may 2009 issue
|
Student Column
Pies, Swimming, Hair Loss — Dollars
Call them chapters in the Engineering Undergrad’s Guide to Philanthropy. If the event is fun, worthy and well organized, there’s always a way to cajole cash from classmates
 |
|
BY JEREMY KOOYMAN |
While students traditionally lead thrifty lifestyles, engineering undergraduates seem to have discovered several methods of squeezing that little bit of extra cash from each other. This semester has seen three wildly successful fundraisers raise large sums of money, often surpassing their fundraising goals.
As much as students in chemical engineering would like people to believe their claims of successful alchemy, the real reason seems to be sheer tenacity and creativity.
Pi Equals
It is not often that a fundraiser is capable of striking fear into students and faculty alike but Pi Week achieved just that. Taking place on three days in mid-March, this year’s Pi Week raised over $5,000 for the Calgary Urban Projects Society. Pies were bought for a minimum of $5 and hand delivered to their targets by Pi squad volunteers. Recipients were given a choice. Take a pie to the face or redirect for an inflated sum of money.
Pi Week director Alex Cook, E.I.T., worked tirelessly alongside volunteers to organize and deliver pies, and stuff pie shells with filling. The stuffing innovation he conceived combated rising bakery costs, thus maximizing fundraiser profits and reducing overhead by close to $1,000.
The most notable hit this year was the unlucky ENGG 251/253 professor targeted by 47 pies. Redirecting several of them to recognizable students, the professor negotiated a charitable agreement to take only a fraction of the pies sent to her. This allowed more pies to be sold to other students.
 |
PIE DEVILS |
Pi Week concluded with the annual Engg Gladiator POETS event and a welcome visit by the Engineering Alumni Association. Engg Gladiator contestants took each other on in a wide range of events, including the widely uncelebrated sport of speed cabling, which has competitors untangling identical bundles of CAT-5 cable. There were also the popular keg pillow fights, during which combatants fight each other with pillows — while rolling around on empty kegs.
This year’s Engg Gladiator winner was second-year William Enns-Bray, who just edged out the legendary Dave Thom, a graduating student, in a tiebreaker involving a foosball and a garbage can of pie filling.
While the six gladiators provided the afternoon entertainment, alumni bonded with graduating students who had recently received their coveted Iron Rings.
Into the Pool
Moving over to the pool, the 2009 Swim-A-Thon exceeded all expectations by raising over $3,100 for the Calgary Food Bank. Ten student teams pledged to swim 25 metres for each 25 cents donated.
The first-place team, the Block 5 Belugas, smashed previous records by raising $1,400. That’s almost four times as much as the second-place Davey GEOnes Locker Geomatics Swim Team.
Event organizer Natalie Hilbrecht said she was “super excited by the enthusiasm of all the teams, and especially the spectacular effort by the first-year team.” Always looking to the future, Natalie added that the first-years’ hard work this semester set the bar quite high and she can’t wait to see what happens when they enter their respective departments in the fall.
Bald and Loving It
Concluding the winter semester’s impressive fundraising efforts was the crowd favourite, the Shear Stress Head Shave Campaign. Taking place at the last POETS of the year, Shear Stress raised over $3,600 for the Tom Baker Cancer Centre at the Foothills Hospital.
Serenaded by live music courtesy of the engineering musicians club, Schulich Soundstage, onlookers watched as six participants lost their hair for a more summer-friendly look. While voluntarily going bald can be a shocking experience, each successful shave was greeted by cheers and applause from a large body of students and faculty who showed up to show their moral (and financial) support.
Dean Hears Us
While fundraiser wrap-ups and live music made for a busy POETS, there was still another feature for the afternoon — a welcomed visit by Dean of Engineering Elizabeth Cannon, P.Eng. In a POETS first, Dr. Cannon lead a town-hall-style meeting, and it was well received.
Our dean updated students on pressing issues such as the Schulich School of Engineering’s plans to cope with the economy and the recent move to combine the mechanical and manufacturing engineering disciplines. The floor was opened for audience questions on everything from faculty opinions of engineering pranks to what Dr. Cannon thinks is an adequate balance between academic achievement and cocurricular involvement.
While the attendance at a student-organized event by someone who is booked three months in advance for her own Christmas party bolsters respect and admiration, Dr. Cannon took things to the next level. She actually pursued solutions to problems and complaints brought to her attention during the question-and-answer period.
To the joy of students, problems being addressed include the in-famously wobbly engineering lounge tables and the “semi-automatic” E Block doorway.
The winter semester cannot conclude without the legendary Bermuda Shorts Day. Taking place on the last day of class, this campus-wide event is embraced by engineering students who eagerly look forward to the Engineering Students’ Society’s annual pancake breakfast, followed shortly thereafter by the annual Civil Engineering Undergraduate Society barbecue.
The breakfast features the traditional pancake coupled with a serving of sausages and a choice between classic Aunt Jemima syrup and the ESS special “Uncle Jemima” syrup. Free of charge, the legendary feast is ESS’s way of saying thanks to all the students who have helped make engineering such a notable and respected faculty.
Students were keeping their fingers crossed that meteorologists are accurate with their prediction that BSD will be precipitation-free — unlike last year when a snowstorm forced the predominantly outdoor event inside.
Rain or shine, everyone was certain that this semester would conclude with one heck of a celebration.
|