After a Poor Start, a High Finish

Alejandro Toledo, the peasant's son who shined shoes and sold snow cones to stay in school, who later came to the United States on a one-year scholarship and stayed to earn three Stanford degrees ("The Contender," March/April), is the new president of Peru.

In an election that international observers proclaimed fair and impartial, Toledo, MA '72, MA '74, PhD '92, defeated former Peruvian president Alan Garcia on June 3, becoming the first person of Indian descent to be elected leader of the country.

Although Toledo's extraordinary rise from poverty made him a populist figure, his campaign was damaged by reports of previous sexual indiscretions and drug use, allegations he denied. But he also was hailed as the primary force behind the ouster of authoritarian ruler Alberto Fujimori, who fled to Japan last fall after his closest aides were caught in a corruption scandal. Toledo's narrow victory over the once-despised Garcia -- whose presidency in the 1980s was marked by economic failure and terrorist activity -- was a sign, political observers said, that Toledo will have to govern by consensus.

Toledo, who often referred to Peru's glorious Inca past during his campaign, told supporters after his victory that "together we will build a modern nation, but one that celebrates its ancient heritage and its roots."

Stanford or Cal? The Argument Rages

When Stanford and Cal competitors square off, one can expect heated rhetoric. But Big Game taunts look polite compared to the great debate, where opponents toss barbs rather than balls, arguing nonstop.

The oldest intercollegiate event of its kind in the country, the Stanford/Cal debate began in 1894 and resumed five years ago, after a hiatus of more than 20 years. This spring, some 250 fans came out to cheer for their side of the Bay at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club. Amer Ahmed, '02, Jon Dunn, '01, and Jenny Herbert, '03, represented the Stanford Debate Society, which is coached by Matthew Fraser, a graduate of -- ahem -- Berkeley. The topic: whether the U.S. federal government should allow privacy concerns to interfere with the development of technology.

Arguing that privacy--"vacuous notions of rights concocted by folks residing in comfortable ivory towers who get free Internet access" according to one Cal debater -- should not inhibit innovation, the Bears defeated the Cardinal.

Debate organizers promise a bigger venue next year. Maybe Stanford Stadium?

A Big Step Forward

Now that he has a new foot, Sam Svoboda is ready for Little League season.

A team of four mechanical engineering students recently designed and manufactured a high-performance prosthesis for 12-year-old Sam, whose cancerous left foot was amputated two years ago.

The project was a final exam of sorts for the students' Medical Device Design and Evaluation course, which Sam's father, John, MBA '83, learned about after meeting mechanical engineering professor Tom Andriacchi during a visit to Stanford.

Jim Maltese, one of the students involved in the project, said one of their challenges was to create a prosthesis that was appropriate for Sam's weight and gait. "The [prosthetic] foot he was using was designed for a 200-pound man," Maltese said."We wanted something that would be versatile, geared to his size and use."

They made a mold and, with the help of engineers in Stanford's aero-astro laboratory, manufactured a prosthesis made of carbon fiber, the same material used to make airplanes. In late April, Sam and his father visited the laboratory to test the prototype. The engineers were looking for data that might help them improve the foot's performance, but Sam had his own criteria for evaluating their work. "He liked what it did for his baseball swing," Maltese said.

Using Sam's feedback and results from biomotion tests, the team modified the original design and on June 13 presented the final product to Sam. The entire Svoboda family flew from Chicago for the event. "Regardless of how the foot performs, the energy and compassion those guys have given -- we'll never forget it," John Svoboda said.

"This class was the reason that I came to Stanford," said Maltese, MS '01. "To build something and see it helping this great kid, it's like a dream."

Who Needs Palm Beach?

A good professor can inspire his students in many ways -- but motivating them to give up spring break?

Half of the students in religious studies professor Thomas Sheehan's Sophomore College class, Ethics and Empire, were so moved by his vivid descriptions of politics, civil war and peasant life in El Salvador that they organized a spring break trip to see the country firsthand. Megan Knize and Jessica Jenkins, both '03, applied in January for a grant from the office of John Bravman, '79, MS '81, PhD '85, vice provost for undergraduate education. They learned in February that they'd been given full funding and, with about a month to spare, started buying plane tickets and updating passports.

Six members of the class, plus Sheehan and two Stanford students with experience in the country, spent a week in the tiny peasant town of Guarjila, where American John Giuliano runs a youth center called Los Tamarindos (named for the sturdy tamarind fruit). The students lived with local families, attended school with the kids and came back with a lot to think about. "It was such a good chance to apply what we'd learned in the class," recalls Knize. "It really added weight to it."

Several members of the group are raising funds for Los Tamarindos. As for Jenkins, she's going right back -- to study in San Salvador this fall.

Casey Martin Rides Again

The Supreme Court in late May ended a nearly four-year fight between professional golfer Casey Martin and the PGA ("The Drive to Win," May/June 1998), upholding two lower court rulings that allowed Martin to ride a cart in competition. Martin, '94, who suffers from a rare circulatory disorder in his right leg that makes walking painful and potentially dangerous, has been riding a cart in tournament play since 1998, when a U.S. magistrate ruled in his favor.

The high court's 7-2 decision was praised by Martin's supporters, including former Stanford teammate Notah Begay III, '95. "What I am most happy about is that he can now focus on what he does best, which is playing golf, and hopefully go out and regain his status on the PGA Tour," Begay told the Associated Press.

Martin has struggled on the course. He finished 179th on the PGA money list in 2000 and currently is playing on the second-tier buy.com tour. Wally Goodwin, Martin's coach at Stanford, believes the court fight hurt Martin's game. "He's the toughest kid I've ever known in my life," Goodwin told the San Jose Mercury News. "I know him well enough to know it's had a huge effect on him."