VAY ed

 
 

 

ities Institute of D.C. present-
“Humanities for Engi-

 

by Paul Pilon

 

neers,’’ with speaker
Brown, an interesting, if not

daring look at his field of-

Engineering and the Human-
ities/Social Sciences.

He drew upon his 20 years
experience as an engineer,
his work with CIDA, and an
absorption of the Social Sci-
ences for a contrast of these
two very polarized disciplines.

Brown sees Engineering as
a ‘‘culture’’ itself, with its
own beliefs and codes. And
what kind of culture is it?
According to Brown, it’s an
ordered culture, dictated by
authoritarian rationalism ded-
icated to the formulation of
documents (standards of how
things should be done), and
specifications (which are hy-
bird documents _ sitting
where between Engineering
and the Law).

This culture is politically
conservative and business
conscientious, ie, involved
with the ruling political and
economic ideology, (political
preppies?).

 

    
  

And what type of people

~--—
-—-——-- —

ngineers Humanities

vad On October 31, the Human-

make up this culture? Well,
apparently it is a patriarchal
society, and in fact, Brown
would estimate that 90 per
cent of its population is male!
(What! Female infanticide!)
Well, not quite, but this is

 

their choice.

You see, a closer analysis
of Brown’s ‘‘culture’’ actually
finds it to be a sub-culture; a
peripheral group who’s adopt-
ion of certain morals and.
values of a larger, more
mainstream group (that of all
positivist sciences as a whole)
has made female membership
highly selective and almost
non-existent. Why? It has to
do with their belief system.

‘Engineers worship ‘Logic’,
god of the religion known as
‘Science’. And the ultimate
goal of the ‘Science of Engi-

__The Other Press

neering’ is to discover facts
and achieve objectivity and
consensus, to ultimately
‘‘generate certainty’. In. or-
der for all this to actually
happen, the Engineer must
practise two things in his
daily life; what Brown terms
activist interventionism and
positivist activities |

This, and the addition of
taboos in areas such as
emotionalism, semantics,
contemplation (ie. reflective-
ness), and other qualities as-
sociated with the Humanities
and Social Sciences, (female
qualities to an Engineer), are
frowned upon. So, few fe-
males ever become Engi-
neers, but this will probably
change with the times.

Also these Engineers are
very ethnocentric, holding
that their way is superior to
all others. This view, unfortu-
nately, has permeated Third
World countries with a new
empiricism generated: from
the West in a sort of coloni-
alism of technology. An
alarming notion, warranting
much more attention from
now on.

O.K., so it sounds like a
stereotype. But Brown hold
that for the bulk of engineers,

it’s quite true (20 years exper-
ience in this field would give
the man some say), except for
those who have, like himself,
been saved from such a warp-

 

4pm.
ed sense of reality. But how is
this view, this religion, still
possible? And what can be
done, if anything?

This is impossible to cover
to any great extent here, or
during the lecture, but it is
important to note the out-
dated methodology of the
Engineering discipline and
others like it (definitely
course material).

If the students and faculty
continue (for the most part)
the apathetic attitude perme-
ating the school system,
Douglas being little exception
if not a perfect example,
Orwell may simply have had
his dates screwed up. (I'd
rather think that the students

November 12, 1985 Page 7

of Douglas are blissfully ig-
norant of the economic ration-
alism taking control of the
education system to serve
the needs of the business
community and the job mar-
ket, than embracing such an
ideology. So get off your butts
and educate yourselves!)

Three cheers for Jim
Davies who organizes these
terrific lecture/events, which
usually occur on Thursday
between 12:30 and 2:00 p.m.
when there are no classes and
therefore no excuse for the
pitiful turnouts! Douglas is
lucky to have such a dedicat-
ed man who is willing to
devote his time and energy
into these affairs. He should
really seek employment
where his efforts can be justly
appreciated. He’s too good
ee the student body of Doug-
as.

The next Humanities Insti-
tute event will be a film series
held on Nov. 14 called ‘‘God
is not a Fish Inspector’’, on
aginge Rm. 2203. See the
posters all over campus for
topics, dates and times@for
upcoming events.

   

 

 
 

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society or administration.

All letters and opinions must be typed at a 60 stroke line, triple spaced
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than 200 words in length and opinion pieces should be under 1000 words in

 
 
 
 
  

e

Want

  

 
  

    
 
 

In reference to your last editorial to
where you were criticizing the
students’ apparant apathy towards
college activities (eg. Famine Relief
week, University week). Well, a lot of
us are tired of being swamped with
special ‘‘weeks’’: Fire Prevention,
Police, National Boy Scouts, Heart
Fund, Safety week, ect. ect. Are we
supposed to jump to the opportunity
to act in a certain way every time
some organization dictates for us to
do so? A lot of people did not come to
college for a fun club. There is
nothing wrong with having a good

‘time, but the aim of learning
institutes is education. Social
functions, sports, fund raising,
(newspapers), ect. are strictly
secondary, even though they make
the college experience more
enjoyable.

Your previous editorial seemed to
imply that students have all sorts of
free time. Or money. Every time you
turn around there is some kidney fund

etters

Other Press room

(under the door)

 

or lung fund or wart fund or save the
whales and shoot the seals fund going
on. | thing we, as students, are
getting pumped for enough money
without having every panhandling
organization trying to shake us down
for a few more bucks.

Also, as far as the college newspaper
goes, | enjoy the entertainment
section. But | feel articles on world
affairs, nuclear arms race and the
effect of Rambo on North American
culture, though thought provoking, do
not relate to the student population.
The radical stuff like supporting
Lesbians is enough to gag a maggot.

Why not give the student public
something to really sink their teeth
into? Why not cover articles on:
-Career Opportunities
-Job Markets
-Living on a tight budget
-Laws affecting students
-Lifestyles °
-Inexpensive Entertainment

Can» OC™. a

 
  
  

eek.

  

-Conditioning for Sports
Anyway, that’s all | have to say for
now.
Sincerely,
Doug Setter’

Any community college is very
much a public place. From 0700 until
1100 hours the entire property is
penetratable from numerous levels.
This is a necessary and desirable
convenience for all attending the
College. The situation in some re-
spects is not entirely different than it
has been for years at the McBride or
other College sites.

However, in some respects the
Royal Avenue site is prone to greater

risks. Located as it is, near the
waterfront, near restaurant and tav-

ern row, new and impressive in size it
attracts a variety of curious people be-
sides those of us working and study-
ing here. Size alone increases the sec-
urity problem and the covered parking
mixed blessing.
can be a mixed blessing.

length due to space and layout requirements. ; :
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Letters and opinions may be edited to size.

Deadline for all submissions is 4:00 P.M. the Friday before production

Within any college community
there is simply a cross section of our
larger community...some beautiful
people, some not so beautiful. With-
out being totally paranoid we all must
realize there are risks in life which
can be minimized by our own conduct.

In relation to personal or College
property it is recommended that you:

Never leave portable property un-
attended.

Never leave an unoccupied office
unlocked.

Use desks, filing cabinets etc. to
keep attractive items out of sight.

Lock desks, filing and other cab-
inets when leaving offices.

In brief: Watch it - Lock it - or Lose
it!

Your security from this type of loss
is your responsibility.
Ken McCoy
Manager Security