Friday, February 5,1999 The Magazine of the University of Waterloo Engineering Society Volume 23 Issue 2

"Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one." - Malcolm S. Forbes
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Letter From The
Editor
Luke Windisch
2A Systems Design
Loops." Of course, after
application of this law, I now
had enough time in my day
to finish about two one-mil-
lionths of the things that I
wanted to do. So despite my
good intentions, deadlines
and like ideas quickly evaporated, leaving
I
was thinking the other day that the me with my somewhat pessimistic attitude
world should just do away with dead- towards the usefulness of time manage-
lines and time management completc- ment.
Iy. I mean, we're all grown adults and have In retrospect however, my judgement
had sufficient work experience, especially was too severe, and doing away with dead-
during C-op work terms, to know that lines and time management completely is
words and phrases like these are simply a bad thing. Not only do they keep the
euphemisms for llfiguring OUL the most that world from learning more than they want
we cannot possibly get done in as lillie to know about the Hawaiian Gecko, the
time as possible." The simple fact is that apparent feeling of impossibility that they
deadlines are seldom met, and that no mat- can sometimes bring to everything we
ter what good intentions one might have, want to get done helps demonstrate a mar-
something will always crop up to help vellous aspect of human nature; we can
push time lines over their limits, and cause always count on others to help us out when
utter confusion and chaos. But if there we need it most. And realistically, the self-
was ever a pessimistic way to start an edi- less way that others can give time to you
torial, that was it, so let me qualify my when you need it is probably one of the
statements a little. single greatest joy of living. I've experi-
In putting together this paper, dead- enced this beautiful phenomenon in every
lines and time management are terms that aspect of life, from my family, friends and
are often used, and they took on an almost relationships, to bringing this issue of the
comic value for me this issue. Myexperi- paper together, when for unavoidable rea-
ence started with going to bed on Saturday sons, nobody could devote hours at a time
night, with the noble, yet lofty ambition of to the paper. Together we helped each
getting up early Sunday morning. This other and supported each other in a way
was my first mistake, because I failed to that allowed us to produce what you are
remember Jame's First Law of Warm now holding, which I feel is an absolutely
Beds: "The warmth of ones bed and the great issue.
time spent in said bed are linearly related, But I want to emphasize that the paper
where the constant of proportionality for is not a unique demonstration of this
this relationship is given by Z (SI symbol: human spirit, we all experience it everyday
Zzzzzl:z), . has a value of . we do. No matter how bad
)(10115'." 0 after a long and 'arduou' tia -' the going gets,' there are always people we
' tIe ' wi'th' General Fluff and his' Pillow can count on to help pull us through. Our
Commandos, I decided that r should rest family and our closest friends are two of
my troops for a while, and continue the the most important examples, because they
fight later (it just so happened that General bring more than just help when you need
Fluff was more than happy to offer me a it, they provide a feeling of completeness.
place to rest in Fort Bedsheet). So after a Just think about how good going home
2 hour rest, my troops came back and after an extended break from school feels,
thankfully won the battle, anxiously anticipating the gleam in your
Unfortunately however, I then sturn- parents' eyes, or the way that a sibling
bled over Lucky's Second Law of might hug you when you say hello. Or
Breakfast, which states that, "No matter think about the way that you can unload
how poor the quality of Sunday morning frustrations on a friend, who wont judge
childrens' programming, university stu- you for it when you are done, but will
dents in their twenties will pend 2 hours instead provide a shoulder to cry on.
watching said programming in pyjamas, These are all things that, although subtle,
while eating endless bowls of Froot help get you through even the best days,
just because in the back of your mind you
know that that security and comfort is
there if you need it.
But beyond family and friends, there
are countless other groups in our society
that will be there to help out when the
going gets rough, or to just lend an insight
to make something that is already great
even better. Never forget how important
these groups are, because they help con-
tribute to things that are truly wonderful.
So, the focus of this issue is whether or
not we as engineers are narrow-minded.
Sometimes in a program that is so highly
regarded in society, for whatever reasons,
right or wrong, it is easy to loose sight of
the rest of the world and to begin to think
that this profession is the be-all and end-all
of things sacred. But such a view could
not be further from the truth, and it is
imperative to stop every once and a while
and - to coin the clichE phrase - take a look
at the big picture. Everyone in society, and
every group, has an important and invalu-
able contribution to make. In the same way
that this paper could not be possibJe with-
out the participation and sacrifice of writ-
ers, photographers, and layout staff, our
society could not be possible without all
the different groups. At the best times, we
all build and thrive off each other, making
for truly great progress, in whatever capac-
ity. And when one group stalls or needs a
hand, the others are there to provide it and
to keep society going. So if we look
beyond our own disciplines and profes-
sions, magnificent results ' will happen,
results that are somehow much greater
than the sum of the parts.
Professor David Wang
Developing A Social
Consciousness
pg 6
Are Engineers Too
arrow Minded?
8
Just A Chromosome
How To Build The
Itimate Snowfort
pg 13

The Magazine of the University of
Waterloo Engineering Society
Editor - in - Chief
Luke Windisch
Assistant Editor
Mat Pigozzo
Layout Editor
Richard Kuttner
Web page Editor
Andrew Hately
Staff
Wil Aballe
Allison Annan
Cory Amundrud
Yasin Bismilla
Lindsay Derrah
Stuart Doherty
Nick Gaganiaras
Alison Kudelka
Aaron Leiba
Jenny Mitchell
Caroline Page
Mary Robinson
Min Song
Zhan Huan Zhou
Contributors
Milton Chan
Ryan Chen-Wing
Kelly Fawcett
Patrick Grover
Mike Hermann
Danny Ho
Sarah Kamal
Phjl\ip Taylor
Mike Olley
Liz Parry
George Roter
Ian Tien
The Iron Warrior is a fomm for thought provoking
and informative articll!l> published by the
Society. Views expressed in The Iron Warrior are
those of the autho,", 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 commu-
nity. Submi"ions should reflect the concerns and
intellectual standard. of the university," general. The
author's name and phone number l>hould be included.
All submissions, unle" otherwise stated. become the
property of The Iron Warrior. which reserves the
right to refu>e publicauon of material whIch 11 deems
unsuitable. The Iron Warrior also re!.Crves the right
to edit grammar. spelling and text that do not meet
uni,ersity standards. 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 3G I. Our phone
number is (519) 888-4567 x2693. Our fax number is
(519) 7254872. Email can be sent to
jMlarrior@en8mJlil.uwaJtrioo.ca
r

ev u catio
Response to Point vs. Counterpoint from January 22 edition
Concerned
Students

and Faculty
R
eading the Point vs. Counterpoint feature in the
January 22 edition of The Iron Warrior magazine
. elicited a feeling of anxiety in the minds of some
students and faculty members, with respect to the future
of our co-op system. This is our collective response.
First, we need to establish the validity of the que tion
being debated. In that re pect, we feel that the que tion
posed to the Staff Writers was somewhat flawed. The
truth is that the Co-op programme has never claimed to
enabl e the application of academic knowledge to the
working environment. Rather, the strength of the pro-
gramme is the ability to acquire practical engineering
knowledge and skill s. Thus, the question should read, "Is
the Co-op system still about acquiring practical engineer-
ing knowledge and skills, or is it now just a way to pay the
bills?" Having established the flaw in the question, we
will now comment on the contents of the arguments.
To enable a concise commentary on the contents of the
arguments, we will now explore th.e ideology of Co-op.
The operation of the Co-op programme is influenced by
three distinct factors - the interests of students, the inter-
ests of employers, and the preservation of an education
system. Despite the efforts to equally fulfi] obligations to
all three factors, an inherent prioritization exists to pre-
serve the mandate of the Co-op programme, which is
based around education. This basis around education is
what has made the co-operative education programme so
strong and widely renown. Allison Annan (hereafter
referred to as AA) briefly touched on the point of the
importance of our Co-op education programme when she
stated that "in addition to an excellent reputation,
Waterloo ... has a co-op programme", but she seemed to
miss the reality of the situation. As a result of the Co-op
programme, Waterloo has an excellent reputation. Point
number one: To maintain the reputation of the University
of Waterloo (and specifically the Faculty of Engineering)
we must strengthen the Co-operative Education pro-
gramme. Why must we strengthen the Co-op programme
to just maintain the reputation of the university? Answer:
competition. The uniqueness of our university as a result
of the Co-op programme is in jeopardy. In our own back-
yard, the University of Windsor has developed a very flex-
ible co-op programme that is both gaining reputation and
beginning to seriously challenge our programme's ability
to secure employers. Thus, our edge of exclusivity that
used to attract students and employers is gone, and we
need to start focusing on the quality of the programme.
To analyze the quality of the programme, we will
examine the three fundamental factors influencing Co-op.
The simplest factor is the interests of the employers.
Employers have two goals when hiring a student - extract-
ing useful work for the present, and scouting and weaning
a potential full-time employee. Co-op understands these
goals, and therefore, attempts to provide students that will
meet the employers' requirements. An example of Co-op's
actions toward looking after employers' interests is the
modification of the first year engineering curriculum to
include a CAD component. An examination by Co-op of
the first-year engineering job postings revealed that 60%
of employers required student knowledge of CAD. Thus,
the curriculum was modified to include a CAD compo-
nent, which has two direct benefits - the increase of use-
fulness of the resource pool available to employers, and an
increase in the employability of first year students.
However, just what fundamental factor the second benefit
satisfies is unclear. The interests of the students are met
because they have and increased ability to secure employ-
ment and make money, and the quality of education is pre-
served through the increased ability to employ students in
educational environments. Using this example for a basis
of conclusion, the interests of students are intertwined
with the preservation of an education system. Can the
interests of students be separated from the preservation of
the Co-operative education system?
There seems to be but one case in which student inter-
ests can be served without a direct link to the preservation
of the Co-operative education system. This case involves
dollars and cent. Unknown to most, Co-op
rejects employer if lhe salari ' . they propo.e are belo\\
what is deemed acceptable by Co-op. However, most
employers are \\ ell abo\'e thaI hase sustaining salar;. . The
problem with salaries arise. when emplo)l'rs have the
mean to atlmct "the best" students to their companie.
with compensation benefits. This triggers a \ iseous eycIe
where the higher. alarie. of some companies trigger stu-
dent to demand higher salaries of all, and thus, higher
. alaries are offered. But what is the rationale behind stu-
dent demanding higher salaries if Co-op has ensured that
the lowest 'alary will suo tain the average student? The
rationale is greed, however, there is no advantage (0 stu-
dent in ful fi lli ng their greedy role in the viscous cycle
presented above; in fact there are di advantages. Suppose
the economy take a downturn and compani es can no
longer afford to use compensation as a benefit. The
demands of student will then be met by bitter re pon,es
and the net result will be a weaker employer pool, and
consequentiall y a weaker Co-op programme. Even in our
current economy, why should employer stay with expen-
sive Waterloo students when Windsor students can be
moulded into their working environment for a lower cost?
Point number two: Demanding higher salaries from
employers can only weaken the Co-op ystem. The sal ary
issue can be extended to the one raised by Wil Aballe
(hereafter referred to as WA) in his "Counterpoint". WA
argued that students will take higher paying jobs that have
less applicability to their course because students seek "a
greater disposable income". He morbidly states that
"money makes the world go round", and that is where his
logic (and that of the students undertaking the above
action) fails. If we accept that "money makes the world
go round", why shouldn't students choose a job that
endows a skin set applicable to future employment plans
(where the real money is made) over a job that gives only
a marginal increase in disposable income at the pre.sent
time? As AA stated in her argument, "Co-op is an invest-
ment in your future". This should dot be
squandered by poor decisions.
Point number three: Trading experience for money
only weakens the education system and lowers future per-
sonal financial capacity. This point raises the problem of
how to define a useful experience.
For the co-operative education programme to sli cceed,
the factor of preserving the education system through use-
ful experiences must be fulfilled. How are useful experi-
ences defined and how do they conflict with expectaLion
of employers to extract some useful work from a student?
Both AA and WA raised the issue of large companies ver-
sus small companies, and the difference in experience pro-
vided by each. In fact, both AA and WA argued for the
same point that at large companies "you aren't more than
just a number" (WA) and are often "pigeon-holed" (AA)
into one task for the entire term. WiLhout disputing the
validity of either of these points, working for large com-
panies can still be viewed as education. In her argument
AA interprets a better experience as the "opportunit[yj to
work on many different projects". However, experiencing
diversity is not necessarily better than the experience of
one would gain by working at one task for an
entire term. WA brought up an example of his previous
work-term where he didn't "feel that [he] learned anything
extraordinary". Later on in his argument WA states that
he was indeed "able to improve [his) project management
skills" although "these skills can be acquired by taking
any Co-op placement." The second statement is not nec-
essariJy true. Project management at a small company is
in no way remotely comparable to managing a project
with the huge amounts of resources of a multinational cor-
poration. They are completely different experiences. As
well, there is a significant probability that, upon gradua-
tion, many students will find full-time employment with
large corporations. Thus, working for a large corporation
prepares students by introducing them to the unique work-
ing environment of a large corporation.
Point number four: By assuming that large corpora-
tions do not offer useful experiences, options for job
placement are needlessly reduced and the education sys-
tem is weakened. By finding jobs applicable to engineer-
ing disciplines without a bias toward the type of
experience offered, the Co-op programme is preserving
the education system.
Returning to the que. hon posed in the earlier, the sec-
ond part of thc questl,)J1 has yet to b deal t wit h - "How do
useful c:\perienccs conflict \\ it h expectation of employers
to e\lract some us 'ful wor" from a student'!" To examine
this quest ion we must ac-ccpt that a company hires an
mplo.'ce on th' precept that he/she \\ ill directly or indi-
rectly generate money for a company. This is no different
whcn a company hires a co-op student. The company
expects some \\or" to be done. However, this docs not
Ilt'cessarily limit the scope or amollnt of work. that a stu-
dent mal perform \\ hile on a work-term. WA would not
have you belit'\'e this. Ill' believes that "co-op students
never seem to be given enough responsibility." I will
implici tl y assume thal he also meant that co-op students
arc never given enough leeway. WA wi ll be very surprised
when he enters the work force in four years LO tind out that
hi s case holds not only for co-op studen!. , but al a for reg-
ul ar empl oyees. No one is ever given responsibility and
leeway; it is always earned. AA almo. t hit the nail right
on the head by staling that ". howing initiative and interest
... may open up new opportunities" . Replace the word
"may" with the word "will" and the concept is complete.
There are few succes ful employers in the present day
marketpl ace that would ever state that an employee has
too much initiative. These "animal spirits" (Keynes) are
the machinery that drive companies and individuals to
greatness.
Point number five: Your position within a work-term
placement is only what you make of it, and being apathet-
ic only weakens the education derived. The Co-op pro-
gramme preserves this facet of the education system by
ensuring that environments are both applicable to the field
of study and conducive toward learning.
To summarize, we would like to restate the five points
brought to the forefront of this response:
1. To maintain the reputation of the University of
Waterloo (and specifically the Faculty of Engineering) we
must strengthen the eoucation
And thus,.we in
way, and specifically, not by the methods presented in
points two through five.
2. Demanding hi gher salaries from .. ' rs can
only weaken th ' co op . ystcm.
3. Trading experience for money only weakens the
education system fl nd lowcn.; futlll"' personal financial
capacity.
4. By assuming thell large corpoTlltions do 1101 ofli.r
useful experi ences, options for joh placemellt ar ' need-
lessly reduced and the education system is weakened.
5. Your position within a work-term placement is only
what you make of it , and being apatheti c only weakens the
education derived. .
Since "the first step toward gWing somewhere is to
decide that I we] arc not going to stay where [we1 arc"
(John Pierpont Morgan), we must not be complacent and
accept the current slale of the ('o-op sylilcm. On the
strength of our numbers, engineering students must
become leaders toward attaining the goal of a stronger Co-
operative education system. In the next issue of The 1ron
Warrior Magazine, we will offer suggestions on how
every student can help to attain the goal of a stronger Co-
operative education system.
The Iron Warrior Friday. February 5. 1999
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ProfFi les .
MUSICIAN
,,', .", . ",
AllisonAnnan
3A Compo
Flying Circuits
Aaron Leiba
3A Compo
Flying Circuits
Has your prof ever tried to ell you a CD in class?
Ours did. Picture yourself sitting in Calculu cia sand
your prof tell you that you can pick up a copy of his lat-
est CD at the HMV in the University Plaza! Talk about
going off on a tangent! Well, it just 0 happens that
Profe or David Wang. a member of the E&CE faculty. is
11 member of a band. Critical Mass, the Catholi c Christian
Band to which Wang belongs, ha sold 750 copie of their
CD "Faith Looks Up". Wang is actively involved in song
writing. singing and managing th band. They
have played for over 10.000 people since the band began.
Two songs from album were rUllnerSlIp in the
"Inspirational Song of the Year" and "Rock Song of the
Year" categories at the Canadian Gospel Music
Association's 199B Covenant Awards.
The band recently shot a music video with Ray Lyell.
The video. taped throughout Kitchencr and Cambridge,
was a very exciting first for the band. They were filmed
playing in a variety of locations. including water foun-
tains. amidst moving cars on boulevards and silting on top
of moving convertibles. Wang loved the experience and is
looking forward to the next video shoot.
TEACHlN(,
Professor Wang weill to the Universit} of
Saskatchewan for his undergraduall' degree and then came
here. to our very own U of W for a Masterl> and a Ph.D.
He did his graduate work in the field of robotics. more
specifically. control of flexible link
In 1989. the professoJ who supervised his graduate
work retired. opening up a position in the E&CE faculty.
Wang took this chance to fulfil of teaching.
Since '89, Wang has taught a variet) of courses ranging
from calculus to robotics. When we asked what he enjoys
most about teaching. he emphasi/ed the impact that he has
on hundreds of students throughout his years of teaching.
He said that papers resulting rrom his research. although
very exciting to him, arc read by very few individuals, and
remembered by even fewer 10 years down the road. The
teaching aspect of his job; however. has an impact on
Alld he plays Jan'., wo! Thal's /rim lit 1M 1m", IVlI' \I'('(md 1,wn Ihe
approximately 150 students per year, which he feels real-
ly good about. His also has a fondness for presenting in
front of large groups of people, and teaching allows him
"to do this on a day-to-day basis.
When his first child was born (the first "Wanglet"), the
baby was very sick, so he drove back and forth between
Waterloo and Hamilton to cater to both hi career and
family. During thi time he got very little sleep and as a
result the following story portrays the most bizarre thing
that ever happened to him. During one of his lecture he
tried to teach the "Nyquist Criteria" (your guess is as good
as ours) to his fourth year students, but was perturbed
when all of his student had very strange looks on their
faces. He knew that the material wa difficult, and may be
causing the odd looks, but kept on teaching. By the end
of the class, the students were flipping back and forth
through their notes furiously, looking very confused. It
wasn't until a year later that Wang found out what truly
happened that day. Apparently, Wang wrote a full two
chalkboards of course material, erased the boards, and
then proceeded to teach the EXACT same material all
over again, word for word' None of the students under-
stood the material at the time, and although it seemed
strange to them, they copied it all down. It wasn't until
one of his grad students showed him the two identical
pages of notes that Wang really believed what had hap-
pened. This just goes to show that a little sleep depriva-
tion can really make class more interesting.
RESEARCH
Professor Wang is involved in some really interesting
research at the university. His work is focused in the field
of Virtual Reality. You may have experienced Virtual
Reality (abbreviated 'YR') yourself at Canada's
Wonderland or Sega Playdium. where VR manifests itself
in the form of entertainment. Wang's research takes VR to
a level by adding touch to the virtual environment.
For example. when your VR ha you hang
gliding through a beautiful bullerfly filled sky. and all of a
sudden you CRASH into the side of the Rocky
Mountain .. you should at least feel that something hap-
pened. Wang and hi'> group arc researching technologies
that provide that sort of "force feedback" through simulat-
ing spring and damping characteristics of virtual objects.
Control Advancements. a company that spun ofUrom
his. and others'. research produces the "Virtual Mouse".
While nav igahng one' way around the computer de ktop.
the mouse. through the use of computer controlled
motor:.. applies force feedback to your hand each time you
roll ovcr indow border. buttons. and icons. An exciting
application of this technology allows the visually
impaired to use computers more effectively. Stevie
Wonder himself. during the SAP Stevie Wonder competi-
tion. was so amazed by the fact that he could surf the web
that he interrupted the presentation to do just that. He pro-
ceeded to his web page. downloaded sound clips of hi.
own songs. and even ang along to them!
THEME
[n an attempt to stay with the theme of this is ue. we
asked Professor Wang if he thought that engineering stu-
dents are too narrow minded. "YES, capital Y-E-S" wa
his very explicit an. wer. He tre sed the fact that engi-
neering students hould be involved in more than ju. t
tudying. He believes that tudent waste far too mueh
time competing with other students in the cia s for those
The I ron Warrior Friday. February 5. 1999
"extra 2%". He blames the class ranking as a major
source of competition,' and wishes that admini tration
would abolish it.
Wang discussed the importance of getting involved in
activities with fellow classmates by comparing it to net-
working. No, not computer networking, people network-
ing' He tre sed the idea that by meeting new people, you
are actuall y making essential future contacts. He stated
that the most successful classes are those who remain in
contact after graduation. Instead of being a competitive
class, concerned only with getting better marks than those
sitting around you in class, get out there and start net-
working. The people itting next to you in class today
may be the people providing you with new contracts and
job opportunities years from now. So remember, next
time there is a clas party or social event, participate.
Think of it as investing in your future.
Wang stressed the importance of getting involved and
becoming a more well-rounded person by stating ''I'm
hoping that we're not graduating a bunch of technically
competent people with absolutely no ocial ki 1 "
Surpri singly enough, Wang menti oned that "hav ing that
extra 2% and putting fu ll focus on your school [work] ulti-
mately hurts you." He stres ed that
gelling involved in FASS, or other
extra curricular activities. is more
beneficial in the long run than the
extra time spent studying.
Wang also offered advice about
choosing our elective. . He ha
noticed a shift in student' s attitudes
within the last 10 years. Ten years
ago students would take cour es
because they were interested in the
topics, whereas today, students are
taking the cour es that they believe
industry wants them to take. ThL
attitude re. ult in students taking
course that they dislike so as to
have the education to get jobs in
industry. Wang thinks that there's
enough jobs out there in all the
areas that the . tudents bould be
studying topics that they enjoy and
not suffering through courses that
they hate. Wang /(1.\1(1 bn
Wang believes in becoming a well-rounded person.
being involved in a lot of activities and leading a fulfilled
life. He said "as much as I love my job at the university,
I love teaching. I love the research - it's still a job. It does-
n't define who I am." And he's right. Hopefully, by read-
ing this article you have gotten a mall glimpse of who
David Wang really is.
w

ees
How Much Is Five Dollars Worth To You?
Alison Kudelka
3A Enviro-chem
T
o me, $5 is worth exactly $5. On a $3000 tuition
bill that's 0.2% of the total bill. Doesn't sound
like much to me. That's why I say, "LET IT
GO!" . So WPIRG puts $4.75 on our tuition bill. To me,
that's no big deal. There are much more important
things in life than $4.75 for a non-profit organization
run through the university. I spend more than that on
lunch some days if I'm too lazy to make it myself.
There are so many non-profit organizations at UW,
and everyone of them need some money to keep things
going. Luckily for us, we have 20,000+ students to
share all the costs. It's only a few bucks here and there
to keep things running. Imagine how one-dimensional
this university would be without all of the organiza-
tions. I can't imagine losing Fed Hall (concerts, events,
etc), and all it cost to each person to keep it was $l2.
Now the Bombshelter needs money to renovate. I say
give it to them; if they can make necessary renovations
with a few of my dollar , why not? It's not like they're
doubling tuition or anything. They are asking for such
a minute amount of money compared to tuition. How
much more is $3000 when we're already paying $2995?
I've had enough fun there to justify spending a few dol-
lars for neces ary renovation ,
It fru lrates me to hear people always nit-picking
the small stuff. If your prof spells a word wrong on the
board and you know it's spelled wrong, chances are the
rest of your class knows too, or doe n't care. It doesn't
need to be pointed out in front of the whole class dis-
rupling the lecture. Some things are so small that they
should just be ignored. Life would be so much more
relaxed amI easy-going, The minute detail are ju t
that; minute, negligible, in ignificant, inconsequential,
immaterial.
There are so many confl ict in this world and 1 bet
they all started with mall, insignificant issues that
houldn't have escalated as far as they did. Think about
someone you are mad at right now. Can you remember
what started the initial conflict? If you can't, you know
it was something so insignificant that it shouldn't have
been an issue in the first place. The overall stress level
in this world would decrease dramatically if everyone
would ju t stop sweating the small stuff. My philoso-
phy is that it all evens out in the end. If you don't have
any money and are dying of thirst, I'll buy you a drink.
I will not hound you for that dollar the next day.
Eventually you will repay the favour even if it's pennies
at a time. If you don't, then I'm still glad I could help
you out. On the grand scale, it's just a drop in the ocean.
It's much more practical to save your energy for the
things that really matter. So go out into the world and
fight your battles and wars. Scale your mountains but
stomp on those molehills and forget about them. Think
of how much energy you will have to expend to scale
every mole-hill-tumed-mountain. It's not worth it.
Save your energy. Pick your battles. It's $5.
vs.
Counterpoint

e
i '
" .
t.. .......
Mat Pigozzo
2A Mech
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world:
indeed it's the only thing that ever has!"
- Margaret Meade
"Wren your fundamental beliefs and values are challenged, or the health and well
being of yourself or someone you care about is threatened, how do you respond?
Do you shrug off the offence as mediocre, or roll over and die? I believe most peo-
ple would not respond so passively to threats to tho e people and ideals that make up our core
being, defining us in the face of a world of chaos and uncertainty. Anyone would fight such
oppressions to the bitter end. Why then do the lesser causes, the minor injustices we experi-
ence every day, receive less attention? It is important to realize that problems come in both
smalJ and large packages, in fact a large problem is nothing but a collaborative effort of many
smaller ones, By taking note of, and acting out against the little snags in daily living, we are
simultaneously smoothing out the bigger wrinkles on the roads of life,
One seemingly minor issue that is receiving a lot of attention lately is the debate of the
$4.75 WPIRG fee each UW student pays with tuition. It's exciting to see how passionate
some people are on this issue, Even though all it really means is about five bucks to the aver-
age student, people feel strongly about it and are becoming involved in the issue, The impact
of this fee is not of monumental proportion - I lose more than five dollars to the cracks in my
couch each term - but that' s not the real point. The issue has sparked interest and confl ict.
ness and consciousness of this issue. More than that, its an inspirnliol) to liS all. tl) rise lip
from our mundane c\istcncl' anti throw oIl ttw 01 .Ipathv and ta"t' illtilln 101 m
against whatcycr an individual feels strollgly ahollt. It\ illI l'nlight 'lIillP l'xperil.'IK'l', II
lesson showing how much can he when Wl' tWill )!, o!lsclVl'l:> ilnd \WCOIIIl'
panicipants in the game of hfe. It is I'llr thl'Sl' n:ason", and the catalytic ('Iket \w haw
on other. , that makes it worthwhile to light for a pmition thOit (lIll' holds 011 '1I1)th[1I " " is in
how we face thc challcngc!'> of daily life that ddine who we an' as PI'Opk' This IS what Martin
Luther King, Jr. meant whcn he said "Thl' ultimilte !lIl'aSUrl' 01 a man is not WIWl ' Ill' stands
in moments of comfort. but where he slands at times of l'hulknge and controvc[sy."
This issue is just one of many I hear about during Illy daily cxpl'I'il'nt'l" at Watl'lloo. Bllt
this issue is special in thut a lot of activity and bl'ndit being gl'neratcd as a rcsull of it. Any
number of people can complain about an issllc, but until somcone actually dOl'S sOll1lllhin '
about it, it will remain on the ever-growing complaint 11',1. Things do not sUlrt out big, they
grow from the tiniest event, the most minute amount of sinccrl' cmlrt. Aut once tht' motion
is initiated, they grow to the greatness of their own accord In words of' Mother Tl'rcsa,
"We can do no great things: only smalllhings with great love,"
There is a sense of pride inspired by mUking a change, even ii' its a changl' of only the
smallest thing in your own life that no one will ever Sl'C or know of, if a change for thl'
better, for the good. As William Ellery Channing oncc stated: "Dirtkultics arc meant to
rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is 10 grow strong hy connic!." Each of u'> has a voicc
and with this voice comes the privilegc ... nay, the duty to it; Speak out against the cvill>
of the world and sing the praises of merely being alive in even the ).mallcst things wc do, The
form takes is up to the individual. but we must all light our battles and come to know
ourselves in our own ways and in our own lime. A final inspiration from Hannah More sum-
marizes this perspective: "One kernel is felt in a hogshead; one drop of water helps to swell
the ocean; a spark of tire helps to give light 10 the world. None are too small. too feeble, too
poor to be of service. Think of this and act."
The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the authors, or the Iron Warrior staff. Point Counter Point articles are meant to be a
thought-provoking debate on a prevalent issues related to engineers. They are not meant to be a statement of fact,
The Iron War nor Fnday. Februmy 5, 1999
-
-

-
Developing of a Social Conscious ess ...
Patrick Grover
O?
Graduate Studies
Cil 'ii Engineering
I
admil that during my undergraduate years here at
.. Waterloo, I was the typical apathetic engineering stu-
dent. I was aware of the issues affecting our society,
but never felt the need or desire to do anything about
them. Activism always seemed to be about a bunch of
long hairs waving placards and chanting silly songs, and
that was never really (and still isn't) my scene. J had heard
of WP.I.R.G, and thought that some of the stuff they did
was, at best, interesting (J am a big fan of Ralph Nader).
Even if T did feel like joining, r wasn't sure what in the
world they did; moreover, I was nervous that I would not
be well received into that cullllre, being one of "them
engineers". But most of all , I really couldn't care less. I
had better things to do like getting a job.
Now I am back at Waterloo a number of years later
doing graduate studies and am active within WP.I.R.G.
During the fall, I got my hands dirty restoring old bikes
with Recycle Cycles. and I have also been doing a bit of
research and reading on globalization as part of my work
with the group, People Against Corporate Rule. Through
my involvement, I have become informed on a variety of
other issues, such as the provincial government's new
Land's for Life policy and the Expressway 7 debate. I
don't always agree with the viewpoints of some of the
members, but the challenges to my values and viewpoints
force me to examine and defend myself, often causing me
to closely examine them. So how did this transformation
occur? Well it is a story, which involves ajoumey ...
When I graduated, ] decided to go planting for the
summer and then perhaps go travelling. Petro-Canada was
in the middle of layoffs, and so were many of the other oil
companies, so hey, this would be a good excuse to go bum
around for a little whi le. Plus, I was disenchanted with the
engineerin profession because 1 had met so few engi-
neers while on work terms whom were gell uinely happy.
They tended to lead very boring and insignificant lives,
and it showed in their gloom. This confused me. It ended
up thaI l spent the last three years travelling and doing all
sorts of strange jobs (tree planting and working as a bike
courier were Illy main sources of income). During this
time I met lots of people with "unique" outlooks on life,
and I put myself into very intense situations. By listening
to what these p oplc had to say and liVing through these
experiences, I was able to unlearn much of the "crap"
which had been taught to me over the past years. An
example of this "crap" is the notion that what you do (i.e.
your job) defines who you are. Another examplc is to
believe that it is perfectly okay to devote a massive
amount of your life to your job. so that at the end of the
day you arc too tired 10 do anything but turn 011 the TV
and turn off your brain. I began to gain my own perspec-
tive on the world. I highly recommend dropping out for a
little while, it makes a world of difference. Sure some peo-
ple might get upset or worried, but usually that is how you
know that you are on the right track.
So during these years, I spent most of it with people
who occupy Ihe lowest economic classes. As a bike couri-
er, I was surrounded by the street culture, which included
junkies, the homeless and those who just decided to drop
out of the mainstream. When you start to actually get to
know some of the homeless people, it is hard to ignore
them. I spent some time in the north, and saw fir t hand
the level of poverty on Canadian reservations. I saw place
and learned of situations in the WT, Northern
Saskatchewan and Ontario that were right out of the
"developing" world. And by travelling to South America
on two separate occasion , I saw some appalling stuff.
But I would say that my development of this "social
consciousne. s" thing really happened during my second
trip to South America. This time I brought my bike (which
is the be t and realistically, the only way to travel) which
allowed me to cycle into some very remote parts of Peru.
I'm not sure what it is, but we do have quite a defensive
shell around u that can protect us from reality. We see
poverty on TV, but those are just images that may instant-
ly affect us, but wear-ofr pretty fast. Even when I saw the
poverty of both Canada and South America first hand, I
was still unaffected.
So I'm not sure whether these images and experiences
collected in my mind, adding up to a bursting point, or if
I experienced a powerful enough event, but eventually my
shell crumbled. One situation that really stick out in my
mind was when I was ridding through Peru. I was told that
I was the first foreigner to travel through these parts as far
back as anyone could remember. This area was just begin-
ning 10 recover from the years of hardship and atrocities
committed during the reign of the guerrilla group, The
Shinning Path. One day in a town just out ide of
The Sandford Fleming Foundation
CPH 4306
888-4008
Civil Engineering
a Journey
Huancavalica. while talking to some locals. a young girl
looking to be about 8 or 9 walked over to us and ju t stood
there laring at me. The locals. noticing her, explained to
me that she was actually 14 year old, but her growth and
mental development had been tunted by year of malnu-
trition. There was something in those eye of hers, which
pierced that protective shell and struck my oul. I started
to shake, felt nauseous and had to excu e my elf and
biked off in a hurry.
I spent the rest of the day ju t ridding and trying to for-
get about that girl. I began to question what right I had to
be there? My privileged white skin, my immunizations,
and my money. What right did I have to look at that girl
and not be affected? Ever ince then he ha haunted me,
reminding me of the actual suffering which goe on in the
world. It is her that has driven me to become an activi t,
and it wa her who helped destroy my apathy.
In a strange way this girl in the middle of the Peruvian
highlands, who had nothing, ended up giving me perhaps
what I was really looking for: Meaning for life. Ever si nce
r have become an active member of my society and I have
felt that my life now has a direction, a purpose.
Back to WP.I.R.G. - why i it important? It is a place
where you can come to challenge, expand and explore
your own thoughts and ideas. W.P.I.R.G.' . views are ba ed
on the collective opinions of its volunteers. Sometimes the
issues are political, but more often they are issues which
deal with common sense. As for engineers, we tend to
have different methods and views on how to attack issues.
We are problem solvers. A number of us WPRIG mem-
ber. who are engineers are organizing a group to look into
activism and the kind that appeals to engineers (i.e.
re eareh oriented). We are going to examine one issue,
which affects us as a collective, and try to work for
change.
So what i the point of this article? Perhaps it is this:
To start to question the things around you, and stop
accepting what is aid to be true. Go out and see the world
for yourself. Find and develop your own voice. A foony
thing happens when you go off alone to find yourselC: you
discover that it i fou nd in the community you left.
Sam Keen a philosopher, psychologist and consulting
editor for Psychology Today for 20 years, points out the
first que tion. we must ask ourselves:
"Where am I going, what's my life about, and what
gives it meaning? After that, of course we have to ask the
que tion, How do I make a living and how do I provide for
myself?" The order of the questions is the key!
If you are intere ted in joining this group contact
plgrover@ellgmail or mplablaflc@ellgmail.
Waterloo Campus Activities
sff@dean
Chris Flaman
Bill Bishop
Orla Hegarty
Alex Parlour
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Management Sciences
Mechanical Engineering
U / i ~ r 3 0/ tlut 1998 Sandford J!eming
J.oundation Jeaclung -Ajji3ianl.3lu
p
-AwarJ
Funding for this award comes from engineering student contributions and depends on them for continuation.
An organization devoted to the advancement of engineering education.
.... ~

The Iron WarriOl' Fr Iday. February 5. 1999
Tal<e A
The Zhan
Zhan Huan Zhou
3A Comp
M
ost of the time when I get up in the morning. I
see my elf in the mirror and think nothing of it.
After all, I've been seeing the arne person for
the past 21 years. One day that all changed. J looked into
the mirror and saw someone different. It wasn' t the same
21 year old Chinese male I had grown accustomed to see-
ing. That day I realized that I was no longer Chinese.
I don't mean that one day I found out that I was really
Nick Gaganiaras
a genencall: engine red Italian to IOl k a Chine e person.
I mean that my Chin> 'cultur' and \\ 3} of thin tng h,1l.1
been 3lmo. t completel. Wt.' . temiled. D'spil the fa 'I Ihat
I was born in China and m) parenl. are :trong cu]tur ..ll
IIltluence . I have managed to 10 > mu 'h ot heril,lge.
outb of Ihe border, thi ma) be en a. Ihe \\ a) of life
and something lhat immigrant mu. ( COp' \\ ilh. In
COnlnI. l. here m Canada. \\' pride ollrs 'hes in being a
"mo aic of cultlll'c. ' compared to the. men an "m Iting
POL" The realil) in Canada, ho\\ ever. is thlt Caucasian
indi\ idual. don '( have an) of the cultural pre, Ihat an
immi grant has. uch a conformi ng to the We. t 'm wa> of
life. The cultural differen 'e dramati all ) affect the
upbringing of a young chi.ld new to the counrry. 0 child
want be different from hi s peers and will do virtually
anything to be accepted. in luding abandoning his native
heritage in favour of the "Canadi an" Ii fe,.tyle. 1 fell vic-
tim to this when I wa in public chool and deeply regret
it now. I am ure Ihal many of you ha e this experience
or know omeone who ha .
A ide from having all the phy ical attributes to pa sa
"Chinese, " I have very little el e to identify my elf a
uch. For example, my Chinese oral and written 'kill are
comparable to a kindergarten level and are degrading
every year. I don't even know when Chine e ew Year i
most of the time. And even something as imple a, con-
suming rice regularly is becoming more infrequent. I eat
Western foods more than 90% of the time. And to top it
all off, I don't even have black hair any more!
There are time I try really hard to fool myself into
Gemini:
thinking that r am indeed Chi nese. I will attempt to speak
to Ill) in Chinese or tr) to read a Chinese new. pa-
per. Wh('n r am r('ally desperate. I even eat al Sunshine
Expre s or Grand China 10 g.el u grolls approxlinatlOn of
111) ('thni' food 10 l'ominl'l: m) self that 1 am indeed
Chill'." . 1 haH: . ome Chinese I:alendars that I put up to
fool p'oplc inlo thinking thaI I am in louch with my eul-
tur'. Th 'I" ar times I feci likl' I am insulting my Chine e
herit,\ge h) 'alling my. elf a hinese p'rson.
An example thaI many of )ou may he able to rclate to
is calli ng) ourself a "Christian." When \Va the last time
you went 10 church? When wa. the last time you said
Grace dinn r'? Whcn was (h last time you con-
fe, sed your sins? When was the la. t time you prayed to
God'? Wh 'n as the lao t time being a Christian had a
major impa t on any action you have ommittcd? I don' t
mean (0 offend any Chri [ians but although many people
are technically Christians, most don ' ( practice Ihe belief
enough to really be called a hristian. The same i true
for calling me a Chinese. Chine. e blood may flow
through my artcri es, but I am n. Canadian a. the reo t of
you.
To paraphrase a certain song, you could say that I'm
"Pretty Chink for a White Guy."
Take A Zhance has oeen regularly featured in The Iron
Warrior since September 1997. Past anicles can be found at
http://,,'ww.eng.lllla/('rloo.ca/sfuuen t/zh , hol/
Libra:
en
w
0.. '
2A Mech
Stop meddling damnit! You have to stop
eyerybody else's life and start
ttealing . ybdr own. You find it 0 ea y to
find! fa It ith other people but fail to recog-
authority for the next little while. It
may "'tii<e it
l
but they're after you. Make a
you have nothing to worry
OlltEXcept1OflYour little party. Someone will
speak and it will be you that they will bear down on.
o
o
en
o
Aquarius:
Well, the next couple of weeks should tum out
veJ"/ }>rgspe'rous70r you and those around you.
61 in the way of achieving your
g 1 De austif tney do get in your way, you'll be
Ibng,t1me for your next door of opportuni-
ty to open.
Pisces:
Shiny, happy people prett much urn up your
-d',(or the ....ney week. After this though, your
roO ate.s;,..pesS'imism will finally get to you and
y be with a bout of depression and ill-
nes :::,:.:Jlhis' .. by strengthening your
fua through of your surroundings.
Aries:
0 . Th xt week or so will be a time
of d . t too down on yourself though,
you have plenty to offer those around you and to
yourself.
Cancer:
The partygoer inside of you really want to be
set Ultimately it's your choice, but
may numb ge t that you don't. It's not like I
, -
d' . SIi:.IiIr<>l!vocvbody ut I' havin un,
, e line. And that line is right
C:-Cit.=vrul; :ti'me to make the decision of
whether to cross or to stay right where you arc.
Leo:
The pebbles on the mountain af' approaching
the window5ill SI,rrying ba. kets or turtles. Don't let
the turtl t{len swim away to the island in
Scorpio:
You are lazy and me sy as usual. One difference
is 1haT thlrwe.ek. you won't be able to get someone
Oil after you. Time to face the conse-
qbence f Take exira care of acquain-
tapce .. deciding what will happen to
ybtt-i he 'nCx:t..::fuonth. Keep a close eye on your
ro n't 1 t th uc y u in ...
Sagittarius:
F. pand yO\lr mind this week, TIlly n CO hy 0
group that 'v, hl'ard or nlld hlt'Hk it
ami hum th,l.l This will tellch you to Wrist
YOttf-ffief1't y 1'ltf.'lUC1'l frivoll1uS thin)!.s as mUSll' . I on'l
I Rlilnd up for yourself and
y ,U/1fghh. By the WHY, yes, you do have rights.
a:
'
" . :1.
Play your cards right and things are going to
hope so. Go into interviews with
,/ p&"tive , which will turn into bountiful
offers ovJing up. There will be some down time
soon. Lay low and watch your back for
tabber that keep showing up whenever
you're having some luck.
m
a w 'ere,..)fle'swans strangle the tu/1les and
. shell . Catch the sw"" and
pluc their hile singing a song. Now, take
the feathers an dip them in water three timcs to rid
yourself of any bad luck. that may be present.
Virgo:
that will bite the Leos thal you
o
.fm.not waste your time here. I haven't

. to happen to you. It's as simple

or the swans will catch you. Ir
::I:
thF -,,\:, '
\ - ___ /_y ,l
""--- - --"
------
FSAE
Phillip Taylor
0<[ ,
Upright Design and
Manufacture
U
P until this year, the FSAE team has had to rely
upon theoretical calculations in order to under-
stand the magnitude and nature of the forces that
the suspension members experience. These calculations
were performed with the u e of a computer suspension
program (Racing By Numbers) as well as through the
y g:!)lt-' you will live to bite another day.
.

good old pencil and paper method. Both of Ihese methods
produced essentially the exact ame results. However, a
rather large safety factor wa& used anyway when deciding
upon the size of the suspension members as well as the
size and geometry of the uprights. This large safety fac-
tor was used since we all know that the praclical does not
always mimic the theoretical.
Thi year, it was thought that these theoretical calcula-
tions should be substantiated with some real-time mea-
surements through the use of strain gauges. Since these
force value would be most useful in the design of the
uprights for the J 999 car, it was up to me to make sure that
this happened. After much discussion, deliberation, and
procrastination, I finally got started applying the strain
gauges in the fall of this year. Helping me in this effort
was Paul Thorpe of Practical Application of Technology.
Paul pecializes in strain gauge application and data col-
lection, and without his help, the use of equipment,
and hi . technical expertise, none of this would have been
possible. Therefore, r am happy to report that the testing
was a huge success and the data, which we collected in
November, is already paying orf in a large way and will be
of great importance in the design portion of
the competition. For example, the data we collected con-
firmed our suspicions thal our theoretical calculations did
not account for unexpected force peaks during specific
driving situation,>. Although our calculation. , on average,
were accurate, there were points of instantaneous peak
force values that were anywhere between 15% to 100%
larger than our predicted values. As a result, the uprights
are no longer over-engineered to compensate for our igno-
rance. This will be of tremendous help in placing even
higher than last year's 7th place finish.
The Iron Warrior Friday. February 5, 1999
-
-

Feature
Caroline Page
3A Enviro Chem
P
eople don't like to be insulted. That is an undisput-
ed facl. So if someone were to say that engineers
are too narrow minded, that person would probably
be confronted with a barrage of highly convincing com-
ments such as: "How can you say that?" and "There's no
way!" or possibly even "They are not!". These comments
will preclude any question, such as "What do you mean
by narrow minded?" and "What makes you say that?". It
is also unlikely that the issue of engineer's narrow mind-
edness will be disputed with a great deal of coherent argu-
ing. After all , it is very insulting to be called something
derogatory, or something that may be interpreted as being
derogatory. But to prove that we aren't narrow minded, it
might be best to figure out exactly what could be meant by
lhatterm, and then try to refute it.
The Narrow Minded Engineer
The word narrow suggests something constricting,
like a narrow passageway. If you apply this to a manner of
thinking, a narrow minded person might be constricted by
his or her ideas, unable to make deci sion based on all the
facts because all of the facts just aren't in the passageway
with the thinker. To make a distinction, narrow minded
does not mean the same thing as closed minded. The lat-
ter suggests a choice, which is accompanied by ignorance
and stubbornness. The thinker is presented with new
information and chooses to ignore or disbelieve it. A nar-
row minded person has 110 such choic to make. The infor-
mation is simply not available to him or her.
So how could an engineer possibly be narrow minded?
As engineering students, are we not presented with end-
less amounts of information concerning calculus and
physics, materials and processes? As humans, particularly
educated, reasonably affluent humans, do we not have
vast amounts of inFormation accessible to us through
books, newspapers, television, and the internet? How
could we not be seeing the whole picture, or getting all the

In ca e you missed the drift of my reverie. I'll rephrase
it in a concise, logical, analytic manner. Creative thinking
got dropped from the curriculum and was replaced by
memorization of facts and mathematical problem solving.
The school system stopped nurturing the creative, spatial
side of us in order to encourage our logical , analytical
minds to grow. And grow they have. After all, we find our-
elves here at university in the realm of engineering, sur-
rounded by the laws and rules of the universe. As the
"good students", we thrived in the educational system and
are now reaping its benefits. We are therefore narrow
minded because we are using some of OUT abilities, the
logical, analytical ones, to look at the world. We are con-
fining ourselves within mental boundaries.
Enter the Brain
The human brain, when viewed from above, is made
up of two similar appearing, rounded halves, connected at
the center. The two halves are known as the "left hemi-
sphere" and the "right hemisphere". The left hemisphere
controls the right side of the body, while the right hemi-
sphere controls the left side. In animals, the two hemi-
spheres develop symmetrically, and are similar in
function. The human cerebral hemisphere , however,
develop asymmetrically in terms of function, which leads
to the handedness of humans.
About one-hundred and fifty years ago, scientists dis-
covered that language and language-related capabilities
are controlled by the left cerebral hemisphere for about
two thirds of left-handers and 98 percent of right handers.
This discovery resulted from observations of people who
had suffered brain damage or injuries. Linking speech and
language to thinking, reasoning, and higher mental func-
tions, the scientists termed the Jeft hemisphere the domi-
nant (or major) hemisphere, while the right hemisphere
became known as the subordinate (or minor) hemisphere.
From thi emerged the assumption that the right side of
the brain was less advanced and less
"Scielltists have always proceeded Oil the assumptioll
that wholes are understamlable in terms of their
parts ... But of tell (ill fields such as art, music, and social
science) wholes emerge that are not understandable in
terms of their parts, bringing science right to the edge
of the supposed gas between the material and mental
worlds, a gap which may be illusory or profound. "
evolved than the left side. The left side of
the brain was considered to be more
important than the right, and society was
taught to appreciate the capabilities of the
left hemisphere.
During the 1960's, scientists postulated
a revised view of the capabilities of the two
halves of the brain. The scientists nad dis-
covered that the main purpose of the cor-
- Sir Alan Cottrell
information? We avoid the issue because we find it so
offensive.
pus callosum, a thick nerve cable that
connects the two cerebral hemispheres,
was to serve as an information link
between the two nemispheres, allowing the transmrssion
ti
of memory and learning. Scientists then postulated that
both hemispheres are involved in higher cognitive func-
tioning, and each half of the brain specializes in a differ-
ent mode of thinking. Further studies showed that each
half of the brain perceives reality in its own way. The ver-
bal, left half of the brain tends to dominate most of the
time in people with intact brains as well as in people who
have had the corpus callosum removed. At the same time,
both halves of the brain are responding to
eers
soning, and complex mental functioning. It has also been
shown that the two modes of processing tend to interfere
with each other, preventing maximal performance. This
may explain why the human brain developed asymmetri-
cally - to keep the two modes of processing in different
hemispheres of the brain.
An example might help illustrate the power of the dif-
ferent sides of the brain. A male patient who had nad his
corpus callosum removed was given several wooden
shapes and asked to arrange tnem in a certain design. He
was asked to complete this task using his right hand (cor-
responding to the left hemisphere), but kept failing. The
right hemisphere, trying to help, but the right hand would
push the left hand away. The man had to sit on his left
hand to keep it from helping. When the scientists allowed
him to use both hands, the spatially smart left hand pushed
.... ; . j ~ Corpus Callosum
Anterior Commissure
the right hand out of the way and completed the task. In
another case, two pictures were simultaneously flashed
before a patient, one which was received by the left hemi-
sphere and one which was received by the right. The left
side of the brain received an image of a knife, while the
right side of the brain received an image of a spoon. When
asked to name the image, the articulate left side of the
brain responded "knife". When asked to select the object
from behind a screen using his left hand (corresponding to
the right hemisphere), the man selected a spoon from a
group of objects including both a knife and spoon. If the
patient was asked to identify what was in his hand, he
would respond "knife". The right hemisphere was aware
that this was wrong, but was unable to verbally communi-
cate, and so the patient would mutely shake his head.
Confused, the patient then asked aloud "Why am I shak-
ing my head?" It is obvious that, in a way, we each have
two minds that are linked together. Sometimes the two
minds cooperate, each half contributing what it does best.
Other times, the hemispheres work relatively indepen-
dently. Occasionally, the two hemispheres conflict, each
half fighting to do what the other half knows it can do bet-
ter.
Let's take a little journey back in time. Do you remem-
ber grade school? Those were the days. Math class was
followed by music. After recess, it was time for dodgeball.
In the afternoon, science, english, and art were combined
into one class. Now think about your average school day:
numbers, theory, flow rates or computer code, the occa-
sional lab, more numbers and theory. Somewhere along
the line, things changed. My memories of kindergarten
revolve primarily around playing house, pounding nail
into wood, drawing and painting, and a whole lot of run-
ning. Grade 1 brought in a little bit of math, and the basics
of reading. As the years progressed, art and music clas es
became fewer and farther between. English class changed
from creative writing to grammar, spelling, and e say .
Science became math and math became calculus and alge-
bra and statistics and probability. And gym class? Well, I
quit gym so I could take all the computers, math, and sci-
ence courses I needed to get into university. But I heard
that it was still pretty fun. You got to learn the history of
and processing information, each in their
own way. The link between the two halves
melds the two perceptions, which pre-
"The left hemisphere analyzes over time, whereas the
right hemisphere synthesizes over space. "
_ sports, the proper techniques, the mu culature of the
_body ...
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The iron Warrior Friday February 5. 1999
erves our sense of being a unified entity.
Scientists also discovered that the left
hemisphere is verbal and analytic, while
the right hemi phere is nonverbal and global. More recent
evidence has shown that the mode of information pro-
cessing used by the right hemisphere is rapid, whole-pat-
tern, spatial. and perceptual. This proves that it is
comparable in complexity to the mode of processing in
the left hemi phere and that both ides of the brain use
high-level cognitive modes, which involve thinking, rea-
- Jerre Levy
Society has a bias towards the right side of the brain.
Our language contains many examples of bigotry towards
the left hand, which corresponds to the right side of the
brain. The right hand is strongly associated with things
that are good, moral, and just, while the left hand is asso-
ciated with things that are bad, immoral, and dangerous.
The Latin word for "right" is dexter, the origin of the word
"dexterity" (meaning "proflciency" or "aptitude"). The
Latin word for "left" is sillister, with connotations uch a
"si ni rer" , "ominous", and "evil". The French word for
"right" is droit, meaning "good", "just", or "proper", while
the word for "left" is gauche, meaning "awkward". The
English word "right" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word
reht (or riht), meaning "straight" or "j ust". The words
"correct" and "rectitude" are also derived from this origin.
The English work "left" comes from the Anglo-Saxon
word lyft, meaning "weak" or "worthle s".
Up until recently, the bias against left handed people
so permeated our culture that left handed children were
forced to become right handed because it was feared that
the devil controlled left handed people. The place of hon-
our at a formal gathering is at the host's right-hand side.
At weddings, the groom is on the left while the bride is on
the right. We shake with our right hands. The political left
is fascist, admiring autonomy and promoting (radical)
cbange. Throughout history, the left brain has been ver-
bally demeaning the right brain, while the right brain,
unable to communicate through language, has been left
undefended.
People have long been aware that along with the phys-
ical duality of the brain, there are
arrow

tion, intuition, and creativity often doe occur in spite of
the chool sy tern. But our culture i 0 trongly bia ed
towards the left-brained approach that it is inevitable that
we are suppres ing a large part of ourselve by failing to
train and encourage the right hemisphere, which re ult in
narrow mindedness. Scientist Jerre Levy ha remarked
that American scientific training through graduate school
may entirely destroy the right hemisphere! While this is
an exaggeration, it is undeniable that the school y tern
trains us to be one-sided, focusing on only half of our abil-
ities.
So why doe it really matter that engineers are taught
to be primarily left-brained? If everyone is taught to be
left-brained, why is it such a problem for engineers in par-
ticular? If we're taught to be left-brained, why worry
about it? We feel fine, so what could we possibly be miss-

tunities to oversee much of our own learning proce, . So
why i it that we continue to only train our analytical side?
In order to com up with creativ idea , doesn't it follow
that we hould tea h our elves to think creatively? But for
orne reason, we ke p ignoring our creative sides. focus-
ing on facts and fonnula derived by someone el e.
Art cia ,mu ic. even English when there was a lot of
creative writing involved. Most of the engineers that I've
spoken with find the e subject the most difficult of all.
Being people who are generally unaccustomed to failure
(except the occa ional midtenn), we avoid things that we
don't succeed at. Art clas ? Oh I suck at drawings.
Writing? Oh I can't create a coherent entence. Calculus?
Oh ['m great at math. l'Il go into engineering. This is the
way that we expand and enrich our minds. This is how we
confront our fears. By running from them into the com-
forting and familiar (yet chal-
also parallel ways of knowing. II
Throughout the history of science
are anecdotes of researchers who,
stumped by a problem, have a
dream in which the answer pre ents
itself in some sort of encrypted
metaphor under tood by the scien-
tist. We often have no logical rea-
Left Mode:
1111 Il
lenging) world of number and
logical, linear thinking. The
reason that we should take
classes like art and music is
on to doubt a person's sincerity,
but a gut feeling tells us not to be
too tru ling.
It is clear that both side of the
brain are at work, processing the
same situation. The left hemisphere
mode is analytical, verbal, figuring-
out, sequential, symbolic, linear,
and objective. This side of the brain
analyzes, abstracts, counts, marks
time, plans step-by step procedures,
verbalizes, and makes rational
statements based on logic. The
right hemisphere mode is spatial,
subjective, relational, time-free,
creative, holistic, and networked.
This side of the brain can see how
things exist in space, and how parts
fit together to make up the whole. It
Verbal: Using words to name, describe,
and define
Analytic: Figuring things out step-by-step
and part-by-part
Symbolic: Using a symbol to represent
something
Abstract: Using a small bit of informa-
tion to represent the whole thing
Temporal: Awareness of time, and doing
tasks sequentially
Rational: Drawing conclusions based on
reason and fact
Digital: Using numbers
Logical: Drawing conclusions ba ed on
logic
Linear: Thinking in terms of linked ideas,
progressing directly from idea to idea
ing out on?
Nonverbal: Awareness but minimal con-
nection with words
Synthetic: Putting parts together to form
wholes
Concrete: Relating things as they are at
present
Analogic: Seeing likenesses between
things and understanding metaphors
Nontemporal: Lacking a sense of time
Nonrational: Does not require a basi:-, of
reasoning or facls
Spatial: Seeing things where they arc in
relation to other things
Intuitive: Making leaps of insight. bused
on hunches, feeling, or images
Holistic: Seeing whole things at once
because we find them difficult.
That's the whole point. Given
the opportunity to truly enrich
ourselves, what do we do? We
take electives to plump up our
re urnes (MSCI, etc); because
we're already famili ar with the
subject (when your last name is
Von Trapp, you shouldn't take
German 10 I); or because we
want to lighten our work-load
(as if yllli y II'(/flt,' t! to wh'
PSCI 291 or 2(2). IlIslead, we
.. hould confront our fl'ar .. lind
oUI',('lvc\ u chance 10
improve UUI' and expand
our Illllll". We should lake
classes that really will J1l.lkc us
more wt'll rounded: fuw art ,
music, drama, cr 'alivc writing.
If electives werc credit/no credo
it, maybe we would have the
luxury of doing so. Instead we
dreams, creates, gestures, and understands metaphors. For
example, try to describe a spiral staircase without making
a spiral gesture. The right side of the brain uses intuition,
resulting in situations where things seem to suddenly fall
into place ("Ohh ... now 1 get it").
Where the Engineer Falls Short
need to boost our averages, so we stick with subjects
where we have a reasonable guess as to the mark we're
going to earn before even setting foot in the room.
It is too late for u to go back to the beginning and
retrain our brains to usc both hemispheres equally. But i,n
order to become good engineers, we need a way to learn
creatively and to train the right side of our brains. We need
to give ourselves the ability to see and think and make
Favoritism towards Logic and Analysis ' j
Engineering is about applying proven science and
technology and bringing them to the world. Engineering is
aoout:..l16uble-shooting, resourceful problem-solving, and
innovative ideas. In short, engineering is about creative
As I mentioned before, the school system, favor- --------------------------
ing sequential verbal and numerical classes, caters to
the left side of the brain. The right hemisphere can-
not be reasoned ..yith. It cannot sequence tasks, and
it has poor time management. It cannot categorize
and name objects, nor can it analyze and abstract.
For these reasons, the right side of the hemisphere
has been abandoned by the school system, which has
found a way to educate the left hemisphere.
Although awareness is increasing as to the lack of
"The main theme to emerge ... is that there appear to be
two modes of thinking, verbal and nonverbal, represent-
decisions using all that we have. Training the right
side of the brain wiJI provide us with skills that we
have been suppressing. skills that poke their heads
out every now and again, but can't reliably be
called upon.
ed rather separately in left and right hemispheres,
respectively, and that our educational system, as well as
science in general, tends to neglect the nonverbal form
of intellect. What it comes down to is that modern soci-
The reason we are all here is because the
University of Waterloo deemed us "well-rounded",
intelligent, capable individuals who show promise
to have a significant impact on the future. But in
right brained education, school continues to be very
ety discriminates against the right hemisphere. "
- Roger W, Sperry
order to take the world to the next level, we are
left brain dominated. Students progress linearly from --------------------------
going to have to realize the boundaries of our (nar-
row) minds, and try to push past those limits.
Remember that the only way to get out of a narrOW
grade to grade. Our main subjects are verbal and
numerical. We follow schedules, sit in rows, and receive
grades for our performance. The few subjects that provide
an outlet for the imaginative right side of the brain, such
as music and art, are optional, and even these classes focus
less on creativity and perceptual skills than they should.
Witness music class: the study of musical history, or art
class: the analysis of paintings and theif/verbal meanings.
Fortunately, development of inventiveness, imagina-
thinking accompanied by logical reasoning. In theory,
( engineering seems to suggest a fairly large component of
right-brained thinking. In practice, the field is dominated
by linear thinking. The right brain approach is encouraged
by companies, but, due to lack of training we are unable
to access the right hemisphere at will. We have been
trained so that we can only complete part of the job.
Now that we are informed adults. we have the oppor-
passageway is to keep looking for the door.
For those of you who still aren't convinced, and need a
few scare tactics to bring you out of the world of the left
brain, studies have shown that people who work ex.ces-
sively using the left side of their brain can actually lose the
ability to dream. Have a nice life.
The Iron Wl-HrIOI FI iday FctJI uary 5. 1999
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The
Do you think en"gineers are narrow-minded?
ru
u
u
u
The Iron Warrior Friday. February 5. 1999
By Alison Kudelka and Jenny Mitchell
Nikita Eriksen-Hamel
3A Enviro-Chem
"1 think we stick together LOO much and don't take enough other courses. I
think we should be thrown in Africa and see if calculus helps us. We should
rely less on our engineering knowledge and more on intuition."
Karen Genoway
4B Chemical
"Right brain/left brain crap? I don't know anything about that. I wouldn't say
engineers are worldly. I don't know anything about history and stuff. I live in
a bubble when I'm at school."
Derek Maat
4B Enviro-Civil
"Yes, I think so. They don't have a chance to develop a whole spectrum of
personalities. I think engineers are too goal-oriented and don't experience the
whole of life."
Sukbdeep Graewal
Pre-Optometry
UNo.1t
Tania Pereira
IB Enviro-Chem
"Yes, I think so because we're not encouraged to learn everything and use
everything. We are only allowed to take one elective and we aren't encour-
aged to develop our creative side. Our courses take up too much time so we
can't experience the full university life."
Victor Uras
4B Electrical
"Yes, I would have to agree with that. We take all core courses and then get
one complimentary elective that we blow off to make our lives easier."
June Low
Faculty
"I'm alway. amazed at how good Tal-Eng i . I'm pleasantly amazed at how
well 'dumb' engineer can play music."
Zoot
"A whipped up jillerbuggin' browll eyed man
A stray catfrontin' up an eight-piece band
Cut me Sammy and you'f{ understand
In my veins hot music ran"
- "Zoot Suit Riot", Cherry Poppin' Daddies
Wil AbaHe
2A Systems Desigll
T
he 1990's have been years of retro pect, with
everything from di sco to retro infiltrating the fore-
front of the current music scene. This is perhaps a
phenomenon cau. ed by our anticipation of th ne", mille-
nium: as we usher in th future. we feel the Il'ed to lip
back into the pa I. winl! i. of no exception to thi late.' t
tring of re\ i\'al . the pa t year generating an unbelie\'abl
amount of attention to thi. old form of dance. For the
Ilr t time in nearly fifty year. $\\ ing has made a come-
back. and people arc redi ' covcring the . he 'r c,hilaration
and almost innocent jOy the mu:i and tht' dance bring.
The whole thing \\as . parked two years ago b} a
comedy called S", inger.. a fresh and witt) look at the
nightlife antic. of buddies li\ ing in LA. Everyone", ho
saw it sat up and look notice of the martinis. the 50's !'l'tro
shirts. the fedora it brought fame to Big Bad Voodoo
Dadd). a wing group featured in one of th' scell S, and
people began to realize ju t how 'money' :.wing is.
But it wa n't until the Gap commerciallhat swing real-
ly started to fly. That h0l1 thirty- econd ad campaign of
couples doing aerials to Brian Setzer's "Jump. Jive and
Wail" confirmed in people' minds that -wing IS cool. It
inspired people to learn it.
In Toronto. night-spot like the Cameron HOll . e.
Berlin and the Courthouse are now holding pecific swing
nights, complete with live, full-piece jazz orchestra. At
UW, the Swing and Social Dance Club (SSDC). originat-
ed by an engineering tudent, Tim Bum, thrive. On
Tuesday, January 19, a rumored 600 hepcats tiled into Fed
Hall , eager to learn the foo.twork.
Is the wing revival genui ne and here to tay, or is it
just a short- lived whim enlivened by a Gap ad? Whatever
the ca e may be, a lot of UW tudent are having a lot of
fun, and unl e s you want to miss out, you'll need basics
beyond a pair of khakis.
The SSDC meetings, which occur on al ternating
Monday and Tuesday night each week at Fed Hall, i a
great place to begin. The club i organiz d by cnthu ias-
tic Waterloo students with an avid intere't in swing. The
lub\ inlention is to provide dance les ons from all the
\ arious of swing, from Lindy Hop, East Coast
\\-ing llnd West Coast wing to Charleston. Jive and
Fo\.trot. This is a fri 'ndl) cene for beginners; you can
meet all sorts of n 'W people who are there for the same
reason you are - to have a good lime. witching partners
IS l'ncollnlged. since one ob\ iousl) becomes better at
swing \\ hen onc b ,ltrUIl'd to different dancing styles.
After the lessons. everyone leIS loosl' and the antics
'Ilsue. with the part} continuing for un hour or 1\\0 \\ith a
OJ spinning swing from the '40s 10 the '90s. This is the
best part of each tnt'eling. since il really gives you the
chance 10 cut the rug wilh all th' stuff yOLl just
learncd that c\cning.
It's :llll<l/ing how mU'h fun you can havc . winging,
even if al\ you know are the very ba ic'slow-slow-quick-
quic\"" sleps. nd how quickly you can
learn some slick step sequences. ew moves in swing can
easily be pick d up by observation and by imitation.
Swing nights all oyer Kit hener-Waterloo arc propa-
gating faster than bunny rabbits, so if you're not interest-
ed in joining the Swing Club but \ ould still like to try
your hand (and feet) at swing, one of these venues might
be more appropriate. Whatever the case may be, if you've
always \ anted to wing, then daddy, give it a shot. Don't
let your dancing feel remain untrodden. The mu. ic is
inoculated with a syncopated meter that is infectious, and
swing may po sibly be the most effective cure to the
moody blue ince Prozac. It can very well be the most
fun you'll have at trying something new.
Looking for Adventure?
--------------------
Sarah Kamal
----0
Math
'm working on developing a bike tour across Canada
this . ummer (w II, from Vancouver LO Waterloo, an -
way. Everyone knows anything east of that doesn't
count, he he! Just kidding!).
The purpo e of the tour would be to
a) celebrate the fact lhat I'm done school. But you're
free to celebrate whatever you want.
b) foster some kind of networking aero s the nation.
I'm getting in touch with Laurier, Guelph, UBC, UVic,
and maybe Simon Fraser to see if they'd like to join in.
and
c) rai e awareness and money for third world educa-
tiol fun whi h i bur 'ch 1 r hip ' I tud 11 '1 r
areas who would otherwise not have the opportunity to
attend institutions of higher learning. Money would be
raised by getting pledges per kilometre (the whole trip is
about 4,500km).
I realize not into point (c). so if you
ernCa cr I
Feb 3-6, 1999
want to do the trip without the fundrais ing a pect, get in
touch and ['II pass along ome of the research I' ve done on
touring to you.
The trip can be done in less than 2 months, meaning
graduating students leaving straight after the exam period
hi h n pril 1 n rna il b LO for
convocation June 16-1 9.
interested? Give me a ring.
Sarah Kamal
\k(/II/lli en) de.lec/ /'I ( ' S 1111 'II 1 (' rlt 1/ I . ( '(1
!{KH
Hosted by the University of Waterloo
Technical Expo: Feb 5, 10-4, Student Life Centre, UofW
Race: Feb 6, 9-4 River Valley Country Club, St. Mary's, ON
For More Info: www.eng.uwaterloo.calgroups!gnctr99
Or Call (519) 888-4567 ext 6687
I'". .' t. . lL . tt
1mB
/
Thanks to our sponsors:
RIYER
YRUn
50Ir I OO.TRY C\II
IFe
TAe: MA
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on tr
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o If
AJ. Braun Manufacuring Ltd.eCosburn Patterson MathcreDclcan CorporationeDuffcrin Conslruction Company eRobica Manufacturing
Marshall Macklin Monaghan Limited-Stanley Consulting - Dillan Consulting Ltd.-Conca5t Pipe-Sutler Buildings eFestival Promotions
Centennial -PCL Constructors Canada Inc.-Cleamet Communications Jnc.-St.Mary' SnowmobileAssociationeGrant BormeneLeecraft
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__________________________________ -J",
The Iron Warrior Friday. February 5. 1999

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ust a chromosome away

Caroline Page
Women in Engineering
Director
F
riday, February 5th marks the end of National
Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Most people
have probably avoided knowing that until now. The
main reason why is because we have a misconcept ion
about what an eating disorder is, and so we decide that we
don't have eating di orders, and continue happily on our
way. In truth, engineers have one of the highest incidences
of eating disorders because of the very nature of the field.
Serious Eating Disorders
If you ever read health and fitness magazines or watch
after school specials, you probably already know about
anorexia nervosa and bulimia. But their omni-presence in
the media does not lessen the seriousness of these disor-
ders.
dents in general, are subject to a great deal of stress, both
social and academic. Co-op adds even more stress. On top
of that, many of us never cooked a meal for ourselves
before we got to university, and are unsure of how to do it.
We have limited supplies of money with which to buy
food, and an even more limited amount of free time to
cook it. And the cherry on top is that many of us didn't
truly learn the benefits of, and the ways to achieve,
healthy eating. Our parents, busy themselves, taught us to
wake up with coffee, skip breakfast, maybe even lunch,
and then nuke pre-packaged dinners.
All of these factors result in a myriad of bizarre and
unhealthy eating habits among engineering students. Let's
start with the obvious: coffee. As a result of many late
nights and altogether too many 8:30 classes, many engi-
neers get up late and don't have time for breakfast. Coffee
is used to provide that kick that gets us to class and keeps
us awake until noon. Later in
ing are usually fairly subtle. Because we are short-chang-
ing ourselves in food and energy, we have and increased
likelihood of feeling tired and worn-down, and of getting
sick. Once we are sick, it is more difficult for us to recov-
er, particularly due to the low protein content of our diets.
I'm sure at least a few of these symptoms sound familiar.
We can all take a quick look at what we eat every day,
and see at least one area that could be improved upon. At
the same time, we can encourage each other to eat prop-
erly. One way of doing so is by eating together. If you
have roommates, !;ook together and share your meals.
Even try designating an item for each person to bring for
lunch each day, and then pool the items to make lunches.
Instead of going out for dinner with a date, try cooking
together. We are living, studying, and socializing in the
same environment, giving us countless opportunities for
helping each other improve are eating habits.
Choice is powerful.
Since most of us are aware of these di seases (which is
what they are: debilitating but treatable diseases), we are
also aware that we are not afflicted by them. But just
because you are not suffering from ei ther of these disor-
ders does not mean that a friend or acquaintance isn't. For
that reason, it is important for each of us to understand
what anorexia and bulimia are all about.
the day, the coffee mug is
filled up agai n, or is replaced
by a Coke, Pepsi, or ]olt bot-
tle. Hi gh caffei ne, high sugar,
and a liquid replacement that
90% of North American women are dissatis-
fied with some aspect of their body.
Every person has the
choice in what foods he
or she consumes. If we
look around, we are sur-
Anorexia nervosa is a di ease that is characterized by
an obsession with thinness. People with anorexia see
themselves as fat even when they are underweight. This
can result in voluntary self-starvation. The most common
victims of anorexia are adole cent females, but males also
suffer from this di sease. Anorexics often struggle with
issues of power; in an uncontrollable environment, what
and how often one eats can almo t .al a be c ntrolled.
Anoretics are often perfectionists, and have low self-
esteem. The warning signs of anorexia can be obvious or
subtle. A loss of
fills us up until we can get some food down. Caffeine
itself isn't that bad for you. As long as you consume less
than 400mg a day, you probably have nothing to worry
about (a small cup of coffee has about] OOmg of caffeine).
Above 400mg, caffeine will interfere with the absorption
of vitamins and minerals within your body. But caffeine
does have some seriously dangerous repercussions, even
at low levels. One is that it is addictive. If you need two
cups of coffee to wake up now, what are you going to need
in 20 y,ear ? Old habit , as they ay, die hard, and a caf-
feine habit in your twenties wi ll be awful ly hard to break
when you're 40 or 50. But even more dangerous is the fact
that coffee is often used as a
25% or more of
one's body weight,
a distorted self-
image, an obsession
with food accompa-
40% of males aged 12 to 22 are dissatisfied
with their weight.
replacement for food. Liquids fill
up our stomach so that we do not
feel as hungry anymore. Even if
we aren't intentionally avoiding
nied by a refusal to cat, and (in the case of females) the
loss of one's menstrual cycle arc common symptoms.
Bulimia (also known as "Binge-Purge Syndrome")
sufferers alternately binge on large quantities of food, and
then purge themselves. Method, of purging include self-
induced vomiting, diuretics, laxatives, or a combination of
the three. The most common victims of bulimia are
women in their 20 and 30 ,although men suffer from this
di sease as well. Bulimics also tend to have low self-
esteem, which is enhanced by the inability of a bulimic to
control his or her food intake. This results in a power
struggle. Many anoretics are al so bulimic on occasion.
The warning signs of bulimia tend to be quite subtle, as
bulimics do consume food. However, swollen salivary
glands, increased dental problems, binge-eating, excusiflg,
oneself after meals (to purge), stockpiling food, and an
obsession with food are notable symptoms.
Both anorexia and bulimia are a usually a result of
body image issues and weight preoccupation. These are
signs of people acting on dissatisfaction. Dieting, binge-
ing, and purging are all coping strategies used to deal with
underlying emotions and stresses. Engineering is a high
stress environment. Many engineers are perfectionists
who are not accustomed to failure and may lack the abili-
ty to deal with non-success. As co-op students, we also put
ourselves up to constant rejection each time we go
through the job process.
Eating Disorders Among Engineers
The majority of us will never be afflicted with any-
thing as serious as anorexia or bulimia, but we do not
./ escape unscathed from the world of eating disorders. If
you look around the Engineering buildings, you will see
many signs of what is more aptly named "disordered eat-
__ ing". You will see people in the pre-clinical stages of eat-
_ ing disorders, people who are manipulating their meal
_ patterns in an unacceptable manner. Engineers, and stu-
-

TflC Iron V'JC1rnor Friday. February 5.1999
food, a coffee on the go will often
fill u up enough that we skip breakfast in an attempt to
get somewhere in a hurry. But, a ide from caffeine, coffee
contains little else that is readily absorbed by your body,
and so you arc left with low energy levels. This is inter-
preted as sleep-deprived lethargy, and so we drink anoth-
er cup of coffee. We get ourselves into a cycle where
coffee becomes a supplement to real food.
Another problem with the engineering diet is that it
is very unbalanced. Fruit, vegetable, and protein intake
are low, while our diet is high in carbohydrates. How
many times have you grabbed a bagel for lunch? Bagels
are good for you, but your body does not function well
on a meal of carbohydrates. Your body requires a bal-
ance. We often rely on grab and go snacks, which pro-
vide carbohydrates and even fruits, but still do not
contain any protein. Snacks like yogurt, soy milk, turkey
or chicken, and tofu are easy sources for a little more pro-
tein.
Dieticians and nutritionists often talk about the 1-2-3
energy package: fruits give you energy for one hour, car-
bohydrates for two, and protein for three. This system
shows that for long-tenn energy, we need to consume pro-
tein. In addition, the more carbohydrates you eat, the more
you want. By eating too many carbohydrates, we actually
force our bodies to desire more food than we really need.
We then gain weight, decide that we're over-eating, and
cut down. But the answer isn't eating less, it's eating in
balance. When you eat less, your body slows down, think-
ing that it is in starvation mode. In an attempt to stockpile,
your body stores most of the small amount of food that
you consume as fat. If you go out with friends and splurge
one night, plitting a pitcher and a plate of wings, your
body stores almost all of it as fat. If you eat a balanced diet
on a regular basis, your body does not feel that it needs all
the extra calories. You will also have more energy to try
and burn some of those calories off.
The results of the disordered eating seen in engineer-
rounded by information
on safe sex and safe drinking. Food is a similar issue. If
you have a friend who drinks himself into a stupor every
night, you worry about him, and you confront him about
his problem. The same should be done for bad eating
habits, which can be just as dangerous. By getting into the
habit of proper eating now, we prepare ourselves for the
future.
What to do about Disordered Eating
If you have or you know someone who has a erious
eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia, you should get
help. Contact a professional before confronting the person
with the problem so that you don't scare the person away.
The Waterloo Region Eating Disorder Coalition can be
reached at (519)749-4300 x2368. The National Eating
Disorder Information Centre can be reached at (4 16)340-
4 156. Also, Health and Safety staffs several nurses and a
nutritionist who can be reached at extension 3544.
If you or anyone you know suffers from disordered
eating, you can also contact any of the above organiza-
tion for help. If your problems are less severe, just mak-
ing a few simple change to your eating patterns may be
enough to help. Try and reduce your caffeine intake, and
increase the amount of produce and protein that you con-
sume.
By grade 6, approximately 80% of girls and
40% of boys think they should be thinner, and
61% of girls and 31% of boys have tried to
lose weight.
To help engineers make changes to their eating habits,
Linda Barton, a nutritionist who has an office on campus
three days a week, has agreed to hold a seminar on healthy
eating for engineers. If you would be interested in attend-
ing such a semi nar, please e-mail Caroline Page
(cnpage@engmail) for more infonnation. Watch for more
infonnation regarding the date, time, and place of the
seminar in the Iron Warrior, in class mailboxes, and on
posters around the university.
It is vital that we watch ourselves and our peers for
signs of disordered eating. Because the incidence of dis-
ordered eating is high in high intensity fields like engi-
neering, we are all at risk. Serious eating disorders, left
untreated, can lead to serious medical complications or
even death. Disordered eating depletes a person's energy,
leaving that person unable to function properly. By recog-
nizing problems that we do have, we allow ourselves to
realize our fuJI potential.
How To Build T
Jenny Mitchell
3A Efll'iro-C/iem
ENVidious
I
'm sure that mo t of you. at orne time or another, have
stepped outdoors in the fresh, cri p winter air with the
intent of building the mo t durable, inde tructible,
inconceivable fortre s of ice Gust like Superman's). And
then, after all of your hard work, blood, sweat, and occa-
sional hot chocolate breaks, you find that your fort is a lit-
tle less invincible. than you fir t conceived. This becomes
even more apparent after your fir t attack, when your fort
ends up collapsing on you, half burying you in the snow,
and giving your enemie (the Fort-Col1apsers) the perfect
opportunity to pelt you with snowballs. Thi unfortunate
ending could have been completely avoided with orne
careful planning and a little help. So, as you read this
guide to building the ultimate snow fort, please remember
that these are merely suggestions to improve its structure
and de ign and that I take no responsibility for a collapsed
fort. It may take a little practice before your built fort is
truly indestructible (especially when taking into account
variables such as temperature, wind speed, humidity, the
Earth's orbital position, and the phase of the Moon), but if
you build smart and have fun, your 'fortress of ice' wiJl
surely be the last one standing at the beginning of the
spring melt.
PREPARATION
'Ffteteare a number of different methods used in con-
structing snow forts and all have their advantages and dis-
advantage . The deciding factor is the amount of time and
effort you are willing to put into making your snow fort.
However, before you begin, no matter what method is
used, there are a few questions to ask yourself ....
I) Is there any snow?
This question (and answer) should be obvious. If
there isn't any snow on the ground then it would probably
be a bad time to try and make a snow fort - especially if
you recently got a horrible sunburn on your back from
laying out on the beach while watching your friends
water-ski.
2) Is there enough snow?
Ideally, you would want at least a foot or two of snow
on the ground. This will just reduce the amount of time
needed to gather the snow, and prevent you from having to
pick up 'Zamboni droppings'.
3) Is it cold enough?
It's a proven fact that ice begins to change state at zero
degrees Celsius (or 273.15K). You definitely don't want
your fort to start melting away before you have it com-
pletely built.
4) Is it packing snow?
It is extremely difficult to make powder stick together.
If you can't make a snowball that stays intact for the dura-
tion of its flight to your sibling's chest, then it's not a good
idea to start making a fort.
5) Am I properly dressed?
Do you remember how your mom used to dress you in
the winter before sending you off to school? Well, that's a
good place to start, so put on the following: undershirt, T-
shirt, turtleneck, sweater, long-johns, sweat pants, two
pairs of socks, snow pants and jacket (or a stylish one
piece snowsuit), hat, scarf, and two pairs of rnitts ... with
strings attached. Now you're ready to head outside.
6) Where are my enemies?
Just a reminder that you are attempting to build a snow
FORT, not a snow house, or a snow gazebo, or a snow
variety store. You WILL have an enemy. One of the best
strategies of the enemy is to knock down a fort while it is
still being built and steal all the snow with wheelbarrows.
So be sure to keep an eye out for them - especially if you
go inside for a drink or a break - and be prepared to defend
yourself and your fort (this is where friends and allies
(Part 1 of a 2 part series)
come in real handy). If you do not think you ha\"e an
enemy, then find one. Olherwi e, you may as well build
that dream retirement home of)ours with the white pick-
et fence. Oh. and don't forget \0 include a nice lounge
chair, 0 you can sit and wallow in mi ery at your failed
life ...
This is a great opportunity to kill two birds
with one snowball.
CONSTRUCTION
Now that the proper building conditions and require-
ments have been establi hed, it' time to begin. Try to get
some of your friends and allie out to help, the construc-
tion will take a lot less time and you'll probably have more
fun doing it. The following details some of the different
techniques used to build a snow fort, and ome helpful
hints to ensure that your fortress is olid.
Doin' it Doggie-Style
Although this method may sound crude, there is no
other way to describe it. Basically, you start off with a
huge mound of snow. This is done by shovelling and
shovelling and shovelling and shovelling ... If you've been
sent out to shovel the driveway, this is a great opportunity
to kill two birds with one snowball and get the foundation
of your fort built. As you're shovelling, be ure to stomp
on the snow every layer or so to make sure it's packed
down tight. This will only aid with its stability. It is pos-
sible to use a mound created by a snowplow also, but
unless it is packed down enough, there is the possibility of
it collapsing. If you decide to use this shortcut, be careful
and remember .. . safety first! Okay, now that you have your
tightly packed mound of snow, it's time to get 'doggie'.
tart at th point were u to, an in
digging. Keep low to the ground at first, and only dig as
high as you want your door. As you move deeper into the
mound, begin shovelling out a cavern, or a snow cave.
Make sure thaI your cave has a rounded top like an igloo
since this is most stable. Also, check that your wall arc
thick enough (at lea. t 30 cm). Once the entire interior has
been carved out, then you have your basi c hell . ff you
wish to have an open ceiling, then instead of digging at the
base of the mound, you may want to start on the top and
work your way down. Or, if you want an opening at the
top of your cave, you should not dig it out from the inside
(it may collapse). Instead, work your way in from thc out-
side. If anything collapses, you can always build it back
up afterwards.
Building from the Bottom Up
There are actually a number of ways to build your
fort up from the bottom, but they all use the same con-
cept of building up one layer at a time. Also, for all of
these methods, it is a good idea to mark the outline of your
fort and stomp down the snow that will be the floor of
your fort. Now you are ready to start building following
one of these techniques! ' 'tt ,
Just Start Packing
This is the method you would have to use if you had
no tools except for your own hands (or other people's
hands). Just start piling up some snow and packing it
down, slowly building up your fort. Or, instead, roll a few
'snowman balls' and use them as the base. And it you're
really adventurous, you could try building your entire fort
out of snowman balls!
Walking the Plank
First of all, you'll probably need some help, so get
some of your friends and aJJies. You'll also need at least
two fairly large, flat pieces of wood, chipboard, or parti-
cleboard (you could use smaller pieces, but it would just
take longer). Along the outline of your fort, hold the two
boards upright (at least 30 cm apart) and fill in between
them with snow, packing it down as you go. Continue
along the entire outline of the fort. This completes the
first layer. You can continue in the same manner for the
second layer, except the two boards will have to be held in
place. Another option is to make the base slightly wider
and make liny ledge, as YOll move up each layer. Thi. will
make en ' h .uc e, si\c layer smaller in width, but provided
that the base i. wide nOllgh, Ih'rc shouldn't be any wor-
ries of collapse.
Igloo YOIl too
Before you start building your igloo style snow fort,
you need som hard-paCked snow. If there is none
around, then tart, tomping. You'll aL 0 need a 'snowsaw'
(a regular carpenler saw will work too). Then, start cut-
ling block out of the snow. The blocks. hould be about
the length of lhe saw in width and depth, but can be any
length (generally Ie than a metre though). Once enough
block have been cut, begin the foundation by following
along the fort outline. Build each layer up like brick on
a hou e until you reach the de. ired height of the fort. To
kcep the block securely in place, pack them together
using handfuls of snow. If you're interested in building an
igloo, or would like more information on cutting and lay-
ering the blocks, a great website to vi it is www.free-
zone.com/action/igloo/intro.html.
Ice Ice Baby
This method needs the most preparation and the most
equipment. You should begin preparing a few days before
you are going to actually build the fort. You'll need lots of
n Illlh m w tef
sure that any holes are plugged first). Put the boxes out-
side and Jet them freeze overnight. The next day, flip the
boxes over and knock the ice olocks out. Repeat these
steps until enough hlocb huve hl.'l'lI iliad' Now thaI you
have a collectioll of huge kc cuhcs. it's lime to stun ~ t a . ~
ing them. Build up your loundation, following Ihl' (on
outlinc. When you start stu 'king the s 'cond layer, soo}' of
the blocks may lIot stay in pia c. If so, Ih 'n usc SIlOW (or
a litlle water) to help k 'ep the blo 'ks to 'et her. I would
definitely recommend wearing a pair of green pUlch, steel
toe, SA approved safety hoots if followillg this particu-
lar method because the law of gravily still applies, espe
cially to large blocks of icc.
If you do not think you have an enemy,
then find one,
So now that you have some informatioll to get you
started, the most important thing to remember is to have
fun and be creative.
In the mean time, check out www.zipzone.comlnorth-
wUW/index.html.htm for some cool ideas about building
snow forts and other structures. I'd also like to apologise
to all those hard-core engineers who expected numerous
calculations and analyses in this guide. However, in my
defence, I'd like to remind everyone that I'm an Enviro .. .!
know about trees, not degrees :-). Happy Snow Fort
Building Everyone!
In Part 2 of this series, other features of
fort building will be discussed, including
interior and exterior design. camouflage.
disguise, and other strategies, and
WEAPONRY'
If you have any suggestions or building
techniques that you'd like me to include
then email me atja2mitch@engmail, or
at iwarrior@engmail,
-
-
~ ....
The Iron Warrior Frtday. February 5. 1999

-
-

Finger Up My Nose
Stuart Doherty
2A Systems Design
S
O, according to page two, I'm a staff member of this
Engineering newspaper of ours. Well, in order to be staff
J would imagine one needs to be writing on a regular
basis, or needs to be helping make submissions look pretty, or
helping with the numerous other jobs that have to get done.
But J wasn't quite sure what I could write about until I was sit-
ting at home with my finger up my nose, dreaming of the day
when 1 could have a pet monkey of my own, and it hit me:
maybe people would want to know about all the stupid things
I think about sometimes. I seem to be able to get a chuckle out
of the small audience that I share these things with now, so
why not let a larger audience know about what goes on inside
my head? For instance, right now as I write thi s article, I'm
thinking about what that rabbit I saw this morning at 2:00am
was thinking about. Why was he out and about the town at
such a late hour? You'd think that the rabbit was so busy dur-
ing the day, taking care of his rabbit business, that he wouldn't
have time to be gallivanting about campus. What is going
through that rabbit's head?
Then there's the whole monkey thing I mentioned earlier.
Wouldn't it be so great to have a pet monkey? You could come
home from class and there he'd be, sitti ng on the couch watch-
ing television, eating the crackers you forgot to put away last
night. I'm especially ex.cited about the thought of visitors
meeting my monkey for the first time. I'd probably have
Jeeves (that would be hi s name) answer the door for me, help
me with dishes after dinner, sweeping the noors; I could even
teach him how to play NHL '96 for the Genesis. Imagine how
much fun little kids would have when they met the monkey.
With so many possibilities, I think that this monkey would
be a source of constant laughter for me. Of course, there are a
few issues we would have to deal with. First, the monkey
would not have dangerous sharp teeth that he could hurt peo-
ple with. He would have to be trained to go to the washroom,
he couldn't be infested with any crazy Ebola type viruses, and
he would NOT be getting any female monkey companion
while he wa ' living under my roof. It should be known that
this whole monkey thing occupies much of my brain down
time, so I will probably occasionally come back to it. I hope
you enjoyed this first release of "Finger Up My Nose". If they
let me keep writing in future issues I hope to discuss topics
such as: What are fish thinking about? What if humans hiber-
nated in the winter? What if you won the Lottery? And, what
if it was cool to be hairy like a gorilla? If you have any simi-
lar thoughts you would like to share, feel free to email them tb ~
me (sadohert@engmail) for potential future inclusion in the
paper. Later.
The Iron War rior Friday. February 5. 1999
Why I Wanna Wiggle
Matthew Irvine
Mechanical
O
nce there was a little boy named WaJly
WaJlabee. Wally asked zillions of ques-
tions. One day, Wally felt like he needed to
wiggle and wondered why. Being a curious boy,
Wally decided he'd try to find out why. Wally asked
hi s mom, Wanda, why he felt like he needed to wig-
gle, but she didn't know why Wally felt so wiggly.
Wally and his mom went for a walk. First, they
walked to Wallace' s Pet Store to buy some fish food
for Wally's gold fish, Wilbur. Mr. Wallace was
working at the pet store today and Wally liked him
because Mr. Wallace was friendly. Mr. Wallace was
also very smart, so Wally asked him, "Mr. Wallace,
why do I wanna wiggle?"
Mr. Wallace replied, "Wally, maybe you've got
ants in your pants."
So Wally checked hi s pants but he found no ants.
Wally and hi s mom said goodbye to Mr. Wallace and
walked over to Williams' Bakery to buy some
Wonder bread. Mr. Williams, the baker, was always
smiling and Wally liked him too. Wally decided to
see if Mr. Williams could answer his question.
Wally asked, "Mr. Williams, why do J wanna wig-
gle?"
Mr. Williams was not sure either but said,
"Wally, maybe you have crumbs in your bum."
So Wally checked for crumbs, but it turned out
that there were no crumbs in Wally's bum. Wally
and his mom said goodbye to Mr. Williams and took
their Wonder bread and Wilbur's fish food with
them. Wally wa still very curious to know why he
felt so full of energy and why nobody seemed to be
able to tell him why. Wally and his mom finished
their shopping and started walking home. On the
way, Wally started to feel tired and began to feel less
and Jess like he needed to wiggle.
When Wally and hi s mom got home, Wilma,
Wally' s older sister asked, "Wally, do you know
where all the candy went?"
Wally said, "Yes Wilma I do, I ate it before
mom and I went walking."
Wally's mom looked at him and said, "Wally,
now I know why you needed to wiggle."
Wally asked, "Why mom?"
"Well ," said Wally's mom, "we get our energy
from the food we eat. Just like different crayons
come in different colours, different foods come with
different amounts of energy. Some food, like maca-
roni and cheese, has energy in it that is released
slowly over several hours. Other food like candy,
Wally, gives you a lot of energy all at once. That's
what made you want to wiggle today and you're
tired now because you used up all of your candy
energy on our walk."
"So what colour is candy energy and macaroni
energy mom?" Wally asked.
"I think I confused you Wally. You see, energy
doesn't have colour, it's made up of tiny little things
called Joules. Joules are so tiny you can't even see
them with a microscope. Different kinds of food
Wally, give you different kinds of energy."
"I think I understand now mom," Wally said,
"some food, like macaroni and cheese gives us ener-
gy that lasts a long time, but food like candy gives ;-
us a lot of energy all at once that we use up very
quickly. I got tired on the way home because I had
used up aJl of my candy energy."
"Exactly Wally. Very good," said his mom.
"I just have one more question," Wally said.
"What's that Wally?" his mom asked.
"May I please have something to eat?" he asked.
"Sure Wally, how about some carrot sticks and
celery?" Wally's mom suggested.
Wally smiled and said, "Anything but candy
mom."
phantoln grip
I desperately want to hold on
So I tighten my grip
Exert i ng my strcngth to keep mc
atlnat
111 this sinking ship
As I pull myself lip
I find that the ship is not "inking
There is 110 ship at all
And I ,1111 holding onto nothing
hI" /fl<lll lilli/II /f/lJII
Danny Ho
Scum God
I
t was a cold, blustery day across the land when the
erie of King Arthur pierced the air in EL... he had di . -
covered the deep betrayal committed by hi best
friend, Lancelot, with his best Queen, Guinevere. With
uncaged anger. he threw his usually joyful self towards
Lancelot, ready for full combat to the death. On that day,
January 29, Scunt of Winter 1999 had begun ...
This year's Scunt put a playful spin ( orne would argue
the rightful pin), on the well-known legend of King
Arthur and Queen
Guinevere. Through
the course of a live
Jeny Springer broad-
cast, Queen
Guinevere admitted
her affectionate yet
sinfully secret affair
with Sir Laneelot.
King Arthur's psyche
was so suddenly filled
with the feelings of
jealousy and rage that
he seldomly felt, that
he exploded with a
menagerie of violent
threats and childi sh
denials. After swiftl y
killing both of Jerry's
bodyguard with his
finely tempered
sword, King Arthur
cha ed Lancelot from
t'9
the castle and they wcrl!n't
seen until the final act of the
Seunt where Lancelot wa.
lain on the spot.
What would be or the
round table? Who would fill
Guinevere'. new-found hol-
lownes ? Th ultimate quest
of thi year' Scunt \Va to fill
the mi sing place at the
round table left by Lancelot'.
retirement. And who better to
duke it out than an enor-
mou ly piritecl group of rep-
resentatives from our faculty
and the campus.
The teams were: 112
Asscunt, 12" Floppies, Bring
Out Your Dead, Y Not.
Knights who say Comp, and
Double O. They raged in
wars uch a running from
as w 'II . In thl! cnd though. The lA Elccs. Bring Out Your
Dead. won hy an imprt:!>si\c hut close vi tory ... congratu-
lations! You ha\e no idea what you'. > gclling yourselves
into! Ha ha ha ha!
As unt wc're all tired and confused from the
slec)1lcss week 'Ild, we're a litt! b 'hind in our home-
worl than usual. and OUl' circadian rh) thms are shot to
heck. we fl!cl proud in our hearts knowing
that we eamed the respectable right to inflict the ' ame
helli ' h sufft:rings that we on c endur'd.
DC to Poets in swimwear, playing soccer with an egg.
liding down a hill at the lcefields, to an extreme butt-ki. -
ing competition to appease the Scunt Gods. The Elce.
were the personal secretaries and caregivers, the maths
presented a roasted pig' head chopped at the neck and
served u breakfast, and the other teams left us pretty sore
University of Waterloo
Drama Department
PRESENTS
Fool for Love
by
Sam Shepard
The scene is a stark motel room at the edge of the Mojave
Desert. May, a dishevelled young woman, sits dejectedly on
a rumpled bed. When Eddie attempts to console her, the
recriminations pour out, the action at times becomes physi-
cally violent and the desperate nature of their relationship
becomes apparent. May and Eddie cannot get along with, or
without one another, yet neither can subdue their burning
passion.
February 3-6 & February 10-13
8pm
Studio 180, Hagey Hall
Tickets are available at the Theatre Centre Box
Office, Hagey Hall or by calling 888-4908
8:00 P.M. - STUDIO 180 - HAGEY HALL
$8.00 student/senior!; - $10.00 gt'nenJI puhlic
RESERVATIONS: 888-4908
$10 general students/senior
The I roll Warrior Friday. February 5. 1999
-
-

Liz Parry
-----.,0
2A Systems Design
D
o you regularly get called a tree hugger? Do you
hound your friends to recycle those pop cans?
Has the thought of doing some international
development work ever crossed your mind? If so, the
Environmental Workgroup is for you.
The Environmental Workgroup, associated with the
Engineering Society, is co-ordinated by Bruce Davidson.
Meetings are Tuesdays at 2:30. Right now, Bruce is work-
ing on internal communication among the various groups
that fall under the Workgroup. He is also working to form
a greater bond between the environmental initiatives that
are taking place on the two streams. Hcre's how you can
help out:
Environmental Awareness
If enthusiasm about environmental protection is your
thing, this group would love to have you join. Their over-
all goal is to improve the environmental awareness of
Engineering students. Some ideas that have been sug-
gested include the CN Tower Climb, Adopt-An-Animal,
or purchasing an acre of rainforest. Amy Gohn
(avagohn@engmaif) will tell you all you need to know.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
The Engineering Society produces lots of waste. EIA
deals with the impact EngSoc has on the environment.
After an assessment has been completed, plans will be
made to reduce the impact. One of the latest environmen-
tal projects by B-Soc has been the whiteboards. You may
have noticed fewer posters on brown paper, and more on
the white boards. This project was implemented follow-
ing an assessment of paper use in the Orifice (part of a
greater impact study). Currently, thi s group will be work-
ing on an EngSoc assessment, coming up with counter-
measures and monitoring the progress of these changes.
If this sounds interesting, contact Indrani Kowlessar
(ilkowles@env.watstar) or Jen Carr (jrcarr@engmai[).
Recycling
Ever wonder what happens to the pop can you put in
the recycling bin? Or who cleans them up after you pour
a half can of Coke into a bin? The answer: the Recycling
\
/
Group. This group makes sure the recycling gets done.
They clean up the Blue Bins during the term. A latest pro-
ject is to make one-sided pads of paper from the Orifice
photocopy waste pile. For more information, talk to
Justyna Kopytek (jkopytek@engmail).
Socially and Environmentally Aware Student (SEAS)
This group, like its name states, is for those interested
in social issues as well as environmental protection.
Currently, SEAS has two focus areas. The first is to
address a need felt by many students: the opportunity for
alternative work term experience. For many students, the
chance to work in a developing nation is exactly what they
are looking for. This can be difficult to achieve, as Coop
does not offer many jobs falling into this category. During
the process of looking for work in other countries, many
students do not know where to look, or duplicate the
research of others. This is where the second task of SEAS
comes in, which is to set up a central resource outlining
the research people have done and personal comments.
This will likely come in the form of a web page, set up by
Wilbert Aballe (wtaballe@engmai[). For more informa-
tion on this group, contact Sean McCoy (stmccoy@eng-
mail).
station. He'll take what-
ever dough he's got left
and seek the advice of a
certified financial plan-
ner, or better yet he may
sit down and learn some-
thing about sensible
investing. He might take
some courses from the
Canadian Securities
Institute (www.c i.ca) or
even read a few books on
the subject (One Up on
Once In A Lifetime
Wan Street, The Warren
Buffet Way, A Random
Walk Down WaJJ Street).
Then again, he might not.
Last term thi col-
Ian Tien
umn followed a mall
That', where we started, and we've never looked back. With innovative
products like two-way pagers, wireless PC cards and radio modems, we
take technology to the edge every day. So if you're looking for a career that
takes you to the edge and challenges you to achieve your best. consider RIM.
2A Comp Eng
portfolio of five technol-
ogy-based companies,
Cisco, Microsoft, Apple,
Offstream
A
55 year-old blue-collar worker
five years from retirement
plunks his life savings into
Amazon.com with the click of a button,
and soon finds his savings gone after the
company folded.
ATT, and Corning. On
average, the share price of each of these
companies has risen 52.79% since being
mentioned in the Iron Warrior four
months ago.
We're looking tor innovators - people with the drive to develop the next
generation of wireless technologies. Whether you're a co-op student.
a recent grad or someone with experience, if you've got the creativity
and drive to be the beat, join us on the edge.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
ASIC DESIGN ENGINEERS
OSP SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS
EMBEDDED fiRMWARE DEVELOPERS
HARDWARE DESIGN ENGINEERS
AF ENGINEERS
SOFTWARE QUALITY SPECIALIST
WIRELESS PRODUCT DEVELOPERS
MANUfACTURING
PROCESS ENGINEERS
QUAliTY ENGINEERS
TEST ENGINEERS
The RIM
InterOctivt
Pager
SALES AND MARKETING
ACCOUNT MANAGERS
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS
DEVELOPER SUPPORT ENGINEER
ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
MARKETING PRODUCT MANAGERS
MARKETING PROGRAM MANAGERS
OEM BUSINESS OEVElOPMENT MANAGER
TECHNICAl SUPPORT MANAGER
WIRELESS EMAil EVANGELIST
IESEAleN
I.IIDTID.
Send us your cover letter and resume in confidence and let
us know that you're ready to join us on the edge.
295 Phillip Street Waterloo
Ontario, Cansda N2l 3W8
Tel. 1.519.888.7465
Fax. 7.519.888.7884
E-mail.csreersorim.net Pl8i1J8 quota ra1erence llWOlgg
The Irori Warrior Fnday, February 5. 1999
Thanks to on-line trading, people
across the world now have the ability to
make really, really bad decisions faster
than ever before.
Discount brokerage firms were
meant for people who had the time and
resources to rationally manage their own
investments. Now they've turned into a
kind of do-it-yourself high stakes casino.
Walk into Wedge or Lever at 2 in the
afternoon and you'll find all sort of peo-
ple placing trade order over the net. Ask
them what they know about investing
and they'll toss you some cookie of non-
sense like "buy at the bottom, sell at the
top".
Then ask them about EPS, earnings
expectations, and debt-to-equity ratio:
they haven't a clue. They're buying on
romour. They're buying on a hot tip and
a gut feeling.
Ironically, these flashy, cocky, some-
times rich-to-begin-with "stock-gam-
blers" are better off than the conservative
Joe next door who'll spend the next 35
years rolling over his savings in a GIC,
making a big fat hairy 5% per year.
Chances are, a gambler will one day
10 e a ton of money and realize hi
Polaris machine is not a TOREX trade
These companies operate in different
sectors of the industry, but fundamental-
ly they're the same. Their financials are
sound, their management is strong,
they're leading their markets, and their
earnings are growing.
So where do you hear about compa-
nies like these beforc it's too late? How
about in class? Probably ometime near
the beginning of term, when everyone's
chatting it up about how good or how
awful their placement wa .
Our time at Waterloo is a once-in-a-
lifetime opportunity to take a peek inside
some of the world's most powerful tech-
nology firms. What they do, how they
operate, where their potential lies.
So spend ten minutes a day talking to
a friend about their work term. How was
the company? Did they treat you well?
What do they make? Who do they sell
to? You never know where a little bit of
knowledge might take you. -_._---- -------_ .. -
E ection
Milton Chan
2A Computer
T
he Federation election will happen in mid
February. That means in Ie than two
week time you will be asked to choose our
student leaders. Let me remind you that less than
1800 votes were ca t last year. However, \\ ith the
"Bomber Referenda" , the race will be much wilder.
Someone even predicted that the election will
become the side-show of the referenda. Here are a
few things to look for:
Bombshelter Referendum
The Feds is asking for a . pecial fee of $4.25 to
be charged for the next three terms. Thi. money
will be spent on improving the Bomber. Items in
mind include new paint, new chairs, ceiling tiles,
better lighting, a Liquor dispenser, improvements to
the satellite bar, and much more. The main argu-
ment from the Federation is that th.e Bomber has
been operated with the same stuff since the early
1980's. They also cited the result of the Fed Hall
referendum back in 1996. The NO campaign will
probably argue that "a business is a business" and it
should be self-sufficient.
Capital Improvement Fund Referendum
The Fed. is al 0 ask.ing for a increase in
the Fed. fee to . tan a '\, > are Ollt of ca. h" fund
for the bu the busin'sses
are not mnking enough profit to k.eep up \\ ith
their prohlem.' , (e.g. Y2K old equipment)
therefore the Feds asking sllIdents to chip in on
the operation cost ;iO that the re\'enu' \\ ill he pure
profit. The "NO" side will jump on manage-
men! and argue that Feds fee . which should he llsed
to fund student genice . should 1101 be used 10 ovcr
busine. deficit.
President Race
Ever) other president ha: been all engineer [or
the pa t ten years. With that in mind, we v. ill see a
four-way race with one candidate being an engi-
neer. To the urprise of many, Chri . tian, the current
pre. idenl, decided not to seek another term. With
the topic of financial management on the plate and
VP Administration and Finance acclaimed, the
presidential candidates will have to deal with all the
money questions. You can expecl all of them to
have a clear tand on the referenda when they walk
into the forum. Home faculty support will playa
big role in the race since all of them came from dif-
ferent faculties (Engineering, Math, Art, and ES)
VPRaces
Fema]e candidates will not be a factor for the
Internal and Student Issues races (unfortunately,
both were . tcreOI) ped as "Chick jobs") since there
won't be an). Like last year, Student Issue. will
probabl turn out 10 he the friendliest race. The
illtemal race will spin around the clubs
issu ' , and pos.ibly the wt'b page. The Education
race \\'ill he political as expected. It will be inter-
c_" ting to Sl'e whl'l"c the candid at 's stand on the con-
ventional pt)litlcal spectrum.
Senate Race
This will be the first senale rae with an engi -
ncering candidate in man) SlIlCC 1 am par-
ticipating in it, I am not going to comment 011 it
here.
WPI RG
This issue was raised (without advance notice)
the tirst weel of school by a group of students,
which were later labelled young politicians by
WPI RO. They reque. ted the Feds to hold a referen-
dum to strike the WPIRG fee off (he fee statement.
The motion failed but there i ,till much debate, and
possibly a petition. WPIRG will probably force all
the candidates to take a stand on thi issue and I
assure you that it is a tough que lion.
With the inevitable bombardment of "propagan-
da" lo come, I challenge you to take a seliou" look
at the issues and candidate. , to make an informed
decision at the ballol box.
Born into the
definition of educated, once again, is ba ed on scientific
truths.
gion, this is what i likely to occur. It cannot be a good
thing to be brought upin such a way, although it does sim-
pLify life a great deal. It .is ironic how such an upbringing
results in religion as a method of simplifying life, while
different exposures lead to religion complicating thought.
Faith?
Yasin Bismilla
I do not have a problem with any person's religion or
beliefs, provided the e beliefs are held firmly and are the
result of independent thought and reasonable conclusi.ons.
To subscribe to any particular value system without know-
ing a variety of others, or to belong to a religion due to a
2A Mech
Now, I am neither advocaling nor dismissing belief in
religion in general. In fact, since university has staned, I
have preferred simply not to deal with such issues. Belief
in religion is not right or wrong. Lt is just easier to not
think about religion. If someone were to declare himself
or herself a follower in any given religion, it would require
them to hold every teaching of that religion as the utmost
of truths. It is then hypocritical to hold per onal ethics
above those of the religIOn, and this Itself 'confuses die
matter even more. A person cannot claim to believe in a
religion, but hold different views of the world than the
religion demands. Thi. ilself defaults the helief in the reli -
gion since it places worldly views above whllt arc believed
to be supreme views.
fear of leaving it, is something cannot e ----
T
here was recently a story in the media that was
alarming and caught my attention. It wa. about a
young lady with an apparenl ability to heal the ill.
The trick is that she has been in a coma since 1987.
Recently it was reported that tatues in her room have
started crying, and people who have prayed by her side
have seen dramatic improvements in their own health.
The story contained interviews with some of the healed
and was presented in a very serious and believable man-
ner. Events such as this one occur every once in a while
and add a twist to our views of the world.
Religious people were quick to
jump over this news and define it as yet
another undeniable proof of the exis-
tence of God. But hang on just a
minute! Simply because a conventional
explanation does not exist for some
event does not prove the existence of
God. Religion is a very tricky thing
because most of it is based on being
able to explain that which humans can-
not. This raises an interesti ng point:
Can miracles exist without Ood, or do
the two require the existence of each
other? You can argue that since no sci-
entific explanation exists for miracles.
tben miracles must be greater than sci-
ence. On the other hand, such events
can be a series of random results need-
ing no conclusive explanation. In our
little world, everything we have been
taught is based on the existence of
undeniable proof. This makes such
things easy to believe.
The topic of blind faith is another complitateu one. I
do not have any statistics, but I would nol be surprisl'u if
the majority of people who claim to be of a specific reli
gion simply do so as a birth rite. This is outrageous. To
submit your, elf to an entire lifestyle and code of ethics
based solely on your personal history, and having given no
thought Lo why, is difficult for me to comprehend. Yet if
anyone grows up in a country with one predominant reli-
r sometimes find it difficult to
understand the concept of blind faith. It
is very easy to decide that uneducaled
people need explanations for variou
aspects of their lives and what better
explanation is there than an explanation
which cannot be explained? This is
Weavers
Arms
also a very ignorant view because our
personal and social implications are scary, because it
means the belief in an ideology and restriction to a
lif,'style \), ilhoul knowing why 11 is having pl'r:-,ollal
ethics and of llwuphl dlt' tall'd tn you. which
you tolWtollll a slave nr ,l1lOlIJl'r's
On thc other hamJ, to IV-III)!C 01'1 ids whl(:h haw
held for celltllllCS is ifllOn\nl :I" wl'll. and (1\111 I." (Ill' Hap
whitll I, and I SU1.pCl't lrlallY other", huw f;llkll Illtn
So what 'vcr you dl'ddl' ahollt faith. he surt' III think.
llhout your dlOIL'I'S ill all informed aud open Illilldl'd way.
Blind faith, or blind rCjI'c\ion oj othn (or a(l) f"rlltltS IS a
dangerou!'o trap,
....;
CJ)
0.. _ Weavers is behind the
1...- world's biggest deck in
.s::. - the middle of the WCRI
a.
University Ave.
-
____________________________________________________________________________________ --J""
The Iron Warrior Friday, February 5. 1999

Report
Ryan Chen-Wing
President
eng_prez@engmail
Kelly Fawcett
VP Internal
eng_ vpint@engmail
Mike Hermann
VP External
eng_vpext@engmail
Mike Olley
VP Finance
eng_ vpfin @engmail
George Roter
Comissioner
EducationNP Education
From the desk of the President
Well we are getting into the term and it seems every-
one is getting a cold. Make sure you get enough re t so
you can get some reading done during our two days off.
Like always, things are getting hectic, a lot of things are
going on, but I am having a lot of fun.
CPU and POETS Renovations
Over the fall semester some work was put into getting
estimates and plans together for renovation of CPH Foyer
and POETS. CPH needs better seating and more light, as
it is the main entrance and focal point of the Engineering
buildings. In POETS we need more usable space which
can be gained by moving the outer wall in the upstairs of
POETS to enclose the outside balcony. As I mentioned in
last issue, 1 submitted our proposal to the Federation of
Students Student Life Endowment Fund.
Engineering Society Executive Elections
Elections are coming up. Think about running for an
executive position. Nominations will open Monday 22
February and close the following Friday. Stuart Doherty
has been chosen as Chief Returning Officcr and will need
LO be ratified by council at the next meeting. Positions
available are President, VP-External, VP-Internal, VP-
Finance and possibly VP-Education, depending on a vote
of council at the next meeting.
Bridging the Gap #2 - The History of the Iron Ring
On 9 February at I I :30 in OWE ISO I, English
Professor Paul Beam will be speaking about the history of
the Iron Ring and the origins of the ceremony. All students
in engineering seem to know about the Iron Ring but far
too few know of its significance or about it history. I have
heard Prof. Beam speak before and I strongly recommend
you come out.
Yearbook
We are currently in a multi-year contract with Jost
as our grad photography and yearbook supplier. It seems
that at the time this contract was negotiated and passed by
both couocils not very much research had been put into
alternate suppliers. Also a number of concerns have been
brought to my attention by this year's yearbook editors
and by Mary Bland our Corporate Manager who deals
with yearbook advertising. Considering the e things, I
worked with Mary to bring in other suppliers of photogra-
phy and yearbooks so that we could better judge the qual-
ity and prices that we are getting from Jostens.
Last week a few yearbook editors, the off-stream presi-
dent, Mary and I met with the Josten reps so that we
could communicate our concerns to them. We hope that
this will work to improve the services we are receiving but
we also realise that if it doe not we may have to consid-
eT other suppliers.
From the desk of the VP External
24nd) we sent 26 people to the frozen tundra of northern
Ontario. The destination was Lakehead University in
Thunder Bay, and the mission was fun. We went, we saw,
we conquered. The A Society team of Brian Sulley, Al
Cannistraro, Deb Boyd, and Andre Brisson (on loan from
B Society) brought the ESSCO'lympics cup home for
proud display in the halls of uw. The weekend was a
great bonding experience, and an excellent chance to
make some new friends and re-unite with old ones.
First Year Integration Conference (FYIC)
The next big External event will be the First Year
Integration Conference (FYIC), held at McMaster on
March 5-7th. The delegates for this conference will have
already been selected by the time you read this. At this
conference, fLrst year engineering students from across
Ontario will be learning how they Call become more
involved in engineering society activities, the engineering
profession, and external organizations such as ESSCO
and CFES.
Shadow Days and Explorations
The preparations for Shadow Days and Explorations
have begun as well, with great people leading those activ-
ities. The Shadow Days have been scheduled for Mar 2nd
and 3rd. For those of you who are new to this event, the
Shadow Days are an outreach program where high school
students are invited on-campus to spend a day "shadow-
ing" an engineering student.
Explorations will be taking place on Mar. 15th, and for
tho e who've never seen thi before, or only saw it two
year ago under a different format, here's the low-down:
Explorations is about increasing awareness about engi-
neering education in younger students, primarily for
grades 5 to 8. This event, which is co-organized by the
Engineering Faculty and the Engineering Society, wiJI be
running during the evening and will host over 30 displays
of engineering projects and research.
.,..Both Explorations and Shadow Days will need many
volunteers to help out with fun and excitement. You
should be seeing sign-up sheets any day now in your class,
so if you can't find them, talk to your class reps or visit the
Orifice. If you're one of those fine people who like to help
promote our own engineering school, these are the events
for you.
ESSCO Annual General Meeting
From the desk of the VP Internal
Howdy again! I hope everyone is feeling better, I know
the entire 3A Civil class has had a case of thi s terrible flu.
So this term has been flying by. We just finished Engweek
and Scunt and now we are right into GNCTR and
Midterms!
Events
Upcoming events include "studying for midterms!!!".
But after that there will be a party for everyone at MOT in
POETS on Feb 19th.
Some VPI Directors and other good stufT
I found two Arts Directors, Stuart Doherty and Deb
Boyd, who. will be running the Tal-Eng, soon to be
announced. Engweek was a great success, I under tand
the Chicken wings were really good! So who got theirhair
dyed last week, thanks to Liz Parry? I know The Bus to
the Brunny was a great success, thanks to Melissa Bond,
Liz Parry, Sabrina Foster, Brian Cepuran and Mustafa Al-
Mosawe, many people were very tired the next day!
Athletics, JonBoy (jbastien@engmaii) and Leon Zheng
(l2zi1eng@engmail), have started EngHockey on Saturday
nights at Columbia Lake Recreation Center from 5:30 to
7:30, just show up and have a great time! The Web page is
making progress, plea e check out the Book Exchange
and Job Critique sections. We have the most incredible
Secretary this term, Dave Clegg, who has added an Action
Items summary page. Ask your Class rep for a copy!
Submit to the P**5 mailbox to win this term or talk to
Aaron Leiba and Zhan Huan Zhou! Whatch for Frosh
Mentoring info to be coming soon, by Tunazzina Abedin.
Also if you want anything mailed out to class reps or
Directors please e-mail Adrian Ennis (avennis@engmaii)
or myself and it will be forwarded to them. I apologize
now if I have forgotten anything or anyone, just send me
an e-mail and I will try to rectify me errors.
Whiteboards
Environmental stuff is coming along great! We are
making progress on getting Whiteboards for advertising
but, as we all leam in life there is lots of 'red tape' that
must be tom through first. We are also trying to set up
boxes for single sided recycling with the intention of mak-
ing this paper into notepads for students. For more infor-
mation please e-mail Bruce Davison (bjdaviso@engmaii)
or show up on Tuesdays at 2:30 in DWE2527.
From the desk of the VP Finance
Expense Forms
Keep in mind that the weekly deadline for the forms is
Fridays at 3:30, with cheques being ready for pick7up in
the Orifice on Tuesday.
Funding for Engineering Groups
__ ESSC01ympcis
This summer the Engineering Society will be hosting
the ESSCO AGM (Engineering Students Societies
Council of Ontario Annual General Meeting) on June 4th
- 6th. The chairs for the conference are Chris Bardon (A
Society) and myself (B Society). Plans are forming as the
term progresses, and I've met with a number of ESSCO
representatives to discuss the plans. Aside from the plan-
ning, we will be "sending" four delegates from each soci-
ety (including the incoming and outgoing VP Externals).
Applications for the remaining two B Society delegate
po itions will be open on the Eng Soc website later this
term.
Donations are available for engineering groups that
need funding. The form that needs to be filled out is avail-
able in the Orifice and should be returned by February 9th.
The group must also be ready to make a presentation at
_ One month into this term and the fevers are flying and
_ so are the events. A couple of weekends ago (Jan 22th-
-

The Iroll WaITIOr Friday Februar y 5. 1999
the council meeting on February lOth. There i more than
$2000.00 in total available for distribution, 0 make u of
it.
From the desk of the Comissioner
Education
The Commissioner Education report in the previou
issue of The Iron Warrior Magazine promised an outline
of the project that I will be undertaking thi term. There
are two di tinctly different roles under which these pro-
jects fall, and thus, I will outline them eparately:
The primary objective for the Commissioner
Education this term is to elect a VP Education in the
upcoming Engineering Society Elections. To accomplish
this objective, three steps must be completed.
Engineering Society Policy B-2
Currently, the executive positions of the Engineering
Society are defined and given power by their inclusion in
the Engineering Society Constitution. Since existing
executive positions derive their legitimacy in this manner,
it follows that any new executive positions will do so in a
similar way, and will therefore require and amendment to
the Constitution. However, regulations within the
Constitution require that Joint Council (the 'A' and 'B'
society Councils combined) approve any constitutional
amendments, and the next scheduled Joint Council meet-
ing is not until spring term 1999. Clearly this poses a
problem to including the executive position of Vice
President, Education in the Engineering Society elections
this term. In an attempt to rectify the situation,
Engineering Society Policy B-2 was created and proposed
at the meeting of Council on January 20. Essentially, the
policy allows for a non-voting Vice President, Education
position to be elected during the Engineering Society
elections this term, and to stay in executive office for the
traditional period of time, or until constitutional amend-
ments that include the Vice President, Education position
are either ratified or rejected. The contents of Engineering
Society Policy B-2 will be discussed at the next meeting
of Council (February 10), and ratification will be voted
upon at that time. The proposal for Engineering Society
Policy B-2 is available for viewing either from class rep-
resentatives, in the Orifice, {)r b co t cting th
(groter@istar.ca).The
Engineering Society executive encourages input into the
contents of this policy from any engineering student, and
all comments or suggestions should be directed to the
Commissioner Education at the above e-mail address.
Report on the Viability of a Vice President, Education
Beyond just trusting the judgement of the Engineering
Society "brain-trust", a report on the viability of the Vice
President, Education position will be completed and sub-
mitted to the Engineering Society Council. The report
will be presented at the next meeting of Council (February
10) with the text version available within a week there-
after.
Vice President, Education: Job Description and
Corresponding Directives
Pending the outcome of the viability report, a job
description and corresponding directives for the holder of
the first official Vice President. Edu ' arion oft! e will be
completed prior to the opening date for ubmL ion of
Engineering ociet}' ele tioll andidate ' (tentatively
Februaf) 22).
From the desk of the VP
Education
Entering into univer' it) life require, "shedding" off
the rigidity of life before po t-se ondal) education -- a
novel en e of freedom i commonly a first revelation.
However. a George Bernard Shaw once , tated, "liberty
mean re pon ibility". As man first-year ludent have
di covered, re pon ibility toward e\'ery a pecl of univer ' i-
ty life is es ential, and e pecially 0 in th classroom.
Although a great ta k i as ociated with handling the cur-
rent level of respon ibility, the combined effect of accel-
erating technology and reduced uni er it budget
requires a widening of the cope of ludent re pon ibility.
Students mu t begin to be directly respon ible for the
quality and content of their education. Thu follow the
primary directive of the Vice President, Education posi-
tion for this term: To allow students to gain an increa ed
share in the responsibility for their education.
Fee Deregulation Forum
After meetings with the Dean of Engineering and the
Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering, a fee
deregulation forum is currently being scheduled for some-
time at the beginning of March. Thi forum will provide
a means for the faculty and admini tration to communi-
cate the issues surrounding fee deregulation to concerned
engineering students. As well, the panel of faculty and
administration will address questions and concerns from
engineering students regarding fee deregulation. There
are two important components to this forum:
Communication to the students about the complicated
nature of the issues and feedback on the nature of their
concerns. Student participation and attendance from all
disciplines (yes, all disciplines are effected) is required to
ensure the success of this forum, so please stayed tuned
for a formal announcement of the date and time.
Electrical Destreaming
Before every electrical engineering student that reads
the above heading has a coronary, mention must be made
that the only class currently in school that is effected by
th ollewin ub iva.J-"","".,c
small subsection has the purpose of briefly informing the
balance of engineering students of the situation and help-
ing to clear any confusion caused by rumours circulating
among the members of the 2A Electrical class. After an
extensive discussion with the Chair of E&CE the follow-
ing points were made clear:
I. The Electrical engineering class of 200 I, and all
thereafter, will complete back-to-back 3B and 4A terms,
thus allowing all 4A electrical and computer engineering
students to be in school at the same time.
2. There are two clear reasons for this action:
a) The rapid growth of the E&CE discipline has
required the creation of a wider range of fourth year tech-
nical electives, and combined with the increased number
of students in E&CE, this has put a lot of strain on depart-
ment resources, namely the tenured faculty available to
instruct students. With a finite number of tenured faculty
available. duplication of 4A cour es in both the Spring
and Fall ha, become impo sible. Thu , destreaming the
ele ITi al engineering , tudent for the 4A term avoids this
cour e duplication and solve the departmenlal resource
probkm without compromising the range of cour es
available to ' (udents.
b) Recent modifications to the engineering accredita-
tion requirements introdu e a mandatory 4th year de ign
project into the curriculum of both elc trical and comput-
er engineering student. Thus, with electrical and com-
puter engine ring luden!. both on campus during their
-IA lenn, panner, hips an be e tablished 10 cnhan e this
de ign projc t.
. There are numer u obje tion to thi. action (only a
few broughl 10 my attention will be outlined). however,
most only apply 10 Elc trical la. scs of 200 I and 2002,
be au e ample time for advanced planning is a ai lable to
later cia e:
a) Financial impact of two consecutive chool tenus
before expected.
b) Impact of the (wo consecutive school tenus on
hou ing arrangements.
c) 2B tudent will be the highest level of electrical
engineering tudent available to employers during the
fall tenus.
For 2A Electrical students reading thi s report: Your
cia repre enlative is in the process of organizing an
information session between your class and the Chair of
Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Due to the unexpected lengthiness of the present
report, I will conlinue with more "From the de k of the VP
Education" in the next issue of The Iron Warrior
Magazine. Stay tuned ...
..... i)( It ,tl \/\.':1" r, j(1' t (ijr'l(I'\' . ,lIt
-
-
-

The '99 Grads woud like to recognize the generous contributions of the follow-
ing organizations to their yearbook:
A.T.S. Ltd.
Ainley and Associates Ltd.
Allied Signal Aerospace Canada
AMP of Canada Ltd.
AMS Management Systems Canada Ltd.
Architel Systems Corp.
Array Systems Computing Inc.
A tron Specialty Metals Ltd.
Babcock & Wilcox
Barrick Gold Corp.
Budd Canada Inc.
Canadian National
Centerline ,(Windsor) Ltd.
Cosburn Patterson Mather
Dofasco
DOW Chemical Canada, Inc.
DY-4 Systems Inc.
Engel Canada Ltd.
Evertz Microsystems Ltd.
Exco Engineering
Falcon bridge Ltd.
Ferranti-Packard Tran former Ltd.
Pi her Canada, Stainle Steel Tubing Inc.
G N Nettest (Canada) Inc.
GE Multilin Inc.
Genesi Microchip Inc.
Gerdau Courtice Steel Inc.
Gold Crown Brewery
Hammond Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Hatch A sociates Ltd.
Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co., Ltd.
Husky Injection
I.B.I. Group
IBM Canada Ltd.
lnterautomation
I-Stat Canada
I.T.S. Electronics Inc.
J.S. Redpath Ltd.
Janna Systems Inc.
Linamar Corp.
Lumonics Inc.
Marshall Macklin Monaghan Ltd.
Messier-Dowty Inc.
Mitel Corp.
Mold-Masters Ltd.
Moore Products Co. of Canada Inc.
MOSAID Technologies Inc.
Narmco Group
NCR Canada Ltd.
New Automation Corp.
NOVA Chemicals
What can we expect with the new

Ie I
Ontario Concrete Pipe A 0 iation (OCPA)
Parker Hannifin (Canada) Inc.
Paron Metal Fabricating Inc.
PIXStream
Proctor & Redfern Ltd.
Profes ional Engineer Ontario (PEO)
QNX Software System Ltd.
Raytheon Canada Ltd.
Rockwell Automation! Allen-Bradley
RohMax Canada
Royal Bank of Canada
Schlumberger of Canada Inc.
Scientific-Atlanta Canada Inc.
Stantec Con ulting Ltd.
Stone & Webster Canada Ltd.
Syncrude Canada
Syndesis Ltd.
Telesat Canada
Timberjack Inc.
Triton Engineering Services Ltd.
UMA Engineering Ltd.
Viessman Manufacturing Company Ltd.
Vilo Systems Ltd.
Vista Engineering Corp.
Volkswagon Canada
VRP Web Technology Inc.
Wescast Industries Inc.
Westinghouse Canada Inc.
Woodbridge Foam Corp.
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