Last Saturday I visited the Tutoring For Community (TFC) program at the Haas Center. TFC is a new tutoring program that was started last spring by the ASSU Executive for children of Stanford staff. Stanford students act as the tutors and tutor all subjects from kindergarten to high school. The format is one-on-one tutoring and works to not just provide academic help but to “developing relationships between tutors and students that foster positive attitudes toward education.” The program has sessions every Saturday 3PM to 4PM at the Haas Center. See the full flyer here for more information and a map to the Haas Center which is located at
562 Salvatierra Walk on the Stanford Campus.

David Gobaud
ASSU President

Today I attended the quarterly ASSU Legal Counseling Office (LCO) Policy Board meeting and though it would be good to post some info about LCO to help raise its profile on campus.

Do you need legal advice? Do you have a question about a contract, intellectual property issue, sublease agreement, minor in possession citation, drunk in public citation, traffic ticket, or other legal issue? You can get free counseling at the ASSU Legal Counseling Office! This service is provided by the ASSU and funded through special fees. See their Eligibility for Services page and their Hours & Location page for more information and to learn how to make an appointment.

Attorneys from the McManis Faulkner Law Firm staff the office and William (Bill) Faulkner is the Managing Attorney. Bill is a member of the great class of ’73 and majored in sociology. He went to Hastings for law school and graduated in ’78.

David Gobaud
ASSU President

Yesterday I met with David Rasch, the University Ombuds from the Office of the Ombuds in Mariposa House. If you are wondering what an Ombuds is, I bet you aren’t alone. I just learned about the Office of the Ombuds this year. The website describes the Ombuds in the following way: “The Ombuds is an impartial dispute resolver who strives to see that faculty, staff and students at the university are treated fairly and equitably.” This sounded like a great service to the University so I went to learn more about it.

In my meeting I learned that David is a psychologist and has been the University Ombuds for 5 years. He sees approximately 375-400 cases a year of which 30% are students, 20% are faculty, and 50% are staff. The students are split about 50/50 grad/undergrad. After meeting with David I believe the Ombuds is an excellent resource and more students should become aware of the Office. From the Office’s “How We Can Help” page, you can see that the Ombuds is impartial, confidential, and independent. The Ombuds is outside the standard reporting structure, is answerable to the President, and authorized to talk to anyone in the University to resolve a dispute.

Do you have a grade dispute, petition denied issue, research lab issue, work environment discomfort, advisor conflict – basically anything – you should go see the Ombuds and see if he can help!

David Gobaud
ASSU President

This is a guest post by Michael Gratz, Executive Director, Stanford Hospitality & Auxiliaries.

Welcome, it is great to see campus so active again and we are excited to offer you a newly renovated venue. The new Axe & Palm at Old Union is open welcoming all students but especially new freshmen and transfers to savor the irresistible culinary creations offered by Barbara Whittaker the General Manager, and her team of culinary masters.

Sustainability remains a core value, and we buy locally whenever possible to bring you the best in healthy, flavorful food. The new Axe & Palm offers freshness, convenience, satisfaction and value.

The newly created menu provides good nutrition and a balanced and diverse set of options for a broad range of tastes and features Painted Hills natural beef burgers, hot gourmet sandwiches, savory and dessert crêpes, and crisp salads for lunch, dinner or anytime to fuel you during your day. We also offer delicious vegetarian and organic vegan burgers. Or, you can grab a coffee and a delicious dessert after class to sustain you through late-night studies.

So, we invite you to sample the new menu and delicious food at The Axe & Palm!

Michael Gratz, Executive Director, Stanford Hospitality & Auxiliaries.

Hours: Open Monday to Friday 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. and on the weekend from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Payment options include Cardinal Dollars, Credit Cards and Cash.

Location: You can find The Axe & Palm at 520 Lasuen Mall.

It’s now four weeks into the quarter, and although it’s a little past due, it’s never too late to say “Welcome” or “Welcome Back!” We’re absolutely excited for what’s been accomplished and what will be done this year, and we’re stoked to meet most of you as well. We were busy all summer preparing for the school year, but despite all we were trying to get done, it wasn’t the same Stanford campus without everyone here. And now, with the rushes of NSO and NGSO over, a sort of calm is settling over the Farm.

There’s so much to look forward to this quarter: winning Big Game, Mausoleum Party, the holiday season at Stanford, Toby earning the Heisman, the cool autumn breeze whipping around orange and red leaves… It’s a new school year, and a new beginning, whether you’re a freshman, or it’s your sixth+ year here; let’s see what we can all do together to make this the best year ever in Stanford’s history!

Wishing you all our best,
David and Jay

Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 21, we’re taking a huge step in increasing grad student engagement and we’re holding the first-ever grad student-focused town hall!

There are a lot of things that grad students we’ve spoken to are concerned about: the new health fee, dependent health care, stipends, etc. We’re doing a lot of work to make sure these issues are addressed, but this is your chance to meet with university administrators yourselves.

Here’s who will be there tomorrow:
Provost John Etchemendy
Vice Provost Greg Boardman (Student Affairs)
Vice Provost Patti Gumport (Graduate Education)
Vice Provost Tim Warner (Budgets and Auxiliaries Management)
Director Ira Freedman (Vaden Health Center)
Director Ken Hsu (Graduate Life)

If you have any questions you’d like to see directly addressed in their presentations, check out http://assu.stanford.edu/townhalldiscussion; they’ll either answer it during their portion of the presentation, or we’ll ask it during the Q&A session.

It’s really important that students come out, learn about the university, and interact with administrators. There will be free food and drinks from the Treehouse.

So come by the Old Union Clubhouse tomorrow, Tuesday, July 21, at 5:30PM; we can’t wait!

Hope to see you there!

David and Jay

Campus feels a bit emptier, as many students have left for the summer to do great things, and we just wanted to say good luck and that we hope you are have an amazing time whether you are on campus, at home, or abroad for the summer. The experiences you have over the next couple of months will only serve to enrich Stanford and make it a more vibrant and valuable place for everyone.

Just like you, we’ll be busy as well. We’re working on a number of great initiatives as you read this, initiatives we hope to roll out just in time for the new academic year. We’re working closely with the Freshman Dean’s Office and sustainability groups on campus to bring back Beginnings, an NSO program that will feature some of the best and brightest in the realm of sustainability. Another project we’re excited to be working on unites the Haas Center and Stanford in Government to celebrate 25 years of service since Haas’ inception. Be on the lookout for these and other amazing events when you get back to your second home here on the Farm in the fall.

Like always, if you’d like to talk to us or see how you can get involved, please feel free to contact us. And heck, if you’d like to invite us to a beach party or two, we wouldn’t mind putting down the hammers for a little while to join you.

Have a great summer!

Forward together,
David Gobaud and Jay de la Torre
assuexec0910 at lists.stanford.edu

First and foremost, we want to say thank you to everyone who came to the town hall yesterday, with a special thanks to Vice Provosts Tim Warner, John Bravman, and Greg Boardman for putting on very detailed and informational presentations. We’d also like to thank our Outreach team for taking care of logistics and putting together a very successful event; please keep an eye out for more events like this in the future!

To foster a greater discussion of the budget cut process, we’d like to introduce our new Budget Discussion website! Please use it to post questions or have discussions that pertain to the current budget cuts; we hope that the site will allow students to continue communicating with each other about what their priorities and potential solutions are during this trying time. It’s going to take the ideas and engagement of students to come up with solutions that work for everyone, and your involvement will help shape our advocacy efforts with the administration.

Also, if you’d like to engage in more specific discussions about how the ASSU and administrators can work on different policy areas like sustainability, mental health, and free speech, please consider attending the ASSU Policy Summit, which will be taking place this Sunday, May 31st, from 11:00am – 5:00pm. Feel free to come for one session or for the entire summit; the ASSU would love as much of your input as possible. The agenda is below. Please RSVP here.

Like always, please feel free to contact us with any feedback or suggestions!

Good luck during the last week of classes!

David Gobaud and Jay de la Torre
assuexec0910 at lists.stanford.edu

ASSU Policy Summit 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
The Nitery, Old Union

Schedule

11:00 AM – 11:30 AM = Welcome by Varun Sivaram and Jay de la Torre

11:40 AM – 12:40 PM = Policy Session #1

• Diversity, led by Senators Kelsei Wharton and Michael Cruz
• Free Speech, led by Senator Shelley Gao
• Engagement with the ASSU, led by Senator Lee Jackson

12:45 PM – 1:45 PM = Lunch (sandwiches and drinks)

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM = Policy Session #2

• Wellness and Health, led by Senators Anton Zietsman and Alex Katz
• Student Life, led by Senators Steven Singleton and Zachary Johnson
• Academics, led by Senators Varun Sivaram and Brian Wanyoike

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM = Policy Session #3

• Sustainability, led by Senators Dean Young and Michael Cruz
• Social Programming, led by Senators Adam Creasman and Zachary Johnson
• Sexual Health, led by Senators Anton Zietsman and Alex Katz

4:30 PM = Open Reception (cookies and drinks)

For the last couple of months, one of the topics that have been constantly on the minds of students has been budget cuts. It’s been hard to turn anywhere and not see or hear about how budget cuts are affecting the Stanford community. Programs, majors, and group funding have been cut. Staff have been laid off.

But there is hope; through uncertainty comes opportunity. We believe that the first step towards progress begins with education and awareness. What is really going on with the budget cuts? What process do administrators engage in when making budget decisions. What are the guiding principles behind how administrators choose what and what not to cut?

In order to increase the flow of information to students and to encourage constructive dialogue, we’re holding a Town Hall on Wednesday, May 27th, from 5:00p – 6:30p in Old Union 200. Vice Provosts Tim Warner (Budget and Auxiliaries Management), Greg Boardman (Student Affairs), and John Bravman (Undergraduate Education) will all be giving presentations on the current state of the budget and its effects on specific areas in student life. After students have been informed of these developments, we will then open up the floor for questions and discussion.

We strongly encourage you to attend and learn about how budget cuts will be affecting our university this and next year so that you can be better informed, and so that you can part of the solution. It’s going to take the efforts and creativity of everyone to continue to push this university forward in a positive way. We hope you take up the challenge; make the first step and come next week.

Come join us,
David Gobaud and Jay de la Torre
assuexec0910 at lists.stanford.edu

After a week (nearly 40 hours) of interviews, we are proud to say that we’ve chosen our Executive Team for the 2009-2010 school year!

We would like to welcome the following individuals:

Co-Chiefs of Staff
Andy Parker
Bennett Hauser

Legislative Liaison
Ryan Woesner

Sustainability
Eric Knudson, Co-Chair
Eli Pollak, Co-Chair
Sonali Chopra, Deputy Chair
Ansu Sahoo, Advisor
Joel Weitzman, Advsior

Disabilities and Accessible Education
Fiona Hinze, Co-Chair
Julia Steinberg, Co-Chair

Diversity and Tolerance
Anthony Bestafka-Cruz, Co-Chair
Michael Tubbs, Co-Chair
Jesse Stutt, Deputy Chair

Service
Salone Kapur, Chair
Ali McKinney, Associate
Daniel Isaiah Ong, Associate
Jenna Nicholas, Associate
Sheila Onyiah, Associate
Laura Yu, Associate
Olivia Hu, Associate

Marketing
Deonne Castaneda, Chair
Khai Luong, Deputy Chair

Technology
Jeff Wear, Co-Chair
Ridhi Mittal, Co-Chair
Sam King, Deputy Chair
Divij Gupta, Deputy Chair

Graduate Outreach
Jon McNaughtan, Chair

Graduate Health
Jessica Tsai, Chair
Jack Cackler, Associate

Undergraduate Outreach
Britt Kovachevich, Co-Chair
Adrienne Pon, Co-Chair
Estela Go, Associate
Molly Spaeth, Associate

Undergraduate Health
Alisha Tolani, Co-Chair
Asha Luchmaya, Deputy Chair
Jen Hawkins, Associate

Undergraduate Social
Ben Laufer, Chair
Miguel Sugay, Deputy Chair
Matt Thiry, Associate

Undergraduate Life, Academics, Cost of Living, & Equality (LACE)
Amanda Mener, Chair
Jimmy Threatt, Associate
Caroline Stokes, Associate

We were so fortunate to have an amazing number of passionate and talented individuals apply to our cabinet, and we’re excited to be working with this amazing team.

We’re always looking for experienced and enthusiastic people who have great ideas about how to make Stanford better; if you’d like to get involved, let us know!

Until next time, stay classy Stanford.

David Gobaud and Jay de la Torre
assuexec0910 at lists.stanford.edu