For the University, Some Belt Tightening
Stanford’s general funds will decrease by between $15 million and $20 million in the 2002-03 fiscal year, provost John Etchemendy, PhD ’82, announced in October. He asked University offices to develop initial budgets that reflected a 5 percent decrease in general funds. The overall budget will be refined this winter, as forecasts of energy costs and endowment performance become available.
Students Arrested in Protest at Hospital
Six Stanford students were arrested and charged with trespassing after they refused to leave a hallway at Stanford Hospital on November 29. They were among more than 100 students who protested the Medical Center’s decision to subcontract 10 of its 350 housekeeping positions. Members of the Stanford Labor Action Committee, which organized the protest, say they are concerned that subcontractor employees will not be paid a livable wage for the Bay Area. According to a Medical Center spokesperson, the outside employees will earn an average of $8.50 an hour and receive medical and other benefits; Medical Center housekeeping employees receive $12 an hour, on average, and a more generous benefit package.
A Gamble Pays Off—with Data
What can an 84-year-old Alaskan gambling tradition teach researchers about global warming? Plenty. In the Nenana Ice Classic, named for the village from which it hails, hundreds of thousands of people wager $2 each to predict the exact minute when the ice will begin to break up on the nearby Tenana River. In the October 26 issue of Science, postdoc Raphael Sagarin, ’94, and assistant professor of biological sciences Fiorenza Micheli compare the “quite accurate” data from the contest with Alaskan weather records and conclude that the time of breakup—5 1/2 days earlier now, on average, than in 1917—correlates well with temperature change over the decades. The information could be valuable indeed—last year’s betting pool carried a jackpot of $308,000.
Dishing Out Advice
A nine-member advisory committee began meeting last fall to review current recreational use of the Dish area and consider suggestions for changes. The committee, which includes campus leaseholders, students, community members and a researcher at the observatory, is chaired by human biology professor Russell Fernald. At press time, University administrators were also engaged in discussions with Santa Clara County officials over the siting of two trails in the Foothills. Under the General Use Permit approved in 2000, Stanford is obligated to permanently dedicate the trails in accordance with a countywide trail master plan.
Environmental Studies Gets the Go-Ahead
Next fall, Stanford will admit its first graduate students into the interdisciplinary program in environment and resources, approved by the Faculty Senate in October. The program, headed by geological and environmental sciences professor Robert Dunbar, is part of a larger initiative to better coordinate environmental studies at Stanford. It will award approximately five doctorates each year, as well as master’s degrees to those already enrolled in the law, business and medical schools. “We know that there’s a demand for this, that there are potential students out there who are looking for this kind of program,” earth systems program director Pamela Matson told the senate.
Kicking Off a $500 Million Campaign
The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health has launched a $500 million fund-raising campaign for the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and the pediatric research and training programs of the School of Medicine. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation has donated $100 million to the campaign, which coincides with the 10th anniversary of the hospital and aims to enable additional breakthroughs in children’s health. The hospital’s $71 million endowment is far below that of longer-established institutions such as Boston Children’s Hospital, which has an endowment of $800 million, and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, with $300 million.
Band Unbanned
On October 20, the one, the only, the incomparable Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band went where it had not gone in 11 years: a University of Oregon football game. The Ducks banned the Band after a 1990 halftime show during which Band members formed a giant chainsaw on the field and played Monty Python’s “Lumberjack Song” to spoof logging practices that endangered Oregon’s spotted owl. No word on whether the Band will be allowed to return to the University of Notre Dame, the city of New Orleans, the People’s Republic of China or a certain McDonald’s in Washington state.
On AIDS Prevention, Walking the Walk
Approximately 200 students, faculty and staff joined provost John Etchemendy, PhD ’82, vice provost for campus relations LaDoris Cordell and women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer behind a “Stanford Cares” banner in the 10K Walk for Silicon Valley on October 14. Cordell, JD ’74, who spearheaded the effort to recruit faculty and staff to participate, has joined the walk for the past four years. “I have friends who have died of AIDS, and if it’s touched me, it’s probably touched everyone,” she told Stanford Report. The Stanford walkers raised more than $8,000 to benefit nine local agencies that specialize in AIDS prevention and support services.
