Stanford Report, May 27, 2009

Cardinal Chronicle

BY MICHAEL PEÑA

A documentary made by four Stanford graduates that focuses on America's oldest and most prestigious teen science competition will be shown on Tuesday, June 16, at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Whiz Kids follows the lives of three 17-year-olds competing in the Intel Science Talent Search. Their stories are vastly different, but collectively, they serve as an inspiration at a time when American teens lag far behind other countries in math and science. The filmmakers include alums MICHAEL DUCA, TOM SHEPARD, TINA DIFELICIANTONIO and JANE WAGNER. The film's advisory committee includes former FDA commissioner and University President Emeritus DONALD KENNEDY; Professor SHARON LONG, former dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences; and Nobel laureate DOUGLAS OSHEROFF, professor of physics at Stanford. The June 16 premiere will be a benefit screening for the Exploratorium and the film's outreach and educational activities. For more information, go to http://whizkidsmovie.com.

Thanks for all of the e-mails expressing how much you have enjoyed reading my column over the years. After announcing last month that I will be laid off on May 29, condolences and encouragement poured in from all over campus. So, with this being my final column, I thought I'd recount one particularly touching moment since coming to Stanford in the summer of 2004.

As many of you know, besides this column, I also wrote about workplace issues and, occasionally, other newsworthy events. In 2005, I covered the Dalai Lama's two-day visit to campus, which began with a mass meditation in Maples Pavilion attended by some 7,000 people. But at the end of the day, His Holiness paid an informal visit to the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. Upon arriving at Cypress Hall, I was stopped by security before being allowed into the institute's small reception area—and subsequently asked to stay in the back of the crowded room. I didn't need to be in the front row, anyway, for the intimate chat between the spiritual leader and the institute's director, CLAYBORNE CARSON. After they finished, the Dalai Lama went out of his way to shake the hand of every single person who was in the room, making his way through the crowd to shake mine as well.

On that note, with warm regards, let me just say that the pleasure's been all mine.

Write to Michael Peña at michael.pena@stanford.edu or mail code 2245.