Sigma Xi of San Diego
Vol. 3, No. 1, Fall 2001
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Sigma Xi of San Diego |
Vol. 3, No. 1, Fall 2001 |
The Chapter’s first collective activity this fall will be a display and discussion of rare books from the early days of science. The SDSU Library has an outstanding collection, including publications by Copernicus and Kepler, and Lyn Olsson, Interim Head of Special Collections, will provide background information.
Those who plan to attend should meet at the front door of the new library rotunda a 6:00 p.m. on the 19th. The entire event should not last much more than 90 minutes, so that dinner afterwards should probably be part of your plans. The cut-out parking permit on page 5 of this issue, which should be placed on your dashboard, will allow you to park unhassled on the bottom floor of Parking Structure 1, which can be found by going to
http://www.sdsu.edu//campusinfo/directions.html,
and of course the library’s location can be found there as well.
All members are asked to check the chapter’s website every so often to keep up on activities, etc., for which final details were not firmed up before this issue went to press. That address is:
http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/SigmaXiD.btml
Please e-mail President Metzger if you plan to join us!
ON DENDROCHRONOLOGY
Writes Stephen E. Nash of the Field Museum, "The early 20th-century history of tree-ring dating might be written largely as the intellectual history of one prolific scientist: Andrew Ellicott Douglass." Don McGraw’s new book, Andrew Ellicott Douglass and the Role of the Giant Sequoia in the Development of Dendrochronology, covers Douglass’ efforts to use the annual rings of Giant Sequoia trees as a record of solar influences on Earth’s climate.
"McGraw shows how coincident circumstances, individual human behavior, and the culture of science combine to pan nuggets of scientific advance from the sediment of a lifetime’s work. . . McGraw’s focus on one scientist and the results of his work brought me. . . closer to understanding something of the way science was done in the early 20th century. In order to reduce the risk of their displaying hubris, all those seeking to ‘plan’ the progress of science should be required to read this book." These words from Malcolm K. Hughes, Professor of Dendrochronology
at the University of Arizona, should be ample invitation to the readers of LabNotes.
The book is available from the Edwin Mellen Press at P.O. Box 450, Lewiston, NY 14092-0450, priced at $69.50.
AWARD TO HEMINGWAY
This chapter’s first Distinguished Achievement Award, a handsome silver medallion designed by President Bob Metzger, has been bestowed upon Canon George Hemingway. An Episcopal priest and expert in fishery management, Hemingway has been associated with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography for many years, and at the same time has taken a strong interest in the marine sciences laboratories in Ensenada, Mexico.
His contacts in Ensenada made him this chapter’s "point-man" in the effort to establish a new chapter in that delightful city. With more than 25 new members there, it is expected that what is now a "sub-chapter" of our group will move to independence before long.
Although Hemingway is on an 18-month consultation in Oregon now, the Executive Committee was unanimous in its determination to recognize his dedication and industry. A sketch of the medal appears on p. 3; members interested in viewing the real thing are cordially invited to attend a meeting of the Executive Committee (information on when and where can be obtained from President Metzger).
OF RECOGNITION
On top of last year’s awards for our work in helping develop a future chapter in Ensenada and for the publication of this newsletter, we have just been informed that we have been awarded a Certificate of Recognition by Sigma Xi’s Committee on Qualifications and Membership, based on our being one of the top initiating chapters during the year. Between the new members in Ensenada and those located in the San Diego Chapter’s area, we brought in a total of 28 new full and associate members.
Chapter officers are to be congratulated for their vigorous and sustained efforts to build membership and to provide activities of interest to our members!
Growing up in Thailand, Janette Holtz had a wide array of fauna to observe in her back yard and she caught the "observation bug" early. Along with work in drama and creative writing, and much reading about animals, a biology class at the International School in Bangkok gave her curiosity added impetus, which led eventually to her graduating from the University of San Diego in 1999 with a degree in biology.
A career in medicine was one option, but she took a year off from school to work as an assistant in Dr. Marie Simovich’s laboratory at USD and decided that she was more interested in animals than in sick people. She is now diligently at work on her Master’s Degree in Marine Science at USD under the guidance of Dr. Simovich. Her research interests led to her receiving a Grant in Aid last spring from Sigma Xi to work on "a life history of the San Diego fairy shrimp Branchinecta sandiegonensis: growth and fecundity under different temperature regimes."
Ms Holtz now thinks that it will be more rewarding to teach at the primary or secondary level than to pursue a doctorate, for she looks forward to sharing her interest in research with young students. She believes that getting a variety of research experience will help one to know what one wants to do in science, and that she has been fortunate in finding out this early in life what she really wants to do.
The Chapter’s annual Initiation Banquet was held at SDSU on May 3rd. Ceremonies included giving awards to nine young people who took part in the March Science and Engineering Fair and accepting nine Full and six Associate new members, along with 12 Full and one Associate member in the Ensenada subchapter.
Drs. Hector Bustos-Serrano and Dora Waumann-Rojas described the research programs ongoing at the Autonomous University of Baja California, and Canon George Hemingway was presented with a facsimile of his medal and an honorarium.
by Past President Don McGraw
For the first time in GSDSEF’s history, we believe, our chapter was able to choose recipients for and to offer substantial awards to a number of fine students for their excellent entries in the 2001 Fair. Held last March 28, we were able to award four students $500 each, and an additional five students&emdash;chosen in cooperation with "Girl Power of Chula Vista"&emdash;$100 each. The funds were made possible by the generous gift of Dr. and Mrs. Barry Quart. Of their $6,000 gift, given while this writer was Chapter President, $2,500 was awarded to students this year and the same amount will be made available next year. We hope that further funding may make it possible to continue this worthy project.
The winners of the $500 awards included Benjamin Reineman (12th grade, La Jolla High; teacher Lee Decker), Davina Garles (12th grade, Mt. Miguel High; teacher Larry Nordell), Reid Katkov (8th grade, The Rhodes School, teacher Roxanne Hunker), and Emily Balmert (8th grade, Hillsdale Middle School, teacher M. Whitaker). Winners of the $100 awards and chosen by judges from Girl Power of Chula Vista included Kristen Buono (8th grade, Lewis Middle School, teacher Bill Miller), Charmaine Norde (7th grade, Castle Park Middle School, teacher N. Whittmore), Veronica Cuevas (8th grade, Granger Junior High, teacher Eve Jones), Erika Go (7th grade, Montgomery Middle School, teacher Ursala Kint), and Jennifer Arriola (8th grade, Rancho Del Rey Middle School, teacher J. Tanis). It should be mentioned that the Junior Sweepstakes winners included Kristen Buono, with Emily Balmert as a runner-up. We congratulate them one and all!
Judges from our chapter were Victor Van Lint, Nahida "Lucy" Eskeland, Karl Umstadter, and Don McGraw. The Girl Power of Chula Vista Girl Power of Chula Vista judges were led by Caryn Hoffman.
Here we show a drawing of the San Diego Chapter’s Medal for Distinguished Achievement, presented for the first time at the May, 2000, Initiation Banquet to Canon George Hemingway in recognition of his efforts in founding the Ensenada subchapter of the San Diego Chapter and for his many accomplishments in the field of marine biology during his long scientific career. The medal itself is silver with a diameter of 6.1 cm and a mass of 69.8 grams. The back side is clear for an engraving.
As the designer, I will copyright the medal design and assign it to the San Diego Chapter of Sigma Xi. The plan is to present one award annually, consisting of the medal and an honorarium, to a person who has contributed significantly to an area of science and to the programs of the San Diego Chapter. Currently, nominees are chosen by the Executive Committee (and all members of the Chapter are invited to come and participate in Executive Committee meetings).
I have tried to make the medal symbolic of scientific and technological activities in the Chapter’s area of influence. Thus the airplane, which remembers that Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis was built in San Diego, represents the aerospace industry. The observatory represents the astronomical work done at Mt. Palomar, Mt. Laguna, and in Ensenada. The ship represents the oceanographic vessels from the Navy Research facilities and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; it is in the center of the medal because these two institutions were the founders of what would become in 1948 the San Diego Chapter.
The DNA double helix represents the research and development work in chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, and biotechnology done in local universities, research institutes, and industries. Likewise, the transistor stands for all the progress made locally in electronics, information, computer simulation, software and computer hardware design, and communications.
I have another design for a medal that could be used as an award for distinguished science teaching at the elementary, middle, and high school level. Such a medal would most likely be cast in bronze. We should be aware, of course, that while there are many worthy recipients of such a medal, we have no fool-proof methods of identifying them.
We are very proud of our teachers at some schools which excel in producing sweepstakes winners in the local Science Fair, and proud also of those whose students who won San Diego Chapter Sigma Xi awards supported by the Quart grant. These latter teachers demonstrate the talent that is present in less well-known area schools. For all we know, the very best teachers may be those working in the inner city schools who receive no publicity whatever. Therefore, I urge all of you to think very seriously about whether the San Diego Chapter of Sigma Xi should institute an award for teaching. Please send your comments on this to me at:
rmetzger@sciences.sdsu.edu.
by Robert Metzger
Our Chapter has been nominated for an award from the International Sigma Xi Offices for increasing diversity in the scientific and engineering community. The nomination is probably due to our adding 13 new Full and Associate members from Ensenada since 1999, our honoring nine middle and high school students with San Diego Chapter Quart Foundation funds for their excellent science projects shown at the Science Fair and at our Initiation Banquet, and of course the very international and multicultural nature of our new members, including a significant number of women.
All of this activity involved recognizing individuals’ meritorious work and only one, the Science Fair recognitions, were deliberately designed to ensure that students of all backgrounds, not just those at schools with strong science programs, had a good chance of being recognized. We will continue the Science Fair program in our area, and our Ensenada members may establish such a program there. We hope our student honorees will inspire their friends to begin Science Fair research, ultimately brining more talent from diverse communities into science and engineering.
The success of our efforts depends on students’ ability to participate, to study, to be encouraged to undertake research in areas that interest them. The very idea of Science Fair participation will lead to more students to careers in science and engineering depends on this principle. In countries where students are not able to go to school, none of these activities will succeed. I became acutely aware of this as a result of some of my travels.
This past summer, my wife and I took a guided tour of a secular republic with outstanding historical and archaeological sites, and also severe economic problems. In most areas of the country, we found large numbers of children trying to earn money by offering unwanted goods and services to tourists, even during school hours. Our guide noted the problem and also the intelligence of the children and their ability to do well if given the opportunity to study.
Knowing this, we were dumbfounded to see at least a dozen places of worship under construction in vacant areas near one city, and small villages with six or more places of worship, some new. The guide explained that some people, returning from years of work in foreign countries, build houses of worship for either thanksgiving or reparation.
This is their prerogative; the problem arises because the government, although a secular republic, will staff and pay the salaries of at least two religious leaders for each of these buildings. My guess is that the money supporting these people will come from the education budget, depriving even more students of scholarships and opportunities to advance their education. If I am correct, all of our proposals for cooperative research projects or new curricula for this country’s universities will have no beneficial effects at all on the population’s well-being or on the recruitment of students to research careers.
If we hope to use our talents to aid other countries in their development of human resources, we must ensure ourselves that the students there will have the ability and desire to take part in our projects.
Most of us are in contact with people who have a record (or promise) of research achievement that qualify them for election to Sigma Xi. Although we initiate new members in May of each year, it is really not too soon to start thinking of candidates now.
Scientists and engineers who have published research findings are eligible for Full Membership, and those who show promise of future productivity are eligible for Associate Membership.
Belonging to Sigma Xi is definitely an honor and candidates certainly know this. The nomination process is simple: go to www.sigmaxi.org online and click "membership" to download the necessary two-page nomination form. This site also provides more details on the qualifications for membership and the benefits available to members, including six issues per year of the dandy magazine American Scientist.
If you do not have someone to second your nomination handy, one of the officers can serve that function. Nominations can be sent to President Bob Metzger at any time. We earned a certificate this year for being one of the top chapters in terms of initiations, and it would be great if we can repeat next year!
Not all Chapter activities can be conceived and set in place before LabNotes goes to press. But the prospect of mailing announcements of late-breaking events to our 500+ members sends traumatic tremors through our Treasury. We must therefore invite you to drop in on our Chapter’s website every so often to learn about what will be going on. It’s easy &emdash; just go to:
OFFICERS, 2000 - 2001
President
Dr. Robert P. Metzger Office: 619-594-6801Dept. of Chemistry FAX: 619-594-4634
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive rmetzger@sciences.sdsu.edu
San Diego, CA 92182-1030
Treasurer
Kathy McNamara-Shroeder Office: 619-594-1614Dept. of Chemistry FAX: 619-594-4634
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-1030 kmcnamara@sciences.sdsu.edu
Secretary/Editor
Dr. Norman W. Storer Home: 619-491-03421417 Van Buren Avenue
San Diego, CA 92103-2339 nwstorer@peoplepc.com
Past President
Dr. Donald J. McGraw Office: 619-260-4553Associate Provost FAX: 619-260-2210
University of San Diego
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110-2492 mcgraw@sandiego.edu
Ensenada Liaison
Dr. Hector Bustos-Serrano Office: 011-52-61-744570Marine Sciences Faculty, UABC
PMB 8104
4492 Camino De La Plaza
San Ysidro, CA 92173-3097
COMMITTEES, 2000-2001
Admissions
Steve A. Brody
Arthur Getis
Robert P. Metzger
Richard H. Rosenblatt
Ann Sturz
Industrial Relations
James F. Baur
University Affairs
Matthew C. Bell
Trans-Border Relations
Canon George Hemingway