[Goose]

It sure looks like the graduate population has increased over time...

I would imagine that for post-doctoral scholars, the increase is more dramatic since once upon a time graduate students could go straight to a faculty position.  Now, in a lot of disciplines, a post doc is de rigeur and many post-graduates do more than one post-doc before getting a faculty position.  Also, labs are increasingly reliant on post-doc Labor.

BC

Yes, more graduate students, but not anywhere close to a factor of 4. Not even a factor of 2. There are certainly more post-docs, as you point out. However, I am quite confident that a graph of "square ft. per student/postdoc" will show a dramatic increase. From what I can tell, there is no question that postdocs have much nicer facilities than they in, say,  the 1980's. I don't think that is bad. I do question whether the "research product per sq foot" is as great as it should be.
It is also true that Stanford no longer needs large facilities for computers, which were previously required. As I try to write this post, it becomes clear this is a complex topic. Stanford has always built new buildings, but the rate has increased dramatically. I just don't want Stanford as a university to forget that those inside the buildings and what they are doing is more important than the buildings themselves. I am afraid that is happening/has happened.

[Goose]

It sure looks like the graduate population has increased over time...

I would imagine that for post-doctoral scholars, the increase is more dramatic since once upon a time graduate students could go straight to a faculty position.  Now, in a lot of disciplines, a post doc is de rigeur and many post-graduates do more than one post-doc before getting a faculty position.  Also, labs are increasingly reliant on post-doc Labor.

BC

Yes, more graduate students, but not anywhere close to a factor of 4. Not even a factor of 2. There are certainly more post-docs, as you point out. However, I am quite confident that a graph of "square ft. per student/postdoc" will show a dramatic increase. From what I can tell, there is no question that postdocs have much nicer facilities than they in, say,  the 1980's. I don't think that is bad. I do question whether the "research product per sq foot" is as great as it should be.
It is also true that Stanford no longer needs large facilities for computers, which were previously required. As I try to write this post, it becomes clear this is a complex topic. Stanford has always built new buildings, but the rate has increased dramatically. I just don't want Stanford as a university to forget that those inside the buildings and what they are doing is more important than the buildings themselves. I am afraid that is happening/has happened.