FEATURES/2 SPORTS/4 Today Tomorrow

MIND METAPHORS BUCKING BRONCOS

Computer scientists write a program Baseball unable to overcome early deficit in
to mine millions of mind metaphors Sunshine Sunny
13-9 loss to Santa Clara 70 46 71 44

THURSDAY
May 7, 2009
The Stanford Daily An Independent Publication
www.stanforddaily.com Volume 235
Issue 53
HOUSING

Sororities feel
Get the
left out of
housing talks Ballmer
Administration promises to work
with Greek system on new rules
By ERIC MESSINGER
DESK EDITOR

Last week, the University administration

announced that housed sororities at
Stanford must give in-house preference to
seniors and juniors, causing sorority leaders
to express concern over the effect that the
ROLLING
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer encourages
new housing rules will have on the Greek
experience.
students to pursue entrepreneurship
In a letter to all housed sorority members,
Office of Student Activities (OSA) Director
Nanci Howe and Residential Education
Director Deborah Golder said that the new
policy was the result of the dilemma posed
by bringing a larger-than-normal pledge
class into the sorority system, while still
catering to the wishes of seniors.
“Although we recognize the value of all
new members living together, we felt that
priority for senior honors recent sorority
housing practices and fulfills the tenets of
the University Housing Master Plan and the
Draw Task Force,” they wrote.
Howe told The Daily that one of the main
reasons for the new rules being implemented
was the unexpected surge in the size of
pledge classes, which was a result of an
increase of over 20 percent in the number of
women rushing. However, she promised to
work closely with the students in order to
resolve any issues that the new rules may
have caused. She commended the student
leaders in the Greek system for their cooper-
Please see SORORITIES, page 6
SCIENCE & TECH
ALEX YU/The Stanford Daily
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told
students in a packed Memorial
Auditorium that the current economic
environment has created great
opportunities for start-ups.
By KAMIL DADA not going to see strong ideas come available than there are good, innova- viduals do not immediately start bor-
DESK EDITOR through.” tive ideas. rowing again.
He argued that that the poor state “I don’t think the contraction will Ballmer, to the amusement of the
After laying off 3,000 employees on
of the economy forces entrepreneurs be strong enough that really big ideas audience, recounted his early days at
Tuesday, Microsoft CEO Steve to focus on innovation and the success aren’t going to get funding,” Ballmer Microsoft, including when he
Ballmer gave an upbeat speech at a of their products, services and compa- said. dropped out of Stanford’s business
packed Memorial Auditorium yester- nies. Indeed, he cited both Microsoft school to join Bill Gates at the then-
day afternoon, telling the audience “The fact that there is more of a and General Electric as evidence of fledging company. He pointed out
that his company is hiring and that ‘critical screen,’ the fact that cus- companies that were both started in that, though he knew how to read a
there is no better time to start a busi- tomers are pickier with their money recessionary periods. balance sheet, he did not have real
ness. — all of that is really a chance to The software executive called the business experience.
“These are tough make products better,” Ballmer economy “really bad,” and gave a sim- “All I’d ever done is interview for
economic times, but said. ple explanation for the worldwide jobs and market brownie bits,”
these are times that
While he accepted that the financial crisis. Ballmer said, referring to his two-year
are rich in opportuni- economic crunch meant “The world bor- stint at Proctor and Gamble as an
ty,” Ballmer said. “I that funding has been rowed too much assistant product manager.
don’t think the con- cut down, he argued money,” he said. “It But, Ballmer noted, it was not
traction is dramatic that there is still really is a tough, much of a risk to leave school, as he
enough that we’re more money tough, tough envi- could return to Stanford if the busi-
ronment.” ness failed.
The Microsoft “They still have a spot for me if I
chief then argued want to go back and finish my MBA,”
that the economy he joked.
is in a multiyear Yet his decision to drop out of busi-
phase of resetting at
a lower level than it
ness was not well-received at home.
“My parents thought I had lost my
was before this economic crisis. mind,” he said. “My dad said ‘What

Stanford He argued that all the consumer

and business debt was now being
flushed out of the financial system
the heck is software?’ and my mom
said ‘Why the heck would anyone
want a computer?’”
and that it won’t be replaced quickly,

researchers because after an economic crisis, indi- Please see BALLMER, page 6

tackle swine flu

Scientists say there are no easy
treatments for potential pandemic
“These are times that are rich in opportunity.”
By CASSANDRA FELICIANO
STAFF WRITER
— STEVE BALLMER, Microsoft CEO
Research teams at Stanford Medical
Center are hard at work conducting different
studies in an effort to find treatment for the
H1N1 influenza strain — more commonly
known as swine flu — that has sparked fears HOUSING 20 percent) in the traffic in our office and at the Housing
Front Desks this year,” said Sue Nunan, director of Housing
Housing Front Desk, stop by Housing Assignments or write
to us at housingassignments@lists.stanford.edu.”
of a global pandemic in recent weeks. Assignments. Whitney added that a special newsletter has been creat-
Dr. Nayer Khazeni, an instructor in pul-

monary and critical care medicine and an
associate at Stanford’s Center for Health
Policy, has led her team to adapt their past
research on influenza to the demands of the
current health climate. One study entails a
computer simulation of a pandemic influen-
za outbreak in areas such as New York City.
Designed over two years ago to cope with
the H5N1 strain, known as avian flu, this
research is geared toward developing strate-
gies in the event of a pandemic. The second
research area focuses on using treatment
drugs against influenza, such as Antiflu and
Relenza, in a preventative manner over long
periods of time.
“Pandemic ways can go on for very long
periods of time — usually at least six to eight
weeks,” Khazeni said. “So, we are doing a
special quantitative statistical analysis of all
the data on trials that have administered pre-
ventative antivirals for long durations to get
a sense of how safe and effective they would
be for prevention in a pandemic setting.”
While both of Khazeni’s teams are close
Please see FLU, page 6
Draw deadline
nears for students
Housing encourages students to apply
long before 6 p.m. Sunday deadline
By CHRISTINE MCFADDEN
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
With the May 10 deadline for housing applications
approaching quickly, Housing Front Desks across campus
are becoming more and more popular, as a swell of students
with last-minute questions concerning their living situations
next year seek advice and information, especially with this
year’s changes to the Draw.
“There are always many questions from students around
the Draw, but we have seen a slight increase (probably about
With several changes to the Draw this year, including a
three-tiered preference system put in place, Student
Housing is doing its best to answer any questions students
may have by providing several information sessions in din-
ing halls and elsewhere around campus.
“Student Housing is committed to informing students
about the changes to the 2009 Draw,” said Executive
Director of Student Housing Rodger Whitney.
Whitney went on to list the three Draw forums conduct-
ed by Housing, in addition to numerous information tables
put out in dining rooms and in White Plaza.
“Students are turning out for the forums and visiting the
information tables with their questions, so we feel these
efforts are very effective,” he added.
Information tables have been held daily from 11:30 a.m.
to 1:15 p.m. during the past week. Remaining tables are
scheduled for Florence Moore on Thursday and Branner on
Friday.
Housing Assignment staff members have also been
attending house meetings when invited, and according to
Whitney, they will be available from 1-5 p.m. this Sunday to
answer last-minute questions. Applications are due at 6 p.m.
that day.
“We encourage students not to wait until the last minute
to apply for housing as Axess only allows a certain number
of students in the system at one time,” Nunan said. “If you
still have questions, visit an information table, stop by your
ed this year detailing changes made to the Draw. Emailed to
all students twice, it contains a worksheet students can use in
preparation for entering their application.
According to Whitney, paper copies of the newsletter, as
well as the worksheet, are available at Housing Front Desks,
the Housing Assignments Office, and at the information
tables. The Housing Web site has also been revised, with
information available at http://Draw2009.stanford.edu.
Number of pre-assignments
increases from last year
Pre-assignment results for select housing options came
out on April 27, which include houses that are ethnic-, aca-
demic- or focus-themed, as well as co-ops.
Associate Director of Residential Education Nathaniel
Boswell noted that Branner, which will become a public
service focus dorm for upperclassmen next year, had the
highest number of applicants based on approximate num-
bers of total applications. Casa Italiana and Freshman
Sophomore College followed with similar popularity.
When asked if more pre-assignment applications were
Please see HOUSING, page 6

Index Features/2 • Opinions/3 • Sports/4 • Classifieds/5 Recycle Me

2 N Thursday, May 7, 2009
FEATURES
GOLD MINE
OF METAPHORS
Stanford grad Brad Pasanek ‘06 creates a
searchable data mine of mind metaphors
By AMY JULIA HARRIS
DESK EDITOR
A
ccording to Aristotle, metaphors
cannot be taught. But metaphors
of the mind can be, proved Brad
Pasanek Ph.D ‘06, an 18th-century
literary historian and assistant
professor of English at the University of
Virginia, and D. Sculley, a Pittsburg computer
scientist.
Pasanek provided the literary expertise
and Sculley the technical background to cre-
ate the now immense online dictionary of
searchable metaphors of the mind called The
Mind is a Metaphor. The metaphor database
holds more than 8,700 entries and can be
searched by author, genre or subject.
Mind metaphors run the gamut from the
conventional — the mind is a blank slate —
to the bizarre — the mind is meat smoking
on a smoke-jack. This vast ocean of mind
metaphors, boasts the Web site, gives histori-
ans and users the ability to track the evolu-
tion of thought from Plato to Pynchon.
The Metaphor Packrat
Pasanek piloted The Mind is a Metaphor
project as an English graduate student at
Stanford in 2005 while working on his disser-
tation.
He was interested in tracking the evolu-
tion of metaphors of the mind through the
18th century, and had been obsessively index-
ing his findings in the backs of books and on
notecards.
Matt Jockers, an academic technology spe-
cialist in Stanford’s English department, was
aghast at the thought of compiling all this
information by hand, and built Pasanek a
Filemaker program to house his metaphor
collection.
To compile the now almost 9,000 entries
on the site, Pasanek took what he calls a
“hunt-and-peck” approach. He browsed
online collections of digital archives by hand,
searching key words like ‘mind’ and then fil-
tering through the thousands of hits, deter-
mining which qualified as metaphors.
“This was a draining exercise,” Pasanek
confessed, so he jumped on the opportunity
to automate the collection process.
From Spam to Shakespeare
“Metaphors are a very human-understood
sort of thing,” Jockers said. “If I say that my
love is a rose, how are we going to write a
program that understands that that’s not to
be taken literally?”
That was the challenge for D. Sculley, a
machine-learning specialist and childhood
friend of Pasanek’s who keeps his first name
secret. Sculley was working for Google at a
Pittsburg office on email spam classification,
but after reuniting with Pasanek at a wed-
ding, decided to collaborate on The Mind is a
Metaphor project.
Sculley trained his email spam classifier,
an application in the field of “machine learn-
ing” that discriminates spam-filled emails
from normal messages, to hunt for metaphors
of the mind instead of spam.
“If you could give a computer program a
whole bunch of examples of the thing that
you’re looking for, it could potentially learn
to identify those things in the wild,” Jockers
said, explaining the benefits of a machine-
learning approach.
Sculley’s classifier program breaks a piece
of text down into many different features or
variables, i.e. the presence or absence of a
word. The program then processes all these
variables and predicts whether or not a body
of work contains a metaphor of the mind.
“We were really surprised by how well the
program was able to identify the metaphors,”
Pasanek said, citing the software’s overall
accuracy of 87 percent.
Pasanek is actively working to expand the
training set by uploading more metaphors,
which improves accuracy, and Sculley is pur-
suing improvements on the machine-learning
end.
“I’m trying to find phonetic relationships
around words automatically,” Sculley
explained. “For instance, if we could find the
phonetic relationship between ‘mirror’ and
‘looking glass,’ you may be able to get more
bang for your buck out of your training data.”
Great Text-pectations
So what does one do with a vast database
of 18th century metaphors?
Pasanek says it provides a window into the
evolution of how man has thought about the
mind. He said his research has shown that
metaphors of the mind display an astonishing
persistence despite the Enlightenment fer-
ment and revolutionary change that racked
the 18th century.
“This is where the new knowledge is,”
Jockers said. “How has fire been used in
metaphors of the mind throughout this 100-
year period? Is it like a stone that gets thrown
into a pond and ripples outward? Are there
repercussions?”
Pasanek says it is the ability to track the
careers of various mind metaphors that
makes his database rich.
“The classifier is particular
good for clustering,” he said. “For
instance, when I clustered ‘court
metaphors’ during the 18th century, I
found that the Whigs and Tories, despite
holding opposed philosophies, shared many
of the same rhetorical usages. I wouldn’t have
realized this without the program.”
The program also offers a map to explore
previously unchartered literary waters.
“If, like me, you want to explore more of
the archives than have been read, there are
all of these books that people just haven’t
opened in hundreds of years. In some ways,
this is a call to arms for literary history to nav-
igate the ‘great unread,’” Pasanek said.
“These are tools for exploring the great
unread.”
A New Frontier
“We are at one of those watershed
moments in time where in the last 10 years,
something revolutionary has happened and
that something is the digitization of all
books,” Jockers said. “It’s even bigger than
the library of Alexandria, which you couldn’t
process or mine. We now have the opportuni-
ty to step back from the individual texts and
look at something else, which is not antitheti-
cal to the close reading of the text. I call it
The Stanford Daily
CRIS BAUTISTA
/The Stanford Daily
‘macroanalysis.’”
Jockers says we may have reached a new
frontier of humanities where future study will
be computer-based. The Mind is a Metaphor
is a step in that direction.
“I have a pseudo-imperial fantasy in
which the database would expand in either
direction,” Pasanek laughed. “There’s this
idea that we could expand the metaphoric
field backward and forward in time. While
the site does boast that it houses metaphors
from Plato to Pynchon, the density is really in
the 18th century because those are the
metaphors I’ve collected.”
But will it be possible to use a metaphor of
the mind detector to create a straight
metaphor detector to mine through the great
unread? Jockers doubts its possibility, but
admits Pasanek and Sculley have the best
shot of anyone. If they succeed, Jockers said,
digital humanities will have reached the Holy
Grail — metaphorically speaking.
Check out The Mind is a Metaphor at
http://mind.textdriven.com.
Contact Amy Harris at harrisaj@stanford.edu.
The Stanford Daily
OPINIONS
EDITORIAL
Rice debate struggles to
find right tone
or much of last week, the national
F
media was abuzz with commentary
about a conversation between Con-
doleezza Rice and a Stanford undergraduate
that was caught on video and uploaded to
YouTube. ABC’s political guru George
Stephanopoulos noted on his blog that it was
the “first time anyone has gotten Rice on the
record” about the Bush administration’s
controversial interrogation tactics since the
recent release of Justice Department
memos. Keith Olbermann, host of MSNBC’s
“Countdown,” featured portions of the
YouTube clip on his show, as did Comedy
Central master of satire Stephen Colbert.
While Rice’s revealing comments on her
perceptions of the boundaries of Executive
power have been picked apart by the pun-
dits, the editorial board feels it is also impor-
tant to draw attention to the way this conver-
sation came about and how we would like to
see a respectful, serious and ongoing dia-
logue develop on campus between Rice and
her detractors. But some of Rice’s actions in
the video — as well as the behavior of stu-
dent groups behind the recent “Condival”
— leave the editorial board pessimistic
about the prospect that any actual construc-
tive conversation will develop from this.
First, congratulation is in order for the stu-
dents of Roble for posing tough questions —
and in some cases rebuttals — to Rice, in-
stead of allowing the pressure of the spotlight
and her level of authority coax them into self-
censorship. Particular kudos must be given to
the student whose exchange with Rice was
featured in the YouTube video,and,of course,
to the student who was able to capture the ex-
change on video. Here we find examples of
how two students can be politically involved
in two very different ways — one through dis-
course, the other through documentation. In
the end, both students helped bring the Stan-
ford community into the larger discussion
currently affecting our national culture.
While the students involved with the dis-
cussion should be commended for their in-
volvement, the Q&A with Rice did not go
nearly far enough in terms of fostering real
engagement between the former Secretary
of State and the students. For all the serious
policy debate that the talk did create, it still
fell short of reaching a real academic level of
discourse. Much of the fault for this must be
Unsigned editorials in the space above represent the views of The Stanford Daily's editorial board and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of the Daily staff. The editorial board is comprised of two former Daily staffers,
three at-large student members and the two editorial board co-chairs. Any signed columns and contributions
are the views of their respective writers and do not necessarily represent the views of the entire editorial board.
To contact the editorial board for an issue to be considered, or to submit an op-ed, please email
editorial@daily.stanford.edu.
L ETTER TO THE
Eyes to see and ears to hear
In the midst of swine flu, a global reces-
sion and the most eventful first 100 days of a
new American administration, one ques-
tions the need to cast into months past for
news to rant about. However, some might
condemn a rant on swine flu as inappropri-
ate, a rant on the economic crisis as tiresome
or a rant on Obama as unacceptable preju-
dice. Instead, Matt Gillespie offered in his
Monday column something that is appropri-
ate, fresh and acceptable prejudice: a rant on
Catholicism.
The controversy surrounds remarks Pope
Benedict made concerning AIDS in Africa.
Curiously, Gillespie omitted Benedict’s ac-
tual statement. Perhaps he was shielding us
from the “very creepy old German,” or per-
haps he needed the space for his ad
hominem rambles. Anyway, here are the
Pope’s words: “I would say that one cannot
overcome this problem of AIDS only with
money — which is important, but if there is
no soul, no people who know how to use it
(money), doesn’t help . . . One cannot over-
come the problem with the distribution of
condoms. On the contrary, they increase the
problem.” Despite Mr. Gillespie’s pontificat-
ing that this “[has] nothing to do with science
and everything to do with archaic, centuries-
old beliefs,” our dilettante columnist re-
mains factually challenged.
Dr. Edward Green of the Harvard School
of Public Health said, “There is a consistent
association shown by our best studies, in-
cluding the U.S.-funded ‘Demographic
Health Surveys,’ between greater availabili-
ty and use of condoms and higher (not
lower) HIV-infection rates.” In the journal
Science, Rand Stoneburner reported “Ugan-
da has shown a 70 percent decline in HIV
prevalence since the early 1990s, linked to a
60 percent reduction in casual sex . . . equiv-
alent to a vaccine of 80 percent effective-
ness.” And he noted, “Despite substantial
condom use and promotion of biomedical
approaches, other African countries have
shown neither similar behavioral responses
nor HIV prevalence declines of the same
scale.” Similar findings are available in other
journals such as The Lancet and BMJ. Em-
pirical science supports Benedict.
Not just the science, but also the Africans.
Martin Ssempa, a Ugandan AIDS activist,
laid on Rice, who at times appeared conde-
scending and dismissive toward the students.
Some of her advice to the student daring to
call her out on her claims — “No, dear,
you’re wrong” and “do your homework” —
bordered on hostile.
At the same time, it is important to con-
sider the charged atmosphere that greeted
Rice at Roble. Unlike her dinner with stu-
dents at FroSoCo last quarter — where
there were no protestors, and students ap-
plauded as she entered — the event at
Roble was replete with students dressed up
as mock torture subjects, and featured, of
course, the conversation now on YouTube.
While we remain skeptical that Rice’s din-
ing-hall tour is as much about academic dis-
course as it is about stabilizing her public
image, we give her credit for taking the
tough questions from students.At least once
in the YouTube conversation, Rice waves off
handlers as they urge her to end the ex-
change. We have to give her credit for not
blowing off the student as soon as the line of
questioning become uncomfortable.
While Rice’s statements have not always
contributed to constructive discussion, it
would be remiss not to address those on the
other side of the issue who have contributed
to the poisoned public atmosphere. Last
week’s “Condival” made light of water-
boarding and other serious issues, which
brings down the level of public discourse.
The festival’s repulsive tagline — so much
fun, it’s a war crime! — and its spoofed sup-
port from fake conservative organizations
only serve to widen the gulf between liberal
and conservative groups on campus.
The editorial board thinks the communi-
ty — and the country — would benefit from
a frank, academic and public exchange of
ideas with Rice and other experts in her
field. Envision a highly anticipated forum at
Kresge or Memorial Auditorium where Rice
publicly debated the merits of the Bush ad-
ministration’s detainee policies with Stan-
ford faculty members such as Philip Zimbar-
do or Lawrence Lessig.Whether Rice would
ever agree to such a forum is doubtful, but it
may just be what is needed to bring forth a
real level of discussion about this issue. Until
both sides of the issue are willing to address
it like responsible adults, passions and con-
troversies will continue to rise in unison.
E DITOR
said,“Our successful policy always put absti-
nence and being faithful ahead of any med-
ical products such as condoms and testing.”
Like the Church, Africans see AIDS also as
a social ill, to be addressed at a deeper level
than technology affords. Biologist Helen Ep-
stein wisely explained, “When it comes to
fighting AIDS, our greatest mistake may
have been to overlook the fact that, in spite
of everything, African people often know
best how to solve their own problems.”
Thus I find it amusing, being African,
when undergrads in California or politicians
in Belgium dramatically play the victim on
our behalf, certainly not at our behest. They
would do well to heed their own advice and
remain quiet about that which they little
comprehend. For our self-admittedly “very
amateurish” columnist, that would include
science, history, Africa, AIDS and Catholi-
cism. By my tally, that still leaves Gillespie to
comment on USC and creative fiction.
KEVIN KAMBO ‘08
Editor Emeritus,Vox Clara
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Down the stretch we come
“Life is what happens to you while you’re
busy making other plans.”
— me, trying to think of the most appropri-
ate John Lennon quote for this column
t was on the 280 freeway, on the way back
I to campus after having taken in a minor-
league San Jose Giants game against the
Modesto Nuts (yes, that’s their real name),
when I got to thinking. It happened in a flash,
while I was talking with my buddies Cam,
Peter, Diaz and Spencer in the car about
graduation weekend plans. Suddenly, as the
conversation ended and I watched the cars
on the freeway make their way past ours, I re-
alized: it’s for real. Graduation — my gradu-
ation from college — is coming. These mo-
ments, with these friends, will soon be noth-
ing more than a memory. It hasn’t happened
yet, but, as Sally once wept to Harry, it’s
there. Graduation, the end of an era, is just
sitting there, waiting.
(I must include one anecdote from the
game before continuing, even though it isn’t
related: at around the third inning, I got the
shock of my life when a man three rows in
front of me got up, asked if I was Mark
Donig and handed me a folder with my
name on it. He told me his client was filing a
defamation lawsuit for a recent Stanford
Daily column I had written. “You’ve been
served,” he announced before re-taking his
seat. My friends laughed uproariously. It
was only after I opened up the folder that I
joined in the laughter.The law firm? Dewey,
Cheathem, & Howe. The client? Al (See
“My Pal Al,” April 22). The lengths my dad
will go to in order to continue his war on
conventional parenthood? Beyond belief.
Back to the article.)
D EMBY D OWNER
Facebook thinks I’m a pretentious ass
pparently, I am a “post-modernist,” a
A typical representative of the bourgeois
intelligentsia. Well-read and witty, but
lacking both true understanding of the materi-
al conditions of society (which I disdainfully
dismiss as a mere side product of speech acts)
and the courage necessary for revolutionary
action (which I, again, disdainfully wave off as
a manifestation of masculine domination).
Or so was the verdict of the Facebook quiz
“Which Deviation are You?”, recommended
to me by my political theory-majoring sister.
Though these were rough words to hear, they
presented a not-uncommon caricature of peo-
ple who like to read Derrida and talk about
things like “the structure of reality.”I’d be lying
if I said I didn’t fall into this category.
I’ve never been much of a doer. With few
hobbies and no sharply honed talents to speak
of, I generally just sit around and think a lot.A
large part of me feels that it’s OK to succumb
The Stanford Daily
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Joanna Xu
Managing Editor of Intermission
Stuart Baimel
Columns Editor
Tim Hyde,Andrew Valencia
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Cris Bautista
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Samantha Lasarow
Head Copy Editor
S TEAL THIS C OLUMN
The feeling that swept over me as we went
up 280 that evening was startlingly new to me
here. I’ve felt it — that in-moment nostalgia
— in other places, but I grew up right nearby
Stanford. This area is my home. This was the
first time I ever felt that while in the Bay
Area.
The feeling is frustrating, though, and we
all know why. As soon as we get that wave of
nostalgia, we vow to ourselves that we will
enjoy the moment for all that it is, because it
will soon be gone. We envision ourselves
years from now, reminiscing about exactly
moments such as these, when we had not a
care in the world. We imagine ourselves as
fifty-year-olds, waxing nostalgic about those
moments when we thought to ourselves as
young little kiddos, “I am gonna be pretty
nostalgic about this some day.”
The only problem with this particular nos-
talgia is that, well, it’s a lie. How many of us
really have moments when we don’t have a
care in the world? How many of us ever have
a single moment in our purportedly care-free
youth without thinking something like,
“Damn it, this midterm is gonna kick my ass,”
or “Crap, I hope my girlfriend isn’t pissed at
me for what I did at pub night,” or “I am way
past deadline for a column.My editor is going
to assassinate me in the heart”?
The fact is, when we reminisce, we ro-
manticize. We forget that those times in our
lives when we were supposedly absolutely
and completely fulfilled and content were in
fact filled with incessant worrying and, in
some cases, legitimate hardship. As a
species, staying in the present is not exactly
our strongest suit. When we are in the race,
we are worried about preparing for the next
turn — and the finish line — rather than
to this tendency because it’s simply reflective
of who I am. If I was disposed to be a star ath-
lete, or the President of the United States, then
I would undoubtedly do the things an athlete
or a future politician do.Yet sometimes I won-
der if there isn’t some categorical imperative
that says that being “a doer” is ideal. People at
Stanford generally seem to feel this way, their
ambition leading them to compulsively apply
for things,organize meetings and plan projects.
No doubt there’s some virtue to being able to
analyze and write about the world in the way
that I do, yet sometimes I glance longingly at
product designers and pre-meds and envy how
immediately what they do affects the real
world.
In his essay, “The New Cultural Politics of
Difference,” Cornel West elegantly articulates
a problem that faces anyone who tries to un-
derstand the world with the aim of changing it:
“few cultural workers of whatever stripe can
walk the tightrope between the Scylla of re-
ductionism and the Charybdis of aestheti-
cism,” he says. For him, reductionists take too
simple a view of the world, thinking, for exam-
ple, that everything can be explained using the
correct single-factor theory, such as “crude”
Marxism, feminism, etc. The aestheticians, by
contrast, hold a “hyper-subtle analytical per-
spective that loses touch with the specificity of
an art work’s form and the context of its recep-
tion.”
Perhaps, as Facebook suggests, I fall into
this latter category. Maybe I attribute so much
significance to things like “signs and signifiers”
to the point where I am totally out of touch
with material reality. I write about political
change, I take a stance on what I think is right
and wrong in society, yet how often do I de-
scend from my ivory tower to be politically ac-
tive or to try to correct what I perceive to be
the ills of society? Moreover, the views I ex-
press about politics are often not ones that sug-
gest any simple and corrective course of ac-
tion.
There’s some way in which it’s more con-
venient to explain everything away in words.
Theorists often get themselves into masturba-
tory traps like, if every thing, especially lan-
guage, is deconstructable, how is it possible to
say anything true? Or, if politics in postmod-
Thursday, May 7, 2009 N 3
Incorporated 1973
Tonight’s Desk Editors
Mike Ding
News Editor
Zach Zimmerman
Sports Editor
Amy Harris
Features Editor
Alex Yu
Photo Editor
Charlie Olson
Copy Editor
Cris Bautista
Graphics Editor
Mark
Donig
how we feel in the moment.
To which I say, I guess human nature has a
point, but on the whole, evolution got this
one wrong. I genuinely wish I could enjoy the
present more, but I really don’t know how; I
am not wired for it. This is such a happy time
for me — Spring Quarter senior year, for the
sake of goodness! And yet, how have I truly
appreciated this for what it is? Sure, I’ve been
having a good time, but I’m also spending a
lot of my time worrying about what the fu-
ture holds.
In fact, I can’t think of a single time I’ve
stopped to smell the roses this spring. And
even if I had, I wonder, would I be able to ap-
preciate the smell without worrying that I
was wasting my precious time? Even as im-
ages from that Monday night freeway ride
are etched in my head, if I am honest with
myself, I was not concentrating then on being
happy; frankly, just the opposite. I was deeply
saddened that moments such as these are
fleeting and soon to be gone. Ah, to be con-
tent in the middle of the moment — what a
seemingly unreachable goal. What a noble
one, nonetheless.
And so, Class of 2009, down the stretch we
come. Years from now, we’ll look back at
these last few months of college, and we may
well say, “Those were the most exciting two
minutes of our lives.” But for now, I just want
to make sure that when I say that, it will have
been true. I hope that in these last few pre-
cious moments, I can learn how to make it so.
Mark is learning to meditate. Contact him at
mrdonig@stanford.edu.
Nicole Demby
With few hobbies and no
sharply honed talents to
speak of,I generally just sit
around and think a lot.
ern society is just pure aesthetic spectacle,then
how can I escape this and actually enact politi-
cal change? These traps are frustrating for
both the theorist and the reader, but also con-
venient in a funny way.To those who subscribe
to them, they render any action problematic at
best, futile at worst. In this capacity, they can
easily be used as excuses to justify laziness.
If this all sounds awfully highfalutin’, let me
say that I think the tension between thinking
and doing is one that plays itself out in all our
lives.We like to think of the decisions we make
as being the product of rational choices. Be-
cause of this, we justify doing what we do, but
also not doing what we don’t do. Yet often,
under the guise of intellectual justification, we
try to rationalize decisions that may not be so
justifiable. For example, do I write about poli-
tics more that I engage in them because I think
there’s only so much political activity can
achieve? Or do I only convince myself that
most politics are futile in order to excuse my
own complacency? In other words, do I sit on
my ass reading and writing instead of volun-
teering or protesting because I honestly be-
lieve that the former has equal, if not more,
merit?
Of course, when it comes down to it, I feel
that both theorizing and acting are important.
We have to conceive of a working notion of the
way the world is before we can decide what ac-
tions are worth devoting our time to.
Nicole is sorry for the Cornel West reference.
Email her at demb33@stanford.edu.
4 N Thursday, May 7, 2009
SPORTS
CARD FALTERS ON ROAD
Stanford comeback attempt not enough to overcome early deficit against Santa Clara
BASEBALL
5/6 vs. Santa Clara L 13-9
UP NEXT
NEW MEXICO
(32-16)
5/8 Sunken Diamond
5:30 P.M.
COVERAGE:
RADIO KZSU 90.1 FM
(kzsu.stanford.edu)
GAME NOTES: Stanford first baseman Brent Milleville has
eight home runs and 14 RBI in the team’s last 20 games.
The meeting vs. Santa Clara marked the 350th game
between the two teams. Stanford second baseman Colin
Walsh has reached base in 28 straight games
By JACK SALISBURY
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
On Tuesday, Stanford came back from a
steep deficit — six runs — to win against San
Jose State.On Wednesday,though,the eight-run
hole the team found itself in at Santa Clara was
just too much to overcome, as the Broncos
walked away with a 13-9 victory.
The Cardinal (23-20, 10-11 Pacific-10 Con-
ference) dropped its first non-conference game
in 11 outings,falling behind 11-3 after the fourth
inning. Stanford quickly worked to reduce the
deficit, scoring five runs in the top of the fifth,
powered by first baseman Brent Milleville’s
grand slam; it was his team-leading 11th home
run of the year. Milleville’s bat has helped carry
the Cardinal afloat down the stretch, as the sen-
ior has eight home runs and 14 RBI in the team’s
last 20 games.
Stanford got within two runs at 11-9 in the
eighth inning, with the go-ahead runners on
Tough road ahead
Softball closes Pac-10 season with difficult three-game trip
By CHRIS FITZGERALD
DAILY SPORTS INTERN
Stanford softball, dominant for most of the
season, finishes Pacific-10 Conference play with
arguably the toughest three-game stretch of any
team in the country. The No. 2 Card (44-6, 13-5
Pac-10) travels to No. 4 Washington to play on
Thursday, before flying south where a three-day,
three-game stretch culminates with No. 3
UCLA (38-9, 13-5).
Washington (39-9, 12-6) boasts a flawless 13-
0 record on its own turf and is the only Pac-10
team unbeaten at home.
“I don’t think Washington’s home field ad-
vantage is any different than it is for other
teams,” said Stanford head coach John Rittman.
“It starts with their pitching.”
But Washington’s pristine slate at home will
be challenged in the early weekend, as Stanford
has already bettered the Huskies twice this sea-
son. The Cardinal has shutout the Huskies over
18 innings thus far.
Rittman looks to build on what his team
learned about Washington in Palo Alto.
“The game plan will be the same,” he said.
“We need to work the count and be aggressive;
taking advantage of all opportunities is key.”
Junior Danielle Lawrie allowed only a half-
dozen hits between two games at Stanford, but
earned a loss in both games. Her effort included
a complete game two-hitter, and a four-hit, 11-
inning effort at Smith Family Stadium in late
March. Stanford picked up wins by scores of 1-0
and 2-0.
Lawrie is coming off Pac-10 Pitcher of the
Week honors for a record-breaking sixth time
this year.The Canadian National Team member,
who represented her home country in Beijing
over the summer, helped the Huskies top Ore-
gon in consecutive games last weekend. Lawrie
WOMEN’S ROWING
Stanford steals show at The Big Row
Women’s rowing sweeps
Cal, wins Lambert Cup
By ZACH ZIMMERMAN
DESK EDITOR
With the title of best in the Bay on the
line, Stanford women’s rowing refused to
disappoint its fans that made the journey to
Redwood Shores, despite the less-than-fa-
vorable conditions.The No. 4 Cardinal swept
Cal in The Big Row, capturing the Lambert
Cup for the first time since 2002 last Satur-
Despite scoring nine runs on 15 hits from the offensive side of the plate, the Cardinal was unable to beat the Broncos on Wednesday night.
Stanford allowed 13 runs in a game that turned into a slugfest. The Cardinal is desparately seeking wins to keep its postseason hopes alive.
base and only one man out. Broncos reliever
J.R. Graham came in and shut things down,
however, earning his first save of the year.
“We got down big early, which makes it
tough to come back,” sophomore second base-
man Colin Walsh said.“We battled well,though,
and made it a close game.”
Freshman right-hander Brian Busick was
credited with the loss, moving his record to 1-1
on the season, while the Broncos’ Cory Hall
SOFTBALL
5/3 vs. Arizona W 2-1
UP NEXT
WASHINGTON
(39-9, 12-6 Pac-10)
5/7 Seattle
1 P.M.
GAME NOTES: Washington has a perfect 13-0 record at
home. Stanford has shut out the Huskies in two previous
meetings this season. Cardinal junior Danielle Lawrie is
coming off Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week honors for a
record sixth time this year.
blanked the Ducks with 18 strikeouts on Sunday.
When Stanford flies to Los Angeles for a pair
of games on Friday and Saturday, it will un-
doubtedly be jousting for the Pac-10 title, with
current conference co-leaders UCLA.
The travel, as much as the competition, cre-
ates a problem for schools that face Washington,
then UCLA, in three days.
But Rittman downplayed the effects of trav-
el fatigue.
“Every team makes this trip,” he said.“It’s dif-
ferent because we need to get on a plane, but the
team is young and our players can handle it.”
The Bruins escaped an uncharacteristical-
ly close game against Oregon State on Satur-
day. UCLA managed a 4-3 win, then proceed-
ed to wallop the Beavers 9-1 on Sunday. De-
spite the slip-up, the Bruins have dropped
only one of their last 13 conference games.
Please see SOFTBALL, page 5
day.
One of collegiate rowing’s greatest rival-
ries, The Big Row was filled with drama,
peaking in the first varsity eight race. Cal was
victorious over Stanford’s top eight just two
weeks before at the Lake Natoma Chal-
lenge, beating the Cardinal by nine seconds
and making Stanford the underdog heading
into the race.
The Cardinal knew it had to jump on Cal
early, and did just that, notching a slim lead
after battling for the initial 1,000 meters. Fu-
eled by the cheers of its fans, Stanford held
on, crossing the finish line in 6:25.6, nearly
four seconds ahead of the Bears’ 6:29.5.
The tense atmosphere did not let up, how-
pitched four and two thirds innings on the way
to earning his first win of the year. Hall notched
the win, despite allowing six earned runs, a tes-
tament to the nature of a game that saw 22 runs
scored in all.
The loss was a disappointing one for the Car-
dinal,which was coming into Wednesday night’s
game on a three-game winning streak. The
Broncos are certainly on the lower end of the
spectrum of teams Stanford will face the rest of
Stanford will look to continue its Pac-10 dominance as it travels to Seattle to face Washington
today. The Huskies are a perfect 13-0 at home, but have twice lost to the Cardinal this year.
ever, as the varsity four race proved to be the
tightest of the regatta. At the start, Stanford
appeared to be dominant, coasting to an
open water lead shortly after the gun.
Stanford’s second varsity, although expe-
riencing some difficulty in the third 500 me-
ters, easily defeated Cal’s second eight with a
time of 6:42.5. Cal fought back, closing the
gap to just a second at the 1,500-meter mark.
Unfortunately for Bears fans, this move only
catalyzed a final attack by the Cardinal. The
two boats clashed, but Stanford managed to
prevail, besting Cal’s time of 7:39.25 with a
mark of 7:37.66.
Please see WROWING, page 5
TAYLOR CONE/The Stanford Daily
this season as it tries to qualify for the postsea-
son — despite last night’s victory, Santa Clara is
17-28 overall and only 4-11 in the West Coast
Conference.
Though the loss may have been a tough one
to swallow, Stanford saw strong performances
on the offensive side of things. Walsh, the lead-
Please see BASEBALL, page 5
AGUSTIN RAMIREZ/The Stanford Daily
SPORTS BRIEFS
USA Basketball invites three Stanford
players to trials
Junior Jayne Appel and sophomores
Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen will be
three of the 29 players competing for roster
spots on the United States’ World Universi-
ty Games team.
The three Cardinal will head to the U.S.
Olympic Training Center in Colorado
Springs next weekend to try and secure one
of the 12 places on the national team, which
will compete in Belgrade, Serbia this sum-
mer.All team members must have collegiate
eligibility to play in the biannual contest,
which is organized by the International Uni-
versity Sports Federation.
Appel and Pedersen, the Cardinal’s start-
ing post players, are USA Basketball veter-
ans, having both won a gold medal with the
The Stanford Daily
Erik
Adams
The Inside Pitch
Omaha still
in sight for
baseball
L
ast week, this column focused
on the remaining hope for the
Stanford baseball team’s re-
turn to Omaha, and since that
column was written,the Card is 3-2 and
is picking up clutch hits seemingly at
will.Going back even further,Stanford
is 9-3 in 11 games played since being
swept at Arizona State,and had won 11
straight midweek before falling to
Santa Clara 13-9.
Suddenly, it seems like the Card
might be able to make the postseason
simply by playing well the rest of the
way and won’t need a lot of outside
help if it takes care of things on its end.
Currently,Stanford sits six games out in
the Pacific-10 Conference, but just
three games out of second place, with
six conference games remaining. If
Stanford continues the midweek dom-
inance and keeps finding ways to win
on the weekend, a postseason berth
seems very likely.
Of course it is a lot to ask for a series
sweep no matter who the opponent is,
and with a non-conference series
against a very tough New Mexico team
this weekend before the final two series
of the season against USC and Oregon
State,winning all nine remaining week-
end games is almost close to impossi-
ble. But this team has the hitting, the
starting pitching and the bullpen to win
every single game it plays. Only 12
games remain,and going 9-3 or better is
something this team is more than capa-
ble of.
Brent Milleville has completely
shrugged off his cold start and is rein-
venting himself as “Mr. Clutch,” and
Colin Walsh is getting on base seeming-
ly with ease and is now driving in big
runs as well. Kellen Kiilsgaard and
Toby Gerhart are becoming tougher
outs each game, and both are always
threats to drive the ball to — or over —
the wall. Zach Jones is making his hits
count, and gobbling up base runners at
an amazing pace from behind the plate.
Jake Schlander and Adam Gaylord
have been putting together at least one
huge at-bat a game from the bottom
two spots of the order for weeks, and
Ben Clowe’s bat is as hot as they come.
Jeffrey Inman and Jordan Pries
were phenomenal last weekend, and
Brett Mooneyham looked great until
the wind turned easy fly-balls into
nightmares. Max Fearnow is coming
out of the bullpen and shutting teams
down for three or more innings at a
time, and Michael Marshall is quietly
putting together excellent statistics.
And then there is Drew Storen, who
has picked up a win or a save in four
straight outings and is getting it done
even when teams are capitalizing on his
rare mistakes.
This team looks the best it has all
year right now, and just in time for a
late-season run. It would be a shame to
not see this squad play beyond the end
of May just because of a slow start.The
Cardinal can hit, pitch and is playing
some of the best defense in the entire
country, and it finally has that magic
aura back that the 2008 club carried all
the way to Rosenblatt.
The team is easily within the top 64
in the country talent-wise, and with a
strong finish, Stanford certainly de-
serves a chance to prove it. And if it
does make it, whoever faces Stanford
better be ready, because this team has
shown it takes a heck of a lot to knock
it down.
This is Erik Adams’ last column of the
year.Bid him farewell at ekadams@stan-
ford.edu.
2006 U18 squad.Appel and Pedersen added
their second golds with wins at the Pan-
American Games and FIBA U-19 Champi-
onships, respectively. Pohlen, Stanford’s
starting point guard this past season, has yet
to play with USA Basketball.
If the three Cardinal makes it past the tri-
als, they will head back to Colorado Springs
after the end of the quarter for further train-
ing, and then travel to Europe, where the
Games will begin in early July.
Stanford teams post impressive
NCAA Academic Progress Rate scores
Six Cardinal teams earned perfect 1000
scores in the fourth annual set of APR num-
Please see BRIEFS, page 5
The Stanford Daily Thursday, May 7, 2009 N 5

CLASSIFIEDS BASEBALL SOFTBALL

coming weekend is really important.” No. 2 national ranking. Winner of
seven straight, Stanford swept the
Dan Bohm contributed to this report. Arizona schools last weekend, and
Continued from page 4 Continued from page 4 senior Stanford ace Missy Penna was
Contact Jack Salisbury at jack24@stan- almost perfect. Now 35-4 on the sea-
ford.edu. son, Penna fanned 24 hitters and al-
off hitter, reached base for his 28th This is quite a turnaround for a lowed just three hits in two complete
game in a row,going 2-for-4 and draw- STANFORD 9 SANTA CLARA 13 team that lost four of their first five games.
ANNOUNCEMENTS ing a walk. Stanford’s currently most 5/6/09 Pac-10 games, with their only win Also noteworthy is that Stanford
HOW TO PLACE AN AD prominent two-sport athlete, junior against Stanford. possesses another prominent right-
Humanist Community in Palo Alto STANFORD Santa Clara
Diff. speaker each Sun. 11A-noon Call (650) 723-2555 Ext. 1 Toby Gerhart, went 3-for-5 on the AB R H BI AB R H BI When the Card touches down in hander in the circle, with the emer-
Walsh 2b 4 1 2 0 Long cf 4 2 1 0
Lunch noon-1P www.humanists.org for display and contract rates night with a double and two RBI, August cf 5 2 2 1 Madden lf/rf 4 3 4 1 Los Angeles, it will remember that gence of sophomore Ashley Chinn.
*Please allow for 3 business days from the while outfielder Joey August collect- Gerhart lf 5 2 3 2 Karcich ss 5 1 1 0 UCLA handed the team its first Chinn, who no-hit San Jose State on
DONORS WANTED when you purchased your ad to when it ed two hits and an RBI. Kiilsgaard rf
Milleville 1b
4
1
0
1
2
1
0
1
Klein c
Fuerst 2b
5
4
2
2
3
2
1
4
Pac-10 loss, breaking a national-best April 22, garnered her first win ever
$$ SPERM DONOR NEEDED $$
appears in the paper The Cardinal’s pitching was shaky Pries dh 0 0 0 0 Wagner 1b 5 1 2 3 28-game win streak. Upended 7-4 against a ranked opponent on Satur-
Earn up to $100/donation. Healthy once again,with seven different pitch- Clowe ph/dh
Jones c
5
5
0
1
1
2
0
0
Biancardi dh
Herbst pr
4
0
0
0
3
0
1
0
on the back of sophomore Monica day.
MEN, wanted for California BY FAX ers taking to the mound throughout Gaylord 3b 5 0 0 0 Parra lf 1 0 0 0 Harrison’s 4 RBI, the Card strug- The tandem will work to shut
Cryobank’s sperm donor Call 650-725-1329
Please include Credit Card # and Exp. Date
the night; 10 of the Broncos’ 13 runs Schlander 4 1 2 1 Van Dusen 3b 3 1 1 0 gled to touch ace Donna Kerr as down Washington one more time on
Busick p 0 0 0 0 Graham rf/p 4 1 1 2
program. APPLY ONLINE: E-MAIL were spread among Busick, sopho- Kranse p 0 0 0 0 Twining p 0 0 0 0
well. Stanford hits just under .300 as Thursday. The first pitch is scheduled
www.spermbank.com classies@daily.stanford.edu more right-hander Will Krasne and Pracher p 0 0 0 0 Hall p 0 0 0 0 a team, but mustered only four for 1 p.m. in the Pacific Northwest.
ON THE WEB senior lefty Blake Hancock. Hancock p 0 0 0 0
knocks of any kind against the baby
HOUSING Click on “Buy Classified Ads” at
http://www.stanforddaily.com “It’s a bit frustrating, but baseball
Schwartz p 0 0 0 0
blue on March 27. Contact Chris Fitzgerald at chrish-
Walker p 0 0 0 0
Cozy escape place for female commuter. is a team game — it goes both ways,” Fearnow p 0 0 0 0 But the Cardinal can back up its fitz@gmail.com.a
$685/mo. 650-704-3994. Walsh said regarding Stanford pitch- Totals 41 9 15 9 39 13 18 12
ers having trouble getting outs. “I’m
Bd. W/pvt. ba. Los Altos area. JOBS sure they get frustrated if we don’t get Sacramento State 340 400 02X
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$850/mo+util. 650-964-2447 Stanford 201 050 010 9 15 0

BRIEFS
CREATE $$ W/O JOB! RECORDED INFO: hits, too.” E—Long (1); Madden (3); Twining (2) . LOB—Santa Clara 6;
In addition, Stanford football re-
877-937-6286, x9022 THEN CALL Stanford will look to recover from Stanford 8. 2B—Gerhart (9); Schlander (8); Madden 2(9); Fuerst ceived the highest rating among all
Family of 4, two former profs w/ Judy Kay, RN @ 650-738-9445 NOW! the loss this weekend when it takes on
2 small boys looking to rent in
(18); Wagner (11); Biancardi (7); Van Dusen (2) . HR—RMilleville
(11); Fuerst (2); Graham (1). SH—Madden (3); Fuerst (3); Van
FBS teams since 2004-05.The Cardi-
the New Mexico Lobos in a three- nal received a score of 984, one
Julyish,dates/location flexible. WANTED game home series. Though the Lobos
Dusen (3). SB—Milleville (6). Continued from page 4
ahead of second place Air Force
Stanford faculty references. Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO
434-409-1892 david@luebke.us WEB SAVVY GRAD STUDENT play in the Mountain West Confer- Stanford (983).
wanted to refurbish outdated ence, certainly a step down from the Busick L (1-1) 1 3 3 3 0 0 bers released yesterday by the The national score is up three
Kranse 0.1 2 3 3 1 0
GRADUATION RENTAL HOME book selling web site of small, Pac-10, they have been solid all year Pracher 1.2 3 1 1 0 1 NCAA. The APR measures the eli- points from last year to 964. Further-
June 12-15 5-min walk to campus local publisher. with a record of 32-16 overall and 12- Hancock 0.2 4 4 4 0 0 gibility, retention and graduation of more, athletes failing to meet the el-
mf@sfsu.edu; 650-322-7727 www.PeninsulaPublishng.com. 8 in conference.In any case,the Cardi- Schwartz 1.0 2 0 0 0 1
student-athletes competing on every igibility and retention point are de-
Charles Wiseman. 948-2511 Walker 2.1 2 1 1 0 1
nal knows this weekend’s series will Fearnow 1.0 2 1 1 0 1 Division 1 sports team. clining in number. This bodes well
Santa Clara
be a pivotal one if it is going to qualify Twining 2.1 5 3 2 1 4
All 35 of Stanford’s programs ex- for the NCAA, which, in 2003, re-
for the postseason.
Classies Work! “Overall we are playing pretty well
right now,”Walsh said.“We know this
Hall W (1-4)
Graham
4.2 7
2.0 3
6 6
0 0
1
1
2
3
ceeded the NCAA’s standards. The
teams receiving perfect scores were
cently implemented rules intended
on increasing academic focus.
— Compiled by Zach Zimmerman men’s golf, women’s gymnastics,
softball, women’s tennis, women’s — By Wyndam Makowsky and
volleyball and women’s water polo. Zach Zimmerman

BUNNIES!
WROWING
Wez in ur Daily, Continued from page 4
So two days in a row takin up ur spayce.
now, huh? The Stanford lightweights were
not to be outdone, as they overcame
an early deficit to smash Cal’s open-
weight third varsity by nearly eight
seconds.
“It was a great showing for the
Stanford women’s team, both open-
weight and lightweight,” said Stan-
ford sophomore lightweight
Katherine Heflin. “It was fun as a
lightweight team to take on the next
varsity eight of Cal openweights.”
The Bunnies return with more regularity. Both the openweights and the
lightweights will look to correct any
errors shown at The Big Race be-
fore the Pacific-10 Conference
Championships, which begin next
weekend.
“We want to use the Pac-10s as a
final stepping-stone to solidifying
our technical improvements in a
race setting, and most notably, on
the same Sacramento course where
we will soon face all of our rigid
East-Coast competition in June,”
Heflin said.
The next stop for Stanford
women’s openweights is the Pac-10
Championships in Gold River,
Calif., while the lightweights travel
to Sacramento for the Pacific Coast
Championships. Both are sched-
uled for May 16.
Contact Zach Zimmerman at
zachz@stanford.edu.

THE STRENGTH TO HEAL

6 N Thursday, May 7, 2009
STUDENT GOV’T
GSC discusses fate of
750 Pub,replacement
Goubaud provides details
on new advisory committee
By ALAN GUO
STAFF WRITER
Last night, the Graduate Student
Council (GSC) discussed the future
of 750 Pub, the student bar located in
the ground floor of the Graduate
Community Center.
The owner of the pub has recent-
ly filed a termination of service noti-
fication to the University, spurring
the University to search for a new
occupant for the space. According to
the representatives, the owner is not
breaking even, and no longer wants
to operate the pub.
During the meeting, representa-
tives voiced students’ complaints
about the pub, raising questions
about costs and management of the
business.
“In the survey I conducted, stu-
dents reported that the drinks at the
pub are overpriced and the owner is
hostile to students,” said Earth
Science representative Mary Hoven.
“The management is running it sole-
ly as a for-profit business, it does not
have the interest of the student in
mind.”
Ryan Peacock, representative at-
large and financial officer, echoed
Mary sentiments.
“The pub is not a student bar, it is
really a business that charges more
than other bars in Palo Alto,” he
said.
Several options were tossed on
the table for the future of the space.
Matt McLaughlin, president of
Stanford Student Enterprises, the
financial arm of the ASSU, suggested
a a grocery store, in the style of
Safeway, as a replacement.
“Since the 750 pub clearly has
failed, I doubted the business model
of the bar is the way to go,”
McLaughlin said.
Others reasoned that that the
space should remain as a bar and a
place where graduate students come
to relax and socialize. They pointed
out the failure of the pub was
BALLMER
Continued from front page
The problem with software, how-
ever, was not that people did not
want to buy computers. The difficul-
ty, Ballmer explained, is that unlike
physical goods, software does not
break over time, so companies need
to work hard to ensure people want
to upgrade their software. At the
same time, software products are
only as good as their last couple of
versions.
“Windows is only as good as its
last release . . . or two,” Ballmer
said, as the audience laughed at the
subtle reference to Windows Vista, a
FLU
Continued from front page
to reaching conclusions and prepar-
ing publications of their results, she
declined to discuss their findings in
detail.
The constant mutation of the
influenza virus makes it incredibly
unpredictable and hinders experts
from providing a one-time cure for
the influenza.
“These situations are difficult
and we don’t have sort of black-and-
white answers and treatments,”
Khazeni said. “I don’t anticipate
that something necessarily dramati-
cally different in terms of treatment
is going to emerge during this cur-
rent epidemic. But, there are still
very interesting potential vaccina-
tion strategies for the future.”
In fact, she pointed out that other
research endeavors at Stanford are
focusing on the development of a
universal influenza vaccine, which
inevitable due to the managing
structure of the building.
“Because the rent of place is so
high, no business can succeed in that
place,” said former representative
Adam Beberg.
Unlike other community centers,
which are under the jurisdiction of
the Vice Provost of Student Affairs
(VPSA), the GCC and the pub space
are co-managed by Stanford
Housing and Dining. GCC does not
have a uniform body to manage it in
the interest of its student audience.
The shared oversight also puts many
external constraints on the vendor.
According to Justin Brown, rep-
resentative at-large, the rent is $3,000
per month, while the vendor is only
making $1,000 per month after pay-
ing its employees — forcing any
future vendors hoping to break-even
to increase prices charged to the stu-
dents.
Peacock proposed negotiating
with the administrators to eliminate
the rent and sought collaboration
with SSE to establish an inexpensive,
vibrant student-bar run by students.
“Other schools have successfully
done this [student-run bar],”
Peacock said, citing examples such as
the Princeton Bar.
At the meeting, ASSU President
David Gobaud ‘10 also provided
details about the forthcoming Vaden
Advisory Committee, which seeks to
look at the health needs of the stu-
dents in great detail. According to
Gobaud, the committee, led by Ira
Friedman, director of Vaden, will
consist of three Vaden staff, three
undergraduates and three graduate
students.
The body also discussed the mis-
placed music equipment that repre-
sentative Noa Lincoln has recently
begun to recover.
The council bought about $8,000
of music equipment for the general
access of graduate students. Due to
poor management, most of the
instruments have been misplaced,
and the GSC has only in possession
$2,000 worth of the instruments, still
without a proper place to store them.
Contact Alan alguo@stanford.edu.
version of Microsoft’s popular oper-
ating system that has been beset
with problems.
When asked about Microsoft’s
unsuccessful bid to buy Yahoo! last
year, Ballmer spoke of the opportu-
nity of teaming up with the search
engine in order to target more cus-
tomers and create a “better search
product.”
Tech blog TechCrunch reported
that Ballmer has been in the Bay
Area since at least the weekend,
sparking rumors that Microsoft and
Yahoo are closing in on a deal
involving cooperation in the search
market.
“Google’s a very big company in
search,” Ballmer said. “We’re more
like a startup than a big guy in
search. We can’t invest in everything
will target the more consistent anti-
gens of influenza. Such a vaccine
would facilitate the treatment of a
host of influenza viruses, including
the strains responsible for pan-
demics. The vaccine is too early in
development, however, to run clini-
cal trials.
According to growth charts dis-
played on the Web site of the Center
for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), swine flu has infected indi-
viduals in 21 different countries and
41 US states as of 11 a.m.
Wednesday. A total of 647 cases
have been reported within the U.S.,
including two deaths. Relative to the
36,000 influenza-caused deaths in
the U.S. each year, the swine flu
numbers may appear less trouble-
some than originally expected.
“Severity can be defined on a
number of levels,” Khazeni said.
“We [can] measure it in case-fatality
proportion — a ratio of number of
deaths per number of cases. Based
on just this, it would be premature to
call this a severe epidemic, but you
could look at it in others ways such
DAILY POLL
Do you think the ASSU Executives should focus
on long-term issues?
a) Yes, those are the most meaningful issues.
b) Maybe, but I just want to see quantifiable
progress.
c) No, Jonny and Fagan demonstrated that it
is difficult to achieve substantial change.
d) No, dealing with short-term problems is
much more important
vote today at stanforddaily.com!
NEWS BRIEFS
Hospital receives $5
million donation
By THE DAILY NEWS STAFF
Bill Younger M.B.A. ‘71 has
donated $5 million to the New
Stanford Hospital and the
Cardiovascular Institute at
Stanford. The majority of the dona-
tion will go toward the construction
of a new building adjacent to the
New Stanford Hospital. In addition,
about a fifth of the total donation
will go to the Cardiovascular
Institute at Stanford, where it will
contribute to seed grants and post-
doctoral funds.
Younger is a managing director
at the venture capital firm Sutter
Hill Ventures and serves on the
Stanford Hospital and Clinics Board
of Directors.
The new hospital will cost an esti-
mated total of $2.5 billion.
SORORITIES
Continued from front page
ation throughout this process.
“Everyone at Stanford has opin-
ions about things,” she said. “And
the people involved are doing a
really good job of trying to balance
them.”
But sorority leaders have
expressed dissatisfaction with the
level of involvement they had in
making some of these crucial deci-
sions.
“This year posed an unusual
challenge in regard to sorority hous-
ing, requiring the three housed
sororities (TriDelt, Theta and Pi
Phi) to work closely with the OSA,
Housing and ResEd,” wrote Inter-
sorority Council President Ali Fox
‘09 in an email to The Daily. “While
the market leader can.”
While he would not comment on
possible discussions that the two
companies may be engaged in, he
said that he thought a merger would
have been “valuable.”
“I’m glad we went down the
road,” Ballmer said.
He added that while Microsoft
can’t afford to outspend Google in
the search business, Microsoft has
less revenue to protect and so can
afford to take more risks.
“There are some things we have
an opportunity to do precisely
because we are not the market
leader,” he said. “We can experi-
ment with new business models. We
have less to lose than the market
leader does.”
Ballmer did admit, however, that
as the fact that it is a novel virus
with human-to-human transmission
which is spreading globally.”
Although she discouraged acute
anxiety over the recent develop-
ments in the H1N1 strain, Khazeni
stressed the importance of paying
attention to any signs of the flu, tak-
ing immediate action and following
preventive measures as advised by
the CDC.
Contact Cassandra Feliciano at ccfeli-
ci@stanford.edu.
The Stanford Daily
HOUSING
Continued from page front page
received this year, Boswell said that
it was difficult to tell.
“It’s difficult to answer this ques-
tion because we’re essentially com-
paring apples and oranges as the pri-
ority policy was in place last year,
and this year it is not,” he said. “In
general, there were more pre-assign-
ments this year, but there were also
many more houses offering pre-
assignment.”
Boswell also noted that the statis-
tics for pre-assignments tend to vary
drastically from year to year, regard-
CRIS BAUTISTA/The Stanford Daily
less of this year’s changes. and what Housing wanted in terms changes being made at once, there
While he was hesitant to specu- of the application,” Sachs said. “It are bound to be some complica-
late the exact admittance statistics as was a bit unclear with what the spe- tions.”
the exact numbers are still being cific house requirements were.” “Overall, I didn’t think it was pub-
finalized, Boswell shed light on the In order to apply to live in a co- licized enough,” Sachs said. “I had to
selection process. op, students must complete a job and find out about it [pre-assignments]
“The process was hectic as we a house tour prior to the Draw dead- on my own. It was a hard process,
were trying to implement the many line. If these aren’t completed and a and I had to ask around and figure
changes associated with the recom- student ends up being placed in a co- things out by asking people I knew.”
mendations of the Draw Task Force in op, they are taken out and placed Sachs also said that the pre-
a short period of time,” he said. “We into dorms with spots open, which is assignment Web site seemed to be a
intend to work with the various focus not always an ideal situation. work in progress.
and theme houses to improve the For the time being, Boswell “I think just making it much more
process next year as we want to sup- thought that most students were clear and obvious exactly what the
port all theme and focus programs.” pleased with their assignments, requirements are for each house and
Ram Sachs ‘12, applied to Kairos, although there were flaws in the how to get in touch with people
a co-op house. Happy that he was application process. would be best,” Sachs continued. “It
accepted, Sachs still expressed his “The greatest complaint we heard was sometimes hard to get in touch
sentiments that the pre-assignment was directed toward a lack of clarity with the staff. As a freshman, it was
process was far from perfect. around which houses would be asso- difficult to figure out.”
“It was sort of confusing; there ciated with using which tier in the
was a bit of a disconnect between housing draw, which is understand- Contact Christine McFadden at
what the house staff was expecting able,” he said. “With so many cnm714@stanford.edu.
the Housing and ResEd offices have “Communicating with the OSA, gender inequity that results from
been most incompatible and resist- Housing and ResEd was confusing the enforcement of this policy.”
ant to the needs and desires of the and challenging throughout most of Now that each of the sororities
housed sororities, I am pleased with the decision-making process,” added has created a plan to address the
the poise with which each sorority TriDelt Resident Assistant Kelly new policy and submitted a list of
handled the situation and found Peterson ‘09. “However, I felt very members who will live in their hous-
solutions that each of their chapters well-supported by our Residence es next year, tension regarding the
could agree upon. I fully support the Dean, John Giammalva, who wasn’t change has calmed. But sorority
resolutions each sorority has adopt- directly involved with the housing leaders say that the way the admin-
ed to accommodate their housing changes being implemented, but istration imposed the new policy has
needs.” was always willing to listen to our left them unsatisfied.
TriDelt President Cristina concerns.” “While I’m happy with the end
Cordova ‘09 said that while the Cordova also criticized the fact result of this process, with all our
unexpectedly large pledge class was that the new housing rules only new members being able to live in
a major factor behind the housing apply to sororities, but not fraterni- the house, I feel that we could have
problems, they also resulted from ties. avoided a lot of grief and stress if
the administration’s failure to ade- “The fact that sororities are the administration had made
quately include sororities in the dia- forced to follow this new policy, but greater efforts to communicate with
logue. fraternities are not, adds to the our chapter leadership earlier on in
“The size of the pledge classes is problem,” she said. “Sororities are the quarter, and learn more about
the main problem,” she said. “But being unfairly targeted and forced the issues at stake before enforcing
the fact that we were taken away the to house in the preference [order] of any drastic changes,” Peterson said.
right to deal with this problem as seniors, juniors, then sophomores
autonomous organizations ampli- and fraternities are allowed to Contact Eric Messinger at messinger@
fied it.” house however they choose. There is stanford.edu.
not all risks would be successful.
“We’ll try some new products
that are going to be a disaster,” he
said, pointing to Microsoft Bob as
an example. “It wasn’t terrible, it
flopped miserably, but I am glad we
did it.”
Still, despite the economy,
Ballmer was optimistic about the
future. He saw a world in which
there was less debt, more innovation
and productivity and noted that it is
a great time for start-ups.
“Students are coming out of
school at a better time than me and
Bill,” he said. “It is a phenomenal
time to be starting all kinds of com-
panies.”
Contact Kamil Dada at kamild@stan-
ford.edu.
intermission
FRIDAY