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T Stanford Daily The

WEDNESDAY May 9, 2012

An Independent Publication
www.stanforddaily.com

Volume 241 Issue 56

SPEAKERS & EVENTS

Play delves into nuclear negotiations

Pulitzer Prize-winner Rhodes explores Reykjavik Summit
By NEEL THAKKAR
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Admits weigh aid offers

Ten percent of admit class asks for financial aid package to be reassessed
By ETHAN KESSINGER Around 10 percent of admitted students petition the Financial Aid Office each year in hopes of increasing the amount of aid that would be awarded to them if they came to Stanford, according to Karen Cooper, director of financial aid. Members of the incoming fall class reported that additional funds received through the petition process made it financially possible for them to enroll at Stanford. Biola Maccaulay 16 said that while her mother had to go in to talk to the Financial Aid Office in person, the process was relatively painless. They increased my aid a lot, Maccaulay said. It made it a lot easier to come to Stanford. Other students, however, questioned the fact that the award process takes place behind closed doors, which can lead to confusion and anger when awards are less than students expect. The Financial Aid Office said that the process seeks to be as equal to all families as possible whether or not they submit a petition. We are always trying to be equitable to all of our families, Cooper said. Our goal is to treat the families who did petition and did not petition the same so that families who petition do not get special treatment. According to Cooper, petitions are evaluated in a manner similar to how the University initially determines aid. For a student who does not receive any aid, the cost of attendance for the 2012-13 academic year will be $58,436. This may be partially or fully offset for students with financial need by the $125 million that will be spent on institutional scholarships next year. Cooper reported that around $75 million of the money for financial aid comes from the Stanford endowment, while The Stanford Fund provides $15 million and unrestricted sources, such as the Presidents Funds, support the rest. While the Financial Aid Office uses a statistic called Ex-

There is a moment in Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Rhodess new play, Reykjavik, when, after days of negotiations over nuclear weapons between then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, Reagan suddenly drops a bomb of his own. Why dont we get rid of them all? Reagan asks. Can we agree, at the end of ten years, to nuclear abolition? For a moment, the two men come together, shoulder to shoulder, at the front of the stage. They look up and out into the audience, as Reagan envisions the two of them meeting again as old men, drinking champagne as they watch the worlds last two nuclear missiles being ground into scrap. But in the play, as in 1986, when the Reykjavik Summit actually occurred in the capital city of Ireland, talks between Reagan and Gorbachev ultimately collapse. Those few minutes, however, represent the feelings of both hope and regret that characterize Reykjavik, which was presented Tuesday night at Cemex Auditorium. The hour-long production featuring just Reagan, played by Drama and Classics Professor Rush Rehm, and Gorbachev is notable for staying close to the transcripts of the fa-

NICK SALAZAR/The Stanford Daily

Richard Rhodes debuted his new play Reykjavik Tuesday night in Cemex Auditorium. Set in 1986 during the Reykjavik Summit, his play portrays a pivotal attempt at negotiation between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.
mous event. Rhodes, who is affiliated with Stanfords Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), previously won a Pulitzer Prize for his 1987 book, The Making of the Atomic Bomb. I was going through the transcripts of the Reykjavik summit in 2006, and it was intriguing to see [the Soviet and American transcripts] side by side and see what the American side left out, Rhodes said after the performance. Particularly, Reagans move to eliminate everything [all nuclear weapons] was excised. The play seeks to show a fuller picture of both leaders. Reagan is shown to be charismatic and good-hearted, but forgetful. For much of the summit, he reads his arguments off note cards and repeatedly mentions how, in the aftermath of World War I, Europes great powers agreed to ban chemical weapons, but held onto their gas masks. Gorbachev is depicted as the more intelligent and focused of the two, but also spends time talking about his youth, which was spent working on a collective farm. Both he and Reagan find common ground in having come from nothing. Such conversations take place when the negotiations have grown

Please see PLAY, page 3

Please see AID, page 3

NEWS BRIEFS

STUDENT GOVT

Climate change initiatives losing support in US

By THE DAILY NEWS STAFF A recent survey conducted by Stanford and Ipsos Public Affairs revealed a decline in U.S. support for government-endorsed climate change initiatives over the past two years. Seventy-two percent of participants advocated for government action on climate change concerns in a 2010 survey conducted by Stanford. This years survey, however, showed a decrease in support to 62 percent. According to the survey results, major factors that have swayed individuals away from supporting government climate change initiative include Republican political leanings, skepticism directed toward climate scientists and recent shifts to a cooling of weather worldwide. Jon Krosnik, senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, mentioned in an article in the Stanford Report the lack of Republican support for government initiatives in climate matters during the current presidential campaigns. Those who identified as Republican expressed the sharpest drop in support for these initiatives. The report indicated that the American publics main concern with government involvement in climate change is consumer taxes that are meant to dissuade greater public use of electricity and gasoline. The report, however, did not find evidence to suggest that economic struggles play a considerable factor Regardless of the drop in full supporters, the study did reveal that many specific government actions addressing climate change continue to receive support.
Ileana Najarro

ASSU Senate debates ARP modifications

By JULIA ENTHOVEN
SENIOR STAFF WRITER

MEHMET INONU/The Stanford Daily

Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo and economist Eliane Karp-Toledo addressed the audience at an all-day conference on Latin American indigenous population integration and human rights on Tuesday. They emphasized the link between poverty and human rights.

Former Peruvian President links ethnicity to poverty

By SARAH MOORE
STAFF WRITER

SPEAKERS & EVENTS

Prof. emeritus of chemical engineering dies at age 87

By THE DAILY NEWS STAFF Michel Boudart, professor emeritus of chemical engineering at Stanford, died last Wednesday at the age of 87. Boudart taught at Princeton University and UC-Berkeley before spending 50 years in Stanfords Chemical Engineering Department.

Please see BRIEFS, page 3

There is a high correlation between poverty and ethnicity, said Alejandro Toledo, former president of Peru, at an all-day conference Tuesday in Encina Hall. Its not a coincidence that the poorest people in Latin America are indigenous or Afro descendants. That is why I think the initiative of this conference has an enormous application. It is not just an academic exercise its very concrete. Toledo, who served as Perus president from 2001 to 2006, gave the opening address at a conference titled Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Latin America, which sought to explore how the conditions of indigenous people in the region can be improved. Toledo began by examining the economic situation of Latin America and discussing how despite overall economic growth, the poverty gap between the indigenous and the wealthy continues to swell. One of the greatest advantages that I think Latin America has is our cultural diversity, he said. That cultural diversity is

not our weakness. Its our strength. If we are able to build on that, then we can create a cohesive society, reduce social conflict and provide sustainability for economic growth, Toledo continued. And the income we derive from that growth, we can invest it in the minds of our people. His wife, Elaine Karp-Toledo, an anthropologist and economist, expanded on the indigenous culture and way of life in an afternoon presentation. She discussed why and how indigenous people should be involved with their local and national governments. We propose that social inclusion and equal citizenship are key factors for good governance, Karp-Toledo said. The indigenous worldview has to be respected and integrated in public policies. According to Karp-Toledo, the modern press and media unfortunately continue to produce negative images of the indigenous, portraying them as less-civilized people who cannot recognize improvements or what is best for them. She said this makes it more difficult for them to be taken seriously by their governments.

In its second meeting, the 14th Undergraduate Senate began discussion Tuesday on the Alternative Review Process (ARP), a judicial procedure for cases involving sexual assault, sexual harassment or relationship violence at Stanford. Although the Senate did not revise or vote on any of the ARP provisions, Senator Ashley Harris 15 announced that the Board of Judicial Affairs voted Tuesday to add an innocent until found responsible clause back into the ARP charter, rectifying a controversial absence that Harris said was merely an oversight. The senators also presented their opinions on the discretion of the investigator in admitting evidence, the unitary appellate jurisdiction of the vice provost, the unanimous-versusmajority voting requirement, the size of review panels and the right to confront witnesses. Garima Sharma 15, Senate deputy chair, expressed an opinion on almost every issue and supported the existing provisions of the ARP. She endorsed the preponderance of evidence burden of proof by likening the ARP to a civil trial, in which preponderance of evidence is sometimes used, and reminded her peers of the promising effect that the lowered standard of proof has had on encouraging victims to report cases. She also echoed the logic of the Dear Colleague Letter, which says that Title IX suits and Office for Civil Rights discrimination suits are tried under preponderance of evidence and, therefore, campus hearings involving sexual assault should similarly adopt this standard. In terms of the standard of proof, [Jamie Pontius-Hogan] said there is basically no wiggle room, Harris reported from her conversation with the assistant dean of the Office of Judicial Affairs earlier that day. Its going to be preponderance of evidence . . . because without it, federal funding could be lost.

Please see RIGHTS, page 3

Please see ASSU, page 2

Index Features/2 Classifieds/3 Opinions/4 Sports/5

Recycle Me

2 N Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Stanford Daily

FEATURES

SERENITY NGUYEN/The Stanford Daily

Cat Tales
By ERIKA ALVERO KOSKI
DESK EDITOR

nvisible to the casual onlooker and shrouded by the overhanging branches of a coast live oak or a bay tree, 15 cat feeding stations are sprinkled throughout the Stanford campus, unbeknownst to most of its inhabitants. Ranging from the Plant Growth Facility on Stockfarm Road to the bushes outside Lagunita residences and all the way to East Campus, each station consists of an unobtrusive black plastic bin to protect the food and feeding cats from the sun and rainstorms. This station system is an integral component of the Stanford Cat Network. One thing people comment on when they look at the Stanford Cat Network webpage is that all the cats look really healthy, said Kirk Gilmore, an engineering physicist at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) who volunteers as a feeder for the Stanford Cat Network. People expect feral cats to be all skinny, scrawny and unhealthy-looking but thats exactly what we try to avoid. The Stanford Cat Network was founded in 1989, when maintenance employees on campus began finding litters of sick kittens around Stanford. The news traveled to administrative officials and someone decided that the issue needed to be addressed. There was a decision that came down that the humane thing to do was to go trap all these animals and take them to the local shelter where they would all be killed because they werent adoptable [and] there were too many of them, said Carole Miller, cofounder of the Stanford Cat Network. Community members who had already been feeding the animals independently banded together in support of the cats. The Stanford Cat Network, as they called themselves, negotiated an agreement with the administrators, who allowed them to provide population management of the homeless cats on campus. Population management entails spaying, neutering and caring for the creatures, in a process often called Trap, Neuter, Return. This program had a dramatic effect on the campus feline population. We had at least 500 cats on campus in 89, Miller said. We have two dozen known cats today. Many newcomer cats appear each year, left by students who suddenly find they cannot care for their pets over a school holiday or find the responsibility of owning an animal tiresome. When found, domesticated or tameable cats will be placed in foster homes and later be put up for adoption. Miller takes in any cats that are not adopted to live at her sanctuary as the network is strictly no-kill. The remaining two dozen cats are feral, or un-socialized. They cannot be adopted or live as pets, but still cannot completely fend for themselves. Thus, they rely on the Stanford Cat Network feeders for sustenance. The most feral cat is still a domestic animal, Miller said. Feeders on campus include staff, faculty members and students. I do basically what needs to be done, Gilmore said. I feed and I trap. We put a lot of energy into making the traps comfortable for the feral cats so we can trap them. We usually monitor them for a while to make sure they havent been trapped before. After trapping the cats, volunteers like Gilmore bring them to a veterinarian for a check-up and spaying or neutering.

Driving around in a white minivan with a license plate that reads CATNET and a trunk filled with cat food and water jugs, Miller will often take on feeding responsibilities in addition to her position as co-founder of the organization. Approaching a station, she fills a food bowl with both dry pellets and wet paste so that cats with dental problems do not go hungry. Two options ensure that every cat will at least be able to eat some portion of the food provided. After washing and replacing the used bowl, Miller hops back into her vehicle and headed to the next location.

The most feral cat is still a domestic animal.

CAROLE MILLER, Stanford Cat Network co-founder
Once I get going, its rather therapeutic, Miller said. At the Plant Growth Facility on West Campus, the Stanford Cat Network has built a much larger enclosure, complete with cat climbing equipment. Curled up inside the enclosure is a glossy black and brown cat suffering from feline leukemia. Because Milton is feral, he cannot be adopted. He also cannot return into the company of the other feral or homeless cats roaming the Stanford campus for fear of passing on the contagious disease. The Stanford Cat Network has been able to provide Milton with a haven he would not otherwise have. Although not affiliated with the Stanford Cat Network, East Florence Moore Resident Fellow (RF) Susan Watkins is also an oncampus cat caretaker. Working through an organization called Humanimal, Watkins and her family have fostered five or six litters over the course of the nine years they have served as RFs, each litter containing between four to six feral kittens. Their position as RFs has been ideal for socializing these kittens. Its a great way to get residents down here; theyre kittens, theyre adorable! Watkins said. People will just come and sit in here and there will be a kitten asleep on their lap. Once the kittens weigh two pounds, they can be returned to Humanimal to be spayed or neutered and later adopted out. Not everyone on campus however is enamored with cats, or with the Stanford Cat Network. At one of the stations, a 70-pound feeding structure disappeared and Miller suspected sabotage. There are those of us who love these animals, but there are an awful lot of people out there who hate cats, to the point of being willing to go too far and do something, Miller said. Despite these incidents, the roaming cats on campus return to the feeding stations year after year. Some of the cats present in 1989 when the Network was founded just recently died. The organizations success in decreasing the number of cats on campus is apparent, and perhaps disappointing to some. We used to get a lot of student feeders [who came] because they saw cats, Miller said. And now they just go on faith. Contact Erika Alvero Koski at erikaa 1@stanford.edu.

ASSU

Continued from front page

While no senators strongly disputed the preponderance of evidence standard, several argued that due to the lowered standard of proof, the responding student ought to have strong procedural protections. I think with the lowering of the standard of proof, we would need six panel members, said Senator Shahab Fadavi 15, who has served as a reviewer in campus judicial proceedings involving honor code violations. I would think that you would need to . . . increase the number of faculty members on that panel who are involved and more knowledgeable on sexual harassment cases in particular. In response to the argument that a smaller panel leads to increased privacy for both parties to a case, Fadavi said that all panels are required to keep cases confidential, and that adding a faculty member might insulate the information from the student body. Ultimately our goal is to make sure that . . . people who are . . . actually sexually assaulted . . .

come forward, and, hopefully, the lower standard will do that, he said. But, at the same time, we would want to make sure that we dont wrongly find anyone responsible, because that is also super important, if you consider the impact that this does have on a persons future. You need to be somewhat prepared for the slippery slope, for the worst case scenario, Viraj Bindra 15 said, echoing the sentiments of Law School student Elliott Wolf, who spoke to the senators at their May 1 meeting about his experience serving as student body president at Duke University in the immediate aftermath of the 2006 Duke lacrosse scandal. Bindra said that he was concerned with the unitary discretion of the investigator to reject evidence. Sharma responded by repeating the caveat of Tessa Ormenyi 14, an ARP reviewer, that responding students have, in the past, brought in irrelevant character witnesses just to delay a verdict or sanction. Sharma also argued that there would be logistical problems in allowing reviewers to determine relevancy because of their tendency to evaluate evidence they have heard, even if it has been ruled irrelevant.

When discussing a unanimousversus-simple majority voting requirement, a gender divide of the Senate emerged, with Sharma, Harris, Kimberly Bacon 15, Janhavi Vartak 15 and Lauren Miller 15 supporting the existing majority requirement, and Jack Weller 15, Brandon Hightower 15 and Ismael Ish Menjivar 15 favoring a unanimous requirement. Fadavi 15 was the only male senator to express support for maintaining the majority requirement. The senators, several of whom said they felt that they did not know enough about the process or had not heard from enough experts to have a thorough and informed opinion, decided to invite several experts with varied stances to attend next weeks Senate meeting. In hopes of better representing their constituents, the senators also discussed methods of inviting and collecting student opinion about the ARP, including an open town hall debate, increased personal communication and the extension of anonymous forums for students intimidated by the idea of speaking at Senate meetings. Contact Julia Enthoven at jjejje @stanford.edu.

The Stanford Daily

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 N 3

Aid calculator on its website in order to give students a rough estimate of their award. Cooper said the calculator uses the same formula that the Office uses, but that actual awards are reviewed and edited by the staff. Cooper stressed that the petition process is very similar to the original award process. Financial Aid Counselors (FACs) are not assigned a specific caseload, but instead work on petitions as they are submitted to expedite the review process and notify students
SERENITY NGUYEN/The Stanford Daily

AID

Continued from front page

pected Family Contribution (EFC), which is supplied by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), to determine student eligibility for federal funds, the University uses its own algorithm to determine expected family contribution when awarding Stanford scholarship funds. The Financial Aid Office tries to send all award notifications with students admissions offers. Cooper said that this allows time for students to petition for an increase in their award before the May 1 deadline to accept a Stanford offer of admission. Stanford grants aid through a process similar to that of many top tier universities including Harvard and Yale, according to Cooper. She said unlike with federal funds, the University takes home equity into account, and

as quickly as possible. If the Financial Aid Office requires more information on individual students, they talk to territory officers from the admissions office, according to Cooper. As a final review, she said that the FACs meet as a group to discuss special circumstances that complicate certain students packages. Financial aid petitions are not strictly for incoming freshmen. Students reapply for financial aid every year and always have the opportunity to petition their

awards, Cooper said. She also added that the Financial Aid Office would reevaluate awards in the middle of the academic year if requested. We encourage families, that if something does change during the academic year, to let us know, Cooper said. We can work with them to see if that warrants a change to their financial aid eligibility. Contact Ethan Kessinger at ekessing@stanford.edu.

looks more comprehensively at state taxes, which can make the EFC that Stanford calculates higher than the federal EFC. Some students expressed satisfaction with the original amount granted for financial aid. I received more from Stanford than any other school, said Jeremy Moffett 16. I did not petition because I was very happy with it. The University has a Financial creating awareness is definitely one of the conferences goals, but we also wanted to create momentum for researchers on indigenous rights and thats not necessarily specific to Latin America Marques said. Its both multi-disciplinary and transnational. Throughout the day, there were five panel sessions of two to four speakers who each published papers on the conference theme. The panels presented various aspects of the issue such as indigenous child health, property rights and the indigenous relationship with climate change. The Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law partnered with the Program on Human Rights and the Center for Latin American Studies and Students for a Sustainable Stanford to organize the event. The Program on Human Rights plans to post the academic papers of the event speakers on its website. Contact Sarah Moore at smoore6 @stanford.edu. have to keep saying that? And well share it. You have my word. You dont even share your milk machines with us! Gorbachev retorts. The play suggests Reagans famous stubbornness, something which Tom Woosnam, a high school physics teacher and member of the audience, said he both admired and disliked. I was not convinced that Reagans stubbornness was based in rationality, Woosnam said. [But his] motivation was to protect his country. Everything in Rhodess play moments of levity included points to this fundamental mistrust in both leaders. When negotiations have failed at the end of the play, each character blames the other. You just dont get it, Reagan says. How am I supposed to trust you? I dont know what else I could have done! Gorbachev replies. Well, I do Reagan says. You should have said yes.

RIGHTS

Continued from front page

Audience member Diana Martin, a Palo Alto resident, said she was intrigued by the concept of involving the indigenous in modern education and markets. Theres a feeling of bringing the indigenous into the corporate culture if you educate them, Martin said. But if youre teaching them to use computers and cell phones, its a dilemma because you could destroy their traditional culture. Nadejda Marques, manager of the Program on Human Rights, initially proposed the idea of the conference. Marques said she feels that the issues surrounding the indigenous population in Latin America are applicable around the world, including in the United States, where Native Americans have to fight for sovereignty. Providing information and

PLAY

Continued from front page

too tense. Reagan describes his years as a lifeguard or taking care of his alcoholic father as a child. Something that gets lost in reading history texts is the feeling and emotion of the event, said Ravi Patel 13, an international relations minor who attended after learning about the summit in some of his classes. All I really knew was what was accomplished during the meeting. I didnt know the tensions involved in the negotiating process, Patel added. The play demonstrates some of those tensions. For all the friendly feeling generated by swapping childhood stories, the two leaders cannot bring themselves to trust one another. In the performance, the heart of the disagreement between the two men is Reagans Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), dubbed Star Wars by the media. The initiative would have established an American space-based missile shield to prevent against nuclear attack. Damn it, Mikhail, SDI is for defense, Reagan says. Why do I

Reykjavik will be performed again tonight at 7 p.m. in Cemex Auditorium.

Contact Neel Thakkar nthakkar@stanford.edu. at

BRIEFS

Continued from front page

Boudarts work influenced the energy, defense and space industries. A holder of four patents, he is best known for his work in catalysis, which involves studying substances that cause a change in the rate of a chemical reaction without reacting. According to the Journal of Physical Chemistry, Boudarts principal achievement was the quantification of catalysis as rigorous sequences of basic steps, which helped enable exact chemical reaction readings. Such advances made it possible for laboratories to compare data globally, affording opportunities

for collaboration. Born in Belgium, Boudart earned a B.S. and M.S. at the University of Louvain, and then obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry at Princeton University in 1950. Boudart became Stanfords first William M. Keck, Sr. professor of chemical engineering and helped build the reputation of the Chemical Engineering Department. He was knighted in Belgium, and was elected to both the National Academy of Science and the National Academy of Engineering. Along with two associates, Boudart founded Catalytica, a company that works on problems involving catalysis for petrochemical, chemical and pharmaceutical firms, in Santa Clara, Calif.
Mary Ann Toman-Miller

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4 N Wednesday, May 9, 2012

OPINIONS
E DITORIAL

The Stanford Daily

More art in our homes

students efforts in other types of art. But these spaces are underutilized, and it would seem that many students dont realize they can display their art or dont know how to go about doing so. Furthermore, the way that these spaces are set up tends to limit displays to smaller pieces of sculpture, ceramics, painting, or photography. Stanford could do more. Events similar to Art After Dark, which is Stanfords largest student arts festival, could be held in dorms or houses across campus to showcase more types of art interactive or performance art, design work, larger sculptures in addition to the smaller pieces already present in residential spaces. Murals are another way to showcase student talent and build community. The murals in Casa Zapata are more than just artwork; they remind diners everyday of that communitys pride and its struggles. Currently, permission is only sparingly granted for murals, limiting students ability to express themselves and make the space their own. Coordinating with the Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts (SiCa), which does a lot of work in promoting art of all types on campus, would be a good place to start. There is no doubt that Stanford is committed to the arts, what with the world-class Cantor Center and new Bing Concert Hall.There is also no doubt that students themselves are committed to the arts.What is needed is for Stanford to show its students that it values their contributions in this arena by committing to more student art and more varied student art showcased in living spaces across campus. Administrators like Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education Harry Elam have spoken of making the arts inescapable on campus. What better way to make them inescapable than to have student art throughout the residences?

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here is no doubt that Stanford students are talented. We excel in a variety of fields, from academics to athletics to public service. One area where students display their ability is in the arts. Stanford has its share of students who major in the arts, whether it is Music or Drama or Studio Art, and these students produce tremendous work. In addition to those formally studying art, however, there are countless Stanford students who produce art as a passion on the side.Another unique aspect of this university that the Editorial Board has touched upon before is the guaranteed availability of on-campus housing for all four years. Nevertheless, there is very little student artwork presented in common areas in dorms or houses across campus. Given this combination, the Editorial Board wonders why we do not see more student artwork in Stanfords housing. Artwork goes a long way toward transforming a residence into a home:Witness dorm theme decorations, particularly for freshmen who are making the transition to their new living environments, or even students choices of which posters or photos to put up in their rooms. More artwork in common living spaces would give students more ownership over the space that they call home and showcase the plentiful talent that we have on campus. In fact, knowing that they could contribute to their living space might even encourage more students to pick up the paintbrush or camera that they have not touched since high school. This is not to say that Stanford does nothing in this arena. Dorms are often well decorated by committed student staff members, and pianos and open mic nights in dorms across campus bring art in the form of music to the community. The Student Art Spots in many dorms and public spaces are a good first step toward better showcasing

Contacting The Daily: Section editors can be reached at (650) 721-5815 from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. The Advertising Department can be reached at (650) 721-5803, and the Classified Advertising Department can be reached at (650) 721-5801 during normal business hours. Send letters to the editor to eic@stanforddaily.com, op-eds to editorial@stanforddaily.com and photos or videos to multimedia@stanforddaily.com. Op-eds are capped at 700 words and letters are capped at 500 words.

BURSTING THE BUBBLE

Wheres our sand?

Burbank. Whatever could draw his ire? That circular asphalt pit on Escondido that was surely intended, months ago, to be two beach volleyball courts. They were rushing to get it done before Parents Weekend, he conjectures. And the day before Parents Weekend they pulled all their resources, drove all the trucks away, and havent done anything since. I asked him how he was sure. Its a safe assumption, dude. Hes an expert, you see. This from a Santa Barbara kid who grew up on the beaches. At the beginning of construction in December, he was stoked. More stoked than usual, which is kind of difficult cause hes always stoked on something. Itll be done before spring quarter, he assured me. And as suddenly and frenetically as everything else was built, construction on the courts was abandoned. Everythings done. Theres an elevated storm drain that needs

ometime between Thanksgiving break and the Christmas holidays, the jackhammering began on what was the parking lot between Wilbur and Stern. Work began each weekday morning at 7:30, much to the chagrin of east-facing Stern residents (myself included). Trucks rolled in, beeped in reverse, then rolled out. Yeah, we complained about it, but isnt it all worth it now? Every Friday, rubber pellets may just as well be grains of sand, as (mostly) underclassmen lay about in their swimsuits to welcome the weekend. It was a long process, but everyone seems happy now. Dont like turf? Wilbur Field is three steps away. New basketball courts are popular, judging from the sounds of the balls bouncing into the wee hours of the morning. It seems everyones happy these days. Except my baseball-cap bearing, bro-tank clad, longboard (shortboard! he insists) riding, guitar-playing, Facebook-rejecting, California hipster of a roommate. The most laid-back guy in

Edward Ngai
some work, but all the courts need is a dump truck filled with sand and some nets. Instead, for two months its been a big pit surrounded by litter Gatorade bottles on weekdays, Coronas on weekends. Its unseemly, especially in contrast to the beautifully manicured Wilbur Field, or the beautifully low-maintenance turf field. And considering the entire project the field, the picnic tables, the basketball courts, the paving is complete except for the sand in the volleyball courts, its about time a dump truck came and completed the job. Lets add the unmistakable barking of volleyball players to the summertime sounds of bouncing basketballs and baseballs hitting leather. Just a little sand, please, and let the kids play. Challenge Ed to a game of volleyball at edngai@stanford.edu

Unsigned editorials in the space above represent the views of the editorial board of The Stanford Daily and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Daily staff. The editorial board consists of five Stanford students led by a chairman and uninvolved in other sections of the paper. Any signed columns in the editorial space represent the views of their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the entire editorial board. To contact the editorial board chair, e-mail editorial@stanforddaily.com. To submit an oped, limited to 700 words, e-mail opinions@stanforddaily.com. To submit a letter to the editor, limited to 500 words, e-mail eic@stanforddaily.com. All are published at the discretion of the editor.

RAVALATIONS

Its the simple things in life

his Monday, sometime in the late afternoon, something happened that sent shockwaves throughout the entire campus: The Stanford Wi-Fi went down. I was on the phone when it happened, talking to a friend about a class when I attempted to go on Coursework and pull up some notes. My Web browser wouldnt load and I had to ask my friend to pause for a second. At first, I thought it was just my computer acting up again, but a few moments later, my roommate chimed in and said her Internet was down,and on the line, my friend mentioned that hers was too. We decided to come back to our conversation later and after hanging up, I found myself staring at my computer, unsure of what to do. Without the Wi-Fi, I couldnt check my email; I couldnt continue watching the videotaped lectures I had been reviewing to study for my midterm, and I couldnt even procrastinate properly since there was no way for me to access Netflix. So, I did something I havent really had the chance to do in a long time: I picked up a book one that wasnt a textbook, one that wasnt assigned, and one that I had wanted to get around to for a while. Now, Ive spent my whole life loving books. My parents have countless photos and videos of me combing through books (and playing with them when I was too young to know what words were), and my tattered copy of the first book I have ever owned (Dr. Seusss The Foot Book) is still sitting in my house. Reading is how I spent countless hours in elementary, middle and high school, but as I sat there thumbing through the book that I picked up on Monday afternoon, I realized how few books I had read since I enrolled at Stanford. Sure, I have read plenty of books for class (and skimmed through even more thanks to IHUM), and my affinity for newspapers has gone way up since I started college, since

Ravali Reddy
as a communication major I am expected to keep up to date with things. But picking up books for fun had become a thing of the past for me. I found myself constantly saying that I would get around to reading eventually. I told myself I would read over breaks, that Id catch up on every book I had been meaning to read over the summer, that I just didnt have the time to read for fun and that the time I do have to read should all be spent reading things for class. But on Monday, I realized that it took the Wi-Fi being down to make me see that I had been making excuses when it came to my reading. I could have easily been using all the study breaks that I spent watching television shows to read a chapter from my book instead. For some reason, it was just something that I had never thought about before, and after talking to some of my friends, I realized that pleasure reading was something that a lot of people have given up since coming to Stanford. Its crazy that the little things that used to make us so happy are the first things to go once we get too busy. Its easy to make excuses, but its important to realize that its just as easy to fit the simple things back into your life. So whether its reading, tossing a Frisbee or taking a nap out in the great spring quarter weather, its time to make time for the little things. After all, with only a month left in the school year, theres no time better than the present. Ravali wants to know what your favorite procrastination techniques are. Give her suggestions at ravreddy@ stanford.edu.

The Stanford Daily

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 N 5

SPORTS
reaking up is Zach never easy. As former athletic director Bob Bowlsby moves on to Dishing the Rock (arguably) greener pastures by becoming commissioner of the Big 12, Stanford is now tasked with filling the hole in its heart left by one of the most successful people to ever hold the position. Its going to be nearly impossible to duplicate his impact in the short term 10 national titles in six years is about as unmatchable as it gets and although things could surely be worse, hes not necessarily leaving the throne at the best time. Bowlsbys successor will inherit several big-money teams in states of serious transition. The departure of Andrew Luck, uncertainty at the quarterback position and questionable calls made by new head coach David Shaw in Glendale this past January loom over a program fresh off of two consecutive trips to BCS bowls. The Stanford womens basketball team, which has battled its way to five straight Final Fours, will have to find a way to deal with the loss of all-time great Nnemkadi Ogwumike, who was taken with the No. 1 pick in this years WNBA draft.And although momentum from an NIT championship is a positive sign, mens hoops still hasnt made an NCAA tournament in Johnny Dawkins four-year tenure. Other sports have also trended downward since the turn of the decade,and their struggles may need to be reevaluated sooner than expected. Suffice it to say that the Department of Athletics could face some adversity in the coming year. One hundred and two national championships and 17 straight Directors Cups are powerful indicators of prominence that could be lost without proper leadership. Additionally, Bowlsby was instrumental in keeping the Athletics Department (which lacks in SEC-type boosterism) well funded through the robust Pac-12 television deal. That sort of business savvy is rare in todays NCAA, especially when maintaining a program as clean and uncontroversial as Stanfords. This by no means is a decision that the administration can afford to rush to choose his successor. There have been rumors swirling over which direction University officials will choose to go, with certain names, including Condoleezza Rice, appearing on more than one occasion. Although Rices affiliation with the school and her undying passion for the athletics program are well documented, her lack of experience on the business side of college sports leaves me worried. Enter Oliver Luck, Andrew Lucks father and the current West Virginia athletic director. His connections to Stanford are purely through his children, with womens volleyball player Mary Ellen joining her brother on the Farm in the fall of 2010, but his credentials match perfectly with the most successful program in the nation. Having served as president of NFL Europe and president and general manager of Major League Soccers Houston Dynamo, in addition to his current role with the Mountaineers, Oliver Luck is undoubtedly well versed in the jobs responsibilities. He helped to quickly rescue a West Virginia football program that was desperate to move past the fiasco of former head coach Rich Rodriguez leaving for Michigan and is widely respected as one of the countrys premier athletic heads. There is no question that Stanford hasnt at least tested the waters with Luck in the few days since Bowlsbys appointment. Oliver Luck knows hes on the short list of candidates.The problem is drawing the former Republican Congressional nominee away from his home state of West Virginia and away from the high status of his current position.The present state of West Virginia athletics is one that he should be proud of (the Mountaineers romped Clemson, 70-33, in the Orange Bowl this year), and a quick glance at the West Virginia message boards suggests that supporters are well aware of his aptitude. However,West Virginia is embroiled in the dramatic conference realignment and just settled a nasty divorce with the Big East in favor of the Big 12. That switch will be financially beneficial and bring the Mountaineers stiffer competition and better ratings, but rarely does a school hop into a new league without initial growing pains. If theres any indication that Luck will at least think about the job, its that he declined to comment on the Stanford opening but flat out rejected consideration for Big 12 commissioner last week, the spot now filled by Bowlsby. At Stanford, Luck would find an athletics department that boasts success in many different sports and is situated in a wealthy and stable conference. Its obvious what Stanford has to offer: a private university setting, less media pressure, annual team championships, national respect and the like.The question is whether that is enough to bring a third Luck to Stanford and continue the familys charmed run in Palo Alto. Although its a long shot, the Athletics Department would be amiss to not make a strong play for the most beloved football dad in the schools history.

Making a case for Oliver Luck

Zimmerman
IAN GARCIA-DOTY/The Stanford Daily

JACK OF ALL TRADES

Junior Stephen Piscotty currently leads the No. 17 baseball team with 50 RBI and has taken on greater pitching responsibilities, throwing 4.2 innings at Oregon State last Sunday.
By JOSEPH BEYDA
DESK EDITOR

Junior Stephen Piscotty was named a preseason AllAmerican for his hitting talents, but even though he leads the No. 17 Stanford baseball team with 50 RBI good for No. 24 in the nation some of his biggest contributions recently have been on the mound. A third baseman and leftfielder by trade, Piscotty pitched two innings as a freshman and has become one of the Cardinals most reliable relievers over the last month. He recently spoke with The Daily about his additional pitching responsibilities and how Stanford (29-14, 11-10 Pac-12) hopes to secure its postseason positioning with just three weeks left in the season. The Stanford Daily (TSD): You just threw 83 pitches over a career-high 4.2 innings at Oregon State [on Sunday]. Hows your arm feeling? Stephen Piscotty (SP): A little sore. My whole bodys a little sore, but its good soreness. Its not pain or anything, its just what is expected, but Im definitely a little tired. TSD: Did you expect to be pitching this much coming into this season, and what conversations did you have with the coaching staff that led to you becoming one of this teams go-to relievers? SP: I mean, I pitched a couple of innings my freshman year so they knew I could do it. I just wanted to help the team any way I could. I threw in fall practice and did okay, and told them that if they needed me during the season, I had no problem throwing. They started with me in there playing a position, but I took the opportunities when they came. They said they wanted to [put me on the mound], so I said, Okay, lets do it. And thats kind of been the story of the year so far. TSD: With the designated hitter, not many college pitchers are responsible for contributing at the plate. When you have to deal with a high-pressure situation on the mound and then have to come back out and get on base yourself in the next half of the inning, how do you stay focused? SP: Its interesting. When you finish one role you really have to kind of slow yourself down, stop and think,Okay, Ive got to go hit. You definitely have to put your mind in check to remember that you need to do both, and you need to do both successfully. Hopefully Im learning to do that. I dont want to say Ive mastered that because I havent been doing it that long. Its more of a mentality thing rather than a physical one. I know the pitching mechanics from throwing before, and I

know the hitting mechanics. I know how to throw, its just a matter of mentally being able to execute flipping back from one to the other. TSD: Besides just your time on the mound, you also made the recent transition from third base to left field, where you played about half of your freshman season. How do you think thats been working out, given some of your fielding struggles early in the year? SP: The transition has helped get a good bat in the lineup, in [freshman third baseman] Alex Blandino. Situations occurred that landed me in left field, and thats what coach needed from me. Im a guy to respect whatever decision the coach makes. Im happy in left field, I enjoy running around in the outfield and getting to show off my arm a little bit. To me, hitting is the most important thing and anything I can contribute on defense Im happy to do, whatever position Im at. TSD: After Lonnie Kauppila went down with his injury, the infield was retooled a bit with some younger players, guys like Blandino and [sophomore second baseman] Brett Michael Doran, getting in regularly. What have you thought of their efforts? SP: I think theyve done a phenomenal job. Theyve been really consistent on defense, and both have had really good atbats. Obviously, Blandino, with the six home runs to start his season, did really well, and Doran is a tough out. Theyve really stepped up, and thats all you can ask for from guys like that who werent in the lineup every day: just to jump right in and start producing. Its a very good thing for our team and theyve been the reason for a lot of our success. TSD: In conference play, this team is pretty much in the same position it was last year, with about a .500 record through 20 games and sitting in fifth in the Pac-12. How do you duplicate your strong finish a year ago, when you won four of your last five conference games? SP: This is crunch time, and our whole team knows that. I think the mentality is that we need to win every game down the stretch here in order to put ourselves in a good position. We went on the road last year to North Carolina [for the Super Regional], and we know how tough it is to win on the road. These games are kind of in preparation, to make that a little easier on us. Its important in getting us to Omaha, so we know that every game from now on is an absolute mustwin. TSD: You now have only three weeks to make up 3.5 games on conference leader Oregon. Is winning the conference still seen as a viable goal, and what are you going to have to do to avoid another series loss like the one you sustained this weekend? SP: I think its taking each game one at a time, just knowing that the Pac-12 title is important but its not as important as getting to Omaha. Thats the goal: winning a national championship. Its always been the goal to get there. Were not so much concerned with catching Oregon and Arizona as we are with getting ourselves in good position for the postseason to make a run at it, have some fun and hopefully get to Omaha. Contact Joseph Beyda at jbeyda@stanford.edu.

MOSBACHER MINUTE

Winning out to stay at home

By JACK MOSBACHER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Jack Mosbacher was a member of the Stanford baseball team from 20082011. Each week, hell take a look at the Cardinals ups and downs on its road to the College World Series. There are few positives to be drawn from No. 17 Stanford baseballs untimely series loss to No. 23 Oregon State this past weekend in Corvallis. However, what the weekend did highlight is just how important it is that the Cardinal closes its season with a resounding bang in the remaining three weeks, in hopes of ensuring as many games at Sunken Diamond as possible. It is impossible to overstate the importance of last weekends series against the Beavers. In the previous two weeks, Stanford had bullied its way back into the Pac-12 chase, taking a

Zach Zimmerman just wants another decade to make Luck puns. Shoot him your favorites at zachz@stanford.edu or follow him on Twitter @Zach_Zimmerman.

pair of crucial series from fellow contenders No. 19 Arizona State and No. 11 UCLA. But after this weekend, that momentum is gone. With the series loss, Stanford has dropped into a threeway tie for fifth place in a league that it was unanimously picked to win before the season started. Perhaps the worst part about this weekends loss is that Stanford did not play particularly badly.After taking the opener from the Beavers, the Cardinal dropped Saturdays game after pitcher Brett Mooneyham was scratched from his start with the flu. Then, the Cardinal fell in an extra-inning affair on Sunday to lose the series. Given the circumstances, its hard to be too harsh on our guys or pinpoint one specific area of weakness. This weekend, they just got beat. If the team can take away one lesson from the weekend, it should be that its incredibly hard to walk into Corvallis and take a series against Oregon State. The environment is foreign and hostile, the weather is normally terrible and head coach Pat Caseys teams play a tough, gritty brand of baseball. By my estimate, Stanford would win a neutralsite series with Oregon State eight out of ten times. But playing on the road distorts the odds in a big and noticeable way. Of course, the on the road phenomenon is not limited to playing in Corvallis. Winning baseball games is a hard-enough task on its own, but as anyone who has played sports at any level knows, playing in enemy territory makes the task even harder. In previous articles, I have stressed the importance of being one of the topeight national seeds in the college baseball playoffs, with those teams winning the right to host the Regional and Super-Regional contests on their home turfs. This weekend again indicated just how crucial it is that Stanford claws its way into one of those seeds. Even if Stanford makes it through its Regional but doesnt get to host the Super, it can expect that its road to Omaha will run through somewhere tougher than Corvallis. Luckily for the Cardinal and its fans, the dream of hosting isnt dead yet. Although this weekends losses were huge setbacks, Stanfords easy schedule in the last three weeks of the season and the sheer talent on its team

make them impossible to write off. If Stanford can make a strong run and collect at least two series sweeps in its remaining three series, a coveted topeight national seeding might be in reach. Currently, Stanford is ranked No. 13 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), the equation that most accurately predicts the relative strength of performance and the college baseball playoff picture. If Stanford can get two sweeps against three conference bottom feeders eighth-place Washington State, last-place Utah or ninth-place Cal it could very well climb back to the top of the Pac-12. Of course, Stanford does not control its own destiny, and many of the Cardinals hopes rely on the performances of the teams that it is chasing, but there is an urgent need for Stanford to come together and focus in these last three weeks. I still stand by what I said before the season began: Stanford is the most talented team in the country. Now that I watch these games from the stands, I get to talk with professional scouts, all of whom marvel at the power and speed of the players who trot out in cardinal and white uniforms every game. With that in mind, its important to note that this team doesnt necessarily need to host in order to make it to the College World Series come June, and Im not suggesting that there is only one palm-tree lined path to Omaha for the Cardinal. Speaking from experience, however, I know that Stanfords chances of making it to the National Championship series are greatly increased by winning the right to host the playoffs at Sunken Diamond. As the Cardinal prepares for the final stretch of this up-and-down season, I hope that the right leaders step up and remind the whole team particularly the younger guys, who have been relied on more heavily as the season progresses that playing in Omaha would be the thrill of a lifetime. Furthermore, I hope that Stanford remembers that its days on the field are numbered, and that the most likely avenue to extending its run will be winning the chance to play a few more games in Palo Alto. Contact Jack Mosbacher at jackmos @stanford.edu.

6 N Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Stanford Daily