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The Cardinal’s winning weekend

March 7th, 2012

The Cardinal men’s swimming and diving team won its 31st consecutive conference championship last weekend in a 131 point landslide victory in East Los Angeles.

But that’s not all.

Stanford’s synchronized swimming team captured the Western Regional this past weekend, and will advance to the US Collegiate Nationals on March 15-17.

Men’s tennis duo of BRADLEY KLAHN and RYAN THACHER defended their title to become Pacific Coast Doubles Champions again.

Meanwhile, in women’s basketball, the Pac-12 announced its regular-season awards Tuesday, as voted by the conference’s head coaches. Stanford headlined the list with NNEMKADI OGWUMIKE, who was named Pac-12 Player of the Year. CHINEY OGWUMIKE was named Defensive Player of the Year, and TARA VANDERVEER took home her 12th Pac-12 Coach of the Year award.

Video pays tribute to Mark Marquess

March 6th, 2012

MARK MARQUESS, who recently began his 36th season as director of baseball at Stanford, says what attracted him to coaching was the desire to have an impact on people’s lives. Indeed, a Stanford alumnus and former baseball player himself, Marquess has earned the respect of both players and colleagues. The video below was produced by the Buck/Cardinal Club, which has supported student athletes at Stanford since 1934. In it, current and former players and other members of Marquess’ coaching staff pay tribute to the man referred to as “Nine.”

Stanford wins top honors among workplaces for commuters

February 22nd, 2012

For the ninth year in a row, Stanford was recognized as one of the Best Workplaces for Commuters by the National Center for Transit Research.

Stanford also competed in the Best Workplaces for Commuters 2011 Race to Excellence. The award recognizes those who offer the highest levels of commuter benefits. Stanford was honored with the “Best Of” award, the top prize in the Race to Excellence.

“Stanford University strives to attract the best and the brightest. Being designated as one of the Best Workplaces for Commuters is important recognition of the university’s leadership in sustainable transportation, which enhances the lives of our commuters, benefits the community, and helps the environment,” said BRODIE HAMILTON, director of Parking & Transportation Services at Stanford.

Funded by the Florida Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Center for Transit Research is located at the University of South Florida.

Diving coach, current freshman and alum bound for London

February 17th, 2012

Freshman diver Kristian Ipsen will compete in the FINA Diving World Cup in London next week.

Stanford’s head diving coach RICK SCHAVONE along with current freshman KRISTIAN IPSEN and Stanford alum CASSIDY KRUG will be part of a 14-diver contingent at the FINA Diving World Cup in London Feb. 20-26.
Schavone is in his 34th year on the Farm and has coached at least one All-American diver nearly every year since 1982. Krug is a former NCAA champion, and Ipsen has not lost a collegiate meet this season in 12 tries.
The U.S has secured six of the possible 12 spots for the London Olympics, which take place later this summer, and is hoping to qualify more American spots during the London meets.
The actual team will be chosen at the Olympic trials in June.
Read the full announcement on the Stanford Athletics website.

Glynn, Krawinkler and Pelc also elected to National Academy of Engineering

February 16th, 2012

Peter W. Glynn

The previous Dish item reported that STEVEN M. GORELICK, the Cyrus F. Tolman Professor in the Department of Environmental Earth System Science, had been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). It turns out that in fact three other Stanford faculty also received the honor this year. The four Stanford faculty members are among 66 new members and 10 foreign associates whose election was announced last week.

PETER W. GLYNN, the Thomas W. Ford Professor in the School of Engineering and chair of the Department of Management Science and Engineering, was elected and cited for contributions to simulation methodology and stochastic modeling.

HELMUT KRAWINKLER, the John A. Blume Professor, Emeritus, in the School of Engineering, was cited for the development of performance-based earthquake engineering procedures for evaluating and rehabilitating buildings.

Norbert Pelc

NORBERT JOSEPH PELC, professor and associate chair for research in the Department of Radiology and professor of bioengineering, was cited for the development of algorithms and technologies for MRI, CT and hybrid X-ray/MRI imaging.

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature,” an NAE press release noted. It also recognizes the “pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”

The latest election brings to 98 the number of Stanford faculty in the engineering academy.

‘Turn Off for Break’ campaign nets $266,000 in savings

February 9th, 2012

Susan Vargas

We all know that a couple of weeks off during the winter break does wonders for faculty and staff. But who’d have figured that it could also be so good for the university’s budget?

Figures released by SUSAN VARGAS, facilities energy efficiency manager, and FAHMIDA AHMED, associate director of the Office of Sustainability, show that this past year’s winter curtailment was enormously successful. The two report $266,000 in operating savings, which is a 32 percent increase from 2010. Since 2001, the winter curtailment program has saved about $2.5 million.

JUNIPER BUILDING, which houses the Computer Information Systems for Human Resources, won a $1,000 prize for general participation. The BRAUN MUSIC CENTER won $1,000 in the performance improvement category. SCOTT HOFFLANDER, trades and crafts supervisor in the HVAC Shop, won $500 as outstanding individual contributor.

In a recent email, Vargas and Ahmed shared the following facts:

* 13 buildings increased participation levels this year
* 168 buildings participated in the curtailment, 109 of them fully
* 1.6 million kilowatt-hours of electricity was saved and 1,033 metric tons of CO2 was avoided.

Learn more at the Sustainable Stanford website.

SLAC kicks off golden anniversary

February 6th, 2012

SLAC communications staffers, from left, Thanh Ly, conference and event manager; Lina Ruhlman, tour coordinator; LaPria Genevro, administrative associate; Melinda Lee, outreach manager, and Rod Reape, multimedia services supervisor

SLACers are no slouches when it comes to having fun, and the photos just in from the lab’s recent 50^th anniversary kickoff celebration demonstrate that SLAC people work hard and play hard.

The Jan. 26 event started with employees assembling on SLAC’s main green for a variety of photos and videos taken from land, lift bucket and helicopter by BRAD PLUMMER, the lab’s multimedia manager, plus four other professional photographers.

Later, employees enjoyed sumptuous edibles while local band “So Timeless” got funky on stage. There was a photo booth complete with outrageous wigs and shiny shades that staff definitely weren’t shy about putting on for the camera.

Many of these wacky images are online and available now at https://buzzimages.smugmug.com/SLAC.

LAPRIA GENEVRO, administrative associate in SLAC’s communications office, led the party planning. Among the myriad tasks checked off over the two months leading up to the event, she and colleagues selected the menu and band, created 34 reusable centerpieces and assembled the 1,700 “50th Anniversary” and “SLAC” buttons that employees took away.

Genevro said her team especially enjoyed thinking up fun “SLACspeak” names for the drinks: Project M (mock mojito), the Photonic Tonic (faux kir royale), the Accelerator (coffee), Tau Tea (hot water for tea), Synchrotron Cider (hot apple cider) and Cosmic Cocoa (hot chocolate).

The golden anniversary will be a central theme for many of the lab’s outreach activities this year, such as tours and public lectures, said MELINDA LEE, SLAC’s community relations manager. A scientific symposium and special event for VIPs and employees will be held in August and a community event is planned for September.

Read the full story by SLAC science writer MIKE ROSS on the lab’s News Center website.

Stanford football scores on Signing Day

February 3rd, 2012

Cardinal football coach DAVID SHAW announced earlier this week that 22 high school seniors have signed official national letters of intent to play football at Stanford.

The 22 student-athletes attend high school in 14 states- three each from California, Texas and Arizona; two each from Florida and Washington, along with one player each from the states of Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and Utah.

“We are excited to welcome one of the best recruiting classes in school history,” said Shaw, the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football, who was named the 2011 Pac-12 Conference’s Coach of the Year after guiding the Cardinal to an 11-2 record and a second straight BCS bowl appearance. “We say that not because of how high this class is rated, but instead because of the combination of ability, intelligence, toughness and character in this class. We cannot wait for these young men to join us this summer and have an immediate impact on our team this season.”

According to the announcement on the Athletics website, one of the recruits, Brandon Fanaika of Pleasant Grove, Utah, who is listed as the No. 9 offensive guard in the country and top prospect in his home state, is expected to take a two-year church mission before enrolling at Stanford in 2014.

In the video below, Shaw talks about the recruits as athletes and scholars.

Muwekma-Tah-Ruk wins Stanford’s Bicycle Safety Dorm Challenge

January 23rd, 2012

What does it take to motivate undergraduate students to commit to bike safety?

Students in 42 undergraduate residences participated in the second annual Bike Safety Dorm Challenge, sponsored by Parking & Transportation Services (P&TS) between Sept. 20 and Dec. 16. The challenge promotes bike safety by encouraging undergraduates to pledge to follow the rules of the road and to wear a bike helmet for every ride, even short trips.

Three dorms—Jerry, Muwekma-Tah-Ruk and ZAP—posted 100 percent participation and tied for first. Muwekma-Tah-Ruk, the Native American theme dorm, won a drawing that broke the tie and took away the grand prize: a free charter bus to Lake Tahoe.

Jerry and ZAP did not leave empty-handed: Each dorm received a $500 credit toward a future charter bus to Tahoe.

Jasmine Lee, ’13, community manager for Muwekma-Tah-Ruk, said her dorm decided to participate as a simple and easy way to make residents aware of how to bike safely.

“We are the only Row house with freshmen, and many of them were not exposed to biking culture like we have here at Stanford,” Lee said. “A majority of our residents did not have or wear helmets before the challenge, so our peer health educator kindly located helmets on campus that our residents could purchase for $10. It took some convincing, but now we are thrilled to be winners who are Tahoe-bound!”

Brodie Hamilton, director of P&TS, said he was excited to see the momentum building for bike safety among Stanford undergraduates and the enthusiasm of participants. He noted that participation by 926 students and 42 of Stanford’s 78 undergraduate dorms this year is up from 666 students and 40 dorms the previous year, when the challenge first launched.

“Some dorms even created their own bike safety mottoes this year, such as Larkin House’s ‘I love my Larkin lobes’ campaign, which encouraged all students to love their brains by wearing bike helmets, stopping at stop signs and using bike lights and reflectors when riding at night,” Hamilton said. “While there was one winner of a free charter bus to Tahoe, everyone who participated is a winner in our eyes. Bike safety is a way to save lives and lobes—and what brighter ‘lobes’ to save than those at Stanford?”

Rampersad wins biography award

January 19th, 2012

ARNOLD RAMPERSAD is the recipient of the 2012 BIO Award, given each year by members of the Biographers International Organization.

Rampersad, the Sara Hart Kimball Professor in the Humanities, Emeritus, will receive the honor during the 2012 Compleat Biographer Conference in May in Los Angeles, where he will deliver the keynote address.

Rampersad’s biographies include Ralph Ellison; The Art and Imagination of W.E.B. DuBois; The Life of Langston Hughes; Days of Grace: A Memoir, co-authored with Arthur Ashe; and Jackie Robinson: A Biography.

Rampersad, whose first volume of The Life of Langston Hughes was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, has received fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Rockefeller Foundation. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a 2010 recipient of the National Humanities Medal.