Free Republic

“Serra Palin” theme in honor of Republican VP candidateThe First Dudes are on the ground floor, the Hockey Moms on the second. The coed third floor has been deemed the Last Frontier, and looking down upon them all is the “glass ceiling” skylight. Welcome to Serra Palin, where pit bulls, lipstick and the Republican Party seal abound. Residents and staff of the four-class Stern dorm, as well as a majority of on-campus student political leaders, called the Serra Palin concept risque, but harmless and fun. Some, however, have expressed concerns about the theme’s potential to offend or alienate. “It...

Sun power is supplying electricity for Hoover House, the official home of Stanford President John Hennessy. L.A. Cicero Stanford energy engineer Scott Gould, left, talks with Greg Gillette of REC Solar amid the 252 solar panels mounted on a water tank near Hoover House. The official home of Stanford President John Hennessy has gone solar. The electric meter for Hoover House now runs backward at times, with the solar panels creating more electricity than the house requires. The 40-kilowatt solar panels, the largest photovoltaic system on campus, were energized earlier this month with the flip of a switch that sent...

Two Stanford graduates are hoping to make a big splash in the coming years with a personal aircraft that lands on both water and land, company officials told NBC Bay Area Wednesday. Kirk Hawkins and Steen Strand said that their ICON A5 amphibious sport plane achieved an important milestone when it recently made a successful test flight. The $140,000 aircraft seats two people. Hawkins said he conceived the company when he attended Stanford Business School in 2005 after learning of FAA regulatory changes that created the Light-Sport Aircraft market and Sport Pilot License in 2004. Hawkins said he backed the...

Stanford computer scientists have developed an artificial intelligence system that enables robotic helicopters to teach themselves to fly difficult stunts by watching other helicopters perform the same maneuvers. The result is an autonomous helicopter than can perform a complete airshow of complex tricks on its own. The stunts are "by far the most difficult aerobatic maneuvers flown by any computer controlled helicopter," said Andrew Ng, the professor directing the research of graduate students Pieter Abbeel, Adam Coates, Timothy Hunter and Morgan Quigley. The dazzling airshow is an important demonstration of "apprenticeship learning," in which robots learn by observing an expert,...

At first glance, the ancient Egyptian texts look like scraps of garbage. And more than 2,000 years ago, that's exactly what they were -- discarded documents, useless contracts and unwanted letters that were recycled into material needed to plaster over mummies, like some precursor to papier-mache... The texts, collectively called papyri, were donated to Stanford in the 1920s by an alumnus who bought them from an antiquities dealer in London. They've been overlooked by generations of faculty who haven't focused on papyrology, said Joe Manning, an associate professor of classics... About 70 texts in Stanford's collection of several hundred papyri...

Ramirez's program is part of a growing number of veterans hospitals across the United States making cycling a permanent part of their trauma recovery programs, according to Road 2 Recovery, a national program whose mission is to raise money to support cycling at military and VA locations.

Scalia's selective historyBy Jack RakoveAppeals to the evidence of history figured prominently in last week's Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia vs. Heller, striking down a sweeping ban on handguns and affirming that the 2nd Amendment protects a fundamentally individual right "to keep and bear arms." Yet read the two main opinions by Justices Antonin Scalia (for the conservative majority) and John Paul Stevens (in dissent), and you will see that different ways of defining and reading what counts as historical evidence expose a fault line between them.One would have to be terribly naive to think that how these...

Academic Morning After Profits by: Bethany Stotts, July 02, 2008 This June the New York Times broke the story that two Harvard Professors, Dr. Joseph Biederman and Dr. Timothy Wilens, had only belatedly reported their considerable external financing from drug makers to their University. The evidence, revealed during a congressional investigation, may also cast suspicion on the dramatic increase in prescribed antipsychotics. As AIA has documented, some groups remain skeptical of the expansive definitions surrounding Attention Deficit Disorder diagnoses. Others are concerned by the rapid expansion of the use of psychotropic drugs among children. The investigation of the Harvard doctors,...

Cold War Amnesia by: Malcolm A. Kline, July 02, 2008 The Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union is still being fought, not by unrepentant, unreconstructed anti-communists such as your servant but by campus leftists born too late to be collaborators. “In last month’s undergraduate elections, a cadre of demagogues, in a disgusting publicity stunt, projected the image of a hammer and sickle onto one of Stanford’s most venerable landmarks: Hoover Tower,” Jason Dunkel, the business manager of the Stanford Review writes in a June 2008 fundraising letter. “Their platform called for the detainment of such...

On Evil Bethany Stotts, June 23, 2008 Is evil the result of human choice or manufactured by social circumstances? Professor Philip Zimbardo, known for his infamous Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971, opted for the latter explanation at a recent CATO book forum. Zimbardo told the audience that he believes Lucifer was expelled from heaven not for sinning, but for disobeying an authority figure. “It’s really a story about what happens when you challenge authority—you go to hell,” said the Stanford University professor. The author of The Lucifer Effect, Zimbardo believes that any person has the capacity for terrible deeds, torture,...

EVERETT -- Eleven years ago, Sabrina M. Weiner graduated as a valedictorian at Kamiak High School near Everett. She was a National Merit Scholar, aiming for a bright future after earning a Navy ROTC scholarship to Stanford University. Two months ago, Weiner, 27, forfeited her Navy career after seven years on active and reserve duty, during which she rose to the rank of lieutenant. In a rare instance involving a commissioned officer, Weiner was arrested and given a choice between a court-martial or less-than-honorable discharge after refusing to serve in Iraq. Speaking publicly for the first time about it, Weiner...

Did anyone else notice the lack of respect by the Stanford women who were playing for the Championship against Tennessee last night? Openly not holding hand over heart when the National Anthem was played. A bunch of losers. Reminds me of BHO.

Stanford Crackdown on Hoover by: Malcolm A. Kline, April 02, 2008 There’s only one thing that a politically correct university hates more than hosting a conservative think tank on its campus and that is when the guest scholar accumulates more prestige than the host institution. Then the institution of higher learning might make a hamfisted attempt to regulate the wayward scholars, applying discipline it would never dream of inflicting on its own faculty. Such a situation may be transpiring at Stanford. “You may have heard that former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was offered a one-year visiting fellowship at the...

Last week, Stanford University reported thousands of students for illegally downloading music, many of whom will now have to pay thousands of dollars for violating copyright laws. OK, so actually the university did no such thing - but thousands of students panicked nonetheless. On Monday, the Stanford Chaparral, the university's humor magazine, published in its annual "Fake Daily" an article warning students about a new campus policy on copyright infringements. The accompanying Web site received nearly 24,000 hits from students checking to see if they were in imminent danger of being sued, said co-editor and Stanford senior Anthony Scodary. "Under...

The Smithsonian Institution, beleaguered by questions over how much it pays its executives and how they spend the organization's money, said Saturday it has picked Georgia Tech President G. Wayne Clough as its new leader. Clough will become the 12th secretary of the world's largest museum and research complex on July 1, assuming control of an institution that has been in turmoil in the past year. Clough will usher in a new era, "bringing a unique combination of academic achievement, talent, leadership skills and experience in public service, science, management and development," Smithsonian board Chairman Roger Sant said in a...

Cannot Post due to copyright issues: http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/03/17/080317taco_talk_hertzberg

Earlier this month, Stanford University announced that it will no longer charge tuition to students whose families make less than $100,000 a year. The move is part of a series of steps Stanford and its peer institutions have taken in the last decade to create more diverse classes. Some schools have replaced loans with grants for low-income students, eliminated home equity from calculations of expected family contributions, and nixed early decision programs, which disadvantage low-income students. While these steps are welcome, they aren’t significant enough to make these universities truly diverse. If schools are serious about providing a culturally rich...

Carbon nanotubes-cylinders so tiny that it takes 50,000 lying side by side to equal the width of a human hair-are packed with the potential to be highly accurate vehicles for administering medicines and other therapeutic agents to patients. But a dearth of data about what happens to the tubes after they discharge their medical payloads has been a major stumbling block to progress. Now, Stanford researchers, who spent months tracking the tiny tubes inside mice, have found some answers. Studies in mice already had shown that most nanomaterials tend to accumulate in organs such as the liver and spleen, which...

Ric Weiland, who helped his friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen launch Microsoft, was a quiet philanthropist. But his final gift has provided one of the most powerful financial boosts ever to the gay-rights movement. Weiland has left $65 million to the Pride Foundation in Seattle and 10 nonprofit organizations, believed to be the largest estate gift ever given to the gay and lesbian community in the U.S. His generosity didn't stop there. Weiland left $160 million, the majority of his estate, to charity. That includes a gift to Stanford University estimated to be worth $60 million, which the university...

Genetic study ties Siberians to people in Americas By Will Dunham Thu Feb 21, 5:08 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People indigenous to Siberia have strong genetic links to native peoples in the Americas, according to a study further supporting the theory that humans first entered the Americas over a land bridge across the Bering Strait. Scientists at Stanford University in California combed through the genes of 938 people from 51 places, looking at 650,000 DNA locations in each person. The study, in the journal Science on Thursday, revealed similarities and differences among various populations. "This is the highest resolution...

02-19) 23:49 PST Palo Alto -- In a radical change to its financial aid program, Stanford University will announce today that it will no longer charge tuition to students whose families earn less than $100,000 a year. In addition, the university will waive room and board fees for students whose families earn less than $60,000 a year. University President John Hennessy will make the announcement today on campus, university Provost John Etchemendy confirmed late Tuesday. The university is making the change in the wake of published reports last month that its endowment had grown almost 22 percent last year, to...

In late January, the Berkeley city council voted 8-1 to declare the Marines working at a local recruiting office “uninvited and unwelcome intruders,” proceeding to express wishes to have said office removed from the city. The resolution further stated that the City of Berkeley applauded residents and organizations that “volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office located in the City of Berkeley.” This action is disrespectful and inappropriate. The United States Marine Corps includes some our bravest and most dedicated service men and women. Regardless of whether or not one agrees...

Let me first address the “racism” remarks and the accusation of me being “racist” [“Adult film star’s remarks spark debate,” Feb. 14]. I was disappointed (but not very surprised) by the reaction that I got from some of the students at Stanford (as I’ve been wrongly accused of racism before). Speaking of racism in relation to religion, not to a race, is a big disservice to language and to intelligence. I never in my life said or wrote a bad word about Arabs — go read any of my articles. My criticism was always addressed towards the religion and ideology...

Stanford University sophomore Sabine Bergmann wants to focus her education on issues involving global warming. "I really want to spend my life and career on climate change," the 19-year-old said. "But there's no major geared toward that specific topic, because it's so new and cutting-edge." But on Thursday, she went through a kind of accelerated program on the subject as some 1,500 higher-education institutions and schools across the country delved into what was described as the largest teach-in on global warming in American history. Students, teachers, climate experts and others nationwide simultaneously participated in workshops and activities that sought to...

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices. The new version, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers. "It's not a small improvement," Cui said. "It's a revolutionary development." The breakthrough is described in a paper, "High-performance lithium...

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices. The new version, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers. "It's not a small improvement," Cui said. "It's a revolutionary development." The breakthrough is described in a paper, "High-performance lithium...

A robotic car named Junior, programmed by Stanford computer scientists, finished slightly ahead of Boss, the robo-vehicle from Carnegie Mellon University, as half a dozen driverless vehicles made history by completing a 60-mile race over a city-like environment. But the real winner of this third and most difficult in a series of robo-races is probably the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which sponsored the first of these events in 2004 to spur development of unmanned military vehicles. In all, 11 robotic vehicles set out on the race course Saturday morning, and while five scrubbed out for various reasons, the fact...

Here's the game preview from ESPN.com: LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh is sticking to his preseason assessment that No. 2 Southern California might just be the greatest college football team ever. "There is no question in my mind that USC is the best team in the country and may be the best team in the history of college football," Harbaugh said this week. "As a sort of college football historian, there's no question that this SC team ranks right up there." Chances are good that his opinion won't change Saturday, when the struggling Cardinal (1-3, 0-3 Pac-10)...

No one should be surprised that the announcement of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's one-year appointment as a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution was swiftly denounced by faculty members and students who do not want the university's name associated with an architect of the Iraq war. "A profoundly immoral man," a history professor said. "A warmonger and torture facilitator," said a psychology professor. An angry student expressed outrage at the prospect of "a war criminal on Stanford's campus." But Rumsfeld has company. When news came that Secretary of State Condolezza Rice -- the university's former provost...

As you may have heard, Donald Rumsfeld has been offered a one- year appointment as the Special Distinguished Visiting Something at the Hoover Institution, a right-wing think tank affiliated with Stanford University in a way not clear to me or, apparently, anyone else. The online petition opposing his appointment has been signed by more than 2,600 "members of the Stanford community," another fuzzy designation. The reaction of the Hoover Institution to the online petition has been a hearty laugh and another round for the table. It has never cared about the opinions of the Stanford community in the past, and...

A word of warning to scientists studying climate change: Don't forget to factor leap year into your calculations. Otherwise, you will end up either overestimating or underestimating the pace of global warming, says Stanford researcher Raphael Sagarin. Writing in the Dec. 6 issue of the journal Nature, Sagarin focuses his attention on recent climate studies documenting the early arrival of spring - an important indicator of global warming. He points out that, by ignoring leap year, climate experts have inadvertently allowed statistical bias to creep into their analyses, resulting in false estimates of spring's actual arrival. "A number of international ...

Stanford University faculty members are protesting former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's appointment as a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. Renowned professor emeritus of psychology Philip Zimbardo, who has publicly blamed Rumsfeld and other Bush Administration officials for the notorious abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, is among a protest petition's "instigators," as he put it. "We think he has distinguished himself for all the wrong things than what the university should stand for and what America should stand for," Zimbardo said Monday, adding that about 118 people had signed the petition by Sunday, but the number should increase...

Seniors at UC Berkeley, the nation's premier public university, got an F in their basic knowledge of American history, government and politics in a new national survey, and students at Stanford University didn't do much better, getting a D. Out of 50 schools surveyed, Cal ranked 49th and Stanford 31st in how well they are increasing student knowledge about American history and civics between the freshman and senior years. And they're not alone among major universities in being fitted for a civics dunce cap. Other poor performers in the study were Yale, Duke, Brown and Cornell universities. Johns Hopkins University...

Some faculty and students at Stanford University say they are outraged by the fellowship appointment of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld, who resigned last year amid intense criticism of his handling of the Iraq war, has been given a one-year fellowship at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.

Bill Walsh, the groundbreaking football coach who won three Super Bowls and perfected the ingenious schemes that became known as the West Coast offense during a Hall of Fame career with the San Francisco 49ers, has died. He was 75. Walsh died at his Bay Area home early Monday following a long battle with leukemia, according to Stanford University, where he served as coach and athletic director. Walsh didn’t become an NFL head coach until 47, and he spent just 10 seasons on the San Francisco sideline. But he left an indelible mark on the United States’ most popular sport,...

Hoover Institution fellow, Peter Robinson, speaks with Fred Thompson about his candidacy for President of the United States. Robinson delves into the key issues facing America today, the politics of running for president, and the source of Thompson's conservative views.

Condi eyes return, but in what role? May 25, 2007 By Andrea Fuller Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says it. Administrators expect it: The former provost will be back at Stanford in 2009.   The future plans of Rice — who is on-leave as a political science professor and Hoover Institution senior fellow while serving in Washington — have been the subject of intense speculation in the Stanford community. During her visit to the Hewlett Packard (HP) labs in Palo Alto yesterday, Rice said she expected to reenter academia when she completes her duties in Washington.“We talked a little...

Azia Kim was like any other Stanford freshman. She graduated from one of California’s most competitive high schools last June, moved into the dorms during New Student Orientation, talked about upcoming tests and spent her free time with friends. Azia Kim allegedly climbed through this first-floor window in Okada to sleep during spring quarter. The 18-year-old was evicted after her ruse was uncovered Monday night. Azia Kim allegedly climbed through this first-floor window in Okada to sleep during spring quarter. The 18-year-old was evicted after her ruse was uncovered Monday night. The only problem is that Azia Kim was never...

A young woman from Orange County posed as a Stanford University freshman for months, living in two different dormitories with unsuspecting roommates until staff members discovered her charade this week, campus officials said Thursday. The 18-year-old kept a low profile and was able to pull off the elaborate deception for almost an entire school year, slipping into her dorm room through an open window, relaxing in the dorm lounge and talking about tests she apparently never would take, students said. "I had no idea," said freshman Jessica Wacker, 18, who lived in the same dormitory. "Everybody was so surprised. It's...

America's military is leaner but more lethal than in any time in history—a paradox that historian David Kennedy says has unsettling implications for this nation. "History's most powerful military force can now be sent into battle in the name of a society that scarcely breaks a sweat when it does so," he said in an April 30 speech titled, "Does the United States Have a Mercenary Army? How Technology Has Made It Too Easy to Go to War." "The United States can wage war while putting at risk very few of its sons and daughters, and only those who go...

(05-22) 13:38 PDT STANFORD UNIVERSITY -- Eleven Stanford University students are staging a sit-in today at the university president's office in an attempt to convince officials that they should not use sweatshop labor to produce Stanford gear, protest organizers said. The students were joined by about 50 protesters -- a few of whom were naked -- who marched from White Plaza and rallied outside Hennessey's office for about an hour. The naked protesters were a bit shy, and several were covering their private parts. The students were cheering loudly, chanting ""What do we want to be? Sweat-free!" and carrying signs...

When a thief began stealing high-end science equipment from Stanford University labs this year, a group of graduate students struck back using tools of their own. About 5:30 a.m. Sunday, a camera rigged by the students caught a 20-seconds footage of a man breaking into a Stanford physics lab information that is now a part of the campus investigation, said Mike Killian, facilities manager of the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory. In at least eight break-ins at Stanford physics labs since September, a thief targeted specific scientific electronics equipment, often stealing oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers, Killian said. "Clearly he knows what...

Daniel Weissman doesn't feel the hunger pains anymore, and the reddish stubble on his cheeks has stopped growing. He gets confused more easily. But the main problem is the cold. Although the temperature was a moderate 53 degrees, the 22-year-old Stanford University physics graduate student was layered in two pairs of pants, a down vest, a hooded sweatshirt, a flannel shirt, a sweater, a knit cap and fingerless gloves to keep warm on his eighth day of a hunger strike demanding the university revise its living-wage policy for low-end workers such as janitors and groundskeepers. "We'll do this as long...

Walid Shoebat and "Three Ex-Terrorists" Deemed Too Controversial for Public Consumption at Stanford, No Such Problems With Finkelstein -- On Monday, April 16, Walid Shoebat and two other former terrorists-turned-anti-jihadists, Kamal Saleem and Zak Anani, are slated to speak at Stanford University. Sponsored by the ASSU Speakers Bureau, the Stanford College Republicans, and The Stanford Review, the "Three Ex-Terrorists," as they bill themselves, are likely, based on past talks, to offer forth a rare evening (on college campuses, anyway) of pro-Israel and pro-American perspectives on the battle against Radical Islam. The only problem is, the public isn't invited. It seems...

Psychology professor, lecturer and author, Philip Zimbardo, gave his final lecture at Stanford University today at Wednesday morning on the subject of Introductory Psychology. Zimbardo, known for his controversial 1974 Stanford Prison Experiment, spoke about the psychology of evil, the topic of his new book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. Zimbardo became the first psychology graduate student at Yale to be given his own introductory psychology course to teach. In 1968, he joined the faculty of Stanford University, where he developed the Stanford Prison Experiment, in which students played the roles of guards and prisoners in...

Alex Selig gives the one-minute warning to Jonathan Xu, right, as he pitches an idea to venture capitalist James Lu of SoftCapital on Friday. In an interesting sign of the times, venture capitalists in search of big returns are no longer waiting for revolutionary ideas to come to them. Instead, VCs from some of the valley's biggest firms came to Stanford on Friday night for a speed-investing event called VC3 to meet with budding, Stanford-affiliated entrepreneurs in an attempt to marry fresh ideas with financing. Company founders spent six minutes with each VC -- three to pitch them and three...

A woman pretending to be a guest of Stanford University walked out on a bill of more than $10,000 at a Palo Alto hotel late last week. On Friday, Dinah's Garden Court Hotel, located at 4261 El Camino Real, told Palo Alto police officers that a woman operating under an assumed name stayed at the hotel from Jan. 8 to Feb. 28, racking up a bill of $10,374. The hotel charges were roughly $185 per night of lodging. Agent Rich Bullerjahn of the Palo Alto Police Department said the woman fraudulently told hotel employees that she was a guest of...

TAMPA - Maybe it was his desire to stand and stretch in the airplane. Maybe it was the gruesome images of torture he watched on his laptop that caught attention. Something about Iyad Abuhajjaj's behavior on a Southwest Airlines flight from Phoenix to Tampa on Wednesday afternoon concerned airline officials enough to call police. Police have not accused Abuhajjaj, 36, of any wrongdoing on the plane, but a search of his name revealed an Okaloosa County warrant for his arrest. On Thursday, the Palestinian health care worker and actor who lives in California was held without bail in the Hillsborough...

YUGOSLAVIA: FASCIST PROPAGANDA IN AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES TODAY William Dorich I personally took great exception to this unbridled racism since I lost 17 of my relatives during the Holocaust who were burned to death in a Serbian Orthodox church in the village of Vojnic in 1942 by Croatians and their Nazi Catholic priests. I lost the last 5 relatives of my name during Operation Storm in August of 1995 when 200,000 Serbs were "ethnically cleansed" from Croatia. My relatives were too old and too sick to flee. They were found a month later with their throats slit. Dateline 23rd February 2007...

For Senior Jonathan Goldstein, Monday nights from 9-10 p.m. are off limits for everything except FOX’s hit drama, “24.” “My friends know not to call me during that hour,” he said. “It’s not that I’m anti-social about it, I’ll watch it with other people. I just want to be fully focused on what’s happening.” As most people familiar with the show already know, Goldstein is hardly alone. Since its debut in 2001, “24” has become one of the most popular and compelling shows on television. Its debut this season garnered 33 million viewers and the DVD sales of its past...