MAY 19,2003

can Red Cross had a booth sellingemergency essentials such as dif­ferent types of first aid kits, pocketCPR masks and various other emer­gency supplies. The Pasadena FireDepartment had lots of brochureson fire safety, as well as ones onearthquake safety and preventingfalls.

In addition, a variety of homesafety equipment was on display,including an escape ladder, smokedetectors and a fire extinguisher.The Girl Scouts had a display withsafety tips and the Boy Scouts setup a list of survival essentials; a listincluding water, food, matches, afirst aid kit and a pocket knife.

Before the talk, Pasadena FireChief Ernest Mitchell explained

..Ifl-J"'1I<'LI' erts Stress PreparednessPASADENA, CALIFORNIA

Emergency?By MATTHEW WALKER

About 100 area residents were inattendance this past Thursday inBeckman Auditorium, for a pro­gram hosted by the Pasadena Po­lice Foundation that informed themon "Preparing for Emergencies:What Everyone Needs to Know."The program brought together awealth of expertise on emergencypreparedness, drawing from all ar­eas of responders to emergencies,such as police, fire and publichealth.

The evening started out with aseries of booths for people to learnabout different ways to prepare foremergencies. A representative fromthe Pasadena Chapter of the Ameri-

VOLUMECIV, NUMBER 27

D. Karla/The California Tech

New administrative changes have dismantled Residence Life in fa­vor of a newly formed "Campus Life" department.

Res+ LifeMannion toBy KAYTE FISCHER and

RYANOLF

"The Office of Residence Life inStudent Affairs has been elimi­nated," announced Vice Presidentof Student Affairs Margo Marshakto the Caltech community on May13th. The announcement, stimu­lated by imminent budget cuts, out­lined the first and likely most pre­cipitous phase in the broad restruc­turing ofStudent Affairs, which hasbeen in the works since October andthe arrival of Marshak.

The crux of the reorganization istwofold and effective as of lastTuesday. First, Director of Resi­dence Life Kim West and AssistantDirector Sue Friedman have been

laid off, their positions eliminatedalong with the greater ResidenceLife entity. Second, Tom Mannionis in charge of "Campus Life," tak­ing responsibility, in addition tohousing and dining, for RA selec­tion and other residual, non-disci­plinary Residence Life duties. Fur­thermore, the MOSH position hasbeen restored to some of its pre­Residence Life glory, with antici­pated collaboration betweenMannion and Professor Cathy Jurcaon both Campus Life policy andstudent related events.

Smaller but still significantchanges have also occurred. Sev­eral additional people, both insideand outside the former ResidenceLife, were laid off, including sev-

The Caltech Glee Clubs and theCaltech Orchestra held their SpringConcert last Friday in Ramo Audi­torium and yesterday at the Pasa­dena Jewish Temple. The concertfeatured the Sacred Service, a Jew­ish prayer service by Ernest Bloch,as well as other pieces for bothvoice and instrument.

The concert opened with"Cantique de Jean Racine" byGabriel Faure, which featured con­certmaster Isaac See '03. Thissimple choral masterpiece featuredsolemn harmonies, to create the at­mosphere of early church music.The mood then changed abruptlywith "Will ye go, Lassie, go?" and"A Jubilant Song," which featuredthe Caltech Women's Glee Club.

The Caltech Orchestra performed"An Evening Falls" by GordonBinkerd. The piece was a calmingmix of blues and jazz and focusedon a children's poem, written byJames Stephens, about mothersbringing their children home for thenight.

The next piece featured theCaltech Men's Glee Club and RalphWells, the baritone, with "Dream"by Donald Caldwell, who also con­ducted the piece. This piece waswritten during the time of war inIraq and the lyrics are a mixture ofthe phrase "Dona Nobis Pacem,"which means "Give us peace" andportions of Walt Whitman's poem,"Song of the UniversaL" Wells' partfeatured the Whitman poem, whilethe chorus sang portions of both inthe background.

"The Moldau," Bedrich Smetana,with the Caltech Orchestra con­ducted by Allen Gross, is part of a

set of symphonic poems, "MyCountry." The piece is meant to in­voke images of the river Moldau,in Czechoslovakia, flowing throughthe country. The piece opens withthe flutes and clarinets, KirstenWelge, Angela Bowes, HarlanKadish, Craig Countryman andJesse Liptrap, with the melody de­picting the two sources of theMoldau. The melody then portraysthe river as it flows through a for­est, past a festival and the PragueCastle.

The melody, which is occasion­ally very similar to Hatikva, thenational anthem of Israel, was cho­sen by Smetana because of itsworldwide familiarity. The piece, attimes quiet and at times tumultu­ous, closed the first half ofthe per­formance.

After an intermission, the orches­tra, along with both the men's .andwomen's glee clubs performed theSacred Service by Ernest Bloch.The Sacred Service has five parts,which are filled with a solemnmelody. The piece was commis­sioned in 1929 by a synagogue inSan Francisco. In Caltech's inter­pretation, the Cantor was sung byWells, the soloist and the Congre­gation was spng by the unifiedMen's and Women's Glee Clubs.The piece mixes traditional Jewishchants with a "unifying motive"that appears throughout the piece.Sadly, the service was sung in En­glish and not in the Hebrew it waswritten in.

The concert was the culminationof numerous weeks of rehearsal bythe glee clubs and orchestra, an ex­cellent finish to the year.

Continued on Page 2, Column 1

D. Karta/The California TechAcity specialist in emergency preparedness speaks at last Thursday's "Preparing for Emergencies" semi­nar in Beckman, where experts outlined game plans for responding to terrorism.

Tammy Yee Wing Ma Vi Tuong TranManaging Editor Business Manager

m:be qraHfornia m:ecbCaltech 40-58, Pasadena. CA 91125

editorial desk: (626) 395-6153advertising desk: (626) 395-6154

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

The Tech is published weekly except dur­ing vacation and examination periods by theAssociated Students of the California Insti­tute of Technology, Inc. The opinions ex­pressed herein are strictly those of the authorsand advertisers.

Letters and submissions are welcome; e­mail submissions to tech@ugcs.caltech.eduas plain-text attachments, including theauthor's name, by Friday of the week beforepublication. Sorry, the Tech does not acceptanonymous contributions. The editors reservethe right to edit and abridge all submissionsfor any reason. All written work remains prop­erty ofits author.

The advertising deadline is five p.m. Fri­day; all advertising should be submitted elec­tronically or as camera-ready art, but the Techcan also do simple typesetting and arrange­ment. All advertising inquiries sbould be di­rected to the business manager atbusiness@tech.caltech.edu. For subscriptioninfonnation, please send mail to "Subscrip­tions."

Leo C Stein TearsheetsCommentary Editor Tim Tirrell

Kevin Carl Bartz CirculationNews Director Chris Crabbe

VOLUME elV, NUMBER 27

gaged in the collection, selection,and scholarly annotation of TheCollected Papers, an edition of 25planned volumes ofEinstein's writ­ings and correspondence.

The Hebrew University ofJerusa­lem was envisaged by its foundersas a "university of the Jewishpeople." Its foundation stone waslaid in 1918, and its doors openedin 1925. Today, its student body to­tals around 23,000 and its tenuredacademic faculty numbers 1,200.The university is Israel's leadingacademic center for research andpostgraduate study.

The Jewish National & Univer­sity Library is the central library ofthe Hebrew University and the na­tionallibrary of the Jewish peopleand the State of Israel. Founded in1892 as a world center for the pres­ervation of books relating to Jew­ish thought and culture, it assumedthe additional functions of a gen­eral university library in 1920.

Health Center Cen-ter, have been work-ing the 25 years,but duplicate adlmirlistrativeassistants. By combining the twocenters, Student Affairs administra­tors expect greater effectiveness forless money.

It is not yet known specificallywhat kind of budget cut StudentAffairs is going to receive, butMarshak estimates that even in theshadow of this most recent wave ofcutbacks, there is a long way to go.The hope is that with strategicdownsizing and a more efficientallocation of resources, StudentAffairs will be able to meet its bud­getary constraints while retainingits ability to focus on priorities suchas producing better recruiting ma­terials and automating theregistrar's office.

An extensive archival databaseand finding aid will allow for thedirect searching and browsing ofmore than 40,000 records ofEinstein and Einstein-related docu­ments. These concern his scientificand nonscientific writings, his pro­fessional and personal correspon­dence, notebooks, travel diaries,personal documents, and third­party items.

The Web site was developed incollaboration with the InformationTechnology and Photo-Reprogra­phy Departments of the HebrewUniversity's Jewish National &University Library (JNUL), theDavid and Fela Shapell DigitizationProject at the JNUL, and withPrinceton University Press. The ar­chival database will present recordsfor all items that have been editedand annotated by scholars, and thathave appeared since 1987 in TheCollected Papers. These will in­clude some 500 items that were notpart of the original collection, butthat were uncovered during the past25 years.

The eight volumes that are avail­able so far contain Einstein's writ­ings and correspondence from hisyouth to age 40. They include hismajor papers on the theory of spe­

cial relativity, generalrelativity, the quantumtheory of light and matter,as well as a wealth oflesser-known contribu­tions to many aspects ofscience, education, inter­national reconciliation,Zionism, and pacifism.

Einstein's personal pa­pers were bequeathed tothe Hebrew University inhis last will and testamentof 1950. The AlbertEinstein Archives hasbeen housed at the He­brew University's JNULsince 1982.

The Einstein PapersProject is amultidisciplinary researchand editorial team en-

at once in the future."cn:<Inl~es are

the Student Affairs oq~anizatio]ll.

"Over 35 years, I've seen changealmost every year," said StanBorodinsky, a Student Affairs ad­ministrator. The existing StudentAffairs organization is actually thelargest it's ever been and the elimi­nation of Residence Life actuallymakes Student Affairs more like itused to be. The ideas behind thecurrent reorganization aren't new;the visiting committee that sug­gested hiring a full time, non-fac­ulty VP of Student Affairs actuallysuggested many of the currentchanges last year.

Marshak and Mannion declined tocomment on any specific dollaramount savings due to the layoffs,but, as Mannion pointed out, "thereare some clear savings in the elimi­nation of some positions." The

D. KortalThe California Tech

In What Student Affairs Vice President Margo Marshak termed aneffort to be "100% receptive to students," CampusAuxiliary and Busi­ness Services Director Tom Mannion has taken over the reigns of thenew Campus Life department, replacing the defunct Residence Life.

By MARK WHEELER

Courtesy of the World Wide Web

A newly available compilation of AlbertEinstein's work promises to reveal the mys­teries of his life of research.

More than 900 scientific and non­scientific documents of one of themost influential intellects in themodern era, Albert Einstein, willsoon be available online for the fIrsttime.

The Einstein Archives OnlineWeb site, at http://www.alberteinstein.info. will alsobe accompanied by an extensivedatabase of archival information. Itwas launched today during adaylong symposium on his life andwork held at theAmerican Museumof Natural History in New York.

The new Web site is the result ofan ambitious cooperative effort be­tween the Albert Einstein Archivesat the Hebrew University ofJerusa­lem and the Einstein Papers Projectat the California Institute of Tech­nology. It will enable access tosome 3,000 high-quality digitizedimages. Thirty-nine documents willalso be provided in PDF format asthey appear in The Collected Pa­pers ofAlbert Einstein, publishedin German by Princeton UniversityPress, with historical and scientificannotations in English; some of thedocuments are accompanied byEnglish translations.

Einstein900~work

grads. This will therefore be the lastyear of Romberg's tenure asBlackerRA.

In order to promote undergradu­ate self-governance, the disciplin­ary function of the former Resi­dence Life office is being phasedout. Residence Life was originallycreated in 1990 to relieve theMOSH of disciplinary responsibil­ity and to resolve issues and dis­putes between students. But sincethen, the CRC has been created,rendering Residence Life's disci­plinary function redundant.Through cooperation with studentleaders, Marshak and Mannionhope to return disciplinary controlto the CRC and BoC, getting theStudent Affairs out of the studentlaw enforcement business all to­gether.

While no students were directlyinvolved in the reorganization plan­ning process, Marshak pointed outthat student feedback and opinionswere important in her deliberations.Marshak's policy is to consult withstudents regarding policies that af­fect them; however, secrecy wasnecessary in the restructuring pro­ceedings because jobs were on theline. Legally and practically speak­ing, any decisions regarding layoffsneed to be handled with the utmostcare and sensitivity. Along theselines, the Institute provides resumeand job search assistance to thoseemployees who have been ad­versely affected by the restructur­ing.

"This is not the end of thechanges," warns Marshak, "al­though we don't expect so many to

the ideal candidate to, in his ownwords, "help all three sides explainand promote themselves to eachother." Marshak has worked closelywith Mannion since arriving inOctober and believes thatMannion's personalized, student­oriented approach will be welcomeamong undergraduates.

Graduate students, who had noplace within Residence Life, arebeing brought into the Campus Lifefold. Mannion hopes that BlackerRA Fred Romberg, who will as­sume a half-time yet-to-be-defined"supportive interim role" underMannion starting June 2, will beable to aid him in establishing amore cohesive graduate studentcommunity, as well as act as abridge between undergraduates and

1, Column 3

impelled by budgetary constraintsin a frail economy, the ultimatemotivation for the changes was toproduce an organization that couldbetter serve its mission by beingresponsive to the student needs ofthe day. "We're doing everythingwe can to create a culture where stu­dent services personnel are 100%receptive to students," Marshaknoted. Henceforth, "the buck stopsat Tom Mannion."

In confronting current student is­sues, such as morale, Mannion isgoing to have to walk a fine linebetween the various parties in­volved, but he thinks he is up to thejob. And with broad connectionsamong the students, faculty andadministration, Mannion might be

E. Adams/The California Tech

The Center for StUdent Services is extending its hours to acconuno­date students' oft-busy schedules outside lunch hour.

2

Student Affairs ExtendsHours to Include Lunch

By !RAM PARVEEN-BILAL

Assistant Vice President of Stu- done."dent Affairs Sharyn Miller's an- The fact that the offices are opennouncement the week before last does not mean that there will alwaysthat StudentAffairs is extending its be a professional staff member tohours to include the lunch hour help students. But it does mean thatfrom noon to one p.m. met with there will always be support staffoptimism among students happy to help make appointments, depo­that one of the Student-Faculty sition of documents, drop add cardConference's chief recommenda- and so on and so forth.tions culminated in real change. "We are happy to make this

Barbara Green, assistant dean and change and respond to the requestmember of the Workload and Stu- of students," said Green. "Our sup­dent Morale committee at the this port staff will stagger their lunchyear's SFC, communicated that the times and help make this possible."idea had been suggested in the past As far as the student front is con­a number of times but was rarely cerned, Timothy Boyd '04 ap­seriously considered. She further plauded the change. "Since nothingsaid that the committee's survey re- is supposed to be scheduled duringsults showed that "a lot of students lunch," he said, "students are usu­were interested in making use of the ally free. I think having offices openstudent affairs" offices during noon. during this time will greatly ben-

The change affects the offices of efit the students because students doAthletics, Physical Education and not usually have much time duringRecreation, Bursar, Career Devel- regular hours to take care of theiropment Center, Dean of Students, business."Financial Aid, Graduate Studies, Michael Lammers '04 was moreInternational Student Programs, hesitant, though, pointing to theMinority Student Education, Reg- limited likelihood that certain ad­istrar, Residence Life and Master of ministrators would be present. "WeStudent Houses, Undergraduate can't expect Margo to give up herAdmissions, Women's Center and lunch," he said. "Lunch time is onethe Caltech Y. of those critical time periods for a

"Students will have more oppor- person at her level of administra­tunities this way to see us," said tion; she has a lot of meetings dur­Green. "The reason this came into ing that time period. But overall it'sbeing was because classes in the a good thing as long as the individu­day and then sports in the evening als working there are not beingwere quoted as the reason for no abused as a result."time for students to get office work

Sel

THE CALIFORNIA TECH COMMENTARY MAY 19, 2003 3

Student Affairs, Communication,Preservation vs. Morals Student Credibility Loss, ~Men

The Need for Modern Institutions

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By TOM FLETCHER

Adjusting to Changes works is changing. Enron, the InternationalMonetary Fund, ArthurAnderson and count­less other major institutions have come un­der criticism for their lack of transparency.In the cases of some of them, their institu­tion has been crippled or destroyed by the1/ abuses and failures conducted behind

closed doors. The most alarming case,the complete collapse ofBarings Bank,Britain's oldest bank, was caused byone agent. One trader managed to cre­ate a debt of $27 billion for a company

with $615 million in assets. This was onlypossible because the actions of the trader werenot visible to the rest of the company or itsinvestors and, in the past, the trader was notheld accountable for the losses he racked up.

The lesson of these scandals is that institu­tions can be destroyed from within by theirown agents abusing their office or neglect­ing their duties. In the case of the studentbody, we have lost nearly every shred ofcred­ibility we have when it comes to dealing withthe administration and faculty over policywhen we don't bother to show up for themeetings in the first place. The committeethat is investigating the need for a dean ofundergraduate education has four students onit and met last week. Two of the student rep­resentatives were there. This, a crucial com­mittee that will be reporting its recommen­dations in a few weeks and we the studentscould not get our act together enough to tumout. If the faculty decide to not have a deanof undergraduate education, how much of aright do we have to complain?

Business leaders, governments, everyoneis beginning to understand the institutionaltransformation that is necessary to remainviable in this changing world. Curiously,Caltech lags behind. Faculty committees

We continue to edit the language of the don't even have minutes taken, let alone re­committee oversight resolution with the help quired attendance. In the same way that ourof some of the members of the IHC. At a few paper registration system is an embarrassingpoints, people have asked why these changes anachronism, our self-governance practicesare needed. I'd like to address them, briefly, are decades out of date.but hopefully completely. The way the world And that is why we need to institute mea-

Continued on Page 5, Column 4

No doubt the letter in your mailbox has in­formed you: Student Affairs had to do somemajor restructuring to meet the demands of atightened budget. I have to be honest; I'mnot sure what the consequences or rami­fications of this will be. My instinctivereaction is that any cuts to student af­fairs are bad, as I am sure most willagree. Unfortunately, the reality is thatCaltech lost a lot of money over the lastfew years and now it is time for the conse­quences.

One thing I am happy about is that MargoMarshak made the effort to inform the stu­dents with a letter, as opposed to letting ushear about through rumors and whispers likewe used to. This particular practice of doinga better job of informing students is a verypositive development in our dealings with theadministration.

No matter what positive spin can be put onthings, the transition period over the next fewmonths may be stressful. I ask that we allwork hard to help bring Tom Mannion andErica O'Neal into the loop to help shortenthe time they spend learning how to do theirnew jobs. From what I hear, the InternationalStudent Office has also been shaken up. I willbe meeting with a group of international stu­dents to try and address their concerns. Hope­fully, we can all pitch in and try and help themfill in any gaps left due to their dismissals. Inthe meantime, let's see how things go. Ifyouhave any feedback on how these changes areaffecting you, please send them to me andwe'll see what we can do about them.

"everyone for themselves" attitude.Our honor system is being clouded by dis­

ciplinary motives and we are rapidly losingsight of the community atmosphere the honorsystem is supposed to foster. To get an ideaof how that would work, we can look at howthings were before "unfair advantage" andlong before the CRC.

I've been looking a lot at 1970, so let's takeanother incident from that year. On January16, 1970, a group of Pageboys attempted toshower the Tech editor after he failed to printone of their letters. In the process, they brokehis umbrella. This incident was not handledby the BoC, the Deans or the MOSH; It camebefore the IHC. After interviewing manywitnesses, the presidents of the seven houses

voted unanimously topass a resolution regard­ing showering and to finethe aggressors $7.50, thecost of the umbrella.

Nowadays, disciplinaryissues of that nature nevercome before the IHC andI'm sure many wouldquestion the house presi-dents' authority to impose

a fine on individual students. However, Ithink this is exactly the sort of thing thatshould be happening more often.

In the 1892 catalog for Throop Polytech­nic Institute it was written, "The disciplineof the institution will constantly keep in mindthe development of self-governing citizens,self-respecting, law-abiding men and women.The helpfulness of the ever-watchful friendwill take the place of the educational policeofficer."

When we place too much power in thehands of the BoC, the CRC or in StudentAffairs, we are choosing police officers overwatchful friends. No one group should havea monopoly on student discipline. It is some­times more effective to hear things from yourfriends than from an administrator.

It makes sense that all suspected academiccheating should go to the BoC, but do aUother instances of unfair advantage need tobe reported? If something can be resolvedbetween friends, shouldn't they do so? If aproblem can stay within an alley, a house orbetween two houses, is there any reason forother people to get involved?

We may have come up with an all-encom­passing phrase to describe our honor code,but that doesn't mean we need a monolithicsystem to deal with violations. The strengthof an honor system comes from each indi­vidual policing himself and having the au­thority to watch over his peers. We have for­gotten this crucial aspect of our honor sys­tem and it is weakening our student commu­nity.

The BoC and the CRC are long overdue totake a careful look at their policies and pro­cedures, but most importantly, every mem­ber of the Caltech community needs to lookmore carefully at themselves and thosearound them. Maintaining the honor systemhas never been easy, but the more people thatare helping, the easier it will be.

"Because ofthe ... free­

domfrom rules, attempts

to state [the honor codeJexplicitly are futile. "

G 0

eorganlzatlonWake ofStudent Affairs' Reorganization, not All Clear

By MARGO MARSHAKI have heard from a number of you about the Student Services Building. Supporting

the recent Student Affairsl reorganization as them will be the staff members of ISS, in­it pertains to services for international stu- cluding Margie Gooding, Dan Smith, Hanadents. I welcome your feedback and I hope Smith, Sandy Karhu, Ayanna Campbell, Renethat this memorandum will respond to your Herbozo and Toni Itano. As Head of ISS,concerns. Margie Gooding brings to her broadened re-

First, let me assure you that by merging the sponsibilities extensive experience in theStudent Affairsl Office of International Pro- administration of international student pro­grams (ISP) with Caltechls Office of Inter- grams. Moreover, ISP will continue to pro­national Scholar Services (ISS), we are, in vide assistance when international studentsfact, increasing significantly the personnel confront cultUral and personal issues. It willdedicated to meeting the needs of our inter- continue to offer programs and it will pro­national students. In fact, many colleges and vide timely and accurate immigration advis­universities have a unified international of- ing.fice that serves both students and scholars, Please help us to make this transition suc­as we will have now. It would be inconceiv- cessful. By working together in a collegialable to me to downgrade or eliminate these spirit we can assure that the needs ofvital services. The reorganization is a pru- Caltecms large international community aredent response to concerns about Caltecms fully met. I welcome a continuing dialoguebudget. on this and other important issues that con-

Jim Endrizzi, Tara Tram and Fernando cern Caltech students.Contreras will remain in the ISP offices in

ByTEDJOU

I wasted a column last week on the some­what trivial subject of donuts, so this week Iwill tackle a more interesting question, "Whatis wrong with the honor system?"

The easy answer and the one that I oftenhear is, "Nothing is wrong with the honorsystem-at least, nothing is more wrong thanit was before." I tend to disagree. I think thereare some major problems with the honor sys­tem and that if we don't address them soon,they will begin to threaten our way of life.

Like most ofour student-governance issues,the current honor system problems have theirroots in fateful choices made by students ofthe past. Once upon a time, the honor systemwas simply an informal code of conduct. Inthe words of the '70-'71 little t editors, "Be­cause one of the main ben-efits of the Honor Systemis a vast freedom fromrules, attempts to state itexplicitly are futile. Just re­spect the rights of othersand expect them to respectyours."

However, by the early'70s, a phrase had alreadybegun circulating throughthe undergraduate population that wouldchange the honor system forever. That phrasewas "unfair advantage" and by 1980, our in­definable honor code had an explicit charac­terization, "No one shall take unfair advan­tage of any member of the Caltech commu­nity."

Armed with a universal rule they couldapply to a wide variety of situations, theBoard of Control of the 1970s began to hearmore cases of a non-academic nature. Thehonor system had always been meant to ap­ply to all of student conduct, but before theconcept of "unfair advantage," the BoC hada difficult time dealing with any issues morecomplex than simple cheating or stealing.

However, the BoC was not prepared for theincreased caseload. In 1970, a BoC Rep wroteto the Tech, "The Board finds itself faced withan increased number of such 'violations' andtherefore with the dilemma of either ignor­ing them or having its efficiency threatenedby having to call weekly case meetings."

Over time, the BoC dealt with fewer andfewer of the interpersonal issues and thoseneglected responsibilities feU to the dean'soffice. Unfortunately, when issues go to ad­ministrators, the spirit of self-governance islost and most students who find themselvesin front of the dean for stealing Daihatsus orpirating music feel more like they are beingdisciplined and less like they are part of anhonor system.

We recently tried to put students back intothe process by creating the CRC, but that in­novation has been creating problems of itsown. The CRC has created an atmospherewhere students are encouraged to tum theirfriends in to escape punishment. The BoC en­courages this as well, but the problem isworse with the CRC because while most stu­dents can rationalize turning in students tothe BoC for their own good, ratting out yourfriends to the CRC usually comes from an

4 THE CALIFORNIA TECH FEATURES MAY 19, 2003

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been rescheduled for sometime during thenext 2-3 weeks. The BoCs ferocious crush­ing of souls is proceeding smoothly.

Jeremy says thatTammy Ma has been ap­pointed to the Parking Committee withMichael Quinn as an alternate. Vote: 7-0­0, approved.

Joanna can't use the ASCIT credit cardyet, because it has Janet's name on it.

Kathryn says that not all three studentswho signed up for the Library Committeewere selected. The ARC will be doing in­terviews for Library-Version 2.0 and theStudy Abroad. Curriculum, Core Curricu­lum Steering, Academic Policies and Edu­cational Outreach committees were con­firmed. The BoD will hold Institute ArtCommitee interviews.

Kim says that tickets for ASCIT Formalwill cost $25 for ASCIT members and $35for non-members. There will be appetizers,drinks and dessert but dinner will not beprovided. Kim requests $25.07 for waterballoons. Vote: 7-0-0, approved.

Andrea says that interviews for publica­tions are now complete. NedaMsarmaneshand Ye Li have decided to become co-edi­tors of the Totem.

Meeting adjourned at 12:28 AMRespectfully Submitted,Anna SczanieckaASCIT Secretary

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that she should also talk to the MoSH sincethis is a student/faculty event. !ram is re­questing $30. Vote: 7-0-0, approved. Themoney will come from the Reserve ClubFund.

8. Aaron wants to buy comics for the Cof­feehouse. He can get a 33% discount fromthe Comics Factory. He requested $200, butthe BoD asked him to return with a list ofcomics that he intends to purchase. He addsthat work is proceeding smoothly on theFishing Quarterly. Tom and Aaron agreethat adding bar-codes to the comics is agood idea; This way they can be checkedout like ASCIT DVDs.

9. Kathryn wants to take Porf. RobPhillips out to lunch with three other stu­dents. Vote: 7-0-0, approved.

10. Officer ReportsTom announced that he almost has his

Excomm: Liz Felnagle (Chair), AbeFetterman, Greta Jo, Dima Kamalov,Gunnar Ristroph, Ryan Samson, RichardSpjut and no one from Fleming yet. Vote:6-0-1, approved. He is working on anASCIT poster for Alumni Weekend. Thetheme will be T&A - Transparency andAccountability. Tom would like everyoneto know that he misspelled transperancy.

Galen talked to the humanities facultyand hadGPS members meet with GPS. TheHonor Code Open-Mic Discussion has

May 15th, 2003,11:09 PM, SAC 33.Present: Tom Fletcher, Kim Hiscox,

Kathryn Hsu, Galen Loram, Jeremy Pitts,Anna Sczaniecka andrea Vasconcellos, &Corinna Zygourakis.

Guests: Iram Bilal, Natalia Deligne,Barrett Heyneman, Aaron Esser-Kahn,Jessie Kneeland, Michael Lammers,Ruxandra Paun, Jason Schadewald, JosephWasem, & Others.

Agenda1. Call to Order2. Student Affairs Decision -- no objec­

tions were voiced by the students present.3. Committee Representation Resolution

Discussion:*Yelling, scratching and biting have been

censored*Natalia was concerned that long reports

would discourage students from signing upfor committees in the fIrst place. Tom re­sponded by saying that the reports wouldbe short, consisting of the names ofthe stu­dents who attended as well as a couple sen­tences summarizing the topics discussed atthe meeting. Tom also added that this reso­lution would ensure that only those studentswho genuinely care about the committeeswould sign-up. Harris said that short reportswould encourage misinformation and ru­mors on an already misinformed campus.Tom agreed that this is a valid concern.Jessie was displeased that BoD felt the needto "baby-sit" student representatives. Tomsaid that he resents that term "baby-sitting"and the BoD only wishes to hold represen­tatives accountable for their actions.Kathryn and Galen agreed that was neces­sary -- over half of the students serving oncommittees with them did not attend regu­larly. Jeremy said that he would like to seethe resolution go to the faculty board. Tomthinks that this would take too long. An­other student was concerned that this reso­lution would demonstrate to the adminis­tration that students don't attend commit­tee meetings. This is already the case; Atthe Student Leaders Dinner, President Bal­timore said that undergraduates areunderrepresented because students do notregularly attend committee meetings.

4. Ruxandra wanted to throw a party thisweekend for the entire campus and re­quested funding. The BoD was reluctantbecause this was a privately organizedparty. However, Kim said that she wouldbe happy to work with Ruxandra to put to­gether a campus-wide party sometime inthe future. Ruxandra agreed that this wouldbe the best idea.

5. Dabney requested $100 for MetalNight. Vote: 7-0-0, approved.

6. OASIS did not file for club fundingthis year, but they are requested $200 fortheir annual cultural event on June 6th.Vote: 7-0-0, approved. The money willcome from the Reserve Club Fund.

7. !ram requested funding for her publicspeaking club. She wants to hold a debateon May 28th in Baxter Lecture Hall andshe needs money for food and drinks. Tomthinks more people would attend if she heldthis event on the Olive Walk. He also thinks

Incorrect Photo

I've seen a mistake in your paperofMay 12. On page 3 under the title"ASCIT TEACHING AWARDS2003," the picture ofDr. Hirai is notright. The one shown there is Dr.Hirataja, who teaches IntermediateJapanese at Caltech.

Sincerely,

Xiangyun Wang

Dear editors,

Jimmy Corrigan, staff-writer andSam Thomsen, editor and chief

powerof$7629.29. Thatis so muchmoney! How are we ever going toget that much money?!?!

Well, to start with we will offergoods and services, such as T-shirts,kisses and mortgage consolidation.T-shirts will be $8, featuring famouswork by our staff artist PeterPicasso and legible lettering. Kisseswill be distributed by our profes­sional team of lip acrobats, includ­ing Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell andElizabeth Taylor. The price scale is$1 fora peck, $2 for a closed-mouthsmack-on-the-lips and anythingbeyond that is negotiable betweenthe kisser and the kissee-let's justsay $7629.29 goes a long way. Inaddition, there will be a moneytrough for large, unwieldy dona­tions and the editor will be wearinga g-string for quick-and-easy smallones.

Please come to Dabney's MetalNight and check out the greatbands, great food and great times.We promise you will not be disap­pointed. His completely free thanksto generous donations by ASCIT.So come on down and have goodtime and give us some money.

Love,

Fishing Quarterly

Caltech Opera Club is. meeting Thurs­day, May 22, 12-1 p.m. in the BrennenConference Room, 3rd Floor ofthe Cen­ter for Student Services, 414 HollistonAve. The topic will be Mozart's DonGiovanni and the guest speaker will beKathy Cross. Please join us and discoverhow Mozart brilliantly balances darkdrama with humor through beautifulmusic. Bring your lunch and friends.

ASCIT Minutes.

Aristotle's standards of transcending humannature, but I doubt he would be opposed toit.

Building Bridges is a student run clubfounded specifically for doing communityservice. Whether you want to do commu­nity service in order to achieve fulfillmentin life or simply to help you get into gradu­ate or professional school, Building Bridgescan use your help. Perhaps your worldviewhas broadened and you realize that there alot of people whose lives are worse thanyour own, unlikely as that may seem. Per­haps you need community service hours toput on your transfer application or to fulfilla court order. We have programs to donategifts to children all over the world, foodand clothes drives to benefit the homelessand tutoring and mentoring programs tobenefit disadvantaged students. Even a fewhours a month makes a difference and isenough to put on your resume. You can evenget paid if you have federal work study.

For more information visit http://www.its.caltech.edu/-bbridges/race.htmlor email bb-excomm@its.caltech.edu.

Women's Wellness Series: SpringtimeStretch

Date: May 22,2003Time: 12:00pm - 1:OOpmLocation: Carriage House/Steele House,

Pool area4 spaces leftUsing stretches from Tai Chi Chuan,

Yoga, Dance & Body Education this work­shop will help you learn to take the time tofeel healthier while teaching you usefulskills you can carry over into your dailylife. *Improve your sports performance, *Move more efficiently through your job &study demands, * Improve your posture, *Alleviate aches & pains, * Learn to relaxand gain energy, * Use techniques tailoredto you.

Sidharth Jaggi, George Maltezos,Ben Toner, Daniel Wagenaar.

Dear Esteemed Reader of theTech and Fishing Quarterly,

Offices Open. StudentAffairs is pleasedto announce that the following offices willbe open from noon to 1:00 p.m. everyweekday during the academic year. Thischange was prompted by the commentsfrom undergraduates on a survey con­ducted in preparation for the StudentFaculty Conference. Many students in­dicated that they are free during this timeand would like to avail themselves ofourservices during lunch. We are delightedto be able to respond to this student re­quest.

should be preserved. The positionof Director of ISP should be re­tained. We should apologize toParandeh and ask her to take backthe job she has performed so well.

Yours truly,

Here at the Fishing Quarterly, ourdream of providing you with afunny and unique magazine is indanger. The Fishing Quarterly of­fices, the heart of our operation,may soon be knocked down andreplaced by a community centercomplete with an educational cen­ter, amusement park and orphanageor something terrible, we donitknow. Old Man Garbuckle, our self­proclaimed evil arch-nemesis andpublisher of the popular magazinePeoplelE is threatening to buy ouroffices from the bank. Unfortu­nately, it turns out that there is aclause in our contract allowing anykrazy person with a lot of moneyor something" to purchase our of­fices "for no apparent reason (Page238, line 17)."

You may ask yourselfiHow doesthis affect me?! Look, it doesnitmatter. Our friends in the Caltechbands Not Enough Gun and Park­ing in Rear are putting on a kick­ass rock show in our benefit on Fri­day, May 23, 8:00 p.m. in Dabneyhouse courtyard. Mr. Garbuckle canonly be stopped with the awesome

"",,""11'-111- ..."'_. IJM ...

+

ew Fishing M_,ii!;;..._IP4JilJiIt.&."JlLJ111._

International Director

Dear editors,

Most people equate leisure with recre­ation and amusement. However, leisure issimply defined as free time that one canspend as one pleases, with no requirementfor amusement or entertainment. How weshould choose to spend our leisure time hasbeen under philosophical debate at least asfar back as Aristotle. In his Ethics, he wrotethat leisure is the state of life necessary toachieve happiness and happiness is the goalof life. Alistotle's idea was that the best useofleisure time was in coutemplation in or­der to transcend one's own human nature,but without neglect of practical human vir­tue. Leisure time and happiness may seemin short supply among Caltech students, butthat is the very reason we should use lei­sure time carefully. Using your leisure timefor community service may not quite reach

Athenaeum Tennis Ladder. All Ath­enaeum members and their families are in­vited to join the Athenaeum's managedsingles and doubles tennis ladders. Onceper month, ladder managers will postmatches to be completed by the end of themonth. Players contact each other to ar­range mutually agreeable date and time toplay. Matches are formed between playerswithin a few ladder rungs of one another.The ladder includes both men and womenand all levels of play are welcome. Fordoubles play, one team member must be acurrentAthenaeum member. Each year tro­phies will be awarded. Signups welcomeat any time. For more information, contactRich Dekany at rgd@astro.caltech.edu.

Build Bridges at your Leisure

Student Affairs is pleased to announcethat the following offices will be open fromnoon to 1:00 p.m. every weekday duringthe academic year. This change wasprompted by the comments from under­graduates on a survey conducted in prepa­ration for the Student Faculty Conference.Many students indicated that they are freeduring this time and would like to availthemselves ofour services during lunch. Weare delighted to be able to respond to thisstudent request.

The Offices that will be open duringlunch include:

Athletics, Physical Education and Rec-reation

Bursar's OfficeCareer Development CenterDean of StudentsFinancial AidGraduate StudiesInternational Student ProgramsMinority Student EducationRegistrarResidence Life and Master of Student

HousesUndergraduate AdmissionsWomen's CenterCaltech Y

On Tuesday May 13, the positionof Director of International StudentPrograms was eliminated and thecurrent director, Parandeh Kia, dis­missed. This is a grave loss to in­ternational students and to theCaltech community as a whole.According to Vice President forStudent Affairs, Margo Marshak,the remaining two staff of ISP willbe moved to Human Resources. Wefear that these actions will amountto the destruction of ISP.

ISP is widely regarded as an ef­fective and well-run organisation.It manages students' immigrationissues and programs social activi­ties. By losing ISP, we would losea powerful voice to advocate inter­national students' concerns. More­over, we would lose what makesISP unique among similar programsat other universities: ISP is a placewhere students build friendshipsand a home they tum to in times ofneed.

Parandeh Kia has devoted morethan ten years of her life to createISP. Her love for the community shehas forged is evident to all. Whileher dismissal and the dismantlingof the ISP were never explicitlyannounced and many details arestill hazy, the news has spreadquickly. Through countless emails,letters and discussions, Caltech un­dergraduates, graduates, post-docs,staff, administrators and facultyhave made it clear that ParandehKia and the ISP enjoy their supportand admiration.

ISP does invaluable work and

5

Tom Fletcher

Are the administrativechanges for the better?

We're working on getting morenew comics in at the Coffeehouse.I must admit, watching X-Men 2made me go buy some myself andthose new X-Men comics are quiteentertaining! Anyway, if you haverecommendations for what you'dlike to see in the Coffeehouse, talkto our comic-buying resident come­dian/extortionist, Aaron Esser­Kahn. We're looking to get them bynext week, so tell him in the nextcouple of days!

Peace,

competent and educated studentleaders. I'm really looking forwardto how this progresses and encour­age you all to keep your ears open.

I also got a chance to meet withDean Green about the outcome ofthe Student Faculty Conference.Reports are forthcoming and we'reworking on identifying ways to ad­dress the concerns raised. The daybefore I met with Margo Marshak.She told me to expect a bigannouncementa they don't getmuch bigger than a complete re-or­ganization of student affairs! Every­one is getting ready for the FacultyBoard meeting on May 27. Margowill be reporting on StudentAffairs,the dean of undergraduate educa­tion committee should be reporting,as should the housing committee,always important. A number ofcatalog changes will also be madeat this meeting, as well as the pos­sibility of fInding out the numbersand demographics of the incomingclass. Like I said, a big meeting!

Moment of Zen

PHYSICISTwith knowledge of nuclear

vibration, spin and polarizationConsulting only

Call Bob: (818) 708-2108

Whom I Met With This Week

Career Center Meeting,Consulting the Comics

Continuedfrom Page 3, Column 5

MAY 19,2003

I ran into a number of people thisweek. One of the most importantthings I did was participate in a fo­cus group with the Career Devel­opment Center on a future leader­ship certifIcate program. The pointof the program would be to allowinterested students to develop theirleadership skills at a very high levelfor both success upon graduatingand to make sure that Caltech has

sures of accountability and trans­parency. The faculty and the admin­istration have erred egregiously inthe past, but if those errors occurredbecause we weren't there giving ourinput, the ground we stand on whenwe complain is somewhere betweenquicksand and marshland. If wewant to sit at the same table as thebig boys, we absolutely must holdup our end of the bargain. Other­wise, we'll stay right where are,stuck in the playpen, forced to shitour own pants when we want thegrown-ups attention.

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is focused on thetransp,lantation of microencapsulated insulin~secretedcells (islet of Langerhans)with the objective of alleviatiq,g diabetics of their need for supplemental msulin.This proprIetary techni'llle otprotecting the islets within a membrane or micro~capsule Has allowed the Comp'any to develop a .procedure whereby diabetics maybe cured of their need of sup'plemental insulin By a simple injection of the encap~sulated cells into the abdominal cap,acit1without the need for lifelong.immuno~suppression. This product (BetaRXTM is expected to be the first WIdely avail~able, effective, long~term therapy for dia etics. We are currently seeking thefollowing candidates:

L Senior Director / Director:AmCy,te, Inc., a leader in cell / tissue transplantation, is seeking a highly qualifiedindiviClual to direct the Molecular Cell Biology Group. As a key member ofleadiq,g scientists focused on proliferated islet cells, tne candidate will be respon~sible tor advancipg our research in cell proliferation and differentiation.

Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology or a related field with a strong publica~ti~n record and a proven ability to develop and implement robust research strate~gies.2. Senior Scientist:Conduct cell biology, molecular biology and biochemistry research related to thegrowth and differentiation ofQancreatic Bcells. Contribute to the developmentcell therapies for the control 01 diabetes and its complications.

PH.D. in cell biology or related field with a strong publication record and aproven ability, to develop and implement robust research strategies.

Biotechnology or biopharmaceutical company experience and/or tissueengineerinJ?: exper~ence highly desirable.3. Researcfi ASSOCIate:Research Associate will be involved in cell and tissue culture, immunocytochem~istry, DNA cloning and RTPCR.

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AmCyte is p,rivately held and well financed. The COll!P_any, operates in modern,.spacious ana well~equip,.p'edfacility located in Santa Monica, California. We offera competitive salary anabenefit package. Interested candidates should contact usvia email at hrcode123@AmCyte.comorbyfaxat (310) 453~6178.

Courtesy of L. ZhangWilliam Pierce was not your typical Caltech student.

reassert itself. What a contrast withthe Caltech campus in Pasadena!"(ADV September 13 1997).

He reiterated the same point a fewyears later: "I took a trip out to LosAngeles not so long ago -- the fIrsttime I'd been there since I was agraduate student at Caltech back inthe 1950s-and let me tell you, ifyou like diversity, Los Angeles isthe place for you to be. What acesspit of diversity!" (ADV March31,2001).

Pierce also bemoaned the increas­ing racial diversity at universitiesand colleges since his student days:"When I was a student, not only anundergraduate in Texas but also agraduate student in Colorado and inCalifornia, the universities wereWhite. The only really noticeableminority anywhere was the Jewishminority. At Caltech there was atiny sprinkling ofAsians. I can't re­member any Blacks." (ADV May13 2000). To him, the schools areno longer proud or European.

William Pierce died at age 68from cancer on July 23, 2002.

on THE ITREET

inspired several real acts of racialterror.

The 1990s saw the National Alli­ance diversifying its propagandatools, including publishing audiocassettes, broadcasting on severalAM radio stations, printing a comicbook, staging public rallies and har­nessing the power of the Internet.The organization purchased arecord label and now dominates thewhite power youth music scene.Pierce has also established closerconnections with the British Na­tional Party and the German neo­Nazi party.

William Pierce has the habit ofreferring to Caltech during hisAmerican Dissident Voices radiobroadcasts. Pierce seems to havepleasant memories of Caltech as abastion of the white majority in aregion populated by minority eth­nic groups:

"Two years ago I visited Pasa­dena, where I had been a physicsstudent at Caltech long ago, beforeI worked in [JPL]. The Caltechcampus is still a pleasant and civi­lized place and students there stillhave an opportunity to get the bestpossible education. Democracy hasdone a lot less damage to Caltechthan it has to other schools. But onecan drive southwest on the freewayfrom Pasadena for just a few min­utes and find oneself in the trulyhorrifying Third World jungle thatis south-central Los Angeles.

And there are similar situations allover the United States. We can buildhydrogen bombs, we can send ro­bots to Mars ... but we cannot main­tain even a semblance of civiliza­tion in our cities. of our cit­ies still contain enormously expen­sive glass-and-steel towers and allsorts of financial power flowsthrough them .. , but they are notcivilized places. Just look at theswarms of sub-humanity on thesidewalks and in the bus and trainstations. If the police presence isremoved for a day, the jungle will

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William Pierce is not a householdname, but he has affected worldevents as much as anyone else as­sociated with Caltech. Pierce is theauthor ofThe Turner Diaries, whichindirectly influenced TimothyMcVeigh's decision to bomb theOklahoma City federal building in1995.

William Pierce was born on Sep­tember 11, 1933, in Atlanta, Geor­gia. He spent most of his youth inthe South, receiving a Bachelor'sDegree in Physics in 1951 fromRice University. He worked at LosAlamos ScientifIc Laboratory be­fore attending graduate school, fIrstat Caltech and then the Universityof Colorado in Boulder. The latterawarded him a physics doctorate in1962. He soon lost interest in sci­ence and joined various white su­premacist political organizations,eventually forming his own splin­ter group the National Alliance in1974. Pierce also founded theCosmotheist Community Church toachieve tax-exempt status.

From 1975 to 1978, the NationalAlliance weekly tabloid Attack! se­rialized what would become TheTurner Diaries, a fictional accountof Earl Turner, a member of an un­derground white supremacistorganisation that would begin a racewar and conquer North America.Pierce's book influenced many ra­cially-motivated terrorist events inthe world, the most famous ofwhich was the bombing of theAlfred P Murrah Federal Buildingin Oklahoma City on 19 April 1995which killed 168 people. TimothyMcVeigh purchased the bookthrough a gun-show circuit a fewyears earlier. In 1989, Pierce com­pleted his second novel, Hunter,which features graphic descriptionsof assassinations of interracialcouples, Jews and politicians. Hedeliberately crafted Hunter to mo­tivate real-life assassins and it has

THE CALIFORNIA TECH COMMENTARY------------

The altech Legacy: William Pierce;From Physics la to The Turner Diaries

6 THE CALIFORNIA TECH COMMENTARY MAY 2003

A12047-SMPA

F1exibi e SchedulesGreat ResumeExperienceScholarships PossibIe

ulty conference was an obviousopportunity but it involved only asmall subset of professors and ad­ministrators. One example of therare occasions to meet and get toknow the staffbetter and vice versais the small gathering in Kim West'sbackyard a few months ago to meetmembers of our security force aspeople, not as uniformed officers.

Oh and then there is somethingelse I need to say. I have made aterrible goof, which was kindlybrought to my attention by severalpeople. At least I know that a fewknowledgeable people read the col­umn. Perhaps it would have beenbetter if no one had because, I amashamed to say, I made a bad mis­take. So, here I go, erratum: "In thelast issue of the Tech this writermisnamed Dr. Rosalind Franklin,one of the important figures in elu­cidating the structure of DNA. In­stead of Rosalind, I repeatedlycalled her Naomi. I am terriblysorry for the error. I know a NaomiFranklin, also a scientist and some­how in my rush to finish I nevernoticed that I had conflated two dif­ferent people.

A bientot

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cooperation. It is unlikely, ofcourse, that such expressions willreally matter to them at this point.Later perhaps, but not at this im­mediate moment. Anything one cansay sounds kind ofhollow but thereis so little that can be offered. Pain,like joy is felt inside each ofus andwhat shows publicly is a pretty in­complete rendering of the lump thatswells in our throats. I and I am suremany others who have interactedwith them, will have fond recollec­tions of the times we have shared,even those difficult incidents thatwe worked on together.

But if you look at "Caltech To­day" on the homepage, there isnothing at all about the reorganiza­tion, its goals, the forces that havedriven it. Not even a mention ofthefact that, at least part of what hasmotivated this and other suchchanges is driven by the need tosave, in the face of anunderperforming nationaleconomy. Institutes ofhigher learn­ing all around the country have beendeeply impacted. None of thesehard realities are things one wantsto or can, crow about, but they arenevertheless important aspects inthe life of the Institute.

In thinking about how to makeCaltech a better place and find bet­ter ways to discharge our responsi­bilities to students and faculty itwould seem that mechanismsshould be found to foster more in­teractions between the various seg­ments of our society. Of course thispresumes that there is interest insuch interactions-many would saytime for.

One approach is to find ways forprofessors and administrators tomeet and talk among themselvesand with students. The student! fac-

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are going to concern all the studentsand particularly impact verystrongly specific subpopulations ofboth graduate and undergraduatestudents. Perhaps not surprisingly,the effects right now are prettymuch limited to these strata. Theaffected students are concerned, butgenerally appear confident that theirneeds will be looked after in someother ways. Some even look for­ward to the "other ways." The restof Caltech has not yet noticed, sofar as I can tell.

Yet those of us who have workedfor years with Kim, Sue Friedmanand Parandeh Kia, will very muchfeel their absence. They werepeople with whom we interacteddaily and the familiarity that devel­oped over shared problems, hasbred if not friendships in a deepemotional sense, at least collegial­ity and mutual ease.

It is hard not to empathize withwhat one can imagine of their up­set. It is hard not to entertain a senseofdread for their future, concern forthe emptiness that losing their jobsmust leave them with. It is hard, yetthere is little that can be said be­sides the obvious. One could thankthe~ fOJ; the help over the years, the

"The institute [is like]

a cake. consists of

layers which are

stacked, but separate. "

else?-is an unreasonable hour.There is also the layer of the

Graduate Students, which the Un­dergraduates see only in their incar­nation as TAs, that of Professorswho may not always notice muchabout the Institute except as a theplace to solve the problems ofquan­tum cryptography andteletransportation or decipher thegenetic basis of behavior.

And then there is the Caltech ofAdministrators, dreaming ofbuild­ings and support for the rest of usand all kinds of other things likebudgets and whatnot, kitchens, bigmachines, huge magnets,humongous telescopes and masterplans. Of course there are points ofcontact between all of these layers,but to a surprising extent thereseems to be a lack of intimateknowledge or even, sometimes,understanding.

In the last few days for examplethere has been a major reorganiza­tion of Student Affairs, the admin­istrative entity which takes care ofmost of the student's non academicneeds and of quite a few academicones also, except for the actualteaching. As part of this reorgani­zation Residence Life as we allknow it for many years has beenphased out. Kim West, the Directorfor many years and Sue Friedman,theAssistant Director have lost theirpositions.

There has also been a major reor­ganization of the International Stu­dent Programs Office withParandeh Kia's position beingeliminated. These are changes that

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By JEAN-PAUL REVEL

When the dean's office movedfrom Parsons Gates to MosherJorgensen last summer, I kept myparking spot on the other end ofcampus-in fact, the same spot Ihad when all of my time was spentin biology. Having to walk to workforces me to have a little bit of ex­ercise, not as much as a I presum­ably should or even that I havewhen I go to my Biology office; itis two floors below ground and Imake a point to walk the stairs.

My daily walk across the campusis usually before eight and at thattime, besides a few lone souls likeme hurrying to their offices and theFalun Gong people lined up underthe overhang of the Beckman Au­ditorium roof, the only others Icome across in numbers are thephysical plantpeople, many zippingabout in their carts, a few mowingthe lawn or blowing the leaves offthe walks. We know each other bysight and sometimes even say hello.

Seeing just the Physical Plantpeople on my trek across campusreminds me that the Institute can belooked at as a cake. It consists oflayers which are stacked, but areseparate, one might almost say in­dependent of each other. There isthe ~altech of the Carpenters,Plumbers, Painters and Electriciansand that of the Gardening Staff.There is the Caltech ofUndergradu­ates who complain about thegrounds people mowing the lawnsat what for students up till four a.m.with their homework-what

Courtesy of M. ChangThis year's leadership award winners-Nathan Wozny '03, Basit Khan '03,Abel Bourbois '03 and LauraElliott 'OJ-pose with the award's namesake couple.

the animals show only freezing be­havior and never flight, even thoughin the wild, flight is a normal andimportant fear response to preda­tors. This suggests that the ultra­sonic stimulus used by Andersonand colleagues is tapping into braincircuits that mediate natural, or in­nate, fear responses that includeflight as well as freezing.

What causes the shift from flightto freezing behavior? Probably highanxiety and stress, say the authors,caused by an unfamiliar environ­ment or the foot shocks. The re­searchers suggest that freezing re­quires a higher threshold level ofanticipatory fear-the heroine in­side a dark, spooky house-beforeit can be elicited by the ultrasound.

Most brain researchers believe thebrain uses a hierarchy of neural sys­tems to determine which defensivebehaviors, like flight or freezing, touse. These range from an evolution­ary older neural system that gener­ates "quick and dirty" defensivestrategies, to more evolved systemsthat produce slower but more so­phisticated reactions. These sys­tems are known to interact, but theneural mechanisms that decidewhich response wins out are notunderstood.

One of the goals of their work wasto map the brain regions that con­trol the behaviors triggered by thefear stimulus, to observe whetherany change in brain activity corre­lated with the different defensivebehaviors. They achieved this, allthe way down to the resolution of asingle neuron, by mapping the ex­pression pattern of the c-FOS gene,a so-called "immediate early gene"that is turned on when neurons areexcited. The switching on of the c­FOS gene can therefore be used asan indication ofneuronal activation.

A map of the c-FOS expressionpatterns during flight vs. freezingrevealed that mice displaying freez­ing behavior had neural activity indifferent regions of the brain thanthose that fled. Some of these re­gions were previously known toinhibit each other, providing a pos­sible explanation for the apparentcompetition between flight andfreezing observed in the intact ani­mal.

Anderson notes that more workneeds to be done to pin down whereand how anxiety modifies defensivebehavior. "This system may alsoprovide a useful model forunderstanding the neural substratesof human fear disorders, like panicand anxiety," said Anderson, "aswell as provide a model for devel­oping drugs to treat them."

By MARK WHEELER

In most old-fashioned black-and­white horror flicks, it always seemsthere's some hapless hero or hero­ine who gets caught up in a life­threatening situation. Instead ofmaking the obvious choice-to runlike hell-he freezes in place. Thatdecision, alas, leads to their ultimatedemise.

While their fate was determinedby bad scriptwriting, scientists al­ready know that in real life, envi­ronment and experience influencedefensive behaviors. Less under­stood are the neural circuits thatdetermine such decisions. Now, inan article in the May I issue of theJournal of Neuroscience, Caltechresearchers have developed an ex­perimental model using mice thatcan map and manipulate the neuralcircuits involved in such innate be­haviors as fear.

Raymond Mongeau, Gabriel A.Miller, Elizabeth Chiang, andDavid J. Anderson, in work per­formed at Caltech, manipulated ei­ther a flight or freeze reaction inmice through the use of an ultra­sonic auditory stimulus, and further,were able to alter the mouse's be­havior by making simple changesin the animal's environment. Theyalso found that flight and freezingare negatively correlated, suggest­ing that a kind of competition ex­ists between these alternative defen­sive motor responses. Finally, theyhave begun to map the potential cir­cuitry in the brain that controls thiscompetition.

"Fear and anxiety are importantemotions, especially in this day andage," saidAnderson, a Caltech pro­fessor of biology and an investiga­tor with the Howard Hughes Medi­cal Institute. "We know a lot abouthow the brain processes fear that islearned, but much less is knownabout innate or unlearned fear. Ourresults open the way to betterunderstanding how the brain pro­cesses innately fearful stimuli, andhow and where anxiety affects thebrain to influence behavior."

Using the ultrasonic cue, the re­searchers were able to predict andmanipulate the animal's reaction toa fearful situation. They found thatmice exposed to the ultrasonicstimulus in their home cage, a fa­miliar environment, predominantlydisplayed a flight response. Thoseplaced in a new cage, an unfamil­iar environment, or treated with footshocks the previous day, primarilydisplayed freezing and less flight.

Anderson noted that in previousfear "conditioning" experiments,where mice learn to fear a neutraltone associated with a footshock,

student Maribeth Mason from "KCand the Valence Band."

The tournament was run by ParagBhayani '06, with assistance andstaff from other members of theQuiz Bowl Club.

The team will miss the scoringpunch that graduating seniorsCostello, Lo and Norman consis­tently provided. Still, several tal­ented juniors, led by Boyd-Graber,along with a strong freshman classmany suspect will keep Caltechamong the top teams on the WestCoast.

In addition to competing in thetournament, Caltech co-hosted itwith UCLA. Former Caltech stu­dent Richard Mason helped to or­ganize transportation, staffing andsupplies for arguably the "premiercollege trivia event of the year."Around 20 other volunteers fromCaltech helped make the tourna­ment a success.

Fairy Godmother). Some of theteams had members of the QuizBowl Club, but most teams con­sisted entirely of novices.

The competition was lighte:ned boythe use of squeaky toys andinstead ofbuzzers. High spirits andteam camaraderie made the dayenjoyable for all of the competitors.The teams were initially dividedinto two brackets and played around-robin. Afterwards they weredivided again, this time by theirperformance in the round-robin.The top five teams were "Ketchup­Filled ???s," "The Electric Shoes,""To Be Decided," "KC and the Va­lence Band" and "Fantastic FourMinus One."

The top three individual scorerswere graduate student Jon Sieversfrom "Ketchup-Filled ???s", Infor­mation Technology Services man­ager Erich Schneider from "Fantas­tic Four Minus One" and graduate

By MALINA CHANG

Abel Bourbois '03, Laura Elliott and a faculty member. He also'03, Basit Khan '03 and Nathan served on the Foreign:StudentsWozny '03 were awarded the Rob- Committee, working with the ad­ert L. Noland Leadership Award at ministration to allow internationala dinner presentation in the Ath- students to go on Curriculum Prac­enaeum Library the Thursday be- tical Trainings.fore last. Wozny's primary contribution to

The Robert L. Noland Leadership his fellow undergraduates has beenAward is for outstanding Caltech his work as the president of thestudents who have demonstrated Caltech Y ExComm, a nonprofitexceptional leadership abilities. organization dedicated to commu-

Bourbois was the vice president nity service, outdoor activities andof the Caltech Y ExComm, where unmet student needs. During hishe led important community service tenure he made changes to the Y'sevents such as Adopt-a-Meal and bylaws to reflect actual practice. Hethe Dinner-In-the-Park program for also organized group discussionsthe Pasadena soup kitchen. He also for students to share their thoughtsorganized a Caltech group to work and feelings after September 11.with students from the Franklin Elo:. Wozny also tutored at Hillsides, aementary School in the "I Have a home for abused children and atDream Foundation." Although Caltech's on-campus tutoring pro­much of Bourbois's work has been gram.behind the scenes, he has made adifference in the lives of many stu­dents and in the Pasadena commu­nity.

Elliott has worked diligently toaid the Minority Student Educationoffice and the Women's Centerthroughout her career at Caltech.She organized the Student Program­ming Board to help provide pro­gramming that meets the needs ofthe undergraduate women and hasactively participated in the recruit­ment of women to Caltech.

In 2002, she was also the Chairof the Student Faculty Conferencecommittee on Quality of Life out­side the classroom and did a superbjob, recommending changes thatpromise to considerably improvestudent advising. She has alsoserved as an outstanding and dedi­cated member of the Conduct Re­view Committee.

Khan's most important accom­plishment has been organizing theStudent-Faculty Conference thisyear, which addressed student aca­demic concerns. He successfully setup 11 different committees, eachcomprised of four to five students

BEYOND PLUTOrBROWN SIZES UPQUAOAR IN TALK

By MARK WHEELERSince the invention of the tele­

scope, the known edge of our solarsystem has slowly receded, firstwith the discovery of Uranus, thenNeptune, and finally Pluto.

But in the past decade, astrono­mers have realized that even Plutois not the true edge of the solar sys­tem; it is merely a member of a vastswarm of icy, planet-shaped objectscalled planetesimals that orbit in aregion known as the Kuiper Belt.

This Wednesday at eight p.m. inBeckman, Michael E. Brown, as­sociate professor of planetary as­tronomy, will address a number ofprovocative questions raised by thisrealization in his talk, "Quaoar andthe Edge of the Solar System," oneof the ongoing Earnest C. WatsonLecture Series that take place on theCaltech campus. Such questionsinclude: What makes a body aplanet? Where is the true edge ofthe solar system? Such questionswill be addressed along with aglimpse into the most recent re­search into the exploration of theouter solar system.

Last June, Brown andpostdoctoral researcher ChadTrujillo discovered a spherical bodyorbiting the outer edge of our solarsystem that was almost as big asPluto itself. They named it Quaoar,after the creation force of theTongva tribe, who were the origi­nal inhabitants of the Los Angelesbasin.

1, Column 4

matching" schedule at a lower thanpreferred position.

After some tense matches withNorthwestern and Carleton, theteam finished as the ninth overallundergraduate team and the 24th

_

place team overall. Last year's Di­vision I team, which had two gradu­ate students, finished 25th overall.

The Division II team also foughtthrough a tough seeding schedule~nd ended up in a five-way tie todetermine who would land in thetop playoff bracket. The team,which included Parag Bhayani '06,Albert Chu '06, Irene Ying '06 andLibin Zhang '05 eventually madeit into the top bracket, trouncingMIT 230-80 along the way. Afterseveral round-robin matches in theplayoffs, they finished in seventhplace, which ties for Caltech's bestperformance ever in Division II.

The Quiz Bowl Club then held itsannual intramural tournament onApril 12th, dragging an impressivenumber of students out ofbed at 10a.m. Twelve teams composed offour students each competedagainst each other.

Questions ranged from hard-coretrivia (answer: Vercingetorix) tomore academic subjects (answer:Kirchoff's Rules) to popular culture(answer: Segway) to generalknowledge (answer: Cinderella's

By JILL PERRY

Res. Life: Kim West, originally a New Englander, maynow head back east to make room for Campus Life in achange that laid her off and also fried the job of Sue Fried­man. Res. Life is gone, but how will Mannion fare?

Dh-oh! Pasadena's brains join forces to "win the major­ity of the battles." Between uh-oh squads, sustenance kitsand a catchy though somewhat effete slogan our days oftrepidacy are gone.

Quiz Bowl: It's still the case that no one can catch up toTeam Ketchup, but as a whole the team's accomplish­ments have been far from trivial.

NEWS MAY 19, 2003--------------------

UCbe (!California UCerbCaltech 40-58

Pasadena, CA 91126

Pasadena Experts Lay Out EmergencyGame Plan: tGet Prepared, not Scared'

Continued/rom Page 1, Column 5 ing it ready for all situations, an The five points of the plan: "makelevel has typically been one below "uh-oh squad," as Chief Mitchell a plan, build a kit, get trained, vol­the national level, since many of the called it. He outlined the extra train- unteer and give blood."threats on the national level are not ing and equipment, as well as ex- Chief Michael Guerin of thedirected at the Pasadena area. He panded communication, that have Governor's Office of Emergencyadded that the force was doing the been implemented since the in- Services spoke about the supportbest it could to "balance safety and crease in risk of terrorism. Chief the state government gives to localsecurity with the civil liberties." Mitchell's closing advice to the au- agencies when they get over-

Lieutenant John Perez of the dience was to "be ready to sustain whelmed. He talked about how thePasadena Police Department's yourselves for 72 hours." state helps coordinate large scaleCounter Terrorism Section spoke The Public Health Department, mutual aid events. Chief Guerinabout the departments counter ter- represented on the panel by Candy also spoke about how many staterorism philosophy and different Jara, checks for outbreaks of sick- organizations had taken on newways they were working to prevent ness. In the event of bioterrorism, roles and that plans are getting bet­terrorism. There is a pre-indicator they would likely be the ones in- ter.system in place to help track suspi- vestigating. The department has The Director of the Volunteercious behavior and Pasadena is practice checking out reports of Emergency Management andworking with the Terrorist Early tainted food every day and Homeland Security Programs,Warning Group from the Sheriff's the disease to its source. Adam Sutkus spoke about the mis-office to minimize the threat ofter- Ms. Jara also outlined the small- sion of his agency to help facilitaterorism. The philosophy in Pasadena pox vaccination schedule. The first "seamless integration" of the effortsregarding count terrorism is the phase, involving the vaccination of of many. groups that help duringsame as that offighting crime: "win healthcare workers has been com- crises. Mr. Sutkus also spoke aboutthe majority of the battles." Lt. pleted and the second phase, for new community service groups andPerez added that there is ongoing emergency services, should begin encouraged people to get involved.training for both police personnel in the late summer or early falL He tried out a new catch phrase:and the general public. He empha- Vaccinations for the general public, "Don't get scared; get prepared."sized that people above all should phase three, should be ready by After the panel presentations,be aware of the terrorism threat. 2004. moderator Kent Shocknek of CBS2

Pasadena Fire Chief Ernie Lisa Derderian explained the News This Morningran a shortMitchell described the Fire American Red Cross's action plan. question-and-answer period andDepartment's role as "consequence The mission of the plan is to help John Cushman, the President of themanagement." The department has people prepare for a disaster and to Pasadena Police Foundation madedeveloped an all-hazard plan, mak- be ready to help in the event of one. a few closing remarks. The Pasa­

dena Police Foundation "helps copsgive kids hope" by raising funds forpolice programs that don't receivefull funding. The foundation is con­cerned with furthering the goals ofthe police department.

The talk is part of a series of townmeeting-type forums that city offi­cials hope will answer questionsthat people have, primarily regard­ing the threat of terrorism, about thelevel of preparedness in Pasadena.There have already been talks withneighborhood leadership and mem­bers of downtown businesses andthe series has turned to spreadingout to the community.

D. Karla/The California Tech

An expert panel ofprominent Pasadena personalities details its plans of action last Thursday in Beckmanto a slate of potential emergencies ranging from fires to bioterrorism. Ideas ran the gamut from promot­ing 72-hour sustainment kits to an aptly named "uh-oh squad."

knowledge to prevent, detect, diag­nose and treat disease and disabil­ity, from the rarest genetic disorderto the common cold. It conducts itsown research, supports research byothers, helps train investigators andfosters communication of healthsciences infonnation.

During his tenure at NIH, he ini­tiated many changes in the conductof intramural and extramural re­search programs, recruited newleaders at NIH, planned three ma­jor buildings on the NIH campus inBethesda, Maryland and helped toincrease the NIH budget from un­der $11 billion to nearly $18 billion.

In addition to authoring over 300scientific papers and four books,including an introduction to thegenetic basis of cancer for a gen­eral audience, Varmus has been anadvisor to the federal goverument,pharmaceutical and biotechnologyfinns and many academic institu­tions.

Recently he served on the WorldHealth Organization's Commissionon Macroeconomics and Health,advisory committees on electronicpublishing and planning groups toenhance scientific activity in thedeveloping world. He has been amember ofthe U.S. National Acad­emy of Sciences since 1984 and ofthe Institute of Medicine since1991.

A native ofFreeport, Long Island,Vannus is a graduate of ColumbiaUniversity's College of Physiciansand Surgeons, worked as a medicalstudent in a hospital in India andserved on the medical house staffat Columbia-Presbyterian HospitaLHis scientific training occurred firstas a public health service officer atthe NIH, where he studied bacte­rial gene expression and then as apostdoctoral fellow with Bishop atU.c. San Francisco.

THE CALIFORNIA TECH8

Harold Varmus, Nobel laureateand fonner director of the NationalInstitutes of Health, will be the key­note speaker at the 109th com­mencement ceremony at 10 a.m.June 13 on Beckman Lawn. Earlyestimates of the numbers of gradu­ates include 260 bachelor's recipi­ents, 59 master's and 102 Ph.D. re­cipients, for a total of 421 gradu­ates.

Vannus, who has been the presi­dent and chief executive officer ofMemorial Sloan-Kettering CancerCenter in New York City sinceJanuary 2000, received his NobelPrize for studies of the genetic ba­sis of cancer. Much ofVarmus' sci­entific work was conducted during23 years as a faculty member at UCSan Francisco, where he and J.Michael Bishop demonstrated thecellular origins of the oncogene ofa chicken retrovirus. This discov­ery led to the isolation ofmany cel­lular genes that normally controlgrowth and development and arefrequently mutated in cancer.

For this work, Bishop and Varmusreceived many awards, includingthe 1989 Nobel Prize for physiol­ogy or medicine. Varmus is alsowidely recognized for his studies ofthe replication cycles ofretroviruses and hepatitis B viruses,the functions of genes implicated incancer and the development ofmouse models for human cancer,the focus of much of the currentwork in his laboratory at MemorialSloan-Kettering.

In 1993, Varmus was named bythen-President Bill Clinton to serveas the director of the National In­stitutes of Health, a position he helduntil the end of 1999. The NIH isthe federal focal point for medicalresearch in the United States andincludes 27 separate institutes andcenters. Its goal is to acquire new

D. Karla/The California Tech

Speakers outline the latest developments in machine learning as partof the Center for Neuromorphic Systems Engineering's ninth annualIndustry day. Neuroprosthetics, BEAM Robotics, BIO-bugs-theevent last Thursday left no robot dead.