Gobaud introduces Draw matchmaker program
By LAURA STAMPLER
Music engulfed a packed White Plaza yes-terday in a student-organized celebration of Earth Day 2009.GreenFest,sponsored byStudents for a Sustainable Stanford (SSS),isa week’s worth of celebration and environ-mentally conscious events,its raison d’etrebeing yesterday’s festivities.GreenFest coordinators Molly Oshun ‘11and Alex Luisi ‘12 made sure that no student,activist or otherwise,could walk around cam-pus without noticing the events.White Plaza was lined with brightly deco-rated stands representing numerous studentorganizations,artwork,a produce stand,games,raffles and musical performances.Crowds surrounded the Parking andTransportation Services (PT&S) stand,which had a display of stationary bikes con-nected to blenders.“We’re peddle-powering smoothies with-out electricity,”said bike coordinatorAriadne Scott.“So,it’s a blender bike! JambaJuice donated all of the fruit and juice,so wecan get on and peddle-power smoothies onEarth Day.”PT&S also had a “Love your bike”com-plimentary maintenance station to promotealternative modes of transportation and puton a raffle,the winner of which would be ableto name a Zip Car.Some students chose to come to the eventin costume,or even full-on body paint.“I really love Earth Day;I think it’s a fab-ulous day,and I’m down for any excuse towear a costume,”said Jolie Glaser ‘08,whodyed herself for the occasion.“Last year,Istarted dying myself green and wearing cos-tumes to Earth Day,and it was so much funthat I had to do it again.I think that theturnout today is excellent and it’s also awe-some that just being green and walkingaround campus,people will say ‘Happy EarthDay’ to me,even away from this event.It’sreally fun.”“You know,every day should be EarthDay,”said Matt Lucky ‘10.“It shouldn’t haveto be official to be celebrated.But I actuallyhave my class on sustainable energy rightafter this,so GreenFest is pretty appropriateright now.”Earth Day has become the world’s largestsecular holiday and its history is closelylinked to the Stanford community.Stanford’sown Denis Hayes ‘69 coordinated the firstEarth Day on April 22,1970 as a way toappreciate the Earth’s environment.Hayeskicked off the GreenFest 2009 festivities bygiving a speech on Meyer Lawn on April 14
Index
Features/2 • Opinions/4 • Sports/6 •Classifieds/7
Recycle Me
STUDENT GOV’T
GSCdiscussesbudget
By DANIEL BUI
STAFF WRITER
Last night,the Graduate StudentCouncil (GSC) discussed the newlyappointed members of the NominationsCommission (NomCom),budgetingissues and departmental responses to therecently announced Vaden HealthCenter fee.The GSC began the meeting with theSenate report,where incoming ASSUPresident David Gobaud ‘08 M.S.‘10announced the development of a Website called the ASSU Matchmaker.Created separately from StanfordResidential & Dining Enterprises,thesite is designed to help students with sim-ilar living preferences connect with oneanother for the upcoming Draw.“It helps people who are entering thelottery find roommates with similarinterests,such as social level or noiselevel,”Gobaud said.After entering their preferences,theprogram will run an algorithm that willrecommend the best matches to partici-pating students.Gobaud stressed thatthe results of the algorithm would simplybe recommendations for finding livingpartners.“It’s up to you to initiate contact andto form a group if you want,”he finished.The GSC was introduced to JonathanBakke Grad ‘11,the newly appointedchair of NomCom,a body that selectsstudents to take leadership positions inUniversity committees.Delegates continued the meetingwith a discussion on budgeting issues forthe following year.The recent decision by the Universityto dramatically slash funding for theGraduate Student Programming Board(GSPB) was met with a major con-tention from the GSC.Funding for the GSPB provided bythe Graduate Life Office and the Office
13 Stanford faculty members submit appeal
FACULTY & STAFF
Profs.criticizestimulus
By MOLLY SPAETH
In a paper submitted last week,13Stanford experts on telecommunica-tions,auctions and competition policy joined 58 other economists in urgingthe National TelecommunicationsInformation Agency (NTIA) and theRural Utilities Service (RUS) toaward broadband stimulus grants tothe lowest bidder,using auction mech-anisms to distribute grants.The economists say that this willlead to greater efficiency in capitalallocation of the $7.2 billion in eco-nomic stimulus money slated for high-speed Internet development.The paper,which has been signedby 71 different economists from vari-ous universities across the country,was submitted in response to thebroadband stimulus Notice of Inquiry(or NOI) that called on individuals orgroups to submit various proposals onthe most efficient means of distribut-ing grant money to improve telecom-munications and broadband servicefor underserved areas.The proposal was based on the suc-cess that procurement auctions havehad in providing universal services tovarious sectors of the U.S.govern-ment,and in underserved areas of countries like Chile and India.Last Friday,Gregory Rosston,deputy director of the StanfordInstitute for Economic PolicyResearch (SIEPR) and formerdeputy chief economist of the FederalCommunications Commission (FCC),met with leaders of the NationalEconomic Council,the FCC,NTIAand RUS to discuss the proposal.“I had some people at this meetingwho were very interested and somewho were very skeptical,so whoknows what’s going to happen,”Rosston said.“The fact that NTIAcalled me back after the meeting is agood sign.”A key goal of the proposal was tomake the grant selection process moretransparent and less politically moti-vated.“It allows projects in different areasto compete against each other insteadof competing by having yourCongressman call my Congressman,”Rosston said.However,there are some barriersto turning the proposal into action.The NTIA administrator nominee,Larry Strickling,has yet to be con-firmed by the Senate.Until he is con-firmed,it will be much harder to dis-tribute the $3.6 billion that has beenallocated to the NTIA for creatingbroadband infrastructure.Furthermore,under the AmericanRecovery and Reinvestment Act,Congress has until Feb.17,2010 todeliver a national broadband plan.However,RUS has plans to distributea large chunk of its money bySeptember,and NTIA will be spend-ing its money in three phases:spring2009,fall 2009,and spring 2010.For this reason,many worry thatthe stimulus money allocated forbroadband grants may be spent beforea national broadband plan even exists.However,the policymakers whoworked on the proposal recognizedthis problem and urged lawmakers toallocate at least a portion of the firstwave of broadband stimulus fundingand expand if the program were suc-cessful.“We realize [the proposal] is sort of pushing the envelope,”Rosston said.“If you don’t want to do this all atonce,then you should allocate at least
O
BAMA
:H
AS CHANGE COME
?
By DAVID GILL
L
ast November,Sarahi Constantine ‘11spent the night before the electionhanding out flyers for the BarackObama campaign,making sure thatpeople knew where they could voteand how to get there.Constantine was part of the Stanford chap-ter of Students for Obama,an organization thatcaptured some of the excitement felt by manystudents around the country who joined theeffort to elect the Senator from Illinois tobecome the 44th President of the UnitedStates.Almost 100 days after the inauguration,Constantine now says that while she does notnecessarily agree with all of the new adminis-tration’s policies,she is very happy with theopenness that Obama introduced inWashington—in how he listens to people andmakes decisions.“A variety of opinions brings the best solu-tions,and I just love it when I hear how hisadvisers argue over,say,economic policy,”Constantine said.“I know that Obama is listen-ing to everyone,something we have not seen inthe past eight years.”According to a recent New York Times/CBSNews poll,Constantine’s optimism is shared bytwo-thirds of Americans who approve of President Obama’s performance thus far.Recently,though,there has also been grow-ing criticism aimed at the President,includingamong Obama supporters.Some have raisedquestions on whether,for example,the admin-istration is doing enough to address the eco-nomic meltdown,restore faith in the financialmarkets and deal with the situation in Iraq andAfghanistan.With the Obama team facing the transitionfrom a campaign to a presidency,some havealso suggested that students who went all-outfor Obama last fall have now come down toearth and are,well,over him.
Please see
GSC
,page 3
ALEXYU/The Stanford Daily
Students gathered in White Plaza yesterday to celebrate Earth Day, with booths hosted by studentgroups such as Students for a Sustainable Stanford.
Students celebrate Earth Day
WORLDWIDE EVENT HAS ROOTS AT STANFORD
F
EATURES
P
RESENTS
Please see
OBAMA
page 2Please see
ECON
,page 3Please see
EARTH
,page 3
AGUSTINRAMIREZ/The Stanford Daily
Sophomore pitcher Ashley Chinn had nine strikeouts whileallowing only three walks and no hits in the Cardinal’s 3-0 vic-tory over San Jose State.
SPARTANSBLANKED
Sophomore AshleyChinn throws no-hitter
By CHRIS FITZGERALD
DAILY SPORTS INTERN
No.4 Stanford (37-6,7-5 Pacific-10Conference) bounced back from a los-ing weekend in Arizona,blanking SanJose State (18-30,5-10 Western AthleticConference) last night.The Cardinalrode on the shoulders of sophomoreAshley Chinn in the circle.Chinn no-hitthe Spartans and posted nine strikeoutsin the 3-0 win at Smith Family Stadium.The Spartans entered the game win-less against Stanford since 2002.Coupled with the Card’s 20-1 homerecord entering play on Wednesday,Stanford was a paper champion beforeplay began.On the other hand,Stanford had lost four of its last sixgames,including two losses by run ruleat the Arizona schools.Chinn praised her team’s ability tobounce back after a pair of losses lastweekend.“The series was pretty ugly,wethought,”Chinn said.“It’s somethingwe don’t want to repeat.We came outand had a great practice on Monday.”Chinn tossed seven completeinnings,facing 22 Spartan hitters.Shesurrendered just three walks and didnot allow a runner to move beyond sec-ond base.Stanford scored all three runs in thesixth inning.Sophomore Melissa Koutzstarted the scoring surge with a walk,but freshman Maya Burns and class-mate Jenna Becerra followed with fly-outs in succession,creating an all-too-
SOFTBALL
4/22vs. San Jose State
W
3-0
UP NEXTOREGON
(15-26, 2-10 Pac-10)
4/24Smith Family Stadium7 P.M.
Please see
NOHIT
,page 6
Today
Mostly Sunny
6145
Tomorrow
Mostly Sunny
6246
FEATURES/2
AWKWARD WEEKEND
Things you hope won’t happenduring your Admit Weekend
The Stanford Daily
An Independent Publication
SPORTS/6
CIRCLING THE BASES
Cardinal offense explodes for 11 runs inwin over Cal
www.stanforddaily.com
THURSDAY Volume 235
April 23, 2009Issue 43
a
PROFROS, CHECK OUT THE DAILY’S OPEN HOUSE, 8-10 P.M. TONIGHT
Marina Jenkins J.D.‘10,who served as acoordinator for the Stanford for Obamachapter,may be one of those students.“I’m very confident with Obama asPresident,”she said.“It’s hard to imaginehow anyone else in his position,having toface with what he’s facing,would have doneany different or better.”At the same time,Jenkins also expressedconcerns about some of the White House’spolicies.For example,she fears that WallStreet may have too big of a say on how thegovernment approaches the economic crisisand that some of Obama’s advisers are try-ing to “put bandages over a broken finan-cial system instead of repairing it.”Debashish Bakshi ‘10,who was also aStanford campus coordinator for Obama,said that while he is generally happy withthe President,he is also “not sure”about theplan to remove toxic assets from banks andwhy detainees in Afghanistan are treateddifferently from those in Guantanamo Bay.So are students more realistic todayabout Obama than they were during thecampaign?“It’s hard to shift from being defensiveof your candidate all the time to askingquestions and participating in an open dis-cussion,”Jenkins noted.“It took me awhile,but I am now in a position where Iam able to provide some,let’s call it ‘con-structive criticism.’”Some who worked on the campaignreject the notion that expectations were toohigh to begin with.“The campaign used very strong rhetoricabout change,but it was clear that Obamawould not be able to solve everything atonce,”Constantine said.“We have alwaysbeen realistic about that.”Stephanie Parker ‘11,who was also withthe Stanford for Obama group,felt thatwhile it is true that Obama’s persona was akey attraction for many students,support-ers who have worked on policy researchand know where Obama stood are happywith what he has already accomplished.“I hear people disappointed and evenangry,”she said.“I think those who areangry simply project onto Obama theirunrealistic expectations that all problemswill be solved within a few months.Or,maybe they are just looking for a reason tobe mad no matter what.”Bakshi echoed this sentiment.“People were fairly realistic during thecampaign,and for those who cared aboutprogressive issues like putting a lot of money into health care,schools and renew-able energy,I think Obama has met theirexpectations,”Bakshi said.Law Prof.Bill Gould,who was on thecampaign’s team of advisers,said he feelsinspired by Obama’s taking on so manyissues at the same time,although he worriesthat he may not be politically able to fightall of these battles at once.Gould added that while he is also trou-bled with the approach that TreasurySecretary Timothy Geithner and EconomicAdviser Larry Summers are taking with theeconomic crisis,he finds that Obama has“moved effectively to listen to what otherpeople are saying as well,and to publicreaction.”This overall high satisfaction withObama’s first few months in office can alsobe explained by the “grace period”theyoung President is still enjoying.Or,asJenkins suggested,Obama’s backers atStanford may simply need more time toadjust to their candidate now making deci-sions that call for deeper scrutiny.But with the election vibe fading andfinals approaching,some students whoworked day in and day out for the cam-paign have moved on.Or have they?Gould said he would not be surprised if fervent Obama supporters do not show thesame enthusiasm next time,assuming hecontinues acting the way he has so far.Atthe grassroots level,however,not everyoneagrees.Parker sensed that many studentshave indeed moved on with their lives.“An effort to redeploy them now wouldprobably be much more difficult,”shesmiled.In the meantime,those who worked forthe campaign are planning their nextmoves.Constantine,for instance,is hopingfor a future career in Washington.Bakshi iscurrently exploring new opportunities forpolitical activism,eyeing San FranciscoMayor Gavin Newsom’s campaign forCalifornia governor.And Parker is “repri-oritizing school,”but said she will probablyalso be involved with the upcoming race forCalifornia governor.At the same time,some are trying to geta grasp of where the political wind blows bylooking at something as simple asUniversity dorms.“Stanford was one of the most Pro-Obama campuses during the election,”Bakshi observed.“I think that has not real-ly changed.Hey,when I go around campusthese days,I still see a lot of Obama posterson the windows and walls!”
Contact David Gill at david.gill78@gmail.com.
ALEXYU/The Stanford Daily
Debashish Bakshi ‘10, Sarahi Constantine ‘11 and Marina Jenkins J.D. ‘10 were ardently pro-Obama in the fall. Now, like millions of oth-ers across America, they are evaluating Obama on the policy he has brought forward, not his campaign promises and persona.
2
N
Thursday,April 23,2009
The Stanford Daily
F
EATURES
Jason Law ‘10
“When I was a ProFro, I was awoken in the middle of the nightwhen my RoHo’s roommate, who had been pledging Sigma Chi, stumbled into the room. He was completely wasted, wore only tat-tered boxers, and was covered in ketchup. That’s when I decided not to rush a fraternity.”
Xavi Gaeta ‘09
“The ProFro in the room next to me came early, so my whole hall ganged up on her. We stalked her on MySpace and set our desktop backgrounds as pictures of her and her boyfriend. The look of horror on her facewhen she came into our room was unforgettable.”
Avantika Agarwal ‘12
“When my friend was a ProFro, he got taken onto aboat on Lake Lag with a bunch of drunk grad stu- dents, who thought it was would be incredibly funnyto capsize the boat in order to allow the ProFros the delight of enjoying a swim in the not-so-beautiful lake. Stay away from sketchy, drunk grads!”
Brett Ostrander ‘11
“When I was a RoHo I was looking around my room for my misplaced ID card when my ProFro came strolling in with a ‘Strawberry Fields’ smoothie from Late Nite. He placed my card on the desk and then coldly said ‘thanks...’”
Stephanie Vezich ‘10
“When I was a RoHo, I walked in on my ProFro hooking up with some guy in my roommate’s bed. Pretty traumatizing for all involved parties.”
Jeri Canlas ‘11
“I got locked out because [the RoHos] were drinkingin the inner room. They left a bot-tle of Smirnoff on my sleepingbag. I slept in the lounge with friends I met that weekend.”
Jonathan Scrafford ‘09
“When my little sister was a ProFro, she got sexiled by her RoHo. She left the room to take a shower and came back to a locked door. She was told to ‘wait a minute,’ after which she waited half an hour for the room host to let her in, when she noticed the male guest who had kept her RoHo occupied. Her RoHo made it sufficiently obvi- ous that they wanted to be left alone together, so my sister packed up her stuff and spent the night with my mom at an off-campus hotel. Naturally, my sister decided not to come to Stanford. Don’t let this hap- pen to a ProFro ever again.”
James Barton ‘09
“My advice to a ProFro is ask for directions before you go anywhere. I was placed in a bad, low-ener- gy dorm on west campus, and I wanted to eatbreakfast at Wilbur with some friends. I got stuckbehind the Encina Modules for 30 minutes, and myVerizon phone was dead—curse you, Stanford- AT&T conglomeration! Still, don’t judge what dorm life is going to be like at Stanford by where you’re placed for Admit Weekend.”
Cynthia He ‘10
“I never met my RoHo. We must have missed each other at the meet-and-greet. And she never cameback. Apparently she got ‘sick’ and stayed at herboyfriend’s.”
—Compiled by Emma Trotter, Amy Harris,Ellie Titusand Vineet Singal
THE STRENGTH TO HEAL
OBAMA
Continued from front page
Nine horror stories
FROM
Admit Weekends past
LAURA CHANG/The Stanford Daily
The Stanford Daily
Thursday,April 23,2009
N
3
a portion of the money and try thissystem and see what is the price perhousehold.”Although the proposal wasn’t offi-cially submitted until April 13,the ideaof using procurement auctions to dis-tribute stimulus money had been cir-culated throughout the group of poli-cymakers before the stimulus bill hadeven existed,back when Rosston wasworking on Obama’s transition team.Once the stimulus bill was passed,brainstorming began and 13 Stanfordeconomists got on board.Afterwards,they sent their proposal out to othernotable names in economics.“We thought this was a prettyimportant thing with so much moneyat stake,”Rosston said.“We got a listof names of people who were intelecommunications—around 120people.A few made comments andhad some questions on things,but wedidn’t end up changing it very muchand got people to sign on.”Not every economist whoendorsed the procurement auctionproposal endorsed the stimulus pack-age,however.In fact,many disagreedon the overall effectiveness of thestimulus package and broadbandinfrastructure development on creat-ing jobs and spurring the economy.“I was originally hesitant to jointhis team partly because I’m againstthe stimulus package,”said AndrzejSkrzypacz,associate professor of eco-nomics at the GSB.“I was thinkingthat if I’m writing something aboutspending the stimulus money,maybethat will be interpreted that I’m one of the guys who is saying that we shouldbe spending the money.But that’s notwhat we’re writing about.We’re sayingthat given that we’re going to spendmoney,let’s at least minimize waste.”Economics Prof.Paul Milgrom,one of the signatories of the paper,dis-agreed with Skrzypacz’s sentiment.“I think that for us to have a coun-try that’s unified,it is really importantthat communication access be widelyavailable,”Milgrom said.“I think wedo need a stimulus package at thispoint,and I think the best use of thestimulus money is to spur investment,and I think this is a relatively goodone.”Now that the paper has been sub-mitted for review,the 71 economistswho signed on can only wait to seewhether the NTIA and RUS adopttheir new auction approach.“The government will have to givethe proposal a careful hearing,”Milgrom said.“It’s always the case thatbureaucrats think that they recognizethe flaws in new ways and they are lesscognizant of the flaws in the old ways.We will advocate and try to convincepeople that there really are flaws inthe old approach.”If the NTIA and RUS do decide touse procurement auctions and theapproach is successful,Skrzypacz pre-dicted that the entire process of allo-cating subsidies in areas outside thetelecommunications industry could berevolutionized.“I think there is a huge opportuni-ty to change,in general,how policiesare made,”Skrzypacz said.“This willbe like a pilot program.We can try touse the auctions,and if it is successful,I think it will make it much easier forpolicymakers to see auctions as arobust way to allocate subsidies.”
Contact Molly Spaeth at mspaeth@ stanford.edu.
ECON
Continued from front page
University receivesrecycling award
By THE DAILY NEWS STAFF
Stanford University was awardedthe 2009 American Forest & PaperAssociation (AF&PA) award todayduring an Earth Day fair on campus.Stanford recovered nearly 3,000 tonsof paper for recycling and avoidedmore than $130,000 in landfill fees in2008,and its success in recyclingefforts can largely be credited toonline outreach,promotional mate-rials,staff presentations and person-al contacts within the Stanford com-munity.The AF&PA awards annuallyrecognize a business,community,school and college or university foroutstanding dedication to paperrecycling efforts.The AF&PArecently announced that similarrecycling programs across the coun-try have recovered 57.4 percent of allpaper consumed in the U.S.for recy-cling in 2008.
11 Stanford faculty inducted into AAAS
By THE DAILY NEWS STAFF
Eleven Stanford faculty membersand one University consulting pro-fessor have been elected into theAmerican Academy of Arts andSciences,one of the country’s oldesthonorary learned societies.The newly elected fellows fromStanford are:—Hongjie Dai,the J.G.Jacksonand C.J.Wood professor in chem-istry—Deborah Hensler,the Judge JohnW.Ford professor in dispute and res-olution and associate dean for grad-uate studies at the Law School—Matthew Jackson,the William D.Eberle professor in economics—Aharon Kapitulnik,professor of physics and applied physics—Mark Krasnow,professor andchair of the Department of Biochemistry—Alexander Krosnick,theFrederic O.Glover professor inhumanities and social sciences—W.James Nelson,the Rudy J.andDaphne Donohue Munzer professorand professor of molecular and cel-lular physiology—Norman Nie,research professorof political science—Stuart S.P.Parkin,consultingprofessor of applied physics anddirector of the IBM-StanfordSpintronic Science and ApplicationsCenter—Deborah Rhode,the Ernest W.McFarland professor of law—Jennifer Widom,the FletcherJones professor of computer scienceand professor of electrical engineer-ing—Tobias Wolff ,the Ward W.andPriscilla B.Woods professor and fac-ulty member in the Department of EnglishThe Class of 2009 had a total of 212 new fellows and 19 foreign hon-orary members.With the election of this year’s class,the number of livingAcademy fellows among theStanford community is 254.
NEWS BRIEFS
about his role in Earth Day’s con-ception and how current studentscan get involved in the sustainabilityeffort.Other events around campusincluded activist seminars,a CleanTech Exhibition,a speech by famedsocial and environmental socialadvocate Majora Carter on“Greening the Ghetto”andStanford’s first-ever SustainableFashion Show (SFS),which tookplace last night.“Essentially,our mission of theshow is to take eco-friendliness toanother level and really apply sus-tainability to some new field andmake it a much more widespreadand popular thing,especiallyamongst the students at Stanford,”said SFS Head CoordinatorDarienne Truner ‘11.“We haveupwards of 20 designers that areshowcased in our fashion show,andeach one keeps our remains sustain-able,either through using sustain-able textiles like organic cotton,hemp,bamboo,or they reinvent vin-tage clothes,or they actually maketheir clothes out of recyclable items,such as newspaper.It was a reallyinteresting and diverse show withlots of different artistic perspec-tives.”Students involved in the sustain-ability movement on campus viewedGreenFest and Earth Day as a suc-cess in uniting diverse environmen-tally conscious organizations.“I think every activist group oncampus suffers from time to timefrom being so wrapped up in theirissue that they don’t give a thoughtto other issues,”said SSS co-President John Mulrow ‘09.“AndGreenfest is actually a counter tothat point,because over 20 studentgroups are out in White Plaza,repre-sented from all different back-grounds of activism:social,econom-ic,food,environmental activism—things like that are coming together.”Even the events that were creat-ed around GreenFest spawned newstudent activist groups.The SFSinspired the Sustainable FashionCollective,which will be hosting theshow for years to come.The MajoraCarter talk not only combined theefforts of five student organizations,but also inspired the creation of Environmental Justice,which will bestarting up this quarter.
Contact Laura Stampler at lastamp@ stanford.edu.
EARTH
Continued from front page
of the Provost was completelyremoved,making it difficult for theboard to maintain the vast majority of the activities that it plans for graduatestudents each year.“I know,as an off-campus student,I’m just angry that this got cutbecause the Provost subsidized on-campus programming,but this wasthe only major off-campus program-ming committee,”said,RyanPeacock,a third-year graduate stu-dent in chemical engineering.“I’d liketo see [the GSC] work for the longterm to see that this program be fund-ed.”Delegates discussed a number of other benefits of making sure that theGSPB stays afloat,noting the impor-tance of the events held by the boardin maintaining graduate student men-tal health.Members agreed that pro-viding additional funding to compen-sate for the board’s losses was a highpriority.“One of the advantages to puttingGSC money into something like thisis that we wouldn’t have to abide byall of the rules that come with run-ning through the Provost,”addedFren Zhao,a fifth-year graduate stu-dent in applied physics.“We wouldhave more control over decisions forevents.”The GSC proposed to move$5,000 to help the GSPB hold itsevents.Members also agreed to allot$4,000 to the Diversity AdvocacyCommittee for the following year.The meeting ended with a discus-sion with representatives from dif-ferent graduate school departmentsabout the recently announcedVaden Health Center fee,which hasmet much discord from students andadministrators.Weeks after theunveiling of the fee,the general sen-timent is still one of confusion.“Everybody is wondering what...is going on and what we are going todo about it,”said Adam Bederg,agraduate student in computer sci-ence.“There still has been no formalannouncement.”While the University cites eco-nomic troubles as reasons for thenew fee,many students have seenthe financial crisis extends farbeyond the University itself and intotheir own pockets,making it difficultfor them to bear a part of the bur-den.“The whole idea of law schoolfunding was based upon the fact thatstudents would make a lot of moneyover their summers and would beable to pay it back,but the fact thatlots of students are losing their jobsruins that model,”said Eric Osborne,a former NomCom chair and LawSchool student.Still,other graduate departmentswere feeling more optimistic abouthow they would handle the fees.Thehistory department noted that itmight have the funds to cover a sub-stantial part of the fee for its students.Many of the departments alsostressed that students might havemuch more say than even Universityofficials in how the University willrespond to difficulties resulting fromthe fee.“I think we should keep writingletters to departments [about thefee],”said GSC co-Chair PolinaSegalova.
Contact Daniel Bui at dlbui@stan- ford.edu.
GSC
Continued from front page
“
We’re saying thatgiven that we’re goingto spend money,let’sat least minimizewaste.”
— PROF. ANDRZEJ SKRZYPACZ
of 00
04/23/09 The Stanford Daily [PDF]
547 Reads
Info and Rating
| Category: | |
| Rating: | |
| Upload Date: | 04/23/2009 |
| Copyright: | Attribution Non-commercial |
| Tags: |
Leave a Comment