02/26/09 - The Stanford Daily [pdf]

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ALOHA!

FINAL BOUT

Men’s volleyball heads to Hawaii for a weekend doubleheader

Wrestling concludes roller-coaster season at Pac-10 Championships

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The Stanford Daily An Independent Publication

THURSDAY February 26, 2009

Volume 235 Issue 18

www.stanforddaily.com

LUXURY HOTEL TO OPEN IN SPRING Plans for Stanford-owned hotel proceed despite difficult economy By CASSANDRA FELICIANO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Courtesy of Amy Rubenstein

Sitting on Stanford land, the Rosewood Sand Hill is scheduled to open the first week of spring quarter. Standard room rates start at $495 per weeknight.

Amid a troubling sea of budget cuts and layoffs, a University-owned luxury hotel — the Rosewood Sand Hill — is scheduled to open the first week of spring quarter. While most strain to tighten purse strings and businesses are cutting down on budgets, Michael Casey, managing director of Rosewood Sand Hill, is working hard to ensure that every piece of furniture and every light fixture is in place in time for the April 2 opening of the Stanford-owned addition to the management chain of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. Despite the hotel market’s recent drop — the industry has been on the decline over the last six months, accord-

“...the prospects for the hotel are extremely favorable... — MICHAEL CASEY, Rosewood managing director and lack of competitors on Sand Hill Road plays a key economic advantage for the new hotel, Casey said. “I think, despite the economic outlook, the prospects for the hotel are extremely favorable given the fact that we have such a unique product,” Casey said. “The whole project has been so long-awaited and much-anticipated

ing to Steve Elliott, managing director of real estate for Stanford — no concerns about the effects of the economic crisis on consumer demand have been expressed by those involved in the Rosewood Sand Hill. To the contrary, both Elliott and Casey feel confident that the hotel will be met with the expected public response. The location

that the community here, I believe, is just welcoming us.” Indeed, Rosewood Sand Hill is part of an office and hotel complex for which the final round of planning began as early as 2004. General plans for commercial investments on the 16acre Stanford property, on which Rosewood Sand Hill now stands, have been in the works for more than twenty years. “It’s always been the plan to come up with an attractive development project that would benefit the community and benefit the University,” Elliott said. “Since 2004, the primary plan was to do a mixed use development that included both offices and a hotel, [although] I think initially there was

Please see HOTEL, page 6

SPEAKERS & EVENTS

SPORTS

Technology execs speak on campus

ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT SLASHES JOBS

eBay Inc. CEO John Donahoe bullish on e-commerce

By JACOB JOHNSON DESK EDITOR

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By JOANNA XU MANAGING EDITOR

Yesterday, eBay Inc. CEO John Donahoe, along with a number of other top information technology executives, spoke at the 15th Annual Stanford Accel Conference. Hosted by Media X, the conference covered the effects of the economic downturn on the retail industry, e-commerce in general and innovation on top of existing online social network platforms. One of the markets most negatively affected by the economic downturn and credit freeze is retail. eBay.com, one of the leaders of online retail, has certainly not remained unscathed. “A big retailer can survive through six quarters of losses,” Donahoe said. “But small business cannot; that’s why we provided nearly $120 million worth of coupons to buyers to help our sellers.” However, Donahoe sees a bright future for the e-commerce business. “It’s still the early days in e-commerce,” Donahoe said. “Right now, e-commerce constitutes about seven percent of online retail. That figure should be 15 to 20 percent, just because of the security and ease of comfort that it provides. The only way that percentage is going to double is through innovation.” Of course, eBay Inc.’s revenue comes from much more than just eBay.com. Donahoe explained that eBay.com comprised 50 percent of the company’s business; Paypal made up 33 percent, Skype eight to nine percent and StubHub, Kijiji and a number of other smaller local businesses constitute the rest. Skype, in particular, did exceptionally well in the fourth quarter of 2008, when the economic downturn really hit consumer demand. “There was a 73 percent increase in the number of free Internet calls on Skype in the fourth quarter,” Donahoe said. “There was also a 65 percent increase in the number of computer-to-phone calls.” This is, Donahoe added, due to Skype’s low-cost position on communication. Presently, Skype is a $500 million business that is growing at 30 to 40 percent a year. Donahoe also expressed high hopes for the future of Paypal. While started initially to complement eBay.com as a convenient form of payment for eBay users, it has now grown into an entirely separate platform. “Paypal should eventually be bigger than eBay,” Donahoe said. “Retail is a big industry but very fragmented.” However, Donahoe believes that Paypal

Please see ACCEL, page 2

Index

AUGUSITIN RAMIREZThe Stanford Daily

After a very promising start to the season, the Stanford men’s basketball team has fallen near the bottom of the Pac-10 standings. The team will look to this weekend to salvage any hopes of basketball in March.

NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE By HALEY MURPHY DESK EDITOR

With the Pacific-10 Conference season drawing to a close, and March less than a week away, Stanford men’s basketball opens its last home series against the Los Angeles schools at 7:30 pm tonight in Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal is coming off three consecutive losses — all on the road — and hopes some time at home

might offer at least a positive finale to an otherwise disappointing conference season. After a 3-3 start to league play, Stanford (15-10, 4-10 Pac-10) collapsed into a 1-7 rut against conference opponents, and meetings with No. 22 UCLA and USC this weekend will offer the Card anything but easy opportunities for a last-

Please see BBALL, page 6

MEN’S BASKETBALL 2/21 vs. Oregon L 68-60

UP NEXT UCLA (20-7, 9-5 Pac-10) 2/26

Maples Pavilion 7:30 P.M.

COVERAGE: TV FSN RADIO KZSU 90.1 FM(kzsu.stanford.edu) GAME NOTES: After starting the season with a 3-3 record in the Pac-10, Stanford has since gone 1-7 in conference play. UCLA has lost three of its last four games. Stanford ranks second in the Pac-10 in turnover margin.

esterday, the Stanford University Department of Athletics announced plans to cut 21 positions from its administrative staff. According to a department press release, the job cuts are part of an effort to compensate for a projected $5.4 million decrease in revenue over the next three years. The shortfall in funding is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, as are the cuts in the athletic department’s workforce. The specific jobs to be cut have not been announced out of respect for the privacy of the individuals concerned. They will all come from “administrative and service areas.” The laid-off individuals will receive three months salary and two months of full benefits — in addition to the standard severance package. “As there remains great uncertainty as to how deep and how long the economic downturn will be, we believe that the difficult decisions we have made to date will place Stanford Athletics in a prudent position to deal with the present challenges,” said Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby in Wednesday’s press release. “As is the circumstance throughout the Stanford campus, we will continue to assess our budget projections and will make further adjustments as needed, which may include programmatic, staff and sports reductions.” The release stated that the University is facing endowment losses of 20-30 percent this year. Every department has been asked

Please see CUTS page 6

STANFORD ATHLETICS

Bowlsby responds to Sixth Man backlash By JACOB JOHNSON DESK EDITOR

PAUL SAKUMA/ The Associated Press

Last week’s announcement that the athletic department will sell seats to season-ticket holders and Buck/Cardinal members in what was part of the Sixth Man section in Maples Pavilion provoked an outcry from many Stanford students. Much of the finger pointing and blame has been levied against the athletic department and Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby. Yesterday, Bowlsby responded. One of the hottest issues is the claim made

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by Sixth Man Managing Director Alexis Link ‘10 that the Sixth Man was not informed of the decision to sell seats in Section 13. Bowlsby reiterated the department’s claim that the Sixth Man leadership was informed of the impeding move for months. “We started looking for ways as early as December to increase student attendance,” he told the Daily. Bowlsby also addressed a major concern among students that the Sixth Man section is too expensive. Membership fees for the 2008-2009 season were $65. “What we’d eventually like to do is have

our student section in football and men’s basketball endowed,” he said. “We need to see if we can get it to the point where it can be free like football is.” Short-term changes have been implemented during the 2009 men’s basketball season in an attempt to increase student attendance. They have produced limited results. “We reduced the price of singlegame tickets in an effort to get students to come,” Bowlsby added. “I think it was for the Cal game where we opened up Sections 13

Please see BOWLSBY, page 6

Recycle Me

2 N Thursday, February 26, 2009

ACCEL Continued from front page has the potential to become the leader in online payment networks — if it does not become the fourth big player in global payment network — in addition to the existing Visa, Mastercard and American Experience payment networks. However, all these developments depend on product development and innovation — and Donahoe emphasized that all businesses under eBay Inc. are focused on developing around user experience. “In many ways, eBay was the first social networking platform,”

Donahoe said. “We want to build a great platform and commerce network upon which users can then expand. We want to keep providing this marketplace.” During the Q&A session that followed Donahoe’s talk, a number of interesting questions were raised regarding eBay’s future and growth. One question, in particular, asked what effects the Obama administration’s stimulus plan would have on eBay’s market space. “Fundamentally, I think some of the stimulus money should go towards broadband,” Donahoe said. “The broadband coverage in the U.S. is embarrassing compared to some Asian countries.” With greater broadband use, an entirely new and different class of users

NEWS BRIEFS GSC passes public financing bill By THE DAILY NEWS STAFF Last night, the Graduate Student Council (GSC) passed a bill that would limit the amount of campaign aid executive slates could receive from the ASSU to a maximum of $750 per slate. In addition, the Public Finance Bill would also limit the amount of money that individual slates could spend on top of the $750 maximum aid to $750, effectively capping the total campaign expenses at $1,500 for slates wishing to apply for the public financing. In order to qualify for public financing from the ASSU, slates have to sub-

mit 200 signatures from the student body, of which 25 percent must come from undergraduates and 25 percent must come from graduate students. The total amount of money available for public financing from the ASSU is $4,500, which is enough for six slates to receive the maximum of $750 in aid. If there are more than six slates running for office, the aid will be divided equitably between each of the slates. The GSC passed the bill nine for, one against and two abstentions. The bill has already been passed by the undergraduate senate. The GSC also passed a service group bill that will institutionalize a service bronch of the ASSU to handle projects like buses to airports and other projects that the ASSU executives have traditionally taken under their wing.

The Stanford Daily could emerge. Donahoe envisioned a scenario in which a man would research an item online, walk into a store to see the product in real life, video chat with his spouse on his phone about the product — while conducting an online price comparison check on his mobile Internet — then order the item off his phone while walking out of the store. “Product exploration will expand,” Donahoe said. “And more

and more innovation will occur online. Those lines will blur.” Other notable keynote speakers at the Accel Conference included Sir Martin Sorrell, chairman and CEO of WPP; Jayshree Ullal, president and CEO of Arista Networks; and Bob Muglia, president of Servers and Tools Business at Microsoft Corp. Contact Joanna Xu at joannaxu @stanford.edu.

Thursday, February 26, 2009 N 3

The Stanford Daily

OPINIONS E DITORIAL

The Stanford Daily AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER

Established 1892

The antidote to low basketball attendance: make Sixth Man free he recent announcement that Stanford Athletics will sell seats in section 13 of Maples Pavilion for both tonight’s men’s basketball game against UCLA and Saturday’s game against USC came as a shock to many of the team’s diehard fans, as well as members of the team’s official student fan organization, the Sixth Man Club. Section 13, which sits courtside opposite the team benches, has long been reserved as part of the Sixth Man’s student fan section, and the choice to sell tickets to season-ticket holders and Buck/Cardinal club members drew the ire of the Sixth Man Club’s leaders — who were left in the dark on the decision — and dismay from the team’s fans. The administration justified the choice to sell the tickets by pointing to declining Sixth Man Club membership and dwindling attendance at games this year. At recent games, the Sixth Man Club has failed to show up in sufficient numbers to fill the courtside cheering section; in fact, only 648 students purchased the $65 membership for this season, off from the recent peak of nearly 2,000 students during the 2005-2006 campaign. Even at the best-attended game of the season, Stanford’s upset win over Cal in January, only 50 percent of club members showed up to root for the Card. Given these underwhelming attendance figures, it is understandable that the athletic department — already facing a $5.4 million revenue decrease over the next three years — would try to raise some money by selling out seats that would otherwise stand conspicuously empty right across from the Stanford team’s bench. While the editorial board not believe the athletic department’s decision was out of line, we still think it speaks volumes about the state of the Sixth Man Club and highlights the need for Stanford Athletics to step in and help reverse the fortunes of this vital institution. The announcement provoked an angered reaction from the club’s managing director, Alexis Link, who decried the move as setting “a bad precedent for the future” in a Feb. 19 Daily brief (“Athletic department to sell Sixth Man seats”). Link was further quoted in Monday’s Daily as saying that the section had been filled at the Cal game, meeting the athletic department’s conditions for not selling the seats (see “Sixth Man Meltdown”). While the editorial board emphatically agrees with Link that the Sixth Man Club has been an important contributor to the

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team’s success and that the players “thrive on the enthusiasm” of its members, the board feels that a partially empty student section does not serve the team well either. According to administration officials, the entire Sixth Man membership can fit, along with the Band, in Sections 9 through 12, without need for Section 13. And while the department’s actions do constitute a bad precedent, they set no worse a precedent than its decision to not intervene as the Sixth Man Club atrophies in the wake of the Lopez twins’ departure. The best short-term solution for reviving the club is to discard the fee, currently $65, for obtaining Sixth Man membership. With every other athletic event at Stanford free to attend, the Sixth Man fee is unique and evidently depressing turnout. (Not even Stanford football has a fee anymore, and it has seen increased attendance since the change.) In the long term, removing the cost seems like not only a great way to reignite interest in men’s basketball but also a savvy business decision on the part of Stanford Athletics. Based on the $65 fee and the 2008-2009 membership, the department only raised about $42,000 from the Sixth Man fee, a small part of a men’s basketball revenue stream that was nearly $6 million in 2006, according to the San Francisco Business Times. About half of this funding goes directly to the Sixth Man committee to finance promotions and T-shirts. The Sixth Man committee does an admirable job of trying to stir up student interest, but can ultimately be stymied by the high price of membership, which is set by Stanford Athletics. Earlier this year, Sixth Man members rallied through Branner, trying to raise awareness and sign up freshmen for the club. Unfortunately, many students balked at the high cost of tickets, especially those that might be interested in attending only one or two big games a year. Selling tickets in Section 13 to make a little extra money is fine for the rest of this season, but is a very unsatisfactory long-term solution. Next year, we want to see an intact student section that runs the length of the court and fills up regularly. Ultimately, the editorial board hopes to see a revived Sixth Man Club, reminiscent of those of yesteryear that regularly packed the house and stormed the court after Stanford’s comeback victory over then-second-ranked UCLA in 2007. Free membership, granted to all students, can enable Sixth Man to enjoy a thrilling comeback of its own.

Unsigned editorials in the space above represent the views of The Stanford Daily's editorial board and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Daily staff. The editorial board is comprised of two former Daily staffers, three at-large student members and the two editorial board co-chairs. Any signed columns and contributions are the views of their respective writers and do not necessarily represent the views of the entire editorial board. To contact the editorial board for an issue to be considered, or to submit an op-ed, please email [email protected].

D EMBY D OWNER

Incorporated 1973 Tonight’s Desk Editors

Board of Directors

Managing Editors

Christian Torres President, Editor in Chief

Devin Banerjee Deputy Editor

Joanna Xu Managing Editor of Intermission

Mike Ding News Editor

In Ho Lee Chief Operating Officer

Nikhil Joshi Managing Editor of News

Stuart Baimel Columns Editor

Zach Zimmerman Sports Editor

Someary Chhim Vice President of Advertising

Wyndam Makowsky Managing Editor of Sports

Tim Hyde, Niko Milonopoulos Editorial Board Chairs

Arnav Moudgil Photo Editor

Devin Banerjee

Emma Trotter Managing Editor of Features

Cris Bautista Head Graphics Editor

Ben Cohen Copy Editor

Samantha Lasarow Head Copy Editor

Shelly Ni Graphics Editor

Kamil Dada

Masaru Oka Managing Editor of Photo

Michael Londgren Theodore Glasser Robert Michitarian Glenn Frankel

Contacting The Daily: Section editors can be reached at (650) 723-2555 from 3 to 10 p.m. The Advertising Department can be reached at (650) 721-5803, and the Classified Advertising Department can be reached at (650) 721-5801 during normal business hours.

S TEAL T HIS C OLUMN

The return of an old friend uites Special Dinner at Middle Earth Eating Club last Friday? Phenomenal. Having Ram’s Head Theatrical Society geniuses turning our suite common room into an African Safari for a party Saturday night (and at no cost!)? Amazing.Welcoming the great Andrei Markovits (brilliant visiting professor of Political Studies and German Studies) into my family’s home for brunch on Sunday morning? Wonderful, despite the less than four hours of sleep that preceded it. But with all respect and thanks to everyone involved in the aforementioned activities, what really set this weekend apart was what — or rather, who — I saw Sunday evening. Whether you are the most ardent classical music aficionado, or the ignoramus who knows Mozart only as that character whose picture adorns those tasty chocolatemarzipan candies, the experience of Itzhak Perlman in concert (and it is indeed an experience) is one that lasts you a lifetime. And inside Davies Symphony Hall, elegantly positioned across the street from the beautiful San Francisco City Hall to the east and the War Memorial Opera House to the north, I was fortunate enough to see the greatest violinist of his generation (and perhaps of any) perform his craft. Though I was raised as a violinist, playing for thirteen years (seven of which I spent building up the cajones to tell my parents that I would rather switch to guitar, which I subsequently did), classical music has never quite spoken to me the same way that that of Neil Young, Leonard Cohen or John Frusciante has. When I quit violin, I never had a second thought. It will likely always be my best instrument, but guitar will forever be my favorite. Only on rare occasions can classical music truly move me. But an Itzhak Perlman concert represents more than simply a performance of classical music; it is a tour de force. Perlman’s vivacious, joyous performance of pieces by Handel, Beethoven and Messaien was the utter mastery of a craft personified. The verve and flair with which he brought each piece of music new life had a contagious quality about

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Mark Donig

For each of us in the audience,that piece spoke to something both individual in our experience and common in our humanity. it, and the audience soaked it in. Even those like me, not directly affected by the music itself, could not help but take to heart the way that classical music can connect with the humanity in that room. But of all the great moments that stood out, the one that I will take most to heart was a single piece Perlman performed in his encore. After having just completed a lively, perpetual-motion-esque piece lasting no more than a couple minutes, he and his accompanying pianist suddenly swept into perhaps one of the few classical musical works

that truly speaks to me: the theme from “Schindler’s List.” Perlman was the violinist for the movie’s original score. I studied and worked in Berlin for six months through Stanford’s Overseas Program. As a Jew with two grandparents who lived in Berlin (who were fortunate enough to escape in 1938), living as an echo of their memory took on a special meaning for me during that half-year journey. Berlin gave to me a series of experiential gifts, a period of reflection and a score of emotions and realizations that I have held onto dearly even since returning. Some of these emotions I have kept to myself, believing them to carry an ineffable quality best left to silence. But Perlman tapped into something in me on Sunday night as he performed this one piece.As he played I sat captivated, and without warning, images began to flood through my buzzing brain. Perlman’s performance had me suddenly exposed. He transmitted all the feelings I had experienced in Berlin through his hands and fingers, seemingly emanating my experiences through his body, and my most meaningful emotions, though not translatable into words, were suddenly crying out from his violin. By the end of the piece I was in tears. I was not the only one. For each of us in the audience, that piece spoke to something both individual in our experience and common in our humanity. I returned to my room that night, thankful for the opportunity to have gone, struck by the brilliance of Perlman’s performance. I was still emotionally moved as I went to bed. The following evening, still reflective on my experience, I was still lost in thought. Suddenly I found myself swiftly moving my bed sheets out of the way, maneuvering my desk a bit until my old friend revealed itself. And then, for the first time in years, I took out my sheet music and began to play. Mark Donig is psyched that his best buddy from Berlin, Fabian (yep, that’s his real name) is coming to visit him in California this summer. Contact Mark at [email protected].

Nicole Demby

Sex and student government ike almost all endeavors of young people, my impetus in writing this column is 20-25 percent to get laid.While I suspect that the majority of Stanford Daily readers are actually middle-aged women, I have this fantasy that if I can write a sexy, provocative column that showcases my deliciously snide wit each week, I will have hordes of eligible young literary bachelors knocking on my co-op door. So when some abstemious, non-jay-walking person, undoubtedly sobered by their many years, commented on my column last week, reminding me that we don’t need to overthrow the system to effect change, my initial reactions were both a genuine feeling that they were wrong and a revealing defensiveness. Was this upstanding citizen right? Was I just romanticizing revolution? Maybe I only advocate skepticism toward authority because telling people to work “within the system” is about as sexy as chamomile tea. Let me be fair to myself.What I was advocating wasn’t violent revolution or even any revolution, per se, but rather turning a critical eye toward the social structures around us. I don’t think it’s implausible to say that Stanford, like any institution, has a vested interest in making its citizens think it is doing a good job, and that it has interests other than its own in mind when it makes its decisions. All I was saying was that we should make an effort to learn for ourselves what’s what, because otherwise we have no epistemological option other than to blindly accept what we’re told. Yet two weeks ago, in this very newspaper, I read something alarming that suggested that maybe rhetoric like my own could have a dangerous backlash.An article on the front page said that out of the entire student

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body that was invited to participate in a town meeting about the Draw, fewer than 30 students had chosen to attend. I’m guessing every one of you reading this column, including myself,has said at least one negative thing about the Draw system since entering Stanford. Yet when finally given a chance to air these legitimate grievances, 1/500 of us actually took up the opportunity. The next week, I received an email from the ASSU presidents, telling me about the efforts the school was taking to consider community members’ opinions when making the massive budget cuts that need to be made. The email offered me a link to a survey where I could tell the ASSU which Stanford programs I think are important, and invited me to another town hall meeting, this time on the topic of the cuts (and a bribe of In-n-Out for the first 50 attendees). I vaguely promised myself to fill out the survey, and even more vaguely noted that attending the meeting was probably something I should do but wouldn’t. In his book “On Violence,” Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj Zizek says we live in a post-political world in which citizens only have the illusion of political agency. Instead of real political considerations, every decision the government makes in this post-political system is chalked up to ‘universal’ ideals like ‘justice’ and ‘democracy.’ For example, in a two-party democracy, Zizek says we merely have the illusion of significant choice between two essentially identical options.Or take,as another example,the mass protests in London against the Iraq war a few years ago to which George Bush responded gleefully that protestors were exercising precisely the rights that the U.S. military was fighting for in Iraq. In such a system,

even resistance is complicity. In order to evade this, Zizek advocates that individuals withdraw from the system by non-participation such as abstaining from voting. So was that it? Did we miss the Draw meeting and not fill out the budget cut survey because of our theory of abstention as the only true form of protest? Did we think that holding these meetings was the University’s way of simulating democracy while really foreclosing it, of letting us feel like we have some say in order to appease us while really ignoring our input? Evidence suggests that perhaps this is not far from the truth. For example after the Stanford Labor Action Coalition fasted for eight days to support living wage for Stanford employees in 2007, the University finally agreed to meet some of SLAC’s demands. Despite their rhetoric, however, the University has delayed making the promised changes. They have come up with standards for a ‘living wage’ that is essentially determined by other employers in the Bay Area, effectively changing very little. Yet despite this disheartening sign, perhaps we shouldn’t give up on the University before we fully explore the modes in which it invites us to participate in it. It’s not quite as sexy as defying authority, but maybe a new revolution will be when 14,000 students show up to a town hall meeting to voice their opinions. It might be an exercise in futility, but at least we’ll better know how to affect change if we know how we can’t affect it. Either way, they’re going to need a lot more In-n-Out burgers. Nicole is fending off middle-aged women who keep throwing their underwear at her. Email her and comfort her at [email protected].

Write to us. We want to hear from you. SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR TO [email protected] AND SEND OP-EDS TO [email protected]

4 N Thursday, February 26, 2009

The Stanford Daily

SPORTS MEN’S GYMNASTICS

A battle with the best Stanford loses to Japanese All-Stars, but triumphs against Americans By JENNY PETER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

GIULIO GRATTA/The Stanford Daily

The No. 7 men’s volleyball team heads to Honolulu this weekend for a clash with No. 11 Hawaii. Stanford is fresh off a five-set thriller againt UCSB in which the Cardinal beat its first ranked conference opponent in six tries.

TROPIC THUNDER Card rides wave of momentum into Hawaii By JACOB JAFFE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

After finally securing an elusive road win over a ranked conference opponent, the Stanford men’s volleyball team faces a 2000-mile excursion to face another ranked conference foe this weekend. Following five consecutive losses against ranked Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) teams,the No. 7 Cardinal (9-7, 5-6 MPSF) broke through against U- Santa Barbara last weekend, winning a five-set thriller 30-26, 26-30, 24-30, 30-21, 15-13. “It gave us confidence that we can battle through inconsistencies and raise our level of play to win a long match,” said head coach John Kosty. “It was a big win, especially since we’ve had trouble winning on the road,” added senior middle blocker Brandon Williams.“It was nice to stop our losing streak and start a winning streak. It built up the energy level for us, which we’ll need with this quick turnaround.” The turnaround is quick indeed, as the Cardinal has to travel across the Pacific to face No.11 Hawaii for two straight matches this weekend. Being so far removed from the rest of the MPSF geographically, Hawaii plays

all its matches in sets of two, so the Cardinal will play Hawaii today, get Friday off, and then play the team again on Saturday. This format changes the way the matches are played. “It’s beneficial to play a team twice in a row,” Kosty said. “You get to play them, look at the video and then play them again, and it only happens a few times a year. Both teams get an advantage because they can make adjustments between matches, so the second match is usually much better than the first.” Apart from the scheduling, playing in Hawaii brings other new elements to the matches.For one thing,going to Hawaii is a bit of a homecoming for the Cardinal, as it boasts six players that hail from the Aloha State,more than Hawaii even has on its own roster. Hawaii is also known for being one of the hotspots for volleyball, and the crowd lives up to its billing. “The atmosphere is great — 5,000 people in the stadium,” said senior libero Jarod Keller, one of the Hawaiian natives for Stanford.“All the fans are there to watch good volleyball, so they’ll cheer for whoever makes good plays.” Stanford hopes this crowd will help the team play to its full potential.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

By ZOE LEAVITT With only three days left before the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament and the finale of the wrestling season, the Stanford wrestling team looks to fulfill many of the teams’ season goals and push its wrestlers up to the next level. Hosted by Cal State-Fullerton, this year’s Pac-10 Tournament involves nine teams, with eight-man brackets and the ninth wrestler subbing in. This afternoon, the Pac-10 coaches will find out the rankings of their wrestlers, which will determine the brackets. On Saturday, the teams will learn how many players from each bracket will qualify

for the 2009 NCAA Championships, which will tell the athletes how high they need to place in the Pac-10s to qualify. “We obviously have team goals but we are mostly focusing on individuals,” coach Jason Borrelli said. “This time of year,the focus is on the individual.If the individual goals are met, then the team stuff will fall into place.” Redshirt freshman Nick Amuchastegui (26-5), who now stands with the fourth most wins of any freshman in Stanford history, looks to fulfill his season goal of qualifying for nationals on Sunday. He has defeated every Pac-10 wrestler in the 165-pound weight class at least once, proving his

Please see MEN, page 5

2/21 vs. UCSB W 3-2

UP NEXT HAWAII 2/26

(3-8)

Honolulu 10 P.M.

GAME NOTES: Stanford’s victory over UCSB was its first win over a ranked MPSF team in its last six attempts. Hawaii is ranked No. 11 in the nation despite being five games under .500. The Cardinal plays a second match against Hawaii on Saturday. “The crowd is just wonderful,”Williams said.“When there’s a strong crowd, it helps us be more energetic.” However, the Cardinal also knows that playing in Hawaii can turn into more of a vacation than a road trip.With its warm weather,the Hawaiian setting can be an enormous distraction, but the Cardinal does not want to get sucked into the trap. “It’s one of the biggest advantages Hawaii has,” Kosty said.“But for us, it’s just another road trip. It just might be a little warmer.”

Stanford heads to Pac-10s CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The No. 3 Stanford men’s gymnastics team finished second to the Japanese Collegiate All-Star team on Feb. 21, but was victorious over all of the NCAA teams present at the Pacific Coast Collegiate Classic in Oakland, Calif. The Cardinal men posted their highest team score of the season at a 356.9, the best of any team in the NCAA this season. Berkeley (355.35), University of Michigan (354.2), University of Illinois (350.55), University of Minnesota (344.5) and U.S. Air Force Academy (324.5) were all participants who placed behind Stanford at the meet. The Cardinal began the competition by improving its highest pommel horse team total by four points with a 58.65. Senior Bryant Hadden posted Stanford’s best score of the season with a 14.85. Big executed routines from redshirt junior Greg TerZakhariants (14.6) and sophomore Kyle Oi (14.7) also boosted the team score. “Kyle Oi was true to form,” said head coach Thom Glielmi. “It wasn’t a matter of if Kyle was going to hit, but rather how good he was going to hit.” On the rings, the Cardinal yet again procured its highest event score of the season with a 60.85.The team now holds the nation’s highest event total thanks to hit routines from sophomore Tim Gentry (15.15), redshirt senior Sho Nakamori (14.95) and a season-best performance from redshirt sophomore Nick Noone (15.1). Hadden finished first in the event and put up the highest rings score of the season for the Cardi-

great potential to climb to the top this weekend. He will most likely be ranked second in the tournament. “I’m pretty revved up about it,” Amuchastegui said. “I feel good about everybody, certainly, but a couple guys have beaten me too so they’re going to keep me on my toes. It’s time for things to pay off now, this is what we’ve worked for all season.” Boise State, who now stands undefeated in the Pac-10 Conference, will put forth the greatest competition for Stanford and for Amuchastegui in particular. Boise wrestler Tyler Sherfy handed Amuchastegui his only loss of 2009 when he scored a takedown with only 20 seconds left to steal

AGUSTIN RAMIREZ/The Stanford Daily

After undergoing a shaky start to the season, the Stanford wrestling team has sharpened up in recent weeks. The team looks to shock the Pac-10 at the conference championships this weekend in Fullerton. The Cardinal returns 10 athletes who competed at last year’s event and will look to use this postseason experience to its advantage.

Please see VBALL, page 5

WRESTLING 2/15 vs. Cal Poly W 21-18

UP NEXT PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS 3/1 Fullerton, Calif. GAME NOTES: Stanford redshirt freshman Nick Amuchastegui has defeated every Pac-10 wrestler in the 165-pound weight class at least once this season. Boise State is the meet favorite as it comes to the tournament with an undefeated Pac-10 record. The Cardinal is returning 10 Pac-10 competitors from last year. Amuchastegui’s lead. Besides Sherfy, Boise presents two other defending Pac-10 champions. In this final week of practice, the team looks to keep its fitness level high and touch up on little things that have plagued them all season. Since the season’s commencement, the team has struggled with how to hold on to a lead throughout the match. Lately, many wrestlers have improved in this area, winning difficult matches in the final moments. “This is the chance to make up for some mistakes earlier in the season,” said Stanford senior Luke Feist. “I’m wrestling against three guys I’ve lost to. It’s been things I can fix, so if I can fix them this weekend that’s all that matters. This is one last try to get one last try.” For seniors like Feist, this Pac-10 tournament signifies the final stop in five years of collegiate wrestling. Feist has led the team in his past three Pac-10 performances and boosted his rankings each time. Having placed fifth in 2006, fourth in 2007, and third in 2008, he hopes to continue to improve. He headlines the team’s 10 returning Pac-10 competitors, six of which will most likely compete again this year. However, several wrestlers on Stanford’s young team will also make their Pac-10 debut this season. Coach Borrel-

AGUSTIN RAMIREZ/The Stanford Daily

Despite losing to the Japanease Collegiate All-Stars, the Stanford men’s gymnastics team looked very impressive against its fellow NCAA competition. At the meet, the Cardinal set both a team and NCAA season-best by notching an outstanding 356.9 points.

WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS

A shorthanded surprise Stanford victorious despite absence of top three athletes against Cal By KENAN JIANG STAFF WRITER

The No. 4 Stanford women’s gymnastics team, led by a talented class of freshmen, easily defeated California 197.175-190.625 last Sunday, despite resting their top three gymnasts in preparation for a highly anticipated showdown with Alabama on Mar. 21 in Tuscaloosa. The rotation of ten gymnasts scored 21 season-bests in a highly impressive showcase of young talent.With the win, the teamed moved to 12-0 on the year. Senior captain Kelly Fee was impressed with the performance of the younger members of the team. “We faced a very similar situation my sophomore year when two of our top performers suffered injuries,” Fee said. “We ended up getting our highest score of the season.” Sophomore Shelley Alexander stepped up for the Cardinal, as she expanded her event line up last weekend. Alexander, who only competed on vault last year, started the meet off with a 9.8 on the uneven bars, and scored 9.8 or better on the rest of the events (floor, vault, beam) to

Please see WOMEN, page 5 Please see WRESTLING, page 5

Thursday, February 26, 2009 N 5

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Following their coach’s example, the players are focused on what they need to do to succeed this weekend on the court. “We need to improve our consistency,” Williams said. “We’ve been doing the basics consistently, but we’ve got to start cutting down on small errors. If we do that, we’ll be very successful.” Stanford feels like it is gaining consistency, and this can help the team succeed. “We need to put a full match together,” Kosty said.“We’re at a point in the season where we have the ability to do that.” The Cardinal will need a complete match to beat a Hawaii team that Kosty said has “played extremely well on the island” this year. Despite its 3-8 record,Hawaii is ranked No.11 in the country because all 11 of its opponents were ranked among the top 10 nationally at the time of the match. Stanford plays at Hawaii today and Saturday at 10 p.m. PST before returning home on Tuesday to face UC-Santa Cruz.

nal with a 15.65. “Hadden was last up and demonstrated why he is the No. 1 ring man in the country,” Glielmi said. “[He] held strength, level positions, great swing and a stuck piked double front dismount merited his 15.65 score.” On vault, Ter-Zakhariants gave Stanford a solid start, sticking the landing and netting a 16.0 for second place. Huge vaults were also seen from sophomores Alex Busgalia (15.65) and Josh Dixon (15.6), but big deductions on landings prevented the team from getting over a 62.8. On parallel bars, sophomore Ryan Lieberman (14.55), Ter-Zakhariants (14.6) and Nakamori contributed the most to the team score. Nakamori nailed a season-best routine at a 15.55 and is currently the nation’s leading gymnast on the parallel bars. High bar was the only event where Stanford visibly struggled and was forced to count a fall. Nakamori’s 14.4 was the highest score the team put up and placed him among the top 10 finishers of the meet. “On high bar, we’re just focusing on perfecting tiny breaks in the rou-

Contact Jacob Jaffe at [email protected].

WRESTLING Continued from page 4 li cited Matt Scencebaugh and Victor Haug as two true freshmen in particular who have made great strides this season.After a rocky start, increased maturity has paid off for the team. For a relatively young squad that began this season with little collegiate experience, they have performed well against many highly ranked teams. “We’ve trained the whole year for this tournament, and I’m just going to take it one match at a time,” said Scencebaugh (10-22), who has surged recently to win his last four matches.“Being a freshman, it’s hard to adjust. Throughout the year, you gradually get tougher in a sense, and just mature. You train hard all year, and it just clicks.” While Stanford has enthusiastically worked its way up the ranks over the last several dual matches, the Cardinal has always kept the Pac-10 Championships in mind. Last year, Stanford put forth its best performance in Pac-10 history, placing second in the tournament. The team has also qualified five wrestlers for the NCAA Championships, a program high, in each of the past two

years, and hopes to replicate this performance in 2009. “My thing is to get guys to the national team this year, and this year, to be honest, we have five guys ready to go,” Borrelli said. “Do we need to

WOMEN Continued from page 4 win the all-around competition with a career-best 39.4.Alexander’s performance was especially impressive considering she has only competed in the all-around three times. “As a team, we talked about that experience and how this meet was an opportunity for new people to rise up,” Fee said. “Entering the meet, we were not quite sure what to expect. Almost 30 percent of the performances were new, and many young faces were making their debut. On the other hand, after a solid practice on Friday, we were confident in each lineup.” Sunday marked Stanford’s third consecutive meet in which it achieved at least 197 points. This is a feat it did not accomplish until the postseason last year. The Cardinal has clearly made big steps toward

tines,” said freshman Jordan Nolff. “However, it is usually one of our top scoring events, so our performance on Saturday was very uncharacteristic and just a matter of remaining focused throughout the entire competition.” Stanford is ranked second nationally behind Cal in the event. Going into floor, the Cardinal men knew they had to nail their routines to solidify a victory over Cal. They did just that, posting their highest total of the year at a 60.8. Dixon executed a great routine, earning himseld a 15.5 and a first-place finish. Ter-Zakhariants placed third, scoring just a tenth behind Dixon with a 15.4. Stanford is ranked first in the country in the event. Lieberman, who is ranked No. 12, was the only gymnast to represent Stanford in the all-around and finished eighth with an 82.5. The Cardinal will get a second chance to go up against the Japanese Collegiate All-Star team this Friday at 7 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion. “Our team goal for this Friday’s meet is to hit 6-for-6 on every event,” said freshmen Jordan Nolff. “We’re especially focusing on cleaning up parallel bars, because that’s the one event that seems to consistently cause us some problems.” Contact Jenny Peter at [email protected].

wrestle a great match to do this? Yes, but I think we’re in shape to wrestle our best match of the year.” Contact Zoe Leavitt at [email protected]. breaking into the national elite, and this season seems like the perfect time for a serious run at a national championship. “I feel that our day-to-day training has been much more challenging this season compared to past seasons and that it has helped us,” Fee explained.“We are doing a lot of repetitions in the gym in addition to weight training twice a week. All of this training is clearly paying off. While other teams pass the season’s halfway mark and begin to feel the effects of competing every weekend, our team is only getting stronger. Compared to past seasons, I think we are ahead of the curve in terms of preparation both physically and mentally.” The Cardinal has two regularseason meets remaining before attempting to defend its Pacific-10 Conference title on March 21 (4 p.m.) at Maples Pavilion. Contact Kenan Jiang at [email protected].

6 N Thursday, February 26, 2009

HOTEL Continued from front page probably some analysis looking at potentially residential or some other mix of uses.” The closest attempt before now was in the ‘80s when Stanford entered another luxury hotel venture only to abandon it on account of poor economic conditions. “The hotel back in the ‘80s was really in planning stages when the downturn hit,” Elliott said. “The difference here is that the hotel was ready to open when the crisis really peaked. It’s certainly a difficult timing to open up a hotel, but I think in the long term we’re still very optimistic.” The landscaping and construction that began in 2006 deliberately incorporated a distinctly Northern California feel to blend in with the surrounding area of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Rosewood Sand Hill’s

BBALL Continued from front page chance revival. Stanford encounters the tougher of its weekend competition first — UCLA (20-7, 9-5) is tied for third in the Pac-10, shooting better than 50 percent from the field on the season, and handed Stanford its worst loss of the year on Jan. 31, 97-63, in L.A. The Bruins are led by senior guard Darren Collison and senior center Alfred Aboya, two of five UCLA players to score in double digits (with 15 apiece) in the first meeting. Collison, who averages 15 points,

“We’ve just got to play” — MITCH JOHNSON, senior point guard 1.7 steals and a conference-leading five assists per game, will pose an exciting threat to Stanford’s backcourt along with freshman Jrue Holiday (9.1 ppg, 1.5 steals) and redshirt junior Michael Roll (7.6 ppg). However, the Bruins’ advantage lies mainly in their big men. Aboya averages 9.9 ppg and six boards, but finds substantial support in junior forward Nikola Dragovic (8.8 ppg) and senior small forward Josh Shipp (13 ppg). The three Bruins form a versatile combination down low, especially because both Shipp and Dragovic have the ability to step out and shoot the long ball. Although not usually dominant in the paint, the Bruins will try to capitalize on Stanford’s habitual struggles near the basket, which senior forward Lawrence Hill deemed the Card’s greatest weakness. “Other teams aren’t scared of us — they know they’re going to beat us in the lane,” Hill said resignedly. “[They’ll beat us on] dribble penetration [and] rebounding. Other teams see us there, and they don’t believe we can push them out. We’re not physical enough, not aggressive enough.” UCLA, though, is not unbeatable, and Stanford knows it. The Bruins have dropped three of their last four games, as well as their last three games on the road. Stanford, moreover, should capably challenge what’s typically the bread and butter of UCLA’s defense: steals. Although the Bruins average 8.7 steals per game,

CUTS Continued from front page “to plan for budget reductions of at least 15 percent” over the next two years. The layoffs are part of the athletic department’s strategy to stay within its limited budget through 2012. The 21 layoffs represent a 13 percent reduction in administrative staff, and could save the department close to $1.5 million. Further cuts have also been authorized, including “freezing open positions, mandatory use of vacation accruals, reduced facility maintenance and reduced travel expenses. In addition to reducing costs, Stanford Athletics is examining all potential sources for additional revenue, including ticket sales, multimedia rights and facility use fees.” The reductions could total $2.5 million. However, that still leaves an almost $3 million gap in the athletic department’s budget — if the projected losses are accurate. Last year, Stanford Athletics brought in about $1.6 million in extra revenue. “We’ve never had budget surplus-

lush accommodations, premier event spaces and opulent amenities — 123 guest rooms and suites, a ballroom and a spa — features local architectural tradition that plays with the transparency between indoors and outdoors, all of which have access to terraces and balconies. Everything from its designers to much of the displayed artwork to its executive chef comes from within the Bay Area, helping to further cement that theme. The hotel’s signature restaurant, Madera, even has its own herb garden on hotel grounds from which many of the ingredients for the menu will come. Just over a month away from its debut, Rosewood Sand Hill has kicked into full-gear preparation, adding last minute touches, training a staff of 250 employees, advertising more actively and bracing for the four wedding events and several corporate and social group programs to plan for the year.

The Stanford Daily

GAME NIGHT

Contact Cassandra Feliciano at [email protected].

Stanford ranks second in the conference with at 2.76 turnover margin against its opponents. Hill, in fact, thinks the brutal loss to the Bruins last month was uncharacteristic for the Cardinal, and said Stanford won’t go down the same way at home. “We [won’t] lay down like we did last time,” Hill said. “We’ve always played them tough, except this year at their place, and we have that to look on. If you look at teams coming in here after a tough loss, they’re working hard. We are too. But, we need to go out and do what we know we can do.” Similarly, senior guard Mitch Johnson doesn’t feel that there’s a huge discrepancy in talent between the squads, and sees the potential for a strong showing against UCLA this time. “When you look one to 10 in the league, the talent level is really not too much of a difference,” he said. “I still think we’re capable of beating any team . . . [and] on a given day, there’s almost no such thing as an upset anymore.” Coach Johnny Dawkins agreed, emphasizing that Stanford is far from throwing in the towel this season. “You’ve got to just keep fighting; you’ve got to overcome,” Dawkins said. “That’s what we’re telling our guys,‘Take them one at a time, and try to just go out there and get better, and see if we can’t overcome.’” Stanford will “keep fighting” against USC during its Senior Day game, 5:30 pm on Saturday. The Trojans, too, have lost four of their last five, but will challenge the Cardinal in different ways. For one, junior forward Taj Gibson (13.8 ppg, 9.3 rebounds, conferencebest 2.7 blocks) inherently offers tougher competition in the paint than any of the Bruins. Gibson leads USC with a conference-second 36 rebounds and a conference-best 4.7 blocks per game. Freshmen forwards DeMar DeRozan (12.6 ppg, 5.5 rebounds) and Leonard Washington (6.7 ppg, 4.5 rebounds) offer dominating depth to the USC frontcourt that the Card won’t encounter on Thursday. Meanwhile, junior guard Dwight Lewis leads the team with 15.4 points per game, while fellow junior Daniel Hackett offers another 11.6 and dishes 4.7 assists per game. But, Johnson reiterated that Stanford can hang with any opponent, and that the Cardinal’s biggest threat is its own mindset. “Once you get on the wrong end of those things a couple times, you can start second-guessing yourself,” he said. “And that lack of confidence . . . you can’t let that doubt creep in. We’ve got to just play.”

Members of Stanford’s Bridge Club, led by Eric Mayefsky (lower right), meet every Tuesday night to play bridge in Old Union.

Contact Haley Murphy at [email protected].

Contact Jacob Johnson at [email protected].

es,” Bowlsby said in an interview with The Daily after yesterday’s announcement. “In the previous five years [prior to last year], the department had run a deficit.” When asked about the lack of a built-in surplus or “cushion” in the budget, Bowlsby dismissed the idea. “You’ve got to be able to pay for what you need before you think about a ‘cushion,’” he said. The athletic department’s endowment was valued at about $410 million in December — down more than $100 million since May of last year. Despite the massive losses, Stanford’s endowment is the richest of any athletic department in the nation. Bowslby said the new cuts were carefully planned so as to not adversely affect Stanford teams or athletes. He was adamant that staff whom directly interact with athletes would not see cuts — specifically mentioning “sports medicine, athletic training and strength and conditioning” as areas that would retain their current staff. Coaches are also expected to be exempt from the reductions. An all-staff pay cut was discussed as an alternative to layoffs, but it was determined that a large

decrease in pay — as much as 10 percent — would be required to achieve comparable savings. A smaller staff will mean more work for administrators, but Bowlsby doesn’t think that the quality of Stanford’s athletic program will suffer. “We did most of it through reorganization . . . and redistribution of duties,” Bowlsby said. “I don’t think right now it will have an effect on teams and athletes,” he added. Currently, there are no plans to cut any of Stanford’s varsity programs. With an uncertain economic forecast for the next few years — and possibly longer — that could change. “I can’t say definitively that we won’t have sport cuts if the economy continues to decline,” Bowlsby said yesterday. In 2011 or 2012, “who knows what the economy will be like.” Nevertheless, Bowlsby has promised to do everything possible to avoid cutting any of Stanford’s varsity sports. “I’ve always said is that it will be a course of last resort,” he noted.

AUGUSTIN RAMIREZ/The Stanford Daily

BOWLSBY Continued from front page and 14 to student-athletes,” a move that was effective but still failed to fill the Sixth Man area. Nonetheless, the third-year Stanford athletic director feels that his department “dropped the ball” in promoting the men’s basketball team and its once-formidable student section. “We did everything we could do . . . to make games affordable [during the season],” Bowlsby said. However, he noted that the athletic department — specifically the men’s basketball program — is also responsible for the lack of student interest. “I do think it’s fair to say with a new basketball staff coming in, they weren’t sure what their responsibilities were,” he said. Even with a tightening budget, Bowlsby made it clear that student input is one of the athletic department’s top concerns. “The students are always a high priority for us,” he said.

Contact Jacob Johnson at [email protected].