Thursday, October 30, 1997
g-man
For teaching assistant Ranga Ram-Chary, students are the moon and the stars
By Carol McKay
Daily Bruin Staff
"If you want to throw rotten eggs at me for doing badly on the midterm, now is your chance," announced the 23-year-old teaching assistant (TA) to his section. Fortunately for Ranga Ram-Chary - a graduate student who spends the majority of his time researching gamma (g) rays for his thesis in cosmology - students don't throw eggs all that often.
Chary, a TA for Astronomy 5, said that he tries to make his classes as interactive as possible to keep student interest level high. But after spending the first 25 minutes of his Friday morning discussion section passing out midterms and going over students' questions about the exam, Chary seemed stumped as to the next step.
"OK," he said aloud. "What am I going to teach you today?"
Beginning with an explanation of UCLA Professor Paul Boyer's Nobel Prize winning discovery concerning adenosine triphosphate (ATP), Chary attempted to translate the science jargon into something his primarily north campus students could understand.
"It was about ATP formation," Chary said. "Which is not the Association of Tennis Professionals."
Simplifying science lingo for his humanities-oriented students is one of Chary's biggest challenges. "I've become a lot more patient. I used to be terribly impatient," he said about his teaching style, which has changed throughout his time at UCLA.
Students taking Astronomy 5 appreciate Chary's methods. "Sometimes he stands back from the chalkboard and says, 'What the hell did I just do?' He's very laid-back, the kind of TA you can talk to as a friend," said Ashley Harre, a second-year English student enrolled in Astronomy 5.
Chary, who has been at UCLA for two years, is currently working on the thesis for his doctorate in cosmology. Having been a TA for three courses, this fall marks his fourth, and most likely last, quarter of doing the blackboard bit.
"It eats up a lot of research time," Chary explained. And for a student trying to earn both masters and doctorate degrees in a five-and-a-half-year period, time is a very valuable thing.
Research, which begins after five quarters of course work, demands great amounts of time from the astronomy graduate student, and small breakthroughs are a big deal.
"I've been fiddling around with this for a year," Chary motioned to a dry erase board masked with blue scribbles. Chary recently finished working out an equation to calculate figures concerning gamma rays and electrons in the galaxy. The next step is to create a computer program that would simulate his equation and do the work for him.
Chary estimated that he devotes at least 20 hours a week to gathering, analyzing and creating computer programs for his data.
Originally from India, Chary came to the United States after completing a bachelor's degree in computer science at an Indian university. He has not returned to see his family, but has traveled great distances for slightly different reasons.
"I went to the West Indies once just to watch a cricket match," Chary said, laughing. "People here don't understand it. Cricket is just like coffee for Southern Indians. We have to have it."
Cricket, however is only one of Chary's numerous hobbies that together create his weekly routine.
"On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I run. On Saturday mornings, I play cricket. Some Thursdays, when it's warmer, I go windsurfing. And I play tennis whenever I can find a partner in between," he said.
Based on the list of recreational activities, Chary may seem like a guy with a lot of time on his hands. Not so. On an average day, he is at work in his office on the eighth floor of the Math and Sciences building by 8 a.m., and he usually doesn't return to his Westwood home until at least 6 p.m.
And between those times, he does a lot of sitting at his desk, staring at his computer and drinking coffee. "Coffee is an integral part of being a researcher," he explained. "It's almost a social thing, walking to the fifth floor of Boelter Hall a couple of times a day to get coffee. It's not very good, in general. But it's cheap."
Getting through a day of research involves more than just coffee breaks. According to Chary, his process consists of a cycle of collecting data, reducing it, and writing as often as he can.
"We have a saying. It's 'publish or perish,'" Chary said. "You have to be broad. And they care about quality and quantity."
Chary's "they" are employers, who judge potential employees partly on their works published. Chary, who is lucky to have three publications under his belt, said that the process of getting a work printed takes a half year "at best."
"It takes three months just to gather the research and at best, another three months to write and rewrite and make editor's changes," he said. And the topics of these papers must be independent research, not connected to the researcher's thesis.
"Nit-picking on a paper is always a good thing," Chary said, on the polishing phase of producing publications. "It takes ages to get from the first draft to the final draft. But it's actually fairly exciting. You go out and drink a few beers."
According to Chary, publication celebrations are not the only occasion when the astronomy department breaks down and throws a party. Every Friday evening, the department holds a social gathering to celebrate the end of the week.
"We call it the 'Friday Dewar.' We drink beer and soft drinks and have chips and salsa. Even some members of the faculty come," he said.
Chary's office contains proof of the weekly parties. Cardboard boxes that previously contained 24-packs of sodas and beer line floor-to-ceiling wooden shelves along the wall of his office, which he shares with another astronomy graduate student.
Also covering empty wall space are a Star Wars poster, computer print-outs of galaxies and "equations to remember," and an aging 1984 map of UCLA. Three overgrown plants with dried, brown tips dominate a corner desk. But according to Chary, few students ever see this decor.
"Students very rarely take advantage of office hours," he said. "Except around the midterms and final. That's when the maximum amount of students show up." As a part-time TA, Chary is responsible for 13 hours each week, which includes teaching discussion sections, attending lectures, grading papers, hosting office hours and preparing for class.
Chary is also required as an astronomy TA to instruct students in a sort of open house several times a quarter at the telescopes that sit atop the Math Sciences Building. Last night Chary led students in searching for stars and planets in the sky.
"That's Arcturus," he said, pointing out a star. "There are rhymes to remember their names, like 'Follow the arc to Arcturus.' I think that's Jupiter over there. I can tell what the bright ones are, but not really for the faint ones. There are some people here in the department who can name them all."
Of course, looking for stars in Los Angeles isn't the best place. "When the clouds start moving in, that's when it gets really crappy. Oh, come on," he said, urging Jupiter to come out from behind clouds.
"Smog plays a big role in visibility," Chary said. "Damn clouds. That's what astronomers like to do: complain about the clouds."
After a long day, Chary heads home. Just a 10-minute walk from his office, Chary unlocked his door, while contemplating the source of an aroma coming from his room. "I wonder what my roommate is cooking," he said.
At home, classical CDs and copies of National Geographic and Physics Today spill over shelves. Posters of India and a calendar displaying Cricket champions hang on the wall.
Chary, who said that he only cooks once every three days - "and then eats the leftovers" - is a vegetarian. Measuring lentils to add to a concoction that is soon to be curry, Chary said that he strives to one day be as good as his mother, whom he looks forward to visiting with when he returns to India this winter break.
"But I don't know if that's possible."Every Thursday, the Daily Bruin takes a look inside the world of
various UCLA students. In this continuing series, we highlight the many different activities Bruins are involved in.
Cosmology graduate student Ranga Ram-Chary works the crowd in a discussion section for Astronomy 5. One student testifies to his informal style: "Sometimes he stands back from the chalkboard and says, 'What the hell did I just do?'"Chary teaches 13 hours of class a week - an experience that he says has "made him more patient."
In addition to peering into telescopes on top of the Math Sciences Building, Chary spends his work hours getting cozy with his computer and drinking toxin-flavored institutional coffee.