Stanford Book Prize Trip, 17-28 April 2003

Schedule:

Thursday 17th April:

Arrival at San Francisco Airport

Lunch in Palo Alto (World Wraps)

College Tour

Talked to Jackie (softball manager) about special funding

Dinner with Singaporeans (Frosh & Sophomores)

Friday 18th April:

Cantor Arts Museum in Morning

Korean Dinner at Palo Alto

Badminton Game (postponed due to a basketball match)

Saturday 19th April:

San Francisco

Sunday 20th April:

Visited Beach in morning

Cycled to Palo Alto in Afternoon

Vietnamese Dinner

Monday 21st April:

God, Self and World: An Introduction to Philosophy (Marino P)

Evolution of the Cosmos (Wagoner, R)

Technical Aspects of Photography (Osheroff, D)

Cycled Around Campus at night

Krispy Kreme & In‘n’Out for supper (Drive Through)

Tuesday 22nd April:

Economic Analysis I (Filipi, A)

Lecture on Modern China*

Wednesday 23rd April:

SLE Lecture: Idsen’s Dollhouse

Lunch with Singaporeans (Grad & Frosh)

Thursday 24th April:

Introduction to Comparing Political Systems

Table tennis with Vik (Friend from Palo Alto High)

S@S Meeting and election speeches

Friday 25th April:

Shopping at Ranch 99 (Cookout Preparation)

Ran into Annie (Friend from Wharton Program)

Shopping at Wal-mart

Chinese Dinner

Cooked almond jelly and green bean soup at night

Saturday 26th April:

Shopping at Costco

Cooking at Hammerskjold

Singaporean Cookout & Washing up

Left For Singapore

Campus Atmosphere and Infrastructure

1. A prevalent sense of community exists on the campus. The probability of running into someone you know is high considering the fact that most of the college population stays on the campus. Thus, my hosts would often stop to chat with someone they bumped into and whom they know when moving from place to place.
2. The communal nature of dorm life can be felt strongly. Friends would often stop by each other’s door to chat (normally to borrow stuff) and late at night, it was always possible for my host and I to find people to go out and get supper; normally donuts and burgers.
3. Safety on the campus is never a problem. My host, Jason and David, his roommate from Texas, seldom lock their door. I could leave my camera and other valuables lying around all day in the room knowing that it would be safe.
4. There are a wide variety of housing systems to choose from. Large dorms of two hundred people to smaller houses of fifty people. More interesting is the difference in dining plans. The dorm where I stayed in observed a time-honored college tradition of a single large cafeteria providing lousy food with little variety from day to day. I found the eating clubs of particular interest due to the cozy nature of the place. My host and his draw group were planning to move to a dorm with its own kitchen. Good idea! They should have done that long ago.
5. Student empowerment also features prominently on the campus. Reading the Stanford daily, I learnt about the election of the ASSU senate. I believe that it is much more powerful and effective compared to student councils that we find in local junior colleges. They are given more responsibility and freedom to push forward their initiatives and agendas whereas the student councils play more of a managerial role by simply maintaining a system already in place. Furthermore, the system is designed to make the ASSU more responsible to the student population whereas the councils are not responsible to the electorate once elected.
6. The concept of Special Fees was also highly interesting. From what I heard from Jackie, the softball manager, the various student bodies had to propose the amount that they want to receive and justify it. Thus, voting for the groups to receive such fees introduces accountability and transparency in the system instead of it being a diktat made by the administration.
7. One thing about Stanford that I did not particularly relish was its distance from San Francisco. I love the atmosphere and availability of entertainment in a city. However, to a certain extent, campus life is more vibrant as more performances take place on campus rather than off campus.
8. I probably need not mention this, but Stanford is beautiful! Especially the church!

The Lectures

1. Lectures attended:

• God, Self and World: An Introduction to Philosophy (Marino P)
• Evolution of the Cosmos (Wagoner, R)
• Technical Aspects of Photography (Osheroff, D)
• Economic Analysis I (Filipi, A)
• Lecture on Modern China*
• SLE Lecture: Idsen’s Dollhouse
• Introduction to Comparing Political Systems

2. I did not really attend the ‘Lecture on Modern China’ as much as I had really wanted to. Halfway through the lecture, which prominently featured protons, I realized this was not some unique inter-disciplinary lecture but one on Physics.
3. I liked the concept and informal nature of the Structured Liberal Education (SLE) lectures. It was refreshing and suitable to the nature of its content. The lectures were held in the lounge of the SLE dorms and guest speakers were often brought in to provide a fresh outlook or perspective. I believe that the informal environment makes the place more conducive to certain discussions and questions, which cannot be achieved in a more formal setting.
4. My favorite lecturer would be Osheroff who teaches technical photography and physics. I attended a lecture on his Nobel Prize winning work on superfluidity in liquid helium while I was in secondary 4 and was duly impressed by his humor and friendliness. As one of the few Nobel Prize winners who is able to entertain his audience even though they have absolutely no clue as to what his discovery is about, I eagerly sought out his lecture when I was there. As expected, he did not disappoint.
5. I’m not sure about other colleges but there seems to be quite a large divide between the fuzzies and techies.

The People

1. I personally believe that this is the most important factor in making Stanford a great place. It is this highly motivated, passionate and diverse group of people who contributes to the educational experience. It is from observing some of the people there from which I have learnt much.
2. David, who is Jason’s roommate from Texas, is the head of the archery club. I am impressed by the time and effort that he has put into it. He was constantly talking on the phone and organizing club activities or sitting outside the room meeting with his club members. He was one of four student groups whose Special Fee application was rejected when I just arrived. Thus, he was organizing an interview with the Stanford Daily reporters (which he had a grudge with) and planning on ways to increase his club’s profile, justifying their Special Fee amount…etc. The various groups on campus are given great leeway and thus, the student body takes more initiative.
3. As for the undergraduate Singaporeans there, most of them are on government scholarships. A bunch of very capable and remarkable people in their own right but not terribly unique or interesting… Perhaps if I had known them longer… (N.B. To any govt. scholar reading this: I sincerely that you are unique and/or interesting. Really.) After the cookout and elections though, I met many more Singaporeans that changed my initial opinion. At the graduate level, there is a wider diversity of Singaporean students from different backgrounds. I noticed that the students at the grad level were not very involved in the activities of S@S.
4. The hive of activity in the dorm lasts late into the night. Walking about at 1am, it is not surprising to find most people awake working or playing. We had no problem finding people to go out with for supper (Krispy Kreme or In N Out) at midnight. Dorm life is a terribly wonderful experience.

My main regret while there was not being able to watch Stanford’s reproduction of West Side Story (sold out) and a softball game (put it off to the end of the trip then realized that we had cookout). I would like to thank both the Singaporeans and the locals whom I met there for making this such an enjoyable trip.

I reserve special thanks for Jason and Joan for being such excellent hosts and Jeremy ho should have noticed by now that his shampoo is way lesser than what it should be. I would also like to thank the Stanford Alumni for making this trip possible and thus enlarging my horizons.