PAMPER THOSE SOURCES . . . Mingling amidst the crowd of guests at an invitation-only open house for the swanky new Mercury News offices downtown last week was none other than Stanford nemesis Paul Biddle. The Merc's coverage of Biddle's charges against the university propelled him to prominence, despite the fact that those charges increasingly appear to have been grossly exaggerated. P.S.: If Stanford President emeritus Don Kennedy made the invitation list, he apparently had other commitments.
SEAT ASSIGNMENTS . . . If you've been at City Hall or watched the City Council on cable, you've probably noticed there's been some seat juggling. Two seats are automatically set: the mayor's and vice mayor's. Mayor Liz Kniss has the center seat with Vice Mayor Joe Simitian, the timekeeper for speakers, riding shotgun on her right shoulder. "There is really no rhyme or reason to it," said Kniss, who as mayor makes the call on who sits where. "People make requests and I try to grant them. It's very important to some of the members and not important at all to others." It's not a sign of disfavor when Council members end up on the ends, she said. "Joe Huber, who is one of the most easygoing Council members, said to me he'd sit anywhere." (So he's on one of the ends.)
HE'LL BE BAAACK . . . Last week Shoreline Amphitheatre opponent and local government gadfly Jim Lewis narrowly lost his bid to have the City Council consider placing a box on Palo Alto utility bills for people to make donations to their favorite charities. The Council voted 4-5 not to send his proposal back for further study. Reasoned Council member Joe Simitian: There are already plenty of ways to donate to charities in this community, and it would take up further administrative time for utilities. But before the night was out, Lewis was already coming back with a new proposal: "Utility assistance for families in crisis," he calls it, which is pretty much self-explanatory. He hopes the Council will find this more acceptable.
MUSICAL LINK . . . The Gunn High School band will perform a winter concert Feb. 4 for an audience that will include the consul general of Sweden, the Hon. Siri Eliason, as part of a celebration of the opportunity for the Palo Alto students to perform this spring in Stockholm and Linkoping, Palo Alto's sister city in Sweden. A gala following the Linkoping concert will be set in a Swedish village.
MOBILE MEDICINE . . . Sometime early this month, Cinterandes U.S.A., a non-profit organization providing surgical services, maternal and infant health care, education and development to people in Ecuador, will send off its newly constructed Mobile Operating Unit. Cinterandes' board of directors includes Donald Laub, the founder of Interplast, and its medical and advisory councils include many doctors and others affiliated with Stanford University and Medical Center.
KEEP YA' HEAD UP . . . is the title of a new weekly radio news show that made its debut last week on Stanford's KZSU student-run radio station. The show will be produced and performed by seventh- and eighth-graders from the Center for a New Generation in East Palo Alto. The show will air Fridays at 5:10 p.m. on KZSU (90.1 FM). Students will take on issues important to them such as self-esteem, violence, teen pregnancy and how 911 functions in this area. The radio program was initiated by a Stanford student as her senior project.
Back up to the Table of Contents Page