Read news about controversy surrounding Stanford's Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative, a new docuseries about a 1998 Palo Alto murder and an artist with local ties who'll contribute to the Hearts in San Francisco 2023 project.
HARMFUL LANGUAGE ... Stanford University has taken down its Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative website, the university announced Wednesday, after facing widespread backlash.
Steve Gallagher, Stanford's chief information officer, wrote on the Stanford IT Community website that the initiative was "intended as a guide, not a mandate," to address racist and harmful terminology commonly used in the IT space and inspired by widespread and campus-specific events of 2020.
Launched in May, the initiative compiled a list of more than 100 words considered racist or harmful, with the most controversial inclusion being the word "American." The initiative suggested using "U.S. Citizen" instead of "American" to avoid "insinuating that the U.S. is the most important country in the Americas."
Several media outlets criticized the initiative overall and the inclusion of "American" specifically, with a USA Today column calling the list of words "an example of political correctness gone wild" that will discourage free speech and discussion. An opinion by The Wall Street Journal's editorial board called the list an example of what makes "so much of modern life and culture (resemble) the Babylon Bee."
In his post to the Stanford IT Community website Wednesday, Gallagher wrote that the site was taken down because the initiative "missed the intended mark." "The path forward will be determined after reviewing all recent feedback and consulting with university academic and administrative leadership," he wrote. "All efforts will be guided by Stanford's commitment to academic freedom."
TETRIS MURDERS ... Some Peninsula natives may not know that the culturally inescapable video game Tetris was co-created by Russian-born Palo Alto entrepreneur Vladimir Pokhilko. Tragically, Pokhilko and his family were found dead in their Ferne Avenue home in 1998, an incident originally thought to be a murder-suicide.
Now a new docuseries, "The Tetris Murders," dives deep into the killings, reapproaching the crime in the Palo Alto residence with a new perspective. The series, which debuted Dec. 5, revisits the deaths of Pokhilko, his wife and his son, revealing new evidence and offering new theories.
Sandra Brown, a retired Palo Alto Police Department investigator, leads the effort to uncover the truth behind the tragic deaths, along with homicide investigators who were at the scene on Sept. 22, 1998, according to a press release from Warner Bros. Discovery. The series features interviews with Brown and other members of the Palo Alto Police Department and archival footage.
Along with revealing new explanations for the killings with possible connections to Russia, the series also explores the history of Tetris itself, examining the game's creation and rise in popularity. "The Tetris Murders" aired on the crime and justice network ID in three parts and is now available to stream through discovery+.
LOCAL HEART ... A Palo Alto native has been selected to create a heart sculpture that will be featured in the Hearts in San Francisco 2023 public art project, the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation== announced on Dec. 14.
Artist Miles Mathews, a Santa Cruz resident who grew up in Palo Alto, will make a heart to honor the 150th anniversary of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, along with nine other artists from around the Bay Area.
Graduating from University of California, Berkeley in 2015, Mathews makes mosaic art, murals and paintings featuring folk and spiritual themes. Mathews' heart sculpture, along with nine other hearts and one larger heart by featured artist Sirron Norris, will be displayed at the Hearts in San Francisco gala to honor the hospital.
"Since 1872, Zuckerberg San Francisco General has been steadfast in supporting our city's public health and well-being, providing vital, compassionate care throughout our most challenging moments, and keeping the heart of San Francisco beating strong," Kim Meredith, CEO of the hospital's foundation, said in a press release. "We are delighted to expand this year's array of Hearts in San Francisco sculptures to celebrate the hospital's extraordinary legacy of service, and to help ensure that it remains a leader in public health innovation and equity far into the future."
The Hearts in SF gala is set to take place on Feb. 9 at San Francisco City Hall, where the 10 hearts by Bay Area artists will be on display.
Comments
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jan 7, 2023 at 4:44 pm
Registered user
on Jan 7, 2023 at 4:44 pm
Language (or vocabulary) is not harmful, it is the way it is used that can cause harm.
We use the term African American because that is now the politically correct term, but that can be confusing to other cultures who are not American and don't consider themselves from Africa.
We talk about humans, humanity, humane, and it applies to everyone. Women menstruate and go through menopause. Just because the letters m a n or m e n turn up in a word, it has nothing to do with gender.
As for being offended by a straightforward term, then obviously there is very little in the world that is more important. When we see countries being invaded, women in Afghanistan or middle east countries getting treated badly by their countries leaders and laws, that causes me more pain than whether or not someone is offended by the word American and rightly so.
Registered user
Green Acres
on Jan 7, 2023 at 11:34 pm
Registered user
on Jan 7, 2023 at 11:34 pm
I'm a double Stanford alum, and lament the runaway extremism.
Using Stanford's logic, they should demand the banning of Latin and Spanish, because they are (literally) sexist. Most nouns are labelled masculine or feminine.
For instance, book is the masculine "el libro" implying books should be associated with males, and not females.
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Jan 9, 2023 at 11:43 am
Registered user
on Jan 9, 2023 at 11:43 am
Seems the Stanford IT Community got caught with their pants down. What an embarrassment. Do they honestly think the initiative was "intended as a guide, not a mandate," to address racist and harmful terminology or was it what they really want the university to mandate?
Registered user
Palo Verde
on Jan 9, 2023 at 3:17 pm
Registered user
on Jan 9, 2023 at 3:17 pm
The word "America" has been used, especially by politicians, for a couple of decades. The usage is unfortunate, but persists, and is now part of the language.
Registered user
College Terrace
on Jan 10, 2023 at 10:51 am
Registered user
on Jan 10, 2023 at 10:51 am
I see no reason to give Stanford any more contributions, given this is the wasteful manner in which time, energy, and resources are spent over there.
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Jan 10, 2023 at 11:26 am
Registered user
on Jan 10, 2023 at 11:26 am
Decades ago the New York Times changed its style manual from "black" to African-American, did a global search and replace and ended up publishing such absurdities as "Third quarter sales were in the African-American" thus becoming as much of a joke as Stanford's NewSpeak list even among those of us who oppose discrimination, etc.
If Stanford wants to do something useful, maybe it should start lobbying to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, start fighting for Equal Pay and an end to sexual harassment at the high tech companies it backs and lobbying to end book banning, gerrymandering etc.
Since its Newspeak list bans the use of "victim" I'm wondering how they refer to all the women whose rapes, assaults and harassment it's historically ignored. Or maybe that was the point of the list.