The Stanford Weekly 7.23.09

“F OOTBALL” ON THE FARM Today THE STANFORD WEEKLY: VOLUME 236A, ISSUE 4 the BEHIND SCENES www.stanforddaily.com THE STANFORD DAILY PUBLISHING CORPORATION ESTABLISHED 1892 I INCORPORATED 1973 Cover: World Football MICHAEL LIU/The Stanford Daily; picture by SHAMS SHAIKH LORRY I. LOKEY STANFORD DAILY BLDG. 456 PANAMA MALL STANFORD, CALIF. 94305 News Univ. administrators present new budget plans at town hall; 28 students are awarded Fulbrights 3 Opinions Sports Features City Pedestrian Zone; How much longer ‘til I’m 21? 6 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Devin Banerjee President and Editor in Chief Jason Shen Business Manager and Chief Operating Officer Mary Liz McCurdy Vice President of Sales Kamil Dada Glenn Frankel Theodore Glasser Michael Londgren Robert Michitarian Wyndam Makowsky 7 10 Bright and Gage commit; Daily and Appel sit down to discuss past, present, future Electra Festival gives audience new view on tragic memory; Daily goes off the beaten path, literally Entertainment Daily continues to explore strange land of Berkeley, Calif.; Entranced by best Harry Potter flick yet 12 EDITORIAL STAFF Devin Banerjee Editor in Chief eic@stanforddaily.com Ryan Mac News Editor news@stanforddaily.com Jack Salisbury Sports Editor sports@stanforddaily.com Chelsea Ma Features Editor Joanna Xu and Annika Heinle Entertainment Editors intermission.daily@gmail.com Paul Craft Opinions Editor opinions@stanforddaily.com Michael Liu Photo Editor photo@stanforddaily.com SHAMS SHAIKH/The Stanford Daily THAT’S “INTER”ESTING: Inter Milan defender, Ivan Cordoba, slides a pass to a teammate in a game versus Club America on Sunday. America won in P.K.’s. Cris Bautista Graphic Editor Jane LePham Copy Editor I NFORMATION Editors can be reached by calling the newspaper’s main newsroom at 650-7215814 Monday through Wednesday, from approximately 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. The Display Advertising Department can be reached at 650-721-5803, and the Classified Advertising Department can be reached at 650-721-5801. All correspondence can be faxed to 650-725-1329 or mailed to: The Stanford Daily Lorry I. Lokey Stanford Daily Building 456 Panama Mall Stanford, CA 94305 Circulation & Distribution The Weekly is usually delivered between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Thursdays. To request distribution to your location or to report a distribution problem, please contact the business manager at 650721-5801. Reprints Permission to reprint an article or photograph may be obtained by contacting the business manager at 650-721-5801. Please visit www.stanforddaily.com/ about/Rights+and+Permissions. Back Issues Back issues from the past week are available in the lobby of the Lorry I. Lokey Stanford Daily Building. Content from all issues is available at the newspaper’s Web site at www.stanforddaily.com. CORRECTIONS It is the policy of The Stanford Daily Publishing Corp. to correct all significant errors brought to the attention of the editors. If you think there is a need for a correction regarding any article, please contact Editor in Chief Devin Banerjee at 650721-5815 or email him at eic@daily.stanford.edu. The Daily will investigate all legitimate requests for corrections and reserves the right to determine if a printed correction is necessary. All corrections will be printed in this space or in the respective section. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Circulation, The Stanford Daily, Lorry I. Lokey Stanford Daily Building, 456 Panama Mall, Stanford, CA 94305. All subscriptions are mailed first class. The Stanford Daily is an independent newspaper published by students of Stanford University. It has been serving the Stanford community continuously since 1892. The Stanford Weekly is owned and published by The Stanford Daily Publishing Corp. Letters, columns, cartoons and advertisements do not necessarily reflect editorial opinion. Copyright © 2009 The Stanford Daily Publishing Corp. 2 N THE STANFORD WEEKLY THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009 NEWS SCIENCE & TECH Blackboard buys student startup Terriblyclever Design purchased for about $4 million; Beykpour to become vice president of Blackboard By JOANNA XU ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Student iPhone application startup Terriblyclever Design, LLC, creators of MobilEdu and iStanford, was recently acquired by Blackboard, Inc. for about $4 million, according to an announcement last week at Blackboard’s company meeting in Washington, D.C. Terriblyclever co-founder Kayvon Beykpour ‘10 will join Blackboard as vice president and lead the Mobile Technologies for Education division of the company. MobilEdu is an independent platform that allows iPhone users and students to download their institutions’ application from the iPhone App Store. Stanford University was the first campus to implement the application. “We [the Terriblyclever team] are all students, so we thought about all the things that students use,” Beykpour said. “We use the campus map, campus directory, course catalogue — and we access these things on a daily basis. When we thought of iStanford, we wanted to take all of those things and put it in your pocket, in the iPhone.” Blackboard President and CEO Michael Chasen recognized the future possibilities of mobile development in the educational market. “Today’s students want to do everything with their mobile devices, including managing their social, school and work lives,” Chasen said in a press release. “We’re pleased to join forces to help institutions get serious about meeting the expectations of students and other campus constituents who live and learn in a mobile, digital world.” Terriblyclever Design, LLC was originally co-founded by Beykpour, a computer science major, and his childhood friend Joe Bernstein. Stemming from an interest in Web design, the company was soon working with companies such as Best Buy, Comcast and Sprint. In July 2008, the Terriblyclever team — which had expanded to include Ben Cunningham ‘10, Pablo Jablonski ‘10, Aaron Wasserman ‘10 and Nils Rocine — met with Tom Black, associate vice provost for student affairs, to discuss creating a mobile presence for Stanford on the iPhone. At the time, the iPhone Software Development Kit MASARU OKA /The Stanford Daily EYES FORWARD: More than 300 students focused intently on Vice Provost Patricia Gumport as she discussed graduate education. GRAD TOWN HALL Students voice concerns over budget, new Vaden fee By ELLEN HUET STAFF WRITER Please see STARTUP, page 5 GRACE KWAN/The Stanford Daily Despite its characteristic diversity, the graduate student community came together in full force on Tuesday night at the Graduate Student Town Hall. Hosted by ASSU Executives David Gobaud ‘08 M.S. ‘10 and Jay de la Torre ‘10 and the Graduate Student Council (GSC), the meeting saw more than 300 concerned students fill the Old Union Clubhouse to the brim, some expressing significant frustration over University financial policies. The looming economic recession and consequent budget cuts cast a palpable shadow over the topics covered in the meeting. University administrators, including Provost John Etchemendy, Vice Provost for Graduate Education Patricia Gumport, Vice Provost for Student Affairs (VPSA) Greg Boardman and Vice Provost for Budget and Auxiliaries Management Tim Warner, attempted to provide a sense of reassurance. After an introduction by Etchemendy, Gumport covered some of Stanford’s priorities for graduate students. She presented figures on grad student stipends, noting that general financial support and minimum RA/TA [residential assistant/teaching assistant] stipends both increased 77 percent in the past decade. Boardman also explained how changes within the VPSA would not adversely affect graduate student life, citing a new grad student programming board and recent housing enhancements with new residences such as Munger and Lyman. Boardman also emphasized that despite a significant general budget restriction for VPSA, several key programs such as Counseling and Psychological Services were protected in the interest of student life. “The Graduate Life Office was not cut at all, even though VPSA was cut 13 percent,” Boardman said. “And the Community Associates program was the only one in Student Affairs that increased funding.” Warner continued with a more technical approach to budget problems, citing statistics for departments and offices across the University and outlining the University’s main sources of revenue and expenses. The recent budget crisis has resulted in a complicated reshuffling of funds as well as severe cutbacks such as salary freezes and layoffs, much to the frustration of students and staff. However, Warner explained, some frustration is unavoidable because of lack of fund flexibility. “At Stanford, all money here is not ‘green,’ and I think that’s an important thing to know about the budget,” Warner said. “We have a lot of restrictions on the revenues of the institution.” Etchemendy concluded by addressing the various ways in which budget cuts will affect student finances, specifically focusing on health insurance and the new $167 per quarter Vaden Health Center fee. The controversial fee had many students in the graduate community incensed — every student must pay the fee regardless of whether or not they use Cardinal Care or private insurance. Etchemendy was insistent that the new health fee actually made the Vaden system fairer to all students. “[The previous system] was a bad system for charging for health care, because some people paid once, paid twice or paid not at all,” he explained. “Most universities charge for separate health care because it’s a more fair way to charge for health services.” When asked later why the health fee is raising such controversy despite its increased fairness, Etchemendy said people reacted strongly to a noticeable charge. “It’s partly because it’s very visible, and partly because it has to be paid even by those who don’t pay for tuition,” he said. “We could have simply increased tuition, but this is a fairer system.” After the presentation finished, Etchemendy answered questions from students, which were mostly about financial details — health insurance stipends, dependent insurance and financial aid offerings. Although the questions were generally wellinformed, some students left the microphone feeling dissatisfied with the responses. “I wanted to understand where the $167 health fee came from and if there was a better solution,” said Sophie Walewijk, a Civil and Environmental Engineering graduate student. “I was unsatisfied with the answer to that particular question, but overall satisfied with the town hall — it answered a lot of my other questions.” “I did, however, have a problem with the mixed figures used in the presentation,” she added with a laugh. “The choice to present some things in percentages and some in dollars was, let’s say, strategic.” In the interest of time, students were limited to one question, and after a while, the long line at the Please see HALL, page 5 THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009 THE STANFORD WEEKLY N 3 HONORS & AWARDS Univ. sets record with Fulbright scholarships 28 students granted scholarships for ‘09-‘10 By ALLIE SHORIN DAILY INTERN projects, which is unusual for young students,” she said. “This has been an extraordinary year for Stanford, especially for graduating seniors and recent alums,” Route added. “It really speaks to the opportunities Stanford students have to do interesting work early on in their academic careers.” Stanford University’s 2009-2010 Fulbright scholars: Dianna Bai ‘09 (B.A. in International Relations), Bradford Bouley (Ph.D. candidate in history), Thomas Burns (M.A. in communications), Shayok Chowdhury ‘07 (B.A. in Studies in Race & Ethnicity), Brett Dietz (M.S. in Civil & Environmental Engineering ), Jonathan Dunlap ‘08 (B.A. in Human Biology), Jessamyn Edra ‘09 (B.A. in English), Deshka Foster ‘08 (B.A. in Human Biology), Hannah Gilula (M.A. in sociology), Rebecca Grossman-Kahn ‘08 (B.A. in Human Biology) Stephanie Hausladen ‘07 (B.A. in economics and International Relations), Bradley Heinz ‘08 (B.A. in anthropology), Kathryn Howard ‘09 (B.S. This year, 28 Stanford students were awarded the 2009-2010 Fulbright Scholarship, a record number for the University. More than 7,000 American students applied for 1,500 available scholarships. The Fulbright Program was originally created in 1946 by the U.S Congress to promote a mutual understanding between foreign countries. Here at the Farm, 86 students, ranging from Ph.D. candidates to recent graduates, applied. The number of winners this year far surpassed the average number of Stanford recipients: 18. The program is designed to provide American students with the funding and opportunity to gain international experience in one of the 140 countries where the program is offered. Each participant will study overseas for nine months to a year, researching and exploring a self-designed project. According to Kristen Costigan, one of the Overseas Resource Center (ORC) advisors, Stanford students’ success this year is due to both the quality of education the University offers and the exceptional quality of their applications. “Stanford students tend to do really well with these [scholarships] because Stanford really encourages in-depth research at a really early stage,” she said. One Fulbright winner, Niko Milonopoulos ‘09, a former Daily staffer, also believes the University has prepared its students for the caliber of the Fulbright Scholarship. “I feel, such as in my case, Stanford provided an atmosphere for me to explore my curiosity and passion for addressing a global challenge like the proliferation of nuclear weapons,” he said. “Stanford allowed me to learn from faculty who are experts in the field and have my thoughts challenged by my peers.” Milonopoulos said the Fulbright program is a great opportunity for students to research and expand their interests in new surroundings. “[The program] allows for [students] to expand their passion beyond school, and it provides the funding to allow for [us] to study in a different place and use new tools that [we] would not be able to use anywhere else other than that country,” he said. Katie Route, an ORC advisor, was especially impressed with some of the winners’ self-designed projects. “What has really impressed me are the graduating seniors or recent grads who have put together such sophisticated study and research JUMBONORMOUS “This has been an extraordinary year for Stanford, especially for graduating seniors and recent alums.” — KATIE ROUTE, Advisor for the Overseas Resource Center in mathematics), Daniel Le ‘09 (B.S. in mathematics), Bria Long ‘09 (B.A. in Human Biology), Niko Milonopoulos ‘09 (B.A. in political science), Sara Parke ‘09 (B.A. in Human Biology), Lauren Peate ‘09 (B.A. in economics), Shannon Randolph (Ph.D. candidate in anthropology), Andrew Rominger ‘09 (B.S. in Biological Sciences), Michael Seely (M.A. in Documentary Film & Video), Jared Sun ‘09 (B.A. in Human Biology), Karl Telleen (M.S. in civil engineering), Olga Trusova (M.A. in Education), Michael Wilkerson ‘09 (B.A. in political science), Emily Yang Yu ‘09 (B.S. in biology and B.A. in music) Contact Allie Shorin at ashorin6464@ gmail.com. Pizza at THE TREEHOUSE Tresidder Union. Eat In or Take Out. 650.723.4500 THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009 4 N THE STANFORD WEEKLY HALL Continued from page 3 microphone was cut off. Third-year Ph.D. student Joel Weitzman explained why he wasn’t surprised that many questions asked at the microphone seemed to end without resolution. “I think [the town hall] was mostly a chance for a lot of students to vent their frustrations,” he said. “I don’t know how many people came thinking things would really change, but it’s at least providing a forum for exchange with administration.” Watch a Webcast of the town hall at assu.stanford.edu/townhall. Contact Ellen Huet at ehuet@stanford.edu. STARTUP Continued from page 3 (SDK) had recently been released by the company, and Black wanted a mobile solution for Stanford. Beykpour hopes he and Blackboard can continue to provide mobile solutions for other universities. “Our goal is to seriously transform the way people use their mobile devices on campus, which will be much more interestingly attained with a relationship with Blackboard,” Beykpour said. “Other companies aren’t oblivious to the mobile trend; we just stumbled on it first because we walked around campus and knew what students used, so we connected the dots.” “We knew about other companies in the space as well and had spoken to Blackboard and were aware of their PALO ALTO product,” Beykpour added. “Some of our clients used Blackboard products as well. It wasn’t a shock that we started having conversations.” Presently, Blackboard’s client list includes Stanford, Duke, Texas A&M, UC-San Diego, University of San Diego and the Medical College of Georgia. It’s also working with four more schools whose applications have not yet gone live. While the Stanford students on the Terriblyclever team are all full-time employees, they are also full-time students at Stanford. Beykpour admits there are many sleepless nights as a result of these commitments, but claims the experience is worth it. “Really working on a project and the company — it will stick with me even long after school is over,” he said. Contact Joanna Xu at joannaxu@stanford.edu. P.A. mayor decides against second term By AN LE NGUYEN SENIOR STAFF WRITER WANTED: COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ESSAYWRITING ADVICE The Stanford Daily is looking for Stanford students and recent grads who are interested in sharing their admissions essaywriting experience for a special summer project. Please email coo+essay@stanforddaily.com for more information. Palo Alto Mayor Peter Drekmeier will not seek reelection to the City Council this fall, after serving one term as the city’s elected head. Drekmeier said his decision to remain off of the Nov. 3 ballot was a difficult but logical one. The mayor and his wife, Amy Adams, welcomed a baby boy into their lives about five weeks ago, and Drekmeier said giving up his mayoral post enables him to devote more attention to his son. “I just want to make sure that I have plenty of time for him,” he said. “I know he’ll grow up fast.” In addition to his responsibilities on the City Council, Drekmeier works full-time as the Bay Area program director of the Tuolumne River Trust, a conservation group partly based in San Francisco. “It’s been pretty busy between that and City Council, which takes probably 20 hours a week,” the mayor said. Drekmeier plans to continue as Tuolumne’s program director, explaining that the position allows him to work from home two or three days a week. His absence from Palo Alto politics means voters will elect at least four new representatives to the nine-member council in November — his colleagues Yoriko Kishimoto and Jack Morton are termed out, and John Barton decided not to run for re-election. Dan Dykwel, Tim Gray, Victor Frost, Karen Holman, Gail Price and incumbent Larry Klein are among this year’s contenders for office. Come January 2010, the newly elected council will decide among themselves who will serve as mayor and vice mayor. “I would say that [Councilman] Pat Burt is probably a frontrunner, but someone else might express interest as well,” Drekmeier suggested. “[Burt] served on the Planning and Transportation Commission for at least eight years, so he has a lot of experience in governance.” Drekmeier speculated that this fall’s crop of candidates will focus on the troubled economy, the Stanford Hospital expansion and flood prevention of San Francisquito Creek. He further said Palo Alto voters are concerned about the city’s environmental agenda. Drekmeier first decided to run for City Council because he sensed a lack of concern for the environment following Courtesy of Peter Drekmeier ONE AND DONE: Mayor Drekmeier will step down after his first term to dedicate more time to his family. “I know that Palo Alto is very proud of Stanford... ” — Peter Drekmeier, mayor of Palo Alto President George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection. “I felt like he was the worst environmental President that we ever had,” Drekmeier said. “Looking to four more years of a total lack of leadership, if not disrespect for the environment, I felt [that] if I want to make any change, it would have to be at the local level.” The mayor has since helped materialize a climate protection plan, a zero-waste policy and a green building ordinance for Palo Alto. He proudly said the city has been purchasing and distributing more green energy as of late. Drekmeier also pondered about the inseparable connection between Palo Alto and Stanford University, and how future council members must continue to cultivate that relationship. “I would say that there’s definitely some tension between the city and Stanford around growth issues, but on the whole I think there’s a very collaborative atmosphere,” he said. “I know Palo Alto is very proud of Stanford and [residents] acknowledge Stanford as one reason why this community is as desirable as it is. I would hope the folks at Stanford feel that Palo Alto represents them in certain ways as well.” As for his tenure as councilman and mayor, Drekmeier expressed the utmost pride for his hometown. “I’m pleased that I ran,” he said. “I really enjoyed serving, and I feel like I made a difference.” Contact An Le Nguyen at lenguyen@ stanford.edu. THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009 THE STANFORD WEEKLY N 5 OPINIONS D OWNLOAD THE O RIGINAL ATTACHMENT Palo Alto Pedestrian Zone worth a look A couple of weeks ago, I received an invitation to join a Facebook group calling for the removal of cars from University Ave. — along with the removal of the avenue itself. The goal is to create a pedestrian paradise, where community members can feel safe to stroll by shop windows while sipping some overpriced beverage. I promptly deleted the petition, but as these things always seem to work online, I was invited to join again. Having crossed some subconscious barrier that I place against these Facebook groups, I decided to evaluate the ideas with at least some objectivity. At first, I derided the proposal for its seemingly utopian ideals, but further research showed that there could be real economic benefits (when does one see that in a utopian proposal?). Turning University Ave. into a pedestrian promenade is worthy of consideration, although highly unrealistic in the near future. First, a quick historical lesson: The idea came about as part of a Design School class called “Creating Infectious Action.” The goal for one group was to reduce gas usage. One of the main avenues to create this “infection” was through a Facebook group advocating the creation of a Palo Alto Pedestrian Mall — a group that now counts its membership above 2,000. (“Students rethink University Ave.,” May 28, 2009). Danny Crichton The specific proposal comes from a theoretical urban planning school called New Urbanism, which builds upon research in urban design and the sociology of communities. In short, rather than having one area of a city devoted to housing and one to commerce — think green and blue in SimCity games — cities can develop mixed-use zoning areas where people live near the place they work and promote cohesiveness across typical social divides. The Stanford campus is a good example. The University has put in place policies to reduce traffic around the heart of campus for decades. Streets are open to pedestrians and bikes, and buses can take large numbers of people to their destinations in a reasonable amount of time. Commute times to class are short even between the most distant of points and, for the most part, the area is safe for riding (even without those helmets). Imagine a community 50,000 strong with a similar arrangement. A strong downtown area (looking not so different from University Ave. today) would incorporate housing condos and apartments along with businesses on street level to create a walk-able and sustainable community with closer social ties among neigh- bors and workers. Research into this area is strong. Stanford’s urban studies program and civil engineering department, among others, have been investigating this theory over the past few years. Students can focus either major in the direction of sustainable communities. A good friend of mine in civil engineering took a class called “Creating Sustainable Development” along with others in those departments to learn the best new urban techniques such as rethinking zoning in a community. She is not alone. Research has shown numerous advantages to this type of setup. On an individual level, people will tend to walk more to their destinations due to their proximity, promoting a healthier lifestyle than the drive-thru nation that America has become in the last two decades. Social ties have been shown to be closer in such communities. The ideal city would have a person wake up, walk to the local coffee house (where everyone knows your name) and then arrive at work while passing many of your neighbors along the way. In the community context, this style of development can reduce some of the traffic problems that plague older communities founded without planning commissions or urban design plans. City planners can use it for urban renewal, where it has been successful in areas across America, from Redwood City’s Theater District to Lowry Air Force Base in Colorado. Crime rates tend to be lower as well, perhaps due to a greater feeling of ownership of the local community. Finally, on a global level, such communities have the potential to lower pollution through reduced use of cars. They also tend to be more sustainable, with a higher density than typical suburban neighborhoods, while reducing the Gotham City feel of a large urban area. These arguments, of course, are the utopian vision for New Urbanism that it almost certainly can never meet. Not everyone can live near his or her work (dual-career families?) nor can one city provide everything desired — not even Palo Alto. Such communities can raise quality of living, but they are not panaceas for all social ills. Changing University Ave. into a pedestrian zone would make the city closer to this new urban ideal. New sidewalks would let people walk around, park benches and fountains would replace asphalt and we would all be one with the city. But the problem is the logistics. How exactly do we turn the primary artery through the business district into a no-vehicle zone? There is a belief that greater foot traffic will lead to increased sales. That is true, assuming foot traffic is able to find parking in Palo Alto near the pedestrian mall. The effects on the businesses already there are unclear as well. Restaurants may benefit while others are hit hard, as shoppers drive their cars to easier-to-access venues. There is also the transition period. How will Palo Alto be redesigned to move cars to the 101 freeway? How should cars travel to reach Stanford the other way? Traffic patterns are likely to change into nearby residential areas as people take side streets to reach their destinations. Thus, we have a situation where the heady idealism of Stanford students (and the Bay Area) meets the cold reality of a city designed and built many years ago. As communities form, they will use these new urban techniques with greater frequency. Turning University Ave. into a pedestrian promenade? A worthy idea, but one whose timeframe is measured in years, not weeks. Danny only drinks underpriced beverages. Contact him at dancric@stanford.edu. J UST L OOKING The perils of the underage I ’m 20. Part of me feels rather grown-up, albeit in the “little girl in a big city” sense. But I can fend for myself; I feed myself, I clothe myself, I keep myself employed, etc. I’ve begun to enjoy the finer and refined-er aspects of life, like sushi, for example, and espresso and tomatoes (oh how I used to hate tomatoes). I even find myself gravitating toward the “adult” table at family gatherings, leaving my not-muchlittler sister to manage the kids’ table. And the adult table is great — satisfying the sophisticated palate in both food and conversation. I enjoy this grown-up stuff. Perhaps I’ve finally made it. But I am forgetting those items at the adult table that are off-limits to visitors such as myself — three in particular. I’m still fenced off from ultra-personal details: sex lives, financial situation, things I’m “not ready” for. I’m also not allowed to criticize any of the bona fide adults — no ill-formed opinions on parenting or tithing allowed. And, of course, there’s the heavily guarded wine bottle, because I’m still too young to drink. The wine bottle presents a puzzling barrier. The other obstacles to adulthood are defined by lack of experience. With no committed relationship, no financial independence and no children, I’m simply not qualified to opine and therefore denied a seat at the table. But the drinking age is such an arbitrary line: 21. It’s a terrible measure — it lets plenty of idiots in and keeps plenty of mature folk out. It’s not based on experi- Erin Dexter You can’t have a seat at the table if you can’t get through the door. ence, ability or anything substantive about a person. All that matters is something almost irrelevant — the year a person was born. If this barrier were just about the simple act of drinking, it wouldn’t bother me so much. But the ability to drink, the fact that you qualify, is some sort of secret pass-key into the real world. It’s an unspoken rule that you don’t really count until you can drink. This attitude even slips into conversation. When wanting to express the extreme youth of something/someone, it’s common to refer to the fact that he/she/it is not even old enough to drink (for example: “Hey, Barack, see the booty on that girl?” “Why, Nicolas! She’s not even old enough to drink!”), while the reverse is true for expressing extreme age (again, an example: “I like my scotch old enough to order its own scotch”). If you can’t drink, you don’t really exist; it certainly feels that way from this side of the magic line. But it’s more than a feeling; it’s a solid truth: I don’t exist to those who can drink. It isn’t an inferiority complex; it’s a law of physics: you can’t have a seat at the table if you can’t get through the door. The conversations that are taking place in the real world are offlimits to me because they are taking place behind those magic lines. Just this past week, I was supposed to catch up with some friends from high school, but they decided to meet at happy hour. And I was supposed to attend an after-work get together — but it took place at some swanky hotel bar. It’s not only that certain restaurants are closed off to me after a certain hour; it’s the fact that I don’t have a glass in my hand. If raising your hand in class is the international symbol for “I have something to say,” appearing at a social function sans alcoholic beverage is the international symbol for “I really shouldn’t be here.” I might be the most brilliant conversationalist. I might be the most delightful dinner companion. I might be the craziest party-starter the world has ever seen. But no one can know, including myself, because I can’t get through the door. At certain bars, in certain rooms, at certain tables — guarded by impermeable age limits — life happens, it seems. It’s frustrating because I should be there! I do have something to say! I want my seat at the table. I’m 20 already. I like sushi and everything. Why am I not grown up? And this age-based division is not confined merely to alcohol, but a slew of other things as well. Indeed, I’ve discovered that there is a series of artificial rites of passage in place to placate us as we slowly (oh, so slowly) get older. First, we could drive. Then we could see R-rated movies without unnecessarily worrying that someone would card us. Then — two in one year! — we could choose not to smoke and choose not to vote (if the statistics tell the truth). But neither speeding tickets nor sex scenes, nor confirmed apathy, truly makes any difference — it’s only the presence, or absence, of that glass in your hand. But wait a minute here. I was genuinely excited about those rites of passage. I was excited to drive, to finally see “films” and to wait in line for two hours to get a sticker that says “I’m more patriotic than you!” But the grass isn’t exactly greener on this side of those lines, is it? It’s the exact same shade, just seen closer-up. Is alcohol the key that finally lets me in the door? Or is more of the same shade of green? I suppose being 21 won’t allow me to pry into my family’s personal lives or give them advice on child-rearing. But it will allow me to — tentatively, at first — reach for the cabernet sauvignon and pour myself a modest glass. And that fact will distinguish me solidly from my notmuch-littler sister. That fact means I can finally walk through the door, but it also means the door will slam shut behind me. I can’t return to the kids table with a glass in my hand. Which means the adult table will have to find me a seat. Erin can’t wait until she turns 25 and can finally a rent a car in all 50 states. Contact her at edexter@ stanford.edu. 6 N THE STANFORD WEEKLY THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009 SPORTS Seattle Sensations Coach Johnny Dawkins receives verbal commitments from Seattle-area duo By JACK SALISBURY SPORTS EDITOR MEN’S BASKETBALL Zach Zimmerman Dishing the Rock Since Johnny Dawkins arrived on campus, the biggest concern for Stanford basketball hasn’t been the present, but rather the future. This past weekend, Dawkins took his biggest step so far in relieving that concern, receiving two non-binding verbal commitments from the high school class of 2010. The first came on Friday from 5-foot-11 point guard Aaron Bright, who averaged 16.5 points and five assists per game last year for Bellevue High School. He helped lead his team to the semifinals of the Washington state tournament, and will potentially compete for the spot at point guard the way another Seattle product, Mitch Johnson, did at Stanford. “The combination of the basketball program and the academics were perfect,” Bright told The Seattle Times. The second — and literally bigger — commit- ment came one day later when a fellow Washington native, six-foot-ten center John Gage, gave his word to Dawkins. Gage’s commitment is crucial for the Cardinal, as the team has still been figuring out how to establish a strong game in the paint since the Lopez twins left for the NBA last spring. Gage’s commitment also may have been a minor coup; he chose the Cardinal over Pac-10 rivals Cal and Washington, both of whom are expected to finish near the top of the Pac-10 next year. In any case, he brings the kind of size and skill that will fit just right in Dawkins’ program. Gage averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds a game last season and has a well-developed skill set for a player his size; his shooting range extends out to the three-point line. An important note to remember about the two commitments, though, is that they were non-binding verbal agreements. The players will not be held to their commitment until they have the opportunity to officially sign with the school in November, and plenty is liable to happen in the coming months. It is still hard for many to forget the last-minute departure of former Cardinal recruit Miles Plumlee, who decided to attend Duke after coach Trent Johnson left the program in 2008. That aside, it was an important weekend for the Cardinal, as Dawkins has struggled to fill out the roster since coming to campus a little over a year ago. Bright and Gage may not be the next coming of Stockton and Malone, but Stanford fans may be able to breathe a bit easier now knowing that reinforcements are on the way. Coach Dawkins was not available for interview, as the NCAA restricts coaches from speaking about athletes who have not yet officially signed with a program. Contact Jack Salisbury at jack24@stanford.edu. America’s other great pastime I INTERNATIONAL SOCCER Club America tops Inter Milan in penalty kicks By RYAN MAC NEWS EDITOR SHAMS SHAIKH/The Stanford Daily Club America midfielder Angel Reyna controls the ball during Sunday’s match with Inter Milan. More than 31,000 fans were on hand to watch Club America take the game in penalty kicks, 5-4. Swapping shirts after the shrill whistle, Inter Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Club America’s Aquivaldo Mosquero embraced at the end of the game. Or so they thought. One-one may be acceptable in the confines of the San Siro in Italy or at the Estadio Azteca, but not at Stanford Stadium. Blame it on an insatiable American hunger to always declare a winner — evidenced by quadruple overtimes in college football to penalty shootouts in the NHL. Whatever the reason, confused players were forced to return shirts to their rightful owners and end the match in a penalty shoot-out, which America won 5-4. Stanford Stadium hosted a different kind of “football” on Saturday, with Inter Milan and Club America playing in the inaugural match of the World Football Challenge, a four-team, round-robin soccer tournament taking part in stadiums across the U.S. Botched jersey exchange aside, Saturday’s Americanized approach to the world game was a victory for U.S. soccer. While organizers may have been overambitious in attempting to fill a 50,000-seat arena, the 31,026 fans who attended were treated to an entertaining match of two goals, two red cards and two-footed tackles. America’s fans were very much at the center of it. Armed with drums, yellow smoke bombs and vuvuzelas — FIFA’s favorite horns — they cheered from the first whistle to the final stroke of the ball, which saw defender Oscar Rojas neatly tuck America’s final penalty in the right upper-v to claim the game for the Mexican side. But it was Inter who started the match the brighter of the two sides. The Serie A champions took the field in a 4-5-1 formation, with new signing Diego Milito, not star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, spearheading the attack. Getting the better of possession in the opening minutes, Inter carved out the first chances with Milito warming the hands of America keeper Armando Navarette and Inter winger Ricardo Queresma blazing selfishly over the bar when put through to cross. Inter’s mercurial manager Jose Mourinho traded in his pants and blazer for a more relaxed tracksuit, but patrolled the sidelines with the same gusto. He looked on as America’s Salvador Cabanas tried a speculative overhead kick in the 18th minute. It was the Mexican club’s first real chance of the game. But even the “Special One” couldn’t explain Cabanas’s miss in the 28th minute. After a good exchange with fellow forward Enrique Esqueda, Cabanas inexplicably miss-hit a first-time shot wide with the goal at his mercy. It would be the best chance for either team in the half, with the first 45 minutes ending in a nil-nil deadlock. With plenty of changes at half for either team, the game picked up with America surprisingly breaking the deadlock 10 minutes after the break. Juan Carlos Silva, a substitute, managed to wiggle free of his marker on a corner kick, letting loose a full volley into the back of the net. The goal provided the spark that the game would need. Inter awoke, unleashing star forward Ibrahimovic on the match. Inter found the breakthrough soon after — after good work from Mario Balotelli and Patrick Vieira led to a corner kick. The ensuing corner kick was launched to the far post, where Inter’s unmarked Ivan Cordoba headed home from close range. Again knotted, the game began to get a have never really considered myself a gambler. I have no immediate desire to hit the craps table like Michael Jordan on a Vegas binge, nor would I even consider the possibility of sticking five cents into a slot machine. These games are purely recreational, and for me, losing money sucks the soul out of fun. That’s why I play poker. One of my best friends introduced me to the game that is Texas Hold’em when I was 15 years old. At this time my hobbies included homework, going to the orthodontist and calling girls on my new — and first — cell phone. Poker was a game my friends’ dads drunkenly played after work in order to avoid any household responsibility. In addition, my only other impressions came from the World Series of Poker on television, in which overweight, middle-aged men would sit for hours exchanging profanity-laced complaints. To put it softly, I decided to reserve my card playing for the monthly battles of Go Fish with my grandma. I knew my boy was loaded — his family essentially owns my entire hometown, and they are descendants of a very, very successful inventor. I didn’t really understand the significance of his self-proclaimed “occupation.” He claimed that he was generating a consistent income from poker, emphasizing that this game, unlike the aforementioned casino games, was absolutely beatable. Naturally, I thought he was full of it. I put two and two together and figured that his card-playing was just a careless way for a privileged teenage kid to waste his time and money. So I continued to mow lawns for 10 dollars. He continued to hit full houses for close to a grand. It wasn’t until a few months later that I stumbled across a Web site detailing poker strategy. It was like I had uncovered an underground culture that was littered with a strange mix of Internet degenerates and 20year-old millionaires. It took a few weeks for me to learn the entire poker vernacular, but once I did, the brilliant intricacies of the game were revealed. It is, in fact, a beatable and a beautiful game. The professionals are swimming in cash, but not before plugging in full workdays studying Please see SOCCER, page 9 Please see ZIMMERMAN, page 9 THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009 THE STANFORD WEEKLY N 7 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Appel, Card gear up for regular season By JACK SALISBURY SPORTS EDITOR Expectations for Stanford women’s basketball may be higher than ever with the team fresh off its second-straight Final Four appearance. The Card is expected to be ranked No. 2 nationally when the season starts, behind perennial juggernaut UConn, but it will face a preseason schedule that would make even the men’s squad cringe: Rutgers, Gonzaga, DePaul, Duke, Tennessee and UConn are among the nonconference powers on the schedule, not to mention the ever-competitive Pac-10 schedule. Rising senior Jayne Appel has been at the center of the program since she arrived on campus, and the low-post force isn’t going anywhere — at least for another year. She will be one of, if not the most important piece of the team if the Cardinal is to get back to the Final Four for a third consecutive year. The Daily recently sat down with last year’s Pac-10 Player of the Year, who is still recovering from her knee surgery last month. The Daily (TD): Two of your teammates, Jeanette Pohlen and Kayla Pedersen, just helped the U.S. win gold at the World University Games (you were supposed to be on the team, but were forced to miss the Games for knee surgery). Talk about the importance those two carry for your team. Jayne Appel (JA): Jeanette came back last year as a different player. She was phenomenal stepping up at point guard after JJ [Hones] went down. I think she’s just a great leader in terms of what the younger kids can look up to in terms of how much they can improve in just one summer. Kayla’s always just been a rock. She’s always that steady player that we can count on to do what she’s expected to do. She was a great leader as well for our team last year. TD: You’re still recovering from surgery on a torn meniscus — for the second time. How are you feeling right now and will you be 100 percent by the time the season starts? JA: It’s getting there. It’s definitely a slower process than it was last time in terms of rehabbing my knee. Slowly, but surely it’ll get there. Absolutely, before the season I will be 100 percent. I have an ample amount of time to get ready to come back for my last year at Stanford without having to worry about my knee at all. TD: You’ve accomplished more than enough so far in your collegiate career, including back-to-back trips to the Final Four. But what would it mean to you to bring home a national title in your senior year? JA:Absolutely everything. The first time [at the Final Four] was kind of a whirlwind and just experiencing it all. The first time, I was so proud of my team. The second time, it was more of a disappointment since it wasn’t new ground to us. It’s just frustrating to go twice and be knocking on the door of a national championship and not be able to make that final step. That was the goal for all of us — we’re going to come back and be ready to achieve that goal. TD: You guys have nearly everyone returning after making it to the Final Four last season. How do you think this team will com- pare to the teams of years past? JA: Not necessarily better. We don’t pay attention to the expectations. We know what we want. We all came back on that bus ride home from [the Final Four] in St. Louis and it was just the most depressing thing. We’ll have a great team coming back this year. I think it’s just more of our team’s mindset and how hard we’re going to work the rest of summer and fall to prepare for the hardest preseason Tara’s ever scheduled. TD: What do you expect for yourself in your senior season? JA: Coming back again in top fitness form and shape. As soon as my knee gets better, finding a jump shot, expanding my game to be on the block. I think also this summer, I’ve tried to work really hard to keep our whole team connected, even though we’re all from everywhere. I’ve tried to talk to everyone at least once a week, making sure everyone’s on track and keeping us prepared. TD: How has your leadership role on the team changed from your freshman year until now? JA: I definitely think over the end of last season, I’ve tried to take on a leadership role and kind of be that person people can go to off and on the court. It’s hard to be everyone’s best friend on a team, but I’ve tried to keep everyone’s intentions best for the team and to make sure that everyone wants the same thing. Our team’s mindset is show the work and don’t talk. It’s just a whole differ- Stanford Daily File Photo SPORTS BRIEFS Stanford basketball releases schedules for men’s and women’s teams Stanford men’s basketball coach Johnny Dawkins announced the Cardinal’s schedule for the 2009-2010 season on Monday, which officially begins Nov. 13 with a game on the road at University of San Diego. Also notable on the schedule is the trip the team Stanford Daily File Photo will take to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge over Thanksgiving break. Stanford will face the ACC’s Dawkins’ squad will begin the Virginia and has a chance of playing traditional SEC season on Nov. 13 when it titan Kentucky in the final round. The Cardinal will travels south to face San also face two teams from the Big 12 during its nonconference schedule: Oklahoma State in the Pac- Diego. The Lady Cardinal 10/Big-12 Hardwood Series and Texas Tech, which also start on Nov. 13, against was embarrassed last season in a 111-66 shellacking Old Dominion. at Maples Pavilion. Dawkins’ squad will begin the Pac-10 season on Jan. 2 at Cal. The last regular-season game of the year will be at home against none other than the Golden Bears on March 6. Rising senior Jayne Appel described the Cardinal women’s schedule for the upcoming season as the “hardest schedule Tara [VanDerveer’s] ever scheduled.” The six-foot-four center has a point: Stanford will face UConn, Rutgers, Tennessee and Duke — essentially the four other top programs in the nation — along with 2009 conference champions Fresno State, Gonzaga and Utah. The season will start Nov. 13 with a trip to Old Dominion. Like the men’s squad, the women will begin and end the Pac-10 season with games against the rival Golden Bears. Stanford will host Cal on Jan. 3 before wrapping up its regular season on March 6 in Berkeley. Friday, Saturday, & Sunday in White Plaza. Bbq Please see APPEL, page 9 Last season’s Pac-10 Player of the Year, center Jayne Appel hopes to lead the Cardinal to a third-straight Final Four. Stanford football holding autograph session Saturday The Cardinal football team will be hosting an open house of sorts this Saturday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at Stanford Stadium. Attendees will have the chance to meet members of the team while also touring the Stanford Stadium Sky Box. The event is free and open to the public. Fans may enter through Gates 1 and -Burgers -Sno Cones - Hot Dogs -Kettle Corn -Chicken -Drinks Hosted by the CoHo. Bring Your Friends! THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009 Please see BRIEFS, page 9 8 N THE STANFORD WEEKLY SOCCER Continued from page 7 bit messy, with a string of fouls and yellow cards issued to both sides. But even with the game’s growing grittiness, Esqueda’s red card in the 81st was unexpected. Chasing a 50-50 ball played over the top, Esqueda, with foot raised, caught Inter goalie Vid Belec in the face, giving the referee no choice but to send the America player to the showers. Needless to say, Club America’s fans and coach, Jesus Ramirez, were incensed. Parity was returned eight minutes later. In a seeming make-up call from the referee, Inter’s Joel Obi was sent off for a studs-raised challenge on Oscar Rojas, forcing both sides to the end the game with 10 men. Neither side could find the winner, and when the final whistle sounded, players began the customary exchange of shirts, unaware of the penalty kick finale. Even a young woman had no idea the game still had life, prancing onto the field to hug Ibrahimovic and a few other players before being escorted off. But with order finally restored, America’s players stepped up and slotted home their penalties with ease, with Inter’s Vieira proving the whole miss after firing high. With the game on the line, Oscar Rojas ended the day and stepped to the spot, shooting smiles onto the faces of the raucous Club America fans. NOTES — Following the win over Inter Milan on penalty kicks, Club America’s coach Jesus Ramirez was pleased with his side’s performance against the Serie A champions. “I am very happy with our team,” he said through a Spanish translator. “We are coming out from a strong season. We haven’t played a lot, but I am impressed with how they played today.” — America, already three games into their preseason, defeated A.C. Milan 2-1 on Wednesday in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. They will face Chelsea at Texas’s new Cowboys Stadium on Sunday. — On the losing side, Inter Milan’s assistant Beppe Baresi was barraged by transfer talk surrounding the team. But he remained focus on the team’s preseason trajectories. “It’s been a good week and a very busy game with training,” he said through an Italian translator. “We’re happy with how the game went and how there were no injuries.” — Inter dropped a 2-0 decision to Chelsea Tuesday at the Rose Bowl and will conclude their North American tour on Sunday at Foxborough, Mass. against Serie A rival, A.C. Milan. Chris Fitzgerald contributed to this story. Contact Ryan Mac at rbmac@stanford.edu. ZIMMERMAN Continued from page 7 cards, taking very detailed notes on opponents and constantly adjusting personal strategy. The game is extraordinarily dynamic, yet the elite players rarely fall from grace. Patience is just one of the many qualities required for solid play, which include, but are not limited to, computational skills, money management and raw intelligence. What further intrigued me was the psychological side of the game. Believe it or not, there is a mental aspect of the game that extends further than the bluff! I guess that good poker rests just below Jedi mind tricks on the scale of mental powers, but I’d argue it’s a toss-up. Like in any sport — relax, I’m not endorsing poker as a sport (yet) — it is essential to understand the thoughts and actions of your opponent. Every bet from the opposition is an indicator and must be treated as such. Furthermore, keeping your composure is essential; even if it is something I perpetually fail at. Think you can win simply based on luck and intuition? Don’t play poker. An explosion of popularity for poker accompanied the invention of online poker. As the floodgates opened and the general public began to swarm the cyber tables, professionals waited like hungry sharks. Unfortunately for the Average Joe, this isn’t Finding Nemo; the little fish get devoured and fatten up the wallets of the poker disciples. One of these cyber legends happened to be my aforementioned friend, who has amassed more in winnings than Rasheed Wallace has in fines. Oh, and he just turned 19. He’s just one of millions of young players who are infiltrating a game formerly dominated by old timers. Maybe it has to do with the quick computational skills required by the CLASSIFIEDS contact Tracy at 858-748-4133 www.EricksonLaw.net HOW TO PLACE AN AD Call Jason at (650) 721-5801 FOR SALE 2 Raleigh 5 sp folding bike - exc. condition, $350 Silveridge ATB style 12 sp (24") $l65 call 650 387-2138 leave a message DONORS WANTED SEEKING EXCEPTIONAL SPERM DONOR:COMPENSATION UP TO $16K Highly Intelligent, Attractive, Creative, Athletic.(Caucasian, Tall with Light Eyes preferred) Erickson Law’s Third Party Reproduction Firm has a loving family who is looking for an Outstanding donor. For further information please forward a picture and a brief Description of yourself at TArmato@EricksonLaw.net or HOUSING Rm 4 rent in E. 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Throughout the years, I have been involved in several heated arguments regarding the “gambling nature” of poker. With a strong work ethic, a fine attention to detail and raw talent in the form of patience and intelligence, a poker player can rise to the top. I have always and forever will support those who play cards for a living. Every time I get into this argument and every time I attempt to explain that poker is a beatable game, I am dealt the same question: “If you’re so confident, then why don’t you play poker for a living?” The answer is simple. I am not dedicated enough, nor do I believe that I have the emotional fortitude. Although it is beatable, there is no guarantee of success. Patience is absolutely essential, and the majority of players, regardless of personal opinion, don’t have it. I’ll be the first to admit that seeing money slip out of my grasps makes me cringe. Many of the best will explain that you need to lose before you can win, and this is pretty much undeniable. So please, before judging the game as a just another casino pastime, do a little research, and appreciate the intelligent reasoning that it requires. If you still refuse to come over to my side of the fence, fine. But if you do try to make the argument that it belongs in the same room as the craps table and the slot machine, I, along with the rest of the poker world, won’t hesitate in calling your bluff. Zach Zimmerman is a rising sophomore. He will be all-in next year as The Daily’s managing editor of sports. JOBS Promote CourseSmart, an eTextbook provider. Earn Stipend & bonuses for hosting campus events. One spot left! To apply visit www. repnation.com/coursesmart. APPEL Continued from page 8 ent mindset [than before]. TD: How have you changed as a player under coach Tara VanDerveer? In what ways have you developed? JA: Over the past year, I’ve gotten a people will read this ad on Stanford campus ALONE. 17,000 When you advertise with The Stanford Daily, you are reaching a very special audience of people who are educated and well-off. 65% of people on Stanford campus say they read the Daily once a week or more, and we also deliver to more than 400+ highly-trafficked off-campus locations. In these tough times, you’ve got to do more than just cut expenses, you’ve got to bring in revenue. Call us at 650-721-5803 or email advertising@stanforddaily.com and see how we can help your bottom line look better. lot closer with Tara. She’s hysterical. She’s been one of my main support systems at Stanford. I can literally go to her with anything. I think that’s very impressive considering how prestigious of a coach she is . . . She’s literally there for everyone on the team off and on the court. I can’t fight with anything she says; she’s already proven herself. Contact Jack Salisbury at jack24@stanford.edu. BRIEFS Continued from page 8 4; free parking will be available in the Varsity Lot between Stanford Stadium and Sunken Diamond. Farm to host annual Bank of the West Classic World classic tennis comes to Stanford next Monday with the start of the Bank of the West Classic at Taube Family Tennis Stadium. The Classic is the longest-running women’s only tournament in the world and will feature household names like the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena), Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic. There will be 32 players in the tournament, which runs from Monday until next Sunday’s finals. Tickets are available at the tournament’s Web site, www.bankofthewestclassic.com. They can also be purchased by calling (866) 982-6497. — By Jack Salisbury THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009 THE STANFORD WEEKLY N 9 FEATURES Electrifying... Classics and drama professor resurrects ancient Greek tragedy for Electra Festival By AISHA WELLS O n this day, Rush Rehm, Stanford drama and classics professor and artistic director of Stanford Summer Theater (SST), got a new cell phone. And not any old phone: a shiny camera flip-phone. “$29.99,” Rehm exclaims in disbelief at his own ownership of such a strangely modern device. Amanda Gelender ‘09, a drama major who is working this summer on SST’s Electra Festival, examines Rehm’s new phone with a look of shock. “Wow, Rush,” she says, almost speechless. “Welcome to the 21st century.” ♦♦♦ Ask any student, friend or colleague of Rehm — or even Rehm himself — and you’ll hear confirmation that he is not the kind of person concerned with keeping abreast of the latest in cutting edge technology. While the rest of Silicon Valley moves forward at a blindingly quick pace, here at Stanford, Rehm is directing Stanford Summer Theater’s 11th festival, Electra Festival, which offers a comprehensive investigation into the theater of the ancient Greek world. But Rehm can’t be accused of living in the past. An author of four books on Greek tragedy, Rehm is internationally considered an expert on classical drama. Yet it is not merely his personal interest in the ancient world that motivated his decision to select “Electra” as the theme for this year’s SST festival. On the contrary, selecting “Electra” was done primarily with the intent to provide modern audiences with an intimate experience of the value of confronting tragedy — a tragedy ancient in origin, but as pertinent and current as the $29.99 price on Rehm’s brand-new camera phone. Directed by Rehm, SST’s major production of Sophocles’ “Electra,” in a translation by Anne Carson, looks at an archetypal story of revenge. The part of Electra, played by Valentina Conde ‘07, is a theatrical tour de force. Her fiery rage, unsettling obsession with avenging her father’s murder and inability to move beyond her memory of past injustices, combine to ignite a series of increasingly tragic events. “In ‘Electra,’ those who forget are rewarded,” Rehm said, while those with fixations on past wrongs are ultimately consumed by their own obsessions. Rehm proposes that this is not all too different from today’s attitude toward dealing with the past. “We are asked to forget before we remember,” he said. “Progress is favored over memory, particularly when it comes to tragic historical memory.” Tragedy in the real world, Rehm said, is so overwhelmingly prevalent that often the only feasible mechanism we have for coping with it is to forget it. But forgetting tragedy, and the modern preoccupation with the glittery appeals of perennial progress, has proved problematic. “Like the old caveat goes, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it,” Rehm said. “Electra,” Rehm suggests, invites its audience to confront the Catch-22 imposed by tragic memory: while on the one hand we should not abandon our tragic memories, on Photo courtesy of Rush Rehm Rehm directs this summer’s Greek-themed Electra Festival. He expects the production of “Electra” to give the audience a new take on confronting tragic memory. the other hand, will determination to remember injustice ever allow us to forgive it? Or will tragic memory, like in the case of “Electra,” inevitably cause perpetual frustration, persecution and cyclical acts of revenge? “Here, ‘Electra’ gets complicated,” Rehm said. “It’s not clear that simple memory and action based on that memory leads us out of the woods at all.” The timeless questions presented by the myth of “Electra,” and reflected in dismal headlines of today’s papers, are not answered in Rehm’s production. “There is no easy answer, and the Greeks recognized that confrontation of an issue does not promise reconciliation,” he said. But in the end, “Electra” communicates the idea that experience of the tragic enhances our ability to understand ourselves and what happens around us. Through SST’s Electra Festival, Rehm aims to bring to each audience member new and unique experiences with tragedy, and to inspire a confrontation with the issue of tragic memory. ♦♦♦ One might wonder what, in the first place, would move Rehm to purchase a new camera phone. His last cell phone — cameraless, of course — was run over in the street. A minor tragedy, one might say. His service provider no longer offered cell phones without a camera. As Rehm returns to work on the ancient texts he is currently resurrecting on stage for SST’s Electra Festival, his new phone rings sharply with a phone call — likely from an actor — and shines a little too garishly on his paper-covered desk. It seems at the same time out-of-place and entirely necessary. Contact Aisha Wells at aishaw@stanford.edu. In Muir’s Footsteps By ELIZABETH TITUS STAFF WRITER e was just sitting in his dorm room in Trancos one night during junior year, when his roommate came home from a class about local environmental history and said, “Hey, did you know that John Muir walked to Yosemite?” Now he did. And it didn’t sound like a half-bad idea. Fast forward two years to today and meet Alex McInturff ‘08 M.S. ‘10. A 23-year-old Earth Systems graduate student, McInturff recently finished a trek that only a few people, including legendary conservationist Muir, have ever done: he walked from San Francisco to Yosemite, a 300-mile journey designed to study the history and future of California conservation, a topic that has interested him since his undergraduate years. H Alex McInturff ‘08 M.S. ‘10 makes the famous 300-mile trek from San Francisco to Yosemite National Park Photos courtesy of Alex McInturff Please see MCINTURFF, page 11 10 N THE STANFORD WEEKLY THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009 MCINTURFF Continued from page 10 But it wasn’t an easy road. McInturff dealt with logistical snafus, near-misses and injury. And today, he faces a different challenge: producing an academic piece of writing — perhaps a thesis — about a five-week, open-road adventure that was, decidedly, a far cry from library research. The laid-back McInturff is taking it all in stride, but still, he says, “I just happen to think best while I’m walking.” So The Daily caught up with him at the Dish trail — an old stomping ground of his — to hear about the future of the California landscape, the motivation behind McInturff’s historic walk and where he goes from here. ♦♦♦ McInturff arrived at the Dish that Saturday in sneakers, jeans and a T-shirt, meandering across Junipero Serra Blvd. to the east gate, hands in pockets and a squinting smile toward the sun. If the former Earth Systems 10 TA minded the trail’s first steep uphill, he didn’t show it. We started climbing. First things first, I wanted to know: Why the hell did he walk to Yosemite? “I thought it would be a good transect of the state,” said the Alabama native of the west-to-east route Muir blazed in 1868. “For whatever reason, what gets me excited is thinking about things that have to do with the environment.” McInturff explained that when he set out on April 6, he wanted to explore how folks acquire land, manage parks effectively and undertake private conservation — all issues he blogged about extensively during his fiveweek walk. “How has the land changed, from one side of the state of California to the other, since John Muir’s time?” he wrote prior to departure. “Muir was the man who put conservation on the map in many ways. What is the legacy of his effort? Looking at the patchwork of green parks around the Bay, the gridded and subdued whiteness of the Central Valley, the vast and unbroken verdure of the Sierra, the map is a reminder that there is a history behind the land, a hidden axis in time coming out of the Cartesian plane.” McInturff’s route — starting in San Francisco, crossing to Oakland by ferry (in Muir’s tradition), south to Gilroy, east along Pacheco Pass, down into the Central Valley and then, finally, into Yosemite National Park — was punctuated by visits with land owners, park rangers and farmers. He stayed with friends, in campgrounds and, for two or three nights, in motels. Some parks, including the East Bay Regional Park system, first told McInturff they couldn’t accommodate single campers, but opened their grounds to him for free once he told them what he was doing. It took McInturff just a few paces to list what he carried with him on the walk, including a backpack, a GPS, a phone and an iPod, which he didn’t use much. He bought food along the way, walked 10 to 15 miles a day and snapped some 2,000 pictures. He also tried keeping a journal, but then switched to technology. “Initially I tried to write everything down, but it took too much time,” he said. Instead, he relied on public libraries’ Internet connections to write blog entries, and would then call it a day by 10 p.m. Planning all this was “a shit-load more work” than McInturff expected — not the proposal or grant process last summer, but the three weeks before he left, when he spent 18hour days on the phone and Web setting up visits and logistics. And when he told people he was planning to walk to Yosemite? “They thought I was kidding,” he said. Hoover Tower had come into view to our right; the Dish loomed ahead of us. We could see miles to the north, where McInturff had set out just weeks before. He pointed out the occasional wildflowers, like those he spotted Photos courtesy of Alex McInturff Inspired by naturalist John Muir, McInturff hiked 10 to 15 miles a day carrying nothing but a backpack, GPS, phone and iPod. He blogged his journeys using Internet from libraries he passed by. on the Bay Area Ridge Trail during his first — and favorite — week of the walk. Prior to “California Transect,” as he dubbed it, the longest backpacking trip he had ever done was a week long. He was quiet for a moment, then added his preparations.3 “It’s the kind of thing you can’t really believe ‘til you walk out your door.” ♦♦♦ The logistics aside, McInturff delighted in telling stories — stories that seem to belie a sort of kinship with Muir. What was his hardest day? I asked. “That’s easy,” he said. “Are you familiar with Highway 152?” That’s Pacheco Pass, some 50 miles of highway connecting the coast to the Central Valley from Gilroy to Los Banos. Muir — who published just one essay on his walk, which appeared in the New England literary journal “Old and New” in 1872 — devoted more than a page to describing the route in his short account. He highlighted the California quails, identified nine types of fern and celebrated the descent from 2,500-plus-feet Pacheco Peak. “At our feet, basking in sun-gold, lay the Great Central Plain of California, bounded by the mountains on which we stood, and by the lofty, snow-capped Sierra Nevada; all in grandest simplicity, clear and bright as a new outspread map,” Muir wrote. McInturff said the icon’s essay had him looking forward to walking Highway 152. But come April 27, his own pass turned out to be more harrowing. The shoulder of the road he was to follow for some two days — the first day for six miles and the second for 10 — was, he said, half as wide as the Dish trail we now walked. Cars and big rigs roared past. McInturff’s mind was a long way from quails and ferns. “I was basically going insane, thinking I was going to die,” he said. “So I turned a six-mile day to a 16-mile day. Burning rubble, burning gas, burning brakes . . . it was unpleasant to be in close proximity to.” He came through shaken, but unscathed. And then another story, from two weeks prior to Pacheco Pass: he was at the back entrance to Garin Regional Park near Hayward, staring at a “No Trespassing” sign. “Okay, I’ll be fine,” he remembers thinking — just be quick about it. But then he passed a building that he said looked like “someone’s weird meth shed,” and heard 10 gunshots ring out. He bolted, going “top speed in the backpack.” Back in the safety of the neighborhood, he felt a slight tweak in his ankle that, after several more days of walking, demanded that he take a week off at home. (“Oh, if you ever get Achilles’ tendonitis,” he recommends between breaths, “walk backward uphill.”) What were the gunshots? He had simply been next door to a police firing range. “When I found that out,” he said, “the [National Park] ranger was laughing.” ♦♦♦ According to his advisors, it was precisely McInturff’s ability to roll with the punches that made it all work. “He went into this in an open-ended way,” said Jon Christensen ‘10, a history Ph.D. student and a former environmental writer for High Country News and The New York Times. McInturff had come to him for help a year earlier, and they discovered that it was Christensen’s class that McInturff’s roommate had been in quarters ago. “He did not say, ‘I’m going to go into it and I’m going to come out of it with this,’” Christensen continued, “and I respect that. There’s not too many people who do that these days.” David Kennedy, a Stanford history professor who studies the American West and also advised McInturff, said there was one other favorable thing about the 23-year-old. “Frankly, his primary characteristic is that he wanted to do it; he had the idea,” Kennedy said. “The very first thing I said to him is, ‘God, I wish I could do it with you.’” Kennedy explained the significance of Muir’s walk today — in some ways, both he and Christensen acknowledged, a legacy with which McInturff had to grapple. “One of our romantic ideas about nature is that before we showed up, everything was static,” he said. “That’s just not true . . . it’s part of the distortion of Muir’s legacy, or he may have more or less consciously contributed to it: ‘Civilization is the corruptor in the garden.’ And that’s just not an adequate view.” As to the new conclusions McInturff will draw about the California landscape, he isn’t quite ready to say — nor are his advisors. But Christensen said the right medium is, to him, clear. “I think writing is a way of figuring out what you think,” he said. “There’s no reason why a master’s thesis could not combine these things: narrative, science, policy implications. It can combine these things, so why not start there?” And, Christensen added, “[McInturff] is a writer, and he’ll always be a writer.” ♦♦♦ Soon after McInturff arrived in Yosemite Valley on May 8, a guest walker met up with him. “Through the crowds parked on El Capitan Bridge, I saw a familiar face, and couldn’t hide a smile,” he wrote. “There was my dad.” His father had flown out from Alabama to join him. “We found a likable spot in El Capitan meadow and ate bagels, cheddar, Nutella and peanut butter,” McInturff wrote in his last blog entry. “San Francisco to Yosemite Valley. April 6 — May 9, 2009 . . . in Muir’s words, the days of the walk were some of the ‘largest days of my life.’” And so where McInturff came from is clearer than where he’s going: hopefully he’ll be done writing “by this time next year,” he said. His best tense, on any trail, seems to be the present one. But he told one more story, about spring quarter of his sophomore year at Stanford, when he had no classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Big Sur for the day, he decided — but it was “miserable.” “I accidentally went on a loop I thought was four miles, but it was actually 12,” he recalls, laughing. “I was totally sweaty and itchy.” So he found a stream, stripped down and dove in — one can imagine some whooping here on his part — in what he now calls one of his best memories. “From then on, I thought being outside would be OK with me,” he said. There he goes. Alex McInturff’s blog is at http://muirwalk. blogspot.com. Contact Elizabeth Titus at etitus@stanford.edu. THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009 THE STANFORD WEEKLY N 11 ENTERTAINMENT SUMMER AT THE MOVIES: POTTER BREAKS MIDNIGHT RECORD HP6: Darker, moodier and chock-full of hormones Rating: 8/10 T far as make me question the film’s PG rating. Of course when Harry Potter he “Harry Potter” film and his ensemble of hormonal franchise is finally out of wizards and witches aren’t batpuberty. Gone are the tling those magical feelings in light-hearted conversatheir pants, we still have a dark tions about having “fefelings” for story at heart. The story builds up the opposite sex or worrying with Harry and Dumbledore about getting a good grade in working tirelessly to learn as classes. No more awkward tipmuch as they can about toeing between childish antics Voldemort in order to discover a and more mature themes. “Harry way to defeat him. These Potter and the Half-Blood moments, although few and far Prince” (HP6) is all grown up and between, are excellently crafted, all the better for it. full of action and actually pretty Picking up right where the last intense at times — especially the film left off, “Half-Blood Prince” scene with Dumbledore and starts off with Voldemort’s Death Harry in the sea cave. Eaters wreaking havoc throughOf course, like most of the out both the muggle and wizardother latter “Harry Potter” films, ing worlds. Panic and terror fill HP6 spends a good amount of the streets, and the magical world time building up to a huge climax begins making preparations for that trickles away and leaves the the coming battles. At the helm audience hanging on and begof these preparations are of ging for more. The film’s ending course Professor Dumbledore definitely had me, as well as my (Michael Gambon) and the staff fellow movie-goers, questioning, at Hogwarts, all of whom put in “Is that the ending? Really?” extra effort to protect the school Don’t get me wrong — the against the dark forces that are Courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures movie’s climactic moment is a lurking around the corner. Similar to the previous film, ON A MISSION: Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), with the help of Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), continues his efforts shocker (although most people have probably heard what hap“Order of the Phoenix,” HP6 has to defeat Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) in the latest Potter film. The flick raked in $22.2 million its first night alone. pens by now), but the film just a dark and brooding tone, both in content and the overall look of the film. Many it, Harry!). The characters of Ron and tion of the film not only shows more depth to drops off soon after — with no resolution of the scenes take place in gloomy, overcast, Hermione (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) their characters (Hermione’s know-it-all atti- whatsoever. The “Harry Potter” film franchise has stormy or generally ominous weather. These have grown up as well, with Hermione out- tude is downplayed this time), but also allows overtones add well to the film and are compli- wardly, albeit subtlely, showing her true feel- the actors more wiggle room to play around in already left a huge mark upon our movie hismented by the film’s cinematography. I know ings for Ron, even though he is completely their roles. Sure, Ron is still pretty dopey tory and culture. The fact that “Half-Blood throughout; but Hermione is much more deli- Prince” made a whopping $22.2 million from Harry Potter films aren’t really known for oblivious to it. It is in these more “normal” moments cate and sensitive, while Harry gets to show a its opening midnight showings alone — the their camera work, but Director David Yates definitely deserves kudos here — whether it where HP6 truly shines. Each character deals softer side as well. A particularly touching largest late night opening in history — is a be a sweeping shot of Draco on the parapets with how to properly convey her or his feel- moment occurs when Harry and Hermione sign that even after eight years, the franchise of Hogwarts or a harried tracking shot as ings and grapples with hurt when someone commiserate with each other on what it’s like is still going strong. These early tallies really Harry runs after a Death Eater through a field doesn’t reciprocate. These problems of the to see the people they love be with someone come as no surprise given that HP6 is the heart occupy the bulk of the film and drive else. best Harry Potter film yet, combining more of grass. All of it looks beautiful. Emotions aside, these more down-to-earth well-rounded acting performances with darkFrom the get-go, we can tell that all of the every character’s actions. The moments in characters have grown and matured even which Harry follows Draco, fights off the moments also provide a constant supply of er, more mature themes to show that the though they don’t look too different from the Death Eaters or consults with Dumbledore, comic relief throughout the film. Watching films’ style and quality are growing hand-inlast film. In one of Harry’s (Daniel Radcliffe) then, only act as asides to the young wizards’ these characters make out with each other for hand with their cast and story. the first time is awkward and goofy, and there first scenes in the film, he is shown flirting real problems: their romantic lives. Having Harry and company worry about is almost a palpable quantity of sexual tension with a sassy muggle waitress — even making — kyle EVALDEZ plans to hook up with her after her shift (get something other than Voldemort for the dura- and innuendo. These elements even went so contact kyle: kedemon@stanford.edu BEHIND ENEMY LINES, GOOD FOOD? ROME-ING AROUND W elcome to the second entry from Tommy Tobin’s adventures behind enemy lines, reporting from Berkeley, Calif. Oh, what savagery I have witnessed at the hands of Oski and his carnivorous companions! All kidding aside, Berkeley is a great place to visit if you want to venture away from the Farm. The hip, trendy feel of the thriving downtown areas around Telegraph and Shattuck streets are in stark contrast to our beloved University Ave., and definitely merits a cultural adventure to the East Bay. If you happen to find yourself in Berkeley, you’ll be faced with a multitude of dining options. But don’t panic! Intermission is here to help. Located a mere two blocks from Cal and right off of Telegraph Ave. is Gypsy’s, a casual Italian restaurant with hearty and inexpensive eats. As a casual Italian diner, Gypsy’s has it all. Mountainous calzones for under six dollars, generous amounts of pasta for about seven dollars and no need to pay a tip. Gypsy’s pizza and calzones are large and delicious. If you’ve got a large appetite, try tackling the calzone, which delivers its tasty contents in a flaky, fresh pocket. I’d recommend asking for some extra tomato sauce for dipping, especially if you order the four cheese calzone. On the pasta side, Gypsy’s has a number of options for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. The gnocchi was succulent and smothered in a savory cream sauce that makes my mouth water upon the very thought of it, even now two weeks after eating the dish. While the chicken in the dish was a bit dry, it was certainly worth the seven-dollar price tag. Similar pasta dishes might retail around $15 or upward at more formal places, especially around Palo Alto. Gypsy’s diners of all ages appreciate the restaurant’s delectable balance of taste and budget, especially with dishes like the Godfather’s Alfredo. On balance, the lack of free refills (refills cost 50 cents) and the loud and cramped seat- ing are trifling concerns compared to the taste and price of the restaurant’s goods. As for the seating issue, Gypsy’s can be particularly crowded at peak hours, but there are a number of outdoor seating areas around the Durant Shopping Center. Gypsy’s also does not serve any desserts, which tacitly encourages diners (if they’re not full already) to instead swing by one of the nearby shops in the Durant Center, which includes two or three boba houses and a doughnut bakery. Simply put, Gypsy’s delivers delicious food in a social atmosphere with cheap, cheap prices. Little wonder why the restaurant has been named “Berkeley’s Best” for each of the past 11 years by Cal’s student newspaper, The Daily Californian (boo, hiss!). — tommy TOBIN contact tommy: ttobin@stanford.edu 12 N THE STANFORD WEEKLY THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009