May Newsletter

New GSC Board of Directors

Chair- Ronnie Bryan
Vice Chair- Merrielle Spain
Executive Director- George Cadena
Treasurer- Scott Kelber
Secretary- Eve Stenson

GRB Chair- Nathalie Vriend
GRB Sectetary- Eve Stenson

Concern over healthcare largely defined the GSC's agenda during the 2006-07 term. This highly charged and emotional issue highlights the impact that budget cuts have had on the graduate student morale -- when the proposed plan was released, many of you came to our Board of Directors (BoD) meeting to express your dissatisfaction. The GSC's Steering Committee responded by conducting a poll in which nearly half of you participated. That poll data directly impacted the recommendations made by the Healthcare Committee and President Chameau such that in the next two years, graduate students will pay a portion of the premium in order to keep our current benefits. Though a few of you expressed disappointment over how this process unfolded, I believe the 06/07 Steering Committee did an excellent job of raising awareness of this issue throughout the year and keeping pressure on the administration to make a wise long-term decision. It is important to note, however, that this solution is temporary, and the healthcare problem is not going away in the foreseeable future. For this reason, it's important that the GSC remember what happened and be prepared for the next round of negotiation in 2008-2009. At the same time, the GSC can meet its charge to 'maximize the quality of life' for graduate students in several other ways, which I outline elsewhere in this newsletter, committee by committee.

Thanks
-Ronnie

Priorities for a new BoD

Ronnie Bryan

Quality of Life Committee

new chair: George Cadena
It's clear that healthcare should figure prominently into the GSC's agenda, but it's been unclear how this should be done. During 2006-2007, members of the Quality of Life Committee worked on this issue and represented the GSC to the Health Committee. As the dialogue between the students and the administration evolved, and it became clear that drastic cuts were a likely possibility, the Steering Committee took over most of this work. I agree with this decision, but don't want healthcare to dominate the Steering Committee's agenda in such a dramatic way every time the issue resurfaces. Looking back over the GSC Newsletter archives, it's apparent that healthcare has been a recurring issue for at least the past 5 years, about as long as the archives are available. Inconveniently, it seems to strike the new GSC as a new issue each time, requiring new data and a new debate. Instead, I propose that we formally charge the Quality of Life Committee to look after healthcare specifically as one of its well-defined priorities. As a standing committee, QoL will be able to address this problem that currently hampers efficient discussion. I would encourage as many of you as possible to join this committee and help do this important work, even if you are not a member of the GSC Board of Directors.

To help gain information necessary to meet this and other objectives, I would like the QoL Committee to take on one more responsibility: an annual Quality of Life Survey. Survey data was collected in 2003, which is available on the GSC website; these data are interesting, but we need more current information that covers a broader spectrum of issues. Gender harassment, Cost of Living, Dining, and Honor Code are the topics covered by the survey, but there is no data on expenses associated with Healthcare, nor on what activities the GSC can support to best address student concerns. I would like this survey to inform future GSC boards on how to set the year's agenda in direct response to student concerns. If you have suggestions for questions to be included in this survey, please get in touch with the QoL chair or come to our meeting at 2pm this Wednesday at Red Door.

Housing Committee

new chair: Erin Koos
There have been reports of unauthorized entry into student's apartments in the Catalinas by Housing employees or contractors. Housing is taking this issue seriously and is currently conducting an internal investigation into these potential violations of student's legal rights. Please report violations to gschous@caltech. Additionally, some students are concerned about the Catalina Apartment maintenance. For example, the sprinkler system is clearly broken, leading to accumulation of water and mud in the walkways. Both of these housing issues will figure into QoL's annual survey.

Social Committee

continuing chair: Evans Boney

The Social Committee is the largest, most well-funded, and most prominent GSC committee, and as such has a very important role to play in maximizing the quality of life on campus. Through my discussions with other students and my involvement in the Social Committee during the 06/07 term, I have determined that there are two main problems that hamper the social environment at Caltech: small size and isolation. To address these problems, I propose the following four goals:

1. More interaction with graduate students from nearby universities. Based on my discussions with grad students, it seems like a lot of the unhappiness people feel can be alleviated by simply knowing more non-Caltech people. At such a small institution, it's inevitable that we will run into each other all the time, and this seems to create an inescapable but unnecessary sense of cabin-fever. There are many other populations of same-age and highly intelligent people that we are failing to socialize with -- some of them even in the Pasadena area. To help facilitate social interaction outside of Caltech, we have contacted our counterparts at Claremont Graduate University and University of Southern California to set up joint events where our student populations can intermingle. Both of these overtures have been met with enthusiasm and are now in the planning phases.

2. More time spent off-campus. Though the social and entertainment options on campus are convenient, they are not always optimal. The Social Committee can therefore be more effective by organizing and subsidizing trips to off-campus locations, as it currently does with its annual wine tasting. As a step in this direction, the Social Committee organized and subsidized a highly successful ski trip to Sierra Summit Mountain Resort last term. This kind of trip can be replicated more regularly and on a smaller scale to provide a variety of options for graduate students seeking entertainment in a novel environment. Therefore, one of the first action items I am submitting to the new BoD at next month's meeting will be to request funding for conducting such trips. The exact details of the trips will be left to the discretion of the Social Committee, so I would encourage you to communicate to your option representatives what you would like to see happen. So far, the list of candidate trips includes: the beach, bowling, magic mountain, movie night, dave & busters, club night, bar night, sports games, and paintball. The only stipulation on these trips is a cap on the per-person subsidy and adequate advertisement to the graduate population.

3. More interaction with undergraduates. At a small institution such as Caltech, it makes little sense to further subdivide the population along grad/undergrad lines, though this is naturally what will happen. Energetic barriers to grad/undergrad interaction include the negative stereotypes that both groups have of each other and the well-structured social environment that undergrads have set-up through the housing system. In terms of negative stereotypes -- All I can say is that there is likely a kernel of truth to the perceptions that grads and undergrads have of each other; however, this kernel of truth is not enough to outweigh the utility to be gained from judging each other on a case by case basis. If we effectively double the social environment here, we double our chances of meeting people we have things in common with. The Social Chair, Evans Boney, and myself have been in discussions with ASCIT Social Director Ekta Bhojwani and President Chris Gonzales regarding an Intercampus party in the fall. If you think this is a good idea, please let us know. At the same time, the Social Committee has inadvertently made progress on this front by supporting the Caltech Basketball teams in an exciting season this year. Fallout from the February (Baaalliin!!) GUSH includes the soon-to-be-unveiled selling of BEAVER FEVER t-shirts at the Bookstore. For every t-shirt sold, the Social Committee will receive $3.50 to support athletics at Caltech. Look forward to another GSC/ASCIT tail-gate party for the Basketball home opener in the fall.

4. Recruitment of more social graduate students. When prospective students visit campus in the spring to decide where to go to school, it's true that 99% of their decision will be based on academic quality and not social atmosphere -- or is it? I could be wrong, but I don't think anyone has that data. Intuitively, though, it seems that people make their choice based on how they project their overall happiness will be during the time it takes to earn a PhD. Currently, each option is responsible for representing Caltech to these prospective students. In some ways, this makes sense because students within the lab and option will have the greatest insight into what academic life is like at Caltech. However, at the same time, the entire Caltech community has a vested interest in attracting students who will contribute to the social atmosphere here. Therefore, I want the GSC to provide additional financial and organizational support for graduate recruiting. This can come in the form of helping to fill in the gaps for options that don't have a specific weekend, or for students who can't make the regular weekend. It can also mean to use our resources to help options throw successful parties or outings by advertising to the wider community. Given the interdisciplinary nature of Caltech, it only makes sense for prospectives to come into contact with students from related options outside their own. Since recruiting is structured by option, often the recruiting event information never makes it relevant parts of the rest of the community. I would ask the GSC to help offset the additional costs associated with higher attendance at these events with financial support. Additionally, by providing a centralized source of information about recruiting events, we can acquire data on recruitment success that can be used to optimize campus-wide efforts in the future.

In general, I'm excited to see an active Social Committee creatively work to make life more fun for graduate students. I hope my direction helps them achieve success, but this isn't possible without participation from the student body. Please try to communicate with us about what you'd like to see happen; better yet, join the Social Committee and help make it happen -- meetings are open to everyone. Because input from students is critical to our success, communication between graduate students and the BoD is a priority for the upcoming year. To help us communicate to you what is going on, we have created a Google Calendar of social events promoted by the GSC. Additionally, we have voted to hold GUSH regularly on the third Friday of each month. This timing was decided upon because it falls soon after publication of the GSC Newsletter. Feel free to approach any of us at GUSH to discuss anything you read in the newsletter that week.

Under-Represented Students (URS)

new chair: Tara Gomez

Though it was too obvious to mention above, another factor that hampers the social environment here is Caltech's pitiful gender ratio. Instead of submitting to the cynical and sexist doctrine that such a skewed ratio is inevitable at the premier technical institute in the world, I believe the GSC should try to do what it can to redress the imbalance. Obviously, the problem is larger than the graduate population, but the graduate population can take leadership in doing its part to work toward a solution. In fact, at a time when gender inequality pervades science, a high-profile scientific institute such as Caltech is in a uniquely privileged position to take leadership on a national stage, as MIT did in the late nineties. And at a small institute such as Caltech, graduate students are in a uniquely privileged position to affect decisions made by the faculty.

Therefore, I would encourage everyone to pay attention to the faculty hiring process as it unfolds in each division. Faculty hiring committees are very powerful entities that have a huge influence in determining the scientific and social direction in which universities move. This is relevant to graduate students because female matriculation to Caltech is likely to be influenced by the prevalence of women faculty, which currently sits at a recent-memory high of 14%. Therefore, graduate students and the BoD should pay careful attention to the hiring committee oversight provided by the new Provost Edward Stolper. Additionally, I encourage graduate students to participate in the work of two committees: ACODAMA (The Administrative Committee on Diversity and Minority Affairs) and Judith Campbell's ad hoc Committee on Gender Equity, which is a follow-up to the 2001 Committee on the Status of Women Faculty report. Currently, the ad hoc committee is comprised entirely of women.

In addition to gender issues, URS is also charged with addressing issues specific to minorities, international students, students with dependents, and LGBTQ students. Clearly, this is a large scope for one committee with few members, little money, and no clear goals. In the past, URS has focused on providing social options specific for minority groups. This is a worthy endeavor and should be pursued more actively in the coming year. URS and PRISM had success during GAYPRIL with a club night to West Hollywood, but programming for women and minority students has been supplied largely through the Women's Center and the office for Minority Student Education. To avoid duplication of these efforts, I encourage the 07/08 URS committee to work more closely with these entities to plan and promote events for graduate students.

I also believe that graduate recruitment should be a major priority for the URS. A coordinated effort administered by the Social Committee and the URS should focus on recruiting women and minority graduate students to Caltech. This includes advertising our annual Grad Preview program. It also includes traveling to minority conferences such as NSBP and SACNAS to increase the volume of quality applications, as well as having an organized recruiting effort on campus for admitted students. If talented women and minority students are admitted to Caltech but choose not to come, we should find out why and do something about it.

GSC Steering Committee


Ronnie Bryan, Chair	Merrielle Spain, Vice-chair	George Cadena, Executive Director	Scott Kelber, Treasurer, and Eve Stenson, Secretary (not pictured)

Aside from steering the BoD to achieve the objectives outlined above, the GSC Steering Committee will focus on communication, broadly speaking. We would like graduate students to be aware of what is going on, socially, politically, and academically. Currently, we communicate to the student body via Weekly Announcements and the Newsletter, and now a Social Events calendar is online to summarize this information in an easy to read format, and allow select users to add events. We'd also like to come up with new ways for you to communicate to us about whatever issues you have, or how you'd like us to spend your graduate student dues. You may see a link to a weekly or semi-weekly poll question in the Weekly Announcements -- we hope you don't view this as an annoyance or burden, but rather as an opportunity to routinely engage in a dialogue with us.

Figure 1

Additionally, to help people get involved, I plan to contribute a regular column to the Newsletter explicating the structure of power at Caltech, as I understand it. Figure 1 illustrates what I mean by the 'structure of power.' This model of the GSC system consists of 3 important flows: money, information, and entertainment. Money flow is indicated by thick, light green arrrows, information flow is indicated by thin, black arrows, and entertainment flow is indicated through thick, dark green arrows. Money flows from graduate students to the GSC budget. Additionally, information about the quality of life flows from graduate students to their option reps. The BoD uses this information to determine how to convert the money into entertainment, which is then transmitted back to the graduate student body via the Social Committee and Club Funding. Some of this money ($3.5k) is returned directly to graduate students via Quickfund. At the same time, information from graduate students is communicated to relevant Faculty committees, who in turn provide us with information about the on-goings of their decision making processes.

Importantly, students can join Faculty committees directly, which is not indicated on the figure. In the coming issues of the newsletter, I hope to inform you of what the faculty committees are, what they do, and how to join them. For example, important changes to Student Affairs have been recommended by a newly formed committee. I will ask graduate students on that committee to report their experience to the students via this newsletter. Additionally, I will describe some of the other important bodies on campus and how they interface with the GSC, such as the Caltech Y, the Alumni Association, the Grad Office, the Student Investment Fund, and the Moore-Hufstedler Fund. In the meantime, I will also provide more information on the other functions of the GSC, especially committees I did not discuss today, such as Academics, Publications, New Student Orientation, and the GRB.

In sum, I have high hopes for the incoming BoD. I have carved out a lot of work to be done, and I believe we can make significant progress toward achieving it in the next year. However, many of these goals are longer-term and will require more time to make significant progress. These goals are intended to give the GSC momentum to achieve coherent objectives more specific than our charge to 'maximize the quality of life'. Many of the new members to the BoD are first year graduate students, which hopefully will create some continuity into the future. All BoD member are listed here -- take the time to talk to your option representative about what we can do to help make your life better. If your option doesn't have a representative, contact a Director at Large, or become a representative yourself. And if you see me around, please feel free to talk to me about anything I've said here. I have specific goals and ideas, but I'm very open to hearing your opinion, so don't hesitate.

GRB Bylaws changes passed

The GSC has recently conducted a ballot initiative on proposed amendments to the GSC bylaws. The ballot with the proposed changes can be read on http://gscnews.caltech.edu/mar07/grb/ballot.doc, while more information on the initiative itself can be found at http://gscnews.caltech.edu/mar07/grb/index.html. The results of the campus-wide graduate student vote on the initiative state:

Total Number of Graduate Students: 1172
Number Required for Quorum (20% of total): 234
Number of Votes Recorded on Roster: 241
Number of Ballots Received: 243 (20.73% participation rate)
Number of Ballots In Favor of the Initiative: 210 (86.4%)
Number of Ballots Against the Initiative: 33 (13.6%)

Balloting Uncertainty: 2 votes

It is the finding of the GRB chair that the Ballot Initiative has reached the required quorum under the Bylaws and has exceeded the required majority for approval. The GSC bylaws initiative is hereby approved. The Board of Directors of the Graduate Student Council will enter this report into their record during the next BoD GSC meeting and make appropriate changes to the electronic Bylaw files.

If you are interested in joining the GRB, please send an email to grbchair@caltech.edu with your name and contact data. We're always eager to increase our membership, especially with Ch, ChE and Bi graduate students and all of the other options which currently have no members on the Board.

Sincerely,

Nathalie Vriend
GRB chair

Reader Contest- "Natural Disasters" - $25 prize

As LA burns to the ground, you may pause to think about how natural disasters affect us. Despite the infrastructure we have built to protect ourselves from nature, we still remain at risk. Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Compose a photo, write an editorial, or sketch a cartoon about natural disasters. The winning entry will be featured in the next edition, win a $25 gift certificate, and be in the running for a sweet ipod.

Gradiators

GUSH

Euro Party

Semi-Semana Latina

Wednesday May 16th, 6pm - 8pm
Art exhibit opening in the first floor of the CSS ( Center of Student Services)
reception hosted by club latino.
music: UPGROUND

Thursday May 17th, 12pm
Lunch movie presented by the Caltech Y
Chicano!
Noon - At the Caltech Y - Lunch is provided.

Friday May 18th, 12pm
Samba school performing
Argentinian BBQ
Lunch $5

Saturday June 2nd, 9pm
Salsa party
Salsa Club, GSC and Club Latino
Dabney

Salsa Party

Free Salsa Party!
Sponsored by Salcita, Caltech's Salsa Club
Come dance the night away to salsa music performed by a live band on historic Dabney Hall's lovely hardwood floors.
Date and Time: Saturday, June 2nd, 9pm-1am
Location: Beautiful Dabney Hall
Band: Sono-Lux
DJ: DJ Saoco (from Zabumba)
Admission: Free
Pre-party Salsa Lesson by Yossi (from Zabumba): 8 pm
Refreshments available
more

300, the party

Fleming's Interhouse on 9pm May 27th.

OASIS

"Roo-Ba-Roo", the annual OASIS cultural show
Ramo Auditorium, 6:30 pm, 18 May

The Organization of Associated Students from the Indian Subcontinent (OASIS) invites members of the Caltech community to join them for an entertaining evening that features classical Indian dances and theatre performances.

Following the event, an Indian dinner will be served outside the auditorium for a nominal charge.

Science for Social Impact Forum

Engineers for a Sustainable World, in partnership with the Career Development Center and Alumni Association, will host the 2007 Science for Social Impact Forum on Friday, May 18, from 1:30 to 4:30 pm in 119 Kerckhoff. All members of the Caltech community are invited to meet professionals applying their skills to issues of pressing social concern, such as international development, public policy, alternative energy, and environmental law. The Forum will feature a keynote address by Dr. Carol Carmichael, a speaker panel, and a networking reception. For more information, visit http://esw.caltech.edu/SSIF.htm or contact Alan Kwan at kwan@caltech.edu .

rsvp

Additional assistance provided by the GSC, ASCIT, Caltech Postdoc Association, and the Caltech Y.

Caltech Library System Presents

Web of Knowledge
Thursday, May 17, 2-3:30pm
Sherman Fairchild Library, Multimedia Conference Room 328

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.

Amnesty International

Amnesty International Sunday, May 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 "Imperial Reckoning" by Caroline Elkins, an account of the unraveling of the British colonial empire in Kenya. Come and join the discussion, even if you haven't read the book.

Thursday, May 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 plans for the coming month.

Tuesday, June 12, 7:30 pmabletter-writing at the Athenaeum. We will meet in the Rath al Fresco on the lawn. (Look for a table with the Amnesty sign.) Join us for actions on human-rights violations around the world, talk, and refreshments.

DJ Club

The mission of the Caltech DJ Club is to provide the opportunity and equipment for Caltech community members interested in dj music and the art of djing to practice, to gather with other like-minded individuals, and to heighten the musical state of campus events through our participation and contribution. We've been around for a while and are now going through a rebirth. We make available 2 Denon direct-drive digital turntables, a 4-channel fx mixer, and a powerful but portable PA system with a 15" powered subwoofer (all equipment courtesy of generous funding by the Moore-Hufstedler Fund) for anyone at our practice sessions, and to club members at any time. Vinyl mixing is possible with equipment provided by club members. Our website is http://www.its.caltech.edu/~caltecdj where you can link to our wiki and subscribe to our mailing list (list address is djclub@caltech.edu ) Club officers' email address is [sic] caltecdj@caltech.edu

The March 10 GSC Term party put on by the DJ Club in Dabney Gardens was a huge success! Hope you made it. Scott K, dj eMpTy, DJ Ko, and Patrick and Feras really threw it down for the 100+ in attendance. Don't miss the next one! For now, we'll keep riding the momentum with a practice session this month. Join the club, get on the list, practice and learn djing, and come see area djs with us.

KELROF

KELROF will host its 31st Annual KELROF 24-hour relay run May 18-19, 2007, from 8pm - 8pm. At KELROF, teams of ten people run one mile at a time on the Caltech track, rotating through their roster continuously for 24 hours. Some teams run as many as 200 miles over the course of the day. All sorts of teams composed of any member of the Caltech community are welcome. KELROF has no cost to participate, and food, drink, athletic trainers, and t-shirts are provided to participants.

more details
To register a team, please email Mark Eichenlaub eichenla@caltech.edu

Karate

Outdoor Volleyball Tournament

Sunday, May 20th on the North Field

Divisions: Men's A (highest), Men's B, Women's Open (Participants for this event will be primarily from Caltech and JPL, but outside participation is welcome if sponsored) Women can play in any division

Format: Pool play and playoffs will be rally scoring to 21

Check in time: 9:00
Play starts: 9:30

Please register by noon Friday, May 18th at the following email address: kathy.torres@caltech.edu (by sending the players names and division) Fee: $10.00 per person on day of tournament (cash or checks payable to Caltech Athletics)

Prizes awarded to top teams in each division. Everyone entered will have a chance at winning raffle prizes. Beverages will be sold on sight if needed

All proceeds will benefit the Caltech Athletics Recreational Program (volleyball equipment) and undergrad teams helping run the tournament

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 during the Spring term. 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.

Beethoven's Op. 130 and Piano Four-Hands

Beethoven's Op. 130 and Piano Four-Hands Sunday, May 20, 3:30pm
Dabney Lounge

Caltech students, including graduate students Colette Salyk and Christopher Kovalchick, will perform Beethoven's monumental String Quartet Op, 130. The remainder of the program will offer a variety of music for piano duet and two pianos, four hands.

Both cocerts are free, with no tickets or reservations required. A reception will follow the May 20 concert.

Tafelmusik

Tafelmusik Friday, May 18, Noon
Dabney Lounge

Caltech students will present a chamber music concert, with free lunch for 100 people.

The program includes: Quartet from Telemann's "Tafelmusik", wonderful Baroque dinner music Pachelbel's "Kanon and Gigue", in the original form for three: violins, cello, and harpsichord. Andante and Rondo by Franz Doppler - a flashy piece for two flutes and piano.

Caltech Performing Arts

The Glee Clubs Present "A Night At The Opera"

Featuring a variety of opera choruses and presenting guest artist mezzo-soprano Olga Perez
of Arizona Opera, New Jersey Opera Theater, and Houston's Opera in the Heights.
Friday, May 18 - 8pm - Dabney Lounge
Saturday, May 19 - 8pm - Ramo Auditorium

Chamber Music Concert

Beethoven String Quartet Op. 130, music for two pianos
Sunday, May 20 - 3:30 pm - Dabney Lounge

Admission Is Free To All Of The Performances
No Tickets Or Reservations Required
Call (626) 395-4652 or visit more information

Restaurant Review

Piccolo Ristorante
5 Dudley Ave., Venice 90291
(310) 314-3222
$$$

M-Th 5:30 pm - 10:00 pm
F-Su 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm
People often ask me what my favorite restaurant in LA is, and the answer is always the same: Piccolo Ristorante, hands down.

Whenever I am there I find it helps to imagine that I'm actually in Italy, strolling through some dark Venetian alleyway - the Cadillac Hotel across the street notwithstanding - while the gentle sounds and smells of moving water keep me company. A smile inevitably creeps up on me as I spot the rustic shop sign from afar. Are there many people are waiting outside? With only ten tables in the dining room and no reservations accepted (except for large parties), it is almost always a tight squeeze.

"Buena sera," Chef Alberto Lazzarino and his modest staff say almost in unison, as if to imply, "Welcome to our home." While it is a tad noisier than what I would imagine an Italian family kitchen would be, the food - and the feeling - is as close as I can get to one.

Having little experience with food in Italy, I cannot speak to the food's authenticity (not that I doubt it one bit); still, I can safely say that I have never had better Italian food. Period. The secret, I swear, lies in the small open kitchen where Chef Alberto and just one or two other cooks turn out a dazzling assortment of Italian flavors.

Seared scallops in a bed of truffle fondue, topped with shaved black truffle (when in season), must be my favorite starter � the truffle fondue is so sinfully divine that the plate returns clean every time, the sauce scraped up as if it were gold. The salty bite of gorgonzola in the duck proscuitto comes as a close second, along with a tender, sweet, ruby-red beef carpaccio.

Piccolo's homemade squid ink-seafood pasta with tomatoes and saffron looks, smells, and tastes like an authentic Spanish paella, except that the tagliolini pasta gives it a lighter feel in the mouth � even though your teeth will be black! The saffron emulsion leaps off the plate like a flavor bomb, its creamy texture pampering the palate whilst its delicate aromas tickle the olfactory nerves with saffron's infamous scent.

Truth be told, there is nothing I wouldn't recommend at Piccolo, even after having sampled a good portion of their extensive menu. There is something here with which everyone will fall in love; whether it be the neighborhood feel, the delicious cooking, or beautiful wine pairings (even for a lightweight like myself), you'll wish you lived closer to the beach.

For now, I try to go whenever I'm flying in and out of LAX - which, as it turns out, is not often enough.

Editor's poll: What is your favorite restaurant in the area and why? Send your comments to the restaurant editor and it might get reviewed for next issue!

Moore and Hufstedler Funds Accepting Proposals

Does your club need new equipment? Do you want to take or teach a class? What about bringing a world-class performer to Caltech?

In 2002-2003, two endowed Presidential funds were established to increase the quality of undergraduate and graduate student life at the California Institute of Technology. Students and other members of the Caltech community are encouraged to submit proposals at any time to the Moore and Hufstedler Funds for events, equipment, or other projects aimed at improving the quality of student life. The advisory committee reviews proposals on a quarterly basis, the dates of which are available on the MHF website.

Approximately $180,000 is available each year for initiatives deemed to have a positive impact on student life at Caltech. A majority of the proposals received by the committee have been directed at undergraduates, but we strive to address equally the concerns of graduate and undergraduate students. Graduate students are thus especially encouraged to apply to the Moore and Hufstedler Funds. We have funded proposals ranging from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars and welcome any proposal that will positively impact student life.

If you have any questions about the MHF, please see our website at mhf.caltech.edu, email the advisory committee at mhf@caltech.edu, or talk to one of your graduate student representatives.

Alex Brown (abrown@)
Tamara Knutsen (knutsen@)
Erin Koos (koos@)

Bike parking at Del Mar Gold Line

Techers who bike to the Del Mar Gold Line station now have access to indoor bicycle parking. The new parking facility is conveniently located at retail level on the west side of the Gold Line platform with easy access to the trains and Raymond St. The facility is open 24 hours a day, and is free to Metro riders and patrons of the soon-to-open retail stores and restaurants.

The parking facility can hold 26 bikes, and is furnished with a two-level bike rack that lowers for easy loading. The semi-enclosed room protects the bikes from rain and other elements. Cyclists will feel safe parking their bikes in the facility because it is well-lit and patrolled by security officers 24 hours a day.

The bike parking facility opened last month, and is already popular with cyclists who frequent the Del Mar Gold Line station. The City of Pasadena plans to decorate the room with a mural in the near future.

The Del Mar Gold Line station is located at 230 S. Raymond Ave, Pasadena, CA 91105.

Regis

Regis Will Soon Be Integrated With Access.Caltech

REGIS will soon be a single sign-on application under access.caltech. You will access REGIS via the access.caltech.edu website with your IMSS account. If you use REGIS, please logon in advance of the registration period for fall term which begins May 17 to ensure that your user ID and password are working. If you need assistance with your user ID or password, please contact the IMSS Help Desk at x3500 or email them at help@caltech.edu. You may log into access.caltech (and soon REGIS) off-campus. Additionally, once you have successfully logged into access.caltech, you'll be able to manage your password and reset it yourself if you forget it in future terms by simply answering some challenge questions which you establish and assign the answer to. Look for a special communication as soon as the transition to access.caltech is complete.

Registration For Summer And Fall Terms Registration for Summer 2006-07 and Fall 2007-08 will begin on May 17th and run through June 1. Graduate students can enroll in both terms during the online registration period. Improvements to REGIS this registration period include a graphical calendar of your courses, a listing of courses with limited seating which details how many seats are still available, and allowing students to view the instructor's name with the section number when selecting courses. Advisers will also now be able to print an advisee's schedule, email a select set or all their advisees with the push of a button, and export their list of advisees to a csv file. All instructors who schedule organizational meetings will be receiving, prior to the start of the term, a master calendar of their students' schedules which can help them identify potential class times.

Newsletter

May 2007

GSC News

Events

Clubs

Sports

Music

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The Glee Clubs Present "A Night At The Opera"

Chamber Music Concert