Nineteen university student groups win grants to participate in Community Day

Nineteen university student groups have been awarded grants of $1,000 each from the Office of the President and Provost to participate in the third Community Day at Stanford on Sunday, April 4.

They will join roughly 25 other student organizations and university departments participating in the campuswide open house for neighboring communities. The all-day event will feature music, arts, sciences, athletic events, faculty lectures, a children's community carnival and a health fair.

"This year, we looked for student organizations whose applications indicated that the members had a clear sense of what would interest the community, as well as educate and entertain," said Ryan Foley, event coordinator in University Communications. "The students who have participated in Community Day have been key to making it a great event, and we're very grateful to them. The surveys we've conducted over the past two years indicate that parents especially appreciate the opportunity for their kids to interact with Stanford students."

Community Day was held for the first time two years ago and drew about 6,500 people. Last year, an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people visited campus. This year's event, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will again be centered around the university's Main Quad at the end of Palm Drive. All events are free and open to the public. University officials hope the event promotes partnerships and increases understanding among Stanford and its neighbors, especially the residents of Palo Alto, Menlo Park, East Palo Alto, Woodside, Mountain View and Portola Valley.

The following 19 student groups were awarded grants from the Office of the President and Provost:

• Artspan, which participated in the event last year, is a nonprofit, volunteer organization that provides free visual arts education to underprivileged children. The group plans a "Fantastic Hat Factory" where children can create and decorate a variety of paper hats.
• Alpha Kappa Psi, a co-educational fraternity whose mission is to create ethical, skilled, resourceful and experienced business leaders, will host a simplified market simulation to teach children about risk and reward and about the powerful motivations for investing.
• The Audio Engineering Society, which participated in last year's Community Day, will teach children about audio equipment and the science of sound.
• El Ballet Folklorico de Stanford, whose mission is to promote Mexican culture and foster respect of Mexican folklore through dance, will display traditional Mexican dance costumes and discuss their significance to Mexican history and culture.
• The Latino '06 Council is committed to promoting awareness of current issues surrounding the Latino community. The group plans to host piñata making.
• The Organization of Arab-American Students in Stanford (OASIS) provides a forum for the discussion of issues related to Arab Americans and the Arab world. OASIS will offer music, traditional hand painting and children's storytelling.
• Sigma Theta Multicultural Sorority, which seeks to promote appreciation for diversity, will offer storytelling and art activities.
• The Society for International Affairs at Stanford works to increase awareness among Stanford students about international affairs. The group hopes to focus on increasing awareness of Haiti through Haitian games and educational displays.
• The Society of Women Engineers, which participated last year, plans to help children better understand static electricity and surface tension and will create architectural structures out of toothpicks and gumdrops.
• The Stanford African Students Association, which has participated during the past two years, will invite visitors to help create giant puzzles of Africa that educate children about the continent's people, animals and natural resources. The group will also offer storytelling, calligraphy displays and potato batik painting.
• The Stanford Alpine Project, which participated last year, will offer exhibits about the geology of California, including a clinic on how to build a volcano.
• The Stanford Astronomical Society, whose mission is to encourage an appreciation of the universe through the study of astronomy, will offer sunspot viewing, solar system workshops and exhibits of astrophotography.
• The Stanford Chemistry Club, which participated last year, will offer a magic show consisting of demonstrations designed to educate and entertain, including imploding cans and frozen flowers.
• The Stanford Community Farm, whose mission is to educate the Stanford community about organic gardening, will offer visitors the chance to plant seeds. The group, which participated last year, will also give children an opportunity to make scarecrows.
• Stanford in Government, a nonpartisan group that promotes political awareness in the Stanford community, will offer educational games for children designed to encourage them to be politically active.
• The Stanford Turkish Student Association, which educates people about Turkey and its culture, will perform traditional Turkish folk dances, demonstrate the art of Turkish rug making and offer children's storytelling.
• The Stanford Undergraduate Psychology Association will educate Community Day visitors about the importance of sleep to their health. The group will give children an opportunity to make dream-catchers as they learn about "rapid eye movement" sleep and its relationship to dreams.
• The Thai American Intercultural Society, which participated in Community Day last year, will offer arts and crafts exhibits and workshops on Thai sports, such as the art of Thai sword fighting, Thai boxing and takraw (kick volleyball).
• United Students for Veterans' Health aid in the care and enrich the lives of veterans by volunteering their services at the Menlo Park Veterans' Hospital. They will give children the opportunity to contribute to a piece of artwork that will be given to the hospital.

Among other student groups participating in Community Day are the American Red Cross of Stanford, which will offer "safety stations" to teach children what to do in case of fire, choking or other emergencies; En!gma magazine, which is working with the Stanford Writing Center on a project for area students; the Stanford Organizing Committee for the Arts, which helps to coordinate student performing groups; and the Stanford Community Carnival, which offers the highly popular carnival for children involving many residences and organizations throughout campus.

Among the university departments and organizations scheduled to participate in Community Day are Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Shakespeare in Asia, Stanford Athletics, Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning, Stanford Writing Center, Stanford Art Spaces, Gravity Probe B, Parking and Transportation, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford Hospital and Clinics, Stanford Hospital Health Library, Women's Health@Stanford, Lane Medical Library, Environmental Health and Safety, Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford Lively Arts, Center on Polymer Interfaces and Macromolecular Assemblies, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford Alumni Association, Stanford Events/Founders' Celebrations, and Stanford Historical Society. In addition, "Discovering Dickens," the community reading project sponsored by Continuing Studies, will culminate with an event on Community Day.

For more information, visit the web at http://communityday.stanford.edu, call (650) 724-2933 or e-mail community-day@lists.stanford.edu.