California Tech, v. 110:27, June 1, 2009

THE CALIFORNIA TECH tech@caltech.edu VOLUME CX, NUMBER 27 PASADENA, CALIFORNIA JUNE 1, 2009 Friends and family remember Brian Go Page President was friend to many students By Marissa Cevallos out to people without a social taken as a pass/fail course. group. He organized Chipotle Brian's mother said he dis- STAFF WRITER Tuesdays in high school and in- played the same zeal for fighting cluded a Korean student who'd injustice in middle school. In 7th Page House president Brian Go passed away on campus on May 17. Brian was a junior double majoring in applied math and computer science, was a TA for CS 2 and CS 38, played ultimate Frisbee, and fenced. Brian has two younger sib-lings, a brother and a sister, and went to Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Mary-land. Friends marveled at how Brian, known to his House as BGo, was so in tune with others' emotions. "I always felt like he was on my side even if he didn't agree with me," said friend and former Page president Mason Smith. BGo formed friendships quickly and deeply. "It is rare to be able to speak so comfortably with someone after such a short period of knowing him, but that's who BGo was, said IC chair Pallavi Gunalan. In high school BGo always had lots of friends, but also reached just transferred and didn't know grade, he fomented an uprising that many people, an act of kind- against the 8th graders who ruled ness the student's mother said al- the back of the bus by organiz- ways meant so much to him. ing his classmates to sit where BGo was active in Boy Scouts, they pleased, in defiance of the reaching the highest honor of 8th grader rules. The "rebellion" Eagle Scout. His scout masters didn't last that long, according to would always greet his parents his mom, but was a perfect exam- with big smiles and stories of ple of how BGo rallied people to how when BGo was done with a causes he believed in. task, he wouldn't stop - - he'd find Friends say BGo had a seem- younger scouts and help them ingly endless amount of care, for with their tasks. everything from his House, his Because he cared SO much friends, his classes, and his re- about those around him, friends search. say BGo could never sit and idly watch unjust He'd pull all-nighters to fin- situations. Last ish the math problem everyone school year, he rallied classmates else gave up on, according to his who were drowning in the gradu-ate-level course load of Math 6a, freshman and sophomore year roommate Noah Tanabe. a class supposed to just be an in- When his girlfriend was feel- troduction to discrete mathemat- ing down one day, he wenl lo ics, to demand more reasonable Michaels and made her a neck- problem sets. Through working lace with Swarovski crystals, all with the Academics and Research before she came back from her 90 Committee, BGo helped change minute Spanish class. the scope of the problems and the requirement that it could not be Please see BRIAN GO, Page 6 Students may see more loans, smaller merit awards By Joel Nikolaus STAFF WRITER With the recen decrease in the endowment, many students can expect to see a change in what they are awarded in financial aid for the upcoming year. As part of an effort to make ends meet, the Caltech Financial Aid Office will likely issue students loans where they would have previously recieved grants. "We will continue to meet 100%," said Don Crewell, the director of the Financial Aid Office, but "When people petitioned for increased funding we used to give grant money. Now we are going to have to give some loan money. He added that they would "probably have to do that with continuing students [as well]." Following the removal of freshman merit awards earlier this year, the Financial Aid Office has also reallocated funds that were until recently set aside for upper class merit awards. The office is "moving a good part of the upperclass merit program," said Crewell because the funds are needed for need based aid. He said that while there would probably be around the number of awards as in previous years, that would mean " sma, tavard amouans probably All of these efforts are part of a short-term plan to balance the current year's budget and make sure the Financial Aid Office does not run a deficit. When asked about dipping budget, into the general Crewell said "[It has] Never happened in the past. Not the Caltech way." Although only aimed the changes are at rectifying the situation for this next year, how long these changes last depends largely on how the endowment performs. "Temporarily might be 2 or 3 years." said Crewell. The goal is that "until the endowment pay out can bounce back, to avoid running deficit in scholarship." Next year he said "[We] see if we will need to do the same thing again." Unless gifts increase that may be the case and students will continue to see more loans and smaller merit awards. While Crewell said the Financial Aid Office remains committed to meeting student needs, the big question they will be asking in the future is "Do we have the funds?" The estimated budget for this next year is projected at somewhere between 14.5 and 15.5 million. So far there has not been a substantial increase of aid in current students, but there is an increase in the aid given to the incoming class. This pattern is normal, but is still exerting pressure on the Financial Aid resources. If the trend continues it may become a bigger problem. Up Review I LOVE YOU MORE! Photo courtesy or ahha beck Gary Lorden to Retire After 40 Years as a Statistics Professor By Casey Jao STAFF WRITER His name is synonymous around Caltech with the show "Numb3rs". Undergraduates all know him from Math 2b, the Core probability and statistics course. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Math professor Gary Lorden will retire this summer, after having taught at Caltech for forty-one years. His successor has not yet been named. "Caltech will miss him," said senior Po-Ling Loh, who TA'ed Math 2b last year. "Even for non-math majors, he was a gentle introduction to Caltech life. "His courses were big influence in my choice to go to grad school in statistics," said senior Max Grazier Gsell, also a former Math 2b TA. "Gary has been an incredibly valuable resource for the Caltech community," said Professor Barry Simon 1n a phone interview, remarking that finding a suitable replacement has been difficult. Competing insuluton. like Princeton and UC Berkeley have dedicated statistics departments to woo high-calibre statisticians. Moreover, said Simon, "There are restrictions on hires imposed by the administration because of the economic crunch." The math department several hiring goals but only "one bullet" to spend this year. Professor Alexei Borodin will teach Math 2b this coming winter. The advanced statistics course Math 112 will not be offered until the department finds a dedicated statistics professor. Although Lorden will longer shoulder responsibilities, he teaching plans continue doing some research, consulting for all kinds of people, serving as expert witness, and "teaching statistics to lawyers." He and his wife also plan to travel How Courts or can "Even though you miss teaching, you have the opportunity go whenever you want," he said. The man behind "Numb3rs" also hopes to continue working "Caltech will miss him," said senior PoLing Loh, who TA'ed Math 2b last year. "Even for non-math majors, he was a gentle introduction to Caltech life." - Po-Ling Loh "I do expect to be [involved]...but every year is a new ballgame," said Lorden who has been advising the show since it debuted in 2004. Lorden arrived at Caltech as a freshman in 1958, one of seven students to matriculate from his Los Angeles high school. "I was so turned off by the [MIT] alum who interviewed me that I didn't finish my application," he recalled Debating initially whether to major in math or chemistry, he quickly ruled out the latter because he soon discovered that he had, in his words, "essentially zero physical intuition." But the dealmaker was Tom Apostol, his freshmen calculus teacher, who helped him realize that math was with the show. Despite the economic crunch, Numb3rs will continue shooting a sixth season. Please see LORDEN., Page 6 In This Issue Ditch Day Photos page 4 Mudeo Galileo Review Review of New Broad Menu Students Win Fellowships Abroad page 2 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 2 JUNE 1, 2009 OPINION THE CALIFORNIA TECH The Tech Staff wishes you all the best of luck on finals. Just remember to get a good nights sleep, study hard, and eat your vegetables. The following information might also be helpful. C-Store Schedule Sunday, June 7: C-Store open until 2am Monday, June 8: Snake Kits 8-10pm North Kitchen C-Store open until 2am Tuesday, June 9: Midnight Madness 11:30pm - 1am Chandler C-Store open until 2am Wednesday, June 10: South Kitchen closed for lunch Snake Kits 8-10pm North Kitchen C-Store open until 2am Thursday, June 11: South Kitchen closed for lunch Snake Kits 8-10pm North Kitchen C-Store open until 2am Friday, June 12: South Kitchen closed for lunch and dinner C-Store open until 2am Saturday, June 13: C-Store open until 10pm Sunday, June 14: C-Store open until 10pm End of declining balance Return of a Caltech Tradition Mudeo is good ol' wrestlin' By Tom Lampo sophomore and freshman classes, UNDERGRADUATE where the score was often kept for events such as sack racing, Mudeo is one of Caltech's oldest traditions. If you look through any of the old Big T's there's usually several pages devoted to photographs of Techers coated head to toe in mud. There are pictures of people wrestling, playing tackle football, wheelbarrow and sack races, and the infamous freshman vs. sophomore tug of war. tire spree, horse and rider, wheelbarrow racing, and tug of war. As John Gee, class of '53 and former ASCIT president and organizer of Mudeo recalls, "The rivalry and competition were strong". In more recent years, Mudeo has tended toward team sport events, such as ultimate frisbee, soccer, and football, while tug of war seems to have But this year, Mudeo is back! After the renovations, the area north of Avery was designed to with Mudeo in mind. A giant dirt rectangle, planted with easy to remove and to replant wildflowers, has given Mudeo a permanent residence in a location on campus which during the year will be home to beautiful gardens, but for one day a year will be converted to an epic mud pit for all to enjoy survived the test of time. One year, the media coverage of Mudeo gave Caltech more exposure than any other event at Caltech, making it to the top ten plays of the day on ESPN Sports Center. At its heart, Mudeo is exactly what its name suggests; having fun playing games in a giant pit of mud. Mudeo has changed over the many years it has existed. Alumni remember the event being a contest between the Over the last decade the tradition waned and the turnout fell dramatically, mainly due to the renovation of the North field and the fields north of Avery playing host to the mods during the South House Renovation. This resulted in no field being consistently available for creating the requisite giant pit of mud, and there were several years where there was no Mudeo. With the renovations done, field space has opened up again. This year, Mudeo is set to take place on that field north of Avery, from 2pm to 5pm. Be prepared to get very very dirty and to smile pretty for the news cameras. Pizza will be provided afterward by Tom Mannion, and there should be plenty of time for everyone to get ready for Mashup Massive later that evening. If you want more information or are interested in participating, contact Tom Lampo or Alan Pezeshki. The California Tech Caltech 40-58, Pasadena, CA 91125 advertising e-mail: business@caltech.edu editorial e-mail: tech@caltech.edu We Need McCain's Spending Freeze... By Daniel Alvarez UNDERGRADUATE ... And a "Sheriff" to Stop the Spending Frenzy Editor-in-Chief Chris Kennelly Lavout rattor Hanna Liu Staff Dannah Almasco Marissa Cevallos ZeNan Chang Ja Due Andrea Dubin Mark Eichenlaub Anarew hreddo Anna Hiszpanski Michelle Jiang Casey 120 Natalya Kostandova Vibha Laljani Joel Nikolaus Gloria Tran Hillary Walker Wesley Yu Business Managers Gabriel Mendoza Chris Kennelly Circulation Aryan Safaie Adviser Dr. Gary Libman The lech 1s nublished week v excent during cation and examination veriods b the A Clated Students of the Caltornia Institu or lechnology. Inc. he opinions expresse lerein are striculy those or the authors ar averusers Leuers ana submissions are welcome: e-mal submissions lo recnccauech.eau as plain-tex aulnors name The Tech Friday of the week before publication uves decept anonymous contribu- abridge all submisions for any reason. All written For subscription information, please send mai to "Subscriptions. With the rejection of Propositions la-le, some Sacramento Washington are to help asking with the state's $21 billion deficit. Think of a teenager who maxed out his or her credit card and asks his or her parents for a bail out. The problem is that the parents also purchased a million dollar home off of a $70,000 salary. This of course refers Washington's own financial mess. In February of this year, it was predicted that the national deficit would hit an enormous $1 trillion. This deficit was said to be "inherited" by the Bush administration, yet the Obama administration upped the ante by going on a spending binge from the likes the world has never seen. In its first 100 days, the Obama administration spent $2.2 trillion, more than the combined total of every president in history within the same time frame. What is even more amazing is how much of this spending has been wasted. Within the $787 billion stimulus bill were plans to build a skate park in Rhode Island and bike racks in Washington D.C. Also cloaked under the banner of "economic stimulus" were $5.8 billion in health prevention and wellness programs like smoking cessation. These programs a slap in the face of present and future taxpaying Americans, but it did not stop there. We then had the $410 billion omnibus bill, laden with nearly 9000 earmarks. Among these were $6.6 million to study termites in New Orleans, $2.2 million for the Center for Grape Genetics in Geneva, $1.7 million to study why pig waste smells so bad, the list goes on and on. Unsurprisingly, the projected deficit has steadily ballooned to the current value of $1.84 trillion. Some will undoubtedly call me a fiscal fear-monger for making a big deal of changes in a decimal point, but I think too many people do not realize that the difference ($840 billion) is in and of itself about twice the largest federal deficit of all time prior to 2009. With Obama's massive $3.4 trillion budget, the binge sees no end in sight. TARP money is flowing out of the treasury like water and the administration wants to allocate $600 billion unnecessarily nationalize healthcare. At this rate, we will soon be spending more on the interest of our debt than we do on national security. And this is not even taking into account one of the biggest issues that the media consistently seems to overlook: social security costs as the baby boomer generation hits retirement age. How can we confront the colossal deficits that we have been running up? One option is to put the treasury on overdrive and print our way out of debt, but of course inflation would sink the dollar in value to the point that it might start giving the peso competition. With countries like China and Brazil trying hard to dethrone the dollar as the world's currency standard, inflation of the dollar is the last thing that we want. Another option significantly increase taxes. This is an issue where I differ with many on the right who cry heresy at the mention of tax hikes in any way, shape, or form. It amazes me many fiscal conservatives think we can even begin to pay our huge deficit without some additional tax revenue. I must concede, however, how effective people have been in making their point that tax hikes are not an option. Evidence to this is the defeat of Propositions la-le in California and, on a national scale, the hundreds of thousands (at least) who showed up for the 278 Taxed Enough Already (TEA) parties hosted around the country. I wish that more of those people would have joined me in protesting the problem as it was being created; namely, the passing of unprecedented federal spending. There OUC Jau. however, who proposed extreme solution to an extreme problem. This man, often referred to as "The Sherriff" for his tough stances on federal spending, is John McCain. During the debates he was ridiculed for proposing a freeze on federal spending with the exception of national defense. Obama cleverly responded by saying that McCain's approach was like hacking the budget with a hatchet, whereas he would use a scalpel. Of course what he really did was feed the budget steroids. McCain will be president of the United States, but his spending freeze may be the only way to lift the United States out of the fiscal red zone. We Americans need to rally together like we did for the TEA parties. but under the banner of drastically reducing federal spending. The burden can no longer be put on the next generation of taxpayers. Congratulations Class of 2009! The California Tech wishes you the best of luck. THE CALIFORNIA TECH JUNE 1, 2009 3 Niles Pierce Gives Watson Lecture on "programmable chemistry" By June Zhang STAFF WRITER Two weeks ago, Niles Pierce delivered the final Watson Lecture of the year titled, "In Pursuit of Programmable Molecule Technologies," which described his method of "programming" polymers like DNA to act in a predictable manner. Pierce, assistant professor of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Bioengineering, conducts research in a relatively new field that has led to potentially things together and making it Has Possible Implications for Cancer rational. As Pierce, himself, Professor Pierce attended Princeton University for put it, his work is like studying undergraduate studies, his and a new type of drug design, which Following the introduction, or making sense of a Jackson attended Oxford University as a targets the genes of unhealthy Pierce spoke about the ability Pollock piece of art. Rhodes Scholar graduate student cells to cause cell death. This to assemble and disassemble Pierce came to Caltech in 1998 as research has applications in drugs DNA or RNA polymers into a Postdoctoral Scholar working for cancer treatment. specific structures. Hairpin RNA with Professor Stephen Mayo on The lecture drew a full molecules with specific toehold developments of multiplexed computational protein design. crowd and he began the lecture sequence and multiple domains bio-imaging. He showed pictures Since becoming an Associate with a vivid real-time animation can be predictably assembled by of zebrafish embryos with Professor at Caltech, Pierce has of the inner workings of the cell a downstream reaction given a multicolor and simultaneous won numerous teaching awards, and discussed the nature of his particular trigger sequence. imaging. His work allowed research, that his work could be Professor Scott including the Feynman Teaching Fraser for a five dimensional analysis Prize in 2003. described as takeing advantage of described his work as taking the documenting spatial components, "programmable chemistry." "junk box method" of putting time, and gene. ASCIT BoD Minutes ASCIT BoD Minutes for May 22 • Treasurer: Maral got in touch with the person who sets up club acconts. Once this is taken care of, Maral will send out funding awards with Chris. Officers Present: Anthony Chong, Andrey Poletayev, Michael Maseda, Maral Mazrooei, Nadia Iqbal, Laura Conwill Officers Absent: Pallavi Gunalan Guests: Perrin Considine, Sarah Marzen, Lisa Zhang, Brian Merlob, Gloria Tran, Peter Sadowski, Stephen Wilke • Social Director: ASCIT Formal is tonight! The cost was slightly more than anticipated. Sugarn Tortemaied campus ser ory regarding tyidy chens decoy video cameras. Call to order: 12:13 PM Meeting adjourned: 12:51 PM Funding requests: Submitted by Laura Conwi • Baskets: CCF has been making gift baskets for staff members ISCIT Secretar who have been laid off. They would like to make more, but this will require additional money to fund them. Motion to approve $100 for staff gift baskets. VOTE: ASCIT BoD Minutes for May 29 Passed (4-0-0) • Mashup Massive: MHF will not fund alcohol, so Lisa requests $600 in addition to ASCIT's previously pledged $300 for the party. Motion to approve $600 for Mashup Massive. VOTE: Passed (4-0-0) fficers Absen • Ricketts Lighting: A few years ago, Rickets and Lloyd bought Cuests: Tim Black, Brian Merlo lights for parties; many of these are no longer in good enough condition to be used. Peter requests $300 to buy additional lights Call to order: 12:18 PM in time for tomorrow's GNG party. The lifespan of these lights is Funding requests: 1-2 years, and the lights could be lent out to other houses for their parties. Motion to approve $300 for lighting. VOTE: Passed (4-0-0) • Boba Party: The deans decided that 250 people are coming to the party, and 75 of these will be drinkers. Perrin has received funding from MHF and the GSC, but needs additional funding to cover the Officer Reports: cost of alcohol. Motion to approve $150 for the boba party. VOTE: Passed (4-0-0) • BFP: Gloria came to request funding; Maral brought the happy news that Fleming automatically gets $500 for interhouse. President's Report: extra SFC budget for this. • Motion to approve $350 for food. VOTE: Passed (5-0-0) • V.P. of Academic Affairs (ARC Chair): The ARC did committee nterviews. Andrey is expecting a survey from Mike Brown f udents from the Core Curriculum Task Force. Plans are bein made for the upcoming ASCIT awards. The ARC has also been working on option wikis. • V.P. of Nonacademic Affairs (IHC Chair): The IHC gave • Staff: Members of the BoD should make sure they are working closely with their staff members. work on developing the career center. Officer Reports: • Operations Director: Andrey and Mike me with Rick Bischoff /esterday regarding Prefrosh Weekend. Mike plans to meet wit • V.P. of Academic Affairs (ARC Chair): The ARC is working on vin next week regarding the donut website their longstanding projects, including compiling course reviews and dealing with complaints. They are discussing whether to have • Treasurer: Maral is waiting on information from Financial subsequent student-faculty lunches at the Ath. Andrey submitted Services before she can go ahead with club funding awards. an article on the ARC's activities to last Monday's Tech. The ARC has also been working on logistics for ASCIT teaching awards; the • Social Director: There's a boba party in the RF courtyard tonight! Mashup Massive is tomorrow! date for the ceremony is Wednesday, June 3, at 5 PM in Dabney Gardens. Committee interviews will be tomorrow. The Core Curriculum Task Force will be encouraged to put out a survey to Scheduling: gather student feedback. • Interviews: The BoD will be interviewing candidates for the convocations committee, MHF committee, Big T editors and • V.P. of Nonacademic Affairs (IHC Chair): The IHC is in a business managers, Totem editors, little T editors and business managers, and DevTeam members this Sunday. period of mourning. They have also been working on housing issues. Meeting adjourned: 12:43 PM • Operations Director: Sign-ups have been posted for appointed positions (Big T editors, little t editors, etc). Submitted by Laura Conwill ASCIT Secretary 4 JUNE 1, 2009 FEATURES THE CALIFORNIA TECH Students and Staff Gather in Performance of Galileo by Helen C. Kondos TACIT (Theater Arts at Caltech) presents Life of Galileo By Bertolt Brecht • ver the past two weekends, Theater Arts at Caltech (TACIT) has given six performances of Bertolt Brecht's Life of Galileo. The perfor-mances, directed by Brian Brophy, were outside at the Gates Annex Pa-tio. The audience sat in chairs on the grass and bundled up to see the show that was performed at nighttime. This year marks the four hundredth anniversary of Galileo Galilei turning his telescope towards the heavens. The play was cut extensively, but still had a running time of slightly less than two and a half hours. Before each performance, Caltech's madrigal group sang a few songs. Each scene began with a description and a short song. Matthew Elgart, a Caltech sullal mistructor, composeu the original music specifically for Caltech's run of the play. The cast and crew was made up of over thirty drawn from all parts of the Caltech community, including undergraduates, graduate students, alumni, and JPL employees. A different prominent scientist performed the cameo part of the Vatican head astronomer Christopher Clavius each night, including Mike Brown, infamously known for discrediting Pluto. Having the play outside presented unique problems, but it gave the audience a feeling of being more involved in the action. When Galileo looked through the telescope, he was actually viewing the night sky. In fact, the actors made entrances from behind and to the side of the audience members Set designer Janne Larson built the set around the Annex Patio, the audience, and the audience itself. Audience turnout was high, despite some cool temperatures. The first Saturday of the run included a performance for alumni only during Alumni Weekend. On Saturday, May 23, there was a Galileo discussion, GalCon, preceding the show led by visiting Professor of History Noel Swerdlow. The play's theme of conflict between scientific discovery and established institutions still holds much relevance in our society today. Semana Latina Pixar takes it UP another level by Zenan Chang Brazilian Samba dancers perform in front of Chandler in celebration of Semana Latina, sponsored by the Caltech Latino Association of Students in Engineering and Science (CLASES) 30 Balloons, light, and fun party favors can bring out the child in all of us. Pixar's "Up" has no shortage of party balloons and may be the first movie to offer them such an enormous amount of screen time. And so there is a little bit of foreshadowing in "Up," a story of Mr. Fredericksen, an old man discontent with the ways of the modern world. Into his life barges a young and eager boy, Russell, on his way to completing his badge collection as a Wilderness Explorer. Russell needs one more, the elderly-assistance merit badge, and so our characters are brought together in a fantastical adventure involving a house lifted by thousands of balloons, talking dogs in the South American jungle, dreams to be fulfilled, and promises to be kept. The movie begins with a prologue depicting the camaraderie of two children, Carl and Ellie, brought together by a common excitement for the daring adventures of an explorer named Charles Muntz. "Up" then follows this friendship as it blossoms into a sweet romance through a brief but beautiful sequence that captures the turns and emotions of life as the characters progress into old age. These few lyrical minutes dialogue-free in a manner reminiscent of Wall-E, leave you at the beginning of the story with an aged Carl, now a balloon salesman called Mr. Fredericksen. Most unique about "Up" is the interesting dynamic between the old and grumpy Mr. Frederickson, with his box-shaped head, and the round, chubby, and earnest Russell. The difference in their outlooks on life brought about by the gap in their life experience makes for plenty of comic relief, but also brings up some thought provoking issues on senior life and the place they are sometimes relegated in society. With the aging population, such issues are sure to become more and more relevani Pixar's recent track record has been quite impressive, with the movies Wall-E, Ratatouille, Cars, The Incredibles, and Finding Nemo coming out the past five years. Save for Cars, all have had a 96% or higher rating on Rotten Tomatoes and won the Best Animated Feature award at the Oscars. As an experience, Up promises to add to the ranks of its predecessors as an enjoyable and uniquely endearing masterpiece. THE CALIFORNIA TECH FEATURES JUNE 1, 2009 Broad Cafe, Round 2 by Andrew Freddo and Dannah Almasco Since our first review two years ago, Broad Café has been known for serving Mexican food. Before that it was Thai. Now, Broad has undergone another transformation, this time serving up sandwiches, deli style. Walking into Broad during lunch hour, the first thing we noticed was the chaos! It was crowded, and there was a large mass of people waiting for their sand-wiches. There definitely was not any or-ganization, as the menu was posted around the counter, not really in any one conveniently located place. So, to make our decisions, we had to walk around the Café a few times amongst those waiting for their food. Once we did order, the wait was a good 15 minutes, more than it takes for a fresh Mongol Bowl! It seemed that Broad was unprepared for the load of people grabbing lunch, and it was definitely understaffed. Though there are some issues right now, many are probably simply new-restaurant kinks - a lot of trouble could be alleviated by making a clearer, take-away menu and adding another staff member at lunchtime. We ordered two different sandwiches - the New York, New York and the Submarine Sand-wich. Both were served on a hoagie roll, which was better than the bread from Chandler's sandwich station but could have had a crunchier crust. The New York was stacked full of ham, turkey, and Swiss cheese, though there was too meat compared to the condiments on it. Overall, the sandwich needed more moisture, but all the ingredients tasted fresh. The Submarine had ham, salami, and Swiss - again all piled very high. This one retained more moisture than the New York, possibly because of the Russian dressing (put on in error instead of the oil and vinegar). The salami was nice and sharp, but the cheese lacked some punch. Still, the sandwich was very good, though nothing out of the ordinary. The revamped Broad Café, as a whole, is a nice change. It's good to pop in if you feel like some pastrami or another specialty meat, or if you're just on that side of campus. Otherwise, it's just not something you really crave (like you may a pizza or Mongol Bowl). Still, it may be worth it to check it out and avoid the hustle and bustle of Chandler, since they do make a good, filling sandwich Broad! Ascit Formal Photos by Bob Paz 6 JUNE 1, 2009 NEWS THE CALIFORNIA TECH Brian Go liked "work hard, play hard" culture of Page House BRIAN GO, FROM PAGE 1 anythins ne tea. goofy kid with glasses who wore according to close friend Riley most every day, changed his diet, put it, was "BGo got hot." hours in front of the mirror trying Before the videogame was watching YouTube previews play the drums. When the game lecture at Caltech as a prefrosh, dency came at the beginning of wanted," said his father. ing incidents in Page prompted the administration to impose an hard, play hard" attitude of Page let anything slip by. higher standards than everyone ing the House's concerns to the deans, while also trying to explain the deans' wormes to the House so much." If he saw people in the the deans and members of the he'd drop by their rooms and talk ment, and that our goals aren't so dissimilar," said Mason. BGo made clear to the House that they "Everything he tried, he did it to the best of his ability." to be lifted overnight, but to take why they felt a dry environment "He put that meeting together really well," said Mason. Anna Beck said that the forum was so tor Mani Chandy was not only solve problems-the two wrote service last Thursday in Dabney Lounge where his father, friends, ing and ending with video clips of after Page House students were told the news of BGo's death, students from other houses came words of sympathy. Lectures were awash with blue, Page's house color, as students wore shirts in ribbons to pin to their shirts; a woven basket outside Page still "We've really appreciated what Mason. "It was really nice to see Many of BGo's relationships searching in Spain, and the plan son Smith said, "I will try to find that made him so special to me meetings to go to the rounded," said Chandy. "What's My Age Butterfly Wings". Strangers con- "Everyone was like "duh', of When the House met to talk ple were overwhelmingly in support of BGo, according to Page an amazing president," said Ma- Winners of the undergraduate 2009 McKinney Prize RYAN DENLINGER - Sophomore, Non-Fiction Prize SYLVIA SULLIVAN - Freshman, Poetry Prize HILLARY WALKER - Sophomore. Fiction Prize Based on nominations from the humanities faculty, this prize is awarded annually to one or more undergraduate students for the best writing in a freshman humanities course. The prize is administered by the Writing Center and judged by a committee from the Humanities division. Department will need to find a new statistics professor; Math 2b not the same GARY LORDEN, FROM PAGE 1 "so beautiful." The North houses went up during his undergrad years. As a freshman and sophomore Lorden belonged to Ricketts but lived off-campus. Back then, he recalled, students hailing from more than one thousand miles away were given priority for on-campus housing. When the North max TT+(ix 9 (=1 houses were completed, he and some Ricketts friends moved into Page. "I always feel a little lucky," he said. When alumni visit their old houses, Lorden gets to visit both Page and Ricketts. After completing his PhD in statistics at Cornell in 1966, Lorden returned to Caltech in 1968 as an assistant professor. In the 1970's he coached Caltech's Putnam team to five first-place finishes in six years. Since then, he has served as Dean of Students Gary Lorden teaching Math 2b, a class that he taught since first coming to Caltech as a member of the faculty. (1984-88), Vice President for Student Affairs (1989-98), and Acting Vice President (2002). And he has taught statistics every year from the very beginning. culture. Dean Barbara Green was started crying after he left the "He impressed us to no end," Millikan pond two weeks ago to longer life than he was able to, and the world will be a better and family attended a memorial Two More Students Win Fellowships Abroad By Joel Nikolaus abroad," said Varma. "There are not that many opportunities after Lin said that he was also to spend a year abroad. he planned to spend time getting to know the culture and possibly requires that he interact with the while Lin, a junior and president of Ruddock, will begin a year abroad, but Lin is also required to run some sort of service project he will end up "probably doing provide a bridge to their eventual those plans are to go to graduate to ask questions." She picked the Netherlands partly in particular, is a "hotspot" for Although she will be enrolled in a two year masters their senior year. Talk to your adviser, focus primarily on research and experience that "everyone movement dedicated to sending young people abroad" said Lauren with. "I knew I wanted to study Teason he will likely go to of several places with faculty Although he plans to continue he said, "I hope it will help with not just about the academics." wanted to do a year before grad particular emphasis on the whole person and is content to accept students with B-averages application. [It is] always paired "Just be honest, be yourself." THE CALIFORNIA TECH NEWS JUNE 1, 2009 7 Groundbreaking Party Brings DJ Earworm to Campus By Hillary Walker STAFF WRITER It is rare to find Britney Spears and the Beatles on the same play list; it is even rarer to find them within the same song, but Caltech students had the opportunity to personally taste such unexpected, heady blends at Mashup Massive, a unique, student-planned party this last weekend. The event took place on Saturday evening in the Glanville Courtyard at the Beckman Institute with a heavy turnout from both undergrads and grad students. The innovative event featured San Francisco-based DJ Earworm (Jordan Roseman), an artist famous for his stylish, technically advanced concoctions. Mashups, also known as smashups, blends, bootlegs, and bastard pop, ale created by merging two or more songs; most commonly, the vocals of one song are superimposed on the instrumentation of another. Although the reconstruction of songs with borrowed pieces has been in practice since the beginning of recorded music, the true blossoming of electronic mashups began in the 1980's, and bastard pop has only recently gained its footing as a valid form of artistic expression, thanks in part to artists such as Girl Talk (Gregg Gillis) and DJ Earworm. Jordan Roseman spent his early years on a hippie commune and then went on to earn bachelor's degree in computer science and music at the University of Illinois. After moving to San Francisco, Roseman learned the art of blending music, adopted his pseudonym, and rose prominence within the mashup seeJC. Koseman even wrote an instructional book titled "Audio Mashup Construction Kit," which was published in 2006. DJ Earworm is notable for the sophistication and complexity of his pieces, some of which combine over twenty songs. Earworm's "United State of Pop 2008" blends the top 25 hits of the year, including songs by Coldplay, Rhianna, T. I., and Usher, and peaked at #58 on Billboard's Pop 100 Airplay chart. "DJ Earworm is the epitome of pop," said Anton Karrman of Lloyd, one of the party's organizers. "It's like bringing MTV to Caltech." Mashup Massive was planned by committee composed of undergraduates from every house and the former GSC Social Chair. In designing the party, the group hoped to invigorate the Caltech social atmosphere and escape the expectations and traditions that guide typical interhouse parties. "We don't normally see things like this. It's something different," said Lisa Zang of Fleming. The Mashup Massive committee also seeks to graduate bring undergraduates, students, and alumni together — a fitting goal for a party centered on blended music-and hopes that Gradiators, a graduate event taking place earlier on the day of the party, will help boost graduate student attendance. Funding was provided by the Moore-Hufstedler Fund, ASCIT, and the Caltech Alumni Association. DJ Earworm sitting on a stylish couch underneath a nice abstract painting. He DJed this last weekends Mashup Massive. Ditch Day Offers Students a Break From Classes Photo by stephan Morais Counter-clockwise from right: A group of Blacker students on Ditch Day; junior Annie Hong removes candy buttons to create the letter "D" in the Lloyd XKCD stack; Blacker junior Kathryn Gunn is interviewed by the news about the stack she's doing; a Fleming stack watch a boxing game. Seniors say Ditch Day "definitely rewarding" By Natalya Kostandova STAFF WRITER This Wednesday, most Caltech students were involved in stranger things than usual. Whether it was rescuing Princess Zelda, whacking each other with giant blue balls, or riding around in a shopping cart covered with tiger fur, at least for most students the day was spent in anything but routine activities. Like many of the other years, this Ditch Day attracted attention from outside the one square mile that makes up the institute, which resulted in blog entries, a newspaper article, and a video reportage aired on ABC/ news. Unlike some of the other years, however, the 2009 Ditch Day managed to avoid causing major power outages, having to address the issues associated with bringing a non-Caltech animal to campus, and inflicting or receiving major injuries. Although some of the participants were not safe from receiving a few hits and bumps, Ditch Day seems to have passed without major complications For many seniors, building stacks or overall organizing Ditch Day was a significant time sink, yet for some it was definitely worth it. "Creating puzzles and trying to come up with some storyline to get the underclassmen engrossed in the stack was definitely rewarding when you can see how much fun they're having," said Calvin Ting, who built a Pokemon stack with three other seniors Although MOs of the stacks involved tasks that were located on campus, some stacks got underclassmen away Caltech. from Whether it was Los Angeles, Venice Beach, or Las Vegas, a portion of the participants got to a chance to explore a little bit of the world quite literally outside the classrooms. Although JOsI of the underclassmen participated in the stacks, some chose to spend their day in other ways, whether it was catching up on sleep, working on some sets, biking to the beach, or simply taking a day off to be lazy. "The idea of ditch day is appealing in that it gives people the opportunity to have a day to not think about work, sets and classes," said an underclassman who did not participate stack. "It's good to take a day on to not think about these things sometimes." of Ditch Day, while not devoid mind-boggling, thinking- JUCUSC brain-hurting laks. does give relief from problem sets and daily grunge of Caltech. And, at least as far as my knowledge goes, unlike the claim of the ABC7 video, which portrays Ditch Day as the ultimate nerdy undertaking, none of the clues required a slide rule. Those things are outdated anyway. HUMOR 8 THE CALIFORNIA TECH XKCD by Randall Monroe JUNE 1, 2009 WAIT, WHO'S DRIVING? WHY? TOM RIGHT? YES, BUT WE HAVE TO LEAVE IN TWO GROUPS, ONE OF WHICH WILL NEED AT LEAST TWO DRIVERS. SOMEONE HAS TO GET PAUL, AND JULIA AND EMILY HAVE TO LEAVE BY 10:00 然三1 THE LOGISTICS OF WHO CAN GET DRUNK ARE NONTRIVIAL. YEAH, AND I CAN'T RIDE IN A CAR WITH THE WOLF BECAUSE HE'LL EAT MY GOAT. DAMMIT, TBAR OUTS THE TRACKING TAG WILL 下にししてし、HビHHKAS MOVEMENT AND HABITS. THEN, IT WILL POP FKEEANDEOP TO THE SURFACE WE CANT AFFORD A RECOVERY PROGRAM SO THE CAPSULES WIL INFENIE HELUM BALOONS DRIFT OVER LAND, AND HOPEFULLY BE FOUNDAND MAILED TO US. ANY QUESTIONS? SPLOOSH AAAAAAAA DADDY? YES? IWANT TO BE A SCIENTIST. 130 Squirrels Steal ASCIT Donuts Ph.D. Comics by Jorge Cham SIGH. OUR VACATION IS ALMOST OVER IF ONLY WE COULD STAY HERE FOREVER AND NEVER GO BACK TO OUR LIVES IN ACADEMIA... WED JUST BE REPLACING ONE FANTASY WITH ANOTHER, ONE 鸳的味 ill ikely require an rid provide a patient bers of the Andersen • Pecaran. B. Cornell nski, L. Fellows, M.RI COMMENTS (157) Aaaahh!!!!!!!!!! got scooped!!!!!!!!! O_o Posted by cryinguncomronog phons"o OMG LOL!! ROTFL!!!!! (Obtuscatinely Messy Graphs, Lacks Older Literature, Research Obiectives Totally Flimsy, Lazy) Posted by reviewer. - If nours ag If you liked this paper, you should check out the work by Weissbers. et al Posted by weissberg - 7 days ago Can anyone tell me where find information on funding? Thanks. Posted by desperategrad - 13 days ago HOT MaTLab Dealz! FrEE LaTex software! click HERE! Posted by spamoots mont ag Obcious bias by liberal science elite. Whn will America see teh truth!????? Posted by wingnut 5 month ago I don't get it, how is this related to string theory?? help! Edit: oops! I didn't read paper. Never mind. Haha; P If you liked this paper, you should check out the work by Weissberg. et al Posted by weissberg - 14 years 4y9 IKESEAKCH VAPEKS IPD A COMMEN SECION www.FhDCOMics.com WWW.PHDCOMICS.COM The California Tech Caltech 40-58 Pasadena, CA 91125