The Stanford Daily Vol. 261 Issue 2 (2.11.22)

NEWS/2

ARTS/6

SPORTS/10

SIMMONS

CHURRO

INVESTIGATION

Family and friends remember Dylan Simmons

Congressional probe takes aim at Stanford

Students react to the new sculpture on Meyer Green

The Stanford Daily An Independent Publication

FRIDAY February 11, 2022

Volume 261 Issue 2

www.stanforddaily.com

CAMPUS LIFE

Disability space opens on campus The opening comes after decades of activism

By ADRI KORNFEIN BEAT REPORTER

The Stanford Disability Community Space celebrated its official opening on Tuesday via Zoom. Located in the former student lounge of the Office of Accessible Education, the Space’s mission is to allow students with disabilities to find community and feel comfortable exploring their disability identities.

Tuesday’s event marked the culmination of decades of disability activism on Stanford’s campus. Calls to open up a disability-focused community center have been a priority for Stanford disability activists since the 1980s. In 2017, the Abilities Hub (A-Hub) was launched as an interim space. Efforts to launch a more permanent community center were stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Approximately 19% of students at Stanford have a registered disability, encompassing a broad spectrum of unique individuals and conditions, from people with physical disabilities to those with neurodivergence.

“It’s been a hard road but it’s really worked out for us,” said Frank Mondelli, a sixth-year Ph.D. student and former ASSU Co-Director of Disability Advocacy. “I am so thrilled to see what the next steps are.”

When Bryce Tuttle ’20 began his Stanford career, he said that “disability wasn’t even on the list” in conversations about diversity on campus.

“When you asked most people they wouldn’t even be able to describe what disability meant in terms of diversity or in terms of an identity or community,” Tuttle said.

For Tuttle, the opening of the Stanford Disability Community Space marks a significant step forward in

Please see DISABILITY, page 11

Courtesy of Yuriy Bondarchuk

Stanford students emphasized solidarity and unity among the diverse communities that attended the 'Stand With Ukraine' rally in San Francisco.

Students rally in support of Ukraine Ukrainian students and allies protest Russian aggression

By ENKHJIN MUNKHBAYAR BEAT REPORTER

By ORIANA RILEY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

When fourth-year Ph.D. student Damian Pavlyshyn joined the rally against Russian aggression in Ukraine on Sunday, he witnessed the Crimean Tatars, Belarusian pro-democracy activists and Ukrainian expatriates all uniting for a common cause at the San Francisco Ferry Building.

“The rally was all that I had hoped for,” Pavlyshyn wrote in an email, adding that he was pleased to see the diversity of groups present.

“This effect was so strong that at times the supportive honking of

passing drivers was loud enough to drown out the rally’s speakers.”

International advocacy group “Stand with Ukraine,” alongside a group of Stanford students, organized the rally amidst rising fears of a Russian invasion in Ukraine. The event aimed to muster political and public support by drawing the attention of Bay Area residents to the conflict.

At Stanford, the Ukrainian community and other affected groups are growing increasingly concerned for the safety of their family and friends back home. Some used the rally to process their fear and hopes about the future of Ukraine.

Pavlyshyn used the rally as “an opportunity to add [his] voice to the

growing chorus of support for the Ukrainian cause and gratitude to Ukraine’s partners, especially the United States,” he wrote.

The turnout at the rally from numerous communities beyond Ukrainians — including Crimean Tatars, Belarusians, Russians and others — did not go unnoticed.

Catarina Buchatskiy ’24, a Ukrainian student who helped organize the rally, wrote in an email that it was “heartwarming to see how many different communities came together to stand with Ukraine.”

Attendees also described the experience as intense and emotional.

Sonya Epifantseva ’25, an international student from Russia, wrote

that “the rally was emotionally tough; everyone is terrified and it is heartbreaking.”

Pavlyshyn expressed gratitude for the growing recognition of the crisis in Ukraine among Americans, writing that “it was very gratifying to hear that solidarity with Ukraine and opposition to Russian imperialism has finally entered the mainstream American consciousness.”

The next “Stand With Ukraine” rally is at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 20 and will again take place at the Ferry Building. “We will be there, rallying in memory of the Heavenly Hundred protestors that died on that day in 2014, fighting for Ukraine’s independence,” Buchatskiy wrote.

CAMPUS LIFE

ACADEMICS

Student competes on Jeopardy!

FacSen hears Honor Code revisions

By ZOE EDELMAN

BJA presented seven recommendations at meeting

BEAT REPORTER

On a normal day, Isaac Applebaum ’23 can usually be found in the chemistry lab conducting research. But for the past few months, he has been keeping a secret: beginning on Feb. 8, Applebaum will appear as a contestant on the Jeopardy! National College Championship.

Applebaum will be featured in the first of six quarterfinal episodes, which will air live on ABC. Viewers can watch the episode live or stream it on Hulu beginning on Feb. 9.

At Stanford, Applebaum is not involved in Jeopardy! or quiz bowl-related activities. Instead,

By ZOE EDELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Courtesy of Isaac Applebaum

A biology major on the pre-med track, Isaac Applebaum ’23 describes himself as a “secret humanities person.” The long-time Jeopardy! fan credits his love for other subjects as key to his trivia success. he is a biology major hoping to attend medical school. From witnessing his mom’s experiences as a cancer survivor, he said that he “saw firsthand that people who are doctors, people who are oncol-

ogists — they can save somebody’s life.” Although Applebaum is studying biology, he said his enjoyment of other subjects is key to his trivia success.

“The secret weapon that I have

in terms of knowledge is actually I’m a humanities person,” he said.

“I love reading literature. I love history. I love languages. All these

Please see JEOPARDY, page 11

OBITUARY

Campus community remembers Arrillaga ’60

By CASSIDY DALVA BEAT REPORTER

“Today is the best day yet but tomorrow will be better,” John Arrillaga ’60 used to say.

The sentence was more than a saying for Arrillaga — it was a mantra he lived by, according to Phil Mahoney ’81, a commercial real estate broker who was introduced to

Follow us

Index

the industry by Arrillaga. The Silicon Valley real estate developer, remembered for his philanthropy and involvement in the Stanford community, died at the age of 84 on Jan. 24. His work and relationships leave behind a legacy of optimism, generosity and wit for many of the countless people who knew Arrillaga.

Born into a working class family

facebook.com/stanforddaily

in Inglewood, California with roots in the Basque region, Arrillaga earned a basketball scholarship and attended Stanford as an undergraduate. He majored in geography and obtained top grades in the program.

In addition to working six part-time jobs and being a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity on campus, Arrillaga served as the team captain of the men’s basketball

team and was an All-American athlete.

Upon graduation, he traveled John Arrillaga ’60 around the world playing professional basketball for the USA Basketball Men’s National Team.

Please see ARRILLAGA, page 5

@StanfordDaily | @StanfordSports

I Opinions/4 • Culture/6 • Sports/10

Co-chairs of the Board of Judicial Affairs (BJA) computer science professor Keith Schwarz ’11 MS ’11 and Glen Husman ’23 presented a list of recommended revisions to the Stanford Honor Code, drafted in collaboration with the Committee of 10 (C10), during Thursday’s Faculty Senate meeting.

The C-10 is tasked with examining and updating student-accountability processes. It is composed of four faculty members, four staff members and two students. Schwarz and Husman discussed seven of their recommendations, though they clarified that the C-10 will propose more substantial recommendations in the next academic year, subject to approval by various University decision-making bodies.

“These are things that we believe will give the community as a whole a lot more ownership over the Honor Code, and will clarify different responsibilities and ensure that the means of the Honor Code proceed smoothly,” Schwarz said.

The first two recommendations, Husman said, were concerned with giving students a stake in upholding

Please see FACULTY, page 5

@StanfordDaily

Recycle Me

2 N Friday, February 11, 2022

The Stanford Daily

OBITUARY

Family and friends remember Dylan Simmons

By SARAH RAZA STAFF WRITER

Family members and close friends shared their memories of Dylan Simmons ’17 M.S. ’17 as they mourn his death. His passing has left an impact on several communities with which he identified, including disabled, queer and Asian communities.

Dylan passed away in a campus residence on Jan. 20. He was in his third year at Stanford Law School (SLS) and was set to graduate in the spring.

Family and early life Dylan was adopted by his parents in Shanghai, China and was raised in Dallas, Texas. From a young age, his parents, who were both lawyers, instilled within him a love for traveling and Patsy Cline, according to his mother, Deborah Simmons.

Deborah described Dylan as inquisitive, courageous, loyal and strong-willed. One infamous tantrum in 1996 about whether 10 red M&Ms could be eaten before dinner lives on in his family’s history lore, according to Deborah.

But perhaps most importantly, Dylan was sincerely devoted to the idea of fairness.

“He felt like the treatment of marginalized groups, regardless of the political consequences, simply was not fair,” his mother said.

When Dylan was 12, he lost his father due to complications from Type 1 diabetes. His father had an

unwavering commitment to social justice issues, according to Deborah — a commitment that Dylan carried with himself as well.

Deborah said that her son showed her it’s okay to be different.

He didn’t want to start an argument over it, but he was unafraid of disagreeing with someone and saying that he saw things differently — something that was harder to do in parts of Texas, Deborah said, where there was a lot of conformity.

Undergraduate years At Stanford, Dylan double majored in sociology and feminist, gender and sexuality studies. He also earned a master’s degree in community health and prevention in 2017.

During these years, he developed a strong interest in his Chinese roots and studied Mandarin, according to his mother.

In his third year as an undergraduate, Dylan served as a Resident Assistant (RA) in Ng, then known as Humanities House, alongside his friend Truman Chen ’17 J.D. ’24. He served as an RA again the following year in the international themed cooperative house Hammarskjold. Years later, Dylan helped Chen with the law school application process and encouraged him to put more of himself into the application, according to Chen.

“During that process, he seemed to remember everything in my life I told him about five years ago, and I found it remarkable that he cared to remember all those details,” Chen wrote.

California’s indoor mask mandate is set to expire next Tuesday, but current masking protocols will remain in place at Stanford for the foreseeable future, keeping the University in line with Santa Clara County guidelines.

“The University continues to work closely with county public health officials and follow their guidance,” University spokesperson Dee Mostofi wrote in a statement to The Daily. “For now, campus masking protocols will remain in place.”

Santa Clara County announced on Wednesday that it plans to keep its county-wide mask mandate. The County’s announcement came two days after Calif. Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the statewide mandate will expire on Feb. 15. State guidelines specify that those who are unvaccinated should still wear masks indoors, and everyone, regardless of vaccination status, should still wear masks on public transportation and in schools, hospitals and long-term care facilities. Eight other Bay Area counties surrounding Santa

Time at Stanford Law School Matthew Dimon J.D. ’22 met Dylan at SLS’s Admitted Students Weekend, and later became his roommate in law school. According to Dimon, Dylan represented all the best parts of Stanford: enthusiastic, quick-witted, brilliant.

“It was that moment that I decided to come to Stanford — it was already my top choice for law school, but Dylan cinched it for me,” Dimon wrote.

During his time at SLS, Dylan took Professor Rabia Belt’s course on disability law and later worked as a teaching assistant for the class.

Dylan and Belt would cheer together when shy students spoke up in class, and he would send her articles on disability that she would incorporate into the course, according to Belt.

Professor Erik Jensen, who taught Dylan in his global poverty

Advocacy and activism Dylan spent much of his time at SLS on advocacy efforts for marginalized groups, especially disabled and queer communities. Last year, he co-led the Disability and Mental Health Network at Stanford (DAMNS) alongside friends Leah Kennedy J.D. ’22 and Sam Becker J.D. ’22, and worked with law school administrators to improve accessibility. Because of the pandemic, the three were physically separated for much of their friendship, but they would stay after meetings on Zoom and bond over shared interests like cats and Steven Universe, according to Kennedy.

Kennedy said that Dylan opened up the disability space for her, helping her to navigate accommodations and to feel comfortable in her skin as someone owning that identity.

Becker echoed this sentiment: “Dylan gravitated towards welcom-

Courtesy of Deborah Simmons

Dylan was an outspoken advocate for marginalized groups, most notably disabled and queer communities. His passing was felt by communities at both the undergraduate and graduate level. ing into community instead of gatekeeping, even though he had more right to than anyone.”

Dylan also worked as a Community Developer at the Queer Resource Center on campus and lit the room up with joy, according to CoCommunity Developer Adi Mukund M.D. ’22 Ph.D. ’22.

“Anytime he agreed with something or it caught his attention, he would say ‘Yo!’ and launch into the most enthusiastic tirade you’ve ever seen,” Mukund said. “All of a sudden you’d have to dampen the volume on your computer speaker because he would get so happy about it.”

Dylan also promoted equity in his position as a Diversity Co-Chair at the Stanford Law Review (SLR).

Dylan significantly improved outreach during recruitment, according to current SLR President Daniel Khalessi ’13 J.D. ’22. He also led the

Please see SIMMONS, page 5

FLI frosh struggle to transition

Stanford to keep mask mandate in place STAFF WRITER

and law class two years ago, wrote that Dylan had extraordinary virtues, describing him as lively, creative and positive.

During the pandemic, Dylan lived at home with his mother in Texas for 18 months. They spent time cooking together and taking walks — time that Deborah is now incredibly grateful for, she said.

Dylan and his mother hoped to travel to northern Europe after he took the bar exam. He also hoped to travel to Asia before starting work at Latham and Watkins’s Washington D.C. office in the fall, according to his mother.

CAMPUS LIFE

UNIVERSITY

By SARAH RAZA

It was also during college that Dylan began to question his gender identity assigned at birth. At 20 years old, he transitioned from Sarah Elizabeth to Dylan Alexander. According to his mother, he made the decision not to change his legal name because he still wanted to exert ownership over that period of his life.

After graduating from Stanford in 2017, Dylan headed to China for a year to teach English at Shenyang University. Shortly after coming back to the U.S., he decided to return to Stanford to attend law school.

By SAVAHNA PADILLA STAFF WRITER

When Gustavo Martinez ’25 arrived on campus this fall, he faced the daunting academic transition and social acclimation process familiar to all frosh. But in addition to the usual challenges, he also had to navigate the new environment as a first-generation and/or low-income (FLI) student representing his community.

“My success isn’t simply a reflection of myself, but a reflection of my family and community,” Martinez said.

His fellow FLI frosh are going through a very similar experience as they seek to find their place at Stanford. In interviews with The Daily, they described a myriad of culture and class shocks exacerbated by their personal and familial pressures to succeed.

Martinez, born in Oaxaca, Mexico and raised in Salinas, Calif., shared how he and his family previously dealt with deportation issues.

“What keeps me motivated is this sense that I have already been through so much in my life alongside my family,” he said, reflecting on his transition to Stanford. “How am I going to let some math class stop me from achieving my goals and dreams?”

Erick Torres ’25 said that he “was appalled by the [exorbitant] amount of wealth around [him]” upon arriving at Stanford. “With

Clara County are set to lift their mask mandates next week, making Santa Clara the only county in the Bay Area to maintain its mask requirement.

Rather than following state measures, Santa Clara County officials are planning to maintain the mask mandate until the county reaches three benchmarks: an 80% vaccination rate, “low and stable COVID-19 hospitalizations” and a seven-day average of cases at or below 550 cases. While the vaccination rate has reached 89.5%, the other two metrics have not yet been met. Cases are at 1,922 this week, and hospitalizations remain high.

“We must continue to base our decisions on the risks COVID-19 presents to our community, and we look forward to lifting the indoor mask requirement as soon as we can do so without putting vulnerable people at undue risk,” said Santa Clara County public health director Sara Cody ’85 in a Wednesday press release.

Cody added that keeping the mask mandate will serve to protect those who are older or immunocompromised.

Stanford will keep the community updated with any changes in protocols, Mostofi wrote.

my peers, I feel respected — although there have been times where I’ve had to explain what EBT [Electronic Benefits Transfer], MediCal and other terms mean.”

Here, Torres is referring to government assistance services with which many low-income students are likely familiar.

Coming from a rural and low-income community, Torres said there was “nothing I could have done in high school to prepare me for Stanford’s rigor,” adding, “maybe learn how to run on five hours of sleep.”

His experience highlights the educational challenges some FLI students may encounter in an environment full of peers from higher-income backgrounds. Still, Torres acknowledged that the University provides an abundance of academic resources to try and alleviate these gaps.

Devyani Barron Gonzalez ’25, also from Salinas, California, left a predominantly hispanic community for Stanford’s campus. “I have encountered times where I feel like I don’t belong,” Barron Gonzalez said, speaking to the culture shock that came with her transition to college.

Jackelyn Barrajas ’25 explained the culture shock she endured when coming to Stanford as “something very painful.”

The extra expenses embedded in some of Stanford’s course offerings present access barriers for some students. Barrajas said she was looking forward to taking a photog-

raphy class until she realized she was expected to front equipment costs.

The University provides programs and resources to ease the transition to Stanford, though the experience remains difficult for many FLI frosh. Over the summer, opportunities such as the Leland Scholars Program (LSP), which is held by the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, the Stanford Summer Engineering Academy (SSEA), which is held by the School of Education, and FLI Student Orientation (FLI-SO) help FLI frosh acclimate to Stanford life.

Airin Valdez ’25, from Los Angeles, California, was a member of the LSP cohort and said it allowed her to “cultivate a community” with other FLI students and left her better prepared for the rigor of Stanford courses.

Events such as FLI-SO aim to make FLI freshmen feel “empowered” by introducing students to “key faculty, staff and resources,” according to the FLI Office website.

Despite University attempts to bridge the economic and cultural gaps that FLI students face at Stanford, certain adversities still persist.

However, Valdez said community resources are an important source of support.

“Being FLI at Stanford definitely has its own challenges,” Valdez said. “But being able to meet other FLI students allows us to support one another.”

EQUITY PROJECT

HEALTH

Psychologist talks gender backlash

Stanford hospital recovers from shortages

By CHRISTOPHER SHIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Phenomenon affects racial groups differently he says

By LORENZO DEL ROSARIO STAFF WRITER

Stanford professor of organizational behavior and trained social psychologist Brian Lowery stressed the importance of examining intersectional identities in conversations about race and gender during a Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE) Faculty Seminar event on Thursday.

Lowrey’s research primarily focuses on gender backlash, which he defined as the “social and economic penalties people face when they are perceived to violate gender roles,” and how gender backlash affects racial groups differently.

During the discussion, Lowrey presented several case studies involving gender backlash to demonstrate how it is enforced within certain racial groups. He discussed the case of Christine Blasey-Ford and Anita Hall, two women who are well-known for speaking out against men in power who allegedly sexually harassed them. Lowrey explained that Blasey-Ford, a white woman, experienced greater

LORENZO DEL ROSARIO/The Stanford Daily

Lowery, whose research focuses on gender backlash, presented case studies of the phenomenon and explained that people who belong to various social identities experience gender backlash differently. gender backlash than Hill, a Black woman, and rationalized this view by explaining that white women are often perceived by society as more feminine than Black women.

Therefore, when they speak out, they are viewed to be violating gender norms, he contended.

“The idea here is that with racialized gender stereotypes, nobody should express backlash to [Hill],” he said. “She’s doing what Black women do: being aggressive, making accusations. From that perspective, no one should express backlash.”

Lowrey explained, however, that gender backlash is specifically related to violating gender norms, and does not constitute the only type of harm done to a person. “In

essence, racism is protecting you from sexism,” Lowrey said. “I don’t want people to interpret it as Black women having it easier.”

Lowrey also touched on how the concept of gender backlash applies to people who are non-binary or biracial, explaining that someone’s gender and race are largely dependent on other people’s perceptions of them. He added that social identities are conditional, “meaning you could honestly be Black in one setting and white in another.”

Rather than being fixed, identities such as race and gender are “active with you in that moment,” he said.

During the discussion portion of the event, Center for Comparative

Please see GENDER, page 11

Stanford Hospital is again approaching normal operations after struggling with staffing shortages throughout early January.

Amid soaring nationwide and local cases caused by the rise of the omicron variant, health care worker infections spiked to alltime highs in California. The resultant staffing shortages prompted Stanford Hospital to postpone non-emergent procedures in early January.

“Between January 8 and January 15, when Omicron was at its height, approximately 7.5% of our total workforce was out sick with COVID-19 or in quarantine,” Stanford Health Care (SHC) spokesperson Julie Greicius wrote in a statement to The Daily.

Now, as COVID -19 case counts in Santa Clara recede from their January highs and infections among health care workers subside, the hospital is nearing normal operations.

“The vast majority of those staff have now returned to work, and new infections are much reduced, affecting only about 1% of our workforce last week and fewer yet this week,” Greicius

wrote.

While the SHC staff community has slowly returned to work, cases among patients have also been on the decline. As of Feb. 7, there were 70 patients with active COVID-19 at Stanford Hospital, down from 80 last week, according to Greicius. This case count includes all patients who are potentially infectious and isolating but does not necessarily mean that they are all suffering from severe symptoms. In fact, about 55% of those patients were hospitalized for reasons other than COVID-19, and many of them are asymptomatic or only have mild symptoms. The remaining 45% is mainly made up of high-risk individuals who are unvaccinated or have underlying chronic illnesses, according to Greicius.

Associate professor of medicine Errol Ozdalga, who charts COVID-19 hospitalizations at Stanford Hospital, wrote in a Twitter post that as of Jan. 19, all omicron-positive patients in the intensive care unit had significant predispositions such as a compromised immune system or underlying chronic illness. The lack of non-predisposed patients in the hospital demonstrates the

Please see HOSPITAL, page 5

Friday, February 11, 2022 N 3

The Stanford Daily

Graphic: MHAR TENORIO/The Stanford Daily

HEALTH

Campus COVID cases decline to 235

By GRIFFIN CLARK

Photo courtesy of SERI Organizers

Stanford Engineering Research Introductions (SERI) hosted 16 students for its inaugural conference, during which students learned about engineering and the process of applying to graduate school.

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

Students learn from SERI

By GRIFFIN CLARK CONTRIBUTING WRITER

By HANNAH BASALI STAFF WRITER

By ADRI KORNFEIN BEAT REPORTER

Stanford Engineering Research Introductions (SERI) hosted sixteen college students from diverse backgrounds for its inaugural conference on Friday and Saturday.

Third-year electrical engineering Ph.D. student Sebastian Fernandez M.S. ’21, third-year Ph.D. student Claire Anderson M.S. ’21, third-year Ph.D. student Chandler Brown M.S. ’21 and second-year Ph.D. student Arynn Gallegos organized SERI as a means of providing students with the tools they need to successfully complete undergraduate research and apply to graduate school.

“What we aim to do is help you get to where you would like to be at the end of your undergraduate career,” Fernandez said to the students. “And then at that point, the world is your oyster. You can go anywhere.”

Of the 16 participants, 10 were Stanford students, while the other six came from outside universities.

The in-person conference consisted of three graduate student panels, four faculty research presentations and three lab tours from students and faculty in multiple en-

gineering departments at Stanford.

Fernandez said he hoped students would “be able to take lessons from everyone here and build your own path and create your own journey.”

During the “Applying to Things 101” seminar, students learned how to make their applications stand out. Advice focused on demonstrating independence and initiative, as well as being receptive to feedback.

The students were taught that each piece of their application had to demonstrate passion and purpose for their experience and future work.

SERI also took students on a laboratory tour, directed by assistant mechanical engineering professor Wendy Gu, mechanical engineering professor Allison Okamura and civil engineering professor Richard Luthy.

During the faculty panel, attendees heard from assistant professor of electrical engineering Dan Congreve and assistant professor in computer science and electrical engineering Chelsea Finn. Congreve researches controlling light at the nanoscale, while Finn presented her work on broad robot generalization with broad offline data.

Graduate student panelists Monika Decker M.S. ’23, Richmond Odufisan M.S. ’22 and Jessica Tawade M.S. ’22 discussed finding research opportunities, financing

graduate school, applying for graduate school and choosing between master’s and Ph.D. programs. Odufisan, originally a Ph.D. student, told the participant that Ph.D. programs are more like jobs “because you’re being paid to do research.”

In contrast, a master’s student will “take classes, do problem sets and do research,” she said.

Participants said they learned a lot from the conference and are now more clear on the path to becoming a graduate student.

Olivia Lee ’24 said she was grateful to be given the chance to learn how graduate school differs from undergraduate studies. During the conference, she learned about “the importance of lab culture and relationships with advisors in graduate school,” she said.

Hasani Spann ’25 also said he feels he has finally “gotten in the room concerning something I really was considering as a prospect but didn’t have concrete, step-to-step information about.”

Giannka Picache ’25 expressed appreciation for the program and the knowledge it provided her.

“I think this program was super helpful, and everyone was super accommodating,” Picache said.

“Starting early is what really matters. Having the knowledge and the general bigger picture in the back of my mind while climbing the stairs of undergrad really helps.”

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Stanford reported 114 new student and 121 new faculty, staff and post-doctoral scholar COVID-19 cases during the week of Jan. 31, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Compared to last week, case counts decreased by 26% among students and 37% among employees. As of Monday, 158 students are in isolation, according to the dashboard, which is a decline from the 204 isolating students reported on Jan. 31.

18,972 Color COVID-19 tests were administered during the week of Jan. 31, which was fewer than the 19,674 tests administered during the prior week.

These testing numbers do not include rapid antigen tests. Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests, requiring weekly testing for those who are vaccinated and twice weekly testing for unvaccinated students.

Stanford’s seven-day positivity rate fell from 1.64% last week to 1.25% this week for students, and it fell from 1.02% to 0.71% for faculty, staff and postdocs. The seven-day positivity rate on campus remains lower than Santa Clara County’s 7.10% rate and California’s 9.50% rate, which have both also significantly declined since last week.

Of the 121 new employee cases, 70 are included in the University’s testing count, and the remaining individuals tested out-

By NIKOLAS LIEPINS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

This report covers a selection of incidents from Feb. 1 to Feb. 7 as recorded in the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) bulletin. Learn more about the Clery Act and how The Daily approaches reporting on crime and safety here.

Content warning: This article contains references to rape and sexual assault.

side the University’s surveillance testing system, such as through rapid antigen tests, or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard. Many people in this population have been working away from campus, according to the dashboard.

“We are encouraged by the most recent data on our COVID dashboard that show the number of students in isolation is declining,” University spokesperson E.J. Miranda wrote. “We will continue to closely monitor the public health situation on campus and update the community on any new protocols or policy changes.”

Peer institutions are experiencing similar declines in student positivity rates. Dartmouth reported a drop to a 5% positivity rate, and Northwestern reported a slight increase to 2.25%. Both are above Stanford’s 1.25% positivity rate.

A total of 1,977 students and 1,747 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since Aug. 31, 2020, according to the dashboard.

The University continues to monitor the COVID-19 variants and enforce weekly COVID-19 testing and masking requirements, regardless of vaccination status. Stanford also continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness, according to the dashboard.

fin House in Governor’s Corner.

7 a.m. on Feb. 4 and 7 p.m. on Feb. 5, a vehicle was tampered with at the Knight Management Center Garage.

I Between 1:50 p.m. and 3:50 p.m., a hit-and-run that caused property damage occurred at Stanford Stadium.

I Between 12 p.m. on Feb. 4 and 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 5, a vehicle burglary occurred in the Knight Management Center Garage.

I Between

SUNDAY, FEB. 6 I At

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 2 I At

an unknown time between Dec. 12, 2021 and Jan. 15, a petty bike theft occurred at Munger Graduate Residences Building Four.

THURSDAY, FEB. 3 I Between

5 p.m. on Feb. 2 and 11 a.m., a grand theft occurred at a residence at 870 Tolman Drive.

SATURDAY, FEB. 5 I Between

1 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., a grand bike theft occurred at Grif-

an unknown time between Feb. 5 and Feb. 6., an assault to commit rape was reported at an undisclosed location.

I Between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., a grand theft occurred at the Knight Building.

MONDAY, FEB. 7 I Between 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 26 and

12:10 p.m. on Jan. 7., a petty theft occurred at Cardenal in Florence Moore Hall.

I At an unknown time, a petty theft occurred at the Lokey Stem Cell Research Building.

CRIME & SAFETY

Woman found dead near campus Monday evening

By SARAH RAZA STAFF WRITER

A woman was found dead in a tent at the intersection of El Camino Real and Palm Drive at 6:46 p.m. on Monday, according to a Stanford Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) Community Alert sent out the same evening. The Daily has reached out to SUDPS for more information.

The incident, which was originally reported as a death “under suspicious circumstances,” was amended on Tuesday to an “unattended death” following an initial investigation by the Santa Clara County

Sheriff ’s Office. The woman had been using the tent as housing and was known to those who live in the area. The Sheriff ’s Office reported that it does not believe that the death was caused by the actions of another person, or that she was the victim of an assault or battery. The Office of the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner will determine the official cause of death.

After the original alert advised persons “to walk with others and use well-lit travel routes,” the Tuesday update specified that, based on the new information, “it is believed there is no serious or ongoing threat to the community.”

4 N Friday, February 11, 2022

The Stanford Daily

OPINIONS The Stanford Daily

Misha Lee

We need more female sports broadcasters F or as long as I can remember, I’ve awoken on Sunday mornings to the smell of hot bacon and the wild chatter of male broadcasters giving football commentary.

Announcing for sports games, whether narrating live plays from a match or giving feedback following the conclusion of the final quarter, has always been a dream of mine, stemming from the positive impact athletics has had on my life. However, as a woman interested in a maledominated career, the statistics depicting the deficit in female involvement in sports entertainment are far from encouraging. I am disappointed to say that KZSU 90.1, Stanford’s student-led FM radio broadcast, is not exempt from this gender disparity.

Stanford athletics is represented by several announcers at KZSU, consisting of students from a wide variety of majors and graduating classes. Out of the 13 individuals who are regularly involved with the sports section of Stanford’s studentrun radio station, only one announcer is female, and she will soon graduate in the Class of 2022.

KZSU’s 12 to one male to female ratio is not far from the national average in the media. Only 10% of sports editors and 11.5% of sports reporters in the United States and Canada identify as female, as cited

by Paola Boivin in a Global Sports Matters feature published in March of last year.

The large gender gap between female and male reporters has been found to have a strong correlation with what content is being covered in the media. In an article published in May 2019 by Joseph Abisaid and Bo Li, a correlation is drawn between the lack of female presence in sports newsrooms and the disparities in the amount of coverage female sports receive. Significantly higher numbers of male reporters appear to be directly related to the significantly higher coverage of male athletics, and the converse applies to female sports. A study from the University of Southern California and Purdue University found that coverage of men’s sports totaled around 95% of television coverage and the ESPN highlights show SportsCenter in 2019.

In most cases where a women’s sport was highlighted, it was almost always overshadowed by the “Big Three’’ of men’s sports (basketball, football and baseball), with coverage that was often more frequent and more extensive. The victories of female athletes have historically been cast aside to highlight the achievements of their male counterparts, and without broadcasters fighting for more coverage on female athletics, the imbalance in sports coverage between genders will continue to persist. The disparity in female broadcasters controls the content being reported on, and this lack of representation of women in sports media reinforces the stereotype that sports is a male-dominated activity, hindering all female athletes.

It is incredibly discouraging for female athletes, regardless of what sport they play, to see their progress discounted in favor of highlighting achievements of the opposite gender.

Oftentimes, younger individuals find difficulty in taking initiative to pursue their own passions without an ex-

ample to follow. Popular success stories routinely encourage and inspire children to set goals that far exceed what may be easily attainable. Both the lack of female success in sports broadcasting as well as the undercoverage of female athletics in the media has discouraged young women from pursuing professions in this field, and without a change in the ideas being established in younger minds, this mindset will continue into future generations.

The percentage of female announcers increases yearly, foreshadowing a future where women will be represented in higher quantities by the media. However, without a shift in equal representation, both in who is headlining and what is being headlined, no progress will be made towards a future that fulfills promises of equality.

By no means does an increase in participation of females in athletic broadcasting sacrifice the positions previously allotted to men, nor does this have to divide sports coverage solely based on gender. Having individuals from different backgrounds comment on the same topics will provide listeners with diverse, fresh perspectives, and introduce a new depth to sports broadcasting.

On a national level, the sports industry is slowly progressing towards a future of equal representation.

More and more all-female broadcast teams are emerging, the most recent being Leah Hextall, Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Linda Cohn, who made history on January 17, 2022, narrating the Arizona Coyotes and Montreal Canadiens game at Gila River Arena as ESPN’s first all-female NHL broadcast team. Teams like these set precedents for future generations, providing aspiring female announcers with examples of women who were once in the same position they were, building themselves up to success through perseverance and dedication.

At Stanford, I think it is up to current students to provide incoming classes with a foundation for success.

Beginning with New Student Orientation, freshmen and transfer students can be introduced to KZSU, which as an organization can focus on the deliberate recruitment of female talent. KZSU must work twice as hard to attract female students to overcompensate for the deficit that already exists in the candidate pool.

The KZSU Quarterly Info Meetings are also incredibly important, as they should not only be used to give more insight into the station’s inner workings, but also to make an explicit call for female candidates to join and have their voices heard. Having past and current female KZSU broadcasters speak at these meetings would be beneficial, as female candidates can then hear about the positive experiences women have had while working in sports broadcasting at KZSU. KZSU should also build broadcast teams composed of both female and male reporters, so broadcasters of both genders can collaborate to create a unique and nuanced commentary style. Broadcasters should be encouraged to explore narration for both female and male sports to eliminate the idea that gender categorizes our interests. Lastly, KZSU

Please see BROADCAST, page 5

Established 1892 Executive Team Emma Talley Editor in Chief

Georgia Roseberg Executive Editor for Print

Savanna Stewart Executive Editor for Digital

Board of Directors Andrew Bridges Eleni Aneziris Emma Talley Anastasiia Malenko Kevin Zhang R.B. Brenner Sam Catania Tim Vrakas

A N I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R Managing Editors Kirsten Mettler, Peyton Lee

Cameron Ehsan

Ron Rocky Coloma

Arts & Life Editors

Newsroom Development Director

Social Media Director

Carolyn Stein, Matthew Turk Audience Engagement Editors

Esha Dhawan

Andy Huynh, Crystal Chen Photo & Video Editors

Jared Klegar, Cricket Bidleman, Kaushikee Nayudu

Podcasts Editor

Krystal Navarro, Ray Aguirre

Chloe Mendoza

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Co-Chairs

Cricket Bidleman Editorial Board Chair

Equity Project

Eleni Aneziris

Jessica Lee

Chief Operating Officer

Graphics Editor

Hiram Duran Alvarez

Kyla Figueroa, Matthew Turk

Yearbook Editors

Desk Editors Aditeya Shukla

Mark Huerta

Anuka Mohanpuhr

Nicole Tong

Athena Xue

Tom Quach

Benjamin Zaidel

Uche Ochuba

Betty He

Victoria Hsieh

Bhumikorn Kongtaveelert

Zach Zafran

Brandon Kim Carolyn Stein Cybele Zhang Ells Boone

Grind Editors

Jessy Zhu

Om Jahagirdar

Jordan John Lee

Humor Editor

Contacting The Daily: The Advertising Department, including Classifieds, can be reached at (650) 721-5803 during normal business hours.

Send tips and letters to the editor to eic@stanforddaily. com and op-eds to opinions@stanforddaily.com

Opinions Editors

Sam Catania

Business Team

Financial Officer

Sports Editor

Chief Technology Officer

Sarina Deb, Kaushikee Nayudu

Ron Rocky Coloma

Sofia Scekic, Gavin McDonell

Sajan Mehrotra, Ananya Karthik

Spotlight Editor

Tracy Jan

Production Manager

Incorporated 1973

Copy Editors

Grace Carroll Magazine Editor

Nicholas Welch Head Copy Editor

Malaysia Atwater, Anastasiia Malenko, Tammer Bagdasarian

Alexa Gold Amanda Li Anna Goldman

News Editors

Jessy Zhu Olivia Jessner Jennifer Quach Utsavi Singh Paloma Ronis von Helms

To contact our section editors, email News at news@stanforddaily.com, Opinions at opinions@stanforddaily.com, Sports at sports@stanforddaily.com, Arts & Life at arts@stanforddaily.com, Humor at humor@stanforddaily.com and The Grind at thegrind@stanforddaily.com.

Rebecca Wang

Keeping the STEM woman in STEM hen I finally had my first big-girl engineering job, the paltry number of immediate colleagues who looked like me was a huge culture shock. As a student, I haven’t been in industry long enough to experience the effects of the perpetual recurrence of these feelings, but by the end of three months, I had drawn my own conclusions. If I wanted to have a long, shining, successful career in this field, I needed to know my role models, mentors and about acceptable work culture (at least in my immediate team). I also needed to solidify my motivations and confidence in the field, and in myself, in order to survive the barriers produced by this gender disparity.

Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields have long been subjected to sexism in the workplace. They face stereotyping, harassment, opportunity gaps, derogatory comments and are paid less, promoted less and given less access to work opportunities. Despite women earning 35.1% of undergraduate degrees and 34.5% of Ph.D. STEM degrees between 2008-2015, the drop to 27% for female STEM workers and 5% for females in top executive positions isn’t entirely shocking.

Several measures can be taken to improve the work environment for women. A 2016 study published in the Harvard Business Review found that in a hiring pool of four candidates, increasing the number of female or minority candidates from one to two significantly increased their chances of being hired. Specifically, they found that the likelihood of a woman getting hired was 50% in a candidate pool of

W

two men and two women, but dropped to 0% in a candidate pool of three men and one woman. Thus, implementing gender-blind hiring policies could help women overcome the barriers of these types of biases.

Furthermore, even though 50% of American jobs are performed by women, women make up only 6.6% of Fortune 500 CEOs. To address the bias that has led to this statistic, companies can implement directed programs providing training, mentorship and exposure to leadership opportunities for women, with clear articulations such as end-goals of promoting participants to senior managerial roles or C-suite positions.

Nevertheless, women face additional difficulties outside of the workplace. For example, having a family disproportionately affects women: 57% of new mothers work full-time compared to 78% of new fathers. At the same time, the U.S. is the only nation among the 36 member-nations of OECD that does not have a government-mandated maternity leave. Mandating these policies can give women equal decision-making opportunities when considering starting a family.

But uniformity in paid maternity leave doesn’t resolve consequences at the workplace for women after they have children — the current reality that mothers do the majority of child-rearing pulls women out of the race early on and prevents them from accessing work-related opportunities, such as promotion. The longer a woman’s maternity leave, the less likely she is to be viewed as equal to men for salary raises or promotions. Policies such as mandated paternity leave can help com-

bat this bias.

These are only a few examples of the biases women face at work that have the potential to influence their growth opportunities; both the federal government and private corporations can continue to address other biases women face, starting with implementing more — and more nuanced — policies.

A prominent policy that has surfaced recently is pay transparency.

There is no doubt that this move would quickly display the very real way in which women in STEM face unfair treatment. Companies can now close pay gaps and women can better advocate for themselves, instead of relying on being anonymously informed of this discrimination once the opportunity for negotiation is over. One such example is the NYC wage transparency law, which was passed by the New York City Council in December 2021 and goes into effect in May 2022. Opponents argue that this transparency could lead employers to retain fewer employees (due to decreased ability to pay talented staffers lower rates), and that it could have detrimental effects on employees due to salary tensions and the possibility that employees will take pay differences out of context. Ultimately, how a company treats these considerations will hugely reflect how serious they are about their company culture, especially when it has the potential to affect the company’s business model. Yet, in order to keep female professionals in STEM, a similar or modified policy should be considered.

In addition to implementation,

Please see RETENTION page 5

Rebecca Wang

Prime her early for STEM ne insecurity I think about often is my wobbly foundation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects. I didn’t grow up with a sustained interest in Legos or RC (remote-controlled, radiocontrolled) cars. I was always more occupied with perfecting my nail art skills, shoddily designing the next couture dress of my dreams and crafting anything and everything. My interests expanded as I grew older, but I became more self-conscious and regretful of the childhood hobbies I filled my downtime with, increasingly feeling that the activities I liked were girly and “non-engineer-ey.”

Though these choices of activity should not inherently limit anyone’s ability or aptitude towards their profession or interests, the fact that I often doubted the validity of my interests and identity threatened my chances of staying

O

in a STEM profession. Our society systemically differentiates between girl and boy activities — a quick google search for “toys for boys” brings up “robots & robotic pets,” “vehicle, trains & remote control toys” and “building sets & blocks” while the first eight results in searching “toys for girls” includes either “dolls,” “accessories” or “clothes.” Whether or not girls truly have these preferences, society has long viewed the interests and activities of girls through a certain lens — one which does not correlate strongly with our society’s description of engineer/scientist — and it’s become increasingly important to instill a level of confidence in girls to continue making these stereotype-breaking choices once they identify STEM as a potential interest.

So what can we do to remove these self-doubts for women in STEM? How can we instill a confi-

dence in them so that whoever they become and whatever they’re interested in is extremely valuable and valid? How can we help them craft an identity which should not shake the validity of their choice to embark in the STEM profession?

We can facilitate this through a number of initiatives.

Extracurricular STEM programs early on in life have been cited as one technique for increasing the number of women majoring in STEM disciplines. These STEM programs have the freedom to take on numerous forms, as they must focus on a wide range of early ages; between the ages of 6 and 18, girls’ interest in STEM decreases from 66% to 4%. Additionally, research shows that subject choices by classroom peers affect girls’ preference for STEM subjects; when their female peers do not have a preference for STEM subjects, other girls are less encouraged to

display these preferences for fear of violating gender norms. Not only do these extracurricular programs allow girls to perform better in STEM because they provide exposure to these subjects earlier on, but finding these communities can also help them know, and believe, that they belong.

Breaking the stereotype is uncomfortable: most girls make the choice to veer away from STEM subjects when seeing more boys choose STEM activities. Some girls will even “underperform in tasks in which they have to ‘think like scientists’” because they already associate thinking like a scientist with a masculine trait. Girls as young as age 6 begin to harbor ideas that STEM is meant for males; exposing them to communities of other girls who choose STEM can help to combat this preconceived notion. Some programs include Girls Who Code, a nonprof-

it organization aiming to increase the number of women in computer science, and STEM for Her, a nonprofit foundation promoting education and providing opportunities for girls to pursue successful STEM-related careers. These programs have proven highly effective in influencing undergraduate majors down the line — Girls Who Code reported its participants to study computer science in college at 15 to 16 times the national average.

Educating adults who have a significant impact on a child’s early years can also help solidify a girl’s sense of belonging in STEM areas.

A large percentage of adults harbor a number of biases such as believing STEM subjects like mathematics require a natural ability and are fixed-skills. Additionally, parents unintentionally reinforce

Please see PRIMING page 5

Friday, February 11, 2022 N 5

The Stanford Daily

BROADCAST Continued from page 4 gender stereotypes when they overestimate their sons and underestimate their daughters, unconsciously choose to process praise (a type of praise that emphasizes the work, effort or actions of a child) their sons more often and believe that daughters must try harder than sons to succeed in subjects such as mathematics. Considering a 2013 study which found that parents’ praise to 1-3 year-olds was predictive of their children’s motivational frameworks five years later, early adult interactions seem to have made solid contributions to the gender disparity in STEM. Additionally, the impact of more female role models cannot be overlooked. The fact that STEM roles are often portrayed as men’s jobs or associated with more male-dominated culture and activities may deter females from discovering a passion for STEM or envisioning a sustained interest in the field for themselves. Personally, inspiring female role models have played a huge part in

PRIMING Continued from page 4 must create an inclusive environment, as having a diverse team does not guarantee that female broadcasters feel welcome and heard.

In the coming years, institutions need to encourage an increase in female representation in sports broadcasting, which will then improve the coverage of the accomplishments within female athletics. I believe that can begin at Stanford, starting with KZSU, eventually pushing other collegiate and national institutions to follow suit.

MISHA LEE High school senior from Irvine, Calif.

RETENTION Continued from page 4 better publicization of these policies can help shape workplace culture, allowing women to feel more accepted. Changes can include collecting and publishing statistics at the end of a performance cycle, reinforcement of company DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) goals by higher management and regular communication about these initiatives and culture amongst teams. Mandated sex-disaggregated data in areas such as pay, new hires and promotions can both increase gender diversity awareness amongst employees and drive better policy decisions. In 2019, 97.3% of venture capital (VC) funding went to malefounded companies. Publishing gender-disaggregated data on funding within VC firms can help bring awareness to their investment choices. Leader inclusiveness, which refers to “words and behaviors displayed by leaders that encourage others’ involvement and appreciate others’ contributions,” is another strategy that can help employees feel that it is safe to express their concerns, especially since “a lot of companies are early in diversity, equity and inclusion,” according to DEI consultant Melinda B. Epler.

Personally, leaders who embody these initiatives weigh largely when I assess my work experience. At my previous company, my manager made it extremely clear to me that it was important for me to report anything I felt uncomfortable with, after I once skirted around a description of unfair treatment. Later on, one of my teammates told me that, in the past, my manager had asked HR to be more mindful of the candidates they sent over for inter-

SIMMONS Continued from page 2 Review’s efforts to be more targeted in its outreach to affinity groups and advocated for better accommodations for students with disabilities in the journal, according to SLR Diversity Co-Chair Jasmine Robinson J.D. ’22.

He also previously served as the President of the Asian Pacific Islander Law Student Association (APILSA) and the Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion at the Stanford Law Association.

Communities mourn his passing As someone belonging to multiple marginalized identities, Dylan’s passing has been felt across several communities on campus. On Jan. 28, the APILSA held a Lunar New Year dinner, during which they took time to remember Dylan. Stanford OutLaw, the

keeping me in STEM, from Gwynne Shotwell to Hedy Lamarr, especially because I have been able to see more of my diverse passions represented in their work, reminding me that I am as much an engineer as the boy next to me. This feeling is generally true for other girls; when girls come into contact with female role models in STEM, and more broadly, individuals with whom they can identify, their self-concept in STEM, attitude toward STEM and motivation to pursue STEM careers improve.

It’s unfortunate that a boy playing with his toys may be seen as a curious kid with an aptitude for tinkering and problem solving, whilst all the times I diagnosed my sewing machine in order to continue my fashion projects were seen just as a feminine hobby. Though it will take generations to combat the years of subtle reinforcement of gender stereotypes in STEM, priming a girl early on for STEM can give her the confidence and knowledge to sustain her STEM choices and provide her with the best possible chance of staying true to her professional dreams.

HOSPITAL Continued from page 2 “tremendous value of vaccines for all,” Ozdalga wrote.

Although vaccines are critical to preventing new infections, they do not guarantee immunity — many of the COVID-19 cases recorded in the Stanford community have been among fully vaccinated individuals, according to clinical assistant professor William Collins, a co-collaborator on the charting project.

“We remain worried about our patients with significant underlying medical conditions that affect the immune system,” Collins wrote. “Even with vaccines, these patients can still get very sick.”2

GRADUATE STUDENTS

GSC calls for support after Harvard suit

By BRANDON KIM STAFF WRITER

The Graduate Student Council (GSC) advocated for increased institutional support for students navigating Title IX violations and mental health crises during its Wednesday meeting.

The discussion took place just a day after several Harvard students filed a lawsuit accusing their university of ignoring sexual harassment allegations against one of its professors. The lawsuit drew the attention of GSC councilors, who shared concerns about the power graduatelevel advisors can wield over their students across higher education institutions.

For councilor Jarita Greyeyes, a fourth-year Ph.D student in education, the Harvard case underscores the need for clearer communication between administrators and students regarding sexual harassment policies, including the Title IX reporting process and its outcomes.

“It’s important that we find ways to support graduate students who need help with navigating relationships with fundamental imbalances of power,” Greyeyes said.

The Harvard lawsuit, which alleges problematic handling of students’ therapy records by university administrators, also prompted concerns among councilors about mental health support for students at Stanford. The GSC’s increased scrutiny over how administrators handle students’ mental health issues adds to recent attention that councilors have given to mental health among Stanford’s graduate student community. The University has recently encouraged and reminded students to prioritize their mental health, sending several emails highlighting campus resources following several medical incidents on campus.

ARRILLAGA

views after noticing the homogeneous resumes he came across during interviews. Although I never personally asked my manager about this, I became much more trusting of the fact that my manager really could serve as my advocate after hearing about his emphasis on promoting diversity.

While these are all important action items, we must be cognizant of how this work is being executed — and, more importantly, who is doing the executing. Efforts towards implementing these standards should be shared equally, yet this work has fallen disproportionately on women. In academia, the unrecognized work performed by underrepresented faculty members has been termed “invisible labor.”

Based on survey responses by 469 faculty members, a significant number of individuals who claimed to engage in DEI work self-identified as non-white, non-male or first-generation college attendees. By publishing gender-disaggregated data on who is attending or organizing DEI workshops and committees and engaging in diversity-focused recruitment and peer-reviewed work, among other initiatives, we can help close the gap of this unequal burden and perhaps change the culture in which most underrepresented individuals feel that they value diversity work more than their peers.

We can certainly make significant improvements to the work environment for women. By retaining the amount of women who enter junior-level STEM roles, and eventually increasing the percentage of women in senior roles, we can start a cycle of increasing the number of women in STEM. With the increase in the number of female role models, younger girls with STEM interests will have a better chance at achieving their future career goals.

Continued from page 1

law school’s LGBTQ+ student association, also held a picnic in remembrance on Jan. 30, which had nearly 40 community members in attendance.

The transgender community was heavily impacted by Dylan’s passing.

His passing is the second death of a transgender Stanford graduate student within a year. Mukund was friends with both Dylan and Rose Wong M.D. ’23, who died last year.

“On last year’s Trans Day of Remembrance, we thought about Rose,” Mukund said. “This year, we’ll think about Rose and Dylan. If the trans community could hang out in a way that didn’t involve the death of one of us, that would be really swell.”

Dylan’s passing has reminded Dimon of how important it is to take care of his mental health.

“As his close friend and roommate, I think I saw a side of Dylan that wasn’t apparent to many. I saw how much his responsibilities weighed on his mind,” Dimon wrote.

“His passing has made me re-evaluate the things that I value, as well as

the nature of achievement more generally.”

In a thank you card that Dylan sent to family and friends back home a few weeks ago, he wrote a quote that held significance to him.

“The most important thing about you is not the things you achieve; it’s the person you become.”

Support is available for students through Stanford’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) 24/7 at (650) 723-3785. The Graduate Life Office (GLO) is available 24/7 via the Stanford operator at (650) 723-7288, pager 25085 and during office hours at (650) 736-7078. The Bridge Peer Counseling Center offers counseling by trained students 24/7 at (650) 723-3392. The Faculty Staff Help Center, located in Kingscote Gardens, offers confidential help for Stanford faculty and staff.

The Stanford Law School has created an online space for people to share their remembrances of Dylan Simmons.

In the 1960s, after realizing that professional basketball “would not afford him the family life” that he wanted, according to the obituary written by his family, Arrillaga switched career paths and eventually purchased and helped develop a dilapidated building which would become his first tangible investment in commercial real estate.

Arrillaga and his business partner Richard Peery purchased and converted over 20 million square feet of farmland into campuses and offices, developing the region that would come to be known as Silicon Valley. Gearing their business to the small but growing industry of tech and electronics companies, they capitalized on the availability of land and proximity to the suburbs to house tech giants like Google, Intel and Apple. Through his career in commercial real estate, Arrillaga accumulated a net worth of approximately $2.5 billion.

Arrillaga donated more than $300 million of his fortune to Stanford during his lifetime through philanthropic efforts and dozens of en-

FACULTY Continued from page 1 the Honor Code.

Under the first recommendation, “every student, matriculated or otherwise, is required to complete training on the Honor Code upon entering Stanford and every year thereafter,” the recommendation read, which contrasts the current policy that only requires training for matriculating first-year and new transfer students.

Screenshot: BRANDON KIM/The Stanford Daily

One councilor suggested that the Graduate Life Office implement compulsory psychological screenings as a preventative measure in response to calls for more mental health awareness at the graduate level.

One method of supporting graduate student mental health at Stanford, said councilor and third-year Ph.D. student in aeronautics and astronautics Jason Anderson, would be for the Graduate Life Office (GLO) to implement compulsory psychological screenings for graduate students. The objective of such a policy would be to catch mental health issues early on, similar to preventative care in medicine.

Other councilors, including Greyeyes, expressed concerns about this hypothetical mandatory policy since it might potentially share student medical information with the University, especially given the details of the Harvard lawsuit.

GSC co-chair and fifth-year communications student Sanna Ali raised the possibility of such a policy being implemented as a voluntary opportunity instead, noting that mandatory screenings would likely be received with suspicion by the general student body.

While compulsory screenings may be well-intended, said councilor and fourth-year developmental and psychological sciences Ph.D. stu-

dent Emily Schell, the screenings would also take away agency from students. Rather than mandatory screenings, she said, vulnerable and withdrawn individuals require far gentler care.

“You can’t escalate with someone who’s already vulnerable,” Schell said.

Councilors also reviewed a newly instituted Peer Mediation program

by Conflict Resolution Fellow Carson Smith and Assistant Dean for Student Support Ankita Rakhe. The program, which was launched this year after a 15-year hiatus, will enable undergraduate and graduate mediators to serve as neutral third parties to students navigating conflicts with other students.

Smith and Rakhe said that the program was inspired by a “BIPOC framework of growth and relationship building,” with techniques focusing on “dialogue facilitation, conflict mediation, restorative justice and circle practices.” Typical cases tackled would include interpersonal issues, disagreement in student organizations and conflicts with friends.

dowed scholarships. His largest donations include a $55 million donation to the School of Medicine in 2020 and a gift of $150 million in 2013 which was, at the time, the single largest donation Stanford had ever received from a living individual.

“John’s support has been lifechanging for countless Stanford students,” University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne wrote in a January statement to The Daily. “He has also transformed our physical campus — his deep philanthropic support matched only by the gift of his time and his expertise in architecture, construction and more.”

Arrillaga’s generosity as a donor never undermined his acumen as “the toughest dealmaker in Silicon Valley” — a reputation described in his family’s obituary. For Mahoney, the first word that comes to mind when he thinks of Arrillaga is “complicated.”

“He was so generous to Stanford and other non-profits, but none were tougher on vendors,” said Mahoney.

“Commercial real estate was a game to him, zero sum.”

Arrillaga’s success in commercial real estate is deeply woven into the rise of Silicon Valley, according to historians who study the region.

“These larger than life, extraordinarily successful, intellectual peo-

ple like [Steve] Jobs [are] super important, but they’re also part of this cast of thousands,” explained Margaret O’Mara, a professor at the University of Washington who specializes in American urban history and Silicon Valley. “People like Arrillaga help[ed] these companies be what they are and grow — the land and the real estate is part of the story.”

Arrillaga has left a physical footprint and legacy at Stanford, building and donating more than 200 buildings and projects, according to his family’s obituary. While many of these buildings bear his name, including the Arrillaga Family Sports Center, the Frances Arrillaga Alumni Center and the Arrillaga Family Dining Commons, other buildings were donated or built anonymously.

Arrillaga also donated and constructed a number of buildings, schools and other projects in the surrounding area of Silicon Valley, including the Menlo School and Ronald McDonald house, according to his the obituary.

Tessier-Lavigne wrote that he “will personally miss John’s dry wit and sense of fun” and that he is “deeply grateful for his remarkable vision and commitment to Stanford, which will be felt for generations to come.”

BJA’s second recommendation called for “student-led discussions about the Honor Code” early on in a student’s Stanford experience to “foster student ownership,” Husman said.

BJA also recommends that departments and schools work with the Office of Community Standards to train their course instructors and teaching assistants about their responsibilities under the Honor Code, Schwarz added.

The fourth and fifth recommendations called for every course instructor to include a statement of the Honor Code in their initial course material, and for students to be required to attest their commitment to follow the Honor Code during major assignments and exams.

Husman also presented recommendations concerning future revisions of the Honor Code.

“Every year, the Board on Judicial Affairs will solicit community feedback and convene a meeting to discuss issues that have arisen under the Honor Code and possible remedies, including proposed bylaw changes,” Husman said.

The final recommendation was for the University to “periodically convene a committee to undertake an in-depth review of the Honor Code, to assess its form and function in the Stanford community.” The suggested length of time was every five years.

Engineering professor Juan Santiago urged Stanford to revise the Honor Code to allow faculty to proctor exams. He said that he has often seen students “standing up looking over somebody’s shoulder” or exchanging their test when he has entered the exam room to answer a

question.

“I think [students] see this all the time, and it’s almost as though it teaches them that Stanford does not take the Honor Code seriously,” he said.

Political science professor Judith Goldstein, a former Senate chair, said that the current policies regarding cheating require students to “feel bad if they do report, and feel bad if they don’t report.” She added that the current rules result in a “lack of clarity” and “lack of fairness” when examining how the Honor Code is applied across the board.

“I would urge you to start to think about those sets of problems, because they’re the fundamental problems that have made it very hard for us to do what we all want to do, which is make sure we have a good Honor Code,” Goldstein said.

The Senate also voted in favor of changes to the Charge of the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid (C-UAFA) to prevent faculty conflict of interest.

C-UAFA is one of several Academic Council committees that facilitates University and academic governance. In the past, a de-facto policy had barred faculty members who have a child or close family member approaching the stage where they will be applying to college from serving on this committee in order to minimize unfair advantages according to the Committee on Committees.

At the meeting, however, the Senate unanimously voted to codify restrictions on faculty participation on Academic Council committees if there is a conflict of interest in order to standardize procedure.

6 N Friday, February 11, 2022

The Stanford Daily

CULTURE READS

“Fiona and Jane” friendship falters

By LILY ZHOU

J perience where meaning continues to morph after its creation. Given the lack of official statements or placards on-site when the piece was first installed, the raw responses from students are, perhaps, to be expected.

Some students question the piece’s aesthetics, regardless of its meaning.

Josie Brodie ’21 said that the sculpture is a “quite questionable” choice. “I personally don’t think that it adds to the landscape, which is already, in my opinion, quite nice. I think it looks kind of strange and unnecessary,” Brodie said.

Julia Betts Lotufo ’24 shared a similar sentiment saying the the sculpture feels “a bit out of place. It does make me feel a bit uncomfortable; I don’t know why.” Although timeless, the aesthetic of “Hello” feels more disconcerting than necessary for a sculpture positioned next to a student recreational space like Meyer Green.

While Brodie doesn’t appreciate “Hello” aesthetically, she does appreciate that the work encourages students to talk about art. “It did provoke conversation, which is surely what all art is meant to do, which is to get people thinking about what the meaning of art is and how the landscape should be beautified,” Brodie said.

Not all students dislike the art. “I think it adds to the allure of quirky Stanford traditions,” Ryan Chi ’24 said. Sara Damore M.S. ’22 was surprised by

ean Chen Ho’s debut novel “Fiona and Jane” is an arresting exploration of two Taiwanese American women’s struggles with romance, family and identity. Released in early January 2022, the novel consists of ten interrelated short stories that follow childhood friends Fiona Lin and Jane Shen from adolescence to tumultuous adulthood years marked by failed romances and strained parental relationships. Although I found Ho’s portrayal of Fiona and Jane’s friendship to lack complexity, the novel’s depiction of young adulthood and evolving familial relationships is nevertheless compelling.

Fiona and Jane grow up in Los Angeles and have been best friends since the second grade. Their teenage years are defined by late night escapades with their mutual friend Won; on weekends, they visit bars and go to parties Graphic: JESSICA LEE/The Stanford Daily together. After college, Fiona moves to New York, and the two friends fall out of contact. However, they reconnect later in adulthood after Fiona moves back to California and marries her first husband.

These stories alternate between Fiona and Jane’s perspectives. While Jane’s stories are exclusively narrated in first-person, Fiona’s are all in third-person limited; Jane observes, while Fiona is observed. Despite this imbalance in narration, Ho seems to devote much more space to developing Fiona’s backstory and linking it to the struggles that define much of her adulthood: financial insecurity and failed romantic relationships. The reader understands Jane by tapping into her interior monologue, yet understands Fiona primarily through what has happened to her. Although Fiona, as a character, is held at a greater distance from the reader due to the narrative perspective, Ho nevertheless allows her interiority to shine through in brief, startling moments. Ho, writing about Fiona falling out of touch with Jane in the years after college graduation, writes: “Where the sun touched her face, her body, Fiona seemed to feel more and more alone.”

Fiona and Jane’s lives are very different, and their friendship appears to be the single element tying together these disparate stories across time and place. Despite this, I hesitate to say that this story collection is truly about their relationship.

Their friendship often serves as simply a backdrop to stories about finding love or navigating early adulthood. Perhaps it’s because this friendship is so insulated by the narrative that it is unclear what, exactly, binds these two friends together. Although they are nominally best friends — they frequently refer to one another as such — much of their friendship isn’t shown on the page. Are Fiona and Jane friends as adults only because they have been friends since childhood? Ho seems to make a point of clearly differentiating these two characters through various contrasts: Fiona is beautiful, while Jane is plain; Fiona is straight, while Jane is bisexual; Fiona grew up in a financially unstable household, while Jane grew up with wealth and stability; Fiona was born in Taiwan and speaks fluent Mandarin, while Jane, who was born in the United States, struggles to speak the language.

Fiona and Jane’s friendship is rarely called into question, despite their differences. Their contrasts are not so much sources

Please see CHURRO, page 9

Please see BOOK, page 9

NIKOLAS LIEPINS/The Stanford Daily

Xu Zhen’s “Hello” succeeds in furthering artistic dialogue, but leaves students confused by the placement and aesthetics, write Betty He and Bhumikorn Kongtaveelert. The statue now sits in Meyer Green.

CULTURE

New art on Green Students react to “churro” sculpture

By BHUMIKORN KONGTAVEELERT DESK EDITOR

By BETTY HE DESK EDITOR

By PEYTON LEE

MANAGING EDITOR

By NIKOLAS LIEPINS

STAFF WRITER

A

n unsettling sculpture appeared on the platform overlooking Meyer Green earlier this quarter. Confounded by what the sculpture is and why it’s there, students soon coined it “the churro” because of its twisting shape and ridges along the spine. The sculpture, in fact, is not a churro; it’s a political piece developed by artist Xu Zhen. The piece may have meaningful origins, but the art still fails due to its aesthetics and placement.

The twisted Corinthian column, named “Hello,” was commissioned by Stanford’s Public Art Committee in 2019; the installation was delayed due to the pandemic. Stanford commissioned the artwork as part of its efforts to promote engagement with the arts through outdoor sculpture placements.

Aligned with Hoover Tower, yet bowing down towards the viewer, the sculpture’s posture of humility juxtaposes with the Tower’s erect form and implicitly draws attention to the Hoover Institute’s looming force over Stanford’s campus. The artwork demands attention. Its huge presence — fifteen feet tall — is a grand statement that forces passersby to stop and ruminate.

Some students interviewed by The Daily lightheartedly appreciate the work. “I am the churro statue’s number one fan,” said Eli Arguello ’25.

These humorous reactions contrast the work’s original intent. According to an official statement for MadeIn Gallery, where the sculpture was first exhibited, “Hello” “constitutes a reality and metaphor on the encounter between civilizations of different time and space.”

Zhen intended for the work to be a critique of the rise in globalization while simultaneously challenging the role of traditional sculpture through the artist’s use of technology.

One student interviewed saw a deeper message behind “Hello,” albeit still varied from its original meaning. “Personally, I think the new twisted Corinthian column sculpture represents Stanford’s nonconformity to strict standards.

It’s a rejection of antiquated ideals and poses to inspire students about the unconventional nature of the school,” said Molly Cantillon ’25.

None of these students are “wrong” in their interpretations; art is a fluid ex-

MUSIC

CULTURE

Banks’ show lights up 576

A twist on Greek mythology

Student band sixeight also performed at the SCN event

“Antigone: A New Trans Play” stuns

By AALIYAH WEBSTER

T

he common area of 576 Alvarado House was awash in soft colors on Thursday night as Brandon Banks and the student band sixeight took the stage for Stanford Concert Network’s latest show. Although both Banks and the band gave great musical performances, venue limitations did limit the event’s success.

The show marked Banks’ first live performance since COVID hit. He has been working quietly since the release of his EP “Static” in 2020.

Moving in silence, however, does not mean moving slowly. In the last year, Banks has been credited as a writer on Drake’s “Certified Lover Boy” and Charlotte Day Wilson’s debut album “Alpha.”

Sixeight, a five-member all-frosh band, made opening up for an accomplished artist sound easy. Lead singers Leland Fong ’25 and Carmel Limcaoco ’25 delivered buttery vocals. Fong also played drums while Limcaoco played lead guitar.

The ensemble also featured Naima Patel ’25 on the bass, Seve Reyes ’25 rocking the keys and Avi Udash ’25 playing the guitar. The band performed covers of R&B favorites like “Get You”

by Daniel Caesar and “Untitled (How Does it Feel)” by D’Angelo.

The student band’s energy was infectious.

They kept the crowd engaged; at one point Fong asked the audience to guess how long each mem-

By KYLA FIGUEROA MANAGING EDITOR

By LYDIA WEI

COLUMNIST

Meyer Green on Mar. 2.

Banks hit the stage next with a bright smile and an acoustic guitar. He charmed the audience between songs by giving anecdotes about his past. He even joked about being a runner in college and how he would think to himself, “I’m an R&B singer, why am I putting myself through this?”

Banks’ sunny disposition quickly became a

Please see CONCERT, page 8

Please see PLAY, page 9

ULA LUCAS/The Stanford Daily

Banks is credited as a writer on Drake’s “Certified Lover Boy” and Charlotte Day Wilson’s album “Alpha.” Although Banks and sixeight put on strong performances, the acoustics suffered because 576 was too small of a venue, writes Aaliyah Webster. ber had been playing their instrument. The audience was stunned to learn that Patel had only started playing bass two weeks before sixeight’s debut show.

The only downside of the concert was its size; the venue was too small. Setting aside the muddy acoustics that dominated the tiny room, sixeight simply deserved a much larger audience. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait too long for this to be reality. Sixeight confirmed that they will be playing their first solo show at

I

’m going to kill Polynices!”

Antigone, played by Skye Lyles ’25, declares triumphantly in the opening scene of “Antigone: A New Trans Play” by JJ Sutton ’22.

For audiences both familiar with and new to the original story of “Antigone,” this sudden statement comes as a shock; in the traditional play, Polynices is Antigone’s beloved brother whom she fights to bury despite Kreon’s strict interdictions.

What exactly is Antigone’s relationship to Polynices in this new retelling, and why does she need to kill him?

Antigone, born as Polynices, finally decides to take control of her identity and “kill” Polynices in Sutton’s retelling of the classic myth.

Friday, February 11, 2022 N 7

The Stanford Daily

THE GRIND

THE GRIND

Jargon-filled academy of nonsense

There is beauty in the darkness Moments worth one hundred poems

By SANJANA FRIEDMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I

n the final paragraph of his essay “Towards a Libidinal Economy of Three Modern Painters,” literary critic Frederic Jameson makes a startling pronouncement: “Photorealism,” he declares, is “the aesthetic ideology and the fullest living expression of that sterile thing which is consumer capitalism or the societe de consummation.” Aware that such a statement demands prompt justification, he continues: “No doubt [photorealism] projects [consumer capitalism’s] view of itself and thereby legitimates it. Are we then ourselves implicitly condemned by the hallucinatory fascination that it exercises over us? Perhaps. And yet this gleaming depersonalization of the commodity vision is strangely silent about its own fundamental impulse, which it neither affirms nor denies, in all the icy neutrality of the reified eye.”

Readers unversed in academic jargon might feel a wave of bewildered anguish when confronted with the above paragraph. Who could

By GHEED EL BIZRI Photo courtesy of Unsplash

Today we live in an era of nonsense. Tomorrow, we can hope, clarity will come back into style. extract meaning from declarations about the “icy neutrality of the reified eye” or the “depersonalization of the commodity vision”? What should we make of the “implicit condemnation” contained in our “hallucinatory fascination” with photorealism? Are we disturbed for preferring Chuck Close to de Kooning or Courbet to Cezanne? Are we brainwashed for feeling nothing but a vague sense of unease and despair when confronted with a Jackson Pollock painting? Jameson, to his credit, remains noncommittal. Perhaps we are sick, perhaps we are not.

The reified eye, in all its icy neutrality, will not reveal the implications of its “fundamental im-

treat special food items like they are heirlooms. After a visit to my birthplace, Moscow, when I was in fourth grade, I kept a bag of Maltesers (the British version of Whopper candies) that my dad gave me for months after I returned home to Beijing. I let them sit in the farthest corner of my desk drawer, alongside a patch of fur that his dog Ilma shed, which I wrapped in layers of napkins. One day I returned home to find that the Maltesers were gone. My mom had given them to my sister when she could not find other snacks for her to take to school on exam day. I teared up silently as my sister sneered, “Eww, why are you keeping them? They’re not even edible

Please see MOZART, page 8

Please see BEAUTY, page 8

pulse” so easily.

It is difficult to trace the logic that leads Jameson to his conclusions. The essay, first published in 1979, is chock-full of nonsense clauses. By “nonsense clauses,” I mean phrases intelligible only to distinguished professors, humanities doctoral students, precocious undergraduates interested in “theory” and, perhaps, erstwhile Tumblr users. Ostensibly, the text contains Jameson’s reflections on the works of three modern painters — Willem de Kooning, Paul Cezanne and Franz Gertsch — but read-

Please see NONSENSE, page 11

Mozart chocolate Relationships encoded in possessions CONTRIBUTING WRITER

W

hen my roommate asked me for another one of my Mozart chocolate balls, I rejected her for the first time. We are the best of friends to the point where we live together “like an old married couple,” sharing everything that is shareable and teasing each other perennially. My LaCroix is her LaCroix, and I have used her music stand more than she has — no resentful thoughts on either side. But when she wanted to have my chocolate once again to fill her demanding stomach, I tossed out a resolute “No” and buried myself in work. My conscience reproached me harshly, but “oh well,” the devil in me said, “everyone gets overwhelmed by ‘stress’ every once in a while.”

The truth is that my “anxiety” was only a cover for the treasure I was trying to protect. It pinches my heart to think that these “Mozartkugeln” chocolates and what they represent are disappearing from this world one by

one. On the second day that I returned to Burbank after winter break, my floormate and ITALIC alumna Sarah handed them to me, a bag of gold foil-wrapped candy balls with the side profile of Mozart printed on each. She brought them to me as gifts from her home country of Austria, where the acclaimed classical composer rose to fame. As a classical flutist and hoarder of exquisite objects, my heart was so full that I burst out screaming when I first saw them.

“I remember we were talking about Mozart-themed souvenirs that time,” Sarah said, referring to the conversation we had at Coupa Cafe during Thanksgiving break as a part of the ITALIC mentorship tradition, “so when I saw them I thought I would get them for you.” In return, I bought her a pair of yellow socks with cow prints.

I enshrined these chocolate balls in my everyday life. I made sure to only have one when I wanted the ritual of appreciating their perfection to put me in a better mood, peeling off the delicate gold foil by carefully unfolding every

LINDA LIU/The Stanford Daily

I am far from being the emperor of the Tang dynasty, but I cling onto these objects to preserve the human relationships crystallized in them. crease and biting off a morsel at a time until I got to the pistachiocreamy core. I was horrified when I found out that my roommate had devoured two of them to satiate her hunger, crumbling the wrappers and throwing them at me lightheartedly. The distorted face of Mozart, the silver curls on his wig all twisting together, stared at me angrily.

Whenever I set my work aside, I constantly flash back to how she almost swallowed them whole and how I denied her. Bringing up this incident in a casual tone to my father on the phone, he laughed in ridicule: “Just look them up on Amazon and get some more! It’s not like these chocolates are nonrenewable resources.”

His words rang a bell. I tend to

O

ne Sunday, I gazed at the sunsetlit sky and realized that moments like this were worth a hundred poems. So I started to write, slowly, willfully, deliberately. As the light dissipated and paved the way for the darkness to wash all across the sky, I realized that I loved the sky even as it dimmed down. Everyone deserves to be loved at their darkest. Everyone deserves to see beauty in light, just as in darkness. I stayed there for a while and promised the sky that this night was one I’d never let go of.

As I made my way back to my dorm, wonderstruck, accompanied by the symphonies of the verses I’d written, my friend called me frantically, screaming that she wanted to drop out. I’m fond of Stanford and of the opportunities I won’t find anywhere else, but I acknowledge the unimaginable pressure and burden it places on our shoulders.

We are all burning, expending so much effort and energy when we are tired and overworked. We look at other people and see only their successes and latest positions they’ve landed. I still vividly remember when my friend told me how much she admired my work ethic, since I was “grinding nonstop.” That day, despite my awe, I was still wiping my tears from the night before.

I went to my friend’s room and hugged her so tight that I felt my jacket getting wet from her tears. She said that she was in a dark place. Was it insensitive to say, “Me, too?” Would I be making it all about me? Nevertheless, at that moment, I just said everything that came to mind: Me, too. You’re not alone.

We started to talk more about our feelings. It gets better at times and worse at others. Being on this campus has been a learning experience in every sense. We are learning how to deal with our thoughts and feelings as young adults. We are learning not to compare ourselves with others our age, even when they are accomplished in an objective sense. We are learning to notice our own accomplishments, to notice how much we’ve inspired others around us. We are learning to see the beauty in pain, joy and, most importantly, ourselves.

I look up to you.

The next day, I woke up to this text from one of my closest friends in Lebanon. My initial reaction was why.

From the moment I left Lebanon until now, I have carried with me the burden of doing so much. I have carried the burden of doing enough to deserve being here, of surviving the crisis strangling an entire country. I’ve given myself another chance at dreaming and

THE GRIND

By LINDA LIU

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

THE GRIND

My rankings for every library on Stanford’s campus

By ANNIE RELLER

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I

I’m going to the library,” is a commonly-heard phrase across Stanford’s campus. If you hear your friend say this, you probably take it without question. You imagine them at Green, Terman or perhaps even Lathrop. But this general acceptance — that the “library” on campus refers to just a few places — is a grave mistake. It neglects the countless other hal-

lowed halls — spaces where incredible ideas have blossomed and been stored, where intellect is challenged and developed. Stanford houses 22 libraries on its campus, and I went to all of them so you don’t have to.

Below is my ranking of the libraries on campus. Please keep in mind that I have specific criteria when going to libraries: comfy chairs, ambiance and lighting. I am a humanities major, so desks are less necessary as I do most of my

work on my laptop.

Not-to-be-missed libraries 1. Bender Room — Green Library, Floor 5 Hours: 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Friday, closed Saturday, 12:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Sunday Located on the top floor of Green, Bender is cozy, has an amazing view (especially at sunset) and is pindrop silent. Once I was wearing heels in Bender, and I had to take

Photo courtesy of Stanford News

This general acceptance — that the “library” on campus refers to just a few places — is a grave mistake, writes Reller.

them off to avoid clicking across the hardwood. There are a variety of seating options available: armchairs, individual desks and tables.

2. Tanner Philosophy Library — Building 90 (Main Quad) Hours: 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday This is a hidden gem on Stanford’s campus; it is located on the first floor of Building 90, which is across from Memorial Church in Main Quad. Tanner is everything you would want in a philosophy library: dark wood, plaid armchairs, every wall lined with books. There are a few armchairs and tables in assorted seating options. Plus, it is always empty. Truly my favorite place to study on campus!

Pro tip: Stay at the Philosophy Library until it closes at 5, then make your way to Bender to catch the sunset.

3. Robert Crown Law Library Hours: Every day 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Elle Woods would love it here. It is classy, with black armchairs in window alcoves; quiet, clean and cozy, with books all around. There is a chessboard on display, containing an ongoing chess match that anyone can make a move on when they walk by. Furthermore, the library features displays of cookbooks with

brightly-colored signs made by the librarians. There is a reading room upstairs for law students; however, undergrads can often slip in there as well. The lighting is warmer and there are personal desks in the reading room.

4. GSB Library Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday This one has a hotel lobby feel with panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows which allow you to see the sky. There is also an outdoor balcony in the designated quiet room.

The rest of the building hosts Phil Knight memorabilia, computer hubs and study rooms. Come here for bright lighting, quiet spaces and a sophisticated feel.

Middle-of-the-pack libraries 5. Branner Earth Sciences Library Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday One of my favorites! The aesthetic feels very 70s with fake wood coating on everything. A little bit too warm, but the people there are warm and friendly too. The Earth Sciences Library has many different nooks to find your perfect place to hit the books. Upstairs are the Map Collections; they often have free printed maps in various styles.

Please see LIBRARIES, page 9

8 N Friday, February 11, 2022

The Stanford Daily

HUMOR

Campus awaits heir of Slytherin

By UCHE OCHUBA DESK EDITOR

W

ith the appearance of the sculpture in Meyer Green, there is only one question left on every student’s mind: where and when will the heir of Slytherin reappear?

It is presumed that the heir of Slytherin will use parseltongue to reanimate the sculpture into the Basilisk. In the meantime, many students have reported that they have not seen their friends in several days — they may be presumed missing.

“I haven’t seen my best friend,

Neel, since Week 4,” Kevin ’25 (Hufflepuff) told The Daily. “It’s unclear whether he is studying for midterms or if he has been abducted by a 100-foot serpentine.”

Sonia ’22 (Ravenclaw) said, “I found this really cool journal in the basement of Huang. I write in it, and it writes back? I am sure that this is not dangerous at all, and I am currently trying to reverse-engineer it for my startup.”

It is clear that something is brewing on campus, and it is only a matter of time before we find out what. Until then, we will have to sit tight and hope that no more messages written in blood appear on the walls of Wilbur Dining.

Photo courtesy of Stanford News

“I haven’t seen my best friend, Neel, since Week 4,” Kevin ‘25 (Hufflepuff) told The Daily. It is clear something is happening on campus, and it is only a matter of time before we find out what.

HUMOR

Spotify to host Joe Rogan 500,000 artists leave the platform to protest Rogan

By CASSIDY DALVA STAFF WRITER Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

HUMOR

Pence takes refuge at Stanford

By SEAMUS ALLEN STAFF WRITER

Editor’s Note: This article is purely satirical and fictitious.

All attributions in this article are not genuine, and this story should be read in the context of pure entertainment only.

T

his Friday, former Vice President Mike Pence uttered four fateful words: “President Trump is wrong.” It went over about as well as you might expect. Pence went on to explain that as vice president, he “had no right to overturn the election” and that “there is no idea more unAmerican than the notion that any single person could choose the American president.”

According to sources obtained by the Occasionally, these words are the real reason for Mike Pence’s visit to Stanford University: to hide from the mob. According to an anonymous senior staffer, “It’s a bad situation and we’re more or less out of options. You’ve got to be care-

BEAUTY Continued from page 7 succeeding. I don’t want to fail myself.

Going back to Lebanon during winter break was both relieving and painful. I never truly left the country. I carried it with me, kept it alive in my heart so that it would light up every road I took.

Coming back to see my friends and family being proud of me was a

ful what you say to conserva — oh I meant leftists — these days.”

Stanford University isn’t exactly rife with Trump supporters, so it’s a good place to hide and ride out the storm. Plus, as an old white man, Pence should be able to easily blend in among the administration and faculty. “He’s packed his sleeping bag, his night light and his female proximity alarm, so he should be all set to camp out under the desks of Hoover institution fellows and whisper sweet nothings about cancel culture in their ears while this all blows over,” the staffer explained.

In one email acquired by the Occasionally, Pence himself lamented that “it’s a tough choice between being close to women besides my mother and being close to people that want to kill me, but we all have to make sacrifices for our country.”

At press time, sources report that Pence is still planning to use his Feb. 17 speaker event to lament how the American left has become a ‘cult of violent ideologues’ who ‘violently attack’ anyone who disagrees with them. blessing that reminded me of why I do it all. As I caught up with them, however, they mentioned how “lucky” I was. They may have not thought too much about the words they used, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt so defensive. I know that I am not defined by someone’s opinion, especially when they don’t even know me, but there is nothing that bothers me more than being pinned to luck. I look back in pride at how far I’ve come and how much I’ve achieved. I refuse to be labeled as a “lucky” woman or to have my work discredited. I am more than that. I

Editor’s Note: This article is purely satirical and fictitious. All attributions in this article are not genuine, and this story should be read in the context of pure entertainment only.

E

ffective next Wednesday, the audio streaming platform Spotify will be the exclusive streaming platform of American podcaster Joseph James Rogan, better known as Joe Rogan. The move comes after over 500,000 artists left the platform to protest Rogan’s misinformation about COVID-19 and use of racial slurs.

In the past several weeks, artists including Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and folk-rock group Crosby, Stills & Nash have requested that Spotify remove their music from its platform in protest against Rogan’s “spreading lies” about vaccine safety. Although Spotify has taken down a portion of Rogan’s episodes and content, he still maintains a presence and voice on the audio streaming platform and is now Spotify’s sole profitable content creator.

“We had two options: cave to the masses or preserve the Joe Rogan Experience,” explained Spotify spokesperson Bjorn Travis, sporting a Dave Chappelle x Joe Rogan — Las Vegas tee. “Spotify’s stance is that listening to Elon Musk smoke weed and wield a

MOZART Continued from page 7 anymore.” She completely missed the point. The Maltesers were hardly delicious, but they were some of my only mementos of the month that I spent with my father, who was absent for large portions of my life due to his business abroad. And the little pack of dog fur, even after it became a bed for moths to lay their eggs in, still transported me back to my time with him and his big Central Asian Shepherd.

am a hard-working, independent, beautiful woman who forged her path in the U.S. after coming from miles away and saying her goodbyes.

When winter break ended, I gave my goodbyes once again to those that had given me all their love and to those that have now slowly become ghosts from my past.

I had mixed feelings while on the plane, shaken by how my life is turning out and torn between throwing up and beaming with joy.

As I stepped foot on this campus, I saw everyone deeply focused on the

GHEED EL BIZRI/The Stanford Daily

“I looked over an open window and noticed that the sky was a bit brighter today. I went out, mesmerized by its beauty. I stayed until it became dark and cold,” writes El Bizri.

CASSIDY DALVA/The Stanford Daily

Spotify’s new branding garnered universal approval among Joe Rogan.”We had two options: cave to the masses or preserve the Joe Rogan Experience,” explained Spotify spokesperson Bjorn Travis. flamethrower is worth far more than any revenue hundreds of thousands of artists could bring in.”

As Spotify shifts gears to focus solely on distributing Rogan’s content, Rogan has also decided to capitalize on the opportunity to branch out into the music industry. In a recent podcast episode, he announced that he will be filling the niche left by Young, Mitchell, and more by producing hyper-motivational folk music.

Listed tracks include “Teach your Children (JiuJitsu)” and “Heart of Spirulina.”

I eventually gave in to my family and threw both of these mementos away, but I did not realize how much weight they still carried in my being until now, as I am sobbing uncontrollably while wiping the dust off these memories for the writing of this article.

There is a traditional Chinese story about an ambassador from a satellite state paying tribute to the emperor of the Tang dynasty with a beautiful goose. Despite the cautions that he took, the goose managed to escape from his control along the way. After days of selfblame and regret, he decided to continue with his tribute, wrapping a

feather that the goose left behind in a piece of silk and writing on it a poem: “Although the gift is light, the intentions behind it teem with weight; we send this feather to you from a thousand miles away.”

I am far from being the emperor of the Tang dynasty, but I cling onto these objects to preserve the human relationships crystallized in them. But as I am reflecting on it now, I sense that my dad might be right. If I cherish these chocolate balls so much for the good wishes they contain from Sarah, why should I not pass them on to my roommate, sharing the warmth with those around me?

papers, p-sets and research in their hands. I remembered life at Stanford. It’s a whole new world, but it’s a world I belong to and deserve to be part of.

I went on a walk again. I had so much on my mind, some thoughts related to Stanford and some not.

Thinking about it all made me tired, but it was only the beginning of the quarter. I asked myself if these thoughts were worth my attention, if they were in my control, if they were even about me. The answer was no, so I decided to exclusively devote my attention to what truly matters. That was in my control.

Stanford is unbelievably hard.

But I made the choice to stay, to appreciate the beauty even in the most difficult, darkest days. In no way am I saying that everything is a choice.

What I am saying is that having choice is the way to freedom.

“I am proud of you,” I said to my friend as we endured the fourth mental breakdown in a day. Together, we’ve pulled ourselves out of a dark place, again and again. We made the choice to do so.

I’ve learned so much from being here at Stanford. I’ve learned that there is no right or wrong way to deal with your feelings, that it is normal to witness change and that there is more to be excited about than there is to dread. There is music out here that only our hearts can hear.

I looked over an open window and noticed that the sky was a bit brighter today. I went out, mesmerized by its beauty. I stayed until it became dark and cold.

CONCERT Continued from page 6 clear testament to his resilience.

The Inglewood singer is no stranger to hardship; his lyrics document a tumultuous youth marred by the strain of loved ones’ addictions and entanglement with the carceral system.

He opened his set with “Autumn,” the first track off of his 2018 debut EP “Tides.” The song captures feelings of loss as you watch your friends slip away. The rawness of his lyrics paired well with his choice to perform an acoustic set of just guitar and vocals.

While the individual acts were great, the vast difference in energy between the five-piece band and Banks’ acoustic performance seemed to leave some of the crowd restless. A number of audience members were talking fairly loudly during Banks’ intimate set. It was distracting even when I was in the front row, and audience members who were further back certainly could have had a much worse experience.

Apart from being bumped around in a small room in a crowd that was a bit too noisy, I definitely enjoyed the show. I’d like to see both acts again on campus as soon as possible (albeit in a more spacious venue than 576).

Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective opinions, thoughts and critiques.

Friday, February 11, 2022 N 9

The Stanford Daily

PLAY Continued from page 6 However, the heroine must contend with the reactions of those around her, particularly the disdain and cruelty of her uncle Kreon, played by Tuesday Utz ’23. As Antigone finds herself haunted by a spirit of Polynices, played by Adi Garner ’23, she realizes she must contend with her own understanding of her shifting self. Antigone discovers that she must properly reconcile with her past identity in order for her present and future selves to fully exist.

Separation from and reconciliation with the past are explored through the use of a particularly powerful motif: the body. When Kreon attempts to invalidate Antigone’s transition, he purposefully asks for the production of Polynices’ body as proof that Polynices is truly dead. Kreon knows, of course, that Antigone can’t provide the body because Polynices is her past identity. And when Antigone asks her knowledgeable sister Ismene, played by Eryn Perkins ’25, for advice on the spirit currently haunting her, Ismene tells her that the only way to get peace is to give its body a proper burial.

The burial of the body thus takes on a new dimension in this re-telling of “Antigone.” In the original play, Antigone buries the separate body of Polynices; the body acts a vehicle upon which the conflicts of warring loyalties are played out. Here, however, the body is more intimately connected to the self, acting as a stand-in for a past part of her identity.

BOOK Continued from page 6 of interpersonal friction as they are simply contrasting features between two Taiwanese American women. Perhaps the beauty of their friendship rests in the fact that they were able to achieve a kind of stable, static friendship in spite of these disparities. Still, I find this unbelievable, in part due to the vast amount of time that this books spans (twenty years or so, from Fiona and Jane’s teenage years to their late thirties). The two friends evolve dramatically throughout the novel — they become adults, start new careers, move to different cities, enter and exit various romantic entanglements — yet their friendship fails to evolve with them.

Over the course of two decades, there is only one period of time after college graduation in which they fall into irregular contact, yet this is mended seamlessly after the two friends eventually re-enter each other’s lives. The reliability of their friendship is directly contrasted by the two characters’ strings of failed romances, particularly on Fiona’s end. These characters’ various internal struggles are manifested in failed romantic relationships, while their friendship is, surprisingly, left more or less untouched. It seems to me that Fiona and Jane are friends throughout these stories only because they must, for the sake of the novel’s continuity, remain friends, making the friendship storyline seem disingenuous.

One exception to this trend occurs in one of the final stories of the collection, “The Movers.” In this story, Fiona’s husband Aaron con-

CHURRO Continued from page 6 “Hello” at first but has since grown to like it.

Stanford’s Public Art Committee was able to, in a sense, fulfill their goals of promoting art consumption and appreciation, regardless of how students react. The most valuable gift one can dedicate to an artist is their attention; it signifies that artwork has transcend the object state it is conceived as into the abstract realm that potentially challenges the viewer meaningfully.

Professor of Art & Art History Bissera Pentcheva says that the art’s feeling of presence strangeness may be purposeful. She points to another iteration of “Hello,” exhibited in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. The Australian piece is a kinetic sculpture made out of robotics and a polyurethane cast that tracks viewers’ movement — staring back at the audience’s gaze.

“The Australian version makes explicit how surveillance exercised by modern technology slithers into our private lives,” Pentcheva said. “‘Hello’ recently placed at the edge of Meyer Green at Stanford is set to trouble the romantic perception of the University as a free space; it is implicated by the system and does not exist outside and above it. We are all in the Matrix.”

Pentcheva encourages students to look beyond the visual pleasure of

ULA LUCAS/The Stanford Daily

“Antigone: A New Trans Play” pushed through the difficulty of COVID-19 to take a moving, new twist on the classic show by exploring ideas of self, write Lydia Wei and Kyla Figueroa.

Antigone recruits Ismene and her former lover Haemon, played by Sierra Corcoran ’25, to help. In killing off and burying her past self, Antigone must put her present body to rest — the physicality of self-reconciliation makes this retelling engrossing and captivating.

The motif of the body also sharpens the conflict between Kreon and Antigone. Kreon claims to have authority over Antigone’s identity expression, but Antigone knows that she is the only one with ownership.

The more Antigone and Kreon wrestle for control over Antigone’s self, the more explosive the consequences. The fighting culminates in Antigone’s death when Kreon pushes her body, disguised as Polynices’, off the burial platform. By attempting to restrict Antigone to the figure

of Polynices — instead of allowing her to reconcile with the past and be her true self — Kreon ultimately kills Antigone in all her past, present and future.

In an interview with The Daily, playwright and director Sutton said they first came across Sophocles’ “Antigone” in the Introductory Seminar (Introsem) TAPS 12N: “To Die For: Antigone and Political Dissent.” Viewing the play from the lens of theatre, political science and classics, Sutton recognized how the variety of themes in the play allow it to be rewritten “to tell modern struggles and stories.”

“There were an abstraction of themes,” Sutton said, “such as death, burial, ritual, family, loyalty.

Antigone [is] a play that can be adapted in so many ways and has

fesses to Jane that he cheated on Fiona with another woman, and Jane hesitates to reveal this information to Fiona. Fiona’s eventual realization of her husband’s infidelity and Jane’s complicity in it sparks an argument between the two friends, leading to a clash between the two characters’ contrasting histories and experiences. This conflict brings an air of believability to Fiona and Jane’s relationship.

Fiona feels betrayed by Jane in part because many of Fiona’s past relationships have ended due to infidelity. Jane, however, is hesitant about telling Fiona the truth due to personal guilt: Jane revealed her father’s affair to her mother years ago, permanently fracturing her family. This conflict, to me, presented one of the most intriguing dimensions of the two characters’ friendship. Disappointingly, Ho failed to capitalize on this dynamic because Fiona and Jane never directly resolve this disagreement. When we next see these two characters together again — years after the fight and once Fiona has remarried — Fiona seems to have forgiven Jane, and the conflict goes unmentioned.

Nevertheless, I found the nonfriendship conflicts that Fiona and Jane face throughout the book quite compelling. Their struggles are circular in nature; it seems impossible for either of these characters to truly escape their own circumstances. The insecurities that haunt them in their adolescence define their struggles later in adulthood.

Fiona, as a child, is preoccupied with uncovering her father’s identity.

She is raised by a single mother who eventually reveals that Fiona is the product of an affair that she had in high school with a college student; after the affair came to light, the two of them were barred from seeing

each other again. In her adulthood, Fiona finds it difficult to develop healthy relationships with men. She is cheated on by one boyfriend, robbed by another and has shorter, tumultuous affairs with other men.

Although it may be simplistic to claim that Fiona’s romantic failures are solely due to her childhood, the narrative does not attempt to dispel this notion — disappointing relationships with men bind Fiona in childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

Jane serves as an intriguing parallel to Fiona. After outing her father’s affair with an old college friend, her relationship with her father grows strained; ultimately, he commits suicide when Jane is in her early twenties. Jane’s grief and guilt over her father’s death follow her for much of her adulthood. She talks about it with other characters, and it clearly influences each of her relationships. It is only by the end of the book that she is able to take steps to finding closure by repairing her relationship with her mother, though true resolution for Jane — if it is even possible — remains elusive.

The struggles in Fiona and Jane’s lives are raw, intriguing and far superior to the seemingly intended novel focus of friendship.

Although this novel is touted as being about female fellowship, I ultimately found the individual storylines in “Fiona and Jane” to be the more compelling. Their friendship did not read as genuine, and the story was much more convincing when taken as a tale about two women navigating adolescence and adulthood along parallel, contrasting tracks, each with their own difficulties and obstacles to overcome.

Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective opinions, thoughts and critiques.

“Hello” when assessing its value because of its commentary on Western society and commercialization. She sees the piece as a twist on Western art because of how it builds on Graeco-Roman traditions.

“The monumental sculpture plays with the dominating and at times repressive legacy of the Graeco-Roman culture and aesthetics embodied in the Classical orders,” Pentcheva wrote in an email correspondence.

“But ‘Hello’ also transforms the standard erect and solid column into a fluid, pliant and sensuous organic form: the snake. The serpent eerily suggests how the Western canon continues to slither and suffocate difference.”

Too often, the definition of “good art” is rooted in a tradition that is exclusive to a specific history from the West. To see the divergence and irony behind the artwork, once we are able to position “Hello” in the broader context, kickstarts a wider conversation around what art or culture have not received support simply because of its foreignness, and which were adored simply because of familiarity.

We appreciate how “Hello” ponders the colonial legacy of Western society. The sculpture’s mutilated form lightly recalls deformed columns in Yuan Ming Yuan, a former imperial palace in Beijing, China, looted and burned in 1860 by British and French troops. Ironically, the most prominent remains of Yuan Ming Yuan are stone columns, seen in the image above, left from the small European section of the vast palace grounds; the wooden structures of

other traditional Chinese architecture had completely succumbed to the fire. “Hello” echoes the fragmentation of Yuan Ming Yuan’s columns and alerts viewers to the problematics of power — and the underlying potential for violence — that comes with any aesthetic ideal.

“Hello” also makes interesting commentary on the commercialization of art, according to Pentcheva.

The artist developed from being an artist into something of a brand under the XuZhen brand since 2013.

Perhaps this signals new developments in the art world as branding and identity become even more important to success.

“A corporate aspect exudes from the monumental sculptures of MadeIn; they seek to harness the aura of the unique masterpiece, to serialize and to monetize it,” Pentcheva said.

“Hello” is a disquieting presence on Stanford’s campus that provocatively brings into question the role of art in public space. It raises important questions about Western artistic traditions, commercialization, utopias and technology. We can appreciate these values of the piece while also acknowledging its shortcomings. Although the snaking column powerfully confronts passersby with its pondering on beauty and power, it also seems comically displaced next to students casually lounging on Meyer Green and whizzing by on their bikes.

Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective opinions, thoughts and critiques.

been, and I decided to refocus these themes for [trans] voices and help craft an understanding in audiences for these stories.”

The show’s casting also merits its own recognition. With a specific focus on highlighting marginalized voices, the play brings together an array of astounding actors that truly bring the retelling to life. Producer Grace Davis ’22 said that the creative team worked hard to center queer and gender-marginalized voices in its casting.

“We had to be intentional and blunt with how we wanted to portray the show and prioritize outreach,” Davis said.

Lyles’ portrayal of Antigone displays a wide range of emotions, capturing the depth of the heroine. She embodies Antigone’s victorious exhilaration when she first resolves to kill Polynices, her heartbreak when she realizes Haemon no longer loves her as Antigone, her courage and steadfastness in facing Kreon and even her humor and lightness as she attempts to deal with the spirit of Polynices.

Utz gives an intense, electrifying performance as Kreon: bitter and stubborn, the heights of Kreon’s shouting rage only emphasize how far he must fall afterwards when his close-mindedness leads to Antigone’s death. While Utz’s performance shines in its fire and fury, Corcoran’s portrayal of Haemon comes to life in its subtle attention to detail: the awkward manner in which Haemon holds his body or the frantic darting of his eyes as he tries to say that, while he might still care for Antigone, he can’t love her anymore.

The show, while a success, did not

come without challenges, especially as a result of the ongoing COVID pandemic. The show’s run was delayed from Week 3 to Week 5 due to health guidance, and on top of that, Sutton and Davis described a gap in institutional knowledge for current undergraduates during the process of making the show. Many students involved in theatre have little to no experience in creating an in-person show at Stanford due to the previous academic year being online, posing a barrier for outreach and accessing resources. Despite these challenges, the show pushed on.

“Seeing the development of the show and the work actors and staff have put into artistic interpretations has been inspiring,” Davis said.

For Corcoran, this adaptation of “Antigone” was a piece of theatre unlike any that she has ever come across. Ancient Greek shows like this can seem “inaccessible” due to their elevated presence in the canon with characters that feel larger than life. Corcoran was surprised to find that, despite the millennia that have gone by, “old themes ring true” and the lessons from the play “match the conversations revolving around gender identity and expression in the recent years.”

Sutton brilliantly portrays some of the feelings and emotions of the queer experience by showing how Antigone’s themes transcend time.

While they contend that there is “no universal queer experience” and relatability will vary, “Antigone: A New Trans Play” shines in bringing historically underrepresented stories to the forefront.

Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective opinions, thoughts and critiques.

LIBRARIES

hour study room. My hot take is that I simply don’t like it unless I can get one of the computer booths on the far left-hand-side of the room, which are usually occupied.

This room is too stiff for me and I just cannot get comfortable. The walls are all-glass, so there is lots of natural light. “I like [the section] with the couches,” says Julia Flora ’24. “I wish there were bathrooms and a water fountain closer [to the room]. I want them to reopen Lathrop cafe!”

Continued from page 7 There are large windows covered with blinds and balconies with seating outside. Good library for quiet conversation or group projects, as it is not silent.

6. Robin Li and Melissa Ma Science Library — SAPP Center for Science Teaching and Learning Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday SAPP has great natural lighting and clean facilities. The view from the windows is wonderful. It is very quiet and pretty empty, and it has two floors!

7. Bowes Art & Architecture Library — McMurtry Art and Art History Building Hours: 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday There is colorful and interesting architecture in this library, and there are large monitors available for use.

Bowes has comfy chairs spaced throughout the library, and quiet conversations are welcomed here.

8. East Asia Library — Lathrop Hours: 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday There is a good change of pace in the East Asia library. The library has lots of books and newspapers; it is certainly cozy and has bookshop vibes. Go upstairs to find spacious private desks and lots of natural lighting. If you are easily distracted, this is a great place to be, as foggy glass separators isolate you from other students.

9. Green Library (not including Bender) Hours: 9 a.m-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Friday, closed Saturday, 12:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Sunday Green Library has classic library vibes — pretty much what you would expect. The Lane Reading Room is grand, with massive windows. Relatively quiet but you can whisper hello to your friend and nobody will glare at you. However, it is pretty echoey; if you are easily distracted, this is not the room for you. Green also has a newly reopened wing with an entrance near Coupa Cafe that hosts natural lighting, large tables and a quiet bustling of librarians.

10. Music Library Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday These are the only stacks you will catch me in. The Music Library is quaint, has built-in desks and is almost always empty. Upstairs, there are more public, well-lit tables. “The Stanford Music Library is one of the most unappreciated study spaces on campus,” says Ben Limric ’24. “It has a great variety of music, historical literature [and more]. It’s a great quiet place to appreciate music or a good book.”

“Skip it unless you’re desperate” libraries 11. Lathrop 24-hour study room Hours: It is called ’24-hour room’ for a reason Many people find solace in this 24-

12. Terman Engineering Library — Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Center Hours: 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday This feels like the library where creativity goes to die. There are large windows overlooking the beautiful engineering quad, but unfortunately the blinds are pulled down, so the library is dark. There are a few lovely red armchairs with side-desk pull-outs, which are nice; however, if you can’t find these desks, go elsewhere.

13. Classics Library Hours: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday This is a tiny room within the arches of Main Quad, and it is usually empty. It’s pretty dark, but there are various lamps. “I have taken a class from here, sans headphones,” said Jessica Farlie ’24, describing the library as dreary. “It would be good for watching the rain except that the windows are so small.”

14. Government Documents Library (aka West Stacks at Green) Hours: 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Friday, closed Saturday, 12:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Sunday Pretty cool to walk through an empty floor of books, lights audibly clicking on as you pass each row.

The space feels very “Night at the Museum,” and searching-for-government-documents “All the President’s Men.” I personally could not study here because it freaks me out. It is silent, dark and cold. The library is pretty sad in my opinion, but to each their own. If you want to mole up in a dusty cold basement that has never seen sunlight, this is the place to be.

15. LAST: Lane Medical Library Hours: 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.

Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday I really do not like this place. It has the energy of a hospital waiting room. The lighting is harsh and artificial. It feels kind of dated and cold. However, it is quiet and there are many seating options. There is a terrace that is very quiet with nice greenery, but the building itself is quite ugly and dark. When I went onto the terrace, I got locked out and it took me 10 minutes to find a way back inside. Heebie-jeebies.

Coming Soon: I willl be ranking the non-library study spaces on campus. So far, I have investigated the following: COHO, McMurtry Terrace, Law School Terrace, Coupa and Huang. Where else do you study?

Let me know by emailing reller@stanford.edu.

10 N Friday, February 11, 2022

The Stanford Daily

SPORTS

CODY GLENN/isiphotos.com

Senior Thomas Kopczynski (above) was moved into the singles lineup for the UCLA match and did not disappoint. He picked up a win to give the Cardinal a victory over the Bruins.

TENNIS TOPS LA SCHOOLS

By ELLS BOONE DESK EDITOR

No. 12 Stanford men’s tennis (50, 0-0 Pac-12) welcomed No. 8 USC (5-1, 0-0 Pac-12) and No. 23 UCLA (2-3, 0-0 Pac-12) to Palo Alto this past weekend and defeated both, solidifying the Cardinal’s status as the team to beat in the conference.

The Trojans were first up for Stanford in a dual match that was played on Saturday. USC set the tone to start, winning the doubles point after victories on courts one

and three. It was the first time this season that the Cardinal dropped the doubles point and started from behind heading into singles play.

The 1-0 deficit did not deter the home team, however. Fifth-year Axel Geller was the first off of the courts with a 6-4, 6-3 court-three win over No. 70 Bradley Frye.

Sophomore Aryan Chaudhary then took down No. 40 Lodewijk Weststrate 6-3, 6-4 at the five spot to turn the tables and give the Cardinal the 2-1 lead. Stanford just needed to win two more

matches to clinch the victory.

The bottom of the lineup continued to put in work as freshman Max Basing defeated No. 35 Peter Makk 6-3, 6-4 and senior Sangeet Sridhar won 7-5, 7-5 at the No. 6 position. Sophomore Arthur Fery was just a point away from taking down the nation’s No. 6 overall player in Stefan Dostanic, but Sridhar’s win ended the other remaining matches. The Cardinal headed into their Sunday matchup with the Bruins fresh off of the upset over USC.

This time, Stanford got the doubles point, thanks to wins from Fery and senior Alexandre Rotsaert on court one, and Geller and senior Tomas Kopczynski on court two. Head coach Paul Goldstein changed up the singles lineup from the squad’s previous few matches, taking out Geller, sliding the bottom three up one spot each and adding Kopczynski as the No. 6.

Rotsaert doubled the Cardinal’s lead with a 6-2, 6-1 win over No. 41 Alexander Hoogmartens on court two. Sridhar and Basing

added two more to the team’s tally on courts five and three, respectively, for the clincher. The Bruins then got one back as Karl Lee moved past Chaudhar y in a tiebreaker. Kopczynski won in a tiebreaker of his own, while Fery won at the top spot 7-6 (8), 7-5.

With a sweep of the two other main Pac-12 contenders, Stanford now turns its attention to a midweek matchup against UC Davis on Wednesday. It will start at 2 p.m.

PT at the Taube Family Tennis Center.

FOOTBALL

Congress investigates coaches Stanford among 6 institutions targeted

By DANIEL WU STAFF WRITER

KAREN HICKEY/isiphotos.com

Sophomore Si Yi Ma (above) winds up to hit a shot. In a winless weekend for Stanford squash, Ma, was the standout player, recording the Cardinal’s only wins against Dartmouth and Harvard to close the regular season.

SQUASH

Squash swept by

Ivy opponents

By DANIEL WU STAFF WRITER

No. 15 Stanford squash (0-8) dropped three matches on the road against No. 12 Dartmouth, No. 10 Brown and No. 1 Harvard on Friday and Saturday, concluding a winless regular season.

The 15th-ranked Cardinal were outgunned by the depth of Dartmouth and Harvard, losing by a 1-8 score to both the Big Green on Friday and the Crimson on Saturday. Stanford kept it closer against Brown, losing 3-6.

The losses all included forfeits at positions No. 8 and 9, as Stanford continued to struggle with injuries and a depleted roster. The Cardinal did not field a full nine-player lineup for their entire regular season.

Over the weekend, Stanford played without its most important contributor: sophomore Cassie Ong. The absence of Ong due to illness left Stanford with much tougher individual matchups against three talented Ivy League rosters.

Despite the challenge, sophomore

Please see SQUASH, page 12

A congressional probe into the pay of top college football coaches is taking aim at Stanford and the salary of football head coach David Shaw.

Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ-09), the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, announced in a press release Friday that Stanford would be scrutinized as part of an ongoing investigation into the salaries of college football coaches at several universities.

The press release also included a copy of the full inquiry addressed to Stanford president Marc Tessier-Lavigne, which asks if Stanford’s expenditure on Shaw’s salary aligns with the University’s tax-exempt status.

“Stanford’s head football coach reportedly received approximately $9 million in compensation in 2019, making him the university’s highest paid employee by far,” the inquiry reads. “ It is unclear how such lucrative compensation contracts further Stanford’s overall educational mission and benefit your student body as a whole.”

Stanford doesn’t disclose the pay of its employees, but federal tax returns show head football coach David Shaw earned over $8.9 million in compensation for the 2019 calendar year, USA Today reported in August.

How much of that comprises Shaw’s base salary is unclear. A Stanford spokesperson said that over $2 million of Shaw’s $8.9 million pay for 2019 was a “retroactive salary and signing bonus” unique to that year, according to USA Today. Shaw’s 2018 salary was around $4.8 million according to tax returns from the fiscal year ending in August 2019 published

by Propublica.

Shaw’s 2019 salary would be enough to make him the highestpaid coach in the Pac-12 and the third-highest-paid coach in col-

BOB DREBIN/isiphotos.com

Head coach David Shaw speaking at the 2021 Football Awards banquet. Shaw is now the one of the subjects of a U.S. Congress investigation into the salaries of college football coaches.

“Shaw earned over $8.9 million in compensation for the 2019 calendar year.” lege football if compared to the 2021 salaries of other head coaches, including those from football powerhouses, like Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Alabama’s Nick Saban.

Shaw, Stanford football’s winningest head coach in program history, finished with a 4-8 record in the 2019 football season. In 2021, his team went 3-9 and ranked near the bottom of all FBS teams in offensive and defensive performance.

Pascrell is also investigating LSU, USC, Miami, Michigan State and Rutgers, according to his press release. His inquiries into LSU and USC, which made splash hires of high-profile head coaches Brian Kelly and Lincoln Riley following the 2021 season, claim that the universities signed their coaches to contracts worth rover $100 million.

Pascrell’s inquiry asks Stanford to respond to a broad list of questions, including how many University employees make above $1 million a year, how the University determines the compensation of football and men’s basketball head coaches, the revenue and expenses of the University’s football and men’s basketball programs and how the athletics department budget is determined.

“We’ve received the letter and look forward to responding to Congressman Pascrell,” University spokesperson Dee Mostofi wrote in a statement to The Daily on Sunday.

Mostofi did not respond to questions about Shaw’s pay and whether the University would make public any of its responses to the inquiry.

Pascrell’s inquiry asks Stanford to respond by March 4.

Friday, February 11, 2022 N 11

The Stanford Daily

JEOPARDY Continued from page 1 different things are also a part of my identity.”

For the junior from Bethesda, Maryland, participation on the show has been long-awaited.

“I’ve been watching Jeopardy! with my family since I was a little kid,” Applebaum said. “We always used to say, ‘Oh, you should be on Jeopardy! It seems like you know a lot of these questions.’ And I actually took that seriously.”

The application process began with a test and an interview, but after not hearing back from the show for months, Applebaum said he figured his opportunity had passed. Then, one day, he got the call: “Out of the blue, I got this call, and it’s from a random Los Angeles number,” he said. “So I’m like, ‘This is really sketchy. This can’t be real.’”

After needing some convincing about the legitimacy of the call, Applebaum was ecstatic at the thought of fulfilling his childhood goal. “I immediately called my parents, and they were really happy,” he remembered.

Filming took place during Thanksgiving break on a historic Los Angeles lot, the same lots where famous shows such as Wheel of Fortune and Shark Tank were filmed, according to Applebaum. As someone who grew up watching those shows, he said it felt like “walking into that history by being there.”

For Applebaum, the highlight of filming was the community he was able to build, both with crew members and fellow contestants.

He added that he still shares a group chat with his fellow contestants and that the secrecy of the experience forged a close bond.

NONSENSE Continued from page 7 ers should be forgiven if they lose the plot of Jameson’s arguments along the way. Nonsense clauses, after all, have a way of lulling us into a peaceable stupor. We read that de Kooning’s canvasses give proof of “the fragmentation of the modern senses and of the modern body,” which is itself a product of the “psychic ‘division of labor,’ the advanced form of which can be observed in [this] reification and autonomization of the various senses from one or another.” What do these sentences mean? Jameson makes no attempt to explain. He tells us these ideas come from “Schiller, Marx, Lukacs and Weber.” The subtext is clear. We should not question the conclusion of such intellectual titans. We should swallow our questions and nod along, lost though we might be.

This is not to say that Jameson’s writing contains nothing of value for ordinary readers. Buried between the nonsense clauses, we find lovely musings on the antagonism between the paintbrush and the palette-knife, the symbolism of ochre in Provence and near the U.S.-Mexico Border and the narrative scheme of still lifes. Jameson makes a fascinating comparison between Cezanne’s paintings and Flaubert’s prose, both of which, he claims, lend themselves to two distinct viewpoints — “nose-close and ten feet away.” In Cezanne, the “nose-close” perspective reveals the individual brushstrokes that harmonize into houses, trees, tablecloths and human faces when viewed from ten feet away. In Flaubert, it reveals the individual sentences and unequal phrases that coalesce, miraculously, into the formal unity we appreciate from a distance. Unlike, say, Edward Said or Alain Badiou, Jameson does not write in deliberately arcane prose. He does not pepper his writing with indecipherable neologisms or puzzling rants about set theory. At his best, he manages to be both funny and penetrating in his analysis of contemporary American society.

But the essay’s brief moments of lucidity quickly cede to the rushing tide of nonsense. The brush and the palette-knife become symbols of an “eternal and irreducible combat.”

The former “gave us the strands of mingled color in a kind of streak suspension” and the latter “enacts the Utopian dream of an effortless collapsing or compression of all matter back into itself.” In the hands of an “ideology of volume,” ochre transforms from mere clay pigment into “a nascent intensity” which “knows its own specific density.” The “triumph of ochre,” we are told, is one and the same with the “celebration of libidinal repression.” Not even the still life escapes untouched by the jargon tide. The white folds of its tablecloth herald “the momentary suspension of the basic tensions of the repressive operation” and “hold out the Utopia of a release from the peculiar infernal

“I think one thing that we bonded over is this idea that we couldn’t tell anybody outside of our immediate family for a long time,” Applebaum said. “So we could all talk to each other about all the inside jokes from taping, all of the funny things that happened that we couldn’t tell anybody else about.”

Competing in the show also gave Applebaum more insight into the entertainment industry. He recalled a moment in which filming paused due to technical difficulties, and Jeopardy! host Mayim Bialik held an impromptu question-andanswer session about her career in Hollywood. He also recounted a stage manager giving contestants a Jeopardy! history lesson.

Stanford chemistry professor Robert Waymouth, who is Applebaum’s research mentor, described Applebaum as “the real deal, man. He does it all.”

“Isaac is not only wildly curious, but deeply concerned about his fellow students and how they’re doing,” Waymouth said.

“He loves what he’s doing so much.

He wants everybody he runs into to have the same enthusiasm that he has.”

Though Waymouth did not previously know that Applebaum enjoyed Jeopardy!, he is confident that Applebaum is “going to nail it.”

Chemistry professor Grant Rotskoff also said Applebaum is “full of surprises.”

“I was quite surprised to see Isaac in the clip that he shared with us about his appearance on Jeopardy!, but because he’s a person with a lot of depth — it sort of made sense in retrospect,” Rotskoff said.

Applebaum said he hopes to use his platform on the show to raise awareness on issues important to him, such as cancer research and diversity in the STEM fields.

DISABILITY

machine of intensification and its inevitable reversal.”

Far from being an outlier in the panorama of modern academic writing, Jameson’s essay is paradigmatic. Thousands of scholars and students around the world read his musings on the “Utopian dream” of the palette-knife and nod in reflexive assent. Many of them spend the bulk of their graduate or professional careers constructing arguments about art and society couched in the same jargon as “Three Modern Painters.” Their bookcases are lined with texts written by thinkers like Jameson, Edward Said, Judith Butler, Jacques Derrida, Slavoj Zizek and other doyens of contemporary political and aesthetic theory. Their talks and seminars, accessible only to a select group of initiates fluent in the jargon, often revolve around coaxing meaning out of nonsense clauses. To be sure, many among them (Jameson included) are bright and accomplished scholars. But even the sharpest academic minds can fall prey to the temptations of nonsense.

The unfortunate truth is that no one is safe from the excesses of the academy. The cacophony of jargon has a way of hypnotizing people.

Spend enough time around anyone who partakes in seminars on “theory” (literary, aesthetic, political or otherwise) and you’ll start to notice the vocal tics. According to them, we are surrounded by abstractions — “structures,” “systems,” “individual and collective consciousness,” “subjectivities,” “the Other.” The only thing that can save us from these abstractions are more abstractions, more theories and most importantly, more academics to guide us through the bleak wasteland of nonsense.

Well, you might ask, who cares about all of this? Who cares about Frederic Jameson? Who cares about what academics think or write? Why should we care about obscurantism and nonsense clauses and weird theories about the nature of reality? Why care if scholars tend to prefer foreign loanwords where English translations would suffice?

Doesn’t one solemn invocation of dispositifs or Begriffsgeschichte inspire more awe than one hundred utterances of “apparatus” or “conceptual history”? Who cares if intellectuals don’t adhere to consistent capitalization? (Jameson speaks often of “Syntax” and “Desire” and the “Other,” and he rarely justifies the choice to treat these words as proper nouns.) Why worry if their writing seems mainly to confuse, rather than clarify? Who reads academic writing, anyway?

The short answer to the “who cares” question is: we all should. As students, we should worry about what comes out of the academy because it directly affects our education. As citizens, we should care about what comes out of the academy because it indirectly affects our culture. Theories developed in the academy inevitably seep into popular discourse, albeit in simplified forms. If you want to have a serious conversation about teaching “Critical Race Theory” in schools, you should understand some details of the academ-

ic frameworks developed in the 1980s. If you believe that gender is performative, or that it is not, you should to be familiar with the work of Judith Butler and other queer theorists. The examples could go on. They are not necessarily limited to theories coming out of the humanities.

Suffice it to say, we would be foolish to buy into the myth that the academy is an ivory tower set apart from society.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. The debates that take place in the academy, esoteric and inscrutable though they may often seem, eventually affect all of us.

Here, I should make a confession. I am not a fan of most categories of “theory,” and I am certainly not a fan of the category of theory into which Jameson’s writing falls. I am not compelled by explanations of the world that rely on concepts like the “reified eye” or the “libidinal apparatus.” These concepts might, in theory, have much to teach us about the realities they purport to reflect.

But in practice they are often sterile abstractions, born amidst and destined to perpetuate nonsense clauses. They are examples of how to distort words and obscure meaning.

When Australian philosopher David Stove proudly proclaimed that “nothing which was ever expressed originally in the English language resembles, except in the most distant way, the thought of Plotinus, or Hegel, or Foucault” (three thinkers whom he deemed especially eager to abuse language), he had clearly forgotten about, or never heard of, Jameson, Said, Judith Butler and innumerable other tenured “theoreti-

Continued from page 1 disability recognition. He said trying to convince people that disability mattered was a difficult journey in itself. “To see now 43 people in this Zoom when it felt like we could sometimes only get three people in a room to talk about this is just an indescribably amazing feeling,” Tuttle said.

Brittany Tewari will serve as the Space’s coordinator. Tewari, who was born with cerebral palsy, has devoted a major part of her life to disability advocacy.

“I’ve always noticed the specific injustices and the oppressive systems that a lot of individuals with disabilities face,” Tewari said. “I think it’s really important that we address this in higher education, as this is the first time that a lot of us are finding our independence and our own individuality.”

Tewari is working with student coordinators Eric Hatch ’23 and Amari Pierce ’24 to create programming for the community center. Together, they will plan weekly events, including educational workshops, community building activities and office hours for students to hang out and build community. The team will also collaborate with other disability organiza-

GENDER Continued from page 2 Studies in Race and Ethnicity Communications and Events Associate Perlita Dicochea supported Lowrey’s theory of racial backlash, explaining that the hostility she has experienced as a Latina

Screenshot: ADRI KORNFEIN/The Stanford Daily

Members of the Stanford community looked back upon the years of advocacy that preceeded the creation of the disability community center, while also emphasizing that the work is not yet done. tions at Stanford.

One of Tewari’s current projects involves creating a specialized disability report for Stanford’s IDEAL survey in order to find out how the University can better serve the disability community.

The Disability Community Space is designed to be as accessible for people with disabilities as possible. All of the furniture is on casters, so that it is easily movable and interchangeable. There are multiple sets of doors that provide easy access to the student lobby and accessible bathrooms. Tewari is also investing in light dimmers to

accommodate individuals with light sensitivities.

While disability justice and education are some of the main focuses of the community center, Tewari reminded attendees that “a huge part about the disability community too is just resonating with each other and creating that community and building that foundation of comfort and trust.”

Tuttle emphasized how much more work there is to be done, saying the community needs to keep “what we have here and fight for it because community is key to organizing which is key to justice.”

woman by people outside of her racial group often outweighs people’s perceptions of her as a woman.

“Outside of your racial group, you’re completely excluded,” Perlita said. “That’s a kind of backlash where you’re just completely off written in certain settings, situations or institutions.”

Lowrey emphasized the importance of defining oneself within the

various communities that individuals belong to, explaining that the way in which people identify themselves affects both self-perceptions and other people in their community. “ What you’re doing when you’re making any claim about yourself — you’re making a request of other people,” he said.

“Any claim you make about your social identity is a request of other people.”

cians” at universities across the English-speaking world.

Of course, ideas have consequences. In particular, bad ideas have bad consequences. The worst kind of ideas are those that manage to be both bad and hard to understand. You get the sense that they’re bad ideas, but you can’t quite put your finger on why, mainly because there’s no “why” to put your finger on. This is what often happens to me when I read someone like Jameson.

I get the sense that many of his conclusions are utterly improbable and, at times, slightly offensive. (It does smack of elitism to suggest that a preference for realism over abstraction reflects an ignorant devotion to consumer capitalism.) But I would be hard-pressed to offer clear refu-

tations of his “arguments,” if the foregoing extracts can be called that. Against incantations about “libidinal economies” and “reified objects,” I have only the dull shield of ordinary language. This is, surely, no fault of Jameson; it reflects my own failure of imagination. Ideally, I should meet his nonsense clauses with nonsense clauses of my own.

We could spar to intellectual stalemate on the pages of the New Left Review. Our dispute would inspire mild interest in faculty lounges across America and the world. It all just seems a bit bothersome. Maybe it would be better to set aside my uncertainty and fall in line. Today we live in an era of nonsense. Tomorrow, we can hope, clarity will come back into style.

CLASSIFIEDS WANTED Free Trip to Denmark. One month vacation with all related expenses paid. The month of August 2022 is envisioned.

Elderly (old) couple is looking for a companion (helper) to accompany them on a trip to Denmark. Required is fluency in English, a blemish free driver's license, a valid passport. For further info contact poul.galle@gmail.com. Title: DTrip.

LINEAR ALGEBRA TUTOR ooking for a tutor for my high

www.stanforddaily. com/classifieds school senior in LINEAR ALGEBRA. * Two to three hours a week * over zoom *afternoon hours, likely between 4 and 7 (but timing is flexible). email: pkamenecka@gmail.com

12 N Friday, February 11, 2022

The Stanford Daily

WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS

Cardinal fall to Cal at home

By JORDAN JOHN LEE DESK EDITOR

Seven hundred and four days.

That is how long No. 19 Stanford women’s gymnastics (1-5, 1-3 Pac-12) had to wait until competing in Maples Pavilion with a vibrant crowd.

“It was so surreal,” said fifthyear Kyla Bryant, performing again in a crowded Maples Pavilion. “As the meet was going on, I told the team that we have to be grateful for this environment and this space because we did not have this for two years.”

“This year, our theme is ‘Flip the Script,’” said head coach Tabitha Yim. “One part of that theme entails having an attitude of gratitude.”

“To see the crowd, to be back out here and to be at home after being on the road for three weeks is really special,” Yim added.

Hosting Bay Area rival No. 10 California (4-0, 4-0 Pac-12), the Cardinal could not break the Bears’ undefeated start to the season, falling 196.925-196.250. The score of 196.250 was just 25 thousandths short of their

season-best, which they achieved also against Cal. “We try not to focus on scores because that is something we cannot control,” Yim said of the team’s performance. “When you look at the performances across the event, especially at the second half of the meet, I think you see so much growth.”

“Overall, the performances are getting better and better,” Yim added. “We are a program on the rise, and I certainly feel we are taking the right steps to get to where we want to be.”

As with all home meets, Stanford opened its campaign on the vault.

Three of five Cardinal gymnasts matched their career-bests in the event while Bryant eclipsed her previous career-best with a 9.925 en route to her individual titles on the vault and floor exercise.

“My performances just added fuel to the fire in this team,” Bryant said. “My team had a phenomenal night, and I am really proud of this team not only in this meet but also in practice.”

The Cardinal’s momentum did

not end with Bryant’s vault. The uneven bars also produced season-bests from senior Madison Brunette (9.825) and fifth-year Taylor Lawson (9.800) as well as a career-best 9.750 from freshman Ira Alexeeva. Cal sophomore Andi Li claimed the uneven bars title with a 9.950.

The third rotation for Stanford featured the infamous four-inch-wide balance beam. Staying on the beam is hard enough, but Lawson impressed the Cardinal crowd with an Arabian with a blind landing to start her routine.

Consistency and poise landed all five Cardinal gymnasts scores of 9.800 or higher with sophomore Sze En Tan and senior Wesley Stephenson leading the way with 9.850s.

The Cardinal finished their homeopener at the center of Maples Pavilion on the floor exercise.

Brunette matched her career-best of 9.875 and Bryant earned a season-high 9.950, the same score she earned to claim a share of the 2021 Pac-12 title in the event.

After a season-best team score of 49.300 to close out the meet and in

CODY GLENN/isiphotos.com

Fifth-year Kyla Bryant (above) earned a career-high 9.925 on the vault and a season-high 9.950 on the floor exercise. Bryant and fellow fifthyear Taylor Lawson were honored at the end of the meet against Cal. honor of “Super Senior Night,” head coach Tabitha Yim presented Cal redshirt seniors Kyana George, Nina Schank and Emi Watterson with yellow roses to thank them for their contributions to their gymnastics program.

Then, Yim and assistant coaches Alexandra Pintchouk and Vince Smurro presented framed leotards for Bryant and Lawson to honor their contributions and achieve-

MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING

Men’s swim topples Trojans

By NOAH MALTZMAN STAFF WRITER

In its penultimate meet before the Pac-12 Championships, No. 11 Stanford men’s swimming and diving (6-0, 4-0 Pac-12) upset No. 8 USC (4-2, 2-2 Pac-12) on the road Saturday. The Cardinal won 11 events and easily topped the Trojans 182-118.

The win marked the undefeated

Cardinal’s fourth consecutive victory over a top-25 team, as they previously beat No. 22 Harvard, No. 6 Arizona State and No. 20 Arizona.

Stanford’s 11 event titles in Saturday’s meet were highlighted by sweeps of both relay events against the Trojans.

Leading the way for Stanford was redshirt freshman Andrei Minakov, who scored 23.5 points. The 2020 Olympian posted victories in

both the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly, clocking times of 19.58 and 46.40 seconds, respectively. He also swam on Stanford’s two winning relay teams.

Freshman Ron Polonsky won two events individually: the 200yard IM (1:46.01) and 200-yard backstroke (1:44.99). The Cardinal swept the former event with sophomore Rick Mihm (1:46.65) taking second and graduate student Alex

SCOTT GOULD/isiphotos.com

Graduate student Alex Liang (above) dives into the pool during a meet against No. 8 USC. Alongside freshman Ron Polonsky and sophomore Rick Mihm, Liang helped the Cardinal sweep the 200-yard IM.

Liang (1:49.87) placing third. Polonsky also finished third in the 100yard breaststroke with a time of 53.98 seconds.

Sophomore Preston Forst picked up first-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle with times of 1:35.44 and 4:20.47, respectively. He was also the first swimmer in Stanford’s first-place 400-yard freestyle relay team, where he was joined by junior Neel Roy, sophomore Luke Maurer and Minakov, who swam in that order.

Graduate student Grant Shoults placed first in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a 9:00.21 time and second in the 500-yard freestyle with a 4:22.28 time. His 9:00.21 time in the 1,000-yard freestyle was his fastest of the season thus far.

Senior Daniel Roy won the 200yard breaststroke with a time of 1:56.27. The four-time All American was followed up by sophomore Ethan Dang, who posted a 1:58.08 time.

Off the diving board, both freshman Jack Ryan and junior Ethan Foster posted season-high scores on the 1-yard. Ryan also placed second on the 3-yard.

Up next, the Cardinal will face Cal (6-0, 4-0 Pac-12) in their final meet of the regular season. The meet is slated to begin at 12 p.m. PT on Feb. 19 at Avery Aquatic Center.

ments to the Stanford program in front of fans, friends and family.

“My favorite part of being a student-athlete is being a role model,” Bryant said, reflecting on her time as a Cardinal gymnast. “I think it is an honor and a privilege to be an example for the kids, and it helps me in the way that I carry myself.”

Stanford will remain on The Farm to host No. 22 UCLA on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 2:00 p.m. PT.

SQUASH Continued from page 10 Si Yi Ma turned in a standout performance over the weekend, going undefeated and notching Stanford’s only wins against Dartmouth and Harvard. Ma has had a successful debut season for the Cardinal, winning all but one of her individual matches.

Senior Sumi Mudgil battled through two five-game marathons at the No. 4 position, storming back from a two-game deficit to win against Brown but losing to Dartmouth. Senior Elena Wagenmans, who returned to the top of Stanford’s lineup after playing at position No. 1 throughout her previous two seasons, contributed Stanford’s only other win of the weekend, against Brown.

Stanford will now turn its attention to the Women’s National Championships on Feb. 25 in Boston. Ranked at No. 15 for now, and with no more matches on their schedule, the Cardinal have almost certainly fallen out of contention for the top division of college squash’s tiered postseason, where the top eight teams compete for the national championship.

The Cardinal’s postseason bracket this year will likely be in a lower division and against unfamiliar opponents for a program that only a few years ago was in the mix for the national championship. For a team that has faced immense challenges both on and off the court all season, it’ll have to do.

VOLLEYBALL

Stanford splits First Point matches Cardinal sweep first game, fall in second to Hawai’i

By TAMMER BAGDASARIAN STAFF WRITER

No. 14 Stanford men’s volleyball (6-3, 0-0 MPSF) split its trip to Austin, Texas, leaving the First Point Collegiate Challenge with a win against Farleigh Dickinson (0-5, 0-0 IVA) and a loss to No. 1 Hawai’i (7-2, 0-0 Big West).

The round-robin format tournament at the Austin Convention Center was a homecoming for several current and former Cardinal after a two-week break following two straight wins. Junior setter Nathan Lietzke grew up in Austin, playing volleyball less than 25 miles away at his family’s gym. Playing volleyball in Texas may have also brought back memories for members of last year’s Stanford team, which set up shop in Austin last season when the team couldn’t return to Santa Clara due to COVID-19 policies.

The First Point Collegiate Challenge also marked a sign of growth for the game of collegiate men’s volleyball, which had never before been played in the state of Texas.

The tournament intended to give first-time men’s volleyball programs the opportunity to compete against the country’s top programs. Before a COVID-19 outbreak, Stanford was initially slated to play Kentucky State (1-3, 0-0 SIAC), an HBCU program in its first year of competition. Instead, the Cardinal opened the Challenge on Friday against Farleigh Dickin-

son, whose program is more established and dates back to 1977.

Stanford sweeps Farleigh Dickinson Stanford made quick work of the Knights, walking away with a 25-20, 25-16, 25-16 sweep. Farleigh Dickinson had no answer for Stanford’s relentless offensive attack on Friday, which capitalized on defensive mistakes as the game wore on. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Ethan Hill, junior outside hitter Will Rottman and junior outside hitter Kevin Lamp combined for 28 kills in just three sets with only four errors.

Hill’s .727 hitting percentage was just another notch on the list of impactful performances that the UCLA transfer has put together in his second season at Stanford.

If Stanford showed any weakness against Farleigh Dickinson, it came in the service game. The Cardinal tallied 17 service errors while recording just three aces on the afternoon. Set to compete against a reigning national championship Hawai’i team that has made its name this season on the back of precise and powerful serves, cleaning up serves was a must.

Familiar faces Facing the Rainbow Warriors was not just an opportunity for Stanford to match up against the top team in the country. It was also a chance to compete against former Stanford middle blocker Kyler Presho ’21, who transferred to Hawai’i to fulfill his final year of eligibility.

“This is a new experience for us,” Stanford coach John Kosty said, previewing the game. “We usually don’t have transfers on the other

GLENN MITCHELL/ isiphotos.com

Senior middle blocker Ethan Hill (right, above) serves in Burnham Pavilion. Hill was a consistent hitter over the weekend in Texas, registering eight kills on a .727 hitting percentage against Farleigh Dickinson. Against Hawai’i, Hill recorded 13 more kills to go along with two blocks and three block assists in the Cardinal loss. side of the net, but we’re just going to get fired up. We’re playing against the number one team, we’re playing against Kyler and we are gonna get after it.”

For Presho, playing against his former teammates was going to be a triumphant return regardless of the game’s result. Last year, Presho was one of the leading voices fighting against the discontinuation of the Stanford men’s volleyball program.

“It’s some mixed emotions for sure,” Presho said of facing his former teammates on Friday. “I’m excited to go out there and play against all my old buddies. A lot of these guys are going to be my friends for life. We’ve been through hell and back together on that team, and getting to see them yesterday walking out of practice was so cool.”

While at Hawai’i, Presho said he has experienced a different style of coaching than he did at Stanford.

“We focus a lot more on the fundamentals and making our players into all-around volleyball players, whereas at Stanford, we were definitely highly focused on everybody

being really good at their position,” he explained.

As for the Rainbow Warriors’ preparation for the game, Presho said he and the team’s eyes were on Lietzke.

“Lietzke is the hardest working volleyball player I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Presho said. “You can’t keep that guy out of the gym. When you’ve got somebody like that, you are going to get better — point blank, period, year after year.”

For the Cardinal, going up against a former teammate was not going to get in the way of the team’s goals, Hill said ahead of the game.

“If we play our game, we can take them,” Hill said. “As long as we focus on our side of the net, we can beat anybody.”

Stanford falls 3-1 to Hawai’i In the early moments of the game, it looked like Hill’s prediction was correct. After battling back and forth during the first half of set one, Hill helped the Cardinal find separation, recording five kills and two solo blocks in the 25-19 win.

But while Hawai’i looked beatable in the first set, they were ironclad for the rest of the game. The Cardinal looked helpless against the Rainbow Warriors’ offense, whose serves can regularly rise into the 7075 mph range. Stanford fell behind by 10 points early in the second set and, unable to close the deficit, dropped the set 25-13.

Though Stanford was able to put up a stronger fight in the next two sets, stretches of attack errors in both sets put too large of a gap between the two teams for the Cardinal to come back. Stanford dropped the third and fourth sets 25-19, losing the game 3-1 after the strong start.

Despite the loss, Lietzke put together a strong performance in his hometown, tallying 34 assists on the night.

Presho, who earned the start against Stanford, recorded a dig and a kill with no errors for Hawai’i, despite playing limited minutes.

Stanford’s next opportunity will come at home on Friday against Menlo (9-0, 0-0 GSAC), as the Cardinal look to improve to 7-3.