Palo 6°Ê888]Ê ÕLiÀÊ{ÓÊUÊÕÞÊÓÎ]ÊÓä£äÊN xäZ Inside this issue AN ALMANAC, MOUNTAIN VIEW VOICE AND PALO ALTO WEEKLY PUBLICATION Alto SUMMER 2010 Summer Home + Garden DESIGNERDRAMA ADDS IN PALO ALTO HOME Design PAGE 16 BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS IN PALO ALTO I PAGE 4 NO MORE BORING BOXES IN MOUNTAIN VIEW I PAGE 8 DRAMATIC PORCH ENHANCES LIFE IN MENLO PARK I PAGE 25 www.PaloAltoOnline.com page 15 1ST PLACE GENERAL EXCELLENCE California Newspaper Publishers Association Spectrum 12 Movies 27 Eating Out 29 Puzzles 60 NArts Paying tribute to Django’s ‘gypsy jazz’ Page 23 NSports Jeremy Lin signs with the Warriors Page 32 NHome How edible is your garden? Page 37 Packard Pediatric Center for Weight Control Healthy Weight Program Packard Stanford Parents & Children’s School of Families Hospital Medicine TOGETHER WE HELPED ALBERTO LOSE 30 POUNDS. Thanks to the Packard Pediatric Weight Control Program, Alberto had a whole care team, including his mom, not just behind him, but beside him. Together at every class, the team champions lifelong healthy habits: wisdom that families can take home, to the market, or anywhere. Far more than quick-fi x calorie counting or weight loss, our approach is not just livable, it’s contagious. Alberto’s Mom lost 12 pounds herself. Having a program that inspires losses like this truly is the community’s gain. www.lpch.org To learn more about the Packard Pediatric Weight Control Program, visit pediatricweightcontrol.lpch.org or call 650-725-4424. Page 2ÊUÊÕÞÊÓÎ]ÊÓä£äÊUÊ*>ÊÌÊ7iiÞ 1ST PLACE BEST LOCAL NEWS COVERAGE California Newspaper Publishers Association UpfrontLocal news, information and analysis Palo Alto may switch to even-year elections Move would save city money, decided to stay on odd years. legal staff to draft a charter amend- and Greg Scharff made the proposal A switch from odd to even years ment and ballot language that would to request an ordinance changing the extend terms of current council members would require the council to change allow current council members to election year. The council will dis- by Gennady Sheyner the City Charter. It would also serve five-year terms and that would cuss the proposal on Aug. 2, the final stretch the terms of four council not effect their ability to serve two meeting before its August recess. alo Alto officials could soon proposed last month by Santa Clara members — Pat Burt, Sid Espinosa, terms. The council agreed at the end of switch to even years for lo- County Supervisor Liz Kniss. The Greg Schmid and Yiaway Yeh — Kniss acknowledged during her its meeting — which spilled over P cal elections — a move that switch would have to be approved until 2012. Their terms are currently presentation last month that the po- from Monday night into early Tues- would save the city about $200,000 by city voters. scheduled to expire in 2011. litical aspect of the switch could be day morning — that Kniss’ proposal every two years and extend the Kniss, a former Palo Alto mayor, The five council members who the most difficult obstacle. But she deserves a closer look. terms of current City Council mem- told the council at the June 21 meet- were elected (or, in Larry Klein’s said the switch would both save the “I think it’s important to have a bers by a year. ing that most cities in the county case, reelected) last November city money and raise voter turnout. discussion on the matter, given that The council asked the City Attor- already hold their elections on even would see their terms expire in 2014 “Voters are much more engaged, she raised it and it’s an important ney’s office early Tuesday morning years, which coincides with state if the measure gets on the ballot and especially in a presidential year, and issue,” Scharff said. N to draft an ordinance that would and federal elections. Los Altos and the voters approve it. the buzz of running is always a big- Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner change the city’s election year from Gilroy had recently switched from The council voted 8-1, with ger buzz,” Kniss told the council. can be e-mailed at gsheyner@ odd to even years, a switch that was odd to even years, while Cupertino Schmid dissenting, to ask the city’s Councilwoman Karen Holman paweekly.com. TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION Stanford goes electronic Intensive with newest library summer Online-based library will provide easier access school draws and convenience, librarian says by Angela Chen to a close Two-semester classes hen Stanford University coffee devices are replacing the Weber Veronica unveils its new engineer- books at Stanford. are new this year W ing library Aug. 2, students The new Jen-Hsun Huang En- by Chris Kenrick will notice that the shelves now hold gineering Library is part of an en- fewer books than ever. gineering quad and occupies only early 100 high school stu- And that’s just how the university 6,000 square feet — less than half dents are immersed in a new wants it. the 16,000 square-foot area of the Struttin’ his stuff N summer-school offering in Stanford is one of the first part- original Terman Engineering Li- A peacock displays all his glory at the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Palo Alto this year — two-semester ners in the Google Books Library brary. Accordingly, its shelves Zoo, which recently reopened the bobcat exhibit area after extensive classes. Project, an initiative to digitize con- will hold only 10,000 books, an renovation. Of the 2,958 children and teens tent into an online database. The 85 percent decrease from the total currently enrolled in summer university has moved thousands of volumes housed in Terman. That school, 98 are high school students volumes to off-campus storage and 85 percent translates to more than years are relegated to the Livermore have new duties that include things completing courses such as algebra added subscriptions to more than 80,000 books being stored 40 miles facility, while often-used materials such as scanning, helping with 1, geometry, biology and world his- 25,000 Web journals as a result. away in Livermore. — including those requested by pro- Google Book search and helping tory. It’s a practical solution for a uni- “We’re not throwing away a sin- fessors for instructional use in the facilitate access of information no The “second semester” will end versity that buys books at a rate of gle book, but we do need another classroom — remain on campus. matter what format,” she said. July 30. First semester ran from 273 per day and is running out of place to store them,” Stanford Dean Other considerations include the However, mechanical-engineer- June 21 to July 9. on-campus storage space, officials of Engineering Jim Plummer said. age of material, especially since in- ing undergraduate Ben Kallman The two-semester program — say. “So many of our students and fac- formation in engineering becomes said that moving books off site is a squeezed into six weeks of inten- Stanford is only one of the schools ulty already use online resources for outdated very quickly, and the con- loss, despite the ease of online ma- sive, five-hour days — is a new of- moving toward electronic libraries. most of their work. The new library dition of the book. terials. fering, created in response to pleas From the University of California reflects the way the world of engi- “Storing off-site is actually better “The prospect of browsing a shelf from teachers, students and parents, system to Cornell University in New neering works today.” for the books since it’s a climate- online is not appealing for a student according to Assistant Superinten- York, the trend has been growing It is natural for the engineering controlled facility,” Josephine said. in need of inspiration,” he said in an dent Virginia Davis. in recent years. The University of library to have its books stored off The 80,000 volumes in Liver- e-mail. “There is no replacement for a Previously, Palo Alto summer Texas-San Antonio opened a new site, Stanford Director of Library more will still be available to Stan- shelf of books all on the same topic.” school offered at most only one- library this year with study rooms Communications Andrew Herkovic ford students, retrievable within 24 Herkovic said that another disad- semester’s worth of class. and computers but without a single said. In engineering, as in physics hours. vantage is that people may not be “Students were having to go to book, while Arizona State Univer- and similar departments, a “book” On the whole, Josephine said, the prepared to read large quantities of other districts or to private high sity presented undergraduates with is often a bound set of journals or new library is more convenient for material on the screen. schools in the area to make up the Kindles loaded with course materi- periodicals instead of a narrative students. They don’t even have to However, electronic media has credits they needed or wanted, so als, only to be sued by blind students read in chronological order. They come to the library to use its con- other uses, such as potentially reduc- we added the extra weeks,” Davis over the e-reader’s inaccessibility. are easy to digitize, and as a result, tents. ing paper usage, he said. Whereas in said in an interview Wednesday. Nor is this phenomenon limited engineering content is readily found “Having this material online the past people would buy an entire “Our kids have changing and to institutions of higher education.