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Seven ways to get into the Big Game spirit

November 15th, 2011

Still reeling from Saturday’s loss to the University of Oregon? Here are a few ways to move on:

1. Contribute to the “BIG DRIVE” and Support Second Harvest Food Bank: The Cardinal Council, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the Stanford Athletic Department, is sponsoring a competitive canned food drive between Stanford and the University of California-Berkeley. Through Thursday, Nov. 17, donate can goods by placing them in bins located on the second floor of the Arrillaga Family Sports Center, on the first floor of the Arrillaga Center for Sports and Recreation and on the pool deck of the Avery Aquatic Center. Student-athletes also will be collecting non-perishable food items at the women’s basketball game against Old Dominion on Nov. 17 and the women’s volleyball matchup against Oregon on Nov. 18. The goal is to collect more than 4,000 pounds of food, which will be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank.

2. Attend the BIG SING, tonight, Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 8 p.m., in Toyon Hall: This free concert will feature 11 a cappella groups from Stanford and Berkeley. Admission is free.

3. Give during the RIVALS FOR LIFE BLOOD DRIVE, which takes place Wednesday Nov. 16, from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. in the Arrillaga Sports and Recreation Center. See which school — Stanford or Cal — can donate more blood. Each donor will receive a commemorative T-shirt. For more information, visit the Stanford Blood Center website.

4. Attend the 100th anniversary of the GAIETIES. This year the student-written and directed musical comedy titled “Leland Junior Must Die,” is scheduled for 8 p.m., Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Nov. 16-18, in Memorial Auditorium. Reminder: The program is for mature audiences. More information can be found in the Events Calendar.

5. And speaking of the Gaieties, check out the GAIETIES EXHIBIT in the Bender room on the fifth floor of Green Library’s Bing Wing through Jan. 3, 2012.

6. Take in BIG JEOPARDY, Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7 p. m., in GSB’s CEMEX Auditorium. Stanford vs. Cal vs. IBM’s Jeopardy-playing computer, Watson.

7. And, of course, there is the BIG GAME at 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19. BEAT CAL!

More details about these and other Big Game week activities are available on the Athletics website.

Marking the ‘elevenses’

November 14th, 2011

“In case the Game isn’t exciting enough,” ELIZABETH FISCHBACH wrote in an email on the morning of Nov.11, “In Special Collections, we couldn’t let 11-11-11 day pass without marking the occasion.”

Fischbach, exhibits manager and designer in Special Collections and University Archives in Stanford University Libraries, added:

“While numer010g1sts and believers of all stripes are debating what it means —the beginning of doomsday, or the dawning of an age of unprecedented love — I think it means a once-in-a-lifetime chance to gather for elevenses at 11:11 to have coffee and Cadbury Fingers (which are, after all, digital).”

Fischbach also noted that on the train that morning ANDREA KUDUK, MLA student and administrative associate in Electrical Engineering, had volunteered that her office was holding an 11-11-11 party as well — in the “elev(en)ator.”

Asked how the Special Collections celebration had gone, Fischbach said:

“It was a fun and lighthearted break. PETER WHIDDEN, the department’s rare books specialist, reported that the Egyptian government closed the pyramids for the day to discourage rituals. And on a historical remembrance note, the date being Veterans Day, we recalled that the Armistice was signed at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

“In addition to Cadbury Fingers, we had rolled German waffle cookies on the table, and participant MATTIE TAORMINA observed that two of the signing countries were confectionally represented.” Taormina is head of public services and a manuscripts processing librarian in Special Collections.

Fischbach added that she hadn’t spoken to Kuduk about her office celebration. “I suppose it had its ups and downs.”

How did you mark the occasion? Tell us in the comments section.

A close encounter with the Stanford Band

November 1st, 2011

Oh, the horror: The night before Stanford’s fabulous football victory over USC, the members of a wedding party – apparently unaware of the game – were innocently taking an elevator to the ground floor of the Pasadena Marriott for the marriage ceremony. They were quiet, dressed nicely, with an air of formality. Two cute and very young bridesmaids held flowers.

Then the elevator stopped on the second floor. The door opened, and in flowed, with instruments and in full costume, a dozen members of the ever-energetic Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band. The wedding party was wide-eyed and speechless.

A band member smiled. “This has got to be a shock,” he said.

Clever with names? Computer Science could use your help

September 6th, 2011

If you’re good at coming up with names (for children, pets, software, etc.), then the Computer Science Department is seeking your suggestions. Researchers are stumped by the task of finding a name for their ambitious new software/video approach to teaching, as described in a recent story in the Aug. 16 issue of Stanford Report. The existing name is CourseWare.

Some of the suggestions so far, forwarded to The Dish by research scholar CORNELIA LIEGL, include ProfOnDemand, uni-verse and currigo (CurriculumGo).

Also: DisCourse, TeleCourse and CourseMate.

Just guessing here, but another suggestion, ECWISM, might be a little hard to pronounce. (It stands for Educational Content with Integrated Social Media.)

Ideas? CourseWare has created an online form for you to submit your own. The deadline, which originally was Sunday, Sept. 4, has been extended a week.

For those interested, CourseWare developers also invite you to participate in a user test of the new system.

Stanford Football hosts Open House Aug. 21; scrimmage moved to Steuber Rugby Stadium

August 11th, 2011

Stanford football fans will have an opportunity to preview the Stanford football program on Sunday, Aug. 21, at an Open House event at Stanford Stadium and Steuber Rugby Stadium. The Open House will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Fans will have an opportunity to attend an open practice, participate in football skill stations and a mini fan fest, preview seat locations for season tickets and obtain player autographs.

Starting at 10 a.m., fans of Stanford football will be able to preview seat locations and purchase season tickets or mini plans—the only way to guarantee admission for marquee matchups against Oregon, California or Notre Dame. Ticket sales representatives will be on hand to assist with ticket related inquiries and purchasing. More information regarding tickets is available at https://www.gostanford.com/footballcentral/openHouse.html

Fans can check out the 2011 squad at an open practice at Steuber Rugby Stadium from 10 a.m. to noon. Please respect the wishes of the coaching staff as no cameras, video, or cell phone use will be allowed.

Skills stations and a mini Fan Fest will start at 12:30 p.m. at Stanford Stadium. Coaches will lead skills stations for kids 8th grade and younger allowing them to showcase their skills and learn the game on the field. Photos may be taken with the 2011 Orange Bowl trophy and information about the upcoming sports season will be available.

The event will conclude with an autograph session with the 2011 squad from 1:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Stanford Stadium. In order to expedite the process and accommodate as many fans as possible, autographs are limited to one item per person. Players will be grouped by jersey numbers with numbers 2-30 signing on the East concourse, 31-60 on the East sideline and 61-99 on the West sideline. 2011 football posters will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Access to Stanford Stadium is through Gate 1 only, which is located on the south side of the stadium adjacent to the Sunken Diamond parking lot. Due to other athletic events taking place (Field Hockey exhibition vs. Pacific at 12:00 p.m. and Women’s Soccer vs. Pacific at 1 p.m.), all lots surrounding Stanford Stadium will be open for free parking.

For Open House details and schedule updates, visit the Open House website.

Calling all kids: Super Spikers volleyball clinic dates set

April 28th, 2011

Stanford women’s volleyball welcomes all kids K-8th grade to participate in the 2011 Super Spikers Volleyball Clinic Aug. 14 and 21.

Each clinic runs from 2 to 5 p.m. at a cost of $20 per clinic. The clinics will focus on ball control, spiking, passing, setting, serving, digging and blocking. The Aug. 14 clinic, which will be preceded by a Stanford women’s volleyball practice at 11 a.m., will be held at Burnham Pavilion. For an additional $10, kids who attend the Aug. 14 clinic can stick around and enjoy a BBQ with the team at 5 p.m.

The Aug. 21 clinic will be at Maples Pavilion. All participants will receive a free Super Spikers T-shirt.

Team Cardinal is the official kids fan club of the 2011 Stanford women’s volleyball team. For a $25 membership fee, kids get a 2011 Team Cardinal T-shirt and receive free admission to most Stanford regular season sports, including soccer, women’s volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball, as well as select football and men’s basketball games. Some games may not be eligible for free admission. Check the Team Cardinal events page for full listing of eligible events.

Super Spikers are eligible for a $10 discount if they register online for Team Cardinal. For additional information, contact Jason Mansfield at (408) 410-0329 or jdmans@stanford.edu.

For more Team Cardinal information, contact Erin Blecha at (650) 725-2876.

Anirudh Rao’s first-hand account of the quake in Japan

March 14th, 2011

dish_Tokyo_233Doctoral student ANIRUDH RAO is back on the Farm safe and sound following a harrowing trip to Japan. Rao, who is working on his PhD in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was in Tokyo last week for a conference on urban earthquake engineering. He was on his way home and had just cleared security at Narita International Airport when what he called a “megaquake” hit Japan, followed by a tsunami.

In an email he sent to colleagues on Friday, Rao wrote:

“After a few seconds of confusion somebody shouted “Earthquake” and I looked around for an exit - the nearest one was 100 ft away. Meanwhile, my legs turned to jelly. Stuff started falling off desks and a couple of windows at the adjoining terminal fell off. We ran out of the building holding the plastic trays from security over our heads. The epicenter was 400 km from Tokyo, but the motion was really violent, the airport building shook for at least a couple of minutes and everyone was scared. 

I went in to get my stuff after the shaking stopped (I had [left]my passport and all documents, laptop etc. inside the building), but after 20 minutes the aftershocks started arriving. The largest aftershock was M7.1 and everyone rushed out again. Then all flights got cancelled and the airport was evacuated.

Structural engineers arrived at the airport in an hour, and after about 90 minutes of inspection started letting a few people in to use the restrooms. Then it started raining outside and the authorities finally let everyone come back inside the airport. Everyone is sleeping in the airport today at least it seems. They are distributing food, water and sleeping bags now. All transportation in and out of the airport (and I think all of Tokyo) is shut down. Internet access is flaky at best and news relating to the quake has been limited in reaching us stranded at the airport. “

Rao noted that there were regular updates. For the first three hours those messages were in Japanese, but after that they were translated into English.

He sent the News Service a few updates and photos he took with his cell phone. And on Sunday afternoon he wrote to say that he had made it back to Stanford Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, Stanford continues to monitor events related to the earthquake and tsunami, as well as damage to nuclear power plants.

JOHN PEARSON, director of Bechtel International Center sent an email on Friday to all international students and post-docs from Japan expressing concern for those who might have loved ones affected by this tragedy:

“We are very saddened to hear the news of the major earthquake in your country. We hope that you have been able to make contact with your family and that they are safe. 
 If you feel there is anything at all that Bechtel, or other campus offices, can help you with, please do not hesitate to let us know. 
”

To find out about community members who may be affected by the disaster, or if you have been affected, contact Pearson or SHALINI BHUTANI, student services officer at Bechtel International Center.

Crawfish, yoga, boating popular at Stanford Sierra Camp Faculty-Staff Weekend

October 20th, 2010
Teri Hankes, program support coordinator for the Office of Post-Doctoral Affairs, brought her mom, Betsy, to Faculty Staff Weekend at Stanford Sierra Camp.

Teri Hankes, program support coordinator for the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, brought her mom, Betsy, to Faculty-Staff Weekend at Stanford Sierra Camp.

It was Faculty-Staff Weekend recently at the beautiful and remote Stanford Sierra Camp at Fallen Leaf Lake in South Lake Tahoe.

Some 30 faculty and staff members, accompanied by about 70 family members, bunked down in the 12-room Main Lodge or 52 guest cabins and enjoyed activities ranging from hiking and boating to disco bingo. Special activities were offered for child campers, who ranged in age from 1 to 15.

Particularly popular this year among faculty and staff kids was the abundant crawfish hunting off the Main Lodge dock. Hordes of kids came to the water’s edge each morning, brandishing sticks with pieces of hot dogs tied to strings, eager to catch and release unsuspecting crawfish. Moms and dads kept watchful eyes from the yoga classes overlooking the lake.

This year’s participants represented a wide range of administrative and academic departments, from University Communications and Postdoctoral Affairs to Mechanical Engineering and Comparative Medicine.

Twice a year – in fall and spring – the Stanford Sierra Conference Center, located at an elevation of 6,300 feet, opens its doors for a weekend of fun to faculty and staff. During the summer, the center serves some 3,000 alumni at the Stanford Sierra Camp. Much of the rest of the year, the center attracts corporations and organizations eager to meet and draw inspiration from the remarkably peaceful location.

The history of Stanford Sierra Camp dates back to 1896, when Stanford graduate and engineering Professor William Wrightman Price created a boys’ camp in nearby Glen Alpine Springs. Eventually, he moved the camp to Fallen Leaf Lake, where it became a popular resort among his friends – many of them Stanford faculty.

Beginning in 1953, the then-proprietors of the lodge set aside time for a Stanford alumni camp. It quickly became a popular gathering point for Stanford alumni and their families. In 1966, the Stanford Alumni Association acquired the camp.

Stanford Sierra Camp isn’t the university’s only vacation spot. Faculty, staff and alumni also can take advantage of Stanford Alpine Chalet in Alpine Meadows. The chalet has its origins among physics professors who built a communal ski lodge for their families in 1963. The group donated it to the university and, in 1986, the Stanford Alumni Association purchased it.

—Kate Chesley

Advisory council of the Center for the American West welcomes new members

April 29th, 2010

The Advisory Council of the Bill Lane Center for the American West is meeting Friday and will welcome WILLIAM K. REILLY and TIMOTHY WIRTH as new members.

Reilly is a founding partner of Aqua International Partners, a private equity fund dedicated to investing in companies engaged in water and renewable energy, and a senior adviser to TPG, an international investment partnership. Reilly served as the first Payne Visiting Professor at Stanford (1993-1994), administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1989-1993), president of the World Wildlife Fund (1985-1989), president of the Conservation Foundation (1973-1989), and director of the Rockefeller Task Force on Land Use and Urban Growth (1972-1973). He is a director of the Packard Foundation, the American Academy in Rome and the National Geographic Society.

Wirth is the president of the United Nations Foundation and the Better World Fund. He began his political career as a White House Fellow under President Lyndon Johnson and was deputy assistant secretary for education in the Nixon administration. Wirth represented Denver suburbs in Congress from 1975 to 1987 and was elected in 1986 to the U.S. Senate, where he focused on environmental issues, particularly global climate change and population stabilization. Wirth served in the U.S. Department of State as the first undersecretary for global affairs from 1993 to 1997.

Wirth and Reilly join SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR, MIMI GARDNER GATES, PAMELA RYMER, WILLIAM LILLEY, BILL LANDRETH, HOPE ECCLES and NELSON ISHIYAMA on the council.

National Science Foundation awards $10 million for national election study

February 26th, 2010

The National Science Foundation has awarded $10 million to fund the American National Election Studies (ANES) to study voter participation and decision-making in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, and in the mid-term elections of 2010. The Institute for Research in the Social Sciences (IRiSS) shares the award with the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (ISR), which has conducted the study since 1948. Stanford has served as co-lead of the project since 2005.
“This is the longest running survey of the American people in the social sciences,” said Provost JOHN ETCHEMENDY, congratulating Stanford political scientists SIMON JACKMAN and GARY SEGURA, who will serve alongside Michigan political scientist Vincent Hutchings as co-principal investigators of the four-year collaborative grant. Although the major piece of science funded by the grant is a large, face-to-face survey of the American electorate immediately before and after the 2012 presidential election, researchers will field a series of smaller studies of the electorate between now and the summer of 2012. Visit the IRiSS website for the complete announcement.