The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) will be getting a new name due to a trademark disagreement between the University and the U.S. Department of Energy, according to The Stanford Report.

When the Energy Department tried to file a trademark and copyright application for the center’s name last year, Stanford officials objected, saying that the University owns the rights to the name “Stanford.”

Energy Department officials maintain that the name change is occurring because of the center’s new emphasis on photon science and particle astrophysics.

Now, the Energy Department is scrambling to come up with a new name for the center. A SLAC committee is working on names to suggest to the Energy Department. Some advocate simply renaming the center SLAC, with the initials no longer standing for anything, a solution reached with names like SRI International and the SAT.

Other suggestions include naming the center after its founder and first director Wolfgang “Pief” Panofsky, calling it the Jasper Ridge or Silicon Valley National Laboratory, or coming up with a different name that could still be abbreviated as SLAC.

While the new name will most likely not include the name “Stanford,” the University will continue to run the center.

Publications, advertisement win awards

University publications and advertising spots won a whopping 16 medals in The Circle of Excellence Awards Program this year, an annual contest held by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

The Council reported receiving 3,500 entries from 766 organizations worldwide.

Grand gold awards, the top prize offered by the Council, were earned by Stanford Lawyer in the Magazine Publishing Improvement category, and Stanford Medicine in the Periodical Staff Writing for External Audiences category.

The popular laser cat video advertisement from the “Hail, Stanford, Hail” series earned the University one of its four gold medals; entries from Stanford Magazine and Stanford Medicine secured the other three.

The University also won five silver medals and five bronze medals.

Alum nominated for $100,000 award

Kjerstin Erickson ‘05, founder of the non-profit African teaching organization FORGE, has been named a finalist for the “Do Something Award,” a $100,000 prize given to a young person who has done something to change the world. The winner will be announced at Fox’s Teen Choice Awards in Hollywood on Aug. 4.

Erickson told The San Jose Mercury News that she was shocked by the awards show invite, comparing it to something in a gossip magazine.

Rubbing shoulders with celebrities like Miley Cyrus and walking down the red carpet is not a regular part of Erickson’s life.

As Executive Director of FORGE, which teaches African refugees skills so that they can rebuild their countries, Erickson has been living and working in refugee camps in places like Botswana and Zambia. She even got married at a refugee camp in Africa to FORGE board president Nick Talarico.

Erickson applied for the award to help fundraise for FORGE, which she turned over to refugees to run last year.