Elise Most – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Fri, 19 May 2017 08:16:59 +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 Elise Most – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Gene pattern research prompts privacy concerns https://stanforddaily.com/2017/05/19/gene-pattern-research-prompts-privacy-concerns/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/05/19/gene-pattern-research-prompts-privacy-concerns/#respond Fri, 19 May 2017 08:16:59 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1127766 A recent study by Stanford biologists unearths new evidence that a limited selection of a person or animal’s genetic information is sufficient to significantly predict the contents of their DNA, which could have implications for working with incomplete or damaged sets of DNA, say the researchers.

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Gene pattern research prompts privacy concerns
New gene research has implications for forensic science, animal research and privacy concerns (Courtesy of Stanford News).

A recent study by Stanford biologists unearths new evidence that a limited selection of a person or animal’s genetic information is sufficient to significantly predict the contents of their DNA, which could have implications for working with incomplete or damaged sets of DNA, according to researchers. 

Professor of Biology and senior author of the paper Noah Rosenberg was able to match over 90 percent of datasets comprised of 13 genetic markers to sets of 642,563 markers in which the sets of 13 were not included.

CODIS, or the what the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) describes as its “program of support for criminal justice DNA databases,” formerly depended on these 13 markers before recently converting to a 20-marker system. The researchers reached 99 percent accuracy when they used datasets of 30 genetic markers.

Although these findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may assist wildlife researchers or archaeologists dealing with incomplete sets of DNA, Rosenberg told Stanford News that the results also have consequences for laws and practices surrounding genetic privacy.

In the past it was thought that small pieces of DNA could not be used to disclose any more information than they already contained. This idea justified legal decisions such as the outcome of Maryland v. King in 2013, when the Supreme Court allowed Maryland to continue “retaining DNA from anyone who’d been arrested there,” according to Stanford News.

Apart from the genetic markers used for forensic evidence, theoretically the contents of the owner’s DNA would remain private.

However, the results of this study cast doubt upon this belief. If different genetic markers from the same person are recorded in separate genetic databases, more of their genetic information risks disclosure, Rosenberg said. If forensic genetic systems with new marker sets were to be developed, it is possible that these sets could be matched with marker sets in older systems or that current marker sets could be matched between databases using different systems.

Even with potential privacy drawbacks, the findings grant some benefits to forensic scientists and others analyzing DNA samples. Researchers extracting DNA from scat, hair or archaeological sites may now be able to fill in the gaps in partial DNA samples. Further, they will be able to verify more closely whether an animal has been sampled in the past.

Additionally, forensic scientists frequently struggle to identify individual DNA at crime scenes (on a doorknob, for example). The current use of only 13 markers — or even 20 — allows for significant risk of matching false positives, whereas the new results provide the possibility of finding matches through a combination of new sets and old CODIS sets.

The results also allow for data-sharing between labs when samples are labeled differently but are actually the same in content — “a scenario that’s happened to me at least twice,” Rosenberg said.

 

Contact Elise Most at emost ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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MLK Institute staff dismayed by building’s location https://stanforddaily.com/2017/04/06/mlk-institute-staff-dismayed-by-location/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/04/06/mlk-institute-staff-dismayed-by-location/#respond Thu, 06 Apr 2017 07:25:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1125419 In 1985, Coretta Scott King asked Professor of History Clayborne Carson to edit and assemble the papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the beginnings of the King Papers Project. Today, the Papers Project is part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, housed in a temporary building on Stanford campus.

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In 1985, Coretta Scott King asked professor of history Clayborne Carson to edit and assemble the papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the beginnings of the King Papers Project. Today, the Papers Project is part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, housed in a temporary building on the Stanford campus.

“At the time, I really didn’t know quite what [the Papers Project] involved,” said Carson, who is the Martin Luther King, Jr., Centennial Professor of History and Ronnie Lott Founding Director of the King Institute. “I didn’t know how many materials related to Martin Luther King there are, and it turns out there are hundreds of thousands of pieces of information.”

MLK Institute staff dismayed by building's location
The MLK Institute is located in Cypress Hall D, which critics worry is too far from campus’s intellectual hub (Courtesy of Eric Lew/MLK Institute).

According to a Stanford News article, the Institute is “one of only a few large-scale research ventures that focus on an African-American.”

But despite its accomplishments, some say that few people on campus seem to know that the Institute exists. In January, Alex Ramsey ’17 wrote an op-ed decrying the lack of awareness that surrounds the Institute.

“I’ve talked, unfortunately, to a lot of students graduating from Stanford, and they go through four years and they have no idea that the papers of Martin Luther King are being edited on campus,” Carson said. “The world’s greatest source of information about Martin Luther King is right here.”

Despite the preeminence of the King Institute, however, the Institute has faced difficulties with housing. In 1985, when the King Papers Project began, it was housed in an office in Meyer Library. Staff worked in the same room around a long table. There was not enough space for Carson to have a separate office. In 1989, the Papers Project moved to Cypress Hall D, part of a group of portables used as offices and conference rooms located at the end of the Engineering Quad. The Papers Project, under the King Institute, remains in Cypress Hall today.

“I feel that it diminishes Stanford to see King in a temporary building,” Carson said.

Following a donation from professional football player Ronnie Lott and his All Stars Helping Kids organization, the King Institute was established in 2005 by Carson and has been directed by him since then. Subsequently, he incorporated the King Papers Project into the Institute.

Allyson Hobbs, associate professor of American history and director of African and African American studies, called the King Institute’s work “incredibly relevant and incredibly urgent” and explained that it is especially important for students to gain a better understanding of activism.

“Now more than ever, you could argue we need to be learning more about King and other civil rights leaders and other activists,” Hobbs said. “And it seems like those are issues that the students are very concerned about and very interested in as well.”

The King Papers Project is in the process of compiling and publishing a 14-volume collection of letters, sermons, interviews, speeches and writings, both published and unpublished, penned by King. So far, seven of the 14 volumes have been published.

Along with the Papers Project, the Institute’s enterprises include writing a biography of King and providing educational resources for students and teachers, among others. Carson’s dream is to make the Institute’s accumulated research available to anyone in the world.

Carson also pointed out that the King Institute does not necessarily need more space for the work it entails, and that space on campus is hard to come by. However, he felt that the fact that the Institute is still housed in a temporary facility and remains relatively invisible on campus is symbolic.

“We’ve got nice offices here, so it’s not like we are clamoring for more space,” Carson said. “I think the real question is, what does it represent symbolically, to Stanford?

“I’ve had people come here and they’ve read our books and read about us and they come up and it’s kind of like, ‘Is this all?’”

Hobbs expressed concern that the Institute’s location “creates an intellectual distance” between students and its mission, and hoped that it would one day become a more visible, central part of campus and student life.

Julie Hardin-Stauter, director of facilities and capital planning for the School of Humanities and Sciences, stated in an email to The Daily that there are no current plans to upgrade the Institute’s building from Cypress Hall D to a more permanent facility.

“Buildings in Stanford’s historic central campus are limited in the amount of new academic and administrative space they can accommodate, so it is not unusual for programs and offices to be located outside that area,” explained Ernest Miranda, senior director of university media relations, in an email to The Daily on behalf of the School of Humanities and Sciences.

However, Carson and Hobbs both stressed the value that might arise from locating the King Institute in a more visible building on campus. Carson hoped that one day, other social justice projects and activities on campus could be integrated into the King Institute. Hobbs also felt that the Institute could be more deeply connected with other programming.

“I think that part of what the King Institute does so beautifully is to educate people about King the man, but also about principles of nonviolence, about principles of pacifism, about principles of economic justice, of activism for global peace,” Hobbs said. “It has such a wide mission that I feel that there’s so many departments and so many parts of campus that intersect with the King Institute, and I don’t think we’ve made all the connections that we should be making.”

If he had to decide between spending an endowment on a new building or on supporting the Institute’s work, said Carson, he would “rather choose the work, because to me that’s very important, and I think that ultimately someone will see the work and say it should be done in a more appropriate building.”

 

Contact Elise Most at emost ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford Jewish community’s reactions to anti-Semitic vandalism vary https://stanforddaily.com/2017/02/27/stanford-jewish-communitys-reactions-to-anti-semitic-vandalism-vary/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/02/27/stanford-jewish-communitys-reactions-to-anti-semitic-vandalism-vary/#respond Mon, 27 Feb 2017 09:47:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1123654 Stanford’s Jewish community has reacted with a wide range of emotions and opinions to anti-Semitic vandalism defacing campus, as well as to the University's and student body's responses to the crimes.

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Stanford’s Jewish community has reacted with a wide range of emotions and opinions to anti-Semitic vandalism defacing campus over the past couple of months, as well as to the University’s and student body’s responses to the crimes.

Over winter break, incorrectly drawn swastikas appeared on buildings and street signs around Stanford. The words “no Jews allowed” were graffitied next to some of the swastikas. Between Jan. 20 and 22, more swastika-like symbols were discovered in Escondido Village.

“Some people feel very strongly that again there should be a rally, [that] the University should come out and make statements about [the graffiti], and then you know for some people it’s just not as big of a deal,” said David Kahn ’17, president of the Jewish Student Association (JSA). “People are preoccupied with so many other things that I think it’s gotten swept under the rug.”

Many members of the Jewish community first heard about the vandalism through local news articles such as a Mercury News piece published on Jan. 3. Some saw articles shared by friends on Facebook.

Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne addressed the vandalism in a statement that appeared in Stanford News on Jan. 5. The statement was also included in a Jan. 13 newsletter email from Hillel@Stanford, a non-profit organization founded at Stanford 50 years ago as a resource for Jewish students.

“It is profoundly troubling to learn that vandals have defaced both the Stanford campus and Palo Alto with symbols of hate,” Tessier-Lavigne said in the statement. “The University does not tolerate hate crimes, and our campus police are conducting a full investigation together with the Palo Alto police department. We have zero tolerance for such appalling acts. Stanford is a community that embraces civil discourse, where we value our differences and treat one another with respect.”

On Jan. 25, a campus-wide community alert email notified recipients of the graffiti, citing “17 incidents of vandalism of a similar nature” since Dec. 30. The email also described a cyber-attack in which hackers sent flyers with swastikas and hate speech to office printers around campus.

“Although the symbols were drawn facing the opposite direction from the Nazi swastika, it is believed the drawings are intended to connote anti-Semitism,” the alert read.

According to SUDPS spokesperson Bill Larson, investigations by the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) have found no leads.

For many community members, it was jarring to hear news of swastikas and the words “no Jews allowed” dotted across campus through outside news sources or through Stanford’s community alert email system instead of through a more personal letter addressed from an administrator.

According to to Lisa Lapin, vice president for university communications, the University was not alerted about the swastikas until Jan. 4.

“Stanford takes acts of hate seriously, and they have no place at Stanford,” Lapin said in an email to The Daily.

Tessier-Lavigne brought up the vandalism again at a Faculty Senate meeting on Jan. 26, reaffirming the University’s commitment to supporting the Jewish community and other vulnerable communities at Stanford.

The swastikas from the past couple months do not mark the first time Stanford’s campus has been vandalized with anti-Semitic messages. In April 2015, swastikas were painted on student residences on the Row. Similar incidents took place in 1988.

“The first time there were swastikas I was a sophomore and I had a strong reaction,” Kahn said. “But now I’ve sort of become a little desensitized.”

On Jan. 27, Hillel@Stanford held a meeting for students and staff to discuss ideas and feelings centered around the vandalism as well as other instances of hatred. In the context of the vandalism, security at the Hillel buildings is being updated this quarter.

Some students would have liked more direct acknowledgement and support from the University in light of the graffiti.

“I think the University generally does a good job standing up for students and I felt like this warranted a more timely and more serious response,” said Jacob Kaplan-Lipkin ’19, co-president of the Stanford Israel Association (SIA). “Does the fact that it’s happened so much and that we’re desensitized mean that we shouldn’t respond? No, definitely not, I think that’s a very poor way of conducting our responses to things … But I do understand that practically there are only so many times you can issue a condemnation.”

Others were concerned that the administration’s response unnecessarily avoided references to the anti-Semitic nature of the incidents.

“I feel like [the administration] needs to make a statement that makes it clear that they’re talking about helping and supporting their Jewish students, and not just avoiding saying the word Jewish or anti-Semitism as their first statement did,” said Jacob Reiter ’20, a member of Jewish Freshman Council, or JewFro, and of SIA. Reiter, a Daily staffer, felt that the “no Jews allowed” part of the graffiti warranted mentioning in statements.

“I feel like it’s part of a larger problem with Stanford and ignorance towards anti-Semitism,” Reiter said.

Stanford Jewish community's reactions to anti-Semitic vandalism vary
Julia Sakowitz sent her artwork to the Jewish community via an email list in the wake of concern about anti-Semitic graffiti (Courtesy of Julia Sakowitz).

Rabbi Serena Eisenberg, executive director of Hillel@Stanford, believes that the University can take steps to create more awareness around Jewish community concerns.

“We appreciate that the new president, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, spoke out immediately about the hate crimes,” Eisenberg said. “But I also think it’s important that the University take certain actions to better meet the needs of Jewish students on campus.”

Eisenberg suggested strengthening the kosher dining program and including Hillel@Stanford as a community center like the Markaz, the Black Community Center and the Women’s Community Center.

“Stanford is a diverse, inclusive, flourishing campus for Jewish life and for Jewish students,” Eisenberg added.

Some expressed doubt that the graffiti reflects a campus issue; others questioned what concrete action the University could take, especially if the crimes were committed by an individual outside of Stanford, as was the case in 2015.

“The University made a statement; they said they didn’t have any tolerance for this kind of thing,” said Julia Daniel ‘17, board member of JSA. “I think the response that they’ve given is okay.”

Daniel sees student response to the vandalism as a separate issue. She would have liked to see more attention paid to the vandalism among the broader student community. Others were also disappointed with the greater student body’s perceived lack of awareness about the issue and felt that almost no students outside of the Jewish community knew about the vandalism.

“I think in every discussion that I’ve had, there has been a question about the greater student communal response, which has been pretty much silence or ignorance,” said Michal Leibowitz ’19, president of SIA and one of the outreach chairs of JSA. “And there’s certainly a feeling of being alone as a Jewish community on campus and not necessarily enclosed in the fold of solidarity that sometimes is shown among different student minority groups.”

Leibowitz and Reiter were both disturbed that the People’s Walkout, a campus demonstration held on Nov. 15 in response to President Donald Trump’s election, initially did not include Jews on its list of minorities. After Reiter reached out to the organizers, they added the Jewish community to their event description.

“As a Jewish community, we could work on our outreach and educational efforts, and I think that in response, the student body could ask questions and take it upon themselves to learn more,” Leibowitz said.

Daniel emphasized the importance of integrating the fight against anti-Semitism into the struggle against other forms of oppression without conflating the two.

“It’s important for us to remember that anti-Semitism doesn’t look like Islamophobia looks right now in this country; anti-Semitism doesn’t look like anti-blackness looks like in this country,” Daniel said. “There are so many issues going on right now. I wouldn’t want anti-Semitism to take away from these other causes; I want it to add to the variety of other issues people are working against.”

Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann, senior associate dean for religious life, believes that the turbulent national political situation, as well as the new University administration, played a role in forming campus responses to the graffiti. Even under normal circumstances, she said, this event would be difficult to address.

“I think that there’s such a blizzard of things coming at the students and coming at the University, a kind of paroxysm of hatred that we’re seeing in our civic culture,” Karlin-Neumann said. “I think it’s hard for people to focus on one and respond to one … So I don’t think it’s an absence of compassion or an absence of concern.”

She explained that the Jewish community’s fear and disorientation is increasing in the face of a growing number of anti-Semitic incidents across the United States. Over the past two months, 54 Jewish Community Centers in 27 states have received bomb threats in 69 incidents.

Karlin-Neumann hopes that the Jewish community will channel their experiences into action on behalf of other minorities.

“I don’t want to get into comparative suffering, but I would hope that the experience of feeling that disorientation and that concern and fear would in fact lead to a kind of empathetic response of appreciation of what other communities are experiencing,” she said. “And I see that in many places.”

The University can recognize the experiences of other communities without detracting from its response to anti-Semitism on campus, said Kaplan-Lipkin, who commended the University for joining an amicus brief against Trump’s executive order targeting immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries.

Daniel emphasized that the Jewish community does not have a unified stance on the vandalism.

“I hope that people on campus understand that within the Jewish community, just as within any other community, there are so many different opinions and feelings about how we should be reacting in this moment,” Daniel said. “What we should be thinking about, how worried we should even be, is anti-Semitism even relevant anymore. There’s such a variety of opinions across the board on that.”

Later, though, Daniel added in an email to The Stanford Daily that recent events such as bomb threats, cemetery defacements and a gunshot fired through a synagogue window have “made it particularly clear that the conversation is changing in our community.”

“I think the range of opinions that existed six months or a year ago, about how much of a problem and how relevant anti-Semitism is, is narrowing quickly,” she said.

Acts of intolerance can be reported at Student Affairs’ website.

 

Contact Elise Most at emost ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

This article has been updated to reflect additional comments from Daniel.

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Etchemendy steps down as provost after 17 years https://stanforddaily.com/2017/01/31/etchemendy-steps-down-as-provost-after-17-years/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/01/31/etchemendy-steps-down-as-provost-after-17-years/#respond Tue, 31 Jan 2017 09:23:46 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1122159 Etchemendy, who will vacate the position of provost on Feb. 1, has served for longer than any of his predecessors.

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John Etchemendy Ph.D. ’82 will vacate the position of provost on Feb. 1 after serving for nearly 17 years, longer than any of his predecessors.

Together with former President John Hennessy, Etchemendy oversaw Stanford’s rise as one of the most selective and highly regarded universities in the world. His leadership of both the academic and budgetary health of the University has earned him admirers. At the same time, Etchemendy has weathered criticism as Stanford grapples with student dissatisfaction with the administration and, most recently, highly publicized controversies over campus sexual assault. Despite this, Etchemendy has called his job “the best position in higher education.”

“In ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,’ there is something called the total perspective vortex where you look in it and you see the whole universe and you see how little you are,” Etchemendy said. “The problem is, anyone who looks in it is driven crazy. [Being provost is] kind of like that.”

Wide-ranging role

Etchemendy served as the associate dean for humanities as well as the chair of the philosophy department before becoming provost in 2000. As provost, he has influenced nearly every aspect of the University. The provost is a larger position at Stanford than at most other schools, he said.

As the chief academic officer, the provost makes all of the final decisions on faculty appointments and tenure. Around 80 percent of current Stanford faculty were hired under Etchemendy’s leadership.

Debra Satz, chair of the Faculty Senate, emphasized the great respect the faculty has for Etchemendy.

“He’s seen as our voice, as one of us, and people respect that even when they disagree with him,” Satz said. “He is an academic, a faculty member and an intellectual first and foremost. And his leadership is completely imbued with scholarly, intellectual and ethical values.”

Satz credits Etchemendy with facilitating an increase in interdisciplinary and problem-based scholarship at Stanford. She remarked that Etchemendy, along with Hennessy, “radically changed Stanford by breaking down the barriers between schools, departments and programs and giving people a loyalty to the University as a whole.”

“Our world’s problems are interdisciplinary and don’t respect school or departmental boundaries, so this has been a really important contribution to Stanford’s role in the broader public,” Satz said.

The provost is also the University’s chief budget officer, a position that may seem foreign to many academics. The first budget Etchemendy ever managed was $2.5 billion. Now Stanford’s budget is almost six billion.

As chief budget officer, the provost is in charge of capital planning. Etchemendy decided what buildings got built and where, a role that he notes is unfamiliar territory for a philosopher. Stanford has finished over 70 building projects since 2000.

Richard Saller, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, praised Etchemendy’s judgement, ability to make tough decisions and courage in upholding his convictions. In meetings among leaders from other schools, which Saller attended as provost of the University of Chicago, Saller felt that Etchemendy stood out among provosts not only because he didn’t wear a tie but also because of his leadership style.

“Provost Etchemendy was the only one who didn’t try to talk over other people,” Saller said. “He was quiet, and he listened, and he only spoke when he had something important to say.”

At one point, three ex-provosts occupied positions as deans at Stanford – an uncommon occurrence, Saller said, given that the switch from provost to dean “doesn’t look like a promotion.” But Saller explained that “working for [Etchemendy] made it special.” Saller himself was recruited to Stanford by Etchemendy.

Saller remembers an economically difficult year for the University toward the end of the Great Recession when Etchemendy announced that faculty would not receive any raises. At the same time, Etchemendy and former President Hennessy took cuts in their own salaries.

After the 2008 recession, Stanford dealt with most of its deep budget cuts within a year, Saller said. He believes that Etchemendy’s management of the budget allowed Stanford to begin rebuilding years ahead of many other institutions. The quick recovery meant that the School of Humanities and Sciences was able to return promptly to recruiting faculty.

“At the end of the day, the faculty was 10 percent larger than it had been before the recession,” Saller said.

Controversy

While Etchemendy has won the respect of many members of the Stanford community, his job has also placed him in the center of controversy.

In his last week as provost, Etchemendy alleviated the outrage over the suspension of the Leland Stanford Junior University March Band by lifting the sanctions. But other issues continue to draw disagreement: In particular, some students and faculty have criticized Etchemendy and the University administration’s handling of sexual assault. Most recently, a New York Times article put Stanford in the spotlight by highlighting the University’s stringent  requirement for proving sexual assault – a requirement that Etchemendy defends.

Frederick I. Richman professor of law Michele Dauber wrote in a statement to The Daily that Etchemendy “failed to provide the leadership Stanford needs in the area of sexual harassment and sexual assault.”

“Under his leadership, Stanford enacted a series of policies that are, in my view, some of the most unfriendly to sexual assault survivors currently in use at any school in the country,” Dauber said.

In support of this claim, she points out than Stanford is one of the only schools among its peers to require a unanimous vote from a hearing panel in order for a victim of sexual assault to get even a no-contact directive, although the University can provide directives as an interim measure. The administration also refused to conduct a new Campus Climate Survey on sexual assault at Stanford after 91 percent of students protested the methodology and results of the initial survey, claiming that it did not align with the definitions used by the Association of American Universities. The first survey reported that a mere 1.9 percent of Stanford students were sexually assaulted, which has been contested by Stanford community members.

However, Etchemendy disagrees with criticism of the University’s handling of sexual assault. He believes that “Stanford has been at the forefront of addressing sexual assault” and that the University has the best adjudication process of any school in the country.

“The problem is, when a case goes through an adjudication process, it is very common – in fact maybe almost always the case – that one or the other side is upset with what happened or the decision,” Etchemendy said. “And often they will go to a reporter or the press and talk about how they were treated horribly and the University is not allowed to say a single word about the case.”

Stanford is legally barred from discussing any details of a case, even if the University is being misrepresented in the media, Etchemendy said. He sees this criticism as a downside to being a prestigious institution.

“Newspapers love to write about Stanford because of the Stanford name,” he said. “Put Stanford in the headline and you’ll get more clicks.”

Etchemendy also claims that the University has gone out of its way to be transparent in its policies on sexual assault, holding some 80 public meetings to inform current policy and creating an “incredible system of confidential support advisors.”

“That’s transparency,” he said. “Where we’re not transparent is talking about specific cases and that’s because it’s illegal.”

Ultimately, the University’s goal is to end sexual assault on campus, something Etchemendy believes can only be accomplished through education.

“These cases are so tragic; these cases can ruin people’s lives on both sides,” he said. “And so the solution is to try to stop it from happening rather than to try to have an adjudication process that works. You’re never going to have one that’s going to make people happy.”

According to Etchemendy, Stanford provides more education on sexual assault than any other University, “period,” he said. All students go through an online education course on sexual assault before they even arrive on campus. New Student Orientation addresses sexual assault first with a lecture from Etchemendy himself on the Fundamental Standard and concluding with Real World Stanford, a student production about college life. Starting this year, all freshmen are required to attend Beyond Sex Ed, a program in which current Stanford students share their experiences.

What’s next for Etch

Even in the midst of the controversy, Etchemendy’s love for Stanford stands out. After spending almost 40 years here, he continues to admire the University’s entrepreneurial spirit, positivity and willingness to say “yes” to new projects and ideas.

In 2007, reports circulated that Etchemendy was under consideration for the presidency at Harvard. He promptly dispelled the rumors by telling The Daily at the time, “I have no intention or desire to leave my current position, which I believe is the best position in higher education.”

As he leaves office, Etchemendy feels that the University must continue to improve in order to maintain its standing as one of the top academic institutions in the world. He believes that one such area for improvement is overspecialization in academics. Exploring a wider range of subjects instead of concentrating on one narrow area of study, he said, is vital to development of problem-solving and analytical skills.

“We need to think about how to convince people that … regardless of your major, you will get a good job,” he said. “You will be successful, I promise you.”

Yet Etchemendy pointed out that modes of education outside of the classroom – student organizations, clubs and dorm life, to name a few – deserve at least as much attention.

“All of those things are crucial parts of what Stanford offers,” Etchemendy said. “Are we [handling them] as well as we can?”

When asked whether he plans to stick around after he steps down as provost, Etchemendy replied, “Of course. Stanford is my university. I would never leave Stanford.”

For the rest of this academic year, Etchemendy will aid President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and the new provost, Persis Drell, in their transition. He intends to take a year-long sabbatical before potentially returning to teach.

“I’ve got to figure out what I want to do when I grow up,” Etchemendy joked.

 

Quick takes with Provost Etchemendy

The Stanford Daily (TSD): What’s your favorite spot on campus?

John Etchemendy (JH): The Mausoleum and the Angel of Grief, and the Cactus Garden, it’s one of the oldest things on campus … End Station Three … It’s like four stories, five stories deep, a big hole, and it was for a linear accelerator that was the model that SLAC was then built on … The Quad at night, just as the sun is going down, and the sky is still a little bit blue, turning purple, and all of the trees are silhouetted against the sky. Lots of places. The Bender Room.

TSD: What’s a fun fact about yourself?

JH: I love to go biking. Up to Skyline and down the other side, on a sunny, spring Sunday morning.

TSD: What’s your favorite memory from your time at Stanford?

JH: There was a freshman with a whole big backpack full of books and she was running along down Palm Drive. And she stopped me and she said, “I’m late for class, can you tell me where the Knoll is?” The Knoll is up behind FloMo. And she was reading the map thinking north was the other direction, so she thought she was going toward the Knoll, and she was going exactly the opposite direction. She was already late for class, and she was a freshman, so of course she thought this was going to destroy her whole career at Stanford if she came late.

TSD: Your favorite memory in 40 years is watching a freshman in distress?

JH: Helping a freshman in distress.

 

Contact Elise Most at emost ‘at’ stanford.edu and Sophie Regan at sregan20 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Gen. James Mattis to attend defense secretary confirmation hearing Thursday https://stanforddaily.com/2017/01/10/gen-james-mattis-to-attend-defense-secretary-confirmation-hearing-thursday/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/01/10/gen-james-mattis-to-attend-defense-secretary-confirmation-hearing-thursday/#respond Wed, 11 Jan 2017 07:32:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1121234 In order to become defense secretary, Mattis needs to overcome a law stipulating that nominees must first spend at least seven years out of the military.

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Retired Gen. James Mattis, distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, will attend his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee for the position of secretary of defense this Thursday.

In order to take on the role of defense secretary, Mattis needs to overcome a law stipulating that nominees must first spend at least seven years out of the military, as Mattis retired from the military in 2013. In order to bypass the seven-year requirement, the House of Representatives and the Senate must pass a waiver granting him an exception.

Several members of Congress have voiced worries about the waiver or vowed to oppose it. For some, the waiver represents a lack of concern for the principle of civilian rule over the military.

“We should ask ourselves whether the reputation of our military as a highly professional, nonpartisan institution would be tainted if its most respected leaders were allowed to seamlessly segue into political positions,” wrote Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Marine veteran, in an opinion article for The Washington Post in which he advocated a “cooling-off period for former military leaders.”

Others, such as Sen. John McCain and Rep. Mac Thornberry, support Mattis’ nomination and do not view the waiver as an issue.

“Few individuals in the field of national security are as respected and admired as Jim Mattis,” Thornberry told The Post. “His nomination as secretary of defense is an excellent selection, and I am grateful for his willingness to serve in this capacity.”

Mattis’ nomination, if confirmed, represents an opportunity for the Hoover Institution. Last month, the Institution emphasized its connection with Mattis in a fundraiser letter addressed to potential donors.

“The Hoover Institution now has an opportunity to influence the course of American and world history in a way that no one could have foreseen,” wrote Institution Director Thomas Gilligan in the letter. “Hoover Fellow General James Mattis has been nominated to be secretary of defense. He will no doubt rely on his colleagues at Hoover who already have extensive military and national security experience.”

Some government ethics experts maintain that outside groups such as the Hoover Institution may promote their political connections only up to a certain point before their actions become unjustifiable.

Yet Tom Donnelly and Mandy Smithberger, defense analyst with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington and official with the Project on Government Oversight in Washington, respectively, agreed that using Mattis’ name in such a way does not cross any lines — at least until the outcome of his nomination is decided, they told Bloomberg.

Smithberger pointed out that “left-leaning think tanks would be sending out similar emails” if Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had won the presidential election.

Hoover spokesperson Eryn Witcher Tillman told Bloomberg that Mattis neither saw the message prior to sending nor was asked for to approve it. Tillman was unavailable for comment to The Daily.

Over the course of his 43-year commitment to the Marines, Mattis headed an assault battalion in Operation Desert Storm as lieutenant colonel and served as Department of Defense executive secretary and senior military assistant to the deputy secretary of defense. He commanded a multitude of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan post-9/11 and served as both commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command and NATO’s supreme allied commander for transformation.

Mattis has said he considers Iran the most significant obstacle to peace in the Middle East and supports enforcement of the Iran nuclear deal. He has also remarked that the Obama administration’s “policy of disengagement in the Middle East” increased Middle Eastern extremism. However, Mattis is more wary of Russia and its expansionist policies than President-elect Donald Trump. Mattis has also stated that torture is ineffective, a view at odds with Trump’s.

Mattis joined the Hoover Institution as an Annenberg distinguished visiting fellow in 2013, following his retirement from the position of head of U.S. Central Command. He later became a Davies Family distinguished visiting fellow. At Hoover, he is a member of the “Role of Military History in Contemporary Conflict” working group and researches the relationship between U.S. civilians and the military. He co-edited the book “Warriors and Citizens: American Views of Our Military.”

 

Contact Elise Most at emost ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Nadav Lidor selected as Rhodes Scholar https://stanforddaily.com/2016/12/01/nadav-lidor-selected-as-rhodes-scholar/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/12/01/nadav-lidor-selected-as-rhodes-scholar/#respond Thu, 01 Dec 2016 08:02:56 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1120552 Nadav Lidor ’16 was named a 2017 Rhodes Scholar on Nov. 19. The Rhodes Scholarships program provides the opportunity for Lidor to study at Oxford University free of all expenses for two or three years.

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Nadav Lidor ’16 was named a 2017 Rhodes Scholar on Nov. 19. The Rhodes program provides the opportunity for Lidor to study at Oxford University free of all expenses for two or three years.

Viewed as one of the oldest and most prestigious fellowships in the world, Rhodes Scholarships are awarded based on academic performance, character and potential for leadership.

Currently residing in Tel Aviv, Lidor will represent Israel in a group of 63 international Rhodes Scholars. Current Stanford student Meghan Shea ’16, who also received the scholarship, will join Lidor and his international peers at Oxford as one of 32 U.S. scholars.

“Beyond my terrific professors and research opportunities, my time at Stanford was a chance to explore new fields — anything from art in New York to sailing in the (San Francisco) Bay,” Lidor told the Stanford News Service. “This wouldn’t have happened without these experiences, and the support of my family and friends who inspire and challenge me to dream big.”

While at Stanford, he spent time researching natural language processing and artificial intelligence with Chris Manning and Dan Jurafsky, both professors of linguistics and computer science. Lidor wishes to use his background in technology and artificial intelligence to confront social issues.

Jurafsky explained to the Stanford News Service that part of Lidor’s research at Stanford included improving algorithms that diagnose schizophrenia, an example of his commitment to solve social problems with technology.

“He has the brilliance and the motivation to advance the state of the art of research in computer science, but also has a rarer gift, a deep passion for finding ways to apply computer science to questions that matter in the world,” Jurafsky told the Stanford News Service.

In addition to holding a bachelor’s degree from Stanford in computer science and symbolic systems, Lidor studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s honors program in the humanities and at the United World College of Costa Rica. At Oxford, Lidor intends to pursue a master’s degree by research in computer science.

 

Contact Elise Most at emost ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford partners with community to develop youth mental health center https://stanforddaily.com/2016/11/14/stanford-partners-with-community-to-develop-youth-mental-health-center/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/11/14/stanford-partners-with-community-to-develop-youth-mental-health-center/#respond Tue, 15 Nov 2016 07:57:02 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1119884 Stanford is partnering with community organizations to create a clinic to deliver free mental health services to area youths.

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Together with Santa Clara County and community partners, Stanford University is developing a mental health clinic for youths 12-25 years of age to help area youths get the care they need, with the goal of providing these services free of charge.

According to Steven Adelsheim, clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the clinic will be based on the Australian “headspace model” and include both physical and mental health care, as well as help with addiction-related issues and schoolwork.

The new clinic will be the first to use the system in the United States, following the example of programs in Australia, Ireland, Denmark and Israel.

Adelsheim hopes that this combination of services will allow young patients to avoid the stigma attached to seeking mental health care either from school counselors or other sources. He believes that direct marketing to youth will assist in breaking down the stigma around seeking mental health care.

“The idea is to create a comfortable place for young people, to walk in potentially on their own or with others to get care for stress from anxiety, after a breakup, struggling over exams, feeling depressed or struggling with [gender identity] issues,” Adelsheim said.

In its early stages, the clinic will most likely focus on aiding those with milder needs, redirecting those who require more care to services better suited to their needs. To help create the clinic, the University is cooperating with organizations such as Uplift Family Services, Project Safety Net and Momentum for Mental Health, among others.

“What I love about [the headspace model], having seen other models, [is that it acts as] a one-stop shop that is defined and designed and owned by the individuals who will actually be utilizing the service,” said Mary Gloner, executive director of Project Safety Net.

Gloner described Project Safety Net’s role as a partner as multi-faceted, including giving technical assistance, raising awareness, sharing relevant information with the community and advising the clinic.

The University will also create youth advisory groups to collect input from the demographic the clinic is meant to serve. Young people will have a say in “planning, site development, the look of the place, and decisions about some of the services,” Adelsheim said. He cited the community naming contest for the clinic, whose outcome is currently undecided, as an example of how the community was already involved.

“Really at the core of these programs is a youth voice and youth support and youth involvement,” Adelsheim maintained.

This past June, Santa Clara County agreed to contribute $200,000 per year to the clinic for three years. The money will fund two positions to be filled in January: a youth development specialist and a position “around the supported education and employment piece.” The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is also contributing funding for the clinic alongside the county.

Adelsheim explained that a lack of national health insurance is an obstacle to bringing headspace to the U.S., a barrier that countries with already established headspace programs didn’t have to face.

The next steps, Adelsheim said, will be to set up a site for the clinic, gather staff and acquire additional financial backing. The clinic does not yet have a set opening date. Despite the work to be done before it begins operating, Adelsheim remains optimistic about the positive effect it will have on local youth.

“I’ve been a real believer in early intervention, and that if we can find young people early and help link them to early services, they will do better, just like for any other medical condition,” he said.

Contact Elise Most at emost ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford physicians examine patient discrimination against doctors https://stanforddaily.com/2016/11/03/stanford-physicians-examine-patient-discrimination-against-doctors/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/11/03/stanford-physicians-examine-patient-discrimination-against-doctors/#respond Thu, 03 Nov 2016 08:44:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1119122 The researchers' recent paper follows a 2015 survey of Stanford pediatrics residents, in which 15 percent of respondents said they had experienced or witnessed discrimination against doctors by patients or patients’ families.

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Prompted by their own experiences in the workplace, Stanford researchers published a paper in “Academic Medicine” last month exploring ways to combat discrimination against physicians by their patients.

The paper follows a 2015 survey of pediatric residents at Stanford, in which 15 percent of respondents answered that they had either experienced or witnessed discrimination against doctors by patients or patients’ families.

The paper found four main themes in approaching mistreatment by patients, according to Emily Whitgob ’02 M.F. ’15, medical fellow in pediatrics.

“The first one was assessing how sick the child is, and I think that forms all the other approaches,” Whitgob said.

Along with co-author Rebecca Blankenburg, clinical associate professor in pediatrics, Whitgob stressed that medical professionals’ first priority is ensuring that the patient is well cared for; doctors should postpone thought about how to handle discriminatory remarks in situations where a patient is at urgent risk.

According to the report, other steps physicians may take to reduce the effects of this mistreatment include strengthening relationships with involved families, participating in advance preparation and discussion about issues of discrimination and creating a positive, welcoming environment for trainees.

Even with preparation, though, caring for a child whose parents are discriminatory against the physician can be a difficult situation to navigate, the researchers said.

“We always want to take care of the child first and foremost but [also] figure out how do we protect our trainees at the same time,” Blankenburg said.

According to Whitgob, ensuring autonomy of trainees is vital to their well-being. There is a huge difference, she explained, between a trainee choosing to leave a toxic, discriminatory situation for their own health and their supervisor removing them in an effort to shield them.

“The outcome [of the latter situation] is the same, but it’s taken away the autonomy of the trainee who is already in a really vulnerable position,” Whitgob said.

Whitgob also said that instances of discrimination can have a deep impact on physicians. She related an incident in which a patient assumed that an intern was Jewish due to her last name. The patient then told the intern that he did not want to be helped by a Jewish doctor.

“I brought it up [in a morning meeting] a few days later,” Whitgob said. “There were probably 20, 25 people in the room, and several of them were in tears through this discussion. There were people who all chimed in talking about different instances of discrimination that could happen and wanting to feel supported and upset at the same incident.”

The experience prompted Whitgob to embark on the project that would become her and her colleagues’ recent paper.

While some instances of discrimination against physicians stand out clearly — for example, Blankenburg described a situation in which a patient made fun of one of her residents’ names — other instances can take more subtle forms that are harder to categorize. Some patients wish to be treated by doctors of their same gender, the researchers pointed out.

“I’m not saying that people shouldn’t have that, but it is tricky because a few steps later, you’re saying some other things that seem not to be tolerable,” Whitgob said.

According to Whitgob and Blankenburg, Stanford has guidelines countering discrimination between physicians or trainees, along with a task force that examines broader relations between medical staff and patients. However, the University lacks procedures for situations in which patients or their families discriminate against their physicians.

“We talk a lot about mistreatment, and that’s a huge topic in medical education, but it’s often mistreatment from the inside — how people higher up in the hierarchy discriminate, either implicitly or explicitly, [against] their trainees,” Whitgob said.

Alyssa Bogetz, pediatrics residency director and senior author of the paper, believes that one of the most important outcomes of their work has been the resulting increase of discussion on the topic of discrimination. Whitgob and Blankenburg agreed that although there was some dialogue before its publication, the paper heightened conversation around discrimination by patients.

“The paper has opened the door to people being able to come out and say, this happened to me,” Bogetz said.

Both Whitgob and Blankenburg believe that more frequent discussion throughout the medical training process will help ameliorate the situation, both at Stanford and across the country. At the same time, they feel fortunate that Stanford backs up its physicians in cases of discrimination.

“This can’t be fully prevented until we live in a society where there is no bigotry,” Blankenburg said. “So we have to prepare faculty, residents, medical students and staff to deal with it when it does happen.”

 

Contact Elise Most at emost ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Renovated Roble Gym provides creative and performing art spaces for students https://stanforddaily.com/2016/10/21/renovated-roble-gym-provides-creative-and-performing-art-spaces-for-students/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/10/21/renovated-roble-gym-provides-creative-and-performing-art-spaces-for-students/#respond Fri, 21 Oct 2016 08:00:01 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1118331 The Roble Gym has reopened on West Campus, creating new spaces for the TAPS department and student groups. However, dance groups still have trouble finding rehearsal space.

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After two years of renovations, Roble Gym reopened this quarter with housing facilities for the Department of Theater & Performance Studies (TAPS) and a brand new “Arts Gym” dedicated to student use.

The new facilities for the TAPS department include the following: three dance studios, two acting studios, a black box theater, classrooms and offices.

Branislav Jakovljevic, associate professor of theater and performance studies, feels that the renovated Roble Gym is a huge upgrade.

“I think one thing that the department and the University gets with the reopening of Roble Gym is flexibility, and that flexibility is epitomized in Roble Studio Theater,” said Jakovljevic. He added that the new black box theater allows students to experiment with different seating arrangements and thus different acting styles.

Victor Ragsdale ’19, a TAPS major, concurred that the theater’s flexibility is an improvement and also pointed out that the addition of theater space on West Campus is a bonus.

“The only thing I’m not too fond of about this space is that [Memorial Auditorium] is more accommodating because costumes and props are there,” he said.

However, the novelty of the Arts Gym may be more appealing to students than the TAPS spaces.

“This is the first time that this kind of facility [the Arts Gym] has existed on campus,” said Claudia Dorn, office of student productions manager for the Stanford Arts office of the associate dean.

The Arts Gym includes studio space with a projector, screen, sound system and movable mirrors; a messy art space for painting and other art forms; a music room and a conference room.

Although students must bring their own art supplies to the messy art space, the music room provides musicians with an electric keyboard, a drum kit and a guitar, as well as a PA system and recording booth.

“In a nutshell, Roble Arts Gym is a dream come true,” said Tyler Brooks ’17, shift manager. “You can drop in and tinker around just like how the athletes use [the Arrillaga gyms], but it’s more special because you can create in this space. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

In addition to offering space for students to create, the Arts Gym provides programming. On Tuesdays from 7 to 9 p.m., students can explore a different art medium each week, such as watercolor or clay. The gym will provide the required art supplies.

According to Dorn, student groups can reserve space in the Arts Gym for three hours per week on a recurring basis. Students may also drop in and use the space during open hours.

“I’m very excited about Roble Gym opening up again because it opens up the opportunity for student groups to do big events,” said Karen Lu ’17, executive director of the dance group Bent Spoon. Lu explained that the large windows, lighting, balcony, quality floors and spaciousness in the biggest TAPS dance room provide a convenient performance venue.

After struggling to find space on campus to rehearse, student dance groups are thankful to have Roble Gym back, but many are still working hard to reserve spaces to dance and hold performances.

“It’s an art space dedicated to us, and has better amenities, but at the same time the major problem is space, not amenities,” said Courtney Urbancsik ’18, co-director of the dance group Urban Styles.

Austyn Lee ’18, co-captain of the dance groups XTRM and Dv8, agreed with Urbancsik. He expressed appreciation for Roble Gym, but affirmed that the struggle for dance space continues despite its reopening.

According to Lee and Urbancsik, rooms in Arrillaga Gym previously available for dance groups have been recently converted for other uses, meaning that the amount of space for rehearsals on campus has essentially remained the same even with the reopening of Roble Gym.

“We’re definitely glad that we have the gym because the last two years were really hard. This year, at least it got a little better,” said Alex Fu ’17, president of the dance group Swingtime. Yet she still feels that her group has to work excessively hard to find room.

When asked about the space issues, Dorn maintained that the recurring reservation system should take some of the stress off the dance groups.

“We’re always open for suggestions,” said Dorn. “Students have 100 percent priority.” She emphasized that students can come to her or the Art Gym’s student staff with ideas for improvement.

Jakovljevic added, “We are still learning how to use this space. It’s exciting to learn about these possibilities, but we all need a little bit of patience to see how we can use it best for us and for other interested users.”

 

Contact Elise Most at emost ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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New Gender Clinic combines services for transgender youth https://stanforddaily.com/2016/10/14/new-gender-clinic-combines-services-for-transgender-youth/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/10/14/new-gender-clinic-combines-services-for-transgender-youth/#respond Fri, 14 Oct 2016 07:09:16 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1118007 The new Stanford Children’s Health Gender Clinic brings psychosocial and medical care for transgender children and their families all under one roof.

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The new Stanford Children’s Health Gender Clinic, which opened in Sunnyvale this summer, brings psychosocial and medical care for transgender children and their families, all under one roof.

Tandy Aye, associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford Children’s Health, believes this type of support is important given that transgender children suffer higher rates of depression and suicide than their gender-conforming peers.

“As [children] go through this gender journey, there’s a lot of aspects of support that you need from different subspecialists for each of these children, and a lot of [patients] have a fear of going to the medical field,” she said to NBC Bay Area.

Before the clinic opened, Aye had no choice but to send patients to different health centers if their needs lay outside of her practice. By eliminating the need for time-consuming, stressful visits to multiple clinics, the Gender Clinic aims to give patients easier and less anxiety-ridden access to essential medical care.

The clinic currently serves patients ages 4 to 19 but can accommodate patients up to the age of 25.  Although the clinic has a wait list, it is slowly increasing patient capacity to meet the Bay Area’s growing need for support for gender-nonconforming children and teens.

According to Aye, some families drive seven hours for the clinic’s specialized care. Her patients have more than tripled in number within the last year and a half, since she began treating transgender youth on her own.

Patients have access to a pediatric endocrinologist, urologist, gynecologist, social worker and adolescent medicine specialist, and they may request hormonal treatment if they so choose. Insurance covers many of the Gender Clinic’s services under the California Insurance Gender Nondiscrimination Act.

Hormonal treatment includes two phases. The first phase begins at the onset of puberty and counteracts typical biological development.

“It’s to kind of halt it so that child doesn’t experience the wrong puberty,” Aye said.

After a period without treatment, during which patients have time to consider their options, they may proceed to phase two, in which they receive cross-sex hormones.

According to Aye, the clinic’s team understands the journey transgender youth undertake and gives them a safe space to receive the care they need.

She added, “[Patients know,] ‘I can be taken care of here because they’re respectful of my preferred name, preferred pronouns and who I am.'”

 

Contact Elise Most at emost ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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