Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
The Daily Gazette
Swarthmore College
Friday, January 24, 1997
Volume 1, Number 2
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) Residence hall renovations completed
2) The Phoenix will no longer be stuffed in student mailboxes
3) Swarthmore professor receives settlement in sex bias case
4) Student Council attends retreat
5) President Bloom reiterates smoking policy
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Ursinus snaps women’s hoops’ three-game winning streak
2) The weekend lineup
NEWS REPORT
1) Residence hall renovations completed
By Nate Myers
The Phoenix
A few surprises awaited residents of Dana, Hallowell, and Mertz
dormitories as they returned to their halls after winter break. During
the vacation, renovations costing roughly $200,000 were completed in each
dorm. But some students’ belongings were accidentally thrown out during
the construction.
In Dana and Hallowell, the corridors were recarpeted and repainted; new
lighting and bulletin boards were installed; message boards were mounted
on each door; and new shelves were placed in the bathrooms. Several
toilets were also replaced.
Similar improvements were completed on the second and third floors of
Mertz. Hallways got new carpets and lighting in the hallways, kitchens
got new countertops and floor tile, and the burlap wall covering in the
halls was removed. The walls and doors also received a new coat of paint,
and message boards resembling those in Dana and Hallowell were attached
to the doors.
Most students in the three dorms were pleased with the results. But some
Dana and Hallowell residents said more should have been done to solve the
buildings’ plumbing troubles. “It looks awesome,” said Hallowell 2nd
resident Ila Deshmukh ’99. “But the money should’ve gone to something
more important, like the toilets. The new carpet will be ruined if they
keep overflowing.”
Alice Balbierer, assistant director for special projects in the
department of facilities management, said all broken toilets had been
replaced during the renovations. She said the remaining problems are due
to foreign objects, such as hairbrushes, toothbrushes, and combs,
clogging the pipes.
Balbierer said the construction contractor has promised to reimburse
students for belongings that were accidentally thrown out along with
construction debris.
Next up for renovations is the Mary Lyon Building. According to
Balbierer, this summer workers will replace the dorm’s bathtubs with
showers to solve leakage problems, install carpets in the corridors,
patch and plaster the walls, install new lighting, replace doors, and
carry out comprehensive room-by-room repairs.
=30=
2) The Phoenix will no longer be stuffed in student mailboxes
By Neena Shenai
Staff Writer
Don’t be surprised this afternoon when you open your mailbox and don’t
find The Phoenix. Because of a survey done last semester in conjunction
with Earthlust, a campus environmental group, copies of the newspaper
will instead be placed in bins in Parrish Hall.
The survey results showed that 66.5 percent of students read The Phoenix
often, and 73.5 percent recycle it. But students were split on the
question of whether the paper should be distributed in bins or mailboxes.
Though the survey played a large part in the decision, logistical
considerations
also played a role. The newspaper’s staff has chosen to distribute the
paper in bins because with limited manpower it was a strain to stuff
mailboxes every Friday afternoon, co-editor-in-chief Aarti Iyer ’99
explained.
Phoenix staff members also felt it was wasteful to give everyone on
campus a newspaper, especially since papers are often seen strewn around
campus shortly after they are distributed. The staff hopes the new
program will have more environmentally friendly results.
While students will now have to pick up their papers from bins
voluntarily, The Phoenix will still be stuffed in all faculty and staff
mailboxes.
=30=
3) Swarthmore professor receives settlement in sex bias case
By Jennifer Klein
Staff Writer
Swarthmore art history professor Maribeth Graybill recently received
$113,000 from the University of California at Berkeley in a sex
discrimination suit she filed after being denied tenure.
She will receive back wages and expenses in the settlement between UC
Berkeley and the U.S. Department of Justice, which filed the complaint on
her behalf.
The university denies any wrongdoing and said it settled in order to
avoid costly litigation. The Department of Justice, however, found that
UC Berkeley violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when Graybill was
denied tenure.
Graybill was an assistant professor of art history at UC Berkeley from
1981 to 1990. She was not available for comment.
=30=
4) Student Council attends retreat
By Sam Schulhofer-Wohl
Staff Writer
Student Council started its work this semester even before classes began,
meeting last weekend for a retreat to discuss SC’s structure and role on
campus. “I think there’s been a pattern on council of trying to reinvent
the wheel,” said co-coordinator Sean Barney ’98. “The main purpose of the
retreat is to try to get some reccuring preparatory questions at least
begun with before we get into the semester and need to do our business.”
Barney said Council members focused on the role of the co-coordinators
and the way decisions are made. “At this point the co-coordinators have
enormous responsibility but very little authority,” said Barney, who has
served as co-coordinator since September. He wants more authority because
he thinks little will get done if power isn’t concentrated in the hands
of a few leaders.
But other members of SC disagree. “My take is not that they need more
power, but rather that they need less responsibility,” said Charter Chair
Josh Kramer ’00. “Their duties are spread so thin that it’s just not
feasible for them to wear so many hats.”
The retreat also included a discussion of whether Council should make
decisions by consensus or by voting. A “consensus trainer” attended the
event to help SC members learn to build consensus.
In addition, Council members discussed what they hope to achieve this
semester. Barney said SC plans to take a more active role in supervising
the Budget Committee treasurer and the SC van coordinator, both of whom
are paid by student government.
Barney is joined as co-coordinator this semester by Naomi Michlin ’98.
Michlin, who has never served on Council before, says she hopes to bring
new ideas to the group.
=30=
5) President Bloom reiterates smoking policy
By Jennifer Klein
Staff Writer
In a letter to the January 16 edition of the Weekly News, President Al
Bloom emphasized that the College’s smoking policy prohibits smoking in
all indoor public spaces on campus.
This includes all classrooms, libraries, laboratories, lounges, hallways,
and stairwells, Bloom’s letter said. Smoking is also forbidden in all
buildings which use circulated air in their heating and cooling systems.
Bloom stated that Lang Performing Arts Center, Tarble, Pearson, and
Kohlberg are all no smoking areas.
Bloom did not mention what the penalties would be for infractions.
=30=
SPORTS REPORT
1) Ursinus snaps women’s hoops’ three-game winning streak
The women’s basketball team lost 57-44 Thursday night to Ursinus, the
top-ranked team in the Centennial Conference East Division, Ursinus. Pia
Houseal led the Garnet with a double-double, notching 11 points and 13
rebounds. Swarthmore had cut a Bears lead to 37-29 with 10:43 remaining,
but Ursinus put the game away with a 10-0 run. With 11 points in the
game, Lisl Cochran-Bond moved into tenth place on the Swarthmore career
scoring list with 581 points.
=30=
2) The weekend lineup
Wrestling hosts its conference opener Saturday against Mulhenberg,
Gettysburg, and Johns Hopkins.
Men’s hoops play at Western Maryland, while the women host the Green
Terror at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Swimming hosts Dickinson at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Ware Pool.
Indoor track and field will attend the Saturday’s Widener Invitational.
=30=
The Daily Gazette
Board of Editors
Fred Bush
Kate Doty
Jennifer Klein
David Lischer
Eric Pakurar
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl
Sylvia Weedman
The Daily Gazette is published Monday through Friday by an independent
group of Swarthmore College students. Technical support from the
Swarthmore College Computer Society is gratefully acknowledged.
To subscribe to the Gazette, free of charge, send e-mail to
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This concludes today’s report.