Renovations put on hold due to budget cuts
Draw opens today
By ESPERANZA GUEVARA
The Draw opens for registration today,and students across campus are weighingtheir options and planning how they willenter into the significantly changed system.This year,students will enter the Draw byselecting one of three tiers to opt into,rank-ing the 76 options for on-campus housingnext year,and entering the names of theirDraw group members into the system.Thenew Draw will assign them a number and ahouse based on availability in the residencesand the group’s rankings,but unlike in pastyears,these numbers and historical cut-off numbers will not be published before theDraw.The new draw changes worry some stu-dents,like Jaime Cornejo ‘11,who will be amanager in Bob next year.“I’m worried because of the division Ifeel that is going to be created.I’m worriedthat the Row houses are going to be mostlyupperclassmen...I believe that differentclasses add diversity.”Freshmen,who have not been throughthe process before,are not bothered by thenew Draw system.“Seems to me like it’s a pretty fairchange,”said Frank Li ‘12.“It affects every-one pretty much equally.”As part of the new housing system nextyear,there will be more all-freshman dormson campus.This new organization botheredthose who enjoy the four-class dormarrangement.“[Freshmen] usually have questionsabout different majors,and I feel like upper-classmen are the best resource for them touse,”Cornejo said.“That’s why I’ve alwaysliked living in four-class house dorms.”In what used to be a complex strategicundertaking,this year’s Draw strategies arelimited to which tier to use and how to rankthe houses on the online registration.Allstudents have to do this year is to carefullyprioritize their housing options,and thenwait.“The advantageous way [to get goodhousing] is to draw into a house that has alot of singles,like Lagunita,”said ElizabethHaro ‘11.Many who plan on studying abroad takethat fact into consideration when decidingwhich tier to draw into.“I’m not sure whether I’m going abroadnext year,and that’s going to determinewhat tier I use,”Haro said.“I feel like if I’mgoing abroad,I should use Tier Three.”Upperclassmen who have not used alltheir preferred years have the Tier Oneoption,which gives them access to the besthousing on campus.Having used only one preferred year,
Index
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Recycle Me
HOUSING
Row fixesstill notcomplete
By JULIE KLEIN
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
This year,a lucky group of studentsmoved into Xanadu at the start of win-ter quarter.The Row house,alwayspopular because of its central locationand social atmosphere,became evenmore desirable after receiving a com-plete renovation.Bob,another Row house,was origi-nally scheduled for a similar renovationthis summer.However,like manybuilding projects across campus,futureRow house renovations will be delayeddue to University-wide budget cuts.Bob is scheduled for renovation aspart of the Capital ImprovementProgram (CIP).The University nowexpects the building project to begin insummer 2011,according to RodgerWhitney,executive director of StudentHousing.The subsequent renovations of CasaItaliana and Storey—which werescheduled to take place after the reno-vation of Bob—will now begin in sum-mer 2012 and summer 2013,respective-ly.In the meantime,Whitney assuredstudents that all houses are “definitelysafe and functional.”“We do not anticipate any problemsaffecting students before we begin thefull CIP renovation,”Whitney said.Row house renovations,as part of the CIP,have taken place over the pastseveral summers.Xanadu received afull renovation during the past summerand fall,while Roth,Durand,Columbae and 717 Dolores underwentsimilar renovations in the precedingyears.The CIP began 18 years ago afterStudent Housing studied the mainte-nance and upgrade needs of all resi-dences.Since then,92 percent of Rowhouses have undergone renovations.Bob,Casa Italiana and Storey are theremaining three.Whitney emphasizedthat Student Housing does not distin-guish Row houses from other resi-dences when considering CIP renova-tions.When asked what criteria StudentHousing uses for determining the needfor maintenance and renovations,Whitney acknowledged the importanceof both aesthetics and safety.
AGUSTIN RAMIREZ/The Stanford Daily
Firefighters survey the damage at the Law School yesterday after asmall fire in the second-floor faculty lounge caused $150,000 ofwater damage and forced those inside to evacuate.
Women walk for right to clean water
SARA PIASKOWY/The Stanford Daily
Be Hope To Her (BH2O+) participants walked through White Plaza yesterday to raise awareness of the need for clean water in Africa. Stanford was one of many universities participating.
ADMINISTRATION
Debt issued tohelp endowment
By THE DAILY NEWS STAFF
The University announced yesterday that it plansto issue new taxable debt within the next severalweeks.The debt offering will provide the University withmuch-needed liquidity—by August 2009,theendowment will have lost at least 30 percent of itsvalue,according to University officials.In fiscal year 2008,the endowment funded aboutone-quarter of operating revenues,which totaled $3.8billion.Over the next two fiscal years,Stanford plans tolower the endowment’s funding of University opera-tions by 25 percent.Several other universities,including Harvard,which issued $1.5 billion in debt in December,haveissued new debt since the recession began.Stanford debt currently receives the highest ratingoffered by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.The University has not yet released the details of the debt offering,and will do so only at the time of the transaction.More information can be found athttp://bondholder-information.stanford.edu.
Students voice concerns,how they will handle new changes
LAW SCHOOL
Fire damagesLaw School
By THE DAILY NEWS STAFF
Yesterday at 6:25 p.m.,a small fire broke out in a second-floor faculty lounge at the Law School,triggering fire sprin-klers that caused $150,000 of water damage.According to the Palo Alto Fire Department,the fire“looked to be accidental in cause,”and was likely startedwhen a box caught on fire near a small stove and the firespread throughout the room.The fire alarm was activated and those in the basement,first floor and second floor all evacuated the building.Noone was injured.The fire alarm system caused “approximately $150,000worth of water damage,”according to the Palo Alto FireDepartment.“Some electronics were involved.”Due to the electric damage,the circuitry has to be eval-uated before people can return to using the Law Schoolbuilding.However,the undamaged law library re-openedsoon after the incident.The fire was generally contained to the lounge when thefire department arrived,and minimal fire damage wasnoted.There were no problems putting out the fire,espe-cially since Law School officials were available to let thefire fighters into the building to extinguish it just minutesafter the call.
DRAW DEADLINES
April 22 - May 10, 2009
Students may apply for housing for the 2009-2010 academic year.(Coterminal degree students who are out of undergraduate guaranteeyears are considered to be graduate students and must apply by May 7.)
April 22, 2009
Deadline for students seeking pre-assignment to theme, focus and co-ophouses to apply for pre-assignment.
April 23, 2009
Deadline for students with disabilities AND their group members to applyin
Axess
.
April 30, 2009
Residence staff appointments announced.
May 10, 2009
6 p.m. deadline for all students to apply in
Axess
for housing and first-round Draw numbers. Deadline to join the waiting list for housing begin-ning winter or spring quarter and receive random application numbers.
May 23, 2009
Draw results announced. Assignments available in
Axess
.
Please see
DRAW
,page 2Please see
ROW
,page 5
Today
Mostly Sunny
8049
Tomorrow
Mostly Sunny
6545
FEATURES/2
FARM-GROWN CANDIDATE
Stanford alum Emanuel Pleitez hopes to rebuild,inspire hometown
The Stanford Daily
An Independent Publication
SPORTS/4
HOME STRETCH
Golf takes fourth in home tournament,gets ready for conference championship
www.stanforddaily.com
WEDNESDAY Volume 235
April 22, 2009Issue 42
2
N
Wednesday,April 22,2009
The Stanford Daily
SPEAKERS & EVENTS
Carterspeaks ongreen justice
STUDENT GOV’T
Senate debates formingcommittee on academics
By ZOE RICHARDS
STAFF WRITER
With its term almost over,and the transi-tion to a new Senate beginning,the 10thUndergraduate Senate debated at length abill proposed by Senators Stuart Baimel ‘09and Luukas Ilves ‘09 to create a new com-mittee on academic issues and policy,remov-ing the education component of the Senate’sStudent Life,Housing,Education (SLHE)committee.The Senate also passed two agenda items:the ASSU Operations Budget for 2009-2010and all of the funding bills for next fall.According to Ilves,there is a need for theASSU to develop the institutional capacityto directly address academic issues and holdforums to discuss educational policy.Ilves simultaneously suggested the needfor the Senate to increase its institutionalcapacity and envisions the formation of aseparate educational issues committee thatwould support Senate growth in terms of fortifying the student voice in academic pol-icy and elsewhere.“You need regularized oversight—Iwould critique the Senate on its underdevel-oped oversight,”he added.The majority of senators in attendancesaw the need for some kind of changes inregards to the committee.SLHE memberand Senator Zachary Johnson ‘10,who wasre-elected two weeks ago,explained the his-torical problems that SLHE has had inaddressing academic policy and other issues.“No one really worked on educationalissues—there was no one really elected tospearhead [academic concerns],”he said.Senator Yvorn “Doc”Aswad-Thomas ‘11agreed,stating the importance of establish-ing an education committee to hold individ-ual senators responsible for academic mat-ters.“If you have a separate committee—youcannot hide under SLHE,”Aswad-Thomassaid.The need for reform of SLHE seemed tobe one point of agreement for some old andnew senators alike.Senator-elect VarunSivaram ‘11 suggested that the timing of such a reform,as the Senate transitions,isright on target.“Luukas points out that general struc-ture reform needs to occur—perhaps thispiece-meal approach is not the best,”Sivaram said.“The timing is very good,butshould be in the context of a biggerreform.”However,for some senators,the absenceof the ASSU from educational matters andacademic concerns was not reason enoughto form a new committee.Stephanie Epps,speaking from her experience asAppropriations Committee co-chair andSLHE member,felt that the formation of asixth Senate committee was problematic.“I already think we have a committeewith the purview of educational issues,”Epps said.“At this point,it is aboutaccountability on the part of the commit-tee.”Communications Chair JonathanMcMaster ‘11 also questioned the feasibili-ty of separating the educational componentof SLHE and sectioning it off into its owncommittee.“It’s going to spread the Senate too thin—coming from someone who had a smallcommittee,”McMaster said.“If there weremore people on Senate,it would be a greatidea.”Still,others questioned the efficiency of having to pay an additional person to fillthe post.Epps suggested that perhapsinstead of having a deputy chair,the Senateshould move to select a point person byadding an academic policy chairman.But the lack of manpower was not com-pelling enough for Baimel to back downfrom his proposal.He emphasized theimportance of sending a message to theadministration that there are point peoplewho are responsible for academic issuesand who will actively lobby on behalf of thestudent body in the form of an academicpolicy committee.“I don’t think SLHE has worked verywell under policy coverage,”Baimel said.“[There is] no compelling reason to keepSLHE as SLHE.”The bill will face continued discussion innext week’s Senate meeting.Just as the Senate sees a host of newfaces ready to fill its seats,the ASSUOperations Budget for next fall was setwith numerous changes and some cuts.Some of the larger cuts include thestipend for the Nominations Commission(NomCom) chair;next year’s chair,PhillipHon ‘10,will see his stipend decrease by 33percent.The Graduate Student Council(GSC) newsletter will also be slashed by 60percent.However,some items received moremoney,as funds for equipment rental willsee a 50 percent budget increase,and theDiscretionary Programming for the GSCwill be bolstered with a 150 percentincrease from this year’s budget,makingthe cash pool for programs $25,000.Christina Nguyen ‘10 will be replacingMatt Sprague ‘10 in the capacity of CapitalGroup coordinator,and Roxna Irani ‘10will be funding coordinator for the ASSU.Among his final duties as Executiveoperations manager before he begins workas ASSU Executive-elect,David Gobaud‘08 M.S.‘10 is in the process of developinga public release of a “Moral Standing andPublic Spending”memorandum to addressissues of corruption within the ASSU andhow to prevent such acts throughincreasedstudent government transparency.
Contact Zoe Richards at iamzoe@stanford.edu.
By ELLEN DANFORD
Environmental justice activist MajoraCarter spoke of the links between the poor,economic troubles and environmentalism,andcalled for the creation of renewable energy jobs to anchor an economic recovery,in akeynote speech for Greenfest 2009 last nightin Annenberg Auditorium.“We were a community defined by crime,poor education,everything negative,”Cartersaid of the South Bronx,where she foundedSustainable South Bronx to improve the envi-ronmental factors in New York City.Thegroup also led to the establishment of theBronx Environmental Stewardship Training(BEST),which creates green jobs for unem-ployed Bronx residents.Carter and BEST were integral to intro-ducing smart roofs to the Bronx.Smart roofsgrow plants on top of houses to conservespace,keep buildings cooler and utilize 75-95percent of storm water.“We’re not saying green roofs are the be alland end all—this reduces the amount of storm water that has to be transferred by anentirely inefficient sewage system,”she said.Carter also blamed the economy for socialproblems in the Bronx.“This is about race and class—this is whatthe pollution based economy does to poorpeople,”she said.“Our current economy wasbuilt on the backs of poor people.”However,Carter is optimistic about herwork and the work of Americans for thefuture of an environmentally just nation,not-ing how “We’ve had enough of building allsorts of icky tributes to our failures.”She believes that now is the time to take astep forward for renewable energy and creat-ing new jobs,especially under PresidentObama.According to Carter,Obama is anacronym for “Officially Behaving AsMagnificent Americans.”The event was coordinated by a unique col-laboration of Students for a SustainableStanford,Students Taking on Poverty,Students Promoting Ethnic and CulturalKinship,Energy Crossroads and the NAACP.The collaboration of such different groupscame to the attention of many involved,including Carter.“I go to a lot of schools,and I have not seena coordinated group as diverse as the one whoorganized this,”she said.“[Carter] brings a new energy,”said MollyOshun ‘10,one of the organizers of Greenfest.“Her speech and the collaboration of all thesedifferent [organizing] groups give us more lee-way to explore what we are excited about.”“We are hitting an era where everyonewants a stake in the environmental issue,”added John Mulrow ‘09,president of Studentsfor a Sustainable Stanford.“We need to trans-form from our vision of sustainability toencompass all other viewpoints.”Many of the organizing members and stu-dents involved came to hear Carter speak onher work with the environment and the lowerclass.“Majora’s focus on environmental justice,advocacy for the overlooked and the incorpo-ration of social values and equity into cityplanning are,and will be,essential,”said DrewBennett ‘09,president of Energy Crossroads.In her speech,Carter covered many issuesimportant to Mulrow,Bennet and Mulfinger,including the environment,social problemsand community problems.Carter grew up in the South Bronx herself,and its poverty and poor environment led herto environmental justice.Bryce Golden-Chen ‘09 left inspired byCarter’s message,and was hopeful for thefuture.“It is great to see that the power of a grass-roots organization is something that haspotential to effect change in the environ-ment,”he said.“Also,we are beginning to seewith the new administration new legislation toreach a solution.”
Contact Ellen Danford at edanford@stanford.edu.
NEWS
NADIA MUFTI/The Stanford Daily
Majora Carter, founder of BronxEnvironmental Stewardship Training (BEST),spoke yesterday on how environmentalism canhelp create jobs and alleviate poverty.
Randy Zabaneh ‘10,a head peeracademic coordinator (HPAC) inNaranja,said that he was not wor-ried about the changes to theDraw because,“I’m guaranteed tobe Tier One.”Others feel there is no strategyinvolved in entering the Draw thisyear.“I think its all luck,”saidNatalie Carpenter ‘12.“I don’tthink there’s any strategy.”Some are opting to avoid theDraw altogether by claiming dis-ability or entering into pre-assign-ments.The deadline for pre-assignment applications is today,and those entering that round willnot be able to enter the main drawuntil after they determine the sta-tus of their pre-assignments.However,some,like Carpenter,felt the new pre-assignment strate-gy was too strict in commitmentlevel or the deadline was too soonto get done in time,and thereforewent straight into the regularDraw.“I wasn’t sure,if I got assigned,if I would be bound to thosespots,”she said.“I was thinkingabout Muwekma because I hangout there a lot,[but] it’s not myfirst choice and I didn’t want to bebound to it,”she said.Li didn’t think about participat-ing in pre-assignment at all.“I’ve heard about it,but I’m notvery certain what it is,”he said.“Honestly,I just had a lot of thingsgoing on.”For some,the stress of theDraw is eased by the fact that theycan enter their Draw group intothe system and opt to stay withthem for the entire duration.When asked whether she wasworried about the new Draw sys-tem,Carpenter replied,“Not somuch,because either way I knowI’ll be with friends.It’s my firstexperience with the Draw,so we’llsee how it goes.”Although the Draw openstoday,many students will put off actually entering until the end of the registration period,which runstoday through May 10 at 6 p.m.Haro thinks she will fill her outher form the day it is due,her rea-son being that it’s smartest“because I haven’t put muchthought into it,and I haven’tthought about where I want to liveyet.”The application deadline forthe Draw seemed to be a goodapproximation for when Zabanehplanned to submit his.When askedwhy,he responded,“Laziness.”
Contact Esperanza Guevara at egue-vara@stanford.edu.
DRAW
Continued from front page
Keynote for Greenfest 2009 links environment, social change
By DANA SHERNE
I
f you drive east of the bustle of LosAngeles and stay south of the wealth of Pasadena,you might be struck by amarked change in scenery.Some of thewindows of the small houses you willpass have bars on them,a slight improvementfrom those windows that are boarded up.Chain link fences surround many of the build-ings,but these are no barrier to the streetartists who have covered the walls in graffiti.For the residents of East Los Angeles,ElMonte,Monterey Park and West Covina,theeconomic plight of California’s 32nd congres-sional district is a testament to the need for anadministrative change.For Emanuel Pleitez‘05,an East-L.A.native,rebuilding the 32nddistrict is an issue close to his heart.Born in El Sereno,in the heart of his elec-toral district,Pleitez experienced firsthand theconditions he is now pledging to improve.Helived in the rundown neighborhoods,attendedthe same crumbling schools that are still indesperate need of funding and faced the samesocioeconomic challenges that continue toplague the district’s residents.Pleitez concedes that fixing the laundry listof problems won’t be easy,but starting withthe May 19 congressional primary,he is opti-mistic that his youth and hometown roots are just what is needed to improve the place hecalls home.
■
Pleitez lived the quintessential rags-to-rich-es story.He grew up in poverty,only to end upamassing a fair share of wealth while workingfor Goldman Sachs.He also knows all too wellthe disparities of the education system,havingbeen in under-funded East L.A.public schoolsbefore going on to Stanford.Pleitez does not struggle to reconcile thesedifferences.Instead,he thinks he can use hisrange of experience to show others that theycan improve their lives and find the sameopportunities he had.“I came from a very poor background inEast Los Angeles—a very poor area,”hesaid.“For me,to be able to get an education atStanford...to be able to get to the top institu-tions like Goldman Sachs—well,if I am notdoing every day what I can be doing to helpother people,then I don’t deserve theseopportunities.”Raised by a single mother in a strugglinghousehold,Pleitez passed through under-funded public schools like Woodrow WilsonHigh School and eventually became the first inhis family to go to college.As a Stanford student,Pleitez fostered hispolitical interests,taking time off to work forsuch local campaigns as Los Angeles MayorAntonio Villaraigosa’s mayoral bid,andnational campaigns like that of Senator JohnKerry for President.After graduating from Stanford,Pleitezworked as a financial analyst for GoldmanSachs.In November 2008,he started workingfor the Obama-Biden transition as part of theU.S.Treasury Department Agency reviewteam.All that,and he’s only 26 years old.Now,Pleitez is campaigning for the primaryelection on May 19 in the California 32nd dis-trict,his most ambitious project to date.He’s quick to emphasize,however,that hisexperiences in both the financial sector andpolitical world are not the most importantthings in differentiating him from the other 11candidates running.“What’s most important is that I actuallygrew up in this district,and that I actuallyunderstand the issues for the district,and notnecessarily my resume,”Pleitez said slowly,making every word ring clear.The district,he knows,is concerned witheducation and the economy.When Pleiteztalked about his priorities,these two goalsreinforced each other.He wants to help worktoward a country where,in his words,“peoplecan move up that ladder and be successful,nomatter what their economic background.”It is clear in talking to Pleitez that hebelieves such goals,while perhaps idealistic,are reachable.How could he not,when theyhave been the defining features of his life?“I want to incorporate [into politics] thecore belief that every single person that youspeak with has leadership ability,has some-thing of value to add in society,”Pleitez said.“If you’re a leader,you’re able to bring that outand be a leader and organize other people.”His voice sped up as the conversationturned to his clear passion for real leadership.“You need to allow everyone to be aleader,to have responsibility,to want to grow,”he said.“Everyone I meet has so much poten-tial to be unlocked,and if I’m a leader,I’m try-ing to bring that out.And in the end,that cre-ates an organization that is great because of the people.”“And that bleeds into,I think,a society or acity or a state or a county,”he continued,echo-ing the same pragmatic brand of idealism thatbrought Barack Obama to prominence.Prominence,however,is the last thing onPleitez’s mind.“Being a congressman where I grew up—I think that’s the ultimate kind of dedication toservice,”he explained.This commitment to service is somethinghe is eager to apply to his community;he seeshimself as the only candidate with enoughfinancial background to deal with the financialcrisis.His youth,too,according to Pleitez,willmake him an effective Congressman.“[I’m part of] the Facebook Age,wherewe’re a little more open-minded,where com-municating with someone from another coun-try isn’t that big a deal because we can do it soeasily,because we can exchange ideas withsomeone in a much more fluid manner,”henoted.“I think I’ll be able to represent that inCongress—that new generation,that newway of thinking,while still understanding thenuts and bolts.”But can he get to that point? Pleitez is con-sidered to be the third most likely Democraticcandidate in the race right now,trailing statesenator Gil Cedillo and Judy Chu,a memberof the state’s Board of Equalization.Despite the competition,he thinks he cangarner the candidacy.“To voters,it’s that I grew up there,”Pleitezsaid.“To people in the financial sector,it’s thatI have the experience to understand what’sreally going on.To my fellow Democrats,it’sthat I represent Democratic ideas and that I’ma fresh face.”“To me,it’s more that I’m committed toservice,and I really care about these commu-nities,”he continued,“and I’ll be able to putthese experiences together to be the best rep-resentative for this district.”On May 19,we’ll see if voters feel the sameway.
Contact Dana Sherne at desherne@stanford.edu.
F
EATURES
Photos courtesy Pleitez for Congress
TOP:
Emanuel Pleitez ‘05 gives a speechwhile campaigning in the Congressional pri-mary election in the California 32nd district.
BOTTOM:
Pleitez talks with members of hishometown while on the campaign trail.
B
ack to his humble beginnings
Emanuel Pleitez ‘05 runs for Congress in hometown
F
ew things in life explain a person morethan the way he or she was raised,andwho did the raising.So whenever a per-son asks me about how I became the neurotic,distrustful,kick-a-hobo-when-he’s-down kindof human being that I am,I tell them the fol-lowing story.When I was six,I got a loose tooth.As chil-dren are to do in such situations,I became ter-ribly excited.My celebration was not unwar-ranted;our tooth fairy,Clarissa,was among thegreatest to ever live.She would consistentlygive us $1.50 and a beautiful,if disgustinglysappy,poem on a handwritten letter (withhandwriting that looked slightly like my father,Reuben’s).She delivered on time,every time.That evening,when my father came homefrom work,I announced the exciting news,andhis eyes lit up.“Oh!”he exclaimed.Then,sud-denly,his expression completely changed toone of utter sadness.He stepped back.“Oh,”he said once more,this time in a hushed tone.“What?”I asked him quizzically.“What didthat second ‘Oh’ mean?”“I don’t really know how to say this,”my fa-ther began.He stopped.Then,regainingstrength,he said,“Clarissa had an accident.”“An accident?”My father turned away,and then faced meagain.He explained that Clarissa had tragical-ly slipped and fallen off a cliff,at the very leastseverely maiming her wings,and at worst—well,the doctors said she might not make it.One thing was for sure,though:we wouldn’t beseeing Clarissa anytime soon.My world was collapsing around me,andmy mind exploded with questions.Why thehell had she been hanging around a cliff? Whoin the world was this child who was sleepingthere? And once Clarissa fell off the cliff,well,why didn’t she just use her wings to fly back onthe cliff? But I stayed silent,as I knew my fa-ther would have no answers.I remember,though,that he seemed to be hiding a smile.Idid not know why.Eventually,I asked,“Well,will I still get mymoney?”“Don’t worry,”my father answered,“I’m al-ready interviewing new candidates.I promiseyou that by the time you lose your tooth,we’llhave a new tooth fairy,and she’ll be every bit asgood as Clarissa.”I wanted to trust my father,but then again,this was the same person who had hired a toothfairy who had just fallen off a cliff.A few days later,I lost my tooth.When myfather got home that night,I showed him mynew smile.He responded with a grin of hisown,and he told me exactly what I longed tohear.“That’s great news,Mark! Because guesswhat? Just today,I hired our new tooth fairy!”My eyes widened.“What’s her name?”Iasked,heart beating wildly.My father’s smile grew.“Al.”I stared,waiting.“Al what? What’s the restof her name?”He gave me a look of surprise.Dad chuck-led.“No,Mark.Al.That’s
his
name.”“AL???!!! You got me a male tooth fairynamed AL?”My dad interrupted,“No,you have to un-derstand! He’s just great.He’s specificallypromised me in the contract that he’ll alwaysdeliver on time and give even sweeter lettersthan Clarissa ever did.He’ll be the best toothfairy in the world.”As my father’s smile dramatically vanished,he said in a hushed tone,“Mark,you’ve got totrust me.”I sighed.Ever the good son,I told him I did.I woke up early the next morning and,re-membering that I was expecting some madcheddar under my pillow,scrambled out of bed,tore the bed sheets away,removed the pil-low,and there,right on my bed,lay...mytooth.In a fury,I raced downstairs to interrogatemy father.Put immediately on the defensive,my dad insisted he had told Al about the tooth,and that he was in no way to blame for the mis-communication.Besides,he was sure that Alwould show up some time soon.The process repeated no less than ten days.I could not believe it.My tooth literally beganrotting in my bed.Already Al was becomingthe worst tooth fairy I could have ever imag-ined.By the eleventh day,I had just about givenup all hope.So imagine my surprise when thatmorning,as I removed the pillow,in my tooth’splace lay a brilliant $20 bill.I couldn’t believeit.Perhaps,I thought,I had gotten Al all wrong.Alas,next to the $20 bill lay a letter,reminis-cent of those Clarissa would give before hertragic plight.Frantically,I tore it open,eager toread a Clarissa-like sappy poem that wouldmake me feel as if losing a tooth were some-how a great accomplishment.I looked at the front.“you’re pal al!”it said,all in lower-case letters.The “a”in “al”wasbackwards.The handwriting looked slightlylike my father’s.Confused,I read on,not real-izing I was in for the most unwelcome surpriseof my young life:“Dearly mark,congrafulation off lossingyou’re toof! unfortunate,could not findchange.you owe me $19.50! accepting cash orcheck!”Then,scribbled at the bottom,“you’repal al.”A picture of a toothy grin accompaniedthe sign-off.It looked as if it had been drawn bya three year-old.Once more,the “a”in Al wasbackwards.I raced downstairs again,head pounding.When I told my father what had happened thatmorning,he unexpectedly let out a laugh.“Well,”he chuckled,“I guess you gotta payhim!”Shocked,I explained I did not have acheckbook.My dad was shaking,he was laugh-ing so hard.“Well,isn’t that a shame!”Tearsbegan streaming down his face from laughter.And with that,tears began to stream downmine as well.Looking back,that was the mo-ment I began to lose trust not only in hu-mankind,but in fairy-kind as well.That,my friends,was my childhood in a nut-shell.So if you don’t like me,don’t blame mefor who I am.Blame Al.
Mark’s dad claims that this is not the way it real-ly happened.mrdonig@stanford.edu.
D
uring the Presidential campaign in thefall,Vice-Presidential candidate JoeBiden remarked in an interview thatAmericans who earn more than $250,000should expect to pay more in taxes.“It’s timeto be patriotic,”Mr.Biden said.“Time to jumpin.Time to be part of the deal.Time to help getAmerica out of the rut.”I remember hearing that tidbit reported ontheradio one morning as I was waking up.Iboth cheered and cringed.I cheered becausesomeone was finally fighting back against theright’s mindless anti-tax fanaticism.I cringedbecause I was afraid anti-tax sentiment in thiscountry was so strong that Biden and Obamawere going to get clobbered over the remark.Of course,the Republican ticket wastedno time in jumping on the statement.VP can-didate Sarah Palin said “Raising taxes isabout killing jobs and hurting small business-es and making things worse,”seeming to for-get at that time exactly what was paying forthe body armor being used by her son in Iraq.John McCain was even more blunt,sayingBiden’s stance was “just plain dumb.”The strength and vehemence of the anti-tax forces in this country never cease toamaze me.According to Douglas J.Amy,pro-fessor of politics at Mount Holyoke Collegeand creator of www.governmentisgood.com,there are over 800 anti-tax groups in the U.S.Grover Norquist,the president of one of the most powerful groups,Americans for TaxReform,became one of the chief architects of President Bush’s tax cuts.Norquist is notori-ous for his statement,“I don’t want to abolishgovernment.I simply want to reduce it to thesize where I can drag it into the bathroom anddrown it in the bathtub.”And most recently,right-wing groups havebeen staging “teabagging”protests againsttaxes and government spending (though Iwonder where these folks were when GeorgeW.Bush was adding $5 trillion to the nationaldebt).Now,of course,no one likes paying taxes.And it is certainly possible for taxes to get sohigh that they choke off investment andweaken the economy,leading to decreasedeconomic growth.But I believe that there aretwo essential truths about taxes that the right-wing noise machine has sought to destroy.First,while excessively high taxes acrossthe board may be a bad thing (and that’s evenarguable),there is a wide range of tax rateswithin which the economy can prosper.Idon’t have extensive studies to back this up,but some anecdotal evidence is compelling.First,during the Clinton years,the top mar-ginal federal tax rate (for those earning overroughly $280,000) was 39.6 percent.The Bushtax cuts lowered it to 35 percent,and also cutcapital gains taxes,which was mostly a boonto the wealthy and ultra-wealthy.And there’s no doubt that the economywas far stronger,at least for the averageAmerican,during the Clinton years.DuringClinton’s two terms,the U.S.economy addedover 22 million new jobs,while duringDubya’s days the total is a paltry 1.9 million.Of course,there were a multitude of factorsthat went into these numbers,but clearly thesignificantly higher taxes of the Clinton yearsdid not destroy our economy.And here’s a fact that might surprise you:During the incredibly prosperous boom of the 1950s and early 1960s,the top marginaltax rate was 91 percent (on incomes of over$400,000).The second truth about taxes is perhapseven more fundamental.You cannot run acomplex,modern society with 300 million di-verse citizens without a strong,well-organ-ized government.And that government runson taxes.George Lakoff,a linguistics profes-sor at UC-Berkeley who writes extensivelyon politics,puts it best:“Taxes are our dues—we pay our dues tobe Americans and enjoy the benefits of American society,”he said.“Taxes are whatwe pay to live in a civilized society that is dem-ocratic,offers opportunity and has a huge in-frastructure available to all citizens.This in-credible infrastructure has been paid for byprevious taxpayers.Roads and highways,theInternet,the broadcast airwaves,our publiceducation system,our power grid—everyday we all use this vast infrastructure.Ourdues maintain it.”And Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wen-dell Holmes,Jr.put it even more eloquently:“I like to pay taxes.With them I buy civiliza-tion.”Even if,unlike Holmes,you don’t enjoysending your hard-earned money to the gov-ernment,remember that it would be impossi-ble for you to have your job as a teacher,lawyer,investment banker,doctor,etc.if wedid not live in a stable and prosperous socie-ty,whose stability and prosperity is paid for byour taxes.I’m not arguing that taxes should by de-fault always be high.I believe they should beas low as possible while still paying for the in-stitutions that keep our society just,fair andfunctioning.In short,wanting to enjoy the benefits of American society without paying taxes is likewanting to enjoy privileges at a country clubwithout paying dues.In the old days,peoplewith that penchant were called freeloaders.Today,they’re called conservatives.
David Goldbrenner would be happy to paytaxes if he weren’t a poor student.He can bereached at goldbren@stanford.edu.
The Stanford Daily
Wednesday,April 22,2009
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n Monday,The Daily reported thatthe program known as Summer Re-search College (SRC) will no longerguarantee housing for undergraduates livingon campus while they conduct research overthe summer (see “Summer Research Col-lege cut”).In previous years,SRC housednearly 200 students in Manzanita and hireddorm staff to handle academic and socialprogramming for participating researchers.Students will no longer receive any sort of preference in the summer Draw,and will beplaced in different dorms around campus.Administrators cited the sharp drop inthe University’s endowment and resultingbudget cuts as reasons for the change.ViceProvost for Undergraduate Education JohnBravman observed that the elimination of the housing component of SRC would allowStanford to hand out approximately 15 moresummer research grants than the Universitywould otherwise be able to afford.The editorial board is concerned that theelimination of SRC’s residential program-ming is likely to have a negative impact onthe quality of students’ experience.Accord-ing to the Undergraduate Academic Life(UAL) Web site,SRC housing programming“is a series of free events intended to enrichundergraduates’ summer research experi-ence.”Until now,the housing component of SRC was integral to creating a sense of com-munity for those participating in the pro-gram.There is reason to believe that the ad-ministration’s decision to cut this part of SRC will preclude many of the friendshipsthat form and intellectual discussions thattake place in the comfort and safety of thedorm.It is also important to note that under-classmen,who constitute a large segment of the SRC population,are likely to suffer fromthe elimination of consolidated housing.Ris-ing sophomores and juniors benefit mostfrom having a sense of community,particu-larly during the summer when many of theirfriends are not on campus.Without a dormcommunity to fall back on,the editorialboard is worried that some students willhave a hard time managing the non-SRC so-cial environment.The consequences of dis-persed housing will vary,of course,from per-son to person,but students may flounderwithout dorm planning or events.SRC isabout much more than faculty-mentored re-search,and the social experience will be dif-ferent without the highlights of residentialprogramming.As stated time and again,the edit boardunderstands that the University faces a seri-ous economic challenge and has to make dif-ficult decisions about how to pare down thebudget.While it is important to preserve asmany grants for undergraduate research aspossible,it is also crucial to consider the mis-sion of SRC as a whole—particularly theramifications that the elimination of studenthousing will have on the summer researchexperience.It may be that it is less beneficialfor the University to fund an additional 15students if the overall SRC experience isnegative due to the loss of social cohesion.Moreover,it appears that the administra-tion’s decision to redirect SRC’s residentialfunding was made without student input.Asfar as we know,the administration did notdiscuss the changes with students who haveparticipated in the program in years past.Aswith the implementation of Vaden healthservice fees,changes to the housing draw andchanges to next year’s drop deadline,theAdministration did not adequately surveythe greater student body before implement-ing a change that would greatly affect them,and once again the editorial board is decry-ing the administration’s apparent lack of concern for student input.Hopefully theywill start listening soon.
SRC cut hazardous tosummer experience
The lazy college kid’sguide to Earth Day
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kay,so the whole world is warming up—polar bears are drowning off theirmelting icebergs,our kids will neverknow what a glacier is and Florida is going tolargely disappear underwater.But thesehuge issues beg the question:what am I,as anopen-minded but admittedly lazy collegekid,supposed to do about it?Luckily,there are a lot of little ways thatwe can change our habits without having tochain ourselves to ancient redwoods or eatgranola for every meal.Here’s a list of sever-al easy things you can do this Earth Day tomake a little bit of difference—and if enough of us get on board,we might just savea few polar bears along the way.
Turn your lights off when you’re leaving aroom for more than 15 minutes
Most college dorms still use incandescentlight bulbs,which have not significantly ad-vanced technologically since they were in-vented 125 years ago (around the same timeas the telegraph and the steam locomotive).If you don’t want to install CFL bulbs,whichare 75 percent more efficient than tradition-al incandescent bulbs),turn your lights off when you’re not going to be around.Duringthe day,use windows and natural lighting in-stead of electricity.Your computer also uses an absurdamount of energy,which you can cut downon by setting your computer to go to sleepautomatically during short breaks.And assweet as those flying toasters might be,don’tuse a screen saver—they use almost tentimes as much energy as a computer in sleepmode.When you go to sleep,turn your com-puter off—it is an urban legend that turningyour computer on and off repeatedly hurtsthe machine.
Bring your own coffee mug
In 2005,Americans used and discarded14.4 billion disposable paper cups for hotbeverages.If put end-to-end,those cupswould circle the earth 55 times.Based onanticipated growth of specialty coffees,that number will grow to 23 billion by 2010—enough to circle the globe 88 times.Plus,those coffee cups are lined with petro-chemicals in order to keep them from leak-ing.Based on hot cup usage in 2005,thepetrochemicals used in the manufacture of those cups could have heated 8,300 homesfor one year.If you bring your own to-go mug,mostplaces will offer you a 15 or 25 cent discount.Or save that embarrassingly exorbitant fourdollars you’d spend on a latte and just makea drink at home before you go.
Take a shorter shower
Every four minutes in the shower,you useup to 10 gallons of precious fresh water.Plus,heating water accounts for up to 25 percentof the total energy used in a single-familyhome.That’s more energy,on average,than isneeded to drive a medium-sized car 12,000miles.
Only do your laundry when you have a full load
It takes 40 gallons of water to do an av-erage load of laundry with a top-loadingwashing machine,and 86 percent of energyconsumed by washing goes into heating thewater.How to cut down? Wash only yourreally disgustingly dirty clothes in hotwater.Most clothes can safely be washed incold,and this alone could eliminate up to1,600 pounds of yearly CO2 emissions inthe average household (just think abouthow much more a dorm emits).As for thedryer,the lint filter on your dryer can de-crease the energy used per load by up to 30percent,so make sure to clean it before youstart a load.
Print double-sided or on old scrap paper
Here’s the whirlwind of statistics:Over 40 percent of the world wood har-vest ends up as paper.Last year,the UnitedStates threw out 20 percent of all the papermade in the world.One fifth of all the tropi-cal rainforests in the world disappeared be-tween 1960 and 1990.It takes about 31 mil-lion BTUs to make a ton of paper—enoughenergy to power a U.S.home for two months.The average cost of a wasted piece of paper is$.06.When you’re buying printer paper,buyrecycled.Set your printer to print double-sided or feed it scrap paper that you don’tneed anymore.And think twice about print-ing things—are you one of those compul-sive hi-lighter kids,or could you just read orstore it on your computer instead? Onceagain,not too hard.
EDITORIAL
Unsigned editorials in the space above represent the views of The Stanford Daily's editorial board and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Daily staff.The editorial board is comprised of two former Daily staffers,three at-large student members and the two editorial board co-chairs.Any signed columns and contributionsare the views of their respective writers and do not necessarily represent the views of the entire editorial board.To contact the editorial board for an issue to be considered,or to submit an op-ed,please email editorial@daily.stanford.edu.
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TEAL THIS
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My pal Al
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Taxes are patriotic
DavidGoldbrenner
Please see
EARTH
,page 5
MarkDonig
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