Panelists at the Advocating for Racial Equity in Tech panel recently spoke on the various ways the technology industry perpetuates racial inequities, from the job application process to the gentrification of the communities in which these companies are based. On August 6, 2020, student moderators, Dina Safreno, ’20 and Priya Chatwani, ’20, fielded questions for the four guest speakers who work in the technology industry.

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SATIRE: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has been fired and will be replaced by Escargot DeFast, a garden snail President Donald Trump found on the White House lawns, the Press Secretary announced today. DeJoy, who held office for just under a month, has been fired due to his far too efficient operation of the post office.

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Last week, students across campus participated in a week of action titled, Step Up or Step Down. Activists took part in five days of protests calling for the departmentalization of African and African-American Studies (AAAS) and the abolishment of the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) among several other demands.

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"When King asked that question in his last book, 'Where do we go from here?' I often say we haven’t answered his question. That’s why we have protests in the streets today."

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A group of anti-mask fanatics recently protested a nudist colony for enforcing mask wearing. Jacob Weiner, leader of the nudist colony, released a letter last Sunday saying that, while most clothes are optional for colony guests, masks are required, and he recommends gloves or hand sanitizer for anyone touching communal objects.

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On a recent webinar, Stanford professors discussed the use of neuroscience as a tool to understand the opioid epidemic. Professors Michale Ostacher and Windy McNerney hosted the webinar on July 18, and emphasized the importance of facing the uncomfortable and difficult sides of this issue head on.

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Zoom English class was interrupted today by an unexpected visitor, National Security Administration (NSA) agent Jon Doe. The class was discussing the novel 1984 by George Orwell, and its parallels to current life when Doe joined the call. The class had just finished comparing America’s national security with Big Brother.

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Denise Clark Pope, a senior lecturer at Stanford’s School of Education, believes that the marketing for some pre-college programs can convince parents and students that there are college admission advantages to be gained by attending these programs, even though it’s impossible to guarantee those advantages.

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