Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) Elections Commissioner Christian Giadolor ’21 announced election results at Friday’s Zoom Election Night Special, praising the diversity of the candidates running and their flexibility in adapting to the “unusual circumstances.”

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In a 31-way race, all six incumbents running for reelection retained their seats in the Undergraduate Senate, the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) undergraduate legislative body.

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At its last meeting of the year, the 21st Undergraduate Senate unanimously approved a resolution encouraging the University to provide summer housing for on-campus students at lower-than-usual cost given the financial pressures and travel restrictions resulting from the global pandemic. Senator Mià Bahr ’22 also spoke to her past anti-Israel tweets, which have been criticized by the Stanford College Republicans (SCR), as Bahr faces re-election this week.

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The Leonard Law is a controversial California state statute extends some First Amendment protections to students at private colleges in the state and has increasingly become the subject of free speech discussions on campus, ranging from Faculty Senate meetings to conversations between students.

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Following over a month of efforts by East Palo Alto’s mayor, city council, fire district and other local organization to establish a testing site, the city may have finally found a company willing to administer tests at no cost.

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Frontline healthcare workers gathered on Thursday to protest Stanford Health Care’s “temporary workforce adjustment program,” which requires that employees choose between being furloughed, taking paid time off (PTO) or accepting a 20% pay cut.

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The resolution also calls on the University to begin departmentalizing the African and African-American Studies (AAAS) program.

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The Daily sat down with Nobel Laureate and structural biology professor Michael Levitt to discuss his research on the trajectories of COVID-19 outbreaks around the world. Levitt said the COVID-19 curve seems to be self-flattening and predicted that students could be back on campus come fall.

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Students said a lack of clarity and general distrust of Stanford’s sexual assault and harassment services prevent them from speaking out. They especially criticized what they characterized as an inadequate response to reports of faculty misconduct and a slow rate of policy change on campus.

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At an open forum on Tuesday, faculty and staff said Stanford’s sexual assault and harassment services were inadequate, forcing faculty members to leave the University and face personal costs for speaking out.

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Statisticians reported being baffled by the narrow confidence intervals on the study’s estimates, given the potential for false-positive test results.

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Laid-off subcontracted workers, union representatives and current and former Stanford students — including former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro ’96 and Rep. Joaquin Castro ’96 (D-Tex.) — called on the University to expand protections and compensation for all Stanford-affiliated employees through the end of the quarter at a press conference hosted by Stanford Students’ for Workers (SWR) Rights held Thursday afternoon.

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The Undergraduate Senate on Tuesday discussed recommendations for how Stanford's administration should plan for the next academic year and allocate a $7.4 million windfall the University secured from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. No new bills were introduced in the Zoom meeting.

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A seroprevalence study led by Stanford researchers estimates that the number of coronavirus infections in Santa Clara County was 50 to 85 times higher than the number of confirmed cases by early April.

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UG2 Director of Operations Grover Brown confirmed that a UG2 employee tested positive for COVID-19 on April 11, which has led employees, union representatives and students to raise concerns about whether the company has taken sufficient precautions to protect employees as the coronavirus spreads.

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Coronavirus has upended many prospective admits' lives. Students still deciding between colleges who planned in-person visits now have to settle for virtual admit weekends, like Stanford’s. Senior-year disruptions have moved socializing and learning online. Some students are even considering a gap year if conditions do not improve by next fall.

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The University is "actively discussing" potential outcomes for the fall, but has not yet made any decisions.

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Stanford guaranteed pay continuation for directly hired employees represented by Service Employees International Union Higher Education Workers (SEIU) Local 2007 through April 30 on Tuesday, according to University spokesperson E.J. Miranda.

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Senators are raising concerns that increased police presence on campus is causing students to feel threatened. Senators also discussed ongoing challenges for students amid coronavirus disruptions and the Senate’s potential structure in spring quarter at their Tuesday Zoom meeting. No new bills were introduced.

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Over 3,200 people in Santa Clara County were tested for COVID-19 antibodies on Friday and Saturday in an effort to determine the proportion of the population that either has or has recovered from coronavirus. The study, led by researchers at Stanford Medicine, is the first of its kind in the nation.

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Over 130 people employed by UG2, a national custodial service Stanford contracts with, will be laid off by April 30 without additional compensation, according to UG2 Director of Human Resources Dahianara Liranzo.

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The University wrote that the timing and format of commencement will depend on the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 8,300 people in California have tested positive for the virus, and Santa Clara County extended its shelter-in-place order through May 3 on Monday.

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A team of Stanford researchers may have found a way to use heat to disinfect N95 respirators, potentially enabling reuse of the single-use masks that are running dangerously low nationwide as the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. continues to grow.

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