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, February 7, 1997
Volume 1, Number 12
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) Screw Your Roommate Date Decided
2) John Baugh and the Ebonics Discussion
3) Klingensmith Wins Award
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Badminton falls to Bryn Mawr
2) Hood trophy standings to date
3) Tonight’s and the weekend’s contests
NEWS REPORT
1) Screw Your Roommate Date Decided
The annual Screw Your Roommate dance will take place Feb. 22 in
Tarble-in-Clothier, said Tanisha Little ’97, Social Affairs Committee
co-director.
Little said the committee originally scheduled the dance for March 1, but
changed that plan after learning that the annual Sager Party would also
be held March 1. “Regardless of what some people think, Sager is as
important to the community as Screw,” Little explained.
The new date of Feb. 22 conflicts with Centennial Conference meets
involving the track and swim teams. Sarah Jane Howard ’98, a member of
the track team, actually likes the date change because “March 1 is the
date for the ECAC track meet which is overnight and some people would
have to miss it altogether.” The scheduled Centennial Conference track
meet will be at Haverford which will make it difficult, but not
impossible, for track team members to attend Screw Your Roommate.
*****
2) John Baugh and the Ebonics Discussion
Thirty members of the Swarthmore College community converged onto a
Parrish classroom to find out that they did not have to be discussing the
topic of “Ebonics” on a Thursday night. John Baugh, Eugene Lang Visiting
Professor of Linguistics, explained that the goal of the Oakland
California schoolboard could have been attained without spurring the
heated debate over Ebonics. He served as the primary resource for over an
hour of uncovering the linguistical, political, and educational
implications of Ebonics.
The word, “Ebonics” drew national attention on December 18th, 1996 when
an Oakland California schoolboard declared that the language
predominantly spoken by its African-American students was a language
different and distinct from the English language. This move made 28,000
low-income, African-American students and an Oakland “Standard English”
program, eligible for California’s Title 7 funds – funds set aside for
school programs that help students make the transition from speaking a
second language to speaking standard English, says Baugh. By December
19th, Baugh stated in The New York Times that he supported the
schoolboard’s intent. Later, he received various pieces of “hatemail”,
and other prominent African-Americans, such as actor Bill Cosby and poet
Maya Angelou, wrote articles decrying the schoolboard’s actions.
However, this controversy did not have to occur. Baugh explains that the
“Standard English” program could have benefitted from the state’s Title 1
funds – funds that did not require the schoolboard to resolve that the
language spoken by their African-American students was “Ebonics”. The
board could have acknowledged that their low-income students needed extra
support for their education and avoided any mention of the word
“Ebonics”. As Baugh contends, the director of the “Standard English”
program who made the primary push for the Title 7 funds did not know of
the 1994 change that made the program eligible for Title 1 funds.
Regardless of the political baggage of Ebonics, Baugh made important
linguistic clarifications about the definition of “Ebonics”. The term
“Ebonics” was the result of a 1973 conference of black scholars who
called for a name that reflected the “unique linguistic history of
African-Americans”. To Baugh, Ebonics is a “dialect” of English that
“differs in certain grammatical components” where phrases such as, “We be
jammin’!”, can be “traced back to African grammar patterns”.
After discussing various other issues, Professor Baugh concluded that
there is “clearly an artificial linguistic elitism” that denies the
tolerance of differences that “this country stands for.” Baugh sees the
issue through the lenses of the Scottish. After years of their own
segregation, Scotland recently had their language officially recognized
by the United Kingdom. They feel that the general public has the problem
with “not the dialect, but the people who speak it”.
*****
3) Klingensmith Wins Award
Katie Klingensmith ’97 has been named a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial
Scholar, Associate Dean Gilmore Stott said Thursday. The award,
officially called the Paul Harris Scholarship, provides $22,000 for the
study of peace and of international relations.
Klingensmith plans to spend next year studying the history of Argentina
and the southern part of South America at the University of Buenos Aires.
“I’m not sure if I’m more interested in policy or academic history, so I
decided I wanted to spend a year abroad after I graduated to see which
course to take,” said Klingensmith.
Klingensmith’s award was one of fifty granted around the world. Students
from all countries with Rotary clubs were eligible to apply for the
scholarship.
*****
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Badminton falls to Bryn Mawr
Bryn Mawr 5, Swarthmore 0
Despite a heated inter-squad rivalry, Swarthmore’s second match-up
against the Mawrters turned out no better than the first. The Garnet are
now 3-2 overall on the season.
*****
2) Hood trophy standings to date
Haverford 5.5, Swarthmore 2.5
Haverford wins to date: men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross
country, volleyball, women’s basketball (1st game)
Swarthmore wins to date: field hockey, wrestling, men’s basketball (1st
game)
(For sports which will see a Swat-Ford match-up twice in a season, such
as basketball, each game will count as half of a Hood Trophy point.)
Narrowly losing the Hood last year to the Fords, Swarthmore needs to have
an exceptionally strong showing in the rest of the winter and spring
events to bring the trophy back home.
*****
3) Tonight’s and the weekend’s contests
TONIGHT
There are no contests scheduled for tonight.
SATURDAY (8 Feb.)
Women’s basketball hosts rival Bryn Mawr at 7:30 p.m. The swim teams
travel to Ursinus for a 2:00 p.m. meet. Men’s basketball travels to the
Palestra at UPenn to face Ursinus in a 5:30 p.m. contest. Free tickets
are available in the athletic office. Badminton travels to Bryn Mawr to
compete in the PAIAW Tourney starting at 9:00 a.m.
The wrestling squad takes on the conference at the year-end Centennial
Conference Championships at Western Maryland. Track and Field is host to
the Five Way Challenge in which the Garnet compete against Allentown,
Muhlenberg, Mary Washington, and New York University.
SUNDAY (9 Feb.)
Men’s club volleyball hosts Widener in their first match of the year at
7:00.
*****
The Daily Gazette
Board of Editors
Fred Bush
Kate Doty
Jennifer Klein
David Lischer
Eric Pakurar
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl
Sylvia Weedman
Contributing Writers
Jenny Yang
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This concludes today’s report.