By CHRISTINE McFADDEN
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
With housing assignments posted around 5p.m.last Friday and released online later thatnight,students this year became the first to expe-rience the new three-tiered Draw system andalso the first to feel the effects of housing “un-stuffing.”According to Student Housing,the changesthis year went over relatively smoothly.Despitethe new process and procedural changes inplace,assignments were finished on time and thenew system is,so far,trouble-free,administratorssaid.“The feedback overall has been positive—people seem to think the process is fair,and thatwe are on the right track,”said ExecutiveDirector of Student Housing Rodger Whitney.
Undergraduate Housing
Student Housing this year saw major changesin which living arrangements were considered tobe popular among students.Cut-off numbers forHousing were not released during the rankingperiod,which arguably affected which livingquarters were in high demand.“One difficulty is that past popularity of houses is based on many things,not just cut-off numbers,”said Sue Nunan,director of HousingAssignments.Nunan went on to explain how students areoften attracted to houses with higher cut-off numbers than in previous years,ranking thosefirst with a supposed higher chance of getting in.However,because this occurs with many stu-dents,the cut-off number the following year isactually lowered.Whitney said efforts to increase the numberof desirable options have alleviated concern overthis issue to some extent.“One thing which has changed this year,andwas a goal of the Draw Task Force and HousingMaster Plan,is that the draw of houses haschanged,”Whitney said.“Not only are the Rowhouses popular,but now a real array of residencetypes,including large residences and apartments.”According to Whitney,several houses with-out historically low cut-off numbers,such asMirrielees,filled with Tier One and low Tier Twonumbers.Among the houses and dorms that filled TierOne this year were Row houses such as Xanadu,Bob,680,Storey and Mars,although they did nothave as low of cut-off numbers as usual.Eucalipto,Adelfa (focus) and Granada inLagunita Court drew Tier One,as did FrenchHouse and Casa Italiana.Branner (focus) andCrothers singles,on the docket for students torank for the first time in recent memory,alsowent to Tier One numbers,as did cooperativehouses EBF and Chi Theta Chi.“Most of the co-ops filled in Tier One,somein Tier Two,with a good mix of staff,pre-assign-ments and Draw assignments,”Whitney said.He noted one of the department’s concernswas the filling of the co-ops,as pre-assignmentsgot off to a late start this year.Next year,StudentHousing and Residential Education will worktogether to ensure that the process is announcedearlier and is made clearer to students.In theend,all but Synergy filled with people whorequested respective houses.“They [Synergy] have had those spaces leftopen for them to recruit via the waiting list,”Whitney said.“Normally,we would have filledthe house with people who request to live any-where,but since this house is a co-op,the spaceswere held for the wait list so that people whowant to live in a co-op and are willing to fulfill therequirements will live there.”Like Mirrielees,Roble filled with Tier Oneand low Tier Two numbers.Toyon filled quicklyin Tier Two,and the lower tiers went to somehouses in Florence Moore Hall,Okada andSuites,specifically the six-person suites.
Graduate Housing
Whitney noted that for the first time inStanford history,Student Housing is easily meet-ing demand for graduate housing.This is due tothe added space from the Munger GraduateResidence.“Some grad students are currently unas-signed,but we’re confident they’ll be assigned bythe start of school,”Whitney said.“Studentsshould sign up for the summer wait list if they areunassigned.”The graduate housing lottery,which also ransmoothly,saw an increase in interest in the gen-der-neutral program.The program was expand-ed to more housing options this year,and thedemands of students were met.
Summer Housing
Anyone who applied for summer housingand was willing to live anywhere received it,according to Housing.In fact,additional spacesare still available for both graduates and under-graduates.The only students unassigned for summerwere those who had limited residence choices.Unassigned students as well as any others seek-ing summer housing are advised by Housing toapply by May 31 for the waiting list,with resultsbeing announced June 5.
Unassigned Students
Compared to last year,there were fewerunassigned students with guaranteed housing.“We always expect and plan for a certainnumber of unassigned students so that vacancieswhich occur over the summer can be filled,”Whitney said.According to Whitney,there are about 89unassigned-but-guaranteed students who willreceive housing assignments over the summer,compared to last year’s 125.“Eighty-six more upperclassmen appliedthan last year under guarantee,”Nunan said.“About 110 more applied than expected lastyear,so between the two years,we’re up about200 people,but we’ve added spaces withCrothers Hall,so we have 111 more undergrad-uate beds this fall than last year at this time.”As for unguaranteed students,which number65 and are typically fifth-year seniors or studentswho had guaranteed years but restricted housingchoices,many should receive housing after guar-anteed students are assigned,according toHousing.
Post-Draw
Now that assignments have been released,Housing encourages students to make note of their in-house draw meeting date.If students aren’t happy with their assign-ment,they are advised not to cancel their hous-ing—unless they are certain they will live off-campus—and to still attend their in-house draw,but additionally apply for the re-assignmentround in Axess by the autumn waitlist deadlineof July 5.However,students are encouraged toreapply to houses where they really want to live,because once reassignments are given,currentassignments are cancelled immediately.Student Housing distributed a survey earlierlast week in order to get feedback on the overallDraw process and changes.According toWhitney,student responses will be carefully eval-uated over the summer.One frequent complaint Housing receivedwas from upperclassmen who had been throughthe Draw before and wanted to obtain theirDraw numbers before ranking their preferences.Nunan noted that since students were able torank all of their residence choices in order of preference rather than a limited amount—amajor difference from past years—Draw num-bers were unnecessary.“We will review the merits of having thenumbers available in advance again next year,”Whitney said.“Student feedback indicates we’reon the right track,but as always,we will workhard to improve our processes for students.”With the implementation of the HousingMaster Plan and the creation of new,premierspaces for upperclassmen,Whitney hoped thatmore people would be happy with their assign-ments.“We hope students will stay unbiased andgive us feedback,”he said.“We’ll have more timeto tweak and improve for next year,but this yearhas been very successful.”
Contact Christine McFadden at cnm714@stan- ford.edu.
STUDENT GROUPS
Money pours in for goat donations
By ERIC MESSINGER
DESK EDITOR
White Plaza featured some novel guestslast Thursday,as four goats and a 200-poundyak were on site to lend their hooves to acharity effort sponsored by graduate students.Members of the Intervarsity GraduateChristian Fellowship (IGCF) brought the ani-mals to Stanford as part of the “Stanford GoatProject,”an effort to raise money to purchasegoats for impoverished families in developingcountries.The fundraising effort raised a totalof approximately $6,600,with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the purchase of 88 dairygoats.News of the effort also led to a late contri-bution from an outside donor who learned of the project’s results,which will allow addition-al purchases and could result in a grand totalof as many as 100 goats.IGCF members explained the choice todonate goats as an effort to provide a lastingcharitable contribution.“We were looking for something to do thathad a component of outreach,but wasn’t justa free gift,and would empower people,”saidNeth Walker,a second-year Ph.D.student ingeological and earth sciences.“We didn’t want a one-off—we wantedsomething that would last,”Walker added.Kassa Betre,a second-year Ph.D.student inparticle physics and an IGCF member,saidthat goats provide a steady supply of milk,pro-duce calves that can be sold for money andalso produce fertilizer.“You’re not just giving them a temporarysolution,”Betre said.“It’s more long-term.”Betre,who spoke of his own experiencegrowing up in poverty in Ethiopia,added thathe found the effort to be important symboli-cally,as well as tangibly.“It’s about creating opportunities for theStanford community to reach out to peoplewho may be far away,but are still our broth-ers and sisters,”Betre said.The IGCF,a student organization withroughly 70 active members,came to WhitePlaza on Thursday as the culmination of athree-week fundraising effort.Passersby wereable to buy tickets at a price of five dollars topet a goat and 10 dollars to pet a goat and alsotake a picture.Nate Chambers,a third-year Ph.D.studentin computer science and a coordinator of theproject,said the event exceeded their expec-tations,with over half of the fundraisingoccurring on Thursday.“A lot of people came up,”Chambers said.“There were a lot who got really invested per-sonally,and would just buy six tickets for noreason.”Sadie Bartholomew,a member of theIGCF steering committee,echoed Chambers’comments.“I think it went far better than we expect-ed,the response from students,faculty andpasserby,”said Bartholomew,a second-yearbiochemistry Ph.D.student.“It was very exciting to see the enthusiasmfrom the campus community,”she added.Speculating about why the goats attractedsupport,Chambers felt that the tangible qual-ity was the key component.“I don’t want to get too philosophicalabout it,”Chambers said,“but I think thatparticularly now in this economy people are
LUCK OF THE DRAW
BUDGET CUTS
VPUE,Engineeringannounce cuts
By ELLEN HUET
STAFF WRITER
Both the Office of Vice Provost forUndergraduate Education (VPUE) and theSchool of Engineering announced signifi-cant reductions to staff and programminglast week,because of the University’s finan-cial situation.Like virtually all campus units,VPUEand the School of Engineering have beenforced to restructure administration andmake sacrifices in staff and programming inorder to stay afloat.
VPUE
In his address to the Faculty Senate lastThursday,Vice Provost for UndergraduateEducation John Bravman announced thatVPUE has eliminated 25 administrative andprofessional positions in recent months,which has reduced its non-lecturer staff by18 percent.Sixteen employees were laid off,nine spots were lost by attrition and six newpositions were created in restructuring.In an interview with The Daily,Bravmanexplained how the cuts were made.“Our goal was to share administrativesupport wherever possible and to minimizea reduction in directly serving staff,”Bravman said.“We tried to take most of thecuts in background staff.”Bravman said that VPUE’s funds werehardest hit by endowed funds that went“underwater,”meaning their current marketvalue is less than their historic dollar value.Endowed funds make up 60 percent of VPUE funds,and underwater funds areforcing the office to cut budgets by $8-10 mil-lion.“Our largest dollar loss is from theendowed funds,”Bravman said.“They payout almost nothing.”VPUE,which previously housed nineadministrative units under its umbrella,hasnow reduced that number down to four.Thelargest change is the creation of StanfordIntroductory Studies (SIS),which nowincludes Freshman and SophomorePrograms (FSP),Program in Writing andRhetoric (PWR) and Introduction to theHumanities (IHUM).“Combining FSP,PWR and IHUMmade perfect sense because they’re all cur-ricular-based programs with faculty teachersprincipally aimed at first years,”he said.The other three units under the newarrangement are the Center for Teachingand Learning,the Bing Overseas StudiesProgram and Undergraduate Advising andResearch,which has subsumed theFreshman Dean’s Office.“Those three units becoming one hadbeen in the works for a while,”Bravmansaid.“Undergraduate Advising andUndergraduate Research were mergedbecause advising involved making studentsaware of research opportunities.”VPUE’s restructuring will affect studentsmostly through reduced programs,specifi-cally a smaller number of courses offered forsophomore seminars and SophomoreCollege.Bravman said that VPUE has been plan-ning for these cuts since fall of 2008,whenthe office first learned about funding issues,and that the office began organizing reduc-tions in mid-November.VPUE still hasanother $1.2-1.4 million to cut in its budget,but Bravman explained that the office haspostponed that to fiscal year 2011.“I ultimately am optimistic about thefuture,”Bravman added.“I’m particularlyexcited about SIS,which will help studentsthink broadly about their first intellectualexperiences at Stanford.”IHUM Director Russell Berman agreedthat while the restructuring was a difficultprocess,the new organization system showspromise.“A result of some painful staff reductions,the new organization,SIS,provides anopportunity to develop greater synergyamong these important pieces of the fresh-man and sophomore years,”Berman wrotein an email to The Daily.The director also explained that IHUMwill be facing reduced programming.Whileprevious years offered 12 winter-springcourse options for freshmen,that numberhas now been reduced to 10.“Because more faculty want to teach inthe program than we can accommodate,”
Students learn fatesunder new system;89 unassigned
Index
Features/2 • Opinions/3 • Sports/4 •Classifieds/5
Recycle Me
CRIS BAUTISTA/The Stanford DailyCourtesy Olivia Hatton
A donor to the Stanford Goat Project poseswith one of four goats brought to WhitePlaza Thursday by students from theIntervarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship.
Please see
CUTS
,page 6
Xanadu (single)Xanadu (two-room double)Casa ItalianaXanadu (one-room double)Xanadu (one-room triple)Xanadu (two-room triple)Xanadu (one-room quad)Chi Theta ChiAdelfa (focus)680 LomitaBobEucalipto JerryGranadaBranner (focus)
33141190314315315315433450538587606607627631
Xanadu (single)Xanadu (two-room double)BobEucalipto680 LomitaCrothers (single) JerryStoreyXanadu (one-room double)Xanadu (one-room triple)Casa ItalianaEBFMarsChi Theta ChiPhi Sig
22127272361396515591712716716719732733744775
LOWEST INDIVIDUAL DRAW NUMBER CUTOFFS
WOMEN MEN
house # house #
Please see
GOATS
,page 6
The Stanford Daily
An Independent Publication
www.stanforddaily.com
TUESDAY Volume 235
May 26, 2009Issue 65
ONLINE @
WWW.STANFORDDAILY.COMTWITTER: STANFORD_DAILY
Today
Mostly Sunny
7655
Tomorrow
Mostly Sunny
7752
FEATURES/2
99 FOR ‘09
The Class of 2009’s to-do list in itsfinal weeks
SPORTS/4
NOT ENOUGH
Softball unable to close out Arizona inSuper Regional
F
EATURES
MICHAELLIU/The Stanford Daily
2
N
Tuesday,May 26,2009
The Stanford Daily
By KELLEY FONG
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
1. Eat at every on-campus eatery2. Facebook friend one of your professors3. Have a picnic on the Oval4. Sit in on a class totally outside your field5. Take a trip to Monterey6. Explore the Old Chem building7. Take a dip in the Jacuzzi in the Faculty Ghetto8. Hang out on the roof of the psych building9. Do Dance Marathon10. Improve your cooking skills by helping prepare a meal at a co-op11. Visit one of the many Stanford campus farms12. Get rolled out13. Hike the Dish14. Check out the Mausoleum and Angel of Grief under a full moon15. Run an on-campus 5K16. Take a picnic to Sharon Park17. Hear a visiting lecturer speak—bonus points if it’s on a topic outside yourfield18. Go “sky tunneling” around the Quad19. Play The Game20. Go fruit-picking around campus21. Take a tour of Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve22. Watch a friend act in a play23. Go to a four-minute reading hosted by the English department24. Do primal scream...with a passion25. Look for shooting stars at the Observatory26. Have a bonfire at the Lag fire pit27. Pose a question to a campus speaker28. Pig out at Late Nighteat29. Sunbathe in the grassy area of your choice30. Enjoy the free Internet and 24-hour sugar fest at Happy Donuts31. Buy discounted software and computers from the Bookstore32. Fountain hop33. Study in the Bender Room in the Bing Wing35. Have a reunion with your freshman dorm36. Watch a movie on the projector screens in the History Corner classrooms37. Ride the Marguerite38. See Gaieties40. Make friends with the custodial staff41. Pull an all-nighter42. Go to Senior Pub Night43. Learn the Axe cheer44. Visit the Haas Center for Public Service45. Volunteer to be a subject in a research study46. Invite a professor to dinner47. See a movie at The Stanford Theatre48. Be quoted or have your photograph in The Daily49. Eat at the Faculty Club50. Explore Sutrobaths at night51. Go to every kind of sporting event at least once52. Go steam tunneling53. Go to the farmer’s market...and sample everything54. Walk, not bike, to class for a day...maybe even a quarter55. Go see a performance that you ordinarily wouldn’t56. Dress up for a Special Dinner57. Go to the top of Hoover Tower58. Attend a protest, demonstration, rally or sit-in59. Write a letter for The Stanford Fund60. Visit the Cantor Center for Visual Arts61. Take a creative writing class62. Go to Frost Amphitheatre at night63. Try the rock-climbing wall at Arrillaga Center forSports and Recreation64. Nominate a friend or a professor for a university ordepartmental award65. Kill someone in a dorm game of Assassins66. Walk around Lake Lag67. Go to Big Game68. Mentor a younger student69. Tag along on a campus tour70. Donate to Senior Gift71. Go to office hours72. Take an athletics class73. Go on ski trip at Tahoe74. Scream your class year at the top of your lungs with Dean Julie75. Utilize 5-SURE76. Get a stuffed cow from the Bookstore’s holiday giveaway77. Host a ProFro78. View an item from Special Collections79. Run Campus Drive loop80. Watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean81. Take tourist-style photos in the Quad82. Go on Band Run83. Go to a career fair and pick up free pens and other giveaways84. Write chalk messages around campus85. Go to FLiCKS86. Learn the locations of the numbered buildings in the Quad...or at least,most of them87. Table for something in White Plaza88. Redeem your Treehouse and CoHo “free items” from the Stanford Directorycoupons89. Rent a DVD from Green Media/Microtext90. Try a Student Initiated Course91. Get thrown in the shower for your birthday92. Go hiking in Yosemite93. Meet your friends’ parents94. Have gelato at Gelato Classico95. Organize a dinner party with your friends96. Have a key to somewhere on campus other than your room97. Go to an event organized by a student group you have no connection to98. Spend a day at a local beach99. Thank all of the people who have helped and supported you during your time at Stanford
—With contributions from members of the Class of 2009, Stanford Magazine and the Frosh Facebook
Contact Kelley Fong at ktfong@stanford.edu.
MICHAELLIU/The Stanford DailyMICHAELROONEY/The Stanford DailyMICHAELLIU/The Stanford Daily ALEXYU/The Stanford Daily ALEXYU/The Stanford DailyJENNY PEGG/The Stanford Daily
99
Things
As the Class of 2009 approaches its graduation, here are99 Stanford “must do’s” to check off or catch up on
to do before you graduate
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25
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D
ear My Co-op,I love you.Really.Youare a great community,you’re justquirky and far enough away fromeverything to be the best house on campus,and you’re committed to trying to do well bythe earth.You use the most environmentallyresponsible products you can find,like recy-cled toilet paper and nontoxic cleaning solu-tions.You have recycling bins all over thekitchen,and you have three compost bins.People actually use them (most of the time)!You make sure vegetarians can eat well atevery dinner,and you’d do vegan if therewere any vegans in the house.You supportpolitical discourse and do house hiking tripsand fireside gatherings.I love you.I’ll missyou.Now,take this in the context of the factthat you are absolutely great:it’s just thatthere are a few mistakes that get made fairlyconsistently,though I think these are more of “human being”problems than problems spe-cific to our co-op.I’m talking about those mistakes that areunquestionably waste.There’s a piece of paper prominentlyposted on our refrigerator that points out theamount of water that various daily choicesare responsible for consuming (for therecord,I claim credit for being neither thefirst to see this nor the one to post it—whichis another reason my co-op is great).Even in the face of a big sign that says apound of beef is responsible for 1,500 gallonsof water,it’s not uncommon that 10 poundsof meat get thrown out because they didn’tget cooked after a defrost or because thehouse forgot they were there for a few weeks.When defrosting,it’s not that unusual thata bunch of meat is left in a sink with the waterrunning over it for several hours.In emergen-cies,sweet.There aren’t many other optionswhen you have two hours to get dinner to-gether for 60 people and nothing’s defrosted.But it’s started happening almost every day—when it’s not that hard to put meat in therefrigerator the night before or in the morn-ing to defrost.More on the energy side—ovens andstovetop burners get left on with surprisingfrequency (they’re electric,which makes iteasier to not notice they’re on).This is notonly a waste of energy;it’s pretty dangerousfor the next person who comes along.Or,interms of lighting,when a space that is well-litby ambient light coming in through windowshas all its lights on,even when flipping themon and off produces no discernible change inlight availability...it’s not really doing any-thing for anyone.Walking around campus,I’ve noticed thatit’s not uncommon to see hoses left on,drain-ing directly into the street or into a stormdrain.Walking around America,you see thedoors of air-conditioned stores left open allthe time—similar in concept to leaving therefrigerator door open for five minutes whileyou make a sandwich.Most of the time,thiswaste is unconscious or accidental,and itdoesn’t take too much effort to get rid of itonce you’re aware of it.That’s the beauty of eliminating waste—it doesn’t have to affectlifestyles,since the waste wasn’t doing any-thing for anyone in the first place.We justhave to be a little smarter about how we ap-proach certain systems,like defrosting.Orlike paying attention to what’s in the refriger-ator,and then closing the fridge door whilewe contemplate the goodness within.Again,I’m definitely talking about thekinds of waste that have no benefit.Like pay-ing for meat and then throwing it out.It’s thiskind of waste that is easiest to get rid of,sincecausing it has no benefit for people.A lot of the time,it’s actually hurting people,throughcost or through incidences such as stovetopsbeing unexpectedly on and burning people.Because really,at the end of the day,if youwant a steak,and you’re going to love thatsteak,and it’s super tasty,go ahead and eat it.Or if you come home after an awful day andthe only thing that is going to make youhappy is a hot,15-minute shower,go for it.If you’re enjoying something that isn’t substi-tutable,that’s not waste.It might not be themost efficient use of resources all the time,but it’s not waste.On the other hand,tossing out difficult-to-produce meat,hard-to-transport-and-re-ally-damn-scarce freshwater,or last-time-we-didn’t-have-enough-of-this-so-we-threw-out-the-governor electricity is justsilly.So if we as a culture are looking for waysto improve our resource utilization,let’s startby eradicating waste.The marginal benefit ishuge,and you can still turn on your heater inthe winter.
Emily sometimes buys a few gallons of gaso-line and lights them on fire for fun.It’s onlywaste if she can’t watch,right? If you want tohelp her get into the carpool lane when she doesthis,email her at gruberte@stanford.edu to join.
T
he latest spat of protests over the re-duced hours of the Community Centerstaff once again highlights the volatileclimate around racial issues on this campus.Not unlike a whole host of issues,discussionsaround “diversity”versus “entitlement”hap-pen wholly within the context of the StanfordBubble,wholly disconnected from largerstruggles happening beyond El CaminoReal.There is however,an issue that for onceseems to have powerful implications both in-side the Farm and out in that great,terrifyingwilderness known as the real world.The Development,Relief and Educationfor Alien Minors Act of 2009,or “DREAMACT,”is a measure introduced this pastMarch to Congress that would provide un-documented students a path to citizenshipcontingent upon enrollment in higher educa-tion or the United States military.Unlike awide swath of national and international de-velopments whose impact upon the Stan isnon-existent,the possible passage of theDREAM ACT would make a splash here be-cause,unbeknownst to a great many of us,wehave undocumented students among ourCardinal ranks.Until literally a week ago,I had never ac-tually considered the notion that Stanfordcould have any students here that were notlegally allowed to be in the U.S.-of-A.Well,you can add that to the list of things I havebeen wrong about.There are a handful of un-documented students enrolled at Stanford,with a friend of mine from freshman year—who for the sake of anonymity will be calledClara—among them.In a rather candid and moving email ex-change,I discussed with Clara the circum-stances surrounding her status,particularlyin regards to her time at the Farm.Broughtinto the U.S.on a now-expired temporarytourist visa at the age of four,Clara was edu-cated here.Applying to Stanford as a Mexi-can citizen,Clara was totally honest with theUniversity about her standing,which in turnprovided her with a full scholarship given herinability to legally earn wages.Though I willdraw criticisms for this comment,I applaudthe school for the courage to honor educa-tional excellence,even in the face of narrow-minded legality.An active,highly motivated and incredi-bly involved student,Clara’s future prospectsare uncertain,to say the very least.“It is real-ly hard to plan for the future when you aren’teven sure whether you will be in the countrythe next day,”she remarked,noting the inac-cessibility of study abroad programs,paid in-ternships and other resources.Clara’s onlyreal hope of staying in America,outside of marriage,rests with the DREAM ACT.Though I have a personal connection toClara,I have no doubt there are thousandsout there like her who have been blessedwith the opportunity to excel in the Ameri-can school systems but are faced with thepossibility of ultimately being denied thechance to make good upon these tools.Edu-cation,above all,is the means by which tobetter one’s life—to become equipped withthe knowledge and tools necessary to lead afulfilling life.The last thing we should bedoing is discouraging students from activelyengaging in intellectual pursuits.The intersection of immigration and edu-cation contributed largely to me being heretoday.My maternal grandmother,a Roman-ian Holocaust refugee living in Israel,wasgiven a chance to come to America becauseof a scholarship to NYU.The triumphs andtribulations of my family over the past fivedecades were made possible by the chanceNYU,and to a large extent the U.S.,gave tomy grandmother so many years ago.Though America has a distinguished his-tory of really screwing minority groups over(see Chinese Exclusionary Act,pre-1865South,anything regarding Native Ameri-cans,19th century New York anti-Irish senti-ments,etc.),the reason we have excelled tosuch extraordinary heights is our ability toprovide a haven for the best and the brightestthat the rest of the world was too prejudicedor stupid to welcome.This is a legacy we mustcontinue.I support the DREAM ACT out of appre-ciation both for Clara’s talent and for the vastpotential these undocumented students canbring to the U.S.as citizens.Xenophobia andover-played fears of “immigrant invasions”ala Lou Dobbs are not the solution for breath-ing life into our sagging national fortunes.Letus bring people like Clara out of the shadowsand into the legal workings of this country.
Zack is beginning to get alarmed by his recent “serious”streak.Next week he will relentlesslydisparage some large group of people/Zonies.Have any easy targets? Let him know at zwar-ma@stanford.edu.
F
or generations,Native peoples in thiscountry have struggled with the appro-priation,commodification and exotifi-cation of our cultures—processes deeplyrooted in histories of colonization and op-pression.Stanford University has not beenimmune to these societal illnesses.On numer-ous occasions over the past four decades,theNative community at Stanford—consistingof Native American,Alaska Native and Na-tive Hawaiian students—has confronted,and continues to confront,these issues hereon campus.In 1972,a small group of Native studentspetitioned the University for the removal of its former “Indian”mascot and were success-ful in doing so,sparking movements towardthe removal of similar mascots throughoutthe country.Yet,in spite of the students’ suc-cess,the mascot issue did not die in the 1970s.Since then,year after year,when Big Gamecomes around,groups of nostalgic alumni andstudents feel the need to try to revive the mas-cot’s disrespectful and denigrating imagery.As recently as 2006,The Stanford Review fea-tured an editorial entitled “Long Live Light-foot!”referring to Prince Lightfoot,who,from 1951 to 1972,served as the University’sofficial “Indian”mascot at football games.This was in response to the controversy sur-rounding a number of T-shirts printed by agroup of alumni which featured the face of Stanford’s former mascot.Similarly,despite the numerous voicedconcerns of the Native community,The Re-view has sporadically used a caricatureknown as the “Chief”in association with its“Smoke Signals”column.This caricature waslast seen in 2005,though The Review still reg-ularly publishes “Smoke Signals”in its week-ly paper.In whatever shape or form,there hasbeen a consistent history of those insistent on“bringing back the Indian,”and in each occur-rence our community has been steadfast inour opposition.Unfortunately,degrading depictions of Native peoples as mascots are not the only is-sues of this sort that our community faceshere on campus.Each year when Halloweencomes around,our community is brought faceto face with those who find it fun and cool todress up like “Pocahontas,”“Tiger Lily”or“Lilo and Stitch,”thinking nothing of theirdemeaning costumes and the history of cul-tural appropriation they represent.Also,every spring,various houses and dorms havebecome accustomed to throwing “lu’au”par-ties,featuring “tiki”bars and students dressedup in coconut bras and grass skirts,with littleor no consideration of the history and thepeople that these parties represent.Thesepeople,more often than not,simply do not un-derstand the roots of our community’s con-cerns over these disrespectful misrepresenta-tions of our peoples,and have no intention of offending anyone.They often have no ideawhat it feels like to have a total stranger lookthem in the eyes and tell them that they aredressed as a member of their ethnic group,while wearing mock regalia from other cul-tures and religions,with little or no under-standing of where or how their “costume”came about.Ignorance,though,is no excusefor intolerance.So,once again,our communi-ty stands steadfast in our opposition,and in sodoing we intend to educate.The American media and Hollywood havelong done Native peoples,as well as othermarginalized peoples,extreme injustice withthe derogatory stereotypes and misrepresen-tations they have created.Mascots,partythemes and costumes that depict similar por-trayals of marginalized peoples—whetherintentionally or not—serve to perpetuateand reinforce these stereotypes and misrep-resentations.As this continues to occur,thesestereotypical misrepresentations continue tobe ingrained in the American consciousnessand the cycles of marginalization and oppres-sion,too,continue on.Native peoples since1492 have been represented as “savages,”“heathens”and,more recently,mascots andcaricatures in literature and other forms of mass media.These misrepresentations havepalpable implications for our peoples socially,mentally and politically.We,Native studentshere at Stanford,continue to fight the samefight that our ancestors and elders have forgenerations—a fight for respect,equal rightsand treatment as human beings.Our culturesare not party themes.Our traditional regaliaand clothing are not costumes.We are notmascots or caricatures.We are human beings.Today in White Plaza,a number of stu-dents will be holding a demonstration tomake a clear statement that these issues of cultural sensitivity,stereotyping and misrep-resentation need to be taken seriously byeveryone at this University.Our demonstra-tion will be held in solidarity with the Ameri-can Indian Movement-West’s demonstra-tions this week in San Francisco at the SanFrancisco Giants and Atlanta Braves games,which will protest against racist imagery insports,specifically Atlanta’s continued use of the “Braves”mascot and the “tomahawkchop.”
LEON PERALTO ‘10
Co-President,Hui o Hawai’i
C
RIME AND
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UNISHMENT
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The Stanford Daily
Tuesday,May 26,2009
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ensions have recently flared up oncampus and nationwide over an arti-cle submitted to The National Review,the famous conservative magazine foundedby the late William F.Buckley.The articlewas written by an overprotective parent of aStanford student who became upset over thefact that the student,a senior,was assignedto a mixed-gender room.This year is the first year of a pilot programfor gender-neutral housing at Stanford,al-though it has long existed unofficiallythrough many of the co-ops.Perhaps the moststriking part of the article was that the authorexpressly stated that had Stanford offeredthis option four years ago,she never wouldhave allowed her daughter to matriculatehere.It is understandable that there may besome pressure on Stanford to backpedal andreverse its stance on gender-neutral housingto preserve matriculation rates,particularly inan economically trying time;but so far,thereis no sign that it will,and the editorial boardwould like to continue to encourage Stanfordto support the option of gender-neutral hous-ing.Character is demonstrated throughstrength in the face of adversity,and it is greatto live in a place that continues to be a modelfor other universities.The first observation inspired by this situ-ation—unrelated to the issue of gender-neutral housing—is the danger of “helicop-ter parenting,”the idea that parents contin-ue to hover around their sons and daughtersafter they go to college and proceed to mi-cromanage their lives.The author of the arti-cle expressed concern that her daughter didnot have a say in her housing situation,as shehad appointed a proxy for her housing meet-ing,but the daughter has expressed in no un-certain terms that she was comfortable andhappy with her housing arrangement.Asadults,students are,in general,better servedby being allowed to make their own choices;it usually turns out for the best,or alternate-ly allows students the chance to learn fromtheir own mistakes.A counterpoint to thisargument is that many parents foot the heftyStanford bill and should thus have a say inthe lives of their offspring.While it is a sepa-rate argument whether parents should beexpected to pay for college,monetary lever-age should not be used as a tool of control tokeep college-age children in line.Demonizing gender-neutral housing isalso entirely unfair to the LGBTQ commu-nity.Enshrining a bi-gendered system as im-mutable relegates the transgendered popu-lation to second-class status and borders onhate.Implying that allowing people of oppo-site genders to room together will causethem to sleep together is not only judgmen-tal and assuming of the social mores of Stan-ford students,but also assumes a hetero-nor-mative society.Stanford hosted the largest“No On Proposition 8”phone bank in thestate of California and has been a nationalleader for LGBTQ rights.Preserving gen-der-neutral housing will entrench that statusand serve as an example to universitiesaround the world.Every so often there comes a time whenour convictions are tested,and it appearsStanford has passed this test this time.Theeditorial board applauds and encouragescontinued support for gender-neutral hous-ing,not only to allow students the freedomto make their own choices,but also to standin solidarity with the LGBTQ community.May Stanford’s gender-neutral housing poli-cies serve as an example for other universi-ties,who may be wary of alienating parentsby adopting a similar policy,even when theyknow it is the right thing to do.
Stanford correct in standing upfor gender-neutral housingNative culture deserves respect
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.
Managing Editors
The Stanford Daily
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A N I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R
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In HoLee
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T
HE
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UDE
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BIDES
ZackWarma
If you will it Dude, it is no Dream
My love letter to my co-op
Most ofthe time,[...] waste isunconscious or accidental,andit doesn’t take mucheffort to get rid ofit onceyou’re aware ofit.
EmilyGrubert
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