Mountain Views News          Saturday, April 16, 2011

14

THE WORLD AROUND US

 Mountain Views News Saturday, April 16, 2011


Adventures of a Mount Wilson Telescope Operator

PJ Sallave-Goldfinger tells what it’s like to operate Mount Wilson Observatory’s CHARA Array and the famous 100-inch Hooker Telescope.


A Research Technician for Mount Wilson Observatory’s CHARA 
Array, PJ Sallave-Goldfinger gives an informative talk on the 
adventurous undertaking of running this coordinated array of six 
telescopes. This free lecture will be held on Saturday, April 23, 
at 2:30 p.m. in the Community Room of the Altadena Public 
Library. It is being presented as a public service by the Mount 
Wilson Observatory, and all are welcome. 

Ms. Salave-Goldfinger, who describes herself as “an amateur 
astronomer at heart,” has worked at Mount Wilson Observatory 
for over 10 years, operating both the 100-inch telescope and the 
CHARA Array. She presents a unique and enjoyable discussion 
about this mountain observatory and her interesting experiences 
there.

The CHARA Array is an optical astronomical interferometer 
operated at Mount Wilson by The Center for High Angular 
Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) of the Georgia State University. 
It is formed from six 1-meter (40-inch) telescopes arranged along 
three axes with a maximum separation length of 330 meters. 
The light beams travel through vacuum tubes and are combined 
optically, requiring a building 100 meters long with movable 
mirrors to keep the light in phase as the earth rotates. CHARA 
began scientific operation of the array in 2002. 

The Altadena Public Library is at 600 E. Mariposa Street in 
Altadena, two stop signs west of Lake Avenue at the corner of 
Mariposa and Santa Rosa Avenue (“Christmas Tree Lane”). 

Mount Wilson Observatory Now Open to the Public

As of the beginning of this month, the Mount Wilson Observatory/
Skyline Park area is open for public access daily between 10:00 a.m. 
and 4:00 p.m.

The “Cosmic Café,” is also open (serving sandwiches) on weekends, 
and guided public walking tours of the Observatory are being given 
each Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Tours begin at the pavilion 
in front of the Café (overlooking the large parking lot).

The Angeles Crest Highway has not yet re-opened from La Canada 
(pending completion of repairs), so you’ll need to use the alternate 
route to Mt. Wilson, via Big Tujunga Canyon from Sunland. For 
directions and a map, see the Observatory website, www.mtwilson.
edu. Allow about 1.5 hours from the Sunland Blvd. freeway offramp 
to the Observatory. Total distance, offramp to Observatory gate = 
26.3 miles.

Enter the Observatory gate marked Skyline Park, and park in the lot 
below the Pavilion. To reach the Observatory, walk in on the access 
road (far left side of parking lot) about 1/4 mile to the Observatory 
area. The Museum is opposite the 150-foot solar tower. 

NOTE: The U. S. Forest Service requires those parking within the Angeles 
National Forest to display a Forest Adventure Pass. A National Parks Senior 
Pass or Golden Age Passport is also acceptable. The Forest Adventure Pass 
can be obtained at the USFS Clear Creek Ranger Station or at Sports Chalet 
outlets.

For more information about the April 23 lecture, contact Bob Eklund, 
Mount Wilson Observatory lecture coordinator, at (310) 216-5947, or 
beklund@sprynet.com. For information about Mount Wilson Observatory, 
go to: www.mtwilson.edu. 

You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@MtnViewsNews.com.


Ask jai……

Ask jai is a weekly column that will strive to honestly answer your job search questions relating to job searching 
techniques, networking skills, resume writing and interviewing. The employment situation is getting better, however, 
it is still a challenge finding were the jobs are located and how to get pass the “gate-keepers”. As an Executive 
Recruiter I was privy to working directly with Corporate Recruiters and understanding their process in selecting 
which candidates to interview and hire. I will candidly answer your questions, possibly bluntly answering you 
questions, but I will be totally honest. My objective is to help you achieve your employment goal.

WEB SCRAPING

Q: Is it important to include my computer skills on my resume? I am a computer professional and feel that 
employers should know that I am expert in my field? What other skills should I list on my resume? Kenny

Dear Kenny:

 Yes, it is very important for you to list your computer skills on your resume. Employers do not have the time 
to contact you and find out if you have specific skills. Employers use keywords and criteria when searching for 
candidates in resume databases. 99.9% of employers will use applicant screening software to identity candidates. 
Having the correct skill set keywords included in your resume is mandatory in order for an employer to find you. 
If you do not include skill sets on your resume, an employer might assume that you do not feel that the skills are 
important enough to performing the position or worse yet not important to you at all. 

Not including skill sets on your resume or application could result in you being screened out of consideration for a 
position. I know candidates who were not hired because they did not include Microsoft Word and Excel on their 
resume. The employer just assumed they were just not computer savvy. As a high tech or computer professional you 
should definitely include your technical and professional skills. These include skills performed in a job, task, or class, 
acquired by reading, training, or education. Create a Computer Skills section with sub-headings on your resume. 
I suggest that you place this section at the beginning of your resume and include any operating systems, hardware, 
software and programming skills that you have experience using over the past 5 years. It would be to your advantage 
to list all your computer skills rather than lose a job opportunity, because you were too selective. Do not just list 
“Microsoft Office”, list each individual software program (i.e., Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, etc.). Add any 
proprietary software programs that you learned at a former company. Listing proprietary software programs will 
reveal to the employer that you can adapt to any computer system. Include any foreign languages that you may speak 
or write in a Language Skills section. 

I know job seekers who were interviewed and hired based solely on their foreign language skills. Technical Skills and 
Equipment Skills are great sections to add to your resume as long as they are relevant to the position you are seeking. 
Any special projects that you have participated in or managed can be included in an Occupational Skills section. The 
Work Experience and Education Section of your resume should support your skills sections. These two sections 
should explain how you acquired the knowledge, where you used the skills and your accomplishments. 

Nowadays with most things that happen 
in the online world, especially when it 
comes to marketing and business matters, 
almost nothing happens by accident. 
While it is probably still difficult to predict 
the next big internet meme by taking a 
wild guess, some things just seem like the 
next indicated step. People and business 
interest have begun to look at pockets of 
social activity as a reliable source of new 
business leads.

One of the newer ways of mining these 
new social media sites is called “Web 
Scraping”. Also called “Web Harvesting” 
this procedure involves extracting specific 
data from targeted web sites. Typically 
the sought-after information is related 
to personal user data, personal buying 
preferences, web browsing history, etc. In 
short, marketers are looking for anything 
that would give them better insight into 
the huge pool of potential customers 
that the new social networking model 
represents. 

The downside to this frenzied hunt for 
new customer information is that it has 
the very real potential for abuse. A web site 
where medical patients came together to 
exchange very personal experiences about 
their mental disorders and the challenges 
they face in working to overcome these 
afflictions. The administrators of the 
site enforced a policy of requiring all 
participants to sign up with unique 
accounts and logging on in order to post 
to the site or read the posts of other site 
participants. While these steps are meant 
to provide site members with some 
semblance of privacy, a user with less than 
pure motives could possibly gain access 
to the site with the simple investment of 
going through the trouble of successfully 
navigating the sign up process. Just such 
a user gained access to the site and began 
copying every message posted in one of the 
private groups on the board. Users on the 
board managed to isolate the rogue user 
and block “him” from further participation 
in the discussion group. The users also 
managed to identify the rogue account 
and found out that “he” was actually a 
front account for an online marketing 
group and the account was created with 
the expressed purpose of collecting 
personal data about the users of the site. 
This is only one documented account of 
something that probably happens million 
of times daily on the internet. The market 
for personal data about internet users is 
booming. There are firms doing business 
today that offer to collect personal details 
and online conversations from social-
networking sites, online job search sites 
and other forums where people may 
discuss their lives online. Online marketers 
have become so adept at collecting and 
using information about potential new 
customers that it is a certainty that you 
have been checking different sites online 
and noticed that ads for products that 
interest you personally (and in ways that 
are just to exact to be coincidence) seem 
to follow you as you go from page to page. 

Other than absenting yourself from the 
online world the best way to protect 
yourself online is to be wary of what kind 
of details you post about yourself in online 
forums. But the real fact of the matter is 
that your presence online guarantees their 
presence online. 

Everything you ever wanted to know about how to get a job ….but did not know who to ask. ASK jai. Send your 
questions to: jai@resumeandcareerservices.com or visit website www.resumeandcareerservicesc.


KIDS and CANINES

I had the delightful privilege of 
spending this past Saturday with 
my daughter, Miriah and her 
darling family at the beach in 
Leucadia, just north of Encinitas 
in San Diego County. Miriah and 
Dan have two precious little girls; 
3-year-old “Isla”, and her baby 
sister “Cora” who just turned 13 
months old. It was a dream day 
for “Grampa” and “Grandy”, as 
you can imagine. The guys spent 
much of the day working on 
one of the home improvement 
projects they have currently 
underway, while we 4 girls played 
the day away! 

The weather was gorgeous and 
the children were full of energy 
and entertaining antics. As we 
sat on the front porch, soaking 
up the sun and watching the 
little ones color beautiful works 
of art on construction paper, 
“Maverick” their medium sized 
black Lab mix wove in and out 
between them with remarkably 
casual nonchalance. Every now 
and then he’d stop and plant a 
big wet kiss on one of the girls’ 
cheeks and allow them to yank 
his tail and pull his ears with no 
fear or concern. He never snaps 
or growls at them, and he seems 
to really enjoy their company.

 As I watched the girls interact 
so comfortably with Maverick, 
I realized how much they adore 
that dog! Cora is especially 
fond of Maverick, bursting into 
laughter each time he comes near 
her, reaching out to pet him and 
calling out for his attention as 
he walks by. This should come 
as no surprise to me, because 
both Isla and Cora have known 
Maverick since the moment 
they emerged from the womb. 
Maverick is an unusually 
sweet and friendly dog 
who seems to understand 
that infants and toddlers 
are to be handled with 
“kid gloves”. He is careful 
not to be aggressive when 
he plays with the girls and I have 
even noticed that he lays outside 
the baby’s bedroom door while 
she naps, as if he has appointed 
himself as guardian, there to 
protect her from harm‘s way. It 
warms my heart to know that the 
girls have learned to appreciate 
the company of their family dog.

Not all dogs are as friendly as 
Maverick, and not all are capable 
of interacting so gently with small 
children, but when the “kid and 
canine” relationship is safe and 
appropriate, I believe it can be 
an excellent and meaningful 
experience for both the child and 
the dog. In an article entitled 
“Introducing Dogs and Babies”, 
author Ed Frawley writes that 
many dogs can learn to live 
with babies while others cannot. 
Frawley has been raising German 
Shepherds and training them 
for law enforcement since 1978. 
Although he is an expert dog 
trainer and handler, his basic 
philosophy is that “dog training 
is not rocket science, it is pretty 
much just common sense”. I find 
that refreshing and encouraging, 
as I apply the same philosophy in 
working with the dogs I walk and 
sit for my clients. 

On the subject of introducing 
dogs to newborns, Frawley 
provides 7 tips to help parents 
facilitate the process in a smooth, 
safe manner.

1 - The dog should be trained 
well enough that when you tell 
him to lay down, he will do so 
and stay there.

2 - Crate train the dog before 
introducing him to the baby. 
The crate should not be in the 
bedroom or next to the crib 
where the baby sleeps.

3 - Never allow the dog in the 
baby’s bedroom, even when you 
are present.

4 - Do not allow the dog to be near 
the baby without supervision, 
even for a short time.

5 - Before the baby comes home, 
wrap a doll in a blanket with the 
child‘s scent on it, and lay it on 
the floor. Correct the dog each 
time he attempts to go near the 
doll, even if only to smell it.

6 - When the baby comes home 
from the hospital, mom should 
greet the dog first without the 
baby.

7 - Homecoming should be a 
peaceful experience with the 
dog in a “down-stay” position 
several feet from where baby and 
mother are sitting.

There are many other things 
to consider when introducing 
a newborn baby to the family 
dog, but these seven points are 
a good place to start. When 
the baby grows old enough to 
understand, he or she should 
be taught to approach other 
dogs with caution. They should 
always ask the owner before 
petting a dog they do not know. 
This is especially true when the 
dog is on it’s own turf, whether 
it be in the home, in the yard or 
in a car.

I was raised with dogs from birth 
and I think that is why I love 
them so much as an adult. I am 
no expert, but I believe that small 
children who have close canine 
companions are more likely to 
develop healthy social skills at 
an early age. They also learn to 
respect animals and treat them 
with care as they grow older. 
These are the kinds of lessons 
that come with experience, not 
from textbooks or teachers. 
With proper training and careful 
supervision, the family dog can 
indeed play a very important part 
in the life of a small child.

Happy Tails

by Chris Leclerc.

Canyon Canine Dog 

Walking & Pet Sitting Services


DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE

 
I was in the Bottle Shop 
the other day buying my 
customary two packs of 
gum and a lotto ticket 
(you never know…) when 
Scott, behind the counter, 
said “Why don’t you write 
a story about gum? You’re 
always getting weird flavors.” Well, I’ve been 
chewing on his suggestion ever since (Ha! 
Chewing! Get it?). At first, the topic of gum 
seems pretty straightforward. But when you 
think about it, there are layers of meaning 
wrapped up in that metallic paper.

 First let’s consider flavor. It’s true, I do go 
in for farfetched and funky varieties like key 
lime pie and “React” (which is gray). Most 
people I know stick to minty gum, a solid, 
dependable choice. A few mavericks even 
dare to enter the realm of watermelon and 
passion fruit. Big Red and Juicy Fruit used to 
be popular, but I haven’t seen folks chewing 
them lately. Of course, half of my judgment 
of gum’s popularity is based on the number 
of advertisements I see for it. So, maybe since 
I never see any Big Red ads anymore, they 
might be selling so well there’s no advertising 
necessary. Kind of like the DMV.

 Maybe one reason I don’t see many Juicy 
Fruit ads is because it has sugar. Sugary 
gum like Bubble Yum, which comes shaped 
like a brick and packs twice the volume as 
a regular stick of gum, seems popular with 
kids. Us older folks, however, are usually 
chewing sugar-free options. While sugar-
free gum claims to not cause dental harm, I 
somehow doubt that chewing brands such as 
Trident actually helps your teeth. Perhaps I 
just feel this way because my dentist has never 
recommended it. But then again, I’ve never 
asked him.

 Any conversation about gum has to consider 
motive. Most people, I believe, are casual, or 
“social,” chewers. They’ll take a stick if offered, 
but they don’t go out seeking gum, they don’t 
need it. These are the people whose gum 
encounters are typically limited to occasions 
when they want to mask raw onions or garlic 
they had with lunch. Advertising suggests 
that fear motivates a significant number of 
gum consumers. If I had a nickel for every 
ad suggesting that some mint or gum will 
make me instantly cool, hip, and desirable, I’d 
have enough money to retire. I think teens 
and “tweens” make up a large part of this 
constituency. They probably always have a 
pack or tin ready, should the opportunity to 
make a move on their crush arise. 

 Besides teenagers and social chewers, 
there are the rest of us, who turn to gum as 
a coping devise to expend nervous energy 
or stay awake during long, boring tasks. I 
remember times during college when I’d chew 
while toiling over reports, only to realize that 
my jaw was beginning to cramp. Gum’s other 
purpose, to keep us awake, is mentioned on 
several gum sites. Apparently pilots during 
the World Wars routinely chewed gum to 
keep from dozing off at the helm. I think 
anyone who’s ever sat through a staff meeting 
knows this feeling.

 Speaking of nostalgic gum, who doesn’t 
remember the excitement of getting gumballs 
out of a dispenser as a kid? “Will it be red, 
blue, or white?” When I was a kid I never 
wondered about how long those gumballs 
had been in there. Now gumball machines 
come with fancy tracks that light up when the 
gumball rolls down. I haven’t seen one that 
incorporates music, but I’m sure it’s out there 
somewhere. Not all gums have a devoted 
following. I once tried a lavender one that 
tasted the way I’d expect soap crystals to 
taste. The other night my husband mistook 
the smell of my apple-flavored gum for nail 
polish remover. I think it’s safe to say we’ve all 
experienced the worst kind of gum --the one 
you step in on the sidewalk.