Weekend Roundup email newsletter: May 3 edition

May 3, 2020, 3:20 p.m.

Our Weekend Roundup is released on Sunday mornings during the school year and features an engaging rundown of the news from the previous week in the form of a briefing. It also includes editors’ picks from other sections. Subscribe here to receive emails like this.


 
 
 
 
Weekend Roundup email newsletter: May 3 edition
 

 
 

 
 
Eavan Boland stands at a podium and reads an excerpt from 'University Opening Day, 1891, words from Jane Stanford.'
 
Eavan Boland — a celebrated Irish poet and the longtime director of Stanford’s creative writing program — died after a stroke at her home in Dublin on Monday, prompting an outpouring of grief from writers across the world.

At Stanford, Boland is credited by colleagues with expanding the creative writing program for both undergraduates and fellows, increasing the breadth of classes offered while continuing to emphasize access to the program for all students. But she also continued to teach undergraduate courses, leaving a lasting impression on students who remember her as a mentor and as an inspiration.

As a poet, Boland also enjoyed international acclaim. She was one of the most prominent female writers in Irish literature, writing poems that centered on domestic life at a time when the loudest voices in the Irish literary scene were male. She published more than 10 volumes of poetry and two volumes of prose, receiving numerous honors and awards.
 
'Welcome to Stanford' banner hangs at entrance to Palm Drive.
 
According to Provost Persis Drell, “absolutely nothing is off the table” for fall quarter.

Drell made that remark at a Wednesday Zoom conversation, where she also said that University administrators have discussed using tents for instruction in the fall to “take advantage of the weather” and potentially slow the spread of the disease by being outdoors.

The half-dozen options under consideration, according to the Fall Planning Task Force, range from holding another virtual quarter to bringing everyone back to campus in fall. The University has also discussed starting the academic year in winter and continuing through the summer quarter. Hybrid options include different start times or different modules of instructions for undergraduates and graduate students, along with a mix of online and in-person classes.

But students shouldn’t hold their breath for an answer: Stanford doesn’t expect to make its decision until June, President Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced on Tuesday.
 
Chairs are placed upside down on tables inside Wibur Dining.
 
As the COVID-19 pandemic sent students scattering, the challenges facing them manifested in new ways. This week, The Daily profiled seven groups of students, grappling with everything from mental health challenges to financial insecurity to differences in time zones.

Medical students, readying to graduate onto the front line of a pandemic, are working to replace in-person clinical rotations with online learning — and gaining a new appreciation of the weight and responsibility of their field. International students abroad are taking classes in a time zone that may be hours off from Pacific Time, while international students on campus are living through an eerily quiet spring.

Many first-generation and/or low-income students have returned home to precarious financial situations and increased familial responsibilities. Students — especially those now living outside of California — are facing additional mental health challenges and additional barriers to receiving care; students with eating disorders are struggling with increased triggers as their routines have been ripped away from them.

Sound grim? If so, you’re not alone: Some students have decided to file for a leave of absence and opt out of a virtual spring quarter altogether.
 

 
A view of the eastern entrance to Main Quad from inside the quad, with Hoover Tower in the background.
 
For the latest coronavirus updates, follow along with The Daily’s live blog, which includes a map of confirmed cases and a timeline of Stanford’s response to the outbreak.

  • On April 7, Stanford promised its students “amnesty” if they reported potentially dangerous items left in their rooms. But a spokesperson for the University’s public safety department told The Daily that packing staff hired by Stanford have been instructed to contact University police if they come across any potentially hazardous items, including illegal drugs or firearms, and the department “cannot offer amnesty for illegal activity.”

  • Faculty and staff say Stanford’s sexual assault and harassment services are inadequate, forcing faculty members to leave the University and face personal costs for speaking out.

  • Student outcry ensued after an assistant professor used the N-word while reading song lyrics from a lecture slide during a course in comparative studies in race and ethnicity

  • Stanford Health Care is making its workers choose between taking paid vacation time or accepting a 20% pay cut as a result of financial pressures caused by COVID-19, spurring criticism and pushback from workers on the front line of the pandemic.


  •  
    In addition to pieces related to the COVID-19 response, authors in Opinions this week weighed in on topics that, although always deserving of a place in campus discourse, have recently received less attention. Jessica Mi wrote in detail about the impact of the lack of diversity in the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences, while Conrad Milhaupt wrote that COVID-19 and its response should be a moment that prompts Stanford students to strive to work not solely for ourselves, but also for our neighbors and communities. Sean Casey weighed in on a more national dialogue, praising competent, purposeful leadership by the nation’s governors during the ongoing crisis.

    The Daily’s opinions section would be nothing without writers such as Casey, Mi and Milhaupt, as editors Claire Dinshaw and Adrian Liu point out in discussing the shifting purpose of the opinions section. Together they call for more op-eds submissions, highlighting ideas and experiences yet to be represented. “Share your valuable understanding with us,” they write: “Tell us what we might do and why we should do it.”

    We’re always eager to read op-eds from the community, which you can submit here. To contribute to Opinions or another of our sections, join our team here.


     
    The Gates Computer Science Building
     
    For Sports, Megan Aguilar profiles the Keefe family; five of the six family members have a Cardinal athletic career under their belt. In The Grind, Crystal Chen reflects on her changing relationship with beauty standards and body confidence across cultural divides. In Arts & Life, Julie Fukunaga unpacks the appeal of “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” and Carly Taylor describes how Henry Miller’s unchaste classic “Tropic of Cancer” can reinvigorate readers’ lives. And, for Satire, Jenna Ruzkowicz reports: Kim Jong-un isn’t dead — he’s just lost in Green Library’s West Stacks.
     

     
  • Hoover Institution fellow Scott Atlas and Stanford economics professor John Taylor will discuss COVID-19 and reopening the economy on Tuesday as part of Hoover’s virtual policy briefings series.

  • Stanford Medicine faculty, residents, staff, students and friends are performing a virtual concert every Thursday evening. (For more on this series, check out Arts & Life’s feature.)

  • The Stanford Spoken Word Collective is presenting open mic night every Friday for a chance to share in poetry and community, as well as hear from a different featured poet each week.

    Have an event you’d like featured in next week’s roundup? Let us know at [email protected].


  •  
    Micheal Brown '22
     
    “I realized that sharing my thoughts with the world is powerful. During winter break, I took a trip on my own to Europe, and on the final night of my trip, I decided to do an Instagram Live from the Eiffel Tower. I wasn’t sure what I was going to talk about, but for an hour or so, I got on and talked about the experiences I’d had on the trip and all of the lessons I’d learned.

    Over those few weeks, I’d spent time on my own reflecting on so much trauma from my childhood, high school and freshman year. A few friends tuned in and one even hopped on with me. The biggest lesson I learned was that you can be alone but not alone.”

    For more on Micheal Brown ’22 and the full “Humans of Stanford” project, please visit @stanforddaily on Instagram.


     
    Weekend Roundup email newsletter: May 3 edition
     


    That’s all for this roundup. Though The Daily is suspending its print edition, we’ll continue to bring you updates on coronavirus, online spring and more through our email newsletters, social media platforms and our website, stanforddaily.com.
     
     
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