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Friday, October 15, 1999 The Magazine of the University of Waterloo Engineering Society Volume 23 Issue 13

" A man said to the universe: 'Sir, I exist!' 'However,' replied the universe, 'The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation." - Stephen Crane (War is Kind, IV)

A TiDle for

Letter From The Editor

you will. As suggested, this is a very selfish and material ­istic motivation that is as

Mar Pigozzo

2B Mech

damaging to others as it is to the individual. It detracts from more humanistic coo-

Fall is in full swing. It is a season of change and a season for preparation . Thanksgiving has corne and gone,

the ritual turkey dinners and cranberries (and subsequent turkey sandwiches many of you are still packing for lunch). But also, as the name suggests, its a time to be thankful for all that we have. In particular, we should be thankful for the bright future ahead of us, in general, but as engineers specifically as well. When you stop and consider it, a degree in engineering guarantees one a reasonably good chance at a decent job upon gradua­tion, particularly considering the current job market and employment trends. Further, the benefits of co-op can be reaped along the way to stave off the beast of student debt (whose teeth are perpetual­ly getting longer and sharper). We should be thankful that life has afforded us these opportunities - we are all very lucky. Some may disagree that luck has anything to do with it. It's a lot of determination and hard work as well. Yes, I agree whole­heartedly that what we do is challenging; but upon reflecting on this one can also realize that it is the orientation of our soci­ety that has created these opportunities. We jive in an ext.remely fast-paced, high ly technical and relatively advanced world which is growing moreso at a breath taking pace. This environment demands techni­cally adept people to sustain it. But why would we want to maintain some­thing that is quickly draining the resources of our planet, and destroying our natural environment? The answer is simple, we believe that this driving force in our cul­ture, the 'Industrial Machine' if you will, affords us a quality of life that would oth­erwise be unimagineable. But how much is all of this actually worth? At what cost to ourselves and our children are we purchas­ing that extra bit of comfort? Unfortunately, many fail to seriously examine this issue. They are too caught up in the Capitalist mentality of being effi­cient and profitable and of acquiring wealth - the "What can I get?" mentality if

cerns such as family and friends. That's at the heart of

a lot of problems today. Such material wealth oriented actions are extremely de­humanizing. We spend our enti re lives sac­rificng time with family to gain a few extra bucks working overtime so that we can afford to spend quality time with our fam­ily in the future, when things are stable enough. But when will we be satisfied that we are stable? When are we satiated? And doesn't the root mentality hold inherent problems: give up quality family time now for some ambiguous opportunity in the future? But [ digress . Essentially, the issue is a matter of priorities, those of individuals, but of society as well. As mentioned earli­er, current societal trends put emphasis on industrial needs. Skilled workers, new technologies and lots of money and resources are directed towards industry to sustain and promote it. But consider for a moment, if that priority were shifted, and shifted considerably. Many engineers poke fun at students in less technical programs; the Faculty of Arts being a consistent tar­

get of such abuse. But imagine ho wthings might be if the situation were reversed. Ponder this for a moment ... What if, all of a sudden, it was decided that we had had enough of the mixed blessing that is our current, industrialized world. Now, society identifies a critical need for sculptors and poets and authors to such an extent that co­op jobs proliferate for these fields and the whole of society takes beauty and culture as higher priorites than manufacturing and profitability. To complete this reversal, suppose that engineering - still necessary for the maintenance of our current techno­logical level, but little more - is now seen as a disciple for dull individuals who lack culture, vision and sensuality. How would one react if suddenly, the assured future they had in a technologically oriented world were suddenly pulled out from under them and they were then een in the inferior position, ridiculed and pitied. I won't go so far as to argue such a world would be a better or worse place than the

one we now inhabit, but if one can mature­ly examine the possibility, there are defi­nitely many attractive features, even if the prestige of being an engineer no longer exists. Many engineers are possessed of an arro­gance that stems from the priveleged posi­tion we reside in based upon current societa l needs, wants and demands. Engineers possess a talent for maths and sciences that allows us to assimilate the vast amounts of knowledge that we are bombarded with every day. Part of the rea­son for this high rate of learning (and asso­ciated sleep deprivation) is to prepare us for similar environments in the in~ustrial­ized world, the "Real World" we will enter upon graduation. But - brace yourselves -engineering is not explicitly 'better' than any other field of studies .(be it philosophy or ree & leisure) . All require certain kills and aptitudes; many of which can be learned and developed (if one has the determination) - like engineering, but many require talents that one either pos­sesses or doesn't like artistic vsion and creativity necessary for Fine Arts. It may be true that many arts students would not be capable of doing what we do, even if they wanted to. But assuredly there are some, if not many. By extension; however, there are many engineering students who would also be incapable of comprehending and performing the work required to be in arts. Perhaps this puts everything into per­spective a bit and removes a bit of the divi­siveness between the faculties. If we can recognize that it is only through a situa­tional examination of societal priorities that one program can be said to be better or worse than any other then perhaps this bar­rier can be torn down and we can come to a deeper appreciation for each other and what each does and come closer together as a whole. This is something I would be thankful for.

Comments and. feedback are always welcome.

The Editor is always interested in bear­ing different viewpoints.

Comments can be directed to either: iwarrior@engmail.uwaterloo.ca

or mjpigozz@engmail.uwaterloo.ca

iron warrior highlights

•

4 What's up with ATOP Now that its a reality how are engineering students affected?

6 SCUNT - almost How one student missed his chance

7 A 'Frosh' Perspective First installment of a new IW feature

The Iron Warrior Friday. October 15. 1999

10

11

Engineering ... Part Time? Explore a career path you may not have considered before

Formula SAE Decoma International teams up with FSAE

W1lMW)R The Magazine of the University of

Waterloo Engineering Society

Editor - in - Chief

Mat Pigozzo

Assistant Editor

Tania Bortolon

Layout Editor

Richard Kuttner

Advertising Editor

Nick Gaganiaras

Photography Editor

Brad Ellis

Staff

WilAbel Allison Annan Sabrina Foster

Alison Kudelka Aaron Lebia

Caroline Page Mary Robinson George Roter

Luke Windisch Zhan Huan Zhou

New Staff

Shaun Chen Tom Choi

Danny Chow Raja Doake

Matt Gagliardi Krista Glemser

Matt Held Kristina Hotz Yi-Pin Hsiao Andrew Lin

Ryan Morton Andrea Martins

Stephanie Purnell Steven Samborsky

Maria Simoes Le Wang

Evan Wilson ShingoYuki

Yang-Yang Zhang

Contributors

Meli sa Bond Criffer Castleton Peter Cresswell

Christos Sarakinos Ryan Stammers

The Iron Warrior is • forum for thought provokjng and infonnalive articles published by the Engineering Society. Views expressed in The lron Warrior are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Engineering Society. The Iron Warrior encourages submissions from stu· denlS, faculty and members of the university commu­nity. Submissions should reflocI the concerns and intelloclUal standards of the university in general. The aUlhor's name and phone number should be included. All submis ions, unless otherwise stated. become the property of The Iron Warrior. which reserves the right to refuse publication of material which it deems unsuitable. The (ron Warrior also reserves the righl 10 edit grammar, spelling and text that do not meet universitx smndards. Authors will be notified of any major changes that may be required. Mail should be addressed to The Iron Warrior, Engineering Society, CPH 1327. University of Waterloo. Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 301. Our phone number is (519) 888-4567 x2693. Our fax number is (519) 725-4872. E·mail can be senl 10

;warrior@engmaiLuwarer/oo.ca

• • • I

Are the changes in academic and administrative service a ben­efit or hindrance to students?

Point

George Roter

Class of '99

T he first week of a new term became a little Ie s hectic this year, and people are complaining. Beginning a term usually involves a plethora of different tasks, almost none of which are enjoy­

able. Interacting with new professors, receiving grueling cour e out­lines, selecting term-project topics, signing-up Campus Recreation teams, timetable changes, Engineering Society meetings , and Iron Warrior meetings - these are ju t a few of the chores greeting students upon returning to campus. The familiar walk to the Red Activity area of the PAC, however, is happily absent. There is no more on-campus registration, and this fact is pure bliss.

Nicely emulating a walk down death row, where each step brings clos­er a predetermined fate, the lunch-time trip to the PAC during the first week of classes was a source of great pain for all students returning to campus. All walked that final flight of stairs up to the Red Activity area (RED, to signify the greate t depth of hell) before emerging into "death valley" - death for all of the valuable seconds murdered by the long queues that imprisoned students for upwards of an hour before handing-over a cheque for $2500. Not this year, however, becau e the Registrar' office implemented a policy that all registration would take place through the mai l. The reaction of most students was precisely contrary to what logic might dictate. Instead of rejoicing at the rein-ani. n 1./1 r ci u aiti h ur . th t may .a w 11 hav n

written-off at the beginning of their Bachelor's Degree, students com­plained that another inconvenience had been contrived by the univer-ily administration. Does completing a cheque and dropping it in a

mailbox at any opportune time constitute an inconvenience? Or rather, is it not more inconvenient to be herded into a queue I ike lambs for the slaughter?

Additionally, there are possible savi ngs in this proces for the admin­istration. Instead of activating an entire army of laff to handle the huge three-day inOux of students, the opportunity exists to spread the job of processing student registration over a longer period of time. Even assuming that all students waited until the la t possible moment to mail their registrations, and all arrived al the University on precise­ly the same day, handling envelopes is much more efficient than han­dling students in person. This translates into a less costly process for the administration, sav ings that will ultimately be rea lized by the stu­dent . With a seemingly endless reduction in education transfer pay­ments from the government, every dollar counts.

Unfortunately, the "herd mentality" objections to any modification in routine have again turned students against the University administra­tion even when they have accomplished something positive. Students should encourage this type of "streamlining" and persuade the University to take it one step further·by establishing an electronic pay­ment system. The University administration is finally making deci­sions with the proper mentality, coincidentally saving students a great amount of time and pain in the process, but their actions continue to be denigrated. This kind of blind resistance to change is the force blocking positive accomplishment; it is unconslructive in nature and results in poor decisions in the future. Applause shoul9 ring-out for the administration on the abolition of on-campus registration and any decisions of this kind in the future.

Counterpoint

Mat Pigozzo

2B Mechanical

Who exactly does the administration of this univer ity serve? The stu­dents or their own interests? It 's interesting to note that with tuition levels consistently increasing, payment options are decreasing.

Presumably, with increased enrollment this will 'streamline' the system (which meam the administration will have an easier time collecting fees). But it also means that many students will have a harder time paying their fees. In short, the university is demanding more from its slUdents, but returning less. If streamlin­ing is the true aim, there are other ways to accomplish that. internet registration and payment of fees for example (which has long been a service at many other instituions).

Those who read the editorial la t issue are aware of how recent changes to the fee structure affected myself personally this term and undoubtedly many other unsuspecting students as well. I will brietly recollnt the events:

I took a morning off work in Jate august to be in the Waterloo area to pay my fees. SIlty me forgot my cheque book. I did have a bank card and thus waited for the banks to open and withdrew thirty-one crisp hundred dollar bills. I toddled off to school to pay my fees. I waited through a curiosly short line at the cashier's office ( 1 attribute<\ it to being the earliness of the morning). When

was fees by cheque or money order through the mail or the drop box in Needles Hall. r was stunned! What pos"ihle rationale could there be for thi,,? I asked her and the only r~sJl()ns I !!ot \~a~ thatlhl~ l'IH\I1I'~' \\ ,IS ill dkc1 lor Itll'

last term.

Why hadn't I heard of this') Why W.hll't there a ~pL'{'iallllltic~' in Illy .. 'gistratioll package? After this, I checked the pm:kagl' and found that It was Pll"l' lll11l thnc (however inoceuollsly). So I suppose I am at lault for not rcadlllg th ' II' ,isllatloll info kit we all gel every \1I11C we regist ... ·r for a term ( 'rlol1collsly ,ISSUlllillt! the info stayed fundamentally the samc and illiportant changes welc adv 'II\S(;(\). Bllt this does not excuse the fact that this change was madc. As a result of thcs\.' changes. my cheque did not male it in time and I've b~cll c:harpl.'t! tht' fifty dol lar late penally - needless to say. I was not imprcs!\ed.

This whole situation is all about options. The root proolem with these change. is how they greatly limit the options a student has to pay haslhcr fees .. I-or those who pay by mail before the term commences. there is no issue. Things for them will not skip a beat. Those who lind altcmatives to this regime more convenient to their needs; however, arc having their options systl'matica\ly elimintatcd -which can be particularly trying considering this is financilll options we are talk­ing about and money is tight for many now and getting ever tighter as tuition continues to soar. Electronic payment is out. but apparently cash is as well. Such a technologically prestigious school a~ we attend should have more appropriate systems of payment (i.e. internet banking, debit cards - which were newly added as a payment method for the last winter tenn, but have now been removed again)

It is unreasonable to assume that a system serving so many will be able to cater to the needs of every individual; but, every effort should be made to optimize the versatility of the system to maximize the ability of the system to accomodate the needs of the student body. The administrative bodies that determine the operat­ing protocols of such infrastructures as registration and fee payments have a responsibility to the students and the institution to enact policies that will better the ser.vice capabilities of the various departments across campus for the better­ment of all parties.

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 prevalent issues relevant to engineers. They are not intended as a statemelll of fact.

The Iron Warrior Friday, October 15. 1999 •

Stephanie Purnell

lA Chern

Why is tuition so high? Tuition has been increased this year as a resu lt of the

Ac~ess to Opportunities Program (ATOP), a program implamented through a joint effort between the govern­ment of Ontario, the universities and colleges of Onatrio, and private corporate sponsors.

What exactly is ATOP? Recently, the government has been made aware of a

growing need for "skilled information technology work­ers" in the workforce. Private corporations have expressed that expansion in Ontario is being stunted by the lack of computer and engineering graduates. In response, the government developed ATOP. The Provincial budget of 1998 allows for $l50 million dollars, over a three-year period, to double the enrollment in high­demand university programs (such as those involving computers and technology), and to increase enrollment in related college programs by 50%. The government offered incentives to the universities to take part in this program: the opportunity to deregulate tuition, as well as a grant from the government to handle the influx of new students .

Why did the University of Waterloo agree to ATOP? The university declined the proposal at first. Among

other reasons, it was not feasible to increase the computer science, computer engineering and electrical engineering programs by 100%. These programs already made up 7% of the student population ; to up that figure to 14% would drasticall y change the face of the student bod y. Waterloo

was also uncertain as to the benefit~ of de-regulation, and had a task force investigating the matter separate from the government proposal.

In the end; however, Waterloo decided to accept ATOP. Changes were made to the original agreement, making the transition smoother, and the task force studying de-regu­lation decided that it would be beneficial to the university.

The Access to Opportunity Program has provided Waterloo with funds, which appear in two forms. The first is an initial sum used to accommodate the large number of new students. This one-time start-up grant (based on the number of extra students enrolled) goes towards renova­tions, purchasing lab equipment, and any other one-time costs. Further more, a grant (again based on enrollment figures) is given to the university and is used to hire TA's, professors, and to cover other ongoing expenses accrued by the university as a result of the extra students. This money is completely separate from the revenue generated from the university's tuition hikes.

So •.. why the tuition hike? Well, the simple answer is: because it's legal now.

Before, the government controlled tuition increases; now they don't. So the university can charge as much as they deem fit. The extra money is split; part goes to Needles Hall, and part goes to Engineering. The Engineering Faculty then distributes this money to the departments from which the money was generated. The departments must spend this money and report back.

How is this money spent? The needs of each department are unique, so the

money is put to many different uses. For example, the engineering accreditation board of Ontario decided that engineering students are required to complete a design project that incorporates more than one of their courses,

and are required to fully construct their de ign. This is a very expensive project. Part of the fees go here.

The difference with these fees is that we get to see where they are being put to use. We can object to any unreasonable use ofthis revenue. (If you would like to see a budget report, please ee the undergrad office).

By the ATOP agreement, only computer and electrical engineering had to increase their enrollment. So, why bas all of engineering had its tuition deregulated?

It was an all or nothing ultimatum that was issued from the government. Either all university programs were deregulated, or none of them would be. Engineering, com­puter science, and optometry have seen a 19% increase this year, and all other program have seen an increase of 9%.

Are first year students the only ones affected? No. It would be unfair to increase only the first year

students' tuition if unexpec ted expenses came up, so all of engineering has had its tuition deregulated.

. What does all this mean? Students who would have otherwise been turned away

are currently taking classes. The university will be able to afford to build new facilities and to upgrade old ones. Corporations will have ample supply of graduates from which to hire. .

It also means that from now on, it is going to become harder and harder to finance a university education. Graduating with a huge debt load will become the norm, even with the Co-op program to help cover the costs. The university will soon be accepting only the students that can pay for their degree. For a long time, the goal has been to accept those applicants who are capable and enthusiastic about learning; but this will most likely change in the next while. The students who are capable and very bright, but not financially wealthy, will be unable to attend university, and the high ~tandard of academic achievement will dwindle. The quality of a program is based on the students, not the price of tuition.

The Effects Of ATOP On My Life

Maria Simoes

lA Comp

As a first year computer engineel11lg stud.ent, ATOP (Access to Opportunities Program) can be said to have profoundly affected my life. Coming in to

the .University of Waterloo, I had been told that engineer­ing class sizes were being reduced, or at least, kept to a minimum. Imagine what a great surprise it was to find out that I was one of approximately 300 first year computer engineering students.

The increased influx of students into my chosen pro­gram will continue to alter my life. Come winter, I will be competing with approximately two divisions of computer engineers, and eight hundred computer science students, for top junior-level computer work placements. The num­bers seem even worse when you consider that to get a gen­eral engineering placement, the competition encompasses even more first year engineers. The people at Needles Hall, and those responsible for pladng students with co­op jobs maintain that raising the l1umbers of students will not in any way limit the jobs available to first year stu­dents. Still, the task ahead seems daunting, not only to myself, but to my peers. Our minds may be assured that we will be able to find workterm placements; yet, we still FEEL that our futures lay on uncertain ground .

Workterm placements aside, ATOP raises many other significant is ues, mainly those regarding the deregulation of tuition within the Engineering and Computer Science Faculties. The goverment no longer controls the tuition levels for these programs. Rather, the University sets its own fee levels and rates. For this reason, my peers and I now pay approximately $3000.00 per single term, where­as other students (in a variety of faculties, in a variety of Universities) pay only aroun $4000 per two terms. Before heading for Waterloo this summer, my friends and I compared our respective university tuition fees. By far, I had the largest sum to pay (and this was not even includ­ing the costs of book and boarding).

This being the first year of its implementation, ATOP has not yet had time to prove itself. The money generat­ed by the program will be valuable in financing faculty fees . Furthermore, it will allow for more students to enter the Computer Science or Computer Engineering Programs at the University of Waterloo. In the past, the low enrollment numbers limited students' opportunities within these fields. Now that opportunites have broad­ened, more students will have the chance to fulfill their dreams, while imultaneously increasing the numbers of those trained in the fields of computers and technology, within the workforce.

When I first found out that I'd actually been admitted into the Computer Engineering Program at the University of Waterloo, I was blown away. I could not believe it. For

• The Iron Warrior Friday, October 15, 1999

one of the first times in my life I felt special , one of a di s­tinct few who had been granted the opportunity of a life­time. I had previously heard that only approximately one hundred and fifty of the brightest students in Canada were given the distinction of being able to caU themselves Computer Engineering Frosh at Waterloo. Then I came here, and found out that I was not one in one hundred and fifty, rather, I was one in three hundred. I know that it may sound silly, but, the feeling of being special has kjnd of dissappeared. It has been replaced by the feeling that I was only admitted into Computer Engineering to satisfy a certain quota; so that I could unwittingly help generate money for the University.

Maurice Abbey, Abdolrez Abhari, Arif Abji, Daniel lewis Abrams, Robert Allen Adams, Sheri Adamson, Nana OSei Addae, Jai Aggarwal, Gulzar Ahmad, Cindy Priscilla Ah-Yuen,

Rawan Al-Ghosen, Ach-Ary Alhabo, Nabeela Ali, Nadia Ali. Anmar A1-Khafaji. Rodney David Anan, Meghan Allen, Karim Allidina, Jeries Alsayegh. Patrida Ambroise, Hoda

Amiri, Paul Asija. Christopher Askwith, EThan Asliturk, Wissam Assaad, Nour AtToshi, Jason Au, Giles Babin, Robert Baron, James Alexander Bartlett, BrabakaTan Baskaran,

Pascal Bastien, Joel Beaulieu, Jamie Beck, Hosnara Begum, Eliane Belanger, PaulSelangeT, Colin Belcourt,Joel Belcourt, Alain Beflehumeul'. Kader Benbrahlm,leffrey Benenati,

Dominic Bergeron, Annie Bernatchez., Peter Bernier. Rahul Bhardwaj, Jarod Bickle, Dina Bilenkis. Scott Birksted, Vadim Bishtein. Jarrod Blackburn, Marc Andrew Blais, Sean

Blake, Joseph Bokhaut. Philippe-Andre Bonneau, Forrest Malcolm Boomer, Shannon Borho, Phillip Daniel Borm, Jean Botembe. Phoebe Botros, Heath Bott, Enoch Boulet,

Matthew Robert Brash, Christopher Brouse. Jordin Brown, Ryan Brunner, Alan Brunton. Scott Bryant. Helen Buie, Karin Buist. Carleton University. Nicolas Carpentier.

Guillaume Chamberland-Larose, Sean Richard Charlebois, Thomas Chatain, Kwok Hong Vincent Cheng, Michefle Cheng, Kevin Cheung, Kenny Cheung. Mathieu-Andre

Chiasson, Meng-Han Chiasson, Matthew Stephen Chmiel, Efim Chor, Ryhan Choudhury. Carolyn Chow, Jennifer Chow, Joahua Norman Cimmo, Dustin Clark, Robert Collier,

Caleb Cond.ly Cong,Jean-Philippe Cormier, lucas Corvino, Neil Roderick Costford, Marc-Alexis Cote. Victoria CowIe, Grace Cox, Je ey Craft, Kyle Craig. Jeffrey Cushen. Royce

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Dawson,. Patrick Decoste, Michael Delage, Jeeliyana Delancharles, Jea Ch Dellanoy. David Adam Demers Anthony So sa, David Oe 5ch, Marte Deverno,

ChTi~'Pher DeVries, Deepti Dewan, Ra~t Dhillon, Tanya Di Cesare,Etk Ke OW:harrne,

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Sinclair, Crystal L Sirard, Sir Sanford Reming College, Ken Situ, Kajendran Sivanayagamoorthy, Pawel Skorupski, Andrew Smith, Tr vor Smith, R Jason Smith, Andrew Thoe

Yee Soon, Michael Sowka, Christopher st. Am ad, Andrew Staples. Ian Henry Stefani son, Nicole Steinert, Colin Winiam Stewart, Ann Stewart, MOos Stojmenovic, Jean Francois

St-Pierre, Peter Su, Ganapriya Suntharalingam, Krishnakumar SuntharampiUai, Sebastian S)'Szkowicz, Michal Szczesniak, Peter Tamon, Jackie Tam, Soumeya Tart1, Ryan

Donald Taylor, Cory Taylor, Yannick Tellier, Richard Tenn, lude TeSSier, Marisa Tessier, Mythily Thadchanamoorthy, Dieu Van Thai. Yogesh Thaur, Stephanie Agnes Thuemen,

Pirapagaran Thurairajah, Olivier Charles Tolszczuk-Jalbert, Brian Tong. Kuo-Feng Tong, Mickey Tran, Winnie Tran. Hoang Tran, Trinh Tran, Winnie Tran, Lan Thi Kim Tran,

Jeremy Tremblay, louis Tremblay, Tracy-Lynn Tudc:er, Sean Nathan Tudor, Charles Ukabam. University of Ottawa, University of Waterloo, DereK Van Gaa1, Robert Vanden

Hoven, Such ita Varma, Sandra Veledar, Petro Verkhogliad, Daniel Aurele Vernier, Sergey Vershinin, Alexei Vichnevetski, leah Vilhan, David Voorberg, Christopher Vuong,

Faranza Walji, Darragh Walsh. Ian Myles Walton, Vi Wang, Jack Wang, Steven Wan-Kam, James Ward, Christopher Warrington, Stephen Warrington, Richard Waugh, Anthony

Whitehead, Karen Wmi~mson, Ryan Wilson. Benjamin Wf1son, James Douglas Winger. Nicolas Wojcik, Christopher Wolfenden, Samuel Wong. Kris Andrew Woodbeck,

William Matthew T. Workman, Thomas Wozeni1ek. Aaron Patrick Earl Wrightly, Si Yuan Wu, Hong Wu, Muran Yang, Joseph Yeung,

Michael York, Richard Youmaran, Cheryl M. Young, Benjamin larboni. Kristian Zebarth, Qi Zhang,

JUN Zhang, Yahong Rosa Zheng, Stevan ZOnjic.

The I ron Warrior Friday, October 15, 1999 •

-----------~------------------:-------------

• ls-a

of ~ventures

Evan Wilson

lA Comp

I n a perfect world, there'd be a SCUNT every day. In a perfect world, we'd get to improvise the flux capacitor u ing only a hot wheels car, six marbles and a bowl of

porridge. In a perfect world, everyone would get a chance to grovel before Scunt Gods whenever they pleased. The world would indeed be perfecl. A world of hard hat and caffeine and big, giant wrenche around every comer.

unfortunately, to quote South Central's poet laureate, Ice-T, "Stuff ain't like that." Yes, I had high hopes for Scunt participation, but things came up, and by noon, I found myself without a team. With my shoulders slumped, I made it through the day. And, a few hours later, the night, the both of them being scuntless. However, I told the editor of this fine rag that I was interested in writing a Scunt article. An hour by hour Scunt report through the wide eyes of a virgin like myself. He liked the idea.

A I trudged into see Mr. Pigozzo earlier this morning, 1 shook like hurricane ravaged shrubbery. I was scared ... and for all of the right reasons. My hand did not hold the article that he wanted so badly. Had I been holding it, the prose would have been illegible due to the dampne s that was once my hand. As I recounted my story to Hi Highness, hi choler rose and my own collar did the same a he took my throat is his hand, bellowing, "How could you fail me," he roared. "Write something about what you didn't do. I need copy, dammit!" swore this stubble-head­ed, slightly crazed Jonah Jamison. As I stumbled away, his goatee glared at me as if to say "If you don't have something in th e nobby hands f ours by n xt Thursday, I'll per onally tear you a new armpit. " This is what it's like working for Mr. Pigozzo. Neither he, nor his facial hair, like to be disappointed.

So, I'll start from the start. My day began when I opened my virginal eyes to the glorious day of Scunting ahead. 1 was excited as my body filled with the adrenal fluid caused by, and necessary for, the excitement and intensity of the oncoming Scunt. My hand then hit the snooze button.

As I woke up once again 9 minutes later, I was over­come by that same good weird feeling, however, this time I was capable of standing and looking into the bullet-like slin that attacks only the most inexperienced sleep

cunt deprived engineer.

However, the day, like that retina-tighteni ng sun, was filled with hope. Scunt was comi ng. Scunt was almost here. Just 8 more hours, and maybe, just maybe, it could be me taking a road trip to some far off outpost like Ottawa or Montreal, scouring land near and far for items that only the most resourceful could find or build. The Scunt Gods were my Magwitches, helping to fulfill my own Great Expectations.

But, as [ mentioned earlier, things didn't work out quite a I planned. I had no team. The day wa agonizing. I wa hardly able to concentrate on anything. I tossed and turned violently as I slept through my classes. My hand­writing became more and more illegible, causing me to consider switching schools and enroll ing myself into a pre-med program. And why not? If I wasn't going to do the Scunt, could 1 ever really be a true engineer?

At three thirty that afternoon, the silver lining of the ScuntGods came blazing through the dark cloud over my head. I went to speak to them abo~t finding a team for me to join, and I nearly wept tears of joy as their near-ethere­al voices told me that a team by the name of the Stone Cutters just might accept me.

I made the call from the phone under the stairs across from Wedge. I was chastised for being a cheap bastard, but an invincible layer of rubber coated me as I made my call, because I was about to join the Scunt. I could live again! Unfortunately, the head Stone Cutters weren't in , but I left a message telling them to get back to me. All that was left to do now was wait.

Of course, I couldn't wait for my call under those stair, becau e I gave that 'Benevolent Goddess Who Got Me Into The Scunt' my phone number back at the REV. If I hadn't, I would have been fully prepared to wait there until my call came in. Like a Star Wars fan jonesing for his next hit of campy space opera, I would have waited through anything for my ticket to happiness .

As I embarked on my journey home to await my de -tiny, I felt like Jack Nicholson playing R.P. McMurphy at the beginning of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. " I was on easy street. Things were going my way now. However, much like McMurphy, things didn't tum out exactly as expected.

So, when] got back to my room, I sat down with a good book, put some Tom Jone on the phonograph, and relaxed as I awaited my call from the Stone Cutter's "Number One." Time however, wa beginning to slip

away. Word had gotten to me that another team, the KGB was taking all comers. I called.

One ring. Two ring. Three ring. "Hello, I'm not home. Leave a message." "Tarnation," I swore to myself. But I left a mes age

anyway. I had hope. Good thing can happen to people. Especially on Scunt night. Magical things can happen -and often do.

By that time, it was 6:00. I had to go eat. rate. However, half heartedly. The other half was out calling to the Scunt, hoping that I would hear its siren call.

I was back to my floor by around 7. Watched some tv. Hung out with the guys ... Waited ...

At 8:30, I went to my room to grab some shoes. It wa bonfire night at Columbia Lake. EDCOM took us to Columbia Lake once. EDCOM were Scunt Gods. Maybe, just maybe, through all the din of cracking logs, s'mores, and umpteen renditions of the Van Morrison clas­sic "Brown-Eyed Girl", I would find Scunt there, and reap the benefits of its magical sleep deprivation techniques.

10:00, I returned to village. Ghostbusters was on. I was back up. Ghostbusters was a cure. I was happy again. r needed to keep this high up. Couldn't back down. Need ... to ... watch ... more ... classic .. . comedy ...

'Monty Python and the Holy Grail ' and 'The Jerk' could do the trick, and r knew it.

I barely made it through Python. By that time it was 1 :00 and I was exhausted. I went to up to bed. But before Ilay down, I checked my messages.

Tarnation, again! Both teams had called back! I missed them both. One of them called just moments before I came to put on my hoes for the bonfire.

As r lay there with tears streaking down my whiLhered, disappointed, weather beaten face, I could only wonder why my phone wasn't plugged in, with its red beacon of hope flashing to tell me that my hopes and wishes had come true.

In tead, the crimson lighthou e didn't hine that night, and my dreamboat was led a tray to crash into the rocks at shore.

The horror. The horror.

nowhere to grow but U P Christos

Sarakinos lA Elec

Come to Waterloo; get and education. That proba­bly wasn't on any of the volumes of literature that was ent to your front doorstep, over the summer,

but it was certainly the general idea. Who among us can honestly say that they're not getting an education? I can't; in fact, I'm learning a hell of a lot. I spend all day in lec­tures hearing about Mean Value Theorem (MVT), Matrices, Molecules, Momentum and Machine Code. Yet, thus far, the majority of what I've learned has been about My elf.

The supreme irony is this: the more I learn about my elf, the more I realise that it is the things that I was taught over the past eighteen years - the things that I never noticed I was absorbing - that matter the most. Granted the profs contribute to my betterment, and granted I still have a lot to figure out on my own, but it i my upbring­ing which allows me to adapt and thrive (hopefully) in this new environment.

Seriously though, analysing one's self is not an easy

task. Even the useful scientific concepts learned in class prove to be inadequate for such introspection. Indulge me while [ illustrate thi and read on.

MVT: Were I to plot my mood as a function of time . over a period of even day, I would get a very ugly look­ing graph indeed. The MVT tells me that there must be ome point at which the rate of change of my moods is

equal to the average rate of change over the given period. ow, as uming for a moment that there was a way to

quantify moods, I should try to maintain that slope so a to reduce the stress of various rapid changes. Alas, it i not that imple.

Matrices: The object of most elementary matrix oper­ation is to make the matrix look as pretty as possible to olve for the unknown variable. To accomplish this, zero

rows must be moved to the bottom and all rows with in­gle ones must tay at the top. Unfortunately, in life, there are far too many unknown factors, let alone unknown vari­ables.

Molecule: Among promiscuou little atoms, it is a well-known fact that ize doe matter. Although we are similar to the atom in that respect, we have an additional concern: namely, protection. When i the last time you saw an oxygen atom que tioning the hydrogen atom about

its previous partners? Momentum: The first and rather crude definition of

momentum that I ever learned wa that "objects like to keep on doing what they are already doing." As wonder­ful a the equations relating momentum are, they are lim­ited when it comes to minimising my momentum when I find myself procra tinating.

Machine Code: As far as I have been able to ascertain, the key to programming is logic. It i the only means by which man and machine communicate. I would be both relieved and elated if I could simply apply reason to inter­personal problems. but, Spock put it best when he stated that "human are highly illogicaL"

Given the great contrast between the circumstances at home and tho e here at Univer ity, we are all forced to mature in some way. It is as my driving instructor always said when I'd get onto the highway: "Now, you are play­ing with the Big Boys and you have to act like it." I have no Mommy to wash my clothes, no Daddy to pick me up from school, no Lil' Sis' to confide in when things get lough. Self understanding and self reliance have become the requirements for survival. I have no where to grow but up.

• The Iron Warrior Friday. October 15. 1999

Krista Glemser

lA Ellviro CiI'

T he life of a frosh is initially surrounded by mystery. This make us easy to spot for the fir t few week because of the dazed and confused look in our

eyes. Being a stream four student, I was deeply mystified by

the "co-op program". During the my first co-op lecture many of its deep and dark secrets, like the Acce system, were uncovered. I remained puzzled; however, about one thing (okay, that's a lie, actually many things still puzzle me). My main concern was where do we drop off our resumes? Thankfully, due entirely to the rise in co-op fees, the University of Waterloo was able to hire a telepathic

peaker who read my mind and re ponded with. "In th bin, locat­ed in eedle Hall". On 'e ond thought, maybe the peaker wasn't telepathic, becau, e if they w re the) would have realized that it was rime to end the meeting be au e everyone. including my, elf. wa getting bored and hun­gry by five o'clock,

It was through the rumbling in m) tomach, that the litde devil who i u. ually . ound a, leep on my

shoulder, wa rudely awakened. It was at that very moment, when the following plan came into Illy mind. The e elu , ive bins in eedle Hall could help me get an edge in the job earch proce s. I would . imply remove some or all of the re urnes of the other tudent. leaving only my own, thus guaranteeing me at the very least an interview. h wa brilliant. However, I can take no person­al respon ibility for the plan ince it really wasn't m idea. With a evilish mirk on my face, 1 strolled into ccdlcs Hall to find the bin .

To my di may, the bins were not what I expected. There wa only a tiny slit at the top, just room enough to slide a re ume through. How were my finger, let alone my whole hand suppo. e to fit through there? My brllliant plan was foiled. I'm gue sing that the ame telepathic speaker from the first lecture had read my mind and alert­ed administration, who then ordered the installation of the

thefl-proof bin . During one of the ioren ely intere. ting co-op lectures,

we were informed that there wa a huge number of new job being called in daily. So many, in fact, that we were going to be allowed to submit up to twenty-four resumes, up from the original eighteen. In regards to thi apparent intlu of job. I think the me sage got a bit confu ed. Like when you playa big gam of telephone with kids, and the phrase L uppo e to be 'University of Waterloo engineers are the smartest and mo t talented people in the whole world.' But excited little Tommy jumps up and blurts out, "University of Toronto engineer. are the smartest and mo t talented people in the whole world." Oops! This just goes toho\,,. how easily a me, sage can get mixed-up.

Gelling back 10 co-op, what I think the mes age should have been was there i an influx of technical com­put r rdated jobs. The. ' computer job descriplion con­tained many foreign words, like WindO\ s T, Unix, and Ja\a. I'v recently been told C++ is a computer language, 1 thought it was my grade on thl.: physics a . ignment. The combination of my . hamcful lack of computer knowledge and the continuing drought of environmental engineering jobs means I probably won't be able to find twenty-four position to apply to. So. on the last po ting day. you'll find me fighting the mas. of people in the extremely nar­row hallway of eedle Hall, randomly shoving my resumes into any old bin. [' e always liked the number seven, eighty-three. and one hundred and fourteen, , 0

what the heck'> Afterward, I'll just sit back, cros my fin­gers. and wait until round two.

A Frosh Perspective (The Inane Ramblings and Rantings of Frustrated Frosh)

Shaun Chen ? --fA Camp

Maria Simoes

lA Camp

A the Village One cafeteria clock strides past the 3 A.M. mark, we ask ourselves, "Why?" "'Why' what?", you may say? Why do we (engineers)

have 29 hours of weekly cla ses when the arts students have only IS? Why do we have absolutely NO electives? Why are we pulling all-nighters, when it's only the second week of school?l?l?

As we all know, the tranistion from High School to University is probably hard for everyone, but for us poor Engineering Frosh, the transition is about as mooth as a sandpaper massage. "Why?", we ask (take not that we Engineering Frosh are an inquisitive, answer seeking bunch) ... "Why??????" Well, the only possible answers is that Engineering is hard. (Take extra note that we also have a penchant for stating the obvious.)

For most of us, High School had more of a' social atmosphere than an educative one. Sure, we stayed up nights, studied, hard, wrote the Descartes and did every-

Get the picture? If not...Iet us enlighten you. We are the ones who're wandering around, lost and confused amidst the knowledgeable. Frightened, we do not understand you when you peak of POETS, the Orifice, P**5 points or any of the other things that have encompassed your life for well over a year. We get lost in OWE; to us it is as much of a labyrinth as the MC building. Sure, we try to put on a poised and confident outward appearance, but under­neath, we still long for the children we once were, living at home, in places that were both comfortable and famil­iar.

Having never before taken University level midterms, we're not exactly ure what we should expect. We've heard that they are, to say the least, challenging, to ay the most, fr 'uking scnry. So far. things have not twen all thlll hard, Evcry once in a whilc, we come across a prohicill that may ~Iighlly stump us . 'lill, it's ht't'l\ relatively eusy, Will midtl!fms be llHIlCHSY'! Oil, we i-oure hop ~().

Okay, there it is . 1 (opcfully. you non-frosh now remember and ulluerswnd the life of a fled 'ling engineer. Double hopefully lhat our fellow frosh-matcs will read this and realiz;c that they'r' nol alone, that people have felt, do feel, and will con tinu ' to feel the way thal lhey feel now. So, we'll stop rambling and ranting and scream· ing to the general world now. Heck, we had beltcr save some screaming power for aft.er midterms, right?

Getting Involved Matt Gagliardi

lA Mech

September is over and I, as well as all other Frosh, am happy to have the first month at university under my belt. This first month has been an adventure for

most of us frosh, a step away from home, back into school, and a large step toward the rest of our life. This type of experience can be rather frightening to attempt alone but luckily there are a lot of people around here who are willing to give us Frosh some advice. Friends, older students, the administration, and just about every person we meet are willing, and do, pass on some snippet of advice on how to cope with the new university life. I have been inundated with advice and sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in a sea of conflicting messages. One of the most advised areas of my new university life is what to do with the work, and how not to screw up. I have had the ultimatums from parents and professors that schoolwork

is the most important thing. This is a very good piece of advice, I am paying a large sum of money to study here at university and that should be where my time is concen­trated. The only problem is that I have also received advice from friends, older students, the dons and leaders, that I should get involved and let the schoolwork suffer a little. This is also a good point, I am going to be living here for the next few years of my life, and I should get to know people, get involved and generally have a life out­side of class. Both arguments are credible for different reasons. Should I focus on the work to make something of my life after university. Or should I make friends and have a life in university just like the students who were in my place recently. It seems like I am trapped between two opposing camps of advice and I must choose one.

Being in lA mechanical engineering 1 have a lot more class time and a lot more work than many other people I have met. This makes the academic pressure even higher. I am in engineering because I want to become an engineer, and therefore looking at my future profession made my decision in this debate. Being an engineer is a demanding

profession academically. We must have a firm grasp on math, on science, on technology and we must not make any mistakes. Often the safety of others is the responsibil­ity of an engineer, when building a bridge there can be no miscalculations. This made me think that academic issue were the most important, until r thought about what else an engineer does. An engineer invents, designs, and solves problems. An engineer must be creative, must be able to work with other peopJe in groups, must be able to com­municate ideas, and must be all this on top of the acade­mic requirements. They can teach us math, science, and technology in a cla s room but they cannot leach us inter­personal skills. Creativity cannot be lectured into us and communication is only mastered through practice.

I am going to become an engineer, but I want to become a complete engineer. I feel that my education would not be complete if I pent all my time working on class work. I have chosen to get involved with other peo­ple, with the newspaper (that you're reading now), with clubs and music. When I graduate I want be able to work with other people as well as I can work with math.

The Iron Warrior Friday. October 15. 1999 •

•

Corel Coding

Challenge

www.corel.com/c3

Welcome to the Corel Coding Challenge. * It's your big chance to take a bite out of staggering textbook and tuition

costs, score leading-edge software and hardware, earn bragging rights for you and your school and have fun

doing it.

H .... •• how It work.: Every month, a new programming problem will be posted on our Web site. All you have

to do is program a solution and send it to us.

The top three coders for each month win cash and prizes, and accumulate points. The next best 50 coders get

points only. Atthe end ofthe contest, the coder with the most points wins the grand prize. What could be easier'?

..... k In on the.ctIon .twww.coreI.com/c3to ..... _ ••• netuncover ....... cIebIl ...

"'The contest is open to all Canadian post-secondary students . Contest ends Sept. 30, 2000. Copynght e 1999 Corel CorporatIOn. All rights reserved.

"

The Iron Warrior Friday. October 15. 1999

CCOREL:

The End Of ~umanity

Zhan Huan Zhou

38 Comp

D uring the industrial revolution, the legendary Ned Ludd broke a knitting frame to spite his father. His outrage inspired a group of English workers

and led to widespread destruction of looms, mechanized typesetters and other devices invented during the industri­al revolution. This was a protest against the new tech­nologies that allowed unskilled workers to produce goods at the same level as experts. The Luddites, as these pro-

testers came to be known, felt that the technolog threat­ened their way of life. The thought technology had gone too far! But what does the phra e 'technology ha gone too far' actually mean? Some would ugge ' ( that is just a catch­phrase with no reaJ meaning, concocted to grab the atten­Lion of tho e without a brain of their own. Others may argue that there i a deeper meaning, questioning our own humanity. By ad ancing our technology. our, pe ies i. 10 ing touch with OUf ymbi.osi, with the Earth and the elements. Perhap technology ha gone too far. The large Mennonite population in K-W erve, as a vcr) real exam­ple that we don't need all the high-tech wonders that per­meate our live. Mo, t Mennonite. don't have a radio or televi ion t in their hou es. Some don't even have a car, but travel with a hor e and buggy. Tho e with a car only drive ones that are black and have no radio. They are fully functional in loday's ociety without the electronic 'toys'. Historical analysis indicate. that the Luddites had no fear of 10 ing touch with their humanity. nor wcre they Mennonite. They had no deep rea on for their attacks during the indu trial revolution . The were concerned with one thing, and one thing alone, money! Their our e of income was being threatened by new technologies thar rendered their arti an skill s useless. Despite the Luddite upri sing, they could not stop the force of the industrial revolution. The new technology dominated the workplace and production is more efficient than ever. But even in today's advanced world there is resistance to new technol­ogy. Many elderly individual don't want computers sim­ply because they are afraid of them. They would rather do things the old fashioned way. Indeed, it always appears that the old fashioned way is more humble than the state-of-the-art method, but at what point did technology go too far? Was it when we tam­pered with DNA - the fundamental unit of life? Was it when we tampered with the atom - the fundamental unit of the physical world? Was it when we didn't need to be in the same room to see and hear what was happening? Do televisions, computers, and telephones remove us from our 'humanity' by eliminating the need for face-to-

- ------------------------

Shingo Yuki

28 Systems

Ever since I decided to postpone my dream of nov­elizing "Ernest Saves Christmas" and instead enroll in engineering, I've had this itch to write that just

wouldn't go away. So .here I am writing for the Iron Warrior. I've noticed that writing articles for a student publication is a wonderful catharsis. I really look forward to putting the metaphorical pen to the equally metaphori ­caJ paper. I am tempted to work in the word "glee" in here

. somewhere except that this particular word makes me nauseous. Glee. Ugh.

What is this piece about? Nothing much really. This piece is just a collection of thoughts that have been exter­nalized for the sole purpose of clearing my mind of inane

thoughts. The writing process keeps me sane. I only hope my sanity lasts until December. Imagine what would happen if I just snapped one day while wailing to pay for a samosa in the Engineering C+D. It could really get ugly if I began attacking C+D patrons with my samosa or something like that. Ugh. Of cour e, this is why we have wonderful counse llors in the Engineering Undergarduate Office. Every stud 'nt

saved through the miracles of counsellillg is one less innocent bystander that gets cun'ied potato pastries

shoved up his/her nose . Random Question #575: why IS thirteen (13) regard­

ed a such an unlucky number? I suppose I could do some research and figure lhis one out instead of whining about it, but my deadline i imminent aJld I'm a la7.y guy. Deal with it! It just seems that no one reaJly second-guesses thirteen's inherent unluckiness . They just take it at face value. But why? I mean, there are equally fruslrating prime numbers like 17,19,61, and 33 333 331. Or was that 333 333 331? r always forget. So why THIRTEEN? And Why FRIDAY? Why not Monday (which as far as I'm concerned is a MUCH more miserable day). How come there aren't any movies entitled "Monday the 23rd: Jason Starts Another Looong Week"?

Before I continue rambling on, a word about forklift drivers for those of you who have not yet had a work term in an industrial setting. it is imperative that you be-friend the forklift drivers in your plant. I mean, it's just common

face interaction? Or perhap it was during the industrial revol ution when we first started using the Earth as a toxic wa te dump. Maybe it was when we developed agricul­ture and started to farm and harvest the richness of the land. Better yet. wh not travel all the way back to the begin­ning of our ancestral line and place the blame on stone tools and fire? one of the e example are a satisfactory place 10 draw the line. There was however, one event where everything changed. There was a crucial stage in human de elopment where instead of the environment haping u •. \ e shaped the environment. This was the

birth of ciyilization . That was the poinl in whicll technol­ogy , tartc!d to dehumanize us and we started losing touch with the Earth. We should have Slopped advancing then and there. It is a contradiction both of nature and of human behe­viour to stop advancing, though. Advancement is the very e ence of every specie., especially Homo sapiens sapi­ens. Our species WOll an evolutionary war because of our large brain mass. That large brain helped us develop tools and technology enabling us to survive beller than our competition. Eventually we used technology to make us healthier and live longer. There have been time. ; howev­er. where techno logy ha, cau, ed mass destruction . For example, World War n was a graphic introduction to the power of the atom. Today; however, the same process provides electricity 10 millions of people worldwide who u e it for heat and cooking. We mustn't forg'et, it was humans who started the war and il was humans who flew the bomber and it was humans who detonated the bomb. There is saying that a poor craftsman blames hi tools. In a greater context, it can be interpreted that the irresponsi­ble human race is blaming technology for the destruction of the earth. Technology hasn't gone too far. Technology will not put an end to humanity. Ultimately, it will be humanity that will put an end to humanity.

Take A Zhance has been regularly featured in The Iron Warrior since September 1997, Past articles can be found at

hnp:llwww.eng.uwaterioo.ca/stu<ientlzbzbou. ,:

sense. You don't argue with someone sitting behind the wheel of a machine that is capable of skewering virtually anything lhal crosses its path hke, for instance, a nai.ve co­op student. Forklift drivers are the muscle of any factory and upsetting them means you may end up moving that 40 ton pile of sprockets yourself. After which , of course, you would prompt l salln\ 'r ov(,r to the nur ("s orfiCl' and ilIlIlOUI1(;e thul your Sp lllL' has t 'kscopcd Hnd uu think YOll nwy haw a fll'rJlHI. Th( funllY tllll1 A-1 is , Ill) IIl<ltll.:r hllW

buddy-budd you gx t with fmklift drlvcrs, you'll nevcr find them when YilU Ileed them (yes, they carry pagers ... but do they cuny ballnics?). This is lIluinly because forklift drivers all follow the sucred "Forklift Driver's Law" which states thai a forklift shall not h ' wilh­in a 500 mile radius of anything that needs to be urgently moved (especially if it needs to be moved hy sOllie punk co-op student). Actually, smart drivers will not bolher dri­ving 500 miles, but will circumvent such an efTort by sim­ply hiding. Scientists arc still boggled as to how drivers and their forklifts just vanish at a moment's nOlice. My guess is that they use camaOagc and disguise:

BOB: Hey, Joe I need to move this skid of parts over to shippiJlg ... Have you seen a forklift around?

JOE: Actually Bob, I could have swom I saw one right over by the lathes, but I am obviously mistaken since there is nothing but that benign-looking elephant over there.

----------------------------------~ ----------

The Price $$ $$ Is Right!!!

our parents to come here. However, the ulti­mate price we all have to face is a piece of paper that states that we have to forfeit all our savings for the good of our future. I am refer­ring to the bill of all the expenses we all have to endure throughout the course of university life to afford a higher eductaion.

owner's point of view, you are paying len dollars, NOT ftve for your meal. When you look at it this way, this is not a good price for a decent meal at all. What about snacks? My friend buys a small bag of "Reese's Pieces" and ended up paying five dollars for it. Is that reasonable? Or is that monopoly at work on campus? We are all suck­ers, thinking that we are actually saving money each time we swipe our walCard. Oh well, for that price, at least we don't have to worry about going hungry, right?

Yang-Yang Zhang 00 __ -1 ___ _

fA Comp

As students, we come to university in the pursuit of knowledge, but what price do we pay for the end­less information that is given to us? Most of us

have to leave the comfort of our homes or the security of

Before university started, we all heard mention of the tuition hikes in Canadian universities, but what most of us were unaware of was the relatively high cost of living us poor students must endure. During frosh week, my frosh-Ieaders told us that village food is "poi­son", but they forgot to tell us that it is also expensive as hell. Now, many of you may say that a meal under five dollars is reasonable, however, half of what you initially paid into the meal plan was intended for over-head cOSl'>. What are the over-head co IS? I'd be damned if anyone knows. Basically, if you look at it from the business

The Iron Warrior Friday, October 15. 1999 • "

two Peter Cresswell

28 Systems

T he nuclear age, with all its fantas tic potential, is an exci ting time. It offers to the world tremendous power and possibilities in exchange for one. imple

th ing: responsibility. With this in mind, [ am quite disap­pointed with the recent failure of the international com­munity to uphold thei r end of the deal.

To il lustrate: a story. OUf tale begins in early July, 1999, with two ships

named Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal, both owned and operated by Paci fi c Nuc lear Transport Limited; and en route from Britain to Japan with a small stop in France. Unu ual? Not really. On board these two cargo ves els is roughly 400 kilograms of plu tonium fuel ca ll ed MOX. This fuel, prepared by the British state owned British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), is rather controversial due to the uncertainty of its stabili ty.

BNFL, with its own studies in hand, claims it to be safe; a report by Frank Barnaby of the Ox ford Research Group claims the exact opposite and concludes that MOX fuel cannol be safely made wi thout rendering it uneco­nomical. And so the question begin.

Despi te the best efforts of Greenpeace, both ships set sail on July 19th destined for Japan along a rou te which was never revealed. Their travelling plans remained a mystery. Even governments en rou te were not informed that an armoured shipment of plutonium would be pass ing through their respective regions. This quickly prompted

tae 0 S

official prote t from many groups including the govern­ments of New Zealand and 27 other Caribbean countries.

Onward they sailed in secrecy for over a month, ignor­ing government protests and que lions about the safety of their cargo until finally, on September 2nd, Greenpeace was informed that a crew member of one of the two ves­sel. was airlifted to the safety of a hospital in Perth, Australia via an Au tralian long-range helicopter. That day, the New Zealand government passed a motion criti­cizing Japan, England and France for their role in the affair and the ir lack of warning about the path of these ships.

But still, onward they went despite all growing ten­sions, opting to power their way through til l Japan or bust. With approximately 3 weeks o f ailing left and already more than a month into their voyage, BNFL drops a bomb (no pun intended) on the entire situat ion by admitting to fals ify ing the afety data accumulated in the production of the MOX fuel on board the two vessels. On September 24th, Greenpeace held a press statement say ing that all assurances by BNFL about MOX safety should be ignored and that an independent analysis should be performed. Said Sanae Shilda of Greenpeace Japan, "BNFL and Kansai (a Japanese uti li ties company receiving the ship­ment) cannot be permitted to be both judge and jury in th is scandal. "

Still they sail ed on. With less than 24 hours to go before the arrival of the

now controvers ial fuel, the plot takes another incredible tum: Japan has its worst nuclear accident to date at a reac­tor in Tokaimura, seriously injuring 3 workers and forcing 3 10,000 local v illagers to become temporary prisoners in their homes. After the accident, Hiromu Nonakas, Japan's

• IpS

chief spokesperson, had the following statement "I understand that this type of accident was een in the I 950s. As a modern nation, it's shameful that th is that accident happened." Upon inve ligation, it was deter­mined that afety tandards were violated when workers put more than 6 times the safe amount of plutoni um into the reactor. Apparently BNFL was not the only one trying to cut corners and break afety rule.

And still the two ships sai led on carrying over 400 kilograms of arguably unstable plu tonium . The irony of having these ships wait offshore unti l the nuclear leak was contained and cleaned up is far too scary for laughter. It's simply rid iculous.

With everyth ing cleaned up, the deadly MOX fuel fi na ll y arrived at its destination. Now, the many questions about process and safety of the entire operation could be posed and hopefully answered. Finall y, issue would be resolved. Finally, things would be stab le ... or so it seemed.

On the Thur day following the leak in Japan, South Korea had a leak of its own, injuring 22 workers and mak­ing the Korean government's statement that the Japanese type leak would never occur in Korea a grim joke. Shaun Bernie of Greenpeace international summed up the entire affair quite ni cely, "The entire safety culture in Japan is in crisis."

So ends the tale; the tale of 400 kilograms of plutoni­um, two humiliated ships and many unan wered ques­ti ons.

Yep, the nuclear age is a pretty impressive time indeed. I j ust hope we get through it. Apparently respon­ibi li ty is not in the international community's dictionary.

u Ime mp oyment: A life-style choice?

Ernie The Engineer

Class of '96

Did you know that in Europe it's quite common to be offered 5 weeks vacation to start? In France and England it's illegal to offer any less . It's unfor­

tunate that we live in North America where our law requires companies to offer us only 2 weeks vacation as a minimum. Are you willing to settle for the minimum? You could demand more .. ... and who knows, you may be able to get it.

I recently attended the Career Fair held at Bingeman's Park in Kitchener. Armed with a general questionnaire and the motivations of a part-time employee, I aggressive­ly poked and prodded the numerous human resource spe­cialists from a variety of engineering and non-engineering finns. My survey included the following questions:

I. How many employees do you have, and how many are "hard-core" technical professionals?

2. Do you have any technical employees that work on a permanent part-time basis (i.e. 25-30/week)?

3. Does your company have any policies regarding sebaticalleaves?

4. Do you ever advertise part-time job positions? 5. Does your company prefer full-time over part-time

employee candidates? 6. Would a qualified resume requesting part-time work

make it through your Human Resource system? 7. Do you have any employees that work at home?

My survey was very informal; consequently, I do not have any fancy statistics to pre ent. However, I have a few generalizations and comments which will shed ome light

onto the uncommon phenomenon of part-time work for technical employees.

In response to my que tions, most companies had very few part-time worker . The majority of the companies had no formal policies regarding sebaticals. Many had leave-of-absense policies but again , this is always handled on a case-by-case basis . Approximately half of the com­panies said that it would be a waste of time to send a re ume requesting part-time work even if you had the right qualifications. Tele-commuting was common, but only for a few employees and even then only a portion of the work week was spent at home.

The type of organizations that are open to the idea of part-time work for technical employees are non-tradition­al-engineering, non-consulting, medium-to-large sized, computer related companies.

Engineering work, manufacturing in particluar, does not lead itself to part-time oppurtunities. Consider an as embly line running 24-hours a week. Engineering managment would be hard-pressed to let one of its key quality engineers off for a two month sebatical every year. Engineering companies are often very thrifty. This frugal­ness pres ures the company to make the most efficient use of its capital and human resources. Therefore, part-time workers are totally out of the question. Some engineering work, uch as technical writing, is spar e in nature and provides a few part-time oppurtunities. But remember, engineers are a dime a dozen and that means a full-time engineer would always be prefered.

Consulting companie ,whether they be business or engineering based, have difficulties justifying, and thus accepting, part-time workers. Their clients demand so much ervice, that consultants mu t give more than 100% to appea e the clients need and the bottom line.

Small start-up companie do not consider part-time employment, because they too need lOO%-plus from their

• The Iron Warrior FI·iday. October 15. 1999

employees to establish their struggling company. Established companies mostly, will have the financial resources to accept individuals on a part-time basis. Companies engaged in research and development often have ample funding and miscellaneous tasks that can be given to a part-time worker. Typically medium-to-large sized companies have the f1exiblility to accommodate those special people that choose the alternative lifestyle of part-time employment.

For computer engineers, the supply and demand for skilled IT workers and software developers has forced companies to offer abnormal incentives to attract the cream of the crop. Most financial institutions appear to be extremely receptive to part-time work and other flux-time programs.

Despite the e generalizations, you will be surprised who will entertain the idea of part-time employment. While under negotiations, you may be shunned and black listed or perhaps you may be given something you were not expecting. The key when it comes to requesting part­time work, is to determine how progressive your employ­er is and realize exactly how much bargaining power you hold .

Unfortunately, for most individuals full-time employ­ment is simply accepted. Very few even consider other options and part-time employment is not at all prevalent because very few people demand it. Part-time employ­ment for a very select few i a lifestyle choice and they realize it. For everyone el e full-time employment is the norm and there is no choice involved.

Engi eering Detectives Raja Doake ---0 Bridging The Gap Review

lA Chern

I arri ved at CPH 3385 expecting - well, I'm not really sure what] was expecting. Maybe I thought I'd hear a biochemist in a lab coat talking about D A analy is or

some sl,lch thing; r mean, that's what Scully does on 'The X-Files', isn't it? But all I know for certain is that what I was expecting wasn't what I got. The lecturer, a manager at a company named 'Walters Forensic Engineering', wore a suit and a perpetual smile. He graduated from UW (though after the presentation, he admitted to having to sweet-talk a few profs to pass one year) in the Civil class of '87, which made him instantly popular with the Plummers (and the Dean) in attendance. There was free food, which is always well-received, and there was a decent-size crowd in attendance by the time the presenta­tion started.

The first item on the agenda was an explanation of the term 'forensic engineering'. Apparently, forensic engineers are 'investigative engineers', or, as the presenter put it, 'pri­vate dicks with brains' . Oddly enough, the first thing forensic engineers are concerned with is money. That's right, money. Forensic engineers are hired primarily by insurance companies, because insurance companies don't -

like to payout the large claim ometim s made by their customer. They want to know who or what was re pon i­bIe for whatever accident occurred, be it a ender-bender or a toxic chemical pill, ju t in case they can pas the buck and avoid helling out the cash. So there actually IS a difference between a private dick and a forensic engi­neer - unlike the engineer, the dick is actually concerned about the people involved in the murder or mugging. The forensic engineer has to be objective, like a research sci­entist, which mean that sometimes he or h will come back with finding that the client doesn't like. Not that P.l. 's aren't objective, it's just that the foren ic engineer ha to be more clinical about the inve tigation than the p.I. does .

All this leads to the detached attitude of a foren ic engineer which might just be necessary to keep him or her sane. 1 mean, after dealing with car accidents and tire and chemical spills every day, the forensic engineer has to go home for dinner and somehow feel afe despite having seen all of the accidents that have happened to other peo­ple. So when we watched a computer-simulated replay of a cyclist getting hit by a car and plattering all over the

road in slo motion, the prevalent attitude was "This is reall neat." I don't mean any of this in a disparaging way. Lik I said. I think. it's the only way someone who works in that field can tay sane. I have to respect a p rson who can actually handle the stres .. Granted, foren. ic engineers aren't u ually on the. eene while the bodies (if there are any) arc. till ther , but having to insp ct blood smeared pavement in order to calculate a victim'. position when he or she was hit by a truck can't be that much easier.

Actually, forensic engineering is now near the top of my po. I-graduation dream job li st. The job is always changing, and even though this can help to cau e tress, it can al 'o k ep you interested in the long run - which is important no matter what your job. And to think that nobody had even heard of forensic engineering before that lecture!

It's really too bad that they don't take co-op student ; even with tile lightning postings I'd take the time to write a lengthy cover letter for an application to Walters (or another forensic engineering company) - that is, if they'd take a lowly Frosh as even a gopher ...

-------------------------------------- ----- -----------

Who are we??? Andrew Lin ---0

lA Chern

We are! We are! We are the Engineers! .. . what­ever that means. This particular chant was one of the most popular among the 950

Engineering Frosh that attended Frosh Week. It's been drilled into my head almost to the point of ret1exive action. But what exactly does it mean to be an engineer? Entering as a tudent into one of the most well-known and respected engineering programs across Canada ... I had absolutely no idea.

In the few weeks since the beginning of the school year, I learned a few facts about engineering. Most of them related to special engineering equipment and resource (beer), relaxation techniques (drinking beer), and social activities (drinking beer with your friends). But some of them actually dealt with engineering as a profes­sion. Engineering i a vast field with many opportunities and significant room available for advancement, both within the field and for the field it elf. Job opportunities for engineers are plentiful when compared to those for other fields of study. In general, engineers get stuck in

dead-end jobs or end up unemployed even more rarely than other university graduates. Job security, such as this, is one of those commodities that is becoming increasing­ly attractive to employees. With a degree in Engineering, you can breathe more ea ily when it comes to searching for employment ... at least, that's what everybody else says.

So I did some research on the subject, and found out. .. little. This is not because of poor research skills (engi­neers all have excellent research and technical report-writ­ing skill - otherwi e, we wouldn't be here!). but because of a lack of answers to be found. You will lind that engi­neers are employed everywhere. Scope out the 'co-op job postings at Needles Hell or the Submarine or MC, lind you can see for yourself specifically where engineers arc employed and what they do.

If you fear that you have no direction in your life, don't worry! - Many fellow engineers are in the same boat, and we're all heading in the same direction for now. Though we will eventually part ways, each of us will discover a secure destination by being vigilant and recognizing opportunities when they emerge from the ever-foggy job market. Waterloo's co-op engineering program is not only designed to educate students, but also to expose us to the job market. If you don't have a clear idea of where you are

The Sandford Fleming Foundation CPH 4306 (519) 888-4008

SFFOEBATES

going, you will soon. Just because you might fail a Chemistry quiz or a Math assignment does not indicate that you are in the wrong program. There is much more to an engineer's work than theoretical Calculus or Physics . For those who still seek a focused direction , profe sors, upper-year students, or co-op co-ordinators are frequenlly available. Though they may seem intimidating at first glance, and even after second glance, they won't bite your head off. Unless, of course, you happen to catch them in the wrong plflce fit the wrong time.

Engineers arc th nuts lIlld hnlls that hold log(.'llwf IIw buckling contraption that is our world. It is always huck­ling not because of failing cngin' 'rillg practices , but because of radical techllolo ical advanCl:s. That just means lhat th' world needs mor' quali Ii 'd engine 'rs, so demand for our skills increases. Anybody who is familiar with s imple economics will understand lhal this is good news for all of us!

Tn short, we work ill many Ii -Ids of specialization. We work in many different locations. We work on various types of projects. Who are we? We arc lhe engineers.

Waterloo Campus Activities

sff@dean

DATE: TIME:

November 1 .2,3 11:30 - 1 :00 E2-3324

FlNALS: Friday, November 5th

NOON PLACE: POETS

Please contact your department undergraduate office if you are interested in participating in the Debates. The Winners of the faculty finals receive $100 each and the runners-up receive $50 each. The faculty co-ordinator is Prof. Xu. Please contact him or the SFF office at the above address if you have further questions.

Funding for this award comes from your student contributions and depends on It for continuation.

An organization devoted to the advancement of engineering education.

The Iron Warnor Friday. October 15. 1999 •

~- ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------~~------------

The infraNET Project

Computer Systems Group University of Waterloo

Waterloo. ON

I Contact person: Shirley Fenton

Phone: 519~888-4567 ext. 5611 Fax: 5 19~746~5422

URL: http://infranet.uwaterloo.caI

,

-;·=5-" i i+

e '. -.!'::

, ,

University of Waterloo

Smart Community Seminar Series "Transforming Communnies through Smart Techn%gy"

"Smart Communications: The ext I 0 Years"

Terry Matthews Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Newbridge Networks Corporation

Tuesday, October 19, 1999

2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Davis Centre, Room 1350, University of Waterloo

All University o( Waterloo students, (acuity and staff are welcome. Seats are on a (irst-come, first-serve basis.

TERRY MATTHEWS IS founder and Chairman of Newbridge Networks Corporation. Prior to Newbridge, Dr. Matthews co-founded Mitel Corporation in 1972., a world leader in the design and manufacture of telecommunications integrated circuit devices and electronic private switchboards. During the period 1972 to 1985 he took particular leadership in the marketing, sales and product management activities for the

p ny. g . Mi . r. Ma hews left the corporation to found Newbridge in March 1986.

His telecom career offiCially began at t 6 at British Telecom Research Labs. Continuing his studies, he earned Higher National Certificates In Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and an honours degree In Electronics from the University College of Wales. Upon graduation, he joined Microsystems International Ltd. in Canada.

A Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engtneers and the University of Wales, Dr. Matthews received an honorary Doctor of Technology degree from the University of Glamorpn, Wales and a Doctor of Engineering degree from Carleton University, Canada. In May 199., he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

Dr. Matthews serves as Chairman of a number of high technology companies including CrossKeys Systems Corporation, TimeStep Corporation, Sta.rvision Multimedia Corporation and Tundra SemiconductOr Corporation. He is also Chairman of U.K.­based Celtic Inns.

• •• NEWBRIDGE, a leader in the worldwide data. networking industry. currendy employs more than 6.000 people and recorded FY 1999 revenue of $I.B billion .

• •• SEMINAR SPONSOR - This seminar is sponsored by the infraNET Project and the Federation of Students. University of Waterloo We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Institute for Computer Research.

UnM-flIltyof

Waterloo

'¥ ~. NEWBRIDGE FEDERATION Of STUDENTS --,..,-

• The Iron Warrior Friday. October 15. 1999

Criffer Castleton --~o

FSAE Team 2000

Manager

T he formula SAE competition is one of many inter­collegiate design competitions sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers, EDS and the

'Big Three' in the auto business: Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. This particular competition involves the complete design, construction, testing and competing of an open wheeled race car, smaller than the Formula 1 cars we are accustomed to, but still a race car at heart.

In recent years the Formula SAE Team has enjoyed a string of top results . This streak was marred last year by the combination of weather and the untimely failure of an upright, bumping the team from 6th position to 26th over­all. Despite this setback, the team still achieved 8th place in design and 5th in acceleration at the annual event, held at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan last May. This coming year, expect to see them on the podium.

Such succe s does come at a cost, and by this, I liter­ally mean cash. Building a new car every year for the past

is the foundation upon which the team's success has been built. This practice is nevertheless, a costly endeavour to say the lea t. Financing still remains the biggest challenge facing the 2000 team.

Decoma International Inc. has returned for another ear as the Formula SAE Team 2000's Title Partner. This

is onry one more indication of the company's dedication to enhancing the educational experience of Waterloo engi­neers, through projects like the e, and their active involve­ment in the co-op education program.

Decoma International Inc. ha existed as such for little

Pub, Restaurant, Pizzeria, and

Pool Place

Open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 12 noon to 1 a.m.

Wednesday, Friday and Saturday noon to 2 a.m.

Sunday noon to midnight

more than a year, at which time they went public on the TSE and NASDAQ. Prior to that, Decoma Exterior Systems was a wholly owned subsidiary of Magna International, a name you are more likely to recognize a one of the world's largest, not to mention fastest growing, global automotive suppliers.

As a full service supplier of exterior vehicle appear­ance systems for the world's automotive industry, Decoma International designs, engineers and manufactures exteri­or fascias and related components, assemblies, modules, and plastic body panels for cars and light trucks. They employ more than 4,500 people in 14 manufacturing and engineering operations strategically located in Canada, the United States, Europe, Mexico and South America. Sales were to the tune of Cdn. $656.2 million for the 1998 fiscal year.

This growth has meant an increasing number of co-op and graduate post­ings for UW students. So next time you come across the name Decoma International on a job description, you might want to seriously consider them. They have a reputa-

work terms and excellent opportunities for growth within the corporation. Their involvement in the Formula SAE Team is only their late t move in

clo er relationship with our university. Decoma i nol the only Magna subsidiary supporting

the tean1, or the university. In addition to them, Tesma International hru been a partner of the team for several year, and indispensable in providing the team with the re ouree neee ary to maintain our level of competjtive­ne . Variou other divisions of Magna have also been upporters at on time or another, and we look forward to

more in th future. Magna ha aJ 0 established their pres­nce at the university by providing substantial funding

towards the new Welding Specialization being offered for the first time to the 2000 grnduating clas .

For further information on either Decoma International or the Formula SAE Team, please contact Critfer Castleton at <castleton@U\ aterloo.ca>, or drop by the Formula AE room (E3-2107, ext. 5904). We are cur­rently recmiting individuaL for future years, so p.lease contact u or drop by the room sometime if you would like to get involved.

In the mean time, please join me in welcoming Decoma, Tesma and the whole Magna family back and thanking them for their upport of Waterloo's Engineering Faculty and student de. ign projects. We hope to ee even more of them in the future.

an effort to forge a much _ ..... .;;.;.. _ _ ~~ ________ ~~ ______ ~~~~~~~:;Ji

Hey guys, you'll never guess where I am.

He's Mat, a true Weavers Guy

Pub, Restaurant, Pizzeria, and

Pool Place

Open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 12 noon to la.m.

Wednesday, Friday and Saturday noon to 2 a.m.

Sunday noon to midnight

The Iron Warrior Friday, October 15, 1999 •

en w a.. o o en o a: o J:

Nick Gaganiaras

2B Mech

Aquarius (January 2 I-February 18): Another coffee induced haze bringing about feelings of mass hysteria. Not -only, are Y9ll paralyzed by these feeling, evew'tl 'ng seemS'to be moving that much faster arou~o .~ CA'i¢tt, things aren't moving faster, yor~~)\1 I . Ving slower - which is the la t thing you need right now. You've got midterms coming up. You 've got a night planned. What am 1 talking about, you 've got nothing more than TV dinners planned. That's your problem, no plans. Take advantage of this slow period and the extra time it affords.

Pisces (19 February-March 20): Swimming, swimming, in the pool. Get dried up and do something more..;;pr~ductive wLtb-Jour time. You can't sit around alF(fay; anq,~~£V~ryt.hing to get done. Use your gre~we of~tlvatlOn and do something, dammit! ~96" ~;.d;. ~t spme new people, do some studyin&::..m\fe1un. A'f.te.t:M3, whaL are you paying $3000 for? The right to do what ever you want. So go out and do it.

Aries (March 2 I-April 20): You feel like you're on top of the world right about now. That's not true isif?'Tbat' just hat everybody thinks you're feerrl"g. dQMIn i side, you're so distraught with everythl t lat's been going on around you lately, you c uster up the courage to say something about it. . is completely against your character so stop it, dammit!

October 28, 1999 4:30 - 7:00

DC Fishbowl

Taurus (ApriI21-May 21): Ah, how the mighty have fallen. How does it feel to be spendJng tIme wIth rl'tl! common people? Don' t like it do jou? Well, you must

any reflect'S on that per-son 's chara ·th people who you think will u. That is the secret.

The secret of the caramilk bar will soon be yours. After all these years of guessing, you 've stumbled upon an overlooked clue. Use the force.

Cancer (June 22-July 22): Ow! Stop biting. You keep scaring those close to you away with that sou.~viour. This is the time in your life to rrwk~ me . --.. ecisions. If those clo e to you dQn'J; ac e .~ f9t ~ho you are, you can either chan ~ If, lor..ehange those around you. Yes, this can .dl.ffttn.lt..Di.t for your own hap­piness, do something for once in your life to surpise people. You've been far too complacent lately. Spice things up.

Leo (July 23-August 23): Mmmm ... coffee l That pretty much sums up the next two weeks for you. Y0!i~io~ to go through hell and back. Don~t wo . X~Jal~ people understand thatli!e woul 'o<iri~t a few obstacles. Just imagine ~hy. wl:I!1.i~ you at the other end. Don't let the com ~ go to your head. Remember your roots.

ht

Virgo (August 24-September 22): Hello? Anybody in there? what's happened to you lately? YOu'yeCfra~cf.lil"'1'ay that no one could have guess d. h brougW all of thi upon you? Only time ~ I or now, appease those around you and fo e hing your limits.

Libra (September 23-0ctober 23): WeLl now, what do we have here? A little bit 10 t are we? The map isn'~~ you expect it. Try looking in places you WilU a.ve.never thought of before. Yes that's . . ide are your own key to the future. can bel yourself right now. Forget all the advice that your friends are giving you right now. Go with your gut instinct and you'll get a lot farther.

Scorpio (October 24-November 22): You are in yoorelement right now. You feel in com­

plete cont~lll. ·-~i' to your advantage and get what you 't settle .. )'ou'll regret it later on. People aro jll .. dt'off of your strength and learn mor . . y ~than they have in the whole time they have known you.

Sagittarius (November 23-December 21): So, what do you want to hear this time? That you're the most wonderful ~e and that this world just wouldn't be the e thout you? Well, for once, it's true. You..ar~ ~ plans start to revolve around. or ve rward with a grain of sa lt and don't '" et to you. You may not be used to the spotlight, so make sure you're sure of your actions before going through with them. It could avoid some major embarassment later on.

,A - '\ /'- - '. Capricoi'r\:Wee~.,e.I; ~uary 20) : Oh no! I'~1 ruo/>ut 'r~{TI, and so have you. Give yourself s.l)'melspa~ •

f_ ... / r ,_-::7" ...... -:;.. ....

ents An information session on Undergraduate Options &

Specializations. All students welcome. Tania Bortolon understand. My goals are

imple. But because the engineering program does

• ".

Mcchatronics Options - Prof. J. Huis500n Softwar Engineering - Prof. K. Kontogianrus

Welding Specialization - Prof. Ii. W. Kerr International Studies - Prof. G. Andrews Management SClences - Prof. E Safayeni

Free snacks and drinks will be served

Brought to you by

The Iron Warrior Friday. October 15. 1999

2A Civil not allow for much leeway with respect to the types

To be a little different from every­one else, I think I'll argue some more, as this is one of my

favourite pastimes. Why am I in engi­neering? I'll give you a bit of my back-ground. I have never been mathematically or scientifically advanced. My strengths have always been in the area of creative writing and music . During high school, I spent far more time working on different councils and arts related activities than I ever did in front of a textbook or blackboard. So, I asked myself one day: what in the gosh­darn heck do I want to do with my life? What will challenge me? What actually keep my interest for more than 5 min­utes at a time? When [ think of engineering, I think of one of the highest forms of artwork. To take a particle of thought and tum in into a tructure which feel and react to it environment, a would any fictional char­acter in a tory which I could create. Compelled also to learn the masses of information that I may never know, I chose thi field. It atisfies both my need to be cientific and logical and my de ire to create a universe which others cannot

of art classes we can take, many people feel the void and narrow­mindedness which is often as ociated with engineering. I know how grey my sky appeared during first year, when everything revolved around math. For this reason, 1 suggest that you get involved in an activity which allows you to escape from the wonderful work of Donald Trim and slingshots you into a world closer to Donald Duck's . If the program that you are in does not fulfil all your educational / emotional require­ments, make your own supplementary section by joining a dance club, audi­tioning for a play, or even submitting an article to the Iron Warrior. But if you're not happy, and you're sitting on your ass feeling sorry for your elf, 1 have no sym­pathy for you. And if you're here to please your parents, well, grow the up! I mean, most of us are above l8 and are aJ10wed to vote to improve the state of our country. Well, why shouldn't we have a say in our own lives? It seems very basic to live life for happiness and personal fulfilment, so why do several people fail to grasp this concept? That's all I have to ay about that.

LooIr-s \iKe -the computer yoor SOr.II! I-\<u·.' Ji.K+ Ic:i

® cur WI< ON MEAtlK em..

dt "PUi'" 51! 4:n ........ _--'"'"'

Person

How I love thee, Person. Pale as a tragic mask Locked within the cupboard. Misplaced key, Tainted virginity.

~--The pearls in the sweat are Young. Ponder now, Person, Why thy love does not Comprehend.

The Time If Out of Joint

Fusing, impetuous roots Like veins, enwrap the corpse of ancient I. Weary is the glazed eye of Mother Nature To see her child diminish, A speck of sensitivity so overthrown by Infantile thoughts.

Tania Borto on

Silhouettes, proud and vivid in the blackness loom. Languid as the slowly escaping soul Who hesitates for but only a moment: A glitch in time, A period of unbearable space, An eternity compressed into a particle of life. '''You owe me three farthings,' say the bells of St. Martin's." The natUne's strangehold gives way; A gasp of breath escapes frosted, blue Ups As blood circulates in rhythmic convulsions. I exist once more. My reality exceeds the burden of my failure.

I was young eyes full of wonder

zest for life .·'-..... l.n,. dreams no man could sunder

I progressed avigating life's jagged crags he fires diminish

colours lag

spirit is starving have in truth digressed downward spiral

to the soul's last rest

FOR THE SILENT FOOD BANK OF AND

WATERLOO REGION LIVE AUCTION

" C C L

SA Y, NOVEMBER 6, 1999 AT FEDERATION HAll

UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO

$30 FOR A SINGLE TICKET . $55 FOR A PAIR Ot TICKETS

$210 FOR A FUll TABLE (EIGHT TICKETS)

For more infonnation, call MathSoc at 888-4567 x2324,

go to Math and Computer Building, Room 3038 or email vpas@mathsoc.uwaterloo.ca

The Iron Warrior Friday. October 15. 1999 •

en Melissa Bond

President

Hi there. I hope everyone ha been practicing the . polka. Go out and have a great time at

Oktoberfest thi week. before the next two weeks of midterm misery are upon us. I just can't believe the way this term is flying by.

Outstanding Professor and Alumni Achievement Awards La t Thursday night I had the pleasure of attending the Outstanding Professor and Alumni Achievement Awards dinner. Three well deserving profs received awards, including Professor Stubley (First Year), Professor Thomson (Civil), and Professor Legge (Chemical). These awards are to some extent the result of the course critiques you fill out every term, 0 remember, your opinion counts. I was particularly happy to see Professor Stubley receive the award. For those of you not around during Frosh

Ryan Stammers

VP Education

Co-op Growing Pains For the past few years at Waterloo, we've all had occa­

sional reason to complain about Access, the computer sys­tem that drives co-op job postings. This fall, however, there are almost 500 additional job seekers going through the co-op, ystem. Access ha been unsurprisingly brought to its knees this term. Unfortunately, the earlie t we will be seeing a replacement i May 2000. Computer systems are not the only area where co-op is being tretched for resources. Bruce Lumsden, director of Co-operative Education and Career services concedes that when it comes to accommodating employers and students for interviews there are not enough interview rooms on the

soc re Week, he gave one of the mo t amazing speeche to the frosh I have ever heard. So congratulate these professors if you see them around.

Three outstanding alumni al 0 received awards, including Paul Koch , Mark Chamberlain, and P.S. Krishnanloorthy. It turn out that Mr. Koch was the first ever Engineering Society 'B' President, and al 0 later became the fir t Feds Pre ident (but I think back then it was called Student's Council). Another intere ting thing r learned was that Mr. Chamberlain is the C.E.O. of the company that did all the camera work for the 0.1. Simp on ca e, as well as Donovan Bailey's gold medal achievements in the 100 meter dash in the 1996 Olympics. Look at the things you can do with a Waterloo Engineering degree!

Course Calendar 2000-2001 There has been orne talk around campus regarding start­ing school next fall on the Thursday after Labour Day, rather than the traditional Monday (the week after Labour Day). This has obviously created quite a stir, due to the fact that Frosh Week would essentially be reduced to two day. Dean Chaudhuri has reassured me that this will not be the case for Engineering. We will be starting school

first noor of Needles Hall. Additionally. most of the rooms available offer ageing furniture and a less than oundproof environment. Essential ly, according to

Lum. den, when it comes to the 1970 designed Needles Hall, we have "a bush camp operation" that is an uneven match to a leading co-op program.

Do you want to help strengthen the co-op ystem? Student are working with the co-op department to addres concerns at Co-op Student Advisory Group meet­ings every Wednesday in the ccdlc Hall Employer Lounge at 4:30. C<?-op Student Services is another group that meets Thursday 4:30 SLC 2134 to tackle student ini­tiatives that will help other co-op students such as ranking day advice and co-op job critiques. Que tions? Let me know either bye-mai ling me at <jrstamme@engmail.uwaterloo.ca> or by dropping by the Orifice.

ort the Monday after Labour Day. regardle of what the re t of campus decides to do.

Leadership Awards Speaking of Frosh Week, I wa notified by Catherine Scott (who is in charge of Frosh Week) that they are accepting nominations for individual who have contributed to our University life. You can nominate any , tudent (or your-elf. don't be shy). Nomination forms are available from

the Student Award Office in Needle s Hell (oops. did I ay that? I meant eedles Hall). The form are due ovember 5th.

Well, that's all from me for today. Good luck on midterms!

EngSoc Up-coming Events

Oct. 21 to 24: PEOIUE Conferences

Oct. 23: Soccer Tourney - sign up in ORIFICE

Oct. 29: Middle of Term Pub

Oct 29 to 31: Women In Engineering Conference

Friday, November 26: Tal Eng - 8pm at the Bomber

IW Up-coming Events

Oct 28: Issue Three Submission Deadline

Nov.S: Issue Three Piblished

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