California Tech, v.109:6, November 5, 2007

THE CALIFORNIA TECH VOLUME CIX, NUMBER 6 PASADENA, CALIFORNIA tech@caltech.edu NoVEMBER 5, 2007 Alice got nixed early in race BY SARAH MARZEN The Caltech students watching the DARPA Grand Challenge in Victorville this weekend didn't get to play cheerleader for Alice, their autonomous vehicle, like they did two years ago-last Tuesday, the Caltech Team was nixed from the 2007 qualifying line-up, largely based on Alice's the poor merg. ing capabilities. This weekend's prizes, totaling $3.5 million, went to Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, and Virginia Tech for best handling urban driving conditions, like stopping at red lights and avoiding collisions. Caltech Team members were generally surprised at their failure to advance, although they understood DARPA's decision. "Going into the qualifying event, I was pretty confident we would qualify for the race, " said mechanical engineering professor Richard Murray, who supervises the Caltech team. "It turned out that the combination of Alice's size and our approach to the software made one of the tests... particularly difficult." Alice was the second-larg- est vehicle on the road, and the merging capabilities for Alice had only been designed and tested 2-3 weeks before the actual race. "We just didn't anticipate the emphasis on the interaction With other cars, " said Caltech graduate student Noel duToit, coordinator of Alice's navigation team. Teams are not informed of the specific tests before the race, and so there is some "guesswork" associated with preparing for the race. Alice might have advanced had the tests rewarded perseverance over merging capability, according to duToit. Both deToit and Nok Wongpiromsong, coordinator of Alice's system team, say that the best thing about Alice is "her ability to keep on going no matter what,' " citing her zero-ac- cident rate. The DARPA Grand Challenge, started in 2003, challenges teams from around the country to design an autonomous vehicle that can travel more than 60 miles safely with traffic. The best vehicles "must meet the same standards required to pass the California DMV road test" while travelling at a speed of at least 10 mph. This year, a total of 11 teams advanced to the finals, including teams fielded by MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell, and Stanford. GOING GREEN he Sustainability Council isabel ly Dean Cure established by Dean GREEN the Vice President for Business and Finance. The intention was to bring together representatives from various groups on campus to discuss current activities and needs relevant to a sustainable campus. Dr. Carol Carmichael, member of Sustainabilly Council SEE PAGE 8 TO FIND OUT HOW CALTECH IS TURNING ECO-FRIENDLY HOW CALTECH IS GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY Guatemala wheelchair idea coasts into PBS competition Caltech alumni one of four finalists BY JONATHAN YEUNG Last year in a product design course, Professor Ken Pickar challenged then Caltech students Rudy Roy and Ben Sexton to create a project that would improve the lives of Guatemalans. When they came up with the idea to create wheelchairs out of bikes, little did they know that the class assignment would turn into a nonprofit organization and a finalist in an entrepreneurial contest. The student group is one of four finalists in the PBS Project Enterprise Contest, singled out of over one hundred applicants. The winner, which will be announced in the next few days, will be featured on one of PBS' NOW broadcast segments. As Roy and Sexton searched for ideas for their project last fall, they came across disturbing sta-tistics. More than twenty million people in developing countries were disabled and had no wheelchairs. Without mobility, these people had limited access to health care, food and water, and in most cases they were unable to find jobs. Thus, the two envisioned using parts from relatively cheap bikes to create wheelchairs as alternatives to the costlier, standard wheelchair. Not only would these vehicles more accessible to Guate- malans by price and availabil- ity, but the bike wheels on the chairs would be able to handle the rougher terrains prevalent in Guatemala that traditional wheelchairs could not. Even after the course finished, Roy and Sexton pursued their idea further. Seniors Nathan Chan, Tom Oliver, and Charlie Piatt joined the effort and together they formed Intelligent Mobility International (IMI, a non-profit Organizaton devoted to, in the words of their website, "empower disabled people and their communities around the world." "Working for a start-up company was more work than any of us had imagined," said Chan, whose primary roles are wheelchair de-sign, research, product testing. marketing. Even though we and are starting on a small scale, there Please see WHEELCHAIRS, Page 5 - In This Issue Olive Harvest in colors Pages 6 and 7 The Tech would not be under admin Olive Harvest without a glitch Beware of super-mice Volleyball ends season page 2 page 5 page 10 page 11 Running out of party time BY ANDREA DUBIN With twelve days left for undergraduates to build Interhouse, students are concerned about finishing in time "We're really cramped with our schedule," said junior Nathan- iel Borneman of Blacker House. Sophomore Sarah Li of Blacker house added, "It's a horrible date and bad scheduling." Last year. the house-wide party was held in late January. "I didn't want it to be on November 17th," said junior Ekta Bhojwani, the ASCIT Social Di-rector, "but it has to be taken apart by Christmas break so that was the only reasonable date." Like last year's party, the South Houses are paired with a North Please see PARTY, Page 5 Losing everything to San Diego fires Page 9 2 NoVEMBER 5, 2007 OPINION THE CALIFORNIA TECH TECH.CALTECH.EDU From the Editor A media board gives the Tech final say Last week I argued that the Tech should be an inde-that might be a poor decision. eral every week-to print "articles" that are actually pendent body governed by a Publication Board that The Board elects the editors, managing editors, plugs for student groups, ASCIT only one of them. deals with all on-campus media. After someone ap-and people for other leadership positions in campus Maybe the old Tech didn't care if they ran the ar- proached me warning that students didn't want the media. They divvy up funding. They also field com-ticles, or they were so desperate to fill space that they newspaper to be controlled by the administration, I plaints against the publications, especially if there are couldn't say no, but blurring the distinction between realized I must have completely failed to convey the legal issues with libel. advertisement and actual news does the reader a huge purpose of the board, because my intention was the This is not handing the Tech over to the administra- disservice. We no longer need to do this, so we've opposite of this. I want this paper to be as indepen- tion. This is far from it. been turning such submissions away week after dent as possible, which means self-governance. What this does is make the Tech more indepen-week. Here's Take Il on how the Tech should be oper- dent-independent of the student government, ad- But people in charge of campus organizations as- ated. ministration, groups on campus, etc. sume —and with justification, since the Tech has no The Publications or Media Board at most schools is In the past two weeks, I limited my argument leverage —that the Tech is obligated to be an ASCIT comprised almost exclusively of students. They rep- against ASCIT governance to the problems of elec-publication first, and a newspaper second. They ar resent the campus newspaper, yearbook, radio station, tions. But the problem of a student government rul- gue that since the Tech is a service to the students, etc. At Caltech, the only relevant publications might ing the newspaper is more fundamental. At its core, there's no reason for us not to publish their adver- be the Tech, the little T, and the Big T. Most boards journalism is supposed to be separate from governing tisements under the guise of news stories, as we've have a faculty adviser, usually an expert on constitu- bodies, or else it's just a waste of paper (or band- always done before. tional law and the first amendment, and maybe one width). We need to be able to break from the old perception member of the administration. They don't necessar- What's the point of having a watchdog if it gets of the Tech as a weekly ASCIT circular, low on stu- ily have votes, or if they do, they don't even come spoon-fed? The New York Times would be pointless dent interest and desperate for content to fill out eight close to outweighing those of the students. They are if it were under the control of the US government. pages. If a newspaper is what the campus wants- only on the board to offer guidance and suggestions. Similarly, a college newspaper is severely crippled if and I hope that's what it wants — then the Tech has no If the students running the campus newspaper decide it can't act independently of other campus organiza- business being held on a leash. to print a month's worth of porn in it, the only thing tions. Marissa Cevallos the administration could do is suggest reasons why The Tech gets a constant stream of requests — sev- Editor-in-Chief The California Tech Caltech 40-58, Pasadena, CA 91125 advertising e-mail: business s@caltech.edu editorial e-mail: tech@caltech.edu VOLUME CIX, NUMBER 6 Editor-in-Chief Marissa Cevallos Business Managers Evelyn Chou Kimberley Ho Photography Editor Jonatan Isal Lavout Editors Hanna Liu Valerie Syverson Yang Yang Webmaster Michael Comstock Staff Dannan Almasco Molly Davis Andrea Dubin Mark Licheniaub Andrew Freddo Anna Hiszpanski Michelle Jiang Robert Karl Chris Kennelly Cindy Ko Natalya Kostandova Vibha Laliani Garrett Lewis Harold Martin saran Marzen Sara McBride Craig Montuori Valerie Syverson Sonia Tikoo Gloria Iran Circulation Matthew Wierman Adviser Dr. Gary Libman The Tech is published weekly Letters to the Editor Why did I have to pay for your olive oil meal this weekend? MICHAEL FORTE This last Friday's "first annual" olive harvest proceeded without a hitch. But what does it and other such large events that substitute for our CDS dinners accomplish? I am always a fan of getting undergrads out and socializing with their peers and faculty, but why do we have to pay disproportionately for such events compared to the rest of the people in attendance? On-campus undergrads pay $1389 for board each term. We get $420 for declining balance which leaves $969 for open kitchen and dinner. That comes out to about $17.50 per day. CDS seems to claim that we pay $5.50 per day or open kitchen (which is absurd based on the number of people who don't use it), leaving $12-$13 per dinner. So on-campus undergrads and people in Avery paid $12 for the olive harvest dinner. But the other people in atten-dance, who seemed to be a majority, did not pay a penny. It is not entirely clear to me how this event was funded, but it received some money from both MHF and Housner. Both of these funds are for undergraduates and graduates, not for faculty or the random people who decided to come to the olive harvest. I am sure both funds would be unhappy to hear that undergrads had to pay for the event but the guests did not. It seems to me that if anyone else should have eaten at this event, they should have paid the same amount that I did. The funding that this event received should not have also covered the people for whom the funding was not meant for. Also if it costs less than $12 dollars per person, I would be furious that I helped subsidize someone else's dinner without my choice. Michael Forte is a senior and the Interim Treasurer for ASCIT. of the before by Tecay of the week on oro puntion- ions. The editors reserve the right to edit and bridge all submissions for an )t 1ts autha 'The advertising advertising should be submitted electronically or as camera-read art. but ine lech can also do simple typesetting and arrangement. All advertsing inquiries should be directed to thi business manager al oustness@cauech.edu ror subscripuon intormaton, please sena mall lo suoscriptions. Join the Tech every Monday and Friday at Broad Cafe from 12-1 PM. President's Column Get involved at Caltech: invite a professor to lunch at the Ath Before I start this column, I would like to thank every- one involved in Friday's Olive Harvest. The coming of such a large together festival from such a simple idea is simply ex-traordinary, and the fact that it came together so quickly shows how amazing the results can be when we get together and plan something. Most of all, though, the harvest was an opportunity for great interaction between students, faculty, staff, anc alumn. It was really fun climbing a ladder outside of Baxter and picking olives with an assort- of Techers, everyone from the president's wife to the groundskeepers, but opportu nities for meeting and forging relationships with The various parts of Tech shouldn't be confined to a single day a year. The cases way get to know the Tech faculty is to take a professor out to lunch. The MOSH provides money through ASCIT for groups of students to have lunch with a professor. Although students normally decide to take the professor to the Athenaeum, this money could provide for a lunch date at any restaurant in the area. Best of all, there are no forms to fill out or proposals to write; simply get a handful of students together, convince a faculty member that he or she wants to eat with you, and come to an ASCIT meet-ing. Most of the time, you will get the money with almost no questions asked. Surprisingly, though, nobody has taken us up on this offer yet this term. The faculty want to meet undergrad-uates, the undergraduates want to meet faculty, and ASCIT and the MOSH want to make it hap-pen. If nothing else, it's a free House events provide another opportunity for interactions Faculty and administration are always welcome guests at dress dinners, but there is also funding for specific social events to foster the ties between stu-dents, professors, and alumni. The MOSH provides funds for events fostering student-faculty interaction. This normally takes the form of a barbecue or tea, but can be as creative an event as one can imagine, as long as it attracts faculty members. The alumni association helps schedule house reunions on a rotating schedule; Ricketts had theirs last term and it was a great time for all. In addition, the Alumni Association is always willing to help students organize events, whether the students need assistance in funding, organization, or just getting the word out to alumni. One of ASCIT's major goals for this year is to strengthen interaction between the undergraduates and other groups on campus. Caltech's small size gives us a unique opportunity for the various parts of campus to get to know each other, and I would recommend everyone take advantage of the programs we have for this. -Chris Gonzales, ASCIT President THE CALIFORNIA TECH OPINION NOVEMBER 5, 2007 3 Newt Gingrich speaks at Privatization unreliable Pasadena Civic Auditorium: Student Views on Smaller Government Smaller, more efficient reward and consequence are rare and un- BY CHRIS KENNELLY spoken of. Due to the inherent ineff- ciency of bureaucracy, Gingrich claims, Speaking at the Pasadena Civic Audito- even the simplest metrics of government rium October 15th, Newt Gingrich, former success - "Levees should hold... bridges Speaker of the US House of Representa- should stay up…..wars should be won" tives, described the challenges he foresaw cannot be met in the future. By moderate estimates, he These desires, he asserts, are consid- argued, technological advancement will ered too radical by the news media and accelerate and expand four to seven times within the government. in the next 25 years. The shift pales in entrenched. Bureaucracy is With the growth of technol- comparison to what humanity has ever ogy, these attitudes cannot be allowed to borne wimess to in the past. It represents persist. The continued strength of Ameri- the leap forward from a "pre-light bulb, can society and its self-government is de- pre-telephone, pre-computer, pre-iPod" rived from the ability to continue to lead, era to today. These bounds towards prog- not a willingness to cling to the status ress cannot be fully realized without prop- quo. To see another sixty years of Ameri- er and efficient man- call agement. leadership Gingrich "Due to the inherent in-the world stage, eco- reminded listeners nomically, diplomati- that we are currently efficiency of bureaucracy, cally, and militarily, facing a revolution of Gingrich claims, even the the United States will unheard-of propor- have to spur science tions. Our outlook simplest metrics of gov- and technological ed- toward the next generation from today is ernment success -- "Le- ucation domestically, by better K-12 educa- at best comparable vees should hold...bridges tion and by attracting to that of Caltech's foreign intellect. To founders looking at should stay up...wars fail simply requires the world we live should be won" -- cannot allowing gross defi- in— a world of DNA, ciencies to persist. space ships, and be met." The crux of Gin- computers. A more grich's argument 1S striking estimate draws the comparison the simplicity of its logic. No reason- back to Isaac Newton looking forward to able expectation of government improve- the digital age. ment can survive without some degree Gingrich argued government cannot of motivation. Gingrich describes his lead the efficient management of our ideal world as one wherein "if the gov- nation's or our world's advancement. Al- ernment can't help you...they get out of though the ideal government should act as your way." They either "don't go in, or any business would, Gingrich noted, "in the public sector, there's no level you can win." At present, politicians continually propose new government solutions but go to to fail." The government will not frequently leave implementations to ex- fall into bankruptcy as a typical business isting bureaucracies. This behavior trans- would; it has a guaranteed clientele and forms the worst ideas into pitiful wastes essentially unlimited ability to produce of resources and the best ones into bitter funds. Comparing private and public en- shells of lost opportunity. As Caltech stu- terprise, he marveled that while FedEx and dents, we are at the forefront of the tech- UPS can jointly move and track millions nological revolution, molding the world of packages daily, the LA School District by our minds. And whether we person- cannot accurately pay its teachers. Within ally are political or apolitical, the choices the realm of private enterprise, the market made within government and private en- rewards those providing high quality ser- terprises affect the fulfillment or stifling vice and justly punishes those who fail in of our ideas. their responsibilities. Within government, BY VALERIE SYVERSON Newt Gingrich, although he has not held public office since his unfortunate loss of power for the Republican Party in 1998 amid the Clinton perjury trial, has remained active in national politics; he is a fellow of two prominent conservative think tanks, regularly appears as a guest on Fox News, and occasionally ever. makes enough noise to get himself briefly back onto more reputable news channels. In addition, he recently withdrew his offer to run for president in 2008 on the basis that he would not then legally be able to continue as chairman of the 527 group American dedicated Solutions, an organization to minimizing government His recent speech at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, came on the heels of this an- Those familiar with Gingrich's work in Congress and since, then, will find the content of this speech no surprise. Gingrich appears to have concentrated on the importance of shrinking the reach and power of public institu- tions during the next twenty to twenty- five years, such that they may be better equipped to meet the ever-expanding challenges the future will bring There is no question that une next century will bring tremendous changes for the human quality of life, as both technological development and population continue to accelerate. In order for humanity to keep control of the reins as all these changes bear down on us, it is certainly necessary for us to form some consensus on how things should be managed. However, the purpose for which businesses -- private enterprises -- are designed is to maximize their own profit, whether to the benefit or the detriment of the outside world. This certainly bears significant similarity to the historical behavior of governments during the colonial period, but arguably is not the model on which most modern people would like to see the world governed. Prominent anti-tax Republican Grover Norquist said, years ago, "My goal is to cut government in half in 25 years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." After Hurricane Katrina, this once commonly-cited phrase stopped "Gingrich appears to have concentrated on the importance of shrinking the reach and power of public institutions….such that they may be better equipped to meet the ever-expanding challenges the future will bring." showing up so often in editorials from small-government advocates, perhaps due to its having taken on slightly too sinister a cast. Levees and bridges, as is obvious to the most casual observer, will be built and kept up when the resources are provided for them to do so. The detriment to the government of Minnesota when the recent bridge collapse in the Twin Cities occurred is blatantly obvious enough that it is difficult to see Gingrich's claim that governments see no reward or consequence as anything but intellectual dis-honesty. In fact, in the aftermath of the event. commentators in Minnesota pointed out that the governor for the last six years has vetoed every increase in gas taxes that would have gone toward road repair, and in fact passed tax cuts that mandated budget decreases even though engineers rated the bridge as "structurally deficient" by 2005. Other notable losers in the Minnesota budget standoffs include public schools. mentally 1ll people dependent on federal health programs, and those who buy state park passes These cuts, naturally, went primarily toward relieving the financial burden on the wealthy. This space does not allow that I discuss the disastrous levee breaks in New Orleans resulting from the similar lack of funding to repair them before a serious storm, though in that case the tax cuts were at the federal level. Nor can I address the laughable notion that too much government involvement is the cause of the U.S.'s failure to stabilize Iraq, or question the ability of private enterprise to provide good K-12 education -- or, for that matter. health care -- to those who cannot afford to pay for it. However, the above account of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis demonstrates what, unfortunately, seems to be the usual story. It might be pleasant to think that letting wealthy businessmen build and repair public bridges of their own accord would take care of all the inefficiencies of gov-ernment, but the record speaks against it. Instead, we see that things for those without vast personal resources only get done when public money is gathered -- or extracted - and used to fund projects and programs for the public good What we can learn from other schools Not for changing who we are, but for learning how to do it better: Craig fields grad students' responses regarding their undergrad experiences BY CRAIG MONTUORI Last week, I wrote again about the 1967 student trip to colleges on the East Coast. This will be my third and final piece on it and the similar trip that I proposed to the MHF for the following year. Regarding my previous articles, I've gotten some email responses from grad students about their experiences as undergrads along with some suggestions on which options available at other schools could be emulated here. I have one major concern in response to one of these emails: limited rein raising money, such that a dol- For example, let's look at the from grad school applications to lar that's raised for the Humanities RAs and the Master of Student House drama. The position of doesn't necessarily compete with Houses (MOSH). In the cur- Master seems to be a combination a dollar that's raised for the hard rent system, the RAs are a mix of disciplinarian, point of contact sciences. between older friend and parent, for faculty-student relations, aca- Extracurricular activities fit into in that they are both someone to demic mentor, and someone who this framework as well, which means that Caltech is unlikely to consult with when problems arise and front-line disciplinarian when represents the culmination of the academic process that we struggle put much effort into developing rules are broken. The MOSH, through. a music program comparable to formerly a disciplinarian posi- What can we learn from the rea- those at high-quality liberal arts tion similar to the Deans, is now soning behind the position to im- schools like Williams. It's a basic a cultural position, with the task prove Caltech? Well, ever since fact following from Caltech's core of expanding the horizons of the the position of Director of Resi- decisions to be the best in a few fields. students. Now, dence Life was created, the MOSH at Harvard and Yale, has been an increasingly ill-de- As a result, any trip today will things are somewhat different. At fined position. We need some- not recommend that Caltech aban- Harvard, each house, with a size one like Professor Brennen, who dons what makes us unique or similar to that of all of the South toured the Houses each night and Caltech, like any other institu-tion, has a limited financial pool. In some respects, it's a zero-sum game, in that a dollar spent on the Humanities is a dollar that can't be spent on the sciences. In other re-spects, Caltech separates its goals second reports on education that Houses combined, has a Master. recommends we "improve and saw the problems students faced. The Master is a faculty position strengthen the HSS division.' In- We don't need to lose trips to the that combines the MOSH and RA LA Philharmonic, but we need the stead, it will look for ways to im-positions. The Master arranges help of faculty to prevent us from prove Caltech within the frame- for speakers for the House and or- drawing back into the Houses. work of the choices we've already ganizes Tutors within the Houses, We can think about what we ask made. who provide advice for everything of our RAs, who are demanded to simultaneously be both friends and police. We can think about how to work faculty-student interactions and mutual respect into our current institutions, which should be encouraging it instead of promoting a system where such interactions and respect are considered unusual. We can think about the roles of the Houses in terms of academic and social development. The trip will look at these questions and not demand sweeping changes for the sake of laying out another set of recommendations. Instead, it will help explain why Caltech is the way it is to those of us that are only here for four (or five..) years. We don't have the ability to spend twenty years thinking deeply on these ques-tions, but the record of this trip like the trip in 1967, could trickle down to influence Caltech decades from now. 4 THE CALIFORNIA TECH NEWS NOVEMBER 5, 2007 Faces of Caltech Amy Eastwood, track star ASCIT minutes: 10/31/07 Present: Chris Gonzales, Mike Gri- -Gonzo reports that the renovations will nolds, Andrea Dubin, Mike Forte, be complete fairly soon. The screening Mike Woods, Ekta Bhojwani, Partick room looks nice. Herring, Daryl Coleman -There is one room that hasn't been BY PERRIN CONSIDINE Name: Amy Eastwood Position: 6th year Graduate stu-dent, R.A. 2nd year Ricketts House Hails from: University of Virigi-nia, Chem department Goal: Well, I guess my main goal is to get my Ph.D. so I am a bi-organic chemist so I want to... get some good research done and learn... I think I want to work with undergraduates, later, so another one of my goals is to relate and interact with undergraduates as a mentor and a tutor. Perrin Comsidine: Why did you choose Caltech? Amy: I applied to the best Chemistry departments in the country and visited the ones I got into... and I was very excited about a couple of the labs at Caltech. And a lot of it was the way I felt when 1 came here. It felt right. labmates. There's always soille and sort of interesting thought-provoking conversation to be had in lab, whether it be about someone's project, current events, or a hypothetical zombie takeover. Not to mention all of the other people in the Chemistry department who work behind the scenes. As an RA, I'm surrounded by amazing undergrads. I enjoy coming home to people hanging out in the lounge, courtyard, and hallways. I also get to interact with the Deans, the people in Student Housing, Life, Maintenance, the janitorial staff, and so many others. I can find a friendly face almost anywhere on campus. assigned. It used to be the silkscreen Absent: Dan Lo, Zack Higbee, Caleb 100M It's not being renovated right Ng, Angela Zah now and is just designated as multipurpose room. The Alumni fund wants it *Tech for the student phone program, since -Mike Woods brought up the possi- IST building is being built behind bility of letting the Tech be autono- Steele. The BoD feels that it would mous. He suggested that we could be a waste to put it there since not that publish stuff (like candidate many undergrads would use it. We statements) through ug-list. Gonz feel that it is not directly beneficial to a argued that we would be removing large number of students and we could them from ASCIT and putting them find a better use for the room. under Caltech control. He brought up the concern about censorship. *Interhouse Having a Publications Board would -Ekta requests that we give the house take control away from the students checks for them to start building with and instead the Tech would be under She suggests giving the houses $1k per direct control of faculty and adminis- party to help them start building. Hous- tration. The alumni association sold ing will reimburse houses for costs, but off 2 publications to Caltech and they they need money so that people don't are having a lot of trouble since they have to front it out of their own pock- don't have their own publication. ets. We will give the houses the money The bylaws say that we have to fund set aside for interhouse from ASCIT's ing connected me up with Nike's them 10% of our budget anyway. budget. Club Run LA, and I have fun run- Gonzo says that the Tech is inde- PC: Is it true that you ran 3 conning with them during the year pendent. Our goal should be giving *Budget items secutive marathons on the same when they put on events. Other students more control, and giving the -Currently we are out of budgeted club day? If not, please tell us about than that, most of my racing has Tech to administration would not be funding. Other funding for clubs has to PC: What do you like to do for your running exploits, which lit- been with Team Run With Us, a accomplishing this. In terms of elec- come out of "special reserves". fun and to relax? tle birds say include the Boston team associated with the running tions, we think that people should be -Weird things happened with the tech Amy: Between grad Marathon. store of the same name up on informed enough to select the best since they hadn't actually gotten their AMY: Hahaha! No, I've only run Lake. With them I've competed editor. Mike Grinolds brought up money until this year. It shouldn't actu ally have much down time. What two marathons, and definitely not in many cross country, track, and that this is also the way BoC chair ally affect this year's budget little free time I do have, I try to consecutively. I ran in college for road races. Right now I'm a little is decided, and people tend to make spend with my friends or outside, the University of Virginia, and too busy to train very much, but good decisions about that position. Andrea Dunn probably running. then continued running out here. I still try to get up and run most ASCIT Secretary I started by running the San Di- PC: What is the best part of your mornings. *SAC ego marathon with Team in Train- job as a student or as an R.A.? ing, a fundraising organization Amy: The people. As a grad stu- for the Leukemia and Lymphoma dent, I enjoy all of the interac- Society. My next marathon was tions I have with my boss, Den-the Boston Marathon--which nis Dougherty. And with my was a lot of fun. 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Lake Ave. Pasadena (626) 792-6634 Always 20% off for all Caltech students, staff, faculty 6 1 8 1 3 6 3 2 7 5 3 5 4 2 8 2 8 6 7 5 2 THE CALIFORNIA TECH NEWS NOVEMBER 5, 2007 5 Student group one of Olive Harvest a well-oiled event four in PBS finals Curious students made their own olive press, grab media light WHEELCHAIRS, FROM PAGE 1 are many things we must do in order for this to take off-product design and testing, production, and distribution." Furthermore, the team has set an ambitious deadline to have the first wheelchairs on the ground by February of next year. Despite these chal-lenges, Chan remarked that he was "confident" that they could complete the task. He has reason to believe that the February deadline will be met as IMI has already progressed quite far since its founding. The com- pany has developed a product design that only needs refinements in ergonomics. For production, the team has talked to a company in Guatemala called Transitions. Not only is this company interested in producing these wheel-chairs, but it is providing further benefit by hiring disabled workers to make these wheelchairs, as finding employment for the disabled is one of the original goals of IMI. IMI is also negotiating with Corsario Bikes for wheelchair parts. To fund this, IMI has received grants from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, and is currently applying for the JP Morgan Good Venture grant. "We all are interested in international sustainable develop ment." said Chan. "People the United States have so much, whereas people elsewhere have so little. We're very fortunate, and I know it sounds cliché, but it is our duty to help them." Some people not psyched for party PARTY, FROM PAGE 1 this party," Bhojwani said. "It might be reinstated as yearly, but House or Avery to work on con-struction. Lloyd and Fleming are working on a "Top Gun" themed party, Page and Ricketts are building Dante's Inferno, Dabney and Ruddock are doing Oktoberfest, and Avery and Blacker are working on the theme "Riding out the storm" based on a 1930s sea-side resort that gets hit by a storm. Blacker is planning on having a 12-piece live band and lots of walet "Think Keylargo," said Borneman. "We are going to have a larger flood than ever in our courtyard and have waterfalls." Senior Ashok Kumar of Dab-ney House said that the plan is to have a Beer fountain for Oktober-fest. Daryl Coleman of Fleming house said that they are building an aircrall carmer for thel party. ASCIT as well as individual houses are trying hard to get people out helping to build the par-ties. Borneman said, "We'll be giving out free food to workers.' In addition, CDS and AsCIl are organizing events for people who are building. "So if you are out building, you'll reap the benefits later," Bhojwani commented. After this year, Interhouse is slated to be a biennial event. "We'll evaluate how it went after we need more input." Some students are tired of building two parties a year and aren't happy that Interhouse happening again. "I know a group of people who are not all that excited about doing another party this year," Kumar said. Senior Nathan Lau commented, "I'm not terribly happy about the fact that interhouse is happening this year. I feel like it's the administration's ploy of getting more money using une undergraduates. It's going to ride a fine line of being really good or really terrible." This year the plan is to have an even bigger party than last year. Each house has $5,000 for construction as well as another $4,000 for food, drinks, and other things such as music. Graduate students will be invited again, and the plan is to allow even more guests this year. Bob Perpall, class of 1952, says he's excited that the party is happening again after it was banned after 1989. "It was a lot of fun!" recalls Perpall, "and we were always building right up until the last minute. Some things never change." BY PRADEEP RAMESH Some saw it as a much needed stress-relief before the onslaught on midterms, others welcomed the break from CDS; whatever their motives, lechers, along with other members of the community, celebrated the much anticipated First Annual Harvest Festival last Friday. By morning, Friday all the machines for processing The olives were ready. but Slowly surely and with the help of several student groups and many volunteers, each 131 of the 130 olive trees on campus were harvested. By 5 PM, the Olive Walk and the lawns adjacent to the Athenaeum were covered with dinner tables laden with varieties of Mediterranean cuisine. Within 15 minutes, alumni, faculty, students, and guests had filled the seats and the festival kicked off with the spirit and energy of a Greek gala But where did the idea origi-nate? "Dvin Adalian and I were sick and tired of doing our homework one day and we wondered if we could make olive oil," explained Ricky Jones, president of Ruddock House. Plagued by curiosity, the two consulted several other students who had successfully experimented with processing olives for oil the previous year. Then they set to work designing a machine that could pulp the olives and churn out safe, edible oil. Relying on PVC pipes, and other construction tarps, tools, Jones and Adalian finished a machine that could press the olives into a pulp. "Our harvest was sporadic because neither of us had much time, but we managed By the numbers 2000 chairs at the Harvest dinner olive trees on campus 100,000 dollars spent to harvest about 25 pounds over a week," said Jones. So what was their reward? "About 500 milliliters of homegrown olive oil," laughed Jones. "It wasn't much, but we had a lot of fun and got a lot of attention. The administration became really interested and we even got on the news," said Jones. When asked about the festival's goals, Jones said, "The festival brings together different segments of the Caltech community and we as sluacil have a duty to uphold and add to the Institute." This year, the administration spent approximately $100,000 on the festival. Work on building the olive presses began in early March and the presses were delivered to campus last Wednes-day. The emphasis, according to Jones, was not profits but "uniting the student body under a common banner." "I don't know of many other events which garner as much publicity the olive-harvest as Caltech's name has become much more ubiq uitous," said Ricky. As regards marketing and sale of the oil, Ricky said, "Students are in position to claim that the olives are theirs the olive trees and the olives are a unique characteristic of the campus. I do not believe that the spirit of the festival is to make a profit; rather, it is another quality that distinguishes Tech from other schools. Since Caltech is not a member of the California Olive Growers Association, rigorous lab testing was required to ensure that the quality of the olive oil was on par with California standards. Addi-tionally, the "task of organizing volunteers and coordinating work shifts was difficult and messy," added Jones, "but we managed to get everything and everyone working together. Write or take pictures when you can. visit tech.caltech.edu THE CALIFORNIA TE Sports Features Humor We're flexible. Home A year in the life of Jean Lou Cy By Natalya Kostandova Staff Witor | May 30, 2007 Like to write? Like to take pictures? Like free food? Join the Tech every Monday and Friday at Broad Cafe from 12-1 PM. Join us Monday or Friday for lunch at Broad Cafe, or send tech@caltech.edu an email if you're interested in being a part of the Tech. 6 THE CALIFORNIA TECH OLIVE HARVEST 2007 NOVEMBER 5, 2007 Olive Harrest Workers and community members picking olies on the right, At right: Ruddock president Ricky Jones making olire oil from scratch, Plenty of healthy eating & cooking tips on display, OLIVE OIL Layout bu Michelle Jiang What started out as just an idea, blossomed into a community-wide all-day erent with food, healthy cooking tips and exen a custom-made ice sculpbure, THE CALIFORNIA TECH OLIVE HARVEST 2007 NOVEMBER 5, 2007 7 Festiral 2007 Even Tom Mannion joins in on the fun as the master chef for the festival Photos courtesy of Michelle Jiang & Jon Tsai Students help out and also kick back and enjoy the food Food, food and more food Amidst all this great food, Jean-Lou Chameau stops to take a photo with two of our student chefs on call 8 THE CALIFORNIA TECH FEATURES NOVEMBER 5, 2007 Aboeground Underground. partment heads BY ANNA HISZPANSKI architecture and planning, housing, and utilities- -and some undergrad- days under the right conditions Caltech's faculty has for many years been researching able energy uate and graduate student represen-tatives. Iso been switched to greener prod whole new supply in. We're trying to As Dr. Carol Carmichael, First aount councu is an ao noc orsani- zation established by Dean Currie, the vice rresident for busmess and Finance. The intention was to bring together representatives from various groups on campus to discuss current activities and needs relevant to a sustainable campus." are still some speed bumps-products are not being produced in the amounts we need but it's get- tainers that were previously used, Caltech now uses corn plastic cups ther. According to Daily, most of the ting better." In addition to the difficulty of finding environmentally products in the friendly completely compostable SYSCO quantities Caltech needs, Daily has also had dif- Caltech Dining Services (CDS) Among ouner for greener prod- ficulty finding them at rea mented to make dining at Caltech sonable prices. ablestore.com which sells biode- a greener process, napkin holders "All of these green gradable products, 230,000 plastic were changed to products are more supermarket bags are dumped kin dispensers. Xpressnap, the com- landfills every hour. Now, Caltech pany that produces the dispensers, #1 expensive," Daily are no longer con- guarantees napkin consumption to offset "We've part of tributing to decrease by at least 25%. Peter Dai- the cost by get- shoppers at the C-Store may have noticed that their purchased items Services (DS) and a membering Services (CDS) and a member Unplug electronic ting away from were placed in BioBags instead of the Sustainability Council, said that [Caltech] logo while he hasn't measured the napkin devices when cups and logo pizza boxes. consumption, it indeed seems lower However. changing to more en- not in use While the process has not been vironmentally friendly products easy, Daily says nas veer a lal-anu-eror orocess he has enjoyed the according to Daily. The first biode- challenge of thinking gradable spoons that were purcnasee outside the box ended up melting in hot soup. . Daily "We've had fun with the quickly remedied the problem: CDS whole project and have made it has since switched to biodegradable a challenge to our staff to try to do soup bowls and cutlery produced by things as efficiently as possible, EarthSmart Products that can with said Daily stand up to 200°F. However, while Daily is pleased that the to-go carrier items are more environmentally friendly, he believes that CDS would be even greener if #2 diners used real plates, cups, and silverware more often. Use real silverware glasses, and plates housino cromo crreen While Housing's green changes may not be as visible to ev- at Chandler Facilities Managemen less wa- "If a student wants to do a service eryone in the Caltech Community as those taking place in Chan- Delmy Emerson, Direc- sausa cal Janalvsis we would dler, Tim Chang, Director of Housing and a member of the Sus- ter. How- tor of Facilities Management CVCI welcome. them already they We actually wel- tainability Council, has been finding ways to making living at is also a member of the Sustain- Caltech more environmentally friendly, as well. have a come students to approach us ana ability Council and has found some system in place to tr talk with us and give us ideas." As of September 2007, all Caltech Housing properties (with innovative ways to contribute to- to minimize consumption for the exception of undergraduate houses) are using the 100% green wards Caltech becoming greener power option that Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) provides. walerns olan Unbeknownst to some, Caltecl Because her department is respon- "Some According to the Pasadena City website, by opting for the green people have the im- generates much of the power it sible for maintaining the buildings pression that we use a lot of wa uses. Several years ago, the co- power option, customers are charged an extra 2.5 cents per kilo- and grounds, changes watt-hour in exchange for having their come entirely division are within ter," said Emerson "Back in the generation power plant on campus especially far reach- 90's we built a weather station was updated -its production ca from green sources (mainly wind power). While ing across the Caltech campus, this option helps reduce Caltech's carbon campus. We have sensors pacity increased from 5 megawatts fecting where our trash , what throughout campus and have the 12.5 megawatts The olant 1 rootprint, It also neip increase investment our floors are washed wit , and the irrigation connected to a com- called a co-generation plant be mio renewable energy sources. landscapes we see every According to Chang, "solar power is puter system The sensors mea- cause One way in which Emerson's produce sure the water requirements electricity using also being Investigated for the Cataln: department helps the e buildings and other single family homes. of the plants and soil, and a natural ga be greener is through the the system will automati- lo test out this opton, Tom Mannion's Recycling Center they perate. The turbine #3 cally release water when and Inen uses unt Caltech home was recently outfitted by so- center, built on the north-west cor-the soil requires it heat recov- lar panels. ner of campus in 1993, has grown Bring your own Three years ago Housing also replaced all its Visitors who from its humble beginnings when ered to camou coffee mug to that from washing machines to front-loading models, which are more en- lo culo it was first operated by students greenery, vironmentally friendly. however, pro- the Red Door cess to cre- Now, Caltech is a certified recycler "[The High Efficiency front loading models] reduce electricity be surprised to finc ate steam to and according to Emerson, the pro some o power a steam and water consumption. [They] also requires less soap to clean a gram has been so successful that perfectly lawns turbine. Some load resulting in cleaner waste water, " wrote Chang in an email like Pasadena Cit "As a side note: it also extends the life of the items other groups, that of the steam is also espouse. College, have modeled their own being washed." this is done on purpose becaus routed to campus to be used in labs recycling efforts on Caltech's Housing has also been working to change various fixtures to rass normally goes dormant in or heat water Emerson and her custodial staff lower consumption ones. For example, Chang cites the fact that the winter In previous years As Senior Utility Plant Operator have also recentlv looked at various Housing has renlaced near v 400 toilets to dual flush models thai groundskeepers would add Marlon Tiglao explained, the plant cleaning products and procedures use less water and has replaced some light switches with motion chemicals and water the grass carefully regulates what it outputs that result in less chemicals being reep green year-round into the environment. Exhaust gas- detectors. The department has also pushed to change to compact released into the environment fluorescent light bulbs where it is possible. However, in an effort to change es from the natural gas turbine ar "We have initiated a green clean- their practices to be more envi- passed through a ducting system to Within the student houses, Housing has added decals on miring program where we've evalu- rors above sinks and stickers on light switches reminding stu- ronmentally friendly, the depart- 1aaaae essOns ane anv run ated all of our cleaning procedures ment is allowing nature to take off water must be of a certain pH dents to conserve water and electricity. Additionally, Housing supplies and practices said Em- recently purchased Smart Strips which will be provided to stu- "We have identified a num- its course level and temperature. erson. "If the lawns are dormant we dents' rooms as an alternative to normal power strips. The Smar ber cleaning products Strips sense when a device is not being used and can turn it off won't water them as much. and are in the process of replacing save It According to Emerson, the plant has received awards from the En- according the manufacturer's website. our un wale ca lapor vironmental Protection Agency for While encouraged by the changes being made, Chang believes [chemicals we ve used with these said Emerson low emissions and has been fea As a result of the tured in multiple newspapers that perhaps a more important component is conser- green In terms of maintaining the vation by people: changes happening around cam- The plant may also be extending campus grounds, Emerson's "We can do all the above, but without Emerson nopes that stu its operations sOUl Caltech has department has been work- dents' education for consumers. the conserva- interest will be sparked plans to put a new solar array atop ing to make more of the tion piece will not be effective. I read and they'll be encouraged to the Holliston parking structur vegetation on campus someolace tal the best way to ef become involved. to further increase production of resilient, fect positive change with respect to our carbon rootprints is by reauc #4 "We want to be able to use the clean enersy. which will require student population to help us in ing consumption," "Technology wrote Chang. our initiatives,' ' said Emerson. will help but the largest effect can be made by elim- Don't print papers For more on sustainability at lech, including how students are inating waste." helping measure our progress, see our website at tech.caltech.edu. you can reference electronically THE CALIFORNIA TECH FEATURES NOVEMBER 5, 2007 Losing Two sisters remember what it was like last time they saw San Diego on fire Top left: The Felsen home before the 1996 fire. Center: Rubble and ash are all that remains after the fire. BY MARISSA CEVALLOS When Csilla Felsen stepped outside her Avery room two weeks ago to an orange, hazy sky, she smelled smoke and ash. The last time the Caltech senior from San Diego smelled the odor, she was ten years old, and her house had just burned down. For Csilla's sister, Caltech ju- Csilla Felsen is a senior in Biology and English nior Panna Felsen, the smell of smoke always reminds her of their mom instructing them to breathe through their wet swim towels as they drove up their familiar hill, not suspecting an empty ash-filled lot instead of a home. The wildfires two weeks ago Everything were a scorching reminder to the Caltech sisters of losing everything they owned, from their prized Barbie collection to their mother's handmade quilts. Though Felsen family came through this October's fires with little more than ash-covered win-dows, Csilla says she still remembers the moment her family drove up their familiar hill after swim practice, past rows of unharmed houses, to her charred, empty lot. "We went hysterical, said Csilla, who thought her rabbit and dog Inca had died in the fire. Their 14 year-old sister Aniko started screaming at a group of spectators who'd gathered around the house, "Does this make you happy?!" They left "very quickly. Their mother took the 3 sisters shelter-hopping for the rest of the night, eventually settling on the Burger King park- ing lot after shelters filled or closed. They hadn't seen their father since he left for work that morning. "We figured he was OK," said Csil-la, but it wasn't until their mother pulled into a shelter her husband was just leaving that the shocked family was reunited. Csilla said her father's positive attitude calmed the girls down. "The first things he said were 'Everything's going to be fine, don't worry about it'," said Csil- "Having strong parents really helps." A new life In fact, for Csilla and Panna, the weeks they spent hopping around hotels and eating in restaurants weren't traumatic at all. "We were in vacationland," said Csilla. "We got to go shop- ping and eat vacation food. You'd be surprised how quickly you can get new stuff." Csilla said her fifth grade class was incredibly supportive since they had just been at her house a few weeks before for her birthday party. "They were devastated," said Csilla. She and her sisters were interviewed by the news along with a teacher at her school who'd also lost her home. Csilla credits the generosity of friends for the support and gift certificates that helped out during their nomadic period, but said that the generosity was almost overwhelming. "For a while, people tried to write us checks. Everyone just felt badly," said Csilla. The sisters left their friends from their old school when they switched to the school system near their new home. "I would say that the fire is probably one of the best things that happened to our family," said Panna. "For one thing, we moved to a better school district with better opportunities." The fire was more uprooting for their older sister, who'd had a stronger attachment to the old house and the old life. "She used the experience as a college essay. For her, it was much more dramatic," said Csilla. The fire changed their mother, whose intricate quilts and needle-craft decorated the house and had been featured in quilting maga-zines. "She stopped doing it seri- ously," said Csilla, after the fire wiped out an entire life's worth of needlework. "She'd still make us dresses from time to time, but it wasn't a hobby anymore." Location, Location, Location The Felsen home sat on top of a canyon filled with fire-loving plant life. The canyon was full of chaparral, a type of plant community that thrives in arid conditions and burns quickly. Csilla did a report on the particular plant life soon after the fire. "In San Diego, they actually tried protecting the plant," said Csilla. ironic." "It's Csilla thinks that people don't understand how easily the Califor-na landscape catches on fire. "Fires can start when people are careless with a cigarette." Even though their house sat atop a cinder box, Csilla says her family couldn't have imagined their house wouldn't have been there after driving past her neighbors' unharmed houses. "We had no idea it would be our house." Family, friends, and insurance Csilla says that because her parents were willing to battle with their insurance, they were able to recover their financial losses. But it meant her mother had to spend weeks cataloguing every item in the house. "She had to go room to room in her head, had to inventory ev-erything. The insurance company gave us catalogues with pictures of furniture, with none of the prices listed, so we could pick out which ones we had." Cilla said having good insur- ance made losing everything easier on her parents. But for the people whose houses only partially burn, she says it's a lot harder. "Everything's a mess. And you don't get the same support as if you'd 'lost everything'," said Csilla. "To lose anything is difficult." Panna Felsen is a junior in Electrical Engineering THE CALIFORNIA TECH The end is near Douglas Adams right about superiority of mice BY NATALYA KOSTANDOVA Have no fear, Supermouse is here! With a recent Case Western Reserve Uni- versity break- through in sci-ence, the small furry rodents are evolving into something unbelievably strong and powerful-they've engi- neered mice to run faster, eat voracious-ly, and longer. live Don't get me wrong - superheroes are awesome, but something is telling me that the Supermice will choose to join the Dark Side. The superior mice, made possible by a genetic modification to a single gene that the mice share with humans, can run for six hours without stopping at a decently consistent rate of 20 meters per minute, which has been officially compared to Lance Armstrong riding up the Pyrenees without a break. They have a more active sexual life than normal mice, live and reproduce longer, and eat 60% more food without gaining weight. And now, with the size of their colony reaching half a thousand species, the world as we know it may be coming to the end. After all, the new characteristics of the mouse would be incredibly beneficial to the human race. Increased sexual drive and reproductive age? Yes! Just what we want - a perfect solution to the problem of overpopulation and poverty that we've been struggling with for a little while. Increased food con-sumption? This seems to be the lucky day for the starving children of Africa. Elevated aggression, recorded in the mice, is also something that we want. The world has been too peaceful and unexcit- 1ng lately. As for genetically modifying humans to have ten times the physical ability of an average human, it will be great to have a world populated by mini-Schwarzeneggers. If not used for the benefit of the humans, what were these mice made for? It's a conspira-cy, I tell you. The scientists want the mice to take over the world. Seriously. Planting the seeds of mouse domination long ago, they have been waiting for the day when the rodents can finally rise above their exploitators and hold the reins of power. From Mickey Mouse, Pin- ky and the Brain, and Mighty Mouse the original Super- mouse!), to Ratatouille, which makes it acceptable for rodents to have control over food, the most sacred part of our lives, mice have become more and more accepted in our culture. After all, for only $10.95 you can buy your pet mouse Sleep-N-Slumber Bed. Peek-N-See Vanity, and Sip-N-Snack Lamp (courtesy of PETCO), which are made with the comfort of your mouse in mind. And now, the day has come when the rodents are ready to be unleashed unto the world. I can already imagine the armies of Supermice marching down the streets of Washing-ton, D.C., Paris, Moscow, London, and Hara-re, Zimba-bwe, their squeals blending 1n unison as they chant the name of the character of Tom lead and Jerry, hailing him as the original FEATURES NOVEMBER 5, 2007 stick-it-to-the-man mouse. Their anger, bottled up through centuries of mousetraps, lipstick and mental damage caused bv continuous associa tion with a computer part, unite them in their ultimate revenge against the human kind. Their saber-sharp teeth tear into the decomposing flesh of trampled humans, and they show no mercy. When they come for us, there will be nothing left to do. And the world will descend into darkness. "A deeply funny chronicle of male adolescence." -Entertainment Weekly South Africa's #1 fastest and bestselling book! "Hilarious." -Best Life "South Africa's Catcher in the Rye!" —Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No. 1 Ladies U Detective Agency "Seems like wherevet I go, madness isn't far behind." —Jonn spud On sale now Razorbill Books A division of Penguin Young Readers Group www.razorbillbooks.com The Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology is coming to Caltech! The Siemens Competition takes great pleasure in inviting the students, faculty and staff of Caltech to the following events: Reception and Viewing of the Students' Research Projects: (refreshments will be served) DATE: Friday, November 9, 2007 TIME: 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm LOCATION: Dabney Lounge Student Oral Presentations: DATE: Saturday, November 10, 2007 TIME: 9:00 am - 2:45 pm LOCATION: Ramo Auditorium We look forward to seeing you! The Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology is the nation's premiere math and science research competition for high school students. The Siemens Foundation provides nearly $2 million in college scholarships and awards each year for talented high school students in the United States. By supporting outstanding students today, and recognizing the teachers and schools that inspire their excellence, the Foundation helps nurture tomorrow's scientists and engineers. www.siemens-foundation.org SIEMENS THE CALIFORNIA TECH SPORTS NOVEMBER 5, 2007 11 Volleyball bids goodbye to seniors BY YANG YANG 100$ The Caltech women's vol- leyball team ended SCIAC conference play with a home loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps U1. Thursday The Athenas (10-4) won in straight games 30-16, 30-21, 30. Seniors Sarah Stidham, Karen Wang and Erin White were honored that night for their years of play. The team won three matches this season, the highest win total since the 2004 season, when Stid-ham, Wang and White were just freshmen. "I've been very happy this year," Stidham said. "For the two years before this we didn't win a single match and it's been great to win again this year.' Although Caltech were unable to win a SCIAC match this season - to the great disappointment of Stidham several Beavers topped the SCIAC statistical cat-egories. Freshman Kathryn Peters finished second in service aces per game With an ot .56 while fellow freshman Ying-Ying Tran finished third in digs per game with a 5.12 average. Junior Marie Giron and freshman Sarah Griffis rise up for the block against the opposing Whittier hitter. The Beavers lost at Whittier in three games on Tuesday Sports and Scores Women's Volleyball 10/30 at Whittier College 11/1 vs, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Men's Soccer 10/29 vs Pomona-Pitzer 10/30 vs La Sierra 11/2 vs Cal State East Bay Men's Water Polo 10/29 vs Whittier 10/31 at Redlands L 19-6 Soccer loses last game to East Bay L 3-0 L 3-0 L4-1 L 2-0 L4-1 L 17-7 Upcoming Games Friday, 11/9 All-Day - Men's Water Polo @ SCIAC Tourney (Redlands) Saturday, 11/10 All-Day - M/W Cross Country @ NCAA Regionals (OR) All-Day - Men's Water Polo @ SCIAC Tourney (Redlands) Sunday, 11/11 All-Day - Men's Water Polo @ SCIAC Tourney (Redlands) Scoreboard Shenanigans PAGEHOUSE FLEMING 6901 Six Pageboys post on top with of Millikan the scoreboard Fleming after several modifications were made. As part of the prank, the board was hung on the side of Millikan library. Pictured (left right): to Tommy Heavey, Sean Mattingly, Chris Mischaikow, Erin Flanagin, Paul Fleiner and Mark McDuff Freshman Jonathan Yueng goes after the ball against a La Sierra player during the men's soccer team's 2-0 loss on Tuesday. The team ended its season on Friday with a loss to Cal State East Bay. However, Caltech did score its seventh goal of the season in the finale. The Beavers finished eighth in SCIAC play with a record of 1-13, with the lone win coming at Whittier (2-11-1), where Caltech posted a 1-0 overtime victory. 12 THE CALIFORNIA TECH Dr. Quark HUMOR NOVEMBER 5, 2007 Proof by Induction that Science is better than you! DearIDRQUARK @GMAIL. COM], I've been having trouble getting along with my friend. We met during rotation, but now we live In different houses. Every time I see my friend on the olive walk he turns a cold shoulder and shies away. He has started making new friends with Statistical Physi- cists. and he never wants to work with me on my Bio sets. Should I become a Physics major? All the cool kids are. -LonelyFrosh15 The reason your former friend doesn't talk to you anymore is probably because you're not a very interesting person. You probably don't have any friends at all, really, and you probably smell like a dank cave full of cheddar cheese. But the one good defining characteristic you have is that you are not a Statistical Physi-cist. Not only do they sleep with your wife, but they are also the reason why human existence is bound to be snuffed by heat death due to the ever increase of the amount of Entropy [for more information reference The Last Question, Asimov]. Stefan locked young Ludwig in a closet and refused to feed him until he derived a novel power law equating radiation of a black body to a power of it's temperature. Stefan, in a classic exhibit of ''Type A" person-ality, published the work as his own. It was only years later that scholars deemed it appropriate to attribute young Ludwig by tacking on his name second in the Stefan-Boltzmann law. timately killing them (eventually a nonliving state was explored). Boltzmann's tombstone is marked with the law S = k log W, which is ironic because in his time no one took it serious, and I'm not going to lie, not that many people take it seriously these days either. Ludwig Boltzmann was the bipolar, manic-depressive. poster child for messed up sci-entists. When he was a young child his father died and his mother married Joseph Ste- fan after an inordinately brief period of grief. The young Boltzmann was doomed to live out a childhood dominated by an abusive and alcoholic step-father. At the tender age of twelve Boltzmann struggled all his life, and eventually commit- ted suicide in a bout of severe depression. If there is a lesson for us to learn from this, it is that statistical mechanics kills. I heard of an incident where the Ergodic Principle got loose in central station last August and explored every possible state of twelve civilians before ul- My advice to you is to not follow in the footsteps of Ludwig Boltzmann, because even though he is a brilliant scien-tist, he is also dead, so in that respect you have at least one up on him. You'd probably want to stay away from statistical physics and thermodynamics in gen-eral. As an alternative I might suggest Atomic Physics. Atomic Physics is perfectly safe and never hurt anyone. Comics conservanon of momentum Dr. Quark has secretly been living two lives, one life as the mild mannered, yet bril- liant combinatorial theoretical biologist Dr. Quark, and the other as none other than the intrepid Dirk Kempthorne, the brave and astonishing United States Secretary of the Interior. In his free time he balances his efforts between curing cancer and saving sequoias from mold overgrowth. He also enjoys rhubarb pie, oh he does. EMAIL YOUR QUESTIONS TO QUARK@GMAIL.COM DR. AND HE WILL ANSWER THEM IN A POLITICALLY CORRECT FASHION. UNLESS YOU'RE A POLACK wuan I SPEND A LOT OF TIME MENTALLY CHOREOGRAPHING ELABORATE FIGHT SCENES WITH STRANGERS AROUND ME OKAY - IF THAT OLD MAN PULLS A CROSSBOW, I'LL THROW THE POSTAL SCALE AT HIM AND DIVE BACKWARD BEHIND THE STAMPS MACHINE BUT WHAT IF THE LADY BY THE DOOR HAS A KATANA IN THAT BOX? Atomic Bonds let's shave ' covalent bund COME EXPLORE THE FUTURE WITH ME! and Michelle Jiang BETTER SET MY IPOD TO THE "KILL BILL" FIGHT THEME, JUST IN CASE XKCD by Randall Munroe I CAN'T. XKCD by Randall Munroe IF YOU DON'T TURN IN AT LEAST ONE HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT, YOU'LL FAIL THIS CLASS. YEAH. BUTIF I CAN FAIL THIS CLASS, THE GRADES ON MY REPORT CARD WILL BE IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER! The California Tech Caltech 40-58 Pasadena, CA 91125 XKCD by Randall Munroe