September/October 2001

Features

COVER STORY

Luck of the Draw

The Toledo Six, a half-dozen sophomores-to-be, hope to outwit Stanford's complicated housing draw and score a plum dorm assignment. They have a plan, but can they beat the house rules?

Why Teach?

K-12 education continues to attract promising new teachers, including dozens each year from Stanford. Keeping them is another matter.

this dust of words

When English professor John Felstiner stumbled upon a former student's decades-old honors thesis, he set out to renew his acquaintance with the student. What began as a casual inquiry became a monthslong search into a troubled past, with disquieting results.

On the Edge of Nowhere

A writer/photographer visited the tiny Canadian town of Wallace Stegner's boyhood, looking for clues to the author's world view. He found a setting both beautiful and austere, and the rugged character that shapes Stegner's stories.

The Karmic Capitalism of Chip Conley

Starting with the Phoenix, his rock'n'roll hotel that rose from a shabby San Francisco neighborhood, this unorthodox businessman has created a stir in the hospitality industry. But his growing concern is more about people than buildings.

Columns and Departments

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Honoring One Who Slipped Along the Way

An honorable quest

PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

The Cost of Keeping Up

A billion and one needs

1,000 WORDS

Enlightenment

ON THE JOB

Banned Aid

Helping Afghan widows and orphans

BRIGHT IDEAS

Have I Got a Car for You

Making cars green

STUDENT VOICE

Paralysis for Analysis

Decisions, decisions

END NOTE

Razing Hell

Remembering the Shak

Red All Over

Going Nowhere

Tuckereed

Blonde Ambition

Legally speaking

His Teams Always Had a Prayer

Lucky in vestments

Capsule Summary

A Stanford secret

Farm Report

News

MAJORS

Interdisciplinary Programs Draw Praise, Criticism

The discipline question

AMENITIES

For Graduates, a New Campus Home

A home for alumni

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

The Faculty Connection

Plenty of hot topics

FACULTY

Retirement? What Retirement?

Special seasoning

ASTRONOMY

Wishing Upon a Star

What happens up there?

PUBLIC SERVICE

'An Integral Part of the Academic Core'

Cause and effect

ARCHAEOLOGY

Uncovering a New Major

Dig this

TECHNOLOGY

Screening Genes

LANDMARKS

Restored to Glory

Dealing with Grief

MEDICINE

Now, Snails Aren't Such a Pain

Taking the sting out

Sports

FOOTBALL

Love on the Gridiron

Wired for success

ATHLETICS

Women's Real Achilles' Heel

A joint account

OUTLOOK

The Cardinal Report

Team players

Showcase

COLLECTIONS

Meet Mr. Know-It-All

The knowledge broker

NOTEWORTHY

Dream Weaver

It sounds dreamy

REVIEW

Straight Talk on Kink

A kinky tale

AUTHOR, AUTHOR

Raking Leaves

Whitman's last words

EXCERPT

A Burning Issue

Return to cinder

Class Notes

Profiles

TIME CAPSULE

Heels and Stockings Required

Roble days

SNAPSHOT: BRUCE CASS, '69

Kissing and Telling

Sip, sip, sip

TURNING POINT: KERIN LIFLAND, '81

From Marx to Marquetry

Going with the grain

SPOTLIGHT: JULIAN CASTRO '96

'Man on a Fast Track'

He's the ticket

Farewells

REMEMBERING DANIEL JOSEPH FIDUCCIA, '78, 1957-2001

He Took Adversity Head-On

Daniel Fiduccia,'78, a fighter among fighters