Author: Glen

Well, tonight will see the annual practice of a particularly devilish Stanford tradition: Full Moon on the Quad.

In most of our minds, the only cultural reference we have to full moons involves lycanthropy (that’s a 50 cent word referring to werewolves).

At Stanford, Full Moon means something completely different (and I’m not sure the metaphor of man turning into beast is entirely inappropriate).

For Stanford students, Full Moon on the Quad is a major cultural initiation: freshmen head to the quad and get royally smooched (kissed within an inch of their lives) by seniors. As you might imagine, the evening has more than a hint of debauchery about it.

Here’s an excerpt from the Stanford Daily: In theory the very idea of it is quite romantic lovers kissing under the gentle moonlight amidst a sea of endless stars, a beautiful church hangs as a backdrop, and all around you frolicking naked people dance drunkenly to techno music. Well, on second thought, Full Moon on the Quad is devoid of all romance. (full article)

FMOTQ is a true Stanford tradition… and one more evidence that Stanford needs Jesus!

There are lots of web links related to this festival, including a poem, tame photo galleries (here’s one and here’s another), and a mildly humorous essay entitled Got Mono?.

This weekend was Stanford’s homecoming celebration, highlighted by a victory over the Arizona Wildcats!

Reading the Stanford Daily news article about this homecoming, I was once again struck by how influential this school is. I already knew that four of our nine Supreme court justices are Stanford alumni, but I didn’t know that Stanford could also boast of Robert Mueller (the F.B.I. director) and former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

What a mission field–today they learn, tomorrow they lead!

Ehud Barak, former Israeli Prime Minister and Stanford grad, spoke in Memorial Auditorium last night.

Read the school paper’s write-up, which contains several interesting anecdotes, such as this one about how Barak, who served in the Israeli Defense Force for over 30 years and is often described as Israels most decorated soldier, illustrated the need for ruthless resolve as he recounted some of his most memorable operations against Palestinian militants. He told the audience about a successful raid he led on a hijacked airplane, and he described the execution of a Hamas leader he carried out while disguised as a female brunette with everything in place, he laughed, gesturing toward his chest.

of course, such an event could not pass without protest (albeit peaceful)

and in an interview beforehand he made an observation that I found particularly relevant to my calling as a campus missionary: Though Barak ultimately left his mark on the world not through academia but rather through the military and politics, he said that he considers universities to be at the forefront of international leadership.

Somehow, the university is the place where the leadership of the future in all areas of life is formed, he said. Since the best and the brightest are coming through … these institutions, they have a great influence on the leadership of this nation and nations as a whole. (source universal remote divx )

Wow–the Cardinal was just trounced by the ignobly-named Wazzu, with a final score of 36–11.

Paula and I were able to attend because I did the morning devotional for the Wazzu team (the team chaplain is the Steve Barke, the Chi Alpha director up in Pullman, and he asked me to fill in for him while his team was on the road).

In any event, they gave me a pair of comp tickets right in the middle of the fan Cougar section. Not only did we see Stanford get spanked up and down the field, but we did it while sitting in front of a former cheerleader and her slightly inebriated companions who let the whole world know what they thought of Stanford’s lack of prowess.

It was a sad, sad day for Cardinal fans, but the Cougar fans must be ecstatic.

On the up side, the opposing coach had a nice comment to make after the game: I feel like this Stanford team is about ready to explode and do really well on offense, so I think our defense did a nice job of keeping them at bay. It won’t be too long before Stanford gets their offense going. I think their penalties were a result of a lot of frustration on their part. They’re going to spoil somebody’s Saturday real soon, and I’m just glad it wasn’t ours. (source)