Pallavi Krishnarao – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Fri, 22 Jan 2016 10:02:27 +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 Pallavi Krishnarao – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 New app aims to redesign reading https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/22/new-app-aims-to-redesign-reading/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/22/new-app-aims-to-redesign-reading/#comments Fri, 22 Jan 2016 08:15:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1109677 With a new app based on a writing competition hosted at Stanford last year, John Lawrence ’14 B.S.’15 M.S. aims to make reading more attractive to millennials by socializing the reading experience and capitalizing on the popularity of serialized narratives.

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Using a new app that started through a Creative Writing Program competition, John Lawrence ’14 M.S.’15 aims to make reading more attractive to millennials by socializing the reading experience and capitalizing on the popularity of serialized narratives.

In the competition, called the Art of Modern Storytelling (AoMS), readers voted on their favorite serialized stories, released biweekly by competing writers. Since graduating, Lawrence has transformed this competition into a startup and app, Scroll, which is currently in the midst of testing.

The competition: AoMS

Lawrence started the competition hoping to revitalize the experience of reading for the current generation.

“I’m a materials science engineer but have always been interested in the creative arts, particularly reading and writing,” Lawrence said. “It was kind of a secondary focus for me. I came up with this idea that it would be amazing if we could socialize reading and bring reading back to the forefront of people’s lives.”

In order to test this theory, Lawrence partnered with Hannah Farr ’15 and the Creative Writing Program to implement AoMS at Stanford during the 2015 winter quarter. Students applied to be one of 40 readers or 10 writers, each of whom wrote 10 serialized stories in five increments over 10 weeks. Every two weeks, the readers dropped their least favorite two stories. At the end of 10 weeks, the writer who accumulated the most followers won a cash prize.

Farr indicated that readers and writers were chosen methodically to include not only English majors, but also those who pursued creative writing and reading as hobbies.

“We intentionally wanted a diverse group of writers,” Farr said. “It was interesting to see how different people wrote: creative writing students focused on how the story was written and the exact methods while others’ stories were more plot driven.”

From competition to startup

After the competition, Lawrence interviewed and gathered feedback from the readers and writers. The positive reception to AoMS convinced Lawrence that his idea was worth pursuing further.

“The reception to AoMS was great and people were saying that this is something that they would like to see on a daily basis, and that we should make into an app,” Lawrence said. “So we decided to do just that.”

Lawrence bought his friend Adeeb Sahar ’14 on board to to focus on developing the app and the startup.

“Millennials read things online, like things people share on Facebook,” added Sahar. “It makes sense: novels are passive and isolated experiences whereas people of our generation like sharing experiences. So, we thought, why don’t we update reading? We want to reinvent reading, or the novel, in a way that makes it more appealing for millennials: in short bursts and with a social aspect, but keeping the fire of interesting story which is what drew us to books to begin with.”

Farr echoed Sahar’s sentiment, stating that AoMS and its subsequent startup can appeal to millennials in the way that TV shows or serialized podcasts do.

“There is definitely a void to fill,” Farr said. “ I love short stories, but there is no platform to find short stories as quickly as we can find TV shows.”

Currently, Lawrence and Sahar are working on fundraising, implementing more features in the app and recruiting writers.

“We are finalizing our product,” Sahar said. “The idea at the highest level is that the app will be a place for people to post serialized stories,” said Sahar. “We are expanding it to five schools: Stanford, Berkeley, University of Santa Clara, USC and UCLA, and we are finding writers from each of those schools right now.”

Lawrence hopes to expand the app to student writers from all universities and make it accessible to whoever wants to read.

Hurdles along the way

Lawrence and Farr initially faced challenges obtaining funding. Nina Schloesser, whom they had originally chosen as their faculty mentor, was a lecturer and not a full faculty member, so she could not act as a mentor to get funding from Undergraduate Advising and Research (UAR). Lawrence only discovered this caveat two days before funding was released.

“The confusion about funding ultimately led me to [speak] with Eavan Boland, the head of the Creative Writing Program at Stanford,” said Lawrence. “We embarked on a contentious discussion for 30 minutes about all things reading and writing. She was putting the idea to the test and seeing if this was something we were really passionate about.”

Ultimately, Boland expressed appreciation for the idea, and especially the innovation and passion behind it. Rather than going through UAR, the Creative Writing Program gave Lawrence $2,000 directly to fund the competition.

After getting through the hurdle of funding, Schloesser acted as an advisor for Lawrence and Farr throughout the competition process. She said the innovation of the idea and its relevance to the current generation appealed to her.

“[Lawrence] and Hannah were trying to get a young, tech-savvy and very busy population interested in reading more fiction,” said Schloesser. “Their idea was that fiction could be very tempting if delivered conveniently and in units that could be digested fairly quickly, then a person can get hooked on a tale the way a person gets hooked on a TV show.”

Currently, Lawrence and Sahar are facing difficulties in finding coders with the correct experience and mindset to help with app development.

“The intersection between technology and writing is a small niche area,” said Lawrence. “A lot of coders might be attracted to technically-inclined ideas away from writing and reading. It is a challenge find people at that intersection.”

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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ASSU Senate calls for new campus climate survey https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/20/assu-senate-calls-for-new-campus-climate-survey/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/20/assu-senate-calls-for-new-campus-climate-survey/#respond Wed, 20 Jan 2016 08:28:27 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1109582 In its third meeting this quarter, the 17th Undergraduate Senate passed a resolution calling for a new campus climate survey. In addition, the Senate passed a motion to allow knowledgeable representatives to take the place of financial officers at one of two mandatory information sessions on annual grants or special fee requests. It also approved funding bills and confirmed Luka Fatuesi ’17 and Sean Means ’18 as ASSU assistant financial managers.

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The ASSU Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling for a new campus climate survey and also discussed changes in the funding system. (TARA BALAKRISHNANA / The Stanford Daily)

In its third meeting this quarter, the 17th Undergraduate Senate passed a resolution calling for a new campus climate survey. In addition, the Senate passed a motion to allow knowledgeable representatives to take the place of financial officers at one of two mandatory information sessions on annual grants or special fee requests. It also approved funding bills and confirmed Luka Fatuesi ’17 and Sean Means ’18 as ASSU assistant financial managers.

Calling for a new campus climate survey

At last week’s meeting, the Senate heard a proposal for a resolution in support of a new campus climate survey. This week they unanimously passed the resolution.

Last spring, the University conducted a climate survey to assess the prevalence of sexual assault and misconduct on campus. The results of the survey were released last fall and sparked controversy in the community about the accuracy of certain statistics, particularly the report that 1.9 percent of Stanford students have been victims of sexual assault.

426 people signed a petition in support of the resolution, and Administration and Rules Committee Chair Matthew Cohen ’18 published an open letter to Provost John Etchemendy in The Daily. Cohen has been working with the Faculty Senate to include this resolution on their agenda as well.

“I could tell that something was not right when I heard that Stanford’s sexual assault rate was extremely small compared to the sexual assault rates reported at peer institutions,” Cohen wrote in an email to The Daily. “I finally realized I should do something when Stanford Law School professor Michele Dauber came and spoke to the Senate at the end of fall quarter to discuss the survey’s findings. After listening to her, I decided that I couldn’t remain silent and wrote this resolution.”

The preamble of the resolution highlights the various concerns that Cohen had about the previously conducted survey, including Stanford’s narrow definition of sexual assault and the different survey methodologies used by Stanford’s peer schools. He also cited op-eds in The Daily, Buzzfeed and other media organizations that disputed the findings of the survey.

“It was an extremely transparent attempt on the Stanford administration’s part to mask the real statistics,” said Senator Hattie Gawande ’18. “They owe it to the victims of sexual assault and misconduct, but also to the people trying to solve this problem, to give them the real statistics.”

According to Cohen, the tone of the new survey will be different because only social scientists will work on it — unlike last year’s survey, which involved Stanford public relations.

“This is not a public relations issue,” Cohen said. “This is something that genuinely affects people’s lives.”

The Senate has also been corresponding with the Graduate Student Council to jointly pass an identical resolution. Gawande said that pressure on the administration from the undergraduate and graduate communities as well as the Faculty Senate would send a “powerful message.”

“It will seem like the entire campus has a united voice,” she said.

The next step in the process will be to reach out to the Faculty Senate for review.

“The ASSU can be sure that the Faculty Senate will review and consider [the resolution],” said physics professor Kathryn Moler Ph.D. ’95, Chair of the Faculty Senate.

Allowing knowledgeable replacements for financial officers

Elections Commissioner Eric Wilson ’16 will be holding two mandatory information sessions for student groups placing annual grant or special fee requests. The first will be held on Jan. 20 at 8:30 p.m. in Nitery 209, and the second will be held on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. in Old Union 200.

Although student groups’ financial officers had previously been required to be present at these sessions, the Senate passed a motion to allow knowledgeable replacements to attend one of the two mandatory meetings in place of financial officers. This can be done without proof of alternative commitments.

Appropriations Committee Chair Chair Justice Tention ’18 explained that this amendment was included to allow clubs with financial officers unable to attend both sessions to still gain access to funding.

“Given that there are only two available slots, we should allow another representative in the place of the financial officer,” Tention said. “It is unfair of us to make funding inaccessible to students.”

Funding requests

During the meeting the Senate also approved $2500 in funding for uniforms for the hip hop dance group XTRM. Though funding can usually be only applied to uniforms once every three years, an exception was made because the club has expanded from 15 to 50 people.

The Chinese Undergraduate Student Union (CUSU) requested funding for a retreat to celebrate Chinese New Year, and although the Appropriations Committee does not typically recommend funding trips, the Senate approved the request given the concert and community service aspect of the retreat.

“This retreat is not a party; it is for celebrating Chinese New Year,” said a CUSU representative. “Because we don’t have a break during that time and we are thousands of miles away from home, we just wanted have a chance to catch up and celebrate our New Year in the way we celebrate it back home.”

“There is also a Chinese New Year’s concert in Tahoe that we would like to attend,” he added. “Also, we will be doing community service within the local Chinese community.”

The Senate approved a budget of $500 to fund a conference by the Student and Labor Alliance.

Next week, the Senate will discuss a bill to abolish all committees except the Appropriations Committee.

 

Arnav Mariwala contributed to this report.

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu or Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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ASSU Senate talks new campus climate survey, elections https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/13/assu-senate-talks-new-campus-climate-survey-elections/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/13/assu-senate-talks-new-campus-climate-survey-elections/#respond Thu, 14 Jan 2016 07:41:50 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1109329 In its second meeting of the quarter, the ASSU Senate passed a bill to appoint the 2015-2016 elections committee, discussed a resolution in support of a new campus climate survey and discussed a bill to confirm Luka Fatuesi ’17 and Sean Means ’18 as ASSU Assistant Financial Managers. In addition, the ASSU is working on updating its website.

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(MCKENZIE LYNCH/The Stanford Daily)
(MCKENZIE LYNCH/The Stanford Daily)

In its second meeting of the quarter, the ASSU Senate passed a bill to appoint the 2015-2016 elections committee, discussed a resolution in support of a new campus climate survey, and discussed a bill to confirm Luka Fatuesi ’17 and Sean Means ’18 as ASSU Assistant Financial Managers. In addition, the ASSU is working on updating its website.

Climate Survey

Administration and Rules Committee Chair Matthew Cohen ’18 proposed a resolution in support of a new campus climate survey.

“The previous climate survey had some really concerning elements to the report,” Cohen said. “The way they classified sexual assault and misconduct caused numbers significantly lower than peer institutions.”

This bill proposes that Stanford use the American School Climate Survey, which Cohen says is used by peer institutions and provides a comprehensive report of findings.

“We owe it to Stanford students, especially those directly affected, to give them the truth,” Cohen said. “We are walking into this issue with blinders up. It’s not a PR issue; it’s a question of the truth. The bill is not meant to be combative towards the administration but to make sure that students receive honesty.”

Cohen sent out an email after the meeting containing a petition for students to show their support for the resolution.

Elections Commission and other bills

The bill to appoint the 2015-2016 Elections Commission passed unanimously, installing Eric Wilson ’16 as Elections Commissioner and Habib Olapade ’17 and Elise Kostial ’18 as Assistant Elections Commissioners.

Senator Hattie Gawande ’18 raised concerns about issues with the election last year, including delayed election, funding issues and technical problems with the ballot that made it susceptible to hacking. Wilson indicated that these issues were due to miscommunications between Senate, the Graduate Student Council, Voluntary Student Organizations and election commissioners and that these issues would be avoided this coming election season.

The ASSU also discussed funding bills from the ASSU Sustainability Committee, the International Fraternity Council and Stanford UNICEF.

The ASSU Sustainability Committee working under the Executive Cabinet Exec requested $2,000 to help sponsor Stories of Sustainability. The event, which will be held in Dinkelspiel auditorium on Feb. 5, will feature performers and speakers and will focus on the personal impact of sustainability and environmental issues. The vote to approve this funding application passed unanimously.

The Senate motioned to end discussion on a request from the IFC to fund bus transportation to the Tequila Lounge for students who attend a basketball game in order to increase attendance at basketball games.

The ASSU motioned to vote on Stanford UNICEF’s $120 request for funding to provide food at their event.

Additional updates

Financial Manager Frederik Groce ’14 M.A. ’15 indicated that fee waivers are expected to be a little lower than they were in the fall. In addition, the Financial Manager selection committee is currently finding potential candidates to replace Groce next term.

The ASSU website is also getting ready for an overhaul, spearheaded by Communications Committee Chair Eni Asebiomo ’18.

“The website structure is ready and everything is up, we just need to fill in content,” Asebiomo said. “We are also working on a new document system for the constitution to make the constitution and bylaws available to the public.

In addition, the Senate Appropriations Committee is implementing a new office hour system to review funding requests and answer questions. The applications are reviewed by the Committee on Sunday and approved at the following Tuesday Senate meeting. Requests must be brought to office hours at least one week before the event at hand.

The Senate closed their meeting by brainstorming projects for the coming term in the areas of mental health, sexual assault, sustainability, transparency, racial justice, first generation and low-income students and Senate structure.

Initiatives that the Senate has accomplished this term include the new climate survey resolution, the sustainable dining hall bill, increased transparency and campaign funding for low income students.

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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ASSU Senate discusses by-law policies, passes resolution supporting sustainable food themed dining hall https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/18/assu-senate-discusses-by-law-policies-passes-resolution-supporting-sustainable-food-themed-dining-hall/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/18/assu-senate-discusses-by-law-policies-passes-resolution-supporting-sustainable-food-themed-dining-hall/#respond Thu, 19 Nov 2015 07:36:00 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1107456 In its meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 17, the ASSU Undergraduate Senate approved funding for various student groups, including Kappa Kappa Gamma for Snowchella, deliberated and voted against a bill to modify senate by-law policies and passed a resolution for a sustainable dining hall. The bill to modify the Senate by-law policies, drafted by Viraj Mehta […]

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(MCKENZIE LYNCH/The Stanford Daily)
(MCKENZIE LYNCH/The Stanford Daily)

In its meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 17, the ASSU Undergraduate Senate approved funding for various student groups, including Kappa Kappa Gamma for Snowchella, deliberated and voted against a bill to modify senate by-law policies and passed a resolution for a sustainable dining hall.

The bill to modify the Senate by-law policies, drafted by Viraj Mehta ’18 and Christian Sergent ’18, called for proposed student petitions to be vetted by the Senate for impartial language, feasibility and adherence to University policy.

“I am interested in making sure the way student government runs is how a true democracy would run,” Mehta said. “Currently, referenda just need a number of signatures, and they are put on the ballot without being vetted for impartiality of wording. A question’s wording can affect the democratic process and can make the outcome of a referendum election invalid.”

Several Senators expressed reservations regarding the exact details of the changes the bill would propose.

“[Mehta and Sergent] may not have thought through the exact minutiae but I think that’s important,” said Gabriel Knight ’17, Senate Advocacy Committee Chair. “It is a cool idea in theory but it is important to know how it will work in practice.”

Others conveyed concerns about the bill unjustly inflating the Senate’s authority.

“We feel like this is giving the Senate more power without the consent of the student body,” said Pablo Lozano ’18, proxy for David Wintermeyer ’17. “We don’t think it’s democratic of us to give ourselves more power without oversight.”

ASSU President John-Lancaster Finley ’16 argued that the bill conflicts with the constitution by abridging the student’s power to petition.

“Our constitution creates a direct democracy, like the California referendum policy,” said Finley. “That is the intent of our constitution and how our democracy was intended. If the ASSU were to come to a point in which it decided that this is not a good system, there should be a bigger conversation amongst the entire student population.”

The bill failed to pass, but Mehta and Sergent will continue to work with the Senate to develop and propose a revised version of the bill.

The Senate passed a resolution in support of a sustainable food-themed dining hall, which would create a mainly vegan dining hall in Roble Dining.

At the start of the meeting, Michele Dauber, professor of law and sociology, gave a presentation, in which she detailed and presented the inconsistencies of Stanford’s Climate Survey.

Kappa Kappa Gamma asked for and received $6,000 to secure the audio farm budget for the speakers and logistics necessary for Snowchella.

This year, the proceeds from Snowchella will go to the Joyful Heart Foundation, an organization focusing on ending sexual assault and domestic violence, rather than Support for International Change as it has in past years.

“We chose to change the organization this year because this is an issue that both [Kappa Kappa Gamma and Sigma Nu] are extremely passionate about; we want to extend the impact beyond the event itself by doing things like fundraising through social media,” said Madeleine Lippey ’18, Kappa’s director of philanthropy. “We want to make sure people know that this is a philanthropy event.”

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Alumna sells skin care line at Stanford Bookstore https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/06/alumna-sells-skin-care-line-at-stanford-bookstore/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/06/alumna-sells-skin-care-line-at-stanford-bookstore/#respond Fri, 06 Nov 2015 10:44:41 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1106457 Marisa Vara Arredondo ’97 pursued her lifelong passion to create the pH optimized skin care line “Phace Bioactive,” which is being sold at retail outlets across the nation, including the Stanford Bookstore and Saks 5th Avenue.

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Marisa Vara Arredondo ’97 marketed her new skin care line at the Stanford bookstore during Homecoming weekend. (MCKENZIE LYNCH / The Stanford Daily)

Marisa Vara Arredondo ’97 pursued her lifelong passion to create the pH optimized skin care line “Phace Bioactive,” which is being sold at retail outlets across the nation, including the Stanford Bookstore and Saks 5th Avenue.

Arredondo’s personal struggle with acne has fueled her search to solve the issue of adult acne.

“The reason I started the line is that when I was a teenager and when I was graduating from Stanford, I had really bad acne,” Arredondo said. “I tried everything. Accutane worked temporarily when 17. But the acne came back my senior year of Stanford. That’s when I really resolved to take care of my skin care issue. That’s when I spent the last 12 years as an analyst, investing in biotech and skincare companies and developing my own line.”

Phace Bioactive has garnered attention from national magazines including Vogue, InStyle and Town & Country.

Arredondo, who graduated as an STS major, credits the interdisciplinary education she received with helping her both as the CEO of her own company and as an analyst on Wall Street for 12 years.

“The skills that I learned about critical analysis and integrating science and technology have directly translated into all the jobs that I’ve had,” Arredondo said.

Arredondo emphasized the importance of understanding all aspects of her business.

“As a leader that wants to run a business, you really have to have your hand in everything so you can tell how it all works,” Arredondo said. “That’s what I learned in my major at Stanford. In learning different trades, you get a base of knowledge to be able to do much bigger things.”

As an analyst, Arredondo had to condense complicated chemical and biological data from medical abstracts and clinical trials and refine it for portfolio managers to understand.

“What I did in Wall Street is also what I’m doing at Phace Bioactive: taking a dense topic and explaining it simply to men and women so they are using proper skin care,” Arredondo said.

In making her line available at the Stanford Bookstore, Arredondo hopes to expose the college market suffering from acne to the importance of pH balance. According to Arredondo, “Phace Bioactive” is the first line of pH optimized skincare for men and women.

“We are doing things like using bathroom soaps, shampoos with sulfates and washing our faces with water at extreme temperatures that are stripping our skin of its natural acid layer,” Arredondo said. “I want to explain to men and women how to best protect skin’s naturally acidic pH. This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was 16, and today I am 40. It’s really a dream come true, a real labor of love.”

Arredondo approached the Stanford Bookstore to host her product over Homecoming weekend. At an event at the Bookstore, Arredondo launched her product, available in two lines: one for anti-aging and the other for anti-adult acne.

“We like to showcase great things that our alumni have done, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to get something new into the Bookstore, especially during Alumni Weekend,” said Alishia Natiello, marketing specialist at the Stanford Bookstore.

As of now, the products were just available for reunion weekend at the Bookstore.

“We are still working out the legal stuff to see if we are going to have them out all the time,” Natiello said. “People seemed definitely interested in having an option that was new and different from the skincare routine they normally do.”

Looking to the future, Arredondo hopes to increase distribution of her product to other department stores and to television. Her long term goals include making Phace Bioactive a lifestyle brand.

“pH balance is bigger than producing a product of the natural pH basis of skin,” Arredondo said.  “It’s things that I do in my own life that contribute to my own pH balance: eat, exercise, sleep, think.

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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ASSU Senate discusses regulating how VSOs purchase custom products https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/04/assu-senate-discusses-regulating-how-vsos-purchase-custom-products/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/04/assu-senate-discusses-regulating-how-vsos-purchase-custom-products/#respond Wed, 04 Nov 2015 08:31:55 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1106307 In its meeting Tuesday evening, the ASSU Senate debated on and referred the bill requiring Volunteer Student Organizations (VSOs) buying custom products to purchase them through Stanford Student Enterprises (SSE) to the Appropriations committee.

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The Senate discussed a bill that would require VSOs buying custom products to do so through SSE. (MCKENZIE LYNCH/The Stanford Daily)

In its meeting Tuesday evening, the ASSU Senate debated on the bill requiring Volunteer Student Organizations (VSOs) buying custom products to purchase them through Stanford Student Enterprises (SSE) and referred it to the Appropriations Committee.

Stanford Axe Committee Chairmen Saj Sri-Kumar ’16 expressed concerns regarding this proposed bill.

“I understand the motivation for this bill, but I think that it is misguided. I don’t think it should be done without careful consideration and talking to student groups,” Sri-Kumar said. “Just because SSE does not make a profit does not make it the cheapest. There are many reasons to not go through SSE, like time and quality. If it’s just the fact that student groups are overlooking [SSE’s services], then they should market [them] better.”

Sri-Kumar had reservations about the bill’s accordance with the annual grant process.

“The bill violates the spirit and intent of the annual grant process,” Sri-Kumar said. “The Senate shouldn’t be allowed to put any restrictions on funding it is not allowed to reject.”

Rather than pass it as a bill, the Senate will incorporate it into funding guidelines.

Administration & Rules Committee Chair Matthew Cohen ’18 responded to concerns regarding better-priced alternatives to SSE.

“SSE is not trying to rip off students. If you were to find a way to do it cheaper, SSE would price match,” Cohen said. “I think it is in the interests of VSOs to go through with this.”

Luka Fatuesi ’17, proxy for Senator Hattie Gawande ’18, highlighted that the bill would allow money to stay within the ASSU.

“Personally, this [bill] is something that I would really want to see happen because as an organization, we tend to bleed out,” Fatuesi said. “Ensuring that the money stays within ASSU would provide maximum funding for student services.”

The motion to refer this bill to the Appropriations Committee and bring the bill back to the Senate floor if the committee sees fit passed unanimously.

ASSU Vice President Brandon Hill ’16 reemphasized sexual assault prevention as a main priority — the Executives will be organizing a town hall later this month to discuss this topic. In addition, new social programming jazz events will be held in various outdoor locations.

The motion to approve the funding bills that were recommended by the Appropriations Committee passed unanimously. The Senate denied the request of the Stanford University Psychology Association seeking funding for the travel expenses of the director of the Stanford Prison Experiment, which the group had to cover at the last minute.  

“We don’t entertain retroactive requests, just because it is unfair to other student groups who we’ve denied funding for retroactively under current funding guidelines,” said Appropriations Committee chair Justice Tention ’18.

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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ASSU Senate talks VSOs, sustainable dining hall, special fee waivers https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/28/assu-senate-talks-vsos-sustainable-dining-hall-special-fee-waivers/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/28/assu-senate-talks-vsos-sustainable-dining-hall-special-fee-waivers/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2015 07:39:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1105831 On Tuesday night, the ASSU 17th Undergraduate Senate met in its twelfth meeting as a senate, discussing the involvement of pre-professional groups with the open membership bill as well as a bill to require Volunteer Student Organizations (VSOs) custom products purchasing through Stanford Student Enterprises (SSE). The Senate continued discussion regarding a sustainable food themed dining hall.

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A bill to change VSO funding guidelines will be voted on next week. (MCKENZIE LYNCH/The Stanford Daily)
A bill to change VSO funding guidelines will be voted on next week. (MCKENZIE LYNCH/The Stanford Daily)

On Tuesday night, the ASSU 17th Undergraduate Senate met for the 12th time, discussing the involvement of pre-professional groups with the open membership bill as well as a bill to require Volunteer Student Organizations (VSOs) to purchase custom products through Stanford Student Enterprises (SSE). The Senate continued discussion regarding a sustainable food themed dining hall.   

Regarding funding, the motion to approve all funding bills as recommended by the Senate Appropriations Committee passed unanimously. The groups involved with these funding bills include the Stanford Democrats, Stanford Storyboard Club, Math Magic and the Stanford Conservative Society amongst others.

Additional costs outside of the budgeted $24,500 for Mausoleum were covered by the ASSU Exec.

Administration and Rules Committee Chair Matthew Cohen ’18 continued discussion regarding the creation of a sustainable dining hall on campus after meeting with the executive director of Stanford Dining.

“We are going to keep [this bill] on the docket for some time,” Cohen said. “They are thinking of revitalizing Roble Dining Hall, so they were very receptive to our idea of making it vegan-themed or emphasizing sustainability.”

The Student Life Committee (SLC) worked with Student Activities and Leadership (SAL) to clarify the rights of students and student groups, particularly with regard to the open membership bill.

“We want to work with SAL in the future to make things more clear to student groups [about] what their rights are,” said Student Life Committee Chair Molly Horowitz ’18. “We just have to do a better job of providing that information.”

“VSOs might be afraid of sharing honest complaints with SAL since SAL controls their existence as a group,” said Academic Affairs Committee Chair John Luttig ’18.

Next week, the Senate will vote on a bill as an addendum to the standard funding guidelines to require VSO custom products purchasing through SSE. This bill will require VSOs receiving funds to get their custom apparel and paraphernalia through SSE’s custom printing services in order to keep money within the ASSU rather than external contractors.

“We will cut into any profit margins that exist and make sure that we are providing the best prices, and the money will go to the ASSU,” said Financial Manager Frederik Groce ’14 M.A. 15. “The bill is set up such that for groups that are getting funding from us directly, we are their first option; this is to keep money within the ASSU instead of money moving out because any sort of external entity will have profit margins.”

ASSU executives John Lancaster-Finley ’16 and Brandon Hill ’16 met with the Provost regarding sexual assault prevention and to discuss the timeline for implementing the recommendations from last year’s task force report. The recommendations should be implemented starting winter quarter.

Regarding the plans to have John Legend come to Stanford, Legend and his wife will be having a baby around the time initially discussed for him to come, but there is a possibility of his coming earlier or later than anticipated.

Groce highlighted the increase of waiver rates in terms of students voting for special fees.

“We should be educating students about why they should not be waiving fees and educating them on what the impact of that is on student groups,” he said.

If the waiver rate is greater than 10 percent, this may impact annual grant groups in keeping their usual budgets next year; this year, SSE covered the extra cost with a buffer fund.

Groce sought senator input in finding a new financial manager to replace him.

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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ASSU Senate discusses Mausoleum and a sustainable dining hall https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/21/assu-senate-discusses-mausoleum-and-a-sustainable-dining-hall/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/21/assu-senate-discusses-mausoleum-and-a-sustainable-dining-hall/#respond Thu, 22 Oct 2015 05:37:09 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1105454 In its tenth meeting as a Senate, the 17th ASSU Undergraduate Senate voted to approve funding bills, including that for Mausoleum, and discussed a bill that calls for the introduction of a sustainable dining hall.

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At it's tenth meeting, the Senate discussed funding for various groups, a new sustainable dining hall, and the search for a new University president. (MCKENZIE LYNCH/The Stanford Daily)
At its tenth meeting, the Senate discussed funding for various groups, a new sustainable dining hall, and the search for the next University president.
(MCKENZIE LYNCH/The Stanford Daily)

In its tenth meeting as a Senate, the 17th ASSU Undergraduate Senate voted to approve funding bills, including a bill for Mausoleum, and discussed a bill that calls for the introduction of a sustainable dining hall.

The Senate voted unanimously to approve funding bills for various student groups, including Stanford Spoken Word Collective, Stanford Women in Medicine and Testimony A Capella, as recommended by the Appropriations Committee. In addition, the Senate approved a budget of $24,500 for the Mausoleum Party.

“It’s returning to the actual Mausoleum this year and going to be a much larger event than it was last year,” said Appropriations Committee Chair Justice Tention ’18.

The Senate deliberated on a bill calling for Stanford Dining to introduce a new sustainable food themed dining hall, most likely through the repurposing of an existing dining hall. This proposed dining hall would feature a largely vegetarian menu with one meat dish that is both halal and kosher.

“This dining hall would not just be about sustainable dining, but also about accommodating religious beliefs,” said Administration and Rules Committee Chair Matthew Cohen ’18.

Stanford People for Animal Welfare, Students for Sustainable Stanford, Stanford Meatless Mondays, Stanford Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, Jewish Student Association, Muslim Student Union and The Stanford Food Project are all co-sponsoring this bill.

ASSU Vice President Brandon Hill ’16 highlighted cabinet initiatives on sexual assault and mental health, specifically a Nov. 5 event about sexual assault prevention, as well as the current search for a University president.

“We are working to have a town hall for the presidential search,” Hill said. “We will be getting students input about what they would like the university to look like over the next decade and what qualities they would look for a leader.”

The Senate will also be updating its intern program, implementing a mentorship program for freshman involved in this program. In addition, the Senate will play recorded updates of what the senate has been doing in the half time of the football game against Washington this weekend.

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

This post has been updated. A previous version stated that the ASSU Senate voted on a bill to introduce a new sustainable dining hall; the bill was not voted on. The Daily regrets this error.

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Cardinal Nights targets all students, not just non-drinkers https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/19/cardinal-nights-targets-all-students-not-just-non-drinkers/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/19/cardinal-nights-targets-all-students-not-just-non-drinkers/#respond Mon, 19 Oct 2015 07:53:41 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1105123 Since its inception in 2011, Cardinal Nights has transitioned from focusing on alcohol-free events to programming based on student feedback, providing a wide variety of entertainment choices for drinkers and non-drinkers alike.

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Cardinal Nights
On October 10, Cardinal Nights hosted an outdoor showing of the movie Inside Out on Wilbur Field. (MCKENZIE LYNCH/The Stanford Daily)

Since its inception in 2011, Cardinal Nights has transitioned from focusing on alcohol-free events to programming based on student feedback, providing a wide variety of entertainment choices for drinkers and non-drinkers alike.

“Cardinal Nights has changed most in the perspective of what it is and who it’s for,” said Trista Shideler, assistant director and community engagement coordinator at the Office of Alcohol Policy and Education (OAPE). “First, it was seen as a program for just people who didn’t drink, but for us, we wanted to make it something unique. I think the most important thing we show is that students don’t need alcohol to have fun.”

A campus climate survey in 2011 influenced the goals of Cardinal Nights to provide appealing social programming on campus. According to Shideler, the survey indicated that most students needed alcohol to have fun on campus; however, after Cardinal Nights started playing a larger role in campus life, many students reported in a survey in 2013 that they did not need alcohol in order to have fun.

Cardinal Nights has widened its reach, attempting to make its social programming an appealing choice not just for non-drinkers, but for all students on campus. Its efforts have been recognized on a national scale, as well – this past year, Cardinal Nights was awarded best national campus programming through Campus Activities Magazine with over 26,000 attendees and 170 events.

“We try not to focus so much on the alcohol-free portion. We are not just for non-drinkers; we are for everyone – that’s really where we have grown and changed,” Shideler said. “We want everyone to have a great Stanford experience, and that comes in many different shapes and sizes.”

“I think parties are great and fun, but students, at a certain point, just want to do something different. And that’s where we come in,” she added. “We have worked with Greek life, the ASSU, co-ops and various student groups to provide fun times for everybody.”

Shideler attributes the shift in Cardinal Night’s perspective to making students’ requests and interests the priority.

“I think what makes a difference is asking what people want and providing it,” Shideler said. “When we see that there is a certain event that tickets are selling out for rapidly, we try to do more things like that.”

Students have also recognized Cardinal Nights’ greater emphasis on incorporating widely reaching programming.

“I appreciate the options that Cardinal Nights provides for all students,” said Soraya Karimi ’18. “Last year I saw it as, ‘Instead of drinking, go to Cardinal Nights events.’ But this year, the focus is more about the fun things that they plan, like watching ‘Inside Out’ or participating in laser tag.”

Aside from Shideler, who is the sole staff member in charge of Cardinal Nights, the organization is student-driven, with a staff of 11 students who are largely responsible for planning the events.

“The most valuable part of being a part of Cardinal Nights is being able to help provide programming that everyone enjoys and knowing that I was part of something that someone had fun at,” said Shayna Blue ’17, a new staff member. “Last year, I loved bingo, and this year I’m planning bingo. It’s cool being able to go full circle with my involvement.”

Even though Cardinal Nights has shied away from emphasizing being alcohol-free as the focus of its programming, it is held under the OAPE, and the events are all alcohol-free.

“Our office does not tell people what to do,” Shideler said. “Students are adults and are going to make their own decisions, and we want them to be smart about those decisions and talk about how alcohol plays into their goals and ideas for the future.”

In addition to organizing its own events, Cardinal Nights provides funding for Voluntary Student Organizations (VSOs).

“As long as VSOs’ programming follow our purview of being on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night after 5 o’clock, being open to the general Stanford community and being alcohol free, we are happy to help provide [for] these events,” Shideler said. “We want students to have a choice in what goes on and what they get to do.”

Cardinal Nights aims to broaden its outreach to graduate students and maintain national-award-worthy programming through arranging activities like trips to Disneyland, concerts and laser tag excursions.

“We want to continue to provide really awesome programming for students short of buying out every theater in San Francisco when a Broadway show comes,” Shideler said. “We want to show students that there are really cool experiences that can add your memory bank at Stanford, and it’s great to be a part of that.”

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Club sports and Stanford Speakers Bureau find alternative funding methods https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/07/club-sports-and-stanford-speakers-bureau-find-alternative-funding-methods/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/07/club-sports-and-stanford-speakers-bureau-find-alternative-funding-methods/#respond Wed, 07 Oct 2015 08:07:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1104467 After not receiving special fees funding during the the ASSU election last spring, club sports and Stanford Speakers Bureau have adopted alternative funding strategies – such as using reserves and seeking outside funding through volunteering and fundraisers – to continue uninterrupted with their plans.

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(TARA BALAKRISHNAN / The Stanford Daily)

After not receiving special fees funding during the ASSU election last spring, club sports and Stanford Speakers Bureau have adopted alternative funding strategies — such as using reserves and seeking outside funding through volunteering and fundraisers — to continue uninterrupted with their plans.

Although in the election, both Stanford Speakers Bureau and club sports received majorities in favor of funding them, the two were at a disadvantage because they applied for joint special fees funding, meaning that both undergraduates and graduate students had to approve the measure and participate in the votes at a minimum rate of 15 percent. Because few graduate students participate in the elections, the two clubs did not break the 15 percent voter threshold and thus did not receive funding.

“Club sports will still function the same as it has been,” said Travis Jew, senior assistant director of Recreation Sports and Camps. “[The lack of funding] has changed plans with how we need to be fundraising and spending wisely. Also, it will change how much we travel for away games [as well as] team dues for each athlete.”

The student groups that did not receive special fees funding included club sports, Stanford Speakers Bureau, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the Transhumanist Association, the Inter-Fraternity Council and the Stanford Golf League. Club sports, however, already largely relied on outside funding in previous years. Special fees only made up one-third of the organization’s budget, while the rest came from dues and fundraising.

While the organization as a whole is unaffected, the participants on club sports teams have been impacted by the lack of funding. Sarah Radzihovsky ’18, a member of the women’s club soccer team, highlighted the importance of teams’ securing additional funding through fundraising.

“Our financial officer has done a great job getting us funding through other means, like volunteering at different events,” Radzihovsky said. “Our dues have definitely gone up, and I presume this is because our source of funding is less stable and reliable, so we want to play it safe.”

Stanford Speakers Bureau aims to continue in a similar vein without altering operations for this year in any way. Last year’s president, Jono Bentley ’15, expects to use funds from reserves and other sources to continue their programming.

“We are using a combination of reserves as well as grants from both the Graduate Student Council (GSC) and the Undergraduate Senate,” Bentley said. “During the vote last year, the majority, including over 80 percent of undergraduates and over 50 percent of graduates, voted in favor of funding Speakers Bureau. What that resulted in was the GSC and undergraduate senate wanting to represent [the] wants of their constituents, so we are working with them to secure funding.”

“Though our operations have not changed, we are going to have to think about how we will proceed next year in how we ask the Stanford community for funding,” he added. “We were disappointed that last year, despite the fact that we had a majority of total votes in favor of funding, we still didn’t receive it. That’s a constitutional problem that we will have to think a lot about as we move forward.”

As for club sports, even though it has graduate students participate, the group plans to apply for only undergraduate special fees funding in the next election, since over 80 percent of undergraduates voted for club sports to be funded in last year’s election.

Both Bentley and Jew stress the importance of their groups as being vital to campus life.

“Participating in club sports gives students a competitive environment [in which] to compete and represent our university,” Jew said. “We connect with other universities and represent Stanford on a daily basis. Club sports helps students create friendships outside of the classrooms and establish a community that will last for their time as a student and beyond.”

Stanford Speakers Bureau has brought speakers like Maya Angelou, Jesse Jackson, Gloria Steinem and Bill Gates to speak at Stanford.

“The Speakers Bureau is a group that is absolutely at the core of enriching campus life by giving students the unique opportunity to hear from and interact with speakers from all over the world,” Bentley said. “We have a lot of speakers on campus, but they don’t come for free.”

“Speakers Bureau is critical in getting speakers in many disciplines ranging from academia to the arts to politics,” he added. “Beyond that, it has always been the largest sponsor of speakers at Stanford University, so there would be a huge void if the organization did not exist at all.”

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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ASSU Senate discusses OpenXChange, modifying bylaws https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/01/assu-senate-discusses-openxchange-modifying-bylaws/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/01/assu-senate-discusses-openxchange-modifying-bylaws/#respond Thu, 01 Oct 2015 19:26:06 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1104088 The second meeting of the quarter for the 17th ASSU Undergraduate Senate took place Tuesday evening. A bill modifying the Senate by-laws regarding time off campus dominated the discussion. ASSU executives John-Lancaster Finley ’16 and Brandon Hill ’16 also proposed the possibility of having John Legend come to campus and sought the support of the […]

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The second meeting of the quarter for the 17th ASSU Undergraduate Senate took place Tuesday evening. A bill modifying the Senate by-laws regarding time off campus dominated the discussion. ASSU executives John-Lancaster Finley ’16 and Brandon Hill ’16 also proposed the possibility of having John Legend come to campus and sought the support of the Senate in this endeavor. 

Hill started the meeting by emphasizing OpenXChange as a cornerstone of this year’s executive agenda.

“John and I just had our ASSU executive cabinet retreat, discussing lots of important issues,” Hill said. “Student engagement and input are the biggest things on our docket.”

Appropriations Committee Chair Justice Tention ’18 discussed the funding for the upcoming events of Full Moon on the Quad on Oct. 22 and Mausoleum on Oct. 30. Communications Committee Chair Eni Asembio ’18 introduced the redesign of the website.

“We want to do a complete overhaul of the old system and it will be a long term project,” Asembio said. “Some of the key features we want to include are a live feed of everything that we are doing and some kind of feedback mechanism where people can input feedback and petitions.”

Bills to modify bylaws

The Senate then delved into discussing bills to modify the undergraduate senate bylaws. The first proposed bill dealt with cleaning up outdated bylaws, updating job and committee descriptions and having the secretary of the senate keep a detailed record of each senator’s voting. The latter proposition incited debate amongst senate members.

“I think it would disproportionately affect those who vote against the status quo,” Advocacy Committee Chair Gabe Knight ’17 said. “It’s much easier to vote for what we stood for in the election if we know that we can vote without feeling pressure from people, both in the future and in the present.”

Other members argued for the importance of transparency.

“I really think this is something that we should put on the website where it is readily accessible,” Administration and Rules Committee Chair Matthew Cohen ’18 said. “This is the only elected institution I know where votes are not recorded.”

“I think if you were comfortable enough to have your faces in peoples bathrooms, you should be comfortable enough to have your face attached to the decisions you make,” said Finley. “I think we would lose accountability as student government if names were not attached to the things we do.”

The Senate will vote on this bill in its next meeting. The second bill that the Senate discussed dealt with time off campus for Senate members. This bill proposed to amend the bylaws because current bylaws only address Senators that are abroad rather than taking time off. Addressing this issue is particularly relevant given Hattie Gawande’s ’18 absence from school this quarter.

“We are in violation of some of the bylaws right now; we should change the bylaws to make sure we are in accordance with them,” Cohen said. “Two-thirds of the Senate has to vote in favor to expel a Senator.”

However, another bylaw established a contradictory clause that Senators who take a leave of absence are expelled. The motion to expel Gawande did not pass, as it lacked the necessary two-thirds vote.

“Next week we are voting on both the bills, the first bill that discusses the bylaws in general and the second one that discusses time off campus policies,” Cohen said. “Regardless, Hattie is still a Senator.”

In addition, the Senate will be voting to remove the bylaw that states that taking a leave of absence results automatically in a senator’s expulsion.

“It’s already in the by-law that you cannot expel anyone without voting, so we have to clear up this contradiction,” Cohen said.

Future events

Finley addressed the Senate, asking for $30,000 from their standard grant pool to fund a $125,000 offer to John Legend for the possibility of him engaging with students in a conversation about civil rights, diversity and inclusion, as well as a concert following this lecture.

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Shakespeare Company receives large donation because of play last spring https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/25/shakespeare-company-receives-large-donation-because-of-play-last-spring/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/25/shakespeare-company-receives-large-donation-because-of-play-last-spring/#comments Tue, 26 May 2015 05:31:38 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1101448 The Stanford Shakespeare Company recently received a donation that doubled its annual budget from the Werger family who was impressed by the Company’s performance of ‘A Winter’s Tale’ last Spring.

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The Stanford Shakespeare Company recently received a donation that doubled its annual budget from the Werdegar family who was impressed by the Company’s performance of “A Winter’s Tale” last spring.

“[The donation] was spurred on in part by the daughter in the family who is 15 and loves Shakespeare,” said member Nora Tjossem ’15, who directed “A Winter’s Tale.” “One of the most exciting parts of receiving this donation is that it’s not from a relative or acquaintance; it’s someone who came and saw our work and thought it was great. Realizing that we could affect people who have no obligation to us and are only connected to us through our work itself was exciting.”

The Company has been around for over 10 years and is the only Shakespeare Company in the South Bay Area.

“We have people from all the Bay Area who come for our shows…what we are hoping to do is reach farther than the limits of the campus,” said Tjossem. “We are trying to expand our outreach to be even more extensive.”

The Company coordinates an outreach program in which it runs Shakespeare workshops at local middle and elementary schools.

“[With the grant money] we want to improve the quality of the shows for people on campus and trying to expand our reach in terms of the South Bay area,” said member Louis McWilliams ’16, who played the part of Antigonus in “A Winter’s Tale.” “We want to focus on reaching the local community, not just on how to improve our shows, but how to give this [donation] back and how to return it to the community.”

In addition to expanding the Company’s presence, McWilliams and Tjossem hope that the donation will allow the Company to make long term investments in securing its budget.

“Renting lights alone used to account for half of the budget for every show,” McWilliams said. “We wanted to make sure we made some investments in things like a light board which we can use for 10, 15, 20 years out. Now it’s a one-time sunk cost and that money can go to other parts of the process, like having a little more wiggle room in terms of costumes.”

For Tjossem, the most rewarding aspect of the grant is the new sense of opportunity and creativity it inspires.

“Everyone in StanShakes has been spending their time and energy without compensation — this donation will allow them to design big,” Tjossem said. “Our goal looking to the future is to get even crazier, more creative and more ambitious with our projects. This donation expands opportunities for people to dream.”

McWilliams echoed this sentiment.

“The greatest and most exciting show is the one that we haven’t come up with yet,” McWilliams said. “This donation just makes that possibility of creating something that we haven’t thought of that much more tangible.”

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Thai Night offers insight into Thai culture https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/18/the-old-union-ballroom-was-transformed-into-a-microcosm-of-thailand-during-thai-night-on-saturday-a-celebration-of-the-sights-sounds-and-foods-of-thai-culture-the-event-featured-a-variety-of-song-a/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/18/the-old-union-ballroom-was-transformed-into-a-microcosm-of-thailand-during-thai-night-on-saturday-a-celebration-of-the-sights-sounds-and-foods-of-thai-culture-the-event-featured-a-variety-of-song-a/#comments Mon, 18 May 2015 23:34:24 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1101139 The Old Union ballroom was transformed into a microcosm of Thailand during Thai Night on Saturday, a celebration of the sights, sounds and foods of Thai culture. The event featured a variety of song and dance performances and authentic Thai food, as well as a spicy-food-eating competition. Those who purchased a ticket to the event […]

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Thai Night involved food and dancing. (Courtesy of Paphop Sawasdee)
Thai Night involved food and dancing. (Courtesy of Paphop Sawasdee)

The Old Union ballroom was transformed into a microcosm of Thailand during Thai Night on Saturday, a celebration of the sights, sounds and foods of Thai culture. The event featured a variety of song and dance performances and authentic Thai food, as well as a spicy-food-eating competition.

Those who purchased a ticket to the event had the opportunity to sample an assortment of authentic Thai dishes, including pad thai, green curry, pad see ew, Thai milk tea, grass jelly and tapioca pudding. After attendees registered and got their food, they viewed performances put together by the Stanford Thai Student Association. The night started off with a traditional Thai dance followed by a pop dance. After the dance performances, some participants ate spicy food in the spicy eating contest.

“My favorite part of the night was the spicy eating part,” said performer and attendee Onza Janyaprasert ’18. “People competed in eating really spicy food, and in the first round, they had to eat fried rice with pork and a lot of chili. The second round was meatballs with spicy sauce.” 

After the eating contest, Janyaprasert, along with other singers, performed a song composed by the King of Thailand. Janyaprasert appreciated the opportunity to showcase Thai culture.

“The event was great, being one of the only events organized by the Thai Club — it’s good to show Thai culture to everyone, including people from America and from every country,” he said. “What is great about having a large international community is that people can come together and see other cultures around the world without having to be there themselves.”

According to Janyaprasert, the wide variety of performances allowed for a comprehensive snapshot of Thai culture.

“I think a lot of people understood Thai culture better after yesterday because of getting to see the different perspectives of Thai culture from the modern to traditional, in both the food and performances at the event,” he said.

The Thai Student Association is mostly comprised of Thai international students, with about 20 undergraduates and 40 graduate students.

“It’s nice to have a Thai community here because adapting to a new culture is pretty hard, and having that community is a safe zone, where you can step back and always have a piece of home,” Janyaprasert said. “But at the same time you can go out, explore and come back to your comfort zone again.”

Janyaprasert lived in Thailand for 18 years and spent his last year at boarding school. He received a full scholarship from the Thai government to attend Stanford.

“There are two main groups of Thai internationals: Like me, there are those who went to Thai schools and got a scholarship from the government to come here,” he said. “The second group is students from international schools in Thailand who go through a different education system, a British or American system.”

Friend Chaikulngamdee ’16 is a Thai student whose transition into American culture was aided by her experience at an international school.

“It’s harder to adapt to the new culture here without the background of an international school,” she said. “There are a lot of differences in culture — the transition that [the scholarship students] have is different than the one that I’ve had.”

Chaikulngamdee added that the culture in Thailand is very different from American culture, sometimes making the transition difficult for international students.

“The culture in Thailand is … collectivistic, very shy and very reserved,” she said. “It’s very difficult to change so quickly in a year, so [the Thai Student Association] really helps with that.”

Regardless of their different experiences in Thailand, both Chaikulngamdee and Janyaprasert appreciate the opportunity to keep in touch with Thai culture.

“When you grow up in [Thailand], you kind of take [Thai culture] for granted and don’t really try to understand the meaning behind it,” Janyaprasert said. “But once you come here, you have to communicate that to a new group of people. I learned Thai culture better through that, studied it more and got to know more about it.”

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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BASES hosts Challenge Competition, showcases student work https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/10/bases-challenge-competition/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/10/bases-challenge-competition/#respond Sun, 10 May 2015 22:51:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1100685 On Friday, May 8, the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES) filled the Arrillaga Alumni Center with the clamor of pitches and prototypes made by aspiring Stanford entrepreneurs during the BASES Challenge Competition. In this two-decade-old annual competition, BASES awards $100,000 in prize money to the winning teams as determined by a panel of judges.

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The Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES) awarded $100,000 in prize money to the winning teams during their competition this year. (Courtesy of BASES.)

On Friday, May 8, the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES) filled the Arrillaga Alumni Center with the clamor of pitches and prototypes made by aspiring Stanford entrepreneurs during the BASES Challenge Competition. In this two-decade-old annual competition, BASES awards $100,000 in prize money to the winning teams as determined by a panel of judges.

Of the 109 teams that went through the first round of judging, 51 teams were chosen for the showcase, representing various fields including enterprise, consumer products, medical technology, software and social impact.

At the start of the event, there was a public showcase that allowed for teams to demonstrate and present their ventures. This was followed by a fireside chat with Greg Schott M.B.A ’91, the CEO of Mulesoft. Mulesoft is valued at nearly one billion dollars, and its mission is to connect the world’s applications, data and devices.

Schott offered advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.

“I think it’s important to fail fast,” Schott said. “You see it all the time when people have amazing ideas, they sound so great until they hit the market. There is a fine balancing act between failing fast and persevering. Knowing when to quit and move on is important part.”

The event was concluded by an awards ceremony, with prizes awarded to the top three teams from business ventures and social ventures, category prizes and crowd favorite prizes.

The prizes were sponsored by a variety of technological companies such as Microsoft, Accenture, Oracle, Samsung and Dropbox.

The first place prize of $25,000 to the best business venture was awarded to Audacy, whose goal is to provide continuous communication to commercial spacecraft operators as a service. The $15,000 runner-up award was given to Aperture, and the $10,000 second runner-up was given to Xstream.

Category prizes of $1,500 in the categories of medical technology, enterprise and consumer products were awarded to Cerulean Robotics, White Light Medical and Eden respectively as well as a $500 crowd favorite prize to FirstStep.

Sumit Minocha ’17, whose team Cerulean Robotics developed a camera stabilization platform to track objects in dynamic environments, expressed his appreciation for the event.

“It was a blast getting support from fellow students and entrepreneurs,” Minocha said. “The vibe and atmosphere of the competition was infectious and it was awesome to be a part of it in addition to having my own venture to spearhead and see the fruits of.”

In the social venture category, first place of $20,000 went to Evimed, a group that developed a port protector device that attaches a needleless connector on a catheter hub to reduce central-line associated bloodstream infections. MitiHealth and Spectrum tied for second place in the category, each winning $12,500.

Unlike previous years where the teams were split into three categories, this year the competition was consolidated into one large event, leading to a reduction in the number of BASES members planning the event. Kristine Chen ’16, Michael Longoria ’16 and Danielle Dobos ’16 were in charge of organizing the event.

“There was basically one third the amount of people planning the event compared to previous years, which essentially meant more work for us,” Chen said.

Despite the effort involved, Chen valued the opportunity to give entrepreneurs a chance to showcase their talents and grow.

“Throughout the process you have people that express their gratitude and tell you how invaluable of an experience it is for them,” added Chen. “It’s gratifying to create that experience for someone and seeing the growth of the teams is really a spectacular thing, and it’s a wonderful feeling to be able to foster that.”

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu

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Blackfest focuses on social justice through black art https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/04/this-years-blackfest-featured-various-groups-around-campus-performing-music-dance-and-spoken-word-the-annual-event-was-held-put-together-by-the-black-family-gathering-committee-and-focused/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/04/this-years-blackfest-featured-various-groups-around-campus-performing-music-dance-and-spoken-word-the-annual-event-was-held-put-together-by-the-black-family-gathering-committee-and-focused/#respond Tue, 05 May 2015 01:10:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1100374 This year’s Blackfest featured various groups around campus performing music, dance and spoken word. The annual event was held put together by the Black Family Gathering Committee and focused on both celebrating black art and addressing recent social justice issues.

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This year’s Blackfest featured various groups around campus performing music, dance and spoken word. The annual event was held put together by the Black Family Gathering Committee and focused on both celebrating black art and addressing recent social justice issues.

While the audience filed into Dinkelspiel Auditorium on Friday night, a jazz trio including ASSU execs John Lancaster-Finley ’16, Brandon Hill ’16 and Blane Wilson ’15 performed.

Mysia Anderson ’17 and Antoinette Luna Myers M.A. ’16 were the co-hosts for the night and began the event on a solemn note, addressing recent events of racial violence.

“Tonight as we celebrate black art, we want to take a moment to celebrate and honor black lives, especially those who cannot be with us this evening,” Myers said in her introductory address.

“Tonight we stand in solidarity with movements of Ferguson and Baltimore,” Anderson followed. “We grieve for the families who have to cry and light a candle for birthdays because they lost a family member to violence.”

After listing the names of victims of racial brutality, the hosts engaged the crowd in a moment of silence for these individuals.

“Connecting the event to outside events made the event that much more meaningful,” said attendee Fiona Kelliher ’18. 

“Black lives matter. Black trans lives matter. Black art matters — which is why we are all here today to celebrate the beauty of black expression,” Myers said.

The organizers, including Mariama Mallah ’15, Vanessa Zamy ’15 and Elliot Williams ’15, sought to make the introduction deliberate and powerful.

“A lot of times we bop along to hip-hop and love R&B, but we want everyone to think about the people creating this music and the movements behind this music,” Mallah said. “We want people to leave here feeling good and hopeful. We want people to leave here thinking that black arts matter, but black lives matter too.”

After the introductory remarks, Jackson Jirard ’17 recited his own poetry followed by performances from spoken word artists Greeshma Somashekar ’16, Sibel Sayiner ’15, Violet Trachtenberg ’16 and Emily Dial ’17.

“The spoken word was definitely my favorite part,” Kelliher said. “Everyone spoke with such power and eloquence about difficult topics, and the room was really energized and supportive.”

Blackfest did not receive special fees funding this year, so the committee had to reorganize the format of the event to involve more Stanford student groups and to rely on money from sponsors. However, it will receive special funds for next year.

“We changed the format of the event because of limited financial resources and brought it to Dinkelspiel Auditorium,” Mallah said. “We wanted to focus on Stanford art, especially Stanford black art.”

Because of the lack of funding, the Black Family Gathering Committee was considering not hosting the event this year.

“The reason we stuck with it was because for a lot of people on this campus, this is one of the few events that truly celebrates hip-hop and R&B and black art, and we wanted to find a way to make sure Blackfest still happened,” Mallah said.

“It is a way for the public to connect to the Stanford campus and open the bubble up,” added Zamy.

Performances included dances from groups such as the Stanford Steppers, Catch-a-Fyah and Afrobeats, rap by Natasha, Mylo Mu and Darling Bonnie, music from Brandon Hightower and mixes from the Outsiders and MMAP.

Jidenna Mobisson ’07, whose single “Classic Man” charted at No. 49 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for the month of February 2015, was the headliner of the event and concluded the night.

“Jidenna was involved in social justice at Stanford when he was here, and he is very aware of issues on campus,” Zamy said. “He is in tune with current events and is using his celebrity status to effect change and raise awareness.”

Williams emphasized the importance of finding an artist who respected and promoted equality.

“We wanted to be conscious when choosing an artist, especially given last year’s artists and how they treated the women on our campus and the message in their music,” Williams said. “We wanted to find an artist who was going to be respectful and would have a message to deliver about the Black Lives Matter movement and speak to the climate on campus.”

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

A previous version of this article listed the incorrect years of the event organizers. The Daily regrets this error. 

 

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Graduate Student Council hosts Diversity Week https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/23/the-graduate-student-councils-diversity-advocacy-committee-dac-is-holding-its-annual-graduate-student-diversity-week-from-monday-april-20-to-friday-april-24-throughout-the-week-the-dac/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/23/the-graduate-student-councils-diversity-advocacy-committee-dac-is-holding-its-annual-graduate-student-diversity-week-from-monday-april-20-to-friday-april-24-throughout-the-week-the-dac/#respond Fri, 24 Apr 2015 02:49:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1099709 The Graduate Student Council’s Diversity Advocacy Committee (DAC) is holding its annual Graduate Student Diversity Week from Monday, April 20, to Friday, April 24. Throughout the week, the DAC aims to promote conversation regarding diversity amongst graduate students through a series of panel discussions, hands-on workshops and free-form discussions.

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The Graduate Student Council’s Diversity Advocacy Committee (DAC) is holding its annual Graduate Student Diversity Week from Monday, April 20, to Friday, April 24. Throughout the week, the DAC aims to promote conversation regarding diversity amongst graduate students through a series of panel discussions, hands-on workshops and free-form discussions. 

“The focus of the entire week is on diversity in general and trying to focus on inter-community discussion and some of the more broad aspects of diversity instead of trying to repeat what individual student groups are doing,” said Wendy Ni M.S. ’12 Ph.D. ’17, the chair of the DAC.

On Monday, there was a panel featuring graduate school alumni who detailed their personal stories of diversity, belonging and thriving in graduate school. Tuesday’s panel discussion concentrated on developing a sense of belonging among students from first-generation or low-income backgrounds.

DAC committee member Gabriel Rodriguez M.A. ’14 Ph.D. ’17 organized Tuesday’s event.

“I think the  [first-generation/low income] graduate population here has been trying to push to be more visible with groups like Grad FLIP [First Generation, Low Income Partnership], an offshoot of undergrad FLIP, that has started this year,” Rodriguez said. “This event was about transitioning into privilege and how to navigate that from such a background.”

Rodriguez highlighted the importance of communication not only within but also between the different diversity-oriented campus groups.

“The goal of the event was to get people to not only recognize that there is diversity, but also to get people to talk about it more and have cross-group discussion,” Rodriguez said. “We don’t want each group to go off to their own corner of campus and never interact. We want people to come together and talk to one another.”

On Wednesday, there was a leadership development workshop, and on Thursday, the DAC unveiled its confessions website to anonymously discuss diversity in the graduate community. Friday’s event is an Implicit Bias Workshop, a series of tests aimed at uncovering subconscious biases that individuals have.

According to Ni, addressing the issue of diversity in the graduate space presents the challenge of decentralization.

“As grad students, we are very decentralized and fragmented in various senses of the word – both physically and mentally – given that we are at a later stage in professional development and a lot of us are very focused on research, work or family,” Ni said. “There often isn’t an opportunity for folks from different groups to talk about issues that are common to them. That’s one of the motivations for DAC, to get people together to talk about issues that matter.”

Ni also highlighted the level of support afforded to graduate students as an example of the significant difference between addressing diversity at the undergraduate level versus at the graduate level.

“Most of the [student diversity] groups are more undergraduate focused than grad focused, though I do understand that a lot of them are trying to broaden their outreach,” Ni said. “And it’s a difference between who we are, where we are in life and the type of support we need.”

Ni emphasized the importance of recognizing and talking about diversity as an integral part of the DAC.

“Diversity matters to the broader community, not just certain individuals,” Ni said. “In academia, industry and in life, diversity matters.”

This article has been updated to include the correct graduation year for Gabriel Rodriguez M.A. ’14 Ph.D. ’17 . Previously, Rodriguez was listed as Ph.D. ’15. The Daily regrets this error.

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/23/the-graduate-student-councils-diversity-advocacy-committee-dac-is-holding-its-annual-graduate-student-diversity-week-from-monday-april-20-to-friday-april-24-throughout-the-week-the-dac/feed/ 0 1099709
Asia-Pacific society hosts entrepreneurship summit on campus https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/16/asia-pacific-society-hosts-entrepreneurship-summit-on-campus/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/16/asia-pacific-society-hosts-entrepreneurship-summit-on-campus/#respond Thu, 16 Apr 2015 17:46:28 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1099234 The Stanford Asia-Pacific Student Entrepreneurship Society (ASES) hosted its annual Stanford Summit from April 4 to April 10. Thirty-five international delegates selected from a larger pool of 300 applicants and hailing from all over the Asian-Pacific attended the entrepreneurship conference. Countries represented included Australia, China, India, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.

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The Stanford Asia-Pacific Student Entrepreneurship Society (ASES) hosted its annual Stanford Summit from April 4 to April 10. Thirty-five international delegates selected from a larger pool of 300 applicants and hailing from all over the Asian-Pacific attended the entrepreneurship conference. Countries represented included Australia, China, India, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.

“Last summer, we went through an extreme marketing push to reach as many students as possible at top Asian universities,” said event organizer Calvin Ling ’16. “We looked to see what students demonstrate a real passion for entrepreneurship.”

The delegates stayed the week with current Stanford students in their rooms.

“[Staying with students] was a great way for Stanford students to really interact with and get closer to internationals and promote an exchange of ideas,” Ling said.

Ling highlighted the interaction of different cultures as a key aspect of the summit.

“We had really interesting conversations hearing experiences from the delegates because they come from countries all over and have a wide range of backgrounds,” Ling said. “It was interesting to see the differences between their experiences and the experiences at Stanford.”

Ling added that Stanford offers a lot of resources for its students to accomplish their goals but that many universities in the Pacific don’t necessarily offer the time to explore those passions while at school.

The delegates participated in a variety of workshops, ranging from topics such as design thinking to team building, in addition to hearing speeches from successful entrepreneurs. Over the course of the week, Dr. Richard Dasher, director of the US-Asia Technology Management Center at Stanford, delivered a keynote address, Aditya Agarwal, the vice president of DropBox, held a fireside chat, Justin Kan of Justin.tv held a moderated talk and Gideon Yu, the co-owner of the San Francisco 49ers, spoke about his experience at Facebook, Sequoia Capital and Youtube.

Divya Saini ’18 organized a women leader’s panel featuring female entrepreneurs who shared their experiences about being a female in the work place.

“I really wanted a women empowerment evening to the summit,” Saini said. “A lot of the girls come from places without a lot of female role models and I thought it would be great to have that.”

In order to immerse the delegates in Silicon Valley culture, the organizers, including Calvin Ling ’16, arranged opportunities for the delegates to interact with their new surroundings. Delegates got the opportunity to participate in a campus scavenger hunt, play capture the flag, sit in on a CS106A class, go to the computer history museum and tour the Google offices.

At the culmination of the event, delegates delivered a pitch for an entrepreneurial idea and received feedback from judges, who included Evan Tana, the co-founder of Sparks; David Lee, General Partner and co-founder at SV Angel; and Brian Chang, Technology Investor at Warburg Pincus.

“It was interesting that many of the ideas were contextualized into the Asia Pacific region,” Ling said. “Addressing needs specific to their countries was a unique aspect of the pitches.”

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Daily, Review editors host ASSU Exec debate https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/09/the-four-candidate-slates-running-for-the-assu-executive-office-participated-in-a-debate-at-coho-on-wednesday-april-9-the-debate-was-moderated-by-joseph-beyda-15-and-brandon-camhi/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/09/the-four-candidate-slates-running-for-the-assu-executive-office-participated-in-a-debate-at-coho-on-wednesday-april-9-the-debate-was-moderated-by-joseph-beyda-15-and-brandon-camhi/#respond Fri, 10 Apr 2015 04:13:06 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1098695 The four candidate slates running for the ASSU Executive Office participated in a debate at CoHo on Wednesday, April 9. The debate was moderated by Joseph Beyda ’15 and Brandon Camhi ’16, the editors in chief of The Stanford Daily and The Stanford Review, respectively.

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The Daily and Review hosted an Executive debate on Wednesday night at CoHo. Brandon Hill '16 (left) and John-Lancaster Finley '16 make up one of the four slates (RAGHAV MEHROTRA/The Stanford Daily).
The Daily and Review hosted an Executive debate on Wednesday night at CoHo. Brandon Hill ’16 (left) and John-Lancaster Finley ’16 make up one of the four slates (RAGHAV MEHROTRA/The Stanford Daily).

The four candidate slates running for the ASSU Executive Office participated in a debate at CoHo on Wednesday, April 9. The debate was moderated by Joseph Beyda ’15 and Brandon Camhi ’16, the editors in chief of The Stanford Daily and The Stanford Review, respectively.

The slates – which included Nikos Liodakis ’16 and Dottie Jones ’16, John-Lancaster Finley ’16 and Brandon Hill ’16, Joe Troderman ’16 and Nitish Kulkarni ’16 as Divest from ASSU and Mason Stricklin-Elam ’16 and Cassidy Elwood ’16 as the Chaparral’s Paradigm Shift – were each asked to give a three-minute opening statement.

The Finley/Hill slate highlighted their collective experience of five years on the ASSU.

“What motivated the two of us to run for ASSU exec, given our experience, was seeing what the ASSU can do and can’t do,” Finley said. “The ASSU is a limited body, but it’s not a powerless body. This year we have gone through so much, it feels like some of the life has been sucked out of Stanford. What we want to do is bring back the life to Stanford.”

“We want to make sure we are fulfilling Stanford’s educational mission to prepare us for direct usefulness in life and exercise positive influence on behalf of humanity,” he added. “We want to make sure we are enabling every student and student group to pursue that mission.”

Hill described the three main goals of their slate, which included focusing on mental health, making the social scene more vibrant and ensuring that the ASSU is running legitimately and effectively particularly with regard to funding reform.

In outlining the goals of Paradigm Shift, Elwood called for pleasure domes on Wilbur Field, jobs for all girls and, on a more serious note, fixing mental health.

Representing Divest from ASSU, Troderman focused his message on getting more students involved in student government. He emphasized focusing on mental health, ensuring that the recommendations made by the Task Force on Sexual Assault Policies and Practices are enforced and promoting need-blind admission for international students as the key goals of the slate.

The Liodakis/Jones slate argued that their collective experience would enable them to gain a fresh perspective as Executives. Liodakis has had experience on Frosh Council, in the ASSU Senate, as an RA and as the financial coordinator for the ASSU. Jones has had experience as a Bridge Peer Counselor and board member of the Duck Stops Advisory Board, an online academic skills blog for Stanford students.

Liodakis highlighted “redefining, revitalizing and restoring” as key components of the slate. Their platform includes reforming mental health, addressing sexual health topics such as the lack of pregnancy tests within dorms, creating sustainable funding reform, implementing the task force suggestions on sexual assault and enhancing student unity.

“We want to bring the community back together after a very divisive year,” Liodakis said. “This year we hope to change that by having events and opening the conversation to get back to the Stanford that we had when we were freshmen.”

The slates then answered two questions each from The Daily and The Review. Upon being asked by Beyda about their top priority as ASSU Executives, all the slates unanimously pointed to mental health as the most important issue.

The Liodakis/Jones slate emphasized the importance of a follow-up system to ensure the continuity of counseling for those who need it.

“What we realize is that this year there has been a lot of talk about CAPS and a lot of talk about mental health,” Jones said. “We want to look at the root issue as to why mental health is a problem and ensure that when people need help they are going to receive it.”

Troderman/Kulkarni stated that they would draw attention to the issue of mental health by diverting $50,000 -$60,000 of executive stipends to CAPS as a way of lobbying the administration to grant it more funding.

Hill emphasized that increased funding to CAPS is not a standalone solution to enhancing mental health resources at Stanford. Finley recounted his personal experience with CAPS and advocated for a residential counselor program.

“When I was freshman, I lost eight family members, and afterwards my RF recommended CAPS,” Finley said. “I had a terrible experience; they treated me like a file. I then talked to my residence dean and that residential base of support is what helped me get back on my feet freshman year.”

“I was ready to leave this University; I was suicidal; and that’s why we support the residential counselor program,” he added. “We want to move resources to where students already are.”

When Beyda asked what measures the candidates would take to unify the campus community, all three spoke about the importance of community discussions.

The Liodakis/Jones slate spoke about taking the time to listen to divisive issues on campus, as well as having low-stress and fun events. Finley highlighted the significance of conversations among students, particularly in groups like the Stanford Students of Color Coalition, the Stanford First-Generation Low Income Partnership and The Queer Coalition.

Kulkarni, who is a managing editor of The Daily’s tech blog and has previously served as a desk editor in the news section, also emphasized the importance of having safe spaces for debate such as town halls and discussion forums as well as utilizing surveys and analytics to monitor the pulse of student opinions.

When Camhi asked for the candidates’ opinions on the task force’s recommendation of expulsion for those found guilty of sexual assault, the slates unanimously agreed with the task force’s findings.

Camhi then asked each of the slates to detail any shortcomings or lessons learned from the current Executives.

Finley pointed to the importance of having a narrow vision and focus from the start.

“It took a while for [the previous ASSU Executives] to figure out how to structure the cabinet, and [they] tried to do too many things at once,” Finley said. “Later on, which I really appreciated, they addressed the way they were doing things and decided to downsize.”

Kulkarni addressed the importance of greater student involvement with the ASSU and advocated for an Undergraduate Representative Body (URB) comprised of representatives from dorms and student groups that would meet with the Executives on a biweekly basis.

“This URB will allow for students to understand what’s going on and start talking,” Kulkarni said. “It would make the ASSU more in touch with students and allow them to hear from students more often.”

The Liodakis/Jones slate also emphasized the significance of greater transparency between students and the Executive Office. Specifically, they want to keep the conversation open on topics like sexual assault and make students more aware by releasing reports on interim dates about the progress of certain policies.

Beyda and Camhi then delved into candidate-specific questions followed by 10 minutes of cross-examination between slates. Troderman asked each of the other slates if they would be willing to give up their executive stipends for “the greater good,” and while Paradigm Shift did not answer the question, both the Finley/Hill and Liodakis/Jones slates indicated that they would not agree to such an arrangement.

“I am a low income student, and I do not have the privilege to sacrifice my stipend in order to do student government work. Also, [using the stipend for CAPS] is counterproductive to [making] mental health more effective at Stanford,” Finley said. “I don’t think we should tell the University that the ASSU will use its endowment to provide services that Stanford University should be providing.”

Liodakis agreed, adding that he could not speak for the financial situation of his cabinet members and that throwing money at CAPS will not solve the greater issue of mental health at Stanford.

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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BASES hosts Women in Entrepreneurship Summit https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/05/over-the-weekend-bases-hosted-its-inaugural-women-in-entrepreneurship-summit-which-gave-participants-the-opportunity-to-interact-with-successful-female-entrepreneurs-the-event-took-place-on-saturday/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/05/over-the-weekend-bases-hosted-its-inaugural-women-in-entrepreneurship-summit-which-gave-participants-the-opportunity-to-interact-with-successful-female-entrepreneurs-the-event-took-place-on-saturday/#respond Mon, 06 Apr 2015 03:12:41 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1098319 Over the weekend, BASES hosted its inaugural Women in Entrepreneurship Summit which gave participants the opportunity to interact with successful female entrepreneurs. The event took place on Saturday, April 4, in the Obendorf Event Center at the Graduate School of Business.

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(Courtesy of Clay Garner)
(Courtesy of Clay Garner)

Over the weekend, BASES hosted its inaugural Women in Entrepreneurship Summit which gave participants the opportunity to interact with successful female entrepreneurs. The event took place on Saturday, April 4, in the Obendorf Event Center at the Graduate School of Business.

Julia Hartz, the co-founder and president of Eventbrite delivered the keynote speech, in which she detailed her story from an undergraduate at Pepperdine University to being honored as one of Fortune’s ten Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs in 2013. She offered advice for women in entrepreneurship and highlighted the importance of self-confidence and risk-taking.

Following Hartz’s speech, participants got an opportunity to interact with female entrepreneurs in an intimate workshop. In addition to Hartz, the speakers included Sandy Jen ’03, Katrina Lake ’05, Rebeca Hwang, Salina Truon ’11, Kathleen Janus and Yin Yin Wu ’11.

“At BASES we are always looking to do something different, particularly at Stanford where people are so engaged and have their own questions and ideas,” said event organizer Jonathan Lu ’16. “This is why we had a big keynote at the beginning but also gave participants the opportunity to engage on an intimate level with these entrepreneurs.”

According to Lu, BASES saw an overflow of interest in the event. Of the 110 students who expressed interest, 60 were chosen to attend.

“Half of the student participants were undergraduates, but we made sure that the group was as diverse as possible,” said Lu. “We put value in diversity of opinion and experience. We had students from the law school, business school and medical school, seasoned entrepreneurs and representatives from our partner companies. We wanted the diversity of participants to add to the richness of the conversation.”

Participants expressed appreciation for the format of the event, particularly the opportunity to interact personally with the speakers.

“It was comforting and inspiring to hear from and get to know women who have become successful in such a male-dominated industry,” said attendee Andrea Wenrich ’18. “The workshops allowed us to get to know these incredible women on a personal and intimate level.”

The workshops were capped at 15 people per speaker.

“As one of 10 students at a table with a successful startup founder, I was able to hear everything from her day-to-day challenges to her long-term goals,” said Ali Eicher ’18. “By getting to speak to these entrepreneurs in a more personal setting, I learned what it would take to get my own business up and running.”

Sandy Jen, who graduated with a bachelors in computer science from Stanford and went on to become the co-founder and CTO of Meebo, a consumer Internet company, spoke at the event and reflected on her experiences.

“I think that one thing Stanford does a great job of is nurturing people who want to take risks or have great ideas, and so anything that I can do to help is really exciting for me,” Jen said. “I try to always make time for Stanford events because Stanford students are amazing, well-rounded and can change the world.”

Jen noted that over the last decade there has been more attention devoted to encouraging women in technology.

“The percentage of women in CS at Stanford has really increased from when I was here 10 years ago,” Jen said. “One of the most important things for women in technology is seeing role models. By showing young women that I wasn’t that much different from them when I was a freshman, I hope that makes them consider the tech world and entrepreneurship, and I hope I can expose them to what they can do.”

Lu also highlighted the importance of the event in raising awareness for women in technology.

“A lot of times it’s easy for the issue of women in technology to become simplistically branded as only an issue for a certain demographic,” Lu said. “But to address these things, we need to put them in context of the broader industry and that’s made up people from all walks of life, and that was one of the goals of this event.”

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

An earlier version of this story said that Hartz attended Chapman University instead of Pepperdine.  The Daily regrets this error.

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TreeHacks creates a collaborative, Stanford-centered hackathon experience https://stanforddaily.com/2015/03/03/treehacks-creates-a-collaborative-stanford-centered-hackathon-experience/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/03/03/treehacks-creates-a-collaborative-stanford-centered-hackathon-experience/#respond Wed, 04 Mar 2015 04:58:58 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1096942 The Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center was bustling with activity throughout the weekend of Feb. 20 to Feb. 22 with over 670 programmers from across the nation creating hacks in the allocated 36-hour time frame.

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The second place team at TreeHacks, Fabric, included Stanford freshmen Liezl Puzon ’18 and Sabar Dasgupta ’18. (ANDREA LIM/The Stanford Daily)
The second place team at TreeHacks, Fabric, included Stanford freshmen Liezl Puzon ’18 and Sabar Dasgupta ’18. (ANDREA LIM/The Stanford Daily)

The Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center was bustling with activity throughout the weekend of Feb. 20 to Feb. 22, with over 670 programmers from across the nation creating hacks in the allocated 36-hour time frame.

Hosted by the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES) HackSpace, the event was Stanford’s first large-scale, intercollegiate hackathon and was sponsored by a wide variety of tech companies, including Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Dropbox. These sponsors provided funding and prizes to participants as well as access to industry professionals as mentors.

TreeHacks co-directors Russell Kaplan ’17, Rishi Bedi ’17 and Jason Teplitz ’17 spoke about how they focused on providing a uniquely Stanford experience and on making the event accessible for participants of different skill levels.

 

Providing a Stanford experience

Hackathon attendees had the opportunity to participate in and attend a variety of events, like a performance by the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band, Frisbee, massages and yoga workshops, when taking breaks from hacking. Some of these events were organized by the directors, while others were coordinated by companies — like Microsoft, which arranged for masseuses to be present for four hours.

“A high point of TreeHacks was when everyone was outside and hungry on Saturday night, waiting for Ike’s,” Kaplan said. “Then the Stanford Band ran through and performed, and nobody had any idea they were coming. The energy was infectious.”

“Hackathons have lots of common elements across schools, but I don’t think anyone’s ever seen anything like that at a hackathon,” he added. “For us it was awesome because [the Band is] just such a core part of Stanford and made this hackathon uniquely Stanford.”

According to the organizers, they also focused on creating a non-cutthroat environment for the hackathon. Kaplan highlighted the lack of cash prizes as a key factor in the collaborative atmosphere of TreeHacks.

“The vibe of [a] hackathon is different depending on what is incentivized,” Kaplan said. “We wanted to give people an excuse to come together and have a creative outlet to build amazing things. When hackathons offer large cash prizes, there is a lot of pressure, and the vibe is different. We gave awesome prizes, but they were experience-based rather than monetary.”

 

Accessible across skill levels

Implementing a mentorship program through which participants could seek assistance from industry professionals was a key component in making TreeHacks accessible across all experience levels. Over 150 help tickets were filed and closed over the course of the weekend.

“With the mentorship program, we had that goal that whether you had a specific question or if you needed help very broadly to figure out what to do, you could just ask that and not feel uncomfortable,” Bedi said.

Having mentors readily available made the hacking process easier for some participants. Jessica Gu, a junior from UC-Berkeley, created a chat system inspired by the Unix command “cowsay” with the help of the mentors.

“They gave us a lot of help through the mentor system,” she said. “So I was able to ask a lot of questions because I did not know much about web stuff. That’s how it all came together.”

Hackathon veteran Michael Copley, a junior from the University of Michigan, also utilized the access to mentors at Stanford’s hackathon.

“The mentors had a lot of experience integrating things into applications,” Copley said. “Normally something that would take me two to three hours to integrate took 20 to 30 minutes with their help.”

In addition to having mentors available during the event, the co-directors organized HackWeek, a series of workshops during the week leading up to the event, to ease inexperienced participants into the hacking culture. Students or faculty members covered a different topic each day.

“People spend a lot of time in CS classes building programs, but you have starter code and can fill in functions,” Kaplan said. “In hackathons you have no starter code, just your computer and an empty screen, and you are tasked with building something. With the workshops, we tried to bridge the gap there.”

 

A diverse turnout

Funding from the sponsors provided money for travel reimbursements that allowed hackers across the nation to attend the hackathon.

“We were able to offer travel reimbursements to basically fill the room with as many incredible people as we could find,” Kaplan said.

Princeton undergraduates Prem Nair and Nathan Lam were flown across the country to attend TreeHacks. Lam appreciated that TreeHacks allowed him to interact with the hacking community.

“At events like these, you meet a lot cool of people. The hacking culture is really strong. You get to see a lot of friends and it’s almost a reunion,” he said. “You see the same people at hackathons across the nation. It really is a community.”

Teplitz also appreciated the Stanford turnout at TreeHacks. Two of the top eight teams, in addition to half of the members on the second-place team, were from Stanford.

“We initially weren’t quite sure if we would get a lot of excitement from Stanford students, but there were a number of students that came and a number of amazing Stanford projects,” Teplitz said.

369 Stanford students participated in TreeHacks, including Catherina Xu ’18 and Kristen Law ’18. Xu and Law developed an application called Wake Me Up that wakes a user who has fallen asleep on public transportation but is nearing her destination. The app won a Dropbox Engineering Prize.

For Xu, the most valuable aspect of TreeHacks was seeing the accomplishments of her peers.

“It’s also great seeing what people you know build amazing things, and you can talk to them on a personal level about what they did,” Xu said.

In their vision for the future of TreeHacks, the co-directors want to expand the event to have enough space for more people. They also hope to make TreeHacks even more accessible to inexperienced programmers through more specialized introductory workshops.

“Mentorship relies on people initially reaching out who have questions. But for people who had no experience on a certain platform, it’s not that helpful,” Bedi said. “It would be nice to have very basic introduction workshops during the event for people who have never hacked or used a certain platform before.”

 

Contact Pallavi Krishnarao at pallavik ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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