Caitlin Crandell

LITTLE MISS SANTA BARBARA: One of The Independent‘s busiest summer interns, perhaps, is Caitlin Crandell, a soon-to-be junior at Stanford whose studies of English literature lend her reporting for us a level of composure rare among writers so young. The granddaughter of Larry “Mr. Santa Barbara” Crandell, Caitlin said she’s learning more about the governmental workings of the town she grew up in. But don’t peg her for a policy wonk: She also has a passion for music. In addition to working on an honors thesis on Wagner, Caitlin has played the violin for so long that she can’t remember when she started. “The story is that I asked to play it, but I don’t actually remember that,” she said. “It could have been a conspiracy to make me learn a musical instrument. There’s no way of telling now.”