The San Diego Chapter of Sigma Xi
The Scientific Research Society
The San Diego Chapter of Sigma Xi
The Scientific Research Society
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Sigma Xi of San Diego |
Vol. 1, No. 1, Fall 1999` |
With this first issue of Lab Notes, the newsletter of the San Diego Chapter of Sigma Xi, we inaugurate the appearance of this publication, a new year of activities planned for Chapter members, and an almost new slate of officers. It is my pleasure to serve as President and to welcome back Dr. Terry Frey, our long-time and steadfast Treasurer. We welcome anew Dr. Bob Metzger as Vice President and Dr. David Kobus as Secretary. Dr. Steve Brody, president for the past two years, remains with us in the office of Past-President. Additionally, we are pleased to have as Co-Editors of this newsletter Drs. Bob Schlesinger and Norm Storer. Your Chapter is most fortunate in having volunteer support of this excellence present on the Executive Committee. The entire list can be found on page 5 of this issue.
There is much to do and we hope to have a productive year with regard to activities. In other sections of this newsletter you will see some of what we have planned for the upcoming year. It is, as you might imagine, difficult to manage a totally-volunteer organization, and so help of any and many kinds is crucial. With nearly 600 members, there will be many of you who can commit some time to making this a sterling chapter and we invite you to join us. There are a number of committees (see elsewhere in this issue) that are peopled by creative ranks of these dedicated individuals; we particularly want to meet you and share our volunteerism with you.
It is our intention to make the Chapter a welcoming place and so we invite you to join the Executive Committee for any of its meetings. While these are irregular and may vary somewhat in location, you may call me (University of San Diego, Provost's Office, 619-260-4553) or reach me via email (mcgraw@is.acusd.edu) at any time to inquire about any of our upcoming meetings. Welcome to this new year with the San Diego Chapter; join us, participate, volunteer to help, and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow scientists and engineers.
Donald J. McGraw
Chapter President
Sigma Xi members interested in wildlife will be hosted by the California Wolf Center on Saturday, October 16. Dr. Dan Moriarty, Professor of Psychology at USD and Director of the CWC (and a member of Sigma Xi) near Julian, has arranged a 10:00 lecture by Executive Director Pat Valentino and himself on the Mexican wolf recovery plan, and then an opportunity to view the Alaskan and Mexican wolves at the Center.
The CWC is about 60 miles from USD and thus a bit more than an hour's drive. To get there, take Interstate 8 east and exit at Highway 79, going north toward Julian. About 1.5 miles past the Sunrise Highway (S-2), or 4 miles south of Julian, turn right into the K.Q. Ranch Campground. Try to arrive around 9:45. Drive into the campground and check in at the security booth, where a CWC staff member will meet us. Please obey the 10-MPH speed limit in the campground! Late arrivals may not be able to get in.
Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors, and $3 for kids. Cameras are welcome and binoculars recommended, but since the wolves are wild and unpredictable, no lenses or fingers are allowed through the fence. There are no guarantees that the wolves will be active, although a couple of the more curious ones will probably come over to check us out. The tour should end around noon.
To reserve space for yourself and family or friends, please call Don McGraw at 619-216-4553 by October 10th. Our group cannot be larger than 30 people, so eschew procrastination.
Consider the newsletter. Despite its tendency to self-aggrandizing hype and the one-sided views of its sponsoring elite, it does have a few merits.
First, there is the assumption of regular appearance, which means that the newsletter exists apart from any specific content. It is thus comfortable with many different topics. The one-shot announcement of a meeting, tour, or other event is all very well, but such a missive cannot also carry think-pieces, reviews, interviews, etc., without seeming bloated and disorganized..
The San Diego Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, has introduced a semi-annual newsletter, Lab Notes, and is pleased to announce that advertising space will be available to local companies and organizations whose services, products, and/or job openings should be of interest to its 500+ top-quality scientists and engineers. Rates are as follows:
4.4" x 4.75" (20.9 s.i.) $150
4.5" x 1.5" (6.75 s.i.) $50
2.o" x 3.0" (6 s.i.) $50
Inclusion of name and address in a special Sponsors list is available for $20.
To learn more, please call or E-mail either Bob Schlesinger (619-469-4532; robert.schlesinger@sdsu.edu) or Norm Storer (619-491-0342; nwstorer@compuserve.com).
The deadline for the Spring 2000 issue is February 15, 2000. The newsletter also has a specific audience and enhances its readers' sense of group identity through providing a focus of common interest. It can carry "timeless" (that is, not keyed to a particular future event) materials that will be of interest to many if not all of its readers. The newsletter is thus a whole 'nother form of communication one which we should have adopted years ago.
Your editors are not "literary types," although we are not entirely illiterate. Our interest is in serving the Chapter's interests, and thus your interests. This first issue of Lab Notes should be viewed as a test-run (as much of your patience as of our abilities), and we look forward to your suggestions regarding content, format, and whatever else comes to mind.
And if any of you think you might enjoy helping with Lab Notes, a call or E-mail to either editor (Schlesinger: 619-469-4532; robert.schlesinger@sdsu.edu) or (Storer: 619-491-0342; nwstorer@ compuserve.com) will reveal just how pleased they are to hear from you.
If this newsletter is to appear more than once, it's got to pay its own way. But since the Executive Board doubts that there are enough philanthropists in our membership to provide support, you are spared a mawkish plea for charity.
This leaves only advertising as a realistic source of revenue. Those of you in industry might drop a word (or a copy of the accompanying box) to your P.R. people, noting that our newsletter reaches more than 500 top scientists and engineers in the San Diego area who may well be interested in your product, your service, or even in coming to work for you.
More information is available from the Co-Editors, as identified in the photocopyable box on this page.
The field of biology's
ruled
By those who in Darwin are schooled,
And fie on the fellow
Who fails to find mellow
The essays of Stephen Jay Gould.
Sigma Xi headquarters now provides a very efficient way to keep up on developments in science and engineering. They make available to members a daily E-mail service of abstracts from the news services of the top stories of the day. Each abstract also includes the URL for clicking on the source of the story, which then provides the entire text. To get this service, one needs to enroll, using one's membership number. Here's how to get started:
Go to: SCIENCE-IN-THE-NEWS@listserver.sigmaxi.org
and tell them you'd like to enroll.
A young statistician who
pandered
To fashion in math was much slandered;
He muttered, "My God,
Some vices are odd
But this deviation is standard!"
Abstract: A simple membership problem is compounded into a complex, protracted relation. Further research is suggested for developing a fundamental quantitative relation.
General Systems Theory defines two classes of systems: closed systems and open systems. There are about a half-dozen characteristics that define each class. Suffice it to say here that closed systems tend to maximize entropy, while open systems attempt to minimize it.
An example of a closed system is a flashlight. Turn it on, the batteries run more energy, and that's the end of it.
An open system, on the other hand, is represented by complex entities such as microorganisms, wild animals, and domesticated animals (people). All of these tend to minimize entropy and hence to perpetuate their own existence by making intelligent decisions. This characteristic is known as homeostasis.
At the tip of the homeostatic food-chain are very complex networks, i.e., states, cities, companies, and organizations.
Sigma Xi is a complex, intelligence (hopefully) organization that presumably desires to perpetuate it own existence. If you will grant me the truth of this statement, we are agreed that one of our organization's objectives is membership growth.
How, then, do we best accomplish this objective? Clearly, membership is a critical component. If we depend on a random event for our Chapter's survival, let alone grown, we may be disappointed. Research has shown that the probability of the event P(m)=e-t declines as t approaches infinity. Seeking out qualified candidates seems to offer a higher probability of success, and one that is not very difficult.
Those of us who are teachers have a rich source of potential candidates in our graduate students (and possibly even undergraduates). Those of us in industry have colleagues who are doing industrial research and/or writing papers on company patents and inventions.
The wide range of journals to which we subscribe can also provide leads to research and technical developments that might well qualify an author for membership.
We have three major universities here in San Diego and at least four growing industrial sectors: biotech, wireless communications, electro-optical/lasers, and software development. With this level of scientific activity, we have an excellent resource pool of young and not-so-young scientists and engineers from which to draw.
Briefly, qualification for full membership requires published research; for associate membership, the potential to do quality research; or a Nobel Prize.
May I suggest that you form a subcommittee of two (one to nominate the candidate, the other to second), and put forward at least one name before the end of the year. Nomination forms are available from the Chapter officers and/or headquarters via the Web: www.sigmaxi.org.
It would be a nice end-of-the-Millennium present for our San Diego Sigma Xi Chapter if you can help to minimize our local system entropy.
Bob Schlesinger
Entropy, incidentally, is defined as the unavailability of energy. I often suffer from it.
By now, the Kansas School Board's decision has been denounced by just about everyone but the Creationists who sponsored it. But it occurs to me that the deeper issue has yet to be addressed openly.
The deeper issue is the ongoing struggle between the More-Educated and the Less-Educated. The prize is, to be vague, respect. The MEs make more money, have more interesting jobs, and have a greater voice in public affairs. The LEs, whether they admit it or not, envy this. They feel left out, disrespected, and disempowered.
What I would call Blind Religious Faith (BRF), however, is honorable without requiring more education. In fact, BRF and ME are negatively correlated. BRF thus offers a secure base from which to attack the MEs. And the obvious strategy is to emphasize the contradictions between BRF (the Creationist beliefs) and the core of the MEs' modern science (evolution, the Big Bang, etc.). The struggle is thus defined as being between two incommensurable belief-systems rather than between the haves and the have-nots in terms of social respect.
If this analysis is correct, we will not see a resolution of the real conflict. Even if Creationism is defeated as far as educational practices are concerned, the struggle will crop up in other areas, and with as much virulence. The only real solution will be more education for all.
Norm Storer (reared and educated in Kansas)
Ensenada, Baja California, is a science city! Five major research and higher education facilities in one city give Ensenada the largest number of persons with graduate degrees, per capita, in all of Mexico.
Forty years ago, a group of young students wanted to start a marine science school in Ensenada. They approached potential teachers, state leaders, and movers and shakers, and they started the Escuela Superior de Ciencias Marinas of the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California (at www.ens.uabc.ms). Now it is called the Facultad de Ciencias Marinas. A research branch was formed some 25 years ago and is called the Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanologicas. Graduates of these programs have competed very well in US, Canadian, British, and French universities. Now the Ensenada campus of the UABC offers degrees in engineering, general sciences, and marine sciences. Collaborative relations with SDSU, UCSD, and USD reach back several decades.
The UABC campus is host to the Interamerican Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) (at www.ens.uabc.mx/fcm/fcm.htm). It is also the home of the Mexican Association of Oceanologists (at www.ens.uabc.mx/asocean/assoc.htm).
Twenty-five years ago, some of the same people saw the need for a federally-funded, world-class earth sciences research facility. CICESE was formed (Centro de Investigaciones Cientificas y de Educacion Superior de Ensenada) (at www.cicese.mx). CICESE offers master's and doctoral degrees in geophysics, geology, seismology, computation, telecommunications, optics, aquaculture, physical oceanography, and ecology. This facility has about two-thirds as many staff and faculty as the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, with which it maintains very close relations. CICESE now has a La Paz facility as well.
The Department of Fisheries has an excellent fisheries research facility at El Sauzal, on the road north of Ensenada near the fish-packing plants. Collaborative research with the US National Marine Fisheries Service, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and the California Department of Fish and Game, have taken place over several decades.
The Secretaria de Marina (Navy) has a fine hydrographic lab at Ensenada that also has a long history of collaboration with San Diego scientists.
The Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico has an excellent geophysics and astronomy facility at Ensenada, right nextdoor to CICESE. The telescopes are on top of the Sierra San Pedro Martir at an altitude of about 10,000 feet (at bufadora.astrosen.unam.mx).
Take a look at these websites and see if you don't agree that a Sigma Xi Chapter would be an asset for the advancement and promotion of science in that beautiful neighbor city.
George Hemingway
Sometime this coming spring we plan a visit to the San Diego Zoo -- to observe its botanical treasures. Did you know that they have the largest collection of coral trees in the world? We will have final details on this event in our next Lab Notes, which should be out sometime in March.
And you can make a note now of the Chapter's annual Initiation Banquet towards the end of this academic year: Wednesday, May 10th, at the University of San Diego. Since the paperwork involved in approving the nomination of new Associate and Full members takes some time, this should be another reminder to you to start thinking now about your students and colleagues who deserve nomination.
President
Dr. Donald J. McGraw - mcgraw@is.acusd.eduOffice: 260-4553Associate Provost FAX: 260-2210
University of San Diego
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110-2492
Vice President
Dr. Robert P. Metzger - rmetzger@sciences.sdsu.eduOffice: 594-6801Dept. of Chemistry FAX: 594-4634
San Diego State Univ.
5500 Campanile Dr.
San Diego, CA 92182-1030
Treasurer
Dr. Terrence Frey - tfrey@sunstroke.sdsu.eduOffice: 594-6756Dept. of Biology FAX: 594-5676
San Diego State Univ.
5500 Campanile Dr.
San Diego, CA 92182-4614
Secretary
Dr. David A. Kobus - dakobus@pacific-science.comOffice: 535-1661Pacific Science & Engineering FAX: 535-1665
6310 Greenwich Dr., Ste. 200
San Diego, CA 92122
Past President
Dr. Steven A. Brody - abrodymd@cts.comOffice: 265-18006719 Alvarado Rd., Ste. 108 FAX: 265-4055
San Diego, CA 92120
Co-Editors
Dr. Robert J. Schlesinger - robert.schlesinger@sdsu.eduHome: (619) 469-45329291 Wister Drive San Diego, CA 92041
Dr. Norman W. Storer - nwstorer@compuserve.com
Home: (619) 491-03421417 Van Buren Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103
Committee on Admissions
Steven A. Brody, ChairOffice: 265-4052 abrodymd@cts.comArthur Getis
Office: 594-6639 agetis@sciences.sdsu.eduRobert P. Metgzer
Office: 594-6801 rmetzger@sciences.sdsu.eduRichard H. Rosenblatt
Office: 274-8591 rrosenblatt@ucsd.edu
Committee on Grants-in-Aid
Terrence G. Frey, ChairOffice: 594-6397 tfrey@sunstroke.sdsu.eduJeremy H. A. Fields
Office: 260-4076 fields@pwa.acusd.eduMichael T. Shaw
Office: (760) 789-1307 mtsmks@ix.netcom.comDonald R. Short
Office: 594-6159 dshort@sciences.sdsu.edu
Committee for Industrial Relations
James F. Baur, ChairOffice: (858) 578-3511 SciSolns@msn.com
Committee for University Affairs
Matthew C. Bell, ChairOffice: 594-3089 mbell112@mail.sdsu.edu
Committee on Trans-Border Relations
George Hemingway, ChairE-mail: ghemingway@ucsd.edu
Staff
Susan E. Adams, CoordinatorOffice: 594-4418 sadams@sciences.sdsu.edu