Bio core facelift | Stanford biology is redesigning its core lab courses for the 2011-12 academic year in favor of more student-designed research projects. The change was prompted by indications that students who participated in the Bio 44Y pilot lab, which emphasizes original research at Jasper Ridge, were better prepared for future study in biology. Research in the Journal of College Science Teaching supported the decision, showing that students who designed their own experiments were more enthusiastic about original research and more confident in the lab.

KZSU at Outside Lands | Stanford radio (90.1 FM) will be hitting San Francisco August 12 to 14 to cover the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival. Listeners can also tune in on the internet. The festival features artists such as Muse, Phish and Arcade Fire.

Employee Health Care | The University is shifting to a new medical plan for employees, which will become effective in 2012. A new plan offered through Blue Shield will replace Health Net and PacifiCare. The high excise taxes on high-cost plans expected to become effective in the Affordable Health Care Act in 2018 made the University look for a more cost efficient plan, according to Randy Livingston, vice president for business affairs and chief financial officer.

Overheard | “We are on a course and speed to be where Greece is today by roughly 2025.  But nobody is going to bail out the United States. It’s time to be creative.” — John Shoven, director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research in an interview with the Stanford Report.

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