Friday, March 27, 1998 The Newspaper 0/ the University of Waterloo Engineering Society

Meet Your New Exec

BY MIKE NEVILL
Chief Returning Officer
O
n March 11th you voted in a new
executive for your Engineering
Society and WEEF. There were
ten very capable people running for the
five available posi tions: President, VP
External, VP Internal, VP Finance, and
WEEF Director. The new executive, as
you voted for them are (or was acclai med
as was the ca e for the WEEF Director):
President - AI Cannistraro
VP External - Greg Fyke
VP Internal - lenn Motuz
VP Finance - Mike Muffels
WEEF Director - Mark Cesana
Congratulations to the new exec! And
good luck during your term in office. I
would also like to thank all the candidates
for running good, friendly campaign . It
made my job as CRO much easier. If any-
one would like to know the percentage of
voting any of the candidates received, the
statislics will be made available in the
ceo Before 1 close, 1 would to thank
the 13% of the engineering population
who came out and voiced their opinions
by casting a ballot on voting day.
The !lelV executive have already begun planning for The year ahead. Left (0 right: Greg Fyke
liPX. Jenn MOll/l. VPI, Mike Muffels VPF and A/all Cannislraro President
Unfair Deregulation will hurt Engineering Programs
BY JEFF BUSH
ESSCO Representatives
T
he government of Ontario is cur-
rently looking into deregulating
professional university faculties
like law, medicine and MBA programs.
While engineering is not a graduate or sec-
ond degree program, the government is
con idering including engineering in the
Ii t of programs that will be deregulated.
What is Deregulation?
Right now the government of Ontario
control tuition increase for all universities
in Ontario. For the next 2 years this limit
has be set at a maximum of 10% each year
- the first 5% is based on financial need of
the chool and the second 5% is granted
based on a demon trated improvement of
education quality. Deregulation would
imply mean that the government would
give up its right to cap tuition increases.
Each university would then set tuition fees
individually.
Advantages for the Government
The government wants to increa e the
enrollment in high demand programs with-
out contributing more money. The univer-
sities have said that they can no longer
increase enrollment without further fund-
ing. Deregulation will let the universities
adju t their own level of tuiti.on to fund
their programs Ie sening the burden on the
government in term of funding and
accountability to the public for tuition
hikes.
Advantages for Universities
Due to government cut backs, our fac-
ulties have less money to work with.
Becau e the government will provide no
new revenue in the immediate future,
increasing tuition is the only revenue gen-
erator our faculties have left.
Disadvantages for Universities
The university community will be
exposed to a new form of competition -
that of tuition wars. Smaller schools that
have trouble recruiting students will be
forced to lower their tuition fees to attract
students and will consequently compro-
mise the quality of the education they can
offer.
Disadvantages for Students
Tuition fees could rise by several
thousands of dollars over the next few
years. Engineering degrees will be avail-
able to students who can afford them
rather than to students who are academi-
cally qualified. If tuition rises in engineer-
ing more than it does in other programs,
students will pursue other types of educa-
tion instead.
Deregulation Issues
All of the new revenue that the
schools acquire will have to benefit the
students directly. For example, the money
could go toward better uppJies,
improved lab, and smaller classes. And,
30% of new revenue due to tuition increas-
es would have to be put towards scholar-
ships and bursaries for student . However,
in the event that deregulation occurs and it
results in increased tuition for engineering
students, the additional tuition revenue
does not necessarily have to go towards
improvements or scholar hips for engi-
neering students. As is currently stand,
the proposal simply states that the money
be used towards university students as a
whole across all faculties. There is a pos-
sibility then that engineering students
would see little of their increased tuition
fees.
Will Deregulation Happen?
The government has proposed that
professional and graduate programs have
their tuition fees deregulated to offset the
cost to the taxpayer for these programs.
The Ministry of Education and Training
has not yet decided whether or not to
include engineering in their deregulation
propOSItIon. The first step then is the
Ministry must decide whether or not engi-
neering falls under their list of profession-
al programs. If that happens, the second
step is the presentation of the proposal to
the provincial House of Commons. If the
legislation passes, then we will see dereg-
ulation of engineering tuition fees.
Volume 22 Issue 5
Become a Role
Model to a High
School Student
BY YAACOV ILAND
PR Coordinator, BUDS Education Advocacy
T
here are high school students who
will not be coming to university.
They may be more than smart
enough, but are experiencing difficulties
because of situations outside of school.
They need the help of a strong role model
and friend to support and encourage them.
You can be that special person who makes
the entire world of difference to someone
who desperately needs it.
BUDS is a student run organization
that pairs univer ity students as
friends/role models/support/con fidant
with high school students in danger of
dropping out.
The pilot project pairings begin in the
fall of 1998 at a local high school. If you
would like to try and create a turning point
in someone else's life and want to 1ight the
spark that would all ow Ihem to achieve all
that they could and shou 8ehieVCt
join us in Ollr There will be an
information session for potential mentors
on the 19 of March. Interviews will be
held from the 21 st to the 23rd of March.
Plans for the pilot include compre-
hen ive training ession for volunteer, a
homework circle to help with academic
difficulties and a support group for the
mentors.
If you are interested in knowing more
about BUDS, they can be reached at
(5 J 9)888-4567 x5757 or you can drop by
the BUDS office in MC 4046.
In This Issue ...
Beynon Award Winners ........... 2
Beyond Ring Road ................ 3
Crazy Carrot ................ .. .. 4
To The Point .... .. ......... . .... 4
Market Research: Why Bother? ...... 5
The Big Picture .. ...... ... .. , .... 6
Consider This .................... 6
Engineering Arts ......... , ..... , . 7
Mathematics Playground ..... , ..... 7
Executive Reports .............. 9-11
Bog's Cartoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II
When we are dead, we hope it may be said: ((Their sins were scarlet, but their newspapers were read." - Iron Warrior Editorial Board
-----------------
2 News & Information The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 27, 1998
Beynon
Award
Winners
Letter from
the Editor
by Pierre Menard
T
hiS is the fifth and final issue of the
term. We hope you have enjoyed
the newspaper as much as we have
had in making it available to you. It has
made me particularly proud to overhear
students talk about the contents of our
publication such as The Crazy Carrot, The
Big Picture and To The Point. Thanks
again for reading the second largest stu-
dent newspaper on campus.
Before I tart thanking everyone for
their great work I should announce the
Representative from Motorola Canada Limited visited the Engineering Faculty on
February 23, 1998. While on campus the Motorola representatives met with Faculty in
Systems Design and Electrical and Computer Engineering and were provided with a tour
of the undergraduate labs. Donna Dolderman of Motorola Canada Limited presents
Rudy Putns Executive Director of ODAA with a cheque for $15,000 (US) from the
Motorola Foundation.
winner of the Beynon Memorial '------------------------------------
Foundation Humanitarian Award, The
award is sponsored in part by the Centre
for Science, Technology and Values and
offered through the Iron Warrior. This
term's question was "Does the UW
Engineering curriculum prepare us for the
ethical dilemmas we will face as profes-
sionals?" Altogether, there were eight
entries fOT the $400 prize and the judges
were truly impressed by the quality of sub-
missions, The judges were so impressed
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that instead of awarding only one winner it
was decided that three winners be named.
Two awards of merit valued at $ LOO each
go to Eugene Huang and Chris Ford both
from 3B Systems Design. The judges
were strongly impressed by their ideas.
The Beynon Memorial Foundation
Humanitarian Award and the winner of the
$400 prize goes to Lincol Lin and Caroline
Karlgard of 3B Chemical Engineering.
Congradulations to all of the competitors.
...
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Iron Warrior would like tQ thallk:
The production of the Iron Warrior
would not have been possible without the
editorial board and the staff. Andrew
Hately, will be returning next term as the
Editor-in-Chief. He is the rna termind
behind the thought provoking column,
"The .other End". I am confident he will
do an excellent job. If you see him in the
hall s give him heck if he doesn't have a
big smile on his face.
Jaime Tiampo will be returning to the
same role as Assistant Editor. He always
contributes and offers many ideas. You
most likely have read his column "Shades
of Grey". I have been very fortunate to
have him and his Macintosh Classic on the
Iron Warrior team
Alan Cannistraro will be the
Engineering Society President next term
so he will contribute to the Iron Warrior
via President Reports. He went beyond
the call of duty with his column "The
Village Idiot" as well as with his stellar
performance as Layout Editor. For exam-
ple, examine the exec photo on the front
page. Did you notice that Greg Fyke's
head is sitting on someone else's body. AI
also shortened the height of the 'alien'
body to correspond with Greg's actual
height. Now that's amazing.
Chris McKillop, Photo Editor, is not
returning but will instead devote his time
to the Waterloo Aerial Robotics Research
Group. I didn't know Chris before this
term but we've since become friends. I
would Like to thank Chris for his great
work as Photo Editor. Chris and his team
of photographers (Daryl Boyd, Elizabeth
Jone and Yada Jubandhu) were 100% reli-
able in getting the job done.
Finally, I would like to thank every-
one who made a contribution to the Iron
Warrior. This includes everyone who
made a submission, the Engineering
Society Executive, Mary Bland, Betty
Beaver, the Centre for Science,
Technology and Values and so on.
The experience and opportunity the
Irol1 Warrior has to offer is incredible. If
you would like to become part of the Iron
Warrior team please emrul me personally
at pmenard@ellgmail. I will gladl} enter-
tain any question you may have,

The Newspaper of the University of
Waterloo Engineering Society
Editor - in - Chief
Pierre Menard
Assistant Editors
Andrew Hately
Jaime Tiampo
Layout Editor
Alan Cannistraro
Photo Editor
Chris McKillop
WWWEditors
Dushyant Bansal
Frank Yong
Staff
Daryl Boyd
Huyis Deez
Ryan Chen-Wing
Raymond Ho
Eugene Huang
Liz Jones
Yada Jubandhu
Lincol Lin
Jenn Motuz
Lynn Walker
Contributors
Jeff Bush
Mark Cesana
Paul Cesana
Gary Cheng
Bogdan Chmielewski
Andersen Consulting
Sarah Davies
Greg Fyke
Jeff Gobatto
Yaacov Hand
Vladimir Joanovic
Dan Kim
Huda Mann
Mike Muffels
Mike Nevill
Caroline Parks
Micah Potechin
Sassan Sanei
Tim Tribe
Dwayne Weppler
The Iron Warrior is a forum for thought provoking
and infonnative articles published by the Engineering
SOCiety. Views expressed in The Iron Warrior are
lhose of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of the Engineering Society.
The Iron Warrior encourages submissions from stu
dents. faculty and members of the university commu
nity. Submissions should reflect the concerns and
intellectual standards of the university in general. The
author's name and phone number should be included,
All submissions, unless otherwise Slated, become the
property of The iron Warrior. which reserves the
right 10 refuse publication of material which it deems
unsuitable. The iron Warrior also reserves the right
to edit grammar, spelling and text that do not meet
university ,tandards. Authors will be nOlified of any
major changes that may be reqUIred.
Mail should be addressed to The Iron Warrior.
Engineering Society. CPH 1323B. Univmity of
Waterloo. Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G I. Our phone
number IS (519) 8884567 x269] , Our fax number"
1519) 715-1871. Emai l can i>eentlo
i H'urrwrCtJ;elt f{mail.II"'llIer/oo.al
The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 27, 1998 News & Information 3
No flags for MPs; Mars Pathfinder R.I.P.
;'\Iational News
D
ebate raged
o \i e r
whether the
flag could be di -
played
Parliament. During
a peech by Bloc
MP Suzanne
Tremblay, Reform MPs began waving
flags and singing 0 Canada. Tremblay
had compl ained earlier about the exces of
Canadian fl ags displayed at the Winter
Ol ympi cs. The Bloc compl ained that
Tremblay's privileges as an MP had been
violated. Reformers insist on bei ng
allowed to displ ay Canadian fl ags on their
desks.
The federal Tory leader Jean Chare t
said he might run for the leadership of the
Quebec Liberal party. Pressure builds on
him as he is considered the only match for
Premier Lucien Bouchard in an upcoming
Quebec referendum. The Canadian dollar
continues to rally on the possibility of the
new leadership.
The Alberta Eugenics Board legally
sterilized more than 2,800 physically and
mentally handicapped without their con-
sent between 1928 and 1972. About 700
are still living and have filed claims for
compensation totalling $764 million.
Premier Ralph KJein introduced a bill on
March 9 that limited compensation to
$1 50,000 and quashed the right to sue.
After much public outrage, the premier
revoked the bill a day later, and said an
independent board will be set up to settle
the claims.
Canada Cu tom offi cers in Port
Halifax eized nearly 2, g 0 marijua-
na on March 5. The substance was hidden
Beyond
Ring Road
by Lincal Lin
in. ide 1atX'lIed as
spinach. it \\:1S found
among other case. of
food and vegetable,
that originated in
Jamaica and Toronto-
bound.
Resident of the
Peace River Regional
District in northwe. t
BC reviewed a report on the legality of
separating from the province and joining
Alberta. They are fed up with provinci al
taxes and DP policie . After the review,
a deci ion wa made again t the separa-
tion.
Nike withdrew an offer to upgrade a
rec centre in a low- income area of Ottawa
on March I I. The deci sion was likely due
to city councillors' suspicion of ike's
oversea labour practices.
The Canadian Armed Forces will
spend up to $50 mi ll ion in bonuses to keep
pilots from leaving for job in the com-
mercial aviation industry.
22,000 tainted blood victims have
prepared a $3.8 billion class action suit
against federal and provincial govern-
ments and the Canadian Red Cross. They
are angry that a national compensati on
package will only pay victim who con-
tracted hepatitis C between 1986 and
1990.
Doctors across BC closed their offices
on March 6 to protest a $70 million budget
shortfall in the health care budget this year.
Mondex Canada will expand its trial
run of the electronic cash card to
Sherbrooke, Quebec. Cash cards store
money on a computer chip that can be
loaded at ATMs or special phones, and
enapurch i m ,th v .u i
transferred to the merchant's card or termi-
Success Through ACE
BY DWAYNE W EPPLER
Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs
A
re you concerned about finding a
job when you graduate? Have
you thought about creating your
own job? If the answer is "yes", then you
will certainly be interested in learning
what ACE has to offer you.
The Association of Collegiate
Entrepreneurs (ACE) is an international
non-profit organization that services the
needs of students whose interests include
business ownership, by providing them
with support, resources, and education to
be a success in the future. Becoming a
member of ACE will allow you to interact
with other young entrepreneurs and to also
make you aware of the endless opportuni-
ties that are out there if you choose to
develop your own business or are simply
interested in business. ACE helps young
entrepreneurs succeed through
education/information, networking and
coachinglmentoring.
One of the major projects that ACE is
presently working on is the establishment
of an off-campus mall business centre
between the University of Waterloo and
Wilfred Laurier University.
The ACE enterprise Centre will be a
non-profit organization, with the inten-
tions of stimulating awareness and interest
in small business. The organization will
be dedicated towards helping new busi-
nesses start-up in the Waterloo region, but
al 0 provi de assistance for many exi ting
businesses. ]n addit ion, if you are a lu-
dent working in thi s organi zati on, you will
gain valuable entrepreneurial skill s
through everyday busines activiti es that
will be of great benefit to you in the future.
ACE also holds severa) conferences
for the youth to exchange ideas, gain valu-
able opportunities, and learn from the
brightest minds and the most dynamic
entrepreneurs.
If you are interested in taking control
of your future and want to see what ACE
can offer you, I invite you to join our
local-based chapter here at the Universi ty
of Waterloo. There are currently lhirty-
five chapters of ACE at Universities and
College campuses across Canada and
forty-five in total around the world. Our
particular chapter is unique since we
include Wilfred Laurier University as a
vital member of our chapter. Together we
are known as ACE La uri er-Waterloo.
If you would like more information
regarding ACE or would like to become a
member, please feel free to contact Sandy
Clipsham at 743-9903 or you may E-mail
him at ajclipsh@sciborg.uwaterioo. ca.
He will be more than happy to answer any
of your questions or concerns you may
have.
Look for our next on-campus event at
University of Waterloo, Business
Opportunities on the Internet. A tentative
date has been set for Wednesday, April I.
nn!. Pre"ious trial \Va, held in Guelph.
Ontario.
International , l'\\.
T
he Per. ian Gulf .:risis is just mer a
tl Balkan -ri5is. begins. On l\1arch
6. heavily anned 'l'blall polt ce
cru. hed an independence movement in
Kosovo. a Yugosla\ province with a 90%
Albanian majority. Both Canada and US
condemned the police brutality. whi h
ki Iled more than 50 Albanian. , but will not
back the Albanian demand for indepen-
dence. Serb leaders invi ted Albanian lead-
er to talk on March 12. but the offer wa
rejected a propaganda. Previou. conflicts
in the Balkan area have led to wars that
impacted other parts of the world.
The Vatican released a document
call ed "We Remember: A Reflection on
the Shoah." It apologized for Roman
Catholi cs who fai led to do enough to help
Jews agai n t Nazi persecution during
WW2. The wartime pope, Pi us XII , had
been previou Iy criticized for turning a
blind eye to the Holocaust. Many Jews
say these apologie were too li ttle and too
late.
Amidst preparations for a peace talk
for the Korean peninsula, North Korea
launched a wartime mobilization on
March 12. The North accused the United
States of moving a new air- trike unit into
South Korea and suspected the proposed
peace talk might be a smoke screen for an
attack.
European Union farm ministers sup-
port partial lifting of the 2-year old ban on
British beef exports. Beef from Northern
Ireland will be certified to be mad cow dis-
- r .
of the disease in the past decade, compared
to less than 1,000 known in conti-
nental Europe.
A L' weapons team headed by
,\mcrican in:pector Scott Ritt er wrapped
lip a five-J a) mission in Iraq on March 10.
The tion did not fi nd any weapons
of ma. s destrudion.
The US Senate wants the creation of a
U 1 tribunal to try Iraqi president Saddam
Hu 'sein as an international crimi nal. It
cited Hus. cin" use of chemical weapons
on hi . enemies, war against Tran and
Kuwait, and as. a. sinat ion plot of former
president George Bush. In the meantime.
U Secretary General Kofi Annan sug-
ge. ted that US could lose it voting rights
in the UN General A sembly if it doe not
pay its 1.3 bi lli on US of back dues.
Bri tish PM Tony Blair announced the
framework for a Northern Iri h peace set-
tlement is close to being worked out. He
urged Sinn Fein, the IRA's political wing,
to rejoin the peace process.
NASA has offi cially declared the
Mars Pathfinder dead on March 10. Since
its landing on Mars on Jul y 4, it has sent
over 2.6 bi ll ion bits of information back to
Earth. The last successful transmi ssion
occurred on September 27. Rocky 7, the
next Martian probe, will be launched early
next decade.
NASA announced its discovery of
water on the moon. There may be enough
water to support a human colony.
A new electronic device the size of a
pager is the latest male contraceptive. The
Chinese-made devi ce fi lS in a man 's
underwear, and using pulses wiIJ kill the
sperms. One hour of use equals sterility
for a month.
If you're always on the go take us with you.
A pager from Bell Mobility is the easy and affordable
way to stay in the loop.
Bell Mobility
APPROVED AGENT
4 Opinions The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 27, 1998
Just What I Need ... Another Ho e in My Head
S
it.
catIOn In
Britain in 1986,
there has been much
controversy and con-
fusion over Mad Cow
Di ease. The disease,
officially known as
Bovine Spongiform
E n ce ph a l o p a th y
(BSE) affects cows by causing the forma-
tion of microscopic holes in its victi ms'
brains, causing severe dementia and cer-
tai n death.
It has been determined that humans
can be infected with this disease by con-
suming beef from BSE infected callIe.
Thi s human version of "mad cow di 'case"
has been identi fi ed as a new strain of
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJ D. The
disease from 10 to 40 years to incu-
bate, and li ke its callIe counterpart, causes
dementia and death. Presently, the onl y
test to determine if an individual is infect-
ed with CJD is an autopsy, whereby vic-
tims' brai n resembles Swiss cheese.
There are two forms of CJD.
Although considered rare, a classic form
of CJD has been recognized since the 50s.
Thi s form of the disease is transmi tted
genetically. and normall y affects people
over the age of 55. The new strain of CJD
is transmitted form BSE infected cows,
and seems to mainly affect young people.
Since its identification in March 1996, it
has been estimated by the World Health
Organization that 24 people worldwide
have died from this new strain. I I J Most
of these deaths have been in the UK from
the consumption of tai nted beef. and no
cases have been repol1ed in Canada or the
ANDERSEN
CONSULTING
@1997 Andersen Consulline
All righlC) reserved .
Hot Buttons
Intel li censes chip for handheld devices
Intel (Document link not converted)
licensed microprocessor technology from
Brit ish chipmaker Advanced RISC
that wi ll be used in Windows
CE-based handheld computing devices
and smart phones. Company officials say
the StrongArm processor is well -suited to
portable computi ng becall e of its fast per-
formance, low power consumption, and
low co t. St rongArm could become the de
facto standard for chips in handhel d
devices because of Intel's involvement,
according to industry analyst Mobile
Insights. Several compani es, including
Wyse Technology and Boundl ess
Technologies, have already announced
pl ans to build devices based on the proce -
sor.
Hewlett-Packard wins approval to
export strong encryption system
The US government has approved
Hewlett-Packard' s (HP) request to export
a version of its VerSecure technology,
which features a 128-bit encryption key.
HP plans to export its encryption system to
customers in the United Kingdom,
Germany, France, Denmark, and Australia.
The company will also share its data-secu-
rity technologies through a partnership
with IBM.
The Crazy
Carrot
hy LYI/Il Walke'r
\\,:W"'. t'n/(, (ller{oiJ.("al
S(//tk"(rlu, ...,,lk,'r
US. However, due
to its long latency
period and difficult
diagnosis, and it is
hard to predict what
the future will hold.
It is currently an
accepted practice in
the meat industry to
render dead ani mals
into protein by boi ling "slaughter by-prod-
ud<;" and "downer animals" (those that
have become too ill to stand). The resul t-
ing stew is powdered and lIsed in feed for-
mul ations for other animals-includi ng
the same species that have gone into the
pot. It is this animal cannibalism that has
caused the propagation of BSE, and pos i-
bly other diseases.
Earth Island Journal reports that each
year in the Uni ted States, "286 renderi ng
plants qui etl y di spose of more than 12.5
mi lli on tons of dead ani mals, fat and meat
wastes". r I] The resul ting products fi nd
their way into foods for pets, poultry, pi gs,
beef, and dairy cattl e. The fi rst reason for
thi s practice is that renderi ng is the easiest
disposal method for the thousands of dead
animals unsuitable for human consump-
tion. Secondly, rendering is a cheap (albeit
sickening) source of ani mal feed. If cattl e
were raised on natural feeds, the price of
beef and dairy products would skyrocket.
The carrier of both BSE and CJD is
beli eved to be a cla<;s of protein molecules
known as prions. This discovery was of
such great scientific importance that
Stanley Prusiner was awarded the 1997
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
The problem with prions is that they are
remarka bly tough to kill.
Invariably fatal . practically indestructible.
and able to easil} jump the barrier.
prrons are thought to be the onl} known
infectious agents containing no genetic
material. It has been confirmed that CJD
can be acquired by eating infected beef.
However. it is suspected that CJD may be
transmitted through other cattle products,
including milk and serums used in medical
appli cations.
So what is the price that we as a soci-
ety must pay for the development and sup-
port of such an industry? Comparisons
have been made between HI V and the
impending BSE epidemic. Dr. Richard
Lacey, a leading Briti sh microbiologist
predicts, " the di sease coul d produce
between 5,000 and 500,000 human deaths
per year in Britai n alone, beginning some-
time after the year 2000" . [11 However,
the difficulty with CJD is that it cannot be
positi vely d iagnosed except through
autopsy, and it symptoms are sometimes
mi staken for Alzheimers.
The Canadian Red Cross has
announced that 100,000 people in Canada
might have been given potentially CJD
infected blood products. Furthermore, on
March 6 of this year, beef products from
Britain incl uding beef bouill on and meat
pie were seized, along with other British
meat products, from shop shelves across
Canada. According to official , these ill e-
gally imported products, "were removed
because there is no way of knowing
whether the meat was prepared to conform
to Canadian tandards"[21. Official s
maintained that this recall wa not BSE
related, since other meat products were
also seized. The fact remains that the beef
prOducts were banned due to the threat of
CJD infection.
On March 16 it wa announced that a
nation-wide surveillance program for CJD
will be launched by the Laboratory Center
for Disease in Ottawa. it is expected that
by the end of March. letters will be sent to
all Canadian doctor who treat brain di or-
ders asking them to refer cases they sus-
pect may have CJD. It is hoped that thi
study will help establi h a baseline of
cases in Canada and provide a resource
center, should it be needed in the future.
Currently. about 25 to 30 cases of classic
CJD are reported in Canada per year. [2]
Mad cow disease and CJD are serious
di seases that have the potenti al to affect all
of us, even vegetarians. Vegetarian or oth-
erwise, it is our responsi bility to stay
informed and to make responsible choices.
Mad Cow di sease is a reminder that our
lifestyle choices have very real conse-
quences, whether we are demanding inex-
pensive beef at the supermarket, or turning
a blind eye to the questionable practices of
the meat industry. Always remember -
you are what you eat.
This is the last Crazy Carrot article to
be printed in the IW since I am finall y
graduati ng (yippee
l
) . But don't despair,
the Crazy Carrot will conti nue to live on
the web, so look for new recipes and arti-
cles in the future. I hope that you have
enjoyed the articles, and have gained some
insight into vegetarianism. Stay crazy and
eat your carrots!
References:
I. Kirchheimer, Gabe High Times
Magazine, January 1998
2. ____
To THE POINT
A COMPILATION OF INFORMATI ON TECHNOLOGY ABSTRACTS
HP's victory represents the broadest
export license ever granted for strong
encryption products in the US.
Government officials say the approval of
HP's export request is consistent with its
efforts to encourage countries to adopt key
recovery, which gives authorized authori -
ties access to encrypted data in cases
involving national security or criminal
activity. Currently, HP' s users are not
required to use key recovery methods, but
the opti on is available should governments
adopt the systems later. Officials at the
Center for Democracy and Technology
argue again t the adoption of systems such
as HP's, becau. e they give government
the abili ty to activate key recovery in tead
of users.
http://www.wired.com/ nelVs/news/ em
ail/other/technology/story/10606.html.
Sentinel
On the Internet, demographers can' t
agree on whether you' re a dog
A 30-second commercial during the
final epi ode of the US television show
"Seinfeld" may cost more than $l .5 mil-
lion. Television networks base ad rates on
the projected number of viewers for a
given show: The Niel en rating sy tern
has long been the standard measuring tool
for TV viewership. But development of
advertising on the Internet has been
stymied by the lack of a simil ar standard
audience measurement system. According
to a study by the Coalition for Ad-
Supported Information and Entertainment
(CASJE), 64 percent of national adverti s-
ers purchase online ads (up from 38 per-
cent a year ago) , but Internet expenditures
make up only a fraction of most compa-
nies' ad budgets. Nearly 70 percent of the
CASIE study respondents say lack of rel i-
able audience figure keep them from
committing more dollar to Internet adver-
tising.
There is currently no fai l-safe way of
tracking con umer behavior on the Web.
Arbitron (radio) and Nielsen (television)
are established experts at measuring the
number of consumers that indi vi dual pro-
grams reach. Ni elsen measures TV view-
er hip ba ed on data gathered at
volunteers' homes. On the Web, a host of
different companies use their own methods
to count "click-throughs" and "hits."
("Click through" is the act of linking to a
third party's Web site; "hit" is one access
of a single text or graphics file from a Web
ite. ) Each may be a reasonable metric,
but it's difficult to make meaningful com-
parisons among them.
In response to the need for accurate
Web traffic data, several audience-mea-
urement companies are vying to establish
a place in the market.
RelevantKnowledge (http://www.rel-
evantknowledge.com) has wired the home
and work computers of more than 6,000
Web surfer to determine the number of
"unique vi sitors" a site receives each
month. (A visitor who visits a site 100
times per month still only counts as a sin-
gle person.) Each person participating in
the survey downloads RelevantKnowledge
software, which captures cl ick stream
information and automatically feeds the
data back to RelevantKnowledge over the
Internet. The company's methodology
makes it possible to deliver ratings infor-
mation to it clients overni ght.
RelevantKnowledge also performs quar-
terly surveys of Web users in order to
make periodi c adj ustments to its tracking
system.
If the Web is to evolve into a viabl e
medium for advertisers, it will be neces-
sary to provide accountabili ty-something
more measurable than simply the "Cool
Site of the Day." So far, no company can
rightfully claim the tiLle of the "Nielsen of
the Web." It remains to be seen if there is
room for more than one successful track-
ing system on the Internet, though lessons
learned from TV and radio seem to indi-
cate that there is no second place in the rat-
ings game. Analysts predict that the ftrst
company to reach $10 million in revenues
is likely to become the de facto standard-
bearer.
By Joann M. Wleklinski
The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 27, 1998 Opinions 5
Adding to the Engineer's Toolbox
BY H DAMA N
38 Electrical Engineering
"Bah Humbug! Non-technical skills have
no place in the professional development
of an engineer. It's all hogwash. "
P
ressure is mounting on engineers. to
complement their technical exper-
tise with a suite of soft skills.
Indeed, half of the coop work term evalu-
ation is based on your strengths in written
and oral communications, team work and
leadership. Companie are starting to
demand more from engineers and are
rejecting those that don't meet the soft
ski ll s requirement. For example, a we tern
canadian company has adopted a unique
hiring process whereby engineers are test-
ed to see how they would react in a con-
flict situation. The interviewer leads a
group of engineers around the factory floor
when suddenly the interviewer temporari-
ly leaves the group to accept an important
phone call. Unbeknown to the group,
there i no important phone call and they
are being monitored on camera to ee how
they react to being left alone. The compa-
ny found that three types of behaviour
exist. First, the engineer might sit down
and read the promotional material that was
handed to him in the interview. Second,
the engineer might investigate the factory
machinery and try to determine how it
operates. Third, the. engineer might
engage in conversation with factory work-
ers and a k que tion regarding the com-
pany and its operation . Think about how
you would re pond to the ituation. Th
company immediately reje t the engineer
who it down and read. the company
material. no matter how well they per-
fom1ed in univer ity. Employer are look-
ing for engineer who will get involved
instead of isolating themselve. Some
con ulting companies are even reputed to
reject applicants who have grade higher
than eighty-five percent unle the appli-
cant can demon trate extensive extra-cur-
ricular involement. Rejecting applicant
with high grades may eem backward, but
highly intelligent individuals do not nece -
sarily possess the soft kills so badly
sought out by today's employers.
"Blast! DOll '( companies realize that tech-
nical competence outweighs nOll-technical
knowledge ?"
Without a doubt, an engineer mu t be
technically competent. Engineers missing
a strong techni cal foundation would be a
threat to society. However, an engineer
without solid non-technical skills could
potentially be just as threatening. There
are several trends in industry suggesti ng
that non-technical ski lls are beginning to
play an ever increasing role. Acute techni-
cal problems are being replaced with
chronic problems. Acute problems are
short lived and require a technical expert
to quickl. fix the problem. Chroni prob-
lem. haw no viable solution and require '
under. tanding and sympathy from the
engineer. An example of a problem turn-
ing from acute to chronic i. with the gen-
eration of electric power. Many year. ngo,
when a town needed electricity, engine rs
were employed to de. ign a power plant
and do it right. Toda . when a city needs
electricity. there are rising 'oncern '
regarding the power plants impa t on the-
environment. Unfortunately, all form. of
rna s electricity production have enormou
environmental consequences. Without an
ideali tic solution to the problem, the engi-
neer mu t clearly and effectively explain
their action to the public.
A technology become. more com-
plex and convoluted there i a compelling
need for management to remain abreast of
the technology. Some engineers would go
as far to say that Dilbert is a documentary.
Neverthele ,managers must possess soft
skill ince the majority of their time i
spent interacting with people. Engineers
seeking senior level management positions
already possess technical prowess, but
obtaini ng soft skills is currently the
responsibility of the individual and not of
the engineering curriculum. Even if man-
agement positions are not desired, soft
skills are necessary to effectively commu-
nicate design proposals to the rest of your
design team.
"My gos". l shouldn '/ be limiting my
employment oplions. I need soft skills ill
my lOo/b(u. "
Fortunately. there are many way. in
\ hieh an engineer can start to add soft
skil1. to their toolbox. The Sanford
Fleming debates are an e cellent opportu-
nity for public speaking and you can win
money as well. By writing an article for
the Iron Warrior or other publications you
can pra tice our wri ting. Taking on an
executive position of a chool club or a
directorship in the Engineering Society
will force you to develop leadership kills.
Team work can be demonstrated by getting
involved in a sports activity or one of the
many student projects. Volunteering i.n
your community shows that you are kind
hearted. Any extra-curricul ar activity you
get involved in will teach you the skill of
time management. By talking to your
friend and colleague you can find out
what opportunitie are available. If you
don't know where to . tart, just walk into
the Orifice and shout "How do I get
involved". Someone there should be able
to guide you in the right direction.
Reading the promotional material won't
get you very far, you need to walk around
the factory floor, ask questions and start
taking action.
Market Research: Why Bother?
BY CAROLINE PARKS
Canadian lnd trial
s
o, you've got a neat idea. In fact, it's
so neat, you' re convinced that this
could be your money train. As a
result, you decide to invest considerable
time, effort, and financial resources in
order to bring your idea from the concep-
tual stage right up to a working prototype.
After many hours and countless dollars,
the prototype is finally compl ete. It's fa n-
tastic! "How could anybody not find this
useful?", you a k yourself. However, you
realize that the large amount of time and
effort you inve ted in the development of
your product could inherentl y bias your
opinion, so you invest yet more of your
now limited financial re ources into an
independent con ulting body so as to have
confirmation of what you already know to
be true. As you expected, the independent
assessment of your idea comes back posi-
tive. You smile, satisfied, content in
knowing that you are now ready to have
this fantastic new product mass produced
and distributed to the commercial market,
right? Wrong!
Although an assessment of the feasi-
bility of a new invention is of critical
importance in determining its suitability
for the marketplace, it only represents a
portion of the research and development
required prior to its successful commer-
cialization. Granted, your invention may
be effective in achieving its design goals,
but who's to say there is a need for such an
invention in the marketplace? I will pre-
sent a series of four questions with expla-
nation in order to clarify their relevance to
the commercialization of a new product
idea. If the answer to even one of these
questions eludes you when you are launch-
ing a product or service, then there is no
denying it: you need market research!
Who is going to purchase your prod-
uct?
Well, this is an easy one, right? I
mean, if you think it's useful, than every-
o ou al i
This is one of the easiest traps to fall into,
and can often be farthest from the truth!
Identifying the appropriate group of indi-
vidual to target with your product/service
is one of the mo. t important actions you
must take prior to commercializing your
product. Marketing a new invention to 65
year old retired male ver us 25 year old
bachelor is con iderably different , and
could in fact alter your entire commercial. -
ization approach. It doesn't take long to
discover that no two people think exactly
alike, and that what you find u. eful may
not appeal to the general rna es. You
could have a perfectly feasible invention
which works flawle sly and makes your
life immensely easier, yet it fail when
introduced to the general market. Why,
you ask? Because tho e whom you
assumed would make use of the invention
did not have the same perceived need as
you. Market research can determine
which group of individuals has the highest
need for your product, and whether or not
your invention appeals to them.
Where should you sell your product?
Now that you've determined who
your target market is, you are definitely
ready to hit the market, right? Wrong!
Canada is a pretty big place. Where are
you going to sell YOI,.lf product? Which out-
lets are you going to use to sell your prod-
uct? Or are you even going to use outlets,
what with direct mail and the Internet?
Will anyone even agree to carry your
product for resale? By now, you probably
get the point. Knowing who to target does
not necessarily dictate where they should
be targeted. In Ontario, Toronto definitely
has the largest population base, so it might
seem logical to start there. However, how
many farmers, surfers, or snowboarders
live in the Toronto area? Picking an
appropriate distribution locale is depen-
dent upon a number of factors, including
the size of the population base, the type of
new product being introduced, and the
level of financial resources you are able to
10
you must then decide which outlets are
best suited for your product. Specialty
retailers, department stores, drug stores,
supermarkets, and dircct arc only a
fraction of the distribution chann 'll. avail
able for new product iueas. Market
research can help you identify not only the
appropriate distribution locale, bUllhe b 'st
channels to use ror your panicular il1ven
tion.
Are these products already availabl
on the market?
So, you have a target market AND
you ' ve determined where to distribute
your product. Now you simply must be
ready to introduce your n 'W invention to
the marketplace, right? Wrong again!
While your new product may undl!niably
fulfill a particular need, how have people
been dcaling with the issue to date? Arc
there products identical to yours available
to consumers currently available on the
market? Or, have consumer si mply found
other means to deal with the issue to their
satisfaction? Competition can come in
many forms, and may be quite different in
nature than the product you have devel-
oped. For example, one hou ehold might
purchase a mousetrap in order to capture
that pesky little critter who keeps stealing
food out of the cupboards. However, the
next door neighbor with a similar problem
may eject to purchase a cat. Although the
cat and the mousetrap are fundamentally
different products, the fact that both fulfill
the same need places one in potential com-
petition with the other. Market research
can identify not only those products which
are similar or identical to yours, but tho e
which can be adapted to satisfy the same
need as your product. Awareness of such
competitive activity can greatly affect the
commercialization strategy which you
eject to adopt when introducing your new
invention.
How much does it cost?
At this point, you've not only identi-
fied an appropriate target market and dis-
ibution Q' . d tined
any and all relevant competitors, and are
now more than ready to enter the market,
ri ght? Well al most, but not quite! It's one
thing to det'rmille whl ' lI llIurk ,t h 'st
suited for your fI w product it! a, howcvcl
it's quile another to indul'!' that pam 'LIlaI'
1\lUl'\...ct to actually make its purchasl'. You
might have discovcred fill illcr 'dihly elk'
tivc mcthod oj capturing and disposing of
mice and olher mdcnh tWill houscholds.
Ilous!.!hold owners have reuctl'd
favorably when surwYl'd, L' prcs).ing great
IIHcrc"t in IWW prmluct ill!.!.!.
However, when a .. ked i I" thl'y would puy
tell tlllles more for tillS product than it COil
vcntional mOlJ'.ctrap, market demand from
the).e household owners II1lght become
severely limlteo. In aJdition to idcntifying
the pncc points 01 all relevant competitive
products, market rcscarch can determine
the price sensitivity of a given market in
order to ascertain the effects of price fluc-
tuations 011 market demand.
The four questions de. cribed above
are highly simplified, and just barely intro-
duce the scope of what market research is
all about. However, they can be used as a
general guideline to determine what infor-
mation you are lacking in order to ensure
effective commerciaJization of your prod-
uct. One concern expressed by most
inventors and entrepreneurs when intro-
duced with the idea of market research is
"I can't afford that! ". Before making such
an exclamation, ask yourself if you can
afford NOT to, given the costs associated
with manufacturing, distributing, advertis-
ing, and promoting your new product in
order to generate demand. only to see it
fail due to a lack of awareness of the gen-
eral conditions of the marketplace. When
comparing the two, I'm sure you'll tind
the latter considerably outweighs even the
heftiest market research fees!
So, you've got a neat idea, make sure
your market thinks so as well. Do your
market research.
6 Opinions The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 27, 1998
It's all Relative to your Frame of Reference
I
n life, particularly
in science, there
are many things
that defy our explana-
tion. There are a
great number of phe-
nomena that we are
unable to compre-
hend. Our inability to
understand, however,
is not due to a lack of or resource-
fulness. The barrier to our understanding
is a lack of information; we cannot explain
that which we cannot sec. Undoubtedly,
there arc many things in thi'> universe,
invisible to LIS, that would help us to form
explanations for things currently unex-
plainable.
What I am referring to is a frame of
reference. The extent to which we can
understand certain matters depends on the
extent to which we understand our frame
of reference. For example, when you
throw a ball, is the ball actually moving?
Or do the surroundings move, the ball
remaining stationary? The description of
its motion depends on your frame of refer-
ence.
To show how important a frame of
reference is in explai ning different phe-
nomena, 1 am reminded of a short play that
I wrote several years ago, in which I
explored the various aspects of being
The Big
Picture
by Raymond Ho
in ide a falling ele-
vator. Let us exam-
ine this situation.
Imagine your-
self in an elevator.
The cable
(there are no other
========;;1 safety provisions),
and the elevator is
sent into free-fall.
Ai>sume, for the sake of this discus. ion,
that you cannot "feel" yourself accelerat-
ing you fall. (In fact, this is not an
entirely ludicrous assumption, since in
reality, we do not feel ourselves accelerat-
ing centripetally due to the Earth's rota-
tion). You and the elevator are now
accelerating at the same rate and hence
you perceive all to be well inside the ele-
vator, since nothing looks different.
This has some interesting implica-
tions. If you hold a tennis ball in your
hand, it will have the same velocity as you
and the elevator. If you let go of this ten-
nis ball, the force of gravity continues to
act on it, so it still has the same velocity a
you at all times. In your frame of refer-
ence, you do not move with respect to the
elevator, and neither does the tennis ball.
Thus, the tennis ball appear to float in the
air, at the point at which you released it.
Furthermore, if you decide to perform a
little hop, you will find yourself floating
Sign Here Sucker
BY MrCAH POTECHIN
lA Systems Design
C
ontracts are all around us. Scarcely
a day goes by without you or me
seeing, signing, or otherwise being
exposed to a contract. The simple act or
writing a cbeque is a contract stating that
you will pay somc person or
some amountllf money. A receipt is a con
tract stating that goO<.b and Illoney arc to
be exchanged. Who doesn't know some-
one who joined Columbia Housc? You
know the form you fill in'! That\ a con-
tract. Even a hearty handshake denotes a
vali d contract for mo t issues. We sec
contracts so often in our lives that some-
times we take them for granted ... and
that' when trouble can begin.
Small print on the bottom of a con-
tract can be very deceivi ng, words like
"excessive" or "at the discretion of' will
put a whole new spin on a contract.
Sometime , upon seei ng those words, we
will decline to sign a contract. But what if
you can't see tho e words at all?
I recently dealt with Marten's
Furniture of Cambridge, and learned the
hard way that fine print doe n't always
come on the front of the contract. I made
my purchase in December of 1997, and
three months later, I am proud to say that I
never have to deal with Marten's again.
Would you sign a contract with a fur-
niture store that states "all sales are final
and all deposits are non-refundable"? No?
Neither would 1. But I did, because that
clause was on the back, and because of the
layout of the contract (I sign the top copy,
and the back of the contract shows the
vendor copy), I never saw the back of my
contract.
In January of '98, I still had not
received notice that the furniture had
arrived. I went to lkea, and found a larger
and higher-quality dresser for significantly
Ie s mone . couldn't cal art n' , ho _.
ever, to ask for my money back, because I
signed a contract, and my contract states
"all sales are final and all deposits are non-
rerundable".
I phoned Mal1en's in mid-January,
asking where 1 could find my furniture.
Apparently, they had tried to contact me,
though r never once heard from them. At
that time, I would have asked for my
money back, but "all sales arc final and all
deposits arc non-refundable" came back
once again to bite me in the face.
So, three weeks later, I received my
dresser. and it was damaged. Was I sur-
prised? No ... I had already lost faith in
Marten's, so thi s was just the icing on the
cake. When I phoned Marten' about it,
they decided to try to charge me ext:-a to
have the replacement delivered at my con-
venience. Under tandably, r wanted to
end my relation. hip with Marten's, but
they had a lot of my money, and "all ales
final and all deposits are non-refund-
able". So I was stuck.
March 17, more than a month after
my damaged furniture was delivered, and
over three months after Marten's took my
money, I finally received my new dresser,
and ended my relationship with the most
unprofessional retail outlet with which I
have ever had the pleasure of dealing.
According to their brochure, Marten's is
"committed to quality and value", which I
guess, in the end is exactly what I
received: poor quality, and low value.
What's the point, you may ask? Well, in
this case I have two. First, make sure you
are absolutely clear on every clause of any
contract you sign, before you even consid-
er signing it. Second, I recommend you
deal with Marten's Furniture only if you
have an extremely high tolerance for frus-
tration.
up and hitting your head on the ceiling of
the elevator. These gravity tricks have
been used before with airplanes, to create
zero-gravity space shuttle scenes in vari-
ous movies.
Let u<, look deeper at this ituation.
Suppose that while your are falling. the
sun is shining on the outside of the eleva-
tor. You drill a small hole on the wall fac-
ing the sun, so that a beam of sunlight
shines through the hole and makes a bright
spot of light on the opposite wall. As the
elevator falls further away from the sun,
you will perceive the spot of light to grad-
ually move downwards on the wall.
Furthermore, uppose that the eleva-
tor is perhaps several kilometres wide (a
ridiculous as this sounds). You take five
tennis balls and release each a kilometre
away from the next, all at the same height.
As before, the tennis balls will appear to
float magically in the air. The balls, how-
ever, are all falling towards the Earth's
centre; they are all falling toward the
same point. Hence, you will observe that
the balls will move closer and clo er to
each other, while floating in the air.
There are several other effects that
you might observe. After falling for some
time (the elevator shaft is extremely high),
the elevator may become quite hot. Or
perhaps because of the hole you drilled in
the wall, the pressure difference will cause
air to rush out of the elevator, cau ing you
terrible pain.
This hypothetical ituation of incredi-
bly large elevator and horrendou height
may sound silly. but it i a go'od demon-
stration of a frame of reference. You,
inside the elevator. are not aware that your
frame of reference is accelerating. You are
flabbergasted by the floating-magnetic
tennis balls, the moving light beam, and
the un een heat source. Becau e you can-
not see the full picture, it is impo sible for
you to explain what is happening.
Often, when we have encountered
things that we could explain, we created
theories that attempted to explain them.
This is the best that we can do, given that
there are many aspects of thi univer e that
we are ignorant of. In many ca es, how-
ever, theories have been proved wrong,
because oversights were made. Often
these oversights were in the interpretation
of the frame of reference. If the frame of
reference is flawed then 0 too will be the
explanation. Perhaps the most important
part of analysing a given problem, is in
analysi ng its frame of reference; its sur-
roundings are paramount to one's under-
standing of it. Keep this in mind, a that
the next time you find yourself in an enor-
mous elevator falling from an infinite
height, you'll know exactly what is going
on.
Express Yourself
n thi s, my last col-
umn for the Iron
arrior, I have
chosen to write a little
differently than my
normal professional ,
politically correct and
high school English
class acceptable man-
ner. I would like this
to be somewhat more per onal than the
others.
When I . tarted this column last term,
it was for a couple of reasons. The fir t
was that I did not want to run an "editori-
al" every issue, since that was suppa ed to
repre ent the views of the Engineering
Society and the Iron Warrior Staff, and I
did not think I was qualified to do so. The
other reason was that I wanted to give peo-
ple something to think about; to con ider,
if you will.
In not doing an editorial, I was not
trying to make any kind of political state-
ment. I just preferred to have the ideas I
printed attributed to me instead of the
Society or the paper. With the history the
Iron Warrior had, along with my knowl-
edge that sometimes my ideas were not
exactly in line with those of the
Engineering Society, I thought it would be
best for me to express my ideas under my
own name, and not under the title of editor.
I was not trying to incite, unrest
amongst the engineering undergraduate
students, as some people have accused me
of doing. My goal was not to convince
everyone that my ideas were right and that
they should follow me like lambs. I did
not expect any angry responses to flood
the inbox of the Iron Warrior, as some of
the authors from other papers seem to rel-
ish. What I wanted was for people to take
five minutes after reading my column and
think about what I said, hopefully coming
up with arguments of their own. If they
felt strongly enough about a topic and sub-
mitted a commentary or a rebuttal, I would
have been glad to read their responses, as
I was to read the submissions that have
by JejfGoboflo
been printed.
I chose to dis-
Cll opic that
most people could
relate to. Subject
matter involving the
co-op department,
the academic situa-
tion at the
University of
Waterloo, or even the way we view our-
selves as UW Engineering students were
one that affect almost everyone this paper
i. intended to communicate to.
My signing up for the Iron Warrior
was not the decision many of you believe
it to be. I did not go for the glory nor the
power (although the guarantee of having
my writing printed wa very enticing). I
went becau e I did not like what the Iron
Warrior was. I had no experience and
some weak skills, but what I had the most
of were ideas. I had ideas that I wanted to
share with people; ideas about this schooL,
the peopJe within it, the co-op system, and
others.
Fortunately for all involved, there
were other people who had ideas they
wanted to share too. Our incoming
President Alan Cannistraro became our
village idiot and the current Editor-in-
Chief Pierre Menard hopped up on his
soapbox. This term saw Jaime Tiampo
paint in shades of grey, Andrew Hately
come in from the other end, and Raymond
Ho painting us a big picture.
At this point, some of you may be
wondering what topic I am attempting to
get the reader to think about this issue.
Some may say I have not offered anything
to discuss, but I would like them to recon-
sider this.
I was going to go through and thank a
bunch of people for different things, but
they all know who they are.
I will end by quoting Sun Tzu from
The Art of War "Invincibility lies in the
defense; the possibility of victory in the
attack." The lron Warrior is only as good
as those who are a part of it.
-------
The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 27, 1998 Arts 7
Untitled
You seem to live life in the fire
Welcoming the sun, its burning glow, its
desire to shine being your desire to
shine and bum life brightly.
Tho e Eyes
The Channel to the ou!.
Opening. Awarene s unfolding everywhere.
A new da) i born a golden ra).
meet golden pinnacles of . ight.
His eyes petitioner to her eye. uing.
Her eyes his eye. as had not se n them.
His eye wooed still. her eyes di . dained the wooing.
Much wa. not . een. but was witnes:ed.
To what. my love. hall I compare thine eyes?
To crystals of and sparkling in the morning dew')
To diamond's glory or ruby' . glitter?
To a mirrors clarity of the un' wateT) reflection?
To a Caribbean sunrise or the warnllh of an evcning fire?
Two of Heaven' fairest stars did entreat you
as those eyes join your heavenly face.
As moonlight i aided by lamps, her golden eyes in
heaven would stream so bright that bird would sing,
not knowing that it was night.
The channel to the heart and mind,
Closing. Only beauty remain .
1M and William S.
Obviou ly. thi i. a fractal illustrating the time to con ergence of the
root of a fifth order equation in the complex plane using ewton's
method. Moreover, if we choose a starting point for Newton's method
which is 'far' away from a ba. in of attraction we can encounter chaot-
ic behaviour as i apparent in the artwork. Submitled by Huyis Deez
I however have been in a dull sombre, a
melancholy yellowish dimness reminisent
of the dying moon. I spend the night look-
ing towards my sister in the sky. Feeling
as one with her. Out in the heavens with
no one around basking in her shine, or her
glow. Waiting for her brother to knock her
out the sky with hi burning shine as dawn
approaches.
But the be truthful I perfer the moon. I
perfer her soft gentle glow, like a oft fire
in late fall or the touch of a close friend.
When I look up to the sky in my melan-
choly sadne s I realize that I need not burn
all the time, in the heavens rest and allow
the soft sister to reign - and then I smil e
and I call my friend.
Anonymous Submission
Mathematics Playground
BY HUYlS DEEZ
3B Electrical Engineering
C
ongratulations to Doron Solomon
of 4B Electrical and Clarence Ip of
3A Computer fOf providing a
derivation of la t weeks problem. An hon-
ourable mention goes out to Rob Wood of
an unknown class who submitted the COf-
rect answer but without a derivation. You
guys are the men! I've prepared a special
article for the final Iron Warrior of the
term. r hope you like it.
There once wa a time when mathe-
matical trickery earned someone a decent
paycheck. These human calculators would
amaze a gathering crowd with seemingly
inhuman feats. Some even went on to do
Vaudeville performances like "Marvelous
Griffith" who could multiply two nine
digit numbers in his head in less than thir-
ty seconds. Wouldn't it be wonderful to
astound your friends with keen math
tricks. No doubt, you would be the life of
the party. Perhaps not, but for interests
sake let 's expose some of this playful
Original
Number
10's
20's
30's
40's
SO's
60's
70's
SO's
90's
Figure 1:
extraction
Fifth
Powers
100 Thousands
3 Millions
24 Millions
100 Millions
300 Millions
777 Millions
1.5 Billions
3 Billions
6 Billions
Chart needed for fifth root
up ry.
Squaring a number that ends in 5:
Squaring a number like 45 in your
head can be done In the conventional man-
ner but an algorithm exists that renders the
problem a trivial. The first step is to drop
the ending 5 from the number and you arc
left with some number x'. In the case of
45, drop the 5 so that you arc Icft with 4.
Next, multiply 'x' by 'HI' and append 25
to it. In our example, four times five is 20
and when you append 25 to 20 you get
2025. Verify thi re ult and try a few
examples on your own. In fact, you can
easi ly prove that this algorithm always
works.
Multiplying two nine digit numbers in
your head:
In order to perform thi s trick one of
the numbers must be the magic number
142,857,143. If you are asking an audi-
ence to supply the numbers make sure an
associate gives you this number. You
probably want to use a chalkboard to write
the two nine digit numbers otherwise you
will have a hard time performing this trick.
Once you have the second number, men-
tally append it to itself to fonn an 18 digit
number. Divide the extended number by 7
and write the result as the answer to the
original problem.
Suppose the second number given is
427,329,108. Mentally fonn the number
427,329,108,427,329,108 and divide by
seven. The answer is simply
61,047,015,489,618,444. Consider that if
you are left with a remainder then you
have made a mistake. Also, if the supplied
number is less than nine digits merely add
leading zeros to fill the blanks.
Fifth root extraction:
Ask an audience member to think of a
w i iL nun brand LO find thal numb r
raised to the fifth power on a calculator.
You wi\[ most likely need to upply the
calculator a most people don't carry them
around (excc-pt for math I'hr 'al
culatnr must he able to displa 10 dCClmal
places since 99 10 thr l'xpoucnt Ii t' is
approximatcly 9.S* lO"9. Your goal to
find the original two dIgit Ilumhl'r fiwlI
only Ihe final product. It turn:-. out thaI this
is very easy to do once you have cOlllmit
ted the chart in Figure I to memory.
A remarkable property is that the last
digit of the original integcl is the same as
the last digit of the fifth power. Suppose
the flfth power is 8,587,340,257 you know
from the chart that the original numbcr is
in the nincties since eight billion is
between six billion and ten billion. Since
the fifth power ends with seven we can
immediately say the original number is 97.
Limit this trick to two or three times since
it soon becomes obvious that last digits
match.
Calendar Trick:
Given any date (year, month, day), it
is possible to figure out the corresponding
day of the week (Monday, etc). The algo-
rithm outlined works for dates in the
1900's only.
1. Concentrate on the last two digits
of the year and divide this number by 12.
The number of times 12 divides into the
year is added to the remainder of the divi
sion.
2. Add the number of times four
divides into the remainder of step one to
the result of step one. If the sum is greater
than seven, divide by seven and keep the
remainder.
3. Add the key number for the month
(this is found in Figure 2) to the result of
step two. Again, divide by seven and keep
the remainder.
4. Add the day of the month to the
r ult of t p three. Divid by even and
keep the remainder. This final result tells
you the day of the week. If the answer is
o then the day of the week is Saturday. An
:I II ,Wt'r nl 1 l'OIIl'SPlllllh to SlIllda nil tile
way lip to (] till I min .
'i. I r Ihl' year IS II floa]> Yl':\1 and lht'
month IS .Ialll/lIr OJ h'blumy thUl :-.uhllal't
(lilt' day 1rum Ihl' Iinalll ... nlt
II you 10 do tsick I'lll datl ... In
till' 2000\ th\.'11 suhlract Olll' day from
Imal result. SliPPOSC YOIl would lIke ttl
fwd thl' day 01 til(' week lor h:hnr,uy 2.1
197'5. 12 Il1tO 7. :-.ix tll1leS WIth 3 us
a rcmallluer. 4 divides into 1 110 times.
Thi!'. give!'o 6+.l+0-:l) but we 2
since this is tht! rell1ainder when 7 divides
into 9. Step three dictates I'm us to add 4
to the above result yielding 6. Next we
add 23 to 6 un<.l divi<.le by 7. The remain-
der is I. 1975 is not a leap year so our
final answer is 1. This Illcans Ihat
February 23 1975 fell on a Sunday.
Month
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Key number
1
4
4
o
2
5
o
3
6
1
4
6
Figure 2: Chart needed for Calendar Trick
8 Humanities & Awareness The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 27,1998
Today's wearable e-mail is made possible by Research In Motion
BY SASSAN SA EI
Engineering Development Manager
UW Eledrical, Class of 1997
B
efore embarking on an exciting
career at Research In Motion
(RIM), I spent some co-op work
tenns in the field, visiting customers on-
site to install equipment, provide training,
and deal with technical issues on the SpOl.
I enjoyed dealing with them one-on-one,
and each visit was a great opportunity to
really understand how people use the tools
of the information age to become more
productive.
When you add up the hours, I spent
almost as much time on the road as ) did at
the office. To keep up communication by
e-mail, I carried a laptop with a PCMCIA
modem. It was heavy and awkward. I
dialed up our server from a hotel room to
download my e-mail, composed my
rel.'lies offline, and dialed up again to send
the e-mail. I had no idea that a better way
existed.
Today I am at RIM, building long-
term relationships with our clients.
Communication is the key to these rela-
tionships. And around here, with our glob-
al customer base, our most important
communications are carried not by phone,
fax, or courier, but by SMTP, TCP, and IP.
You can't beat e-mail for conve-
nience, cost, or efficiency. It lets me man-
age my priorities effectively, and read
multiple e-mails in the time it takes to lis-
ten to one voice mail. I keep account man-
agers informed of my interaction with their
customers by si mply copying them on cus-
tomer correspondence sent via e-mail. By
organizing my e-mail into folders, I can
Weavers
Anns
instantly refresh my memory about 'cus-
tomer dealings that took place months ago.
It's easy to text-search e-mail, yet it's
almost impossible to do the same with
paper. And when dealing with lists and
numbers, it's far easier to type and read
than to dictate and listen.
In this business, customer service is
critical: I need to be available to our cus-
tomers all the time. Visiting other cus-
tomers, being away from my desk, or
simply being at home is not an excuse.
Customers facing deadlines or downtime
require real-time response. And these cus-
tomers rely increasingly on e-mail for mis-
sion-cri tical or time-sensiti ve
correspondence.
In the past, people relied on cellular
phones or pagers to stay in touch. A ring-
ing phone during an important meeting is
disruptive, and even with call di splay it is
not clear whether the call is urgent. Cell
phones and PCS phones remain bulky and
expensive, with po!)r battery life and limit-
ed messaging abilities.
Numeric pagers are limited to numer-
ic content, and lack the ability to create or
reply to messages. Alphanumeric pagers
are more useful, but they still lack the abil-
ity to send mes ages and are restricted to
displaying very short messages. Both
numeric and alphanumeric one-way
pagers also lack the ability to guarantee
message delivery. These pagers rely on the
"spray and pray" approach, where the
message is "sprayed" across the country
and you "pray" that the pager receives it.
All this changed when RIM intro-
duced the Inter@ctive(tm) Pager, the first
two-way interactive pager on the planet.
1 ... ia die W.c.I.I ... c ~ I ZUftilfiJ St. __ ....
Wherever I am, I can be reached - up to
2,000 characters per complete, informative
message. I now receive my e-mail real-
time - and I don't pay a cent in long-dis-
tance or roaming fee ! I am connected 24
hours a day and no longer need to log in
and check my mes ages. Rather, my e-
mail finds me!
Radio waves cannot always penetrate
deep into buildings, elevators, or under-
ground. This means that one-way pagers
occasionally miss messages. The
Inter@ctive Pager has a tran mitter a well
as a receiver, so it acknowledges every
message it receives. If I'm momentarily
out of coverage, the network stores my e-
mail and forwards it to me when I return to
coverage. That's guaranteed message
delivery - never missing an urgent mes-
sage from an important client!
The real power, of course, is sending
or replying to e-mail. The built-in QWER-
TY keypad works remarkably well. An
easy-to-use custom phrase book saves you
typing common expressions such as "I'll
be there" and "running 10 minutes late." I
don't carry a cell phone; our clients know
that e-mail is the fastest way for us to
reach each other. If they don' t have e-
mail, they can call my toll-free number
and dictate a message to an operator, and
later receive my reply. I can quickly write
back to clients and colleagues, and even
send them a fax from my pager. When
traveling, r can make last-minute airline
reservations, check the weather, receive
stock quotes, find a restaurant, request dri -
ving directions, and more - right off the
web. This level of functionality makes the
Inter@ctive Pager a powerful tool for the
o
f
mobile profes ional. Because it's a packet-
switched network, I pay only for the
amount of data that I send or receive, or a
flat rate for unlimited messaging. The net-
work is smart enough to know where I am,
even as I travel, so it doesn't waste pre-
cious bandwidth by "spraying" the same
message across the country from thou-
sands of base stations. Wireless band-
width costs carriers millions of dollars in
licensing fees, which is why traditional
broadcast one-way paging costs more for
natjonal than regional coverage.
My e-mail is sent and received trans-
parently, so I keep a single, universal e-
mail address and clients are unaware
whether I've sent them a message from my
Inter@ctive Pager. With e-mail on my
belt, I remain always in touch and stay
productive, even when away from my
desk. That's the power of wireless, wear-
able e-mail !
Visit us at www.rim.net for more
information about our products and job
opportunities.
r
Enginecrilg Society C & t)
Mc6innis Front R.ow
Frenzi
Swlrise Records
Ikt>onald "
Sam the Record IMI Fi
E. t Si J.6atto's
lis Diner
Olympic 6yros
Second Cup
Barley Works
Pal's 6alerie
D i i c n
Loot. Char.,. Louie',
TCBY AI Mad-

The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 27, 199 Internal Information
W
ell, the
term i
quickly
coming to a close
and things
wrapping up quite
nicely in EngSoc.
I hope everyone has
enjoyed all of the
great activities that
have been prepared by the directors over
this winter term and the final completion
of our new office. As all of our terms are
coming to a close, I find myself reflecting
on the last sixteen months. It's been a real-
ly excellent term with some great changes
occurring and a good focus has been set
for the new Executive to follow.
With the completion of the new
Orifice, the EngSoc office has become a
place where students can feel welcome to
come in and use all of the many resources
available to them there. The Jostens
agreement will have been signed by the
time that thi s issue goes to print and there-
fore next term we will have two brand new
computers for the Yearbook. This term
also sees the completion of the Corporate
Managers first full year, with great results
already I'm sure we can look forward to
continued success in this new venture.
EngSoc has put a strong focus over the
past 16 months in strengthening our cor-
porate relationships and making the
Society as open to all student members
with new initiative to increase participa-
tion. I'm positive that the newly elected
executive will be continuing thi, focus and
have some great ideas of their own.
Not only has this been an excelleOl
term for Eng oc, but also tor a erloo
Engineering students in general. We had
record showings this year at the Ontario
Engineering Competition (taking first
place in all categorie ) and also at the
T
he time that you thought would
never come, came and you wish
that you had more time. My term
as VPI has been very fun and fulfilling. It
started 16 months ago when I was a young
naive boy with big dreams and endless
spirit. Comparing to now when my eyes
are a little smaller, more reali tic but just
as enthusiastic. I really enjoyed being
your VPI and I am definitely sad that my
term has to end but the position is going to
be well represented by Jenn Motuz your
new VPI. Over the last 16 months of my
life I have learned a lot about society,
working with people, and general logisti-
cal organization.
I would like to thank my executive
because without them behind me, motivat-
ing me and pushing me in the right direc-
tion, I could never have made it. So, thank
you Sarah Davies, Nina Sodhi, and Daniel
Kim for being amazing people to work
with. I think that our executive got along
right away, I mean . right from the first
meeting we all respected each others opin-
ion and listened to each other. Working
with you was also a lot of fun. Dan sorry
about you face again, here is my public
apology for dropping you on your face.
r would also like to thank one of the
most important parts of the society, the
directors. Without all the great, amazing,
fantastic directors that chose to help/vol-
unteer, their time for the last two terms
everything we do would not have been
President Reports
Outgoing
President
by Sarah DGl';e.\
ational Competition
(recei ' ing 8 of the
21 award. ). We have
great reasons 10 be
"ery proud of all of
the winner. and
Waterloo Engineers.
I'd like to person-
ally congratulate a
few people on their
excellent work this term. Amy Lai was
the Engineering Society A Chair for the
Ontario Engineering Competition and did
an excellent job in organizing the compe-
tition. I would also like to thank Alison
Nolting for her excellent work on helping
out Mary as Corporate Manager this term.
A special thanks also goe out to Andrew
Hately for putting together some excellent
Bridging the Gap lectures that provoked
interest in many students . I coul9 contin-
ue thanking everyone that did a great job,
but I'd like to keep this report brief.
I'd al 0 like to congratulate all of the
Paul and Paula Plummer Award winners,
and those who received Presidents' and
Spirit Awards.
Before I sign off as President I would
like to congratulate the rest of the execu-
tive, Nina Sodhi, Vladimir Joanovic and
Dan Kim for their hard work and success
in their respective positions. I really
enjoyed working with all of them and rec-
ognize all of the hard work that they've
put in to make your Society better. I have
great confidence that the new executive
will be very successful in their new ven-
tures and wish them all the best of luck. I
have been meeting with Alan Cannistraro
regularly since the electi on and am sure
e will be a great new esident.
Good luck to everyone on their work
terms, don't forget to apply for director-
ships for next term. and look forward to an
exciting next year!
I
'm honoured to
be a part of su 'h
an cnthu.iasti'
To be
been proud to work
with any and all of
the candidates for
each of the posi -
tions. so I'm hoping
evel)'one will remain prominent within
EngSoc. I'm 'onfident, though. that the
elected exec will do a kick-ass job . erving
the students of Waterloo Engineering.
Greg Fyke, VP Extemal. has a great
vision for the Society to promote the
Waterloo name and reputation. J no
Motuz. VP Internal, is filled with the ener-
gy and excitement needed to get more peo-
ple organized and involved with EngSoc.
Mike Muffels. VP Finance, i ' extremely
sensible and has the experience nece sary
to keep the Society in a state of solvency.
At the time of writing this article, we
have already had our first Exec meeting.
By the time you read this, we will have
had our second. I was amazed at Lhe num-
ber of ideas we had with regards to making
EngSoc appeal to a greater crowd, still
maintaining its cunent level of quality.
While we have yet to detail the exact
direction and methods that we, as an exec,
will be following, we have nailed down
our focus as increasing the involvement of
students in the Engineering Society.
We've already taken steps towards Lhis in
some of the new directorships and (slight-
ly altered) organizational structure. For
example, we've added Women in
Engineering and Academic and
ompe ition ralS n
responsibi lities. Both directorships lead
us towards creating closer ties with some
of tile traditional non EngSoc Engineering
organilations on cllmp"s.
VP Internal Reports
Outgoing
VP Internal
by Viad loartovic
possible. EngSoc is making grand steps
forward with the implementation of Mary
as our corporate manager which has amaz-
ing potential , the new orifice design which
increases the efficiency of our orifice man-
agement, and our continued presence in
offering services and events to a increasing
population. Again it can not be said too
much that the directors are so key to the
society and we all appreciate the hard
work that goes into orchestrating events or
services. The services and events pro-
vide throughout the term are top notch and
the envy of other faculties on campus and
other Engineering Societies across
Canada. Though nothing is ever perfect,
every term we are operating better, smarter
and reaching more students.
As I get closer to forth year and clos-
er to graduating I realize how important of
a role EngSoc plays and how we have
changed as a whole over these last 4 four
years. EngSoc has become a part of my
life and I loved being able to be a part of
the whole process. The opportunity is
Incoming
VP Internal
b)l .It'll/life,. MotUl
great and all students must realize that it is
all of our society and it is completely up to
us what we do with it and how it is run. I
am going to definitely stay very active in
the society because I really enjoy con-
tributing so this won' t be the last you here
of me, though I only have one term left
with A-soc. Thanks again, and bye for
now.
One la t thing, all directors can you
get you end of term reports in to ei ther
Nina, Betty or I. Electronic copy is prefcr-
able and email is fine.
So before I sign off as your VPI I
would like to congratulate the new execu-
tive, and wi sh them the best of luck in their
next J 6 months. Nothing is never easy but
I think that they will do an amazing job.
Good Luck, stay focused and don't fail
out.
As always, if there is anything
'Internal ' or Society related that you would
like to discuss or need help with feel free
to contact me at vjoanovi@engmaiJ.
Inconling
President
by Alan CcT/I/1;.l/mm
9
ship list now includes
the Frosh Mentoring
Advisor who will be
in charge of initiati ng
relationships with
new first year classes
and older classes in
their respective di ci-
plines. By involving
the first years right
from the start. we grasp' the unbia, ed
enthusiasm and energy of . tudents coming
from frash week.
I'm lucky to have Sarah Davies show-
ing me the ropes. he's given me a lot of
insight to the role and responsibilities of
the president. Of cour. e, I'm also lucky to
have Sarah. Vlad and Dan on-stream next
term for me to harass for guidance, advice,
and questions. (Nina will be in England!)
On that note, I should add that the old
exec and the new exec are working to
incorporate an additional directorship into
the Engineering Society to help ease the
transition between exec members . The
new director will most probably be a pre-
vious executive member who will act as an
advisor. The position ha yet to be well
outlined or defined but duties will proba-
bly include sitting in on certain exec meet-
ings, co-ordinating some of the new
efforts of the society, and fetching coffee
for the rest of the executive.
J' m always looking for suggestions or
ideas for EngSoc. Please get in touch with
me anytime you like through email at
accalll1is@engmail. If you don't have any
ideas. email me anyway so 1 know that
someone's actually reading this . Besides,
I like getting email. Without your sugges-
. i . j . \ I U
Iy think they're moving in the right
direction. We need your input to make
a SIII'l't Aft 'I' .111. yllll art:
EnSm"
H
i cveryonl!! Well, the term's
almost over and for
next tenn are lInderwuy. There
arc a lot of new things happening, so here
arc a f w things to kCl!p an eye out fOf.
.'r()sh Mentoring
We've started a new directorship
called "Frosh Mentor Advisors" to co-
ordinate the "adopHl-cJass" efforl.
Starting next (erm, frosh will be invited
out to barbeques, social events, etc, with
upper year students. This will help the
frosh feel more at horne and encourage
them to come out to other events because
they'll be sllre to know some people there.
We will also be putting together a
"Welcome to UW Enginecring Web page"
for the class of 2003 and beyond. If you
have any suggestions for it, please email
me: jmoluz@engmail.
Fall Fundraising Event
Our goal is to do something of the
same calibre as the Bus Push a few weeks
after frosh week to remind the community
of the great things that UW Engineers do.
It will be a lot of fun, so make sure you
come out for it this fall!
Stuff' Everyone Can Use
We've added a few services to the
Society this term such as a Used Book
Exchange and the Job Critiques Binder.
1'm also putting together a contact list for
the directors and classes.
1'm looking forward to the faU term,
and hopefully we can make it the best yetl
10
Internal Information
The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 27,1998
VP External Report
s
o this is it, my
last days of VP
External and
my last Iron Warrior
report. 1've done 2
terms of being VP
External. I must
admit that after 16
months of being
VPX for A Soc, I've
========;"1 cussions and. in my
opinion. good deci-
sions. I want to say
thanks to them for
all the hard work
they have done to
make the society run
I
'm happy that
the election is
fi nally over.
to all who
voted. All the can-
involved so that we
can continue
become so accustomed to the role that
can't really imagine not being it any
longer. It'. so integrated into my li fe now.
But at the same time, I'm looking forward
to not having the demands on my time and
my mind that VPX-ship brings. And I
have full confidence that Greg Fyke will
do a great job, which lets me step back
with ease.
It' s been one of the best experiences
of my life, and my life has changed so
much from being on the executive. lowe
a lot of that to the other exec members -
Sarah Davies, Dan Kim and Vl ad
Joanovic. We' ve worked great a. a team,
and learned a lot from one another. Our
diverse opinions always led to good di s-
O
n Friday,
November 1,
1996, fifteen
minutes before the dead-
line for nominations, I
decided (with a lot of
persuasion from a cer-
tain person) to run for
the position of Vice
President of Finance. At
the time, I really didn' t know what I was
getting myself into but I was confident in
my abilities and knew that T would be able
to figure things out quickly along the way.
Sixteen months later, I am proud to say
that I think I did the best job I could in ful-
filling the role of VP Finance as effective-
ly as possible.
There were a lot of people who helped
me out during my exec term and I would
like to use this report, my final report as
VP Finance, to offer them my sincerest
gratitude to them. Without the e people,
my exec term would not nearly have been
a fruitful and enjoyable as it was.
First of all, I would like to thank my
fellow executive members: Sarah Davies,
Nina Sodhi and Vladimir Joanovic. From
the very beginning, working with them
was ajoy at all times. I firmly believe that
the four of us proved to be a very strong
and effective executive for EngSoc and I
can't imagine doing a better job as a team
with anyone else (and not just saying
that). Over the la t sixteen month , they
earned my respect and friendship forever.
Next, I would like to thank my
finance director, Mike Muffels, for the
assistance he gave me during my two
onstream terms as VP Finance. It was dif-
ficult at first to teach him ways that he
could help me since It my elf, wa still in
the learning phase, but once I got settled
in, Mike proved to be a valuable aid, per-
forming many tasks to reduce my work-
load while himself learning the
Engineering Society financial structure. I
am sure he will do an excellent job "filling
my shoes with his big feet" a your next
VP Finance.
I would like to thank the Orifice man-
ager, Betty Beaver, and the C & D I
Corporate Manager, Mary Bland, for all
their help as well. It was a pleasure work-
ing with them and their always cheerful
Outgoing
VPExternal
by Nina Sodhi
smoothly.
I'd also like to
extend a thank you
to the directors who put their time into the
society. Everyone's contribution added
together produced the fantastic society we
have. It makes my job easier when I can
work with people like you.
As for next term and beyond, [' m off
to England on an exchange to Leeds
University. I'll be there for the fall term,
and return to Waterloo to finish 4B in
January. That means that thi s term is my
last term with A Soc, and possibly the last
time I see some of you. I wish you all the
best.
Thanks again to everyone for showing
me a good time.
Incoming
VPExternal
demonstrate
to
the
prowe s of Waterloo
engineers at national
and international lev-
el ,a in the OEC
didates who ran
this term.
by Greg Fyke
I'd like to
inform you of ju t a
few new idea we
are currently working on.
We have decided to widen the scope
of EngSoc - to provide more services to
you and to maintain our competetive
advantage. I will work towards extending
our reputation to a more international
level , while strenghtening our ties to
industry and the PEO.
A few new directorships have been
implemented to assist thi new direction
under the 'External' category.
Academic and Competition Liasons:
The primary focus of this director hip
is to work with class academic reps and to
make students more aware of new and
existing engineering competitions. The
goal is attract more students to become
where we wept fir t
place in all categories.
In addition, we're
hoping the directors will be able to forge
closer ties with other organizations, uch
ac; SSME and ChemEngSoc.
Environmental Directorships:
It's time for u to demonstrate that we
not only like to make crazy new things but
that we are also conscious and caring of
our environment. One motive of thi s new
directorship i to increase student aware-
ness of our impact on the environment.
Women In Engineering Directors:
EngSoc has decided to reinforce this
existing program with student representa-
tion. The new position is designed to
increase student involvement in the pro-
gram and to continue encouraging females
to consider engineering as a career path.
VP Finance Reports
Outgoing
VP
by Dan Kim
attitudes. They
were a reliable
source of infor-
mation anytime I
needed it.
I would like
========;!.I directors
worked with dur-
ing the last two
terms for volunteering their time to help
make EngSoc what it was. Without your
work and dedication, EngSoc would not
have been able to provide the multitude of
events and services that enhanced the lives
of many engineers at thi s university. r
would like to give special recognition to
three groups of director , in particular.
The first group is the novelties directors,
Stacey Condie and Yada lubandhu
(Summer 97), and Chris Ford and Scott
Howe (Winter 98). Among many other
things, they did a tremendous job ordering
new novelties for EngSoc, a well a
spending large amounts of their time dis-
playing, promoting and selling their items
to us in CPH Foyer on a regular basis. The
second group is the special events direc-
tor , Alison Woodcock, Mark Derbecker,
Ginette Lalonde and Lisa Poort (Summer
97), and Alan Cannistraro and Ryan Penty
(Winter 98). Their enthusia m and perse-
verence in selling ticket for the events
that they organized wa incredible, even
with me telling them all the time that they
"had to break even, or el. e". Last but def-
initely not least, I would like to give spe-
cial recognition to the IW Editor, Jeff
Gobatto (Summer 97) and Pierre Menard
(Winter 98). The two of them did a phe-
nomenal job in presenting the Iron Warrior
for the la t two terms and their degree of
pride and commitment for their work wa
truly impressive.
Finally, I would like to thank all the
members of EngSoc for giving me the
opportunity to serve the Society through
the role of VP Finance. The experience
and knowledge I gained during the la t
sixteen months were rich and invaluable.
After all this time, it will definitely be hard
to let go and hand off the responsibilitie
of my position to someone eL e.
This concludes my final report a
your Vice President of Finance. Cheers!
about discussing the
H
ard to
believe
another
========;1 different ideas.
term is coming to
an end. Thanks to
all those who came
out and voted on
March 11 th, your
participation has
got the next 16
months off to a good start.
There are changes that are happening
right now or that will soon happen that
will significantly affect the Engineering
Society and all its member over the next
16 months . Some of these changes
include the changing of the dean, a new
EngSoc executive, the success of the
Corporate Manager endeavor and the
increase of engineering tuition. Good or
bad, these changes promise to make the
next 16 months eventful for everybody.
Although the current EngSoc execu-
tive has done an outstanding job, the
newly elected executive i a change that
will benefit the Engineering Society. The
new executive has already met with each
other and discussed directions and ideas
for the upcoming month. The meeting
was scheduled to last an hour but it went
for two becau e everybody got excited
Incoming
VPFinance
by Mike Muffels
Although I have been
on a high since being
elected, 1 am even
more excited about
being on the execu-
tive after the meeting.
You all have elected a
great executive from
which you can expect great things.
The finance system in place is excel-
lent and doe n't need major improve-
ments. What it needs i to be documented
so that we don' t lose what is currently in
place. I want to write up guidelines and
procedures to make sure that there will
always be at least a baseline from which
each new VPF can base their finance
record keeping system on. J respect that
each VPF should be free to experiment
with their ideas, after all this is learning
experience, but it must also be recognized
that the Society's financial records must be
complete and accurate. The guidelines
will allow for individual additions but
ensure continuity and complete records.
Good luck on your finals and see you
at the End of Term pub.
Explorations and
Campus Day
Volunteers
Thank You
The Faculty of Engineering would like to
thank all those students who took time
away from their studies to help out at
Explorations and Campus Day.
Without your generous support
Explorations and Campus Day would be a
shadow of what they are today. Thank you.
The Iron Warrior, Friday, March 27, 1998 Internal Information
Incoming
WEEF
by Mark Cesarla
F
or those of you who have not heard,
I am the new WEEF director. For
the next two tem1S I plan to change
the face of WEEF. In the past, the
Endowment supported small projects and
helped with small lab equipment
upgrades. However, as the principal i
growing and the amount that is being
spent each term grows (currently
over $110,000 is being spent each
term) the impact of WEEF on
everyday undergraduate engineer-
ing will grow substantially. I
WEEF Director Reports
Outgoing
WEEF
by Pall! Cesulla
G
ood day. As thi i my la t article
a the official WEEF Director, it
will be an amalgamation of e ery-
thing I have forgotten to ay in the pa t and
new infonnation. The most important
item from thi term i that WEEF has just
allocated its one millionth dollar. More
than half of that has been spent in ju t the
past two year! To put things in perspec-
ti\c. I \\ anI) ou to think about how mll h
money 1.000.000 is in omparison to a
mea Iy 75 tudenl ontribulion. I want
p opl> to remember lhat fact next t nll
when the) ome to school and find a new
and improved Graphics Lab. computers
availuble for everyone. new lab equipment
for ore course .. and mane available for
their student project. When you look
around and ' ee how much WEEF has done
for u , it is hard to justify requesting a
refund for 75. In 1990 when the fir, t
WEEF funds were given out, participation
was over 90% and only 10,000 was given
to the facult to upgrade a computer lab
from 286' to 386' . That $10,000 was for
the entire year. Thi year we have had
over $340.000 to pend on computer
upgrades, new lab
equipment and
tudent project..
WEEF Preliminary Funding Decision
Winter 1998
would like to greatly publicize
this fact and make sure people
know what WEEF is doing for
" .
What an impact
WEEF ha had in
the quality of edu-
cation for under-
graduate
engineering in the
past 8 years! And
its influence i
expanding every
year. I don't know
how else to
empha. ize the fact
that we have spent
over one million
dollars, other than,
"WOW, ONE
MILLION DOL-
LARS!"
them.
I am a very passionate person
and during my tenure I would like
to instill the same passion I have
for WEEF into every single engi-
neering student. I can not accept
the fact that although the fund is
donating hundreds of thousands
of dollar every year for the bet-
terment of Waterloo Engineering,
the .percentage of students donat-
ing money is at an aU time low. I
vow to preach the importance of
the Fund and not allow e to
ignorantly take their money back
like they have done in the past. I
wiil make sure all students under-
stand the importance of an
endowment fund that enhances
education so much. So when you
see me around next tenn, expect
to hear me praising the WEEF
gods and slapping stickers on
everything I see.
If any of you are interested in
helping out with WEEF as an
assistant director, let me know by
e-mailing me at
endowment@helix. Thanks and
have a good day.
-- , ...
TOTAL
is
presently in a tran-
sition period. It is
changing from a
fund that sLipple
menls cducat ion
to II rund thaL has
the capability to
rcvolulionii'.c edu
calion. In Ih past
year WEEF has
already allocated a
special $ J OO.O()()
funding grant to
11
upgrade all the departmental computer
labs. Thi. a. part of the regular
funding decision proce " 50.000 ha
been award'd to the Faculty of
Engineering to upgrade the Graphi Lab
to a full computer-integrated teaching
facility. Gone are the days of the yellow
pap r assignments in GEN E 170. Lessons
in C D oftware will now be the nonn.
On top of the benefits of a newer curricu-
lum, these 78 computers will free up
WHEEL. SHIM and HELIX from first
year tutorial. [magine the prospect of
being able to tind a free computer in a first
year lab in the fall and winter terms with-
out waiting for hour !
Since this is my last article, I would
like add a few thank-you to all the people
who have helped me admini ler the
endowment fund in the pa. t 32 months.
Without question. my largest debt of grati-
tude is owed to Mike Nevill. Mike has
essentially been the WEEF Director dur-
ing those times when I had to concentrate
on school or lake a nap in POETS. He has
always been there to offer advice as well
a ' take a heavy workload when required.
Words cannot describe how much r appre-
ciate what Mike has done for WEEF. I
also have to thank Jen Lugtigheid for her
help during the past few terms. Jen is a
member of the Board of Directors, has put
together most of the proposal booklets for
the past 3 years and is without a doubt the
cute t assi.stant WEEF director of all time.
Ryan Chen-Wing has been a huge asset to
WEEF as well. His presence has been felt
as an off-stream director, a Board of
Directors member and as a consigliere this
lerm. 1 also need to thank Leah Watson
who hel out Jen is term and who is
also without a doubt the cute t assistant
WEEF director of all time. Lukasz. Mitch
nnd m hrother MUll.. haw al\o help.:d oul
with WEEF this tel III and I thanl.. Ihon nil.
It has heell n gr at J years h 'ing youI'
WEEF Director lind I know Illy hrotht:r
will do an excellent job with the p<)sitiml
in the next 10 month". AI., 1 cmharl.. upon
1I new life in the real world ufter grudua-
tion, I want to leave you wilh Ih immortal
words of Barry Lenkin. "All the wOJ'ld is
schlock!" I rave fun wilhoulme!
lhe-II\J One.
are- Jed af
OOt
o
cmO<
same +/me-

...
Congratulations Class of '98
Engineering Class of '98 recieve thier iron rings
The Sandford Fleming Foundation
CPH4306
Waterloo Campus Activities
sff@dean
888-4008
The Sandford Fleming Debates
Winners:
Runners-Up:
were held on March 20, 1998.
Jeremy Steffler, Chemical Eng.
Ritcha Gupta, Systems Design
Anuj Kapur, E&CE
John Pocock, E&CE
*********
Do you have any old presentations that you did on a work term but you think are worthless now? Will you have one next fall? Well , dig
them out and dust them off for the SFF Fall Technical Speaker Competition. One of those reports could win you some cash. The
presentation should be based on a work term expedence. SFF doesn't require any form of a written report for the Faculty finals. Each
department is responsible for running their own program competition during the first four weeks of lectures. The first place winner from
this level advances to the Faculty Finals. SFF awards the Faculty Winner $200 and the other finalists $100. If you really don't think you
want to enter, come on out and watch. It's fun and you may want to try it yourself after seeing others in action. For more details contact
your undergraduate officer, the Foundation, or Prof. John Wright, Mechanical Eng.
Funding for these awards comes from your student contributions and depends on it for continuation.
An organization devoted to the advancement of engineering education
~ o r all your food an
beverage needs
SOCIETY
Come See Us During Exains!
8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Monday to Friday
(Until Thursday, April 23)
Re-opens: Monday, May 4
Conveniently located in the CPH Foyer
(under the POETS balcony)
Buy your Kinder Eggs before
they are all gone.