Lea Sparkman – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Fri, 20 Oct 2017 17:14:29 +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 Lea Sparkman – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 New engineering course partners with German university https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/20/new-engineering-course-partners-with-german-university/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/09/20/new-engineering-course-partners-with-german-university/#respond Mon, 21 Sep 2015 06:23:29 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1103465 The Stanford School of Engineering has announced a new course, Engineering 311C: Expanding Engineering Limits: Culture, Diversity, and Gender (ENGR 311C), for this fall, which will investigate the topics of culture, diversity and gender with respect to the engineering world. The course features a partnership with Aachen University in Germany, providing the class with the opportunity to discuss international perspectives on prevalent topics.

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The Stanford School of Engineering has announced a new course, Engineering 311C: Expanding Engineering Limits: Culture, Diversity, and Gender (ENGR 311C), for this fall, which will investigate the topics of culture, diversity and gender with respect to the engineering world. The course features a partnership with Aachen University in Germany, providing the class with the opportunity to discuss international perspectives on prevalent topics.

The course was created in order to educate engineers about aspects of the engineering sphere such as gender ratios and inherent biases. According to mechanical engineering professor Sheri Sheppard, a co-instructor of ENGR 311C, engineering students are rarely made aware of the extensive research and literature regarding such topics within their fields.

“The framing of everything we’re doing is around engineering,” Sheppard said.

However, she also explained that the new course blends a more technical mindset with a humanities one. Sheppard hopes that the course will ultimately allow students to characterize and navigate their role within the engineering world.

“There isn’t enough collaboration… between the two [humanities and engineering fields],” said Carol Muller M.A. ’81 Ph.D. ’85, co-instructor and executive director of Women In Science and Engineering (WISE) Ventures at Stanford. “[This course is] an opportunity to bring together some research from both of those areas and also to have people think in cross-cultural contexts.”

The course will begin with a discussion of the definitions of gender, sex and culture and then will branch into the influence of cultural definitions within the engineering world. As the class progresses, students will discuss more specifically how cultural or gender biases influence product design and development.

“People who are designing for… other people assume that all people are like themselves,” Muller said. “Designs for solutions – whether for technology or scientific inquiry – miss the mark.”

Among other topics, the course will discuss how generating diversity within the engineering fields may eventually lead to improved solutions.

The application-based class, a blend of 15 undergraduate and graduate students, will engage in a two-part discussion of the course’s topics. Students may choose between taking the course for one or two units and would meet weekly or bi-weekly, respectively.

While Tuesday classes, required for all students, will focus on assigned reading and host speakers, Thursday classes – part of the two-unit course – will allow participants to investigate gender, diversity and culture within the engineering world for themselves through self-created group research projects.

These projects can range from an analysis of the cultural influences involved in choosing a major, or analyzing potential gender biases in the University’s engineering handbook. Muller explained that she looks forward to learning which topics attract students’ interests.

“We have no way of completely predicting [what projects come out of this class],” she said.  

To add a global perspective to the conversation about diversity within engineering, a parallel course to the one offered at Stanford will be held at Aachen University in Germany. Students at both schools will participate in joint lectures and discussions, as well as collaborate on a final research project together. Students from Aachen will visit Stanford for the first week of school and will stay connected via live video streaming throughout the remainder of the course, providing a constant international angle in discussions.

“I think [the diverse environment] means that we’ll need to recognize that there’s a lumpiness in backgrounds, that there’s pockets of expertise in different ways,” Sheppard said. She adds that she and her fellow facilitators “will need to draw that out of our students.”

The co-instructors both explained that they would love to see the influence of this course expand beyond the fall quarter. Sheppard hopes that students write papers about their chosen research topics, and co-instructor and consulting associate professor at the School of Engineering Shannon Gilmartin ’94 hopes that the class will be offered “on a more standard basis.”

“It would be fabulous to see this course take off, perhaps be offered over multiple quarters,” Gilmartin said.

“I’m intrigued to see what kinds of conversations will emerge as a result of each class, but also as a result of the whole course about future curriculums, future research, future projects,” Muller added. “I think it’s a great way of priming the pump to have more of these discussions.”

 

Contact Lea Sparkman at 16lsparkman ‘at’ castilleja.org.

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SLAC scientists uncover protein structure that could help with drug development https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/18/slac-scientists-uncover-protein-structure-that-could-help-with-drug-development/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/18/slac-scientists-uncover-protein-structure-that-could-help-with-drug-development/#respond Wed, 19 Aug 2015 04:56:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102883 Scientists at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have uncovered details about the structure of a two-part protein that may fuel the development of new drugs for mental disorders such as depression, schizophrenia and anxiety.

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Scientists at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have uncovered details about the structure of a two-part protein that may fuel the development of new drugs for mental disorders such as depression, schizophrenia and anxiety.

According to an article on the SLAC website, neurons, or nerve cells, communicate with one another by releasing small receptacles of neurotransmitters, or signaling chemicals. With the help of binding proteins, these neurotransmitters are then absorbed by other neurons. Such inter-neuron communication allows an individual’s nervous system to react and respond to its surroundings.

The two proteins involved in the transfer of neurotransmitters are called SNARE and synaptotagmin 1, and together they form a protein complex. A small-scale rise in calcium concentration signals the complex to start the transfer between two neurons. Once signaled, SNARE and synaptotagmin fuse the neurons’ membranes together, allowing for a “gun-shot” release of neurotransmitters from one neuron to another.

Previous studies across several decades have analyzed SNARE and synaptotagmin 1 individually, but scientists were not aware of the proteins’ interactions until this most recent study, which involved growing and analyzing crystals of the protein complex.

Because SNARE and synaptotagmin 1 are already bound together by the time they arrive at the neuron membrane, they allow for an extremely quick signal release time and are the reason that the nervous system can react quite rapidly to its surrounding environment. These in-depth findings about how neurons relay signals may potentially reveal remedies to mental disorders like schizophrenia.

In the future, researchers hope to analyze the significance and cooperation of other proteins involved in the release of neurotransmitters as well.

“There are many other factors interacting with this system,” said Axel Brunger, principal investigator for the research and professor of molecular and cellular physiology, neurology and neurological sciences and photon science at the Stanford School of Medicine. “This [most recent finding] is by no means the end of the story.”

 

Contact Lea Sparkman at 16lsparkman ‘at’ castilleja.org.

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Walnut Creek murder-suicide update says former Stanford student constructed gun https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/11/walnut-creek-murder-suicide-update-says-former-stanford-student-constructed-gun/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/11/walnut-creek-murder-suicide-update-says-former-stanford-student-constructed-gun/#comments Wed, 12 Aug 2015 06:05:42 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102696 Former Stanford engineering student Scott Bertics used a gun he constructed himself to kill his ex-girlfriend Clare Orton and then himself. Police are still searching for a motive for the murder-suicide of the couple, who had not been romantically involved since 2013.

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Former Stanford engineering student Scott Bertics used a gun he constructed himself to kill his ex-girlfriend Clare Orton and then himself. Police are still searching for a motive for the murder-suicide of the couple, who had not been romantically involved since 2013.

According to a San Jose Mercury News article, the two guns from the crime scene lacked serial numbers, and a police investigation revealed that Bertics had assembled the guns himself by ordering parts from online manufacturers.

Though Bertics’ purchased and assembled the weapons legally, Walnut Creek Police Lieutenant Lanny Edwards noted that building them is no easy feat. The young student “had to know what he was doing,” Edwards told the Mercury.

The shooting has raised serious questions about homemade “ghost guns,” which are difficult to trace and control.

Police have not yet found a motive for the murder-suicide, and officials stated there were no “red flags” that foreshadowed Bertics’ violent actions. Currently no evidence indicates that Bertics involved other individuals in the crime or notified others of his plan.

The Las Lomas community held a candlelight vigil for Orton on July 27 to express its grievances and show support for her family.

 

Contact Lea Sparkman at 16lsparkman ‘at’ castilleja.org.

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Stanford professor proposes fourth branch of government https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/10/the-united-states-government-has-always-consisted-of-three-governing-branches-to-serve-as-a-system-of-checks-and-balances-however-according-to-bruce-owen-professor-emeritus-of-economics-at-stanford/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/10/the-united-states-government-has-always-consisted-of-three-governing-branches-to-serve-as-a-system-of-checks-and-balances-however-according-to-bruce-owen-professor-emeritus-of-economics-at-stanford/#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2015 23:15:38 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102701 According to Bruce Owen, professor emeritus of economics at Stanford, these three branches of the government have become so corrupt and filled with elite politicians that our governmental structure may benefit from a change. Owen has proposed the addition of a fourth “Umpire” branch to limit corruption within the government.

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The United States government has always consisted of three governing branches to serve as a system of checks and balances. However, according to Bruce Owen, professor emeritus of economics at Stanford, these branches have become so corrupt and filled with elite politicians that our governmental structure may benefit from a change. Owen has proposed the addition of a fourth “Umpire” branch to limit corruption within the government.

In the paper he is working on, Owen argues that the government’s current design is no longer capable of limiting the bias and corruption of politicians. Government officials “routinely service well-represented elites without regard to adverse effects on the well-being of the People,” Owen writes. To correct this, Owen’s additional branch would aim to correct this maldistribution and increase middle-class representation in our governing bodies.

The “Umpire” group, unlike the existing three branches, would consist of middle-class citizens at least 45 years of age who are unconnected to the existing political structure. According to Owen’s paper, these 11 individuals would be nominated by the president, the vice president, the chief justice, the speaker of the house, the majority leader of the Senate and the minority leaders of the Senate and House before being put up for a vote in Congress. Nominated umpires must gain their appointment by a two-thirds majority in the Senate.

In an interview with The Daily, Owen admitted that such a nomination system “is famously partisan.” Another option to obtain umpires, according to Owen, is picking citizens to serve as umpires randomly in a process similar to jury selection.

However, Owen also explained that this alternative system has its own set of disadvantages.

“The downside of [jury-like selection] is that people may end up on the council who are unqualified to deal with the issues that are involved [with the position],” Owen said. “There’s a lot to think about here, a lot of pros and cons with respect to each of those issues.”

The umpires would serve 15-year terms, earning triple the compensation of a Congress member during this time. Owen hopes that the longer terms and their previous lack of involvement with the government will isolate the umpires from lobbyists and other sources of corruption, allowing them to act as a true check to biased decisions made in the other three branches.

Members of the Umpire branch would be able to veto any laws, according to the working paper, that are likely to substantially “reduce the aggregate well-being of the People or substantially redistribute income or wealth so as to reduce the wellbeing of the poorest citizens.” The branch might also gain access to classified government documents if necessary, assuming security measures are installed.

The umpires, like the other governing branches, would also have checks on their power: The branch’s decisions may be overridden by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress or by a two-thirds majority in one house in conjunction with a presidential veto.

Owen believes that, though not yet finalized, the addition of this branch would better prevent corruption than the current failed procedures, such as election and congressional reforms, to more fairly distribute wealth. This institution would require the approval of a constitutional amendment, which, as he states in the working paper, is considered the “major difficulty.”

He remains hopeful about the prospect of a fourth branch and is open to modifications to or discussions about his current plan. In his interview with The Daily, Owen spoke about several different approaches to keeping the umpires as isolated from political corruption as possible.

“What I’m suggesting is, ‘Here’s a particular example of how it might be done,’” Owen said. “I’m not suggesting that this is the only — or necessarily the best — way to do each of these things.”

 

Contact Lea Sparkman at 16lsparkman ‘at’ castilleja.org.

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Startup Call9 offers immediate medical attention https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/02/startup-call9-offers-immediate-medical-attention/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/02/startup-call9-offers-immediate-medical-attention/#respond Mon, 03 Aug 2015 05:12:04 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102612 Call9, a telemedicine service that acts as an alternative to calling 911, recently brought its product out of its beta test phase and into the market.

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Call9, a telemedicine service that acts as an alternative to calling 911, recently brought its product out of its beta test phase and into the market. The startup team members—two of them Stanford alumni—created a service for businesses such as hotels and nursing homes, providing immediate medical attention at the click of a button.

Call9 ‘s product consists of two components: an emergency kit, complete with an ultrasound and EKG machine, and a mobile app that can directly contact an on-call medical professional. Participating businesses receive one of Call9’s kits and can stream all data collected with its devices to the doctor working remotely.

The system recently ran its first real-life trial, in which a nursing home resident had suddenly fallen ill. Using the app, the on-call doctor was able to obtain the patient’s medical records as well as monitor his vital signs. The doctor guided a nurse at the home through the steps of the EKG; when the test revealed the patient was having a heart attack, the doctor immediately called an ambulance to the scene. Without this timely diagnosis and action, the patient may have lost his life.

In addition to the obvious perks of direct medical care, the app also provides a more flexible work schedule for emergency doctors. Currently, these medics work 12-hour shifts, giving them little flexibility in their schedule. Call9 offers an alternative financial model, allowing doctors to add extra hours according to their needs.

Perhaps, the holographic doctors from Star Trek are a not-so-distant reality; Call9 certainly pushes medical technology further into this realm.

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NBC’s hidden gem ‘Welcome to Sweden’ returns for sharp second season https://stanforddaily.com/2015/07/19/second-season-of-hidden-gem-welcome-to-sweden-is-brilliant-as-ever/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/07/19/second-season-of-hidden-gem-welcome-to-sweden-is-brilliant-as-ever/#respond Mon, 20 Jul 2015 05:25:35 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102441 Season two of NBC’s “Welcome to Sweden” whimsically explores the subtle cultural differences between the United States and Sweden as protagonists Bruce (Greg Poehler) and Emma (Josephine Bornebush) prepare for marriage. Unlike the vignette-style episodes in season one, season two follows one consistent plot — the couple’s wedding struggles — carving out space for deeper […]

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Season two of NBC’s “Welcome to Sweden” whimsically explores the subtle cultural differences between the United States and Sweden as protagonists Bruce (Greg Poehler) and Emma (Josephine Bornebush) prepare for marriage. Unlike the vignette-style episodes in season one, season two follows one consistent plot — the couple’s wedding struggles — carving out space for deeper character development and discussion of cultural themes.

Season two is filled with the same lovable cast of characters, living their funnier-than-average Swedish lives: Bruce, who has finally decided to adapt to Swedish culture, learns to juggle the habits of his European life and his American background; Emma frantically strives to assert herself at work; quietly opinionated Birger (Claes Månsson) attempts to voice his thoughts in a louder voice and Gustav (Christopher Wagelin), clueless and immature as ever, bumbles around Stockholm in pursuit of a job. The characters’ lives — and opinions — grow increasingly intertwined as Bruce and Emma’s wedding date approaches, an endless supply of cultural incongruities fueling passionate disagreements among the group members.

Though the show continues to make use of upbeat, subtle cultural humor, the increased amount of slapstick, in-your-face gags associated with Gustav’s role overshadows these quieter jokes. His move to Emma and Bruce’s apartment in the second season places him at the center of several conversations, derailing the couple’s consistently amusing banter. Now divorced from his former home and family unit, Gustav and his not-so-brilliant ideas feature prominently, soaking up far more screentime than necessary. The 30-year-old character’s realization that rent is expensive and that jobs require a resumé are not only unbelievable, but also devoid of laughs.  The unrealistically clueless Gustav feels out of place within a show that is deeply rooted in reality.

Some of the cultural practices highlighted also don’t quite fit the gently whimsical “Welcome to Sweden” mold. Bruce’s bachelor party, for instance, seems over-exaggerated and is, for the most part, left unexplained. When Bruce is abducted by his friends, stuffed in a trunk and pelted with paintballs while wearing a bunny suit, we never learn the rationale behind the joke: Is getting kidnapped with no warning truly quintessentially Swedish? And, if it is, why did the police react so seriously when this “kidnapping” was reported by an American visitor? Events like this, again, verge on the unbelievable, generating a cheap laugh or two without any clear value add.

Aside from these fairly minor distractions, the show continues to flawlessly do what it does best, using comedy to contrast American and Swedish culture, and raise some deeper cultural questions along the way. The show takes advantage of Bruce and Emma’s upcoming wedding to emphasize the egalitarian culture of Sweden, which Bruce often fails to understand or refuses to accept. Several of Bruce’s and his parents’ responses hint that perhaps Americans are not yet ready to accept the idea of a truly “equal” marriage.

But what is marriage anyway? “Welcome to Sweden,” which features Bruce’s happily married parents and Emma’s lovingly unmarried parents, forces us to question the meaning of “putting a ring” on a relationship. In Sweden, marriage appears to be a relatively meaningless formality; Emma’s mother contends that it breaks up affectionate relationships. In the United States, however, marriage is widely accepted as a lifelong promise, a symbol of commitment and devotion to one another. “Welcome to Sweden” illustrates that the true importance of any partnership — bound by marriage contract or not — is the underlying connection, the strength to respect one’s differences, tolerate each other’s quirks and support one another, no matter what.

The real question, then, is whether or not the core of Bruce and Emma’s relationship can stand up to the test of cultural discrepancies and everyday opinions. Though there is no telling what new obstacles the future holds for the newly engaged couple, Emma and Bruce are easily up for the challenge.

Contact Lea Sparkman at 16lsparkman ‘at’ castilleja.org.

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Philip Zimbardo reflects on ‘The Stanford Prison Experiment’ movie https://stanforddaily.com/2015/07/17/philip-zimbardo-reflects-on-the-stanford-prison-experiment-movie/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/07/17/philip-zimbardo-reflects-on-the-stanford-prison-experiment-movie/#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2015 07:49:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102428 This Friday, Philip Zimbardo, professor emeritus of psychology at Stanford, will see the story of his famously controversial Stanford Prison Experiment unfold on the big screen.

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(Courtesy of Philip Zimbardo)
(Courtesy of Philip Zimbardo)

Today, Philip Zimbardo, professor emeritus of psychology at Stanford, will see the story of his famously controversial Stanford Prison Experiment unfold on the big screen.

Conducted in 1971, the experiment simulated a prison environment with a group of 22 male college students. The young men, hand-picked for their physical and mental maturity, among other factors, were randomly assigned the role of “prisoner” or “guard.” While the students were specifically instructed against the use of physical punishment, they were given no further instructions. Throughout the six-day study, half of the prisoners suffered from “extreme emotional depression, crying, rage, and acute anxiety” and had to be excused from the experiment.

Since the study was conducted, Zimbardo has written “The Lucifer Effect,” a book in which he discusses the gradual changes experienced within the subjects and himself throughout the experiment. The research has been widely studied by psychology students and beyond, serving as a controversial but poignant example of the effect of a prison environment.

With “The Stanford Prison Experiment” set to premiere today, Zimbardo spoke with The Daily about the original study, as well as his thoughts about the motion picture.

 

The Stanford Daily (TSD): What were your initial expectations for the original experiment?

Philip Zimbardo (PZ): [We wanted to expand on] Milgram’s experiment on obedience through authority, in which he showed that situational factors can get good people to do bad things… Our study was a follow-up of that, in which we focus less on powerful authority and obedience…

In the earlier research – in most psychological research – it [the study] only goes for a single hour. We wanted to observe the gradual transformation of people into their character, into their role… What’s dramatic about the research – and now what’s dramatic about the movie – is that you see for the first time character transformations – people becoming their role, becoming guards, becoming prisoners – in a relatively short time.

TSD: Why did you decide to conduct the study with college-age males?

PZ: I wanted to have bright, intelligent college students. And unlike Milgram’s study, we gave them personality tests. We only picked the most normal and healthy. The bottom line is, I want to say, here we have normal, intelligent, bright, college students who should understand things about [themselves]. Even more than ordinary, uneducated people. And the point is, it works for them as well as for the ordinary men in Milgram’s study.

TSD: In some of the interviews after the experiment, students explained that the prison became more than just an experiment, that they really grew into their roles as prisoners and guards. Did you also grow into your role as prison superintendent? How did this it affect your research?

PZ: Oh, absolutely. I made the mistake of playing two roles simultaneously. One role was principal investigator of the research project, and in that role I am objective; I am distant; I am emotionally neutral. But then I made the mistake of also being the prison superintendent, and my undergraduate assistant David Chassey played the role of the warden, and my two graduate students…played the two attendants. But we all had a prison-life role to play.

Over time, hour-by-hour, day-by-day, I fell into that role, and in that role I observed guards brutalizing prisoners – in some cases sadistically… And I did not stop it. The only thing I stopped was physical force, but I didn’t stop psychological force, which, in the long run is much worse. I had become, without my awareness, the indifferent superintendent of the Stanford Prison Experiment. And in my book “The Lucifer Effect,” I write about it in great detail – that this was a mistake I made. I should have had someone else play that role.

PZ: When I finished this study, I wrote a few articles about it, because it was really, to me, not a big deal… And then what happened was Abu Ghraib in 2004 – there were obvious parallels with the prison study. Military guards put bags over prisoners’ heads, stripped them naked, humiliated them, just as our guards had done. And so I became an excellent witness to one of those military guards and got to know everything about that horrendous military situation in Iraq. And then I decided I should really go back and review what happened in the Stanford Prison Study, which was 30 years earlier.

And so what I did is I looked at 12 hours of our videotape along with two students who didn’t know anything about this study… And what I decided to do is write a book in which we basically detail what happened in the study. We basically have a chapter of each day, and of course a chapter of setting it [the experiment] up, and other chapters on other things and other kinds of evil situations. My book, “The Lucifer Effect,” [has] been a great success. It’s been in 20 different languages around the world; it’s being used not only by college students and psychologists but in military situations and even in mental hospitals.

TSD: Was there a particular time when your role started to shift from principal investigator to prison superintendent, or was it gradual?

PZ: It’s totally gradual. The point is that we all – I mean I lived there, I slept in my office – hadn’t noticed [the changes] at all. That is, we lived the experiment.

The other problem was we – we meaning my research team – were really not prepared for the intensity an experiment that goes 24/7. Because there are endless logistical things to do – prisoners have to be fed morning, lunch, evening. In order to make it realistic we had parole board hearings two times, with an ex-convict heading it. The secretaries had visiting days two times, with parents, boyfriends, girlfriends. We had a visiting by a prison chaplain…

But the changes are gradual. The changes occur, as I said, a little bit more each day. It’s not a single dramatic thing.

TSD: You mentioned that your two-week study was terminated after just six days; why did you make the decision to conclude the study at the point that you did?

PZ: It’s a critical dramatic instance of heroic action by a young woman, who brought me to my senses…On Thursday night, one of those former graduate students [coming to help with the study], a young woman named Christina Maslach [Ph.D. ’71] – she had been my graduate student at Stanford and also my teaching assistant, and she had just graduated in June – had gotten a job at Berkeley as an assistant professor in psychology and was on her way [to Stanford]…

We had just decided in addition in the beginning of August that we would move in together. We were having a romantic relationship…  So she happened to be at Stanford on Thursday working in the library, and contacted me and said, “Hey, can we get together for dinner at the end of the night shift?” And I said, “Sure, why don’t you come down and just check out what’s happening.”

And she comes down and observes guards brutalizing prisoners with bags over their head, yelling, screaming, chaining their legs together, and when I looked at what was happening on the monitor it was nothing more than the 10 o’clock toilet shift – because 10 o’clock was the last time prisoners could go to a real toilet… She begins to tear up, and runs out and says “I can’t look at this”…

I’m arguing about why this is such an important study, and then she [asks], how could I not see the suffering that was so obvious to her? And if this was the real me, because what she had known me before – the professor, who was a caring, loving teacher… I’m not sure I want to continue my romantic relationship with you. And at that point it was really stunning because it was exactly what I needed to shake me loose from my fantasy, from my craziness… At this point it’s like 11 o’clock at night, and I say, “All right, I’m going to end the study tomorrow… ” We ended the study on Friday, the next day.

TSD: Shifting focus from the actual study to the film that’s coming out, how accurately do you think the film portrays your experiment?

PZ: It’s a remarkably accurate portrayal. Now, the only issue of course is they’re compressing six days into two hours – it is a two hour film. So in fact, they had to leave out many traumatic scenes. There are no scenes that were put in that didn’t happen in the real study. There were no scenes that had to be put in for the drama. If anything, they left out a lot of what I consider powerful scenes, which they actually had in and it just went too long so they had to cut it out. I’d say it’s roughly 90 percent accurate.

Now in addition, when I was writing “The Lucifer Effect,” I was sending to the scriptwriter Tim Talbott all of the dialogue between prisoners and guards. So in the movie almost all of what the guards say to prisoners, prisoners say to guards, came exactly from “The Lucifer Effect” (and I got a screen citation).

TSD: What was your involvement with the making of the movie?

PZ: From the beginning, I was the consultant. I reviewed the script; I made significant changes in the script; I contributed to the script. And I was on the set a couple of days. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be there all the time because I was in Europe. And even when the film was shown at Sundance, there were several parts of the movie which were just wrong psychologically, and then also we added the screen credits. Several things which are now in the movie.

TSD: There have been several documentaries and informational videos made about the experiment, but this is more of a motion picture than a documentary. How do you think the dramatization of the experiment affects the events and conclusions that are presented? Are they easier to relate to for the audience?

PZ: Our movie sticks essentially to the facts… So the movie, then, is a dramatic recreation. It’s dramatic in that it’s highlighting some things and not getting into details about something else. But it has the visiting days. It has the parole board hearing. It has at least one scene of the police arrest. It has the interaction of me and my staff making group decisions about what we should do with certain prisoners. At least more than half of the movie is just prisoner and guard interaction with no one else present.

What’s dramatic is, the audience, in looking at the movie – it’s as if they’re looking through a one-way screen, as we were doing. They are taking the place of the observers looking at the drama unfolding. But they are also observing the observers. Observing the changes in me and my graduate students as these things unfold.

I think it’s a unique movie; it’s the only movie I know where the whole movie is about a psychological experiment.

TSD: If you could change something about the movie, what would you change?

PZ: The confrontation I had with Christina is the reason we ended the study – and it makes her a hero. Because in doing what she was doing, she was willing to say two things. She doesn’t know these boys, doesn’t know anything about them. But she’s just saying “I see human suffering, and you are responsible. I don’t want to have a relationship with somebody who could do that… ” That’s heroic. Heroes defend their moral cause aware of the risk.

But they didn’t use that to end the movie. They had a confrontation, and then I go down to the dungeon, and I’m looking at the video, and the video is the worst thing that happens… They wanted a traumatic scene, wanted to have the biggest traumatic impact – which it does… And then I go down, I enter the yard and say, “Okay, this study is over.” So the way the movie does, it doesn’t give her the heroic status that she deserves.

TSD: You mentioned that the audience will be encased in the basement as well. What do you hope viewers will take away from that experience?

PZ: It’s: What kind of guard would I have been if I was in that study? Would I have been a cruel guard; would I have been a good guard; would I have stopped what the bad guards did? What kind of prisoner would I have been? Would I have been defiant? Would I have stood up for my rights? Would I have helped other prisoners who were breaking down? If I would have been the prison superintendent, what would I have done to make the situation not erupt so horribly?

Essentially, we would like them to identify with the prisoners, the guards and me and my staff. And then also the question is: Would you have allowed it to go the second week, or would you end it earlier?… The point is to reflect. We’ve got all this stuff happening, prison riots in New York and Rikers Island – it’s really about abuse of power. Abuse of police power we see everywhere.

 

This interview has been condensed and edited.

Contact Lea Sparkman at 16lsparkman ‘at’ castilleja.org.

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