GSC Photo Contest
The GSC Publications Committee with be hosting the annual photo contest in February 2008. We will be accepting photographs during the entire month from Caltech graduate students only. The two categories will be:
Research - microscopic to telescopic imaging
Where Your Research Takes You - Caltech or in the field
There will be one grand prize and each category will have one 1st place and two runners up. Prizes will include iTunes gift cards for runners up, a digital picture frame or an iTunes gift card for each 1st place, and a grand prize that will be announced in January. For each picture, all applicants should specify: whether they' d prefer an iTunes gift card or digital picture frame, and photo categories. People are encouraged to submit multiple photos, but should limit their total number of submissions to five. The winning photographs will be posted in the March GSC Newsletter as well as the GSC Display Case outside of the Red Door. Stay tuned for more info on rules, the grand prize, and where submissions should be sent.
Arts Review
Faisal Amlani
Twin Peaks (1990, Written and Produced by David Lynch and Mark Frost)
Whoever's bright idea it was to give David Lynch his own t.v. show either gave it a lot of consideration or greenlit it with no hesitation. I probably wouldn't have thought twice myself, but then again a favorite film of mine centers on a pop cantata about legendary German magician Faust. (The monstrously disfigured composer plays phantom to a Xanadu after Paul Williams sells his soul to the devil and steals the songs for the first act of his rock opera.) Whatever the case, ABC certainly couldn't have predicted a ratings smash, especially not a series with two-minute opening credits mostly involving long close-up shots of a sawmill cutting wood over a repetitive series of languid piano chords. But even with the subsequent cult following, the two seasons were never released on video in full until 2007's 'Twin Peaks Gold Box,' which Lynch himself called "a great definitive gold setÉ" (the only quote on the DVD case.)
It's difficult to describe the story without giving too much away, but the series begins and for the most part centers around the murder of Laura Palmer, a teenage girl in the small quiet mountain town of Twin Peaks, just south of the Canadian border. The town is seemingly devastated by the mysterious loss, and the investigation warrants the help of brilliant FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), a wholesome and spiritual detective who relays his minute-to-minute activities and thoughts into a handheld tape recorder, dissecting clues that he finds from his strange visions of midgets in velvet draped rooms and his supernatural encounters with giant bellhops. What he uncovers is a trademark of Lynch's stories: the town carries a seedy underbelly where everyone has something to hide and an evil far greater looms large over the woodland (see his 1986 film 'Blue Velvet.') This becomes the focus of the show, but the entangled stories of those involved become compelling by themselves &mdash Laura's murder isn't even solved until well into the second and final season. Really then, 'Twin Peaks' is more a set of character studies than a detective story: Laura's impressionable and malleable best friend Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle); Laura's many disparate lovers; Laura's bipolar grieving father; a "voice of reason" with cold rational sensibilities that are at odds with the emotional town (and are juxtaposed to that of the beloved Cooper); an endearingly crazy woman with an eye-patch who is intent on inventing the world's first silent drape runner.
Most of this sounds pretty corny and indeed most of it is--but it _is_ television, and David Lynch is an auteur (there's no better evidence of that than this.) Although he only directed a handful of episodes, all of them bear his characteristic marks. Every line is calculated, every frame means something. The images are surreal and dreamlike, the sequences lengthy and drawn-out. (One scene finds Agent Cooper lying on the floor unable to get up or call for help as a very slow, very senile old man from room service delivers a warm glass of milk and then exits &mdash it runs ten minutes.) The sound design is meticulously crafted, and particularly nightmarish sequences involve having the actors perform and read their lines backwards so as to instill a rather bizarre and awkward quality when reversed to play forward. The sets are cleverly drawn up and just as telling as the action and words. (They are often points of subtle comic relief, like a mounted buck head and rifle with a sign that reads "The Buck Stops Here.") Lynch and Mark Frost make the show into more than a whodunit: it plays at once as a murder mystery and as a soap opera. It's a story where the town was probably conceived before its inhabitants, a town of the natural and the supernatural &mdash where both portraits of reason and of the paranormal are wrapped together in such an extremely deliberate cheesiness that the clichs feel almost original. And the dialogue is witty to boot.
There's great fun to be had from 'Twin Peaks,' from uncovering the answers in all the riddles and subtle clues and from allowing yourself to fall deeper and deeper into the web of mystery, even when the provenance is not always clear. It's a shame the series was abruptly cancelled in 1991 during the second season &mdash who knows how much more convoluted the story could have gotten, how much more amusing and entertaining it would have become. At any rate, the twenty-two episodes are nothing short of brilliant television.
LIGO Sheds Light on Cosmic Event
An analysis by the
international LIGO (Laser Interferometer
Gravitational-Wave Observatory) Scientific
Collaboration has excluded one leading
explanation for the origin of an intense
gamma-ray burst that occurred last winter.
Each of the L-shaped LIGO interferometers uses a laser split into two beams that travel back and forth down long arms, each of which is a beam vaccuum tube. The beams are used to monitor the distance between precisely configured mirrors. According to Albert Einstein's 1916 general theory of relativity, the relative distance between the mirrors will change very slightly when a gravitational wave--a distortion in space-time, produced by massive accelerating objects, that propagates outward through the universe--passes by. The interferometer is constructed in such a way that it can detect a change of less than a thousandth the diameter of an atomic nucleus in the lengths of the 2 to 4 km arms relative to each other.
On February 1, 2007, satellites measured a short but intense outburst of energetic gamma rays originating in the direction of M31, the Andromeda galaxy, located 2.5 million light-years away. The majority of such short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are thought to emanate from the coalescence of two massive compact objects, such as neutron stars or black-hole systems. They can also come from astronomical objects known as soft gamma-ray repeaters, which are less common than binary coalescence events and emit less energetic gamma rays.
The burst had occurred along a line of sight that was consistent with it originating from one of Andromeda's spiral arms, and a binary coalescence event was considered among the most likely explanations. Such a monumental cosmic event occurring in a nearby galaxy should have generated gravitational waves that would be easily measured by the ultrasensitive LIGO detectors. They did not, however, measure any gravitational waves in the aftermath of the burst. The absence of a gravitational-wave signal meant this burst could not have originated in this way in Andromeda. Other causes for the event, such as a soft gamma-ray repeater or a binary merger from a much further distance, are now the most likely contenders.
Up until now, Reitze (a spokesperson for the LIGO) says, astronomers studying GRBs relied solely on data obtained from telescopes conducting visible, infrared, radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray observations. Gravitational waves offer a new window into the nature of these events.
Restaurant Review Special: Valentine's Day 2008
Laurence Yeung
"What??!! It's only January! I hate it when people do this."I hear you. I, too, loath the holiday decorations and jingles going up right after Halloween, but this, I promise, is different; tables in this dine out-happy town are a scarce resource, especially for dinner on Valentine's Day, and surely there is no better remedy than a bit of forethought and diligence.
Special occasion restaurants are a tricky bunch, however, as formidable prices, stuffy service, and inflated expectations can push an evening already on precarious ground well within the reaches of disaster.
So, I offer below some road-tested suggestions for your Valentine's Day
dinner with your sweetie. As of this writing, all have tables available on
Thursday, February 14, according to OpenTable
http://www.opentable.com/.
Reserve now, or forever hold your place on the waiting list.
The Fine Diner
Providencehttp://www.providencela.com/
5955 Melrose Ave., 90038
(323) 460-4170
$$$$
Beyond the innovative, exceptional food and the pitch-perfect, unobtrusive service at Providence may lie something far more precious and elusive than even the finest Perigord truffles: a quiet meal. Unfortunately, I cannot say much else about this place without wasting pages of effusive praise on a meandering, futile search for synonyms of "sublime" -- but trust me, dinner at Michelin-starred Michael Cimarusti's seafood palace is worth every penny. Don't think you can afford dinner? Take a late seating for pastry chef Adrian Vasquez's stunning eight-course dessert tasting menu. Thankfully, they encourage it.
The Good Dealer
Restaurant 561http://www.561restaurant.com/
561 E. Green St., 91101
(626) 405-1561
$$-$$$
Dinner at a cooking school may not, on the surface, be the most glamorous of meals, but it might very well be the best bargain of the lot. At a fraction of the cost of the big boys, 561, on a good night, can be one of the finest Cal-French tables in Pasadena. The atmosphere is surprisingly polished for a place run by students (it helps that they're being graded on their performance), and classical Cordon Bleu culinary training ensures that your plate is as well-composed as it is delicious. Save room for dessert, however, as their pastry department often outshines even the best of their savory staff.
The Fast Foodie
Tommy'shttp://www.originaltommys.com/
170 N. Hill Ave., 91106
(626) 792-5971
$
Nothing says "I love you" like matching chili stains. The two of you, sitting at a picnic table, with just the cool night breeze and the sound of speeding traffic on Hill to keep you company; what could be more intimate? Go in your suits, your halter dresses, and your heels for a taste of sweet, sweet irony.
The Singly-Aware
Mako Sushi506 E. Live Oak Ave., 91006
(626) 447-6150
$$-$$$
Mako Sushi's bar, on any night of the week, is one of my favorite dining-for-one destinations. Itaka-san, the larger-than-life head chef and proprietor, sets an effervescent, convivial tone to a restaurant where I have shared more drinks, fish, and conversations with perfect strangers than I can remember. You'll feel absolutely no need to sulk in a place where smiles all around and spirited shouts of "kanpai!" rule the day as you down your next delicious morsel. For more information, see previous review. http://gscnews.caltech.edu/nov06.pdf
Energy-Efficient Refrigeration from Ultranarrow Silicon Wires
Supernarrow silicon wires, or silicon nanowires, are laying the foundation for a new type of cheap yet energy-efficient microscopic refrigeration, with no moving parts, report researchers from the California Institute of Technology in a study published today in the journal Nature. January 10th Silicon nanowires as efficient thermoelectric materialsThe researchers found that making silicon into nanowires could create highly efficient thermoelectric materials. Thermoelectric materials create a voltage when there is a difference in temperature across the surface of the material. The thermoelectric effect has been known for more than 200 years, and the materials have had niche applications, such as power generation in satellites. However, the efficiency with which thermoelectric materials heat at one end and cool at the other in response to electric current has been too poor to be of general use.
The Caltech researchers, led by James Heath, the Elizabeth W. Gilloon Professor and professor of chemistry, took a completely different tack by using silicon, the most abundant element on earth. Using a method developed in Heath's labs, they constructed nanowires that were from 10 to 100 times narrower than the wires used in current computer microchips and found that the nanowires became extremely efficient at converting between thermal energy and electrical energy, exhibiting a 100-fold increase in performance. Near-term applications may involve recovering waste heat from microprocessor chips to make those chips more energy efficient. Longer-term applications include their use in efficient cooling units for refrigeration, or in thermal to electrical energy conversion for large-scale applications.
Other authors on the study were Caltech chemistry graduate students Akram Boukai, Yuri Bunimovich, and Jen Kan Yu.
Nightlife
Merrielle Spain
The Viper RoomDespite having lived in Los Angeles from 17, I had never been to The Viper Room. I'd frequented the Roxy across the street &mdash not that you can actually see the Viper Room from across the street. It's black, complementing the rest of Sunset Strip's excess of neon (e.g. the Rainbow Room's sign which is reminiscient of Vegas), and only the back door is on Sunset. Why would one visit a bantam black box attemptng to hide itself in Hollywood? This small music venue to the west of Sunset Strip was made infamous by the death of River Pheonix (young Indian Jones) and famous by the fact that Johnny Depp was an owner at the time.
The inside was painted black as were the nails of the vampiress taking drink orders. It's unclear whether this dark choice was made to attract a goth crowd or to make the venue appear even cozier. We went to see Indie Rock Band "The Deadly Syndrome" which pulled it's own crowd from Silverlake, making it impossible to test the goth hypothesis. The music was fantastic, the room was cozy (perhaps more so than if the walls were yellow), and the drinks were cheap ($3 Dewars anyone?). However I wouldn't go for the average band.
Designing the 700 MHz Auction
It's been called beachfront property. Wireless
companies are clamoring for pieces of it. The auction that will
parcel it out will be the biggest of the next decade, with reserve
prices set at $10 billion. It constitutes the most valuable
communications spectrum that will hit the open market in the
foreseeable future. It is the 700 megahertz (MHz) frequency, which
until now has been the exclusive domain of broadcast television. On
January 24, on the road toward ubiquitous digital television, the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will auction off licenses to
use swaths of this spectrum.
Potential newbies to the wireless grid, like Google and Cox Cable, will bid alongside entrenched companies like Verizon and AT&T and start-ups like Frontline Wireless. They'll all use a bidding system designed and built by California Institute of Technology economics professor Jacob Goeree and economics professor Charles Holt from the University of Virginia. The system was tested and refined through a series of laboratory experiments in which more than 200 Caltech undergraduates participated over the course of two years.
Right now, a few companies dominate the U.S. wireless market. This auction is the last chance for new entrants to create a national footprint. The 700 MHz frequency is particularly appealing for wireless--the signal can penetrate walls, and each tower broadcasting in this range can cover at least four times as many square miles as conventional cell-phone towers. This means fewer towers, at less expense, to any potential bidder. To cell-phone users, it may also mean goodbye to the roaming signal.
All of the bidding for the 700 MHz spectrum will take place online. This auction will run the same way that art or real estate auctions do--interested parties make their offers, and then compete in a bidding war until a winner is declared. But a communications-spectrum auction can quickly get complicated because of the volume of goods on the block and the number of parties with varying levels of interest.
To start, the FCC has divided the spectrum into several bands--A through E--that occupy different frequencies within the 700 MHz range, and divided each of these bands into several regions. Band A consists of 176 licenses for the frequencies between 698-704 and 728-734 MHz, for example, and band C, considered the most commercially attractive, has only twelve licenses and occupies the 746-757 and 776-787 MHz frequency ranges.
Each bidder could be interested in different bands and in different geographic regions; they don't necessarily want nationwide coverage. For example, Verizon may be particularly attracted to the C band, and they may only want it in Texas and New Mexico, where their coverage is spotty. T-Mobile may want to buy regions of the same band for coverage from North Dakota all the way south through Texas and east as far as Kansas. And Google, in a bid to establish a nationwide network, might want a package combining bands B and C through several regions to collectively cover the entire country.
"We had a very simple idea for how to do it," says Goeree. In December 2006 they called the FCC and presented their approach, called Hierarchical Package Bidding (HPB). It groups the available licenses for all bands into packages according to a hierarchy with a fixed number of levels or tiers. For band C, for example, there could be three levels that comprise different bundles of regions. At the bottom level, 12 individual licenses would correspond to 12 different regions--Region 1 is the Northeast, for example; Region 4 is the Mississippi Valley; Region 12 is the Gulf of Mexico. On level two, the 12 regions could merge into three packages made of four individual regions each. At the top, it would be winner take all, meaning that if the highest bid was at level one, that bidder would take home the national package consisting of all 12 licenses for band C.
At the close of each bidding round, the software calculates the total money bid at each level. In a three-level system, say the bids at level three total $12 billion, at level two they total $11 billion, and the level one bid is $12.4 billion. The software would then advise bidders on their next move should they want to stay in the game. Each of the 12 bidders on level three would be alerted to increase their bid by about $34 million. The four bidders at level two would need to fork over more than $350 million each to stay in the game. Level one could sit tight, until the next round. There would be no need to calculate; the bidders would just make sure they could afford the suggested bid. "It solves the complexity for them," says Goeree. It also means that if each bidder at level two or three follows the advice in unison, they can all move on to the next round. Of course, whoever can't follow the suggestion will get shut out.
2008 Everhart Lectureships have been awarded
2008 Everhart Lectureships have been awarded. Congratulations to the selected speakers!
Three outstanding graduate students have been selected from a large pool of exceptional nominees and applicants this year for their excellent research and speaking skills. The speakers will present their work to the general Caltech community in the winter and spring terms. Date, time, and location of the lectures will be announced.
Additionally, this year's Everhart selection committee comprised of 5 fellow graduate students representing different academic divisions at Caltech would like to thank all the applicants and also recognize the many exemplary applicants who we could not award since only three lectures could be selected. Lastly, we hope you will all look forward to the exciting talks chosen for this year's Everhart Lecture Series, which we believe will again provide an exciting forum for interdisciplinary interactions and sharing of the most recent scientific developments involving graduate students at Caltech.
Speakers for the 2008 Everhart Lecture Series are:
Jennifer Dionne (Applied Physics, Advisor: Harry Atwater), A pinch of light and a dash of negative refraction: Recipes for making a perfect lens and a cloak of invisibility.
Ari Stern (Applied and Computational Math, Advisor: Jerrold Marsden), Symmetry and Simulation: How geometry affects scientific computing, from the solar system to your microwave oven.
Ding-shyue (Jerry) Yang (Chemistry, Advisor: Ahmed Zewail), Seeing Is Believing: Visualization of Condensed-Matter Structures in Four Dimensions.
If you are interested in learning more about the Everhart Lecture Series (ELS), click or contact els@caltech.edu. ELS is sponsored by the GSC, the Grad Office, and the Alumni Association.
Westside Rentals
The GSC and MHF bring current graduate students $10 subscriptions to Westside Rentals. Subscribe.
Housing survey results
Thanks for participating in the GSC survey on Housing and Unauthorized Entry. We estimate that almost all of Housing's unauthorized entries go unreported and when reported, Housing is unlikely to resolve the issue satisfactorily. We presented this data to the new VP of Student Affairs, Dr. Anneila Sargent, who expressed concern and will be taking the matter up with Housing. If you experience an unauthorized entry please send an email to gschous@caltech.edu so that the GSC can monitor the prevalence of the problem. Click pictures for enlargement.
LA's Restaurant Week is coming!
Laurence Yeung
The charge is simple: sample affordable three-course menus ($22 for lunch, $34 for dinner) from some of the city's premier restaurants -- but you only have a week to do so. Yes, LA is hot on the shoes of its competitors again with its first-ever city-wide restaurant "week" from January 27 - February 1 and from February 3 - February 8, sponsored by dineLA. So bring your healthiest appetites and your closest dining companions; eating well just got a whole lot cheaper.Click here for list of restaurants, complete with menus.
Social Committee Report
The Social Committee met at lunch on Jan. 8th. Reported to the committee were two MHF proposals, one by URS and PRISM for a Gaypril comedy night, and the other by myself and the athletics department for new video equipment. Another Athletics-related MHF proposal was suggested, covering new turf for the south field as well as better lighting (possibly for the North Field) and displays on treadmills (as well as TVs). I will consult the Athletics Department on this matter.The first item on the agenda was Pep Rallies on the 10th and 31st. The pep rally on the 10th will involve halftime prizes of iTunes gift certificates, and post-game non-alcoholic refreshments. We will be seeking OCL funding for these pep rallies, as they are a great place for grad-undergrad interaction. The second item we discussed was the plan for the next couple of GUSHes. The January GUSH will roll out the new arcade equipment from the last MHF proposal, and will involve a streetfighter tournament and a dinner (included in the MHF funding). The February GUSH will be chocolate-oriented, as it falls close to valentine's day. The March GUSH will be part of the GSC recruitment effort. A concern about the condition of the foosball table in the North Rec Room was then raised, and the RAs have been contacted. The third item on the agenda was a brief discussion of the next term party. We decided to have it during March recruitment, and to organize both the GUSH and term party next month when we have more information about recruitment weekends handy. Additioinally, we will try to organize the Jeopardy event with USC during recruitment. Attend next month's social committee for input on recruitment activities!
We then discussed the idea of corporate sponsorship of parties in an effort to broaden the scope of the activities of the social committee. George, Scott and Ophelia volunteered to look into this, particularly as it relates to the possibility of a spring term formal. Ronnie and I will follow their leads when finding sponsors for Gradiators 2008. The fourth item on the agenda was a discussion of off-campus trips. It was agreed that the Magic Mountain trip should be planned sometime soon, headed up by George and Dan Bower. A Ski Trip and Go-carting were also discussed. We then discussed the possibility of a joint Super Bowl party with the RAs, possibly through quick-funding, and they have been contacted with regards to this proposal.
Finally, we were given an Athletics Sub-Committee report by Chris K. Essentially, despite relatively late notification by John D'Auria, the whole community was notified of the winter IM sports organizational meeting on Monday ahead of time. This is a substantial improvement over the past two years, when no such announcement has been made. He will be contacting John to find out the status of the various sports, and how they have been in flux over the past couple of years in the coming weeks. Hopefully we will be able to cater more to the needs of the community in this aspect.
What's Wrong with Scientific Publishing, and How do We Fix It?
Part 3: Opening Peer Review
Thursday, Jan 24
4 pm Ð 5:30 pm (Refreshments 3:40 pm)
106 Spalding Lab, Hartley Memorial Seminar Room
The peer review process is undeniably critical to progress in research, yet it is often criticized for being slow, biased, and lacking in accountability. In addition, controversy regarding the process abounds given the new technologies, increasing volume of manuscripts and unsustainable journal price increases. In response, many scientists, especially young researchers, are calling for a more open, democratic, and transparent peer review process. What does open peer review look like, and can it really live up to its promise? Hear about new models being used in environmental science, atmospheric chemistry and economics, and join in a discussion of the possibilities.
Panelists
Tapio Schneider, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering
John Seinfeld, Louis E. Nohl Professor & Professor of Chemical Engineering
R. Preston McAfee, J. Stanley Johnson Professor of Business Economics and Management
Rock and Roll Acid Test
Are you a science professor who loves rock and roll? Do you like to engineer things and blow them up? Do you enjoy finding out the truth about things? If so, then we have an opportunity for you! Fuse Network's new television series Rock and Roll Acid Test is currently looking for a bona fide science professor to appear on camera and help us challenge classic myths of the music world. Did Jimi Hendrix really play his guitar so fast that the strings began to smoke? How loud does music need to be before it damages hearing or breaks glass? And did Ozzy Osbourne really bite the head off a bat on-stage? What about rabies?Some of the show's creators comes from the world of MythBusters, and Wired Science and will bring the same quest for facts and fun to this new series. Together we'll employ engineering, physics and common sense in recreating these legendary feats.
Rock and Roll Acid Test begins shooting mid February and will continue through June. Our resident expert "the professor" will need to be available for roughly two three-hour sessions per month. We are offering an honorarium per session. If interested please send a photo, or link to video clip, along with your resume to: rratseries@gmail.com. Please include a note detailing any music or performing experience. We look forward to hearing from you!
Amnesty International
Sunday, Jan. 20, 10 am - 2 pm (approx.): Pasadena Doo Dah parade. Group 22 will have an entry featuring waterboarding, Beach Boys music and banners protesting use of torture. Those interested are welcome to march with us ($10 parade entry fee).Sunday, Jan. 20, 6:30 pm: Human-rights book discussion group meets at Vroman's Bookstore (695 E. Colorado Blvd in Pasadena), 2nd floor. This month our book is "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See, the story of a secret civilization of women who lived in China not long ago. Come and join the discussion, even if you haven't read the book.
Thursday, Jan. 24, 7:30 pm: Monthly meeting in the CalTech Y (on San Pasqual between Hill and Holliston, on the south side behind the two curving walls). We will be discussing the current state of issues on which we are working and plans for the coming month.
Tuesday, Feb. 12, 7:30 pm: letter-writing in the Athenaeum. We will meet in the Rathskeller in the basement. (Look for a table with the Amnesty sign.) Join us for actions on human-rights violations around the world, talk, and refreshments.
Working with Hydrofluoric Acid
Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) is an extremely corrosive acid used in many labs for mineral digestion, surface cleaning, etching, or biological staining. HF is also used in the manufacture of semiconductors. HF has a number of chemical, physical and toxicological properties which make handling this material especially hazardous.If you handle HF in the course of your lab work, keep in mind the following precautions which are designed to assure your health and safety:
In the event of HF exposure, the following steps should be followed to minimize HF burns or other permanent damage. Bear in mind that all exposures to HF require medical attention. Call extension 5000 immediately.
First Aid for Skin Contact:
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Everhart Lectureships awarded
MHF GUSH
Housing survey results
Athletics - Windsurf, Alpine Club, Dance...
Arts Review - Twin Peaks
Restaurant Review: Valentine's Day
LA's Restaurant Week is coming!
Nightlife - The Viper Room
LIGO Sheds Light on Cosmic Event
Energy-Efficient Refrigeration from Ultranarrow Silicon Wires
Designing the 700 MHz Auction
Wine Study Shows Price Influences Perception
Windsurfing
Learn to Windsurf in one Saturday!Caltech Surf and Windsurf Club will offer beginner windsurfing lessons in Long Beach on Saturday, 26 Jan 2008. Top-notch equipment, wetsuits, and instruction will be provided by the Club, and carpooling will be arranged. In a protected, flat-water lagoon, you'll learn the basics of windsurfing, and then practice on the water. By the end of the day, you'll be sailing back and forth. No previous experience necessary, but you must know how to swim. The trip is open to the whole Caltech/JPL community, and costs just $10/person. For more information, or to reserve your spot, contact Jane Rigby, jrigby@ociw.edu.
Alpine Club
Interested in rock climbing or mountaineering? Join the Alpine Club.
Click.
Hip Hop
Our Hip Hop class is offered on Thursdays at 9-10pm in the Braun Gym Multipurpose room. The 8-week course will go through Feb. 28. This will be a high-energy class set to the latest sounds in rap, R&B, and pop music together with street movements, step by step instructions, and upbeat warmups and stretches. Hip Hop is taught by our professional instructor, Aukai Cain. No experience in dance is needed! No special clothing or shoes are required (gym clothes and gym shoes or dance sneakers are recommended). This class is open to the entire Caltech community, and is offered for a small fee. It is $25/term for students and $50/term for non students (8 classes). Trial classes are $5 for students and $10 for non students and may be applied to the term fee.
Bowling Club
Do you like throwing things? Come rollin' with the Caltech Bowling Club. We meet weekly at 9pm at our favorite bowling alley. Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or a Big Lebowski bowler, the Bowling Club is right for you. Your bowling abilities will improve over the weeks (guarantee void in CA), as you relax with your friends or meet interesting people. The full bar will accommodate all your thirst needs.For info about the club, meet times, the mail-list and direction to the lanes visit the Bowling Club's website or email us at bowling (at caltech.edu). Keep an eye out for our fliers on upcoming events with prizes, cheap games, discount drinks and sexy people!
Bellydance
Our Bellydance class is offered on Saturdays at 12:45 - 1:45pm in the Braun Gym Multipurpose room. The 8-week course will go through March 1. Leela's award-winning technique and clear, articulate breakdowns make learning fun and easy. Through powerful muscle isolation work and stimulating aerobic activity, Bellydance builds strength, grace, balance, creativity and self esteem. Bring your big skirts because we're learning a fabulously flamboyant gypsy piece! No experience or special shoes needed! This class is offered for a small fee. It is $25/term for students and $50/term for non students (8 classes). Trial classes are $5 for students and $10 for non students and may be applied to the term fee.
Scottish Country Dancing
Scottish Country Dancing is the fold dancing of Scotland. It's a social form of dancing, where partners are exchanged for each dance, so anyone can dance--no partner necessary! It's fun and easy to learn, especially for Caltech students, who enjoy the geometric patterns of the figures. Classes are Monday nights, 6:30-8:30 in Winnett Lounge, and there are Scottish dance events happening in the area all the time! Class if free, and pizza is provided every week! No experience necessary, and beginners are welcome at any time. For more information, contact Jim Maiolo: jmaiolo@gmail.com, or (626) 590-0373.
Floorball
Floorball is a lightweight, non-contact version of indoor hockey played
in tennis shoes-no skates. Pickup games are in Brown gym on Monday
nights from 10pm to midnight throughout the winter and spring terms.
We're always happy to get new players-
no experience is necessary. There's a lot of running, so dress
comfortably. Questions? Email Andrew at bandy@its.caltech.edu.
Quick Overview of Information Resources
Thursday, January 17, 2:00-3:30pmSFL room 328
New on campus? Have you seen a listing of the 100+ databases available at Caltech? Updating your CV and need to find a citation? Looking for a proceedings paper? Want to find out if the library subscribes to an electronic journal? Let us show you the most effective ways to use library services and resources! This session is designed especially for graduate students, post-docs and research staff, but all are welcome. Register
Web of Knowledge 4.0
Thursday, January 24, 2:00-3:30pmSFL room 328
Web of Knowledge has changed! Improve your article retrieval using new features! This session will teach strategies for searching scholarly literature to discover the influence and impact of journal articles, linking to full-text articles, exporting records directly into EndNote or the new Web EndNote, and personalizing searches and citation alerts. Register
Electronic Thesis and Dissertations
Thursday, January 31 or February 14, 2:00-3:30pmSFL room 328
Are you working on your thesis? Did you know that electronic copies of theses must be submitted? Are you aware of the formatting requirements for theses? You are encouraged to attend a brief overview of techniques useful in the production and publication of Caltech electronic theses. The session will include tips on: format guidance, Intellectual Property considerations, submitting a thesis and availability issues (who can see it and when). Register
Life Sciences Information Resources
Thursday, February 7, 2:00-3:30pmSFL room 328
Covers various bibliographic databases to consider for interdisciplinary information retrieval related to life sciences, as well as options for automatically updating yourself on new literature on your topic, use of subheadings in PubMed/Medline, and other database functions and features. Register
Space - Black Holes
Saturday, January 19, Beckman Auditorium. 2 p.m. This high-definition film screening will be followed by a discussion with Steve Drasco of Caltech's division of physics, math, and astronomy. This event is part of the Science Saturdays series. Admission: $5. Call campus extension 4652 for information.The Pacific - North America Plate Boundary, Mexican Style
Wednesday, January 23, Beckman Auditorium. 8 p.m. Joann Stock, professor of geology and geophysics at Caltech, will give this Earnest C. Watson lecture. Admission: free. Call campus extension 4652 for information.Campbell Brothers - Sacred Steel Guitars
Saturday, January 26, Beckman Auditorium. 8 p.m. The Campbell Brothers present African-American gospel music with electric steel guitar and vocals. Caltech student admission: $5 (limit 2 tickets per Caltech student I.D.) Call campus extension 4652 for information.Moby Dick Rehearsed - The Acting Company
Friday, February 1, Beckman Auditorium. 8 p.m. A troupe of actors abandons their rehearsal of King Lear to recreate another about Captain Ahab. Caltech student admission: $5 (limit 2 tickets per Caltech student I.D.). Call campus extension 4652 for information.The Temptest - The Acting Company
Saturday, February 2, Beckman Auditorium. 8 p.m. Shakespeare's play about the usurped wizard, Prospero, who draws his enemies to his enchanted island to exact revenge. Caltech student admission: $5 (limit 2 tickets per Caltech student I.D.). Call campus extension 4652 for information.Leahy
Friday, February 8, Beckman Auditorium. 8 p.m. This eight-member brother and sister act from Canada presents Celtic music, dance, and song. Caltech student admission: $5 (limit 2 tickets per Caltech student I.D.). Call campus extension 4652 for information.Lazer Vaudeville
Saturday, February 9, Beckman Auditorium. 2 p.m. A cast of fantastical characters, including a seven-foot, fluorescent, fire-breathing dragon, performs magical illusions with laser beams. Caltech student admission: $5 (limit 2 tickets per Caltech student I.D.). Call campus extension 4652 for information.The Academy of Ancient Music
Sunday, February 10, Beckman Auditorium. 3:30 p.m. The program for this Coleman Chamber Concert will feature the music of Bach, Handel, and Telemann. Caltech student admission: Fifty (50) free tickets will be available to Caltech students beginning Monday, February 4 (limit 2 free tickets per Caltech student I.D.) Call Call campus extension 4652 for information.
Wine Study Shows Price Influences Perception
Antonio Rangel, an associate professor of economics at Caltech, and
his colleagues found that changes in the stated price of a sampled
wine influenced not only how good volunteers thought it tasted, but
the activity of a brain region that is involved in our experience of
pleasure. In other words, "prices, by themselves, affect activity in
an area of the brain that is thought to encode the experienced
pleasantness of an experience," Rangel says.
Rangel and his colleagues had 20 volunteers taste five wine samples which, they were told, were identified by their different retail prices: $5, $10, $35, $45, and $90 per bottle. While the subjects tasted and evaluated the wines, their brains were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI.
The subjects consistently reported that they liked the taste of the $90 bottle better than the $5 one, and the $45 bottle better than the $35 one. Scans of their brains supported their subjective reports; a region of the brain called the medial orbitofontal cortex, or mOFC, showed higher activity when the subjects drank the wines they said were more pleasurable.
There was a catch to the experiment, however. Although the subjects had been told that they would taste five different, variously priced wines, they actually had sampled only three. Wines 1 and 2 were used twice, but labeled with two different prices. For example, wine 2 was presented as the $90 wine (its actual retail price) and also as the $10 wine. When the subjects were told the wine cost $90 a bottle, they loved it; at $10 a bottle, not so much. In a follow-up experiment, the subjects again tasted all five wine samples, but without any price information; this time, they rated the cheapest wine as their most preferred.
The results, while puzzling, actually make intuitive sense, Rangel says: "The brain encodes pleasure because it is useful for learning which activities to repeat and which ones to avoid, and good decision making requires good measures of the quality of an experience." But the brain is also a noisy environment, and "thus, as a way of improving its measurements, it makes sense to add up other sources of information about the experience. In particular, if you are very sure cognitively that an experience is good (perhaps because of previous experiences), it makes sense to incorporate that into your current measurements of pleasure."