July 1986

The Engineering Society's Student Forum July 1986

re king Away!
It's not as easy as it looks J
The Ring Road Classic is more than just riding in circles as fast as you can.
Accidents do happen, but fortunately there are few injuries. Story, page 14.
- - -- - ---,-..-
2
IRON WARRIOR
The Printed Word
This is my parting shot, my last
Iron Warrior editorial. I know it
will be difficult, but at least try
to keep the tears from falling on the
page, or it will smudge before you
get to read it. It has been said by,
many people that newspapers are a
dying breed in the days of
television and the information
revolution. Major city new papers
dying out are a common enough
occurrence to lend some credence to
this view. It would be a mistake,
however, to let newspapers go the
way of dinosaurs. Their role may
be changing, but they do provide
certain neccessary things to society.
For example, it is impossible to
wrap fish with a televison set, and
it would get awfully expensive to
make a regular practice of lining the
bird cage with computer terminals.
With current levels of technology, it
is still much easier to take a
newpaper to a lecture than to take a
television in. How many professors
do you know that will let you watch
TV in the back row during their
lectures? Something to think about
isn't it?
That's the real strength of
newspapers and the printed word -
something to think about.
Challenging ideas can be put forth
on the page, and you don't have to
ingest them all between one round
of diaper commercials and another
round of Michael Bell and The
Brick. You can read them at your
own pace, go away and think about
them, and come back at your
leisure. That's mostly what we tried
to do with this term's Iron Warrior
- give you something to think
about, and different ways of
looking at things.
I think it's important to 'have
these different perspectives. They
make us better engineers, and on a
good day, better people. But, to be
honest, I didn't do this to make
everybody better people. It was
important to me, and that made it
worth doing.
Something to Think
About
The professions of law,
medicine, and engineering have all
been characterized as exercises in
finding the best reference books: if
you can get the answer from a book
somewhere, you've done your job,
whether "the answer" is a precedent
es tablished at the turn of the
century, or a drug that will treat a
given set of symptoms, or a
correlational technique for solving a
particular system of equations.
While I have nothing against
publishers of reference books, I
think that it can be very easy to rely
on those books to give the correct
answer, without really thinking
about the problem - and that's a
problem. One UW alumnus
remembers a guy he was working
with who was looking for a
solution to a heat transfer problem:
he found a relation in a book that
had all his known variables on one
side of the equation, and his
unknowns on the other, and
The Iron Warrior is a forum for ideas
presented by the Engineering Societies of
the University of Waterloo. Views
expressed in the Iron Warrior other than
editorials. are those of the authors and do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of the
editors or the Engineering Societies.
The Iron Warrior welcomes all
submissions from students. faculty, and
other members of the university
community. Articles, letters, and artwork
should reflect the concerns and intellectual
level of the University in general.
proceeded to ge hi "olution",
oblivious of the fact that the
equation did not apply to that
situation. What's more, I'm sure
any of your professors can supply
tales of woe about students who got
an "answer" from a computer
printout that didn't make sense, but
hadn't been checked because, after
all, it came from a computer.
The point is: it is not good
enough to say that a thing is so
merely beacause it has been written
on a piece of paper or printed by a
computer that has lots of really
sophisticated circuitry (and that
statement apparently isn't as
obvious as you would think it
should be). By all means, use
references and computers: they are
excellent tools, and that's why we
have them. But keep in mind that
they are intended as a supplement to
thinking - not a substitute.
IRON WARRIOR
All submissions become the property of
the r o ~ Warrior which reserves the
right to refuse publication/circulation of
material which it deems unsuitable. The
Iron Warrior also reserves the right to
edit grammar, spelling, and portions of
text that do not meet University standards.
Authors will be contacted for any major
changes that may be requ.ired.
All submissions must be legible and must
include the author's name, class (if
applicable) and a phone number where
he/she may be reached.
All submissions should be forwarded to:
The Engineering Society
CPR 1327
ext. 2323
/
All advertising enquires should be directed
to:
The Advertising Manager
c/o Engineering Society
CPH 1327
ext. 2323
/
July 1986
IRON WARRIOR
STAFF
Editors
Peter StubJey
ftdMcGowan
Writers
Mark Driedger
Dave Whitehead
Jeff Wood
Shayne Smith
Mark Sf. Pierre
, Ted Carlton
AI McGowan
Todd Sproule
Ian Smart
Sean Maw
Brenda Reive
Steve Cornall
Henri
Julian Ford
Copy Editors
Michael Schatz
AQyertising
James V. Abraham (director)
Todd Ruthman
Greg Krebs
Typesetting
Tom Lee (Director)
Richard n
David Whitehead
Francis Chow
James V. Abraham
Layout
James V. Abraham
MIChael Schatz
Mark Driedger
Richard Goodwin
Jacqueline McKenzie
Cameron Mahon
Todd Ruthman
BiD Allan
Guy R. Bisson
Frank Orsini
Artwork
Paul Arthurs
July 1986 IRON WARRIOR 3
POETS Grows Again
It is time to continue with ESSE
(Engineering Society Space
Expansion). "Hold on", you might
say, "Isn't ESSE done with?"
ESSE is a project initiated in late
1983 (and actually started in early
1984), whereby the Engineering
Society (collectively A and B)
would pay for the modifications of
existing space for the use of the
Society. So far, a new C & D,
POETS and Orifice are the results
of the first stage of the project. The
project is intended to take place
over many years with several
phases, each one being completed
as time and money permits.
The next proposed phase is an
extension to POETS, specifically an
enclosure of the 'patio' area by the
outside exit. The glassed enclosure
would use the third-floor balcony
as a roof with the intention of
making the area a "carpeted
lounge". Approximately 300 square
feet will be added and the cost is
estimated at $35,000.
A lot of questions arise when
money like this is to be spent by a
student society for the purpose of
getting more usable space. The
more relevant ones do require
discussion.
It is the end of term again, and
soon we will all be in the throes of
final exams, nasty words in any
language. Even though we didn't
do nearly as much work as we we're
supposed to during the term, we
haven't been wasting our time. We
have managed to put out three good
issues of that wonderful icon of the
journalistic world, the Iron
Warrior. Some said it couldn't be
done, that it would never fly, but
we did it anyway.
We would like to especially thank
the directors of this publication for
basically beil)g there whenever we
needed them. Tom Lee deserves a
knighthood for getting this thing
typed in every time, and layout sure
went a lot smoother with Lynda
Wilson around. We also shouldn't
forget James V. Abraham, who
went to a lot of effort to convince
people to give us their money, and
Mike McKechnie was a lifesaver in
the photo department. No
newspaper should be without a
Paul Arthurs. They can be quite
handy for filling those last little
blank spaces with something useful
(gads, this thing is getting syrupy).
We would also like to thank
everybody who wrote for the
Warrior this term. They are the
people who made the thing worth
reading. And then there's the layout
people. The free pizza and beer is
small recompense for how good
they made this paper look.
The second level proposal would
be next to impossible to license for
Thursdays and Fridays whereas the
extension would not affect the
present license.
Currently there is no facility,
similar to the Hagey Hall Lounge or
the Psych Lounge, within
engineering to provide a space for
events such as class parties or
receptions. The extension to
POETS would be a carpeted
lounge, lower than the tiled floor
and it' would provide a better
atmosphere for reception-type
events. It would also lead to more
after-hours use of POETS.
Although the report on the West
Indies in last month's Iron Warrior
contained some valid points and
was probably well-meant, there
were many discrepancies. I
learned from one of the writers
that most of the information was
obtained from a student who
attended university in Trinidad ten
'years ago. More effort should
have been made to get .up-to-date
facts as there are Trinidadian
students on campus.
A great emphasis is placed on
higher education in Trinidad.
However, our lone University
can't accommodate everyone and
does not offer certain specialized
areas of study. As a result, West
Indian students are forced to go
abroad and pay ridiculously high
fees for a degree, which we would
not do if we really were not
"career oriented" as was implied.
True, some West Indian islands
experience political instability but
this is not generally the case
throughout the region. In fact
Trinidad has had the same
government for the past thirty
years.
It is a pity that what could have
been a decent article was tainted by
using obsolete information.
Helen McKnight
The price is high, but it is the
least expensive option when one
considers the effective space gain.
Valid questions are, "Why should
we foot the entire bill?" and "What
guarantees do we get with it?"
The space that EngSoc uses right
now is allocated to the Dean of
Engineering, consequently, he
has allocated it to us. Any monies
we invest in this space may benefit
us, but there is nothing to say that if
the space is deemed absolutely
essential to something else, that it
will not be taken away. This is the
trade off for our "rent-free" space.
However, if we invest money for
modifications, we, in effect, make a
donation to the University, and it
does the give the administration an
obligation to guarantee us the
space. Fed Hall, the CC and the Ice
Fields are other "donations to the
University" by the Feds (that's us
too) and the POETS extension isjn
the same spirit; our investment in
the University gives us some
control over this space.
It is a bold step for undergrads to
be financing their own space,
especially when it is for an area that
serves not only as a study area but
also as a lounge and a pub.
Although we should put up most of
D.L. Hanel wrote (May, 1986)
that science and evolution attempt
to provide model s which consi. -
tently explain the wonders of the
.universe and the development of
life on earth, respectively.
Firstly, evolution cannot account
for man's spirit, which enables
man to have charity and faith, and
to reason, design, etc.
Consequently, evolution does not
even attempt to explain the
differences between man and
as, for example, indicated
by man's space program 10
comparison with the performance
of apes.
The development of plant and
animal life cannot be explained by
evolution consistently, for lineages
of evolution are made up
arbitraril y by similarity of fossilled
the money for this venture,
additional funding may come from
other sources as the building does
not actually belong to us.
Other options? The plan called for
several phases to completion. To
date, a mix of Phases 1,2 and 4
have been completed. The POETS
expansion was never considered in
the original plan, but neither was
the awkward and uncomfortable
shape of the "new" POETS.
Another phase to connect the
second floor hallway with the upper
lounge was proposed, but problems
with existing columns were not
considered, so the completion of
this level would be more costly and
less attractive than initially planned.
The "temporary offices" in the
second floor hallway were also
never in the ESSE plan (or
anyone's plan really).
The purpose of this space
expansion project is to make
POETS larger and more usable. We
will pay for a significant portion of
it, but we will have to find sources
from funding from other areas.
Space costs money, and this seems
like the best return for our
investment at this stage in the plan.


bones only, because it is
impossible to ever know which
lifcform. have interbred and
reproduced in a distant past.
That science docs not attempt to
explain consistently the wonders
of the universe is obviou,. since
the laws of science arc based on
kinks and are self-contradictory.
One of the great paradoxes of
science is the electromagnetic
theory and quantum physics;
another is the mobility of relativity
and the fixity of mechanics.
As science flounders even in
explaining the current world, one
may also question the vast ages
provided by science for both the
universe and life on earth.
1. Schroeder
Civ.Eng.
team 2000
HAIR DESIGN
118 King St North Waterloo
FREE Shampoo & ,Condi,tioner
When you Bnng thIS Ad.
Students
Only
$2.00 Off $20.
00
For
Haircuts For: Perms Streaks
(Includes cut and blow dry)
Any evening by appointment
Tues: Fri. 8:.30 . 5:00 885-5050 S8t. 8:30 . 2:00
4 . IRON WARRIOR July 1986
POINT
COUNTERPOINT
Buying Our Own Computers
by D. Thompson
Computer fees will soon be a
thing of the past. That's good, but -
we are still left with the problem of
finding enough money to support
the computing facilities that we
need for our education. The
traditional solution to underfunding
is to try .to pressure government
into providing more money, but the
fact is that recent governments have
a dismal record of supporting
higher education, and they can be
relied upon to be of little help. We
will have to find some other way of
providing for our education, and it
is not going to get any easier.
One solution is to have every
engineering student coming into
first year buy a microcomputer. If
every student had their own micro,
a large portion of undergraduate
computing costs would be removed
from the university budget, freeing
the money to be used elsewhere.
For example, many courses use
student CMS. These courses would
be done instead on the students'
own virtually eliminating
the need for student CMS, freeing
up the mainframes for use in
research and for administrative
tasks. The overhead for running
such courses would also be
considerably reduced, because all
the student accounts would no
longer need to be set up and
maintained.
The number of terminals that
have to maintained on campus
would also be reduced, because
students could do most of their
work at home. This also helps two
problems that the university has,
reducing the maintenance costs
because there will be fewer
terminals, and also freeing up space
to be used for labs or graduate
student offices. We're all familiar
with the tight space constraints that
the university has, at least until the
new Davis Building opens,
requiring the use of portables and
the closing off of hallways. Fewer
on-campus terminals would help
alleviate this problem.
If the standard microcomputers
chosen are IBM-PC-compatible,
they could easily be used with the
existing W A TST AR network,
allowing access to the Sytek (Sytek
is a communications network that
ties together all the major computer
systems on campus) network as
well. This would provide each
student with access to every
machine on campus, allowing
access to the Sytek network as
well.
There are other advantages to the
students, besides the administrative
and maintenance savings for the
University. If each student had
their own microcomputer, it would
be with them all the way through
their university careers. By the
time the reached raduation, each
student will have accumulated an
impressi ve array of software, for
both personal use and solving
technical problems.
The problem with the way things
are now is that at the end of every
term, all the software we have been
using or have written disappears.
There are also tools available to us
here that we cannot use in industry,
simply because they do not exist
outside the University computers.
If every student had their own
microcomputer, most of the
software that they learn to use
would stick with them, both
through university, and out into the
real world. Also, software written
for some courses often comes in
handy in a later course, and
students would still have the actual
program available to them, instead
of just the listing.
This approach to doing things
would cut down a lot on redundant
tasks. Often, students have ways
of customizing their accounts to
save time and make things easier
for themselves. Without their own
microcomputers, this becomes a
waste of time because everything
they've done at the end
of the term, and is not there when
the student returns to campus.
Another advantage is that
students could do their own
resumes and keep them on file all
the time. This cuts down a lot on
the amount of the work that
students would have to do when
they come back from a work term.
Preparing a resume for interviews
would be the work of only an hour,
tops, instead of an afternoon,
minimum.
A personal computer would also
make it much easier for students to
prepare reports and essays.
Students would no longer be
dependent on finding a word
processor or typist at work to do
work reports, and lab reports
would be a lot easier to do.
Basically, they would allow
students to project a more
professional image while still being
easier than the way they do things
now.
Computer fees will soon be a
thing of the past, but that will still
leave us with the problem of
underfunding for our education.
Since we cannot rely on the
government to be of much help, we
are going to have to
shoulder more of the financial
responsibility for our own
education. The major problem with
computer fees is that we did not see
any return for our investment. By
buying our own microcomputers
coming into our first year, we
would be lifting some of the
financial burden from the
University, and doing it in a way
that provides us with many other
direct advantages.
by DougT.
Several universities, such as
McMaster and Queen's, already
force - sorry, strongly recommend
that - their engineering students buy
their own computers, and it is being
considered at most other
universities, including Waterloo.
With the fall of computer fees there
is going to be even more pressure
on Waterloo to take such a step, but
it would definitely be a step in the
wrong direction. Many would
argue that if every student had their
own computer, it would help
alleviate the University'S chronic
underfunding problems. This is
wrong both in the short term and
long term.
First, the simple fact is that if
students were made to buy their
own computers, many students
would not be able to come to
Waterloo because they could not
-afford it. Computers are always
coming down in cost, but we have
got to be talking at least a thousand
dollars to get something of
sufficient power to be useful, even
taking into account the bulk
discount that students would -
probably get though the University.
Some students are already
financially strapped when they start
university. Their parents cannot
support them,. and they have not
had time yet to build up some
savings with work term earnings.
Loans are a popular solution, but it
will likely be difficult to convince
aSAP to come through with
enough money to buy a computer,
as well as paying tuition and living
expenses.
What about students who already
have their own computers, but are
not compatible with the software
provided for the chosen standard
computer? They will find
themselves in the position of
owning a computer which is
perfectly capable of handling all
their assignments, but they won't
be able to use the standard software
provided for other students with the
standard machine. They will have a
perfectly good machine which they
will have to sell if they want to be
able to take advantage of the same
resources as their peers.
Not everybody even wants to
have a microcomputer at home.
Some of us spend enough time
-arguing with "labour - saving
devices" at school and work, and
the last thing we want to see when
we get home is another one. There
is also the problem of co-op
students having the tendency of
moving every four months. A
computer is just another piece of
fragile equipment to cart back and
forth every four months.
Every student having their own
computer is not even going to save
the University any money. In fact,
it is going to cost even more. Not
only will the University have to
provide all the current facilities, but
it will also have to provide
workstations of the standard
machine to allow students to work
at school and also to demonstrate
assignments. This extra cost would
be reduced somewhat by choosing
as the standard computer a machine
compatible with the existing
Watstar network, but individual
computers will not necessarily
allow the University to reduce the
amount of computing facilities it
needs to provide.
Underfunding of university
education is a major problem that is
going to have to be solved one way
or another, especially now that
computer fees have been ruled
illegal by the government Students
should expect to pay more for their
education, to take a little more of
the responsibility themselves, but
only if it's going to help solve
underfunding and not increase it.
The is also going to
have to come to some kind- 0
decision about what computer we
should all buy in first year. This is
not going to be as easy as choosing
a textbook, because available
computer systems are still evolving
rather rapidly. Whichever
computer is chosen, it will probably
be obsolete within a few years.
This means that the University
will have to periodically change
the computer it has chosel1 as
the standard machine. No matter .
how much attention is given to
compatibility, the transitions are
still going to be difficult, and there
are going to be different machines
running around on campus at the
same time. Since one of the driving
reasons to get students to buy their
own computers is to try and keep
up with new technology, these
changes of system could
conceivably occur fairly often.
Making all engineering students
buy their own computers upon
coming into first year would be a
mistake. The major reason is that
some students simply could not
afford to come here if that were a
prerequisite. Such a step would
make Waterloo seem even more like
an elitist school, and reduce our
accessibility. We are going to have
to do something about
underfunding, but let's do
something that will actually help
solve the problem. Forcing all
students to buy their own
computers is not the way to go.
July 1986 IRON WARRIOR 5
Religion - Friend or Foe?
by Dave Whitehead
Religion is a marvellous topic for
discussion. No other topic exists
. with as many different opinions.
For proof of this, make a comment
concerning religion within any
gathering. I guarantee that someone
within earshot has a different
opinion.
A dictionary definition is
probably more eloquent but, for the
purpose of this article, religion shall
be defmed as an individual's beliefs
and mode of worship concerning
the powers of the universe.
Religion is an individual belief.
Thus religion should not be a
governed body. Nobody can say
whose beliefs are correct; I know I
can't. So why do we have
organized religion? What purpose
does it serve?
Religion has existed since ancient
times, long before I was born.
Since the ancient civilizations had
no control over the world around
them, the.y turned to more powerful
spirits to help them. As tribes grew
in size, so did their need to control
the world around them. Not
everyone could afford to devote
their time to appeasing unruly
spirits and so a religious leader was
chosen to do this job. Organized
religion was created.
Once religion was organized, it
became a ruling body. Who wants
to upset a more powerful entity?
Religion established sets of rules
. for behaviour, the moral code of a
society. Since ancient times, the
pro's of this argument have been
true. Religion provides a governing
body and establishes a moral code
for a society. This is great; it is
much easier to play a game once
one knows all the rules.
Religions were formed all over
the world. The most amazing thing
about this is that the very basic
moral codes upon which religions
are based are similiar for all
religions. As the populations grew
the religions grew with them,
becoming more and more complex.
The trouble began when
civilizations began to intermingle .
Different religions just don't agree
with each other. Each separate
religion felt the other group was
wrong, offended their gods and
should be removed in order to
appease the gods. This polarized
religions, amplifying the situation.
What has all this got to do with
the modern world and modern
religion? Actually, quite a lot. Sure,
you haven't gone out slaughtering
heathens in the last couple of
weeks. However, I'm sure you
aren't too pleased when religious
fanatics bomb a plane.
Western religions tend to believe
more in quiet action of late. The
Pope even visited England.
However, religion has a history of
bloodshed and violence dating from
the Crusades, to Ireland and
Lebanon. Not bad for an institution
based. on rules like "Love thy
Neighbour" .
Western religions base them-
selves on a wonderful book called
The Bible. Sure, this isn't exactly
revealing news. However, when
one reads this book one finds many
contradictions and holes in it This
can be passed off as being the result
of its age (mine was printed 10
years ago) and the way the infor-
mation was gathered. However for
a book that says that all men are
created equal, it is amazingly sexist.
The women in the book tend to
spend most of their time
"begetting". This has tended to
make the religions and subse-
quently society itself sexist, a
problem which only in recent
history is beginning to be solved.
It is essential for anything based
on personal beliefs to have freedom
of choice. Religions do not provide
such an opportunity. A person is
born into a faith. Generally, by the
time a person is old enough to make
a decision for themselves they have
already been established in their
religion of birth. I was born into the
Win Fame and Fortune - be a part of EngSoc
Church of England and personally,
I would prefer to be ancient Greek.
That group had a blast with their
religion. Maybe the best way to
handle the situation would be to
give a general introduction to
religion until a person is about
twelve or thirteen and then let them
specialize in whatever religion they
like.
Another interesting fact
concerning religions is the ease in
which they are formed. Two great
examples of this are the Church of
Scientology and the Church of
England. The Church of
Scientology was formed by L. Ron
Hubbard on a bet. The Church of
England, on the other hand, was
formed so an English king (I think
it was Henry VITI, but don't quote
me on that) could get a divorce.
These are wonderful bases for
. religions.
Western religions have some
interesting interpretations of the
Good Book. A sixteenth century
Pope combined his interpretation
with a decline in the fishing
. industry to decree that fish must be
eaten on Friday. Amazing. The
Catholics have somehow got a
ruling of no birth .control out of the
Good Book; where it says that I'll
never know.
The bit that really amazes me is
the idea of confession. Now, this is
a wonderful idea. When you
commit a terrible sin, you confess it
to a priest. This priest now gives
you a penance to do and you are
absolved of all guilt. I can just see a
mass murderer in Church saying,
"Oh well, I shot four or five people
yesterday," being told to say three
"Hail Mary's" and leaving, ab-
solved of all guilt. Now, personally
I don't want to meet this guy
if/when I get to heaven.
So, what conclusions can be
drawn from all this? Good
question. Religions provide a ruling
body and a moral code for all to
follow. They also promote conflict,
sexism, take away individual
beliefs, and have some strange and
doubtful rules. Two conclusions
can be drawn. The first is that
organized religion, although a
wonderful source of morals, must
always be examined with respect to
one's personal beliefs.
The second conclusion is that my
original theory is true. Religion is a
marvellous topic for discussion.
After all, many of you are in
disagreement with me and I
managed to write three pages on a
topic I professed to knowiB8
nothing about, when I started
writing this article, two and a half
hours ago. Good night, and may
your god go with you!
"EXPERIENCE OUR EXPERIENCE"
RIORDAN
~ ~
~ 1 @ off ALL VoitRacquets
Great savings on all other brands
such as Dunlop, Siazenger, Wilson
24 hr restringing
Squash balls $2.25 each
University Shops Plaza
180 Univetllity twe.w.
wa.rtoo, OrII,ario
N2L 39
(519) 886-0711
'.
6 IRON WARRIOR
July 1986
IW Road Tests HP Lap Tops
by Jeff Wood
Have you ever wondered what
was in those little black vinyl cases
the 3A Mechanical class (and 600
other students in classes ranging
from Rec to Math) have been
carrying around?
The Lap Portables are being used
this term as an experiment by the
department of Mechanical
Engineering. The purpose of the
experiment, from what I can see, is
to evaluate a portable computer as a
teaching tool, and to evaluate the
Hewlett Packard version as a
candidate for the time when all first
year engineers will be required to-
buy their own computer. Rumour
has it that this could be as early as
the fall of '88.
This four-month trial was also an
evaluation period for HP, who are
still in the market research phase of
development of their entry into the
portable market. A representative
from HP came to Waterloo recently
for a round table discussion with a
handful of 'Guinea Pigs' and the
two professors, Dr.Davidson and
Dr.Sullivan, who have been using
the computers for Numerical
Analysis and Thermodynamics II
respectively. There were a number
of points, both good and bad, to
come out of the discussion.
First, some basics of the
computer. The version of the
computer given to us for the term
had a 24x80 character LCD screen
with a 3: 1 contrast ratio, a full
typwriter keyboard with eight
function keys and a total of 512K
of internal memory. More
importantly, from a student's point
of view, it was small enough to fit
into the average-sized backpack
with a clipboard or even a small
binder if you left the carrying case
at home; it was light enough to
carry to Sunnydale without having
to change hands too many times;
and it withstood 10 G's in the drop
test so you didn't have to treat it
like a carton of eggs. In fact the
only thing we had to worry about
was the $250 deductible insurance
if we lost them or threw them out a
second-storey window.
Unfortunately, of the points
brought up in the meeting, the
negative comments seemed to
outnumber the positive ones. The
most notable problem with these
machines was the lack of software.
When we first received the
computers, we had an outdated
version of Watcom Fortran and
Basic which had been converted to
run on the HP's. Although we
downloaded the software from an
480 Albert St. Parkdale Plaza ,(Next to Zehr's) 7 .... 9555
355 Em st. W. Maple Hili Plaza
(Beside Kentucky Fried Chicken) ..... 1340
LAUNlROMAT AN)
DRV SERVICE
ALL lJRVCLEANING
Monday to Sunday
Everyday - 25% Off All
Drycleaning
(Limited time only)
ALTERATIONS
REPAIRS
SHOE REPAIRS
"
IBM PC, none of the software
would run on the HP because of the
differences in the BIOS used in the
two machines. This also meant that
any software you may have for a
PC would not run on the portables.
As the term progressed,
more was gradually made available
to us. We were given WP (a word
processor), Pascal and a form of
database manager called Watfile.
What was even better, however,
was the fact that documentation for
all these wonderful things started to
surface. It made trying to do things
like editing a file so much easier
when you knew what the
commands were.
The software isn't HP's problem,
and you can't really blame
W A TCOM either. Who else could
you get to change the IBM software
for us without it costing an arm
and a leg? There were only a few
physical restrictions to the machines
themselves, for all of which HP
had a solution (for the appropriate
number of dollars). The first
problem was memory size. 512K
sounds like it should be more than
enough, but when you have to store
two languages on top of the
program you write, it doesn't take
long to fill. In fact, you couldn't
store both BASIC and FORTRAN
at the same time. This meant that
you had to do one assignment in
one language, go to school, print it
off, load the other language, and
then do that assignment. For this,
there were two solutions. The first
was a simple expansion from 512K
to 2M of memory. The second was
even better, a portable mass storage
unit that uses 3 112 inch diskettes to
the tune of far too many dollars to
mention here. It should be noted,
however, that once you own your
portable disk drive, you can also
hook anyone of the HP-41C family
to it as well. In fact you can even
hook your calculator directly into
your computer: I don't know why
you would, but you can.
The second drawback to these
machines was the lack of means to
sa ve data on something other than
our JANET accounts at school.
Again, the portable disk drive
would fix that, but HP is the only
company to put out a portable that
doesn't have at least one drive built
into it. This would enable you to
put all of your programs on
diskette, and instead of having to
carry your computer with you
everywhere, you could simply put
your programs and data on diskette
and slip it into your pocket
The final gripes are not quite as
serious as the first two but they do
deserve a mention here. First of all,
the screen. The one really true
picture in the photo essay is the
shaving mirror. Apparently, HP
. has an 8: 1 screen that would make
things a bit easier on the eyes, but
the 3: I screen that we have now can
only be seen at certain angles
making it impossible for someone
to look over your shoulder and see
anything. Secondly, for those who
want to spend a little more time and
work with the 'insides' of the
computers, there was no technical
informati"on provided in the
owner's manual
There, I'm finished griping. Now
I'll tell what the majority of the
class liked about them.
For anyone who doesn't own or
have the use of a computer at home,
the portables were a Godsend.
There were many horror stories
from previous years' students of
spending long nights at school, first
waiting for a computer and then
doing the assignment. Not us.
Although the portability was nice (I
typed a good portion of this article
sitting out in the sun leaning against
EL) (after the deadline - ed.), just
being able to do an assignment at
home was a definite plus. That's
only one point, but if you think
about the amount of time you
probably already spend in a
computer lab, you'll appreciate
what I mean.
Now, what would 'you pay for
this amazing machine? Don't
answer. If you act now ... Actually,
HP gets to claim $6500 on their tax
write-off, but the approximate list
price is reported to be around
$4500 . . For what you get at the
moment, I don't think it's worth it
from an engineering point of view.
For the travelling salesman who
needs to access large amounts of
data on the road, it's an ideal tool,
but it should still have a built-in
disk drive.
I think: I should say in closing
that I didn't mean to sound as
facetious as I'm sure many people
will think I have been. They are
good machines, but they are
relatively new and need time to
develop some more before they can
be truly useful as an engineering
tooL Give them a couple of years.
See page 15 for photo esSilY
July 1986
IRON WARRIOR 7
The Ethics of Fusion
by Shayne Smith
THE POLITICS OF
FUSION
To a great extent, the success of
any long term research effort is
dependent upon the current political
climate. It is no secret that long-
term research projects without
shorter term benefits are the first to
suffer as a result of any budget cuts
or government cost-cutting
measures.
Politicians tend to maintain a
"term-of-office" timeframe which
is, at best, only five years. It is
generally perceived that the voters
must see results within this short
time in order for support to
continue. As engineers, especially
with developments such as fusion,
we may not see a particular concept
reach fruition for several decades.
Many years of research, design and
development are required to support
any commercial technical activity.
In Canada, the Department of
Energy, Mines, and Resources is
the chief funding branch for
government-sponsored research
and development. For the current
fiscal year, the total departmental
budget is approximately $93 million
eM) compared to the $177 M last
year. Over 77% of our current
budget will be spent on alternate
energy activities. Fusion research
has been allotted $8 M of this to
support the activities of the
Canadian Fusion Fuels Technology
Project (administered by Ontario
Hydro - $2 M) and the Tokamak de
Varennes Project (undertaken by
Hydro Quebec - $6 M).
To contrast these numbers with
the U.S., $333 M will be spent on
their magnetic fusion program
alone, which in itself represents a
cut of $50 M from last year. The
Inertial Confinement Program was
slaughtered with a cut of $133 M,
taking it to only $22 M this for this
year. the U.S. Department of
Energy weapons budget, however,
was asked to restrain growth to
3%. It is expected that this money,
along with the ever-plentiful monies
of the U.S. Department of Defense
will effectively buoy up the Inertia)
Confinement Program.
In his speech dated March 23,
1983, Ronald Reagan announced
his intent to develop the Strategic
Defence Initiative (More commonly
known as the "Star Wars"
program). The effects, as we have
seen, have been dramatic. The lure
of plentiful funds has enticed many
scientists and academics to leave
their institutions (including
Waterloo) to support the
development of the U.S. military
. program.
It is speculated that this "defense"
program involves inertial fusion
research to some extent. The
applications for generating high
energy particle and laser beams are
very apparent. This is frustrating,in
that many of the developments and
achievements associated with
inertial fusion remain blanketed
with secrecy and strictly classified.
The Future
The program is funded by
Ontario Hydra, Atomic Energy of
Canada Ltd., and the Province of
Ontario. Within the last four years,
the CFFfP has established itself as
an international participant in the
fusion effort. Future plans include
the continuing development of the
five main technological areas,
participation in several upcoming
design studies, continued support
of overseas attachments, and
encouragement in overall Canadian
participation in research.
fusion, as compared to advanced
fission, requires that we take a
careful look at what each can offer.
As far as the benefits of fusion are
concerned, I can offer some
information. The following is a list
of expected benefits of fusion over
fission.
1) Larger Power Yield: About
8-10 times more energy is liberated
by the fusion process than by the
fission process for the same amount
of fuel.
2) Availability of Fuel:
Deuterium is available with little
trouble from water, which is
essentially inexhaustible. Normal
water contains 143 ppm of D
2
0.
Tritium can be produced from the
irradiation of deuterium or lithium.
j It is currently produced as an
un wanted by-product in our
CANDU generating stations.
3) Commercial spinoffs:
The commercial viability of _____________ J Fusion reactors will create the very
Toroidal Field Coil Systems hl'gh temperatures needed + t I
fusion may very well take several lor S ee
decades to be established. production and to produce
Regardless of how optimistic the commercial quantities of hydrogen
scientific community is now, the THE ETHICS OF gas to substitute our dwindling
possibility always exists that FUSION natural gas reserves.
fusion, as an industry, may never 4) Environmental Effects:
materialize. The horror stories about the Fusion devices will produce fewer
The fIrst exciting milestone to be
reached is the modelling of the
"break-even" condition. The
Lawson Criterion has still to be met
by a single machine. Once this has
been achieved, current machines
will be upgraded to handle the
deuterium-tritium fuel mix. Of the
four leading projects in the world
(TFTR, JET, JT-60, T-15) none
are currently equipped for tritium
which is an essential ingredient in
the achievement of true
"break-even". Tritium upgrading is
scheduled for J.ET and TFTR at the
end of the decade and will represent
a significant step forward.
The "second and third
generation" of Engineering Test
Reactors look very promising.
These "proQf of principle"
machines will establish the
feasibility of fusion and will attempt
to model some aspects of a
commercial faciIi ty. These
-generations include the NET (Next
European Torus) project as well as
the expected RGI international test
machine. NET is scheduled for
construction in 1992. this date is
conditional upon development of
the Compact Ignition Torus (CIT)
at Princeton University (slated for
1990-1994) which will help
establish some of the NET
operating parameters.
The effort in Canada, although
comparatively small, includes the
Canadian Fusion Fuels Technology
Project established in 1982 to
secure for Canada a position in the
fusion development scene. The
CFFTP is focussed on five main
technological areas: tritium
handling, triti.um breeder blanket,
materials, safety and environment,
and transfer to Canadian industry.
nuclear industry prompt one to radioactive by-products and will not
question whether or not the release chemical contaminants.
development of advanced Irradiated wastes will have half-
technologie will succeed in lives considerable shorter ' than
creating new hazards and new those produced in the
dangers for mankind. Although process. Although a radiation
many cases are essentially related to hazard does exist, it is currently
mismanagement, they are generally estimated that it will be several
perceived by the public as a futher orders of magnitudes less than
damnation of our "meddling with conventiona1 nuclear systems.
science" and specifically on the 5) Criticality: Th re i no sllch
nuclear industry. thing as a melt-down for a fusion
Regardless of how sound any
given technology may be, it is
important to remember that it win
be used and misused by those in
industry. As humans, we will
always be imperfect, and
ineffecien tt a'nd forgetful.
Murphy's Laws have taught us to
be wary. So it goes.
I'm not using this line of thought
to criticize or discredit the nuclear
industry. I'm doing it to make you
think about fusion, now that you
know a little bit about it. With
fusion, we are very close to the
same stage that fIssion technology
was back in 1942, with the
achievement of uranium fission in a
crude graphite pile under a Chicago
football stadium.
Fusion, and everything it implies
is in its infancy. There are many
questions: will its development
better mankind, or create more
dangerous problems? Advanced
fission fuel-cycle systems looke
promising, and might prove
sufficient fOI another couple of
hundred years.
I don't pretend to have the correct
answers to these questions. I care a
lot about the future and the
developments which affect it most.
To assess the long-term impacts of
reactor. The plasma does not
contain enough heat energy to melt
its container. Instead, the gas.
would coo) down and the process
will stop instantly.
6) Direct Conversion: Using
fusion techniques, it should become
possible to produce electricity by
direct conversion technology which
is 'more efficient.
7) No , Fission Products:
Fusion systems do not generate the
megacuries of nuclear wastes
and/or produce critical problems of
afterheat removal that fission
systems do.
8) No Weapons by.Products:
The by-products of magnetic fusion
will be unsuitable for weapon
purpOses.
As engineers,we have a respon-
sibility to the public and to the
environment. Whether you have a
guilty conscienee or not, your,
actions must be accountable.
Altruism aside, I think we owe it to
ourselves not to screw up the world
any more than it already is. In any
technology that you become
in.vol ved with, as scientists, as
engineers, as physicists, it is
to be aware of the
implications of yOur work.

Among other things, it's
important to be able to sleep at
night.
8 IRON WARRIOR July 1986
The Problem with Flight 51-L
by Mark St. Pierre
On February 3, 1986, President
Reagan ordered a commission to
the tragedy which had
occurred over the coast of Florida
six days earlier. This Commission
comprised people who have played
a large role in building the United
States space program, including
America's most famous test pilot,
NASA's first female astronaut, and
the first man to walk on the moon.
Months of investigation, testimony,
and analysis of telemetry data and
stacks of photographs documenting
the disaster were brought together
in a 256-page report, on which this
article has been based.
On November 20th, 1973,
Morton Thiokol Inc. was selected
by NASA to design and build the
largest solid rocket booster (SRB)
ever produced in the United States.
This could perhaps be regarded as
the starting date for the chain of
events which led to the shuttle
failure.
Aerojet Solid Propulsion Co .. ,
Lockheed Propulsion Co., and
United Technologies were also in
the bidding for the SRB contract.
However, as is the case in many
job contracts, the company with the
lowest bid received the go-ahead. In
fact, NASA also gave Morton
Thiokol's joint design "special
mention".
In the Thiokol design, the SRB's
are assembled from four segments
during a stacking operation at the
Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
A "field joint", consisting of two
O-rings 0.28 inches in diameter, is
made where the segments are joined
(see diagram). Initial compression
of the O-rings is determined by the
width of the gap between the "tang"
of the upper rocket casing and the
"clevis" formed by the lower
casing. These O-rings were
designed in the belief that they
would never be affected by the hot
gases from the motor (the SRB is a
rocket in which a solid, rubbery
propellant is burned: this reaction
cannot be stopped after ignition).
Tests and inspections of the field
joints flown on shuttle flights
showed, however, that the O-rings
were being damaged, and even
burned. The reaction of both NASA
and Morton Thiokol was to increase
the level of damage to the O-rings
that qualified as "acceptable".
In 1977, a hydroburst test (in
which the steel casings were filled
with water at 1500 psi in a strength
test) showed the casings to be
adequate. However, the test results
also showed that the tang and the
inside clevis bent away from each
other, contrary to design
predictions. A decrease in pressure
on the O-ring had occurred, which
was not what the engineers had
expected .. Later, Thiokol personnel
concluded that further tests were
unnecessary, because they
"believed the tests did not prove
that joint rotation would cause
Segment Tang
Leak Test Port
Plug and Packing
Grease Bead
Pin
Retainer Cli p
Pin
Retai ner Band I
Clevis Pin
Segment CleviS
significant problems". A Marshall
Space Flight Centre engineer
submitted a report on the
hydroburst test and concluded that
not changing the Thiokol design
would be "unacceptable". Seeing
this, the chief of the Solid Rocket
Motor branch at Marshall sent a
memo to his superior emphasizing
the need to redesign the joint. A
year passed, and no reply was
made, so the chief wrote a second
memo strenuously objecting to
Thiokol's design. In this second
memo, he stated that "the clevis
joint secondary O-ring seal has
been verified by tests to be
unsatisfactory." No reply to this
memo was ever made, either.
In November of 1981, the second
test flight of the Space Shuttle
Columbia was executed
successfully. Upon subsequent
inspection of the SRB field joints
(the SRB separates from the shuttle
two minutes and 12 seconds after
launch, and is recovered from the
Atlantic Ocean and refurbished to
be used on another flight), it was
noticed that the primary O-rings had
been eroded by hot gases. This was
not reported to the Flight Readiness
Review Panel for the next Shuttle
flight in March 1982.
In the summer of 1982,
management personnel at the
Marshall Space Flight Centre
concluded that the secondary O-ring
would be considered no longer
functional if joint rotation occurred
after only 40% of operation
pressure had been reached after
ignition. The joints were classified
as "Criticality 1", which applies to
components of the shuttle that are
not redundant, and whose
malfunction would cause a
catastrophic failure. After a shuttle
flight in February 1984, Mortron
Propellant
Secondary
a Ring
Propellant
Thiokol submitted a report to
Marshall stating that joint rotation
measured in tests indicated that the
secondary O-ring would maintain
its seal, and showed confidence that
the O-ring was in fact an adequate
backup device.
A year before the Challenger
explosion, a shuttle took off from
Kennedy Space Centre, and joint
erosion occurred in both solid
boosters. (Two types of erosion
can occur: impingement, where the
O-ring has seated and a jet of hot
gases removes a portion from it;
and blow-by, which occurs when
the O-ring is improperly seated and
the edge is eroded as hot gases flow
around it.) In this instance, the
ambient temperature at launch was
53 OF and was the lowest ever
experienced.
As a result of this, Morton
Thiokol performed a series of
resiliency tests on the O-rings at
varying temperatures. They
simulated the compression and
subsequent casing expansion
around the field joint. Their
findings were as follows: "at
100F, the O-ring maintained
contact (with its seat); At 75F, the
O-ring lost contact for 2.4 seconds;
at 50F, the O-ring did not
re-establish contact in ten minutes,
at which time the test was
terminated." That August (1985),
Thiokol submitted a report to
NASA detailing concepts and
redesigns that would solve the SRB
sealing problems. In October of that
year, Morton Thiokol engineers
sent two memos to their
management, complaining about the
lack of cooperation they were
receiving while designing and
testing the new SRB joints. One
memo actually began with the word
"HELP!". The author of that memo
later told fellow engineers at
Thiokol that he was so concerned
about the O-ring problem that he
felt that they should not ship any
more SRB motors to NASA until
the problem was solved.
At 2:00 pm on 27 January, less
than 24 hours before the proposed
Challenger flight, weather forecasts
predicted that the launch window
would be clear but the temperature
would be in the low twenties for
eleven hours through the night. A
teleconference was set up between
Thiokol engineers and personnel at
Marshall and Kennedy. The
Thiokol engineers simply stated that
they would not recommend
launching below 53F.
Later, at a meeting between
management and engineers at
Thiokol, two engineers rose from
their places and walked to the head
of the table. They began sketching
diagrams to illustrate their
concerns, but gave up when it
became apparent that no one was
listening. That night, Thiokol
management assured NASA that
they had reassessed the problem
and found that, although
temperature effects were a concern,
Morton Thiokol would give the
go-ahead for the launch.
The next morning was January
28th, 1986.
July 1986 IRON WARRIOR
9
Underfunding Conference A Success
by Peter Stubley
The University of Waterloo
Federation of Students hosted a
conference to discuss the under-
funding issue on the weekend of
July 11-13. Attending the
conference were students from
York, Western, Toronto, and
Queen's (to name a few), and
representatives from several
provincial and federal groups.
According to the President of the
Ontario Federation of University
Faculty Associations, "never has
there been a greater need for
universities and the government to
work together." Dr. Starkey
pointed out, however, that federal
transfer payments to Ontario will
only exist in the form of tax credits
by the mid-1990's, with no real
money changing hands - and that
won't help universities. "How can
we comp.ete with our major trading
partners If the Feds are going to tie
our hands behind our backs?",
asked Starkey.
Dr. Starkey went on to say that
the long term results of the
underfunding are well known:
crowding, limited access to libraries
and resources, and faculty talents
and time are stretched thinly. "This
is a shared problem between
students, professors, high school
teachers, etc. We have got to break
down barriers and present a
common front, such as this
conference. We also have to
improve the image of universities.
Many people think that universities
are glorified high schools, and
they're not. We've got to explain to
the people on the streets that the
universities are not consumers, but
generators of wealth. We must also
F'lgure 1
INDEX OF' EXPENDITURES PER CLIENT SERVED IN ONTARIO
1977-78 to 1984- 85
(In Constant Dollars)
'20
liD

e
,.
..... .
........ "'-
.................... ........... Adult Off.nd .....
""
]
S
00
..
" ::""- .................. . .... .
...... -- ....... .
-, ................ .... ........... : ....... .
....
.....
"
..
-0
.E
, ... ,
---
, ----------------- ,
Untv.,..tll
00 '--
---. - coli;A.-;- --..
__
71-7. 7.-1. 71-eo
emphasize to politicians the central
nature of the universities. If we are
going to compete in trade, give
us the tools."
Dr. Sayers, of the Council ' of
Ontario Universities, feels that the
provincial government is not
addressing the problem with their
current approach to funding.
"Targeted funding", or funding for
specific projects (like the Davis
Computer Research Building)
"represents a threat to the autonomy
and flexibility of univer itie ",
Sayers said, adding that the
universities should emphasize the
importance of base funding
(financial sup.port for operation
costs) and assist the government in
improving their understanding of
university affairs. Sayers also feels
that the Minister of Colleges and
Universities should be an advocate
for the universities in the provincial
cabinet. Until now, this has not
.' - 12
been the case, and we should not be
expecting it to happen. An advocate
of some kind is required, and
Sayers suggests corporate
executives, university alumni, and
the student body.
Matt Certosimo, representing the
Ontario Federation of Students,
brought up the issue of
accessibility. "Given that someone
has less money, they have to decide
where their budget will be cut. The
issue of quality being put up against
accessibility is where underfunding
hurts the mo t." One of the ways
universities can reduce costs is to
limit the number of students they
accept, when they feel that they can
no longer provide a quality
education to their students.
High school students do not
know about lhe underfunding
problem before they get to
university, according to Chas
Birkett, an Aurora High School
Funding
the
Future
by Ted Carlton
The "Fund the Universities, Fund
the Future" conference, held here
by the Federation of Students, was
organized to examine the question
of underfunding in Ontario
universities. Its outcome can be
said to be a recognition by all
participants that the problem is real,
that the community at large is
unaware of the problem, and that
members of the university
community must aggressively make
their case to the Ontario public if the
university system is to receive
increased levels of funding.
Some of the major difficulties in
the funding debate are defining
what underfunding is, and
determining its effects on the
quality of education. It is not
enough to point to statistics
showing Ontario tenth out of ten
provinces in per-student funding:
the connection between this statistic
and the quality of education
received by each student has to be
made. However, this connection is
very hard to quantify and may be
the reason for public indifference to
the issue. How does one measure
the loss to engineering and math
faculties when their top professors
leave Canada for the United States
because of better facilities and
bigger research budgets? How does
one measure the difference in
education received by an Arts class
of 300 people with an examination
written on a computer card versus a
class of 30 people where,
presumably, a closer student-
professor relationship exists and
higher quality work is demanded?
While the answers to these (and
many other) questions are hard to
quantify, they have the cumulative
effect of decreasing the quality of
education recei ved by all of us in
the university system. What are the
consequences of this decline? As
was pointed out by several speakers
at the conference, the economies of
the West are entering the
"information age" and Canada, in
particular, is preparing to enter into
free trade with the United States.
Our ability to compete inter-
nationally is no longer dependent
on our natural resources but on our
ability to effectively manage
technical change. This, of course,
will depend on the intellectual skills
of our university graduates. Stated
simply, our standard of living
twenty years from now will be
determined by our investment in
education today.
This is the case that must be taken
to the Ontario public, because -
unfvli.unately - the fact that our case
is strong does not in itself guarantee
action by the government. Issues
such as health care, secondary
schools, and community projects
are much more visible to the
average Ontarian and are therefore,
more attractive politically. It is our
job to make university funding as
visible and as politically important
as these other issues. Effective new
lobbying strategies must be devised
student. "It's not apathy
ignorance. We are concerned about
just getting in, not underfunding."
High school students tend to be a
lot more worried about what marks
they need to get in, without really
thinking about the cost.
"Therefore," said Birkett, "the high
school students have to be
educated. The problem is in their
future as well as your present."
Another part of the problem is the
finger -pointing runaround.
Although funding of education is
constitutionally a provincial
responsibility, the federal
government is also involved. It is
often difficult to nail down the
source of the problem, because the
federal government points at the
provinces, and the provinces point
at the federal government. Transfer
payments from the federal
government form a significant
portion of provincial support for
education, but the recent Bill C-96
drops transfer payments by $2
billion. Some provinces take
transfer payments targeted for
education and spend them on
something . else. With payments
decreasing, the provincial
governments will have to decide
whether they are going to spend the
money to have more students, or
more hospital beds.
The underfunding conference, the
first of its kind, was considered to
be a success by all the attendees.
Since the underfunding problem is
likely to get worse before it gets
better, conferences of this type,
which draw on wide bases of
support nnd expcrience, arc going
to becomc even mor' vaJuabl b th
. '
m pressuring government for more
support, and finding new solutions
to the problem.
to raise the profile of university
funding.
The most important result of the
conference was the formation of a
new coalition of student leaders,
university administrators, and
university faculty, who can together
lobby the provincial government.
With a new budget being delivered
in November and a provincial
election expected within the year,
this is a very important time to raise
student concerns. A positive and
constructive student run effort on
this issue can be very successful.
Credit should be given to Scott
Forrest for showing real leadership
on this issue in organizing this
conference. Each one of us can
have a role to play in this debate.
By raising the issue in our home
communities, by writing our MPP,
and by giving a public show of
support when it is needed, we can
all help to raise the level of funding
for Ontario universities.
10 IRON WARRIOR July 1986
Feature Interview:
by AI McGowan
Ms. MacKay-Lassonde is the
President of the APEO (Association
of Professional Engineers of
Ontario) for 1986/87. We spoke
with her in her office at Ontario
Hydro in Toronto, where she
works as the Manager of the Load
ForecastJ)epanrnent
IW: We all know the textbook
definition, but what, in your
view, does it mean to be a
professional?
M-L Well, you know that in the
"textbook definition", we, as '
engineers, have a professional duty
to consider public safety as being of
primary importance, which implies
that we should act responsibly, we
shouldn't be careless in our work -
all of those things that are spelled
out in the Code of Ethics. This
responsibility means that we can be
sued, or disciplined in some other
way, for negligence or
incompetence, as is the case with
the other professions like law and
medicine: there are cases on record
where an engineer has given
friendly advice to a neighbour, only
to be sued when (in those cases) the
design failed. Belonging to a
professional licensing body like the
APEO reflects that responsibility.
IW: What does the APEO do
to encourage professionalism
among engineers? Again,
we're more interested in your
definition.
M-L: The most important thing to
realize is that we are not there to
provide a service to engineers,
which [ think is a common
misconception concerning the
APEO. I know that many engineers
ask, "What do I get for my (yearly
membership fee of ) $65?", but this
is the wrong way to look at it. The
APEO is there to protect the public,
and that is it's primary function. It
does this by disciplining engineers
who act in an unprofessional
manner, by making sure that people
who ~ to be engineers really m
engineers, and by ensuring
technical and ethical competence in
our members.
IW: How can the Association
ensure that engineers will be
technically or ethically
competent?
M-L: That sounds like it might be a
leading question.
IW: It is.
M-L: Well, anyone who wants to
practice engineering in this province
is tested on their knowledge. of the
ethical and legal aspects of the
profession before they can be
licensed as Professional Engineers,
and that screens out those people
who have what you might call a bad
attitude toward their responsibilities
as e n ~ i n e e r s As far as the technical
side IS concerned, the candidates
for membership must have six
years of engineering-related
experience, four of which can be at
university. If they are not graduates
from a recognized engineering
program, they are tested on their
technical knowledge. Through the
CCPE (Canadian Council of
Professional Engineers) and the
Canadian Accreditation Board, we
review the curricula of all Canadian
univerSItIes to ensure that
educational standards are being
maintained. We try to reflect what
industry needs in terms of a desired
level of technical expertise.
Naturally, we can't dictate to
universities as to what they should
be teaching, but we may decide to
set certain educational standards
and then license only graduates
from universities that meet those
standards.
IW: Do you see any need for
educational changes? Are
there some skills that the
universities should be
emphasizing more than they
are?
M-L: Nothing has shown up in
terms of serious weaknesses, as far
as I know. I personally can see a
need for upgrading, or some kind
of continuing education, that would
allow engineers to keep abreast of
new technology, which is changing
all the time. It is very easy to
become obsolete in a technically
oriented profession. I suppose the
biggest problem, the thing that
employers notice the most, is
communication skills like report
writing and making presentations.
Not having these skills can hold
some engineers back in the
advancement of their careers, so
that they never reach the higher
levels of management. The result of
this is organizations where the
senior management people have no
understanding of engineering
problems, which can affect
efficiency and productivity. Now, I
wouldn't say that (Ontario) Hydro
is an example of that, because many
of our managers have an
engineering background, but I
know that there are cases like that.
IW: Now that some of the
dust has settled, what are the
main changes in the
Professional Engineers Act,
as compared with the old
Act?
M-L: The changes resulting from
Bill 123 give the Association more
"teeth" to enforce disciplinary
action. For example, if we want to
bring someone to a disciplinary
hearing, we can use their files as
evidence in the hearing, which we
couldn't do before. The Code of
Ethics is spelled out more clearly,
and the inconsistencies have been
cleared up.
IW: Has anything been
decided regarding the pro-
fessional liability insurance
requirement that arose from
Bill 123?
M-L: Our intention in bringing in
the insurance requirement was, I
think, a valid one: we were
concerned with protecting the client
from poor engineering work.
Establishing this requirement is also
part of our job of ensuring
professional attitudes, and the
responsibility that goes with those
attitudes. Unfortunately, as you
know, the timing on this couldn't
have been worse because the cost
of insurance has really gotten out of
hand. This is due to the large
lawsuits being awarded in the
United States, with the result that
insurance premiums are so high that
some engineering frrms can't afford
to pay them. ])octorS are having the
same problem. As it stands, the
requirement has been postponed to
1987, and a Task Force has been
set up within the APEO to examine
the possibilities open to us:
IW: We've been using
doctors and lawyers as ana-
logies for the engineeering
profession, which brings to
question the recent activity of
the OMA. First of all, do you
see a need for a service 'group
for engineers as the medical
profession has in the OMA?
M-L: You're referring to the CSPE,
of course. Yes, there is a need for a
service group. Many engineers are
on salary with large corporations
and need to be represen ted (or
protected). Because of our licensing
and disciplinary functions, we can't
do that, but an organization like the
CSPE can. I'm not sure how good
a job they're doing, but they are a
relatively new organization and
have to be more fully established to
be effective. When that happens,
the function of the CSPE would
correspond to that of the OMA:
again, we don't want to get
invo ved in providin services to
engineers.
IW: Is there anything the
Association can do to help
the CSPE get established?
M-L: When the CSPE originally
formed out of our Salaried
Engineering J)ivision, we hoped
that they would grow on their own,
but I think that they do need a bit
more help from us. I think, for
example, that we could help with
communication, since we have a
well-established mailing list of
50,000 members. We have to be
careful that they don't become
dependent on our services, since
that would take away from both of
our organizations. We also have to
, keep the APEO and the CSPE
completely separate, as is the cas'e
with doctors. (The OMA is a
professional service organization
for doctors, but they are licensed by
the Ontario College of Physicians
and Surgeons.)
IW: That brings up another
question: suppose that
engineers had been the
subject of government control
instead of doctors, and had
gone out on strike. What role
would the APEO have
played?
M-L: Well, we couldn't have done
much about the situation itself,
unless the striking process was
seen to be endangering the pUblic.
July 1986
IRON WARRIOR 11
Claudette McKay- Lassonde
In that case, we would have
brought disciplinary action against
those engineers responsible for the
strike. I can't see the situation
arising with engineers: most of
them would be happy just to be able
to bill clients, let alone "extra-bill".
[Laughs].
IW: Now for what must be
the Inevitable Interview
Question.
M-L: You're going to ask me
something about being a woman in
a male-dominated profession . .
IW: Well, I'd hate to think I
was being original. Do you
see a big difference?
M-L: Not any more. A few years
ago, you might have noticed a
difference: women were very hard
workers because they had to
compete in the job market, and
because they had to be able to
"prove" themselves. That's not so
,much the case any more: there are
good and bad people in both
groups.
IW: What about any
. difference in the way they're
treated by co-workers?
M-L: Again, not so much any
more. At least, not at the junior
level. As you progress in your
career, you encounter more of the
"old school" engineers in upper
levels of management, who are not
used to working with females.
When these people were in school,
women in engineering were
unheard of, so they have some
difficulty in figuring out how to
approach the situation.
IW: What reaction have you
gotten from the "old school"
with regard to your position
as APEO President?
M-L: These are the people who
always ask me, "What does your
husband think about this?" or
"What about your kids?". You
know, there have been 62 APEO
Presidents before me, and I'll bet
nobody has asked them "Oh, what
does your wife think about this ?"
Some of them can't understand me:
I have the same ambitions as they
do, but they can't relate to that.
They have their wives at home, and
that's the only frame of reference
they have, so that's what they're
accustomed to. But that's all
changing, thank God.
IW: How would you advise a
female engineering student to
handle that kind of treatment,
if or when it happens?
M-L: Ignore it. If you try to be
sarcastic or smart with them, it
usually backfires. The thing to
remember is that this attitude is old
fashioned and on its way out, so
the best approach is to just let it
wash out of the system. It's very
important not to get annoyed with
that, which means that you have to
develop a sense of humour.
IW: And hope that it doesn't
take too much longer to wash
out of the system?
M-L: Exactly. The good news is
that attitudes are changing. I think
that the fact that I was elected
President of a "male-dominated"
profession reflects that.
IW: OK, final question .:
which will be the Inevitable
Final Interview Question -
what do you hope to accom-
plish durinJ! your term in
office with the Association?
M-L: There are two things that I
feel very strongly about, that I hope
to see the Association doing. The
first is to increase the profile of the
profession. The public doesn't
really know what we do, or that we
have a Code of Ethics, and so on.
What's more, I'd like to raise the
consciousness of engineers about
the profession, to promote some
pride in what we do. So, I'd like to
increase the visibility of the
profession, and then work on
sustaining that visibility.
Second, I'd like to try and get
younger people involved in the
Association. They seem to think it's
"boring", which it isn't, and they
miss out on some learning
opportunities and interesting work.
It's also good for the profession to
get some "new blood" on Council.
Often you will hear "Oh, we've
tried that before", when an idea is
su ested, and it may be that he
reason that the idea didn't work last
time no longer applies. I'd like tp
see more innovation and optimism,
which I think a younger group
would bring.
Queen's U Ilivers ity, Novelnber 1984
The following excerpts are from a
speech given by Ms. MacKay-
Lassonde at Queen's University, in
November, 1984.
January, 1982, each
for a licence must demon-
following com.pletio" of an
education, 24 montlil
1":Olr;; t'(:Pe:neIlce, in the practice of
engineering sufficient
applicant to meet the
standards of
reQ.lliJ."t::d to
The reason is very simple. Once
you are in your first permanent
employment, most of you will soon
utilize a very small fraction of
the you have WOldalCl'80
hard For eXat'l!ltJllf
12 IRON WARRIOR
July 1986
Working Below The Equator
by Todd Sproule'
The first time I visited Brazil was
after I finished high school. I was
sponsored by my local Rotary Club
to be a Youth Exchange Student to
Brazil for one year. I lived in a city
called Teresina, the capital of the
state of Piaui. This Northeast area
of Brazil is the least developed and
poorest region of Brazil, so my
year was full of new experiences
and enabled me to gain a better
perspective of the world and how
Canada is perceived in other
countries.
It was during that year that I
made initial contacts with Brazilian
industry. I knew that when I
returned from Brazil I would be
entering into the co-op program at
the U. of W. so I thought it would
be interesting to arrange a work
term in Brazil. During my 2B
school term I managed to secure a
position with a Brazilian firm. The
IAESTE (International Association
of Exchange Students for Technical
Experience) helped me to get my
visa (application forms for IAESTE
can be found in Needles Hall.)
The company I worked for was
SuI America Teleinformatica,
located in Recife, Pernambuco - on
the North-East coast about 5
degrees below the equator. This
company was formed after the
telecommunications division of
Philips In ternational was
nationalized. The company used
Philips' technology (for a fee) to
produce telecommunication devices
such as PABXs (a telephone
exchange system. You're welcome.-
Ed.), CB radios, and microwave
transmitter/receivers. I was
involved in the development and
testing of two particular models of
the PABX, the TBX-VB and
TBX-lOOO. Although not marketed
tTOTAL I\AGe
WOMl:N &- Ml:N HAIR SALON
in North American, they can be
found in Europe, South America
and Africa. The sys terns were
developed at Philips' headquarters
in Amsterdam, Holland, and the
software had to be modified for the
systems to operate in Brazil.
Since Portuguese is the official
language of Brazil, this is what
was spoken at work, although
many did have a good knowledge
of English. The Portuguese that I
learned on my fIrst trip had become
a bit rusty,. though once I was
immersed in the language for a few
weeks I was once again conversant.
While I was working at SuI
America I made a whopping
$35/week (with 9 hour work days,
not including lunch). This may
seem pa 1 try by Canadian standards
but in fact was twice the national
minimum salary which a large part
of the labour class earns . This
salary is typical of the co-op
students from the local university
(Universidade Federal de
Pernambuco). These students have
a co-op job and go to school at the
same time, splitting their days so
they spend the morning at work and
the afternoon at school.
I had the opportunity to visit the
university campus to attend some of
their engineering classes. I was
surprised to learn that the budget
cuts there are much more serious
than here at the U. of W. On that
particular day the students were
holding a demonstration in the
Administration buildings protesting
the Federal Government's with-
drawal of support for engineering
lab programs. These students
apperared to be much more
--------..... ________ , ______ in campus affairs than
here at the U. ofW.
$2.00 off : Y2 pric.e for: $10.00 off
Cut&Style: all Perms. :Hi-ghlights
. I I
--------.------------------
Not Valid with Any Other Discounts
Westmount Place 746-8764
Also ask about our Membershi Cards for off
I was also surprised to learn of
how well the U. of W. is known at
this university. I discovered that
Waterloo had organized and
stocked the engineering technical
library. As well, I met a former
Waterloo Math Ph.D. student, Dr.
Paulo Cunha. When I told him I
was an engineering work term
student here in Brazil he laughed
and said , , You co-ops get
everywhere!' .
I was lucky to be in Brazil during
Carnival, the biggest bash of the
year. What originated as a
festival to kick off Lent has evolved:
into a four day blow-out. I
experienced the festival in Olinda
which is touted as the second most
famous carnival celebration in
'Brazil.
An interesting note during my
stay in Brazil was the imple-
mentation of a new economic policy
by the Brazilian Government. . Its
purpose was to reduce runaway
inflation and the resul ts were
astounding. Through a policy of
wage and price controls the
Government was able to reduce
inflation from over 200% to 0%. In
effect, the Government outlawed
inflation. The program also
included a restructuring of the
nation's currency so that the last
three zeros of the cruxeiro, which
had become redundant, were
removed.
After I worked for ten weeks I
decided to do some travelling
around Brazil (a work term has to
be only eight weeks long!). I
purchased an Air-Pass for $450 that
gave me unlimited use of the
national ai,rline, V ARIG, for three
weeks. Among the places I visited
was Iguacu Falls, the site of the
world's largest hydro-electric
generating station, ITAIPU, a joint
'Brazilian-Paraguayan venture
(when completed it wHl have an 18
Gigawatt capacity)'.I also visited
several other cities, and travelled up
the Amazon River. I ended the term
with several weeks in Rio de
Janeiro.
The co-op system here at
Waterloo is flexible and allows
students to arrange work terms in
other parts of the world. I strongly
suggest that students take advantage
of programs such as IAESTE.
:There is probably no better time to
. see other parts of the world than
during your school years.
July 1986
IRON WARRIOR
13
Canada's Model UN
by Sean Maw
On July 6, 1986, five 1B
Systems Design Engineering
students started what will hopefully
become a UW tradition. Alex
Leslie, Pifko, John Vellinga,
Pavan Rajagopal, and myself
headed to Montreal for a week to
take part in Canada's 2nd Natio'nal
Model United Nations Assembly.
Representing Barbados on the
General Assembly (GA) and its
Committees, and Madagascar on
the UN Security Council, we
temporarily became the Ambas-
sadors and UN delegates from
those countries. In addition, two of
us held the posts of Vice President
of the GA and a President of the
Security Council. .
While this may have been UW's
flrst foray into serious international
political simulations, model UN's
are not all that new to Canada. The
CNMUNA is being sponsored by
the UN Association (UNA) of
Canada and has sponsored similar
assemblies before, at the University
of Regina and in southern Ontario
at the Southern Ontario Model UN
Assembly (SOMA) for high school
students, to name just a couple.
The purpose of these gatherings is
to educate a Western youth that, for
the most part, is unaffected by, and
lacks a critical understanding of, the
world body. And it's an education
that's never been so much fun.
When delegates know their
country's foreign policy, the
issues, and how the UN works,
startlingly realistic things begin to
happen. Backroom lobbying ham-
mers out resolutions, "blocs"
discuss voting strategies and
countries start to "lean" on allies.
You learn at once, why the UN can
be so ineffective and yet so
indispensible. You can end up
knowing more about your host
country than some natives.
In Montreal, we met various
"real" foreign Ambassadors, and
several other Under-Secretaries
General and dignitaries. Last year,
delegates even met Perez de Cuellar
(the Secretary General of the UN -
Ed. You're welcome). And then
of co.urse. there was the city of
Montreal.
By the end of the week, we had
travelled throughout the city,
feasted in authentic Morrocan,
Lebanese, French and Vietnamese
restaurants. We had had champagne
and caviar with our "real"
embassadorial counterparts and had
regularly enjoyed 20 hour days
(just like at school, it seems). we
also had up, lobbied and
presented resolutions, been lectured
by top UN Secretariat members and
had been exposed to the major
problems facing the UN today.
For those interested in the
international scene, nothing else
comes close to the experience. A
lesson in negotiation, conciliation
and power, it can get very
sophisticated. How about in-house
real-time translation or discussion
of issues at a level some politicians
in Ottawa can't muster. The
International Court of Justice
simulation features the real Chief
Justice of the ICJ. This isn't just
silly kid's stuff!
So it was in this light that five
The Frosh Are Comin
by Ian Smart
Before all the geniuses reading
this article point out the obvious,
I'll do it for them: you are all
absolutely right, there are no frosh
on campus at the moment.
However, far-sighted individuals
will realize that in just over a
month, this campus will be invaded
by hordes of this confused breed of
humanity. It is the purpose of this
article to guide the frosh to a more
enlightened existence.
Welcome to all new members of
our university community! For the
first two or three weeks after you
arrive you will no doubt be in a
completely chaotic whirl, followed
by a brief period of relative sanity,
succeeded by totally Apocalyptic
session of mid-term exams, then -
Zap! -. it's December and final
exams, and you haven't even
started to crack those books, let
alone actually understand anything.
Not to worry: there's a few things
you can do to make this flrst crucial
term work for you rather than
against.. ..
... One of which is to make
friends. Now, not later. You'll
friends anyway), and generally help
you to maintain your equilibrium in
the Face of Dark Adversity. Good
friends are a social and academic
necessity: unless you learn to work
with (and not against) others you'll
not make it here or later as a
practicing engineer.
Secondly .... make this your real
home. We have found (and perhaps
this is now time to confess that
you're reading something written
by the Engineering Councelling
Service, of which more anon) that
students who abandon
every week to go home have more
trouble than anyone. This may be
because, if your heart is in Toronto
or Sudbury or Lower Timbuctoo,
you cannot give your all to a task
that will demand your all. It also
means that YOU won't get all your
guaranteed unless you are Totally
Competent and Know Everthing, in
which case (a) why are you here?
and (b) you wouldn't have any
need friends to take notes if you're
away, help you with those
impossible assignments, share your
miseries when you make a mess of
something (note: this is almost
work done, you'll get behind with
sickening rapidity, you won't have
a bunch of friends to help, and it
will be farewell.
We recommend that you only
plan 2 or 3 weekends away, and
that you do everything possible to
make yourself feel a real part of this
faculty. If you're living in
residence, that's easier; if you're
living off-campus, make an extra
effort to spend some time in the
evenings on-campus with friends
(e.g. get together for some
Calculus-coffee-chat with someone
in residence). Loneliness hits just
about everyone in ftrst term - after
all, you're away from everything
and everyone that once made up
your life - but just remember (a)
almost everyone else feels the
same, and (b) most everyone is
waiting for everyone else to admit
. it!
And don't forget the other things
that make you who you are:
hobbies, sports, and so on. If you
play the piano, tuba, or piccolo; if
you toss a football around or play
broomball; if you ride a bike, play
chess, make the world's best
pizza, sew a fine seam, or collect
used skunk-hides - find some time
to continue doing that, at least once
or twice a week. Finally, your brain
will work well for you if you treat
your body better than merely a shelf
to keep your head off the ground.
You will look, feel, and function
better if you get a minimum of 4
exercise sessions of 20 minutes
each per week .... anything you
like providing it makes you puff
and pant. Jogging, fitness classes,
swimming - whatever, but do it!
And that's all the advice, folks.
Except to add that Meg and Ian, in
Engineering Counselling, are there
to help you in anything that might
get in the way of you doing a good
job as a student. So, if you have
any questions, feel that the world is
turning inside out, or just want to
check on what to expect (and what
to do about it), give us a call (ext.
2849) or drop in (CPH, room 4318
and 4320). We'll do what we can.
Meanwhile, if life is a bewildering
whirl, relax and enjoy it. After all,
people willingly pay money for
carnival rides, don't they?
Cheers!
engineers trundled off to Montreal,
cramming for the five-day final
where all you're asked to do is try
to break the back of apartheid, get
the Soviets out of Afghanistan and
resolve the 3rd World dilemna.
We must have done fairly well,
since more than one person
commented "maybe you engineers
aren't so bad, after all."
It was an opportunity that
shouldn't have been miss'ed, and
the Dean's Office has generously
helped us make sure that we didn't,
This year, we went, representing all
of UW. Last year, no one did.
Next year? Come the winter term,
Eng Soc will be able to provide
registration info for CNMUN A
'87, or you can write the UNA in
Ottawa.
The friends we made from all
across Canada and the U.S., the
wild times we had in the city, and
the unequalled educational expe-
rience of the model itself, made our
trip one that we will never forget.
Join us and become a part of it in
the coming year.

PRE S C RIP T ION S
weSTMOUNT PLAce
PHARMACY
886-7670
50 Westmount Rd. N.
OPEN DAILY
9 em to 10 pm
SUNDAYS & HOLIDAYS
11 am to 9 pm
WESTIIIOUNT KING
CENTRE PHARMACY
578--1610
King Centre
OPEN DAILY
MTWS 9:30 5:30
Thu & Fri. 9:30 9:30
Closed Sundays
Most Drug Plans Honoured
14 IRON WARRIOR
The Ring Road Classic
by Brenda Reiye and
Steve Cornall
Despite the damp weather, over
240 cyclists and 50 course marshals
turned up for the 2nd Annual Ring
Road Classic Bicycle Race held on
Sunday, July 13, 1986. Thirty-
eight cycling clubs from as far
away as London, Collingwood and
Ajax were represented in both the
Novice and Senior 3 categories,
with especially large turnouts by the
King Velo (Kitchener) and
Waterloo Cycling clubs.
One hundred and thirty cyclists,
including 5 women, started in the
10-lap (28 km) Novice race, which
was won by Bill Shabatura of
Kitchener. Mark Orzel of Hamilton
was a close second, with Allen
Brisbin of the Bloor Cycle team
third. The sprint to the finish was
extremely confusing, as the leading
cyclists caught two packs of lapped
riders right at the line. Some good
guesses by the officials and a little
honesty on the part of the leaders
helped sort out the final standings.
Astrid Becker of Waterloo took flIst
place in the women's race, with
Pascal Cal well-Mortimer of
Toronto second and Margo Fraser,
a U of W Kin student, third.
To spectators who had never
before witnessed a cycling race,
many of these riders did not look
like novices. Perhaps it was the
wild spandex jerseys and shorts
with sponsor and team names
emblazoned on every available
square inch. Or it could have been
that the finely-tuned machines
beneath the cyclists bore little
resemblance to the battered and
rusted CCM's that normally grace
Ring Road. Most likely it was the
42 kmlhr pace of the lead pack and
the strong breeze that followed its
passing. The novice race was not
without mishaps, however. The
rain caused the painted centre-lines
to be extremely treacherous, and
more than a few cyclists found
themselves slipping, over-
correcting and then falling, often
taking down other riders with them.
Other crashes occurred when
cyclists failed to hold their lines
within the pack, and crossed
wheels with riders in front of them.
The start of the 56 km Senior 3
race coincided with a positive
change in the weather, though road
,conditions were still slippery for the
first half of the race. The event was
won by veteran cyclist Bert Dekker
of the Waterloo c.c., who nosed
past Tom Paskey in a spectacular
sprint to the finish. Sanbae Lee of
the Boardwalk C.C. was third. A
crash near Carl Pollock Hall on the
second last lap of the 20 lap race
broke up the 113-rider pack, which
had remained united for most of
the race. The average speed was
clocked at 47.3 kmlhr' indicating
the advanced skill of theses racers.
(This is one reason why you
shouldn't step in front of the pack.)
Several engineers took part in the
races including Senior 3's Thomas
Schmidt (4A Civ), J.P. Pinard (2B
Geo) and Constantin Milchin (IB
Mech). Milchin helped 1B Mech
scoop up an easy 30 P**5 points
with their "La Vie MechAnarchy"
team entry. (Nice jerseys, guys, but
your bikes could use a little work!)
The race organizers apologize for
the lack of a non-serious race and
hope for a better race next year.
EATON'S TRAVELI@I
,
Travelling This Summer?
Come See Us For All Your Travel Needs
fully recognized and appointed by AU airlines.
companies. car rental operators. hotel chains ...
aU Ihe people who provide the services you need!
WE SELL GREY COACH
AND VIA RAIL TICKETS
888-4054
EA TON'S TRA VEL in I he Soul b Campu& Hall
TRAVEL ON YOUR EATON'S. ACCOUNT
In the past few years, the
popularity of competitive cycling in
North America has increased
dramatically. This is in part due to
the expanded media coverage of
races such as the Tour de France
and the Race Across America, as
well as the impressive
performances by athletes like
American Greg Le Mond and
Canada's Steve Bauer. (The flashy
fashions haven't hurt either.)
Competitive cycling in Canada is
not nearly as well organized as it is
in Europe hut that will probably
change with the influx of novices
into the sport. In order to advance
from Novice status to Cadet (under
15 years of age), Junior (16 and 17
years) or Senior 3 (18 and over),
cyclists must either place 1 st, 2nd
or 3rd in an Ontario Cycling
Association (O.C.A) sanctioned
event, or compete in three
sanctioned races, whichever comes
first. Once in the Senior 3 class,
cyclists must obtain 12 points
during the course of one racing
season in order to advance to
Senior 2 status. Riders finishing
first earn 7 points, and second
through fourth receive 5, 3 and 1
point respectively.
Looking at the number and
calibre of the participants in
Sunday's race, one can appreciate
how difficult it must be to snatch
one of those coveted top placings.
strategy and speed (as
well as luck) all play important
roles in detennining the outcome of
a race. Spectators may have noticed
some of the more seasoned cyclists
letting air out of their tires in order
to increase traction. Stronger riders
who choose to lead and essentially
break the wind for the others are
not likely to be involved in a crash.
However, the extra effort expended
at the front eventually tires the legs
and the leaders may have nothing
left for the sprint. Cyclists who
position themselves within the pack
enjoy the benefits of reduced wind
resistance, but run a higher risk of
being caught in or behind a crash
and being permanently separated
from the lead group. Experienced
riders tend to recognize and avoid
other cyclists who are likely to
cause a crash.
July 1986
Several pnmes (pronounced
"preems") placed strategically
throughout the race encourage the
leading riders to pick up the pace. A
bell is rung at the start of the prime
lap, and the riders sprint for money
or prizes at the end of this lap.
Often a few cyclists may break
away from the pack as the result of
the prime (what some people will
do for money!). Riders who go for
primes at the end of a race (eg. the
Classic had primes on the 5th, 4th
and 3rd last laps of the race) risk
burning out their legs before the
final sprint. Dekker, the Senior 3
winner, did not sprint for any
primes, but was content to stay in
about 10th to 15th position for
much of the race, saving his legs
for the finish.
The Second Annual Ring Road
Classic was deemed a success by
almost everyone involved, though,
of course, it wasn't perfect. Plans
are already in the works for next
year's race, and all suggestions for
improvements will be seriously
considered.
Thanks to all the marshals that
came out to help: several cyclists
commented on the great job that
you did in keeping the road safe.
Special thanks to Dr. T.
Brzustowski, D.P. Robertson, Zel
Whittington in Bookings, Fred
Stewart, Phil McKay and Security,
PAC personnel, Dr. Don Ranney,
St. John's Ambulance, Grounds
personnel, Engineering Audio-
Visual, Dr. Bishop of the
Kinesiology Department, Riordan's
and the other sponsors, and
Ziggy's Cycle for their co-operation
and assistance with the race.

pI\CKAGE\

Include.:
5 ge/lon bt'ew ".11
.qphonho ..
HIlMI
bH, /cit (y."llncludf)
c;om.vg.'
eel'S
milk .. 60
value $26.42
student 'Price $19.95
relll18 approxlrr..tely $13
visit BRwskr. al Wetert Town Squ.,..
or phone Ooma at 885-(:MlO
NORRIS HOME 'BIRJN
(518). 742-Q564
7427981 .
.. Fredertck Street,
(beside Conestoga Expreeaway)
Kltchener, Ontario N2H 2P5
Established for 43 years
Items include:
cakes, muffins,
cookies ... etc.
July 1986 IRON WARRIOR
15
Things To Do With An HP
by Henri et at
The best portable shaving mirror with a key board.
Cooking with HP.
The BATMECH boys embark on a tough night of homework.
A friend - always there to listen.
The girls next door have something different in mind.
Perfect for those last minute aSSignments on the way to class.
'.
'.
16
IRON WARRIOR
The Day Before Tomorrow
-
continued from previous
issue
by Julian Ford
In the morning, Sandy walked
into the room carrying a glass of
instant orange juice. Will was
asleep, sprawled across his bench.
Paper was strewn about the room,
the computer monitor was flashing
out numbers, and on his bench in
front of him was a box-shaped
device with a couple of switches
and a protruding nozzle. Sandy
placed the juice beside him and
leaned over and kissed his ear. Will
stirred, looked at Sandy and smiled
as he stretched himself.
"I missed you last night," she
said. "I saw the light in here,
though, so I just left you."
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I
wanted to work with the things
Greg brought back. I guess I fell
asleep."
"Are you going to let your big
secret out of the bag soon?" she
said, indicating the box.
"Soon. Quite soon. Have you
seen Greg at all this morning?"
"Yeah, he's been up for a while.
Do you want me to go find him for
you?"
"If you wouldn't mind. I've got
something to show him." A smile
spread across his face as he said
this.Sandy left the room and Will
turned back to his bench. He stared
at the device on top of it and smiled
widely. He leaned back in his chair,
still staring at his creation. A
moment later, Greg walked in.
'''Hi, Will. What's up?" he said.
Wil1looked at Greg then at the box.
"My friend, you are looking at
the world's first time machine."
Greg's jaw dropped and his eyes
widened with excitement.
"You're kidding! You did it?"
Will jumped out of his chair and
threw his arms around his friend.
The two of them screamed out their
joy.
"We did it!" Will said. "All our
troubles are over. I want to get on
with it immediately. I want to use it
today." Greg's smile faded.
"You know," said Greg. "I've
been thinking. You want to go back
in time and prevent this war, but
you already existed in that time
period. Therefore there will be two
of you. Have you thought of the
possible repercussions?"
"Often," Will replied. "But
anything's got to be better than this.
What are we going to do when that
radiation gets up here? We can't
just keep trying to avoid it all the
time. Face it, this world is dead."
The two of them stared at each
other for a long moment. Greg
knew Will was right but there was
so much at stake, he thought.
"In any case you can't stop me.
I'm going ahead with this today."
Greg knew there was nothing he
could say to change Will's mind.
Will had been working on time
travel even before the war, but after
the war, he had become obsessed
with his goal. Greg bowed his head
for a moment, and finally gave into
him.
"What do you want me to do,?"
he asked reluctantly. Will smiled at
him.
"I've got to get some supplies
together, so just meet me here with
. Sandy in an hour." Will turned and
left the room.
* * *
"So, wh.ere is he?" asked Sandy
as she glanced at her watch. "It's
been an hour. Greg, is it really that
dangerous? What will happen?"
Greg thought for a moment.
"Who knows. He might come
back alright, he might not be able to
change a thing. No one has ever
travelled in time, and Will's not
prepared to test the possibilities."
Hey ! WH yare you reading tHis i n ClaSS?
Just then Will rushed in wearing a
light jacket and a knapsack on his
back.
"Will, Greg's told me what you
want to do. You're going to get
killed!" Will glared at Greg then
looked back at Sandy.
"I've gone over everything so
don't worry. Soon it's all going to
be back to normal."
"But what's it going to cost?
What's going to happen to you?
How will you know you've done
it? I don't like this idea at all,
something's going to happen!"
Tears were beginning to form in her
eyes now. Will ignored her, went
to his work bench and tapped
several keys on the computer.
Lights on the top of the box began
to glow. He flicked both switches
on the box and it began to hum.
The protruding tube began to glow
red. Will walked back over to
Sandy who was staring at him with
widening eyes.
"I have to do this. I've been
working on this too long to just
stop now." There were tears
streaming down her face. Will put
on a reassuring smile. He couldn't
let her know that he, too, was
afraid of the consequences of his
actions. He took her into his arms
and she clutched him tightly.
Neither of them wanted to let go but
Will knew that he had to go.
"I love you," he whispered.
"Then don't leave me. Don't do
this, Will. You always think that
you've got to do something about
everything. Just accept it for once
and try to live with it. Don't try to

-. );r-
9
"SYSTEM READY" appeared on
.' SpIces . the screen. Will pulled away slowly
* Dishes"'" '. from Sandy. She tried to hold on to
*. him bu t couldn't. He walked over
* Non-Vegetanan DIshes .. . to Greg, whose head was bowed,
., :,. .. \tJ' /11 , - u U .. . ' .. I .... .: .......
* FlS' h
O
& -Rice DI'shes '''::- ,v,:v<. t 6'" " and extended his hand. Greg raised
.... " >': ...-
F 11 Li ed
t; , ,19 -. ,,\. h' h d I k d h' f
* u y cenc _ '. 0 ; . ,. 1S ea, 00 e at 1m or a
. ;-,.... C" _:.- ,;:r".:, .. )';" 'l.;'''m .. .;.; ;:::'-'t; .... ..Not.Val'd.A1ter;Sept. 30186 moment, and slowly extended hl'S
' . . ......_ ..,: . ..... '.J.:.. .. j._"..... , _'" .. . .. ..\;",:;.... 'J::".3:_:...
'
.... """'.. . . _."
p ;"'.'. ;-. . -.. ...,. ... ''' , . (.w. .'. . $' -
- AY - - . .. .. :: _: -;i\ . '. own hand and shook Will's.
TO THE '0' '. .. :5 00
: ORDER OF ' . 'I' ',,, .:. ,.' . "W::. - .. ..... ..,' -,
.: . ,, : '2 .. .'".:. .. ; ... <- PRL"'l'{N.AME.AN.DADDRESS:fN FULL' .,\",... ..,
J8 cheque 1B redeemable for $5.00 .. ' VIJAY'
th minimum purchase of $15.00 or more : S RESTAURANT
m our food selections. FEATURING AUTHENTIC
eservations 743 - 6060 INDIAN CUISINE
:) " .; ' '.. " .. :
.-:.:.:-, .. ,-.. .. ' o''': ...
"If I don't make it back, you're in
charge," said Will. Greg wanted to
say something but the words were
caught in his throat.
"Good luck," was all he could
July 1986
Part 2
say. Will turned again to look at
Sandy. She was leaning against a
table crying. Will pushed a button
on the computer and the humming
grew louder. Sandy walked
towards him.
"Y ou're not going through with
this, are you?" Will just looked at
her as he positioned himself in front
of the box. The humming was
slowly increasing in pitch and
intensity.
"You'd better stand back," he
said. He looked deep into her eyes.
How could he leave her, he
thought. Suddenly a burst of bright
red light shot from the tube on the
box, enveloping him, and the room
became filled with a near-deafening
roar. Sandy screamed and ran
towards the box. Greg grabbed her
and held on to her.
"It's too late!" Greg yelled. "He's
19one." Sandy watched as Will
started to fade. Until the last
moment he kept staring at her.
Sandy thought she saw 'a tear
trickling down his cheek but
couldn't be sure because of the red
light which surrounded him. The
humming and the loud noise slowly
began to subside and the red light
faded into nothing taking Will with
it. She sobbed, her eyes filled with
tears.
"I love you, Will," she whis-
pered.
"What was that?" asked Greg as
he wiped his mouth with l1is
napkin.
"I said I love you, sweetheart,"
replied Sandy. Greg got up from
the dining room table and walked
into the kitchen where Sandy was
pouring them both a glass of wine.
Greg leaned over and kissed her on
the cheek.
"That was the most incredible
meal I have ever eaten," he said.
"No wonder I married you."
"Oh, so that's it," she retorted
with a smile on her face. "You only
love me because I can cook." Greg
chuckled.
"It's still early, do you want to
drive into town and catch a movie
or something? There's a great
movie showing about nuclear WaI
and how the survivors try to live."
"Y ou know I don't like science
fiction," she said. "I can't handle
those phoney movies. Let's go see
something a little more realistic."
"Like one of your sappy love
stories? No thank you."
"Why don't we just stay in and
think of something to do here," she
said with a sly expression on her
face. Greg smiled back at her.
"I guess I could be convinced to
do that." They took their glasses of
wine and went upstairs, giggling as
they went
',,',
July 1986 IRON WARRIOR 17
World ews Briefs
CAR INSURANCE
CRISIS
u.s. & CANADA
CONSIDERING
SANCTIONS
Canadian and American
governments have confirmed
reports that they are considering the
imposition of sanctions on South
Africa, but have not as yet outlined
what measures they are prepared to
take. In a Washington press
conference this week, President
Reagan ruled out economic
sanctions against the
government, because, "well, golly,
they've got a lot of minerals and
stuff, don't they?"
The President also indicated that
the sanctions would not be
diplomatic, or even military,
because, "well, gee, we don't want
to stir up a bunch of trouble and
bad feelings." However, Reagan
pointed out that the new American
ambassador to South Africa is "a ni
- er - a person of the black
persuasion, which should show
them we mean business. Also, we
just might not send Sinatra to Sun
City this year, and see if they get
the message ... that is, if Frank
doesn't mind. Do you think he'd
mind ? Gosh, we better check with
Frank." The White House will
issue a statement outlining its policy
on Monday afternoon.
MORE BOOKS BANNED
The Waterloo County Board of
Education has suspended the
teaching of William Shakepeare's
The Merchant of Venice, because of
the play's anti-Semitic content. The
uproar refers to the character
Shylock, a Jewish loan shark of
somewhat less than pleasant
disposition. Ted ' Redneck, a
spokesman for the Board, stated
that they were "shocked to find that
hate literature such as The Merchant
of Venice was being taught in their
schools. God only knows what
trauma is being inflicted on the
youth of today by the teaching of
this play." Mr. Redneck was ata
loss to explain the continued
survival of the free world as we
know it since the play was first
taught to children in the late 1600's,
but did explain that high school
students spending too much time in
video arcades was directly
atttributable to the teaching of the
play. Books that are scheduled to
be reviewed in the near future are
To Kill a Mockingbird, The Taming
of the Shrew, Huckleberry Finn,
Moby Dick, Great Expectations,
Uncle Tom's Cabin, Othello, The
Old Man and the Sea, Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs, Mutiny on
the Bounty, Papillon, The History
of the World, The Origin of
Species, the Bible, and the Iron
Warrior.
YET ANOTHER SUPER
MALL
The creators of the infamous
West Edmonton Mall have done it
again. The Ghermezian brothers
have just returned form Australia
flushed with tales of their latest
success. Their newest super mall
covers the entire island of
Tasmania, and is being touted as
the largest shopping complex the
world has ever seen. The complex
contains over 100,000 stores,
including 50,000 McDonald's
restaurants.
"This is not your average, every
day super mall," said one of the
brothers. "We have included a few
extra things in this one." The
complex contains its own
international airport, and will
include facilities for launching and
receiving the space shuttle when it
becomes operational again,
hopefully next year.
The shopping complex, called
West Tasmania Mall, is considered
to be a separate autonomous
country, and has been given a seat
on the United Nations Security
Council. The brothers categorically
denied any rumours that 'West
Tasmania Mall has its own nuclear
missile launch sites, but did add
that such a measure could not be
ruled out because of the complex's
vital strategic role in global politics.
Ontarians are entering a severe
insurance crisis, according to a
New Democratic Party Committee
report, and the situation will only
get worse if steps are not taken to
regulate and restructure the
insurance system. The committee
found that the incidence of massive
increases in the insurance premiums
was even worse than expected.
Annual premiums for some people
are higher than the cost of a new
car. According to the latest
statistics, the average driver of a
Plymouth K car who has not had an
accident, ticket, or drink in the last
twenty years will have to pay
$15,599 a year for complete
coverage. Owners of more ex.otic
cars, such as the Rabbit, can expect
to pay at least double this value.
TOUGH NEW CANADIAN
PORN LAWS
Ottawa (PU) - Canadian
Justice Minister John Crossbeam
has drawn criticism from across the
country with his sweeping new
ammendments to Canada's porno-
graphy laws. The new amendments
have made it an offence to produce
or sell or transport any visual matter
showing any form of sexual
activity.
Under the new Canadian laws,
movies may not have any animate
actors in them,. "At first, we were
. . . ..
Meanwhile, Prime Minister
Mulroney has also refused to
speculate on what action his
government would be taking to
protest the Botha regime's policies.
"We're watching the situation
closely, and we'll probably have a
response firmed up by Monday
night. "
BUXBAUM WEDDING PLANNED
female casts," said Crossbeam."tf
you have men and women in the
same movie, they will be looking at
each other, and God only knows
what will happen next, not to
mention the implied sexual tension
in the glance alone. Then someone
pointed out the potential for
homosexual activity in an all male
or all female movie, and we were
obliged to make such movies
illegal, as well."
When asked what specific
measures were being considered,
Mulroney deferred the question to
some of his Cabinet members, only
to be reminded that those people
had either resigned or been
reappointed to another position in
Cabinet. Upon this, Mulroney
retired to his office, but made Joe
Clark stay and answer "any other
stupid questions the press can think
of."
The marriage. of Helmuth
Buxbaum to Lisa Dizih will
probably take place next June,
according to the prospective bride.
Buxbaum, who was convicted
earlier this year of hiring a
professional to have his wife killed,
is currently serving his sentence in
the maximum-security Millhaven
penitentiary in Kingston. Prison
officials will grant a temoprary
release next June, to allow the
couple to be married. When
informed of the official decision,
Buxbaum was overjoyed. "This is
"It's right over there, Brian."
Opposition leaders show the Prime Minister the writing on the
wall. "Where's the john?" asks a disinterested Mulroney.
too good to be true. I just signed a
deal with ABC for the rights to my
story, and now this. I guess my
luck is finally turning."
ABC Television would neither
confirm nor deny rumours that the
deal, for a three-part miniseries to
run next season, includes
provisions for a sequel.
sourn AFRICA
I THREATENS TO JAIL
JOURNALISTS
Story in 3-5 years.
Written descriptions do not como
under the ban, and Cross beam has
told censors that movies about pet
rocks would probably be
considered non-pornographic.
Canadian
2SB KIng Streel Nor'"
Travel Centre On/alia
Ol.l' 8cJ"". .. f' GO"'9 PI.r#t.
Specializing in Student Travel
Book now for Thanksgiving and Christmas
Europe and Caribbean Holidays
Eurail and Britrail Passes
Hostelling Cards
Contiki Holidays (18-35 yrs)
Summer Hours
Mon Fri 9 am - 5:30 pm
18
IRON WARRIOR
Tip Toe Through the Trivia
by Ted Judge
6) What was the only character to
be played by the same actor in both
the movie and the TV show
M*A*S*H?
7) Why is Mr. Spock's blood
green?
8) !Vho in a mind- reading
senes WhICh was released in 1971
and contained 90 episodes?
There were two people that got to
go to the movies for their correct
answers to the last column. The
winners were James Allan and
Gregg Shimokura. Honourable
mention goes to Irene Bosnich for
also submitting the correct answers.
1) James Earl Jones was the voice
ofDarth Vader.
2) Jessica Lange played the female
lead in the 1976 version of King
Kong.
Well we've come to the end of
another term. You now have two
weeks to learn everything you
should have learned in the last 13
weeks. To get you st arted on
answering questions, I have
designed a quiz to test you on the
subject you have been studying for
years. You have probably wasted
more time studying this than any
other subject (I sure have) . If you
haven't guessed already, the subject
is television. What could be easier?
1) Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot
was better known as which of the
following villains in the Batman
series?
9) Charles Manson was turned
down for a part in the Monkees TV 3) Vic Morrow died in the filming
series. True or False? of Twilight Zone: The Movie.
a) Riddler
b) Joker
c) Egghead
d) Penguin
2) What character did Ken Osmond
portray in Leave it to Beaver?
3) Over which eye did Colonel
Klink wear his monocle in the
series Hogan's Heros?
4) Which shoe contained Maxwell
Smart's shoe phone, left or right?
5) Who lived across the hall from
Bob Newhart in his show by the
same name?
10) was the surfer who gave
Francme Lawrence her nickname in
the series Gidget?
An extra question for the summer:
11) When was the bikini first
introduced?
Not Valid on
Net Priced Items.
t-___ 886_7310 ____ 0fferexpires
Dec. 31, 1986
Retail Store 120 King Street South. Waterloo
Redeem this ad
in our store and
receive a 10%
Calculators dicount off of your
Information Processing Supplies
Typewriters
Executive Gifts Office Supplies purchase total.

K-W AREA'S #1 JEAN OUTLET
JEANS "R" US
MENS MENS
DESIGNER JEANS LEVIS JEANS
S 19
4) Steven Spielberg had his
directing debut with the movie The
Sugarland Express.
5) Jane Fonda starred in Barbarella.
6) Lee Marvin was the drunk gun-
slinger in Cat Ballou.
7) Mickey Mouse was briefly
known as Mortimer Mouse.
8) George Hamilton played Zorro
in Zorro, the Gay Blade.
9) The name of Han Solo's space
ship was the Millennium Falcon.
10) Vangel is composed the musical
score to Chariots of Fire.
by Mark Driedger
Researchers at the University of
Waterloo have recently made
several important contributions in
the area of information theory. The
work is an application of Nyquist's
sampling theory which gives us the
minimum number of times that any
continuous signal must be ampled
in order to completely specify it.
Nyquist's theory has now been
applied to university lectures in an
attempt to define the minimum
note-taking rate as a function of the
characteristics of the lecture. For
example, if a professor speaks in a
slow, monotone voice, the
frequency content of the lecture is
low and the lecture can be sampled
at a low rate, say one out of every
ten words. This leaves the student
more time for drinking coffee and
doodling on the desks.
Several special cases have been
derived. If a professor repeats each
point many times, then the lecture is
periodic and is specified by one
"cycle", usually the first thirty
seconds of the lecture. We also
have the case of a "deterministic"
lecture in which the content is
July 198
Answers to Tip Toe
Through the Trivia
'SqUlOq .regpnu JO
10J pgsn tpnos gql
jO
SBM n q:)Ugld Aq 9-1761
St!M gtll (11
. uoow" 10
. jJgf St!M gUlt!U S,lgJlns gql (01
'ur>/S<JJ)J /0 PIJOM 8u!zvUJ
<JtfL gql pglIelS UqSgl)l (8
19ddo:)
POO[q 'lW (
SgUg
gql gql qloq pglBgdde
Atpgll,O "lBPBll" 19l[BM. (9
S,'llt!qMgN
qoa SBM UgplOa Plt!MOH (g
'goqs SBMI
guoqd gogs S,llBWS TF)MXBW
'gAg ljgT m
gpOUOUl glOM IgUOI0;) (9
SB UMOID{ .lgllgq SB
'lOqg[qqO;) prBMSo (
specified by a function or mapping.
It has been found that this mapping
f(x), tends to the form:
f(x) = chapter number (x) of'
(insert your favourite t name)
It is obvious that the mapping
comb'ned with the
contains all the information in the
lecture, and that the lecture need no
be sampled once the
variable x is known.
.A significant class of lectures (no
more puns please!!!) is the random
lecture. As with any random event
. . '
it IS completely specified by a
probability distribution. If th
central limit theorem also applies (it
usually does if the lecture consists
of a large number of unrelated,
po.ints) then the distributiol1i
IS GaussIan. Theoretically anyl
Gaussian random event is
characterized by its mean and
deviation, and therefore, it does not
matter if the lecture is sampled at
all, so long as these quantities are
known. One practical problem is
that if the lectures are not sampled,
the student does not have a good
estimate of the mean until after the
midterm (usually the student will
tend to underestimate).
WORDSMITH
TYPING, WORD PROCESSING
Resumes
Letters
Mailing Lists
232 King N.
Waterloo
Term Papers
Reports
Theses
UePA's
Engineering FOlTIlUlas
Photocopying, Binding
886-8089
or 576-7901
July 1986
TWOUW
ENGINEERING PROFS
HONOURED
Two engineering professors have
been honoured by being named to
fellowships in professional
organizations.
David Roulston, of Electrical
Engineering, has been appointed a
Fellow of the Institution of
Electrical Engineers, . London.
Professor Roulston specializes in
bipolar transistor technology,
particularly the analysis and
modelling of physical processes in
silicon chips for computers;
communications, and power
electronics. He has published over
one hundred papers, and has been
awarded six patents in the area of
microwave and optical detector
circuits and bipolar devices.
John Schey, of Mechanical
Engineering, has been elected a
Fellow of the American Society of
Metals, "for outstanding contri-
butions to the practice, development
and teaching of manufacturing
process , particularly metal-
orking processes and the triblogy
of metalworking." (Tribology is the
study of lubrication and wear.)
Pofessor Schey is a gt,aduate of the
Academy of Sciences, Budapest,
Hungary, and has been at UW since
1974. He has published three
books and numerous papers, and
has eight patents related to
. manufacturing. Earlier this year, he
was also installed as a Fellow of the
Society of Manufacturing
Engineers, which gave him the
Gold Medal Award in 1974.
LENNOX HERE FOR
ANOTHER THREE
YEARS
Dean Lennox has been appointed
Dean of Engineering for another
three years. He will have been Dean
for five years as of June 30, 1987,
and the appointment is for another
three years following that.
SKI TRIP
Tired of the heat and humidity?
One way to cool off is to think
about the ski trip scheduled f9r the
winter term. EngSoc B is planning
a trip to Killington, Vermont, from
January 15 to 18, 1987. Because
the trip is scheduled early in the
term, it is going to take some
advanced planning before the end
of this term, so give it some thought
while you are lounging around a
pool.
IRON WARRIOR 19
News .Briefs
STUDENTS BUILDING
RACE CAR
Four fourth-year mechanical
engineering students are hoping to
enter the Formula SAE competition
in May 1987. Supervised by Dr. A.
Hale, Chris Clemen ts, Matt
Crossley, Evan Jones and Cathy
Wilton are designing a small,
formula-styled racing car for their
ME 482 project. The project also
includes building and racing the car
in competition.
The Society of Automotive
Engineers has sponsored the
competition for the last six years,
and it is open to students enrolled in
a accredited engineering program.
Each student team must produce a
prototype car that accelerates
rapidly and has good braking and
handling characteristics.
There are three categories of
evaluation. For static events, the car
is judged on its overall design and
presentation to the judges. In the
individual performance tIial, the car
is tested for acceleration, braking,
fuel economy, maneuverability and
cornering. The endurance event is
the highlight of the competition and
is designed to test the reliability and
e .UI c
with the other entries. The track is
1.6 km long, with the maximum
straight section being 20 m long.
The car itself is located in
E3-2103A, in the back of the Fluids
lab, and uses a Honda 500 cc V-4
motorcycle engine.
MECH. DEPT.
RECOMMENDS MICROS
The Department of Mechanical
Engineering is reviewing a
suggestion that freshmen be
"strongly advised" to purchase
computers prior to registering in the
Mechanical Engineering program at
Waterloo. The recommendation is
part of the findings of a Computer
Task Force established by the
department to review the use of
compu ters in the curriculum.
Implementation of this suggestion
is tentatively scheduled for the Fall
1987 term, pending selection of an
acceptable (and affordable) micro-
computer, applicable software, and
a reasonable financing program for
students who might not be able to
afford such a purchase.
According to a department
spokesman, the approval of Faculty
Council regarding the new policy is
not necessary, as the purchase of a
microcomputer would be a
recommendation and not a
mandatory requirement for
acceptance into the program.
SFFDEBATES
The finals for the Sandford
Fleming Foundation debates were
held in the POETS Pu b on
Thursday, July 17, 1986. The
resolution before the floor was "Be
it resolved that debating is a wa te
of time." Supporting the resolution
were Michael Schatz and Paul
Meyer (3A Civil), and opposed
were Trevor McAlpine and Dave
Whitehead (2B Mech). By a
unanimous decision of the three
judges, the resolution fell, ruling
that debating was not a waste of
time. Congratulations to Trevor and
SHAD VALLEY
It may have come to your
attention that high school students
have been running around . the
University of Waterloo for the past
few weeks. They are students
participating in the Shad Valley
program, designed to introduce
them to computers and some of the
things done with them at Waterloo.
The students have been working
with computers and attending
seminars and demonstrations on
topics such as computer vision.
Dave on the arrival of their $100 ... ------------..
cheque.
1167 King Street East
Kitchener
743-3705
S!uc.taU4u

FWWERS
WESTMOUNT

10
0
/0
discount for
students
all your
floral needs!
50 Weatmount PI .
Student
D
Watertoo, Ont N2L ZR5
(519) 88&-6410
&lite & F ...... QuInn (Owners)
(eJCCepl hoHdays)
TAKE

33 University Ave. E.
Waterloo, Ontario
TEL: 746-4111
SANDWICHES
VEAL
STEAK
SAUSAGE
MEATBALL
COLD CUTS
$3.25
3.15
2.75
2.75
2.75
Sweet - Medium - Hot
PASTAS
LASAGNA
SPAGHETTI
GNOCCHI
RAVIOLI
SALAD $2.00 - Olives - Soup $1.50
PANZEROTTI $3.25
Extra Items $ .40
14 INCH PIZZA
$5.60 INCLUDES: Mozzarella Cheese and
our famous Pizza Sauce
Extr. Item.: $ .60 each
$3.75
2.50
3.25
3.25
Ingredients: Pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, s.'ami,
onions, olives, bacon, anchovies, tomatoes, pineapple,
hot peppers, sausage, ham.
PIZZA SLICES - $1.50
EAT-IN DRIVE-THRU TAKE-OUT
Sales TalC Applicable
20 IRON WARRIOR
you should NOT buy your .
IBM PCIXTI ATTM compatible
.
from waitronics
if you think all the clones are built the same

al ronlcs
K-W's most respected name in IBM compatible hardware
258 King St. N., Waterloo 886-4889
July 1986
IBM PC/XT / AT is a trade mark of lnternational Business Machines