The Technogeeks are at Men's Volleyball and I I it again! Reviews of Women's Tennis Descent II and Congo finish up their seasons ~ see page 8 see page VOLUME XCVII, NUMBER 25 PASADENA, CALIFORNIA FRIDAY, MAY 3, 1996 BY SHAY CHINN about Avery, it seems as though AND ROBERT JOHNSON its design and accommodations are genuinely very livable. Here In hopes of generating ex­ are the vital statistics: the com­ citement about the opening of plex will accommodate 136 stu­ Avery Center, many graduate dents, 33 of which are reserved and undergraduate students were for graduate students. There are introduced to what is expected 38 doubles (four are reserved for to become the new center of on grad students), 50 singles (25 are campus life here at Caltech. On reserved for grad students), 2 Wednesday, an information ses­ triples, and 4 single suites. Two sion was held at Steele House single suites will share a bath­ where representatives from room. Avery also contains 4 Mousing and Residence Life spacious faculty apartments as were available to answer ques­ well as 35 underground parking tions about Avery Center. For spaces. All students and faculty the first time, official tours of the will be required to participate in complex were given which al­ the 10 meal per week board plan. lowed students to get a prelimi­ Each room contains an air con­ nary idea of what the building ditioner, sink, and ethernet con­ A Brave New World ... will become. nection to the campus network. being that they will not have ises large desks. Avery house freshmen. Additional statistics Behind the hype and propa­ The singles are comparable in closets and instead will be fur­ will be a part of the off-campus pertaining to Avery Center are ganda that has been circulated size to those found in the south nished with wardrobes for hang­ lottery to be held on May 15 and houses with the major difference ing clothes. Housing also prom- will be closed to next years SEE AVERY CO NT. ON 1'.10 EMANA LATINA: Explosion of Culture Fellowships Are Great! BY MELISSA SAENZ by Lauren Stolper tunity to expand personal and AND WENG KI CHING professional horizons. Some of this year's seniors Fellowships vary in many Ya lIego la hora! The time are all set regarding their plans ways: competitiveness (some is here! Next week is the 3rd for next year. Others are still are much easier to win than oth­ annual celebration of Semana trying to decide: Will it be grad ers), countries where you can Latina brought to Cal tech by school, work, or something else? study, duration of fellowship, Club Latino and the Caltech One option for next year's se­ qualifications, amount of the Latino Association of Science niors to consider is applying for award, and sometimes, the sub­ and Engineering Students a fellowship. Some fellowships ject of study. To whet the appe­ (CLASES). This "Latin Week" pay for graduate study in the tite of current juniors, I have pro­ brings an impressive series of U.S. only, but others allow you vided a short "Cook's Tour" of events celebrating Latino cul­ to travel and/or study abroad. fellowship opportunities. tures and discussing Latino is­ You've had four hard years at Juniors can consult the sues. The members of Club Caltech why not spend a few CALTECH GUIDE TO FEL­ Latino and CLASES, the gradu­ ate and undergraduate Latino years living, studying, and trav­ LOWSHIPS AND SCHOLAR­ organizations at Caltech know eling abroad? SHIPS for details. The guide is that we have been entrusted Fellowships such as the mailed out to all juniors during with the richness and diversity Marshall, Fulbright, Rotary, May. Other students can call of the many Latin American na­ Rhodes, Churchill among others ext. 2150 or e-mail tions. We are proud to share our will pay for travel and living [email protected] culture through this established expenses, as well as tuition for to request a copy. yearly event that immerses the one to three years of study at a Caltech and local communities university abroad. I can speak Graduate students may apply for This Years Semana Latina Poster, by Simon Varela in intellectual, artistic, and from the personal experience of certain fellowships as long as socio-political exploration. ing Latinos in the U.S. are tak­ tion with Gallos Reales. Sun­ having lived and studied abroad they meet age and citizenship Latinos comprise 12% of ing center stage in the news. day is the Mexican National for two years after my gradua­ requirements. International stu- the United States population Please take advantage of this op­ Holiday "Cinco de Mayo" that tion from college that a fellow­ and over 32% of the Los Ange­ portunity to broaden your under­ celebrates the anniversary of the ship can be a wonderful oppor- SEE FELLOWSHIPS CONT. ON 1'.2 les population. The influence standing. Battle of Puebla of 1862 in of this culture on this country is Every day of Semana Latina which a small Mexican army led of great importance. In the U.S., celebrates a different region of by Ignacio Zaragoza defeated a with Southern California as a Latin America with noontime much larger army of the French .center of attention, much ethnic musical performance featuring Empire. This unexpected vic­ THE USUAL THIS WEEK'S friction can be attributed to the professional artists located on the tory was a morale booster for the STUFF lack of understanding among west lawn of the Athaneum. Mexican people and is still cel­ FEATURES different ethnic groups. Com­ Taste food in the style of each ebrated today. Tuesday brings munication and knowledge of region served by the Athaneum the beat of the Cumbia from Announcements 12 Earth Day 9 ethnic differences and similari­ for $3.00 a plate induding bev­ Central America with Orquesta Flame On 5 Capitol Steps 8 The Outside World 3 ties is essential for improving erage. Cabaret. Wednesday features SEPP Lecture 7 Trust Me 6 Dean's Awards 4 relations within this country. On Monday, May 6th, expe­ Question of the Month 5 Currently, many issues concern- rience Mexico's mariachi tradi- SEE SEMANA LATINA CONT. ON 1'.8 2 3, 1996 NEWs THE CALIFORNIA TECH Engineers Demonstrate Technique for Crystallizing Proteins BY PUBLIC RELATIONS exciting, the new technique has Almost all proteins contain cial Brewster angle microscope cause of this amphiphilic prop­ possible applications in con­ the amino acid called histidine, to see how a naturally occurring erty, the lipids line up in a mono­ PASADENA-Chemical engi­ structing molecular devices to which metal ions such as protein, streptavidin, forms a layer a film that is a single neers have successfully demon­ based on two-dimensional pro­ Cu2+ bind. This binding be­ two-dimensional crystal when molecule thick - on the surface strated a new method of crystal­ tein arrays." Arnold's Caltech tween the metal ion in the lipid bound to this lipid. of water. The metal ions hang lizing proteins, an important and colleagues in this work were and the histidine in the protein The presence of a histidine down into the water where they notoriously difficult problem in graduate student Daniel Pack is what enables the lipids to grab on the surface of streptavidin is can grab the proteins, which are biochemistry. The new ap­ and research fellow Chao-Tsen the protein molecules. essential for it to bind to the de­ also hydrophilic, and pull them proach is reported by research­ Chen, both 10 signer lipid. The up to the lipid-water interface. ers from Caltech and the Uni­ chemical engineer- histidine respon­ The lipids pack the mol­ versity of Washington in the mg. sible for binding ecules of protein - streptavidin April 30 issue of the Proceed­ The new ap­ was identified with in this case - into a dense, two­ ings of the National Academy of proach uses spe­ the help of Patrick dimensional sheet. When the Sciences. The new technique has cially designed lip­ Stayton, an assis­ proteins are crowded together Arranging protein mol­ ids fatty mol­ possible applications in tant professor of like this, they can spontaneously ecules into a crystalline structure ecules - that act bioengineering, organize into large, two-dimen­ is an important scientific chal­ constructing molecular like molecular tug­ and Ashutosh sional crystals. Scientists can lenge; it is the crucial first step boats. Ordinarily, devices based on two­ Chilkoti, a then use the two-dimensional in studying a protein's molecu­ protein molecules dimensional protein arrays. postdoctoral fel­ crystals to seed three-dimen­ lar structure. Crystallization in a liquid drift in low in bioengi- sional ones. will also play an important role disorder, but the lip- neering, both at the "Scientists have used simi­ in building molecular devices ids grab hold of the University of lar methods before to crystallize such as biosensors or highly molecules and help Washington. They proteins in two dimensions, but compact data storage mecha­ assemble them into a two-di­ Researchers from the Uni­ created and tested mutants of in those cases they had to go to nisms. mensional crystalline layer. versity of Washington collabo­ streptavidin that lacked histi­ a lot of work custom-designing "We're excited about this Lipids are common biologi­ rated for two years with the dine, and found that one of these a lipid with just the right struc­ method because it should pro­ cal molecules, but the special Caltech group to show that the variants did not bind to the lipid. ture to bind to a particular pro­ vide a general mechanism for lipid used in this technique has new concept is valid.