Vol. 2 No. 2

WINTER 2004

In this issue, learn more about…
What’s more?
the history of Mongolia
andthe Philippine jeepneyon International Page

EGPSEE-SU activities
Food Corner
The More You Know...
Travel Diary
What’s in a Word?

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editorial

Editor-in-Chief
Philip de Guzman

Warm greetings to our readers in this cold winter season!

Publication Officer
Michael Angelo Promentilla

Another year comes to an end but not without fond memories ofworthwhile activities and wonderful friendship. This is especiallytrue this year with an increasing number of students in our programand new activities being organized by EGPSEE-SU. Among others,
this issue gives an account of what has happened recently in andaround EGPSEE.

Contributing Editors
Arshad Baharudin
Jacqueline Satur
Vasantha Wickramasinghe
Editorial Assistants
Mintesnot Gebeyehu
Aileen Huelgas
LayoutSofreon Leo Suhaendi
Publication andCirculation
Mehari Alemayehu Nigussie
Muraleetharan Thambiah

As another new year begins, we look forward to seeing more
contribution from our valuable readers. We would like to ask foryour support not just by reading our bulletin but also by being partof it. We would be very happy to receive any articles, news, stories,
recipes or just about anything interesting that you would like toshare with us.
Finally, we wish you all a new year filled with success andhappiness!
The Editorial Board

Biannually released
EGPSEE-SU Bulletin
For comments and suggestions:egpseesu@eng.hokudai.ac.jp©EGPSEE-SU PUBLICATIONEGPSEE-SU and E-vision logos are properties of the
English Graduate Program in Socio-Environmental Engineering - Student Union

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editorial

Featured Article
Page 1

Messages
From the Dean
Page 3

From the EGPSEE Head

Page 4

A Cell Phone in the Holster Causes Men
to Shoot Blanks
Page 13

ArticleDifference between English & Japanese
Program- Werawan Manakul

Page 14

From EGPSEE-SU President
Page 5

Projects and Activities of EGPSEE-SU- Vasantha Wickramasinghe

Page 6

Announcements
Page 15

Food Corner
Colombian Coffee Cake
- Carolina Blanco Chaparro

Page 16

What’s in a Word?
Page 8The Wedding of the Year
- Arshad Baharudin

International Page

Page 17

An Introduction to the History ofMongolia

The More You Know…

- Sarandulam Dashdorj

Page 9The Philippine Jeepney

Environmental Engineering- Jacqueline Satur

Page 18

The Graduates- Jacqueline Satur

Page 11

Puzzles
Page 12EGPSEE-Student Union

Travel Diary

Profiles of March and September 2004
Graduates
Page 202

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WINTER 2004

elcome to the Graduate School of Engineering and to the English Graduate Program in SocioEnvironmental Engineering (EGPSEE).

EGPSEE, which started in April 2000, is designed to provide foreign students in English with all thenecessary knowledge during their study program. The first students graduated from EGPSEE in
September 2002 and were awarded the Master’s degree of engineering. I am pleased to know thatthe number of EGPSEE students increases every year. With the remarkable spread of globalization,“Cultivating international appreciation” has become even more important for our university in its
mission to train future leaders for our societies. Thus, I would like to ask each EGPSEE student to
act as a bridge between your country and Japan.
The history of Hokkaido University goes back to the Sapporo Agricultural College, established in1876 as the first higher educational institution in Japan. The principle beliefs espoused by theuniversity that were introduced back then were based on a pioneering spirit that cultivatedinternational appreciation, liberalism, and applied learning. Aiming to provide highly-educated humanresources as well as to play a pioneering role at the frontiers of research, we have prepared arigorous Engineering Education Program according to internationally recognized standards.
As dean, I am proud of our achievements thus far, and encourage you to join us as we engineer our
future at Hokkaido University and around the world.
Tsuneyoshi NAKAYAMA
Dean, Graduate School of Engineering
Hokkaido University

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O

ne and a half years have passed since EGPSEE opened the program to the Japanese
students. However, until now, there has been a relatively slow growth of applications from theJapanese students. It may be showing that the “Wall of English” is not that ‘low’ for theJapanese students to climb over. As a matter of fact, many Japanese people including the students
find some difficulties to learn and use the English language in situations peculiar to them.
The Japanese language has only five vowels in the pronunciation, and does not have any words
consisting of consonants in succession. This could be one reason why Japanese is weak in listening
and pronouncing English. In addition, the English grammar is absolutely different from that of theJapanese. For example, the order of the subject, verb and object in an English sentence is changed
to subject-object-verb form in the Japanese language. For that fact, Japanese people often change
the order of the words to understand the meaning of an English sentence. This method is actually thesame with the traditional method of translating a sentence written in Chinese characters to Japanese,
which historically produced great results in introducing the advanced culture from the China continent
at that time. However, the apparent shortcoming of such method is that one could not understand theEnglish sentence in its context but only to know the literal meaning when translated in Japanese.
Thus, it will be more important for Japanese students to learn English as a language by itself.
On the other hand, in the case of many foreign students in EGPSEE, not only can they speak English
fluently, but also they become conversant with the Japanese language within several years. What isthen the difference? There may be various reasons. But one main difference is that the foreign
students feel the need to use Japanese in their everyday life, while Japanese students do not feelthat necessity to use English.
In this regard, I hope that the EGPSEE-SU will provide more congenial events and opportunities for
the Japanese students who want to speak English spontaneously.
Kazuyoshi HASEGAWA
EGPSEE Head (2003-2005)

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F

irst, I would like to congratulate the September 2004 graduates and extend my gratitude tothose who left EGPSEE, for their valuable efforts to make EGPSEE an active family. We are
grateful for the memories we share together and we wish you all the best in your careers.
Likewise, I would like to warmly welcome the October 2004 intake students. It is our hope that you
will enjoy the four-season beauty of Sapporo. You probably have some questions about life and study
in Japan. We are ready to support you as much as possible.
EGPSEE-SU organized various activities that helped students interact, know each other and benefit
one another with the objective of promoting social interaction, cultural exchange and an excellent
academic environment. Among these activities, the ‘EGPSEE trip 2004’ was the most remarkableendeavor to promote environmental concerns. ‘EGPSEE colloquium 2004’ also opened an
opportunity to listen to presentations by EGPSEE students about architecture in different countries.
Our sports day was a notable event that showed warm camaraderie and friendship between andamong EGPSEE students and those beyond the bounds of EGPSEE. All these activities weresuccessfully organized by the EGPSEE students with the help of EGPSEE program officer, Mrs.
Werawan Manakul, professors, staff members, Japanese and international friends. Many thanks toall!
It is a good start that EGPSEE incorporated more Japanese students this year. That makes it nolonger a foreigners’ community but more importantly and in every sense, an international community.
Together, let’s continue to make EGPSEE-SU a strong and active organization with intellectual andentertaining activities.
Finally, I wish you all the best in your studies and take time to have fun as a break from lectures andresearch routines.
Mintesnot GEBEYEHUPresident, EGPSEE-SU

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Projects and Activities of EGPSEE-SU
By Vasantha Wickramasinghe(EGPSEE-SU Secretary)Aside from the regular events in the last couple of years, EGPSEE-SU 2004 calendar was filled with anumber of new activities like the Snow Festival, E-lympics (EGPSEE Sports Day) and EGPSEE
Colloquium. A new set of EGPSEE-SU officers was also elected by the students during the General
Assembly held on March 11, 2004. Following is a summary of the events that took place since the last issue of
E-Vision.
New Year Party (23 Jan 2004)
EGPSEE-SU 2004 activities started with the New Year party or shinenkai, which was mainly organized by the
new students then. The international food competition was one of the significant events in the party. There weremany international dishes but the Philippine “everlasting” was the hands down favorite. Chef Philip got thevaluable prize of the day.

Sapporo Snow Festival (30 Jan-3 Feb 2004)
How can we forget that experience in the yuki matsuri. It was the first time EGPSEE joined the Sapporo Snow
Festival. “Hands for World Peace” was the chosen theme for the sculpture. Members of the EGPSEE group,
including professors and friends worked for four days to shape a giant block of solid snow into a globe held by
two hands.

Graduation Party (24 March 2004)
EGPSEE produced four graduates this March, Ghimire and three endearing ladies, Ana, Mirian and Diane. It
was quite an emotional moment for the EGPSEE family as half of the ladies in the program have graduated atonce and so as the former E-Vision editor-in-chief Ghimire. Also notable in this party was that Haryadi wasregarded as a professional chef while Ana came to the party with her beautiful baby Yuan. This event ended
with tears swelling in the ladies’ eyes.

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Welcome Party and General Assembly (23 April 2004)
This time five new students joined the EGPSEE family. Surprisingly three out of the five were Japanese
students. All newcomers were tested with a set of tricky questions followed by creative presentation from each
student. Everyone got a chance to go to Brunei with Arshad, to Lithuania with Aurimas and see the unknownside of our three new Japanese friends Akinobu, Naoya and Hiroshi in their presentations. General assembly of
EGPSEE-SU was also held following the welcome party with the objective of presenting EGPSEE-SU activity
calendar for the year 2004.

EGPSEE E-ClassThe English Class, which was started by the EGPSEE students last winter for free, was also held this summer
semester. This time the class was limited only to beginner’s level which was attended by some staff members of
the Engineering Faculty. Classes were held once a week every Thursday during noon break.
EGPSEE Sports Day (11 June 2004)
E-lympics – Annual Sports Day, was one of the new events added to the EGPSEE-SU calendar. It was an
unforgettable day for the EGPSEE family. Tug-of-war (rope pulling), tamaire and mini-soccer were the three
events included in the first E-lympics. This was a good opportunity to extend our friendship to non-EGPSEE
members as there were many of them who wanted to join us (especially young Japanese ladies thanks to ourever-active Withit). It was difficult for the organizers to select the Most Valuable Player (MVP) as everyone
had performed well. In the end, it was Leo who was lucky enough to receive the medal award. Soon after the Elympics, there was a barbeque party, which was organized to welcome back EGPSEE program officer, Mrs.
Werawan after her quick recovery from a medical operation.

EGPSEE Colloquium (17 June 2004)
Another new activity added to the EGPSEE calendar this year was the EGPSEE Colloquium. The primary aimof this event was to let students listen to some presentations related to a particular area of study. The topic
chosen for the first colloquium was the “Architecture in different countries”. There were five presentations
covering Australia, Brunei, Russia, Lithuania and Colombia. This gave the audience a chance to know more
and to compare the style of living in areas with different climates, geography and ethnicities.

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Open University Day (2 Aug 2004)
This was the second straight time that EGPSEE joined this event. Because of its successful participation lastyear, EGPSEE was granted a separate time slot for the exhibit. This gave the participants, especially highschool students, a good opportunity for deepening exchange with international students. Most of the highschool students were particularly interested taking part in the quiz prepared by each division in the EGPSEE
group.

EGPSEE Trip (11-12 Aug 2004)
The focus of this year’s trip was environment. The second EGPSEE trip covered the southern parts of
Hokkaido: Tomakomai, Muroran, Tomari and Eniwa. It was a great relief from everyday studies. A group of 25
comprised of EGPSEE students, professors, program officer Mrs. Werawan, Baby Sakura (Nagano sensei’s
daughter) and Mrs. Hasegawa joined the trip. The group first visited the plastic waste power generation plant
SANIX. Then there was that intense moment 140 meters up on the Hakutyou Bridge. Next was the visit to the
Volcano Museum in Abuta village and at the end of the day, everyone got to enjoy a nice hot spring and dinnerat the Grand Toya Hotel. There was also a wonderful show of hanabi or fireworks in the Toya Lake that night.
The next day was energized with morning exercises led by EGPSEE-SU vice president, Carolina. The firstdestination that day was the Tomari atomic power plant wherein structural engineers had a chance to see such ahuge construction project. After an enjoyable but exhausting trip, it was finally time for Sapporo Beer. Can still
remember how Ueda sensei got the permission to enter the Sapporo Beer Factory. The field trip was a great
success as usual, thanks to the efforts of Nagano and Hasegawa senseis and our EGPSEE Queen Caro.

(More pictures of the above events at http://ws3-er.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/egpsee/notices.htm)

What’s in a Word?

Serendipity. In philosophical thought, as well as in daily conversation, one frequently has ideas that are
remote from the original subject. One idea leads to the next, and an entirely new chain of ideas isformed. This is referred to as "serendipity" and is a useful tool in creative thinking. The Merriam-Webster
Dictionary defines serendipity as "The gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for; a wordcoined by Walpole, in allusion to a tale, ‘The Three Princes of Serendip,’ who in their travels were always
discovering, by chance or by sagacity, things they did not seek." During the consideration of a subject understudy, one’s mind frequently wanders to ideas which are rather removed from the problem but which turn out tohave bearing on other problems. Thus while considering one problem, a solution to another problem may arise.
Adapted from Thomas L. Saaty’s Mathematical Methods of Operational Research (1959)
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International Page
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF
MONGOLIA
By Sarandulam Dashdorj*
It would be no exaggeration to say that Mongolia is the only oneof the ancient nomad states to retain the tenets of its original
nomadic civilization, including the classic migration of livestockand closeness to nature. If you visit Mongolia you will feel the
beauty of nature, where forest-covered mountain ranges and hills
meet desert and steppe. You will also meet Mongols just like those
who have been building traditional'ger' since olden times, hospitable
cattle-breeders breeding throughout the four seasons traditional kinds of
livestock (horse, camel, cow, sheep, goat), as well as the half-settled inhabitantsof cities, who develop the industry and culture of the country. Specialists on thehistory of Mongolia from many countries have proved that it goes back over2000 years. In 1991 Mongolia celebrated the anniversary of the establishmentof the first Hun State in 209 BC.
Mongolian archaeologists have discovered 500,000 year-old stone
implements that are the remains of Mongolia's earliest inhabitants. Since theearly primitive communal era, Mongols had lived independently in theneighborhood of such nomadic tribes as Turk and Khamnigan.
In 209 BC, the Huns, who were by origin from ancient nomadic tribes suchas Xianyu, Xianyung, Hun yi and Di, set up the first state in Central Asia. The
Hun State was equal in power to the Chinese states of Tsin and Han. The
territory of the Huns was vast and extended to the Great Wall in the South, theLake of Baikal in the North, Hingan Hills in the East and Erchis River in the West. The state maintained wide
diplomatic, cultural and trade relations with the neighboring countries. In the middle of the first century AD the
Hun State split into North and South. The Southern Huns established within the Great Wall the states of Han
and Xia, which existed until the 10th century, while the Northern Huns migrated to East Europe and settled
down there by the 4th-5th centuries AD.
Between the 3rd-6th centuries the territory of the Hun State was occupied successively by the states of
Xianbi and Jhou Jhan, and Chinese historians noted the power of these states was equal to that of the Huns.
During the 7th-l0th centuries, the present Mongolian territory was inhabited by
the Turkic, Uighur and Kirghiz tribes. But there is little historic documentation about
the life of the Mongols at this period.
During the 9th-10th centuries, the Kidans, who were a Mongolian speaking tribe,
established in the north of China a Great Liao State. At this time of the Kidans (Liao),
the Chinese tribal states for the first time submitted to foreign supremacy, and theChinese Khan officially recognized the Kidan Khan as "his father", and thus himself
as "a son".
During the 11th-12th centuries, the Mongol tribes came into history under thenames Whole Mongolia, Tatar, Kerait, Jalair. These neighboring tribes had their own
rulers and were constantly fighting with each other. At this time of intertribal struggle,
a Mongol chieftain called Temuujin gathered various tribes under his leadership,
named his state "Mongolia", and renamed himself "Genghis Khan". The difficult
process of establishing the Mongolian State was finely described in the famous*

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Mongolian document "Nuuts Tovchoo" (Secret History of the Mongols). In the 13th century Mongolia was oneof the most powerful states in the world. All major world trade and political relations went through the capitalof Mongolia of that time, Kara Khorin (which is situated in the present territory of the Mongolia), and the flowof ambassadors from France, sons of Georgian and Armenian sovereigns, Russian princes, and Chinese
officials was unceasing. After having established the state, following the custom of the ancient nomads,
Genghis Khan undertook campaigns against the neighboring states. As a result of the wars undertaken by
Genghis Khan and his successors with the purpose of "conquering the whole world" Mongolia became apowerful empire, extending from the East China Sea to Western Europe, covering vast areas of Europe andAsia. After the death of the last Mongolian Emperor Mongke in 1259, the Mongol Empire broke up into theGolden Horde of Batuu Khan (Genghis Khan's grandson), inhabiting the Russian Kipchak steppe; the Kingdomof Tsagadai (Genghis Khan's son), who had conquered East Turkestan and Uzbek, and the Yuan State of
Khubilai Khan, which included the Mongolian and Chinese territories.
The wars waged by the Mongols resulted in the dispersal of the Mongolian
tribes, a considerable reduction in the size of the Mongolian population, and thedestruction of a lot of cities and villages in the conquered countries. But on theother hand, these wars precipitated the process of unification of various Asian andEuropean tribes, and drew East and West nearer together, something that had neverbeen done before.
After the defeat in 1367 of the Mongolian Yuan State by the Chinese Min State,
the Mongolian Khans returned from Beijing to their native territory. At this time
Mongolia ceased to be the center of world trade and culture, but the Mongols
retained their home territory.
During the 14th and 15th centuries, the Mongols lost their previous unity andwere divided into Eastern Mongols and Western Mongols (Oirat Mongols). Then in
the 16th century the Eastern Mongols split up into Outer Mongolia (Khalh
Mongolia) and Inner Mongolia. The Mongols waged war on each other, anddominance went first to Oirat Mongolia and then to East Mongolia. East Mongolia was the more powerful. At
the beginning of the 17th century, the Zurchid tribe of Manchurians became powerful and established the Stateof Chin. The Manchurians subdued Inner Mongolia in the 1630s, Khalh Mongolia in 1691 and Oirat Mongolia
in 1757.
The 17th-20th century period was the most tragic for the Mongols. In fact, the Manchurians cut off theMongolian State from world civilization for many centuries, and the Mongols remained as if on the inside of an
inverted copper pot. At the beginning of the 20th century, the movement for the renaissance of the MongolianState led by Bogdo Khan spread widely like a fire, but was suppressed in 1911 by the Manchurian colonial
domination. The Mongolian people led by Khalh Mongolian Javzandamba Khutagt (Bogdo Khan) established
the Khanate uniting religion and state, and intended to unite all Mongolian-speaking people. But this aim
remained unfulfilled because of the expansionist policy of the Tsarist Russia and China. In 1919 the Chinese
government grossly violated the Russian, Chinese and Mongolian tripartite treaty of 1915, and with the aid ofarmed forces conquered the Mongolian State. This precipitated again the upsurge of the national liberation
movement in the country, and so in 1921 Khalh Mongols under the direction of S. Danzan, D. Bodoo, and D.
Sukhbaatar liberated our territory from the foreign conquerors and won our freedom. From 1921-1924
Mongolia was a republican Monarchy. In 1924, however, it became an independent state with one-party systemthat lasted until 1990.
The winds of the European democratic changes of the late 1980s also came to the country. New democratic
and freedom parties were created, and a peaceful, democratic
revolution changed the country's political system. In July of 1990, thefirst democratic general election took place in Mongolia, and it has
become, finally, a parliamentary republic with president and multiparty system. During past 15 years, Mongolia is making a transition
progressively from a centrally planned economy to the free market
economy system.

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International Page
THE PHILIPPINE JEEPNEY
By Jacqueline Satur†If subway is the most common mode of transportation in Japan, the jeepney, on theother hand, is the most popular public utility vehicle in the Philippines.
The Philippine jeepney is actually a longer version of “jeep” that was commonlyused as army vehicles during WWII and at present, is the same family as the “jitney”,
the taxi/minibus that travels along a fixed route found in many countries. The firstjeepneys were actually the army jeeps themselves but were modified externally by
repainting and scraping to the metal, and adding various decorations such as paintings,
moving horse metal figurines, and flags, making each jeepney different from each otherin appearance. Ford Fieras were also then used for jeepney production. Later on,
however, the companies that did these remodeling jobs started making much bigger
bodies running on surplus diesel engines (which are cheaper on the long run for the
jeepney driver), thereby increasing the overall capacity of jeepneys. In time, the army
jeeps and Ford Fieras were all displaced by the Philippine-made jeepneys with bodies
entirely assembled and designed locally, but with machine parts obtained from surplus
shops throughout the country. The Philippine jeepney industry was thus born, and later
on, it spread to the different provinces from Metropolitan Manila where it all started,making the jeepney the most common vehicle in the Philippines.
The unique thing about jeepneys is that they are personalized; each jeepney speaksof the identity and background of the family who owns it, as shown by the designs outside and inside. (Usually,
the jeepneys are privately-owned from which the Filipino families sourced out their income). Local companies
build jeepneys in painstaking individual production and their designers apply the designs specified by the buyer.
Work on the vehicle itself sometimes takes much shorter than work on the design and decorations on thevehicle, as the former has become almost mechanical, but the latter
requires repetitive planning, and sometimes, mistakes can put backthe designing effort by one or two weeks behind. It is a matter of joy
and pride both for the jeepney owner and the jeepney designer tocome up with a jeepney pleasing to the eye and furnished with
useful devices for a comfortable and an enjoyable ride. Outside, thePhilippine jeepney invites commuters with its festive and colorful
appearance: shiny stainless metal sheets decorated with paintings,
flags, moving horses metal figurines, numerous headlights, andstriking word captions at the front and sides that add character to the jeepney such as “King of the Road”, orthat speak about the owner’s family such as “Three Brothers, One Sister.” Inside, most of the Philippine
jeepneys nowadays have comfortable cushion to sit on, stereo, mirrors, colorful lights at night, and blinker
lights that come on when passengers who have to get off press a button or pull a string. These pleasures are not
only for the passengers but also for the driver himself who have to endure
the heat of the day plus the traffic and air pollution.
Basically, the Philippine jeepney is a two-row seater vehicle withcapacity of 20 to 30 people. The destination route of the jeepney is indicatedat the front and also at the sides and people could ride on and get off at any
point as usually there is no specific jeepney stops assigned except inorganized communities. The passenger pays his transportation fee (standard
is 5.50 pesos or about 11 yen for 4 kilometers) by saying “Ma, bayad po”(Mr. Driver, this is my payment) and passing the money from one person to†Laboratory of Mineral Processing and Resources Recycling, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University

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another until it reaches the driver. Doing this creates a special atmosphere of kindness among the commuters.
Payment is usually on honesty basis with the driver just hoping that his passengers pay and at the right amountfor the distance traveled before getting off. The driver has little way of knowing who among his passengers has
not paid yet as they are many and they just come and go. During rush hours, the people sit next to each otherlike sardines in a can and some hang up on the reel (“sabit”) at the entrance of the jeepney just to be able to go
to work or get home. Gentlemen would kindly offer their seats to the elderly or ladies.
However, riding a jeepney is also funny in many ways and also risky. One has to accept that after a day, hishair would not be clean as after taking a bath due to air pollution caught while riding a jeepney. One has to becareful of their wallets or bags as some people because of poverty might have interest on them. Nevertheless,the Philippine jeepney is still the most favorite vehicle for transportation and it signifies the life and warmth of
the Filipino culture.

PUZZLES1. Alphametic
Given: DONALD + GERALD = ROBERT; if D = 5, then what are the rest?
2. Magic Square
Magic square is a square matrix of numbers of distinct positive integers 1, 2…n2 arranged such that thesum of the n numbers in any horizontal, vertical, and main diagonal line is always the same number. For
example, a 3 x 3 matrix also known as ‘Lo Shu’ square is shown below:

8 1 6
3 5 7
4 9 2
Can you make a 5 x 5 magic square containing the distinct positive integers from 1 to 25 such that thehorizontal, vertical, and main diagonal sum is 65?

? ? 1 ? ?
? ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ? ?
3. Anagram
An anagram is a word spelled out by rearranging the letters of another word such as ‘tool’ and ‘loot’.
Based on the clues given in the sentence below, figure out what the two (anagram) words are:I love fruits, especially _ _ _ _ _ _ (6) and sour _ _ _ _ _ _ (6)!
The numbers given in the sentence indicate the number of letters in each word.
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Featured Article
A CELL PHONE IN THE HOLSTER
CAUSES MEN TO SHOOT BLANKSJapan Times, Nov. 15, 2004

C

ell phones reportedly cause miscarriage and childhood leukemia. They interfere with pacemakers. They
have been blamed for traffic accidents and have sparked altercations between train passengers. Whatfurther harm could they possibly do? Perhaps wipe out the Japanese nation, frets Shukan Gendai.
Dr. Imre Fejes, of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Szeged in Hungary,analyzed sperm from 221 men and found the count in cell phone users was 59 million per milliliter as opposed
to 83 million per milliliter in non-users. Moreover, Fejes and his team discovered that cell phone users also had
poor quality sperm. They speculated electromagnetic waves from the phones adversely affected sperm
production.
Even some elementary school pupils carry cell phones, notes the magazine, and the cell phone is a vitalnecessity for young studs.
Well, what if you carry a mobile but seldom use it? Fejes says even in standby setting a cell phone emits
electromagnetic waves.
Henry Lai, of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington, bombarded rats withelectromagnetic radiation of nearly the same frequency to that emitted by cell phones. He showed the radiation
damaged the DNA in the rats’ brain cells. Lai claims his experiment corroborates the Hungarian team’s
findings. Damage to sperm’s DNA will have a negative effect on sperm production, depriving sperm of thevigor to reach the egg, he concludes.
Shukan Gendai reports 83.84 million Japanese had subscribed to cell phones as of September, a 5.6-foldincrease in eight years, and foresees a day when all Japanese own one. As if the eschatological implications
were not already clear, the magazine trots out the findings of a Teikyo University study of 94 healthy males
conducted from 1996 to 1998. The study showed men in their 20s had a sperm count 40 percent lower thanthose in their 40s. The ringing conclusion: the sperm count was down in the generation using cell phones 24/7.
“But I’m too old to beget children.” Questions a skeptical reader, “why should I care?”You should care if you ever again want to rise to the occasion. A study by Rajavithi General Hospital in
Bangkok showed that men who keep cell phones in their pants pockets are susceptible to erectile dysfunction(ED). The electromagnetic radiation increases the surface tension of blood, making it thicker. The thicker bloodflows slowly and fails to swell the erectile tissue in the penis,
according to the Thai researchers.
Shukan Gendai asks cellular giant NTT DoCoMo for anassessment of the risk of the mobile phone to male fertility.
“It’s impossible for us to investigate the findings of all thedifferent research conducted around the world,” huffs anunnamed NTT spokesperson. “We are adhering to government
guidelines and keeping electromagnetic waves within limits
mandated by law.”
The magazine pursues the buck to the Internal Affairs andCommunications Ministry. The ministry has adopted
internationally recognized electromagnetic emission standards,
says a spokesperson, and is not conducting research into
cellular effects on sperm or ED.
What should a man suppose to do? “The best protection
from a cell phone is not to own one,” says Lai. “If you mustuse one, hold it as far from your body as you can.”13

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ArticleDIFFERENCE BETWEEN ENGLISH & JAPANESE PROGRAM
By Werawan Manakul‡W

hen EGPSEE started in October 2000, two major differences between EGPSEE and the Japanese
program were (i) EGPSEE students are selected based on academic record, not entrance examination,and (ii) most of EGPSEE students are scholarship recipients. Four years have passed and although (ii) remains
unchanged, with the cooperation from students, professors and university staff, EGPSEE is different from theJapanese program in various ways.
(1) Admission – While the application to admission ratio in the Japanese graduate program is below 2.6, the
EGPSEE is above 10. This can be partially attributed to a limited number of scholarships available andprofessors’ reluctance to accept students without scholarship. International students whose academic records do
not meet the minimum requirement must pass an entrance examination. Since the number of Japanese students
each Division is allowed to accept is set, Japanese students must pass an entrance exam. After that, they canchoose to either join EGPSEE or the Japanese program. All students must obtain satisfactory TOEFL, TOEIC
or other internationally administered English test score.
(2) Registration – For master’s program, Japanese students register for the courses they plan to take for thewhole program right after their enrolment. It does not matter whether they take their courses during the 1st or
2nd year. Any change must be approved by their supervisor and subsequently reported to the academic affairs
office. EGPSEE does not follow this rule because some of the courses are not offered due to unavailability ofcourse instructors and occasionally special lectures or intensive courses are offered. To provide flexibility,
EGPSEE students (in master’s and doctor’s degree) are required to register at the beginning of each semester.
In contrast, doctoral students in the Japanese program do not need to register. Why is there a difference? See
the reason in (3) below.
(3) Final grades – Japanese students do not receive their grades at the end of each semester. Right before
graduation, Division heads are supposed to obtain the final grades from each course instructor according to thestudents’ registration after their enrolment. The main concern is whether or not students have obtained enoughcredits to graduate and not the grades themselves because more than 90% of the students get A for all thecourses they took. On the other hand, EGPSEE requests course instructors to submit the final grades in numeric
percentages instead of the usual letter-grading system at the end of each semester. These numeric grades arepart of the criteria used in choosing EGPSEE master’s students for continuation to the doctoral program, as wellas, for monitoring their quality as scholarship holders. Another difference between the Japanese program andthe EGPSEE is that for the Japanese doctoral program, the 4 courses which a student took are grouped into an
8-credit course titled “Advanced Exercise in (subject group name)” with a single grade given by his supervisor.
In the case of EGPSEE, all the courses that a student took are listed along with the grades he received.
(4) Course evaluation – Except students who took the courses, no one knows what is going on in each course.
EGPSEE requires students who took the course to fill out an on-line course evaluation form at the end of thesemester. From these submitted forms, we learned various aspects about the courses and tried to rectify any
inappropriateness as much as we can. Since the forms are forwarded to respective course instructors, students’frank feedback helps course instructors to adjust their course content or the way they carry out their lecture. In
the case of the Japanese program, course evaluation is conducted in the undergraduate program only.
(5) Thesis defense examination – In some laboratories, many Japanese students have not yet finished writing‡

Program Officer, English Graduate Program in Socio-Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering,
Hokkaido University

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their thesis when their oral presentation is held. What they usually do is to prepare a 4-page abstract for
distribution during the presentation day, and then finish the write-up of their thesis later. Due to a large numberof graduating students, the presentation time including the deliberation (Q&A) for each student is between 12 to
15 minutes. On the other hand, EGPSEE students must finish writing their thesis and circulate a copy to eachexamination committee member one week before the presentation day. At the same time, their thesis abstracts
are made available for download so that interested attendees can read these abstracts in advance. The
presentation time including the Q&A is 30 minutes.
(6) Theses/dissertations – Binding of doctoral dissertation, for both the Japanese and EGPSEE students, ishandled by the respective laboratories. In the Japanese program, most laboratories let their Master’s students
handle the binding of the theses themselves. On the other hand, EGPSEE takes care of the Master’s thesis
binding with a sequence number and uniform cover.
(7) Thesis/dissertation abstracts – A book compiling the abstracts of the master’s and doctor’s theses forJapanese graduates is printed once a year, i.e. after the March graduation. Since EGPSEE students graduate inboth March and August, a separate publication compiling abstracts of the EGPSEE graduates in each year isprinted in September. These abstracts are available on the EGPSEE alumni homepage.
(8) Doctoral program committee – In the Japanese program, a doctoral student carries out his research under
the supervision of his supervisor alone. After he finishes writing his dissertation, an evaluation committee
consisting of three to four professors is set up to evaluate the quality of the dissertation and to give somecomments for revision. In the case of EGPSEE, a doctoral Program Committee consisting of at least threemembers, one of whom from outside the Division or School, is set up within the first two semesters after
enrolment. Committee members are expected to provide guidance to the student from an early stage andthroughout his study program. Students’ progress assessment is done once a year in an open presentation.
(9) Student Union – There is no student union in the Japanese program. In my opinion, EGPSEE Student Union(EGPSEE-SU) is something indispensable. Without an organized student body, EGPSEE is just a (dull) serious
academic program. Without the EGPSEE-SU, there is no occasion, in which students from different fields ofstudy can work together, travel together, eat together, laugh together and ….. freeze together.

Announcements
PRESENTATION BY M2 STUDENTS WISHING TO CONTINUE TO THE DOCTORAL PROGRAM
Wednesday 19 January 2005, Rm. A101, 1030~
COE WORKSHOP AND INTENSIVE COURSE
A workshop on "Service Life of Concrete Structures - Concept and Design" will be held on 4 February 2005.
Workshop lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Andreas Gerdes, U of Applied Science, Karlsruhe, Germany
Dr. Steen Rostam, COWI A/S, Denmark
Dr. Yasuhiko Sato, Hokkaido U, Japan
Prof. Ha-Won Song, Yonsei U, Korea
Dr. Koji Takewaka, Kagoshima U, Japan
Prof. Somnuk Tangtermsirikul, Sirindhorn Institute of Technology, Thailand
A related 2-credit intensive course will be offered in 2 periods: 31 January -3 February and 14-18 February
2005. A syllabus and timetable are being finalized.
Intensive course lecturers consists of the above workshop lecturers plus
Prof. Toru Nawa, Hokkaido University
Dr. Manfred N Partl, EMPA, Switzerland
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Food Corner
COLOMBIAN COFFEE CAKE
By Carolina Blanco Chaparro§
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons ground 100% Colombian coffee
3/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup warm melted butter
Preparation:
The coffee base
Combine coffee and milk in a saucepan, bring to a boil. Steep over low heat for 10 minutes. Strain
through several layers of cheesecloth into a measuring cup. There should be 1/2 cup flavoured milk.
Keep milk warm over low heat.
The flour mixture
Stir flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.
The liquid mixture
In a large bowl, beat eggs for about two minutes at high speed until thick. Slowly add sugar and beat for
4-5 minutes until very light. Set aside. With a mixer at low speed, slowly beat in flavoured milk until justblended. Then add vanilla.
All together
With a mixer at a low speed, or by hand, fold in the flour mixture with the liquid mixture, just until
blended. Do not over beat. Gently fold in melted butter.
Baking:Pour into two greased and floured cake pans. Bake in preheated
350 degrees oven for 20-25 minutes until cake tester inserted incenter comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes and then turn out
onto racks to cool completely.

§

Laboratory of Urban Planning and Design, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University

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Travel Diary
THE WEDDING OF THE YEAR

By Arshad Baharudin**

The media called it the wedding of the year. Multinational
news corporations such as the BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera andNHK broadcasted the event live throughout the world. For afew minutes, this tiny oil-rich fairy-tale kingdom nestled on
the island of Borneo caught the eye of the world. On the
ninth of September, one of the world’s most eligible
bachelors, Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah, heir to thethrone of Brunei Darussalam, married Sarah Abdul Rahman,a local high school girl of minor nobility and mixed Bruneian– Swiss parentage.
And I was there to witness it. Nearly every night for thetwo weeks prior to the main wedding various traditional prewedding ceremonies were conducted. I won’t go throughthem since I don’t really know much about them myself
being happily single and all - but suffice to say there was plenty of food involved! After being in Japan and
Britain for so many years, the sudden infusion of my own culture was overwhelming – the colorful costumes,
the unfathomable protocols and customs whose origins are lost in time, the rarely heard usage of traditional
royal palace language – all this made me feel like a gaijin in my own country. As I consider myself to be welltraveled, it is but ironic that one of my more interesting journeys would be to a palace not more than a shortwalk from where I was born…
Well, first, the setting. Quoting the Guinness book of records, it is set in the largest residence in the world,with an area over 200,000 square meters. Of course, being there is another matter – I can safely say that if there
is really a place that deserves the clichéd labels of ‘grandeur’, ‘opulence’, ‘majesty’ and ‘magical’, the Istana
Nurul Iman would be it. Such a lavish wedding of course, could not be complete without the attendance ofequally prominent guests. The various leaders of neighboring nations, royalty, highly ranked politicians and theodd rock star – all were in attendance. I even ended up being an interpreter for the Japanese TV and news
reporters that were covering the wedding, especially with Crown Prince Naruhito in attendance. The colorfulbatiks of the Indonesian attendees, the flowing robes of the Arabian Emirs, the smart medalled uniforms ofEuropean and Japanese royalty, our own graceful Malay bajus – it all combined to give a sense of being back inthe time of a bygone era, with the only reminders of the present age being the incessant camera flashes from thereporters and the crowd as the dignitaries traversed the open hallway before the grand throne room to pay theirrespects to the newly wed royal couple.
Respects paid, prayers incanted, solemnizations read, the wedding ceremony itself was at an end, a sudden
climax to some weeks of preparation and celebration. Heralds
throughout the nation announced the completion of ceremonies
and a 21-gun salute was fired from the traditional royal cannon. In
a strange occurrence that only served to add to the mysticism of
the ceremonies, at the end of the salute the heavens opened withgreat thunder and torrential rain, a shock, as it had been such afine morning.
Rumor had it that the rain and thunder only fell within thepalace grounds. Evidence of the magical powers of the Sultans ofBrunei, as was written in the histories? Perhaps…

**

Laboratory of Transportation and Traffic Systems Planning, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University

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The More You Know…
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
By Jacqueline Satur††Protection of the environment became one of the main concerns of the global community in the past
decades as environmental problems such as water, air, and solid waste pollution, global warming, etc. became
worse. As a result, people have become more conscious of the consequences of their actions to the environment.
Interest in pursuing courses in the field of environmental engineering has been developed.

History
Environmental engineering is a field of broad scope that draws on such disciplines as chemistry, ecology,
geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, economics, and mathematics. It was traditionally a specialized
field within civil engineering and was called “sanitary engineering” until the mid-1960s, when the moreaccurate name “environmental engineering” was adopted. It began in the United States in the 1830's with thedesign of water supply systems and developed from the need to solve water and air quality problems that
resulted from industrialization and urbanization in the late 18th and 20th century following the US Civil War.
By the time of World War II, supply of safe drinking water was the norm throughout the United States.
Continued industrialization during and after World War II resulted to an increase in all forms of environmental
pollution but the accompanying economic boom also produced pollution control technologies and gave rise to
the experts who applied and advanced them. Environmental engineering had thus become a recognizedspecialty of engineering practice. In 1955, an organization was created to implement a certification process forenvironmental engineers that encompassed all areas of environmental practice such as water supply engineering,
air pollution control engineering, wastewater treatment, etc.
Air, Water, and Solid Waste
Environmental engineering deals with the distribution of safe drinking water; collection, treatment, anddisposal of wastewater; water quality modeling (e.g. the fate of water contaminants); management of solid
waste and hazardous waste; cleanup of hazardous-waste sites; prevention of contamination of soil bycontaminated waters; monitoring and control of air contaminants; researches on indoor air quality, air toxics,
global climate change, and stratospheric ozone depletion. Basically, environmental engineering aims to solve
air, water, and solid waste pollution problems. Noise pollution control is also included.
††

Laboratory of Mineral Processing and Resources Recycling, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University

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Wastewater treatment

Landfill disposal

Environmental Assessment
An EIA or “environmental impact assessment” is used to identify the environmental and social impacts of a
project (e.g. construction of a plant, dam, airport, highway, etc.) prior to its implementation. It aims to predict
environmental impacts at an early stage in project planning and design, find ways and means to reduce adverse
impacts, shape project to suit the local environment, and present the predictions and options to decision-makers.
By using EIA, both environmental and economic benefits can be achieved, such as elimination of sometreatment/clean-up costs and minimization of time and cost of project implementation and design. For
environmental assessment of plans, programmes, and policies, the term used is “strategic environmental
assessment”.
Studying Environmental Engineering
Environmental engineering subjects are usually being taught during undergrad as a component in civilengineering, and also in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, public health, or in an independent
department. A more detailed study of environmental engineering is being offered as a graduate study.
Environmental engineers work in water/wastewater treatment facilities, industrial plants, air quality monitoring
stations, landfill stations, consulting firms, universities, and the like. We may not all be environmental
engineers in our jobs but we can help protect and save our environment through our simple ways such as
minimizing our daily garbage, reusing scratch papers, not littering, separating wastes, etc.

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The Graduates
FOURTH GRADUATING CLASS (MARCH 2004)
Mirian Noriko Hiraiwa
Country: Paraguay
Subject group: Air, Water and Environment
Degree: Master of Engineering
E-mail: norihiraiwa@hotmail.com
Thesis title: Microbial Community Analysis in Membrane Bioreactors Treating
Municipal Wastewater
Ana Mitanoska
Country:
Subject group:
Degree:E-mail:Thesis title:

Macedonia
Urban and Environmental Engineering
Master of Engineering
amitanoska@wildmail.com
A Study on Evaluation and Improvement on BicycleFriendly Environment in the Inner CBD of Sapporo

Diane Faye Riley
Country: Barbados
Subject group: Air, Water and Environment
Degree: Master of Engineering
E-mail: frd1@hotmail.com
Thesis title: Effectiveness of UVA260 (E260) as a Surrogate Parameter for
the Rapid Estimation of Contaminant Removal Efficiency by
Alum Coagulation
Hem Nath Ghimire
Country: Nepal
Subject group: Geotechnical Engineering and Materials
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
E-mail: hemghimire@hotmail.com
Thesis title: Development of Stress Measurement System by Overcoring
Method Suitable for Soft Rock

FIFTH GRADUATING CLASS (SEPTEMBER 2004)
Bikram Mangal Joshi
Country: Nepal
Subject group: Structural Engineering
Degree: Master of Engineering
E-mail: bmj1000@hotmail.com
Thesis title: Experimental Study on Repair and Strengthening of Reinforced
Concrete Framed Structural Walls with Carbon Fiber Grids andRod
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Withit Pansuk
Country:
Subject group:
Degree:E-mail:Thesis title:

Thailand
Structural Engineering
Master of Engineering
withit@eng.hokudai.ac.jp
Shear Resisting Mechanism of RC T-BeamJacqueline V. SaturCountry: Philippines
Subject group: Solid Waste Resources Engineering
Degree: Master of Engineering
E-mail: jvs_02798@yahoo.com
Thesis title: Carrier-Microencapsulation for Preventing Pyrite
Oxidation

Sofren Leo Suhaendi
Country: Indonesia
Subject group: Geotechnical Engineering and Materials
Degree: Master of Engineering
E-mail: sofren@hotmail.com
Thesis title: Residual Strength and Permeability of Hybrid Fiber
Reinforced High Strength Concrete Exposed to High
Temperature

Tran Tuan Anh
Country: Vietnam
Subject group: Geotechnical Engineering and Materials
Degree: Master of Engineering
E-mail: ttanhce@yahoo.com
Thesis title: Prediction on Behavior of Deep Peaty Soil Deposit during
Vacuum-Embankment Preloading

Mintesnot Gebeyehu WoldeamanuelCountry: Ethiopia
Subject group: Urban and Environmental Engineering
Degree: Master of Engineering
E-mail: minte@eng.hokudai.ac.jp
Thesis title: Diagnostic Evaluation of High School Location andAccessibility from the Perspective of Existing Public Bus
Route Networks

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AntoniCountry:
Subject group:
Degree:E-mail:Thesis title:

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Indonesia
Geotechnical Engineering and Materials
Doctor of Philosophy
antoni_shie@yahoo.com
Chloride Penetration into Fiber Reinforced Concrete under
Loading

Sanjay GiriCountry:
Subject group:
Degree:E-mail:Thesis title:

Nepal
Hydroscience and Environmental Protection Engineering
Doctor of Philosophy
girisanjay@hotmail.com
Flow, Turbulence and Erosion Induced by River Structures

Preda Pichayapan
Country: Thailand
Subject group: Urban and Environmental Engineering
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
E-mail: predap@hotmail.com
Thesis title: A Study on Evaluation of New Expressway Projects using
Real Option Approach

Prakash Ranjitkar
Country: Nepal
Subject
Urban and Environmental Engineeringgroup:
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
E-mail: pranjitkar@yahoo.com
Thesis title: Experimental Assessment of Microscopic Traffic Flow Models
Based on RTK GPS Data

Benno Rahardyan
Country: Indonesia
Subject group: Solid Waste Resources Engineering
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
E-mail: Benno.Rahardyan@gmail.com
Thesis title: Study on Citizen’s Concerns and Attitudes towards Solid
Waste Management Facility in Japan

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