prefrosh nerdiness questionedcaltechcampuspubs.library.caltech.edu/1909/1/2004... · the...
TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 26,2004
described them as "completelyuntalkative." He relates how,"For once I had to start conversations-usually I am pretty shy."When later asked about this atSaturday's Steele House pizzaluncheon, prefrosh Daniel Remenak of El Dorado, Californiaresponded only with, "No comment."
The initial tacitness of theprefrosh could probably be explained by being in a totally newplace. "Bus Runners," however,helped the prefrosh find theirhosts' rooms once they arrivedon campus. Soon enough, largeflocks of prefrosh began to dominate the landscape of Caltech.
Upon arrival, each prefroshreceived a humorous t-shirt portraying Caltech as "The World'sBest Playground for Math, Science and Engineering." In addition, the prefrosh were givenpages of information detailingall the events going on aroundcampus from a casino nightin Fleming to a dessert socialand screening of Jaws by Page.Lloyd, Fleming and Blacker puton athletic events from Capturethe Flag to Basketball to Ultimate Frisbee. Ruddock createda miniature golf course whileRicketts staged a rock concert.On Saturday, Avery held a barbeque for the whole campuscommunity with stellar performances from the a capellagroups Out of Context and FluidDynamics.
Flyers papered the walls andwalkways proclaiming all sortsof other things to see and do.Some represented groups like
By ROYAL REINECKE
Continued on Page 2, Column 1
This year's Prefrosh Weekend brought beautiful weatheras well as a large infiltration ofimpressionable young admittedstudents to Caltech for the daysof April 22 through 24. Onceagain, familiar phrases like theinfamous "They're all fine houses" could be heard resonatingacross the campus.
The large influx of prefroshbecame apparent by Thursdaynight when all of a sudden techers could no longer recognizeevery face they encountered.However, dangling nametagsand packets of informationquickly gave away the identityof the prefrosh.
Many Caltech students helpedcontribute to the success of theweekend by helping out at theairport and on campus. Sophomore Dima Kamalov, a planetary science major acted as an"Airport Runner," greeting prospective students as they got offtheir planes. Knowing that hewould be providing a first impression of a Caltech student,Dima prepared by not sleepingfor forty-eight hours in advance."I thought that would be reallyexemplary of Caltech life," heexplains.
Meeting prefrosh at the airport also allowed Dima to makean initial analysis of the admitted students. He noted that they"leave a bit to be desired in thenerdiness department," but atthe same time this year's prefrosh represent quite a diversemix of talents and experiences.
Of the wide-eyed youngstersarriving at the airport, Dima also
y, Prefrosh Nerdiness Questioned
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
n
D, KOrla/The California Tech
Dr.. Daniel Kevles, a former Caltech humanities professor, speaks about the moral decisions of scientists who work on the development of weapons.
Continued on Page 8, Column 4
eight weeks, with several runthroughs of the entire show inthe end.
The result is a highly entertaining mix of humor, rangingfrom utter silliness to a sort ofbittersweet reflections on life,love and respect. All pieceshave a strong undercurrent of
community into contact withtheater and "have a studentproduced theater project."
This year's production consists of five one-act plays, featuring a grand total of eighteenmembers of the Caltech Community as actors, four directorsand a set/sound/lightning crewof five. Each play was chosenby the director and cast afteran open casting call. According to producer Kayte Fischer'05, everyone who auditionedwas given a part. Each playwas rehearsed independently ofthe others for the last three to
sr
By WILLIAM FONG
On Wednesday, Daniel Kevles of the nuclear age, Kevles posedgave a lecture at the Beckman the dilemma that scientists ofInstitute Auditorium titled "Sci- the 20th· century including Opence, Arms and the State: J.R. penheimer have faced. That is,Oppenheimer and the 20th cen- although a scientist has an' oblitury." Sponsored by the William gation to the state with regards toand Myrtle Harris Distinguished national security, a scientist in theLecture Series in Science and process commits a personal sinCivilization, Kevles discussed the by developing weapons whosemoral dilemma facing scientists sole purpose is to injure soldierswhen working for the state. or civilians.
After receiving a doctorate in In his lecture, Kevles provid-American history from Princeton ed two in-depth examples thatUniversity in 1964, Daniel Kev- display this dilemma: the use ofles began a 40-year association chemical warfare in World War Iwith Caltech. While he is a Pro- and the development of the nuclefessor Emeritus in the Humanities ar bomb in World War II.and Social Sciences department The subject of chemical warat Caltech, Kevles is. currently fare was first mentioned at thea member of the faculty at Yale Hague Convention of1899. ThereUniversity. was a declaration to ban the use
Beginning his talk by men- of projectile devices to releasetioning that this year would have chemicals. The ban was passedmarked the 100th birthday of J. to protect civilians and womenRobert Oppenheimer, the father and children, not as a precaution
Continued on Page 8, Column 1
By JENNY IOFINOVA
The Caltech One-Act Theaterpresented their repertoire of fiveone-act plays on Friday night inthe amphitheater behind Sherman-Fairchild library. Therewill be a repeat performance at7:30 on Monday, April 26.
The One-Act theater, an innovation in the cultural life atCaltech, is the brainchild ofKayte Fischer '05, Ryan Olf'05 and Kim Popendorf '06.According to Fischer, the goalof the project was to bring alarger proportion of the Caltech
Artus Research LeadsTo Ethical Diletutnas
Courtesy of C. Saldana
A prefrosh putts up a ramp during Ruddock Greens, one of the many events put on by the houses forthe prefrosh this past weekend during Caltech's annual open house for prospective students.
Patel's Original Play Helps MakeOne Act Theater Enjoyable Night
VOLUME CV, NUMBER 24
Courtesy of jpl.nasa.gov
Charles Elachi is the Director and Vice President of JPL as well as a professor in both electrical engineering and planetary science at Caltech. He will give a Watson Lecture this Wednesday.
By MARK WHEELER
APRIL 26, 2004
lSSlons
tion with two orbiters (Odysseyand Mars Global Surveyor). Atthe same time, Stardust and Genesis are collecting samples from acomet's coma and the solar windfor return back to Earth (Genesis,with its solar wind sample, landsSeptember 8; Stardust returns itscomet sample in January 2006),while Cassini will start its exploration of the Saturnian system asit goes into orbit around Saturn onJune 30.
Elachi was born in 1947. He received a B.S. from the Universityof Grenoble, France and a Diplome Ingenieur from Grenoble'sPolytechnic Institute in 1968. Hethen received an M.S. and Ph.D.from Caltech in 1969 and 1971,respectively. He has since earnedan MBA and an additionals M.S.
Elachi's lecture will take placeat 8 p.m. in Beckman Auditorium, near Michigan Avenuesouth of Del Mar Boulevard, onCaltech's campus in Pasadena.Seating is available on a free, noticket-required, first-come, firstserved basis. Caltech has offeredthe Watson Lecture Series since1922, when it was conceived bythe late Caltech physicist EarnestWatson as a way to explain science to the local community.
Elachi to Lecture OnRecentJPL
PASADENA, Calif. -- It's beena busy year for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with a numberof recent missions serving as thefirst salvos of a bold space science and exploration programin the coming years. Two goals,notes Charles Elachi, JPL's director and vice president and professor of electrical engineering andplanetary science at the California Institute of Technology (JPLis a NASA facility managed byCaltech), are to explore the universe and search for life in it. OnWednesday, April 28, Elachi willdiscuss the numerous missionsthat will spread throughout thesolar system over the next decadein his talk, "Challenges and Excitement of Space Exploration,"the last of the 2003-2004 Earnest C. Watson Lecture Series atCaltech.
In the 12-month period (summer of 2003 to summer of 2004),he notes, the most advanced spaceinfrared telescope (the SpitzerSpace Telescope) started its mission of exploring the universe inthe infrared, while the GalaxyEvolution Explorer (GALEX) ismapping the sky in the ultraviolet. Two rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) continue their in situexploration of Mars in coordina-
NEWSTHE CALIFORNIA TECH
Continued/rom Page 1, Column 5
Prefrosh Visit Classes,Enjoy Special Activities
the Caltech Christian Fellowship. Other flyers drew uponthe prankster spirit of Caltech.For example, advertisements forthe Caltech Chthulu Fellowshipproclaimed, "When He awakens, His faithful servants will beeaten last. Wouldn't you like tobe eaten last?"
On Friday, many prefroshchecked out the classes, packingthe lecture halls with a turnoutunseen since the first week ofthe term. Freshman Math andPhysics proved especially popular classes to visit. A couple ambitious prefrosh were eVen spotted taking notes on the materialbeing covered.
The club fair also proved popular during lunchtime on Fridaywith the Meat Club offering freesamples of goat and lamb roasted right before the prefrosh 'seyes. On the other side of thespectrum, vegetarian club managed a strong showing as well.
Just about every prefroshmentioned some experience heor she had never engaged in before coming here-from ballroomdancing in Avery to tie-dying inDabney House. Perhaps on herway to getting some preparationfor the Caltech sleep schedule,Krystin Fong of Sacramento,California eagerly admitted witha grin how she "tried coffee forthe first time" during PrefroshWeekend.
Another prefrosh, MollyDavis of Magalia, Californiaexplained, "Everything aboutCaltech says it is crazy and psycho, so I thought, 'maybe I'll fitin here.' Molly went on to saythat her Prefrosh Weekend Experience showed her that, "It[Caltech] is not a school of 900complete and total nerds sittingin their rooms studying all thetime." (Well. .. at least not on
Prefrosh Weekend!)Meanwhile, techers developed
their own views of the prospective frosh. At Saturday's lunch,Freshman Civil Engineeringmajor Kristen Ward dubiouslyremarked, "I don't know, but Iwas sitting over there eating pizza and they [the prefrosh] werecracking delta-epsilon jokes."
When asked his opinion onthe prospective members ofthe class of 2008, Junior JaredUpdike definitively replied,"They're all fine prefroshes."Jared, a computer science major, took his prefrosh to a CSlecture and afterwards broughthim to talk with the professor ofthe class.
The California TechCaltech 40-58, Pasadena, CA 91125
editorial desk: (626) 395-6153advertisiug desk: (626) 395-6154
editorial e-mail: [email protected]
VOLUME CV, NUMBER 24
Tammy Yee Wing Ma Vi Tuong TranManaging Editor Business Manager
Matthew H Walker CirculationNews Director Natalia Deligne
TearsheetsTim Tirrell
The Tech is published weekly except duringvacation and examination periods by the Associated Students of the California Instituteof Technology, Inc. The opinions expressedherein are strictly those of the authors andadvertisers.
Letters and submissions are welcome; email submissions to [email protected] asplain-text attachments, including the author'sname, by Friday of the week beforepublication. Sorry the Tech does not accept- .anonymous contributions. The editors reserve theright to edit and abridge all submissions forany reason. All written work remains propertyof its author.
The advertising deadline is five p.m. Friday;alladvertising 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 [email protected]. For subscription information,please send mail to "Subscriptions."
Week of the Child Honored WithSpeech by Tufts Childhood Expert
D. Korta/The California Tech
Dr. David Elkind speaks about the increasing stressfulness of childhood. Elkind is a professor at TuftsUniversity in ~Child Development. He has written several books on childhood.
THE CALIFORNIA TECH COMMENTARY APRIL 26,2004 3
Week in Sports: Track Fi~ldSetsSchool Records, MensBaseball kes a Tough Lost, Teams Wrap Up with SCIACS
This Week in Caltech AthleticsApr. 19: Men's Golf, SCIAC
18-Hole Tournament, 12:30 PMApr. 21: Women's Water Polo
at Cal Lutheran, 5:00 PMApr. 22: Men's Golf, SCIAC
18-Hole Tournament, 12:30 PMApr. 23: Men's Baseball at La
Verne, 3:00 PMApr. 24-25: Women's Water
Polo at SCIAC Championships,All Day
Bold indicates HOME gameCaltech 6OCCIDENTAL. 13
Women's Waterpolo
Caltech lPOMONA-PITZER. 12
Caltech 3STMARY'S 5
ues to close inon a first teamAll-SCIACselection. Theteam competesthis week at18-hole conference tournaments Monday at Red HillCountry Cluband Thursdayat Brookside.
Women'sWater Polo
(5-16)Head Coach:Calla Allison
The Women's WaterPolo team lostthree matchesthis past week,two againstconference ri- courtesy of dOflut.caltech.edu
vals Pomona- Tamara Becher '04 set the school record in the 3000Pitzer and Oc- meter Steeplechase in last week's Track and Fieldcidental, both SCIAC Preliminaries, earning her the Athlete of theof whom are Week distinction.in the CWPA The team will wrap up its seasonTop 10 D3 poll. Senior Jacki Wil- this week with an away match atbur was the best performer for the Cal Lutheran on Wednesday andweek, with totals of three goals, the SCIAC Championships thisnine steals and six ejections weekend.drawn. Sophomore Bekah Easonhad her second hat trick (threegoal performance) and is currently third on the team in scoring.
The Men's Golf team took aclose loss to Chapman Universitythis past week, 345-360. SeniorDavid Hedley lead the team witha 78, three strokes behind the topfinisher for Chapman, and contin-
Men's Baseball
Caltech OCMS 17
Men's Golf
Caltech 345CHAPMAN 360
Men's BaseballHead Coach: John D'Auria
Men's GolfHead Coach: John Suarez
cords fell, including SophomoreJeremy Leibs in the 100 Meter,Sophomore Stuart Ward in 400Meter, Sophomore Gustavo Olmin the 3000 meter Steeplechaseand Senior Ali Hassani in boththe 400 and 200 meters. Thosestudent-athletes who qualified forthe SCIAC Championships willcompete this weekend.
The Men's Baseball team tooka tough loss against ClaremontMudd-Scripps this past Friday,losing 0-17. For the season,Sophomore Tim Boyd has beenthe team's best performer at theplate, with a .409 batting average and leading the team in total hits, slugging percentage andon-base percentage. Junior IsaacGremmer has been the team'sbest pitcher with two wins and 32strikeouts in 43 and 1/3 inningswhile also producing at the platewith a team-leading eight RBI in10 games. The team plays its nextgame this Friday at La Verne.Track & Field
Head Coach: Julie LevesqueThe Caltech Track and Field
team continued to break schoolrecords and watch its athletes improve their places in the SCIACstandings last weekend at the SCIAC Track and Field Preliminaries. In addition to Senior TamaraBecher's Athlete of the Weekperformance, several other Beavers had standout performances.Sophomore Helen Tai broke theschool record in the Women's 100Meter High Hurdles with a timeof 16.31 seconds. 14 Personal re-
Women's TennisSCIAC Championships
Caltech 3LA-VERNE 6
The Women's Tennis team finished its season this past weekendat the SCIAC Championships,losing to La Verne and Cal Lutheran before their third matchwas rained out. Sophomore Jenny Hsaio won both her singlesand· doubles matches against LaVerne in the loss. The team's performance this season representedconsiderable improvement fromlast year's 0-21 record. Congratulations to the whole team!
Caltech OCAL LUTHERAN 5
Women's Tennis (4-13)Head Coach: Mandy Gamble
against Whittier. Overall, the teamfinishes with a 7-11 record, with a4-6 conference record. The teamexpects to return its entire lineupnext season, and also hopes tobring in some talented freshmenthis fall. Congratulations to thewhole team.
Men's TennisSCIAC Championships
Caltech lPOMONA-PITZER. .4
CALTECH. 7Whittier O
Week in Review
Men's Tennis (7-11)Head Coach: Mandy Gamble
Athlete ofthe Week
Caltech OOCCIDENTAL. 6
By MIKE RUPP
April 19, 2004
The Men's Tennis team finishedits season with a 6th place finishat the SCIAC Championships thispast weekend. Sophomore JohnHoward at #4 singles was the topperformer for Caltech at the tournament, winning Caltech's solepoint against Pomona-Pitzer andwinning at singles and doubles
Tamara BecherWomen's Track and Field
The Senior from Croton-onHudson, New York set the schoolrecord in the 3000 meter Steeplechase this past weekend at the SCIAC Preliminaries with a time of12:04.19. Becher's performancecatapulted her to 4th best time inconference this year, heading intothis weekend's conference championships. In addition to the newrecord, Becher also qualified forthe Women's 800 Meter run witha time of 2:24.59. Becher's performance helped earn the CaltechWomen a tie for 5th place at thePreliminaries.
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The Hawaiian Club is offering hula (traditional Hawaiiandance) lessons this term! Classwill be held in Winnett Lounge onSaturdays from 2-4pm until May29 (with the exception of 4/24 and5/1: these classes will be held onSunday, 4/25 and 5/2). The cost is$5/class for Caltech communitymembers; $12/class for all others.
For more information, seeour club website at http://www.ugcs/~lilinoe or email us atmaruchan@its.
The Mary A. Earl McKinneyPrize is awarded each year forexcellence in writing. Only fulltime students officially registeredat Caltech as undergraduates areeligible to enter the competition.This year, prizes will be givenin three categories: poetry, prosefiction, and non-fiction essays.All submissions must be typedand double-spaced. Include youraddress and phone number. Inthe poetry category, entrants maysubmit up to three poems. Submissions of prose fiction should notexceed 12,000 words. Essays maybe ones prepared for a humanitiesclass or any good piece of originalwriting on a topic relevant to thehumanities. The prize in each category will be $500. Eacll studentis entitled to only one entry ineach category. Contestants shouldsubmit hard copies of their work toProfessor Jenijoy La Belle, Division of the Humanities and SocialSciences, 228-77, by no later thanApril 30, 2004. No entries will bereturned. Each category will bejudged by a committee from theLiterature Faculty. Essays will bejudged on the quality of thoughtand the effectiveness of the writing. Winners will be announced inMay, and the names of the winnerswill appear in the commencementprogram. The Committee may divide the award in each category incase of more than one outstandingsubmission. Previous winners inanyone category are not eligiblefor the competition in that category. If you have any questions,contact Prof. La Belle, extension3605, or Barbara Estrada, extension 3609.
The Literature Faculty is pleasedto announce the Annual HallettSmith Competition honoringthe finest essay devoted to Shakespeare. Only full-time, officiallyregistered undergraduates are eligible to enter the competition.
All submissions must be typedand double-spaced and shouldnot exceed 4,000 words. The essay may be one prepared for aliterature class or may be specifically written for this competition.No student can submit more than
Continued on Page 6, Column 3
submit their papers in final form totheir faculty sponsors by Monday,May 10. A faculty committee willjudge the papers and announce itsdecision before the end of the thirdterm. The committee may awardduplicate prizes in case of morethan one outstanding entry.
2. The Morgan Ward Competition --- Open to any Caltech freshman or sophomore. Entries may beindividual or joint. Each student isentitled to three entries; two maybe individual. An entry consistsof a mathematical problem with asolution or significant contributiontoward a solution. The problemmay have any source which shouldbe stated in the entry. The entriesare judged on the basis of the nature of the problem, originality, andelegance of the solution. Indicateany outside references used. Entries from each contestant or groupmust be delivered to 253 Sloan byMay 10. The names of the contestant, or contestants, must be written on the envelope only, not on theentry. The Judging Committee willconsist of 3 undergraduates. Thejudges will select a group of finalists and submit their entries to themathematics faculty who will makethe awards. Prizes of $75 will beawarded for the best entries. Prizesfor individual entries will be limited to one per contestant; no groupmay receive more than one prize.
Caltech Blitz Chess Championship. The Caltech Chess Club willhost its second annual blitz chesschampionship on Friday May 7th,from 8 till 10:30 pm, in the PageHouse Dining Hall. Participationis free to everyone in the Caltechcommunity, and players of all skilllevels are welcome. There will be a$425 guaranteed prize fund: $150,$100, $75, $50, and special prizesfor novices ($30, $20). To participate, please email Patrick Hummel (hummel@its), or arrive 10-15minutes early for the event.
Reuse A Shoe. Get your oldsports shoes back in the gamewith the City ofPasadena. Recycleyour worn-out athletic shoes withNike's Reuse-A-Shoe program.The shoes are ground up to makenew sports surfaces like soccerand football fields and basketballcourts. When dropping off shoesplease follow these simple guidelines:
*Athletic shoes only (any brandwithout metal)
* No Metal (spikes, cleats,eyelets)
* No dress shoes, thongs, san-dals, boots or shoes with lights.
* No wet or muddy shoes* Do not tie shoes together.Look for the Special Blue col-
lection bins with the REUSE ASHOE sign at these locations untilJune 15:
Villa Park Community Center363 East Villa StreetJackie Robinson Park1981 N. Fair Oaks AvenueVictory Park Community Cen-
ter, 2575 Paloma StreetFor more information, or to set
up a collection container at your location please call 626-744-4721 oremail [email protected]
Attention all undergraduatestudents on Financial Aid: Thelast date to request any adjustments of loan to work study, orwork study to loan, for your 200304 financial aid award, is Friday,May 7, 2004. Requests for 200304 changes made after May 7 willnot be considered. Please contactthe Financial Aid Office at ext.6280 if you have any questions.
APRIL 26, 2004
Summer Work Study: Information and applications for 2004Summer Work Study are availablein the Financial Aid Office. Ifyouare interested in Summer WorkStudy, please submit the requiredapplication as soon as possible,but no later than June I, 2004.Your entire financial aid application must be complete by June I,2004 in order to be considered forSummer Work Study. If awarded,the work study funding will beginJuly I, 2004.
The cast ofMTV's Real World- San Diego will be in the AveryDining Han on Monday, April 26at 8 pm. They will talk about someof the real life challenges theyhave faced and are facing and willrun a question/answer/discussionsession with the Caltech studentswho attend. It will be a very neatopportunity to hold an open discussion (with a very visible group)about many non-academic issuesfacing college students today.
The Mathematics Department ispleased to announce two categories of prizes to be offered againthis year to Caltech undergraduatestudents.
1. The E.T. Ben Undergraduate Mathematics Research Prize--- A cash prize of $500 awardedfor the best original mathematicspaper written by a Caltech Junioror Senior. Contestants· must benominated by a faculty memberfamiliar with the work. If the entryis sufficiently worthy, the facultymember will nominate the contestant and act as sponsor. Each student is entitled to only one entry.All contestants nominated must
I HEARD THAT!!GET TO WORK ON
THAT NEXT COMIC!!AND 10 MORE LASHES!
~«C X
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It's too sunny tokill yourself
to stand out despite the presenceof so many talented, experiencedactors.
Nonetheless, what separatesAmerican Beauty from any otherwell-acted drama is Alan Ball'sscript, one of the best screenplays of the decade. The story isso creatively written that the audience is forced to identify withat least half-a-dozen differentcharacters. In addition, the scriptis amazingly witty, as AmericanBeauty is slowly becoming oneof the most quoted movies of the90s. Most importantly, however,American Beauty has more valuable life lessons than any moviein recent memory. Through Lester's bizarre exploits, we begin toappreciate the gravity of beauty inthis world and because of Jane'srelationship with Angela, welearn that there is nothing worsethan being ordinary. Also, everyperson in American Beauty is fardifferent than he/she appears because sometimes, we have to lookcloser to truly understand someone.
American Beauty is one of themost important movies ever madeand the best film of the 1990's because it manages to speak to alldifferent generations. Teenagerscan relate to Jane's intense problems, while every man has feltlike Lester at one time or another. In his very first picture, SamMendes has managed to make amovie for everyone and the endresult is absolutely beautiful.
**** out of ****
AND YOU!!PRETTIER
PICTURES! !
nope
in love with her outlandish nextdoor neighbor, a self-made drugdealer with a controlling, homophobic father. All three storiescome together on a rainy day inone of the most satisfying conclusionsin cinematic history.
Kevin Spacey won a much deserved Best Actor Oscar for histouching portrayal of a brokencynic, because he steals virtually every scene in one of themost memorable performances inmodern cinematic history. Spaceymakes Lester as vulgar, sarcasticand unlikable as possible, yet heis still a hero because the audiencecan identify with his struggles.Bening and the supporting castmore than hold their own as theyeach give searing performancesto complement Spacey's oncein-a-lifetime role. The young actors, including Thora Birch, WesBentley and Mena Suvari arerevelations because they manage
vWW. - n
Even if you've seen it before, it's worth watching American Beautyagain for all its beautiful acting and life lessons.
The hard work?
-------II II 11 ~that's not funny!
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4 THE CALIFORNIA TECH COMMENTARY
Look Closer at an American M~ste~pie,ceBy HARRISON STEIN
"It's hard to be angry whenthere's so much beauty in theworld."
--Lester Burnham
A genuinely realistic film thataccurately depicts everyday lifecomes along once or twice a decade. People go to the movies forall different reasons but very fewexpect to learn valuable lessons,and as a result, films like the classic American Beauty are simplyunforgettable. Sam Mendes'sgroundbreaking 1999 debut contains some of the best acting youwill ever see, including an unprecedented performance by theunmatched Kevin Spacey, yet themovie's greatest strength is itsability to create a vivid depictionof the pitfalls of seemingly ordinary lives.
Spacey plays Lester Burnham,a burned-out, middle-aged malcontent with a dead-end job whosuffers a mid-life crisis when herecognizes the lack of purpose inhis piddling life. His wife Carolyn(Annette Bening in an Oscar worthy role) is a tool of upper-classsociety willing to sacrifice herown morals in order to climb thesocial ladder, while daughter Jane(Thora Birch) is the epitome ofteenage angst. From the outside,it appears that this wealthy suburban family is living the Americandream, but on a closer look, theirlife is a complete charade.
Lester finds an escape from hismonotonous existence through adisturbingly lustful yearning forhis daughter's high school friend,Angela, while Carolyn demonstrates her newfound independence by starting a wild affairwith a conceited real estate mogul. In the meantime, Jane falls
THE CALIFORNIA TECH COMMENTARY APRIL26,2004 5
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Meeting adjourned 1:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted,Corinna ZygourakisASCIT Secretary
TUTOR
Now Hiring:Student needed to manage anmarket University Tutorbranchat Cal Tech. Excellent pay.
ASCIT formal will be held onSaturday, May 29, at the MOCA(L.A. 's Museum of Contemporary Art). Tickets will go on saleshortly.
Your
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Pacific K(~pJrol::tuct]lVeServices
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Upcoming Events:19. Mark your calendars! The
encouraging undergraduate student TA's to utilize the graduatestudent-run Caltech Project forEffective Teaching.
8. Corinna notes that the Alumni Association has improved itsalumni online directory to includealumni careers, areas of interest,etc. This database, which promises to be very helpful in job searchand networking, should be madeavailable to undergraduate students in the near future.
9. Kim mentions new IHC decision that students in Blacker,Ricketts, and Dabney may pickcards in more than one house, butobviously cannot pick rooms inmore than one house.
10. Kim notes that Avery hasworked to improve its Constitution, which will be ratified ata later date. In addition, Kimmentions the Avery 2nd Internal Lottery, which was actuallyeliminated a day after the ASCITmeeting.
11. Reporting back from a recent CUE meeting, Jenny Fishernotes that Chem 3a will now beoffered in separate morning andafternoon sections (as opposed tothe one-day sections in which it isnow offered).
12. Jenny announces the ARCCommittee Representatives-atLarge Liz Felnagle and MengMeng Fu and ARC SecretaryWendy Xu.
13. Kelly Lin has sent out clubletters to most clubs (elucidatingreasons for the amount of fundingthey received). The rest of the letters should be send out by the endof the week
ASCIT MinutesApri121,2004
Introduction:1. Call to Order, 12:06 PM
ASCIT Prepares Survey on Avery Issue, TakesSteps to Improve Communication With GSC
New/Open Positions:2. Interviews for MHF and
CRC committee representativeswill be held on April 27 and 28at 10 pm.
Present: Ann Bendfeldt, RyanFarmer, Jenny Fisher, Shaun Lee,Kelly Lin, Galen Loram, KimPopendorf, Corinna Zygourakis
Absent: Claire Walton (class)Guests: Jeff Cox, Lydia Ng,
Mark Polinkovsky, Ryan Samson,Candace Seu
Other Business:3. Kim Popendorf discusses
preparation of survey on the Avery issue for the entire undergraduate student body. This surveywill go up on the donut websitethis week. Its results are very important and will be presented tothe faculty board on May 10, soplease take the time to participatein it!!
4. Galen Loram asks whetherhe and the BoD as a whole shouldtake a stance on the Avery issue.After some debate, no clear decision is reached.
5. BoD ratifies ASCIT Executive Committee members KimHiscox, Lea Hildebrandt, LibinZhang, Julian Greene, Gunnar Ristroph, Andrea Kung, andAbe Fetterman. Vote: 7-0-0 (approved). Members were chosenfrom respondents to Galen'semail announcement and from themembers of last year's Excomm. Money Requests:BoD agrees with Ryan Farmer's 14. Ryan Samson, Joey Vega,suggestion to charge students a and Jonathan Lee request to take$5 overhead fee for re-purchasing Professor William Goddard out tolost DVDs. Ryan will draft reso- lunch at the Ath. Vote: 5-0-0 (aplution to deal with charging stu- proved).dents for late and lost DVDs. 15. Candace Seu and Mike
6. Corinna Zygourakis reports Wilson request to take Professorback from Saturday meeting of Kayoko Hirata out to lunch at theCAFAC (Caltech Alumni Fund Ath. Vote: 6-0-1 (approved; KellyAdvisory Council), on which abstaining).she serves as the undergraduate 16. Melinda Owens and Vivistudent representative. Corinna ana Gradinaru ask to take Profesmentions ways to facilitate inter- sor Joseph Bogen and his wife outactions with Caltech alums, par- to lunch at the Ath. Vote to apticularly by inviting alums to at- prove lunch, pending approval oftend house dinners over the next MOSH: 6-0-1 (approved, Kellyfew terms. abstaining).
7. Corinna also discusses how 17. On behalf of the Caltechto improve communication with Orienteering Club, Markthe Graduate Student Council Polinkovsky thanks BoD for club(GSC) and suggests a joint meet- funding.ing between the two groups. Pos- 18. Lydia Ng thanks ASCIT forsible areas of interaction include Blacker Interhouse party fundexpanding the DVD library, inte- ing and provides receipts. Galengrating graduate students in the mentions that houses should adStudent Faculty Conference, and vertise ASCIT funding on their
;""",============- party flyers if they advertise GSCfunding.
J. Morgan KousserProf. of History and Social Science
times and places, or in an individual's life, at different life stages,any of these may be most important. All are what anthropologistscall "social constructions." Nonecan be set off as "natural," as opposed to "artificial."
But because of the particulardiscriminatory history ofthe United States, classifications by someof these categories are particularly "suspect," as the U.S. SupremeCourt puts it--especially race andgender. When we observe an objective pattern of unbalanced racial and/or gender ratios, we haveto ask whether some people arebeing excluded against their will,whether, in this instance, they aredeliberately or innocently madeto feel unwelcome in particularhouses. Perhaps members of majority groups make remarks thatthey feel are entirely innocuous oreven just humorous that individuals from other groups interpret asindicating that they are inferior ordifferent--unwanted.
At this point, we simply don'tknow what accounts for the pattern of segregated undergraduatehousing at Caltech, and we don'tknow whether it can be alleviatedby simple consciousness that theimbalance exists, or whether morevigorous action will be necessaryto reintegrate the campus.
Perhaps nothing made it clearthat Caltech is faced with a problem, and not just a condition betterthan the appearance of the "Affirmative Action is Racism" bannerduring the debate. By equatingany action against or even discussion of segregation with affirmative action, the students ignoredthe history of discrimination, thecontinuing effects of past discrimination, and the quite considerable continuation of private andstate-enabled discrimination.
They also associated themselveswith the position pioneered inthe 1960s by Alabama GovernorGeorge C. Wallace, the man whostood symbolically in the schoolhouse door at the University ofAlabama to prevent any actionto enforce the U.S. Constitutionby allowing African-Americanstudents to enter. Many students,and not only those targeted by thesign, might feel uncomfortableliving in the same house with undergraduates so ignorant of historical and current race relationsand so insensitive to the feelingsof others. They might then "voluntarily" segregate themselves.
Is this the sort of social climatethat Caltech should foster?
,Kortal17w CaUjornia Tech
Students hold up at "Affirmative Action is Racism" sign during the StudentHousing Segregation debate on 14.
Letter to the Editor: IsS .. II 1~"egregatlon atura :'Dear Editor,I write to correct some misun
derstandings about your reportof the student housing segregation debate on April lA and tomake some observations aboutthat debate, the issue, and the climate on campus. My only claimsfor a right to speak are that I hadframed an earlier version of thetopic discussed, that I spoke publicly on the occasion, and thatyour reporter misrepresented myposition and my statements.
At the end of the often-illuminating discussion between thetwo pairs of student debaters,Ms. Bilal, the chair of the PublicSpeaking Club, asked if 1 wishedto say anything. I did. I began byremarking that the topic as I'dsuggested it contained no mention of SELF-segregation. (Yourreport mentioned my framing ofthe topic, but not the addition of"self' without my knowledge orapproval.)
Segregation is an objectivefact. White students comprise75% of the residents of RickettsHouse, but qply 36% of those inAvery. There are ten people of apparent Asian descent in Dabney,and five times that many in Avery.Whether this very marked degreeof segregation in Institute-ownedand -operated housing is entirelyvoluntary or not, however, is aconclusion about individual motives on which we currently haveno systematic evidence.
We would not need such evidence if it were true, as the debate team against the proposition,those students who appeared during the debate with a sign statingthat "Affirmative Action is Racism," and some of those studentswho stayed after the debate endedto discuss the subject for anotherhour seemed to assume: that is, ifsegregation were "natural."
As a white who grew up in thesegregated South and who hasspent most of his academic lifestudying and seeking to combatracial discrimination, I find suchan assumption as factually incorrect as it is morally repugnant.
For one thing, the history ofslavery, segregation, and discrimination in the U.S. demonstratesthe importance of law in imposing such regimes. Without comprehensive legal authority, slavescould have just escaped, defendedthemselves legally against potential captors, and recaptured thefull fruits of their own labor. Segregation laws were necessary, astheir proponents well understood,because left to their own devices,people would interact in wayscontrary to theories of white supremacy. Without government-enforced segregation, some individualswould buy houses or rentapartments outside ghettoes; some people wouldcohabit or marry acrosscolor lines; some employers would hire basedon purely economic considerations. Nature abhors strict segregation.
For another thing, humans have many identities. Which is most "natural"? Should houses besegregated by race, skintone, gender, class, religion, political party, sexual preference, linguisticcapability, regional orurban/rural upbringing,country of origin of ancestors, hlajor, musicaltaste, or morning/nighttime proclivity, just toname a few? At different
6 THE CALIFORNIA TECH COMMENTARY APRIL 26,2004
STUDENT TRAVEL
BAMBOO TEA HOUSETea as a way oflife
700 E. Colorado Blvd.Pasadena
Across from Vromans Bookstore(626) 577-0707
Toyota, Cressida,' 89,D.Blue, loaded, snrf,xclnt condit., new tires,156 K, $3495 obo.
Ph(626) 296-8567
I4MMM. TI4E5E ARE INTERESTING RESJLTS.
WE Sl4OUL]) TAKE TI4IS])ATA AN]) TURN IT
INTO A PAPER.
Congratulations to all 2004 Degree Candidates!!
The Bursar s Office will be scheduling your In~PersonExit Interview soon. This process is desi8ned to inform you ofthe statusofyour student account and furnlsh you with loan relatedinformation. This interview will be conducted in our office, which islocated in the Center for Student Services Building, room 120.
To find out more about this procedure please visit our website:www.bursar.caltech.edu/checkout~rad.htm
Our staff is here to make this procedure easy andfriendly.
Business PlansFinancial ModelsMBA, 20 years experienceEmail [email protected] call 310 6413511 x14
lOI CABOI4 night accomm.
From:
$464
Paris $467London $426Madrid $602Fiji $765
Air, hotel & transfers:
Fare is round trip from LAX and prices areper person. Subject to change andavailability. Tax not included. Restrictionsand blackouts apply. Fares are valid forstudents, faculty and youth under 26.
I-IAWAII5 night accomm.From:
$454
Housing.1) Beginning BellydancingSaturdays, 12:45-1:45 PM, be
gins 4/3; Professional Instructor:Leela; Trial class fee: $5 forstudents, $8 for others; Caltechstudents fun term fee: $20 ($2.50per class!). Other Caltech community members fun term fee: $50($6.25 per class!) CLASS SIZEIS LIMITED so RSVP to [email protected]
2) Hip-Hop for Advanced Beginners; Thursdays, 9-10 PM, begins 4/1; Professional Instructor:Collette Sibal; Trial class fee: $5for students, $8 for others; Caltechstudents full term fee: $20 ($2.50per class!). Other Caltech community members fun term fee: $40($5 per class!)
Interested in Applied Math ina broad sense ? What is researchingraduate school ? And wheredoes it lead outside of academia?Join the new student chapter ofSIAM ! (Society for Industrialand Applied Mathematics). Weorganize events to bring togetherundergraduate and graduate students, from all departments, tocome and hear cool talks and vitalcareer advice. Here's a sample ofour activities:
- The "Meetings on Mathematics in Industry" are big, quarterlyevents, where we get top mathematicians to come and talk abouttheir work in the Industry.
- In addition to these quarterlymeetings we organize a weeklystudent seminar with speakersmostly from the ACM, CDS andCS departments. Undergrads arewelcome to participate and present their work. This year severaltalks focused on the IEEE's Top10 algorithms of the 20th century- this friday is on the Fast FourierTransform. Come and join us atnoon in room 200 Guggenheim.Lunch is provided.
Sign up for free student membership to SIAM during the Googleevent, and receive a free SUbscription to 'SIAM News' and 'SIAMReview'. Stay informed on theupcoming chapter activities byjoining our mailing list. For moreinfo and to sign up, visit www.its.caltech.edu/~siam.
Racquetball Challenge Court.Wednesdays, 5:30 - 8 PM, BraunGym. Show up to the Racquetbanclub's challenge court and take onanyone here. We usuany have tworeserved courts, and we play winner stays on. Challenge yourselfand a worthy opponent! Everyoneis welcome and we normally haveall skill levels show up (includingbeginners). And if you don't knowhow to play, look for our nextmonthly club sponsored lesson.You can borrow the necessaryequipment from the front desk.
54 South Raymond Ave
(626) 793.5595
one essay.All contestants must submit
two hard copies of their work toProfessor Jenijoy La Belle, Division ofthe Humanities and SocialSciences, 228-77, no later thanApril 23, 2004.
This year's prize will be $350,though the judging committeemay divide the award in case ofmore than one outstanding submission. For more information,contact Prof. La Belle, extension3605, or Barbara Estrada, extension 3609
The Collegiate InventorsCompetition 2004
Call for EntriesDownload the application pack
et from: www.invent.org/collegiate
To recommend someone for theaward E-mail [email protected] or call 330-849-6887
The Grand Prize Award is$50,000. The Deadline for the2004 competition is June 1,2004.
Dance ClassesAll classes meet in the Braun
Gym multipurpose room. Thereare 8 classes in each series. Nospecial clothing or shoes are required for the beginners' classes.RSVPs required only for thebellydancing class. To be addedto our mailing list, go to https://utils.its.caltech.edu/mailmanllistinfo/troupe-list. All classes areco-sponsored by the GSC andASCIT, with additional fundingfrom Campus Life and Graduate
Humanities and Social Sciences Seminars for this Term:
29 April (Friday) Munro Seminar Carl Hoeffer (Barcelona)."Chance, Time and Causation"
3 May Joshua Greene, PrincetonUniversity. "Cognitive Conflictand Control in Moral Judgment"
7 May (Friday) Munro SeminarMaria Farland (Fordham). "Decomposing City: Walt Whitman'sNew York and the Science ofLifeand Death."
14 May (Friday) Munro Seminar Clementine Oliver,. Caltech/Huntington Fellow. "Where DoPamphlets Come From? Political Writing in Late MedievalEngland"
21 May (Friday) Munro Seminar Justin D'Arms (Ohio State)."Objectivity in Taste and Emotion"
28 May (Friday) HPS SeminarBrian Copenhaver (UCLA)."From Magic to Science: Seeinga Way Out"
Continuedfrom Page 4, Column 5
THE CALIFORNIA TECH NEWS APRIL 26, 2004 7
cisco and Detroit. He also workedas principal-in-charge for largecivil-infrastructure projects, suchas highways, bridges, dams andrailroads.
In 1993, Schwartz was namedpresident and chairman of Sverdrup/Jacobs Civil and he is currently a senior professor of civiland environmental engineeringat Washington University in St.Louis. He has served as president of the Water EnvironmentFederation and was president ofthe American Society of CivilEngineers from 2001 to 2002.Schwartz was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in1997.
At the ceremony, the six recipients will receive an engravedpewter Tiffany bowl and a framedcalligraphy certificate. In addition, their names will be placedon a plaque at the Caltech AlumniHouse alongside the names ofall past recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award.
By ROBERT TINDOL
testing proteins with novel biochemical properties. The systemautomatically determines a stringof amino acids that will fold tomost nearly duplicate the 3-Dshape of a target structure.
Mayo earned his bachelor'sdegree in chemistry at the Pennsylvania State University, and hisdoctorate in chemistry at Caltechin 1987. As a graduate student,he cofounded the company Molecular Simulations, Inc. in 1985,and served as the company's vicepresident for biological sciencesfrom 1989 to 1990. Mayo alsocofounded Xencor in 1997 andserves on its scientific advisoryboard.
Stevenson, a member of theCaltech faculty since 1980, worksin the field of theoretical planetaryscience, employing techniquesfrom fields such as condensedmatter physics and fluid dynamics to better understanding theearth, the other planets, and theirmoons. Much of his research involves the interpretation of datafrom spacecraft such as Galileo,which orbited Jupiter, but he isalso involved in work on the nature and evolution of Earth's deepinterior.
Stevenson earned his doctoratein theoretical physics from Cornell University, and was a member of the UCLA faculty beforejoining Caltech. He is the winner of the Whipple Award and theHess Medal from the AmericanGeophysical Union, and was honored by the late Gene Shoemaker,his wife Caroline, and A. Barriswith the naming of the asteroid5211 Stevenson to commemoratehis work in planetary science.
The new appointments bring to70 the number of living Caltechfaculty who are members of theprestigious Academy. In addition, three current members ofthe Caltech Board of Trustees areAcademy members.
Long considered one of thehighest honors an Americanscientist can hold, the NationalAcademy of Sciences is dedicatedto the "furtherance of science andits use for the general welfare,"according to a statement releasedTuesday. Established by a 1863act of Congress that was signedby President Lincoln, the Academy acts as "an official adviserto the federal government, uponrequest, in any matter of scienceand technology."
in the early 1990s. He served asexecutive vice president for thenew business group beginning
in 1998, guidingnumerous internal start-ups, until his retirementin 2001.
H. GerardSchwartz Jr. hashad a long anddistinguishedcareer with theSverdrup Corporation, whichis now a part ofJacobs Engineering Group, Inc.His work was instrumental in developing and expanding Sverdrupinto a national
leader in construction management. Schwartz's projects included multibillion-dollar water andwastewater-treatment systems forthe cities of San Diego, San Fran-
Four Faculty SelectedTo Join Elite Acadetny
PASADENA-Four members ofthe California Institute of Technology faculty are among the 72new members and 18 foreign associates named to the NationalAcademy of Sciences on April20. The election was announcedduring the 141st annual meetingof the Academy in Washington,D.C.
Caltech's newest members areDonald HeImberger, who is theSmits Family Professor of Geological and Planetary Sciences;Andrew Lange, who is the Marvin L. Goldberger Professor ofPhysics; and Stephen Mayo, aprofessor of biology and chemistry and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute associate investigator. David Stevenson, who is theGeorge Van Osdol Professor ofPlanetary Science and a nativeof New Zealand, was named as aforeign associate.
HeImberger's primary re-search interests are seismic wavepropagation and the inversion ofwaveforms to recover detailed information about earthquake characteristics and Earth structure.He is particularly interested inmapping ultralow velocity zonesat the core-mantle boundary andinner-core structure.
The former director ofCaltech'sSeismological Laboratory, HeImberger has been a member of thefaculty since 1970 and previously was a research associate atMIT and an assistant professor atPrinceton University. In 1997 hebecame the first recipient of theAmerican Geophysical Union'sInge Lehmann Medal.
Lange is a cosmologist whohas pioneered new techniques forstudying the cosmic microwavebackground radiation, a relic ofthe primeval "fireball" that filledthe universe at the time of the BigBang. He has used telescopes deployed on high-altitude balloonsover Antarctica to determine thefundamental geometry and composition of the universe.
A member of the Caltech faculty since 1994, Lange was previously an associate professor atthe University of California atBerkeley. He earned his bachelor's degree at Princeton, and hisdoctorate at Berkeley. He was cowinner of the California Scientistof the Year honor in 2003.
Mayo, a member of the Caltechfaculty since 1992, has workedfor the last several years on a system .for designing, building, and
sal's, the history of radio astronomy and the development of newinstrumentation for radio astronomy. His work has been recognizedwith such awards as the WarnerPrize of the American Astronomical Society and the Gould Prizeof the National Academy of Sciences. Kellermann is a memberof the International AstronomicalUnion, the American Astronomical Society, the National Academy of Sciences and the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Sciences.
The author of the book The Extravagant Universe: ExplodingStars, Dark Energy and the Accelerating Cosmos, Robert Kirshnerhas also written more than 200 research papers about supernovaes,the large-scale distribution of galaxies and the size and shape of theuniverse. After postdoctoral workat Kitt Peak National Observatory and a stint at the Universityof Michigan, Kirshner joined thefaculty at Harvard University,where he is the Clowes Professorof Science and served as chairman of the astronomy departmentfor seven years.
He was also associate directorfor optical and infrared astronomyat the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics from 1997 to2003. Kirshner is a member of theAmerican Academy of Arts andSciences and the National Academy of Sciences and is currentlyserving as president of the American Astronomical Society.
Gerhard Parker earned all threeofhis degrees at Caltech. After hislong residenceat the Institute, he joinedthe Intel Corporation asa member ofthe technicalstaff. In 1977he was namedvice presidentand directorof technologydevelopmentand in 1988became seniorvice presidentin charge ofmanuf actur - Courtesy of www.actconferences.com
ing, technol- Gerhard Parkerogy develop-ment, purchasing, construction,quality and planning.
III this lat'tEir position, Parkermanaged Intel's worldwide expansion of production capacity
so they can be removed by filtration. If these compounds wereleft untreated, they would causestaining of plumbing fixtures andimpart a bad taste to the water.
Carns is also the chairmanof Carus Publishing Company,which produces educational materials, most notably a researchbased reading and writing program for children in grades Kthrough sixth. The publisher produces a basic reading curriculumthat is used extensively in California.
Narendra (Naren) Gupta is theco-founder of Integrated SystemsInc., which later merged with
another company to formWind River,the dominantmaker of software for suchdiverse computing devicesas airplane radar systems andDVD players.He now servesas vice chair-
Courtesy ofwww.windriver.com man of thatNarendra Gupta company.
Gupta alsoserves on the boards of a number of companies, including theDigital Link Corporation, a datacommunications and wide-areanetworking equipment manufacturer, TIBCO Software, QuickEagle Networks and the Ameri
ia Fo ndation. Gupta waselected a fellowof the Instituteof Electricaland ElectronicEngineers inNovember1991.
A radio astronomer,Kenneth Kellermann is asenior scientistat the NationalRadio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO),
Courtesy of www.iwu.edu a research pro-M. Blouke Carus fessor at the
University of Virginia and anoutside scientific member of theMax Planck Society. He has beenaffiliated with NRAO since 1965,serving for a period of time as theobservatory's assistant director.Kellermann's research interestsinclude radio galaxies and qua-
By MARK WHEELER
Distinguished Alumni RepresentEminence in Industry, Academia
Courtesy of www.asce.org
H. Gerard Schwartz, one of this year's distinguished alumni and President of the American Society ofCivil Engineers, speaks at a conference for The Infrastructure Security Partnership.
PASADENA, Calif. -- One wayto measure how well educationalinstitutions educate their studentsis to note what kind of mark theiralumni make in the real world.Each year since 1966 the Alumni Association of the California Institute of Technology hasacknowledged those graduateswho have attained extraordinaryachievement in business, theircommunity and in their professional1ife.
This year, six graduates--leadersin science, industry and academia,have been selected to receivethe Institute'sDistinguishedAlumni Award.The awards willbe presentedat a ceremonyon Saturday,May 15, during Caltech'sannual AlumniReunion Weekend and Seminar Day.
The Distinguished Alumniare M. BloukeCarus (BS '49, electrical engineering), Narendra (Naren) Gupta (MS '70, aeronautics), KennethKellermann (PhD '63, physics),Robert Kirshner (PhD '75, astronomy), Gerhard Parker (BA'65, engineering, MS '66, electri-cal engineering, PhD '7 .cal engineering)and H. GerardSchwartz Jr.(PhD '66, civilengineering ).
M. BloukeCarns is thechairman ofCarus Corporation, a holdingcompany thatowns CarusChemical Company. Based inPeru, Illinois,Carns Chemicalis a provider ofchemicals andservices for water and wastewater treatment, air purification andother environmental applications.The company is also one of theworld's largest manufacturers ofpotassium permanganate, whichis used to "oxidize" soluble manganese and iron in drinking water
8 THE CALIFORNIA TECH NEWS APRIL 26, 2004
D. Karla/The California Tech
Dr. Kevles pauses during his lecture last Wednesday. He wrote a book several years ago about a science ethics issue that involved a researcher in one of President Baltimore's former labs.
Chemical, uclear War ProvidedDifficult Challenges for Scientists
director and feature an identicalcast of three. The first featuresa narrator that walks the audience through several versionsof a hello at some sort of reception or cocktail party. Thesecond has a theater professorexplaining the drama behind aman stopping another man fromjumping on the roof. While theplays are superficially similar,a nearly-identical presentationof both of them does not giveproper attention to the subtleties that distinguish one formthe other. However, both ofthese plays were the best partof the one-act performance.
Finally, the fourth productionwas the well-known Variationson the Death of Trotsky, alsoby David Ives. The Variationswere never my favorite piece,but this production showedthe play at its best. It ran crispand quick and was over beforeit was boring, just like a goodproduction should behave.
In short, all the productionswere pretty darn good. Whilesome plays appeared morepolished than others, all wereworth seeing. As an old stagemanager, I can only find onemajor point of criticism to theactors: a few need to make surethey stay in character onstage,especially when they are notspeaking. Considering no onewho auditioned was turneddown for a part, however, theacting was surprisingly good.
If the one-acts will be repeated next year, which is unclear, Ido suggest that is that more carebe taken in selecting the plays.While all were excellent, allthree final plays had the samestructure, namely variations ona simple chain of events. Butperhaps this criticism is too serious, after all, the point of theOne-Acts, in my opinion, is thatthey are really, really fun. Andthey are. So if you haven't seenit yet, find some time Mondayevening. It is well worth thetime.
uperb ShowsDeliver
Courtesy of donut.caltech.edu
Kayte Fischer, left, helped organize One Act Theater, and RaajenPatel wrote and directed one of the plays.
humor and as the show progresses, the humor becomes abigger and bigger part of theoverall piece.
The first piece, Poor LittleLambs by Stephen Gregg, is adidactic comedy about a senilegrandmother whose grandkidsplay a cruel game on her at asoftball game. As an opener,this play is not as flashy as itcould have been; in addition,it is unmerciful to latecomers,requiring the viewer to pay attention from the beginning tounderstand the end. While Iwould not have started off theproduction with such a serious,involved piece, I applaud theactors and director for undertaking this piece at all, as it is adifficult one to perform.
The second play, PictureHearts, written by Caltech'sown Raajen Patel '04, is theonly one labeled as "serious" inthe program. The piece is, indeed, semi-serious, but as a reflection on college life it is quitehumorous, as the audience canidentify with the exaggeratedplights of the characters. Picture Hearts is a concatenationof three related scenes whichmay well be called snapshots ofcollege life. For something actually written by a Techer, thisplay is incredibly good, hell,it's pretty darn good, period.While at first glance the laughsare less sophisticated than thoseevoked by the previous play,just thinking about the materialpresented in Hearts and putting it all together makes theplay seem a lot deeper, with farmore subtle themes than thosecreated by the plot twist at theend of Lambs.
The final three productionsare just humorous. EnglishMade Simple by David Ivesand Playwriting 101: a RooftopLesson by Rich Orloff, the thirdand fifth plays performed, havea remarkably similar structure,which is exaggerated by havingboth plays directed by the same
Continued/rom Page 1, Column 3
The California TechCaltech 40-58
Pasadena, CA 91125
in a land invasion of Japan.Although Oppenheimer and his
colleagues provided the scienceand technology to defend UnitedStates and to protect dem~cracyagainst fascism, they also gavethe politicians in Washington thetools to destroy cities and killcivilians. This moral dilemmawould begin to wear on Oppenheimer after World War II.
After the Russians successfullytested a nuclear device in 1949,the United States pursued the development of a hydrogen bomb.Serving as the chair of nuclearenergy and weapons, Oppenheimer was opposed to the hydrogen bomb. He saw the bomb asa weapon of terror, a weapon ofunlimited power capable of taking out millions of civilians.
Despite wanting to resign fromhis post, Oppenheimer continued as a "good soldier" and followed President Truman's ordersto develop the hydrogen bomb.However, Oppenheimer would beforced from his position in 1953due to political fallout.
Through these two examples,Kevles successfully pointed outthe balance between good andevil: power, esteem, funding, professional ambition and technological power versus the burden ofbeing responsible for the deathsof many people. It is this paradoxthat links together science, armsand the state.
conjunction with aerial attacks. Areporter at the League of Nationscalled chemical warfare "barbarous and inexcusable."
In 1922, the Washington Conference passed a ban on chemical warfare unanimously, but theFrench refused to ratify it, thuskilling the resolution. Anotherattempt at banning chemicalwarfare came in 1925, when theGeneva Protocol called for a banagainst the use of poisonous gases and bacterial agents. However,the protocol was defeated in theU.S. Senate.
Despite public outcry denouncing chemical warfare, a group oflobbyists formed in 1919 that represented the chemical industry.Their platform was that the development of more deadly chemicalagents would serve as a deterrentto war. In one instance, the lobbyists cited that 24% of soldiershit by artillery in WWI were incapacitated compared to only 2%for gas attacks and concluded thatgas was 12 times more humane.
Such ridiculous claims did littleto win over the public. Instead,the perceived detachment ofchemists from the harsh realitiesof chemical warfare led to a negative public image of the chemicalindustry.
While the chemists of WorldWar I fulfilled the social responsibility of science to the state, theylacked the ethics to earn publicapproval. However, the arrivalof lR. Oppenheimer would provide the American public with animage to replace that of AlbertEinstein as the face of scientificgenius. Often referred to as thefather of the nuclear bomb, Oppenheimer . led the ManhattanProject whose goal was to beatthe Germans in the developmentof a nuclear bomb.
Once the Germans were defeated, the purpose of a nuclearbomb seemed unclear. However,Oppenheimer spearheaded a majority opinion that supported theuse of a nuclear device on Japanese civilians in order to save theAmerican lives that would be lost
Continued/rom Page 1, Column 2
against the inhumane nature ofchemical warfare. It would notbe until World War I that this banwould be tested.
One of the most infamous German scientists in modern historyis the father of chemical warfare,Fritz Haber. His early work included the discovery of a mechanism for nitrogen fixation. Thisbreakthrough research earnedHaber a Nobel Prize in 1919.However, Haber would gain notoriety before achieving this pinnacle of scientific success.
The stalemate that had developed between the French andthe Germans as a result of trenchwarfare led to the search of a newtactic. Haber suggested the use ofchlorine gas since the gas had theability to sink into the trenchesand essentially suffocate the opposing troops. Although this violated the spirit of the declarationfrom the Hague Convention, itwas legal on the technicality thatit was released from a cylinder,not a projectile.
First used in Belgium, the chlorine gas was released from 5730cylinders, each filled with 200pounds of chlorine gas. By 1916,poisonous gas was being releasedby explosion, which violated thespirit and the letter of the HagueConvention ban.
In addition to chlorine gas,other gases were used includingmustard gas, arsenic-containinggases and phosgene. Instead ofattacking .~roops, these chemicalswere also used to contaminate areas that were favorable for the opponent. For example, the lifetimeof mustard>gas is long, renderingan area inhabitable for days orweeks.
In World War I, an estimated560,000 casualties resulted fromchemical warfare, not includingthe numerous soldiers afflictedwith chemical-related injuries.
The end ofWorld War I broughtdiscussion about the humanityof chemical warfare. There wasgrowing concern regarding theiruse on civilians and their use in