August 23, 2005 To all Bracewell Observatory Rescue supporters: We've received over 700 signatures on "Save The Stanford Dishes!" petition. It has been delivered to the President of Stanford, and we will update him as it grows. Now we need your help with the next big step: ******************************************************** *** PLEASE WRITE! Your email can help tip the scale! *** ******************************************************** If you are a Stanford alumni: Howie Wolf President of the Stanford Alumni Association wolf@stanford.edu If you know any of the following: President John Hennessy hennessy@stanford.edu Provost John Etchemendy etch@csli.stanford.edu Dean of Engineering Jim Plummer plummer@ee.stanford.edu If you have a complaint or opinion: David Rasch Stanford Ombudsman rasch@stanford.edu Editor of Stanford Report Elaine Ray elaineray@stanford.edu letters @ anynewspaper Here is an example email message: --------------------------- Dear ____, Why has President Hennessy not replied to the proposal he received on August 10th from the Friends of the Bracewell Observatory Association to endow and maintain the radio telescope for faculty and students? Why is the administration determined to rush to demolition? The dishes have been in place for decades, and can certainly be allowed to stand while faculty and funding proposals are thoroughly explored. I call upon you to help: * Rescind the demolition order to allow time for a careful decision * Gather all the facts first-hand by convening a meeting so all parties can be heard * Accept FBOA's funding and maintenance proposal Sincerely, [Your name here] --------------------------- Thanks for your support! Best wishes, Bob -------------------------------------------------------- Bob Lash, M.D. President Friends of the Bracewell Observatory Association Email: bob@bambi.net http://www.bambi.net/stanford_dishes/rescue.html -------------------------------------------------------- August 16, 2005 To all rescue effort supporters, The Santa Clara County Planning Office has received an application for a demolition permit by Stanford, and will begin the environmental/historical review process to determine if a permit should be issued or not. In the meantime we have collected 477 signatures on the petition to date (thank you for your support!!), and a printed copy including all signatures and submitted comments is being sent by Fed Ex to President Hennessy (along with an update letter and meeting request) for Thursday morning delivery. Please keep spreading the word about the petition! We will keep Stanford and the media updated on our progress! The rescue effort has received a lot of media coverage this past week, with articles appearing in the San Jose Mercury News (Aug 11 and Aug 12), the Palo Alto Daily News (Aug 12), and the San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Edition (Aug 14). I was just interviewed again by the San Jose Mercury, which will run another article in the next few days, as well as the Stanford Daily. Of special note is a letter to the editor by Author E. Charette which appeared in the Monday (Aug 15) edition of the San Jose Mercury News, which I reprint below: * * * "Why demolish astrophysics lab? I was dismayed and terribly disappointed to note in the Mercury News (Page 5A, Aug. 11) that the renowned astrophysics laboratory known as Site 515, and labeled on the Mercury's diagram as Bracewell Observatory, is to be demolished. As a former principal and major-gift fundraiser at Stanford, I can assure you that some of the donors to the university are equally amazed. The public reaction to this hasty decision might be expected to resemble what would ensue if the hiking trail up to the big dish were closed to the public. To destroy this superb and useful educational facility and turn it into a nature preserve that serves no academic purpose seems like a huge bureaucratic blunder." - Author E. Charette, Associate Director of Development, Emeritus, Stanford University * * * Best wishes, Bob -------------------------------------------------------- Bob Lash, M.D., B.S.E.E./C.S. President Friends of the Bracewell Observatory Association Email: bob@bambi.net http://www.bambi.net/stanford_dishes/rescue.html --------------------------------------------------------- August 10, 2005 To all rescue effort supporters, *** The demolition has been halted! *** We contacted the Santa Clara County Planning Office, who checked yesterday and discovered that Stanford does not have a demolition permit. Therefore demolition cannot proceed any time soon. Any new permit request is going to be subject to County historical/environmental review. We sent an offer yesterday (via overnight delivery) to the President of Stanford, John Hennessey, to fund the restoration and operation for the benefit of Stanford faculty and students in exchange for a lease. This approach would accomplish our aims and at the same time absolve the Dean of the School of Engineering of any future responsibility. On the media front, an article about the rescue effort will be appearing in the San Jose Mercury News, possibly in tomorrow's edition, by science writer Dave Herbert. We also received favorable coverage this past week in The Wave Magazine (http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=25404) and the Palo Alto Daily News (Aug 3 edition). Best wishes, Bob -------------------------------------------------------- Bob Lash, M.D., B.S.E.E./C.S. President Friends of the Bracewell Observatory Association Email: bob@bambi.net http://www.bambi.net/stanford_dishes/rescue.html --------------------------------------------------------- August 7, 2005 To all rescue effort supporters, The Stanford Astronomy Program's request to obtain the site as a teaching observatory has been denied by the School of Humanites and Sciences after they consulted with the Provost. Therefore demolition may still occur as early as August 15th. I will update you shortly regarding our remaining steps. Best wishes, Bob -------------------------------------------------------- Bob Lash, M.D., B.S.E.E./C.S. President Friends of the Bracewell Observatory Association Email: bob@bambi.net http://www.bambi.net/stanford_dishes/rescue.html --------------------------------------------------------- August 2, 2005 Hi all - I'm pleased to report that the Bracewell Observatory's August 15th demolition start date has been postponed today by Stanford's School of Engineering (by at least a few weeks)! This was done to allow the Stanford Astronomy Program's proposal (to provide a teaching observatory with our support) to be fully reviewed by the School of Humanities and Sciences. So far, so good! :) Best wishes, Bob -------------------------------------------------------- Bob Lash, M.D., B.S.E.E./C.S. President Friends of the Bracewell Observatory Association Email: bob@bambi.net http://www.bambi.net/stanford_dishes/rescue.html --------------------------------------------------------- August 1, 2005 To all rescue effort supporters, On Tuesday August 2, professors within the Stanford Astronomy Program (Prof. Roger Romani, and Prof. Vahe Petrosian, Chair) will be discussing the proposal with the Cognizant Dean of Natural Sciences (Iain Johnstone) in the School of Humanities and Sciences. We should have more news soon. Best wishes, Bob -------------------------------------------------------- Bob Lash, M.D., B.S.E.E./C.S. President Friends of the Bracewell Observatory Association Email: bob@bambi.net http://www.bambi.net/stanford_dishes/rescue.html --------------------------------------------------------- July 19th, 2005 To all rescue effort supporters, I wanted to update you that today the deadline was officially extended from June 30th to August 1st for consideration of proposals by the Dean of Stanford's School of Engineering (SoE). The actual demolition is currently scheduled to begin August 15th. Our hope is that this will provide sufficient time for the Stanford Astronomy Program to have its proposal considered, in which they would partner with us to bring the site back into operation as a radio astronomy teaching observatory. They have already reviewed this proposal with the Chairman of Physics, and today submitted the plan to the office of the Dean of Humanities and Sciences (H&S). If accepted by the Dean of H&S, the observatory could then be transferred from SoE to H&S. I'll update you as I know more... thanks again for all of your support! Best wishes, Bob -------------------------------------------------------- Bob Lash, M.D., B.S.E.E./C.S. President Friends of the Bracewell Observatory Association Email: bob@bambi.net http://www.bambi.net/stanford_dishes/rescue.html --------------------------------------------------------- To all rescue effort supporters, Here is the latest update as of June 30th, 2005: * The Chairman and professors in the Astronomy Program in Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences see possible long term use of the Bracewell Observatory for teaching purposes. They are asking the Dean of Engineering to defer demolition to allow time for review by the Chairman of the Department of Physics and the Deans of H&S. * Two Stanford student clubs have requested that the dish array not be destroyed, and be made available. These groups are the Stanford Astronomical Society (SAS) and the Stanford Amateur Radio Club. We are supportive of both of these requests, and are offering ourselves to them as a donor organization to raise funds for activities at the site, along with providing the actual restoration and maintenance. We advised the Dean of Engineering today that if he proceeds with an August demolition now, in light of these new developments, it will be widely viewed by us, alumni and donors, and the public, as unfair to these students and faculty. It will also be viewed as a needless waste of a facility which carries a $10 million replacement cost. We requested today that the School of Engineering provide sufficient time for full consideration of the above new uses of the site, and that demolition be delayed to accommodate this. Earlier, we did submit a proposal to the School of Engineering (prior to the June 30th deadline) based on providing tracking and communication for Stanford-built microsatellite missions, but by June 7th it became clear that the Dean was leaning against this. We therefore redirected our focus to the alternative approaches above, both of which are outside of the School of Engineering. So, as they say, the ball is still in play! I will update you all as I know more. Best wishes, Bob -------------------------------------------------------- Bob Lash, M.D., B.S.E.E./C.S. President Friends of the Bracewell Observatory Association Email: bob@bambi.net http://www.bambi.net/stanford_dishes/rescue.html