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Articles by Sam Catania
Catania | Why would anyone join The Daily?
That The Daily can consistently put out a newsletter five days a week has always amazed me. While editor-in-chief last year, I was acutely aware that there wasn’t a great reason why a bunch of 20-somethings should come together to write 20-40 articles a week. No one has to do it. Most staffers don’t intend to become journalists. And yet. I guess what sort of perplexed me was that many things at Stanford can feel self-serving. You take a class to try and find a mentor.
Between the pages: Graduating staffers reflect on time at The Daily
Sam Catania, Vol. 262-263 Editor in Chief That The Daily can consistently put out a newsletter 5 days a week has always amazed me. While editor in chief last year, I was acutely aware that there wasn’t a great reason why a bunch of 20-somethings should come together to write 20-40 articles a week. No one has to do it. Most staffers don’t intend to become journalists. And yet. I guess what sort of perplexed me was that many things at Stanford can feel self-serving.
Celebrating 50 years of The Daily's independence
Like most students in the class of 2024, I began my time as a Stanford student online, living not in my dorm room but my bedroom. During the early phases of the pandemic, it was The Daily that initially bound me to Stanford. It was island in a sea of Zoom rooms and Canvas posts. At that time, I understood The Daily to be simply a club. It was a place to make friends and do so while reporting the news. But I quickly learned that The Daily is so much more than just a student organization.
Letter from the editors: Introducing Vol. 262
Police raided The Stanford Daily’s building to search for photographs of student anti-war protestors in April of 1971. They threatened our sources, our journalism and our integrity. We were up to the challenge. The raiders found nothing during their search, because The Daily had already destroyed all unpublished photos with identifiable protestors. All they found was a hardworking, mission-driven staff — a group of student journalists with grit, ready to fight for their values.
Letter from the CTO: Requesting your feedback on our website
I’m Sam Catania, The Stanford Daily’s chief technology officer. Now more than ever, The Daily’s website is a critical tool to inform our community. People visit our site half a million times a month to check the latest headlines, get sports scores, learn what students think, stay up to date with the arts, laugh at our humor articles and more. While our current website has served us and our community well, it sometimes falls short of creating the experience we hope to deliver to our readers.
With case counts rising, COVID-19 restrictions prove divisive
Some students living on campus and Stanford workers say they’re worried about rising COVID-19 cases coupled with a lack of student mask-wearing and testing. The past few weeks have seen a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases among students and faculty, including at least seven “breakthrough” cases among vaccinated individuals. Masks only became required indoors on Tuesday for fully-vaccinated students.
Stanford moves up COVID-19 testing requirement for faculty, encourages mask wearing indoors
Stanford will require non-vaccinated faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars to meet a weekly testing requirement a month earlier than the University had originally planned, according to an email from Associate Vice Provost for Environmental Health and Safety Russell Furr.
7 fully vaccinated students test positive for COVID-19
Seven fully vaccinated students tested positive for COVID-19 last week, the University wrote in a Thursday email. The sudden uptick in cases puts this week’s COVID-19 positivity rate on campus above Stanford’s average rate throughout the pandemic. “Avoid indoor social gatherings and crowded gatherings generally,” the email read.
Provost details how campus will (mostly) return to normal in the fall
Stanford plans to return to nearly full in-person instruction this fall, Provost Persis Drell and Associate Vice Provost for Environmental Health and Safety Russell Furr announced in a comprehensive Thursday email outlining the University’s fall plans. “With the return to higher density, campus safety will require continued vigilance,” Drell and Furr wrote.
Stanford rolls back physical distancing, health check requirements
The University has eliminated most physical distancing and face covering requirements for individuals who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, Associate Vice Provost for Environmental Health & Safety Russell Furr announced in a Wednesday email. Starting on July 1, faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars will no longer be required to complete their daily Health Check when visiting or living on campus if they have uploaded proof of full vaccination.
Want to win $25? Get vaccinated.
Stanford will give away $500 worth of gift cards weekly to students who upload proof of their vaccination status, Vaden Health Center announced in a Monday email. Stanford will draw 20 winners of $25 gift cards to Amazon, DoorDash and Starbucks each Thursday between July 1 and Aug. 5, for a total of $3,000 worth of prizes over the course of six drawings. All new and continuing undergraduate and graduate students are eligible.
Stanford to roll back mask requirements, gathering restrictions
Stanford will not require fully vaccinated students to wear masks in indoor or outdoor residential areas after June 26, the University announced today. Masks will continue to be required indoors in most other buildings, including dining halls and academic, research and administrative buildings. They currently are not — and will continue not to be — required outdoors for fully vaccinated students and employees, except in situations where physical distancing is difficult to maintain.
Stanford eases COVID-19 restrictions ahead of summer quarter
Stanford is relaxing COVID-19 restrictions ahead of the start of summer quarter, eliminating the Campus Compact and reducing mandatory testing requirements, according to an email from Senior Associate Vice Provost and Dean of Students Mona Hicks and Executive Director of Vaden Health Services James Jacobs. Undergraduates will be permitted to have up to two people help them move into their dorm for the first time since campus closed last year.
Stanford announces deadline for mandatory vaccination
Stanford announced that undergraduate, graduate and professional students planning to enroll in the 2021-22 academic year will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by July 23 in a Friday email to students. The University will place enrollment holds on students’ Axess accounts if they fail to meet the requirement or deadline, the email read. The University reiterated that they will allow medical and religious exemptions on a case-by-case basis.
Stanford to pay for Collegeboxes storage through summer
Some students interviewed for this story have been granted pseudonyms to improve readability. Their identities, while known to The Daily, have been anonymized to protect them from harassment over their FLI status.
Stanford to require COVID-19 vaccination in fall
Stanford will require all undergraduate, graduate and professional students coming to campus this fall to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, according to a Thursday email from Provost Persis Drell. The requirement comes as the availability of vaccines increases nationwide and a growing number of peer institutions — including Columbia, Yale, Brown and Cornell — release their own plans to require the shot for their students’ return in the fall.
Worried after last week’s data breach? Here are some precautions you can take
Following reports that hackers leaked highly sensitive stolen data belonging to members of the Stanford community, Stanford cybersecurity experts have recommended numerous steps you can take if you’re worried your personal information may have been compromised. Though the exact breadth and scope of the breach remain unknown, these steps can also act as important preventative measures to ensure you are kept safe in any future breaches.
Hackers leak Social Security numbers, student data in massive data breach
Hackers have leaked stolen data belonging to members of the Stanford community — including Social Security numbers, addresses, emails, family members and financial information — after obtaining the data from a compromised file transfer system used by Stanford Medicine. The leaked Stanford data is part of a massive data breach affecting numerous businesses and universities that targeted a widely-used file transfer service, Accellion, used by the University.
Stanford expands options for gathering in person as COVID-19 rates decline
Students living on campus will have expanded opportunities to gather outdoors, announced Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Sarah Church in a Wednesday email to undergraduate students. The expansion follows improving COVID-19 conditions nationwide and rising vaccination rates. The University reported only three new cases for the week of March 22, and student staff members have begun receiving vaccines.
Santa Clara County moves to orange tier, lowers restrictions
Santa Clara County will move into the COVID-19 orange tier on Wednesday amid increasing vaccination rates and decreasing positivity rates. The change in designation will decrease restrictions on businesses and recreation for residents. The reduction of county restrictions comes as thousands of juniors and seniors plan to return to campus in the coming days for spring quarter — many invited back for the first time since last spring when the University sent students home.
Weekly student COVID-19 cases drop to 0 for the first time since November
The University reported zero new student COVID-19 cases and four new faculty, staff and postdoc cases for the week of March 8 — a reduction from the previous week’s six combined new cases. This second week of declining cases comes as vaccine eligibility expands and case counts drop in Santa Clara County and across the . On Monday, California updated its vaccination guidelines, enabling individuals in high-risk congregate settings (such as prisons and homeless shelters) to get vaccines.
Undergraduate senators call for expanded scribe services for disabled students
Undergraduate senators called on Stanford to expand scribe services for disabled students at their Monday meeting, pointing to a failure of University leadership in issues of accessible education. Their unanimously-passed resolution comes as Antonio Milane, a prospective student in the class of 2025 with cerebral palsy, was denied funding for a scribe which he needs to complete assignments.
A mistake or the right call? Students express mixed reactions to upperclassmen return
Students say they are split on whether Stanford’s reaffirmed intent to bring juniors and seniors to campus for spring quarter is the right decision, though most are cautiously optimistic. “I think it’s a mistake,” Cainan Cole ’21, a student currently living on campus, wrote in an email to The Daily. Cole cited continued violations of the Campus Compact as his main reason for concern.
Stanford eases restrictions on outdoor gatherings amid declining cases
Stanford will permit outdoor gatherings between eight students from up to three households if students reserve spaces in advance, according to a Monday email to students from Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole and Senior Associate Vice Provost and Dean of Students Mona Hicks. Groups of up to eight students from up to three separate households will be permitted to reserve a limited number of time slots for gatherings.
School of Medicine students manage 150-person event with social distance — can other parts of campus do the same? | The Stanford Daily
Students at Stanford’s School of Medicine pulled off a University endorsed, socially distanced happy-hour event on Feb. 5 — a model, students say, for how future student gatherings could take place on campus while still following safety guidelines. As opposed to bending the rules, they worked directly with administrators to plan an in-person happy hour event that took place on Feb. 5. The event in total drew around 150 participants, split up into groups of no more than six students.
Stanford reports 18 new COVID-19 cases, a mild uptick from last week
The University reported nine new student COVID-19 cases and nine new faculty, staff and postdoc cases for the week of Feb. 2 — a mild uptick from the previous week’s 15 combined new cases — according to its COVID dashboard.
Parties, wine nights and rule-bending: The Graduate School of Business during COVID-19
Some students have been given first-name pseudonyms to improve readability. Their identities, while known by The Daily, are being withheld in this article due to fear of retaliation for speaking out. Group trips to Tahoe. Parties in Los Angeles. Wine nights on campus. MBA students in the Graduate School of Business (GSB) have repeatedly disregarded University and regional rules aimed at limiting the spread of the virus.
Undergraduate Senate recruits for ASSU constitution reform committee | The Stanford Daily
Undergraduate senators teed up to begin large reforms to the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) constitution at their Monday meeting. The constitution has not undergone significant revisions in approximately 10 years, according to Senate Chair Micheal Brown ’22. Brown asked senators if they were interested in joining a nascent committee on constitution reform, comprising members of the Undergraduate Senate, Graduate Student Council and ASSU executive team.
Dozens gather on campus, violating COVID-19 rules on Saturday | The Stanford Daily
At least two gatherings of 20 individuals or more, many unmasked, occurred on Saturday in violation of Stanford’s Campus Compact and county public health mandates. Around 5 p.m., a student reported a gathering near 664 Lomita Court to the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS).
Some senators push for higher stipends | The Stanford Daily
Some senators called for raises to their stipends on Tuesday, contending that the current stipends — which range from $1,700 to $2,450, based on position — do not adequately reflect the amount of work senators do. “You can work up to like 20 to 40 hours on just Senate stuff because the University depends on the ASSU to come up with policy because they don’t want to,” said Senate Parliamentarian Mià Bahr ’22.
Stanford reports 26 new COVID-19 cases, a decline from spike last week | The Stanford Daily
The University reported 13 new student COVID-19 cases and 13 new faculty, staff and postdocs cases for the week of Jan. 11 — a drop from the previous week’s 82 combined new cases — on its COVID dashboard. Still, the week marked the second-highest number of cases within Stanford since the beginning of the pandemic. The record was set the week of Jan. 4, when the new total was around four times any previous week.
Stanford student government team releases infographics to explain Title IX process | The Stanford Daily
In response to Stanford’s new Title IX policies, an Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) team has created multiple infographics to clarify the process for reporting sexual violence. The University updated its policies and procedures in August in order to comply with new federal regulations, and the results were met with immediate controversy.
Senate weighs shifting student government funds toward ethical investments | The Stanford Daily
Undergraduate senators discussed long-term plans to shift capital reserve investments to industries and companies considered more “ethical” by the student body at their weekly meeting on Tuesday. Senators also expressed concerns about Stanford’s recent decision to cancel plans for many undergraduates to come to campus during winter quarter and discussed pushing for academic accommodations.
‘Lion in her field,’ legal ethics pioneer and professor Deborah Rhode dies at 68 | The Stanford Daily
Law professor Deborah Rhode, a renowned legal ethics and gender law and policy scholar, died on Friday at 68. To wrap Rhode’s countless board positions, awards, publications, and accomplishments otherwise is an impossible task. Over the course of her legal career, Rhode authored 30 books on gender, ethics and public policy and became the most cited scholar in legal ethics. “I don’t know of another legal academic career that remotely matches it,” Ralph Cavanagh, Rhode’s husband, told The Daily.
‘Disgraceful,’ ‘horrifying,’ ‘anti-American’: Campus political groups condemn riots in Capitol | The Stanford Daily
Student political groups issued statements denouncing rioters who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday evening, joining Hoover Institution Director Condoleezza Rice, world leaders and former presidents and countless others in condemning the day’s events. Angry mobsters entered the Capital building, destroying doors and windows and waving Trump — and in some cases Confederate — flags.
‘Can’t offer a 100% guarantee’: Stanford cautiously optimistic about winter return | The Stanford Daily
Stanford administrators told students and parents they would be moving forward with plans to bring first-year and sophomore undergraduates back for winter quarter at a virtual town hall on Friday. But they stopped short of guaranteeing a return.
Stanford Ph.D. student Antonio López wins East Palo Alto city council election | The Stanford Daily
26-year-old political newcomer Antonio López — a first-year modern thought and literature Ph.D. student — won East Palo Alto’s third city council seat on Thursday. López won by 69 votes — a margin of about 0.4% — after trailing on election night. As votes continued to be counted, he slowly edged out a lead. López will join the council as its youngest member and will replace incumbent Larry James Moody, whom López beat by about 837 votes.
Should you sign the Campus Compact? | The Stanford Daily
Stanford placed holds on students’ Axess accounts on Thursday, preventing them from enrolling in classes without completing a quarterly check-in. For students planning to live on campus for winter quarter, the check-in requires signing — or not signing — Stanford’s Campus Compact. The compact does not affect the expectations for students’ behavior but does affect the disciplinary process if they are accused of violating COVID-related restrictions.
Hoover fellow Scott Atlas resigns as White House coronavirus advisor | The Stanford Daily
Scott Atlas, a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, resigned from his position as an advisor to the White House Coronavirus Task Force on Monday. Atlas began his post advising the Trump administration in August and was considered a Special Government Employee (SGE), serving a 130-day detail that was set to expire this week. Atlas has come under repeated fire by both Stanford affiliates and some nationwide for controversial views on the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
No University testing availability for 10 days following Thanksgiving | The Stanford Daily
Stanford ran out of COVID-19 testing slots on Friday for the days following Thanksgiving. The Verily testing dashboard, where students on campus can schedule a test, showed no open time slots between Nov. 27 and Dec. 6 — a period of 10 days — on Friday night. The University added “additional Verily appointments” for students living on campus during the remainder of winter break according to Student Affairs spokesperson Pat Lopes Harris, who did not specify how many slots had been added.
Stanford adds COVID-19 test slots after running out on Monday of Thanksgiving week | The Stanford Daily
Stanford briefly ran out of COVID-19 test slots on Monday for the days leading up to Thanksgiving. The University is adding 150 additional slots on Tuesday and 150 slots on Wednesday, which students should be able to book on Monday night, according to Student Affairs spokesperson Pat Lopes Harris. The shortage comes amid a nationwide increase in demand for tests and rise in case counts. Testing sites on Stanford’s campus will not be open from Thursday to Sunday, according to the University.
After Atlas tells followers to ‘rise up’ against COVID-19 restrictions, Stanford distances itself from but does not condemn Hoover fellow | The Stanford Daily
At 4 p.m. on Monday, neither the University nor the Hoover Institution had yet responded to Scott Atlas’ latest statement to spark national controversy — a tweet calling on followers to “rise up” against a new wave of COVID-19 restrictions in Michigan — leading some to wonder whether tendentious comments by the Hoover fellow would go unrebuked by Stanford again.
Undergraduate senators vote to expand transfer credit policies | The Stanford Daily
Undergraduate Senators unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing the expansion of transfer credit policies for all students at their weekly meeting on Thursday. The resolution, which also passed the Graduate Student Council unanimously on Wednesday, is now expected to move to the Faculty Senate for consideration. Authored by Glen Husman ’23, the proposed policy change would allow students to transfer up to 15 credits taken at other accredited institutions this year.
Undergraduate senators reflect on national election, plan resolution to expand transfer credit policies | The Stanford Daily
Stress and anxiety over the as-yet undetermined U.S. election filled the Zoom room at the Undergraduate Senate’s 11th meeting. As of Thursday evening, neither former Vice President Joe Biden nor President Donald Trump has secured enough electoral college votes to declare victory. Undergraduate senators also discussed a resolution to expand transfer credit policies, which they plan to vote on at their next weekly meeting.
New weekly COVID-19 cases in Stanford students dip to 2 | The Stanford Daily
The University reported two new COVID-19 cases in students for the week of Oct. 26, according to Stanford’s dashboard. The new numbers mark a decrease from the three cases reported last week. Total tests conducted among students jumped to 5,462, an increase of 432 from the previous week. This uptick marks the first time student tests have exceeded those conducted in the week of Oct.
Undergraduate Senate unanimously passes resolution in support of unhousing Greek organizations | The Stanford Daily
The Undergraduate Senate voted unanimously to pass a resolution that encourages Stanford to unhouse Greek organizations following a discussion that lasted nearly two hours. Members of Abolish Stanford Greek, who authored the resolution, and multiple fraternity and sorority members attended the meeting to lobby the senators to support or oppose the proposal. Because the Undergraduate Senate does not have the ability to actually unhouse Greek organizations, the resolution is largely symbolic.
University reticence, potential underreporting leave incomplete picture of compact violations | The Stanford Daily
Stanford announced on Oct. 15 that there had been 139 reported violations of Stanford’s public health rules on campus. But the actualnumber may exceed this figure, according to resident advisors (RA), community associates (CA) and students living on campus.
Stanford told students they weren’t compliant with weekly testing policy — but they were | The Stanford Daily
Following reports that hundreds of students may not be compliant with Stanford’s testing policy, the University sent emails to students indicating that they had not been compliant, writing that their housing privileges were potentially at risk. However, many of the recipients had been tested weekly. The University declined to comment on a host of questions about the general status of testing on campus, leaving an incomplete picture of student compliance rates and testing trends.
GSC punts on Greek unhousing | The Stanford Daily
The Graduate Student Council (GSC) postponed voting on a resolution that would urge Stanford to permanently unhouse Greek life organizations. The Council plans to vote on the resolution next week after seeing how the Undergraduate Senate votes on Thursday. The councilors did not indicate what they thought the outcome of the vote might be, nor did they comment on whether the Senate’s position might influence their decision.
As student government vote to unhouse Greek organizations nears, Stanford remains tight-lipped | The Stanford Daily
The Graduate Student Council (GSC) and the Undergraduate Senate will vote this week on a resolution urging the University to permanently unhouse Greek organizations. The University and Greek organizations gave little insight into how they might respond. The vote comes amid increasing calls from student organizations to abolish Greek life at Stanford and heightened scrutiny of Greek organizations on campus.
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