December 3, 2001 Accolades Steven Vogt UCSC Photo Services Steven Vogt, professor of astronomy and astrophysics, was presented with the California Community College Distinguished Alumni Award for 2001 at the Community College League of California's Riverside convention on November 17. At the presentation, Vogt described how his interest in science and math was kindled while attending Diablo Valley College in 1967. He found his first astronomy class so interesting that he became a student aide for the instructor, Bob Searles. Vogt said he also discovered that he could be successful at math and even enjoyed it. Vogt is known for his work as a member of the world's most successful team of planet hunters. Astronomers have discovered more than 70 planets orbiting distant stars, and more than 40 of them have been discovered by Vogt's team using advanced spectrometers that he designed. "Steve Vogt is personally responsible for the greatest haul of planets that we humans have snagged from the rest of the universe," said Geoffrey Marcy of UC Berkeley, who was one of Vogt's first graduate students at UCSC. "He designs unique spectrometers. There are no textbooks, no existing blueprints, and no optical gurus that he can fall back on." Susanne Jonas Susanne Jonas of Latin American and Latino studies was among those honored at the recent Congress of the Latin American Sociology Association. She was recognized for her "valuable and pioneering contributions to sociological knowledge." David Wellman David Wellman of community studies presented a diversity workshop at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The session, "One Nation Under God or One Nation Under Qualified: Demystifying Diversity," was the second installment in the lab's Facilitated Diversity Series. Dane Archer Dane Archer, professor of sociology, was pleased to hear that his videotape, A World of Food, was screened at the Western Psychological Association's annual convention in Hawaii. Julie Bettie Julie Bettie, assistant professor of sociology, was the corecipient of the 2001 Distinguished Article Award for the Sex and Gender Section of the American Sociological Association. Her article, "Women Without Class: Chicas, Cholas, Trash, and the Presence/Absence of Class Identity," was published in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. Ivelisse Rivera-Bonilla Ivelisse Rivera-Bonilla, a doctoral candidate in cultural anthropology, has been named the recipient of the 2001-02 American Anthropology Association Minority Dissertation Fellowship. Rivera-Bonilla's dissertation, "Gated Communities: Residential Segregation and Fear of Crime in Puerto Rico During the 1990s," analyzes how sealing off residential areas re-creates spatial markers of class and racial differentiation. It is based on fieldwork she conducted from 1988 to 2000 and on her own experience as a longtime resident. The fellowship is awarded each year to an outstanding doctoral student. Return to Front Page