SNAP SHOTS
'Round About the Insitute
Spring 2002

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Radio Free Caltech: On Your Radio Dial, FM 89.3, KPCC

PRESIDENT DAVID BALTIMORE sat in as guest host on Southern California Public Radio station KPCC's highly informative and acclaimed show, AirTalk. The radio gig had him taking calls from listeners and interviewing experts in science and the media on AIDS, and discussing the then-upcoming Nobel Centennial celebrations at Caltech and other institutions.

How'd he do, you might ask. So well, in fact, that we're glad that his research and presidency are going so swimmingly at Caltech. He was such a natural that you'd think he had been doing this all his life...and we really like the photograph.

CALTECH'S 10th ANNUAL OUTREACH PROGRAM for high school youth brought more than 100 students from magnet science and technology schools throughout Los Angeles County to campus in March. The students attended lectures, toured labs, and had one-on-ones with faculty and graduate students. In short, they experienced how research is done at Caltech. Over the two days of interaction, they also learned about opportunities and careers in science and engineering.

The program was sponsored by the Office of Minority Student Affairs, two of Caltech's NSF-funded centers, the Center for the Science and Engineering of Materials and the Center for Neuromorphic Systems Engineering, and the James Irvine Foundation.

To learn more about the program, visit http://www.csem.caltech.edu and http://www.cnse.caltech.edu

Ken Burns: Live in Beckman Auditorium

MASTER FILMMAKER Ken Burns recently delivered a Michelin Distinguished Visitor's Lecture entitled "American Trilogy," covering his Big 3, the award-winning historical documentaries Baseball, The Civil War, and Jazz. Beckman Auditorium was full and the crowd pleased.

Burns is unique in his ability to bring history alive through the artful use of diaries, visual images, and dramatic narration. His work seamlessly explores and conveys the individual and collective American experience of his subjects: "I'm less interested in the dry dates and facts than in the way emotional connections hold the past and it's meaning together and tell a story that we can all share and remember," he stated in an interview.

Look for his most recent project, a documentary on writer and humorist Mark Twain, in a video store or on a PBS station near you.

WEST, a campus forum for female faculty, students, and staff, recently sponsored "A Women's Art Exhibit" in Dabney Hall. The painted, drawn, and photographic image was well represented alongside ceramics, prints, and poetry. Absorbing and wide-ranging, the art impressed and spoke to the many visitors.

To encourage and promote discussion about the many issues facing women across the Caltech campus, WEST will sponsor various activities including monthly lunches providing an open forum for discussion and exploration.

Visit the WEST website at http://www.its.caltech.edu/~westclub

ME72 Engineering Design: The 17th Annual Contest

THIRTY CONTESTANTS and an audience of almost 1,000 watched and cheered on the teams as they negotiated the contest's course of steep ramps and slopes. Unlike previous years where ping-pong balls were the objects to collect and manipulate, the 2001 contest required the students to move slippery hockey pucks up a stepped, steep ramp. The tension was high. But the robot that could really "get a grip" carried the day.

Find out more about the ME72 Design Contest at http://design.caltech.edu/courses/ME72

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