Worth a Glam

The works of Early Renaissance painters such as Jan van Eyck have enthralled viewers for centuries with their uncanny realism and exquisite detail. Was it sheer talent, or did they secretly rely on projection devices? A Stanford physicist takes a stand.

by Marguerite Rigoglioso

Pete Starr lived up to his name. A prominent San Francisco lawyer, he was one of the nation s foremost mountaineers and conservationists in the early 1930s. Then he disappeared on a solo climbing trip to the Sierra. By the time searchers found him, all of California knew his story.

by William Alsup

Retired from teaching but vibrant as ever, Diane Middlebrook is working on the next chapter of her life, as full-time biographer. Her latest project is characteristically adventurous: chronicling the troubled marriage of poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath. It s a subject as interesting as Middlebrook herself.

by Cynthia Haven

The Game, a semiannual 24-plus-hour quest to unlock a seemingly impenetrable network of clues, has become a Stanford tradition for students and alumni alike. Winning requires gadgets, tactics and a ridiculous amount of cryptography. And the winners get nothing?

by Marisa Milanese

Academic honesty, researchers say, is at risk nationwide. Stanford students and officials are responding with increased vigilance and enforcement of the Honor Code. But putting an end to cheating may require a new understanding of how students view the use of information.

by Ginny McCormick With additional reporting by Summer Moore

Marilyn Wann has taken on a sizable challenge eradicating stereotypes about and discrimination against fat people. Fat isn t a pejorative for her, though a natural state that should be celebrated, even if that means defying medical convention about the dangers of excess weight.

by Nina Schuyler

It crept slowly out of a fetid slum overrun with rats, but before officials could contain it and crack a cover-up that went all the way to the governor an outbreak of bubonic plague left 1900s San Francisco reeling and racially divided.

by Marilyn Chase

Social critic and author Stephen Carter isn t interested in chummy orthodoxy. During a career of throwing curveballs to his colleagues, Carter has developed a reputation for thinking straight, demanding facts and keeping the faith.

by Christine Foster

You re smart and accomplished, right? That fancy degree on your office wall says so. Well, with graduation looming, here s a test that will challenge what you know about diplomas.

by Laurie J. Vaughan

Among the many lessons of college, figuring out how to live with a total stranger is one of the toughest. Despite a national trend toward single rooms, Stanford has stuck to its policy of togetherness, often intentionally pairing roommates who have little in common. It s funny how it works out.

by Ann Marsh