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
Wednesday, February 19, 1997
Volume 1, Number 20
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) Student Council election results
2) Joe Goodman ’97 circulates petition challenging Student Council
2) Mary Frances Berry speaks on civil rights and racism
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Women hoopsters lose to Muhlenberg
2) Upcoming contests
NEWS REPORT
1) Student Council election results
After two days of voting in Sharples, Student Council has counted all the
ballots, by hand, and determined the winners in each race. SC went to
great lengths to secure turnout, bombarding students with email and even
placing a flashing electronic sign in Sharples yesterday reminding
students that it was their last chance to vote.
Vote totals were unavailable. Winners are marked by an asterisk.
Council on Educational Policy
*Mandara Meyers ’99
Abstain
Appointments Chair
*Jeannie Gallego ’00
Mike Klunder ’00
Ford O’Connell ’00
Abstain
*****
2) Joe Goodman ’97 circulates petition challenging Student Council
Former Student Council member Joseph Goodman ’97 is circulating a
petition that will likely force SC to hold a referendum on its purpose
and goals.
The petition demands a referendum on a resolution asking SC to “redirect
its efforts towards pragmatic, ground-level issues affecting student
life” and disband if it “cannot sufficiently occupy itself with the
mundane, but incredibly important, areas of student life.” The resolution
says Council should not spend its time on “procedural and meta-political
issues.”
SC has used most this semester to debate the merits of various
decision-making procedures. After taking two weeks to determine that it
will make decisions by vote rather than consensus, Council spent much of
its most recent meeting writing rules of procedure for voting, and plans
to continue considering the issue this weekend.
If 10 percent of the 1376 students enrolled this semester sign Goodman’s
petition, Council will have to hold the referendum Goodman wants. But the
referendum will be symbolic, regardless of how students vote, because it
is worded as a non-binding recommendation.
Goodman said he hopes the referendum will encourage Council to work on
projects students consider worthwhile, such as the speed with which
Physical Plant answers maintenance requests and the amount of mud on
Mertz Lawn and Clothier Fields.
SC co-chair Sean Barney ’98 said he was glad to learn that students want
a more effective student government. “The spirit of it is right,” Barney
said. “There is a problem that we very readily recognize and that causes
us frustration all the time…But if you have problems, not looking at
your organization and how it’s set up is not a promising policy.”
Goodman said he thinks SC discusses its structure too much and should get
on with real business. “During both of my semesters on SC the same issues
were negotiated at the beginning of each semester,” he said. “If these
issues were resolved permanently then perhaps real issues could be
addressed. SC should address the concerns of its constituents, not the
concerns of its members.”
Goodman was elected to SC for the 1995-96 academic year after running a
campaign based on apathy. But while on SC, he worked to design this
year’s new 14-meals-a-week meal plan option. He says that’s the kind of
task Council should take on more often.
Barney said SC does similar work all the time. He cited, among other
things, a project last semester to improve high-security storage on
campus.
As of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Goodman had collected 86 of the 138 signatures
needed to force a referendum.
*****
3) Mary Frances Berry speaks on civil rights and racism
Last night in Lang Performing Arts Center, Dr. Mary Frances Berry spoke
on “Civil Rights in America: Where do we go from here?” Berry is
currently professor of American Social Thought at the University of
Pennsylvania and has been appointed by President Clinton to chair the
U.S. Civil Rights Commission.
Dr. Berry presented evidence that racial and gender discrimination still
exist in America. She discussed the challenge of serving on a commission
with people who refuse to acknowledge that racism and sexism occur, and
her frustration with such proposed policies as one which would make jury
decisions based on majority vote instead of unanimous decision, silencing
lone dissenters who often are women and/or people of color.
Her main message to the audience of 150 faculty, students and staff was
that we all need to work for social change in three different stages:
individual actions done on a daily basis, grassroots activism, and
lobbying politicians. She firmly believes that individual efforts are not
sufficient, but is hopeful for the success of future efforts.
“We need to help those people bumping up against glass ceilings and stuck
on sticky floors,” said Berry.
*****
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Women hoopsters lose to Muhlenberg
Muhlenberg 61, Swarthmore 35
Lisl Cochran-Bond ’97 scored a game-high 18 points. Swarthmore falls to
7-14 overall, 4-9 in the Centennial Conference.
*****
2) Tonight’s and tomorrow’s contests
TONIGHT
Men’s hoops travel to Muhlenberg for an 8 p.m. game; JV game at 6 p.m.
Badminton travels to Harcum Junior College; matches begin at 4 p.m.
THURSDAY (20 Feb.)
Women’s basketball honors its seniors in the last home game of the season
against Eastern College. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. in Tarble Pavilion.
*****
The Daily Gazette
Board of Editors
Fred Bush
Kate Doty
Jennifer Klein
David Lischer
Eric Pakurar
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl
Sylvia Weedman
Contributing Writer
Amy Klosterman
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.
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This concludes today’s report.
Copyright 1997 by The Daily Gazette. All rights reserved.
