iron warrior: volume 7, issue 6

8/14/2019 Iron Warrior: Volume 7, Issue 6

1/16

The Engineerin g Society s Student forum November 1986

Don t Worry. . . Profsi l ~ a y s~ e t the hast haugh

Inside:

Philosophising on EducationThe UJagic of Engineering

/

1012

0 n I ts trovans and Ladas and Roadtrips 5,6

~ h e0pened the Window liesitantly 15


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2 IRON W RRIOR

EditorialWhen someone picks up a news

paper such as the Iron Warrior, heor she will look through to find ar

ticlesof

specificinterest

and,natu

rally, judge the paper based on thosearticles. Only subconsciously doesthe so-called character of the issuemake an impression. This characteris the focus of our efforts as editors,and our final editorial provides anopportunity to reflect upon it.

The purpose of the I ron Warr io r as we perceive it largely determines the content. The stated purpose is to provide a forum for ideas,and as such any submitted article, ifappropriately written, will be published. In such cases, we as editorsdon t influence the content. However, may be be cause people do nothave a clear idea of what the character of the paper is, they don t knowwhat to write, and therefore fewwholly unsolicited articles are received. This problem became clearwhen in response to an inconspicuous request for short stories in theOctober issue, we received six submissions in two weeks. Once peoplehad a . starting point from which towrite, the response was excellent.

Beyond publishing what articles

we receive from students (from anyfaculty, incidently), the paper hasother purposes. It is a channel ofcommunication, in addition to class

The Iron Warrior is a forum for ideas

presented by the Engineering Societies ofthe University of Waterloo. Viewsexpressed in the Iron Warrior other thaneditorials, are those of the authors and donot necessarily reflect the opinions of theeditors or the Engineering Societies.

All submissions should be forwarded to;The Enpneering SocietyCPH 1327exL 2323

reps, between the Engineering Society and the student body . Ourpresident, Bill Jackes, uses the I ron

Warr io r to bring students up todate on certain topics that affectthem. The expansion of POETSand ownership of the C : D are examples of these topics.

Engineering Society regu-larly sends delegates to student conferences. These are meant to benefit not only those who attend butthe rest of the student populationas well. In this issue are includedreports on two recent conferences,RESSA in Montreal and APEO inKingston. The Dean of Engineering,Bill Lennox, uses the Iron Warriorto keep students informed on issuessuch as underfunding.

The purpose of pub-lishing unsolicited submissions andEngineering-related information remains the same every term. However, a large part of the character ofthe paper is a reflection of the valuesof the editors.

This issue is a good example. Itis important for students in technical disciplines such as engineeringto think from time to time from aglobal, more phil($Ophical perspec

tive . We constantly need to question the role of education in society,and ask what we as students expectfrom our university education. Arti-

IRON W RRIOR

cles in this month s issue encouragethis sort of thinking .

The point of view which ques

tions engineers' tendency to propose a technological fix for everything must be understood and respected. As noted in EngineeringMagic . and Other Technologies wein this faculty all have a vested interest in technology. However, if werecognize this, we may think twicewhen our first reaction is to throwmoney (in the form of technology)at it.

As a result of our feelings on theseissues, we have tended to solicit articles which were more thoughtful

than technical. It was importantto us to portray engineers as peoplewith diverse interests and intelligentpoints of view. Yet another attemptto tear down the cliche image withwhich we are all so familiar.

Rather than only distribute theI ron Warr ior in the Engineeringbuildings we have left copies inmany buildings on campus. This isa step in the right direction, madeby other editors in the past as well.n our perspective, the I ron War

'r lo r is not only a (orum (or engi

neers communicating to engineers,but also for engineers expressingtheir attitudes and ideas towards everyone with whom they interact.

All submissions become the property of

the Iron Warrior which reserves theright to refuse publication/circulation of

material which it deems unsuitable. TheIron Warrior also reserves the right toedit grammar, spelling, and portions oftext that do not meet University standards.Authors will be contacted for any majorchanges that may be required

ll submissions must be legible and mustinclude the author's name, class (ifapplicable) and a phone number wherehelshe may be reached.

NOVEMBER 1986

Iron WarriorStaff

EDITORS

Brian HamiltonElias Moubayed

WRITERSAnna WrightSteve PltkanenJ.P. HayashidaMatt SnellJoe SowanJames AbrahamWedgeBilUackesDiana del Bel BelluzTim KitagawaRlldlger FunkeMartin KonemundHans SanderJorg SchulteClaus WerningerRob HlldredNorma SecordAnne Fearnleylillian Benoit

LAYOUTTom the Crazy Korean (director)WedgeSteve PitkanenBarbara AdeySusan Mcintyre

J FongDave KetchumDiana det Bet BelluzCarolyn FrenchKathy FongAnna WrightTracey RenaudMike LessardRon ngCarolyn AnglinJojoSusan BotOal FwahthaidFritz the Dog

PHOTOGRAPHYWedge (director)Ian WorlandMatt Powell

ADVERTISINGDave Ketchum (director)lindsay Patten


3/16

NOVEMBER 1986 IRON W RRIOR 3

President s DeskReferendum Resultsy Bill J ackes

By now you are probably beginning to consider the ominousamount of work that awaits you inpreparation for the finals. All I

can suggest to you is to forget thatfor a little while longer and thinkabout the term that just flew by.Several changes have occurred thisterm. The first is to Rm. 1334 inCPH, previously known to the olderstudents as the C&D and now soonto be known as the Apple terminalroom. I bet there are a few comments flying around out there like

What? Another terminal room?I'd rather have had a back up C&Din case the other one is bombed byangry terrorists " Although I agreethat we do need a back up C&D for

such unexpected catastrophes, thisterminal room is different. Fromthese 15 networked PC's, the individual has access to laser quality output within CPH which couldcome in handy for the resume deadline and work term reports. This isa service that has never been offeredto students before in the Engineering buildings.

Changes are also pccuring to po-ETS. Starting in the last week ofNovember a storage room and balcony above it are being built in theback of POETS. The purpose of thisconstruction is two-fold; first it al-lows for a gre ater seating a nd stand-ing area for tv viewing, and second,the C&D and POETS will no longerbe lacking in storage space becauseof it. Along with this constructionwill cor,ne a change to the liquor license of POETS. By January, 1987the balcony that forms the roof ofthe C&D will be licensed. This willprovide a quiet licensed area awayfrom the movies for those who aremore interested in social drinkingthan movie watching.

Three months of work on thepart of students and other university community members will becoming to a close next week whenthe play The Mousetrap is stagedin the Theatre of the Arts. Director Ian Chaprin (UW alumnus) andproducer Andrew Coghill (student)have been working with cast andcrew since September to preparefor opening night. These preparations have included trying to get thewhole university aware of and/or involved in the production of TheMouse t rap . This has meant getting the assistance of an archit ecturestudent in designing the set, havinga life-size mouse appear in the Octoberfest Parade and then at the En-gineering Society 3 Who Can BuildA Better Mousetrap" Contest lastweek.

Events were occuring constantlythis term, some new and some notso new. The road trip to Buffaloto watch the NFL football game (1along with most of the people whowent can't remember who was playing but that was irrelevant anywa; ), the SEMI-SEMI, and the ~curity guards protesting the Engineering Week parade were a few. ofthe new events. These along Withthe multitude of others were successful in one way or anothe r. All allowed those who participated to find

some enjoyment away form the hassles of studying, and that in itself isa success.

In closing I want to thank allthose who helped to make this theaction packed term that it was. Itwas a lot of fun working with youand I hope to see you next summer

On Tuesday November 18th, Engineering Society I A held a constitutional referendum proposing thatfuture amendments to the constitution only require a 2/ 3 majorityvote in both the A soc and B soccouncils. At the present a constitutional amendment requires this 2/3vote of both councils plus a referendum conducted among all membersof the Engineering of both streams,also with a 2/3 majority. The Engineering Society Council viewed thischange as easing the procedure ofamendment noting that there areabout 50 proposed changes alreadyapproved by the B society council.

i,

Results of the vote, listed below,proved that the Engineering Societyvalues their right to vote in consti

tutionamendments and

donot

wantto forfeit this power to the Engineering council.

Results

In Favour 105In Opposition 114Spoiled 4

47.1%51.1%

1.8%Note: The amendment2/3 majority to pass .

required a

\~ ~ Orifice, ready to ~ o yt h ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~events that are being planned nowfor then. To the graduates who areleaving' A' stream to finish in April,good luck, we'll miss ya, and don'tforget to donate.

The Mousetrap S SetThe closing Saturday night per

formance will be held as a specialbenefit performance for the RickHanson Man In Motion TO -lr. Onedollar from every ticket sold will bedonated to this fund and will beused for spinal -cord research andwheelchair sports. So, the casthopes to have students and area res- .

idents to perform for.The Mousetrap is a mys

tery /comedy which has been billedas Agatha Christie's immortalmystery." This immortality is

demonstrated by the fact that theplay is still alive and playing in LOlldon, and is the city's longest run-ning play ever. Thi s ' University of

Waterloo production is sponsoredby the Creative Arts Board of the

November 27,28 & 29 8:00 p.m.

Federation of Students, and runsfrom Thursday, November 27th toSaturday, November 29th at 8:00p.m. Tickets are $3.00 (Feds) and$5.00 (others). f you can get yourclass or any group of 20 or more to

go, the Fed rate is only $2.50. Tickets may be u r c h s e d ~the Fed Office, at t.he UW Arts Centre Box Office, or at any BASS outlet (even inNew York cityl).


4/16

4 IRON W RRIOR NOVEMBER 986

RESS nby Bill Jackes

On Nov. 7 Karen Hubbard ,Steve Pallen, Pete Pfingst and myself hopped into the classiest machine ever to come from Russia ,and headed to Montreal to represen tEngineering Society A a t the annual Regional Engineering SocietyStudent Association (Ressa) conference . The purpose of this conference is to provide a chance for delegates from the Engineering Soci etiesof every engineering in stitution inOntario and Quebec to meet and exchange ideas on how each engineering society functions, the problemsthey have encountered and the so

lutions they have come up with toget around these problems . This isthe major goal of RESSA, but muchmore than just this happens.

To start with, we thought theclassy LADA might not make it toQuebec, and rather than exchanging ideas a t the conference, we'd beexchanging money for a tow truck.So after a car swap in Toronto wewere on our way to Montreal.

The conference was held atL'ecole Poly technique, a beautifulengineering institution that is associated with the University of Mon-

treal. This university seemed tohave everything; an excellent physical activities complex, well furnished offices and classrooms, andmore than adequate labs. Appar-ently this was the jewel in the crown 'of Quebec engineering universitiesand after looking at the view fromthe front steps of its building atopMount Royal, it certainly seemedthat way.

After a restful night of getting toknow the delegates from the other

efore you head outinto the COLD owinter

IGet down t

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universities back at the hotel andseeing if they could drink as fastas Steve the 'Wedge' Pallen, theconference itself began. All Satur-day morning several workshops wereorganized to discuss different topics pertaining to Engineering societies . The first was on frosh recruitment (orientation techniques).Obviously every institution concentrated their efforts during the firstweek on making sure the frosh hada good time and became fa Yliliarwith the campus and the engineer- l I ' i . . . t . . . . ~ u

ing society. The idea of assigmngcertain upper years specific responsibilities was discussed and stronglysupported by, Queen's, who use thistechnique presently . For instance,2nd year is responsible for Froshweek, 4th year for the formal etc.The budgets for frosh week werecompared, with that of Queen's being the largest ($55,000 or 65/stu-dent) .

Other workshops discussed current events in each university; allseemed to be affected by an underfunding problem and some hadunique ways to alleviate this problem. Several Eng . Soc's had income from establishing book s t r ~ sand cafeterias and others from soliciting from their Alumni . All had abasic income from a per student fee,as we do at Waterloo.

Another workshop focussed itsdiscussion on Women in Engineering. Several ideas of why there isa lack in the number of women inEngineering were discussed. It wasthought that there is a general unawareness at the high school level ofwhat engineering is all about, andthat it is important to increase this

understanding for both men andwomen in order for enrollment offemales to increase in engineering .Waterloo is making a conscious ef-

fort to do just this through a coopposition who's responsibility is tovisit Ontario high schools and describe the faculty of engineering atan undergraduate level.

Still another workshop focused onthe evaluation of the educationalprograms and its teachers. ThePoly as the host school is called ,

has strict entrance requirements ;not for its students, but for the professors. First, they had to havethree years experience in teaching,have references from those threeyears experience, be able to speakfrench, and complete a 100 hour entrance course. It seemed harder forthe profs to get in than the students.This discussion showed the usefulness and importance of our coursecritiques as a source of feedback forthe profs and information for thestudents.

After the workshops we listenedto three (trois) speakers speakmainly in french, which Karen foundinformative, and the rest of uslulling. ,... . 1 ;1 1 '

Once all the workshop s wereworked out, it was time to dosome serious sightseeing in downtown Montreal. Our first stop wasthe Old Munich. We found this tobe a quaint spot, with people hanging from the balcony, beer flying everywhere and a German band in themiddle of this bedlam. The wholescene reminded us of Oktoberfestand we loved it . ,After the Old Munich we headed to the French sectionof town and the Key club, and thenon down to Crescent Street, and the

more predominant English section.Montreal is definitely a great

place to visit and to drink . Sundaymorning, after another restful nighton 2 hours of sleep, we headed backto L'ecole Poly technique for a wrapup session on the weekend . The Wa-terloo contingency provided severallaughs for the hung over group before we had our last mea.l at theschool, and left to return to thebooming Metropolis of Waterloo. Itwas definitely a worthwhile conference that allowed us to meet theother Engineering Societies in theregion and see what Montreal is really like, at all hours of the day andnight.

WORDSMITH

TYPING, WORD PROCESSING

Resumes Letters Mailing Lists

232 King N.Waterloo

Term Papers UCPA's Reports Engineering Fonnulas Theses Photocopying, Binding

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5/16

NOVEMBER 1986

PED n

by M a t t Snell

The date: Thursday, November7th, 1986

The Mission: Assault Royal. Military College in Kingston and at

tain as much information as possibleon the Association of ProfessionalEngineers of Ontario (APE O).

The EngSoc A Team: BillDaly, Elias Moubayed, Steve O'Nei l,Steve Pitkanen, Al Plaunt, SarahRocchi, and Matt Snell.

Report : We struck ou t inour Astro Van (actually a FordAerostar) mid-afternoon on Thurs

day arriving in Kingston around 7p.m. After we settled into our barracks the conference began.

The first evening and much of theothe r two evenings were taken up bysocial activities and I could entertain you with stories of piano playersand pillow fights but t ~ s are better left to be discussed over a beeror two at Fed Hall. Therefo re, wemove on to the meat of the conference.

The theme of this year's conference was Engineers and Careers.Three areas within this topic werepresented by way of the workshopsand speakers which made up theconference. The areas covered were:What is important to engineers intheir careers, Career options for engineers, and the APEO's involvement in careers of engineers.

The first area of discussionstressed the importance of two topics as they relate to engineers. Thefirst was communication. Prof. D.Pilfold spoke to us on the necessity of good communication withinengineering. In parti cular the abil

ity to express oneself with the written word in technical reports andproject proposals. During his talkI found myself rethinking my approach to workterm reports. I knowmany of us think of them as a chore

IRON W RRIOR 5

Kingstonto be rushed through but in manycircumstances this is the only technical report writing experience wehave on a regular basis. To give youan idea of how important this is consider the fact that Bristol Aerospacespent around 5 million on proposals for the CF-18 maintenance contract and they didn't get it. Manycompanies live or die on their ability to communicate especially thosewho rely totally on bidding on contracts for their business. In this newlight I think it is very importantfor each of us to look for new waysto improve our communication skillsthereby improving ourselves as engineers.

The second speaker in this areawas Prof. Sadinsky of the Queen 's

Law school. As you may guess hespoke to us on law and the engineer. The underlying theme of histalk was the accountability of ourprofession. Much of the law today,as you would expect, is designed toprotect the average citizen. Shouldindividuals or property be harmeddue to the mistake of engineers, thefull power of the law can be brough tto bear on the individual engineeror his company. How do we protectourselves from abuse of these malpractice laws? The answer is twofold; do it right and write it down.The d o c u m e ~ t a t i o Dof design andconstruction procedures is an engineer's best defence.

During the workshop sessions ofthe conference, small discussiongroups met with individuals whohad taken different career routes butwho had all started with and engineering degree. The areas discussedwere; Medicine, Law, Business (viaMBA), Graduate work leading toteaching, and consulting engineering. This was the weakest part ofthe conference. Many of the work

shop speakers lack a clear understanding of the reasoning behindthe use of workshop groups. Another clear shortfall was pointed outby one of the female delegates, ofwhich there were a fair number.

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None of the workshop speakers, andfor that matter none of the speakers throughout the conference, werewomen. However, putting theseshortfalls aside, there was one clearmessage conveyed in this area of theconference. There are any numberof career directions which one cantake with an engineering degree andyow should not feel that you havecut off your options by being in engineering.

The final aspect of the conference which I would like to discuss isthe APEO presentation. Of coursethis being their. conference, they hada bit of a selling plug. The objective of which was to get eachof us to join the association upongraduation . Well it worked, but Iwas probably an easy sell 8 0 let mereiterate some of the things theytold us. As you mayor may notknow, The Professional EngineersAct (Bill 123), states that any actof designing, composing, evaluating,

advising, reporting, directing, or supervising wherein the safeguardingof life, health, property or the public welfare is concerned and that requires the application of engineeringprinciples shall be considered thepractice of professional engineer

ing . To do this in the province ofOntario you must have a license; inother words you must be a memberof the APEO.

To gain membership one musthave two years related work experience and pass the three hour Pro/te-sional Practice Examination PPE).I will not take the time to go into the

details of application, dues, etc.. f

you have further questions you canlook at the information package inthe orifice. However, I would likenow to outline some points broughtup in the APEO discussion.

- Try to write the PPE as earlyas possible. You must wait at leastone year after graduation. - Makesure your work experience can becounted towards the required twoyears. - Co-op work terms do Dotcount towards your experience required. - Graduate work in engineering can, under most circumstances, count for up to one year ofexpenence.

f you have jU8t graduated, youcan apply to th association asan Engineer -in-Training (EIT). Thereasons for thi s would be to facilitate you full application when if occurs and as an ElT, you can take advantage of the insurance plans andcareer counseling services of the association. This was a strongly rec

ommended option and one which Ifeel is of great benefit.Of course there is no way I could

communicate all that was presentedat the conference within this article .For instance, I left out the tours ofAlcan and Northern Telecom. f youwant more information on the conference or the APEO, please feel freeto contact any of the delegates.

The APEO is our only governingbody and as such is something veryimportant to each of us. It is therefore in you best interests to investigate it so that it can serVe you tothe fullest now and in the future.

X2S@]J W 8 8 8 \ ~ @ g

Thanks All Those WhoHelped Out This Term See You in May


6/16

6 IRON WARRIOR NOVEMBER 1986

Reflections on Weizenbaumby Diana del Bel Belluz

It was certainly a pleasure to hearthe two Hagey lectures Dr. JosephWeizenbaum gave on November 28and 29. His talks were insightful, provocative, and moving. Hespoke openly, honestly and in simple, straight forward terms. Mostimportantly, he addressed his audience with respect and gave thoughtful answers in the discussion periods. What a refreshing switch fromthe slick propaganda-style speechesto which we are usually exposed. Itwas clear that this man gave his criticism after having done some serioussoul- searching.

The titles of the lectures wereProspects for Artificial Intelligenceand Computer Scientists and theArms Race. Ther e was heavyemphasis in both lectures on theprospects of the world in the faceof the threat of nuclear war.

The following is not a review buta collection of reflections on the discussions provoked and inspired bythe Hagey lectures.

The fact that the possibility ofnuclear war exists is certainly one

of the most frightening prospectsof our times. However, there aremany other evils whose harmfuleffects are already a reality. Indifference and apathy are evils ofthe mind which produce Bocial problems such as pollution, economic oppression, political oppression, illiter-

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ocy, and degradation of humanity,just to name a few. People argueover the relative severity of all theseproblems, the arms race included.Which is the greater evil?

Isde-

termining which problems are moresevere important? What is important? It is important that we acknowledge the existence of all theseproblems and that all of them deserve our profound attention.

It is easier to be concerned aboutnuclear winter than about the acidrain that is falling into our lakes orthe atrocities of war that are occurring in central America . If we perceive ourselves as being powerless inthe elimination of nuclear arms, wecan lay the blame on those who weperceive as having power . We distance ourselves psychologically fromthe situation . On the other hand,when we see a situation closer tohome, (like acid rain) one which weknow we could influence, we feel uneasy about our lack of involvement.Often, we choose to ignore the problem and refuse to acknowledge ourrelationship to it, thereby makingourselves part of the problem.

Even without nuclear weapons,war and violence have always been

part of our history . The weapons areonly a manifestation of the hatredand fear that consumes us. Whatwe must do is to open our minds tothe possibility of peace. Thi s willtruly revolutionize our world.

Although awareness is of greatimportance, it is not enough. Hu-

man caring is the key. We must careenough to keep informed, to be in-terested in the lot of those less fortunate, to form opinions, and to speak

out and let our voices be heard onissues of social justice.

We must be very careful not tofall into a trap of despair. One cannot deny that evil exists. Our worldis not perfect. Nor does it consist ofonly evil and hate . There are manypeople trying to make their world(our world) better and ' to capitalize on what good there is. We arenot alone. Many other people areconcerned about the many problemsthat exist in our world today andare actually doing sOI)lething aboutthem.

Is this a false hope, a misplacedoptimism?

Dr. Weizenbaum made a distinction between hope and optimism.He said that optimism refers to statistical probabilities (like flipping acoin where heads is nuclear holocaust and tails is peace) and thathope refers to what one believes canhappen ( even though the outcomefor which we hope may be statisti-cally unlikely). He stltoted that hewas pessimistic about the likely hood

of nuclear war but hopeful that thisoutcome would not occur. He didn tthink the odds were in mankind'sfavour; but, he was hopeful thatsome kind of peace--bringing miraclewould occur despite the odds .

Dr. Weizenbaum urged all computer scientists to examine the end

uses of their work and to decidefor themselves whether or not theyshould continue it. He pointe dout that computer scientists and

universities have a leadership role.He stressed th.e social responsibilitythat goes along with that role.

Each of us is a member of societyand all of us have a special role tofulfill in society. On the issue of nuclear arms, computer scientists anduniversities playa special role. But,that doesn't mean that the rest ofus can go back to sleep and ignoreor write off the threat of nuclear waror any other evil in our society. Norcan we afford to despair. We mustremain open to the possibility of amiracle. This is not a passive openness but an active analysis and examination of ourselves and our society. We must constantly remainopen. Being open and informed isnot enough. We cannot stand idlyby and watch our world deteriorate.After a sufficient amount of reflection, we must decide how we 'wish toreact. Ultimately, we each face thisdecision and we face it alone. Weare confronted with it ,many timesdaily and each individual must livewith his own choice.

We face a tremendous dual chal

lenge. I t is like the two branches ofthe tree in which we plant our future. The one branch challenges usto make the mo st of ourselves and ofthe world around us. And the otherbranch is perhaps an even greaterchallenge: to never give up on thehuman race .

Canada as a Trading Nationby Steve Pitkanen

_ ada.pted from Exports BuildCa.na.da , y Cynthia Speer8

According to the 1984 United Nations statistics, Canada ranked seventh in total trade and exportsamong all countries in the world.Only the United States, Japan,West Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and the USSR placedhigher.

What this means is that Canadaranks right up there with the othermodern and industrialized nationsas one of the world's leading tradingnations. In 1984, Canada accountedfor 4.6% of the dollar value of worldexports.

How important is foreign trade toCanada? It s vital to our financialand economic well-being, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, for most large producers,the Canadian market is too smallto maintain, their levels of production of goods. Trading to the U.S.alone opens up a market about tentimes the size of the Canadian market. This creates opportunities foreconomic growth, expansion of busi-

nesses and creation of jobs.Canada also exports so that it can

import. I f you subscribe to the ar

gument that the ultimate goal ofeconomic activity is to provide themaximum variety and availability ofgoods and services to consumers,then imports are a necessity . Foreign trade allows us to specialize inthose industries in which we are efficient. If we cannot compete incertain areas, then we import thosegoods or services so that they will beavailable to consumers. However, i fwe do not sell our exports, how canwe pay for our imports?

Japan, one of the leading chal

lengers to world trade dominance,has a different problem: it has alarge trade surplus. That is, it hasincredibly strong exports but its imports are small by comparison. [neffect, it is giving away goods butgetting nothing in return.

Last month was thefourth Canada Export Trade Month(CETM). Business leaders and leading industries participate in CETMto promote the following objectives:1. To create an intensified focuson the benefits of export trade,and

2. To encourage increased participation in export trade.

One of the main goals of CETM

is to demonstrate the large opportunities in export trade for entrepreneurs willing to break out ofthe home market mind- set and togo for it abroad.

So, how does all this informationrelate to us at the University of Waterloo?

Firstly, it should serve our collective interest to recognize that we, inCanada, live in one of the world'sstrone st tradinll: nations. We makecertain products here (yes, Canada)better than any other nation in theworld. It is desirable for us as co-opstudents or in our future careers tobe aware of the economic environment in which our businesses exist.

This information may also serveto dispel any unfounded fears thatCanada is an uncompetitive smallfry in foreign trade. Those ofus who will go on to be involvedwith new entrepreneurial venturesor even large production companiesshould keep in mind that the. international market is not so far out ofreach.

~ ~ . : . . _ _ _ _


7/16

NOVEMBER 986 IRON W RRIOR 7

The Truth About Chrisby Anna Wrigh t

In the last issue of the I ron War

r io r I wrote an article about Portugal. In this article I claimed thatChristopher Columbus was Portugese. Okay , I was wrong . Thereis however no denial of a Portugese- Columbus connection .

Christopher Columbus was bornin Genoa (Italy) in 1451. At the ageof fourteen he was already navigating.

In August 1476 Columbus was ina battle off Cape St. Vincent. Hisship caught fire and with the aid ofan oar he swam to the Portugesecoast. In this battle Columbusfought on the Portugese side againstGenoa. Columbus was no Genoesepatriot (the fact that Columbuscame from a Spanish-Jewish familywho settled in Genoa may explainthis) .

Portugal at this time was considered the end of the western world.From Lisbon the Portugese had discovered Madeira and had reachedthe Tropic of Cancer by passingCape Bojador. Lisbon was themeeting place of sailors with dreamsof discovery . There past and future

exploits were talked about, planned,and financed.For a while Columbus settled

in the Madiera islands with hiswife Filipa Perestrello . In Madeira

Columbus increased his sailing experience and discovered hints (ie.pieces of wood, tree trunks) of aland to the west . Columbus eventu

ally returned to Lisbon to contin uehis studies of navigation .

Common sense and teaching ofthe Church at that time said theearth was flat and if one venturedtoo far one would fall off. Columbus(wi th others) questioned this belief.Reading about Marco Polo and theprophet Edras Columbus developedhis own ideas . Generally these ideaswere: the earth is round , the distance by land from the Edge of theWest to the Edge of the East (ie .India) is large, therefore the distance by sea between these landsis short . More specifically, Columbus calculated the distance betweenSpain and India as 282 degrees (adegree is 56 2/3 miles and by Italian standards one mile was equal to1477 .5 m) . This calculati on left only78 degrees to India. These resultsled Columbus to believe that Indiawas 3900 miles from the Canaries(ie . just about where America happens to be).

In 1484 Columbus put a proposalto the King of Portugal. The Kingrejected it. Columbus then went to

the court of Spain looking for financial backing. Several years later hisproposal was accepted by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (envy ofthe Portugese maritime success may

Hamburgersby Rudiger Funke

Mart in KonemundH a n s Sander

Jorg Schulte

Claus Werninger

There certainly are a lot of Hamburgers at the University of Waterloo. Every second day in the villagecafeteria, every day in The WildDuck Cafe and every day in Engineering The Engineering ones areactually born in the city of Hamburg. They are participating in theexchange program with the Technical University of Brauncshweig.Braunschweig, as is Hamburg, is ~cated in the northern part of WestGermany.

This year we are nine fourth andfifth year students in Engineeringwho were lucky enough to be h ~

sen to study at UW. Our studiesin Braunschweig lead to a diplomawhich is similar to a Masters degree.It usually takes six years to get thisdegree in Germany. The exchangeprogram gives us the opportunity toful611 twelve course requirements forour German degree. We are staying

After our arrival in Septemberwe spent our first week assemblingour schedules which turned out tobe very difficult. Since we choose(or three university terms in a row,as they don t have a ~ o pprogramin Braunschweig.courses from different years and de-partments of the faculty of Engineering, we had to avoid conflicts. For the next three weekswe explored the surroundings whichincluded the campus, KitchenerWaterloo, Elmira, Toronto, Minden,and Algonquin Provincial Park ....Then we were struck by the /Waterloo system of studying and havenot yet recovered from all the assignments, mid-terms and projects.Can you imagine four years of studies without any of these? We canlThat is the way it is in Braunschweig. Our Professors expect usto work on our own and be preparedfor 100% finals.

Beside our studies we discoveredsome strange "things" about Cana-

C H ~ISToPHEI2c O ~ v S u S

P S COv. ; e . 5Tt\6 >Ie-vi , ,oe>-P

have spurred Spain into supportingColumbus) .

Columbus sailed out of Palas(Spain) in 1492 with his small fleet,the Santa Maria, the Pinta and theNina.

Columbus thought himself divinely selected for a mission.

In October, 1492, Columbuslanded in the Bahamas by what hebelieved to be prophecy rather then

astronomy.In his three voyages Columbus

discovered Puerto Rico, Trinidad,Jamaica, and South America. InSouth America Columbus learned of

a great sea only nine days marchfrom the Atlantic. Columbus assumed it was the Indian Ocean.His belief that had he had ' reachedthe Indies was so strong Columbusfailed to recognize a new continent.It was because of this mistake thatthe Caribean Islands came to becalled the West Indies and the natives the Indians.

Columbus lost favour with the

Spanish court and died a poor andunhappy man in 1506. The continent he had found did not even bearhis name but that of another Italiansailor, Amerigo Vespucci .

at u of W

dian students everyday life. On oneof the nights we could afford to take

our class or school spiriL by wearingshirts, jackets and simi lar garments .

Anyway, we are glad to be hereand we are interested in getting toknow more about Canadians andtheir customs. I f you want to chatwith us or if you want more information about the exchange program,pleaae feel free to contact one of theGerman looking guys who you seearound or the sponsor of the p r ~

gram, Prof. Reinhold Schuster, Civ .En g . (CPH 1325h, ex t . 3713).

off we went to Fed Hall. There, . . . _ _ _ _ -we found ourselves in a lineup thatwas not even moving. When we fi-

nally managed to get in, there werehardly any people inside comparedto similar pubs in Germany. Theonly purpose of lineups seems to beto increase people s interest in theseplaces. Another thing we were surprised about is the way people dressup, 88 we are not used to displaying

.yphon hOM

.terilentbMr kit (ye . included)com .ularcap.hydromete1'mak . 60 boUI .value M.31. tud.nt price 2 96renll. approximately IS

v b l D r _ . k l . a Waterloo Town Squ . . .or phone Donna a t I IS-4010


8/16

IRON WARRIOR NOVEMBER 1986

Homecoming SCHMUBby Tim Kitagawa

On Saturday, November 22, Engineering hosted an event whichproved to be most enjoyable, at leaston behalf of the participants.

Picture:

Student vehicles, each withdriver and navigator

seven very local pu bs

some of the finest roads in Waterloo / Wellington county

navigators doing a fine job atconsuming liquids at variouspubs

n avigators navigating?

Get the big picture, yepl SCHMUB. By the way, to quote my dearfriend Sherrif T. Pepper, Whatthe Hell is . that boy, some kind ofDoomsday Machine?

The Fall '86 rally proceded ratherwell with only one entrant notfinishing and another more ambitious team putting their car in aditch, getting towed out and resuming competition within 5 minutesto successfully complete the event.(honourable mention to Rod Pleasance and Kent Schachowskoj of 3BCivil Engineering) Winners of theevent were Kevin Bebenek and Pat

Smith (3B Civil) with second prizegoing to Elias Moubayed and BrianHamilton (4A Systems Design) andthird to F.S. Farkas and D.O. Gibson (3B Electrical).

The purpose of the rally is tohave fun. t allows participants totake in the scenery of the area inwhich they attend University. Manyare not aware of the character ofmany of the unique rural commu-

Brick Brewing CO Limited

Established to serve the region good beer

nities in the region. The pubs arewarm and friendly and sell some delicious and hearty home foods oftenmade with local produce and cookedwith a German flavour. Some evenbrew their own house beer. Thegeography has much to offer withits many rolling hills, meanderingstreams and rivers and the only covered bridge remaining in Ontariobuilt almost two decades before the

turn of the century. This settingoffers a nice change from the moreurban fast lane and pressures related to academia.

The objective of rally participantsis to safely and legally negotiatea route described by various cluesand encoded instructions. Performance is based not by speed but bywhether each section is completed inthe proper time and on the properroute. C ompeti tors receive penaltypoints for each minute early or late,have points deducted for correctly

answering questionsabout the

routeor for treating rally officials with appropriate kindness. The team with

the lowest score wins. In this yearsrally penalty poi nts were also deducted for creative rally dress andcar appearance.

The Fall '86 SCHMUB was alsoopen to alumni since it co-incidedwith Homecoming Weekend andthus was entitled the HomecomingSCHMUB. Thanks to all involvedand to Lori Neufeld of Alumni Af-fairs for provision of some of theprizes. The SCHMUB was orga

nized and marshalled by SystemsDesign '87 (Sys Pistols) as was theWinter '86 SCHMUB. Look for theWinter '87 SCHMUB next term.

utomobile SportsClubs in KW

by Tim Kitawawa

Many students at U of Wa r e

proud of their finely tuned and polished automobiles and their proficiency at driving and navigatingthem. To these types what ismore inviting than to take part incompetetive events with o thers whoshare the same interests.

There are two major clubs in K-W which continuously run and participate in events of this nature.These clubs are listed below withcontacts and regular meeting times.Membership fees are minimal andbasically cover mailing costs andmembership in larger affiliations on

the national/pro vincial level. Eachevent also has a small entrance fee,again to cover costs of the event.The types of events are essentiallyrallies but their are other uniqueevents which are good for increasing driving skills. These include theAutocross which is typically a raceagainst time in a rough terrajn circuit such as a gravel pit and lcedices which are again a race againsttime except this time on 8 frozenlake in 8 predetermined circuit.

Rallysport, however, is the meat

and potatoes of the club members.In these events, 2 people per vehicle (driver/navigator) try to work asa team to maintain a target speedover a predetermined route. Thewinner is determined as the teamwhich arrives at each of the hiddencheckpoints at the ideal target time.Events are held on public roads andrequire drivers to observe all trafficlaws. For furt her information consult the numb ers below. Incidentally many club members are U ofWalumni.

Grand Valley Car ClubRoger Sanderson 885-2122

Kitchener-Waterloo RallyCiubDennis Quinn 893-3603

Meeting 1st Thes. of every monthat the Duke of Wellington.


9/16

NOVEMBER 986 IRON W RRIOR

NGIN RING W K

17.86 seconds ... clean.

I want to be a housewife, just like my mom.

The Arms Race

Check out t hat outfit

Congratulations to the winnersof Engineering Week

38 Chern st,28 Civ 2nd28 Chern 3rd4A Chern 4th28 5th38 6th

Thanks for corning out ...

That'll be $.50 extra for the wrench.

9


10/16


Education and the Man

~ ~ I S C ~ I ~ T O N

OPEN D ILY9 am to 1 pm

SUND YS HouDAYS11 am to 9 pm

WESTIIOUNT KItGCENTRE P H R I I P

~ 1 8 1KIng Cenn

OPEN D ILYMTWS 9:30 5:30

Thu & Frt t:3O - 9:30CIoMd SundayI

by J. P. Hayashida

Education is not knowledge. Itis not the possession of knowledge,nor is it the simpJe acquisition ofknowledge. I f this were true, computers would be the most intelligent

beings on this planet. Educatio n,as it pertains to man, proposes arelationship between man and society. It pertains to the developmentor growth of the individual withinthe context of a social environment.And as an active social process, itmust be carefully scrutinized.

The relationship between education and society is firmly established. The continuity of social organizations, whether community orcountry, rests with the education ofits citizens. The moral practices,social customs, ideas and conceptsare cultivated in us through a highlystructured learning system. Our actions and experiences use society asa reference point so that we developas social beings who will help our respective societies to grow and prosper.

Plato, one of the earliest educa-. tional theorists, recognized the im

portance of education as a tool increating and maintaining an idealsociety. In the Republic Plato suggests that for society to be just, man

must develop reason, appetites, anda spirit which compJ.ements the social system. He proposed the useof a combinati .on of training andcensorship with a structured environment to educate man. The existence of an enlightened philoso-

ON EDUCATIONHe always wanted to explain things,But no one cared.So he drew.Sometimes he would draw and it wasn't anything.He wanted to carve it in stone or write it in the sky,And it would only be him and the skyand the things inside him that needed saying.And it was after that that he drew the picture. It was a beautiful picture.He kept it under his pillow and would let no one see it.And he would look at it every night and think about it.And when it was dark and his eyes were closed, he could still see it.And it was all of him.When he started school, he brought it with him.Not to show anyone, but just to have it, like a friend.

It was funny about school.He sat at a square brown desk.Like all other square brown desks.And he thought it should be red.And his room was a square brown room.Like all the other rooms.And it was tight and closeand stiff.He hated to hold the pencil and chalkWith his arms stiff and feet ftat on the floor.Stiff.

/

pher king was key in directing society, for it is from the knowledgeof the leaders and by their direc

tives in the education of their subjects that the good and just societyis maintained. Plato believed thatthe study and understanding of the

universal truths or Forms wouldguide man in creating his ideal state.

In the eighteenth century,Rousseau's Emile focused on the education of the individual, not tomaintain society, but to alter it.Rousseau felt that man was nat-urally good but became corruptedby society. It was his aim to educate man outside of society that hemight preserve man's natural goodness, protect him from society's infleunce. Such an educated manwould be able to slowly transformsociety into a wider and freer socialstructure, a state closer to nature.

Here education sought to developan individual's natural endowmentsto prepare him for a changing environment. Rousseau recognized thatthe individuality of a child is whollydifferentfrom the adult, and thushis education should be structureddifferently. The needs of the individual were thought to be above

those of organized society but notseperate from it. The individual'seducation was a fostering of natu-ral virtues and the sense of true social equality. Educa tion formed menwho would form and not be formedby society.

The more modern theories of education are presented by John Deweyin Democracy and Education. Hisapproach is an analytic synthesis of

theories which develop the conceptof education, its aims and meaning.

Today man, education and soci

ety function as one whole. Men jointogether to create a society. Societyinfluences and directs man's education. Education, in turn, forms andtransforms man to become part ofa society. John Dewey's work relates directly to the interaction ofman with education, education withsociety, and society with man. Hisviews reflect the concerns of bothpupil and teacher in considering thefuture of education.

Man and society are linked byeducation as a means of mutualgrowth. t has been one of education's long standing goals to seeworld s o ~ t i e sgrow together as one.It will begin with the realization onthe part of the individual of the importance and significance of the educational process, and recognition ofthe individual's responsibility to society to maintain and improve uponthe educationa l system. In this way,both the educational system and society will continue to grow and improve upon themselves. Dewey summarized this sentiment as he wrote,

Each generation is inclined to ed

ucate its young so as to get \llongin the present world instead of withthe view to tlfe proper end of education: the promotion of the bestpossible realization of humanity ashumanity.

Education (n): That which discloses to the wise and disguises fromthe foolish their lack of understandmg.

With the teacl;ler watching and watching.

The teacher came and spoke to him.She told him to wear a tie, like all the other boys.And he said he didn't like them,And she said it didn't matterAnd after that they drew.And he drew all yellow and it was the way he felt about morning.And it was beautiful.The teacher came and smiled at him."What is this? she said, Why don't you draw somethingLike Ken's drawing, isn't THAT beautiful?

After that his mother brought him a tie,And he always drew airplanes and rocket ships like everyone else.And he threw the old picture away.And then he lay alone, looking at the sky.It was big and blue and all of everything,But HE wasn't anymore.He was square inside.And brown.And his hands were stiff.And he was like everyone else.And the things inside him that needed sayingdidn't need it anymore.It has stopped pushing.

t was crushed.Stiff.Like everything else.


11/16

NOVEMBER 1986 IRON W RRIOR

ducation and the Universityby J . P. Hayashida

Education. Society. Man. Thesignificance of the relationships havebeen expressed in the article on Ed

ucation and Man. For the engineer,these relationships must be thoroughly investigated. For the engineering student at a university, careful examination of his or her environment and the educational structure must be made. What is the roleof education for the engineer? Whatis the role of the university? Whatis the aim of education?

Education is not so narrow or directive as to have one singular andstatic goal for the individual. Itis a dynamic process which relates

objects and ideas with experiencesin efforts to further the growth ordevelopment of the mind. In one'sense, the ideal of education is toprovide an environment or conditions which insures growth. This isnot to say that education is simplyfor the sake of education, or thatknowledge is attained simply for thesake of knowledge. What this doesstate is that implicit to the processof education is learning to learn.

There is no end to the learningprocess, and once removed from theformal structure of the universityenvironment, the impetus for learning is placed upon the individual.It is expected that a skill of self- 'teaching or self-education has beenlearned so that the engineer in society may continue to grow with technology.

The ultimate goal of educationfor the engineering student is not to

get ajob . A goal should not be exterior to the educative process suchthat education becomes subordinateto that goal. Dewey suggests that ifsuch a goal is established, we limit

intelligence as we become trained toperform mechanical duties imposedby some external authority. Thiswould be the case if the universitysimply taught, computer engineershow to use different computer systems and operate different program sas required by industry.

The aims of education should bebased upon the intrinsic needs andactivities of the individual. Engineers must learn to solve problems,not necessarily a particular problem, Our technological studies mustbe directed towards an understanding of objects with an awareness ofthe object's application in society.In the selection of courses, the individual wishes to establish a reasonable comprehension of a field ofstudy, which upon graduat ion, he orshe would now be able to call uponin their role in society.

Dewey notes that, A person maybecome expert in technical philosophy, or philology, or mathematics or engineering or financiering,and be inept and ill-advised in his

actions and judgement outside ofhis specialty. I f however his concern with these technical subjectmatters has been connected with

the human activities having social .breadth, the range of active responses caned into play and flexibly int egra ted is much wider. Isolation of subject matter from a social context is the chief obstructionin current practice to securing a general training of the mind. Literature, art, religion, when thus dissociated, are just as narrowing as thetechnological things which the professional upholders of general education strenuously oppose. HereDewey clearly states that engineers

in society are responsible for thetechnology they employ. The awareness of this responsibility shouldcome from our experiences at theuniversity where technical subjectsare first dealt with.

This th eme of social responsibilityrelates to the need for students, particularly students of technical stud-

t cr


12/16


Engineering agicand Other Technologies

by Rob Hildred

Being engineers aspiring for eithergreatness or a job, each of us hasa vested interest in technology . nfact, if technical advancement wereto stop dead tomorrow, our degreeswould be as useful as equivalentcredentials in classical civilization.Even slowing the pace of technical evolution would have profoundlybad implications on the standard ofJiving and lifestyles we could possibly achieve. Ironically, with somuch dependence on technology, asa group, we are wholly uninterestedin its management. As you will see,this is extremely unfortunate.

In the past,

witchcraft was far more

popular than engineering

About 1,500 years ago, in a timecongenially referred to as the darkages, witchcraft was far more popular than engineering. In fact, at thetime, engineering was good for little more than holding up buildings.When it came to saving humanity or devising an instant solutionfor an unsolvable problem, magicwas more popular than the fear ofgod. Like any good thing, magicwas soon franchised throughout theland, creating a boom for those offering witchcraft services and a corresponding demand for more practitioners. Initially magic was atool for the authorities. A kingcould buy safe passage for his raiding or defending parties, just as theChurch could buy a curse for any

particular person who sang off keyat mass. Needless to say, withendorsement from such prominentlevels, consumer magic was quicklyspun off, and in short order everyone was talking, eating, breathing,and believing in magic.

The concept of better magicand more effective magic quicklydeveloped as more and more peoplebought curses against each other.As you might imagine, it was arare case when both sides walkedaway vind icate d. More likely eachside would see themselves as somewhat more disadvantaged by theother's magic. Of course thingssnowballed from there until peoplebegan to blame all their misfortuneson magic. After all, since it wasn'tmaking their lives wonderful, it hadto be responsible for the reverse.Needless to say, magic suddenly became a very . poor profession to bein unless you knew a good curse forputting out the fire you happened to

8\andin in. From this rather Be-

vere setback, witchcraft moved fromits

position of prominenceto

that ofa scapegoat.As an engineer, this is important

to you right this minute for tworeasons . Right now people believein technology in exactly the sameway as their ancestors believed inmagic. More specifically, the vastmajority believes, in a completelyirrational manner, that technologywill end human discomfort and suffering. Rather than being excitedby the prospective new business this

seems to entail, we might have reason to be a little concerned aboutthe basic illusion. Technology dealswith the production of a large butfinite number of products, much the

same way that magic deals with theuttering of a large but finite number of charms or curses. In eithercase, the relationship between outputs and society's well being is atbest very in direct, yet societies haveheralded both as all encompassingsaviors.

Are we by delinition negligent?

The second reason that lessonsfrom the dark ages are importantto you is because right now there isa literally unmanageable trend to

wards assessing blame. Forget thefact that insurance rates are goingup. Forget the fact that there is agrowing pressure on the judicial system to assess full responsibility (including damages for physical, financial and mental suffering) for casesof professional negligence. Whatyou should realize is that the definition of negligence is changing. nCalifornia (second only to Waterloo in social trend setting circles)lawyers have begun to sue otherlawyers for malpractice on behalf ofex-clients. While this might seemonly a little bit odd (it is Californiaafter all), it is remarkable becausemalpractice in these cases meansfailing to obtain the absolute bestpossible verdict for any client. Todigress back to magic, this meansthat there is no longer good magicand better magic. Instead there isonly perfect magic and faulty magic.To move the concept to engineering,there are only perfect or faulty (dueto malpractice) solutions.

This development should worry

you unless you are perfect; but theconcept of perfect is somewhatelusive to the engineering profession. Firstly, engineering work is of-ten done to solve one specific problem and the resulting technology isthen used to solve another. f thetechnology doesn't work in the second case because something was notconsidered, it doesn't matter howwell engineered the original product was . Quite simply the technology is inappropriate. Secondly, for

economic and probabilistic reasons,engineering is not an exact field.Rather than building ultimates wetend to build realizable alternatives,so in this respect we are never per

fect. Does this mean we are by definition negligent?

The other potential ly scary precedent is that ignorance is no excuse. Imagine if a component normally used in a washing machinewere instead incorporated into somegrander product and subsequentlyfailed. Now suppose that the supplier had no idea that his equipmentwas doing anything more than keeping May tag repairmen lonely andas a result manufactures it looselywithin allowable toleran ce ranges. fthe device causes undue damage ona grand scale, can the supplier expect to get off for the price of a pairof Levis because he never knew anything worse could happen? Probably not. .

Society sees technology as

a magic pill.

All this is important because itsignals changing attitudes. Nolonger is it enough for professionals to be dedicated towards utopiangoals. n quite the reverse of this;it is now being assumed that professionals, and particularly technologists, have a duty to realize thisutopia. Failure is then defined asresults of any less calibre.

As mentioned previously, the general population, including its ad- .ministrators, sees technology as a

magic pill for their wellbeing. As an e x ~ m p l econsider thatour current government is feedinR us a constant stream of pro-

paganda claiming that mechaniza

tion and automation is the wayto our socio-economic prosperity .Certainly, none of us doubt thatthese techniques can be an effective tool towards better productivity and higher revenues. Where weshould be concerned is in the flipside of this policy statement. Thegovernment also claims that any resulting unemployment will be absorbed by resulting technology. Butby what technology? We do ourselves a disservice by letting technology take on its own identity. fautomation does occur, and soaring unemployment does result, sucharguments put the blame solely ontechnology. As the practitioners, weare put in a no-win situation.

I would like to think that thecomparison between technology andwitchcraft is unfounded. I wouldalso like to think that both don'tattempt to offer { n easy solution toinsatiable human desires and weaknesses. Final ly I would like to thinkthat humans really do learn fromtheir history.

Social responsibility is a populartopic of discussion because it is sobig, and so far away that most engineers can faithfully take any sortof stand on it without it ever affecting their lives. On the other hand,trends and public opinion will affectyou even if you try to totally ignorethem.

- Why should you care?

In the interest of your own wellbeing, you should consider closelyfollowing current events so you knowwhat kind of a political and socialenvironment your technology will beexposed to. Further, for your ownprotection, you should assert yourright to know exactly where, whenand why anything you work on isgoing to be used. Asking your bosssuch pointed questions forces him toconsider the same questions, and byosmosis a healthy state of information permeates throughout the lineof command. Insignificant you say?Can you answer what product thelast thing that you designed wentinto? Do you know who bought theproduct or why it was designed, orwhere it ende d up? Do you knowwhat it replaced, how well it was accepted or whether it was any goodat all? By not having ~ h i sinformation both your r o ~ t hand yourability to protect yoursel f is severelycompromised.

Why should you care? Simplybecause being a legal test case, orsole or collective scapegoat for somepiece of technology gone awry is aneducational experience you can dowithout.


13/16

NOVEMBER 986

by Jojo

Diplomatic moderation, flashyhandwaving, planned avoidance andsheer accident all play a role inthe often muddled practice of hallway etiquette. You are both masterand victim. Your cunning tacticsof self-misrepresentation and protection, or outright deception canmake you a master of the game. Thevictim position is inescapable. Youmust face up to the continual streamof human entities crossing your path- and deal with it .

The problem is that hallway situations can be annoying. Don t you

sometimes feel, when walking downthe same halls and crossing pathswith a new variety of a very largegroup of the same people every day,that maybe you re not greeting everyone the way in which you wouldlike to? Or perhaps you are not evensure of how to acknowledge some ofthese passing ships? This is thecorrider conflict.

In considering this conflict, letme start with the obvious. Certainly everyone wants to be Mr. orMs . Personality, the warm, sociablesuper person whom everyone elsewants to be e e n' t6 k1i j e t ~ b n a l l y .

o ~

ever, it is not possible to greet everyone you meet with a warm, sinceresmile, and always show a desire tostop, socialize and display your realpersonal interest in them. The restrictions of time and responsibility,and the number of truly ugly peoplethat surround you, do not permitit. Nor is there anyone who is notprone to the effects of stress, lack ofsleep, and some measure of moodiness . A practical examination of the

bounds of hallway etiquette is therefore needed to deal with the crueltruths of the real world. In this waypeople will be better able to understand each other, as they continueto ignore and offend one another .

Intercepting the people lying onthe extremes of your personal social scale - your close friends andthose whom you don t know at all -is relatively easy. If you have manyfriends, you'l1 probably greet all ofthem in your own preferred manner. If you have very few friends, itcould be because you re inappropriately greeting everyone. e o p l ~canspot an idiot so much easier whenhe's talking . The most interestingsituations occur, nonetheless, between people who are somewhat acquainted, especially when the otherperson is one whom you would liketo get to know or, conversely, wouldprefer never to have met.

Imagine turning a corner quicklyand suddenly passing by Ms. X. If

you never did like Ms. X, you re

IRON W RRIOR

Saying iprobably thinking, Good thing thatI didn t have to look at her forvery long before she was behind me .What you'll probably do is either

totally ignore her or bark out a

quick Hi , without turning aroundfor a second look . This is totally

acceptable behaviour according tohallway etiquette . Unlike under table etiquette, complete consideration for your neighbour is not required . Nevertheless, making rudesounds such as gagging, beltching ,forced wretching , or loud flatulationis unfortunately not acceptable behaviour. Unless, of course, this typeof action is a normal everyday state

ment of your own character .

If Ms . X is someone with whomyou strongly desire to become betteracquainted, the situation changesastonishingly. Your instantaneousthoughts turn to Damn, I wouldhate to let her by without being ableto say something '. Therefore, theconfident individual will rhythmically turn, direct a clear and pleasant Hi toward Ms. X, and plant onhimself an unwavering positive expression to provoke the desired reply . This is all very acceptable, evensuperb, hallway etiquette. KnowingMs. X s real name and using it bysaying Hi, Ms. X makes for an evenmore polished performance.

The bonafide c1utz will be sure

to blow the whole opportunity. Hewill spin around carelessly and notbe able to decide on time whetheror not to say something. He maystep on his own shoelace and fallsprawling, all by himself. Worse,he may spin around without paying attention and knock over Ms.X s best friend, which could be anyone from a petite female to a 240-lblinebacker. This is all not only unacceptable, but also very dangerouspractice of hallway etiquette. If the

nervous interloper ever does manageto say something in this situation, itmay unfortunately be rememberedas his last utterance. One moreword to the unsure: do not attemptto greet a person by saying Hi, Ms.X when her real name is Veronica.Not that this is unacceptable, justsilly.

Long, straight corridors are theultimate testing grounds of hallwayetiquette . Given t .he long unobstructed view of the people coming towards you, you make visualcontact with these people well before you reach civilized speaking distance. This presents the multipleproblems of what to do and where

to look before you are close enough

to each other to comfortably speak,and what to say, if a.nything, oncethis distance has been covered.

If the acquaintance approachingis someone you are not loath toacknowledge, you force yourself tomake some quick, initial calculations. Considering the somewhatlimited extent of my interactionswith this person, is it appropriatefor me to acknowledge his or herpresence? Does the person remember who I am? Does he or sheseem to be in the mood to say Hito a slim acquaintance, or is he orshe absorbed by other, more important, matters? Do I feel ready tostrike up a conversation and create

an impression on this person, or amI weary and down-trodden? Thus,subconsciously you assess the situation right to the critical point, thepoint at which the greeting shouldbe made. At this time you subsequently ignore all that calculatedthought, because either that personis not even looking at you, or else heor she says Hi to you first. YourconHict has been solved, and youcan relatively easily proceed to return the greeting, or stop to talk,

13

depending on how much time bothof you have. In any case, it is generally accepted that some responsemust be given.

Meeting a person with whom youare not really acquainted but generally come across on an on-going basis is a particularly touchy area ofhallway etiquette. Not to activelyacknowledge such a person s presence may be taken as a sign of aloofness. To greet such a person maybe considered a sign of overt ea.ger-ness or slight aggressiveness. Therefore, you are forced to somehow takethe middle road between these twoextremes. The principals of good

\ etiquette favour looking for signs of

openness in the person as he or sheapproaches, and making an unspectacular but friendly gesture of greeting. I t is considered unacceptable tostop the person to ask him or herwhat month it is.

The tactical aspect of greetingsomeone in a straight hallway isworth mention. When the person istoo far away to talk to but in clearview, you tend to do everything youcan to make the situation seem lessawkward : looking straight down tothe Roor, staring longer than neces

sary at the clock overhead or otherinanimate objects in view, lookingat your watch when you are actually fully aware what time it is, pretending to look absorbed in thoughtwhi\(' Y()II htw(' l't done I\ny thinkingsin (l 1973, r pret nding t.o t a r ~bla.nk ly st.raight. ahc d wh II wha.t.you re really doing il l trying to guagt>the other person s thoughts . Whenthe oLlter person 1 Il.arts to come intonormal speaking distanc.e, the timing of your grMting is critical. Ifyour Hi iR too abrupt, both of youarc forced to look at. ('I\ch otherstupidly until you really are c1osfenough to talk to each other. 1f yourgreeting is too late , the other person has not been given a reasonablechance to reply in kind; that is, if hor she ever did realize that the greeting was indeed intended for bim orher . This is clearly an example ofpoor practice of hallway etiquette.

Finally, trying to avoid the personapproacbing you in a hallway is anexercise that requires some boundsof acceptable behaviour . Severalclever, moderate approaches are

available, such as impairing yourability to speak by stuffing food inyour mouth well before any greetingis to be expected; putting your headdown to fix your tie or light yourcigarette; looking behind you as ifyou re being followed; or, turninginto the nearest doorway availableto throw an imaginary piece of paper in the wastepaper basket. But,of course, you wouldn t be so deceptive as to actually try any of these,now, would you?


14/16

14 IRON WARRIOR NOVEMBER 1986

Pepi Ie Pieu vs. The Shadowby Norma Secord

Last saturday we paid a lot ofmoney to have our carpets cleanedand deodorized .Last Sunday, ourTomcat, Shadow, met up with an indignant skunk. Yessir And he gotthe skunk upset right on the frontstep under our living room windows.

Well We learned a few things.Do you know how many ap

pendages a large and wiry tomcatsprouts when it knows contact withliquid is imminent? Did you knowthat when one paw of said cat isspread to the limit, not even a verylarge washtub can accomodate it? .

Do you know what skunk andtomato stew smells like? Do youknow that blood and tomato juicelook identical when splashed overa wall? Do you know what kindof noise a tomcat makes when cooltomato juice dribbles over his private phrts and you try to rinse itoff? Now I know that, if someone

t~

L~ ~

broke into my house and tried tomurder me, the neighbours wouldn'thear me screaming. They obviouslydidn't hear Shadow, since the SWATteam didn't show up.

Do you know how delicately a 38year old man can pour water overa howling tomcat? Especially whenhe is almost in tears over what hispoor sodden cat is going through.And do you know how patient I can

Nobody Expectsby Matt Snell

At least that's what it looks likefrom where I sit . No one seems toknow what it is or why it's there.Well, I hope to shed some light onthis subject by way of this article.

The Co-op SAC is the only official student voice i tO the department of Co-operative Education andCareer Services . It is made up ofstudent reps from each of the co-

op programs on campus. Thereare currently 5 engineering reps:John Coleman - 2BEE, Tom Corn -2BEE, Sarah Rocchi - 2BCIV, MattSnell - 2BSD, and Christina Tague- 2BSD .

Now that you know what the coop SAC is you may well ~ yourself what does it do? The SACtries to identify and solve problemsassociated with the co-op programwhich are somewhat common across

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be with this man and this stupidcat? (I say stupid because, not 5minutes after he was sprayed, he wasout of the house and after the skunkagain )

Oh glory It has taken me 10minutes to write these last fewlines. I had to make 3 trips tothe kleenex 'box to wipe my eyes

. and now Shadow is staring at meover his shoulder. My squeal s of

The Co opcampus. The SAC is also a bodythrough which the department cancommunicate to the co-op students.Some of the projects which are currently being undertaken are: '

- Checklist poster highlighting theCo-op student's responsibilities

- Student-Employer feedback sessIons

- Student Co-op handbookSo now you've got an idea of why

we're here. Then why not come and

laughter woke him up. There helies - this stinking bundle of fur, so

smelly that you can almost see theodour bending the air around him.(Tomato juice does not work.) Atleast the house doesn't smell anymore, except for wherever shadowis. We haven't stepped on him sincehis little accident because we cansmell him lying right behind ourfeet.

That isn't all we learned. Doyou know how much forgiveness isin that cat? We wrapped him upin a towel and rubbed him andhugged him (which he hates) andput him down on the floor, andhe immediately rubbed against mylegs. That's when I got tears in myeyes.

Now I am wondering - we alsohave a fat old lady cat who loves toeat tomato sauce. If she had beensprayed, would she have tried to eattomato juice before we could washher in it?

SAC.

make us work. If you've got a ques-tion or problem about co-op contactone of the reps through the orifice,only to happy to hear from you.

The co-op SAC can only be effective if the problems with the systemare identified. Please, take the initiative to speak out if you have aquestion about co-op. Since the coop pr ogram is what makes Waterlooso different and so great, making itbetter should be a goal for all of us.

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15/16


16/16

16 IRON W RRIOR

Vive e Jrant;aisp a r Lillian Benoi t

n y a beaucoup de gens ici a Waterloo qui ne sont pas au courant qu il existe un club franc;aissur Ie campus. Le cercle f r a n ~ a iest un club ouvert a toute personne qui s interesse a la languefranc;aise Tous ceux et celles qui veulent, Boit ameliorer leur niveau de franc;ais, soit simplementparler franc;ais peuvent participer aux diverses activites.

Nous organisons au moins deux activites par mois en plus des projets hors du campus. Parexemple, ce trimestre nous sommes sortis deja deux fois a Toronto pour voir une piece de theatreet un film franc;ais. Sur Ie campus, on montre des films franc;ais regulierement (les vendredissoirs it 18h30) au college St. Paul, et tous les lundis soirs vous pouvez venir diner au collegeSt. Paul a 17h30 pour la modique somme de 4 dollars 75. Nous offrons aussi des soirees vin et/romage pendant lesquelles on a l'occasion d apprecier la culture franc;aise.

Le trimestre prochain Ie cercle franc;ais pensent participer au carnaval de I Universite enrecreant l ambiance d un cafe franc;ais. Des crepes, des patisseries, des plats typiquement franc;aiset bien sur du yin franc;ais seront offerts.

Pour tout autre evenement, signalons qu il y aura une autre soiree rencontre Ie mecredi 3decembre. Cherchez l'affiche avec Ie symbole du clubl Pour d autres j:.enseignements, veuillezvisiter Ie departement de franc;ais, au 3ieme etage de Modern Languages.

Eng Soc's Book of the Month ClubBOBBIES

NOVEMBER 1986

Do yon want to stop being socially stupid? Were the last three things you readdelivered to your mailbox in incoJl8picuoU.8 brown paper wrappers? Get literateJoin Eng Soc's Book of the Month. Club now Here is a partia l list of this month sofferings: Self ActualisatioD Through Macrame

Needlecraft for Junkies

SELF IMPROVEMENT

Creative SuiferingOvercoming Peace of MindYou and YOUJ' BirthmarkGuilt Without SexThe Primal ShrugEgo G I ~ i 1 i c a t . i o nThrough Violence \Molding Vour ClUld's Behaviour Through Guilt and FearDealing WRh Post-R.wat ional r n i o nWhine Your Way to AlienationHow to Overcome Self-Doubt Througb P r e t e n 8 ~and Ostentation

The Sandford Fleming Foundation

Waterloo Chapter

The Waterloo Campus Awards Committee is pleased to announce the winnersof the Teaching Assistantship Awa.rds for the 1985/86 academic year. Theyare:

Barry J. CottRobert Maaskant

Gregory E. HowardMark S. Kozdras

Robert R. Dickson

Chemical EngineeringCivil En 'gineeringElectrical EngineeringMechanical 'EngineeringSystems Design Engineering

There were 9 nominations received over the three terms F /85 W /86 and S/86.We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Engineering Society in distributing the Teaching Assistantship Awards information (description andnomination forms) each term with the course critiques.

For more information about theFoundation or any of its programmes,please contact:

The Sandford Fleming Foundation,Room CPH-4332Telephone Extension 4008

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University of WaterlooBook Store

iron warrior: volume 7, issue 6

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