Friday, February 7th, 1997

The Magazine of the University of Waterloo Engineering Society

Volume 10 Issue 2
Scunting all night
The "Visions of a Delirious Mind" Issue
RON ARRIOR
One month, six hours, 3
minutes, and counting ....
Mike Hermann
IW Assistant Editor
2A Systems - The Far Syde
H
the time you read this we'll all be one month
. . to this cold and snowy tenn, and I thought it
would be a good. time to reflect back on some of
the fun we've had so far. The list of great stuff is
impressive. So far we've had two printings of the Iron
Warrior, a director's meeting, a class reps meeting, three
Eng Soc council meetings, a Brewery Tour, the B.O.T.
(Beginning Of Tenn) Pub, 2 meetings of the E.G.A.D.
committee, nothing at all, two Bridging the Gap lec-
tures, SCUNT, Eng week, the FSSCOlympics, Exchange
Pub, the unveiling of the Concrete Toboggan and Mid-
night Sun, and OEC '98 planning is taking off. And
that's just the stuff I can remember! As far as I'm con-
cerned it's been a great tenn so far, and it's loold.ng great
in the future too. Shadow Days, National Engineering
Week, IRS, Grad Week, Campus Day, Tal-Eng, Bus
Push, more !W's and council meetings, and many other
exciting events await your participation.
Now that I've got you all feverish in anticipation of
what's coming, 111 ca.l.m you down by relating some of
those great events that happened. A lot of them never
got any stories in the IW, but they will at least get a few
lines here, in my humble rambling. On that note, I
would like to make a request that any event organizers
please write up a little something about the event (or
ask someone involved), and let us all know how great it
was.
Way back during the second week of this term, our
amazing Spirited Events Directors organized a brewery
tour to the new Gold Crown Brewery, which is located
beside the Huether Hotel. Over 30 engineers made the
long and cold trek to this shrine of beer. It was an inter-
esting tour (J think they had some equipment of some
kind upstairs), and the beer was great. I suggest that
Mulder never be allowed to man a tap again. A true
believer in the "one for you, one for me" philosophy.
That week was also B.O.T. pub week. On the Friday
night POETS was open for business, and it was a blast.
Despite the hurting status of the amp, the music blared,
and the engineers gathered 10 bond after a long work-
term apart. On another important note, the amp in
POETS is currently feeling under the weather. It works,
but only on one audio channel. If anybody knows any-
thing about fixing very high powered stereo equip-
ment, or knows somebody in the business, talk to the
POETS managers.
Eng Week was the last week in January, and if you'd
like to read! see more about, look further into this issue.
By the way, that's me in the picture dropping an egg off
the POETS balcony. What you don't see is the wonder-
ful egg holder with a parachute that Faisal Karmali and
I built. With a few blotters, rubber bands, duct tape,
and some string a couple guys from systems can do
anything!
The last Thursday in January was the first Brunny
trip of the term. Almost 40 engineers descended on the
Brunswick House in Toronto, and every single one had
a great time. Even the bus trip there was fun, with the
sounds of "The Gambler" and 'The Plummer's Hymn"
keeping our spirits high. It was an awesome 6 or so
hOUTS, and the place was packed. with us, people from
the University of Guelph (it's amazing who you meet in
a bar) and many, many others. These kind of things are
always best when the building is packed, and this was
no exception. The trip ended with a silly scuffle
between us and some very opinionated locals. It
should be noted that fighting is never the answer to that
kind of stupidity, and many thanks to everyone who
helped clear things up. Cooler heads prevailed, and we
returned home.
The E.GAD. committee has by now had it's second
meeting, and it is continuing to look hard at Eng Soc's
future. Eventually it will be providing recommenda-
tions to the Exec and Council, SO if you'd like to help
advise on the future of your society, you're welcome to
attend any meeting of the committee. The next one will
be posted, and you can always put a note in the
E.GAD. box in the orifice if you just want to drop off a
suggestion.
The Bridging the Gap series of lectures is now in full
tilt, and as you read this two have been d e l i v e ~ I
attended. the larry Smith lecture on 'The Engineer as a
Free Agent", and he lived up to his reputation as an
intelligent, interesting speaker. A very large number of
people were there, and I hope everybody walked away
with something important from it Not everybody may
agree with all his comments, but I challenge anybody to
say that taking an active interest in your own career is
not an imperative thing to do in today's competitive
world.
Paul Bea.m. a Professor from the English department,
spoke on the history of the Iron Ring at the seoond lec-
ture. Many people attended, with a large showing from
the fourth years. It was an interesting lecture, and while
he didn't really have anything earth-shattering to say, it
was enlightening to hear about the origins of the Iron
Photo by Alex Malan
Ring Ceremony, specifically Rudyard Kipling's contri-
butions.
The OEC '98 planning is starting to take fonn. Susan
Lee, the "B" Soc chairperson, has named her executive,
and I know that they are still looking for people to help
out. Anybody who wants to contribute should e-mail
Susan at oec98@Shim. People to help with putting
together the corporate package and sponsorship are
needed, so if you want to make those big connections
with business, or if you've already got them, your par-
ticipation would be welcomed.
As I mentioned before, even with all the great stuff
that's been happening, there's still exciting events on the
horizon Shadow Days are coming up in a month, on
March 4th and 5th, so if you want to sign up to be a
Shadowee, visit the orifice and put a note in the Shad-
ow Day Director's mail slot, or sign up on the list your
class rep posted. National Engineering Week is also
during the first week in March, and I'm sure youl1 hear
lots from the Exec about what's going to be going on
then. Bus Push is also on the schedule!. so check out the
article from the Director's elsewhere in this issue.
There'$ lots happening, so check the events calendar on
the back cover of this IW.
I1l see you at __ (fill in your favourite event). 111
be the guy who looks like me!
Mike
Edtlor-In-Chlef
Chris "Sabre Saw . Foster
Assistant Editor
Michael "Pipe Wrench" Hermann
Iron Warrior Staff
$100,000 Surplus
What it is and where it ca me from
4
Fed Hall To Office Space
And Students Still Pay The Mortgage
5
A State of Delirium
Scunt
6-7
ESSCO
Serving 18,000 people, 365 days a year
8
Bus Push '97
How to push a bus with a rope!
9
New Zealand II
Here Comes The Rain Again
12-13
'I
Occidental Tourist
Ramblings of a guy
17
Iron Warrior Arts
The creative engineer
18-19
Youth Challenge
International
20
The Celestine Prophecy
Life is not n lIlultiple' choice qllize
22-23
Happenings with EngSoc
The Exec Spew about going-ons
25-28
RON
$1 00,000 Surplus
Keith Parker
WEEF Director
L What?
WEEP has received approximately $100,(XX) in unex-
pected and available income.
2 Where this came from.
The Bylaws of the WEEF state that all income gener-
ated must be used as funding grants (with the excep-
tion of administrative oosts). Since 1995, in a measure
to combat inflation, Financial Services has been re-
investing 2% of the principal by talOng that amount
from the interest earned. Since WEEP is growing at a
rate far greater than inflation, this protection is of no
concern to us. After several discussions with Financial
Services and other student endowment funds, a deci-
sion was made to return all funds wrongly re-invested
(according to the Bylaws) and that these funds be made
available as soon as possible.
3. Distribution
The Board of Directors have unanimously decided
that the $l00,(XX) being returned will go to a one-time
major capital purchase.
4. Reasons for Lump-Sum Distribution
A) This will have a larger and more lasting impact
than if simply distributed as nomlaI. If this large fund
was simply added to the regular funding pot, then
questionable requests will get funded because money
would 'have' to be spent
B) Generate interest in WEEP. This will be a great
opportunity to show students what their money can do
for them. This will also show corporations what their
money could do for Waterloo Engineering.
q (relates to above) There would be an opportunity
to get media coverage for the opening of the facilities
that this decision will fund. This will promote WEEP
and Waterloo Engineering.
D) Tn the past, there has been discussion on holding
back WEEP funds to make a major purchase. This pur-
chase can be made now with no impact to regular
funding. We will still have significantly more money
available next year for regular funding decisions than
we were originally expecting.
E) This will be a benchmark in the WEEF history.
This would bring WEEP out of its infancy and into a
time where everyone in the faculty recognizes the
power that WEEP and the students hold.
5. Format for Funding Decision.
Proposals:
Proposals will be for a major capital purchase up to
$100,(0)
A major capital purchase constitutes a purchase
made for undergraduate lab/computer/etc equip-
ment that will remain on University property
indefinitely, and that has a price tag > $6O)XX)
The $100)XX) could be for partial funding of a larger
project (e.g. the proposal can be for $100,(XX) of a
$5OO,(XX) project), but no partial funding of what's
been requested can be awarded (e.g., if request is
for $70)XX); then $45,000 cannot be awarded from
WEEF under the assumption funding will come
from other sources, because it probably won't).
A special guideline to writing the proposal will be
developed due to the importance of the decision.
Information requested will include: impact on the
faculty; improvements to students immediately
and in long term; what will happen if funding is
not granted; how can WEEP be promoted if fund-
ing is granted?
Departments putting proposals together must con-
sult with the students. This can be through an
open forum, email, class prof hour, WEEF reps,
etc.
Important Steps/Dates
Wednesday, February 12 -Proposal form and Infor-
mation sheets are made available.
Friday, March 21 - Proposal Forms and all related
information are to be submitted.
Fri Mar 21 to Tue Mar 25 - Proposals read by a panel
of about 5 students, and one faculty member.
Questions are formulated, information cross-
checked. for anomalies.
Tue Mar 25 to Fri Mar 28 - Half hour presentations
are made to the p ~ e l Missing information is
requested, suggestions for improvements are
made.
April to 3rd week in May- Presenters make adjust-
ments, panel continues cross-cllecking info for
accuracy, and develops more questions ensuring
not one detail is missed. Final proposals are writ-
ten and submitted.
May 26-30 - Proposals are read by WEEF reps to
allow them to question presenters and discuss
ideas.
June 2-6 - Proposals are presented. Funding council
(WEEP reps) makes decision.
June 9-13 - Board of Directors meeting to approve the
decision. Discussion relating to the handling of the
large funding decision will be generated.. Funds
shoulcLbe available as of that week
WEEP Approved Spending - Fall '96
Civil
Hard Drive Space
Uninterruptible Power Supplies
Refrigerator
PH/ISE Meter
Computers for 4th yr. Civil Room
Environmental
Server and Computer Stations
Otemical
Laptop
E&CE
Watstar Upgrades
Uninterruptible Power Supplies
RLCBridge
Computers for 4th yr. E&CE Room
Hard Disks for 4th yr. E&CE Room
Systems
Control Systems Station
DADS Upgrade
Mechanical
Master CAM Software
Materials Testing Machine
General Usage
Equipment for Machine Shop
1.1 GB Hard Drive for Watstar
4.3 GB Hard Drive for Web Server
Civil $1,600
Civil $1,300
Civil $500
Civil $975
Civil Eng Students $3,383
Env Eng Students $3,200
Olernical $1,600
E&CE $2,200
E&CE $981
E&CE $958
E&CE Student $2,500
E&CE Student $1)XX)
Systems $3,475
Systems $828
Mechanical $1,848
Mechanical $6,(XX)
Engineering Mach. Shop $2,125
Engineering Computing $4,288
Engineering Computing $1,543
DepMUnentalSubrotal
Student Projects
Parts for Car
Entrance Fee, Construction, etc.
Max. Power Point Trackers
Parts for car and for testing
Parts and tools for car
Mini Baja '97
Snow Warrior
Midnight Sun
Team PROPeh?NE
Formula SAE '97
Parts for aircraft UW Aero '97
Registration and licenses SAE Aero Design
Startup oosts Concrete Toboggan '98
Part for Glider '97 CASI Freeflight Glider
Attendance Coots for Conference Student Society for Mech Eng
Experimental Jet Engineer Lab E-JEL Principal Design Group
WIND Energy Conference Mech Eng Students
Student Project Subtotal: $13,925 (25.69"10) Grand Total: $54,239
$1,250
$2)XX)
$2,250
$2)XX)
$2,(XX)
$400
$335
$500
$800
$800
$1,400
$200
$7,758
$3,200
$1,600
$7,639
$4,303
$7.,848
$7,956
$40,304
RON
MINI BAJA
"ROUGH R DERS" 1997
Steven Peplinski
48 Mechanical
I
f you've been through E31ately you may have
seen parts of the 1997 Mini Baja car coming
together. Thanks to a lot of work by tearn mem-
bers the project is almost on schedule and the car
will be running by May.
Cmphics aJllrtesy Milli Baja T rolll '97
The Mini Baja is a tudent competition sponsored by
the SAR The purpose is to build a ing1 seat off-road
vehicle powered by an 8 HP Briggs and Stratton engine.
The competition includes maneuverability, acceleration.
braking, hill climb and tractor pull events. The final
event is a 4 hour endurance race on a motorcross track.
With almost 80 cars flying around the track (literally!),
the racing is hard on both drivers and machines.
The 1997 competition takes place May 30 -June 1 in
Dayton. Ohio. Around 80 schools are expected to com-
pete from Canada, the US, Mexico and South America.
The Waterloo entry is sure to be competitive. Our
new aluminum frame is nearing completiOI\ thanks to
WEEF funding and welding donated by Seaborn Man-
ufacturing. A rolling chassis will be complete for the
display at the Toronto International Autoshow.
The most unique feature of the 1997 car will be the
hydraulic drivetrain. Gears, chains or belts will not be
used to transfer power from the engine to the wheels.
Instead a hydraulic pump will be attached to the
engine. Fluid will flow from the pump to a small motor
attached to each of the back wheels. This system should
provide lighter weight and better reliability than our
usual homemade gear /belt/ chain transmissions.
Thanks to donations from Wajax Fluid Power and
Eaton Hydraulics we will be able get the exact parts we
need to be successful .
If you are interested in helping out you can either
email me (sppeplinmechanica1) or drop by at one of
our weekly meetings, every Thursday@ 11:30 E3 2103
A/B.
FED HALL COULD BE TURNED INTO OFFICE SPACE
(And students would still be paying the mortgage)
Keith Parker
FEDSRep
2A Systems - The Far SyDe
~
e above statement will be true if you don't go
out and vote for Federation Hall on Referen-
dum Days. On February 11 and U, the fate of
Fed Hall will be decided on. On the ballot is two
questions:
1. Do you believe that the University of Waterloo
Federation of Students should continue to operate
Federation Hall?
Yes No
2 In the event that a majority of voters are in favour
of keeping Federation Hall open, do you wish to
see a $5 increase in your Federation Hall fee for the
Fall 1997, Winter 1998, and Spring 1998 terms only,
to be used for capital improvements to Federation
Hall?
Yes No
The First Question:
If the answer by a majority of people is YES, Fed Hall
will remain open. The second question will then decide
whether or not renovations will be made, or how soon
they will be made.
If the answer is NO, Fed Hall will be shut down, and
the university will take it over. We will till hav to pay
the $7.so Fed Hall Fee each and every term up until th \
year 2005, but instead of going to it for th occasional
concert, frosh week or other special event, the university
will most likely tum it into office space or a banqu t
hail
The Second Question:
If the answer to the first question is Yes, this question
comes into play. If the answer is Yes, we will pay an
extra five dollars in the Fall and next Summer (for us B-
Soc. people) with our Fed Hall Fee and the extra $5 to
go towards renovations to Fed Hall to bring it up to
today's standards (it hasn't been touched since it
opened in 1984).
If the answer is No to this question (and Yes to the
first) then the status quo will remain.
There is NO REASON for Fed Hall to be Oosed
But lots of reasons to keep it open! Why dose Fed
Hall, when there is no cost associated with keeping it
open? If we dose it we still have to pay the mortgage
(represented by the $7.50 on our tuition fee statements),
and get nothing in return for it Fed Hall brings us Con-
certs, Summerfests, Winterfests, Frosh Week parties,
gives the younger generation 19 years old) a place to
go on Friday nights, and a whole lot more. Fed Hall is
even turning a profit for the PEDs since new manage-
ment took it over less than a year ago. That money is
ours < nd will go into making Ihi 11.,11 bdt 'f, ,md ( ulcl
aL'lO help the r.rol'ration of Stud \ n ~ providl' mOI\ Sl'
vi to us.
U you don't go out and vote, we could 106e Fed Hall
foreverl
Next year wh n you have to find a way to go t
downtown Kitchencr to . Moist, or when you can't
see Our Lady of Pea because they're playing at the
size-limited Bombsh Iter, don't be caught ying "if
only I'd taken the five minutes it to vo ". The truth is
that most people only go to vot wh J'\ they want
change. Don't sit around and let this happen.
What can you do?
Go and Vote on Fbruary 11 and 12, in the CPH foyer
between 9:00 am and 4:30 pm.
If you want Fed Hall to remain open, but wish to see
no renovations done and no extra fees added: Vate YES
to question number one and NO to question number
two. If you want Fed Hall to remain open AND would
also like to see capitaJ improvements made, vote YES to
question one and YES to question two. It's your chance
to have your say. Don't forget! Get out and vote on Feb
11th or 12th! It's as easy as going 'to theC&O.
Ryan Chen-Wing
just a guy
Tonka
D
. Schulz debonair psychologist strode into the
ecture hall followed by his assistants. "Wel-
come!" Schulz began the lecture as his assis-
tants handed out programs to the groups in the audi-
ence.
Delirium was the topic of discussion and horrible
Dekes ''Killer'' Kadougan the subject of study. Dekes was
born June IS, 1959 and following a normal childhood
began falling into his present insanity. Thirteen years ago
he was captured but has not been fully understood or
cured. since then.
Team in the audience were asked to participate in the
seminars and workshops throughout the day in hope
they could afford insight into curing Kadougan.
The time came to introduce [)ekes, the subject, but not
after a solemn warning by the doctor., ''Kadougan is very
dangerous and has escaped before." Strict security mea-
sures were being taken.
Guards slammed shut each door in sequence and
reported it secure.
"Bring in the subject!"
Delirum Scunt
A defiant figure in orange priuson coveralls and chains
was led into the room flanked by four guards. Dekes fell Tonka and friends, masters of the Scunt feircely poised to go home and sleep
roughly back into a chair where a guard shoved him. The
Killer, Dekes Kadougan glared at the doctor coldly.
A movie, narrated by Schulz began to play. The movie
detailed Dekes's life as a child and the background of his
five obsessions.
Clinical observation film was shown of each one. His
child-toy fixation was shown as he played with lego
oblivious to the outside world. A pot on his head, a lid
and egg beater in his hand indicated his medieval delu-
sion as he saw himself as a warrior-knight. Next was the
Great White North where he drank beer after beer and
wore an old Oktoberfest hat. Disco music blared and he
danced around like a loony monkey in his retro stage.
Wanting to be like his dad, Kadougan was finally shown
in his mechanjcal engineering obsession. This drew a piC-
ture of this deluded man's insanity, but how did he come
to be here in front of this audience?
The movie continued with his capture seven agents
tracked him down on an old highway at night. He was
apprehended and has been in detention ever since.
"We are very concemed that we deal with ... " the lights
went out suddenly and all was bla k.
"Wrult'S going on?"
A scream shook the darkness; a chair hit the floor.
"Hhhngh," Dr. Schull gnmtcd as something knockt.>d
him unconcious.
Two bruards were pu.c;hed to the floor as a defiant figure
flew out the door.
Security cameras on showed Killer Kadougan rwming
down the corridors and up the stairs to finally reach his
freedom.
A guard who had chased aft r him burst back into the
roomandannounccd,"He'sgonc./f
rynus began Tonka's Dclirium Sclmt sparking the fire of
.l fun and craziness that would bum throughout the
night. As I think about the Scunt highlights abound. In
every single event I participated in, judged, was even near
I delighted in with wild fun.
The opening ceremonies were so great except for a cou-
ple of miscues for Dekes to escape whid\ made it all more
laughable. Tn Box Furniture we got to try out some easy
chairs made from cardboard and were entertained by
total reality television. people jumping around and being
fools.
Damo and Tom try to hit the broad side of a
continued on opposite page Cobnbia lceflekh
No you take out the trash you bastard
Put the lime in the coconut OASys visits Tonka's disco party
Well twist it on baby now, shout and twist. Sumters, gods and siamese twins twist in space.

along night is over Andrea and Natacha sleep of the fun
little while later someone told me that the OASys, A
5< Y De, team hEld arrin.'d. All excited I ran over to
the fish bo\,\'\ e :peeting to see some familiar faces from
on of my fay urite , 'stems cI
What I saw was two unfamiliar faces, "Are you
OASy?"
"Yeah!"
n,en I recognized something, "YOU'rE:' Matt's brother
right."
It turns out the OASys team WilS the highschool brother
of an AS's guy, Oem, and Dan's friend Tom. So I I ft
them to make a giant sling, hot, still reeling from the
weirdness of it a 11.
Back nt POETS 1 saw ara and Jenny from the Taxi
Envengers getting their arrns tap d together for the
Siamese T\\ins cvent. Throughout thc night they would
compete in vents for c tra points.
Following that, I went to olumbia Fields to sec the
atapult E,' nt and then Ultimate Frisbc0. 11,cn I came
back to \,vatch som ,Iadiator ev nt like snow wrestling,
padded joust and trobe pillow fight. Lego mechanisms
was next and I got a back massage from a lego back mac;-
sager, yeah.
Talk Show was next where scunters had to come up
with characters to play in a stereotypical talk how. We
had a body-building pink haired super-model with a goa-
tee, a pregnant sex changed husband of a mutually modi-
fied spouse, a schizophrenic mother of siamese twins and
a crazy guy. Saying needlessly, chaotic lunacy ensued.
Eating contest was next where the kids in pairs had to
eat all of a sub, cookies, crackers, wine gums, peanut but-
ter, samosa, ju-jubes, and gwmni berries. Oh my stom-
ach!
Soon after was th.ree-dim.ensional twister. We amused
ourselves by making people contort themselves or ,
"twist" around to stay on the colours.
Right after that I was in CPH Foyer with Danna and
Tom, the OASys kids, and Chris Ford from OASys
walked in,
"Hey Chris. How're ya doin'?" I shook his hand,
II Alright, do you know where the high school kids are."
'They're right here,"
Chris had flown down from Ottawa to compete in the
Scunt, which just shows our drawing power.
Cowagooba! We rushed off to headquarters visits. First
was Math's Operation Pink. Where they presented us
wilb ,11 'n millioll digIt v.lhlt
'
of pi. I1w 1 k. ..
and I'dl 'S]-um'flts while t1ll'y with tlwir ,1I1Ii( .
At No upportoID Ml'ch {{('lid 11<.) w ' p\'\yl.xj
and ping pong and wrLlpp.'tlIiOn1l' S<.' ulltt'n; in toih'L ptlpt'r
and 'Iebralt'<i a birthday. All gfl'<lt fun.
t slop was th Toxic EnvC'llg'rs .IQ wlwre Wt'
pa ked in to a living room Llnd giwl1 d('SSCrt and fun
goodies while we sat anti playt'ti (lOJ t.lIkl'd.
Never stopping for long we hurri('d b,\ k to P( h 'S to
, ,t lip for th(' I.enith of the night, Ilw Disco P.,rty. We
danced, br 'a.k-dan ed and k..1rllOk in to th I morning
anti had the f( kingt'St fcstivitil'S all eVl'f.
1 don't know what happcl1C'ti next as 1 WilS mostly sub-
concious. I think tl1Crc wa S()me judging in lh 'f\.' though.
Math's Operation Pink played in a loco good-natured
way and won a Jot of the events Ult'y competed in. fhey
yen mad a thn.'C-dimcnsional T'C'prescntation of Hom r
Simpsons head, it was so good .. . so good
No Support Com Mcch Relief were fun and crazy and
we loved their headquarters,
Toxic Envengers went all oul all oyer insanely.
I liked OASys and their spirited best. 1 won't soon for-
get a whole row of Scunt Gods being entertained during
judging by the three crazies whil they scrambled to make
items for the lists,
I won't soon forget Delirium Scunt either.
RON
ESSCO
Serving 18,000 people, 365 days a year and getting no tips
ESSCO Executive
E
SSCO. Does this acronym mean anything to
you? If not, don't be worried, you're not alone.
Many undergraduate engineers in Ontario do
not have a clue what ESSCO is, what it is supposed
to do, what it has done, and what it can do. This arti-
cle is supposed to assist in getting undergraduate
engineering students aware of what ESSCO is and
how it can serve all of the 18,000 engineering stu-
dents in Ontario.
First and foremost, ESSCO represents the Engineer-
ing Student Society Councils of Ontario. The 1996-97
year starting with the election of the new executive at
the ESSCO Annual General Meeting at the end of
August, it was declared a year of rebuilding, restructur-
ing and changing schools attitudes about ESSeO. The
title for this year's goal is to prove that FSSCO has a
purpose.
The four main goals to be achieved by the executive
each year are:
Facilitate centralized communication and informa-
tion interchange between member engineering soci-
eties.
Represent the undergraduate engineering students in
the province of Ontario in matters of common interest
Encourage the promotion of engineering as an excit-
ing, challenging, and equitable profession to elementary
and high school students.
Participate in, and interact with, various sectors of
business, government, and academia as well as profes-
sional and student organizations.
ESSCO's motto is action, vision, and communication
With this in mind, ESSeO has worked on lobbying the
government on the issues of funding cutbacks, repre-
senting the student views during meetings with the
Dean's of Engineering, providing assistance and infor-
mation to the planning of the Ontario Engineering
Competition, maintaining conversation on the ESSCO
ernaillink, and helping organize Ontario's contribution
to the National Engineering Week Charity event.
At the ESSCO Annual General Meeting 1996, the
president of the Canadian Federation of Engineering
Students (CFES) asked the ESSeO executives to help
coordinate a common charity event for all Ontario engi-
neering schools. This event is to take place during the
National Engineering Week, March 1-8, 1997. The idea
is that each engineering school will offer to help women
shelters, homeless shelters, or similar facilities in their
community for a day. Due to the recent tmfavourable
publicity of engineering, it is of the utmost importance
to increase public awareness of the engineering disci-
pline. Such an event, with the assistance from the media
would work towards this goal. This event would
require organization from all engineering societies in
order to contact the appropriate newspapers and differ-
ent media sources (radio, television stations, etc .. ) mak-
ing them aware of the charity day.
With the influential power that comes with represent-
ing 18,000 undergraduate engineers in Ontario comes .
the ability to approach corporations for corporate spon-
sorship. Many of these sponsorships are used to
improve the efficiency of the executive as well as to
improve the continuity during the executive
changeover at the ESSCO Annual General Meeting.
Currently, the ESSCO executive are with a few compa-
nies discussing the possibility of obtaining laptops for
the executive that would be used to keep track of the
finances, take minutes at executive and conference
meetings involving ESSeo. In addition, these laptops
would assist in increasing ESSeO's professional look
when visiting the different engineering universities in
Ontario.
A new communication link is under investigation
that would work in parallel with the ESSCO email link
described later. The project includes purchasing hard-
ware and having London Telecom provide the phone
services for one central phone number that engineering
societies could call and directly talk, live one-on-one
with another school anywhere in Ontario, at no cost!
Another goal established/realized at the ESSCO
Annual General Meeting 1996 was a committee respon-
sible for determining the long term direction of ESSCO.
This committee would get feedback from the engineer-
ing schools either at conferences, from the ESSCO link,
or by talking with different engineering society mem-
bers while still focusing on the new ESSCO motto of
action, vision and communication. One of the issues
that this long term committee discussed at the Congress
of Canadian Engineering Societies 1997 was the role of
ESSeo. Was FSSCO to be a lobby group supporting
and voicing the opinions of the Ontario engineering stu-
dents? Or perhaps ESSCO should play an active role in
pursuing government issues? Or finally, maybe ESSCO
should play a very silent role in dealing with the gov-
ernment such as publishing documents delivered to the
government expressing the opinions of Ontario engi-
neers. Issues for investigation by the long term comrnit-
tee are:
Tuition increases and what ESSCO is going to do
about them
Engineering Curriculum changes
External communication with the universities
Community Involvement
Roles ofVP Externals
More defined ESSeO Culture
More PEO involvement
Exchange programs to other universities/different
provinces or countries
High School/Elementary School Uaison
Yearly activity between the universities
Scholarships for Ontario Students
Look for more information about the long term com-
mittee in the next article from ESSC:O. Please discuss
with your student body (by council, newspaper, discus-
sions with a general group of the student body, or by
another effective method) what they would like to see
ESSCO undertake as an organization. Also, discuss
with them the proposed ideas above and get opinions
on taking a political or non-political stance.
The ESSCO link is a simple concept. A person posts a
message to the ESSCO link and all subscribers are sent
an exact copy of this posted message via email. Since
we live in the age of technology, all universities in
Ontario have emailing capabilities. The ESSCO link,
therefore, is a cost-effective means of communicating
ideas, event dates, opinions, and general conversation
between all engineering schools in Ontario. All people
are welcome to join the FSSCO link and anybody can
read the archived emails from prior months. To join,
simply send an email to:
To: listsent@iistserv.uottmoo.ca
Subject: sub essarl name title
body: sub essarl name title
For example:
To: li.siserv@listserv.uottawa.ca
Subject: sub essco-lJason Worry VP-Finance ESSCO
&x:Iy: sub essco-l Jason Worry VP-Finance ESSCO
Hope to hear some new voices on the ESSCO link.
In conclusion, the Engineering Student Society Coun-
cils of Ontario are here to serve you and all Ontario
undergraduate engineers. Regardless of how small or
how big the required service is, if you don't voice your
need to either your school's ESSCO rep or Vice-Presi-
dent External, your voice will never be heard. Perhaps,
your idea is common across Ontario and will assist
thousands of other suffering engineers. ESSCO is work-
ing on re-Stablishing the confidence in all the engineer-
ing societies while still pursuing many new and innov-
ative ideas. Plain and simple, ESSCO is here to serve
engineers across Ontario.
Julian Wright - President
wrlght@ecf.utoronto.ca
Eloise Harvey - VP-Education
harveye@muss.cis.mcmaster.ca
Jason Worry - VP-Finance
jjjworry@novice.uwaterloo.ca
Elena Shustermann - Future Executive
shustee@muss.cis.mcmaster.ca
ENGINEERING STUDENT SOCIETIES
COUNCIL- ONT
RON
How To Push A Bus With A Rope
(or Bus Push '97)
Ed Fletcher
48 Mechanical
G
reetings and salutations everyone. It's com-
ing close to that time of year when the
Waterloo engineering students get together
and pull a bus from the Waterloo campus to dov.'11-
town Kitchener in support of the K-W Big Sisters.
So, on March 15th it's the 21st annual Bus Push!
KITCHENER-WATERLO
AN2 AREA
BIG SlSTERS
.JL

Well, we origi-
nally pushed the
bus. However, the
work required to
keep the bus in
motion only
.rol:il!tlergoe&..a slight
variation depen-
dent upon the
road grade. And
the more people
you get helping,
the less energy per
person is required. As there is only a finite area on the
rear of the bus which is the prime pushing surface, an
alternate way of adding people was required. Being
great engineers, we found a way to rectify this situation.
The ea iest way to add people to the equation was
fOlmd in tying a rope to the bus for people to hold on to.
We all learned in first year physics that you can't push a
rope, so we pulled. However, for the sake of tradition,
it has remained the Bus Push.
Everyone can help this event be a tremendous suc-
cess. If you want an opportunity to test your shear
strength and determination, if you just like pulling on a
rope or you're in training for professional tug 'a war
competition just swing on by the Orifice and there's a
pledge sheet waiting for you. .
The major prizes this year for the top pledge getter
type people include a mountain bike and a snowboard. about the Bus Push, please do not hesitate to contact m
There will also be earlybird draws for people who have at aefletcl1.@meci1a.nical. Otherwise, swing on by the
gotten more than $20 in pledges starting the last week , Orifice and pick up a pledge sheet and get ready for a
of February. These will include gift certificates for din- fantastic day!
ners in addition to other great prizes. Everyone who
raises more that $75 in
pledges will get a FREE bus
push T-shirt. There will
also be free breakfast and
lunch for everyone pulling
the bus on the big day.
If you have any questions
Excuse Me, Did I Get In The Way Of Your Elbow?
Shelley Carter
38 Mech
M
anners. Gee, what are they? I know, but
do you? Apparently a large portion of
people in engineering are lacking in this
department, as was made obvious to me, anyway, at
an engineering event this past weekend. When you
run into somebody, is it really that difficult to say
"Sorry". I wouldn't have thought so, but what do I
know. There isn't much to having good, or at least
acceptable, marmers. Please, thank you, excuse me,
and sorry are four good phrases to add to your daily
vocabulary. Give it a shot. You might be surprised
at how much nicer people think you are.
I'm not sure, but does organizing an event entitle you
to a power trip? That you don't need to be polite, cour-
teous, or considerate? The prevailing attitude seemed
to be Tm in charge, get out of my way you little peon.
You should be happy I didn't knock you over on my
way through' 'Oh thank you kind sir, may I kiss your
feet for being so thoughtful? Thank you, thank you,
thank you.' Yeah, whatever. It bothers me to think I
live in a world where some people seem to believe that
common courtesy is below them What makes one per-
son better than anyone else? A title tacked onto the end
of their name? I think not. We all breathe the same air
and eventually die similar deaths. Yet while we are on
earth, some individuals are under the misconception
that they are different and the general laws of the land
do not apply to them.
I'm really not sure wh re this probl'm stems from,
Maybe their parents didn't tach them any manners,
Or maybe they just grew up and out of their manners.
If you are one of these )?<.'Ople and yOllr circle of friends
seems to be very small, it couJd quite possibly be that
you need to develop some manners and take som
courses in human relations. (Hint: Most peopJe arc
more responsive to someone who is polite and
crate than not.) But then again maybe you really don't
care. As long as you're running the show, you're
happy. In which case 1 feel very sorry for you.
RON ARRIOR
The California Experience
Arjun Moorthy
3A computer Engineering.
L
ast fall I got a co-op job with Ventritex Inc. in
Sunnyvale California. I was really excited - I
imagined I'd be living next to a beach with
women like those on Baywatch. Not quite, but nev-
ertheless, it was by far the best workterm I've had
and it is a Mecca for biking enthusiasts. More on
that later, but first a little about the place.
Sunnyvale is at the center of a long string of towns
that form Silicon Valley. It is about a half hour drive
south of San Francisco. Most of you have heard of Sili-
eon Valley .. . home of many of the power house compa-
nies in the computer industry like Sun Microsystems,
IBM, Intel, Apple (well, okay maybe not anymore) and
thousands of others. Silicon Valley is like no other place
on earth. It is infested with engineers aU working
insane hours and making unbelievable amounts of
money in stock options and bonuses. It's fast-paced
and not for the weak of heart, but it's where some of the
brightest minds create technology that was only
dreamed about months ago.
Beyond that however, is the state of California itself.
Absolutely gorgeous and there are a million things to
see and do. Just south of Silicon Valley is Monterey and
Santa Cruz. Home of the Pebble beach classic, this area
is modeled like old towns in Europe and has the scenic
backdrop of the Pacific ocean. Ritzy and glamorous,
many Hollywood. starts choose to make this area home
and hence house prices here are in the millions. The
highlight of the town is arguably The University of Cali-
fornia, Santa Cruz; a nice campus with even nicer look-
ing people on it.
Down the coast about eight hours south of the Valley
is San Diego. Along with L.A, San Diego possesses
some of the finest beaches. The water was warm
enough for surfing even in mid November. Bloody
hard sport but well worth the effort. La Jolla (pro-
nounced: La Hoya) is a northern township in San Diego
and is like Monterey, only richer! Old Town is a beauti-
ful part of San Diego and is modeled after a Mexican
town. Here you can get Margaritas at all hours of the
day and dance with some very pretty Spanish
women ... until there big muchachos beat the tar out of
you.
Oeser to home is San Francisco. One of the few cities
that I would like to live in if I were to go back. The city
has miles of biking trails and there is so much to see.
Sausalito is a great little town on the other side of the
Golden Gate bridge. There is Pier 39, a melange of
restaurants and amusement rides, Alcatraz (pretty cool)
and a pile of beaches, both nude and normal. Golden
Gate Park stretches for about 10 km and houses the
famous Japanese Gardens, a lot of pot dealers and some
other stuff. The bars there, for lack of a better word, kick
ass. Big, small, dance, rock, light, no lights, you name it,
it's there. Most are a tad expensive, the best ones
always have cover around $10 but the ones that have
live bands are fantastic.
Perhaps my best trip during my term was camping
in Yosemite. The gigantic national park is simply beau-
tiful ... second only to Banff. Located about four hours
east of San Francisco, Yosemite village is the heart of the
park. At four thousand feet, it is also quite cool. There
are hundreds of mountains to climb and trails all over
the place. Waterfalls, lakes, giant trees (I don't remem-
ber the name) and yes, bears. While there we were
attacked by a bear and had a bobcat run through the
campsite. All adds to the flavour of the place.
Silicon Valley itself has much to do. There is wind-
surfing in a man-made lake right in Mountain
View .... perfect for pros like me. Whatever. There are
hundreds of biking trails around the area, and they're
fast, furious and treacherous. I went through a pair of
tires and shoes in about a month. You need a car to get
to most of the trails but the ride is worth all the effort.
There is also Stanford University in Palo Alto. Definite-
ly aristocratic but a great campus ... much like Waterloo.
Okay, maybe a bit better. My first day there, I went to
the bookstore to sign up for German, and they had this
party going on with music and girls dancing on the
bookshelves! I don't remember what I bought and I
accidentally signed up for Sociology.
In general California is very expensive. It is best to
live in youth hostels when traveling ... don't go to the
really cheap ones however. The standard of living in
Silicon Valley is atrocious, with rent for a one bedroom
apartment starting at $900 - $21oo ... a month. The worst
part is vacancy rates are 0.6% and so finding a place is a
battle on its own. There are some people looking for
roomrnates there (search the newsgroups on the Inter-
net) and you should be able to share a place for
$5OO/month. Having a car is almost vital as public
transport is lousy ... more like freaking tour buses that
take an hour to do 5 km. You can take the Caltrain
(commuter train) to San Fran. for about $4 (best part is
you can take your bike on it).
One final point. ... in the four months I was there it
rained three days. Sun, sun, and more sun, and about
20 degrees Celsius.
New Machines, New Software,
New Networks
Paul McKone
UW Engineering Computing
W:
ere's Elmira? A few miles from here as
the crow flies, a few months from now as
the fingers fly. The fingers, thank you for
asking, are flying over the keyboards at Engineering
Computing as we work on our latest project, code-
named "Elmira," in th tradition of "Cairo," and
"Chicago."
Elmira is the upcoming Windows 95-based PC-net-
work system which will supplement, and eventually
replace, the long-lived DOS/Windows-based Watstar
system. ElrrUra combines the simplicity and security
that has been developed and provided by Watslar for
over ten years, with the zowie-wowie utility of Win-
dows 95, and its soon-to-be-released successor.
Initial work has progressed to the point of applica-
tions testing (and the attendant requirements of soft-
ware distribution, configuration, and regulation). A test
facility for general access (that's you students) should be
available mid-summer, and a full roll-{)ut will follow in
selected labs in September of this year. Why 95? Why
not Nr? Why now?
Many new releases of software will no longer run
under Windows 3.11, and we need to do something to
catch up. (Who said, "Finally?") We looked at Win-
dows NT as an alternative for our system, but had to set
it aside: its hardware requirements are greater; its secu-
rity less than we'd like; and its administrative overhead
more complicated than we are prepared to support.
(There's a lot of you, and not very many of us.) We will
keep an eye out for changes and improvements in
future releases.
And in other news ...
Concurrent with development of Ehnira, Engineer-
ing Computing has been quietly upgrading its network,
subdividing areas to decrease traffic, and installing
newer switches and cables to speed that traffic along.
Work has been progressing on the backbone, and serv-
er upgrades should be completed by the end of this
term. What will you notice? You'll see an improve-
ment in speed where the network was the bottleneck: in
the busiest rooms, and at the busiest times. This quiet
background improvement lays the groundwork for the
implementation of Elmira.
What's next?
Although ElrrUra is a lovely town. it isn't likely to be
our first choice for the official name of our new net-
working arrangement. This is where we need your
help. If you have an earth-shatteringly good. idea for
what the new setup should be called, drop by the Engi-
neering Computer User Support Centre, (E2-1308A).
We're talking about offering a prize and, when you're
in possession of infinite computing power, the sky's the
limit
For more information regarding the upcoming
changes, type "HELP ELMIRA" while logged onto
Watstar. Questions and comments regarding this or
other computing issues may be posted to the news-
group uw.watstar.
RON
ARRIOR
If it's worth dong,
it's worth overdoi ng!
Mike Hermann
2A Systems- The Far SyDe
A;
0ther Eng Week has come and gone and
once again the Engineers have shown them-
lves to be intrepid, creative, inventive, and
Engenious. And silly, but that doesn't sound as
glamorous. Eng Week ran over the last week of Jan-
uary, and if you happened to be strolling through
the foyer of CPH during midday, you would have
seen some strange and amazing sights. I'll let the
pictures do most of the talking for me, but I'll sum-
marize what happened.
On the Tuesday the 3A Ovils hosted a Banana Eating
Race. What a great way to start Eng Week. Punish
your eating process. Despite the crazy thought of it,
teams of two a piece faced off with the bananas
between them. I have never seen such a display of
mouth stuffing before. And I hope I never do again.
The winners should be congratulated though. Andre
Brisson and Gord Anderson showed great fortitude
and took first place.
Also on Tuesday a Street Fighter 2 tournament took
place. Since we've got the machine available in the
upstairs of POETS, why not? The winner was Benny
from 3A Mech. In keeping with the pub games theme,
a Darts tourney was also held. Andrew Mulder (3A
Ovil) and Jan Marsh (3A Chem) took the crown.
On Wednesday, two more events took CPH by
storm. Inside POETS a Sony Playstation tournament
took place. I popped my head in to take a peak, and
action on the screen was secondary to the action of
competitors. Just listening and watching to them
funny enough. I've never understcxxi the impulse of
video game player to move the controller about
just the controls themselves), and scream at the game.
Enginuity took place just outside POETS and was,
my opinion, the crowning event of the week.
was catapult building; penny ramp building; a
to build a way to drop an egg from the POETS '-_1 ____ _
without crushing it; and a Technical B.S. competition.
Check out the pictures on this page for a hint of what
little enginuity can do with some wcxxi, power tools,
duck tape, and blotters.
On Thursday the 2A Systems class hosted a paper
airplane contest. The material of choice was of course
the blotter, which is one of those items
that you can do anything with. (Just like
duct tape and 2x3's) The winners were
Andrew Moffat (2A Elec) for accuracy,
and Elliot Bird (2A Mech) for innovation.
The 1B Enviro-01ems also ran a paper
boat building contest. Brian Cepuran
from Flying Grcuits (lB Camp) won for
style, and Peter Parahuz from The Far
SyDe (2A Systems) took the crown for
sturdiest boat, holding the most penDies
of any entry.
Thursday night was also the Brunny,
which of course meant not much hap-
pened Friday. However, Friday
night was big indeed, 'with the
Delirium SCUNf taking UW into
the depths of a crazy man's mind.
Check the SCUNT article el e-
where in this paper for tho e
amazing happenings.
So what else can I say. Eng
Week. Stuff. Cool Stuff. And
hey, if it's worth doing, it's worth
overdoing!
"Here Comes The Rain Again" July 25 - August 8
New Zealand II
Bill Gray
48 Comp - Sun of a Bitl
N.
er a night of celebration and revelry fol-
lowing the big jump, it was time to move on
nd begin our journey north towards Auck-
land. Our first stop was Dunedin, a university town
on the east coast that is apparently modeled almost
exactly like Edinburgh, Scotland. Right down to a
whiskey distillery that produced something that is
almost, but not quite, entirely like scotch. Although
we were not able to tour the distillery, we did get a
tour of the Cadbury chocolate factory. Leaving the
factory, we fought off nausea and set out to find out
why Dunedin was considered such a party-town.
We never found out. Every bar was completely
empty, with some even closed. Bizarre strategy for
a Friday night. Also in Dunedin is Baldwin Street,
officially recognized as "the world's steepest street",
with a grade of 1 in 1.19. The bus stopped. We
climbed the street. Yep, it's steep all right. We
climbed back down.
Leaving Dunedin we headed up the east coast
towards Christchurch again. As we neared, it began to
rain (of course) and our night in Christchurch was
soggy and cold. We did get to see replays of Donovan
Bailey's record-breaking sprint however. We were not
overly sad at leaving Christchurch the next morning,
and by the time we pulled into Kaikoura it was almost
sunny. Kaikoura during the summer is unique in that
hundreds of dolphins swim around just off shore, and
don't seem to mind if tourists are swimming in the
water with them. During the winter months, however,
the main attraction are the giant sperm whales that
hang around off-shore during their yearly migration
from the Southern Ocean into the warmer South Pacific
Ocean in search of food. Using high-tech sonar location
techniques our boat was able to locate three of the huge
mammals and we watched from a distance as they
flopped around on the surface of the water for a while
before taking a deep breath and diving down again for
dinner. The sight of their huge tail coming up in the air
and sinking slowly
down into the depths
was truly awe inspir-
ing, and one could not
help but feel slightly
guilty that the whales
had almost been hunt-
ed to extinction not too
long ago.
The next day's travel
involved water (other
than the rain) . Very
rough water. We were
to take the ferry from
Picton on the South
Island to Wellington
on the North Island,
across the Cook
Straight After doping
myself up on sea-sick-
ness pills, I sat back to
enjoy the ride. The waves in the straight pitched the
large ferry around like a cork, making any movement
in the ferry next to impossible. A walk on deck
relieved some of my nausea, but scared the hell out of
me once I realized how big the waves were. We pulled
into Wellington harbour three hours later, with my
lunch and dinner still inside me.
Wellington is New Zealand's capital and is a decent
but boring city. We ran into some friends from our
Australian travels and did some typical tourist type
things, including getting caught in the rain, and almost
being tackled by a security guard when we accidentally
wandered into the Parliament House. Our journey
north continued in a few days. Once more we were on
tiny roads cut into the side of a very steep hill, as we
made our way to the North Island's ski mecca, Taupo.
The ski season was pretty much over by this point,
what with the rain and all, so Taupo didn't offer much
and we moved on to Rotorua the next day.
Rotorua is an interesting place, due to the thickness
of the earth's crust under and around the town. Or
J ... I.. ...
PlroIIX; iJy BI7I Gray
rather, the fact that the crust is very thin in this region.
The result is an incredible source of geothermal heat
that is used for everything from electricity generation,
to cheap hot-tubs to geothermally brewed beer (you
can really taste the sulfur). The amount of heat under
the city is so great that there are many steam vents
installed that allow excess steam pressure to escape into
the air. In addition to the hostel's hot-tub, however,
Rotorua had much else to offer thanks to the geother-
mal heat. For example, it doesn't rain a whole lot here.
Our bus-driver explained it was due to the geothermal
heat. I figured it was because the humidity was always
at 99% anyway, so rain wasn't really necessary. Not
that it didn't rain. It just didn't rain a whole lot. We
eventually dried off and decided on the Waiotapu
Thermal Wonderland as our 'tourist place' for the next
day.
The first stop on the geothermal tour was the Lady
Knox Geyser. Although the geyser will erupt on its
own every ten days or so, it can be forced to erupt on
demand by pouring soap flakes down the geyser cone.
The soap breaks down the surface tension of the super-
heated water, causing it to spout 10m into the air for
about twenty minutes. This method was stumbled
upon many years ago when a band of convicts were
clearing trees in the area to make way for a new high-
way, as convicts are prone to do. They found a pool of
hot water (the geyser) and figured it would be a great
place to wash their clothes. So they stripped down,
tossed in thcir clothes and then some soap. Imagine
their surprise. The tour continued as we walked
around the Thermal Wonderland getting rained on
and viewing pools where large concentrations of ele-
ments such as arsenic, antimony and manganese gave
the water vivid colours. The steam escaping from
underneath gave the impression of a vast bubbling
cauldron. Steam rose from many pools, and was
blown across the landscape, sometimes completely
engulfing the walking paths.
In order to get to our next destination, Waitomo, we
needed to take the interCity bus, which is their equiva-
lent to Greyhound. Except we had to take the "tourist
express" ~ u s which tumed the 100 kilometres into a
three hour ride from hell, as we stopped for every little
piddly touristy thing you can imagine ("Just on the
other side of that fence, over the hill and down the
street is a hydro-cledric dam. We'll stop for ten min-
utes so you can take pictures of the front gate."). It was
probably raining too.
It eventually stopped raining as we arnved in Waito-
mo and wanned up in front of the fire. With several
hours to kill before the main attraction. we decided to
go horse-back riding. [author note - I had a spiel about
the redundancy of the tenn 'horse-back' all set up,
including what might be construed as 'horse-front' rid-
ing, but I doubted it would fit in with the Iron Warnors
image]. Although Mel had taken horse-back riding
lessons as a child, I had never even touched a horse
before, so I was somewhat leery of getting on some-
thing that big. When asked what kind of horse I want-
ed, I responded honestly: dead. I eventually got a horse
by the name of Jimmy and started moving. As Mel and
her horse were jumping logs and galloping up and
down hills, Jimmy and I plodded along in first gear,
enjoying the scenery. We climbed up muddy hills, rode
across muddy fields and then descended through a
muddy forest Jimmy seemed a little hesitant to get his
feet wet. He didn't have any problem running me
through dense branches, however. I still swear he was
laughing at me. We eventually made it back to the sta-
bles (being the last one back, of course) and I congratu-
lated Jimmy on not killing me. But we had little time to
bond as the main attraction of our stay in Waitomo was
quickly approaching.
The claim to fame of Waitomo, and the only reason
we endured the three hour bus ride from Rotorua, are
the caves. Under and around Waitomo stretch an
incredible network of caves and grottos. Many of these
caves have been thoroughly explored and are open for
guided tours. Visit?rs can even choose the level of diffi-
culty they desire. Available are a walking tour, a tour
on a partially underground lake in row-boats, and the
tube-adventure where you float along in inner-tubes
through underground waterways, admiring the cave
formations and plummeting over waterfalls. And then
there's the real tours. The one we chose was called
Hagga's Honking Holes. Aside from the name, we had
RON
it on good advice this was the coolest tour for under
$200 going. So when the Honking Holes people
Showed up to take us away, we were pleased.
Before they would take us underground, we were all
required to take a claustrophobia test, which involved
squirming through an extremely small plaster 'cave' as
the guides tied our shoelaces together. Funny guys.
With that out of the way, they whisked us to the
Hagga's property, where we stripped down to swim-
suits and donned neoprene wetsuits, full coveralls and
rubber gurn-boots. We were then given miner's hel-
mets and a rap harness. A quick lesson on rappelling
and we were of{ speeding through the darkness to the
cave entrance. Near the cave entrance, that is. We first
had to hike for about 10 minutes in complete darkness.
Of course, it was raining. It was an interesting picture,
however, with 20 people marching through the dark-
ness, with only the light on their miner's helmet show-
ing. I couldn't help but start humming "Hi-ho, hi-ho"
as I trudged along. Too bad Disney never thought to
include "Bitter Dwarf" in their cartoons. We soon
arrived at the cave entrance and climbed down to the
first opening. Here we had to rappel about 20m into
inky darkness, as the tour guide kicked water onto us
from the top of the hole. We were to do two more
smaller abseils, and be lowered through a raging water-
fall. At times the passage was so small I had to crawl
along on my belly, holding my breath because I was up
to my eyes in muddy water. The sights along the way
were spectacular: stalagmites, stalactites, columns and
many other fascinating formations, all formed over
thousands of years. This cave system goes down a total
of 2.2 km and would take an e'Wrienced spelunker
over two hours to get there. We only went 65m under-
ground, where we stopped for lemonade and chocolate
bars before the guides said "Find your own way out."
and ran off laughing. By going against the flow of
water, we eventually returned to the surface and were
returned to our hostel where a hot-shower was our
reward for our four hours underground.
The next day we could barely move due to the previ-
ous day's activities, but we managed to get up and get
ready to go to Auckland. We watched the start of the
The Sandford Fleming Foundation
4306 Carl Pollock Hall. University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3Gl
Ontario Engineering Competition 1m
Olympic dosing ceremonies, and were amazed at the
th ught of 3.5 billion people shaking their heads in. uni-
son at the stupidity of it all. We waited for the InterCity
bus in the rain and made it to Auckland before supper.
Auckland is a typical city. One thing of interest is that it
has ports on both the Tasman Sea and the Pacific
Ckean, allowing you to walk from sea to sea in about
two hours. It is also called the Oty of Sails because per-
capita boat-ownership is higher here than anywhere
else in the world. We only had one real day to explore
Auckland, so we didn't get a chance to see too much.
We walked through the university and discovered that
CONE/erIO
N
/
lir
'
the Engineering buildings were just as ugly as UW's.
The museum displayed the three things New Zealan-
ders seem the most proud about their Maori culture,
the environment, and their achievements in various
wars around the world.
Soon, however, it was time to go to the airport and
begin another chapter in the journey. I thought back on
our time in New Zealand, and realized that we did not
have nearly enough time to enjoy this country. We
missed large parts of the North Island, and rushed
through most of the South Island. I have since made it a
priority to return some time in the future, and do a
proper tour. However, despite the problems faced dur-
ing the tour, and the fact that it rained almost every
freaking day for four weeks straight, I still see New
Zealand as my favourite place in the world.
Waterloo ampu Activities
(519) 8884008
This year, OEC will be held the weekend of February 14-16 at McMaster University. The competition highligbts Entrepreneurial and
Corporate Design. ExpJanatory and Editorial Communication and Extemporaneous Debates (of which SFF is a major patron). Check
out their homepage at http://www.eng.mcmaster.caloecJindex.htm.
SFF on UWlNFO
Now you can learn more about the activities of the Sandford Fleming Foundation on UW Info. We're under Departments ... lFaculty
of Engineering.
Funding for these awards comes from your student contributions and depends on it for contilWlltion.
An organization devoted to the advancement of engineering education.
RON ARRIOR
Exchange to Ecole Poly technique Federale de Lausanne
(EPFL), Switzerland
Ski enthusiasts and chocolate addicts know two excel-
lent reasons Jor heading to Switzerland, Then there's the
brilliant jazz at Montreux, sophisticated cafE life in
Zurich, booting on lAke Geneva .. , and the Alps thrown
in.for a backdrop.
Lonely Planet - Switzerland Travel Guide, 1994
Guy Freidel
48 Electrical
TI
s is a summary which could be useful to
anyone considering an exchange, particularly
the one to Lausanne, Switzerland, The pur-
pose is to provide just enough material to whet your
appetite and perhaps get you started on the process,
Note that my information on the all important
course equivalencies covers electrical engineering
only. Students in other programs will have to do
their own research, Once decided, I will be happy to
assist you in covering more areas and supplying
more information and advice.
Programs Offered & Program Coordinators
The exchange is open to students in all engineering
disciplines, The EPFL Exchange Coordinator is Prof. R
R (Bob) Hudgins (E1-2525A, x2092), The Worldwide
Exchange Program Coordinator (also the Director of the
International Studies Option) is Dr.
Herb Ra tz in the Year 1 Undergrad
Office. Cindy Howe works with Dr.
Ratz and has a small library of
exchange information (CPH 1320E).
These are the first people you should
see once you decide to go. They will
be able to go over the important dates,
application forms, required signatures
and other such details, The basic
requirements arc an overall 70% aver-
age to date and some profid ney in
French, Th term(s) normally spent
abroad arc 3A and/or 38, All forms
should be processed by mid-April
and you should receive word from
the EPFL sometime in July.
Lausanne
Switzerland's fifth-largest city on the north shore of
Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) with about 150,OOJ inhabi-
tants. It offers alpine scenery, water sports, numerous
cafes and restaurants, a vibrant student life and weather
that will never get to 20 degress below, It is also the cen-
tre of the International Olympic Committee (t0C) and
the land's highest court, the Federal Tribunal.
EPFL
The ecole Polytechniquc Federale Lausanne is one of
two "technical" institutes in the country, the other being
in Zu.rich. The university is world renowned for the
quality of its professors and facilities, The campus lies
on the shore of Lac Leman and neighbours the Univer-
site de Lausanne (UNIL), resembling the UW-WLU
relationship (and male to female ratios, naturally), You
will likely find that university life in Europe is far more
relaxed and easy-going than at Waterloo,
School Year Sbucture
The winter term begins in late October and lasts until
the end of January, The summer term begins in mid-
March and runs until the end of June. An exam period
follows each semester, So for a full year exchange, plan
on being in Switzerland from mid-October to mid-July.
Residences
There are several university run residences, Once
accepted by the EPFL, you will be sent a residence
application. Student residence are the least expensive
accommodations and are a great way to meet people,
especially if you're going alone. All residences have
cooking facilities - that is, there are no residence run
meal plans like "Village il', All residences are on or
close to public transportation routes (biking may be a
good idea in the summer),
Costs
Switzerland lives up to its reputation as the world's
banking centre - it is the most expensive country in
Europe, often with good reason, One Swiss f r ~ is
roughly equivalent to one Canadian dollar at the going
rates, Expect to spend about 1000 Sfr, per month,
which will include, residence, food, small trips, outings
and other daily items. Others costs such as bigger trips,
textbooks and your plane fare will vary. Tuition is paid
atUW.
Money Arrangements
The most efficient way is to open a bank account at
the SBS branch on campus at the EPFL. You will get an
ATM card, which will allow you to withdraw funds
anywhere in Switzerland, You may also ask for an EC
(European Community) A TM card that will let you
make withdrawals in designated instant tellers around
Europe. You will also be able to withdraw funds on
your Canadian VISA account with your VISA credit
card. Make sure that your account in Canada is credit-
ed or you will have to pay daily interest
Course Equivalencies for Electrical Engineering
The list below has been compiled by several past
exchange students. There may be other courses that are
good. equivalents and it is possible that listed courses
are no longer suitable, StilL the idea of exchange is to
experience something different. In most cases, the
requirement is that courses you take overseas at least
strongly resemble the OW courses, After all, if you miss
some portion of a OW course, you will likely get materi-
al at the EPFL that UW students will not cover,
Lectures & Course Selection
A lecture is usually a two hour period once a week
per course, follOWed by an hour of tutorial, There is c:ii&-
tinction between theoretical and practical courses,
Some lecture rooms are equipped with all the modem
technology gadgets, from automatic sliding window
shades to full multimedia presentation equipment. Get
a uvret des CoUl'S from your department or from the
Service Acad.Enuque, which will list all the possible
courses offered each term. Each department has its
own course book and often the same course will be
offered by another department at a different time, This
gives you enough room to maneuver and fit all your
required courses in your schedule, EPFL students nor-
mally take as many as 10 courses per semester, while
exchange students would normally take 7 (including
the non-technical courses). Note that few courses have
integrated labs, You may be required to sign up for a
course one semester and its lab the next semester in
order to fulfill the UW lab content requirement
Profs
Here you will find a different style of teaching. At
first it may seem that the profs would prefer to keep
their distance from students but that is misleading. I
had nothing but great experiences with profs,
Approach faculty members politely (and they usually
realize you are an exchange student) and they will be
more than helpful Overall, I found the quality of lec-
tures and teaching at the EPFL superior to anything I've
seen before, You will understand why the EPFL is so
highly regarded and why it attracts professors and hon-
ouraries from around the world.
Computer Access & E-mail Account
Computers may be found everywhere around the
EPFL and are a good indication of the university's
resources, In the Mac rooms printing is free, All com-
puter rooms are access card controlled - your student
card bears an embedded chip, Email accounts are read-
ily available from your department - see the system
administrator, He will be able to tell you where to get
your access card activated,
Exams
If you think the lectures and profs are a far cry from
OW, wait and see the exams. Most of the exams are
oral ana count for 100% of your final grade, The format
is that you are usually given a problem and 20 minutes
or so to work on it Then you present your \vork on
paper or on the board and the professor asks you ques-
tions about this problem, or about any other aspect of
the course. In most cases, profs will be accommodating
and help out students by giving hints. You must be
able to show that you understand the main points of the
course - be sure that the profs will quickly see whether
you did some work in the course. This exam format
can be stressful. However, I found that I usually did
extremely well. There is nothing that motivates better
to study than the idea of going up against the prof,
rather than against a piece of blank paper.
- Important-
Students who are looking to spend only one term
abroad must note that some courses run over both
terms. Exams will be officially scheduled for the end of
the 2nd term, covering the entire course. Hence you
may have to arrange your own exam with the professor
and get a signed attestation of your final grade, which
you will then bring back to UW.
RON
Food & Entertainment
It is best to disCO,rer both th EPFL and Lausanne
yourself. The are numerou restaurants, pub and
cafes. The food is far uperior to anything you're used
to in orth America. You'll find a mixture of German.
French and Italian cuisine. Tryout fondue and raclette
(national Swiss dishes) on one of your trips. Th EPFL
cafe..restaurants have meal plans for lunch and diM r-
you may find it best to lunch on campus and then fend
for yourself afterwards There's a pub on campus (Le
Satellite) which offers nightly activities. Other clubs and
discos are spread around town. Movies denoted VO
(version originale) are in the original language with
French and German subtitles.
Sports & Travel
These may very well be the activities giving birth to
the concept of exchange. There are excellent ski resorts
near Lausanne - Partes du Soleil, Verbier, Gstaacl Les
Diablerets to name a few. Or you may wish to visit the
classier resorts which are a little further away - Cha-
ARRIOR
m nix, Zermcltt, t. Moritz. For some resorts lying on
borders you will need to y ur passport - imagine skiing
in Ital , France and S\vitzerland all in the same day.
Th very best skiing and a great way to meet people are
trips organized by the EPFL/UNrL sports centre. In the
off season, au can participate in a variety of leagues
and sports. If y u're planning on traveling, then get the
Internati nal tudent Identity Card (ISIC), a Youth Hos-
tel Card and possibly a Eurail or Europass. These will
get ou considerable discounts anywhere in Europe.
You can then use Switzerland as your base to explore
the urrounding countries and don't forget that
Switzerland itself has a lot to offer!
How to contact me - Guy Freidti 4B Elee Eng
You can find me on campus for ttl rest of this semester:
Tel: (519) 746-9807 email: gfriedeli!relectrieal
Or you may contact me at home:
Tel: (905) 707-Q875 email: gocompibm.net
One Step Closer to Sunshine
Bill Gray
4B Comp- Sun of a Bit!
Brenda Bouchette
3A Elec - Bad Ohmbres
W
e've received a lot of inquiries from inter-
ested people about the end of term trip to
Cuba, and it's looking to be the party of
the year! After examining the proposed timetable
for exams, and comparing it to the flight timetable,
we have chosen Thursday, April 24 as the departure
date for the trip. This will ensure that everyone is
finished exams before we leave, and will also give
most people a few days to take care of their affairs
(ie. moving) before we take off to party in the sun.
There is a catch, however. Our travel agent (Thomas
Cook) has informed us that there are only 22 seats left
on that flight as of January 29. This means that we
have to act FAST if we want to get a group going.
Which is why we are starting a sign-up list for the trip.
If you are interested in being on that list, then see either
of us (Brenda or Bill) and give us your information
(name, e-mail and phone number). The list will be
formed on a first come first serve basis. I wish I could
guarantee that everyone on the list will be able to go,
but the exact number will depend on when we finalize
the list and book the package.
Once the list has finalized, we will then come looking
for a $200 deposit. This will be given directly to the
travel agent and will guarantee your place in the pack-
age. Look for this to happen around the end of Febru-
ary. Final prices won't be known till the package is
booked. The total price tag will be at most $850, and
may be less, depending on what happens with group
discoW1ts, which will be distributed evenly.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-
mail either of us (wvgray@elecom2 or bjboucheelec-
trieal), or just stop us in the halls and pester us until we
answer all your questions.
Psst ... hey engineer,
want a good deal? .
Then come to
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s
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268 PhlHlp St. Watertoo 884 - 6606
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RON ARRIOR
If a Labourer in a Plantation Cries Out and No One Is
Around Do They Make a Sound?
Anonymous submission
TI
ere once was a very large and highly
renowned plantation. The plantation had
many departments. One that was well known
was the department of cotton ginning. The cotton
ginning department was recognized across the
nation and was acclaimed by such magazines as Old
MacDonalds Farms. The MacDonalds' 'Encom-
passing, IJluminating, Expertly Inquiring, Observa-
tional' survey, commonly referred to as the E-I-E-I-O
poll, had catalogued high respect for the department
on several occasions. It had been noted that people
here were clucking over the department, people
there were doing the same. Tn fact one surveyor was
quoted as saying, "[It was like] here a cluck, there a
cluck, everywhere I turned - a cluck, duck." Very
high praise indeed!
Few people new the hardships of working on the
plantation better then the cotton-ginneers themselves.
Every now and then the cotton-ginneers needed to
regain their sanity and would take a much needed, and
arguably deserved, couple hour break One favoured
escapade was skiing. Unfortunately, one day, when
several cotton-ginneers were walking to the ski slopes,
an elderly lady had mistaken them for a motor cycle
gang. Since, in the lady's mind, they were a motor cycle
gang, they must have been kidnapping and torturing
several store owners whose establishments they had
undoubtedly just plundered.
The police were called in and had taken the surprised
cotton-ginneers into custody. The fact that there were
no telltale marks of a motor cycle gang (no motorcycles)
had stumped the police, but not as much as the infor-
mation that no stores or store owners had been touched
by wrongdoing in any way, least of all by the hand of
the aspiring (to be professional) cotton-ginneers. The
cotton-ginneers were recognized and released; but who
likes those sweaty, smelly, hardworking plantation
laborers. Cotton-gmneers all are the travesty of town
folk, and after all they were wearing masks and carry-
ing pointed sticks (ski poles). The police thought it was
only necessary that the Queen of cotton ginning be noti-
fied that the cotton-ginneers had been detained for
doing nothing wrong at all.
The mere mention of the 'Queen' made any cotton-
ginneers stomach quiver. This was in part due to the
Queen's very narrow view of the plantation and its
laborers. The Queen believed a plantation and laborers
could be run only one way - the severe way. An exam-
ple: the Queen found out that the cotton-ginneers
whose cotton was used for wire insulation were spend-
ing some of there own 'free' time regaining sanity by
playing rrunbles. 'The insolence of those insulating cot-
ton-ginneers," was the thought - then the Queen raged
in delirium, "SANITY, WHO NEEDS SANITY!!!" The
Queen of cotton ginning
FEATURE
of the
MONTH
had the rrunbles confiscat-
ed and chose to ignore the
pleas of the cotton-gin-
neers. It was this way that
the Queen had become
almost as infamous as the
plantation was famous.
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Upon receipt of the
news that the cotton-gin-
neers had been detained
for nothing done wrong
the Queen became truly
thankful for a job well
done. "Wearing masks
and carrying pointed
sticks, what kind of skier
could do such a thing!"
Oh the Queen was rabid
with fury, "I shall dictate
what a cotton-ginneer
................. --....... looks like and confiscate
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their property!" From that
point on no cotton-ginneer
could wear a mask or carry
the tools of their avocation
or occupation There was
an uproar, the Queen
ignored it, the Queen had
become quite good at
sloughing off the cotton-
ginneers. A neat trick of
the Queen's was always
hiding so that it was easier
to ignore cotton-ginneers,
not to mention the stink
they raise.
Some of the laborers withheld their machine upgrade
funds in hopes of catching the Queen's attention. But
what did the Queen care if the cotton-gi.nneers didn't
improve their equipment, it only furthered the separa-
tion between the different types of cotton-ginneers and
made more work - which meant less fun.
Besides, the Queen had to plan the disruption of next
years new recruits activities, what was that week, Oh
yeah "fresh week". The current bonding of the new
recruits, men and women alike, had to be stopped.
Men and women, "Hah," thought the Queen. Just
because they are legally adults doesn't make them men
and women. 'Til make their decisions for them," the
Queen cackled with pleasure. Fresh week was 'too fun'
anyway and bonds that are never made do not need to
be broken - all the easier to keep the cotton-ginneers
divided, conquered and generally unbalanced.
Which brings us to the generally balanced, general
cotton-ginneers. It was said that the cotton of the gener-
al cotton-ginneers' was used for generally everything,
but no one really knew for sure. In fact, there was dif-
ferent degrees of not knowing. It was not even certain
whether or not the general cotton-ginneers knew. They
were certain though, certain that they did not know;
they 'not knew' the most, and they knew it. They were
expert in not knowing; expert in the unknown. They
specialized in the W1discovered. They professed the
unexplored. They were connoisseurs of the uninvesti-
gated. They were quite obscure.
Obscure enough to hide the fact, from the Queen, that
they played Jacks with superballs. Their being so incon-
spicuous was conspicuous enough to unravel the wits
of the wire-wrap cotton-ginneers. These ginneers were
bent and went straight to the Queen. But who could
blame the wired cotton-ginneers, after-all, not so long
ago they had lost their marbles at the hands of the
Queen. So what could they do besides putting the Jacks
and balls of the general cotton-ginneers in the Queens
hands. A most uncomfortable situation.
As the minutes past the Queen's heart shrank to sizes
smaller then a snakes heart, smaller then a roaches
heart, smaller then any dictators heart before. Smaller
even than the Grinch's (before he stole Ou'istmas). It
reached sizes smaller then can easily be seen - before it
went speeding around the bend towards smaller then
that indescribable infinitesimal (as the general cotton-
ginneers could attest and would describe) - which
meant that it blinked out altogether, which made any
hopes for a heart attack impossible; a heart not there is
hard to attack with pleas and appeals.
The Queens god complex grew as that heart shrank.
Interesting in itself since the word on the street is that
god (or the equivalent) has a fairly large heart. A cot-
ton-ginneer caught having fun looks bad for the planta-
tion mused the confused Queen ... "Why can't they see
it. Are they all crackpots?" And to make sure, the
Queen decreed that any cotton-ginneer caught having
fun would be placed directly in hell, which as it turned
out was not a far cry up the river from the plantation.
How does the story end, well that is left to the general
cotton-ginneers. The moral of the story, though. is: A
Queens job is no ftm and games.
We were just playin'
W
en I was in school years ago, I lived in a room
with three other rornrrunates. We were all talk-
ing and jumping around one night after we
were supposed to be sleeping.
Dave the housemaster supervisor guy came in and
said, ''What's goingoninhere?"
We all froze and looked at the door. I thought it was a
rhetorical question but my room mate Ian just smiled and
answered his question.
'We were just ... uh playin'."
At the time the rest of us joked about it because it was
so crazy. Now that I think about it, it's pretty smart.
They're quite all right word to live by sometimes. Now,
whenever I don't know what to say I'm doing I try to say,
'Tm just. .. uh playin'."
morning last week I was in EL 101 for a Bridg-
.1 ing the Gap lecture. A short man in a striped business
shirt a crumpled red tie and khaki pants stood at the front
to address the crowd of people.
larry Smith was talking on "Engineers as Free Agents
Making your career your enterprise." So off he talked at a
high speed as usual.
He was talking about how your employers do not have
your best interests in mind just theirs. Your professors
don't either. You must have your own interests to have a
unique combination of skills. Streams of rhetorical ques-
tions were hurled at us with no one answering, so I decid-
edlwould.
" ... Do not abdicate your interests to your employer. Do
not abdicate your interests to your professor. Do you real-
ly want to be my clones?"
"No," I yelled quickly so excited that I got a chance to
answer the question.
Everyone burst out laughing, I was so happy. It was all
right, yeah. People bugged me about it later, but you
know what? I was right.
D
d you ever here the story of King Midas? Most pe0-
ple know the part of the story where he wishes that
all he touched became gold. Just as known is how much of
a bad situation this became. Following events are less
popular though.
King Midas being in a bad state pleaded that the gods
reverse his ironic condition. Never doing something for
nothing, the gods marked the king with a badge of shame.
Midas' golden touch was gone but to show his foolishness
he had two long hairy donkey ears. Ears of an ass, he had.
Fully ernbarrased by this, as many one would, he hid
ears under a large kingly crown. The crown sat on his
every moment of night and day save for when he
his hair cut.
Only two people knew this secret then, King Midas and
hairstylist or barber as they are often called.
The barber being human as most are had great difficul-
ty keeping this secret. Every four weeks after the Thurs-
day afternoon royal appointment he ran home afraid he
would burst and tell the secret to everyonc.
One time he couldn't stand it an longer. He ran out to the
garden. and Dug a d hole. Into the hole h yelled. "King
i tida has donke ears." Dirt flew as the barber covered up
the secret.
I think that that's like ('mail or telephone answering
madlin ,'you kn w you ne\'('! know if someone's going to
dig up lOur message or just let it sit and rot. It's too bad
somepeopl d n'tgardenmoreoften
1\ A'any years ago 1 read a book tin th' future. Th two
1 V!main advances they talked aboul were hyperspatiaJ
tra el and long range mental communi ation.
So there was this bo who as part of an arch logical
expedition was b:a elling hyperspatially across the universe
to tudy a site of.highly advanced but long disappeared
aliens.
This boy had a twin sister who was physically disabled
but had the special gift of long range mental communication.
You see only special people could utilize these new brain-
wave telephones. These people had special mental powers
and the boy's sister was on of them.
He thought it interesting that she talked about him as
though he had the disability by not having mental powers.
The Boy (Nervin, or something) goes through many
adventures as the expedition finds clues and new things
about the ancient alien civilization of (let's say) the Runyas.
Some notable events on his adventures is an encounter
with. a rude long-range-mental-comunications operator lady
who is not nice to him and rude when he finds some archeo-
logical artifacts. You may now think that i stressed the part
about the rude mental communicator lady too much, but it
comes into play later.
So as the group tracks down the home planet of the Run-
yas and explores the surface they find some long range men-
tal communication enhancers that anyone can use.
So Nervin straps on the enhancer and mentally flies across
a billion years. He meets the lady that was so rude to him
but he sees her differ<.>ntIy and lxalltiful hf><'auS(' he h(,f
mind clnd lIw fl'ason ,1ris how h . lil "'i. PI illt' flll'tlwr
ba k to pl<1'1el (.1I'lll Iw finds ,1nd ("mhl'tll 'S his sbll'" I\'"IL,:
ing t\1.1t 11(' lruly h,' i lh(' gn'<1k'" ,md Wl f"Jt'lt)
black
A Iso for theN'of you who art' n,'(lJing this, I (lnd Mdani('
rtI Iammond ill'\.' SllJ.X>rllug 'S for Orimt.ltion WI. 'k 1997.
We will reqllire your frosh I(,<ldl'r applk,1liol1s lalt'r this
month.
"What do you do in th<' nwantim ?" YOll a'lk.jusl play.
That's what were doing. W(,'n' just pinyin'
If this writing were
not here this space
would be blank
The Depth of Darkness
Chris Trudeau
4B Comp - Sun of a Bit!
A cold chill stabbed through my bon while alternating images of pitch and shearing
brightness flashed rapidly before my eyes. I shuddered without feeling it - yet some-
how I was aware that the invol untary spasm was a reflex reaction to something ethereal.
The quick progression of images settled into a foggy haze. I blinked protectively, like
instinctively flinching just before a bolt of Lightning strikes. It started far away, happy
springtime children's voices carried lightly on a gentle breeze. A rush of sound inundat-
ed my senses, the kind of sound you can actually see. The breeze gathered momentum
until the voices became a gale force wind of tortured cries. Whirling visions of murk
accompanied the deafening tumult, and it brought with it the reeking stench and decay
of a thousand battle fields. I passed out.
I awoke to wondrous colours dissipating into a monotonous gray. The sounds and
smells were still quite evident, except it was now tolerable. Tolerable because the shock
had subsided, not the sensation. In fact, it had grown worse. Worse because the over-
load was accompanied by a new found realization, a new found fear, an all encompass-
ingdread.
The air was cold and damp, an atmosphere befitting a small cave. My eyes adjusted to
the grim darkness and I peered around. I was underground. There was no discernible
light source, but it was no longer absolute night The walls of an alcove were just a few
paces away, yet it was hard to see exactly where they were. The sides of my enclosure
shimmered, never staying still, a gelatinous quiver disturbed their solidity. I approached
the intangtble limits of my new domain to investigate. I am sure the wall was there, but I
never saw it. The boundary that I could see was like that of a freshly decaying body.
Slithering. Shifting. Multitudes of carrion insects contesting for the succulent, life sus-
taining d e ~ crawled over one another obscuring what was probably a rugged stone
surface. The shudder returned. This time I felt it quite distinctly. My skin felt as if it
were crawling. I backed away from the living barrier bringing my own slithering death
shroud.
Brushing busily at the uninvited guests, I attempted to adjust to my surroundings. A
section of the alcove was darker and a barely detectable amount of heat perrnea ted from
that depth. I drew closer and realized it was a passage. Wanting to avoid the detestable
limits of my confine, I ventured forward, steered toward the black sensory void.
I walked. Pointing into the gloom, I walked. Time did not seem to matter. I walked.
Occasionally I stumbled, on what I dare not think, but mostly I walked. I swallowed,
realizing a thirst suiting a desert. My throat scratched protesting the dryness. I paused
momentarily almost contemplating leaning on the wall of the cavern, but a vivid flash-
back countered that urge. The air had changed. Not suddenly. Only noticing it was
abrupt The change from damp and cold to hot and dry had been so gradual that it was
worth ignoring. I swallowed again. The pressure in my ears changed, and I heard the
pop reminiscent of elevator rides in tall buildings and the exhilarating descent of an aero-
plane. I walked.
My thoughts ,:\,andered. I walked. I found myself reviewing my life. What had lead
me to this point? Where was this point? I shrugged off the introspection and said a short
prayer for this dismal dream to end shortly. I walked.
A sudden dull, muted, deep thunder of a noise resounded, reverberating off the walls
of my passage. The noise of a mortuary vault closing, the final sound for the dead. A
redundant death knell, signifying the end. I wondered at the source of the sound, and I
walked.
A new scent of stagnating water occupied my thoughts. A smell which was welcome,
even in its unpleasantness. It was a change, and something else to dwell on while walk-
ing. A sensation of futility ravished my soul. Where was I? I walked. The smell became
stronger, now a stale taste of putrefaction. My feet touched a moist ooze. A lantern lit of
its own accord. I was blinded.
Once my eyes recovered, I grinned. The light from the meagre lantern was barely
enough to see two paces in front I had become so accustomed to the lack of light that a
shaded candle would have hurt my eyes. The lantern was mounted on the end of a
pole. The pole was sticking up from the muddy bank of a river. Tied to the pole was, for
want of a better word that did not glamorize this craft so, a makeshift raft. The meagre
vessel held my weight, and I used the pole to push along the bottom. The river was not
deep, and their was no current, it could have been easily swam. I was thankful for the
raft none the less. Whatever energy had allowed me to walk for so long dissipated.
Pushing my weight on this raft was difficult work. The intense heat of the air combined
with the thick muck on the bottom of the river made the exercise most unpleasant My
anns ached. Just as I was about to stop and take a break the dim lantern light revealed
the shore. I stepped off the raft onto solid ground. It dawned on me that this journey
was predetermined as I watched the boat sink into the stench of the river. Without mak-
ing the choice to go forward, I walked
A rough hewn archway with a heavy wooden door was in the distance. As I walked
toward it, it opened of its own volition Strange how something that made so much
noise closing could open as if it were not even solid. I walked. It grew, a trick of perspec-
tive as I shortened the distance between myself and the archway. I tried to stop. I
walked. I calmly walked. This predetennined journey ended with the door. I walked.
The door grew. An intense heat filled the passageway. I walked. A sense of regret was
triggered by my final understanding. I wish my earlier prayer had been for something
more substantial. Despair was final as I read the inscription above the door:
I am the way into the doleful dty,
I am the way into eternal grief,
I am the way to a forsaken race.
Justice it was that moved my great creator;
Divine omnipotence created me,
And highest wisdom joined with primal love,
Before me nothing but eternal things
were made, and I shall last etemally.
Abandon every hope, all ye who enter here.
Do you think people are curious?
I really am quite serious
No matter where I look
Watching television or reading a book
They continue what they're doing
There's simply no fooling
The Conclusion I find
Regardless of state of mind
Is that people always tend
To read things to the end.
Zhan Huan Zhou
Darkness
Emptiness
The stars are vague
The moon has vanished
Bonny Chan
4B Mechanical
No trees, no ani.mals, no sounds
No Life!
Desolation challenged Gaia
Desolation conquered Gaia
The mother is dead
And so are her children
1 B Computer Engineering
Flying Circuits
ilR>. 1.)0 wet
on. tX8 ,..., ..

IN
3,11-,
e
"TAAT'S " VtR'f'


""'('''''1IC6
"So CPI'-i
.... y J(1"eo.asMOtJ
.qq11. .
- Diatribe
Irrigate my soul
Be aus' m heart is two (old
No smoking, this tok '
Anyways, it" all a fu king jok
"And would you do it dgain?"
"Only as a martyr my fri nd - "
To ov r om th mercy of pa in
and this elf pity insan .
1 an s c the bri ks from here,
Carry me to your wall.
Don't think for any span,
You can hurt m Jik' I can.
Rancid geist is burnt cocaine,
I'll die to try again.
Sweet 16
RON
Youth C allenge International
Bruce Davison
W
en I first heard about Youth Challenge
International (YO) I was intrigued. Here
was an organization that provided indi-
viduaJs with a unique opportunity to get involved in
Global Development. At first I was hesitant but as r
learned more, r realized that I had something to offer
the world through YCI and its "Four Challenge"
Approach. J decided to take on these four chal-
lenges and became a "Challenger".
The Four Challenges
As a Challenger, you must face four challenges: Selec-
tion, Preparation, the Project, and Community Action.
The Selection process is a rigorous onc. If you are
between the ages of 18 and 25 you can apply to become
a challenger by filling out a four page application arm
that includes a letter of reference from someone that
you know (t9 obtain an application fonn, please contact
the YO office ... the address can be found at the end of
this article). A short list of challengers are then selected
to participate in a "Selection Weekend" which tests the
resourcefulness, commitment and compatibility of
potential challengers. Generally speaking, if you are
committed enough to make it to the selection weekend
then you will likely be accepted for a Project.
Once you have completed the Selection Weekend,
you must prepare yourself for the actual project. To
start, each challenger is required to receive training in
Standard First Aid and Basic Saver CPR. The biggest
part of this challenge, however, is to fundraise $3750 to
help cover the cost of participating in the The
purpose of getting the challengers to fundraise the
money is threefold. First, this ensures that each chal-
lenger is fully committed to the project. Second, the
money raised covers 80% of the cost of the project
which makes the dependency of government funding
unimportant (this has the added effect of relieving the
tax payers of the burden of paying for the projects).
Finally, each challenger is given the opportunity to
grow within themselves by learning what it really
means to fundraise $3750.
The third challenge is the International Field Project
which consists of mediutl, environmental and construc-
tion projects. Each project is ten weeks in length. Living
conditions are meager and the work is demanding.
Canadian volunteers live and work with challengers
from other countries as well as members of the host
community. One important thing to consider is that the
projects are driven by local needs. Each project takes its
first steps when a local community or a segment of a
community identifies a need. For example, a communi-
ty organization in Costa Rica may realize that its local .
school needs repairing. As a result, they put together a
proposal and contact YO. Before deciding to under-
take a project, a Project Management Team from YCI
visits the project site and determines the suitability of
the proposed project. If the project is deemed to be
appropriate, the community then makes the necessary
preparations for the project such as purchasing materi-
als. The YO group leaders then visit the community to
establish a timeline and work plan, identify the
resources within the community and discuss, in more
detail, the expectations of everyone involved. In addi-

tion, the group leaders establish an emer-
gency evacuation plan for the safety of every-
one involved in the project After the group
leaders have visited the site, the community
prepares for the arrival of the challengers by
setting the groundwork for the project and
preparing appropriate accommodation.
When the challengers arrive, they complete
th majority of the labour alongside the pe0-
ple of the community. When the work is fin-
ished, the community establishes a mainte-
nance plan and evaluates the success of the
project.
UWSTUDfNT
8USII
CARDS
-------
=..--_ ..... -
60 canis .Iy $10.'6
The fourth challenge is to tum personal
experience into positive civic action. This is
done by donating 100 hours of time to a com-
munity service organization within your
own community.
My Personal Experiences
I myself am in the process of completing
the second challenge and my life has already
changed dramatically. The Selection Week-
end was one of the hardest things that I have
ever done in my life. It was physically very
demanding as well as mentally demanding.
I was forced to evaluate how I worked as a
part of a team and, as a group, and we were
thrown into all kinds of situations that forced
us to think about how we dealt with other
cultures. We also realized that we were
quick to make judgments about other cul-
tures based on our own cultural mannerisms.
Although this was difficult, I had a lot of fun
and made a lot of friends that I still keep up with today.
The preparation is probably the most diffirult part of
the project as it requires a great deal of detennination
and perseverance. Even if I was never to go to Costa
Rica, the lessons that I have learned in the past few
months will prove to be invaluable. First and foremost I
have learned that people are willing to help you achieve
your dreams if you give them the opportunity. The
support that I have received from all kinds of people
has been very uplifting. My family and friends have
rallied around me when 1 have needed their support
and I have received incredible support from people that
I hardly knew. It somehow seemed to be enough that I
was following a dream.
In the past six months 1 have faced many challenges.
One of the biggest challenges that I had was the loss of
, $300 through the organization of an event. This was a
devastating blow to my fundraising efforts because not
only had 1 lost money, I had lost one month of fundrais-
ing time. Nevertheless, I have continued with my
efforts and never gave up hope. Even in losing $300, I
have gained through the experiences that I would have
otherwise missed. In addition to the challenge of
fundraising, I began to learn.5panish which is the native
language of Costa Rica. Through this language I have
learned about a whole new world of which I was previ-
ously unaware.
I have faced a number of challenges but I still have
many challenges ahead of me. One of the requirements
is that I must be able to swim 500 metres unaided. For
as long as I can remember I have hated swimming and
fear still grips my soul when I get in the water. When I
was a child, I took swimrrUng lessons like most of the
other kids but I was a terrible swimmer. I kept at it
because 1 wanted to succeed but eventually my humili-
ation became so great that J decided to quit. I was get-
ting older and the kids that I started with were already
many badges ahead of me. When you're eleven years
old, it really sucks when all of the eight year oids in
your class are better swimmers than you. Well now I
need that skill and I don't have it. ll1anks to Youth
Challenge International I am facing a childhood fear
that I should have faced a decade ago and I have started
taking swimming lessons again (and this time, I'm
going to succeed).
I have gained a lot from my experiences with YCI
and I hope that I am able to use what I have learned for
the greater good of society both on the ten week project
and afterwards. If anyone has any questions about YO,
I would be more than happy to answer. If you are inter-
ested in helping me to achieve this dream of helping the
people of Costa Rica, my next fundraising event is on
Saturday, February 22 I have organized a 5 km walk-
athon around ring road and through Waterloo Park
My goal is to have 40 people walking with me on the
route. The first 40 people to raise $50 get a free T shirt
and you can get a pledge fonn by contacting me at the
phone number or email address below.
For more information or an application form, you can
get in touch with Youth Challenge International in a
number of ways:
Address: 11 5oho Street - Toronto, Ontario, M5f 1Z6
Telephone: (416)971-9846 or Fax: (416)971-6863
Email: info@yci.org
RON
The Calling of an Engineer
Steve till
Off Stream 4A Elec - Assault&Battery
reprillJeti from Winh!r 1996 Iron Warrior
n
as perusing a past issue of the IEEE Power
Engineering Review (don't ask me why, I guess I
ad way too much free time on my hands) when
I came across an article by the new IEEE prez., Wal-
lace S. Read. You see, unlike most of the people who
work for the IEEE, he is a Canadian. In fact he is a
Newfoundlander and he received his BE from Nova
Scotia Technical College (now TUNS). I found his
words concerning our chosen profession to be
inspiring and they helped to pass along to me a little
of the history of the engineering profession. I hope
his words will add a little inspiration into your life as
well, especially with the IRe so close by.
'1 consider our profession one of the oldest and great-
est professions. We are in the business of engineering. I
like to refer to it as the business of creating and building.
It is a very privileged role to play in our society. 0
other profession aspires to so great a task. Important as
the work of other professionals is, they are not the ones
designated to build; only engineers are. The medical
profession has a maintenance function. it is responsible
for our minds and bodies as long as we inhabit this
planet; the legal profession is a service and operates
mainly as a consequence of our weaknesses and n tour
strengths; the accounting profession is also a service as
an aid to the orderly reckoning of our activities; the
priesthood is dedicated to the maintenance of our spiri-
tual needs; and I could go on and on. Don't get me
wrong, all of these professions are important, all of
them are needed, but they are maintenance and service
functions.
You, the engineers, are the ones that will be creating
and building new facilities and devices for people's
enjoyment and comfort. This exclusive profession of
ours has numbered many great men and women in its
ranks. As an engineer you must accept the building
challenge with the same zeal that Irnhotep had in 2700
Be when h constructed th tep pyramid of Zoser, the
forerunner of th great pyramids along th Nil. You
mu t accept it 'with th feeling that General Meng Tien
xperienced in 215 Be, when h was ordered by his
emperor to build the Great Wall of China; and with the
exultation of Hiram when he was appointed Master
Builder of King Solomon' tempi in Jerusalem. You
stand side b sid with Michelangelo, the designer of St
Peters in Rom ; al ng ide Leonardo da Vinci, who
before h became famous as an artist and sculptor, was
a great 15th century military engineer; side by side with
Lin t and Mongel, who designed the Suez Canal for De
Lesseps, and the hundreds of thousands who have fol-
lowed in their footsteps. The calling of an engineer is a
noble one and I hope you will speak out in public on its
behalf every chance you get."
Wallace S. Read
It's Not About Food
Heather Calder
Student Issues Resource Centre Coordinator
Wa
y should you read this article? It's an
article about eating disorders, since this is
th end of1!ating Disorders Awareness
Week, after all . Well, I'll tell you why.
Eating disorders are not fun things, and they are not
pleasant to read about or think about. But it really is
time that we started talking about them. Eating disor-
ders are no longer an isolated problem; they are starting
to become almost epidemic. And you may be wonder-
ing why I would write this article in a newspaper tar-
geted at engineering students, the majority of which are
male. Don't eating disorders affect mostly women, you
are likely thinking.
Nope.
When you applied to UW to enter into civil, mechani-
cal, chemical, computer, electrical, systems desigr\ ge0-
logical, or environmental engineering, you knew that
there was a good reason to be part of this institution.
Because, as Dean Burns likes to tell all of you, you are
the best If you are anything like some of the engineer-
ing students I know (Mario excluded, of course), you
work hard to stay in the number one place. So you can
probably relate to the pressure to be the best.
Sometimes this pressure comes from your parents or
family and friends, and sometimes it can be a little too
difficult to take. You want to be the best, and that means
you want to be without failure or flaws. You want to be
perfect.
How does perfection apply to eating disorders? As
many of us are aware (even if we don't practice this
knowledge), perfection is almost impossible to achieve.
And if we keep getting the same grades, having the
same friends, achieving in almost every way at the
same level, we can only control certain things - specifi-
cally, what and how much we eat, and whether we
allow it to remain in our stomachs.
Or maybe we have spent our lives in loneliness, or in
depression, or unable to cope with our parents' divorce,
or being sexually abused, or have always felt as though
we weren't worth anything, or were never allowed to
express our emotions as young people, or had parents
who were controlling or abusive. These kinds of experi-
ences and emotions can be difficult to handle. Some-
times it is tempting to try to forget about them, or to
numb the pain somehow. Bulimics will tell you that
when they binge, it is like they are filling up an empty
p1ace inside. When they purge, the pain and ugly parts
of them disappear with the food. Anorex:i 1X'Com
obsessed with thinking about counting calori and
staying thin that they don't have tim to think about
anything else. Their problems take a back scat to their
eating disorder.
Are these ways of dealing with problems weakness-
es? That might be the first thing that com to your
mind - but it's not fair. Each of us has different ways of
dealing with things that bother us; some of us drink or
use drugs to forget or to relax; some of us use exercise;
some of us call a friend and talk about i.t; some of us go
to movies. These are all ways of coping with stresses.
It's just that some of them cause a lot less harm than
punishing our bodies by not eating or by purging. Both
men and women use eating disorders as coping mecha-
nisms. And maybe the worst part is the shame that
comes with having an eating disorder. Why would you
want to talk about it if everyone is going to think you
are weird, or weak, or making a big deal out of noth-
ing?
So why do we need to start talking about eating dis-
orders? In my mind it's because we almost invariably
know someone who has an eating disorder. And if you
don't think that's true, think about the number of pe0-
ple (mostly women) you know who are dieting or who
protest about eating another slice of pizza. Think about
the models that you like to look at, or want to look like.
Kate Moss has a Body Mass Index of 16 - and normal
is between 21-25. When you see her in a magazine she is
usually surrounded by (good-looking) men. Other
models appear in magazines in nice cars, or in power-
suits (so obviously they have successful and powerful
jobs), or 1aughing gaily while sitting in a man's lap.
Okay, I may sound bitter about that point, but you
and I have every right to be angry. I can never, no mat-
ter how attractive I am, look like that model And the
women that you find attractive in celluloid fonn will
never appear before you in real life. Many of them have
bel'l1 so airbrusll I cmd. s 'tdl( I c\l1J digitllly m..lnipu-
tatoo th t til 'y don't c en I 'SCmbll' tilt' 'J"'l,llll who
posed for th' picture . Ml'n Il.'nd to worry, bout rom
paring thctru' 'Iv '5 to th :. m'din imag's Il'SS (lftl'n
than do women. But mL>n an h lip fix that probk'l11 by
refusing to be attracted to anything thatllin't real, mal \
or female. We can all stop supporting th !SC industri ~
If I am already trying to c pc with som tr<\uma in
my life, can you imagine how difficult it would be to
look at those pictures? Don't yOll think that on some
I vel, 1 would leam that if only J was thin CI10ugh or
had enough muscle, I uJd be happy? That my prob-
lems would go away? I don't know if the answer to this
question is SO obvious.
Because, as comy as it may sound, all we all really
want to be is happy, no matter what it takes.
If you or a friend needs help with an eating disord r,
you can consult these resources for hlp:
http://www.something-fishy.com
http://icewall.vianet.on.ca/ pages/ colleen
expert@feds (for confidential infonnation and assis-
tance)
National Eating Disorders Information Centre 416-
340-4156.
Student Issues Resource Centre at ext 6331.
RON OR
The Celestine Prophecy - A Slightly Objective Review
or
Life Is Not A Multiple Choice Quiz
Bill Gray
4B Comp ~ Sun of a Bit!
l1
e Celestine Prophecy, by James Redfield, was
first published in March ]994, and became one
of the hottest selling books in America seem-
ingly overnight. Several hundred thousand books
were sold within the first few months, and it's
almost impossible to find a group of people where
no one has heard of the book. I first heard about the
book while traveling through Australia, as my
British traveling companions were completely
caught up in the hype.
r eventually received a copy of the book as a Christ-
mas present after returning to Canada. The $24 book is
about 250 pages long, with largish text. The book
expresses the vision of its author about the Earth slowly
moving towards a completely spiritual culture, through
the guise of an adventure story set in the rainforests of
Peru. The storyline has an ancient manuscript being
discovered which details nine insights into life which all
humans are predicted to grasp sequentially en route to
our spiritual transformation. The Peruvian govern-
ment, pressured by the church, is trying to suppress the
document as people from around the world try to find
out about the manuscript. The story is decently written,
and could gain some merit as an adventure story alone.
The insights themselves, however, are worth looking
at in their own right. The book presents these concepts
in a much more cohesive and interrelated maJUler, so if
any of this interests you, ] recommend reading the book
to get a better feel for what the author is trying to say. I
intend to examine each insight and try to see how it can
be easily interpreted into the standard view of life. I'm
not saying that these are correct interpretations, and
please don't blame me if you adapt the insights into
your life and get all messed up. If you have any con-
structive comments or questions, feel free to stop me in
thehaU.
Let's deal with each insight individually:
1) Life presents a number of occurrences usually clas-
sified as 'coincidences'. We must be aware of these
mysterious occurrences, and understand that some
other process is operating to cause them
2) We have been preoccupied for a long time with
working to establish a more comfortable style of sur-
vival, while forgetting that we still don't know what
we're surviving for. We must observe culture from the
perspective of a whole millennium, and begin to recon-
sider why we really are on earth.
3) We will realize the universe is comprised of one
dynamic energy, that can sustain us and respond to our
expectations. We will
also see that we have
been disconnected from
the larger source of this
energy, and thus feel
weak and insecure and
lacking. This energy can
also be projected onto
other things.
These insi ghts really
just set the stage for the
other insights. For this
discussion I am not
viewing these insights as
factual information, but
rather as a representation
of human interaction
with reality. This
dynamic energy can be
representational of any
one of a number of
human attributes, from
self-esteem to confidence.
If we accept that a high-
energy state is advanta-
geous to us, we can view
the rest of the insights in
terms of 'energy' and
If you're always on the go take us with you.
apply it to reality in any
way we see fit. The pro-
jection of energy comes
A pager from Bell Mobility is the easy and affordable
way to stay in the loop.
Bell Mobility
through the 'true appre-
ciation' of the object,
which isn't too far
fetched, as knowing you
are being actively appre-
dated leads to a general feeling of well-being in most
cases. The book goes on to explain how to view these
energy fields, only because that allows following
insights to be 'grasped' by the book's character more
quickly.
4) The only way to replenish our energy now is to
steal it from someone else. This is accomplished
through human conflict, where the dominating force
steals the weaker person's energy.
This would explain quite a bit about human interac-
tion. Whenever we deal with another person with
whom we are not sharing energy freely (i.e. someone
we care about) there is the nahrral tendency to domi-
nate. The winner of an heated debate will arguably feel
better (i.e. more energy) than the loser, who will feel
drained and dejected (i.e. less energy). I find the con-
cept of actively seeking out conflict somewhat question-
able, but admit that many people do engage in this
activity. Of course, we could argue that those of us who
don't do so have 'grasped' this concept and are work-
ing towards the sixth insight.
5) A new understanding of mystical consciousness
will appear, allowing us to receive energy from nature
instead of from human conflict. Eventually, we will
learn to tap this energy source at will.
Without a doubt, not all people in this world main-
tain their energy through conflict. If a person can keep
their energy up on their ~ a g<XXI representation is
that they are gaining this energy from some larger sup-
ply. Nature could be an analogy for volunteer work,
academic success, career success, hobbies, or anything
else that brings us a sense of well-being. Most people
will agree that if everyone stopped gaining energy
through conflict and gained it instead from some
renewable source life would generally be a better place.
6) Each of us operates according to a 'control drama',
developed during childhood. We must reinterpret our
family experiences from a spiritual point of view and
discover who we really are.
I found this to be one of the more interesting chapters
of the book. The author lists four basic control-drama
types: interrogator, aloof, intimidator and poor me.
Consider a random sampling of friends and see how
many of them fit into a specific, or a union of two of
these types. Notice also how the interrogator/aloof and
intimidator/poor me dramas form complementary
pairs. According to the author, one creates the other
during childh<XXI (i.e. a parent interrogator creates a
child aloof). The validity of the parental determination
of these control drama's is open to debate, but if you do
find yourself trapped in one of these dramas, that real-
ization is an important one, and the first step in reorga-
nizing the way you respond to others. Once you are
thin.king out your actions rather than acting out a
drama, you can start to examine what your life really
means and where you are heading. The 'life questions'
we must determine for ourselves are really just the
goals and directions we set for ourselves. The insight
goes on to mention that another person's control drama
can be disabled by not taking up the complementary
drama, which is our intuitive reaction With the control
drama disabled, we can then deal with the person
directly.
7) We muSt question how thoughts, dreams and
daydreams apply to our life questions. We must also
halt fear images as soon as they come, and will one ,vith
a good outcome.
No idea how to argue this one. Either you believe
that dreams are meaningful or not. If you can find
answers in your day-dreams, then they are helping you.
If you can't, then they aren't. Replacing bad images
with good ones is a useful technique in maintaining
confidence levels, however.
8 - a) Energy comes in both male and female fonns.
We must learn to gain our opposite-sex energy from
nature before gaining it from another person in order to
prevent energy struggles.
The crux of the insight details the necessity of draw-
ing this opposite-sex energy from nature before we start
to draw it from another person. If it comes solely from
another person, we cut ourselves off from the natural
energy. The relationship is now a dosed system, with
finite energy and it is inevitable that a confIjct will arise
as each party tries to maintain the elevated level of
opposite-sex energy. The result is an energy addiction,
RON
causing irrational behavior and ultimately spelling the
end of the relationship. I w n't nm\ent on this insight
much, but rather leaye it as an exerci..<;e for th reader to
view past (and eyen current) relation5hips in this light
and see hO\ .. , well the insight fits real life. Th advan-
tage to be gained from this knowledge is the early
detection and prevention of the nergy addiction (or
whate,'er real-world fonn it ,,,rill take on).
8 - b) Whenever people cross paths, there is alwa 'S a
message for us. We can help the other reyeal
this message by freely projecting our energy into them.
As in the fourth insight, the projccti n of energy can
easily be accepted or rejected. With I' gards to the
important messages available from everyone I meet, 1
just can't believe there are that many messag that are
important to me out there.
9) Once we grasp all these concepts, the world will be
a hunky-dory place to live in.
The author gets really out of hand here as he tries to
finish up the book I won't ruin the ending, but it does
offer a suggestion for the disappearance of the Mayan
civilization.
Well, there are the nine insights of The Celestine
Prophecy. Whi! I in no way believe that the world
actuall' perates in the manner described, I do find this
information a u:;efl.ll starting point in reevaluating how
th world actually does operate. If taken as a represen-
tation of human non, the energy-con ept is a
great tarting place to :xamine your interpersonal rela-
ti os, and even your lit> direction. Without a doubt,
some things in lifi make us feel good, and some things
make us k 1 bad. We all lose ight sometim of our
ultimate life g()als, and find ourselves acting in trange
in "plimble ways, Sum coincidences seem too ppor-
11m to be mere chance, ret how can the this concept of
pseudo-predestin ' fit with ow' current view of reality,
especially with pervasive causality ingrained into us by
our Enginl'Cring education?
Don't skim the article, mutter 'bullshit' and flip the
page. Consider how these insights can be interpreted
into your view of the world. Go to POETS. Have a SO.
Pond r wh OV is the mystery beer. Be aware of coin-
cidences and chance meetings a you go about your
weekend routine. Look for messages from people you
meet. Try to gain energy from the world around you,
and then share it freely with your friends.
FASS, You Say?
What's That?
Amy Green
FASS Participant and Mathie
T:
irty-five long years ago a rather enjoyable
tradition started. No, it wasn't tool worship, it
was FASS. Now, J'm sure you can all make up
some pretty interesting descriptions of what FASS
stands for, but the real version is Faculty, Alumni,
Staff and Students. So what you say, that doesn't tell
me a heck of a lot. Well, it means that every year, the
above mentioned types get together and write, pro-
duce, act, direct, sing, and dance in a comedy type
play that parodies anything and everything we can
get our hands on. For example, this year's theme is
1001 Arthurian Knights. So take everything you
know about the mediaeval times of our
planet, throw them together with jokes
about life on campus as well as every-
thing and everyone that affects that life,
and you've got FASS. The point of me
The FASS Details:
When : Feb 6 @ 8pm, 7 @ 7 and lOpm,
8@8pm
Where : Humanities Theatre
How much : $8 per person, $6 for certain size
groups.
TIckets can be obtained from the box office in.
telling you aU this garbage? To get you to come to
our marvelous show, of course! Now I realize you
will be reading this after the show opens, but you
should still have 3 choices of shows to go to.
Hagey Hall, which is just outside the theatre.
Remember $3.99/ dozen Wednesdays
589 Fairway Road S 150 University Ave
Kitchener 893-0855 Waterloo 888-0515
RON ARRIOR
Tight Little Butt
Chris Trudeau
4B Comp - Sun of a Bit!
K:
. d of sounds like a strange idea for a col-
umn, doesn't it? Tight little butt. But we
ust not underestimate just how important
tight little butt is. In fact I am currently developing a
theory that involves the karmic consideration of
tight little butt and its effect on
1) male/ female interaction
2) Watergate
3) The Ointon Administration
" If It)
'"
4) War in the Middle East
5) World Peace
Ok, so I am making the last four up, but (butt?)
would you keep reading if the article were nothing but
trite observations? Of course you would, you want to
know more about tight little butt! 'Now, please don't
misunderstand me. Simply because I am male does not
mean that this column is sexist. Tight little butt is not a
one way thing. Women like men with tight little butts
just as much as men like women with tight little butts.
And hey, this is the nineties, men can like men with
tight little butt, and women can like women with tight
little butt. So you sec, tight little butt is definitely a uni-
versal commonality. An issue where we all have a sim-
ilar opinion, a point of agreement that the world can
see .. . ok maybe there is something to the fact that World
Peace is centred. around tight little butt.
Why is tight little butt so important? Well, a tight lit-
tle butt is essential, not so much because of the way it is,
but because of the way it isn't. You see, the alternative
to tight little butt, is fat sloppy ass. Few people like fat
sloppy ass. Granted there are some of you who are out
there, and there arc also varying degrees of what is con-
sidered. tight little butt, but none-the-less tight little butt
makes the world go round.
This leads us, as engineers, to want to measure tight
little butt. There are several theories on this. First, do
not ~ just any random passer-byer and ask to
measure their tight little butt. In most cases this will get
you slapped (if you are male) or proposed to (if you are
female). Second, definitely do not attempt to measure a
tight little butt without permission ... this relates back to
the point about the Ointon Administration. Finally we
need a decent method. of determining tight little butt
measurements. The boring, obvious, and direct
method. would be strict measurement There is more
than just size involved in tight little butt, there is also the
consideration of shape. After much research (years,
upon years of observing tight little butt, it was hard
work but worth it) I have determined that tight little
butt should. be measured on a logarithmic scale. Much
like the Richter scale, the higher the better, by powers of
ten. Our scale needs a more fitting name though. liB
scale is a little too obvious, how about the Beavis scale?
Nobody seems to know more about Butt than Beavis,
or maybe this is a too nineties centred concept. Some-
thing more appealing to the masses might be appropri-
ate. How about the Uranus scale of liB. I like it
Now on to the karmic interaction of human relation-
ships, and of course tight little butt. I have noticed that
the amount of tight little butt which is near by an indi-
vidual is often directly correlated to the tightness of that
same individuals little butt. In layman terms this means
if you have tight little butt, then you get tight little butt.
Of course this also applies in the converse: fat sloppy
ass often attracts fat sloppy ass. I am starting to think
that tight little butt is one of the indivisible particles of
the universe. So the list now goes: muons, leptons, and
tight little butt.
While on the subject of universes I have the opportu-
nity to explain the universal theory of tight little butt.
Tight little butt accounts for a large portion of the
known and unknown universe. What do you think a
black hole is? Simply put a tight little butt that got so
tight and little it collapsed upon itself creating a quan-
tum disturbance in the space-time continuum, leaving a
pit of gravity. For those of you who demand measured
accuracy, the black hole would be an infinity on the
Uranus scale of TLB. Likewise, scientists have been
looking for dark matter for many years now, but to no
avail. This is of course because they are looking in the
wrong places. Yes ladies and gentlemen, tight little butt
IS dark matter!
Now to bring you down, but it must also be pointed
out that tight little butt can be a bad thing. TLBA (tight
little butts anonymous) is working hard to cure people
of tight little butt addiction There of course is also the
difficulties that certain "religious" leaders have with
young tight little butt. We must know when to cross
the line. I mean where to draw the line.
Tight little butt directly influences almost every single
one of you, and your everyday lives. Not having
enough tight little butt around you tends to put you in a
foul mood and you do cruel things. Tight little butt in
aboo.da:nce puts you in a good mood, and you spread
cheer. Richard Nixon never had enough tight little butt
around him, and the result was Watergate. likewise,
tight little butt is not very visible in the Middle East, and
peace there is difficult. Tight little butt is important.
Please keep these simple concepts of tight little butt in
mind. Try to work on your own butt, the tighter the
better. Spread tight little butt as much as you can ...
maybe I should rephrase that In case you were curi-
ous, I recently bought stock in "Buru; of Steel". Be
happy, you have read all the way through an article
from a fourth year E&CE student and. it had nothing to
do with a pool table! Well, ok maybe it did, tight little
butt effects everything. Now remember: When the
moon hangs low, crack a smile!
Great, I'm lost!
Dylan Luhowy
2A Enviro Civ - Toxic Envengers
a;,
. d you ever have one of those days that
m pointless? I spent most of today wan-
dering around campus, not exactly sure
what I was doing. Occasionally, I would run into
someone I know and they'd ask me what I was
doing. "Ub, nothing," I would reply. They'd look
at me funny and say, "Oh. Well, talk to you later, I
guess." I'd then continue walking, even though I
wasn't going anywhere. This kind of thing happens
to me a lot at the beginning of a term, before I
become reacquainted with my surroundings, and
before there are lots of assignments to do and
midterms to write.
I should be heading into 3A by now, but I'm in 2A.
Why? Well, I took a year of my life to try to extinguish
some of my wanderlust. I packed my bags, and bought
a bus ticket to Thunder Bay. It seemed like a good,
pointless place to go. In my experience, places that
sound unremarkable often contain unique and
unspoiled treasures.
Thunder Bay is one of the exceptions to this rule. It
was cold, boring, and expensive. You want $550 per
month for a musty, main floor bachelor apartment? I
don't think so.
But that's not the point I made an equally impulsive
decision to go to Winnipeg. I thought the job prospects
would be better, since it's a moderately large city. They
were. Besides landing a dead-end job as a furniture
assembler, I met the woman of my dreams. Fortunate-
ly, I was also the man of her dreams. Go figure.
r never would've thought to go 2,(XX) kilometres to
meet a girl; I like to think I'm not that desperate (all
right, I was). But if I hadn't been wandering, I never
would have met her. l3eing lost can be the best thing
that ever happened to you.
My parents met at a bus stop. My dad was late for
class because he slept in, or he got his afro caught in a
ceiling fan, I can't remember. My mom was late
because she was late for everything. They had each
spent the night at a mend's, so it was not their usual
bus stop. If they hadn't been late, I wouldn't be here
today. Think of how rough that would be for you? I
call this the "late is great" theory, as a corollary of the
"lost is great" theory, which doesn't rhyme.
You can't be lost your whole life, though. You have
to have some sort of direction. even if it's a vague one.
Some people plan out their lives to the minutest detail,
which is dull and takes up time you could actually use
to do something. But many more are lost most of the
time, so they need to be looked after. I met quite a few
at that furniture plant in Winnipeg. But don't be afraid
to be consumed by your natural instinct to explore, at
least once in a while. It can tum a dull life into some-
thing you never could have imagined.

oc Ne ws
Bett know too 0
pres",spew
that she can help
spread the word.
Also, if ou make a
poster and say "more
info in the Orifice",

we're five weeks into the tenn and we're all

till alive. That's a good thing. Lots of stuff is
appening, so pay attention. Let's start with
Frosh Week. The SuperHuges and HeadCom have
been selected!! Congratulations to Ryan Chen-
Wing and Melanie Hammond, the two Super-
Huges, and to Andre Brisson, our HeadCom! I
know that these three along with all the Huges,
EdCom, and Big Brothers and Sisters will do an
excellent job putting on a great Frosh Week for the
Oass of 2002. That's really scary - 2002 sounds so
far away! Anyway, speaking of Huges, EdCom and
Big Brothers and Sisters, applications for these posi-
tions will be available in late February and will be
due in early March. Pay attention if you're interest-
ed in participating. Frosh Week is a great time for
both the frosh and the leaders, so I would highly
recommend getting involved! If you have any
questions or comments or opinions about frosh
week, e-mail Ryan, Melanie or Andre, or e-mail me
(eng..prez@novice) and I will forward it onfor you.
If you've been. by the Orifice in the last couple of
weeks, then maybe you've noticed a sign indicating
our hours on it Just to be clear, the Orifice is open for
business from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm Monday through Fri-

out". That's why we have P.O.E.T 5. The Orifice is an
office and not a social gathering spot. Please remember
this the next time you find yourself in the Orifice with
nothing to do but chat. After 3:30, the Orifice is not
open for business. Therefore, please do not find your-
self there. If you need to use the Orifice for Engineering
Society purposes (i.e. for your directorship, or some-
thing for your class, etc.) then that can be done AFfER
4:00. Between 3:30 and 4:00 NO ONE except Exec are
to be in the Orifice. This is so that we can do some
"end-of-the-day" things that we need quiet for. If you
need to use the Orifice outside of business hours for
Engineering Society business, you can arrange to bor-
row a key for an evening or a weekend and use it then.
Please do not come by the Orifice banging on the door
at 4:15 in the evening because you forgot to photocopy
an assignment due at 4:30. Remember that your forget-
fulness or procrastination does not constitute an emer-
gency on our part.
So now think if you've put an announcement of
some kind in the Oass mailboxes lately? Have you?
Well if you have, then you've probably forgot one
more mailbox - Betty's. Lot's of people call up when
we're not around asking about events and other Eng-
Soc stuff, and if you don't provide Betty with the infor-
mation about your event or then she
can't answer anyone else's questions. So next time you
want to infonn everyone about something, make sure
then make sure that there is more info in the Orifice. It
isn't very helpful for someone to come to the Orifice
asking about something and no one knowing the
answers. Remember, better communication will lead
to better participation!
Last week, the four of us a a son, Kim, Fabes and
myself) went up and had a lovely visit with the Dean,
Dr. Burns. In our discussion Dr. Bums made light of a
very serious issue of which I need your help with. The
Ontario Govemrnent is about to (or maybe already has
- this was written on Feb 1st) announce how much
money Universities are going to get to go towards stu-
dent tuition. With this announce-
ment, the University of Waterloo,
among other schools, are once
again considering the possibility
of differential tuition fees. (You
may remember this came up
about a year ago.) Differential
tuition fees are basically making
students in different programs
pay different amounts for their
education. There are several rea-
sons behind this, but two come to
mind. One reason is that differ-
ent programs cost different
amounts of money to run. For
instance, a medical program costs
far more than a computer science program to run. The
other main reason is that, using the above example,
medical students should pay more for tuition than
computer science students since, on average, doctors
make more money than computer scientists. The rea-
son this is of great concern is because on this campus,
on average Engineers make more money coming out
of school than other p.rograms, with the possibl excep-
tion of Optometry. Therefore, if the idea of differential
tuition fees gets approved, Engineering tuition would
be higher than, for example, Arts tuition. This is based
on several facts, one of which would be that an Engi-
neer on average is likely to make more money right
after graduation than an Arts student. Another reason
would be that the Engineering program costs more
money to run than the Arts program. There is a fair
amount of controversy over this issue on campus, and I
want to know what you think about it. There's going
to be an open forum held sometime in the near future
(next week or two) to discuss the issue. Dean Bums
presented at this past Council Meeting, and I would
like to make sure that when Dean Burns goes and dis-
cusses the issue with other Deans and the Vice-Presi-
dents and President of the University, that he goes
equipped with the knowledge of how the Engineering
students in general feel about the issue. Please keep
your eyes on the 100kout for announcements about the
forum and come to it. It is important that you have
our say, since this is your tuiti n that would be affect-
ed.
While on the topic of having your say, there is an
upcoming referendum being held with regards to Fed.
Hall. Basically there are three opti ns here. The first is
to leave things as th y are. This would mean that we
would all still pay our $7.50 a term for Fed Hall and it
would stay the same. Th second option is to add a
$5.00 fee to the Fall 97, Winter 98 and Spring 98 terms
ONLY to improve the place. Thi means that AT
MOST you would ha e to pay an extra $15 if you hap-
pen to be here all three terms. Most students will nly
pay an extra $10. If this option is taken, roughly
$15O,cm will be generated and all put into renovating
and upgrading the place, som thing that hasn't been
done since th bar opened in the mid 1980s. The third
option is to just shut the place down. ntis would mean
that student
will no longer
be allowed to
use the place -
the University
would take it
over. r would
like to make
the point here
that SHUT-
TING FED
HAL L
OOWNWILL
NOT STOP
THE $7.50
P/r1IObyAJexMaImI FEE ON
YOUR FEE STATEMENT. The $7.50 is NOT a user fee
- it is used to payoff the mortgage signed in 1983.
Regardless of the outcome of the referendtl.Il\ every
student will continue to pay $7.50 a term until roughly
2005. So why would you want to pay for a bar you
can't even use? In the fiS("oll y \ir 19% 1m, Fe I H,111 i.
lTh'lking PR! PIT f,)r the Ci, t time sinCt' 92-93, so WIlY
SHUT IT OOWN? When YOll ol\..' on Fl.+> 11 clOd 12,
pi ., an informed vote.
If you hav an OSAP loan, then th 'n.,'S.l grc.lt nt'W
way for you to get info about your loan. OSAP }'\ilS en
atcd a 900 number and a w?b page so ltklt YOlI can g'l
instant, up-ro-th minutl.' infonnalion aix)ut your IO<ln.
To gel info, YOll can call1-900-565-0SAP, or surf to
http://0&1p.gov.on.ca. lhis is great n 'ws for anyone
who knows the lineups at Nc xilcs Hall when forms
come in,
'That's about all for now. If you n!Cd to ask me any
questions about th above, or just about life in general,
don't forget you can alway c-mail me at
eng.J>rez@novice. It's about the onJy guaranteed way
of getting a hold of m these day . Nonetheless, keep
on active and remember to pay attention - things are
changing.

H
ello Boys and Girls. It's the second JW issue
and I need to write a spew. As exec you tend
to forget about these things until the last
minute. Oops! So now I have to figure out what T
should be telling you. There is actually a lot going on
right now. In fact, there are currently five people from
Waterloo at a conference. This would b the ESS-
COlympics. They are there representing Waterloo to
the rest of Ontario. J didn't go this time because I have
way too much school work to do. However, when
they get back they will be putting together articles for
the IW. Look forward to reading them soon.
What else Cc;'1n 1 tell. Ah, Bridging the Gap. The first
Bridging the Gap lecture series was held on January
28th in EL 101. The lecture was supposed to take place
in EL 112 but after about 2 minutes it was.qetermined
that the room was way too smalL Thanks to the Fourth
year Electrical class for giving up their prof hour to let
us use EL 101. Professor Smith discussed the future of
engineering careers. It was a very motivating speech,
and a good time was had by aD. The next lecture is
scheduled for Tuesday February 4th in EL 112. The
speaker will be Professor Paul Beam. Prof. Beam is
from the English department and will be discussing the
Iron Ring Ceremony. Come out and Have fun. Coffee
and Donuts will
be served.
Now I
thought I'd give
you a quick run
down of the
Organiza tions
which I deal
with. There are
several. They
include the
Canadian Fed-
eration of Engi-
neering Stu-
dents, the Engi-
neering Student
1'1.,/0 /Jy Awx MiltllIr Societies Coun-
H
lIO Everybody! The first WEEF rep meet-
ing of th term has come and gone, and
om it came a few thing: .
Funding Decision Dates for the tetm are set
February 5 - Proposal Forms are available
February 28 - Proposal Forms Due.
March 13 - Presentations Meeting
March 20 - Funding Decision Meeting
There is about $50,000 available this term. These
dates concern only the regular funding decision and
not the supplementary $100,(XX) surplus.
oc e ws
cit of Ontario, the Canadian Alliance of Student ~
Associations, the Ontario Undergraduate Student VP SPEW
Alliance, and of course the FEDS. So where to start.
The Canadian Federation of Engineering Stu-
dents (CFES)
The CFES is an organization which is intended to
facilitate communication with all Engineering Societies
with in Canada. This encompasses 43 Engineering
Societies and approximately 45 000 undergraduate
engineering students. The CFES ,has three branches
and a national executive. The three branches are the
Congress of Canadian Engineering Students, the Cana-
dian Engineering Competitions, and Project Magazine.
Each of these branches functions as a separate financial
entity from the CFES but has very close ties to the
CFES.
The CCFS is a conference that is held every January.
At the conference engineering students from across
Canada get together to discuss matters of national con-
cern. This does not mean we discuss politics. In fact
the CFES is not politically aligned. We discuss matters
which effect all engineering students. Some topics
which are discussed are women in engineering, frosh
week, and National Engineering Week. Also during
the conference a plenary session is held. During this
meeting the future of the CFES is shaped.
The Canadian Engineering Competition is held dur-
ing March of each year. The competition is designed to
test engineering students on there communication and
design skills. In order to go to the competition a stu-
dent must have won at one of the Regional competi-
tions. These include OEC, QEC, AEC, and WEe. I'll
explain these later.
Project Magazine is the magazine which is sent out to
every engineering school in Canada. It is supposed to
be available to all engineering students. It is usually
quite informative and covers issues related to engineer-
ing students across Canada. There are four issues per
year, and in each issue the national executive reports on
what lh yarc doing. Unless of course you're like me
and forg t to put anything in.
The national executive are the people who run the
Delinquint Gasses!!
As of January 30, The following classes are without
WEEF reps!!!!!! Get one as soon as possible pleaset! 3B
Electrical, 3B Geological and 4B Geological.
Students and Proposals
For those that don't know, students are able to sub-
mit proposals, and in fact are more than encouraged. If
you see something lacking that in your mind would be
of benefit to undergraduate engineering, please talk to
your WEEF rep or me, and we can help you (or at least
refer you to someone who can) in writing up and pre-
senting a proposal. .
$100,000 Funding Decision
Due to a miscommunication with Financial Services
that has since ~ rectified, we have a $100,(0) sur-
plus. Please read the summary in this issue of the IW
for more information.
Fall 1996 Funding Decision
Also in this issue of the IW there should be a copy of
show. They deal with the day
to day operation of the CFES. There are five executive
members and four commissioners. The executive con-
sists of four regional Vice Presidents and a President.
Each of the regional Vice President also has another
role. These are Vice President Finance, Vice President
External, Vice President Internal and Vice President
Education. The Vice Presidents rotate through out the
regional Vice Presidents each year. Let me explain that
better. If for example this year the Vice President
Ontario is Vice President Internal as well (which is
. actually the case), next year the Vice President Ontario
will be Vice President External, followed by Education
the year after and Finance the year after that. The Presi-
dent can come from anywhere within Canada. All the
positions are elected during CCFS. The Commission-
ers are appointed by the CFES executive, the commis-
sioner positions include Outreach, National Capital
liaison, Electronic Communications, and Translation.
These are probably pretty self explanatory so I won't go
into detail about what each position does.
This is getting long so 111 stop here. In my next spew
I'll try to explain more about CASA and OUSA, if
you'd like?
Just a few more things. We are looking for people for
Shadow days, so sign up!!! And National Engineering
Week is coming up. We will be doing a Gtarity Chal-
lenge during that week. I need Volunteers to elp out.
As well during National Engineering Week we will be
setting up a booth in a mall with ESQ. They will proba-
bly be serving Ice Cream in a rather unusual manner,
so if you'd like to help out place a note on my desk or e-
mail me at n ~ VPX@novice.
So come out on Tuesday and listen to Professor
Beam. Sign up for all the stuff going on and ask me
about CFES and pssco.
Fabes
the list of the projects funded in the fall. If you want
more information on these, please drop by the WEEP
office.
Getting in touch with WEEF
To contact me, or anyone else involved, please email
endowment@helix, drop by the office (knock if the
door is closed), or leave a note in the WEEF mailbox in
the orifice. Please contact me if you have any questions,
comments or
just to say
hello! I'm
usually in
the WEEF
office, so it's
not that hard.
to find me.
Keith.
. .
Photo by Michael Hermann

w
ow, another two weeks has just disap-
peared like the water in a canteen given
to a thirsty person in the desert. I have
spent time accomplishing many different tasks, one
of which is figuring out some of my courses due to
that midterm buzz word. Regardless, I have been
extremely busy in the last while on different fronts
including representing the University of Waterloo
at the Engineering Student Society Councils of
Ontario Olympics (ESSCOlympics). I contributed to
the chaos that occurred that weekend with the dele-
gates from
Waterloo and
the ESSCO
exec. All was
fun and the
results were
announced at
the third
ENCSOC
meeting.
On an
important
note, please
find the time
Ph%byBil/Gmy to read the
article from the ESSCO exec that appears in this edition
of the Iron Warrior. This article describes the initiatives
the exec have done, are doing and are going to be
doing in the future. In addition this article implores the
H
0 everyone! I just got back from ESSCO
Olympics at Queen's and WOW! ...... was it
ver incredible! There were a total of about
35 teams competing and, low and behold, Waterloo
"B" team won!!! I got the opportunity to meet tons
of engineering students from other Universities as
well as meeting many other VP Internals. It's inter-
esting to see how unique all of the different engi-
neering societies are. A few of us were talking
about the communication between different schools
and kicked around the idea of maybe having a
meeting of all the Ontario Eng-Soc VPI's to share
ideas and discuss issues!
As I'm sure you all have noticed, January was a
super busy month! From pubs and tours to Eng-Soc
meetings and Eng-week, there's no way anyone could
have complained
of being bored!
Speaking of
pubs, the
exchange direc-
tors did a great
job of running
the exchange
pub on the 23rd
in POETS!
Apparently it
was one of the
best exchange
pub tum outs in
a long time (if
oe
engineering students at Waterl to suggest way that
ESSCO can help them immediate! and in the future
whether it be on a professional., political or undergrad-
uate initiatives.
On the home front.. . due to the hard work of m
finance director, Monica Milanowski, the finance books
are currently looking in ship shape order. In addition,
the pressure of having all cheques out by Thursday of
each week ensures prompt delivery of money owing
internally and externally. Conversations with the CSf
office continues about maximizing our refunds. Dan
Kim., the A-Soc finance guy has been in town, and con-
versations with the government people about charity
classification continues and we should have results for
the next edition of the Iron Warrior.
Renovating the orifice has become a topic of many
conversations recently and the first preliminary quote
has come in. The exec are working in conjunction with
the original planner of the approved layout designs to
see if funds can be received from the Student life Fund
which would offset the cost of the renovations.
If anybody has any possible ideas about how to
improve the Engineering Society as a whole through
renovations or capital purchases, please feel free to con-
tact any of the exec. I know that I will always keep the
door open to anybody who wants to freely talk about
finding out how to improve the Engineering Society.
The next meeting will be posted, so please feel free to
come by and take an active step in improving the Engi-
neering Society the way that you, the engineering stu-
e ws
VPFinance
dent, would like to have it done. Remember that most
people don't have the ability to read minds, so if you
don't oice your opinion then any deficiencies that our
Eng Soc has might be overlooked.
On a final note, the CCFS '% books are again being
revan'lped. All th final CST calculations are being
don due to the tardiness tl'lat it took for the govern-
ment to send the appropriate CSf application forms.
Eng Soc "B" and the CCES Finance person, John Faber,
will be working together in order to process the CSf
application and the refund as quickly as possible. Look
for the CFFS audit in the news in following edi.tions of
the Iron Warrior since I will be auditing those books as
well.
See ya all.from the port window of my lear jet in the
future.
Jason
you ask me, I'd say it had something to V t 1
do with those awesome sandwiches). n e rna
It's really great to meet the new ........ r/IJ.
exchange students and welcome them to p ew
Waterloo - - hopefully there will be time for another struchon and
exchange event before the end of the term (that who could for-
meanswatch.forposters :) ) g t f . ~ (4'8
So far the response to the Task Team sign-up has SYStl'I1lS) I.'ontribulion of llw SOllY Ploy
been incredible! A special note goes out to the 1 B cnvi- Station in P.o.F.T.S.! A hUgl' th.lnk.-; t l'Wty0nt' who
ronmental class who completely filled their sheet with particip<ltc i!
names of people who want to help out! Since February TIlere arC' lots and LOTS (did I m 'ntioJ)s Jots?) of
is looking just as busy as January, there will be lots of other things 1 :ouJd sp<'w abollt, but I'll s<lW 1'()T1lt' for
things to help out with ....... guaranteed, so if you still the next "%lg-Soc m 'ting. Oh .... olw last thing: I've put
want to sign-up for the team, visit the orifice or talk to up a small coJk'Li:ion of 13.o:r. pub photos in P.OE-l.S.;
your class rep. at th end of th<.' t<:'J1l1 J want to mnk 'a big nUnge of all
During the week of Jan. 27th-30th, I learned quite a the term's events! There will abo be a photo competi-
lot about my pathetic ability to make things out of tion with many diff,'rcnl u1lcgoril'S for lh' best l'vC)"Il
paper. It all started with the "Blotter Airplane" J made phOlOS! So, jf you bring your cnmeT<1 to an ("v 'nl and
for the engenuity event. Not only did I miss the target, get some cool pie/s/make some doubJ s fur me and J'll
my "plane" (if you can call it that) drifted upside down add them. to the coUection!
to the floor. I think I would l'lave had a better chance of Okay, that's all folks! Until next issue ........... ..
winning had I nixed the whole design idea and just
tossed a regular blotter off Poets balcony! Then, the
humiliation continued with my paper boat which
might have floated had it not been so big it was resting
on tre bottom of the water tank! Ironically, I was even
wearing my "Sailing Instructor" vest. To top it all off,
my Blotter hat was lob-sided and wouldn't stay on my
head. I was never any good at origami. Despite my
paper dilemma, Eng week was a blast! Other events
included banana eating contests, pseudo-machine con-
Kim
P.5. I have yet to see even 1 suggestion in th new
suggestion box outside of the Orifice! Does that mean
that tre Engineering Soci ty is completely and utterly
perfect as it is????????????? Please, give us YOUR
input!
.. 18

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