Iron Warrior: Volume 8, Issue 8

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· IRO W R~

~ ~k § October 16, 987 THEENGINEERINGSOCIETY SSTUDENTFORUM~ o / _

l> )-Qf ~ ' I - ~

OKTOBERFEST







by Mr. AngryNN ng

It was Saturday night when Ireceived the anguished cries of aneditor looking for the point side ofthe Why participate inOktoberfest? question. Hey, Ithought it would be easy until Iended up at the Aud thirty minutesafter the phone call, being aparticipant in the first Saturdaynight booze-up. I realized quicklywhat the main problem, perceivedor otherwise, was with the O-fest:drunkenness, rowdiness as a resultof the drunkenness and crasscommercialism.

It would seem to me that if this ishow Oktoberfest is viewed by thegeneral populace, then it is indeedin sad shape as a festival of theyears' harvest. And this is thereason that your participation in theOktoberfest is vital to the continuedsuccess of the event.

At the risk of sounding mildlysanctimonious, it is only you thatcan change the image thatOktoberfest has (?) obviouslyacquired. t is very easy to sit inyour armchair and endlessly spouton about how bad things have gotand isn't it disgusting about thedrinking and etc. etc. etc. Doesanybody have a firm idea (i .e.numbers) of how many people

attend Oktoberfest celebrationsannually? How many fights occurannually at Fest Halls? How manyincidents o f drunken rowdinessoccur around the city? How manyincidents involving Universitystudents? I maintain that the numberof overall incidents is probablysmall compared to the overall

attendance level at the lO-dayevent. 'I realize that running on an

argument based on unknownstatistics is tenuous but when youmention rowdiness at British soccergames, what comes to mind?Visions of mass riots at everygame? Hardly. It is only the rareincidents that end up beingdocumented in the popular pressand if you were compare theincidents in ratio to the number ofpeople attending games (soccer is

Iron Warrior

he 'Festing Dilemmathe most popular internationalsport), I think you would find thatthe number was small indeed.

So where does this ramblinglead? By getting involved, you canfirst help to eliminate the image thatsome of the rowdiness is caused bylocal university students out toblow-off post/pre/during mid-termstress. Score one for the ratherdubious image that the Universitieshave with the local populace.

By getting involved you can alsovoice your concerns to theorganizers of the event about whatyou perceive as the image problemsthe event has. You then would beable to see if the problems can befixed and if they can, maybe youhave a workable solution. As the

only you can change theimage that Octoberfesthas acquired

'fu ure leaders' of tomorrow,maybe it is time that you givesomething back to the communitythat. like it or not, you are going tobe, or are, part of for the next fourto five years. By getting involvedyou might be able to formulateplans that would help to remove theveneer of crass commercialism thatseems to prevail in peoples' visionof the event, and replace it with theThanksgivinglFall Festival that wasoriginally intended.

But even with these visionary andidealized rantings, here's sometemporary solutions so you cancontinue to participate and enjoy inthe event.

If you've been there before, youknow by now that crushed silk isdefinitely out of the question for theevent. Try wearing dark colors thatbeer will wash out of. Face it,under present conditions beer willbe spilt so dress for the occasion.You don't go to an October BlueJays game dressed in shorts and aT-shirt do you?

Have a designated driver to getyou home or go to a place closeenough that you can crawl quietlyhome without waking up theneighbourhood. Better yet, take thebus and stagger quietly home fromthe bus stop, again not waking upthe neighbourhood.

Finally, what to do about theclown that spills beer on you inhis/her drunken state because thethin coating of humanity has beenstripped away by the effects ofethyl alcohol? Well, to misquote afamous individual, when you wakeup the next morning, you will besober; the individual who spilledbeer on you (and wasted that tendollar pitcher) was an idiot the nightbefore and will wake up the same

. morning, sober, but still an idiot.

by Paul Meyer4A Civil

Most students spend at least sometime living in some sort of groupresidence, whether it be one of theVillages, Co-op, or a house withmore than five people. This is oneof the requirements of student life,and often one's fondest memoriesin later years are associated with

the wild bunch o f guys/girls Ilived with in 2B . However, asmost senior students can tell you,one of the problems that occurs aspart of group living is thatinvariably one or more of yourroomates finish midterms or finalsbefore you do. This means thatthey start partying before you'vefinished studying, you start hatingthem for not staying in a barsomewhere, and (if you can) youhead somewhere else to study. Ithink it's fair to say that thishappens to most of us sometimebefore we graduate.

OK, what does this have to dowith Oktoberfest? Well, like abouta quarter of a million oth er people,I 'm from Kitchener-Waterloo, andmy feelings about Oktoberfest aresimilar to those described in theparagraph above. I don't have anyserious objections to the wholeidea, I just wish it would happensomewhere else.

For those of you who haven'theard already, Oktoberfest wasoriginally a harvest festival in thetradition of Thanksgiving. After afew months of working sixteenhour days in the fields, ' youraverage German peasant was inserious need of some rest andrelaxation. The completion of theharvest season marked the end of

the summer (which means the workseason), and was a cause forcelebration. Imagine an entirecountry finishing final exams atabout the same time every year andyou'll get some idea of how the

Octoberfest hastransformed itself intojust another booze fest

festival became traditional. Likemost celebrations of Thanksgiving,the Oktoberfest is a time to eat,drink. be merry and celebrate a jobwell done.

Currently, Oktoberfest has lostmost of the character of the originalcelebration in that it has trnsformeditself into just another one of thegreat Canadian booze fests. Doany real cowboys go to the CalgaryStampede? Do most people atKlondike days really think 'panningfor gold was fun? And doesanyone really watch the Grey Cupgame? Like these, Oktoberfest hastransformed, from a farmers'festival into an urban pany.

October 16, 1987

This party comes complete withthousands of drunken Americansand Torontonians (basically thesame breed, except the Americansare slightly louder, probablybecause they feel a little moreinsecure since they had to leavetheir guns at the border ... but Idigress) wearing stupid little greenor red hats, singing along withsongs to which they don't know thewords, and paying outrageousprices for food that a real Germanwouldn't go near with a ten footpole. Not only that, but you get tostand in line in order to get in to one

of the accredited festhalls , and ifyou don't get there within an hourof the time on you ticket, you maynot get in anyway.

I don't think I would mind it ifthis were all; I mean, if someonewants to pay six dollars to get into asmoke- filled room where the onlyentertainment is a bunch ofaccordion players in shorts and thedancing consists of some sort ofmediaeval slam dancing (codename: polka), then more power tothem. What I object to is the factthat this happens in a city where

most of us are still trying to carryon with our lives in some sort ofnormal fashion.

Like every year since I got out ofhigh school, I celebrated the firstweekned of Oktoberfest by gettingout of town, and with any luck, I'llbe gone before most of you readth is Fr iday a f t e rnoon .

Oktoberfest , one of my out oftown friends explained to me, iswhen the entire city ofKitchener-Waterloo turns intoVillage Two. Fortunately, someof us have s o m ~ w h relse to go.

BLOOD DONOR CLINIC

OCTOBER 26 , 1987

Campus e n t r e

10:00am - 4:00pm

Barn P 5i ve t b e i f t o f L i f e

Sponsored b y Eng Soc



October 16, 1987 ron Warrior 5

Universityare Bad

Ties with IndustryBusiness for Both

by Dr. David Suzuki

In a glossy advertising brochurefor the University of BritishColumbia, entitled Engine ofRecovery, president DavidStrangway says on the front:"Universities are a major source offree enquiry, providing the ideasthat can later be exploited by freeenterprise. We need both the pushof free enquiry and the pull of freeenterprise for success in oursociety."

The rest of the brochure is filledwith examples of people, primarilyscientists, ostensibly solvingpractical problems in medicine,industry and society.

Across Canada, universities arerushing to become part of theindustrial enterprise as faculty arebeing encouraged to becomeentrepreneurs who exploit theirdiscoveries for profit.

There has been little objection oreven q u e ~ t i o n i n gof this process. Ifor one, do not agree with Dr.Strangway's political-economicalanalysis of the societal role ofuniversities, and I have graveconcerns about the headlong rush toindustrialize the university. Let meexp ain.

universities are rushingto become part of heindustrial enterprise

Historically, universities werenever meant to be places wherepeople prepared for jobs or wherespecialists aimed to benefit the"private sector." The university hastraditionally been a community ofpeople sharing in the exploration ofhuman thought and creativity. Thecommon assumption sinceuniversities became a publicenterprise has been that if the bestminds of our youth are an importantnatural resource, then universitieswill maximize their potentialdevelopment and education.

A good university is a placewhere scholars, dreamers, artists,and inventors can exist with nomore justification than excelling atwhat they do and sharing theirskills and knowledge.

The full range of human thoughtis encompassed within a university.One consequence is that suchknowledge often leads to criticism

of government and industry.University scholars can be a pain inthe neck to people in power. Tha t'swhy academics have fought fortenure as a means of protectionfrom harassment for their ideas andsocial critiques.

Society needs those kinds ofobjective critics i f t is to have morethan parochial, self-centred goals.Sadly, for most Canadianacademics, tenure has become asinecure rather than a privilege andopportunity.

The industrialization of theuniversity is a mistake for manyreasons, one of the more trivialbeing that it will not do what itsproponents claim. In rushing towelcome investment fromcompanies to exploit new ideas anddiscoveries, scientists seem to haveforgotten or are unaware that mostof our current hotshot ideas willprove in time to be wrong,irrelevant or unimportant. Scienceis mainly in the business ofinvalidating the latest concepts. Sowhy the rush to apply them?

industrialization of heuniversity will not owhat its proponentsclaim

But I have much deeper reasonsfor objecting to the industrializationof the university. The essence ofan academic community is the freeexchange of ideas, a sharing ofknowledge. The formation ofprivate companies withinuniversities and with their facultyruns counter to this spirit. Privatecompanies encourage a destructivekind of competitiveness that can bepetty and mean. Secrecy becomes apriority when patenting ideas is aprimary goal.

And the lure of profit can result inboth shoddy science and a narrowfocus that ignores broaderquestions of social responsibilityand impact

My most serious concern is withthe vital role of the academic ascritic and source of knowledge forsociety. Without an axe to grind.the scholar is in a unique position toprovide a balanced point of viewwith data to back him up.

During the Vietnam War, two ofthe most visible activists among

scientists were David Baltimore ofthe Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (who later earned aNobel Prize) and Mark Ptashne ofHarvard University. They werecritical of companies such as DowChemical and Monsanto for theirproduction of napalm, defoliantsand tear gas.

Today, both Mr. Baltimore andMr. Ptashne have their ownbiotechnology companies. whileDow and Monsanto are heavilyinvolved in biotechnology. Do youthink for a minute that the two menwould be as critical of thoseindustries today? Not on your life.

we need scholars whoare detached from theseapplications

In the 1970s, after the Arab oilembargo, I was involved in a filnion the massive deposit of oil inAlberta's tar sands. At the time,with oil prices skyrocketing, therewas talk of perhaps 10 more oilextraction plants as big as or biggerthan Syncrude.

Each would produce at least 50tonnes of sulphur dioxide a day.That's a lot of acid rain. So wetried to find a university ecologi tinthe area who would speak to us oncamera about the environmentalconsequences of such development.We were unsuccessful, because noone wanted to jeopardize his grantfrom the oil companies Yet it isprecisely for that knowledge thatsociety supports such experts in auniversity.

I don't deny a role for universityfaculty in the application of newideas. Our topnotch people areCanada's eyes and ears to theworld's research, and good peoplewill have ideas that can eventuallybe exploited. But the deliberate andurgent push to economic payoffdistorts scholarship within theuniversity and subverts its thrust tothe will of those who have themoney.

Profit or destruction are the majorreasons for the application ofscience today, while environmentaland social costs are seldomseriously addressed. That's whywe need scholars who re detachedfrom those applications.

A university is a unique place insociety. t has a fundamental roleto playas a repository of humanknowledge. But in the distortion ofits perceived value as the engine ofprivate enterprise. we will losemuch of what makes it worthwhileand special.

I don't condone, but canunderstand why universityscientists, who have been giveninsufficient funds for so long, arewelcoming the Faustian bargainwith private industry. But I fail tocomprehend why philosophers,historians and sociologists whoshould know better are acquiescingso easily.

S C Reportby Loran Ball

3B CompEngLet me introduce myself: my

name is Loran Ball (3B Computer)w u en

Advisory Council) Director for theEngineering Society. The SAC isthe interface between Co-opstudents and the Department ofCo-operative Education and CareerServices (CECS). It is compos dof representa.tives from CECS andstudent representatives ,from eachfaculty with co-op programs. Thestudent reps provide input into thedecision-making processes ofCECS and report back to thestudents about the recentdevelopments within CECS.

Unwant AdsThe Unwant Ads are objective

evaluations of work term jobs bythe Engineering students who hadthem (we will soon be asking youto evaluate your summer work termjobs). They are an invaluablesource of information since the job

descriptions in the Want Ads andthe actual work term experiences donot always match. h ~ evaluationsare available in the Orifice sortedalphabetically by employer name.

PlacementPlacement Advisors are available

in Needles Hall if yourCo-ordinator is not on campus. f

they can't solve your problem, theywill contact your o -ordinator inthe field for you. To find thePlacement Advisor for your region,ask in room 1102 of Needle Hall.

SAC RepsEveryone is welcome to attend

the SAC meetings, held everysecond Tuesday (next meeting isOctober 20) at 4:30 PM in room

1029 of Needles Hall. The threeother Engineering SACrepresentatives are Arno Krause(2B Electrical), Gord Ellis (3BComputer), and Rob Bigec (3BChemical). Messages for the repsor myself can be left in the SACmailbox in the Orifice.

Renewable memberships a t t he Grad Housea re now a v a i l a b l e t o underqrads, s t a f f

and facul ty $15.00 a term.• Open 1 days a week Coming Events Inc lude:• Snacks and Sandwiches • South America Night• Jamaican P a t t i e s • Amnesty I n t l Folk & Blues• PATIO • Hallowe'en Par ty

• Videos Thurs. and Sat .• Sports Network• Dar ts• Go-Od Music• Well ington Real Ale on t ap• Good assor tment of domestic

and imported beers

FOR MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION GO TOGSA OFFICE, UPSTAIRS AT GRAD HOUSEOPEN NOON - ' 4 P.M., MONDAY TO FRIDAY

BOOKINGS TO MEMBERS BY REQUEST



6 Iron Warrior

J P N Part One: The

by AI MCGowanMech '87

In May 1987. nine engineeringstudents from the University ofWaterloo undertook a two-weektour of Japan to get a first-handview of the level of technology inthat country. These students visitedseveral Japanese research institutesand factories in an effort todetermine the reasons for Japan'ssuccess in internation .al trade andhow, if possible, these factqrstranslate to Canadian industrialpractices.

The trip was originated by theUW Student Chapter of the

Canadian Society for MechanicalEngineering (CSME), and warfunded in part by sponsorship fromsome twenty corporations inOntario. This article is the first offour which describe some of thegroup's observations on "Japan,Inc.".

There is a common tendency forthe engineer-as-problem- solver togloss over the background to agiven problem in finding a solution.This tendency also prevails in thebusiness world, which is whyreports contain executivesummaries: Mr. Big is not.nterested in det ails he just wantsthe answer, thanks. It's also aneasy trap to fall into when giving ananswer, as everybody wants tokeep Mr. Big happy.

Unfortunately, this approachdoesn't work when Japan is thesubject of discussion. Thedifficulty arises because Japaneseculture, history, and social structureis entirely different from anythingwe are accustomed to in NorthAmerica. Japanese ancestors didnot immigrate from Europe, werenot subjects of the British Empire,

and are not (for the most part)followers of Christian doctrines.Still, many outside observerspersist in attempting to understandJapan and her culture in terms ofNorth American concepts. This is aBig Mistake.

So, before we explore all theintricate details of Japanesetechnology, should provide somebackground, which will reduce to

many outside observerspersist in attempting to

understand Japan and herculture in terms o f NorthAmerican concepts

the Quick and Easy History ofJapan in deference to spacelimitations.

Japan was a feudal country untilvery recently. The military Leader(or Shogun) held the actual powerof government, but retained theEmperor as figurehead in order to

maintain his credibility. Thischanged in 1867 with the ascent ofEmperor Mutsuhito, who used alittle political leverage to overthrowthe Tokugawa Shogunate andregain control of the country (for amore dramatic account, read JamesClavell).

Thus began the MeijiReformation, which wascharacterized by an increase inforeign trade and industrialization.Emperor Meiji (the name means"enlightened peace") recognizedthat Japanese technologicaldevelopment was far behind the restof the world, where the IndustrialRevolution was already a centuryold. It was really Meiji who

instigated the by-now-familiarpractice of observing the methodsof others, and adapting thosemethods to Japanese practice.

As is usually the case, the peoplewho got in on the ground floor ofthe new administration got rich.This was compounded by the fadthat this particular administrationwanted Japan to play in the Big

UW/CSMEJapan '87 Tour

Slide Presentation

Tuesday, October 2011:30am

in the Graphics Lab

Leagues, and was willing tosupport those Japanese companieswho would help them realize thatgoal. The results were the zaibatsu:family -run corporations that wereessentially government- backedindustrial cartels.

Many of these industrialistsbecame aligned with nationalistinterests during the early twentiethcentury, which resulted (eventually)in the invasion of China, and (moreeventually) in the war with theUnited States. After WWII theAmerican army supervised thereconstruction of Japan, andestabl ished the postwaradministration as a constitutionalmonarchy (like Canada) which theJapanese, of course, adapted to suittheir own needs.

Japan was not allowed tomilitarize beyond the needs of her

national defense, which meant thatJapanese defense budgets weresmall and hence that there was moremoney available for nationalindustrialization and education.The results may be instructional tosome modern nations (then again.maybe not).

Japan's potential for growth afterthe war attracted a few interestedAmericans, one of which was W.E.Deming, a former statistician atFord. who was frustrated with that

company's lack of interest in hisstatistical quality control theories.The Japanese paid attention,however - the Deming A ward forexcellence in applied quality controlis now a highly-prized honour forJapanese manufacturers - and Mr.Deming approaches sainthood inJapan. (What may be moresatisfying to Deming is that Fordnow pays him a gob of money toretain his expertise as a QCconsultant.)

That brings us to modern-dayJapan, which most readers willrecall from recent history. Therewas a br ief period in the 1950s 'andearly 60s when Japan wasinfamous for poor-quality,

easily-breakable goods, whichseemed nevertheless to be sold inevery store in North America.When Japan's quality controlmethods were finally perfected,Western manufactures were caughtshort, and many of them are stilltrying to catch up.

For a quick (if extremelysuperficial) overview of Japan'ssocial structure, it's very importantto recognize the implications ofJapan's population density. Thereare over 120 million people inJapan, which is a mountainous

island of about 370 thousandsquare kilometres. Rea l estateprices reflect this scarcity if land.Property in the Ginza district ofdowntown Tokyo sells for about$300,000 per square foot. (Just forfun, get three standard LP albums[and one 45 - Ed.] and put themon the floor beside each other. f

you owned that much land inTokyo, you 'd be a millionaire.)

Because of this populationdensity, the Japanese people havebecome accustomed to living inclose proximity, which means thatmany of them have learned thevalue of common courtesy. Thereare' few that are more polite and

Council Reportby Mary-Kay Lippert

3AChemEng

The second meeting of Eng SocCouncil was held Tuesday evening,October 6. At this meeting, the Fall1987 Budget was approved (Goodjob Susan ).

In other news:

a Task Force onProfessionalism" directorship wascreated.

- Carlo Kunkel is looking forhelp organizing this tenn's debates.

- there are still some tickets leftfor the Semi-Fonnal.

- Homecoming is November13-15. Dieter Turowski is lookingfor 50-60 people for' theHomecoming Committee.

October 16, 1987

History

accommodating to one another thatthe Iapanese. There are a dozenexpressions for excuse me .depending on the nature of theoffence.

The scarcity of resources has alsomade the Japanese traditionallymore frugal than your averageNorth American, although this ischanging as Japanese companiesdiscover the magic of saturationadvertising. Japan is quicklybecoming a consumer society andthis, coupled with a strongcurrency. is 'the main reason for

Co-operation and teamspirit are prized above

initiative

Japan's recent inflationary economy($3.00 for a cup of coffee ).

One last point, by way ofintroduction: Japanese people, likemost island-dwellers, are generallycohesive and ethnocentric (look itup). This trait is reinforced in theschools, were children are taught to"sacrifice" individuality for thegood of the group. Co-operationand team spirit are prized aboveinitiative, which is seen as

unattractive, "American" attributeIn fact, Prime Minister Nakasone isnot held in very high esteem bymany people, who consider hisWestern style of leadership mostunb.ecoming in a Japanese. Thismay also -change eventually, asJapanese business leaders are nowrealizing their relative weakness ininnovative research and design.

This little summary hardly doesjustice to the myriad facets ofJapanese culture, and thedifferences between our heritageand theirs (but then again youdidn't pay much for it, right?). In

the next issue. will describe livingand working conditions in Japan.

- Condom machines will be put inmens and womens washrooms,evenly distributed on campus.

By electionResults

by Piotr Labon3B Comp Eng

Congratulations go to our newVP, Sandra Van Rassel, and ourTreasurer for next term, LyndaWilson.

I would like to thank all thecandidates for running in theelections and conducting goodcampaigr.s. I would also like tothank the people who helped at thepolling station: Ameet, Avi, Gord,Jason, Jennifer, Karen, Loran,Marc, Marcel, Opus (What? -Ed.), Sandra, Sharon, and Todd.Last, but not least, thanks to Nancyfor dinner.



October 16, 1987

DIGITAL

by Rick Blaiklock4A Systems

Overthe past decade there hasbeen a very strong trend towards

the use of digital technology in thetelecommunicat ions industry. Thishas been driven by the increasedtransmission of digital data fromcomputers and an increase in VLSI(Very Large Scale Integration)technology, which reduces the costof equipment used in itstransmission.

This article examines thehierarchy of the digital networkscurrently used by Canada s twotelecommunications vendors,Telecom Canada (known in Ontarioas Ma Bell) and CNCPTelecommunications.

The most common use of thetelephone network is the telephonecall. In a digital network, themessage starts as a continuous(analog) signal. Samples are takenevery 125 ~ s (8000 Hz) and each isquantized to a byte, or eight bits,which of course can be take on 256possible values. Companding, orassigning the value in a non-linearfashion (small steps at lower levelsand big steps at higher levels), isused to reduce the effects of any

quantization error, since errors athigher frequencies are not noticedin a voice transmission.

The amount of data to betransmitted is 8 bits/sample x 8000samples/second = 64,000 bits persecond (64 kbps).

A voice signal tends to becontinuous and predictable, so thedifference between successivesamples can be transmitted instead,reducing the number of bits persample to four instead of eight.This technique, known as AdaptiveDifferential Pulse Code Modulation

(ADPCM), and various otherpat tern recogni t ion andcompression techniques can beused to reduce the data transmittedfrom 64 kbps to 32 kbps or evenlower. -

there has been a verystrong trend towardsthe use o f digitaltechnology in thetelecommunicationsindustry

Computer data is already indigital form, so it doesn t have togo through the digitization process.The only limitation for datatransmission is that the circuit mustrun at less than 56 kbps. The extra8 kbps is used by the network forerror correction, which is muchmore important with digital data.Typical transmission data rates are2.4 kbps (2400 baud), 4.8, 9.6,19.2, and 56 kbps. The 56 kbpslink is used between host

Iron Warrior 7

NETWORKS Coming Soon to aTelephone Near You

computers or for the transm issionof very large amounts of data suc has CAD/CAM applications .

Everyone recognizes that thereisn t a single twisted -pair copperwire between Central Offices(major switching centres) for eachpotential connection. Thetransmission of large numbers ofcalls over a common carrier isaccomplished by a process calledmultiplexing. By increasing thespeed (or bandwidth) of thetransmitting signal, many of the 64kbps voice call can be interleaved,transmitted and taken apart at thedestination. The actual process iscalled Time Division Multiplexing(TDM), in which each channel isassigned a fraction of time on the

carrie r signal. A device analogousto a commutator takes a bit fromeach each channel, places it in thecorrect time slot and transmits theinfotmation.

In North America the lowest levelof TOM is 24 channels. A standarddata frame (D-4 frame) consists of24 channels x 8 bits per sample + 1framing bit = 193 bits per frame.8000 frames are transmitted persecond, leading to a transmissionrate of 1.544 Mbps. This rat e isknown as OS-1 (Digital Signal level1), or more commonly (ie in theAmerican ma rke t ) as a T l. In

Europe the 'standard ' an mis ion

TABLE:

The DS -l , 2 and 3 signal formatshave been accepted as internationalstandards by the CCITT(International Telephone and

Telecommunications ConsultativeCommittee) for use in NorthAmerica. The DS-4 signal has notbeen standardized as of yet. Notethat the levels are not even multiplesof each other, since additional bitsare transmitted for framing and \error detection .

In Canada the DS-4 signal istransmitted (by Bell Canada) on theLD-4 network, which consists of12 coaxial cables in a commonsheath.

The digital backbone

network is thefoundation oj and firststeps towards ISDN

Even higher data t r a n s m i s s ~ o n

rates are obtained on the ORS-8Digital Radio System. This is acoast-to-coast microwave system 8GHz) that provides datatransmission of multiple DS -3signals. Techniques such ascorrelative coding (also known aspartial response signalling) allowthe transmission of 1.544 Mbps ina 500 kHz transmissio n chann el. It

. 1 t r

Hierarchy Voice TransmissionLevel TIs Circuits Rate

DS-O n/a 1 64 kbit s/sDS-l 1 24 1.544 MbilS/ SOS-2 4 96 6 .312 Mbits/ sDS-3 28 672 44.736 Mbit s/sDS-4 168 4032 274 .176 Mbits/s

rate is 48 voice channels at 2 0 4 ~

Mbps, a number much easier towork with numerically since it iseasily expressed in binary tenns.

The T l rate has an interestinghistorical background. It wasdeveloped in the early 1960 s,'when the transmission technology(copper-wire-based) requiredrepeaters located fairly closetogether. Repeaters are used toregenerate the digital signal andtransmit it further along. InManhattan, where the system was

developed, manholes for repeaterswere located 1800 metres apart,hence the repeater spacing waspredetermined. The systemdeveloped had to accommodatethis, and studies determined themaximum rate of 1.544 Mbps.

In terms of the volumes of datatransmitted across the continent, 4

voice calls is really not that much.T s are further multiplexed togetheras shown in the Table.

years of engineering in Canada thecoast -to-coast microwave network,developed in the late 1970 ' s, isconsidered one of the ten mostsignificant Canadian engineeringaccomplishments.

The microwave system doessuffer several drawbacks. Thesignal is transmitted through theatmosphere and hence it can beabsorbed, reflected or attenuated byvarious atmospheric conditionssuch as precipitation or temperatureinversions. This leads to shortoutages known as fades, ranging in

duration from less than a second toseveral minutes in severe rainstorms. Various error-correctiontechniques are available to reducethe effects of outages, but theserequire a considerable overhead ofextra bandwidth.

Fibre optic cables are beinginstalled across Canada to providean additional high -speed carrier.Fibre optic technology does notsuffer the outage problems that

digital radio does, and will play anessential role as networks transmitlarger quantities of data. There willbe fibre links from Winnipeg to

Halifax by the end of 1988, and acomplete coast-ie-coast network by1990.

A standard fibre optic cablecontains 36 optic fibres, a coppertwisted pair and a steel strengthmember, all wrapped in a cable lessthan 18 mm in diameter. This issomewhat fragile, and has createdmany installation difficulties.notably in the mountains ofWestern Canada. For obviousreasons, burying the cable is verydifficult, and even CNCP, whichhas right-of -ways along the railwaylines has encountered problems. Inwinter, when the ground freezes,the vibration caused by passingtrains is sufficient to break thecable . The cables must therefore besuspended aboveground.Installation and service becomesvery time consuming, forcing costsupwards.

The final method of datatransmISSIOn is by the use ofsatellite links. Telesat Canadabegan operation in 1973, and haslaunched several Anik satellitesproviding links across the country(notably to Northern Canada).There are typica ll y 16 to 2 4channels with bandwidth 36 to 54MHz. Satellites are generally usedin a multiple-access mode, withseveral earth stations using thetransponder simultaneously.

Th e increase d t ran smiss ion o fdi g ital d ata o v r the vari ous medialea ds th e evo lut io n to c ompl e t lydi g it a l n et work s, a llo win g thetran smi ss ion of data requirin g veryhigh bandwidth s , s uc h as videosignal s. All of the devices u singthe network (e g tel e phone,computer, vid eo conferencingequipment) m eans that ther e are

quite a few cable s running to everydesk . Wouldn t it be nice tocombine some of them in to onebox with one cable?

Great, but optimistic you say?Not really. The digital backbonenetwork is the foundation of. andfIrst step towards. ISDN. ISDN,or Integrated Services DigitalNetworks, is a tenn that you will behearing many times over the nextfew years, but is the topic of afuture article.





October 16, 1987

by Jorge SerradorlA Systems

It is said that the English have aflair for games, so it is no surprisethat the majority of pub gamesseem to originate from GreatBritain. What is interesting, i f notsurprising, is that these games werenot standardized until the mid-18ihcentury. There is still no definiteidea as to where exactly all thesegames came from, and thereprobably won't be in the nearfuture, so for now we are leftsimply to enjoy as they are, withoutconcerning ourselves with theirorigin.

Ring the Bull

This game makes use of a bull' s

head - real or pictorial - whichhas a hook coming out of the nose.The player tries to toss a ring,which is suspended from the ceilingby a cord, onto the bull's hook.

H a n d Cuffs

Also known as the NightmarePuzzle, this games involves twohorseshoe-shaped rings attached atthe ends with a circular ring. Theidea of the game is to get thecircular ring off the hand cuffs.This is actually quite easy, butgetting it back on is a real trick.

Skit e

Originally from Gennany, thisgame is somewhat like bowling. Itconsists of a wooden box, abouttwo feet wide and four feet long,which is separated into variouschambers with doors betweenthem. Pins are set up in eachchamber. The player then sets a topspinning in one of the chambers.Points are scored for each pinknocked down, with the highestpoint values awarded for pins in theopposite chamber.

Conger Coddling

In this game, a large (dead)conger eel is suspended from theceiling with a rope (other suitablemarine life may be substituted forthe eel). The contestants stand onoverturned flower pots, which arearranged in a circle. The eel is thenswung about in an attempt to knockthe various players off of theirflowerpots (this is definitely a gameto be played after drinking).

Iron Warrior

Pub amesDwyle Flunking

There are two possible origins forthis game. One story is that it wasthe pastime of King Offa of Mercia(eighth century). The other is that it

was dreamed up by anunderworked BBC employeeduring an extended tea break.

To play, you need a bucket ofstale beer and a mop head or cloth(the 'Dwyle'), ideally nine inches toone foot square in size and with awet weight of approximately fiveounces. You also need the'Swadger' (a broom handle or otherstick). Finally, you need two teamsof twelve players.

The 'batting' team puts its firstplayer up to 'flunk' (throw). Hestands beside the bucket of beer andimpales the Dwyle with hisSwadger. Music is played whilethe Hunker circles the bucket(counter-clockwise) and the fieldingteam members join hands and circlethe bucket (clockwise) at a distanceof about four to five metres. Whenthe music stops, the flunkerimmediately flunks his dwyletowards one of the fielding team.He scores three runs for a face, twofor a body and one for a limb.

Each member of the batting teamfollows until all twelve have

flunked, ending the first inning,and the teams change places,beginning the second inning. Theteam with the most runs after thesecond inning wins.

Rhubarb ThrashingThis is a game where two

contestants wear blindfolds andearplugs and stand on barrels, eachgrabbing the other's wrist. Theythen proceed to beat each otherabout the head with large sticks ofrhubarb.

CavesThis game uses a slanted box

with . five sunken holes, into which

1st as well as November 1st.There will be exotic and puu.lin,foods from around the world,Ji,saw competitions, and a gamecalled Quest of the Philosopher'sStone . All this and theHitChcockthriller. The Man Who Knew TooMucht

. will be shown at the

Campus Centre.To top all this off.prizes will be given out each dayfor those who win the speedjigsawcompetitionsand the QJJestof he Philosopher's Stone ,

I ~ o n u n e nthat you try to finclthe time. to walk up to B J i ~Mattbew$ B81l and .ue a ~aroUi d the inU$eUJJiorat least

the CC during Oct. 30. ~ l1 . You WO t

the players try to toss rings. Theinteresting thing about this game isthat it was usually placed just belowthe dart board, and so there wereusually fights as to who could playwhat.

Hockey

A very primitive form of bubblehockey, this game uses asuitcase-like box which is openedup for play. There are holes in thecentre of each end which serve asthe goals. The puck is placed in themiddle and the players use sticks toknock the puck into the oppositegoal. This game is very simple, but

i t It t . , . t . ) .

9

is quite fun and can be played by asmany players as will fit around the

board.

Beetle Racing

This game was invented in a pubin Evesham by a bartender whoclaimed that it had been a commonpractice in his native county o fDerbyshire.

Each competitor brings his ownmarked beetle (the game strictlydictates that only thoroughbredbeetles are to be used and that nocommon cockroaches are allowed)which is placed in an upside-downjar in the centre of a circle one yardin diameter. Th e ' ar is then lifted.and the fust beetle to exit the circlewins.

Lap Sit

In this game eight to ten peopleform a tight circle standingshoulder - to-shoulder. They all tum

to their right and grab the waist ofthe person directly in front of them.They then take one side step intothe centre of the circle (to tighten itup) and attempt to sit on eachother's knees (not the thighs,frosh- Ed. .

The challenge begins as the grouptries to perform some collectiveactions such as touching the groundoutside the circle, taking three stepsforward, and anything else they canthink of.

Tug of Peace

A thick rope is tied at the ends toform a loop. Ten or more playersthe sit in a circle around the loopand grab the portion in front o fthem. They then try to pullthemselves up using the rope. Thiscan also be played with two teams,each trying to get to their feet beforethe other.

Pub Crawling

Pub Crawling is well known inEngland, the idea being to sink apint in each pub along apre-determined circuit within agiven time. The interesting thing isthat the rules dictate that anycompetitor found drunk anddisorderly is disqualified.



1 Iron Warrior October 16, 1987

A Fine November Morningby Jorge Serrador

lA Systems

It was a beautiful crisp Novembermorning, a little col der than usualbut with a clea r blue sky. A lonefigure wandered along the edge ofthe frozen pond. He seemed total yunaware of anything but the pondand crouched down at the edgestaring at the ice.

Kevin zipped his jacket the rest ofthe way up. He watched the steamissue from his nostrils like smokefrom some great dragon of anothertime. He sneered at the reflectionof the grubby unkempt figure in theice. "Some dragon," he thought.He had been that way ever sinceJenny had left him. Ah Jenny, theyhad often walked beside this pondthrowing bread to the birds,holding hands and laughing wildly.How long had it been since she hadleft? Three months, maybe four.Time didn't maner much to himanymore. One day blended into thenext.

He was suddenly aware of howsad the figure in the ice looked. Healmost jumped back when herealized that was him. How couldhe have let her go?

He had gotten up at 9:00 to studyfor a midterm that evening. Jenny

"Dear Kevin. Sorry I couldn'tmake you breakfast but J had toleave early to get to a rally. I l l beback for lunch and I can tell youeverything then. Don't skipbreakfast. Love Jenny."

It was just like her. Off to some ·political thing and her linle noteabout breakfast. He picked up hiscup of coffee and sat down at thelittle table with his books.

He heard the door open about12:30 and looked over his shoulderto see Jenny walking in.

"Hi," she said, smiling at him."How was you morning?" sheasked walking up behind him andplacing her anns around his neck.

"Me and my books are justhaving a great time."

"Don't worry. All this studying

will payoff some day.""Ya, I hope so. Anyway, how

was your morning? I bet i t wasmore exciting than mine."

"Well," she said pulling up a seatbeside him. I went to this peacerally at City Hall. There's anotherone this afternoon and I 'd reallylike you to go with me. It 's reallyimportant. The summit is startingtoday and we want to show worldleaders we want peace. It'll be agreat opportunity. What do yousay?"

"Jen, you know I 'd love to gobut I have midterms and I reallyshould study."

"C'mon, you can take an houroff," she said almost pleading. Heremembered looking into her deepbrown eyes and wanting to say yes :but it came ou t no.

"It 's your responsibility to tryand create world peace too. You' regoing to die too if there's a nuclearwar," she said gening angry.

"Look, Jen, I agree with you but

Ijust can't go."

"What do you mean you can'tgo? I f there was a football gameyou'd go see it. Don't you

TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIP AWARD WINNERSFOR THE 1986 87 ACADEMIC YEAR

Mr. Juan Labastida Chemical Engineering

Mr. Fred Afagh Civil Engineering

Mr. Benny Wong Electrical Engineering

Mr. Keith Rowe Systems Design Engineering

Mr. Chris trie First Year Engineering

T.A. nomination forms availableat course critique time

understand this is world peace?Life or death. I f everyone said theywere too busy then what do youthink would happen to the world?

We'd probably all be dead bynow."

"I think the people in chargewould be able to take care ofthings."

"So you agree with stockpilingnuclear weapons "

"No, I don't want nuclearweapons. It 's just I don't think it'smy fight. There are lots of otherpeople out there like you that aredoing a [me job so I don't think oneless guy will make any difference."

If everyone said theywere too busy then what

o you think wouldhappen to the world?

"Whose fight is it, then? Don'tyou see that if everyone thoughtlike that, no one would do anythingand what do you think wouldhappen? We all would be ledwherever our world leaders tookus. We'd just be a flock of sheepgoing to whatever doom we weredirected. How can you just sitthere and let that happen? . Don't

you care what happens to thisplanet? Well I sure as hell do I 'mgoing to the rally " She hstomped out of the hous_ andslammed the door behind her.

Kevin thought about what shesaid but he just didn't think it washis fight. Ah well, he would makeit up to her tonight. She had nevercome back.

He knew where she was livingnow but he had just never been ableto go and see her. As he sat therethinking, he noticed a small mothflutter down onto the ice. It satthere for a while in the cold andthen tried to take off again. It beatits wings frantically trying to takeoff. Kevin knew it was going todie anyway but he picked it up andlaunched it into the air where hewatched it flyaw ay.

Kevin suddenly thought aboutthat moth struggling againstimpossible odds. fenny had beenright all along. I f he didn't take onsome of the responsibility, whowould? Even if the odds wereterrible, he had to try, because todie without trying was far worsethan to die in a failed attempt.Kevin stood up and walkedtowards Jenny's apartment. Hecould hardly wait to explain hischange of heart and go outmarching with her. He wouldchange the world for her.

Kevin was not even aware ofwhat was happening as he wasvaporized.



October 16 1987

OW Et-lQlNEER 5 R S P O ~ OTO OKTOBE RFEST

ron Warrior 11



2

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ron Warrior

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from waitronics

October 16 1987

if you think all the clones are built the same

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K-W s most respected name in IBM compatible hardware

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Documents

Iron Warrior: Volume 8, Issue 8