Vol. 2 No. 1

SPRING 2004

In this issue, learn more about…
the world heritage city,

Kandy, Sri Lanka …

What’s more?
EGPSEE-SU activities
COE Program
Food Cornerand the travel destination,

Barbados

The More You Know...
Travel Diary

on International PageEDITORIAL BOARD
Editor in chief
Hem Nath Ghimire

Editorial

Welcome to the second issue of E-Vision, the official bulletin of the
English Graduate Program in Socio-Environmental Engineering(EGPSEE) Student Union.

EditorPhilip de Guzman
Publication officer
Bikram Mangal Joshi
Editorial members
AntoniDiane Riley
Mintesnot Gebeyehu
Muraleetharan Thambiah
Sanjay Giri
Surajate Boonya-aroonnet
Vasantha Wickramasinghe
Layout artists
Antoni
Mintesnot Gebeyehu
Muraleetharan Thambiah

We are proud to be one of the societies in Hokkaido University toregularly publish a bulletin of this kind. It is our intention to make thisstudent bulletin a semestral effort so that members of our campus
community and visitors to our website will have the opportunity to
explore some of our activities and achievements.
The sections in this issue cover a wide array of topics and include:
activities of EGPSEE-SU, cultures and customs of different countries,
food corner, travel diary, technical articles, list of new graduates, andso on. We hope that this issue will help to expand your knowledge
about geography and cultures of other countries and to get valuable
experiences within an internationally oriented environment.
We encourage you to view our various activities and help us to havemore interaction with Japanese as well as international students. If you
want to get involved in any aspect of the bulletin, please don’t hesitate
to contact us. We welcome any comments or articles which you would
like to share with us. Such feedback would help us to find what needs
be changed and improved in the future issues.
This bulletin is distributed in hard copy to selected constituents and isalso available electronically on the web being maintained by EGPSEE.
Your further support, by promoting our bulletin and requesting yourcolleagues to contribute, will ensure our further success.
We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Biannually released
EGPSEE-SU Bulletin

Enjoy the bulletin!

For comments and suggestions:egpseesu@eng.hokudai.ac.jp

The Editorial Board
EGPSEE-SU©EGPSEE-SU PUBLICATIONEGPSEE-SU and E-vision logos are properties of EGPSEE-SU

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editorial

Featured Articles
Page 1

By Kohei Nagai

Messages

From the Dean
From the EGPSEE Head
From EGPSEE-SU President

Page 3

20% of worker ants idle lazybones: study
Japan Times
Page 13

Page 4

Food Corner

Page 5

By AntoniInterview

By Diane Riley

Page 6

Projects and Activities of EGPSEESU
Page 7

Center of Excellence Program
Page 9International Page
Barbados, Just Beyond Your Imagination
By Diane Riley

Page 11
Kandi, World Heritage City, Sri-Lanka
By Vasantha Wicramashinghe

EGPSEE-Student Union

Page 14Trinidad Carnival 2003

understanding of modern Japan.”

By Surajate Boonya-aroonet

Indonesian Gado Gado

Travel Diary“I ask them to gain a deeper
Prof. Saeki Hiroshi

Let’s create a meaningful co-existence!

Page 12Page 15The More You Know…

Proud to be a Hydraulic Engineer
By Sanjay GiriPage 18
How Buildings Respond to Earthquake
By Bikram Mangal Joshi

Page 19

The Graduates
The profile of September 2003
Graduates

Puzzles

Page 20
Page 222

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rof Hiroshi Saeki, the previous Dean wrote in his message for the inaugural issue of E-Visionthat “Cultivation of Internationalism”, one of the basic academic principles of Hokkaido
University has not been accomplished in our university. He asked that EGPSEE students act
as bridges between your country and Japan and support the improvement of Japanese students’communication ability in our university.
I have observed your activities since taking this office last April. I noted that the 1st EGPSEE forumon “How to Mutually Benefit Each Other” drew over 100 participants, more than half of themJapanese. At the end of the forum you were able to draw up an action plan outlining what should bedone in order for Japanese and foreigners alike to live and study together in a manner that fosters
understanding among different cultures and mutually benefits each other. I am delighted to see thatyou act according to the action plan. Your 3-day field trip in August saw an equal number ofJapanese and international students travelling together. The photos on your e-notice board clearly
depict how well you blended together without any regard of nationalities.
This semester EGPSEE students started a free English class twice a week. I was told that half of the
30+ students you have are secretaries. This is the first time in the history of the Graduate School ofEngineering to witness such an activity. It makes me feel that Prof Saeki’s plea has not gone
unheard.
Next year all national universities in Japan will become so-called “independent”. After decades ofbeing strictly controlled by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
gaining independence is naturally welcome. However like a totalitarian country suddenly entrustedwith democracy, it requires adjustments and changes both mentally and physically by everyone. In
this regard I think that our Graduate School of Engineering is fortunate to have during the past three
years experienced new issues arising from having an English program. Our school is more ready toaccept new challenges.
Finally, allow me to congratulate you for attempting to act as a bridge between your country andJapan and for providing a good example that study and contribution to the community can actually gohand in hand without having to sacrifice one thing or another.
Takeshi Kishinami
Dean, Graduate School of Engineering
Hokkaido University

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This September, we could have our first doctoral graduates after the establishment of EGPSEE.
The satisfactory development of our EGPSEE would be by the endeavour of individual students
and by that at educating of all staff. However, I think the EGPSEE Student Union has played avital role to ensure the development of our course. Many events such as welcome party, open forum,
joining in snow festival, farewell party and so on have been planed with scrupulous preparation andwith a sense of humour, which could promote friendship among our English course members. How
the international students were encouraged with these supports from the union.
In my student days, students had their own council to solve various problems like scholarship award,
but unfortunately, there is not any student council or union for Japanese students in present time.
Does it mean they do not feel the necessity of a union, or mean they no longer have the power toestablish their union? Anyway, it would be true that the students of EGPSEE who have a student
union look vigorous and that the powerful activity begins to inspire not a few Japanese students.

To change the topic, the organizing system of English Graduate Program in Socio-Environmental
Engineering was converted into new one by the instruction of MEXT since this October. While themaster course and the doctoral course of English Graduate Program were seen to be a separate andindividual organization from each other in the previous system, they become a consistentorganization in the new system. However, the administrations of EGPSEE such as the admission
system for doctoral students are not changed, since EGPSEE has employed the system for doctoral
students to be selected from their own master graduate students as half of the fixed number with theinner rule even in the previous system.
Even if the system of organization evolved, valuable role of the union would not change. I hope thatyour union prospers further more.
Kazuyoshi HASEGAWA
EGPSEE Head (2003-2005)

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Greetings!

S

ome of the recent activities exclusively or jointly organized by EGPSEE-SU with the EGPSEE
office involved not only those within the program but the surrounding community as well.
These activities include the 1st EGPSEE Open Forum, 1st EGPSEE Field Trip and E-Class, afree English class mostly attended by Japanese students and staff. For this reason, therecent theme of EGPSEE-SU’s thrust may be fittingly described as “co-existence”.
We owe much of these activities’ success to Mrs. Werawan Manakul, the EGPSEE program officer
for spearheading some of the aforementioned activities and for her relentless effort to further improve
the program. We also thank the professors, Japanese students and staff for the support andassistance they have extended to our growing organization.
We look back to the article written by the first Japanese student of EGPSEE, Nagai Kouhei, which isalso featured in this issue of E-Vision entitled “Let’s create a meaningful co-existence!” where hepondered on the significance foreign students bring to the local community. The above-mentioned
activities attempt to shed some light to this question.
On the other hand, it is needless to say that the international students need the help of Japanese
students to go about their everyday life especially in the university. It is in this perspective that wewant to promote and build an environment where international students, which include the Japanese
as well, can mutually exist and benefit each other.
All of these are embodied in the EGPSEE-SU constitution and are in line with its objective ofpromoting academic, cultural and other exchanges with other institutions, foremost of which is the
Hokkaido University and its constituents.
With the help of everyone concerned, a truly open society will soon be at hand.
In the service of the student union and of this society, I remain.
Philip de Guzman
EGPSEE-SU President

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Interview:“I ask them to gain a deeper
understanding of modern Japan”
An interview with the former dean of Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Saeki Hiroshi,
conducted by the Editorial Board members: Sanjay Giri and Mintesnot Gebeyehu.

Professor Saeki Hiroshi is the Vice president of Hokkaido University and the professor of
Coastal and Offshore Engineering Laboratory. He was born in Changchung, China on July 1st
1941. He graduated from Department of Civil Engineering, Hokkaido University in 1964 andthe Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University in 1966. After his graduation hejoined the Ministry of Transport Second Regional Port Construction Bureau. After two years,
he joined the Hokkaido University as an associate professor and eventually became a professor
in 1984.
Prof. Saeki has served Hokkaido University in different positions. He was the dean of Facultyof Engineering from 2001 to 2003. Now he is serving as the vice-president of the university.
He is interested in mountain climbing and is fond of collecting top.
Q. In your view, what else is supposed to be done for the improvement of this program?
A. Student’s exam results and their effort should be evaluated fairly. Therefore fair evaluation
method should be adopted by all academic staff.
Q. What is your general impression on overseas students? What do you expect form overseas
students? Are you satisfied with their performance so far?
A. EGPSEE students study special subjects very well. I ask them to gain a deeper
understanding of modern Japan.
Q. What is your opinion regarding EGPSEE-Student Union? How could it be beneficial forstudent community and program as well?
A. I hope the EGPSEE Student Union grasps completely the movement of students who have
graduated from EGPSEE and construct the network of alumni by using internet.
Q. Can you give a brief message to EGPSEE student community?
A. The principal belief of our university is frontier spirit, cultivation of international way,
liberalism and applied learning. I hope you understand these four principal beliefs while you arein our university.
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Projects and Activities of EGPSEE-SU
By Surajate Boonya-aroonnet(EGPSEE-SU Secretary)T

his year, we congratulated 11 graduates and welcomed nine fresh excellent students to our EGPSEE
program. We, as usual, had many activities this year, not only activities that we regularly arrange, butalso special events like the “EGPSEE Open Forum”. This is the first time that Japanese and foreigners
were gathered together to find out how to live in this community in a mutually beneficial way. This
gives a summary of events that happened since the last issue.
1. EGPSEE Open Forum (May 16, 2003) – To create an environment in which everyone (Japanese andforeigners) live and study together in a manner that fosters understanding among different cultures, the 1st
EGPSEE Open Forum, "How to mutually benefit each other" was successfully held with more than 100
participants. In this significant event, students had chances to freely express their feelings and ideas
regarding how to benefit each other. Compared to the other graduate schools in Hokkaido University, theGraduate School of Engineering has the highest number of international students. Although some foreign
students have a deep understanding of the Japanese language, many do not. This is especially true in thecase of the English program where students enrol directly into their respective research group. Some actionplans drawn up from the forum which include the EGPSEE field trip and free English class will also be
discussed in the succeeding sections.

(More information about the summary at http://ws3-er.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/egpsee/_private/forumsummary.htm)

2. EGPSEE Trip (August 19-21, 2003) – Aside from studying, we also went out to see the engineering
application in the actual field. The first EGPSEE field trip, which reached up to Obihiro-Kushiro, had 32
participants and included Japanese students, professors and staff together with the EGPSEE family. In
addition to the knowledge gained by the participants, the trip also served as a temporary relief from pressurein the research work. Up on the first day was the visit to the Northern Regional Building Research Institute(NRBRI) for briefing on its current research activities. The participants then went to the Asahi Bridge inTaushibetsu and finally enjoyed Nukabira hot spring in Fujimi Kanko Hotel. On the second day, we
travelled from the hotel to Lake Akan, Lake Mashu, Lake Kussharo, and then Kushiro Mire which was
being administered by the Hokkaido Development Bureau. The next leg of the trip was the construction siteat the Kushiro Ring Road, and from there we spent the second night at Escal Kushiro. The last day wasallotted for the Tokachi River Museum, New Chiyoda Channel, Shikari Bridge, and finally came back to
Sapporo with lots of fond memories to remember.

(More photos at http://ws3-er.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/egpsee/fieldtrip/antoni.htm)

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3. The Second EGPSEE Graduation Party (September 12, 2003) – The second graduation party featured thefirst batch of doctoral students to graduate in the EGPSEE program. The party was successfully organized,
mainly by the Indonesian students in the program, to celebrate the completion of the studies of sevenstudents from the doctoral program and four from the masteral program.

(More photos at http://ws3-er.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/egpsee/grad03/album1.htm)

4. EGPSEE Welcome Party 2003 (October 10, 2003) – As we are growing, nine new students from Indonesia,
Philippines, Mongolia, Colombia, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Thailand and Sri Lanka have joined our family in theautumn semester of 2003. The party was held at the Hokkaido University International Plaza and was
mainly organized by the Thai students in the program. Delicious Thai dishes were served during the party.
In this fourth batch of new students, a warm and funny welcome party again made everyone laughing,especially with the “Go…Go Minus” game. Three teams composed of the new students and professors
competed in the game and the winner was the team with the most negative score. The professors also had alot fun during the game. Look! What they were doing?

(More photos at http://ws3-er.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/egpsee/welcome03/album1.htm

5. EGPSEE E-Class – The English class was one of the resolutions drawn from the EGPSEE Open Forum tomeet the needs of the Japanese who are willing to improve their English language ability. The class wasoffered free of charge to Japanese students and staff and a few foreign students. There were basically twolevels, the beginners (level 1) and the advanced (level 2). The class was highly demanded by many Japanese
students in the Engineering Faculty. The E-Class sessions were held twice a week from November 5,
2003 to February 5, 2004 with 16 students enrolled in the level 1 class and 14 in level 2.

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CENTER OF EXCELLENCE PROGRAM
As part of the Government of Japan policy to increase competitiveness among universities and as a result
raising the academic standard especially in research, in 2002, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology (MEXT) launched the 21st Century Center of Excellence (COE) Program. The
program supports universities establishing discipline-specific international centers for education and research inorder to become internationally competitive in the specific research areas. Over 600 proposals were submitted
by national, public and private universities in 2003, out of which 113 were selected to receive a special budget
under the 21st Century COE Program to carry out their research. Six projects from Hokkaido University areamong the successful candidates and one of them is the “Sustainable Metabolic Systems of Water and Waste
for Area-Based Society.”
Sustainable Metabolic Systems of Water and Waste for Area-Based Society
In order to establish the sustainable metabolic systems of water and waste in the area-based society, thefollowing new technological developments are required: leading edge water and wastewater treatment systems
using membrane filtration, resource recovery technology from waste material, appropriate final disposal system
for solid waste, construction material with long life, repairing method of infrastructure to keep its long life.
There is also a need to develop new management procedures of infrastructure considering reduction of theenvironmental/health risk, consumption of resources/energy and demand of the people. This project aims to
produce researchers and engineers who can build up the sustainable area-based society with new infrastructure
based on the concept of the holonic path which creates the whole system by integrating autonomous subsystems. On the basis of the research outcomes, an international center for education and research of New
Socio-Environmental Engineering will be established as shown in the figure below.

Group 3: System for Sustainable Infrastructures
One of the three groups established under the above-mentioned project is the group on “Systems for
Sustainable Infrastructures.” In order to build a sustainable area-based society with conservation of resourcesand energy and metabolic infrastructure system, this group attempts to develop highly durable materials,
rehabilitation/retrofitting technology with new materials and construction methods for prolonging service life of
structures, and recycling/reusing technology of industrial waste as construction materials. The group also seeks
to improve prediction methods for structural performance during service life through construction material
deterioration models and then propose a rational system for structural design, materials, construction andmaintenance. In order to establish a holonic path, a new management method for water, waste andinfrastructure will be developed based on risk management and method for consensus-building measures.
Concrete plays a critical role on building up the infrastructure system in our society because concrete is themost commonly used construction material which is considered economical and maintenance-free. However,
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with unexpected deterioration of existing concrete structures built in the last century, the durability of concrete
structures becomes a key issue for concrete technology recently. To achieve “a sustainable infrastructure
system”, there is an inevitable need for us to formulate standards for concrete materials, design and construction
with consideration of the aggressive loading and negative environmental factors throughout the service life. As
a prerequisite, a good understanding of the deterioration processes, which is strongly related to themicrostructure of concrete, should be achieved. In view of this, Group 3 had organized an intensive course andinternational workshop, which are discussed below, in order to gain better understanding of the microstructureof concrete and its durability.
Intensive English Course for Young Researchers – Microstructure of Concrete and Durability
The objective of the intensive courses was to strengthen the knowledge of young researchers on
deterioration mechanisms and deformation behaviors of deteriorated concrete during construction and service
life with emphasis on its microstructure and guide them on how to use the microstructure based analytical tools
to predict the behaviors of concrete
structures throughout the service life.
Invited lecturers from various institutions
included Prof. F. H. Wittmann (Aedificat
Institute Freiburg, Germany), Prof. M. J.
Setzer(Universitat
Duisburg-Essen,
Germany), Prof. H. Mihashi (Tohoku
University, Japan), Dr. T. U. Mohammed(Port and Airport Research Institute, Japan),
Dr. T. Ueda (Hokkaido University, Japan),
Dr. T. Nawa (Hokkaido University, Japan),and Dr. Y. Sato (Hokkaido University,
Japan). The intensive course was held fromJanuary 8 to February 9, 2004 at the
Hokkaido University and a total of 21 people
from within and outside Hokkaido
University attended the course.
Workshop on Microstructure and Durability to Predict Service Life of Concrete Structures
The workshop focused its discussions on modeling the deterioration mechanisms of concrete
microstructures under various deterioration factors such as freezing and thawing cycles and fatigue and themethodology of predicting the time-dependent behaviors of concrete structures from the microstructure
viewpoints.
The invited speakers who presented some of their research studies during the workshop included Prof. F. H.
Wittmann, Prof. M. J. Setzer, Prof. H. Mihashi, Prof. B. H. Oh (Seoul National University, Korea), Dr. T. Ueda,
and Dr. T. Nawa. The workshop was held on February 10, 2004 at the Sun Plaza Hotel, Sapporo. Participantsconsisting of researchers, engineers and students from 10 countries took part in the workshop.

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International Page
BARBADOS – JUST BEYOND YOUR IMAGINATION
By Diane Riley*
The island of Barbados lies in the Caribbean Sea 13°N 59°W and is the most easterly of
the Caribbean islands which stretch from Cuba in the north to Trinidad & Tobago in thesouth. The island gets its name from the Portuguese Los Barbados meaning “the bearded
ones” which refers to a type of tree native to the island, which caught the attention of thePortuguese explorers when they came to the island en route to Brazil. Archeologists
presently record that there were inhabitants on the island from the time of circa 1623 BC
and these native Amerindians lived on the island until the late 15th century when they
were eradicated through the rigors of slavery and a lack of resistance to diseases. Both ofthese issues were brought to the fore by the Spanish explorers who first came to
Barbados in 1492. The Spanish soon left Barbados in search of the larger and more
fertile islands in the northern Caribbean and the island was once again stumbled upon in
1625 by the British and remained a British colony until 30th November 1966, the independence day of
Barbados.
The island is a prime destination for tourists from all over theworld who are looking for the ideal vacation in the tropics – sun, sea
and sand. However beyond these three attributes (which are plentiful
in Barbados) there lies a vibrant culture, excellent cuisine and a certain
joie de vivre in the people, which many tourists are also quite lucky to
enjoy.
Many aspects of Barbadian culture are derived from the rituals of
the peoples of Western Africa who were brought by the British to the
Caribbean as slaves. The most important cultural festivals are the
National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA) and Crop
Over. NIFCA is held annually around Independence Day with competitions held in the areas of music, singing,
dance, drama, writing, fine art, photography and arts and crafts. The festival culminates ina grand gala at the end of November where all the finalists are featured. The Crop Overfestival dates back to the 1700s when Barbados was a large sugar producer in the worldhence after the sugar cane was harvested a large festival was held to celebrate the end ofcollecting the crop (Did you know that rum was invented in Barbados!). This festival has
survived through the centuries and is today one of the most exciting events on the
Barbados social calendar and attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world. There
are many events making up this festival and it climaxes in a huge road party on “jump up
day” where revelers go into the street and dance to the rhythmic sounds of calypso.
The national dish (food) of Barbados is coucou and flying fish. Coucou is adelicious mixture of okras and ground corn and it is served with steamed flying fishthat will be seasoned with peppers and spices. Other culinary favorites are dishes
made from sweet potatoes, yams, breadfruits and being one of the largest poultry
consumers per capita in the world, chicken. Beef, pork, lamb and fish are also very
popular. The island also has an excellent selection of restaurants that cater to any
Coucoutaste serving Mexican, Japanese and Italian food etc.
Any talk about Barbados will have to mention the people. Barbadians are renowned to be one of thefriendliest peoples in the world! Whether this has been proven or not I am not sure but certainly one visit to theisland (or any Caribbean island) will show you a warm, friendly people that make you feel like you have comehome. So whenever you need a short vacation I recommend Barbados because even though you may dreamabout what it is like it is indeed just beyond your imagination.
*

Laboratory of Environmental Risk Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University

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International Page
KANDY, WORLD HERITAGE CITY – SRI LANKA
By Vasantha Wickramasinge†
Sri Lanka has been a treasure trove for the
tourists, archaeologists and sight-seers fromthe time immortal. Kandy, the hill capital has
been one of the leading attraction for its
splendour of both historical and traditional
heritage. The focal point of Kandy is the
Kandy golden roofed “Dalada Maligawa”, thesacred temple of the tooth containing the
Tooth Relic of the Lord Buddha, Sri Lanka’s
Dalada Maligawa
most important religious relic. The annual
Dalada pageant is the crowing climax of our ancient splendour. The ten successive days
and nights ending on the full moon day of the month of “Esala” (July/August) a spectacular procession withhundreds of elephants with the Maligawa tusker carrying the Golden Casket containing the Sacred Tooth Relic,exotically costumed dancers, drummers, trumpeters, torch bearers with all the pomp and glory of the past,
parade the streets of Kandy.
Peradeniya Botanical Garden
Just four kilometres away from Kandy, Peradeniya is the home of
the world famous Royal Botanical garden, located in a beautiful
setting with the longest river of Sri Lanka, Mahaweli boarding on one
side. This attractive laid out garden displays many varieties of floral
and green plants. Special features are the Orchid House whichdisplays a fine collection of Sri Lankan orchids, spice garden and thetrees planted by distinguished visitors to the island.

Elephants at Pinnawala

View of Botanical Gardens

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
This 24 acre large elephant orphanage is situated in between thecapital city Colombo and Kandy in the hills of central Sri Lanka. Thiswas established in 1975 to afford care and protection to baby elephantsfound in the jungle without their mothers. Presently, there are morethan 70 elephants roaming freely on this land and they are backed bywell trained staff. Every evening, the elephant concert fascinates thevisitors.

University of Peradeniya
The world famous Peradeniya University, which is surrounded by range of mountains and the Mahaweli
River, is situated 4 km from the Kandy city. This university consists of seven faculties, namely Engineering,
Medicine, Science, Agriculture, Veterinary, Dentistry and Arts. Students can enjoy all aspects as all thenecessary facilities (accommodation, sports, library, etc.) are located as a unit. The sunny weather condition andbeautiful surrounding add value to this university.
Kandy is a paradise on earth that everyone should visit at least once. The Sri Lankan hospitality in addition
to the beauty of the city makes it much more famous.
†

Laboratory of Traffic Facility Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University

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Featured Articles
LET’S CREATE A MEANINGFUL CO-EXISTENCE!
By Kohei Nagai‡
The Graduate School of Engineering of Hokkaido University established a special program called "English
Graduate Program in Socio-Environmental Engineering (EGPSEE)" in 2000. I am the first and only Japanese
student in this doctoral program.
In daily school life, I often ponder, “What significance does the presence of foreign students have to theJapanese students?” because I feel that communication between international and Japanese students is notenough to comprehend each other. I think most Japanese students are missing out on their chance to learn fromthem.
For international students, support from Japanese students is vital to conduct research in the laboratory
because their supervisor cannot support everything. Furthermore, the University's system is not designed for
non-Japanese, for example, most documents in the University are written in Japanese. On the other hand, what
international students can do for the laboratory is limited as a result an equal relationship between international
and Japanese students in the laboratory work cannot be established. Japanese students who often have to help
them may think, “Why do I have to help them?” This is not what international exchange activity is supposed tobe.
More international students will come to Japan under “internationalization”. To make it meaningful to both,I think the way of thinking of Japanese students should be changed -- from a mere provider or host to an equal
partner, needless to mention the improvement of the University system.
We Japanese students can learn many things, English, foreign cultures, ways of thinking and so on fromhaving these international students in our country. In my case, though I often help them in my laboratory, I
believe our relation is on an even term. We should recognize this fact and develop an international mind.
(This article was also published in JSCE Newsletter No.9, December 2002)

20% OF WORKER ANTS IDLE LAZYBONES: STUDY
The Japan Times: Nov. 16, 2003
SAPPORO (Kyodo) Contrary to popular belief, 20 percent of worker ants are not particularly hardworking,researchers said Saturday.
The discovery is the result of observations of three separate 30-strong colonies of black Japanese ants
(Myrmecina nipponica), according to Eisuke Hasegawa, an assistant researcher in evolutionary biology at
Hokkaido University's graduate school of agriculture, and his research team.
The team transferred three colonies of ants to a man-made nest and marked them for observation. Hasegawa
and his team said they observed the ants three hours a day for about five months from May last year.
Hasegawa said they discovered that about 80 percent of the ants engage in some sort of work, such as
cleaning the nest or gathering food, but that the rest are mostly idle.
The situation remained the same when the researchers removed six busy ants from one colony; the busy
ants that remained had to work even harder while the lazy ants continued to do little or no work.
Scientists have suggested that some ants may avoid working due to old age or inherent laziness. Hasegawa
said the idle ants could be contributing something to the colony that they have not yet determined.

‡

Laboratory of Hybrid Structure Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University

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Food Corner
INDONESIAN GADO GADO
By Antoni§
Speaking of Indonesian food, one thing always comes tomind, that is ‘nasi goreng’. However, there is also a very
famous Indonesian salad called ‘Gado Gado’ which means
to mix. So the essence is you can mix any type of vegetable
and top them with peanut sauce and Indonesian prawn
crackers called kerupuk and there you have it, the Indonesian
Gado Gado.

Gado Gado Indonesian vegetable salad. The
vegetables used below are only a suggestion. You can use
nearly anything that is available to you but do use at least
three different vegetables.
Ingredients:

white cabbage, diced
green beans
bean sprouts
2 eggs, hard boiled
tofu , friedtempeh*, friedpeanut sauce
tomatoesprawn crackers

Preparation:

Separately boil all the vegetables lightly.
Drain and arrange in layers on a dish. Pour the peanut sauceover the vegetables.
Decorate with the sliced egg, tofu, tempeh and tomatoes. Just
before serving, sprinkle the crackers over the sauce. Best
enjoyed when salad is cooled down.
* Tempeh is a fermented food made by the controlled
fermentation of cooked soybeans into a compact white cake.

Peanut sauce Aside from Gado Gado, the peanut sauce can also be used for other Indonesian
foods, such as Satay (Indonesian barbecue).
Ingredients:

1 onion3 tablespoons peanut butter
30 g dark brown sugar
20 ml kecap manis
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 stalk lemon grass(crushed)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon sambal ulek
coconut milk or water§Preparation:

Finely dice a small onion. Put the oil in a small saucepan andsoften the onion, add all other ingredients except coconut
milk/water.
Slowly heat on low flame adding liquid as required making it
into a smooth sauce.
Remove lemongrass before serving.

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Travel Diary
TRINIDAD CARNIVAL 2003

By Diane Riley**

I once asked a Trinidadian friend why there was a carnival in Trinidad.
Granted it was not the most enlightened of questions but I was curious to knowwhat prompted the start of the “greatest show on earth” - so coined by thecarnival authorities. She was a bit stumped at first, having never been asked suchan imbecilic question but then she shook her head in clarity and replied“Trinidad is carnival, without one there would not be the other”.
Well that is the patriotic Trini (Trinidadian national) viewpoint. Let me atleast tell some more slightly legitimate reasons. The history of the inception ofcarnival is traced back to several origins. First there is throwback from the rites of Bacchus in ancient Greece,
then a farewell to flesh as the Christian calendar approaches the beginning of the Lenten season and finally ashow of shrouded (not quite) mockery of the colonial authorities by the working class and slave workers during
the times of imperialism. Out of this maelstrom has grown a festival that represents the pinnacle of the
Trinidadian spirit, a demonstration of their creativity and indeed the life of the country. Carnival information
can be found on many internet websites hence this article is devoted to a more personal carnival experience.
I had the opportunity to study in Trinidad for three years during which I religiously attended carnivalannually. However when I returned to Trinidad this year for carnival after being in Japan for 18 months, I had
the opportunity to rediscover a festival that I had grown to love and also to see Trinidad through ryuugakuseieyes.

Day 1 - Saturday
I arrived in Trinidad on a steamy Saturday morning, 4 days before the carnival climax. Entering Piarco
airport, there was the sound of steel pan from the on site local musicians and the ceiling was vibrantly decorated
with streamers of every conceivable color with carnival costume attired mannequins lining the walkways. It
was impossible not to get a feeling of anticipation because you knew something big was happening and it was
happening now! A quick hustle through the immigration and I was outside to see the clear blue skies and thebleary shaded eyes of my friend who had come to collect me. She had been in the carnival mode for weeks,
which manifested itself with a certain sluggishness in movement and not quite accurate hand to eye
coordination.
Soon we were blazing down the highway heading not for home but forthe doubles shop. Doubles? What is that? Hmmmm, where do I start?
Trinidad is always described as a melting pot of cultures and races and assuch the food is a reflection of this diversity. Doubles are East Indian food2 fried corn pastries (hence the name doubles) filled with curried channa,
pickles, pepper and other sometimes unidentifiable herbs. It is a popular
breakfast food in Trinidad and can be picked up in most towns and cities
from roadside vendors selling from facilities that though not visibly
sanitary have assuredly been approved by health authorities. While in theline at the doubles shop it is advisable to think about how much pepper is
to your taste. The unadventurous tourist will say “one everything no pepper” which translates to one doubles
with everything but no pepper and from there you can go to “one everything slight” and if you are reallylooking for a challenge “one everything plenty” meaning one doubles with everything and slight pepper and a
lot of pepper respectively. Notice in these phrases the omission of certain critical parts of speech – no bother, itis perfectly understood!!
After consuming several of these delicacies, we were once again on the highway and heading into Port of
Spain (POS), the capital. Like Sapporo, P-O-S, as it is affectionately called, is on a grid and easy to navigate
however unlike Sapporo it is all year a scene of extreme heat with the almost habitual mid afternoon**

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convectional showers. Currently the main landmarks in the city are the“Twin Towers” which house the Ministry of Finance, the “savannah”
which is reportedly the largest roundabout in the world and “City Gate”
which is the main terminus for public transport. A walk through Port of
Spain on almost any day will yield some things for certain: noise pollution
from the roadside vendors selling all kinds of pirated music on cassette andadvertising their product at excessive volumes; the food vendors on thestreet selling delicacies from portable stands; the coconut vendors withcool sweet water straight from the nut; the nuts man, with head tied in an
incomprehensible swath of cotton which rises majestically to a peak,chanting “nuts, nuts, nuts” as he winds his way through the streets; and, if
you are a woman, the calls of appreciation from the men that will bestanding on the side of the street which can range from the flattering to theobscene!
Arriving at my friend’s house I was treated to the traditional Trinidadian hospitality for which they are
known throughout the Caribbean. You enter anyone’s home and it becomes your home with endless patienceand kindness extended to you. It is amazing to experience!! An afternoon of shopping was the preface to mycarnival experience, which was starting late that night and it was a fete. Fete – a critical part of carnival wheremusicians gather and perform for a massive crowd (usually out ofdoors) and you spend the time dancing, talking, drinking and doing
anything else that feels right! The particular fete I was attending (there
may be over 3 large fetes all over the island on any night duringcarnival) was named “Insomnia” because it started at 10 pm and did
not conclude until the following day in the early afternoon – 14 hoursof partying through the night. This cannot be approached lightly as
adrenaline must be dispensed at such a rate that it is available right up
to the last second otherwise you will burn out. It is really a kind of test
that thousands of people try to pass every year. The inside of the fete
becomes a world in itself, with makeshift restaurants, bars andbathrooms it is designed to support life for long periods!

Day 2 – Sunday
Dance, dance, dance. Fete, fete, fete. It was 12:30pm when we finally decided to go home. The sun was
blazing and people straggled out of the fete some with only enough energy to collapse on the grass and have ashort rest. We managed to make it all the way home. During carnival, the body no longer operates on standard
time because it becomes infused with a rush called “carnival fever”. This condition allows you to party all nightand day with minimal or no sleep at all. As such we only required a few hours to regenerate and be up andready once again.
I decided to hit the road alone and see what had changed since I had last been. Public transport in Trinidad
is mainly by bus and taxi. In the category of buses there are government buses, and private maxis. These maxis
can be large, seating 30 or small, seating 15 and can be identified by the colored stripe down the side of a whitevehicle with the color indicating the route. Taxis can be “short drop” or “long drop” depending on how far one
is going and even some Trinidadians are not too sure about which arewhich but what is certain is that anywhere you need to go you can get
there. I walked to the main road outside my friend’s house andstopped a maxi, which is done by waving your hand when you see
one approaching. I have made no mention here of bus stops becauseeven though there are bus stops in Trinidad unlike Japan they are notactually where the bus stops. A bus will generally pick you up anddrop you off anywhere you wish so long as it is on its route. Hencedriving behind one of these maxis can be a bit of a risky business withthem stopping constantly anywhere along the road. I headed into POS
and then took a short drop taxi to St. James. This is a town that lies
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just on the suburban border of POS and is called “the place that never sleeps”. Indeed any hour any day, this is
the place to go to find an open bar with music or to just stand and watch people walk by. The heart of St. Jamesis the main street, which is straddled by bars and vendors of all types. My mission was to find “the corn soup
woman”.
Corn soup is truly one of the delights of the Trinidad culinary experience. It is usually sold on the roadsidefrom a large pot on a roaring flame. You order a soup and the huge vat is opened and your share dispensed witha large ladle into a white Styrofoam cup. It is a thick soup made from boiled corn and peas with delicious
dumplings, and corn chunks mixed up. In such a hot climate why would anyone want anything that hot? Wellthe spicy pepper in corn soup causes a sort of spontaneous sweating and body cooling and that is the answer.
Oh, and it tastes good!! My friend and I went off in search stopping occasionally along the way to have a beer,
talk a bit and chat with anyone we met. This is probably the perception of the Caribbean that many people have,everyone moving at their own speed, not too fast, and enjoying the life. During carnival this is absolutely true
with the aim everyday to enjoy every moment and at times have no schedule. We found the corn soup woman
on a sidewalk and quickly got our cups of this elixir. Then it was standing and eating while we watched theparade of characters that went by.

Day 3 - Monday
Well not day actually, because we woke at 2 am to prepare forj`ouvert which began at 4am. J`ouvert is literally the jour ouvert or the
opening of carnival where revelers dance from the early morning into
the dawn. We were in a band, which is an organized group of people
who wear similar T- shirts and stay together during the event. Our band
was called the “yellow devils”. We all gathered at three in the morningin one of the streets of Port of Spain sporting yellow horns atop ourheads and a devil`s staff as well and there we received out
indoctrination. Young men with large buckets of yellow paint wentfrom person to person covering them form head to toe until they
became a yellow haze against the early morning sky. Paint I said? Yes,
paint. The kind you would redecorate your walls with but this is not
the only form of covering. There are other bands of people that coverthemselves with axle grease, mud, sauce etc. Now imagine thousandsof people, all covered in some foreign substance in the night, behinda large truck with huge speakers pumping out calypso and soca, alldancing and gyrating in one huge rhythm – if you can imagine thatyou can imagine j`ouvert morning.
J`ouvert morning runs straight into Carnival Monday and playingmas. Mas is the shortened form of masquerade and playing mas
involves dressing in elaborate, vibrantly coloured costumes andparading through the street in groups. These groups are judged asthey follow the carnival route. For two days (Carnival Monday &Tuesday) masqueraders revel in all their splendour accompanied by large music trucks and steel pan bands andeventually a winning group is chosen and the designer of the costumes will receive a substantial monetary
prize. These two days are the climax of carnival and a great time to laugh and dance with your friends in thestreets.

Day 4 – Tuesday (at the airport)
It was time to go back to Barbados and then Japan. I was a little sad to leave the excitement of Trinidad but
I was comforted by one thought – I would probably be back in 2004!
For more information on Trinidad & Tobago and Carnival please visit http://www.visittnt.com

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The more you know…
PROUD TO BE A HYDRAULIC ENGINEER
By Sanjay Giri††
My professor often says, “The 21st Century is the era of water.” It is indeed likely to be so as one of themost sustainable resources. The significance of water is obvious to everyone - it is life, it is nature, it is beauty,
it is poem and so on. On the contrary, water-induced catastrophes may inflict harm to mankind. A hydraulicengineer should deal with the contradicting sides of this force of nature. Hydraulic engineers attempt to solve
the problems related to hydrology, but on other hand, his decisions may lead to unforeseen consequences which
are detrimental to the environment. Consequently, a hydraulic engineer is supposed to create a proper balance
between nature and mankind.
BackgroundHydraulic engineering is one of the broad and dynamic fields in Bridge collapse caused by flood(Hokkaido, 2003)
civil engineering. It is the profession that deals directly with thenatural processes and how to adopt to it for the benefit of mankind.
If defined concretely, hydraulic engineering deals with the liquid
element of the earth applying the science known as fluid mechanics
and its interaction with the solid phase as two-phase motion (waterand sediment) applying the theory of sediment transport (fluvial
hydraulics). A number of terminologies associated with thisprofession are quite common, viz. hydropower structures, river
structures, flood control, river restoration, river environment,
irrigation, navigation, and so on.
The decades of 1940’s and 50’s constituted the heydays ofDisaster caused by flood (Hokkaido, 2003)
hydraulic engineering where it formed the foundations for thedevelopment of most of the countries already developed atpresent. Until then, the great grandfathers of hydraulics madegreat attempts to explain various sophisticated natural phenomena
in terms of physical and mathematical formulation. Due to thecomplications associated with the phenomena and solution
mechanism, several physical explorations were made to achieve
physical insight into the problem. Such attempts have brought anumber of useful contributions to this field. These days, being oneof the leaders in the application of state-of-the-art technology among other civil engineering fields, this
hydraulic engineering is being highly regarded with its cutting-edge technological innovations. Consequently,
solutions to a number of problems associated with the same seem to be within grasp.
The significanceThe interaction with the natural processes using means ofscience and technology has made this profession more challenging.
One decision of a hydraulic engineer might prevent damage andsave lives. For example, one can design a stable bridge pier orabutment to resist external loads, however once it is located on ariverbed, its stability appears to depend on its interaction with thewater flow and river bed materials around it, which in turn may
produce unexpected behavior in the base of structure that may
cause failure of whole structure itself as well as other††Bridge settlement due to scouring
around the pier (Hokkaido, 2003)

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environmental consequences. This should be within the competence of a hydraulic engineer.
When one witnesses a submerged or eroded land and ruinous consequences of this disaster, then the roles ofa hydraulic engineer becomes important. The most important responsibilities of a hydraulic engineer compriseassessment of the problem, setting forth the solution, and last but not the least, proper interpretation andimplication of the result obtained considering the complexity of the problem.
As cited by a well-known hydraulic engineer, “The world is filled with meaningful, interesting, andeconomically important problems, and we are gaining the means to solve them.”
Wrap-up
Unfortunately, multi-dimensional problems associated withwater-induced disasters will always exist. Such disasters may
cause fatalities due to the lack of reliable information. Hydraulicengineers should therefore promote a general vision that
promotes the well-being of the people with scientific judgment aswell as social considerations. Similarly, hydraulic engineers
should remain abreast with the other specialists (ecologist,
biologist, meteorologist, morphologist, etc.) as well during thedecision-making process in order to protect nature and mankind.

Flooding (Nepal, 2002)“Mankind’s strength and ultimate survival depends not upon the ability to manipulate and control, but on
the ability to harmonize with nature.” - Rolling Thunder.

HOW BUILDINGS RESPOND TO EARTHQUAKEBy Bikram Mangal Joshi‡‡
When the ground shakes, the base of building moves with the ground and the building swings back-andforth. If the building were rigid, then every point in it would move by the same amount as the ground. However,most buildings are flexible, and different parts move back and forth by different amounts.
To illustrate this point, take a fat coir rope and tie one end of it to the roof of a building and its other end toa motorized vehicle (say a tractor). Next, start the tractor and pull the building; it will move in the direction ofpull (Fig. 1).
For the same amount of pull, the movement is larger
for a more flexible building. Now, cut the rope! The
building will oscillate back-and-forth horizontally andafter some time come back to the original position;these free oscillations are periodic (Fig. 2).
The time taken (in seconds) for each complete cycle
Fig. 1 Building pulled with a rope tied at its roof.
of oscillation (i.e., one complete cycle of motion) is thesame and is called the fundamental natural period T of
the building. The value of T depends on flexibility andmass of the building; the more flexible (or less stiff) the
structure is, the longer is T. Similarly, the more mass is,
the longer is T. In general, taller buildings are more
flexible and have larger mass, and therefore have alonger T. On the contrary, low-to-medium-rise buildings
generally have shorter T (less than 0.4 sec).
The fundamental natural period is an inherent
property of a building. Any alterations made to thebuilding will change its T. The fundamental natural
period of normal single to 20-story buildings are usually
Fig. 2 Oscillation of building on cutting the rope.
in the range of 0.05-2.00 sec.
‡‡

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The Graduates
THIRD GRADUATING CLASS (SEPTEMBER 2003)
Chumchoke Nanthawichit
Country: Thailand
Subject group: Urban and Environmental Engineering
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
E-mail: chumchoke@yahoo.com
Thesis title: Dynamic Evaluation of Traffic States on Expressway for
Advanced Traffic Surveillance Systems
Dai Jianguo
Country: China
Subject group: Structural Engineering
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
E-mail: dai@eng.hokudai.ac.jp
Thesis title: Interfacial Models for Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP)
Sheets Externally Bonded to Concrete
Haryadi Gunawan Tjitradjaja
Country: Indonesia
Subject group: Structural Engineering
Degree: Master of Engineering
E-mail: haryad1@yahoo.com
Thesis title: A Method to Analyze Cylindrical Shells Partially Buried in
Elastic Foundation"Hi guys, Now I am continuing my doctoral research, I have been in Sapporo for 2 years, and I
always look forward to every single joyful moment during my study here”
Jan Michal Pstragowski
Country: Poland
Subject group: Urban and Environmental Engineering
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
E-mail: jan.pstragowski@softhome.net
Thesis title: The Structure of the Man-Made Environment - Image andMeaning
Jang Chang-Lae
Country: Korea
Subject group: Hydro-science and Environmental Protection Engineering
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
E-mail: cljang@hotmail.com
Thesis title: Study on the Morphological Behaviour of the Channel with
Erodible Banks

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Kedar Nath Adhikari
Country: Nepal
Subject group: Geotechnical Engineering and Materials
Degree: Master of Engineering
E-mail: kedadh@yahoo.com
Thesis title: Experimental Study on the Time-Dependent Deformation
and Failure of Mortar
Life is a journey where you need to work for completing it. There will be many things around you
positive and negative, you need to cope with all and make yourself available to face anything thatcomes in your way, without distress but optimism. With best regards to everybody for success.

Muttaqin Hasan
Country: Indonesia
Subject group: Structural Engineering
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
E-mail: muttaqin@eng.hokudai.ac.jp
Thesis title: Modelling of Stress-Strain Relationships for Concrete
Damaged by Freezing and Thawing Cycles
Philip De Guzman
Country: Philippines
Subject group: Structural Engineering
Degree: Master of Engineering
E-mail: philip@eng.hokudai.ac.jp
Thesis title: Assessment of Seismic Response of Reinforced Concrete
Structures Using Damage Index
I am presently continuing with my doctoral studies and I'm hoping to further improve mytechnical knowledge as well as to gain a lot more experience during my extended stay here in
Japan. I'm also glad to have met many wonderful friends here.
Sang-Ho Cho
Country: Korea
Subject group: Mineral Resources Engineering
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
E-mail: chs0724@netian.com
Thesis title: Dynamic Fracture Process Analysis of Rock and Its
Application to Fragmentation Control in Blasting

Shehata Eldabie Abdel Raheem
Country: Egypt
Subject group: Structural Engineering
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
E-mail: shehata@eng.hokudai.ac.jp
Thesis title: Tower Nonlinear Dynamic Response of Cable-Stayed
Bridges under Great Earthquake Ground Motion

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Thambiah MuraleetharanCountry: Sri Lanka
Subject group: Urban and Environmental Engineering
Degree: Master of Engineering
E-mail: artmurale@yahoo.com
Thesis title: A Study on Evaluation of Pedestrian Level of Service along
Sidewalks and at Intersections using Conjoint Analysis"I did my masters in the field of Transportation Engineering and just beginning my doctoral study
here. One of my future goals is becoming a specialist in my field. Besides study I enjoy exploring
the outdoors, watching birds and eating delicious Japanese foods.”

Puzzles
1. Cut the figure below to make two identical parts.

2. Convert Diagram A - to Diagram B. Do it by moving only 3 circles.

See next issue for the answers.

The answers to last issue’s puzzles:
1.

2.

3.

You need only make the 8
and 9 change places.
First turn the 9 upside down
to become a 6.
Then switch the 8 and the 6.

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STUDENT UNION©EGPSEE-Student Union 2004
©EGPSEE-Student Union 2003