July 2007 Issue
READERS’ FORUM
Aboriginal Articles ‘What I’ve Been Looking For’
We welcome Readers’ Forum letters of interest to the professions. Send them to PEGG Managing Editor George Lee, glee@apegga.org. Although we will run longer letters at our discretion, please try to keep them under 300 words. Letters represent the opinions and not necessarily the expertise of writers. The PEGG reserves the right to reject letters. Letters are edited for style, clarity, length, taste and legality.
Re: Aboriginal awareness columns.
Thank you for printing the articles by Robert Laboucane. I am glad to hear that he is a continuing contributor to The PEGG.
I agree completely that many negative issues involving Aboriginals in today’s society start with a lack of understanding. I myself am guilty of being ignorant of the issues and challenges Aboriginals face, and of the history that brought us to where we are today.
I’ve had it on my list of “things to do” С to research topics such as status and non-status, and even what the various treaties say exactly С in an effort to understand how things ended up as they stand today and what I can do to help turn the tide. These articles seem to be exactly what I’ve been looking for.
Mr. Laboucane’s company name, RippleFx, is particularly apt. Our being part of a movement that could see more Aboriginal representation in historically non-traditional roles will have several “ripple effects” throughout society.
Although Aboriginal awareness campaigns have been around for a long time, this is the first one I’ve seen targeted specifically to engineering and geoscience professionals. With the clear, logical thinking our professions are known for, backed up by a code of ethical behaviour, the conception and implementation of real-life solutions are, in my opinion, inevitable.
We are problem-solvers; that’s our job. Aboriginal issues are often swept under the rug to be taken care of by the next person, but we have an opportunity to do something now. I am proud to be part of this initiative.
Brad Howe, P.Eng.
Red Deer
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APEGGA Should Advocate Regulations On GHG Emissions
Re: APEGGA and climate change.
APEGGA’s comments on climate change and other June PEGG coverage of the subject clearly indicate that APEGGA, as well as the Alberta Government, still have their heads in the sand. It’s quite clear, and has been stated many times by groups of scientists from around the world, that climate change is caused by increasing levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
How many different ways does APEGGA have to be told before it understands?
APEGGA should listen to our fellow scientists, and not the politicians, on the cause and effect of climate change, and become an active advocate for stronger emissions regulations in Alberta. There is no need for further discussions, roundtables, etc. Just get a copy of the Norwegian emissions regulations, translate them into English, and implement them.
The APEGGA Code of Ethics says: “Professional engineers, geologists and geophysicists shall, in their areas of practice, hold paramount the health, safety and welfare of the public and have regard for the environment.”
Kevin Boyle, P.Eng.
Calgary
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Association Overly Influenced By Skeptics?
I am struck by the Readers’ Forum contributors who don’t realize the train has left the station and they are not on it. The skeptics and “climate conspiracists,” as the columnist George Monbiot calls them, still blather on.
I wonder if the Association, which is striving now to be part of the Alberta action plan, has not been too influenced by skeptics all along and has not conveyed a clear enough picture in order to influence provincial policy. Perhaps the failure of American engineers to persuade policy makers to beef up the Mississippi levees and the ensuing Katrina disaster make an interesting parallel.
I urge engineers to appreciate and applaud the concentrated work of climate scientists. No better examples of veneration could be suggested than Canadians Dr. David Schindler (University of Alberta) and Dr. John Smol (Queen’s University). Both have studied acid rain effects and eutrification of fresh water eco-systems and progressively the stress of climate change on lakes and rivers.
Dr. Smol is an expert on lake sediment diatom studies and paleoclimate evaluation. He has observed a significant change based on diatom sampling in fresh water algae populations from the 1850s and coinciding with mankind’s accelerating fossil fuel combustion.
Many references are in the literature. I recommend interested readers start with Schindler, the Cumulative Effects of Climate Warming and Other Human Stresses on Canadian Fresh Waters in the New Millennium, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 58, 2001; and Smol, Pollution of Lakes and Rivers С A Paleoenviron-mental Perspective, Key Issues in Environmental Change, Vol. 4, 2002.
Robert McPherson, P.Geol.
APEGGA Life Member
Calgary
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Whims of Public
Not for APEGGA To Serve
Judging by the latest APEGGA statement on “climate change,” the Association
seems to be confused about its role in representing the professionals in APEGGA.
We seem to be morphing into a political organization.
It was always clear in our charter that APEGGA serves the good of the public, but I didn’t think that meant that we must serve the whims of the public. The cover story echoes that deep thinker Al Gore saying, “This glacier is melting.”
Surely the Executive Committee and our members know that public surveys produce opinions that strongly echo media and TV personalities such as David Suzuki. That’s where the public gets its “science.”
We should refuse to use the same sloppy language, which confuses “climate change” with “man-made climate change,” for example, and lumps carbon dioxide with water vapour under “greenhouse gases.”
Shouldn’t APEGGA summon up a little bit of backbone and state the obvious: that an unproven hypothesis that man has caused climate change is not a solid basis to announce billions of dollars of spending to sequester CO2?
There is a huge difference in the outcomes, depending on whether you believe this or not, and a huge cost to pay for pandering to the global warming business. For that is exactly what it is С a multi-billion-dollar steamroller.
APEGGA could perform an extremely valuable role here by educating the public in these “workshops” instead of asking members of the public what they saw on CBC last night. Then take a public survey, after the public has been taught the facts!
W.G. Whitney, P.Eng.
St. Albert
Editor’s Note: In case of any confusion, readers should realize that the province held public discussion sessions and consulted the public in March and April. It is Association members APEGGA will consult in September.
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Honour and Thrill To Receive Teacher Award
Re: APEGGA Teacher Awards.
Thank you very much for the APEGGA Teacher Award. It was an honour and a thrill to receive this award. It is not often that a teacher gets recognized, let alone in this grand way.
Other math and science teachers at our school would be just as deserving of this award, which, I think, says something for Lloydminster Comprehensive High School. Many of these teachers use innovative and creative teaching methods to pique the students’ interest, and support the students’ different learning styles. I am privileged to have rubbed shoulders with them and to have been their colleague.
This exposure does wonders for the teaching profession, teachers in general, and specifically math and science teachers. It has also done wonders for me on a personal level С the attention and respect that has been directed my way has been most enjoyable.
APEGGA, too, is a beneficiary. With the publicity that this award has generated,
more people have become aware of what APEGGA is and what it stands for, and now
appreciate its contributions.
So, great idea, keep it up. It is good for everyone.
I thank you for the $1,000. It will go to the LCHS Math Department, and I have recommended that the money be used to purchase a microphone system to be used by the teacher, enabling students to hear all words more clearly.
Thanks so much.
Dale Williamson
Lloydminster Comprehensive High School
Editor’s Note. For more on the APEGGA Teacher Awards, see the front
page of this month’s PEGG.
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PEGG Becoming Required Reading
Re: Aboriginal and Alberta Women’s Science Network coverage, The PEGG, June 2007.
Thanks so much for all the publicity for AWSN in The PEGG. It was very much appreciated. And thanks also for the support of our Aboriginal Women in Science program.
Also, the Aboriginal awareness articles by Robert Laboucane are
excellent and very illuminating.
There are so many articles of interest in The PEGG С from mentoring
and Engineers Without Borders to the Schulich Faculty of Engineering and green
energy С that it is beginning to compete with National Geographic for my
limited time for reading.
Joyce Luethy
Executive Director
Alberta Women’s Science Network