Alina Abidi – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Thu, 20 Aug 2015 06:28:56 +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 Alina Abidi – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Stanford-developed sleep mask claims to cure jet lag https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/18/stanford-developed-sleep-mask-claims-to-cure-jet-lag/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/18/stanford-developed-sleep-mask-claims-to-cure-jet-lag/#respond Wed, 19 Aug 2015 05:33:36 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102898 A startup founded by Stanford researchers wants to use one second of light while you’re sleeping to cure your jet lag. A sleep mask developed by LumosTech emits the light while the user sleeps, which developers claim make people feel tired three hours earlier or later per use, making it easier for travelers to adjust to a new sleep schedule.

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A startup founded by Stanford researchers wants to use one second of light while you’re sleeping to cure your jet lag. A sleep mask developed by LumosTech emits the light while the user sleeps, which developers claim make people feel tired three hours earlier or later per use, making it easier for travelers to adjust to a new sleep schedule.

LumosTech CEO Vanessa Burns. (ALINA ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)
LumosTech CEO Vanessa Burns. (ALINA ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)

The team adapted the technology from Jamie Zietzer, Stanford researcher, who studies the connection between sleep and light. Through millisecond pulses of light, the masks stimulate light sensitive nerves to affect users’ circadian rhythms without waking them. Though a few other companies utilize light to treat jet lag, this is the only one that works while you’re sleeping.

“It doesn’t preclude you from getting the seven to nine hours of sleep you’re supposed to get, but we can shift when that seven to nine hours happen,” said Vanessa Burns, LumosTech CEO and Ph.D. candidate at the School of Medicine.

According to Burns, travelers naturally recover from jet lag one hour per day, and LumosTech hopes to cut that time into a third. While a stay in London, which is eight hours ahead of California could take a week to adjust to naturally, the mask claims to cure that jet lag in a few days.

LumosTech Chief Marketing Officer Biquan Luo. (ALINA ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)
LumosTech Chief Marketing Officer Biquan Luo. (ALINA ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)

The team, comprised of four women, met in an entrepreneurship seminar at the University’s Innovation Farm, where they had to create a business plan based on a technology. For the project, they decided to focus on Zeitzer’s sleep research, who currently serves as a scientific advisor for the company. His work especially appealed to Biquan Luo, Stanford Research Fellow and Chief Marketing Officer of LumosTech — she often flew to China and was well aware of the effects of jet lag.

Currently, LumosTech is beta testing locals who travel by using 15 mostly handmade prototypes. After they get more feedback, they’ll move into production.

Zeitzer’s original technology shifted sleep cycles about 45 minutes, one-fourth of the three hours it boasts now. He and the four scientists will try to further increase that number and to further cure jet lag, one second at a time.

 

Contact Alina Abidi at alinafabidi ‘at’ gmail.com.

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Make some, save some – DIY acai bowls https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/17/make-some-save-some-diy-acai-bowls/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/17/make-some-save-some-diy-acai-bowls/#respond Tue, 18 Aug 2015 03:42:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102882 In the past year or so, acai bowls have been popping up on Instagram, Snapchat and in different restaurants here in Palo Alto. And though the bowls can be a sweet, filling and relatively healthy brunch option, they can get pricey at around $8 a bowl. Find out how to make them in your own kitchen!

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Try making your own acai bowl! (ALINA ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)
Try making your own acai bowl! (ALINA ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)

In the past year or so, acai bowls have been popping up on Instagram, Snapchat and in different restaurants here in Palo Alto. And though the bowls can be a sweet, filling and relatively healthy brunch option, they can get pricey at around $8 a bowl. Here’s how to make them in your own (dorm) kitchen! (Not to mention that some of these ingredients are snaggable at your local dining hall.)

(ALINI ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)
(ALINA ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)

What you’ll need for the base: an acai berry pack, a few heaping spoonfuls of yogurt, a ripe banana, a few spoons of frozen berries and a spoonful of peanut butter

You can find acai packs at Costco, Whole Foods, Sprouts and Safeway for about $1 a pack. The pack itself suggests adding juice or a non-dairy liquid (like coconut water or almond milk), but I’ve found that yogurt makes the bowl creamy and easier to blend.

Making a bowl or smoothie is a great way to use slightly overripe bananas, which add more natural sweetness. One to two bananas will work depending on your preference. Frozen berries give the bowl its rich, purple color and I always buy them in bulk for smoothies. Any frozen fruit, like pineapple or mango, would work. Finally, I love adding peanut butter for extra protein and flavor (think peanut butter and jelly), but be careful not to add too much.

(ALINI ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)
(ALINA ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)

Which toppings to use: a few spoonfuls of granola, ½ a banana, assorted berries and other fruit

Granola adds a nice crunch to the otherwise smooth bowl. If you don’t have granola, you can use cereal. Chop up any fruit you have into a bite-sized pieces for the top of the bowl, but berries are always a good option. I always use bananas, because I’ve found that their taste and texture complement the smoothie base and crunchy granola perfectly.

(ALINI ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)
(ALINA ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)

Blend all base ingredients until smooth. If you’re making this for just yourself, using a small, personal blender is easiest. The base should be a thick, smoothie consistency. If the color is too light, add more frozen berries.

(ALINI ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)
(ALINA ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)

Assemble your bowl. Add and arrange your toppings of choice and eat (or serve) immediately. Acai bowls are more filling than you’d imagine and make a great post-hike or pre-study snack!

 

Contact Alina Abidi at alinafabidi ‘at’ gmail.com.

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Students create ping pong-playing robot in artificial intelligence lab https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/11/students-create-ping-pong-playing-robot-in-artificial-intelligence-lab/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/11/students-create-ping-pong-playing-robot-in-artificial-intelligence-lab/#respond Wed, 12 Aug 2015 06:11:54 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102698 A final project for CS 225A: “Experimental Robotics,” Kuka succeeded in another return, and the four students who had programmed Kuka succeeded in their project: teaching a robot to play ping pong.

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Kuka watched the path of the ping pong ball, lifted a bright red paddle and, with a snap, effortlessly sent the ball to the other side. The class full of Stanford students laughed and cheered, snapping pictures on their phones.  A final project for CS 225A: “Experimental Robotics,” Kuka succeeded in another return, and the four students who had programmed Kuka succeeded in their project: teaching a robot to play ping pong.

“The ping pong project was indeed very challenging since it combined vision, manipulation and required fast real-time responses,” said CS 225A lecturer Samir Menon. “Robots also lack the human ability to jerk their wrists and provide a ball with sufficient momentum. So returns were not easy.”

The robot’s name comes from its model, the KUKA Intelligent Industrial Work Assistant (IIWA). Though another KUKA Robotics robot has gained popularity for its ping pong skills in the past, the videos turned out to be heavily edited.

Project member Travis Le ’16 said that he was surprised when different news outlets, including Yahoo and Wired, picked up on the ping pong story since he was so impressed by other projects created by his classmates.

The class project was fairly open-ended, and other groups programmed the Stanford Artificial Intelligence (AI) Laboratory’s robots to do tasks such as playing kendama and serving as a moving landing pad for drones.

While brainstorming different functions for their robot, Le and his teammates looked at whip motions. When their professor noted that the snap of a whip was similar to the motion of playing ping pong, the students had their project.

The team’s main goals included intercepting the ball, seeing the ball, watching its movement, calculating where the ball would land and attaching the paddle to the robot. A secondary goal was figuring out how to hit the ball. Aside from a few bugs, the group felt their project went smoothly.

“[Our team] meshed really well,” Le said. “This was my favorite group project because of the people.”

Le explained that the team’s diversity allowed them to play to each other’s abilities. As the team’s only computer science (CS) major, Le did more of the coding, while others worked on the paddle attachment and trajectory calculations. According to class TA Wanxi Liu M.S. ’15, having a mix of majors — CS, mechanical engineering, aeronautics, etc. — made for the ideal group.

While the group dynamic worked well, Le explained that the group’s biggest challenge was just getting time in the AI lab, where the robots were stored. With all the different projects, there was a space constraint, and they needed to spend time with the robot.

“It might look easy, but it’s actually really hard,” Liu said. “There [are] a lot of constraints. They need to prevent [their robots] from hitting something [because] the robot is really expensive.”

Le also explained that, compared to other CS classes he has taken, CS 225A has been the most hands-on.

“[The class was] hands-on not only in the sense of doing work that really interests you, but also dealing with applications,” Le said. “Teaching a robot how to play ping pong, a lot of people can relate to. Whereas if you say, ‘My algorithm is two times faster than something else’ — that’s not as tangible.”

Le said he was nervous before the day of the final presentation, which was worth 50 percent of their grade in the class. Only one of his teammates, aeronautics graduate student Sarah Nelson, was able to “toss [the ball] well enough” for the robot to consistently hit it back. But on June 4, the robot even returned tosses from their classmates and professor.

“We didn’t really change that much code,” Le said. “It just worked. That was pretty beautiful.”

 

Contact Alina Abidi at alinafabidi ‘at’ gmail.com.

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Former dean Julie Lythcott-Haims writes book on helicopter parenting https://stanforddaily.com/2015/07/29/helicopter-parenting/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/07/29/helicopter-parenting/#respond Thu, 30 Jul 2015 05:35:52 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102525 A carefully curated schedule from a young age featuring the right tutors, classes and extracurriculars may get you into your school of choice. But what happens once you get there?

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A carefully curated schedule from a young age featuring the right tutors, classes and extracurriculars may get you into your school of choice. But what happens once you get there?

Former Dean of Freshmen Julie Lythcott-Haims ’89 wrote “How to Raise an Adult” to warn against “helicopter parenting,” or, as she put in her book trailer, “holding… hands too much, too hard, too often.” Lythcott-Haims uses her 10 years at the University and her personal experience as a parent to detail the risks of children’s overdependence on their parents. The Daily sat down with Lythcott-Haims to discuss her opinions on helicopter parenting.

(Courtesy of Kristina Vetter) Former Dean of Freshman Julie Lythcott-Haims and her recent book "How to Raise an Adult."
(Courtesy of Kristina Vetter) Former Dean of Freshman Julie Lythcott-Haims and her recent book “How to Raise an Adult.”

The Stanford Daily (TSD): Back in 2012, you warned against the “padded cell of childhood” in a Ted Talk. How long has this issue been on your mind?

Julie Lythcott-Haims (JL): It’s been on my mind for 10 years. I was just a college dean with more and more parents wanting to be involved in the day-to-day lives of their adult sons and daughters. I saw those same sons and daughters really lacking the wherewithal to make their own decisions, deal with the transactional aspects of life at the University, solving problems, handling disputes. I thought, ‘What will become of us all in a society led by this generation someday’?

In the last three or four years, folks in the psychology community have come out with study after study after study linking an over-parenting style with greater rates of anxiety and depression. In the beginning, it was just me, this dean with some hunches and compassion for young people, and now there are these mental health consequences.

TSD: As Dean of Freshmen, how did you try to combat this issue and emphasize independence?

JL: When I was in the presence of one of my students and their parents, I would always direct my eye contact to the student. Even if the parent asked the question, I would direct my eye contact to the son or daughter, and it was my way of saying very subtly that the person who should be retaining this information is this college student.

I also sent very overt messages to parents when I had the opportunity to speak with them. I was very clear in my conversations with parents that [their] son or daughter isn’t a child anymore. I was always encouraging, in a very compassionate way, that it’s time. Trust your son or daughter. Trust the University. Now it’s time to let your kid be the driver.

TSD: You spoke with KQED about how children are taught to fear strangers so much so that they are unable to meet new people. What other ways does helicopter parenting overcorrect or backfire?

JL: Students whose parents are forcing them to study a particular thing — two students come to mind. These women were really smart, really accomplished, really trying hard, but just withering, walking some path that someone else was making. I had no doubt that their parents were certain that they were doing the right thing.

What I learned from working with thousands of college students over the years is that success in life comes from figuring out what you’re good at and what you love and having the courage to find a career in furtherance of those interests. Your own intrinsic motivation in these subjects is what carries you through the hardest parts of it.

TSD: In your experience, does helicopter parenting stem from being overprotected themselves as children or from being given less attention?

JL: When the Baby Boom began over parenting in the 1980s, it became the way parenting happened in the United States. The Baby Boom, their parents were certainly more hands off than the Baby Boom became, but I don’t think people would call the way they were raised neglectful. In the early ’80s, we had this confluence of teaching to the test, praising kids for every little thing, organizing play and not letting them be alone in the world. Parents were super involved in their kids’ lives. We shouldn’t have been surprised then, when we saw parents coming to college with their kids in 1998 or so and wanting to play a very close role in the life of their kids.

I think the greatest irony is that the Baby Boom were such great champions of their own right to be heard. Their mantra was ‘question authority.’ They demanded a seat at the table, they demanded a right to be heard. This was the first generation where teenagers had a voice, and ironically by doing so much of the thinking for their own kids, they’ve actually deprived their kids of developing that same tough, rugged spirit that the Baby Boom had.

TSD: What would you say to parents who feel that they must “hover” in order to give their children the same advantages that their peers have?

JL: Parents have lost sight of the long-term goal. Our long-term goal, as parents, should be to put ourselves out of a job and raise our kids to self actualize independence. [Students] are going to be left in the dust because their peers who have not been over parented will actually have the skills to make their way through the day with the confidence that comes from being allowed to do for themselves.

TSD: You reference Malcolm Gladwell and his theory that students shouldn’t go to the best college they get into. Who should be going to top-tier schools like Stanford if they can excel more in less selective schools?

JL: Malcolm Gladwell’s theory is that you should be the big fish in a small pond. You should go to one of the highly selective schools if you feel you are really excited and prepared to fully engage everything that the school has to offer: the classes, the research. [Attend those schools] if you have the confidence based on your own high school habits and your interests and can really thrive there. You don’t want to go where you feel, ‘I’m going to be in the bottom half of the class.’ Obviously by definition, half the class is going to be the bottom, but Gladwell writes about the psychological harm that can come and how people end up not pursuing their dreams. You want to be challenged, but not overwhelmed and [feeling] that you’re in the back of the class.

 

This interview has been condensed and edited.

 

Contact Alina Abidi at alinafabidi ‘at’ gmail.com.

 

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Researchers find walking in nature provides mental health benefits https://stanforddaily.com/2015/07/26/researchers-find-walking-in-nature-provides-mental-health-benefits/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/07/26/researchers-find-walking-in-nature-provides-mental-health-benefits/#respond Mon, 27 Jul 2015 02:29:59 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102518 Stanford researchers found that walking in nature, as opposed to walking in urban areas, provides mental health benefits.

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Stanford researchers found that walking in nature, as opposed to walking in urban areas, provides mental health benefits.

According to the study, led by Greg Bratman, a fourth year doctoral student in the School of Earth Sciences, after a 90-minute walk at the Dish, participants reported lower levels of rumination, which the study states is a known risk factor for mental illness. Participants also showed reduced neural activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain linked to negative emotions and mental illness risks. The participants walking along El Camino Real for the same amount of time, on the other hand, had neither of these benefits.

This summer, Bratman and his team are looking to further develop this study by replicating and validating the rumination finding and by finding other aspects of emotion regulation, along with an explanation of these benefits.

The research team also includes Gretchen Daily, Bing Professor in Environmental Science and senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Daily is a founder of the Natural Capital Project, which uses studies like this one to integrate nature into the decision making of urban planners and the government.

“We’re trying to come up with rigorous and quantitative ways of bringing in the values of nature into our planning and investing,” Daily said. “We’re using mental health metrics to understand what the return would be, in some sense, in investing in nature.”

Bratman previously led a more general 50-minute walk study before focusing in on rumination for the 90-minute study. Other researchers had reported mood and memory benefits from nature, but the team wanted to focus on emotion regulation.

According to Bratman, three trends set the stage for the team’s investigation. First, over half the population lives in urban areas, and by 2050, the proportion is projected at 70 percent. Second, there has been a marked decrease in nature exposure and the opportunity to have nature experiences. Finally, there has been an uptick in mental health disorders globally, including anxiety disorders and depression. These are particularly pronounced in urban areas.

“We don’t know if these three trends are causal, or how they’re related,” Bratman said. “But they intersect, and that’s what we’re trying to explore by reintroducing nature to people who are deprived of it in urban settings.”

Though Stanford students have access to nature and hikes, other communities in more urbanized areas do not. The team hopes that this empirical evidence will prompt more care into integrating nature in cities.

“The actual design and planning of a city itself, in my mind, should incorporate attention to detail when it comes to parks and the layout of the city that allows people to bump up against nature in an easy way,” Bratman said.

So far, the subject pool has been urbanites and suburbanites and the team would like to see how these effects differ across people. For example, rural inhabitants may be saturated in their daily nature intake and not benefit the way their urban counterparts do. The researchers write that the positive effects come from the “soft fascination”, “sense of belonging” and “sense of being away” of natural environments. People already in a rural environment may not feel this “sense of being away”. Conversely, those who love city life may find some positive benefits in urban areas, an idea that requires more research in “pleasant urban settings” to see how they compare.

This study and related ones hope to spread awareness of nature’s connection to mental health and develop a deeper understanding for these benefits.

“I hope all of us help to inspire the movement that’s ongoing to start seeing our future as intimately linked to the prosperity of natural systems,” Daily said.

This summer, the team is bringing people into a more controlled environment to isolate specifics, such as noise, to identify the causes of these benefits. They will also look at how other interactions, including watching nature videos, could replicate the same effects.

“We’re just beginning to scratch the surface on the way nature helps us,” Bratman said.

 

Contact Alina Abidi at alinafabidi ‘at’ gmail.com.

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‘Needtobreathe’ performs solid, spiritual concert at the Masonic https://stanforddaily.com/2015/07/19/needtobreathe-concert-review/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/07/19/needtobreathe-concert-review/#respond Mon, 20 Jul 2015 05:16:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102440 Needtobreathe recently kicked off the second leg of their “Tour de Compadres” at San Francisco’s Masonic, bringing with them two members of Colony House, Switchfoot and Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. The performances were impressive across the board. The atmosphere, however, was overwhelmingly wholesome and is clearly best appreciated by the bands’ unapologetic target audience: Christian […]

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Needtobreathe recently kicked off the second leg of their “Tour de Compadres” at San Francisco’s Masonic, bringing with them two members of Colony House, Switchfoot and Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. The performances were impressive across the board. The atmosphere, however, was overwhelmingly wholesome and is clearly best appreciated by the bands’ unapologetic target audience: Christian families.

Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors kicked off the show, and the familial vibes, with “American Beauty.”  With the lights slightly dimmed, I could clearly see all the young children surrounding me — several of them were planted on the floor with an iPad and others stood in between their parents, swaying along in the front row.  Audience members ran the age gamut, but kids and grandmas alike seemed relaxed by Holcomb’s sweet and rich tone. He pronounced each word clearly and deliberately, like he knew what he was saying and wanted you to pay attention.

Though the song was romantic, it could easily describe any close relationship. In fact, the song’s claim to fame is its inclusion in a father-daughter Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial.

Another standout from Holcomb’s performance was “What Would I Do Without You.” You could hear the smile in Holcomb’s lyrics about a decades-spanning connection (“A decade goes by without a warning / And there’s still kindness in your eyes). He further maintained the family feel by introducing the song as one of the many written for his wife.

Holcomb’s music is the kind you would play while rocking a baby to sleep — reassuring, soothing and undeniably pleasant.

Soft rock is a low-key version of hard rock, with a gentler sound and a greater focus on lyrics and melody. The night’s two main bands, Switchfoot and Needtobreathe, easily fit into the genre. The bands had clear parallels: They both performed with confidence and experience (each with 15+ years) and…they both might make you uncomfortable if you’re not religious.

Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman made a clear effort to connect with the crowd from the start, crawling over the divide to tap the hands of adoring audience members. Fittingly, the wave-loving singer with a “Saltwater Heart” and sweat-matted blond hair crowd-surfed as the audience jumped around for the first time. You get the idea that he honestly wanted the audience to enjoy themselves.

Audience members quickly threw their palms into the air when prompted, but otherwise hands remained down, taking a quick picture or resting by their sides — this group: the exact opposite of a mosh pit.

Switchfoot has the makings of a popular rock band: iconic riffs, prominent percussion and a charismatic frontman with a well-trained voice worthy of highlighting. But they’re missing the screaming fans and the groupies, aiming to create the most positive, most inspiring music, not the most popular. It’s a trade-off they made a long time ago, and one that fits their family-friendly rocker image to a tee.

Before the song “Where I Belong,” just in case there was any ambiguity, Foreman noted that the song was about “the day I see my maker face-to-face.” The lyrics of Switchfoot, and later Needtobreathe, were often marked by such obvious religious undertones. That’s not to say you can’t appreciate their music if you’re not pious, but you’d enjoy it a lot more if you did.

Needtobreathe’s performance was louder than the first two bands’, but it was still predictably peaceful, partially because of the switch to nightlight-type lighting, which never quite took away a sense of order.

Evan Peters lookalike Bo Rinehart lit up the left corner of the stage with his crazy dancing, especially in “Feet, Don’t Fail Me Now.” His ripped white shirt matched his ripped jeans, and both glowed in the purple light as he charismatically thrashed around. His frequent solos were refreshingly assertive, a glimmer of intensity in a sea of calm.

The band’s best received song of the night was “Difference Maker.”

Audience members soulfully sang along with their eyes closed, making me think, once again, that I wasn’t Christian enough for any of this. The entire crowd, young and old, seemed to sing along: “I am the only one that speaks to him/And I am the friendliest of friends of God.”

The standout performance of Needtobreathe’s set was “Wanted Man.” The song featured a vocal solo from Bo, who eventually stole the attention away from his talented brother in what were unequivocally my favorite vocals of the night.

While Bear’s voice was rich and powerful, Bo’s was surprisingly sweet and soft. When Bo began singing halfway through the song, it was reminiscent of the auditions in “High School Musical,” in which the reigning champions perform an upbeat, energetic version of a song and then the underdog main characters sing a stripped-down, acoustic version: Both versions were great, but the softer one was at once unexpected and fitting.

After a double encore with the whole family (all three bands plus adopted members of Colony House) back together and white confetti falling endlessly from the ceiling, parents grabbed the tiny hands of their tiny Needtobreathe fans and ushered them out of the Masonic and into their minivans.

The vibe you get from the tour is the same one you’d see if you scrolled through the comments on Switchfoot’s or Needtobreathe’s Youtube videos: optimistic, honest, eternally virtuous. People share stories about how the songs changed their lives, about how spiritually connected they feel when listening. But some people don’t.

Contact Alina Abidi at alinafabidi ‘at’ gmail.com.

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Switchfoot guitarist Drew Shirley talks college, California, Christianity https://stanforddaily.com/2015/07/12/drew-shirley-talks-college-california-christianity/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/07/12/drew-shirley-talks-college-california-christianity/#respond Mon, 13 Jul 2015 04:54:01 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102364 Switchfoot was born out of the San Diego waves and cinema. After initial success as a Christian rock group, the band converted isolated hits into mainstream successes after their songs were featured in 2002’s “A Walk to Remember” and the family-friendly flick “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.” With lyrics that are positive and wholesome, […]

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Switchfoot was born out of the San Diego waves and cinema. After initial success as a Christian rock group, the band converted isolated hits into mainstream successes after their songs were featured in 2002’s “A Walk to Remember” and the family-friendly flick “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.” With lyrics that are positive and wholesome, simultaneously steeped in allusions to philosophy and literature, the band has remained an eccentric fixture of the alternative rock scene. A decade later, the band is approaching their 20-year anniversary and their 10th album. Currently on the Tour de Compadres with Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, Colony House and Needtobreathe, Switchfoot recently performed in the Bay area.

The Daily spoke with guitarist Drew Shirley about everything from the band’s beginnings to its uncertain future.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): You just came back from a world tour; what’s the difference between performing overseas and performing in the United States?

Drew Shirley (DS): Just recently we’ve been to Europe, India, Australia and they’re all different. It’s neat to see how other people in different cities work. But to be honest, people are people and music [is] almost like a universal language. We’ll travel to India and people are singing our songs the same way they would in [our hometown of] San Diego.

TSD: You’re approaching 20 years as a band; what has changed since you formed it, and what has remained constant?

DS: Lots of things have changed: The industry has changed, record sales have dramatically changed, our audience has changed somewhat over the years. Our love for music has stayed the same. You gotta love what you do. Once we hit the stage and we’re actually playing music, that’s the best part of the day for us. Some bands kind of hate their songs because they don’t relate to them anymore but that’s not us. We honestly still love playing the songs we play every show, like “Dare You to Move” and “Meant to Live.” We still really enjoy playing those songs.

DS: Another thing that hasn’t changed — our band is all original members. We started off as three, and then we added four and five and it’s only been those five people the whole time.

TSD: Your next album will be your 10th. In what direction do you see this album heading? How will it relate to the rest of your body of work?

DS: This will be a milestone for us, just because it’s the number 10. Ten albums is a lot. We want it to be songs we believe in, something that we can say that no one else can. We’re kind of deep thinkers. At times, our songs come out of books or conversations we’ve had. We think of our audience as a thinking listener and hope that our 10th album embodies all those things.

TSD: The band’s career launched with “A Walk to Remember,” and, since then, you guys have worked in film and television with songs like “This is Home” and “Out of Control.” Is there anything different about writing and recording for film and TV?

DS: Yes, there is. They all happen in different ways. Some of those songs were written for an album, and a producer heard it and said they’d like to use it. That’s easy, that’s just licensing. But a song like “This is Home” was written specifically for “The Chronicles of Narnia.” We bounced the sounds and form of the song off of the music supervisors. Even the director had input in the sound of the song and how it flowed because he wanted it to fit a certain theme. We wrote music for our own film, “Fading West.” We wanted to make music for a film, and we thought, why don’t we make our own film. It was a blast, we got to write more cinematic type music.

TSD: What was your intention in making the movie? It initially seems odd to make a film about yourselves. Was it to showcase a different musical style or emphasize surfing?

DS: The intention behind the movie was to let people have a behind-the-scenes look at the band, and it was also to find inspiration for the album. To be honest, when you’ve been a band for a long time, you have to continue to find inspiration. We thought, let’s travel the world, find our favorite surf spots and sit there and write music.

TSD: Your charity Bro-Am gives back through music education. Why did you guys choose to emphasize the arts in your charity?

DS: Music kept us out of a lot of trouble growing up, and it’s become our career. We’ve found that schools were not teaching music as much anymore. Music programs are getting cut, and we thought, let’s put our money where our mouth is and open our own non-profit music school, and hopefully raise the next generation of bands that are gonna take our place when we’re done playing live.

TSD: Bro-Am is focused in San Diego, which has a pretty distinct sound. How has San Diego shaped you as a band?

DS: It’s home. It’s where my parents raised me and same with [band members] Jon and Tim, Chad and Jerome. San Diego is very chill, there’s not a lot of industry. It’s way south from L.A. L.A. has a huge entertainment industry, and San Diego is like the little brother of L.A. We sorta hide out. I don’t hang out in a Hollywood environment. Just normal, chill beach communities keep us grounded.

TSD: Half of the band members attended and graduated college, while the other half didn’t graduate or didn’t attend. In your opinion, do you think that, for someone interested in a career in the arts, a liberal arts education has value?

DS: It’s just up to the individual. Jon [Foreman] dropped out, and he’s our main songwriter. He grew up on the school of music and on the road. But I’ll tell you this: He reads more and studies more than me, who did go to college (laughs). It really depends on how you’re driven as a person.

TSD: What experiences did you have in college that helped you?

DS: I learned a lot in college, and some of it was in the classes. I learned about who I was, what my own personal disciplines were, how I thought about things. Some of that happens in a classroom, but sometimes that happens just because you’re out on your own. For me, I learned the basics of music, but what it means to be a musician, I learned more on the road than in the classroom.

TSD: You’ve mentioned that you don’t identify as a Christian band, but you’ve had success in that genre, and you’ve won a Grammy in that genre. How do you guys define yourself with regard to religion in your music?

DS: I see Christianity as a faith and not a genre of music. It’s a personal belief and a heart and music and art is something that we do and express and make. I would say that my faith in God is much bigger than my music. Much bigger. It’s way bigger. It’s something that affects everything I do. Faith is what you’re being and music is just what you’re doing. I sum it up in a simple statement: Christianity is a faith, not a genre.

TSD: In the same vein, you’ve mentioned in previous interviews that you are fans of author C.S. Lewis, and you wrote “This is Home” for “Narnia.” What kind of parallels do you see between yourselves and Lewis as Christian artists?

DS: He works in an allegory setting, as a story. You can teach a lot more than just a simple statement of truth or fact if it involves imagination, and that’s what we do. We don’t like to say things plainly; it’s too obvious that way. Music has a way of getting past the watchful eye of religion and music can take words where mere words couldn’t go by themselves. I actually think those two quotes are C.S. Lewis and he operated that way. We definitely are in that same way of thinking.

Contact Alina Abidi at alinafabidi ‘at’ gmail.com.

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Stanford Health Care opens patient-oriented South Bay Cancer Center https://stanforddaily.com/2015/06/29/stanford-health-care-opens-patient-oriented-south-bay-cancer-center/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/06/29/stanford-health-care-opens-patient-oriented-south-bay-cancer-center/#respond Mon, 29 Jun 2015 08:16:40 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102211 On Friday, June 26, Stanford Health Care held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new South Bay Cancer Center in San Jose. Over 250 physicians, Stanford employees and community members attended the event, which included speeches and a tour of the building.

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Administrative director Kate Surman MBA ’04, president and CEO of Stanford Health Care Amir Dan Rubin, Assemblymember Evan Low, Dean of Stanford's School of Medicine Lloyd B. Minor, vice president of Cancer and Cardiovascular Service Lines Sridhar Seshadri, director of the Stanford Cancer Institute Beverly Mitchell and Assemblymember Kansen Chu cut the ribbon for Stanford Health Care’s South Bay Cancer Center on June 26. (ALINA ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)
On June 26, over 250 attendees gathered for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Stanford Health Care’s South Bay Cancer Center. (Left to right: administrative director Kate Surman MBA ’04, president and CEO of Stanford Health Care Amir Dan Rubin, Assemblymember Evan Low, Dean of Stanford’s School of Medicine Lloyd B. Minor, vice president of Cancer and Cardiovascular Service Lines Sridhar Seshadri, director of the Stanford Cancer Institute Beverly Mitchell and Assemblymember Kansen Chu) (ALINA ABIDI/The Stanford Daily)

On Friday, June 26, Stanford Health Care held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new South Bay Cancer Center in San Jose. Over 250 physicians, Stanford employees and community members attended the event, which included speeches and a tour of the building.

According to Gay Crawford, chair of the Patient and Family Advisory Council for the new center, the idea for the center was inspired by a conversation with a stranger. Crawford explained that, while at church one day, a woman approached Dave Henderson, CEO of Samaritan Medical Center.

“She said, ‘You build buildings. We need a cancer center here,’” Crawford said.  “‘There are breast cancer patients who are having J-wires inserted one place, putting a paper cup over their breast, driving across town to another location. We need one place for all cancer treatments.’”

That was in 2009. Crawford, a two-time cancer patient and founder of medical non-profit Hospice in the Valley, worked with Henderson and conducted focus groups to find out exactly what patients needed and how the hospital could help them. Eventually, the four-story 70,000-square-foot building was created.

However, with the major, unanswered question of who would run the facility, the building remained vacant for two years after its construction. In January 2013, Stanford Medicine announced that they would lease the entire building, redesigning some features to better suit their goals and creating a Patient and Family Advisory Council with Crawford as chair. Now, two and a half years later, the South Bay Cancer Center is complete.

Stanford Medicine has long been a leader in cancer treatment, having developed the tumor board, CyberKnife and other cancer breakthroughs. Now, they are bringing that innovation to patient care, with a focus on efficiency and comfort. Patient feedback is used to determine everything from the chairs they choose to the employees they hire.

Amir Dan Rubin, president and CEO of Stanford Health Care, described the new facility’s goal: providing the best cancer care and coordination care to South Bay residents. Above all, the new center aims to promote positive patient experiences.

“The most important patient is the one who comes through these doors,” Rubin said to the crowd before the ribbon cutting.

To streamline the patient process, the center has also implemented universal registration from any floor through portable Versus RTLS badges for patients and employees. In most other healthcare settings, when patients have multiple appointments, they must check in to each appointment separately. With universal registration, patients only need to register one time and can then use the clip-on RTLS to navigate themselves to waiting rooms instead of re-registering.

Using the badges, Stanford employees will also be able to check a patient’s whereabouts — they can easily see where patients are, what their status is and how long they have been waiting. If patients are not comfortable with the service, they can choose to opt out of the badges.

According to Kate Surman MBA ’04, administrative director of the center, this is the first time Stanford is using the badges and the first time the badges have been designed for cross-department use.

“[The facility] is state-of-the-art in every respect: the design, the layout, the equipment – but most importantly, the compassion and commitment to care,” said Lloyd B. Minor, dean of the School of Medicine.

The new center will also provide the opportunity for clinical trials. Beverly Mitchell, director of the Stanford Cancer Institute, explained that the facility will be running cancer clinical trials in order to provide patients with the best possible treatment.

“Even though there have been incredible scientific advances over the past few years, we need to do better,” Mitchell said.

With the increasing popularity of patient-focused care in hospitals in the last decade, Crawford spoke about other ways that the center has been designed with patients in mind.

Departments that are often used together are located nearby one another. For example, patients typically go to the lab first, then have a clinic appointment with their physician and finally go to the Infusion Center, where the staff administer medication intravenously. In the past, these three steps could be located in separate buildings, but on the fourth floor of the center, they are only separated by a hallway.

The council also requested a café and library while Crawford herself specifically heard feedback to put Infusion on the fourth floor so patients could look out into the Los Gatos Hills. Henderson, who Crawford referred to as their “landlord,” added that the focus groups put the community’s thumbprints all over the building, literally.

“[Henderson] had the idea to put [their] thumbprint[s] on a posterboard,” Crawford said. “It’s a really wonderful graphic to show how the community cares about this building.”

Katie Abbott, the center’s senior program manager for Business Operations, said that the industry is still shifting to understand the partnership between the staff and the patients and family.

“The biggest learning for me is having our patients and family involved in our interviews,” Abbott said. “Each time, I learned something different about how we pick the right thing for our team.”

“The building was designed with the patient journey in mind,” she added.

 

Contact Alina Abidi at alinafabidi ‘at’ gmail.com.

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