Natasha Weaser – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 04:15:55 +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 Natasha Weaser – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Brian Kobilka wins 2012 Nobel prize in Chemistry https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/10/stanford-scientist-wins-2012-nobel-prize-in-chemistry/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/10/stanford-scientist-wins-2012-nobel-prize-in-chemistry/#respond Thu, 11 Oct 2012 04:00:50 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1071674 Brian Kobilka, M.D., professor and chair of molecular and cellular physiology at the School of Medicine, won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

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Brian Kobilka, professor and chair of molecular and cellular physiology at the School of Medicine, won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He received the phone call from the Nobel committee at 2:20 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

The prize was awarded to Kobilka for his work on G-protein-coupled receptors: proteins found on the surface of cells that transmit information across cell membranes. He shares the $1.2 million prize with Robert Lefkowitz, a Duke University professor of biochemistry and medicine.

Brian Kobilka wins 2012 Nobel prize in Chemistry
Brian Kobilka
(LINDA CICERO/Stanford News Service)

“I didn’t believe it at first, but after I spoke with about five people – they handed the phone around – with really convincing Swedish accents, I started to think it was for real,” Kobilka said in an interview with Stanford News Service.

A press conference was held at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning in the Paul Berg Conference Room, at which Kobilka, University President John Hennessy and Dean of the School of Medicine Philip Pizzo spoke.

“[Winning the Nobel Prize] speaks to several things: endurance, brilliance, dedication, commitment to assailing the odds because you really passionately believe in something,” Pizzo said at the press conference. “You [Kobilka] epitomize what is really great about science.”

Hennessy noted that the award is Stanford’s 27th Nobel Prize.

“It is both humble and gratifying – a tradition of excellence in research and what our faculty has been able to do,” he said.

Kobilka emphasized the “incredible collaborative effort” involved in his research, which began in the 1980s.

“I hope that we can translate these discoveries to develop more safer, more effective drugs and more economically developed drugs,” he said in an interview with Reuters.

Stanford currently has 17 living Nobel Laureates, two of whom were awarded the prize in Chemistry. They are Roger Kornberg, who won the prize in 2006 for his work on DNA transcription and Paul Berg, who won the prize in 1980 for his work on nucleic acids in recombinant DNA.

 

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15 students named 2013 Siebel Scholars https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/04/15-students-named-2013-siebel-scholars/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/04/15-students-named-2013-siebel-scholars/#respond Thu, 04 Oct 2012 07:13:59 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1071412 Fifteen Stanford graduate students in their final year of study were awarded the prestigious Siebel scholarship, with five students each from the Graduate School of Business, the graduate program in Computer Science in the School of Engineering and the graduate program in Bioengineering in the Schools of Engineering and Medicine.

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What do a “Jeopardy!” bidding strategy expert, the creator of an online Sanskrit guide and a member of the team that created the first comprehensive model of a single living cell have in common? All three are Stanford students and recipients of the prestigious 2013 Siebel Scholarship.

The Siebel Scholars program was founded in 2000 to recognize the best and brightest final-year graduate students from schools in business, computer science and bioengineering nationwide.

The scholarship program is a branch of The Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation established in 1996 as a non-profit, strategic philanthropy organization.

Overall this year, 85 scholars were selected from 17 institutions.

Fifteen Stanford graduate students in their final year of study were awarded the prestigious scholarship, with five students each from the Graduate School of Business, the graduate program in Computer Science in the School of Engineering and the graduate program in Bioengineering in the Schools of Engineering and Medicine. The same numbers of students from each department were selected as 2010, 2011 and 2012 Seibel Scholars.

Faculty from the various departments selected the recipients, using exceptional academic and leadership achievements as their key criteria.

The recipients from the Graduate School of Business are: Greg Bybee, Krystal Cowan, Stewart Lynn, Blake Nesbitt and Peter Shalek. The recipients from the graduate program in Computer Science are Jacqueline Chen, Deniz Kahramaner, Sofia Kyriazopoulou-Panagiotopoulou, Wendy Mu and Arun Prasad. The recipients from the graduate program in bioengineering are Widya Mulyasasmita, Jayodita Sanghvi, Tony Schindler, Pakpoom Subsoontorn and Grace Tang.

Scholars receive a $35,000 grant towards their final year of study and are integrated into a network of over 800 highly accomplished business and scientific leaders.

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Smallpox virus may treat breast cancer, Stanford researcher finds https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/03/smallpox-virus-may-treat-breast-cancer-stanford-researcher-finds/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/03/smallpox-virus-may-treat-breast-cancer-stanford-researcher-finds/#comments Thu, 04 Oct 2012 06:53:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1071406 Stanford School of Medicine researcher Sepideh Gholami is the lead author of a recently published study conducted by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City that suggests that a version of smallpox, vaccinia virus, can be used to fight a form of breast cancer called Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC).

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Stanford School of Medicine researcher Sepideh Gholami is the lead author of a recently published study conducted by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City that suggests that a version of smallpox, vaccinia virus, can be used to fight a form of breast cancer called Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC).

Breast cancer is the second-most common form of cancer for women in the United States, affecting more than 125 per 100,000 women. TNBC affects approximately 10 to 20 percent of all breast cancer patients and is known for being aggressive and displaying a high recurrence rate. Patients suffering from TNBC do not have three biological receptors–estrogen, progesterone and HER2–that are targeted to respond to existing treatments.

“One of the reasons I wanted to focus on TNBC is that there aren’t many long-term treatment options,” Gholami said in an interview with ABC News.

According to the study, laboratory tests conducted on TNBC-infected mice show that the virus has the capability to infect and then break down the cancerous cells while also blocking the development of tumor blood vessels. In four days, 90 percent of the cancerous cells were destroyed.

“Based upon pathology, we could see that at least 60 percent of the tumors were completely regressed and the other 40 percent had very little areas of tumor cells present with a lot of necrosis (die off), which is a sign that the tumor was responding to therapy,” Gholami said in an interview with The Daily Mail.

Gholami presented her research at American College of Surgeons’ Annual Clinical Congress in Chicago on Oct. 1. A clinical trial will soon follow.

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Full Moons past https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/02/full-moons-past/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/02/full-moons-past/#respond Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:38:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1071309 From senior boys giving roses to freshman girls to a making out free-for-all, Full Moon on the Quad has undergone many transformations throughout its history.

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Full Moons pastLate 1800s

The Full Moon on the Quad (FMOTQ) tradition begins with senior boys and freshman girls exchanging a kiss and a rose at midnight on the Quad.

Until 1980s

In the decades prior to 1980, it was common for FMOTQ to include dinners, dances and bands but the event began to lose its structure and formality in the ’80s.

1989

Senior class presidents Julie Lythcott-Haims ’89 and Preston Hammer ’89 decide to make FMOTQ “classier” by incorporating elements such as champagne and orchestras.

2003

An infamous year for FMOTQ: Five hospitalizations, one arrest for driving under the influence and one arrest for public intoxication lead University officials to consider shutting down the event entirely in the future.

2004

The University decides to let the event continue but exerts more control and restrictions. Warnings against excessive drinking are given out, more police forces dispatched and only Stanford students allowed admittance. An initiative called Absolute Fun promotes non-alcoholic alternatives.

2009

FMOTQ cancelled due to the outbreak of swine flu. The event resumed in 2010.

2012

FMOTQ to commence in the Main Quad at 9 p.m.

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Top 5 FMOTQ quotes from the last decade https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/02/top-5-fmotq-quotes-from-the-last-decade/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/02/top-5-fmotq-quotes-from-the-last-decade/#respond Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:37:59 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1071316 "Freshman girls are wonderful," said an MBA student in 2006.

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2008

“There’s crazy people, and there’s conservative people,” said Amy Dao ’12. “If there’s a guy who’s sick, we’re not kissing him. Come on. Midterms!”’ (“Full Moon gently rises on Quad,” Oct. 15)

2003

“You can’t stop freshmen from drinking anymore than you can stop the moon from getting full,” said senior Rebecca Dowell ’04. [In response to concerns and threats from Stanford administrators to shut down future festivities after four alcohol-related hospitalizations, one arrest for public drunkenness and one arrest for driving under the influence from FMOTQ that year.] (“Full Moon’s future cloudy,” Oct. 13)

2007

“I’m disappointed of this mono-getting fest,” said Kate Thomas ’11. “I heard that it used to be chivalrous and sweet, where the freshmen would get a kiss by a senior on the cheek and a rose. Now it’s just some wild orgy.” (“Full Moon rising,” Oct. 25)

2003

“I’ve had mono already, so I’m inoculated,” said freshman Ben, claiming that he had already locked lips with 35 lucky ladies. “I’m not from California, so this is a new thing [to me] and I wanted to take [part in it].” (“Full Mooners kiss & tell,” Oct. 10)

2006

Derek Webster [MBA ’08] had already kissed 10 girls before midnight, and said that 30 was his “sweet spot.” “Freshman girls are wonderful,” Webster said. “I feel like I’m young again.” (“Mayhem upstaged by shows,” Oct. 9)

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Quad snoop: Overheard at Full Moon On The Quad https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/02/quad-snoop/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/10/02/quad-snoop/#respond Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:36:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1071338 Overheard at Full Moon on the Quad

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Quad snoop: Overheard at Full Moon On The Quad
(ANDREW HAN/The Stanford Daily)

[Heard in the dorm hallways]

“I NEED TO BRUSH MY TEETH NOW. I’m going to get mono!”

“Are you under 18? It’s on my checklist.”

Naked Columbae guy in the Claw fountain: “Senior girls get me!”

“I’m Italian and here’s a rose; kiss me?”

Friend to another friend: “Don’t kiss anyone! You are classy. Say it–YOU. ARE. CLASSY.”

Band guy: “Look I have a large trumpet. Wanna make out?”

Dejected male: “She just clearly did not respect my emotions, you know?”

 

– Natasha Weaser, Edward Ngai

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Karl Eikenberry: On Afghanistan, China and life at Stanford https://stanforddaily.com/2012/06/07/karl-eikenberry-on-afghanistan-china-and-life-at-stanford/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/06/07/karl-eikenberry-on-afghanistan-china-and-life-at-stanford/#respond Thu, 07 Jun 2012 10:03:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1068032 Karl Eikenberry M.A. '94 has had a distinguished military and diplomatic career. Prior to his current position as the Payne Distinguished Lecturer at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), he spent 35 years in the United States Army. As U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from May 2009 to June 2011, he led President Obama’s civilian surge, which occurred in conjunction with a 30,000-troop surge.

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Karl Eikenberry’s office in Encina Hall’s East Wing holds hints of a decorated, controversial and adventurous past. Books on politics and history line the shelves, pictures and certificates hang on the walls and an Afghan rug is laid out on the floor.

Eikenberry M.A. ’94 has had a distinguished military and diplomatic career. Prior to his current position as the Payne Distinguished Lecturer at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), he spent 35 years in the United States Army. As U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from May 2009 to June 2011, he led President Obama’s civilian surge, which occurred in conjunction with a 30,000-troop surge.

Karl Eikenberry: On Afghanistan, China and life at Stanford
(Courtesy of Karl Eikenberry)

Eikenberry, with his soft-spoken manner and friendly disposition, recalled how his father would discuss his World War II experiences in the Asia Pacific region over dinner at his home in Goldsboro, N.C.

“I still consider Goldsboro home,” Eikenberry said, pulling out the key to the city, which was given to him by Goldsboro’s mayor in August 2007.

In 1969, Eikenberry left Goldsboro for the United States Military Academy at West Point. He received a letter from the Dean of the Department of Foreign Languages requiring him to study two years of a foreign language.

“I looked down the list and saw French, but I was already studying it,” Eikenberry said. “I wanted something new and exciting. I saw Russian and that was the time of the height of the Cold War but then I saw Chinese and thought that was the most exotic.”

The decision led Eikenberry down a path that would see the fluent Mandarin speaker form close connections with China and the Asia Pacific region.

On May 17, 2012, Foreign Policy magazine published an article by Eikenberry titled “Stop Ignoring Taiwan,” in which he argued for revitalizing diplomatic and economic relations between Taiwan and the U.S. in the face of China’s economic and military ascendance.

“Over three decades we have quite skillfully managed to balance commitments to Taiwan and continuing to evolve our complicated relationship with China,” he said.

“Going forward, with good diplomacy skills we can maintain this balance but…there’s going to be points in time where we have to make difficult decisions,” he added.

Eikenberry acknowledged President Obama’s “pivot” toward Asia, citing China’s growing maritime claims as a key issue.

“Since World War II, the U.S. had the assumption that we have complete mastery of the military in the Pacific Ocean. As China rises it will challenge our assumption of complete supremacy — how to manage this is the question,” he said.

Despite his connection to China and Asia, it is Eikenberry’s efforts in Afghanistan that have been the most noted. Before becoming ambassador, he served two tours in Afghanistan. His first tour was as security coordinator and chief of the Office of Military Cooperation from September 2002 to September 2003, and during his second, from 2005 to 2007, he served as commander of the American-led coalition forces.

Eikenberry summarized his experience as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan as “extraordinarily intense.”

“The mission was complicated, the expectations in Washington were understandably very high and in the strategy we were implementing, time mattered,” he said.

Despite his intense focus on the mission, the people of Afghanistan left the most profound effect on Eikenberry.

“These are a people that have been through three decades of unimaginable horror, conflict, war. Some of the stories we heard from them are almost untellable,” he said. “Yet here was a group of people who had still retained their pride and a very strong, compelling culture.”

“There is a saying that when we leave Afghanistan, we leave a part of our hearts behind — this was certainly so for me and my wife,” he said.

According to Eikenberry, his frequent walks through Afghan bazaars with his wife, Ching, led him to be dubbed as the “The Afghan People’s Ambassador” by locals.

“Given the nature of the mission, Afghans can get frustrated with necessary military operations,” he said. “Putting the face of the U.S. embassy out there was important and helped mitigate the frustration Afghans understandably felt with the international military forces.”

The relationship between Afghans and U.S. troops has been tumultuous, with civilian deaths a major issue of contention.

However, Eikenberry remains adamant that the war was necessary after 9/11, stating that “the notion to just ignore Afghanistan was not an option.”

“I would have disagreements with aspects of strategy in Afghanistan but never questioned whether we needed to be there,” he said.

Eikenberry stated that the core of the mission was to “harden” Afghanistan so that it would become a state with “a reliable government, an accountable security force, an appropriate justice system and a significant economy so that it will no longer be a sanctuary of international terrorism to attack the U.S. and its allies.”

“I don’t classify this [the war in Afghanistan] as winning or losing. We are attempting to help the Afghan people achieve progress and make sure we will not be threatened by international terrorism,” Eikenberry said.

Here at Stanford, the sandstone arches and palm trees put Eikenberry in a world startlingly different from that of the bustling streets of downtown Kabul or the rugged terrain of the AfPak mountainous border.

When not in his office, Eikenberry can be seen at the gym seven days a week, taking a break at the CoHo and even recruiting potential football players for Stanford. Although he enjoys biking, he said at Stanford, “biking sometimes makes me think that I’m in Beijing.”

“What I love about the Stanford campus is the combination of the aesthetics and the sense of seriousness and purpose,” he said. “What I see in terms of the caliber of students is extraordinary — these are the future leaders of our society.”

He particularly enjoys speaking to students about their future career paths, relying on advice his father once gave him.

“When it comes to the end of the day in life’s journey and what you see in the mirror makes you smile then you can say you did reasonably well,” he said.

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China censors to prevent collective action, King says https://stanforddaily.com/2012/06/07/china-censors-to-prevent-collective-action-king-says/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/06/07/china-censors-to-prevent-collective-action-king-says/#comments Thu, 07 Jun 2012 09:59:50 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1068163 The speech of Chinese citizens is “individually free but collectively in chains,” said Gary King, director of Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science and a professor in Harvard’s Department of Government.

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The speech of Chinese citizens is “individually free but collectively in chains,” said Gary King, director of Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science and a professor in Harvard’s Department of Government.

King gave a presentation Wednesday afternoon in Encina Hall titled, ”How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression.”

“There are many looming challenges facing China ahead,” said Jean Oi, director of the Stanford in China program and a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute, who introduced King and his project. “One of them is how China is going to deal with the Internet and the flow of information.

“People have a lot of assumptions and speculations about censorship in China,” she added, “The question is, what do they censor and what are they trying to do?”

King’s lecture centered on disproving conventional wisdom that the goal of Chinese censorship is to stop government criticism, instead arguing through his empirical research that it is the threat or possibility of collective action that the censors target.

King said that only two topics — pornography and criticism of the censors themselves — are always blocked.

“We as observers often think that the Chinese censorship system is leaky and imperfect, but actually it is our understanding of it that is so,” he said.

Although he acknowledged that countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam also block sensitive content, King stated, “China is the largest effort to censor human expression in history.”

While exact numbers remain unclear, King said censorship in China is a “huge manual effort” involving hundreds of thousands of people. He divided the censorship into two broad categories: search filtering, which involves blocking certain terms in search engines, and content filtering, which involves removing individual posts by hand.

According to King, websites like Sina, China’s largest infotainment web portal, hire up to 1,000 people to censor content.

With the help of Harvard graduate students Jennifer Pan and Molly Roberts, King undertook a six-month project, spanning from Jan. 2011 to June 2011, to use automated content analysis software he developed and patented to download over 3 million social media posts from 1,400 Chinese social media sites.

King then divided these posts into 95 topics and, for each post, examined the content, placed it on a timeline and revisited the site to see if it was censored.

According to King, 13 percent of social media posts are censored overall, even though there are significant differences across geographic regions and topics.

Drawing from the data collected, King showed that among some of the most-censored events in the earlier half of 2011 were protests in Inner Mongolia, the arrest of dissident Ai Weiwei and the rush to buy salt following the Japanese earthquake.

King referred to the last case as an example of a topic that did not criticize or threaten the government, but was characterized by collective action and was thus heavily censored.

To provide more evidence for this theory, King showed how criticism of key government policies, including the One Child Policy and education policy, have low censorship percentages, arguing that this is due to their lack of collective action potential.

King also pointed out that in the cases of the protests in Inner Mongolia and Ai Weiwei’s arrest, posts were censored whether they supported or criticized the state.

Citing cases such as the downfall of politician Bo Xilai and a South China Sea peace agreement, King also suggested that his software and findings can predict certain events before they occur.

“With the Chinese government leaving huge footprints and exposing themselves, we can tell what they are going to do before they do it,” King said.

He also noted that Chinese censorship is not ambiguous or hidden, showing a picture of a blocked Chinese site that stated, “The page you requested is temporarily down. How about you go look at another page?”

“I am not favorably impressed, but nevertheless impressed, by the Chinese censorship system,” he said. “This may be the optimal way to have a censorship program, as the government gets to see what everyone thinks, eliminate collective action potential and can measure and deal with problems.”

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Turkish President talks leadership, innovation https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/24/turkish-president-talks-leadership-innovation/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/24/turkish-president-talks-leadership-innovation/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 10:05:58 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1067364 “Effective leaders must love to learn, change and expand,” said Abdullah Gul, president of Turkey, to a packed Cemex Auditorium Wednesday afternoon. “If you are not learning, maturing, changing or expanding, then you cannot expect the people to believe in you and follow you.”

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“Effective leaders must love to learn, change and expand,” said Abdullah Gul, president of Turkey, to a packed Cemex Auditorium Wednesday afternoon. “If you are not learning, maturing, changing or expanding, then you cannot expect the people to believe in you and follow you.”

Gul’s speech — titled “Leading Change by Reform, Commitment and Innovation: Reflections on Leadership by the President of Turkey” — was part of the Graduate School of Business’s (GSB) “View from the Top” lecture series, a student-run program that brings prominent figures to campus to share their insights on effective leadership.

Turkish President talks leadership, innovation
Abdullah Gul, president of Turkey, spoke Wednesday afternoon in Cemex Auditorium on leadership traits and skills. He also addressed the ascendancy of Turkey within the Middle East and identified social media and technology as forces for the 21st century. (IAN GARCIA-DOTY/The Stanford Daily)

Prior to being elected president in 2007, Gul served as Turkey’s foreign minister from 2003 to 2007 and prime minister from 2002 to 2003. He is a member of the Justice and Development Party in Turkey, a center-right party currently holding a strong majority of seats within Turkey’s parliament.

“The next decade is likely one where Turkey plays an increasingly important role bridging economic, geopolitical, cultural boundaries,” said GSB Dean Garth Saloner as he introduced Gul.

Gul focused his talk on leadership traits and skills, which he applied to examples from his own life ranging from his childhood in the town of Kayseri to his path to the presidency.

Kayseri is “renowned for its entrepreneurs,” according to Gul. However, he recalled that when he was a child, he failed to effectively market and sell his grandfather’s sodas.

“If that very failure would not have happened that day, most probably I would not be the president of the Turkish Republic today,” Gul said.

“Of course, had I been successful in selling sodas, I would be much richer now — a lot like most of my fellow Kayseri businessmen,” he added in jest.

Gul also discussed the eternal question of whether leadership ability is innate or acquired.

“Good leaders must, to be sure, also possess God-given traits,” Gul asserted. “However, I believe, in most cases, leadership is a nurtured phenomenon rather than a gift of nature.”

Gul emphasized other key leadership qualities in his talk, including the abilities to inspire, take decisive steps, adapt to a rapidly globalizing world and follow through on a clear vision.

Gul lauded progress in advancing democracy around the world — citing Egypt’s Tahrir Square protests and the Occupy movement — but criticized an alleged lack of bold decision-making by global leaders, particularly in Europe and the Middle East.

“The current situation in Europe is a telling example of how the lack of visionary leadership could adversely affect the lives of millions,” he said. “Another area where we witnessed a tragic failure of leadership is in the Middle East, where leaders have long been out of touch with their people.”

Drawing a connection between Stanford’s culture of innovation and ongoing regime change in the Middle East, Gul highlighted the importance of technology and social media in popular movements.

“Because of your innovations, no regime today has the luxury to govern its people behind iron curtains,” he said.

Gul also highlighted the need to be a risk-taking leader, citing his own visit to Armenia in September 2008 as an example of a time when he took an unconventional approach to the strained relations between Turkey and its neighbor.

“Risky as it was, I did the right thing by visiting Yerevan,” Gul said, denying any regrets about the visit. “If it is necessary, a good leader should also be able to make difficult decisions and painful concessions.”

Shifting his focus back to Turkey, Gul emphasized how reforms implemented at the turn of the century have positively benefited Turkey both politically and economically, emphasizing that Turkey remains the second fastest growing economy in the world behind China.

However, while Gul argued that, “Turkey today is more pluralistic, inclusive and tolerant than ever before,” he conceded, “we are under no such illusion that our task in improving democracy is over.”

In addition to democracy and human rights, Gul emphasized Turkey’s continuing objective of scientific and technological development, noting that Turkey has the fourth largest number of Facebook users globally.

“No nation, however self-sufficient or strong it may be, is capable of coping with the complexities of today’s world alone,” Gul said, stressing the need for strong collective, as well as individual, leadership.

Additionally, Gul emphasized the need for a leader to simultaneously adhere to his or her principles while embracing reality and opportunities. When presented, however, with conflicting choices, Gul emphasized, “my instinct always goes with the principle, and I will fight for principle to the end.”

He ended his speech by imparting leadership advice to assembled students.

“All I can leave with you today is the strong but simple advice that you never shy away from taking responsibility and that you lead when you can,” he said. “Graduating from Stanford, you will already be equipped with the necessary tools to succeed as leaders.”

Gul’s talk was followed by a question and answer session moderated by former Secretary of State — and current Stanford faculty member — Condoleezza Rice. Questions ranged from the Syrian crisis to Turkey’s rocky relations with Israel following Israel’s 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship in which nine Turks died.

“The Turkish people are majority Muslim and are free to practice what they believe,” Gul said in response to a question from Rice on the integration of Islam and democracy. “That’s why Turkey has become a source of inspiration for many countries in the Arab world.”

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Ross reflects on strategies for peace https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/23/ross-reflects-on-strategies-for-peace/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/23/ross-reflects-on-strategies-for-peace/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 10:04:35 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1067271 Ambassador Dennis Ross, a prominent Middle East adviser to Presidents Obama, Clinton and George H. W. Bush, affirmed his belief Tuesday night in CEMEX Auditorium that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's threats to attack Iran if an agreement on nuclear weapons is not reached are sincere.

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Ambassador Dennis Ross, a prominent Middle East adviser to Presidents Obama, Clinton and George H. W. Bush, affirmed his belief Tuesday night in CEMEX Auditorium that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s threats to attack Iran if an agreement on nuclear weapons is not reached are sincere.

“I don’t think he’s bluffing,” he said in response to an audience member’s question. “Netanyahu defines his role as prime minister as protecting Israelis and protecting Jewish people — this is a part of his self-definition.”

Ross reflects on strategies for peace“If he believes Iran will cross the threshold, I do believe he will act,” he added. The statement was made following his presentation, which was attended by more than 400 people.

Marty Zack ’14, president of the Stanford Israel Alliance (SIA), introduced Ross as “one of our country’s leading champions in Middle East peace,” noting “he has dedicated almost his entire career to the cause.”

Ross was appointed Middle East envoy under President Clinton and was heavily involved in the peace negotiations of the 1990s between Israel and Palestine. During this time, he helped broker the 1995 Interim Agreement and the 1997 Hebron Accord.

In 2009, he was appointed special advisor for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He left the post the same year to join the National Security Council staff as senior director for the central region and special assistant to the president. Ross stepped down from the position last November.

“I want to look conceptually and historically at the whole approach to peace and conclude with a new model,” Ross said.

He traced peace efforts from the 1970s to the 1993 Oslo Accords, giving examples of various approaches, including Kissinger’s “incremental” approach and the Carter administration’s opposing “comprehensive” approach.

“People describe me as someone who believes in ‘incrementalism,’ but my approach is you do what the context permits you to do,” Ross said.

“Statecraft is about marrying objectives and means,” he added. “If context isn’t right, you have to find a way to change the context.”

Based on this idea, Ross argued that a new approach and model is needed for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because the current context for conflict is not conducive to negotiating peace.

“I offer a hybrid model,” he said. “There needs to be a political process, but there needs to be something done from the ground up as well.”

Citing polls that show that the majority of Israelis and Palestinians support a two-state solution but express doubt about its possibility, Ross argued that peace cannot be achieved if the majority of each side thinks the other is not serious about a two-state solution.

“One of the reasons why both publics don’t believe in it [the possibility of resolving the conflict] is that they’ve seen this movie before,” Ross said, referring to prolonged negotiations throughout the 1990s that yielded no significant results.

Offering steps on both sides to break through the impasse, Ross suggested that the United States could help broker negotiations.

On the Israeli side, Ross proposed several measures including reducing the level of Israeli control in the West Bank territories, providing more economic opportunities for Palestinians, recognizing Palestinians who take a nonviolent approach and adopting legislation to offer compensation for settlers who voluntarily move out of the West Bank.

On the Palestinian side, Ross listed steps including halting incitement, condemning violence, including Israel in maps in Palestinian textbooks and institution building.

According to Ross, following these steps “will cause both sides to take a second look and change the dynamics of political negotiations.”

Ross pointed out that the world’s attention is currently focused on “everything but the peace issue between Israelis and Palestinians. It has not gone away and it won’t go away.”

However, he said he views this moment as an opportunity to push for progress in negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

“The Arab countries are all focused internally right now,” he said. “Both the Israelis and Palestinians have the space to do something. It is in this moment, when no one is paying attention, that we should and they should act.”

Following the talk, former Middle East bureau chief for the Washington Post and communication professor Janine Zacharia joined Ross on stage for a question-and-answer session.

Ross dismissed the notion that the current administration is focused on Iran and ignoring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The problem of Iran and the emergence of nuclear weapons weighs very heavily,” he said. “The administration is active behind the scenes [on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict] and approaching it in a low-profile way.”

He also expressed optimism on the progress of negotiations with Iran, crediting increased pressure from the United States for improving the situation.

“I don’t expect there to be a breakthrough tomorrow, but I don’t think we have the luxury of approaching talks like we have all the time in the world,” he said. “There needs to be a sense of urgency.”

Moving to the topic of Syria, Ross highlighted a need to engage Russia in efforts to oust current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Ross stated his support for a safe haven for the dictator on the Syrian-Turkish border.

In response to a challenge from an audience member of his definition of Palestinian identity, Ross said, “You cannot deny Palestinian national identity. We cannot make peace if we do not recognize the Palestinians.”

 

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New hospital to model future care https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/22/hospital-campaign/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/22/hospital-campaign/#comments Tue, 22 May 2012 10:04:18 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1067154 With a new, 823,000-square-foot Stanford Hospital, which will be partially funded by a recently announced $1 billion fundraising campaign, Stanford Medicine aims to connect “science and humanity in a caring and dignified manner,” according to School of Medicine Dean Philip Pizzo.

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Correction: The original version of this article cited an estimate for the cost of the new hospital as “$2 to $3 billion.” This estimate refers instead to the cost to transform the hospital facilities, complete seismic retrofit work, and fund medical research and education.

With a new, 823,000-square-foot Stanford Hospital, which will be partially funded by a recently announced $1 billion fundraising campaign, Stanford Medicine aims to connect “science and humanity in a caring and dignified manner,” according to School of Medicine Dean Philip Pizzo.

New hospital to model future care
The Campaign for Stanford Medicine, a $1 billion fundraising campaign to create a new Stanford Hospital and School of Medicine, is underway. The campaign seeks to create a model of patient care for the future. (Main Atrium Rendering by Rafael Viñoly Architects)

President John Hennessy announced the Campaign for Stanford Medicine two weeks ago as part of an initiative to build the new hospital and invest in medical teachings and research.

Stating that the “the new hospital is not just about technology,” Pizzo said that the specific needs for the fundraising campaign range from meeting state building codes to pioneering patient care.

“The reasons for building the hospital are multiple,” Pizzo said. “It begins with the need for it to follow seismic regulations, but more importantly, it is for the benefit of the community.”

“Providing the most advanced health care possible to people — locally, nationally and globally — will be one of the great challenges of this century,” Hennessey said in his campaign launch speech on May 7. “The Campaign for Stanford Medicine draws upon our particular strengths — the proximity of the University to its hospitals and clinics — to focus on this issue and better serve the public. It will allow us to seek solutions to some of medicine’s most daunting problems, and it will begin in our own community with the new Stanford Hospital.”

The $1 billion campaign does not reflect the total cost to “to transform the hospital facilities, perform seismic retrofit work, and fund medical research and education,” according to a San Jose Mercury News article. The total may amount to between $2 and $3 billion.

Half the amount the campaign hopes to acquire has already been raised through both corporate and private donations. To date, the University has received corporate donations from Apple, Hewlett-Packard, eBay, Oracle, Intuit, Nvidia and Intel. In total, these companies have pledged over $175 million under the Stanford Hospital Corporate Partners Program.

Additionally, three families — the Tashia and John Morgridge family, the Anne Bass M.A. ‘07 and R

New hospital to model future care
The new Stanford Hospital will offer state-of-the-art imaging equipment. The facilities have been designed to accomodate future technological changes, while maintaining a comfortable, humanistic environment. (Rendering by Rafael Viñoly Architects)

obert Bass MBA ‘74 family, and the Christopher Redlich ‘72 family — have each contributed $50 million.

Stanford Medicine intends for the new hospital to become a pioneer in the medical field by incorporating state-of-the-art technology, such as integrated medical facilities, advanced imaging, genome sequencing and more effective emergency care.

Pizzo highlighted the adaptable nature of the new hospital, which he said “will have the best technology, but will also enable the introduction of new technology in the years and decades to come.”

He emphasized that while the new hospital will be a leader in medical technology, it will also lead the way in patient care. Features to improve the quality of life for patients, such as healing gardens and private rooms for visiting families, will be incorporated into the facility, which will begin construction in 2013 and be completed in 2018.

“We want to be able to deliver the absolute best care to that next patient who walks through our door,” said Amir Dan Rubin, president and CEO of Stanford Hospital and Clinics, to the San Jose Mercury News. “We need to deliver care that leverages innovation and technology, but that is also patient- and family-oriented.”

Even though the new hospital will directly benefit the local community, Pizzo said it will also serve as a model for hospitals worldwide.

“When something has impact at Stanford, it will travel in the nation and the world,” he said. “Our advancements will cross boundaries.”

Medical students, who spend a significant portion of their time working at a hospital for the final two years of their degree, will also be able to take advantage of the new hospital’s resources.

According to Luz Silverio, a fourth-year medical student, future students will appreciate the work environment in the new hospital.

“Medical students are essentially trapped in the basement for 80 to 90 hours a week,” Silverio said. “It’s nice to rest your eyes on a beautiful painting or look outside. I think the University has done a great job overall rejuvenating the facilities for med students. I’m really jealous I won’t be around when [the new hospital] opens.”

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Brown critiques identity framing https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/16/1066517/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/16/1066517/#respond Wed, 16 May 2012 09:10:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1066517 Graham Brown, director of the Center for Development Studies at the University of Bath, warned against generalizing regional conflicts as caused by one factor, such as religion or nationality, during a talk Tuesday morning.

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Graham Brown, director of the Center for Development Studies at the University of Bath, warned against generalizing regional conflicts as caused by one factor, such as religion or nationality, during a talk Tuesday morning.

Brown said that individuals he called “identity entrepreneurs” often frame conflicts in terms of religious and national identity so that they can mobilize support for their cause. According to Brown, this is a problematic phenomenon because people face a range of “overlapping and intersecting identities to frame their struggle.”

“Looking at the dynamics of conflicts in Asia, when it comes to a choice between selecting a national versus religious identity, there is a payoff matrix,” Brown said, referring to the main theme of his presentation. His talk focused on local conflicts in Southeast Asian regions, such as the Aceh region in Indonesia, the Sabah region in Malaysia and the Moro National Front in the Philippines.

Brown critiques identity framing
Graham Brown, the 2012 Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Distinguished Fellow at Stanford spoke Tuesday afternoon about Southeast Asia and the dynamics between local identity conflicts and their connections to global struggles. (NICK SALAZAR/The Stanford Daily)

Brown is the 2012 Lee Kong Chian National University of Singapore (NUS)-Stanford Distinguished Fellow at Stanford. The fellowship is awarded to one scholar annually to conduct research at both Stanford and NUS for up to six months.

During his talk, Brown warned against legitimizing or misinterpreting the goals of certain groups of separatists, citing the Filipino group Abu Sayyaf, which he calls “pirates and war profiteers.”

He emphasized the need to distinguish between greed and grievance as causes for conflicts.

“Many times conflicts are not really caused by religion, but then it turns out to be in the process,” he said. “People invent causes and frame them into their identities.”

As a researcher, Brown said one of the fundamental problems is how social scientists conduct their research in the field.

“Political scientists and scholars working on religion face the problem of re-labeling religious conflicts, which feeds into narratives that become accessible to groups [involved in the conflict],” he said.

Citing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, Brown argued that scholars such as Samuel Huntington incorrectly labeled the Sri Lankan conflict as a religious one, and thus gave “identity entrepreneurs” the opportunity to manipulate their literature.

Brown further argued the idea of a “relationship between demand and supply and identity,” stating that not all of these identity narratives stick.

“Attempts to ‘Islam-ize’ the Free Aceh movement fall on deaf ears,” he said. “There is something about the nature of Acehnese identity that is strong and cohesive. People know what it means to be Acehnese, and Islam is part of the project, but jihadization isn’t.”

He contrasted this example against that of the Moro National Front in the Philippines, which he said is “a relatively new and deliberately put-together bunch of ethnic groups, and therefore there is a ‘demand’ for more of a ‘jihadized’ identity.”

Donald Emmerson, director of the Southeast Asia Forum at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, provided a few comments at the end of the talk.

Even though he agreed with most of the points presented, Emmerson noted, “Identity is not a clinical choice and people can identify with multiple identities and have a choice.”

“I am interested in Islam in Southeast Asia and the idea of Eurarabia and whether or not there is a globalized connection of radicalized Islam,” said audience member Jane Miller Chai ’60.

“The talk was ambitious, but I felt that the idea of Eurarabia was not spelled out clearly,” she added.

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Experts address Cold War, modern nuclear policy https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/10/experts-address-cold-war-modern-nuclear-policy/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/10/experts-address-cold-war-modern-nuclear-policy/#respond Thu, 10 May 2012 09:50:17 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1065985 “Politics is much harder than physics -- we cannot force or coerce the laws of nature to change,” said Sidney Drell, co-founder of the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Wednesday evening during a discussion about the politics of nuclear weapons.

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“Politics is much harder than physics — we cannot force or coerce the laws of nature to change,” said Sidney Drell, co-founder of the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Wednesday evening during a discussion about the politics of nuclear weapons.

Drell was one of three panelists at the event, titled “The Reykjavik Forum: History and a New Vision for Our World’s Future.” The event was part of a two-day series, which featured short videos on the history and challenges surrounding nuclear weapons, a performance of the play “Reykjavik” by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes and a concluding panel discussion.

Experts address Cold War, modern nuclear policy
Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author (right), was joined by CISAC co-founder Sidney Drell (left) and Charles Ferguson, president of the Federation of American Scientists, for a discussion of the 1986 Reykjavik summit and the role of nuclear weapons in modern geopolitics. (IAN GARCIA-DOTY/The Stanford Daily)

Rhodes and Charles Ferguson, president of the Federation of American Scientists, joined Drell on the panel. Ferguson also moderated the discussion.

Rhodes’ play “Reykjavik” recounts — using actual transcripts — the historic 1986 summit meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. While the summit, which sought to address issues around nuclear weapons and human rights, attained no lasting resolution, both sides hailed it as inducing a breakthrough in relations.

After the 45-minute play, Ferguson began the discussion by highlighting the larger purpose of the event.

“We want to create some videos that go viral like the Kony one,” Ferguson said. “[In this way] we can try to put pressure on political leaders so they feel a greater urgency to act to prevent nuclear terrorism and to take further steps to reduce arms in a responsible way.”

Ferguson offered an optimistic outlook, adding, “Hopefully one day we can reach a nuclear-free world.”

Drell expanded on Ferguson’s points by providing the perspective of a scientist, with extensive involvement in advising and policymaking. Drell previously served as deputy director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

“The obligation of the scientific community is to see that the role of technology is used for the benefit of mankind,” Drell said. “We work to guide government leaders. Everything has got to be based upon scientific facts.”

Rhodes provided a more historical view of nuclear politics, tracing the history of nuclear developments and relations. He argued that the idea of “common security — that nations should strive for the safety of all other countries — is key.

According to Rhodes, Reagan had told his advisers prior to the Republican National Convention in 1980 that one of the main reasons he wanted to be elected president was to abolish nuclear weapons.

“But that was where the missing piece of the puzzle came in,” Rhodes said in explaining Reagan’s eventual advocacy of the Strategic Defense Initiative, which would have established an American space-based missile shield to prevent against nuclear attack. “How do you prevent the other side from cheating?”

Drell drew on the play’s atmosphere of mutual suspicion in advocating the idea of “trust, but verify.”

“Reagan was very right in insisting about ‘trust but verify,’” Drell said. “The Russians were cheating during this period [of negotiations] and that’s a fact.”

Drell continued by emphasizing that today’s nuclear threats are different than those faced by superpowers during the Cold War.

“Twenty years later, the question of how do you get rid of nuclear weapons is now focused on how some evil and rogue people can get their hands on weapons to go on a suicide mission,” he said.

With regards to Obama’s current policy on nuclear weapons, Drell described it as a “frustratingly slow march” toward a less nuclear world.

A lively question and answer session followed the discussion, with audience questioning initially focusing on contemporary geopolitics.

“One of the most fundamental changes we have been moving towards is to think of [the issue of] nuclear weapons not as good guys versus bad guys, but that the weapons themselves are ultimately the danger,” Rhodes said in reply to a question on Iran’s nuclear weapons policy. “The last thing anyone wants is a war with Iran, or a war between Israel and Iran, and I don’t think Iran wants that either.”

Other questions concerned issues from the disposal of nuclear waste to the handling of nuclear weapons in states that broke away from the USSR in 1991.

“It is fantastic living so close to Stanford where there are so many people contributing to advances in peace and technology,” said audience member Mark Weiss, a community member. “People like Dr. Drell are legends in their fields and are such a great resource.”

The Federation of American Scientists, the National Center for New Plays, the Fund for Peace Initiatives, CISAC, the Center for Ethics in Society and Stanford Continuing Studies co-sponsored the event.

The Ethics and War series will conclude next Wednesday with a discussion of ethical challenges yet to come.

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Hoover fellow speaks on diplomacy https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/03/hoover-fellow-speaks-on-diplomacy/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/03/hoover-fellow-speaks-on-diplomacy/#respond Thu, 03 May 2012 09:45:45 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1065352 “Diplomacy is difficult because you do not always achieve what you want and there is constant tension on how to protect your own interests while working with the interests of the other country,” said Mark Cassayre, a career U.S. diplomat and a current national security affairs fellow at the Hoover Institution, speaking at the Haas Center on Wednesday afternoon.

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“Diplomacy is difficult because you do not always achieve what you want and there is constant tension on how to protect your own interests while working with the interests of the other country,” said Mark Cassayre, a career U.S. diplomat and a current national security affairs fellow at the Hoover Institution, speaking at the Haas Center on Wednesday afternoon.

 

Cassayre’s talk was titled, “National Security: Cooperation between Diplomats and the Military.” In addition to addressing the relationship between the U.S. Department of State and the military, he branched out to discuss general policy issues and practical aspects of a foreign service career.

 

Prior to arriving at Stanford, Cassayre worked for the State Department in Kenya, Ukraine, Namibia, and Switzerland. Most recently, he served as the political counselor to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, which required working with agencies such as the U.N. Human Rights Council, the World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization.

Hoover fellow speaks on diplomacy
Mark Cassayre, a career State Department diplomat and a current national security affairs fellow at the Hoover Institution, discussed cooperation between the military and civilian diplomats Wednesday afternoon (IAN GARCIA-DOTY/The Stanford Daily)

Cassayre began his talk by giving a background of the State Department, including its history and organizational structure, before delving into how and why he became involved.

 

“I grew up in Napa, California and did not have a lot of exposure to diplomats and international affairs,” he said. “But I always had an interest in languages and studying abroad.”

 

Cassayre then listed and explained the responsibilities of a state official, which he said include protecting U.S citizens abroad and promoting U.S interests in areas such as trade and democracy.

 

Shifting the focus of the talk to the relationship between the State Department and the military, he pointed out that there are 100 defense personnel for every State Department employee.

 

“People talk about diplomacy being our first line of defense,” he joked. “Well, it is obviously not a very thick or deep line.”

 

Even though Cassayre stated “we [the State Department and the military] coordinate closely on a day to day basis,” he highlighted the key challenge of the different ways in which both institutions divide world regions for operations.

 

Additionally, he noted that both groups “do have very different cultures, backgrounds and training methods.”

 

Despite these obstacles, Cassayre said, “The overarching theme of my experience is that there is a need for military and state to work together.” He cited Afghanistan and Pakistan as examples of places where “it is essential we work hand in glove for programs to be effective on the ground.”

 

“Some projects cannot achieve their objectives without coordination with the military,” he said, citing his work in the Ukraine destroying old armaments as an example of essential collaboration.

 

“We try our best to make this an inter-agency process to make sure all entities are represented and at the table in order to organize a good policy approach,” he added.

 

Cassayre spent the second half of the event in an open discussion with participants. One audience member posed a question on the balance between private beliefs and diplomatic instruction.

 

“Frankly I have not had an issue of defending a policy that I disagree with,” Cassayre said. “Until you are very senior, you don’t have to defend a wide range of issues but rather focus on a set of issues that you are an expert in. They usually aren’t very controversial.”

 

“Within the organization, you have a voice and ways to share your opinions,” he added.

 

Cassayre also discussed the role of human rights in diplomacy, and the corresponding ability of diplomacy to raise awareness of human rights violations.

 

“Human rights being on the agenda has never been a question and will not go away,” he said. “But sometimes it is challenging because we have to do what is most effective for our overall range of interests.”

 

Audience questions also covered more practical aspects of working for the State Department, including learning new languages and specializing in geographic regions.

 

“New policies encourage officers to have experience in two regions so they are not diffused too much and have a better understanding of those regions,” Cassayre said. “But signing up for worldwide availability is part of the adventure of the job.”

 

The event was sponsored by the Stanford Military Service Network.

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Obama pivots policy toward Asia https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/02/obama-pivots-policy-toward-asia/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/02/obama-pivots-policy-toward-asia/#respond Wed, 02 May 2012 09:05:35 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1065257 China switched to a more aggressive “frown diplomacy” with its South Asian neighbors in 2010 after previously following a “smile diplomacy,” according to Donald K. Emmerson, director of the Southeast Asia Forum at Stanford, who spoke Tuesday in Encina Hall.

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China switched to a more aggressive “frown diplomacy” with its Southeast Asian neighbors in 2010 after previously following a “smile diplomacy,” according to Donald K. Emmerson, director of the Southeast Asia Forum at Stanford, who spoke Tuesday in Encina Hall.

Emmerson’s talk focused particularly on the South China Sea dispute between Asian nations and commented on U.S. involvement in the conflict.

The presentation’s title, “Obama’s Pivot Toward Asia: Implications, Repercussions, Complications,” was inspired by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s article in Foreign Affairs in 2009, in which she urged the United States to invest diplomatically and economically in Asia, declaring that the future of world politics lies in the region.

“As the war in Iraq winds down and America begins to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, the United States stands at a pivot point,” Clinton wrote.

Emmerson centered his talk on the idea of a “pivot” toward Asia, a new approach he said has been adopted by the Obama administration.

He cited several examples of this shift in focus, including Clinton’s choice to make Asia the destination for her first official trip abroad as secretary of state.

Quoting Clinton, who said “showing up is 50 percent,” Emmerson said that he was “struck that when Air Force One landed in Bali [for a 2010 summit], the Indonesian journalists applauded. Obama won tremendous kudos just for showing up.”

He also argued that even with a greater emphasis on multilateral relations, the current administration has intensified bilateral ties with countries that are a part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Emmerson warned, however, that with a “dramatic crisis in the Middle East” and a potential change in administration next year, there is a possibility that this “pivot” might not be a permanent part of U.S. policy.

“Part of the pivot idea I want to emphasize is that it is unclear if future administrations will have the same willingness to commit America to the same framework,” he said.

Highlighting a key turning point, Emmerson noted that “there was a pivot within the pivot in the Hanoi 2010 meeting.”

According to Emmerson, China contacted each ASEAN country individually prior to the meeting to ask them to leave the string of islands in the South China Sea, involved in territorial disputes between regional countries, off the agenda. This decision enraged ASEAN members.

At the meeting, however, Clinton called the South China Sea a matter of “national interest” for the United States, wanting to maintain free shipping in the area. The move deeply angered China, which retaliated by explicitly claiming sovereignty over the South China Sea.

This “display of muscular realpolitik-ism” on the part of the Chinese was not well received by ASEAN countries, Emmerson said, and therefore gave the “pivot” a tremendous boost.

“This pivot has provided ASEAN with greater perceived leverage towards China,” he said.

According to Emmerson, one of the least noticed outcomes of this incident is that China has softened its initial position that it would only negotiate South China Sea disputes bilaterally with ASEAN countries.

Emmerson stressed caution on treating ASEAN as a bloc, stating that each country has its own policies and interests, although he did say all are wary of China.

“Vietnam has a history of resisting China, and that history isn’t about to disappear,” he said. “Historically, Indonesia, too, has shown suspicions or even downright animosity towards China.”

In addition to maritime issues, Emmerson discussed security in the region.

“One key question is to what extent China can translate economic might into a security presence,” he said. “Their ability to make this shift has been limited and slow.”

According to Emmerson, most Southeast Asian countries are reluctant to share intelligence or cooperate on security with China.

Another aspect of the dynamics of the U.S.-China-Southeast Asia triangle is economic diplomacy, according to Emmerson. He said a free trade agreement between China and ASEAN introduced in the beginning of 2010 caused trade to leap by 50 percent that year.

“Many in Southeast Asia go to China for sales and go to Washington for ships,” he said, referring to the presence of the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the region.

He added that the United States should be aware that domestic developments in ASEAN countries could affect political relations.

Emmerson ended his talk on a diplomatic note, saying, “On balance I would say that this pivot is positive for the U.S. and for Asia.”

Questions that followed the talk covered a range of topics, from the impact that succession in China next year could have on diplomatic relations to the legitimacy of China’s maritime claims in the region.

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Beijing prof. addresses China’s global economy https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/01/beijing-prof-addresses-chinas-global-economy/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/05/01/beijing-prof-addresses-chinas-global-economy/#respond Tue, 01 May 2012 09:04:47 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1065149 “Even if the direction is right you cannot reach the destination overnight,” said Fu Jun, professor of political economy and executive dean of the school of government at Beijing University, in a talk Monday on economic growth in China.

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Beijing prof. addresses China's global economy
Fu Jun, a professor at Beijing University, addressed a crowd about China's role in a globalizing economy. Fu discussed normalizing China's percent of global GDP against its percent of global population. (ROGER CHEN/The Stanford Daily)

“Even if the direction is right you cannot reach the destination overnight,” said Fu Jun, professor of political economy and executive dean of the school of government at Beijing University, in a talk Monday on economic growth in China.

Fu is currently president of the Harvard Alumni Association in Beijing, as well as a frequent commentator on CCTV News and speaker at the World Economic Forum.

Fu presented his talk, titled “China in the World Economy: Past, Present and Future,” at the Hewlett Teaching Center to an audience of approximately 100 people.

The talk was sponsored by the Center for Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness (CSDGC).

Underlying the hour and a half talk was a strong emphasis on what Fu called “institutional technology.” He stressed that this term focuses on human capital, in particular the power of corporations and educational institutions.

On the topic of education, Fu said he is optimistic about the increase in Chinese students studying abroad. He cautioned, however, that the country needs “to figure out and have confidence in more investment in institutional technology.”

“China’s growth has been a phenomenon, but I would propose that the past three decades we have learned about what I call hardware technology, and the next stage for us is to learn about institutional technologies,” Fu said.

“Growth is a function of population and technology. This is a simple formula applicable globally,” Fu added.

Despite his comments on the universality of this formula, Fu pointed out that China has a “unique Chinese way” of growing, citing examples including special economic zones and reforms in the countryside that might not necessarily be successful if instituted elsewhere in the world.

Drawing from economic history and theory throughout his talk, Fu said, “If you look at China 200 years ago, it had one-third of the total world population and was producing one-third of the total world GDP. We were normalizing.”

Although the Chinese economy has grown at a rapid pace in the last 30 years since former premier Deng Xiaoping introduced market reforms in 1979, Fu said, “We have one-fifth of the world population but we are producing roughly 10 percent of world GDP.”

“We are looking for another 10 percent to normalize,” he added.

Fu said that in the future, China needs to undertake changes including more anti-trust laws and the production of better quality products. Nonetheless, he remained positive about China’s economic future.

“We have to give credit to the [Chinese] government and the Chinese people for what they have accomplished,” Fu said. “But having said that, we should not get self conceited.”

After the talk, Fu fielded more than a dozen questions on subjects ranging from China’s GDP per capita to the balance between hierarchy and the market within the country.

“For the economy to move forward, you need to have a balance on the supply side and demand side,” Fu said in reply to a question on domestic consumption. “And right now I am concerned about the growth potential on the demand side. With the slowdown of the world economy, international markets are not demanding as much.”

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Warsh discusses Dodd-Frank reform https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/26/warsh-discusses-dodd-frank-reform/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/26/warsh-discusses-dodd-frank-reform/#respond Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:45:24 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1064669 “Some will say it’s a bad thing and others will say it’s a good thing but too few will say ‘Dodd-Frank risks the following bad things, but there is an alternative,’” said Kevin Warsh ‘92, former member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Wednesday.

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“Some will say it’s a bad thing and others will say it’s a good thing but too few will say ‘Dodd-Frank risks the following bad things, but there is an alternative,’” said Kevin Warsh ‘92, former member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Wednesday.

 

Throughout his talk, Warsh emphasized what he deemed the “three fundamental pillars” of the economy — regulators, market discipline and capital standards — and how they should be applied to government legislation.

Warsh discusses Dodd-Frank reform
Kevin Warsh, a former member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and a fellow at the Hoover Institution, discussed financial reform Wednesday evening. Warsh expressed concern that Dodd-Frank is inadequate in regulating finance. (IAN GARCIA-DOTY/The Stanford Daily)

Warsh, currently a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and a lecturer at the Graduate School of Business (GSB), spoke to an audience of approximately 70 people at Paul Brest Hall Wednesday evening, in a talk titled “Real Regulatory Reform: A Practitioner’s Perspective.”

 

The regulation in question, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, is a federal statute signed into law by President Obama in July 2010 and intended to provide more extensive regulation of financial institutions following the recession in the late 2000s. The Dodd-Frank Act has come under extensive criticism for its complexity and, for some, excessive regulation.

 

Although Warsh joked that his experience practicing law extends only to a 14-week internship stint at a law firm, he asserted, “my legal training and my exposure to law made me a better regulator.”

 

“I would never claim to be an expert, but I learned a lot from observing the system as a regulator and policymaker,” he added.

 

Warsh criticized, however, the bias toward regulation as a remedy for the post-recession economy, stating that the other two “pillars” have not received enough attention and investment. He called the notion “that with more regulators, with more funding and more power, bad things won’t happen” an over-simplistic and erroneous one.

 

“These three pillars need to be complementary,” he said. “I am worried that market discipline and capital standards are being relegated instead of revived.

 

“The risk of Dodd-Frank is that we end up with several oligopolistic systems on top of the financial center that will make it increasingly difficult for smaller regional banks to function,” he added.

 

While Warsh expressed general support for reform in the banking system, he expressed concern that “at the core…[the] Dodd-Frank act will be no equal to the task.”

 

He also emphasized that looking toward other countries for examples of successful reforms of the banking sector isn’t an option, due to sustained and extensive differences in banking systems between nations.

 

Criticizing the concept of “too big to fail” as static, Warsh advocated for a system in which “an early assessment of financial firms and vibrant competition among them is the best way to avoid another financial crisis.”

 

“The largest firms must tell regulators [that] their failures will not endanger the economy,” he said. “If they can’t pass this simple test then they should be diminished.”

 

Prior to his 2006 to 2011 term on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Warsh served from 2002 to 2006 as special assistant to the president for economic policy and executive secretary of the White House National Economic Council. He previously worked at Morgan Stanley as vice president and executive director.

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Youth activists come together at AMENDS https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/16/youth-activists-come-together-at-amends/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/16/youth-activists-come-together-at-amends/#comments Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:08:55 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1063513 Thirty-six youth activists from 17 countries, including many who helped organize parts of the Arab Spring, gathered on campus last week for the inaugural American Middle Eastern Network for Dialogue at Stanford (AMENDS) conference.

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Thirty-six youth activists from 17 countries, including many who helped organize parts of the Arab Spring, gathered on campus last week for the inaugural American Middle Eastern Network for Dialogue at Stanford (AMENDS) conference.

Speakers at the conference included Moulay Hicham Ben Abdallah M.A. ’97, a Moroccan prince and consulting professor at Stanford; Kavita Ramdas, former president and CEO of the Global Fund for Women and current executive director for the program on social entrepreneurship at the Stanford Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL); and Jeremy Weinstein, former director of development and democracy on the National Security Council and a current associate professor of political science and senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute.

Youth activists come together at AMENDS
The four-day AMENDS conference brought together 36 youth activists from 17 countries. The delegates presented work to their peers and attended talks by speakers on global issues. (MADELINE SIDES/The Stanford Daily)

The delegates had a full schedule last week, including attending workshops, networking sessions, talks by prominent members of the Stanford community and a screening of “A Whisper to a Roar,” a new documentary produced by Larry Diamond and Ben Moses and presented by the Moulay Hicham Foundation. They also gave presentations on their work to their fellow delegates. The presentations will also be available to the public on the Stanford University YouTube channel.

One of the delegates at the conference was Selma Maarouf, an Amnesty International member and Moroccan activist supporting the country’s pro-democracy February 20 movement.

“I wanted [to come to AMENDS] to share the story of my movement in Morocco because most people don’t know much about it compared to the other revolutions in the region,” she said.

Maarouf described the conference as eye-opening.

“The discussions were amazing and very rich,” she said. “I also liked how the talks emphasized how different countries in the region should work together and see the bright side in order to bring positive change.”

Another delegate was Abdullah Al-Fakharany from Egypt, who founded the civilian journalist news network Rassd News Network (RNN). RNN’s Arabic-language Facebook group currently has over 1.5 million subscribers.

“I wanted to be with people who did not think in the same way, so that I can understand a different point of view and remove any stereotypes I had,” Al-Fakharany said.

“I believe in the strength of youth, so it was inspiring to listen to the delegates and discuss their initiatives,” he added. “It was the amazing to put my touch into their ideas and have them respond to mine.”

Stanford alumni and students were also represented in the delegate pool.

Fadi Quran ’10, a Palestinian-American student and nonviolent youth activist for the Palestinian territories, recently arrested in the West Bank during a protest, returned to campus for the conference.

Quran’s work focuses not only on nonviolent resistance, but also on alternative energy in the region.

“I want to emphasize the necessity of alternative energy in the region and how it needs to be integrated with the cultures and how people live,” he said.

Quran said he sees the diversity of the delegates represented as one of the key strengths of the conference.

“I think right now it is very important for youth from the Middle East to establish relations with countries in the region,” he said. “This is necessary to prevent going back to the [dictatorships] that existed.”

Elliot Stoller ’13 and Khaled Alshawi ’13 founded AMENDS last year after a chance meeting.

“We met at Coupa Café in February 2011 through a mutual friend and knew right after that that we had the same interests and passions,” Alshawi said. “Our talk went from two minutes to two hours.”

“With everything happening with the Arab Spring at the time, [we talked about] the lack of Middle Eastern resources at Stanford and were inspired to do something at Stanford to connect and empower leaders,” Stoller said.

Stoller added that on the same day, he coincidentally had a meeting with Larry Diamond ’73 M.A. ’78 Ph.D. ’80, director of CDDRL, and decided to mention the ideas he had discussed with Alshawi. Diamond advised Stoller to write up a proposal.

“It just blew up after that,” Alshawi said.

A year later, the pair reflected on the process and pressure of establishing the first AMENDS conference, describing it as laborious but rewarding.

“We had to make sure we could deliver on our ideas, and we are just blown away by the quality of the delegates and the passion they have to seek change and grow their initiatives,” Stoller said.

After recruiting Stanford students to join the AMENDS team, the next step was to find delegates. The team did so by creating partnerships with nonprofits and universities to identify youth leaders. They also posted open applications, which were advertised through social networks like Facebook.

Overall, the conference received 300 applications from 20 countries for 40 available delegate positions. Eighty potential delegates were selected for Skype interviews to determine the final set.

“We wanted as diverse of a group as possible,” Stoller said. “But the most important criterion was how passionate they were, and how well they could articulate their initiatives and ideas.”

“After securing the delegates, it wasn’t too hard to get speakers who were eager to come speak to them and meet them,” Alshawi said.

Stoller and Alshawi gave credit to the AMENDS team members for their “incredible hard work and how they all stepped up to pull the conference together.” The pair said they have made plans to ensure that the conference continues to run and develop in the future, including bringing on Meredith Wheeler ’14 as a co-president. Wheeler is a member of The Daily Editorial Board.

“We stressed from the very beginning that we wanted this to be a thing that would organically develop at Stanford,” Stoller said. “We feel like we have set up the right institutions for that to happen.”

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Chaparral diversifies for funding https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/11/chaparral-diversifies-for-funding/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/11/chaparral-diversifies-for-funding/#comments Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:05:25 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1062982 The Stanford Chaparral, the campus humor magazine founded in 1899, has not received special fees from students for the past two years. While the group has benefited from alternative sources of funding, co-editor-in-chief Sam Coggeshall ’12 says the publication is expanding its services in an attempt to receive special fees funding this year.

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The Stanford Chaparral, the campus humor magazine founded in 1899, has not received special fees from students for the past two years. While the group has benefited from alternative sources of funding, co-editor-in-chief Sam Coggeshall ’12 says the publication is expanding its services in an attempt to receive special fees funding this year.

 

“We wanted to show that love was not just about soft music and dinners but about laughter, too,” said Coggeshall in reference to this year’s Valentine’s Day event “Black Love,” for which The Chaparral hosted comedian Kevin Avery.

 

The collaboration was part of an increased promotional effort from the publication after failing to secure special fees for two years in a row. Last year, it was one of two campus groups that did not receive special fees.

 

In order to secure special fees funding this year, the publication has been employing new strategies, including helping to host comedy events on campus.

 

In addition to the “Black Love“ event, the magazine partnered with the Jewish Student Association (JSA) to bring comedian Dan Mintz to campus in November last year.

 

“This is part of our efforts to broaden readership and presence,” Coggeshall said. “We are trying to get our name out there by bringing more than the magazine to campus.”

 

According to Coggeshall, The Chaparral’s strong support from alumni, including some who write for popular television series such as “The Simpsons” and “The Office,” enables it to bring guest comedians to campus.

 

The publication plans to host similar events this quarter.

 

Although content changes were not part of the publication’s new strategy, the group employed other methods, such as increasing distribution, hosting open houses, experimenting with new art designs and updating its website.

 

Coggeshall attributed the loss of special fees in part to the change in the voting system in 2010.

 

According to Coggeshall, instead of choosing which student groups not to vote for, a new voting procedure was introduced last year in which students had to select the student groups that they specifically wanted to receive special fees.

 

“Our presence just was not big enough,” Coggeshall said. “Not everyone knows what the Chappie is. Our humor may not necessarily be for everyone, but we feel that if more people were aware of us they would enjoy the magazine.”

 

According to Kate Abbott ’12, co-chair of the ASSU Publications Board, the Chaparral has been receiving its funding from the board instead. Abbott is a Daily staffer.

 

“The function of the Publications Board is to provide fees for publications that do not receive special fees, “Abbott said. “But the amount a publication can receive decreases with every additional year.”

 

Coggeshall, who is also a co-chair of the Publications Board, added that funding also came from The Stanford Fund but stated that overall funding from both the Publications Board and The Stanford Fund does not match the publication’s desired budget.

 

The Chaparral was founded in 1899 and currently publishes six times a year. It is the second-oldest college humor magazine, after The Harvard Lampoon.

 

Coggeshall defended the relevancy and the role of the magazine on campus.

 

“We are a part of Stanford’s history and traditions and a balance to the intense rat-race and goal-orientated Stanford ethos,” he said.

 

 

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All about the major https://stanforddaily.com/2012/03/14/all-about-the-major/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/03/14/all-about-the-major/#respond Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:01:02 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1061220 Stanford offers over 80 majors -- ranging from geophysics to Slavic languages and literature -- in 70 departments spread out over three schools: the School of Earth Sciences, the School of Engineering and the School of Humanities and Sciences. There are options to double major, minor or pursue an individually designed major.

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Freshmen reflect on choosing a major

 

“What are you majoring in?” is a question we have all been asked when making new acquaintances at Stanford or meeting people out in the real world. The query is usually followed by some mumbling from those of us who are still unsure; a rattling off of two majors, two minors and a thesis from those overly sure; and a standard response from all the rest.

 

To be fair, there are many possible answers. Stanford offers over 80 majors — ranging from geophysics to Slavic languages and literature — in 70 departments spread out over three schools: the School of Earth Sciences, the School of Engineering and the School of Humanities and Sciences. There are options to double major, minor or pursue an individually designed major.

 

All about the major
(SERENITY NGUYEN/The Stanford Daily)

According to the Office of the University Registrar, in the 2008-09 academic year, the most popular majors, measured by number of degrees conferred, were human biology, economics and international relations. In 2010-2011, computer science moved up to become the second most popular major.

 

“[The major] provides a set of topics, a focus and discipline that becomes the locus for their intellectual development,” said Julie Lythcott-Haims ’89, dean of freshmen and undergraduate advising, in a July 2011 interview.

 

“The worst reason to pick a major is because you think you should study that or ‘everybody is studying that’ or ‘this is the up-and-coming major,” she added.

 

While Stanford offers a wide range of majors, students tend to classify options into “techie” and “fuzzy” categories, the former referring to hard and applied sciences and the latter to the humanities. Although 80 percent of degrees are awarded in the School of Humanities and Sciences and Times Higher Education ranked Stanford first in humanities and arts subject rankings this past fall, the University has developed a reputation as a “techie” school due its location and connections to Silicon Valley.

 

“I came to Stanford because I knew I could get an amazing liberal arts education here,” said Eleanor Walker ’15, a self-declared “fuzzy.” “Honestly, I was surprised by the emphasis on engineering and other hard sciences.”

 

Another common student concern is balancing general requirements with classes in the major, especially if pursuing a major with a demanding course load.

 

“The prerequisites are onerous, and I would rather not do them if I had a choice,” said Aaron Sekhri ’15, a potential symbolic systems major. “But I am of firm opinion that no knowledge is ever a waste and that regardless of the lack of utility of those courses, there must be a reason the program directors have selected them.”

 

For student-athletes, with practice, game and travel commitments, major options can become limited.

 

“It would be really hard to pursue something like pre-med or engineering because of time constraints,” said golfer Mariko Tumangan ’15. “I am confident that athletes at Stanford could succeed at their sport and a demanding major if we had more than 24 hours in a day.”

 

Despite Stanford’s many resources, including academic advisors, pre-major advisors, workshops and fairs designed to help students find their passions, selecting a major can be particularly confusing for freshman.

 

Eri Gamo ’15, is unsure about her potential major.

 

“I am thinking about everything from symbolic systems to computer science to neurology,” she said. “I did not come to Stanford with a concrete plan or idea because I wanted to explore.”

 

Gamo said she believes her eventual choice will stem from her passions.

 

“[I] want to major in something I love and something I can do in the future,” she said.

 

Other freshmen, like Paul Benigeri ’15, who intends to major in computer science, are already sure that they have made the right decision in selecting a major.

 

“My eyes were opened to computer science in high school, and so I came to Stanford to chase my dreams,” he said. “I cannot imagine doing anything else.”

 

Indecision about major choice may not be limited to the freshman year, as one upperclassman explained. Narjis Sarehane ’13 was pursuing electrical engineering before recently deciding to switch to management science and engineering.

 

“People often get worried about switching majors, but if you are not happy in your current major, it really is not worth it,” she said.

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Immelt, Whitman speak at SIEPR https://stanforddaily.com/2012/03/14/immelt-whitman-speak-at-siepr/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/03/14/immelt-whitman-speak-at-siepr/#respond Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:49:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1061317 “There are one billion potential customers in emerging markets that we have to tap into,” CEO of General Electric (GE) Jeffrey Immelt said Friday evening to the nearly 400 attendees of the 2012 Stanford Institute for Economic Policy and Research (SIEPR) Economic Summit. The dinner and Immelt’s keynote speech were held at the Arrillaga Alumni Center.

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“There are one billion potential customers in emerging markets that we have to tap into,” CEO of General Electric (GE) Jeffrey Immelt said Friday evening to the nearly 400 attendees of the 2012 Stanford Institute for Economic Policy and Research (SIEPR) Economic Summit. The dinner and Immelt’s keynote speech were held at the Arrillaga Alumni Center.

 

During Immelt’s talk, several protestors stood outside the Alumni Center carrying a banner emblazoned with the words “GE, here is a bright idea: pay your fair share of taxes.”

 

Immelt, Whitman speak at SIEPR
Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett Packard, shared her views on the economy Friday afternoon at the 2012 Stanford Institute for Economic Policy and Research (SIEPR) Economic Summit. (MADELINE SIDES/The Stanford Daily)

The protestors said that the company acquired $10.5 billion in profits over the past three years, but has not paid federal taxes on this revenue.

 

“We are here because we know the president of GE is here, and we want to raise awareness on this topic so that GE is accountable,” said protestor Peter McDonald ’11. “Some people have given us the thumbs up, and others have tried to call the cops.”

 

The summit was a daylong event that included seminars, such as “An Institutional Approach to the End of Western Ascendancy” given by Niall Ferguson, a history professor at Harvard University. CEO of Gilead Sciences John Martin and CEO of Hewlett Packard Meg Whitman participated in a seminar titled, “CEO Perspectives on the Economy.”

 

Immelt emphasized the role and importance of China in the global economy throughout his speech, stating that it will be the “engine for the world market.”

 

“If you [businesses] are not in China, you are not in the world,” he said. “But the problem with China is that it is hard to do business there.”

 

“The government is the player, and you really have to study the five-year plans they write up,” he continued.

 

Immelt stated that cyber security and intellectual property issues in China particularly concern him.

 

Despite his assessment of China, Immelt said that resource-rich regions such as Africa and the Middle East will be the key to the world economy in the future.

 

Citing what he believes to be the United States’ comparative advantages in technology and education, Immelt expressed optimism about economic recovery and growth in the country.

 

“The positive outcome of the crisis is that we have learned to make better risk-reward equations,” he said.

 

Immelt added that “populism and anger does not solve problems” and instead advocated investment in sectors such as healthcare, education and energy.

 

“It is a sin when we are number 25 in the world for math and invest only 2 percent of our GDP in research and development,” Immelt said. “Science is the secret to success, so we have to be a country of technology and science.”

 

“We are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas,” he said. “We can take control of our energy future.”

 

While Immelt had positive economic assessments for many regions of the world, he predicted that Europe’s future economic situation will be “somewhere between bad and terrible.”

 

After his speech, Immelt answered questions from the audience. The topics ranged from how to conduct business in China to economic policies of the Obama administration.

 

“We have had an incredible collection of speakers today,” said William Faulkner ’13, who works with SIEPR. “It’s very complex putting together all the parts of the summit, but it’s satisfying to see it all work out.”

 

“It was a dynamic day with conflicting views of the world and economy,” said Camille Townsend, president of the Palo Alto Unified School District, who attended the dinner and keynote speech as well as several of the day’s events. “The ideas on where education should head were particularly compelling.”

 

Dodge and Cox Investment Managers, Koret Foundation & Taube Philanthropies, URS Corporation, Heidrick and Struggles and GE sponsored the summit.

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Knight Fellow reflects on conflict journalism https://stanforddaily.com/2012/03/08/knight-fellow-reflects-on-conflict-journalism/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/03/08/knight-fellow-reflects-on-conflict-journalism/#comments Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:00:01 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1060856 “The danger in Ciudad Juarez is to be alive,” said Judith Torrea, a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford, speaking Wednesday night at the Women’s Community Center on her experience as an award-winning journalist and blogger.

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“The danger in Ciudad Juarez is to be alive,” said Judith Torrea, a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford, speaking Wednesday night at the Women’s Community Center on her experience as an award-winning journalist and blogger.

 

Torrea, who is originally from Spain, won the Reporters Without Borders BOB (Best of Blogs) award in 2011 for reporting from the front line of the Mexican drug conflict in her blog “Ciudad Juarez, en la sombra del narcotrafico”. The title, when translated to English, reads “Ciudad Juarez, under the shadow of drug trafficking.”

 

Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican town that borders the Texan city of El Paso, is one of the most dangerous cities in the world and is a focal point of Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s “war on drug trafficking.” Torrea estimated that there have been over 10,000 deaths by violence in the city since the “war on drug trafficking” was launched in 2006.

 

Torrea said that, while working for the Spanish-language People magazine in New York City from 2007 to 2009, she witnessed how the celebrity culture of drug usage in the United States is linked to the drug conflict in Mexico. In 2009, she left her post at People and moved back to Ciudad Juarez.

 

“People thought I was crazy because they were trying to leave and I was coming back,” she said. “But I felt obligated to tell society what was happening.”

 

“I found the life, the happiness [in Ciudad Juarez] that I do not find in other parts of the world,” she added. “It is not a beautiful city, but the people are amazing.”

 

During her talk, Torrea shared a slideshow of her photos from Ciudad Juarez and recounted several anecdotes from her time reporting and living in the city.

 

She emphasized that she witnessed firsthand how accounts of events in Ciudad Juarez put forward by the Mexican authorities rarely match what is really happening on the ground.

 

She criticized the security, business and governmental institutions in Mexico, citing their corruption and ineffectiveness. Torrea also claimed that the Calderon administration started the “so-called war on drugs” because it had links to the Sinaloa Cartel, and thus had an interest in defeating the Juarez Cartel.

 

Torrea said the outspoken nature of her blog posts has led to threats from government and security officials, but she remains undeterred.

 

“When you are a journalist, you do not need to believe anything that somebody is telling you, you need to prove what is really happening,” she said. “The only thing I am afraid of is not doing what I know I need to do.”

 

Torrea also said she is passionate about representing the voice of the people rather than focusing on the voice of the “powerful,” in addition to avoiding characterizing people by labels of “good” and “evil” — a negative trait she attributed to the mainstream media.

 

She recounted meetings with those involved in the drug trade in Ciudad Juarez who have no opportunity for further education and employment.

 

“They are trapped in a prison in the desert…They turn to consuming drugs then being involved in a cartel,” she said. “This is a world of people with no opportunities  — they did not choose to be born into this.”

 

“The Calderon administration is trying to change the image of Ciudad Juarez…They should change the reality instead,” she added.

 

As a project for her Knight Fellowship, Torrea intends to build a multimedia platform for women bloggers in conflict zones worldwide. She said her next step will be to recruit Stanford students to help with programming, translation and networking.

 

“Silicon Valley might be primarily men but it is women who are making the most difference with technology in conflict zones,” she said.

 

After her talk, audience members raised questions on topics ranging from her work as a journalist to her thoughts on policy issues.

 

Responding to a question on the difficulties of being a female journalist in a conflict zone, Torrea said, “I think women are often better at reporting the situation because of the instinctive sensitivity they bring to the story.”

 

“It’s fascinating to hear her story and how she risked her life to provide the facts,” said audience member Shahab Fadavi ‘15. “It was a genuinely inspiring talk.”

 

Torrea’s talk was part of a series of events put on this week to recognize International Women’s Week.

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Romberg discusses impact of Taiwan election https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/29/romberg-discusses-impact-of-taiwan-election/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/29/romberg-discusses-impact-of-taiwan-election/#respond Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:30:09 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1059923 Officials from the Chinese and U.S. governments believe the results of the Jan. 2012 Taiwanese presidential election will benefit their respective national interests, said Alan Romberg, director of the East Asia program at the Stimson Center, during a talk at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) Tuesday night. He added, however, that the future of Taiwan’s relationship with each of these countries still remains uncertain.

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Officials from the Chinese and U.S. governments believe the results of the Jan. 2012 Taiwanese presidential election will benefit their respective national interests, said Alan Romberg, director of the East Asia program at the Stimson Center, during a talk at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) Tuesday night. He added, however, that the future of Taiwan’s relationship with each of these countries still remains uncertain.

 

The Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CCDRL) sponsored the talk, entitled “The Taiwan Presidential Election: Implications for Cross-Strait Relations and U.S. Policy,” as part of its Democracy in Taiwan Project.

 

Larry Diamond, CCDRL director and senior fellow at the Hoover Institute, introduced Romberg as “one of the most distinguished and knowledgeable scholars on East Asia who enjoys respect on both sides of the political spectrum in Taiwan.”

 

Romberg discusses impact of Taiwan election
Larry Diamond, CDDRL director and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution introduced Alan Romberg who spoke Tuesday night about US-Taiwan relations (MEHMET INONU/The Stanford Daily)

Romberg has served as a fellow on the Council of Foreign Relations and as a U.S Foreign Service Officer for 20 years. He has held key positions in the State Department, including Deputy Director of Policy Planning Staff, Director of the Office of Japanese Affairs and a placement on the National Security Council for China.

 

Romberg began his talk by giving an overview of Taiwan’s political scene and the dynamics and statistics of the recent Jan. 14 election, which resulted in President Ma Ying-Jeou being re-elected for a second-term.

 

Ma is a member of the country’s Guomindang (GMD) Party, one of two main political parties in Taiwan. According to Romberg, GMD advocates a friendly but cautious relationship with China. He said the party’s main opponent, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), has a more pro-Taiwanese independence stance and holds a suspicious view of Taiwan’s relationship with China.

 

“Ma had a solid victory that will lay a foundation for further progress on all sides of this triangle [U.S-China-Taiwan],” Romberg said. “But his reduced margin of victory compared to the 2008 elections reflects the recovery of the DPP and widespread ambivalence in Taiwan about the performance and policies of Ma.”

 

According to Romberg, the cross-strait conflict played a key role in Ma’s victory as voters were “nervous about how Tsai [the DDP presidential candidate] would handle cross-strait relations.”

 

He added that last-minute endorsements of Ma by prominent Taiwanese businessmen caused a surge in support for him, noting that 20 percent of voters made their voting decisions a week before the election.

 

Romberg emphasized that while Ma’s victory demonstrated Taiwanese support for his policies toward China, he must now address widespread dissatisfaction over domestic policies.

 

He pointed out that a key issue looming over the triangular relationship between the U.S., China and Taiwan is continuing U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan, which irk China.

 

“The U.S provides weapons to Taiwan in order to assure Beijing does not use force or coercion, but China sees it as a method to limit its rise,” Romberg said.

 

In terms of the U.S. view of the situation, Romberg pointed out two prominent positions that have become popular. One advocates that the United States stop selling weapons to Taiwan in order to improve relations with China. The other wants the United States to embrace Taiwan more closely in order to form a bulwark against China’s growing power.

 

“I believe neither position will gain ascendancy or change U.S. policy,” Romberg said.

 

After the talk, the audience raised questions on a range of issues from the fairness of the democratic system in Taiwan to the diversification of Taiwanese economic investment in Asia.

 

“I attended this event because I am very interested in U.S.-China relations,” said audience member Reagan Thompson ‘12, “I noticed that he [Romberg] had a very confident assessment of the U.S-China-Taiwan relationship, which is encouraging.”

 

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Panel discusses Syrian uprising, future https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/28/panel-discusses-syria/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/28/panel-discusses-syria/#respond Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:50:25 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1059748 Describing ongoing measures of repression that “instill fear in any Syrian’s heart,” but expressing optimism that “the brightest moments for Syria are still ahead,” a panel of speakers addressed “The Syrian Uprising” Monday evening.

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Describing ongoing measures of repression that “instill fear in any Syrian’s heart,” but expressing optimism that “the brightest moments for Syria are still ahead,” a panel of speakers addressed “The Syrian Uprising” Monday evening.

 

The event, which took place in the Tresidder Cypress Room, was hosted by the Muslim Student Awareness Network (MSAN) and the Islamic Society of Stanford University (ISSU). The panel discussion was part of the 2012 Islamic Awareness Series.

 

The panel featured three speakers: Hisham Ahmed, professor in the department of politics at Saint Mary’s College of California; Jaber Kabash, a physician and board member of the Northern California chapter of the Syrian American Council; and Suzan Boulad, a blogger, non-profit organizer and board member of the Northern California chapter of the Syrian American Council.

 

Panel discusses Syrian uprising, future
Jaber Kabash opened a panel discussion on the ongoing uprising in Syria and the country's future. (MEHMET INONU/ The Stanford Daily)

Kabash spoke first, providing a background of Syrian history from the French occupation to the post-colonial power struggle and the rise of Assad rule in 1970.

 

He argued that the Assad dynasty has survived because of the implementation of a personality cult, targeted political and economic policies and the use of a security apparatus.

 

“The most important method of control is the strong and overlapping security apparatus which is enough to instill fear in any Syrian’s heart,” he said.

 

Boulad then gave a chronology of the revolution, providing a summary of key events such as the March 15 protests in Daraa that sparked the uprisings.

 

She emphasized how mainstream media such as CNN or BBC and alternative networks such as Facebook and Twitter tell two different tales of the Syrian situation.

 

“They want to show the most dramatic parts of the revolution,” she said. “But by not giving growing organic opposition groups the voice in their coverage, it makes it hard for people to understand what Syrians are dying for.”

 

Boulad also pointed out the difficulty and danger in protesting, saying that, “the Assad regime has grown roots into every element of Syrian society. Most people do not like or love Assad, [but] there is a silent majority who are scared to speak out.”

 

Boulad acknowledged the efforts of various opposition elements, such as the Syrian National Council, but said that local coordinating committees, which organize protests on the ground, network with other Syrian cities and upload YouTube videos, are “the petri dish of what Syrian democracy will hopefully look like in the future.”

 

She criticized how some in the media, especially in the West, have framed the revolution as one pitting the Alawi, a Shi’a sect of Islam to which the Assad family belongs, against the Sunnis, the majority Islamic sect in Syria.

 

“Religion has not defined this revolution as much as some would have us think,” she said.

 

Boulad said that, while she is optimistic that the “brightest moments for Syria are still ahead,” she warned that, “the longer Assad stays in power, the more Syrians will struggle after the regime falls to rebuild the country in a unified and democratic way.”

 

Ahmed began by stating, “It is my duty and obligation to talk about the bloodbath in Syria. This is a depressing but heroic unfolding of human trauma.”

 

He expressed optimism, however, that Assad will be toppled soon, saying, “the question is not whether we crumble but when, how, by whom and under what circumstances. Even Assad’s supporters recognized that his days are numbered.”

 

Ahmed criticized the Assad government for advocating Arab nationalism while employing divisive strategies to pit factions in Syria against one another.

 

He concluded by emphasizing that change must come from the Syrian people rather than from Western governments.

 

“There does need to be a choice between the decadent Assad regime and the revival of Western ambition and exploitation,” he said. “Syrians are not paying with their blood to jump out of a frying pan into the fire.”

 

Audience members posed questions on topics including the revolution’s impact on U.S. interests in the region, the Syrian-Palestinian link, the effectiveness of Arab peacekeeping forces and the role of the Syrian Diaspora in the revolution.

 

“I think its really sad what is happening in Syria and how it seems like a stagnant situation,” said audience member Osama El-Gabalawy ‘15, “ but events like these raise awareness and keep us from losing hope.”

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Violence against women ‘issue of our time,’ says Ensler https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/24/violence-against-women-%e2%80%98issue-of-our-time%e2%80%99-says-ensler/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/24/violence-against-women-%e2%80%98issue-of-our-time%e2%80%99-says-ensler/#comments Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:08:47 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1059385 “Every single day I ask one question: how do we end violence against women and girls?” said Tony Award-winning playwright Eve Ensler Thursday evening to a crowd of over 200 at Paul Brest Hall. “This is the central issue of our time. Women are the carriers of lives; to undermine or hurt women is to destroy the future.”

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“Every single day I ask one question: how do we end violence against women and girls?” said Tony Award-winning playwright Eve Ensler Thursday evening to a crowd of over 200 at Paul Brest Hall. “This is the central issue of our time. Women are the carriers of lives; to undermine or hurt women is to destroy the future.”

 

Ensler wrote The Vagina Monologues, which — since first performed in 1997 — has been translated into over 48 languages and performed in over 140 countries. In 1998, Ensler founded the V-Day movement, a global activist movement aimed at ending violence toward women by raising public awareness and partnering with local organizations worldwide.

 

In the last 11 years, the V-Day movement has raised over $85 million.

Violence against women ‘issue of our time,’ says Ensler
Eve Ensler, activist and Tony Award winning playwright charged audience members in Paul Brest Hall to commit to ending gender-based violence Thursday evening. (IAN GARCIA-DOTY/The Stanford Daily)

 

Ensler said that she was inspired to begin her work in part because of “the consequence of violence, trauma and cruelty in my life that I experienced as a child.”

 

At Stanford, students host an annual V-Week, with a performance of The Vagina Monologues as the cornerstone of the weekend-long event. This year, the program will be held from April 18 to 20.

 

“Her work has been transformative in changing conceptions about female sexuality, female empowerment and the role that violence plays in women’s lives around the world,” said Viviana Arcia ‘13, president of the Stanford’s Women Coalition, which was a co-sponsor of the event.

 

“And that is the mission of Stanford V-Week — increasing awareness of violence against women and empowering female sexuality,” Arcia added. “Stanford fits into the mission of V-Day and Vagina Monologues because sexual and intimate partner violence does occur on this campus and it is a significant problem in our community.”

 

Leslie Brian ‘12, president of V-Week at Stanford, introduced Ensler as someone who “envisions a planet where women can thrive rather than just survive.”

 

Ensler started her talk by reflecting on the growing level of social activism for women worldwide.

 

“This year we will have over 5,300 V-Day events in 2,000 places from Stanford to Qatar,” Ensler said.

 

Recently, V-Day partnered with UNICEF to open the City of Joy, a rehabilitation center built for and by survivors of sexual violence in the Congo.

 

Ensler said building the center was “ a crazy thing to do, but everything V-Day does is crazy.”

 

Ensler said that her work addressing the situation in the Congo, where over half a million women have been raped, tortured and abused, “lives in the center of [her] heart.”

 

“I will never be the same,” Ensler said. “When you witness that kind of atrocity, you are responsible for responding,” she said. “The Congo is one of the great failings of the century, and we are allowing it to go on. Remember that a lot of our cell phones and luxury goods can be traced to mines in the Congo.”

 

Ensler emphasized the role of theater in human rights and women’s empowerment, explaining how it can spark personal discovery, activate people and change consciousness.

 

She said that one billion women alive now will be raped or beaten in their lifetime.

 

“Violence is the bulwark of patriarchy and sexism,” Ensler said. “There is an ongoing message to women that if you are too free, too sexual or too powerful, you will be hurt, raped and murdered.”

 

Addressing those who join her in her movement, Ensler said, we must “stop apologizing for our intensity.”

 

She criticized large governmental and international institutions for being patriarchal and fixed, arguing that change will have to rise from the people on the ground.

 

According to Ensler, men can and should play a role in helping end gender-based violence.

 

“Think of your mothers, wives and sisters,” Ensler said. “Men are not making [violence against women] their business and their outrage.”

 

Ensler closed with the piece “Refuser” from her new novel, “I am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World.” The reading electrified the audience, which gave her a standing ovation.

 

Some audience members shared their personal experiences and thanked Ensler for her inspiration, while others asked questions concerning how men view masculinity and the role of being a woman in today’s modernized world.

 

“I’ve read a couple of her books in the past and as amazing as they are, I was totally unprepared for how powerful it would be to witness her in person,” said audience member Lily Steyer ‘15. “After hearing her talk, I understand how she, even as just one woman, was able to start a global movement — she’s that inspiring.”

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Project Motivation instills hopes for higher education https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/22/motivating-minority-high-school-students/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/22/motivating-minority-high-school-students/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:00:17 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1058951 Project Motivation is an on-campus organization founded in the 1970s that interacts and collaborates with minority high school students in the Bay Area to encourage the pursuit of higher education by minority youth.

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A Mission High School freshman pushed his chair back and slowly stood up. After looking around hesitantly, he said, “I want to be a doctor one day. How do you become a doctor?”

 

He was part of a group consisting of 50 ninth-grade teachers and their students, all from immigrant or disadvantaged backgrounds. The group was gathered in a large conference room in the Center for Educational Research at Stanford (CERAS) for a panel on higher education hosted by Project Motivation.

 

Project Motivation is an on-campus organization founded in the 1970s that interacts and collaborates with minority high school students in the Bay Area to encourage the pursuit of higher education by minority youth.

 

The Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) co-hosted the event, which featured a panel of eight undergraduate and graduate students representing a range of ethnicities, academic interests and experiences, but all sharing one common bond–all came from an immigrant or refugee background.

 

The panelists provided advice and answered questions concerning both the college application process and college life. They especially focused on the need for students to pursue alternate forms of funding.

Project Motivation instills hopes for higher education
High school students gather at Day with an Undergrad in 2010. (Courtesy of Project Motivation)

“Most of my friends did not go to college because they did not have the money,” remarked one panelist. Yet had they known about scholarships and financial aid, they could have attended, he added.

 

“College will make you more conscious of what is going on around the world,” said another panelist. “It will challenge you mentally, intellectually and personally.”

 

After the panel discussion, the students split into smaller Spanish- and Mandarin-speaking groups with Stanford students, allowing for a more intimate setting.

 

Brian Waldman, a ninth-grade teacher at Mission High School, praised the organization and its efforts.

 

“Not every one of these students will go to Stanford,” Waldman said, “but it puts the idea of college into their minds, and that’s the first step needed.”

 

Thanh Nguyen ’14, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Vietnam, is a volunteer at Project Motivation and was a panelist during the event. He warned the students of losing themselves in the college process.

 

“Do what you love and be authentic,” Nguyen said. “Too many students fall into the trap of doing what they think colleges want them to do.”

 

According to Nguyen, the most challenging aspect of his work is translating the idea of college into terms the students can understand, because it is often so markedly different from the education systems to which they are accustomed.

 

Ninth grader Jaz Lin, who recently immigrated with her family from the province of Guangdong in Southern China, echoed this sentiment.

 

“Stanford is an amazing school, and talking to these students makes me feel like if they can do it, I can do it,” Lin said. “But it is difficult to understand the college process and the system here.”

 

While Project Motivation typically hosts one to two tours and panel discussions per week, the organization also holds a biannual event, Day with an Undergraduate, which will take place on Feb. 21 and May 19 this year.

 

As part of this program, 40 to 60 middle-school students shadow Stanford undergraduates for a day in their classes, while also attending tours, panels, motivational speeches and performances. This year’s motivational speaker will be Michael Tubbs ’12, a first-generation college student from a disadvantaged background.

 

Projection Motivation is composed of 16 to 18 core members and 40 other participants. It is led by co-presidents Kaela Farrise ’14 and Kennan Murphy-Sierra ’14 and has subdivisions including volunteer coordination, logistics and external relations.

 

“We want to take the students on a more personal tour when we show them the campus,” Murphy-Sierra said. “It is not about the history and facts, but showing them what college is like.”

 

Murphy-Sierra points to a need for a reform in high school education.

 

“There are so many students who are not aware of what college is or why they should attend it,” he said.

 

According to Murphy-Sierra, although the organization does not have concrete numbers on “success rates,” teachers and students he has worked with have repeatedly contacted the group with positive feedback.

 

In an email to the organization, Krista Taylor, a high school counselor at the Bay Area School of Enterprise, praised the organization’s events.

 

“In 2010, I was able to bring a group of my students to attend Stanford Undergraduate for a Day, and I found it to be one of the most rewarding experiences for my students,” Taylor wrote.

 

Besides the difficulty in measuring “success rates,” Murphy-Sierra identified getting busy Stanford students to volunteer, especially during the midterm season, as a major challenge.

 

Looking to the future, Project Motivation is considering a one-on-one mentoring program to offer more personalized attention and guidance to the participating students. The group also hopes to encourage more Stanford students to volunteer their time to give back.

 

“College has opened a lot of possibilities I never thought were available,” Nguyen said, reflecting on his experience with the group. “When you come to Stanford you create yourself, and nobody tells you who you are, and it’s very liberating. I want the same thing for these students too.”

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McChrystal examines leadership https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/17/mcchrystal-examines-leadership/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/17/mcchrystal-examines-leadership/#respond Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:06:32 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1058715 Speaking Thursday afternoon at the Cemex Auditorium in the Graduate School of Business (GSB), four-star General Stanley McChrystal said that the United States has struggled to find answers to global and national issues not because the country has gotten lazy or selfish, but because it has continued to apply an outdated model of leadership instead of adapting to the changing times.

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Speaking Thursday afternoon at the Cemex Auditorium in the Graduate School of Business (GSB), four-star General Stanley McChrystal said that the United States has struggled to find answers to global and national issues not because the country has gotten lazy or selfish, but because it has continued to apply an outdated model of leadership instead of adapting to the changing times.

 

McChrystal’s talk was part of the lecture series “View from the Top,” a student-run program that brings prominent figures to campus to share their insights on effective leadership.

 

“He prefers to be called Stan, although I recommend you call him General McChrystal,” joked Joel Peterson, director of the Center for Leadership Development and Researchat the GSB when he introduced McChrystal, former commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, to a capacity-filled audience of more than 600.

McChrystal examines leadership
United States General Stanley McChrystal, former leader of the Joint Special Operations Command, spoke about leadership strategy Thursday afternoon. The event was held at the GSB. (NATASHA WEASER/The Stanford Daily)

 

“He is known for creating a revolution in warfare that fused intelligence and operations,” Peterson added, referring to McChrystal’s counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

McChrystal’s leadership of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which oversees the military’s most sensitive forces, is credited with the December 2003 capture of Saddam Hussein and the June 2006 locating and killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former head of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

 

President Obama’s Dec. 2009 order to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan was based on McChrystal’s assessment of the war.

 

McChrystal’s speech focused on leadership strategy rather than solely foreign policy, although he did share anecdotes from his military career throughout the speech.

 

Citing New York Times columnist and bestselling author Thomas Friedman’s book “The World is Flat,” McChrystal warned of increasing competition between nations worldwide.

 

“You have to lead and learn and adapt or die,” McChrystal said.  “At the heart of this is effective communication.”

 

McChrystal also laid out his key leadership intangibles, which included managing time and energy, working to form relationships and leading by example.

 

“When you are a leader, people watch everything that you do,” McChrystal said. “You have to operate with a moral compass that people believe in.”

 

He concluded with the statement that “leadership is not a talent or a gift, it’s a choice.”

 

After McChrystal’s speech, audience members posed questions ranging from the welfare of veterans to democracy movements in the Middle East to McChrystal’s famed daily routine, which consists of one meal a day and four hours of sleep.

 

In response to a question raised about the nature of the sensitive relationship between the United States and Pakistan, McChrystal responded by highlighting the importance and difficulty of building trust between the two nations.

 

“There is a deficit of trust [between the United States and Pakistan],” McChrystal said, “But I believe Pakistan has strategic interests that I believe the U.S. can help shape.”

 

McChrystal spoke to The Daily after the event, saying, “I am incredibly honored to be here and I am happy with the great amount of interest shown today.”

 

Stephen Cobbe ‘15, who attended the speech and whose father served with McChrystal in Afghanistan, said, “It was so incredibly inspiring and only reaffirmed my plans to join the military in the future.”

 

McChrystal retired from the military in August 2010, after making critical comments of the Obama administration in a Rolling Stone article. He currently teaches a leadership seminar at Yale University.

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East to surpass West, says historian https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/17/east-to-surpass-west-says-historian/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/17/east-to-surpass-west-says-historian/#respond Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:04:05 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1058726 The world at the end of the 21st century will differ more from today than how present day is currently compared to the world of cavemen, said Ian Morris, an archaeologist and historian in the Department of Classics, Thursday evening during a lecture in the Sloan Mathematics Corner.

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The world at the end of the 21st century will differ more from today than how present day is currently compared to the world of cavemen, said Ian Morris, an archaeologist and historian in the Department of Classics, Thursday evening during a lecture in the Sloan Mathematics Corner.

 

The lecture, entitled, “Why the West Rules–For Now: The Silk Road, the Atlantic Economy and the Pacific Century,” was based off his 2010 award-winning book, “Why the West Rules–for Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future.”

 

East to surpass West, says historian
Stanford historian, archaeologist and Classics professor Ian Morris addressed perceptions of historical dominance of the West over the East during a presentation Thursday evening. He projected that the East will overcome the West to control global politics and trade at the beginning of the 22nd century. (IAN GARCIA-DOTY/The Stanford Daily)

Morris said that geography is more important than culture in explaining patterns of the major power shifts and economic transitions throughout history, and argued that these patterns can predict the future direction of the world.

 

He also challenged the idea of Western and European superiority, which he said is a false perception.

 

Arguing that Europe’s rise was due to geographical factors, Morris said, “Europe had the benefit of the Atlantic slave trade, which incentivized a community of thinkers to ask questions that caused Europe to flourish intellectually.”

 

“Europe had access to the Americas before the East Asians did simply because it was easier to get there based on distance, not because they were smarter or more wicked,” Morris added.

 

Morris also drew a parallel between how the Atlantic trade helped to elevate the United States to its current position of prominence in the global economy, and how the Pacific trade is indicating the same trend with China.

 

Using a social development index he developed–which takes into account factors such as energy captured per person, organization, spread of information and war making–Morris mapped out the history of two civilizations since the last ice age that scored the highest on the index: East Asia and the West.

 

He pointed out that the shapes of the graphs were similar, which he said debunks the idea of Western superiority. Furthermore, Morris pointed out that from 550 CE to 1750 CE on the graph, the East was actually ahead of the West and produced crucial inventions such as ships that could sail the world.

 

Morris also highlighted the role the Silk Road and the peoples of the steppe region that lies between Western Europe and East Asia had in connecting the two regions and shaping their history in a way that is not often acknowledged.

 

Morris concluded with a graph based on his social development index, which projects a future in which the East will overtake the West in 2103.

 

“Western domination will evaporate,” he said. “This process is driven by geography and cannot be reversed.”

 

“The changes that will happen in the 21st century will be on a scale that will dwarf anything that has ever happened to human history,” Morris said.

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Maathai discusses African development https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/14/maathai-discusses-african-development/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/14/maathai-discusses-african-development/#respond Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:50:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1058175 Wanjira Maathai, daughter of the late 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, discussed her mother’s vision of sustainable development for Kenya, as well as the ongoing challenges the country faces, when she spoke to an audience of approximately 40 people at the Y2E2 Building Monday evening.

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Wanjira Maathai, daughter of the late 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, discussed her mother’s vision of sustainable development for Kenya, as well as the ongoing challenges the country faces, when she spoke to an audience of approximately 40 people at the Y2E2 Building Monday evening.

 

“She is the voice of the new Africa and has impressed her own footprints on the path of her mother’s vision,” said Tanaka Mawindi ‘13, co-president of the Stanford African Students Association (SASA), as she introduced Maathai to the audience.

 

Wangari Maathai, mother of Wanjira, founded the Green Belt Movement (GBM) in Kenya in 1977. The GBM began as a grassroots tree-planting program intended to tackle deforestation and has since evolved into a global organization that addresses environmental and human development issues while fighting for female empowerment.

 

To date, the organization has planted over 40 million trees in Kenya and around the world, a number it hopes to increase to one billion.

 

Wanjira Maathai currently serves on the GBM Board of Directors and, since 2002, has been directing International Affairs for the organization.

 

The event, titled, “Trees for Africa and Beyond: The Vision Continues,” focused on GBM’s vision of sustainable development for Kenya, as well as the history of the organization and its future plans. The event was held in a question-and-answer format and was moderated by Alon Tal, a visiting professor at the Center for Conservation Biology.

 

Maathai emphasized the widespread nature of GBM’s work, which extends to food security, energy, education and women’s rights.

 

“All these issues affect one another,” she said. “We find that the best way to address them is through community-level projects.”

 

“It is key to point out the devastating effects of deforestation from an economic viewpoint,” she added. “It leads to things like the destruction of water systems and the decline of tourism. This is a language that people understand.”

 

According to Maathai, her proudest achievement is the role that the organization has played in increasing environmental awareness in Kenya.

 

“The biggest challenge for us initially was that environmental [issues] became political,” she said. “Someone had to speak for the environment because the government was abusing it, and that got us into some trouble.”

 

Maathai said that persistent advocacy helped Kenyans become more aware and educated on environmental issues and helped the organization to “win in the court of public opinion.”

 

Maathai invited Stanford students to become involved in the organization, citing her mother’s 2006 visit to East Palo Alto to initiate a tree-planting initiative by Canopy, a local environmental non-governmental organization (NGO). To date, 1,600 trees have been planted.

 

“Growing up, some people didn’t really understand the value of trees,” said East Palo Alto resident Nancy Leech, who was part of the 2006 initiative and attended Monday’s talk. “Wangari inspired the community to pay greater attention to the environment.”

 

Addressing the future, Maathai said the organization’s main goal is to anchor its position and ensure that her mother’s vision lives on since her death last September. The establishment of the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies in Nairobi, which she heads, has contributed to this effort, Maathai said.

 

“GBM’s intertwining of human development and the environment is one of the most inspiring stories I have seen in the environmental sphere,” said audience member Michael Peñuelas ‘15. “I was impressed by her incredible drive and the pertinence of the issues she raised.”

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Feingold speaks at CEMEX https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/09/feingold-speaks-at-cemex/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/09/feingold-speaks-at-cemex/#respond Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:06:45 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1057561 “We are playing with fire by thinking that this is all over,” warned former Senator Russ Feingold in a speech Wednesday afternoon titled, “While America Sleeps: A Wake-Up Call for the Post-9/11 Era.”

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“We are playing with fire by thinking that this is all over,” warned former Senator Russ Feingold in a speech Wednesday afternoon titled, “While America Sleeps: A Wake-Up Call for the Post-9/11 Era.”

 

Feingold delivered the speech to an audience of more than 200 people at CEMEX

Feingold speaks at CEMEX
Former Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, distinguished visitor at the Haas Center for Public Service, delivered a lecture Wednesday evening on the importance of foreign policy in the post-911 United States. (ALISA ROYER/The Stanford Daily)

Auditorium in the Knight Management Center.

 

Larry Diamond, director of the Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), introduced Feingold as “someone who is deeply troubled by incivility in American politics” and “has experience that reflects his distinctive blend of concerns in world issues.”

 

Feingold, a Wisconsin senator for 18 years, is currently at Stanford as a distinguished visitor at the Haas Center for Public Service during winter quarter. Throughout the quarter he will lead a weekly seminar, mentor students, participate in faculty discussions and give two public lectures.

 

Throughout his speech, Feingold repeatedly criticized the lack of attention paid to foreign policy in the United States.

 

“We are obsessed with the current election over who is up and down,” he said. “Precious little is being said about our position in the rest of the world.”

 

According to Feingold, “big money” and corruption dominate the U.S. government, which is characterized by divisiveness and stubbornness on both domestic and international issues.

 

“If we cannot work on both domestic and international policy, we won’t be safe,” he warned. “We will continue to stumble as other nations use their resources to strategically assert themselves in the world.”

 

Feingold advocated a surgical approach to handling international issues, citing a strategy of intervening in Libya as “an example that you do not need boots on the ground or complete intervention to complete a goal.”

 

“We have a single-by-single-country approach of tackling issues,” he said. “The discussion was never focused on the broad landscape.”

 

Feingold emphasized Africa’s importance in the fight against terrorism, bringing attention to extremist groups in Africa such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Feingold cited Somalia as a state tainted with piracy and also discussed the emergence of an al-Qaeda chapter and strong connections to Yemen, an example of a failure in U.S foreign policy.

 

According to Feingold, there has been a trivialization and neglect of foreign policy, particularly by the right in U.S. politics. He pointed to how the idea of American exceptionalism is often linked to American foreign policy, something he deemed “foolish.”

 

“I believe that the U.S. can remain the leading nation in the world,” he said. “But we cannot keep briefly waking up from our slumber to yell out, ‘We are number one!’ and then go back to sleep.”

 

Feingold encouraged Americans to be more involved as global citizens, particularly by learning languages.

 

After the talk, audience members posed questions on an array of topics ranging from the U.S. role in Egypt to intervention in Syria to the possibility of an Iranian attack.

 

In response to a question on why the United States is disliked in some regions of the world, Feingold responded saying, “I think it has to do with the U.S. support of nations with tyrannical regimes. It breeds a situation where people can be sucked into protest or worse, violence.”

 

“Mr. Feingold’s sincerity was obvious and he gave a number of cogent reasons for greater engagement beyond our borders,” said Aaron Sekhri ‘15, who attended the lecture. “His emphasis on the need to become world citizens and challenge ourselves in spheres alien to us was inspiring.”

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Prendergast calls for ‘informed activism’ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/31/prendergast-calls-for-informed-activism/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/31/prendergast-calls-for-informed-activism/#respond Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:55:07 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1056301 U.S. President Barack Obama said student groups were key to putting the conflicts in Darfur and Sudan on the radar screen of policymakers, according to John Prendergast, a prominent human rights activist, author and former Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council. Prendergast spoke Monday afternoon to a group of 40 Stanford students, staff and community members at the Arrillaga Family Dining Commons Study Room.

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Prendergast calls for 'informed activism'
Human rights activist John Prendergast, right, explored why international involvement has been successful in forming Southern Sudan, but was a failure in Darfur during a talk Monday afternoon in the Arrillaga Family Dining Commons Study Room. (MEHMET INONU/The Stanford Daily)

U.S. President Barack Obama said student groups were key to putting the conflicts in Darfur and Sudan on the radar screen of policymakers, according to John Prendergast, a prominent human rights activist, author and former Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council. Prendergast spoke Monday afternoon to a group of 40 Stanford students, staff and community members at the Arrillaga Family Dining Commons Study Room.

 

Prendergast praised the efforts of youth and student movements, such as anti-genocide movement STAND, which has a Stanford chapter, for its advocacy efforts. He encouraged students who are passionate about activism to use new media tools to craft personal stories that can mobilize the public and policymakers.

 

“I am amazed by criticism that activists have undermined the peace process,” he said. “These groups have had a great deal of influence in putting the issue on the agenda of policymakers who are the ones responsible.”

 

“Informed activism can make a huge difference,” he added. “We cannot tell the U.S. how to conduct foreign policy but we can help drive its focus on forgotten human rights issues where literally millions of lives are at stake.”

 

The discussion, titled “Why South Sudan Succeeded and Why Darfur Failed: Lessons About Activism,” is part of a guest lecture series on various human rights issues by Prendergast, which had its first event last Tuesday and will have its last event this Thursday. Crothers Global Citizenship, the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education and the Residential Education’s Charles F. Riddell Fund co-sponsored the talk.

 

Prendergast co-founded the Enough Project, an initiative to end genocide, with Crothers’ Resident Fellow Steve Stedman.

 

Prendergast began his talk by applying what he called the “Four Ps” of external engagement — consisting of Policy, Personnel, Process and Political Will — to both Southern Sudan and Darfur.

 

Prendergast warned that there are still key issues to resolve between Sudan and Southern Sudan including the distribution of oil revenues, border demarcation and territory disputes — as well as internal communal fighting in both areas.

 

However, he considers the formation of Southern Sudan as an independent state to be a success, crediting it to international pressure and the efforts of the Obama administration in reasserting a firm U.S leadership role in the region.

 

“The international community was able to zero in on the essential issue of self-determination for the people in the south,” Prendergast said. “There were a lot of hiccups, but they essentially got it right.”

 

In comparison, he called the U.S and international involvement in the Darfur conflict “literally a case study of how not to undertake peace.”

 

“The utterly fatal flaw in Darfur was sending in U.N. [United Nations] peacekeepers,” he said. “The peacekeeping mission had absolutely no impact in slowing down the crisis, but rather it was a tremendous diversion of effort and energy.”

 

According to Prendergast, the U.S and the international community should focus on real democratic transformation in Sudan and dealing with the problems in the region holistically.

 

After the talk, audience members posed questions on topics ranging from China’s involvement in the region to the efficacy of foreign intervention.

 

One of the audience members, community member Gabriel Tor, shared his experience as a Sudanese who had to escape the country as a child in 1987.

 

“I think some of the important points were glossed over though,” said audience member and Sudanese student Atheel Elmalik ’15. “Some issues like the oil conflict and Bashir’s defiance are very difficult and complicated.”

 

After the discussion, Prendergast provided some inspiration to Stanford students who asked about becoming involved in activism.

 

“Find other like-minded students and act with them to build relationships with other universities and constituencies,” he said. “It is all about being part of something bigger and changing the world one step at a time.”

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Divestment debate continues https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/26/divestment-debate-continues/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/26/divestment-debate-continues/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:50:54 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1055676 Stanford Students for Palestinian Equal Rights (SPER) hosted a divestment campaign event Wednesday evening in the Oak Lounge at Tresidder, attended by approximately 30 Stanford students, affiliates and community members.

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Stanford Students for Palestinian Equal Rights (SPER) hosted a divestment campaign event Wednesday evening in the Oak Lounge at Tresidder, attended by approximately 30 Stanford students, affiliates and community members.

 

The divestment campaign calls for Stanford to stop investing its endowment in companies that contribute to what the group labels “the oppression of the Palestinian people.”

 

Divestment debate continues
Omar Shakir '07 addresses a Student for Palestinian Equal Rights (SPER) meeting in the Oak Lounge of Tresidder on Wednesday night. (MEHMET INONU/The Stanford Daily)

“Divestment is a tried and true tactic,” said founder and co-president Omar Shakir ’07. “It is a powerful symbol and the best non-violent method to effectuate change.”

 

The date of the event, Jan. 25, marked the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the Egyptian Arab Spring revolution.

 

“This choice of date was not a coincidence,” Shakir said, who is currently studying at Stanford Law School. “It fits in with our idea of grassroots movements and tackling human rights violations from the ground.”

 

The event started with a tribute to the Egyptian revolution followed by a PowerPoint presentation outlining the history of the conflict and the aims of the campaign.

 

The campaign calls on Stanford University to divest from eight specific companies: Ahava, Motorola, Roadstone Holdings, Riwal, Lockheed Martin, Mekorot, Caterpillar and Veolia Transportation, all of whom SPER claims either facilitate or support institutional discrimination, collective punishment, operation of Israeli-only settlements and maintenance of the separation barrier in the Palestinian territory.

 

Shakir founded the group, originally called Students Confronting Apartheid by Israel (SCAI), in the fall of 2006. They changed their name this year.

 

“The new name reflects a new strategic aim we have,” Shakir said. “There is now more of an awareness of the apartheid in Israel, so we have decided to focus on the rights of the Palestinians.”

 

SPER’s divestment campaign petition has over 1,000 signatures from Stanford students, faculty, alumni, affiliates and student organizations.

 

Shakir stated that Stanford has a policy to not invest in companies that engage in substantial social injury and claims the University has a history of divesting from companies that do.

 

Examples include divesting from Sinopec and PetroChina in May 2005 due to their involvement in the Darfur conflict and adopting an ethical investment policy toward conflict minerals in May 2010 due to the conflict in Congo.

 

Stanford students launched a successful divestment campaign during the apartheid in South Africa.

 

According to Shakir, the Board of Trustees has been receptive toward SPER’s message, and the group is preparing to make its first formal presentation to the Board at an undecided time this year.

 

Shakir emphasized that the organization’s current focus is to build awareness and mobilize different segments of the Stanford community before proceeding with the formal presentation to the Board.

 

The event ended with candid conversation and debate between audience members who posed questions and challenged each other.

 

“It was a very powerful presentation but definitely more than that; it’s a really important way that Stanford students can get involved in direct action,” said Anna McConnell ’14. “This is certainly something that we have the power and responsibility to do.”

 

“It educated me and inspired me to take action to help the campaign,” said audience member Karl Kumodzi ’14.

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Ron Spogli: Stanford to San Marino https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/24/ronald-spogli-stanford-to-san-marino/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/24/ronald-spogli-stanford-to-san-marino/#respond Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:02:27 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1055170 Standing at six feet, four inches tall and dressed in a sharp black suit, Ronald Spogli '70, former U.S. Ambassador to Italy and San Marino, appeared a firm, powerful character. But his warmth emerged as he fondly recalled his time on the Farm and its profound impact on his life.

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Ron Spogli: Stanford to San Marino
(Courtesy of Ronald Spogli)

Standing at six feet, four inches tall and dressed in a sharp black suit, Ronald Spogli ’70, former U.S. Ambassador to Italy and San Marino, appeared a firm, powerful character. But his warmth emerged as he fondly recalled his time on the Farm and its profound impact on his life.

 

Spogli was a first-generation college student and is a third-generation Italian-American. He was raised in an English-speaking household in Los Angeles and knew no Italian before arriving at the Farm.

 

“We had a lot of Italian customs, but the language was not something I knew,” he said.

 

At Stanford, Spogli learned Italian and studied in Florence as a junior. There, he said, he understood the value of learning about other cultures.

 

“It was a true adventure,” Spogli said. “I learned how to live in another culture, to meet its challenges and to thrive in those challenging circumstances. I got out of my comfort zone, and it was a great personal growth opportunity.”

 

At Stanford, Spogli majored in history, but he was also interested in both Italian Renaissance studies and East Asian studies. After graduating, he spent a year in the East Asian studies graduate program, worked as an assistant for the Florence program and went to Milan to research the social impact of labor migration in Italy.

 

After years of academia, though, Spogli said he felt ready to enter the corporate world, so he went to study at Harvard Business School. After graduating in 1975, Spogli worked in investment banking for Dean Witter Reynolds before co-founding Freeman Spogli & Co., a private equity firm, in 1983.

 

Forty years after his graduation, Spogli’s ties to Stanford remain strong. He participates in various Stanford awareness and fundraising campaigns, currently serves on the Board of Trustees and is a member of the eponymous Freeman Spogli Institute’s advisory board. From 2000 to 2004 he was involved in the Campaign for Undergraduate Education, and from 2002 to 2005, he also served on the Bing Overseas Studies Program Council.

 

Norman Naimark, who served as the director of the Bing Overseas Studies Program (BOSP) at a time when Spogli was not on the Council, remarked on Spogli’s lasting impact on the Program. Spogli advised him on how to “deal with a Council of donors and friends of BOSP that focused on the importance of sharing the inputs of decision-making with the Council and using their collective wisdom to help me resolve BOSP issues,” Naimark wrote in an email to The Daily.

 

In addition, Spogli continued to support BOSP while he was U.S. Ambassador to Italy.

 

“He often invited the Florence students to visit the embassy and even his residence in Rome,” Naimark said. “He helped us think through the issues surrounding the move of the Florence program to a more attractive location.”

 

Although he is proud of his many accomplishments, Spogli said that the highlight of his career was his role as U.S. Ambassador to Italy and San Marino.

 

“The wonderful thing about being an ambassador to a country like Italy is that you are limited only by your energy, enthusiasm and creativity,” he said.

 

One of his major tasks as ambassador was to battle chronic low economic growth in Italy. According to Spogli, for Italy to attract investment and grow, the government needs to make fundamental reforms to the labor market, educational system and legal system.

 

Spogli also had to strengthen political ties between the United States and Italy and reinforce the cultural link between the two countries. This proved a challenge: in 42 months, he saw three different parliaments and two different presidents.

 

In 2006, President George W. Bush appointed Spogli the first U.S Ambassador to San Marino, a small enclave located within Italian borders. Its citizens speak Italian and also use the Euro as currency, but maintain political independence from Italy.

 

San Marino is “a fascinating country because it claims to be the oldest democratic republic in the world,” he said.

 

He left the post in 2009.

 

Spogli credited Stanford with helping him find his passion in diplomacy.

 

“Being a diplomat is one of the most wonderful experiences I’ve had in a life where I’ve been blessed with incredible things,” he said. “I would do it again a thousand times over.”

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Citi exec shares thoughts, inspiration https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/19/citi-exec-shares-thoughts-inspiration/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/19/citi-exec-shares-thoughts-inspiration/#respond Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:40:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1054760 Citi’s chief innovation officer and one of the most powerful women in business today, Deborah Hopkins, spoke to over 300 people packed into the NVIDIA Auditorium in the Huang Engineering Center on Wednesday afternoon.

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Citi’s chief innovation officer and one of the most powerful women in business today, Deborah Hopkins, spoke to over 300 people packed into the NVIDIA Auditorium in the Huang Engineering Center on Wednesday afternoon.

 

Hopkins is the first of a set of speakers in the 1-unit course MS&E 472, also known as the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar. The seminar is open to the public and brings prominent entrepreneurial voices to campus once a week to share their insights with the Stanford community.

 

Tina Seelig, executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), which, in conjunction with Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES), helped organized the event, introduced Hopkins as “someone passionate about creativity and entrepreneurship.”

 

Hopkins has a long and successful history in the business world, previously holding positions such as CFO of Boeing and General Motors. She joined Citi in 2003, working in technology and strategy before being tapped by CEO Vikram Pandit to become chief innovative officer in 2008.

 

Based in Palo Alto, her main aim is client-based innovation and forming partnerships with start-ups, universities and thought leaders.

 

“I am absolutely delighted to be here,” Hopkins said. “We are passionate about being part of this campus and being involved in what you are doing here.”

 

Hopkins was instrumental in establishing a presence for Citi in Silicon Valley in the last three years. In 2011, Citi met with 600 start-up companies in the area and invested in eight of them.

 

“Being in the Valley is a core component for us,” Hopkins said.

 

Citi has a strong connection to Stanford, working with Stanford start-ups such as ReadyForZero, which helps people pay off their debts. Hopkins said Citi invested in the company and is looking at how to commercialize the idea and offer it to its own customers.

 

Hopkins highlighted the Tahrir Square and Occupy Wall Street protests, citing the impact of technological revolutions on business.

 

“We are going through a time of a confluence of events we have never witnessed before,” Hopkins said. “The world is forever changed by the way we communicate and use technology and data. This will fundamentally change the way business is conducted.”

 

She stated that because of the advancement of technology, businesses must now adapt by having a more open communication network and be more involved in a dialogue with their customers.

 

According to Hopkins, aspects like web design and social marketing, not traditionally linked to banking, are now crucial elements in the industry.

 

Citing Citi’s Smart Banking project, which redesigned the entire process of consumer banking, she said Citi’s goal is to simultaneously make banking accessible and enjoyable while maintaining a firm moral commitment to help people make better financial decisions.

 

“Banking is thought of as intimidating and awful,” she said. “ But it is concerned with the most intimate things in your life like buying a house or opening your first account.”

 

Hopkins repeatedly mentioned Citi’s role and expansion in Asia, which is being used as a zone to test new strategies and where branches are spreading rapidly.

 

“I liked her emphasis on mobile technology,” said audience member George Burgess ’15, managing director of EducationApps Ltd. “The way Citi has integrated mobile devices into their Asian stores is extremely creative.”

 

“I found her to be a very strong businesswoman,” said another audience member Narjis Sarehane ’13. “She inspired me to pursue my interest in business.”

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Professor, prince https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/11/professor-prince/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/11/professor-prince/#respond Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:02:56 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1053934 Ben Abdallah, whose full name is Prince Moulay Hicham Ben Abdallah El Alaoui, is third in line to the throne of the Kingdom of Morocco and first cousin to the current King, Mohammed VI.

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Moulay Hicham Ben Abdallah M.A. ’97 walked into the CoHo, glanced around, smiled and said, “Well, this is a cozy place.”

 

Professor, prince
Prince Moulay Hicham Ben Abdallah Al Alaoui, third in line to the Moroccan throne and consulting professor at the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford. (Courtesy of Moulay Hicham Ben Abdallah)

Wearing jeans and a plain black sweater, he blended into the crowd of Stanford students and visitors, none of whom knew they were in the presence of a prince.

 

Being a prince “can be more of a nuisance than anything else. People scrutinize you and have preconceived notions like…does he wear a turban?” he joked.

 

Ben Abdallah, whose full name is Prince Moulay Hicham Ben Abdallah El Alaoui, is third in line to the throne of the Kingdom of Morocco and first cousin to the current King, Mohammed VI. Nicknamed the “Red Prince,” he is well known for favoring democratic reforms in Morocco and the Arab world. He does not, however, appreciate the title, stating in an interview with the French journal Le Debat that it was given to him by the same “information handlers” who nicknamed King Mohammed VI “King of the Poor.”

 

His unorthodox views in the conservative kingdom led to his expulsion from palace grounds by his cousin, who ascended the throne in 1999 after the death of his father and Ben Abdallah’s uncle, Hassan II.

 

Morocco’s Al-Alaoui dynasty has been in power for four centuries and traces its lineage back to the Prophet Mohammed. The monarchy does not tolerate criticism.

 

“The authorities use the restrictive press law and an array of financial and other, more subtle mechanisms to punish critical journalists, particularly those who focus on the king, his family or Islam,” states the Freedom House 2011 Country Report on Morocco.

 

“The monarchy is a cultural and historical symbol,” Ben Abdallah said. “This is why Moroccans are aware of its crucial role in society and push for reform instead of overthrowing the regime…but there is a deep sense of frustration and impatience.”

 

His decision to publicly state his controversial views in 1995 was not taken lightly.

 

“I thought profoundly about who I was and what my country was,” he said. “It was not easy. There were high costs, and one of them was being ostracized and even vilified.”

 

Nevertheless, Ben Abdallah remains an outspoken political maverick, unwavering in his support for controversial publications and journalists as well as groups like the February 20th Youth Movement.

 

Raised in the Moroccan capital Rabat’s Royal Palace complex, Ben Abdallah attended the Rabat American School and graduated from Princeton with a bachelor’s degree in politics in 1985. After pursuing several entrepreneurial and humanitarian endeavors, he came to Stanford in 1995 to pursue a master’s degree in political science.

 

“Deepening my experience and my knowledge one way or another has never been interrupted in my life no matter where I go,” Ben Abdallah said.

 

In his witty, yet diplomatic, manner, Ben Abdallah compared Stanford and Princeton.

 

“Princeton is like an orchestra where you cannot play out of note but produce great music,” he said. “Stanford is like one big rock band where everyone is encouraged to make their own sound.”

 

After leaving the Farm, Ben Abdallah stayed in close contact with Larry Diamond, director of the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL).

 

In 2007, Ben Abdallah left his home in Princeton, where he had been living since 2002, and returned to Stanford as a CDDRL visiting scholar.

 

At CDDRL, he has been deeply involved in the Arab Reform and Democracy Program doing research, mentoring students, giving talks and developing the program.

 

“My goal is to enrich myself and my community as well as foster general understanding of the region,” he said.

 

Although Ben Abdallah originally intended to stay at CDDRL for two years, he eventually decided to remain longer and is now a consulting professor. This means he regularly commutes back to Princeton, where his wife, Malika, and their two daughters live.

 

One of Ben Abdallah’s initial research projects at CDDRL was investigating the idea that the Arab world is incompatible with democracy, which he swiftly rejected as a false concept.

 

“There was an underlying thesis that there was something about Arabs that makes them accept authoritarianism, and I wanted to unbundle it,” he said. “I wanted to say, look, authoritarianism is here, but this is why it’s here. The factors are not cultural.”

 

The Arab Spring may have surprised the Western world, but not Ben Abdallah.

 

“I always felt that something was around the corner,” he said. “I knew that the status quo was untenable, and that in a few of these places something would have to give way.”

 

What surprised him was the movement’s place of origin, Tunisia, which had a strong security apparatus. He also did not envision the movement’s diffusion and transformation into what he called an “awakening.”

 

Despite the optimism in the movement, he said that the future of the region is uncertain. Setbacks, reversals and failures are all likely to happen as each country faces its own particular demons, he said, but he believes the trend towards democracy is irreversible.

 

“This is a new generation with new values,” he said. “Fear has receded, and societies will not remain idle.”

 

He also downplayed fears over the rise of Islamist parties throughout the region and in his native Morocco, where the Justice and Development Party, a moderate Islamist party, recently won parliamentary elections.

 

“This does not mean we will see the rise of theocracies,” he said. “People are not going to resist secular authoritarianism to fall into religious despotism.”

 

Although Ben Abdallah has vigorously championed reform in Morocco for the last two decades, he attempts to keep his expectations realistic.

 

“It took hundreds of years for the West to get things on track,” he said. “It will be a messy and laborious process for Morocco, but we’ll eventually get it right.”

 

Ben Abdallah’s work at Stanford and in politics is not the end of his pursuits. He also runs his own foundation, the Moulay Hicham Foundation for Social Science Research on North Africa and the Middle East, founded Princeton’s Institute for the Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia and owns Al-Tayyar Energy, a renewable energy company that processes agricultural waste in Thailand.

 

“I barely have free time; I am juggling,” he said. “Every time I think I cannot handle more, someone else throws me another ball to juggle.”

 

Although his professional and family lives are rooted in the United States now, Ben Abdallah still keeps close ties with Morocco and returns often.

 

“I miss the community feel,” he said. “I miss my nephews and my friends. I miss walking on the streets hearing the call to prayer and smelling the odors of spices, so now and then I need to go back home.”

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Chinese economist discusses country’s future, state domination https://stanforddaily.com/2011/12/09/chinese-economist-discusses-countrys-future/ https://stanforddaily.com/2011/12/09/chinese-economist-discusses-countrys-future/#respond Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:00:38 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1053465 Chinese economist Wu Jinglian spoke Thursday evening on China’s economic achievements and current challenges, arguing that state domination of allocation of resources and monopolies limit the country’s economic advancement.

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Award-winning Chinese economist Wu Jinglian spoke Thursday evening on China’s economic achievements and current challenges, arguing that state domination of allocation of resources and monopolies limit the country’s economic advancement.

 

Wu is the 2011 recipient of the Dr. Kuo-Shu Liang award, which is part of a bi-annual memorial award and lecture series established by the Stanford Center for International Development (SCID) to celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr. Kuo-Shu Liang, who was governor of the Central Bank of Taiwan from 1975 to 1979.

 

A reception, attended by approximately 150 guests, preceded the talk in the Gunn-SIEPR building.

 

Nicholas Hope, director of the SCID, introduced Wu as “one of the foremost Chinese economists of his era and one of the primary contributors of China’s economic reforms.”

 

Wu began his talk by expressing gratefulness for the acknowledgement of his work but said that more importantly, he sees the award as recognition for China’s economic achievements.

 

According to Wu, China began instating economic reforms in 1978. Since then, the country’s economy has grown ten fold to become the world’s biggest exporter and the second largest economy today, he said, noting that some predict China will overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy within 10 years.

 

“It is with confidence that we can conclude the secret of China’s economic rise is market oriented reforms,” Wu said.

 

Additionally, Wu pointed out three other critical factors to which he attributes China’s explosive economic growth: the efficient use of human and natural resources, the adoption of an export-oriented policy and the import of advanced foreign technology.

 

Despite China’s miraculous growth over the last three decades, Wu warned that China now faces significant economic challenges.

 

“We must remain aware that the Chinese economy is far from being perfect,” Wu said. “China’s current economic system is a hybrid of a market economy and a command economy. It is a transitional system that can either evolve into a more advanced market economy or can move backward into state capitalism.”

 

Wu said he blames state domination of the allocation of resources, monopolies in sectors such as telecommunications and petroleum and the lack of a fully established law-based economy for preventing more reform.

 

He also highlighted the debate over the effectiveness and sustainability of the “China Model” – the hypothesis that an authoritarian government that controls the economy and society has a greater ability to consolidate resources and accomplish tasks.

 

According to Wu, advocates of the model say that it allows the government to implement strategies and policies to reflect national interests. Furthermore, proponents say this model allowed the economy to remain stable during the global financial crisis.

 

Those more skeptical of this viewpoint, such as Wu, argue that heavy reliance on administrative control is unsustainable in the long-term and will lead to negative economic and social consequences.

 

Wu pointed out that symptoms of macroeconomic troubles have appeared, including asset bubbles and increased inflationary pressures.

 

“All these symptoms are a warning that if China cannot eliminate institutional obstacles to transform its growth pattern, it will inevitably face economic and social disaster,” Wu said.

 

“China is standing at a new crossroads,” he added. “More and more people are complaining about the inefficiencies of government institutions and are calling for more reform to benefit the people.”

 

After the 40-minute talk, audience members posed questions on topics including inequality, domestic consumption and the implementation of the rule of law in China.

 

“It was a very interesting and relevant talk,” said audience member Caiyao Mai ‘15, a Chinese undergraduate. “The problems he mentioned are crucial issues that the new Chinese government will have to face when they come to power next March.”

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IR reconsiders honors structure https://stanforddaily.com/2011/11/03/international-relations-honors-program-expects-change-in-leadership/ https://stanforddaily.com/2011/11/03/international-relations-honors-program-expects-change-in-leadership/#respond Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:05:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1051404 While international relations is the third largest major in the School of Humanities and Sciences, its honors program has experienced a decline in student enrollment in recent years.

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While international relations is the third largest major in the School of Humanities and Sciences, its honors program has experienced a decline in student enrollment in recent years.

According to Ipshita Sengupta, student services administrator of the program in international relations, over 300 students are currently declared as international relations majors, but only seven or eight of those students are in the honors program. A few years ago, approximately 20 to 25 students participated in the honors program annually.

“International relations is a major that has a lot of breadth, [and] the honors program gives students the opportunity to concentrate on depth,” Sengupta said.

Thesis topics have typically ranged from issues in international education to human rights to international political economy.

Admission to the honors program requires prospective applicants to have a minimum GPA of 3.5 and a strong thesis proposal that is approved by a faculty member in the international relations (IR) department.

Erica Gould, the new director of the IR honors program, attributed this declining trend to the popularity of alternative undergraduate honors research programs. These programs include the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) and Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) honors programs, which have a more specific focus in research topics than the traditional international relations honors track.

Starting this year, the IR department is looking to revamp its honors program to attract more prospective students. One of the major changes to be implemented is the promotion of a better research environment.

“Research is at the core of the honors experience,” Gould said.

Previously, the honors program had no independent research funding. Instead, students who needed financing for their projects had to apply through Undergraduate Research and Advising (UAR). Gould hopes that in the next year, the department will form its own pool of grant money for honors students to utilize.

The department also hopes to enroll students in the honors program at an earlier stage of their undergraduate careers, which has proved to be a challenge. Traditionally, students applied for the honors program in the fall quarter of their junior year and were notified of acceptance in the spring quarter of the same year.

Starting this year, the IR major declaration forms will have an added section asking students to state if they are interested in pursuing the honors track. Sengupta said that interested students will be sent more information and materials on seminars and application procedures. This may help students enter the program earlier and have a longer timeline to complete their thesis research and writing.

“If students start in their junior year spring quarter, they can become stressed and overwhelmed, especially when the job hunting starts in the summer and senior year,” Sengupta said.

Furthermore, Gould noted that discussing the honors program earlier allows the department to reach students before they go abroad, which is a requirement for all IR majors. Students could therefore integrate their overseas experience into their honors theses, which is highly encouraged.

Another major change to take place is the creation of a community within the group of IR honors students. Ideas include faculty luncheons for professors and honors students to connect and discuss research, as well as priority for honors students in certain classes.

“The idea is to have honors students feel like they are part of a cohort of students rather than simply having the task of writing a thesis paper,” Gould said.

Judith Goldstein, current interim director of the international relations program, along with former director Kenneth Schultz and future director Michael Tomz, were each instrumental in the brainstorming process of these changes. Gould emphasized that the proposed changes are still in a tentative and preliminary stage, as many other ideas and possibilities are in line for the future.

A department meeting to discuss potential changes on Monday, Oct. 24, was attended by mostly juniors and faculty. According to Gould, the new ideas for the program received positive feedback from students.

“We want this to be a change embraced by students,” Gould said. “Our goal is to make the honors program an enriching and holistic experience for them.”

 

 

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