Upfront
Rhodes scholar (continued from page 3)
a co-founder of the Stanford Immigrant Rights Project. She plans to pursue a doctorate of philosophy in politics at Oxford. * Anand R. Habib of Houston, Texas, is a 2011 graduate currently working on community health programs at a clinic in Haiti through Medical Missionaries. At Stanford, he worked on behalf of political and medically disenfranchised people in India, Mexico and Guatemala, helping to raise more than $100,000 to combat HIV/AIDS. He plans to
Internet chatter (continued from previous page)
ing money for close to one-third of the small businesses that run them, according to a recent study conducted by Rice University Associate Professor of Management Utpal Dholakia. The study also found that close to 80 percent of “daily deal� users were new customers, but significantly fewer spent beyond the deal’s value or returned to make a purchase at full price. “A lot of the merchants say, ‘The daily deals guys have been here, and we’re not sure that applies to our model,’� said Kumaran, who also founded the digital-file delivery site YouSendIt. “But we always say that we’re not trying to create some new kind of behavior in customers, we just want to amplify what they’re already doing.� For their part, the “daily deals� sites are looking for ways to incorporate rewards programs into their business models to encourage customer loyalty. LevelUp, which launched this year, offers a series of increasingly better giveaways from the same merchant in an effort to turn one-time, daily-deals-shoppers into repeat customers. “People forget that it’s a young, nascent space that’s going through a lot of changes,� Kumaran said of his “daily deal� competitors. “Our focus from the beginning was, the user who sticks with you for years is going to be the one who creates the most value for you.� Keith Wilson, owner of the Boardroom bar and restaurant in San Francisco, has been using PunchTab Local to market his business. His customers use the app to recommend the restaurant to their friends on Facebook, earning entries for themselves, he said. “I’m always trying to get those eyeballs on my web page so that when people go out and they’re deciding where to go, they think, ‘Let’s go to the Boardroom,’� he said. “You want a good base of regulars — that way there’s always a few seats in the bar, and then everything else builds from there.� With PunchTab, “It’s not just getting random people in to get cheap deals,� he said. In exchange for PunchTab users’ loyalty to his bar, Wilson is offering the chance to win a $20 gift certificate. N Freelance writer Cyrus Hedayati can be emailed at cyrus.hedayati@ gmail.com.
pursue a master’s degree in public policy and medical anthropology at Oxford. * Ishan Nath of Atlanta, Ga., is a Stanford senior majoring in economics and earth systems, with a minor in math. Nath, who worked as an intern in the White House Office of the Vice President, is writing a thesis on clean energy and a national cap-and-trade emissions trading system. He plans to pursue a master’s degree in economics for development at Oxford. * Katherine Niehaus of Columbia, S.C., earned a bachelor’s in biomechanical engineering in 2010 and a master’s in bioengineering in 2011.
She is interested in the application of biomechanics to high-technology entrepreneurship. Niehaus captained Stanford’s varsity track and crosscountry teams and also tutored low-income students. She plans to pursue a doctorate of philosophy in systems approaches to biomedical science at Oxford. Rhodes scholars are selected for scholarly achievement, character, commitment to others and to the common good and for their potential for leadership in their chosen careers. N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be emailed at ckenrick@paweekly. com.
Online This Week
These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news or click on “News� in the left, green column.
Dry weekend expected post-Thanksgiving Day If you plan to be one of the millions of Californians traveling this holiday weekend, get your umbrella ready and brace for delays. (Posted Nov. 22 at 1:14 p.m.)
One in six Palo Alto grads attends Foothill-De Anza About one in six Gunn or Palo Alto high school graduates goes directly to Foothill or De Anza community college, according to the college chancellor. Linda Thor spoke at a reception in Palo Alto Sunday afternoon (Nov. 20). (Posted Nov. 22 at 9:28 a.m.)
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Simitian aide arrested for drunkenness, vandalism A senior field representative to California Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) was arrested for public drunkenness and vandalism on Nov. 13 after two police officers witnessed him lift a city-owned concrete cigarette receptacle and smash it on the sidewalk, according to Palo Alto police. (Posted Nov. 21 at 10:49 a.m.)
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Body found in Palo Alto Baylands A person who was found dead in the Palo Alto Baylands Preserve on Sunday morning (Nov. 20) died of an apparent suicide, police spokesman Lt. Zach Perron said Monday (Nov. 21). (Posted Nov. 21 at 9:43 a.m.)
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VMware unveils plan for massive campus expansion
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Palo Alto’s cloud-computing giant VMware is planning to dramatically expand its Stanford Research Park property by adding six buildings and two garages to its “campus in the forest.� (Posted Nov. 21 9:36 a.m.)
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Clothes dryer causes Palo Alto house fire
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A malfunctioning clothes dryer caused a home fire on Moreno Avenue on Friday afternoon (Nov. 18), according to the Palo Alto Fire Department. (Posted Nov. 19 at 8:28 p.m.)
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Some brands of bagged romaine lettuce salads are being recalled due to contamination with a strain of E. coli, according to state health department officials. (Posted Nov. 19 at 7:48 p.m.)
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Group of men jump bicyclist in Menlo Park Five men streamed out of a Mercedes Benz around 10 a.m. Wednesday (Nov. 16) to jump a 23-year-old man riding a Huffy mountain bike, Menlo Park police said. (Posted Nov. 18 at 4:27 p.m.)
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Judge halts plan to cut lanes on Cal Ave Palo Alto has to halt its plan to reduce lanes on California Avenue and reconsider its environmental analysis of the streetscaping plan for the business district, a Santa Clara Superior Court judge ruled earlier this month. (Posted Nov. 18 at 9:53 a.m.)
Water-board member quits his day job A locally elected water-board member has quit his day job with an environmental organization, citing, in part, “a little more conflict than I’d anticipated.�(Posted Nov. 18 at 9:56 a.m.)
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Open-space district surpasses 60,000 acres A 270-acre farm near Half Moon Bay will bump the amount of preserved open space managed by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to 60,000 acres, district officials announced Thursday (Nov. 17). (Posted Nov. 18 at 9:18 a.m.)
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