News Digest News Digest (November 22, 2002)

Stanford gets big money for energy research

Stanford University President John Hennessy announced today the university will receive up to $225 million over the next 10 years from large energy companies. The money will be used to fund research into energy sources that produce fewer greenhouse emissions.

The Global Climate and Energy Project will be an alliance between Stanford researchers and some of the largest energy companies in the world, including ExxonMobil, which will invest $100 million, and General Electric, which will invest $50 million.

"It's quite basic, it's multi-disciplinary in nature, and it's long term," Hennessy said.

"Supplying energy to a growing population is a critical challenge for this century, and doing so with low greenhouse emissions will be an even greater challenge," said Lynn Orr, who will step down as the dean of the School of Earth Sciences to become the director of the research project.

The project will attempt to identify the most promising technologies for low emissions and high efficiency energy supply, figure out what barriers there are to making those energy supplies commercially feasible, and release the research results to the public, including commercial and research scientists.

--Don Kazak

City-School Liaison Committee reconvenes

After an eight-month hiatus, the City-School Liaison Committee has been reconstituted and will hold its first meeting Tuesday Nov. 26.

Topics on the day's agenda include disaster preparedness and teen substance abuse.

The committee dissolved last spring after school board members complained that Councilwoman Nancy Lytle politicized the meetings. Lytle will no longer be part of the group, made up of several school board and City Council members.

The meeting starts at 9 a.m. in the council conference room at Palo Alto City Hall.
Pearson extends stay at Paly to 2004

In a year marked by turmoil, Palo Alto High School got the reassuring news this week that its interim principal, Sandra Pearson, will stay on through June 2004.

The 63-year-old Pearson, who came out of retirement in August to take over from Fred Dreier, wants to see the Paly through its accreditation process and find ways to ease pressure on students.

In October, Pearson faced the enormous challenge of guiding the school as it reeled from the suicide of freshman Steven Wertheimer.

Those events galvanized Pearson's desire to make Paly a better place for students. In the next few months she wants to reexamine the school's policies on testing, attendance and homework.

"I feel a sense of urgency," she said of the effort. "It's incredibly important to see where there are places we can make a difference in the lives of our students." -- Pam Sturner
Grants awarded to East Palo Alto nonprofits

Three East Palo Alto nonprofit agencies have been awarded grants by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health.

The Community Development Institute will receive $100,000 over two years for the middle school component of the Leadership Training Academy.

The Girl's Club of the Midpeninsula will receive $175,000 over three years for an after-school program for preteen girls.

The San Francisco 49ers Academy will receive $75,000 over two years for an after-school program.
Stanford starts Daniel Pearl internship

In memory of slain journalist and Stanford alumni Daniel Pearl, the university will establish an internship program for students interested in foreign reporting.

Pearl, a Wall Street Journal foreign correspondent, was kidnapped and later killed by Islamic militants in Pakistan earlier this year.

An internship will be awarded annually to a Stanford student journalist who will work in a foreign bureau of a U.S. newspaper. The Wall Street Journal will pay the intern's salary, while the university's Daniel Pearl Memorial Fund will pay for travel and associated costs.

"Our family is very pleased that Stanford has chosen to honor Danny with this international journalism internship," said Michelle Pearl, Danny's sister. "Danny's own internship experience played a pivotal role in shaping his career path."

Pearl had been an intern at the Weekly, and at other newspapers, when he was a Stanford student.

--Don Kazak
Solar award to utility department

Palo Alto Utilities has been awarded the Solar Electric Power Association Award for Business Program Achievement in the "Development of a Solar Community."

The award comes shortly after the most successful Solar Home Tour in the utility department's history. Over 400 attendees visited 20 solar electric-powered homes and businesses on Oct. 26.

In September, the utility's second largest and 55th overall solar electric system was installed at the Foundation for Global Community building, which is now powered entirely by solar electricity.

"Promoting photovoltaic system installation and increasing our procurement of green energy resources are key tenets of our long-term energy plan," said John Ulrich, director of the city of Palo Alto Utilities Department. "Our commitment to the environment and to clean energy production reflects the community values that continue to guide our utility programs and services."