Features – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Thu, 23 Sep 2021 04:27:31 +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 Features – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Stanford student Sofia Pesantez ’24 awarded 2021 Critical Language Scholarship https://stanforddaily.com/2021/08/08/sofia-pesantez-24-awarded-2021-critical-language-scholarship/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/08/08/sofia-pesantez-24-awarded-2021-critical-language-scholarship/#respond Mon, 09 Aug 2021 02:40:00 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1184234 Sofia Pesantez ’24 is one of 685 college students from across the nation to receive the U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Mandarin.

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Sofia Pesantez ’24 is one of 685 college students from across the nation to receive the U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Mandarin — one of 15 languages considered critical to American security and economy.

While selected scholars would typically travel to a foreign partner institution in order to fully immerse themselves in the language, the program has adapted to the ongoing pandemic and took place virtually this year. After learning about the program through the Bechtel International Center, Pesantez said she was overjoyed when she was accepted.

The CLS program will not be Pesantez’s first time immersing in Mandarin and Chinese culture. When given the choice to study Spanish or Chinese in high school, Pesantez wanted to challenge herself and chose the latter. She also visited China through a foreign exchange program in 10th grade, where she lived with a host family for one month and taught English to elementary school children. She credits this experience as her reason for continuing to study Chinese at Stanford.

“I think that Chinese is a very intricate language, one that takes a long time to perfect. I’m always on my toes and I’m always learning something completely new,” Pesantez said.

As of last Friday, Pesantez completed an intensive eight-week Mandarin course taught at Dalian University in the Liaoning province of China. Although disappointed that she could not travel to China, Pesantez attended online classes taught by university professors, went on virtual tours and cultivated new friendships with local Mandarin-speaking students.

Pesantez said that remote learning allowed her to engage in the program while spending time with her family at home, particularly cultural activities ranging from tours to Dalian landmarks, Chinese calligraphy and a virtual talent show that gave her the opportunity to perform Mandarin songs like “Da Yu” (大鱼). 

“I’m really close with my family, so it’s the best of both worlds,” Pesantez said.

Pesantez added that she used to be concerned about making mistakes with tones and words, but joining the program built her confidence in speaking Chinese. During classes, Pesantez recited passages from Chinese language and culture textbooks out loud and had one-on-one conversations with a professor or language partner. 

“I used to be really shy speaking Chinese in front of others,” she said. “This program completely changed that for me because I’m just used to speaking in front of so many people now.”

Pesantez’s high school Chinese teacher, Wendy Yu, said that Pesantez took advantage of every opportunity to improve in the language. She took on leadership roles in her school’s multicultural club and performed Chinese songs at festivals.

“Some students might learn a language in high school because it’s required. To [Sofia], it’s different,” Yu said. “It’s really a language that she wants to own, to the point that she’s going to use it her entire life.”

Pesantez said that her first exposure to Mandarin dates back to fourth grade, when her mom encouraged her to attend a day camp with many Mandarin-speaking students. Kayley Ragazzini, Pesantez’s friend since pre-kindergarten, wrote to The Daily about Pesantez’s strong passion and drive for learning the language even when she was younger.

“Sofia’s multilingualism has shown me the beauty of learning about other cultures and their languages,” Ragazzini wrote. “She is really an inspiration to everyone, myself included, in showing what can be accomplished by working hard to achieve your goals.”

After the summer course ends, CLS scholars are expected to incorporate their language skills into their future careers. Pesantez said her goals to become proficient in the language stem from challenges her Spanish-speaking grandmother encountered when an interpreter misunderstood a doctor. 

“She thinks it’s a lot more worrisome than it actually is because the wrong thing was told to her,” Pesantez said of her grandmother’s experiences at the doctor’s office. “I want to help fix that by being the doctor that is directly telling them what is wrong.”

Putting her goals into action, Pesantez currently works at Cardinal Free Clinics interviewing patients who only speak Spanish or Chinese for a research study about COVID-19’s effects on low-income communities. Currently a human biology major on the pre-med track, Pesantez hopes to continue to leverage her language skills to serve non-English-speaking patients.

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Park for the people? https://stanforddaily.com/2020/08/16/park-for-the-people/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/08/16/park-for-the-people/#respond Mon, 17 Aug 2020 01:45:22 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1171261 Tucked in the hills of the Santa Cruz Mountains lies Foothills Park, 1,400 acres of land scattered with hiking trails, camping grounds and grassy lawns surrounding Boronda Lake. Flocks of turkey and herds of deer occasionally cross the park’s trails. People with disabilities frequent the smaller paths and campsites, as vehicles can park in multiple […]

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Tucked in the hills of the Santa Cruz Mountains lies Foothills Park, 1,400 acres of land scattered with hiking trails, camping grounds and grassy lawns surrounding Boronda Lake. Flocks of turkey and herds of deer occasionally cross the park’s trails. People with disabilities frequent the smaller paths and campsites, as vehicles can park in multiple locations inside the park.

But under Palo Alto’s current municipal code, it is a misdemeanor for anyone who isn’t a resident of the city to enter the park, if not accompanied by a resident. 

Recent protests calling for local reform — coupled with delays to the implementation of the Palo Alto Parks and Recreation commission’s new pilot program to open Foothills Park — reignited a debate over the origins of the policy and whether they enforce racist and elitist policies of the past. 

In the late 1950s, the area now known as Foothills Park was originally under the ownership of Palo Alto resident Russel Lee, founder of Palo Alto Medical Foundation, and his wife Dorothy. To preserve the land, the Lees decided to donate parts of the acreage and sell the rest to the City for $1,000 per acre, totaling $1.3 million.

Park for the people?
Not far from the entrance is Boronda Lake, commonly used for fishing and canoeing. The artificial lake used to be stocked with fish regularly, but since has developed its own ecosystem. (Photo: LAURA MALAGRINO/The Stanford Daily)

By the early 1960s, the City of Palo Alto had acquired most of the land and looked to neighboring cities to help with the costs of development and maintenance.

“They [Palo Alto] went out and tried to get buy-ins from other communities to help finance the development,” said Palo Alto historian Steve Staiger. “The city already owned the land, but they wanted to develop it, and they mainly went after the county of Santa Clara.”

According to Geoff Paulsen, a member of the Lee family and a former Foothills Park ranger, Palo Alto also approached Los Altos Hills and Portola Valley for financial support — two cities which were newly incorporated only years prior.

“Los Altos, Los Altos Hills were brand new towns that had been incorporated just in the 1950s. They wouldn’t have had the resources to participate,” Staiger said. “Portola Valley, which was another brand-new town, was in a different county, so they wouldn’t be likely to participate.”

Los Altos and Portola Valley declined to participate financially, and as a result, Palo Alto decided to adopt the exclusionary policy in 1965, officially making it a misdemeanor to enter the park as a non-resident — which includes Stanford students and employees that live on-campus. 

Park for the people?
Foothills Park has various vista points reachable by car or foot. With around 15 miles of hiking trails, the park is unique in allowing visitors to park near trailheads, making trails more accessible to those with disabilities. (Photo: LAURA MALAGRINO/The Stanford Daily)

According to Parks and Recreation Liaison Daren Anderson, no one has been issued a misdemeanor in the last 20 years. But over the last five years, the park has turned away an average of 3,100 non-resident vehicles, while official visitation by residents has been on the decline since the 1970s. The entrance is staffed only on weekends and holidays, however, leaving the park effectively open to anyone during the week.

The ordinance has faced pushback several times since its inception: once in the 1970s, again in the 1990s and most recently in 2005. Each time, the ordinance remained — Foothills park continued to turn away non-residents.

But with the recent rise in protests following the killing of George Floyd, local and state governments across the nation are starting to face public pressure to reform and revise past policies.

Community discontent

On June 6, protesters gathered at Palo Alto City Hall to demand change to local policing and other remnants of racist policies.

At the protest, East Palo Alto Mayor Regina Wallace-Jones and Reverend Kaloma A. Smith both called for inclusivity through policy reform — and in their speeches said that changing Foothills Park’s residents-only ordinance was the first step.

Local political and religious leaders, civil rights organizations and members of the Lee family called upon Palo Alto City Council to repeal the residents-only policy.

“This policy sends a terrible message to our neighboring communities — particularly those which do not enjoy the same socioeconomic advantages that Palo Alto does — and leaves a bad taste in the mouths of thousands of would-be visitors who are prohibited by uniformed City staff from entering a public park,” the letter states.

The letter also called on the City Council to direct the Parks and Recreations Commission to create a new policy that would better reflect the City’s commitment to “equality, openness and resource protection” in a letter sent on June 7.

But the Parks and Recreation Commission already had a pilot program ready to go.

In Nov. 2019, the Parks and Recreation Commission unanimously approved a new pilot program that would introduce a $6 entrance permit for non-residents. The program would allow non-residents to purchase daily permits through an online reservation system. Up to 50 permits could be purchased daily to prevent an excess of visitors.

The program was scheduled to be discussed by the City Council in early spring. But with the shelter-in-place order enacted in March, the City Council pushed the topic until June 22. Once the June 22 meeting arrived, Council member Lydia Kou and Vice Mayor Tom Dubois proposed tabling the topic once more until after the summer recess. The proposal passed 5-2, with Fine and Council member Alison Cormack in dissent.

Following the last City Council Meeting, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Ryan McCauley resigned from the commission.

“From the numerous conversations that I had with several Council members before the June vote to yank it from the agenda, it’s clear to me that most members of the City Council are working very hard to avoid what they (incorrectly) view as a politically toxic issue,” McCauley wrote in a statement to The Daily. “I wish that they would prove me wrong, but thus far, the Council majority has lacked the political courage to even discuss the issue.”

Former Council member LaDoris Cordell experienced this same reluctance from her colleagues in her time as Council member from 2004 to 2008. According to Cordell, members of the Council delayed voting on such a contentious topic out of fear of losing voters in the upcoming elections. 

“The Parks and Recreation Commission’s proposed plan is unnecessary, but I understand that in light of the political cowardice of some of the City Council members, this was a way to slowly get them on board,” Cordell wrote in a statement to The Daily.

On June 22, Cordell, who also worked as a Santa Clara Superior Court judge, threatened the city with a lawsuit on the basis that the ordinance is unconstitutional. Cordell cited the ruling of a Connecticut Supreme Court case, which found a residents-only policy on public parks and open spaces was unconstitutional, on grounds that a park functions as a public forum where first amendment rights are essential and cannot be infringed. If a non-resident attempted to enter the park to exercise their right to assembly or protest, Cordell argued, they would be turned away and denied their constitutional rights. The city has yet to publicly respond to Cordell.

“The City appreciates Judge Cordell’s engagement on this issue, as well as that of the many other residents and visitors who have offered their thoughts and opinions,” wrote City Attorney Molly Stump wrote in a statement to The Daily.

A racist legacy?

Los Altos resident Anjali Ramanathan decided to take action after the City Council tabled the topic of Foothills Park until after summer break. 

“It seemed abundantly clear that not only was it not an issue that anybody really cared enough to discuss, but rather it was something that could actively be pushed to the bottom of the agenda over and over again,” Ramanathan said.

Working under a full moon to ensure they had the most light possible, Ramanathan and other activists painted the word “desegregate” in front of the entrance to Foothills Park, only to find it power-washed away the next morning.

“That is when I was like, all right, we need to get as many people here as possible, because it’s not just clear that this is not an issue that the city is interested in, considering or thinking about or talking about — but also it’s something that there’s political will to crush,” Ramanathan said.

Ramanathan organized to re-paint the word, followed by a July 11 protest at the park’s entrance. According to Ramanathan, about 60 people arrived at the park entrance. Protestors covered park signs with writing and cardboard.

Park for the people?
The July 11 protest received backlash for labeling the residents-only policy as segregationist. Protestors called on the City to open the park and expel the policy, citing racist realtor practices and the disproportionate racial demographics across cities in the area. (Courtesy of Terry Scussel)

The protest received some backlash online, where supporters of the residents-only policy argued that the exclusivity is not as racially charged as Ramanathan had made it out to be.

“We’ve been getting tons of emails at City Council saying, ‘This isn’t a racist policy. It’s just a private park — leave it alone,’” Palo Alto Mayor Adrian Fine said in an interview with The Daily.

Along with the protest, Ramanathan wrote a document compiled with short summaries and links to other articles or organizations, which she linked in Instagram posts advertising the protest. In the document, Ramanathan provided information on Palo Alto’s history of housing discrimination and redlining.

Ramanathan cites articles discussing racist realtor tactics that affected the racial demographics of Palo Alto following the Great Depression. Realtors would purposefully not sell properties in Palo Alto to people of color to keep them in certain neighborhoods, usually outside the city. Practices like these resulted in differing demographics across neighboring cities: East Palo Alto’s population is 15.6% Black and 7.2% white, while Palo Alto is 1.6% Black and 55.2% white, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Staiger doesn’t see a relation between racist realtor practices and the residents-only policy of Foothills Park. He notes that residents of East Palo Alto have access to Palo Alto’s 34 other parks.

“The previous practices in real estate in Palo Alto, in the Peninsula and in California as a whole has almost nothing to do with the restrictive access to Foothills Park. The limitations and restrictions have nothing to do with race or religion — it’s purely residents,” Staiger said. “Yes, the residents of East Palo Alto can’t go there, but they do have parklands out on the Baylands that they have access to. Palo Alto has 35 parks, this [Foothills] is the only one that has restrictions.”

Ramanathan, however, sees the ordinance as an extension of past housing discrimination, one that pushed Black and Hispanic communities out of Palo Alto.

“If those original housing policies were crafted with the intent to keep people of color out — anytime we’re enforcing a residents-only policy for that city, then we’re just enforcing those same policies of the past,” Ramanathan said.

Visitors’ impact

While some residents cite the city’s racist housing policies as reason to repeal the ordinance, other Palo Alto residents worry about the environmental damage that would follow an increase in visitation.

“The park can’t withstand the abuse that hordes of people would [cause] — whether they’re driving up there in their beat-up, old, 10-year-old car or they’re driving up there in their Maserati,” Staiger said. “If you have too many people … the quality of the park degrades.”

In response to public concerns over the pilot program’s feasibility, the Parks and Recreation Commission held a special meeting on July 28, inviting a panel of various field experts to discuss methods to mitigate environmental impacts.

The panel discussed the environmental impact of a visitor increase, benefits for student volunteers and Foothills staff well-being and workload. The issue of financing came up often in light of recent budget cuts that compromised other recreation programs around the city.

But some panelists also highlighted the benefits of opening a park. Alex Von Feldt, Executive Director of Grassroots Ecology, claims that volunteers often are discouraged by the residents-only policy. Nicole M. Ardoin, professor at the Graduate School of Education and director of the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER), also mentioned the mental health benefits of having such a large open space be accessible to the community and the ability to maintain social distancing measures due to the park’s size.

One of the major issues with fully opening the park would be the strain on staff. According to former Foothills Park Supervising Ranger Lester Hendrie, about one-third of Palo Alto is open-space preserve — including areas such as Arastradero and the Baylands — but the City employs only ten staff to manage the parks. Foothills Park lacks a supervising ranger and employs only six rangers to manage the 1,400-acre park.

“That’s a huge amount of trails and resources for a small staff to maintain, and any significant changes to the operation of Foothills Park do have an impact on staff, so staff well-being is the first concern,” Hendrie said. 

Where the policy stands now

Returning from the summer session, City Council met on Aug. 3 to discuss the Parks and Recreation Commission’s pilot program. Cormack and Fine supported amending the municipal code in order to allow non-residents access to the park under the Parks and Recreation Commission’s pilot program. 

“This is an opportunity to be more inclusive, and it just happens to be coming at a time that some people are concerned about, but this is a plan and a program that the Commission spent an entire year working on,” Cormack said. “We turn away thousands of people every year, and the body of evidence shows that there is room for them in the park.”

Cormack and Fine, though, were outvoted by the other members of the Council, which decided to revisit the issue in 2022 for a possible referendum, and to change the fine for violating the policy from a misdemeanor to an infraction. The pilot program will operate for a year to measure the costs of opening the park and the impact of increased visitation.

Kou, who proposed putting the item to vote, focused on the need to honor the park’s history and to leave it up to public opinion. Kou referred to a survey she had conducted where she found that, of 1,100 Palo Alto residents, 81% wished to keep the residents-only ordinance. 

“What’s informing me [based on the survey] is that it should remain for residents only,” Kou said. “But I think as Council members, I don’t have the right to vote on the original motion — it should be by the voters.”

Council member Eric Filseth supported the motion to place the ordinance on the 2022 ballot, and pushed against some public comments that called on the City Council to remove the policy.

“A number of the speakers said, ‘It’s time to go beyond symbolism and take some concrete actions here,’ but this [opening Foothills Park to non-residents] actually seems to me about as symbolic as it’s possible to get,” Filseth said.

Ultimately, the pilot program will allow the City to measure the effects of new visitors and a possible increase in visitation. The question of whether the ordinance should be repealed will be up to Palo Alto residents’ votes in 2022.

In November, Palo Alto residents will vote for four seats in City Council, including the mayor’s. Tanaka and Kou are running for reelection, while Fine will not be running for another mayoral term.

“I’m always amazed at Palo Alto’s ability to miss an opportunity.” Fine said. “I think the pilot was a very small step to begin addressing that and to honor what the environment can do for folks of different backgrounds and also to be a good neighbor. That’s a lesson Palo Alto raised me with, and I wish we could do that for open spaces as well.”

Park for the people?
(Photo: LAURA MALAGRINO/The Stanford Daily)

On Aug. 12, activists met at Foothills Park entrance once again to protest the decision.

According to Ramanathan, the City Council’s decision to move the item to the 2022 ballot is problematic because it delays the issue and sets the ultimate decision on voters.

“It is political posturing to say that it’s going to go to the ballot in 2022, and it’s done nothing but essentially be damaging to the issue,” Ramanathan said.

Fine also spoke at the protest, condemning the City Council for its decision and the postponement of opening the park to non-residents.

“You do not put civil rights to a vote,” Fine said. “There is a right and wrong, and the right thing is to open up this park.”

This article was updated to clarify that non-residents can enter the park if accompanied by a resident.

Contact Laura Malagrino at laura.malagrino ‘at’ gmail.com.

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‘Things happen at Stanford that we don’t talk about’: One student’s experience with racial profiling https://stanforddaily.com/2020/07/29/things-happen-at-stanford-that-we-dont-talk-about-one-students-experience-with-racial-profiling/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/07/29/things-happen-at-stanford-that-we-dont-talk-about-one-students-experience-with-racial-profiling/#respond Wed, 29 Jul 2020 19:09:06 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1170569 Now a rising junior, BSU co-president Sierra Porter '22 can definitely say there are problems at Stanford that are rarely fully addressed — racism and racial profiling on campus being two of them.

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When Black Student Union (BSU) co-president Sierra Porter ’22, first received her Stanford acceptance letter, she felt special; she felt chosen. Stepping onto campus for Admit Weekend, the dreamlike impression continued. 

“It’s like Disneyland,” Porter said. “It’s a fairy tale.” 

After talking to other students at Admit Weekend, however, that facade started to crumble. 

“The students that were there told me, ‘Sierra, I know it seems all glamorous and like a fairy tale now, but you have to understand it’s not perfect,’” she recounted. “‘And when you get here you will see that for yourself.’” 

Now as a rising junior, Porter can definitely say there are problems at Stanford that are rarely fully addressed — racism and racial profiling on campus being two of them. 

In her frosh year, Porter lived on West Campus in Ujamaa, Stanford’s African American ethnic-themed dorm where 50% of residents are Black. Living there, Porter said she immediately noticed that police presence was constant. At first she brushed it off — East Campus probably had constant police presence as well. However, when she moved to Castaño her sophomore year, she said she began to realize that that wasn’t the case — police presence on this side of campus seemed very minimal in comparison to what she had been familiar with. 

In her whole year of living on East Campus, she occasionally saw police checking for bike lights, witnessed a total of two students pulled over and never once received an email alerting students to the presence of police on any East Campus street. Her email inbox from the year before had been filled with over a hundred messages sent by other Black and Brown students via an email list they call the diaspora, all bearing more or less the same succinct warning: “Cops on Santa Teresa. End of message.”

In one incident, Porter had to suddenly scramble to turn on her bike’s lights after noticing a police car parked in the dark of an alleyway on West Campus, seemingly waiting to catch student offenders.

In response to a request for comment on apparent increased police presence near Ujamaa, Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) spokesperson Bill Larson said that “as a general rule, one deputy is assigned to the west side of campus and one to the east side of campus.” 

Porter also remembered various times when police chased her and her friends for no apparent reason, forcing them to escape into the Ujamaa building. In a particularly memorable experience, a police car drove across Lake Lagunita with its headlights on towards her and her group of friends until they ran into Ujamaa for safety. 

“I had never seen cars drive on [the lake] until the police chased us that day,” Porter said.

Larson listed marijuana, alcohol and other illegal substance use on the lake bed as reasons for deputies to be policing the area but wrote that “it would not be permissible for a deputy to ‘chase’ someone without reason or cause.”

The glaring disparity of her experiences compared to those of other students left Porter feeling profiled during her year of living in Ujamaa — and she wasn’t the only one. Kory Gaines ’21 wrote an opinions piece for The Daily, expressing similar sentiments over the “casual policing” on campus that seems to disproportionately target Black students.  

Larson wrote that SUDPS has been doing implicit bias training for its personnel for “several years,” just this March having completed “16 hours of Intercultural Competency training.”

Porter’s negative race-related experiences on campus aren’t limited to incidents with the police, however. In classroom settings, Porter felt singled out because of her race, treated as the spokesperson for all Black people and was faced with microaggressions and uncomfortable comments from fellow non-Black students to the point where she considered dropping a class. 

These instances of being singled out or targeted because of her race have taken their toll.

 “Now, when I’m [near the lake], if I see headlights I’m panicking,” Porter said. “I’m like ‘We need to be ready to move, shoes need to be on, there’s no time to talk and relax — we need to go.’”

“It doesn’t even have to stem from you doing something shady or not. It’s just the fact that you feel targeted in a space that’s supposed to be safe for you,” she added. 

After facing continual microaggressions in the classroom and finding very few people willing to step up and speak out against such statements and actions, Porter said she felt unprotected. Ultimately accepting the apologies she received for the microaggressions, Porter said she is ready to move on but still acknowledges that similar instances are not talked about enough at the University. 

She attributes the lack of conversation and action around similar cases of microagressions and racial profiling to the wish of the University to maintain the specific image and reputation that even she bought into when she first arrived at Stanford. 

University spokesperson E.J. Miranda did not offer comment on this specific criticism but told The Daily that the University realizes that “as an institution, Stanford must continue to evolve to become a more inclusive and equitable campus community” and that they “are committed to that goal.” 

He also pointed The Daily to a message from Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne sent on June 10 that announced the formation of the Community Board on Public Safety, which will be “tasked with building relationships and fostering communication and trust between Stanford’s Department of Public Safety and the broader campus community.”

SUDPS and its personnel are “supportive of exploring ways in which [the public safety department] can best serve the community” and “[look] forward to the Community Board on Public Safety… being an avenue for community discussion around the way in which policing is done on campus,” according to Larson. 

From Porter’s perspective, requiring all enrolled students to take a class on race issues could also help create awareness around the Black experience at Stanford. Much like all students are required to take a class on safe alcohol and drug use before attending the school, all students could take this course, providing them with knowledge and awareness of race issues both on campus and on a national level. 

In a different message to the campus community sent in late June, Tessier-Lavigne listed a similar initiative among other plans to address race-related issues on campus. 

“The provost is… working with the offices of VPUE, VPGE and VPSA to develop [anti-bias] training for all our students, and, as soon as it is available, including it in the orientation experience of incoming students,” he wrote. 

Porter also advocates for hiring more Black faculty, which currently make up only 2% of the total University staff. Black faculty and Black studies professors would be in positions of power to educate, in contrast to Black students to whom fellow students may not pay the same attention, according to Porter.

“Students may not want to listen to me,” Porter said. “I’m just like them, right?”

“Someone who has a degree and knows what they’re talking about, that’s someone who I think needs to be leading these conversations,” she added.

In addition to this credibility, hiring more Black faculty — and specifically Black studies faculty — would signify “true commitment to deconstructing institutional racism” at Stanford, according to third-year Ph.D. student and president of the Black Graduate Student Association Kimya Loder. 

This could be a difficult task, though, as the University “[has] great difficulty recruiting and retaining due to the isolation and intellectual loneliness Black faculty members experience,” according to an open letter attached to a change.org petition advocating for the departmentalization of African and African-American Studies (AAAS) at Stanford. 

The petition, already signed by over 5,000 people, puts forward several demands in order to solve this paradoxical problem. Among them is a demand to hire Black faculty in clusters and to offer monetary resources to the AAAS program. According to Porter, hiring in clusters has the potential to create a Black faculty community and incentivize Black professors to stay at Stanford. Offering tenure and resources further sends the message to these Black professors that the University supports them. 

“Black faculty knowing they are supported by the University will incentivize them to come,” Porter said. 

The organizers of the petition don’t expect these demands to solve all racial issues on campus, but they hope they will be steps forward for the university. 

“Departmentalization of AAAS is not a one size fits all solution to legacies of racism and prejudice on Stanford’s campus,” said Loder, who helped draft and coordinate the petition, “but it does ensure that the institutions that directly support students most impacted by these issues are adequately resourced and supported.”

In his late June statement, Tessier-Lavigne outlined the additional steps the University would take to address racial issues on campus, while promising a faculty cluster hire of ten professors “who are leaders in the study of the impact of race in America.” 

Addressing calls for the departmentalization of AAAS at Stanford, Tessier-Lavigne laid out the current plan to “determine the most effective structure for supporting studies of Race and Ethnicity at Stanford” which includes a self-study conducted by the provost and the dean of humanities and sciences.

Porter and others criticize this response, though, as simply another way to “hold off on departmentalizing AAAS for another few years.” 

“As a director of African and African American Studies, and as a historian, I am disappointed that there isn’t more about developing and strengthening and building African American Studies at Stanford,” Allyson Hobbs said in an interview with The Daily following Tessier-Lavigne’s late June email to the community. Hobbs is AAAS director and an American History associate professor.

“I think it’s always good when the University issues a statement about racism, about the importance of creating a more inclusive community, the importance of listening to community members and hearing their concerns and taking steps to change our campus culture,” she added.

Tessier-Lavigne goes on to offer a meeting with “every Black staff member at Stanford who wishes to engage in conversation.” He admits that this segment “has been too often overlooked in institutional change initiatives” among other initiatives the university plans on implementing. 

Porter remains hopeful that eventually the University will address the racial issues she and other students of color have seen on campus but has yet to feel any sense of real urgency from them. 

“I completely understand you’re in the midst of a pandemic,” she said, “but how much longer do we have to wait?”

Contact Joelle Chien at joelle.chien2 ‘at’ gmail.com.

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The view from the top: Recipient of No. 1 Draw spot reflects on Stanford housing https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/26/the-view-from-the-top-recipient-of-no-1-draw-spot-reflects-on-stanford-housing/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/26/the-view-from-the-top-recipient-of-no-1-draw-spot-reflects-on-stanford-housing/#respond Thu, 26 Sep 2019 07:04:44 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1157675 Ashley Song '20, who used her No. 1 spot to draw into Columbae, reflects on the state of the Stanford housing Draw and the treatment of ethnic-themed houses.

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As far as Draw results go, it would be hard to have a better track record than Ashley Song ’20, who received the No. 1 spot last spring in Stanford’s annual housing lottery.

“This is actually the first time I’ve participated,” said Song, who used her first-choice pick to live in Columbae this year. Because she had Tri Delta sorority housing her sophomore year and staffed at Roble her junior year, she had never participated in the Draw before receiving its most coveted prize.

Song cited Columbae’s residents and the wider co-op community as the main reasons she ranked the Lower Row house first. Like other Stanford co-ops, Columbae is run by consensus, with house members involved in its leadership, cooking and gardening. It has an activist community and a vegetarian kitchen.

But even if Columbae was Song’s first choice, it’s not for everyone, she said.

“I think at Stanford there’s this idea of what good housing is: like, maybe, a single on the Row,” she said. But what’s considered “a good room and a good living situation is different for everyone … If you get drawn No. 1, you can pick wherever you want to live first, but at the end of the day, people have different experiences living everywhere and some people really hate living on the Row.”

The wider Stanford community had mixed reactions to the news of Song’s results, which she recalled spreading quickly, even though she initially told only two people. Some who approached her about it were excited, she said, while others were surprised by her choice.

Song recalled being told “You could have lived anywhere; you’re a dumbass,” by Bryan Aldana ’20, her former co-staffer at Roble.

“At the moment it was just funny because it was insane; what were the odds?” Aldana told The Daily. “Now I’m just happy that she gets to live with her best friend across from me and in a home she will love to be in.”

Aldana himself drew into Mars, another house on the Lower Row that is generally considered one of the best housing options on campus. Alongside four other Row houses (Maison Française, Casa Italiana, BOB and Haus Mitteleuropa) and the four-class dorm Norcliffe, Mars was one of the six housing options with the lowest Draw cutoff for men and women this year, according to Residential and Dining Enterprises (R&DE) data. Mars’ cutoff was 770 for men and 428 for women last year, while Columbae’s was 2818 for men and 914 for women.

Despite her enviable Draw result, Song remains critical of the system as a whole.

“I think the Draw really sucks, and it really can be not fair to a lot of people, especially in terms of like what people look for in housing and in terms of … how people find community on campus,” she said.

Based on her experience staffing at Roble, Song suggested that anxiety around housing can contribute to students’ mental health struggles — a problem that has increasingly prompted criticism of Stanford’s campus culture and University-provided mental health resources. Uncertainty around housing creates tension, especially for frosh, she said, making their spring quarters (when the Draw takes place) potentially more stressful than they would be otherwise.

“As an RA, I have to encourage people and tell people that it’s going to be okay and they’ll be fine,” Song said. “But at the end of the day, it does suck to plan for something or expect something and then not be able to fulfill that dream.”

R&DE spokesperson Jocelyn Breeland told The Daily that the Draw system has grown more complex over time in order to allow for pre-assignment, medical accommodation and variations in housing stock on campus. She added that R&DE does not collect data on how many students get their first choice in the Draw. 

Responding to criticisms of the current housing system, R&DE and the office of the Vice Provost of Student Affairs pointed to the recent ResX report representing its study of the issues. The ResX committee, created in the spring of 2018 to propose a redesign of the undergraduate housing experience, met with students, faculty and staff and reviewed peer institutions’ housing programs to propose new housing assignment and allocation structures for Stanford. The major recommendation of the report was to reorganize housing into self-contained communal “neighborhoods” within which students would remain for all four years of undergrad.

Feelings of inequity and “missing out” on housing were listed as key concerns of the ResX commission in its report. The report ultimately recommended retiring the Draw in favor of the neighborhood model to mitigate anxiety and promote community.

Discussing the current system, Song criticized how ethnic theme houses are treated by the University and in the Draw.

“For a lot of them you can use your tier three to get in and [they’re] not in super desirable locations,” she said. “The really sought-out housing is on the Row, and all of the Row theme houses are … European-themed.”

Of Stanford’s ethnic theme houses, three — the Chicanx and Latinx-focused Casa Zapata, the Asian American-focused Okada and the black culture-focused Ujamaa — are in frosh-heavy dorm complexes, while the Native American-focused Muwekma-Tah-Ruk is on the Row. Meanwhile, the European-focused language dorms on campus — Casa Italiana, Maison Française, Haus Mitteleuropa and Slavianskii Dom — are all on the Row. 

Song said she thinks that some proposals made in the ResX report could help address some of these issues.

“From what I’ve seen with this ResX … plan, I think they’re trying to really create senses of belonging without feeling like you’ve just got fucked with housing,” Song said.

She added that the plan, under which theme houses would be integrated into neighborhoods, is a positive step forward.

“I think ResX has an interesting way of equalizing it all,” she said.

The University will release more information relating to ResX in the fall, according to Student Affairs, and will encourage students to continue sharing their thoughts and feelings as implementation of ResX begins.

Contact Toby Frager at tobiasfr ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Senior Spotlight: Sameer Kumar https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/30/senior-spotlight-sameer-kumar/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/30/senior-spotlight-sameer-kumar/#respond Thu, 30 May 2019 07:03:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1155581 This article is part of a running series The Daily sports staff will be publishing on graduating seniors.

Senior Sameer Kumar was a captain on the 2018-2019 Stanford men’s tennis team, which recently concluded its winningest season since 2001. Carrying a 3.92 cumulative grade-point average, the economics major was named Pac-12 Men’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year and helped lead the Cardinal to a No. 12 national ranking.

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This article is part of a running series The Daily sports staff will be publishing on graduating seniors.

Senior Sameer Kumar was a captain on the 2018-2019 Stanford men’s tennis team, which recently finished its 19-7 season in the third round of the NCAA championship. Carrying a 3.92 cumulative grade-point average, the economics major was named Pac-12 Men’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year and helped lead the Cardinal to a No. 12 national ranking. Kumar was 27-12 in dual match and tournament singles play this season, and paired up with sophomore Timothy Sah for the majority of the season in doubles. The Daily’s Shan Reddy sat down with Kumar to talk about his time on and off the court.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): How does it feel that your time as a member of the Stanford tennis team is over?

Sameer Kumar (SK): I’ve been playing tennis since I was five years old, so I’ve been playing for sixteen years now. It’s almost like all of the sudden it’s coming to an end. Obviously I knew it was coming, but it’s still crazy when it hits.

TSD: Any plans with tennis after Stanford, tentative or otherwise?

SK: I may play tennis for fun, but not necessarily competitive tennis. I got a job in finance in New York, so I’ll be moving and working there — long hours for sure — so I’ll see how much time I’ll have for tennis going forward.

TSD: Walk me through your last match here at Taube Family Tennis Center as a Stanford player.

SK: My last match at Stanford was the second round of NCAAs. We played UC San Diego; they were a good team and had just beaten the No. 20 team the day before, so we knew they were playing well and that they’d be a tough team. We were playing a man short — our No. 2 player was injured; it was important that everyone stepped up.

I knew it was going to be my last match at Stanford. Win or lose, I knew it was my last match. I obviously really wanted to win and go out on a good note, but more than that, I wanted to enjoy it — not putting too much pressure on myself. I wanted to keep the energy and have fun with it. The team had a close match, but it was a really good win, and we advanced to the Round of 16.

TSD: You played most of your final season with sophomore Timothy Sah. How important was it for you as a doubles team to build a rapport throughout the year?

SK: I think it’s super important. One thing about doubles is that the more you play with someone, the closer you get and the more you understand one another’s game styles and preferences. And ultimately, the better you get. We had a full year to play alongside one another, building a strategy of how we wanted to play. It changed a lot throughout the year as we started to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses better; we were playing some of our best tennis at the end of the year, which is what you’re always looking for in the postseason.

TSD: What was your favorite moment from your four years playing with Stanford tennis?

SK: That’s tough — we’ve had so many good memories. In general, going on road trips with the team was really fun. Every year from January to May is our dual match season, and when you travel on road trips, your team gets really close.

During my sophomore year, playing in the second round of NCAAs here on court two, we were playing Michigan and I was the clinching match (0-6 in the third). It was actually my first clinching match ever, so that was a really cool moment. I’ll always remember it — the crowd going crazy, me celebrating, the team rushing towards me after the match.

TSD: Most of the starters on the team this year were underclassmen. What’s your outlook on Stanford tennis going forward after you leave?

SK: This year we had a pretty young team. Me and Michael [Geneder] were both seniors, but everyone else will be returning. There were four underclassmen in the starting lineup this year, if I remember correctly — a very young team. Underclassmen from year to year get a lot better. We have some great freshmen coming in next year, too, who can really help us build on our very solid year.

TSD: What was your most memorable moment of the season?

SK: That’s a tough one. We played USC on the road earlier this year. We’d lost the doubles point and were down 3-1 in the overall score with three matches left — we needed all three of them. We won No. 6, making the score 3-2, and then Will [Genesen] and myself had lost first sets in those last two. We both came back and won in three sets, and I was the clinching match.

That was a really great win for myself and a great win for the team, beating a top-five opponent on the road. That really showed us and proved to the rest of the country that we were definitely one of the best teams in the college tennis. We were able to use that momentum really well over the next few months and had some great results from the confidence we got in that match.

TSD: What was it like being the captain in your final season here? Did being captain change anything about your play style?

SK: I’ve always tried to bring the energy and support my teammates and have tried to do that whether I’m captain or not. In my freshman year, we had great leadership on the team who I learned a lot from on the court — how to be a good teammate, leader and player. I learned a lot from the captain that year and tried to apply those leadership skills this year. It was a really good experience — you often have to make tough decisions and have tough conversations — but those things help the team in the long run.

TSD: Many teams at Stanford have had a lot of coaching turnover over the past few years. How important has Stanford men’s tennis’ consistency in leadership been for you as a player?

SK: That’s been really important, not only for my development but for the team’s as well. Switching coaches midway through your career can be tough, but I’ve had a coach that I’ve built a relationship since my senior year of high school when he was recruiting me. We kept that relationship very consistent. Coach Goldstein and Coach Coupe have been so instrumental in my development on the court, learning different tactics and strategy and also as a leader and teammate off the court.

We were lucky enough in my sophomore year to have Francis — Coach Sargent — as a volunteer assistant coach. He’s been awesome and a really great addition to our coaching staff. It’s been great having those three coaches for the past three years.

TSD: Who’s your favorite pro player?

SK: Growing up, Roger Federer was my favorite player. I can’t really say I model my game after his; I don’t really play anything like him, but it’s tough not to like him. He’s so majestic and graceful on the court, so classy, such an easy guy to root for. Another thing that sticks out for me is his passion for the game and how much he loves tennis. Even when he loses, he talks constantly about the sport. That mentality is something I’ve adopted over the past year or two, especially as my time here is coming to an end — enjoying the game, not putting too much pressure on myself. I think that has really helped me play better. I also really respect players like David Ferrer or Rafael Nadal; I’ve tried to adopt their energy and competitive spirit and fight into my matches.

TSD: How did you handle the transition into the Stanford student athlete role after high school?

SK: Playing tennis from such a young age really taught me a lot of the important skills because I had to do the same thing in middle school and high school. I had to balance my time between my first priority, which is my schoolwork, and my second priority, which was my tennis practice. This often meant practicing really early before school or getting my homework done early, so I had time to train. It meant a lot of sacrifice in time with friends or social events.

The balance has taught me to manage my time well and develop a really strong work ethic and to make sacrifices for the things I love and the things I want to be good at. I think I carried those skills with me well at Stanford. One thing about Stanford that has been really helpful is that there are a lot of resources to help you, whether it’s tutoring or office hours or talking to professors who are really helpful and understand that you may have to miss class. I’ve really learned to ask, to seek out for help when I need it and to take advantage of all of the opportunities available. Because of that, I’ve been able to manage my school priorities with my tennis ones as well.

TSD: Tennis is such an individual sport. How do you find balance between maintaining the team’s high energy and morale and staying focused and calm in your own individual battle on the court?

SK: It’s a really interesting dynamic, that transition from junior tennis, which is all focused on yourself, to college tennis, where the number-one focus is the success of the team. For me, I liked playing junior tennis and winning and losing on my own accord, not feeling like I could blame anyone else for my wins and losses. When I came to college, I had so much fun with the team experience; it was so much fun learning that you could do more to support your team than just winning or losing. You need to be a good team player, which is such an important skill for life.

That team atmosphere was so much fun. Cheering on my teammates was one of my favorite things I’ll remember about Stanford tennis. Being so close with your teammates, you develop a really strong bond with them. My teammates from the past four years will be some of the closest I’ll have in life. I definitely look back more fondly on my last four years in Stanford tennis than on my previous 10 years in junior tennis.

TSD: Who’s your pick for captain next year?

SK: Coach has most of the say in it, but sometimes teammates will appoint captains at the start of the season. We don’t know for sure yet, but this year, Will Genesen did a really great job of helping me out in leading the team, not just on the court — he had a great year there too — but also off it. I think he’s definitely a frontrunner. Jack Barber will also be a fifth-year senior next year, so he’ll have a lot of experience playing and helping the team out; he’s definitely in contention.

Contact Shan Reddy at rsreddy ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Senate discusses committee reform https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/15/senate-discusses-committee-reform/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/15/senate-discusses-committee-reform/#respond Wed, 15 May 2019 07:01:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1154930 The bulk of the third meeting of the 21st Undergraduate Senate was spent discussing a bill that would reform the current standing committee system of the Senate, which organizes senators into specific committees focused on various issues. The meeting itself was kicked off with a half-hour closed meeting between senators and Financial Manager LoMo Phillips […]

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The bulk of the third meeting of the 21st Undergraduate Senate was spent discussing a bill that would reform the current standing committee system of the Senate, which organizes senators into specific committees focused on various issues. The meeting itself was kicked off with a half-hour closed meeting between senators and Financial Manager LoMo Phillips ’17. Additionally, a new bill to confirm a new Elections Commissioner was introduced.

Notably, the meeting was also extremely low in attendance. There were four excused absences, one unexcused absence and one late arrival, according to the official Senate roll call sheet. The 21st Undergraduate Senate has yet to have a fully attended meeting and some senators have missed a majority of meetings thus far.

Standing committee reform

In a continuation of last week’s debate, the Senate continued to discuss a bill to reform senate standing committees. Among other changes, the bill would abolish the Academic Affairs, Advocacy and Student Life committees and would make each Communications committee member responsible for holding weekly office hours.

Senator Micheal Brown ’22 was the first to speak up.

“One of my main issues was that we’re getting rid of all of these committees and we have no alternative for how we’re going to do anything,” Brown said. “But I understand that the project teams exist but … the language in this bill about what they are is so vague.”

Brown continued by asking a slew of specific questions about the proposed new ASSU project teams regarding their powers and membership which weren’t answered in the bill.

“I feel this bill is kind of symbolic in nature, it doesn’t do much,” Brown continued, arguing that the bill’s vagueness and its lack of a mandate for senators to participate in the new teams were weaknesses.

As a counter to Brown’s point, Senator Tim Vrakas ’21 noted that the current system hasn’t worked very well in the past.

“I think part of the assumption that you are right to make but that isn’t necessary true is that the system that’s written the bylaws now has worked in the past,” Vrakas said. “And I think that part of where this is coming from is that it really hasn’t.”

“I don’t know if we’re losing a whole lot in terms of functional system [by passing the bill],” he continued.

The debate continued with Senator Kobe Hopkins ’22 speaking up in favor of Brown’s point that the bill was too vague. Senate Mustafa Khan ’22 was more intent on “find[ing] the middle ground.”

“I’m speaking as someone who inherently agrees with the purpose of this bill, the workings of this bill,” he said. “I do believe that there is room for further fleshing out so we don’t go from one flawed system to another flawed system … While I have to agree on the direction that this bill is moving in I would definitely think that it’s necessary to propose a couple of amendments to define things like membership … accountability [and] timelines on which these committees might operate.”

The debate closed with an awkward motion to vote and, ultimately, the bill was tabled until next meeting.

Bill to confirm new elections commissioner

After a quick break for refreshments, the Senate began to discuss a new bill, introduced by 2018-19 Elections Commissioner, Jacob Randolph ’19. The bill is a routine measure that officially names the new Elections Commissioner after an application and vetting process. The 2019-20 Elections Commissioner will be Christian Giadolor ’21.

Giadolor introduced himself and said that turnout and engagement in on-campus elections would be his main focus during his term. He answered a few questions from senators regarding his personal views on various electoral systems and closed the meeting by providing senators with his phone number and email address should they have any more questions.

The bill to name him as commissioner will be voted on at next week’s meeting.

Watch the Undergraduate Senate meetings live through Tree-Span on The Stanford Daily’s Facebook page.

Contact Zora Ilunga Reed at zora814 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Senior Spotlight: Tami Alade https://stanforddaily.com/2019/04/17/senior-spotlight-tami-alade/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/04/17/senior-spotlight-tami-alade/#respond Wed, 17 Apr 2019 07:03:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1152845 Transforming from a bench player to one of Stanford’s most valued starters, senior middle blocker Tami Alade had a major role in ushering in one of the most dominant periods of Stanford women’s volleyball.

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This article is part of a running series The Daily sports staff will be publishing on graduating seniors.

Transforming from a bench player to one of Stanford’s most valued starters, senior middle blocker Tami Alade had a major role in ushering in one of the most dominant periods of Stanford women’s volleyball. Alade is a member of two NCAA championship teams (2016, 2018), and she was named to multiple All-America teams her senior season. A wall at the net, Alade holds multiple school blocking records including second most in a game (15) and a season (200). Her blocks per set in a season (1.87) is the highest in school history and the second highest ever recorded in the NCAA. She also holds the third-highest career hitting percentage (.399) in school history. The Daily’s James Hemker sat down with Alade to reflect on her time, both on and off the court, at Stanford.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): How did you get introduced into volleyball, and what made you decide to pursue it?

Tami Alade (TA): So I played a bunch of sports when I was younger. My family wanted to make sure we had that sort of structure in our lives, so I remember being into track and field, and soccer and a little bit of basketball just because I was so tall. I was actually pursuing soccer at a competitive club level. When I got to high school, I didn’t think I could keep doing everything that I was doing, so I quit club sports and I just played in school.

I didn’t start club volleyball until junior year, which is super late, especially if you are trying to play in college. Before I knew it, I was getting offers from different schools. Playing in college had never been something that I considered, but it offered a chance to go to a really good school. I remember going to a specific tournament, and the guy in charge of the tournament called me the day after it ended. He asked where I would go if I could choose, and I was like, “You know Stanford might be pretty nice.” The next day I got an email from the assistant coach here.

As far as why volleyball specifically, it’s one of those sports where everyone has to contribute, and I’m very much a people person. I love getting to know people at a deeper level, and volleyball is just the sport for that. I loved it when it started, and I love it even more now.

TSD: Sitting here now and looking back to those moments does it feel like a blur?

TA: There are definitely moments that stick out and [that] I’ll remember for the rest of my life, but they aren’t kidding when they say that things go quickly. I remember coming in as a freshman and I was so nervous for my first practice that I just didn’t wear socks. I went through the whole practice and didn’t realize until someone told me afterwards. From that to then winning a second national championship in December — there are moments in between, but start to finish it’s been pretty crazy.

TSD: You’ve had a pretty remarkable evolution from a bench player to a big time starter. In your first two years you played 39 sets, and the last two years you played in 226 sets. What was that transformation like?

TA: Coming in, I understood that first, I wasn’t as technically sound as other players since I started late. And second, Stanford recruits the best players in the world. We were playing with superstars and All-Americans, and I was like, “There’s no way that I could even touch the court.” So I definitely had a belief system where I just wanted to contribute as a practice player as much as I could. I felt that I simply didn’t add enough on the court to warrant being in a game.

I rode that wave for a while, but then our new coach Kevin Hambly came in, and we reached a point in our season where we would need someone to step up. There had to be a huge attitude shift from me, and Kevin sat me down and said that I needed to be more competitive and he needed me to have a different mentality about what I could do for this team. I’ve had people believe in me, but he was the first where it really hit that I could be something more than I thought.

For that preseason and the first half of junior year, it was all about working on that attitude shift and believing that there was something more for me to contribute. There was a role that needed to be filled and I was forced to step up, and Kevin really encouraged me to step into that role.

TSD: What are some of your high points and what other favorite moments have you had?

TA: Definitely the championships are moments where there are really no words to describe them, but there are also so many small moments that happen on the day to day that I really appreciate. This senior year, I wanted to remember it forever, so I made a list of different moments that really made me happy. When I looked back on it, it was filled with the smallest things from sharing inside jokes to being in the locker room with my teammates.

One game that will stick with me forever was when we played against Wisconsin in the Elite Eight during my sophomore year. We came in as the underdogs. We had had a rough season, and no one expected us to go as far as we did. We were down in sets, 2-0, and it was in front of one of the rowdiest crowds I’ve ever played in front of. It was not looking good heading into the locker room. Our senior leader Inky Ajanaku took over that locker room and really inspired us to come out and win those three sets. It showed us that we did in fact have what it takes, and it was a very tangible moment about the power of mindset.

TSD: Was it different winning the second title compared to the first one?

TA: It was in the sense that in sophomore year, we all had that underdog mentality, and we just weren’t doing great until suddenly we were. Now this past year we were just dominant throughout, and while we did have to strive to play our best, there was more comfort. We were more sure of ourselves, and we had played together more. That chemistry that was there.

TSD: What were some challenges that you had to face both on and off the court?

TA: You have a lot on your plate, even as a normal student, which I am now finding out since I don’t have to go to practice 20 hours a week anymore. I’ve found that I am just as busy as I was before. It’s a challenge knowing that you are going to miss out on some opportunities that other students will have. They don’t have practice when a really cool speaker is coming, or they do get to go on their dorm’s snow trip.

I think freshman year is especially tough because you’re never in your dorm, and you often miss out on those friend groups that are made in first quarter just because you gotta go to volleyball practice.

But at the same time, volleyball has provided me with so many opportunities. We got to go to Europe this past summer, and I got to go to four different countries that I would have never been to otherwise. Its opened so many doors for me, but it is a bit of a double-edged sword since you miss out on some of the many resources and opportunities that Stanford has.

TSD: I know athletes don’t like to talk about themselves, but if you were to try and take a serious look at yourself, what do you think made yourself stand out among other middles that have come through here?

TA: To be honest, I really don’t know, I wish I could tell you. I guess I have had incredible coaches that have invested a bunch of time in me, but I’m sure they’ve done that in other players too. I don’t think I could pinpoint one thing, but maybe it goes back to the mindset. Especially in terms of blocking, I believe that every ball I go up for should be a block, and just striving for excellence, [laughing] and … I don’t know.

TSD: Do you have any game-day superstitions?

TA: [laughing] Oh god, yeah that’s my favorite part of volleyball. Part of the superstition was that I actually couldn’t talk about it, but I’ll go through them. Our socks say “left” and “right” on them, and I would have to look at the left sock before I looked at the right sock, and then I would need to put the left one on before the right one. I did the same thing with my contacts since I have two different strength contacts. I had to see the 2.25 first before I saw the 1.75 one, and then put them in in that order.

I would delete Snapchat since I didn’t want that distraction all day. I would have to listen to a certain playlist and hear a certain song at the right time. During the national anthem, I couldn’t look at the singer until they finished singing. I couldn’t step on the court when we were getting announced before a certain point.

While we were shaking hands before the match, I would say good luck but I wouldn’t look anyone in the eyes. After the game when we would go into a circle, I would have to clap a certain amount of times. [laughing] I couldn’t eat a bagel on the day of the game. There were a bunch of others, and I realize it doesn’t make sense and it’s irrational, but it’s really not.

TSD: In your final quarter as a Stanford undergraduate, do you have an bucket list items that you want to make sure get done now that you no longer have athletic obligations?

TA: I had never ridden the Marguerite, and I finally did that, which was a big deal. I’ve never done Bay to Breakers, so I really want to do that before I graduate. I had never walked the Dish, and I did that the other day, which was really nice. I don’t like walking, but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I really want to do a big weekend trip to Big Sur or Yosemite. I’ve also never been fountain hopping, so I want to do that as well. Those are the big ones.

TSD: Do you have a favorite place on campus that you’ll miss?

TA: I’ll miss the locker room. As weird as it sounds, it’s such a central spot in my life. I’ve had naps there. I’ve had sleepovers with teammates there because they were up until 3 a.m. studying CS. It has food. It has like half my closet there. I know it will always be available to me, and it has everything I need. For a more normal spot, I really like the McMurtry Library. It is so beautiful and just a gorgeous building.

TSD: What are your plans for the future? Do you have anything set yet?

TA: [laughing] Oh that’s everyone’s favorite question for a senior. It’s still TBD. I know I eventually want to go to medical school, so that is very much a fixed part of the plan. I know I really like kids so I say pediatrics, but people go into medical school with set ideas until they do rotations and then everything changes. I want to do a couple of gap years to explore and figure myself out a bit more. I got into a coterm here, so that is also an option, but I think I still need a break from school, so I might defer that for a year and do some community health work.

Contact James Hemker at jahemker ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Beyond mainstream: The state of news in East Palo Alto https://stanforddaily.com/2019/04/05/beyond-mainstream-the-state-of-news-in-east-palo-alto/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/04/05/beyond-mainstream-the-state-of-news-in-east-palo-alto/#respond Fri, 05 Apr 2019 07:01:56 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1151954 When a particular place or community seems to wind up repeatedly in the news for less-than-flattering reasons, the question remains: why do these narratives prevail? Where does that negative image come from, and who’s doing the painting?

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Editor’s note: The following article is authored by Claire Thompson ’16 M.A. ’19 for her class, Exploring Computational Journalism. She teamed up with three others — Heidi Chen ’20, Starr Jiang ’20, and Akilah Johnson, a John S. Knight journalism fellow — to tackle the question of diversifying sources in mainstream news coverage.

About three miles from Stanford’s campus, just across the 101, the city of East Palo Alto (EPA) has been called many things. In the 90s, it earned the title “murder capital of the U.S.” and in the late 2010s, it was designated as the last bastion of affordable housing in Silicon Valley. Now with a Four Seasons Hotel and multi-million dollar homes, even affordability is in question.

The prevailing narrative of East Palo Alto in the popular press has been one of crime, unemployment, a failing school system and drugs. Following the tech boom ushered in by Silicon Valley, that list grew to include displacement and gentrification. When a particular place or community seems to wind up repeatedly in the news for less-than-flattering reasons, the question remains: Why do these narratives prevail? Where does that negative image come from, and who’s doing the painting?

We tend to hear from a familiar cast of characters in mainstream news: elected officials, company heads and “influencers.” But if powerful and highly visible people are the only voices we hear, does that become a problem? If journalists only interview a certain subset of sources to represent a community, readers may miss out on the nuance and understanding that other, less visible members of the community might have to offer.  

A scan of the Bay Area’s primary news outlets — The San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News — yields very little coverage of East Palo Alto. Searching for “East Palo Alto” turned up articles several months or even years old, most of which fit into the prevailing narrative: “Year-long probe leads to massive East Palo Alto gang bust,” “East Palo Alto woman arrested in Bay Area bank robberies,” “Breaking promises in East Palo Alto.”

A search for “East Palo Alto” on SF Chronicle’s website yields only 3,396 results (as of March 1, 2019), while “Palo Alto” yields 35,453 results. “Mountain View”: 17,945 results; “Menlo Park”: 14,137.

East Palo Alto does have a local newspaper of its own — East Palo Alto Today — but its reporting is held back by a lack of funding, according to founder, publisher and Editor in Chief Henrietta Burroughs.

In fact, Burroughs said that funding has been an issue for the newspaper since its inception. Burroughs started the East Palo Alto Center for Community Media in 2003, and the newspaper, EPA Today, in 2006. Prior to that, East Palo Alto hadn’t had a regularly published local paper in over two decades.

“This was something that the residents said they really wanted,” Burroughs said.

The paper uses a nonprofit model, so revenue can come in from grants as well as advertising. All the content is freely available without paywalls. However, the grants, advertising dollars and donations that the paper does receive are spread thin. Burroughs recalled that when the center was first getting off the ground, she applied unsuccessfully for several grants to kickstart the newspaper.

“I thought that if we waited for the money we’d never launch the paper,” she said. “So I launched it anyway.”

The paper is currently published about every two months in print and online, but Burroughs said her goal has always been to publish more frequently — biweekly or even weekly. The paper has never had the budget to hire staff, so Burroughs works with a handful of unpaid contributors to report and write stories about East Palo Alto. Thanks to community grants, she is also able to hire summer interns.

Mark Dinan, an East Palo Alto homeowner since 2009, came up with one solution to the problem of the lack of diversity in news coverage for EPA.

“How can they only be interviewing people from one side of the spectrum in EPA?” Dinan said in response to the city’s representation in mainstream news.

In 2017, Dinan started a closed Facebook group where residents and members of the extended EPA community could share updates, request info and connect with one another. The group currently has over 2,500 members and is still growing. One resident we spoke to even went so far as to call this group “life-changing,” and said it was her main source of local news these days.

Dinan and his wife also started East Palo Alto Sun, a Facebook page that aggregates articles relevant to East Palo Alto via Google News alerts pulling stories from various outlets, like Palo Alto Online and the Palo Alto Daily Post. Dinan makes a point of reposting important stories in other community groups as well.

Dinan pointed out that one of the benefits of robust news coverage is the watchdog function it serves. Calling out symptoms of a problem isn’t always helpful, but real change can come from the news when it exposes institutional breakdown, high-level corruption or other hidden issues, he said. He’d like to see more of this type of coverage in EPA.

However, those stories tend to be costly. To serve as watchdogs, news outlets need substantial resources to devote to investigations and original reporting. For some local newspapers, that’s a tall order.

“It’s interesting,” Burroughs said, “while the community really needs a newspaper, and expectations are very high for a newspaper, the funding isn’t there.”

Still, Burroughs noted that news shouldn’t be all negative. According to her, one of EPA Today’s strengths, if not comprehensiveness, is the manner in which it covers local issues. The stories in EPA Today give more focus to all of the positive things going on in the community, Burroughs said, compared to other outlets that may focus on covering the negative characterizations of East Palo Alto.

Perhaps most importantly, Burroughs stressed that EPA Today strives to represent voices from the community as fairly and accurately as possible.

“I’ve had people in the community come to me and complain about how they were treated in other media,” she said. “There were always stories running about negative things in the community that they thought were not fair.”

Regina Wallace-Jones, the recently elected vice mayor of East Palo Alto, echoed this sentiment. According to her, few stories in the mainstream press reflect the nuances of life when told about East Palo Alto. This was one reason why East Palo Alto Today was created, she said. But the shortage of resources there means that stories go untold.  

As our project for the computational journalism class progressed, we wound up creating a crowd-sourced database of local sources who can speak on various issues in East Palo Alto. The database is built from the recommendations of EPA community members, via a survey and “shoe-leather reporting” (an old-fashioned approach, with boots on the ground rather than under a desk) that we conducted. We are hopeful it will continue to grow into an easy-to-use resource that will allow reporters connect with sources outside the usual, most visible suspects.

East Palo Alto is a small, mixed-income, racially diverse city with an interesting history, grappling with many of the same ups and downs that other cities throughout the Bay Area now face. The arrival of tech companies leads to greater economic opportunity for some, and increasing housing prices for all.

Yet, tech also means new ways to connect with one another. Waves of new residents may lead to racial tensions and class conflict, but also opportunities for dialogue and growth. The saying goes that there are two sides to every story — but community members like Burroughs and Dinan are trying to show that there are actually many, many more.

This article has been corrected to reflect Starr Jiang’s correct class year. The Daily regrets this error.


Contact Claire Thompson at clairet ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Male graduate student found dead in engineering building https://stanforddaily.com/2019/02/11/male-graduate-student-found-dead-in-engineering-building/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/02/11/male-graduate-student-found-dead-in-engineering-building/#respond Tue, 12 Feb 2019 04:23:40 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1149517 A male graduate student and researcher was found dead in an Engineering Quad laboratory on Monday morning.

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Editor’s Note: This story contains references to suicide that may be troubling to some readers.

A male engineering graduate student and researcher was found dead in an Engineering Quad laboratory building on Monday morning.

The student died in the Paul G. Allen building. The building and next-door annex were closed this morning in response to discovery of the body, multiple sources confirmed. Five police cars arrived at the scene at approximately 10:00 a.m., according to a laboratory colleague who saw authorities investigating the deceased’s belongings.

There are no outstanding safety concerns pertaining to Stanford at this time, according to a statement issued to the engineering community by School of Engineering Dean Jennifer Widom.

The student’s family had not been notified as of Monday evening, according to the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner’s office. The Daily is withholding the identity of the individual, confirmed by a close colleague, for this reason.

The Santa Clara Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to confirm the cause of death, said Stanford Public Safety spokesperson Bill Larson. The death is believed to be a suicide, according to multiple people who work in the laboratory and who are familiar with Monday’s events.

A graduate student familiar with the situation said that on Saturday, the deceased individual did not appear at a prior commitment he had made with a colleague.

It is unclear where in the laboratory the death occurred.

This story has been updated as new information and perspectives have come to light. This article has also been corrected to reflect that the death did not occur in the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility. The Daily regrets this error.

If you have thoughts of suicide or are concerned about the well-being of another, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or Stanford’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at (650) 498-2336.

Contact Courtney Douglas at ccdouglas ‘at’ stanford.edu, Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at stanford.edu, Erin Woo at erinkwoo ‘at’ stanford.edu and Holden Foreman at hs4man21 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s volleyball upsets No. 2-ranked Irvine https://stanforddaily.com/2019/01/18/mens-volleyball-upsets-no-2-ranked-irvine/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/01/18/mens-volleyball-upsets-no-2-ranked-irvine/#respond Fri, 18 Jan 2019 08:17:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1148422 In an upset for the ages and the unquestioned game of the season thus far, No. 9 Stanford men’s volleyball (5-0) took down the second-ranked UC Irvine (5-1) in four sets. This victory marks the third consecutive ranked win for the team, and the Stanford Revenge Tour rolls onward.

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In an upset for the ages and the unquestioned game of the season thus far, No. 9 Stanford men’s volleyball (5-0) took down the second-ranked UC Irvine (5-1) in four sets. This victory marks the third consecutive ranked win for the team, and the Stanford Revenge Tour rolls onward.

Senior outside hitter Jordan Ewert provided the bulk of the offense with a match-high and season-high 20 kills. Sophomore opposite Jaylen Jasper added 17 kills of his own. Steady junior setter Paul Bischoff produced another season-high 52 assists, allowing the team to hit at a .342 clip.

Ewert said, “We passed really well. We have Jaylen on the backside, and every team is afraid of him. That opens me up a little bit more. Once I got hot it was too late for their blockers, who were still keying on Jaylen.”

Despite coming into the match with some nerves, the Cardinal immediately jumped out to a big lead in the first set. Jasper connected on back-to-back kills to make the score 5-2. The lead then grew to five at 11-6, but the Anteaters were relentless, tying the game at 14 apiece.

UC Irvine finally claimed its first lead of the night after a Stanford hitting error, making the game 15-16. Irvine then pushed their lead to 16-19. A critical timeout allowed the Cardinal to find their footing, and the score narrowed back to 21-21.

The tension in Maples mounted as the two juggernauts traded points up up to 25. A sign of things to come, Ewert smashed home a kill to give Stanford the set 27-25.

The second set did not fare well for the Cardinal as the Anteaters showed why they were ranked No. 2. Head coach John Kosty said, “The second set was a reminder that they are a really good team. And we have to continually play at a high level or they are going to beat us. It gave us an opportunity to step back up.”

The score spiraled out to 3-8 in the blink of an eye. The five-point lead proved to be too much for the Cardinal even after the lead shrank to 3 (14-17) after a lucky ricochet off the Maples’ jumbotron.

The Cardinal timeout called at 14-20 proved to be too late and the set ended eight serves later, 17-25.

The Irvine big men found momentum and cast a huge shadow. The Stanford offense was limited to hitting just .071 in that second frame. Poor service line performance also plagued the Cardinal who nabbed only one ace through the first two sets.

On playing against a tall team like UC Irvine, coach Kosty said, “The biggest thing is not to go right at the big guys. We needed to spread them out and make them move. We did that well, not great, but well tonight.”

Despite the momentum against them, the Stanford men showcased their resilience in the third set. Bischoff snuck a dump-off between the Anteaters’ big men to grab an early 5-3 lead.

Neither team could gain an advantage while the score rose, tied at 12. UC Irvine then found their stride in a 1-4 rotation to claim a 16-20 lead, which forced a Stanford timeout. Senior leader and libero Kyle Dagostino rallied his troops and the team returned to the floor with a renewed vigor.

After nearly every point, the fifth-year libero would yell out “Next ball, next ball!” Dagostino elaborated, “It’s big for this group. We have a tendency to hold onto errors and mistakes and let our frustrations get the better of us. But if we keep thinking about the next play instead, we showed we can play with anyone in the country.”

From that point on, the game became the Jordan Ewert Show. Ewert terminated two kills in four plays to pull the Cardinal within a single point, 20-21. A massive ace by Jasper was sandwiched by two more Ewert kills, giving Stanford a set point which seemed improbable even 20 minutes earlier.

Sophomore middle blocker Kyler Presho found the floor for the set-winning kill. For Presho, that was not just any set-winning kill; that was a set-winning kill against a team whose assistant coach is his own father, Mark Presho.

Earlier in the week, Kyler said, “My dad is a competitive guy, and he raised me to be competitive, so I always want to beat him anytime I have the chance to play against him. It’s a match I’m going to prepare for really well.”

The fourth set had an air of urgency for both teams. Irvine needed to win this set for obvious reasons, while Stanford desperately wanted to avoid the tie-breaker fifth set.

The urgency manifested in a very tight opening. The teams stayed neck and neck to 8-8 until Ewert’s kill provided the singular lead change of the set. An ace by junior outside hitter Eric Beatty sent the crowd into a frenzy as the lead grew to 10-8.

Besides his two service aces, Beatty paced all players on the floor with nine total digs. Dagostino and Bischoff each contributed seven. In addition to his offensive impact, Jasper had a large presence on the other side of the net with six digs and a team-leading five blocks.

Irvine tried to threaten Stanford with a 3-0 run, but Ewert killed their momentum with an ace that just caught the top of the net. A Beatty kill then extended the Cardinal lead 19-15.

Never to be counted out, the Anteaters threatened to steal back the lead with an impressive 2-6 run, tying the game at 21 a piece.

The excitement and tension in Maples skyrocketed while Ewert and Jasper created kills as often as the Anteaters blocked them. Presho then terminated a kill to give Stanford its first match point, 24-23.

The Cardinal could not shake Irvine while the scored climbed back to 25-25, mirroring the very first set. Finally, a long rally ended when Jasper and junior middle blocker Stephen Moye roofed the Irvine attack for the match point.

The crowd erupted, the bench stormed the hardwood, and the Stanford men on the court collapsed to their knees. Last night was proof that this team can truly play with anyone.

After the match, an ecstatic Dagostino remarked, “This was really the first performance we had where we could show what we can do as a team. I think this was the best win we have had in a few years as a group. If you look at the stats, everyone contributed across the board.”

The team will now rest, look back at the film, and gear up for round two against UC Irvine on Saturday night at 7 p.m. PST in Maples.

 

 

Contact James Hemker at jahemker ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

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Panel explores K-pop stardom in a globalized world https://stanforddaily.com/2018/11/05/panel-explores-k-pop-stardom-in-a-globalized-world/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/11/05/panel-explores-k-pop-stardom-in-a-globalized-world/#respond Mon, 05 Nov 2018 09:05:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1146226 On Friday, Siwon Choi — member of Korean boy band Super Junior — and SM Entertainment USA director and music producer Dominique Rodriguez spoke about the global reach of Korean pop culture.

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On Friday, Siwon Choi — a member of Korean boy band Super Junior — and SM Entertainment USA director and music producer Dominique Rodriguez spoke about the global reach of Korean pop music (K-pop) in a panel exploring the modern role of K-pop stars and the K-pop industry.

The panel, sponsored by the Freeman Spogli Institute’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) Korea Program and humanities research support institution Foundation Academia Platonica, was part of a two-day conference on the challenges and future of Korean studies in America.

Siwon traced the path he followed to K-pop stardom, recalling how the Super Junior single “Sorry Sorry” first made the group famous in Asia and beyond. Simultaneously, he acknowledged that many who pursue similar dreams do not find similar success. Nonetheless, he said he is honored to be working in the industry.

“K-pop has become such a global movement now… We can write a new history that was never possible before,” Choi said. “I love this responsibility and [the] honor that comes with it.”

When asked what message he would like to send to those who view him as a role model, Choi emphasized the importance of being a positive force of change for others.

“I hope my work inspires people to speak and to stand up together to make change,” Choi said. “Big or small, it doesn’t matter.”

Choi was also asked about whether he believes artists should publicly take political stances. Answering in Korean, Choi said he believes that popular artists should maintain a safe distance between themselves and politics, adding that artists should generally speak conservatively and avoid making hasty statements. However, he acknowledged that artists will often take greater action if something strongly conflicts with their personal convictions.

Rodriguez said that the international spread of K-pop is only beginning, citing the rising popularity of SM Entertainment artists in America, as with the Billboard debut of the boy band NCT and a recent collaboration between Wendy (a member of the girl group Red Velvet) and John Legend. Rodriguez added that he believes Korean pop culture is no longer confined within Korea but is now a global phenomenon.

“You can call it K-pop, but I call it pop culture, because it’s the world we live in,”  Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez also spoke about SM Entertainment’s model of “culture technology,” a production system involving an ordered process of casting, training, producing and marketing. Unlike in the American entertainment industry, he said, Korean talents are scouted and trained from a very young age, and management and labeling is housed under a single company. Rodriguez added that he believes Korea’s system helps artists see their ideas realized in their work.

“[The Korean system] is a huge benefit to the artist,” he said. “The company and the management are always on the same page with what the vision of the artist is for the future.”

However, the K-pop industry has been criticized in the past for being overly strict with its artists. Members of the audience asked Choi and Rodriguez about whether they feel Korean artists have sufficient say over their own careers.

Choi responded, in Korean, that it is a common misconception that the Korean system exploits its artists financially. He told the audience that each artist’s voice is properly heard with regard to issues such as contract periods and reimbursements.

Rodriguez also discussed SM Entertainment’s marketing strategy. After analyzing the demographics of the global market, the company creates a digital “heat map” to identify areas where people will potentially be more receptive to K-pop.

“It’s not a blind-sighted effort; we really know who we’re trying to get the message to,” Rodriguez said. “The approach today is to take all of that information and say, ‘How can we target [customers] digitally and then get them to go to a place where they’re then talking about it offline?’”

Rodriguez said that, despite relatively unreceptive Western markets in the early 2000s, Korean pop culture is now finding new markets due to the globalization of music and entertainment. For instance, Choi and Rodriguez discussed the expansion of Super Junior into Latin America, including recent collaborations with Latin American artists such as Leslie Grace.

“People in [Latin American] markets discovered the sound of K-pop and, more specifically, discovered Super Junior,” Rodriguez said. “When that type of discovery takes place, it’s up to not only the company but a duty [of] the group to go into those markets and embrace the fans who have embraced them.”

Panel members suggested that the growing influence of Korean pop culture could be a key stimulator of Korean studies in America and the rest of the West.

“I challenge my students to consider… what it means not just to monetize culture but to design culture with specific markets and audience in mind,” said East Asian languages and cultures assistant professor Dafna Zur. “There’s no question that this [thoughtful marketing of culture] is a powerful force that other countries would love to have.”

Rachel Sun M.A. ’17 said her interest in examining Korean pop culture through a scholarly lens led her to attend Friday’s event.

“I’m just curious about how [as] an idol, a pop star, how different [Choi] can be in an academic setting and in an entertainment industry setting,” said Sun.

Super Junior fan club member Liu Cao flew in from Ottawa, Canada to attend Choi’s talk. She said she hopes K-pop and Korean culture will achieve greater popularity in North America.

“I’m really interested in Korean culture,” Cao said. “It would be really cool if we can introduce [it] in North America.”

East Asian studies major Megan Faircloth ’21 said that panels during the language education and social science portions of the conference helped her better understand her own field of study.

“When I got to college, I started taking classes that [were] more in-depth about Korean history and culture and found out that I was really interested in it,” Faircloth said. “[The panels] gave me so much more to think about and contextualize my education and my potential future in academia and East Asian studies.”

 

Contact Emily Wan at emilywan ‘at’ stanford.edu and Sean Chen at kxsean ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Female reports forceful rape on Stanford’s campus https://stanforddaily.com/2018/08/21/female-reports-forceful-rape-on-campus/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/08/21/female-reports-forceful-rape-on-campus/#respond Tue, 21 Aug 2018 08:05:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1143462 A woman reported that she was raped on Stanford’s campus, according to an AlertSU report released early Tuesday morning.

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A woman reported that she was raped on Stanford’s campus, according to an AlertSU report released early Tuesday morning.

She said that physical force was involved in the assault, which authorities believe occurred on Sunday night or Monday morning. 

Stanford Hospital notified Stanford’s Department of Public Safety of the incident, according to University spokesperson E.J. Miranda. Stanford Hospital is required to report incidents of this sort to law enforcement.

“There is limited information regarding the reported assault as the victim has chosen to remain anonymous and has not provided a statement,” Miranda wrote in a statement to The Daily on Tuesday afternoon.

Public Safety does not presently have further information about the assault, according to the AlertSU report. Authorities encourage those with knowledge of the incident to contact Public Safety officials at 650.329.2413.

The Clery Act-compliant crime notification encouraged community members who are or who know survivors of sexual assault to consider resources — ranging from confidential support to medical care to help filing a Title IX report — made available by the University.

 

This article has been updated with comment from University spokesperson E.J. Miranda. 

Contact Courtney Douglas at ccdouglas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

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High school program participants reflect on the value of Stanford’s summer programming https://stanforddaily.com/2018/08/19/high-school-program-participants-reflect-on-the-value-of-stanfords-summer-programming/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/08/19/high-school-program-participants-reflect-on-the-value-of-stanfords-summer-programming/#respond Sun, 19 Aug 2018 23:54:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1143074 On Jun. 25, high schoolers from around the world arrived at Stanford to participate in the Pre-Collegiate Institutes and the High School Summer College (HSSC), both of which offer students the opportunity to live out the on-campus experience during the summer.   The HSSC runs through the summer quarter and allows high schoolers to choose […]

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On Jun. 25, high schoolers from around the world arrived at Stanford to participate in the Pre-Collegiate Institutes and the High School Summer College (HSSC), both of which offer students the opportunity to live out the on-campus experience during the summer.  

The HSSC runs through the summer quarter and allows high schoolers to choose from among 145 courses across 30 departments. High schools students in the HSSC earn college credit, taking classes taught by eminent professors alongside undergraduate and graduate students. This year, 1,500 students enrolled in the HSSC.

The Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institute runs three-week programs for enrichment and offers intensive study in a single subject through courses such as “International Relations: the Ethics of War” and “UX Design.”

Students cite various reasons for attending these programs, such as evaluating potential college majors and future career options.     

For example, Vincent Baugh, a rising high school senior from Los Angeles and a student in the HSSC, is interested in the pre-med track.  

“One of the biggest gains from this program is that you can explore whether this is really something you want to do for a long time or go into further research,” he said.

Baugh is taking “Intro to Human Physiology” as well as “Reading and Writing the Personal Essay.”

Baugh and his family were also drawn to the HSSC because of Stanford’s name.

“My parents thought the HSSC was good because … it was at Stanford. Plus, [students] get to actually experience college life,” he said.

Ann Truong, a rising high school senior from Westminster, also cites Stanford as one of the reasons she is attending the HSSC.

“I received a scholarship to attend, so it was very helpful. And, Stanford’s just my dream school, so it’s an honor to be here,” she said.

Ann Truong is one of 15 selected Horizon Scholars, meaning she received a full scholarship from Stanford to attend the HSSC.

As for whether these programs may boost their chances for admission into Stanford, students are unsure.

“I think it could help if you actually take away something valuable from it and not just the fact that [you] attended,” Truong said.

According to Stanford Summer Session’s website, Stanford does not consider “demonstrated interest” such as attending the HSSC or Pre-Collegiate Summer Institute when making undergraduate admissions decisions. Instead, the Institute emphasizes the value of what students will learn while on campus. 

“In general, the program probably helps their chances of getting into the college that they want to get into because it’s a strong academic experience,” said Chris Wendt, Head Counselor of the Pre-Collegiate Summer Institute. “I think it is something that you can show to colleges to say that ‘I am academically engaged, I take my studies seriously,’ but yeah, this program makes it really clear that’s not really what that’s about.”

Wendt affirmed that similar to the HSSC, the aim of the Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes is to give students a taste of the college experience.

“The purpose of this program is to introduce the high school students to university life, to give them an enriching first experience on a university campus and be able to take some exciting courses from real college professors,” he said. “A lot of them are international students or come from places all around the country, so they get to experience California, too.”

Richard Shaw, Stanford’s admission and financial aid dean, said that Stanford program attendees do not directly benefit in the undergraduate application process later on.

We would consider them an extracurricular activity and opportunity to experience what a college campus and taking college courses is like,” he wrote. “There is no advantage given to students in these programs in the review. It would simply be an academic activity in which the student has participated. That being said taking part in a summer college experience is a wonderful experience for most who have opportunity to do so and a good orientation to what college is like.”

Contact Regina Ta at rta.19 ‘at’ presentationhs.org.

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Daoud resigns from Norcliffe RA position https://stanforddaily.com/2018/08/03/daoud-resigns-from-norcliffe-ra-position/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/08/03/daoud-resigns-from-norcliffe-ra-position/#respond Fri, 03 Aug 2018 21:54:02 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1143283 Hamzeh Daoud ’20 has resigned from his Resident Assistant position in Norcliffe House, he announced in a statement to The Daily on Friday afternoon. Daoud’s resignation follows two weeks of controversy over a Facebook post in which he originally threatened to “physically fight” Zionists on campus.

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Hamzeh Daoud ’20 has resigned from his Resident Assistant position in Norcliffe House, he announced in a statement to The Daily on Friday afternoon. Daoud’s resignation follows two weeks of controversy over a Facebook post in which he originally threatened to “physically fight” Zionists.

Daoud apologized for the impact of the original Facebook status — which was later revised to clarify that he does not actually support violent behavior — and wrote that he would step down from the RA position to focus on his academic endeavors and to “[process] the repercussions of [his] post.”

“I acknowledge the language in my first post had a strong negative effect on many in our Stanford community,” Daoud wrote. “I recognize how I was projecting my own trauma onto others in a way that is never acceptable.” 

Daoud also expressed gratitude to “everyone who has helped me through this, including the Stanford administration.”

University officials confirmed his resignation and supported the decision in a public statement.

“His decision to step down as an RA puts the interests of the broader community first,” the statement reads.

Demands to fire Daoud on the basis of the post’s text originated with a vehement statement issued by the Stanford College Republicans (SCR), but soon grew to a barrage of petitions, paid advertisements and even a legal threat to the University.

But quickly, other students fired back in defense of Daoud with statements and counter-petitions. Widespread concern about the College Republicans’ aggressive rhetoric toward Daoud emerged.

“SCR has been engaging in vindictive and harmful targeting of Stanford community members for years,” Hannah Smith ’20 wrote in a Daily Op-Ed. “While Hamzeh recognized the pain caused by his post, the SCR has never apologized for the students they expose to hate mail, death threats and cyberbullying.”

SCR posted to Facebook on the day of Daoud’s resignation, claiming “VICTORY!!!!” and crediting itself for seeing the “campaign to fire Daoud” to completion, despite the fact that Daoud was not actually fired. SCR noted in its post that the organization had “sounded the alarm, contacted countless media outlets, contacted multiple Stanford donors and alumni, and sent countless emails to Stanford administrators demanding [Daoud’s] removal.”

Also in its statement, SCR continued to attack what it referred to as “Leftist bigotry and hatred.” The organization thanked those who signed petitions, sent emails and even sought legal counsel to argue that Daoud be fired.

“This story supports the unsurprising fact that leftists who argue against racism and hate speech are actually the harborers of racist [sic] and hate themselves,” SCR wrote. “This episode speaks to SCR’s importance and UNMATHCED [sic] POWER as the ONLY campus organization willing to stand up to the tyrannical left.”

After an “extensive case assessment,” the University concluded that Daoud “does not pose a physical threat to other members of the community.” Publicized acknowledgement of the assessment — revealed in an unusual instance of administrative transparency — was made possible by Daoud’s consent, according to the University. 

The statement also acknowledged the magnitude of the post’s original rhetoric. 

“The effects of the original post have continued rippling through our campus community and beyond,” the statement reads. “There have been many expressions of concern for the safety of Jewish students at Stanford.”

In turn, this case has also raised concerns for Daoud’s safety. The University reported that Daoud has faced death threats as a result of this incident. 

“There is much work yet to be done to help our community work through the issues that have arisen from this episode,” the statement reads. “We are a learning community, and just as the author of the post has told us he intends to do, we must all work together to learn from it.”

The Daily sent SCR members multiple questions about the development, including one asking about their reaction to Daoud’s numerous death threats. The organization did not respond.

“I am also entering trauma-based therapy with the Counseling and Psychological Services Center at Stanford to help me learn how to regulate my emotions when triggered, and how to use my pain to build a new future, not just perpetuate old trauma,” Daoud said. 

In a joint statement, the Students for Justice in Palestine at Stanford, Jewish Voice for Peace at Stanford and International Socialist Organization at Stanford criticized the University for failing to protect Daoud from “politically motivated harassment” from the College Republicans and other groups that galvanized the push for his removal.

“While Stanford claims that its priority is to protect students from violence, we reiterate that this campaign against Hamzeh was not a sincere response to a legitimate threat, but rather the coordinated defamation of a beloved friend, ally, and leader in our community,” the organizations wrote to The Daily.

Norcliffe Resident Fellows Jack and Nancy Kollmann, both professors at the University, said that they found Daoud “caring and inclusive” when they met him through the RA selection process.

“As this unfolded, we were hoping that he would appreciate the seriousness of his posted statement, respond maturely, grow from the experience and return to do his RA job well, for all students,” they wrote in a statement to The Daily. “But such a firestorm of criticism descended that our entire Stanford community has suffered, with Hamzeh himself receiving death threats. Although we are disappointed, we respect his decision to step aside.”

The Kollmanns said that the staffing position remains vacant.

“Presumably ResEd will help us find another RA, but frankly we’re not thinking about that just yet,” they wrote on Friday.

This post has been updated with comment from Jack and Nancy Kollmann, as well as the Students for Justice in Palestine at Stanford, Jewish Voice for Peace at Stanford and International Socialist Organization at Stanford. This post has also been updated with comment from SCR.

 

Contact Holden Foreman at hs4man21 ‘at’ stanford.edu and Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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At appellate oral argument, attorney says Turner sought ‘outercourse,’ did not intend rape https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/24/at-appellate-oral-argument-attorney-says-turner-sought-outercourse-did-not-intend-rape/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/24/at-appellate-oral-argument-attorney-says-turner-sought-outercourse-did-not-intend-rape/#respond Wed, 25 Jul 2018 06:55:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1143108 Brock Turner’s attorney argued to three appellate justices on Tuesday that the former Stanford swimmer’s sexual assault conviction should be overturned.

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Brock Turner’s attorney argued to three appellate justices on Tuesday that the former Stanford swimmer’s sexual assault conviction should be overturned.

Turner, who attended Stanford on a swimming scholarship for just over one academic quarter, was convicted on three felony counts of sexual assault in the spring of 2016. On Jan. 18, 2015, authorities arrested him after he was found thrusting his body on top of an unconscious woman, now known publicly as Emily Doe, behind a dumpster at an on-campus fraternity party. Turner’s representatives filed the appeal in Dec. 2017.  

Eric Multhaup, the attorney, cited a “lack of sufficient evidence to support three convictions” in the appeal. He honed in on the fact that Turner’s clothes were still on by the time two Swedish graduate students, bicycling by, stopped the assault. That Turner sought fully-clothed “outercourse” with Doe, according to Multhaup, proves that he did not intend to rape her.

Multhaup also called into question the point at which Doe lost consciousness, seeming to suggest the possibility of consent. He said, “There’s no evidence at what point she went from being incapacitated from alcohol to loss of consciousness.”

But Alisha Carlile, the State of California lawyer, quickly countered this claim, asserting that the men who intervened identified that Doe was unresponsive from quite a distance away.

As a rule, appellate courts do not consider new evidence or listen to fresh testimony. Rather, they determine whether the law was correctly applied at the trial level.

California appellate justices Adrienne Grover, Franklin Elia and Wendy Duffy must hand down a decision on the appeal by late October. Because the Constitution’s fifth amendment guarantees a defendant’s right against “double jeopardy,” or a second punishment for the same crime, Turner could not receive additional prison time as a result of the appeals process.

Should Turner lose, he could theoretically appeal his case again to California’s Supreme Court. Unlike the Court of Appeals, though, California’s Supreme Court is not obligated to hear the case, and grants fewer than 5 percent of the “petitions for review” submitted to them.

“What we are saying [is] that what happened is not a crime,” John Tompkins, Turner’s legal adviser, told NBC when the appeal was filed. “It happened, but it was not anywhere close to a crime.”

Unless he is successful in his appeal, Turner must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Now 22, he lives with his parents in Ohio.

Following his arrest, Turner — facing a lifelong campus ban — immediately withdrew from the University. Judge Aaron Persky ’84, M.A. ’85, who presided over Turner’s case, handed down a six-month jail sentence, but Turner was released in Sept. 2016 — having spent only three months incarcerated — on account of good behavior.

Many criticized the sentence as overly lenient. This June, Persky was recalled from the bench. Persky’s recall, the culmination of Stanford Law professor Michele Dauber’s two-year effort to remove the judge from the bench, was itself controversial. Many in the legal community, including some of Dauber’s colleagues, have said that the recall sets a dangerous precedent for judicial independence.

 

Contact Courtney Douglas at ccdouglas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

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Women’s basketball: 2018-19 season preview https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/23/womens-basketball-2018-19-season-preview/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/23/womens-basketball-2018-19-season-preview/#respond Mon, 23 Jul 2018 07:02:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1143045 The Stanford women’s basketball team begins pre-season training with momentum after a strong season under coach Tara VanDerveer. Last season, the Cardinal finished second in the Pac-12 tournament, losing to Oregon in the title game. In the NCAA tournament, the team defeated Gonzaga and Florida Gulf Coast, reached the Sweet Sixteen for the eleventh consecutive time, but ultimately lost to Louisville in the round of 16.

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The Stanford women’s basketball team begins pre-season training with momentum after a strong season under coach Tara VanDerveer. Last season, the Cardinal finished second in the Pac-12 tournament, losing to Oregon in the title game. In the NCAA tournament, the team defeated Gonzaga and Florida Gulf Coast and reached the Sweet Sixteen for the eleventh consecutive time, but ultimately lost to Louisville in the round of 16.

Graduating seniors Brittany McPhee ’18 and Kaylee Johnson ’18 were crucial to the Cardinal’s success this past season. Both were starters; McPhee often led the team in points and Johnson consistently grabbed rebounds.

Besides their on-court contributions, [McPhee] and [Johnson] were our captains as well,” assistant coach Lindy LaRocque said. “I think that what our team will need to make up for and re-find is its leadership.”

Every year, we go through this ‘identity crisis,’” Alanna Smith ’19 said. “But we have the pre-season training and exhibition games to figure that out.”

Smith said that the team’s depth and ability to run should make for fast-paced games. The roster shows last year’s young team maturing. The team is now led by a group of eight upperclassmen.

Smith is one of three returning starters who hopes to have another strong season. Last season, she was voted as All-Pac-12. Point guard and starter Marta Sniezek ’19 should also bring abundant on-court experience as well. Sniezek was named Pac-12 All Defensive Honorable Mention last season.

The third returning starter, Kiana Williams ’21, had a stellar freshman season as a shooting guard, scoring double digits in 19 of her last 28 games. Last season, she was named the Pac-12 freshman of the week twice and voted to the Pac-12 All Tournament team. Williams should continue making an impact.

Our team last year was really resilient,” LaRocque said. “We played a really tough schedule, had some injuries … We never got too high and never got too low. It’s something that’s hard to teach, and I’d like them to carry that forward.”

The Cardinal welcome a strong recruiting class — wing players Lexie and Lacie Hull and guard Jenna Brown. Brown was selected to play on the U18 National Team that will represent the United States in the FIBA Americas U18 Championships in early August. The freshmen are using the summertime as an opportunity to adjust both academically and athletically.

Both Smith and Williams say that in addition to a more experienced team, staying focused will be crucial for having success. Williams noted last season’s strong start to the Pac-12 tournament but not playing their best toward the end.

“We lost to some teams that we definitely should’ve won against [last season],” Smith said. “It’s studying the game, watching film, making sure everyone is on the same page.”

The Cardinal play their first exhibition game on Nov. 1 against Vanguard in Maples Pavilion.

 

Contact Angie Wang at 19awang ‘at’ castilleja.org

 

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Trump considers allowing Russia to question McFaul https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/18/trump-considers-allowing-russia-to-question-mcfaul/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/18/trump-considers-allowing-russia-to-question-mcfaul/#respond Thu, 19 Jul 2018 05:08:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142976 President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed the possibility of Russian authorities questioning Stanford professor and former ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.

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President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed the possibility of Russian authorities questioning Stanford professor and former ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul ’86 MA ’86, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.

Sanders said that Trump “didn’t commit to anything” earlier this week in his private meeting with Putin, for which only interpreters were present. However, Sanders said, the president called Putin’s request to interrogate McFaul and 10 other American citizens – in exchange for U.S. participation in the questioning of Russia intelligence officers indicted for meddling in American elections – “an interesting idea.”

Sanders said the president would consult with his team before making a decision. Lawmakers and diplomats, meanwhile, were quick Wednesday to decry Putin’s proposal and Trump’s consideration of it as everything from “outrageous” to “batshit crazy.”

McFaul spoke out as well.

“I hope the White House corrects the record and denounces in categorical terms this ridiculous request from Putin,” McFaul, who served as ambassador in the Obama administration, tweeted. “Not doing so creates moral equivalency between a legitimacy US indictment of Russian intelligence officers and a crazy, completely fabricated story invented by Putin.”

The Kremlin wants to interrogate Putin critic McFaul about “illegal activities” and as a “person of interest” in Russia’s investigation into financier Bill Browder MBA ’89. Browder, once a major investor in Russia, successfully lobbied for U.S. legislation punishing human rights offenders in the country.

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said she could not speak on behalf of the White House but called the Russian government’s accusations against the American citizens in question “absolutely absurd.”

In a tweet, McFaul said he appreciated the State Department’s response and highlighted the gap between their message and the White House’s.

“Yet again, Trump has one policy towards Putin. Rest of administration has a second policy towards Russia,” he wrote.

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell said that Trump could be impeached if he turned McFaul over for questioning. Others such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, California’s Rep. Mike Levin, Virginia’s Sen. Mike Warner and former ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Powers also voiced their support for McFaul.

Some on Stanford campus weighed in too.

The Stanford College Republicans posted critically of Trump on its Facebook page, saying that no diplomat, “current or former, should ever be made available for interview or worse by a hostile foreign power.”

 

Contact Hannah Knowles at hknowles ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Mental health discrimination lawsuit files amended complaint, class certification motion https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/18/mental-health-discrimination-lawsuit-files-amended-complaint-class-certification-motion/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/18/mental-health-discrimination-lawsuit-files-amended-complaint-class-certification-motion/#respond Wed, 18 Jul 2018 07:06:59 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142956 Three more individuals have joined the class-action lawsuit against Stanford — originally filed in May — which claims that the University, in placing students on leaves of absences in the face of severe mental health challenges without seeking sufficient accommodations, has discriminated against students with mental health disabilities.

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Three more individuals have joined the class-action lawsuit against Stanford — originally filed in May — which claims that the University, in placing students on leaves of absences in the face of severe mental health challenges without seeking sufficient accommodations, has discriminated against students with mental health disabilities.

Along with an amended complaint incorporating these students’ cases, the Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) on Monday filed a motion to certify “all Stanford students who have a mental health disability” as a class, the plaintiffs as class representatives and the DRA as a class council.  

The amended complaint has been revised to include allegations from Harrison Fowler ’22 and two other students, named by the pseudonyms Rose A. and Sofia B. It alleges that Stanford “maintains antiquated policies, practices, and procedures related to mental health that violate anti-discrimination laws.”

The Class Certification Motion more closely critiques and seeks to modify the Dean’s leave of absence policy as well as the housing hold policy. As of now, the DRA is working with Stanford to set a “mutually-agreeable schedule for settlement and a continuance of [the] hearing” with a neutral mediator, according to Monica Porter, the DRA attorney working on the case. Porter, her legal team and her clients do not seek monetary damages, but rather a court order mandating better accommodations students with mental health disabilities.

“We remain very willing to work with Stanford and their counsel to address these policies and ensure that students with mental health disabilities can be accommodated,” Porter wrote in an email to The Daily.

Elaine Ray, Student Affairs communications director, said that the Stanford has received the amended complaint and is currently reviewing it, but that University officials believe Stanford has complied with the law.

“Stanford University cares deeply about the health and well-being of all of our students and works to ensure they have full and equal access to the benefits of Stanford’s programs, facilities, and services,” Ray wrote in a statement to The Daily.

In a May 24 “Notes from the Quad” post, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole wrote that University officials had been in touch with DRA attorneys for more than two months before the first iteration of the lawsuit was filed. In the course of hearing concerns raised by DRA representatives, Stanford crafted a new policy on housing holds.

“We appreciate that these students have raised their concerns, and we will always engage with students who feel that we need to improve our policies and processes,” Brubaker-Cole wrote in the post. “We wish to reinforce our heartfelt concern for student mental health and our drive to continually improve the ways we support students individually across all aspects of their experience.”

Fowler

Fowler entered Stanford in September 2017, but is currently on a mandatory leave of absence after having suicidal thoughts during his freshman fall. Because of his leave, he will return to Stanford in the fall as a member of the Class of 2022.

Fowler voluntarily admitted himself to Stanford Hospital in October 2017 at the recommendation of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) after experiencing suicidal ideation. He was hospitalized for three days until he was discharged to continue outpatient treatment at La Selva, a mental health treatment facility, where he was prescribed an antidepressant.

However, the antidepressant prompted Fowler to have more suicidal thoughts, and on Nov. 6, Fowler spoke to a resident assistant (RA), who called CAPS on his behalf. According to the lawsuit, after Fowler spoke to a CAPS professional, they called the police, who came to his dorm, handcuffed him and took him to Stanford Hospital for a second time.  

While in the hospital, Residence Dean (RD) Carolus Brown visited Fowler to inform him “he was most likely going to have to take a year off,” the amended complaint states.

“I was trying to explain to [Brown], no that’s not what I want to do,” Fowler told The Daily. “I felt as if it was mostly [La Selva’s] fault for putting me on the wrong medications and not following up with proper treatment … I remember being firmly opposed to a leave of absence.”

However, according to the amended complaint, Brown told Fowler that the decision was neither his nor Fowler’s to make. The complaint continues that on Nov. 11 or 12, Brown and CAPS Clinical Care Manager Tanisha Clarke revisited the hospital and informed Fowler’s doctors, in front of him, that Fowler was going to have to take a yearlong leave of absence.

“Brown and Clarke’s discussion of the leave of absence in Harrison’s discharge meeting made it seem to Harrison that his entire discharge plan was contingent on him taking a leave of absence and that he would not be discharged without it,” the document states.

The Daily is awaiting comment from Brown and Clarke on this matter.

The document and Fowler also said that Stanford staff did not discuss any other options that might have allowed him to remain a student or remain in his housing. However, Fowler did not appear to seek out other options.

“I took that bait just so I could get out as soon as possible,” he said.

Fowler was discharged on Nov. 13 and returned to Texas with his parents.

In order to return from his current leave of absence and to residential housing on campus next fall, Dean of Students Chris Griffith has informed Fowler that he must provide documentation of his engagement in professional treatment and allow CAPS to speak directly with his healthcare providers. He must also meet periodically with an RD.

At press time, Griffith had not yet responded to a request for comment from The Daily.

According to the complaint, Fowler was also told that he must submit a personal statement discussing “[his] understanding of why [his] behaviors are of concern,” as well as what led to his suicidal ideation and what changes he will make.

As of now, Fowler has no plans to engage with on-campus mental health resources upon his return to Stanford. He’ll look off campus instead, the suit states.

“I don’t think there’s any way I would report to Stanford about any suicidal ideations I had, because I can’t really risk just, the emotional effect it would have on me,” Fowler told The Daily.

Rose A.

According to the amended complaint, plaintiff Rose A. was forced to take a leave of absence following her hospitalization after she experienced thoughts of suicide and engaged in non-suicidal self harm.

Rose agreed to go to Stanford Hospital on Oct. 20, 2017, after opening up to an RA about her suicidal ideation, but was relocated to San Jose Behavioral Health the following day, where she was notified by Brown that she would have to take a year-long leave of absence. Brown also informed her that she would have to improve her behavior and that she had disrupted the atmosphere of her dorm, according to the document.

Prior to this, Rose had attempted to secure mental health treatment through CAPS, but she was directed on Oct. 10 to seek out off-campus providers. Rose secured a CAPS appointment for Oct. 24 but was already in the hospital by then.

According to the document, the plaintiff was not given the opportunity to explain this to Brown or to discuss any accommodations or conditions that would allow her to remain a student. The plaintiff was then informed she was not allowed to return to campus and instead remained at the hospital until Oct. 31, when her parents arrived in the area to arrange new housing accommodations.

The plaintiff was also, according to the document, accused of distressing other students. Griffith wrote in an email that Rose had been “increasingly dependent” on other students to manage her mental health and unwilling to seek help from mental health providers.

While on leave, Rose completed coursework at a university in Melbourne, Australia. She also completed three and a half hours of Dialectical Behavior Therapy per week, as prescribed to her by a treatment provider.

Griffith and Clarke informed the plaintiff that her return to Stanford was contingent upon her granting the University permission to speak directly with her private treatment providers, to provide documentation of ongoing treatment and participate in meetings with Stanford administrators and an RD. Like Fowler, she was also told she would have to provide a personal statement that describes “[her] understanding of why [her] behaviors are of concern” and “the ways in which [Rose has] been addressing the issues that prompted her referral [to a leave of absence],” according to the complaint.

To lift her housing hold, the plaintiff was informed she would have to write a separate statement in which she “share[s] more about the impact [she] had on the community” and how “[her] ability to care for [her]self was somewhat limited,” and answer 12 follow-up questions.

Brown modified the requests the day after the filing of the initial lawsuit on May 18, and instead asked the plaintiff to respond to the question, “What does success look like upon your return to the campus community?” to lift her housing hold.

On May 26, Griffith emailed Rose to inform her her personal statement to Griffith would suffice for both the leave of absence and housing hold, and she would not need to submit a statement to Brown.

The plaintiff’s psychiatrist and therapist have written letters to Stanford supporting her readmission, and recommended against her use of on-campus mental health resources.

Sofia B.

Plaintiff Sofia B. was infomed she would have to take a leave of absence after experienced an anxiety attack and voluntarily admitted herself to Stanford Hospital on Dec. 6, 2015.

Griffith told the plaintiff that she “had placed too much stress on staff and been disruptive to other students,” the document states. The plaintiff told Griffith that she has an abusive family, and that going home would be detrimental to her mental health.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff was not presented with any options other than a leave of absence.

The plaintiff remained in the hospital until Dec. 9. She was charged a $350 “Late Termination of Occupancy” fee following her discharge, the complaint states.

During Winter 2016, the plaintiff lived with her parents, who refused to speak to her, according to the complaint.

The plaintiff returned to campus in Spring 2016. Griffith informed her by phone that her return was contingent upon demonstration of her engagement in mental health treatment, and a personal statement “accepting blame and apologizing,” the complaint says.

Since the plaintiff’s hospitalization and leave began during finals week Fall Quarter 2015, she was required to take incompletes on all her classes, and take the exams a year later.

In addition to Fowler, Rose A. and Sofia B., the amended complaint includes supporting testimony from three students — referred to by the pseudonyms Erica C., Alex D. and Grace E. The amended complaint asserts that each of these three students, all of whom have struggled with mental illness, “faces the ongoing possibility of being harmed in the future by Stanford’s discriminatory leave policies.”

According to the complaint, each of these students said that they no longer use on-campus mental health resources. They believe that in seeking help through CAPS, students run the risk of facing an involuntary leave of absence.

“Alex feels like CAPS is not a resource to help her as a student because it maintains policies that appear to function as a pipeline to help Stanford remove students with mental health disabilities from campus,” the complaint reads.

The Daily has reached out to University officials regarding this update.

Hannah Knowles contributed to this report.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Bouabre’s Alphabete: ‘The World Through The Eyes’ at the Cantor Arts Center https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/16/bouabres-alphabete-the-world-through-the-eyes-at-the-cantor-arts-center/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/16/bouabres-alphabete-the-world-through-the-eyes-at-the-cantor-arts-center/#respond Mon, 16 Jul 2018 07:30:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142733 At the Cantor Arts Center, a new exhibition of West African art entitled “Alphabete: The World Through The Eyes of Frederic Bruly Bouabre,” opened on June 20 and runs through Feb. 25, 2019.

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At the Cantor Arts Center, a new exhibition of West African art entitled “Alphabete: The World Through The Eyes of Frederic Bruly Bouabre,” opened on June 20 and runs through Feb. 25 of next year. 

Bouabre employs his pictographic style to celebrate unity and invites his audience to appreciate his multi-cultural homeland. Setting African contemporary art like Bouabre’s alongside traditional African art at the Cantor Arts Center, Bouabre seeks to redefine our perception of misunderstood and stereotyped African culture.

In the Patricia S. Rebele Gallery, Bouabre’s colorful pictographs hang on the walls with soft light illuminating their colorful, child-like drawings of people or objects, bordered with descriptive phrases. A short video plays in the background, highlighting Bouabre’s motivations behind his vivid artwork, which abides by a common theme of divination. Though comprehensive and simple, the work seems to fearlessly hail a complex and nuanced culture.

One cannot help but question the inspiration that elicited such colorful and happy artwork in the 1950s, when a violent anti-colonial movement erupted in response to French colonialism. While his motherland drowned in debt and turmoil due to the oil crisis, and the worldwide AIDS virus further wiped out hundreds of young Africans, Bouabre unconventionally chooses to paint a playful picture of his society and culture.

While condescending card-sized photos of half-dressed African women circulated throughout Western media, Bouabre jabbs back by drawing his art in similarly sized pictographs.

Elizabeth Jacob, a Stanford historian of francophone West Africa, noted a pictograph showing an African warrior poking fun at such African stereotypes.

“[Although] the norm is Western … there are other ways to imagine universals,” Jacob said. “Looking at different images will evoke certain memories in people.”

Amanda Maples, the curator for the Bouabre exhibition at the Cantor Arts Center, said, “People think that masquerading is a ‘village thing’ or not contemporary. Yes, it is — it’s global, it’s cosmopolitan. Yet, it’s shuttled into an art gallery that has traditional art, just like contemporary African art is put into a contemporary art gallery and not one for African art.”

The West’s paternalistic nature emerges as it draws borders between traditional and contemporary African art.

“Contemporary artists don’t want to be pigeon-holed,” Maples said. “What I’m trying to do by juxtaposing these two forms of art is creating a physical binary that I want to take apart.”

Exhibiting the art at Stanford is a critical step to better understanding the implications of West African culture in our country. But these artists, in fact, don’t seek to be labelled as such. Maples recalled that the masqueraders preferred the name “builders, or kotu, designers, or carpenters of.”

James Trainor, a security guard at the Cantor Arts Center, emphasized this notion as he excitedly pointed at the ornately carved marble wall standing in the center of the museum. As a former technician, he explained that “art gets lost” in the face of modernization.

“All of this was made by hand,” he said.

It’s true. The physical blueprints used to create art are left in the dust.

The West reaps the fruits of modernization and penalizes the “primitive” nature of African society and culture. Maples said that the West has put a “bandaid on the African culture” by generalizing a society that has expressed itself through various art forms.

“Bouabre is calling the world to view Africa as more than primitive,” she said.

Ultimately, Bouabre “thinks we have common denominators,” according to Maples. “He is intentionally drawing [the art] simplistic…to show that there is so much more than the surface level.”

I felt a connection with a culture whose real beauty was always diminished due to Western depictions of Africa. Here was a tangible piece of art, a carefully thought out portrayal of a distinct culture that was shaped by the experiences and emotions of its own people. I walked out of the museum with a deeper appreciation for the simplistic predictability of the nature around me. Bouabre’s art invites people to experience the extraordinary in the ordinary for themselves.

 

Contact Yusra Arub at yusraarub19 ‘at’ mittymonarch.com

 

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Dweck, Walton find developing current passions more effective than searching for one’s true passion https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/13/dweck-walton-find-developing-current-passions-more-effective-than-searching-for-ones-true-passion/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/13/dweck-walton-find-developing-current-passions-more-effective-than-searching-for-ones-true-passion/#respond Fri, 13 Jul 2018 07:05:39 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142736 Stanford researchers Carol Dweck and Gregory Walton, among other scholars, recently published “Implicit Theories of Interest: Finding Your Passion or Developing It?” The study suggests that spending effort developing one’s passions is more effective than looking for one’s true passion.

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Stanford researchers Carol Dweck and Gregory Walton, among other scholars, recently published “Implicit Theories of Interest: Finding Your Passion or Developing It?” The study suggests that spending effort developing one’s passions is more effective than looking for one’s true passion.

Paul O’Keefe, former a former Stanford postdoc, wondered why some people felt that they have interests that are inherent and have yet to be discovered, while other people might think interests can be cultivated and nurtured.

Walton and Dweck’s team subsequently researched the repercussions of believing in fixed interests, such as narrower interests.

In one study, Dweck and Walton’s team showed Stanford students a film about black holes — most said that they were interested in it. Then, the team introduced the students to a difficult article to read about black holes.

“What we found was that although everybody was a little daunted by the article, those with a fixed view of interest, decreased their interest in black holes significantly more than those with the growth theory of interest,” Dweck said.

Dweck has been the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford since 2004; she teaches multiple psychology classes and mentors students as they pursue independent studies through the department. Walton, an associate professor, also teaches a variety of psychology courses.

Dweck had previously researched fixed versus growth mindset. She said that people with fixed mindsets were more likely to wait to discover their true passion. In Dweck and Walton’s research, the team found that people who tended toward the more fixed view believed that with interests accompany endless motivation, and that they would never have to worry about being motivated again once they found their passion. 

“[The fixed mindset of interests] is an idea that’s implied by messages like ‘find your passion,’ as though you’re going to go through a bunch of different experiences, a bunch of different classes,and you will find the thing that is your passion,” Walton said. “It implies that if you have found your passion, that you don’t need to look elsewhere or invest yourself in other areas.”

The team observed that subjects with this fixed view believed that if they had a hard time understanding a topic and if it made them nervous, then that must not be their interest.

Stephan Guerro, a sophomore and potential mechanical engineering major at Stanford, said that math and science had come easily to him in high school. At Stanford, though, he has to put more time in to understand the content. Setbacks, according to Guerro, have motivated him more as he has sought to understand academic material.

Developing interests into passions can also be applied to activities outside the classroom, such as athletics or the arts. Every year, Dweck asks her freshman seminar class to do something with an overwhelmingly growth mindset.

“Everybody has a lot of skills that they can grow and often you’re afraid to try them out and commit to them,” Dweck said. “Many students feel they are not good at sports, and for the assignment they’ll join an intramural team. Many feel they’re shy and socially awkward, and they just do crazy wonderful things like run for president of their dorm, and win.”

In middle school, Guerro knew of a street performer who first inspired him to begin practicing urban dance. He developed his interest for urban dance by joining a dance team in high school, where he led the team his senior year. At Stanford, he is also on a dance team. Although he started out with little  background in dance, Guerrero was motivated to become better. Even now on a collegiate team, he still practices often to improve.

“If you’re the best dancer in the room, you’re in the wrong room,” Guerrero said.

 

Contact Vivian Feng  at vivianfeng119 ‘at’ gmail.com

 

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University to assign housing in 550 Lasuen, extend application deadline through Sunday https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/12/university-to-assign-housing-in-550-lasuen-extend-application-deadline-through-sunday/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/12/university-to-assign-housing-in-550-lasuen-extend-application-deadline-through-sunday/#respond Thu, 12 Jul 2018 07:02:36 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142817 The former Sigma Chi fraternity house, which became a co-ed self-op in May, is open for Waiting List reassignment applications for the 2018-19 academic year.

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The former Sigma Chi fraternity house, which became a co-ed self-op in May, is open for Waiting List reassignment applications for the 2018-19 academic year. Students will have until an extended deadline of Sunday, July 15 at 11:59 p.m. to apply for reassignment in any available campus residence due to the late announcement of the new housing option.

Now referred to by its address, “550 Lasuen” will house some former Sigma Chi members, who were already assigned, as well as students accepted from the Waiting List.

550 Lasuen — also listed as 550 Mayfield Avenue — is on the lower Row, at the corner of Mayfield Avenue, near the entrance to Tresidder Memorial Union and White Plaza. All residents of the centrally-located residence will live in either a one-room double or one-room triple.

According to an email announcement from Undergraduate Assignments Manager Jennifer Padilla-Wong, the house is not yet fully staffed, and the University will hold off on assigning some rooms until they hire more staff members.

The house will consist of mixed-gender floors with an approximately 1:1 male-to-female ratio. Because some fraternity members had already committed to living in the house, the University must assign a greater portion of the remaining rooms to women to meet this proportion.

“Some [previously] assigned male residents will remain assigned to the house, so there will be fewer spaces available in the Waiting List for men than for women,” Padilla-Wong wrote.

She added that the second and third floors of the residence will include single-gender restrooms.

The status of 550 Lasuen after the 2018-19 academic year is still unknown. According to the ResEd website, “further information about 550 Lasuen will be posted once the student staff has been fully selected.”

In May, the fraternity lost its charter following a membership review process, conducted by the Sigma Chi International Fraternity organization. Prior to the official loss of the charter, Sigma Chi was precluded from recruiting a 2018 pledge class in the course of the investigation, and would therefore invite non-members to live in the residence.

Though 550 Lasuen exists on University land, it is technically owned by the Alpha Omega Housing Corporation (AOHC), a group of Stanford Sigma Chi alumni who supported the fraternity. It is the only non-University-owned student residence.

Padilla-Wong advised students with questions about applying to live at 550 Lasuen to contact the ResEd office or submit a HelpSU request.

 

Contact Holden Foreman at hs4man21 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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CESTA summer research projects explore urbanization, topography https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/11/cesta-summer-research-projects-explore-urbanization-topography/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/11/cesta-summer-research-projects-explore-urbanization-topography/#respond Wed, 11 Jul 2018 07:43:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142722 This summer at the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA) students and faculty are collaborating to digitize archives from various locations around the world.

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This summer at the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA), students and faculty collaborate to digitize archives from various locations around the world.

CESTA, a research hub and pioneer of digital humanities work, aims to use digital tools and computing to answer questions in history, literature and the arts. 

Spokesperson Nina Randolph ’20 emphasized the Center’s interdisciplinary. CESTA, Randolph wrote in a statement to The Daily, “provides students with the ability to explore technology in the pursuit of answers to questions about the human endeavor.”

In an era of strict division between the humanities and technology, according to Randolph, the center coalesces both academic spheres. CESTA funds research opportunities for students, who work with scholars using technology to answer humanistic inquiries. 

“CESTA combats the challenges of the disciplinary divide by serving as a physical and intellectual center for collaboration that bridges technology and the humanities,” Randolph said.

Zephyr Frank, a history and urban studies professor who was the founding director of CESTA in 2011, teamed up with undergraduate research assistants to research urbanization and its discontents in 30 cities around the world in a project titled “Urbanization and Its Discontents: Poverty, Property, and the City.” The National Science Foundation, through a partnership with researchers from Southern Methodist University and Princeton, continues to fund this long-term project, which seeks to identify the causes of vulnerability and the way it materializes in different societies.

The four foundational pillars of the project’s overarching theme — vulnerability — center around the environment, institutions, the society and economy, and demography. Investigating the systems and laws of the cities provides insight into the causes that have caused those inhabitants to be dislocated or evicted from their homes.

Frank and his colleagues chose cities that “fit the Goldilocks condition in wealth and size,” Frank said, meaning, cities that are not too old, young, rich or poor.  Older cities are characterized by stagnant economies, while younger cities are characterized by economic growth and a culture that supports innovation.

“Brazil exemplifies successful city planning and is more well-documented than others,” Frank said.

This gives the researchers access to available documents that provide insight to past and present conditions in Brazil. Studying Brazil on a spatial and temporal level streamlines the team’s approach to identify ways to measure dislocation and eviction in different sectors of a population, for example, the youth versus the seniors.

Lucas Sato, a rising sophomore and a Computer Science major and a research assistant for the project,  enjoys decoding the complexity of dense historical documents at CESTA.

“Being a CS major … you’re surrounded by people who think … there is nothing that can’t be solved,” Sato said. “But CESTA is the perfect place to explore the messiness [of data]. You can try to make humanities more technically equipped and firmly defined, or you can try to make your computation more messy.”

Another project at CESTA, The Forma Urbis Romae Project, conducted by University of Oregon Professor of Architecture Jim Tice, aims to digitize Italian archaeologist Rodolfo Lanciani’s topographical map of ancient Rome. This map reveals the relationship between ancient and modern urban life in Rome.

Vincent Nicandro ’20, a research assistant for this project, transcribes physical Roman documents to digital PDFs.

“Not only should we be documenting these sites and bringing back what we found, but we should also make sure that there’s some visual evidence of the work we’ve been doing and then using those photographs to get a better picture of what the ancient world was like,” Nicandro said.

According to Nicandro, historic sites like Pompeii and Ostia are vulnerable to natural and terrorist threat, so preserving remains is critical to learn about urban fabric of ancient Roman society. Students like Nicandro focus on creating a digital exhibit where all of this information can be stored and used in future projects, both in and out of Stanford.

The projects conducted at CESTA work to fight the stigma that the humanists and scientists do not work together.

“People might not be hyped about [CESTA] because the projects surround really hard humanistic questions. But this is a space where students from all disciplines should begin to answer these questions,” said Emily Wilder ’20, an undergraduate research assistant working with Frank this summer. “As CESTA grows, Digital Humanities grows, and vice versa. It’s a mutual relationship that will continue to grow because it is necessary.”

Frank is confident that the knowledge gained through collaborative research will build off of itself in upcoming years.

“For 18 years, my experience with Stanford students is that they are curious and want to be challenged,” Frank said. “There is a big common middle ground — it’s big enough. Ultimately, we see [CESTA] as an opportunity where you could come work and collaborate, use resources, and be a part of something that is actually productive.”

“The faculty projects, student programs, and academic expertise create meaningful connections resulting in successful and innovative scholarship that changes our understanding of the world,” Randolph said.

 

Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Lucas Sato’s name, and incorrectly stated that he is a rising junior; he is in fact a rising sophomore. The Daily regrets these errors. 

 

This article has been updated with comment from Nina Randolph ’20, a spokesperson from CESTA. 

 

Contact Yusra Arub at yusraarub19 ‘at’ mittymonarch.com

 

 

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Dr. Clete Kushida discusses sleep issues in seminar on Management of Common Sleep Problems https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/02/dr-clete-kushida-discusses-sleep-issues-in-seminar-on-management-of-common-sleep-problems/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/02/dr-clete-kushida-discusses-sleep-issues-in-seminar-on-management-of-common-sleep-problems/#respond Mon, 02 Jul 2018 09:32:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142608 On Wednesday, neurologist and psychiatry professor Dr. Clete Kushida spoke to over 120 people about common sleep disorders and the importance of sleep.

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Neurologist and psychiatry professor Dr. Clete Kushida spoke to more than 120 people Wednesday about common sleep disorders and the importance of sleep.

The talk took place at the Stanford Blood Center in Palo Alto — a part of Café Scientifique, an international network of informal groups that organize events highlighting science and research in local communities.

Kushida, who is also the medical director of Stanford Sleep Medicine and the Founding President of the World Sleep Society, addressed the latest methods to diagnose sleep disorders as well as standard and novel treatments for them. These treatments include Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines to control airway pressure, mouthguards to keep the airway from collapsing and an electrode machine to stimulate the airway muscles and prevent them from closing.

In his presentation, Kushida shared that about 36 percent of young adults suffer from secondary to chronic sleep deprivation, and when the total sleep time in young adults is reduced by one to one and a half hours, their objective alertness can drop as much as 33 percent.

He said that the most common sleep condition seen in college students is Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. When afflicted by the Syndrome, a person falls asleep two or more hours past the common sleep time.

According to Kushida, this can subsequently lead to “daytime drowsiness and lowered cognitive performance.”

Adults should sleep seven or more hours per night for optimal health, according to Kushida. He said that sleeping less than this amount on a regular basis can lead to obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, stroke and depression. It can also lead to a lower immune function, impaired performance and greater risk of accidents.

“I learned that sleep is the basis of all daily function,” 14-year-old audience member Cary Lai said.

Kushida also discussed two other underlying causes of sleep deprivation: sleep apnea and insomnia. Sleep apnea, a condition affecting 24 percent of men and 9 percent of women in which the nasal airway gets constricted causing a lack of oxygen flow to the brain, can lead to an individual waking up hundreds of times per night to gasp for air.

Kushida debunked the myth that sleep apnea is present only in those who are obese, instead focusing on the dangers of leaving it ignored. Obstructive sleep apnea can lead to heart attacks, strokes and even cardiac arrest, according to Kushida.

“Not treating sleep apnea can dramatically increase mortality, especially cardiovascular mortality,” Kushida said.

Insomnia, according to Kushida, comes in two forms: “idiopathic,” which can afflict the patient throughout his or her lifetime, and “psychophysiological,” which is caused by habits that prevent patients from falling asleep, and can be triggered by lifestyle changes.

“Trauma, such as loss of job and divorce, can affect brain chemistry, which can lead to chronic insomnia if not treated,” Dr. Kushida said.

Several people at the event were there to learn about the latest research in sleep. Dr. Avinash Patil of University of California, San Francisco, came to understand the relationship between sleep and mental disorders.

“In psychiatric patients, in addition to mental health, their sleep pattern changes,” Patil said. “[In the seminar] I learned about new techniques and new devices that can be used for managing sleep.”

Victoria Somerville, Marketing Specialist at the Stanford Blood Center and the organizer of the event for Café Scientifique, was pleased at the turnout and how strongly the topic of sleep resonated with the community.

“Everyone needs [sleep] and most people don’t get enough of it,” Somerville said.

 

Contact Manat Kaur at manat ‘at’ object.live.

 

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Former Trump National Security Advisor to return to Hoover https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/02/former-trump-national-security-advisor-to-return-to-hoover/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/07/02/former-trump-national-security-advisor-to-return-to-hoover/#respond Mon, 02 Jul 2018 07:02:36 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142624 On Sunday morning, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that former US National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster will return to Stanford’s Stanford’s Hoover Institution Institution as a senior fellow this autumn.

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On Sunday morning, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that former US National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster will return to Stanford’s Stanford’s Hoover Institution Institution as a senior fellow this autumn.

“We view him as a unique find,” Hoover director Tom Gilligan told the Wall Street Journal. “And we view this as a kind of a homecoming.”

America’s divided political arena, according to McMaster, has “infected” national security discourse.

“It’s regrettable because I do think some really excellent work has happened across the last year-and-a-half to help frame some of the most significant strategic challenges and to craft strategic approaches to advance and protect our interests,” McMaster said.

Back at Hoover, he aims to author a book on national security. In an interview with the WSJ, he specifically mentioned fostering bipartisan ideas “to craft strategic approaches to advance and protect our interests.”

McMaster officially resigned from his position as the 26th National Security Advisor on Apr. 9, after President Donald Trump appointed him to the post on Feb. 20, 2017. McMaster, a three-star Army general, announced his resignation Mar. 22, just one week after The Washington Post reported that Trump intended to fire and replace McMaster. Prior to his role in the Trump administration, McMaster was well-known for his roles in the Gulf War and the Iraq War.

According to the WSJ, former U.S. Secretary of State and Hoover senior fellow Condoleezza Rice encouraged McMaster to return to Stanford.

“He has a unique perspective,” Rice told the WSJ. “I think he will want to reflect on how his experience leading men and women in battle, being one of the important contributors to military strategy after 9/11, and being national security adviser, shaped his views.”

Trump picked Former U.S. ambassador and Fox News analyst John Bolton to replace McMaster. McMaster himself had succeeded Michael Flynn in his post as National Security Advisor after Flynn left the White House for misleading senior officials about his correspondence with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

McMaster drew criticism from Trump and others within the administration throughout his tenure as National Security Advisor. In particular, McMaster diverged from Trump’s agenda by supporting the Iran nuclear deal  — which Bolton has criticized — and free trade with South Korea. McMaster also went against the Trump administration’s views in his aggressive approach toward North Korea.

Unlike the president, McMaster expressed clear opposition to the the racially charged violence in Charlottesville last summer. He also disagreed with Trump’s use of the term “radical Islamic terrorism.”

McMaster served as Hoover’s national security affairs fellow from 2002 to 2003. He then served as a visiting fellow until his appointment to Trump’s cabinet. During his fellowship, McMaster dealt with issues related to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, military history and the future of war.

“Although the dangers of careless military activism are easy to imagine, the cost of passivity is more difficult to discern,” McMasters wrote in a Hoover Daily Report in 2003 in response to calls against the U.S. invasion of Iraq. “Failure to intervene militarily often permits humanitarian crises to continue and leads to more dangerous conflicts.”

As a Lieutenant General, McMaster carried out command assignments in Bamberg, Germany and in Southwest Asia during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He also served in Schweinfurt, Germany from 1999 to 2002 and at both Fort Carson, Colorado and Iraq from June 2004 to June 2006. In 1997, he released his award-winning book “Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, The Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies that Led to Vietnam.”

 

Contact Holden Foreman at hs4man21 ‘at’ stanford.edu and Sean Chen at kxsean ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Committee formed to explore space needs for community centers and community-serving groups https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/11/committee-formed-to-explore-space-needs-for-community-centers-and-community-serving-groups/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/11/committee-formed-to-explore-space-needs-for-community-centers-and-community-serving-groups/#respond Fri, 11 May 2018 09:54:55 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1140890 Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole has announced the formation of a short-term committee of faculty, senior staff members and students who will advise her on the creation of new community centers.

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Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole has announced the formation of a short-term committee of faculty, senior staff members and students who will advise her on the creation of new community centers.

This follows efforts by several campus communities to get their own community center or another formal, permanent community space. Seven such centers, oriented around different gender, sexual, ethnic, racial and religious identities, already exist on campus.

Brubaker-Cole said that in informal discussions, she has heard members of several groups express that they wish to feel valued by the University and, accordingly, to receive their own community center or dedicated space.

According to Stanford News, “the VPSA (Vice Provost for Student Affairs) Advisory Group on Centers of Community and Belonging for Students will explore community needs and desires while taking into account the historical and cultural origins of existing centers, as well as opportunities and future considerations related to belonging and diversity.”

The group will meet with relevant stakeholders, including community center leaders and staff who are experts in facilitating diverse and inclusive communities. Other individuals will be able to submit input through an online forum.

The committee is set to work throughout this spring quarter and will possibly carry over into the beginning of summer.

Members of the advisory panel include Assistant Professor of Education Anthony Antonio M.S. ’92, Assistant Vice Provost for Graduate Education in the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education Anika Green, history professor Allyson Hobbs, English professor Paula Moya and political science professor Rob Reich Ph.D. ’98.

Two students will also be chosen by the ASSU Nominations Commission to serve on the committee. The panel will be overseen by Associate Vice Provost and Dean of Residential Education Deborah Golder, while Associate Dean of Residential Education Jennifer Calvert will staff the committee.

Administrators and students alike hold high hopes for the panel.

“The allocation of campus space is a challenging one, particularly for students who come together around and across a range of identities,” said Student Affairs Director of Communications and Web Strategy Elaine Ray. “We want to give the advisory group broad latitude to explore these issues and gather feedback without prejudgment. We look forward to sharing their findings when their work is completed.”

Markaz community member Jana Kholy ’20 also sees the development as an appropriate response to past concerns about the conferral of community center status.

“I had been aware that several communities have been requesting community centers, and I think that this panel is a great way to make the process more transparent,” Kholy said. “I think the panel is an excellent way to assess what the needs of a community are and how they’re currently being met and if alternatives to physical space can help address those needs.”

 

Contact Felicia Hou at fhou ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Photo Gallery blurb: Cesar Arevalo Jr. https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/05/photo-gallery-blurb-cesar-arevalo-jr/ Sun, 06 May 2018 02:29:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?post_type=tsd_magazine_post&p=1140559 This collection of images captures the area surrounding Stanford’s campus through different perspectives with an emphasis on the driver’s seat and public transportation. Most images were captured during desperate attempts to get away from campus life. These trips served to silence my mind and clear the haze that had developed throughout the week. The winding […]

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This collection of images captures the area surrounding Stanford’s campus through different perspectives with an emphasis on the driver’s seat and public transportation. Most images were captured during desperate attempts to get away from campus life. These trips served to silence my mind and clear the haze that had developed throughout the week. The winding mountain road featured in the gallery is Page Mill Road, which leads to Skyline Ridge and the viewpoint from the final image. Other car shots were taken somewhere in Redwood City as I drove back at the tail end of rush hour following an unsuccessful attempt to venture out to Half Moon Bay on my own with only enough gas for a one-way trip. The train pictures were from a trip I made out to Berkeley to pick up the car featured in the rest of the gallery, which I share with my sister on a monthly basis. The highlight of this trip was a feeble attempt at doing homework that came to an end when I made the realization that one can’t connect to Stanford Residences or eduroam while on the Caltrain.

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‘Pacing’ by Marc Huerta Osborn https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/05/pacing-by-marc-huerta-osborn/ Sat, 05 May 2018 09:22:41 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?post_type=tsd_magazine_post&p=1139776 Across the street, by the sea-wall, an old woman paces back and forth. With one hand she skims the waist-high wall for balance, her palm gliding over chalky concrete. Her other hand grips a black walking stick. She scoots down the entire length of sea-wall, pausing only where tangled brush swallows jutting rock; turns, scoots […]

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Across the street, by the sea-wall, an old woman paces back and forth. With one hand she skims the waist-high wall for balance, her palm gliding over chalky concrete. Her other hand grips a black walking stick. She scoots down the entire length of sea-wall, pausing only where tangled brush swallows jutting rock; turns, scoots back the way she came. And repeats. She wears black sneakers and a baggy grey jumpsuit that ripples subtly in the wind, loose fabric rustling in little leaps as if invisible sparrows are pecking at her clothes and trying to lift her into the air.

I’m pacing along the same sea-wall but probably for different reasons. She does it, I think, for exercise, maintenance purposes. A daily ritual to keep the blood moving. Maybe pacing soothes the pain in her knees. I wonder if she gets anxious during all those pacing-hours, fearful of squandering too much time by the ocean. Does she feel like she’s pacing toward death? Does she drift into wistful sky-blue memories, or think burrowing black thoughts of how she should be using her scarce time to do other things, nostalgic and artful things, anything other than pacing the sea-wall?

Anyway, she is pacing perhaps to feel less old or more alive, and I’m pacing to be efficient. I walk with my shirt off and a book in my hand, triple-tasking — getting smarter, getting browner, getting thinner. I figure I’m saving time that way, reading and walking and tanning at the same time.  I go out to the sea-wall and become a brownish smear of efficiency.

Another boon of the path out there by the sea-wall is the view. A good view is important to deep reading. Every once in a while a sentence will crunch your chest so hard that you need to stop reading and think, to set aside a few moments for the sake of recoil and mental health. You look up from the page and let the threads of your scattered emotions knot themselves around the qualities of your view. A good gaze will ground your thoughts, allow some poignant clumps to take shape in your brain. That’s what I think.

I look up from the page and peer over the sea-wall, letting my vague sentiments congeal themselves around the substance of my view. My thoughts excavate the clammy mud and emerge from the seashore oily with mineral richness; they zip out toward the bay, dance on the surface of the water with the sun rays, ping upwards with a surge of Vitamin D; they hydrate in the low-hanging clouds, snatching water molecules as they shimmer in gaseous form amidst the San Francisco fog. With the help of my view by the sea-wall, thoughts congregate around bickering seagulls, pelicans looming like bomber squadrons, gangs of roguish crows. That way, reflections dig deeper, fly quicker, become more likely to thicken into something round and rich and enduring. That way, too, I am saving time.  I mustn’t waste the minutes thinking loosely. Haphazard thoughts are indulgent, distracting. Wasted time.

So, a good view is essential. A real time-saver.

Maybe she’s there for the view, too. Perhaps she’s also trying to save time, think with real clarity and glue, collect her thoughts into some deep bedrock-type final reflections.  I wonder if she tries to avoid haphazard thoughts like I do, fastening her gaze to some grounding point above the sea-wall, focusing real hard because she doesn’t want to waste her brain’s remaining operative time on pointless flights of fancy.

Or, maybe she’s just strolling. Not burning with anxiety. Just killing time. Thinking hardly anything except that the pelicans look like her grandchildren playing in the water, or that the wind feels nice on her skin.

We are both pacing along the sea-wall, killing time, saving time. A crow shouts. Down below the sea-wall a man slips in the mud as he tries to reel in a fish.

Since we’re both walking along the same stretch of wall, our paths cross every once in a while. We walk at roughly the same speed, slowly, because she can’t move any other way and because my eyes are buried in the text of a novel and I can’t watch my feet as I walk. I’m absorbed in Toni Morrison’s “Sula,” reading a scene that will lodge in my brain like a stubborn baby-memory. Shadrack, the town’s mad advocate of National Suicide Day, makes eye contact with the beautiful and loveless Sula, their gazes converging over the surface of a deep water-well. Shadrack, the mean old war veteran who shows respect to no one, nobody except Death, tips his hat to her. Inexplicably, unprecedentedly. Sula drops everything and bolts home.

The scene makes me feel something formless but potent, so I look up over the sea-wall at my mooring view, thinking hard and searching for a word or two, a name for the misty stuff that Morrison’s writing has stirred up in my diaphragm.

Shadrack worships National Suicide Day. In some weird and ancient way he covets Death. Sula has no moral code, no empathy (at least not in the traditional sense), only an obsession with control over her own fate and security.

A cat slinks across my path. My eyes and thoughts follow, stepping with him into the bushes.

Shadrack knows that suicide is a way to control fate. The town sees him as a devil because he steps outside the natural forces of God and time by advocating self-killing. He worships suicide because it’s an act of infinite power, the absolute extreme of certainty and control. Sula, too, cares not at all for natural forces, nor emotional ones. She expels her grandmother from her home, watches her mother burn to death, sleeps with the husband of her only friend since childhood — not because she has any lust for men, love for wildness or ill-will toward anybody, but simply because she can. Because pointless provocation is a statement against the world, against the natural flow of things.

Like recognizes like. Shadrack tips his hat to Sula. She flees from that recognition. Sula has fear.

And perhaps that is what they really have in common. Not devilishness, but fear. A time-anxiety and a desperate desire for control in a world that will one day — don’t doubt it for a second — send its little sparrows of fate to pick you up and scatter you to the winds forever.

I’m close enough to the old woman now that I can hear the crisp impacts of her cane on the concrete — steady, rhythmic. There is also the soft scrape of her palm skimming the sea-wall surface. Her breath is faintly audible. A crow floats up behind her, wings spread out like a cloak, and bashes a clam against the walkway. He squawks victoriously and sets upon his meal.

The distance closes. I see an old woman pacing for exercise, she sees a kid with his nose in a book. Saving time, killing time. And she says to me the same thing she said yesterday, the same thing she’ll say tomorrow. “You might trip,” she warns, her accent unidentifiable, a kind smile creasing her wrinkled brown cheeks. She points to my book to indicate that she thinks I should keep my eyes on the road.

I smile back, quietly. She does not expect a reply. Crossing paths, we both look out over the sea-wall, sharing the sight of the sky.

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Poetry by Becca Nelson https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/04/poetry-by-becca-nelson/ Sat, 05 May 2018 02:21:09 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?post_type=tsd_magazine_post&p=1140212 ruth at the chicago botanic garden i remember clinging to your red coat as we walked through the summer stillness marigold petals catching in your hair i remember clinging to your red coat you laughed bird-voiced, young again marigold petals catching in your hair until you forgot why you were laughing you laughed bird-voiced, young […]

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ruth

at the chicago botanic garden
i remember clinging to your red coat
as we walked through the summer stillness
marigold petals catching in your hair

i remember clinging to your red coat
you laughed bird-voiced, young again
marigold petals catching in your hair
until you forgot why you were laughing

you laughed bird-voiced, young again
you called me miss america shining
until you forgot why you were laughing
botanical names slipped from your mind

you called me miss america shining
the roses smoldered in incandescence
family names slipped from your mind
as you peeled back birch bark

the roses smoldered in incandescence
the thorns dismembered the rose vulnerable
as you peeled back birchbarked decades
returning to 1936 a red vinyl diner booth

the thorns dismembered and rose vulnerable
i remember how you cried on your birthday
returning to 1936 a red vinyl diner booth
the leaves of the candles fluttering

remember how you cried on my birth
your wild tears I bloomed from salt-stung
the leaves of the candles fluttered out
playing dress-up, your engagement ring

your wild tears    salt-stung   i bloomed
up from the roots of our     fused dreaming
playing dress-up, your engagement ring fit me
you wore a red-beaded Mardi Gras giveaway

uprooting   our    fused    dreaming
the IV   floral of breath mints   infused  fluorescent air
you wore   a Mardi Gras giveaway       at the hospital
you hallucinated a   squirrel leapt   across your bed

the ivy floral of mints infused your    red coat   left behind
in the garden    winterlight      watery     you rose
your smile luminesced     a squirrel leapt   over a bed of leaves
into the sky      transcending the trees    salt-stung
i inherit     your warmth   shining

 

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Two poems by Jacob Langsner https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/20/two-poems-by-jacob-langsner/ Fri, 20 Apr 2018 07:54:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?post_type=tsd_magazine_post&p=1139774 Stuck in my Head Yellow light Lasers – daisies – Budding, implicit In thin air – blooming In a bed of powder – white Silk upon your upper lip, Fertilizing growth – Feeding lust – With a sharp inhale – A breath of fresh air, And signal to my fingers – The roots at your […]

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Stuck in my Head

Yellow light
Lasers – daisies –
Budding, implicit
In thin air – blooming
In a bed of powder – white
Silk upon your upper lip,
Fertilizing growth –
Feeding lust –
With a sharp inhale –
A breath of fresh air,
And signal to my fingers –
The roots at your hips –
Grow deeper.

A change in light
From yellow
–
Daisies –
To green

 

To Be a Giraffe
Or, a Tall Order

A prayer to nature’s altar –
Greatest feet,
On the ground, of course
And head in the clouds
And heart in-between –
Unseen,
And herd
Pumping through our common vein
Liquid courage, bitter
Blood
And a wish –

For honest time
I ask the gentle giant,
drowned in former pleasures –
final breath,
indulgent in the promise
of something more, fulfilled –

Honest –
 Not words, but written, still
In time that moves like honey,
And hands around another
Moving all the same

A laugh is mine
Is yours, a moment
Is ours –
Reflected, absent –
A synchronized exhale
And goosebumps

Or just a neck
Strong enough to stick out
but not so long
that I trip
and lose my head.

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[copy RW] Poetry (1/2): Nancy Chang https://stanforddaily.com/2018/03/16/copy-rw-poetry-12-nancy-chang/ Fri, 16 Mar 2018 07:34:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?post_type=tsd_magazine_post&p=1138416 It All Becomes Oblong  The length of the snap pea Exactly matches that of my pinky finger: Carbon sequestered, Water to disappear unseen. I want to become myself, The way that earth turns brown into green. Frame Rate Maybe if I just describe him completely, Well enough, He’ll stay permanently fixed. I’ll never keep him still, […]

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It All Becomes Oblong 

The length of the snap pea
Exactly matches that of my pinky finger:
Carbon sequestered,
Water to disappear unseen.
I want to become myself,
The way that earth turns brown into green.

Frame Rate

Maybe if I just describe him completely,
Well enough,
He’ll stay permanently fixed.
I’ll never keep him still, in this space.
He is much too voracious,
Like a dragon that slumbers on hot coals then
Leaves before they can all be acquainted as ash.
The glinting of his eyes suggests affairs with discontent
For the sake of amusement
In this world where happiness is too light and sickly sweet
To be carried

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Justine Fedronic: Injuries can’t stop Olympic dreams https://stanforddaily.com/2017/12/05/justine-fedronic-injuries-cant-stop-olympic-dreams/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/12/05/justine-fedronic-injuries-cant-stop-olympic-dreams/#respond Wed, 06 Dec 2017 06:20:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1134436 There was something unique about the brown-eyed 22-year-old girl named Justine who I met on my very first day visiting Stanford University three years ago. I watched her complete a workout on the bright-red colored track that made her speed look effortless.

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There was something unique about the brown-eyed 22-year-old girl named Justine whom I met on my very first day visiting Stanford University three years ago. I watched her complete a workout on the bright red-colored track that made her speed look effortless.

She bounced around the track with two other distance athletes, lopey strides, toned calves and sculpted arms. Her face told a story of pure determination and belief that resonated within me. I never forgot her countenance. What it portrayed in hindsight was a woman who would eventually go on to represent her country at the Rio Olympic Games, despite dozens of career-threatening injuries.

Justine Fedronic signed a Nike contract and agent, Ray Flynn, straight out of college. Despite her incredibly unique formation of extreme highs and lows, she forged on to tell the story of a young, talented running star that struggled her way to keep her body, literally, in one piece through college to become the experienced, strong and competitive Olympic athlete she is today.

There are two things that define Justine Fedronic, the former Stanford runner: speed and injuries. But the latter she spends every day of her life working to eliminate: “We do strength and skill based training every day. I spend hours before workouts each day doing rehab exercises and recovery after workouts to eliminate injury.” 

Justine’s progression as an elite track star evolved from learning how to be a happier and healthier person. “I learnt to gain a positive perspective and a grateful heart,” she said via Skype.

Overcoming obstacles is a common life lesson many Olympic athletes have in common, yet not many have experienced the bewilderment of some of Justine’s very obscure injuries. 

Fedronic fractured a rib during an indoor track meet her senior year in college from coughing. It was her final year and season representing Stanford University, where she competed in the prestigious distance medley relay. Despite hours of coughing and splattering after the team event, she remained persistent to make it through the whole NCAA National meet in all of her three events, despite continually re-opening the fracture. 

She went on to race the international track circuit that year and represented France at the World Relays and the European Championships in Zurich. “It was an incredible year despite my injury upsets,” she said. “Nothing ever quite healed completely but I raced fast, thankfully.”

Within a few months, she was back on the injury wagon again, with a tear in her hamstring in two places. Her mind waffled with confusion of what to do, where to go, where to take her future with running. She realized she needed a new place, a new environment. 

A world away from Stanford University, she chose to pursue training with the professional Bowerman Track Club, based in Eugene, Oregon, home of Nike — home of anything to do with track, really. The iconic athletics track in Oregon is named Hayward Field, where Pre-Profontaine created a new running culture in the seventies after winning 120 of the 153 races he ran in college. Bowerman never lost a collegiate national NCAA track race longer than one mile at the University of Oregon.

Despite the attempt to start fresh in Eugene in 2015, she continued to experience immense problems with the onset of more obscure injuries, heightening to the point where she was even unable to walk at one point, which left most physiotherapists in total bewilderment. 

That’s when she met John Pierce, who would soon change her life. He is known today as a miracle worker in Justine’s eyes. Pierce gradually helped blood flow back to the left side of Justine’s body as she experienced her own blood having a platelet concentration above baseline. Platelet-rich plasma, PRP for short, helped promote healing of her various musculoskeletal, biomechanical issues.

She was taken through months of rehabilitation processes to fix the biomechanics faults she lived with due to the multitude of her “bandaged college injuries,” as Justine called it.

“2015 was a year of focus on running mechanics — literally nothing else” Justine said. “Financially, I wasn’t paid a cent, but long-term it helped me more than anything else would’ve.”

In hindsight she looked positively on the experience of chasing doctors down, but in the moment she just wanted a normal 20-year-old woman’s life.

Daniel Mackey shortly afterwards became her coach. Green Lake became her favorite running destination; only a few-minutes jog from her front doorstep. Based in Seattle, she then began her focus towards the French Olympic trials.

“Everything felt like a bargain for survival. Even at the French Olympic Trials, my knee blew up in the final, and I was lucky to scrape through the Games; adrenalin got me through,” she said.

She then spent the next six weeks struggling with bursitis and patella tendinitis leading up the Olympic Games. “I surrounded myself with the right people. Luckily, they got me through the Games.” 

Before Justine’s Olympic debut in the 800-meter, her coach wasn’t sure whether she’d run faster than two minutes and 15 seconds over the distance. Justine finished with an astounding two minutes and two seconds, extremely close to her all-time best of two minutes flat. 

Despite her goal to run one minute 58 seconds, she realized living through the Olympic Games was something she’ll never forget. “It was a great memory moving forward; I learnt a lot from it. I was lucky to have an incredible medical team by my side,” she said.

Despite her uplifting spirit regarding the Olympic Games driving through the interview I had with her, I couldn’t help but question her about the conflict I’d heard from Stanford athletes concerning her loss of a Nike contract post-Olympic Games.

“The strict guidelines a contract requires of professional athletes are highly unreasonable,” she said. “Being on a Nike Europe contract is extremely difficult for any Track athlete, with strict reduction clauses, which include faulty performances resulting in a reduction of salary.”

Losing her top-30 place in the world cost her 20 percent of her small salary. Twenty-five percent of her salary was reduced as a result for not reaching Nike’s requirements. It’s a business investment for them.

Medical appointments, healthy food, housing, electricity, running shoes, training attire, travel and entry costs — it’s an expensive job. Unless you’re Usain Bolt, the financial side of things isn’t your first priority as an athlete.

“You do it because you love it and hope theoretical prize money follows through every now and again — sometimes it doesn’t,” Justine said.

The fall of 2017 was a period where Justine experienced depression. After all the blood, sweat and tears she’d experienced, all she got was a loss of financial support when she needed it the most. “I questioned whether it was all worth it — all the heartache and pain I went through to compete at the Olympic Games.”

But here she is a year later, a strong, wiser and more determined woman than ever. “2017 is going to be an incredible year. I’m finally completely injury free, and the world is truly my oyster. I’m free at last.”

Justine is currently training in altitude in Albuquerque alongside Claudia Saunders, another former Stanford University track athlete, and they together dream of representing their country at the Olympic Games.

“Justine is an incredible teammate. I cannot wait to see what this year brings for both of us. We work together just like we did three years ago at Stanford. It’s so fun,” Saunders said.

 

Contact Anna Laman at alaman ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Don’t forget about the other No. 20 https://stanforddaily.com/2017/11/16/dont-forget-about-the-other-no-20/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/11/16/dont-forget-about-the-other-no-20/#respond Fri, 17 Nov 2017 05:52:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1133659 Stanford has the most famous No. 20 in all of college football at the moment. Junior running back Bryce Love has stolen most of the national attention on the entire Pac-12 thanks to his dazzling Heisman campaign, but he’s also stolen some of the spotlight from his star teammate on defense who shares the same number.

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Stanford has the most famous No. 20 in all of college football at the moment. Junior running back Bryce Love has stolen most of the national attention on the entire Pac-12 thanks to his dazzling Heisman campaign, but he has also stolen some of the spotlight from his star teammate on defense who shares the same number.

As with most college football teams, Stanford has many duplicate numbers. It’s not uncommon for two guys wearing the same number to both be impactful players. It is much more uncommon to have two of your bonafide stars sharing the same digits, but that’s exactly the position Stanford finds itself in with Love and senior linebacker Bobby Okereke.

Last game against Washington was a breakout performance for Okereke, one he called his best ever in a Cardinal uniform. But Stanford head coach David Shaw claims he saw it coming weeks ago.

“For me it’s been the last month for Bobby,” Shaw said. “The last five games, really, he has really started to take his game up to another notch.”

Shaw went on to say that the biggest change for Okereke is in his awareness and aggressiveness.

“He’s seeing the game quicker,” Shaw said. “He played really well early in the year, but he was still reacting. Now, he’s anticipating, and that’s a huge difference because he’s got speed, length, athleticism, and now he’s feeling the game and making some unbelievable plays.”

“I’m just seeing the game faster,” Okereke added.

His sudden rise to defensive stardom has all been the result of dedicated preparation over the entirety of his Stanford career, but Okereke is no stranger to preparation. After all, he was an Eagle Scout, so he carries with him the scout motto “Be Prepared” as a badge of honor. That preparation and work ethic have transformed the senior linebacker from a special teams role player to a starter to now being considered one of the best players at his position in the Pac-12, if not the entire country.

“The way to gain confidence is through preparation,” Okereke said. “That’s what I did this offseason.”  

The results of his offseason preparation have been undeniable during the regular season. Even from his linebacker spot, Okereke is second on the team with four sacks and five total tackles for a loss. Two of those sacks came in huge moments against Washington, and on the first, Okereke chased Washington quarterback Jake Browning all the way back to his own six-yard line before dropping him for an 18-yard loss.

In addition to the tackles behind the line of scrimmage, Okereke has been making plays on the ball as well. He forced two turnovers in the last two games. Against Washington State, Okereke anticipated a Luke Falk pass on fourth-and-one and jumped the route as soon as the ball was in the air. By the time anybody touched him, he was already in the end zone for a 52-yard pick six that he said was his favorite moment as a Stanford player. Then versus the Huskies, Okereke ripped the ball away from Washington running back Myles Gaskin on a run early in the fourth quarter.

“You see the confidence start to build,” Shaw said about Okereke’s play-making ability. “You see him making plays. Not just the plays that come to him — he’s going to plays. He’s accelerating, he’s exploding, he’s getting sacks, tackles-for-loss, getting his hands on the ball for fumbles and interceptions.”

Okereke’s confident play this season is a far cry from his early career at Stanford. After redshirting his freshman year, he played sparingly as a sophomore, recording just seven total tackles in mostly a special teams role. In the following offseason, the graduation of star middle linebacker Blake Martinez opened up an opportunity for Okereke to earn more playing time. He jumped on the chance, winning the starting job for the 2016 season.

“Putting in the work,” Okereke said when asked about that remarkable offseason before his junior year. “Putting in the work in the weight room, putting in the work on the VR and then in training camp and spring ball. Just trying to get better, trying to earn that confidence.”

Even after earning his coach’s confidence, Okereke struggled at times during that 2016 season as he tried to develop consistent faith in himself as a player. His self-assurance seemed to come and go. He had seven tackles and a sack in the opener versus Kansas State, but his performances in the middle of the season were mostly uninspiring. He ended the year with another seven-tackle and one-sack day against North Carolina in the Sun Bowl.

The confidence he gained from the bowl game seemed to carry over into 2017. In the second game against USC, he recorded a career-high eight tackles. The next week, he topped that performance with nine tackles and a sack against San Diego State. Then, Coach Shaw said the proverbial light-switch flipped on for Okereke.

“He went from becoming a starter on defense and playing pretty well to waking up one day about four games into the [2017] season and saying, ‘You know what? I’m pretty good at this.’’’

The game against Washington was the culmination of years of hard work for Okereke. The final stat line read 11 tackles, three TFLs, two sacks and a forced fumble. Even those gaudy numbers cannot truly describe the impact Okereke had on the game. He was everywhere on the field, disrupting Washington’s potent offense and eventually grinding them into submission.

“I don’t know who is playing better at linebacker in the second half of the season than [Okereke],” Shaw said after serving witness to Okereke’s huge game.

Even in the best two games of his Stanford career, Okereke was overshadowed by his teammate wearing number 20 on the other side of the ball. Love also had a 52-yard touchdown against Washington State and then followed that up with 166 yards and three touchdowns while essentially playing on one leg against Washington. Okereke will never receive the same attention if only because he plays on defense, but one thing is certain: Opposing offenses are just as scared of the linebacker wearing No. 20.

 

Contact King Jemison at kingj ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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‘It’s just not fair’: An oral history of The Play and the 1982 fake Daily Cal https://stanforddaily.com/2017/11/16/its-just-not-fair-an-oral-history-of-the-play-and-the-1982-fake-daily-cal/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/11/16/its-just-not-fair-an-oral-history-of-the-play-and-the-1982-fake-daily-cal/#respond Fri, 17 Nov 2017 01:49:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1133627 On Nov. 20, 1982, California shocked Stanford on a last-second miracle that is remembered to this day as one of the most iconic moments in college football history. After Stanford kicked a last-minute field goal to go up 20-19, Cal returned a kickoff for a touchdown with time expiring on a play that involved five lateral passes, an errant trombonist and enough mayhem to last a lifetime.

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On Nov. 20, 1982, California shocked Stanford on a last-second miracle that is remembered to this day as one of the most iconic moments in college football history. After Stanford kicked a last-minute field goal to go up 20-19, Cal returned a kickoff for a touchdown with time expiring on a play that involved five lateral passes, an errant trombonist and enough mayhem to last a lifetime.

Although Cal won the game, one of the lasting memories from the ordeal was a fake issue of The Daily Californian, Cal’s student newspaper, that members of The Stanford Daily staff published four days following the game. The issue fictitiously proclaimed that the NCAA had reviewed the final play, and invoked the a made-up “Rule 55, Section C” that allowed it to overturn the referees’ decision and award Stanford the victory.

After distributing copies of this fake issue on Cal’s campus, chaos broke out as a large portion of the Berkeley community fell for the hoax. Meanwhile, as news of the prank made its way back to Stanford, Cardinal students shared in a much-needed moment of comic relief as they tried to get over the heartbreaking loss. For their intricate and far-reaching work, these Daily staffers are now remembered for pulling off one of the most famous college pranks of all time.

 

Part I: A memorable game

A once-promising season had turned sour for the 5-5 Cardinal, as the team entered the Big Game losers of four of their last six. Nevertheless, a win in the final game of the season at Cal would give Stanford bowl eligibility for the first time in four years.

Tony Kelly ’86, entertainment editor: We weren’t used to having a good football team. Every Saturday, you would go and see [quarterback John] Elway do things that no one else could do on a football field, but we wouldn’t really win that much.

Ivan Maisel ’81, former sports editor: They were still in contention for a bowl game when they got to Berkeley. All the bowl games wanted John Elway because it was John Elway, and everyone knew he would be the first pick in the draft.

 

In the 85th Big Game, 5-5 Stanford faced off against 6-4 Cal, which was led by first-year coach and former Cal star quarterback Joe Kapp.

Mark Zeigler ’85, writer: It was always played near the end of the season, and Stanford and Cal back then were never any good… This game has no [major] implications, but to me that made it even bigger because that was basically your bowl game. Basically the entire student body went and the student section was packed.

Down 19-17 late in the fourth quarter, Elway lined up under center at Stanford’s own 13-yard line. A miraculous fourth-and-17 conversion and a big run from Dotterer helped set up kicker Mark Harmon for 35-yard field goal with eight seconds on the clock. The kick was good, and Stanford took a 20-19 lead with four seconds to go.

Todd Davies ‘85: I’m looking at the backfield and Elway about to take the snap, and I remember he kind of knelt down, and I thought that was kind of an interesting moment of, like, either praying or reflection or thinking about the task that was ahead. And then he orchestrated this drive that eventually led them to score and it was amazing.

Zeigler: That fourth-and-17 completion that Elway made, I think he would admit was one of the best passes he threw in college and maybe in his career.

Maisel: [Stanford head coach Paul] Wiggin called timeout with eight seconds left, and I remember thinking, “Wow, that’s a lot of time.” But we kick the field goal and we’re up by a point, what could go wrong?

 

Part II: “The Band is out on the field!”

After the go-ahead field goal, Stanford incurred an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and had to kick off from its own 25-yard line instead of the 40. From there, Harmon squibbed a kick to the Cal 45, picked up by Cal safety Kevin Moen. What followed was a seemingly endless cascade of lateral passes by Cal returners trying to keep the play alive.

When a Cal player appeared to go down by contact, Stanford band members and students began to rush onto the field, but the play continued to unfold.

The Cal lateral train managed to get the ball back to Moen at around the 25-yard line. With no defenders left to catch him and a barrage of fans to weave through, Moen charged at full speed toward the end zone, running over Tyrrell as he spiked the ball in celebration.

A hoarse Joe Starkey, Cal’s radio play-by-play announcer, crystallized the moment with his famous call, screaming, “The band is on the field!…The Bears have won! The most amazing, sensational, dramatic, heart-rending, exciting, thrilling finish in the history of college football!”

Gary Tyrrell ‘83: With about two minutes left in the game, that’s when we started heading down to do our postgame concert. That’s why we found ourselves in the back of the end zone in that corner of the stadium while the game was still happening.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see this Cal player running towards the end zone and I figured he just wanted to get the hell out of here because there’s chaos going on around him. Then I realized, “Oh, he has the ball,” and the next thing I know, I was down.

‘It’s just not fair’: An oral history of The Play and the 1982 fake Daily Cal
(Stanford Daily File Photo)

Maisel: The officials congregated at midfield, and the longer they met, the more my stomach began to sink. If they’re meeting that long, it wasn’t a good sign. The referee signaled touchdown and Stanford people continued to celebrate because they weren’t paying much attention.

Mike Dotterer ‘84: I felt like I was an actor on stage. The whole thing was like a Shakespearean play.

Zeigler: Growing up playing a lot of pickup games in the neighborhood on the street, someone would always say “Last drive, winner takes all,” and then some kid would score and the other team would be like, “No no no, we want one more play,” and that’s kind of what it felt like.

 

The contingent of Stanford fans was convinced that the referees had gotten the ruling wrong.

Adam Berns ‘84: There’s no doubt, and I’ve looked at it many many times on YouTube, that that last lateral was a forward lateral.

Davies: “Oh my God, we’ve been robbed.” I mean, you know, they said we won the game. The play was ruled dead, and we should have won the game. And now because we’re at Cal and all the fans stormed the field, they ruled the other way.

Kelly: You don’t live or die with the football team, but it was close, and it was Cal, and it was Big Game, and the last game that Elway was going to play for us. It was a heavy mood in the way that sports can cause a heavy mood for a period of time.

 

Part III: Hatching a plan

With a sense of gloom surrounding the Stanford student body, a group of Stanford Daily staffers saw an opportunity to brighten people’s spirits and needle Cal in the process.

Berns: I really thought that Stanford campus needed something, some kind of revenge for what had actually happened. [The idea for the Fake Daily Cal issue] came to me while I was at the Sunday Flicks, where they would put on a movie at Memorial Auditorium on Sunday evening. Sunday night, it popped in my mind that it would be a brilliant idea to do a fake paper after the game that basically said that the NCAA had given the Big Game back to Stanford.

Zeigler: There was a lot of resistance. It was Thanksgiving week and people were getting ready to go home, and it was going take a whole lot of time and money. It was going to require us doing it while we were doing our regular edition. And then there was the whole debate of, “Why are we doing this? Is it going to work? Is anyone going to care? Are we just being bad sports?”

Tom Mulvoy, Knight Fellow: One of the fellows down there, the EIC named Richard Klinger, was initially quite reluctant. I said to Richard offhandedly, “I think if you don’t do this, 35 years from now you’re going to regret it.”

Zeigler: Adam had to convince me, since I had a lot of stories to write and a lot of schoolwork that week. He said, “Look, in 20 years when we’re sitting on my Greek yacht, you’re not going to remember the tests you missed — you’re going to remember this paper,” and that was what convinced me. I don’t know where he came up with the Greek yacht, but it hasn’t happened and I’m waiting for my invitation [laughs].

 

After getting the go-ahead from the the EIC and business manager, the small team got to work assembling the entire newspaper from scratch in the span of two days.  

Berns: This was pre-Photoshop, so we had the photo managing editor doctor a photo of the ref calling the play dead. We had a state-of-the-art computer system at The Daily where we could change the type space and things like that, and we had copies of the Berkeley paper so we made it look exactly like the Daily Cal paper down to everything. In really really small type we wrote that it was a Stanford Daily prank, but it was in such small type that you could barely read it.

Kelly: Mark wrote the most brilliant article that’s in there, which is the interview with Joe Kapp, who was always the kind of coach where one cliche would never be enough. Making up quotes for him like, “Life isn’t fair, I just swear to God it isn’t,” just sounded so perfect and so hilarious for that article in that time.

Zeigler: It was a lot of work since we had to put together literally an entire paper, and we didn’t end up sleeping two nights in a row. The story I wrote about Joe Kapp, I wrote in about 45 minutes at four in the morning. I’m not sure it would have come out that good if I’d had my senses about me.

Mulvoy: I asked if I could take a crack at the lead story — I’d done some sports coverage for [The Boston Globe], so the flow of such a story wouldn’t be a problem, especially if we were going to make it up anyway. Off the top of my head, I made up Rule 55, Section C — took me five minutes.

Berns: We had seen some current event topics in columns in the [real] Berkeley paper, so we wrote humorous topical letters to the editor in the fake paper. We put some fake ads in there. I can’t believe we actually did this — I’m a lawyer by training and I look back at this and laugh and think, “Oh my God, are you kidding me, we could have gotten in such trouble” — but we put in a 2-for-1 ad from the Berkeley bookstore [laughs].

Berns: The only people that knew about the paper were the EIC and business manager, me and Mark, the graduate fellow, the photo editor and the guy that laid it out. Everybody was told to say nothing about it.

 

Part IV: “Life isn’t fair”

After hours of frantic work to put together the fake issue, the group of Daily staffers drove up to Berkeley Wednesday morning to distribute the newspaper.

Kelly: I had a car at the time that had a Cal Berkeley sticker on it, and that made a lot of difference. I was the one that would end up transporting the issue to campus, because it was a car that wouldn’t be noticed on the campus, because it had a bear sticker on the window.

Berns: That morning, at 5 or 6 a.m., we took off with around 15,000 copies of the fake paper to drop off all over campus and in the Berkeley dorms. We got unbelievably lucky in that the Cal paper was coming out with a special double issue before the Thanksgiving holiday, and they ran into printing problems, which we had nothing to do with. Complete and utter luck. The Berkeley paper was eight hours late the day we ended up going up there with the fake Daily Cal, so we were the only paper on the campus.

Zeigler: I had this blue and yellow sweatsuit, and after I got into Stanford, I was like, “I can’t wear this,” so it had been sitting in the back of my closet, but that day, it came in handy.

 

After distributing copies of the paper across campus, the Daily staffers stuck around to observe the reactions of the Berkeley community.

Zeigler: We’d drop off a stack innocently and then wait 50 yards away, just to see what people’s reactions were. We saw a cheerleader cry, and a football player stop in his tracks and sit down. Eventually people would figure it out, but it took them a while.

Kelly: There was this spectacle of the publisher of the Daily Cal collecting armloads of the paper just saying, “What the hell is this?” Meanwhile, people are taking copies of the paper from him while he’s complaining about it.

Berns: [In the fake issue] we had called for an all-campus rally to protest the NCAA, and something like 1,000 people showed up to this fake rally.

Zeigler: People relied on the newspaper to know what was happening, and in a sense we abused that trust, but it’s also a college prank against a rival, so we didn’t really care [laughs]. It was the ultimate example of fake news.

 

The buzz didn’t end at Berkeley. Upon returning to campus, The Daily was hounded by phone calls from media outlets across the country.

Kelly: By the time we got back The Stanford Daily office that day, somebody had tipped off someone in the media, so there were all these radio stations and TV networks calling and it was Richard and the sports editors who had to handle all of that.

Richard Klinger ’83, Editor-in-Chief: The best phone call was from an adult at Cal, someone on the board of the Daily Cal, or their faculty advisor, but he was threatening to sue us. He was very upset, and said we’d done the paper wrong. My attitude was to let him blow off steam, but I was thinking, “We’re happy to make this a bigger public matter if you want to do that” [laughs].

Kelly: They somehow got a copy to CBS in New York. So here’s [CBS sportscaster] Brent Musburger on TV holding up a copy of the fake Daily Cal and laughing and saying, “this is great.”

Berns: I was shocked. I normally watched NFL Today because I was a big pro football fan. I was literally just watching it, and Musberger held up a copy — I don’t know where he got it — and he starts reading the Joe Kapp story, with the “Life isn’t fair. I swear to god it isn’t” quote. I almost fell out of my seat.

Davies: The fact that [Cal fans] could see how we felt in some sense, I thought there was justice in that and that it was an effective way to convey — I thought it was a clever thing at the time.

‘It’s just not fair’: An oral history of The Play and the 1982 fake Daily Cal
(KEVIN CASEY/The Stanford Daily)

Part V: Remembering The Play and The Fake Issue

As a whole, the 1982 Big Game is remembered as one of the most absurd moments in the history of the sport.

Maisel: The Play was the original. It still stands as the craziest finish to a college football game in the history of the sport. Anytime a crazy play happens now, people compare it to The Play. The prank was wonderfully and artfully done. It just added to the lore.

Berns: Back in my first year of law school at UCLA, I ended up working for a federal district judge, and I remember I had put the [fake] paper on my resume at the very bottom, and this federal judge happened to be an enormously huge Stanford football fan. When she read this thing, all she wanted to talk about in my interview was the fake Daily Cal. Obviously I got the job [laughs].

Dotterer: What they [The Daily staff] did was so ingenious. I would have loved to have one of these iPhones with a camera taking pictures of Cal students reading that paper. It took a lot of the sting out of it for people that loved Stanford football.

Klinger: It was well-received on campus, and that was the principal reason we’d done it, other than just a sense of justice and aggrievement.

Mulvoy: It was terrific journalism, and nothing to do with being on the college level. They did as well as any major newspaper would have done, and it did what it was supposed to do.

 

Contact Sandip Srinivas at sandips ‘at’ stanford.edu and Neel Ramachandran at neelr ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Sara and Ryan Hall: After the Olympic Dream https://stanforddaily.com/2017/06/06/sara-and-ryan-hall-after-the-olympic-dream/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/06/06/sara-and-ryan-hall-after-the-olympic-dream/#respond Wed, 07 Jun 2017 02:31:51 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1127747 After graduating Stanford in 2005, Sara and Ryan Hall succeeded to represent Team USA at the Pan American and Olympic Games, respectively, and it doesn’t stop there. Together they co-founded and run The Hall Steps Foundation to help fight world poverty.

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Two world-class distance runners. Bony frames. Lopey strides. Lightning speed. Countless laps. Two or three times a day. Long runs, sprints, weights, physio treatment, recovery. It never stops; for most, it’s a full-time job. After graduating Stanford in 2005, Sara and Ryan Hall succeeded to represent Team USA at the Pan American and Olympic Games, respectively, and it doesn’t stop there. Together they co-founded and run The Hall Steps Foundation to help fight world poverty.

Sara and Ryan continuously strive to make immediate changes in the lives of the less fortunate. The foundation’s standing goal is to help build stronger communities. Together they drive “lifestyle philanthropy” that encourages their supporters to make a personal commitment to their own health and wellness.

In 2014 alone, The Halls Steps Foundation invested $50,000 in micro-loans in East Africa, built a well in Mozambique, donated to Kiva and redid a maternity clinic in rural Senegal.

“The foundation is run solely by a combination of donations, prize winnings, people fundraising at races and individual donations,” Sara said.

The foundation has been entirely volunteer-run since it was founded in 2009, with a full-time staff member in the first year to help get it started. Volunteers and the Internet have been essential to keeping the foundation running.

“We have a lot of volunteers helping out when we travel, thankfully,” Sara said. “Otherwise, all you really need is wifi!”

While Ryan and Sara were in East Africa last summer, one of the biggest areas of need they saw was giving people a head start to work and get themselves out of poverty.

“We saw a lot of people that had a desire to work, there was just a lack of opportunity and start-up funds to begin a business,” Sara said.

Sara and Ryan Hall: After the Olympic Dream
Sara Hall during her time at Stanford. (KRISTIN COHOON/The Stanford Daily)

The Halls made a $5,000 donation to Kiva to keep loans going and help alleviate poverty. Kiva is partnering with local NGOs to provide loans for those in need to start their own businesses.

“What is amazing is that there is a 98.97-percent repayment rate, and you can then reinvest the funds that are repaid into another person to help give their business a start,” Sara said.

Guided by their faith and seeking a way to use their athletic success in service of others, Sara believes being a follower of Jesus allows her to understand how central helping the poor is to God’s message.

“It is what first had me traveling outside the U.S. and seeing the poverty outside our borders that prompted the charitable work,” she said.

A New York Times article in 2012 explains the way Ryan ties together his passion for running and his faith: “It is while running or thinking of running, Hall said, that he feels most conversant with and dependent on God. And it is through this professional excellence that Hall believes he is best able to show God to the world, to display his goodness and his love.”

Tracing back to where this all began, Sara and Ryan both attended Stanford where Sara, the head director of the foundation, graduated with a human biology degree and Ryan with a sociology degree. The Farm is not only where they first met but also where they learned how to manage sport and a rigorous academic schedule simultaneously.

During Sara’s time as a Stanford athlete, she posted three second-place finishes in the 5000- and3000-meter races, a third place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championship and made an appearance at the 2004 Olympic Trials. After college, she went on to become the 2012 U.S. National Cross Country Champion and a Gold Medalist at the Pan American Games in the steeplechase.

Meanwhile, Ryan was plagued by injuries for most of his time running at Stanford. He witnessed sporadic victories from 2001 to 2004, winning first place in the Stanford Invitational as a sophomore and leading the team to NCAAs as Cross Country Athlete of the Year as a junior. In 2005, he captured the NCAA individual title in the 5000-meter with a time of 13:22.32. Since college, he has risen to fame running for the U.S. in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, posting the best times in the marathon and half-marathon. He currently holds the U.S. record for the half-marathon.

However, while Stanford was the springboard for the couple’s athletic careers, it also enabled the beginning of their philanthropic endeavors.

Sara first began chasing her philanthropic visions during her time at Stanford through a mission trip to Costa Rica with one of the Christian groups on campus. However, she mentioned that most of her philanthropic work during college was domestic, “like teaching janitors English and tutoring kids in East Palo Alto.”

The Halls’ determination to make a change started locally, reaching out to and interacting with Stanford student-athletes when they lived in the Bay Area in 2012. Jess Tonn, a current senior on the track and field team, said Sara was a fundamental resource and role model for her personally, as well as an integral part of the support team at Stanford.

“I felt so comfortable to reach out to Sara when I needed advice,” Tonn said.

She still remembers when the Halls stopped by practice at the track on their bikes when she was a freshman.

“Not only did this show that they still hold the program close to their hearts, but also how deep the passion behind Stanford track and field runs in those that have graduated,” Tonn said.

Sara and Ryan Hall: After the Olympic Dream
Ryan Hall running a marathon while attending Stanford. (MASARU OKA/The Stanford Daily)

As any sportsman would know, being a world-class athlete is a full-time job. Training vigorously two or three times a day takes a lot of effort, physically and mentally. Yet Ryan and Sara have always enjoyed combining both their academics with sporting commitments. Since leaving Stanford, they have simply shifted their academic pursuits to running the day-to-day foundation duties.

“It can be challenging and there are tax filings and things that aren’t fun,” Ryan said. “But making a difference and spending time abroad reenergizes my work.”

The philanthropic spirit has always been one of Sara’s great passions. Back in 2006 when she was a student-athlete, “Runners World” asked, “If you weren’t running, what would you be doing?” She replied, “As soon as I stop, I want to do mission work in Latin America. I really have a heart for it. Ryan and I, as soon as we have the money, want to buy a house in Mexico, to reach out to people in need.”

Today, the Halls may not have a house in Mexico, but they continue to work with numerous foundations to reach out to people in need: Kiva, Kickstart, World Vision, The Kenyan Kids Foundation, Back on My Feet, Global Children’s Movement, International Justice Mission and Global Children’s Movement, just to name a few.

In 2012, The Hall Steps Foundation donated $20,000 to complete the building of the Kenya Hospital. They also donated $50,000 to Iris Ministries for construction of a health clinic and $6,000 to build a well in Mozambique. $2,500 was donated to Girls on the Run Northern Arizona to encourage healthy lifestyles in young girls near where Sara and Ryan train in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Going to physically see the transformation The Halls Foundation makes to the lives of others is a crucial step in their process. Ryan said seeing the hospital in Kenya they funded was an extremely rewarding experience.

“A large percentage of the community showed up, and you could tell how appreciative they were. The community shared stories of lives that had been saved as a result of the hospital,” Ryan said. “It’s then that you know it’s all worth it.”

This story originally appeared as a blog.

Contact Anna Laman at alaman ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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How income inequality stacks up at Stanford https://stanforddaily.com/2017/06/03/how-income-inequality-stacks-up-at-stanford-2/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/06/03/how-income-inequality-stacks-up-at-stanford-2/#respond Sun, 04 Jun 2017 04:01:38 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1127532 Undeniably, institutions of higher education are important engines for economic mobility. And while the goals of the University are certainly broader than fattening the wallets of its students in the future, the greater challenge remains: What is the University’s obligation to affect inequality within itself, and what does it still owe to its students in this regard?

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It’s Admit Weekend. Campus has never looked more alive – White Plaza bustles with opportunity in every direction, pamphlets fly between hands and every office opens its doors in eager welcome to the newcomers. To prospective freshmen wandering hopelessly amidst the chaos, Stanford exists as a symbol of new hope and tangible success: the American dream finally realized. The University presents itself as a generous lending hand, lush with resources ready to embrace students from all walks of life and on every level of the socioeconomic spectrum.

Stanford’s admissions website boasts a $22.4 billion endowment to “[provide] an enduring source of financial support for fulfillment of the university’s mission of teaching, learning, and research.” Elsewhere, the words “DIVERSITY” and “OUTREACH” jump off the page.

However, recently released data from studies by economics professor Raj Chetty and his colleagues stands to challenge this rosy image. Their research shows that at 38 colleges in America, including five Ivy League schools, the number of students whose parents belong to the top 1 percent of the income distribution surpasses the number whose parents fall within the entire bottom 60 percent. In other words, more students come from households with incomes exceeding $630,000 per year than come from households earning below $65,000.

At Stanford, the numbers are not much better: As of 2013, more students come from the top 1 percent than the bottom 50 percent of the income scale. This statistic is true for the so-called Ivy-Plus colleges in general, which include the eight Ivy League schools as well as Stanford,  University of Chicago, MIT and Duke.

Amid a host of efforts to make Stanford more socioeconomically inclusive, why does the University’s student body remain so dramatically skewed toward the rich? Despite the expansion of financial aid in recent years, as well as reports of increases in students represented in the lower income quartiles, the lines tracing change in Stanford’s socioeconomic makeup remain remarkably flat. Ultimately, these trends have major implications for promoting social and economic mobility.

How income inequality stacks up at Stanford
(NA HE JEON/The Stanford Daily)

The data

The Equality of Opportunity Project – pioneered by Chetty and colleagues from Brown University, UC Berkeley and the U.S. Treasury – is a collection of studies using big data to understand the relationships between educational opportunity and social mobility. Together, these researchers linked anonymized tax returns to the attendance records of over 30 million college students at nearly every college in the U.S. between 1999 and 2013. They then used this administrative data to develop publicly available “mobility report cards” that provide statistics correlating students’ earnings in their early thirties to their parents’ incomes for each college.

The results Chetty and his collaborators found — recently publicized in a widely-read article in The New York Times — were striking. The data calls into question the role that institutions of higher education play in fostering both upward income mobility and interaction between students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.

“Only 3.8% of students come from the bottom 20% of the income distribution at Ivy-Plus Colleges,” the study states. “As a result, children from families in the top 1% are 77 times more likely to attend an Ivy-Plus college compared to children from families in the bottom 20%.”

Across all colleges, this trend of income segregation parallels the income segregation across neighborhoods in the typical U.S. city.

Robert Fluegge, a predoctoral research fellow involved with Chetty’s work at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), said he was shocked when he first saw the numbers on college socioeconomic diversity.

“It’s not just Stanford,” he said. “I think it’s valuable to put numbers on problems like this because it galvanizes people; it gives them a starting point to get something done about it.”

Despite the initial income gap between students from high- and low-income backgrounds, Chetty’s research found that students from these backgrounds have remarkably similar earnings outcomes at any given college. So it’s not a mere matter of preparedness, as it seems low-income students are more than capable of filling any initial achievement gaps between them and their higher-income peers: The barriers that prevent low-income students from attending elite universities are more complex.

In the United States as a whole, a strong inequality of future earnings persists between students of different backgrounds: Children from high-income families tend to land 30 percentiles higher in the income distribution than peers from the lowest-income families in adulthood. But research indicates that when considering the student pool from any given elite college, this gap shortens to only 7.2 percentiles, a figure 76 percent smaller than is seen nationally.

This trend holds true at Stanford as well. Despite large disparities in the number of students from the highest and lowest quartiles of the income scale, there is little difference among income outcomes.

Chetty’s research also makes a distinction between universities that foster upper-tail mobility, which sends students to the top 1 percent of the earning distribution, and normal mobility, which sends students to the top 20 percent. Mid-tier public schools with high access to low-income students, such as the City University of New York, offer the highest normal mobility rates – much higher than that of Ivy-Plus colleges like Stanford.

Schools that accomplish the highest rates of upper-tail mobility, on the other hand, are generally elite Ivy-Plus colleges with minimal access to low-income students.

“We definitely don’t want to tell Stanford or other institutions what to do, but we think our data suggest [elite schools] could be doing more to admit more poor students,” Fluegge said. “We can’t say that for certain without the admissions data, but the things that we’ve seen … suggest that students at Stanford that are low-income tend to do basically as well as students that are high-income.”

Chetty and his colleagues’ work also reveals that, while the number of low-income students attending college rose quickly during the 2000s, the number of students from bottom-quintile families at four-year colleges and selective schools did not experience significant change. Stanford’s percentage of bottom-quintile families was more or less stagnant at below 5 percent throughout the first decade of the 2000s.

Given Chetty’s data, what’s to explain the lack of socioeconomic diversity among Stanford’s student body?

How income inequality stacks up at Stanford
(NA HE JEON/The Stanford Daily)

Barriers to diversity

One of the major problems Stanford faces in attracting low-income students is that outreach, while extensive, still struggles to connect competitive students with the University.

“Although we tried to increase financial aid, we also have to work very hard to get the message out to low-income students that those resources are available,” said Dereca Blackmon ’91, associate dean and director of Stanford’s Diversity and First-Gen (DGen) Office.

Dean Richard Shaw echoed her sentiment and noted that only 47 percent of Stanford students receive need-based financial aid.

“The reality is there are competitive kids out there from all walks of life, all backgrounds, that will be uber-competitive,” he said. “And in some cases, they don’t apply. … They just [don’t] realize they [can] look outside their own regions or neighborhoods.”

Indeed, there is research being done outside of Chetty’s group that explores why low-income, high-achieving students do not apply to selective colleges at the same rates as wealthier peers that are similarly high-achieving as measured by test scores.

Scott and Donya Bommer Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences Caroline Hoxby, for example, has shown that these high-performing students tend to apply as though they were low-achieving, low-income students. This may be due in part to a lack of advising and college counseling resources at high schools in more low-income areas, Fluegge posited.

“There are a lot of things that are keeping students from applying … [whether or not there exists] emphasis on higher education … at your school: how many students from your school go to a [place] like Stanford versus going into the workforce or community college, whether you have mentorship from your teachers or counselors and how well they support you,” said Anakaren Cervantes ’17, a student staffer at the DGen Office who works in admissions as a diversity outreach associate. “If you don’t have that and you don’t have resources outside of school, then it’s a lot harder for you.”

Less access to resources may starkly influence low-income students’ understanding of which colleges are the best academic and financial choices. Interestingly enough, students from poor families often end up spending more to go to worse colleges, remarked Fluegge.

“[At] colleges like Stanford [and] Harvard … many of these students would be eligible for a full ride,” he said. “And that is not the case at the schools they tend to go to.”

Once at Stanford, though, low-income students face an additional set of challenges as they navigate financial aid and unanticipated expenses. As Angela Umeh ’19 noted, understanding how financial contributions and aid actually work can be a source of endless confusion and frustration.

“There was never a moment that someone came through and talked to me about my financial aid package,” Umeh said. “Stanford still makes you pay a student contribution… that I didn’t know I would owe. The financial aid office staff tries to be helpful, but… they don’t always have the solution to your problem, and at best they can delay the problem.”

Moreover, in a survey of the entire Class of 2016 conducted by the DGen Office, 50 percent of students who responded reported that they send money home. The Office continues to work with students to identify other potentially hidden financial obligations, such as ensuring food security during spring break, finding places to stay during winter break and summer and covering unanticipated medical expenses.

“Random expenses hit really hard,” Umeh added. “[I] accidentally booked the wrong tickets home, [but] school keeps going on.”

What’s being done

Ultimately, it is clear the University has a duty to help mitigate broader systemic issues at play in financial inequality, but the solution is by no means one-shot. And Stanford is working to increase the socioeconomic diversity of its campus.

According to Dean Shaw, the prospective Class of 2021 contains Stanford’s highest percentage of admissions offers to first-generation and low-income students to date. 2015 saw an expansion of the financial aid program: Parents with annual incomes below $125,000 are now expected to provide zero contribution toward tuition, and parents with incomes below $65,000 are expected to provide zero contribution toward tuition, room or board. Previously, those aid cutoffs were $100,000 and $60,000 respectively.

“I think financial aid has made a huge difference, and in fact, we’ve seen some nice increases in students represented in the lower income quartiles and particularly this year,” Shaw said, though he could not specify distributions.

However, some argue Stanford must do more to grow its financial aid. Unlike some peer schools such as Harvard and Princeton, Stanford still does not extend its need-blind admissions policy to international applicants. Shaw said that need-blind international admissions are “still very much on [Stanford’s] agenda” but that budgetary constraints following 2008’s economic downturn set it back as a priority.

With an endowment of over $20 billion, expanding need-blind admissions to all prospective students might seem a no-brainer. But according to Shaw, the necessary funds are still lacking. However, he said, Stanford has been increasing the amount of aid it gives students from abroad.

Need-blind policies aside, the latest increases in financial aid may not make much of an impact on students from the poorest families, who were likely already covered with near-full aid. To combat persistent underrepresentation of low-income students, Stanford will need to pursue other strategies. 

Stanford recently joined the American Talent Initiative, a consortium of 68 universities with a commitment to expanding college access to 50,000 additional low-income students within the next decade. Every summer, Stanford invites and covers the cost of travel for 30 to 50 high school counselors from public high schools and community-based organizations in low-income communities to help them learn to advise their students to apply to places like Stanford. Last summer, the University also launched the Coalition Application, an alternate online college application established by a group of universities with a commitment to helping high school students acquire information and plan for application to selective colleges.

A number of initiatives are also in place to help low-income students overcome socioeconomic barriers once on campus: The Leland Scholars Program, for example, exists as a summer bridge program that allows students to get an academic head start by taking courses during the summer before their freshman year — as well as by exposing them to faculty members who seek to increase students’ sense of belonging at Stanford.

Meanwhile, at New Student Orientation, the DGen Office hosts luncheons and outreach events for parents and students to provide information about the resources and support systems provided at Stanford. During the school year, the University also provides a generous Opportunity Fund to help students overcome financial challenges such as paying to fix a broken computer or bicycle, traveling to attend conferences, buying textbooks and meeting unforeseen medical expenses. Furthermore, Student Financial Services hosts financial literacy workshops on campus to help first-generation and low-income students navigate loans, taxes and more.

Umeh applied to Stanford through the national QuestBridge program, said that Stanford’s participation in the initiative strikes her as a notable positive step towards including low-income students. QuestBridge links high-achieving, low-income high school students with elite schools through a matching system. Participants in the program include six Ivy League schools; Harvard is absent from the list.

In terms of her dorm experience, Umeh noted that accessing financial aid has never presented an issue and that the First Generation and/or Low Income Partnership (FLIP) program also provides useful alternatives to University programs, helping out with, for example, an emergency grant for a sudden flight home.

“As a whole institution compared to other elite schools, Stanford does do a pretty good job trying to help the low-income community and be aware,” Umeh said. “It’s definitely doing a lot, and I don’t want to disregard that — but on a personal level, you do notice where the gaps are, and talking about that can help Stanford be aware of it. … [I]t’s kind of hard when you’re getting so much money from a school to be like, ‘Actually, do you have more?’ You don’t want to be ungrateful, but honestly, sometimes you do need more resources — or at least recognition that it’s hard.”

A complex problem

The challenges faced by low-income students are more than just economic; they’re also psychological. Blackmon cited research by Associate Professor of Psychology Greg Walton describing the “stereotype threat” that exists for both low-income and high-income students, who feel at risk of personally fulfilling negative stereotypes about their broader groups.

“There is this image of [Stanford] in terms of being high-income that is intimidating for low-income and/or first-generation students,” she said. “Folks come in wondering [if] everything from where they buy their clothes to what they can afford to eat is going to impact their ability to have a sense of belonging here.”

In a social setting, income inequality can create stress for low-income students as they struggle to decide whether or not they can convey to their higher-income peers that they cannot afford certain luxuries such as eating out, joining organizations with fees or participating in extracurricular activities with high costs. Such stress extends into the classroom, too: For example, Blackmon cited an assignment in which a professor asked students to write about their last vacation.

“If you’re high income, then that’s something you often can readily think about, whereas if you’re low-income, it might not be,” she said.  

She said professors sometimes make outright assumptions about whether or not their students relate to being low-income, though a significant percentage of students do.

Umeh said that some professors make more of an effort than others to provide cheap textbook options, but she added that it’s difficult to predict how sensitive professors will be towards low-income students’ circumstances.

“Professors can go either way – some are more aware than others,” Umeh said. “You never know if you can tell a professor, ‘I can’t afford this.’”

Still, she stressed that that students from high-earning families ought not to receive stigma for the way they grew up.  

From pre-admission through their time at the University, students ask themselves, “Will I be able to afford Stanford?” And “afford,” these days, is a loaded word – not just for Stanford. There is a sociological, psychological, socioeconomically untenable cost to the effects of an institutional setting in which such striking economic disparity exists within the student body.

“Income mobility for low-income [college] students is parallel to [that of] middle-income and high-income students,” Blackmon said.  “[They are all] equally likely to end up in the top 1 percent. Is Stanford’s primary objective to make students high-income? No. But if we’re going to challenge economic disparity, don’t they have to have the economic mobility to do that?”

Undeniably, institutions of higher education are important engines for economic mobility. And while the goals of the University are certainly broader than fattening the wallets of its students in the future, the greater challenge remains: What is the University’s obligation to affect inequality within itself, and what does it still owe to its students in this regard?

 

Contact Claire Wang at clwang32 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Triple Threat https://stanforddaily.com/2017/04/27/triple-threat-2/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/04/27/triple-threat-2/#respond Fri, 28 Apr 2017 04:56:27 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1126318 Imagine a franchise composed of a three-player core of scoring point guard Damian Lillard, combo guard Jerry West, and dominant power forward Draymond Green. The three seem wildly different in terms of personality and style, yet as it turns out, it’s the perfect symbiosis — at least for the Stanford women’s basketball team.

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“I think of myself like a Draymond Green — [he] just goes out, does the dirty work, gets rebounds, blocks.” McCall says, smiling. “I admire his passion.”

“I’m number 44 because I like Jerry West,” says Samuelson.

“I am a huge fan of Damian Lillard because he is a scoring point guard,” says Roberson.

Imagine a franchise composed of a three-player core of scoring point guard Damian Lillard, combo guard Jerry West, and dominant power forward Draymond Green. The three seem wildly different in terms of personality and style, yet as it turns out, it’s the perfect symbiosis — at least for the Stanford women’s basketball team.

Despite starting their college career in the shadow of Chiney Ogwumike — an All-American forward from 2010 to 2014 and No. 1 pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft — Stanford’s current seniors emerged as team leaders by their junior year. In March, they carried Stanford to a Pac-12 conference title, as McCall and Samuelson averaged over 10 points per game while Roberson had a two-to-one turnover ratio.

All three of them grew up in basketball families and started to play in elementary school, with older siblings and fathers as their basketball mentors.

Both Samuelson and McCall started playing under their fathers, who coached them individually and pushed them to become better. Samuelson also used to shoot around with her sisters Bonnie and Katie Lou. Bonnie played for the Cardinal between 2011 and 2015 and Katie Lou is playing her second year at UConn.

“My dad would take me and my sisters to shoot all the time when we were younger and throughout high school,” Samuelson recalls. “We had to shoot every single day, and we hated it. But that’s why we are all good shooters, so I thank him for that.”

Just like Samuelson, McCall’s style of play — a dominant power forward on both ends of the floor — can be traced to her father’s coaching. Her older sister DeWanna Bonner, power forward for the Phoenix Mercury, developed alongside her.

“I started when I was four. My dad was one of my coaches [for a season],” McCall says. “Then I played for a club team. I was never the best one, always the last one to get off the bench. My dad told me to be the hardest worker and get rebounds, and that he’ll teach me the rest.”

Roberson’s inspiration was her older brother Kenni, who used to teach her ball-handling moves when she was little. Roberson still trains with him in the summer.

“My brother and I, we talk after every single game,” she says. “He has really been a strong influence in my basketball career.”

Basketball is a family affair for all three Stanford seniors. In committing to Stanford, they stepped from one basketball family into another. From their first moments together, the three women knew that they had found a new family in their classmates.

“We were here our freshman summer, and I already knew they were going to be my best friends,” Samuelson says. “We were staying in Governor’s Corner, and we had no idea where anything was. That’s how we got to know each other, by biking around and finding our way on campus.”

“My freshman year, there were a lot of different cliques. As my four years progressed, we all grew closer,” recalls McCall. “This is probably the closest team I have ever been on, a big sisterhood.”

Although the Cardinal were able to reach the Final Four of the NCAA tournament during their freshman season, the three seniors, along with the rest of the team, had to adapt to the new group dynamic as Stanford was left without an All-American player.

“Sophomore year, the team underwent some big changes,” Samuelson says. “We didn’t have an All-American, so you had to step yourself up.”

In the 2014-2015 season, the Cardinal worked hard to earn a 26-10 record. Their bid for another trip to the Final Four was halted when they fell to top-seeded Notre Dame in the Sweet 16. In Stanford’s last game, McCall notched 12 points, a promising ending to her tough year.

“Sophomore year, I struggled a lot, and my classmates were here for me and encouraged me,” says McCall. “Seeing us grow and go through the ups and the downs really just showed me how great friends we were.”

Indeed, with Chiney gone, the Cardinal were relying on McCall and other bigs to step up and lead the team. In spite of beginning the season as a starter, McCall lost her spot midway through the season that she finished coming off the bench for the Cardinal. This was the first time in eight years that Stanford had won less than 33 games, and McCall’s confidence was at a low.

“After my sophomore I just kept thinking, ‘How am I gonna do this?’ I was so discouraged,” she says.

After being named captain of the USA Basketball team and leading the country to a first place in the World University Games during her sophomore summer, McCall’s confidence was boosted and she was ready to start a new season.

“Knowing I could score down low against teams from all over the world was really helpful,” she says. “Suddenly I had this tremendous confidence.”

The seniors’ sophomore year also marked the final collegiate season of Bonnie Samuelson, Karlie’s sister, who left the team. Heading into their junior year, the three current seniors were poised to take over as team leaders. All three were named captains.

“This was the change for us,” Samuelson says. “This became our team.”

Their junior year, Stanford earned a 27-8 record and a 1,000th program win. After a heartbreaking loss to Washington in the Pac-12 quarterfinals, the Cardinal met Notre Dame again in the Sweet 16 of The Big Dance. McCall’s career-high 27 points led the way for the Cardinal, bolstered by an additional 20 points from Samuelson. As the junior class was beginning to truly catch fire, Stanford stunned Notre Dame but fell to Washington in the Elite Eight.

At the beginning of the 2016-17 season, the trio looked ahead toward a potentially rocky senior year. Would-be senior Lili Thompson had transferred to Notre Dame and Samuelson started the season injured. However, the bar remained high after the 2016 Elite Eight finish. The seniors in particular had their sights set on VanDerveer’s 1,000th career win. Maybe even another trip to the Final Four, which they hadn’t experienced since their freshman year.

  The season did not disappoint, as the seniors led the team to a 28-5 record with only two conference losses. The Cardinal were able to overcome injuries and managed to stay healthy during most of the season.

On Feb. 3 against USC, the Cardinal completed one of their season goals as they were able to make VanDerveer the second NCAA women’s coach with more than 1,000 career wins.

“I am so happy that I was able to be on the team that got her the 1,000th win,” Roberson says. “It’s crazy to think how many dubs that is.”

“Being able to do that as a senior was crazy. That’s a goal that we kind of set for each other, to get that for her, so it was nice being able to do that,” McCall says.

After hitting the 1,000-win milestone, the Cardinal shifted focus to a Pac-12 championship during conference play. The Stanford squad ultimately fell short twice against Oregon State, both times by a mere three points.

Stanford was able to rebound and to take its 12th conference championship during the Pac-12 tournament. Once again, the seniors proved to be the Cardinal backbone, combing for almost half of the Cardinal’s points.

“Winning that Pac-12 tournament was great for all three of us. We have been through so much adversity in our four years here,” McCall says.

The Cardinal have participated in The Big Dance for three straight decades, and this year was no exception. The seniors had one last chance to play with their sisters and enjoy their final moments in the program they had changed over those four years.

“It’s kind of bittersweet,” Roberson added.

During the NCAA tournament, the senior class led their team to the Cardinal’s First Final four since 2014. The Cardinal notably upset Notre Dame in the Elite Eight, 76-75, after rallying from a 14 point deficit in the third quarter. Although all three seniors were a huge part of the comeback, McCall stole the show with a game-saving block as the clock expired.

McCall finished the season with 288 rebounds and 54 blocks while she averaged 14.6 points per game. Her teammates, who affectionately call her “Bird” (because her last name resembles a bird call), admire her enthusiasm on and off the court.

“Bird is the most caring person you could ever meet,” Samuelson says. “She never has a bad day, always positive. She lights up the whole room.”

“Bird is determined, spirited and entertaining,” adds Roberson.

Samuelson ended the year with a team-high 80 makes from the three, converting  47.6 percent of her attempts from downtown, supplementing her 12.7 points per game.

“Karlie loves the game. She’s the best shooter I have ever been the teammate of,” says McCall. “I mean, Bonnie is pretty good, but Karlie is my favorite,” she adds with a smile.

“Karlie is bubbly, bright and loyal,” added Roberson.

Roberson ended her season with 37 steals and 81 assists, averaging 6.7 points per game.

 “Outside of the court she loves listening to music and vibing with her teammates,” adds McCall.

“Bri is probs one of the best listeners and best friends I have ever met,” says Samuelson. “She will listen to you and wants to be there for you. She is hilarious too. An awesome person to be around.”

One of the aspects of the trio’s dynamic the stat sheet cannot measure is their leadership of the team. Throughout the season, the senior core motivated the team and pushed their teammates.

“Those three never get down,” junior Kaylee Johnson says. “Always first in the gym, last out.”

Looking ahead to next year, all three women intend to keep playing basketball. Roberson wishes to play a couple of years overseas before applying to law school. Samuelson is still hesitating between her many options: playing overseas or potentially coaching or physical therapy work. Likewise, McCall has no intention of giving up hoops. She will prepare for the WNBA Draft after graduating at the end of winter quarter.

“I’d love to play on my sister’s team,” McCall says. “My dad would be super excited for me to play with the Phoenix Mercury. Other than that, I’d love to play with Chiney again. She has always been a mentor to me. That’s in Connecticut. A little far, and a lot colder than I am used to.”

In their four years at Stanford, the three seniors have changed the basketball program, but they have also emerged as changed themselves, having “matured as young women,” according to VanDerveer. They have also established themselves as leaders of a basketball family both on and off the court.

“Their leadership skills have been the best,” VanDerveer says. “They’ve been really special seniors.”

With these three women gone next season, the Cardinal will need to rely on current juniors Kaylee Johnson and Brittany McPhee to fill the leadership vacuum. Both Johnson and McPhee intend to continue the positive influence McCall, Roberson and Samuelson had on the team.

“During senior night, it finally hit me: These three girls are not going to be on the team next year. I just realized how different it’s going to be,” says Johnson. “It made me really grateful for all the memories we shared and eager to work hard.”

 “There is no one else that I wanted to work so hard for,” she adds.

Cardinal players agree that they need to follow the example of the three graduating seniors if the team’s legacy of success is to continue. Johnson and McPhee look to follow the core’s footstep as they embark on their final season on the team.

In Bird’s departing message to the incoming freshmen, she emphasizes passion — her inner Draymond Green.

 “Play with passion,” she says. “There are a lot of days when basketball is tough. Always remember the little girl you were when you fell in love with the game of basketball.”

Contact Alexandre Bucquet at bucqueta ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Impact on the sidelines https://stanforddaily.com/2017/04/13/impact-on-the-sidelines/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/04/13/impact-on-the-sidelines/#respond Fri, 14 Apr 2017 03:41:41 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1125870 It’s a tied match, headed into a decisive fifth set against UC San Diego, and the Stanford bench is going crazy. The yelling and screaming continue as the Cardinal take an early lead, continuing point after point. A kill by senior outside hitter Colin McCall brings Stanford to match point, with the team leading 14-10. […]

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It’s a tied match, headed into a decisive fifth set against UC San Diego, and the Stanford bench is going crazy.

The yelling and screaming continue as the Cardinal take an early lead, continuing point after point. A kill by senior outside hitter Colin McCall brings Stanford to match point, with the team leading 14-10. UCSD fights back with a kill of its own, before finally, a Triton makes a service error and the comeback is complete.

Bedlam.

The bench rushes the court to celebrate clinching a conference playoff spot in the team’s final regular season match at Maples Pavilion. With the win, Stanford had completed a turnaround to stay undefeated in five-set matches, improving to 4-0 for the season.

One of Stanford’s hallmarks this season has been its ability to come back to win close games, fighting and winning five-set matches time and time again. In a sport that requires focus and energy on each point, especially late in matches, Stanford is known for hanging on and delivering in the most crucial moments. If you ask junior setter Kyle Dagostino, this special energy comes from the bench.

Impact on the sidelines“In that three-minute break going into those fifth sets, we come together as a group and really try to rally as much energy as we possibly can, hoping that that feeds into the match the first few points of that fifth set,” said Dagostino. “Our job as the bench is to just keep those guys going and make sure they have enough energy to feed off of for the remainder of that fifth set.”

This season is not an anomaly. The Stanford men’s volleyball bench has developed a life and culture of its own, with its history being passed down from season to season.

“It started with Jake Kneller [‘13] back in the day,” recalls head coach John Kosty. “Jake started this concept of ‘bennergy,’ where the bench can give as much energy to the court as the guys on the court can give to what they’re doing.”

“Bennergy,” or bench energy, is evident to anyone who watches the team play. Cheering is loud, celebrations are exuberant and the enthusiasm is seemingly endless.

The running onto the court often comes much to the chagrin of referees, who work to keep the Cardinal bench in control. Although the bench has received warnings in the past, Kosty seems to find those warnings worthwhile:

“I love it when down-refs warn our bench to stay back, stay off the court, stop running across the court. When we were down at Irvine, we were warned three or four times to stay back and stop running all the way across the back of the court. I love that because it means that our whole team is engaged, and we’re playing as one.”

The history of “bennergy” as it stands for the current Stanford team might have started last year, in an early season matchup against the BYU Cougars. BYU is known for producing competitive teams every season and is also known for a devoted crowd of fans. The two teams have developed somewhat of a rivalry over the past few seasons, playing to packed crowds in each matchup. BYU leads the overall series history 33-21 and has defeated the Cardinal in the last three regular season contests, but Stanford is the last team to win in a postseason matchup.

“The fans are right on your back, and they’re twiddling their fingers right in your face as you’re back to serve and barking down your ear,” said Dagostino. “When we went to BYU that first weekend of MPSF play, we went crazy because we knew that we had to compete with the crowd of four or five thousand BYU fans.”

That match, played on January 15, 2016, was yet another five-set comeback win for the Cardinal. The then-No. 11 team had gone down two-sets-to-one against then-No. 1 BYU before rallying to win the fourth set and fighting again to win the fifth by a score of 15-11. The upset was BYU’s first loss of the 2016 season and set the tone for the Cardinal going forward.

“It sort of became our MO for the season to go out and have these series of celebrations that we were going to do at any given time and organize them in a way that we could excite our team with specific plays,” said Dagostino.

With the energy high, Stanford played to a 19-6 record for the season, tying for second in the MPSF while leading the nation with three AVCA first-team All-Americans.

Having experienced the success of “bennergy” in 2016, the team approached the 2017 season with intentionality, setting the standard for bench participation early on. And yet with a new roster, the bench found itself developing a somewhat different dynamic.

“We’ve moved away from specific cheers and it’s become more about paying attention and being a little more tuned to what our team needs at the time,” noted Dagostino.

What does that look like?

“[Freshman] Eli Wopat does a fantastic job of just getting hyped every play and every big point,” noted Dagostino. “When you go back and watch film, Eli is running around the court in the back lines, he’s flexing his muscles through the net, he’s doing everything he can to have fun and show our team on the court that he’s enjoying himself. Before Colin McCall was put into the starting lineup, we would do this celebration where any time the other team served the ball out or hit the ball out, I would stand in front of him, and he would put his arms underneath my armpits and lift me up, and I would just wave to the crowd and the other team.”

Dagostino serves as an example of a crossover. Although the junior has made an appearance in every match this season, he has only started in six of 25 matches, coming off the bench to provide a strong service game and defensive game. As one of the ringleaders on the bench, he has learned to balance a complex role.

“I’m not quite as celebratory as some of the other guys [on the bench], but I like to feed information,” he said. “If you see me in matches, you’ll often see me turning to the bench and saying ‘Great job, keep this energy going’ or ‘We need more.’ But when you’re on the bench, you have a narrower scope of focus. You’re doing everything with your body and your voice to try to excite those around you.”

Dagostino is one of many players that have found success coming off the bench this season. Injuries have caused players to step into new roles both throughout the year and in long matches. Kosty, known for utilizing his full lineup, will often turn to the bench to provide energy on the court as well, something that he doesn’t hesitate to do with the game on the line.

“They’re in tune and ready and still warm and hyped up,” said Kosty. “Those guys come on and give us either a shot in the arm or that one extra point to put us over the top in those tight matches.”

As the season has progressed, the “bennergy” has only increased. Heading into this weekend’s MPSF quarterfinal matchup against BYU, the team knows that the bench will be a huge factor as Stanford again competes with not only the Cougars, but a large crowd.

“We talk about bennergy a lot, and I think it’s grown and has a life of its own now, especially in playoffs,” Kosty remarked. “To compete against five thousand people at BYU with only about 45 of them cheering for Stanford, you can feel that energy coming from our sideline.”

That Stanford will face BYU this Saturday seems only fitting, as the 2016 comeback in Provo, Utah sparked the “bennergy” legacy of this group of players. The Cardinal hope to replicate that upset again, something that will take a full team effort, including increased energy from the bench.

The full-circle nature of this matchup was not missed on Dagostino: “I’m excited for our team to go back to BYU this weekend because that was sort of the inception of what I came to know as bennergy last season. I’m excited to see how it’s going to be different and how we’re going to match up with the crowd. I know that we won’t disappoint, I know that for a fact.”

No. 9 Stanford will take on No. 3 BYU in the MPSF quarterfinals on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Provo, Utah.

 

Contact Laura Anderson at lauraand ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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True Grit: Jerod Haase makes “tough” the basketball team’s prime virtue https://stanforddaily.com/2017/03/07/true-grit-jerod-haase-makes-tough-the-basketball-teams-prime-virtue/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/03/07/true-grit-jerod-haase-makes-tough-the-basketball-teams-prime-virtue/#respond Wed, 08 Mar 2017 02:29:09 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1123209 It’s Wednesday of Dead Week, and though there’s a two-week break in the schedule for final exams, the men’s basketball team is warming up for practice like any other day. “Today, the first thing we’re going to do at practice is show a clip yesterday of three guys diving on the floor,” booms a mellifluous, […]

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It’s Wednesday of Dead Week, and though there’s a two-week break in the schedule for final exams, the men’s basketball team is warming up for practice like any other day.

“Today, the first thing we’re going to do at practice is show a clip yesterday of three guys diving on the floor,” booms a mellifluous, slightly twangy voice in Maples Pavilion. The selection of film is more than appropriate for anyone who knows the reputation of Jerod Albert Haase, Stanford’s new head coach.

Playing guard at the University of Kansas two decades ago, Haase dove for so many loose balls that Jayhawks statisticians began recording “floor burns” as an official metric in games.

On his first day on the job, Haase announced three pillars that the team was to follow: invested, tough and selfless. Floor burns epitomize every aspect of the these three pillars. Invested, because a player must risk embarrassment or injury in order to make a play that will benefit him in the long run. Tough, because he sacrifices his body, going against the human instinct to avoid painful collisions like hitting the ground. And selfless, because he takes one for the team.

“Any championship-level team has that level of investment where people are willing to give up their bodies and give up themselves for other people,” Haase says.

Haase’s past has not gone unnoticed by the team, at least according to fifth-year senior Grant Verhoeven.

“It sets the tone for how we need to play, him being a really gritty guy the way he played,” remarks the big man. “He was diving after loose balls, taking charges, so that’s something that I’ve really taken to heart since he got here.”

Junior forward Dorian Pickens says Haase tries to make this floor burn mindset part of the culture.

“He definitely tries to carry his characteristics that he had onto us,” Pickens claims. “Being a tough guy, [a] hard-working guy, a guy who’s going to grind every possession, a guy who’s going to really just compete at the highest level and do whatever it takes for his team to win. And those are all traits that he tries to instill into us and habits that he tries to build with us every day.”

“Too slow to play”

Born on April Fool’s Day, Haase was destined to have thick skin. Fortunately for him, he has only been pranked a handful of times on his birthday.

“Not very much,” he says. “I’ve been lucky so far. I guess there will probably be a big one at some point.”

He certainly seemed a likely target of gags, what with him being the youngest of five siblings, all of whom played intercollegiate sports. Mara, Karin and David, the three oldest Haase children, attended college on scholarship for cross-country skiing. Haase would often tag along to his older brother Steven’s basketball practices in grade school, leading him to fall in love with the game.

“My parents were active and love athletics. It wasn’t ever an issue of what we were doing, as long as we were out of the house and being active and playing sports,” he explains. “I was the beneficiary of seeing my brothers and sisters compete at such a high level. I got used to seeing what it took and the dedication and was able to apply some of those lessons.”

Standing in the shadows of his siblings made the young Haase all the more gritty and tireless a competitor.

“I remember Jerod, he was pretty young, he went to camp and they were asked to do tricks with the basketball,” Haase’s mother Carol told The Birmingham News. “He wanted to do better than his brother. He asked for a unicycle so he could dribble the basketball while riding. He was probably in third grade, and he was riding this unicycle and bouncing two basketballs.”

He sat on the bench his freshman year of high school at South Lake Tahoe as Steven, a senior and the star of the varsity team, hit a buzzer-beater to win a zone championship game that would go down in their school’s history as one of the greats.

Following in his brother’s footsteps seemed unlikely at first for the 5-foot-6, 140-pound guard. Even as he grew both physically and skill-wise, he flew relatively under the radar his first two years of high school. Though he began notching more playing time and shooting more consistently, Haase was not yet getting recognition from college coaches.

“I remember in his junior year, I had a Division I coach tell me that he was too slow to play Division I basketball,” recalls Tom Orlich, Haase’s head coach at South Lake Tahoe and now Stanford basketball’s director of operations and assistant athletic director.

Orlich says he spent a good deal of time with Haase during the summers working on his speed and fundamentals. What he lacked in celerity, he made up in floor burns. Where his elbow shot faltered, the elbow grease he put into the game stayed steady.

“He’s a type of ragtag player where he didn’t play pretty at times, he would dive across the floor, he would play with a tremendous amount of emotion, he would take pride in taking charges, he would take pride in getting an assist,” mused Orlich. “And yet by the same token, he could get a big shot for you from the three or a pull-up, and he would also hit the defensive boards, so he did a little bit of everything and he really embraced the intangibles in the game.”

In the summer before his senior year, Haase attended the Stanford High Potential Camp, a popular destination for Division I coaches, especially those in the Bay Area. He was named the camp’s most valuable player, a signal that a transformation had taken place. It became clear that Haase could in fact play at the next level.

“That coach ate his words,” Orlich gibes at Haase’s doubter.

If his standout play didn’t catch the eye of Stanford’s then-head coach Mike Montgomery, it certainly did soon after at South Lake Tahoe’s own high-profile tournament later that summer.

While Montgomery watched from one sideline, Cal’s head coach Lou Campanelli scouted Haase from the other.

“Coach Campanelli just loved every facet of Jared and appreciated him,” Orlich says. “As much as [Campelli’s recruiting him] occurred, he really wanted to go to Stanford.”

Haase remembers, “I really thought Stanford was — I would label it — a dream school for me.”

Being a member of the Cardinal was not in the cards for Haase, as he was ultimately never offered a scholarship. Although his admiration for Stanford would impact his decision to accept a head coaching offer 24 years later, Haase says he would not have taken the job if he didn’t believe the program was championship caliber.

In the winter of 1992, Haase started playing for the Golden Bears alongside former NBA star and current Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd.

New team, new dreams

During his freshman year of college, Haase hit some tumultuous times.

While Haase recovered from a loss at USC, his father Gary passed away at age 55 from a foot infection that spread throughout his body. Haase completed the Southern California trip by scoring 16 points for Cal — Gary Haase’s alma mater — in an upset victory against UCLA which he dedicated to his father.

Only weeks later, another shakeup occurred as Campanelli was fired. The Bears finished the season by being knocked out of the NCAA tournament by Kansas. Haase no longer found Cal to be the right fit and so leapt at the opportunity to transfer to Kansas and play for Roy Williams.

“It was an opportunity to live the dream of playing at the highest level with a group that had a lot of similar core values, and I played for a coach, in Coach Williams, that believes in a lot of the same things I do,” Haase says. “And then academically, I was able to realize my dreams there as well.”

As a sophomore, Haase was named Big Eight Newcomer of the Year and led the Jayhawks in scoring with 15 points per game.

In 1996-97, he started with four future NBA players in Paul Pierce, Jacque Vaughn, Raef LaFrentz and Scot Pollard.

“I tried to learn a lot from him,” Haase says of Pierce. “Even in college, it was easy to tell how talented he was.”

The true test of grit for Haase came in that final season, when he played several games with a broken wrist. Despite the injury, which would require surgery after the season, the resilient co-captain helped his team achieve a 34-2 record and was named a finalist for the Wooden and Naismith Awards.

Haase wasn’t just recognized for his basketball skills. His academic prowess earned him the title of Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1997 at Kansas. He was an Academic All-American his senior year. And a few years after graduating and writing a book, titled “Floor Burns,” about that senior season, he went back to earn his MBA from Kansas in 2000.

And for as much as the Haases were athletes, they were also academics. Haase’s mother and sister were both teachers, and doing well in school was a priority growing up.

So when the position at Nerd Nation opened up, after having coached at his alma mater and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, coming here was a no-brainer.

Haase told the San Francisco Chronicle that when former head coach Johnny Dawkins was fired in March, Haase said to his wife, “Stanford opened. That’s the one I’d really love.”

Ensuring his players are hitting the books as hard as they’re hitting the boards doesn’t require too much effort.

“At Stanford, it’s not something that you even have to talk about every day, because the guys that come here already value it,” explains Haase. “We certainly make sure they have a balance where they can put the time and resources and energy into the academic side of things, but that’s one of the joys of Stanford is we’re not trying to twist their arms, because they value the education from the beginning.”

Stanford’s appeal wasn’t only academic, though; Haase and his staff think they will have substantial success on the court, too.

“This is a perfect fit for him,” says Orlich. “This is his dream job, and he truly believes that we can win a national championship here.”

“Most-loved coach in the building”

On Dec. 3, Haase had a homecoming of sorts when Stanford traveled to Lawrence, Kansas, to face off against his alma mater, then the No. 4 team in the country.

A beloved former Jayhawks assistant coach, Haase was worshiped even more as a player in Allen Fieldhouse, where he went a perfect 42-0. He was bound to be well received.

“He’ll be the most-loved coach in the building,” Kansas head coach Bill Self joked to The Kansas City Star before the game.

Perhaps an exaggeration, Self’s words definitely carried a significant amount of truth as Haase entered Jayhawks territory.

“Right off the plane, people were running to shake his hand,” says junior Reid Travis. “Like somebody was telling me he’s a legend.”

Haase currently sits at No. 32 on Kansas’ all-time scoring list, No. 18 in career assists and No. 11 in steals and threes made. During his time assisting Roy Williams, Kansas led the nation in assists, lowest opponent field goal percentage and win percentage in 2001, became the only team go undefeated in Big 12 play while ranking first in field goal percentage and scoring in 2002, and ranked No. 1 in scoring margin in 2003. Lifelong Jayhawks fans no doubt remember the Roy Williams era, including Haase’s years both playing and coaching, as a golden age in Kansas history.

“People came up to him saying, ‘It’s really awesome to have you back here,’” Verhoeven recounts. “When we got back to the hotel, they had a little message on the board saying, ‘Welcome home, Coach.’”

When Haase’s name was announced before the game, a sold-out crowd rose to its feet to pay respects to the phenom.

Despite the team being uplifted by the reception of its coach and despite a career day for Travis, the Cardinal ultimately dropped the game to the Jayhawks.

“It’s really a good feeling to have people say nice things and recognize that I was there,” says Haase, pausing. “But at the end of the day, it would’ve been nice to have played just a little bit better as well.”

Stanford: A national powerhouse?

Throughout his basketball career, Haase’s teams boasted an undeniable home court advantage. Going undefeated at home in all three seasons as a Jayhawk and in his final season of head coaching the UAB Blazers, Haase knows the effect a familiar court and boisterous crowd can have.

“There’s no question that one thing that makes college basketball great is the home crowds and the atmosphere, and I think that we have work to do here,” says Haase. “The best way for us to build the fanbase and build the enthusiasm is to have success on the court and win a bunch of games.”

Haase describes a marketing plan targeted specifically at students that he hopes will ameliorate the meager turnout in what should be the loudest section in Maples. Actively engaging fans at student events around campus, passing out “6th Man” T-shirts to dorms and holding their own events are just some of the ways Haase and his staff are approaching this effort.

Getting students out to games is only half the battle, though.

“The thing that’ll help the most is if they come out and see our guys play as hard as they can and see our guys fully invested in what we’re doing,” says Haase.

Pickens lauds his coach’s attempt to revitalize the Stanford fan community, particularly among students.

“He’s done a great job. He’s doing the best job I’ve seen any coaching staff member do since I’ve been here my three years,” says Pickens.

If Haase were to give one message to students, it would be to mirror their enthusiasm for other activities on campus in which they might be more involved when supporting the basketball team.

“Stanford is a place where there’s a great deal of passion in so many different ways,” marvels Haase. “Hopefully the basketball program will embody that. For us to be successful, we need a great crowd.”

Haase hopes to create a winning culture at Stanford, but doing so will take a long-term vision for the program.

“I’m a big program guy. Yes it’s about winning games, but you win games by having a quality program,” he says. “This year, we want to be playing our best in February and March, and I think we’ve laid a good foundation in a lot of different ways with the program. The guys are competing. We’re playing hard. We understand the goals that we have offensively and defensively, and now it’s time to improve. We need to improve faster than other teams improve.”

Ultimately, Haase says he wants people to see his competitive, tough-minded side as only one part of a multifaceted coach and coaching style. He hopes to be remembered as much, if not more, for his resilience in the face of adversity, his knack for galvanizing a home crowd and his ability to develop well-rounded men who are true student-athletes.

But “tough” nevertheless remains a key that the team will live by.

“At the very first day of official practice, he conveyed that message that this was going to be our identity,” says Orlich, referring to the three core values of invested, tough and selfless. “When somebody walked into the gym, they were going to know the Stanford brand of basketball.”

Once that brand is established, Orlich believes the Cardinal can rise to prominence, possibly even becoming a NCAA powerhouse.

“Stanford’s going to be one of the national powers in the few years to come,” insists Orlich.”It’s going to take a year or two to fill out some of the needs of the team, but without doubt, Stanford’s going to rise to new heights. I have no doubt about it.”

Whether that dream can be realized by the Cardinal in the near future remains to be seen. But with a man at the helm who recorded over 160 floor burns in his junior year of college and played his entire senior season with a fractured scaphoid bone in his shooting arm, Stanford basketball is certain to follow that second and central pillar: tough.

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Hometown advantage: This is not Keller Chryst’s first Big Game https://stanforddaily.com/2016/11/18/hometown-advantage-this-is-not-keller-chrysts-first-big-game/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/11/18/hometown-advantage-this-is-not-keller-chrysts-first-big-game/#respond Fri, 18 Nov 2016 10:22:07 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1120067 In the fourth quarter of the rain-soaked 2011 Big Game, Stanford recovered an onside kick from Cal in the final 14 seconds to claim a 31-28 victory under the Stanford Stadium lights. Three starting Stanford quarterbacks watched the clock run down: Andrew Luck from the field, Kevin Hogan from the bench, and Keller Chryst from […]

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In the fourth quarter of the rain-soaked 2011 Big Game, Stanford recovered an onside kick from Cal in the final 14 seconds to claim a 31-28 victory under the Stanford Stadium lights. Three starting Stanford quarterbacks watched the clock run down: Andrew Luck from the field, Kevin Hogan from the bench, and Keller Chryst from the bleachers.

All the Paly kids go to Big Game, according to Chryst.

It makes sense — Palo Alto High School stands just a thousand yards away from Stanford Stadium. With its red-tile roofs and sandy-faced buildings, it would melt right into the Stanford campus if not for the separation of a crosswalk.

Chryst was a sophomore in 2011, the same year he moved to Palo Alto from North Carolina and became starting quarterback for the Vikings. While senior Andrew Luck played quarterback in Big Game, high school sophomore Keller Chryst played quarterback in the 2011 “Little Big Game,” when Palo Alto earned a 45-14 victory against cross-town rival Gunn.

Chryst had been a Stanford fan since the beginning of the Jim Harbaugh era, and so he fit right in with the Paly fixation on Stanford football.

“I really started watching once Andrew Luck started playing in 2009,” Chryst says. “That’s when I really started to lock in. Like, this is the school I really want to go to.”

While the shadow of Stanford campus can sometimes be an oppressive force on Paly students, it was less so for Chryst. Stanford was just as interested in Chryst as Chryst was in Stanford.

Chryst committed to Stanford in 2013 as a four-star quarterback recruit and the top-ranked pocket passer in the nation. He finished his high school career as crown jewel of the Palo Alto football program, with 7,326 yards and 84 touchdowns — one of the best deep throwers Palo Alto had ever seen.

Despite the hype that has surrounded Chryst since he arrived in Palo Alto, he remains 6 feet and 5 inches of pure humility — a self-proclaimed introvert and “quiet guy.” In high school, he won championships wearing a jersey with his last name misspelled.

“It fit better,” Chryst said, with a laugh.

“He didn’t really crave [the attention],” Palo Alto head coach Eric Hansen said. “He didn’t go on all of his recruiting trips. He knew where he wanted to go. He made his decision, signed with Stanford.”

The decision was easy, but the move across the street was harder than it looks. Chryst was stepping out of one program of excellence and right into another. His senior year was 2013. That year, Gunn didn’t play a “Little Big Game” with Paly after suffering a decade-long losing streak, and Stanford broke the Big Game score record with a 63-13 victory. As Chryst moved his gear across El Camino Real, he prepared to shoulder the mantle of Stanford success, passed down from Andrew Luck to Kevin Hogan, soon to him.

***

Chryst has been warming up for a Stanford Big Game for five years now.

He’ll play the first snap under center for the Cardinal in Memorial Stadium on Saturday, a prospect which felt far from reach just three weeks ago. Chryst has only been starting quarterback for three of Stanford’s games so far. Up until a few weeks ago, Chryst’s most recognizable play for the Cardinal involved him replacing Kevin Hogan for one snap in 2015, only to transition to a fullback mid-play to throw a pancake block on an Arizona cornerback, allowing then-sophomore running back Christian McCaffrey space for a 25-yard gain.

Chryst was the backup quarterback for then-fifth-year senior Kevin Hogan in the 2015 season, but head coach David Shaw surprised fans when he promoted Ryan Burns, then a junior, as the starting quarterback over Chryst after sizing up his roster in spring practice.

However, Stanford stumbled in a tough midseason stretch when it lost to Washington, Washington State and Colorado. Burns was a visible target for pointing fingers, even though Stanford’s problems ran deeper than simply pass accuracy. In a 1-3 stretch, the offense contributed a meager 27 points in Pac-12 play.

“If you could see me on TV, I might have been the one booing,” Shaw said after the third loss to Colorado. “It was not good enough. Our fans deserve better. Our defense deserves better.”

Around this point, college football columnists began shouting loudly about injuries, while students admitted to their parents that their families were no longer forced to plan winter break around the Rose Bowl. Sunday morning headlines glared at Cardinal fans from cheap plastic crates like a bad hallucination.

The Sunday after the Colorado loss, Shaw informed Chryst that he would be replacing Burns as starting quarterback.

“You hate to get to this point,” Shaw said. “[But] this is the best thing right now for the offense.”

Shaw didn’t need Chryst to emulate Andrew Luck’s downfield accuracy or Kevin Hogan’s leadership. He needed Chryst because he needed a change.

Shaw says he told Chryst, “You’re not going to go out there and try to be Superman.”

This is easier said than done for Chryst, whose family consists of variations on a theme of football success. Keller’s dad, Geep Chryst, coached quarterbacks for the San Francisco 49ers.  Across three generations, his paternal family members have held positions as Mid-American Conference commissioner, University of Pittsburgh head coach and University of Wisconson-Platteville athletic director, to name a few.

However, perfectionist instincts are tough on the first-year quarterback learning curve. Chryst’s numbers weren’t exactly popping off the page in the first two games he started, against Arizona and Oregon State. He averaged 82 yards a game, totaling only 60 yards the second week against Oregon State.

“I was definitely hard on myself,” Chryst admitted.

However, Oregon saw a whole new Keller Chryst. Despite the buzzing dark-green hostility in the Ducks fan section of Autzen Stadium, Chryst looked at home in the pocket for the first time last week. He completed 19 of 26 passes against the Ducks defense, including three touchdowns, one of which was a 61-yard pass to sophomore receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.

“When he gets comfortable, there’s not a better guy out there,” Christian McCaffrey said after the game. “Watching him develop is something special.”

 “I’ll tell you what, nobody’s working harder.” Shaw agreed in the press conference before Big Game. “Nobody wants it more, nobody’s pushing himself harder than Keller.”

***

Even though Stanford has won Big Game for the last six years in a row, the statistical differences between Cal and Stanford are less prominent than they have been the last five years. Some analysts have predicted that the 2016 match-up will be Cal’s best chance to take the Axe since 2011’s narrow Stanford victory.

However, thanks to Chryst’s improvements, any reasonable college fan is inclined to argue the deck is finally shuffled in Stanford’s favor this game. The Cardinal are coming off of a three-game win streak that began the moment McCaffrey and running back Bryce Love were both finally healthy. The offensive line looks practically born-again, and both fullback Daniel Marx and safety Zach Hoffpauir have returned to play. Meanwhile, Cal’s run defense is spotty at best — the worst sort of weakness to test against the McCaffrey/Love running game.

However, if the 2016 season has taught fans anything, it’s that roster strength alone does not win games.

“We have not been a pantheon of consistency,” Shaw warned in the press conference before Big Game. “We haven’t played well enough this season to look down on anybody for anything.”

Luckily for Shaw, Chryst is not the type to ride the statistics of his last game. Despite the recent acceleration of his college football career, he is as grounded as ever, according to roommate McCaffrey.

He’s a very calm, low-key guy whose personality doesn’t really change based on what’s going on in the football world,” McCaffrey said, smiling. “He’s a great guy. Always has been, hasn’t changed.”

Chryst’s relaxed manner could be his greatest asset in Big Game, where the challenges of playing in Memorial Stadium extend above and beyond the 100 yards of turf.

The question remains: How different is Big Game at the end of the day? More importantly, how will Chryst adapt to the increased pressure?

As a Paly grad, he knows the energy of the rivalry better than most. The Berkeley stadium fits 63,000 fans — “underratedly crazy fans,” Chryst recalls with a laugh — color-coded and segmented into Cardinal red and California blue, polka-dotted with brass tubas. The fact that he’s only started three Stanford football games is not really a handicap for Chryst. His starting position, or lack thereof, never changed the way he trains.

I always prepared like I was the starter,” Chryst said. “As a backup, you never know what can happen, [but] fortunately enough for me, I was able to get a chance to be able to play. So I just try to take every game like it was the first game, like I was going to be the starter.”

Chryst is last guy off the field after practice the Tuesday before Big Game. He almost always is.

At least it’s him and sophomore wide receiver Trenton Irwin, who’ll take pretty much anyone who’ll throw him a ball. The rest of the team trickles off the field, players removing their helmets one by one to shake the sweat and rain from their hair. Reporters pocket David Shaw quotes on silver recording devices as they wait impatiently for Chryst and Irwin, who are still engaged in a mesmerizing game of fetch under the white glare of practice field lights.

“This guy prepares better than a lot of people you’ll see out there,” McCaffrey said of Chryst. “When you’ve got a guy like that who prepares the way he does, nerves are kind of out of the question.”

 

Contact Kit Ramgopal at kramgopa ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Goal-oriented: Maddie Bauer https://stanforddaily.com/2016/11/17/goal-oriented-maddie-bauer/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/11/17/goal-oriented-maddie-bauer/#respond Thu, 17 Nov 2016 10:30:01 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1118394 Maddie Bauer was ready to score.

She was standing just feet away from the UCLA goalkeeper as Stanford teammate Andi Sullivan prepared a corner kick. A senior, Bauer has specialized in playing center-back over her four years on the Farm. Naturally, as a defender, she does not get many chances to take a shot on goal. So when the opportunity finally came, in the 103rd minute of the UCLA match last month, Bauer was determined to take it.

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Maddie Bauer was ready to score.

She was standing just feet away from the UCLA goalkeeper as Stanford teammate Andi Sullivan prepared a corner kick. A senior, Bauer has specialized in playing center-back over her four years on the Farm. Naturally, as a defender, she does not get many chances to take a shot on goal. So when the opportunity finally came, in the 103rd minute of the UCLA match last month, Bauer was determined to take it.

“It came to my left foot [after the corner kick], and I just kicked as hard as I can,” she recalled. “I was just happy to end it for us. That memory of having a game-winner as my first goal was awesome.”

Bauer finally got her first collegiate goal, in the 3-2 double-overtime victory over UCLA in early October. As the regular season has wound down and the postseason approaches, Bauer has some final opportunities to extend her already lengthy record of contributions to Stanford women’s soccer, and she is ready to make the most of it.

“Every season is different to me, and this one is particularly special because I’m a senior,” Bauer said. “This is kind of my last shot.”  

Over the last four years, Bauer has made some key plays for Stanford women’s soccer. However, it’s less often that her contributions show up on a scoreboard, as the fact that she has only one collegiate goal suggests. This characteristic is closely related to the position Bauer plays on the field: center-back. As one of two center-backs who act as the last line of defense before the goalkeeper, Bauer’s role is twofold. First, stop goals. Second, get the ball to the offense.

Stanford’s defense is a remarkable force: Since September 2005, Stanford has held opponents to two or fewer goals in all but one of over 270 matches. The Cardinal’s strength in the backfield is crucial to their success overall, and Bauer is a leader in that effort.

Bauer has started in over 80 games for Stanford, playing at least 90 minutes in all but one game so far this season. Stanford women’s soccer team is currently ranked in the top five nationally, and Bauer has been a consistent factor in the team’s impressive season.

“Maddie has been a major contributor to our team’s success during the past four years,” head coach Paul Ratcliffe said. “This year, Maddie has emerged as a vocal leader and is playing the best soccer of her career.”

Bauer is not exactly an unsung hero: She has won honors such as being selected to the All-Pac-12 team and the NSCAA regional first team multiple times. But while the center-back might lay the groundwork for the goals that get featured in the highlight reel, she herself is not the one scoring.

Although primarily defensive, the center-back position is analogous in some ways to a quarterback. Typically tall (Bauer is 5-foot-8, which helps for winning balls in the air), determined and with a good eye for strategy, a center-back often makes decisions about how the team will try to move the ball down the field. It’s almost as if Bauer is calling plays.

“I was always very vocal,” she explained. “I have no problem telling people where they should be on the field…Our coach, Paul, has given me the liberty to kind of decide what we do with the ball and how we set up our plays.”

As a senior, Bauer has embraced taking a larger leadership role on the team. She said that she has enjoyed supporting the underclassmen just beginning their own Stanford journeys and that doing so gives her some nostalgia in her final year on the Farm.  

Bauer emphasizes leading by example, and she has certainly done so in her academics. An international relations major with a 3.56 GPA, Bauer was named one of 30 women’s soccer candidates for the nationwide Senior CLASS Award in October. She is also a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic honoree and was the only Pac-12 athlete to be a 2015 NSCAA Scholar All-American.

“Coming out of high school, I knew I didn’t want to go somewhere where I was only focused on soccer,” Bauer said. “I wanted to give myself a challenge, and Stanford provided that.”

Bauer’s determination has served her well, both on and off the field, in her Stanford career. She and teammate Megan Turner took advantage of the opportunity to study abroad through Stanford’s program in Florence during their junior year. The soccer team does not have matches during winter quarter, so the two teammates were able to go abroad without missing any competition.

Even in Italy, however, soccer was never far from Bauer’s mind. The teammates made time in their day to train, finding public fields behind Renaissance cathedrals and starting pickup matches.

“It was awesome to get to play a sport that we love in a country that, at the time, was very unfamiliar to us,” Turner recalled.

Back on campus, Bauer remembers Italy fondly. But now it’s soccer season once again, and she and her teammates are focused on their goals for the year.

With just a few games left to play, Bauer is glad to have crossed “scoring a goal” off her Stanford bucket list.

 

Contact Alexa Corse at corsea ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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