Author: Kate Abbott

Following two separate vomiting incidents on buses after senior night festivities, the senior class presidents have warned fellow seniors that there is little toleration for such conduct during the Thursday night tradition.

According to Ralph Castro, manager for Health Promotion Services, at least two students became sick on bus rides since the start of winter quarter, in addition to two previous incidents last quarter. Castro said the individual responsible for the most recent incident last week has not yet come forward.

Each time a student vomits on a Marguerite, the senior class incurs a $500 cleaning cost charge. This especially becomes an issue when an individual does not claim responsibility, according to Castro, as the fine must be paid out of the class’ budget.

On Wednesday, the senior class presidents sent out an e-mail to peers detailing their concerns for senior night.

“In light of the budgetary constraints we have this year, it’s hard to justify spending University funds on senior nights when many departments and communities face budget cuts,” the e-mail read. “We want our behavior to represent our class as positively as possible, and show that we can have a good time while still being respectful and understanding that this is a privilege.”

Castro echoed this sentiment, explaining that it is difficult for the class to pay for other events in addition to senior nights when there is not much funding available to begin with. The budget currently allocated for pub night covers transportation fees as well as some security for students as they board the buses.

Castro said that bus sickness has happened enough to “make a dent in the budget.”

“It’s a recurring problem that we have,” Castro said. “Once an e-mail goes out about what the spirit of senior night is supposed to be, it usually stops.”

Shanna Cook ’10 said that by senior year, students should be fully aware of their limits.

“I was on a bus fall quarter when someone vomited and it was really nasty,” Cook said. “When we got off the bus all of my friends and I were really [upset] because we thought that would be the last pub night. I’m glad the senior cabinet hasn’t cancelled them—like they have actually threatened to do.”

The e-mail addressed to the senior class mentioned that while winter quarter pub nights were canceled last year because of similar incidents, there are no plans to do so this year. Instead, trash bags will be provided as a “last resort” for students who feel sick.

“There’s really no change, the e-mail is just reiterating policies and expectations for senior nights,” Castro said. “It doesn’t mean its okay for people to think, ‘well having a bag means its okay to throw up.’

“But, at least someone can have the dignity of a bag instead of getting sick all over the floor,” he added.

Seniors are required to sign contracts at the beginning of the year prior to attending to pub nights and part of the security’s job is to insure that students that appear overly intoxicated do not board the bus. Castro said part of the problem is when non-seniors attend these events without signing waivers.

“One of the other issues is the problems that arise when people that aren’t seniors come as well; now that a lot of juniors are coming of age they will go to venue and then they’re wanting rides back on the bus,” Castro explained. “They haven’t signed [a] contract for collective responsibility.

“We will not deny rides, but people need to understand that you need to abide by all the terms and conditions, even if you’re junior, he added. “If you get sick on the bus you still need to pay the fine.”

Cook mentioned that students “pre-gaming” pub night have been a potential cause for this quarter’s bus incidents.

“I’m pretty sure that people are drinking more and going all out for pub night this year because there really is nothing to do on campus anymore,” she said. “The weekend party scene has gotten really bad and there is nothing to do on the weekends, so seniors are now making Thursday the new Friday and Saturday night.”

Both Castro and the class presidents encouraged moderation. Castro said friends should also help each other out by watching the pace of alcohol intake or calling cabs for rides home.

An Air Force veteran and a Navy veteran led a lecture on military organization, different services, values and stereotypes Wednesday night in Tresidder Memorial Union. Sponsored by the Truman Service Initiative, the bipartisan event was hosted by SIG, the Stanford Democrats and the Stanford Conservative Society. (JUSTIN LAM/Staff Photographer)

“Military 101,” a lecture held at Tresidder Memorial Union, brought together students “confused by headline news,” interested in foreign policy, experienced in military action or just generally curious.

Attendees came to learn the workings of the military from military veterans, courtesy of the Truman Service Initiative. The program is run out of the Truman Security Project Educational Institute and is being piloted in its first year at five elite universities across the country in hopes of helping “future leaders of the U.S. bridge the civil-military divide.”

The lecture, led by an Air Force veteran and a Navy veteran, discussed the framework of military organization and the key differences between the different services, as well as focusing in depth on military values and difficult questions and stereotypes that are often raised.

Students came to learn more for a variety of reasons, from the personal to the professional.

“I’m here for general interest,” said Nailah Spruill ’12 before the event. “My dad was in the military and I never really understood what he did, so this should be enlightening.”

Attendee Sebastain Gould ’11 left Stanford after his freshman year to join the Marine Corps, where he became a Lance Corporal. He said the event addressed concerns that were important to discuss.

“You could make a whole class on these questions — the moral questions really do affect us all, like, ‘Should you join, should your children join?’” he said.

Gould emphasized the usefulness of a basic understanding of the military, equating the lecture to the Global Community general education requirement that every student has to fulfill.

“All students should have exposure to these ideas,” he said.

Kelly Gleischman ’10, a Truman coordinator, said that because of the relevance of the military for foreign policy, a knowledge of its workings is important. “Students at all levels are leaning about these issues, and the military is a critical part of foreign policy,” she said. “That’s not limited to any one interest, background, major or political party.”

“We value open dialogue and discourse on this campus, so we’re trying to provide the vocabulary to talk about these things,” added fellow organizer Jessie Knight ’10.

Gould said the event was at its best when students were able to discuss the ideas presented. “It was kind of what I expected,” he said. “The direct information approach is helpful because a lot of people don’t know anything, but the second half was better because it helped further the conversation.”

The event was hosted in conjunction with Stanford in Government, the Stanford Democrats and the Stanford Conservative Society.

Organizer Will Treseder ’11 said the Truman Service Initiative events, especially the Military 101 lecture, provide students with “military literacy.” This year is the first in a three-year pilot program that will “subsequently be larger as they get the [Truman Service Initiative’s] name out there.

“It’s really interesting to see the range of people who are interested,” Treseder said. “You’re always surprised by who might show up.”

After returning from a quarter in Costa Rica, Molly Heft-Neal ’11 faced a waitlist and a series of walk-in meetings with Stanford Housing before finally moving into the sophomore dorm Toyon on Monday. Heft-Neal was one of many students who found themselves on the Housing waitlist after not receiving placement in a residence because they were abroad fall quarter.

However, the annual winter housing crunch has been somewhat alleviated compared to past years. A week into the quarter, all students with guaranteed housing status have already been assigned to residences on campus; a few students without guaranteed status still remain unhoused.

According to Executive Director of Student Housing Rodger Whitney, Stanford Housing always sees a higher demand for housing in the winter because fewer students choose to leave campus compared to those returning from abroad. Housing addressed the issue by preparing additional spaces to be available ahead of time.

“This year, for example, in addition to filling our regular on-campus vacancies, we reserved an additional small block of apartments in the Oak Creek Apartments complex in order to house undergraduates very near to the main campus,” Whitney wrote in an e-mail to The Daily.

In addition, apartments are also available to undergraduates in Escondido Village. While these measures were taken in previous years as well, the availability of temporary housing to unhoused students beginning the first Monday of the quarter has also aided those still on the waitlist.

“The numbers of students waiting for housing versus the vacancies available [is] never a completely stable situation,” Whitney said.

“There is much fluctuation in enrollment and occupancy over the first two weeks of each quarter, as students return to campus and/or depart for any number of reasons,” he added. “Thus, as vacancies become available, they are offered to students who are looking for housing.”

Heft-Neal expressed some frustration with the process, however, because temporary housing was not made available for unhoused students until last Monday, leaving many without a place to stay for the weekend before school began. She also felt that students who go abroad with a Stanford program are given a higher priority.

“It was frustrating, because when we first got told we didn’t get housing, we didn’t even know that was a possibility,” she said. “For our first meeting on Dec. 5, everyone was still abroad and we had to get a proxy, and that was stressful because we couldn’t even go ourselves.”

Heft-Neal was number 23 on the waitlist, and after sending a proxy to the first walk-in meeting and two consecutive rounds, she was finally given the choice of Toyon or the Oak Creek Apartments.

For Helen Chen ’11, returning from Santiago and moving into Muwekma-Tah-Ruk was a much easier process, and her experience in the Row house so far has been a happy one.

“I drew alone, and I just listed my preferences of where I wanted to live before the deadline in October,” Chen said. “I never had any complications with Housing.”

According to Whitney, absolutely no “re-stuffing” of previously unpacked residences occurred, and the Master Plan allowed for even more spaces to be available to students with guaranteed status arriving back on campus. “The uncrowding of our residences was a major commitment of Student Housing as well as the University leadership, and we have not reversed this process,” Whitney said.

“With the addition of the Munger Graduate Residences and the conversion of Crothers Hall to undergraduate housing, we have 450 more students living on campus this year than we did last year at this time,” he added.