eng Soc A isstill looking for individuals interestedin filling the following directorshippositions;

GarageS.A.c. RepFed RepCourse CritiquesIW Staff Writers

f you would like to get involved inEng Soc during the Winter termplease come and see me. Cheryl willhave applications in the Eng Socoffice.

Friday October 25, 1991DearIW,

Just a little pet peeve of mine.Have you ever tried to get ito theengineering buildings after about10:OOpm?

Lately every time I find myself atschool till all hours of the night, I amforced to walk out of my way inorder to find a door that is open.

The maintenance staff feel it isnecessary to lock every door in everybuilding except a single one in CPH -strange.

f I really wanted to get into thebuildings I could, so why lock all theother doors?

I waste enough time at thisschool, I don t need to walk 10minutes out of my way just to get toa lab so I can get to work.

The laboratories here are 24 houraccess-let's make sure they really are.

Chris DeBrusk2B Systems

fun if it had. I hope the organizersdidn t take too much verbal abusefrom uninformed idiots shooting theirmouths off, but of course idiots doexist, and some B.S. is alwaysinevitable. Above all, I hope that thisaccident doesn t have a negativeimpact on future Scunts.

Martin Zagorsek2B Systems Design


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Friday October 25, 1991 Iron Warrior Page 5A Frosh Guide oKitchener/WaterlooScott ChandlerIW Staff

So, you're a frosh fromsomewhere less than two hours away.Every time you call home yourparents are begging you to comehome, tempting you with offers ofnon-village cooked food and freelaundry. Sounds enticing doesn't it?Well just as long as you realize thatyou are missing out on some of thebest parts of being an Engineer at theUniversity of Waterloo. You see,Waterloo isn't the backwater hicktown that all your friends who wentto Queen's or Western made it out tobe. Really

f you have no idea what there isto do in K/W then the first thing Isuggest you do is go pick up, andread, a copy of the K/W Record(actually the first thing I suggest is tofinish reading this article). It's a greatguide to what's going on around townthat may be of interest (as well as filmlistings). One hint, when people aretelling you where things are, Uptownmeans Waterloo and Downtownrefers to Kitchener. Another handything to pick up is a K/W transit map,available at the downtown terminalfor one dollar. It's a complete map ofK/W as well as showing all the busroutes.First off let's talk about film. Byfar the best place for cinema buffs isthe Princess Theatre on Princess St. inWaterloo. You can even walk to itfrom campus in 20 minutes. Since it'sa repertoire format, I advise you pickup Princess Guide. They are availableat the theatre itself, or at the Turnkeydesk in the Campus Centre. f all elsefails there is usually one posted on theArts board outside the Orifice in CPH.

The Frederick Mall Cinemas is an other great place to catch first-runmovies at a discounted price ($4.00every day, except Tuesdays when it's$2.00).Film is not active enough for you?Well, how about some of the activityparks that are around. Of coursethere's Bingeman's and Pioneer SportsWorld. Although it's a bit cold for thewaterparks there is more than enoughto do there to fill a weekendafternoon. i all you're looking for isgo-carting, try Erbsville Cartway.There's even a good coupon in thatother campus newspaper on a regularbasis. One thing you can do with agroup of friends, or by yourself, isFlag-Raiders, a paintgun adventurefield. It's just outside of Waterloo bythe Breslau airport. But remember tocall ahead to ensure the field isn'tbooked.

There are two cafe's, one Uptown,the other Downtown, that make greatplaces to get a late night coffee anddessert. Uptown is Pogo's, which alsoserves some Middle-Eastern cuisine(amazing baklava). It's just off KingSt. on Regina at Erb. The Downtowncafe is Cafe Mozart, and it is just oneblock west of King St. on Queen St.There is also a Cafe Mozart Uptown,right on King St., but unfortunately itdoses at 6:00 PM the one on ueen indowntown itchener is open untilmidnight - ed. . For other late nighteateries, there's Casey's on Weberaround Erb that serves full meals until1:00AM.f you live off-campus, or even ifyou're sick of village food, you maywant to spend a morning at theWaterloo Farmer's market. t opensup at 5:00 AM on Saturday morningand runs until1:00 PM. Its meat andbaked goods can't be heat and it has

New From Engineering Computing ..Engineering Computing

A general access facultycomputing facility (GAFF) is beingestablished by EngineeringComputing in CPH 2367. This facilityis intended for general use byengineering students, faculty and staffand will house equipmentrepresenting the three maincomputing platforms used inengineering. Last year, the oldcomputers were replaced by modernDEC RISC servers which require verylittle space compared to the previousequipment. As a result the oldcomputer room has been renovatedand combined with the previousMaxAnnex and the engineeringoutput room to provide space for thenew GAFF.

The room will have 10 Mac Pluscomputers, 10 Watstar stations and 10Unix graphics workstations. The 10Mac Plus computers are those

previously housed in MacAnnex. The10 Unix workstations are 10 of theVax 2000 color graphics workstationsthat were previously in the BeaconLab and recently replaced by 15 newDEC RISC color graphicsworkstations. These stations can beused by anyone who has accounts onthe engineering server computers,"sail" and steam . The 10 Watstarstations will be be new 386 machineswith VGA graphics, similar to thosepurchased in the recent Watstarupgrade program.

The GAFF will be open from 8:30AM to 10:00 PM each working day,however a key can be signed out forlate evening and weekend access. Theoutput room will continue its presentoperation times. t is expected that theroom will be available in about twoweeks with the Macintosh computersand the graphics workstationsinstalled. The Watstar stations shouldbe installed by the end of this term.

excellent frui t and vegetables as well.The prices beat any supermarket's,hands down. The largest problem isgetting there. Unfortunately, the Fedscancelled the Safety Van service overthe summer, due to a perceived lackof use (but that's another story). fyou're going, the best way to getthere, is north on Weber, make a leftwhere it dead ends, and then a rightat the traffic lights (sorry, I don'tremember street names that well).Continue along for a little bit and youcan't miss it.You are under 19? You've been toFed Hall every night last week? Welldon't despair because The Twist isopen to all ages, every Friday That is,if you don 't mind the tons and tons ofhighschool pre-pubescents (or maybethat's what you're lookin g for). Everyother night, it's usually over-run withWLU students, but i f you like the bigdance halls and you're bored with Fedthen maybe give i t a try. Forsomething a bit more interesting inbars, try Phil's Grandson's Place. toffers alternative music in a postapocalyptic atmosphere. In otherwords, transcendental entertainment.i pubs are more your style, you might

want to try the Olde English Parlouruptown. The OEP has an excellentaura, usually with live artists . Justsouth of the OEP on J


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Page 6 Iron Warrior Friday October 25,1991

Point / Counterpoint: The Ethics of Working for a MilitaryontractorWhy it is unethical.

AndrewPape2B Systems Design

What is wrong with taking a jobwith Litton Systems Canada Ltd .?The experience working for them isideal for a coop student to developher / his technical experience inelectrical engineering. The companyis successful, and would be good towork for after graduation in tenns ofwages and work opportunity.There is one hitch to that simpleargument. t is immoral to work forLitton Systems Canada Ltd. Litton isone of the world's foremostmanufacturers of inertial gUidance(navigational) systems for missiles,including the US Tomahawk Sea-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM),which is designed to carry nuclearwarheads . t just so happens thatduring the Persian Gulf war thisspring, the Tomahawk was one of theUnited States' most importantweapons for their offensive againstIraq. Although we will never knowhow many people died in that wartestimates vary between 100,000 and150,000 Iraqis dead. Just think of theprofits that companies such as Littonmade because of that war.

The scenario is even moreterrifying when we examine therealities of the cold war over the lastfew decades between the USSR andthe USA. In 1981, there were enoughnuclear weapons in the world to beequal to 6000 times the firepower ofWorld War II. Nuclear weaponstoday are 1500 times more powerfulthan the bomb that landed on

Even; person on this Earth couldbe killed at least once with thatsort of build-up.Hiroshima which killed at least 75,000people Every person on this Earth

such as Angola, Chile, El Salvador,Honduras, Iran, Iraq, South Korea,Ubya, Paraguay, the Philippines, andSyria. Of those countries, at least oneof them is mentioned in thenewspaper daily for human rightsviolations, or regional militaryconflict. Pratt and Whitney engineswere used by both the Iraqi andCanadian forces during the gulf war,against each other. Do you as anengineer want to contribute to thismadness?The majority of military contractsinvolve technology that is indirectly

The majority of militarycontracts involve technology thatis indirectly used for militaryapplication.used for military application. CAEsystems of Toronto designs and buildsmilitary simulation equipment foraircraft, tanks, and helicopters.Although this technology is not usedto kill individuals in military conflict,it is used by military for training.Also, image processing and remotesensing research has often beenfunded by military sources, even if itis not specifically applied to militaryapplication. The technology can beadapted though.

Many people -.yould argue thatalthough engineers and scientists arei n v o l v e ~ with developing militarytechnology, the moral responsibilityfor war and peace is in the hands ofpoliticians who make military re ateddecisions, and the general public whoelect these politicians. t is thepoliticians who make decisions aboutmilitary budgets, and about the use ofmilitary pressure to deal with war.

There are many points ofresponse to this. First of all, engineersare part of the general public whomake up the electorate, and theyshould accept responSibility of theapplication of their career.

Secondly, in most countriesaround the world, politicians do not

represent the people's viewpoints(Canada to?). Should responSibilityfor military technology exported tothe Third World not fall back on thecompany and engineers who developit? Who is taking the responsibil ity ifthey are not? The El Salvadoreangovernment is not accepting theresponSibility of representing itscitizen's viewpoints with regards tomilitary conflict. There are numerousCanadian exports of militarytechnology to Third World countrieswho use war as their principal tool ofdi plomacy. During the 1980' s,Canada exported military equipmentto the Third World worth over $150million per year.

Thirdly, the general public isgenerally uninformed because of thebias in the media. General ElectricCorporation, the largest armscontractor in the world, owns NBC,one of the largest television / mediacorporations in the USA. GEmounted television cameras on their

the general public is generallyuninformed because of the bias inmissiles during the gulf war that gaveus first hand coverage of our moralmilitary efforts demolishing groups ofimmoral Iraqis. Remember thecoverage when we saw the view fromthe missile landing on that bridge?We didn't see coverage when themissile missed and got a market withhundreds of Iraqis beside a powergenerating station. NewsweekMagazine is controlled by thePentagon. Why would any companyor organization want to underminethe efforts or technology of anothersubsidiary company? Why wouldNBC or Newsweek cover theopposition to the war?

The Military IndustrialComplex" is the term used to describea system made up of individuals,companies, organizations, andgovernments that promote the use of

technology for military application. tis also a complex which e ~ e v e s thatthe build up of arms is necessary forworld peace. Now, do you honestlythink that i t is interested in worldpeace instead of economicopportunity? Another article could be, written on this phenomenon.Anyway, it has been shown that theexistence of military industry, and theeconomic demands that go along withit, have influenced foreign policy ofmany countries such as the US andCanada in terms of how they dealwith conflict. In other words,business pressures have influencedthe Pentagon and Parliament tochoose military intervention as asolution (pretty lousy, short term one)for conflict. Therefore, engineers andscientists who make their living offthis sort of technological developmenthave contributed to war in the world.

t has been shown that engineersand scientists should acceptresponsibility for the technology theydevelop, unless of course they don'tcare about humanity. We will nowshift our focus to the realities of theworking world, and the constraintsthat people have traditionally had toaccept if they wanted to succeed intheir profession. Up to the present,there has been a lot of moneyavailable for military technologyresearch and design, and manyengineers and companies have chosento develop military technology.Many argue that the bestscientists and innovations have beenin military areas. Professor Hepburnof the Dept. of Chemistry (UW)argues in opposition that theemphasis on specific application ofscience has limited the scientificworld, and that innovation is nolonger possible in the areas of "basicscience research . Much oftechnology today is based oninnovations of scientists andmathematicians (Einstein,Heisenburg, Newton, Euler,Descartes, Pascal, and others) whocould be killed at least once with that .

sort of build-up. Litton Systems Ltd.,and many other Canadianmanufacturers have contributed tothe development of these weapons.You could too, if you take a job withthem.

Other companies that arerenowned for their militaryinvolvement include General Electric,Pratt and Whitney, CanadianCommercial Corp., Boeing, CanadianMarconi Co., Raytheon (in Waterloo),Diemaco Inc. (Kitchener), Comdev,Honeywell, IBM, Spar Aerospace,General Motors and many others.General Motors produces lightarmoured vehicles (LAV for theAmerican and Canadian armies. TheGeneral Motors Defense Group hasadvertised that its group has "energy,talent and brains all dedicated tosupporting those charged withkeeping peace around the globe,such as the USA. Right. Pratt andWhitney builds aircraft engines thatare used by the Canadian military(who did offensive bombing duringthe gulf war), and they also exportmany of their engines to countries

Stunts

What Happened .. Why it happened


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Friday October 25,1991 Iron Warriorhy s t unethical continuedwere searching to expand humanknowledge in general. Applyingscience to a specific area such asmilitary technology takes away fromthat incentive of furthering generalknowledge, which has been the mostimportant scientific knowledge inhuman history. Nuclear fission was

Nuclear fission was discovered inbasic science research,discovered in basic science research,and was applied to building theatomic bomb after it was discovered.An engineer or scientist who wants to .work towards furthering thescientific knowledge of humankindshould not limit himself/herself tomilitary research just because there ismoney there. It will be necessary forthe public to promote funding of basicscientific research (as opposed toapplied research) i f we want tochange this situation. Often, theuniversity is a good environment forbasic research.

Unfortunately for people in thefield of technology , there arenumerous Canadian companies that

do military contracts. It is difficult tofind a company that has never done amilitary contract. We all have todecide for ourselves what sort of workwe would feel comfortable with, andwe all have to inform ourselves aboutwhat sort of work Canadiancompanies are doing in militarytechnology.The more stringent we are withavoiding military related companiesand careers, the less job opportunitieswe will have. Or is that the case? Inconsidering this, we must consider areality of the engineering profession.When you compare this professionwith many others (law, architecture,education - outside Ontario, business),engineers are far better off in terms of

Canada has predicted thatCanada w ll have a shortage ofengineers in the next five years.job opportunities. The ConferenceBoard of Canada has predicted thatCanada will have a shortage ofengineers in the next five years. TheCanadian Engineering ManpowerBoard has predicted that i f our

economy continues its rebound,Canada could be short as many as50,000 engineers by the end of thedecade. Keep in mind that the currenteconomic slump has effected allprofessions, and has hit Ontario thehardest of all provinces.Also, to limit oneself to the fieldsthat are dominated by militaryapplication (aerospace,inertial/satellite navigation, firearms,nuclear weapon production) is to limitoneself from one the fastest growingarea of engineering application,environmental engineering. The Sept.91 Report on Business MagaZine inthe article Brave New Workpredicted that, an environmentalengineer expert in wastemanagement, who is fluent inJapanese and German, would be themost likely individual to have asecure job in the 90's. They rankedenvironmental engineering as the tophottest profession for the 90 s

Consider also, that with theelimination of the Warsaw Pact, andthe slow disintegration of NATO,military hardw are will be less indemand than ever before. Israel has

Page 7

recently agreed to attend a MiddleEastern peace conference along withPalestinian representatives in Madrid,Spain at the end of the month thatcould be the basis for resolution of themost intense regional conflict sinceWorld War II (that' s my opinion). Inthe last few months, the USSR andUSA have made some incredibleThetJ mnked environmentalengineering as t} e top hottestprofession for the 90'sguarantees of arms reduction. Whatwill Litton do with its missileguidance technology when demandfor new nuclear missiles is virtuallyeliminated? I suppose it will putmore emphasis on its civilian aircraftguidance systems.

If one looks into the future, andrealizes that military technologydevelopment will not be as lucrative acareer as it now, then maybe one willchoose to avoid that sort of workexperience now. This is of courseignoring the immorality of developingmilitary technology, and consideringpersonal ca reer gains only.

CounterPoint The ecision is YoursMartin Zagorsek2B Systems Design

Let's say you are an engineerlooking for a job. Maybe you don'twant to go back to last term'scompany, or this is your last year andthe time has come for a (gulp) real job.While we're making assumptions,let's assume you're a real techie. Youlike designing new and wonderfulthings. Rather than twiddle with ortest somebody else's old designs, youwant to do something new, somethingexciting.

Interview after interview turnsyou off. Test this, evaluate that,supervise something, anything butthe kind of work that your coursesprepared you for. Finally, you seemto strike gold. The work is verychallenging, working with a small

What looked like a dream job has~ u t turned into a bit of an ethicaldilemma.group on a new project. All kinds ofexotic new technologies are involved.Then, towards the end of theinterview, the employer mentions thatthe customer for the project is theDepartment of Defense.What looked like a dream job hasjust turned into a bit of an ethicaldilemma. At risk of narrowing downmy audience even further, I'll assumeyou do have a sense of ethics, and thatyou understand the concept ofresponsibility for the consequences ofone's actions. Engineering for themilitary is a serious ethical problem,and simply shrugging off theimplications of doing such 'work isnaive and irresponsible.Engineers and scientists have inthe past been accused of being amoralThe stereotype is a white-haired,

bearded man in a white lab-coatworking away on the latest rocketsand bombs, oblivious to the fact thatmany will die thanks to his work.While few people (hopefully) thinkthat way anymore, the distrustrem ' . It wow-dn't b risin tofind a few people out there who stillgive no thought to the end use of theirresearch. To them I have nothing tosay, this article is about humanbeings.

The traditional arguments infavour of working on military projectshave all been discussed enough, sothey are only summarized here.Though the field is not as lucrative asi t once was, there is still a lot ofmoney to be made. A lot of money isspent by the military on research, andmuch of that research ends upbenefitting people other that themilitary. Many high-technologycompanies use military projects tosupplement their commercial sales,and their commercial research.Nevertheless, spin-offs from researchhardly justify the research itself.

The technical experience anengineer can gain is also substantial.The nature of military productsrequires high-tech and innovation,always the latest and greatest. Thereare few commercial companies thatallow designers so much freedomfrom cost contraints. Spending sometime working on a military project canbe excellent preparation for work in

Even work not related toweapons is indirectly supportingthe military machine.another field that uses similartechnology. Last but not least, the paycan be quite good, and very fewpeople are so idealistic that they don'tcare how much they're getting paid.

The ethical problem begins whenone considers what the work isactually accomplishing. Regardless ofwhether the gun you designed is everused to kill someone, that 'snevertheless what it was made to do.W ther th b . :ldefensive or offensive makes littledifference. Defensive systems areoften simply used to protect offensiveones from attack. Even work notrelated to weapons is indirectlysupporting the military mach in .Anything the military buys is usually

However, agreeing with the needVor the military but refUSing towork in that field is a double-standard(though there are pretty humourousexceptions) destined to help it dowhat it does, better.

The key question becomes: Doyou think there needs to be a militarymachine? The necessity of having amilitary is not something to bed e b ~ e d in half a page of anengineering newspaper, but whetheror not you agree with this necessity iscrucial to the decision to accept ordecline a military-related job. I fsomeone disagrees with the need formaintaining a capable and efficientmilitary force in a country, then by nomeans should that person go andwork towards enhancing it.Following one's ideals is admirable,as long as they're real ideals and notpassing whims.However, agreeing with the needfor the military but refusing to workin that field is a double-standard. It'san incredible hypocrisy to refuse amilitary-related job on ethicalgrounds while still believing we needour military to protect the country.That ki nd of duplicity is on the samelevel as an engineer who has moral

objections to the military but whoworks for it anyway because of themoney.

Grouping all work done for themilitary together can of course bemisleading. There is a differenceb tw I k bi an bnuclear warheads an d designing morecomfortable army boots . Thedirectness of involvement is for mostp pIc d 'finitely i\ factor to consider.While both {t i l t nbov' 'xampl's dosupport th militnry's fUll Lion, < me ofthem is more lik 'ly to k ep you

w ~ e at night. Some peopl whowould otherwise gladly work for amilitary contractor could not bear thethought of being directly involved ina system used to kill peop le. We allhave limits to what we will do.

The most important considerationis that it is a personal decision. Thelikelihood of anyone engineer orscientist making a significantdifference in the state of the military issmall. What is at stake is not so muchthe actual effects of the research, butthe personal conscience of those whoare doing it. The moral consequencesof one's actions are something everyone of us has to live with . On oneside we have the military-industrialcomplex preaching pragmatism andnecessity. On the other side are thepeace camps telling us to have no partin it, preaching the evils of themilitary . Listening to either sidewithout conSidering both is the realcrime, flag-wavers are not to beblindly trusted, whatever the colourof their flag. We are human beings,not sheep, and are fully capable, evenobligated to make our own moraldecisions.


8/16

Page 8

rtsRob and LynnArts Directors

We hope that midterms andlabs aren't getting everybodydown. Well, don't look tooglum. The Arts directors wouldlike to help with some excitingevents to help take your mindoff your worries.Short Story Contest

This is basically a reminder(kick in the pants) thatsubmissions to the short storycontest are due Monday October28, so you still have thisweekend to write somethingdown, or submit work you havedone in the past. Submit entriesto the our mailbox in the newand improved Orifice. Winningentries will get tonnes ofvaluable prizes, and will beprinted in the next IW.Photo Contest

Photos are due MondayNovember II , again to ourmailbox in the orifice or thePhoto Director's box. So grabyour InstaMatic and startsnapping. The categories are:1 Photo Essay2. Effective use of Colour3. Effective use of Black andWhite4. Still Life5. Spirit of Engineering

We will display winningphotos in the IW and the glassdisplay case outside the Orifice.And of course there will betonnes of valuable prizes.BNAD

Yes The BNAD is alive andwell. Look for us at the SemiFormal, the EngineeringAwards Banquet, TAL-ENG,and one afternoon in POETS.TAL-ENG Fall '91 Show

Preparation is well underway for what is becoming one ofENGSOC's biggest events. Incase some of you are stillwondering, TALENG is theEngineering Society's TalentShow. Bands, comedians,magiCians, actors, and manyother talented individuals willtake to the Humanities Theatrestage Sunday November 24 at8pm. As all those who were atlast term's show can attest, thisis a must see event. Tickets areonly $2 ea. and are availableNOW from Cheryl in theorifice. (ask Cheryl if it is worththe $2)

We are still acceptingNovember 8.U d H i o n s until r i d a ~

Iron Warrior Friday October 1991

W E E F EN OWMENTUPD TEDave MortonEndowment Director

The Waterloo EngineeringEndowment Foundation held it's firstFunding Council meeting of thesemester on Wednesd ay, October 16.The Funding Council is composed ofrepresentatives from each on-streamundergrad engineering class. At themeeting the class reps were broughtup to date, so i you have anyquestions, ask them or drop in to seeme. The Endowment is now lookingfor proposals on how to spendapproximately $50 000 in interestincome. Submit your ideas andsuggestions to the Endowment box inthe Orifice.

The Endowment is in theprocess of setting up a program whereemployers of co-op and alumniengineers are asked to match theiremployee's donations. Working withthe Office of Development, we havetargetted roughly 40 companies tostart the program.Floyd Laughren, Treasurer ofOntario, in his on going program tohelp your education, has cut $13million from the budget of Ontariouniversities and colleges, $9 million ofthat from the universities specifically.This translates to a budget reductionof $670 000 from the University ofWaterloo. The displaced money willgo towards, among other things, morewelfare paym ents. Our socialistgovernment is truly kind. Ourminister, Dr Richard Allen, Ministerof Colleges and Uni versi ties, has

bravely followed the party line, andwillingly accepted the cuts. Hiswords, The Treasurer todayannounced that Ontario will notexceed its announced deficit. Tomake that happen, ll ministries mustcontribute to the effort. That is how itshould be. Noble words, Dr Allen,however your ministry has notreceived a real increase since 1971.Where is the Cabinet minister whospeaks for our needs? Ask himyourself. Write either or both of them,and tell them you are upset with theiractions. Don't put a stamp on theenvelope, mailings to the Legislatureare free. Below are the mailingaddresses for both Mr Laughren andDr Allen:

The Honourable Dr Richard AllenMinister of Colleges and UniversitiesMinister's OfficeSeventh FloorQueen's ParkM7A lL2

The Honourable Floyd LaughrenTreasurer of the Province of OntarioMowat BlockFrost BuildingQueen's ParkM7A lY7

t is incidents like this whichmake the Endowment all the moreimportant. We obviously can'tdepend on our elected governm ent toadequately fund our education so wemust take the initiative and dosomething for ourselves. YourVoluntary Student Contribution isyour way of helping yourself. TheVSC participation rate for the Fallterm was more than 80%, significantlyhigher than last Winter.Congratulations, Waterloo engineers

. j ~ An Engineer 's guide to the\ THE' Bombshelter :

Come down to .. .

Clvll- burn bridgesmech n ic l - get things going

SysteIns Deslgn- use your r10wpath (glug glug)Fresh food and beverages daily


9/16

Friday October 25, 1991 Iron Warrior Page 9EngSoc B Trivia 2 OR 1WINGSHey trivia nuts Boffoprizes will be awarded for allthe keeners out there able tosolve the EngSoc trivia list.The top five entries will receive$10.00 gift certificates to HMV.Submit your answers to Cherylin the Orifice by Nov 1Executive (25 points each)1 Who are the ExecutiveMembers of EngineeringSociety B?2 What are their nicknames?3 What names were on theirBig Sibling t-shirts during FroshWeek?4 What classes are each ofthem in? (Bonus: extra 25 eachfor the class names)5 Where did the Exec go for itsretreat during the summer?1000 pts Bonus: Name the barthey visited the first night of theretreat.5000 pts Bonus: Name the girl

that one of the Exec membersmet at that bar.TOOL (100 pOints each)1 Who made it?2 When was it made?3 When was it donated toEngSoc?4 When was the chaindonated? By Whom??5. What is the garb of thebearers?1000 pts Bonus: Name the lineof tools that the mascot's nameoriginated from.Directors (50 pts each)1 Who might you talk to inorder to book a class party inPOETS?2. Who is the most importantperson in the EngSoc office?3 Name the people responsible for the EngSoc C&D?4. Name the EngSoc Office5 Name the directors in chargeof the office.

Directors.10. Name the cashiers in theC&D.Publications (50 pts each)1 Name the official newspaperof the University of WaterlooEngineering SOCiety2 Name the publication thatwas replaced.3 Name the editors of theofficial newspaper.4 Name the editors of theEnginewsletter5 How often does theEngineering Society newspaperpublish?WEEF (50 points each)1 What does the acronymWEEF stand for?2. What are the 3 componentsofWEEF3 Who is the director in chargeof WEEF?4 Name the Sub-directors.

ONLY ATMcGINNIS'

After 9 PiVl;\Iondu\' to \Vednesda\'.2 How often is beer servedthere?3 What are the C&D's hours?4 What are EngSoc's officehours?5 How long has the officesecretary been working there?(250 points)Important Dates1 The date of the SemiFormal. (200 points)2 The dates of each exec B-day (1000 each)3 The dates of each of theC&D's cashiers b-days (2000pts)

- - - - - - - - - - . . . . 6 Name the SFF Director5 What does the WEEF do?Bonus: 1000 pts Currently howmuch money is in the WEEF?

4 When was the TOOLforged? (1000 pts)5 List the expected years ofgraduation for each of the exec

Fry DaysRemember those Wonderful Spiritdays in High School? Remember howmuch FUN they were??? Well,welcome back to ..CRAZY SPIRIT FRI-DAYS IOct 25 Big Hair Day...or Joel Singer look-alike day ..

Nov 1 Pumpkin DayCarry around your pumpkin .. orwear it on you r headNov 8 Vegetable DayNo, don t come as yourself ..Nov 15 Loud Tie DayDig out your father's old ties ..Nov 22 Body Paint DayPaint your faces, or go for the gustoNov 29 Beach DayShorts & Shades mandatory.Come into the Orifice and model yourapparel for CheryL.give her yourclass name for p ...S points

7. Name the CharitiesDirectors.8 Name the Take 1 NewsDirectors.9 Name the Exchange

General (50 points each)1 What does POETS standfor?

Get Your

members. (500 each)

ENGINEERING LONGJOHNSbefore the snow fliesDescription: White, 100% Cotton (comfy); One-button flap in back;Suitable for wearing over (and under) your garments.{If you ask Cheryl real nice, maybe she'll model hers }

Price: $25.00 or lessBIG ENGINEERING LOGO ON BACK

An order is being sent in soon (1-2 weeks).The more orders \ve get, the cheaper they'll be

To guarantee you get one YOUR correct size, come inand Sign Up for them in the ORIFICE.


10/16

Page 10 Iron Warrior Friday October 25 1991

The Sandford Fleming Foundation, Waterloo Campus Activity4333 Carl Pollock Hall, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L3G1 (519) 888-4008

Student Travel Grants Available to students participating in technical conferences. Contact Prof. Wayne Loucks (E&CE), x3337 forfurther information.Undergraduate Debates Semi-Finals will be held in CPH 4335 on Oct. 29 & 30. The Final will be held November 1 in Poets Pub.Faculty Coordinator is Prof. Jan Huissoon, Mech Eng.

The John Fisher Award for LeadershipThe John Fisher Award for Leadership is made from time to time to agraduating student whose activities throughout his/her academiccareer have made significant contributions to Co-operative Engineering Education. Nominations for the Award can originate from studentgroups, faculty members and the Foundation. Nominations shoulddocument the nominee's contributions and other support for thenomination. Contributions are to have a professional orientation andcan involve student activities, the Sandford Fleming Foundation work

or other appropriate functions. Letters from colleagues, faculty members, and others knowledgable of the nominee's efforts will be givenconsideration.The Award consists of a Citation, and an Honorarium of 1,000. TheDeadline for Nominations February 1 1992. For more information,contact the Sandford Fleming Foundation.

The Traditional and Non Traditional Engineer .. Which are You?Trevor Garrett4A Systems Design Within Waterloo s Faculty ofEngineering there is a hidden

presence, always just below thesurface, lingering, with as muchtenure as the very worst professor.The presence is silent minority ofstudents who are being educatedwithin the framework of one the bestengineering programmes in Canadaand in their hearts they hide a guiltedged truth: that they are not reallyengineers at all. Well, notstereotypical engineers anyway. Oh,

Youl1g people ust be attracted toellgilleerillg by ellsllrillg tllat ti,e professionprovides tllem with marvellous opportullitiesto be part of the work that is all expressioll ofmali's will fo create, to explore and to useI/ulllall ellterprise alld creativity to advancesocial alld ccO/romie progress.D.C. ViceVice-Chairman, Products and TechnologyNorthern Telecom Limited

C LL OR CTSNeeded:

Magicians, Acrobats,Comedians, Skits,Musicians, or anything

else that we mightcons 1der entertal n 1 g

Pick up audition forms In the Orificeand return to the Arts 0 i rector sMailbox.

A acts must be audit 1onedbefore Fr1day 8, 1991

The Show wil l be Sunday, November 24, 1991For more information contact

Rob McGeachy, Arts director s mai lbox inthe OrificeFall 191 Show

they can do the math, finish theassignments, ace the exams and gothrough all the motions of being ahighly educated technical student, butthey are not. They are a different beastaltogether. The question is, do theyhave a rightful place within the realmof engineering?

One highly skilled teacher andwell respected undergraduate officerannounced that the goal ofengineering student is to solve reallife engineering problems, and if youare not here to do that, then you arebeating your head against the walland going through a lot of pain fornothing . Half of the class grunted itsapproval and the other half sighed inresigned disagreement. Everybodyknows that half of any engineeringclass has no intentions whatsoever ofbecoming engineers. To thatundergraduate officer, it is as if half ofhis children are turning away fromthe faith. Yet, they are not turningaway from the faith, they are merelyunloading a burdensome and limitingstereotype. I propose that there is aplace for these prodigal, non-technicalsons of science who still wish to keepthe faith, but if the faith wants to keepthem it may be time for a reformation,a throwing open of doors and aproclamation of justification for all,regardless of future intention oranticipated career path.

Consider the first of these twobreeds of engineers: the engineer sengineer, which I shall refer to thetraditionalist, and the not-so engineerengineer - the non-traditionalist.Consider also how they got to beengineers in the first place.Behold the traditionalist. Still inhigh school, she had exceptionalmarks, particularly in math and hardsciences. When university applicationtime rolls around she goes to herguidance counsellor who upon seeingher high calculus and physics marksimmediately suggests engineering.She considers some engineeringprograms, along with math andapplied science. Engineering begins tolook more and more attractive. Shelikes structured problem solving;producing an answer based on a set ofrules. She likes to know the

boundaries of the problem space, notthe open exploration of pure science.She is pragmatic and the theory ofpure mathematics is not appliedenough. She is driven towardsexcellence, is attractive, spends timewith only a small circle of friends, andher main source of self-esteem hasalways been school. She is very closeto her father, who is chemicalengineer-gone-manager. Finally sheapplies to three top flight Canadianengineering programmes, is admittedto her first choice, and because of herhigh score on the Descartes mathcontest is granted an entrancescholarship.

At the same high school, in adifferent class, is our nontraditionalist. Presently he is sitting inhis grade 13 english class, staring outthe window, pondering the four yearcommitment he is about to make to ayet unchosen university. This decisionwill decide the course of his life. Allhis marks are exceptional, howeverhis algebra and physics marks are notquite as high as his traditionalclassmate s. He found historyinteresting, and his performance inenglish shows an uncommonaptitude. He is a generalist with a truelove of learning, an extrovert, vicepresident of the student council, goesto most school dances, and complainshe never has enough time to read asmuch as he would like. He finds highschool challenging but manages topull off the marks without pushinghis real academic limits. Universityholds many options. His fathersuggested law because of his ability tostructure arguments logically and hisgirlfriend thinks he would make agood doctor. Then there isengineering, which seems to be agood professional degree to have anda job is almost guaranteed. Choiceshave to be made, and papers Signed.In the end he decides he doesn t wantto be a lawyer, and if he graduates asa doctor he pretty much has to be adoctor, cutting off any possibility forlateral moves. He had considered arts,but he heard anybody can get in andfigured that since he had great marks,he may as well go for something thatrequires great marks. Engineering


11/16

Friday October 25, 1991 Iron Warrior Page 11Traditional / Non-Tra,ditional - continued ..begins to look more and moreattractive. Besides, he .can still go tolaw or medical school afterwards, ordo an MBA. Asking around, the wordis that most engineers don t becomeengineers anyway. His Mom says it isa good rigorous programme that willdiscipline him. So after much debatehe applies and is admitted to the sameprogramme as our traditionalist, sansscholarship.By equally valid paths, our twohigh school students both land inengineering. They will both graduatefrom their programme, but theirpaths, purposes, and philosophies arewildly different.

At university, our traditionalistperforms well. She especially likesprojects where the goal is well definedbut the path to get there is not. Sheenjoys immersing herself in veryspecific problems. For term projectsshe builds a control system thatenables two electromagnets to levitatea ball bearing, and a machine that canshoot a tennis ball through abasketball hoop from anywhere in thegym. She remains sociable but hasbecome slightly introverted, a smallprice to pay for staying at the top ofher class.

Our non-traditionalist is alsoperforming well. After a few termswith low marks, he starts to applyhimself, structure his time, and studymore. He doesn't like solving specificproblems so much as he likes learningheuristics, broad methodologies andstudying particularly innovative orcreative examples of problem solving.His favorite term project was acomputer simulation that modelledthe Canadian economy. He is excited

about his course in environmentalengineering which considers not onlythe technical aspects of design, but thesocial, political, and environmentalaspects as well. His marks have puthim on the Dean' s list, and althoughhe feels he could do better, hemaintains his interest inextracurricular activities.

In the end, both our hero andheroine have done well. Theygraduate, hug each other, wish oneanother all the best, and drive off intheir graduation gifts.

Now then, here s the crux of it.Both people are talented, and willmake strong contributions to ourworld, but the difference is that thetraditionalist is highly technical andthe non-traditionalist has beenfrowned on for the better part of hisdegree because of his lack of devotionto, and love for the technical.

How can you have an engineerthat is not really technical? Can hereally call himself an engineer? Yes,he can. I have described how easilyone can become an engineeringstudent not for the love of thetechnical, but for motivations that arejust as valid. Consider next thephilosophy of the lad s unseemlyposition.Technology will doubtless be oneof the cornerstones of our future. It iswhat carries us into the toutedinformation age. t is the expectedpanacea for Canada s ailingmanufacturing industry and it is thehope of every industrial economy.People-people who will become theleaders of the Canadian economyneed to know about technology beforethey can manage it. How to sell your

e lW 2{{bum ~ v i e w

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We loved it. We don't know what more you could want in an album.Jerry (lead guitar) was amazing on this one (check out the hat he'swearing on the cover) ,but it was Gummi's accordian solo on It CameFrom Thunder Bay that really blew us away. The title track takes ourpick as possibly one of the most original tunes this year. It's not hard totell that Toan took a year of voice training prior to this release. Overall -truly exceptional. Buy this album.

ideas , give a presentation , andmanage people are all things learnedon the street. A rigorous knowledge oft&hnology is not. Yet, this is what islearned in engineering : rigorousmethods, technical knowledge andspecific tools. However, these toolsare often limited to small, specificproblem solving and fail to addressthe wider skills necessary in the realworld. f engineers are to have thesort of presence and voice that sobadly needs to be felt and heard, theyneed to learn more that just math anddesign. It s good training, butsometimes the math does not makethe man or the woman.The testimony to all this lies withthe engineers that have done so wellin fields other that engineering. Askaround and see how manyengineering graduates actuallybecame, and remained engineers. I'llwager that there are very few. Insteadthey became successful businessmen,politicians, civil servants and MBAapplicants. And how did they managethis? Their undergrad degree certainlywasn t geared to providing theseskills in business or publicadministration. Could it be that whatan engineer learns from his or herlectures isn 't so valuable but rather itis what is learned along the way?Maybe the strength is being aconvergent, solutio- oriented problemsolver. Maybe it' s about being trainedto find an answer, or a group ofpossible solutions and not just morequestions. Time man agement and self

discipline are also valuable byproducts of a tough undergradprogram. It seems the power is in theprocess, and not in the materiallearned.

Of course, this is not to downplaythat traditional engineer. While thedoctors and lawyers take care ofpeople, they do not create wealth,they represent maintenance costs. It isthe technical craftsmen who willdesign, create and innovate, all toimprove our lives. Engineering can fillthis need, but it is not the only need itcan fill. There are other solutions to beengineered, solutions to broader, lesst&hnical problems. Problems that callfor engineering skills, for solutionsand not more considerations to bedebated, for a structured, logicalapproach.The non-traditionalist, or even thenon-technical engineer is neither agreater nor lesser creature, but theydo have a valid existence, and shouldbe acknowledged as engineers whoare able to make a valid contribution.They should not be looked downupon for their non-technical pursuitsbecause they are still problem solvers,solution finders and capabletechnologists. Engineering studentshave shown that they can make adifference outside the technical world,and not only should they be allowedto look beyond technical pursuits,they should be encouraged to do so. Itis then that these wayward pupils oftechnology will really be able to showtheir worth.

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12/16

Page 12 Iron Warrior Friday October 25,1991Incineration of Waste a Viable Solution Not the ampus Question ?

UW News ureauTo bum or not to bun" municipal

garbage is a contentious social andpolitical inssue these days; a case inpoint - the current row over thepossibility that residents ofsouthwestern Ontario are breathingdioxins and other contaminants fromthe new Detroit incinerator.

Contentious though incinerationmay be, the University of Waterloo'sInstitute for Risk Research has justissued a lengthly (532 pages) report,Municipal Solid Waste Managament,that favours it.

The report is published by theUniversity of Waterloo Press. IRR'ssupport for incineration is conditionalhowever: First, the Institute insists onmodern, high-tech incineration - toprevent contamination of theenvironment - and second, it proposesincineration to be only one part of acomprehensive waste program.

What the report recommends is afive-pronged, integrated approach to

Report o CanadianUniversitiesUW News ureau

The final report of theCommission of Inquiry on CanadianUniversity Education is generallyconstructive according the theUniversity of Waterloo's president,Dr. Douglas Wright.The commission concluded that

the management of solid waste(garbage). The key points are: (1)substantially reduce the amount ofgarbage society is generating throughtwo of the three "R's" - reduce andreuse; (2) clean it up by removinghazardous wastes; (3) recycle (thethird "R", which would involve, forexample, composting most organicwastes; (4) incinerate with safetechnology and (5) bury the rst inhigh tech landfills.

The IRR admits many people,including civil servants andpoliticians in federal, provincial, andmunicipal governments in Canada arenervous about incineration,sometimes because of pressure fromNIMBY (not in my backyard) groups,but often because they themselvesdon't understand the technology.

The report says that safeincineration would result insubstanitial reductions in the volumeof waste going into landfills thusreducing the demands for newlandfill sites.

universities are fundamentallyhealthy and serving the country well.I t identified areas of concern,including an imbalance betweenteaching and research, and the level offunding for universities.

Q: What pickl-up line are yougoing to use at Oktoberfest?

SeanMurphyThe Prez

TerryGilhuly

Liz

Mike CassinThe Poet'sDude

I'm Mike and I'll be your cruisedirector for this evening."

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Hey Baby, how about going to myplace for a coffee and a P*> . (Slap)What, you don't like coffee??"

TrinzThe report, which contains 63

recommendations, also notes thevalue of co-op education and distanceenducation at universities. I like your shirt - i t would look goodon my floor." "Baby Baby give me rour rabies "

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13/16

Friday October 25, 1991 Iron Warrior Page 13How To Cool BeerJeff WoodyThe Chemmunist Party

It is both exciting and rewardingto discover that the scientificprinciples of one s profession canhave immediate and gratifyingexpression in daily life. A case inpoint occurred recently, and we thinkit is appropriate to pass on.

One fine afternoon during ourcalculus lecture we were especiallythirsty. To our dismay the only beer inthe house had been left on the floornear the heater all day. (In case youdidn t catch that -we were at homeduring our calculus lecture). Beingmuch too warm for consumption, wequickly put the six pack in the freezerto hurry the cooling process.After an exruciatingly long (about30 minutes) wait, the beer was cooledenough to be enjoyed. We laterrealized that we had needlesslyprolonged our thirst. Over a frostybeverage we discussed the coolingproperties of canned liquids andrealized that we had not chosen thequickest means of heat transfer. Aftermuch discussion it was decided thatwe should investigate the mosteffective method of cooling.Objective:The purpose of this experinrnent is toevaluate the effectiveness of twodifferent methods of cooling beer.Theoretical Principles:Chemical Engineering practiceswould suggest that the most effectiveway to transfer heat is to provide alarge temperature difference betweenmedia as well as a large contactsurface area. Considering heattransfer coefficients i t becomesapparent that the best way to coolbeer is to place the cans in a pot in thesink and run cold water over them.The surface coefficient and velocity ofthe running water over the sides ofthe can should obviously contribute toa much greater overall coefficient andshould, in fact overcome anytemperature-driving-force ad vantageof the much colder freezer.The mathematics for this theory isquite straightforward. It is known thatthe temperature is going to varyslightly after contacting the warmercan. However, if the fawcet is on fullwe can assume the t emperature rise tobe negligible and the system to beisothermal.Differential energy balance (for thecan):

Where:

QQ = VAAT (1)da

dQ = differential flow of heat from thecanda =differential time (hrs)V = heat transfer coefficient

BTU /hr x ftl x OF)

A = surface area of can (ft2)T = temperature difference betweenbeer can and cooling mediumWe know that:

Where:Cp = heat capacity of beer

BTU / Ib2 x oF)M = mass of beer (lb)Substituting 2) into (1) we obtain:

dT(Tbeer - Tmedium)

UAda (3)S,M

Assuming that V, A, Cp, and Mareconstant the integration with respecito Tyields:In[ Tinil - Tmedium ] UAa (4)Tfinal- Tmedium S,MAnd solving for V gives:

S,M In m me lum[ r ' t -T d' ] jTfi; Tmedium (5)Results and DiscussionAs is standard procedure, all results

ve ee 'borrow d om prev ousrunning of the experiment (see Table1). Substituting the data from Run 1into Eq. (5) allows us to determine

Ufreezer=2.17

Substituting data from Run 2) gives:Vtapwater=33.1

Thus, the theory andexperimental results agree. The tapwater overall coefficient is almost 16times greater than the freezercoefficient - more than compensating

Some engineers might argue thereliability o the datafor the temperature driving force ofthe colder freezer.

Some engineers might argue thereliability of the data, since only onetest run was made in each case. Also,we have not considered the cost orshortness of supply of tap water.Having the tap on full uses about 3

gal/min of water; so, cooling the beerrequired more than 25 gal of water.Where water is precious, puttingicecubes in the pot, or patiently usingthe freezer may be prudent.

Table 1: Summary of Experimental ResultsCooling Medium Temperature, Tmedium OF -6 56Initial Tempera ture of Beer, T nit OF 85 85Final Temperature of Beer, TinitF 60 60Time Elapsed 0.353 i 0.143(minutes) (21.1) (8.6)Additional DataSurface Area of Can, AI ftl 0.327Quantity of Beer in can(lb) 0.782Heat Capacity of beer, Cp approx 1 (assumed)

You can put your COFFEE in i tYou can put your SOUP in i t 'You can put ANYTHING in it l1

Get i t?Got One?Get One

Pick up yours in the r i f i ceYou can get i t in RNY colour ..

(as long as it s blacldColour concopt by II. rord

Lost and Found

Found: Two Wild AnimalsIf you recognize these D.A.W.G.S. please contact 2A MechThey are looking for a good home.


14/16

Page 14 Iron Warrior Friday October 25 1991

Personals m I To place a blurb in the Personals/ Impersonals section scribblee rS0 na S our comments, questions, love notes etc. down on a piece ofpaper, tape a looney to it, and drop it into the I.W . box in theJapanamation Film FestNovember 15, 7pm-2am DC 1302.Watch for more details

But then my helmet would spin roundand round .. round .... .Mr Candle says Hi. (so does Mr.Happy)

NEXT(He He He)

Dear Pink Bomber,

To The Dutch Chef,''Dou6Ce aou6Ce, toilant trou6Cerire 6urn ndcauMron 6u66fe '

FromWell-Fed.

You have a hot set of cans but you neednew tires This Space for YOUOpen Question: Love,On Friday October 18. Gord did not come tofluids .is the end of the world near?? Enquiringminds want to know - Did we go throughmidterms for nothing??

The Red Baron. Place a Personal TodayAaaaaahhhhhhhgggggggg

Worried]

At the Galleries ...The following exhibitions are at the galleries on campus."The Very Breath of the Americas - Works by David General and John Boyle"- a exhibition of native Canadian culture, runs through November 17 at theUW Art Gallery"Mother Daughter- an exhibition by four women graduates of UW's fine arts department

opens in Artspace. A exhibition of work from the department's tripto Mexico last spring opens in the Fine Arts Gallery. (both galleriesare in East Campus hall.)

Combine

Completely Screwed.

Math Standardsby Woody and JeffThe Chemmunist Party

One fine day while doing some'research' in the MC building, wehappened to stumble uponsomething. This is what we found:

Very Top Secret MathematicsFaculty Entrance and PlacementExam

Time Limit: 1 WeekAnswer the following questions:1. What language is spoken by mostFrench Canadians?2. What religion is the Pope:a)Hindub)Muslimc)Buddhistd)Catholice)Athiest3. What is a nickel made out of?4. In what year was the War of 1812fought?5. How many commandments(approximately) was Moses given?6. Who won World War II? Who camein second?7. Who is buried in Grant's tomb?(hint: he's pretty famous)8. 0 Canada is the national anthem ofwhat country?

9. Can you derive, using Green'stheorem, from first principles:Yes or No?10. Six Kings of England have beennamed George, the last being GeorgeVI.Name the other five.11. Spell the following words:i Apatheticii Languidiii) Lethargic

'iv) MathSocBonus: Construct a sentence using allfour words.12. OWrite a short essay on thedevelopment of the political system ofancient Greece,with particularreference to prominent figures,important dates and comparison tothemodem day system.

orii)Name your favorite New Kid on theBlock.13. Where does rain come from:a) Needles Hallb) The hardware storec)Communist Chinad THE SKY14. What time is it when the big handis on the 12 and the little hand is onthe I?15. What are Mathies famous for?a)moneyb) in telligencec)sod layingd)stupidity (checkthe last one only)

Have you bought your semi-formal ticketyet??If not...STOP READING and go get it right now

Otherwise .. See you at the Rhino's


15/16

Friday October 25, 1991

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16/16

Davis opy eo enow open evenings and Saturdays

Use the ON CAMPUSPhotocopying, Bindery and Typesetting facilitiesCash Copy Centre LocationsEngineering - E2 2353Math and Computer - MC 5182. 80th Libraries - LIB 218 and DC 15 1PLUS colour copying in Dana Porter Library - LIB 2 8

Photocopying We serve at 7 per copy plus PST),discount on volume copying. Collating,

stapling and a variety of paper coloursavailable at no extra cost see the list oflocations be/ow) Self serve copying at 10 per copyavailable in the libraries and variouslocations on campus) Venda card copiers at 6 per copy arelocated in the Dana Porter andDavis Centre LibrariesPlastic Ring BindingSame day service available at GraphicServices, hours 8:00 am-4:30 pmCopy Centre LocationsDana Porter Library - LIB 218, ext. 2956Math Centre - MC 5182, ext. 2335Engineering - E2 2353, ext. 2334Arts Centre - HH 370, ext. 2336Davis Centre Library - DC 15 1 , ext. 3878

High Resolution TypesettingFor high quality output try our Linotronic300 Imagesetter 1270 dpi) or ourVT600W Laser Printer 600 dpi).We can typeset any computer file inPostScript format from aMac diskette5.25 inch PC diskette low density only)3.5 inch PC disketteSCRIPT on CMSTROFF on UNIX.We can translate your PC file to our Macand format into brochures, books, reportsand flyers, etc.For more information about typesettinglocated in GSC, call ext. 6324 or 5169.Offset PrintingGraphic Services, hours 8:00 am-4:30 pmGeneral information, call ext. 3451

raphic ServicesGeneral Services Complex

iron warrior: volume 12, issue 12

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