All programs have their traditions, and for each of its ten years the particpants in the MPD program have marked Labor Day with a picnic at Redondo Beach;MPD director Prof. Nick Cull notes: "Its a wonderful way to get everyone together at the start of a new academic year, and after all the beach is one of the best things about being in Southern California.  Students bring pot-luck dishes reflecting their own backgrounds from around the world.It's such an institution that staff, alumni, family and friends of the program often come along too."