Around Town Around Town (March 05, 2003)

DIG DEEP . . . Amateur archeologists and creative thinkers can flex their minds in an upcoming contest to guess the function of 10 items excavated from the site of Leland and Jane Stanford's former mansion on Sand Hill Road. A photo of one mystery item revealed two cylindrical objects attached by a handle. A primitive rolling pin? You be the judge. The ambiguous objects will be on display during Stanford's Second Annual Community Day at Stanford on April 6. Visitors can enter the contest there or online at www.stanford.edu/dept/news/neighbors/communityday/archeology/index.html.

MUSIC TO MY EARS . . . Musical instruments - new and old - are being collected this month at the Stanford Shopping Center by Music in Schools Today (MUST) , a non-profit organization that funds and implements creative arts programs in Bay Area schools. The donated instruments will be given to students in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park. "Most of our schools have no instruments and currently can't offer any music programs, which deprives the students equal access to valuable lessons," said Elaine Fischer-Kohn, Ravenswood City School District's director of assessment and library. "Learning to play an instrument has life long attributes including strong self-esteem, discipline, creativity and focus." 50 instruments, valued at more than $100,000, were collected in last year's drive. The organizers welcome all instruments, from pianos to piccolos. In celebration of national Music In Our Schools Month, the Stanford Shopping Center is hosting a free concert series featuring local musicians, beginning Sunday, March 8, with a performance by the Stanford Symphony Orchestra.

LUCK OF THE IRISH . . . With St. Patrick's Day around the corner, a San Mateo County history group is asking for assistance in its efforts to chronicle the history of the Irish on the San Francisco Peninsula. The organizers are holding a news conference on March 10 at the historic courthouse in Redwood City, which will include Irish dance performances and a display of historic Irish artifacts. "We hope to get lucky," Mike McQueen, a member of the Museum Association, said. "Maybe someone will find old albums or news clips long tucked away in an attic." Anyone with information or stories about the Irish should phone him at (650) 591-3194.

DELETE IT . . . Many Palo Alto residents have recently found their inboxes inundated with mysterious e-mails from the 'city council' that contain no message. City Councilman Bern Beechamchecked with the city's computer experts and blames the KLEZ virus. Beecham believes that the virus has taken the City Council's address from an infected PC and placed it in the "from" field. City Hall computer technicians are on the case, but other than being an annoyance, the virus doesn't seem to cause any damage to the recipient's computer. The solution: just delete the e-mails.

DARWIN: LOST IN THE BEDROOM . . . Charles Darwin's theories about the evolution of sexual behavior are under question by sex and gender scientists. At the recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at Stanford University, scientists presented evidence that challenged Darwin's sexual selection theory. Darwin postulated that females are picky about sexual partners and choose mates with the best genes. Males, on the other hand, were considered more promiscuous in an effort to ensure offspring. Evidence presented at the meeting refutes Darwin's theory. Paul Vasey of the University of Lethbridge said of his research on Japanese macaques, "I see females competing for males all the time. I see males ignoring females that are desperate to copulate with them."