Engineering Undergraduate Society of the University of British Columbia
Encyclopedia
Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS), is the engineering society
at the University of British Columbia
. It organizes Engineering department events but is perhaps best known for practical jokes (STUdeNT projectS) it has played in the past, including hanging the frame of a Volkswagen Beetle
off bridges. The members of the EUS are known for their pride of being engineering students and conspicuous displays thereof. EUS members often refer to themselves as Engineers even though they are correctly Engineering Students (cf. Engineer-in-Training and Professional Engineer).
The EUS belongs to several larger student organizations. On the local school level the EUS belongs to the Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia
, on the regional level, Western Engineering Students' Societies Team, and the national level, Canadian Federation of Engineering Students
.
, a representative from the local chapter of Sigma Phi Delta
, and a representative from the local chapter of Alpha Omega Epsilon
.
The president of the EUS, along with 2 other elected representatives, sit on the Alma Mater Society of UBC
Student Council, representing engineering to the other undergraduate student societies at UBC.
In the most recent decade, however, criticisms of the organization's legitimacy and function arose from within its own members. The organization was seen as archaic and antiquated due to changing student demographics and greater emphasis on equity and diversity throughout the University. In 2008 a Constitutional Referendum led by then President Bowinn Ma to establish significant institutional reform was held. The referendum achieved resounding success turned the organization around. While tradition remains prevalent within the organization, more resources are now focused towards academic and professional services such as scholarships, tutoring, and development.
off bridges including the Golden Gate
(2001) and the Lions Gate Bridge (several times). Engineering students led by Johan Thornton also modified the lights on the Lions Gate Bridge to blink out in morse code
"UBC Engineers Do it Again" and in 1992 they stole and later returned the Rose Bowl
trophy from a trophy case at the University of Washington
. Other stunts involve well known objects from around British Columbia. These include the borrowing of the speaker's chair from the BC Legislature and the Mile-Zero sign from the Alaska Highway
In 2008 the UBC Engineers were accused of hanging another VW Beetle shell off the Lions Gate Bridge as well as of painting and disabling the Nine O'clock gun in Stanley Park. Although they have not denied the VW shell hanging, their official statement on the topic insists that the Society was not involved in the vandalism of the gun.
In February 2009 five UBC Engineering students were arrested while trying to hang a VW Beetle shell off of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge
. The shell fell into the Burrard Inlet
during the prank. Prosecutors considered charging the students but ultimately decided not to.
is a large concrete object that symbolizes the Engineering Undergraduate Societies contribution to student life on campus. Normally it is painted white with a red 'E' for engineering, however it is common for many other faculties on campus to re-paint it in their own colors or otherwise deface it. Though the repainting is often done by faculty students, it also gets attacked by other groups such as the Totem Park Turkey Cairn stunt when the Cairn was remodelled for Thanksgiving Sunday by the fifth floor of Haida.
The current Cairn as well as all predecessors exists not because it was installed in accordance with UBC's planning and building process, but because the engineering students simply put it there. Its existence is virtually guaranteed by its size, mass and incorporation into traditions.
Myths surrounding the cairn also include the cairn containing full propane tanks to discourage attacks by pneumatic drill and a Faculty of Forestry "Omar", a pickup truck bought by the Faculty of Forestry for Forestry week, in the bottom of the concrete base. It is said to be made of high strength steel reinforced concrete ever since it was blown apart in the 1990s.
The Cairn is currently 8 feet high.
The Cheeze is in the process of being replaced by a new and larger student building designed to better accommodate the needs of the engineering students, whose numbers cannot be supported by the small size of the Cheeze. The Engineering Student Centre Project, led by former Vice-President Communications & Administration, Andrew Carne, is currently in its fourth year. The new building is expected to break ground in 2011.
, the 'patron saint of Engineers'. The ride drew vocal and diverse protests in the UBC Senate, in the BC Legislature, from the AMS, students and student groups. A central issue of the protests was gender, and to counter that argument the engineers also paraded a naked man in 1982. In 1986 the EUS bowed to protests and replaced the annual March ride with a mock funeral procession, only to stage a strip show in the Hebb Theatre. An aspect of the tradition was the publication of photographs of the 'Godiva' in the newspaper of the EUS aka 'Red Rag' -- not to be confused with the current nEUSpaper. Much debate focused on censorship and the scope of a university’s duties to be inclusive. This practice continued throughout the 1980s in spite of the rise of modern feminism
and ended on all Canadian campuses after the École Polytechnique massacre
.
is generally sung by the UBC engineers in various events, although it is an international engineering song. The hymn itself is about 64 lines in total. Various versions of the hymn exist although they all share the same chorus. The following is the chorus of the hymn.
"We are, we are, we are, we are, we are the Engineers!
We can, we can, we can, we can, demolish forty beers.
Drink rum, drink rum, drink rum, drink rum, drink rum, and follow us,
For we don't give a damn for any old man who don't give a damn for us!"
Engineering society
An engineering society is a professional organization for engineers of various disciplines. Some are umbrella type organizations which accept many different disciplines, while others are discipline-specific. Many award professional designations, such as European Engineer, Professional Engineer,...
at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
. It organizes Engineering department events but is perhaps best known for practical jokes (STUdeNT projectS) it has played in the past, including hanging the frame of a Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
off bridges. The members of the EUS are known for their pride of being engineering students and conspicuous displays thereof. EUS members often refer to themselves as Engineers even though they are correctly Engineering Students (cf. Engineer-in-Training and Professional Engineer).
The EUS belongs to several larger student organizations. On the local school level the EUS belongs to the Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia
Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia
The Alma Mater Society is the student society of UBC Vancouver and represents more than 48,000 students at UBC's Vancouver campus and the affiliated colleges. The AMS also operates student services, student owned businesses, faculty constituencies, resource groups and clubs...
, on the regional level, Western Engineering Students' Societies Team, and the national level, Canadian Federation of Engineering Students
Canadian Federation of Engineering Students
The Canadian Federation of Engineering Students is the national association of undergraduate engineering student societies in Canada and exists to organize activities, provide services and interact with professional and other bodies at the national and international level for the benefit of...
.
Mission
The mission statement of the organization is "support the academic, professional, and social needs of engineering students, encourage excellence in all aspects of student life, and celebrate the accomplishments of its members."Government
The EUS Board of Directors is the decision-making body for the engineers within the Faculty of Applied science at UBC. The EUS Board consists of the EUS Executive (President, Vice-President External, Vice-President Finance, Vice-President of Communications and Administration, Vice-President Events, Vice-President Academic), a representative from each of the 10 departments and a representative from the first year engineering students. The Board directs the Executive on how to operate throughout the year, while the Executive carries out these tasks. Non-voting members of council include the Faculty of Applied Science Student Senator, a representative from the Engineering Student Teams Council, a representative from Engineers Without Borders UBC, a representative from the local chapter of Engineers Without BordersEngineers Without Borders (Canada)
Engineers Without Borders Canada , abbreviated EWB or ISF, is a non-governmental organization devoted to international development...
, a representative from the local chapter of Sigma Phi Delta
Sigma Phi Delta
ΣΦΔ is an international social fraternity of engineers. Billing itself as "The Premier International Fraternity of Engineers", the organization is the only fraternity of its kind that draws its membership exclusively from male engineering students at ABET-accredited colleges and universities, as...
, and a representative from the local chapter of Alpha Omega Epsilon
Alpha Omega Epsilon
Alpha Omega Epsilon is a social and professional sorority for women in engineering and technical sciences. The sorority was founded by twenty-seven female engineering students at Marquette University on November 13, 1983, and four months later on March 22, 1984, it became a recognized organization...
.
The president of the EUS, along with 2 other elected representatives, sit on the Alma Mater Society of UBC
Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia
The Alma Mater Society is the student society of UBC Vancouver and represents more than 48,000 students at UBC's Vancouver campus and the affiliated colleges. The AMS also operates student services, student owned businesses, faculty constituencies, resource groups and clubs...
Student Council, representing engineering to the other undergraduate student societies at UBC.
Departments within Engineering at UBC
- Chemical EngineeringChemical engineeringChemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
- Civil EngineeringCivil engineeringCivil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
- Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Engineering PhysicsEngineering physicsEngineering physics is the study of the combined disciplines of physics, engineering and mathematics in order to develop an understanding of the interrelationships of these three disciplines. Fundamental physics is combined with problem solving and engineering skills, which then has broad...
- Environmental EngineeringEnvironmental engineeringEnvironmental engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to improve the natural environment , to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to remediate polluted sites...
- Geological Engineering
- Integrated EngineeringIntegrated EngineeringIntegrated Engineering is a multi-disciplinary, design-project-based engineering degree program.Integrated Engineering is a program created to meet the demand for engineers who are able to deal with a wide range of problems, often involving knowledge from several disciplines...
- Mechanical EngineeringMechanical engineeringMechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
- Materials Engineering
- Mining EngineeringMining engineeringMining engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the practice, the theory, the science, the technology, and application of extracting and processing minerals from a naturally occurring environment. Mining engineering also includes processing minerals for additional value.Mineral...
- First Years (PPs)
- Ex Officio Clubs. (Sigma Phi Delta Engineering Fraternity; Alpha Omega Epsilon Engineering Sorority; Engineers Without Borders; Engineering Student Teams Counsil)
Institutional Reform
Established in 1918, the EUS has always placed a large emphasis on furthering traditions much like a fraternity. Unlike a fraternity the EUS membership was never gender specific. These traditions primarily involve socializing, drinking and ritual. It had been a long held view that these behaviours were tolerated and encouraged by the Engineering Faculty and engineering profession as they imbue engineering students with a sense of identity as engineers and that this identity leads to a more cohesive professional body. Many of these traditions were identified as being sexist and in the last two decades have gradually been eliminated.In the most recent decade, however, criticisms of the organization's legitimacy and function arose from within its own members. The organization was seen as archaic and antiquated due to changing student demographics and greater emphasis on equity and diversity throughout the University. In 2008 a Constitutional Referendum led by then President Bowinn Ma to establish significant institutional reform was held. The referendum achieved resounding success turned the organization around. While tradition remains prevalent within the organization, more resources are now focused towards academic and professional services such as scholarships, tutoring, and development.
Engineering Week
As the official Decree states "Hereafter, let it be known that the first week of the second month of all years of our Lord shall be deemed the Week of Engineering." Engineering week at UBC is organized by the VP Events and their assistants. During this week the EUS holds many events at which the Departments compete against each other for points. Opening Ceremonies and Skulk Night, traditionally, are the first events and the Engineer's Ball is the final event. The winner of E-Week is awarded the E-Week trophy (a wooden cairn with a golden E).Stunts
Collecting details of past stunts is difficult because they are carried out by anonymous teams of students. The general knowledge of stunts includes hanging the frame of a Volkswagen BeetleVolkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
off bridges including the Golden Gate
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
(2001) and the Lions Gate Bridge (several times). Engineering students led by Johan Thornton also modified the lights on the Lions Gate Bridge to blink out in morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
"UBC Engineers Do it Again" and in 1992 they stole and later returned the Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
trophy from a trophy case at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
. Other stunts involve well known objects from around British Columbia. These include the borrowing of the speaker's chair from the BC Legislature and the Mile-Zero sign from the Alaska Highway
In 2008 the UBC Engineers were accused of hanging another VW Beetle shell off the Lions Gate Bridge as well as of painting and disabling the Nine O'clock gun in Stanley Park. Although they have not denied the VW shell hanging, their official statement on the topic insists that the Society was not involved in the vandalism of the gun.
In February 2009 five UBC Engineering students were arrested while trying to hang a VW Beetle shell off of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge
Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing
The Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, also called the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, is the second bridge constructed at the Second Narrows of Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
. The shell fell into the Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet is a relatively shallow-sided coastal fjord in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the low-lying Burrard Peninsula from the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, home to the communities of West...
during the prank. Prosecutors considered charging the students but ultimately decided not to.
The Cairn
The CairnCairn
Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
is a large concrete object that symbolizes the Engineering Undergraduate Societies contribution to student life on campus. Normally it is painted white with a red 'E' for engineering, however it is common for many other faculties on campus to re-paint it in their own colors or otherwise deface it. Though the repainting is often done by faculty students, it also gets attacked by other groups such as the Totem Park Turkey Cairn stunt when the Cairn was remodelled for Thanksgiving Sunday by the fifth floor of Haida.
Myths surrounding the cairn also include the cairn containing full propane tanks to discourage attacks by pneumatic drill and a Faculty of Forestry "Omar", a pickup truck bought by the Faculty of Forestry for Forestry week, in the bottom of the concrete base. It is said to be made of high strength steel reinforced concrete ever since it was blown apart in the 1990s.
The Cairn is currently 8 feet high.
Cheeze
The EUS is housed in a building known as The Cheeze. The Cheeze or Cheese Factory is a former cheese factory located at 2335 Engineering Road, UBC—east of the Cairn. The building, built in 1919, is currently the oldest wood-frame building on campus and has been modified for use by the EUS.The Cheeze is in the process of being replaced by a new and larger student building designed to better accommodate the needs of the engineering students, whose numbers cannot be supported by the small size of the Cheeze. The Engineering Student Centre Project, led by former Vice-President Communications & Administration, Andrew Carne, is currently in its fourth year. The new building is expected to break ground in 2011.
Godiva
Consistent with traditions at other Canadian universities the EUS historically paid a woman (often a professional stripper) to ride naked on an animal or a chariot through campus. The practice was called the Lady Godiva Ride in reference to Lady GodivaLady Godiva
Godiva , often referred to as Lady Godiva , was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in order to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation imposed by her husband on his tenants...
, the 'patron saint of Engineers'. The ride drew vocal and diverse protests in the UBC Senate, in the BC Legislature, from the AMS, students and student groups. A central issue of the protests was gender, and to counter that argument the engineers also paraded a naked man in 1982. In 1986 the EUS bowed to protests and replaced the annual March ride with a mock funeral procession, only to stage a strip show in the Hebb Theatre. An aspect of the tradition was the publication of photographs of the 'Godiva' in the newspaper of the EUS aka 'Red Rag' -- not to be confused with the current nEUSpaper. Much debate focused on censorship and the scope of a university’s duties to be inclusive. This practice continued throughout the 1980s in spite of the rise of modern feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
and ended on all Canadian campuses after the École Polytechnique massacre
École Polytechnique massacre
The École Polytechnique Massacre, also known as the Montreal Massacre, was a hate crime perpetrated on December 6, 1989 at the École Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Twenty-five-year-old Gamil Rodrigue Liass Gharbi, who had changed his name to Marc Lépine, armed with a legally obtained...
.
Red jackets
A UBC Engineering jacket is often termed a 'Red' or a 'Red Jacket'. It is a red wool jacket with white details, and has UBC ENGINEERS on the back. The Red Jacket is used to show pride in the faculty and usually has many patches sewn on, many of which have to be earned by the wearer of the jacket, although some may be purchased. The tradition of wearing Engineering Red goes back many years to when all the faculties on campus wore their colours. Now the EUS and SUS (the Science Undergraduate Society) are the only faculties who sell jackets, with the EUS jacket being far more popular.Engineer's Hymn
The hymnGodiva's Hymn
Godiva's Hymn is a traditional drinking song for engineers. It was originally sung by students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; although students there still recognize it, disapproval from the administration has marginalized its presence...
is generally sung by the UBC engineers in various events, although it is an international engineering song. The hymn itself is about 64 lines in total. Various versions of the hymn exist although they all share the same chorus. The following is the chorus of the hymn.
"We are, we are, we are, we are, we are the Engineers!
We can, we can, we can, we can, demolish forty beers.
Drink rum, drink rum, drink rum, drink rum, drink rum, and follow us,
For we don't give a damn for any old man who don't give a damn for us!"
See also
- Engineering traditions in CanadaEngineering traditions in CanadaEngineering traditions in Canada are diverse. Many of the traditions are practiced at the engineering departments of Canadian universities, where student organisations continue to practice traditions started by other engineers in previous years....
- University of British Columbia Alma Mater Society
- Canadian Federation of Engineering StudentsCanadian Federation of Engineering StudentsThe Canadian Federation of Engineering Students is the national association of undergraduate engineering student societies in Canada and exists to organize activities, provide services and interact with professional and other bodies at the national and international level for the benefit of...
External links
- UBC Engineering Undergraduate Society Official website
- UBC Okanagan Official website
- An outline of past pranks undertaken by UBC Engineers