ON WAR

June 1987 The Engineering Society's Student forum

1987

.
Midterms, Interviews
Engineering
in the Summer
INSIDE:
Features
The Great Transition
The Future of the APEO
The Metaphysics of AI
I
Also
World News Briefs
Nostalgia
2.00 A.M. Trivia
Interest
Waterloo Wins Fuelathon
Eng.Soc. Why Bother?
SFF Awards
- ---
, I
2
Iron Warrior
Michelle Wahl
Just a' few days ago 1 sat in a fa-
miliar setting amid a mass of Wat-
star print outs. Yes, there I was
confronted with this issue's submis-
sions. Strewn about were articles
on rafting, articles on engineering
education, technical reports, poetry,
philosophical essays, and of course, a
few ever present references to fund-
ing or the lack thereof. What a
collection. I was reminded of an
earlier lecture on the second law of
thermodynamics. I was also frus-
trated - capturing the essence of an
engineering at Waterloo, June 1987
seemed an unlikely prospect . A few
days later, I sat , cotlrse calendar in
hand, trying to choose options for
next tern'l, trying to uncover some
underlying thread pulling together
my own engineering education. A
masa of interests, appeared.
The second law was no longer j ust
chapter five in my thermodynamics
text book - it was real and it was out
there to get me.
It is a human trait to impose
How often have you complained
that a professor is teaching a course
using a terrible approach, that you
just can't understand anything until
you read the textbook, or that if he
"only would have explained it this
way the first time" you would have
caught on much faster? One tiny
part of what makes us individuals
is the fact that we learn in different
ways and at different rates. It can be
argued that the same factors which
influenced us to study engineering ,
also cause us to be a biased sam-
ple with regards to learning styles .
Nevertheless we are not clones and
a large range of styles still exists be-
tween engineering departments and
within individual classes. A profes-
sor cannot always present the course
The
Editors'
Perspective
structure on things . We natu-
rally build frameworks, which an-
alyze and categorize. Furthermore
we depend upon the predictability
that these frameworks provide for
us. Great value is placed on our
internal constructs which form our
world into a ordered understandable
place. The persistence of numerous
prejudices in the face of contradic-
tion will attest to the loyality we of-
ten have to such frameworks . The
long-standing historical notion thatu
the world was fiat , or even the per-
sistence of first impressions are ex-
amples.
These mental structures are valu-
able . They allow us to make sense
out of the world, to react to it
in a logical manner. There are
times, however, when we, perhaps,
cli ng too strongly. In our zeal
for order, we can fall victim to
over-simplification, and premature
decision-making . We interpret the
world in black and white terms when
material in the best manner for ev-
ery student because the "best" ap-
proach varies considerable between
individuals. Acknowledging this al-
lows us to admit that it is not neces-
sarily the teaching style that defines
a good professor but their recog-
nition of alternate styles and con-
scious decision to pursue a specific
approach.
Admittedly, there are professors
who do not give much thought to
their undergraduate classes. Often,
however, we criticize before we have
heard enough to see the underly-
ing purpose for the chosen approach.
Where do we draw the line? When is
it time to voice an opinion and when
do we forge on, working on blind
faith that there is in fact some pur-
IRON WARRIOR
Chris Tague
it is, in fact, grey. Our affinity for an
ordered reality, draws us away from
confusing issues. Instead of waiting
for the fog to clear, we sometimes
manufacture pathways - imagined or
otherwise. The moral of the story?
Perhaps, it is wise to remember that
confusion is not always something
to be avoided at all costs. Perhaps
sometimes one should wait . Maybe
somewhere in the foggy subtleties
there is something to be learned.
With all this in mind, I returned
to the pile of articles. Maybe the
bits and pieces tied together after
all. Although an idea of Engineering
at Waterloo, Summer 1987, was not
clearly stated, perhaps a hint or two
could be found and perhaps that was
enough. As to my second dilemma,
well, I'm still waiting. Until next
ti me .. . Happy reading.
('/o;,-j; 1 , 1 ;;;, ,01.
pose to the seeming insanity? The
answer lies in communication. If
you are honestly concerned about
the course material you will usually
find a friendly ear. Unless you are a
regular pesterer, you will do yourself
no harm by voicing an honest con-
cern through the right channels .
Of course, there is always the reg-
ular excuse that "I am too busy to
even think of seeing my prof" - the
irony continues. Well , don ' t give
up completely. With interviews and
midterms almost over, the light will
soon be appearing at the end of the
tunnel - followed by the train.
The Iron Warrior is a forum for
ideas preeented by tile students of the
Univereity of Waterloo. Views ex-
preeeed in the Iron Warrior, other
than editoriale, are those of the authore
and do not neceesarily refiect the opin-
ions of the editors.
Warrior also reserves the right to edit
grammar, spelling, and portions of text
tha.t do not meet University standards.
Authors will be contacted for any major
changes that ma.y be required.
The Iron Warrior welcomes all sub-
missions from students, faculty, and
other membere of the univereity com-
munity. Articles, letters, and artwork
should reflect the concerns and intellec-
tual level of the Univereity ill general.
All submiseions become the property
of the Iron Warrior which reserve! the
right to rlfuse publication of material
which it deems unsuitable. The Iron
All submissions must be legible and
mllet include the author's name, class (if
applicable) and a phone number where
he/she may be reached.
All submissions and advertising en-
quiries should be forwarded to:
Iron Warrior
Engineering Society
CPH 1327 - ext. 2323
June 1987
Iron Warrior Staff
Editors
Christina Tague
Michelle Wahl
Writers
Dave Petro
Owen Kelly
Bill Jackes
BiULennox
GeotTVona
Jim McCrea
Mark Leonard
Barbara Adey
Matt Snell
Elliot Simcoe
McDtrmid
Evan Graham
Mark Eamshaw
Dan St. Louis
Sean McKinnon
Wedge
Tom Lee
Brian Heppelle
Doug Parker
Cathy Wilton
Alan J. Ferguson
Tracey Renaud
M. Vidyasagar
Iypesettim:
Bruct Fletcher
CarlS
PhotoKraphy
Ian Worland
MattPoweU
Kevin Moon
Copy Editor
Carl Speiss
AdyertisjnK
Sbeldon McGregor
Ali
Mark Anderson
Paul Arthers
Layout
Lindi Wahl
Carolyn French
Kathleen Fong (& friend)
Ditto
Kevin Moon
Brian Heppe1le
GeoffVona
Karen Hubbard
Dave Werezak
Peter Ifaasea
MiChael LesSard
TOJIlLe'e
June 1987 Iron Warrior
3
Comments from the President
by Bill Jackes
Many of you will be aware by now
that the government has disallowed
the computer fee as of May 1, 1987.
This fee provided a total of $442,000
to the Engineering Faculty over the
five terms that it was installed. The
Dean used this money to update
and replace existing lab equipment.
Operating and maintenance budgets
as well as replacement strategies for
this equipment were to be supported
by the then existing income from
this fee. With the halt in this fee
however the Dean is very short of
funds to pay for the necessary main-
tenance of this new equipment.
Dean Lennox has an annual bud-
get of $15 million, of which all
but $600,000 goes towards paying
salaries. This in turn is split be-
tween the departments and is com-
pletely used in administrative costs.
Therefore there is no income to pay
for the maintenance and replace-
ment of the equipment that the com-
puter fee was able to purchase. The
shortfall amounts to about $300,000
per year or about $60 per student
per term.
Since the ban on compulsory
ancillary fees the government has
stated that non compulsory fees are
permitted as a source of income for
universities. A non-compulsory fee
could either be in the form of a check
off box in a fee statement, or refund-
able upon request. Therefore ' the
possibilities of a student initiated,
non compulsory fee is legal. But so
From
the
ean s
In the last issue, I raised the ques-
tion of a student- initiated referen-
dum for a "Quality of Engineering
Maintenance Fund" - QEMF. The
Minister has made it quite clear that
we cannot have a compulsory fee for
"things" that are to be covered by
base operating budgets. The issue
as to whether base operating bud-
gets are sufficient is not discussed.
One thought is to declare all com-
puting as an enhancement, i.e., not
necessary, and require all students
to use slide rules. The government
has never acknowledged that com-
puters now play an absolutely es-
sential role in engineering education
and that the equipment costs associ-
ated with computing are high. How-
ever, they have made available "Ex-
cellence Funds" which are targeted
for teaching equipment (3 times in
the past 4 years) and we have bene-
fitted somewhat from this.
The inventory of computing
equipment for teaching purposes is
now at $ 2.728-miUion. (Watstar
represents an inventory of $887,719)
This equipment has been purchased
using alumni donations, the en-
hancement fee $442,000, gifts from
corporations and special equipment
funds from the province. I believe
we have one of the best "comput-
ing environments" in Canada. The
DEC donation of $750,000-worth of
high level work stations for our
BEACON project (CAD lab) is our
next step and I believe this lab pro'.:
vides quite an exciting opportunity
for us.
The point of all of this is that
with the loss of the enhancement
fee, it will be difficult to maintain
the momentum we have achieved. A
QEMF project, based on a student
referendum, in which the fee is re-
fundable, is allowable. I suggest that
to support this would be in your best
interest in the sense that the monies
raised would go directly into enhanc-
ing your own education. I am cer-
tainly available to discuss the issues
you.
W. C. Lennox, Dean of Engineering.
is a non-compulsory administration
initiated fee for that matter . The
advantage of it being student initi-
ated is simply that students would
have more control over the sp nding
of the money than would normally
be the case if it were a university-
run fee.
In several past issues of the IW
the Dean has said he feels it is time
to look at the possibilities of a stu-
dent initiated non-compulsory fund.
The amount he is speaking of is $60
per student per term. An attempt
at such a fee occurred in 1982. A
motion for a Quality of Education
Maintenance Fund (QEMF) was put
to an Engineering student referen-
dum where a 66% majority with a
50% voting rate was needed for it to
bE' passed. It was narrowly defea.ted
( one society voted 81% in favour,
while the other only 55%).
The first step I foresee is to
heighten the awareness of the engi-
neering student body on the issues
that are involved. First and fore-
most I need interested people to vol-
unteer some time to study the prob-
lem. For anyone interested past IW
articles on the subject will be made
available in the Orifice. Many of
these articles outline in more detail
the budgetary problems than was
defined here . It is most important
that as many students as possible
take the time to understand and Cor-
ideas either for or against a
QEMF.
On a lighter note I'd like to con-
gratulate Ted Carlton and Andrew
Abouchar, two engineering students,
who were elected to the posts of
President and VP of Operations
and Finance for the Federation of
Students. Through these tw;o and
other members of the they
have shown a strong desire to n)a.in-
tain good communication with the
student societies that Scott Forrest
and his administratjon h.ad . devel-
oped before them. ' ..
Finally I'd like to bring to your at-
tention the upcoming election dates.
Nominations for the four Eng Soc
exec positions will be accepted June
29 through to July 3 and the election
day is July 10.
Women in Engineering
The Faculty has been involved
with the Women's DinetoratleofUte
Provincial Government in a program
called Pathmakers. We have pro-
vided role models for women in High
School. If you are interested in
helping please attend an informa.tion
mee*",g-cm 'l\tarday June 80 a& 11:30
in Room E2-1310, Graphics Lab or
contact W.C. Lennox, Dean of En-
gmeermg.
BRING THE FAMILY TO UW
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TtJE BEST NEWS OF ALL IT'S FREE
4 Iron Warrior
June 1987
B'EACON:
Signalling the Way
by Evan Graham
Project BEACON
Coordinator
Recently at an EngSoc Council
meeting, Dean Lennox announced a
new project called BEACON. Ad-
ministered by the Engineering Ed-
ucation Research Centre, BEACON
will be an experimental network of
engineering computer workstations
use by undergraduate engineer-
mg.
A workstation suitable for engi-
neering systems analysis and design
is quite different than the general
. notion of a personal computer . En-
gineers use the term 3M machine to
refer to a minimum computer capa-
bility: one megabyte of memory, one
million instructions per second exe-
cution speed, and a million pixels of
graphics display. With rapid devel-
opments in personal computer tech-
nology, many engineers are already
looking forward to using worksta-
tions with considerably more power
than these 3M systems.
Graphics workstations are revolu-
aspects of engineer-
mg practlce. It follows that engi-
neering students should learn more
about the current capabilities and
future potential of these machines.
Moreover, it is essential that we in-
vestigate how to effectively use new
computing tools to assist students in
learning difficult concepts. Project
BEACON will explore how best to
integrate a new class of powerful
workstations into the undergraduate
engineering curriculum. Using the
work already done in EERC, one can
see promise in several areas:
The main BEACON lab will incorporate Micro VAX GPX
workstations. These "3M" machines will provide computing
horsepower for applications such as, image processing, finite
element analysis, VLSl design, and simulations.
Dialogue on Controls
by TomLee
EERC PermaCo-op
In order to develop an effective
Computer Assisted Learning (CAL)
package, some fundamental ques-
tions must be answered. For in-
stance, "Is CAL appropriate for the
topic?", and "What can the com-
puter do that would enhance the
learning environment beyond tradi-
tional lectures, labs, and books?".
With the power of a network such
as BEACON, the answers to these
questions become all the more cru-
cial. It is pointless to provide
students with unlimited computing
power and expect them to fully ex-
ploit the potential of these powerful
machines. There just isn't the time
for the average student to become
familiar with the operating system
and then the program, while jug-
gling five other courses. "Some-
thing" must be there to expediate
the process. The development of
this "something" is the purpose of
CAL research.
One current project, which was
briefly mentioned in the last Iron
Warrior, is a CAL package for con-
trol systems. The EERC's ap-
proach to this project is to evaluate
some current controls design pack-
ages (not neccessarily CAL) and
then write "front ends", that is, a
program to present some theoretical
concepts and then act as a mediator
between the student and the com-
puter program.
A package that shows much
promise is Dynamic System Cal-
culator (DSC), developed by Dr.
Dwight Ablevich of EE. DSC is
an excellent design tool for controls
analysis but lacks some of the user
interface features to make it an ef-
fective CAL tool. Instead of al-
tering DSC itself, a dialogue pro-
gram will be developed which will
take inputs from the user, translate
them to DSC-understandable lan-
guage and then pass it to DSC which
will do the math and graphical out-
put. The prime advantage of this
approach is that the development
of the front end is essentially inde-
pendant of DSC, so all of the ef-
fort can be directed to presenting
information rather than reinventing
wheels that DSC has already per-
fected. This effort is a neccessity if
DSC is to be as effective learn-
ing tool by undergraduates.
Engineering graphics.
Engineering mathematics (us-
ing symbolic computation and
graphical teaching aids) .
System simulation: formula-
tion of useful models of sys-
tems, comparison of numerical
methods, finite element meth-
ods, and investigation of paral-
lel processing schemes.
Computer aided design in-
volving creation, visualization,
and interpretation of complex
mathematical models in all en-
gineering disciplines.
Complex information process-
ing ("artificial intelligence")
techniques used for expert sys-
tems, pattern recognition, mod-
elling, forecasting, etc.
All these activities require a high
level of computing power coupled
with excellent man-machine commu-
nications via colour graphics, and
are therefore ideally suited to mod-
ern engineering workstations.
A significant challenge for Project
. BEACON will be the integration
of a teaching/learning environment
with the more pragmatic aspects
of operating a computer network.
Computer-based instruction is the
marriage of teaching and technol-
ogy; it requires an understanding
of how concepts may be presented,
given the practical constraints of a
computer.
A number of current research
projects, at Waterloo and elsewhere,
are producing software and design
approaches for a wide variety of en-
gineering tasks. These new develop-
ments will need to be transferred to
our undergraduate program in the
next decade. Project BEACON will
provide a focal point for coordinat-
ing efforts so that new approaches
may be successfully integrated into
the undergraduate curriculum.
The first batch of hardware for the
project is being provided by WAT-
DEC, a research agreement between
the University of Waterloo and Dig-
ital Equipment Corporation (DEC).
Under the terms of the agreement,
DEC will provide a number of work-
stations and peripheral equipment.
These will be integrated into a small
computer network to provide two
experimental facilities.
The main BEACON lab, will in-
corporate JJVAX GPX workstations.
The GPX is a good example of a 3M
machine (although it surpasses the
minimum requirements). The GPXs
will be used for applications such
as image processing, finite element
analysis, and simulations; these ac-
tivities require considerable comput-
ing and graphics "horsepower".
A second laboratory contain-
ing high powered microcomputers
(called VAXmates) stations will also
be set up. VAXmates are IBM AT
compatible and as such, as suitable
for many of the low-level engineer-
ing applications software currently
available. More importantly, VAX-
mates are able to "talk" to, and
share files with, the more powerful
JJ VAX and VAX computers.
Both laboratories will also be con-
nected to larger computers (VAX
11/785s) which will handle file stor-
age and other "administrative" mat-
ters. The labs and associated net-
work will be able to accomodate
several small third and fourth year
classes.
In order to take advantage of
the BEACON hardware, appropri-
ate educational and design software
must be acquired or developed. The'
EERC is currently in the process of
negotiating academic licenses or re-
search agreements for several com-
mercial design packages. Initially,
we hope to create or acquire at least
one significant application for an
upper-year course in each discipline
of engineering. Some software de-
velopment to meet particular teach-
ing needs will by done by teams con-
sisting of EERC researchers, faculty,
staff, and students.
BEACON is a relatively small
step (MIT will have two thousand
"G PX-like" machines for its Project
Athena) towards a comprehensive
learning environment at UW. It is,
however, a necessary step. Through-
out its history, the Faculty of Engi-
neering at Waterloo has strived to
provide the most up to date and
the most useful computing facili-
ties to its undergraduate students.
It was the first in North Amer-
ica to incorporate computing into
the undergraduate curriculum; it
provided accessible video terminals
when most other schools were still
punching cards (WIDGET); it pro-
vided unlimited microcomputer ac-
cess along with an impressive vari-
ety of applications software . (WAT-
STAR). In keeping with , this tra-
dition, Project BEACON will in-
vestigate the technologies and the
methodologies needed to allow stu-
dents to analyse and solve complex
"real-world" engineering problems.
V AXmates will enable low
end engineering applications
such as text editing and
spreadsheets .
It's unique communi-
cations features will
aLLow the V AXmate
to directly share
resources with more
powerful machies.
June 1987
Iron lVarrior
The Book of Knowledge
by Rob McDermid
In the past few days, little Hy-
ers have been going around our
class enticing us to participate in a
test/survey on the way people learn.
The administration seems to be in-
terested in how we learn best, in an
effort to increase the efficiency with
which they cram information in our
brains. This got me thinking about
what I liked and disliked about the
way we are taught, and I have identi-
fied a problem which seems peculiar
to engineering alone.
The problem stems from the par-
ticular focus of engineering. We,
as is often' repeated to us, are con-
cerned only with getting results. All
that is required is a useful answer -
how the answer was arrived at is rel-
atively unimportant, as long as the
results will solve the problem. So, in
our instruction, a great deal of at-
tention is paid to giving us the tools
to solve problems, while nowhere in
this process are we really told how
or why many of these tools work. It
is true that we are often given the
name of the person who first devel-
oped the theory, so that if we were
so inclined, we could research the
material on our own, but show me
an engineering student who actually
does so and we will be looking at a
mathie.
The upshot is that we very quickly
learn to accept what the professors
tell us as the gospel truth. There is
always someone in the class ready to
catch the prof out on trivial math-
ematical errors, but we cannot con-
test the basic theory itself. In most
cases we don't know enough about
how it was originally developed to
do so. In fact, I doubt if the prof
would know either.
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isit Brewski's at Waterloo Town Square
or phone 885-4060
The accuracy of the methods we
are taught is not really in doubt , of
course. They are well tested and
used by thousands of working en-
gineers every day. What is worry-
ing however, is the way in which we
come to accept everything we are
told without concerning ourselves
with where it came from. If that
habit extends into our future work,
we could find ourselves accepting in-
formation without ever verifying its
validity.
In other faculties, this isn't as big
a problem. For instance, the whole
basis of the science program is the
scientific method. Questioning of
results and skepticism is built into
the whole rigor of scientific thought .
The basic orientation of 'science'
being research and/ or development,
scientists are more concerned with
how results are achieved, rather
than the final solution.
Similarly, in the math faculty, the
emphasis (especially in pure math ,
but also in applied) is more on how
and why various mathematical trick-
eries work , than just the use of them.
I am sure there is no one in engineer-
ing who has not encountered 'black
magic' mathematics, where the prof
just waves hiS hands and everything
comes out all right. In time, we
learn to wave our hands in the same
way, and get the right results, but
we never really know why it works.
In math, you would be taught (prob-
ably at great and tedious length) ex-
actly why the method works, and
would have to develop the proof
from scratch on the final.
Certainly, there are few engineer-
ing students who would want to have
to do that . Nevertheless, we seem
to be developing a dangerous mind-
set in which we are willing to ac-
cept ' black magic' too easily, with-
out ever proving to ourselves that
it performs as we are told it does.
While too much background is te-
dious and boring, it seems that the
balance is often too far in the oppo-
site direction.
is no 0,., in
not encountered
'black magic'
-
If we do not know enough ot
the underlying assumptions behind
a method, it is very easy to use it in
an inappropriate manner. Knowing
the origins of a method of solution is
the easiest way to know exactly how
and where it can be applied. With-
out knowing the underlying theory
it becomes very difficult to general-
ize what you know beyond the ba-
sic problems that you already know
how to solve.
I am not saying that as engineers
we should be taught everything from
the ground up, with all of the theory
and experimental results completely
shown to us. God knows, the last
thing any of us wants is more proofs
to learn. In any case, we barely have
enough time at university to get a
handle on all of the necessary, rele-
vant t echniques without a lot of t he-
ory that we are never goin 0 us as
well.
Still, it would be valuable to make
the minds of budding engineers a lit-
tle more inquiring. More labs and
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5
actual physical examples of the the-
ory that we are being taught, so that
we can see that all of the stuff we are
doing on paper actually works would
certainly help. We can all remember
our first labs, where the most often
heard exclamation was CtWow, it ac-
tually works!" . It's good to see con-
crete evidence that everything does
make sense.
Work terms can make a big differ-
ence, but if you get stuck with four
purely programming jobs in a row,
you don't learn much about Ureal
engineering" . Especially in early
terms, it is unlikely that your work
experience will have much to do with
engineering. Although it sounds like
something you did back in public
school, ' field trips' to places where
the theory you are learning is ac-
t ually applied would be very useful.
For example, when you are study-
ing statics, it would be nice to go
to a place that is designing bridges
or buildings, and see the theory at
work. In later years, this happens
with labs, but in early years, when
you need the motivation the most,
there is very little of this.
In the end, the whole probJem
boils down to lack of money and
lack of time. If we had more time,
and the universities more money, we
could Jearn a lot more by experimen-
tation and trying it ourselves. What
you figure out for yourself stays with
you a lot longer than what you are
just told. An effort is needed both
from the students, to try and learn
more on their own , and by the profs
to t ry and show us t hat what we
r ar ' i 0 jus e 'ng
handed down from the "Book of
Knowledge" but that we can actu-
ally figure it out and understand it
for ourselves.
STUDENTS
SERVING
STUDENTS
Visit Brewskl's Dart Den
for all your darts
and accessories
also available
5 gallon wine kits
from $45.95
6
Digital
by Elliot Simcoe
One of the strongest trends in the
telecommunications industry in the
1970's and 1980's has been the con-
version to digital technology. Trans-
mission equipment, central office
switches, and even telephone hand-
sets have all benefited from the dig-
ital revolution . It is a revolution
spurned by the semiconductor in-
dustry - functions which formerly re-
qui red rooms full of equipment and
t housands of doll ars may now be ac-
on a single chip for pen-
Dles.
The digital revolution provided
the technology for t he ability to send
data at extremely high rates. What
was needed now was a medium in
which t his data could be sent over
long distances without the high loss
that copper carriers had offered.
Fiber optic cable provided t he an-
swer. It was lightweight , small,
relat ively inexpensive, and immune
from electrical interference.
The technology used t o digi tize
voices over the phone lines is simi-
lar to that of compact discs. First ,
the voice is sampl ed at 8000 Hz, or
once every 125 micro-seconds. This
sampling rate is achieved at by sam-
pling in the range that the human
brain needs to process the voice
data. This sound channel covers
the two basic requirements of speech
communication: Intelli gibility (un-
derstanding t he voice of the speaker)
and recognizeability (identifying the
voice of the speaker).
Iron Warrior
June 1987
Fiber-optic
Transmission
Next, the amplitude of the signal
is translated into its binary equiva-
lent using the method shown in the
figure below. For clarity, the sample
shown displays only three bits per
sample of amplitude. Each magni-
tude of amplitude produces a spe-
cific binary string. This sample pro-
duces eight different coding levels.
The transmission equipment in the
phone system uses eight bits per
sample, or 256 coding levels. Com-
pact discs use an even higher range
of levels to digitize sound. This
provides the listener wit h an even
better representation of the original
sound.
Since the width of the sample is
considerably less t han the sampling
time, may signals can be interleaved
VF Signal
lowPass
Filler Output
81gneI S8q)Ied
8kHz.
without overlap. This is the ba-
sis of the digital modulation tech-
niques used by telecommunication
equipment manufacturers. The en-
coder translates the amplitude of
the voice signal into binary in less
than 5 micro-seconds. This allows
23 other voice channels to be inter-
leaved onto the same channel with-
out overlap. Thus the DS-1 (Digi-
tal Signal level 1) is created at 1.544
Mb/ s (megabits per second) .
A fiber-optic communication sys-
tem has t hree major components:
a transmitter t hat converts electri-
cal signals to li ght signals, an opt i-
cal fiber for transmitting the signals,
and a receiver to capture t he signals
at t he other end . The fi ber used is
usually made out of glass and is ap-
proximately 125 microns in diame-
ter .
The data is transmitted over the
fiber by an LED at t he transmit end.
A pulse of light represents a 1 and
the absence of light represents a O.
The light travels in the fiber based
on the principles of total internal re-
flection. Withi n t he fiber, a core of
material is surrounded by a cladding
layer which has a lower refractive
index. Light at tempting to escape
is j ust reflected back into t he core,
thus confining it t o travel along t he
length of the fiber.
The light t hrough t he fiber cable
does not suffer from the same prob-
lem of si gnal loss, called attenuat ion,
t hat electrical signals sent through
copper wire do. The optical signal
needs to be regenerat ed every 20 km,
compared to every 1 km for electri-
cal signals. In newer fiber systems,
the repeater stations may be sepa-
rated by as much as 100 km.
One of t he great est advantages
t hat fiber has over convent ional cop-
per wire car riers is the incredibl e in-
formation carrying capability of a
fiber cable. The only limitat ion is
on the hardware at the transmit and
receive ends. Currently, companies
like AT&T and Northern Telecom
are able to t ransmit data at up to
1200 Mb/ s. That is approximately
48000 voice channels on a single
fiber. Due to this incredibly large
capacity, optical fibers will soon be
used to carry other forms of infor-
mation, such as television and radio
signals over very large distances.
CSPE: The Professionals' Society
by Douglas Parker
Due to the increasing responsi-
bility placed on engineers, as pro-
fessionals, the Canadian Society
of Profeesional Engineers (CSPE)
has been organized. The CSPE
wu formed in 1979 and represents
the only voluntary service organiza-
tion exclusively for professional en-
gineers. Both the medical and legal
professions have a similar and long-
established service organization. It
exists in parallel with the organi-
zation which administers the legal
statute that licences them and po-
lices their actions 80 that the pub-
lic interest is eerved and protected.
Did you know that the Ontario Med-
ical Association and the Canadian
Bar Aeeociation are not the licensing
bodiee of the medical and legal pro-
fessione? Before 1979, the Canadian
engineering profession had no such
similar body to lobby on behalf of
its interests or to provide services to
ita members. The role of the CSPE
is clear.
Objectives
to ptomote the professional,
economic, and eocial interests
of ita members
to provide a representative
voice for profel!ll!lional engineers
to strive to make registration
as a professional engineer more
meaningful
CSPE Services for
Engineers
In addition to its lobbying efforts,
the following are 80me of the more
tangible benefits of CSPE member-
ship.
Legal Aids CSPE has avail-
able legal experts in the field of
employer / employee relationships, as
well as for personal matters. The
first interview with the appropri-
ate lawyer is provided free. This
could be very important if, for ex-
ample, you felt that you might have
grounds for a suit of wrongful dis-
mil!ll!lal, but weren't sure where to
go next . In addition, a first con-
sultation with a patent agent as
well as inventor/entrepreneur infor-
mation is available.
Legal Fees Insurances CSPE
offers reduced premiums for this
special type of insurance. It reim-
burses you or your dependents for le-
gal fees incurred over suits of a busi-
ness or personal nature whether you
are the plaintiff or the defendant.
Resume
Writing Service: CSPE provides
free assistance in producing or re-
vising your resume. They will edit
your resume, draft a letter, or act as
a typing service.
Employment Contract As-
sistance: CSPE has created a
standard employment contract and
guide for engineers. This can pro-
vide a basis for the formation of
an acceptable contract with a new
employer or for the negotiation of
appropriate changes to the contract
your employer proposes. CSPE has
al80 compiled a comprehensive set of
case studies and guidelines regard-
ing unfair treatment and wrongful
dismil!ll!lal .
CSPE membership is open to pro-
fessional engineers registered in any
province in Canada. The member-
ship fee for one year is $30.00, but
a special rate of $15.00 is offered to
retired or non-practising engineers.
Students or graduate engineers-in-
training may attend meetings of the
CSPE but they aren't entitled' to
vote. Students are not required to
pay any dues or fees.
IT you wish to find out more about
the CSPE:
1. Glance through the information
in the CSPE file kept in the En-
gineering Society Office;
2. Contact Brian Heppelle, 4A
Civil Engineering, through
the Eng. Soc orifice.
3. Phone or drop a note to the
following indicating that you
would like more information
about the CSPE sent to you:
The Canadian Society for Pro-
fessional Engineers,
203 College Street, 2nd Floor,
Toronto, Canada,
M5T IP9
(416) 598-0520
8 Iron Warrior
The Metaphysics
of Al
by Jim McCrea
Many concerns, philosophical in
nature, are now being raised about
artificial intelligence (AI). They say
that it is replacing the human mind.
The fears expressed are, at best,
that when AI becomes sufficiently
advanced, a large pool of unem-
ployed people will be created, and
at worst, that the computer will take
over. However, it is my belief that
these fears are completely ground-
less.
Firstly, it will be a sheer impos-
sibility for the computer to ever
equal, let alone surpass the ability
of the human intellect. Artificial
intelligence, no matter what level
of sophistication it attains, will al-
ways be artificial. Although it can
mimic many operations of the hu-
man mind, it is still only a finite ap-
proximation of an infinite process.
It cannot equal the human mind,
statistically, in its complexity, or dy-
namically in its operation.
''Altho!Jgh it can mimic many
()perations oj'the humanmind,
it is still only a finite approx-
'(mationol an process. "
It cannot equal the human mind
in its complexity for the following
reason: We can see that to construct
anything, whether it be by man or
machine, a co-ordination principle
is required. In the case of a man,
it is his intellect . The intellect of
a man directs the assembly of ba-
sic components which confer on a
final product a specific nature or
essen e (whether it be software of
hardware) . If his intellect is the
efficient cause of this essence, the
essence must be entirely contained
within his intellect prior to the as-
sembly of the product . One can-
not give what he does not possess.
Moreover, the essence of the most
sophisticated device he might design
may only be a small part of the
complex web of ideas and relations
which is the totality of his mind
(arbitrarily small in fact). There-
fore we can conclude that the human
mind is not only more complex than
any system that can be constructed,
but infinitely more complex (com-
plex only with respect to the ideas
and relations contained within the
intellect; as a substance it is unity) .
We can see that it cannot equal
the human mind in its operation
in light of the principles of causal-
ity. First with respect to the final
c.ause, and then with respect to ef-
ficient cause. (In the terminology
of philosophy, final cause refers to
the goal which is the grounds for
an event taking place, and efficient
cause is that which makes the event
happen) . .
With respect to final cause, sup-
pose one is given a concrete value
to calculate, say it is the electrical
impedance of a certain component.
The goal of having this knowledge
may be the increased cost effective-
ness of a certain product, such as a
stereo receiver . This would be the
first order final cause, because it is
in immediate relation to the knowl-
edge gained by the calculation. The
second order final cause would be,
perhaps, increased sales of this prod-
uct, because it is the goal of the first
orc!er final cause. Similarly, a third
order final cause could be increased
profits for the company producing
the product and so on. There may
be many more orders in the chain,
but we cannot, however, proceed to
infinity. Since the purpose of the
computer is to serve humans, this
series must ultimately terminate at
a manifold which is a set of human
needs and wants. (All human ac-
tivity whether assisted by machine
or not, has happiness as its ulti-
mate goal, said Aristotle). The fi-
nal cause of all computations must
be this manifold; therefore, no mat-
ter how advanced AI becomes, it
must always be subordinate to hu-
man control.
"AU human activity, whether
assisted by machinesortnot,
has happin,ss as its ultimate.
goal" . Aristotle
With respect to efficient cause, let
us again suppose we are given the
impedance of an electrical compo-
nent to compute. That which im-
mediately allows this value to be
known is the algebraic expression
from which it was derived. Because
it is immediate, it can be called a
first order efficient cause. A second
order efficient cause may be an oper-
ation in calculus, which gives us that
expression. We may continue in this
series, going to ever increasing levels
of abstraction; but again, we cannot
go to infinity in the number of terms
in the series. It. must terminate; but
where? What would be the ultimate
efficient cause of all computation?
This would be a manifold, again,
which I call the axioms of pure rea-
son. These are acquired necessarily
and invariably by the human mind .
Their acquisition is a natural func-
tion of the intellect. One of these,
which is ultimate because it inheres
in all the others, it the law of con-
tradiction. It states that something
cannot both be, and not be under
the same relation at the same t.ime:
Another very fundamental axiom, is
the law of identity, which states that
June 1987
a thing is what it is... A is A. A
third, is the syllogism, which states
that if all of a group x has the prop-
erty e, and a is a member of x, then
a has the property e.
These axioms of pure reason are
not something which the intellect
manufactures, but are acquired be-
cause the mind mirrors the logical
aspects of reality. These axioms
cannot be computed, but are those
on which all computation ultimately
depends. They cannot be computed,
because the act of acquiring them is
a function of understanding. Under-
standing is the act of one perceiving
an idea, and in the same act of cog-
nition, knowing that one perceives
this idea. Understanding is an ex-
clusively human activity. While in
a machine one part can reflect upon
another, only the human mind has
the ability to totally reflect upon it-
self. Thus for the reason that the ul-
timate efficient cause of all compu-
tation must be the axioms of pure
reason, AI must again be subordi-
nated to human control.
"AI again must be subordin-
I ated to human controL"
The example given above is the
calculation of a specific numerical
parameter, but the above mentioned
concepts are also valid for AI which
deals with non-numeric computa-
tions involving expert systems and
natural language synthesis! analysis.
As AI advances, it will be able
to perform increasingly subtle and
complex operation. he effect will
not be to dehumanize, as many peo-
ple fear, but to free the mind from
drudgery so that it can perform ac-
tions which are more and more hu-
man.
The (All-Nighter) Nightmare Song
by Mark Earnshaw
With apologies to Gilbert &; Sul-
livan:
When you stay up all night, or you
think that you might be foregoing
your regular resting,
You've assignments to do, the so-
lutions are few; for them you are
endlessly questing,
When you look at your notes, you
can't tell what you wrote; so terribly
bad is the writing,
Since the prof for that class spoke
incredibly fast in the glare that was
caused by the lighting,
So you stare at the page in a ter-
rible rage attempting to read what
is written there,
But it all looks like Greek, you
can't find what you seek, and you
throw up your hands in despair,
So to find out what's next, you
then pull out the text, and turn to
the appropriate section,
But the edition is wrong, or is
overly long with pages too many to
mention,
So you toss out the book, while
you wish you had took an Arts
course or some other program,
But you chose the wrong one, the
selection is gone, and transfers get
mired in the system,
It's now about ten as you pick
up your pen, and stare at the page
that's before you,
As you wish you were dead, goes
your room-mate to bed, and of
course he begins to snore too,
Then you think you clone,
but you're working alone, much too
far from the rest of your classmates,
. So you stifle a yawn (it's a long
time till dawn), and work while your
room-mate aspirates,
Then you write out some stuff tilJ
you think there's enough, although
you don't yet have the answer,
WOWI
And the question that's given; it
makes you feel driven to prove that
no sleep causes cancer,
So you drop off and doze, and your
anxiety grows since your dreams are
so terribly scary,
And you think you're in back of
a ravenous pack of students who're
overly wary,
And they won't eat the food for
they fear they'll be sued, or be sent
to northern Siberia,
But it's easy to guess that the
meal's not the best since it came
from the Village cafeteria,
Now you're sitting in class with
the hope that you'll pass a test
that's worth all of your grade,
But you find you must write to the
left from the right, for which your
hands simply weren't made,
While the scene disappears, you
discover six beers, which you drain
without hesitation,
You Have To See It To Believe It!
Our Famous
3 FOOT SUB
You are now on a beach with the
sea within reach, and you feel that
you're on vacation,
Then you wake with a start, and
outside it is dark; the assignments
still are not finished,
There's a pile of blank sheets,
they're awaiting great feats, and the
work is in no way diminished,
As you glance at the clock, you
find out with a shock that it's later
than you had expected,
There are questions t.o do, and
you hope it is true there'll be time
to ensure they're corrected,
So you work with a will, and
you've quite had your fill of the
problems that you're undertaking,
But you finish at last, and the
night has all passed, there's a new
day of work in the making,
And you feel out of shape, as you
open the drapes, and your head is
on fire, and you know you are tired,
but it's too late to sleep, so awake
you must keep, you walk out in a
haze (a stupified daze), to collapse
in the shower, where you spend the
next hour, and then make it outside,
feeling somewhat revived, you then
stagger to class, 'fore the deadline
has passed, and hand all your work .
in on time,
But the morning has come, and
the work is all done, and the night
has beeu long, ditto ditto this song,
and this last line is just to rhyme!
June 1987
Iron Warrior
Nostalgia
by Geoff Vona
This month's nostalgia article
deals with something near and dear
to our hearts: funding. The May 27,
1982 issue of the Iron Warrior was
almost entirely devoted to the issue
of the QEMF (Quality of Engineer-
ing Maintenance Fund). Articles in-
cluded a cover piece by Mark Liddy
explaining what the QEMF was, an
opinion from Eng. Soc. president
Mark Liddy, and a point/counter-
point on the QEMF. In addition,
there was a "Plummer's Forum" in
which the opinions of three engi-
neers were given.
The article by Mark Liddy out-
lined the purpose of the QEMF:
"In February of 1982 the elected
executive of Engineering Society
. "A" met to consider the possibility
of establishing a compulsory fee to
maintain the quality of engineering
education at the University of Wa-
terloo. The meeting was a result of
a motion tabled at the Engineering
Society "A)' Council Meeting held
on February 9, 1982.
"The outcome of this meeting was
to recommend to Council that r ap-
proval in principle be I!;iven to the
establishment of the compulsory fee ,
and if such approval is given, that
the process of holding the required
referendum be undertaken in the
near future. "
Mark went on to explain the
plight of the universities in terms
of funding. The fund was to be
"a mandatory fee imposed upon and
controlled by the engineering st u-
dents at UW.
"It is proposed that an initial con-
tribution of $50 per term be levied.
In addition, the contribution would
increase by an amount controlled
by the Consumer Price Index which
would insure that the fund does not
decrease drastically in terms of real
dollars."
The fund was to be assigned to
three main areas of need: equip-
ment, Teaching Assistants, and
classroom expansion. It was to be
controlled by engineering students
through a committee that would
report to the Engineering Society
council. Only students returning
from a work term were expected to
contribute.
In his editorial, Mark Liddy
pointed out that not only would thE
fee help ease the financial burdens
of t he Engineering Faculty, but that
it would bring pressure to bear on
the government by showing that the
problem of declining quality of ed-
ucation has reached such a crisis
that the students are VOLUNTAR-
ILY increasing their tuition fees" .
The point/ counter-point featured
an article in favour of the QEMF
by the Iron Warrior , and an arti-
cle against by Dennis Van Decker .
The Iron Warrior interviewed staff
and students, and said that "the
consensus is towards the creation of
the QEMF" . It pointed out that the
fund, while not very large, was a
start towards a solution. Again, the
"indirect signal to the government"
was mentioned.
"Unlike some actions that have
been present on University Cam-
puses in recent history, the QEMF
is a positive statement that students
are ready to shoulder some of the
responsibility of their education. It
is hoped that the government and
industry will be sympathetic to our
plight."
The article concluded with a fore-
shadowing of the recent Computer
Fee: "an extra charge of some type
Waterloo Wins Fuelathon
by Dan St. Louis
For the first time since 1982, the
Univer' of W t 1 01) the
est student entry in the Shell Fue-
lathon competition, and for the first
time ever has claimed the best over-
all trophy with a mileage of 4193.8
mpg. This achievement is the third
best ever in the world!
The winning car was designed
and built by two third year me-
chanical engineering students - Dan
St. Louis and Frank Kamler un-
der the supervision of Professor Mo-
FRRRH'S
haupt, and was driven by third year
"mechy" Jeremy Tavares.
Design of the 78 pound vehicle be-
gan in the summer of 1986, soon
a ter tne 1986 "fuelathon" where
Frank and Dan helped the school
produce its best ever performance
of 1726 mpg. With one season un-
der their belt, which included watch-
ing Saskatchewan set a world record,
the two third year designers set off
the design and build, from scratch,
a new car. The key to their suc-
cess, was in a word "preparation".
From writing their own computer
FOODMRRT
Fresh in-store bakery
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886-9933
simulation to designing and machin-
ing their own wheels and clutch to
spec- , every aspect of the design was
analysed, tested, and refined.
The work was rewarded . Two tro-
phys are now displayed in E3, for
best student and best overall per-
9
may be inevitable according to Dean
McLaughlin." .
Dennis Van Decker's article stated
that the fund was insignificant and
would have little, if any, financial in-
fluence . He also pointed out that
"in tough economic times the stu-
dents rather than the government
are being asked to contribute more
than their traditional share of ed-
ucational costs." . In addition, he
mentioned that fears of Waterloo
losing its APEO accreditation were
"not as critical as perceived." .
Several things come to mind af-
ter reading this particular issue of
the Iron Warrior . First is the over-
whelmingly pro-QEMF tone of the
paper. After all, the pro-QEMF ar-
ticle in the point/counter-point was
written by Iron Warrior staff! Sec-
ond is the concern expressed by stu-
dents about the quality of educa-
tion. The rest of the issue con-
tained numerous articles and letters
on engineering at Waterloo. In these
days of "apathy" , is the concern still
there? Finally, there is the obvious
parallel between the funding situa-
tion in 1982 and the funding situa-
tion in 1987. Will there ever be a
final solution?
formance; the school was awarded
a $2000 cash prize; and an added
bonus for this year, the Water-
loo team is being sent to London
England for a w ek to compete in
the British competition, all expenses
paid for by Shell Canada.
10
Iron Warrior June 1987
Formula SAE Results
(our kevlar intake manifold). Our
second surprise was winning a spe-
cial awarcl.or team sportsman..;hip
given to the team most noticeable
for being friendly and co-operative
and themselves in a pro-
fessional, sportsman-like manner. A
further bonus Vvas being recognized
for havlllg the best, most complete
r:osting report . But the crowning
glory was placing fourth o'!erall out
of the thirty-thr.:e teams entered.
by Cathy Wilton
As you mayor may not know,
Waterloo, for the first time ever,
entered the Formula SAE competi-
tion this year . The team has just
returned from the competition and
had this to say about it .
We left Monday (only 5 hours
later than planned!) and after
driving 26 hours straight , arrived
late Tuesday afternoon . The 90
(F!) temperatures turned to thunder
showers by Wednesday moring, but
we still got the car out and did some
practicing. Everything was running
great.
Thursday (to the accompaniment
of more rain, tornado warnings and
flash flood watches) we completed
the static events in which we placed
fifth.
Friday we awoke to more rain
which meant the day's events were
a couple of hours late in starting.
First was the acceleration run . And
disaster struck! Our beaut,iful low
end response was gone. Both drivers
turned in disasterous times which
resulted in the team receiving none
of the possible 100 points for that
event. Frantic efforts turned up a
broken spring on the secondary, a
rock in the primary jet and dirt in
the float bowl. Yet still the prob-
lem persisted. Fortunately, it did
not hurt the skid pad event which re-
quires even throttle and our drivers
finished sixth. Finally, it occurred
to us. Wednesday's practice had fin-
ish the as we brou wi h us
from Canada and we had switched
to gas purchased locally on Friday
morning. Since Texas is hotter, the
gas there is set to evaporate at a
higher temperature than Canadian
gas. Our problem was fuel star-
vation! Rejetting solved the prob-
lem in time for the manoeuverability
a.m.
and fuel economy events in which we
placed sixth and third respectively.
Saturday dawned clear and hot.
Our fuel problems the day before,
coupled with lack of sleep had left us
pretty down until Saturday morning
when we found out that we were st ill
in fifth place in spite of getting no
score in the acceleration event. Spir-
its suitably bouyed, as we began our
warm up laps.
At this point, the car decided to
strip down a bit. During a sharp
deceleration into a curve, the nose
panel came loode and skidded away
from the car in a straight line while
the car completed its laps, nose-less.
Schlueter Cbev-Olds will be happy
to hear that their paint job sus-
tained only minor damage, and a
roll of duct tape ensured that the
panel remained attached for the ac-
tual race. '
With warm ups completed, the
waiting began. Picture this if you
will. The Maryland team on one
side with a lighted trfliler acting as
5, What was Jennie
claim to fame?
6. What kind of sports car did
Maxwell Smart drive?
a portable shop and 11 team mem-
bers swarming over their cars; the
Texas team on the other with 19
team members frantically trying to
jump start their vehicles; and the
U of W team in between, sitting on
buckets under a tree and munching
on apples. With the fuel problem
solved, we had nothing to do but
wait . And wait, and wait.
Finally, our turn came. The car
performed beautifully in both heats.
In fact, it was one of only -3 that
completed both heats without a me-
chanical failure. When it was over,
our drivers had placed third (spe-
cial thanks to Spenard-David racing
school).
The awards banque' was that
evening and other than our own un-
official tim.ing which had pJacep us
somewhere the top ten for the
endurance event, we had no idea
of how we had finished. The first.
surprise came 'vhen we were one
of four teams given special mention
for the innovative use of comDosites
The only other Canadiall team,
Eco!"! Polytechr<que de Montreal,
p.aced tent,h so we declared our-
selves the official Canaclian Formula
SAE ch;>mpions and set out to get
drunk. We had all agref:d not to
drink prior to and during the com-
petition, but we quickly made up
for lost time. Fortunately, you can't
get drun: on American beH, so al-
though we had not slept much, we
were stili able to stagger out of bed
bright and early Sunday morning to
start back to Waterloo.
And here we are. This has wound
up our schooling and we are all
ready to start work. The 1988
team attended a couple of d?.ys of
the competition and are raring to
go with modifications and improve-
ments for next year. We are expect-
i'ng even better thine;;:; from them.
Next year, the competition will be
run in Detroit at the La.uence In-
stitute of Technology. of luck
guys!
We have so many people to thank
we could not possibly list them all,
but believe us when we say that this
project could not have been com-
pleted without the time and com-
mitment of a lot of different people.
To all of them: thank-you.
And so, from the 1981 U of W For-
mula AE team, thanks again and
good-bye.
The SAE team are:
Al Ashton
Chris Clements
Matt Crossley
Evan Jones
Cathy Wilton
Prof. Alan Ha.le
I ntroducing the IEEE
by Alan J. FerS!uson
Chairman, IEEE Student Branch
The Institute of Electrical and Several societies have already ex-
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Stu- pressed interest in participating in
dent Branch represents the inter- this event. They include:
ests of engineering students in the
Department of Electrical Engineer-
ing and the Department of Systems
Design. One goal of the IEEE
this term is to promote awareness
and cooperation between the vari-
ous technical societies on campus.
Events have already been planned
such as the Brick brewery tour (co-
sponsored by the Chern Eng Soci-
ety and the IEEE) and a lunchtime
seminar with the vice-chairman of
SPAR AEROSPACE (co-sponsored
by CSME/ ASME/SAE and the
IEEE).
In addition, a major technical
careers fair is being planned for
the Winter '88 term. This event
would involve companies represent-
ing each participating technical so-
ciety and university students from
across southern Ontario. It is tenta-
tively planned for the second week of
the term; before graduate interviews
start. This will provide an opportu-
nity for graduating students and co-
op students to meet prospective em-
ployers before the interviewing pro-
cess begins.
Chern Eng Soc - chemical engi-
neerIng
CSME/ ASME/SAE - mechani-
cal engineering
CSCE - civil engineering
IEEE
- electricalj computer / systems
design
CS Club - computer science
In order to gain experience with
regard to holding a careers fair, the
IEEE Student Branch held a careers
fair on June 10, 1987 in the Fes-
tival Room at South Campus Hall.
Representatives from the interested
technical societies were in atten-
dance to obtain a first hand view of
the careers fair. Committee chair-
man Dave Brown stated that thE'
event was a qualified success. Atten-
dance was just over 100. The expe-
rience gained this term will help to
ensure that next term's event will be
a huge success.
June 1987 Iron Warrior
11
WorldNewsBriefs
by Barbara Adey
Canada Post Letter
Carriers on Strike
Canada Post has been a Crown
corporation since 1981 and was ex-
pected to eliminate its operating
deficit by fiscal 1986-87. This dead-
line has been extended to March 31,
1988, less than a year away.
The issue of financial viability has
come to a head with the current let-
ter carriers' contract dispute. The
letter carriers average 17 days of
absence annually (as compared to
6 days a year for Canadians as a
w hole) . Also, many carriers can
complete their eight-hour route in
five hours and then cover an absen-
tee's walk as well (at time-and-a-
half), thus receiving 15 1/2 hours
pay for ten hours work.
With the unwillingness of the
union to make the concessions nec-
essary to improve productivity, and
Parliament's reluctance to legislate
the letter carriers back to work, only
one solution remains.
Canada Post can continue to op-
erate at its present level of incom-
petence if the price of postage for a
first-class letter is raised to 75 cents.
Doug Wright Announces
Financial Reorganization
JorUW
Dr. Wright emerged from this
month's Board of Governors meet-
ing with a new plan to ease UW's
financial woes. The cornerstone of
the plan is the incorporation of the
university and the designation of
each faculty as a profit centre.
"This is the only Ontario univer-
sity which was not created by the
government or a religious institu-
tion, but by a group of industrial-
ists," beamed Dr. Wright. "With
the spirit of our founding fathers in
mind and a little creative account-
ing, we WILL survive the abolition
of the computer fee."
A share issue is in the works for
UWInc on the Toronto, New York
and Tokyo exchanges.
Jim and Tammy Bakker
SearchJor New Direction
With their .ungracious fall from
the leadership of the PTL Club, Jim
and Tammy Bakker are now faced
with finding a new way to support
their extravagant lifestyle. Unfortu-
nately, an offer is not forthcoming
from the Fox Broadcasting network
to replace Joan Rivers on the Late
Show.
Opening oJ
Davis Building
Postponed Again
The opening of the William G.
Davis Centre for Computer Re-
search has been postponed for an-
other four months. Thus , the build-
ing will not be open until the Winter
'88 term.
The delay was necessitated when
Plant Operations announced that
a lighting system, which was over-
looked in the original architectural
plan, would have to be retroactively
installed.
Huggy's Donation
Saves Dean Lennox
Eng Soc treasurer Dave de Pasquale
announced earlier this month that a
donation of $1.3 million was re-
ceived from Huggy's Video Lounge
for Dean Lennox's undergraduate
lab fund. This eleventh-hour contri-
bution put the fund over the eight
million dollar mark just as Profes-
sor Lennox was preparing to cloister
himself in CPH for a week of fasting
and praying.
The dean had warned in March
that if he did not raise $8 million
for the Faculty, "God will take me
home". He was not concerned about
the moral integrity of the donor or-
ganization, citing government cut-
backs and obsolescence of lab equip-
ment in Engineering as more press-
ing problems.
Morty Schmoester, the owner of
Huggy's, stated that he felt it was
"only fair" to donate to the cause.
"The engineering students are loyal
customers of ours, particularly for
the Wednesday night wet T-shirt
contests. It was the least I could
do."
Mulroney "Flexible"
on Free Trade
During a photo opportunity at
the Western economic summit in
Venice, Ronald Reagan and Brian
Mulroney engaged in an animated
discussion of the free trade talks.
Mulroney seems unperturbed by the
problems presented by the protec-
tionist u.s. Congress, and intends to
press on with or without a mandate
from the provincial premiers or the
Canadian people.
Mulroney is determined to gain
access to the American market at
any cost. He brushes off concerns
about cultural sovereignty with a
twinkle of his Irish eyes: "After
all," he quipped, "Irv Weinstein and
Channel Seven news are already an
integral part of life in south-central
Ontario."
.As a result, Tammy has turned
her talents to the burgeoning mar-
ket for Believercize. In six months of
an aerobics program choreographed
to Christian rock she intends to ac-
quire a body to rival Jane Fonda's.
Tammy's fans will delight in follow-
ing her progress, and huge sales are
predicted for her book and video-
cassette titled TAMMY BAKKER'S
WORKOUT (suggested retail price
$89.99).
Fire in North To
.Details at eleven.
Sandford Fleming
Foundation Winners
by Tracy Renaud
Once again, the time of year has
come for outstanding students to b<>
re ognized by the Sandford Flem-
ing Foundation. At th onvoC'f\-
tion ceremony on May 30th, lev II
graduates were awarded with Silv r
Medals. Two types of awards, one
for co-operati ve proficiency and the
other for academic excellence, are
given to a student in each discipline.
This year's recipients are:
Co-operative Proficiency Medal
Robert David Klassen - Chem-
ical
William Harrington Boyce -
Civil
Michael Lewis Takefman - Elec-
tical
Cecil Bauman - Mechanical
Richard John Karner - Systems
Design
Academic Excellence Medal
Janet Ann McVeigh - Chemical
Lawrence Russel Rilett - Civil
Brian Alexander White - Elec-
trical
Jean Iorio - Mechanical
Nutan Behki - Systems Design
Richard Philip Neidert -
tems J '. ign - Mallllgcmt'nt
n Opt.ion
Two stud nt.s in 3D w re
with Travel G rant of $500 each
this past t rm. Tom Lee (38 Sys.
Design) and Mike Neuclocrffer (3D
EI ctriesl) used their grants to at-
t nd the International onfetcnc
on Computer Assisted Learning in
Post-Secondary F.ducation. They
presented papers at thie conference,
held in Calgary from May 5 - 7. The
theme of the conference was "Learn-
ing in Future Education". Another
grant of $500 has been awarded to
Abyd Kormali (4A Chemical) to as-
sist him in paying expenses when he
attends the "Youth Building the Fu-
ture" conference in Australia .
Another recipient of an SF
award at the May 30th convoc .
was Alexander McGowan. He
ceived an award granted only
time to time to a graduating
dent who has made significant
tributions to Co-operative l'.inllw
ing Education. This award is en-
titled the John Fisher Award
Leadership. The award consists
a citation, and an Honorarium
$1,000. Nominations for the award
may come from student organiza-
tions, faculty members or from the
Foundation itself. The award has
been named in recognition of the
outstanding contributions made by
Dr. John Fisher, the former chair-
man of the SFF, towards the Foun-
dation and its activities.
12
Iron Warrior
June 1987
Engineering -
Mind, Heart, and Vision
by Sean McKinnon
On Monday May 18th a group
of about 40 University of Water-
loo Engineering students took Mon-
treal by storm to help celebrate the
lOOth Anniversary of Engineering as
an organized profession in Canada.
The Canadian Engineering Centen-
nial Conference was held May 18th-
23rd in Montreal and was attended
by almost 800 Engineering students
from as far away as U.Vic in B.C.
and Memorial in Newfoundland , as
well as thousands of Professional
Engineers .
The week was, to put it mildly,
a blast! In the five short days
that we were there, we managed
to fit in: an Expo game at the
Olympic Dome Stadium (before it
started leaking), a trip to Ben 's
and Dunn's for smoked meat sand-
wiches and strawberry cheese cake,
trips to Fairmont and St. Viateur
for bagels (at 4 :OOam), Notre Dame
Cathedral, Old Montreal , the top
of Mount Royal , the Peel Pub(s)
for $5.50 pitchers, shopping on Ste.
Catherine and Ste. Denis streets,
a PolyParty at l ' Ecole du Poly-
technique, a banquet featuring the
Honorable Marcel Masse (Minister
of Energy, Mines, and Resources),
the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit, and
a Hologram display at Expotech.
Some of us even managed to squeeze
in a few of the technical sessions
at the Palais de Congres (where
the conference was supposed to have
taken place) .
We all stayed at the University of
THE HOTTEST EVENT OF THE TERM ...
FRIDAY, JULY 17
TICKETS ARE $40 PER PERSON INCLUDING:
- Bus trip to and from Toronto
- Bar-be-qued meal on board
- ALL YOU CAN DRINK III
BUS LEAVES THE E1 CUL-DE-SAC AT 4:45 pm ON JULY 17
TICKETS ARE ON SALE IN THE ORIFICE FROM JUNE 29 - JULY 10
McGill residences (except for those
who already had plates to stay in
Montreal), and most of us Water-
loo type people were in Molson Hall
(what a name). We were treated
to breakfast (if you could get up at
6:45-7:30) and dinner each day, and
of course there was the Centennial
Cafe which was set up for the con-
ference selling beer at a buck a shot.
The first day of the conference was
classic: after missing breakfast and
the bus to the Palais de Congres,
Wedge and 1 decided it was a nice
day for a walk. So we headed out
into the Montreal sunshine in our
shorts and Hawaiian shirts. As we
neared the Palais I thought we might
be a little underdressed for the con-
ference . Upon entering the build-
ing it was clear that we had made
a big mistake, the entire place was
filled with suits. It wasn't that bad
however when we realized that a few
other knobs were wearing the same
things as us. Steve Pitkanen saved
the day when he rushed up to us and
said "God I'm glad to see you guys
dressed like that!", and promptly
plopped himself (shorts and all) onto
the middle of the floor due to lack
of chair space. Actually, a lot of the
P.Eng types were wishing they could
dress like us, except that they had to
represent their companies, etc. The
technical sessions that we made it to
were pretty interesting, they ranged
from discussions on cancer and ra-
diation to artificial intelligence and
lasers.
The Leonardo da Vinci exhibit
was impressive, it was hard to be-
lieve that one man during his time
period could have been an engIneer,
MR.GROCER
architect, astrologer, doctor, artist,
sculptor, and just about anything
else you could imagine.
The hologram display at Ex-
potech was just incredible. If you
thought that the bird on your VISA
card was cool, then you would be
blown away by the holograms at Ex-
potech. Imagine looking at a pic-
ture hanging on a wall, except that
the image in the picture extends two
feet into the wall and a foot out, so
you lift the picture off the wall and
its only a half inch thick and there's
nothing behind it except wall! Or,
you see a hologram of a microscope
sticking out of the wall , so yo.u walk
up to it and look through (being
careful not to poke your eye with the
lens) and you discover that it really
does magnify! Or, you look at a pic-
ture of a carnival midway, and say
"Wow, that's boring", but as you
start to walk away, all the people
in the picture start to walk across
the midway! Those are just a few of
the holograms that were on display.
The show runs until September, so
if you are going to be in Montreal,
don't miss it .
All in all -the week was one that
I will never forget, and it only cost
$175. Special thanks should go
to all of the organizers: COFIQ,
McGill, l'Ecole du Poly technique,
and the Student Centennial Com-
mittee. Many new friends were
made, and if all goes well, we should
have another huge celebration af-
ter the next one hundred years, al-
though we'd like to have it much
sooner (maybe the Calgary guys will
invite us all out to go skiing next
winter before the Olympics)!
Waterloo's only independently
Owned
Westmount Place Shopping Centre
(Erb & Westmount)
Owned and operated by Jim and Donna Morris
June 1987
Iron Warrior
The Lighter Si
e
Eng Soc Why Bother?
by Wedge
It was a boring afternoon some-
time in March of '86 when I decided
to fill out a directorship application
for the Engineering Society. Hav-
ing never really bothered with ex-
tra curricular activities, I thought
it was time to try something new.
Although I was not sure that I had
the time for the position and that I
cared to get involved, I completed
the application anyway. Was 1 in
for a big surprise! Not only did I
have more time for school and social
activities, but I started to actually
care about school activities. The
best way to explain the time issue
is to understand the importance of
time management. Now that should
not be hard to understand since I
am writing to an engineering audi-
ence. With a position in Eng. Soc.
there is a certain amount of time
you must commit. Of course, this
amount is determined by how much
you want to contribute. I found that
having less time available made me
use my spare time more carefully. So
that means that I cannot sit in front
of the -TV for several hours a night.
What a loss!
Aside from the time considera-
tions, I found that my apathetic at-
titude changed. That pub at Fed
Hall, Blue Jays roadtrip, or Drink
or Drown boat cruise became more
than just another social event to at-
tend (or attempt to). Instead they
became part of my education. If you
think it is' fun to go to such an event
and drink your face off, try being the
one who made it possible for every-
one to go. Its a much better feeling
and you can still drink you face off.
Some of the other benefits of
Eng. Soc. involvement are organi-
zational experience, money manage-
ment, responsibility delegation and
all around social exposure. Being
one of the people responsible for of-
fering as many services as
possible, be it social or academic,
raises many organizational duties.
For example, managing a darkroom,
film distribution and co-ordinating
photo reps offers valuable experi-
ence in organizational and manage-
ment skills. If I still have not con-
vinced you, then try being respon-
sible for all the events during Eng.
Week/Weekend. Do not get me
wrong, I am not saying that it is dif-
ficult. Any fool could probably do it.
But the experience is amazing and,
more importantly, it is Funl
Orientation is another activity 1
should mention. This event is spe-
cia.l to me because the previous ori-
entation was the start of my involve-
ment with Eng. Soc. Did you en-
joy your own orientation? If you
did (and I hope most of you did)
then I would like to give you some
good news. Helping to organize and
run orientation is probably more fun
than being the silly frosh who get
dumped on.
By now I will assume that if you
are still reading this article you must
be interested. Well, again I have
good news. Everything that I have
described can be yours at no ex-
tra cost (remember, once you buy
a prize it is yours to keep) . The
key word is involvement. The first
step is to say "what the hell" and
come down to the orifice and nose
around a little. Come in and ask
some questions. You should find the
people extremely friendly and will-
ing to answer your questions. What
questions should you be asking? Try
starting with the question, is there
anything that I can help with . If
there is anything special that you
can do like drawing, writing, or pho-
tography then it would be good idea
to mention that. I am sure that if
you approach me or my wonderful
partner Max we will find something
for you to do. A Eng. Week event
would be highly likely. If you cannot
find the person you are looking for
then try leaving a message in their
misses with people, paddles{thanks
John), buckets{thanks Sev) and one
____ lens mine .
by Matt Snell
Rumours of a Russian amphibi-
ous attack down the Ottawa river
on June 6th have been investigated
and we can at this time assure you
no such attack took place. However,
something worse did occur . Some-
thing so terrible that it has taken
nearly two weeks of exhaustive re-
search to uncover all the facts and
bring them to you today. The fol-
lowing is a true storYi no names have
been changed since none are inno-
cent.
On Friday June 5, over 200 Uni-
versity students decended like a
plague of locusts on the Wilder-
ness Tours Rafting company camp-
ground . They came from every-
where; Waterloo, Kingston, Toronto
and yes, even as far as New
Brunswick. Their first evening was
spent by the campfire singing the old
camp favourites but as the evening
wore on the cold of the night air I
caused them to retreat to the con-
fines of the local watering hole
"RAFTERS". Here they proceeded
to disprove all current medical theo-
rys on bhe maximum alcohol intake
of t.he human body.
As the sun rose it found our
rafters asleep in their tents slowly
stirring to prepare for the day on the
water. The group began to assemble
in 'their rafts of 12 to don their cos-
tumes for the days activities. First
on the list was the costume con-
test which F.L.A.M. (a team from
the University of New Brunswick)
won hands down with their sporty
sou 'wester hats and yellow shorts.
Then it was off to the rapids for a
day none would soon forget.
Upon arrival at the river each
group gained a raft and guide out-
fitted with all the essentials; pad-
dles, I ifejackets, crash helmets and
the all important bucket. After a
brief talk on how to survive the day,
lines were cast off and the trip be-
gan. It started off slowly, taking
nearly 10 nano seconds for the first
water fight to start and things went
downhill from there.
The day progressed through 5 or
6 sets of rapids and one bar-b- que
lunch. Traversing the rapids is
something which is not easily set to
words but, to say the least, hitting
a wall of water 3 times the height of
your raft is a humbling experience.
We did however all make it through
in one piece in spite of a few near
The day It e r fitulJ off
with a 1/2 mile paddle race and a
cold beer that was deeply appreci-
ated by all (the beer not the race,
just in case there was any confu-
sion). Thenitwasbacktoth camp-
ground for the rest of the competi-
tive portion of the weekend.
Wha.t followed was th rin st
sports competition that this re-
porter has seen since the 1984
olympics. The events included wa-
termelon football, volleyball and the
all important boat racing, the kind
not performed on water. It should
be noted that the raft guides put
in a mens team which lost in the
finals to the "TOAST" raft. High
honours for the womans team went
to "KIN WE RAFT" who beat out
"CLASH" in the finals.
Each of these events gained points
in the overall standings for the
13
mail box. There will not be a postal
strike in the orificel
In addition to (or an alternative
to) this first step, you can pick up
a directorship application form. It
will be posted when they become
available. By merely completing
this one page application ( it is not
a test) you will become eligible for
one of these positions (I should be
in sales?). I would like to stress
that anyone who is interested should
make an attempt to get involved. It
does not matter if you are in first,
or even fourth year. By volunteer-
ing early, you will have a chance to
eventually run for an elected posi-
tion ( something that I am now re-
gretting).
In closing I would like to further
stress the enjoyment that I have re-
ceived from the Engineering Society.
It tends to give you a new perspec-
tive on life as a student. The mix-
ture of academics and extra curric-
ular involvement is something that
very few could argue against. My
motive for this article was not neces-
sarily to promote Eng. Soc., but to
try and give everyone the opportu-
nity to experience what I have in the
past two terms. And if I still have
not convinced you to get involved,
then I hope I have at least given you
the incentive to pay attention to the
Eng. Soc. elections and vote for the
best candidates.
rafts participating, and even more
points for those that won. The
eveninJi a ain finished off back at
-RAFTEi io tbatft bllgb!til.I1t;,"1
our wounds and speak of our grand
adventure.
For those few stout of heart who
braved the clouda and rain of Sun-
day t.he competitiolls continued with
the voll yball and watermelon foot -
ball final a..'l well t.h aquatic
events; cano'ing, windsurfing and
kayaking. An aquatic honollrabl
m ntion must be mad for Chris the
Lumberjack (Val's boy friend) who
was the all star water sportsman I
winning tht- kayaking and canoeing
events (his star bowsman in the ca-
noe being our very own Va.I) .
As the morning drew to a close
our Price Waterhouse accountants
(Wedge and Bruce) were called in to
tally the scorea so that the presenta-
t.ion ceremony could begin. The re-
sults - First place went to 12 Dead
Milkmen" with captain Scott Mol-
nar and 2nd place went to "CLASH"
with captain Wedge. Congratula-
tions go to all competitors and orga-
nizers for making each of the events
such a success. A special note
was made that only one raft gained
points in all event.s and that raft was
"CLASH". Congrat.ulations to Val,
Chris, Bill, Karen, Ivan, Gary, Sean,
Sev, John, Sandy, Matt and Captain
Wedge.
. So the time for tearful goodbyes
had come. We said farewell to
friends from across the country with
promises of doing it again real soon
(rumours of skiing at Whistler were
in the air). Overall a great time was
had by all and extra special thanks
have to be made to Pete and Scott
for making the trip a reality. May
your raft always go vertical in a hy-
draulic.
P.S. F .L.A.'M. stands for "F$#@
Like A Mink" .
14
Iron Warrior
June 1987
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AT A CONVeNIENT UTT1. CAESARS NEAR YOU
465 Phillip Street 607 King Street West
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(Delivery within Waterloo) (Carry-out Only)
.1987 Uttle Caaer EntcrPtiSa. Inc.
__ VALUA8L COUPON __
I
I
I
I
I
I
Straight From
the Orifice
by Matt Snell
Yes it is that time agam. The
time to recover from our midterm
crisis. Well, here are some Eng. Soc.
events and other news to help you
get through this trying time.
As you probably know, the Blue
Jays road trip is a reality. We will
be there in full force to root the
home team on to victory over the
New York Yankees on June 30th. At
press time we had sold tickets for
four bus loads and there were ru-
mours of more tickets being avail-
able. If you are interested, head to
your friendly neighbourhood orifice
for more info. For those of you go-
ing on the trip, get working on those
banners for the big banner contest.
Let us show those Toronto fans that
famous Waterloo spirit.
The Eng. Soc. "Tropical Cruise"
is shaping up to be the hottest event
of the term. Tickets are $40 per
person and that includes the bus
to and from Toronto, a scrumptious
evening meal, a romantic cruise on
Lake Ontario and "ALL YOU CAN
DRINK" of your favourite alcoholic
beverage. The date of this extrava-
ganza is Friday July 17th and the
tickets are sure to go quickly. So
ship yourself down to the orifice to
get your ticket and do not delay or
you might miss the BOAT!
Are you the kind of person who
likes a good argument? If you are
you will love the Sandford Fleming
debates. If you are interested in
competing or just spectating, talk to
your department debate rep or head
to the ever present orifice for more
details.
I would like to close otf on a more
serious note this week, the topic be-
ing Eng. Soc. elections. The po-
sitions open for election are: Presi-
dent, Vice-President, Secretary and
Treasurer. It may surprise you to
hear this, but these are very impor-
tant positions to the Engineering So-
ciety and filling them with the best
people possible is something which
should concern all of us. If you
are interested in running, nomina-
tions will open on June 29 and close
July 3. Nomination forms will be
available in the orifice. If you are
not planning on trying for a posi-
tion please do not turn a blind eye
to the election. It is your responsi-
bility as well as your right to vote for
the candidate who you feel is most
qualified. Please take this responsi-
bility seriously and learn about each
candidate and cast an informed vote
on election day, July 10th.
T.T.F.N. your ever present re-
porter in the orifice - Mattman
The Other Side
of the Fence
by M. Vidyasagar
I was quite interested in the two
articles that appeared under the
heading "Was the Grass Greener?"
in the May 1987 Iron Warrior. Lindi
Wahl argues that we should all be-
come more aware of the problems
around us, while Horatio Bot argues
that we are no less aware than the
flower children of the sixties, but ex-
press ourselves in different ways. As
one who studied at the University
of Wisconsin (one of the hotbeds
of the anti-Viet Nam war move-
ment and the hippy movement) dur-
ing the period 1964-69, when these
movements were at their height, I
felt that I might add a little some-
thing the the discussion. Lindi Wahl
(with the best of intentions) per-
petuates a myth when she writes
"Twenty years ago flower children
skipped classes to march for peace,
freedom and equality;". This ro-
mantic reconstru'ction of that era is
quite unrelated to reality. The fact
is that university students started
demonstrating against the war only
when it started affecting them di-
rectly. Until first Johnson and then
Nixon started cutting back on draft
deferments, beginning with defer-
ments for undergraduates (Johnson)
and ending by elimin.ating them al-
most entirely, students were quite
content to let others fight in Viet
Nam. Lest one think that this is
a subjective judgement on my part,
let me remind the readers of the bat-
tle cry of the protesters, which was
"Hell no, we won't go." Not "Hell
no, the war's wrong," but "Hell
no, we won't go." One tends to-
day to forget just how conformist
the hippies were, just because they
were conforming to a different set
of standards. In terms of toler-
ance for dissident viewpoints, the
hippies of the sixties could have
used a few lessons from today's
youngsters. The current practice
of shouting down a speaker who is
saying something with which some
members of the audience disagree
had its genesis during the sixties,
when self-righteous protesters would
not let Hubert Humphrey campaign,
and referrred to all policemen as
"pigs". Moreover, the extreme self-
indulgence, exemplified by the slo-
gan "If it feels good, do it," which
is the bane of modern existence, is
another malaise inflicted on society
by the flower children. As for be-
ing aware of one's role as a small
particle in the universal scheme of
things, I can attest that today's stu-
dents are far less ignorant than their
predecessors twenty years ago. I can
still remember being asked whether
I had ever slept in a real bed before
I arrived in the U.S .. In summary,
I say to today's youngsters: By all
means avoid getting too wrapped up
in yourselves, and reflect on what
you can do for the world at large.
But heaven's sake don't go around
with a misplaced inferiority com-
plex, thinking that students of an-
other era were somehow better or
more socially responsible.
June 1987
Iron lVarrior
15
Engineering Applications
Theoretical Limitations of Boat-Racing Times
by Dave Petro
Scientific analysis has been ap-
plied to almost every competitive
sport in an attempt to maximize the
performance of athletes. Quite sur-
prisingly, one sport that has not re-
ceived much attention from the sci-
entific community is that of boat
racing. (Sci-men are still bafHed as
to why boats are not required.) And
so, in a pioneering study, this arti-
cle will attempt to place theoretical
limitations on the time required for
one boat racing circuit.(5 guys, 10
beers).
In the first step of our analysis we
first develop a model of the human
digestive tract. See Figure 1 for an
illustration of the system to be mod-
elled. Due to an unfortunate lack
of research funding, the only model
developed consisted of a single-level
rectangular funnel with a cylindrical
draining tube. See Figure 2a and
note similarities with original sys-
tem. (i.e. one opening for beer to
go in and another to go out.)
Figure 1.
w
Tf
L' 1-
l
-4
Figure 2a "Budget" model of di-
gestive tract
The action of racing a single beer
can be broken into three motions,
backward flexion, steady state and
forward flexion. During backward
flexion, the digestive path from the
mouth to the esophagus is raised
from a horizontal to an almost ver-
tical orientation. The steady state
Opening Clf EustClchiCln

f
Tonsn
,
Epilliottis
I
1"!--1I---:-Spinal
\

\
Trivia Answers
2:00' AM Trivia Answers
1. How soon we forget. Miss
Brown is the World's first test
tube baby.
2. Charles Perrault. First putr
Hshed in English in 1729.
3. 12
PRESCRIPTIONS
Most Drug Plans
Honoured
4. Again, how soon we forget. Na-
dia Comaneci in 1976. Olga
Korbet in 1972.
5. First female hired by the US
Federal Government.
6. '4 red Sunbeam Tiger.
WESTMOUNT PLACE
PHARMACY
886-7670
50 Westmount Rd. N.
OPEN DAILY
9 am to 10 pm
SUNDAYS & HOLIDAYS
11 am to 9 pm
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Thu & Fri 9:30 9:00
Closed Sundays
phase involves steady t ate flow of
the golden throat charmer from the
glass into the mouth cavity which is
drained by the esophagus. In the fi-
nal motion, forward flexion, all flow
has stopped and the glass is forced
downward.
The flow into the model racer
must be considered at each of the
first two phases. See Figure 2b for
an illustration of flow during back-
ward flexion . The flow during this
stage can be expressed as,
elVin = dV!to,.age + dVout
dt dt dt
From inspection (I like to use "in-
spection" when I can't perform the
c:hrivation) the storage increase is
given by,
dVsto,.age = w8lsina)/(sin(8t+a)))
dt
Using Bernoulli's equation for
analysis of the flow through the
cylindrical pipe gives,
Vl 1
--- = - (PI-PZ)+(Zl-ZZ)+
2g r 2g
.......
Figure 2b Side View of model
racer duri backward flexion
7. Ernst Stavro. A white Persian
cat.
8. The crime organization run by
Dr. Fu Manchu.
9. Begun in 1948 in San
Bernadino, California by Mau-
rice and Richard MacDonald. '
Ignoring the pressure differential
(causing those tasty burps), and as-
suming the initial velocity is negligi-
ble, we can simplify the final velocity
to
Vz = j29(Zl - zz) = V2gL
1
sin(9t)
Assuming the esophagus has a di-
ameter r at 2, we can express the
flow rate out of the funnel as,
dVout Zv .'
---- = 1I"r 2gL'stn(8)
dt
Integrating the sum in (l) gives
Vtn = wlsin(aln(tan8t+a))) .
+(1I"r
z
/8)V6gL1cos(et)
For the steady state,
elVin dV
out
2

dt dt
Assuming reasonable values for
the parameters it was determined
that the 8 ounces could be drained
from the glass without spilling in ap-
proximately 0.4 s. Allowing 0.1 s.
for forward flexion, the model sug-
gests that fluid flow restrictions limit
boat racing times to 5s. (5 guys, 10
beers)
A more e al ana YSJS, cons; -
ering pipe friction and flow turbu-
lence should show that the physical
limit is higher. Research is contin-
uing in thi1'l new l\IHI (' X .il,ing field
but currE'nt lIalytical , nel simula-
tion tool ttrc illnd( Any do-
na.tions (liquid or ath rwis ) would
allow an /('xpprinH'ntal" analysis for
Lhiti worthy cause.
10. The order is: yellow, red, or-
ange, green, white, red, yel-
low, green, white, red, orange.
Don't believe it? Buy a pack
and see. (Of ('ourse I am not
saying that I did but, hey, you
have to check.)

We invite all students to
visit us at our new location.
170 University Ave. in the University Plaza
tel: 746 - 7999
Summer Hours 8:30 - 5:30
Travel on your Eaton's Account
16 Iron Warrior
June 1987
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pc factory
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170 University Ave. W., University Shops Plaza II
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BACK TO KlNKO'S
Head over to Kinko's for all of your copy81g needs
this term and discover outstanding quajity and
abundant services ,at very affordable prices.
We're dose to open earty, open late and
open weekends.
University Shops Plaza n
170 University Ave. W Waterloo
Phone 746 - 3363
June 1987
Iron Warrior
The Great Transition
by Owen Kelly
3A Systems Design
On June 5, 1987 UW was priv-
ileged to host a lect ure by Dr.
Alexander King, co-founder of the
Club of Rome. The Cl ub is a col-
lect ion of t he outst anding talents
in every fi eld whose mandate is to
st udy the probl ems of humanity as
a whole.
Dr . King's message came t hrough
clearly in the press conference a nd
t he lect ure: think BIG. Problems
which exceed politi cal boundar ies
and tehns of office are not be-
ing dealt with. This realizat ion
prompted t he founding of t he Cl ub
of Rome - a think tank fo r big prob-
lems. Dr . King said he was opti-
mistic for t he prospects of humanity
during and after t he Great Transi-
tion if decision makers maintain a
long range, global perspective.
T he Great Transition is, in short ,
t he world ' s change from an indus-
t r ial society to an information so-
ciety (alt hough t here are numerous
lesser t rends in motion). The Club
est imat es t hat this t ransit ion will
take place over the next three or
four decades, and is busy research-
ing the alternatives which society
now faces . Work in the Club and its
affiliates is concentrating on the lim-
its to human growth (a revisitat ion
of their earlier paper: The Limits to
Growth)' the future of employment,
and the limits of governability.
Non-Governmental
Organizations
In concert with t,he demonstrated
limits of effective government ac-
tion, Dr . King discussed the im-
portant role of non-governmental or-
ganizations in dealing with world
problems. He cited I,he mas-
sive privately funded relief effort in
Et hiopia but conceded t hat govern-
ments outperformed the Club's ex-
pectations . The Club uses its own
non-governmental, apolitical status
to win t he confi dence of key world
decision makers. These have re-
cent ly incl uded Mikhail Gorbachev
and Gener al J arozelski.
The Future of the APEO ?
by Brian Heppelle
The term profession is a form of
the word professj which the Oxford
Dictionary defines as ".. . claiming
to be duly qualified." By this def-
inition, members of the engineering
profession could be called a group of
individuals claiming to be qualified
to perform engineering work . How-
ev r who or w at defi es ualified?
In response to this question and in
the interest of the citizens who may
be affected by the work of a pro-
fessional engineer, governing bod-
ies have regulated the engineering
profession throughout the centuries.
The Code of Hammurabai (2,200
BC) contained a clause sentencing
to death house builders (engineers?)
who constructed dangerous build-
ings. In the Province of Ontario, en-
gineering is regulated by a provin-
cial law (Bill 123-1984) which is
administered by the Association of
Professional Engineers of Ontario
(APEO).
Bill 123, the Professional Engi-
neers Act of Ontario, which was
made law in September 1984 (a mere
infant as far as Provincial Legis-
lation is concerned!) defines "the
practice of professional engineering"
as " ... any act of designing, compos-
ing, evaluating, advising, reporting,
directing or supervising wherein the
safeguarding . of life, health, prop-
erty, or the public welfare is con-
cerned and that requires the appli-
cation of engineering principles, ... " .
The key words to note are "life,
health, property, and public wel-
fare". Th'ese words never appeared
in previous legislation . Bill 123 goes
on to dictate that the primary func-
tion of the APEO is to "regulate the
practice of professional engineering"
in Ontario in such a way as to en-
sure "that the public interest may
be served and protected.".
In order to ensure public welfare,
no individual can practise 'engineer-
ing in Ontario unless they have been
licensed by APEO as being qualified
to practise. In addition to its reg-
ulatory activities (licencing, accre-
dation, and discipline), the APEO
also offers a variety of services to its
members. For example, the APEO
offers "attractive insurance plans"
(Group Life, Automobile, etc.) and
member services (Employment Ad-
visory Service, Salary Surveys, etc.) .
Such coordinated activities are pri-
marily for the benefit of engineers,
not the public. It is the opinion of
this aut hor t hat t his presents a con-
i t in erest. ev r ;..:.. ..
opInion 0 t e EO t at "none of
the services supplied by the Associ-
ation conflicts with the public inter-
est ."
" .. expressed concern. over the
COnflIct between self-in",,"'
and pubUc interest ln
provincilllly .. ,egulated "
professional "
In the past year t he At torney
General of Ont ario, Ian Scott , has
expressed concern over the conflict
between self- interest and public in-
terest in provincially regulated pro-
fessional organizations. In response
to this concern and through the
wisdom of several members, the
APEO hired a professional manage-
ment consulting firm to "conduct a
review of the Associations' affairs".
This report has been completed and
is under review by the APEO coun-
cil. Decisions regarding the future
role of the APEO (the future of en-
gineering) are expected to be an-
nounced this summer.
It is the opinion of the author
that the APEO should concentrate
on its primary function and allow a
voluntary self- interest society such
as the Canadian Society for Profes-
sional Engineers to provide services
to members. Such an independent
body, unfettered by government reg-
ulation and intervention, could only
serve to ensure a strong voice for
engineers' concerns (our future con-
cerns) and to enhance the engineer-
ing profession. An APEO free of
self-interest concerns would be able
to better serve the public interest by
devoting more timp to its principal
objectives:
1. To establish, maintain, and de-
velop standards of knowledge
and skill its members.
2. To establish, maintain, and de-
velop standards of qualification
and standards of practice for
the practice of engineering.
3. To establish, maintain and de-
velop st andar ds of professional-
ism ethics amo g its members.
4. To promote public awareness of
the role of the Association.
In regards to point 4., during my
four years at the University of Wa-
terl oo I have t alked to a gr at nuru- .
ber of peopl e who are uninfor m('d,
despite having a ve t ed inter st in
the "role of the associat ion" .
The APEO along with the other
provincial engineerin g associ ati ons
across Canada are a unique t yp
of professional legislative body in
t hat t hey perform public as well as
self interest duties. Other profes-
sions across Canada, such as t he
medical and legal professions, oper-
ate on a two-pronged organizational
structure: a licencing body t o reg-
ulate the profession under t he ap-
"What do "",as jutuN,ngj".ers
stand to rain from II stronger
engineel'llllpro/ess",,,?"
propriate prov incial act , and a. vol-
untary self interest society to serve
its members. For example, the med-
ical profession in Ontario is regu-
lated by the Ontario College of Sur-
geons and Physicians and the major-
ity of its members belong to the On-
tario Medical Association (OMA).
The OMA acts as the principal voice
for the opinions and concerns of doc-
tors throughout Ontario.
The OMA and the Ontario Bar
Association (the voluntary self- in-
terest group for lawyers across On
tario) are very powerful and influ-
ential political lobby groups in this
province. On the other hand, the
engineering profession in Ontario,
while being the largest profession
(approx. 51,000 member8), carries
a smaller percentage of the political
power.
7
University Reform
"Governabili ty" applies as well
to institut ions as politi cal machines.
Historically adequate
infrastructures are reaching t,heir
obsolescence. "Not t he least
[among ungovernabl e inst it ution!:lj is
academia." Universit ies are overtra-
ditional - "perhaps t he least innova-
tive of all institut ions" . More than
ever, t he world needs broad-thinking
g neralists, interdisciplinarians to
guide society, but t he vertical ap-
proach of universit ies channels ex-
pertise into ever-narrowing fi elds .
(IS and SD take heart!) Dr .
King call ed university reform "a cer-
tainty" .
His comments on ed ucation,
though only heard at t he press con-
ference, are especiall y relevant as
t he event was cosponsored by the
UW Centre for Society, Technology
and Values and t he Sandford Flem-
ing Foundation .
What do we as future engineers
stand to gain from a stronger engi-
neering profession?
A strong engineering regulatory
body would maintain (if not im-
prove) Canadian Engineering stan-
dards of technical knowledge and
skill and increase public awareness
and confidence in t he engineering
profession. This would make an en-
__ .
member to both the public and in-
dustrial sectors.
.A str:ong engineering self-interest
group would . rHlllr t hn,L t he rights
of itA Il1 Nllh M( prot cctC'd . Th .
' ngi n ' .ring profcMsiol1 would b s-
tn.bl i!l hl'd f\ f1 val unhl C' and inA \l en-
t ial polil,iea) voice in this count ry.
The of engill fa would be
accurately rt'pf('!'\enL d on import ant
iRs u 8 RlI Ch a.<I the Free 1'rade' talks
or the influx of for ign engineers into
Canada. Members would have ac-
cess to a wide variety of services (le-
gal , employment, insur ance , etc. ) a.t
very compet itive prices. Accur ate
on the current st atus of
engineering in Ca.nada. (i e: a fair sys-
t em of salary surveys which est ab.
lishes a proper salary for an engi -
neer) would be availabl e to engineers
across Canada.
In the pa.st , engineers have been a
maj or force in sha.ping our society,
but without a strong voice which
can be achieved by a two-pronged
organizat.ional struct.ure, dramatic
changes in our future (a.s dictated
by the ever growing technical rev-
olution) will occur without the nec-
essary level of participation of engi-
neers. .
On Tuesday, June 30, 1987 at
11:30 pm in CPH 3385, Dr. McNe-
ice, Ph.D., P.Eng. will be presenting
a lecture entitled "The Engineer, the
and the Lawyer.".
If you are concerned abol t the
current state of engineeril g in "-
Canada and would like t( join
a newly formed student commit-
tee looking into students concerns
within the engineering profession,
Brian Heppelle through the
Eng Soc Office.