Friday, February 14, 1997

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 14, 1997
Volume 1, Number 17

NEWS IN BRIEF

1) A decline in RA applications

2) Proposal to delay the Screw Your Roommate formal

3) The Politics of Human Rights lecture

4) Kisses and Condoms a success

SPORTS IN BRIEF

1) Track and field teams are nationally ranked

2) Tonight’s and the weekend’s contests

NEWS REPORT

1) A decline in RA applications

Despite an extensive publicity campaign last week, fewer students applied
to serve as resident assistants this year than last year, according to
Associate Dean Tedd Goundie. Applications were due Monday.

Goundie hasn’t counted all the applications yet, but he estimates about
90 students applied to be RAs, down from 106 last year. He said the drop
most likely occurred because members of the unusually large Class of 1997
could apply last year, but couldn’t this year since they’ll be graduating
in June.

There are 51 RAs this year. The number may be slightly smaller next year,
depending on enrollment.

The RA Selection Committee will review applications and interview
applicants over the next several weeks, said Goundie. He said the
committee hopes to announce its decisions on March 6.

*****

2) Proposal to delay the Screw Your Roommate Formal

Tuesday night at the Social Affairs Committee, members of the swim team
brought forward a proposal and a petition in an attempt to have SAC push
back the date of the Screw Your Roommate Formal. Kim Killeen ’97
presented the petition of 102 signatures, of which about half were
non-athletes.

The letter explained to the members of SAC how upset the petition
signatories are with the February 22 Screw Your Roommate Formal date.
Since more than two hundred students are effected by the SAC decision,
the letter states, “In excluding such a large percentage of the campus
community SAC has deliberately violated its commitment to the student
body.”

SAC explained to Killeen that it is not possible for Screw Your Roommate
to be held any later in the semester because the Upper Tarble all campus
space is reserved up to April. Since at this time the spring formal is
tentatively scheduled for early April, an April Screw Your Roommate date
would not be ideal. Also, the date that the letter suggested, March 1, is
when the ninth annual Sager Symposium dance will be held . SAC does not
want students to have to choose between the formal and the party.

Later on during the meeting a second group of male swim team members
entered the SAC meeting to argue a few more points regarding the issue.
SAC co-coordinator Tanisha Little ’97 said that the swimmers “were
demanding to know why we refused to change the date of the event.” SAC
members again explained the situation and the second group left the
meeting dissatisfied with SAC’s response that the February 22 date will
stand.

*****

3) The Politics of Human Rights lecture

At the first event of a semester-long lecture series titled “Human Rights
in Theory and Practice,” Joe Stork, the Advocacy Director of Human Rights
Watch Middle East spoke on “The Politics of Human Rights”. Lisa Hajjar,
professor of Sociology arranged the talk as a part of her honors seminar.

Stork, outlined the history of international human rights agreements and
declarations, citing the American and French revolutions as the etiology
of our current human rights standards. “Human Rights are a
Franco-American construction,” he said, and went on to explain how the
United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the 1949 Geneva
Conventions are the undergirdings of two separate eras in human rights.
The first one involved drafting standards, which did not come into
conclusion until the 1970’s and actually is still being debated today.
The other is our current era of promotion, which we are wrestling to
break out of to welcome a new era of world-wide implementation.

Detailing this era of promotion, Stork spoke of independent human rights
monitors such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. By
outlining the world-wide human rights situation through the lenses of
United States presidencies, Stork was able to reveal the political and
cultural attitudes toward human rights. The issues at stake in this
analysis are the ostensibly non-partisan status of human rights, using
forign policy to illicit improved human rights situations, and the
“universal” quality of human rights that clashes most saliently with
Islamic nations. Future lectures for Hajjar’s class will focus more
specifically on these issues.

*****

4) Kisses and Condoms a Success

The Valentine’s Day tradition of Kisses and Condoms, sponsored by the
Pro-Choice Task Force, was a huge success with sales of approximately
300. Worth Health Center donated the 372 condoms in an effort to promote
safe sex on campus. The main aim of the event was to make sure that on
one of the more amorous days of the year that people were engaging in
protected sex.

Herrin Hopper ’98, the coordinator of Kisses and Condoms, explained that
one added bonus of the event was to have the opportunity “to be able to
yell condoms and kisses to Al Bloom as he walked through Parrish.” The
Kisses and Condoms were stuffed in mailboxes today.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

1) Track and field teams are nationally ranked

Swarthmore women’s track and field were ranked 17th in the country in the
recent NCAA Division III Nation Power Rankings, while the men placed
23rd. The top three performances in each event are submitted by each
school, which are then assigned a point value from a table of scores.
Faster times in races or better marks in field events are given more
points. The men’s team is unbeaten (5-0) so far this season, and the
women have only lost one contest (5-1).

*****

2) Tonight’s and the weekend’s contests

TONIGHT
There are no contests scheduled for tonight.

SATURDAY (15 Feb.)
Wrestling travels to Western Maryland for the Centennial Conference
Championships.
Men’s basketball host Dickinson at 7:30 p.m. in the last home game of the
season.
Women’s basketball travel to Ursinus for a 2 p.m. game. Track and field
teams host a six-way meet against Baltimore CC, Lebanon Valley, Widener,
Jersey City State, and Ursinus.

SUNDAY (16 Feb.)
Badminton hosts the North East Intercollegiate Championships. Matches
start in Tarble Pavilion at 8 a.m.
Men’s club volleyball travels to Villanova for a 4 p.m. game.

*****

The Daily Gazette
Board of Editors
Fred Bush
Kate Doty
Jennifer Klein
David Lischer
Eric Pakurar
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl
Sylvia Weedman

Contributing writer
Jessica Carew Kraft

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This concludes today’s report.