Stanford University - Palo Alto

The entrance to the University of Stanford Movement Disorders Center - Study of Parkinson Disease Stanford University (officially Leland Stanford Junior University, colloquially the Farm) is a private research university in Stanford, California. Stanford is known for its academic strength, wealth, proximity to Silicon Valley, and ranking as one of the world's top universities. The university was founded in 1885 by Leland and Jane Stanford in memory of their only child, Leland Stanford Jr., who had died of typhoid fever at age 15 the previous year. Stanford was a U.S. Senator and former Governor of California who made his fortune as a railroad tycoon. The school admitted its first students on October 1, 1891, as a coeducational and non-denominational institution. Stanford University struggled financially after Leland Stanford's death in 1893 and again after much of the campus was damaged by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Following World War II, Provost Frederick Terman supported faculty and graduates' entrepreneurialism to build self-sufficient local industry in what would later be known as Silicon Valley. The university is also one of the top fundraising institutions in the country, becoming the first school to raise more than a billion dollars in a year. The university is organized around three traditional schools consisting of 40 academic departments at the undergraduate and graduate level and four professional schools that focus on graduate programs in Law, Medicine, Education and Business. Stanford's undergraduate program is one of the top three most selective in the United States by acceptance rate. Students compete in 36 varsity sports, and the university is one of two private institutions in the Division I FBS Pac-12 Conference. It has gained 117 NCAA team championships, the most for a university. Stanford athletes have won 512 individual championships, and Stanford has won the NACDA Directors' Cup for 23 consecutive years, beginning in 1994–1995. In addition, Stanford students and alumni have won 270 Olympic medals including 139 gold medals. As of August 2018, 81 Nobel laureates, 27 Turing Award laureates, and 8 Fields Medalists have been affiliated with Stanford as students, alumni, faculty or staff. In addition, Stanford University is particularly noted for its entrepreneurship and is one of the most successful universities in attracting funding for start-ups. Stanford alumni have founded a large number of companies, which combined produce more than $2.7 trillion in annual revenue and have created 5.4 million jobs as of 2011, roughly equivalent to the 10th largest economy in the world (as of 2011). Stanford is the alma mater of 30 living billionaires and 17 astronauts, and is also one of the leading producers of members of the United States Congress. The testing location is on the train line from San Francisco to San Jose at the Palo Alto station. My friend Rosemarie who works at SFMOMA told me to ask if I was being paid for the cost of transportation to Stanford. I thought about it, for this test and the one on Friday I would have to pay $45.00. I get $300.00 so why not ask? Ryan said he could check and I had the Clipper Card slip where I bought the tickets! He took it to accounting and came back with $45.00! The other $300.00 will be sent by check to my address! Thanks Rosemarie, for the advice and saving me $45.00!

Project Results as of 2018.09.14

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---------------------------- First Phase of Testing ----------------------------

These are some of the preliminary tests being done before the ones in the machine.

• Do some point and touch exercises with my eyes and fingers.
• Test my arms, legs and head for movements and strength.
• Press keys as often as possible with two fingers on right hand.
• Press keys as often as possible with two fingers on the left hand.
• Do some walking while being videoed.
• Fill out questionaires.

Varsha said I was unusual as I could use both left and right at the same speed.

---------------------------- Second Phase of Testing ----------------------------

Varsha told me I was going to be put in a harness and to stand on squares on the floor in front of the large curved surface. I was going to be tested on my ability to stay standing. My balance seems to be more shaky lately when standing on one foot. So I wondered how I would do?

• Put on harness.
• Place your feet on the squares on the floor of the machine.
• You cannot move your feet at all unless told to move them.
• Stand with your hands by your side for 30 seconds with your eyes OPEN, try not to move.
• Do this test three times.
• First test is 30 seconds.
• Second test is 45 seconds.
• Third test is a minute
• Stand with your hands by your side for 30 seconds with your eyes CLOSED, try not to move.
• Do this test three times.
• First test is 30 seconds.
• Second test is 45 seconds.
• Third test is a minute
• Look at the curved wall and the circles of lights that appear on it.
• The circles will move back and forth, toward and away from you!
• The foot panels you are standing on will move back, forward, up and down.
• First test is 30 seconds.
• Second test is 45 seconds.
• Third test is a minute

• The last test has a monitor with a grey circle and a center white circle.
• You try to move your body to put a yellow cross inside the center white circle.
• A count down will start and another circle will appear on various locations on the grey circle.
• You must try to move the yellow cross toward the circle on the outside of the frame only by leaning.
• You try to touch each circle as it appears and disappears around the edge of the test circle with the yellow cross.
• You cannot move your feet off the plates that measure movements.
• A final questionaire is filled out as to one's physical and mental status.

I managed to do all of the above without falling or failing to finish the tests. Varsha said I did a great job as I had done all the testing with excellant results.

Created on: 2018.08.30

Updated on: 2018.09.21