I spent the summer working in Professor [of Physics Larry] Hunter's lab as part of the Hughes Summer Fellowship program. It was a lot of fun working in the lab full-time (as perverse as that may sound to some people) and I feel that I learned a lot in ways that I would not have experienced through the normal class environment. Also, living here during the summer was a lot of fun, especially thanks to all of the other people, Hughes and not, who were here with me. That kind of turned into a shameless plug, but I seriously recommend the program for anyone with even a mild interest in the sciences.

Now that you're a sophomore, what do you plan to do differently your second time around?

Well, I'm not going to spend the first month worrying that no one will like me and that I won't have any friends. Other than that, I can't think of that much I'm going to do differently, other than perhaps leaving my dorm a little earlier than I used to.

What advice do you have for the new first-years?

Take a physics course, or at least a science course. Even if you hate the sciences, there are some fun courses out there that do not involve too much computation. On the other hand, all you science majors should also take some other courses. This is a liberal arts school, so you may want to take advantage of all the great resources Amherst has. And join WaterWatch; we could use more people.

On Facebook, you self-identify as a "polytheistic jew." What's a polytheistic Jew?

My own personal beliefs are just that, personal. But I did keep the Jew part for a good reason. You see, the thing about being a Jew is that it's more than just following a religion. It's a culture and an ethnicity with one of the most extensive (and often depressing) histories on the planet. So just because you may hold a different religious belief (and trust me, mine are really different), doesn't mean that you should stop following all of the traditions of your parents and your parent's parents etc., ad infinitum. Millions of people have died to upholding the ways of my people, and it would be incredibly callous of me to disregard those traditions over matters of theology. I don't mean to criticize other Jews on campus; I am simply explaining my own personal view of what it is to be a Jew.

Also on Facebook, you cite a popular Feynman saying-"Physics is like sex. Sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it"; why DO we do it?

I hope you're asking about physics, otherwise I can't really help you. But seriously, we do physics for the same reason we have sex, because we enjoy it. Whether it's the beauty of reducing the behavior of the universe down to simple expressions or just a masochistic love of really nasty math, I just happened to have found a subject that I can truly enjoy.

On that same topic, you've garnered something of a reputation as whiz in your major. Any words for you adoring fans?

Well I don't know what you may have heard, but I certainly would not characterize myself as such. I think that all of the physics majors are quite good at physics; otherwise they wouldn't be majoring in it. But one thing I can say about physics is that it involves your intuition often as much as your analytical ability. In a physics course you should not be afraid of hunches or stupid ideas. Unless it involves electronics, in which case you really shouldn't follow your gut. It could start a fire or something. Ask my mother about my seventh grade science fair project for details.

What extracurriculars are you looking forward to this year?

Well, aside from heading up the WaterWatch campaign for MassPIRG, I am also on the e-board for the Dems (until they kick me off), I plan on having a radio show, I'm on our nationally ranked College Bowl team, I am going to Sci-fi/Fantasy Club and Anime Club events and am on a whole lot of e-mail lists.

If you were president of the College for a day, what would you do?

I would probably just show up in the back of a bunch of classes that sound interesting. I mean, you can't tell the president that a class is full. And I would have the doors in Tyler fixed so they don't lock automatically every time they close.