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June 4, 2024

Issue 31 of 2078

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Humans of Caltech

Red Door: the campus café so inextricable from Caltech existence that it requires no introduction. How, then, to reword this introduction for the fourth entry in this series? As part of an ongoing effort to make the voices of Red Door staff heard in The California Tech, ensuing something of a hiatus in recent issues, the following interview was conducted with Deveon Howard, the Assistant Manager of Red Door. ![Photo of Manager Deveon Howard, standing on the lawn outside Red Door with a smile

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Opinion

Editor’s note at bottom of article. Caltech and JPL are enmeshed financially, politically, and scientifically with Raytheon Technologies, a major weapons manufacturer which sells large amounts of weapons to the Israeli Defence Force. Raytheon’s complicity with the Israeli state’s murder of Palestinian civilians has been made clear by various international government bodies and human-rights watch groups. Caltech and Raytheon Caltech, and JPL which it manages, are world-renowned for in

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Editorial

In its current form, the Tech is fundamentally a student-run campus newspaper. This means we report on events that take place at and around Caltech through a distinctly Caltech lens. We strive to publish timely and exigent pieces about what’s going on (but only in a very small corner of the world). We also have been known to publish slightly less-Caltech-related content (namely reviews of media), although even then, I feel the best review will be one through a Caltech lens. Is this a topic the

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The Inside World

Verse 1 Caltech isn’t particularly accustomed to non-academic drama; just take a look at this edition’s front page. Mellow Drama, however, is a Caltech quintet, setting out to prove that we could all do with just a little bit of rock and roll lighting up our music scene. Sylvia Plath observed that ‘melodrama thrives solely upon exaggeration’. Well, to avoid the artistic cynicism of Plath, and to not cramp the style of Lorde’s second album, the group drew on their more relaxed musica

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Culture

Last April, Theater Arts at Caltech (TACIT) staged the part one beta version of Earth Data: The Musical, an original musical inspired by real-life research at JPL. With shows held on the 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th, this was the culmination of seven months of workshops—students and staff from every corner of the Caltech/JPL community acting, singing, and ideating in concert. The musical is part of Blended Worlds, Caltech/JPL’s submission to

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News

In an email to faculty on January 30, 2024, President Rosenbaum wrote that, “Two questions that have arisen in recent campus conversations concern the value of standardized testing, and the appropriate role of extracurricular activities, in admissions decisions. We have asked the Advisory Committee [on Undergraduate Admissions Policy] to accord these questions high priority and, if possible, to offer their recommendations on standardized testing by the end of March and on extracurricular activit

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Satire

Voting. It is every citizen’s right, or in this case every Caltech undergraduate’s right. Every year we as an undergraduate student body elect people to all manner of positions: ASCIT President, IHC Chair, CRC and BOC chairs, and of course, Tech Editor. Or at least some fraction of us do, ranging from a quarter to half of the student body actually voting in ASCIT elections. (You can see the exact numbers on all the past election forms on Donut, [donut.caltech.edu/1/surveys](https://donut.calte

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Culture

Whether you’re having a bonfire at the beach, or camping in the woods, s’mores season is officially here, and with it, a playlist to absolutely scorch your ‘mallows to. I’ll admit it, I have a LOT of hot takes, but this isn’t one of them: s’mores marshmallows have no right to be charred beyond recognition. But I think we can all agree that setting marshmallows on fire is the (mostly) innocent entertainment we all cherish. So, I made a playlist that you can enjoy while spending time with good com

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News

A brief, abridged recapitulation of the events of this academic year, in very rough chronological order. Enjoy! The Tech published the Rotation schedule for the first time since 2019. SPECTRE library’s famous life size ‘Anakin’ figure was found in the dumpster outside Fleming House. Blacker House’s potato cannon and two of Ricketts House’s traditional ‘skits’ were banned from Rotation. The “Question the Quail” column and other satire content in the Tech continued to irk campus administ

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News

In an email to faculty on January 30, 2024, which was shared with the Tech, President Rosenbaum wrote that, “Two questions that have arisen in recent campus conversations concern the value of standardized testing, and the appropriate role of extracurricular activities, in admissions decisions. We have asked the Advisory Committee [on Undergraduate Admissions Policy] to accord these questions high priority and, if possible, to offer their recommendations on standardized testing by the end of Ma

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Op-Ed

This past February, Caltech graduate students and postdocs unionized to form Caltech Graduate Researchers and Postdocs United-United Auto Workers (CGPU-UAW) with overwhelming support. Over 76% of graduate students and 83% of postdocs voted yes, with historic voter turnouts of over 72% and 52% respectively. This win was a culmination of over two years of conversations between graduate student workers and postdocs, connecting over our shared desire to make Caltech the best it can be for all of us.

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The Inside World

As a hub of innovation and discovery, the Division of Engineering and Applied Science (EAS) at Caltech is continually evolving. Caltech offers an array of resources to support its students, however, a challenge often lies in the awareness and accessibility of these resources. The structure of EAS Division fosters independence, which often leads to an unintentional disconnect between departments, restricting the exchange of resources and information. This is why I am excited to introduce the EAS

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Sports

The California Tech Sponsored Workout 2: As your friendly neighborhood former Dabney Athman, I have a great passion for trying to get people to go to the gym. As part of these efforts, I would like to give you a nice example workout. And guess what? Today is leg day! Squats A great leg exercise you can do either with weight or with a copy of your favorite campus publication, The California Tech Lunges While you’re doing lunges, picture yourself lunging towards the journalistic integrity

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Culture

On May 25, Homage to Nature was unveiled at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Created by Mineo Mizuno, a California-based Japanese American artist, the sculpture appreciates wood in its natural state while highlighting related climate issues and ramifications. Mineo Mizuno, Homage to Nature, 2024. _Photo: Elon Schoenholz/The Huntington

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Campus

Hello everyone! In case you haven’t heard, Professor Dana Murphy, Associate Professor of Black Studies and English at Caltech, was recently terminated. We, the students of Caltech, are writing a petition to request that the Caltech administration reinstate Professor Murphy and recognize the importance of Black studies at Caltech. We are collecting signatures and/or comments about Professor Murphy to present to these administrators. If you would like to contribute, please fill out the following G

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