The Little T An ASCIT Publication Editors George H. Daghlian . David B. Elliott . Carl H. C. Keck Assistant Editors Patill T. Daghlian . Saren H. Daghlian Cover David B. Elliott . George H. Daghlian Graphics Karnig Nalbandian TABLE OF CONTENTS Academic Eligibility....................................................................8 Dictionary.................................................................................10 Questions.................................................................................13 Campus Employment...............................................................21 Campus Services.......................................................................23 Clubs........................................................................................40 Student Government................................................................43 Off-Campus Resources.............................................................47 Leisure Activities......................................................................68 Transportation..........................................................................98 Honor Code..........................................................................104 Guide to Research for Undergraduates...................................118 The little t is published annually by the Associated Students of the California Institute of Technology, Inc. (ASCIT). The opinions expressed in it are strictly Emergency Information..........................................................134 those of the editors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Corporation or the Institute. Any comments on the publication can be directed to the editor or the business manager. They may be reached by email at [email protected] Any legal action must go through Caltech’s Office of General Counsel, which may be reached at (626) 395-5940. The little t was designed with Adobe InDesign CC® (2017.1) and printed by Axis Printing, (626) 430-0586. Printed on 100% Post-Consumer Recycled Paper. ©2018 by the Associated Students of the California Institute of Technology, Inc. Pasadena, CA. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this li- cense, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Cre- ative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, Califor- nia, 94041, USA. Printed in the USA. PREFACE PRESIDENT’S WELCOME What is this book? The start of a new academic year represents new beginnings, full of The little t is an undergraduate handbook for the California Institute energy and hope. As you arrive for the first time on campus, or rede- of Technology. We’re an ASCIT publication that serves as a general fine your connections to Caltech, you are positioned to contribute to collection of very useful information for Caltech undergraduates. human wellbeing as members of one of the great universities of the How should I use it? world. The drive to define new directions is palpable, from unlock- We suggest you skim the entirety of the book, reading section head- ing the secrets of the quantum world to understanding life on earth, ings and marking down things that seem useful. There is also an from creating the smallest implantable medical devices to leading abridged copy of the honor code handbook and other useful refer- the effort to develop the world’s largest telescope. Caltech students, ences throughout the book. faculty, and alumni are fearless, and keen to reinvent themselves in response to important intellectual challenges. How accurate is all of the information? As of September 2018 Students and faculty across the spectrum of disciplines know that the Institute provides the inspiring intellectual environment and What should I do if I find a mistake? unfettered support to realize their dreams. Small and selective by Email the editors at [email protected] design, the Institute invests heavily in extraordinary individuals and What should I do if I want to help edit the Little T focuses on untapped opportunities. We aim to create knowledge for Email the editor at [email protected]. Any and all help is the long term and to address society’s most pressing problems today. appreciated! At the same time, the Institute provides an exceptionally warm What are useful websites for me to know about? and welcoming community. Learn from your professors, but even In no particular order, we suggest that you bookmark and/or mem- more importantly, get to know and learn from your fellow students. orize the URLs of the following websites: Venture out of the classroom and into the laboratory. Explore new • arc.caltech.edu intellectual realms, but also explore the Pasadena environs and LA’s • donut.caltech.edu cultural destinations. Master not only biology and mechanical • directory.caltech.edu engineering, but also inhabit poetry and economics, so you can • software.caltech.edu develop an elasticity of thought and familiarity of experience not • msdnaa.caltech.edu fully your own. • ihc.caltech.edu Welcome to the 2018-2019 academic year. I wish you the joy of • access.caltech.edu discovery and accomplishment; a year of friendships, challenge, • regis.caltech.edu and growth. • catalog.caltech.edu Thomas F. Rosenbaum • courses.caltech.edu • deans.caltech.edu President • oof.caltech.edu Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair and Professor of Physics • isthecstoreopen.caltech.edu 6 7 petition UASH for reinstatement. UASH will base their reinstate- ACADEMIC ELIGIBILITY ment decision on what you did during your time off, so internships, jobs, and courses at other schools will help with the reinstatement The academic eligibility policy details the criteria which every stu- Eligibility Academic dent must follow in order to continue being a student at Caltech. decision. After the third ineligibility, you will be asked to leave. Collectively, these rules are officially stated in the “Scholastic Re- Ineligibility is not a fun process, so if you do come close to ineligi- quirements” section of the catalog. There are two parts to this policy: bility, you should reach out to your advisor, the Deans, or one of the the criteria for eligibility to register and the rules for how ineligi- six student representatives and alternates on UASH. bilities are handled. The Undergraduate Academic Standards and Honors Committee (UASH) is the final decider on academic eligi- Academic Academic Eligibility bility, so they can grant waivers for any parts of this policy if needed. The current academic eligibility policy is based on a simple rule: In each given term, all students must pass at least 27 units of course- work with a minimum term GPA of 1.9. All students must earn an average of 36 units per term over each academic year for a total of 108 units. If you are a freshman on pass-fail, the only requirement is that you pass 27 units of coursework, with no GPA requirement. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but you can never become ineligible as long as you stay above this line. However, if you pass fewer than 36 units in a term or if you fail a core course, you will continue to be a student in good standing, but you will have to talk to the Dean before registering to make sure that everything is still going well. If you need to take a light term for any reason, the Deans’ office can approve an underload petition, which can allow you to fall below the 36 unit line without any trouble in two cases: if the underload is approved before add day or if the Dean waives this requirement. However, if you get an approved underload to drop a course after add day and the Dean does not grant the waiver, you will become ineligible even though you passed all of your classes. If you find yourself in this circumstance, feel free to talk to your advisor or anyone at the Deans’ office. Reach out to someone if you need help! Finally, if you do become ineligible, there is a well-defined process for handing the ineligibility. If it is your first time being ineligible, the Deans’ office can summarily restate you, or they can have UASH handle the restatement process. The majority of the time, the Deans’ office will handle the reinstatement. After the second ineligibility, you will have to take two terms (not including summer) off and then 8 9 Extension (n). DICTIONARY Not as hard to obtain as you think. See Flame. FEIF (phr). Fleming Eats It Faster. See DEI. ACM (n). (1) The Applied and Computational Math option. (2) Flame (v). The result of overloading an undergraduate’s heat shields Short for ACM 95, a differential equations class required by many through academic friction. majors, often taken sophomore year. Flem (n). A member of Fleming. Dictionary Alley (n). The hallway you live in. Feel free to unite and challenge other alleys to any sort of competition you can think of. Flick (v). The process of taking the longest possible amount of time to do the smallest possible amount of work. Averite (n). A member of Avery. Dictionary Frosh (n). Someone in their first year at Caltech but no longer in Big-I (n). Short for Big Interhouse, occurs once every other year. their first week at Caltech. The eight houses team up in pairs to build 4 themed parties which all happen on the same night. Not to be confused with Interhouse. ɣδβɣ (phr). God Damn Blacker Gang. Bonfire (n). The Pasadena Fire Department Co. 34 is supposed to House (n). Those residences of the North. be very nice. Feel free to have one. See MOSH. Hovse (n). Those