General Notice to the Public:

The Spire: a Carleton University Project This notice is to announce the intention of Carleton University to build anew Mathematics and Compu- ter Science building. Due to the lack of space in Denton Tower, a new and revolutionary edifice is slated for construction. Tentatively called ‘“The Spire,’ the tower will rise toa height of 892 meters- - almost 300 stories in total. But this will not be merely the tallest building in Ottawa. Based on a radical new material developed by Carleton’s Biol- ogy department, designed by the students and pro- fessors in our Architecture school, and slated to be built in a single summer by the students of our Engineering faculty, the Spire is to be made of so- called ‘‘Biological Concrete.’’ This substance, when dried and properly cured, produces a strong but flexible material with the properties of both concrete and high-grade rubber.

But Biological Concrete is actually com- posed of tiny bacteria which have been genetically engineered to grow extremely tough, keratinous outer shells. It is these shells, made up of precisely the same material as human fingernails and hair, which give the concrete its strength. These bacte- ria, while they are alive, reproduce quickly (as all bacteria do) so that it may almost be said that the building ‘‘builds’”’ itself.

The bacteria are started growing in great colonies on top of a traditional concrete foundation, then slowly, very slowly, they find their way across the broad square base of the building, forming a smooth, strong skin which will become the outer courtyard. Then, after the colony has reached a critical mass, it is guided almost straight up from the center of the completed courtyard by electric current and a pumped-in nutrient solution to form the outer shell of the spire. As the outer skin rises, so do the floors; the interior surface of the building consists of a single long spiral, similar in design to the famous Guggenheim Museum in New York. As the succes- sive stories of the tower are built, the bacteria near the bottom die and dehydrate, leaving the kerati- nous shells in a densely packed structure, while

So / went over the wall

! couldn't stand it any more

Cooped up in a cell all day

Only getting to go out for a few hours for ‘exercise’

Eating lousy food

Always being harassed by the guards

Locked up with all the lowlifes and scumbags of the world

Never having any say in what | do

It’s no way for a man to live

So when the chance to make a break for it ©

_ October 18, 1994)

The Spire

By James Foley

above the bacteria of the second generation continue

the work begun by their predecessors.

But by far the most visionary of the ap- proaches to this building is the exclusive use of computer technology to integrate biological growth patterns with two simple and elegant mathematical equations that define the shape of the structure. The function z=1/(x*2+y*2), drawn by computer in the illustration, gives the entire building its shape. The lines flow in a beautifully sharp and graceful arc to the very top of the tower, in a startling parallel to the natural growth curve of the bacteria themselves. The

Free came, | took it

No one keeps the Jake locked up

And now | live on my own

| found an apartment that’s abandoned and no one gives a shit about anymore, and that’s where | live

| don’t go out much, ‘cause the cops are still looking for me, but

| get out at least eight or nine hours a week, when there’s no one around

That’s when | raid the garbage cans and dumpsters for food

second equation, the logarithmic spiral, provides a gently sloping floor that remains unbroken all the way to the peak, spiralling smoothly up and up and up.

After the main superstructure is finished, much of the rest of the building will be completed in the traditional manner. A circular elevator shaft rises between floors. Windows will be cut with diamond-tipped chainsaws or keratin-dissolving agents. Heating pipes will be unnecessary because we will be able to use the natural nutrient ducts created for the bacteria, and the same may be said of water and sewage systems. The entire building will have a brilliant sheen-- a natural effect inher- ent in the keratin material we will be using. The entire concept is one of unity and beauty, for how better can one build a living, healthy building, but by using the marvelous tools given to us by Mother Nature?

It must be emphasized that despite the revolutionary nature of these design plans the entire building as conceived is completely safe. The bacteria used are of a benign nature, and furthermore, the entire building will be sterilized from top to bottom on completion of the biological concrete segment of the plan. The computers, along with the electric fields they will be monitor- ing, are also closely monitored. The new methods described herein actually make construting a build- ing safer in that no human life must be risked in climbing and riveting; the sort of dangerous work often required for a traditional concrete office tower is here completely eliminated.

The public is invited to tour our displays set up in the Turin Conference Centre. Displays are open from 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday to Saturday. Once actual construction is begun, sometime in the spring of 1997, further displays and tours will be available at the construction site. All questions and comments may be addressed by calling 1-800-453- 1989, the head office of Inspirex inc., the company created by Carleton to construct the Spire.

More next week. . . .

I’ve got to be real careful not to let the coppers see me, or anyone else forthat matter, so when I’m outside | hide a lot

The only people | can trust are street people, y'know, hookers, muggers, purse-snatchers.. | know they won't turn me in and they know | won't turn them in, either

So my life’s become pretty routine

Sure, it’s not the best way to live

But it’s worth it all

To be Free

Movie Reviey THE RIVER WIL

Directed-by: Curtis Hanson Starring: Meryl Streep, Kevin Baco, Strathairn, Joe Mazzello

Review by: David Ramsay

Meryl who? Yes, you heard correctly, Streep, the woman known for starring in fil elaborate costumes and heavy accents, has ts plunge from tense drama to tense action th The two-time Oscar winner has taken a bre; such films as The French Lieutenant's ji Death Becomes Her, and The House of Sp makeamovie moreattractive to the high-testo movie-goer;, however, this new direction m last long. Afterall, shejust won the most sough role in Hollywood, that of the lowa woman for Clint Eastwood in The Bridges of County.

The River Wild is just the vehicle

The movie itself ha very simple plot, ai in no way comman your attention to derstand what’s ha

pening.

needs to perk up her falling box office appé apparently it’s working; however, Streep that she did not choose the role because it w popular. Claiming that there are not enoug!! female roles, she says that *‘Most of the wa movies are sex objects, they are there to bed humped, maimed, or killed.”’ She also says a lot more to The River Wild then action, also about people; and she’s right.

Filmed beautifully on rivers in and Oregon, Wild gets the viewer up-cl0 personal with the rapids. The movie itsel simple plot, and inno way commands your @! to understand what’s happening. A family’ (Streep, Strathairn, and, ‘*‘the Jurassic Pam Mazzello) decide to take a nice, quiet, ¥ enjoying some white water rapids when tl wrong. Just before they start out on their | the family runs into fellow adventurers (Bea Reilly) who quickly become more than annoying. After their trip has started, the decides these two hitchhikers are a bit too ps for them, and decide to ditch them. This, h? is a bad idea, and what we get is a high-sp down twisting and turning class five rapi( six are considered unnavigable).

Kevin Bacon plays a wonderful vil! Mery] Streep is good as the strong-willed the film seems so scared of becoming jus!” movie that (with the exception of the last 154 or so) it shies away from fantastic wate! Streep is right, though; there is more here! action. The movie is also about relat! between a boy and his parents, and b¢ husband and wife who have come to rea’! marriage isover. These characters are well’ and J found their personal problems moré ’ ing than the actual action scenes. Maybe Si” tricked us into believing she has gone act! in fact she is covering old territory. Grade: B-