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NOVEL TEAMS HEISMAN POLL

Lecturer Tom Kealey teaches The Stanford Daily staff makes midseason picks Sunny Sunny
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WEDNESDAY
The Stanford Daily An Independent Publication
www.stanforddaily.com Volume 238
October 13, 2010 Issue 19
LOCAL Forum for Exchange UNIVERSITY

Brown,Whitman debate for University starts

last time before looming vote pilot child-care
Candidates scrutinize each other’s
program for
“Jerry Brown talks about
having created all these jobs
records at Dominican U. event when he was governor,”
Whitman said. “But the fact
is, unemployment nearly
By PAUL JONES

SAN RAFAEL — Three

weeks before the Nov. 2 elec-
tion, California gubernatorial
candidates Meg Whitman,Re-
publican and former CEO of
eBay, and Democrat Attorney
General Jerry Brown met for a
final war of words. Moderated
by former NBC Nightly News
Whitman
anchor Tom Brokaw, the de-
bate at Dominican University focused on issues
such as the state’s fiscal crisis and economy.
It wasn’t long before Brown and Whitman
began sparring with each other.
“I wouldn’t totally eliminate the capital-
gains tax, which my opponent Meg Whitman
wants to do,” Brown said. “That would add $5
billion to $10 billion to our budget deficit,” he
added.
“The tax he likes so much is a tax on jobs,”
Whitman said.
“How much money will you save if this tax
break goes into effect?” Brown asked of Whit-
man, a billionaire.
“I’m an investor, and investors will benefit
from this,but so will job creators,and I was a job
creator,”Whitman said.
By contrast, Whitman said Brown’s record
showed he would hurt California’s economy.
doubled to what was then a
record number of nearly 11
percent.”
“We had something Brown
called a business cycle,”
Brown shot back.“We did create new jobs.Yes,
we were in a recession, and two years later Cal-
ifornia was booming again.”
Brokaw interjected.
“At the end of Mr. Brown’s term as gover-
nor, it was in the middle of the Ronald Reagan
recession,” he said. “Illinois, Ohio, Indiana and
Tennessee all had Republican governors and
higher unemployment rates at the time.”
Later, Brokaw asked Whitman about her
decision to spend upward of $140 million on a
political campaign, despite her spotty voting
record.Whitman called her lack of civic partic-
ipation “wrong,” but said her wealth allowed
her to be independent and said Brown owed
public employee unions.
“If Jerry Brown gets to be governor of this
state,there will be a meeting . . . of all the union
bosses who are there to collect all the IOUs for
their having funded Jerry Brown’s entire cam-
paign,”Whitman said.
Brown said Whitman’s special interests are
the rich.
“She’s raised $30 million from the kind of
Please see DEBATE, page 3
STUDENT LIFE
VIVIAN WONG/Staff Photographer
Jack Jia, co-founder and chief executive of Baynote, Inc., speaks on
Tuesday at a symposium of FACES, the Forum for American-Chinese Ex-
change at Stanford.
faculty families
By KURT CHIRBAS
In 2007, a survey by the Faculty Development & Diversi-
ty Office showed that almost a third of Stanford faculty
missed five or more days of work annually to take care of an
ill child, causing a potential loss in productivity. To alleviate
this problem, the University recently launched a program
that aims to meet the child-care needs of Stanford faculty,
funded through a partnership between the provost and the
School of Medicine.
In addition to the productivity issue among general fac-
ulty, the medical school was concerned with how the unpre-
dictability of its faculty members’ schedules affected their
child-care options and was looking for a solution, said Han-
nah Valantine, senior associate dean for diversity and lead-
ership in the medical school.
Now, the new program seeks to resolve both of these is-
sues. Called the Faculty Back-up Care Plan, it will be offered
in a three-year pilot phase that began on Oct. 1. During this
phase, the service will be limited to Stanford faculty as well
as associate, assistant and full-time clinical professors at the
School of Medicine.
The provider of this service, Bright Horizons Family So-
lutions, already manages similar childcare plans at Harvard,
Rice and Cornell. Its experience at other universities was a
major factor in the University’s decision to select the com-
pany, Valantine said.
“I think as we move forward, we’re seeing a shift in this
generation of workforce where they are very concerned that
they should have work-life balance,” Valantine said. “So the

Overseas programs report crime

institutions that recognize that need, and provide the infra-
structure and resources to support [it] . . . are going to be the
ones that are going to be able to recruit and retain the very
best of faculty.”
The University last revised its child-care services in 1999
By IVY NGUYEN lic property near the Kyoto center. Again, it was again when it implemented a
DESK EDITOR not indicated if students were involved. Motor vehicle program that has parents
and bike thefts on public property in the area nearly call a referral agency to
Recently released Clery reports for Bing Overseas doubled, to 49 vehicle and 323 bike thefts in 2009 from get a list of centers and in-
Studies Program (BOSP) centers detail crime at and 26 motor vehicle and 255 bike thefts in 2008. house providers that
near Stanford centers in 2009. No crime was reported One case of aggravated assault and one of robbery could take care of their
for the Beijing, Berlin, Madrid, Oxford, Paris or Santia- occurred on public property near the Moscow center in children that day. Today, it
go centers, while the crimes reported for the Florence, 2009, up from none the previous year. currently extends to all
Moscow and Kyoto centers occurred on public proper- No information was available for the Cape Town members of the Stanford
ty near the sites. center because the center debuted in spring 2010.No re- staff.
The crimes detailed in the reports are categorized by port was made for the Australia center because the pro- “With the referral, the
ANASTASIA YEE/ whether they occur on campus, within the dorm, in a gram is run through a contract with the University of employee makes all the
The Stanford Daily non-campus area owned or controlled by the Universi- Queensland and does not have a facility maintained by arrangements with the
ty or on public property. Public property is defined as Stanford. provider and pays the full
“streets, sidewalks, and parking facilities contiguous to, Due to the differences in law enforcement record- cost of care,” said Teresa
but not within, the campus,” and those statistics are pro- keeping at these sites, these numbers are not represen- Rasco, director of the
vided by local agencies. Some of the statistics do not in- tative of actual crime patterns in the regions surround-
HEALTH dicate whether the victims of the crimes were Stanford ing any of the centers.
Stanford WorkLife Of-
fice, in an e-mail to The
students or other people. “The definition of ‘in the campus area’ is different Daily.

Study: laptops’ In 2009, 94 cases of aggravated assault occurred on

public property near the Florence center, down from
104 in 2008.A total of 17,077 cases of burglary occurred
there in 2009. It was not indicated whether any students
because these foreign police departments don’t have to
do this for their own governments or purposes,” said
Irene Kennedy, executive director of BOSP. “In the
United States it’s pretty well spelled out, but you try ex-
Employees are then el-
igible to submit for a $160
reimbursement at the end

heat can cause were involved in these cases. ANASTASIA YEE/

Two incidents of forcible fondling occurred on pub- Please see CRIME, page 3 The Stanford Daily Please see CARE, page 3

skin problems STUDENT GOV’T NEWS BRIEFS

Case study documents laptop-in-

duced skin discoloration, burns
By DANA EDWARDS
That IHUM paper might have done some damage
to your skin in addition to your sleep cycle. Accord-
ing to a recently published article in the journal of the
American Academy of Pediatrics, chronic exposure
to the heat source on the underside of a laptop com-
puter can cause an unsightly rash dubbed “laptop
skin” or, officially, laptop-induced “erythema ab
igne,” a web-like, pinkish-brownish lesion.
Latin for “redness from fire” and also known as
“toasted skin syndrome,” erythema ab igne can result
from prolonged skin contact with any significant heat
source. Historically, the elderly have been primarily
affected with proximity to fires and other heating el-
ements, such as electric blankets. Only in the last
decade have laptops been identified as an agent.
When laptops are the culprit, however, the condi-
tion is not severe enough to present any serious
health risks, according to several dermatologists at
the Stanford Medical Center.
Please see LAPTOP, page 2
Senate approves fiscal reforms
By MARGARET RAWSON
STAFF WRITER
The ASSU Undergraduate Senate
passed four bills Tuesday, enacting the first
part of an ASSU fiscal reform package, insti-
tuting Senate office hours, encouraging the
establishment of Senate archives and stan-
dardizing bill nomenclature.The Senate also
appointed 11 more students University
committees through an amendment to an
earlier appointment bill.
The first half of an ASSU fiscal reform
package, authored by Ryan Peacock, sought
to clarify definitions for budget items and
further outlined the capabilities of the Sen-
ate treasurer and Graduate Student Council
financial officer and the process for a budg-
et modification veto.
If the Graduate Student Council passes
the bill, altering the Association Joint By-
laws, on Wednesday, Peacock will work with
Stewart Macgregor-Dennis ‘13, Senate
treasurer, and Raj Bhandari, the CEO of
Stanford Student Enterprises, to draft new
budgets for both bodies. Peacock is a gradu-
ate student in chemical engineering and ex-
ecutive chair of graduate issues
The Senate passed a bill instituting three
hours of Senate office hours per week, ex-
cluding dead week and finals week. While
the office hours will not start this quarter,
senators expressed hope that, once a sched-
ule is created by the Communications Com-
mittee, the rotating office hours will begin
soon.
The Senate also passed a bill Tuesday en-
couraging the establishment of the Under-
graduate Senate archives. The bill says “at-
tempts shall be made” by Senate Chair
Michael Cruz ‘12 and the Administration &
Rules Committee to establish digital
archives for the past 11 Undergraduate Sen-
ates.
The last bill passed Tuesday established
standard bill nomenclature, which has been
changing each year at the discretion of the
chair. While the first three bills of the meet-
ing passed unanimously, the bill to establish
bill nomenclature passed 14 to 1, with
Daniel Khalessi ‘13 opposing.
“I don’t really see the point of this when
there’s actual stuff that needs to be done on
campus,” Khalessi said, expressing frustra-
tion that the Senate has continued to focus
on internal affairs.
Cruz acknowledged this concern. “There
are some things that need to be fixed, but
this shouldn’t be the focus of the rest of the
year,” he said.
The various Senate committees dis-
cussed their plans for the year at Tuesday’s
meeting, including a push for a pilot study-
abroad program in the Middle East, a bike-
safety campaign that would distribute free
bike lights, and the potential creation of a
“diversity council” similar to the current
Frosh Council.
The ASSU executives presented their
nominations to the Constitutional Council
Tuesday. Nominees David Hoyt ‘12, J’vona
Ivory ‘11 and Samir Siddhanti ‘12 will be
voted on next week. Those nominees re-
place three earlier ones after the executives
opted for a second application round. (One
former nominee, Brianna Pang ‘13, is a Daily
Please see SENATE, page 3
Hume outlines
trustees’agenda,notes
Hennessy’s 10th year
By THE DAILY NEWS STAFF
The board of trustees expects re-
ports this year on the state of the
School of Engineering,the earthquake
risks facing the University and the next
25 years of land use at Stanford, board
President Leslie Hume said in an
overview of the board’s agenda on
Tuesday.
Hume spoke on campus after the
October meeting of the board,the first
for six new trustees named earlier this
year. University President John Hen-
nessy spoke to the board and the group
walked through the new Science and
Engineering Quad on west campus.
In a press briefing, Hume gave
glowing reviews to Hennessy and
Provost John Etchemendy Ph.D. ‘82,
Please see BOARD, page 3

Index Features/2 • Opinions/4 • Sports/5 • Classifieds/6 Recycle Me

2 ! Wednesday, October 13, 2010 The Stanford Daily

FEATURES

KATIE FINLEY/The Stanford Daily

Senior Jones Lecturer Tom Kealey leads a creative writing seminar. Kealey teaches classes including “NaNoWriMo”
and “The Graphic Novel.”

Writing off the ‘lone genius’

Creative writing lecturer Tom Kealey teaches a collaborative style
By ANNA ROSALES then choosing one as a group. Stanford as a Stegner Fellow in cre-
“My favorite part of the class was ative writing in 2001 and was a Jones

I
f you walked into Meyer 220 on
a Tuesday night this quarter,
you would see students writing
together and critiquing each
other, each trying to complete a
50,000-word novel in just one month.
This room is the home of two experi-
mental creative writing classes at
Stanford: “NaNoWriMo,” short for
“National Novel Writing Month,”
and “The Graphic Novel.” The force
behind both of these classes is cre-
ative writing lecturer Tom Kealey.
Often, writing is perceived as a
solitary endeavor, but Kealey en-
courages his students to work collab-
oratively, and his classes reflect this
approach.
“The idea of collaborative writing
is really crucial,” Kealey said. “In
most classes we’re taught the ‘lone
genius’ concept.”
Instead, he likes to see teamwork
taught in writing as much as inde-
pendence.
also the most uncomfortable part of
the class,” Kealey recalled. “‘Pika-
don’ [last year’s novel] won in a vote
— seven to six — over another idea,
‘Baghdad Burning.’ Students debate,
negotiate, collaborate and eventually
decide on a topic and, through the
process, you can see students go from
disparate needs to having a commit-
ment to the same project.”
Students also recognized how
Kealey facilitated an engaging learn-
ing environment. Avantika Agarwal
‘12 recalled a positive experience in
“The Graphic Novel” class.
“Never have I come across such a
warm, giving and wonderful teacher.
Tom creates the perfect classroom at-
mosphere that respects and nurtures
each individual, while maintaining a
high standard of intellect.”
Kealey fosters commitment and
community in his classes while at the
same time challenging his students to
go beyond their comfort zone.
Lecturer in creative writing from
2003 until he became a Senior Jones
Lecturer in 2006.
As a teacher, Kealey is drawn to
the commitment he sees in his stu-
dents.
“Stanford students are intelligent
and motivated and also kind to each
other,” Kealey said. “There’s a sense
of cooperation and collaboration at
all the classes here at Stanford. I like
to be a part of that.”
Kealey the writer is not far re-
moved from Kealey the person. He
carries a notebook around with him
to capture a spontaneous inspiration
or catch interesting dialogue (though
he confesses that nowadays he most-
ly jots down notes on his Blackberry).
“I once heard on the subway one
boy say to another, ‘I don’t want to
hug no skinny-bones girl,’ and I
thought that that was an unusual and
odd thing to say, but also unique . . .
And from that quote came a charac-

LAPTOP
“Writing can be a deeply personal, ter and out of that character came a cells and causes melanoma, expo- sources on the laptop: the optical
“It’s difficult sometimes to write
challenging and downright embar- story,” Kealey said. sure to severe infrared radiation can drive, the battery and the ventilation
in a vacuum,”Kealey added.“And for
rassing experience — but Tom does In his spare time, Kealey runs cause squamous skin-cell cancer, fan, all of which are usually located
students to bounce ideas off of each
an excellent job of making his stu- marathons. Recently, he even swam, Continued from front page which was common in ancient China on the left side of the computer.
other, to give suggestions, it’s an
dents face all of that, consider it, and biked and ran a triathlon, an experi- and Tibet, when people slept close to Consequently, all reported cases of
amazing thing to see.”
then use it to fuel creativity,” said Jes- ence that gave him insight into his heated-brick platforms called laptop skin have occurred on the left
For November, which is National
sica Rowe ‘12, who took “Introduc- writing. Intending to write an article “The concern is mainly aesthet- “kangs,” the study said. thigh only, and this asymmetry is
Novel Writing Month, creative writ-
tion to Fiction Writing” with Kealey. about the triathlon, Kealey created ic,” said Jean Tang, assistant profes- As to the possibility of develop- characteristic of the diagnosis.
ing lecturer Scott Hutchins floated
“He encourages students to be fear- an outline for the story beforehand. sor of dermatology, “though some ing squamous cell cancer from lap- Professors at the medical school
the idea for a class where students
less and learn through triumph and “It’s not until I ran the race that slight discomfort can be involved. top exposure, Peng calls it “extreme- and clinicians at Vaden Health Cen-
write 1,667 words a day for each of
through failure.” the idea of the story changed com- This type of laptop burn is not even ly unlikely.” He added, “It’s very ter say they have encountered “very
the 30 days of November. The goal is
Kealey discovered his passion for pletely,” Kealey said. “Everyone else a first-degree burn.” hard to examine the connection be- few” cases of laptop-induced erythe-
50,000 words (about the length of
teaching in graduate school at the out there gets to run a half-marathon, Indeed, this “burn” is actually a tween the exposure to the heat ma ab igne in Stanford students and
Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”)
University of Massachusetts, but with every step out there, I was reddening of the skin caused by the source and the development of the in general patients, though this lack
by the end of the month.
Amherst, only after working as a bar- writing a story. Writers don’t get to dilating of capillaries. cancer, due to extremely long laten- of cases is not necessarily due to a
NaNoWriMo, co-taught by
tender, a technical writer and an edi- rest.” “The infrared [radiation from the cy time.” low prevalence of the condition.
Kealey and Hutchins, is a class that
tor for an art and literary magazine heat] causes a reticular pattern of As for treatment, both Tang and Several students interviewed for
encourages students to give each
called “Cities and Roads.” After he Contact Anna Rosales at rosales@stan- hyper-pigmentation due to the Peng agree that simply stopping ex- this article agreed that prevention of
other feedback while completing
finished graduate school, he came to ford.edu. swelling of surrounding cells,” said posure to the laptop will cause the this condition is a matter of common
their own projects.
David Peng, clinical associate pro- lesion to fade completely in a matter sense — simply stop putting the lap-
“The class is in many ways teach-
fessor of dermatology. He concurred of weeks, though Tang added that top on your lap, they said.
ing students about what a writer’s life
that the risks associated were main- scarring is theoretically possible and “Generally when something is
is like,” Kealey said. “It’s about get-
ly aesthetic. is often more visible in those with burning your legs or crotch, you
ting the words down on the page
Though this is indeed the case for darker skin tones. No active treat- should remove whatever is causing
every day and understanding that
“laptop skin,” other types of er- ments exist, though Tang suggested that sensation,” said Matt Anderson
good writing is hard writing, and it
tythema ab igne have potentially taking aspirin to alleviate symp- ‘14.
takes many drafts to find what you
graver long-term health conse- toms.
want to say and say it right.”
quences. Just as prolonged exposure The heat behind the damage all Contact Dana Edwards at dana727
Both the students and the instruc-
to ultraviolet radiation mutates skin originates from three potential @stanford.edu.
tors are writing in the class, allowing
for students to collaborate not only
with each other, but also with their in-
structors. According to Kealey, what
he likes best about teaching under-
graduate students is that he gets to
learn things, too.
“This may sound silly, but some-
times I feel after two or three weeks
of my instructing that I’ve just be-
come the most experienced student
in the class and I learn along with
them,” he said.
Kealey has developed a reputa-
tion for teaching innovative courses,
teaming up with creative writing pro-
fessor Adam Johnson for a class
called “The Graphic Novel.”
Johnson, who wanted to create a
course in which creative writing and
art students worked together to cre-
ate a full-length graphic novel, con-
ceived the class.
“I thought at first we were going to
make a pamphlet, but instead we
made a 200-page book,” Kealey said.
The class was a challenging but
rewarding undertaking for the in-
structors.
“I always say about ‘The Graphic
Novel,’ it’s my most favorite class I’ve
ever taught, but it’s also the most dif-
ficult, and part of that is finding our
way,” Kealey said. “You don’t make
anything successful without either
setbacks or failures along the way.”
In “The Graphic Novel,” students
are confronted with the task of indi-
vidually proposing novel topics and
The Stanford Daily
DEBATE
Continued from front page
corporate executives who will benefit
directly from her key economic plan,
which is not to invest in schools, but
take money from schools,” Brown
said.
Whitman said Brown’s union con-
nections were the real threat to educa-
tion.
“I have never said I want to cut
spending on education,” Whitman
said. “Only 60 cents of every dollar
goes to the classroom. Forty percent
goes to the bureaucracy . . . that’s why
the next governor cannot be beholden
to the California Teachers Associa-
tion,because they want to protect that
bureaucracy. And the number two
contributor to Jerry Brown’s inde-
pendent expenditures attacking me is
the California Teachers Association.”
Brokaw raised the recent scandals
that have rocked both campaigns,first
broaching an incident where a voice-
mail recording revealed a member of
Brown’s campaign calling Whitman a
“whore.”
“We’ve heard no outrage from you
about the use of that kind of language,
which to many women is the same as
calling an African-American the ‘n-
word,’” Brokaw said.
“I don’t agree with that compari-
son,” Brown said. But, he said, “my
campaign apologized promptly, and I
affirm that apology tonight.”
Whitman found herself in the hot
seat when Brokaw visited her hiring of
an undocumented immigrant as a maid
in 2000. The maid was fired in 2009
after Whitman said she found out
about the woman’s immigration status.
“You said businesses and house-
holds ought to be held accountable for
employing undocumented workers,”
Brown said. “If you couldn’t find out
someone in your home was undocu-
mented or illegal, how do you expect
businesses to be able to?”
“It broke my heart,but I had to fire
her,” Whitman said. “This is why we
need a very good e-verify system that
allows businesses of every size to look
at the documentation and know if it is
real or not.”
“I think it’s a sorry tale,after work-
ing for her for nine years, she didn’t
even get her a lawyer,” Brown said.
Contact Paul Jones at pjones3@stan-
ford.edu.
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BOARD
Continued from front page
who marked a decade in their respec-
tive roles last month.
“When you look back on these 10
years of when John and John have
been partnered in leading this univer-
sity, I think in the Stanford annals this
will go down as one of the legendary
times of Stanford history, not unlike
the partnership of Fred Terman and
Wally Sterling,” Hume said, referring
to the provost and president who
served together from 1955 to 1965.
She cited new facilities, fundraising
efforts,financial aid expansion and the
“excellence of our departments” as
achievements of the past decade. In
December, Hume herself will mark a
10-year milestone as a member of the
board.She is set to step down when her
second two-year term as president ex-
pires in June 2012.
After a spate of construction proj-
ect approvals in June, the board ap-
proved no new projects this month,
Hume said.
Regarding financial aid,Hume said
the University’s commitment to the
expanded program remains “iron-
clad.” Hennessy told the Faculty Sen-
ate last week that Stanford hopes to
close the aid budget deficit in four to
five years; meanwhile, some general
funds are helping close the gap. That
demonstrates Stanford’s dedication to
financial aid, Hume said: “Those are
dollars that could be allocated any-
where.”
“It’s an issue that keeps being
raised as, ‘Are we really serious about
this?’” Hume said. If parents wonder
whether or not Stanford’s financial aid
program is too good to be true long
SENATE
Continued from front page
staffer.)
All funding bills for the evening
were passed.
Surveying Student Opinion on Sen-
ate Bills
The Senate spent the last part of
Tuesday’s meeting discussing a bill on
previous notice calling for a method
to obtain qualitative and quantitative
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term, “that, I understand completely,”
Hume said.
In December, School of Engineer-
ing Dean Jim Plummer M.S.‘67 Ph.D.
‘71 is set to report to the trustees about
the state of the school. Also that
month, the board plans to discuss geo-
logic and financial risks earthquakes
pose to the University and its build-
ings. On the April agenda is a discus-
sion of Stanford’s land use in the next
25 years, Hume said.
— Elizabeth Titus
Solicitor General files
amicus brief for Stan-
ford suit against Roche
By THE DAILY NEWS STAFF
The United States Solicitor Gener-
al filed a “friend of the court” brief be-
fore the United States Supreme Court
supporting Stanford in its intellectual
property lawsuit against biotech firm
Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. The
case stemmed from a dispute between
the University and Roche over the
ownership of patents used in the com-
pany’s HIV test kits.
In the brief, acting Solicitor Gener-
al Neal Katyal expressed strong sup-
port for Stanford and its peer institu-
tions and has asked the Court to both
hear the case and decide in the Univer-
sity’s favor. It argues that the Bayh-
Dole Act, an intellectual property law
passed in 1980,prevents an inventor at
a federally funded U.S.university from
assigning ownership of his invention to
a third party.
The Federal Circuit Court of Ap-
peals held last year that an agreement
between Roche’s predecessor, Cetus,
data on what students think about
bills going before the Senate.The bill’s
current form suggested an e-mail sent
to a new e-mail list notifying students
of upcoming bills.
The information would be “purely
meant as an extra data point for your
consideration,” said Macgregor-Den-
nis, who authored the bill, when asked
by senators how the information
might affect the voting process.
Whether or not they agreed with
the bill’s sentiment that more student
voices would be helpful, many sena-
tors raised doubts about the imple-
mentation of the bill and questioned
<J&EA;@9=D
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and medical school professor and for-
mer Cetus employee Mark Holodniy
gives the University and Roche dual
ownership of the patents in question.
The brief adds that the Appeals
Court’s decision “creates serious un-
certainty” about the ownership of
patents and “frustrates Congress’s ef-
forts to foster scientific research and
development”.
Other universities and university
groups, including the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, the American
Association of Universities,the Amer-
ican Council on Education and a con-
sortium led by the Wisconsin Alumni
Research Foundation previously filed
briefs in support of Stanford.
— Tyler Brown
Small fire in Synergy
By THE DAILY NEWS STAFF
A small fire in Synergy’s kitchen
early Monday morning set off fire
alarms and woke up residents but did
not cause any lasting damage, accord-
ing to assistant University fire marshal
Alison Pena.
The fire began in a plastic bin in the
kitchen that contained “oily rags,”
Pena said.
The fire was contained to the bin,
but it did set off smoke detectors and
prompted an evacuation of the house.
According to Pena, the firefighters
carried the bin outside and put out the
fire with a hose.There were no injuries
and no damages to the house apart
from the bin itself.
The call for the fire arrived at 2:30
a.m., and one engine responded to
Synergy from the campus fire station.
— Ellen Huet
if an e-mail survey would elicit fair
representation of the student body.
ASSU Vice President Kelsei
Wharton ‘12 expressed the perspec-
tive that “sometimes bills are written
and they affect people who have no
idea they’re being affected. It does
help to have that information dissem-
inated in a way that people can be ac-
tive.”
“Maybe we need to do more think-
ing about this,” Macgregor-Dennis
concluded about the details of the bill.
Contact Margaret Rawson at marawson
@stanford.edu.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010 ! 3
CARE
Continued from front page
of the year.
With the new pilot plan, however,
it takes one phone call for a Stanford
faculty member to get help. The
agency takes care of the rest — iden-
tifying vetted child-care centers
within a preexisting network, mak-
ing the arrangements and confirm-
ing the placement with the employ-
ee.
The University is extending the
service to faculty who need to travel
and is adding an elderly-care compo-
nent.
“The elder care component
speaks to the rising number of peo-
ple responsible for the care of elder
loved ones,” Rasco said.
And it all comes at a lower cost to
the employee. The service charges a
co-pay of $6 an hour for an in-house
provider and $15 a day for care at a
center.
Still, some groups on campus
feel left out.The program in its pilot
phase does not apply to many indi-
viduals within the Stanford com-
munity.
Rie Kijima, a fourth-year gradu-
ate student in the School of Educa-
tion who has a one-year-old daugh-
ter, said as a student, the pressure to
CRIME
Continued from front page
plaining that to a police officer in
Kyoto and you get a very different
take on it.”
Despite the relatively low inci-
dence of crime at most of the over-
seas centers, student safety is a top
concern for BOSP, said program di-
rector Robert Sinclair.
“Our BOSP staff on the home
campus and the Directors and staff at
the overseas centers take the safety
and health of our students very seri-
ously and they are probably our
highest priorities,” Sinclair said in an
e-mail to The Daily.
Last year 759 students went
abroad through the BOSP. Before
students’ departures, all are briefed
on safety, staff say. Once students
reach the overseas centers, staff at
find consistent daycare can be
daunting.
“Sometimes, you have meetings
that come up at the last minute, and I
think those services would really
help graduate students at those
times,” Kijima said. “If there’s
enough money available, and if
there’s a program that could be ex-
tended, I think people would wel-
come it from the graduate student
community.”
Kijima pointed to financial obsta-
cles when looking for child care.
“The child-care situation here is
very expensive,” Kijima said. “Usu-
ally the ones on campus are any-
where between $1,700 to $1,900 a
month, so it’s pretty hefty in terms of
the cost it requires from our normal
stipend to pay off the childcare fee.”
Valantine said the program will
be reevaluated at the end of its first
year to see if it should be extended to
other groups on campus.
“Because we are uncertain how
this program will work, whether it
will work, how it will be used, we
thought we would do a limited pilot
in the first year,” Valantine said.
“We wanted to first conduct a pilot
to get a good sense of how it was
working and whether it was being
used, and then we’ll be rolling it out
to others.”
Contact Kurt Chirbas at kchirbas@
stanford.edu.
those locations educate them in safe-
ty more specific to the regions in
which the centers are located,
Kennedy said.
“They talk more particularly
about street behavior, how to not
draw attention to yourself,” Kennedy
said.“They talk about specific parts of
town that are more problematic than
others, and how you can avoid them.”
Despite the safety measures, stu-
dents are urged to follow, the risks of
becoming victims of crime are little
different than they are at home,
Kennedy said.
“All the things that would happen
in any large American city happens
overseas,” she said. “In any large
American city there are parts where
you are vulnerable to being mugged
or being hassled and I think the same
is true for any of the large metropoli-
tan areas where we have programs.”
Contact Ivy Nguyen at iknguyen
@stanford.edu.
4 ! Wednesday, October 13, 2010
OPINIONS
S ENT F ROM M Y I P HONE
You’re Only 14 Twice
L
ast week, the perpetually vacuous an-
nals of correspondence that is the Dias-
pora delivered to me a heartfelt letter
from Robin Thomas ‘12 that urged everyone
to “have all your mid-life crises now” and to
“stop trying to secure a joyful life later at the
expense of a joyful life now.” All sound ad-
vice. So far this week, I’ve lived a joyful-er life
than any of you assholes reading this. By the
end of Monday night, my third favorite T-
shirt was completely soaked in the sweat of
dozens of 30-something shirtless South Bay
residents. My body is still somewhat sore, but
my soul had achieved unity — if, you know,
you believe in that sort of thing. On Oct. 11,
Alice in Chains, along with Mastodon and
the Deftones, played at the San Jose State
University Events Center and some psyche-
delic friends and I made the trip. It’s now
fourth on my list of Best Decisions I’ve Made
in My Life.
Now at this point, a faction of you is con-
templating dismissing the rest of my words as
the ramblings of a drugged out hippie or
burnout. To the doubters, I won’t say any-
thing as cliche as, “Free your mind, man.” I’ll
just ask that you reserve judgment until the
800th word. You still with me? Radical, be-
cause for some reason, Alice in Chains’ ex-
pertly constructed songs about heroin addic-
tion were the biggest aid in preventing my
angsty prepubescent self from doing any-
thing as stupid as attempting suicide. We all
had dark places in adolescence; it’s what
made us work so hard. At that 5,000-seat
arena, I finally settled the score with 14-year-
old Peter.
The show, by the way, was badass. I was
quite gratified to find out that no white man
alive could replicate Layne Staley’s voice. Of
all the bands from Seattle to make it big,
Alice in Chains always had the most blue-
collar fans, and the diversity of the South Bay
helped to balance out the prep school-trend-
ing crowd that was more there to see the
Deftones (whose concert footage would
make a beautiful graphic novel, by the way).
I was by far the most hipster kid there. Even
better, I finally discovered the inspiring egal-
itarianism that is the General Admission
floor (aka the mosh pit). No rich bastards in
the front row, just the people willing to fight
their way there. I’m never letting seating as-
signments restrain my rocking again. All
their songs brought the requisite ferocity,
though their drummer had a tendency to
drag. The most soul-piercing moment came
when they busted “Nutshell” onto the audi-
ence, a song that doubled as a seance for ol’
Layne. The venue was the most functional
OP-ED
Data Should Drive ASSU
Legislation
M
ore data should be considered when
passing legislation than just the
number of hands raised on either
side. Debate about how the student body
feels about an issue should be based on statis-
tical evidence, rather than on speculation.
Feedback on bills should be taken from all
students on a regular basis, rather than once
a week and just from those that show up to
the right meeting.
These are ideas that have begun to rise
in this year’s ASSU Undergraduate Senate
and may well be the differentiating quality
for this year’s legislative branch of the
ASSU. Creating a student government that
we can be proud of comes down to the sum
of the impact of the decisions we make. Op-
timizing these decisions is the place to start.
The operation of the ASSU has a direct
impact on every single Stanford student.
Stanford is such an incredible community
in large part due to the fact that the stu-
dents around you are engaged in enriching
and edifying activities. Every student I
know at Stanford is a leader in some way,
and we all benefit from this. The ASSU is
an enabler; it helps students make those
unbelievable activities happen. The ASSU
is Stanford and Stanford is the ASSU.
Former Election Commissioner Quinn
Slack ‘11 recently wrote an excellent cri-
tique of some of the issues in student gov-
ernment for a campus publication. He high-
lighted from a data perspective many of the
Write to us.
SUBMIT PHOTOS OR VIDEOS.
SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR TO EIC@STANFORDDAILY.COM
SEND OP-EDS TO EDITORIAL@STANFORDDAILY.COM
SEND PHOTOS/VIDEOS TO MULTIMEDIA@STANFORDDAILY.COM
Peter
McDonald
municipal sports arena you’ve ever seen, per-
fect for Jerry Cantrell smoking and drinking
on stage.
It was without a doubt the most hardcore
Monday night of my life, but after the lights
came on and I was able to reorient myself, my
inner Stanford student came out again, and
all I could think about was the work I still had
to do, stupid Poetry and Poetics. Waiting in
line at 7-Eleven for a recovery Slurpee, I felt
the pull of the Stanford bubble more than
ever.All I wanted was to retreat into the safe-
ty of my studies and apologize to the Univer-
sity for having too much fun on a Monday
night and to my fellow Bandies for bailing on
rehearsal to go have an actual once-in-a-life-
time experience. It’s that whole real-world
thing. It can get pretty annoying.
But please, do not despair, though I know
most of you aren’t because you wouldn’t
even attempt something so profligate. I re-
member when RJD2 came to Kresge (R.I.P.)
freshman year (RJD2!) and no one on my
hall would go because it just so happened to
be during finals week. That’s lame. In case
you forgot, we’re supposed to be the iPod
Generation, a name that must make Steve
Jobs ecstatic.We care more about music than
any other prior generation. Our iTunes li-
brary far outclasses our libraries of anything
else. I’m sure you all remember the first mu-
sician you loved, and how you were ready to
forsake the world just to see him or her in
concert. Suppressing that child because you
have a paper due, or because you’re sick, or
because you didn’t budget for it is your first
step toward becoming boring. So please,
keep track of your favorite bands from ado-
lescence. If they’re coming on tour, go see
them. Save your money, and if you have an
assignment due the next day, manage your
time properly. Your 14-year-old self will
thank you. Oh, and do it soon, because I have
a suspicion that in 10 years, no one’s going to
be hyperventilating over a Passion Pit re-
union.
Want to find out which three decisions topped
Monday night? E-mail Peter at petermc@stan-
ford.edu.
issues around funding that need to be ad-
dressed. This is the kind of data-driven con-
tribution that is hugely valuable to helping
the student body. There are student that do
care; we just need to find the Quinn Slacks.
“Data-driven” may not be the most sexy
term. Then again, I am a computer science
major, so I won’t comment on my senti-
ment on whether it is or not. Anyway, the
point is that I’m writing this to let you
know that we would like your help. At
Tuesday’s Senate meeting, a bill was pre-
sented to electronically survey students
each week on legislation; we want your
input. Appropriations Committee Chair
Rafael Vasquez ‘12 is doing a great job
leading the committee in a data-driven ef-
fort to optimize our funding policies. Help
us analyze your output. Senate Chair
Michael Cruz ‘12 is leading from the front
in his charge to make decisions with evi-
dence, improve based on proof, and create a
better Stanford based on what people actual-
ly want. Help us decide how our collective re-
sources are best put.
To be clear, I’m talking numbers, not gam-
bling. The risk is in making decisions based
on shadows on the wall. Data can lead us at
least part of the way out of the cave.The time
for conjectures is over, unless they’re mathe-
matical ones. Let’s do this.
STEWART MACGREGOR-DENNIS ‘13
ASSU Undergraduate Senator
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Please List All Prior Assumptions
O
ne of the easiest daily assumptions
we each carry is that we know our-
selves and how we live. We know our
own clothing preferences, what foods we
don’t like, what we think is funny and all of
those beautiful facets of personality that
crystallize into who we are. This is the rea-
son I love asking people about their fa-
vorites: they’re our simplest distinctions.We
know what they are and feel security be-
cause of it. We take for granted that we will
act according to our identities, because if
that were up in the air, every day would be a
self-reflexive philosophical crisis. (Ohmy-
gosh that sounds horrible.) So it’s all good!
We can bullet-point our correct character
adjectives and speed through personality
quizzes. It’d be weird if we couldn’t, after liv-
ing with ourselves for the past 20-ish years.
That’s a mighty long time to get to know
someone, if you ask me.
. . . Then again, maybe not. Because I’m
heading toward 21 years and this girl in the
mirror is getting unexpectedly good at
throwing me curve balls. Isn’t that just the
absurdist thing? That we can surprise our-
selves? That the phrases “Before I knew it, I
was . . . “ or “Suddenly, I found myself . . . “
exist at all is mind-boggling. I mean, we are
ourselves.
But it’s Life As Unusual, Cont’d as I find
myself speedily undermining certain “facts”
I “knew” about how I act. Recently, I’ve been
letting something highly unfamiliar develop,
sans my go-to over-analysis and deconstruc-
tion . . . and I’m really, completely not used
to that. (I know this sounds super-vague, but
the specifics aren’t the point.) Right now, I’m
entertaining an idea that could potentially
cause me future anxiety, and readers? That’s
Man up, you pansies
Dear Editor,
So the incomparable Victor Davis Han-
son spoke truth to stupidity about “diversi-
ty,” and the stupid responded the only way
the stupid know how: with a gutless anony-
mous attempt to shout down an argument
they didn’t like and aren’t capable of en-
gaging — and in fact, made absolutely no
effort to engage.
You claim Hanson damages Stanford
with his undeniable truths? No, you damage
Stanford with your lockstep “thinking” and
inability to partake in a reasoned (and rea-
sonable) exchange of ideas — yet isn’t that
supposed to be the whole reason universi-
ties exist? Cowards. You are a disgrace to
your institution, and to America. How ‘bout
you grow some and actually take on the de-
bate? You’ve already lost it, of course, so it’s
understandable that you avoid it — but it’s
not understandable that you try to silence
your intellectual betters along the way.
On the other hand, if it was your goal to
prove beyond the shadow of a doubt one of
Hanson’s primary points, that “the university
The Stanford Daily
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Jacob Jaffe
Deputy Editor
Wyndam Makowsky
Columns Editor
Ellen Huet Stephanie Weber
Managing Editor of News Head Copy Editor
Kabir Sawhney
Managing Editor of Sports
Anastasia Yee
Head Graphics Editor
Chelsea Ma
Giancarlo Daniele
Managing Editor of Features
Web Projects Editor
Marisa Landicho
Managing Editor of Intermission Jane LePham, Devin Banerjee
Vivian Wong Staff Development
Managing Editor of Photography
Zachary Warma
Editorial Board Chair
L OOKING U P
Nina M.
Chung
so not me. In many ways, my style is clear-
cut, no ambiguity, thank-you-very-much,
good bye. I thought that was pretty solid. But
I realized that for so long prior to these new
little episodes, much of that didn’t have ex-
periential precedence . . . or maybe it did,
once or twice. Mostly, they were decisions I
had made about myself that existed to pre-
scribe my future, too. This time I’m taking a
— what do they call it? Oh, yeah.A chance. I
find myself stepping into a particular oppor-
tunity, against my former self-medicated
judgment.
We make so many kinds of assumptions
about who we are and will always be. Do any
of the following sound familiar to you? I’ve
only been good at math, so there’s no way
I’m good at creative writing. I work best
under pressure, which is why I won’t ever
get enough sleep. I can’t connect with peo-
ple in class because I’m shy, and they think
I’m boring. I need to be in a relationship be-
cause being alone means being lonely. Or,
I’m too independent, and no relationship
will be meaningful enough to be worth the
effort.
To be sure, we each have our Bad Past Mem-
ories that by default become our present/fu-
ture To Not Do lists. We learn from our mis-
adventures and count on the lessons learned
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
is the most politically intolerant and mono-
lithic institution in the country,” well then, I
congratulate you on a job superbly done.
Nitwits.
JIM VINOSKI
Diversity?
Dear Editor,
I worked at Fannie Mae for seven years. I
know how “diversity” works, and Professor
Victor Davis Hanson has it EXACTLY right.
You seem to be clinging to some archaic no-
tion that affirmative action is helpful, and you
fail to notice the destructive consequences of
that policy. I believe “diversity” and “affirma-
tive action” are very “do-good” ideas, but
until we get to the point of judging people for
the content of their character and not the
color of their skin, then we will continue to
endure racism.Affirmative action and clumsy
“diversity” programs extend racism from
what I’ve seen in the real world. I think if you
woke up and were honest with yourself, you
might see the same thing. I could be wrong.
RANDALL CARTER
Herndon,Va.
The Stanford Daily
Incorporated 1973
Tonight’s Desk Editors
Ivy Nguyen
News Editor
Caroline Caselli
Sports Editor
Tyler Brown
Features Editor
Anastasia Yee
Graphics Editor
Vivian Wong
Photo Editor
Esthena Barlow
Copy Editor
to be static. It’s necessary, of course, because
otherwise we’d have to re-experience pain
and discomfort all the time. Blech.That’d be
like having to re-learn everyday not to
touch the hot stove or something.
Really, though, when it comes to our own
person and ideas of our future, who are we
to set things in stone? I feel quite strongly
that there are only a few things in life of
which we can all be truly assured, and our
preferences and “types” and ideals of today
somehow don’t seem to fit the bill. We
change, we grow, we learn, and it’s cliché be-
cause it’s undeniably true. Things we
“know” about ourselves can become dicta-
tors of future decisions, and the longer we
reinforce them, the more we close doors —
without realizing it. Is that not scary? We’re
Stanford students who question everything.
It should be okay to question ourselves
sometimes, too.
So surprise, surprise! Turns out I don’t
know everything after all. Turns out I can’t
plan everything on my own. Ultimately,
though, it turns out that there are way bigger
things at work in my life than any of my
greatest intellectual, rational or deductive
epiphanies will ever be able to catch up to.
On one level, it’s terrifying to leave the
crutch that I’ve got the final word on every-
thing that affects me. But beyond that point-
less endeavor to command my entire reality
is a beautiful freedom. It comes with recog-
nizing that despite my strongest man-made
intentions, something might just sweep me
off my feet in a way I surely could not have
foreseen.
Questioning yourself? Let Nina in at ninamc@
stanford.edu
Truth is something that leftists
cannot abide
Dear Editor,
I love how the extreme Left (and I mean
those united progressives at your paper) re-
spond to the TRUTH. Truth is something
that leftists cannot abide; it is not touchy-
feely, or perhaps it doesn’t sound nice, or
maybe it doesn’t make the reader feel good.
However, it passes the rigorous examina-
tions of fact, and if it impeaches the rigidly
held beliefs of the small-minded leftists, it
must be countered with personal attacks and
slurs that are based on beliefs and feelings,
and not facts. Racist? How can any rep-
utable journalist come to such a conclusion?
Perhaps I should reiterate what a journalist
is supposed to do:“Who, what, where, why, in
an unbiased, factual manner.” Basic journal-
ism has never been abandoned so freely as
by the sophomoric hacks at your poor little
unprincipled paper.
JAMES A. RAMSEY
Brentwood,Tenn.
The Stanford Daily
SPORTS
Time for
baseball to
modernize
B
aseball needs instant re-
play. The debate is over.
No, seriously, it’s over.
Wait, it’s not over? How
can this still be an ongoing
issue? After a weekend of botched
calls that could have been decisive,
after a season that saw Armando
Galarraga lose a perfect game (on the
27th out, no less), there are some
people, both inside Major League
Baseball and outside of it, that con-
tinue to insist that there’s no need to
expand the use of instant replay.
These people cite a number of hare-
brained reasons to continue with the
way things are.
So, instead of rehashing the nu-
merous reasons for the adoption of
instant replay (chiefly that it would
allow umps to get calls right, which is,
you know, their job), let’s take a look
at the twisted logic that seems to rule
the mind of baseball commissioner
Bud Selig on this issue.
Reason 1: Replay can’t help um-
pires in a lot of situations.
To its credit, this argument does
apply to some aspects of the game.
Balls, strikes and checked swings
are, to an extent, subjective based
on the umpire of the day. While one
day it may be possible to use tech-
nology to improve ball-strike calls,
today’s technology isn’t sophisticat-
ed enough to define the strike zone
accurately for every single hitter
and provide complete consistency.
That being said, there are a lot of
situations where replay could defi-
nitely apply beyond calling home
runs and questionable fair/foul
calls. Replay could be used to deter-
mine whether a fielder had appro-
priately applied the tag to a sliding
runner, whether a runner was safe
or out at first base, if a fielder had
made a diving catch, etc. Every re-
play technology does have some
limitations — even football, the
sport that has most enthusiastically
adopted replay, has some types of
plays that are not reviewable calls
(especially on penalties). But just
because it can’t help on every call
doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be
used on the calls it can make accu-
rate.
Reason 2: Human error is part of
the game.
Human error isn’t just a part of
baseball; it’s a part of everyday life.
However, just because we make mis-
takes naturally doesn’t mean that we
shouldn’t use technology to mini-
mize those mistakes. In baseball, a
hitter missing a pipe fastball is a re-
sult of human error; a base runner
misreading the signs is human error;
two fielders running into each other
is human error.
The human error in umpiring is
the type of error we should seek to
Kabir
Sawhney
eliminate. We want the rules to be
fairly, evenly and correctly applied to
everyone; it’s extremely harmful
when a group of umpires stands clue-
less on the field as the TV audience
watches them proven wrong in crys-
tal-clear 1080p hi-def. Galarraga’s
perfect game is an ideal example:
Human perfection was taken away
by human error, but the error was
from an authority that, ideally, will be
correct 100 percent of the time.
When we have the ability to reach
that ideal, I fail to see why baseball
stubbornly refuses to utilize it.
Reason 3: Replay will add a lot of
time to games.
Look guys, if you’re really wor-
ried about how long the games are
taking (and trust me, it’s a damn long
time), you have bigger worries than
the amount of time a replay review
might take. The average time of a
baseball game has been steadily
creeping up, and the sport has been
losing fans and interest as a result. I
could probably write an entirely sep-
arate column on this issue, but suf-
fice it to say for now that it’s some-
thing else that needs to be tackled.
The best way to handle this
problem would be to have a fifth
umpire up in the booth responsible
solely for replay (similar to the re-
play official at college football
games). If nowhere else, this extra
umpire should at least be utilized
for the playoffs, so that he can re-
view calls quickly and relay infor-
mation down to the crew chief on
the field. For the regular season, if
baseball doesn’t want to add an
extra umpire to every crew, man-
agers can be given a single chal-
lenge, and (similar to football) get
the challenge back if they win it.
Reason 4: Tradition.
Baseball simply doesn’t want to
move out of its storied past, when it
truly was the “national pastime”(and
before it was rocked by the Steroid
Era). Well, here’s a newsflash: Base-
ball is declining in popularity across
the nation, as people flock to more
fast-paced sports that don’t take a
minute between every 10 seconds of
action (i.e. football). Sticking to tra-
dition hasn’t helped baseball any up
to this point, so why should it help on
the issue of umpiring calls?
The sport needs to begin moving
into the modern age more rapidly,
and instant replay is one area that it
can quickly adopt that would instant-
ly restore some of its lost credibility.
Baseball’s reputation has been tar-
nished by steroids, and its fan follow-
ing is growing more and more disillu-
sioned with every season. It’s time to
start restoring some of that credibili-
ty by making sure that the play on the
field is as fair and even as possible.
The previous column is under review.
The ruling on the field is that Kabir
Sawhney can be reached at ksawh-
ney@stanford.edu.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010 ! 5
LUCK TOPS DAILY’S HEISMAN POLL
By THE DAILY SPORTS STAFF
We ran an experiment this week
under the guise of a poll. The task was
simple:choose your top three choices for
the Heisman Trophy at the halfway
point of the college football season.We
bombarded The Daily’s staff with e-
mails and reminders.Ultimately,22 peo-
ple voted.For our intent,we’ll deem that
a critical mass.
The results are as follows: Stanford’s
Andrew Luck barely edged out Michi-
gan’s Denard Robinson, with Ohio
State’s Terrelle Pryor and Oregon’s
LaMichael James tying for third place
— Pryor gets the edge because he had
more first place votes.A first-place vote
counts for three points; second place,
two points; and third place, one point.
Robinson had the most first-place votes.
The writers, editors, artists and pho-
tographers who participated came from
a variety of sections and possess a wide
spectrum of knowledge. Some are foot-
ball fanatics who spent days considering
their choices; others admitted to know-
JONATHAN YORK/The Stanford Daily
ing next to nothing about the game.We
find this to be a fair reflection of the ac- % of Total
1st 2nd 3rd Ballots trifying offense. In Oregon’s toughest
tual pool of Heisman voters, many of Points
game to date, against then-No. 9 Stan-
whom have admitted to not actually
A. LUCK, QB, STANFORD 64% 29 ford, James was masterful, brutalizing
watching a tremendous number of
the Cardinal’s physical front seven and
games or paying attention to entire con-
D. ROBINSON, QB, MICHIGAN 50% 28 rushing for 257 yards on 31 carries (a
ferences altogether.Also,as with the ac-
ridiculous 8.3 yards per carry),as well as
tual Heisman, we sent out the poll be-
fore all the games of the season’s first T. PRYOR, QB, OHIO STATE 41% 20 three touchdowns.More than any other
half had been played; early judgments player, James is responsible for the
are a centerpiece of the Heisman voting L. JAMES, RB, OREGON 50% 20 Ducks leading the country in a whole
process.As such, there are ballots from bunch of statistical categories on of-
before and after last Saturday’s contests. K. MOORE, QB, BOISE STATE 32% 11 fense, which is why I’m giving him the
Finally, we acknowledge a certain nod as my midseason Heisman No.1.
Stanford bias. There were 33 players on O. MARECIC, FB/LB, STANFORD 9% 6 Robinson has been insane, period,
the ballot, mainly chosen for their pres- and before last weekend’s perform-
ence on the StiffArmTrophy.com voter M. INGRAM, RB, ALABAMA 6 14% 6 ance, when he tossed up three picks to
poll. Two are from Stanford: Luck and Michigan State, he would have easily
slid into the top spot. He has over 1,200
Owen Marecic.We told our staff the fol- C. Newton, QB, Auburn (4); G. McElroy, QB, Alabama (3); P. Peterson, DB, LSU (2); M. Barkley, QB,
yards passing and almost 1,000 yards
lowing:“If you objectively think they de- USC (1); M. Lattimore, RB, South Carolina (1); R. Mallett, QB, Arkansas (1); T. Martinez, QB, Nebraska
rushing in just six games,and if he keeps
serve votes,go for it.If your desire to mark (1); T. Richardson, RB, Alabama (1)
up this torrid pace he’ll easily win the
them down is driven only by your colle-
award at the end of the season.Howev-
giate affiliation,reconsider your choices.”
under more pressure than any other bers, he would likely jump Moore, but er, Robinson may not have the pieces
But at the end of the day, the Heis-
team in the country, because fans and Auburn hasn’t proven itself to be a true assembled next to him necessary to
man vote is driven by biases,and the vot-
media all over the nation are rooting for title contender. continue his production.
ers themselves are not particularly shy
the Broncos to fail.A win for any other Denard “Shoelace” Robinson Lattimore’s stats have looked pretty
about it. So, ultimately, there are three
team is good enough, but just winning topped most ballots as recently as a week pedestrian so far: 459 rushing yards
notes about our poll: It was taken both
won’t cut it for Boise State;the Broncos ago, but he ran into his first good oppo- through six games for the Gamecocks.
before and after the “final” week’s ac-
need to dominate. nent in Michigan State,and the Spartans He’s on this list not because he’s statisti-
tion,some voters don’t know a whole lot
And dominate they have, led by knocked him down a peg or two.Robin- cally impressive, but because his explo-
about the sport and a few participants
Moore. Despite the pressure of winning son’s three interceptions in that game siveness and sheer running ability have
have slanted views.
“impressively”every week,Moore leads took some of the luster off his earlier per- almost single-handedly taken South
If we’re imitating the Heisman voting
the nation in passing efficiency,throwing formances, but he has still done things Carolina from a middling, unranked
process, we might as well go all out.That
only one interception and taking only that few players have ever done in the team to a top-10 ranking and a con-
is the experiment: to see how closely we
one sack in five games to go with his 14 history of college football. He still (easi- tender for the SEC East title.Lattimore
could imitate general balloting practices,
touchdowns.The Heisman nearly always ly) leads the nation in rushing at 991 has given Gamecocks head coach Steve
and how close our results match up with
goes to a strong leader on a title-con- yards, and even with the three picks, he Spurrier the kind of backfield threat he
conventional thought. Tell us if we suc-
tending team, and Moore has been the remains the country’s 12th-rated passer has never had in his tenure, and the re-
ceeded.
most reliable, efficient passer in the and comes in fifth in yards per attempt. sults speak for themselves.
Below, four writers explain their
country, and he plays for the likely No. 1 “Shoelace” might fall off when he starts
choices.
team. facing more good defenses (Iowa, Wis- Dan Bohm
Jacob Jaffe After Moore,a number of candidates consin and Ohio State all remain on the Votes: First: Denard Robinson. Sec-
Votes: First: Kellen Moore. Second: have been impressive. Auburn’s Cam schedule), but for now he is still a top- ond: LaMichael James. Third: Patrick
Cameron Newton.Third:Denard Robin- Newton has the distinction of being the three performer. Peterson.
son. top-rated passer outside of Boise,and he
Most of you probably aren’t giving has mixed in some incredible plays on Kabir Sawhney I guess my ballot is a lesson in why
Kellen Moore enough credit, just like the ground.Newton leads the country in Votes: First: LaMichael James. Second: you should wait until the last possible
you aren’t giving his team enough cred- yards per attempt through the air,and he Denard Robinson. Third: Marcus Latti- second to cast your vote for any award.
it.Yet the Boise State Broncos are pro- is also 12th in the nation in rushing.Com- more. Of course I voted before last weekend’s
jected to take over first place in next bine this with Auburn’s unbeaten record games and my first choice, Michigan
weekend’s BCS standings,and their un- (albeit against lackluster foes) and New- With apologies to Darron Thomas, quarterback Denard Robinson, went
doubted leader is Moore. It is a reason- ton is a strong No. 2. If he leads Auburn James has been the most electrifying
able argument to say that Boise State is to a BCS bowl and maintains these num- playmaker on the country’s most elec- Please see HEISMAN, page 6
Alyssa London PAC-10 POWER RANKINGS
TREE-SON
Every week, Jacob Jaffe will give his power rankings of the Pac-10 football programs. These
represent a measure of current success, not a prediction of future standings or a measure of
talent. Overall and conference records are in parentheses.
1. Oregon (6-0, 3-0 Pac-10) UP NEXT: Bye
FOR
Multiple injuries and a mediocre performance against the conference’s worst team
aren’t enough to knock the country’s No. 2 team out of the top spot. The Ducks have
too much talent and an undefeated record, and no opponent has gotten within 10
points of them yet this year.
2. Oregon State (3-2, 2-0 Pac-10) UP NEXT: at Washington
DEBATE
Most Stanford fans would be screaming for the Cardinal to be in this spot, and it
was a very tough call. However, these are power rankings, and the Beavers had
by far the best win this weekend, knocking off Arizona in Tucson. Oregon State
has no conference losses and looks to be in the thick of the Pac-10 race again
this year, even without James Rodgers.
S
3. Stanford (5-1, 2-1 Pac-10) UP NEXT: Bye
tanford prides itself on diversity, A thrilling victory over the hated Trojans was great for the fans, but it brought up a
number of questions about the defense’s inability to stop Robert Woods and the
and maybe that is why we should respect USC offense. Stanford should have won much more easily, and that kind of per-
this year’s Tree for “what it is” — it broke formance will not be enough against teams with some semblance of a defense.
away from the mold of the coniferous evergreen 4. Arizona (4-1, 1-1 Pac-10) UP NEXT: at Washington State
redwood Tree of the last four years. But al- The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season, a home conference defeat to the
though we have had unique Trees in the past, such as a palm Beavers. This will still be a tough team to beat, but Oregon State exposed some holes
in Arizona. This is likely not a Rose Bowl-contending team, but the Wildcats will not
tree,I find this year’s deciduous tree to be more cringe-wor- be a pushover for anyone.
thy than some of these past creations.
The “non-traditional” palm trees of the past make 5. California (3-2, 1-1 Pac-10) UP NEXT: at USC
Outside of the top group in the Pac-10, Cal had the best win of the bunch. In what
sense, to an extent, because they are strewn all over was expected to be a close game, the Golden Bears rolled UCLA, 35-7, making
our campus, but tree diversity in our mascot is people again wonder what kind of team they are. On any given day, Cal can be bril-
liant or mediocre, but the Bears have the talent to beat just about anyone in the conference.
tricky. Do we want tradition or diversity? Do we
want our Tree mascot to look like what is por- 6. Arizona State (3-3, 1-2 Pac-10) UP NEXT: Bye
trayed in the Stanford logo or do we want it to After three consecutive tough losses to ranked teams, the Sun Devils finally closed the
deal by beating Washington on the road. Bowl eligibility will be tough to come by
keep us guessing? because ASU still needs four more wins (two wins came against FCS teams), but the
Personally,I want tradition,and to see what Sun Devils have already shown the ability to contend with any team on their schedule.
I imagine when I think of the Stanford Tree out 7. USC (4-2, 1-2 Pac-10) UP NEXT: vs. California
there dancing around on the field. I want to know that next year It shows how far the Trojans have fallen that a two-point loss to Stanford is not a bad thing,
our mascot is not going to manifest itself as a bonsai tree or some- but that is certainly the case. USC showed more fight than most people expected, and
there is little doubt about the talent level in Los Angeles. If the Trojans can lay off the penal-
thing more ridiculous and “non-Stanford” than even that. ties and cover receivers, they will be a tough out, even with no bowl berth on the line.
To try to gauge campus sentiment,I sent out a survey to my di-
verse assortment of e-mail lists asking how people perceived this 8. UCLA (3-3, 1-2 Pac-10) UP NEXT: Bye
The Bruins sneak ahead of Washington because their loss was on the road. Yet again,
year’s Stanford Tree. I received 250 responses, largely reporting UCLA proves to be an enigma, completely disappearing in Berkeley after three straight
that this year’s Tree has not been favorably received. victories. UCLA seems to be able to beat or lose to any team in the country.
Seventy percent of my respondents reported they do not like the Tree cos- 9. Washington (2-3, 1-1 Pac-10) UP NEXT: vs. Oregon State
tume.Of those respondents,25 percent said they flat out hated it.Only 25 per- The Huskies show once again that they aren’t a consistent threat. After pulling
cent said they liked it and of those,eight percent loved it.An overwhelming 90 another upset over USC, this time in the Coliseum, Washington fell flat on its face
against Arizona State at home. If the Huskies want to get back in a bowl game for
percent of respondents said the Tree should be a redwood and not deciduous, the first time since 2002, they need to learn how to win multiple games in a row.
and 70 percent said this year’s costume is not an accurate representation of
our mascot. Some of the survey respondents were particularly outspoken, 10. Washington State (1-5, 0-3 Pac-10) UP NEXT: vs. Arizona
The Cougars are certainly improving . . . but it sure is easy to improve on one
and below is a sample of their responses: Pac-10 win since 2007. Still, Wazzu looked better against one of the best teams
SIMON WARBY/ in the country last weekend, and the Cougars could steal a win if someone takes
The Stanford Daily them lightly.
Please see LONDON, page 6
6 ! Wednesday, October 13, 2010
HEISMAN
Continued from page 5
and threw three picks and my third
choice, LSU defensive back Patrick Pe-
terson, muffed a punt. Still, I believe my
ballot holds up.
Robinson has been the best player
on the field in every game. He has run
rampant all over the field and made
Michigan football relevant again. Oh,
and he has also put up video game-like
numbers.
LaMichael James got my second
place vote, and if the award goes to
whom it often has in the past — the best
player on the best team (read:Mark In-
gram, Troy Smith, USC players) —
then the award may easily swing to the
running back that dropped 257 rushing
yards on our very own Cardinal.
Peterson definitely deserves to be in
contention. He does everything — he
hits, he covers and he is the best return
man in the game.There is some hesita-
tion, I believe, among voters to select a
defensive player, but the award is sup-
LONDON
Continued from page 5
“IT’S NOT THE STANFORD
TREE!!!!”
“I think it’s great — I like that its
different and think that people criti-
cizing it should understand better that
the Tree is remade every year by the
new Tree — and it’s a TON of work!”
“I like it because a Tree is a tree,
but I like last year’s Tree better.”
“Though I appreciate the creative
efforts, I think this year’s costume
does not hit the mark.A. It should be
a redwood. B. There should be more
of an element of anonymity. C. The
costume should accentuate the jig,
and the jig should accentuate the cos-
tume:they should work as one.D.The
Tree is really, really not good.”
“This year’s Tree is definitely silli-
er than last year, and to me it seems
the point is to be silly. So in that re-
spect it’s more successful.”
“It looks like a dead broccoli or
stalk of celery from “Veggie Tales”
with bulging eyes.Ew.Especially how
the bottom part looks dead and the
top part is green . . . just no.”
posed to go to the best player, not the
best offensive player, so if Peterson fits
that mold,why not?
Zach Zimmerman
Votes: First: Terrelle Pryor. Second:
LaMichael James. Third: Taylor Mar-
tinez.
The Terrelle Pryor hype train has
been full speed ahead since he came into
college football two years ago. Despite
glimpses of greatness, he remained ab-
surdly inconsistent through his first two
seasons.Now,as a junior,Pryor is leading
an undefeated Buckeyes team to what,at
the very worst, will be a Rose Bowl ap-
pearance.The strength of schedule hasn’t
been fantastic, but Pryor has mutilated
opposing defenses to the tune of 1,349
yards and 15 touchdowns while complet-
ing 68 percent of his passes.His ability to
scramble is what makes him such a dan-
gerous weapon, but it’s his newfound
touch on the deep ball that has finally
placed him among the college quarter-
backing elite.If Ohio State runs the table
and he continues to demonstrate phe-
nomenal accuracy,it will be hard to select
anyone over Pryor.
“It has phallic characteristics . . . “
“Personally, I think it looks more
like a Tree. However, sometimes
when he dances his eyes look like
boobs — overall its appearance is
psychotic and frightening.”
“When I think of the Stanford
Tree, the image I get in my head is
that of the redwood, not whatever
this is.”
“It looks like a bush on a stick.”
We have to accept that the Stan-
ford Tree is already not a very serious
mascot. The nature of the Stanford
Tree is to be quirky.After all, the Tree
is affiliated with the Stanford band,
not the University.
Yet, the new Tree’s appearance
may take quirkiness too far. Since
this year’s Tree is deciduous, it de-
tracts from Stanford’s image of
“brawn” (after all, year after year we
win the Director’s Cup for our athlet-
ic dominance). Deciduous trees lose
their leaves seasonally and look like
skeletons for a large portion of the
year. At least the redwood Tree mas-
cot symbolizes old growth, an im-
pressive large size, beauty and tradi-
tion within our school by represent-
ing our classic Tree logo.
Stanford football is doing great
this year. By the time the bowl season
I may be overrating James based on
his performance against Stanford (257
yards and three touchdowns), but it’s
hard to ignore his value and skill. He’s
already amassed 847 yards on over
seven yards per carry. His 10 total
touchdowns leads the most dynamic of-
fense in the country, and he’s put Ore-
gon in prime position to win a national
title. What’s most striking to me is his
ability to hold on to the ball — he has
never lost a fumble in a Ducks uniform.
Martinez is a little bit of a reach, but
the freshman quarterback is the main
reason why Nebraska is returning to its
glory days.As a quarterback, he’s aver-
aging more than 10 yards per carry.He’s
accumulated 12 rushing touchdowns
on the year, and although he’s not the
purest of passers (660 yards and three
scores), he is undoubtedly one of the
best playmakers in college football.Just
ask Kansas State.Martinez torched the
Wildcats for 241 yards and four touch-
downs on the ground and 128 yards and
a score through the air.
Wyndam Makowsky wrote and adminis-
tered The Daily’s Heisman poll. Contact
him at makowsky@stanford.edu.
rolls around, our deciduous friend
should have lost its leaves for the
winter. How can we stand behind a
mascot that looks like it is weak and
hibernating? How does that generate
school spirit and pump the crowd up?
Stanford Tree, thank you for your
creativity and for representing a cul-
ture of a school that doesn’t need to
take itself too seriously — I must say
this year’s rendition is very unique! I
liked the spiced-up appearance of the
Tree with lights through the leaves for
the first home game and the clothes
for this last game against USC. The
Tree mascot in general is pretty cool
because it is weird, and the Tree’s en-
ergy is still up to par this year, but it is
just this year’s costume that is ques-
tionable . . . but it will work.
Disclaimer: This column is by no
means bashing the person inside the
Tree costume, or his creative expres-
sion.This column is intended to shine
a light on a discussion that is already
being had all over campus as to the
appearance of this year’s Stanford
Tree.
Alyssa London needs funding to read
all the survey responses on Survey
Monkey. Send her donations at alon-
don@stanford.edu.
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