Cal Tech Tour

 My son, Alex received an invite from California Institute of Technology to visit their campus.

Cal Tech was est. in the 1800's and the older buildings reflect it.

During the tour, we learned that the students like to have fun to relieve stress...in their geeky way.  You'll understand as I explain the pictures.

The building below is where students and faculty can listen to visiting speakers.

Steven Hawkings visits Cal Tech every year and speaks in this forum.  Alex, my non emotional child

looked at me and smiled.  In Alex World a smile is equivalent to your child jumping up and down and screaming "Yay" with excitement.  Steven Hawkings also judges their food preparation elective contest.  Cal Tech promotes each student to learn how to cook, as evidenced by a kitchenette in every hall way in the dorms.  They also reinforce a sense of family, by having each dorm participate in family style dinners, go on field trips together, & collaborate on dorm performances to entertain the other students.  

This fountain leads to the tallest building in Pasadena, the Millikan Library.  The fountain slowly makes a 360 turn.  I'm standing on a bridge that crosses the water area.

This is the library.  We were told that Pasadena did not want towering buildings, so this library became the measuring stick by which all other buildings could not surpass.  Every Halloween, students will freeze pumpkins with liquid nitrogen and drop them from the roof top of Millikan Library.  Robert Millikan did something or other with liquid nitrogen, so it is a tribute to his work.

The Cal Tech Cannon sits in front of the Flemming House (dorm).  A few years ago MIT stole the cannon and displayed it on their campus in a brotherly feud.  Cal Tech students went to MIT to bring it back and left a toy cannon in its place with a note saying "this is more your size".  Other pranks have been Cal Tech going to MIT and hacking their newspaper with an article saying Cal Tech bought MIT and made MIT their Humanities buildings.  They also gave out Tee shirts to MIT students saying Because you couldn't get into Cal Tech.  This is their geeky fun, along w/the frozen nitrogen, dorm projects, & listening to Steven Hawkings.

 Oh, yes, nearly forgot.  The chain around the cannon is to prevent further removal.  MIT students made another attempt, but campus security stopped them.

Alex, in the charming patio near the admissions office.  I hope the tour motivates him to continue to press on during his last two years.  In the car ride home,  He said, "It was awesome", then he asked what we were having for lunch.