VOLUME NUMBER 3 PASADENA, CALIFORNIA OCTOBER 2005
By ADAM CRAIG Nevada, October 8, to what Alice had erroneously By PERRY 2005, around 11 :30AM Alice, the computed to be the track sent her 2005 Sportsmobile 4WD succes crashing through the barricade, David Baltimore, the seventh this VISIon of excel sor to last year's Bob, had com crushing concrete blocks under president of the California In lence into the future," pleted 8.3 miles ofgrueling desert her robust Ford E350 frame and stitute ofTechnology, will retire said Kent Kresa, the driving, easily avoiding obstacles swiftly mounting the sand berm on June 30, 2006, after nearly chairman ofthe Caltech and handily navigating the tortu beyond them. For a few breath nine years in the post. He will Board ofTrustees. ous course. Team Caltech's dedi less moments, it looked as if the remain at the Institute, where he Baltimore, 67, as cated band ofscruffy-chinned CS, reporters gathered in the press intends to focus on his scientific sumed the presidency and CDS students had stands would be next to share work and teaching. on October 15, 1997. taken great to strengthen the concrete blocks' as the "This is not a decision that I His tenure saw many and refine path-following wayward robot truck barreled to have made easily," Baltimore ward the huddled media masses. significant events at module in order to avoid a repeat announced to the Caltech trust of last year's mishap, in which But the quick reflexes of the staff Caltech. Early on, he Bob strayed off course, plowed at the DARPA command center ees, faculty, staff, and students, oversawthecompletion through a barbed wire fence, then averted catastrophe by guiding "but I am convinced that the of a fund-raising initia entangled his rear axle in another their fingers to the emergency interests of the Institute will tive for the biological segment of the barbed wire fence remote disable switch, bringing be best served by a presiden sciences, marked by upon reentry. But tragedy struck Alice to a grinding halt before she tial transition at this particu the construction and ~' when, a mere 124 miles from vic could plow through the startled lar time in its history. By next dedication ofthe Broad tory, Alice passed under a power crowd. Even though the DARPA summer we will be well along Center for the Bio line, which interfered with the Grand Challenge is over, Alice, in the process of implement logical Sciences. He GPS reception. Computing from the product of two-and-a-half ing our plans to strengthen the launched the current Image courtesy of pr.caltech.edu the mangled signal that she had years ofdata gathering, algorithm financial foundation of the In $1.4 billion capital campaign, gone astray, Alice veered to the and circuit design, coding, debug stitute. Although our $1.4 bil which has included receipt of intelligence, integrity, and lead right, heading at full speed for the ging, soldering, wire crimping, lion campaign is not scheduled the largest gift to higher educa ership who can relate so well to edge of the corridor. If the obsta drilling, bolting, welding, and for completion until the end of tion, $600 million from Gordon people both within and outside cle avoidance software detected meetings that routinely ran an 2007, we have made remarkable and Betty Moore and the Gor the world of science. It was Da the concrete barriers lining the hour or so late, will continue her progress, and successful attain don and Betty Moore Founda vid who inspired Edye and me road, it was to little avail, as the service to Caltech as a testbed for to become interested in science. high-priority directive to return future robotics research. ment ofits audacious goals will tion. The campaign still has two remain my highest priority. As years to run, but has already We had no background in the these important endeavors near raised almost $1.1 billion. An field, but he made us feel com their final stages, it will be time important aspect of Caltech is fortable. We are fortunate that for the Institute to once again its stewardship ofthe JetPropul he will continue his research at turn to the future, guided most sion Laboratory, supported by Caltech." effectively by the revitalizing NASA. Baltimore's presidency Other events during his term vision and leadership of a new has seen many spectacular JPL have been Caltech's acquisition president." successes, notably the Mars Ex of the former St. Luke Medical He has agreed to remain in ploration Rovers, as well as the Center in northeast Pasadena; the position until a successor is appointment of a new director, the funding of the design-de named. Dr. Charles Elachi. velopment phase of the Thirty "David Baltimore's articulate "David Baltimore will go Meter Telescope; and the estab advocacy of the Institute's mis down in history as not only a lishment ofthe Information Sci sion has played a huge role in great scientist, but also as one of ence and Technology (1ST) ini raising the public's awareness the great presidents ofCaltech," tiative. Baltimore championed of Caltech as a unique national said Eli Broad, a trustee of, and contemporary architecture, chosing James Freed of Pei, Photo courtesy of team.caltech.edu treasure. Our task ahead is to major donor to, the Institute. "It find our next president to carry Alice plows through several concrete barriers after experiencing a GPS error. is rare to find someone of his Continued on Page 8, Column 1
ByAMYHASS
Deep beneath the ocean's In spite of this prevailing non surface lurks a slimy, tentacled chalance, several small groups beast, a monster known to old ofresearchers embarked on their time sailors and three-year-olds own expeditions, hoping to catch alike. Dozens of grasping suck Architeuthis, the giant squid, in ers adorn a forest ofslippery ten action. Tsunemi Kubodera of tacles, and in the center of each the Natural Science Museum sucker lies a tooth to slit the skin in Tokyo and Kyoichi Mori of of anything unlucky enough to the Ogasawara Whale Watch fall within the monster's grasp. ing Association headed one such A black beak clacks greedily group, and, one cold morning in from the base ofthe writhing ten the North Pacific Ocean, their ef tacles while eyes the size of din forts paid off when a squid took ner plates stare blankly out into the'bait. the salty darkness of the sea. Their trap was elegantly sim Such was the beast two Japa ple. A long-line dangling be nese scientists captured alive on low the boat held the necessary film for the first time, as reported equipment. A depth recorder and a week ago in the Proceedings of camera hung above a weighted the Royal Society B. jig, a nest of hooks and weights Many have tried in vain to to steady the line, and below that photograph a live giant squid, drifted the bait, a common Japa and most marine biologists as nese squid and some chopped Photo courtesy of nationalgeographic.com sumed the first pictures would shrimp. A live giant squid (roughly 25 feet long) attacks a baited fishing line 2,950 feet beneath the North come a lucky accident. Pacific Ocean in waters. 2 THE CALIFORNIA TECH COMMENTARY OCTOBER 10,2005 1 Ii I 1 • 1 a Compiled By ALEX SHElVE He may have only been drawn once, but David Baltimore appeared in more Crippling Depres sion comics than any other real person, save the authors. The comic's portrayal of Baltimore as the evil mastermind of the administration repre sented the underlying stu dent need to put a single face behind the looming concerns over shrinking freedoms and increasing costs. It is follows naturally that Balitmore's retire ment has elicited cries of joy from the student body. Still, few students could name a reason to dislik:.e him, save the fact that he holds very large bags of money or maybe that he looks like the bad guy from X-Men 2. One of the most in fluential biologists alive today had to put up with called "D-Balls" or screams of
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+ I J s + ( ------ByCINDYKO s t ff Beck Hansen has outdone into a new beast-- wild and ener listening to Guero, it's listening himself.. After starting a fam getic, sounding better than ever. to Beck perform it live. Despite ily and a three-year gap since Guero, which is a slang term in his guero exterior, the man has his last album, he has come out Spanish that refers to a blonde moves. He never quit through an with one· of his most poignant or fair-haired person, is upbeat hour and a half long set, keeping st records to date. Many critics and exciting, with catchy radio the crowd excited and engaged. had their beef with Sea Change singles like, "E-Pro." Truth be At one point, his band had their (2002) being too depressing told, anyone of the tracks could dinner out onstage while Beck and melancholy for his techno easily be a hit single or a dance played a short acoustic set. Im I s pop reputation. Fans and critics club staple. Beck returns to his mediately afterward, his band hoped that he would stop being techno dance roots and playfully joined him on the next song, so depressed, but it didn't seem raps in Spanish while keeping his playing percussion and rhythm to make any difference. Beck beats steady and true. Guero is a on their utensils and dinner showed up at Coachella Music crowd pleaser from beginning to ware. It was pretty amazing. By t Festival 2004 as a surprise guest, end, making it clear that Beck far, one of the most memorable playing an all-acoustic set with is a magician, doing what he performances I have ever seen. none of his signature jangly, does best. A tour of the US fol Beck's wealth of talent and on hyper tunes. Around the same lowed the release of this album going creativity is what makes f r it time, he recorded the despondent this summer, and I was lucky him an already legendary musi track, "Everybody's Gotta Learn enough to see him in concert cian of his time. The only thing Sometime" for the film Eternal with tourmates, Le Tigre. I was I have left to say about Beck can Sunshine of the Spotless Mind blown away by his performance; be summed up in two words- (2004). By this time, most peo- if there's anything better than "Hell, yes." ple had figured ...-- ---, that the days of Mellow Gold A leading finance and economics consulting firm. and Midnight es, Vultures were A dynamic culture of growth and collegiality. long gone and Sad Beck was here to stay. But then again, October 20, 2005 rit for how easy is it to pin down Analyst Resume Drop Deadline via Beck Hansen? InterviewTRAK He has the h. extraordinary talent of be ing able to ex periment with Seriously though, we'd like people to write news articles too. new ideas and Ifyou worked for your highschool paper and want to cover the motifs, chang- events around and off campus, or if you just have some dumb his style you want to see in we'll you. considerably from album to album. And he has proven so. Since the of Sea Beck
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IttationaI Exu betanee Thtor in N. San Gabriel for pleasant 9th & 6t1t graders, 2-3 Itr/day, M-F, There's. Nothi~·~h Itrs flexible after 4pm, Experience ml:IUSe in power otdUd:~l myRlOml We'Umakea preferred, proficient ill English mwsetnlp... / ~W Today'; Irf'atiOnal Exuberance was b'l$plred by adii.,lal events. The mouse was nm: hal'l'ned and ~enwaliy left the room, We think, 8 CALIFORNIA TECH Continued from Page 1 Cobb, Freed for the Broad Cen ruses in 1975 at the age of 37, pleased he will remain as a pro ter, Thorn Mayne of Morphosis has contributed widely to the fessor, liberated to contribute for the new Cahill Center for understanding of cancer, AIDS, more strongly to the intellectual Astronomy and Astrophysics, and the molecular basis of the life of the Caltech community," Continued from 1 and Rem Koolhaas for the new immune response. He has con Thome said. Walter and Leonore Annenberg tinued to operate his research Walter Weisman, trustee One year ago on September before someone pict1llres of Center for Information Science lab while president and has an chairman of the Caltech capital 30, a giant squid sight of Ri(;hard J:':llis, a re and Technology. The latter two nounced many important find campaign, has worked closely the and snatched at the search associate at the American buildings are still in the de ings while at Caltech, including with Baltimore since its kick bait, but instead of a meal it got Museum of Natural told sign phase. Baltimore worked establishing a new methodol off in 2002, and is pleased with a surprise when one of its two a National Geographic source. eighteen-foot tentacles caught Many others share Ellis' toward increasing diversity at ogy to help fight cancer, devel the impact Baltimore has had. on the The squid re- ion. The rou.ghJly silghltin~~s Caltech, particularly by bring oping a new gene therapy that "David Baltimore has made an maine:d stuck to line for a of the ing more women into admin is highly effective in preventing enormous contribution to our sUI-prisinlg four allowing bodies that istrative roles. He also was HIV from infecting individual campaign success. I am de KutbodeJra and Mori to take over beaches around the world this concerned about the quality of lighted that he will continue to cells in the immune system, and five hundred and of rt"rltm"V lead most scientists to undergraduate life, appointing creating a new methodology for assist the Institute with the cam the uncommon but the evidence the first full-time vice president producing transgenic mice. He paign as he moves to full-time to free to be inevita for student affairs and starting has also joined with others in research. His legacy at Caltech itself when Ne:ve.rthele:ss, for scientists a $3 million fund enhanc- proposing a new global effort will be felt for years to come, in two. The squid escapc:d a decade student life. During the last to create an HIV vaccine. He thanks in no small part to his into the ocean, leaving the year, an activity for received the National Medal of fund-raising achievements as both physical and phcJtogra.phlc news is a relief. him has been his membership Science in 1999 from President president of the Institute." evidence of its visit. But these ,.,i{'fur",,, do not close on the Independent Citizens Bill Clinton and the Warren Gordon Moore-a Caltech The severed tentacle was still the book on the mysteries of Oversight Committee for the Alpert Foundation Scientific alumnus who was trustee chair whipping around when Mori the ocean-going California stem cell initiative. Prize in 2001 for pioneering man when Baltimore was hired and Kubodera hauled it on board pn::dator'S, for the colossal squid, "David Baltimore is an inci work leading to cancer therapy. said, "David's leadership over the deck of their boat. In its cousin to the is still sive and articulate leader who Not only has Baltimore been the last nine years has signifi last motive moments, the suck out in the awaiting has strengthened Caltech's core prolific in writing about his cantly strengthened Caltech in ers grasped the ship's deck and photography. the larg- commitments to excellence in findings in scientific journals, many important ways. His im Kubodera's hand. "It wasn't est giant measure about research and teaching and has but he also raised Caltech's vis pact will be felt for decades." as strong as I expected. It felt fifty-five nobody knows led several initiatives that have ibility by contributing opinion Ben Rosen, also an alum sticky," he told a BBC source. how large the colossal squid can ensured promising avenues of pieces to general interest media nus and former trustee chair On news sites across the web, grow, although estimates range research can be pursued at the on such subjects as the value of man, said, "During his years the pictures of the giant squid from to seventy feet long. Institute," said Paul Jennings, stem cell research, the unneces of leadership at Caltech, Da delighted squid fans and casual Whatever the length, scientists Caltech's provost. In a written sary public panic that arose dur vid Baltimore elevated the al fish-watchers alike, recalling agree that the colossal squid is announcement to the campus ing the SARS epidemic, science ready considerable reputation Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues certainly larger in weight and and its trustees, Baltimore said, research under the Bush admin and strengths of the Institute. Under the Sea and perhaps a size than the giant squid, making "It has been a privilege to serve istration, and maintaining the The faculty is stronger than it mythical tale or two. But what it a far more formidable preda as president of Caltech and a scientific workforce in the U.S. has ever been. The students are do Moti and Kubodera's fellow tor. pleasure to work with the dedi "Throughout my years as a smarter, more diverse, and bet marine biologists think of their By this time next we may cated and remarkable Caltech Caltech trustee, I have been re ter rounded. The facilities have success? be watching instead of "Jaws." [editor's note: a Jaws ..«"uny, staff, students, trustees, peatedly impressed by David's been substantially augmented "I think it's wonderful that we've got a picture of a style movie about a giant squid,