ROTC -- Edwards Air Force Base -- California -- June 17, 2026

Olivia is attending Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, studying electrical engineering, on an AF-ROTC scholarship.

This summer she was selected for a highly-sought-after three-week tour of Edwards Air Force Base, California, a test site for the Air Force.

She drove down from Palo Alto, California, on Sunday, June 14, 2026.

On Monday, while being fitted for a helmet and g-suit to fly in a jet fighter -- probably an F-16 or F15, the ROTC students were hustled out of the building, change in plans.

Because the runway was closed and due to other requirements following the mishap, the planned jet fighter flight was postponed. However the students got to "fly" in a jet fighter simulator.

Olivia's grandfather was a crewmember of a B-52 back in 1982 or thereabouts when he was stationed at Grand Forks AFB, ND, as a flight surgeon / pediatrician. 

He had only flight in the B-52. It was a night mission, eight hours long, flying low-level (500 feet off the ground) through the Rocky Mountains. Terrain-folllowing, night flight.  

YouTube report: link here. 

Olivia On Her Way To Edwards AFB -- Three-Week Summer Program -- Posted June 15, 2026

Lewis Terman -- Stanford Psychologist -- Posted June 15, 2026

Lewis Terman. 

Link here. 

Father and son.

Lewis Terman. The father.

Frederick Terman. The son. President of Stanford.  

The lede: 

To the Los Angeles juvenile authorities in 1923, Edward Dmytryk was an ordinary runaway trying to escape a vicious father who tore up his schoolbooks and clubbed him with a two-by-four. Mr. Dmytryk wanted his 14-year-old son back—if only, as the caseworker suspected, because Edward brought home vital income.

While the authorities deliberated, a letter arrived from Professor Lewis Terman, the nation's most famous psychologist and the man who had planted the term "IQ" in America's vocabulary. He wasn't a relative or family friend; he had never even met the boy. But the Stanford professor believed Edward deserved a break because he was "gifted"—a word Terman coined to describe the bright kids he devoted his life to researching.

Edward's high score on an IQ test had qualified him for Terman's pathbreaking Genetic Study of Genius. Terman, who had grown up gifted himself, was gathering evidence to squelch the popular stereotype of brainy, "bookish" children as frail oddballs doomed to social isolation. He wanted to show that most smart kids were robust and well-adjusted—that they were, in fact, born leaders who ought to be identified early and cultivated for their rightful roles in society.

Though the more than 1,000 youngsters enrolled in his study didn't know it at the time, they were embarking on a lasting relationship. As Terman poked around in their lives with his inquisitive surveys, "he fell in love with those kids," explains Albert Hastorf, emeritus professor of psychology. To the group he always called "my gifted children"—even after they grew up—Terman became mentor, confidant, guidance counselor and sometimes guardian angel, intervening on their behalf. In doing so, he crashed through the glass that is supposed to separate scientists from subjects, undermining his own data. But Terman saw no conflict in nudging his protégés toward success, and many of them later reflected that being a "Terman kid" had indeed shaped their self-images and changed the course of their lives.

Thanks to Terman's timely letter, for example, Edward Dmytryk went to a good foster home. You may have seen his name in the titles for The Caine Mutiny, one of the 23 films he later directed.

Forty-four years after Terman's death, the study is still going on. About 200 of his "kids" are alive, still completing periodic questionnaires on their health and activities and returning them to Stanford's psychology department. The Termites, as they're fondly nicknamed, have been tracked for nearly 80 years now, through nearly all the milestones of life. It's the longest-running survey ever carried out. And although Terman didn't conceive it as such, the study established a powerful new research approach: the longitudinal investigation, in which scientists follow a group of people over many years to learn how factors in early life influence later variables such as health and longevity.

Marred by design flaws, the genius study yielded few momentous conclusions beyond reassuring Americans that it's okay to be smart. Yet the archives have a value that Terman never envisioned: they provide an unmatched record of lives that spanned almost all of the 20th century. Researchers have pored over the Terman files to explore historical phenomena (did World War II veterans suffer lingering effects of combat?) as well as broader questions (does personality influence life span?). Social scientists have called the archives a national treasure because they tell the life stories of so many Americans.

A story of a different kind emerges from Terman's own writings—a disturbing tale of the beliefs of a pioneer in psychology. Lewis Terman was a loving mentor, yes, but his ardent promotion of the gifted few was grounded in a cold-blooded, elitist ideology. Especially in the early years of his career, he was a proponent of eugenics, a social movement aiming to improve the human "breed" by perpetuating certain allegedly inherited traits and eliminating others. While championing the intelligent, he pushed for the forced sterilization of thousands of "feebleminded" Americans. Later in life, Terman backed away from eugenics, but he never publicly recanted his beliefs.

Looking back, what are we to make of the man and his work? That's a question Al Hastorf has been grappling with. The former Stanford provost and vice president is the third director of the Terman study (he succeeded psychology professor Robert Sears), overseeing the project from his office in Jordan Hall. An amiable and restless man with a wry sense of humor, Hastorf has been pondering Lewis Terman's legacy for a chapter he's writing in a book on pioneering psychologists.

"There's a certain delicacy about talking about him," Hastorf begins, "because he was probably one of the first really big names Stanford had."

To most people at Stanford, the name Terman evokes another person entirely: Fred Terman, '20, Engr. '22, the engineering professor, dean and provost who helped launch California's electronics industry in the 1950s and who was Lewis Terman's son. But while Fred got his name inscribed on buildings on and off campus, Lewis probably had as much impact on people's lives, because he almost single-handedly introduced IQ testing in America.

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Gemini

Query:

Recent articles on Lewis Terman. How is he viewed in 2020s? 

Reply: 

AFROTC Achievement Award -- May 14, 2026

 A note from Olivia, May 14, 2026:

I got an the AFROTC Achievement Award (given to about 6 cadets) and a pin from the Reserve Organization of America (given to 2 cadets) recognizing my contributions to the detachment. The last certificate was given to many students for maintaining 3.5 GPA in college and a 4.0 in our ROTC classes.

The whole night is awards, but it was nice to get a few recognizing my time as PFO. 

In ROTC (specifically Air Force ROTC), PFO stands for Physical Fitness Officer. They are cadet leaders responsible for planning, organizing, and executing PT (Physical Training) sessions to prepare cadets for their physical fitness assessments. PFOs focus on leading workouts, including running, strengthening, and calisthenics.

Marshall Islands -- Summer Of 2026

Update, May 14, 2026: this will have to wait. AFROTC interfered with Olivia's plans.

Original Post 

When we learn more about it, find out if the professor is from Stanford's Doerr School of Sustainability or the Haas Center. 

AI Query: What's the likely flight route from SFO to the Marshall Islands?

Reply: 

Flashback -- Date Unknown -- Probably Middle School -- March 25, 2026

 

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Papa Reading to Olivia

Flashback: Olivia -- Fourteen Years Old -- CRISPR -- From 2018 -- February 16, 2026

From another blog this date.

Reading this week:

• Matt Ridley's Genome, 1999; and, 
• The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race, Walter Isaacson, c. 2021. Notes here.
• an early post on CRISPR: link here. This was back in 2018! Whoo-hoo!
• CRISPR was all the rage in the 2010s. All of a sudden, the acronym is seldom heard/read in mainstream media. 

I had forgotten I wrote this in 2018:

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Bonus Note For The Granddaughters

CRISPR.

CRISPR-Cas9.

Until this week, I knew nothing of significance about CRISPR. For whatever reason I mentioned CRISPR to our 14-year-old granddaughter on the way to school the other day, and she became incredibly animated. She loved "CRISPR" and knew more about it than I did.

Whatever she knows about CRISPR she learned on her own. I doubt they have yet studied it in high school, although it's possible it's been mentioned

I'll have fun talking to her about CRISPR over the next few weeks.

CRISPR is part of the DNA genome. Back in 1993, a biologist studying bacteria in Spanish swamps, found bacteria whose DNA contained repeated sequences of DNA that did not correspond to anything previously seen.

Because of the nature of these repeated sequences (clusters, regularly interspersed, and short palindromic repeats) he labeled them CRISPR for short.

It turns out that these palindromic repeats of "meaningless" genome were actually pieces of viral DNA -- viruses that had invaded bacteria as pathogens (bacteriophages -- to eat bacteria).

It is hypothesized that by incorporating this "meaningless" viral genome, bacteria are more quickly able to defend against a virus from attacking it (a second time).

And like everything else in biology, there is more to the story.

Molecular biology dogma: DNA makes RNA makes protein.

CRISPER makes RNA but this RNA does not make a protein. By itself, the CRISPR-RNA is worthless.

But, as it turns out, as in a Rudyard Kipling "just so" story, bacteria also contain an enzyme (or protein) called Cas9 -- short for CRISPER-associated protein 9. If the biologists had had a sense of humor, it would be easier to remember as"Mama Cass protein" -- CRISPR-associated protein that loves to eat.

But a very special way of eating.

As noted above CRISPER-RNA by itself is worthless.

But with the Cas9 enzyme "stuff happens." Cas9 enzyme is a "cutter."

CRISPER-RNA guides Cas9 enzyme to the virus with the corresponding DNA genome.

At the viral DNA genome, the Cas9 enzyme gets to work, cutting out the viral genome that corresponds to CRISPR-RNA.

Pretty clever, huh?

Know who connected the dots, figured this out?

A Danish yogurt company. Yup, Danisco -- a Danish yogurt company.

Danisco is now owned by Dow Dupont.

Researchers now use CRISPER-Cas9 to target any region/gene in any DNA genome and cut it out / remove it. By removing a gene, researchers are better able to discern the purpose of a previously non-understood gene.

If a bacteria is able to do what a bacteria normally does and now loses a certain function because it has lost a certain gene, scientists have a pretty good idea of what that gene must be responsible for.

Likewise, researchers can do that to any mammalian genome.

Much, much more to the story but I now have enough to share with our granddaughter and still be able to keep up with her.

This was from "Diary" in the current issue of London Review of Books. Another source is here. 

That 14-year-old granddaughter is now a sophomore STEM student at Stanford University, California, ROTC. 

 

Academic Calendar -- Overview -- December 13, 2025

Olivia is home from Stanford on break. 

Will went out deer hunting. Got at least one buck. Is allowed up to eight deer, a mix of bucks and does. His goal: two or three. 

Deer steak from Will, one year ago: 

Looking at the Stanford website calendar, this is Stanford's quarterly system:

• Olivia started in autumn, 2024: in general
• 1st quarter: Sept - Dec
•  Flavio, Cindy visit on Family Day
• 2nd quarter: Jan - Mar
• 3rd quarter: Apr - Jun
• 4th quarter: July - Aug
• 2025 - 2026
• Autumn quarter: Sept 22 - Dec 12 (just completed; Olivia home on break)
• Olivia passes her ROTC PFA (physical fitness assessment); 91.2%;  
• Winter quarter: Jan 5 - Mar 20
• Spring quarter: Mar 30 - Jun 10
• Summer quarter (generally somewhat shorter): July 22 - Aug 15 (optional)
• 2026 - 2027

Olivia Asked For Papa's Christmas Gift List -- December 13, 2025

 

On Amazon:

Lego, Speed Champions, 2023 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car, Amazon, $26. Click on link. 

Lego, Speed Champions, 2023 Pagani Utopia Race Car, Amazon, $27. Click on link. 

At Belk next to our house, Grammy will help you if necessary:

1. Lights for bike. These are very expensive but they've been 60% off; now selling for maybe $20 on sale. I don't know. But if not on sale, don't consider. Walmart always has nice selection. These are Belk in the dad's gift selection; kind of hard to find; may need to ask.

4. My favorite choice, just one set of four, about $36; again at Belk, in the kitchen section:
 

Thanksgiving Break -- To Portland, OR -- Via The Cascade Mountain Range -- Mt Shasta -- November 23, 2025

Olivia's visit. Olivia and friend(s) drove up to Portland, OR, from Palo Alto, CA, to visit Judah and Levi.

 Cascades.

 

Mt Shasta in the background.

Olivia in the white jacket.