October 3, 2023

While houses throw a significant portion of the social events during the year, ASCIT throws events open to the entire student body every term. We’ve listed an overview of the events that we both host and help out with, often with our advisor, Tom Mannion, the Senior Director of Student Activities and Alumni Engagement. A number of events are also held by the academic branch of ASCIT, the Academics and Research Committee (ARC), but also has numerous ways to connect with professors in more social

The firing of the Fleming Cannon is a tradition that is supposed to bring pride and joy to the hearts of students every year and mark the progression of time from the end of rotation to the end of every term. However, for many students, the sound of the Fleming Cannon carries a heavy burden, evoking memories of a past they had hoped to leave behind when they came to Caltech. "Coming to Caltech was one of the most exciting moments of my life, but the sound of the Fleming Cannon sometimes reminds

[TW: Eating disorders, starvation] For me, it was a comment from my dad that planted the seed. My friends watered it. Social media gave it light. I nurtured it myself at times, until it broke through the one thing I swore I would protect: my curiosity, my joy, my desire to learn. I couldn’t focus. I had to eat to feed my mind, so I started cutting its branches, not realizing that like a weed, it would not go away until I came for its roots. I justified my eating by the amount of work I was get

The Caltech Men’s Soccer team has been having a groundbreaking season this year, displaying a level of excellence and resilience that has made the institute proud. Their prowess on the field has been nothing short of phenomenal, displaying a level of excellence and resilience that has resonated across the campus. Reaching a rank of 2nd in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), their highest ranking in years, and with the impressive record they’ve managed to build, i

“Be there, do stuff,” the rotation activity announcement of Blacker Hovse, left much to be desired in terms of its specificity. Although Blacker is always famously doing a lot of “stuff,” the event in question was the Blacker Olympics, a newly minted annual tradition where lots of “stuff” happened indeed. Following Dabney Boat Tours, Chill at Page, and Ricketts Open Mic Night, the team-based, tournament-style competition centered around the promise of a massive water fight at the end, whi

In the mystical realm of Yosemite National Park, where towering sequoias whisper tales of centuries past and granite giants stand as stoic sentinels to the whims of time, a brave band of Caltech students - prefrosh, returning undergrads, and grad students - embarked on a four-day backpacking and camping odyssey as a part of the annual Caltech Y hiking trip. Armed with nothing but enthusiasm, a handful of granola bars, miscellaneous decks of cards, and the spirit of adventure - they set out to co

Warning: Review contains spoilers. Over this summer, the blazing-pink cinematic nuclear warhead that is Barbenheimer – the sobriquet of the dual releases of Barbie and Oppenheimer – hit theaters worldwide. In its anticipated descent and eventual blast, various memes have dominated the internet (“One ticket to [Barbenheimer], please!”) It’s fair to say that Barbie is one of the biggest cultural phenomena of the summer. Barbie got viewers showing up to the cinema as if it was a festival and a c

I was eating lunch outside Broad Café with my labmates. When the time grew closer to 12:30 PM, we got up from our table to head to the rally. I was surprised—we weren’t the only group of people getting up from their table at this time. Grad students and postdocs all around got up from their tables, like us, and started heading south in unison. We were all heading in the sa

Figure 0. Mmm tasty data I wonder what it measures. What a lovely 3-D surface plot. You can really tell that there’s data there and some of it is different from the other data. Place your bets now about what data it is! If you guessed The Total Number of Seats in Limited Enrollment Advanced Humanities Classes (a.k.a. “hums”) from 2007 to 2022, separated by term, you were correct!