Friday, November 13,1998 The Newspaper of the University of Waterloo Engineering Society

AHS and Engineering

Break out at Fed Hall
KUNWAHMAK
Iron Warrior StaO'
T
o all the Engineering and AHS tu-
dents out there, you rule! Fed Hall
wa. a resounding uccess with
good music (thanks AI), a good turnout
(around seven hundred fifty), and good
organisation and promotions (hey, didn't
you see all those banners and posters
around?).
For the early goers, there was a little
game of nuts and bolts. A guy is given a
random nut (let's not make a big deal out
of this, okay?), and a girl is given a ran-
dom bolt as they entered. aturally, each
et of nut and bolt was distinctive from
each other. It was the job of the early
arrivals to match up their combinations of
nuts and bolt . ] am not sure if anyone '
actually found their matches, but let' s hope
i .
The music was simply great. AI, our
little DJ, was pulling out all the. tuff in his
collection. The night started with pure
R&B. When the break-dancers showed up
and started popping the floor, the crowd
got electrified and the music responded
with the crowd, moving from R&B to the
break song on the GAP commercials
(sorry, I don't know the name of it, but I
think you people know it). There were
various types of music played, changing
from reggae to hou e to swing and retro.
But no matter what the music was like, the
dance floor wa overflowing. Plug: Swing
at Fed Hall on friday, November 13. Get
ticket at Fed Office for five buck , five
bucks! Everyone welcome! Plug: Break
dancing, every Friday nights at 8:00pm by
Cove in SLC.
There were sceptics out there who did
not think much of the event. But once they
entered, they were amazed at the turnout
phOIO by: Kiln ~ h Mak
and to quote them, "I thought I was just
going to have a beer here, but thi s place i
rocking." This is what happens when we
Engineer. , along with the Appl ied Health
Sciences department show our participa-
tion.
Professor Wang Presents Robotics Research
ANDREW HATELY
Bridging the Gap
P
rof. David Wang presented the
research of the ConStruct group at
the first Bridging the Gap lecture in
October. Prof. Wang featured the experi-
ments of the research group in his presen-
tation titled '"Robot : From Theory to
Practice." The presentation included a
general introduction to robotic theory and
focu ed on new area of robotic research
and applications. The re earch highlighted
by Prof. Wang included position control
and colli ion detection for flexible iink
manipulator, gravity-balanced link
manipulators and virtual reality applica-
tions of robotics.
The projects discu ed by Prof. Wang
were part of the University of Waterloo's
ConStruct group. The group is a multi-
disciplinary robotic research organiza-
tion. The designs and research that are
being studied by this
group address several
application problems
with today's curren
robot technology.
Both the use of a 5
robot design and
gravity balancing of
robotic manipul
reduce the amount
energy required
move the a
arm.
The
research into new con-
trol techniques to min- The Balilncing Act: The Gravily Balanced 5 Bar manipulator is lIsed
imize vibration in in several of ConSlrllelS research projects. photo cOllnesy o/C{JnSrucr
flexible robotic link .
Thi re earch has also led to advances in their web site is located at:
collision detection. http://mechengJ.UWaterloo.ca:80/-con-
For more information on ConStruct" strctl
"Other men live to eat, while I eat to live." - Socrates
Volume 22 Issue 15
One Word:
"MudBowl"
CRAIG TURNER
Athletics Director
T
he word 'Mudbowl' provoke dif-
ferent reaction in people through-
out Engineering. Some think,
"What's that?"; other, "Football uck I"
The groundskeeper probably hate the
word, but there are a few people for
whom this word brings back memories of
heroic feat.. devastating tackles, and
amazing catche. This past Saturday,
November 7, was their day.
In the beginning. there were 8 teams.
Die Dan Die, Oa y /Watt the Flux,
PrV=RTs, and The Horsemen made up
one pool and Lost n' Found. Fuchemmol
and a returning Assault & Battery made
up the other. A hectic round robin ensued
with many scrapes and bruises, a few sore
heads and a chipped tooth, but thankfully
no major injuries resulting from the
intense struggles. After a brief lunch, the
players hobbled back onto the field for
the playoffs. Three games proved enough
for the PrV-RTs and Fuchemmol, h
withdrew before playoffs began.
In the finals, The Horsemen contin-
ued their domination of the day, soundly
defeating A&B to take the Mudbowl
Trophy. The consolation round proved
exciting as well as, with Lost n' Found
edging out SSBB by proving that "Trusty
01" Rock" can indeed be defeated by
paper.
Thank to everybody to came out and
played or cheered on Saturday. There
was a football and a hat left behind. If
you lost either of these, let me know at
cftumer@engmail.uwaterloo.ca.
In This Issue ...
News and Information ........... , 2-3
The Way We Were ........ ...... .... 3
Beynon Writing Contest Entries .... 4-5
Arts ......................... 6-7
The Big Picture ...... .... ........ 8
Take a Zhance . . .. .. . . .... ..... .. 8
Science and Technology ....... ..... 9
Executive Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11
2 News & Information The Iron Warrior, Friday, November 13, 1998
UW invites all to Homecoming '98
WATERLOO, Ont. -- The party's hap-
pening this weekend (Nov. 13 to 15) and
everyone is invited to join the fun at the
University of Waterloo's Homecoming '98.
The highlight of the annual weekend
is the 31 st Naismith Classic Basketball
Tournament when university teams and
one from Sheridan College shoot it out,
hosted by the UW Warriors. Games start at
noon Friday and continue through to the
championship game at 2 p.m. Sunday at
the Physical Activities Complex.
The Warriors are hosting teams from
Brock University, University of Guelph,
University of New Brunswick, Sheridan,
Wilfrid Laurier University, University of
Winnipeg and Sl. Francis Xavier of Nova
Scotia.
Another athletic event on campus this
weekend is the CIAU Cross Country
Championship, a national contest for men
and women, hosted by UW on Saturday
beginning at 1 p.m. Distance runners from
across the country will compete on a
scenic course around Columbia Lake at
UW" North Campus. Also on Saturday,
the basketball and hockey Warriors and
alumni swim team will host alumni com-
petitions.
During homecoming weekend, there's
an opportunity to join the Corel Applied
Health Sciences Homecoming Fun Run of
five kilometres around the UW ring road.
For free family fun, there's a Community
Skating Party from I p.m. to 2 p.m. at
Columbia Icetield while the UW Kids
Club will host Clifford the Dog from 2
p.m. to 3 p.m. at the UW Bookstore.
Entertainment includes the "Return of
the Big Tent" at Federation Hall with the
Friday night "Swing Homecoming," and
Riverworks performing on Saturday night.
For returning St. Jerome's University
alumni, there will be a Friday night skat-
ing party at Rink in the Park, Saturday
wine and cheese event and Saturday mass.
For more information, call 888-4567,
ext. 5310; or for program details, visit the
Midnight Sun needs your support
AMYKLIMMEK
Midnight Sun Team
M
o t students attending
University find managing their
finances hard enough, however
University of Waterloo's Solar Car team
has gone above and beyond the simplici-
tie of merely managing their milk money.
Unfortunately, no matter how innovative
or beneficial an idea. its existence normal-
ly relies on one thing - rai jng mon y- and
thi s one is wearing a Jarge price tag. For
this rea on, the solar car team is once
again in fundraising mode - and things are
looking quite promising.
In preparation for Sunraycc 99 the
dedicated members of the solar car team
are knocking not only on doors of spon-
sors past, but also on doors of potential
sponsors to come. Sunraycc 99, which
will begin in Washington D.C. and end in
Orlando Florida, will be the first run for
the new solar car design. The construc-
see "Midnight Sun", page 3
web s i e
http://www.adm.uwaterloo.cal;nfodaa/hc/
hc98.events.html
Saturday, November 14
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
UW hosts the regional qualifying
round of the world's largest computer pro-
gramming competition - the East Central
Regional ACM (Association for Computer
Machinery) International Collegiate
Programming Contest. About 90 student
teams are expected to compete for three
spots in the world finals to be held in April
in the Netherlands.
Location: Mathematics and Computer
Building, Third Floor. More information
can be found on the Internet at:
hlfp:llpig.uwaterioo.cal-acmOOlregionais
or in UW News Release #173, November
5. Contact: Prof. Gordon Cormack, 888-
4567, ext. 4450; gvcormack@math.uwa-
terloo.ca
Letter to the
Editor
To the editors,
I just finished reading "Stopping the
Brain Drain by Raymond Ho, and would
like to point something out: His sugges-
tion that government offering a tax credit
to students who contribute to endowment
funds is, while valid and entirely reason-
a 1 , not reatl much of a step forward.
WEEF contributi ons have been tax
deductable for as long as I can remember,
and haven't noticed the uproar I would
have expected from WEEF had they lost
their charitable organization status.
Ryan McCabe
Chemical Engineering Grad '97
Frosh View on PEOConference
MARC RIZKALLAH
lA Design
O
n Thursday, October I, a few
Fro h students left for Toronto
with our VP External. Greg Fyke,
for what wa to be quite an interesting
weekend. Indeed, though not very sure
what we were getting into, three eager
Frosh, namely Margaret Tong, Joe
Crampton and I, joined member of
EngSoc executive to attend the PEO
(Professional Engineers of Ontario) con-
ference. hosted by Ryerson University.
From Waterloo, four students were
sponsored by EngSoc A and another four
from EngSoc B. In EngSoc A, there were
seven applicants, and they were all Frosh!
(In fact, five were from my class, I A
Systems Design). According to Greg,
upper year students may have wanted to
attend other concurrent events . However,
I am certainly glad I went to this confer-
ence and so are the other Frosh.
The conference was about a Student
Membership to the PEO. The organiza-
tion had already expressed interest in the
possibility; the purpose of the conference
was to sort out the details. However, it
W3S jam-packed with a variety of fun and
educational activities.
Friday morning, we had a guest
speaker and a workshop about "Soft Skills
of Engineers"; in the afternoon, we went
on Inudstry tours to see a variety of appli-
cation of Engineering.
Saturday was the main day, the day
where we actually met with a repre enta-
tive from the PEO and had the opportuni-
ty to voice our opinions and suggestions
regarding many aspects of the proposal.
One slightly disappointing part of being
under age at a conference is the inability to
get in the clubs and pubs that were part of
the organized social event . However, not
only did the host University do their
absolute best to make sure we were baving
a good time. They also held "hospitality
suites" before going to clubs - basically
big parties, with every University con-
tributing an item. No matter what, the
three under age Frosh found ways to have
fun despite unfortunately being a minor.
The pleasant a pects of the confer-
ence were numerous: first of all, the luxu-
ry we were provided with was amazing!
We stayed at the Delta Chelsea Inn. shar-
ing double rooms with eachother, for three
nights. Not only did we have the comfort
of a hotel room to ourselves, but we would
often go to others' rooms and socialize
together.
Second, the food was absolutely deli-
cious! Every day, we had the be t meals
served to us, three times a day, not the
least mentionable being a nine-or-so-
course chinese meal served to us all on
Saturday night. The food alone was rea-
son enough to be there!
Third, we were being surrounded by
some of the most important people from
EngSocs all over Ontario - we were meet-
ing with EngSoc presidents and VP
Externals from Carleton, Ottawa, Queen's,
Laurentian, etc.. . it was quite a wonder-
ful experience to be able to be surrounded
by, to work with, and to socialize with
such interesting people.
Finally, we felt that we were actually
making a valuable contribution to the con-
ference. Even though we were Frosh, our
ideas were accepted, valued, and some-
times commended by others of at the con-
ference. There is no feeling like the
satisfaction that you're having a consider-
able impact on a provincial issue - and that
is really what this whole conference was
about.
The PEO conference was definitely
an unforgettable experience, especially so
soon in the term. However, there will be
many more opportunities to attend confer-
ences in the future (such as the upcoming
CCES conference), and I encourage each
and every one of you. especially Frosh, to
apply - you won't regret it

The Newspaper of the University of
Waterloo Engineering Society
Editor
Andrew Hately
Assistant Editors
Jaime Tiampo
Diliny De Alwis
Layout Editor
Phong Loi
WWWEditors
Piero Brigneti
Jessica Lee
Staff
Ryan Bayne
Jasen Higgins
Raymond Ho
Darren Jenkins
Kun Wah Mak
Pierre Menard
Ian Tien
Zhan Huan Zhou
Contributors
Alan Cannistraro
Greg Fyke
Amy Klimmek
Jennifer Motuz
Craig Turner
Marc Rizkallah
Amy K1immek
The Iron Wanior is a forum for thought provoking
and infonnative articles published by the Engineering
Society. Views expressed in The Iron Wanior are
those of the authors and do not necessarily renect the
opinions of the Engineering Society.
The Iron Warrior encourages submissions from stu
dents, faculty and members of the university commu-
nity. Submissions should renect the concerns and
intellectual standards of the university in general. The
author's name and phone number should be included.
All submissions, unless otherwise stated. become the
property of The Iron Warrior, which reserves the
right to refuse publication of material which it deems
unsuitable. The Iron Warrior also re<erves the right
to edit grammar, spelling and text that do nOl meet
university standards. Authors will be nOlified of any
major changes that may be required.
Mail should be addressed to The Iron Warrior,
Engineering Society, CPH I 323B, University of
Waterloo, Waterloo. Ontario. N2L 3G t. Our phone
number is (519) 88S-4567 x2693. Our fax Dumber is
(5 t 9) 725-4872. Email can be sent to
;warrior@tngmail.uwar.rioo.ca
The Iron Warrior, Friday, ovember 13, 1998
News & Information 3
ANNAL Retentive - The Early Eighties
H
ave you ever won-
dered what it would
be like to live during
the Cold War? A time when
your biggest complaint was
having to deal with this new
fangled Metric system? If this
thought has ever crossed your
mind, then read on. For with
the help of old Iron Warriors
and vintage EngSoc minutes, you are now
entering the ANNALS of the Eng Files.
While the Volleyball Warriors were
marching to the OUAA champion hips in
March of '84, fans of other pur uits anx-
iously awaited the opening of UW's new
watering hole, Federation Hall. The
Bomber had become a bit of a hole and
April's EOT and bonfire attracted more
fire fighters and police than actual guests.
Fed Hall was originally supposed to open
on May 5, 1984 but through construction
delays and re-designs, the date got pushed
back to October 31, then November 14. In
the end, the cynics won and Waterloo's
new drinking establishment didn't open
until after the new year.
If there is anything worse than
delayed bar openings, it's those imperialist
warmongers over there in the Soviet
Union. Jim McCrea writes that ever since
WW IJ , the USSR has been a vicious plun-
derer of neighbouring countries. Those
bleeding heart activists don't seem to
understand the difference between
research conducted for destruction and the
technology used to defend. Let's hear it
for the MX missile, says Jim. Let's keep
continued from page 2
tional improvements to the car require not
only extensive labor hours, but also exten-
sive financial resources, neither of which
is easy to come by.
Financial restraints will severely
impede the car's performance in
SunRayce 99. Without the necessary
funds the team will not be able to purchase
the batteries needed to be competitive.
The batteries currently used weigh 300lbs,
as opposed to the Nickel-Metal Hydride
batteries that weigh 1201bs. The possible
weight savings allows faster hill climbs
and lowers rolling resistance, but at a hefty
price. This Ni-MH battery will be used in
GM's first production electric car, the
EV 1. Schools such as California State.
Michigan State and George Washington
University - which are better supported.
will have a large advantage over schools
with smaller budgets.
Luckily, the team has developed a
small but loyal group of companies who
have donated everything from money to
materials. The team, thankful for its pre-
sent supporters, is working diligently to
locate new interested companies.
Companies such as Husky, and
Raytheon have become continual sources
of support for the solar car team. Husky
Injection Moulding invested $60,000.00
worth of their faith in what they believe to
be a worthy project. The president Robert
Shad, takes a special interest in the solar
car because of its environmental aspects.
He recognizes the need for technological
solutions to technologically originated
environmental problems. Raytheon, in the
past, donated valuable hours as well as
manpower, in their welding labs. CTV,
which plans on following UW's progress
in Sunrayce 99, televised Kent Nickerson
of RIM awarding the team with a check
for $5,000. RIM, a spin-off UW Company
The Way
We Were .
by Jasen Higgins
working on
the crui . e
mi ile and
the B-18
bomber.
the Soviets
won' t
trike if
the know
the re ult i
10 000 cruise missile coming at them.
Carlos Panksep, then editor of the
Iron Warrior, had a lot to ay about anoth-
er emerging technology. His cru ade,
however, was ridiculing the innovation
called the cellular telephone. He cited
Canada's sparse population and strict
Department of Communications regula-
tions as rea ons why it would never take
off. After all, at $2000 a pop with $0.30 a
minute for air time, only the rich could
afford such a luxury ... and who needs to
be in constant phoning range of the boss
anyway? Never would he have expected
these devices to become as commonplace
as that era's Sony Walkman.
Another example of shortsightedness
was the Frosh that didn't think they'd be
spotted against the stark white background
of a water tower. Needless to say, there
were an'ests that year. Yet another atten-
tion getter was the Lady Godiva parade of
1983. The presence of a genuine naked
woman was enough to raise hackles with-
out the parade route including an
Environmental Studies midterm. With or
without the resulting angry letters to the
Imprint, you just know they should have
un
will hopefully continue to be a solar car
supporter.
Donations however, come in all
shapes and sizes. The Solar <;::ar team,
famished from hours and hours of aero-
body design and construction, welcomed a
$5,000.00 credit from the university's
Food Services department. Other compa-
nies. such as General Plastics
Manufacturing and 3M, lent their support
by means of materials rather than money.
General Plastics donated approximately
70001bs. worth of high-density
polyurethane "foam" which was essential
for creation of the solar car's aerobody
mold. 3M, known to most as the makers
of Scotch tape, and Post-It brand notes,
donated the $2500.00 worth of epoxy, as
well as the administering gun necessary to
construct the vehicle's aerobody.
The Solar Car team also has created
smaller strategies to attempt to raise
money. The Adopt-A-Cell campaign asks
people to make a $25 donation in support
of the program. T-shirts bearing the Solar
Car logo are also available for $15 each.
Every donation is appreciated, a single
donation of $100.00 is enough to cover
office expenses such as majling, and pro-
ducing the bi-monthly newsletters.
In addition to raising money, there is
one far more challenging dilemma that
every non-profit project faces- lack of vol-
unteers. The Solar Car team desperately
needs volunteers in all capacities. Not
only is this good resume building materi-
al, it's excellent hands on experience. If
you're not interested in the actual design
and construction 'aspects of the car there
are other areas such as strategy, fund-rais-
ing, and business aspects. If you're inter-
ested stop by the Solar Car office in E3
-2103D, or call ext. 2978.
. tuck \\ ith the blm -up doll of previous
year .
Di aster Slm k in the winter of 19 2
a the TOOL was stolen b some U of T
evildoers. 350 damage was done to the
car that the TOOL was liberated from and
our belo ed 111a cot was subject d to
indignities in olving spray paint and con-
crete. It wasn'\ anything that a andbltU-
ing and a fre h chroming couldn'\ cure and
in the end, the TOOL was retllmed and no
puni hment wa, exacted. Other lawbreak-
er , however, weren't 0 lucky. The theft
of a mailbox by a 1982 systems Frosh and
an incident involving a football game in
the middle of King' Highway both
received atrentiol1 from the courts.
The Frosh of that year were also
dumb academically as record dropouts
contrasted the upward trend in their grade
13 marks. A possible explanation that was
'offered wa lack of drugs and beer. An
individual not lacking in the drug and
beer department gave the TOOL bearers
some trouble that fall. The offending math
student didn't present too much of a prob-
lem, after all, "With an 80 lb. TOOL, how
can you lose?" Another altercation
involved the dispensing of shaving cream
and Mathie stickers in the Orifice but tlley
were quickly brought to justice by their
own society.
The Engineering Society garage was
the source of much contention, mostly due
to the broken heater, broken jack, broken
compressor, broken tire changer and the
broken front door. It was finally decided
that EngSoc A would cover some of the
Company:
Address:
Address:
City, Prov:
Postal Code:
URL:
repairs in the hope that EngSoc B would
match the contribution. After all, this was
a n w era of co-operation for the societies,
the fall of 1981 saw, for the first time,
office supplies being left in the orifice to
be , hared by both streams.
In Ih' early Eighties. it was practice to
hold a slag each term called the WBS. By
1981, no olle could remember the la t lime
the stag broke e en and its format was put
to a vote by th classes. 52% of re pon-
dent said they wanted to continue having
both strippers and the comedy night and
13.5% wanting strippers only. The half
percent wa ilttributed to the individual
who expressed inter. t in only having
stripping from the waist down.
Noncthclc s, three tripper were booked
for the stag on January 9. 1980. A $4 tick-
et and your Engineering ID Card got you
on the bus and ribald songbook sold for
$0.25 at tbe door. But it was all downhill
for the WBS when the quality of the enter-
tainment was compared to a night in
Breslau.
The Engineering Week of January
1980 included wrist wrestling, cap, boat
races, cigarette rolling and tobacco spit-
ting. Other bi.g events were the relocation
of the cigarette machine and the availabil-
ity of a Bottle capper from the Orifice for
the home brewmasters. In the words of
Jennifer Hilton, then president of the
Engineering Society, "Short, gross, per-
verted, tobacco-chewing cowboys". For
the question to that answer, look in the
next edition of the ANNALS.
If this is a gift, pleasc indicate special instructions including nallle and n r ~ s s (If rccipicnt.
Please send:
T-Shirts @ $15 each
Cell Adoption @ $25 each
T-Shirt / Cell Combo @) $35 each
Shipping @ $2 per T-Shirt
Include my donation of:
Total:
Payment Method:
VISA__ MasterCard __ Cheque __
Credit Card No. __________ _
Exp. Date. ___ _
Signature _________ _
Size quantity:
M:
L:
XXL:
Tax receipts of $25 will be issued for every cell adopted. T-shirts purchases are not tax-
deductible. Please make cheques payable to "Midnight Sun" and send to:
Midnight Sun Project - Sponsorship
c/o Systems Design Engineering
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, ON
N2L3Gl
4 Contest Entries The Iron Warrior, Friday, ovember 13, 1998
Beynon Memorial Humanitarian Award
"Is the Davis Centre a good symbol of the human values
engineering should represent in our society?"
Disclaimer: The following arti cles have been submitted for the Beynon Memorial Humanitarian Award run jointly by STY and the Iron Warrior. For thi s reason the artcil e have
not been edited for spelling or content.
Is the Davis Centre a good symbol of the human values engineering
should represent in our society?
ERIC HUI
2A Computer Engineering
E
ngineering is the application of sci-
ence for the control and use of
power" (I) . Besides systematic caJ-
culations and estimations, engineering
involves many human values. It combines
math with science, human with technolo-
gy, and conventions with inventions. The
Davis Centre represents many of these
aspects of engineering and is a good sym-
bol of the human values engineering
should represent in our society.
The Davis Centre is located on the
north-east part of the campus, surrounded
by the Mathematics and Computer build-
ing, the Chemistry 2 building, and the
Engineering 3 building. With bridges to
the three buildings, it clearly provides a
physical linkage between the three facul -
ties. It provides direct access from the
Engineering Faculty to the math and sci-
ence facul ties, which are the two facultie
that are closely related to engineering.
Besides the physical linkage, there is also
the Davis Centre Library which further
h e l p ~ intcg mling the knowledge of mnlh
and science.
The architecture of Ule Davis Centre
JAN TIEN
2/\ Computer Engineering
I
s the Davis Centre a good symbol of
the human values engineering shoul -
drepresent in our society?
Of course it is, don' t be silly. )t's a
four-!';tory monolith of steel and curved
glass resembling no known structure on
the face of the planet. It's got engineering
wri Lten all over it.
An engineer must see the world as no
one el. e does, not as what it is, but as what
it could be. Engineers must be the dream-
ers, the visionaries, for their profession
embodies the underpinning of all human
accomplishment: innovation.
Innovation is a human value like no
other-the belief that an individual can
affect positive change regardless of current
convention, past precedents, or widely
held public opinions.
The Davis Centre is a far cry from Ole
defacto university architecture of North
America. You won't find Corinthian mold-
ings or ivy on the walls. On the contrary,
you'U find mint green utility boxes, ran-
dom clusters of chrome plated chairs, and
Ole occasional metal bench painted fire-
truck red. Yes, our flagship building sports
the colour scheme of a downtown
Montreal discotheque, circa 1973.
On top of that, the corporate partner's
16unge looks like a fish bowl. RIM comes
to do a job fair, and they feel like the polar
is based on a computer chip. As we walk
inside the Davi s Centre, we are reminded
the relationship between human and tech-
nology. Inside every small computer chip,
there exi sts knowledge that is accumulated
throughout human hi story. Figuratively,
inside the Davi s Centre, each of us is like
an electron that carries infor-
reflecting material which allows light to go
through the windows only from the
brighter side to the darker side of the win-
dows. In effect, technology is being limit-
ed by the nature of light and the
characteristics of material, but at the same
time, technology is controlling the nature
because it
mation from place to place.
Each day, hundreds of stu-
dents and researchers walk
--------------- de te r mine s
U Each day, hundreds of
students and researchers
walk in and out of the
Davis Centre like
electrons ... "
where the
light should
go at certain
times of a day.
The use of
windows
shows the
in and out of the Davis
Centre I ike eletrons carry
information in and out of a
computer chip. As a result,
the Davis Centre is a good
symbol of the interaction
between human and technology.
------------------------
Although the Davis Centre is based on
a computer chip, the structure of the Davis
Centre is also like a greenhouse. Most of
the surface area of the building is covered
with glass. The use of glass roof and glass
wall is a technolog that w com the nat-
ural unlight into the interi or of the Davis
Centre. It is an application. of science for
the use of power and energy and therefore
satisfies the definition of engineering as
stated. Furthermore, the glass material of
the windows is mixed with gold-coloured
recursive rela-
tionship between nature and technology.
At the first glance of the Davis Centre,
one might think that it is wildly colourful
for a university building. Institutional
buildings are traditionally in conservative
combinations of colours, such as grey,
white, black, and dull blue. The Davis
Centre, however, is in a wild combination
of colours: red and yellow. The use of
unconventional colours symbolizes the
innovative nature of engineering.
Although engineering is heavily based on
conventions and standardization, such as
The Davis Centre
bear exhibit at the Metro Toronto Zoo. focused far into the di tant future.
Who designed this place?
We did. Waterloo has been designing
buildings since 1958, when Engineering I
was built. Before then, engineer had their
classes in a pair of prefabricated huts next
to what is now known as Wilfurd Laurier
University. In August, when the tin-roofed
huts became unbearable hot, UW students
stripped down to their underwear to go to
lectures.
Back then, Gerald Hagey was under a
lot of scrutiny. Other Canadian universities
saw Waterloo and its co-op program as a
joke that had
He went on to explicate parallels
between research labs and a psychiatric
ward, because the only people crazy
enough to avoid stick and carrot design
have to be off their rocker to begin wiili.
In every good engineer, there's a
touch of madness. In 1947, engineers
broke the sound barrier. In 1969, engineers
put a man on the moon. Engineers have
been making science fiction come true for
over a hundred years.
It is an engineer's duty to his profes-
sion to see into the future. It is his duty to
society to bring a better
gone too far.
Many university
presidents boy-
cotted UW con-
HAn engineer must see
the world as no one else
future into being.
Paradoxically, it is this
same society that will
resist the change that his
innovation brings. vocation for
year, and
refused to speak
to Hagey in pub-
lic. Who, but
does, not as what it is,
but as what it could be."
The Davis Centre was
built around some radical
--------------- concepts, many of which
Gerald Hagey himself, would have imag-
ined that in forty years Waterloo would
become the leading engineering school in
the country?
James Gosling, a Canadian ex-patriot,
UW drop-out, and inventor of the Java pro-
gramming language, poke recently at
Hagey Hall. His salient thoughts were
clear: whatever you ee around you today
is obsolete; to make progres of any sub-
stantial magnitude, an idea must be
have come under criticism
for their departure from convention. The
insides of the building were made to
remind you of an integrated circuit, or
whatever an integrated circuit looked like
in 1987. Ever wonder what those chrome
stools are for?
The designers wanted people to hold
informal meetings out in the open. You can
leave your tiny office talk casually in a
matrix of padded chairs. If you have three
people, you can it in a triangle. If you
SI units, it requires creativity for design
and innovation. An engineer ,must not be
limited by traditions and conventions, but
should be innovative and inventive. By
using unconventional colours, the innova-
tive and inventive nature of engineering in
society is depicted.
Different parts of the Davis Centre
symboli ze different aspects of human val-
ues in engineering. The bridges symbolize
the linkage and integration of math and
science. The chip-like structure of the
building reminds us the interaction
between human and technology. The rela-
tionship between nature and technology is
hidden in the windows and ilie glass roof.
Lastly, the use of unconventional combina-
tion of colours depicts the innovative and
inventive roles engineering plays in our
society. Collectively, the Davis Centre is a
good symbol of the human values engi-
neering should represent in our society.
Footnote:
( 1) "Engineering." Oxford Advanced
Learner's Dictionary. Revi sed Third
Edi tion. 1984.
have eight people, you can sit in a circle.
Old-fashioned benches just don' t cut it-
they're too linear. You can' t conduct meet-
ings in Ole first dimension.
At over three hundred thousand
square feet, the Davi s Centre is the flag-
ship of the university. Glass and steel shoot
into the sky; lines of colour race up and
down its shining surface. The Davis Centre
radiates an acute, futuristic flavor ; it
embodies the tradition of the university, a
tradition of boldness, and of vi sion.
It convinces the weary undergraduate
engineering student that "innovation" is
more than a superfluous qualitative state-
ment to tack on to the end of a resume
(hard worker, innovative; references avail-
able upon request).
The Davis Centre symbolizes the
tenacity and ardor at the core of OUf pro-
fession; it stands for the spirit of innova-
tion that's made Waterloo what it is today,
literally.
The Davis Centre is an extraordinary
building, and Waterloo is an extraordinary
school. We went from a hut full of half-
naked engineers to a world-class universi-
ty in forty years. There's no telling where
we'll go from here.
So say what you will about engineer-
ing. Complain about the workload, about
exam marks, about the marathon lab
reports. Whine to your friends to your
heart's content-but whatever you do, don't
you dare stop dreaming.
The Iron Warrior, Frida}j ovember 13, 1998
Contest Entries
5
Boring Books, Ugly Colours and a Lady with Big Guns
ALAN VEERMAN
Environmental Studies
SAMUELLAI
Mechanical Engineering
A
ccording to the all encompa ing
knowledge of administration, the
Davis Centre i upposed to repre-
sent the values that engineering should
hold in our society. This means of course
that it pre umably holds another directive
other than its current purpose of providing
a place to eat and sleep for engineers, and
a place where computer programmers can
talk about ways on how to make Lara
Croft "real." Realistically of cour e, none
of us truly believe this since the Davis
Centre is one of the ugliest buildings on
campus (besides the Dana Porter Library
and the mound of potatoes found rotting
inside Village Two last year), and its
Spartan construction style of glass and
metal remind us of a prison. In prison
though, you get three meals a day for free
- people in the library have to pay a dollar
for a chocolate bar from 1973, and it tastes
about a good as the dollar you paid for it.
I'm not reall fan of the Da\i. Centre,
in the ame way that I'm not a fan of root
canal. but I'd have to ay ju t by looling
around that it hold orne of the most awk-
ward eating arrangement. and anti-. ocial
construction form anywhere around here.
This naturally come from the curriculum.
and ci\il engineering students who pas. ed
CIV E 475 "Introduction to Creating
Really Silly Space Usage." On the other
hand, not all of the blame can be laid on
the design since no one would really want
to . it beside a gang of programmer ' and
engineer arguing over which Captain was
really the be t: Kirk. Picard, Si ko or
Janeway?
I think that the Davis Centre repre-
sents the value that engineering should
hold in its design, but that' about as far as
it goes. Viewed from the air, the building is
supposed to resemble the layout of a
microchip. This is the official rea oning
behind the odd protrusions of red air vents
and mushroom-shaped stools, put in to
pass as the circuit of a microchip. They do
a good job 100, provided you're an archi -
tect who has had one 100 Jolt cola. ,
or a four-year old with the design abilit. of
a gerbil. I have to admit though. I've never
actually . c 'Il Ihe Da\ is Centre from the
air, and I'm v"illing to het that the number
that actually hHS is about the same as the
numb r of people who' ve seen what goes
into Village pasta sauce.
The Davis Cenlre i. mad' of meral
and gIn . and there's not a whole lot of
wood around. which i a good thing, since
the lack of plants keeps awn) those p sl.y
Environmental Studie ' . tudents. But, the
lack of decorations gives off the ambiance
of a mechanical, facele corporate office
in the dead of night. Despite their objec.
tion to the fact, cngineers arc people too.
They too enjoy colour and a bit of warmth;
the fact that they'd prefer it coming from a
cold-fu. ion generator with a colour
cheme dictated by a System Design
Consultant is simply irrelevant.
In 'hort, the Davi Centre needs a bit
of a makeover in order to communicatc to
the students of Waterloo Engineering that
th Borg ar really not the model of per-
feclion that we're. eeking to create. Some
artwork would be a nice louch, though it
goes \ ithollt 'aying that it couldn't come
from th Faculty of Art, inee Art stu-
dents are forbidden to enter the Davis
Centre, on the principle that . tudcnts of an
enemy faculty aren't allowed within one
hundred mdre. of thc technical journals
in the holy ba cmellt shrine of the
Davis Centre Librmy. Mind you, engineers
don'l lool at these journals much anyway,
and have only dubbed them "holy" so as to
scam religious holidays and the freedom.
associated with spending a day in prayer at
Poets.
And, with the completion of the Davis
Centre's makeo cr, we' ll have whal we all
really want: an ugly building that hou, es a
library of ob. cure technical stuff to sati fy
engineers, with a bit of colour thrown in to
make it more hospitable to the people who
don't know what 'f=ma' mean . Then of
course, we'll only have one problem: pro-
vided the programmers arc succes fu l,
which one of us gets to date Lara Croft?
Voices ofWomyn is looking for submissions
NATALIE GILLIS
Womyn's Centre
W
omyn, womin or women -
however you spell it, it's still
your voice, and the Womyn's
Centre wants to hear it.
Voices oj Womyn, a coll ection of
essays, short stories, poetry, artwork and
photography by women in the UW com-
munity, i1> looking for submissions.
Originally conceived to draw atten-
Rotary Ckr1cWet\ 's c.e-.tye
CULTIVATING POTENTIAL
Dear Students,
Outstanding performance!
tion to the oft-unheard voices of women
on campus, Voices continues today as a
celebration of the literary and creative
achievements of Waterloo's women.
In hopes of increasing its resonance,
this year's Voices will be published in
book form, a departure from the tabloid
(new print) issues of years pa t. It will
continue to be launched during
International Women's Week, from March
8-12 this coming year.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, the staff and chi ldren of the
Rotary Children's Centre, we want you to know how much we appre-
ciate you founding Circus ENG.
You should be proud of the talent, caringness and commitment shown
by the Engineering Society.
We look forward to Circus ENG each and every fall for many years lo
come.
Thank you again for making our children very happy!
Sincerely,

Katherine Mayberry
Director ofDeve!opment & Community Relations
Member of the Ontario Association of Children's Rehabilitation Services
......
500 HaIImIrk 0riYe. w.rtoo. ON N2K W5
Telephone: (519) 886-8886. fax: (519) 886-1292
CaIkiIIte
250 HapeIer RoId. CambndaE. ON NIR 3H3
Telephone: (519) 621-7580, fax: (519) 621-4651
0aartIIIIIe Business Nwnber 108Kl118J RROOOt
Submission guidelines:
Deadline for all submission. is
Friday, December 4 by 4:30 p.m. in the
Federation of Students office.
All contributions mu t be accompa-
nied by a separate page listing the contrib-
utor' name and phone number as well as
the name of the piece. Written contribu-
tions must
via e-mail
(ccheng@engmail.uwaterloo.ca). Floppy
disks will not be accepted.
Artists and photographers take note:
Voices is published in black and white
only. Colour work will be converted to
black and white for publication. All art-
work and photographs will be retumed
upon publication.
For more information, or to help with
the production of Voices of Womyn, con-
teet 1fe (888=456' ...
x3457) or e-mai l Christine Cheng
(ccheng@engmail.l.f.waterloo.ca) .
3 Guys named Andrew
+ 3 Beers named 50
You do the math ...
They're WEAVER'S GUYS!
Weavers
Arms
Columbia 5t.
....:

_ Weaver's is located
in the WCRI Student
:E - Housing Complex
a..
University Ave.
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8 Opinions The Iron Warrior, Friday, November 13, 1998
Why Did You
Choose Engineering?
D
uring co-op job interviews, one of
the first questions often posed to
tudents is "Why did you choose
engineering?" This will sometimes catch
the student off guard. The reasons for
pursuing a career in engineering arc many
and various, so it can be difficult to for-
mulate a thorough
yet concise
response.
Personally, I've had
to deal with this
common question
many times. 1 usual-
ly begin my an. wer
by discussing my
affinity for problem
solving. [ continue by saying whatever
comes to my mind next, which is often a
childhood story of how I used to disman-
tle my toys. Some pro pective employers
seemed delighted by my respon e, while
it was evident that others could tell that I
was just answering off the top of my head.
With just a bit of thought, however, a
much better reo ponse could have been
given. Why engineering? Answering this
question is in fact not very difficult. The
American Society for Engineering
Education defines engineering as "the art
of applying scientific and mathematical
principles, experience, judgment, and
common sense to make things that benefit
people." [f you keep thi definition in
mind, you should have no trouble explain-
ing why you chose engineering. In addi-
tion to this, though, it might also be
helpful to make a list of your reason and
to rank them. Here are some of the main
rea ons common amongs..t most engineer-
ing
Challenges
ject management skills. These skills can
be applied elsewhere in life, such as in
planning a vacation, or researching a
major purchase.
Understanding the World
Engineers are generally very inquisi-
tive; they like to know why and how
things work. An
education in engi-
The Big
Picture
By Raymond 110
neering gives a
greater understand-
ing of many things
in the world. For
example, what hap-
pens when you turn
on a light in your
room? How does a
computer work? Why do some cars go
faster than others? In addition, more
insight will be gained on issues affecting
society such as food shortages, pollution,
and energy conservation.
Career Opportunities
In the foreseeable future, there should
be no shortage of demand for engineers.
The opportunities available are numerous,
and engineering is also one of the most
diverse professions. It is very likely that
you will find a job that interests you. In
addition, engineering provides many pos-
sibilities for growth or work in different
fields. Many engineers go on to become
doctors, politicians, entrepreneurs, and
lawyers.
Financial Stability
While this should not be at top any-
one's list of reasons, the financial factor is
certainly in the back of our minds. As an
engineer, you will earn a comfortable
income.
[n the rcal world, there is never a Prestige
shortage of challcnging engineering work. Because engineering is of such
[I' you enjoy solving problcms, then yOll importance in society, and because it
will always be able --------------- requires intellectual
to lind something "Contrary to what some prowess, the profes-
that interests you. people may believe, engi- sion is held in very
People enjoy chal- high regard. As seen
lenges not because neers possess some of the in thc many great
they enjoy hard world's most creative feats of engineering,
work, but because the engineering pro-
minds."
challenges allow fession has much to
them to improve and be proud or.
to grow.
Benefitting Society
Most everyone wants to contribute
something to society. What better way to
do this than to design the very buildings
that we live in, the roads that we drive on,
and the devices that we use everyday?
With this comes great responsibility, but
also a feeling of great pride in one" work.
Creativity
Contrary to what some people may
believe, engineers possess some of the
world's most creative minds. The success
of any engineer relies heavily on creative
thinking skills. To create things that have
never been created before obviou Iy
requires a great deal of creativity.
SkiUs Development
Engineering is becoming an increas-
ingly team-oriented profession. In addi-
tion, the work requires a convergence of
many diverse skills. An engineer must
develop excellent communication, team-
work, computer, organizational, and pro-
Job Satisfaction
Ultimately, all the rcasons listed
above boil down to job satisfaction. If
you arc going to spend the rest of your
working life doing omething, you hould
enjoy what you do. Being dissati fied
with your job will adversely affect other
areas of your life. You choo e engineer-
ing because YOll know it will make YOll
happy.
If you know what your reason are
for choosing engineering, and you can
clearly explain them to yourself, then
chances are good that you'll give a good
response to the interview question po ed
at the beginning of thi article. More
importantly, though, keeping yourself
acquainted with your reason, for being an
engineer will help you to keep things in
perspective. If at limes you seem to lose
focus or direction, remind yourself of why
you chose engineering. By re-examining
your reasons, you can set goals that suit
you, and refocus your efforts to achieve
those goals.
I
Alphabet Soup
I
n various articles I've come across in
recent issues of The Iron Warrior and
Imprint, I've noticed a common trend
This insult not only occurs once, but
twice. There wa absolutely no evidence
that 1 wouid be 'stupid' if r did not agree.
Take a
Zhance
By Zium Huall Zho/l
zhzhou@engmail
In fact, I think it
would have been
'stupid' to agree
with the anicle ince
the 400+ words
could have been
reduced to: "I mean,
c'mon, how can you
among the writing
abilities of the aver-
age student. It
seems that some-
where along the line
of our academic
career, communica-
tion skills were
pu hed to the back in
favour of more tech-
nical skill like
=======;;!J possibly think any-
mathematics and science.
Many of us take English for granted,
probably because it is our natural tongue
and we speak it everyday. However, it
greatly saddens me when people cannot
differentiate between words such as its &
it's and your & you're, among others. It
also surpri es me when people cannot
spell or pronounce words that are phonet-
ically correct. My first language is not
English and I can even differentiate differ-
ent flavours of homonyms as well as cor-
rectly apply phonetics. Perhaps the
reason I can do as such is because I spent
a large portion of my early life learning
proper English. These common mistakes,
though small, show that many of us have a
problem understanding the fundamental
concepts of the English language.
Greater problems arise from the e
menial subtleties by trickling higher into
written, as well as oral communication.
One such example is the inability of argu-
mentative works to effectively convince
the reader of the point. In an article from
July JO, 1998 i sue of The Iron Warrior,
the author calls the reader 'stupid' if he
doesn't agree with the author's stance.
say the lea t.
thing el. e?" Not
very convincing to
Ideas should always be presented in a
very distinct, consistent and logical man-
ner. Mathematical problems require a
thought process akin to writing. The
beginning should flow logically to the
body. At the end, the correctne s of the
final result should be difficult to question,
if not irrefutable. [f however, you made a
fundamental mistake in the body, the final
result will be quite difficult to accept. The
ame rules to solving math problems
apply for writing, a well presented body i
required for a convincing result. The only
difference is that in math, there is a single
' right' answer. In writing, you decide
what is 'right'. It's your job to make it
'the most right.'
Effective communication is not only
key to being a successful engineer, but of
becoming a successful person. An idea or
thought that is lost among jumble of ran-
dom ideas will not be as well received as
one that is presented in a very distinct
manner. Your ideas represent who you
are. However, if you cannot communicate
them, what difference will it make?
Engineers in Campus Politics I
MILTON CHAN
2A Computer Engineering
S
tudent politic. in UW is hone tly not
the most exciting show on TV.
Unlike most universities, we are not
a member of CFS. Canadian Federation of
Students, and therefore we do not ee stu-
dents chaining themselve to the doors of
Needles Hall everyday. This i probably
the rca. on why so few people actually
read the Imprint, because they fail to dig
up controversy on a regular basis. I
missed my big chance to talk abollt tu-
dent politics when the club policy came
out. That kind of issue would cause a riot
in real politics. However, with the well-
known UW apathy, the FEDS office got
out of trouble without any torm, because
there are not enough people to stir the
storm up.
Engineer are generally stereotyped
as the lea t attentive group to student pol-
itics. There are traditionally empty seats
on the Student' Council for Engineering.
(That was how I became the first ever I A
tudent to sit on the Students' Council) It
usually takes us about four to six months
until tho e seats are filled; when the term
is only twelve months long this is a pretty
good chunk. This situation is rather iron-
ic since the Engineering Society is the
most active and most structured society
out of the six societies in Waterloo. There
are also a few cold hard facts that run
against the typical assumption. (Keep in
mind, there are about 3000 engineers, out
of 12000 full time undergraduates)
o In the past ten year, every other FEDS
president have been Engineers (Adam
Chamberlain 88-89, John Vellinga 90-91,
Dave Martin 92-93, Steve Codrington 94-
95, Mario Bellabarba 96-98)
o Last Year, all three undergraduate mem-
bers of the Board of Governor were
Engineers (Mario Bellabarba, Stephen
Dufour, and Ryan Chen-Wing)
o [n the club scene, almost half of the club
president are engineers (the other half
being mathies)
o Engineers occupied two out of six seats
on the Board of Directors
o Engineers contribute most to their
endowment fund. ($75, compared to
$27.44 in AHS, $30 in ES, $31.42 in Math
and $50 in Science) WEEF pent more
money than the Federation endowment
fund last year.
o Five out of six engineering members on
the Students' Council had over a 90%
attendance rate last year, while the council
average was 59%.
o The Engineering Society has two regular
publications (JW and Enginewsletter),
while math and science have one. ES,
AHS and Arts have none.
o EngSoc has the most charity events (Bus
Push, Canada Day, Circus Eng)
Engineering is the only faculty that has
Scunt outside of frosh week!
Chew on these facts and I will tell you
the other side of the story next time.
The Iron Warrior, Friday, 13, 199 Science & Technology 9
ANDERSEN
CONSULTING
To THE POINT
1997 Andersen Consulting
All nghts reserved.
The Web police
Enterprise turn to Web-monitoring
tools to boost employee productivity
The emergence of the World Wide
Web as a valuable business tool has given
countless corporate workers concomitant
acce to an entirely new medium with
which to while away their workaday
hour -doing anything but work. Entire
Web sites devoted to nothing more than
wasting time (http://www.amused.coml)
are cropping up across the Internet-and
sending many productivity-minded corpo-
rate executives into a dither. Combined
with the much-publicized existence (and
financial success of) a host of pornograph-
ic Web sites, the potential productivity
downside of company-wide Internet
access ha lead some enterprises to rethink
their Internet policies.
But the fact is, workers have been
finding ways to waste their employers'
time ince long before the advent of the
Web, Microsoft Solitaire, or even the
office water-cooler. Whi le some
researcher say such periodic distractions
can actually serve to boost employee
morale (and, one assumes, productivity),
corporate information sy terns managers
wonder whether their Internet access
expenditures are going to waste.
Unfortunately, the Internet has
become an unparalleled repository of
(non-)business information, so simply Cul -
ling the Gordian Tl connection, simple as
it might be, isn't an answer. As a re ult,
many enterprises (following the lead of
orne concerned parents, public libraries,
and even national governments) have
begun to employ Web-monitoring and fil -
tering software to ensure that their
employees are using the Internet strictly
for busines purposes.
Nielsen Media Research issued one of
the first alarms about corporate worker '
abuse of the Internet in 1996. A Nielsen
report found that the online edition of
Penthouse magazine was being accessed
thousands of times each month by (the
ostensibly technology-savvy) workers at
IBM, AT&T, and Hewlett-Packard among
others. Internet filtering software vendor
SurfWatch claims that there is a 50 percent
chance that a given employee with unlim-
ited Internet access will visit "undesirable
or unproductive" Web site. (SurfWatch
does not give figures for the likelihood that
an employee with full access LO a 360-
degree swivel chair might spend part of the
day unproductively spinning around in it.)
Still, a 1997 study by CIO
Communications found that almost half of
125 mall- to large-sized companies polled
did not have a formal Internet use policy in
place. But there are signs that awareness
of the potential problem is rising. Officials
at Web-monitoring software vendor
Kansmen say the market for monitoring
tools, worth an estimated $75 million last
year, will quadruple by 1999. Fully 30
percent of all companies in the US cur-
rently monitor their employees' Web
usage, according to SurfWatch.
We know where you're going
A host of vendors now produce Web-
monitoring and content-filtering software
systems that feature varying levels offunc-
tionality. The most basic PC-based tools
accomplish simple monitoring tasks that
enable the Watcher (employers, librarians,
nervous parents, or suspicious spouses) to
A COMPILATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ABSTRACTS
examine log report Ii ling all the Web
ites that users of an individual client
machine have visited. More robu .. t (and
expen ive) network-based y tems can
help enterprises calculate the average
expen e of an employee's time online
based on the per on's salary and the total
co t of the company's Internet connection.
Other tools can automatically send e-mai l
messages to network admini trator that
help them keep track of employee who
may be abusing their Internet access privi-
leges.
The majority of current Web-monitor-
ing and filtering tool s used in corporate
settings automatically block a range of
sites that have been deemed inappropriate
for business use: Web de tinations that
contain information about sex, gambling,
hate speech, criminal skills, and drugs are
verboten. Many tools enable individual
enterprises to add site of their own choos-
ing (often sports- or leisure-related desti-
nations) to the list. Analysts say
ext-generation Web-monitoring tools will
become even more integrated with enter-
prise network systems in order to help
administrators better manage hardware
and software while ensuring intranet secu-
rity. For example, Computer Associates
(CA) has agreed to ntegrate Sequel
Technology' s Net Access Manager with
CNs Unicenter enterprise network man-
agement system.
Why bother?
The goals behind most enterprise-
based Web-monitoring and filtering sys-
tems are to increase employee
productivity, boo t network security, and
protect again t lawsuits resulting from the
presence of inappropriate content (. cxual-
Iy explicit photographs, hate peech, etc.)
in the workplace. Enterprise network
watchdog are not (with very few exccp-
tions) merely ogres who hope to catch and
dispatch otherwi e productive employees
who occasionally waste a few minutes
browsing the book li sting. at
Amazon.com. Rather, analysts say the
implementation of Web-monitoring sys-
tems on corporate network, (assuming
employee are informed of thc system'
rollout) is often enough of a deterrent to
alleviate most employee abuse of Internet
access. A with many real world security
schemes (think of the cameras posted high
in the corner of your convenience store or
the 'security gate' at your public library),
the innocent have nothing to fear. And
aside from prOductivity gains, supporters
of Web-monitoring tools say the software
can help enterprises reexamine their band-
width usage, requirement, and expendi-
tures.
Legally speaking, corporations are
perfectly free to monitor their employees'
use of the Internet on company premises
(or time), just as they may prohibit their
employees from making personal phone
calls or ban them from watching TV at
their desks.
Dangerous business
The potential to realize productivity
gains fOT a relatively low investment
makes corporate executives (not to men-
tion management con u!tants) smile. But
crirics of such practical strategizing argue
that strict-use Internet policies (including
the implementation of large-scale Web-
monitoring and filtering systems) in the
corporate setting could actually slow pro-
ducti\ ilY. B pro\ iding their employees
with unlimited \l eh ac es. , enterprise. \ ir
tually guarantee thaI their worker. 'an lind
a wealth of business-related infom\ation in
a fraction of the time that a traditional (real
world) search would take. Limiting
employee acce S 10 the Web- in general or
via Web-monitoring and blocking tools-
can low that free flow of infonnation to a
trickle.
Critic al 0 belie e that de. pite the
advance in Web-monitoring and filtering
technologies: I ) 0 system will ever . uc-
cess fully block all inappropriate ites, and
2) Some employee will inevitably be
blocked (inadvertently) from sites they
need for bu ine s purposes. Employee
morale is another potential risk for enter-
prise contemplating aggressive "busines -
only" Internet policies. Corporations
attempting to boost retention rates (e pe-
cially in the cutthroat information technol-
ogy industry) risk alienating the very
employees they hope to keep.
Savvy corporations will be careful to
maintain an open dialogue with their
employees about acceptable Internet u e
on company time. Network administrators
do not want to act as baby-sitter who must
monitor the childish (if lecherous) pen-
chants of scores of Internet users-even if
it might boost productivity. Most enter-
prises will eventually learn lhat, like the
office telephone, the Web is a tool who e
b il i j u i
as an in-office (and company-funded) dis-
traction. And whether it's surfing the Web,
playing computer solitaire, or gossiping
around the office corporatr
workers will alw,Jys lind a way to (at
occasionall y) avoid working in thl.! work
place. And mayh' not such a had
thing after all.
BY MICHAEL J. FENNI<:R
industry loses bid to hull
MP3 device production
A US federal judge denil.!d a request
from thl.! Recording Industry Associntion
of America (RIAA) to prohibit Diamond
Multimedia Systems from manufacturing
a hand-held device which records and
plays back music that u ers can find on the
Internet (see "Court halts shipment of
portable MP3 music player," (Document
link not converted) in the 19 October 199B
issue of To The Point). The 2.4 ounce
device, called the Rio, stores approximate-
ly one hour's worth of high-fidelity record-
ings in the MP3 formal. The judge ruled
that Rio did not meet the legal definition of
a digital audio recording device as speci-
fied in the US Audio Home Recording Act
of 1992. In addilion, the judge found that
Diamond will not be required to pay royal -
ties to artist organizations or to install anti-
copying technologies in their products.
RIAA officials, who believe the Rio will
fuel widespread piracy of copyrighted
music, plan to appeal the judge's decision.
Based on "Music industry loses a bid
to stop Internet recording," by Mall
Richtel , The New York Times, 28 October
1998, p. C9; "RIAA takes a hit in court,"
by Janet Kornblum, CNET, 26 October
199 8
http://www.news.comiNewslltemlO.4.2796
3,OO.html
Microsoft renames NT 5.0 'Windows
2000'
Microsoft announced that the next
upgrade of its Window NT operating sys-
tcm (OS) has been renamed Window
2000 and i 'cheduled to be relea ed late
next year. Microsoft is targeting Windows
2000 Profe. sional, Server, and Advanced
erver- all of which were known a
Windows NT products- at the busine s
market, unlike the more consumer-orient-
ed Window 98. Analysts ay the
announcement illustrate Microsoft'
effort to di conti nu the Window 98 line
of products- which began with MS-
DOS- in favor of NT-based oftware tech-
nology. All future consumer- and
business-oriented operating systems will
then be old as a single product line "built
on Wind ws technology," according to
Micro oft.
Based on "Micro oft refi nes product'
convergence," by David Bank, The Wall
Street Journal , 28 October 1998, p. B 1 0;
"NT 5.0 renamed Windows 2000," by
Mary Jo Foley, ZDNel. 27 October 1998,
hllp://www.zdnet.comlzdl11zislori es/print-
er Jrielldly/0,3845,2 J 55796, 00. html
IBM builds world's fastest computer fOT
a nuclear testing lab
IBM delivered the world's fastest
computer-an RS/6000 SP system with
5,800 processor chips-to the US
Department of Energy (DOE) last week.
The supercomputer, named Pacific Blue, is
capable of 3.88 teraflops (tri llion calcula-
tions per second) , roughly 15,000 times
o a rulll1in8 a "3')OMtm'"""
processor. The computer will be used by
the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory-a nuclear weapons lab in
California- for :imll lation to drlcrmine
wl1l'lhcr agin).' w:llhclIIl\ arc :0.1111 0IWr.toil' .
TIll' madllnc is pan oj till D 'palll1Wnt of
EIK'rgy\ Aced 'ratl'd Stmtcgit' Computi ng
Initiativc, a tl.!J1 y'at, bIllion dollar pro-
gram to aUVlltK'C SUI)l' 1 'Ol1lputel tcchnolo
gy for w lIrons simulation :II Ihe IC;lding
nudear labs in the US. DOE officials uW
mlltcly till' program to deliver il
100 teraflop machine.
Based on "In C()mpllt'rs, fast, faster
and fastest." by Mallhcw L. Wald, The
New YOlk 1imes, 2K Octo\) '[ 199K, p. ('6;
" IBM builds fastest Blu' yel." by Stephen
Shankland, ('INc! News, 28 October 1998,
htl[l://www.news.{ol1ziNew.11111.I1110.4.2805
I ,aO. hlml ?[ll.Ills .. /<'ed."C' home
SOllY introduces a 200MB floppy disk
Sony launched the Hi gh Capacity
Ploppy Disk (liiFD) Drive, which can also
read, write, and format traditional 1.44MB
floppy disks. Floppy di sk' based on the
new technoJogy can hold 200MB-
approximately 20 minutes of video or up
to 100,000 pages of text. But analy ts
believc HiPD systems could be prohibi-
tively expensive for most users: external
di sk drives will cost $199 and individual
disks will cost $15. On average, the HiFD
system will cost one-third to one-half more
than competing products, such as the
SupcrDisk or the Zip Drive.
Based on ''The 200MB floppy di k,"
by Angela Hickman, ZDNet, 20 October
1998, p.
hltp://www. zdnel.co"zipcmag/news/trentis/
t98J020a.hlml; "Fresh floppy disk con-
tender," by staff reporter, Financial Times,
28 October 1998, p. 24.
see "To The Point Coni ... ", page 12
-
-
10 Internal Information The Iron Warrior, Friday, November 13, 1998
All I Ever Need To Know About WEEF
But Was Too Busy Taking My Money Back To Ask
T
hi s article is intended to answer
three of the most common ques-
tions that r have come across since
becoming the Endowment Director. It is
. urprising to see how
freely people complain
about things they do not
understand, and in accor-
dance with my life long
goal of decreasing global
ignorance, I prescnt to
you, 'All I Ever Wanted to
Know About WEEF But
Was Too Busy
Complaining To Ask'.
Some of thi s article is just mc venting frus-
tration at some of the fooli sh and ignorant
people I have had the mi sfortune of cro. s-
ing paths wit h, but most of thi s article is
meant to be an in-depth explanation of
what WEEF is and where we invest our
money. Read on and learn my fellow engi-
neer .. .
Question #1: Are we allowed to have sex
in the WEEF office?
Answer: No, you are not.
money is managed professionally by
Perigee, the seventh largest inve tment
firm in Canada. It is a fairly new compa-
ny in that it was created roughly three
WEEF
Report
by Mar/... CesQI/((
year ago by a
merger of two
other invest-
ment films. The
U W
Endowment
Fund has two
goals. The first
is to grow as
quickly and
aggressively as
pos ible. The second goal is to generate a
high yet stable income on a yearly basis.
One goal involves ri sk, the other involves
security. If we let all the WEEF money
ride on the stock market, we could end up
with a 27% return one year, but unexpect-
ed events such a the Bre-X fiasco or the
recent market cor-
to 10% in cash (T-bills) and about 60% in
the bond market. This way, there i guar-
anteed income a well as the possibility of
serious fund growth.
Question #3: Why don't we just spend
the money every year? Why not spend the
$2.8 million now?
Answer: Short term vs. long term
thought. When WEEF was created, it was
done with a vision for the future. Some
school s have equipment funds that spend
all the money they bring in every year. We
here at Waterloo however, decided that
long term thinking would win out, well, in
the long run. Initially, if one was being
selfish, they could say that they were not
getting their bang for their buck. They
were putting in the same $75 that you are
today, but were only getting a fraction of
that money in return. Were they dumb for
not realizing they were
rection could lead
to a loss in one
year. How does
one tell 2, 100
engineers that
"Are we allowed
to have sex in the WEEF
office?"
as, "I get my money back because I alway
have" or my personal favourite, " I need
money for Casino Rama." Legitimate rea-
sons for requesting a WEEF refund are
few and far between, especially now that
we have cro ed the clu ive "break-even"
barrier. For every $75 a plummer con-
tributed last term, roughly $100 was spent
in return. You are getting MORE than
your money's worth. On top of that, the
$75 is a charitable donation on your
income tax. Thi s upcoming workterm,
think how ea y it is to blow $75 on a
weekend. Why is it that at the start of the
next school term, the value of this same
$75 will all of a sudden become so much
more ' important' to 30% of us?
there is no WEEF ---------------
getting less than ten
bucks for a seventy-five
doJlar investment?
Were they dropped on
their heads as children?
No. These people were
Most of this article was written by my
brother, Paul. I, in honour of Paul , pro-
crastinated too long and didnft have time
to write a full article (plus my head is still
ringing from trying to stop Rowen
' Freight-train' Jarvis in Mudbowl).
Anyways, the Funding Council has decid ..
ed how to spend our money and the unof-
ficial li st of things we will fund is
currently on the WEEF office door (CPH
1323C). Look for this li st in the next great
Iron Warrior issue when it will be official-
ly approved by our board of directors.
Question #2: Why hould J give money to
WEEF if it just sits in a bank account get-
ting 3% interest?
Answer: The Waterloo Engineering
Endowment Fund is grouped together with
another couple hundred endowment funds,
scholarships and bursarie on campu
which are coJ]ectively called the
University of Waterloo Endowment Fund.
This fund i over $34 million in size and
WEEF is onc of thc largest single compo-
nents of this fund at $2.8 million. This
money to spend
one year, but maybe next year we will be
in the black? On the other hand, what
incentive does one have to put money in an
Endowment Fund if it was all sitting in a
GJ.c. earning 2.5%? This is why the
Provost Advisory Committee Re:
Endowment Funds ou ht out a profes-
sional money manager to balance the need
for income with the risk necessary for
rapid growth. The solution as presented
by Perigee was an asset mix of up to 30%
in the stock market (both US and Cdn), up
Shadow Day Is Coming!
LAURA EDWARDS
JAMES SINTON
Shadow Day Directors
O
n Tuesday, November 24, and
Wednesday, November 25 of this
term, you might see some new
faces in your class. However, these aren't
exchange students from far away; they're
prospective University of Waterloo
Engineering students from high schools in
Waterloo, Toronto and the surrounding
region.
In most cases, prospective high
school students have
have to do is volunteer to spend part of
your day escorting a shadow around. Take
them to class, labs, and lectures; give them
tours, an wer their que tions, and general-
ly give them a great feeling about coming
to Waterloo Engineering.
If you would like to be hadowed for
the day, sign up in the Orifice, talk to your
class rep or end an email with your name,
discipline (Chem., Mech. , etc.), term (2A,
3B, etc), and days available (November 24
and/or November 25) to shadow@eng-
mail.uwaterloo.ca. For those of you who
would like to volunteer, but cannot spend
little opportunity to
talk to students who
have actually attended
the program in which
they are interested. To
alleviate this problem
and allow high school
students to make more
"In most cases, prospec-
tive high school students
have little opportunity to
talk to students who have
the day with a stu-
dent one on one,
each department
will be giving a
presentation to the
high school stu-
dents interested in
that discipline.
You can receive
more information
regarding the e
informed decision
actually attended the pro-
gram in which they are
interested. "
regarding their post
secondary education,
the Engineering
--------------- presentations by
Society, each Fall and Winter term runs a
Shadow Day. This gives high school stu-
dents the chance to come and spend part of
the day with undergraduate students like
you so they can see what life is like as a
Waterloo Engineering student.
We need your help in showing these
students that Waterloo in the best
Engineering school in Canada. All you
Sinton or Laura
directors.
talking to James
Edwards, the Shadow
For more information, visit the
Shadow Day web page at
hltp://engsoc. uwaterloo.calShadow. If
you have any further questions or want to
help out with Shadow Day, email us at
shadow@engmail.uwaterloo.ca.
visionaries. They were
people who had the common sense (whjch
isn' t so common) to realize that if they
wanted to maintain the reputation of their
school and the quality that the world has
come to expect of it, they had to ensure the
long range success of UW Engineering.
These people knew that they were prepar-
ing others for a brighter future and a better
education and they didn't think twice
about it. That is why it pains me to see
almost 30% of engineers getting their
WEEF refunds, some with reasons such
FINALLY, the date for the WEEF
Annual General Meeting has been offlcial-
Iy set. So book off your afternoon on
Thursday, November 26 because we will
be celebrating the official naming of the
WEEP lab and we will have one of the
coolest meetings ever. Look for signs in
the CPH Foyer for more details. Hope to
see you there. Ciao for now.
If you're atwa on the go tat us with you.
pager from Bell Mobility is the easy and affordable
way to lay in the Joop.
IIIIobIIIty
The Iron Warrior, Friday, ovember 13, 1998 Internal Information 11
Joint Council is a Comin'!
the govern-
Indiana. A lot of American chool bring
in plenty of moolah by inviting compani s
(0 attend. Ithough
Y
OU may have heard by now that
ment ha
co-op currentl)
now approved
Waterloo's proposal
for ATOP as I've out-
lined in past is ues
of IW and as ha
been mentioned in
the Gazette. Now
we have to make
sure that all our con-
cerns are heard. Professor Tony Vannelli,
Chair of E&CE, will hopefully be attend-
ing our next EngSoc meeting (Wed ov
18, 6pm in DC 1302).
Our Engineering! AHS night at Fed
Hall was a huge succe s. We had an atten-
dance around 650 people! .This is defi-
nitely something we'll be repeating in
terms to come.
CEAB (Canadian Engineering
Accreditation Board) was here on
November 2 to review our Environmental
Engineering program. Engineering pro-
grams don' t get accredited until after the
first class has graduated from it. That
means we won't find out for sure if it has
been approved until May when our now-
4A enviro students get their diplomas.
Things are looking good though. CEAB
met with enviro students in all years, envi-
ronmental staff members, the fir t year
office, co-op, and with the EngSoc presi-
dents to make sure that all was in good
standing. I think we impressed the
accreditation team.
We've put together a small commi ttee
to look at the possibility of running a
career fair in the Fall term. We're talking
big. This is an idea 'that Greg and I picked
up at the conference we attended in
President's
Report
by Aim/ COflnisTruro
ho ts a career fair
every Fall term. the
purpose of thi one
would be to host one
with more of an
engineering pin on
it. We're currently
looking at the idea
of co-ordinating it
with co-op's career fair.
We've pa ed a new mandate to set up
a calendar for booking the CPH foyer for
sales. Our major concern with thi i food
sales, but it applie to all kinds of
fundraising or sales efforts. The motiva-
tion behind this is protection of the C&D
against unnecessary los. When food
sales occur in CPH foyer, the Engineering
C&D typically takes a small hit in sales;
we want to make sure that we know about
this ahead of time so that we can prepare
for it. It also provides a centra] location
where you can find out what sale will
occur on what days.
November 15 marks the date of our
Joint Council meeti ng. The meeting will
be held at Weaver's Arms at II am. A free
buffet breakfast will be provided to all
those in attendance and we are asking that
all class reps attend.
Vanilla l ee has a new album out
called "Hard to Swallow". Forget the hip-
hop, though - now he's doing harder tech-
no/electronica stuff. Can you believe this
guy is still around?!
So that's it for now. Sorry about the
bl and n ure th'
next issue.
Lots of Conferences on
the Horizon
w
ow! For the tirst time this
I ml. I reaUy don't have mu h
to, ny .. ,
What's new? Wcll. applications for
the ESSCO Olympics at Lakehead
(January 22--4) and CCE at of T
(January 2- ) ha\'c been opencd up and 1
want to sce
tonne of appli- -
tions and potentially a few keynote speak-
cr. . One of the i sues under close scruti-
n i. the relationship between industry
and education. After the day of work is
finally over, howe cr, you can have a lot
of fun. onferences uch as thi provide
you thc opportunity to meet great people
from all 0 er Canada.
The deadline to
cant! ======="""'i1 submit for both of
I'm looking
for team. of four
members to ign
up for the
Olympic
EngSoc will be
covering the co t
of the flight to
VP External
these conferences is
Monday, November
16, 1998, which is
approaching very fast.
Please submit soon,
Report
hv Greg Fykc
Thunder Bay but delegate. will be rc pon-
ible for covering the $75 delegate fee.
The Olympics is an engineering competi-
tion between schools all acro s Ontario.
The event are usually more geared
towards having fun instead of rigorous
mathematical induction. We want to
win!
" ... applications for the
ESSCO Olympics at
Lakehead (Jan 22-24) and
CCES at V of T (Jan 2-8)
have been opened up ... "
CCES i a Canadian-wide conference
that is very [ocu ed on tackling is ues that
In other news, the
Engineering/AHS
night was absolutely
incredible. We had an incredible atten-
dance of 630 people at Fed Hall on that
cold Thursday night. With figures like
that, it certainly looks like we will have to
do thi again. I hope everyone had a great
time! Thanks to all of the volunteers who
helped out during the night. Thanks to
AHS and the AHSUM executive as well -
because hey, we ure couldn't have done
thi without you.
Hah! As you can ee, I kept this rea-
sonably short. So now 1 want to . ee how
many people actuall y read this article.
Stop me in the hallway and ay. 'Hey
Greg. That was a very informative and
short article.' Yes, this would make me so
very happy. *Snif1* Thanks everyone,
you're awesome!
,.
wiJI be a variety of workshops, presenta-
Time to Start Thinking About Next Terms Directorships
F
irst off,
congradul a-
tlOns to
Shirley, Vivien and
Milton, the semi-
formal directors,
for a job well
done. Over J 30
people attended
the event and it
was a "swinging" success.
VP Internal
Report
November is a
busy month for all
sorts of events. Tal-
Eng will be occuring
on November 26 at the
Bomber, so keep your
by Jl'IInifer Motuz eyes out for it. If you'd
like to sign up an act,
email Chris Ford
(cbford@engmail.uwa-
terloo. ca) or Vivien Kwok (v2kwok@ellg-
The Sandford Flem ing Foundation
mail.uwatl'rfoo.c(/). This month also sees u
101 of events oft campus. organilcd by
your external special evenls dire tors.
Keep your eyes out for a Brunny Trip, U
Ili ck Trip and other cvents.
With November here, it's time to start
thinking about next term. The directorship
applications will soon be avai lable online
for anyone who wants to get more
involved. All 4-stream Frosh ar encour-
aged to apply for a directorship this sum
4306 Carl Pollock Hall, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1
1Ill'1 . H sln'am Fmsh can l'tl1ail the
EngSoc B VPI Kl'lIy l'l\wcctl (kljilll'
('(' I (0) ('11[.1/111111.1111'ull' dOIl ,CII) for IllfOrlllU
tion about dircctor:-.hlp'i [IllS winter.
Anyol1l' C:III he a dil'l:ctOl, and
one who tlpplics will b' given Olle, leN II
lot of fun, and a great experience,
As always, if you have any questions
or would like me to mcntion 'iol11clhing in
my next report, let me know.
Waterloo Campus Activity
(519) 888-4008
rrfie Santfford !ffeming :FountfatWn is pfeased to anrwunce
the Winner of tIie 1998
!l(aren Mark Scfwfarsliip:
.9l.tufrea tJJrO'Wn
9tfecJianiaIl 'Engineering
Congratufations,51ntfrea
Funding for these awards comes from engineering student contributions and depends on them for continuation.
An organization devoted to the advancement of engineering education.
12
continued from page 2
AT &T to offer instant translation via
mobile phones
AT&T Labs, the research and devel-
opment unit of AT&T (Document link not
converted), is collaborating with the
Chinese Academy of Sciences to develop
technology that will allow real -time trans-
lation between English and Chine e speak-
ers. The system will combine translation,
speech-recognition. and speech-synthe is
technologies to allow u ers to speak to one
another in their own respective languages
using mobile phones. The translation
technology will eventually be expanded to
include more languages and other types of
communication technologies. uch as
videoconferencing. AT&T expects to
release its first working prototype of the
system, which will feature a dictionary of
several thousand words, by 2003.
Based on "AT&T working in tant
translation," by Clare Haney,
Computerworld, 26 October 1998, p. 49.
Netscape adds features to upcoming
Application Server
etscape Communications
announced it is adding transactional moni-
toring features to its Application Server
4.0 upgrade, which is due out early next
year. Company official say the transac-
tion capabilities are designed to help
Netscape's product better compete with
IBM's WebSphere and Microsoft 's
Tran action Server. Application Server 4.0
will also feature programming language
neutrality, multi-tier special.ization, and
compatibility with enterprise resource
planning (ERP) application. Company
official announced that Netscape wi ll al 0
relea eversion 4.0 of it Web Server-
which will include centralized manage-
ment and security in addition to native
Java servlet support-and that it may build
a smaller application erver that does not
include high-end transaction features.
Based on "Netscape to soup up app
erver," by Emily Fitzloff, InfoWorld, 26
October 1998, p. 43.
Lotus connects Domino Servers to ERP
systems
Lotus Development introduced
Domino Connectors that will link Domino
server to enterprise resource planning
(ERP) application from Oracle and
PeoplcSoft). Domino Connector. already
link to ERP systems from SAP, Law, on
Software. and Infinium Software. Lotus's
technology allows real time data exchange
between Domino ervers and external
information sources, such as ERP applica-
tion server. databa es, or transaction pro-
cessing systems. Analysts say Lotus's
strategy is part of an industry-wide push to
integrate all enterprise applications. The
Domino Connectors for Oracle and
PeopleSoft ERP systems are scheduled to
be released in the first quarter of 1999.
Based on "Lotus adds ERP links via
The Iron Warrior, Friday, ovember 13, 1998
118 Days
Till IRS '99
To The Point Continued ...
Domino Connectors," by Ted Bowen,
rnfoWorld, 26 October 1998, p. 10; "Lotus
links Domino to ERP systems," Justin
Hibbard, Informationweek, 26 October
1998, p. 38.
Motorola joins Symbian wireless
alliance
Motorola acquired a 23 percent Slake
in Symbian, a joint venture that will pro-
mote the Epoc operating system as the
industry standard for wireless communica-
tion. t h ~ r companies investing in the
Symbian alliance are wireless phone
equipment manufacturers Nokia and
Ericcson, in addition to hand-held digital
device maker Psion, which developed
Epoc. The OS will compete directly with
Microsoft 's Windows CE in the emerging
market for software that runs hand-held
computers, cable set-top boxes, and wire-
less phones. International Data Corp.
(IDC) predict that the market for such
device will grow 45 percent next year
alone.
Based on "Wireless alliance prepares
to oppose Microsoft," by John Markoff,
The New York Times, 29 October J 998, p.
C I; "Motorola acquires stake in Symbian,"
by Christopher Price, The Financial Times,
30 October 1998, p. 28.
Microsoft to develop Windows for smart
cards
Microsoft announced it is developing
a Windows-based operating system (OS)
for mart cards that will be released in
January of 1999. Company officials say
the inexpensive, 8-bit OS will all ow soft-
ware developers to use languages such as
C++ and Micro oft Visual Basic to build
applications for the smart card. The OS
wi ll also feature a multipartition file ys-
tem, which enables a smart card to run sev-
eral applications from separate data files
on a single microchip. Microsoft has gar-
nered support for the OS from smart card
industry leaders Schlumberger Ltd. and
Gemplus Group.
Sun Micro ystems's competing Java
Card technology-which allows develop-
ers to write mart card applications in the
Java programming language-has been
available for two years. But many analysts
believe that Microsoft's PC-based devel-
opment platform will give its smart card
OS an advantage, despite the company's
late entry into the market.
Based on " Microsoft targets smart
card ," by Paul Taylor. Financial Times,
27 October 1998, p. 24; "Microsoft places
a large bet on ti ny mart cards system,"
The New York Times,October 28, 1998,
B8; "Smarter smart cards," Reuters,
ZDNN, October 27, 1998, p.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/s/ories/news/O
,4586, 2 J 55552,OO.hlml; "Microsoft
launches smart cards for Windows," Todd
Spangler, Interactive Week Online,
http://www.ztinet.com/intweek/storieslnew
slO,4164, 2155621, 00. htmi
SafeEPS will fight spam
The Direct Marketing Association
(DMA) introduced SafeEPS, a Web ser-
vice designed to curb the increasing vol-
ume of unsolicited commercial e-mail
known as pam. Individual u er and
Internet service providers (ISPs) can regis-
ter their mail preference at the SafeEPS
Web site (htfp://www.sajeeps.com). and
marketers will be allowed to search listS of
those preference for a nominal fee. The
system is set up to help marketers who
search the SafeEPS avoid ending infor-
mation to users who prefer to be left off of
all mass mailing lists. The money these
searches generate will be earmarked for
u e in lawsuits against spammers, accord-
ing to the DMA. Critics warn that similar
types of voluntary regulations have failed
to protect consumer, from unwanted e-
mail in the past. In addition, many ana-
lysts believe that if the SafeEPS initiative
fails, it may force governments to attempt
to regulate spam with new legislation.
SCI' an registr, ti n e i.
now available, and marketing firms will
gain acce s to the lists-at $29.95 per
search--on December 1.
Based on "Web ervice aims to battle
spam," by Roberta Fusaro,
Computerworld, 26 October 1998, p. 28.
Consortium creates exchange for chip
designs
A consortium organi zed by Scotti h
Enterprises-an economic development
group-announced it will create an
exchange to buy and sell semiconductor
chip designs. The Virtual Component
Exchange (VCE) will match companies
that want to licen e new design with tho e
that need to buy components. Supporters
of the exchange say it will eventually help
companies to manufacture microproces-
sors "bui lding-block style" with parts from
a variety of vendors. All compani es par-
ticipating in the exchange mu t agree to
the same business and technical standards
to ensure component compatibi l ity,
according to VCE officials. Analysts say
the exchange could make it easier for
smaller chip designers to compete by
enabling them to create interchangeable
chip components that can be built in any
factory.
Based on "Consortium to create
exchange for chip designs," by Dean
Takahashi, The Wall Street Journal, 26
October 1998, p. 88.
Companies report financial results
Infoseek reported a flscal third-quarter
loss of $2.6 million, compared to a loss of
$5 million in the year-earlier period.
Infoseek's revenues more than doubled
from $8.4 million to $19.2 million. The
company attributes its improved perfor-
mance to increased advertising revenue.
Amazon.com reported a third-quarter
loss of $45 million, compared to a loss
$9.6 million a year ago. Sales rose from
$37.9 million to $153.7 million. Company
officials say that despite the 10 s. which
wa les than analysts anticipated, Amazon
continues to gain marketshare-especially
in the online mu ic retailing bu iness.
Electronic Data Sy tems (EDS) reported
that its profits fell 15 percent in the fiscal
third-quarter to $ 195. 1 million. from
$230.2 million a year earlier. Revenue
rose 17 percent to $4.4 billion. Company
official say the results included a $36 mil-
lion debit to cover the payout of the com-
pany's retiring chief executive. The results
were slightly higher than analysts' expec-
tations, though profit were still weighed
down by continued low-profi t ervice con-
traclS with parent company General
Motors, according to the company.
America Online (AOL) reported record
first-quarter profits of $108.4 million.
more than three time the $31.7 million it
reported in the same period last year.
Revenue rose 65 percent to $858.1 million.
AOL officials attribute the company's suc-
cess to the 951,000 new subscriber it
ac uired duri the qu
Ba ed on "America Online earnings
set record in first quarter," by Lawrence
Fisher, The ew York Times, 28 October
1998, p. C2: "AOL net soars to 68 mil-
lion, beats forecasts," Thomas E Weber,
Thc Wall Street Journal, October 28, 1998.
p. A3; "Amazon says sales soared as quar-
terly los narrowed," Lawrence Fisher, The
New York Times, October 29, 1998, p. C8;
Amazon.com posts wider period loss, but
tops forecas ts," Kara Swisher, The Wall
Street Journal, October 29, 1998, p. 88;
"Info eek reports loss on Disney-deal
costs as its sales double," Staff Reporter,
The Wall Street Journal, October 30, 1998,
p. B-2; "Electronic Data says quarterly
profits fell 15%," Staff Reporter, The ew
York Times, October 30, 1998, p. C20.
Strong PC demand aQd falling prices
result in static revenues
Demand for PC' in the US and
Europe stayed strong in the third qual1er,
but falling prices kept PC manufacturers
from posting significant revenue gains,
according to a report by International Data
Corp. (IDC). The study find that global
shipments of PCs increased 15 percent
compared to the same quarter last year. A
separate study by Dataquest found that
third-quarter PC shipments grew 13.7 per-
cent from the year-earlier period. Both
research firms predict little change in
industry-wide revenues in the coming
quarter due to falling PC prices resulting,
in part, from the ongoing price-war
between dominant chipmaker Intel and its
rival Advanced Micro Devices.
Based on "PC demand is offset by
shrinking prices," by Jim Carlton, The
Wall Street Journal, 10 October J 998, p.
B7.