January 16, 2024

“Latinx”: Pronouns, language, and gender. Lilia Arrizabalaga | Managing Editor | Editorial You have probably heard the term latinx. You may have even used it before. And if you’re a friend of mine, you’ve probably heard me complain about it. Designed as a more inclusive and gender-neutral alternative to latino/latina, many members of the community it sets out to describe (myself included) have problems with it. To start with, the term latin/o/a/x is a pan-ethnic term which gro

Meet the Red Door Baristas Damian Wilson | Humans of Caltech Red Door, the campus café so inextricable from Caltech existence that it requires no introduction. As such, Red Door staff—tasked with nourishing the endless onslaught of Techers that come its way—deserve as much as anyone for their voices to be heard in The California Tech. The following interview, conducted with Assistant Manager Paige Gilli, is the inaugural entry of a new series with that very aim. **Lovely to meet you, Pa

This is two-years-old news by now, because the Tech wasn’t publishing much in 2021. But I feel it’s an important story to document nevertheless. It was Fall Term, 2021 — the first term back on campus since COVID, and the first term ever on campus for both freshmen and sophomores. We all have our “Typical Frosh L” moments during our first terms at Caltech. Some people drink too much at

Best of: TQFRs Teaching quality feedback reports, or TQFRs provide an opportunity for students to share their experiences, either positive or negative, about classes they have taken. In this new column we will look at some of the most entertaining. FA 2023-24 — Ae/CE 221 Space Structures Dear Ae221, what say to you? Nobody once told me, this course was gonna roll me, Not the sharpest gore in the balloon volume. She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb In the

Dear Orange, What is this column about? This is the first time I’m seeing “Dear Orange” in this paper or hearing about it at all for that matter. Please tell me more. Sincerely, Curious Well, hello curious! I am new to the Tech, in fact this is my very first feature in the paper, and I’ve got to say I am so happy to be here. My name is Orange and the simplest way to explain this column is to say that I’m here for you. A Caltech spin-off of Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed (also asso

Caltech Graduate Students and Postdocs Will Vote on Unionization David Abramovitch, Sam Whitehead | Opinion _ _ On November 30, 2023, Caltech grad students and postdocs filed union authorization cards with the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB). Earlier that day, around 100 grads and postdocs joined together to deliver a letter to Provost Tirrell, signed by over 500 grads and postdocs, requesting a fair union election process and that the Institute remain neutral rather than engaging

In a Title IX case characterized by incessant delays, non-disclosure agreements, and frustration, a conclusion was finally reached late last November. The case dates from July 17th, 2022, when a student participating in the Freshman Summer Research Institute (FSRI) hid a camera in a communal bathroom in a Bechtel Residence suite. Within the first 72 hours, the owner of the camera was identified, video footage of the camera’s installation was discovered, and members of the suite received an apol

Free As In Speech, Not As In Laundry Alem Snyder | Opinion The laundry machines in all Caltech Undergraduate Housing have recently switched from an ID card-operated payment system to a smartphone app-based system. Previously, users of laundry machines could swipe their student card and the bill was charged to their bursar account. Bechtel Residence and Avery House have had this new system for a few years, but the decision was recently made to retrofit the existing North and South House was

Feel Free to Cancel Me It’s ok Umran Koca | Opinion In true Caltech fashion, the content for this article came about over midnight coffee at Red Door Café. I was sitting with a group of friends when the topic shifted to freedom of speech on campus. The atmosphere grew heavy and quiet. We were all afraid of saying the “wrong” thing. Finally, I broke the tension. “Have I told you about the time my East Asian friends canceled me?” We burst out in laughter, and the conversation got going.

Chemist? Nah, Definitely A Secretary or Pageant Lady (Lessons In Chemistry Apple TV+ series: Season 1 Episode 1: Little Miss Hastings) Victoria Davis | Managing Editor | Culture My friend read the popular book, Lessons In Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus. It is a fiction novel that takes place in the late 1950s and early 1960s chronicling the flagrant sexism and career ups and downs of chemistry laboratory technician turned TV cooking show host, Elizabeth Zott. To the plight of the story’s au