D. Karta/The California Tech

Pixar employs many scientists like Tony DeRose to the models that move its characters. Ani-mators use the models to the scenes of the movies.

CHRISTINE CHANG

teresting in its own right.In a short introduction to the

causes of earthquakes in general,Dr. Hugh explained, very basi­cally, the three different kindsof faults which may occur whentectonic plates meet on the earth'ssurface: normal, thrust and strike­slip faults. Each results from adifferent overlap of the plates andearthquakes occur when plates re­arrange along these faults.

The entire coast of Californiais, as Dr. Hugh explained, a veryactive fault zone; the San An­dreas Fault stretches 1200 km,over much of the coast of Califor­nia, with a large bend in the LosAngeles area, which Dr. Hughesexplained, causes stress on thesurrounding land. The Los Ange­les area is laced with numeroussmaller faults, such as the San Ga­briel Fault zone, the Sierra Madrefault zone and the Raymond fault,located near to lPL.

The lecture included a picturetour of many of these faults, pho­tographed in familiar locationsaround the LA area. Dr. Hughshowed, surprisingly many inno­cent-looking hills and short ridg­es, which the everyday observerhardly notices, are traces of faultsand signs of flourishing earth­quake activity to a geologist.

For example, a parking lot ele­vated slightly from a nearby road,or an unusually steep hill in the

K. SZWAYKOWSKA

On Thursday at eight in theevening, Dr. Sue Hugh of the USGeological Survey faced a largeaudience in Baxter auditorium togive a talk titled "Finding Fault inLos Angeles". Unlike many of theother lectures seen on the Caltecheampus, this one involved littleobscure science and did not at­tempt to explain complicatedphenomena at any more than themost basic possible level.

Dr. Hugh kept on the light andhumorous side as she explainedthe location of various faults inSouthern California, the area that,in her own words, "we all knowand love."

Many California residents arereasonably concerned with earth­quakes and earthquake safety;though construction over activefault zones is now forbidden bylaw, many buildings, includingthe lPL campus, are built overand around major faults and thusare quite vulnerable to earthquakedamage.

This also means that most ma­jor earthquakes also take their tollon human life: the NorthridgeEarthquake in 1994 killed 51people and injured over 9000; the1971 earthquake near San Fer­nando caused at least 58 deathsand 2000 injuries and the list goeson. This perhaps accounts for theimpressive turnout at the lecture,though Dr. Hugh soon made it in-

Continued on Page 8, Column 1

course of four years. In thefinal presentation of the film,however, these painstakinghours of work are often hiddenbehind colorful characters andan entertaining plot.

"If you find yourself think­ing about the technology, thenwe've failed," said DeRose.

Though not obvious, how­ever, much work is placed intoeach film which is created.Four years before a film is re­vealed to the public, the direc­tor molds and refines the ideafor the story before pitchingthe idea to the company.

Once the company agreesto fund the project, the sto­ry is made more concretethrough the creation of story­books which contain imagesof important events. Then theeditorial board steps in to putthe film on reel. The editorialboard repeats this process fourto five times before real digitalproduction is even begun.

Meanwhile, the art depart­ment generates concept artwhich determines the moodof the film. The art is thentransformed into three-dimen­sions through the use of worldmodeling. During this step,the modelers may use either acomputer program called Mayaor may use clay to physicallysculpt a replica. Touch probesthen digitize these physicalsculptures.

The next step in the produc­tion process is articulation."Articulation is creating the

D. Karla/The California Tech

Dr. Sue Hugh explaius the project she heads to map the California fault lines. Hugh remarked on theease with which a trained eye can spot the faults, even from the air.

When many people thinkabout mathematics, re-member the droning ofa high school teacher, the be­wildering complexity of cryp­tic symbols and the count­less hours spent attempting tounderstand it all. Departingfrom these experiences, theyenter the world believing thatmathematics can only apply toboring careers. Tony DeRose,however, utilizes mathematicseveryday in his job, which isfar from dull.

DeRose earned a Bachelor ofScience degree in both Phys­ics and Computer Science andspent many years teachingcomputer science as a profes­sor at the University of Wash­ington. However, after manyyears of teaching, he enteredan industry that few would everconnect with mathematics andcomputer science: the film in­dustry.

Currently, DeRose worksat Pixar Animation Studios,the creators of such film hitsas "Toy Story," "Monster's,

" and most recently "Find­ing Nemo." The company hasalready earn multiple Oscarawards for its innovative andgroundbreaking animatedfilms, as well as for its shortfilms. DeRose himself helpedin the creation of the Oscarwinner "Geri's Game."

In the making of these films,much planning using bothmathematics and computerprogramming occurs over the

CirculationNatalia Deligne

TearsheetsTim Tirrell

VOLUME CV, NUMBER 29

Matthew H WalkerNews Director

The CaliforniaCaltech 40-58, Pasadena. CA 91125

editorial desk: (626) 395-6153advertising desk: (626) 395-6] 54

editorial e-mail: tech@tech.caltech.edu

The Tech is puhlished weekly except duringvacation and examinatiou periods by the As­sociated Students of the California Instituteof Technology, Inc. The opinious expressedherein are strictly those of the authors andadvertisers.

Letters and submissions are welcome; e­mail submissions to tech@tech.caltech.eduasplain-text attachments, including the author'sname, by Friday of the week before publica­tion. Sorry the Tech does not accept anony­mous contributions. The editors reserve theright to edit and abridge all submissions forallY reason, All written work remains propertyof its author.

The advertising deadline is five p.m. Friday;a1ladvertisiug should be submitted electroni­cally or as camera-ready art, but the Tech canalso do simple typesetting and arrangement.All advertising inquiries should be directedto the business manager at business@tech.caltech.edu. For subscription infonnation,please send mail to "Subscriptions."

the happiest and most engagedstudents; a good part of this is at­tributed to the open policies andclose relationships between stu­dents and faculty led by Stolperas division chairman.

In addition, his division main­tains strong relationships withalumni through Alumni College,field trips with the Associates andalumni and other programs thathave been developed during histime as chairman.

Tom Tombrello has been anenthusiastic supporter of under­graduate research since he ar­rived on campus more than 40years ago. He served as a Sum­mer Undergraduate Research Fel­lowships (SURF) program men­tor and financial supporter whenthe program began, was a chartermember of the SURF Adminis­trative Committee and continuesto review proposals and providecounsel to the program.

Tombrello initiated a coursemany years ago to provide under­graduate research opportunitiesfor top first-year physics students.He subsequently expanded theprogram to include high schoolstudents with high potential foradmission to Caltech and throughthat effort was able to attract someoutstanding students to Caltech.

He received the FeynmanTeaching Award as well as twoAssociated Students of CaltechTeaching Awards. Along withNichols, Tombrello was instru­mental in setting up the annualLaw & Technology mock trialswhich Caltech hosts with LoyolaLaw School.

PERRY

A prototype robotic telescope isbeing constructed and the teamis seeking funds to construct,calibrate and deploy a network· ofeight around the globe.

"Even as the scientific commu­nity acknowledges the likelihoodof human impacts on climate,it must better document and un­derstand climate changes," saidKoonin. "Our ongoing earthshinemeasurements will be an impor­tant part of that process."

PASADENA, Calif. - How doyou become a Caltech alumnuswithout taking years of physics,mathematics, chemistry and biol­ogy? You do outreach programsthat benefit 5,000 business leadersa year, you support field trips foralumni, or you serve as an enthu­siastic advocate of undergraduateresearch for 40 years.

Thesc are a few of the accom­plishments of this year's classof new honorary members ofthe Caltech Alumni Association.They are Gaylord "Nick" Nich­ols, director of Caltech's Indus­trial Relations Center; Ed Stolper,Caltech's acting provost, chair ofthe Division of Geological andPlanetary Sciences and the Leon­hard Professor of Geology; andTom Tombrello, chair of the Divi­sion of Physics, Mathematics andAstronomy and Kenan Professorand professor of physics.

They will be feted at the Hon­orary Alumni Dinner on Friday,June 11, at Caltech's Athenaeumwhere they will receive a framedcertificate of Honorary Member­ship in the Alumni Association.Including this year's trio, 89people have been named honor­ary members of the Alumni As­sociation.

"TheAlumniAssociation grantsHonorary Membership to those inthe Caltech family whose extraor­dinary and sustained efforts havepositively influenced the Instituteor the Alumni Association," saidStephanie Charles, who chairedthe Honorary Alumni Nomina- .tion Committee.

Nichols has been associatedwith Caltech and the Jet Prosion Laboratory for 46 yearsand has worked at Caltechfor more than 20 years. Ashead of the Industrial Rela­tions Center, he brings 1,400business leaders to campusto attend classes and eventsand arranges to have classespresented to 3,600 additionalpeople at their companies oroff site every year.

The Industrial RelationsCenter has dozens of courseofferings and has raisedCaltech's profile amongmajor corporations. Nicholswas instrumental in fosteringthe MIT/Caltech EnterpriseForum in whic.h techn~logy- t.......====;"" Couresy of aph.caltech.edu

based compames and Issues Professor Tombrello is an advocate ofare presented to the Caltech undergraduate research.community, the financialcommunity and the entrepreneur­ial community.

Nichols also opens up his In­dustrial Relations programs tostudents free of charge and sever­al students have used the coursesas stepping-stones to internships,jobs and other endeavors. Tammy Yee Wing Ma Vi Tuong Tran

Ed Stolper has been chairman Managing Editor Business Managerof the Division of Geological andPlanetary Sciences for almost 10years. During this time, the num­ber of majors and enrollments inthe division have increased many­fold and the division is knownacross campus as having among

thickness.These large vanatlons, which

are comparable to those in theearth's infrared (heat) radiationobserved in the tropics by satel­lites, comprise a large influenceon Earth's radiation budget.

"Our results are only part of thestory, since the Earth's surfacetemperature is determined by abalance between sunlight thatwarms the planet and heat radi­ated back into space, which coolsthe planet," said Palle. "This de­pends upon many factors in addi­tion to albedo, such as the amountof greenhouse gases (water vapor,carbon dioxide, methane) pres­ent in the atmosphere. But thesenew data emphasize that cloudsmust be properly accounted forand illustrate that we still lack thedetailed understanding of our cli­mate system necessary to modelfuture changes with confidence."

Goode says the earthshine ob­servations will continue for thenext decade. "These will be im­portant for monitoring ongoingchanges in Earth's climate sys­tem. It will also be essential tocorrelate our results with satellitedata as they become available,particularly for the most recentyears, to form a consistent de­scription of the changing albedo.Earthshine observations throughan ll-year solar cycle will alsobe important to assessinghypoth­esized influences of solar activityon climate."

Montanes Rodriguez says thatto carry out future observations,the team is working to establish aglobal network of observing sta­tions. "These would allow con­tinuous monitoring of the albedoduring much of each lunar monthand would also compensate forlocal weather conditions thatsometimes prevent observationsfrom a given site."

BBSO observations are cur­rently being supplemented withothers from the Crimea in theUkraine and there will soon beobservations from Yunnan in Chi­na, as well. A further improve­ment will be to fully automatethe current manual observations.

the Earth, the brighter the earth­shine and changing cloud cover isan important element of changingclimate," he said.

Precision earthshine observa­tions to determine global reflec­tivity have been under way atBBSO since 1994, with regularobservations commencing in late1997.

"Using a phenomenon first ex­plained by Leonardo Da Vinci, wecan precisely measure global cli­mate change and find a surprisingstory of clouds. Our method hasthe advantage of being very pre­cise because the bright lunar cres­cent serves as a standard againstwhich to monitor earthshine andlight reflected by large portions ofEarth can be observed simultane­ously," said Goode. "It is also in­expensive, requiring only a smalltelescope and a relatively simpleelectronic detector."

By using a combination ofearthshine observations and satel­lite data on cloud cover, the earth­shine team has determined thefollowing:

Earth's average albedo is notconstant from one year to thenext; it also changes over decadaltimescales. The computer modelscurrently used to study the cli­mate system do not show suchlarge decadal-scale variability ofthe albedo.

The annual average albedo de­clined very gradually from 1985to 1995 and then declined sharplyin 1995 and 1996. These observeddeclines are broadly consistentwith previously known satellitemeasures of cloud amount.

The low albedo during 1997­2001 increased solar heating ofthe globe at a rate more than twicethat expected from a doubling ofatmospheric carbon dioxide. This"dimming" of Earth, as it wouldbe seen from space, is perhapsconnected with the recent accel­erated increase in mean globalsurface temperatures.

2001-2003 saw a reversal ofthe albedo to pre-1995 values;this "brightening" of the Earth ismost likely attributable to the ef­fect of increased cloud cover and

sBy ROBERT TINDOL

PASADENA, Calif.-Scientistswho monitor Earth's reflectanceby measuring the moon's "earth­shine" have observed unexpect­edly large climate fluctuationsduring the past two decades. Bycombining eight years of earth­shine data with nearly twentyyears of partially overlapping sat­ellite cloud data, they have founda gradual decline in Earth's re­flectance that became sharper inthe last part of the 1990s, perhapsassociated with the acceleratedglobal warming in recent years.

Surprisingly, the declining re­flectance reversed completely inthe past three years. Such chang­es, which are not understood,seem to be a natural variability ofEarth's clouds.

The May 28, 2004, issue of thejournal Science examines the phe­nomenon in an article, "Changesin Earth's Reflectance Over thePast Two Decades," written byEnric Palle, Philip R. Goode,Pilar Montanes Rodriguez andSteven E. Koonin. Goode is a dis­tinguished professor of physics atthe New Jersey Institute of Tech­nology (NJIT), Palle and Mon­tanes Rodriguez are postdoctoralassociates at that institution andKoonin is professor of theoreticalphysics at the California Instituteof Technology.

The observations were con­ducted at the Big Bear Solar Ob­servatory (BBSO) in California,which NJIT has operated since1997 with Goode as its director.The National Aeronautics SpaceAdministration funded these ob­servations.

The team has revived and mod­ernized an old method of deter­mining Earth's reflectance, oralbedo, by observing earthshine,sunlight reflected by the Earththat can be seen as a ghostly glowof the moon's "dark side"-or theportion of the lunar disk not lit bythe sun.

As Koonin realized some 14years ago, such observations canbe a powerful tool for long-termclimate monitoring. "The cloudier

Courtesy of bbso.njit.edu

Careful study of Earth's albedo, or earthshine, against the dark side of the moon provides a tool forresearchers to measure climate changes.

3

,+

Mani ChandyComputer Science

Victor TsaiPlanetary Science

,---"'VUH Camerer

Class Merit

Jeremy LeibsJennifer Li

Binghai LingMarin Markov

Clare MoynihanTimothy Nguyen

Karin ObergYingkai OuyangWeronika Patena

YanQiJoan Karen Sum Ping

Tom SzeNeil TiwariJing Xiong

Mehmet Yenmez

Pavel BatrachenkoBrant Carlson

Elena FabrikantFisher

Lisa FukuiJoseph GonzalezLea Hildebrandt

Dorota KortaEthelMae "Vicki" Loewer

Po-Ru LohGalen Loram

OlfLaura Pruitt

UnderwoodJoe Wasem

Trevor WilsonPhillip Zukin

Rosalind W. Alcott MeritScholarship

Christina DwyerChristopher McClendon

Bin Wu

Caltech

John Stauffer Merit Scholar­ship

Xiao Peng

Carnation Merit AwardVincent Auyeung

Aziun BansalAdam D'AngeloWei Lien Dang

Mithun DiwakarChristopher Franco

Yiyang GongViviana Gradinaru

ChongQin GuoJudith HubbardPatrick Hummel

Matthew JohnstonDaniel Koslover

Tony Lee

By ROSEMARY LARRANAGA

The Faculty Scholarshipsand Financial Aid Committee ispleased to announce the recipientsof the 2004-2005 Caltech UpperClass Merit Awards. Upper ClassMerit Awards are based on out­standing scholastic achievement,research and related endeavors.

These awards are made pos­sible through contributions fromgenerous donors who have en­dowed the competition. Scholar­ships for the 2004-05 academicyear will be provided by the Stu­art Foundation (Carnation MeritScholarships), Lew and EdieWasserman (Caltech Upper ClassMerit Awards), the John StaufferScholarship, earmarked forChemistry/Chemical Engineeringmajors, and the Rosalind W. Al­cott SdlO!:lrsllip.

The Committee awarded morethan one million dollars to this

The followingawards rang­

thr'ee·"qularlers tuition toroom and board

aca,delnJC year:

mover

no more mac

it on

anpn:>tElctiorl* up to 6 years or 100,000 miles. Get flexible leasing and financirlg options. Get pure BMW.

'Protection Plan provides coverage. for up to 2 years or 50,000 mUes (whichever comes first) from the date of the expiration of the 4 year/50,000 mUe BMW New Vehicle Limited Warranty, See participating BMW passenger car

2004 HaUett Smith PrizeThe prize in the Hallett Smith Competition (for the finest es­

say devoted to Shakespeare) was won jointly by Nicholas Rup­precht and Chris Meagher.

Submit to the Totem! The Totem is now accepting submissions for the2004 edition the the literary magazine. Anyone in the Caltech communitycan submit their poetry, short stories, artwork and/or photography to theTotem. Please send your work by email (totem@its.caltech.edu), or bycampus mail (MSC 292).

Comrnittee of the Caltech Literature 1=;'""" l1hr

pll~as;ed to announce the winners in the 2004 contest for excel­in writing. In the category of non-fiction essay, the prize is

awarded to Wensi Xu. Rebecca Streit is the winner in the poetrycompetition. The award in prose fiction goes to Elliott Karpi­lovsky.

Honorable mention is given to Eva Murdock, Jeremy Gillula,John Sadowski, Michael Villet, and Samuel Thomsen.

Summer Work Study: Information and applications for 2004 Sum­mer Work Study are available in the Financial Aid Office. If you areinterested in Summer Work Study, please submit the required applicationas soon as possible, but no later than June 1,2004. Your entire financialaid application must be complete by June 1,2004 in order to be consid­ered for Summer Work Study. If awarded, the work study funding willbegin July 1,2004.

R<ltcquetb::ln Challenge Court. Wednesdays, 5:30 8 PM, Braun Gym.Show up to the Racquetball club's challenge court and take on anyonehere. We usually have two reserved courts, and we play winner stays on.Challenge yourself and a worthy opponent! Everyone is welcome andwe normally have all skill levels show up (including beginners). And ifyou don't know how to play, look for our next monthly club sponsoredlesson. You can borrow the necessary equipment from the front desk.See you there!

CalTech Grad Students...Stuck here doing research on your dissertations? Then take a break

from the typical 'all nighter' ...on Thursday, June 17, join us for theFREE LACMA Overnight Tiki Tin Dawn Party which opens themuseum to party-goers beginning at 7 pm and continuing till 7 am thefollowing morning.

In addition to free admission to exhibitions including Beyond Geom­etry and Inventing Race, the party features live music, DJ Diabetic, asneak preview of the new Sony Pictures Classics surf film Riding Giants,and appearances by L.A. authors including Gary Baseman signing DumbLuck, Robbie Conal signing Art Bum, Sandow Birk signing Dante'sInferno, and Shag signing Tiki Drinks, Shag's Around the World in 80Drinks, and Shag Party.

Party fun also includes films, interactive graffiti murals, live improv,no-host barbeeue and tiki bar, and a random drawing to award a luckywinner two free plane tickets to anywhere in the world that Air Franceflies. A custom-painted motor scooter created by artist Shepard Faireywill also be the featured prize in a summer-long silent auction, pro­ceeds of which will benefit LACMA art education programs for at-riskyouth.

We wanted to send our friends at CalTech a special, advance invitationto our latest event given the raving success of LACMA's first free "all­nighter" - Cabaret LACMA, which drew nearly 9,000 party insiders!

Caltech's 2nd annual "Travel Fair" will take place on WednesdayJune 16th from 11 :00 to 2pm in front of the Chandler Dining Hall. Cometo meet and greet the travel and pcard departments and our many travelvendors. There will be music and a barbeque meal will be available topurchase at Chandler. Prizes will be donated by some of our top vendors,(winners must be students, staff or faculty of Caltech.) Come and enjoythe sunshine and the fun!

The American Association of Japanese University Women is cur­rently accepting applications for their 2004 scholarship program. Femalestudents enrolled in accredited California colleges and universities, whowill be junior, senior or graduate student by Fall 2004 are eligible toapply. You may pick up an application in the Financial Aid Office ore-mail them for more information. E-Mail Address: aajuw@worldnet.att.net The deadline for this scholarship is September 30, 2004.

SCHOLARSHIPS

pn~sents the 6th Annual,"",hrnomr>,ii" There is one

are also third, finalist, and sernifinal-

Also summer ballroom classes are coming up;Salsa dance class: Offered jointly by the Caltech Ballroom Dance and

Salsa Clubs. Beginning salsa lessons will be Wednesdays fromJune 16th through 4th. Class is Lounge from8:30 - 10 pm, and the cost is $7 per class or for the entire 8 weekseries. No partner or previous experience is necessary.

Hop (Swing) Class: Classes in beginning Lindy Hop will betaught eight Mondays beginning June 14th through August 2nd,from 8:30 - 10 pm in Winnett Lounge. The cost for Caltech students andSURFers is $6 per class or $40 for the entire series; for nonstudents thepricing is $8 per class, $56 for the series. No partner is necessary andrefreshments will be served.

Caltech Ballroom Club Party: Our end of term party will beheld Saturday, June 5 in Winnett Lounge. We will begin with a mini­lesson on Merengue at 8:30, followed by general dancing from 9 pmuntil you can't dance anymore. The price is FREE, and refi-eshmentswill be provided. As with all our parties and classes, no partner or pre­vious dance experience is necessary, just bring yourself and join us forthe good times!

*** out of ****

courtesy of www.herothemovie.com

cluding a poignant episode wherea Zhao calligraphy shop is inter­rupted by a barrage of Qin ar­rows.

The acting in Hero is sporadi­cally excellent and at other timescompletely implausible, but asa whole, the performances arestrong enough that they don't de­tract from the beautiful story. JetLi is rather wooden as the name­less warrior who ultimately be­comes an unlikely hero but Waiand Cheung do a fantastic job ofportraying the two Zhao assassinlovers, Broken Sword and FlyingSnow. Their performances areenhanced by the fact that in eachstory, the two characters havecompletely different roles--inoneaccount, they are bitter and jeal­ous ex-lovers, while in a secondstory, they are madly in love andwilling to die for each other.

Even though Hero is not asgood as film is advertised (it israted 166 on the Internet MovieDatabase list of the all-time top250 a list that doesn't in­clude Chicago, Field of Dreamsnor A Beautiful Mind), it is anexcelJently written period piecewith stunning performances, im­portant messages, and interestingfights. Hero is not one of the bestChinese films ever made, but it'sfar superior to brainless Ameri­can blockbusters, and hopefully,the film will find a wide audiencewhen it's released in August. It'sdefinitely worth a look!

is its most memorable and unpar­alleled aspect, but the film is alsoa compelling action/drama. Thelove story of Broken Sword andFlying Snow is very endearing,albeit a little tacky, and the di­lemmas facing the two assassinsare infinitely intriguing. The ten­sion between the emperor and thenameless warrior slowly buildsuntil a striking climax wraps themovie into a nice little package.The different tales are cleverlydistinguished by colors, as theassassins Broken Sword and Fly­ing Snow wear different coloredclothing in the three or four dif­ferent stories. The beautiful imag­ery allows the viewer to recognizewhen the stories change withoutdisturbing the cinematic mood.

Unfortunately, the actionscenes are a little underwhelmingbecause the style of fighting, fly­ing warriors made so famous inCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonis now rather stale. CrouchingTiger :\' sequences wereunrealistic, but because they wereso beautifully filmed the audiencewas able to suspend its disbeliefand enjoy the spectacle. Howev­er, the action scenes in Hero arelaughable and the film's blatantdisregard for the laws of physicsbecomes rather unnerving. Someof the battles, such as a randomtussle between Moon and FlyingSnow, are superfluous and I washardly impressed with the "mind­battles" Nameless has with vari­ous warriors before he actuallyfights them. Nonetheless, some ofthe scenes are quite moving, in-

the war­paces ofhow he

thendefeated assassin lovers BrokenSword and Snow

Chiu andCheung). after Name-less tells his sweeping tale, welearn Nameless has ulterior mo­tives, and consequently, his storyis shockingly inaccurate withnever-ending lies. We hear thesame account from various pointsof view, and unlike in Rashomon,we eventually learn what actuallyhappened, in an enormously satis­fying conclusion.

Hero's twisting and turning plot

By HARRISON STEIN

The glory of Asian cinema hasbeen largely ignored since theheyday of director extraordinaireAkira Kurosawa, as the averageAmerican couldn't tell ZhangZiyi (famous Chinese actress)apart from Wang Zhizhi (ChineseNBA player). However, every­thing changed with the release of2000's earth shattering CrouchingTiger, Hidden Dragon as Westernaudiences finally began to appre­ciate the beauty of Chinese andJapanese art, leading to a cin­ematic revolution.

In recent years, American audi­ences have been treated to a glut­tony of recent Asian masterpiecessuch as Ringu, Spirited Away, andPrincess Mononoke that wouldhave been neglected ten yearsago. Thanks to samurai aficio­nado Tarentino and hisenormous wallet, American au­diences will be fortunate enoughto see Yimou Zhang's 2002 epicYing in theaterslater this year. Luckily, I was ableto view a sneak preview of thisChinese classic this past Fridayat a special screening provided bythe Caltech C.

Unlike most Chinese films thatreach American theaters, Heroactually has an engrossing andchallenging storyline to comple­ment its all-out swordplay andemotional scenes depicting hon­or, valor and integrity. Modeledaround Kurosawa's overrated butrevolutionary Roshomon, Herois the story of a nameless war­rior (Jet Li), in the midst of a waramongst China's seven kingdoms,who mysteriously slays the threefinest warriors of the rival Zhaokingdom.

The Qin Emperor, who wastargeted the three Zhao assas­sins for ten years, congratulcltes

courtesy of w'rvw.herothemovie.com

Director Yimou Zhang's inaugural kung fu movie, Hero, is a cleverly told story about how one mandefeats three assassins who sought to murder the most powerful warlord in China.

2004 5

.'

FAX (626) 792-5555California 91106

more contactbusiness@tech.caltech.edu

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mail jkennedy@ant91.cor call 310 6413511 x14

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represent 27% of the graduatestudent body, they composed 33%of the survey population. 52% ofmen completed the survey, whilethe response rate from womenwas 72%. However, as the resultsfor womcn and men were separat-ed the Gender Harass-ment the percent-age of did notmaterially affect any results.

Professor Michael Alvarez'sassistance throughout the surveyproject has been invaluable; heaided in the design of the surveyinstrument and has made himselfavailable for consultation on sev­eral survey issucs of. a technicalnature, including issues that arosein the preparation of the GenderHarassment report. However, hedid not pmticipate in the actualanalysis of data as was indicatedon page one.

Finally, the last paragraph ofthe article stated that, "Most ha­rassment experienced by graduatestudents takes placeinlaboratorygroups." The survey itself did notcontain any questions concerningthe location in which the variousharassing behaviors reportedlyoccurred. Indeed, one of the sur­vey committee's· recommenda­tions for follow-upirlvestigationis that data must nO\ybe collectedregarding who is committing theharassing behaviors/and wherethose behaviors are taking place.With the Institute Gender Harass­ment Task Force dueto release itsrecommendations forCaltech ac­tion soon, we anticipate they willpresent a plan for obtaining pre­cisely that information.

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The GSC/WEST survey com­mittee would like to thank TheTeeh for its article, "Gender Ha­rassmentwhich ran in the 2004edition. We appreciate the ob­jective and informative mannerin which the mticle was written,inc~lwjmg the author's careful re­minder that questions peltainingto gender harassment issues wereonly a small portion of a largerand more general quality of lifesurvey.

The article contained a few er­rors, which we would like to cor­rect. The graphic on page twoidentified the results as comingfrom the "GSC Quality of LifeGender Harassment Survey."The survey is a joint project ofthe GSC and WEST, and thecharts should have been creditedas such. This point was properlynoted on page one.

The overall survey responserate was 57%, not 53% as statedin The Tech. Also, the article re­ports that the response had "nosignificant bias based on genderor nationality." Although women

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from Dr. Daniel Stern of JPL,carefully measured the bright­ness of the lens using the Spitzerdata. Dr. Brian M. Patten of theHarvard-Smithsonian Centerfor Astrophysics,

used these meaSllrementsto establish that the lens is a verylow mass, faint star. "Theare fanltastic,"When Brian us

confirmed the nature of thestar, we were ecstatic."

Added Patten, "With this newcapability, we'll be able to de­termine the properties of manymore lenses, and determine theircontribution to dark matter inour galaxy."

The team of astronomers re­cently collected data for fouradditional macho events andhave plans to study nine more.For more information about theSpitzer Space Telescope, visithttp://www.spitzer.calteeh.edu.

The Spitzer Space Telescopeis managed by JPL for NASA'sOffice of Space Science, Wash­ington. Science operations areconducted at the Spitzer ScienceCenter at the California Instituteof Technology in Pasadena.is a division of Caltech.

TIm!? to turn in

"

adelphia, and his colleagues wenton a hunt for machos. Rather thanscan for the objects themselves, theteam looked for the objects' gravi­tational tug on starlight emanatingfrom behind them. In this tech-nique, called micro-'VUc'U',o' a lens invisible

causes source(a to brighten for a brief pe­riod of time. Alcock and his teamsurveyed 12 million stars for theseevents in the nearby Largelanic Cloud, which lies 011

side of our galaxy halo.tected 17.

But, based on the predictednum­bers of faint stars in our galaxy, theastronomers had expected to seemuch fewer than 17. Either there isa significant amount of dark matterin the galaxy halo, or there is invis­ible matter in our own galaxy thatcannot yet be understood. Eitherway, the findings challenged scien­tific descriptions of matter.

That's where Spitzer comes in.Because it can see objects that aretoo cool to be seen with other tele­scopes, it may be able to detect theheat from many of these invisiblelenses. To test this ability, a groupof astronomers, including Alcockand Werner, and led by Dr. HienNguyen of JPL, used Spitzer to ob­serve the macho event referred toas MACHO-LMC-5. This eventis the only one of its type thatcould be seen by NASA's HubbleSpace Telescope. Data obtainedby Alcock and others using Hub­ble beginning in 200 I, and mostrecently analyzed by Dr. AndrewGould of Ohio State University,Columbus, suggest that the lensobject for MACHO-LMC-5 is alow-mass star about 1,500 light­years away within our galaxy'sdisc.

The new Spitzer data for thisevent independently confirm thisfinding. "By luck, Hubble wasable to see the lens in one of15 events it looked at, whereasSpitzer should be able to see manymore, if these microlensing eventsare indeed caused by nearby coolobjects," Nguyen said.

Nitya Kallivayalil a aradu- courtesy

ate student at ;he U~iver~ty of ~n artist's concept of thePennsylvania, with critical insight Space Telescolpe.

IS apast, we have U.L'YUf';'UC

you our version of Vogue and Onion. year, we'd to parody IV!fJ'rth'n

Stewart Living magazine. This is generally a very "preppy" magazine about food,entertaining, gardening, homekeeping, and crafts. As such, we'd our ver-

sion of Living to have spoof articles on CDS, dorm decorating, etc. If you'd liketo contribute any articles pertaining to the theme (which includes making ofMartha), any real or fake recipes, and also any pictures that could be applicable,

email tammyma@caltech.edu with submissions or for more informatIon. Submis­sions are due at midnight on Sunday June 6th. Thanks!

WHITNEY CLAVIN

Ten years ago, a group of as­tronomers set out to find invisible,or dark, matter in the outer fring­es of our galaxy. Long postulatedto make up a significant chunk ofour universe, dark matter may bepartly made of massive, celes-tial objects in the halos ofgalaxies. The astronomers spentsix years scanning a large patchof sky and sensed something, butthey weren't sure if they were re­ally seeing dark matter or a differ­ent class of nearby objects gettingin the way.

Now, NASA's Spitzer SpaceTelescope has set its infrared eyeson this mystery matter and veri­fied that at least one of 17 invis­ible objects observed years agolies within the body of our MilkyWay galaxy, thereby supportingthe latter hypothesis. More obser­vations are needed to draw defini­tive conclusions; nonetheless, thefindings illustrate the power ofSpitzer to finally put together thepieces of this decade- old puzzle.

"Historically, searches for un­seen matter have been part ofthe justificationfor Spitzer," saidDr. Michael Werner,· the. Spitzerproject scientist. at NASA's JetPropulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,Calif., and an investigator for thenew research. "We are very excit­ed about these initial results."

Matter as we know it doesn'tadd up to all the matter in the uni­verse. At least 10 times more un­seen, or dark, matter exists thanknown matter. Most dark matteris exotic, made up of somethingother than everyday atoms. Butthe rest of it may take the formof celestial objects that are toofaint to see because they're verycool. These objects, referred to as"massive compact halo objects,"or "machos," are thought to belurking in the far reaches, or ha­los, of galaxies. They might in­clude black holes and failed starscalled brown dwarfs.

Beginning in 1992, Dr. CharlesAlcock, who was then at the Law­rence Livermore National Labo­ratory, Calif., and is now at of theUniversity of Pennsylvania, Phil-

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7

ments here at Caltech and already has re­sults that support her ideas."

"As in a game of chess, through actionsimulation one can anticipate various out­comes before making a definite move,"adds Tones. "Finding evidence in supportof this geometric stage, where actions aresimulated before actually being executed,would be a first step toward understandinghow new motor skills may be acquired allthe time."

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Courtesy of vis.caltech.edu

Research in Richard Andersen's lah will study learning and adaptation in the brainof non-human primates.

makes sense as a brain solution for learn­ing goal-oriented behaviors. Thus her cur­rent research in Andersen's lab focuses onthe monitoring of learning and adaptationas they evolve in the non-human primate,in a part of the brain known as the posteriorparietal area.

"Dr. Tones is a truly remarkable scien­tist," says Andersen. "As a graduate stu­dent at UCSD she developed a completelynovel geometric theory of motor control.She is now testing her theory with experi-

learns to perform them is a different sto-ry. In life we are faced with theneed to new motions all the time.For instance, the familiar and simple taskof opening the door to our home requires anew motion if we are carrying a tall stackof books that blocks our view ofthe door'slock. In that case, the old strategy thatwould elicit an automatic movement withan exact duration would fail us under thenew circumstances.

Torres's approach ignores timing, pro­posing that during learning, the spatial andthe temporal components of the motion canbe separated. In her view, the brain firstdetermines a path that, in the case of armmovements, leads the hand along the mostoptimal direction to solve the task geomet­rically in a given context.

This means the brain takes into consid­eration the relationships of other objects tothe goal (the telephone in front of the waterglass) and the amount of physical space thearm will have to work in. This geometricpath is special in that it can be traversedwith different timing and still be the samepath.

For instance, the straight line betweentwo points in space creates a path that is theshortest distance joining them. This path isunique in that no other path qualifies asthe shortest one between these two points.Thus, no matter how one travels along it,fast, slow, or slowing down and speedingup, it is still the shortest path.

Only later, says Tones, does the brainlearn how to adjust the timing to best tra­verse the path. This is analogous to the wayin which a dancer learns the choreographyof a particular dance, or a musician learnsto perform a piece. First, they master themotion that gives the desired outcome andthen they adjust the timing of this motionto bring the movement to perfection. Even­tually, they become so proficient at it thatthey can put emotion into it, thus reachinga new level of performance.

More recently, behavioral data collectedin the lab of Caltech's Richard Andersen,the James G. Boswell Professor of Neuro­science, lends support to Tones's theory.The data shows how nonhuman primateslearn to avoid obstacles. Indeed there is aclear separation between learning or form­ing a geometric solution to a particular ob­ject and that solution becoming automatic.

Learning consists of forming a geomet­ric strategy, the best path to use in spacewith respect to a particular set of goals. Itbecomes an automatic movement only lat­er, when the best time profile is uncoveredthat best traverses that particular path.

Tones says that without the electro­physiological data from the brain, it's hardto confirm whether this theoretical idea

MARK WHEEl,ER

Calif. - We give littlethought to reaching for an object. Shouldsomething be in the way, we simply useour arm to go over or around whatever it isto grab whatever we want.

If you think about it, says Elizabeth Tor­res, a postdoctoral scholar in biology at theCalifornia Institute of Technology, it's a re­markable talent. The simple act of reachingand grasping involves a cascade of rapid­fire events.

First, one of our senses, vision, eyeballsthe object's location and distance. Next,the brain determines what "degrees of free­dom" of the limb are needed to grab it-­what angle of the elbow, what rotation ofthe shoulder, how far to turn the wrist andbend the fingers. Finally comes the deter­mination of the appropriate speed for ex­tending the arm, then stopping precisely atthe object's location.

But what's long puzzled neuroscientistslike Tones is how the brain translates twodifferent "languages" into action: the sen­sory cues that come from our vision sys­tem--which feeds the brain informationabout the location, orientation and shape ofthe object of desire--and the motor execu­tion, the movement of bone and tissue thatactually grabs it.

The answer? Geometry, suggests Tones.A transitional, geometric stage betweensensory perception and motor actions, inwhich the brain simulates a task such asgrasping an object without actually mov­ing the ann, Her research, which providesfurther insights into the marvelously com­plicated workings of the brain, has beenpublished in the May issue of the Journalof Applied Physiology and was selected asa "Highlighted Topic" by the journal.

The conventional wisdom for solvingsuch goal-directed behavior as reachingand grasping has relied on the assumptionthat the brain has exquisite timing, know­ing exactly how long any movement willtake before it initiates it. Reaching for aglass of water a foot away takes a certainamount of time at an appropriate speed, aspeed different from (way slower than) thespeed needed to rescue a glass that's aboutto tip over,

That assumption about timing came fromprior biological motor-control studies andmade sense, says Tones, because the datahas always come from experiments thatuse very simple, straightforward reachingmovements, In humans, such simple move­ments are mastered at about the age of sev­en months. Indeed, such motions becomeso automatic after a while that the timingfor each repetition of the same movementis consistent down to the millisecond,

However, the way in which more com­plex movements evolve as the system

Courtesy of vis.caltech.edu

Dr. Elizabeth Torres developed a theory of motor control as a graduate student andcontinues her study of movent and the brain here at Caltech.

in thiseffects,physically in thethey should be.reality, we're

" said DeRose.the future,

ning to release the fpCltllrp

"The InCl'edibles" in 2004 and"Cars" in 2005. Utilizing math­ematics and computer program­ming in innovative and excitingways, Pixar looks ahead to abright, successful future in theentertainment industry.

Pixar was established as anindependent company in 1986when it was bought from Lu­casfilm by Steve Jobs. It re­leased its first short, Luxo, Jr.in that year. Luxo went on towin an Academy Award.

Toy Story, Pixar's first fulllength film, was released in1995. It was also the first filmanimated completely by com­puter and became the highestgrossing film of the year. Pixaralso had its IPO in 1995.

In total, Pixar employeeshave been awarded sixteenAcademy Awards®. Pixar hasalso won two Gold Clios forComputer Animation for theGummi Savers commercialtitled "Conga," 1993 and in1994 farthe Listerine commer­cial titled "Arrows."

on the surface.handle thedoes not appear everysuch as a snowstorm which

occur one scenegenerate the

part of the model used to

particular, a method calledsubdivision surfaces is utilizedin order to smooth out roughfacets which appear in the

This method uses linearinterpolation to split a facet andthen calculates split averagesin order to determine wherethe rest of the points should go.Square matrices then determinehow the surfaces will interact.

this subdivision is taken to athe surface would even­appear smooth.

articulation, shadingfurther refines the charactersby painting their physical im­ages. Set Dressing also createsdetails for the background lo­cations of the film.

"Then comes layout, whenthe film really starts to cometogether," DeRose said. Dur-

this step, the shots are puttogether and the film is handedoff to the animators. The ani­mators, who DeRose calls "theactors of the process" deter­mine the time evolution of thevirtual strings which control thecharacters, determining theirprimary motion, such as theirstride and face expressions.

Secondary motion, such asthat of cloth or fur, is left forthe simulators. In order to cre­ate such graphics as fur, simu­lators often define vector fields

audience member gets to checkfirst full length film, Toy Story.

lThe California TechCaltech 40-58

Pasadena, CA 91125

a quotation about the power ofearthquakes to create, as well asdestroy; the movements of tec­tonic plates over the earth's sur­face cause mountain ranges torise in some regions where theearth is pushed together and cre­ate "sink" lakes in places whereland is pulled apart. New featuresare shaped with the destruction ofold ones; so that, though earth­quakes are a very present dangerfor residents of California, their

cannot necessarily be con-

Though not a geologist by train­ing, she proposed the project her­self and was granted the funds todo it; she spent a year travelingthe California coast, tracing fault

and mapping them out forbenefit of California residents.

says she was inspired tocany out the project at her firstpublic lecture about earthquakes.When someone asked her whereexactly in California the faults shewas discussing were located, sherealized that, though she knew thegeneral layout of fault lines nearthe California coast and knew thearea quite well, she was not ableto see exactly how the two mapsof California--that showing itsfaults and that showing its citiesand streets--overlapped.

The project was therefore an at­tempt to reconcile the two viewsof California into one coherentmap, on which fault lines wouldbe shown, relative to their loca­tion near features (like roads andbuildings) more recognizable tothe non-scientific audience. Hughshowed pictures of sites she vis­ited as part of her survey and evenshowed pictures of the San An­dreas fault taken from a commer­cial airline jet and mentioned that,if one knows what to look for, onecan quite a kick out of tracingthe of the fault when flyingalong the California coast.

Dr. ended her talk with

ColumnS

neil,ghborhc)ocl--c)r perhaps a ridgethose in which many

near Los Angelesare may a fault-line where have oc-curred, causing one tectonic plateto overlap or fold under anotherand thus creating these geologicalfeatures,

The most memorable part ofthe evening was Dr. Hugh's useof an analogy of the San Gabrielfault zone to a bulldozer run­ning over a hedgehog to explainthe dynamics of the zone, Thereis an area along the fault wherethree tectonic plates meet, caus­ing the smallest middle plate to besqueezed between the other two.This causes it to be thrust out,away form the others.

Dr, Hugh likened the situationto a hedgehog being run over bya bulldozer: the hedgehog wouldbe squished and bits would beprojected outward, parallel to theplane of the squishing. The il­lustration this idea was met withsome sympathetic groans (in fa­vor of the hedgehog) from the au­dience, but overall, the image waseffective; and likely one that mostof the audience members will not

Hugh also explained herown work in mapping out thefault lines in California for theUnites States Geological Survey.

D. Karla/The California Tech

DeRosa uses the example of Woody's hand in explaining how Pixaruses touch sensors to render physical models.