and Sid-

010 Y 0

been invaluable. In addition, hisleadership role with the CaltechY, his concern and sensitivity toothers and his desire to improvethe quality of life on campus havemade a positive difference for theCaltech community.

Deans' Cup and Campus Lifeand Master's Award

Deans' Cup and Campus Lifeand Master's Award go to under­graduates whose persistent effortsto improve the quality of under­graduate life and effective com­munication with members of thefaculty and administration havetestified to their concern for theirfellow students.

Jenny Fisher '05 received the2005 Deans' Cup. Ryan Farmer'06, Jason Quimby '05, Neil Ti­wari '05 and Chuck Yee '05 re­ceived the Campus Life and Mas­ter's Award.

The Lucy Guernsey ServiceAward

In honor of Lucy Guernsey,the Y's Executive Director from1989-1991, the Caltech Y Ex­Comm annually gives the LucyGuernsey Service Award to oneor two students who have pro­vided exceptional service to the Yor the and eXt~m1plij"l

a

Sp(~ncl~r has tackledas the Presi­

dent of Caltech's EnvironmentalTask Force. He has en­vironmental speakers to "-.>aW,A.H

and organized the Earth Day Fair.His work with the community has

year's winner of the Bibi Jentoft­Nilsen Memorial Award. Thisprize takes its name in memory ofBibi Jentoft-Nilsen, Caltech '89,an exceptional student leader. Heruntimely death in 1990 inspiredthe establishment of a fund to rec­ognize outstanding student lead­ers. Popendorf's dedication toenhancing the quality of studentlife at Caltech has clearly meritedthis award. Her most significantcontribution to the communityhas been her service as this pastyear's !HC Chair. During herterm she faced some of the tough­est issues in years: the question ofwhether to allow freshmen in Av­ery and the South House renova­tions. She was very active in thedebate over freshman in Avery,and, through her leadership, therelationships between IHC andthe Avery Council have consider­ably improved to the benefit of allparties.

Doris Everhart Service AwardSClencer Mortensen '05 is

winner of the Doris Ever­Service

ContiJilued on Pl'lge 2, Column 1

By MALINA CHANGter of the American Institute ofChemical Engineers and the vicepresident for the Caltech Societyof Women Engineers are particu­larly admirable.

Vasconcellos has also shonewith outstanding leadershipand service during her time atCaltech. She is the Senior ClassCo-President and has served asthe ASCIT Upperclass Director­at-Large. She has also worked onthe Athletic Advisory Committeeand the Women's Center StudentProgramming Board.

Ms. Gunterman and Ms. Vas­concellos will be honor of the theMabel Beckman Prize at com­mencement on June 10,2005.

Bibi Jentoft-Nilsen MemorialAward

Kim Popendorf '06 is this

Caltech Students

CHRISTINE CHANG

the car,acitya difJferencebecomeworld.

"I believe the Marshall is agreat opportunity for achieving

rial Award at commencement onJune 10,2005.

Mabel Beckman PrizeHaluna Gunterman '05 and An­

drea Vasconcellos '05 have wonthe 2005 Mabel Beckman Prize.This award in memory of Mrs.Beckman's many years of com­mitment to Caltech's educationaland research programs goes tostudents for their academic ex­cellence, outstanding leadershipskills, commitment to personalexcellence, good character, andstrong interest in the Caltechcommunity.

Gunterman clearly displayedthe qualities of outstanding lead­ership and service for four yearsat Caltech. Her contributions asthe president of Lloyd House,the president of the Caltech chap-

in coun­En~~larld to

The Dean and Associate Deanof students hosted a lunch at theAthenaeum on April 20 to honorand recognize this year's winnersof the leadership awards.

Frederic W. Hinrichs, Jr. Me­morial Award

Galen Loram '05 is the win­ner of the 2005 Hinrichs Memo­rial Award. This annual award inmemory of Frederic W. Hinrichs,Jr., who served for more than 20years as Dean and professor atthe Institute, goes to seniors whothroughout their undergradu­ate years have made the greatestcontributions to the student bodyand whose qualities of charac­ter, leadership and responsibilityhave been outstanding.

Loram won this award for hisexceptionally capable leadershipand service to his fellow studentsduring his time at Caltech. In par­ticular, his role as Board of Con­trol Chair and ASCIT Presidenthas made a positive difference tothe campus community.

Mr. Loram will receive theFrederic W. Hinrichs, Jr. Memo-

Alex Sheive Robert MorellLayout Manager Circulation

The Tech is published weekly except duringvacation and examination periods by the As­sociated Students of the California Instituteof Technology. Inc, The opinions expressedherein are strictly those of the authors andadvertisers.

Letters and submissions are welcome: e­mail submissions to tech@tech.caltech.edu asplain-text attachments. including the author'sname, by Friday of the week before publica­tion. Sorry the Tech does not accept anony­mous contributions. The editors reserve theright to edit and abridge all submissions forany reason, All written work remains propertyof its author,

The advertising deadline is five p,m, Friday;alladvertising should be submitted electroni­cally or as camera-ready ali, but the Tech canalso do simple typesetting and arrangement.All advertising inquiries should be directedto the business manager at business@tech.caltech.edu, For snbscription infonnation,please send mail to "Subscriptions."

Adam Craig Lisa TranEditor Business Manager

VOLUME CVI, NUMBER 25

Caltech 40-58, Pasadena, CA 91125editorial desk: 395-6153

advertising 395-6154editorial e-mail: tecf,@t,?cll.caltech,edu

I'm good at balance. Itend to oneand then move

widesaid Atkins.

In addition to Atkins, Jewell,a Caltech alumni who gradu­ated in 2004, was named oneof 32 Rhodes Scholars. Theoldest international studyawards given to American stu­dents, the Rhodes Scholarshipsgrant $35,000 for two years ofstudy at Oxford University inthe United Kingdom. RhodesScholars must display highacademic achievement, in­tegrity of character, a spirit ofunselfishness, for oth-ers, for leadership,and With his

Jewellwill pursue a Master Science

research in Enlgillee~rirlgSci­ence. He will research themechanics of hypersonic inletsfor scramjets and ramjets.

"I hope to gain a new per­spective, to have my horizonsbroadened, to use a cliche. Ihope to meet interesting peoplein a wide variety of fields, and Ihope to further develop myselfas a researcher and engineer,"said Jewell.

Jewell had previously appliedfor the Rhodes but was notgranted an interview. Howev­er, still wishing to explore Eng­land and Europe and interestedin winning the scholarship, heapplied again.

While in England, he intendsto play in the Oxford orchestra,travel around Europe and soakin as much history as possible.

Prior to winning the Rhodes,Jewell attended graduate schoolat the University of Michigan.He plans to return to Caltechfor his Ph.D.

For applicants of the Rhodes,he advises to continue to applyeven after being rejected thefirst time.

"Beyond that, pursue thethings that you're really inter­ested in, both in science andoutside of science," said Jew­ell.

He says that doing the ac­tivities he loved helped him toachieve a balance of life out­side of school with work.

"I didn't finish with a perfectGPA or anything, but I definite­ly don't regret the time I spentpursuing non-academic ornon-engineering things whileat Caltech. If you don't havesomething fulfilling to take abreak with, I thinkcrazy at ~"IICLII,

to

Photo by Jacob King

theCam­

Fmiher­more, from 1999 toAugust 2000, he studied howpeople from various cultures inSouth America and Africa ex­perience time.

While in Sweden, he willstay in Gothenburg.

As do many Caltech students,Atkins admits that it is difficultto balance school and workwith other aspects of life.

"Actually, I don't think that

kins.After retllrning, he

enter a Ph.D. nr('OTClfn

While this first so-in he has

traveled to many otherthr'Ough()ut the world.tlCLpated in the first

Fleming House

Complex Adaptive Systems."Programs in complex sys­

tems are few and farbelwe,en, so the one offered atChalmers seemed Itcombines research

and all thein

Despite these accusa­tions, the Brigade eventuallyswept into the ACZ, all three unitshacking, sledging and sprayinguntil the units converged in thebreezeway. The human side re­ported no casualties, but, at theend of the attack, giant ant limbsand entire carcasses littered theHouse. Some ants reportedlyscampered away, escaping intothe SAC Courtyard and BlackerHouse to the east.

Many questions re­mained at the cessation of hostili­ties. Residents were unsure of thesource of the ants, but one studentwho asked to remain namelessaccused nearby Fleming Houseof harboring the ants before theinvasion. The Housing Officealso released a statement, whichexpressed the fear that "'althclUghthe ants appear defeated now, anyremaining ones may be lying inwait for the opportune moment tolaunch a guerrilla-style insurgen­cy." However, various residentsemphatically denied that the pilesof dishes and food in the sinksand other similar obstacles werelarge enough to effectively hidemore than a few three foot longinsects.

he advisesresearch their

order to find good

Brigadeplannedthe nextcounter­attack,which wasto take theform ofthree in­dependentunits eachtoting theconven­tional andchemicalweapons.S 0 m eDarbs ex­pressedskepti­cismoftheBrigade'smotives,such asLeo vB ron ­stein, who

asked, "Why do they [the Bri­gade] want to overthrow the ants,but were content to merely standby and watch the massacre inRwanda?" He continued to sug­gest that the Brigade secretly de­sired to lay an oil pipe through theant-controlled zone, ACZ.

1, Column 1

ties.

thong!1t that the morecHic information that 1 had

idea that I could cite,my proposal would

be, so I looked at the literatureand web sites of Japanese col­leges and research institutionsbefore writing my proposal,"said Powers.

Along with Powers, MichaelAtkins, who graduated in 1999with a degree in Applied Phys­ics, won a Fulbright grant tostudy at Chalmers Universityin Sweden. There, he will en­roll in the Program in

his relatives. He also eagerlythe change

of seasons in Japan and inter-with more from

various bal::h!rounds.For students to ap-

for fellowships,recommendsthe application

Continued from

allen

for one yearPart of

~LL'Ut"LHprogram, heuse his time as a student

at a to re-search effects of pollutiOnon the body. After retlllrningfrom his year inwill enter angram.

"1 have had an interest inWClrkllllg in Japan and rel1mngmy Japanese, so this tellO\l\IstUDwas a perfect opportunity toget more Japanese experiencewhile also improving my bio­chemistry background," saidPowers.

Previously, Powers had par­ticipated in the Caltech JapanInternship Program, so he alsointends to visit his old host fam­ily and coworkers, as well as

and my roommate."The Housing Office sent

workers to lay down a line of "anthotels," three inch hollow discscontaining poisoned food. Themanufacturer claims that "theants check in [by entering oneof the slots inthe disc] butthey don'tcheck out."But the ho­tels were onlylarge enoughfor typical antspecies, toosmall for thecolossal antinvaders.

Sub­sequently, anumber of res­idents formedthe DabneyLiberationBrigade andacquired sev­eral machetes,sledge ham­mers and cansof Raid, a self­proclaimed"ant and roachkiller." The

about a different culture. At thesame it will be difficultleaving behind my friends and

and a great deal ofis rooted here in

said.said.

addition to the academicintends to

immerse himself in the cultureand travel the coun-

in order to better understandEnglamd's role in the world.

his pur­suit of the after at­telldJng an information sessionat the end of hisAfter applying toent fellowships,to his elation that he wonthe Marshall, his first choice.Before the Marshall,Dang had intended to attendHarvard University to earn his

but he will now deferhis admissions for two years.

"I'm really excited and alittle nervous at the same time.I'm looking forward to experi­encing new things and learning

with a world-renowned groupin my field and will allow me to

exposure to how researchdone outside the U.S., as I

envision

Apu

The placid tranquility of asunny April afternoon shatteredlast Monday, when a tremendousswarm of ants appeared in Dab­ney House. The creatures first ap­pearea in the lounge but quicklyspread. They overtook tables inthe courtyard and trash cans innearby alleys and alarmed manyresidents with their colossal size.Some specimens measured aslong as 39 inches, or 96 cm, andweighed up to 4.5 pounds, 2 kg.

Tensions rose immedi­ately. Joshua Goldstein, a resi­dent, stated "ants suck and bite."Meanwhile, some Darbs werewilling to accept the newcomers.Sarah Wright, another occupant,insisted"Ants and Darbs can learnto live together in harmony."

For several hours, anuneasy trnce prevailed until oneant devoured a bowl of cerealbelonging to Douglas Hanley.The Dabney House Secretary,Meru Sadhu, responded "Peli­gro! Hormigas!" Soon, reports ofother incidents flooded all linesof communiction. When askedfor personal experiences with theants, Thomas Quetchenbach re­sponded "What? Ants? Oh, those.They ate all of my possessions

2

Oil Page 6, Column 1

Thanks,

Michael Shernler, Directorwelcomed his

bretheren and andthem with news of the scientificlecturers andwho would be at thefirst annual Skeptics' Conventionin five years. After a tangent thatlead to much guffawing over theinability of the employees of thePsychic Friends Network topre­dict their own company's bank­ruptcy, he introduced the guestspeaker. The absence of cheesypuns and cartoonish sound effectssoon alerted me that this speakerwas not Bill Nye at all. Furtherlistening indicated that he was Dr.Arthur I. Miller, author of Em­pire of the Stars. In his lecture, hesummarized the tale of his book's

Yan ZhangCaltech Quiz Bowlyzhang@caltech.edu

Did you play Quiz Bowl in highschool, but never had time for itin college? Are you looking for anopportunity to play again? Maybeyou've never played before andwould like to try.

This is your chance.On Saturday, May 14, at 10:00

AM, Caltech Quiz Bowl wiII behosting an intramural tourna­ment at Baxter Hall open to theentire campus. An members ofthe Caltech community, includingundergrads, graduate students,faculty, and staff, are welcomeand encouraged to participate. Wewill be using questions specifi­cally written for intramural tour~

naments, so the difficulty shouldbe at an appropriate level for allparticipants.

Teams wiII consist of up to fourplayers who can be anyone fromthe Caltech community. In otherwords, it is fine if Dean Revel,David Baltimore, or Kip Thomeis part of your team.

Once you have found yourteam members, you can registerat the following website: http://quizbowl.caltech.edu, or youcan e-mail team lists to me atyzhang@caltech.edu. The dead­line to register is 5:00 PM on Fri­day, May 10.

If you don't know anyone elsewho wants to play, but you stillwant to, let us know as soon aspossible and we will set you upwith some teammates. Feel freeto send us any questions you mayhave regarding this tournament. Itshould be a fun time for everyonewho participates.

INTRAMURALS

articleOp(~nillg it

a playground if you do not letpeople play freely.

Sometimes art offends othermembers of the Houses, whichis why the Houses have a mecha­nism to resolve such complaints.That mechanism grows out ofour mutual respect for each otheras well as for each other's ideas.When I lived in Dabney House,several students asked if theycould paint over a mural that of­fended them. The House agreedwithout hesitation. Another stu­dent asked if he could paint overa particularly depressing poemin his room. The poem com­memorated a deceased member,so the student moved to a differ­entroom.

That we do not thoughtlesslypaint over the murals representsa very deep respect for otherpeople. You will find poems,drawings, profanities and pret­ty much anything else we canmake with paint or markers. Butyou will nowhere find anythingthat someone has deliberatelyoverwritten without communmagreement. The unconditionalrespect for other people's ideasis a fundamental axiom of schol­arship, and it saddens me thatyou do not share this respect.

By the time you get this lettermost of the damage will prob­ably have occurred. You orderedthe students to clean up theprofanity lest the painters do amuch worse job. I can only hopethat you immediately decide toprotect your students' rights tounconditional self-expression.The deceitful nature of your andyour staffs' actions have erodedmy trust in the entire Institute. Ihope that in the future you canhold yourself and your staff toa higher level of integrity. Asmuch as I would like to help seccure Caltech's future, my ethicsprevent me from to or­ganizations that endorse censor­ship.

"-',""UJ'1"t ofCi'vilizatioI1ls." Rather than

selecting a specific frommy memories of his-tory classes, I hazarded that itwas about "some civilizationsthat are conflicting with one an­other" and let her provide moredetail. The author of this particu­lar "Conflict of the Civilizations"had chosen to write about "therecent struggle between faith­based and reality-based society,"as my practically outfitted yetzealous traveling companion ex­plained it. As we climbed the tor­tuous stairway to the auditorium,I questioned whether it was onlyrecently that these two facets of

is quick yet effective. Screwinga 2x4 into a door and bracing itacross the doorway works welltoo, as I let one stilted summerstudent discover after my fresh­man year. You may choose frommyriad other devious methods,and the creative possibilities forstress relief are boundless, sooff your asses and do it. It beatshomework.

can we look at China's censor­ship of political dissidents as na­ive while we accept censorshipof "profanity" at home? Censor­ship first comes in the guise ofprotection, as political ideas andprofanity can hurt people, but itnever ends there. Even if youonly wish compliance with or­dinary decency, others will findways to abuse this precedent fortheir own benefit. Allowing cen­sorship on the Caltech campusdisgraces centuries of work byscholars who have struggled forfree thought.

Caltech students motivate andthink for themselves. They valuetheir freedoms highly, includ­ing the right to decorate theirwalls and run their lives as theywant. Every university to whichI applied accepted me, and, de­spite receiving telephone callsfrom heads of departments atDC Berkeley and Stanford andadmission to a special programat Carnegie Mellon, I choseCaltech because of its vibrantstudent body. Caltech studentsare the kind of people whochange the world, and if you donot give them the intellectualfreedom they deserve, they willgo elsewhere. Caltech advertisesthat it is the world's best play­ground for math, science andengineering. Yet, it cannot be

By DAVID L. STAFFORD

By JEFFREY PHILLIPS

thought to the mischief that lies atthe core of the Ditch Day tradi­tion. Ifyour stack disappoints youthis year, if you have extra time,if you have any extra willpowerwhatsoever, put some thoughtinto a good counter-stack. Preparesome ideas ahead of time. Put in asmall fraction of the effort it takesto build a full senior stack and, asin Grand Theft Auto, +Respectwill be yours.

has anotherimportant role. A good number ofseniors each decide tostacking and work onother laughable im-portance. in tradition'seye for the sake seniorcareer searches and eST)eciallysocial lives warrantsbution at the hands underclass­men. Brick walls in front of theseretracted Techers' doors when

wake up theshould chastise ap()st'lsy.

One stack andDitch

have every

the students and the adminis­tration. Several years ago, bothparties agreed that students hadthe right to paint the inside of theHouses but not the outside. In2002, they agreed that the Hous­es would know 48 hours beforeany painting. Your staff hasviolated this agreement numer­ous times, and every time youor your employees have apolo-

"gized and said it will never hap­pen again. They violated the ruleagain in these latest incidentswhen your employees paintedover artwork they thought wasoffensive without notice to theHouses.

Even though Tim Chang actedwithout your authorization andyou did not know about this in­cident until it was too late, youare the Vice President for Stu­dent Affairs and have ultimateresponsibility for the actions ofyour staff. Your staff has repeat­edly broken the 48 hour paint­ing notification rule, the 24 hournotice on non-emergency entryrule and the student disciplin­ary guidelines multiple times.Mutual respect between the stu­dents and the Institute dependson your staff's following its ownrules.

More importantly, these eventsshow that the administration istrying to censor students. How

The end of third term is fastapproaching, and I am look­ing forward to running amok onditch day. Seniors have carefullyplanned their stacks and are gear­ing up for the aU nighters to makethem come together. And they willneed to work fast, because DitchDay is tomorrow. The jackpot atthe end of the stack, the food andthe commemorative isgreat, but, like Trick-or-Treats onHalloween, the little rewards atthe end of the stack have lost theirongmal ulealnin:g. This year, I am

Bax­crossedwith a

middle-agedwoman in aSpartan, brownpower suit, asilver pompa­dour perchedprofessionallyatop her crown.She knew toowas searchingfor the lecture.She knew it tobe in Baxterlecture hall butknew not howto get there. As

L!!!!!!~!:!!!!!!!!!!!~!!!!~!!!!L ..........-=~~!!!~!!~!:1~~ __-l we walked in

This is an letter to MargoMarshak, the of student af-fairs at the California Institute ofTechnology. Caltech has a longhistory of independent studentlife. Caltech was the first insti­tution to have an organizationlike ASCIT. Traditionally, thestudents and the administrationhave tried to stay out of eachother's way. At times, adminis­trative involvement has helpedto prevent disasters. Sometimesthe administration's involve­ment in a particular crisis hassaved someone's career or life. Iwas grateful for this when I wasa student.

The recent censorship ofHouse murals by the Caltech ad­ministration is inconsistent withthe administration that I knewand admired. Your staff delib­erately destroyed artwork thatthey considered offensive. Thefirst incidents happened beforePrefrosh Weekend. Students per­ceived this as a pointless attemptto hide Caltech culture from pro­spective students. A week later,your staff tried to destroy moreartwork early in the morningwhen they thought no studentswould discover them. Instead,several students caught themand sent them on their way.

These actions breach long­standing agreements between

4 CALIFORNIA TECH COMME,NTA~RY MAY 2, 2005

1--------------.<£1---------------.E £ol.!"0«l

@)IIIE«l

"«l:=ooIII

CALIFORNIA TECH COMMENTARY MAY 2005 5

annecdote, I remembered that thesecond reason was that it ignoredneutrino opacity, but I am stillpondering the first reason. Themoral of this story for believersand skeptics alike: know whatday it is before you seize it.

ace~

Editor would like to thank allthe students who braved the chatter­ing, screeching, vomiting, kvetching,chortling, wheezing, nettling, ululatingbedlam of midterms to provide us witharticles and Simon Que, who wrote anarticle for me to proofread, engaged mein a lengthy email debate on the role ofan editor, then withdrew his article atthe last minute, for making this week'sproduction cycle extra interesting.

why Dr. Miller called the paperthat established the theoreticalbasis for black holes a "collasalfailure" that I forgot to ask himhow the first, its failure to con­sidder the effects of convectioncurrents, would affect the processof stellar collapse. As I typed this

most important discoveries. Af­ter the lecture, Dr. Miller openedup the floor to questions, most ofwhich were in the spirit of, "Whywas Eddington such a meany?"or "What was Chandra's favoritecolor?" but I was so busy tryingto remember the second reason

ontinuing SContinued on

drove him from the field of astro­physics. Even after he coauthoreda paper that vindicated completestellar collapse with new empiri­cal data and numerical models, hedid not return to the study ofblackholes until younger, more eagerastrophysicists had made all the

subject, hapless astrophysicistSubrahmanyan Chandrasekhar,whose model of stellar collapse,the first to describe black holes,earned him verbal thrashingsfrom senior physicist Sir ArthurEddington. These rebukes haunt­ed him throughout his career and

6

Smits Professor ofHiroo

PnJfess()r James Rice of HarvardUniversit:v: and Caltech grad stu­dent Kaiwen prepared poly­mer plates to mimic the effectsof major strike-slip faults. Theseare faults in which two plates arerammed against each other byforces coming in at an angle, andwhich then spontaneously snap(or slide) to move sideways.

Because such a breaking of labmaterials is similar on a smallerscale to the slipping of tectonicplates, the measurement of thewaves in the polymer materialsprovides a good indication ofwhat happens in earthquakes.

The team fixed the plates sothat force was applied to themat an acute angle relative to the"fault" between them. The re­searchers then set off a small

explosion with a wirern"niner to the center of the two

caused the two platesQUllCKIV slide apart, just as two

tectonic would slide apartan earthquake.clear polymer plates were

made of two ditIerent materialsespecially selected so that theirstress fringes could be photo­graphed. In other words, thewaves and rupture fronts thatpropagate through the systemdue to this "laboratory earth­quake event" showed up asclearly visible waves on the pho­tographic plates.

What's more, if the rupturefronts are super-shear, i.e., fasterthan the shear speed in the plates,they produce a shock-wave pat­tern that looks something likethe Mach cone of a jet fighterbreaking the sound barrier.

"Previously, it was generallythought that, if there is a veloc­ity contrast, the rupture preferen­tially goes toward the directionof the slip in the low-velocitymedium," explains Kanamori. Inother words, if the lower-veloc­ity medium is the plate shiftingto the west, then the preferreddirection of rupture would typi­cally be to the west.

"What we see, when the forceis small and the angle is small, isthat we simultaneously generateruptures to the west and to theeast, and that the rupture frontsin both sides go with sub-shearspeed," Rosakis explains. "Butas the pressure increases sub­stantially, the westward direc­tion stays the same, but the other,eastward direction, becomes su­per-Shear. This super-shear rup­ture speed is very close to the p­wave speed of the slower of thetwo materials."

To complicate matters eventhe results show

when the is done atforces below those for

thethe is unipredic:tallie.

Both waves are at sub-shearbut waves in either direc­

can be de',astating.

7

shear waves wouldnOlrth111/e~;t, even the pre-ferred direction was southeast.

But the question remainswhether super-shear is necessar­ily a bad thing, Kanamori says."It's scientifically an interestingresult, but I can't say what theexact implications are. It's atleast important to be aware ofthese things.

"But it could also mean thatearthquake ruptures are less pre­dictable than ever," he adds.

in the eng;ineerirlg labor:atoryThe reason this

that 2:e()Dhvsil~ists. k:Jlo\\ring

areasbe more

a betterof thecould

lead to a better to preparefor earthquakes.

In experiment, Caltech'svon K'rm'n Professor of Aero­nautics and Mechanicalneering Ares Rosakis (the direc­tor of the Graduate AeronauticalLaboratories); his cross-campus

Renting big Rooms Temple City$550/mo-l year lease move in ASFemales preferred, non-smokers, include

utilities, laundry, whole house, quietneighborhood, nice big backyard, pool

Annie (626) 712-4770 after

sults show that the direction ofrupture that controls the patternof destruction is less predictablethan recently thought.

The results explain puzzlingresults from last year's Parkfieldearthquake, in which a north­westward rupture occurred. Asoutheastward rupture had beenpredicted on the basis of the twopast earthquakes in the area andon numerical simulations. Also,during the recent large earth­quakes in Turkey, some ruptureshave occurred in the directionopposite to what happened in thepast and are thought to involveunusually high speeds along thatdirection.

The phenomenon has todo with the basic ways rup­ture fronts (generating seismicwaves) are propagated along aboundary between two materialswith different wavearea of research that is vie:ldin2:mtl~re;stirlg and results

of Distinguished Service werefirst presented in 1979 by theCommon Wealth Trust, createdunder the will of the late RalphHayes, an influential business ex­ecutive and philanthropist. Hayesconceived the awards to rewardand encourage the best of humanperformance worldwide.

Now in their 26th year, theawards have conferred more than$3.5 million in prize money on153 honorees of internationalrenown. Past award winnersinclude and humanrights leader Desmond thelate actor Christopher Reeve,matologist Jane Goodall, formerCBS anchorman Walter Cronkite,and Nobel novel-ist Toni Morrison. In to

Morrison, and former sec­retary of state Henry Kissinger,eight other Nobel laureates havealso won the award.

By ROBERT TINDOL

In recent years, seismologiststhought they were getting a han­dle on how an earthquake tendsto rupture in a preferred direc­tion along big strike-slip faultslike the San Andreas. This is im­portant because the direction ofrupture has a profound influenceon the distribution of groundshaking. But a new study couldundermine their confidence abit.

Reporting in the April 29 issueof the journal Science, research­ers from the California Instituteof Technology and HarvardUniversity discuss new con­trolled laboratory experimentsusing dissimilar polymer platesto mimic Earth's crusts. The re-

He was elected to the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Sciences in1972 and the National Academyof Sciences in 1973. He has beenawarded the Lilienfeld Prize ofthe American Physical Society(1996), the Karl SchwarzschildMedal of the German Astronomi­cal Society (1996), the AmericanInstitute of Physics Science Writ­ing Award in Physics and Astron­omy (1969 and 1994), and thePhi Beta Kappa ScienceAward (1994).

He has been a Woodrow Wilsona Danforth

a andand has

on the International Com-mittee on General and

the Committee onUS-USSR Cooperation inics, and the National Academy ofSciences' Space Science Board.

The Common Wealth Awards

face of the dining staff for thenext year.

"We're always happy to beatthe Other Institute of Technol­ogy in anything," says Mannion,whose responsibilities include thecampus food services. "But alsobeating Harvard sends out themessage that maybe you're justbetter off eating campus food inPasadena than in Cambridge!"

Andre Mallie, director of din­ing services and executive chef atCaltech, notes that this is the thirdstraight year that Caltech DiningServices has won at least one goldmedal.

"This is quite an accomplish­ment for our organization," saysMallie. "It's not just about goodfood, but the entire spectrum ofservices."

A complete listing of winners,judging criteria, and other infor­mation is available at

http://www.nacufs.org/awards/hortondining/awards.htmI.

By ROBERT TINDOL

funded project to detect gravi­tational waves and use them toprobe the "dark side" of the uni­verse. Gravitational waves werepredicted almost 90 years ago byEinstein, but have not yet beendetected. They are theorized tocome from exotic astrophysi­cal phenomena such as collidingblack holes and neutron stars be­ing tom apart by black holes.

LIGO is now a collaborationof 500 scientists in eight nations,headquartered at Caltech and di­rected by Caltech's Barry Barishand Stan Whitcomb.

Thome earned his bachelor'sdegree from Caltech in 1962 andhis doctorate in fromPrinceton 1965. Hereturned to his alma mater thefollowing year and quickly rosethrough the faculty becom­ing a full professor of theoreticalphysics in 1970.

Students at the California In­stitute of Technology may be in­terested primarily in food for themind, but the results of the 2005Loyal E. Horton Dining Awardscontest suggest that they're do­ing okay in the food-for-the-bodycategory as well.

Winning the gold medals inthe standard menu catering andmultiple concepts/outlets catego­ries this year was Caltech DiningServices, beating out HarvardUniversity and MIT in the formercategory and Miami Universityand the University of Connecticutin the latter. Caltech also took thesilver medal in the single stand­alone concept/outlet category.

According to event organizers,182American universities enteredthis year's contest of campus co­mestibles. For Caltech's TomMannion, assistant vice presidentfor student affairs for campus life,the win over MIT alone is suffi­cient for keeping a smile on the

By ROBERT TINDOL

Kip Thorne, a physicist who isfamed for his work on the cosmicconsequences of relativity, is oneof five winners of the 2005 Com­mon Wealth Award.

This year's other winners areformer secretary of state ColinPowen, Pulitzer Prize-winningplaywright David Mamet, WorldWide Web inventor Tim Berners­Lee, and novelist Amy Tan.

Thorne, who has been a facultymember at the California Insti­tute of Technology since 1966,is currently the Feynman Profes­sor of Theoretical Physics. TheCommon Wealth Trust cited himfor his efforts toward

new windows on thescientists and lay au­

diences alike."Thorne is a cofounder of and

intellectual force in the Laser In­terferometer Gravitational-WaveObservatory (LIGO), an NSF-

MAY 2, 2005

Caltech's Joshua Gutmau coutemplates his move in a recent Internet chess match vs. MIT.

THE CALIFORNIA TECH

NIKITA PANASENKO

On April 24, 2005, the CaltechChess Team. defeated MIT in an8-board chess match played onthe Internet Chess Club. Thematch was the second of two be­tween Caltech and MIT

In 2003, Caltech beat MIT 5-3in a match of the same format ofthis year's contest.

In Sunday's match, MITjumpedoff to an early lead by scoring twoquick wins. But Caltech kept thepressure on in the six remaininggames, earning four wins and twodraws, and winning the match 5-3once again.

The Caltech team consisted ofplayers Patrick Hummel '06, Eu­gene Yanayt '06, Karl Yee (staff),Howard Uu '06, Joshua Gutman'06, Edward Perepelitsky '07,Phillip Perepelitsky '07, and ZebRocklin '08. The MIT team theydefeated is one of the toughestcollege teams in the country.

The Caltech Chess Team iscomposed of members of theCaltech Chess Club.

Further information, includ­ing games from the Caltech-MITmatch, can be found on

http://www.its.caltech.edu!-citchess!

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