Jeremy Quach – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Wed, 30 Mar 2016 07:30:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Jeremy Quach – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 A look back at the history of the ASSU https://stanforddaily.com/2016/03/30/a-look-back-at-the-history-of-the-assu/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/03/30/a-look-back-at-the-history-of-the-assu/#respond Wed, 30 Mar 2016 07:30:59 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1112648 As we approach the 2016 Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) elections, students will have the opportunity to vote on a student body Executive, a Senate, class presidents, special fees for student groups and referenda to express the student body’s opinion. Over the course of the ASSU’s 100-year history, each of the ASSU’s branches has […]

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As we approach the 2016 Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) elections, students will have the opportunity to vote on a student body Executive, a Senate, class presidents, special fees for student groups and referenda to express the student body’s opinion. Over the course of the ASSU’s 100-year history, each of the ASSU’s branches has undergone great change and controversy, with the current structure of the ASSU having been created relatively recently. The Daily thus takes a brief look back at the ASSU’s history and the evolution of student government at Stanford.

The ASSU comes into being

On Feb. 28, 1894, one of the first drafts of the ASSU constitution was published in The Daily Palo Alto. This constitution united the student body under the banner of the Associated Students of the Leland Stanford Junior University and created two committees, the first being the Executive Committee. Like the current Executive branch, the Executive Committee had a president, a senior, along with a vice president, secretary and treasurer. This constitution also created the Athletic Committee, which was made up of 11 members, with a president and representatives from each undergraduate class. This committee would elect managers for the University’s sports, including baseball, track and football. Though this draft saw no mention of the current Senate, the ASSU’s role in funding or class presidents, this is where the ASSU truly got its start.

On March 2, 1894, The Daily Palo Alto wrote that a discussion surrounding the constitution brought “out a large crowd,” with over 250 enthusiastic students gathering at the doors of the chapel where the meeting was held. From the ASSU’s inception, the constitution faced controversy and reform. This article curiously notes that it was surprising that over one-fourth of those in attendance were “young ladies.” The article later notes that “the extraordinary attendance of the women” resulted in the proposal of an amendment to increase female representation on the Athletic Board and to create a Women’s Athletic Association, but this amendment was later rejected. Discussion also circled around whether the managers of the sports teams elected by the Athletic committee should get a share of the net profits made by their teams.

This constitution would undergo many more amendments throughout its life. To highlight a few instances, a committee was made to study and rewrite the constitution in 1949; an ASSU Vice President candidate called the ASSU a “total and absolute farce” and suggested a constitutional rewrite in 1968, with the legislative branch being reformed later in the year; and a proposed new constitution was turned down in 1986.

ASSU creates The Daily Palo Alto

One of the first actions of the ASSU — even before the constitution was drafted — was to create The Daily Palo Alto in 1893. The Daily Palo Alto would be governed by the ASSU, and a board elected by the ASSU would be in charge of deciding the paper’s editor-in-chief and business manager. This constitution made it so the paper must publish every day besides Saturday and Sunday throughout the college year.

In 1926, the ASSU changed the name of the paper to The Stanford Daily, as many thought the former name did not indicate that it was connected to Stanford. There was also confusion between the campus paper and the local paper, which was called The Daily Palo Times.

Nearly 50 years later, students voted to detach The Daily from the ASSU and transfer all assets of The Daily to an independent non-profit known as The Stanford Daily Publishing Corporation. In January 1973, the Secretary of State’s office in Sacramento approved the incorporation of The Daily. This change was sparked when someone who had been jailed wrote a column in the paper advocating for violence against two people who had testified against him. University president Richard Lyman then urged the paper to seek independence from the University.

“Independence will mean more work and responsibility for both our editorial and business staffs, but this is a small price to pay for total freedom from the threat of control by the University, the ASSU or any other special interest group,” said editor-in-chief Donald Tollefson ’73. “We are very happy.”

Legislature and the Senate

The current ASSU Senate is actually a fairly recent development for the ASSU. Until 1968, the legislative branch of the ASSU was run by the Legislature of the ASSU, or the LASSU.

“The old LASSU was an amorphous mass of more than 140 members, elected according to residences or petitions from off-campus students,” wrote Daily writer Marshall Kilduff ’71. “Attendance was spotty, and voting credentials rarely checked. LASSU often was dominated by strong personalities or members who were masters of parliamentary procedure.”

The LASSU would sometimes fail to create student budgets and sometimes saw less than a third of its members attend meetings. In search for a better and more functional replacement of the LASSU, the student body approved the idea of the ASSU Senate in 1968. The Senate was a smaller 40-person group that was intended to better represent the student body, with the makeup of the Senate proportional to the size of the undergraduate and graduate schools. The following year, the first elections for the Senate were held and more than 125 students sought the 40 senate slots. Voters were able to rank as many candidates as they wanted in order of preference.

The Senate would have its first meeting later in the year, after which an anonymous Senate member wrote a column in The Daily chastising the new body. At the meeting, the Senate discussed the election of a chairman, procedures for funding and the formation of committees, which the anonymous writer noted was discussed amid “Machiavellian engineering, parliamentary wrangles and shouting matches reminiscent of the dear old LASSU at its worst.”

The anonymous writer would then detail an incident surrounded by a “pink card” passed around the Senate, the initiator being designated as Y.B.

“Y.B., prominent member of the old LASSU, added his unique contribution to the discussion of candidates for Chairman,” the anonymous Senate member wrote. “That contribution came in the form of a pink, 3×5 index card on which were written the name of one candidate, references to the armed forces and counter-insurgency research, and the innuendo ‘C.1.A.??’ This card was passed among the Senate, was the object of a physical struggle at one point, and finally was read — with its cryptic abbreviations — before the whole body. Said Y.B. later in the evening: ‘I assassinated his character inadvertently.’ Garbage.”

Fees and class presidents

Class presidents are a fairly recent addition to the ASSU. In 1995, the ASSU voted nearly unanimously in favor of creating sophomore and junior presidents as well as creating a frosh council. This was enacted in hopes of creating more community among upperclassmen.

“There’s a lack of class unity,” said bill author and ASSU Senator Rupali Gandhi ’97. “There’s a lot of frosh class unity. They come out of the dorms and then there’s nothing.”

Determining funding for groups was always a responsibility for the ASSU, but the fee and funding system has been under constant reform. To name just a few instances: In 1983, the ASSU proposed a new system of having groups apply for either association fees or special fees, and only granting students who voted in the election the ability to obtain refunds and waive their fees. This was seemingly in response to an instance in 1972 in which about 800 students did not pay their mandatory $3 ASSU activities fee for spring quarter. In 1995, students voted against a controversial funding reform called “The Balanced Funding Deal,” which would have “eliminated the fee refund and split graduate and undergraduate fees,” wrote Daily writer Brian Singer ’98,

“The election results have sent a decisive message to the senate,” said ASSU Senator Andre Vanier ’97. “The student body wants real reform that will benefit all students.”

Nonetheless, one of the people behind the bill, Mork Murdock ’95, was satisfied with the nearly 25-percent voter turnout.

“I’m satisfied because we got a good voter turnout.” Murdock said. “People were able to vote successfully on the World Wide Web.”

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford researchers work to create collision-free drone airspace https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/09/stanford-researchers-work-to-create-collision-free-drone-airspace/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/09/stanford-researchers-work-to-create-collision-free-drone-airspace/#respond Sat, 09 Jan 2016 21:26:54 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1109005 With the increased prevalence of commercial drones, researchers at Stanford University are working with NASA to develop a drone traffic-management system in which drones will have a greater awareness of their surroundings and will communicate with other drones in order to avoid collisions.

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With the increased prevalence of commercial drones, researchers at Stanford University are working with NASA to develop a drone traffic-management system in which drones will have a greater awareness of their surroundings and will communicate with other drones in order to avoid collisions.

Stanford Intelligent Systems Laboratory is one of the over 130 labs working with NASA to manage drone traffic through an unmanned aerial system traffic management system, or UTM. This system will be able to manage a large number of drone operations without individual human control operators. With Amazon generating 130,000 drone deliveries per normal shopping day, an automated system without human contact is essential.

“You’re not going to hire another 30,000 people just to handle the traffic from drones,” said Hao Yi Ong, a grad student working in the lab, to the Stanford News Service. “It’s just not feasible.”

Also included is automated conflict avoidance, where drones will alert other drones when a collision is possible and will make necessary changes to avoid it.

“UTM is meant to fulfill a lot of the functions of air traffic control, but it will be in the cloud and largely automated,” said Mykel Kochenderfer, an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics and director of the lab, to Technologyreview.

Kochenderfer and Ong recently co-published a paper detailing an algorithm that would reduce drone collisions. The lab ran more than a million conflict simulations and determined the drones’ response times and how often a collision would occur. Drones were able to make the quickest decisions when paired with the closest other drone. Once more drones entered the simulation, response decreased, but the system was still able to reroute a drone within 50 milliseconds.

Kochenderfer and his researchers have only tested their work in simulations and still recognize that there is still much work to be done, such as how to account for breakdowns in communication, deliberately disruptive drones and sudden weather anomalies. NASA will be rolling out the UTM solution in a series of four builds with the first one being released last August, and Kochenderfer expects that their technology will be implemented in the final UTM build, estimated for completion in 2019.

“It’s gratifying to work on a problem that people are coming together and knocking heads and figuring out the best solution, even though there actually isn’t a single profitable flight yet,” Ong said.

“This is one of the most exciting areas of aerospace right now — the use of drones,” Kochenderfer said. “Many of the applications they enable can lead to new economic models, but the potential for saving lives and improving efficiency, I think that’s really quite interesting.”

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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New course aims to give students real-world research experience https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/28/new-course-aims-to-give-students-real-world-research-experience/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/28/new-course-aims-to-give-students-real-world-research-experience/#respond Wed, 28 Oct 2015 07:40:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1105825 A new pilot program aims to take students out of the classroom and into the fields. After taking ECON 121: Social Science Field Research Methods and Applications in the Spring, student spent three weeks in Puebla, Mexico to conduct field research on whether providing information on a household's’ electricity bill and simple methods to reduce energy consumption would lead to a decreased energy bill for a house.

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Students comparing notes of their findings in the field. (Courtesy of Elena Cryst)
Students comparing notes of their findings in the field. (Courtesy of Elena Cryst)

A new pilot program aims to take students out of the classroom and into the field. After taking ECON 121: Social Science Field Research Methods and Applications in the spring, students spent three weeks in Puebla, Mexico to conduct field research on whether providing information on a household’s electricity bill and simple methods to reduce energy consumption would lead to a decreased energy bill for a house.

This course is a pilot collaboration between the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development, the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Office of International Affairs.

During the students’ stay in Puebla, they, alongside students from the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, spent eight to 10 hours a day conducting interviews and surveying households. At their most efficient, the students would do as much as 44 surveys in one day, culminating in 260 surveys completed in 10 days of field work. Currently, three students are working as research assistants to create a self-administered online version of the survey instrument that that they hope will help thousands of households in Puebla.

Getting students out into the field and applying their knowledge is the driving force behind the program, according to Frank Wolak, who taught the class and is professor of economics.

“While students at Stanford have many opportunities to pursue independent research projects, they rarely have the opportunity to receive first-hand training in conducting interviews, research design and field implementation,” said Wolak in an interview with the Stanford Report. “With that in mind, we set out to design a program that would carry the students through the basics of empirical research and then give them the opportunity to apply that knowledge under close faculty supervision. Taking students out of the classroom and giving them the opportunity to see textbook methods in action is invaluable.”

During the class in spring, students learning the basics of design, implementation and interpretation of field research in the social sciences. Though a knowledge of statistical methods, economics and research practices is required, the class paid significant attention to differentiating what can be learned in the class and what can only be learned out in the field.

While students might have come to the course with some ideas about this, once they were onsite and had a greater understanding of how local residents actually lived, empirical data changed how they made recommendations.

“There are a variety of situation-specific problems that are hard for any researcher to know fully without being immersed in the field,” Wolak said. “For example, one of the students’ recommendations to improve energy efficiency was to switch household light bulbs from incandescent to compact fluorescents (CFL). This is a valid recommendation in the United States, where most people still use incandescent bulbs in their homes, but — surprisingly to the team — most of the people interviewed had already converted to all CFLs in their home.”

Wolak noted that the pilot program “exceeded [his] expectations in the best possible ways” and hopes to bring the program to other parts of Latin America, such as Chile or Colombia.

“Our hope is that this training equips the students with the academic and logistical skills they need to execute their own robust research, be that for an honors thesis, a capstone project or an advanced degree,” he said.

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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MOOCs less successful than original hopes, researchers say https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/16/moocs-less-successful-than-original-hopes-researchers-say/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/16/moocs-less-successful-than-original-hopes-researchers-say/#respond Fri, 16 Oct 2015 12:13:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1105064 Stanford researchers have concluded that MOOCs (massive open online courses) haven’t quite been the revolutionary change in education for which they had hoped. Completion rates are low, and classes can be too difficult. In addition, instead of providing students in developing countries a path to education, the majority of online students are men from industrialized countries.

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Stanford researchers have concluded that MOOCs (massive open online courses) haven’t quite been the revolutionary change in education for which they had hoped. Completion rates are low, and classes can be too difficult. In addition, instead of providing students in developing countries a path to education, the majority of online students are men from industrialized countries.

Examining how these online students learn and fail, however, has given researchers data on how to improve both online and physical classrooms. The idea of online courses – where anyone with an Internet connection can tap into an abundance of knowledge and change the lives of students in developing countries – has been incredibly attractive to researchers in education.

Professor of computer science John Mitchell ’78, who has taught and done research around MOOCs, noted in an interview with the Stanford News Service that helping people around the world learn “is going to be much harder than simply putting these courses online.”

High-level online courses may end up too difficult for online students without a solid academic background, and since students don’t tend to see these courses to completion, completion rates for MOOCs are low. Researchers noted that MOOCs have in fact frustrated educators by giving them the ability to watch their online students fail.

“We see people struggling, and there really isn’t any mechanism to help them,” Mitchell said.

However, there is data on what activities students are doing in the classes and what approaches are working. Researchers are able to learn what kind of video styles are effective, what grabs students’ attention and where students are stumbling.

“I think that’s what the technology is really valuable for,” said Candace Thille, assistant professor at the Graduate School of Education.

The data demonstrates that most of the activities students do in MOOCs are either too passive – such as just watching a video – or too simple – such as answering multiple choice questions – to be effective.

To combat this, Thille is working with Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck’s research group, Project for Education Research That Scales (PERTS), to embed psychological “interventions” into the online classes that would re-engage the disengaged students through encouragement and reassurance that he or she belongs in the class and can do well.

And despite results thus far, researchers still have hope for MOOCs’ potential.

“I’m not disappointed at all with MOOCs,” said Mitchell Stevens, vice provost for teaching and learning and associate professor of education. “We’re still in the horse-and-buggy stage. The boundaries are blurring between online and face-to-face.”

“We’re looking at a future of lifelong education online,” he added. “Much of that will come at little or no cost to learners. How can that be a bad thing?”

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Fire reported at Maples Pavilion; 35 buildings lose power from deconstruction work https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/12/fire-reported-at-maples-pavilion-approximately-35-buildings-lose-power/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/12/fire-reported-at-maples-pavilion-approximately-35-buildings-lose-power/#respond Mon, 12 Oct 2015 21:39:32 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1104737 A fire was reported in the southeast section of Maples Pavilion on Campus Drive at approximately 2:15 p.m on Monday through Stanford's AlertSU system. The fire has been reportedly put out, and no flames or smoke are visible outside the building. Fire units have departed the scene.

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A fire was reported at Maples Pavilion on Campus Drive at approximately 2:15 p.m on Monday through Stanford’s AlertSU system. The incident was caused by emergency lights that ignited some roofing material on the southeast corner of the building. Palo Alto and Mountain View fire units quickly responded and extinguished the flames. It remains unclear how extensively Maples Pavilion, which serves as the home court for the men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams, was damaged.

The building was evacuated, and no injuries were reported. Roads between Campus Drive, Bonair Siding and Sam McDonald Mall were temporarily closed but reopened later in the afternoon.

At approximately 1:45 p.m., about 35 buildings, including Green Library East Wing, Cantor Art Museum and the Knight Management Center faced a power outage. Although the fire was initially suspected to have caused the outage, deconstruction work occurring at the former site of the Cardinal Cogeneration Plant was later identified as the source.

Power was restored to a majority of the buildings at 4:30 p.m. Other buildings that were affected include: Lou Henry Hoover Building, Herbert Hoover Memorial Buildin, Alumni Center, Littlefield Center, Frost Amphitheater, Bing Concert Hall, Maples Pavilion, Arrillaga Sports Center, Avery Aquatic Center, Taube Tennis Stadium, Varsity Tennis Courts, Burnham Pavilion, Taube Tennis South, Angell Field South, Angell Field North, Sunken Diamond Lights and Arrillaga Gym and Weight Room.

 

Updates can be found at emergency.stanford.edu, and students can call 650-725-5555 for an emergency hotline number.

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Professor proposes blind analysis method to reduce bias in studies https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/09/professor-proposes-blind-analysis-method-to-reduce-bias-in-studies/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/09/professor-proposes-blind-analysis-method-to-reduce-bias-in-studies/#respond Fri, 09 Oct 2015 09:21:06 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1104568 Stanford Law Professor Robert MacCoun is endorsing a new scientific approach to minimize bias in studies: blind analysis, where scientists don’t know the results of their research until they’ve completed the study. This ensures researches will make decisions without knowing whether or not they will help or thwart a hypothesis, reducing confirmation bias.

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Courtesy of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
(Courtesy of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies)

Stanford Law professor Robert MacCoun is endorsing a new scientific approach to minimize bias in studies: blind analysis, where scientists don’t know the results of their research until they’ve completed the study. This ensures researchers will make decisions without knowing whether or not they will help or thwart a hypothesis, reducing confirmation bias.

In an interview with the Stanford Law School, MacCoun notes that a “statistically significant” number of published results in biological, psychological and social sciences are “too good to be true” and don’t hold up under attempts at replication. This is due to confirmation bias, where researchers may conduct the research in favor of a preferred hypothesis.

In a recently published essay in Nature, MacCoun, alongside Saul Permitter, a professor of physics at University of California, Berkeley, writes that blind analysis can minimize this bias. In blind analysis, a computer would “know” the actual results but present the researchers with faulty data, ensuring that researchers would not change their methods depending on how the study is going to conform to their hypothesis.

“Blind analysis ensures that all analytical decisions have been completed, and all programs and procedures debugged, before relevant results are revealed to the experimenter,” the essay reads. “Before unblinding, investigators should agree that they are sufficiently confident of their analysis to publish whatever the result turns out to be, without further rounds of debugging or rethinking.”

Medical researches have claimed that in the case of clinical trials, blind analysts might endanger patients, as the research team wouldn’t be able to intervene if there were problems. MacCoun notes that this problem can be solved by having a monitoring team that knows the actual results while the data analysts remain blinded. Or if researchers find that the costs outweighs the benefits, they can simply choose to not use blind analysis. While MacCoun urges funding agencies to offer grants to encourage researchers to incorporate blind research methods, he doesn’t believe it should be mandated, only recommended.

“Blind analysis should be subjected to scientific testing like any other ‘treatment,’ so that costs and benefits of new approaches are measured,” MacCoun said. “But we aren’t calling for mandated blind analysis, by any means. We predict that researchers who choose blind analysis will find that their work is seen as more credible.”

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford Health Care CEO to leave at end of year https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/29/stanford-health-care-ceo-to-leave-at-end-of-year/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/29/stanford-health-care-ceo-to-leave-at-end-of-year/#respond Tue, 29 Sep 2015 08:10:16 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1103951 Stanford Health Care announced that its CEO and president, Amir Dan Rubin, will be leaving the organization at the end of the year to join UnitedHealth Group’s Optum health service platform as executive vice president.

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Courtesy of Stanford News Service
Courtesy of Stanford News Service

Stanford Health Care announced that its CEO and president, Amir Dan Rubin, will be leaving the organization at the end of the year to join UnitedHealth Group’s Optum health service platform as executive vice president.

“I wish to share my heartfelt appreciation for the honor of having served Stanford Health Care as President and CEO,” Rubin said, according to a Stanford Health Care press release. “It has been the privilege of a lifetime to work with such spectacular people dedicated to healing humanity, through science and compassion, one patient at a time. Words cannot express how incredible it has been to engage with colleagues and supporters who [over] these past years have received Nobel prizes, achieved nursing Magnet status and won numerous accolades.”

Rubin became the CEO and president of Stanford Health Care in 2011 after operating as CEO of UCLA’s and Stony Brook’s health care services. During his tenure, Stanford Health Care was ranked the No. 1 hospital in California by U.S. News and World Report, and National Research Corporation also ranked the hospital as the most preferred hospital in the region. The hospital also achieved the best patient experience rankings in the Bay Area, according to Medicare.

Other accomplishments include the construction of a new Stanford Hospital, which is scheduled to be completed in 2018. With the help of donations, Stanford Health Care has expanded access to the Level 1 Trauma Center and Emergency Department and has expanded its reach to surrounding communities, partnering with ValleyCare hospitals and opening a new Stanford Cancer Center in San Jose. Stanford Health Care is also making innovations in virtual care, where patients can get checkups through video.

“Stanford Health Care, with the contributions of the Stanford School of Medicine, has raised the bar for innovative, patient-centered care, not only in California but [across] the nation,” said John Levin, chair of Stanford Health Care’s board of directors. “We are greatly appreciative of Amir’s five years of energetic and passionate commitment to Stanford Medicine.”

A transition committee has been appointed by the Board of Directors to search for a new leader.

Rubin will joining UnitedHealth Group’s Optum branch, which works to improve the health care system while making it more affordable, as executive vice president.

“In my new role, I look forward to helping improve health and making the broader health care system work better for everyone in this nation and around the world,” he said.

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Researchers modify hepatitus B virus for targeted drug delivery https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/21/researchers-modify-hepatitus-b-virus-for-targeted-drug-delivery/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/21/researchers-modify-hepatitus-b-virus-for-targeted-drug-delivery/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2015 06:42:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1103550 Stanford researchers have redesigned the hepatitis B virus so that it is invisible to the immune system and can target certain cells without delivering an infectious payload. This report was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and professor of chemical engineering and bioengineering James Swartz, who led the report, hopes his findings will advance targeted drug delivery.

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Stanford researchers have redesigned the hepatitis B virus so that it is invisible to the immune system and can target certain cells without delivering an infectious payload. This report was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and professor of chemical engineering and bioengineering James Swartz, who led the report, hopes his findings will advance targeted drug delivery.

Targeted drug delivery, which enables treatment to target specific, diseased cells, is one of the main goals of modern medicine.

“We call this a smart particle,” Swartz said in a Stanford News article. “We make it smart by adding molecular tags that act like addresses to send the therapeutic payload where we want it to go.”

Professor James Swartz holds an enlarged replica of a virus-like particle. Swartz and his team have re-engineered a virus to deliver therapies to cells. (Stanford News Service, Linda Rice)
(Courtesy of Linda Rice/Stanford News Service)

Viruses are similarly able to target specific cells but instead carry an infectious payload. As a result, the immune system attacks viruses in the body. Working with the virus that causes hepatitis B, Swartz and Yuan Lu, a pharmacology researcher at the University of Tokyo, took advantage of this targeting system for drug delivery.

The researchers changed the DNA of the virus – in particular, its middle layer, called the capsid – so that it appeared invisible in the immune system. This enabled the virus to travel throughout the body without being attacked. They also removed the infectious payload, opening possibilities to inject a medicinal payload instead, and changed the surface of the virus so that molecular tags can be attached to it. These molecular tags allow the virus to target only diseased cells.

Swartz explained that when he originally proposed his project, funding agencies said it couldn’t be done. After four years of work, Swartz hopes his findings will breathe new life into targeted drug delivery, where “smart particles” can deliver treatment to only harmful cells and leave healthy cells alone. This would also minimize the side effects of medication and radiation.

“This was a proof-of-principle experiment so there’s a lot of work to be done,” Swartz said. “But I believe we can use this smart particle to deliver cancer-fighting immunotherapies that will have minimal side effects.”

Swartz said the next steps are to train the immune system to recognize certain cancers by attaching cancer tags to the smart particle and then to further engineer the DNA so that protein can self-assemble around a small medicinal payload.

“That will be quite complicated, but we’ve already gotten this far when they said it couldn’t be done,” Swartz said.

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Career Development Center renamed BEAM https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/17/career-development-center-renamed-beam/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/17/career-development-center-renamed-beam/#comments Thu, 17 Sep 2015 19:35:50 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1103239 On Sept. 4, Stanford’s Career Development Center (CDC) announced a new identify for its career education services: Bridging Education, Ambition, and Meaningful Work (BEAM). Like the CDC, BEAM will focus on helping students find connections, build a personalized network and find meaningful work. The service also aims to be more accessible to students.

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BEAM, previously the CDC, held its Career Education Kickoff on Tuesday as part of New Student Orientation. (RAHIM ULLAH/The Stanford Daily)
BEAM, previously the CDC, held its Career Education Kickoff on Tuesday as part of New Student Orientation. (RAHIM ULLAH/The Stanford Daily)

On Sept. 4, Stanford’s Career Development Center (CDC) announced a new identify for its career education services: Bridging Education, Ambition, and Meaningful Work (BEAM). Like the CDC, BEAM will focus on helping students find connections, build a personalized network and find meaningful work. The service also aims to be more accessible to students.

“We wanted a simple, memorable, and positive acronym that is driven by our vision statement: students transform their education and ambitions into meaningful work over the course of their lifetime,” wrote Farouk Dey, dean of career education, in his description of BEAM.

Dey noted that Stanford students wish to do more than just land a job after graduating: they want to do something meaningful. BEAM’s team of 34 career educators “educate, rather than place people in jobs” and will be working with both undergraduate and graduate students.

One of the major changes BEAM will be implementing is a new connections model. Students can now schedule an appointment with an advisor on Handshake, a site where Stanford students can find and upload job applications, register for career fairs and create a profile for potential employers. Handshake replaced Cardinal Careers earlier this year.

Advisors will then connect students with career exploration treks and fairs, alumni for mentorship and employers for shadowing, internship and job opportunities. BEAM says that this approach will help students create a highly personalized network that will shape a student’s professional journey.

This new connections model will also make it easier for other members of the Stanford community, such as alumni, parents, faculty and employers, to find students and contribute to students’ professional development. The careers educators will also be proactive about reaching out to students instead of waiting for them to come to the center.

“The word ‘center’ has been eliminated to emphasize a new institutional culture of career education that all stakeholders can connect with beyond the walls of a building… The days of a ‘brick-and-mortar’ career services are over,” Dey said. “Our career educators are connected everywhere on and off campus to help expand and leverage the Stanford ecosystem for our students.”

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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GSB dean Garth Saloner to step down at the end of academic year https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/14/gsb-dean-garth-saloner-to-step-down-at-the-end-of-this-academic-year/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/14/gsb-dean-garth-saloner-to-step-down-at-the-end-of-this-academic-year/#comments Mon, 14 Sep 2015 21:52:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1103263 Garth Saloner ’81 M.S. ’82 Ph.D. ’82, dean of the Graduate School of Business (GSB) since 2009, announced on Monday that he will be resigning from his position at the end of the 2016 academic year.

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(Graduate School of Business)
(Stanford Graduate School of Business)

Garth Saloner ’81 M.S. ’82 Ph.D. ’82, dean of the Graduate School of Business (GSB) since 2009, announced on Monday that he will be resigning from his position at the end of the 2016 academic year.

According to a press release from the University, Saloner feared that controversy surrounding a wrongful termination lawsuit from a former faculty member will bring negative media attention to the GSB and will distract students and faculty members. Saloner is heavily implicated in the lawsuit.

“I have decided that it is in the best interests of Stanford and the GSB, two institutions that I love, that I step down,” Saloner wrote in an email to the GSB community on Monday.

“As many of you know, the University and I have been vigorously defending a baseless and protracted lawsuit related to a contentious divorce between a current and former member of our faculty,” he added. “I have become increasingly concerned that the ongoing litigation and growing media interest will distract all of you from the important work that you are doing and unfairly impact this stellar school’s deserved reputation.”

During Saloner’s six-year tenure as dean, the GSB has raised over $500 million in private support. As one of two faculty members who has won the Distinguished Teaching Award at the GSB, Saloner was a lead figure in overhauling the MBA curriculum to allow more flexibility and customization in students’ coursework. Diversity in the GSB’s faculty has also increased during his time, with 54 percent of new faculty hires in the past two years being women.

Other accomplishments during Saloner’s time as dean included the ongoing construction of Highland Hall, a new residence hall for GSB students that will be completed in spring 2016 and will accommodate 280 students, and the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies in 2011, which aimed to improve quality of life through entrepreneurship and innovation coaching in developing areas such as West Africa.

“It is with great regret that I accept Garth’s resignation, which I know was a difficult decision,” said President John Hennessy in the University press release. “It has been a very successful tenure. Under his leadership, the business school has been a leader in transforming management education to address the world’s economic challenges.”

“We are grateful to Garth for his service and his many contributions as dean, and look forward to his continued contributions to teaching and research at the GSB for many years to come,” Hennessy added.

A search committee appointed by Provost John Etchemendy will search for Saloner’s successor.

Saloner said he plans to return to teaching classes on entrepreneurship and business to undergraduates, MBA students and Ph.D. students, as well as executive programs around the world.

“I thank you for your support, commitment and dedication, and I will do everything I can over the next year to leave this great school in as excellent shape as it is now,” he wrote.

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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GSB evacuated after reported bomb threat https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/14/gsb-evacuated-after-reported-bomb-threat/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/14/gsb-evacuated-after-reported-bomb-threat/#respond Fri, 14 Aug 2015 18:16:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102853 A bomb threat has been reported at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business building, and evacuation is currently in progress as a precaution and is expected to last an hour to 90 minutes, according to an email from University spokesperson Lisa Lapin.

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The Graduate School of Business was evacuated early this morning in response to a bomb threat. (Courtesy of Colleen McCallion)
The Graduate School of Business was evacuated early this morning in response to a bomb threat. (Courtesy of Colleen McCallion)

A bomb threat was reported at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) building at approximately 10:50 a.m on Friday. The complex was evacuated shortly after.

After a complete investigation of the Knight Management Center complex by approximately 5:30 p.m., officers from the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) and the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office determined that there was no threat and approved all buildings for occupancy.

Areas bound by Campus Drive, Arguello Way and Serra Street have reopened and have returned to normal operation.

Earlier around 2 p.m. at the halfway point of the investigation, impacted employees were allowed back into the cleared buildings to retrieve their belongings and to enter the GSB parking structure for their cars. The incident impacted 700 faculty and staff members but did not disrupt any classes, as none were in session at this time.

All other areas of the Stanford campus remained open during the evacuation, and normal business operations continued.

Updates were posted at http://emergency.stanford.edu/, and students can call 650-725-5555 to reach an emergency hotline.

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Throwback Thursday: Stanford cornerstone laid on this date in 1887 https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/14/throwback-thursday-stanford-cornerstone-laid-on-this-date-in-1887/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/14/throwback-thursday-stanford-cornerstone-laid-on-this-date-in-1887/#respond Thu, 14 May 2015 07:05:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1100909 May 14 is one of the most important dates in Stanford’s history. Today is the 147th birthday of Leland Stanford Jr., for whom this university was named. Three years after Leland Stanford Jr.’s passing — he died of typhoid when he was 15 in 1884 — the cornerstone of the university was laid by Senator and […]

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May 14 is one of the most important dates in Stanford’s history. Today is the 147th birthday of Leland Stanford Jr., for whom this university was named. Three years after Leland Stanford Jr.’s passing — he died of typhoid when he was 15 in 1884 — the cornerstone of the university was laid by Senator and Mrs. Leland Stanford to honor their son’s 19th birthday. As part of the ceremony, Board of Trustees President Judge Lorenzo Sawyer gave a foundational speech on what values the university should hold. This Daily article from 1952 recalls the speech.

Stanford Cornerstone Laid Sixty-five Years Ago Today

By SALLY SHALER

Sixty-five years ago today, May 14, 1887, the cornerstone of the University was laid by Senator and Mrs. Leland Stanford. It was the nineteenth birthday of Leland Jr., whose monument the University was to be.

The ceremony was simple, but impressive. Judge Lorenzo Sawyer, president of the Board of Trustees and a renowned orator, gave the address.

Describing the University, he said: “Its nature, that of a university, with such seminaries of learning as will make it of highest grade . . . directed to the cultivation and enlargement of the mind.

“Its object, to qualify students for personal success and direct usefulness in life.

“Its purposes, to promote the public welfare, by exercising an influence in behalf of humanity and civilization; to teach the blessings of liberty, regulated by law; and inculcating love and reverence for the great principles of government as derived from the inalienable rights of man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Following the laying of the cornerstone. building operations were energetically started and the University opened in 1891.

The cornerstone bears a large gold plate with this simple inscription: “Leland Stanford Junior University. May 14, 1887.”

Curiously enough, few students know the location of the cornerstone. It is on the Mathematics Building, next door and to the west of Memorial Church.

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Mother’s Day is celebrated remotely through cards from campus https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/10/mothers-day-is-celebrated-remotely-through-cards-from-campus/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/10/mothers-day-is-celebrated-remotely-through-cards-from-campus/#respond Sun, 10 May 2015 20:23:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1100672 For Mother’s Day, various organizations on campus are helping students show their appreciation to mothers by selling cards or by giving students opportunities to make their own.

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For Mother’s Day, various organizations on campus are helping students show their appreciation to mothers by selling cards or by giving students opportunities to make their own.

Even though many students are far away from home, students still find ways to celebrate Mother’s Day to show appreciation and love to the mothers in their lives. One student, Caitlin Scheder ’15, sold Mother’s Day cards at White Plaza, wanting to make appreciating mothers, grandmothers or mother figures as easy as possible.

“Personally, I generally like days that are dedicated to thanking parents/parent figures because I think it is important to remember how lucky I am to have parents [and] parent figures who support me no matter what I do,” said Scheder. “I think that in the hectic nature of Stanford it is easy to forget to be thankful for what you have and Mother’s Day cards is an easy way to remind someone you are thankful for them.”

Scheder is also a counselor for Camp Kesem, a free, week-long, volunteer-run summer camp for children with a parent who has or has had cancer. All of the proceeds from selling Mother’s Day cards went directly to help fund the entire cost of camp for the 140 campers and 70 counselors in the program.

“Being involved in Camp Kesem is important to me because I think it’s important to give kids the opportunity to be kids,” Scheder said. “At Camp, we provide just that–fun, smiles and the simple childish pleasures. A lot of kids who attend Kesem grow up very quickly because of the situations at home, but at Camp Kesem, kids do not have to be grown up, they can be themselves.”

Omega Psi Phi also hosted their fourth annual “Mother’s Day Card Writing Party” at Ujamaa in anticipation of Mother’s Day. The fraternity provided all the arts and crafts supplies, from construction paper to glitter to pipe cleaners, played some music and gave students the opportunity to make a homemade card for their love one.

“We found out that moms, grandmothers and aunties cherish the homemade cards a lot more because its the last thing they expect from a college student, a Mother’s Day card that undoubtedly looks like it could have been made last week or in the 5th grade,” said Wesley Greiner ’16, who helped put on the event.

One student, Krista Cooksey ’15, has attended each of the four annual events and makes three cards: one for her mother, grandmother, and her sister, each personally and lovingly designed.

“I designated the most intricately decorated card for my mother and used the favorite colors of my grandmother and sister along with a different design to make each of them special,” said Cooksey. “Although aesthetics are important, I always focus more on the letter [and] message I write to each of them. Memories that we share, ways in which they support me, ways in which they love me, and ways in which they are helping to shape how I see myself as a mother one day.”

The event also helps foster community, where students can share some of their fondest memories with their mothers and celebrate the impact various women have had on their lives.

“This event is particularly special because while making cards, some students talk about memories of their mothers or women in their family that have been like mothers to them,” said Cooksey. “Because many of us share common memories, through laughter and the power of storytelling, we are able to further build and strengthen our bonds with other members of the black community and celebrate the many black women that have played such important roles in our lives.”

“Although the messages of store-bought cards can be great, there is nothing like someone you love seeing your beautiful handwriting (or not), being able to hear your voice as they read, and picturing you with glue and tape all over your now adult fingers decorating a card for them just like old times. It really is priceless.”

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu

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Throwback Thursday: Thefacebook vs. CampusNetwork https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/07/throwback-thursday-thefacebook-vs-campusnetwork/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/07/throwback-thursday-thefacebook-vs-campusnetwork/#respond Thu, 07 May 2015 07:05:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1100529 This Daily article (initially published on Oct. 20, 2004) details how "thefacebook" began to take hold in college campuses.

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This past week marked the passing of one of Silicon Valley’s influential leaders, SurveyMonkey CEO David Goldberg. The funeral was held at Stanford University, where many Silicon Valley leaders, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, were in attendance. Silicon Valley wouldn’t be the tech tour de force it is now without the success of initiatives such as Facebook, and The Daily article below (initially published on Oct. 20, 2004) details how “thefacebook” began to take hold in college campuses.

 

 

Thefacebook vs. Campus Network

Is there room for more than one?

By SARAH LUSTBADER

(JOSEPH BERGEN/The Stanford Daily)
(JOSEPH BERGEN/The Stanford Daily)

Given the recent proliferation of online social networks like Friendster and the ever-expanding ranks of young people joining up, a safe assumption might be that these sites play an integral role in student life.

When asked, however, students who use these sites consistently list one arguably essential use for these networks: procrastination.

Senior Alicia Dantzker said that she used thefacebook — the network that is available at more than 175 colleges nationwide — “for procrastinating.”

“It’s a shockingly engaging waste of time.”

Nor do students at other schools necessarily find better uses for online social networks.

Oberlin senior Nick Arioli said, “I feel like I should have something profound to say, as I spend a lot of time studying social and political networks, but I think people just do it out of boredom.”

Given the innumerable procrastination tools available on the Internet — students can listen to music, read e-zines or shop — the fact that more than three-fourths of Stanford’s undergraduates have signed up with thefacebook shows that there might be more to online social networking than just putting off homework.

This week, a Web site similar to thefacebook. called Campus Network, became available at Stanford — raising questions about whether there is a market for several such online communities among college students.

Thefacebook, the leading online network at Stanford and among college students in general, began at Harvard University but now has about 500.000 users. The Web site’s creator, Mark Zuckerberg, set out to create an online database that would encourage social interaction at Harvard.

The network that emerged greatly resembles other online databases such as Friendster in that users create personal profiles, find friends at their school and at others and exchange messages.

“We started the site at Harvard, not really thinking that it would go much further than our school,” explained Harvard student Chris Hughes, who works as “The Press Guy” for thefacebook.

“After so many people signed up, we realized pretty fast that students at other schools might enjoy using the site …. We want every student who wants to be a member of thefacebook to be able to be a member of thefacebook. To that end, we’re trying to add as many colleges as quickly as possible to the network.”

Hughes reported no specific plans for the future of thefacebook apart from continuing the expansion to new campuses and adding new features, such as a partnership with a filesharing network.

Zuckerberg and co-founder Dustin Moskovitz have stopped out of Harvard for the semester to work on the Web site, and six people are currently on the payroll, which is generated by advertisements.

Hughes noted that the Web site itself is not making a profit, and denied that the team is motivated by its financial prospects.

“For now at least, we’re doing it because it’s fun,” Hughes said. “It’s nice to see something you’ve created be so popular — it gives us energy to keep revising and expanding the site.

Some Stanford students, however, suspect that money plays a bigger role.

“Maybe not now, but if it keeps spreading it might be the new Google, and those [Google] guys are billionaires,” said senior Nicole Marquez, whose comparison is striking given Zuckerberg and Moskovitz’s recent move to the Bay Area.

While some students regard thefacebook simply as a distraction from scholastic obligations, others find practical uses for it. This reporter, for one, has found thefacebook a far more useful tool for tracking down sources than Stanford’s online directory.

Some have more frivolous ends in mind. Many students said that they look for other attractive and single students on the network.

The creators of Campus Network launched their Web site at Columbia University during the summer of 2003, before thefacebook was created.

Columbia student Wayne Ting, one of the two designers of Campus Network, distinguishes it from thefacebook by emphasizing its substantive value.

“Facebook focuses on browsing and adding friends, but users who are looking for journal weblogs, to upload their pictures and rate their professors [will find that] those things aren’t available on facebook,” he said.

Columbia student Carrington Lee agreed that Campus Network offers a more diverse range of options than thefacebook.

“I use Campus Network like a blog, a photo album, instant messenger, and bulletin board,” she said. “I can post journals about the parties I went to over the weekend, the fact that I have a stereo for sale, or which songs are on repeat on my iTunes, and people are always ready to comment on whatever I happen to write.”

The question now is whether students at Stanford and elsewhere will express interest in another online social network. One indicator that there might be room for another network is the prevalence of both thefacebook and Campus Network at Columbia.

“A lot of people at Columbia use thefacebook as well,” said Columbia student Eva Colen. “Thefacebook. however, is completely different — there is no community whatsoever, it’s more like a classifieds section.

“You can build relationships and express your personality on Campus Network, whereas thefacebook only allows you add friends and stalk crushes.”

Stanford students are generally more skeptical of Campus Network’s potential elsewhere.

“It’s kind of lost its novelty, and I’m not sure if people will feel like signing up for yet another network,” Dantzker said. “CampusNetwork actually sounds like a much better idea. Too bad it didn’t start here first.”

Like thefacebook’s creators, Ting claims that the prospect of financial success has not been the principal motivating factor, but he does not rule out the possibility in the future.

“We have a few volunteers and none of us are getting paid,” he said. “We’re doing this for the same reason that we started it initially. It’s an extracurricular hobby.

“If it’s a way to make money in the future, fine. But we’re not making money right now.”

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R&DE cautions Manzanita residents on campus wildlife https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/05/skunk-sightings-in-manzanita/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/05/skunk-sightings-in-manzanita/#respond Wed, 06 May 2015 05:34:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1100429 Local wildlife, particularly skunks, has been pestering students in the Manzanita Park area, and Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) reminds students that wildlife on campus is best left alone.

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Local wildlife, particularly skunks, has been pestering students in the Manzanita Park area, and Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) would like to remind students that wildlife on campus is best left alone.

While students may be used to encountering wildlife on campus, such as squirrels, rabbits, and raccoons, the influx of skunks in the Manzanita Park area has startled many students. One student, Ying Hong Tham ‘17, recalls his admittedly humorous encounter with three skunks one night.

“I heard squeaking and squirming and leaves rustling from my room on the third floor, which has windows facing the courtyard,” Tham said. “I went down to investigate, went out the door, all was still. It was dark then, 10 p.m., I think, and didn’t expect to see anything. Then I looked under the bushes to the right of the main door. Three pairs of furious eyes stared straight back at me, silhouettes outlined by the light from rooms nearby. I paused for a moment, suppressing the urge to run for the door… then I slowly straightened my back, walked casually to the door, swiped my card, opened the door, and bolted in.”

“It was a pretty amusing encounter for me, probably since they didn’t attack,” continued Tham. “It was a good homework break. Would’ve probably been overwhelmed by three of them, then it wouldn’t have been fun…”

“Several residents have recently expressed concerns about animals they are seeing around the buildings,” wrote Jillian Kornegay, the Housing Front Desk Supervisor for Manzanita, in an email to all Manzanita residents. “We would like to let you know that the wildlife activity in this area is normal for this time of year, and to remind you that these are wild animals and best left alone.”

“Some people have experienced frightening encounters with raccoons and skunks,” Kornegay continued. “For those of you who are not used to living in close proximity to these critters, please remember that they are nocturnal and much more afraid of you than you are of them. You are probably seeing these animals more frequently because it is spring, which is their mating season. The raccoons and skunks are out looking for mates, and if they encounter another animal that doesn’t want to mate, raccoons may fight and the skunks may spray.”

“Please remember not to directly approach these animals, especially the skunks, as they may spray you before they run away!”

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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History of hateful graffiti at Stanford https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/01/history-of-hateful-graffiti-at-stanford/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/01/history-of-hateful-graffiti-at-stanford/#respond Fri, 01 May 2015 08:05:04 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1100194 The recent anti-Semitic vandalism of Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s (SAE) fraternity house has left some students shocked at such displays of hate. This, however, is not the first instance of hateful graffiti on campus.

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One previous instance of hateful graffiti occurred in 1991 in Donner. (RAJIV CHANDRASEKARAN/The Stanford Daily)
One previous instance of hateful graffiti occurred in 1991 in Donner. (RAJIV CHANDRASEKARAN/The Stanford Daily)

The recent anti-Semitic vandalism of Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s (SAE) fraternity house has left some students shocked at such displays of hate. This, however, is not the first instance of hateful graffiti on campus. Below are excerpts from Daily articles about instances of hateful graffiti from years past.

Swastikas upset students

In 1998, Jessica Mahlab, a student, reported a swastika in East Lagunita basement that has gone unchecked for over a year. When Mahlab reported the swastika, she was told by the Facilities Manager Rich Lang that he would personally paint over the swastika. Weeks would pass without action, and Mahlab would contact Lang’s office again and again, even offering to paint over it herself. Time would still pass without action until Mahlab’s resident assistant, Kim Coleman, went to Lang’s office and asked that she paint over the swastika by noon that day.

“I just forgot to paint it — it wasn’t an intentional delay,” Lang told The Daily. “I had the paint and the brushes available and I told her (Coleman) that if the student wanted to do it right now, she could.”

Coleman then called Lang’s boss, Lynn Glick, and asked that the swastika be painted over immediately. It was finally covered two days later.

Students were dismayed that such a symbol could be on display for such a long time.

“It’s disgraceful that Stanford students can walk by these, and other offensive graffiti, and not take any action,” Mahlab said.

This incident caused great outrage among students, and the University has tightened its policy to respond to racially offensive graffiti. When Mahlab reported another swastika signing weeks later, it only took minutes for a faculty worker to arrive with a paint bucket in hand.

Anti-gay graffiti mars GALA Week

During Gay and Lesbian Awareness week in 1989, more than five sites on campus — Meyer Library, the post office, White Plaza, Tresidder Union, the bookstore and some engineering buildings — were tagged with homophobic and hateful graffiti. These sites, some of which had chalking supporting the gay community previously, were now tagged with comments like “Goodbye gays, hello AIDS,” “Go back in the closet” and “Kill gays.”

“The messages show not everyone is welcome here. . . . Messages like ‘kill gays’ show that homophobia is a real threat to students, and not just (a) proheterosexual [stance],” said Bobbi Bernstein, a member of the gay and lesbian community.

Though, Bernstein says these messages may result in some positives. She said it is good to reveal the significant homophobia that lies behind Stanford’s image as an open-minded community.

“I know homophobia abounds, but I still find it really amazing that people find it so threatening that we are comfortable with our sexuality.”

Sexist, violent graffiti in dorm disturbs Donner residents

In 1991, residents of Donner were in for a grave surprise when they entered their dorm’s pool room. Sexist and offensive graffiti covered the walls, some samples including “”Rednecks must die.” “If a woman says no, she means yes!” “You’re all f—ing slaves.” “Have you banged a box today?”

The majority of residents in this all-freshman dorm was outraged and terrified by this incident, and students said they were dealing with anger and fear about the motives of the students who painted these obscenities.

“I didn’t realize what hate I live with,” said resident Laura Battaglia. “It’s very confusing.”

“I was saddened that it was in my house,” said Resident Fellow Linda Paulson. “It was violent and it was a congregation of violent sentiments that were coupled with anti-female sentiments, and I just didn’t know that people in my dorm felt that way.”

The students behind this incident were mostly identified, and it was proposed that residents repaint the pool room with new murals.

Vandals hit center

In 1996, there were three separate instances of hateful epithets written in the Asian American Activity Center. The word “CHINK” was written in red felt pen on a computer monitor, and vandals used a mustard bottle to write “f— yo chink” inside the refrigerator. Earlier in the year, “chinks suck” was written in the couch room for a Korean student literary magazine.

The Asian American Community Center is often used by non-Asian students, as the door is often left unlocked. Though many members of the Asian American community were upset, there would be no changes to the building’s policies.

“This is a very disrespectful and despicable act,” said Rick Yuen, the center’s director. “We have asked students and the community to be watchful when they are in the center.”

“I was pretty shocked,” said community member Gavin Funabik. “I didn’t think anything like that would happen on campus. I know that some people have said this on campus, but I didn’t believe that people would do that kind of thing.”

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu

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Photos: Stanford Stands Against Anti-Semitism https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/29/event-stanford-stands-against-anti-semitism/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/29/event-stanford-stands-against-anti-semitism/#comments Wed, 29 Apr 2015 07:11:08 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1100094   “Everyone here tonight is showing that hate and prejudice do not belong on this campus,” J Street U co-president Julia Daniel ’17 told the crowd. “I hope we can follow this gathering with communication, education and with action to make this school a better place for all of its students.” Students gathered at Hillel […]

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Photos: Stanford Stands Against Anti-Semitism
A student speaks at the Stanford Stands Against Anti-Semitism event. (ANDREA LIM/The Stanford Daily)

“Everyone here tonight is showing that hate and prejudice do not belong on this campus,” J Street U co-president Julia Daniel ’17 told the crowd. “I hope we can follow this gathering with communication, education and with action to make this school a better place for all of its students.”

ANDREA LIM/The Stanford Daily Students gathered at Hillel for the event in order to voice their concerns and opinions about how it felt to be Jewish at Stanford. The discussion was moderated by two students.
Students discuss being Jewish at Stanford at Hillel.(ANDREA LIM/The Stanford Daily)

Students gathered at Hillel before the event in order to voice their concerns and opinions about how it felt to be Jewish at Stanford. The discussion was moderated by two students.

ANDREA LIM/The Stanford Daily Students came together in White Plaza to hear speakers from the Jewish community including JSA and J Street Union. The two new ASSU executives also spoke.
A student speaks at the Stanford Stands Against Anti-Semitism event. (ANDREA LIM/The Stanford Daily)

Students came together in White Plaza to hear speakers from the Jewish community including JSA and J Street U. The two new ASSU executives, John-Lancaster Finley ’16 and Brandon Hill ’16, also spoke.

 

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Students asked to plug in dorm phones, some hesitant https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/28/students-asked-to-plug-in-dorm-phones-some-hesitant/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/28/students-asked-to-plug-in-dorm-phones-some-hesitant/#respond Wed, 29 Apr 2015 04:39:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1100026 A recent initiative by Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) asks students in plug in their dorm phones in case of an emergency. The initiative aims to ensure communication if cell service were to fail in an emergency such as earthquake. The University would be able to contact students via their dorm phones, and students will also be able to notify family of their condition.

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A recent initiative by Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) asks students in plug in their dorm phones in case of an emergency. The initiative aims to ensure communication if cell service were to fail in an emergency such as an earthquake. The University would be able to contact students via their dorm phones, and students would also be able to notify family of their condition.

The dorm phones can also be used with the DoorKing system, which not only helps keep resident halls secure but also allows students to greet guests and to admit them into the building using the landlines. According to Rodger Whitney, Executive Director of R&DE Student Housing and Chief Housing Officer, the dorm landlines also allow for local and long-distance calling “at students’ discretion.”

However, some students see the room phones as a nuisance due to surveys that have been conducted over the landlines. One student, Moses Hetfield ’18, recalls a poor experience he had earlier this quarter.

“I heard the landline ringing and was really surprised because I hadn’t given anyone that number and barely knew the phone was even there,” Hetfield said. “I picked it up and there was a woman on the other end conducting a survey for some kind of sleep research study on campus.”

Hetfield expressed frustration at the length of the call and the ambiguity of the surveyor.

“I asked her how long the study would take, and she said it varied from person to person but would probably not be very long, so I agreed to participate,” Hetfield said. “Fifteen minutes passed, then 30, so I told her that I had brunch plans I had to get to and asked how much longer it would be. She again said that it varied from person to person but that we were almost done and it would probably just be a few more minutes.”

“The survey ended up taking an hour, making me almost half an hour late meeting my friend for brunch,” he added. “I should have just hung up on her.”

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Throwback Thursday: Oak Creek too expensive for faculty https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/23/throwback-thursday-oak-creek/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/23/throwback-thursday-oak-creek/#respond Thu, 23 Apr 2015 15:00:05 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1099583 It was announced earlier this week that the infamous Oak Creek apartments will not be included in this the coming school year’s housing draw. Back in 1970, when the Oak Creek Apartments were first built, one Daily writer scorned the University for expecting University employees to pay the lavish rent to live there. By Lee Herzenberg […]

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It was announced earlier this week that the infamous Oak Creek apartments will not be included in this the coming school year’s housing draw. Back in 1970, when the Oak Creek Apartments were first built, one Daily writer scorned the University for expecting University employees to pay the lavish rent to live there.

By Lee Herzenberg

Have you had a chance yet to drive by and see the Oak Creek Apartments on Stanford land? What do you think it is that makes it worthwhile to pay $240 per month for a one bedroom apartment? Is it the trees, the 5 swimming pools, the 4 tennis courts, the putting green, the services available (e.g. maids at a small extra cost, internal TV station), or is it the general poshness of the construction, the prestige of the address, the security of knowing that the neighbors can all afford to live in a place like this and aren’t ashamed to say so?

Maybe it’s the desire to live close to Stanford or the Welsh Road office area, so that driving to work will be easy. Take your pick. The reasons don’t really matter. The fact is that one good look at Oak Creek and anyone knows, as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof” put it, that “here lives a wealthy man.”

Well, all right. Wealthy is a relative adjective. Let’s look at the figures. The FHA, most banks and the Stanford Business office for that matter, when it is negotiating with faculty over construction in the faculty housing area, state that a maximum of 25 percent of real income should be budgeted for housing.

This means that a single person, or a couple (perhaps with one small child) renting a one bedroom apartment at Oak Creek should be earning a minimum of $11,520 a year alter taxes, or somewhere upwards of $16,500/ year gross income. About 5 percent of Stanford employees are in that salary range, and most of them are faculty, who probably need more than one bedroom anyway.

All this not withstanding, Boyd Smith, Stanford Real Estate Manager, in an article in Monday’s Daily castigating “Grass Roots” for “inaccurate and misleading statements” tells us that Oak Creek Apartment “rents reflect moderate cost housing without subsidy at today’s prices.” With a series of figures sufficiently incomplete so as to make checking them impossible, he claims to show that because of interest rates and subsidies, a $240 rent for an Oak Creek one bedroom apartment should be equated with the $125 rent for an Escondido Village apartment of the same size.

If that’s the case, Escondido residents ought to organize immediately to demand their swimming pools, tennis courts and built in dishwashers before someone gets away with the money! But this isn’t a joking matter.

Boyd Smith is playing fast and loose with the Stanford Community on an issue which is crucially important to the lives of people in this community—lives of people who have a hard enough time buying food and clothing with what’s left after they pay inflated rents for roofs that leak, rooms that are too small in apartments that are far enough away that when the car breaks down it’s a major catastrophe —and lives of people who may not be struggling themselves, but who care enough about what’s happening to their brothers to try to inform themselves so they can pressure for a just and equitable solution to the housing problem.

How can a housing committee, for example, function in an atmosphere where the Business office of the University feels free to make such absurd public statements?

If the Oak Creek Apartment story raises serious doubts as to Boyd Smith’s credibility, the rest of his article does nothing to allay our fears. His discussion of Coyote Hill politely fails to tell us that a group of permanent local citizens have filed suit against Stanford of dodging the subdivision law and against selected members of the Palo Alto City government, including Stanford Married Student Housing Director Frank Gallagher (who is also a Palo Alto City Councilman), naming Gallagher for conflict of interest. Presumably this oversight is due to the fact that Stanford is contesting the suit.

The discussion of the Dillingham project fairs no better. Smith erroneously states that “the City Council of Palo Alto thoroughly examined traffic surveys and projections. In fact, the Dillingham project was approved without consideration of the traffic contribution of the Coyote Hill project (not to mention the Syntex project currently going up), even though all three projects feed onto the same major artery: Page Mill Road. And the list could go on.

No doubt Smith’s article has redeeming features, and perhaps some of his criticisms should be taken to heart by Grass Roots. But -his irresponsible juggling of “facts” cannot be ignored. By putting out a smokescreen of calculated invective and misleading financial information, Boyd Smith and the Business office for whom he speaks are guilty of making a mockery of even the inadequate decision-making procedures operant in the community today, and those people involved in such procedures should be put on their guard. Then again, perhaps compared with what has already been done to the mid-peninsula by the Business office, Fred Terman and the Stanford Trustees, Smith’s heavy-handed manipulations don’t really matter very much, anyway.

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Conference on forced migration discusses refugee issues https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/12/conference-on-forced-migration-discuss-refugee-issues/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/12/conference-on-forced-migration-discuss-refugee-issues/#respond Mon, 13 Apr 2015 04:52:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1098814 Stanford Association for International Development (SAID) hosted a conference on forced migration last Saturday, inviting top scholars and experts in the field to speak of the troubles facing refugees today, such as violations of inherent refugee rights, the inhuman conditions of refugee camps, and the lack of assistance from developed countries.

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Stanford Association for International Development (SAID) hosted a conference on forced migration last Saturday, inviting top scholars and experts in the field to speak of the troubles facing refugees today, such as violations of inherent refugee rights, the inhuman conditions of refugee camps and the lack of assistance from developed countries.

(ARNAV MARIWALA/The Stanford Daily)
(ARNAV MARIWALA/The Stanford Daily)

“I think most people understand the plight of the people that were forced to flee Syria, but I think very few people understand what’s happening in the Central African Republic, or in South Sudan, or recognize that there are ten thousands kids in a Kenyan camp, which is the third largest city in Kenya, who have lived their entire lives there, and their parents have too,” said Alex Aleinikoff, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Deputy, in the opening keynote address.

When deciding on the topic of forced migration for a conference, SAID wanted to choose an issue that most Stanford and Bay Area residents were aware of but have not necessarily thought about. What resulted was a day of impassioned keynote addresses and panels on an issue that affects a large number of communities and families today.

 Crossing The Border

“Today in the world there are 51 million people who have been forced to flee their homes, about a third of them are refugees, people who cross international borders, and about two-thirds have been displaced within their home countries,” said Aleinikoff. “This is more than in any time since World War II.”

With the recent conflict in Syria, more than 3.5 million people have fled the country and are seeking refuge in Turkey and Lebanon. While the international community has contributed billions in the past years to send tents, mattresses, clothing and food to refugees in need, James Hathaway, Law Professor at the University of Michigan, retorted that developed countries are not properly contributing to the effort.

“It always astounds me how few Americans recognize that the entire developed world almost hosts less than 15% of the world’s refugees,” said Hathaway. “The world’s poorest states carry the overwhelming share of the responsibility for refugee protection.”

Taking in refugees is not merely an act of grace, Aleinkoff notes, but international law. Refugees have the right to seek and to enjoy other countries’ asylum from persecution, as stated in Article 14 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Even so, states are not required to take in refugees.

“This reflects a fundamental tension between individuals’ right to seek asylum but the state’s inherent authority as a sovereign state to control its borders,” said Aleinkoff. “So it’s produced a legal regime founded not so much on the right to enter, but on the right to not be returned to a place where you can be persecuted.”

Because of the sheer number of refugees, faltering economies, growing security concerns and a lack of international support, several of Syria’s neighbors are beginning to take measures to stop the flow of refugees. Turkey has closed its borders. Lebanon is requiring visas to enter the country and has restricted these visas for those in special need. Other countries, like Australia, are turning away boats filled with refugees.

Hathaway responded that the seemingly inhumane action of turning away refugees is not quite as selfish as it seems.

“So if you were a country on the frontline of refugee protection, would you keep your doors open, knowing that others would rarely, if ever, share in your responsibilities?” said Hathaway. “Or would you do, as Turkey has now done, shut your doors when the numbers become too high? Quite frankly, closing the doors may be legally wrong—it is legally wrong—but it may be the only politically and economically sensible response to the abject failure of states outside the main refugee-producing regions of the world to do anything remotely approaching carrying their fair share of what is in theory a global responsibility to protect refugees.” 

Refugee Camps

Even when refugees are allowed into these countries, they are often put in refugee camps, which are often in horrid, inhospitable and unproductive borderlands that are far away from the nearest town.

“Refugee camps, in effect, place the hopes and the futures of entire generations on hold,” said Aleinkoff. “They cut refugees off from communities, from economies. They prevent the refugees from providing for themselves and can rend them for years or decades of dependency and deprivation.”

Hathaway cites a story in which, in 2012, the UNHCR worked with IKEA to create refugee housing units for Lebanon refugees. The government of Lebanon initially banned these units because these structures were so decent that the the Lebanese thought the refugees would never go home. Only after immense pressure did the Lebanese allow a limited trial of housing units.

Even so, this still leaves the majority of refugees in awful conditions.

“I want to see every refugee out of the mud,” said Hathaway. “I want to see every refugee with the ability to move freely, to work, to raise their children, to live in dignity, until they go home.“

Creating Change

In the various panels, issues such as the causes of forced migration, case studies on North Koreans migrating to China and how the rising sea levels caused by global warming may lead to a forced migration off of small islands were discussed. While the speakers disagreed on many controversial issues, they were united in their resolve to create change and asked the audience to do their part.

“We’re in Palo Alto, there’s a lot of high-tech solutions to a problem, but often some of the best solutions are the old solutions: go to ground, talk to the community, get your work grounded in their realities and then do some proper measuring,” said Courtland Robinson, Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“People on the ground have to start demanding,” said Dawn Chatty, Professor of Anthropology and Forced Migration at University of Oxford. “If Americans start saying ‘hey guys, why don’t we allow more Syrians to resettle in these areas’, something might happen. People have to voice this concern. People have to stand up and ask their congressman, ask their senators to vote differently.”

“We need to have the conversations,” said Hathaway. “We need to have the research. We need to have the triumphs. But for God’s sake, we need to begin the conversation and the trials now. Not next time there is a Syria, with four million people sleeping in the mud or banging at the doors. We cannot any longer wait. It is time to get rid of the lip service… we cannot continue to limp along the way we have been. It is simply wrong to do that.”

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Lantana partners with d.school for new dorm theme https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/09/lantana-partners-with-d-school-for-new-dorm-theme/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/09/lantana-partners-with-d-school-for-new-dorm-theme/#respond Fri, 10 Apr 2015 05:48:46 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1098673 The undergraduate dorm Lantana will begin hosting pre-assigned students next year with a theme focusing on the principles practiced by the d.school.

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Latana in Manzanita Park will become a design thinking theme house next year.  Chris Flink, one of Latana's RF's, is a founding faculty member at the d.school (ARNAV MARIWALA/The Stanford Daily).
Lantana in Manzanita Park will become a design thinking theme house next year. Chris Flink, one of Latana’s RF’s, is a founding faculty member at the d.school (ARNAV MARIWALA/The Stanford Daily).

For the first time next year, Lantana in Manzanita Park will be a special housing theme dorm where students can pre-assign to become “creative catalysts.” They will work with the Stanford Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school) to create new and imaginative ways to cultivate community in upperclass dorms.

While upperclass dorms have dorm events such as ski trip, Chris Flink, Stanford consulting associate professor, Graduate School of Business lecturer and Resident Fellow of Lantana, said that these events eventually become boring and students stop attending, leading to a weaker dorm community after freshman year. Flink believes the new theme will allow for students to create new upperclass experiences that are not only designed by them, but also for them.

“There’s an opportunity to think about what the upperclass experience might ideally be,” Flink said. “It’s not the wonder of your freshman year, but I think that’s a shame. I think there’s an opportunity for it to be as remarkable and extraordinary as your freshman year but in an entirely different and distinctly upperclass way.”

Students who are pre-assigned to Lantana will be required to lead a one-unit directed study project in collaboration with Residential Education (ResEd) and the d.school where they will explore new and creative ways to cultivate community in upperclass dorms through unique dorm programming and communal activities, rituals and outings.

These “creative catalysts,” as the students will be called, will be able to prototype their ideas in the Lantana residence, where non pre-assigned students can help brainstorm, provide input and experience these new ideas. Because these activities are designed by students, Flink hopes this will lead to greater attendance and a more substantial dorm community.

“What comes out of that, hopefully, is a great learning experience for the creative catalysts and the other residents in the dorm who participate in various ways,” Flink said. “It’s a learning experience around their own creative capacities and their way to approach problems, which will also create a bunch of experiences in the dorm that that are more interesting, appropriate, memorable and enjoyable for residents, designed for them, by them.”

“The sky’s the limit,” said Nina Church ’16, one of the Residential Assistants for Lantana next year. “It truly seems like this staff, the Flinks and everyone who’s expressed interest in the creative catalyst program so far are willing to think big and work hard. This combination can only lead to a fun, supportive environment that I’m super excited to help create and even more excited to get to live in.”

“How cool will it be to have dorm meetings redesigned in a way that gets everyone excited to go to them each week?” she added. “Or maybe makes it a little easier to get to know the amazing people we’re living with?”

One of the strengths of the new program is that it creates a residential learning experience. Living alongside other project members creates a unique learning experience that is distinct from the typical classroom experience.

“If you took a class, one of the great things about it is you’ll be on a small team and get to know your teammates, and it’s a great bonding experience and fun,” Flink said. “To do that here in the dorm where one of our important goals is to build community and get to know each other and have different perspectives come together – it’s a double. We get both of those kind to come together in a very natural way.”

Non pre-assigned students living in the dorm will still be able to engage with design thinking, with general dorm programming tilted towards design, creativity and creative confidence.

Because next year will be the first year of the program, Flink acknowledges that many aspects of the program are unknown. He explained that he is eager to come up with new ways of thinking, even if it means potential failure. Showcased on his wall are many assorted models and portrayals of the letter F, often associated with failure – a crucial component of the creative process that Flink embraces.

“We’re on a journey,” Flink said. “ I think there’s lots of potential for where it could go, and I suspect a lot of learning will come in the first year.”

“I’m optimistic that giving them an more agency to design their experience is the right,” he added. “If the freshman year experience serves it up on a silver platter, this is one where you’re designing it by students, for students.”

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Throwback Thursday: California drought lingers (Feb. 19, 1976) https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/08/throwback-thursday-california-drought-lingers-feb-19-1976/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/08/throwback-thursday-california-drought-lingers-feb-19-1976/#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2015 05:16:55 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1098576 Earlier this week, California Governor Jerry Brown issued a histortic mandate to reduce water usage by 25 percent. While the current drought is said to be the worst in California history, in 1976 Stanford suffered a similarly devastating drought that left Lake Lagunita without water. This article was originally published in The Daily on Feb. 19, […]

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Earlier this week, California Governor Jerry Brown issued a histortic mandate to reduce water usage by 25 percent. While the current drought is said to be the worst in California history, in 1976 Stanford suffered a similarly devastating drought that left Lake Lagunita without water. This article was originally published in The Daily on Feb. 19, 1976.

California drought lingers; Lake Lag remains unfilled

By Bill Sing

Lake Lagunita will not be filled up this year, should the current drought continue much longer, according to Plant Utilities Manager Robert McKnight. “Unless Stanford gets a few good days of rain soon,” said McKnight, “the lake’s chances of getting any water at all will be very, very minimal.”

The current three-month-old drought has plagued areas throughout California, with losses to farmers and cattlemen statewide estimated at over $300 million. Gov. Edmund Brown has declared 25 California counties as disaster areas and requested emergency federal aid for them.

“The rain locally over the past few days has helped, but it just hasn’t been enough,” said McKnight.

Water in both Searsville and Felt Lakes is down to its minimal reserve level, said McKnight. Lake Lagunita is fed by two creeks, Los Trancos and San Francisquito. However, either Searsville or Felt must be full or nearly full before any excess water can drain into the creeks.

“One good rain should fill Searsville,” said McKnight. “But for now we have no intentions of unloading any of Searsville or Felt Lake water into Lagunita until their levels are sufficiently high.”

The last time a drought severely affected the campus was in 1961, when a water rationing program had to be implemented. But even then, Lake Lagunita had some water, according to Plant Services Water and Sewer Superintendent Joe Carrington.

Carnngton said that Felt Lake is currently 11 feet short of last year’s mark, while Searsville Lake is 9.5 feet short. Last year at this time all three lakes were full.

Water from Searsville and Felt Lakes is used primarily by the Stanford Golf Course, the single greatest user on campus, and by local farmers and cattlemen leasing University land.

Lake water is also used to supply parts of the Quad and west side of campus, while serving as a reserve backup for the Stanford Fire Department. Most of the University, including residence halls and academic buildings, is on the San Francisco Municipal system, which has yet to be greatly affected by the drought, according to McKnight.

“Searsville Lake is vital for two main reasons,” said McKnight “First, of course, is its valuable water supply: secondly, it is also valuable as a recreational area, which brings in considerable revenue to the University in the summer.

“The situation is not at a critical stage yet, but if there is no rain in the next couple of weeks, we will start pumping water from the University wells, which will cost us about $500 a week. The users affected the most will be the Golf Course and the farmers and cattlemen.”

“It could get quite serious if it doesn’t rain significantly the remainder of February,’’ said Golf Course Superintendent Bryce Weeks.

Fire Department Chief Frank Jurian also expressed concern. “One fourth of our supply comes from Searsville and Felt,” he said, “and not too many options will be left to us if we get low on our bare reserves.”

Hard hit financially by the drought have been local cattlemen leasing University land. Stanford leases 3500 acres of agricultural use.

According to George Burtness. assistant manager of university land resources, the lack of fresh grass has forced them to ship in more hay than usual, which has been both costlier for the cattlemen and not as healthy for their livestock.

“We’re just as bad off as the rest of the cattlemen and farmers in the state,” said Manuel Piers, a local dairyman. “But we will stick it out.”

Click here for the original version in our digital archives.

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Nonprofit releases guidebook to help veterans find the right college https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/24/nonprofit-releases-guidebook-to-help-veterans-find-the-right-college/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/24/nonprofit-releases-guidebook-to-help-veterans-find-the-right-college/#comments Wed, 25 Feb 2015 04:35:25 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1096460 Service to School, a nonprofit organization made up of veterans — some of them current Stanford students — has released a free guidebook to help undergraduate veterans find the right college.

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Service to School, a nonprofit organization made up of veterans — some of them current Stanford students — has released a free guidebook to help undergraduate veterans find the right college.

Veterans returning from service find themselves in a situation every college student has experienced: wondering how to take the next step. Unlike typical college students, who may have had college counselors, knowledgeable peers and a wide range of resources to help them, returning veterans often find themselves lost without the proper resources to guide them to a successful college education, according to Service to School.

Saamon Legoski ’16, a returning veteran and member of Service to School, was a major contributor to the guidebook. Legoski knows that while many military veterans are incredibly intelligent, they just do not know how to sell themselves to a college.

“Most veterans don’t know diddly-squat about how to make themselves competitive in the college admissions game: you don’t need an application to join the military, just a signature and some minimum mental and physical health qualifications,” Legoski said in an email to The Daily. “So when these men and women get out, they often stumble in applying to college and make dumb mistakes that vastly underestimate their actual intellect.”

The guidebook offers advice on finding the right college, recommendations on standardized testing and a Q&A with a Yale admissions officer, in addition to information about whether to attend community college or a university and how to use the “veteran advantage” in application essays. The text advises veterans to stay away from for-profit colleges and claims that for-profit colleges prey on returning veterans looking for an easy path to higher education.

“For-profit will likely saddle you with tremendous debt, while granting a degree or certificate that is worth about as much as the paper it is printed on,” says the guidebook. “That is the unfortunate and devastating reality many, many vets have learned, who wasted their time (usually years), money and G.I. Bill to pursue an ‘easy’ path to higher education.”

Legoski himself almost ended up in a for-profit college.

“Lack of knowledge, more than anything else, was responsible for me almost going to DeVry,” Legoski said. “My high school grades were records of mediocrity and failing to pass the standard. I had a lot of F and D grades. So I went to community college — both before and after I joined the Army — and while there, I talked to a DeVry recruiter, who told me that my past failures would be forgiven. So given the choice between a community college and four-year – and with no knowledge of what for-profits were – I decided to take the plunge.”

He did not up attending DeVry but instead applied to Stanford University. Now understanding how for-profit colleges take advantage of veterans, Legoski is motivated to get veterans into top universities instead.

“Veterans are especially appealing to for-profits, not only because of the G.I. Bill money but because of the inherent nature of the G.I. Bill,” Legoski said. “For-profits can only get up to 90 percent of their funds from federal financial aid. If they go beyond that, they aren’t paid by the government — in other words, at least 10 percent of students must be willing to pay for their education. The problem is that the G.I. Bill does not count as federal funding in regards to the 90/10 rule.”

The guidebook offers veteran-specific and catered advice using military nomenclature. One recommendation is against taking classes while in service, as it is much more difficult to get into good schools as a transfer student instead of a freshman.

“We want you to do more than survive; we want you to thrive. This guidebook is a product of love, created by veterans and our supporters so you can gain admission to the best colleges possible,” says the guidebook, which can be found here.

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford’s rich history of divestment movements https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/11/stanfords-rich-history-of-divestment-movements/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/11/stanfords-rich-history-of-divestment-movements/#comments Thu, 12 Feb 2015 05:58:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1095482 Stanford Out Of Occupied Palestine (SOOP) is not the first divestment movement to take Stanford’s campus by storm. Calls for divestment from partners of the Sudanese government, coal companies, and a historical movement to divest from South Africa marks Stanford’s history with attempts at divestment.

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Students protested for divestment from companies involved in South African apartheid in 1977 (TODD SITRIN/The Stanford Daily)
Students protested for divestment from companies involved in South African apartheid in 1977 (TODD SITRIN/The Stanford Daily)

Stanford Out of Occupied Palestine (SOOP) is not the first divestment movement to take Stanford’s campus by storm. Calls for divestment from partners of the Sudanese government and coal companies and a historical movement to divest from South Africa marks Stanford’s history with attempts at divestment.

Some of the movements have been successful, while others have failed, but divestment has repeatedly been a contentious issue on campus.

“Divestment is an act that should be made rarely and carefully,” Stanford president John Hennessy said in 2005 about Stanford’s decision to divest from companies involved with the oppressive Sudanese government.

South Africa

On May 9, 1977, over 1,000 students participated in a sit-in protest at Old Union to object to Stanford’s decision to not divest from the apartheid-era South Africa government, resulting in 294 arrests, most of them students. The very next day, over 900 students returned to Old Union once again, chanting, “Apartheid means profit, Stanford won’t stop it.”

Apartheid was a system of racial segregation in South Africa. Non-white South Africans were stripped of their citizenship, denied political representation, and forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to racially segregated neighborhoods.

Stanford had received securities of $18.9 million from South African corporations and earned up $45,000 from dividends from its investments in South Africa. Students rallied for divestment, which they estimated would cost Stanford $125 million in endowment assets spread among 59 corporations.

After an announcement by the Board of Trustees that Stanford would not be divesting, students laid down behind the cars of board members in protest. That night, students parked their cars to block the board members from their homes. Most of the students were united in the international movement to divest from South Africa, and various faculty members also called for university divestment, claiming that they were willing to take a pay cut if Stanford divested.

On February 13th, 1985, Stanford threatened to sell nearly $4.7 million worth of stock in Motorola, Inc. if it continued to sell to South African military or police. This caused Motorola to publicly back down and no longer sell to South African military.

Though university president Donald Kennedy would reiterate numerous times that Stanford would not divest, this did not stop students from protesting. This marked the largest student protest on Stanford’s campus since the Vietnam War.

Sudan

“Our question for you is this: In 10 or 20 years, what information will be found about what our university did in response to this genocide?” wrote Nikki Serapio ’07 in an op-ed on May 12, 2005. “How did our generation of students or our administration act? How will we be remembered? It is time to do something; for the people of Darfur and for our own consciences.”

During the conflict in Sudan, there had been one death every three minutes, and one out of three Darfuris had been driven out of their homes. In a civil war, the Sudanese released a militia group known as the Janjaweed upon its people, resulting in over 70,000 deaths.

Described as “little short of hell on earth” by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the mass genocide of Darfuri people in Western Sudan caused a unanimous vote by the Stanford Board of Trustees to divest from four companies supporting the Sudanese government, in one of which, PetroChina, Stanford had over $1 million invested.

Fossil Fuels

In May of last year, Stanford announced it would be divesting from coal companies, making Stanford the first major university to make such an effort.

This is just the beginning for the movement, as Fossil Free Stanford is currently pushing for full divestment from fossil fuel industries.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Stanford did not divest from South Africa. Stanford divested from at least five companies doing business in South Africa. We apologize for this error.

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Palo Alto considers limiting commercial and office development https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/10/palo-alto-considers-limiting-commercial-and-office-development/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/10/palo-alto-considers-limiting-commercial-and-office-development/#respond Wed, 11 Feb 2015 05:39:38 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1095411 Palo Alto City Council is considering implementing an annual cap on commercial and office development despite resistance from Stanford University and other companies.

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The Palo Alto City Council is considering implementing an annual cap on commercial and office development despite resistance from Stanford University and other companies. This could have unintended consequences for Stanford’s Research Park, one of the largest and most well known parks due to its emphasis on innovation and its connection to Stanford and Silicon Valley.

Tiffany Griego, managing director of Stanford’s Research Park, fears that an annual cap would compromise Stanford’s “mutual ability to attract companies that create long-term economic stability in our City,” she expressed in a letter to the council.

Though Stanford’s Research Park has been growing at a “modest average rate” of 16,000 square feet per year, the City Council believes implementing an annual cap will resolve problems such as too much traffic and not enough parking.

The City Council will begin discussions on March 2.

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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The Stanford Free Store nears possible closure https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/01/the-stanford-free-store-nears-possible-closure/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/01/the-stanford-free-store-nears-possible-closure/#respond Mon, 02 Feb 2015 07:19:20 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1094725 After confirming that they will in fact lose their space in Old Union, The Free Store’s future remains uncertain. Unless The Free Store finds a new home by the end of the quarter, the heavily valued resource will be dissolved.

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After confirming that they will in fact lose their space in Old Union, The Stanford Free Store’s future remains uncertain. Unless The Free Store finds a new home by the end of the quarter, the heavily valued resource will be dissolved.

Even after overwhelmingly positive support in favor of The Free Store from students, the store has been told it will lose its space in Old Union’s basement. Justin Briggs, fourth-year graduate student and co-director of The Free Store, has been working with Jeanette Smith-Laws, Director of Operations and Student Unions, to retain The Free Store’s location.

Briggs presented to Smith-Laws usage statistics and the positive student opinion gathered by a recent survey, indicating that 86 percent of students consider The Free Store to be a valuable resource. Briggs tried to address various complaints Smith-Laws had with The Free Store by clearing up issues with the janitorial staff, fire marshall and elevator maintenance staff and by working with Students for a Sustainable Stanford to partner with their group.

Smith-Laws, who originally supported and helped create The Free Store, will still be removing The Free Store from its current location, citing that it isn’t fair to other student organizations for the store to have the space.

“She originally gave us a specific list of reasons the store had to leave Old Union,” said Briggs. “But once we had addressed all of these reasons, she then said it didn’t matter to her that we met all the criteria she set forth. She wants us to leave anyway and told us we have until the end of the quarter to figure out where to move the store inventory.”

Briggs and other The Free Store staff members have been searching for alternative locations, such as a space inside a co-op or undergraduate dorm, or a storage space provided by the ASSU.

“Basically, we’re open to anything,” said Briggs. “It would ideally be a centrally-located place where we can run a store, but if we have to, we’re fine just storing everything in a storage space and having pop-up events.”

The trajectory of The Free Store is strikingly similar to that of the Student Wellness Room that used to be located in Old Union as well but was dissolved in 2011 for limited use. Another student initiative that was initially backed by Smith-Laws, the Student Wellness Room provided students a space for general de-stress, relaxation and meditation. The Free Store marks another student initiative that has been discontinued by Old Union.

Unless The Free Store finds a new home, all of the items will be donated, and the store will be dissolved.

“It’s really a sad thing for me,” said Briggs. “It’s sad because I really believe in it. It’s sad because it’s such a great resource that low-income and sustainability-minded community members rely on. So hopefully it’ll be able to live on in some way.”

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Remembering Jalen Paukan https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/20/remembering-jalen-paukan/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/20/remembering-jalen-paukan/#comments Wed, 21 Jan 2015 07:04:41 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1094127 Paukan '15 was a psychology major from the Yup’ik Eskimo village of St. Mary’s, Alaska, and an active member of Stanford’s Native American community.

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A memorial event for Jalen Paukan ’15 will be held Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. at the Old Union Clubhouse Ballroom.

Paukan was a psychology major from the Yup’ik Eskimo village of St. Mary’s, Alaska, and an active member of Stanford’s Native American community.

(Courtesy of Remembering Jalen Paukan)
(Courtesy of Remember Jalen Paukan Facebook page)

On Jan. 6, students were informed of Paukan’s death. Campus police responded to concerns about Paukan’s welfare at his Mirrielees residence on Jan. 5. The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office reported the cause of death as suicide.

News of his passing has reverberated around Stanford and his hometown, which is 450 miles by air from Anchorage, Alaska, resulting in an outpouring of love and support for Paukan and his family and friends.

“As news of Jalen’s passing rolls through our small community today we are all in shock and incredibly saddened by the news,” wrote Gail Alstrom-Beans ’94. “Jalen was one of the first students besides myself to attend Stanford from our small village in rural Alaska and I was so proud of him for choosing to attend my alma mater. Jalen was a handsome and bright young man full of promise and potential and our community truly feels the loss at his passing.”

Paukan was an active community participant and staff member of the Stanford Native Immersion Program and the Native American Cultural Center, using his creativity and technical skills to share his cultural roots.

“From the beginning, he generously shared his Native Alaskan identity and connection to culture, drumming, singing and dance with the Stanford community,” recalled Karen Biestman, Stanford lecturer and Associate Dean and Director of the Native American Cultural Center. “I remember being deeply moved when, after apologizing to the group for not having recorded music, he performed a powerful Eskimo song and dance – a cappella – stamping his feet on the floor to replicate a drum and never missed a beat, teaching and interpreting along the way.

“He even organized a Stanford version of the Eskimo Olympics, featuring physically grueling activities like the Knuckle Hop, where competitors race across the floor supported only by their knuckles and toes,” she added. “Naturally, he won.”

Paukan was known for being a bright young man with a colorful personality, a positive presence that made anyone feel welcome and a wide smile that would light up any room.

Having studied abroad in Florence, he beamed when sharing memories of his time abroad and speaking of his close family and friends. In the eyes of others, his influence not only made him an incredible friend and community member, but a mentor figure to aspire to.

“Jalen was probably one of the greatest role models that our school ever had,” wrote DeWayne Bahnsen, Jalen’s high school principal, in an email to The Daily. “His senior year he was the president of student government, captain of the basketball team, was a starter on the volleyball team that went 16-0 during the regular season.

“He was a very helpful young man – he delivered meals to Elders in our village and helped out in the elementary classrooms. He was the kind of student that always had time to help anyone that needed a helping hand.”

There is a Facebook page called “Remembering Jalen Paukan” where anyone can reflect on his life and impact, tell stories of his life and share pictures taken with him.

“To the guy that taught me happiness in times of sorrow, who taught me to keep my priorities organized while still making time for fun, who taught me that family isn’t just those who are related by blood and who taught me that love is one of the most important things in life and money will never be able to buy it, rest in paradise, Jalen Jimmy,” one post said.

“I can’t imagine my life without you, so I am not going to. I know you will be with me every step of the way.”

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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This Week In Stanford History: January 18 – 24. https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/20/this-week-in-stanford-history-january-18-24/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/20/this-week-in-stanford-history-january-18-24/#respond Tue, 20 Jan 2015 21:48:28 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1094091 Volume 62, Issue 65, 22 January 1923: Seven Are Initiated Into English Club Membership Stanford is full of neeeeerds. Like straight up, one night I was chilling with some friends, and they start having this competition where they try to recognizes “Lord of the Rings” scenes just by the soundtrack playing in the background. Like, […]

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Volume 62, Issue 65, 22 January 1923: Seven Are Initiated Into English Club Membership

Stanford is full of neeeeerds.

Like straight up, one night I was chilling with some friends, and they start having this competition where they try to recognizes “Lord of the Rings” scenes just by the soundtrack playing in the background. Like, what? “Lord of the Rings” is pretty nerdy in itself, but these guys made it sound like they actually read the books, which is even weirder. I’m just like, come on guys, go start a weirdo club for weird people and get out of my computer cluster, where REAL, COOL PEOPLE WORK happens!

I kid, of course, and am quite the nerd myself, but I’m not sure I’m on the level of the English Club of 1923.

And I mean, as a maybe-but-probably-not-haha English major myself, an English Club sounds pretty appealing. Like, I don’t know, a book club or something? Share some short stories we’ve written? Plan our world domination with our earth-shattering literary theories and interpretations? But when you say I have to be “initiated” to get in this club… that’s when I get a bit skeptical.

Seven students were initiated into the English club by giving “imitations of different modern movie actors in Shakespearean roles.” What? What does that even mean?

“Scherl Levy took the part of Harold Lloyd as Macbeth. Ruth Mcbride was Mary Pickford as Lady Macbeth, with Mary Eyre as her gentlewoman.”

What?

Gosh Stanford, you put your foot down on Greek hazing, yet you allow something like this to go on? This is the real problem! I need to petition to get the English Club to lose their housing!

Volume 196, Issue 59, 22 January 1990: Our names are mud

Oh, the California drought.

Remember when we had that huge rain storm about a month ago? Everyone was freaking out and there were all these flash flood warnings and some people thought we wouldn’t have class because it’d be too dangerous to bike and it was pretty much the apocalypse. And then it happened. I was just like, “Guys… it’s just raining. Chill out.”

But thanks to that rain, Lake Lagunita had fun little puddles in it for a while there. It was quite nice. I looked at some pictures from when the lake was actually full, and it bummed me out a bit. It was nice, and it’d be so much fun! But you know, I’m an optimist. I work with what I got. And I was like, “You know, even though we don’t have a nice lake, we could instead have a charity mud volleyball tournament.”

Eh? Pretty genius, eh? Kappa Alpha in 1990 agreed with me, at least! More than 600 people participated in tournament that raised over $9,000 (hardy har har)! For the third year in a row, a team called Team Yucky won the competition. Good job, guys!

I’m sure there’s some joke about how it’s fitting that a team called “Team Yucky” wins a Kappa Alpha/Greek event, but I’m not going to make it. There’s a standard for excellence here at the Daily! We don’t settle or tolerate bad, unfunny jokes!

I don’t think that’s actually true. Just look at this stupid column thing. Like, seriously.

Volume 224, Issue 61, 20 January 2004: Two Roble freshmen arrested

Don’t lie.

I’m sorry to get all real talk for a second here, but seriously y’all, lying ain’t do nobody any good. Just ask Ayo Jimoh and his lying friend Paul Larson, who were both arrested for “minor-in-possession, giving a false name, being drunk in public, obstructing arrest, and assaulting a police officer.”

I mean, all of those are pretty bad, but really? Giving a false name? I bet he tried to use the ultimate trump card and said “hey y’all I’m President Hennessy kiss my ass!” Which, I don’t know, may have worked on me. Bro can take my financial aid away! He can drink all he wants, as far as I’m concerned!

Volume 224, Issue 62, 21 January 2004: ‘Loveline’ hosts to offer sex solutions tonight

If there is one thing many Stanford students can’t do, it’s figuring out how the hell to date and be with someone.

And I mean, I claim to be no expert, but at least I’m not like those people who are all “Ahh he/she is so attractive I don’t know what to do! What is flirting! How do I sex! Ahhh I we locked eyes at the circle of death what does that mean???”

If only we lived in 2004, when love experts Dr. Drew Pinsky (a doctor in love!) and Adam Carolla help an event where “students will have the opportunity to get all of their questions about love, sex, and relationships answered.” Roughly 1,650 tickets were sold and apparently was a laugh riot mixed in practical advice. Wow! This is the event to go to!

But because in the dark ages of 2015, we don’t have event. Instead, we have me. And I would like to announce here, right here, right now, my new weekly love advice column called the “Quach Watch,” where I can answer your questions while also taking the ladies that caught my eye! Or maybe it’ll be called “Lovin’ With The Quach” or somethin’. The name will figured out sometime soon. Just send in your questions to my email address and I’ll answer them!

Just don’t. You shouldn’t want to hear anything I have to say.

Volume 200, Issue 63, 23 January 1992: INTERMISSION! THE STANFORD DAILY’S ENTERTAINING WEEKLY: Where the kisses are hers, and hers, and …

The Daily had editor-in-chief elections last week! And while platforms revolving around social media and such are compelling and all, I’m pretty surprised that no one ran under the platform of wanting to return The Stanford Daily to its former glory!

And by that, I mean making The Daily an incredibly stupid newspaper like it was back in the day.

And as always, I use the term stupid endearingly! Any newspaper with an entertainment intermission with a picture of a weird, creepy guy holding what seems to be like an anime body pillow type thing and ridiculously awkward articles sounds good to me! Like, this are the opening lines for of this article:

“I don’t want to be attracted to Suzanne Somers. I don’t like myself for it. If it were up to me, I’d get all hot and bothered by Nancy Friday or Joyce Carol Oates or, at the very least, that fat woman in the new Prince video. I’m not proud of it. No, not any of it.”

And the very last line?

“My mother was no longer so attractive.”

What the heck? I’m all for having fun, weird articles on The Daily, but this sexual confession and personal shame fest is… a lot.

But still, I respect the 1992 Daily staff for even publishing something like this. If this were a more serious column, I would make some comment about how I think it’d be cool if The Daily got back in the business of being pretty fun and weird, but… it’s not! So instead…

Like seriously, the picture of this guy is scary. He’s holding this thing called a “thigh-master” which I assume is a workout device but to me it looks like an inflatable anime body pillow and he’s giving this creepy smile.

 

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This Week In Stanford History: January 4 – 7 https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/05/this-week-in-stanford-history-january-4-7/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/05/this-week-in-stanford-history-january-4-7/#respond Tue, 06 Jan 2015 07:23:44 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1093313 Volume 204, Issue 51, January 4 1994: Despite hardships, study of ASSU to continue Remember when we voted on that thing? It had like, something to do with clubs, and I’m pretty sure the ASSU was taking all the money away or something. I got some emails about it but the bill was so easy […]

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Volume 204, Issue 51, January 4 1994: Despite hardships, study of ASSU to continue

Remember when we voted on that thing? It had like, something to do with clubs, and I’m pretty sure the ASSU was taking all the money away or something. I got some emails about it but the bill was so easy to understand I didn’t even bother reading them. You were probably too messed up after playing the after-break drinking game to remember.

And speaking of drinking games, drink whenever you hear someone say something awful about the ASSU. The ASSU has apparently been screwed up for so long that, in 1994, a law student named David Smolen conducted a study on the ASSU and it was reported that he “will provide recommendations this spring on how to improve the student organization.” Damn, you know the ASSU is beyond help when a law student has to step in.

I kid, I kid. I’m sure David was one of the good ones.

David divided up the study into five categories: fee assessment/student group funding, strategic financial plan/banking, review and revision of the ASSU Constitution, history of the ASSU and student feedback. Each category would have a study team with two leaders, six members, specific funding…

Whoa, whoa, whoa, this study is sounding a bit convoluted and needlessly complicated. This resulted in some difficulties and hardships with the study. Wow, the study of the ASSU itself couldn’t help but be a convoluted mess… like the ASSU.

If I find the results of the study, be sure to check your email for my 20-page long explanation of it. It’ll be a laugh riot, I assure you.

Volume 120, Issue 49, January 4 1952: Longer Hours At Bookstore

Heyoooo! Look who’s back from Christmas/Winter/Holiday/Oh right now I remember why I went out-of-state break! And while I’m just so excited to share my dumb New Year’s Eve stories with everyone, I am loathing the after-break small talk. You know what I mean. The after break drinking game is drink whenever you have a conversation like this:

“How was your break?”

“Good! But, I mean, it should have been longer, am I right? Too short!”

“Haha, I hear you, bro!” *cool high five because we’re such good friends who can truly relate to each other.*

One thing I am looking forward to, though, is visiting the bookstore to get all my fun, easy to find books! Students back in 1952 know what I’m talking about, when the bookstore was poppin’ off so much that the Bookstore Manager had to issue a written apology to Stanford students about the long lines and unavailable books (pfft! like that ever happens!) and prolonged store hours from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Woo! I mean, I used to only pregame at the bookstore because they closed so early, but 10 p.m.? You can have the full party there too!

But forreal though, let this be a public service announcement: Don’t come to the bookstore on Tuesday. Like, seriously. As a cool journalist man, I have inside sources saying bad stuff is going to happen on Tuesday. I’m going to go check it out and investigate, and uh… get all my books and fly through the line when no one is there. For journalism.

Volume 224, Issue 53, January 7 2004: Bret’s must-read guide to the Dorm Ski Trip

You know, I thought I went to a good school. A good, rich one. A good, rich one that should be able to pay my way to ski trip fun, but no! I have to pay $60! I could (barely) afford a haircut around these parts for that much!

I kid of course and couldn’t be more excited for ski trip! Luckily, a friend of yours and mine, Bret Bechis, has written an extensive and very helpful guide to having fun at dorm ski trip! Here I was thinking that getting to room with some of my boys and that cute lady from 2nd floor was fun enough, but no! Bret runs down how to actually have fun at ski trip:

Eating the #4 value meal from Taco Bell, Carl’s Jr, and a medium meatlovers Dominos pizza on the bus to Tahoe.

Order “The Annihilator” from a place called the “Murder Burger” with a bathtub cub of Diet Coke.

Tally the skiers/ riders you can run over or gore in one run or throughout the entire day.

Take the bike to the terrain park and try landing a 360 no-handed nutcracker off a 20-foot kicker while in mid-flight letting loose a Chris Rix-esque howl of “I AM AWESOME!”

Try skitching, a great winter sport that’s just so hot right now. All you need is a car, some duct tape, a buddy with a need for speed and a snow covered road. Tape over the soles of your shoes, and grab onto the back of the car. Let Leadfoot go wild behind the wheel and hold on for dear life.

Snow spitballs.

Well, uh… as a journalist, who has journalist abilities, I will do a little editorializing and say this is horrible, “this will probably kill you” advice. Ski trip sounds like a suicidal venture! Who gave this Bret the word count to give such treacherous advice? Oh…

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Local organization gathers community members to add new plants to The Dish trail https://stanforddaily.com/2014/11/17/local-organization-gathers-community-members-to-add-new-plants-to-the-dish-trail/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/11/17/local-organization-gathers-community-members-to-add-new-plants-to-the-dish-trail/#respond Mon, 17 Nov 2014 09:49:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1092190 This weekend, over 50 Stanford students, high school students and families took part in loosening the soil and adding new native plants on The Dish during an event planned by a local organization called Magic.

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This weekend, over 50 Stanford community members took part in loosening the soil and adding new native plants on The Dish. Volunteers learned how to plant plants, dig out ditches for water retention, set up tree shelters and use simple gardening tools. (Courtesy of Magic, Inc.)

The drought had left the soil around The Dish unforgiving, stuck in large chunks that were hard as rock. However, that didn’t prevent members of the local community from taking part in bettering plant life on The Dish trail this Saturday.

This weekend, over 50 Stanford students, high school students and families took part in loosening the soil and adding new native plants on The Dish during an event planned by a local organization called Magic. Magic gathered community members at The Dish trail for an event where each person learned how to plant plants, dig out ditches for water retention, set up tree shelters and use simple gardening tools.

“We took 60 California native plants and we inserted them into a largely alien landscape,” said David Schrom, the founder of Magic and a lecturer of Valuescience at Stanford. “We’re going to see if we’re able to establish these plants, which will provide habitat for other kinds of organisms that have grown in association with them for millions of years.”

In the past forty years of Magic’s Dish planting sessions, the soil quality had never been as dry and hard to break up as it was this year, remarked many organizers and volunteers.

Although the planting session was a success, the current California drought did not make the task easy and continues to pose problems for maintaining plant life.

“It’s been very difficult to dig,” said Tom Myers, a supervisor for the event. “This soil is like cement.”

“It makes it a lot harder for us to meet our goals,” said Gustavo Chavez ’15, another supervisor. “It means we’ll be out here during winter time—when it should be raining—watering the plants.”

The harder process this year didn’t stop the volunteers from enjoying their time however.

Ben and Caroline Pecore, age 5 and 9, particularly enjoyed digging the soil and playing with the mulch.

“It’s hard to find service opportunities for young children,” said Rebecca Pecore, mother of Ben and Caroline. “We walk the dish all the time as a family, so it’ll be nice to see the trees growing. It’s great for them to learn about planting a tree and how it’s properly done. I thought it might be too hard for us, or it might be too long for us, and neither was true. It was a great family activity for a few hours.”

“I really like meeting people from and outside of Stanford,” Chavez said. “I think a lot of the people here are high school students or parents who want to give back to the community, and getting to know them while doing community service at the same time is just an awesome experience. I get to talk to high school students who remind me of high school seven years ago. It’s a really neat experience talking to them.”

Schrom is planning the next planting session for early December and hopes his efforts will help bring about larger climate change.

“What happens out here—you see little kids, high school students, Stanford students who don’t normally get their hands in the dirt—they come out and they learn something and if we’re lucky, or skilled, or some combination of the two, people change what’s in their heads and hearts and they start making bigger connections,” he said.

“The human consciousness is a key element in the biosphere,” he added. “And this project right now, believe it or not, even though what we’re doing is digging in the dirt, is to me much more about human consciousness.”

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

 

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Students respond to potential removal of The Free Store https://stanforddaily.com/2014/11/13/students-respond-to-potential-removal-of-the-free-store/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/11/13/students-respond-to-potential-removal-of-the-free-store/#respond Fri, 14 Nov 2014 07:34:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1092039 Many Stanford students responding to a recent survey have indicated their support for the Stanford Free Store, which is in danger of losing its current location.

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(VICTOR XU/The Stanford Daily)

(VICTOR XU/The Stanford Daily)

More than 1,400 students responded to a recent survey launched by The Free Store organizers, who began a campaign after hearing news that they may lose their space in the basement of Old Union.

The Stanford community expressed overwhelmingly positive views of The Free Store, many of which mentioned the store as a valuable campus resource.

“I have no idea why you wouldn’t just have a free store,” said Connor Stubbs ’18. “There is no reason against it. It’s not like they’re using the space for anything. It’s not hurting anybody. It’s not getting in the way. It’s not like anybody goes down there for any other reason.”

The survey had only been out since October 28; however, over 1,400 students have responded with interest in retaining the store’s space.

“A couple of students I’d never met before offered to forward The Free Store emails onto their lists,” said Maria Deloso ’15, co-director of The Free Store.

“The results are overwhelmingly positive: Pretty much everyone seems to think the free store is a valuable campus resource,” said Justin Briggs, fourth-year graduate student and co-director of The Free Store. “I think the survey really demonstrates that the community values the store, wants it to remain open and even wants it to be expanded.”

According to Briggs, of the 1,427 responses to date, 1,225 students believe that The Free Store is a good campus resource. Less than one percent — 10 students — believe it isn’t, while the remainder expressed being unsure.

The Free Store coordinators plan to present these statistics to the Old Union building manager to demonstrate student interest in the store, hoping that this new information will have them reconsider their decision.

As student awareness about The Free Store’s situation increases, more students are becoming vocal about keeping The Free Store in Old Union.

“The Free Store is one of the greatest resources for reducing waste on campus,” said Heather Connelly ’18. “Not only is it fun, but it builds a real sense of community among students.”

One student, John Brooks Hamby ’18, has been very vocal about his support for The Free Store and plans to use his position in Frosh Council to help bring about change.

“I hadn’t heard much about The Free Store until I was told there was an attempt to have it removed,” Hamby said. “I was surprised that there would be opposition to having a student-run, student-led and sustainable program like The Free Store. The Free Store is representative of the initiative of Stanford students and the Stanford culture. It would be a shame if it was taken away.”

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford’s Free Store may lose space in Old Union basement https://stanforddaily.com/2014/11/05/stanfords-free-store-may-lose-space-in-old-union-basement/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/11/05/stanfords-free-store-may-lose-space-in-old-union-basement/#comments Wed, 05 Nov 2014 16:55:03 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1091422 Just days before their grand reopening, Stanford’s Free Store—where students can take items such as clothes, microwaves and textbooks for free and donate their leftover things to help reduce waste—was notified that they would lose their location in Old Union’s basement.

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Starting as a business plan for an Alternative Spring Break project, The Free Store has since grown into a full-fledged student service with a strong emphasis on sustainability, aiming to reduce waste by giving students a place for their leftover things instead of them being thrown away. (RAHIM ULLAH/The Stanford Daily)
Starting as a business plan for an Alternative Spring Break project, The Free Store has since grown into a full-fledged student service with a strong emphasis on sustainability, aiming to reduce waste by giving students a place for their leftover things instead of them being thrown away.
(RAHIM ULLAH/The Stanford Daily)

Just days before its grand reopening, Stanford’s Free Store — where students can take items such as clothes, microwaves and textbooks for free and donate their leftover things to help reduce waste — was notified that it would lose its location in Old Union’s basement.

It was nearly a week before the Nov. 1 grand reopening of The Free Store, and with many excited new volunteers, ambitious plans and a brand new year, the reopening was the first initiative to raise awareness about the store and make the upcoming school year a breakout year for The Free Store.

Justin Briggs, fourth year graduate student and co-director of The Free Store, had been in the process of finalizing the details of the reopening, when The Free Store would open a mini free store outside for a day with select items for people to take and boxes for people to donate. The reopening would be complete with fliers, posters and emails to spread the word of the event.

The final order of business for the reopening was to determine its location, and Briggs then went to speak with Old Union’s building manager to see if the front of Old Union could be used for the reopening event.

Briggs was then told that The Free Store would no longer be allowed to operate in the basement of Old Union.

The Free Store has operated in the basement of Old Union for over three years, but has gone unnoticed by many students. Starting as a business plan for an Alternative Spring Break project, The Free Store has since grown into a full-fledged student service with a strong emphasis on sustainability, aiming to reduce waste by giving students a place for their leftover things instead of them being thrown away, and to reduce consumption of new resources by providing these leftovers to other students in need.

“Students and other community members on campus have extra stuff that’s totally good but that they don’t need, and that’s most pronounced at the end of the quarter when people throw tons of stuff away,” Briggs said. “The Free Store provides an outlet for all of that stuff. If you have extra stuff that’s still good, instead of throwing it away, you can just bring it here.”

Items like clothes, shoes, water bottles, ramen, microwaves and textbooks can often be found in The Free Store. Sperry Top-siders and Samsonite suitcases are some of the more notable items, while Nerf Guns, costumes, cassette players, underwear and a solar-powered backpack that can charge smartphones make up the rather quirkier things.

“People donate lots of weird things that you wouldn’t expect,” Briggs said. “Basically anything that people have and then no longer want, could end up at the free store.”

Everything donated to The Free Store is available for all students for free, giving students a source for valuable items. Items that remain in The Free Store after a long time are donated to charity. The Free Store prides itself in not only creating a community of sustainability, but a community among students as well.

“It’s a great way to meet people outside of your social circle,” said Maria Deloso ’15, co-director of The Free Store. “Just because anyone can show up. You can get people who happen to be in Old Union and the next thing you know you’re in a 30-minute to one hour conversation and learning about their lives, and you would have never talked to them without The Free Store.”

The Free Store has postponed its reopening plans, but Briggs believes that if enough interest is generated, they can petition to keep the space. In doing so, The Free Store staff members have posted a short survey to gather statistics about the store, and are currently working with the ASSU to become an officially recognized group.

“We are working to clarify why we are being removed from the space,” Briggs said. “We have been told that the space is zoned for storage, but somehow this did not stop the building manager from approving it for the last three and a half years. It’s currently a mystery to me.”

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford Roundtable talks climate change https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/27/stanford-roundtable-talks-climate-change/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/27/stanford-roundtable-talks-climate-change/#comments Mon, 27 Oct 2014 08:09:29 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1090620 Raising the cost of water, taxing companies for the use of carbon, and making global warming a more personal issue were some ideas to combat society’s indifference towards climate issues discussed in this year’s Roundtable.

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The annual Roundtable talk Thursday morning was moderated by Lesley Stahl and discussed controversies regarding climate change, including the possibilities of raising the cost of water and taxing companies for carbon usage. (RAHIM ULLAH/The Stanford Daily)
The annual Roundtable talk Thursday morning was moderated by Lesley Stahl and discussed controversies regarding climate change, including the possibilities of raising the cost of water and taxing companies for carbon usage.
(RAHIM ULLAH/The Stanford Daily)

Raising the cost of water, taxing companies for the use of carbon and making global warming a more personal issue were some ideas to combat society’s indifference towards climate issues discussed in this year’s Roundtable.

“Twenty-five percent of kids in LA have asthma due to air pollution,” said Tom Steyer, philanthropist and founder of NextGen Climate, when discussing some of the ill effects of global warming.

 

Making climate change personal

Described as “the climate conversation you haven’t heard,” Stanford brought in the “rock stars of the environmental and energy sectors” for its annual Roundtable discussion, held in Maples Pavillion on Thursday morning. With climate change, the overall conversation has shifted from whether or not it’s because of humans to what we can do to actually fix the problem. Even though the majority of people understand that the issue is important, one of the bigger issues the panel tackled is the struggle of getting people to actually care.

“Two-thirds of Americans agree on the issue of climate change, but they don’t think it’s very important,” Steyer said. “When discussing climate change, we have to think local and we have to think human.” Citizens are more concerned with their own problems, their families and their local communities than the overall global climate, and the panel discussed ways to make the issues of climate change more relatable.

“People don’t make decisions based on global average temperatures, but what’s actually happening in their communities,” said Bina Venkataraman, director of global policy initiatives of the Board Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Society’s current bystander status has lead to an overall indifference toward climate issues and a common sentiment to “deal with it later.”

 

A growing sense of urgency

Global warming is as important of an issue as ever, with a recent study saying there may be “40 percent more rapid warming than we just recently understood,” according to Field.

Greenland is very much feeling the effects.

“Greenland’s way of life has always involved ice,” said Lesley Stahl, moderator and correspondent for 60 Minutes. “And now there’s no ice, but they’re finding oil.”

“Who owns the atmosphere? It’s not the government; it’s citizens.” said Alvaro Umaña,  former minister of Costa Rica’s Energy and Environment government branch. “No one is standing up for the atmosphere.”

“The most challenging aspect of the climate problem is the urgency and consequence of delaying action,” said Chris Field, professor at Stanford and director of the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology. “The longer we wait, the more it costs and the more solutions become complex.”

“I’ve been working in this area for 40 years and haven’t seen much progress, so it’s frustrating,” Umaña said. “We can do small things right away that will be very effective.”

Umaña recalled his work in Costa Rica, where a series of small changes has resulted in renewable energy sources that produce 90 percent of the overall electricity generated.

“We have to start acting because everyone else is going to start acting,” Umaña said. Umaña was disappointed with Apple for not leading the charge for companies to be more environmentally aware, but they have instead made the iPhone 6 leave a larger carbon footprint than the iPhone 5. “No company wants to be first or last.”

“There are nine companies in the world that generate two-thirds of all global emissions,” Umaña said. Companies should be held accountable for the carbon they use, the panel agreed, and believed that a tax on carbon is a way to ensure this.

“Let’s put a tax on carbon and make it revenue neutral,” said George Shultz, former Secretary of State and distinguished fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. “The people producing carbon are imposing a cost on society.”

“The polluter should pay for the pollution,” Steyer said, leading to one of the loudest applauses from the audience that morning.


Regulating personal water usage

The current state of the climate has lead to issues with water, such as California’s drought, and citizens should be held accountable for their water use as well.

“We all think of water as a common resource that we have an absolute right to,” Steyer said. Even with the drought, many people still water their lawns and use excessive of water in their homes, as the water bill for many wealthy homes is so minimal that it’s irrelevant.

“Water is also an issue of equity,” Venkataraman said. “Residents in Hillsborough use three times as much water as residents in East Palo Alto.” Raising the price of water seemed like the answer, the panel agreed, but they understood the limitations and potential concerns.

“We all need water to survive, and pricing it at a level where people can’t get the water they need is something we can’t do,” Steyer said.

 

Moving forward

Even after a morning detailing how climate issues were not being addressed, the panel remained optimistic for the future, knowing that many innovators are looking towards the future and am working on technologies to combat global warming.

“I strongly believe that our ability to solve climate change from a technical standpoint absolutely exists,” Steyer said.

The event closed by putting the issues at the hands of a full crowd of Stanford alums, many of whom are in a place to make change happen.

“All the great ideas start with academics discussing the issue and moving out from there,” Stahl said.

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

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This Week in Stanford History: Oct. 19-25 https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/25/this-week-in-stanford-history-oct-19-25/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/25/this-week-in-stanford-history-oct-19-25/#respond Sun, 26 Oct 2014 04:57:14 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1090633 A look at old Stanford Daily news articles from this week in past years!

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The Daily reflects on interesting articles from Stanford’s past in our series “This Week in Stanford History,” based off The Daily’s archival collection.

 

Volume 146, Issue 17, 19 Oct. 1964: Sex Without Sorrow

It’s Homecoming week! Yay! I’m so happy to welcome all the amazing classes back to The Farm by almost hitting literally ALL of you with you my bike. But I would like to give a special shoutout to the Class of 1964, who is celebrating their 50th anniversary with Stanford! Much respect! Most students would have divorced their universities and found a pretty little liberal arts college to run away with at this point.

A big topic nowadays is, of course, sexual consent. Back in the day, they were thinking the same thing! Except it was, uh, consent with Jesus to have sex. This editorial from the Contemporary Christians on Campus wants to remind you about the danger of having “wrong” sex.

“The wrong kind of sex not only never satisfies but does lead to emotional problems, guilt and anxiety from which some people never recover.” Well, damn son.

But hey, this is 2014! You can have all the sex you want without Christians yelling at you about how sex is only beautiful within the bounds of matrimony!

Well, no, that’s not actually true. Some Christians will certainly still yell at you.

Yeah, Grandma, I don’t need your crap! And let me tell you! It was STILL very beautiful!

But yes, rejoice Class of ’64! Have all the sex you want! Just remember, consent is sexy!

 

Volume 210, Issue 22, 21 Oct. 1996: Horoscope

Yeah, I’m a capricorn, what of it? And according to my horoscope on the 21st, “Getting out and about now boosts social life and ego. People are thrilled by your presence and let you know.” Well, I mean, damn right!

And come on Libras, get it together. “Pay attention in class, your priorities are slipping. It’s time to get back on top of things.” Yeah, get back on top of things, like letting me know how thrilled you are for my presence.

And heeey, there, Leos, check this out. “You’re reinventing yourself, creating a more enigmatic image. Well, the opposite sex is unable to resist. It won’t be long before you pair off with a particularly ardent admirer.” Giiiirl, see, I’m getting out and about more, you’re reinventing yourself… I just wanna let you know I’m thrilled by your presence, and I’m sure you’ll feel the same about me. And let me know. Because you should. Please.

 

Volume 150, Issue 21, 21 Oct. 1966: Phi Delts Highjack 11,000 Dailies; Civil Suit For Damages Possible

With the controversial article calling for the end of Greek life weeks ago, it’s only fitting to look back in time and realize that the relationship between Greek life and the Daily was always a bit… strained.

An estimated $1600 worth of Dailies were stolen by members of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. When asked for a statement, the fraternity house president said, “I think they were running a paper drive. They needed to make papier-mache for Homecoming decorations,” and later, “”it was all part of an experiment being conducted by six of our psychology majors. They were trying to measure people’s ingrained responses to being denied their Daily in the morning.”

The Daily wasn’t sure if they wanted to pursue charges, and would make a decision a week later. I don’t know what ended up happening, but hey, now’s the time to strike!

 

Volume 210, Issue 23, 22 Oct. 1996: Rankings Too Powerful

Man, even back in the day people realized that college rankings are awful.

With William Deresiewicz visiting campus this week and his slandering of the college admission systems, this article is still relevant today. This article details how the ASSU passed a unanimous vote to explicitly denounce the U.S. News & World Report “Best College” list and call for the administration to not send requested information to the U.S. News & World Report in hopes to radically change the ranking system. Students claim to want this because they believed students too often rely on college rankings for deciding on where to apply to college and U.S. News & World Report is arbitrary and really doesn’t mean anything.

Or, some speculate that Stanford students were just butt hurt because Stanford dropped from 4th to 6th that year. But don’t worry guys, in 2014, we’re back to being 4th!

Gosh, I hate myself for knowing that.

 

Volume 226, Issue 21, 22 Oct. 2004: Secularists Have Children Too!

This ad for the Humanist Community is just about as scary as the first time I saw a black squirrel on campus.

I don’t even know what to say. I’m just going to leave these gems here:

“Religion can be dangerous to your health!”

“We secular parents don’t want our offspring distracted by dreams about some other world, nor do we want them to pick up the prejudices that unfortunately contaminate so many religions.”

“An intense belief in some reward after death can lead to monstrous actions, as demonstrated by suicide bombers who have dehumanized their victims.”

I’m sure I’m only stunned because in the modern age people are worried about politically correct all the dang time, but geez. The best part about this is that it’s advertising a daycare type thing, where children can “explore a realm of values.” I don’t know, that just sounds like some scary stuff. They put their phone number in the ad, and of course, I had to call it.

Let’s just say it’s SO easy to join!

 

Volume 154, Issue 24, 23 Oct. 1968: Pro-Cleaver Sit-In At Berkeley Ends With 120 Student Arrests

Oh, Berkeley. You silly goose.

Apparently a crapton of students got upset about not receiving credit in a racism course, Social Analysis 139 X, where a Black Panther leader was a guest lecturer. This ended up in over 2,500 onlookers massed outside and lots of traffic and people throwing rocks at the deputy bus and there was a bomb threat and holy crap Berkeley was a mess.

Yeah. WAS. Mmhmm.

 

Volume 184, Issue 21, 24 Oct. 1983: New eating plan gets mixed reviews

Are Stanford students ever happy with the food?

But instead of people freaking out over how many swipes they have left, this new system relied on “points.” The Daily reported on how this new meal was doing, a plan that was intended to reduce waste, where each food item was assigned “points” and people only had a certain number of points.

And hey, guess what, PEOPLE DIDN’T LIKE IT.

And I’m so glad. Imagine a Stanford where we had to worry about point inflation. I can just imagine a world where old senior farts would be all “Oh, I remember the good old days where food only cost .25 points, but now it’s four points!”

 

Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Former NSA director Michael Hayden explains surveillance programs in “Inside the NSA” event https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/09/former-nsa-director-michael-hayden-explains-surveillance-programs-in-inside-the-nsa-event/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/09/former-nsa-director-michael-hayden-explains-surveillance-programs-in-inside-the-nsa-event/#comments Thu, 09 Oct 2014 22:25:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1089408 Michael Hayden makes no apologies for NSA surveillance, admitting that the NSA steals information from citizens to keep them safe in his revealing talk about the NSA to the Stanford community.

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Michael Hayden made no apologies for National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance, admitting that the NSA steals information from citizens to keep them safe, in his revealing talk about the NSA to the Stanford community.

“I freely admit, the NSA steals stuff,” said Hayden. “We’re really good at it. We’re better than the Chinese. We steal stuff to keep you free and keep you safe.”

Hayden, director of the NSA from 1999 to 2005, spoke Wednesday night at Cemex Auditorium, the first event in a new Stanford speaker series titled “The Security Conundrum.” Hayden spoke about many issues and misconceptions regarding the NSA, such as the stealing of data and invasions of privacy.

“Privacy is the line we continually negotiate for ourselves as unique creatures of God and as social animals,” Hayden said. “There are some things that the community has a right to know, and there are other things that the community does not have a right to know.

“Where that line is actually depends on the totality of the circumstances.”

After the events of 9/11, Hayden explained that the NSA was accused of being “far too timid and far too cautious” with the handling of terrorist communications within America. New surveillance programs were established in response, such as Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, allowing the NSA to collect phone records from virtually every person in America.

“[The] 215 program,” Hayden said, “those were all the products of that requirement, and that was the lightest touch we could devise on American privacy that would give us a reasonable chance to detecting that kind of communication.

“We will keep America free by making Americans feel safe again.”

But do Americans actually feel safer with these programs in place? After Edward Snowden leaked classified documents detailing the surveillance programs, the NSA and American government have faced a lot of controversy, criticism and suspicion.

In conversation with Hayden, moderator Amy Zegart, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and an affiliated faculty member at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, mentioned a study where only 16 percent of Americans believe the NSA is telling the truth about the 215 program and its inability to monitor content.

“Have any of you made your phone bill talk?” Hayden asked. “This is not electronic collection; these are billing records from the companies. It is physical. To listen to content of those calls would not just violate the laws of the United States, that would violate the laws of physics.”

The skepticism of the NSA isn’t only in America. During the Q&A session, one European student asked why should he trust the American government when they are “tapping [his] leaders’ phones and collecting [their] communications.”

“Espionage is an accepted international practice,” Hayden said. ”Any government that is worthy of the respect of its people conducts espionage to keep the citizens safe. I make no apologies for America’s espionage.”

Hayden reaffirmed that what the NSA does is not that bad when compared to other countries, saying that America’s intelligence community is the most transparent on the planet and that “no one else is in our zip code.” However, Hayden recognized the need to be even more transparent in order for the program to survive.

“We have to give the American people enough information to at least tolerate, if not support, what the government does to keep them safe,” Hayden said.

James Bradbury ’16 admired Hayden’s approach to the issues.

“I think it’s wonderful that someone [has an] attitude so honest and [a] way of talking so forthright,” Bradbury said. “It’s better as a representative of his side than a lawyer going up there and talking about the detailed constitutional questions.”

Others, like Sojourner Ahebee ’18, were not as impressed, claiming that while informative, Hayden’s apparent media training made the message seem disingenuous.

“I’m really curious to see what he thinks as an American citizen, and not as someone who works for the American government, and I wished he would have addressed us in that way,” Ahebee said.

Contact Jeremy Quach at quach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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