Editor in Chief:
Shani Blankrot
OIL!!! And vation
some other bullocks
behind their first book. ered over. Kerosene, propane,
Damon Surgenor
4th year Mechanical
W hat is the fastest way to
become the target of the
“progressive student populous’
”, or more correctly, the “environ-
mentally adware’s” unrelenting
hatred?
Getting a job in the oil industry
seems to be the ticket. And that
is exactly why I chose a Co-op
job in Alberta, at one of Canada’s
premium tar sands operations.
Onwards, to explore the industry
away from the sensationalized
viewpoint of media engines and
environmental organizations,
founded on admirable notions,
but which have only served to
fuel person’s love for themselves,
instead of the environment.
After an outstanding pass of the
panel five drug test, I was on the
first plane to Calgary, waiting for
a charter to the Athabasca tar pit.
Who would have thought that
there was occupational drug test-
ing in Canada and that cannabis
is one of the five drugs tested? I
incorrectly thought that this was
the stuff of the American Empire
only. However, if you hang about
the 7-Eleven in downtown Fort
Mcmurray at three O’clock in the
morning you will see why such
tests exist. A pipe fitter, I worked
with, likened the scene to a zom-
bie movie. Pain, sorrow, anguish,
and despair far beyond the shel-
tered halls of academia. Those
left behind.
With the intentions of seeing
firsthand the malpractices and
environmental horrors inscribed
in the mountains of literature
dismissing the Alberta oil indus-
try, I found myself contemplating
an unfortunate dilemma: stay in
the oil industry for the invaluable
work experience immediately
available, or quit based upon per-
sonal beliefs.
For a junior engineer, direct
design experience is the most
important thing in your life (far
more important than beer) and
in the oil industry, you get a lot
of it. Additionally, it allows you
to travel around the world. And
not the regular stint in Europe
that a handful of B-grade sociolo-
gists claim was the eye-opening
cultural experience, and moti-
“When I was a college student in
the late…” (Insert date here) “…
I spent a three month vacation
in Europe…” and on and on four
hundred pages further [1].
Working in the oil industry al-
lows you to travel around the
world to places not open to the
public or the travelling liberal arts
student. Places where personal
mercenaries are necessary and
dictatorships come and go on a
monthly basis. It would definitely
be extremely valuable to see the
unfortunate circumstances that
human’s love for oil has caused in
some areas of the world.
For all the flack that Tar Sands
companies, like Suncor and Syn-
crude, get for the environmental
destruction inherent in the ex-
traction of bitumen (I guess some
people call it Tar these days), they
do have significant environmen-
tal programs in place. After all it
is Canada and strict environmen-
tal regulations apply. That be-
ing said, there is always room for
improvement. On a side note, it
is quite obvious that ceasing tar
sands operations completely, is
more environmentally friendly
than refining the extraction pro-
cess of bitumen for synthetic
crude. Of course, it would be
difficult to halt the extraction of
a natural resource that everyone
uses on a daily basis.
On to my field office, at the
In-situ plant, where bitumen
was pumped 30 feet out of the
ground with horizontally drilled
steam pipes. After numerous cof-
fee breaks with the site process
engineers, from Shanghai and
Seoul, I had a firm understanding
of the refining process down the
line. Both engineers had previ-
ously worked in refineries at their
places of birth. Additionally, the
Chinese characters for ‘Nuclear’,
‘Power’, ’Big’, ‘Hemp’, ‘Boy’ and
‘Woman’ were revealed. A firm
conceptualized understanding
of the Korean alphabet was not
obtained.
And so, after the bitumen is
diluted and sent to a refinery
in Edmonton or somewhere in
the USA, it is further processed.
Cracked, diluted, and distilled to
those products that environmen-
talists, politicians and business-
men alike get all hot and both-
octane, jet fuel; the fruits and
vegetables of industry, all origi-
nating from the heart of Alberta.
It might even get further pro-
cessed to nylon or maybe even
plastic...
Anyone who protests the devel-
opment of Canada’s tar sands is
absolutely correct, in that it is a
huge burden on the surrounding
natural environment. Unfortu-
nately there are no other options
to sustain our excessive North-
American lifestyle. It’s not really,
then, a question of toppling an
evil entity that can simply be de-
feated through lobbying and pro-
testing. I’m not sure what those
Dalhousie sustainability folks at
the Killam, back in January, were
after with that passive protesting.
Surely, it was beautifully modeled
after John Lennon’s famous Bed-
in back in 1969. Bringing it back
to Montreal: give peace/environ-
ment a chance against the evil
powers that be, I suppose.
Beyond that oddity, individual
consumption of oil products like,
plastics, synthetic fabrics, and
fuels is the major issue at hand.
Perhaps critically analyzing your
own lifestyle and how your in-
dividual impact can be reduced
should be considered. Perhaps
you could criticize all that you
consume, wear, and touch before
you place the blame of complex
issues like global warming entire-
ly on the government or industry.
Clearly these past few para-
graphs have been utter nonsense
and bollocks; the musing of a
cynical student that doesn’t un-
derstand people or the current is-
sues facing society. As that great
Canadian writer once suggested
“cynicism breads in people who
are terrified and afraid, refuting
alternative understanding when
they can’t comprehend some-
thing” [2]. Or something along
those lines, I couldn’t find the
quote in the book, in the time al-
lotted. Of course, you can’t bar-
rel through life being cynical all
the time. There is always music,
art, language, and writing to turn
to; the simple formula for retriev-
ing your brain from a momentary
bout of depression, back into an
operational second gear.
In conclusion, I have to apolo-
gize for the overuse of that dread-
ed semi-colon and my failure to
understand how comma’s work.
I admit, the sporadic placement
of commas in places is because
I had no idea what I was doing,
so I figured a pause would make
things better.
First line of “No Sense of Place”
(1985). Joshua Meyrowitz… (def-
initely not a B-grade sociologist,
book has interesting parallels to
all that social networking that
goes on with the internet these
days)
Not sure, you find it… some-
where in “Joshua Then and Now’
(1980). Mordecai Richler
By: Damon Surgenor (4th year
Mechanical)
dalgossipgeek
@gmail.com
.....XOXO
G
ossip
eek
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DSEUS Elections
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March 16th 2011
Page 1
CO-OP CORNER
Things to Remember:
• The Co-op website offers
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engandcompscicoop.dal.ca
• Round II is from February 15
– April 8
Word of the Week
Seasonal Decomposition(n): The
breakdown of a student's ability
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month horizon.
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 March 16th 2011
Page 2

Loaded Levies
my hard earned money going
ing NSPIRG, Loaded Ladle, etc.
However, while certain societies
what ideas and initiatives they
support. This could be done as
I will be
Martin Crawley
5th year
towards on Dalhousie University
campus? Here are all the levies
tote that you can opt out easily,
sometimes it is not practical to
easily as having the levy opt-out
in conjunction with the online there
that full time students pay into do so. For instance, let’s say I DSU health plan opt-out. Stu-
Mechanical in an academic year: decided to opt out of NSPIRG, I dents can simply be linked to in- Robbie
would have to wait for a certain formation about each individual McCormack
NSPIRG: $4.00/year period in time where they open levy, and decide for themselves (Industrial

L ast week's referendum on

the $2.00 levy to support the
Loaded Ladle has probably been
DalOUT: $0.50/year
their office to allow reimburse-
ments of your levy over a period
if they want to support that soci-
ety without much effort or time
Engineering '11)

of a few hours for a few days. As spent. Furthermore, the DSU

one of the most polarizing is-
sues in Dalhousie this year. I am
extremely happy to see various
students taking sides on these
sorts of issues because it shows
that they care about their experi-
ence at Dalhousie University.
Although, I have a bone to pick
with the DSU and its levy pro-
gram, in how it is inaccessible,
and societies take advantage
of student apathy to fund their
goals and initiatives.
The first time I heard about a
levy was during the NSPIRG
uproar of 2009. That is when I
realized that I (unknowingly)
paid $4 into a society that I did
not even know existed. That first
got me thinking: what else is
WUSC: $0.50/year
Womens Centre: $2.34/year
South African trust: $1.00/year
Gazette: $5.00/year
Sustainability Office: $2.00/year
And starting in September 2011
the Loaded Levy: $2.00/year
Clearly you can see that each
student is paying $15.34 every
year towards levies. What if you
don’t use one of the services
that are offered by a levy fee that
you pay into? Have you not the
right to opt out? Some levies,
in fact, let you do this includ-
a student from Sexton Campus, I
don’t see my time utilized prop-
erly if I have to walk 30 minutes
all the way up to Studley cam-
pus, potentially be in a line up
for an extended period of time,
be questioned of my motives as
to why I want my money back,
and spend another half hour to
walk back to Sexton campus. I
honestly didn’t bother going to
get my money back just because
of the time and effort it would
take. A genuine student society
must not rely on student apathy
or students' busy schedules for
funding.
An easy to access opt out system
is critical in allowing students to
have control of their money and
could enter the names of people
who decide to opt-in/opt-out In a galaxy far far away
of a levy into a database such as in a land that is completely
the new Tiger Society's website unknown...
so that societies such as NSPIRG I will be there
can keep track of who paid their
as I am here
fees. This will allow the society to
control who is in attendance to
certain events and services. When all that you know has
I think by having an accessible gone away
and transparent way of how we I will be then as I am now
fund student-levied societies, it
will help make future requests
for levies that much easier and When time has come to an
less contentious than displayed end
in the campaign in the 2011 and the well has run dry
winter DSU elections. I will be here
to fill it up.

SEXTON ENGINEERING ENDOWMENT FUND

CALL FOR PROPOSALS
What is SEEF?
The Sexton Engineering Endowment Fund is funded by the $15 fee that each 3rd and 4th year student pays each term they are enrolled in engineering programs at Sexton campus. The
purpose of SEEF is to support the pursuit of excellence in education, research and public service in the faculty of Engineering at Dalhousie University, Sexton campus.

What kinds of activities are supported by SEEF?

Research
• Support for invited speakers
• Partial support for “chairs” in special fields
• Partial support for faculties and equipment
Teaching
• Funds for teaching aids (A.V, films, etc.)
Student Activities
• Funds for undergraduate student projects
• Funding for tools and equipment for student projects
Equipment and Facilities
• Classroom enhancements, particularly if this involves the possible development of new funding sources
• Enhancement of laboratory instructional equipment
• Enhancement of student facilities (DSEUS, technical societies, etc.)
• Enhancement of office environment
Academic and Support Staff
• Support for staff self-improvement courses, workshops, etc.
Library
• Special facilities
• Special acquisitions
Who is able to apply? Academic staff, support staff, undergraduate students, and alumni are able to submit proposals.

Do you have an idea that you think would enhance the academic experience of students at Sexton Campus? Then we want to hear from you!
How to apply: Application guides are available outside the DSEUS office in the design commons, which outline the application requirements. Make sure to follow all instructions
on the application guide.
DEADLINE IS FRIDAY MARCH 25 at 5 P.M.
Please forward any questions you may have to Chris DesRoches, SEEF Chair Winter 2011 at chrisdesroches@dal.ca

Apparel - Belt Buckles (Bronze, Silver and

Gold toned), Keychains and T-Shirts!
EngiBEERing every Friday afternoon in the
Design Commons! Wear a sweater vest for a
free beer!