Author: The Daily News Staff

More than 32,000 apply for Stanford Class of ‘14

The Office of Undergraduate Admission received more than 32,000 applications to the Class of 2014, trumping last year’s school record of 30,428.

With a larger pool of applicants and the same target class size of 1,675, a record-low seven percent of applicants will be offered spots, said Shawn Abbott, director of admission. Stanford last year was the third most selective American college or university, behind Harvard and Yale, each with seven percent admit rates.

In December, the University accepted 753 of the 5,566 students who applied early to the next freshman class; another 700 had their admission decisions deferred until this spring.

Stanford will also accept 20 transfer students in the spring, Abbott added.

A final count of applications is not yet available, the admission director said, because approximately 100 students who submitted applications have not paid their admission fee. Abbott said “most of this group will very likely pay their fee,” putting the overall application count at a six percent increase over last year’s final count.

Regular applicants will be notified of their admission decisions April 1, and all applicants will have until May 1 to respond.

The Stanford Police Department reported a total of four car burglaries this weekend. The incidents were suspected to have occurred late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning.

Of the four cars, three were parked side by side in the Lagunita Parking Lot and one vehicle was in the Wilbur Parking Lot. In light of the unusually high number of break-ins for a single weekend, Bill Larson, spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, advised students to take extra precautions with their vehicles.

“Never leave your valuables in your car in plain view,” he said. “Burglars like to do window shopping before selecting a vehicle.”

Among the valuables taken were two GPS units, an item Larson said is becoming an increasingly popular target for car thieves.

“Now we’re warning people not to leave a GPS exposed in their vehicle, as two of the four cars burglarized had GPS systems in them,” he said.

Among the other items taken were an iPod, a backpack and several articles of clothing.

According to the Stanford Police Department, there are usually about two car burglaries per weekend. Officials are unsure if the incidents in Wilbur and Lagunita were related.

Samantha McGirr contributed to this report.

Brian Bennion Taylor, a 19-year-old graduate of Palo Alto’s Gunn High School, was struck and killed by a southbound train at Meadow Drive at 11:45 p.m. Friday night, in an apparent suicide.

San Mateo County transit police are investigating the death as a suicide, though no official cause of death has been released as of press time. Taylor’s mother said her son, who graduated in 2008 and attended Brigham Young University, had a history of mental illness, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Taylor was killed near the crossing at East Meadow Drive, the fifth death at the same intersection since last May. Three of the four people who had walked in front of moving trains last year were also students at Gunn High School.

The Palo Alto Police Department hired security guards and the community formed a volunteer watch at the crossing in reaction to the “cluster” of suicides last year.

A guard was on duty at the time of death but did not see anything, according to Christine Dunn, the spokeswoman for Caltrain.

The Dalai Lama will be visiting campus next October on a weeklong tour of the South Bay, sponsored by the University and the Gyuto Vajrayana Center, a Tibetan monastery in San Jose, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

On Oct. 14, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso will be giving a public talk in Maples Pavilion and then another address later in the day at Memorial Church. He will be spending the majority of his visit, from Oct. 11-16, in Palo Alto and San Jose.

While the event at Maples is a public event, tickets will be allocated with priority to students, faculty and alumni.

The School of Medicine will also be co-hosting an all-day conference with the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education to host the Dalai Lama on Oct. 15.

Today marks the final day that students may add or drop classes for winter quarter. Students must finalize their study lists by 5 p.m. today, which the administration declared the Final Study List Deadline.

Today is also the deadline for students to adjust units on variable unit courses.

Students may continue to withdraw from classes until Feb. 26. The Change of Grading Basis Deadline is on the same date.

To provide direct aid to the strained Hopital Albert Schweitzer in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, the Stanford School of Medicine announced plans to match donations from the Stanford community up to $25,000. (MATTHEW MAREK/American Red Cross)

Stanford’s School of Medicine, hospitals and clinics will match donations from students, faculty and staff to support the relief efforts of Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, the only remaining fully-functioning hospital near the devastated capital of Port-Au-Prince in Haiti.

The medical community is offering the larger campus community a dollar-for-dollar challenge grant of $25,000.

Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) withstood the magnitude 7.0, Jan. 12 quake that has devastated Haiti and left thousands dead. A HAS report released Wednesday reads: “As the flow of people urgently seeking care increases over the next few days and weeks, our resources will be pushed to the breaking point. It is critical that we receive support to help us continue with our mission.”

The report continues: “This is the most serious challenge ever faced by HAS in its 54-year history, and while we are currently coping with the onslaught of the injured, we urgently need support. At this moment, we don’t have the capability to accept material goods or personnel. Our greatest and most urgent need is for funds to pay overtime wages to our dedicated staff, and to buy replacement medicines and supplies.”

Those who wish to donate to the challenge grant may do so at www.hashaiti.org/C1a_w1.html. Checks or money orders may also be sent to Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, P.O. Box 81046, Pittsburgh, PA, 15217.

For both methods, in order to be matched, it must be indicated that the payment is a “tribute gift” from one of the following institutions: Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford University Department of Medicine or Stanford Hospital and Clinics.