Sarah Ortlip-Sommers – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Tue, 19 Jun 2018 03:18:48 +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 Sarah Ortlip-Sommers – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Ortlip-Sommers: For Stanford, my dream school https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/15/ortlip-sommers-for-stanford-my-dream-school/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/15/ortlip-sommers-for-stanford-my-dream-school/#respond Fri, 15 Jun 2018 09:19:55 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142158 I used to think Stanford was my dream school. And if you’re reading this, it probably was yours, too, at some point in time.

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I used to think Stanford was my dream school. And if you’re reading this, it probably was yours, too, at some point in time.

What does that mean, “dream school?” Before I received my acceptance, the idea of Stanford felt mystical and intangible, as if I had created in my head the most perfect place for myself. It had palm trees and fountains, prestige and promise and none of the parts of high school I’d hated. At Stanford, I thought, I would be happy.

Today, as I prepare to leave this dream for the next, I have a different definition, one that’s a little more cynical but also, I think, a little more hopeful.

The night before the first day of NSO, I barely slept. I could hardly believe the dream I had held for years was about to become a reality. The first quarter was so chaotic — in the best way possible — that I had little time to stop and think about my experiences. I made fast friends (spoiler alert: these were not the friendships that lasted) and joined an a cappella group. I got my first B ever and barely cared because this was Stanford.

But that freshman excitement faded. During the next few quarters, the insecurities I thought I had left behind in high school resurfaced. My friendships shifted and I didn’t feel like I had a solid group or a best friend. I felt isolated in the groups I had begun to consider like family. I felt like I wasn’t working as hard as my peers in my classes, which felt like a betrayal of the ambitious version of me who had gotten into Stanford in the first place.

Only when I literally left the country to study in Florence did I feel like I had the freedom and distance to let myself acknowledge that Stanford would never be the dream school I had envisioned. I felt like there might be something wrong with me, that I was incapable of the happiness I thought I’d find here. Worst of all, I was afraid that if I was unhappy at Stanford, my dream school, I could never be happy anywhere.

At some point during my nine months away (three in Italy and six in Washington, D.C.), I realized that it wasn’t Stanford that was making me unhappy — it was my own vision of what life should be like there. Being physically away from campus reminded me that satisfaction and inspiration come from lived experiences.

I’m writing this column not to lower anyone’s expectations about Stanford or college in general, but to reflect on how my change in mindset helped make my last five quarters at Stanford the best almost-two years of my life. They weren’t perfect, and many of the things that left me disappointed before going abroad were still present. But this time I allowed myself to feel without consequences and with an understanding that disappointment and insecurity do not damage dreams unless I let them. It may not be exactly what I expected four years ago, but now I have incredible, supportive friends, knowledge I hadn’t even known existed and a future that was only made possible by opportunities I seized on (and off) campus.

There are sides of Stanford I had never envisioned four years ago. This is a place where people suffer from mental illness, minority communities still feel voiceless and sexual assault is not taken seriously enough. These are ongoing struggles we are far from overcoming, and I wish I had done more to push us further along in the right direction. Still, with all its flaws and disappointments, Stanford remains my biggest and most beautiful dream. I am inspired by the people around me devoting their lives to making this world a fairer and more equal place, and I credit my own public service aspirations, in part, to the students and professors I’ve met here.

The fantasy I created for my 18-year-old self is now dead, but it’s for the best. The Stanford I now have to leave is the best dream I could have asked for, not despite its imperfections but because of them. Stanford taught me the importance of living in the moment, appreciating support from the people around me and embracing any opportunity that comes my way.

When I used to say Stanford was my dream school, before I even could conceptualize what college was like, I thought that my four dream years would be the best of my life. If I could make it into Stanford, what came after could only come in second. After four years of self-reflection, it’s clear to me now that my next chapter can and will be as meaningful as my time at Stanford, as long as I approach it with a clear mind and open arms.

“Dream school” no longer represents an idealized fantasy where mistakes don’t exist and people aren’t human; instead, I now firmly believe a positive outlook and receptiveness to change can make any place feel like a home.

I could never regret choosing to attend Stanford, because it gave me incredible experiences and friendships I know will last a lifetime (not just a cliché, but the truth). But I am confident I could have had a great four years with other great people at one of many other universities if things had turned out a little differently. My dream is not Stanford, the school, but Stanford, the place.

I could have had a hundred dream schools, and I happened to end up here. For that, I am forever grateful.

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Samantha Power discusses activism, encourages student resistance https://stanforddaily.com/2018/03/01/samantha-power-discusses-activism-encourages-student-resistance/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/03/01/samantha-power-discusses-activism-encourages-student-resistance/#respond Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:45:50 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1137598 Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power addressed “Resisters in Dark Times” in her first talk on Wednesday evening as this year’s speaker for the Tanner Lectures on Human Values. Power shared the stories of activists in three difficult times in American history: the periods of Japanese internment, anti-communist hysteria, and the AIDS epidemic.

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Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power addressed “Resisters in Dark Times” in her first talk on Wednesday evening as this year’s speaker for the Tanner Lectures on Human Values. Power shared the stories of activists in three difficult times in American history: the periods of Japanese internment, anti-communist hysteria, and the AIDS epidemic.

The event was co-sponsored by the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society and Stanford in Government (SIG).

Tales of activism

In the first part of her speech, Power focused on the history of students sent to Japanese internment camps, many of whom were from the Bay Area.

“Here at Stanford, more than 30 Japanese-American students were sent to camps and forced to abandon their studies,” Power said.

She shared the story of Harvey Itano, a second-generation Japanese immigrant who was a senior at the University of California, Berkeley, when he and his family were detained and sent to the Tulelake internment camp in Northern California.

“From the windswept barracks of Tulelake, [Itano] filled out and posted applications to medical school,” Power said. “Had it not been for the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council [NJASRC], Itano may never have been able to get permission to leave the camp.”

Amid Japanese internment efforts by the U.S. government, activists established the NJASRC to help students in Itano’s position continue their education. The Council secured clearances allowing students to leave the camps, funds to support their education and assurances they would be accepted in their university communities.

According to Power, Itano eventually earned two doctoral degrees and became a medical researcher. A breakthrough in his research at the California Institute of Technology ultimately pioneered improved treatments for genetic diseases such as sickle cell anemia.

Itano was one of over 4,000 Japanese students who were freed from the camps to pursue higher education thanks to the NJASRC’s social, political and financial support.

Power turned next to the anti-communist hysteria of the 1950s. She raised Robert Hutchins, then-president and chancellor of the University of Chicago, as an example of how one individual sparked a larger movement against injustice.

When the Illinois Seditious Activities Investigation Committee began targeting faculty, administrators and students at the University of Chicago, Hutchins argued that their idea of “guilt by association” was un-American, she said.

Over time, other administrators and professors at the University of Chicago followed Hutchins’  example, speaking out against the Committee and in support of Hutchins. Ultimately, no one at the university was punished by the Committee, a success Power credited in large part to Hutchins and the activism he catalyzed.

“Imagine for just one moment how different that period might have been if other institutions had been as unified and principled as the one led by Chancellor Hutchins,” Power said.

Power’s last example of resistance in times of darkness was activism during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, which she argued Ronald Reagan’s administration and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) handled poorly.

“At a time when the average AIDS patient was surviving for less than three years, the government’s lack of urgency was a death sentence for those affected,” Power said.

She added that the advocacy group ACT UP was instrumental in civil disobedience and public awareness efforts.

One of its founders, Mark Harrington, led the group’s Treatment and Data Committee. Despite the fact that most members of the Committee were artists, not scientists, they taught themselves the necessary vocabulary and science to challenge the Centers for Disease Control, which alleged that just 26 people were living as long-term AIDS survivors in the U.S., a number Power said was drastically lower than the reality.

ACT UP’s activism eventually led the FDA to make treatment available to more people at a lower cost, as well as to research the disease more seriously.

Power concluded by emphasizing the ability of small groups to effect big changes.

“Even though the resistance could not right the entire system, just think of the lives that were changed by these efforts,” she said. “Think of the exponential impact a few dozen determined individuals – people who held firm to their principles even when most Americans did not – […] had on the lives of others.

Response and discussion

In the discussion following Power’s lecture, Stein Visiting Writer Rebecca Solnit urged listeners to reject the common idea of the single, male leader and to instead celebrate the many, diverse activists who have changed history.  

Martin Luther King, Jr., was a great activist, she said, but he did not lead the Civil Rights Movement alone.

“Some of the most crucial things that happened [in the Civil Rights Movement] were led from behind, sparked by people whose names we don’t use,” Solnit said.

Solnit’s response focused on the ability of “nontraditional groups” to effect change. Solnit touched on the women who created the #MeToo movement, as well as the young people who have spoken out about gun control following the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Solnit said she sees these current movements as part of a “remarkable moment of resistance” and is hopeful for the change they will bring.

In discussion with Solnit, Power also called attention to her role as a powerful woman on the world stage, especially in the context of Donald Trump’s election.

“I’ve had a lot of very bad ideas in my life, but none worse than deciding to have an election party in November 2016 with all the women ambassadors from the U.N.,” she said.

On the night of the 2016 presidential election, as it became clear that Trump would become President, Power said she felt “so disappointed and so surprised.” Guests went home and Power’s family went to bed, and eventually only Gloria Steinem remained.

While Power was feeling disheartened, she noticed how Steinem seemed unsurprised and unfazed by the election results. Power said Steinem was ready to keep fighting for women’s rights instead of wallowing in disappointment.

“She was just back to business,” Power said.

Connecting her personal experiences to more recent events, Power encouraged high school students demanding stricter gun laws to find inspiration in the work of previous generations of activists.

“The thing about young people is – almost by definitionthey have no fear,” Power said.

Madeleine Musante ’18, who attended the lecture, said she liked the “hopeful yet realistic” tone of the evening.

“I appreciated that [Power] acknowledged these groups [of activists] were not able to eliminate the problems without more widespread support,” Musante said.

Nevertheless, Musante said she was troubled by Solnit’s suggestion the U.S. has accomplished much as a country amid the #MeToo movement and Parkland shooting.

Before the event, SIG Chair Alexis Kallen ’18 told The Daily that Power serves as a role model for aspiring leaders such as herself.

Referring to a previous interview with Power, Kallen said, “I asked her about being a female in such an international space, where people are coming from backgrounds where they don’t think women should even be speaking. And yet, she’s sitting there, leading.”

Power addressed young people’s desire for visible change in her conversation with Solnit.  

“We won’t get the immediate returns, but we have to know that we have these forbearers who have accrued wisdom,” she said.

Power will give a second lecture on Thursday titled “Diplomacy after Darkness” at CEMEX auditorium and lead a discussion seminar at the Schwab Residential Center this Friday.

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu and Mini Racker at mracker ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford professor finds income not the main determinant of public school effectiveness https://stanforddaily.com/2018/01/16/stanford-professor-finds-income-not-the-main-determinant-of-public-school-effectiveness/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/01/16/stanford-professor-finds-income-not-the-main-determinant-of-public-school-effectiveness/#respond Tue, 16 Jan 2018 11:28:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1134989 A study by Sean F. Reardon, professor of poverty and inequality in education at the Graduate School of Education, found that socioeconomic status in U.S. public school districts only correlated weakly with growth in students’ average test scores over time.

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A study by Sean F. Reardon, professor of poverty and inequality in education at the Graduate School of Education, found that socioeconomic status in U.S. public school districts only weakly correlated with growth in students’ average test scores over time.

Stanford professor finds income not the main determinant of public school effectiveness
Schools in low-income districts are not necessarily less effective than than those in high-income ones (Courtesy of Stanford News).

Reardon told Business Insider that students’ rate of test score improvement over time is a better measure of a given school’s effectiveness.

“There are many relatively high-poverty school districts where students appear to be learning at a faster rate than kids in other, less poor districts,” Reardon said in an interview with Stanford News. “Poverty clearly does not determine the quality of a school system.”

Reardon collaborated with GSE Ph.D. student Erin Fahle, Ben Shear Ph.D. ’17, Andrew Ho M.S. ’03 Ph.D. ’05 and research staff Demetra Kalogrides and Richard DiSalvo. The team published their findings in a working paper on Dec. 5.

The study’s results run counter to the commonly held belief among academics that poverty levels and school effectiveness are inversely correlated.

“There’s a widespread belief that schools exacerbate inequality, that schools are worse in poor communities and better in rich ones,” Reardon told Stanford News.

Reardon gathered two sets of data, one the test scores of third graders and the other the test scores of roughly 45 million third- through eighth-grade students from almost all 11,000 public-school districts in the U.S. The third-grade scores were, as expected, generally highest in school districts near major metropolitan areas and lowest in the rural West and Deep South.

The rate of improvement between the third grade and the eighth grade, however, varied widely. Reardon found that students in low-income school districts often progressed through academic material at a rate faster than those of more affluent districts. High-poverty schools in Chicago, for example, demonstrated a test score growth rate 20 percent higher than the national average, covering six years’ worth of material in only five.

Reardon hopes the results of his study will be able to help both school districts and parents, according to Business Insider. When parents are choosing a school for their children, he said, they may focus on test score improvement rates rather than the scores alone or the school’s budget.

At the same time, Reardon encourages districts to make information on improvement rates available to parents and serve as “advocates” for lower-income schools.

“There are many places where learning rates are much higher than you might predict on the basis of families’ economic resources,” Reardon told Stanford News. “We have to learn what those places are doing and build on those lessons.”

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Oct. 19: On this day in Stanford history… https://stanforddaily.com/2017/10/18/oct-19-on-this-day-in-stanford-history/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/10/18/oct-19-on-this-day-in-stanford-history/#respond Wed, 18 Oct 2017 18:55:46 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1131361 The feature “On this day in Stanford history … ” details unusual or humorous events that occurred on the same date or week in past years from The Daily archives.

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The feature “On this day in Stanford history … ” details unusual or humorous events that occurred on the same date or week in past years from The Daily archives.

According to The Stanford Daily archives, on Oct. 19 in …

1893: Members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity challenged “any other fraternity in the University, Sigma Nu preferred,” to a football game.

1897: A Daily column discussed cheating and academic standards at Stanford. According to the columnist, some students in the current freshman class had been “dropped from the institution” only a month into the year for neglecting their work and skipping class.

“Stanford University is not the place for idlers,” the columnist wrote. “There is no denying the fact that those who do not show an interest in their work are doomed.”

1904: “A large force of men” began working on paving the newly constructed “outer quadrangle.” The project was expected to span three months.

1920: The Daily published “up-to-date ‘dope’” on the results of a survey conducted in a political science class. Of the 235 students surveyed, two students failed to correctly spell the name of the president of the United States, which at the time was Woodrow Wilson. 135 students identified as Republicans, 77 as Democrats, one as “Farmer-Labor,” six as socialists and the rest as something else. When asked to list the reasoning behind their decisions, nearly one third wrote, “Because Father is.”

1922: The Daily announced plans for a “smoker” for chemistry majors hosted by Alpha Chi Sigma, noting that the group would also travel next Thursday to San Francisco and Sausalito in order to learn the practical applications of chemistry in the meat industry. The trip would include visits to the Western Meat Company and the Mason By-Products Company.

1931: An “All-University Victory Dance” was to be held Saturday at 8:30 p.m. for “all those members of the campus who manage to garner one of the fast-disappearing bids.” The event was expected to be such a hit that the University moved its venue from the Women’s Clubhouse to the Women’s Dance Studio.

1945: The Cellar, a campus eatery, was in danger of having to close during the evenings unless “one male hasher” was hired. The student in charge of the recruitment effort explained that men were preferred for the job “due to the difficulties of arranging late leaves for women hashers.”

1948: Stanford held an event called “Sex Behavior and Sex Attitudes in Relation to Emotional Health” as part of an evening lecture series. Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Dr. John C. Whitehorn, who was on campus to deliver the 1948 Jacob Gimbel Lectures on Sex Psychology, was the main speaker.

1954: A fire in a Roble janitor’s closet caused $500 (about $4,600 today) worth of damage. The Stanford Fire Department was called to put out the fire.

1962: The LASSU – the body now known as the ASSU Undergraduate Senate – voted against repealing a bill encouraging the desegregation of men and women in the “rooting section” at sporting events. The Legislature also defeated 13-9 a motion “to recommend the continued segregation of the rooting section.”

1973: Students organized Whitman House, an academic residency program, to fight against “intellectual loneliness” caused by the separation between classes and dorm life. Residents organized events such as dinner discussions, “cultural activities” and in-house seminars, and students could earn five units through the Political Science department for one of the three quarter-long classes offered.

1994: A graduate student collapsed after he was “head-butted” by a suspected gang member from East Palo Alto outside the joint Theta Delta Chi-Kappa Kappa Gamma Oktoberfest Party at the TDX house. After he was found by the police and rushed to the hospital, the student was diagnosed with a broken cheekbone.

“A group of high school students, some of them wearing East Palo Alto T-shirts, came to the party,” the TDX president told the police. “When they got inside, they acted belligerently and started picking fights with Theta Delts and other students.”

2005: Stern’s Cyber Cafe became the only eatery on campus at the time to serve late-night food on weekends.

“It’s Saturday, 1:30 a.m., Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s ‘Hos Gone Wild’ party is winding down, and you’re a little tipsy, car-less and very hungry,” a Daily writer wrote. “Up until last weekend, the possibilities were limited to hijacking a golf cart for a joyride to Jack-in-the-Box or raiding Chi Theta Chi’s organic food bins. Now, thanks to the efforts of the ASSU Senate and Stanford Dining, the hungry and car-less can take advantage of [Cyber Cafe].”

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Sexual assault reports, hate crimes rise in new campus police statistics https://stanforddaily.com/2017/10/02/sexual-assault-reports-hate-crimes-rise-in-new-campus-police-statistics/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/10/02/sexual-assault-reports-hate-crimes-rise-in-new-campus-police-statistics/#respond Mon, 02 Oct 2017 07:38:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1130497 Campus police statistics released last Thursday in Stanford’s 2017 Safety, Security and Fire Report show an increase in reported sexual offenses, an increase in reports of hate crimes and a decrease in arrests related to alcohol.

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Sexual assault reports, hate crimes rise in new campus police statistics
(JANET LIU/The Stanford Daily)

Campus police statistics released last Thursday in Stanford’s 2017 Safety, Security and Fire Report show an increase in reported sexual offenses, an increase in reports of hate crimes and a decrease in arrests related to alcohol.

Reports of sexual violence are on the rise. 45 offenses were reported in 2016, of which 33 were rapes and 12 were fondling incidents. In 2015, 39 assaults were reported, including 25 rapes, four fondling incidents and three statutory rapes.

Senior Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Access Lauren Schoenthaler noted in an interview with Stanford News that she attributes the rising number of reports of sexual assault to an increase in student awareness of what is considered an assault, as well as a decreasing stigma around reporting such offenses. Stanford Police Chief Laura Wilson offered a similar hypothesis last year, when reports of sexual violence increased.

One specific initiative Schoenthaler cited was Beyond Sex-Ed, a New Student Orientation event that began last year aimed at helping students “develop their own sexual citizenship.” All first-year undergraduate students are required to attend. The University also recently adopted Callisto, an online platform for reporting sexual violence, for a three-year trial period.

“Over the past year, Stanford investigated more student cases than we had in the prior year, and we are hopeful that is a reflection that more of our students are willing to engage with the Title IX Office to resolve and redress their concerns,” Schoenthaler said.

The University conducted formal investigations of 11 cases of reported sexual assault, using an internal Title IX process piloted at the beginning of 2016 that has drawn scrutiny. Five hearings resulted in three findings of responsibility and two findings of no responsibility. Five cases were resolved with non-hearing resolutions, in which the Title IX coordinator oversees an agreement between parties; outcomes ranged from an order to stay away from the complainant to a ban from campus. Finally, the University issued a no-charge decision for one case, which also involved a domestic violence report.

The University is required under California law to report all potential cases of sexual assault to local law enforcement.

Six hate crimes were reported last year, including three incidents of vandalism related to religion and national origin, one threat related to sexual orientation, one battery related to race and one incident of vandalism related to race. This number shows an increase over the two reports received in 2015, which included one attempted assault related to sexual orientation and one incident of vandalism related to religion.

There were 62 arrests for alcohol-related offenses in 2016, down from 70 in 2015. Non-alcohol drug-related arrests stayed roughly constant, decreasing from 20 in 2015 to 19 this past year.

Stanford received four reports of aggravated assault, up from zero in 2015.

Speaking to Stanford News, Wilson urged members of the Stanford community not to stay silent if they believe anyone might pose a threat, especially in light of national discussions of race and concern about undocumented immigrants’ ability to contact law enforcement.

“Failing to call 9-1-1 could result in a tragic outcome, and that would be antithetical to the value we place on the safety and well-being of our community,” she said.

Federal law requires all institutions of higher education to report the crime statistics and information included in the 2017 Safety, Security and Fire Report. The report includes data for visitors and others not affiliated with the University in addition to those for students, faculty and staff. The data is not limited to incidents on the main campus; it also reflects crime reports on other properties owned or controlled by Stanford as well as hotels students have visited for Stanford-related activities.

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Market at Munger to accept meal plan dollars again https://stanforddaily.com/2017/05/26/market-at-munger-to-accept-meal-plan-dollars-again/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/05/26/market-at-munger-to-accept-meal-plan-dollars-again/#respond Fri, 26 May 2017 09:05:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1128076 Starting Monday, May 29, the grocery and convenience store will begin accepting meal plan dollars again. According to Residential and Dining Enterprises (R&DE), the change was prompted by student feedback.

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Starting Monday, May 29, the Market at Munger will begin accepting meal plan dollars again for food items. According to Residential and Dining Enterprises (R&DE), the change was prompted by student feedback after the campus grocery and convenience store stopped accepting meal plan dollars at the start of this school year.

“We have heard individually from a number of students who shared with us the importance of Munger Market in ensuring they have affordable, healthy food options outside the dining halls,” wrote Jocelyn Breeland, a spokesperson for R&DE, in an email to The Daily.

Market at Munger to accept meal plan dollars again
The Market at Munger will soon begin accepting meal plan dollars again (ADRIAN GAITAN/The Stanford Daily).

While the Market at Munger will take meal plan dollars for food, other items such as medicine, flowers and miscellaneous supplies must be purchased with Cardinal Dollars or a credit card, according to a sign posted outside the store. Under an old pilot program that R&DE launched in 2013 and ended last summer, the Market at Munger accepted meal plan dollars for all products, from toiletries to clothes.

Breeland said that meal plan dollars have always been intended to provide students with food; Munger’s old payment system could not distinguish between food and non-food items, and so students could purchase a wider range of items.

“When we hear from students about their need to use Meal Plan Dollars in the Market, it is always in the context of healthy and economical food purchases,” she said. “The existing policy meets the needs students have expressed and the purpose of the meal plan dollar program.”

Breeland told The Daily in September that R&DE eliminated meal plan dollars at the Market at Munger last year in order to shift dollar use toward more campus locations that serve prepared meals. This year, Russo Café at the Munger Graduate Residence as well as two new eateries in Tresidder Union, BBQ101 and Stadium Grille, began accepting meal plan dollars (dessert shop Decadence has now replaced Stadium Grille in Tresidder).

Students who spoke to The Daily were happy with the new additions, but some lamented the loss of the Market at Munger as a meal plan resource until now.

“On-campus prices can be high,” said Joshua Seawell ’18. “I haven’t been as eager to go to Munger without the option of paying in meal plan dollars.”

Before the Market began accepting meal plan dollars for the first time in 2013, students were only able to use Cardinal Dollars or cash to purchase items at the store. At the time of the pilot program’s launch, R&DE explained that the decision to accept the payment arose from a desire to increase students’ options in using their meal plan dollars.

The dollars are included with most undergraduate meal plans. The amount included depends on the type of meal plan students choose; for example, a 10-meal-per-week plan comes with 750 meal plan dollars per year, or 250 per quarter, while a 19-meal-per-week plan includes none.

Unlike Cardinal Dollars, which are purchased from Stanford Dining and do not expire, only a maximum of 50 unused meal plan dollars can transfer at the end of each quarter, and they all expire at the end of the academic year. As a result, students often attempt to use up their meal plan dollars before the end of a quarter.

Christie Hartono ’19 is happy the Market at Munger once again will serve as an option for using up her leftover dollars.

“I don’t have to go off-campus and spend extra money to buy some groceries,” she said.

Other students cited the convenience of an on-campus grocery store as a reason they choose to shop at Munger.

“You can’t get certain foods, like grapes, anywhere else on campus on-demand,” Seawell said.

Breeland explained that student input, including through outreach efforts and focus groups during winter quarter, was instrumental in R&DE’s decision to restore meal plan dollars.

“We are happy to reinstate meal plan dollars at Munger Market to support our students,” she said.

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

This post has been updated with Breeland’s response to an additional question about a change in which items can be bought at Munger with meal plan dollars.

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New peer support group centers sexual assault discussion on survivors https://stanforddaily.com/2017/03/17/new-peer-support-group-centers-sexual-assault-discussion-on-survivors/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/03/17/new-peer-support-group-centers-sexual-assault-discussion-on-survivors/#respond Fri, 17 Mar 2017 12:51:16 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1124895 Some say the group has formed to fill a gap at Stanford, raising new questions about a campus conversation that may focus more on sexual assault prevention than on survivors.

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A new peer support group for survivors of sexual assault has formed to fill a gap at Stanford, raising new questions about a campus conversation that may focus more on sexual assault prevention than support for survivors.  

New peer support group centers sexual assault discussion on survivors
A new peer group puts survivors at the center of discussions on sexual assault (VERONICA CRUZ/The Stanford Daily).

Following a series of high-profile rape cases, Stanford students have been inundated with activism surrounding campus sexual assault. Conversations among students have largely focused on changing University policies and community attitudes, with groups like the Association of Students for Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP) and the Fearless Conference at the forefront of the activist scene. Both groups are led by teams that include survivors and make it part of their mission to advocate on behalf of those who have experienced sexual assault.

But amidst all of the activism aimed at University administrators, some survivors have felt isolated. In response, last year two students piloted a Peer Support Group (PSG) for survivors of sexual assault with the support of the Office of Sexual Assault and Relationship Abuse (SARA) and the Confidential Support Team (CST).

Co-founders Zhi Ping Teo ’18 and Tina Ju ’18 came up with the idea after they noticed Stanford didn’t have a support group for survivors of sexual assault. Their goal was to provide an open community for survivors of all genders, backgrounds and identities.

In addition to providing a safe space, PSG has also birthed new friendships. Topics of conversation at meetings include experiences with trauma as well as general life at Stanford.

Teo explained that the biggest challenge has come from her role as a facilitator of the group, since conversation can be heavy and there are many awkward pauses.

“It’s about learning to be comfortable with silence sometimes, because people just need company and presence in their lives,” she said.

Perceived lack of support for survivors

After learning a friend had experienced sexual abuse, Teo explored the kinds of communities that already existed for survivors. She inquired with the Women’s Community Center, where she was working as an intern, as well as the ASSU. She said she was “taken aback” to realize there was no peer support group.

Teo said that she had heard of students discussing the possibility of starting a support group in the past, but no one had put in the proper effort to make it happen. In coordination with SARA and CST, she and Ju held their first meeting last winter.

“I just felt very strongly that this kind of community should exist at Stanford, so I wanted to be a part of making it happen,” Teo said. “There were survivors who spoke with me and told me they would be very interested to come, but they just didn’t have the mental energy and physical energy to pull together the administrative logistics, so I felt like I could step in in that space.”

The co-founders invited Hope Yi ’18 to be a facilitator of the group. Yi said that they had told Ju they were a survivor of sexual assault and thought, “Why can’t we talk about the feelings we’re having with others who have experienced the same thing?”

Yi said that, especially in light of Brock Turner, they felt everyone around campus had an opinion on the issue of sexual assault, which was frustrating. They expressed their respect for student endeavors to raise awareness around campus but believe those efforts are “rarely accessible to the survivors they purport to support.” Meanwhile, PSG provides another option for survivors.

“[PSG] creates a space where people can feel empowered by having experiences that would otherwise be perceived to be weak,” Yi said.

Recent University efforts

Second-year Ph.D. student Aku Ammah-Tagoe M.A. ’15, who served on the Provost’s Task Force on Sexual Assault and the subsequent advisory committee, explained that the University’s policy overhaul includes support for survivors.

Making sure survivors would not be “re-traumatized” by the adjudication process was a major goal of the Task Force, leading to new measures such as streamlined testifying procedures and 24-hour counseling, among other services.  

Ammah-Tagoe urged students to “be more sensitive” to survivor experiences by respecting the full range and complexity of individual survivors’ needs — whether that means supporting individuals who decide not to engage in activism or standing with those who do.

“When we put pressure on [survivors] to speak up and be recognized, we are often re-traumatizing them,” she said. “All of us have room to grow in terms of how we respect the wishes of survivors.”

She added that the committee sees undergraduate residences and the graduate student community at large as spaces that are less accessible to administrative efforts, but where students have the potential to make a difference for survivors.

“The graduate community is more professional and less residential, so within the graduate schools there isn’t a lot of conversation about sexual assault, sexual harassment,” said Ammah-Tagoe. “I think the graduate community has a lot less visibility and that’s something the University thinks about but can’t solve on its own, so there’s room for students to do work.

Activism — triggering or necessary?

For some, highlighting survivors’ needs also means recognizing the potential tension between speaking up on sexual assault and staying sensitive toward those who have experienced trauma.

While Yi acknowledges that activist groups do important work to raise awareness of sexual assault on campus, they are concerned that survivors may not feel included. The Fearless Conference, they explained, is largely targeted toward and run by students in Greek life. To advertise the Conference as a safe space for survivors, they said, is “presumptuous considering [the Greek community] is not a safe space.” Even the word “fearless” can be hurtful.

“Folks like me are going to live with fear for the rest of our lives,” Yi said.

Law professor Michele Dauber, who has been an outspoken advocate for changing University Title IX policies to better support survivors, stressed the importance of honoring the variety of choices survivors make in response to their experiences, which include seeking support from peers as well as engaging in public activism.

In response to concerns that activism can often be triggering, Dauber said that it may be unavoidable, because advocacy inherently involves speaking out.

“Talking about sexual assault, covering it in the media and protesting or advocating about it can be triggering, but that is because the underlying facts are upsetting,” she said in an email to The Daily. “The fact that rape is so prevalent in our community is upsetting.”

Matthew Baiza ’18, one of the co-founders of ASAP, said that the group is aware of these kinds of criticisms and is actively working to do better.

“It’s just hard walking the line between sharing information with the public and limiting the negative effects of that,” he said.

He explained that talking about sexual assault in any manner could be triggering for some survivors, yet discussing the issue in the public forum is crucial to raising awareness and advocating for better University policies.

Still, he said that ASAP remains mindful that certain actions could be hurtful, and that the group is committed to understanding and affirming survivors’ experiences.

Teo clarified in an email to The Daily that PSG does not take stances on campus issues, despite individual members’ beliefs. She personally praised Fearless for reaching out to diverse communities.

While individual members may be at different stages of healing and hold diverging views on policy and activism, the founders of PSG believe that the value of the group lies in creating a community for survivors that includes and accepts above all else.

“[We] want to reach out to survivors on this campus who may not have found a space that they are comfortable with to let them know they have fellow survivors here who would like to just be with them,” Teo said. “When they’re ready and want to talk about trauma, healing and moving forward, there’s a space here for them.”

 

Fangzhou Liu contributed reporting to this article.

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Association of Students for Sexual Assault Prevention holds information sessions for parents https://stanforddaily.com/2016/03/01/association-of-students-for-sexual-assault-prevention-holds-information-sessions-for-parents/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/03/01/association-of-students-for-sexual-assault-prevention-holds-information-sessions-for-parents/#respond Tue, 01 Mar 2016 08:30:29 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1111852 The Stanford Association of Students for Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP), formally known as One in Five, held Parents’ Weekend informational class sessions on Saturday. The sessions aimed to educate parents about the prevalence of sexual violence on campus in order to inspire action and raise awareness.

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The Stanford Association of Students for Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP), formally known as One in Five, held Parents’ Weekend informational class sessions on Saturday. The sessions aimed to educate parents about the prevalence of sexual violence on campus in order to inspire action and raise awareness.

Group co-founder Stephanie Pham ’18 said that ASAP wanted to reach out to parents because they are a vital and influential part of the Stanford community.

“We wanted to allow parents to form their own opinions, and if they are motivated enough, they’ll act,” Pham said.

ASAP is a student group that aims to raise awareness of campus sexual assault and advocate for better policies. The class was the group’s first official event.

At the event, Pham opened the discussion with a reminder of the statistic for which ASAP originally named their group: One in five women in college is sexually assaulted each year. Pham also encouraged “desperately needed conversation” across communities on campus, parents included, to form a sustained effort to raise awareness of and to fight sexual assault.

After introductions, law professor Michele Dauber gave a presentation that began with a discussion of the current sanctioning process for students found guilty of sexual assault. She feels the sanctions are not harsh enough and that this might discourage students from reporting assaults. Low sanctions also might not deter students enough from actually committing violence, she said.

“Fewer than half of male students believe they will be punished for sexual assault,” Dauber said.

She then detailed the methodology Stanford used to conduct its campus climate survey last year and the implications of the survey’s findings. She specifically cited the statistic that 1.9 percent of Stanford students are sexually assaulted, a number Stanford has highlighted in press releases, as misleading.

In an email to The Daily after the event, Dauber explained that she wanted to speak about the climate survey with parents because parents often ask what it means for the safety of their children.

“It is very important to let them know what we do know, as well as what we don’t know, due to the issues and problems with the survey,” she said.

She explained to parents some of the factors she felt led to the statistic, including Stanford’s relatively narrow definition of sexual assault compared to other universities and methodological choices made by the University when creating the survey.

Dauber explained that Stanford’s definition of sexual assault excludes acts of sexual touching carried out by force or incapacitation, which are instead defined as misconduct. These actions are considered sexual battery under California law and are sometimes categorized as felonies. According to Dauber, two-thirds of all sexual misconduct at universities across the country fall under this category.

She then explained the differences between Stanford’s custom-made survey and the Association of American Universities (AAU) survey, which is used by most peer schools.

One benefit of the AAU survey, according to Dauber, is that it separates all data for seniors only, which better measures the prevalence of sexual violence. While Stanford separated some data by class, the 1.9 number averages together students in all years.

“Some students haven’t been here long enough to get raped yet, frankly,” Dauber said, to mixed reactions from the audience.

Dauber explained that the wording of certain questions on Stanford’s survey may have resulted in miscounted data. For example, she said, Stanford’s survey did not count instances of sexual assault when students reported they did not remember whether force was used. The survey also only counts the most serious incident per person.

“Given [the University is] aware there is an issue, it was probably the wrong the decision to go around talking about 2 percent,” she said. “It lacks humility.”

By extrapolating from the available data released by the University, Dauber showed parents why she thinks it is likely that the rate of sexual violence at Stanford is similar to those of peer schools.

Dauber also mentioned recent calls for a new climate survey, including a resolution by the ASSU Senate. But the University raised cost objections, and the graduate student council agreed, suggesting the University should instead increase prevention efforts.

“Stanford will be doing a new climate survey, in my opinion,” Dauber said. “The question is which one.”

Alexis Kallen ’18 then spoke about her efforts to make “Scary Path,” the dimly lit path that many students feel is a high-risk area, safe for students. She explained that there are about 400 students living near the path, and that many freshmen, who don’t yet know where they’re going, walk along the path to get home after a night out.

Kallen became involved with the issue as a freshman working on the ASSU cabinet. She and then-president Elizabeth Woodson ’15 approached Vice Provost Greg Boardman with a proposal for lighting the path. While Boardman supported the idea, there were roadblocks to implementation, such as the population of endangered salamanders that prevent building in the area.

“Building a path also shows we have a problem with sexual assault, and we don’t want to do that,” Kallen said sarcastically, mocking the perceived reluctance of the administration to address the issue.

After Kallen’s proposal began to gain media attention, the University began to take action. Now, Kallen and Boardman co-chair a special task force to implement the proposal.

Kallen has discussed the salamanders’ presence with the National Park Service, and she has created a plan to build an elevated boardwalk and hanging lights with no ecological disturbances.

Currently, the path is blocked off until further notice, but Kallen said she expects the project to be finished by the time she graduates in 2018.

Kallen also discussed a program that may be established at New Student Orientation in which RAs would lead freshmen on a tour of the area to show them how to get home.

“That way they would be more confident even if they are under the influence,” Kallen said.

After the presentations came audience comments and questions. Some parents expressed anger with last year’s climate survey. Others highlighted their concern for campus safety.

One father noted that he feels it is important for parents to educate their sons on how to respectfully treat their female peers. Another parent, who noted that she has two daughters, voiced her concern about alcohol use on campus and its relationship to sexual violence.

Given the number of questions and comments by parents and their reactions to the information presented, the organizers of the event felt it was a success.

“From my perspective, the event was very successful,” Dauber wrote in an email to The Daily. “We had a full house at both scheduled times, and the questions from parents were really excellent, showing that some parents, like other parts of the Stanford community, are very concerned about how the University is handling this issue.”

“The parents were extremely receptive,” Pham said. “It seemed like after listening to Professor Dauber speak and listening to student perspectives, it brought the issue home, and I think they will act upon what they heard.”

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Senator Cory Booker talks life at Stanford, new book and activism at OpenXChange event https://stanforddaily.com/2016/02/22/senator-cory-booker-talks-life-at-stanford-new-book-and-activism-at-openxchange-event/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/02/22/senator-cory-booker-talks-life-at-stanford-new-book-and-activism-at-openxchange-event/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2016 09:26:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1111258 U.S. Senator Cory Booker ’91 M.A. ’92 of New Jersey returned to Stanford on Saturday to discuss his new book, United: Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good. The OpenXChange event also featured “Nightline” anchor Juju Chang ’87, who engaged the senator in a conversation about his experiences in public service and time at Stanford.

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U.S. Senator Cory Booker ’91 M.A. ’92 of New Jersey returned to Stanford on Saturday to discuss his new book, “United: Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good.” The OpenXChange event also featured “Nightline” anchor Juju Chang ’87, who engaged the senator in a conversation about his experiences in public service and time at Stanford.

Booker sat down with The Daily before the event to talk about memorable experiences from his days as a Stanford student.

“I love coming back to the campus,” Booker said. “It’s always a rush of nostalgia as well as a sort of reignition of spirit.”

Booker also discussed his motivation for writing his book, saying he wrote the book after witnessing frustration with rising polarization within the government as well as divisions among people.

“I hope [the book] inspires people to manifest the spirit of interdependency,” he added.

Booker explained that he hopes the book conveys a message to students that they should be more courageous and responsible as they search for solutions to the many problems they face in the world.

“Even if we can’t solve all the problems, we need to understand that we can’t allow our inability to do everything undermine our determination to do something,” he said.

“I’m hoping folks will understand that they need to get involved in shaping the destiny of this country,” he added.

Booker noted that his interest in politics began during his college years, and he encourages all students to engage with political issues. When asked for his thoughts on recent campus politics, he said that his time running the Bridge Peer Counseling Center as a student opened his eyes to the prevalence of mental health issues and sexual assault. He also noted the lack of awareness on campus of these issues during his time as a student.

“We not only weren’t conscious of [sexual assaults], but we weren’t doing what we should be doing to address the issue,” he said.

In light of the rise of activism on campus in recent years, Booker said he is glad to see increasing engagement.

“I’m proud of the Stanford activism, from the Black Lives Matter movement to people working on sexual assault issues, because I think many times students don’t understand that you can have a profound, lasting impact on this institution through your engagement in activism,” Booker said.

“This is an institution that is still growing, still changing, still getting better, and students are an essential part of that evolution,” he added.

Booker concluded the interview with a reflection on what a Stanford education has meant to him.

“I still look at this as the most privileged experience of my lifetime, to be able to come here; from incredible football games I was able to play in, to running my first organization, the Bridge, to volunteering in East Palo Alto, to some professors who really shaped my life and transformed my existence through not just their mastery of their subject matter but by inspiring me to be a better human being,” he said.

OpenXChange event

The public event included a conversation on the subject of bipartisanship and political progress, and Booker specifically cited the issue of stop-and-frisk in urban areas. While in this case he was able to find common ground among legislators with whom he normally disagrees, it’s often harder to get things done.

“We’re not even listening to each other, or seeing each other’s humanity,” he said.

Booker emphasized unity and a common ability to make change in the world. According to Booker, the first step toward progress is recognizing that ability within yourself.

He quoted writer and activist Alice Walker: “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”

Shifting the conversation, Chang asked Booker about recent speculation that he might be a candidate for vice president under Hillary Clinton.

“Would you be willing to be Hillary’s VP?” Chang asked.

“Yes, I am willing to be her vegan practitioner,” he quipped, to audience laughter.

Booker is the only vegan U.S. Senator.

The conversation then turned to the U.S. Supreme Court when Chang asked Booker what he thought about President Barack Obama’s choice to nominate a successor for Justice Antonin Scalia, who died earlier this month.

“Any originalist would tell [Obama] that he has no choice,” he said, implying that Scalia might agree with him, despite opposition from Senate Republican leadership.

Chang also asked Booker about Stanford football coach David Shaw, with whom Booker played at Stanford when he was a tight end for the team. Booker praised Shaw’s work as coach and how he teaches players “to live great lives of character and service.”

“He will always put the well-being of the athletes above a W on the board,” Booker said.

Audience Q&A

Audience members then had the opportunity to ask Booker and Chang their own questions. Topics ranged from education to the 2016 presidential election to mental health.

“By any means necessary we’re going to educate our children,” he said, responding to a question on charter schools.

One student asked Booker to explain his endorsement of Hillary Clinton over fellow U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, especially given young people’s support for Sanders.

“I literally love Bernie Sanders,” he acknowledged.

He continued by saying that, for him, the choice of who to support for the presidency came down to who has done more work for “the urgencies that I deal with in Newark, New Jersey,” especially when it comes to racial inequality.

Another student asked Booker about his voting record in the Senate, specifically surrounding a bill authorizing military force to combat ISIS. Booker responded that such votes are always a difficult decision involving careful analysis, especially because sometimes the outcome of a vote is different from what is originally anticipated.

“Some of the best change I can make is not just voting but with the soft power of being relentless with administration on issues of justice,” he said.

On the topic of his experience running the Bridge, Booker called his time there “one of the most formative experiences of [his] life.” He used the opportunity to discuss the lack of access to mental health care in this country.

“Investing in prisons is far more expensive than doing it the right way with mental health care,” he said, referring to a statistic that 40 percent of individuals with severe mental illnesses will go to prison during their lives.

After the Q&A period, Booker ended with a personal story about the day of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. He remembered sharing a moment with an older woman he knew, who had previously lost a child to gun violence. Booker concluded with that woman’s two words from that day, which continue to stay with him and guide him in times of uncertainty: “Stay faithful.”

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip@stanford.edu.

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Q&A with Adam Banks, faculty director of PWR, on black rhetoric https://stanforddaily.com/2016/02/07/qa-with-adam-banks-faculty-director-of-pwr-on-black-rhetoric/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/02/07/qa-with-adam-banks-faculty-director-of-pwr-on-black-rhetoric/#respond Mon, 08 Feb 2016 07:36:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1110394 Last Thursday, the Program in Writing and Rhetoric, PWR 194: Contemporary Black Rhetorics and OpenXChange's Open Office Hours Series presented “Hidden in Plain View: Centering Black Voices on Media, Protest and Everyday Life.” Moderated by journalist Tonya Mosely, the event featured Jamilah Lemieux, a senior editor at Ebony Magazine, and Meredith Clark, who teaches journalism at the University of North Texas. Discussion centered around the rising power of black voices in various forms of media. The event was organized by Adam Banks, Faculty Director of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric. The Daily sat down with Banks to discuss the timeliness of the event, his PWR 1 class on black rhetoric and the future of this conversation at Stanford.

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Last Thursday, the Program in Writing and Rhetoric, PWR 194: Contemporary Black Rhetorics and OpenXChange’s Open Office Hours Series presented “Hidden in Plain View: Centering Black Voices on Media, Protest and Everyday Life.” Moderated by journalist Tonya Mosely, the event featured Jamilah Lemieux, a senior editor at Ebony Magazine, and Meredith Clark, who teaches journalism at the University of North Texas. Discussion centered around the rising power of black voices in various forms of media. The event was organized by Adam Banks, Faculty Director of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric. The Daily sat down with Banks to discuss the timeliness of the event, his PWR 1 class on black rhetoric, and the future of this conversation at Stanford.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): Can you tell us about the event?

Adam Banks (AB): The event is about getting a wider range of voices with respect to African-American life, both in terms of these protest movements that are happening around the country and the complexities of everyday life that we rarely see portrayed. When we look at national media, everything gets flattened, so it’s not just what happens with African-American or black folks, but this is a gesture in broadening that conversation in terms of looking at black-owned and -oriented media and looking at black presence on social media like Twitter.

TSD: Why is this discussion so necessary?

AB: There are many reasons why it’s necessary. It has nothing to do with ethnicity or culture. It has to do with the fact that acts of writing and discourse are central to how we figure things out in society. So any time where we have compelling cases of that kind of rhetorical production, of people trying to persuade in public and in private, then that deserves some attention.

There’s also the question of how that happens in technologized spaces. One thing that’s really unique about what Ebony Magazine has been doing is they’ve gone through a significant rebrand and reboot to truly be multi-platform, to be digital and print and hybrid. And in terms of black Twitter, that’s a phenomenon that’s been really well-documented in a lot of cases, to such an extent that the LA Times saw themselves assigning a beat reporter to cover black Twitter. Every time something happens [on black Twitter], Mashable’s all over it, the New York Times is on it, and so the public attention to the phenomenon means that we need a greater understanding of the phenomenon itself.

Broader, in terms of Stanford’s context, Stanford has done a really good job at being thoughtful about composing its classes of students so that it admits and represents a wide range of diversity, not just in terms of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, culture, but across a lot of levels: income, where people are coming from. What that means is we need programming on campus so that students from those various groups and perspectives see themselves in the day-to-day life of the campus. That’s why, for me, it was important that PWR hold this event rather than some other entities that might do it as well.

TSD: How does this event tie into the class [PWR 194: Contemporary Black Rhetorics] that you’re teaching?

AB: It’s a direct extension of the class in that my students have taken at least an informal look at what happens in various modes of discourse as they happen on Twitter. We’ve done a lot of work on that. They’ve been looking at memes and Vines somewhat informally, but they’ve also been looking at these spaces for public debate and where they happen in magazines, on a site like Ebony, on a site like Twitter, stuff that comes in the New York Times or The Atlantic, as Ta-Nehisi Coates has been writing for them. So we’ve been investigating, one, spaces where public debate happens; two, the contours of the debate, the richness of the conversation; and three, the modes of discourse and the ways of communicating that people are bringing to it when they’re dealing with a combination of both a public audience and a distinctly African-American audience.

TSD: To paraphrase your own question from the event’s promotional material, how does flipping the perspective through which we view recent activism help us learn?

AB: It’s a matter of centering the voices and the stories of a wide range of groups of people. So I could just as easily imagine the importance of an event if it were focusing on Latinx or Chicanx voices in these same issues. In terms of my role as Faculty Director for PWR, I see this working in two directions. One is honoring the traditions, the perspectives, the practices of various groups of people on their own terms. But then two is putting those cross-currents in conversation as we build whatever the new University ought to be, a different approach to teaching writing and rhetoric ought to be. I’m trying to work in both of those directions.

TSD: How do you think Stanford could go about continuing the conversation?

AB: I think what the Vice Provost’s office and the Provost and President are doing through OpenXChange, while on the one hand there’s some justified skepticism from students given the activism that had been happening last year, the goals that they’ve outlined in OpenXChange represent, really, the best of what higher education [sets] out to do, period. What I would like to see happen is those goals that the President and Provost and Vice Provost Elam have identified be taken to another level where the question is asked, “How do all of our programs and departments implement those goals in an ongoing way into our curriculum, into our programming, into our individual interactions with students, into the opportunities student organizations have to generate the kind of programming and the kind of courses they want to see?”

TSD: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

AB: I’m grateful for the Vice Provost’s support for this event. And I think that Jamilah and Meredith and Tonya, our moderator, are just really compelling voices in this landscape. They are brilliant and committed folks doing very important work right now.

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip@stanford.edu.

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Five professors release letter outlining concerns with new Title IX process https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/14/five-professors-release-letter-outlining-concerns-with-new-title-ix-process/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/14/five-professors-release-letter-outlining-concerns-with-new-title-ix-process/#comments Thu, 14 Jan 2016 09:12:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1109324 Just before winter break, a group of five professors released a letter to faculty outlining their concerns with the University’s new Student Title IX procedures for adjudicating allegations of sexual violence. The letter’s authors consisted of sociology professor Shelley Correll M.A. ’96 Ph.D. ’01, law professor Michele Dauber, history professor Estelle Freedman, literature professor David Palumbo-Liu and professor of medicine Marcia Stefanick Ph.D. ’82.

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(VICTOR XU/The Stanford Daily)
(VICTOR XU/The Stanford Daily)

Just before winter break, a group of five professors released a letter to faculty outlining their concerns with the University’s new Student Title IX procedures for adjudicating allegations of sexual violence. The letter’s authors consisted of sociology professor Shelley Correll M.A. ’96 Ph.D. ’01, law professor Michele Dauber, history professor Estelle Freedman, literature professor David Palumbo-Liu and professor of medicine Marcia Stefanick Ph.D. ’82.

The letter is in response to the recent release of the new adjudicative process, called the Student Title IX/Disciplinary process or “Draft Process,” which replaces the Alternate Review Process (ARP). The new policies are the result of last year’s report by the Provost’s Task Force on Sexual Assault, which provided direct recommendations for reforming the current system. The new policy was scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 4.

“This new policy would make Stanford one of the worst in the nation, and this was correctly highlighted by the faculty letter,” wrote Tessa Ormenyi ’14, who served as a student panelist on ARP cases from 2011 to 2013, in an email to The Daily.

Two of the professors who issued the letter served on the Task Force, and three teach about sexual assault at Stanford.

“We appreciate the Task Force’s deliberations and the thoughtful efforts made to improve university policies,” the letter reads. “At the same time, we have serious reservations about some of the proposed changes.”

The professors composed their recommendations after discussions with law school dean Liz Magill and hearing responses from students through the ASSU Sexual Assault Prevention Committee.

The letter was accompanied by a table comparing Stanford’s definitions of sexual offenses to those of peer schools, including members of the Ivy League, U.S. News & World Report’s Top 20 Colleges and the Pac-12 Conference. Stanford’s definitions are ranked as the narrowest or among the most narrow in every table.

Another table compares Stanford’s procedures for the adjudicative process to the same set of schools. To determine responsibility, Stanford requires a unanimous vote among the adjudication panel. None of the Ivy League schools require unanimity and only one other school in each of the U.S. News and Pac-12 lists require it.

Recommendations

The letter outlines four specific recommendations to revise the new process.

“Recommendation 1: We urge the use of panels comprised of four members with a threshold of three votes to establish responsibility and to impose sanctions,” the letter states.

According to Dauber, most of Stanford’s peer schools require a simple majority among panels to establish responsibility, while Stanford requires unanimity among three panel members.

Under the previous system, four votes out of five were necessary to establish responsibility for the assault, so oftentimes a student walked away without punishment even though a majority (three) believed there was an assault. Dauber believes that the new system would make the problem worse.

“The unanimity requirement…makes us virtually alone [among our peer schools],” she said.

“Recommendation 2: We urge that the Faculty Senate establish a committee to recruit a volunteer pool of panel members, who should receive thorough training, and that this pool shall provide all Faculty Members for hearing panels,” the letter states.

“Recommendation 3: We urge that all Complainants, regardless of whether they proceed to a hearing, and regardless of the outcome of that hearing, should have the right to accommodations including counseling, housing, academic, and protective measures including no-contact directives,” it adds.

Dauber is concerned about providing accommodations to reporters of sexual violence because, according to her, Stanford could be breaking federal law under the Clery Act.

“It’s hard to tell if it’s just an oversight or if the intention of the University is to deny accommodations unless there is an active complaint in process,” Dauber said.

“No one [from the University administration] will answer my question,” she added.

Stephanie Pham ’18, co-founder of the sexual assault awareness group One in Five, noted that failure to provide accommodations for survivors also discourages people from reporting sexual offenses and therefore makes the Stanford campus unsafe.

“Stanford is one of the most, if not the most, unfriendly schools for sexual violence survivors in the country,” Dauber said.

“Recommendation 4: We urge the University to modify Stanford Admin. Guide 1.7.3 and the Draft Process to define sexual assault and manage expulsion similar to how it is handled in the Dartmouth policy,” the letter states.

As shown by the graphical comparisons included with the faculty letter, Stanford’s definition of sexual offenses is what Dauber calls “an extreme outlier” among peer schools.

According to Dauber, Stanford has defended the October 2014 change of its sexual assault and sexual misconduct definitions by saying that they were attempting to more closely follow federal and state law. However, she believes Stanford’s new definition instead violates California law, which requires colleges and universities to include affirmative consent as part of their definitions of sexual violence. Stanford only includes affirmative consent in its definition of sexual misconduct, not assault.

“It’s empirically not a true statement to say, ‘We changed our definition of sexual assault because we’re following the law,’” Dauber said.

Concern over time constraints

Dauber said that the idea for the letter grew out of a shared concern among the five professors.

She noted that the faculty had limited time to analyze the new policy and submit feedback. The policy proposal was released Nov. 9, and the deadline to submit feedback was less than four weeks later on Dec. 4.

“This is something that faculty would not have time to read and understand,” Dauber said.

Dauber was also concerned with the lack of opportunities for communication between students or faculty and the University administration.

“That there should have been a series of town hall meetings for students and faculty to discuss the findings [from the Task Force’s report] in detail,” she said.

Provost John Etchemendy Ph.D. ’82 hosted one town hall on Nov. 13, four days after the release of the policy proposal.

Dauber said that, given the limited time before the deadline for feedback, she and the other professors chose the four issues out of many they felt were most critical. They tried to request an extension of the deadline while preparing the letter, but the administration denied the request for extra time because the policy needed to go into effect the first day of winter quarter.

Lack of University response

When Dauber asked for an update a few days ago on the status of the community feedback sent in last month, she did not receive a response. She said she doesn’t even know whether the new policy has gone into effect at all.

In a second letter she sent on Dec. 6 directly to senior University counsel Lauren Schoenthaler, who was part of the Task Force, Dauber offered additional feedback. In particular, she outlined problems she has with the system of sanctioning precedent and provided potential solutions.

“I think that the panels need more guidance starting immediately as to sanctions, and we just do not have relevant precedent at this time,” Dauber wrote in an email to Schoenthaler accompanying her letter.

Dauber also included in the letter to Schoenthaler her thoughts on Informal Resolution, a process which would allow the parties involved in a report to draft a resolution similar to a plea bargain. She believes it is problematic because it is not very restrictive.

“The University has complete and total discretion over when they can offer Informal Resolution,” Dauber said.

She is also concerned that the system will create opportunities for “private side deals accessible to people with money and lawyers and not to others,” which won’t be able to be regulated. It also places pressure on both survivors and accused students to accept the conditions of a resolution, potentially putting campus safety at risk or undermining due process.

Dauber has not received a response from Schoenthaler or other administrators.

Community reception

On Dec. 2, Pham and One in Five co-founder Matthew Baiza ’18, sent an email to students informing them of the letter and highlighting the key points and recommendations. The information was also included in the ASSU executive update that was emailed to students the same night by ASSU President John-Lancaster Finley ’16.

“While this letter does not necessarily reflect the views of the entire ASSU, we personally think it’s important for students to read what faculty have to say, as we believe they’ve done a tremendous service to students by raising these very critical issues,” Finley and Vice President Brandon Hill ’16 wrote.

Ormenyi emphasized why she feels it is so essential that the University revise the new policy.

“Having worked in Residential Education from 2014 to 2015, I saw how important it was for faculty, student and staff collaboration in policy and programming changes,” said Ormenyi.

“The proposed implementation of the new Title IX policy and procedures is in stark contrast to this. And it does nothing to help the trust issue brought on following the sub-par climate survey on campus sexual violence,” she added.

Dauber felt the endeavor was successful because it helped to inform the faculty. She said many faculty members came forward to thank the group for writing the letter, and some copied the letter in their own feedback they sent to the University.

“People were just appreciative that someone took the time to read and analyze and think about it,” she said.

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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ASSU Senate discusses elections bill, work with University administration https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/05/assu-senate-discusses-elections-and-search-for-new-university-president/ https://stanforddaily.com/2016/01/05/assu-senate-discusses-elections-and-search-for-new-university-president/#respond Wed, 06 Jan 2016 07:46:58 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1108947 On Tuesday night’s first meeting of the quarter, the ASSU Undergraduate Senate heard updates from ASSU Vice President Brandon Hill ’16 on how the Executive Cabinet has been working with the University administration on sexual assault reforms and the search for a new University president. The Senate also discussed a bill to appoint a new Elections Commission and approved funding for Challah for Hunger and Sigma Nu for Snowchella.

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(TARA BALAKRISHNAN/The Stanford Daily)
(TARA BALAKRISHNAN/The Stanford Daily)

On Tuesday night’s first meeting of the quarter, the ASSU Undergraduate Senate heard updates from ASSU Vice President Brandon Hill ’16 on how the Executive Cabinet has been working with the University administration on sexual assault reforms and the search for a new University president. The Senate also discussed a bill to appoint a new Elections Commission and approved funding for Challah for Hunger and Sigma Nu for Snowchella.

Hill’s opening remarks provided updates on the activities of the Executive Cabinet and the University administration.

“This quarter John [Lancaster-Finley ’16, ASSU President] and I are really looking at moving forward on and continuing progress on some of the initiatives that we have going,” Hill said.

“The only way to do that is to leave a structural or sustainable mark on campus,” he added.

Hill discussed the new sexual assault reforms and Student Title IX process, which will replace the old Alternate Review Process this quarter. The new policy was released to the Stanford community for review and is open to critique.

“I encourage you guys as student leaders to really push and to make it better,” Hill told the senators.

Hill also discussed the search for a new University president. There will be a town hall this quarter where students and community members can voice their opinions on the subject.

There will also be a town hall in a few weeks on the topic of mental health. Hill noted that students attending last quarter’s town hall on sexual assault with Provost John Etchemendy raised issues of gender and violence. Some of the discussion at the upcoming town hall will focus on a new curriculum for students in these subjects.

Hill also plans to bring the topic of strengthening diversity awareness when dealing with sexual assault issues to the faculty senate.

Elections

The Senate also discussed a bill to appoint the 2015-16 Elections Commission. The bill, authored by Eric Wilson ’16, would appoint Wilson as Elections Commissioner and Habib Olapade ’17 and Elise Kostial ’18 as Assistant Commissioners.

Hill discussed the process by which they chose Wilson to be the new Commissioner.

“We need someone to oversee democracy at Stanford — somebody who is meticulous, who is accountable, who knows the rules inside and out and will stand firmly on them, and who is punctual,” he said.

Senators then discussed the possibility of holding special elections to fill the three open seats on the Senate. However, the Senate is not required to fill the seats unless five or more are open, so the senators dismissed the idea.

Funding

Appropriations Committee chair Justice Tention ’18 discussed some of the changes that are being made to the ASSU funding system. The Appropriations Committee will offer office hours instead of scheduled appointments to discuss funding requests, which they believe will make themselves more accessible to student groups.

The Senate unanimously approved a funding request from Sigma Nu for Snowchella, an event co-hosted by Kappa Kappa Gamma, which will raise money for the Joyful Heart Foundation, an organization that seeks to end sexual assault and provide support for survivors. The funds will cover staging, a canopy, security, porta-potties and other items, according to Will Sternlicht ’17, financial chair for the fraternity. An additional $600 will cover plane tickets and meals for two representatives from the Joyful Heart Foundation. Sigma Nu plans to host a dinner with the representatives that will be open to all.

The Senate also approved a funding request from Challah for Hunger, which Tention submitted on the behalf of the organization’s financial officer, who is currently abroad.

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Earth systems class to attend U.N. Paris climate negotiations https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/26/earth-systems-class-to-attend-u-n-paris-climate-negotiations/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/26/earth-systems-class-to-attend-u-n-paris-climate-negotiations/#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2015 08:00:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1107701 A group of students will travel to Paris at the end of the month to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference (the 21st Conference of the Parties or COP21). The students are taking a course called “International Climate Negotiations: Unpacking the Road to Paris,” specifically designed to teach students about the issues involved with the conference and to prepare for the trip. Enrollment in the course was by application.

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(McKENZIE LYNCH/The Stanford Daily)
(McKENZIE LYNCH/The Stanford Daily)

A group of students will travel to Paris at the end of the month to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference (the 21st Conference of the Parties or COP21). The students are taking a course called “International Climate Negotiations: Unpacking the Road to Paris,” specifically designed to teach students about the issues involved with the conference and to prepare for the trip. Enrollment in the course was by application.

“Climate change is the issue of this generation,” said professor Richard Nevle, deputy director of the earth systems program and co-instructor of the course. “It’s something that [my co-instructors and I] have all been deeply committed to working on through different means, everything from activism to research to teaching.”

Paris trip and final project

After Thanksgiving break, the students will meet in Paris on Nov. 29 and stay until Dec. 6.

“I want students to leave this course and to leave Paris with an understanding of why it has been and is so challenging to reach a meaningful international climate agreement, what the key issues are in the international negotiations and, more than anything, with a resolve to continue their work for climate action in their work, their studies and their lives after Paris,” Strong said.

Each student is working on a final project and will use the trip to conduct research. Before traveling to Paris, each must create a plan for where to go, whom to meet and what to do while in the city for the project.

Students’ projects range from an exploration of how American new media covers and frames the negotiations to research on subnational engagement or climate activism.

Guest speakers representing diverse perspectives, including journalists, negotiators and NGO workers, will speak with the students every morning. Nevle said these speakers will help students understand the negotiation progress as it unfolds.

Preparing for Paris

The class focused on gaining a background knowledge on issues pertaining to climate change as well as preparation for the trip to Paris for the COP21 negotiations. Students studied a broad range of topics including climate finance, game theory, carbon accounting, climate justice, equity, adaptation and climate science communication. Despite the wide curriculum, students were able to study each topic in depth.

“The class has focused on the history of the international climate change negotiations, tracing the path that led to all the focus on Paris,” Aaron Strong, a Ph.D. candidate and co-instructor, wrote in an email to The Daily. “We have had practical lessons on the nuts and bolts of how the U.N. system works and how to read the texts that form the basis of negotiation.”

Students acknowledged the complexities of the issues involved with the climate negotiations and how that has informed their own learning.

“We learned how integral all of these considerations are to reaching a deal and taking a position that achieves the goals of justice, equity and progress that most people want,” Josh Lappen ’17 said.

“I think many of us realized by the end of the class that the more we learned, the more we became aware that we can’t know everything related to climate change, because it’s such a broad issue and covers so many different areas,” Ruairí Arrieta-Kenna ’18 said.

Students in the class come from a variety of backgrounds. Many are studying earth systems or another science, while others are majoring in political science or economics. According to Nevle, the instructors were purposeful in accepting students with “diverse academic perspectives.”

Many of the students, including Lappen, are participated in the sit-in at Main Quad last week to demand divestment from fossil fuels.

Mock COP

The first eight weeks of the quarter led up to four hours of mock negotiations last Sunday designed to replicate the real COP21. Of the 30 students, 28 represented a nation or party and two acted as co-chairs. According to Nevle, the mock COP was an authentic, realistic experience that helped students understand what the process will really be like in Paris.

According to Arrieta-Kenna, negotiators discussed a modified version of the actual 16-page text that will be used at COP21. Their goal was to agree upon the specific wording of certain parts of the document, taking into account each of their countries’ unique interests. Complete consensus was necessary to reach an agreement, so competing interests complicated the discussions.

Arrieta-Kenna was one of the co-chairs, and he said the experience was “intense” because of the pressure involved with his role. As co-chair, his only goal was reaching a successful agreement, rather than acting in the interest of a particular country.

Sarah Johnson ’16, who represented Egypt, said the mock negotiations were challenging because her country hasn’t released much information about its position on the topic so far. Still, she was engaged and came out with a better understanding of the complexity of the issue.

Impact of last week’s terror attacks

The terror attacks in Paris last week have raised some concern among students and instructors about the safety of the trip and how COP21 will be affected.

“I think we’re all very concerned about the recent attacks in Paris, and we’re going to have to wait to see…how it will affect the official negotiations,” Arrieta-Kenna said.

However, the group is still planning to travel, and the only effect the attacks have had on the negotiations is the cancellation of some side events, such as a major climate march and other celebratory gatherings. Increased security measures will also be implemented.

“The talks are not being moved to a new location outside the city. They will still take place at the Le Bourget Conference Center,” Strong said. “Most importantly for our class, the French government is keeping the large Civil Society space around the negotiations open to the public, and this is where much of what we are planning to do there will take place.”

Strong hopes students will use their time in Paris to try and understand how the attacks might impact the negotiations. He said the “resolve” among negotiators to reach a successful agreement might be higher because of the attacks.

“Several of our students are interested in following the rhetoric around these topics in Paris,” he said.

But overall, instructors and students feel that their participation in the course has been influential on their personal and academic lives.

“This has been the most amazing teaching experience of my life, and that is all thanks to the inspiration the teaching team has gotten from the drive, ambition and focused attention of our students,” Strong said.

 

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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OpenXChange launches “Open Office Hours” with panel on climate change https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/20/openxchange-launches-office-hours-with-panel-on-climate-change/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/20/openxchange-launches-office-hours-with-panel-on-climate-change/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2015 10:02:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1107704 OpenXChange launched its “Open Office Hours” program on Thursday with a panel discussion on climate change. The event was the first in a six-part series.

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OpenXChange held the first of six “Open Office Hours” on Thursday, Nov. 19, featuring a panel on climate change. (TARA BALAKRISHNAN / The Stanford Daily)

OpenXChange launched its “Open Office Hours” program on Thursday with a panel discussion on climate change. The event was the first in a six-part series.

“Our hope [was] that, like office hours, the event [would] serve as a venue for people who want to learn about a complex topic to ask questions and engage with faculty,” wrote Sharon Palmer, Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, in an email to The Daily.

The discussion was moderated by professor Pamela Matson, dean of the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences. Attendees had the opportunity to hear from five panelists from a variety of academic fields.

Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Harry Elam opened with a few words about the new Open Office Hours program. The intent is for each event to imitate real office hours, giving students and experts the opportunity to “exchange ideas.” There will be five more discussions this year on the topics of human rights, immigration, Black Lives Matter, sexual assault and mental health.

Elam then offered the floor to student representatives from Fossil Free Stanford to read a statement they had prepared. They expressed their gratitude toward the University administration for acknowledging the importance of climate change and for this event.

“We hope that meaningful action can and will emerge from the discussions that take place today,” one student said.

They also noted their disappointment that some administrators “have not engaged with us” at Building 10 during the sit-in. They invited everyone at the event to talk with them at the site if they have questions or concerns.

“Fossil Free Stanford hopes that OpenXChange will be used as a springboard for action, rather than an excuse for inaction,” they said.

Matson launched the panel discussion by highlighting the urgency of the climate change issue and the challenges of responding effectively.

“This is the kind of discussion we need to be having in the University,” she said. “This is an era of responsibility. The actions we make today will affect our kids and grandkids and future generations.”

Each of the five panelists spoke about their experience with climate science or policy and offered unique perspectives on the next steps we need to take to address the issue both as inhabitants of the earth and as members of the Stanford community.

Katharine Mach, senior research associate at Carnegie Science’s Department of Global Ecology, discussed the challenges we face in limiting climate change into the future. She specifically addressed warming limits and the timeline for reducing carbon emissions. She explained that if the world keeps emitting at its current rate, we will reach the current warming limit, two degrees Celsius, in a little over 20 years. Total global emissions will have to be zero in order to not surpass the limit once we get there.

“It’s not a question of if we get to zero emissions, but when,” she said. “This challenge can be an opportunity to build a better world.”

Arun Majumdar, professor of mechanical engineering and co-director of the Precourt Institute for Energy, discussed possible technologies that would help with a smooth transition to sustainability.

“The big question is how do we decarbonize our system while continuing economic growth?” he said.

While many people believe these two efforts are mutually exclusive, he rejected that assumption. He outlined his top 10 technologies for making the two more “inclusive,” which included reducing the price of carbon capture, improving battery storage, increasing enforcement of building codes and increasing efforts in genetic engineering.

Larry Goulder, professor of environmental and resource economics and senior fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, provided insight into the economic and political levers for addressing climate change. He noted how some special interest groups have stakes in forestalling action, and many say that the cost of taking action to reduce climate change outweighs the benefits. But from an economic standpoint, Goulder said, this is a false claim.

“Appropriate public policies can deal with the problem and can create… benefits that are greater than the sacrifices,” he said.

He emphasized the need for public policy to combat climate change, citing two specific types of policy that would be most effective. The first is policy that discourages the demand for carbon-based fuels (i.e. cap and trade), and the second is policy that directly promotes clean-energy innovation.

Goulder also noted that education, voting in elections and local environmental actions are also crucial in the fight against climate change.

Alicia Seiger, deputy director of the Steyer Taylor Center For Energy Policy & Finance, discussed the Steyer Center’s efforts in clean energy investment. She proposed recycling old tax policies from oil and gas industries and applying them to clean energy and analyzed the risks and returns of certain actions involving capital to combat climate change.

Law professor Michelle Anderson discussed the relationship between poverty and climate change, which she described as “the two central challenges of our era.”

She responded to a widespread view that the goals of reducing inequality and limiting climate change must be “pitted against each other.” Instead, she believes that we can work toward achieving both goals without sacrificing benefits in one area for benefits in the other.

After hearing from the five panelists, Matson asked them a few questions. The first, directed toward Goulder, questioned what policies are “win-wins,” or the most effective in terms of costs and benefits. Goulder said that removing subsidies for coal, oil and gas would eliminate some deadweight loss to the economy as well as benefit the environment. A carbon tax would also be effective, he said.

Another question addressed possible technologies. Majumdar talked about efficiency and what he thinks are the best steps moving forward. He specifically discussed enforcing building codes, reducing the cost of carbon capture and eventually increasing nuclear power.

“We need to reduce energy consumption without sacrificing energy services,” he said.

Matson then turned to the topic of divestment. How do we reconcile the fact that “not all oil and gas actors are evil?” she asked.

Seiger said she is particularly upset with companies such as Exxon that purposely hide information about climate change. However, she explained that we need to understand that not all companies are the same, even if some are particularly egregious.

“Actively obscuring information is something we shouldn’t be standing for as citizens,” she said.

The panel finally responded to questions from members of the audience, many of whom were students involved in the sit-in calling for divestment from fossil fuels.

One person questioned the emphasis on GDP as a measure of the well-being of society. Majumdar agreed that there may be better measures of quality of life, particularly Human Development Index.

Another asked about top-down versus bottom-up approaches to fighting climate change. With the COP21 in Paris coming up, she mentioned that the United Nations historically has taken a top-down approach. Goulder responded by discussing how as more and more countries realize taking action is in their interests, negotiations such as the upcoming summit will move toward a bottom-up approach. Majumdar pointed to the recent joint statement between the United States and China as a “critical” example.

Mach addressed the issue of divestment from fossil fuel and what kinds of challenges are present based on the way Stanford manages those kinds of decisions. She also offered information to those interested in promoting change, like the students who attended the event representing Fossil Free Stanford and the divestment movement.

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford Traveler aims to share students’ travel stories https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/18/stanford-traveler-aims-to-share-students-travel-stories/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/18/stanford-traveler-aims-to-share-students-travel-stories/#respond Thu, 19 Nov 2015 07:35:44 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1107465 Last year, a group of students created a new publication, called the Stanford Traveler, to share student travel stories with the Stanford community. The Stanford Traveler team now hopes to eventually partner with other universities to share stories of unique travel experiences around the world.

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Last year, a group of students created a new publication, called the Stanford Traveler, to share student travel stories with the Stanford community. The Stanford Traveler team now hopes to eventually partner with other universities to share stories of unique travel experiences around the world.

“Stanford Traveler is an online magazine dedicated to sharing students’ travel stories, whether they be from study abroad or just personal travel,” said Kali Coleman ’18, the founder and editor-in-chief. “So many people have so many amazing stories, and it’s important to be able to share them.”

The publication was officially recognized as a student group in March and has published two bi-monthly issues. The magazine is currently on hiatus while the group focuses on web development.

Coleman’s inspiration came from the Princeton Traveler, a magazine at Princeton that features student travel stories online. She worked with Kate Kaneko, a senior at Princeton and the editor-in-chief of the publication, to create the Stanford Traveler.

The online platform features stories that are particularly distinctive or novel. Madeleine Lippey ’18, who served as managing editor last year, wrote an article called “The Elastic Zipcode” for the magazine’s first issue about her experience in Bhutan.

“It was definitely interesting to write about somewhere I knew I’d probably never return to. That’s what made my experience most memorable,” Lippey wrote in an email to The Daily.

Coleman described Lippey’s piece as “an interesting perspective on the country.”

“As someone who has lived internationally and has always loved travel, and as an English major, I felt that Stanford Traveler would allow me the opportunity to combine creativity and experience,” Lippey said.

For Coleman, one of the most exciting aspects of the magazine is its integration with photos. Each issue’s landing page is tiled with photos of each travel experience. Individual articles include a large photo at the top of the page and multiple smaller ones accompanying the piece.

Alexis Kallen ’18 got involved in the Traveler after hearing about it from Coleman, who lived in the same dorm. At the time, Coleman had just begun formulating the idea.

“It was a really cool process to see through and be a part of,” Kallen said.

Since only a few students were involved at the start, each one got to take on a leadership role. Kallen is now the public relations manager.

“[Working for the Traveler] was my first exposure to any type of journalism, and I really like it,” Kallen said.

Kallen wrote two articles last year for the magazine, one about her experience in Peru and the other about Nicaragua.

“One of my favorite parts of the publication is reading other people’s articles,” Kallen said. “The prompt is just to write about your experience, so to see how people interpret that is really awesome.”

She said she likes that writing for the Traveler allows for more artistic and creative writing, which many Stanford students don’t have a chance to explore because of academic classes.

In the future, Coleman hopes to come out with a print version of the magazine, perhaps a “year in review.” She also wants to keep in touch with Kaneko to create an overarching publication for multiple universities.

Coleman encourages interested students to reach out and get involved through email or Facebook, especially people with a programming background who could help with web development. She has already been happy with the level of interest in the magazine.

“It’s great to meet with people and hear outside perspectives,” she said.

Looking forward, the magazine wants to feature more experiences from students who studied abroad. Kallen also mentioned that she would like to see a series modeled after the New York Times’ “36 Hours in…” articles, which can function as travel guides when exploring a new city for a limited amount of time or simply as informative pieces about eclectic world cultures.

According to Kallen, the group hopes to reach out to the Bing Overseas Studies Program or other study-abroad programs to encourage participating students to share their stories with the Traveler. She is also working on an outreach plan to recruit new writers, especially freshmen.

“I definitely think there is a need here at Stanford, within the ‘bubble,’ to celebrate curiosity and wanderlust,” Lippey said. “Travel isn’t just a token of youth or college or a wild summer, it’s a lifestyle, and one that we all have a stake in.”

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Administration holds sexual assault town hall, talks new Title IX process https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/15/administration-holds-sexual-assault-town-hall-talks-new-title-ix-process/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/11/15/administration-holds-sexual-assault-town-hall-talks-new-title-ix-process/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2015 07:30:44 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1107130 On Friday, ASSU Executives John-Lancaster Finley ’16 and Brandon Hill ’16 hosted a town hall on the topic of campus sexual assault with Provost John Etchemendy Ph.D. ’82 and other administrators. Students, faculty and community members gathered in Arrillaga Dining at 8:30 a.m. for a conversation about potential changes to University policies for reporting sexual assault after the Provost’s Task Force on Sexual Assault issued its report in April.

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

On Friday, ASSU Executives John-Lancaster Finley ’16 and Brandon Hill ’16 hosted a town hall on the topic of campus sexual assault with Provost John Etchemendy Ph.D. ’82 and other administrators. Students, faculty and community members gathered in Arrillaga Dining at 8:30 a.m. for a conversation about potential changes to University policies for reporting sexual assault after the Provost’s Task Force on Sexual Assault issued its report in April.

“[Finley and I] believe in the power of exchange and hoped that an open town hall would provide a venue for clear, honest conversation to happen about the University’s work on ending sexual violence,” Hill wrote in an email to The Daily.

The provost offered opening remarks, discussing the new student Title IX process. The Task Force published a report last April on the issues relating to sexual violence on the Stanford campus and recommended specific actions to improve both the systems in place for reporting sexual assault as well as educational programs aimed at prevention.

According to Etchemendy, one of the Task Force’s recommendations involved a new process for adjudicating sexual assault cases, which will likely be put into place during winter quarter 2016. The implementation team has also redesigned support structures for survivors of sexual assault.

Multiple administrators, including Etchemendy, expressed their desire during the event to hear from students about the recommendations in the Task Force’s report so that the implementation team can make adjustments and improvements based on the responses. After hearing from the community about the new adjudication process, the University president will have to read and approve the proposal. There will then be a two-to-three year trial period for the new process.

New policies

Mary Elizabeth Magill, dean of the Law School and co-chair of last year’s Task Force, discussed the committee’s recommendations and the next steps for implementation. She will chair the ongoing oversight committee that will be checking in on the implementation process.

According to Magill, the Task Force focused on investigating University efforts to educate the community on sexual assault prevention, provide support for survivors, and investigate and adjudicate reports of incidents on campus. Based on their findings, the team recommended solutions that would improve the University’s efforts on these three fronts.

“The Task Force…moved as quickly as it could to try to put new recommendations in place as soon as possible,” Magill said.

The Task Force found that current educational efforts focused too much on freshmen, especially during New Student Orientation (NSO). The team instead recommends more education for all members of the community, including targeted programs for undergraduates and graduate students based on their unique needs.

The team also found that there was “more need for confidential support…and knowledge about where to go [for help],” Magill said. The need for an improved support system for survivors of sexual assault was a common topic among the administrators and the students and community members who asked questions.

To help improve the investigative and adjudicative process, the team recommended the panels who oversee investigations to be more “diverse and extensively trained,” Magill said. The team recommended that undergraduates should no longer be on the panel, although graduate students may be considered.

The Task Force also examined potential punishments for students found guilty of sexual assault.

“We recommend that expulsion be the default sanction,” Magill said.

She next talked about how to maximize fairness in the adjudicative process. The new system will also provide for up to six hours of legal advice for involved students, and high-level sanctions like expulsion will require unanimity among the panel.

Q&A

Finley and Hill then opened up the floor to questions.

The first came from a student wondering about how the policies would affect transgender or gender-nonconforming students who are victims of sexual assault.

“One of the most disturbing things we found was the level of unhappiness in the trans community,” Etchemendy said.

The provost told the student he is scheduling a meeting with members of the trans community to find out what the team can do specifically to support them in this process.

“This year we’ll try to make [education on gender identity issues] much more integrated into what staff and faculty understand about their students,” said Stephanie Kalfayan, Vice Provost for Student Affairs.

Concern over climate survey statistics

Multiple students raised questions concerning the campus climate survey conducted at the end of last year and the way the University has publicized the statistic that 1.9 percent of Stanford students have been sexually assaulted on campus.

One Ph.D. student called the statistic “insulting as a woman and also as an academic.”

A few students called for an apology from the University or an acknowledgment that publicizing the 1.9 percent statistic was a mistake.

“We need to have concern and awareness, and people need to feel this is a compelling issue that they need to worry about,” said one student who mentioned that, as an RA, she has already dealt with two cases of sexual violence among her residents within two months. “These numbers lie in the face of that and could hinder educational efforts.”

One student questioned why she should trust the University, because she feels administrators, Etchemendy included, have downplayed the severity of sexual assault at Stanford compared to other universities in the country.

“I never, ever said we have less sexual assault or sexual misconduct than other universities,” Etchemendy said. “The overall rates are extremely high…here and high at every other university that’s done a survey.”

“We are not proud of the rates of sexual assault,” he said.

Defining sexual assault and sanctions

Other students inquired about Stanford’s definition of sexual assault or misconduct and how policies related to expulsion will change.

“Why does Stanford have the narrowest definition of sexual assault in the country?” asked one student.

Administrators’ responses focused on how expulsion as a sanction is an essential part of how Stanford defines sexual assault. The Task Force recommended a change in policy to make expulsion the default punishment for perpetrators.

“Our sexual assault definition, based on the Task Force recommendations, ties to expulsion, so assume that [alleged perpetrators] face expulsion for any act of [sexual violence],” Lauren Schoenthaler, senior University counsel and leader of the new Confidential Support Team, said.

Changes to the reporting process

One student discussed her personal experience with the reporting process. She explained that instead of bringing her case to a panel for review, she was offered a “plea deal.”

“You were trying to push my case under the rug so you didn’t have to go through a hearing for your panel,” she said to Etchemendy.

“We have no interest in scooping anything under the rug,” Etchemendy said. “The idea that we want to hide any of this is crazy.”

Another student joined the conversation, explaining that even if the University has no desire to sweep things under the rug, that’s how students feel.

“Going forward, it’s going to look different,” Schoenthaler said.

Schoenthaler mentioned that the new system will allow for personalized timelines for each individual case to take into account academic or personal schedules. A previous policy mandated that investigations be completed in 60 days.

Stephanie Pham ’18 asked what kinds of accommodations will be provided for students who choose not to formally report an incident. Schoenthaler discussed the new Confidential Support Team, which will work with students on issues such as finding alternative housing away from their assaulters and dealing with cases in which a survivor and an assaulter take the same academic class.

Improving education

Ari Kelman, an associate professor at the Graduate School of Education and a resident fellow in a freshman dorm, asked about how to integrate sexual assault education into the Stanford curriculum.

“Formal classes should be required,” he said.

Etchemendy agreed that a curricular requirement is a good idea. Kelman then asked if he’d have Etchemendy’s support if he proposed a new requirement and course to the Faculty Senate. The provost said he would.

The provost also noted that he’d like to see education delivered to students by students. He admitted the educational efforts aimed at freshmen during NSO are not the most effective, and he called for programs in residences that would be throughout the year and for all students.

A senior ASSU cabinet member talked about a new peer education program in which students train under the SARA office. The pilot program will begin this spring, and the ASSU and Etchemendy have been working together to develop a comprehensive curriculum.

“I hope some of you will volunteer and train and participate,” the provost said. “It’s an exciting initiative.”

Continuing the discussion

Schoenthaler emphasized the Task Force’s desire to hear feedback from students on the new policies so that they can improve them. One student called for another town hall to discuss the policies further, and Schoenthaler agreed.

John[-Lancaster Finley] and I saw the town hall as a tangible milestone forward where students got to express some of their fears, frustrations, and focal points on this issue,” Hill said in a statement to The Daily.

“We are not fooled that the town hall is a substitute for real progress on the topic of sexual assault,” Hill added. “[We] are ready to work along survivors, activists, allies, and administration to execute on our mutual missions this year.”

“The level of sexual assault we have on campus is unacceptable,” Etchemendy said. “Any level is unacceptable. We need to do better for victims who go through trauma, and we know that.”

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Students start sexual assault awareness group after SoCo https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/23/students-start-sexual-assault-awareness-group-after-soco/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/23/students-start-sexual-assault-awareness-group-after-soco/#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2015 07:15:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1105525 A group of students is in the process of creating a new student organization that aims to raise awareness and educate the community on the subject of campus sexual assault. The idea for the student group grew out of a Sophomore College course this summer called “One in Five: The Law, Policy and Politics of Sexual Assault” with law professor Michele Dauber. The group will be called One in Five after the class.

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A group of students is in the process of creating a new student organization that aims to raise awareness and educate the community on the subject of campus sexual assault. The idea for the student group grew out of a Sophomore College course this summer called “One in Five: The Law, Policy and Politics of Sexual Assault” with law professor Michele Dauber. The group will be called One in Five after the class.

The three-week experience was “completely immersive,” according to Dauber. Students read 100 pages of material per night and wrote multiple essays. The group traveled to Washington, D.C. and New York City to meet over 40 guest speakers who spoke about the topic, including members of Congress and other legislators. They also spoke with several survivors of sexual assault from Columbia, Yale and the University of North Carolina who have become activists for this cause. Students were inspired by their stories and message.

“Talking to them and hearing their experiences with sexual assault was both emotional and very moving,” said Stephanie Pham ’18, leader of the new group. “Every person said the reason why [this issue] is being brought to attention today is because of student activism. Students are the ones bringing light to this issue.”

The group hopes to bring a Congressional summit to campus on the topic of sexual assault (Courtesy of Stephanie Pham).
The group hopes to bring a Congressional summit to campus on the topic of sexual assault (Courtesy of Stephanie Pham).

Pham also talked to some of her friends who she knew were survivors, finding that many of them wished they could feel “safer” at Stanford. At the end of the class, Pham decided to focus her final project, in collaboration with Lauren Schlansky ’18, on action to raise awareness of sexual assault on Stanford’s campus during New Student Orientation (NSO). The pair hoped to break from activist practices that they perceived as acts of aggression or whining. They hung informational flyers and held a demonstration in White Plaza during orientation.

“We wanted to be peaceful, to start educational, informational discussion and to bring an intelligent and insightful perspective,” Pham said. “We wanted to create a climate among students to show that other students are here to listen, to believe and support survivors.”

Pham said she was moved by the response to the demonstration. A few survivors talked to her after the event, telling their stories and commenting how it was important to know that students care that sexual assault happens here.

Through working on the project and talking to students during NSO, Pham and her classmates came to the conclusion that there needed to be sustained effort to accomplish their goals. She noted that the issue of sexual assault “reaches every corner of campus,” affecting professors, RAs, students and even parents.

“Sexual assault is an epidemic,” Pham said. “And the only way to start changing that is through a sustained effort among students who really care about this issue. So we thought, ‘Why not a student group?’”

Acting as a student organization would allow interested students to work directly with University organizations in an official capacity. Pham hopes to collaborate with organizations like the Women’s Community Center, the Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program and multicultural groups on campus, especially because women of color are sexually assaulted at much higher rates than other groups, she said.

“If there’s a consensus on campus that something’s wrong, that we don’t feel protected, we feel unsafe and that these things are happening to our friends, we need to as a community…sit down and say, ‘If we want to have the best university in the world, we need to fix these issues,’” said Matthew Baiza ’18, another active member of One in Five who participated in the Sophomore College. “But I think even before you can sit down about that, you have to have a student body that is educated on the issue.”

Dauber, who taught the course, is excited about the formation of the group.

“As a teacher, it’s very exciting to me,” Dauber said. “I feel like I’ve achieved my goal that they are so excited to start an educational organization. They feel completely on fire to share this information with their peers, and that is every educator’s dream.”

Reaching out to freshmen

Jenny Han ’19 had just arrived on campus for NSO when she encountered the demonstration, and it captured her curiosity. Students from the One in Five SoCo, including Pham and Baiza, had assembled in White Plaza during NSO holding signs spelling out “RAPE HAPPENS HERE.”

“It seemed like something every college campus should have to raise awareness,” Han said. “I felt like it was a good message.”

Along with the demonstration, students joined Pham in postering around campus. According to Dauber and Baiza, unlike in previous years, this year’s NSO did not include discussions and presentations with representatives from the Title IX Office and the Office of Sexual Assault and Relationship Abuse Education (SARA), so the group was concerned that incoming freshman were not receiving an adequate education on the topic.

Han also noted that she thinks many freshman are not aware of the gravity or the closeness of the issue.

“The only way I really knew about [the Brock Turner case] is from reading about it in The Daily,” Han said. “No one really talks about it.”

Han claims that “scary path,” the dirt route behind Kappa Alpha near Lake Lag and the site of the alleged rape by Turner, is also a subject that isn’t discussed among freshmen. Members of One in Five have already begun an initiative to light the path and implement police patrolling, although there’s been some pushback from the University.

Despite the lack of awareness among her classmates, Han hopes that members of the class of 2019 will become more educated on this issue and possibly get involved with the group.

Han learned more about One in Five after meeting Pham in class during the first week of this quarter. She and two other freshman stayed after class to talk for more than an hour about “how awful Stanford is [regarding this issue],” she said. She, along with other freshmen, were inspired to join the emerging organization. Some of them will now be founding members.

“We need as many freshmen as possible,” Han said. “The urgency of the matter makes it something everyone should get into.”

Responding to campus climate

The recent campus climate survey reported that 1.9 percent of Stanford students are victims of sexual assault. The report has ignited discussion surrounding the potentially misleading nature of this statistic.

“The main issue [with the statistic] is that survivors are going to think that they’re in this alone,” Pham said. “It also creates a false sense of security.”

Han is concerned students will ignore the issue because they think it could never happen to them.

“My dad is more concerned about me being attacked by a mountain lion than me being sexually assaulted,” Han said.

Baiza emphasized the importance of educating the Stanford community on the issues surrounding sexual assault in order to enact change.

“It’s hard to strike a balance of something that will help survivors, that will help them to cope with what they’ve gone through, but also treat the [alleged] perpetrators fairly,” Baiza said.

The group hopes that bringing light to this issue through students rather than faculty members or administrators will be influential in the way campus awareness affects survivors of sexual assault.

“When you meet someone who’s a survivor, when you know a survivor or when you are a survivor yourself, you want to know that someone else isn’t going to have to go through the same things you did,” Baiza said. “What we’re focusing on is being able to educate others from a student perspective, because we don’t have that on this campus.”

The existing campus organizations that deal with the issues of sexual assault, like the SARA Office and the Title IX Office, aren’t student-run. There hasn’t been a student group at Stanford that deals exclusively with the topic of sexual assault in many years, although One in Five will not be the first of its kind.

During the SoCo, students met with a former member of the Stanford Rape Education Project (SREP), a student organization that existed during the 1980s and 1990s. The group aspired to educate students on sexual assault issues, was responsible for one of the first comprehensive campus climate surveys in the country (in 1988) and successfully pushed for reforms on the university level, according to Dauber.

“Many of the students’ imaginations were captured by the idea that there was a student-led, student-run and student-empowered organization that focused on this issue and was intended to educate peers and empower themselves,” Dauber said.

Baiza claims he feels a sense of responsibility now that he has finished SoCo and has gained knowledge on this issue, and he thinks his classmates feel the same way.

“Once you know something is wrong, I don’t know how it wouldn’t bother you that you don’t take action on it,” he said.

Action through education

The group plans to host “student-to-student discussions” in student residences often throughout the school year, especially in freshman dorms. Members have also begun discussion with some of the sororities and are hoping to organize events for members of their organizations as well. They plan to hold viewings of the documentary “The Hunting Ground,” which follows the stories of several victims of sexual assault on college campuses.

“[The movie] does a really good job of throwing information out there and also making it relatable,” Baiza said. “Putting a face to the numbers really makes a difference in getting people to do something.”

The group wants to start holding these discussions as soon as they are able.

One of the major events One in Five is hoping to present later this year is a Congressional summit. During the SoCo, students met with Rep. Jackie Speier of California’s 14th District, who suggested the idea. The summit would feature members of Congress and other important figures who would discuss their personal positions as well as recommend specific actions to address the problem. Baiza thinks that an event like this would help students better understand how their elected officials think, especially because the bureaucratic systems in Congress and on college campuses can be very similar, he said.

“We’re trying to reach as many aspects of student life possible and…to reach as many corners as possible,” Pham said.

Collaboration with the University

In addition to student-driven programming, the group wants to work directly with University administrators to combat sexual assault on this campus.

“The University is very vital to helping to make the lives of students better,” Baiza said. “They are the central part that helps put all of Stanford together. Between their responsibility to the students and our desire to bring about change, it’s important that both of us are able to work together to, at the very least, educate the community.”

“We are not trying to put down this university, but we think it’s time that Stanford shows it cares about its students,” Pham said.

“[According to the climate survey] 72 percent of women [at Stanford] think the university wouldn’t hold the student accountable, which is really scary,” Pham said.

Ideally, the group would hold some kind of conversation every day “to break down rape myths,” Pham said, since misconceptions about sexual assault are widely believed.

“There are so many misconceptions of sexual assault on this campus,” she said. “Especially for the incoming freshmen.”

Members also hope to foster open dialogue on the topic of prevention through accountability. The idea of immediate expulsion upon being accused of sexual assault has been discussed by Stanford students in recent years, but One in Five chooses not to take a group-wide position, opting to encourage constructive discussion instead.

“We’re not trying to say [to the University], ‘You’re doing these things wrong. Fix it,’” Baiza said. “We’re trying to say we want to work with the University and with students to let them know that these are the issues we have on campus.”

“The most powerful thing on this campus is the voice of the students,” continued Baiza. “Students can bring about change if they really work at it and desire for it to happen. That’s something that’s really undervalued sometimes.”

 

Contact Sarah Danielle Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

This post has been updated. A previous version referred to the Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program as the Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department. The Daily regrets this error.

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Q&A with Jim Gibbons, CEO and President of Goodwill https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/12/qa-with-jim-gibbons-ceo-and-president-of-goodwill/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/12/qa-with-jim-gibbons-ceo-and-president-of-goodwill/#respond Mon, 12 Oct 2015 07:49:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1104664 Jim Gibbons, CEO and President of Goodwill Industries, spoke Friday at CEMEX Auditorium as part of BASES Social Impact Week. Gibbons, who is blind, started at Goodwill in 2008 after 10 years as CEO of National Industries for the Blind. The Daily sat down with him to talk about his career, being a social entrepreneur and how to balance business and social impact.

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Jim Gibbons, the CEO of Goodwill Industries International, spoke on social impact careers (TARA BALAKRISHNAN/The Stanford Daily).
Jim Gibbons, the CEO of Goodwill Industries International, spoke on social impact careers (TARA BALAKRISHNAN/The Stanford Daily).

Jim Gibbons, CEO and President of Goodwill Industries, spoke Friday at CEMEX Auditorium as part of BASES Social Impact Week. Gibbons, who is blind, started at Goodwill in 2008 after 10 years as CEO of National Industries for the Blind. The Daily sat down with him to talk about his career, being a social entrepreneur and how to balance business and social impact.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): Can you tell us a little about what you talked about in your keynote address?

Jim Gibbons (JG): I [covered] a little bit of the Goodwill story — as a social enterprise and really as, in many people’s view, the first social enterprise — and a little bit about my background and why I’m so passionate about the Goodwill model. And [I covered] this intersection between great business principles as they intersect with how you have extraordinarily high impact. And a little bit about how a young person who wants to do both [business and social impact], what should they do?

TSD: Why were you compelled to pursue a career in social entrepreneurship?

JG: When you look at the Goodwill model, the whole social enterprise, I have never portrayed myself as an “entrepreneur.” Each local Goodwill leader is an extraordinary social entrepreneur within those communities, but where do the problems often lie? They’re within community, and that’s where that entrepreneurial spirit of Goodwill has to lie. So what compelled me into this social impact space was when I left AT&T to go to National Industries for the Blind. I’d always wanted to, somewhere in my career, have some level of influence on the lives of people who are blind, and I thought, Oh, down the road, I’ll join a board of something. And what I saw was an opportunity to go into National Industries for the Blind before I knew the word “social enterprise.” But they used business to create job opportunities for people who were blind, and I thought, Maybe I can move into an organization where I’ll go from a guy that wants to have influence to a direct impact player. So I went to National Industries for the Blind for 10 years. That was an organization that was about at 240 million dollars in sales…that grew to over 600 million dollars while I was there, and grew employment for people who were blind year after year. That’s when I really learned about social enterprise and how that blending of business principles and social impact comes together. And then moving to Goodwill was just an exciting next step for me, a bigger brand, a global organization and an opportunity to serve a wider range of populations, because there’s a lot of need.

TSD: Has being blind affected the way you think about giving back to the community?

JG: I think, for me, the effect of blindness certainly adds perspective to the work that I’ve been a part of. When graduating from undergraduate at Purdue in industrial engineering, I interviewed with a lot of companies and got a lot of rejection letters. And I finally got two job offers, but they were with AT&T and IBM, so it kind of took the big companies to take a shot. And then I learned that seven out of 10 blind people aren’t working today, and for people with intellectual disabilities, which is a big portion of the population we serve at Goodwill, it’s 85 percent. And so I’ve actually been quite fortunate.

But what I really learned is at Goodwill there’s a basic kind of approach that I think I got from my parents. They had high expectations and then surrounded me with the tools and the support to find success, and that’s really what we do at Goodwill. We try to have high expectations for team members and the people we serve, right? Because people are amazing. We just got to help them get the best out of themselves and then surround them with the tools and the support to find their success. So yeah, I think the blindness has played a pretty significant role in why I care about our mission as much as I do.

TSD: What does social impact mean to you, and how has it driven your career path and your life in general?

JG: There’s a social impact with a charity mindset, and there’s a social impact with a social-enterprise mindset, and I think the distinction in my mind is sustainability. And it’s the use of business principles that plays a significant part in allowing an organization to achieve impact. And the other element is how do you make that social impact, however you define it — environmentally or human service-wise — how do you ensure that that’s the priority of the mission of the organization? So it’s not to optimize or maximize profits in a vacuum, but to optimize profits in the context of having as much impact as you can with that enterprise.

TSD: What advice do you have for student entrepreneurs who are caught between wanting to make a difference in the world and wanting to be innovative and financially successful?

JG: Be a builder. So much of our environment today is rewarding transactions, and so therefore the big money is at the transaction level instead of the building level. And people think in terms of building and exit strategies. Your exit strategy is the second page of your business plan, often nowadays. Being a builder means really building a business or a social enterprise in a way that is sustainable. Whether or not your business has a social impact objective or not, if you’re creating jobs, you’re having impact. So that’s one way that a person can recognize their talents and business savvy and interests and recognize that they can actually be a great employer and allow for other people to find success.

But in terms of the people who really want to have that direct social impact, don’t be ashamed to start off in the business world. Make some money, build some skills, build a foundation and bring that learning into the social impact, or social enterprise or social entrepreneurial space. Because the not-for-profit community needs those skills more than ever. I don’t think you have to feel like you should graduate and immediately step into the not-for-profit sector. If the not-for-profit sector wins more by you working two or three or four years for an investment bank or consulting firm where you’re learning lots of perspectives, and then you bring that over, whether that’s in a volunteer capacity, a board capacity or an employment capacity, I think everybody wins.

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Q&A with Jorge Cham, cartoonist and procrastination expert https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/07/qa-with-jorge-cham-cartoonist-and-procrastination-expert/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/07/qa-with-jorge-cham-cartoonist-and-procrastination-expert/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2015 06:47:55 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1104491 Jorge Cham, PhD ‘02, creator of Piled Higher and Deeper (commonly referred to as PhD Comics), a comic strip about the struggles of graduate school which originally appeared in The Daily, will give a lecture called “The Power of Procrastination” on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 4 p.m. in Hewlett Teaching Center. After the lecture, he will hold a book signing in Packard Auditorium, where he will sign student copies of the first four volumes of PhD Comics.

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(Courtesy of Jorge Cham)
(Courtesy of Jorge Cham)

Jorge Cham, Ph.D. ’02, creator of “Piled Higher and Deeper” (commonly referred to as PhD Comics), a comic strip about the struggles of graduate school, will give a lecture called “The Power of Procrastination” on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 4 p.m. in Hewlett Teaching Center. PhD Comics originally appeared in The Daily.

After the lecture, he will hold a book signing in Packard Auditorium, where he will sign student copies of the first four volumes of PhD Comics. The event is co-sponsored by the Graduate Student Council, the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education, BEAM Career Education, the Office of the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, Stanford Speakers Bureau and the School of Medicine Career Center.

The Daily spoke with Cham about how he got started as a cartoonist, what he thinks procrastination really means and how to survive at a competitive university like Stanford.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): Tell us a little about the lecture you’ll be giving tomorrow on procrastination.

Jorge Cham (JC): The lecture is kind of my story. It’s about how the comic strip started and generally my philosophy about what I think burns grad students out. A lot of aspects of academia – that’s where that comes from – wrapped around my general philosophy about procrastination.

TSD: How did your experiences in graduate school lead you to start drawing comics?

JC: It was my first term at Stanford as a grad student [in engineering]. I was a TA, and I was doing research for a lab and taking a whole lot of classes and starting publishing for The Stanford Daily. It was just one of those things where it was kind of a very different experience for me to start graduate school, and what I noticed was that I was hearing all the other grad students – whether they were in anthropology, geophysics or economics – talk about their experience in the same way. They’d talk about professors; they’d talk about publishing, about research, and it just kind of occurred to me that this is an experience that is kind of universal across all these different disciplines. And then when I saw an ad in the newspaper at The Daily asking for student comics, I turned to a friend and said, “Maybe I should do it. Maybe I should start a comic about grad school.”

TSD: Do your comics and the lecture you’re giving on Thursday apply to undergraduates as well?

JC: Yeah, I think so. Especially at a place like Stanford, where a lot of kids will come from the top of their class in high school and now find themselves getting a little overwhelmed. I talk a lot about managing your time and managing your motivation and your passion. So yeah, I think undergrads usually get a lot out of the lecture as well.

TSD: What is your philosophy on procrastination, and why is it not always the enemy?

JC: I think people often confuse procrastination with laziness. That’s one of my main points [in the lecture] because they’re not necessarily the same thing. Laziness is when you don’t want to do anything, but procrastination is when you don’t want to do it now. It’s a different point of view.

I can talk about [procrastination] not being bad in two ways. One is that for creative works – if you’re doing research, or you’re an artist or you’re trying to write something for your paper or for a class – you can’t really force creativity sometimes. You have to let it come to you. So a lot of times the bigger ideas – or creative ideas – happen when you’re not trying very hard or focusing on something very hard. Think about Isaac Newton sleeping outside when an apple fell on him. Sometimes if you think too hard, it can be hard to come up with a creative solution.

And I think procrastination kind of reveals what you really want to do. If a lot of times you find yourself procrastinating doing a certain task, maybe it’s time for you to realize that you really don’t want to do that. Maybe it’s not something you really want to do, you know? And I think a lot of times that can reveal your passions for the things you really do want to do. If you find yourself skipping your engineering classes to go to theater or to music classes, that can tell you a little bit about what you’re truly passionate about.

TSD: So what would you say to a chronic procrastinator at Stanford?

JC: I would tell them to listen to their inner procrastinator. Listen to what their inner psyche is trying to tell them. Why are they procrastinating? And to really ask themselves if the thing they’re procrastinating is really something they want to do.

TSD: What advice do you have for students experiencing “Stanford Duck Syndrome”?

JC: Ha, that’s funny. Well, I think the biggest feedback I get about my comics is that people see it, and they realize that they’re not alone. And especially at a place like Stanford, where there’s all this competition and all this avoidance of admitting you have problems or challenges, a lot of grad students will read the comics and say, “Oh my god, I thought I was the only person that was going through this. I thought I was alone in this.” But they read the comics and realize they’re really not alone. So I think what I’m saying is that you’re not alone. There’s probably a lot of people out there who are going through the same things you are.

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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BASES holds first annual Social Impact Week https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/06/bases-holds-first-annual-social-impact-week/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/10/06/bases-holds-first-annual-social-impact-week/#respond Tue, 06 Oct 2015 07:34:08 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1104388 The Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES) is holding its first annual Social Impact Week this week to address what it sees as a lack of resources for entrepreneurs who want to give back to their community. The week’s events include a career fair, two keynote addresses by leaders of nonprofit organizations and dynamic discussions between students and social entrepreneurs.

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The Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES) is holding its first annual Social Impact Week this week to address what it sees as a lack of resources for entrepreneurs who want to give back to their community. The week’s events include a career fair, two keynote addresses by leaders of nonprofit organizations and dynamic discussions between students and social entrepreneurs.

“The hope is to try and bridge the gap between entrepreneurship and providing social benefits in our community,” said Marly Carlisle ’17, a social impact officer for BASES. “[We are] an entrepreneurial organization, but we want to emphasize the importance of social impact and how it can be incorporated into entrepreneurship.”

Social Impact Week will begin Wednesday, Oct. 7 with a social impact career fair at Paul Brest Hall, where over 50 organizations will be available for students. The fair is sponsored by BEAM, Stanford Career Education (formerly the Career Development Center); the Haas Center for Public Service; and the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS).

After last week’s career fairs, whose companies included tech giants, consulting firms and many other for-profit organizations, this event hopes to connect students to a different side of entrepreneurship.

“[Students] will have the unique opportunity to network with NGOs and nonprofits that have some type of social impact focus,” Carlisle said.

According to Carlisle, many organizations that focus on social impact, like the ones at the upcoming career fair, don’t start hiring new employees until the spring when their funding cycles start. This is why many students looking for jobs, particularly seniors and graduate students, can’t find opportunities in social entrepreneurship early in the academic year.

The Social Impact Career Fair aims to ease some of the panic by bringing organizations with a social impact focus directly to Stanford students.

“Social Impact week really gives space for incredible organizations and initiatives who often have to compete with shinier brand organizations and large corporations,” Carlisle said.

The week’s first keynote speaker, Elisa Villanueva Beard, CEO of Teach for America (TFA), will speak about her journey to TFA and her choice of social entrepreneurship as a career. Having joined TFA 15 years ago, she has since worked her way up until she became co-CEO in 2013. The event will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8 in building 420-40.

After Villanueva Beard’s address, BASES will hold dynamic discussions with leaders from other social impact organizations, and students will have the opportunity to speak with four guest speakers who have founded their own non-profits in the fields of education and social justice.

Angela Sy ’16, co-president of BASES, hopes students will leave the discussions with some sort of tangible connection to the workshop leader. She encourages students to come to the discussions prepared with questions – whether they are about the speakers’ companies or even more personal.

Jim Gibbons, CEO of Goodwill Industries International, will give the second keynote address on Friday, Oct. 9 in CEMEX Auditorium and will speak about his “experience navigating social impact,” according to Carlisle. Gibbons, who was the first blind man to graduate from Harvard Business School, was president and CEO of National Industries for the Blind before becoming Goodwill’s president and CEO in 2008.

Members of BASES’ Social Impact team are excited to bring these speakers to the Stanford community.

“Jim Gibbons expressed automatic interest,” Carlisle said. “And [Villanueva Beard] only does about two speaking events a year, so the fact that she’s coming here is a pretty big deal.”

The idea for Social Impact Week started over the summer at a meeting between social entrepreneurship organizations on campus. BASES first intended to hold one or two social impact-themed events this year but saw an opportunity for more.

“We realized that PACS was putting on the career fair and that it would be the perfect starting point for having these speakers come to campus to continue the conversation about social entrepreneurship,” Carlisle said.

Sy said the group also realized that the social impact aspect has been missing from the on-campus entrepreneurial culture. BASES created the Social Impact team last year to help students find the balance between two ideas that often seem mutually exclusive.

“Especially because of where we’re located, it’s easy to get caught up in the spirit of what Silicon Valley is about, but there are so many ways to use these interests and talents to make an impact in people’s lives,” said Claire Woodrow ’18, who is interested in attending the events.

Woodrow spoke about how a former Stanford student she knows began her undergraduate career with a focus on entrepreneurship and is now working for a San Francisco non-profit. Through Social Impact Week, Woodrow hopes more students will become aware that paths like her friend’s are available.

“Social Impact Week helps us look at the bigger picture of our role in the larger context of the world [beyond Silicon Valley],” Sy said.

After this week, the BASES Social Impact Team, headed by co-vice presidents Vicki Niu ’18 and Nick Hershey ’18, has more planned for the year. Events include monthly workshops called “Tackling Today’s Troubles,” which will each feature either a speaker from an entrepreneurial company or a Stanford professor. The speaker and a small group of students will then have the opportunity to discuss the target issue and some potential solutions.

“We really hope that students can gain a greater perspective on the paths available to them that involve social impact work through entrepreneurship,” Carlisle said.

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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University uses 3D laser scanner to map campus https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/21/university-uses-3d-laser-scanner-to-map-campus/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/21/university-uses-3d-laser-scanner-to-map-campus/#respond Fri, 22 May 2015 00:19:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1101354 This summer, the department of Maps and Records will finish laser scanning and drafting the Main Quad, a project that began earlier this year, to update the Stanford Campus Base Map, a web-based geographic system for finding information about campus lands and buildings.

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This summer, the department of Maps and Records will finish laser scanning and drafting the Main Quad, a project that began earlier this year, to update the Stanford Campus Base Map, a web-based geographic system for finding information about campus lands and buildings.

Facilities Engineers Rob Donzanti and Galen Schmidt are responsible for the scanning. They use the FARO 3D laser scanner to collect the data. The device spins around while shooting lasers and collects about 200 million points. The scanner then reports the distance and color intensity of the points, and then spins again to shoot color photography. In the end, the three-dimensional scans are in full color.

Before switching to the FARO scanner, Maps and Records used a surveyor to collect one point at a time. The tedious process collected the same data as the laser scanner, but it took much more time. Another method for collecting data involves aerial photography. Jay Marianowits, Manager of CAD Services and Field Operations, said that photography is usually accurate, but is often problematic because trees can hide buildings and paths.

Last summer, the department used the laser scanning method to draft Escondido Village, which had recently been updated with new paths, but traditional surveying and aerial photography proved too difficult. The area was one of the reasons Maps and Records started using the laser scanning method in the first place.

“We were able to go in, and with the same accuracy that a surveyor could, collect everything,” Marianowits said.

The scans can also be used in the future beyond updating the Base Map. Marianowits recalled when another group used the data from Escondido Village before starting a construction project so that they could see the location of certain trees.

“We were able to supply the data without having to go back outside at all,” Marianowits said.

Current drafting of the Main Quad is “not bad, but it’s not great either,” Marianowits said. For example, they show the outlines of buildings, but not the columns in the arcades. Having a more accurate map can help for event planning in the Main Quad, where event crews often set up large tents.

“Now we’ve got survey-quality data about what the area looks like, so they don’t have to go out and hire somebody to survey,” Marianowits said.

The scanning process in the Quad is almost finished, and Field Engineer Victoria Knecht, responsible for the scan processing and drafting, has completed about a quarter of the drafting so far. The drafting process is expected to wrap up by the end of this summer.

The department is not limiting the new scanning methods to the Main Quad and Escondido Village. They have been scanning all over campus, most recently finishing scans at the new Central Energy Facility and Arrillaga Outdoor Education and Recreation Center. Eventually all of the campus will be scanned and drafted using this technology.

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Solar panels to make up half of campus electricity supply by 2017 https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/20/solar-panels-to-make-up-half-of-campus-electricity-supply-by-2017/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/20/solar-panels-to-make-up-half-of-campus-electricity-supply-by-2017/#comments Thu, 21 May 2015 02:11:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1101140 Stanford is partnering with SunPower to make the campus energy supply greener by installing new rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems, or solar panels, and building an off-campus solar energy plant. The project is a part of the Stanford Energy Systems Innovations (SESI) project, an effort to reduce the university’s greenhouse gas emissions.

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Stanford will be installing solar panels on several buildings across campus (ANDREA LIM/The Stanford Daily).
Stanford will be installing solar panels on several buildings across campus (ANDREA LIM/The Stanford Daily).

Stanford is partnering with SunPower to make the campus energy supply greener by installing new rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems, or solar panels, and building an off-campus solar energy plant. The project is a part of the Stanford Energy Systems Innovations (SESI) project, an effort to reduce the university’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“There is an important context for this,” said Scott Gould, Senior Engineer for Building Energy Systems Commissioning. “[The project] fits in with this larger puzzle of how we use and produce energy on campus.”

Along with the new PV systems and the solar farm, called the Stanford Solar Generating Station, SESI installed the new Central Energy Facility (CEF) to meet most of the campus’s heating demands. The university now uses electricity to produce chilled water and relies on a new electric heat recovery system to create hot water. This shift in energy use created the opportunity to introduce more solar production as well.

SESI’s implementation meant shutting down the now-obsolete cogeneration plant across from Stanford Hospital, which previously supplied almost all of the university’s energy. Because the cogeneration plant ran on natural gas, the university previously relied entirely on fossil fuels for power. When SESI installation and construction is finished before the end of 2016, renewable energy will supply 65 percent of all campus electricity, and 53 percent will come from the solar plant and the new panel installations on campus.

Charlie Jiang ’16, co-president of Students for a Sustainable Stanford (SSS), is glad to see the university take on a project like SESI.

“I applaud Stanford for doing its part to fight climate change and make this campus more sustainable,” he wrote in an email to The Daily.

The project is not Stanford’s first venture into solar energy. The first solar panels on campus, installed in 2002, included a small system at Synergy House and a system at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. In 2004, Stanford installed a larger solar system at the Dish.

The current campus PV systems, including the recent installation at Knight Management Center, total 672 kilowatts (kW). The new rooftop PV system will add 5,500 kW of power, and the Stanford Solar Generating Station will contribute another 68,000 kW. For comparison, a typical home PV system is about 3 to 5 kW.

According to Gould, a steep decline in the price of solar modules has been a defining factor in choosing to implement this project now. He noted that energy officials on campus have been looking to enact a project such as SESI, but it has been too expensive in the past, especially since Stanford is a not-for-profit university.

“Modules have become more of a commodity,” Gould said. “The price has come down by half [since 2004]. That’s been one of the things that’s pushed us in this direction.”

In addition to the cost changes, Gould credits campus perception of solar energy with the feasibility of SESI today. Stanford recently installed more PV systems on campus, particularly in the Science and Engineering Quad on buildings including Y2E2 and the Huang Engineering Center. Gould says PV installation on these buildings has sparked greater interest at Stanford in expanding solar energy production.

“When you have these high-profile buildings on campus [using PV systems], it’s sort of hard for the rest of the campus to say, ‘We don’t want that,’” he said.

Stanford selected SunPower, a San Jose-based solar technology company, as a partner for the project from an initial group of about 20 companies. The company was founded by former Stanford professor and alum Richard Swanson, a major solar industry figure. Swanson developed the technology used in SunPower’s solar modules in Stanford labs and left the university to found the company.

While he is happy to be working with a company with Stanford roots, Gould says that links to the university were not a prerequisite for partnership.

“It was just lucky happenstance,” he said. “And I think that because they have Stanford origins, they’d like to see the project be successful.”

SunPower Vice President Billy Kelly expressed excitement to be working with Stanford on this project.

“Universities and large organizations are rethinking how they energize their operations, and [they] want to invest in renewable energy at scale,” he said. “We applaud Stanford’s leadership and the exciting steps they are taking to convert their energy to electricity, which allows for the potential to entirely energize operations with renewable energy.”

Before partnering with SunPower, project managers met with a campus architect, who helped choose which buildings on top of which to install PV systems. The team selected 18 buildings across campus, a decision involving many factors from historic to structural to aesthetic. Gould noted that a good candidate must have a good roof profile and relatively easy access to electrical infrastructure.

“We have a lot of historic buildings that might not be appropriate for PV, for many reasons. They may have aging electrical infrastructure, or the tile can be challenging to work with,” Gould said.

Among the buildings selected for PV are Parking Structure 5 (the largest of the 18), Automotive Innovation Facility, Maples Pavilion and Braun Music Center.

The campus’s grid-like layout makes it very suitable for solar energy, since Palm Drive faces magnetic north.

“We’re kind of lucky that we have this grid layout that has the back of the buildings essentially facing south, which is the preferred orientation,” Gould said.

Gould emphasized that although SESI is a step in the right direction, there is more to be done in the future. Reducing energy use, he says, should always come before improving the supply. For example, he mentioned that by installing better fume hoods in the labs, implementing better lighting systems in dorms and updating buildings to today’s standards, Stanford can reduce energy use by one-third.

Even so, making the transition from fossil fuel cogeneration to SESI is “the biggest single thing we could do,” he said.

On behalf of SSS, Jiang agrees. He noted that large projects like SESI, while beneficial, are not the only way to make Stanford more sustainable and encouraged students and administrators to work together toward smaller goals.

“I encourage Stanford administrators, faculty and fellow students to carefully examine how to achieve not just major steps forward such as SESI but also how to achieve a high standard of sustainability in every aspect of campus life,” he said.

Gould is optimistic about future opportunities to reduce overall energy use on campus. As technology continually advances, he and the SESI team would like to see action beyond this project to make Stanford more energy-efficient and to decrease the use of power from non-renewable sources.

“There’s always technology improving,” he said. “And that should be layered into Stanford’s efficiency programs as well.”

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford voted most vegan-friendly campus https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/28/stanford-voted-most-vegan-friendly-campus/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/28/stanford-voted-most-vegan-friendly-campus/#comments Wed, 29 Apr 2015 04:39:30 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1100062 Stanford was recently awarded the title of “Favorite Vegan-Friendly Large College” from animal rights group peta2. The award is a testament to the efforts of Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) and Stanford Dining in providing various options for vegan and vegetarian students across campus.

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Stanford was recently awarded the title of “Favorite Vegan-Friendly Large College” from animal rights group peta2. The award is a testament to the efforts of Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) and Stanford Dining in providing various options for vegan and vegetarian students across campus.

The campaign for the award began last summer, when Stanford Dining provided peta2 with information about vegan options on campus. Stanford received an “A” based on a number of factors. Peta2 then chose 30 small and 30 large colleges to compete in the competition, organized in a bracket style. Students then voted online for their favorite campus until one school came out on top.

The dining staff credits Stanford students with their success in the competition.

“We could not have won the title… without the overwhelming support of our students,” wrote Shannon Munz, Communications Coordinator for Stanford Dining, in an email to The Daily. “Their commitment to voting in each round allowed Stanford to be recognized as the number one large school and we are extremely grateful for their support.”

Every dining hall on campus offers a variety of vegan and vegetarian options. Vegan students can find at least one hot entrée at every meal, as well as soups, side dishes, salads and desserts. According to Munz, Stanford Dining has continued to explore ways to accommodate every student’s eating habits. This past year, for example, every dining hall added a vegan quinoa burger to its menu and installed a soy milk dispenser.

Megan Calfas ’18, a vegetarian who occasionally sustains a vegan diet, said that she is satisfied with the meals in dining halls.

“There have been a lot more vegan desserts recently, which I really enjoy,” she said. “Dessert is always the toughest for me when I’m eating vegan.”

Dining options for vegan and vegetarian students also extend beyond dining halls. Stanford’s newest eatery, Forbes Family Café, features vegan and vegetarian items and maintains a sustainability theme.

“Stanford Hospitality and Auxiliaries manages cafes, catering and concessions on campus that all feature vegan and vegetarian items daily,” said Munz.

Stanford Dining, in addition to their continued work to promote vegan food in the dining halls, has worked with student groups on campus and has run vegan cooking classes for students. Stanford Dining also has a vegan Chef’s Table at FloMo Dining, where students can enjoy a restaurant-style experience with Executive Chef Devinder Kumar.

According to Munz, peta2’s competition provided an opportunity for dining hall chefs to focus more on preparing vegan menus. Some freshman students noted a greater sense of community in Stern Dining between residents, staff and chefs since the competition began.

Munz emphasized that students are Stanford Dining’s first priority, and said she encourages students with ideas regarding the dining halls to talk with chefs and dining hall managers.

“The Stanford community’s appreciation of our commitment to vegetarian and vegan dining choices is equally inspiring,” she said. “We are committed to providing great tasting, high-quality, nutritious and exciting menus that support the diverse set of needs of all of our customers.”

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Global Studies Division proposes minor in human rights https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/14/global-studies-division-proposes-minor-in-human-rights/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/14/global-studies-division-proposes-minor-in-human-rights/#comments Wed, 15 Apr 2015 06:50:32 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1099004 The Stanford Global Studies (SGS) Division and the WSD HANDA Center for Human Rights and International Justice are working together to offer students a new minor in human rights.

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The Stanford Global Studies (SGS) Division and the WSD HANDA Center for Human Rights and International Justice are working together to offer students a new minor in human rights.

The Handa Center, previously the War Crimes Studies Center at UC-Berkeley, was established at Stanford a year ago. The SGS asked the Handa Center to take on a proposal for a human rights minor to be administered outside the SGS program.

“The Global Studies Division had been working on a global studies minor with a built-in human rights component,” said Penelope Van Tuyl, associate director of the Handa Center.

The SGS hoped that a minor would allow students to specialize in areas in which there are no existing programs. The Handa Center’s arrival brought an opportunity for the creation of such a minor.

According to Van Tuyl, the proposal for the minor is still in the drafting process. The team has been working with a faculty advisory committee, which will help finalize the proposal, and is hoping to submit it for approval very soon.

“We’ve been talking to faculty on campus who do work and offer courses and opportunities in human rights,” Van Tuyl said.

SGS and the Handa Center will propose the creation of a gateway structure that will help students navigate existing course offerings in order to see the big picture in human rights.

“The purpose is not to create new courses but to bring structure to how students sequence courses to take a meaningful, scholarly track,” Van Tuyl said.

The proposal for the minor includes two distinct features: a gateway course that covers a broad survey of human rights across disciplines and a capstone project element to add depth to students’ coursework.

According to Van Tuyl, an exact timeline for the proposal is still unknown.

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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New Roble Field parking garage under construction https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/23/new-roble-field-parking-garage-under-construction/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/23/new-roble-field-parking-garage-under-construction/#respond Tue, 24 Feb 2015 06:42:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1096359 A new underground parking garage is set to open late next year under what used to be Roble Field. The new garage will house 1,165 parking spaces on five levels. Excavation of the hole for the structure has been underway for the past six months, and the process will be complete within the next few […]

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A new underground parking garage is set to open late next year under what used to be Roble Field. The new garage will house 1,165 parking spaces on five levels.

Excavation of the hole for the structure has been underway for the past six months, and the process will be complete within the next few weeks. Construction will be completed next year, with the garage having a projected finish in late 2016. Roble Field will be restored for recreational use after its completion.

Community members should be aware of circulation issues due to the project. According to Land, Buildings & Real Estate project manager Mark Bonino, pedestrians and bicyclists are being rerouted around the area to Governor’s Avenue and Samuel Morris Way.

“Construction access and traffic has been routed through Panama Mall to keep impacts to Santa Teresa at a minimum,” Bonino wrote in a statement to The Stanford Daily. 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip ‘at’ stanford.edu

 

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Stanford Arts Institute launches Imagining the Universe program https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/22/stanford-arts-institute-launches-imagining-the-universe-program/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/22/stanford-arts-institute-launches-imagining-the-universe-program/#respond Mon, 23 Feb 2015 04:12:39 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1096184 A broad array of departments are collaborating to bring “Imagining the Universe,” an eclectic program that explores cosmology in art and science, to the Stanford community this year.

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A broad array of departments are collaborating to bring Imagining the Universe, an eclectic program that explores cosmology in art and science, to the Stanford community this year.

Imagining the Universe is a year-long, campus-wide program organized by the Stanford Arts Institute that combines the arts, humanities and sciences to explore our understanding of the universe. Program events include a speaker series, musical performances, art exhibits and even a freshman course on cosmology.

“It’s everything from a poet coming to terms with the universe through language to a scientist detailing his or her research results,” said Sarah Curran, Programming Director for the Stanford Arts Institute. “Each has different perspectives which have lovely overlaps.”

Inspiration for the project came from physics professor Peter Michelson, who approached Matthew Tiews, Associate Dean for the Advancement of the Arts at the Arts Institute. He hoped to bring together a range of people across the University to create Imagining the Universe. After a series of meetings, each of the departments involved in the project contributed something of their own to the long list of events. The Arts Institute arranged much of the speaker series and provided marketing for the program.

Curran has been impressed with the response to the first half of the program. Events attract diverse audiences, including Stanford students, faculty members and community members of all ages.

“It’s so fun to see young faces in the crowd,” she said, noting that a few speakers have drawn in small children.

In addition to their public conversations, many of the featured speakers also hold discussions or workshops with a small group of students. One speaker, Tracy Smith, held a poetry workshop in which she critiqued students’ work. These chances for discourse are usually open to anyone with an SUID.

Also affiliated with the program is “Thinking About the Universe: What do we know? How do we know it?” a Thinking Matters course for freshmen taught by Michelson; Peter Graham, assistant professor of physics; and Thomas Ryckman, professor of philosophy. The course looks at debates around fundamental questions about the nature of the universe through the varying lenses brought by the professors.

Justice Tention ’18 said he enjoyed the diversity of perspectives the class offers.

“One professor is a theoretical physicist, one is an experimental physicist and the other is a philosopher, so they all have different perspectives on similar issues,” he said.

Discussions in class have been profound and deeply engaging for students.

Ryckman first had the idea for the course after he became inspired upon hearing of Michelson’s involvement with Imagining the Universe.

“Physicists’ understanding of nature is necessarily quantitative,” Ryckman said in an email to The Daily. “This is, of course, the glory of physics, but push any physical question far enough, and one comes to philosophy. In a sense, all science is then cosmology.”

Michelson embraced Ryckman’s idea and brought Graham on board, and the three developed the course over a year of informal meetings.

“[The course] teaches you to question underlying assumptions,” Tention said. “Today we talked about the implications of the multiverse. If it exists, it changes everything we know and study.”

Upcoming events in the program include a conversation with visual artist Matthew Ritchie on Thursday, Feb. 26 and a performance called “Cosmic Reflection,” which will feature the Stanford Symphony Orchestra playing under a backdrop of cosmic images from NASA.

“It’s unique for such a wide array of departments come together for a cohesive programmatic theme,”  Curran said. “It’s a real testament to the richness of the topic and the appetite of the Stanford community.”

 

Contact Sarah Ortlip-Sommers at sortlip@stanford.edu.

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