You have probably walked along Catalina Ave. near Caltech or on Caltech campus and have seen the signs warning of coyote activity in the area. Perhaps you have even seen coyotes yourself on campus! I’ve definitely had my fair share of coyote sightings on campus. One day I came out of lab and walked past the lawn on S. Wilson Ave. near the Broad Center. There chilling on the lawn was a coyote by himself. I looked at him. He looked at me. I walked on the sidewalk. He sat on the lawn. When my sidewalk path neared him on the grass, I kept my trajectory clear and steady, but turned to the coyote as he watched me, and I gave him a subtle nod and said “’sup”. He looked at me, unphased and calm. I was also unphased and calm. I continued walking and he continued chillin’.
It is now Monday January 13th 2025 and the Eaton Fire is 14,117 acres and 27% contained. 3,155 firefighting personnel are assigned to this fire. The Eaton Fire is one of the worst natural disasters in United States history, and Southern California’s deadliest wildfire disaster. Ten miles of foothills from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to Santa Anita Avenue is just destruction. Caltech students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community have been impacted by this traumatic and devastating fire. At least 200 Caltech community members have lost their homes to the fires. Thousands have been displaced. Ash contamination, poor air quality, and loss of power and water utilities remain to be additional issues we face.
There’s a good sandwich, nay, a great sandwich at Broad Café. Quite honestly, this sandwich is glorious. This sandwich is there to pick you up when you are down. It fills you up when you are empty.
Well readers, an entire term has gone by and I did not continue my column on the Apple TV+ series, Lessons In Chemistry, in a timely manner. Apologies. I know you all were dying for more of my ramblings on this very mid show.
To recap, I have been writing reviews on episodes of the Apple TV+ series, Lessons In Chemistry. Honestly, I don’t know why people subscribe to Apple TV+. I’ve tried watching The Morning Show—awful.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held elections for Caltech graduate students and postdocs earlier this month to vote on whether they wanted to unionize and be represented by Caltech Grad Researchers and Postdocs United-UAW (CGPU-UAW).
To remind readers where we left off in the previous episode, Elizabeth Zott — female chemist in the 1950s who mastered out of her UCLA Ph.D. program and became a lab technician at Hastings — is now working in Dr. Calvin Evans laboratory.
Last Wednesday, September 27th 2023, the Caltech Grad Researchers and Postdocs United (CGPU) held a New Year, New Union rally to demonstrate that a supermajority of graduate students and postdocs at Caltech support forming a union.
