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The campus community biweekly April 1, 2004, vol. 4, no. 7 HP chief will A revolution recognized send grads off

Carly Fiorina, chair and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard, will be Caltech's 110th commencement speaker on Friday, June 11, Caltech president David Baltimore announced. One of the country's best-known corpo­ rate executives, Fiorina has led HP since 1999. The company provides computing Pickering, former and imaging solutions and services, with a focus on "making technology and its JPL director, dies benefits accessible to all." She spear­ headed the company's 2002 merger with William H. Pickering-director of JPL from Compaq. 1954 to 1976, a central figure in the U.S. Prior to joining HP, Fiorina spent space race, and a Caltech alum and pro­ nearly 20 years at AT&T and Lucent Tech­ fessor-died March 15 of pneumonia at nologies, where she held a number of his home in La Canada Flintridge. Known senior leadership positions. She holds a affectionately as "Mr. JPL" and "Rocket bachelor's degree in medieval history Man," and one of just a handful of people and philosophy from Stanford University, to appear twice on the cover of Time an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School magazine, Pickering was 93. of Business at the University of Mary­ "Dr. Pickering was one of the titans of land, College Park, and an MS degree our nation's space program," said Charles from MIT's Sloan School. Elachi, the current director of JPL and a In July 2001 , Fiorina was named an Caltech professor. "It was his leadership honorary fellow of the London Business that took America into space and opened School, and last year she received the up the moon and planets to the world." 2003 Appeal of Conscience Award and Ed Weiler, NASA's associate adminis­ the 2003 Concern Worldwide Seeds of trator for space science, said, "He Hope Award. brought a vision and passion to space Charles Casey (left), president of the American Chemical Society, presents a bronze plaque to David • exploration that was remarkable. His Tirrell, chair of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, designating the Beckman pH meter a National Historic Chemical Landmark. Invented by Caltech alum, trustee, and former pioneering work is the very foundation professor of chemistry Arnold 0. Beckman, the pH meter-a device for quickly measuring acidity­ we have built upon to explore our solar revolutionized instrumentation and led to his founding Beckman Instruments, a leading manufacturer system and beyond." of equipment used in medicine, industry, and science. 11Take Our Children" Pickering joined JPL in 1944, at a time when the Laboratory was developing returns missile systems for the U.S. Army. He organized the electronics efforts to sup­ Supershear gives Employee is still What do mommy and daddy do at Caltech port guided-missile research and devel­ all day? The perfect opportunity to show opment, becoming project manager for quakes a super shake missing our children exactly what we do is coming JPL's first operational missile, Corporal. It up on Thursday, April 22, during this was not a simple project. In a 1994 inter­ As if folks living in earthquake country Wade Cooksey, a geodetic technician year's Take Our Children to Work Day. view, Pickering recalled the trials and didn't already have enough to worry in Caltech's Division of Geological and Caltech staff, faculty, and postdocs are tribulations of testing the early guidance about, scientists have now identified Planetary Sciences since 1999, has been encouraged to bring their boys and girls systems. another rupture phenomenon that can missing since March 5, when he was to the Institute for a day of activities and "For the 100th Corporal that we occur during certain types of large earth­ caught in a blinding snowstorm while discovery. The children who visit the cam­ tested," he said, "I pushed the [launch] quakes. The question now is whether the working atop Mount Lewis in Lander pus will get to see up close exactly what button-and the darn thing went east phenomenon is good, bad, or neutral in County, Nevada. goes on in modern research laboratories, instead of north. I never pushed the but­ terms of human impact. In a memo to the Caltech commu­ and hear researchers explain the purpose ton again." Eventually, under his direc­ Reporting in the March 19 issue of the nity, Caltech chief of security Gregg of their experiments. They will also visit tion, the Lab designed and developed the journal Science, Caltech geophysics Henderson reported that Cooksey was the shops and auxiliary services-support Sergeant solid-propellant missile. graduate student Kaiwen Xia, aeronau­ "repairing a communications system systems that make research possible as Named the Lab's director in 1954, tics and mechanical engineering profes­ used to recover global positioning sys­ well as make the Institute run smoothly. Pickering soon had his hands full with sor Ares Rosakis, and geophysics tem data from remote geodetic sites in "We have a unique opportunity to the space race. Following the first Soviet professor Hiroo Kanamori have demon­ north central Nevada." Caltech operates introduce our children to the exciting Sputnik launch, JPL and the Army Ballis­ strated for the first time that a very fast, 53 such sites, which are used to study things that go on here and to interest tic Missile Agency were assigned in spontaneously generated rupture known movement of the earth's crust and how it them in careers that will be important to November 1957 to place the first U.S. as "supershear" can take place on large relates to earthquakes, in Nevada, Utah, their future and that of our nation," says satellite in orbit. Under Pickering's direc­ strike-slip faults like the San Andreas. Arizona, and eastern California. Dlorah Gonzales, director of the Employ­ tion, in just 83 days, JPL provided the They base their claims on a laboratory According to Henderson, the Lander ment Office. satellite, telecommunications, and upper experiment designed to simulate a fault County Sheriff's Department reported This year's list of participating offices, rocket stages that lofted Explorer 1 into rupture. that Cooksey had been caught in a snow­ labs, and divisions includes the Seismo orbit January 31, 1958. The launch, con­ While calculations dating back to the storm that reduced visibility to less than Lab, biology (Professor Kai Zinn), chem­ sidered one of his greatest achievements, 1970s have predicted that such super­ five feet. A search of the mountain was istry (Professors James Heath and David laid the groundwork for a new era of shear rupture phenomena may occur in launched that included Navy helicopters, MacMillan), the aeronautics shop, and robotic space exploration. earthquakes, seismologists only recently four-wheel-drive vehicles, dog teams, Facilities Management, which includes Pickering later recalled the Explorer 1 began assuming that supershear was real. snowmobiles, and rescuers on foot. see Children, page 6 success and its impact. "The event was The Caltech experiment demonstrated see Missing, page 6 see Pickering, page 6 see Supershear, page 6 2 Caltech 336, April1, 2004 Club marks 107 years of service Fay memorial slated

NewsBriefs The oldest surviving campus organiza­ A memorial service for Peter W. Fay, tion at Caltech is not, as one might professor of history, emeritus, will guess, a science society, a fraternity or be held on Saturday, April 17, at 2 sorority, or a squad of sports-team boost­ p.m. at the Athenaeum. All members ers. The distinction belongs to a little­ of the Caltech community are in­ known service organization called the vited to attend. Fay, who passed Gnome Club, which recently celebrated away January 18, was an authority its 107th year and a long tradition of on China and India and was on the service to the Institute. Institute faculty from 1955 until his Not bad for a club that was founded at retirement in 1997. Throop College, the predecessor to • Caltech, on March 9, 1897. The Gnome (pronounced know-me) Club, also known as the fraternity Kappa Gamma, started out as a secret society and was never affiliated with the traditional college Get your life in Greek system. "Over the years the Gnome Club has balance had a variety of roles: literary, honorary, secret society, and fraternity," says club With the theme of "Get Balance!", Caltech's president Joe Cheng, who received his Health and Work-Life Fair returns to campus BS from Caltech in 1985. "The objective on Friday, April 16. of the club is to serve the Institute, to Featuring free health screenings, 10- stimulate social activities, and to main­ minute chair massages, goodie bags, live The Monday and Thursday Jazz Bands spent a day at Capitol Records tain and perpetuate Caltech's tradition of reggae music, and the always-popular recording for a new CD planned for the fall. Directed by Bill Bing, the excellence." It also sponsors two under­ climbing wall, the fair is open to the Caltech groups worked with renowned engineers Charlie Paakkari, winner of graduate scholarship programs. two Emmys and two Grammys, and Steve Krause, score mixer for community and will take place from 11 a.m. films such as the recent Miracle (on whose soundtrack Bing also The first and oldest was started by an to 2 p.m. on the Winnett quad. The event is played trumpetl. In a studio frequented by the likes of Sinatra, Nat initial gift from Stan and Mary Johnson, sponsored by Human Resources, Caltech's King Cole, James Taylor, and Ringo Starr, the bands, featuring grad and has grown through gifts from Gnome Rideshare Program, the Staff and Faculty students George Becker and Kjerstin Easton as soloists, recorded Club members. The second, designated Consultation Center, and the Caltech Y, with numbers from their recent "It's All About Mingus" concert. exclusively for engineering majors, is the support from Athletics, Campus Life, the result of a gift from the estate of Ray Safety Office, Facilities Management, Secu­ Labory. Through these endowment funds, rity and Parking Services, and the Student the Gnome Club is able to provide schol­ Health Center. arship support to several students every Now in its second official year, the Personals David Charbonneau, Millikan Postdoctoral year. Health and Work-Life Fair evolved out of the Scholar in Astronomy, has been selected to Club members, meanwhile, are very former Well ness Week, a five-day course of Welcome to Caltech receive the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's active in the Caltech Y and the Alumni events. This year, a wider range of free Robert J. Trumpler Award, which "is given each Association, organizations that strive to health screenings and resources will be March year to a recent recipient of the PhD degree in strengthen the bonds between Caltech North America whose research is considered available, including various screenings by and the greater community. representatives from Health Net, the Emily Abbott, associate director, Development unusually important to astronomy." The award Although the club's formally organized Institute's new health-care provlde-r,-a~n,.,. __ and Alumni Relations; Steven Baca, electrome­ consists of a plaque and a check for $500. He has - chanical technician, Submillimeter Observatory; also been named to receive the Bart J. Bok Prize events are social gatherings-the largest, blood-pressure screenings by Caltech's own Sylvain Bernard, visitor in geology; James for "outstanding research by a recent graduate Founders' Night, celebrates the club's Health Advocates, who are students trained Brosius, security officer, Campus Security and of the Harvard Department of Astronomy." inception-the Gnomes have always Charbonneau joined Caltech in September 2001. in preventative health skills and emergency Parking; Noemi Lopez Cardona, housekeeper, concentrated on improving students' response. The American Red Cross will also Athenaeum; Voung-Hoon Joe, visitor in physics; experience at Caltech. Senior-class mem­ Kanani Lee, 0 . K. Earl Postdoctoral Scholar; Charles Elachi, Caltech vice president, director hold a blood drive in Winnett lounge. Infor­ Michael Mendez, research technician, chemistry of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and professor of bers, alumni, faculty, staff members, and mation on various requirements for the and chemical engineering; visitors Armando electrical engineering and planetary science, was graduate students who have demon­ health screenings will be available at the named to the William Gould Dow Distinguished Remondes, in biology, and William Royea, in strated leadership and loyalty to the Insti­ Caltech Bookstore window display. chemistry; Minerva Smith, administrative aide, Lectureship, which is "the highest external honor" bestowed by the University of Michigan's tute are invited to join. The roster of According to Caltech health educator Alumni Association; postdoctoral scholars Gnomes shows that only 1,128 people Konstantin Taganov and Qiang Tu, both in department of electrical engineering and com­ Jane Curtis, coordinator of the event, she biology. puter science, and recognizes the accomplish­ have been welcomed to the club. noticed shortly after she arrived on campus ments of individuals outside the university In its early days, the Gnome Club, one in 2002 that the campus culture was one of system "who have made outstanding contribu­ New positions of five local fraternities, was primarily a tions" in the field of electrical engineering and "work and more work." She hopes the fair computer science. Elachi spoke on "Space Explo­ social club whose members lived in their will be a trove of information that can help Richmond Wolf, formerly associate director of ration in the Next Decade-Challenges and Op­ own off-campus house. Members drew Caltech community members realize the the Office of Technology Transfer, has been ap­ portunities." He has worked at Caltech/JPL since inspiration for the name from the be­ pointed director. Wolf has assumed some of the many benefits of a healthy balance of work 1971, the year he received his Caltech PhD in day-to-day functions of Lawrence Gilbert, who nevolent race of mythical gnomes said to or study, family, and other commitments in electrical engineering. was earlier named senior director of the office. have inhabited the Greek island of their lives-a balance that can easily get A registered patent agent, Wolf is responsible for Samothrace, beings that were known for overlooked by hard-driving Techers. managing Caltech/J PL's intellectual-property their creativity and industriousness. The One possible sign of a changing culture portfolio-which involves more than 1,500 issued club took as their mascot the pygmy owl, and pending patents-as well as dealing with the is the interest in nutrition that sparked a licensing of patents to outside companies and Staffer in line for video known as the gnome owl. The club's new Dining Services initiative. In response with issues involving patent prosecution. He stardom emblem bears a likeness of the owl to numerous customer requests, Jenny received his AB from Princeton in 1992 and his perched on a crescent moon. Lew, dietician and general manager for JPL PhD in geology and geochemistry from Caltech Maylani Higa, a staff member in the Fellowships Initiation of new members into all five Dining Services, is working with technology in 1997, and he has cofounded two companies, Advising and Study Abroad Office, has made it to of the fraternities ended in 1931 with the manager Mabel Wong to post online nutri­ WebEventBroadcasting and Xen Golf. the second round of a "video casting call" spon­ opening of the first undergraduate houses tional information for student board meals sored by Ford Motor Company for fans of the at Caltech. American /do/television program. Higa submitted and, eventually, all of the food service's a music videotape of herself that will be posted at While supporting the new student offerings on campus and at JPL. www.fordvehicles.com/americanidol3 from April houses, the Gnomes felt that their fellow­ Lew and Wong will be among numer­ 7 to April 20. In an online version of the popular ship was too valuable to abandon. "After ous representatives from participating Honors and awards TV program, the public will vote for their favorites the fraternities were phased out, the campus organizations, including the Child on the website to determine the winners of each membership became an off-campus David Baltimore, president of Caltech and round. If she wins this round, she will face two Educational Center, the Caltech Employees Nobel laureate, was chosen by the Israel Acad­ other winners for a total of three rounds. The alumni organization, and the relationship Federal Credit Union, the Women's Center, emy of Sciences and Humanities to deliver the grand-prize winner will receive a 2005 Ford Focus with Caltech continued," Cheng says. The and the Caltech Juggling Club. Among the Albert Einstein Annual Lecture at the academy's STand a trip for two to the American Idol finals in club coasted along for the next 18 years off-campus vendors will be REI, Pasadena headquarters in Jerusalem on March 14, when he Los Angeles, and will appear in a music video and admitted only six new members from Cyclery, the Buddhist Tzu Chi Free Clinic, spoke on "Biotechnology-An Industry with a with that contest's finalists. "I'm patiently (and the alumni pool. The turning point came Future." President of Caltech since 1997, Balti­ nervouslyl awaiting my turn," Higa commented Cleveland Chiropractic College, HealthCare more is also chairman of the National Institutes of by e-mail. on Founders' Night in 1949, to which the Partners Medical Group, the Los Angeles Health AIDS Vaccine Research Committee. He club invited the president of Caltech. County Department of Community and shared the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine "Lee DuBridge came and got wind Senior Services, Metro Commute Services, in 1975--for identifying the enzyme reverse of the Gnome Club and decided that this transcriptase, which synthesizes DNA from RNA Curves, and the Pasadena Public Health and plays a role in the development of cancer­ was a good tradition," Cheng says. "He Department. and received the National Medal of Science in approved the initiation of graduating For more information, contact 1999. see Gnome, page 6 [email protected] or call ext. 8360. • the acad em ic week at Ca It ec h is a printed version of selected events from the online master calendar. http://today.caltech.edu/calendar/. To publish events online, register as an event planner on the Caltech Today calendar. If unable to submit electronically, please call (626) 395-3630. For further information or a schedule of deadlines, call (626) 395-3630, fax (626) 449-2159, write 336 Calendar, 1-71, California

Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, or e-mail [email protected].

April 5-11,2004

1- en

Monday, April 5 Carnegie Observatories Colloquium Organic Chemistry Seminar Fluid Mechanics Seminar Series 147 Noyes, Sturdivant Lecture Hall, 101 Guggenheim Lab, Lees-Kubota ASCI/CACR Seminar William T. Golden Auditorium, 813 Santa 4 p.m.-" A New Approach to the Syn­ Lecture Hall, 3 p.m.-Topic to be Powell-Booth Room 100, 3 p.m.­ Barbara Street. 3:30 to 5 p.m.-" Galaxy thesis and Discovery of Functional Mol­ announced. Rodney Bowersox, asso­ "Devising Effective Parallel Algorithms Properties and Kinematics to z=1.5 from ecules," Professor David Liu, department ciate professor, department of aerospace and Tools," Bruce Hendrickson, Sandia the DEEP2 Redshift Survey," Benjamin of chemistry, Harvard University. engineering, Texas A&M University. National Labs. Weiner, UC Santa Cruz I Lick Observa­ Information: www.galcit.caltech.edu/ tory. Refreshments. Leakey Speaker Series on Human Semi nars/FI u ids/CurrentFI u ids/ Bioengineering Seminar Origins index.html. 142 Keck, 4 p.m.-"Surviving the Heat Chemical Physics Seminar Beckman Auditorium, 8 p.m.-"The Shock: Control Strategies for Robustness 147 Noyes, Sturdivant Lecture Hall, Transition from Australopithecus to Geometry and Topology Seminar and Performance," Hana EI-Samad, 4 p.m.-"Crossed Molecular Beam Reac­ Homo," Berhane Asfaw, codirector of 257 Sloan, 3 p.m.-"The Euler Class mechanical engineering, UC Santa tive Scattering: Toward the 'Universal' the Middle Awash Research Project, of Groups Acting on the Plane," Danny Barbara. Product Detections by 'Soft' Electron­ former director of the National Museum Calegari, associate professor of math­ Impact Ionization," Professor Piero of Ethiopia, founder of the Rift Valley ematics, Caltech. Information: www. Geological and Planetary Sciences Casavecchia, department of chemistry, Research Service, and a recipient of the math.caltech.edu/events/topology.html. Seminar University of Perugia, Italy. Leakey Foundation's Baldwin Fellow­ 155 Arms, Robert Sharp Lecture Hall, ship. Tickets and information: 395-4652, lnorganic-Organometallics Seminar 4 p.m.-"Snowball Earth: A Thin-Ice Mathematics Colloquium 1 (888) 2CALTECH, or events@caltech. 151 Crellin, 4 p.m.-"lridium-Catalyzed Solution with Flowing Sea Glaciers," 151 Sloan, 4:15p.m.-" Nonlinear Repre­ edu. Individuals with a disability: Enantioselective Hydrogenation: New P, James Kasting, professor of geosciences sentation Theory of Finitely Generated 395-4688 (voice) or 395-3700 (TDD). N Ligands and Mechanistic Investiga­ and meteorology, Pennsylvania State Groups," Professor David Fisher, depart­ Visit Public Events at www.events. tions," Sebastian Smidt, postdoctoral University. ment of mathematics and computer caltech.edu. scholar in chemistry, Caltech. science, Lehman College, CUNY. Infor­ High Energy Physics Seminar mation: www.math.caltech.edu/events/ 469 Lauritsen, 4 p.m.-"How to Extract colloq.html. Some Properties of Nuclei from Lattice QCD," Martin Savage, professor of Thursday, April 8 physics, University of Washington. Infor­ Forum to feature mation: www.theory.caltech.edu/people/ Biochemistry Seminar Murray, DARPA race helen/seminar1.html. Wednesday, April 7 147 Noyes, Sturdivant Lecture Hall, 4 p.m.-"Role of CD2AP in the Immuno­ Inorganic-Electrochemistry Seminar Astronomy Colloquium logical Synapse," Andrey Shaw, profes­ The Caltech Management Association 147 Noyes, Sturdivant Lecture Hall, 155 Arms, Robert Sharp Lecture Hall, sor of pathology and immunology, will present a leadership forum featuring 4 p.m.-"Template-Controlled Synthesis 4 p.m.-Topic to be announced. Laird School of Medicine, Washington Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the Solid State: Gaining Control Over Close, associate professor of astronomy, University in St. Louis. Richard Murray. "Team Caltech: Racing to the Organization of Matter for Applica­ University of Arizona. Information: www. Win the DARPA Grand Challenge," a free tions in Chemical Synthesis and Materi­ astro.caltech.edu/-gma/colloquia.html. Physics Research Conference event for all JPL and Caltech personnel als Science," Leonard MacGillivray, 201 E. Bridge, 4 p.m.-Topic to be and retirees, will take place on Tuesday, assistant professor of chemistry, Environmental Science and announced. Professor Robert Jaffe, April 6, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. in JPL's University of Iowa. Engineering Seminar department of physics, MIT. Refresh­ von Karman Auditorium. 142 Keck, 4 p.m.-"The Science and ments, 114 E. Bridge, 3:45p.m. How do you get a vehicle to navigate Management of Coastal Water Quality," itself 142 miles over open desert, dirt Stanley Grant, professor of environmen­ Social and Information Sciences trails, and water crossings from Barstow tal engineering, Henry Samueli School Laboratory Seminar Series to Primm, Nevada, in 10 hours or less? Tuesday, April 6 of Engineering, UC Irvine. Refreshments, 25 Baxter, 4 p.m.-"Conditioning Prices The answer could win you two million Keck lobby, 3:40 p.m. on Purchase History," Professor Hal dollars from the Defense Advanced Re­ Web of Science for Science and Varian, department of economics, UC search Projects Agency, which spon­ sored its first Grand Challenge race on Engineering Information Sciences and Berkeley. Refreshments. Sherman Fairchild Library, multimedia Technology Seminar March 13. conference room, noon to 1:30 p.m.­ 74 Jorgensen, 4 p.m.-" A Network Murray, a faculty advisor for Caltech's Learn tips and tricks for searching a Coding Approach to Information Trans­ Grand Challenge team, will discuss the premier bibliographic database for rel­ mission, Compression, and Security in Institute's entry, a modified 1996 Chevy evant journal articles. Information: Networks," Tracey Ho, electrical engi­ Friday, April 9 Tahoe SUV called Bob. In the March 13 I i bra ry.ca !tech .ed u/lea rn i ng/defa u lt. htm. neering and computer science, MIT. race, Bob covered approximately 1.3 Information: http://netlab.caltech.edu/ High Energy Theory Seminar miles, successfully avoiding sagebrush Special Chemistry Seminar seminar. 469 Lauritsen, 11 a.m.-Topic to be and other obstacles before veering off 147 Noyes, Sturdivant Lecture Hall, announced. Yang-Hui He, department course and into a barbed-wire fence. 2 p.m.-" Organometallic Chemistry and Materials Research Lecture of physics and astronomy, University Although no vehicle got farther than 7.4 Catalysis of Cationic Transition-Metal 106 Spalding Lab, Hartley Memorial of Pennsylvania. Information: www. miles, much of value was learned-and, and Lanthanide Complexes," Professor Seminar Room, 4 p.m.-" Accelerated theory.caltech.edu/people/seminar/ far from being discouraged, Caltech's Bart Hessen, senior lecturer in molecular Molecular Dynamics Methods," Arthur schedule.html. team is ready to start preparing for Grand inorganic chemistry, University of Voter, Los Alamos National Laboratory. Challenge II, tentatively scheduled for Groningen, the Netherlands. Refreshments, 113 Spalding Lab 3:45 High Energy Theory Seminar next year. p.m. Information: www.matsci.caltech. 469 Lauritsen, 1 p.m.-Topic to be For more information, e-mail cma. Institute for Quantum Information edu/seminars.html. announced. Joerg Teschner, Freie [email protected] or call Scott Bowdan at (818) 354-3006. Seminar Universitat Berlin. Information: 74 Jorgensen, 3 p.m.-Topic to be www.theory.caltech.edu/people/ • announced. Andreas Winter, school seminar/schedule.html. of mathematics, University of Bristol. the acad em ic week at Ca It ec h is a printed version of selected events from the online master calendar. http://today.caltech.edu/calendar/. To publish events online, register as an event planner on the Caltech Today calendar. If unable to submit electronically,

please call (626) 395-3630. For further information or a schedule of deadlines, call (626) 395-3630, fax (626) 449-2159, write 336 Calendar, 1-71, California

Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, or e-mail [email protected].

Apri 112-18, 2004

1- en

Monday, April 12 Caltech/JPL Association for Social and Information Sciences Gravitational-Wave Research Laboratory Seminar Series (SISL) General Biology Seminar Seminar Series 25 Baxter, 4 p.m.-" Designing Ancillary 119 Kerckhoff, 4 p.m.-Topic to be 114 E. Bridge, 4 p.m.- "Probing Extra Service Markets in Restructured Electric­ announced. David Vaux, Walter and Dimensions Using a Superconducting ity Systems," Professor Shmuel Oren, Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Gravity Gradiometer," Professor Ho­ department of industrial engineering Australia. Jung Paik, department of physics, and operations research, UC Berkeley. University of Maryland, College Park. Refreshments. Geological and Planetary Sciences Seminar Von Karman Lecture Series 155 Arms, Robert Sharp Lecture Hall, JPL, von Karman Auditorium, 7 p.m.- 4 p.m.-" Atmospheric Methane and " Artificial Intelligence for Autonomous Climate: The Record From Ice Cores," Wednesday, April 14 Control in Space," Dr. Ayanna Howard, Edward J. Brook, assistant professor of senior member of the technical staff, geology, Washington State University. Mathematical Physics Seminar telerobotics and applications group, JPL. 351 Sloan, noon-" Asymptotics of Admission is free. Information: www. High Energy Physics Seminar Orthogonal Polynomials and Modified jpl.nasa.gov/lecture. 469 Lauritsen, 4 p.m.-"Sieptogenesis," Wave Operators for Szego-Type Yuval Grossman, Stanford Linear Accel­ Weights," Serguei Denissov, Taussky­ erator Center. Information: www.theory. Todd Instructor in Mathematics, Caltech. caltech.edu/people/helen/semi nar1. html. Information: www.math.caltech.edu/ events/mathphys.html. Friday, April 16 Inorganic-Electrochemistry Seminar 147 Noyes, Sturdivant Lecture Hall, Astronomy Colloquium High Energy Theory Seminar 4 p.m.-"Carbon-Based Molecular Elec­ 155 Arms, Robert Sharp Lecture Hall, 469 Lauritsen, 11 a.m.-Topic to be tronics: Electron Transport and Conduc­ 4 p.m.-Topic to be announced. Profes­ announced. Michael Schulz, post­ tance Switching in Carbon/Molecule/ sor Eliot Quataert, department of astro­ doctoral scholar in physics, Caltech. Metal Molecular Junctions," Professor nomy, UC Berkeley. Information: www. Information: www.theory.caltech.edu/ Richard L. McCreery, Dow Professor of astro.caltech.edu/-gma/colloquia.html. people/seminar/schedule.html. Chemistry, Ohio State University. Environmental Science and Fluid Mechanics Seminar Engineering Seminar 101 Guggenheim Lab, Lees-Kubota 142 Keck, 4 p.m.-"Using Dissolved Lecture Hall, 3 p.m.-Topic to be Aluminum to Estimate Atmospheric announced. David Hill, postdoctoral Tuesday, April 13 Dust Deposition to Oceanic Waters and scholar, Center for Advanced Computing Dissolved Iron to Highlight Its Role in Research, Caltech. Information: www. Life Sciences Information Global Biogeochemical Cycles," Chris galcit.caltech.edu/Seminars/Fiuids/ Resources Measures, professor of oceanography, CurrentFiuids/index.html. Sherman Fairchild Library, multimedia University of Hawaii. Refreshments, conference room, noon to 1:30 p.m.­ Keck lobby, 3:40 p.m . lnorganic-Organometallics Seminar Learn the various bibliographic data­ 151 Crellin, 4 p.m.-"Stereoselective bases for interdisciplinary information Olefin Metathesis: Diene Cross-Metath­ retrieval related to life sciences, as well esis and Enantioselective Ring-Closing as options for automatically providing Metathesis," Timothy Funk, graduate yourself with updates about new litera­ Thursday, April 15 student in chemistry, Caltech. ture on your topic, the use of subhead­ ings in PubMed/Medline, and other Quick Review for Electronic Theses Kellogg Seminar database functions and features. Sherman Fairchild Library, multimedia Lauritsen Library, 4 p.m.-Topic to be Information: http://l ibrary.caltech.edu/ conference room, 2 to 3:30 p.m.­ announced. Xiangdong Ji, professor of learning/default.htm. Caltech requires that theses be submit­ theoretical physics, University of Mary­ ted in both paper and electronic land, College Park. Institute for Quantum Information versions. This presentation will offer a Seminar brief overview of techniques useful in Von Karman Lecture Series 74 Jorgensen, 3 p.m.-"Thermody­ the production and publication of elec­ Pasadena City College, 1570 E. Colorado, namics of Entanglement and Entangle­ tronic theses. The session will include the Vosloh Forum (south of Colorado on ment in Thermodynamics," Vlatko tips on formatting, intellectual-property Bonnie), 7 p.m.-" Artificial Intelligence Vedral, department of physics, Imperial considerations, turning paper to pixels, for Autonomous Control in Space," Dr. College London. Information: www. creating PDFs, how to submit a thesis, Ayanna Howard, senior member of the iqi.caltech.edu/seminar_abstracts. and availability (who can see it and technical staff, telerobotics and applica­ htm l#ved ra I 04. when) issues. Information: http://library. tions group, JPL. Admission is free. caltech .ed u/lea rn i ng/defa u lt. htm. Information: www.jpl.nasa.gov/lecture. Carnegie Observatories Colloquium Series Chemical Engineering Series William T. Golden Auditorium, 813 Santa 106 Spalding Lab, Hartley Memorial Barbara Street, 3:30 to 5 p.m.-" Science Seminar Room, 4 p.m.-"Bringing with the Space Interferometry Mission," Genomes to Life: The Use of Genome­ Ann Wehrle, member of the professional Scale in Silico Models," Professor staff, Michelson Science Center, JPL. Bernhard Palsson, department of Refreshments. bioengineering, UC San Diego. Refresh­ ments, 113 Spalding Lab, 3:30p.m. Caltech 336, April1, 2004 5 Campus Events

Monday, April 5 Friday, April 9 Friday, April 16 Coleman Chamber Concert Beckman Auditorium, 3:30 p.m.-Bassist Edgar Baby Furniture and Household Equipment Caltech Tai Chi Club Men's Tennis Meyer will perform pieces by Vivaldi, Schubert, 234 S. Catalina, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.-Loans See Tuesday, April 6, for details. SCIAC Championships, at Redlands, 8 a.m. Bloch, Chopin, and Kreisler, as well as his own of kitchen and household necessities and baby work. Tickets and information: 395-4652, 1 (888) furniture are made to members of the Caltech PERT: Disaster Preparation and Triage 2CALTECH, or [email protected]. Individuals community. Information: 584-9773. Available Chandler Dining Hall, 8 to 10 a.m.-Pasadena with a disability: 395-4688 (voice) or 395-3700 (TOO) . today by appointment only; call 395-6174. Saturday, April 10 Emergency Response Training (PERT) will consist Visit Public Events at www.events.caltech.edu. of three sessions: Disaster Preparation and Triage, Men's Tennis Fire Suppression, and Disaster Search and Rescue. Amnesty International Book Discussion vs. Cal Lutheran University, 9:30a.m. This is the first of the three sessions, and all three Group Tuesday, April 6 sessions are required. You must have a current Vroman's Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Boulevard, Track and Field First-Aid/CPR/AED to enroll. Offered in conjunction second floor, 6:30 p.m.-This month's book, Preschool Playgroup Azusa Pacific Invitational, at Azusa Pacific with the Pasadena Fire Department, Caltech Safety White Sky, Black Ice, by Stan Jones, is a mystery Tournament Park, 10 a.m. to noon-Song and University, 10 a.m. Office, and American Red Cross. Registration: novel set in the Arctic that features an Inuit detec­ storytime, crafts and free play for toddlers and 395-6727 or [email protected]. tive. All are welcome. Sponsored by Caltech/ preschoolers (from walking to age 4). Informa­ Pasadena AI Group 22. Visit Group 22 at www.its. tion: 793-4099 or [email protected]. Women's Tennis ca Itech .ed u/ - a igp22. Monday, April 12 SCIAC Championships, at Occidental College, Caltech Tai Chi Club 8a.m. Winnett lounge, 7 p.m .-Meets Tuesdays and Baby Furniture and Household Equipment Fridays weekly. Sessions are free. Information: See Monday, April 5, for details. Health and Work-Life Fair www.its.caltech.edu/-taichi. Winnett quad, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.- This outdoor fair will provide health screenings, healthy foods Voices of Vision Series and beverages, educational information, and sum­ Bec kman Auditorium, 8 p.m.-David Silverman, Tuesday, April 13 mer soccer, basketball, and swim-camp signups. supervisi ng animation director behind The Come and enjoy the music, grab a chair massage, Novelist McEwan to Simpsons, will speak. Admission is free. Preschool Playgroup and watch students as they tackle the climbing wall. See Tuesday, April 6, for details. be writer in residence Baseball Caltech Tai Chi Club at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 3 p.m. Acclaimed writer lan McEwan, author of Wednesday, April 7 See Tuesday, April 6, for details. Caltech Tai Chi Club the award-winning novel Atonement, will Baby Furniture and Household Equipment Amnesty International Letter Writing See Tuesday, April 6, for details. serve as Caltech's writer in residence April 234 S. Catalina, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.-Loans Athenaeum Rathskeller, 7:30 p.m.-Caltech/ 6 to 8. of kitchen and household necessities and baby Pasadena AI Group 22 will host an informal Widely regarded as one of Britain's furniture are made to members of the Caltech meeting to write letters on human-rights abuses most accomplished contemporary writ­ community. Information: 584-9773. around the world. All are welcome. Refresh­ Saturday, April 17 ments. Information: (818) 354-4461 or Jkamp@ ers, McEwan has produced numerous Wednesdays in the Park lively.jpl.nasa.gov. Visit our website at www.its. Men's Tennis novels, stories, and screenplays. His Tournament Park, 10 a.m. to noon-Every ca ltech .ed u/ - a igp22. SCJAC Championships, at Redlands, 8 a.m. works have received the Somerset Wednesday there's conversation and coffee for Maugham Award, the Whitbread Prize, parents and caregivers, and playtime and snacks Women's Tennis and the Booker Prize; Atonement, his for children. Information: 403-7163 or ktclark@ SCIAC Championships, at Occidental College, caltech.edu. Wednesday, April 14 8a.m. latest book, won the 2002 National Book Critics Circle Award and the Santiago FOCAL Spring Luncheon Baby Furniture and Household Equipment Baseball Prize for the European Novel. Athenaeum, Hall of Associates, 11 :30 a.m.­ See Wednesday, April 7, for details. at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, doubleheader, McEwan received a BA degree in Jonathan Kirsch, author of God Against the Gods: 11 a.m. English literature from the University of The History of the War Between Monotheism and Wednesdays in the Park Polytheism, will speak. No-host bar at 11 :30 on See Wednesday, April 7, for details. Track and Field Sussex and an MA, also in English litera­ the east patio; lunch at noon. The author will sign SCIAC Prelims, at Occidental College, 4 p.m. ture, from the University of East Anglia. copies of his book before and after lunch. Fee: Financial Wellness Series: Preparing for A resident of London, he is currently FOCAL members, $40; others, $45. Reservations: Retirement Collision Theory: Abduction Project working on a new novel. 395-6411 or [email protected]. Caltech Women's Center, noon-Join Denise Ramo Auditorium, 8 p.m.-Collision Theory is an During his Caltech stay, he will lead Carter, retirement consultant and TIAA-CREF award-winning ensemble performance company Laboratory Safety 101 representative, as she details the ins and outs that creates and performs innovative physical several discussions of his work and of 118 Keith Spalding Building, 3 p.m.- This course of preparing for retirement and your financial theater. In Abduction Project, extraterrestrial the writing process, including a Humani­ is designed to prepare incoming researchers future. You are not too young or too old to start. visitations and alien abductions meet the "ideal" ties and Social Sciences seminar, "Litera­ to work in a laboratory at the Institute. Issues Reservations: [email protected]. suburban family of the 1950s, in an exploration of ture, Science, and Human Nature," with include laboratory organization, emergencies, the line between dream and reality. Tickets and students from literature and creative injuries, general laboratory safety, and more. Watch Your Back! Back Safety Training information: 395-4652, 1 (888) 2CALTECH, or Space is limited. Please call 395-6727 or e-mail 118 Keith Spalding Building, 3 p.m.-This course [email protected]. Individuals with a disability: writing classes, and will possibly teach [email protected] to reserve a place. includes a brief discussion on back anatomy and 395-4688 (voice) or 395-3700 (TOO). Visit Public some creative-writing sessions. proper methods and realistic approaches to Events at www.events.caltech.edu. McEwan will also read from his work, Salsa Dance Class handling and moving materials. There will be a followed by a book signing, on Thursday, Winnett lounge, 7 p.m.-The beginners' session video presentation and hands-on lifting. Space April 8, at 8 p.m. in Beckman Auditorium. begins at 7 p.m. The intermediate Jesson starts is limited. Please call 395-6727 or e-mail safety. at 8:30. Lessons began on March 31 . Fee: $28 for [email protected] to reserve a place. Sunday, April 18 A collaboration between Words Matter, 5 classes; $7 per class. Caltech Public Events, and Vroman's Salsa Dance Class Women's Intermediate Self-Defense Bookstore, the reading is free and open See Wednesday, April 7, for details. Caltech Women's Center, 1 to 5 p.m.-This class to the public. For information, call 1 (888) is for those women who have participated in the 2CALTECH or (626) 395-4652, e-mail Thursday, April 8 introductory workshop and would like the oppor­ tunity to deliver full-force, debilitating blows to [email protected], or visit www.events. Reel Women's Film Series: Dying to Be Thin Thursday, April 15 a padded assailant in a variety of simulated caltech.edu. Individuals with a disability: Caltech Women's Center, noon-An epidemic of scenarios. Registration: [email protected]. 395-4688 (voice) or 395-3700 (TDD). eating disorders is spreading through America's Fine-Tuning Leadership edu. The Words Matter program, intended youth, a contagion fanned by the media's obses­ Brown Gym classroom, 8:30a.m. to 12:30 p.m.­ "to foster a culture of literacy at Caltech, sion with wafer-thin celebrities. For millions of This half-day workshop is an action-oriented Skeptics Society Lecture young Americans, the conflict between real and program designed to fine-tune leadership skills Baxter Lecture Hall, 2 p.m.-" God Against the to cultivate students' interest in writing in fash ionable images of the body can be a matter of and teach how to handle team dynamics and Gods: Monotheism and Polytheism," Jonathan its varied forms, and to help undergradu­ life or death. This video takes viewers behind the conflict resolution. The course is for supervisors Kirsch, contributing writer for the Los Angeles ates appreciate the many ways in which scenes at laboratories and hospitals where special­ only. Reservations: 395-8055 or diane.williams@ Times Book Review. Donation is $8 for nonmem­ words do, indeed, matter," is funded by ists are experimenting with new approaches to caltech.edu. Information: http://cit.hr.caltech.edu/ bers and non-Caltech students. Free to the Caltech/ the President's Office and guided by a eating disorders. Lunch and drinks provided. Education/super_courses/fine-tuning_leadership. JPL community. Tickets and information: 794-3119 htm. or [email protected]. Visit the Skeptics Society committee of students, faculty, and Women's Tennis at www.skeptic.com. Book signing to follow the administrators. For more information, vs. Masters College, 3:30p.m. Social Activism Speakers Series lecture. e-mail [email protected]. Ramo Auditorium, 8 p.m .-Congressman Bernard Voices of Vision Series Sanders of Vermont, the longest-serving Indepen­ • Beckman Auditorium, 8 p.m.-Visiting writer Jan dent in the history of the House of Representa­ McEwan, author of Atonement, which won the tives, will speak. 2002 National Book Critics Circle Award, will speak. A book signing will immediately follow the reading. Presented in collaboration with Caltech's Words Matter program and Vroman's Bookstore. 6 Caltech 336, April1, 2004

Supershear. from page 1 Pickering, from page 1 that supershear fault rupture is a very real this large, typically involving rupture symbolic of the mixing process between possibility rather than a mere theoretical lengths of about 300 to 400 kilometers. engineering and science, between the News extras construct. "Judging from the experimental re ­ world and the research laboratory . .. it In the lab, the researchers forced two sult, it would not be surprising if super­ had mixed rocket technology with the plates of a special polymer material to­ shear rupture propagation occurs for universe, and reduced astronautics to gether under pressure and then initiated large earthquakes on the San Andreas practice at last." an " earthquake" by inserting into the fault," says Kanamori. In 1958 the Laboratory, managed by interface a tiny wire, which is turned into Similar high-speed ruptures propagat­ Caltech, was transferred from U.S. Army expanding plasma by the sudden dis­ ing along bimaterial interfaces in engi­ jurisdiction to the newly created National charge of an electrical pulse. Using high­ neering composite materials have been Aeronautics and Space Administration. David Baltimore st. speed photography and laser light, the experimentally observed in the past (by Under the new agency, family members 1975 mmn'7 '1l11 Ol!> researchers photographed the rupture Rosakis and his group, reporting in an recall, Pickering was given the choice of and stress waves as they propagated August 1999 issue of Science). heading either human or robotic space through the material. According to Kanamori, the human exploration, and chose the latter. In succeed­ The data show that, under the right impact of the finding is still debatable. ing years, JPL conducted an intensive series conditions, the rupture propagates much The most damaging effect of a strike-slip of space probes-Ranger and Surveyor faster than the shear speed in the plates, earthquake is believed to be caused by a missions to the moon, and the Mariner producing a shock-wave pattern, some­ pulse-like motion normal to the fault missions to Earth's neighboring planets. thing like the Mach cone of a jet fighter caused by the combined effect of the On December 14, 1962, Mariner 2 President David Baltimore's name has been breaking the sound barrier. rupture and shear wave. The supershear successfully completed a flyby of Venus, popping up all over lately-here, in Rishon L'tzion, a suburb of Tel Aviv, in a recently built area called The split-second photography also rupture suppresses this pulse, which is culminating a 109-day journey of more Nobel Laureate Neighborhood. The photo was shows that such ruptures may travel at good, but the persistent shock wave than 180 million miles-humankind's first sent to Baltimore by Ron Prywes, a professor in about twice the rate that a rupture nor­ (Mach wave) emitted by the supershear penetration to the vicinity of another the department of biological sciences at Columbia mally propagates along an earthquake rupture enhances the fault-parallel com­ planet. Following that triumph, Pickering University, who discovered the street while fault. However, the ruptures do not reach ponent of motion (the ground motion rode as Grand Marshall of Pasadena's visiting relatives in the neighborhood. supershear speeds until they have propa­ that runs in the same direction that the Tournament of Roses Parade on January gated a certain distance from the point plates slip) and could amplify the de­ 1, 1963. where they originated. Based on the structive power of ground motion. On July 14, 1965, following a 228-day experiments, a theoretical model was The outstanding question about super­ journey of more than 325 million miles by Gnome, from page 2 developed to predict the length of travel shear at this point is which of these two Mariner 4, Pickering's team obtained the seniors. Being from the East Coast, he was before the transition to supershear. effects dominates. "This is still being first close-up pictures of Mars. Four more enthusiastic about traditions." That year, In the case of a strike-slip fault like the debated," says Kanamori. "We're not Mariner missions would reach Venus and the club initiated 14 new members into its San Andreas, the lab results indicate that committed to one view or the other." Only Mars before Pickering retired in 1976. ranks, and when Caltech began admitting the rupture needs to rip along for about further laboratory-level experimentation He received numerous honors through­ female undergraduates in 1970, the Gnomes 100 kilometers and the magnitude must can answer this question conclusively. out his career, including NASA's Distin­ welcomed their first woman soon after. be about 7.5 or so before the rupture guished Service Medal, the National • Today, graduate students, faculty members, becomes supershear. Large earthquakes Medal of Science from President Gerald and staff may be invited to join the Gnomes. along the San Andreas tend to be at least Ford in 1975, and an honorary knighthood One of those staff members is Athena from Queen Elizabeth in 1976. He was also Castro, the executive director of the Chess team's second named to the Order of New Zealand, that Caltech Y, who became a Gnome several country's highest honor. victory is a first years ago. She says that many of the Y's Born in Wellington, New Zealand, in Children, from page 1 board members are Gnomes, and mem­ the carpentry and paint shops, transpor­ 1910, Pickering came to Caltech to study Caltech's chess team has become the first bers of the student ExComm are often tation, and shipping and receiving. in 1929. After earning his BS and MS in ever to win the U.S. Amateur Team Cham­ invited to join. In addition to these tours, Take Our electrical engineering, he completed pionships, considered the country's most "The board members are very active in Children to Work Day includes a free lunch, his PhD in physics in 1936, having been prestigious nonprofessional team chess theY," Castro says. "I know that they also a science-related learning activity led by persuaded by then-head Robert Millikan contest, two years in a row. The winning try very hard to bridge the gap and create Caltech Precollege Science Initiative staff, to switch to Millikan's own field. Pickering team-master players Patrick Hummel '06 a closer relationship between alum ni and and a presentation by the Caltech Credit joined the faculty as an assistant professor (captain) and Eugene Yanayt '06, Graham Caltech. " Union. After lunch, the children will be able of electrical engineering in 1940, was Free '04, and Zhihao (Howard) Liu '06-­ • to burn some calories during physical named a full professor in 1947, and retired went undefeated in their individual activities sponsored by Athletics, and cool as professor emeritus in 1979. He had matches in the March 20 match, held on down in Beckman Auditorium during a become a U.S. citizen in 1941. Missing. from page 1 the Internet Chess Club website. The vic­ screening of an episode from the Discov­ The longest-serving director in JPL's As of press time, Cooksey had not been tory comes on the heels oftheir perfect ery Channel series Weird Nature. The history, Pickering saw five U.S. presi­ located, and the Sheriff's Department is 6-0 score at the Western regional champi­ activities will end at 3 p.m. dents-from Eisenhower to Ford-come continuing to search the 9,600-foot moun­ onship in February, which prompted inter­ Preregistration materials and authori­ and go during his tenure. "I guess," he tain. Henderson said that they believe they national master Jack Peters to write in the zation/medical release forms will be dis­ reflected in Caltech News in 1994, "that know his approximate location, but they Los Angeles Times, "Baseball fans scream tributed as the date approaches. Parents things were going all right, so they left me have had to scale back rescue efforts be­ about the New York Yankees, but chess and staff members are needed to volun­ there until I got old enough to kick out. " cause of the potential danger of avalanches. players yearn to break up Caltech." The teer as group chaperones and may call He is survived by his wife, Inez "The Caltech community expresses its team also had to best the Midwest regional ext. 8095 to sign up. Caltech's Take Our Chapman Pickering, and a daughter, Eliza­ hopes and prayers for Wade, his family, winners in the national semifinals before Children to Work program is cospon­ beth Pickering Mezitt. His son, William colleagues and friends, " Henderson said. making it to the finals. In 2003, Yanayt, sored by Human Resources and Public Balfour, had died just two days before "We appreciate the efforts by the Sheriff's Free, and Liu had joined postdoctoral Relations. him. The family requests that memorial Department and citizen volunteers from • scholar and master player Wei Ji Ma to win donations be made to the William H. Lander County who have given of their own the national championship in the team's Pickering Scholarship for New Zealand time to assist in the search. " first year of competition. Graduate Students at Caltech. • • •

Caltech.. 336......

The ca mpus community biweekly California Institute of Technology April 1, 2004, vol. 4, no. 7 Pasadena, California 91125

Editor: Daryn Kobata ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED (626) 395-6240; [email protected] Assistant Editor: Javier Marquez (626) 395-6624; [email protected] Ca lendar Administrator: Debbie Bradbury (626) 395-3630; [email protected] Graphic Artist: Doug Cummings Photographer: Bob Paz Published by the Office of Public Relations