By NATE ADAMS
STAFF WRITER
The Cardinal soft-ball team resumesPacific-10 Confer-ence play at homethis weekend,hostingthe Oregon Ducks onFriday and the Ore-gon State Beavers onboth Saturday andSunday.The seriescomes at the heels of a recent string of mis-fortune for Stanfordin conference match-ups,as the Cardinallooks to rebuild mo-mentum with astrong series againstthe struggling Ore-gon teams.No.4 Stanford’s(38-6,7-5 Pac-10) lasttwo conference series—on the road in Berkeley andArizona—tarnished an otherwise stellar first half of thePac-10 season.The Cardinal dropped two of three gamesin both of those weekends,falling from a school-recordNo.2 ranking and being outscored 40-23 in the process.Despite posting a conference-leading 37 overall wins andthe nation’s fourth-best win percentage at .863,Stanfordnow finds itself in the bottom half of the eight-team Pac-10 with a 7-5 conference record,checking in at fifth placeas the final stretch of the regular season begins.Stanford head coach John Rittman,never one to losefocus,acknowledged the impact of falling in the stand-ings,but remains optimistic about his team this season.“We’ve taken a bit of a hit,but you have to keep mov-ing forward and learning lessons,”Rittman said.“It’s along season and we’re still in a great place.We came inand played a real tough series in Arizona,and playedpretty well,actually,to take one out of two from Arizona
Card looks to defend Diamond
By DENIS GRIFFIN
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
After suffering a disappointing sweep at the hands of Ari-zona State in Tempe last weekend,the desert will visit theFarm this weekend,as Stanford looks to bounce back in Pa-cific-10 Conference play against the Arizona Wildcats.The Cardinal (17-16,7-8 Pac-10) was blown out by the No.3 Sun Devils in a three-game series,dropping the opener 14-5,Saturday’s game 7-2 and Sunday’s game 6-3.But Stanfordbounced back in midweek action,beating Santa Clara 11-1and California 11-7 in nonconference action to climb backabove .500 on the season.With just four weekend seriesagainst conference opponents remaining,though,it will becritical for the team to extend its winning ways into the week-end against Arizona (17-19,3-12).“It’s huge for us to carry on this momentum we’ve creat-ed in our midweek games,”said sophomore closer DrewStoren.“The Pac-10 is packed so tightly,so depending onhow you do on a weekend,it can either rocket you to the topor you can drop to the bottom.So it’s really important for usto carry this momentum on,just go out and play our gameand hopefully get some good wins for our home crowd.”Storen,in particular,will doubtless be eager to take themound against a Pac-10 foe once again,especially after beingroughed up by ASU last weekend.Storen gave up all sevenof the Sun Devils’ runs on Saturday in a disastrous eighth in-ning,recording just one out and allowing three hits and threewalks.The Cardinal right-hander bounced back againstSanta Clara and Cal,though,earning his fifth save of the sea-son against the Bears.
DUCKHUNT
NFL DRAFT
Radio City Music Hall, New York
COVERAGE:
TV:
ESPN, NFL Network
RADIO:
ESPN Radio
NOTES:
Stanford football’s seniors willsee how they stack up against the restof the nation on Saturday and Sundayas the NFL holds its annual collegedraft. Among the most highly toutedCardinal prospects are center AlexFletcher, defensive end Pannel Egboh,running back Anthony Kimble andcorner Wopamo Osaisai. The DetroitLions, who have the first pick this year,will officially be “on the clock” startingat 1 p.m. on Saturday. The draft iscomposed of 256 picks divided intoseven rounds—the first two roundswill take place on Saturday, withrounds 3-7 being held for Sunday.
ARIZONA
(17-19, 3-12 Pac-10)
Klein Field at Sunken Diamond 5 P.M.
COVERAGE:
TV:
CBS COLLEGE SPORTS
RADIO:
KZSU 90.1 FM, (kzsu.stanford.edu)
UP NEXTSAN FRANCISCO
4/27Klein Field atSunken Diamond
NOTES:
After a disappointing trip to ArizonaState last weekend, Stanford bounced backwith two high-scoring victories over SantaClara and Cal during this past week. Arizonais last in the Pac-10 but ranks in the top threeof most offensive categories in the confer-ence. Stanford has shuffled its weekend rota-tion, now starting freshman Jordan Pries onFriday, freshman Brett Mooneyham on Satur-day and junior Jeffrey Inman on Sunday.
OREGON
(15-26, 2-10 Pac-10)
Smith Family Stadium 7 PM
UP NEXTOREGON STATE
4/25Smith Family Stadium
NOTES:
Stanford got out to a greatstart this season, but has faltered late-ly. Pitcher Missy Penna has started tostruggle and may be tiring under ahuge workload, but Ashley Chinntossed a no-hitter on Wednesdayagainst San Jose State.
Index
News/2 •Opinions/4 • Sports/6 •Classifieds/7
Recycle Me
SOFTBALL
AGUSTIN RAMIREZ/The Stanford Daily
Center Alex Fletcher could be a draft day bargain for teams in the middle round looking for intensity, leader-ship and versatility on the interior of the offensive line, according to NFLDraft guru Scott Wright.
AGUSTIN RAMIREZ/The Stanford Daily
A look at the Cardinal’s NFL prospects
S
TANFORD SENIORSREADY TO GO PRO
By WYNDAM MAKOWSKY
MANAGING EDITOR
252 picks.252 college athleteshailing from everywhere in the na-tion—from traditional powerslike USC to tiny Division-II col-leges like St.Augustine.252 foot-ball players with their ticketpunched to the NFL,and not oneStanford Cardinal amongst them.The 2008 NFL Draft was disap-pointing for the University and itsprospects—it was the first timesince 1999 that no Stanford playerswere drafted—but the Cardinalwill look to reassert itself in 2009.Aformidable group of graduatingseniors—center Alex Fletcher,running back Anthony Kimble,de-fensive end Pannel Egboh and cor-nerback Wopamo Osaisai—willlook to continue playing,this timeat the professional level.Although no Cardinal player ispredicted to go particularly high inthe draft,which will take place thisSaturday and Sunday in New York,it’s possible that all four Stanfordplayers will be chosen by an NFLfranchise.Fletcher predicted thattwo to three Stanford players
F
OOTBALL
S
PECIAL
Please see
DRAFT
, page 6
Please see
BASEBALL
,page 8
Cardinal looks to reboundagainst Oregon, OSU
Please see
SOFTBALL
,page 8
$1
BILLIONDEBTISSUED
POLITICS
Documentsshed light onRice’s past
Univ.announces recordtaxable debt figures
By JOANNA XU
MANAGING EDITOR
The University announced yesterday that it is issuing $1billion in taxable debt,the largest amount in its history,in anattempt to shore up liquidity and working capital after a sig-nificant decrease in the value of the endowment in the pastfiscal year.On Aug.31,2008,Stanford’s endowment stood at $17.2billion.However,according to Stanford’s Vice President forBusiness Affairs and Chief Financial Officer,Randy Liv-ingston,the endowment value will be down at least 30 per-cent by Aug.31,2009.Livingston said that the debt issuance is mainly a form of insurance that will protect the University with an additionallayer of liquidity.“Currently,we have ample liquidity to meet our currentneeds from both the investment and operations standpoint,but issuance of debt gives us additional liquidity and work-ing capital in the event that the economy surprises us and themarket turns downward again,”he said.According to a Moody’s Investors Services report pub-lished yesterday,“The University will use the proceeds tosupplement liquidity for working capital and generate cor-porate purposes,as well as to refinance approximately $200million of taxable commercial paper.”Livingston told The Daily that $350 million of five-yearbonds were issued at 3.65 percent,$250 million of seven-yearbonds at 4.30 percent and $400 million of 10-year bonds at4.79 percent.On average,this means that Stanford is issuingdebt at less than two percent over Treasuries,the benchmarkfor risk-free investments.Last December,Harvard sold nearly $2 billion in debt.Princeton sold $1 billion last January.
Report reveals former Secretary of State authorized torture techniques
By ERIC MESSINGER
DESK EDITOR
Documents recently made available by the Obama ad-ministration and the Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC)have provided a clearer picture of Hoover Fellow and for-mer Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s role in formulat-ing interrogation policy during the Bush years.On April 22,the SIC publicly issued a report focusedupon administration deliberations in mid-2002,revealingthat Rice,then the National Security Advisor,gave verbalauthorization to use torture—specifically,waterboarding—in July 2002,to date the earliest known approval from aBush official on the use of the technique.Rice’s Chief of Staff,Colby Cooper,declined commenton the new information.“On July 17,2002,according to CIA records,the Directorof Central Intelligence (DCI) met with the National Securi-ty Adviser,who advised that the CIA could proceed with itsproposed interrogation of Abu Zubaydah,”the report said.“This advice,which authorized CIA to proceed as a policymatter,was subject to a determination of legality by Officeof Legal Counsel [OLC].”The OLC informed the CIA that the technique was law-ful a week later.The case of Abu Zubaydah was,according to the report,pivotal in the development of the Bush administration’s in-terrogation policies.In April 2002,following his capture theprevious month,“the CIA assessed that Abu Zubaydah had
Please see
DEBT
,page 2Please see
RICE
,page 3
CARDINAL TODAY
INTERMISSION/INSERT
COACHELLA
Intermission reviews weekend-longCoachella Music and Arts festival
FRIDAY Volume 235
April 24,2009Issue 44
www.stanforddaily.com
CARDINAL TODAY
The Stanford Daily
An Independent Publication
NEWS/2
ADMITS INVADE
Admit Weekend festivities kick off as 1,300potential ‘13ers become the focus of campus
The Stanford Daily
Today
Cloudy & Cool
5941
Tomorrow
Mostly Sunny
6648
2
N
Friday,April 24,2009
The Stanford Daily
N
EWS
ADMISSIONS
Univ.hopes for appropriate yield
By CHRISTINE MCFADDEN
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
After decisions were mailed tostudents on March 31,the stress of admissions season shifted instantlyfrom high-school students toUniversity administrators.While thecalculus of how many students willeventually accept Stanford’s offer of admission is always complex,therecession and new Housing planhave conspired to make spring moredifficult than usual for the Office of Admission and Student Housing.Because of this year’s addeduncertainty,administrators arebeing exceptionally careful.“We admitted fewer students thisyear because,as an institution thatguarantees housing,it is importantthat we do not over-enroll the fresh-man class,”said Director of Admission Shawn Abbott.This year’s class of 2,300 admits (a7.6 percent admit rate) is 100 studentssmaller than last year’s class of 2,400admits (a 9.48 percent admit rate).“While it is impossible to predictprecisely how many students willmatriculate,admitting 100 fewer stu-dents this year was a strategy topotentially avoid over-enrolling thefreshman class,”Abbott said.The targeted number of under-graduate matriculates for Fall 2009is 1,700,according to Abbott.The new Housing Master Planfor next year includes significantchanges,such as the addition of Crothers Hall to undergraduatehousing and the reconfiguration of rooms in Mirrielees,Lagunita,Roble,Branner and Toyon.Abbott said these dorms aregoing through an “un-stuffing”process,which will allow for morepersonal and common space for stu-dents,with the goal of creating amore spacious and convenient hous-ing situation.Because Stanford guarantees stu-dent housing,dorms in the past wereoften “stuffed,”or changed fromtheir original construction plans tofit more students.Student Housing said thatdespite the significant changes thatcome with the Housing Master Plan,the link between the Office of Admission and Housing was no dif-ferent this year from previous years.“Housing has always had a veryclose working relationship with [theOffice of Admission],and therehave not been any significantchanges to that relationship or tothe admissions goals this year,”saidMarie Oamek,Student Housing’sstrategic information and standardsmanager.“Our two departments alwayswork closely together this time of year to plan for the arrival of eachnew freshman class in fall quarter,and to meet our four-year housingguarantee,”Oamek added.“If theyield numbers change significantlyfrom the estimates we’ve plannedfor,we work together to find roomfor additional freshmen,or to fillspaces which had been planned forfreshmen with upperclass students.The goals for this year,however,arenot significantly different from lastyear,and have not been influencedby the Housing Master Plan.”The Master Plan,which includescreating more concentrated all-froshcomplexes,such as Stern and Wilbur(with the exception of ethnic-themed houses Okada and CasaZapata,which will remain four-class),was in part created to providea better all-frosh experience,accord-ing to administrators.
Contact Christine McFadden at cnm714@stanford.edu.
By ELIZABETH TITUS
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
In the latest round of University-mandatedbudget cuts,the Stanford Alumni Association,the Development Office and Division of Land,Buildings & Real Estate all announced 15 per-cent budget cuts this week.The cuts alsoincluded 49 layoffs.The Alumni Association laid off 10 employ-ees on Tuesday and faces an upcoming $2.7million budget cut,according to AssociationPresident Howard Wolf.Three more employ-ees left voluntarily,six took a time reductionand four vacant positions were eliminated.The Development Office laid off 19employees and the Division of Land,Buildings& Real Estate laid off 20.Wolf would not say which positions wereeliminated,but he said that almost everyAlumni Association department was affected.He added that those laid off would remain onthe payroll for two months,allowing them totell prospective employers that they are stillemployed at Stanford.They will also be com-pensated for severance time.He went on to cite several cost-saving meas-ures that the Alumni Association will take,including the reduction of printed materialsand the elimination of certain in-person com-ponents of an alumni continuing studies pro-gram.The Association,which serves some 202,000alumni worldwide,is funded by three sources:the general fund,a lifetime membership fundinvested in the endowment and several busi-nesses,such as Stanford Sierra Camp.According to Wolf,all three sources areunder “tremendous pressure.”Despite cuts,he said that alumni are stillconfident in the University’s leadership.“Stanford’s alumni have tremendous faithin the President and the Provost,”Wolf said.“All the indications I’ve had in discussions...suggest that they’re actually very comfortablethat we’re looking at these things strategicallyand responding appropriately.”For Wolf,the laying off of workers was dif-ficult,as some had worked at Stanford for 20years.“The formal way to describe that is you’reeliminating positions,but the fact of the matteris,those positions are filled by real people whodo great work,care deeply and try hard,”Wolf said.“Behind every position is a person,andbehind every person is a life.”Administrators at the Development Officeand Division of Land,Buildings & Real Estatewere not immediately available for commentat press time.The Daily will have additionalcoverage of the latest round of layoffs nextweek.
Contact Elizabeth Titus at etitus@stanford.edu.a
Alumni Association lays off10,slashes $2.7 million from budget
U
NIV
.
DIVISIONSUNVEILCUTS
ISAAC GATENO/The Stanford Daily
Admits for the Class of 2013 stack their bags in the Arrillaga Alumni Center and anxiously wait around to be shep-arded to their dorms. Stanford is expecting 1,300 prospective freshmen to visit over the course of the weekend.
Livingston said that a $1 billiondebt issuance made sense because$800 million is approximately equalto one year of payout from theendowment to support Universityoperations.The University started consider-ing a debt issuance about three tofour months ago and discussed thepossibility at both the February andApril Board of Trustees meetings.Formal approval was obtained fromthe Trustees at the latter meeting.“This debt offering is out of theordinary because of its size,”Livingston said.“In the past,weborrowed money for facilities andequipment.This is unusual becausewe’re borrowing for liquidity pur-poses.”Goldman Sachs,JP Morgan andMorgan Stanley were joint under-writers in this bond issuance.According to a Goldman docu-ment,the debt is expected to berated triple-A,and tranche sizeswill each be at least $250 million.All three of the nation’s majorcredit-rating agencies—Moody’sInvestors,Fitch Ratings andStandard & Poor’s—do currentlygive Stanford debt a triple-A creditrating,which is the highest possiblerating.“Every time we do a major debtissuance,the three credit-ratingagencies re-evaluate our credit,”Livingston said.“We think the ratewe received was quite good.”The University currently plansto reduce endowment funding forUniversity operations by 25 percentover the next two years and reduceexpenditures.
Contact Joanna Xu at joannaxu@stanford.edu.
DEBT
Continued from front page
ADMISSIONS
Admit Weekend brings1,300 to campus
By ZOE RICHARDS
STAFF WRITER
With nearly 1,300 prospectivefreshmen bellowing dorm cheersand bouncing around campus withname cards and the occasional par-ent in tow,Admit Weekend forStanford’s Class of 2013 packs theusual punch of Stanford tradition,fun,nerves and excited ProFros.In an email to The Daily,Dean of Admissions Richard Shawexpressed the joy of meetingProFros after “hibernating in [their]offices”for months,reading over30,000 applications for admission.“It’s just great to be outside inthe California sunshine and showthe ProFros our campus and helpthem meet our students and facul-ty,”Shaw said.“In most cases,we aremeeting these students for the firsttime and it’s often humbling for usto have that first encounter.”Dean of Freshmen JulieLythcott-Haims,who is particularlyexcited about unveiling the Class of ‘13 roll call at the a cappella show onFriday night (will it be “thir-teen?”“one-three?”),predicts a one per-cent increase in admit yield fromlast year.Lythcott-Haims lauded theincreased outreach efforts that theadmissions team has made in thepast few years.“Now that more students aroundthe country and the world have hadthe chance to personally interactwith a Stanford representative,it’sonly natural that our yield would goup,”Lythcott-Haims said.“If peopleare taking bets,I’m predicting a 73percent yield for this year.”Lythcott-Haims emphasized thatAdmit Weekend is significant for allarenas of Stanford,from administra-tors to ProFros.“For the University,it is reward-ing to put the opportunity of aStanford education out there forpeople to examine,”she said.“Foradmits,it’s a set of memories thatmay stay with them for much of their life.For me,personally,Thursday of Admit Weekend is oneof my most favorite days in aStanford year.”Administrators and AdmitWeekend planners took special careto keep the recession from having alarge effect on the weekend’s events.According to Dean Shaw,“Thereweren’t any major overhauls to the[Admit Weekend] program”due tothe recession.Admit Weekend EventsCoordinator Natie Ermyas ‘11 saidhe was determined not to let therecession rain on the parade.“We were definitely affected bythe economic crisis,but wanted togive ProFros the same opportuni-ties,”Ermyas said,emphasizing theimportance of the quality of eventsover minor extra goodies like class T-shirts.Creative money savers include2013 temporary tattoos instead of class tees,as well as smaller dormrecreation budgets.Roble Head House Host LilySadaat ‘12,reflecting on her ownAdmit Weekend experience,remem-bered the overwhelming nature of itall and emphasized the importanceof incorporating free time forProFros to relax.“I want to help eliminate theawkwardness that is inevitable bycreating a fun atmosphere and allowthem to get to know Stanford in acarefree sense,”she said.ProFro (prospective freshman)Francisco Delataz,said his initialfeelings of nervousness are alreadybeginning to fade as he hears aboutthe experiences of those he’s metalready.“I’m definitely excited for what’scoming up,”Delataz said.“I’m splitbetween two other schools,but com-ing here has definitely helped mesway my decision towards Stanford.”Ermyas,who is a strong believerin attending the college that bestsuits the student,emphasized thatprospective students go with theirgut feeling when making their finalcollege decision.“[I want to] help them figure outwhat they can do here and what theywould enjoy [about Stanford],”hesaid.“If they don’t want to comehere,we want to make them agonizeover [the decision] because of howamazing the weekend was.”Hoping that admits will make theright choice,Ermyas had someadvice:“Trust your vibe and the vibe youget from people.”
Contact Zoe Richards at iamzoe@ stanford.edu.
Do you think Summer ResearchCollege is a vital part of theStanford summer experience?
54 votestakenfrom stanforddaily.com at 11:32 p.m.04/23/09
33%35%
DA BC
15%17%
Today’s Question:
Should Condoleezza Rice be prosecutedfor her authorization of torture in theinterrogation of terror suspects?
a)
Yes, we have a duty to uphold thelaw, and Rice broke it.
b)
No, but Rice’s decisions need fulldisclosure.
c)
No, actions taken for the sake of post-9/11 national security are aspecial case.
d)
No, the country needs to move onfrom the Bush years.
e)
I don’t care.
vote today at stanforddaily.com!
A)
Yes, I wouldn’t want to stay on campus overthe summer without it.
B)
No, it was nothing more than free food oncea week.
C)
Maybe, but it is not that important.
D)
What is Summer Research College?
DAILY POLL
Class of 2013 arrives to check out the Farm
STUDENT LIFE
Moonbean’s Coffee strives to renew lease,continue campus operations
By MARISA LANDICHO
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The lease for MoonBean’s Coffee is set torun out by the end of the year,leaving the fateof the coffee shop,which has been tuckedbetween Green and Meyer Libraries for 11years,largely uncertain.Stanford Libraries hassolicited bids for the valuable space,and willannounce a decision May 1.If MoonBean’sbid is unsuccessful,it will be gone bySeptember.While acknowledging the need for renego-tiating the lease,founder and owner JennieReynolds is skeptical of the process.“The Libraries are hoping to increase therent by about 50 percent in the competition,”she said.Not wanting to raise prices,Reynolds saidshe could not afford the increase in rent andwas worried whether her store would continueto serve Stanford students in the fall.“If we do have to quit,we’ll not haveenough time,”she said.“We’re going to bestuck with too much inventory ,and ouremployees won’t have much time to find jobs.”However,Libraries Director of Communication and Development AndrewHerkovic maintained that the selectionprocess was standard procedure.“It was a perfectly normal process for thelease to run out,”Herkovic said.“I haveabsolutely no idea if [the MoonBean’s] bid willbe successful—it’s a competitive process.I doknow that there were at least several otherbidders.”Herkovic did not report the identities of the other vendors seeking the location.Reynolds hopes her business will continueon the basis of favorable reviews from herpatrons.“[The selection committee] did commentthat we have a lot of support from the studentcommunity,”she said.“As far as I understood,the libraries were putting together a selectioncommittee that included students.”Herkovic,though,said the committeewould be composed of “people in administra-tion”and wasn’t aware of any students beingincluded.“It is not a personal decision as to who getsthe award but an institutional one,”he said.This is not the first time rumors of MoonBean’s closure have circulated the cam-pus.Several patrons found out about the leaseexpiration date,originally set for December2008,last spring.Emails warning of the end of the cafe filled chat lists and provoked an out-pouring of support from students and faculty.These efforts fizzled,however,after theLibraries pushed back the lease until June 30of this year.This time around,students remainmostly unaware of MoonBean’s situation.“Now,I think it’s less in the consciousnessof the student body,”said barista JessicaCornwell ‘09.Jireh Tan ‘10,who said he comes to the cafeonce every week or two,had no idea about theexpiring lease and would be “quite sad”to seethe coffee shop go.“I don’t think as many people know as Iwould personally like,”said store managerJames Rundell,who has worked atMoonBean’s for two and a half years.“But atthe same time,I don’t want to upset thelibrary.”Rundell and Reynolds stressed that theywere not upset with the University or theLibraries.“[The administration] aren’t bullies in anysort of sense,”Rundell said.“We don’t want tomake a scene,and we desperately love our jobthere.”“I don’t want to make them out to be thevillain—they need to be concerned abouttheir income too,”Reynolds added.Many students have said they will missMoonbean’s if its lease isn’t renewed.“I think [Moonbean’s] has the best coffeeon campus,”said Yaser Khalighi,a sixth-yearmechanical engineering graduate student.“Ithas a kind of relaxed atmosphere outside thatmakes it special.”Jennifer Wang ‘10 said she would be“extremely sad”if the cafe closed and that shedisliked the remaining campus coffee alterna-tives.“That crap that they have in Old Union is atravesty,”she said.Based on the popularity of the spot,Cornwell hoped MoonBean’s would remain infront of Green.“Moonbean’s is a huge hub for studentsand faculty,”she said.“There’s something tosay for the space—it’s definitely my sanctu-ary on campus.”
Contact Marisa Landicho at landicho@stan- ford.edu.
“The debt offeringis out oftheordinary because of its size.
”
— RANDY LIVINGSTON,Chief Financial Officer
The Stanford Daily
Friday,April 24,2009
N
3
SCIENCE & TECH
Director chides NIH policy
By JULIA BROWNELL
DESK EDITOR
Irving Weissman MD ‘85,direc-tor of Stanford’s Institute for StemCell Biology and RegenerativeMedicine,has publicly come outagainst indications that the NationalInstitutes of Health (NIH) maydeny funds to many projects involv-ing somatic cell nuclear transfer(SCNT).This denial of funds is found in astipulation in the draft guidelines bythe NIH for federal funding.SCNTis the process by which the nucleusfrom a blastocyst,or early embryocell,is taken out and transferred toanother non-embryonic cell forreplication.This process can lead tostem cell lines in various differentorgan systems.The NIH specifically stipulatedthat no stem cell project can go for-ward if it uses SCNT on embryosnot derived from in vitro fertiliza-tion (IVF) clinics.Weissman wasfrustrated that the NIH put limitson research for what he believed tobe moral and ideological reasons.“I hold you [the NIH] morallyresponsible for the loss of livesbecause you delayed the researchthat could have led to the saving of those lives in that short window of time they had left,”Weissman said.The funding the NIH will be dis-tributing became available whenPresident Barack Obama lifted theban imposed by President GeorgeBush on all stem cell research in theUnited States.As a visiting advisor to theObama transition team,Weissmanurged Obama to lift the ban andbase his policy on stem cells with apolicy based solely on scientificknowledge.“I reported that to the Obamatransition team,June 2nd...If youdecide to lift the ban...don’t replaceone ideology with another,youshould only go on the basis of whatis scientifically possible...AndObama in his speech,and I wasthere,said just that.He said we’regoing to remove politics and ideolo-gy from scientific policy decisionmaking,”Weissman recalled.Weissman believed the NIHtook this message and added itsown stipulation on top of it.“I was very surprised that whenthe NIH interpreted his speech towrite guidelines,they said theywould only fund research on embry-onic stem cells derived from IVFclinic embryos,or blastocysts,”Weissman said.Weissman stressed in an inter-view with The Daily that SCNT isan important source of research onstem cells of those who suffer fromdisease.The NIH is not banningSCNT research on embryos from invitro fertilization (IVF) clinics withleftover embryos,but as Weissmansaid,those are not the embryos thatwill lead to breakthroughs in curingdisease.“[IVF stem cells are] all derivedfrom people who can afford to go toIVF clinics who are infertile,”Weissman explained.“Now,thosepeople aren’t giving rise to embryosthat are for sure going to get LouGarrig’s disease,or juvenile dia-betes or early onset heart attacks orany of the other genetic disorders,so we’re not going to get diseasecells from that source.And we’renot going to get embryonic stem celllines from southwestern NativeAmericans,because they can’tafford to go to an IVF clinic,yetthey have the highest incidence of type two adult onset diabetes of anybody.”Weissman also explained,how-ever,that SCNT is not the only pos-sible way of obtaining stem celllines from an embryo.In addition,scientists have been working onmethods to create new lines of stemcells by replacing key genes in nor-mal adult cells to give them stemcell abilities like self renewal andcreation of system-specific progeni-tors.“We don’t know which of those[two ways] will give us the bestanswers to understand and treat dis-ease,”Weissman said.Still,Weissman is against stiflingthe research possibilities that liewith SCNT simply because otheroptions are possibly available,as thefuture of regenerative medicine isunknown.“When and if we get stem celllines from diseases,by the Yamankamethod of genes or nuclear transferif it becomes safe and feasible—then we should allow everybody tobe funded by NIH funds to followthose lines,”he said.
Contact Julia Brownell at juliabr@ stanford.edu.
specific information concerningfuture Al-Qa’ida attacks against theUnited States.”Attempts to obtain this informa-tion set in motion a process that ledto Rice,when “in April 2002,attor-neys from the CIA’s Office of General Counsel began discussionswith the Legal Adviser to theNational Security Council and OLCconcerning the CIA’s proposedinterrogation plan for AbuZubaydah and legal restrictions onthat interrogation.”The Legal Adviser subsequentlybriefed a number of officials,includ-ing Rice in her capacity as NationalSecurity Adviser.Rice has,in the past,asserted thatshe only approved interrogationpractices that were within the law.“The one thing that I amabsolutely confident of and certainof in my own mind,is that we didwhat we thought was necessary,butalso what we believed was legal,”Rice said in a March 4 interviewwith The Daily.Relevant memos from the OLCwere also released by the Obamaadministration.The OLC was at thecenter of the Bush administration’sinterrogation policies,providing thelegal advice used to determinewhether certain techniques and prac-tices were acceptable.The memosapproved of the use of a number of techniques,including waterboarding,and provided detailed description.In the wake of the release,TheNew York Times reported,“Somesenior Obama administration offi-cials,including Attorney GeneralEric H.Holder Jr.,have labeled oneof the 14 approved techniques,waterboarding,illegal torture.TheUnited States prosecuted someJapanese interrogators at warcrimes trials after World War II forwaterboarding and other methodsdetailed in the memos.”“Obviously anything that weauthorized was in the context of ourtreaty obligations and within thelaw,”Rice said in the March 4 Dailyinterview.Much of the interrogation policyin which Rice was involved hassince been overturned.On Jan.22,on the second day of his administration,PresidentObama issued an executive orderwhich banned the most controver-sial techniques,stipulating thatdetainees “be treated humanely,notbe subjected to violence to life andperson (including murder of allkinds,mutilation,cruel treatmentand torture),nor to outrages uponpersonal dignity (including humili-ating and degrading treatment).”Rice was formerly the Provost of Stanford,and is currently a memberon leave from the political sciencedepartment.
Contact Eric Messinger at messinger @stanford.edu.
RICE
Continued from front page
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