This report covers incidents from Sept. 30 to Oct. 7 as recorded in the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) bulletin.
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This report covers incidents from Sept. 30 to Oct. 7 as recorded in the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) bulletin. Learn more about the Clery Act and how The Daily approaches reporting on crime and safety here.
The Daily has reached out to SUDPS for more information regarding the report of disorderly conduct at the Hundred Block.
The Daily has reached out to SUDPS for more information regarding the report of second-degree burglary and the report of grand theft of money, labor, property and all other larceny at Escondido Village.
The Daily has reached out to SUDPS for more information regarding the report of sexual battery at Hundred Block, the report of eavesdropping at Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Center and the report of rape at 450 Jane Stanford Way.
The Daily has reached out to SUDPS for more information regarding the motor vehicle thefts at Escondido Village.
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Conan Gray’s ‘Wishbone Pajama Tour’ turns heartbreak into theater at Shoreline AmphitheatreAt Shoreline, heartbreak, nostalgia and yearning unfolded with the polish of a Broadway production and the sincerity of a bedroom confession, dePierre writes.
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Conan Gray’s Oct. 3 “Wishbone Pajama Tour” stop was a concert that felt like diary entries coming to life — a staged dream sequence at Shoreline Amphitheatre, where heartbreak, nostalgia and yearning unfolded with the polish of a Broadway production and the sincerity of a bedroom confession.
Even before Gray appeared, the audience was electric. Fans donned pajamas and sailor costumes (a reference to the “Wishbone” album aesthetic), screamed lyrics to the pre-show playlist and erupted into spontaneous standing ovations with the mere flicker of the lights. When Gray’s opening act, indie artist Hemlocke Springs, emerged in a purple corset to match her purple-streaked hair, the crowd welcomed her like a returning friend. Her quirky stage presence and infectious energy carried through her viral hit “girlfriend,” which sent the amphitheater into its first collective singalong of the night. By the end of her set, she’d earned one of the rare honors for an opener: a standing ovation from the audience.
Then the stage darkened, and the words “Act I: a wishbone never breaks even” glowed across the back screen. Gray rolled in on a bicycle, grinning as his band, dressed in matching uniforms, launched into “My World” and “Never Ending Song.” The crowd’s scream was instant and deafening.
The set was equal parts concert and coming-of-age. A patch of grass spread across the stage, dotted with clouds and a bed that Gray would later roll out for a costume change — slipping into a pajama set mid-show, as if inviting us deeper into his dream world. Between acts, the stage transformed through sound and color: birds and cicadas chirped through transitions, and blue and yellow papers fluttered like petals as Gray strummed an acoustic guitar marked with a painted wishbone.
Act II, “I got the short end of the stick,” leaned darker, stretching across the heartbreak’s raw edge. Gray’s voice, delicate but cutting, carried through “Class Clown,” “People Watching” and “The Cut That Always Bleeds,” songs that felt less performed than intimately confessed. Yet amid all the theatrics, there was still warmth — in the crowd harmonies, in Gray’s small smiles when fans sang back every word and especially in his mid-show message: “If you don’t feel loved, know that you are loved by me.”
Each act deepened the narrative. By Act III — “I took the long way to realization” — a boat had appeared onstage, and Gray, now in a sailor costume, seemed to steer through his own emotional reckoning. He paused to invite a fan celebrating their birthday onstage, offering them the chance to “break” a wishbone and choose the next song. The fan’s winning pick — “Care” — became a moment of shared catharsis, Gray hugging them tightly before launching into the chorus. Then came “Heather,” the song that cemented Gray’s rise from bedroom pop to mainstream voice of heartbreak. When he reached the line “Why would you ever kiss me?”, the entire amphitheater echoed it like a collective confession — one of those rare, suspended concert moments where no one’s pretending to be fine anymore.
The final act, “I wished for love, and I found it,” offered something softer, lighter, not resolution, but release. Gray reemerged in a sailor-style ensemble for “Maniac,” dancing with playful abandon as the crowd bounced along. “Vodka Cranberry” followed, a bittersweet anthem of letting go, its self-aware humor underscoring just how far Gray has come from the quiet longing of his first album, “Kid Krow.”
As the stage glowed with soft pinks and golds, Gray named his band one by one in appreciation before heading offstage… only to return moments later in a sequin-encrusted nutcracker suit for the encore. “Memories” and “Caramel” shimmered with nostalgia and relief, closing the night with that rare mix of ache and uplift that defines his artistry.
I cannot say I consciously had any expectations going into Gray’s show. But after reading Arts & Life columnist Audrey Chang’s review of “Wishbone” and seeing Gray live, it seems that the raw emotion conveyed through his lyrics is precisely what he delivers on stage. If Gray’s early music captured the ache of youth, his Wishbone Pajama tour shows him reimagining that ache as something to stage, share and celebrate. His show at Shoreline wasn’t about mending a broken wishbone: it was about finding beauty in the uneven pieces.
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From the Community | Affirm free speech, do not glorify terrorMembers of the newly formed Community Forum on Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias stand against antisemitism and call for thoughtful organizing.
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Stanford University has long affirmed its commitment to freedom of expression — the belief that even the most difficult and unpopular ideas must be open to discussion in an academic community. That principle is essential to learning and democracy, and it applies equally to every group and viewpoint. At the same time, the exercise of free speech carries moral weight and community impact. This is why we, as members of the newly established Stanford Community Forum on Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias (a self-organized initiative of Stanford faculty, students, staff and alumni), find it necessary to explain why we condemn the flyers that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) has been circulating calling for a White Plaza “Vigil in Honor of Our Martyrs” on Oct. 7.
We recognize that even hateful speech is protected under the First Amendment if it does not constitute a true threat, call for violence or meet a high legal bar for harassment. We accept that the University cannot ban a rally around such speech if it complies with these minimum requirements and comports with the University time, place and manner rules. But we also note that the Fundamental Standard, along with many other recent statements of Stanford University’s values, calls us as a community to a higher standard of civility and mutual respect. When speech is morally odious, celebrating vile and murderous violence — or using language in a way that can be reasonably interpreted as doing so — students and faculty have an obligation to call it out and explain why it is seriously injurious to the kind of culture and community we should seek to build at Stanford.
In the context of Oct. 7, some understand that use of the term “martyrs” is a reference to the terrorists who were killed while waging terrorist violence against Israel on that day. Using this term in a rally or vigil on Oct. 7 is to celebrate the massacre orchestrated by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. Over 1200 men, women and children were brutally murdered in Israel on that day, including both Israelis and foreign nationals, and 251 were kidnapped. The attack involved the the murder of whole families as well as deliberate maiming and mass sexual violence. The atrocity was recorded and livestreamed by the attackers. 48 hostages remain in Hamas captivity.
SJP flyers circulating in advance of the Oct. 7 anniversary call for Stanford students to “Globalize the Intifada” or “Join the Student Intifada.” We recognize that the term “intifada,” like the generic word “martyr,” can have many meanings, but in a long-running and tragic conflict such as this, context is crucial. While the Arabic term “intifada” connotes an “uprising” or “shaking off,” the phrase contextually has come to be widely understood as a call for violent resistance, as in the First and Second Intifadas in the region, which included suicide bombings in Israel and other acts of terror. Even if SJP does not intend to call for or justify terrorist violence against innocent Israelis or Jews outside of Israel, this kind of refrain has been associated with a rising number of attacks on Jews worldwide, including recently in Washington, D.C., Boulder, Colo. and just a few days ago, on Yom Kippur, in Manchester, England. Free speech protects the right to express even abhorrent views, but Stanford’s values of respect for life, reason and shared humanity compel us to name such expressions for what they are: cruel and cynical distortions of moral conscience. We therefore reaffirm both our unwavering defense of free expression and our equally unwavering rejection of language or actions that dehumanize and glorify terror.
We mourn the heavy loss of innocent life in Gaza and pray that this violent conflict will end in the coming days with the release of all the remaining hostages and a viable plan to reconstruct Gaza and relieve the suffering of its inhabitants. But SJP’s rhetoric will do nothing to end the violent conflict or aid the citizens of Gaza — it can only inflame and exacerbate an already precarious situation, and it does not comport with the standards of honest, frank but respectful discourse that this University seeks to promote.
Larry Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. BA ’73, MA ’78, Ph.D. ‘80.
Jeffrey Koseff is the William Alden and Martha Campbell Professor of Engineering Emeritus, MS ’78, Ph.D. ‘83.
Signed by the following members of the Stanford Community Forum on Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias:
Larry Diamond, Co-Chair, Senior Fellow, Hoover and FSI, BA ’73, MA ’78, Ph.D. ‘80
Jeffrey Koseff, Co-Chair, William Alden and Martha Campbell Professor of Engineering Emeritus, MS ’78, Ph.D. ‘83
Paul Brest, professor and Dean of the law school, emeritus
Shirit Einav, professor of medicine
Kalanit Grill-Spector, professor of psychology
Ari Kelman, professor of education and Jewish studies
Amalia Kessler, professor of law, MA ’96, Ph.D. ‘01
Jessica Kirschner, Senior Rabbi and Executive Director of Hillel at Stanford
Jonathan Levav, professor of marketing, Graduate School of Business
Emily Levine, associate professor of education
Samantha Milewicz ‘27
Ethan Orlinsky ’86, president of the Stanford Jewish Alumni Network (S-JAN)
Rachel Rosten, MA ’19, Ph.D. student, school of education
Gabriella Safran, professor of Jewish studies and of Slavic languages and literature
Aaron Schimmel, Ph.D. student in the department of history
Vered Shemtov, faculty director of the Taube Center for Jewish studies
Jeff Stone, BA ’78, trustee emeritus
Benji Welner ‘27
Matthew Wigler ’19, JD ’25
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Daily Diminutive #081 (October 8, 2025)Click to play today's 5x5 mini crossword. The Daily produces mini crosswords three times a week and a full-size crossword biweekly.
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Stanfordle #013 (October 8, 2025)Enjoy The Daily's Stanfordle, the newest part of our Games section. The Daily produces Stanfordles on weekdays.
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Meet the 47th Stanford Tree: Small-town raised, embracing the crazeAs Stanford’s unofficial mascot, sophomore Sonnet Van Doren radiates chaos, "positivi-TREE" and an unshakable small-town spirit.
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A Lake Tahoe native, sophomore Sonnet Van Doren graduated from a high school class of six in the kind of place where everyone knew everyone. Now, she’s jumping and twirling before thousands of new faces as Stanford’s 47th Tree, and she’s completely unfazed.
It was during Admit Weekend, as Van Doren was searching for her new place on campus, that she discovered the Tree. From that moment, she knew she had to become it.
“I saw the band and then I was like, ‘I don’t know how to play an instrument and I don’t know how to dance like a Dolly,’’’ Van Doren said. “But then I saw the Tree and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the best thing I’ve ever seen in my whole entire life.’”
Each Tree is tasked with creating their own version of the unofficial mascot on a 45-pound aluminum frame. Drawing from her Tahoe roots, Van Doren modeled her leaves after the aspen, the only tree native to Tahoe that has leaves, rather than needles. Her design also features a pink, sprinkle-filled tongue.
Van Doren spent the summer building her tree while working as a Naturalist at Stanford Sierra Camp, where she led adult campers on educational hikes and taught them everything she knew about the nature she grew up with in her backyard.
“[She’s] very knowledgeable about specifically Tahoe but also nature in general,” said sophomore Christopher Owen, one of Van Doren’s co-counselors at the camp. “She is the Tree. She loves trees. Tree hugger-type energy. Very granola.”
In fact, Van Doren even married a tree in one of her stunts during Tree Week — the annual tradition where prospective “sprouts” perform outrageous, public stunts to compete for the title of Stanford Tree. There was a veil, an officiant, vows and a ring that she still wears to this day.
“I was tearing up,” said junior Ruby Coulson, last year’s Tree. “It was the tree I had gotten really close with over the past year. She didn’t even know that either. She just picked that one, and it was really beautiful. It was a really terrific ceremony.”
Van Doren centered her stunts around playful, tree-themed messages, like “Marriage Equali-TREE,” “Protect Biodiversi-TREE” and “Positivi-TREE.”
In another stunt, Van Doren rowed out into the Bay, doused a six-foot teddy bear marked with a “Death to Oski” sign in gasoline, set it on fire and swam back to shore. It should come as no surprise that she is most excited for this year’s Big Game against California, whose mascot is Oski the Bear.
When asked about dealing with embarrassment, Van Doren said, “Delulu is the Solulu,” citing a core principle of Tree culture: “Embarrassment is a social construct that needs to be abolished.”
“Growing up in a small town, everyone hears everything and you care about people’s perceptions on you because you don’t want to get into arguments over stupid stuff,” Van Doren said. “But Stanford is big enough where if I embarrass myself around someone, who cares? I don’t.”
Van Doren’s approach is particularly relevant to the Stanford community, which Coulson believes cares too much about LinkedIn connections and whether things are lame.
“We’re genuinely just freaky little animals on a freaky little planet trying to be normal,” Coulson said. “And Sonnet is really good at reminding us that we’re all just freaky little animals wearing a suit every day. She just wears hers that’s eight feet tall.”
Another core Tree principle is that the last 20% of any event is the hardest but most important. Throughout the selection process and now as a mentor, Coulson has especially admired Van Doren’s passion, “full-sendability” and how she has “no shortage of hype,” despite coming from a school with little spirit.
Sophomore Maicy Lee-Jones, another co-counselor at Sierra Camp, saw Van Doren full send New Student Orientation (NSO) just a few weeks ago.
“The Tree should have grit, and she showed that because she was in that costume in 100-degree weather,” Lee-Jones said. “Every football game, every event saying ‘hi’ to freshmen, every meal with the freshmen, every event where the president was at, she was there.”
“Put her through the Navy SEAL training at this point,” Owens said in response to Lee-Jones’ comment.
In her first couple stints as Tree, Van Doren has been lucky enough to witness Stanford football win two straight home games. The Tree’s responsibilities, however, stretch far beyond football, and Van Doren encourages students to explore the full breadth of Stanford Athletics.
“You have this opportunity to see these Division I athletes for free. Go watch sports. Go watch all the different teams,” said Van Doren. “There were some sports that I didn’t even comprehend. Like I knew they were a thing, but I didn’t really comprehend just because I’m from such a small town.”
From a small town to Stanford, there is no doubt this tree is growing.
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Cool Cities Coalition promotes heat resilience in the San Francisco PeninsulaA Palo Alto Coalition fights urban heat island effects with a heat mapping project and education summits.
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This summer was a scorcher. Stanford saw temperatures of over 97°F last month, with the University issuing a heat advisory on Sept. 23.
The creation of the Cool Cities Coalition was inspired by rising mercury as a result of climate change, in order to conduct research, provide resources and spread awareness about the impacts of extreme heat. The group, led by Julia Zeitlin ’28 and Kristy Mualim PhD ’27, primarily serves members of local communities in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto and Menlo Park.
According to Mualim, cities in the Peninsula are victims of the Urban Heat Island Effect: a phenomenon where cities experience higher temperatures than their rural counterparts due to the heat absorbing powers of materials such as concrete. Last year, the Coalition conducted a heat mapping project to discover the locations most vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat.
“The data can show us where local leaders should be implementing localized cooling solutions,” said Zeitlin. The team has also been distributing emergency preparedness kits (“extreme heat kits”) to bridge this gap.
This summer, the Coalition hosted the Extreme Heat Summit at Cooley Landing Learning Center in East Palo Alto, with local experts and city officials in attendance. “We had this really interesting mix of speakers, and we were able to bring the community together to talk about this threat,” said Zeitlin.
Apart from presenting their findings and raising awareness, the event also provided the opportunity for Zeitlin, Mualim and their collaborators to meet with Martha Barragan, the mayor of East Palo Alto. From their conversation, the team learned that “there is real interest and need in distributing some of these heat kits to East Palo Alto residents,” said Zeitlin. The Coalition hopes to continue building on the partnership, she said.
A challenge has been meeting the needs of the community. “A lot of people were skeptical, like, ‘Oh, is this going to work?’” said Doyoon Kim, a high schooler from Palo Alto. Critics of the coalition believe climate change is not a significant issue, and are more concerned that heat resilience measures could divert funding from more important programs, Kim said.
But Kim takes the feedback as constructive criticism. The team has been able to “really [see] what these individuals really need and want from our solutions,” she said. “Finding ways to [implement] those criticisms is like one of the biggest challenges we currently have.”
Another problem is with funding. “A lot of nonprofits are stretched thin and there’s a lack of funding opportunities,” said Zeitlin: the Coalition’s heat mapping initiative participated in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) UHI Mapping Campaign through a grant provided by the local Schmidt Family Foundation, one that is uncertain to be offered this year. NOAA and the National Weather Service (NWS) are facing dramatic budget cuts and the ability to collect data may be under threat. Looking forward, the team’s next steps include supporting other nonprofits that are combating climate change.
After all, support from other nonprofits in the climate change space are what makes their advocacy possible. “Sometimes it can feel like a lot of these issues are really big, and so, what can you actually do as an individual?” she said.
“Connecting with other organizations that have been doing this work … [has] been the most valuable,” Mualim concluded.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that the grant was made possible through the local Schmidt Family Foundation. The Daily regrets this error.
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The Daily Humor Section answers: Why did the chicken cross the road?The Daily's best and brightest tackle the time-tested question plaguing us all. Why did the chicken cross the road?
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Editor’s Note: This article is purely satirical and fictitious. All attributions in this article are not genuine, and this story should be read in the context of pure entertainment only.
The age-old question. When “The Knickerbocker” first ran the famous anti-joke in 1847, America’s leading minds set to work on seeking an answer. Their attempts were feeble, however, without the sharp wit of The Daily’s most cunning linguists. So, we asked The Daily’s Humor Section: Why did the chicken cross the road?
“Because she was locked in an intense game of chicken with a Toyota RAV-4” – Sam Lustgarten ’26, Managing Editor, proud winner (and flattener) of chicken
“The chicken calculated this as the best way to maximize her utility subject to a budget constraint” – Garrett Khatchaturian ’28, Desk Editor, moments after leaving Econ 50
“She lost her will to live, and Popeyes closes in 10” – Judy Akel ’29, who wrote this with no mealswipes left
“Her left side of the road visa expired” – Richard Chen ’27, proud 51st state resident
“She mistook ‘co-op’ for coup” – Mason Barret ’28, adamant Bigfoot believer
“To flip the bird at a cyclist” – Jenny Ballutay ’28, on sabbatical at court-appointed anger management
“She wanted to network across disciplines – specifically road engineering” – Vivian Kao ’29, LinkedIn Premium subscriber
“Because there were fast cars, but there was also a bottle of alcohol on the other side” – Daniel Xu ’29, who has several friends that assure him they can stop at any time
“She was running from ICE (She lays brown eggs)” – Ocheze Amuzie ’25, recently deported for being too hot and funny
“Because checkpoints are now the only way to get to Stanford’s free speech zones” – Sebastian Strawser ’29, who was just whisked away by OCS
“Because jaywalking is legal now, bitch – get with the program” – Sophia Zhou ’29, who jaywalked to get here
“Her state was gerrymandered, and she was moving to a more competitive district on the other side” – Sia Liu ’29, still waiting for her vote to count
“To make a viral video about DESTROYING the other side” – Kyle Gerstel ’29, listens to Jubilee to fall asleep
“Kristi Noem moved on from dogs” – Paul Fertig ’29, prospective DIY euthanasia veterinarian
… to get to the other side 
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Global Health Club hosts annual ‘Mapathon’The Global Health Club hosted its annual Mapathon on Monday, where participants mapped routes in rural areas in hopes of improving relief in the event of a disaster.
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Light music, keyboard clicking and the smell of catered Zareen’s emanated from a small room in the Stanford Medical School as three dozen students huddled around tables digitally tracing roads and houses on their computers. On Monday, the Global Health Club hosted a “Mapathon” event to help provide disaster and health aid to underserved communities by improving mapping in those regions.
The Global Health Club aims to create a global health community, connect people to related opportunities and create mentorship for students interested in the field. During this year’s annual Mapathon, students carefully annotated satellite images from Izzi, Nigeria, marking new routes in the hopes of improving relief in the event of disaster or disease.
The work is part of a larger organization called Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), a team engaging in humanitarian efforts through open mapping. HOT uses OpenStreetMap (OSM), an open-source world map, to improve coverage of under-mapped communities, and these maps are then used by charitable organizations like Doctors Without Borders to deliver aid to underserved communities.
William Harrison ’29 attended the event through casual interest. He came to appreciate the cooperative nature of global health work and the importance of filling the mapping gap.
“I had not really thought about how GIS and NGO governmental work would intersect, but it seems like it’s definitely more important than I would have previously realized,” he said. “I hadn’t realized how critical and incomplete this data is. It makes the mapping feel even more important.”
Open-source maps were the building block of the Mapathon event. “OSM is the Wikipedia of maps,” Max Yang ’27, president of the Global Health Club, said. HOT not only involves volunteers, but also connects with a larger disaster response network.
“HOT is part of Missing Maps, a coalition that includes disaster response groups like the American and British Red Cross,” Mapathon guest speaker Anne Sorenson, Director of Philanthropy for HOT, said. “We all need timely, accurate geospatial data.”
Anne Sorenson has been with HOT since 2022, and at the Mapathon she explained that Google Maps is “not always accurate and other data is not widely accessible,” which makes the mapping project especially important.
“In these more rural communities it is harder to encourage these ‘Apples’ and ‘Googles’ to map there,” Yang said. HOT then comes in to fill this gap.
Some of the mapping is used immediately to help communities struck by disaster.
“We’ve done a couple of projects recently mapping in Gaza and mapping in Lebanon that again are places where it’s not safe to be on the ground … people want to do something and this is a way to channel that desire to support and to be involved in something that is needed and really impactful,” Anne Sorenson said.
The mapping is also useful for community resilience after a catastrophe. Humanitarian organizations use this information to help inform future responses and prevent future damage. Some disasters HOT has provided aid for include the recent 2025 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the 2023 Turkey-Syria Earthquake and the 2010 Haiti Earthquake.
Other mapping is more preemptive. The Mapathon’s work on Izzi, Nigeria, a community at risk for disease outbreak, enables appropriate services to better locate people in need should an emergency arise. “Mapping helps medical services and NGOs know where the people they need to serve actually are,” Hailey Ramzan ’27, co-vice president of the Global Health Club, said.
A little bit can go a long way, too. According to Anne Sorenson, “Mapping can feel empowering when global crises make people feel helpless. It’s a way to contribute meaningfully from afar.”
The attendees, many first-timers to the club, enjoyed the opportunity to learn something new. “I’m not super techy, so this was a cool way to do something different and still related to global health,” Annika Nehrig ’28 said. “It was surprisingly easy to learn and really rewarding. I’d definitely do it again.”
Others enjoyed the calming nature of the task. “It was oddly meditative. I might end up doing it on my own,” Harrison said.
To Priyanka Kudallur ’29, the event provided greater insight into global health work. “I’ve always cared about healthcare inequities, and this gave a tangible view of how NGOs and crowdsourcing connect … It was simple, but powerful — we were literally adding data to a live map of underserved areas.”
In all, over 1,080 buildings were mapped in just a couple hours.
The Mapathon is just one of many events the Global Health Club is hosting this year. “I hope people leave knowing they can make a difference. Global health doesn’t have to feel distant,” Yang said.
Other upcoming events include a SASH Scholar Spotlight and a Global Health Opportunities Fair. The Global Health Club also meets every Tuesday, where they host guest speakers and discussions.
“Giving an hour of your time to a cause like this is really meaningful,” Ramzan said. “I really hope that attendees can leave with a more empathetic heart.”
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the correct designation of Hailey Ramzan, the full name of Anne Sorenson and the correct organization name of OpenStreetMap. The Daily regrets this error.
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Palo Alto City to support Prop 50 and Measure A tax in midterm electionsIn Monday’s Palo Alto City Council meeting, members voiced their support for Prop 50 and Measure A in the upcoming midterm elections, proposed more ideas and plans for their long-term vision to enhance the area surrounding San Antonio Road, and reviewed applications for vacant commissioner positions.
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This report covers matters and topics covered in the city of Palo Alto’s Oct. 6 city council meeting. More information can be found here.
Study session surrounding San Antonio Road Area Plan: The City presided over new plans for their 20-year vision to change the 275 acres stretching Palo Alto’s border with Mountain View into a more livable community. The City hopes to transform the space by adding housing options across all income levels and enhancing streets, bike lanes and sidewalks to promote safe transit and job growth. According to city staff presentations, the border area currently holds 802 housing units, with 40% of residents renting, and 4.3% of City jobs but 40% of all manufacturing jobs occurring here. Additionally, the City has identified limited bicycle facilities across San Antonio Road and pedestrian access to nearby neighborhoods and Caltrain. At the City’s Oct. 6 meeting, council members considered solutions, alongside potentially adding public outdoor spaces. The City currently plans to begin implementing these changes in 2028.
Application review for new commissioner positions: Council members reviewed and selected candidates to interview for several open commissioner positions. The City’s Human Relations Commission, Parks and Recreation Commission and Public Art Commission are each looking to fill three full-time vacancies. Interviews are tentatively scheduled for Oct. 5, with appointments aimed to begin Oct. 22.
Public complaints on RV and trailer parking in Palo Alto: During time reserved for public comment, several Palo Alto residents expressed their dissent on the RVs and trailers that remain permanently parked on the side of roads across the city, especially on Corporation Way. Community members complained the situation has caused a lack of available parking, more congested roads, increased sewage, more littering on streets and water and electricity hijacking.
City to support Prop 50 and Measure A in upcoming election: In the upcoming election on Nov. 4, the City of Palo Alto motioned to support statewide Proposition 50 and local ballot measure Santa Clara County Measure A. Proposition 50 authorizes temporary changes to congressional district maps in response to Texas’ partisan redistricting. This would introduce new temporary district maps to be used through 2030. Local Measure A would increase the county’s sales tax by 0.625% for five years, estimated to raise the tax by $330 million each year. The idea behind the tax is to partially offset projected losses from recent federal cuts.
Council members approve of several contracts: The council members approved seven different requests and contracts during their meeting. A majority of these contracts pertain to construction or professional service projects, whether to approve a certain amount of funds or to extend certain terms.
Fire Prevention Week: City Council proclaimed the week of Oct. 5 to Oct. 11, 2025, to be Fire Prevention Week, with the theme of “Charge into Safety: Lithium-Ion Batteries in Your Home,” to help spread awareness of the risks of lithium-ion battery fires and preventive steps to take.
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‘The Visitors’: A bathtub, a guitar and the human conditionThe experience of SFMOMA's immersive art exhibit "The Visitors" is like no other, writes Gibbs.
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Imagine this: you are walking through an art gallery in the heart of metropolitan San Francisco. It’s a fancy one. So fancy that all the men are wearing turtlenecks and the ladies boast full length gowns. So fancy that they have cocktail hours on Friday nights and glass protecting their priceless artwork.
You, the viewer, spend hours sitting in front of a red brick’s worth of paint splattered onto a blank canvas. You consider the meaning in this piece: its reflections on imperfection, structure, nature, life. You chuckle – the famous “rich laugh” as my friend Mariana calls it – with friends as you stroll through galleries of oversized painting, undersized sculptures, and purposefully blurred photographs.
No wonder everyone ridicules modern art.
Right before you exit, you stumble upon one last exhibit. It’s stuck far in the back, out of view. However, you are a completionist, like one of the ones who will spend hundreds of hours to “hundred-percent” a video game. So, you venture into its dark reaches, where few visitors go and fewer return.
As you enter the room, your surroundings slowly fade and darkness encompasses you. You come to an impasse. The darkness fades, mellowed by the soft light of a video projector. You hear, eerily at first, then invitingly, the enchanting music of an Icelandic voice.
You turn the corner and come face-to-face with a man. Sitting in a bathtub. Strumming his guitar. Naked. (Fortunately, you don’t get a full view.)
Welcome to San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art (SF MOMA) and its fan favorite exhibition, “The Visitors.”
Wow. That was not what I was expecting. Maybe I really have been here too long, you think. You start to leave. You start to leave, but you do not finish.
Because that music captures you. You open your eyes and see a plethora of video displays, all synchronized together, singing the same song in the same house, yet separated by the monitor.
Besides the man in the bathtub, there’s a cellist in a light underdressing, a bassist at the home office desk, a drummer in family room, two pianists in the dining hall, an accordionist in the bed room, a guitarist in another bedroom, and a collection of individuals situated on the balcony outside.
Two things bring them all together. One: the house. Located in upstate New York, it’s a location that looks like’s been taken straight from Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion attraction, decked out with gargoyle statues, large white columns out front, tattered walls, large antique furniture, no over head lights but only small lanterns and big wide windows.
Two: the music. Despite being physically separated in different locations throughout the house, all the artists are synced up, singing the same song. Their melodies reflect on the complexity, trials, and arc of life. The songs are interluded with dramatic instrumental climaxes and often concluded by a cannon fired from the balcony. (Yes, a real, live cannon. I’m not joking.)
The juxtaposition of the acoustic, calling music and haunting, surreal surroundings compels you to sit and listen. To reflect. First, what exactly are they doing here? Then, what are they saying? What do their actions mean? What are these lyrics? Simply, yet very grandiosely, the thought soon creeps in that you are, in fact, reflecting on the human condition. In this hour long, one-take display, the artists use their music and surroundings to make you think about what being human really does mean.
Then, you look around yourself. You are not alone. It’s not just you, in your turtleneck, looking at a blob of red on a blank canvas. The group here is larger than you thought the whole museum could hold. And, they are not just wearing turtlenecks. The people here fit jeans, sweaters, flip flops, berets, leggings, ball caps and cargo pants.
And, they’re all just plopped down straight in the middle. All of them sitting in a dark room, mesmerized and unsure about who, where and what to take in.
As you come to realize that this piece brings people together, you see that it also brings the artists together. You turn over your shoulder to inspect one of the onscreen pianists, only to see he’s vacated his seat. Funny. I hope everything’s okay. I hope that something didn’t happen to him. You look over to the other pianist. There he is! Wow, I didn’t know they could move. And, what’s that he’s holding? As you see his fellow pianist take a pause from the music to pour some bourbon, toast, and light a cigar, you think, Maybe they are not as far apart as I thought.
You watch carefully as the scenery around you changes. The accordionist stands up, drops her accordion and starts singing. The guy in the bathtub stops strumming and switches to making a beat in his bathwater. (Yes, I’m being serious.) The men manning the cannon on the balcony scramble to reload it with new newspaper for the next climax. (They give up, instead favoring the already smelted pieces and shoving them back into the cannon.)
Eventually, you watch as the drummer stands up and walks away from his station. Hmmm… Maybe he wants a glass of scotch like the pianists, you think. You watch him walk into frame with the pianist — and continue on. Slowly, he walks through the creaky halls of the manor, tapping each artist on their shoulder. Not a word is said, but they all follow him. Even the man in the bathtub (with a towel fortunately). They collect in the pianists’ dining hall, and pop a bottle of champagne all while continuing to sing.
They make their way out to the balcony, gathering the crowd pooled there, and they continue onwards. Where will they go? you ask. The camera pans. It answers: off into the sunset. They slowly march, continuing to sing their song throughout the way.
The end, you think. A member of the party steals the bath towel from the guitarist, who is now naked. The end… Two dogs – one barking – chases after the pack. The camera man noisily coughs. The end. All’s well that ends well. You watch as they continue onward off into the distance. The end? you think. You clap. You are sure it’s done. It’s a masterpiece, you think.
But, there is one step you are forgetting. One by one, the camera man walks through the halls of the manor. Speechless. Closed lips. One by one, he turns off the cameras. Until every last one is blank. The end.
I have told many people about this exhibit. I feel fortunate to get to tell you as well. But, really, anyone who has heard me talk about this exhibit will hear me say this: words simply cannot explain the experience.
I still stand by that statement. I hope this review gives a little bit of an insight into the magnificence encapsulated in “The Visitors,” but you have to see it, hear it, sit it, think it, live it to really know.
Sadly, “The Visitors” closed at the SF MOMA a little over a week ago, on Sept. 28. Those who were there can attest to its beauty, and those who were not – well, I can only hope that you will have the opportunity to see it in another place.
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Chris McKenna ’92 produces new spooky Netflix show ‘Haunted Hotel’Creator Matt Roller and executive producer Chris McKenna ’92 blend classic horror tropes with earnest comedy in Netflix’s new animated show, “Haunted Hotel.”
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Looking for a spooky watch this Halloween season? Netflix’s new show, “Haunted Hotel,” delivers innovative adult animation that blends horror tropes with strong storytelling and comedy. Released on Sept. 19, “Haunted Hotel” brings together a prolific creative team — including creator Matt Roller and executive producer Chris McKenna ’92.
“Haunted Hotel” follows a single mother of two, Katherine, who struggles to run a haunted hotel filled with ghosts, demons and other monsters. She manages with the aid of her brother (who happens to be one of the ghosts), all while helping her two sons navigate their adolescent struggles.
“[The idea] came very simply from loving horror and watching all the horror movies, reading all the horror comics [and] playing all the horror games,” Roller said.
Roller, who previously wrote for “Rick and Morty,” “Community” and “Archer,” saw “Haunted Hotel” as an opportunity to play with many horror tropes found across media — which is why the show incorporates over 80 easter eggs and nods to classic horror films like “The Shining” (1980) and “Friday the 13th” (1980).
“When I was on ‘Rick and Morty’ and we were telling all these stories based on sci-fi tropes, I wanted to do stories about horror tropes,” Roller said. “So I started thinking about how I would build an animated show that would allow me to play in any horror genre that I wanted, because I wanted to tell stories with ghosts, but also with possession and cults and monsters.”
Roller drafted the pilot eight years ago, but production didn’t begin until June 2023, when Netflix picked it up.
“[Netflix] was really incredible in terms of allowing Matt to see his vision through,” McKenna said. Having written for Marvel’s Spiderman movies and shows such as “American Dad,” McKenna met Roller while working on “Community.” He helped his vision for “Haunted Hotel” come to life throughout the past two years. The duo focused strongly on having each episode tell a complete story.
“That’s what Roller was really aiming to do with ‘Haunted Hotel,’” McKenna said, adding that it wasn’t just about the concept or world, but “really great character-driven stories.” With both Roller and McKenna having previously worked on sitcoms and animated shows, Roller and McKenna felt “Haunted Hotel” was a fresh take on the medium — not only introducing horror elements but also stepping away from ironic comedy.
“I think the show is earnest,” Roller said, noting “Haunted House” makes an effort to incorporate the raw emotion of its characters’ circumstances into its humor, rather than dismissing it entirely. “Even though that’s maybe the oldest approach to it, for some reason right now, it also feels fresh. It feels like the version without irony is the version that people have not been doing for a while.”
Since 2023, the show has been working “full speed ahead,” as Roller put it, before wrapping the last episode in mid-July. “In animation, the reason it takes so long is you’re drawing it frame by frame,” said Roller. “You can change it in a way you can’t in live action. So it’s just this incredible level of micro detail that you apply to every step of the process.”
Despite their extensive experience in media, neither McKenna nor Roller jumped right into the entertainment scene. At Stanford, McKenna was initially on the pre-med track. “I found myself — instead of doing any of the pre-med classes — blowing them off and going to movies all the time,” McKenna said. “I was just not putting the work in, and at that point, I decided, ‘I’m just going to take a quarter where I take classes I like.’”
So he switched to communication and history, also taking courses in film and video production. In his senior year, he created a horror comedy movie called “It Came from SLAC,” a reference to the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) National Accelerator Laboratory on campus.
Similar to McKenna, Roller graduated from Harvard in 2008 with plans to attend law school. After two weeks of being a consultant, he decided to switch paths. “The thing I’d liked about all my college activities was the creative and comedic side of them, so with no real clear path forward to become a creative writer, I just started doing it on my own.”
“It was really great to see that what Roller and the writers, and what all of us, were trying to do was just tell really great stories within this [show’s] concept,” McKenna said. “I just think it’s a fun show … I think there’s a lot of comedy to it.”
The show currently sits at 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics voicing appreciation for how thoroughly the show develops its original universe. “So much lore — world building, as I guess we’d call it — gets crammed into the show,” said Glen Weldon, cultural critic and host of NPR’s podcast “Pop Culture Happy Hour.” “There’s a lot of moving parts, but I really felt they all fit together well.”
McKenna and Roller’s journeys into the entertainment world weren’t linear — yet here they are now, playing major roles in the modern media industry. “It’s been a long road since that initial idea [for Haunted Hotel],” Roller said.
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Women’s volleyball win streak ends at MaplesNo. 4 Stanford swept Notre Dame before falling to No. 6 Louisville, snapping a 20-game winning streak at home.
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No. 4 Stanford women’s volleyball swept the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in straight sets before falling to No. 6 Louisville, snapping a 20 home game win streak for the Cardinal.
The Cardinal (12-3, 3-1 ACC) started their weekend on a high note, beating Notre Dame (5-7, 2-2 ACC) in straight sets. Their effort was led by senior outside hitter Elia Rubin ’26 and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Julia Blyashov ’28, as well as middle blocker and two-time Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Freshman of the Week recipient Erika Sayer ’29, each tallying 12 kills. The three combined for more kills than Notre Dame’s entire team, which had a collective 31.
Stanford took control of the game right from the start. Strong outside hitting allowed the Cardinal to dominate for much of the first set. At set point, however, with all of Maples Pavilion on its feet, the Fighting Irish managed a late 4-0 run. Notre Dame managed to reduce the score to just a two-point deficit, forcing Stanford into a timeout. Upon resuming play, sophomore middle blocker Lizzy Andrew ’28 sealed the set with a strong attack down the middle of the court, securing a 25-22 win for Stanford.
The competition of the second set was much closer as the Fighting Irish and the Cardinal traded points. Over the course of the period, Louisville sustained eight lead changes and a tied game as late as 24-24. Ultimately, consecutive attacks from Sayer and Blyashov helped Stanford secure a 26-24 win.
Carrying the momentum of the first two sets into the third, the Cardinal controlled the set from start to finish. Stanford held offensive dominance throughout the three sets: their hitting percentage was 35.7 compared to Notre Dame’s 8.7. They closed out the third set much the same as the second, with kills from Sayer and Blyashov.
Over the course of the game, freshman setter Logan Parks ’29, who also boasts two ACC Freshman of the Week honors, racked up 37 assists. Her additional three kills, five digs and singular ace fueled the Cardinal’s steady offensive flow.
Just two days later, Stanford returned to Maples Pavilion to take on Louisville (12-2, 4-0 ACC) in a highly anticipated top-10 matchup. Sunday’s game was a rematch from the 2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament, which was one that saw Louisville to the semi-finals and ended Stanford’s postseason run. As such, not only were the Cardinal fighting to keep a 20-game home win streak alive — they were playing for redemption.
The first set began with high energy and aggressive scoring from both sides of the floor. Following a 6-0 run by Louisville, Stanford opted to take a timeout. The Cardinal returned with renewed vigor and a decisive kill from Sayer, taking the lead and surging to a 25-21 win.
Louisville’s offensive efficiency proved to be a problem in the second set. They had 17 kills, in addition to significant blocks by Cara Cresse. Stanford battled in a nearly one-minute set point, ultimately losing the set on a kill by Louisville’s Payton Peterson.
The Cardinals continued their offensive productivity with a 6-0 run early in the third set. Stanford, in turn, made good use of their timeouts. They effectively shut down Louisville’s momentum and went on 3-0 and 5-0 runs of their own following Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly’s two timeouts. Hambly also brought in sophomore setter Taylor Yu ’28 to replace Parks, continuing with their 5-1 offensive setup. Rubin produced one of the set’s highlights in a solo block, punctuating a 5-0 Stanford run and tying the game at 20-20. Louisville responded, closing out the set in a 25-20 win.
The fourth set was the match’s most competitive. Both teams traded points, but neither was able to build much offensive flow. Consecutive kills from Louisville’s Chloe Chicoine and Nayelis Cabello ultimately handed the Cardinal their first in-conference loss and broke a 20 home game win streak in Maples.
Despite falling in four sets, Stanford’s key players put on a show for their fans in Maples Pavilion. With a match-high 19 kills and 14 digs, Elia Rubin marked her fifth double-double of the season. Junior opposite Jordyn Harvey and Andrew tallied 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Setters Parks and Yu facilitated with 33 and 21 assists each.
Stanford aims to bounce back to their winning ways as they head to the east coast to continue conference play against Boston College on Friday and Syracuse on Sunday.
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Week 5: Stanford in the NFLThe NFL is home to 29 former Stanford players, and Week 5 of the NFL showcased respectable performances from past Cardinal stars.
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As the National Football League (NFL) season rolls into October, Stanford’s footprint across the league remains strong. Twenty-nine former Cardinal are currently on active rosters or practice squads. Week Five brought a mix of highlight moments, quiet outings and a few teams still looking to find their rhythm.
Standout performances
While there weren’t many huge breakout performances from Stanford alumni this week, several players made steady contributions for their teams, proving the Cardinal continue to show up all over the field.
Christian McCaffrey ’18 (Running Back, San Francisco 49ers) – McCaffrey totaled 57 yards on 22 carries in San Francisco’s 26–23 overtime win against the Rams. Though he didn’t reach the end zone, he continues to anchor the 49ers’ offense with his reliability and presence.
Dalton Schultz ’18 (Tight End, Houston Texans) – Schultz put together a respectable outing over the weekend, catching five passes for 60 yards as Houston rolled past Baltimore, 44-10. He’s quickly becoming one of C.J. Stroud’s most dependable options in the passing game.
Bobby Okereke ’18 (Linebacker, New York Giants) – Okereke was all over the field for the Giants, tallying 10 tackles (five solo, five assisted) and a stuff in their 26-14 loss to the Saints. Even as New York continues to search for answers, Okereke continues to lead by example.
Paulson Adebo ’23 (Cornerback, New York Giants) – Adebo also had a solid outing for New York over the weekend with six solo tackles in the Giants’ loss to New Orleans.
Joshua Karty ’24 M.S. ’26 (Kicker, Los Angeles Rams) – Karty went 1-for-2 on field goals and 2-for-3 on extra points, with a long of 48 yards. His one miss went wide right from 53 yards, but the second year kicker, showed good poise overall in the Rams’ narrow overtime loss to the 49ers.
Kyu Blu Kelly ’23 (Cornerback, Las Vegas Raiders) – Kelly logged three tackles in a tough 40–6 loss to the Colts. He continues to carve out a bigger role in the Raiders’ secondary.
Other Notable Contributions
By the Numbers
Stanford alumni combined for over 200 offensive yards, 44 tackles, but no touchdowns in Week Five. It was a quieter slate overall, but with veterans like McCaffrey, Schultz and Okereke setting the tone, and younger players earning more snaps, the Cardinal’s NFL impact remains steady.
Come back next week to see how your former Cardinal are doing in the NFL.
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From the Community | What ‘free expression’ discussion doesn’t account forProfessor David Palumbo-Liu responds to Hoover Fellow Larry Diamond's piece about free expression, arguing for non-institutional spaces that uphold values of diversity.
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I was pleased to read Professor Larry Diamond’s recent opinion piece, “The Crisis of Free Expression in the United States.” This is an urgent issue, for free expression underpins both our educational mission and democracy itself. Diamond asserts that both those on the left and the right are responsible for the crisis he describes, but then he adds an important note: “In one crucial respect, there is no symmetry of threat.” He goes on to cite the Trump administration’s use of the federal government to censor anyone and anything that displeases the President. This is authoritarianism at its worse.
The point of my letter is much more local, specific and practical. It regards this portion of Diamond’s essay:
“We need to promote intellectual diversity and political pluralism, and, our report insisted, we must strive ‘to create a culture where disagreement can be expressed without devolving into personal animus, political intolerance or social exclusion.’ Creating this culture, and thus student capacities for robust but civil discourse, is now the work of several initiatives at Stanford, including the first-year COLLEGE program, ePluribus and the Stanford Civics Initiative.”
That is an impressive list of programs. But note that missing are any initiatives that explicitly name diversity. The absence is not a matter of exclusion, it is a matter of evisceration. Following Trump’s attacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Stanford rolled back its diversity efforts. At the same time, some researchers felt the pressure to give up their free speech and academic freedom. In the Daily’s coverage of this roll back, it cited “Earth Systems Science professor Elliott White Jr., [who] studies saltwater intrusion and its impacts on ecosystems and humans alike … He recently rebuffed requests from a federal employee — with whom he’d been collaborating on the project long before Trump returned to office — to retitle ‘The Gulf of Mexico’ to ‘The Gulf of America’ in a paper he’s working on, resolving to find an entirely different way to refer to the body of water.” It also notes that “Mentors at Stanford have also seen students turn away from research due to the federal government’s actions. Suki Hoagland, the internship director for the Earth Systems Program, said that students have started pivoting from DEI topics.” While these events regarding research may seem separate from the issue of free expression, I argue that Trump’s actions bridge research and teaching, university programming and admissions, academic freedom and free expression. They purposefully create a climate in which no expression is “free.”
As much as Diamond acknowledges the lack of symmetry in the threat the Trump administration poses to free expression, he does not seem to understand why and how his recommendation cannot be easily taken up by certain members of our community. No matter how “critical” they might want to be, COLLEGE, et al. now have the incentive to stay within the parameters of “free” speech set by the Trump administration. The lopping off of diversity programs, the firing of employees and the removal of certain language can only serve as warnings. Trump’s defunding of universities, and Stanford’s subsequent cuts, create a chilling effect across the board.
Consider the most recent example of Trump’s attack on education — his attempt to blackmail universities into signing its “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” in order to receive federal grants. This “compact” requires colleges to admit students solely on the basis of SAT scores, demands that race, gender, class and other identities not be taken into account, and that schools provide an account of each admitted classes’ scores, races and genders. This, coupled with the already-existing decimation of affirmative action and Stanford’s alacrity in erasing DEI efforts, creates exactly the conditions under which the encouragement to “speak your mind” will be met with at least some reservation by those whose very presence is being questioned. Their reticence is not due to lack of capacity or courage, it is due to a logical and astute reading of the real consequences of asymmetry.
Along with Trump’s outlawing of DEI and Critical Race Theory, the Compact states: “Signatories commit themselves to revising governance structures as necessary to create such an environment, including but not limited to transforming or abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas.” “Belittle” covers a lot of ground, including “criticize,” and “conservative ideas” may well include the very admissions criteria universities are being pressured to follow.
Long before the “Compact” was floated, in July 2024 the ACLU warned: “A second Trump administration would supercharge efforts to censor discussion of any concepts deemed ‘divisive’ from the nation’s classrooms, by which it means classroom discussions about race, gender, and systemic oppression with which it disagrees.”
Simply put — certain exercises of free expression, when performed by some populations, may well have consequences that they do not hold for others. It is time for college presidents, administrators, tenured professors — all largely white and with secure employment and citizenship — to stop urging the most vulnerable to “speak up” and take risks they themselves will never have to take. For example, there is no impermeable wall between Stanford and ICE, which the US Supreme Court has now decided may use racial profiling to perform mass sweeps of people and detain them and render them to other countries. And we already have seen the effects Trump’s actions have had on international students and scholars. In the authoritarian world we live in, there is little reason why anyone without assured employment, a healthy bank account, and citizenship papers to imagine they are “free” from real danger.
I frankly do not think the situation will change in terms of this blindness to these realities and lack of understanding of the consequences they have for many in our community, but I can say that in these days of rampant authoritarianism, it is an extremely dangerous position to maintain, for ultimately no one and nothing is immune. And acting as if this were not the case simply allows authoritarianism to grow as people act as if nothing has really changed, that we can all equally set out to speak freely.
At Stanford, the best way to offset the asymmetry of which Diamond speaks to is to grow alternate opportunities. We should not accept the notion that value comes only through institutional forms or approval or recognition, especially at a time when more and more are falling in line with the Trump administration. Last year, the People’s University organized guest speakers, lectures from professors and student-led discussions on a range of topics either absent from Stanford’s curriculum or via perspectives that are sorely underrepresented. This year there are plans for public art projects, lectures, reading groups and workshops that are again student-led and organized with faculty and staff support that offer alternative perspectives and are open to all.
Such actions follow in the footsteps of progressive and radical students during the McCarthy era and Civil Rights era, during the Vietnam War and anti-apartheid movement. These kinds of informal educational projects are in fact common outside the United States as well, and in countries with authoritarian leaders — the list is long, but to mention only the most recent: in Turkey (Gezi Park), Ukraine (Euromaidan), Iran (Woman, Life Freedom), Serbia, Bangladesh, Brazil and Sudan. We can and should exercise free expression by multiplying the spaces to speak.
David Palumbo-Liu is the Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor and a professor of comparative literature at Stanford University.
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Stanfordle #012 (October 7, 2025)Enjoy The Daily's Stanfordle, the newest part of our Games section. The Daily produces Stanfordles on weekdays.
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A Swiftie’s honest take on ‘The Life of a Showgirl’It’s a “strong middle” Swift album. Not bad, not great, just… serviceable. And for this longtime Swiftie, that might be more disappointing than outright failure.
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Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.
I can recount my life in parallels to Taylor Swift eras.
“Fearless” and “Speak Now” were the first albums I knew by heart. By the time “1989” hit, I was old enough to know that Swiftmania was truly cultural. “Reputation” released when I was 13 and melodramatic, and through COVID-19, “Folklore” and “Evermore” gave isolation a mystic undertone.
“Midnights,” full of songs that reflected the uncertainty of teetering between adolescence and adulthood, marked the end of high school for me.
Swift’s edge has always been her gift for guiding listeners through the shifting eras of her life in tandem with their own — crafting lyrics grounded enough to feel lived-in yet expansive enough to spark daydreams.
I’ll admit I was one of the people clowning hardest for the release of “Reputation (Taylor’s Version).” I wanted to hear what Swift’s famous vault tracks would sound like on one of my favorite albums. So, when Swift announced a brand-new record instead, I was caught off guard. The title alone, “The Life of a Showgirl,” made me wary of tiring reflections on the burdens of being famous and rich.
There’s something remarkable about how prolific Swift is, but at a certain point, the endless cycle of new music starts to feel numbing. Coming right on the heels of the record-shattering success of the Eras Tour, this album announcement read less like inspiration and more like capitalization. Maybe the Eras Tour needed time to settle into history before it was memorialized in song.
And while she promised a “peek behind the velvet curtain” into a vibrant, electric inner life, what we received didn’t match the sharp showgirl imagery of the visuals. “Showgirl” gives us breezy soft rock and synth gloss that feel fun but flimsy. Across the record, Swift gestures at the fissures of fame, the ambivalence, the loneliness, the cracks beneath the spectacle, but we’ve heard sharper and catchier versions of that already in “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” or “Clara Bow.” Here, the lyrics often fall into shallow, tongue-in-cheek attempts at sexiness or wit that don’t quite land.
There are tracks I enjoy, but enjoyment isn’t the same as being moved. Instead of hearing Swift at her boldest or most vulnerable, I hear someone taking swings in all the wrong directions: too comfortable in her stardom to risk real intimacy, too mediated to cut deep, too quick to dress up banality in glitter.
One of the greatest dissonances of “Showgirl” is how Swift addresses power, identity and intimacy. In earlier eras, she thrived in the grey space: the vulnerable but knowing girl, the ambitious narrator who anticipates betrayal, the lover who risks hope anyway. That tension made her lyrics cut. Here, she often trades subtlety for overt swagger. “I’m not a bad bitch” isn’t offensive because she can’t say it — it’s jarring because I don’t believe it. The line seems written for a version of herself that doesn’t quite fit.
There’s a strange reliance on brand name-dropping, meme-ified turns of phrase (“did you girlboss too close to the sun?”) and the kind of slick, over-processed language you’d expect from a Colleen Hoover paperback, a strange choice from the sharp, world-building songwriter she once was.
One song, “Wood,” seems to emulate the fun, flirty wordplay Sabrina Carpenter has mastered. But where Carpenter leans into cheekiness and self-awareness, never pretending to be profound, Swift tries to splice that tone onto her own posture of earnest reflection. The result feels awkward: neither sexy nor insightful.
“I’m not a bad bitch ,and this isn’t savage” could have been reframed into something layered and self-referential — even devastating. Instead, it feels like a line plucked from Twitter in 2019.
When you zoom in on the songs, the problem becomes clearer.
“The Fate of Ophelia” is probably the album’s strongest contender. It’s catchy — and even a little haunting. But too many of the other songs slip into Swift’s most predictable buckets. “Opalite” is fun but paper-thin. “Elizabeth Taylor” name-drops old Hollywood without giving it weight. “Father Figure” alludes to drama but isn’t specific enough to stick the landing.
“Wi$h Li$t” is thick with suburban sweetness. The chorus spells it out plainly: “I just want you / have a couple kids / got the whole block looking like you / we tell the world to leave us the fuck alone / and they do.” It’s simple and almost quaint. Love is imagined as domestic ease: neighbours, kids, privacy secured.
There’s nothing wrong with that on its face, but compared to the jagged intimacy of “Lover” or “folklore,” it feels deflated. Back then, Swift could write a line like “Give you my wild, give you a child, but I could never give you peace,” a lyric which towers because it acknowledges love’s limits even at its most consuming. In “Wi$h Li$t,” the love is flatter, easier and untroubled. Maybe that’s the point. But it’s also why it doesn’t cut. “Wood” is catchy, sure, but it feels like the musical equivalent of a graphic tee at Marshalls or a half-trendy accessory from Target: easy, disposable and not meant to last.
“Showgirl” plays it safe. It is smooth where it could have cut and pleasant where it might have hurt. Swift has built her career on being a wordsmith, a songwriter who could take even the most private emotion and make it feel universal. That’s why the standard we hold her to isn’t unfair. It’s one she set herself.
And for the first time, Swift has nothing of substance to say.
This record is her most predictable yet: a handful of love songs, a few tracks about sex, one about being hated but still on top and a biting diss track. The mirror she once held up to her fans’ lives now feels less like a reflection and more like a store window. Swift is polished, curated and made for display.
That doesn’t make “Showgirl” un-listenable. But when you’ve grown up with Swift setting the stakes higher each album with teenage drama turned myth, heartbreak turned cinema and whispers turned confession… “fine” and “occasionally catchy” aren’t enough.
What Swift needs most isn’t another deluxe variant or another world tour. What she needs is time. Time away from the cycle to sharpen herself. Until then, “The Life of a Showgirl” offers spectacle without soul and a mirrorball that turns but never reflects.
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University switches student health insurance carrierStudents on Cardinal Care will face an annual premium increase under the new provider, Wellfleet Student.
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Students enrolled in Cardinal Care will experience higher premiums due to a new insurance provider this year, the University announced in July.
The University shifted insurance carriers from Aetna Student Health to Wellfleet Student for the 2025-26 academic year, a transition that will cost students $612 more each year, according to details released by Vaden Health Services.
In 2024, nearly 72% of graduate students and 34% of undergraduate students enrolled in Cardinal Care, a report from The Daily found.
“The University put the [insurance] program out to competitive bid in an effort to obtain the best possible services at the best possible price,” University spokesperson Luisa Rapport wrote in an email to The Daily.
The new insurance program switched from an Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO) plan to a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan. In exchange for higher premiums, students should receive access to a wider network of providers.
Some students expressed concern over the change.
“Cardinal Care as it functioned last year worked well for me, with decent copayments on eyewear and amazing copayments on therapy options,” Sinmi Sowande ’28 wrote to The Daily. “I’d be concerned if these benefits went down, or previous doctors and professionals became inaccessible with a change in provider.”
The change will also remove Aetna’s tiered structure for standardized in-network providers, which offered lower copays for preferred in-network providers. Instead, students will pay standard copays for providers in the Blue Shield of California PPO network within California and the Cigna PPO network outside the state.
“The plan broadens reach but removes the special carve-out for Stanford Health Care,” Pre-Medical Association student leader Aman Dillon ’27 wrote in an email to The Daily. “The new referral requirement for specialists means more gatekeeping, and whether that feels like ‘streamlined coordination’ or ‘red tape’ will shape students’ first impressions.”
Wellfleet plans to honor students’ authorization from their previous Cardinal Care plan until it expires or for six months, according to an announcement in the Vaden Health Services Portal.
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Sophomores hit play on reality TV show"Ad Libs," the Farm's new reality TV show, features teams of emerging designers challenged to design brands for small businesses.
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From “Shark Tank” to “The Great British Bake Off,” reality TV has captured Annika Joshi ’28. An avid supporter of the genre, Joshi has moved on to a new level of fandom: creating her own reality TV show.
“Ad Libs,” a business reality show made by Joshi and co-creators Iman Monnoo ’28 and Luiza Ribeiro ’28, follows emerging Stanford designers as they work in five teams of three to curate a brand for a small company.
Each of the four episodes focuses on a different element of branding, with winners selected by a panel of three judges: Allison Kluger, a lecturer at the Graduate School of Business; Sabrina Lin, an Oracle designer and McCoy Family Center for Ethics and Technology practitioner fellow and Rishika Gundi M.S. ’26, a master’s student in design.
Though Joshi was an avid reality TV fan before creating “Ad Libs,” the three co-creators admitted there is more to reality TV than what gets seen in the final cut. “I think the easiest part was getting the judges,” said Ribeiro. Navigating finding a videographer and cinematographer, as well as finding — and keeping — contestants, proved difficult.
“We had a lot of experiences with flake culture,” Monnoo said.
Each of the three creators also had a different journey to joining “Ad Libs.” For Monnoo, an English and art history double major, the project was an obvious step toward her interest in entertainment and film. Ribeiro, on the other hand, had experience in branding and has created much of the show’s branding materials while also helping with other tasks, such as scriptwriting.
“Ad Libs” stood out immediately as a student project with “clear format, strong execution plan, and creative ambition,” Kluger wrote to The Daily.
More than having a clear idea, though, the three creators work well as a team, which is why she believes “Ad Libs” will succeed, Kluger wrote.
Though the show stems from a love of reality TV and entertainment, its creators emphasized their goal of supporting local businesses. Even if the show gets picked up by a network — an idea that the creators floated as an end goal for the project — Ribeiro made clear she would still want to continue working with small companies and emerging designers.
As in any reality TV show, though, celebrity judges are a staple, and Joshi, Monnoo and Ribeiro know exactly who they would pick as a celebrity judge given the chance: Tyra Banks, the host of “America’s Next Top Model.” “She just has a good personality,” said Monnoo.
Though “Ad Libs” is, at its heart, reality TV, Kluger insisted it the show is more than what it seems.
“The format mirrors real-world brand work, where teams often have to ideate, iterate, and deliver under pressure. It’s not just fun to watch — it’s an authentic learning experience,” wrote Kluger.
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Sex and the Farm | Consent is sexySHPRC's co-education coordinators Amelia Overstreet '28 and Vaaruni Khanna '28 stress the importance of consent education and its centering around agency.
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I — Vaaruni — was introduced to the concept of consent before I could spell it. Baby Nini was constantly reminded by her mom and school teachers in kindergarten that she had “private” parts in her body that no one else was allowed to touch. People are supposed to ask her for permission before touching her in any way, and she is always allowed to say no. I am sure many of your first memories of learning about consent began at a similar age, and I am saddened but not surprised that kids are introduced to such things at just five or six years old.
“No means no,” I — Amelia — remember hearing in 6th or 7th grade, when my middle school health education teacher presented the idea of sexual-related consent. Sandwiched between giggles over genital anatomy charts and uncomfortable eye contact across the room, our brief and nuance-less consent lesson lacked the staying power that the anonymous sex-ed question box stirred. 11-year-old Amelia was privileged enough to receive health education in middle school. I fundamentally understood that “no” is powerful. As an opinionated and confrontational adolescent, I was familiar with “no.” I am still familiar with “no.” However, my classroom consent education started and ended with “no,” with a short lesson about “FRIES” (freely given, reversible, informed, enthusiastic, specific) sprinkled in for supplemental strength. Now, through conversations, experiences and societal expectations, I have been able to grow my understanding of consent into what it is today. Consent is more than just yes or no. It is an intimate, intentional act — much like sex itself.
However, as a student body, we still snicker at consent boards outside of frats with our friends while internally grappling with the reality of normalized rape culture on college campuses, leaving us to wonder how much power “no” really holds anymore?
So, why are we talking about consent at all?
Well, Stanford doesn’t mandate wellness education for any student on campus. Most students are conditioned to understand consent in three or four sentences — a definition rather than an ongoing conversation. It’s unsurprising, then, that Campus Sexual Assault (CSA) makes up 43% (the greatest proportion) of total on-campus crimes in the US. On average, eight in 10,000 students experience a forcible sexual offense. The Red Zone, the period between mid-August to November that encompasses the beginning of each school year, is often a period of increased sexual assault rates. In fact, 50% of CSA occurs within the Red Zone. This is especially true for new students like frosh and transfers, who are particularly vulnerable due to their lack of familiarity with campus life and on-campus sexual assault resources.
With all of that said, it’s alarming that Stanford students aren’t receiving mandatory sexual health education. So, we’re writing to remind you what consent is, how to ask for and offer it and the sexual and non-sexual applications of consent-driven language.
Last winter, we — Amelia and Vaaruni — took a student-led course formerly known as Wellness 191 that covered a broad spectrum of sexual health education topics and trained Stanford students to counsel at Stanford’s Sexual Health Peer Resource Center (SHPRC), an on-campus resource that offers counseling services, free and subsidized products and confidential care. This class utilized a student-written syllabus that expanded upon Stanford’s institutional definition of consent with one written collectively by SHPRC counselors. If ever faced with a situation involving Title IX or the University, it’s vital that students understand how Stanford legally defines consent. As SHPRC counselors and Wellness 191 alumni, SHPRC’s evolving and expansive definition of consent is similarly valuable to share with you.
Stanford defines consent as “an affirmative nonverbal act or verbal statement expressing consent to sexual activity by a person that is informed, freely given and mutually understood” (Admin Guide 1.7.3). Although this definition hits on some key language, it lacks the idea of consent as an ongoing and mutual process. As a student body, we deserve better.
As taught in Wellness 191 and written in our course reader, consent is based on agency. It is a continuous process of mutual communication between partners to ensure all parties feel safe in any given interaction. It should be a process of equal power uninfluenced by fear of violence or retaliation. This fear includes feeling guilt about disappointing one’s partner(s), wanting to fit in or feeling unable to say no. Being verbally, emotionally, psychologically or physically pressured into any kind of sexual activity is not consent. If someone cannot say “no” comfortably, then a “yes” from them has no meaning. Similarly, if someone is unwilling to accept a “no,” then a “yes” from their partner(s) has no meaning either.
Although a relationship where partners are familiar with each others’ likes and boundaries can build trust, a relationship does not automatically imply consent. Because consent is an active and continuous process, partners should understand that wants, needs and boundaries can change from day to day and within a given sexual interaction. Consent can be revoked at any point, and consenting to one sexual act does not guarantee consent for any other act at any other time. Even in a long-term, committed relationship — including marriage — forcing sex still violates consent and counts as assault.
We believe consent must center agency. At the beginning of the year, discussing agency is particularly important in the context of new student experiences like partying, substance use and community building. With our definition of consent in mind, we hope to empower you all to reflect on agency, vulnerability, communication and power.
Before we say goodbye, we want to introduce ourselves! We are SHPRC’s co-education coordinators — Stanford sophomores who love all-things sex-ed precisely because we didn’t get enough of it in middle and high school. We know that our experience is all too common, and we’re excited to be a part of your journey towards sexual empowerment.
So, don’t forget: consent is sexy, and vulnerable communication will elevate every sexual experience.
XO,
Vaaruni and Amelia
If you have experienced sexual violence on Stanford campus, we urge you to look into resources such as the Bridge (student-run mental health services,) CAPS, The SHARE Title IX office, Campus Safety and SHPRC. The SHPRC office has moved and is located in the ASSU space in Old Union. We are open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday from 3-9pm.
Amelia counsels on Tuesdays (3:00 p.m. — 4:00 p.m.) and Thursdays (4:00 p.m. — 5:00 p.m.) Vaaruni counsels on Tuesdays (4:00 p.m. — 5:00 p.m.) and Fridays (7:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.)
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Teams roll out for second annual Sushi HackathonSixteen teams competed in pursuit of a $30,000 grand prize to devise innovative artificial intelligence solutions to issues in the fishing industry.
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Two weeks of intense research, coding and testing came to a peak in the Arrillaga Alumni Center on Friday for the second annual Sushi Hackathon. Sixteen teams made live presentations with closing pitches to compete for a $30,000 grand prize.
GDX Co. Ltd., a Japanese e-commerce company, partnered with the Stanford Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) to host the event, which invited participants to develop innovative artificial intelligence (AI) projects for supporting productive and sustainable fishing. Project groups included students from Stanford and universities nationwide, as well as engineers from leading technology companies including Nvidia, Google and OpenAI.
“I believe deeply in the power of collaboration across borders, where diverse ideas and perspectives come together to create long-lasting engagement,” GDX Co. Ltd. COO Kenjiro Ikawa said.
With more than double the number of applicants seeking to compete at the Sushi Hackathon compared to last year, Ikawa acknowledged the growing urge to tackle current-day problems through AI.
Ikawa said that fishers and sushi chefs face a multitude of challenges, including declining fish captures, poor quality of catches, climate change and supply chain inefficiencies. He hoped that the hackathon would bring engineers ready to confront obstacles in the fishing industry and help GDX Co. Ltd. “maximize opportunity to find treasure” and innovative solutions.
Throughout the day, teams rose to present and answer questions from the audience and six judges. Projects included dashboards for Peruvian fishing co-operatives to plan trips, market analysis of fish prices and on-board voice assistants that used machine learning to read sonar data aloud to fishers.
Attendees reconvened in the evening to hear the announcement of the top three prizes. After nearly four hours of presentations and judging, Sushinnovation was awarded the top prize.
The winning team, which was comprised of four students from the University of California (UC) Santa Cruz, UC Davis and San Jose State University (SJSU), used a sensor installed on fishing boats to detect signals indicating potential signs of engine failure or mechanical issues. Their project, Polaris, is a machine learning program designed to interpret these warning signals, notify fishers about problems and guide them through the repair process. The Sushinnovation team used transformer architecture, similar to the backbone of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, to create Polaris.
Rome Drori, a senior from SJSU, likened the feeling of winning to “relief.” The team faced a variety of technical challenges, even in the minutes leading up to their live presentation.
This year’s win was also a story of redemption for the team: during the first Sushi Hackathon in 2024, Sushinnovation finished in second place.
The team said that this year, they focused on fishers’ needs first by driving to Half Moon Bay to meet with fishers before conceptualizing their idea. From there, they decided to solve a problem many fishers faced: dealing with mechanical failures that prevented them from spending time fishing.
“I listened to a series of great presentations with creative, innovative ideas and cool, cool demos,” Kiyoteru Tsutsui, sociology professor and APARC director, said.
Tsutsui described Sushinnovation’s reaction to winning — leaping into the air with loud cheers — as “pure joy.”
The members of Sushinnovation plan to continue their studies, with many saying they would use their split of the grand prize for their tuition. Drori said he would soon return to studying for his midterm — but only after attending a sushi dinner hosted for the winners.
Team Pill Snap, composed of UC San Diego students Brian Liu, Shawn Pana, Caylin Canoy and Reagan Hsu, earned third place. They focused on addressing the health and mobility of fishermen. “I was very shocked to learn that one in three fishers experience carpal tunnel syndrome,” Liu said.
“We believe that for the welfare of fishers, we care not only just about the income they make, but also their health in general,” Canoy said. Their collective concern for the fishers’ nerve conditions motivated them to build a specialized glove that reduces risk of carpal tunnel syndrome.
“Knowing the needs of fishers in their daily life from their requests is something that should be taken more seriously, especially in AI solutions,” said Zijian (Carl) Ma, a first-year Stanford Ph.D. candidate in bioengineering and first-time hackathon participant.
The event also featured highlighted speakers who presented on the broader implications of AI on global public speech, economy and democracy.
“You are the first generation, if you are a young person, to be born in an environment of very high PPM,” said Audrey Tang, a former minister of digital affairs in Taiwan and keynote speaker of the event. PPM, she explained, stands for “polarization per minute.”
Tang emphasized the importance of “public, portable and pluralistic” developments in AI as the technology becomes increasingly integrated in everyday life.
She contrasted the “vertical alignment” of companies using AI to drive up engagement and clicks with the need for “horizontal alignment,” which emphasizes strengthening people’s relationships with each other, AI and the natural world.
“Are we building AI systems to supercharge profit, or are we building it to foster cooperation?” Tang said.
Tang also acknowledged the surging energy demands of massive LLMs like Claude or ChatGPT, which can require up to 10 times as much energy as a traditional search. The solution, she said, may lie in using much smaller models specialized for certain tasks, like language translation. These models would demand significantly less energy and could be more accurate than those built for a wide range of general tasks.
Tsutsui shared that learning about the hackers’ solutions “gave [him] hope that the future will be filled with a lot of new innovations that take advantage of and leverage generative AI.”
“When we see machine learning, let’s make it collective learning,” Tang said to participants at the end of her keynote. “When we see user experience, let’s make it about human experience.”
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Cardinal roundup: Golf in full swing and women’s volleyball sweepsStanford golf is in full swing, men's water polo suffers tough loss and men's soccer sits at the top of ACC standings.
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Football might have had the weekend off, but Stanford athletics still had a big week. Men’s swimming and diving opened up their season while the schedule marched on for golf, women’s volleyball, sailing and water polo. No. 3 men’s soccer also won on the road against Wake Forest.
Men’s golf got off to a shaky start at the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas on Sept. 29. The Cardinal finished 11th out of 15 in a tough field that included 13 nationally ranked teams. Stanford came into the tournament unranked. Sophomore Ratchanon “TK” Chantananuwat was Stanford’s top player for the tournament, finishing tied for eighth place. The team’s next test will be at the Hamptons Intercollegiate Invite on Oct. 6.
Meanwhile, women’s golf sent just two competitors, senior Kelly Xu and sophomore Nora Sundberg to the Windy City Collegiate Classic. Xu entered the final round tied for the lead but ultimately fell to sixth after troubles on the back nine. Sundberg, playing the final round on her birthday, shot one under par to move up to 25th. The full team will be back October 17-19 to compete on their home course for the annual Stanford Intercollegiate, presented by Condoleezza Rice.
The men’s swimming and diving team traveled to Stockton, California to open their season at the PAC Invite. Stanford won the 200-medley relay early in the morning. Junior Johnathan Tan and senior Rafael Gu went first and second in the 50-meter freestyle, with Tan eking out a 0.13 second victory over Gu. Later in the afternoon, Gu would beat out Tan to win the 100 fly. Throughout the day the wins kept coming for Stanford: Junior Henry McFadden got a win in the 500-meter free, freshman Ray Liu ’26 earned his first collegiate win in the 400 Individual Medley (IM), sophomore Daniel Li won in the 100 breaststroke and senior Hayden Kwan took the victory in the 100-backstroke part of a podium sweep for Stanford. Their next meet will be at home on Oct. 24 and 25 against Arizona State and the University of California, Berkeley.
No. 4 women’s volleyball swept Notre Dame Friday at Maples. The victory extended their home win streak to 20, the third-longest active home win streak in the nation. They are back in action Sunday against No. 6 Louisville.
Men’s water polo traveled to Los Angeles over the weekend to face the top-ranked University of California, Los Angeles. Ultimately the Cardinal fell in a 14-11 loss after going down 2-0 in the first period. Sophomore Ben Forer led the Stanford offense with five goals. The Card will be back at home to host Long Beach State on Oct. 12.
Men’s soccer traveled to North Carolina and beat Wake Forest 2-0 to improve to 10-1-1 on the season. Seniors Fletcher Bank and Zach Bohane were responsible for the two goals. Stanford now sits at the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) standings and holds the No. 3 rank nationally. They will be back on the field Oct. 11 at home against Pittsburgh.
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What three cycles in The Daily’s high school journalism workshops taught meThrough three cycles ofThe Daily's high school journalism program, Kurup strengthened her curiosity and commitment to telling stories with care and persistence.
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If you had asked me at 13 what curiosity meant, I would have told you it was about noticing small joys. I would have pointed to my first book, “Curiosity is the Way to Go,” a locally published collection of childhood anecdotes. The pages were filled with moments of stargazing, moving houses and playing badminton in Delhi’s humid evenings. Back then, curiosity meant paying attention to what made me happy and finding a way to put it into words.
Over time, I learned that curiosity can be less comfortable. It can take you into unfamiliar conversations and force you to see things you once overlooked.
I grew up in Delhi, India, where high-rises stood beside clusters of tarpaulin-covered shanties. As a child, I noticed them without wondering who lived there or why they couldn’t move somewhere else. My eyes moved over shapes and colors like background scenery in a film I saw too often to watch closely, never stopping to question my reality. As I grew older, the details became more vivid: women carrying water up unsteady staircases, children running barefoot between lanes of traffic, families cooking over open flames while luxury cars idled nearby. That awareness grew when I moved to Canada at 14. My writing began to follow my awareness. I no longer wanted to collect only the light and pleasant details; I wanted to make sense of what I saw and write about the realities beneath it.
When I joined The Stanford Daily’s High School Journalism Workshop in the summer of 2024, I wanted to become a better writer. The program brought together students from around the world in a virtual newsroom, and over the course of the summer, we pitched stories, contacted sources, wrote drafts and revised them with guidance from desk and managing editors.
After returning for the Winter 2024 and Summer 2025 cycles, I learned that the experience is exactly what you make of it. The more effort I put into researching, interviewing and rewriting, the more the program gave back to me.
My first few articles were rough. I sent in drafts with uneven structure and gaps in reporting, unsure if they could be saved. My editors took the time to walk me through each revision. They showed me how to ask better questions, how to shape a piece so it read clearly and how to pace it so the reader stayed engaged. I also learned that journalism involves more waiting, chasing and rejection than I expected. Sometimes sources agree to speak and then vanish. Sometimes a story that looks promising never moves beyond the pitch. I learned to keep going anyway.
Over time, interviews became my favorite part of the process. Each one felt like stepping into another person’s world for a short while and opening a window into the way they saw their life and work. Follow-up questions allowed me to chase my curiosity down unexpected paths. The best moments in an interview often came after pauses, when someone trusted me enough to share a story they had not planned to tell. Guest journalists who spoke at the workshops reminded us that good reporting grows from curiosity paired with care. I learned that it meant being present long enough to hear what is unsaid and being interested enough to ask questions that might help someone put it into words.
Not everything I wrote was published. During the winter session, none of my articles made it to the end of the production process. I felt like a failure. But those drafts taught me as much as the ones that did. I learned to spot a weak pitch before investing too much time into it. I learned to follow up when sources went silent. I learned how to rebuild a piece from the ground up when it was failing. Those experiences made me more adaptable, more persistent and less hesitant to try again.
This summer, I set out to do my best work yet. I pitched earlier, prepared more thoroughly for interviews and pushed myself to ask deeper, more revealing questions. I treated every article as an opportunity to learn more about people and their stories.
I profiled Jeannette Wang ’26, a student leader whose passion for civic dialogue and democracy on campus genuinely inspired me. In a political climate that could benefit from more voices like hers, I felt it was important to spotlight her work and the recognition she received as a Newman Civic Fellow.
I covered “Woven Narratives,” a textile exhibition curated by students, that fascinated me — it suggested that something as everyday as fabric could carry entire histories. I wanted to understand the thought process behind each curatorial choice and how pieces came together to tell a collective story.
I also covered Stanford freshman Nora Ezike ’28’s participation in the Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) Under-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup. Given her life as an internationally recognized student athlete, I was curious about how she balances her identity, her academics and the intensity of competing on the world stage.
Some stories came together easily, while others took longer and tested my patience. I learned that growth rarely happens when everything goes smoothly. My growth was not linear, but it becomes inevitable when I keep showing up and doing the work.
When I was 13, I thought curiosity was about noticing what was beautiful. Now I know it is also about asking harder questions, sitting with complicated answers and looking past the surface. It is about noticing not just what is appealing but what is true.
Now that the program has come to a close, I am taking those lessons with me back to my school paper, “The Forecast,” and into the stories I write next. I am still the kid who likes to look at the stars, but I now understand that some of the most important stories are found right here on the ground.
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Daily Diminutive #080 (Oct. 6, 2025)Click to play today's 5x5 mini crossword. The Daily produces mini crosswords three times a week and a full-size crossword biweekly.
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Stanford men’s swimming opens season with Stockton sweepStanford men’s swimming swept the first day of the PAC Invite this past weekend, building a 300-point lead in a dominant start to their season.
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Stanford men’s swimming opened its season with dominant victories at the PAC Invite in Stockton, California this past weekend, beating out the University of California (UC) Santa Barbara, University of the Pacific and Seattle University in every event on the first day.
Stanford also posted the first and second fastest times in the 200-yard medley relay. The quartet of sophomore Finn Harland (backstroke), seniors Zhier Fan (breaststroke) and Rafael Gu (butterfly) and junior Jonathan Tan (freestyle) won with a time of 1:26.87 — more than two seconds ahead of Stanford’s B team and almost six seconds faster than Seattle, the fastest non-Stanford team.
Stanford kept a clean slate in its relays with wins in the 200-yard and 800-yard freestyle relays. Freshman Jason Zhao ’28 led the 200-yard relay with the fastest lead-off split of 20.83.
After their relay, Tan and Gu went head-to-head in both the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly. Tan out-touched Gu in freestyle, finishing first with a time of 19.80 to beat out Gu’s 19.93. In the 100-yard butterfly later in the afternoon, Gu fired back to top Tan, winning in 47.33 to Tan’s 47.83.
Junior Henry McFadden, coming off competing at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, was the sole Stanford swimmer to win multiple individual events. In the 500-yard freestyle, he swam to first with a time of 4:28.60. Senior Liam Custer (4:32.01) and freshman Connor Jones (4:36.19) also placed in the event’s top three. Later in the afternoon, McFadden won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:38.36.
Six Cardinal swimmers finished ahead of any other school’s swimmers in the 200-yard individual medley, with junior Gibson Holmes leading the way in 1:49.42.
Freshman Ray Liu burst onto the scene in Stockton, winning the 400-yard individual medley in 3:56.44 over Holmes, a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) qualifier in the event last year. Liu was the only newcomer on the Stanford team to win an individual event.
In the 100 breaststroke, sophomores Daniel Li and Abram Mueller and senior Zhier Fan led the pack, with Li winning the event in a time of 53.54. Fan was second in 54.25, and Mueller was third in 55.72.
The 100 backstroke showed another 1-2-3 finish from Stanford’s team, with senior Hayden Kwan, sophomore Finn Harland and Liu all touching within 0.30 seconds of each other. Kwan won the event in 49.40.
After the first day of competition, Stanford led the standings with 800 points, more than 300 points ahead of second-place University of California, Santa Barbara (479.5). Pacific (360.5) and Seattle (305) finished in third and fourth place, respectively.
Stanford did not compete on the second day of the meet, which featured the 100-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle, all 200-yard stroke events (butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke) and the 400-yard medley and freestyle relays.
The Cardinal will compete in their first home meet at 2 p.m. on Oct. 24 at Avery Aquatic Center against Arizona State and Cal.
Full results from the first day of competition can be found here.
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Stanfordle #011 (Oct. 6, 2025)Enjoy The Daily's Stanfordle, the newest addition to our Games section. The Daily produces Stanfordles on weekdays.
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Philanthropist and entrepreneur Tad Taube leaves lasting legacy on StanfordStanford philanthropist Tad Taube, 94, died Sept. 13, leaving behind an indelible impact on tennis, Jewish Studies and children’s healthcare at Stanford.
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Thaddeus “Tad” Taube ’53 M.S. ’57, whose philanthropy transformed the tennis and Jewish studies programs at Stanford, died in his home in San Mateo County, Calif. on Sept. 13, 2025. Taube was 94 years old.
Taube built his career in real estate, co-founding the now $7 billion management firm Woodmont Companies with his Stanford roommate before turning his focus to philanthropy. He began his own foundation, Taube Philanthropies, in 1981 and served as president of the Koret Foundation for three decades.
At Stanford, Taube obtained degrees in industrial engineering and competed on the freshman tennis team. Driven by his lifelong love of tennis, Taube contributed $2.5 million to build the Taube Family Tennis Stadium and $3 million to endow the men’s tennis head coaching position.
In its two decades, Taube Stadium helped elevate Stanford tennis into what longtime men’s tennis head coach Dick Gould called a “first-class organization.” The venue hosted four women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships, two combined NCAA Championships, and the 1999 Federation (Fed) Cup final between the U.S. and Russia. Legends like John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Venus and Serena Williams, Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander and Lindsay Davenport all graced the courts before the facility was replaced by the Arrillaga Family Tennis Center in 2024.
“You can’t have a successful program without a couple people who really believe in what you’re trying to do,” Gould said. “We could never have accomplished what we did in terms of successes and wins and losses without his philanthropic help.” Gould is the most successful coach in Stanford men’s tennis history.
Born in Kraków, Poland, Taube immigrated to the United States in the summer of 1939, just weeks before the German invasion of Poland. Having lost 80% of his family to the Holocaust, Taube also dedicated his life to enriching Jewish life in the United States, Israel and Poland.
In 2001, Taube Philanthropies pledged $2.5 million to expand Stanford’s Jewish studies program. The gift, Taube told Stanford Report, was the culmination of “15 years of effort and personal involvement with Jewish Studies at Stanford.”
Now, the Taube Center of Jewish Studies offers students and faculty opportunities to engage deeply with Jewish history and culture through its degree programs, lecture series and library collections.
“The issues of Jewish peoplehood and the fight against antisemitism remained central to him throughout his life,” wrote Vered Shemtov, faculty director of the Taube Center, in an email to The Daily. “At the last fall gathering he attended, he spoke about the resurgence of antisemitism, and I remember how deeply saddened he was by its return.”
His initial donations in 1986 helped Stanford acquire the $1 million Taube-Baron collection — nearly 20,000 scholarly volumes on Jewish history, culture and religion. Later, in 1994, the Koret Foundation granted $50,000 to help the University obtain 20,000 rare Hebrew books from the library of Israel Cohen. Taube also made generous donations to Stanford’s Chabad and Hillel houses.
“What struck me most was his profound respect for the independence of academic work,” Shemtov wrote. “He understood and valued the freedom of research and teaching.”
That respect extended to healthcare, where he invested millions into Stanford Medicine research on youth addiction, concussions and childhood cancer.
In 2018, Taube and his wife, Dianne Taube, contributed $20 million towards the construction of Taube Pavilion in the new main building of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Home to the hospital’s intensive care, bone marrow, cell therapy and hospice care units, the pavilion made a “special impact on children with cancer,” according to Dennis Lund, interim president and CEO of the hospital at the time.
Beyond his generosity, Taube is remembered for his mentorship.
“He taught me how important it is that when you’ve been successful in your work, how important it is to then give back to the community in ways that other people can’t,” said Harvey Cohen, professor emeritus of pediatric oncology. “And he’s both shown through his example and his encouragement how I and others can do the same.”
Shemtov recalled a moment after completing her first term as co-director of the Taube Center where faculty and staff gathered for a celebration lunch.
“Despite his many obligations and countless philanthropic commitments, Tad came in person, gave a heartfelt speech, and offered me a warm hug,” Shemtov wrote. “That gesture — simple yet deeply meaningful — captured the warmth, attentiveness, and humanity that characterized him. While he should be remembered for what he did for the community, this is something that I remember with gratitude personally.”
Taube is survived by his wife, Dianne, and children Mark, Paula, Sean, Juddson, Travis and Zakary.
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Stephen Miller to direct Gaieties: ‘Because Gaieties means happy’The Daily sits with Stephen Miller to discuss how Gaieties will ram "patriotism, Trump and the American way" down our throats.
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Editor’s Note: This article is purely satirical and fictitious. All attributions in this article are not genuine, and this story should be read in the context of pure entertainment only.
According to leaked documents obtained by The Stanford Daily, the 2025 production of Gaieties will “strike a patriot-friendly tone” in the lead-up to the annual Big Game. Tentatively titled “Project 2025: Pa-tree-iot Town,” this retelling of the historic cross-Bay rivalry has bold plans to address issues in today’s society in a “topical, wholesome and Christian way.”
The leaks have sparked intense campus discussions on how the performance will shape Stanford’s politics and its broader role in the country as a whole. The Daily sat down with lead director and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to discuss the vision behind “Pa-tree-iot Town.”
The Daily: Why did Ram’s Head go in this direction?
Miller: Stanford threatened Ram’s Head with budget cuts unless it made more room for “ideological diversity.”
The Daily: What made you want to direct “Pa-tree-iot Town?”
Miller: Just because I “lost” my job in the government shutdown does not mean that I cannot help promote Trump’s agenda on godless college campuses like this.
The Daily: What’s it like to be in the director’s chair?
Miller: It’s simple, really. I look at the filth that Greta Gerwig forced upon us and do the exact opposite.
The Daily: Where does the name “Pa-tree-iot Town” really come from?
Miller: Stanford is in desperate need of patriotism. The name lets the audience know that even though it may be one of Cal’s colors, Blue Lives Matter, too.
The Daily: Is Elon Musk funding this musical?
Miller: Of course not. On an unrelated note, there will be ad reads for our good, patriotic friends over at Palantir and the Heritage Foundation.
The Daily: How do you foster community among the cast and crew?
Miller: As we began writing “Pa-tree-iot Town,” we found a huge collection of notes and set materials meant to remind future productions of all that the socialist and LGBTQIA+ communities that have contributed to Gaieties over the years. It was a joyous bonding experience when we came together to light it all on fire.
The Daily: What do you say to the student protestors who plan to start an encampment outside of Memorial Auditorium?
Miller: The audience will see through the lies that have poisoned the brains of our students. Loving this nation is making a comeback, and Stanford will never be the same.
The Daily: Do you have any inspiring words to share with the young people hoping to make it in musical theater?
Miller: Anything is possible when you’re willing to tell any story that respects American rights and tradition in accordance with our Lord and Savior, Donald Trump.
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East Palo Alto resident files Brown Act complaint after meeting to remove council memberAfter the East Palo Alto City Council voted to remove member Carlos Romero, city resident Ravneel Chaudhary filed a Brown Act complaint on Romero’s behalf, claiming the city failed to give adequate time for public comment.
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East Palo Alto resident Ravneel Chaudhary submitted a complaint to the City Council on Sept. 16, alleging that council members made the decision to remove council member Carlos Romero prior to the Sept. 10 council meeting and failed to give adequate time for public comment.
Chaudhary’s complaint alleged that the circumstances of Romero’s removal violated the Brown Act, which mandates that the public be notified of open government meetings and allowed to comment on official matters. The act also states that councils are not permitted to make decisions in advance of a public meeting.
This sequence of events stems from a Sept. 2 city council meeting where Romero said that fellow council member Webster Lincoln “may be deaf and dumb,” a violation of the city’s code of conduct. In a public meeting on Sept. 10, the council voted 3-2 to censure and strip Romero of his regional board positions.
Chaudhary, who is also a commissioner for East Palo Alto’s Public Works and Transportation Commission, claims the council failed to adhere to the Brown Act during the Sept. 10 meeting by limiting public comment.
“I firmly believe that if you’re going to have any form of censure or any big item like this, there needs to be a public engagement, and the public needs opportunity to speak,” he said in an interview with The Daily.
“The meeting was scheduled immediately prior to a rent board meeting, creating a hard stop at 7:00 PM and severely limiting public comment on this significant agenda item,” wrote Chaudhary in the complaint. “Many residents who submitted slips according to procedure or tried to raise their hands on Zoom were unable to speak.”
City Attorney John Le responded to Chaudhary’s letter, writing that “the City Attorney’s office does not believe a violation of the Brown Act has occurred.”
The letter states that the Mayor has the authority to set “reasonable and equitable time-place–manner restrictions.”
“The City does not view the proceedings in question (or its remedy) as censoring the speech of Councilmember Romero,” Le wrote to The Daily.
In response to Le’s statement, Chaudhary said he still believes Lincoln’s statement and the council’s deliberation at the Sept. 10 meeting constituted a Brown Act violation.
“It seems more like this meeting was a formality versus an actual hearing with due process about what the accusations were and what the proposed sanctions should have been,” he said in an interview with The Daily.
Chaudhary also claims the council violated the Brown Act by making decisions in advance of the Sept. 10 meeting, evidenced by a statement Lincoln wrote beforehand that was included in the meeting agenda.
Chaudhary’s complaint requested the city council correct this potential violation by “rescinding or readdressing the council action regarding the censure and removal of Council Member Romero from regional boards, with adequate public comment opportunity.”
According to Lincoln, the claims that Lincoln’s statement violated council policy would implicate Romero of the same violation, as he also submitted a statement prior to the Sept. 10 meeting.
“The fact that only certain council members are being targeted suggests to me this complaint is politically motivated retaliation,” he wrote to The Daily.
“We bent over backwards to make sure that we didn’t violate the Brown Act,” Vice Mayor Mark Dinan said in an interview with The Daily. “This is stuff that city staff are very well versed in and there was nothing done. I did not talk to Webster Lincoln or Carlos Romero or [council member] Ruben Abrica about this item before the meeting.”
Lincoln wrote in the impact statement that Romero’s comments used “outdated, derogatory language that has historically been used to marginalize and demean people with disabilities.”
Romero, who also wrote a statement in the Sept. 10 agenda packet, apologized for his comment, writing, “I recognize that this outdated phrase carries painful history and is now considered a pejorative term.” Romero wrote that his comment was a result of frustration.
“Councilmember Lincoln interrupted me, without holding the floor, to end debate on a controversial Inclusionary Housing Ordinance (IHO) agenda item no less than three separate times,” Romero wrote in the statement.
Romero also acknowledged that shortly after he made the comment, he apologized three times, explaining that “no personal offense was intended” towards Lincoln and “the use of the phrase referred to [Lincoln’s] lack of listening and not his intelligence or mental acuity.”
The Daily has reached out to Carlos Romero for comment.
According to the city, Romero’s behavior isn’t an isolated incident. On June 3, Romero made inappropriate comments about Vice Mayor Dinan’s child and received a warning that future violations would result in formal sanctions.
“Carlos was very, very clearly warned that speaking like he has was breaking the code of conduct, and that there would be consequences if he did the same thing again,” Dinan said. “For the second time, in three months… he shot his mouth off, and that’s not how you’re supposed to do business as a city.”
Romero additionally wrote an email in 2017 that included the phrase “let the bastards sue us” in reference to a water company board that included Lincoln’s grandmother, Lincoln’s mother and other elderly Black women.
“This establishes what I see as an eight-year pattern of using derogatory language toward Black community members in positions of service,” Lincoln wrote to The Daily. “In my opinion, the censure addressed a documented pattern of conduct unbefitting an elected official.”
While Romero is still able to speak at City Council meetings as a resident, he is unable to continue serving on any of the city’s regional boards.
“Folks may disagree with what we did at that meeting, but there was no Brown Act violation,” Dinan said. “A lot of the allegations are just a misreading of what the Brown Act actually is and isn’t… and I encourage everybody who does local government in the state of California to actually study the Brown Act if they think there was a Brown Act violation.”
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Research Roundup: Immune system insights and electrical-channel filled fibersThis research roundup explores how immune system genetic activity can provide guidance into treatment options for patients and how a small fiber could revolutionize clinical technology.
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Turning immune system genetic activity into insights for treatments
Doctors regularly face difficulties deciding the best treatments for their patients, especially under time constraints. In a Stanford-led study published in Nature, researchers offered ways to make these decisions easier for healthcare professionals by focusing on the immune system.
Purvesh Khatri, a Stanford professor of biomedical informatics and the senior author of the study, helped devise a collection of blood tests that can measure gene activity in immune cells
To investigate the validity of these tests, the team quantified what they classified as “good” and “bad” genetic activity in the immune system. In other words, they classified different immune activities as beneficial or harmful for patients. Harmful immune activity signaled greater risk and more need for treatment.
With these tests, physicians can see if and how different parts of the immune system function in certain conditions. For example, a patient with lymphoid dysregulation may have better treatment results if given drugs targeting the lymphoid immune response.
“You could have a platform to identify the infection, severity of the illness and the treatment quickly,” Khatri told Stanford Medicine.
How a fiber the length of a hair measures various biological processes
In a recent study published in Nature, Stanford researchers outlined their creation, “Neurostring,” a small fiber comprised of numerous electronic channels that’s meant to be implanted into the body.
Neurostring can perform a multitude of functions in the body, like sensing chemicals, monitoring biological activity and even delivering drugs. It is the multitude of electronic channels that allow such explicit sensing and activity. And despite carrying a large number of functions, Neurostring itself is roughly the width of a human hair.
The minimally invasive and soft nature of Neurostring makes it potentially significant for clinical usage. Many of the current clinical tools are rigid and bulky.
Xiang Qian, a doctor who specializes in neuromodulation, commented on the benefits of Neurostring’s structure.
“It can stay inside the body for months at a time or longer, and it’s so soft and small that it can be implanted without discomfort or harm to the patient,” Qian told Stanford Report.
Zhennan Bao, a co-collaborator of Neurostring along with Stanford pediatric surgeon James Dunn, now hopes to take Neurostring to organoids, tissues grown in the lab that behave like real tissues. She, along with other researchers, aim to embed Neurostring into these organoids to better understand the biological and biochemical processes that mimic real human tissue.
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Daily Diminutive #079 (Oct. 3, 2025)Click to play today's 5x5 mini crossword. The Daily produces mini crosswords three times a week and a full-size crossword biweekly.
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Five Broadway reviews from my summer in New York CityAs a theater fanatic, Chang jumped at the chance to see musicals and plays in New York City. Here are her reviews of the five productions she saw this summer.
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Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.
My inner theater kid has never been happier than when I got to live in New York City this summer. Seeing plays and musicals was my favorite part of exploring the famed city, but not every show can receive a standing ovation. Let’s place a critical lens on five of the city’s productions this summer.
Not only was this my first show of my trip, it was also my favorite. A moving production that is more relevant than ever, “John Proctor is the Villain” took me by complete surprise as the most heartfelt portrayal of girlhood I’ve seen in any recent media.
The play follows a group of teen girls in a tiny one-stoplight town in Georgia studying “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller and starting a feminism club in the wake of the #MeToo movement. The girls must reckon with the topics brought up in the class, such as sexual misconduct and female empowerment, in increasingly personal ways as they become acutely relevant in their everyday lives.
In a refreshing departure from the trope of dismissing the concerns of young girls, the show gave teen girl characters the space they deserve: to be taken seriously, to belt Taylor Swift together, to make change and to laugh until laughter turns into tears.
Best of all, none of these things had to be mutually exclusive. I’ve never been so emotionally invested in a performance. Despite my best efforts, I cried through the entire ending. I was a bit disappointed to miss Sadie Sink by two days, but her replacement, Chiara Aurelia, was incredible — as was the rest of the cast, who played their parts so beautifully and realistically I forgot I was watching a play at times.
It was my fault I didn’t know anything about the show before seeing it. I love pop music as much as the next person, and I prefer the radio to Broadway tunes. Because of how much I love the creativity of original music, I generally don’t like jukebox musicals.
A more cohesive musical theme, like the Gogo’s music in “Head Over Heels,” makes the concept work slightly better. Unfortunately, trying to integrate “Royals” by Lorde and “Shine Bright Like a Diamond” by Rihanna into 19th-century France felt too on-the-nose for me to find funny. It takes the audience out of the story altogether, resulting in a musical that keeps fumbling the emotional beats.
Despite my feelings about jukebox musicals, the sets — shining as brightly as Satine’s outfits — and the cast — starring Jordan Fisher — were highlights. Although the show was not my favorite, it was undeniably fun.
At first, I wasn’t sure how “The Outsiders” would translate into a musical, but I absolutely loved it. Set in Oklahoma, the story follows a teen gang called the Greasers at odds with Socs, a rival group. When the protagonist, Ponyboy, and his best friend get into a fight that ends in the death of a Soc, they must go into hiding while they and the other Greasers navigate these violent encounters and differences.
The sets and choreography were stand-out elements, particularly the real rain falling during The Rumble, dirt on stage added to the story’s grittiness and the fight-dance sequences made the peril of Ponyboy’s tale come to life.
I also enjoyed the way the lighting design complemented Ponyboy’s narration: the spotlight centering on each character as he described each of them was a beautiful use of the space. I appreciated the soundtrack as well, especially the songs that gave Darry more of a chance to tell his story than he had in the book.
The integration of iconic quotes lent the play the gravitas of the original novel, but their choice to change Dally’s ending fell flat, making it feel less symbolic than the book. Overall, it was incredibly well-done, and I can only hope that my other favorites will be adapted like this!
This musical is set in a futuristic Seoul where human-like robots, HelperBots, are used for various tasks and then retired. It follows two obsolete HelperBots — Claire and Oliver — as they develop an unexpected connection. “Maybe Happy Ending” won six Tonys in 2025, including for Best Musical, and I can see why. The show brought new whimsy and depth to an age-old question and made me think about stories that revolve around technology in a completely refreshing way.
The show purposefully operated on a smaller scale than others I attended: the 100-minute runtime was well-curated for the greatest emotional impact, the short soundtrack was fluid and intentional and the cast of only four further emphasized the protagonists’ relationship.
The way the HelperBots spoke about humans was also funny and reflective. In one scene, Oliver asks Claire to come up with pretend “hopes and dreams,” to which she responds, “Do you really think a human will ask us about that?” Oliver says, “Of course. That’s all humans talk about.”
Interactions like these, filled with so much heart, beautifully explored love, loss and, somewhat ironically, what it means to be human. By the end, there wasn’t a dry eye in the audience.
“Hacks,” a comedy following the partnership between a legendary stand-up comedian fading to irrelevance and a cancelled 25-year-old writer, is one of my all-time favorite TV shows, and it made me a huge fan of Jean Smart. When I heard she was starring in her own one-woman play, I couldn’t wait to watch. I’d never seen a one-woman show, unless you count the show within “La La Land,” so I was curious to see how it would stay engaging throughout its 85-minute runtime. While I felt the first half could’ve been a little faster paced considering the format, the second half in particular was absolutely incredible.
The play follows Isabelle “Izzy” Scutley, a one-of-a-kind poet trying to write her way out of her relationship with an abusive husband and hometown in rural Louisiana. The narrative is profoundly sad but remains infused with Smart’s signature dry wit. Each scene is poignantly crafted, as Smart recounts memories so vividly you can see them happening. While I’m not sure I would see another one-woman show unless it was Jean Smart or another favorite actor again, I thoroughly enjoyed the emotional rollercoaster all the way through.
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Asking Stanford: What is one discovery you’re taking into the school year?As Stanford gets settled into fall quarter, we asked members of The Daily about the discoveries they are bringing into this school year.
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“Asking Stanford” is a series of small stories from Stanford students that comes together to highlight the diversity of experiences and perspectives on campus.
I recently discovered Stelle, a shockingly affordable women and girl’s activewear brand founded locally in the Bay. It was started by a mom, and the brand gives back to local youth programs in the area. I’ve been pleased by their quality and comfort! — Sonnet Xu ’27
During my summer on campus, I spent many afternoons at the Branner Earth Sciences Library using their digital mapmaking resources for my research. Not only is the library an underrated study space, but it also boasts an impressive collection of map-related board games. It would be a miracle if I managed to gather a group to play two hours of Terraforming Mars during weekday library hours, but I’m glad to know the option exists. — Kaylee Chan ’27
In just the first week of school, one of my classes completely changed my opinion on podcasts by finally getting me to listen to Radiolab! I’d always thought podcasts were just a less efficient form of an article, but I was sorely mistaken. I highly, highly recommend these narrative and immersive podcast episodes to reignite a love of science and a curiosity at the world around us that really feels like childhood all over again. In particular, the Colors episode from 2012 is astoundingly thoughtful! -Allie Skalnik ’26
This summer, I found myself. Amidst exhausting rounds of experiments, late-night ice cream runs, and moments of solitude, I had a realization: I know who I am. I don’t know everything about my future, but I finally understand what I fundamentally want from my life and who I want to be. – Sharis Hsu ’28
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From the Community | Dear Class of 2000Stephen León Kane '00 calls upon his fellow alumni to take action against the injustices around the world and use their myriad privileges for social good.
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Dear Class of 2000,
It’s not too late to save the world. It’s more achievable than it seems, and you’re far more powerful and equipped than you may even realize.
Yes, Rome is burning. The world is sick. And good people everywhere are under siege. It most certainly feels overwhelming. Most of us can hardly even keep up — let alone act. Some of us are already doing all we can.
But we must persist. Our children are counting on us, and we have every imaginable tool at our disposal. Many are leaders in tech, and some are titans. Many are global financiers, and some move markets. We are in positions of high influence and authority across a wide range of industries, including media and entertainment, government, philanthropy, energy, law and healthcare. Together, we have tremendous power.
It took a great many small compromises over time for our institutions to weaken to the point they’d even contemplate bending the knee — from chasing clicks and headlines over objectivity and substance, to tweaking algorithms towards profit without enough regard for ethics and safety, to minting generations of loan-strapped young lawyers conditioned to admire the fine trappings and promises of corporate jurisprudence. And bend the knee they have, ripping apart our national integrity as fear embeds itself into the public imagination. Law firms, media conglomerates, universities and tech giants have let us down. While I certainly empathize with the pressure some of you face, I also wonder what would have happened if more of us took a firmer stand sooner.
Despite it all, it’s not too late to reverse our abdication, and maybe we needed to see cracks in our system to reform it. Just as it took millions of small compromises to reach darkness, it will take millions of small acts of light to once again bend the arc towards justice. It’s something we can do quietly and consistently. You don’t have to be captains of industry to make change. And as captains of industry, you don’t have to move mountains to make a difference. Even small deeds with close friends and family have ripple effects. But to those of you making decisions of great consequence — may you be wise, just, principled and courageous.
I harken back to our time on campus. I recall late night conversations about the world we wanted to create. I can still feel our excitement to innovate and lead with virtue and compassion. Coffee House (CoHo) run-ins, late-night dining and computer cluster memories abound. We were all so ambitious and confident. And yet, our education lacked context. The greatest minds of our generation were set to compete in a game that, in many ways and on many levels, has little to do with real life.
We were taught that ambition is good. I don’t remember being taught much humility. We were taught how to code and create. I don’t remember many discussions about the moral and philosophical implications of our inventions. We were taught U.S. foreign policy through the lens of national interest, with little exposure to other interpretations.
As we entered our respective industries, we were handed a playbook and did what was expected of us. We may have initially questioned some practices, but we were also practiced at trusting hierarchy. At some point, we gained enough confidence in our own instincts and judgment, but rocking the boat after already investing is difficult. The brain works overtime to sanitize and justify. “I can’t change it alone,” we tell ourselves.
That’s okay, we still have time. In fact, I believe it’s our destiny. Our class uniquely straddles two very different worlds. Preceded by a generation that missed their opportunity to address root problems in meaningful ways, we are to be succeeded by a generation fed up with business as usual. But we can still ensure the next generation inherits a system open enough to their fresh examination that this world becomes more enlightened by the time we exit.
I challenge us in myriad ways. Let’s more deeply examine our assumptions — and ask more questions. Let’s speak out more often and openly about hard issues. If we post on social media, some of the world’s top leaders see it. Right? Let’s integrate our values more fully into everyday life, whether it’s buying from local farms or working with community banks that make small business loans to local entrepreneurs. Let’s more fully align our hearts and deeds.
I challenge us to check our echo chambers and triangulate our information. It’s easy to lose perspective once we hit a certain level of wealth or pledge loyalty to a certain party or news outlet. I challenge us to divest from harmful industries like gambling, private prisons and war tech. Have you examined your portfolios to confirm your investments match your values? Have you had real conversations with your inner circles about the corruption you see in your own industry?
Let’s more fully realize and utilize our advantages for the greater good. We’re custodians of the world now, even if we haven’t internalized it because we just got used to being forty-something and, as Stanford kids, there may be a part of us that never quite feels like we’ve “made it.”
There’s still time, but we must not waste it. Let’s act as if we’re the ones being bombed and starved. As if our children are being exploited. As if our sense of purpose is being replaced by robots. As if all of paradise is being paved. Quite literally, that’s what we’re up against. And ultimately, we’re all connected.
Stephen León Kane ’00 J.D. ’06 was a sophomore class president for the Class of 2000. He’s a Los Angeles-based musician, legal tech startup founder (FairClaims) and tech leader (Grid110 Founder).
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Stanfordle #010 (Oct. 3, 2025)Enjoy The Daily's Stanfordle, the newest addition to our Games section. The Daily produces Stanfordles on weekdays.
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UGS unanimously passes bill to modify ASSU nominationsUGS passed a joint bill to temporarily streamline the nomination process for seats on University committees, approved new guidelines for its email list and voted to promote a petition supporting Stanford Drag Fest 2026 in an Oct. 1 meeting.
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The 27th Undergraduate Senate (UGS) unanimously passed a bill to expedite the placement of students on University committees for fall 2025 during their Monday meeting.
The “Joint Bill to Adopt an Alternate Procedure for ASSU Nominations” will establish a temporary nomination process in the absence of an active Nominations Commission (NomCom). The NomCom, which is responsible for appointing students to university committees, currently has no active members and cannot perform its duties. Vetted candidates approved by the UGS last spring have not been confirmed, leaving students unrepresented on several committees that have already begun meeting.
The UGS and the GSC will confirm newly filled seats by a simple majority, according to the bill. The Executive Committee, composed of the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) president and the chairs of UGS and the Graduate Student Council (GSC), will confirm newly filled seats by a simple majority, according to the bill.
The UGS vote to ratify the bill was unanimous; the bill now awaits GSC action before taking effect.
“This is not a permanent change,” UGS Chair David Sengthay ’26 said. “We are asking that both legislative bodies confirm the nominees and we can get a NomCom running by winter quarter.”
The UGS also unanimously approved a motion that will require a two-thirds vote at a general meeting before sending ad-hoc, non-ASSU-related emails from UGS to the student body.
“Normally we just look for the approval of the UGS to send something out that is not ASSU official business,” Sengthay said. “[It] would be good to have an internal conversation and where to draw the line with using our email list.”
The UGS adopted a motion to send out an email promoting a petition from the Stanford Drag Troupe to support Drag Fest 2026, which recently lost University funding. The Stanford Drag Troupe does not currently have an annual grant from the ASSU.
Sengthay emphasized the popularity of Drag Fest among students.
“This was a big tradition and was becoming bigger and bigger every year,” Sengthay said. “Stanford Drag Troupe is working hard to find funding, but they’re really hoping that we can also provide some support for them via this petition.”
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From the Community | The crisis of free expression in the United StatesHoover senior fellow Larry Diamond '74 M.A.'78 PhD '80 encourages the community to engage in discourse, especially with those whom we disagree
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Long before the assassination of Charlie Kirk on September 10, before the suspension and then reinstatement of comedian Jimmy Kimmel; before the Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr’s mafia-like (“we can do this the easy way or the hard way”) threat to Kimmel’s broadcast network, ABC; and even well before the return of Donald Trump to the White House in January — the United States faced a deepening crisis of free expression.
Progressives frame this purely as a right-wing MAGA conspiracy to silence critics of Trump and right-wing orthodoxies. The right wants to frame it as a necessary war on left-wing, “woke” campus cancel culture run amok. But in reality, threats to free expression have been coming from multiple directions of intolerance and closed mindedness — and only a rededication to the founding principles of liberal democracy can pull us out of our dangerous downward spiral.
In one crucial respect, there is no symmetry of threat. Since he first became President in 2017, and much more so since his return to the office in January, Donald Trump has posed an unprecedented challenge to freedom of expression and democracy in the United States.
No American president has so explicitly, regularly and ominously threatened specific journalists, publishers, broadcasters, universities, lawyers, students, protestors and even his own former staffers with punishment for exercising their First Amendment rights. And these threats have had chilling consequences. CBS and ABC agreed to large payments of about $15 million each to settle what were widely seen as frivolous lawsuits that Mr. Trump was likely to lose in court. Nine national law firms agreed to offer Trump a total of nearly a billion dollars in pro bono legal work as penance for the sins of representing or employing his critics, and having diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Universities have been subjected to — or have agreed to pay — staggering financial penalties in response to many alleged violations, including harboring antisemitism and stifling the speech of conservatives. Many universities have a lot to answer for the latter two counts. But so does the Trump Administration for attacking only speech it doesn’t like. In May, following the arrest or detention of several foreign students for speaking out on behalf of the Palestinian cause, a law professor called the campaign “the gravest assault on freedom of speech at least since the McCarthy era, and I think in many respects the nation’s history.”
If they are to honor their mission of advancing knowledge, truth and critical thinking, universities — and not just their presidents and trustees, but their faculty and students — must do much introspection. One moment of truth for Stanford came in March 2023, when a group of Stanford Law School students shouted down a federal judge, Kyle Duncan, who had been invited to speak by the school’s conservative Federalist Society. The protestors so objected to the conservative judge’s views on social issues (regarding the rights of women, immigrants and LGBTQ+ people) that they prevented him from speaking for nearly an hour.
The obligation, they insisted, was not to challenge and debate his views, but to “Stand up, fight back!” and shout him down. This pathetic and indefensible spectacle was later made worse by the students’ efforts to humiliate the Law School Dean, Jenny Martinez (now Provost), who immediately denounced the obstruction and apologized to the judge.
In a powerfully reasoned letter to the Stanford Law School Community on March 22, 2023, Dean Martinez eloquently reaffirmed the vital role of free speech for all in higher education and why disruption of it cannot be tolerated. She quoted the University of Chicago’s 1967 Kalven Report, which argued that to fulfill its mission of providing “enduring challenges to social values, policies, practices, and institutions,” “a university must sustain an extraordinary environment of freedom of inquiry,” “maintain an independence from political fashions, passions, and pressures,” and “encourage the widest diversity of views within its own community.”
What Dean Martinez then urged of law students is no less important for every Stanford undergraduate: if you want to be an effective advocate for your client or your cause, it won’t help you to be shielded from — or worse, censor — views you find obnoxious. “Naming perceived harm,” she wrote, “exploring it, and debating solutions with people who disagree about the nature and fact of the harm or the correct solution are the very essence of legal work” — and, I would add, democratic citizenship.
Later in 2023, free expression at Stanford confronted much worse convulsions following the October 7 Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians, and Israel’s subsequent military response. For Stanford and many other campuses, the 2023-24 school year was traumatic, filled with intolerance, bigotry and anti-intellectual disruption. In its extensive research and interviews, Stanford’s Sub-Committee on Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias, which I co-chaired, found an inseparable link between fighting these forms of bias and upholding larger values of pluralism, tolerance and freedom of expression, tempered by civility and mutual respect for difference. The University can and must enforce reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on expression, in part to protect the rights of others to speak, work and study.
But, we argued in our May 31, 2024 report, the substantive answer to speech we don’t like cannot be censorship. Instead, we need more speech, better speech, education and thoughtful engagement. We need to promote intellectual diversity and political pluralism, and, our report insisted, we must strive “to create a culture where disagreement can be expressed without devolving into personal animus, political intolerance, or social exclusion.” Creating this culture, and thus student capacities for robust but civil discourse, is now the work of several initiatives at Stanford, including the first-year COLLEGE program, ePluribus and the Stanford Civics Initiative. COLLEGE calls this mission, “developing the skills that empower and enable us to live together.” For ePluribus, and the wide array of courses and programs aggregated on the Stanford Democracy Hub, open and constructive dialogue go hand in hand with civic engagement and the renewal of democracy.
To live together, we must resolve to hear one another out. The growing pace of social and political violence underscores what is at stake. As the free speech advocate Greg Lukianoff wrote recently, “equating words with violence erases the bright line liberal societies drew after centuries of bloodshed. Advocacy, even vile advocacy, remains protected unless it is intended and likely to produce imminent lawless action.” These First Amendment principles, he continues, “are the safety valves of pluralism. Blur them, and real violence become more, not less, likely.”
At this dangerous time, our democracy depends on all of us, but especially its future leaders, developing the skill and summoning what Lukianoff calls “the ordinary civic courage” to talk to people with whom you deeply disagree. That can’t be done in the staccato bursts of social media. It requires the patience and respect to listen, and the discipline and acuity to mobilize a better argument.
Larry Diamond is senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
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Chun Yang to be replaced by Beer & Wine at TAPThe end of an era for boba lovers at Stanford: Chun Yang Tea is set to close its Old Union location after a lease termination, leaving students both surprised and disappointed.
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Chun Yang Tea, a boba shop in The Axe and Palm (TAP), will close its doors on Oct. 31 following the termination of its lease.
Shop owner Eric Chao franchised Chun Yang from its Taiwan-based parent company. He first opened a location in Sunnyvale before selecting Stanford as the location for his second shop. Chao said the decision cost him $30,000, as he gave up a lease in San Mateo to set up shop on Stanford’s campus.
Now, after the termination of his lease, he finds himself forced to shutter the campus location.
“I was given so many promises, such as catering and a place bustling with students. I had to convince my partners to break the previous lease as well,” said Chao.
Many students expressed dismay at the news of the shop’s closure.
Valerie Gu ’29 and Hudson Sagadevan ’29 both expressed disappointment at losing the shop so soon after discovering it. “I was really looking forward to having a close-by boba shop on campus,” said Sagadevan.
Ashley He ’28 emphasized Chun Yang’s role in fulfilling daily cravings that other options can’t. “I definitely have days where I’m just craving boba and don’t feel like sneaking into an event to get it for free,” she said.
Cecilia Alfaro ’28 said that her favourite memory at the shop is when she won 200 Cardinal dollars as part of a scholarship and got to treat her friends to unlimited boba, followed by Wetzel’s Pretzels.
While Divya Venkat Sridhar ‘28 says she enjoys Chun Yang, she believes the shop didn’t get as much traction as other on-campus drink spots like Voyager, a coffee shop in Stanford’s new CoDa building. Other students were not even aware of the shop’s existence. According to Chao, visibility has been a challenge for the shop, since he was not allowed to advertise and put up signage to the extent he desired.
Stanford Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) said that Chun Yang will be replaced by a beer and wine service led by TAP. Starting later this fall, alcoholic beverages will be available to those 21 and over at TAP from 5 p.m. until midnight.
“Many students have asked for beer and wine at TAP because it adds to the sense of fun and community that is such an important part of college life,” said Jocelyn Breeland, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer for R&DE. “Beer and wine at TAP also makes socializing more convenient and safer than going off campus late at night.”
Breeland adds that the menu is being reworked to include boba and a new super value cheeseburger. “Our approach is not about replacing existing offerings, but about broadening choices so there’s something for everyone, whether that’s a soda, be it boba tea, a mocktail or a glass of beer with a meal,” she said.
Chao says that had he known about the challenges he would face in operating the shop, he would not have opened the location.
“I trusted Stanford. I thought it was procedural and things would be done the right way. There’s a lot of politics involved and I’m stuck in the middle,” said Chao.
Correction: This article was updated to clarify that age restrictions apply only to TAP patrons purchasing alcoholic beverages.
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Stanford pro-Palestine protesters indicted on felony chargesPro-Palestine protesters who occupied the president’s office in 2024 were indicted by a grand jury on Monday.
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Eleven Stanford pro-Palestine protesters who barricaded themselves inside Building 10, the president’s office, as part of a protest in June 2024, were indicted on Monday by a Santa Clara County grand jury on charges of felony vandalism and trespassing.
After the break-in, officials found damage inside the building, while Main Quad was graffitied with messages such as “kill cops,” “death to Israel” and “free Palestine.” Thirteen people were arrested following the break-in, including one Daily reporter who was later cleared.
One of the 12 protesters was not indicted because they have “become a cooperating witness” and “is testifying against the 11,” defense attorney Jeff Wozniak wrote in an email to The Daily.
Prosecutors estimate that the protesters caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.
“Stanford is demanding $300,000 in restitution. The legal team supporting the 11 have demanded a dialogue with the University, but so far no response has been received,” Wozniak wrote.
Wozniak sought a preliminary hearing to question the validity of the accusations before trial, but due to the indictment prosecution will move straight to trial proceedings.
Robert Baker, a deputy district attorney leading the case, wrote in an email to The Daily that he expects the trial to occur before the end of the year.
“We presented the case to the grand jury to get it to trial as soon as possible and conserve judicial resources,” Baker wrote.
Baker told KQED News that the decisions in this case were made entirely by the district attorney’s office without any outside pressure from Stanford.
The Daily has reached out to the University for comment.
Amanda Campos ‘26, a member of Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), said that the occupation of the president’s office was a warranted instance of civil disobedience.
“Students acted to break through indifference, to force attention on an injustice that holding signs outside an office could never achieve,” she said. “DA Rosen is wasting judicial resources to score points in a Trumpian attack on free speech and dissent, consistent with his history of overcharging.”
The indicted students will be arraigned on Oct. 6 at 9 a.m. at the Hall of Justice in San Jose.
This article has been updated to reflect the accurate timing of the expected trial and include why the only 11 of the 12 protesters were indicted.
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Zombie apocalypsesJanina Troper '25 MS '26 reminds us all why you should maintain upper body strength.
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