TEACHERS: A Problem for Behrend Engineers by Jim Michell Did you ever wonder how the need for more engineers is being solved? Well, let's take a look at Bahrend, for example; it's about as typical as you can get. All good engineers must be versed in the field of physics. Our physics teacher has a fondness for bowties and his whispy light hair (although its dif ficult to see now that he got a haircut) conjures up memories of Ear Dirksen or Dr. Zorba. run into him anywhere on campus if he doesn't run into you. He has affectionately been called Clarabell by his students, who have a mong them 50% of Behrendts Brothers of the Bush. To say which of these is the stranger is to throw bad argument after the good. His reasoning ability is be yond question--he likes to ignore things Which tend to go away as all good things must--but he has a habit of grumbling a lot and adjusting his book when lectur ing. His philosophy can be summed up by his theories that physicists solve an appropriate problem exactly while an en gineer solves an exact problem approxi mately. To illustrate, a physicist de scribes the force exerted by two fleas by one erg. Of course the physicist doesn't care if they are female or male, having had a hard day on the dog, or if it's close to their bedtime. The eng- neer, however, will use the science of dynamics (with all its intricate fabr- cations of fulcrums, hypothetical stre sses, and concepts of force) to build a bridge that is far from perfectly rigid, but one that will sway in the strongest wind and give to the changes from win- ter to summer. It's no wonder that this contradiction in purpose is perplexing to most engineers. I wonder if busi- ness administration students have such problems? Oh, by the way, speaking of engi neer's problems, have you ever met a mathematician? disguised as a teacher here on campusm. He is often seen in a brown felt hat, a brown corduroy jacket and buckle shoes. It seems his philosophy as far as class goes is to never say die, especially on sticky- integration problems. However, he occasionally for gets his masquerade and tells his students little anecdotes of the strain of heresy and riddle-ma ing in the mathematicians of old. Or maybe he will expound upon why any axi omatic system is not only incomplete in explaining reality, but always will have meaningful statements that cannot be proven or disproven. How about that! I can understand why there are very few physics and math majors, but why there are engineers at all is beyond me. Keep the faith baby t 0... 1 1 4: 10 000111 VlDlZeaDaini,o4,l Those attending the meeting of the Skeptic's Corner in the Carriage House on Thursday, January 19, had an engrossing session with Mr. Fred Thompson, Assistand Director of the Greater Erie Anti-Poverty Action Com mittee. Mr. Thompson spoke about the activities of the local program, which is carried on under the Office of Economic Opportunities in Washington D.C. Speaking of the three major poverty pockets in this city, he noted that 65% of the adults in this ares (25 years old or over) have an eighth grade education or less. It seems there is one
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