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The California Tech Vol. CXXII No. 24 Pasadena, California Monday, April 29, 2019 [email protected] SECURITY CAN- ASCIT HOLDS CELS PH 101 DEMO $170,000 IN ASSETS Angelica Zhou | News Alex Krotz | News Every year, Professor Sterl Phinney ASCIT’s annual budget fails to dis- leads Ph 101 students to the tallest close the majority of its assets. Despite building on campus, Millikan Library, being independent of Caltech, ASCIT for the Millikan Ball Drop experiment. appears to allocate only that year’s This activity entails releasing basket- membership contributions to its bud- balls and other assorted objects from get. Any remaining funds are placed the roof above the nine-story library. in reserve accounts that are not clearly On Monday April 22, 2019, a tradi- disclosed on annual reports. The annu- tion that remained unobstructed for al budget published by ASCIT gener- 30 years was suddenly curtailed when ally outlines expenses however fails to the reorganized Caltech Security team mention a $90,000 investment account showed up 35 minutes late and deemed and over $80,000 in cash reserves. the experiment unsafe because stu- All undergraduates that matriculate dents were not secured in harnesses. to Caltech are by default members of In 1989, Professor Phinney invented ASCIT and pay an annual membership the Ph 101 course, Order of Magnitude fee contributing in excess of $140,000 Physics, upon recognition that “stu- which is allocated to student activi- dents knew how to solve complicated ties. In addition to contributions from equations but didn’t necessarily un- members, ASCIT receives funds from derstand which ones were important.” the Moore-Hufstedler Fund for special The unique course exposes physicists events like the annual ASCIT Formal. and other curious students to exercises When questioned by reporters in regard involving estimates of everyday events. to their available finances ASCIT initially Homework sets cover questions such failed to disclose these sources of poten- as: Would the energy of all the calories tial funds. “It's not intentional” ASCIT you have consumed as food be enough Treasurer Dana He said. “We've been to eject you from the solar system? In budgeting for more than one year's worth this manner, the second homework of revenue, but a lot of times the fund- asked students to estimate how high a ing we allocate never gets spent.” While basketball would bounce when dropped it is at the discretion of ASCIT to make from a flying plane, and if this would be use of its funding it is clear that ASCIT different for a basketball dropped from has made no effort to do so, choosing to Sammy Piascik | Contributing Photographer | Continued on Page 4 | Phinney finds fault in Ph 101 fiasco. reserve funds without disclosing them. the dining hall, dozens of mysterious result was nothing short of mesmeriz- BIOLUMINESCENT glowing bottles lined the walls, while ing, was it worth it? APPROVED REVISION platters of food covered the tables. Be- Blacker’s culture of building elab- TO BLACKER ROOM BLINTERHOVSE yond the typical chips, brownies, and orate Interhovses has been a source Brittany Percin | Review veggie/fruit platters, pigs in a blanket, of pride for the Hovse for years. From ALLOCATIONS A magical display of glowing col- Oreo popcorn, and Rice Krispie sushi flooding the courtyard, to multiple sto- RESCINDED ors, water features, and flowing fauna rounded out the menu, with rainbow ry dance platforms, the Moles always Sherry Wang | News brought the bioluminescent world to spaghetti continuing the colorful theme. seems to outdo themselves from year Earlier in April, Blacker Hovse voted Blacker Interhovse last Saturday. Par- Much like the ruins it represents, this to year. Yet the intense building comes to allow some singles to be converted into ty goers stepped through the gates and aquatic masterpiece was an incredibly with a price. Caltech students are often doubles in order to accommodate more were immediately met with towering time intensive project. According to Ju- busy enough without trying to balance students for room picks this year. The columns, emerging from a glowing pool nior Sarah Crucilla, the columns alone a combined hundreds of hours of extra- understanding with the Assistant Direc- of water, reminiscent of the ancient took over 24 hours to put together, with curricular activities. To add to the pres- tor of Undergraduate Housing, Joe Ben- ruins of Atlantis. The dance platform multiple Hovse members pitching in. sure, building had to be completed a day nethum, was that such a change would was accessible via a walkway suspend- Even getting approval for the use of wa- earlier this year, cutting down the pre- be acceptable as long as all the neces- ed over the pool, with jets of water arc- ter features was a serious time invest- cious last-minute hours. Students can sary furniture fit into the rooms and that ing gracefully overhead. Entering the ment. For the past few weeks of build- fall behind on sets, and with midterms such changes would be permanent going lounge, people were met with a cascade ing, students balanced their coursework right around the corner, and freshman of hand-made leaves hanging from the with this gargantuan project, with many no longer on Pass-Fail, the couple weeks | Continued on Page 2 | ceiling. The forest section of the master- pulling back to back all-nighters, or sur- of intense building can have long term piece was brought together by a mural viving on little to no sleep in order to get headed by Jenna Colborn. Heading to the spectacle completed. While the end | Continued on Page 2 | INSIDE THIS ISSUE Bioluminescent Blinterhovse. 2 Rescinded Blacker Allocations . 2 ASCIT BoD Minutes . 3 ARC Minutes . 3 IHC Weekly Update . 3 Canceled Ph 101 Demo . 4 Mueller Report Released . 4 Smiling With Shuki . 5 Swaff's Picks Vol 2.. 6 Jack’s Movie Review . 6 Sports . 7 History . 7 Humor . 8 Ethan Jaszewski | Contributing Photographer Courtyard construction and glow-in-the-dark decorations at Blinterhovse. 2 The California Tech | News | April 29, 2019 BIOLUMINESCENT APPROVED REVISION TO BLINTERHOVSE BLACKER ROOM | From Page 1 | ALLOCATIONS RESCINDED consequences. Furthermore, while | From Page 1 | the pressure to build comes from the forward. At 2pm on April 24th, after the Hovse as a whole, a handful of members early Bechtel lottery, the Blacker Secre- end up picking up the slack and finish- tary received an email from Benneth- ing the job. However, every year, they um approving the change as discussed still manage to impress. in previous communications. However, Despite the cost, the production was around 5pm that day, Bennethum sent a an enormous success. Much like years follow-up email rescinding the approv- past, Blacker wowed the campus with al, stating “While Maria [Katsas, Direc- Ethan Jaszewski | Contributing Photographer over the top construction, refusing to tor of Housing] and I were trying to help Tented blacklight lounge at Blinterhovse. allow their creativity be stifled by four- out with the concerns about space in the foot platform rules, administrative re- house, we were told this afternoon that quirements, or shortened deadlines. As we are not allowed to make changes to per their motto, “Nothing is worthwhile the capacity of rooms at this time.” In unless it is difficult”, and while this was following emails, Bennethum disclosed most certainly not the easiest Inter- that Vice President of Student Affairs house to build, it was also one of the Joe Shepherd had not been consulted most spectacular. in the process of approving the capacity change so Bennethum and Katsas were not aware that Shepherd would prohibit any increase in House capacity. Shepherd’s reason for vetoing the ADVERTISE change was that he “didn’t want chang- IN THE TECH! es to be terribly disruptive” and that Ethan Jaszewski | Contributing Photographer [email protected] students who wanted to live on-cam- Suspended decorations glitter in Blacker's dining hall. pus had the option to pick into Bechtel. Communications between Blacker and Bennethum indicated that both sides M N expected the change to be approved, so rescinding the change after the ear- ly Bechtel lottery round had already ended placed those students who had INTRODUCING: RAD expected to be able to pick into Blacker (under the increased capacity) at an un- Looking for lonely Techers! fair disadvantage in the housing lottery We know you have trouble finding a date at this school. The staff ofThe California Tech system as a whole. Without an accurate has found a solution to all your dating woes: representation of capacity in House lot- RAD (Random Access Dating)! teries, those students would not be able to make an informed decision about If you fill out the survey at tinyurl.com/CaltechRAD, you have a chance of going on a their preferences regarding Bechtel, and date with another random Techer that fills out the survey. Dates will happen Saturday therefore participate in the early Bech- at 7 pm. Transportation and food costs will be covered. tel lottery in a meaning m n [email protected] | Announcements | April 29, 2019 3 ASCIT BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETINGS IHC WEEKLY UPDATES Minutes for 21 April 2019. Taken by Rachel Sun. Alicia Tirone | IHC Secretary Officers Present: Sakthi Vetrivel, Erika Salzman, Sarah Crucilla, Varun Shanker, This week, the IHC discussed Blacker Interhovse, which went well with zero Alice Zhai, Dana He, Rachel Sun transports. We also briefly discussed the effectiveness of having an extra on call Alejandro López, Albert Nazeeri person in the Houses. Some members of the IHC felt it was not very effective. We Guests: briefly discussed Dabney Interhovse (which is in a few weeks) and noted there were Call to Order: 8:15 PM fewer alcohol concerns since it is a dry party.