Cardinal Chronicle
BY MICHAEL PEÑA
KATHLEEN "KB" BALDWIN honors those who came before her, and not just because she is one of this year's Amy Blue Award winners (see stories, pgs. 8-9). Baldwin has traveled extensively and is aware of how real the spirits of ancestors are in cultures around the world. She, too, feels strongly about the supernatural: In 1999, when she was facilities manager of what is now the Cantor Arts Center, she knew for sure that JANE STANFORD was in the building. It had been closed for a decade because of the damage wrought by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and among the museum's new features was a security system. A few months after the re-opening, the alarm kept going off in the middle of the night—triggered by motion detectors in the dark tunnels of the basement where no one could possibly be after hours. Knowing that Mrs. Stanford was a strong woman and a grieving mother, and after ruling out technical glitches or pranksters as causes, Baldwin concluded that Jane's ghost was perturbed that the museum was no longer named after her son. So after the third consecutive night of the alarms sounding, she went down to the basement, lit candles for a makeshift shrine and told Jane that her boy will always be honored, just as his name remains above the front entrance today. The sirens went silent after that night.
Here's another plug for Moms and multiculturalism: the 38th annual Stanford Powwow is this weekend, May 8-10. It's a Mother's Day tradition on the Farm and attracts about 30,000 visitors who come for the colorful performances, the competitions and community building. Held in the Eucalyptus Grove, rain or shine, the event is free and open to the public. For more information, go to http://powwow.stanford.edu.
Former Stanford All-American wide receiver KEN MARGERUM was named to the College Football Hall of Fame, Football Bowl Subdivision, on April 30. A four-year letter-winner from 1977 to 1980, Margerum still ranks first in the books at Stanford for receiving touchdowns and still shares the Pac-10 record for most touchdown receptions in a single game (four vs. Oregon State, 1980). Margerum is currently the wide receivers coach at San Jose State University, and his selection brings the number of former Stanford players and coaches in college football's ultimate shrine to 24.
Write to Michael Peña at michael.pena@stanford.edu or mail code 2245.
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