iron warrior: volume 9, issue 9

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W RNovember 25 1988 THE ENGINEERING SOCIETY S STUDENT FORUM

ears In pace



Pa e 2 ron Warrior

About the Cover ..My sister and I sleep in bunk beds.

It's good. The other night I yelledBears in Space " and threw Nick

at her from below. Nick is whi te and

fuzzy.

We also have a frog - a frog wit.h

no name . I have the frog, actually,and my sister has Nick. I have abear too - he's red with one greeneye - but he's at home.

On Thursday we had a friend overand we played Battling 'fops Oil my

sister's bunk. It's a good game. We

lost the spinner strings so we usedorange yarn instead. Orange yarnworks really well in Battling Tops.I sang the entire Gilligan's Island

theme song that night.

My friend that was over is sick .She has cancer. She's good at Bat

tling Tops though. She's scared.She wrote me a poem about beingfriends and about being scared. Everybody should write more poems;

it made us both feel better.

I don't know very much about

cancer. I'm learning a lot about being scared. It means I'm not in control. It means things just happen.t means bears in space.

This is juvenile; I don't know,maybe that's the point. Beingscared leaves you without any bigwords. I love my friend. I love herlike a child because I don't understand.

Thanks For Coming OutSomething a new editor of a pa-

per such as the Warrior lTIust learnquickly is how to delegate work. If

you can find someone who's willing ,get them to do it. That's not to saythat we just sat back all trrm andordered people around, only that

if we hadn't received the enormousamount of help that we d

X

we'd bea couple of pretty frazzle editors.The Warrior would not e ist without the many hours (days) put in byquite a few people.

The IroD Warrior is a forum for

thought-provoking and informative articles

presented by the academic community ofthe University of Waterloo. Views

expressed in the Iron Warrior. other than

the editorials, arc those of the authors anddo not necessarily reflect the opinions of

the editors or the Engineering Society.

The Ilon Warrior encourages

submissions from students, faculty and

other ~ m c r s of the university

community. Submissions should reflect

the c o n c ~ s and intellectual of the

u n i v r s i t ~ in general, and should be

typewritfen or neatly wrillen,

double-spaced and on one side of the page

only. The author's name, class (ifa p p l i c a b l ~ and phone Dumber should e

included.

So thanks to everyone who helpedout this term: the rather prolific

writers with their abundance of articles (actually - overabundance,which is something new for this

paper); and the layout staff, whospent long evenings arranging andre-arranging the same page to get it

just so

Special thanks to Jerome and

Owen, who had to actually read the

articles; Peter and Bruce, our Unixgods; Geoff, our MacGrouch; Mike

All submissions. unless otherwise

slaled, become the property of the l J: 2 n

Warrior. which reserves the right to refuse

publication of material which it deems

U&uitable. The Iron Warrior also reserves

the right to edit grammar, spelling andportions of text that do not meet

university standards. uthors wiU be

notilicd of any major cbanges that 1 Il,y be

required.

All submissions and advertising

enquiries should be forwarded to:

Iron Warrior

Engineering Society

CPH 1327

University of Waterloo

WATERLOO Ontario

(519) 885·1211 eX1CDsior 2323

and John , who got us money; Kathleen and Randy, the patronage ap

pointments; and Gof, our public relations charmer.

Thank you also to Brent (their

man and our man, too) who managed to stay above the law the entireterm (barely) in his quest to provide us with specific photos before7:30am, in just the right size

And now for a short round of applause.

November 25, 1988

Iron Warrior Staff

EditorsCarolyn FrenchLindi Wahl

Writers

Isaac SzpindelOwen KellyCarolyn AnglinDave PetroJim McCreaDaveGaraSarah RocchiIan SimpsonBryn DymentJeff MurdockStephen BallMarkChahlAjay JindalRena HennanBernard TunguayHans-Peter Schropp

Jay GibsonChris IrieDan CurtinChris BaisleyPierre DonaldsonMatt SnellBillLennox

Production;Gor

Copy EditorOwen Kelly

TypesettjnePeter HansenBruce AetcherToenail

PbotoerapbyBrent LittleRenaHennan

llIan Simpson

Layout EditorsKathy FongRandy Raaflaub

LayoutJim McCreaBernard TanguayGruntGeoff VanderkooyAnhur Drevnig

Karen VandenburgAjay JindalMarianne HyanStephen SoshanRob PerrinGarry PetersonEdmond Chow

RoyUnny

.



November 25, 1988 Iron Warrior

Message From The Deanby Bill Lennox

Prez Sezby Matt Snell

Well, this is it. Sixteen months

of the unadultered power of the

presidency winding down. I would

like to start by wishing the best to

the new executive. For those who

don't know, your new president isJay Gibson , backing him up as V .P.

is Jody Levine , the man with the

money is once again 'Garry Thuna,

and rounding out the exec for 1989 isJeannine Hooper-Yan as Secretary.

Good Luck to all of you.It's been an interesting term of of

fic e . Two Orientations, two officesecretarys, two treasurers [1 collection of new faces in the C+D and

many other trials and tribulations

have made this a time I will not soonforget. No matter how hard I try.Perhaps it is now time to say myth nk you s. I hav e had the pleasure

of working with the greatest group

of people ever brought together by

such an unlikely event as academicexcellence, namely the class reps and

directors and of course, the rest of

my exec - Sarah, Garry and Ja y .These people , with all their effort,

have made me look great a nd the

plain and simple truth is I couldn't

Hello From Jay

by Jay GibsonI

Blah, Blah, BlahWhat to say?? My first Iron

Warrior article as Eng Soc President (okay Matt, Prez. Elect). Iwanted to write something stirring

and inspiring .that would make youall gung-ho and enthused about next

summer Something to bring tears

of joy to your eyes Something

wild Then my Controls textbookfell off my shelf and hit me square

on the noggin. -Yes, J know finals are but a couple

weeks away.Yes, I know that hours of sleep

will generally be counted on one

hand.

Look - if you can - beyond the

next thirty days. Holidays mov

ing, work term, moving again, then

POOF - .back here in Waterloo forthe Summer of '89. So what's up fornext summer? ? For those of youwho haven't experienced a summer

The Accreditation visitors havecome and gone and I want to thank

those students who participat£>d inthe exerc ise. I will receive a report

in January which will detail theirfindings but no decision will be made

until the CEAB (Ca nadian ~ ~ n g i -neering Accreditation Board) meets

next June. While no th ing has beensaid in a formal sense, 1 believe its

fair to say that our visitors werequite impressed with what t hey saw.

I have had the opportuni ty 1.0 visitmay campuses and , although I'm biased, I really do believe we do amuch better job in terms of provid-

have done it without you . For that Ithank you more than words can ex

press .As I sit in POETS frantically t.ry

ing to finish this article before dead

line I find myself pondering the last

five years of my life, spent here at

Waterloo. As an ageing president

about to he Pllt. Ollt t.o p a . ~ t l l r E r t.akeit upon myself to share with you

some of the philosphies I have come

to adopt over the years in the hope

that they will somehow give meaning to the multitude of assignments,

midterms, projects and all nighters

that you have suffered or are suffering through.

I think it should be pretty clear

to most of you by now that I am

a firm believer in ark Twain'8 ax

iom "Don't let school get in the

way of your education" . When

you walk out of here with an Iron

school term - you are in for a treat

The days are longer, the nights are

longer, the profs are more laid backand there's never a dull moment.

Some of the ideas that have beencirculating: weekly .B-B-Q's outside

POETS, a boat cruise semi-formal,

whitewater rafting weekend in Ot

tawa, Eng-Math-Sci-Arts-etc. softball tourney, road trip to a Sky Dome

Blue Jay's game, and the list goeson. If you are not currently involvedwith Eng Soc, but are interested or

have ideas - drop by the Orifice and

introduce yourself to me and share

your thoughts.

For all the classes out there, Ihave two requests. First, please

submit copies of your midterms to

the orifice so we can expand our

ing a quality education than t,he oth

ers. That 's not to say there ii'ln'troom for improvement, and a peer

review by the CEAB call be quitt'

beneficial. There's no doubt, however, that concern will be expr('ssedregarding our equipment budget.s.This is an ongoing, major problem

for all engineering schoo ls. The

one bright ligh t for u has be('n our

alumni support and I was abl(' to

draw this to t he attent ion of the

visitors. All of the sup port is ap

plied to improving the teaching environment. It ha s amounted to over$800,000 in five years.

ring adorning your finger you willhave completed one of the most de

manding academic programs in theprovince. Your technical expertise

will be above reproach but your success in the business world will not

solely rely on this fact. From the

moment you entered this institution

in frash week, no matter how longago that was for some of you, you

have been developing as a professional. This development cannot occur exclusively within the classroom .

In the information age in whichwe will exists as professionals there

is a necessity for interpersonal, com

mllnication and management skillswhich must work in tandem with

our technical training. The true

bu ildillg of these skills is not donein the lectures and labs of Water

loo. It is accomplished through abroad range of experiance and in-volvemt'nt during school and be-

exam binders. If you've got finalsfrom previous terms, please try to

get those in as well. An impor

tant note if you are submitting exams: try to get ones that have solu

tions - correct solutions. You canwhite out the names of the innocent, but solved problems are much

more useful than semi-bla.nk pages( Remember, they are wort.h a lot

of P**5 points ) Second, please

try and get an off-term class list

with phone numbers and addresses.I suggest this for two reasons: it

makes it easier for you and your

classmates to keep in touch over the

work term (for arranging things likeclass parties, ski trips, etc.). Also,it makes it possible for Eng Soc to

get in touch with students on work

In this regard the Deans of EIlgin ering hav e made numerous pre

sentations to government regarding

~ h e crisis in eq uipment funding, but

It seems to faJj on deaf ears.I noted recently that V of T en-

gineering students have increaseJ

thei r Eng So(' f(; c hy $ t o to pro\' idl'an equipment fund .

On anot-her not.e, the Ont ario Engineering Design ompetitioll willbe held in early Ma. rch. Waterloo

did not have many entries la t yea rso I hope many of you are thin kin g

a.bout participa.tion this year . Wedid extremely well the previous year .

yond. Professional association mem

bership, extra-curricular activities

and communit.y activism are no

less important to our training than

meeting the stringent academic requirements of our program .

Dave Richardson told t he atten

dees of th£> Enginf'ering AWnrdsBanqu{'t , in his key note address, to

Aim High . Academically, professionally, extra-curricularly and in allother areas of our existence as pro

fession we need to strive for excellence. "Mind, Heart and Vision"

was Norman Ball's way of describing

our profession and is something to

seek out as we continue our journey

through life. Whether your Iron ringleads you to the board rooms, the

cour t roo s or the researc.h installations or Canada or elsewhere carry

with you the pride and the responsibility that YOIl are first and foremost

a Waterloo Engineer.

I thank each and everyone of youfor giving 11\(' th.· hOlloHr of rl pr< -st'llt.ing yo u Itli YOllr Prl si<i(11I1. alldw ilih yolt I,ll(' g r ( · f l l . ( · ~ t . fl UC( ( ss

your future {'rHh'a\'olirs. A rhi ll l lltphilosophf'C Oil (. said that a jOllr ·

r1(,y of Il thOlJHlUII \lII il.· 1)( gil1s wit.hhut i singl step. I aJl) prolJd t,ohav iak(,rI hat n f f ~ t Lrp in your

company and 1 hope our pat.hs shallcross agai .

terms, if ll('ed be> . At tht' vt'ry least,

pJ(>ase leave the names and work

t,erm address of your c1asR reps . The

Orifice c l O R ( ~ S Monday, Dec. 5th, so

get that information in before then .In closing, I would like to take the

tirne to acknowledge a few people

who haven 't had a proper chance

to t.hank: to everyone who help mewith my campaign, thanks - your

time was very much appreciated.

To Dave Rashkovan and Dave Ilirak, for a good, clean f i g h e ~ (if only

other politicians could act likewise ) .To Garry Thuna - your new trea

surer, Jody Levine - your new V.P,and Jeanntne Hooper- Yan - your

I new Executive Secretary. I'm glad

J have such a great crew of people

to work with. Finally, to Matt Snelland Sarah Rocchi - two departing

m(>tl1bers of the ExE c. who are mov

ing on to bigger, badder things inB-Soc and (hopefully) convocation .1 think I can speak for everyone in

saying thanks for doing a great job

over the last 16 months . It has been

fun working with you and I wish you

luck in your next endeavours Youwill be hard acts to followl



ron Warrior November 25, 1988

The APEO Conference: Where Were You?by Dave Gara

Humanities theatre. The confer

ence . Bill Breukehnan , chairman

of 1M AX Systems Corp . speaks onentrepreneurship . Studt'nts fran tically scribble down I.ips fired at

them. Expand your hobbies

they may provide an entrepreneurial

pat,h later , learn how bankcrs

think , read finance magazines ,

and on and on .

Basement of EL . A week hefore

t,he confNence. ConferCllce orga

nizers debate whether it would he

ea.sier to split rooms into male and

female or make them co-cd . The

conference is renamed t.he A P

Sexfest. Kathy tells some suggestive

jokes. - Calvin turns beet red. We

get nothing done. Everybody mocksDave because he looks like dirt. as

usual.

Davis Centre. The conference

again. Willem Vanderburg of U of T

speaks on social responsibi li ty of t.he

engineer. He parallels th e in t roduc

tion of mathematics into engineer

ing by the Germans in the t900 's

to the need to introduce courses examining the' social implications of

engineering into today 's curriculum.

Dr. Vanderburg adds that MIT has

stated that it must succeed in doing

this or give up its role as a leading

school of engineering. Students (still

groggy (rom the prevlous night's C-

tivities) listen intently. Jt is all new

to them.

Waterloo Inn. The day af-

ter. Three Wat,erloo engineers plead

with hotel management, ins isting

that Bill Kerr , the president of the

APEO , could not have been causing

any dis turbance the night before and

his bags should not be thrown out a t

5 p.m. It is 5 minutes to 5 p .m . Our

engineering careers Aash before our

eyes.

Why write an article this way?

Maybe to give you the idea that

you missl'd somet,hing . A lot is t,o

be gained in planning and attending

a conference. Meeting people from

din'eren\' universities not only makesyou new friends but you get to hear

what engineering is like at different

schools. It is incredible the different

ideas people come up with . When

you think about it , you are almost

solely exposed to Waterloo 's engi

neering interests , teaching method s

and attitudes. These really do vary

greatly from school to school.

So why at,telld a conference or

semmar or guest lecturer 's presen

tation at all? It probably won 't

improve your technical skills. It

won't directly contribute to a higher

salary. No marks are given out and

you can probably get by without it.o , are u in u a precious

hour or two that could have been

used staring into a text or watch

ing Wheel of Fortune (What if

Vanna wore a new dress and you

missed it? ) . . . So why do it? Well,

a conference is an altogether differ

ent beas t than the dassroom . Peo

ple present ideas, discuss them and

question each other in order to for

mulate their own opinions. Af

ter months (and years) of sitting

in classes for an average 5 hours a

day being fed illformation , facts , for

mnlae and met,hons it really is re

fr es hing to be able to int.eract with

ot.her engineering students and pro

fessionals discussing important, top

ics . YOllr electives sometimes allow this kind of interaction but in

stead of taking History 130 and worrying about whether' fIitler was an

intellectual psychotic or a psychotic

intellectual, you are discussing anti

helping form your own future and

the profession to which you will ded

icate 40 or more years.

Apart from what YOll can con

t.ribute to your engineering future

_ there is a lot to gain personally. Par

ticipating in the APEO conference

in October as speakers and corpo

rate representatives were : a VP of

engineering of a major consult.ing

firm (Hatch Associates), the chairman of an entrepreneurial firm with

internat ional outreach (IMAX Systems Corp.) , the manager of Proctor

and Gamble, and top-notch educa

tors from U of T and U W, to name

only' a few . Contacts made in ·an

informal setting a re invaluable and

will be reme::.bered more hy a po

tential employer than any interview.

These people were chosen because of

the insight they could bring based

on years of experience, and a half

hour chatting with them co uld help

. you direct your career. Oh, sure YOIl

talk to people on your work term,

but have they ever thought seriously

about aspects of engineering other

than how to keep production going?

Besides, a guy named 'Lou' hidden

away in the dark depths of the de

sign department may not be the per

son to mould your engineering ca

reer after.

Think about this: when you get

out of the university you won't have

people hringing spcakt'rs right 10

you. There won't be the opportu

nity to meet with 50 student.s from

different universities across Ontario

(or even Canada) . You'll have to

know where to look to find venues

to explore engi neering. Now is t.he

time to discover these venues. A lot

of ifferent groups 'around the uni

versity provitle t he opportunity to

see what engineering is really like by

rHnning seminars, meetings, work

shops, etc. There are t echnical soci

et.ies (CSME, IEEE, Cschescehes or

whatever th e · hell the chemies call

theirs', et c .)' the Sandford Flem

ing Foundation, APEO local chap

ters, KW Eng , Breakfast meetings

plus others I have probably forgot

ten... and then there are confer

ences. Next time you hear of one

jump at the chance to go. The par

ties are always blowouts. The work

shops and speaker presentations are

incredibly valuable as they tend to

the inquisitive, communicating si de

of your mind that is often neglectedin cia s. onferences reinforce the

idea that engineers can party and

be concerned about their future

and their profession, wanting to do

something to improve it . These are

not contradictory objectives.

Next time you see an obscure little

sheet taped to wall of CPH among

the hundreds of coloured papers and

it mentions a seminar or conference,

read it. Think about it . Go to it .

You won t regret it .

The RESSA Conference: We Were Thereby Sarah Rocchi

Early last Friday morning a del

egation from Engin ee ring Society

'A' set out for Sherbrooke, Que

bec in a flesh- coloured rental K-car.

The reason - to represent Waterloo

at the annual RESSA co nference .

The delegation consisted of myself,

Dave Gara, Jeannine Hooper- Yall,

and our fearless leader , Matt Snell .

RESSA is the Regional Engineer

ing Student Society Association . I ~ smembers consist of all engineering

Societies in Ontario and Quebec .

The purpose of the conference wasthe exchange of information between

these societies in formal and infor

mal sessions .

On our arrival at the hotel

in Sherbrooke on Friday night J

learned, to my surprise, that our

French Canadian organizers weren't

as hung up on that segregation of

sexes thing, and that Jeannine and

[ would be sharing a room wit.h

Matt and Dave for t,he entire week

end. Friday night was spent meeting

the other delegates in the informal

atmoshpere of Club Graffit.i, where

beer was served in I-litre bottles,

On Saturday more formal sessions

took place at the University of Sher

brooke. Th e workshops held :n th e

morning inc luded discussion of the

relative merits of graduate studies

versus indust,ry , humanities in engi

neering, international co-operation,

and other issues. The topic of the

afternoon was ESSCO and COFIQ .

COFIQ is a coalition of tIle pn

gineering societies of Qupbec . Jt

was formed five years ago to pro

vide cheap computers for student,s

through bulk purchases, as well as

being the means for student loans

for computers . It has now branched

off into other projects such as publishing a magazine, and arranging

student exchanges between the en

gineering faculties of the universi

ties of Quebec. ESSCO is a pa.r

allel orgallization for t.he engineer

ing societies of Ontario. It has been

in place for less than a year, so its

projects are on less of a grand scale.

ILs three current projects are lobby

ing the government for loans for en

gineering students for the purchase

of computers, forums on engineering

education and forums on the image

of engineering students . In the fu

ture, ESSCO and COFIQ plan to

work together to set up exchanges

between Ontario and Quebec uni-

versities. .

An interesting difference was

noted between the engineering soci

ef.ies of Quebec and Ontario. On

tario societies have so much spirit

they often run events which get

them into trouble with t,he com

munities in which they are located.

They were looking for advice from

Quebec societies on how to have bet

ter community relations . Quebec

universities don't have this problem,

however they have problems solicit

ing funds from alumni . This would

lead one to believe that there is acorrelation between the amount of

rabble-rous, ng done at a university

and the amount of money one wants

to don'ate to that university once one

has graduated .

Saturday evemng Mr. Jean

Charest, t.he M i n i ~ t . ( r of State of

Youth, Fi t,ness and Amateur Sport

spoke to the RESSA delegates on

the subject the Canadian Youth

Education Challenge. In the past,

he said, it was possible for someone

to graduate from high school and

fall into a job that would keep him

or her at a good standard of liv

ing for the rest of his or her life .

Because of the increasing growt.h of

technology in the workplace , this is

'no longer possible. A person will

have to be trained and re-trained

throughout his or her career as tech

nology c ~ a n g e s .After the formal dinner there was

informal carol)sing at the University

pub, the Bahupt . We didn't get

in until lL:30, but since pubs don't

close until 3:00a.m., it didn't mat

ter. We finished off the evening at

Chez Charlie's, where the Ontarians

were introduced to that Quebecois

treat - poutine - a mixt.ure offries, cheese curds and chicken gravy

which looks disgusting but more

than adequately satisfies drunken

munchies.

Sunday morn.ing was the plenary

sessioh, a summary of the previ

ous day's ~ o r k s h o p s This session,

like most of the workshops could

have benefited from lJetter leader

ship, particularily in the area of

translation of key points from one

official language to the other . All in

all it was a good conference, even if [

did have to share a room with Matt

and Dave.




Great Engineering Accomplishments

The Eiffel Tower

by Ian Simpson

Ever since man has walked on the

face of this planet he has been obsessed with tall objects. From the

Tower of Babel to the Eiffel Tower,and of course the CN Tower. Many?f these objects are just that, obJects. They have no functionalitywhatsoever, or, in some cases thefunctionality is completely dwarfedby the fact that they are tall. The

Eiffel tower is no exception.

The tower was built in 1889 for

the Paris Exhibition. It was designed by architect/engineer, G ustave Eiffel. He wanted to build the

tower partly because of a challengethat it could not be done. The towercame under heavy criticism whenthe intent to build it VIlas announcedpublicly. The people claimed that

it was utterly useless and felt that

this was reason enough to condemnit . Many prominent artists of theday felt that it would be an eyesoreand they drafted a petition against

it . Gustave defended his tower bymaintaining it was scientifically useful. He claimed that it could be usedto investigate problems in meteoro

logical observation , radio-electric re-search, and studies into the wi dresistance of substances, but thefew dubious benefit.s that would be

gained in these areas by building thetower certainly did not justify thecost .

The Eiffel Tower is an ut te rlyuseless structure . It is completelyempty, shelters no one, holds upnothing (except a few modern daytransmitters) and its beauty is questionable. t is a monument to Gustave, a man who was able to convince his government to allow him

t.o flex his technical muscles at the

world. The tower has become a

tourist at t ract ion . It is hard to11 agj w 1a i w u liwithout the tower. t has been described as the "universal symbol of

Paris, of modernity, of communication , of science , of the nineteenth

century." Everyone who visits Paris

visits the tower. You can see eachof th e mor e than 18 ,000 plates andbeams th at hold all 8,757 ,000 kilograms of it together . Even with

its enormous weight , it exerts approximately the same pressure onthe ground as an adult does sitting

in a chair. Over the years countless tourists, runners and even a cow

lternatives

·by Owen Kelly

Of all the crises facing mankind,and all the danger signs telling uswhich way not to turn, few issuespresent obvious solutions to whichwe can direct our energies of concern. We have neither the timeto be informed nor the ability to

comprehend mORt issues with the

degree of subtlety and complexitythey deserve. Alternatives magazine bridges the gap between experts in environmental and sociotechnological fields and people likeyou and I who want and need toknow the consequences of our actions. It all started at Trent University in 1970 under the mandate

to "pose and confront the necessaryquestions, and offer imaginative andserious alternatives.

In 1984, Alternatives moved toour campus where they are now intheir sixteenth issue. Contributors

'from as far as New Zealand andB.C. keep their 2,500 subscribers upto date on research, political developments and other events of interest. Recent issues have coveredWork and Environment in a HighTech World, Natural Law, Sustainable Deve lopment in Northern Communities, and Tidal Generation allof which are relevant to us as engi

neers.Pick up a copy sometime . L-

ternatives gives important issues ascholarly treatment but still maintains a provocative and readable

style. The best part of it all isthat this r e ~ p e t e d journal is put together right here on campus . Surprised? Universities have lots ofnooks and crannies to hold all the

good ideas.For the politically correct person

on your gift list, subscriptions are

under twenty dollars over in ERS .

and an elephant have climbed or descended the 1,792 steps of the tower .

More than 350 people have commit-ujci e Y jUPlJWtg rom e tow-

ers lofty heights.

There is something magical , romantic and mystical about Paris . It

is city of pleasures, of values, of art

a nd of lu xuri es . With the P I\RSRg<,

of tim < the EilTel Tower ha.. l CO llI('

to sy mboli ze t hese characteristics tot he rest of the world .

Barthes , R., Th e Eiffel 1 OUJf r andOth er Mythologies New York , Hi II

and Wang , 1979.Carey, fl. , Destinations Maga zin t ,

The Globe and Mail , 1988.

Pathmakers Program

The Faculty of Engineering is involved again with the local schoolboards in providing role models ofwomen in non-traditional careers forfemale high school student,s . This

will involve a one day training session in January plus participation inthe program at a local school. All information session is set for TuesdayNov. 29 at 11:30am, in CPH 1320B.

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ron Warrior November 25, 1988

Graphics SupercomputersDig The New Breed

by Bryn Dyment

A new class of supe rcomputer isentering the marketplace. Coinedgraphics supercomputers these machines combine the best feat ures ofboth conventional supercomputers

and engineering workstations . The

result is a computing tool whichwill have a pivotal inAuence on thepractice of engineering and computational science.

Until now , no single platform

could provide both the processing speeds of supercomputers and

the 3D , full-colour, real-time graph

ics required for visual interactioll .Standand hardware con figurationstoday, for example, include batchoriented supercomputers or minisupercomputers teamed with , graphics terminals or workstations . However, such arrangements have major

drawbacks. The thin wire links between processing and graphical elements, combined with complex development environments and a highentry price, act as barriers to true

user interactivity.Graphics supercomputers have

eliminated these barriers. By tightlyintegrating computational elements,they make the same evolutionaryleap over conventional supercomputers that workstations make over

by Jeff Murdock

Once upon a time - at the beginning of this term - I ventured

into the hallways of Environmental

Studies. There, among the many articles and posters placed on doors

and cork boards, I found a Code

of Environmental Ethics for Engineers. While reading this code it occurred to me that this message wasill placed if engineers were its target

audience. I hope its placement inthis engineering forum reaches openminds and helps stimulate thought

ful discussion.The code of ethics that follows

was approved by the Committee onEngineering and Environment of theWorld Federation of Environmental

Organizations (WFEO) ill 1985.

Wanna BeInterviewed?

f you want interviews next schoolterm (Summer '89) then make sure

that you go to a return to campus in·terview with the Co-op Department

(C.E.C.S.). Lists are posted, and interv iews are in the first week or twoof May, 1989. C. E .C .S. occasionally gets confused, so go have an interview regardless of whether you re

scheduled to have one or not . f YOIl

don t attend, they will assume that

you don t want want ads and youwon t be able to apply to want ad

jobs.

Remember practise safe

C E C S

minicomputers. These vector machines are now dedicated to project

teams and individuals, rather than

to whole organizat.ions.Ardent Computer of Sunnyvale ,

California and Stellar Computer

of Newton, Massachusetts are twocompanies at the forefront of this

emerging technology. Both are sma ll

startup firms founded by and em

ploying some of the computer industry s t.op talent . Allen Michaels ofArdent was founder of Convergent

Technologies, a highly successful Silicon Valley firm. Gordon Bell, alsoof Ardent, is among the world s most

respected computer architects . Formally Vice President of Engineeringat Digital, he led the PDP and VAXdevelopment teams and is humblyknown as the father of the minicomputer. Bill Poduska of Stellar

founded Apollo Computer and cofounded Prime Computer, two wellknown computer firms .

Ardent s computer, the Titan,

was recently included in the ArgOlllle National Laboratory LlNPACK test, alongside computers

ranging from Crays and ETAs to

Sun workstations and IBM PCs.

The LlNPACK test consists of computer systems solving dense systems of linear equations in a Fortran environment, and is thE; most

Code of EnvironmentalEthics for Engineers

The WFEO Committee on Engineering and Environment, with astrong and clear belief that man s

enjoyment and permanence on this

planet will depend on the care and

protection he provides to the environment, states the following principles .

To All Engineers

When you develop any profes

sional activity:1. Try with the best of your ahil

ity, courage, enthusiasm anddedication to obtain a superior

technical achievement, whichwill ('ont.rihllt.p 1 0 Ano pmmot.ea healthy and agreeable surrounding for all people, in open

spaces s well as indoors.

2. Strive to accomplish the beneficial objectives of your work

with the lowest possible consumption of raw materials and

energy and the lowest produc

tion of wastes and any kind of

pollution.

3. Discuss in particular the consequences of your proposals and

actions, direct or indirect, immediat.e or long term, upon the

health of people, social equityand the local system of values.

4. Study t.horoughly the environment that will be affected, assess all the impacts that might

arise in the state, dynamics and

aesthetics of the ecosystems involved, urbanized or natural, as

well as in the pertinent socia-

widely used benchmark in industry.Cray s flagship compllter , the XMP 4, completed the test in 0.012seconds; the Titan in 0 .113. Compared to Sun s 149 seconds and the

Macintosh 's 179 seconds, one can seehow fast these machines really are .When ecomomic factors are introduced , however, we see the major

diR·ert>nce. With an entry price of

$100 000 US , the Titan currently

has the lowest price/performance ratio in the industry, beating conventiona1 supercomputers by a factor of

ten or greater. Unfortunately, Stellar 's GSIOOO was not available to betested .

.The graphics systems of thesemachines are simply unparalleled

in the industry. Both machineshave custom graphics processors

and software, enabling applications

to be developed without graphicsspecific code. Ardent s DynamicObject Rendering Environment -a device-independent toolkit -supports integral ray tracer and

solid texture mapping, reflectance,refraction, transparency, focussedlights, Gourard shaded polygons,etc , Users can make graphics decisions which balance image quality and computation time , using structures from wireframes to

economic systems, and selectthe best alternative for an environmentally sound and sustainable development.

5. Promote a clear understand

ing of the actions required to

restore and , if possible, to

improve the environment that

may be disturbed, and includethem in your proposals.

6. Reject any kind of commitment

that involves uu fair damages forhuman surroundings and nature, and negotiate the best

possible social and political solution.

7. Be aware that the principlE S of e ( , o ~ y 1 ' l t . f ' m i ( intprdrpen

dence, diversity maint.enance,

photographic-quality imager.)'. Stellar s Rendering Processor provides

similar features to its users , allowingdevelopers to concentrate more t imeon modelling and analysis, rather

than writing graphics routines. One

really has to see these machines inorder to begin to appreciate their

graphics capabilities . Some of the

applications these companies havedeveloped are incredible - especially the chemistry simulations .

Both machines are built with

strict adherence to current industry

standards, from their UNIX V3 operating systems (with Berkeley extensions) to their ANSI C and Fortran compilers to their networkingcapabilities. Target markets include

computational chemistry, mechanical engineering, computational Auiddynamics, and geophysics. Both

companies are working aggressively(through partnership programs wit.hboth industry and universities) tobring relevent solution software to

their users .Given the incredible technology

and talent these machines have behind them, combined with their incredible usefulness to engineers and

scientists, the future of computer- ·aided research is growing brighter

anti brighter. Dig the new breed

resource recovery and interrelational harmony form the basesof our continued existence andthat each of those bases poses athreshold of sustainability that

should not be exceeded.

Always remember that war,greed, misery and ignorance, plusnatural disasters and human induced pollution and destruction of

resources, are the main causes of the

progressive impairment of the environment and that you, as an activemember of the engineering profession, deeply involved in t,he promotion of development, must use yourtalent, knowledge and imagination

to assist society in removing those

evils and improving the quality of

life for all people.

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November 25, 1988

Editor s Columll

Welcome to the second issue ofSPACENEWS, a bimonthly reporton space news and technology. Inthis issue, we welcome QueensUniversity to the growing list ofUniversities that publish thisnewsletter as part of their studentengineering newspapers.

The purpose of the newsletter is toprovide a forum for students acrossCanada to share information onspace related activities, and perhapseventually organize a 'Space

Symposium' for Canadian students.This symposium would be heldduring a weekend and would be

aimed at university students.

One of the articles in this issuedescribes the CASI conference. Thecost is affordable to students butunfortunately, like many other

conferences, is held during the weekmaking it difficult for students toattend. Another interesting andaffordable conference is the SDC(see below). It is held over aweekend in Chicago.

The initial response from the firstissue has been encouraging. I hopeyou find these articles useful and

interesting. If you have an article toshare, I encourage you to send italong with the name of yourUniversity.

With Best Regards,

Yuri Quintana.Systems Design Eng. MaSc'89(Waterloo)

Coming vents

The 8th Annual Space DevelopmentConference will be held on the

weekend of May 26-29, 1989 inChicago's Hyatt Regency O'Hare

Hotel. The conference provides anwide range of speakers on spacetechnology, including law andSpace, Medicine and Space,Teaching Space, and TheExploration of Mars (PlanetarySociety). low room rates ($69) areavailable and registration is only$60. Programs are available fromyour local school editor or write toSDC, P.O.Box 64397, Chicago, Il,

60664-0397, U.S.A.

In The Next Issue

An article from SEDS in Canada -the Students for the Explorationand Development of Space

SPACENEWS is a bimonthly Canadianpuhlication on space neIYs lind tcchnoloJ:}'.

Although every errort is made to ensureaccuracy, SI'ACENEWS is not responsihle rorany inaccuracies or omissions. All matcrialreceived becomes property or SI'ACENEWS

an4 the editor reserves the ril:ht to edit andprint it. Opinions expressed in articles arcthose or the authors.© Copyright 19118 hy Yuri Quintana.All correspondence 'hould be moilcd toSPACENEWS, 455 Regency Crescent,Waterloo, Ontari o, Canad a, N2T I P2.Editor-in·Chicl: Yuri QuintanaFaculty Editor ': Or. G. " Greil: (University orWaterloo), Ann Gawman (IUM Canada Ud .

N

Iron Warrior

SPACE EWS Vol. 1, No.1.

World News CASI Student BranchesU.S.A.

On October 3, 1988 the Americanspace shuttle Discovery completeda 5 day mission to space, markingthe return to regular shuttlemissions. The mission' s (STS-26)primary payload was NASA'sTracking and Data Relay Satellite.The next space shuttle mission(STS-27) is scheduled for November17. Space shuttle Atlantis will beused to launch a military payload.

U.S.S.R.

The U.S.S.H. unveiled its owryspaceshuttle called Buran - Russian forsnowstorm. According to RadioMoscow, Buran's first unmannedflight on October 29, 1988 wasaborted at 51 seconds from takeoff.The problem was reported to havebeen caused by a service towerplatform that did not separateproperly from Buran. The Sovietsplan to launch Buran sometime thisfall.

On November 11, two Sovietcosmonauts on the Soviet spacestation Mir broke the record .forduration in space - 326 days.

A Record of Achievement

Canada has a long and impressivehistory in space. In 1962, our firstresearch satellite, Allouelte I wasalready circling the earth. Designedto last for one year, it operated fora decade, earning Canada

international recognition as onlythe third country to have aspacecraft in orbit.

In 1972, Canada became the firstnation to have its own commercialsatellite communications system.The launch of Anik I provided an

instant coast-to-coast telephoneand information services. Today,we receive radio and televisionsignals by satellite in all parts ofCanada including the Far North.

In 1981, Canadarm was used forthe first time aboard the Space

Shuttle, showcasing Canadiantechnology around the world.Canada is now acknowledged as aleader in advanced space robotics.

October 1984 marked the night ofthe first Canadian astronaut, MarcGarneau, proving the capability ofthe Canadian astronaut team to

carry out experiments In thelaboratory of space.

A Strategic Plan

The national space program, asexpressed in the government's 1986long-Term Space Plan, is tailoredto Canada's special needs. In acountry with a small populationspread over it large area, factorssuch as distance, rugged terrain,and atmospheric conditions hamper

normal ground-level methods ofcommunications and resourcemonitoring.

The Canadian Aeronautics andSpace Institute (CASI) is aprofessional organization dedicatedto the advancement of aerospacetechnologies and their relatedapplications. Its members includeengineers, scientists, doctors,lawyers, geographers, computerscientists, teachers and astronautsas well as specialists in a variety ofother fields.

While CASI is as much as anindustry association as anythingelse, Its emphasiS is more on thetechnical development of the

industry as opposed to its financialdevelopment. CASI publishes twojournals on a regular basis and

frequently hosts seminars andconferences in cities all acrossCanada.

On November 15-16, the 5thannual CAS conference onAstronautics will be held in Ottawaat the Westin hotel. The theme ofthe conference will be "SpaceScience and Engineering - OurCapabilities for the Future".Student registration is $15 for the

two day event and attendanceautomatically makes you a studentmember of CAS .

aceThe current Plan builds on the earlyefforts of the space program whichIs focussed on ommunlcatlons <It)

remote sensing applicat Ion andencouraged growth of world -classfirms in those ar"as. It continu" . tosupport Canada's high technologyindustries to ensur" that nationalneeds in those areas will be met.

The Investment

By world's standards, Canada is amiddle player In the space arena.

Both In terms of dollars spent as apercentage of Gross NationalProduct, Canada ranks about eighthin the world In spending on space.This level Is far below the majorspace powers like the Soviet Union,the United States, Japan, . Franceand West Germany but about thesame as the United Kingdom andBelgium.

The long-Term Space PlanIncluding RADASAT, MSI\T and

our contribution to the Space

Station, recognizes the need to

continue a national commitment to

the growing space sector. Fiveyears ago, spending on space

projects was about $100 million per

year; today it Is about $150 million.By the year 1992, It Is expected to

double.

Sp 5 JI.1o

373 •

CIVILlAIt SPACE EXPfltOITURES5 Year 11988·1992)

1,329 MIIIIOII

CASI has been around for over 30years. Recently, students acrossCanada are forming their ownstudent branches. Quebec campuseshave gotten off to a great start.University of Alberta and Universityof Waterloo are now also trying tobuild their memberships.

Starting a branch isn't too difficult.If you contact CASI, they will behappy to help you. CASI supplies astart-up kit, advertising resourcesand a limited start-up funding. Therest is up to you.

If you or your friends are Interestedin joining CASI or are interested instarting a branch on your campus,contact Mr. Timmins, ExecutiveDirector, CASI, 601-222 SomersetSt. W., Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 2G3or give CASI a call at (613)234-0191.

Sean MawSystems Design Eng.'90

University of WaterlooChair· U.W.S.B.CASI

Editor's Hole: U of W's Iron Warrior Jan'89Issue will contain an arllcle of UW's CASISludent Branch.

ramA Measure fol' Success

By all m<>a'lur.,'i th" Canadian

Span' Pronrilm hilS produ pd

outlandln } r('<;ults. In til(' last 25yc>al S w > hav(> dev{>lop"d anindustry thdl <>< ts world tandardsIn ommunl atlon ,remot sC'nslngand space> rohotlcs. OUI on (> smallcommunity of pa (> S lentlsts andC?nglneer htls be orne a nationalresource, rkh in t"chnlcalcapability.

Our space industry has doneremarkably well In a hlfJhlycompetitive field. The 1986 Industrysales were $350 million andgrowing at an average rat" of 20%.Today, Canada's space Industryemploys more than 3500 people,many In highly skilled, hightechnology jobs.

It 's Canada's Place in Space

Canada's storehouse of naturalresources will not, on Its own,provide the sustainable growthnecessary to ensure our prosperityInto the 21st century. Canada's

world class development capabilityis evident in the International

success of our space industry In thefields of space robotics, remote

sensing, manufacturing, and

communications. Today, the spaceIndustry operates from coast to

coast and Is 90% Canadian owned.Fully 70% of all sales are made to

offshore customers. The Industry isproving to other sectors that we can

compete successfully in markets

which depend largely on technicaland creative excellence.

Reprinted with permission from the CanadianSpace Program.



ron Warrior November 25 1988

Waterloo Through TheEyes Of A Former Westerner. - \tLi

When I tell people here at Wa- privileged to use a completely man- but Campus Centre is not quite the in Cherrl1cal Engineering. 1 was con-

by Mark Chahl

terloo that I went to Western for val model which had no integrator. place that it could and should be. sidering Materials if J didn't get ill

three years before coming here, I III fact, I never touched one, only the The University Community Centre here, in which case I would haveusually hear them list off the com- T.A.'s were allowed to. at Western is just that, the center in been one of s ix people in secondmon stereotypes: the country club Another outstanding thing ahout f h . . year this fall. As well, at West-

terms 0 p YSlcal location, Sf'rVlcesatmosphere, frat boys, Polo Shirts, Waterloo is the U&D concept. housed therein, and its role on cam- ern the program seems to be gearedand tons of people named BifT and There is no such thing at West- I b' to weed people out. In first year,pus . t can be compared to a com 1 d

Muffy who've got· lots of Daddy 's ern. This is because of an exclu- h everybo y takes the same courses.nat.ion PAC , Campus Centre, Soul, dmoney. While it is true that some sive catering cont,ract with Beaver C I . At the en of first year you pick

ampus Hal , Health ServIces, ra- . 'of these stereotypes do apply , one Foods which gives them an abso- d ' d your dlSC1P Ine and hope that your

to statioll, and more all un er oneshould remember that these are only l\lte monopoly on food sales on cam- roof right smack dab in the center marks are good enough to get youstereotypes . Ask a Western student pus. They are in it for a profit and of the campus. nut the best thing into wh at you want. Only 30% of

ahout Waterloo and you're sure to this is evident in their prices. A about the UCC is Centerspot. This the first year class returns for secondIlea l the following : full of compliler Iff $ 75 d I $ 50 / h h year. This policy of attritioll con-arge co ee IS •.• , o u ~ s are . , is a huge lounge cafeteria w ic isgeeks, nothing but cold, lifeless pco- and bagels are $.65 plus $.35 for a the place to see/watch members of tinues in to the upper years as well.pie, no parties, and no women. I foil wrapped cube of cream cheese. the opposit.e sex. Guys, this place From wh at I've heard about the pro-myself held these perceptions until Ev(>n (,hr two IHHS on campus, which is incred ible at lunch time, a com- gram at Water1oo , it is geared moreI came here this fall . In the tw o arr mere broom closets when com- binat,ion fashion show and visual to help the student stay in Engineer-months that I have been here , all of pared to the She lt er and Fed Ha ll , tease. You should eat before you ing. I hope t.hat this is true Eng Socmy previously held stereotypes have arE' more expensive. Last year, beer get there because you'll be too busy here is quite impressive in its orga-vanished . I would like to tak(> this was $2.30 a bottle. looking at all the women; there are nization and scope. The existence of

opportunity to allow you to sec this I could go on and on about a ll of jllst over two women per man at POETS, the Scunt , and Orientation

campus througb the eyes of a trans- the great things I've found out about UWO. III front of the UCC is a supports that observation.

feree . this campus, but I think it is only large patio area called The Concrete Another thing that surprised me

After getting acquainted with this fair to point out some of its short- Beach. It's a veritable ocean of about Engineering here was theuniversity and the people J've met, falls. The first thing is the amount beauties on warm fall days and dl r- IRON W ARRIO R itself. To see a se-my previously held notion that of walking required. The buildings ing the spring. Here's another mls- rious engineering paper was frigbt-Western was God's gift to higher ed- are so spread out here compared to conception about Western I'd like to ening since the term serious enucation drastically changed. Believe Western. The longest walk there clarify: the women. While there gineering paper is oxymoronic at

me, you cannot begin to appreciate was probably Biology to Enginee r- a re more of them there, induding UWO . The paper at Western , calledWaterloo until you've been some- ing, about 250m. Compare t,hat nurses, phys-ed students, and girls The en gin eer would be of the

where else . One of the first thin gs walk to the distance between El and who live in a residence run by the same genre as I've heard Enginews

that I noticed was the degree of 01'- Optometry. The ten minutes be- Sisters of Saint Joseph, I can hOI1- was. The en n eer had many corn-ganization . The registration proce- tween classe s does not seem suffi- estly say that I've found the sit- plaints against it brought up by t.he

dures , Eng Soc, the bookstore, and cient here whereas it was more than uation better here. The women Women's Issues Committee, as wellthe derartment of CO-()P f'd ll rl'lti()n sufficient at Western. The central- here are much more friendly, they're as subseq uent Human Rights Com-really impressed me with their orga- ization of the Libraries and their smarter (this really is a good thing ), mission cases. On, the back page of

nization. lack of electronic theft detection are and they are less materialistic. the engineer one cou ld find a fullThe next thing that knocked my two things that I've found hard to As I am in Chemical Engineer- page ad for local strip joints , in all

socks off was how well-equipped this get used to. At Western, each of ing hrre , I sh()nkl tell Y()II about their graphic detail complete with

place is Laser-printer and Mac- the major faculties has its own li- the Engineering program at West- $2 t ab le dance coupons That makes

Booth services are foreign concepts brary in its own building. The Sci- ern. In short it is not even in the current uproar over Betty Boobsat Western and likely wi ll remain so. ence i rary is connected by tunnel the sa me league as the one here. Tn qui over lown .The engineering department here to Physics, Chem istry, Geo logy, and IL is much, much sm aller, and hasprobably has more computing facili- Biology and so on, which allows for nowhere near the level of facilitiesties than social science, science, and easier, quicker access to information, or stature that Waterloo has. The

engineering put together at West- especially for people doing research. faculty at Western is housed in oneern . I went to the Natural Science Li- building, which it shares with ap-

Lahs heTe are quitE' well-st.ocked brary many times during my labs plied math and stats. The space al-as wl'll. WIH'n r found out that stu- to check reference hooks and j()ur- lotted to Engineering is a little lessc1<'nts in my 2A Chem Eng sertion lJals, since it was only a two minute than the space in El but includesgot to lise computerized gas chro- walk by tunnel. Only punishment the Engineering Library in the same

matographs in one of their labs, by death would make me walk from building. This space is for Chemical,

was amazed to say thr least. I spent El to the Davis Centre. Civil, Electrical, Mechanical , and

three years in the Chemis(,ry pro- The lack of a ('rnt rnl mPfll ing Materials . There are also a lot fewergram at Western i\nd did not once fl ' . . students in Bngineering at Western.see a computerized GC in an under- place in a university 0 I llS size IS

. } If II Sorry 0 say L ast year there were twelve studelltsgraduate lab let alone use one . I was a seriouS s l r ~ a . ,

All told, what ['ve seen of Waterloo, blows Western away in almost every respect. This placehas a lot of good things going forit. The best Engineering program

in Canada, great faculty, amazing

eC]uipmcnt, and above all, reallygreat people . The years that [ willbe spending llere will undoubtedly

be the bes t years of my life. I knowthat I am already very proud to saythat I go to the University of Waterloo and hope tha t all of you feel the

same pride.

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November 25, 1988

Bookby. Ajay Jindal

This is a book with real GUTs.

GUTs in this case refers to Grand

Unification Theories . This is an

all-encompassing theory which accurately explains and predicts nat

ural phenomenon from the atomic

level right on up to the scale of

the universe . Its sort of like going

into a mechanics exam knowing only

F=ma.Stephen W. Hawking is a theoret

ical physicist who is the Lucasian

Professor of Mathematics at Cam

bridge University, a post once held

by Sir Isaac Newton . He is afflicted

with ALS, a motor neuron disease

which has left him almost totally im

mobile and unable to speak (which

he does through a fiuger-controlled

computer speech synthesizer). This

has not impeded his research much

since theoretic physics is done with

the mind, the one part of his body

that is still perfectly healthy.

He decided to write a book about

space and time for people who don't

have a Ph.D. in physics and this is

the product of many years of writ-

Iron Warrior

Review A Brief History of Time

ing, research , and rewriting . His

publishers said that every equation

he included in the book would halve

the sales and thanks to someone 's

capitalistic nature, there is only

one equation explicitly mentioned

Einstein's famous E = mc2

Why should you buy this book

and read it? Why should YOIl care

about what electrons are made of or

how long the big bang took? Could

you ever bring up these kinds of top

ics at a party to impress a member

of the opposite sex? Can you put it

on your resume?

The best reason to read t,his book

is not because it deals wit,h GUTs

but because of the way in which it

deals with them. Instead of jumping

right into theory concerning black

holes and force strings, he sets up

the framework required to under

stand the logic behind these theo

ries. The first part of the book is

essentially a history of science start

ing with a flat earth at the centre

of the universe to a relativistic uni

verse where ti me depends on speed,

space is curved, and mass and en-

ergy arc quantized . It is this brief

summary that brings together e -

erything you learned in physics and

chemist.ry and give it sOllle colwr

ence and is reason enough to read

this book .

At l.his point two theories dom

inate - Einstein's theory of rela

tivity which governs the ~ e r y large

and Heisenberg'S uncerta.inty prin

ciple which governs the very small .

Hawking 's goal is to rome lip with

a single theory that can be applied

to explain and predict phenomenon

at both scales. The remainder of

t.he book is c1edicat,ed 1.0 unifying the

theories. Although the concepts get

pretty heavy , Hawking has done amagnificent job in attempting t.o ex

plain them. Many interesting ideas

are presented and it doesn't really

matter if you understand them in

side out hut. YOII will f'l1<i up with anew perspective of the world we live

In .

The book is not filled with un

explained technical jargon and Lhe

analogies and anecdotes presented

along the way make it. very easy

reading . Occasional commentary on

philosophy (the universe exists the

way it is because we are here to ob

serve it) and religion (when we findthe GUT, we will know the mind of

God) also add another dimension to

what may be thought of as a scien

tific book .

Included at the end of t.he bonk

ar short. biographies of the three

most influential scientist.s in history :

G alileo born exact.ly 300 year >

b('fore Hawking, Newt.on - who e

post at Cambridge Hawking now

holds, and Einstein whose the

ory is the ba >is ormnch of Hawking's

work.

Dropping a few words about ev

idence in favour of a 26 dimen

sional universe is not a sure-fire

pickup line and knowledge of mat.- .

ter / ant.imatter particle pairs proh

ably won't help you get the johof your dreams but at least wh ' n

the universe collapses in ten billion

years, you'll know why.~Peace On A ·Silver Platter

by Isaac Szpindel

Several years ago the President of

the United States seemed to shock

\J1e world with the ani ouncthat a new defense initiative would

be undertaken. Termed the Strate

gic Defense Initiative the program

was quickly renamed Star Wars

by the press. Whether motivated

purely by sensationalism or by the

President's penchant for the silver

screen this designation is, neverthe

less, inappropriate. In order to bet

ter understand this one musL first,

understand what comprises the SOl

program.

SDI is, basically. a space hMed

technology intended for use ill the

military defense of the United States

and her allies. A major compo

nentof this

system is expectedto

eliminate much of the threat poseo

by nuclear weaponry . SOl technol

ogy can be divided into Lhe "boost."

phase and terminal phase, bot,h

with the aim of destroying hostile

nuclear weaponry.

Terminal phase technology WOll Id

consist of the destruction of incom

ing nuclear weaponry which is en

tering the destination stage of its

intended flight path. The terminal

system would include such devices

as space-borne platforms carrying

particle beams, lasers, or even con

ventional arms, all coordinated by

a tracking satellite. Alternatively,

boost phase technology concentrates

on the destruction of enemy missiles

before, of' -during launch. MORt of

the opposition to SDI and many of

the allegations of its infeasibility are

related to boost phase requirements .

Much of the strong opposition

to SOl is bMed on the claim that

the technology required by the pro-

gram is impossible to implement.

The large sums of money, therefore,

that the U .S. government has been

spending on SDI research is felt to

be wasLeful. This is a ridiculous ar-

gument. To say that a technology

is impossible to develop in this day

and age is preposterous. This is a

fad that should not only be obvious

to ci tistc· nd en in ers bu to thegeneral public M well. By observ

ing t.he world around us we are all

made aware of the limitless advances

we are making in technology. Fur

thermore, the U.S. government has

an established budget for defense

spending. To think that dC'fells('

funds would be diverLed from SOl

to address social problems is naive

and unrealistic. The research being

funded for SOl has many beneficial

applications in other areas such M

medicine and space. Space itl:lelf is

of extreme importance as it is felt

that much fuLure scientific advance

ment will occur there. A cu t, back in

research related to space study will,

therefore, help no one. The removal

of SOl will only bring t.he implemen

Lation of another military program.

This new program may have no ben

eficial consequences.

Another source of opposition is

the implied offensive nature of the

boost phase component of SDJ. The

destruction of nuclear weapons in

their liftoff or boost stages would

constitute an attack on enemy ter

ritory. This further implies an abil

ity hy one> party t.o lannrh fin tltttlck

from space at any time directed at

targets within anoLher nation's ter

ritories. As a possible infringement

on foreign space and sovereignty,

boost phase technology has encoun

tered much opposi tion. The par-

ticularly difficult technological prob

lems posed by boost phase require

ments aggravate this problem. The

political dilemma encountered here

is quite valid and might warrant

some of the opposition it has re

ceived. Unfortunately, due to gen

eral ignorance and the sensational

ism of the media. very few people are

aware of the fact that this problem

arises from just one of the compo-

nents of SD I. If . he opposi t.ion t.o

boost phase technology is valid , then

eliminate boost phase research not

the eJltire program . To my knowl

ed ge most if not all SD I researchthat is presently being undertaken

is in the area of terminal phase tech

nology.

Allegations exist that. SDI re

search funds are being misused.

That scit'nt.i l tq who claim (,n w I)('r

forming SDl research ar ' arillally

tlsing t.he fUllds to carry Ollt. 1111

related >cientific Test·arch . If Ihi H

s true , what are tlw consC'<)lIc'U('('H?

Money is bring diverted frolll dl'

fense to scientific re >earch . ThiH

is actually t.he intellt of t,ll(' U .S.

governmcnt. It. is pllrp(Hwl.v flilld-ing related research in order 10 itl

rrease the general lev('1 of Rc i(' nt.ific

advancement wit.hin the (·ollul.ry ill

the hart· that SDY ncpds will also he

met. A common argument. is (hat

potenLial exists for I,he abllHc of til<'knowledge >lIch research provides . If

this is true it is Ollr respon s ibility t,t

ensure that this kllowledg(· is prc

>crved for its lwnefits flnd 1hilt , flO

abuse occurs . If we da r ' to withhold

knowledge which may be of bC'IIC'fil"

we are as guilty as thosE' who would

abuse it. themselves .The purpose ~ n d implical,ions of

SDI are quite clear . Assuming

the development, only, of Ierminal

phase equipment SOl will be di

rectly responsible for the obsoles

cellce of mucb of the world's nuclear

weaponry. As we have seen, nego

tiations are capable only of decreM

ing the number of nuclear weapons

in the world to a certain extent.

Unilateral disarmament is out of

tile fJuestion completely. Given any

knowledge of politics and history

one can immediately dismiss this op

tion as totally unreasonable. How

ever, through the implementation of

SOl, and with the aid of negotia

tions we might one day be able re

move th e ' threat of nuclear warfare

enLirely. If we are truly concerned

ahollt the planet we live on we must

begin to act intelligently and respon

s ibly. H we are truly co mmitted

t o p('(lce we will sup po rt. deterrent.sto warfare and to nuclear weaponry.SDI is presently the only such pro

gram . Si t-ins and protests accom

plish nothing as far as world peace

and nuclear safety are concerned.

Opposit,ioll 10 SDI rt·PIPM·II1. an OJ>

posltiollio I I t l ( It ar dl IIr I l lan l l ' l I .11111

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Hibi hl.y to c.ad in Ihi ", r(' pt'rl tint10 provide' t.he' f(,(·dlmrk rt'qll1r('(] for

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Iron Warrior November 25, 1988

SERVAS: The Unbeatable Way To Travelby Carolyn Anglin

My past summer was spent travelling, working, and generally soakingup the world in and around variousparts of Europe. The Servas pro

gram was one of the major ingredients which made my experience invaluable. Knowledge of this international host program is spread entirely by word of mouth, as is the

intention of this article.

The motto of the Servas organization is Open Doors Around theWorld". Its primary aim is to promote cultural exchange through foreign travellers living directly withthe local people. Servas was started

soon after the Second World War,with the ultimate goal of promot

ing peace through increased understanding of other cultures. The

program is ideal for anyone making

plans to travel abroad with the desire to get to know" the cultures

which he or she is visiting .Normally you would stay with a

host for two days. Staying just

overnight would be "using" Servasas a free hotel" service; hosts want tospend time with YOIl . Staying anylonger is not permitted unless youare invited to remain: in my experience, however , the hosts were soopen and generous that there wouldbe no problem in visiting for longer(in some cases, J felt guilty for leaving so soon ). There is no rhargr at

all for either the accommodat,ion or

the meals. Does it sound too good

to be true? Believe it

During my t.rip, I stayed withfive different ( very different) Servashosts. The first two, in London andWales, had been prearranged fromCanada; the third was a long term

stay with a wonderful family in Ireland . The last two came a month

and a half later in Yugoslavia.In each case, the hosts accepted

me right into their homes and lives.My London hos t deliberat.ely wentt.o work late on the day that I arrived so that. she would be home togreet me, give me a place to put my

heavy backpack, and leave me the

key t.o her apartment. I was immediately impressed with the trust that

this entailed . Because most peopleworked , I was free to roam on my

own all day, but then had a friendto spend time with in the evening.It made all the difference to have a"home" to go to and people that youcould trust .

As a guest, you try to help out

when you can, but I found that

very little.was expected, or even accepted (usually dishes, helping with

the meal or babysitting). Normally,J felt that r "cont,ributed" through

conversation by being eager to hear

about their lives, and by expressingmy own enthusiasm for Canada. Asa gift to each host, I had compileda series of my own Canadian photos

into little booklets.

Often it is more the kind of people ·that become Servas hosts that make

a visit worthwhile. Servas people,both travellers and hosts, are on the

"good" side of life Many lead alter

native lifestyles and are concernedwith t he world in gf'ner<ll; all are

friendly and open . ·Once you join,

you can obtain a Host List for anycountry around the world, including Canada, alt.hough most Eastern

Block countries will not allow its exist.ence.

In London, my host lived in aflat wit.h several other architecture

students, only wandering distance

from all of the major sights. Students the world ov r talk abo the

same things, and Jive the same hectic lives They even have rotten coopjobs. 1slept in their living room, but

on a very comfortable couch. 011 the

first day, I stared for an hour 01l t

of their window just watching the

range of people hust.ling by.My host. invited me to retllrll on

my way back to Canada. Not, onlydid that, save me from having 1.0

make other plans, but it was likecatching up on an old friend's life .All in all, 1 felt immediately at

home. In fa.ct, she had grown up illKitchener, Ontario

n Search Of ••• Home

by Rena Herman

A "Leonardo de Vinci - Engieer and Architect" poster hangs

o er my mattress, surrounded by anrtment of photos of family and

frie ds, both present and past.. Myentir wardrobe has taken up residence in a collection of red milkcrates, while stack-a-shelves return

. to campus specials have helped meorganize my books.

But what of my worldly possessions? Assignments? An obsoleteMacintosh computer? Perhaps t.hebattered ghetto blaster and a missorted collection of tapes . [recall

days of projects, interests, of just

plain lazing around. Like most ofus, entering into an engineering program was an important decision. Atradeoff of sorts.

Confronted with the vast cooperative educational system, a personcan get '?St. One begins to wonder ifthis is really it. By choosing to specialize as an engineer, what ca beexpected? Do I really want to apply

myself for five years? Does this undergraduate degree truly equip meto enter the workforce, or will I findthe need to continue my studies at ahigher level?

Perhaps the most relevant question to be asked is : Why ask somany silly questions? After all,most of you readers have probably

had it with this article . Who cares?And wouldn't I be ever so obnoxious

if I were to yell: I do I doI view "finding it" as the fight to

win home. That is, by knowing t.hatone is in a home of sorts, no matter

how temporary that home may be,everything else falls into place. One

finds the time to socialize, party and

(eventually .. . ) study for finals.Maybe even pass.

Enough soul searching for one

day. After all, if you can't find it,

maybe is hasn't gone anywhere to

begin with. That's what it says on

the banner. ENGINEERING TH

PLACE TO BE.

My experiences in Wales werecompletely different from those inLondon . The first distinction wasto be out in the countryside; the

second was to be with a family.I have never met two people wholived so much by their convictions.They are vegetarians, grow much oftheir own food , use only biodegradable products, and are comm it tedto thinking of others. They werealso devoted to their children in the

most caring way. In general , Servashosts from the United Kingdom andIreland tend to lead more alternative lifestyles whereas those in Yu-goslavia were involved more becauseof their interest in travelling.

Yugoslavia was one of the mostfascinating places J visit.ed. Since

the country is unique in its politics, its geography, and its manner

of amassing completely different, nationalities into one, it was more important to me than usual to discoverwhatever I could . To anyone intend.ing t.o visit there : it is very worthwhile to experience several places inYugoslavia because each one is sodist.inct from the other.

My northern Yugoslavian host,being a sociologist, was extremelyknowledgeable about her country,which is presently experiencing a severe economic crisis. She was alsoperfectly fluent in English , and introduced me to several of her friends

in order to broaden my views (youcan never assume that a host is typ

ical" of t.he culture).My ot.her Yugoslavian host was

not as fluent in English; the rest ofhis family spoke none. This meant

that t,he wife or daughters wouldserve me food (wit.hout accept.ingany help), while all that [ could saywas thank you" in the language .1 t.herefore fell much more that Iwas "using" their hospitality. Nevertheless, while the language barrier call be frustrating , Servas is perhaps most valuable in sllch countrieswhere it is otherwise almost impossible to talk to the people .

This particular host is the ownerof a traditional souvenir shop in

Sarajevo. I enjoyed being able towatch his craftsmanship, and knowthe man behind the window, in direct contrast with the tourists wandering by. I even did my best to bargain a better price for him from thetourists

The family that I stayed with inIreland even now remain very special t.o me hecausr Iliv('o with themfor much longer. One of the greatest advantages that I found of trav

elling alone, is t.hat it is much easierto assimilate a new lifestyle, with

out having to simultaneously satisfya friend's vision of the 'old' you.

By the end of my stay on theirfarm, I could not understand whythey considered themselves to livean alternative lifestyle (described bythem as non-consumerism), becauseit seemed so natural to me. However, as fair warning to any other

tra.veller: a 1I of their electricity (including a TV) is produced by asingle wind generator (as an engineer, that was well worth seeing); to make a phone call, I had

to bike into the nearest town; accommodation for the traveller, lit

only by a gas lantern, is in an outdoor trailer (which actually allowsfor much more privacy); it takes twohours for the peat-burning stove to

heat up enough water for a bath,so advanced warning is required( );and fresh milk (from their own cow)is naturally the only milk to befound. They, too, introduced meto several of their friends, especially through our daily milk runsto neighbours, and the work that I

did . My favourite time was spent

discussing philosophy while planting

spuds

Obviously, each host varies greatlyfrom the others. However, becauseof the listings, you can choose the

kind of people with which you wouldmost likely to be compatible, or

that you would most appreciate getting to know. You do , nonetheless ,have to be comfortable with meeting new people , and with makingyourself feel at home in another person's house. Even if it doesn't. workout, though, you can always go to ahostel or hotel with all of the oLhertourists

Of all the many things that I

learned about myself and others

while away, the most valuable lesson was certainly one of generosity.Moreover , that is something that I

can carry wit.h me for the rest of mylife.

Each count.ry's listing providesthe name, address, and telephonenumber of the ' host, languages spoken, the age and occupation, and abrief description of interests. It issurprising how well you can buildup a vision from just. this information. The listing also indicates the

number of people that can be accommodated, and whether they prefer a traveller to make arrangements

by phone or letter . Consideration isthe name of the game: t.he greatest frustration of hosts is short notice. An interesting alternative isthat those hosts who cannot offer accommodation are willing to act as"day hosts . Wouldn 't it be great

to have a personal guided Lour andsee all of a ci t.y's unknown treasures?

The popularity of Servas varies, but

there are 600 names listed in theUnited Kingdom alone

There is no requirement to reciprocate, but 1 know that I would liketo become a Servas host, both to

return the generosity that was extended to me, and so that I can vicariously travel the world To become involved, contact James Morgan, 24 Chestnut Street, Kitchener,745-3602, the local Servas host. I t

costs $40 to join, plus a $10 deposit

on the host lists (the hidden costcomes with phone calls and letters tocontact. hosts ). Other wise , all that

is required is to complete an Application Form, write a letter of introduction (which you will later give to

your hosts), and submit two letters

of reference. The hosts are similarlyscreened. Once this information has

been compiled, you have to arrange

for an "interview" to complete the

process.Take advantage of this opportu

nity. While it does require Borneplanning, it really is an unbeatable

way to travel.




Head First Into The TUBSby Hans-Peter Schropp

and

Bernard Tanguay

Moin, Moin This greeting reminds us of the time spent in Braunschweig on exchange. A time high

lighted by three semesters of studies and countless travel memories.The experience of attending a vibrant lecture of "Schwingungslehre"in' the Audimax or the enjoyment

of a "Weissbier" in the "Audimin"are examples. Being steamed in awinter sauna at a Finnish cottage orsavouring a "Leberkaes" at a NewYear's Eve Party in a "BayerischeBerghuettn" are others . Now that's

education.

About ten years ago, Prof. Pindera of Civil Engineering at University of Waterloo and Prof. Steck,of the Institute fur allgemeineMechanik und Festigkeitslehre at

the Technische Universitaet Car-010 Wilhelmina zu Braunschweig(TUBS), after years of research ties,initiated an exchange programme

for students of our two universities. The programme has continued to develop and offers the chanceto incorporate international experience int.o your engineering education. The benefits of the exchangefar outweigh the initial difficulties ofstudying in a foreign language. Sofar at least fifty German students,

but only few UW students, havejourneyed abroad in their academicpursuits. With an increasing awareness, thanks to the efforts of Prof.Schuster of Civil Engineering, who isthe exchange coordinator, this trend

is revt'rsing. There are presently sixUW students participating.

During our 3B term in mechanicalengineering, we became acquainted

with a few Braunschweig students ,who informed us about the exchange

programme. The ability to obtain

credit for studies in a different learn- •ing environment convinced us to apply. We were accepted and prepared

for the challenge during our last

work-term, in the summer of 1986.We were the first from mechanicalto venture to Braunschweig, and had

limited knowledge of the language

but personal enthusiasm overcameany uncertainties. .

In order to ease our acclimati

zat,ion to \'he new culture we immersed ourselves in the manner

isms of German culture. What

better way to achieve this than

travel? Experie nced bikers as weare, we had both brought our bicy,des along and began tl)e exchangeon two wheels, exploring the south

ern parts of Germany, from Frankfurt through to Mittenwald, chanc-

KURZENSCHEIDTS(small dictionary)

ing upon many fall festivities . Heidelherg was celebrating the "Federweisserundzwiebelkuchenfest' , weenjoyed a Dampfnudel at the

Cans\'at,tcr Wasen in Stuttgart and

witnessed the last day of the

original Oktoberfest in Munich

. . . Prosit .. . Aft,er that, we were ingreat shape to start the term.

Mr. Refardt and Mr. Fischer of

the "Akademisches Auslandsamt ,

our first contact at the university,accused us of not knowing our wayaround when we asked them forhelp, but became most heJpful whenthey discovered that we were actu

ally from Waterloo. They helpedus in wrestling through the unavoiclnhlC' p(lperwork required t.o obtaill the famous Immatrikulations

bescheinigullg". We were also happyto learn that places in one of the

residences had been reserved for us.Alles klar

We spent the next two weeks at tending various "Vorlesungen" of interest and ta1king to prof"Cssors, inorder to make an appropriate choicefor the six month semester. There

we were put on the right track at

Prof. Steck's institute . His doctoral

student. and assistant, Frithjof Kublik, who has himself taken part inthe exchange and could be describedas a Watfriend , gave us some useful tips on course choices and other

Moin, Moin

Schwingungslehre

Audimax

WeissbierAudimin

LeberkaesBayerische BerghuettnFederweisserund-zwiebelkuchenfestDampfnudel

Oktoberfestlmmatrikulations-

bescheinigttngVorlesungenRaumftugtechnik und

{leaktortechnik

A casual greetingVibrat,ions theory

EL 101 ill German

An interesting BrewThe BombshelterLiver Cheese?Chalet in the Alpsa wine Festival

Steam DumplingsYOll tell usStudent Card

LectureSpace and Reactor

Technology

.Technische MechanikStammtisch

Kneipe

Uebung

Assi

academic concerns. One of the

more confusing aspects is the ulliversity's organizational strurtur . t

consists of nine "Fachbereiche", ofwhich Mechanical Engineering is t.helargest (with about '2400 students,

Jawohl ). These are in turn split. up

into many independent pecializedinstitutes, scattered over a large portion of the northeast side of Braunschweig. Each institute llses its ownteaching facilities to offer courses inits field of research . It is possihlefor UW students to participate in

the research activities of an institute by undertaking a "Studiel1arbeit , which is usually a four monthproject including 'a technical report .Institutes such as "Raumfiugtechnikund Reaktortechnik or "TechnischeMechanik" illustrate the degree of

diversity.t was quite a task to ("hoose from

the vast selection of courses oITeredbut the flexible registration policy,which entails signing up for examsat the end of each semester, allowed us enough freedom to makea sound decision. This was t.hetopic of discussion at. many meetings around the "Stammtisch" at

Friedrich's , a "Kneipe" in Braunschweig, which is renowned for its

battered and baked Camembert, aspecialty which Frithjof will be gladto introduce you to.

As fourth year students, we concentrated on more advanced courses

typically involving lectures, various" ebungen" and often ending wil,han oral examination. Picture this:YOll are waiting nervously in a hallway. A student exits a doorway wiping his brow . It's your turn . .. Youenter the small dim room containing

three chairs, a few pieces of blankpaper and freshly sharpened pencils.The professor and his "Assi" greet

you with unnerving grins. You and

the prof then proceed to "discuss"t,he contents of the course in great

det.ail while t.he Assi scratches notes '. .. and this in German Time has

never passed quicker. Our prepara

tion had never been as thorough.Without weekly assignments and

deadlines, student.s have ample time

to participate in extracurricular act,ivities. The time could be used to

browse the library for given courseliterature or explore neighbouringEuropean states on exciting photosafaris. East Germany, Netherlands

and Scandinavia made for plenty of

distrac ting destinations. ProfessorHecker, our Watpadre , was alwaysthere, however, to help us refocus on

our good academic intentions.All in all, the study methods

placed a lot of weight on "self- teaching" which means not only learning by yourself, but about yourself and how you learn best. The

exchange was therefore not only atravel abrnarl hilt a t.ravel wit,hin,

and an experience np-ver to be forgot,ten. The programme can beonly be highly recommended and it

would be good to see more UW jackets in' Braunschweig in the future.

For detail on the ro ramme contact Prof. R.M. Schuster ofC;viJ F;ngineering in his office CPU 237311

lB2C KNj

ST

UlOO

Applied Mechanicsa table reservedfor "Regulars"Pub

Tutorial

Assistant

18 AM 939 H

8 M 8 PH

U PH - 7 PH



Iron Warrior November 25, 1988

The Existence And Nature Of God

by Jim McCrea

Many people, both Christians and

non Christians, believe that God's

existence must be held on faith

alone . The existence of God and

his main attributes, however, can

be known by reason without the aid

of revelation. This is established

through a branch of metaphysics

known as natural theology .

The existence and nat.ure of God

can be understood from th e essence

existence dichotomy which flows

from the nature of being as such .The basic definition of being is thai

which is. The subject that refers to

essence and the predicate is refers

to existence. All beings, therefore ,

are a compound of essence and exis

tence.

All beings, there/ore,

are a compound oj

essence and existence.

The essence-existence dichotomy

is one of the most difficult principles

of metaphysics to grasp ; an exam

ple may help . If a watchmaker is to

construct a watch the essence of the

watch or watchness exists in his

mind, prior to its construction, but

not in reality . (Essence is defined

as the what a thing is .) Whent he watchm aker assembl es th e wa tch

he gives existence to th e essence or

watch ness . (Existence is defined

as the that a thing is .) Since the

what it is can precede the that

it is, it can be said th a t essence

and exi s tence a re principl es whi cb

are formally dis tinct .

Sin ce essence and exi s tence dif

fpr , he roncppt, of anyt,hing dof's not,

necessarily imply that: it is. It can

be said that all finite things that ex

ist can possibly not exist. In th is

they have what is known as con-

tingency . A further analy s is shows

that essence has the form of a noull

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- it denotes something - and ex

istence has the form of a verb -

it denotes an ac t . (We can call

it ising ) . Now, the act of exist

ing of a contingent being requires a

cause precisely because it is distinct

from its essence. Nothing can be its

own cause; therefore, it must have a

cause extrinsic to it, and this cause

is called Go d .

Bow do we avoid the obvious dif

ficulty, which arises from the pre

ceding argument , that God himself

would seem to require a cause?

This difficulty is solved, first , bystating the nature that God must

possess . The immediate statement

that can be make about him is that

he is self-existent. While essence

and existence are distinct in finite

beings, the essence of God, is in fact,

his own existence . Since it is the na

ture of God to exist he is not contin

gent but necessary. He cannot pos

sibly not be. This property is known

as A seit y . I t is his most fundamen

tal attribute and is that from which

all his others are logically deduced.

The question why does God exist?

cannot be rationally answered be

cause it has no meaning . The identi

fication in God of essence with exis

tence prevents Ihis. He is the frame

of reference against which all hows

and whys are known.

What properties can be deduced

from aseity? If the essen ce of God

is his own existence, he is pure be

ing or pure existence and, there

fore, must, cont,flin eVf'ryt.hing t.hat

Leing or existence can possiuly im

ply: Go d, t he refore, is necessaril y

unlimited , perfect , and possesses all

positive attributes to an infinite de

gree . We can also understand, bylooking at God's most fundamental

attribute of self-existf'oce , that th e

most fitting name that can be gi ven

to him is lie who Is . (Or 1 AM in

the first person) .

The two means of knowing the

nature of God are by negation and

analogy. Negation says what he is

not and analogy says what he is.

Any concept which, in itself, denot,es

an imperfection of any kind can be

denied him absolutely in negation .

Any concept which denotes a per

fection , pure and simple , can be at

tributed to him, to an infinite de

gree, by analogy. First of all it can

be denied that God contains matterbecause the concept matter neces

sarily implies passivity and indeter

mination which are per se imperfec

tions . It can be denied he has form

since any form is inherenl,ly limited

by its definition. The simple name

of God He who is rather than lie

who is such and such means that heis a universal principle which tran

scends all forms.It can be affirmed that God pos

sesses the attributes of infinite intel-

lect and will. These are metaphys

ical perfections because intellect as

intellect is the capability of appre

hending truth without qualification

and will as will is the capability of

being inclined to the good without

qualification. Since intellect and will

are the prime attributes of personal

ity, we refer to God as He and not

It .

It can be said that God is per

fectly simple; t.hat is he has no com

position of parts. This follows from

the fact that he is an absolutely pri

mary being. With anything that has

composition that thing must. be re

ferred to its parts and the principle

of its composition for its explana-

The essence oj God

His own existence.

tion . This makes the parts and the

principle by which it is composed,

in som e manner, prior to that thing .

There cannot be anything prior to

God, therefore, he cannot have any

composition . It can be truthfully

said that the only thing in God is

Go d . A corollary of this is that the

attributes of God are identical with

himself. The very int.ellect and will

of God is God. God does not exist

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fROM

799769

1169

1249DEPARTURES NOVEMBER 1988 THROUGH MAY 1989

CarouselHolidays

in space and time because space and

time are divisible and God is in no

manner divisible. This rules out the

ant.hropomorphic conception, that

some people have of him, that he

possesses a human type body andhas human emotions . The book of

Genesis does talk about the remi

niscence and regret of God but be

cause they are metaphysical imper

fections, they can only be attributed

to him metaphorically. (Reminis

cence is an imperfection because it

is the bringing to mind something

which was previously not thought

and regret is an imperfection be

cause it denotes an error in judg

ment .) One very important point is

that God is not the universe itself,

as the pantheists hold . Although he

is immanent in all things in that he

sustains them in existence from mo

ment to moment with his power , he

is a.lso transcendent; that is, he is

unique and distinct from the things

he sustains. We can understand t.his

by reAecting on the fact that objects,

which appear to our senses and rea

son , do not. possess the ill fl n ite per

fections proper to God.

Although the human reason can

know the existence of God and many

of his attributes, this knowledge has

limits . We can only extrapolate

from what we experience and under

stand . (Analogy is a term for int,el

lectual -extrapolation .) We do not

know, in itself, what it is for God

to be , for example , intelligent, fr ee

or good. This also explains why we

assign multiple attributes to a prtnciple that is necessar il y one and in

finitely simple. The human intellect

is simply not subtle enough to grasp

God through a single concept.

Note : It says in the book 0 Gen-esis that God made man in his own

image . This is in no mann er to be

understood as re ferring to physical

likeness. The in terpr etation is that

man has a share in the function of

the i n ~ e l l e t and will of God which

are his highest attributes. Af ter He

who is names which can be most

properly assigned to God are subsis-

tent intellect and hypostatic love.

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November 25, 1988 ron Warrior

:>(Cf .:; . 1 i , . r ; - ~ •

Better Than Nothing 0 ~ O ' f ~ ~ ~ / 1 , I 5 ~ ? 1 , l «' : (('" .;J e . ',U'

;; .. - . - ' &. ('_ - ~ ~ ~ ) ~ ~ ~ J .. 'c r . < . ; . ~ ; ; ' ~ r r : .. . Ir. -

by Chris Irie h :' slI '>p('ctl'd were' a pair of t('m

:::::=:::;;;::::=. porary artificial joints . Black mar-

The still air had form, as real as ket surgery. Probably wouldn ' t last

ground. Shaku was lying face down more than a couple of days . "Full

on a gravel covered roof overlook- body?' he asked, leaning back .ing a school yard. The halogens had The man shook his head. "Legs.

been doused over an hour ago, leav- I need legs. By tonight." He

ing the school in darkness but for the looked directly at Shakll and was

diffuse glow of waste light from t.he still. There was no wasted move-city core. Shaku looked through the men . in his actions . He could easilyinfrared scope that was mounted on have been a mannequin, excf'pt that

top of his rifle. A green blur called mannequins don't go looking for ex-Baker was leaning against a jungle oskeletons.

gym, hands in pockets, looking out Shakn nodded. "Such short no-

into the darkness. Unarmed. Thank tice will be expensive. But I sllspectsomeone for the business ethic. that somet,hing can be arranged ."

Shaku disengaged a hand from t.he He wrote on a slip of torn newspa-sighting controler to brush a lick per, then placed it on the edge of

of dirty hair from his eyes. Shaku his desk, just out of reach of Baker.considered himself to be a reason- "There are two numbers. Call one

able man. Any thing, any where, of them ill t,hree hours. The other is

any time. Like a marine of com- my fee."meree. If you could need it , Shaku "How will I know which is which?"

could get it for you. For some ap- "My fee is the larger ."

propriate compensation, of course. After Baker had left, Shaku closed

But . . . now there was someone who his eyes and tilted back as far aswas interested in Shaku's compensa- his chair would go. "Wi ll wonders

tion. And so , like any other reason- never cease, eh Paj? I don 't think

able business man, Shaku had de- he knows who to thank for fre ei ngcided to get to know the newcomer. him from the bonds of physical loco-

He looked Lhrough the illfrared motion . Either that) or he is more

again. Now Baker was with another of a professional' businessman than

figure. Big, fat like a sumo wrestler. I thought. Figured he'd leave town

Eclipsing the target, spoiling the at least." Paj looked back blankly.

shot. Baker passed something to "Monopolies are good for business,

the green blob who then lumbered Paj. Why do you suppose there's

away through a row of bushes that only one government? They want a

skirted the school y: .rd. The tar- monopoly. I f you could go to some-get was alone now . Time. Shaku one else for social service or national

shifted his w e i g h ~ agai.n and brough f uldn.' an

the zoom to rest on t.he grollnd ~ l I S t power, would you?" Sbaku poured

in front of the green streak named himself another glass of water, then

Baker. A burst of white blossomed joined Paj in a silence that blanketed

on the scope. Smoking? Nasty ' the room .habit, thought Shaku . He pressed

a stud on the scope assembly and a

red pinprick of coherent light lit the

ground at Baker's feet. -

"Look up. Look waaay up." Sur

prisingly, Baker did just that. The

dot was now dancing on a place

where the green streak bent. There

was a double sound like children

jumping into puddles of rain water,

and Baker collapsed. His knees weremlssmg.

* * *

Late afternoon was dusty and

parching. Shaku was pouring wa

ter from a glass decanter while Paj

sweated in a wicker chair across the

room. The gurgle and splash of wa

ter, the sound of glass kissing glass

lit the room with a momentary illu

sion of cool. "It's a slow day, Paj."

"Yeah." A drop of perspiration

dripped from Paj's forehead onto his

tent-like shirt.

"Have some watE'r. Looks like

you're going to explode." Paj 'schairheaved with relief as he got up.

Shaku sat behind a large faded wal

nut desk that seemed to impose on

the other mismatched pieces of furniture in the room. He rested his

elbows on the desk and looked to

the chair that was across from Paj.

"Now. What can I do for you?"

The third man wore a Panama

hat, grey cotton clothing, and a pair

of crutches. "I hear you can get me

an exoskeleton."

Shaku tried to imagine the man as

a green streak. People are so differ

ent close up. He looked at the man's

legs, but long pants covered what

When Baker came back, two days

later, he was wearing the dmne

hat and loose grey pants wiLh sus

penders. The bulge of the skeletal

support was just barely visible when

he bent his legs. Nice work. I' need

a rifle.""You need many things of late ."

"I want something simple. Point

and shoot. I want laser sights.

Maybe an JR scope. Talk to me."Shaku withdrew a compact unit

from a dust covered display case.

"Tacana," Shaku told him. Baker

hefted the rifle, and flipped onLhe sighting. A red dot glittered

on Paj's forehead. He brought

it slowly around, past a window

and through the lamp 6n Shaku's

desk. Ruby dopplegangers glideu

across the room as the beam split.

lIe pointed the gun at Shaku. A

buzzing like bottled flies drifted up

from Baker's legs as he held his

body still. For a moment, the airwas solid and challenging, a presence

t hat came frolll nowhere. "I'll t.akeil." haku nodded, wrote a number

on a scrap of paper, and handed it

to Baker . "Ok," Be said.

Paj showed Raker out, snappinghis sllsp('nders by way of farewell.

I don't like him," raj said . "He

doe n't bargaill."I know.' haku picked his

mont.h abs(>ntly with a toothpick

while lookillg through the dirt of an

unwashed window. He squinted for

a moment, emphasising t.he grooveson his face. "Tonight I want you to

buy me some body armour . fie dis

crete." He turned Lo Paj and scruti

nized t,he bear shaped bulk who was

standing before him. "Or not. Remember: bullet proof armour. Nowgo."

ft was f'ight. whf'n Pi'lj rf'1Ilrnerl .

"Where is it?" Shaku asked. Paj

looked in each of his hands, then

said, "Couldn'\, find any.""What did I ask you to get?"

Paj \'hought for a moment. His

lower lip probed its upper partner,

then twisted to make a survey of his

left cheek. Maybe the answer waswritten on his feet; he looked there

next. "Bullet piercing armour."

Shaku's visage hung suspended

in mid-face for a moment before

falling. He was sitting down at his

desk now, absently clearing scraps ofpaper onto the floor. Combing black

sits and two backs crack into place.

"Go home, Paj. I want to be alone."

The room is dark. The

video sputters briefly before light

ing Shaku in a cone of bille shim

mers. Iff' fingers the sLu b8 011 th('

remote. World War Two is on \'1'1('

vIsIon again. oebbf'ls at a hlnrkand white desk, Hodding at a faL

flunky with a clipboard. GOl'hbelflsays something; the goon sa lut(,s

and quickly steps away. 1'h<, pidur('

freezes , and a British narrator as

serts that the German race hali bCf'1l

diluted by the blood of undesirab les .That to purge the Fatherland of Lhe

infection is only natural, only busi

ness.

The picture unfreezes and the

shadows continue to jerk acrosfi the

screen. The cone of light waVNS mo

mentarily, casting Shaku in darke

ness. Someone in a dark uniform

is working a slide p r o j ~ d o r The

controller is in his hand . Drawings.

Charts in black and white . The

image bleeds white and is replaced

with a map of Europe. Grey arrows

make broad strokes across nations

towards the sea. Territorial recla

mation.

A barrage of commercials int,e rrupt the Nazi war machine for

- a failing handful of moments for

which soldiers in muddy Lrenchesgive silent thanks. Shaku ends the

war with an abrupt gesture, drop

ping the remot.e with a plastic clatI or . He b e g i n ~ to closf' h s eyes as a

desk lamp light. by degrees, yielding

pools of g(>nt\e light and :;;ilence.

Shaku looks down into his wicker\ astf' papt'r hasket t hat holds the

remnant.s of Lilt' week's business. It

is a p('culiar feeling knowing that

SOIll("Otlf' is wait.ing for you. Wait

ing to hurt yotl. To crush your

l('gs. Break yom eyes . Nasty, thinks

Shnku as h(' rubs his face back to

life .

The street. is dark now. The neonwas extinguished twenty minutes

ago, leaving the bars, the parlours,

the chat houses dim and frozen.

Shaku stands beneath flaking black

metal mesh that was a fire escape

before it was overwhelmed by rllst.

Thf're is wet and a tas\'e in Shaku's

mouth of oil and grit. A blink ofred in a puddle, almost too brief to

notice. Shaku drops and rolls away

from the building face to the street

gutter, waiting for the rifle to dis

charge inevitable shots.

An unsubtle noisp" and the splash

of puddles, approaching too fast.Tank. Momentum is the key in sit

uations like this. If you have more )you Win. [f they have more, they

and' metal rims p u ~ c h e d holes in his

body like cookie cutters into soft

dough. The noise evaporated; water

rippled and resumed its serene drip.

SlIol(\) di d C'ing 1\ w/l::;h of r,r('('n.

Not.hing IT\()vC'd for n vI'ry long t.imC'.

l ~ v ( I l I . I I f 1 l l y , Pu.j dmH d uoor, lultl

H ippl'd av Ity illt..o tll(' night. .

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Pa e 14 Iron Warrior

World News Briefsby Chris Baisley

and Dan Curtin

We're All Mindless,Neuroscientist Says

It boggles the mindA renowned neuroscient ist says

there's no /?uch thing as a mind. H'sjust a concept people have dreamedup because they can't conceive ofthe brain's complexity, says Dr. Vernon Mountcastleonthehill. The professor of neurosciences at John Hopkins Medical School In Baltimore

told a class of civil engineers hereat Waterloo that There is no suc.hthing as the mind from an experimentalist's (science researcher)point of view" and "I know that

will subject me to scurrilous stat.e

ments. To this the systems classreplied "Hey We already knewthat and pointed to a group of 2Asystems as proof.

Weather Watch

. Afl.er. a t.wo week verification peflod, SCientists have confirmed that,

on Monday, November J4th ann

part of Tuesday November 15th it

was indeed sunny outside here inWaterloo. Scientists , using the clas

sical definition of "sunny weather,"concluded that the two days in question were indeed "of pleasant temperature and bright enough to require protective eye shields (sunglasses) . The last confirmed sunnyday was on the 26th of October,

1988.

Debrett's Marries

Catholic Cardinal

Debrett's, the directory of the

British upper crust, has confessedto an embarrassing error in listingCardinal Basil Hume, head of the

Roman Catholic Church in Britain,

as married. The latest 1,OOO-page

edition of Debrett's said Hume, whoas a priest is sworn to celibacy, wasmarried last January. When contacted, the cardinal's eldest son Jake

said, " the whole idea is preposterous, Dad would never jump mto

marriage, he would live with herfirst" .

Seven MunicipalitiesChoose English

At least seven Ontario municipal

ities have voted in favour of makingEnglish the official language during

council business and the official language of the provincial government.A campaign by the Alliance for the

Preservation of English in Canada

led to the issue being included on

municipal ballots .On the Waterloo County ballot,

voters were given the choice of voting for English, French, Pascal, or

"Teaching Assistant . Despite alarge turnout of MC students, "TA"has been voted in as the new officiallanguage of Waterloo.

Local resident s are apparently upset that they were outvoted by the

large student population, claimingthat they "no speaky da TA . University officials have only respondedwith "is not problem wit us, we isgood wid it presently . Howeverproblems are expected in standard

izing the various dialects indigenousto campus.

.

Chern Eng Soc Rocksby Pierre Donaldson

We have also some pictures of thesoiree that we would like to incllldewith the article . .Michelle Atherleywill be bringing them tomorow (Nov17). Thanks.

Chern Eng Soc Rocks .

So what has the Chem Eng Socbeen up to for the last three weeks?The people who attended our soireeat the University Club last weekfound out that the society is st i llvery active. The soiree was a slIccessby everyone's standards, approximately 100 students (undergrads &grads), J5 of our profs and 13 industrial guests attended. This crowdof Chemical ~ n g i n c e r s took contro lof the University Club and kept the

bartenders on their feet all night. Ishould also mention the victory of

the 2B class over Prof. Sullivan &Douglas at shuffleboard, thanks forthe beer gentlemen

This is the first Chem Bng soireethis stream has had in the last twoyears and will be repeated ill thefuture for those of you who missedthis one. Many members of the soci-

Ind p n . .

............

pl lI

MR.

ety have already some ideas for next

summer. The society has also or

ganized a tour of the Brick Brewery on November 8th, Seagrams'

Dist,illery on November 17th and ispresently working on a tour .of Proctor and Gamble's Hamilton plant forthe 25th of November. All thesetours include free samples, some ofthem more consumable than others.

WE APPRECIATE YOUI

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Jim and Donna Morris Welcome You

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The Chem Eng Society is alsothe student chapter of the Cana

dian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE) at the University. Our

chapter is now affiliated with the lo

cal Toronto chapter of the CSChE.

This means that the members ofour society can attend the activities

sponsored by the Toronto chapter,

as we are on their mailing list for up-

No Moreloikes

This week U of T engineers faceda referendum on the future of the

Toike Oike, their version of En

ginews. As a response to complaintsfrom several campus groups, engineers will choose between three options: The paper should A) continueunchanged, B) continue in a moderated form, or C) be stopped altogether. Unofficially it is apparent

that the administration will not beimpressed if the engineers return the

"wrQng" choice. In any case, sincethe students have been allowed ' (at

least in face) to decide the futureof the Toike, this affair will reach amuch more dignified conclusiQn than

did the demise of tlle Enginews.

• t • •

November 25, 1988

Free Needles in AIDS Plan

Two downtown centres where addicts can exchange dirty needles forclean ones are being proposed byToronto's health department. When

questionC'd, UW's IJealt.h and Safetydepartment mentioned that a similar program has been running herefor years, and contrary to publicconsensus, Ira G. Needles had nQthing to do with Needles Hall.

Election Confusion

The ' recent proliferation of elections confused many local voters.Elections Canada says that manyvoters turned up on the 21st trying

to vote for both Mike Dukakis and

George Bush.Apparently many voters had been

influenced by polls saying that the

free trade supporting ProgressiveConservatives were sure winnersand thought they could save t m ~by voting direct ly for the Americanpresident.

coming events. For the students who

are going to be on a work term this

winter in Toronto and would like to

attend the Toronto chapter activ

ities, just drop by the office (El-2514) and give us your address and

we will include you on the mailinglist. All upcoming event s will beposted on our board by the office.

The society's last meeting of the

term will be on Tuesday November22nd when a new executive will beannounced. All Chem Eng students

are welcomed to attend t he meetingand voice their opinion. Anew constitution for the society will also be

presented, after hours of hard workand pizza eating by the constitution

comrnitee. We are also the supplier

of cheap and high quality engineering paper, some very useful unit. con-

version booklets and Perry's Handbooks. All of those are sold at the

office and have to be sold before the

end of the term.

That's what the Chern Eng Sochas been up to lately, we hope to

see you at our meeting on the 22ndand wish you good luck with exams

Mind, Heartand Vision

Norman Ball)s book, Mind,Heart and Vision will be availablethrough the Orifice. Cash orders

will be taken until Wed. Nov. 30th.

The CQst will be $39.95. No engineer shQuld be without a copy ofthis tribute to our profession. Jt ishoped that Norman Ball will return

to campus before the end of exams

for an autogra'ph session.

,



November 25, 1988 Iron Warrior:'

it \ Engineering Applications:

t; ,.\0-' Design Of n utomated Feeder

by Dave Petro

Introduction

The age old problem of orienting

non-symmetrical rod-shaped parts

will be addressed in this article. The

analysis performed uses statistics

and differential calculus. The de

velopment presented was extracted

from Design of a Frozen VegetableIn-Feede r , a case study in the 4th

year Systems CAD/CAM course.

The Problem

Figure 1 shows an automated system for preparing cylindrical objects , such as carrots . In the dia

gram, the carrot is falling through

a hole in the vibrating bed (calleda shaker pan), with an orientation

suitable for chopping the cap.

However, if the object is \ '00 sho rtfor the gap between the pan and \'heco nveyer, the object might fall such

that its head will be orientE'd in t hewrong direction. On the other hand ,if the gap is too small, the object

will get clogged . Clogging is con-

I- 0 ..,,_ tt-'0- -'.'- '- '-_.><:.1..._-n r e d ~

locho()CWl - nlted c o n v ~ y o r

FIgure 1

sidered twice as serious a difficultyas a wrong end" orientat.ion.

The problem faced by mo ';t engineers is to find the optimal gap size.

ssumptionsIn order to simplify analysis, as

sume that clogging will only occllr ifthe object is longer than the gap bymore than one inch. Also, assllme

the object will fall incorrectly if the

gap is greater than the object length .Assume that the object length is

normally distribllt,ed wit, I a mean of

three inches and a standard devia

tion of one-half an inch.

nalysis

Let the random variate L repre

sent the length of the carrot (nor

mally distri but,ed, IJ = 3 inches and

(Y = 4 nch) . The probability of hav

ing a carrot of L inches or less isgiven by the cumulative distribution

function, F[ L]Let G represent the gap in inches

with the optimum gap size denoted

Consider a penalty func-tion, Q G), which describes the relat.ive weighting of undesirable events.

Rem ember that clogging is twice as

bad as chopping the wrong end. The

penalty function can be expressed

as,

Q G)

:: :: Prob[carrot will be chopped

. .. wrong end]

+2 x Prob[carrot will

= Prob lL < G] +2Probl [, G + 11

= FIGI + 2(1 - F[G + I]) (1)

Note t.hat at the optimal gap sizethe penalty function will have the

minimal value, or mathematically,

min

Q G ) = G Q G) for all G

So that we can make use of the

normal distribu.tion of carrot length,

we perform a lmear transformationon G.

Let Z = G;EJ.

The cumulative distribution function (cdf) for Z is the standard equation,

1 1 ;1

4> Z) == rn=e T dz00 v 21f

At the point of chopping,

G -3Zl , =

1/2

2G - 6

At the point of clogging,

G 1 - 3

1/2

2G - 4

Replacing the cdr in equat ion 1with the normalized cdf we get,

Q G) == 4>lz.] + 2{1 - 4> Z2])

= 4>lzll +Minimizing this function using

differential calculus, we get a min

imum value for the penalty functionwith a 2.7 inch i.e . C t

- 2.7 ,

From tables of the standard normal cumulative distribution function:

% carrots chopped

wrong end -: 27.4%

% carrots dogging =- 8.1%See Figure 2 for an illustration of

the optimal gap size relative to the

normal distribution of carrot length . '

Clo oc too lalge

cloU'"II ....n occur

AverageSt-te CArrot

Clonal too smallwrong end

Wtllbechopped

AcceptablenIInge

27 Length

«()pllmum Gap)

Figure 2

Millionaires Night Success

Thanks to the patrons of Millionaires' Night from the 4A Systems

class and the UW Graduate Stu

dents' Association. Over $900 was

raised .

Work Hard, Play Harder 6. One of the classics of looking atproblems in a different way: 6matchsticks make a 3-D tetra

hedron, with 4 trill.ngular fnce ' .Answers from Last Issue

by Carolyn Anglin

1. bc d ef g h

i

becomes b c di a f g h e

2. "If Twere speaking to the other

half of your conscience, whichway would he tell me to go?"Then go through the other

door.

FAMOUS ITALIANSANDWICHES AND PASTAS

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3. To be of equal size and mass,

the gold sphere mus\' be hollow. Roll the copper allel goldspheres down a ramp, or spin

them. The one that goes fastE'rmust be the gold one because

the mass is concentrated a' the

outside.

4. Co ins cannot be dated R.C.because they would not knowwhat the year was

5. Five straight lines through

these ten points form a star.

7. The weights 1, 3, 9, and 27kRcan be IIsed ill cornhi nal,iollto measure all integer wright

from 1 to 40 kg .

8. A dog can only run half wayinto the woods; after that, he isrunning out again .

9. It takes 6 minutes for the twochariots to meet, so thl' froRh

has to run 1.5klll .

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Thank you Norman Ball for a great talk

I f you missed the talk the Sandford FlemingFoundation has video-tapes of it available.Contact the Foundation office at CPH-4366

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iron warrior: volume 9, issue 9

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