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
Thursday, February 27, 1997
Volume 1, Number 26
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) Next year’s budget on track for Board approval
2) Committee discusses policy on consensual relationships
3) Film Society to show Kieslowski movie
4) Weekend party plans
5) World news roundup
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Swarthmore defeats Hopkins, hosts Conference final on Saturday
2) Tonight’s and tomorrow’s contests
CLARIFICATION
We reported yesterday that editors of The Phoenix plan no major changes in
the paper as a result of sensitivity workshop held Tuesday. While it is
true that the newspaper is planning no specific policy changes at this
time, Phoenix staff members do intend to apply lessons learned in the
workshop to their work. Furthermore, they will review the situation in four
weeks to determine whether specific policy changes are necessary.
NEWS REPORT
1) Next year’s budget on track for Board approval
The Finance and Trusts Committee of the Board of Managers has recommended
that the full Board approve the College’s proposed budget for next year,
said Paul Aslanian, vice president for finance and planning. He said the
full Board will discuss the budget at its on-campus meeting Saturday.
Other matters on the Board’s agenda this weekend include faculty promotions
and tenure decisions, as well as methods for funding financial aid in the
long run, said Josh Alloy ’98, student observer to the Board.
Aslanian said the budget proposal presented to the Finance Committee was
identical to the one presented to the campus at a Collection on January 31.
It is essentially the same as this year’s budget, except that about $1
million more than was originally expected will be spent on financial aid.
Pay increases for faculty and staff are the most controversial aspect of
the proposed budget. As in the past, faculty salaries will be set at 102.5
percent of salaries at similar institutions, while staff salaries will be
set at 100 percent of the market rate.
President Al Bloom said in January that faculty should earn more because
“the center of this organization is its educational effect on the students,
and the people most closely involved with that are the faculty.” But some
members of the staff, including senior administrators, have disagreed,
saying the difference in targets sends employees the wrong message about
their importance to Swarthmore.
*****
2) Committee discusses policy on consensual relationships
The Equal Opportunity Advisory Committee is developing a policy on
consensual romantic and sexual relationships among students, faculty and
staff, said Lynne Molter, the engineering professor who chairs the
committee.
Molter said the College currently has no explicit policy regarding
consensual student-professor, student-staff, and employee-supervisor
romances. But, she added, a policy is needed so members of the community
know how they are expected to behave. “We need to take a proactive role as
an institution to say that these things are fraught with danger,” Molter
said.
Molter said the committee will likely propose a policy that gives “strong
advice against consensual relationships, however stopping short of
forbidding them.” The policy will likely state that initial mutual consent
does not preclude the filing of sexual harassment charges at a later date.
A final policy will not be sent to the faculty for discussion and approval
until after Spring Break. In the meantime, Molter said, the College’s
attorneys will review the policy’s legal implications and EOAC will gather
community views on the issue.
Comments may be directed to Molter, or to any of the other members of the
committee: Sharon Armstrong, Kori Bell ’98, Barbara Carroll, Amy Dalton
’98, Carrie Griffin ’99, Maurice Eldridge, Karen Henry, Kae Kalwaic, Tamsin
Lorraine, Pat Los, Carol Nackenoff, Lee Robinson, William Turpin, Myrt
Westphal and Lee Wimberly.
*****
3) Film Society to show Kieslowski movie
Film Society is screening Krzysztof Kieslowski’s film “No End” tonight at
10 o’clock in DuPont Lecture Hall, said Esther Parker ’97, Film Society
coordinator. Kieslowski, a Polish film-maker better known for his more
recent works, “The Double Life of Veronique” and “Three Colors: Blue,
White, and Red,” made “No End” in 1984. It was the first of his feature
films to be shown prominently in the West.
A somber film, “No End” depicts the lives of three individuals in Poland
after martial law has been declared. The film begins just as a lawyer,
Antek, commits suicide. Frustrated with his own inability to defend his
unfairly accused clients, Antek is a symbol of Polish resistance in a pure,
yet ineffectual, form. Even after his death, the lawyer remains present in
the film as a ghost who haunts his wife and his former colleague.
The film sympathetically depicts the Solidarity workers treated unfairly by
the state, but members of Solidarity disliked the film because of the
bleakness and lack of hope that permeate it. In fact, Kieslowski has always
adamantly maintained that “No End” is not a political film. Rather, it is
an attempt to come to terms with the moral ambiguities exacerbated by the
pressures of martial law. Kieslowski once said of the film, “I thought that
at the time — and still do — that martial law was really a defeat for
everyone, that everyone lost, that during martial law we all bowed our
heads.”
*****
4) Weekend party plans
The Social Affairs Committee is funding numerous events this weekend, SAC
members said. The events include:
*a professional comedy show at 8 p.m. Friday in Paces;
*a black light party Friday night in Lodge 1;
*a party Friday night in Wharton EF;
*the Sager Symposium party, concluding the annual forum on lesbian, gay
and bisexual issues, Saturday night in Tarble-in-Clothier; and
*a social gathering before the Sager party, hosted by the Swarthmore
Conservative Union.
Conservative Union secretary Hillary Thompson ’99 said the group was
throwing the party to highlight the similarity between its acronym, SCU,
and that of the Swarthmore Queer Union, SQU. “There’s no political message
involved, unless you consider the conservatives making fun of themselves to
be a political message,” she said. Thompson said signs for the party would
feature pictures of Newt Gingrich and Ronald Reagan in drag.
SQU leaders could not be immediately reached for comment.
All SAC-funded events are free and open to the entire student body.
*****
5) World news roundup
STUDY OF GAYS IN MILITARY SHOWS “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” ISN’T WORKING
According to a new survey, the last two years have been a dismal failure
for President Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the
military. The New York Times reported that 850 men and women were
discharged from the military for being homosexual in the one-year period
that ends this month. That represents an 18 percent increase over the
previous year, and a 42 percent increase from 1994, when Clinton’s policy
was enacted. The Pentagon said it was reviewing the report.
DU PONT CONVICTED, BUT FOUND MENTALLY ILL
Local millionaire John E. du Pont was convicted Tuesday in the killing of
David Schultz, a gold medalist in wrestling at the 1984 Olympics. The jury
found du Pont, 38, guilty of third-degree murder, but declared him mentally
ill. Pennsylvania law sets a maximum sentence of 20 years for the crime,
although du Pont could go free in as little as five years. Sentencing is
scheduled for April 22. Du Pont is currently undergoing treatment at
Norristown State Hospital, and will only be sent to prison if authorities
decide he has been cured. Du Pont had turned his Newtown Square estate into
a training camp for wrestlers; Schultz was training there for last summer’s
Olympics when du Pont shot him in January 1996.
The world news roundup is produced by Swarthmore Radio News, which airs
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and midnight on WSRN 91.5 FM.
*****
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Swarthmore defeats Hopkins, hosts Conference final on Saturday
On hostile turf, the Swarthmore men’s basketball team faced Johns Hopkins
in the semifinals of the Centennial Conference playoffs Wednesday night.
The Garnet played aggressively and maintained composure during several key
stretches in the second half to pull off a 53-42 victory.
Swarthmore played well for the first ten minutes and held a 17-12 lead
before they went cold. Hopkins led 25-17 at halftime. The Garnet countered
with a 20-4 run out of the locker room to take a 37-29 lead, from which
they never looked back. Ben Schall paced the team with 16 points.
With the win, Swarthmore improves to 16-10 overall. They will host
Dickinson on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the conference finals. The winner
receives an automatic berth in the national Division III postseason
tournament.
*****
2) Tonight’s and tomorrow’s contests
There are no contests scheduled for any sports until this coming weekend.
*****
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The Daily Gazette
Board of Editors
Fred Bush
Kate Doty
Jennifer Klein
David Lischer
Eric Pakurar
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl
Sylvia Weedman
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This concludes today’s report.
Copyright 1997 by The Daily Gazette. All rights reserved.