Katherine Carr – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 05:31:54 +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 Katherine Carr – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Women’s Community Center appoints Marta Hanson as new Associate Director https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/29/womens-community-center-appoints-marta-hanson-as-new-associate-director/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/29/womens-community-center-appoints-marta-hanson-as-new-associate-director/#respond Fri, 30 Jan 2015 05:31:54 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1094587 Marta Hanson ’11 has been appointed as the new Associate Director at the Women’s Community Center (WCC), Faith Kazmi, director of the WCC and Associate Dean of Student Affairs, announced on Wednesday. Hanson, who received her degree in American Studies and Feminist Studies, most recently was the deputy finance director for the 2014 re-election campaign of California […]

The post Women’s Community Center appoints Marta Hanson as new Associate Director appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
Marta Hanson ’11 has been appointed as the new Associate Director at the Women’s Community Center (WCC), Faith Kazmi, director of the WCC and Associate Dean of Student Affairs, announced on Wednesday.

Hanson, who received her degree in American Studies and Feminist Studies, most recently was the deputy finance director for the 2014 re-election campaign of California Attorney General Kamala Harris. She previously worked for NARAL Pro-Choice America, a reproductive rights policy and advocacy organization in their Washington, DC, and San Francisco offices.

Hanson is the curriculum co-chair on the board of the San Francisco chapter of New Leaders Council, and chairs the board of the Stanford Alumni Women’s Impact Network.

As a student, she represented Stanford at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women meeting in New York.

The goal of the WCC, which traces its beginning to the 1970s at Stanford, is to provide “innovative opportunities for scholarship, leadership, and activism” according to the website. The WCC is a University department under the Division of Student Affairs.

The programs that the WCC regularly sponsors include Women in STEM, Women at Work, Stanford’s Women’s Leadership Conference and Herstory Month. A list of events is available at the website:  studentaffairs.stanford.edu/wcc.

The WCC is located at First Floor, Old Fire Truck House, 433 Santa Teresa Street behind Tresidder Memorial Union.

The post Women’s Community Center appoints Marta Hanson as new Associate Director appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/29/womens-community-center-appoints-marta-hanson-as-new-associate-director/feed/ 0 1094587
Pulitzer Prize-winning Professor Emeritus Carl N. Degler dies at 93 https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/07/pulitzer-prize-winning-professor-emeritus-carl-n-degler-dies-at-93/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/07/pulitzer-prize-winning-professor-emeritus-carl-n-degler-dies-at-93/#comments Thu, 08 Jan 2015 05:21:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1093503 American historian, Carl N. Degler, who joined Stanford in 1968 as a faculty member and retired in 1990, died of natural causes at the age of 93.

The post Pulitzer Prize-winning Professor Emeritus Carl N. Degler dies at 93 appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
Carl Degler, 93, was a Stanford professor emeritus of history. (Courtesy of Therese Baker-Degler/Stanford News)
Carl Degler, 93, was a Stanford professor emeritus of history.
(Courtesy of Therese Baker-Degler/Stanford News)

American historian Carl N. Degler, who joined Stanford in 1968 as a faculty member and retired in 1990, died of natural causes at the age of 93 on Dec. 27.

Degler was the Margaret Byrne Professor of America History, Emeritus, at Stanford.

He won the Pulitzer Prize for history for his book, “Neither Black nor White,” in 1972, which compared slavery and race relations in Brazil and the United States.

Degler wrote about the history of the American South, comparative race relations in Brazil and the United States, the role of women in American society and the influence of Darwinian ideas in American culture. He was one of two men among the founders of the National Organization for Women in 1966.

His other books included “Out of Our Past, At Odds: Women and the Family in America from the Revolution to the Present,” “The Other South: Southern Dissenters in the 19th Century” and “The Third American Revolution.”

During his career, he was elected as the president of the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians and the Southern Historical Association.

Degler began his career as a professor in 1952 at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY.

From 1942 to 1945 he served in the U.S. Army Air Force in India. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Upsala College, and master’s and doctoral degrees in American history from Columbia University, where he met his wife, Catherine Grady. They were married nearly 50 years until her death.

Degler is survived by his wife of 14 years, Therese Baker-Degler, an academic sociologist; two children, Paul Degler of Bethesda, Md. and Suzanne Degler of Palo Alto, and four grandchildren.

A memorial service is being planned for the campus community in the spring. Additional information about Degler’s career is available in the Stanford News.

Contact Katherine Carr at kcarr2 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

The post Pulitzer Prize-winning Professor Emeritus Carl N. Degler dies at 93 appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/07/pulitzer-prize-winning-professor-emeritus-carl-n-degler-dies-at-93/feed/ 1 1093503
Gov. Jerry Brown addresses drought conference at Stanford on Monday https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/22/gov-jerry-brown-addresses-drought-conference-at-stanford-on-monday/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/22/gov-jerry-brown-addresses-drought-conference-at-stanford-on-monday/#comments Thu, 23 Oct 2014 04:14:54 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1090348 Gov. Jerry Brown was the featured speaker at a drought conference at Stanford on Monday, co-sponsored by The Hamilton Project and Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Brown focused on the $7.5 billion water bond measure on the Nov. 4 ballot as an opportunity to increase water storage and delivery. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg […]

The post Gov. Jerry Brown addresses drought conference at Stanford on Monday appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
Jerry Brown spoke at a drought conference co-sponsored by the Hamilton Project and Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. (Courtesy of Joseph Garappolo)
Jerry Brown spoke at a drought conference co-sponsored by the Hamilton Project and Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. (Courtesy of Joseph Garappolo)

Gov. Jerry Brown was the featured speaker at a drought conference at Stanford on Monday, co-sponsored by The Hamilton Project and Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

Brown focused on the $7.5 billion water bond measure on the Nov. 4 ballot as an opportunity to increase water storage and delivery.

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg made welcoming remarks, followed by an introduction of the event by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin.

California is in the third year of a drought, with 82 percent of the state experiencing extreme drought according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The Governor declared a state of emergency in January and called for residents to cut water use by 20 percent.  In response to the Governor’s request, Stanford has taken additional measures to further reduce water usage on campus.

Other participants at the four-hour conference included Thomas Iseman of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Barton “Buzz” Thompson of The Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, Michael Markus of Orange County Water District and Solomon Hsiang of UC-Berkeley. Closing remarks were by Steven Denning of General Atlantic and Chairman of the Board at Stanford University.

The co-sponsors released three papers which highlighted opportunities for improving water management in the United States in the face of scarce water supplies:  “In Times of Drought:  Nine Economic Facts about Water in the United States,” “Shopping for Water: How the Market can Mitigate Water Shortages in the American West” and “The Path to Water Innovation.”

The post Gov. Jerry Brown addresses drought conference at Stanford on Monday appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/22/gov-jerry-brown-addresses-drought-conference-at-stanford-on-monday/feed/ 1 1090348
Alumni Association expects largest-ever Reunion Homecoming https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/22/alumni-association-expects-largest-ever-reunion-homecoming/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/22/alumni-association-expects-largest-ever-reunion-homecoming/#respond Thu, 23 Oct 2014 03:08:14 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1090353 More than 9,700 people are expected on campus this weekend to celebrate.

The post Alumni Association expects largest-ever Reunion Homecoming appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
More than 9,700 people are expected on campus this weekend to celebrate Reunion Homecoming. The reunion, on track to be the largest in Stanford’s history, runs from Thursday to Sunday.

Alumni attend last year's Dinner on the Quad, a mainstay of Reunion Homecoming weekend. (ZETONG LI/The Stanford Daily)
Alumni attend last year’s Dinner on the Quad, a mainstay of Reunion Homecoming weekend. (ZETONG LI/The Stanford Daily)

Over 500 events and gatherings are planned for the 118th reunion. One of the most popular events are mini-reunions — 350 gatherings of classmates who shared experiences such as study abroad, fraternity and sorority membership, sports team participation and freshman dorm or community center affiliation.

Class tailgate tents start at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, with kickoff for the Stanford vs. Oregon State game set for 12:30 p.m.

For those not going to the game, “Classes Without Quizzes” offers learning experiences varying from hands-on labs to seminars. A complete list of the more than 60 classes is available at stanfordalumni.org.

Some of the major events include a Symposium of Undergraduate Research and Public Service, with a poster session of 100 undergraduate student research projects, a roundtable panel about climate moderated by 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl and an alumni author meet and greet with more than 30 Stanford authors. A complete list of events, with dates, times and locations, is available online.

The Reunion Homecoming is organized by The Stanford Alumni Association with the help of 1,400 volunteers.

Alumni are coming from 17 countries including Ethiopia, Sweden, Turkey and Australia. The oldest member expected to attend the Reunion Homecoming, from the class of 1933, is 102.

The post Alumni Association expects largest-ever Reunion Homecoming appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/22/alumni-association-expects-largest-ever-reunion-homecoming/feed/ 0 1090353
Charlie Cockburn, Oxford transplant, looks to diversify academic options at Stanford https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/08/charlie-cockburn-oxford-transplant-looks-to-diversify/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/08/charlie-cockburn-oxford-transplant-looks-to-diversify/#respond Wed, 08 Oct 2014 08:44:02 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1089239 Charlie Cockburn (pronounced Coburn) spent two years at the University of Oxford and then had a gap year before transferring to Stanford, with a desire to diversify his academic studies.

The post Charlie Cockburn, Oxford transplant, looks to diversify academic options at Stanford appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
Stanford’s admission rate for transfer students is even lower than that for the regular admission class, coming in at two percent. Only 33 transfer students were admitted for the fall of 2014.

As part of the weekly “Transfer Profile” series, The Daily interviewed Charlie Cockburn ’17, who spent two years at the University of Oxford and then had a gap year before transferring to Stanford.

 

Charlie Cockburn '17 is a transfer student from Oxford University, seeking to expand his academic studies while at Stanford.  (RAHIM ULLAH/The Stanford Daily)
Charlie Cockburn ’17 is a transfer student from Oxford University, seeking to expand his academic studies while at Stanford.
(RAHIM ULLAH/The Stanford Daily)

The Stanford Daily (TSD): Can you give some background on yourself?

Charlie Cockburn (CC): I grew up in D.C. and attended boarding school in Andover, Mass.  My father and mother are Anglo-Irish. My family owns Myrtle Grove in Ireland, where the first tobacco pipe was supposedly smoked. In my distant past, my ancestor Admiral Sir George Cockburn fought in the War of 1812, and directed the capture and burning of Washington.

 

TSD: Why did you choose Oxford?

CC: My grandfather and father went to Oxford. I visited Oxford in June and New College (a part of Oxford) attracted me.

 

TSD: What did you do at Oxford?

CC: I studied ancient and modern history. We had weekly tutorials. You learn to teach yourself — it was autodidactic.

 

TSD: How does Stanford compare to Oxford?

CC: At Oxford you pick your area of discipline coming in. I took history and philosophy. Oxford lacked breadth. At Stanford I want to branch out (potentially trying computer science and social dance). I’m taking Arabic.

I wanted to incorporate more things; philosophy is only the partial story. English, philosophy and history ought to be studied together. Stanford allows me to open up newer pastures.

 

TSD: Why Stanford?

CC: Stanford seemed like a mecca of engineers. A lot of my friends from boarding school came to Stanford. I’ve visited every winter break.

 

TSD: What are you planning to major in at Stanford — is it different from your Oxford major?

CC:  I haven’t yet decided. At New College — my Oxford college — I studied ancient and modern history, where I delved into Archaic Greece, Gibbon and Tacitus, the French Revolution, the Soviet Union under Stalin, historiography, the birth of the modern world and more. I won’t abandon history. I’m simply going to make an attempt at breadth: I’m keen to try philosophy, literature — even natural science! — in the hopes of learning new ways of seeing and solving problems.

 

TSD:  What are your plans after Stanford?

CC: When Paul McCartney was asked about the rumor that he’d died and been replaced by a double, he replied “I’d be the last to know.” I’d say the same about life after college. Of course I know what I don’t want: Friends who’ve sampled consulting and banking typically draw lurid comparisons to chattel slavery.

 

TSD: What specifically did you do during your gap year?

CC:  At the start of my gap year I worked in the office of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, where I got to attend generally disquieting hearings on government surveillance, imaginary nation-building in Afghanistan, unscrupulous shipping companies, droughts and leaking nuclear waste. Later I worked for a consulting firm in Myanmar. Yangon has become a boom town, where office space costs more to rent than in downtown Manhattan and where bars teem with bushy-tailed entrepreneurs, diplomats and desiccated Australian alcoholics. The seediness of the “last frontier” recalls Evelyn Waugh’s sparkling novel about journalists, “Scoop.”

 

TSD:  While at Stanford, what groups or organizations are you interested in joining?

CC:  In my first year at Oxford I fenced on the varsity team. I might take it up again here. Otherwise, I hope to try to write for one of the student publications.

 

TSD: What do you like best about Stanford so far?

CC: I would praise the weather, but for the recent pitiless sunshine. Only “mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun,” says Noel Coward. I pant along the paths like a lost camel, grimly recalling the aftertaste of remote oases. The students, though, are wonderful: extremely generous, bright.

 

TSD: What surprised you or was something you didn’t expect when coming to Stanford?

CC: I hardly expected to meet such amazing people. Six of my fellow transfers served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Another recently returned from Mongolia, where she won the most difficult endurance horse race in the world.

 

Every week, The Stanford Daily will be spotlighting one of this year’s transfer students in a series called Transfer Profile.

 

Contact Katherine Carr at kcarr2 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

The post Charlie Cockburn, Oxford transplant, looks to diversify academic options at Stanford appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/08/charlie-cockburn-oxford-transplant-looks-to-diversify/feed/ 0 1089239
Founder of documentary film program, professor emeritus Henry S. Breitrose, dies at 78 https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/06/founder-of-documentary-film-program-professor-emeritus-henry-s-breitrose-dies-at-78/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/06/founder-of-documentary-film-program-professor-emeritus-henry-s-breitrose-dies-at-78/#respond Tue, 07 Oct 2014 04:09:17 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1089132 Henry S. Breitrose, Ph.D. ’66, who taught the history of film and film aesthetics for more than five decades at Stanford and founded Stanford's documentary film program, died Oct. 2 at his campus house. He was 78.

The post Founder of documentary film program, professor emeritus Henry S. Breitrose, dies at 78 appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
Henry S. Breitrose, Ph.D. ’66, who taught the history of film and film aesthetics for more than five decades at Stanford and founded Stanford’s documentary film program, died Oct. 2 at his campus house. He was 78.

At Stanford, Breitrose was the chair of the Communications Department from 1977 to 1983. He was involved in creating state-of-the-art film and television production studios as well as social laboratories in McClatchy Hall.

He was a founding member of the editorial board of Quarterly Review of Film Studies and a founding editor of Cambridge Studies in Film.

Breitrose was active in the International Association of Film and Television Schools, serving on the executive council from 1995 to 2008 as vice president of research and publications.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in English and history from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree in film from Northwestern, the Brooklyn, New York, native joined Stanford in 1959 as an instructor in the Department of Communications. While working as an instructor at Stanford, he also earned a doctorate in communications research at Stanford and joined the faculty in 1966.

Breitrose is survived by his wife, Prudence Breitrose, and his two children, Becky and Charlie.

The Communications Department has set up a web page to share memories of Breitrose and is planning a memorial service.

The post Founder of documentary film program, professor emeritus Henry S. Breitrose, dies at 78 appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/06/founder-of-documentary-film-program-professor-emeritus-henry-s-breitrose-dies-at-78/feed/ 0 1089132
Thoughts on NSO from freshmen and upperclassmen https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/01/thoughts-on-nso-from-freshmen-and-upperclassmen/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/01/thoughts-on-nso-from-freshmen-and-upperclassmen/#respond Wed, 01 Oct 2014 10:42:21 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1088632 The Daily talked with Stanford freshmen and upperclassmen about their memorable New Student Orientation (NSO) moments and thoughts on freshman year. Upperclassmen Resident Assistants (RAs) and Academic Theme Associates (ATAs) also offered advice to freshmen. Below are some quotes.

The post Thoughts on NSO from freshmen and upperclassmen appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
The Daily talked with Stanford freshmen and upperclassmen about their memorable New Student Orientation (NSO) moments and thoughts on freshman year. Upperclassmen Resident Assistants (RAs) and Academic Theme Associates (ATAs) also offered advice to freshmen. Below are some quotes.

 

On band run…

Martine Madill ’16: “During band run, I remember thinking, ‘I didn’t sign up for this.’ It was a long distance.”

James Webber ’16: “Band run was crazy, but it made me know I was in the right place.”

Clare Moffatt ’18:  “Before band run, they told us to bring running shoes and coins. I thought the coins part was part of it, but they just said that to trick us.”

Chinedum “Simba” Ecbosimba ’18: “Band run was fun at first, but then I almost ran into a pole. NSO was tiring but well designed and welcomed students. [After NSO] it was weird to be in a classroom.”

 

On school spirit…

Friend Chaikulngamdee ’16: “We learned the dorm chants during NSO, but never really used them after that. Later in the year, we would jokingly mock them — it became a thing.”

Martine Madill ’16:“Freshmen have a crazy first quarter, and a crazy first year. Five percent get here—do what you love!”

Ryoko Hamaguchi ’15: “We learned dorm chants before band run and used them in MemAud (Memorial Auditorium) but didn’t really use them after. Week One you’re hit with classes.”

 

On new friends…

Shahab Fadavi ’15: “Be open to meeting people, especially in the first few weeks. . . . Spend just as much time outside of class as inside, you can learn just as much outside as inside.”

Camila Camacho ’18: “NSO and freshman year help establish a family. Soto is a tight community. I expect to spend the year exploring.”

Friend Chaikulngamdee ’16: “There’s a lot of freshman year growth, being away from home and living in an environment together. . . It’s cliché but it’s those midnight conversations.”

Tiffany Kuo ’18: “Before Stanford you have predetermined friends. Within the first few days of NSO, people were forming groups.”

 

On the years ahead…

Friend Chaikulngamdee ’16: “You don’t have to have it figured out, you’re here to explore.”

Martine Madill ’16: “I expected it to be academically challenging, and to be pushed personally. I thought college was linear, but it’s not.”

Anjali Majumbar ’18: “In my future years at Stanford, I expect the social scene to die down.”

Cale Strong ’16: “Stanford is home now more than my actual home. Take time to enjoy it and make it your home. Take time for yourself.”

Chinedum “Simba” Ecbosimba ’18: “NSO taught us what’s OK and what flies, but we’ll have to learn that intuitively.”

 

On reflecting…

Ryoko Hamaguchi ’15: “Explore beyond your department. I’m a biology major, so once I finished the prerequisites I could enjoy painting. I made a painting of what my freshmen perspective of Stanford was like (with a bike, Hoover Tower, the Stanford motto “The Wind of Freedom Blows”). This year, I want to get a canvas the same size and paint what Stanford means to me now.”

Clare Moffatt ’18: “I expect harder work than NSO. But Stanford already feels like a home away from home.”

Ryoko Hamaguchi ’15: “I was an introverted freshmen, but I had the support of the staff in Otero. It didn’t die off.”

Clara Luu ’15: “They should have had NSO sessions called ‘Biking in Groups’ and ‘Letting Go of Your Inbox.’”

Camila Camacho ’18: “I met so many people, I can’t remember them all. . . My lanyard name tag broke (towards the end of NSO) so that’s when I stopped wearing it.”

Anjali Majumbar ’18: “I went to an engineering lecture and heard from some speakers. But, NSO was also socially helpful.”

Tiffany Kuo ’18: “NSO was high energy and social, but it’s nice to have a routine now that classes started.”

 

The post Thoughts on NSO from freshmen and upperclassmen appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/01/thoughts-on-nso-from-freshmen-and-upperclassmen/feed/ 0 1088632
Roble and Lagunita parking lots closed indefinitely https://stanforddaily.com/2014/09/22/roble-and-lagunita-parking-lots-closed-indefinitely/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/09/22/roble-and-lagunita-parking-lots-closed-indefinitely/#respond Tue, 23 Sep 2014 04:45:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1088136 Roble and Lagunita Court parking lots permanently closed yesterday to make room for two new dorms on West Campus. These dorms, situated on either side of Lagunita Court, will provide additional housing as Stanford’s student body population continues to grow, with an estimated additional 100 students to be admitted in the fall of 2016. To accommodate […]

The post Roble and Lagunita parking lots closed indefinitely appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
Roble and Lagunita Court parking lots permanently closed yesterday to make room for two new dorms on West Campus. These dorms, situated on either side of Lagunita Court, will provide additional housing as Stanford’s student body population continues to grow, with an estimated additional 100 students to be admitted in the fall of 2016.

Roble and Lagunita Court parking lots are closed indefinitely for construction of new undergraduate dorms. (KATHERINE CARR/The Stanford Daily)
Roble and Lagunita Court parking lots are closed indefinitely for construction of new undergraduate dorms. (KATHERINE CARR/The Stanford Daily)

To accommodate the removal of the Roble and Lagunita Court parking lots, Stanford has begun constructing an underground parking lot underneath Roble Field.

Santa Teresa Street parking is also blocked off with orange cones and drivers are asked to park at the new paved Searsville parking lot while the underground parking lot is under construction. The Searsville parking lot, located on the corner of Santa Teresa and Campus Drive West, is a lighted parking lot that can hold more than 600 vehicles.

The post Roble and Lagunita parking lots closed indefinitely appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/09/22/roble-and-lagunita-parking-lots-closed-indefinitely/feed/ 0 1088136
Santa Teresa Street parking closes for renovation and parking structure construction https://stanforddaily.com/2014/09/15/santa-teresa-street-parking-closes-for-renovation-and-parking-structure-construction/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/09/15/santa-teresa-street-parking-closes-for-renovation-and-parking-structure-construction/#respond Tue, 16 Sep 2014 05:17:44 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1087945 Street parking on Santa Teresa Street, which runs in front of Roble, Lagunita Court and Governor’s Corner, closed for renovation yesterday.

The post Santa Teresa Street parking closes for renovation and parking structure construction appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
Santa Teresa Street closed earlier today while the area is under construction. (Courtesy of Parking & Transportation Services/Stanford Report)
Santa Teresa Street closed earlier today while the area is under construction.
(Courtesy of Parking & Transportation Services/Stanford Report)

Street parking on Santa Teresa Street, which runs in front of Roble, Lagunita Court and Governor’s Corner, closed for renovation yesterday.

The street — west of Lomita Drive to Campus Drive West — is being renovated, as crews rebuild curbs, restripe the street for bicycles and vehicles and transform some parking spaces into landscaping. The project is expected to take several months.

Removing the parking on Santa Teresa will allow pedestrians and bikers to commute more easily as construction in the area increases, explained Jack Cleary, associate vice president for land, building and real estate, in a Stanford Report article.

A few parking spots will still be available for service vehicles, delivery vehicles, Zipcars, resident fellows and people with disabilities.

More work will also occur on Santa Teresa, including a renovation of Roble Gym and the construction of a new underground parking structure between Roble Gym and the Arrillaga Outdoor Education and Recreation Center. In addition, construction of two new dorms at Lagunita Court is planned.

These new dorms, which are under construction approval by the Stanford University Board of Trustees, are planned to be situated on either side of Lagunita Court, where the parking lots are currently located.

The Roble and Lagunita Court parking lots will be closed on Sept. 22, and the new underground parking structure will provide parking for residents.

For now, the recently opened Searsville parking lot, located at the intersection of Santa Teresa and Campus Drive West, will provide parking for those who usually park on Santa Teresa and in the Roble and Lagunita Court parking lots.

 

Contact Katherine Carr at kcarr2 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

The post Santa Teresa Street parking closes for renovation and parking structure construction appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/09/15/santa-teresa-street-parking-closes-for-renovation-and-parking-structure-construction/feed/ 0 1087945
New ID Cards to feature space for Caltrain GoPass sticker https://stanforddaily.com/2014/08/06/new-id-cards-to-feature-space-for-caltrain-gopass-sticker/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/08/06/new-id-cards-to-feature-space-for-caltrain-gopass-sticker/#respond Wed, 06 Aug 2014 09:48:05 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1087314 Starting this month, Stanford ID Cards have a new look to conform to the updated wordmark and visual identity system. The card will feature a white space to the right of the Stanford “S” logo to allow space for Go Pass and Eco Pass stickers for those eligible.

The post New ID Cards to feature space for Caltrain GoPass sticker appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
The old Stanford ID card, left, will be replaced with the new design, right, which features space for a Go Pass or Eco Pass sticker. (Photo: Piotr Marcinski / Shutterstock)
The old Stanford ID card, left, will be replaced with the new design, right, which features space for a Go Pass or Eco Pass sticker.
(Photo: Piotr Marcinski/Shutterstock, Courtesy of Stanford News, Edited by KATHERINE CARR/The Stanford Daily)

Starting this month, Stanford ID Cards have a new look to conform to the updated wordmark and visual identity system. The card will feature a white space to the right of the Stanford “S” logo to allow space for Go Pass and Eco Pass stickers for those eligible.

The Go Pass allows unlimited travel on the Caltrain between all zones. The Eco Pass provides travel for five transit services—VTA buses, VTA light rail, Dumbarton Express, Highway 17 Express and Monterey-San Jose Express.  Go Pass and Eco Pass are free to eligible hospital and University employees.

Previously two separate cards, the Stanford ID Card and Go Pass or Eco Pass can now be combined, creating more convenient use for employees and students.

“Because this card appears slightly different from existing cards, we would like to make sure all campus departments and services are aware of the change, to limit confusion over the legitimacy of the new cards,” said Jay Kohn, director of card services in a Stanford News article.

The change will not affect existing cards. New students and employees, as well as those who need a replacement card, will receive the new design. Replacement cards will continue to cost $20.

Officially known as Campus Cards, Stanford ID cards serve as identification, as electronic key cards to dorms, libraries, recreational facilities and dining halls, and as debit cards. With the Go Pass or Eco Pass sticker, the cards can now be utilized for transportation.

The post New ID Cards to feature space for Caltrain GoPass sticker appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/08/06/new-id-cards-to-feature-space-for-caltrain-gopass-sticker/feed/ 0 1087314
Professor Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar nominated for California Supreme Court https://stanforddaily.com/2014/07/24/professor-mariano-florentino-cuellar-nominated-for-california-supreme-court/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/07/24/professor-mariano-florentino-cuellar-nominated-for-california-supreme-court/#respond Fri, 25 Jul 2014 06:49:53 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1087086 On Tuesday, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. nominated Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar Ph.D. ’00 as associate justice of the California Supreme Court.

The post Professor Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar nominated for California Supreme Court appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
(Courtesy of Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies/Stanford News)
(Courtesy of Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies/Stanford News)

On Tuesday, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. nominated Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar Ph.D. ’00 as associate justice of the California Supreme Court.

Cuéllar must be confirmed by the State Bar’s Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation before his name can appear on the Nov. 4 ballot for voter approval.

A Stanford Law School professor since 2001, Cuéllar has taught administrative law, criminal law, international law, executive power and legislation. He is also a professor of political science and director of Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

“Tino Cuéllar is a renowned scholar who has served two presidents and made significant contributions to both political science and the law,” Gov. Brown said in a news release. “His vast knowledge and even temperament will — without question — add further luster to our highest court.”

A former law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Cuéllar also served under the Clinton and Obama administrations and focused on criminal justice, public health, immigration and food safety.

Cuéllar will take his position after the Honorable Marvin R. Baxter retires on Jan. 4, 2015.

Cuéllar earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, a J.D. from Yale Law School and a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford. He is married to U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh of the Northern District of California.

Born in Mexico, Cuéllar walked for years across the border each day to attend school in Texas. At age 14, his family moved to California.

“I am enormously honored by Gov. Brown’s nomination, and if confirmed, I look forward to serving the people of California on our state’s highest court,” Cuéllar said, in the Office of the Governor’s announcement.

The post Professor Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar nominated for California Supreme Court appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/07/24/professor-mariano-florentino-cuellar-nominated-for-california-supreme-court/feed/ 0 1087086
Computer science adds new dimension to study of chemistry https://stanforddaily.com/2014/07/17/computer-science-adds-new-dimension-to-study-of-chemistry/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/07/17/computer-science-adds-new-dimension-to-study-of-chemistry/#comments Thu, 17 Jul 2014 19:39:58 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1086873 The study of chemistry is enhanced by computer applications from the recent surge in technology. As a forerunner in computer science among universities, Stanford combines computational and chemical science, leading to new discoveries, interdisciplinary programs and Nobel Prizes.

The post Computer science adds new dimension to study of chemistry appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
The 116-year-old old chemistry building, one of Jane Stanford's last sandstone buildings, is under a $66.7 million restoration, will feature state-of-the-art technology and is scheduled to reopen in fall 2016.  (KATHERINE CARR/The Stanford Daily)
The 116-year-old old chemistry building, one of Jane Stanford’s last sandstone buildings, is under a $66.7 million restoration, will feature state-of-the-art technology and is scheduled to reopen in fall 2016. (KATHERINE CARR/The Stanford Daily)

Twisting a tinkertoy-like model of red and blue sticks and spheres, professor Dan Stack attempted to demystify organic chemistry.

“This is a dibromobutane molecule,” Stack said, as he showed the class the structure. “But there is another way to picture this chemical structure — a computer model.”

Tossing the plastic model aside, Stack projected the same three-dimensional model onto the screen with his laptop through a chemistry computer program. He moved the chemical structure with his mouse, showing it from every angle and explained how to adjust the online model to assess the chemicals.

The study of chemistry is enhanced by computer applications from the recent surge in technology.  As a forerunner in computer science among universities, Stanford combines computational and chemical science, leading to new discoveries, interdisciplinary programs and Nobel Prizes.

Nationwide, the number of computer science majors rose 22 percent in 2013, with now on average 400 computer science majors per university — the sixth straight year of increasing undergraduate enrollment — according to the Computing Research Association’s annual survey.

Enrollment in these majors is increasing rapidly at universities like Harvard, MIT, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania. Computer science benefits the study of chemistry by adding a layer to analyze chemical processes.

 

CS majors with chemistry interest

With Silicon Valley in their backyard, and Stanford as a center for computer science, many potential chemistry undergraduate majors select computer science over chemistry.

Last year, 26 percent of Stanford undergraduate degrees were in computer science or engineering, which includes chemical engineering, about three times as many as at Harvard.  Only three percent of Stanford students graduate with an undergraduate in chemistry, with a comparable percent at Harvard.

Amani Peddada ’16 came to Stanford planning to major in chemistry.

“Chemistry, specifically organic chemistry, has a puzzle-like nature that requires imagination to understand how a molecule is synthesized,” Peddada said.

Peddada took a computer science course and an organic chemistry course and then declared computer science as his major. “Chemistry and computer science are similar in a lot of ways,” he said. “They require you to think a lot.”

Peddada said he chose computer science because “it’s the closest thing to science fiction. You first learn to code and then within a few weeks you’re building your first computer game.” Such a fast turnaround is not found in chemistry.

 

Chemistry then and now

Methods for conducting chemistry experiments were different a century ago.  Important discoveries, such as synthesizing life-saving drugs or finding cures for diseases, came from working with hands-on plastic ball-and-stick molecule models, like the ones Stack showed his class.

Dressed in a white lab coat and protective goggles, the classical chemist sat behind his lab bench, pouring solutions and clanking beakers and test tubes until he made a discovery. While helpful in the earlier days, these methods are of little use on the microscopic scale when analyzing minuscule changes and rapid chemical reactions.

Now, with greater knowledge of chemistry and advanced technologies, chemistry is done through other mediums — like a computer.

“I don’t work with many chemicals,” chemistry major Darren Demapan ’14 said about his current research.

On the third floor of the Seeley G. Mudd chemistry building, Demapan works, often for six to ten hours at a time, conducting research next to two large metal cylinders — no Bunsen burner or beaker in sight.

Demapan only slightly tweaks one part of the experiment or another and works at his computer.

“[My research is] mainly a lot of waiting, and writing mathematical calculations,” he said, explaining that his work is more physics and computation-oriented than purely chemistry.

 

Computer modeling essential in Nobel Prize Award

Computational modeling with chemistry was key to chemistry professor Michael Levitt’s research for which he received a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2013.

The prize was awarded to Levitt, along with Martin Karplus, professor of chemistry emeritus at Harvard University, and Arieh Warshel, professor of chemistry at the University of Southern California, for creating computer models to predict chemical processes.

Levitt created chemical reactions using computers in the 1970s, and as computers advanced, he portrayed complicated chemical mechanisms and experiments.

In 2013, computational chemistry allowed the trio to simulate how a drug works inside the body. Using computer-generated calculations, the Nobel laureates modeled atoms and protein responses to a drug.

Such technologies are used today by drug companies to simulate the drug’s interaction in a body, followed by hands-on experiments in a chemistry lab for drugs that looked promising.

In an interview after winning the Nobel Prize, Karplus said that in the beginning, his chemistry colleagues had thought using computers to simulate molecular processes was a waste of time.

But times have changed: “now it has become a central part of chemistry and structural biology,” Karplus said.

Computational chemistry allows a computer to understand a specific aspect of science — such as the structure of a protein — and then learn how it functions. Applications of coupling computers and chemistry include creating solar cells and drugs and optimizing motor vehicles.

According to the chemistry Nobel Prize press release, “Today the computer is just as important a tool for chemists as the test tube.” Computerized models allow researchers to obtain precise numbers and find results that are impossible to conduct with hands-on experiments.

Levitt received funding from the Human Frontier Science Program, which promotes interdisciplinary research and has supported over two dozen Nobel Prize winners, including three 2013 Nobel laureates.

 

Stanford’s interdisciplinary program

A similar interdisciplinary funding program is found at Stanford through Bio-X. Beginning in 1998, Bio-X provides grants for over 50 students and 400 faculty members to “catalyze discovery by crossing the boundaries between disciplines,” according to its website.

Integrating biological research with areas such as chemistry, computers and engineering allows students and researchers to contribute their expertise. Bio-X’s objective is to understand health and disease at the genetic level by a chemistry approach, but also design devices and molecular machines to help patients. 

 

Future applications of computers in the study of chemistry

Computer programming is making its way into chemistry courses. One chemistry course at Stanford uses MATLAB, a user-friendly computer programming language that allows students to analyze the data they collect in a lab.

MATLAB requires a similar skill-set to the programming language Java used in Stanford’s introductory computer science course. “There are newer technologies today to use in chemistry,” Stack said, “There are more tools in your toolbox.”

These new tools will soon be housed at Stanford’s 116-year-old “old organic chemistry” building. Damaged during the 1907 Great Earthquake, the chemistry building is going through a $66.7 million remodel and will open in the fall of 2016.

The building will feature state-of-the-art teaching laboratories and technologies, from computers to lab equipment, such as gas chromatography machines and mass spectrometers.

Though now a computer science major, Peddada plans to take advantage of the computational aspects at the remodeled chemistry building.

“I’m taking the last part of the organic chemistry series next quarter and might minor in chemistry,” Peddada said. “I’ll always love chemistry.”

 

Contact Katherine Carr at kcarr2 ‘at’ stanford ‘dot’ edu.

 

The post Computer science adds new dimension to study of chemistry appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/07/17/computer-science-adds-new-dimension-to-study-of-chemistry/feed/ 1 1086873
Senate approves Stanford alumnus as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development https://stanforddaily.com/2014/07/13/senate-approves-stanford-alumnus-as-secretary-of-housing-and-urban-development/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/07/13/senate-approves-stanford-alumnus-as-secretary-of-housing-and-urban-development/#respond Sun, 13 Jul 2014 11:59:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1086792 On Wednesday the Senate approved Julián Castro ’96 as the new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Castro, 39, was nominated by President Barack Obama in May and was confirmed by a 71-26 Senate vote.

The post Senate approves Stanford alumnus as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
Senate approves Stanford alumnus as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Julián Castro ’96, left, was recently confirmed as the new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), seen here at his nomination with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and current HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan in May. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

On Wednesday the Senate approved Julián Castro ’96 as the new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Castro, 39, was nominated by President Barack Obama in May and was confirmed by a 71-26 Senate vote.

During his time at Stanford, Castro became interested in politics and studied political science and communications. He was also elected to the student senate.

After Stanford, Castro attended Harvard Law School and was elected to the San Antonio City Council in 2001. He has served as mayor of San Antonio since 2009.

As mayor, Castro implemented housing and economic development projects to revitalize the city. He has also promoted access to higher education and supported marriage equality and affirmative action.

As the fifth Latino mayor in San Antonio history and the youngest mayor of a top-50 American city, Castro was also the first Hispanic to deliver the keynote address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

President Obama said in an official White House statement following Castro’s appointment approval that “[Castro] is a proven leader, a champion for safe, affordable housing and strong, sustainable neighborhoods.”

Castro will replace current HUD secretary Shaun Donovan, who was confirmed as director of the Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday.

According to Politico, Castro is considered a potential vice presidential candidate for the 2016 election. The Cabinet appointment will give him the chance to acclimate to Washington and increase his national presence.

The post Senate approves Stanford alumnus as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/07/13/senate-approves-stanford-alumnus-as-secretary-of-housing-and-urban-development/feed/ 0 1086792
2014 Deans’ Award for Academic Accomplishment recipients announced https://stanforddaily.com/2014/06/01/2014-deans-award-for-academic-accomplishment-recipients-announced/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/06/01/2014-deans-award-for-academic-accomplishment-recipients-announced/#respond Mon, 02 Jun 2014 00:31:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1086830 Ten students were recognized for their scholarly achievements with the 2014 Deans’ Award for Academic Accomplishment.

The post 2014 Deans’ Award for Academic Accomplishment recipients announced appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
Ten students were recognized for their scholarly achievements with the 2014 Deans’ Award for Academic Accomplishment.

The annual award, created by former Dean of Undergraduate Studies Tom Wasow, was given to “extraordinary undergraduates deserving attention from the Stanford community for their intellectual accomplishments,” according to a University press release.

The winners, with majors ranging from chemistry and bioengineering, to classics and English, were nominated by faculty and staff members who worked closely with them during the year. Finalists were selected by a committee created by the deans of the three schools of undergraduate degrees — Earth Sciences, Engineering and Humanities and Sciences.

This year’s winners are: Emma Dohner ’15, Jessica Holtzman ’14, Maya Sophia Krishnan ’15, Arthur Lau ’14, Emily Liang ’14, John Pluvinage ’14, Jennifer Schaffer ’14, Ruoke Yang ’14, Lynnelle Ye ’14 and ZiXiang Zhang ’14.

A ceremony was held for the students during a luncheon held Monday, April 28 at the Faculty Club.

The post 2014 Deans’ Award for Academic Accomplishment recipients announced appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/06/01/2014-deans-award-for-academic-accomplishment-recipients-announced/feed/ 0 1086830
FroSoCo dorm offers residents student-taught seminars https://stanforddaily.com/2014/05/27/frosoco-dorm-offers-residents-student-taught-seminars/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/05/27/frosoco-dorm-offers-residents-student-taught-seminars/#respond Tue, 27 May 2014 09:42:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1086042 As the first brave volunteer, Angela Cattani ‘17, sunk her teeth into the sour lemon, nine other students watched, wincing. But the volunteer smiled and kept eating the lemon, as though it were candy.

The post FroSoCo dorm offers residents student-taught seminars appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
As the first brave volunteer, Angela Cattani ‘17, sunk her teeth into the sour lemon, nine other students watched, wincing.

But the volunteer smiled and kept eating the lemon, as though it were candy.

FroSoCo residents tried miracle berries, which make sour lemons taste sweet, at the dorm's "The Chemistry of Taste" SoFo this month.(Courtesy of Jacqueline Carr)
FroSoCo residents tried miracle berries, which make sour lemons taste sweet, at the dorm’s “The Chemistry of Taste” SoFo this month.(Courtesy of Jacqueline Carr)

So what caused the lemon to be sweet? A miracle berry, a fruit that contains a molecule called miraculin that binds to receptors on the taste buds and activates sweet receptors.

The berries were provided by James Ousey ‘16 at a small student-run class called “The Chemistry of Taste” that he taught at Freshman Sophomore College’s (FroSoCo) Sophomore Fellows (SoFo) program earlier this month.

So far this year, seven SoFo classes have been taught on subjects ranging from calligraphy and podcasts to space exploration and murals. The student-run classes are about an hour long and are usually attended by six to 15 students.

SoFos began in FroSoCo in 2001 to increase the intellectual vitality of the community.

“This has been an exceptionally successful year for SoFos,” according to Khalil Griffin ‘15, FroSoCo staff member and SoFo organizer.

Ninety of the 160 FroSoCo residents have been involved — an all-time high, which Griffin attributes to funding, resources and the dorm’s purely academic theme.

During the “The Chemistry of Taste” seminar, FroSoCo residents learned why tonic water glows under ultraviolet light and why foam in toothpaste makes drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth taste bitter.  Both are caused by molecules within the water and foam — quinine makes the glow and sodium lauryl sulfate dulls the sweet taste receptors. The experiments and explanations brought chemistry out of the traditional classroom.

With a marker pen in one hand, a white board in the other and students seated on the lounge sofas — a far cry from a lecture hall — Ousey drew molecules and explained how they worked inside the body. When he got to the taste mechanism, Ousey sketched a snake-like structure protruding from a smooth, oval-shaped surface.

“This is what a taste bud looks like,” he said. The head end of the “snake” was the pore where the tongue interacts with food. The tail was the nerve which sends the taste signals to the brain.

Ousey combined his two primary interests — food and chemistry — for the class.

“I chose food because it’s pretty universal; everyone eats food,” Ousey said. “If you understand the chemistry behind a few things, you can apply it to your cooking methods.”

Ousey developed his love for cooking when he was in high school in Esparto, California, a town of just over 3,000 people offering no AP science classes. At that time, he weighed 205 pounds.

After Ousey was admitted to Stanford, the thought of college motivated him to slim down. He started cooking nutritious food and developed a health regimen, which he keeps up today.

In college, Ousey’s interest in chemistry was sparked in a class he took last quarter. Ousey combined his interest in chemistry with his love for Alton Brown’s cooking show “Good Eats” on the Food Network.

“[Brown really tries to bring the science behind it to a general part of the population,” Ousey said.

George Fei ‘17 came for the food but stayed for the chemistry. Apart from the miracle berries, Ousey’s teaching style stood out for Fei.

“He started with the example and then explained the chemistry behind it,” Fei said. “He flip-flopped from the way chemistry is normally taught.”

Tebello Qhotsokoane ‘16, who attended Ousey’s SoFo despite his primary interest in politics, complimented how well Ousey conveyed his knowledge.

“I didn’t expect to learn so much chemistry,” Qhotsokoane said.

 

Contact Katherine Carr at kcarr2 ‘at’ stanford ‘dot’ edu.

The post FroSoCo dorm offers residents student-taught seminars appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/05/27/frosoco-dorm-offers-residents-student-taught-seminars/feed/ 0 1086042
Q&A with Richard Shaw: What Stanford looks for in an applicant https://stanforddaily.com/2014/04/25/qa-with-richard-shaw-what-stanford-looks-for-in-an-applicant/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/04/25/qa-with-richard-shaw-what-stanford-looks-for-in-an-applicant/#comments Fri, 25 Apr 2014 09:40:30 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1084860 If you go to a bookstore you'll find hundreds of books written on how to get in. We're trying to find students. There are no absolutes. The bottom line is we try to identify students who we sense [have] a significant love of learning and passion for whatever they do.

The post Q&A with Richard Shaw: What Stanford looks for in an applicant appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
Richard F. Shaw, dean of admissions and financial aid, recently announced the class of 2018 admitted students. A record number of 42,167 students applied — an increase of 8.6 percent over last year. Admission was offered to 5.07 percent of the applicants. The Daily spoke with Dean Shaw about the admissions process and trends.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): Is Stanford looking for well-rounded students or students focused on a specific passion?

Richard Shaw (RS): If you go to a bookstore you’ll find hundreds of books written on how to get in. We’re trying to find students. There are no absolutes. The bottom line is we try to identify students who we sense [have] a significant love of learning and passion for whatever they do.

The common denominator is you have to be doing well in school with academic work that you’ve done and types of courses you’ve taken. That’s the springboard we use to move into the rest of the story.

They all have a shot at consideration and we treat their applications with extraordinary respect. We try to find the characteristics that suggest they have an incredible motivation to engage in the way they live their lives and the way they do their work. It’s more than just meeting certain quantitative markers.

We use the term “intellectual vitality.” But it’s vitality for anything they engage in. So usually the students who make it through this review will present to us some significant success that reflects a passion for what they do.

Richard Shaw, dean of admissions and financial aid.
Richard Shaw, dean of admissions and financial aid.

TSD: How many staff members do you have in the office reviewing the applications? 

RS: We have about 40 people reading — they’re not all full-time officers. We hire a number of outside readers, and many of them are returning every year and they contribute to the reading process.

TSD: How many hours collectively go into reviewing these applications?

RS: If you averaged the number of students in a 15-minute reading, some are longer and some are shorter: 42,000 divided by four would be the number of hours in the first read. Then you’d have to add the substantial number of students who make it through second and third reads—it’s quite an intense program. It’s 24/7 for about three months.

TSD: With the number of applicants at an all-time high, have there been any shifts in the types of students accepted this year compared to previous years?

RS: This year, we’re seeing a nice spike in the humanities in this class and we’re pleased about that. It’s about creating awareness of what the programs and opportunities are at Stanford. So it does have a lot to do with the public perceptions but it also has to do with outreach we do.

We are often tied into the community in which we live and the Silicon Valley is fairly technologically well known throughout the country. So the fastest-growing areas have been technology, but that’s been turning around and we’re going to see that change in the next few years.

TSD: Do you expect any changes in the number of students Stanford accepts?

RS: We’ve been hovering around 1,700 — this year 1,670 — but we do see in the future over a period of time some growth, and [Stanford President John Hennessey] mentioned that himself. We won’t grow [the student body] unless we can put the kind of resources behind that growth to ensure that the kind of quality education a Stanford student receives today will be the same, which means building new residence halls and possibly hiring new faculty.

TSD: As Stanford’s dean of admission and financial aid for almost 10 years and as the former dean of admissions at Yale University, what has been the biggest challenge in the admissions process?

RS: No doubt it would be the volume. The volume in recent years has really gone up pretty precipitously.

TSD: Will interviews be incorporated more in the admissions process?

RS: Interviews are not required but many students take advantage of them. We’ve had a pilot program going on for three years, and now we’ve formalized it for the last two and we’re growing it slowly. It allows us to have them reflect on their candidacy with alumni throughout the years … There will come a time when we will be interviewing the vast majority of students who are interested in applying to Stanford.

TSD: Stanford had an 8.6-percent increase in applicants this year, more than twice the average increase of other top schools. What do you think makes Stanford so attractive to prospective students?

RS: That’s a great question. I just think we’ve been discovered. We’re on the West Coast—the rest of the country has woken up to the fact that that Stanford is an amazing place to pursue your higher education.

We’re in the news all the time around the nation both in terms of our academic and our intellectual outcomes. Nobel Laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, Rose Bowl, national basketball Final Four—this is a place where excellence pervades the institution.

The weather definitely helps.  If you come from places where you have 10 snowstorms a year, you sort of go, ‘This is kind of pleasant out here.”

This transcription has been condensed and edited.

Contact Katherine Carr at kcarr2 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

The post Q&A with Richard Shaw: What Stanford looks for in an applicant appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/04/25/qa-with-richard-shaw-what-stanford-looks-for-in-an-applicant/feed/ 1 1084860
Panel of professors discuss fracking https://stanforddaily.com/2014/04/18/panel-of-professors-discuss-fracking/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/04/18/panel-of-professors-discuss-fracking/#respond Fri, 18 Apr 2014 08:22:48 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1084612 On Tuesday at Tresidder Union, a panel of five Stanford professors discussed hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, and its potential as an alternative energy source.

The post Panel of professors discuss fracking appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
On Tuesday at Tresidder Union, a panel of five Stanford professors discussed hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, and its potential as an alternative energy source. Hosted by Students for a Sustainable Stanford and moderated by Pamela Matson, dean of the School of Earth Sciences, the panel focused on current energy sources and implications.

Fracking is the use of pressurized water and chemicals to create or widen fractures in the Earth’s surface to reach oil or natural gas deep underground. Given the Earth’s diminishing energy reserves, this newly accessible source of fuel promises an alternative to coal consumption. The panel discussion emphasized, however, that with a new energy source come advantages and disadvantages for the environment.

MEHMET INONU/ The Stanford Daily
JACQUELINE CARR/ The Stanford Daily

The five professors, with backgrounds ranging from geophysics and environmental law to civil and environmental engineering, shared their thoughts on alternative energy sources, focusing on fracking and its implications in California and the United States.

Those favoring fracking support the new technology because it will lower carbon emissions and enable the United States to be less dependent on other forms of energy. Fracking opponents generally cite the environmental issues, social ramifications and methane emissions that come with drawing natural gas from deep in the earth.

“The question is to drill or not to drill,” said Michael Wara, associate professor of law, who specializes in energy and environmental law.

Creating holes in the earth causes problems of its own, according to the panelists, such as the potential to trigger more earthquakes today and in the future.

Apart from the actual drilling, there are other drawbacks of fracking. For example, the consumption of natural gas releases methane and other harmful chemicals into the air.

Mark Jacobson ’87 M.S. ’88, a professor of civil and environmental engineering who uses computer simulators to detect pollution and climate changes, addressed the energy debate of coal versus natural gas.

“While coal produces more carbon dioxide, natural gas releases more ammonia, methane and carbon monoxide,” Jacobson said.

Following the panel discussion, the event was opened to audience questions.

An audience member asked about recent methane leakage from fracking, to which Jackson responded that the leakage occurred from the pipes used to transport the natural gas. While the current method of transporting the gas through old pipes can lead to exposure of harmful chemicals into the air, Jackson noted that a number of states plan to follow the example of a cast iron pipe replacement program undertaken in Ohio.

“[We] need better ways to detect leaks and treat them,” added Sally Benson, professor of energy resources engineering.

Preventing leaks and using sea water instead of fresh water in the fracking process could promise a safer and more appealing future for fracking, according to panelists.

Mark Zoback M.S. ’73 Ph.D ’75, professor of geophysics, also suggested “establishing a long term goal (of reducing carbon emissions) by creating a carbon tax.”

This tax would promote alternative sources of energy, which could prove less hazardous to the environment.

Contact Katherine Carr at kcarr2@stanford.edu.

The post Panel of professors discuss fracking appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/04/18/panel-of-professors-discuss-fracking/feed/ 0 1084612
Civil Rights Icons: Jesse Jackson and Elaine Brown discuss the Civil Rights Movement https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/21/civil-rights-icons-jesse-jackson-and-elaine-brown-discuss-the-civil-rights-movement/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/21/civil-rights-icons-jesse-jackson-and-elaine-brown-discuss-the-civil-rights-movement/#comments Fri, 21 Feb 2014 08:26:11 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082579 CEMEX Auditorium was buzzing on Wednesday evening as a crowd of over 450 people came to hear civil rights leader, Baptist minister and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson Sr. and Elaine Brown, the first female chair of the Black Panther party, speak at the first of an installment of events on the Civil Rights Movement.CEMEX Auditorium was buzzing on Wednesday evening as a crowd of over 450 people came to hear civil rights leader, Baptist minister and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson Sr. and Elaine Brown, the first female chair of the Black Panther party, speak at the first of an installment of events on the Civil Rights Movement.

The post Civil Rights Icons: Jesse Jackson and Elaine Brown discuss the Civil Rights Movement appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
CEMEX Auditorium was buzzing on Wednesday evening as a crowd of over 450 people came to hear civil rights leader, Baptist minister and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson Sr. and Elaine Brown, the first female chair of the Black Panther party, speak at the first of an installment of events on the Civil Rights Movement.

Jackson, who worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr., reflected on his time during the Civil Rights Movement and addressed present-day struggles.

He explained the discrimination in his childhood, from not being allowed at the front of the bus to being forbidden from using a public restroom. Jackson detailed the 246 years of slavery in the United States, reminding the audience, “these are real dates.”

Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., discussed his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and the current status of civil rights. (Elliot Serbin/The Stanford Daily)
Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., discussed his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and the current status of civil rights. (Elliot Serbin/The Stanford Daily)

Jackson later turned his attention to the status of civil rights today and the work still to be done. As an advocate for equality and social justice, he encouraged students to look into their own lives and what could be fixed – specifically mentioning student loans and his student loan debt and credit card forgiveness proposal.

“You will be the leaders, for better or for worse – probably better,” Jackson said, calling on students to take initiative.

Reflecting on how far the country has come since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Jackson focused specifically on the election of Barack Obama as president in 2008.

“I was weeping because of the joy of the moment. We won the big one,” Jackson said. “I wished Dr. King and all those who made it possible to get here could see Obama become president.”

“Those people aren’t here because they paid the ultimate price,” Jackson said. “[It’s] a fight that is not over.”

Later, Brown discussed her time with the Black Panthers Party and how she considered herself a part of a “freedom movement.”

“Before joining the Black Panthers, I was blind to what needed to be done,” Brown said, crediting the Black Panthers for making her aware of the problems and giving her an outlet to advocate change.

She asserted that there is a need for change again today, citing problems with today’s prison systems. Unlike her era, however, she stressed that now is not the right time for any mass movements.

Both speakers agreed that the younger generation needs to be aware of what’s going on in order to find out what needs to change.

“There’s room in the struggle for you,” Jackson said in his closing statement.

The event was the first installment in a series on the Civil Rights Movement sponsored by various organizations, including the Black Community Services Center, the Black Student Union, the Haas Center for Public Service and the Stanford Department of History.

“Tonight is a historical event,” said Jan Barker-Alexander, director of the Black Community Services Center. “I’m short on words, which people know I never am. For me, this is personal. These two icons made me realize, ‘I am someone.’”

The crowd was equally as moved by the event, with one audience member telling Jackson, “I voted for you in ’61. I wore your pin!”

“This panel discussion was inspiring,” said one Stanford student during the comment period. “One of the best in my four years at Stanford.”

Contact Katherine Carr at kcarr2 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

The post Civil Rights Icons: Jesse Jackson and Elaine Brown discuss the Civil Rights Movement appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/21/civil-rights-icons-jesse-jackson-and-elaine-brown-discuss-the-civil-rights-movement/feed/ 2 1082579
Stanford to establish new Center for Excellence in Stem Cell Genomics https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/12/stanford-to-establish-new-center-for-excellence-in-stem-cell-genomics/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/12/stanford-to-establish-new-center-for-excellence-in-stem-cell-genomics/#respond Wed, 12 Feb 2014 09:00:16 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082295 Stanford will collaborate with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies to lead a new Center for Excellence in Stem Cell Genomics starting this spring, in an initiative backed by a $40 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

The post Stanford to establish new Center for Excellence in Stem Cell Genomics appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
Stem cell grant
Courtesy of Michael Snyder

Stanford will collaborate with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies to lead a new Center for Excellence in Stem Cell Genomics starting this spring, in an initiative backed by a $40 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Professor of Genetics Michael Snyder and Salk Institute professor Joseph Ecker will lead the new institute, which will apply the grant towards three main areas of research–cardiovascular disease, single-cell mapping and computational networking of genes.

Nearly half the grant, or $19 million, will be applied toward promoting collaborative efforts with partner institutions–including UC-Santa Cruz, UC-San Diego, the Scripps Research Institute and Illumina, Inc.–with regards to research technology and findings.

“We’re bringing together the best experts in each field,” Snyder said, noting that Stanford has particular expertise in genomics, DNA sequencing and genetics to contribute.

Snyder himself will lead the cardiovascular project, while other Stanford professors will also contribute to the collaboration. Reflecting on the collective endeavor, Snyder noted that stem cell research has advanced rapidly in recent years.

“In the four and a half years I have been at Stanford, stem cell research has taken off like a shot,” he reflected.

While the new center is still taking shape, Snyder and Ecker have a history of collaboration, having shared a lab at Stanford earlier in their academic careers.

“We know each other from our days at Stanford in the biochemistry department,” Ecker confirmed. “We worked together as post-doc fellows in Ron David’s lab.”

Though participating institutions will work on unique individual projects, Ecker, who will head the collaborative effort, expressed optimism that individual labs will share information and findings with each other–and with the broader research community.

“A center project aids the center, but also beyond the center, it bolsters genomic research throughout California,” Ecker observed.

Snyder emphasized the opportunities for principle investigators, graduate students and undergraduates from Stanford to work at the new center.

“We have amazing students,” said Snyder. “I love the culture at Stanford, it’s inventive and people think crazy ideas.”

 

Contact Katherine Carr at kcarr2 at stanford dot edu.

The post Stanford to establish new Center for Excellence in Stem Cell Genomics appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/12/stanford-to-establish-new-center-for-excellence-in-stem-cell-genomics/feed/ 0 1082295
Freshmen launch two fashion magazines on campus https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/07/freshmen-launch-two-fashion-magazines-on-campus/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/07/freshmen-launch-two-fashion-magazines-on-campus/#respond Fri, 07 Feb 2014 08:43:39 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1082152 Two student-run fashion magazines, MINT and Pulse, have taken shape on campus over the past few months in response to a perceived lack of a diverse fashion community on campus. Ashley Overbeek ’17, editor-in-chief of MINT Magazine, and Ameeqa Ali ’17, editor-in-chief of Pulse Magazine, both had fashion on their mind when they arrived to […]

The post Freshmen launch two fashion magazines on campus appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
Two student-run fashion magazines, MINT and Pulse, have taken shape on campus over the past few months in response to a perceived lack of a diverse fashion community on campus.

Ashley Overbeek ’17, editor-in-chief of MINT Magazine, and Ameeqa Ali ’17, editor-in-chief of Pulse Magazine, both had fashion on their mind when they arrived to Stanford this past fall. After failing to identify fashion publications at Stanford, both resolved to make their own.

Ashley Overbeek '17 launched MINT magazine this quarter online. (Courtesy of Ashley Overbeek).
Ashley Overbeek ’17 launched MINT magazine this quarter online. (Courtesy of Ashley Overbeek).

Both magazines seek to go beyond the surface of fashion. Pulse seeks to encompass other aspects of Stanford culture while MINT aims to delve deep into fashion-related issues, including queer fashion and the pressure of fashion on society.

MINT published its first online issue last month — and has already reached over 2,700 hits — and will have print copies available on campus in mid-February. Pulse Magazine is waiting for approval of voluntary student organization status from the ASSU but plans to publish solely online this coming spring.

MINT Magazine

“We came into Stanford guns a’blazing,” Overbeek, who started her publication in fall quarter with students that had expressed an interest in the magazine through the Stanford Class of 2017 Facebook page, recalled.

Overbeek, dressed in a red velvet crop top, Ray Bans glasses, sparkly embroidered pants and holographic nails, said that she believes no one should be told what is fashionable or not, emphasizing that MINT Magazine is for all audiences and highlights all different types of styles.

“Fashion is for everyone, not just those who are rich or skinny,” Overbeek said. “Now it’s less about label and more about how you feel.”

According to Overbeek, MINT strives to highlight different trends sported by Stanford students, as well as unique and quirky ensembles that represent the individual, in addition to showing off Stanford-originated art, style, music and culture. The first issue featured everything from artistic model shots and details of the latest fashion trends, to highlights on individual students’ styles, make-up tips and an interview with a cappella group Fleet Street.

The models for MINT’s first issue were Stanford students posing in their own clothes, allowing them to express their unique styles. The models, writers and photographers submitted their information and were selected through open calls.

“A lot of how we got the word out was through the [MINT] Facebook page,” Overbeek said.

According to Overbeek, however, the first issue was “tame” and the magazine will aim to take a deeper look at issues and to expand beyond the Stanford community in both content and readership. The second issue, which is planned for April, will move beyond campus with the inclusion of a feature on the band Mutual Benefit.

“MINT aims to have Stanford students write about issues in the broader fashion and culture world that inspire them, not just on campus,” Overbeek said.

Pulse Magazine

Drawing from her experience working at startup fashion and culture magazine One1One, in her hometown of Vancouver, Ali wanted to feature fashion at Stanford in her magazine while also featuring other dimensions of campus life.

“Pulse Magazine’s mission is to expose Stanford students to the undergrad culture, including fashion, music, events and food,” Ali said. “We go to school with an amazing group of people, but people aren’t exposed to those outside their immediate social group.”

Although Pulse Magazine hasn’t released its first issue yet, Ali said that a solid team backs the publication. Pulse Magazine board member Justin Carl, who returned as a Stanford student after seven years of working in Hollywood nightlife, entertainment and fashion, explained Pulse’s significance at Stanford.

Ameeqa Ali '17, is waiting for approval from the ASSU to launch Pulse magazine.
Ameeqa Ali ’17, is waiting for approval from the ASSU to launch Pulse magazine.

“Then and now there has not been a fashion, culture, art and lifestyle magazine that places emphasis on its realistic application and importance to a Stanford student,” he said.  “I am excited to bring a new level of style to the Stanford community.”

While the team is excited for its first issue, there have been several unexpected challenges along the way, including deciding on a name or choosing the angle the publication would take.

“The behind the scenes of a magazine has an energy of its own,” Ali said. “The rest of the year is going to be a wild ride.”

Contact Katherine Carr at kcarr2 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

The post Freshmen launch two fashion magazines on campus appeared first on The Stanford Daily.

]]>
https://stanforddaily.com/2014/02/07/freshmen-launch-two-fashion-magazines-on-campus/feed/ 0 1082152