November/December 2011

Features

Doubling Down

Andrew Luck is heralded as a major talent, a "franchise guy" capable of transforming a team. And he's also a pretty good football player.

The Sheriff of Cyber City

Staying one step ahead of hackers has made Paul Kocher, '95, and his Stanford-laden team at Cryptography Research a world leader in securing digital data. Their technology protects everything from Blu-ray discs to credit card purchases.

The Show Goes On

Ram's Head and its annual Gaieties variety show have been doing send-ups and put-downs for 100 years. A look at a Stanford tradition's amusing history.

Farm Report

FINDINGS

Stone Age Gene Swap

The upside of canoodling with cavemen

ORIENTATION

Serious Summer Reading

Here's what freshmen are reading

BRIGHT IDEA

A Game Plan to Beat Back Rush-Hour Traffic

Researchers get a read on traffic

DOMAINS

Radio Free Cardinal

Inside KZSU's lair

LAUNCH

Note to Innovators: Sex Matters

Keeping gender in mind

PURSUITS

After a Bump, It's Full Speed Ahead

A speedy sophomore takes on NASCAR

BACKSTORY

Nowadays We'd Call It 'Waterboarding'

Back in the day, hazing got out of hand

DISCOVERY

The Lions of Jasper Ridge

Mountain lions at Jasper Ridge

FOOTBALL

Meet the Cardinal Dynamo

A cornerback with a knack for drama

SWIMMING

Stroking Toward London

Another splashy success for swimmers

Planet Cardinal

ADVOCACY

Helping Moms Behind Bars

Barbara Bader Aldave, '60, helps imprisoned moms and their kids

MORBID CURIOSITY

Zombies on the Brain

Steven Schlozman, '88, studies the neurobiology of zombies

AUTHOR, AUTHOR

Bound to Enchant

The enchanted tales of Alice Hoffman, MA '75

DO IT YOURSELF

Scratch-Batch Fever

DIY in the kitchen with Jennifer Reese, '88

Departments

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Why We Care So Much About What Happens on Saturdays

Gridiron gravitas

PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

What It Will Take to Improve K-12 Schools

Education reform now

END NOTE

Senseless Question

Making scents of it all

Class Notes

Profiles

SPOTLIGHT: RICHARDS LYON, '38, MD '44

Father of Invention

TIME CAPSULE: SUSIE MYERS DEPREZ, '73 AND GREG DEPREZ, '73

A Flare to Remember

POSTCARD FROM UGANDA: NANCY MERRICK, '74

Where the Wild Chimps Are

SNAPSHOT: RACHEL LANZEROTTI, '91, AND ROGER COLE, '79

The Calmest of Friends

SPOTLIGHT: AVID LARIZADEH, '00, MS '01

Giving Design a Showcase Online

Online Exclusives