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The Official Journal of Villanova Engineers
VOL. VI
Managing Engineer
PAUL J. KAUFFMAN, ’31
THOMAS BRIEN, '31
Literary Adviser
PROF. JOS. T. JONAS
Villanova, Pa.
FEBRUARY, 1931
THE BOARD
Assistant Engineers
EDMUND PRINCIPE, ’32
Published monthly during the College year by Phi Kappa Pi Fraternity, Villanova College
$1.00 a year, l5c a copy. Entered as second-class matter July 12, 1928 at the
Post Office at Villanova, Pennsylvania, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Address all communications to “THE OWi .” Villanova, Pa.
No. 5
Business Engineer
JOSEPH HAAGE, ’32
JOSEPH HAHN, ’33
Consulting Engineer
REV. E. V. STANFORD, O.S.A.
A LETTER FROM THE PHI KAPPA PI
PRESIDENT
Fellow Engineers:
The past few weeks have been most disas-
trous to the student body as a whole. The
deadly mid-years have been here and gone, and
have taken their customary toll. Sarcastically
speaking, some of us are left, however, and we
must carry on. Let us then, begin this term
rightly by co-operating with all of the engineer-
ing activities here at Villanova.
The Phi Kappa Pi Fraternity has a great
deal of business to be attended to during the
next few weeks. Discussion of the Freshman
initation into the Fraternity must be taken up.
We must make arrangements for the banquet to
be held before the year is over. Many other in-
teresting items of business will be brought up
at the meetings. Let’s get behind the Frat and
finish up the year with a BANG!
The “Owl” is starting life all over again. It
is only an infant. None of us would like to see
a baby bird destroyed, so let us not be instru-
rental in the destruction of the fledgling
“Owl.” —
The Civils should continue their support of
the A. S. C. E., the Electricals should boost the
A. I, E.. E. and the Mechanicals and Chemicals
heating process steam requirements of the
plant.
should get behind the A. S. M. E.
Benefits received from school activities are
proportional to the interest which we display in
them. If we all work together in our various
organizations we shall) be surprised, at the end
of the year, to see how much we have accom-
plished and how much good we shall receive for
ourselves.
We trust that this plea for co-operation will
not fall upon deaf ears and that your answer
will be in the language of action.
Sincerely yours,
THOMAS F. BRIEN,
President.
THE ENGINEER AND FINANCE
When asked what is the most outstanding
characteristic of American men and industry,
the reply of the majority of visitors to our
shores has been: “A phenomenal driving force
of energy, and the ability to build produce
on a tremendous scale.”
_ America is tuned to the pursuit of great
ideals and great projects. More than any other
nation she looks to her engineers, and it is her
engineers who have created from inexhaustible
stores of raw material, practically incalculable
wealth.
So true is this that today the engineer who
would be of greatest value to himself and his
associates must of necessity give heed to the
language of finance and take his rightful place
in sharing the fruits of what his skill produces.
In the past it has been almost impossible to
get the engineer to meet the business man on
his own ground and to speak the language that
the business man will understand. The con-
sulting engineer, in dealing with his numerous
employers, that is to say, his clients, was the
first who was driven to become a financier as
well as a technical man. He found that the
terms, “power,” “energy” and “efficiency”’
meant but little to the man who had been
trained to.produce profits and to look for re-
sults, no matter what the means for attaining
them. -To the capitalist ,the only efficiency is
the “efficiency of capital.” To interest the cap-
italist, therefore, the engineer found that he
must transform his “thermal efficiencies” into
the “efficiencies of dollars and cents.”
The “Ethiopian in the woodpile” of this arti-
cle may be found in the prevailing attitude of
most engineering students toward Economics
and the Elements of Accounts, and other sub-
jects of a similar nature. To hear these men
talk you would think that such subjects were