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, April 17, 1997
Volume 1, Number 54
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) BC head: amendment gives Council too much power
2) Senior wins second scholarship for foreign study
3) Orientation Committee appointed
4) World news roundup
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Yesterday’s results: track and field, softball, men’s lacrosse
2) Tonight’s and tomorrow’s contests
WEATHER FORECAST
Today: Rain showers and wind pretty much all day. High around 50.
Rain gear is crucial, but weak umbrellas might fail.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, chance of more rain. Low of 40.
Wear boots. April showers bring mud.
Friday: Partly cloudy. High around 50.
NEWS REPORT
1) BC head: amendment gives Council too much power
A proposed amendment to Student Council’s constitution could destroy
important checks on SC’s power to spend money, Budget Committee Treasurer
Vincent Jones ’98 charged Wednesday night.
But SC Co-Chair Sean Barney ’98, who proposed the amendment, said it would
only clarify existing rules on expenditures from the Student Activities
Fund. He said SC already has final jurisdiction over the SAF, and no real
system of checks and balances exists. Scrutiny from the media and the
administration already provides a crucial check on SC, so further controls
aren’t needed, he added.
BC is appointed by SC and is charged with allocating SAF monies. Under the
existing constitution, Council cannot allocate money directly. But BC
decisions can be appealed to SC, and except in certain special cases, SC
has final authority on SAF expenditures.
The proposed amendment reads: “Nothing in Article IV, Section I of this
Constitution shall be construed to deny the final jurisdiction of the
Student Council over the Student Activities Fund, nor specifically its
authority to allocate expenditures therefrom, and create specified
endowments therein.”
Jones says the amendment gives SC special spending powers no other group
has. “This money wasn’t made for Student Council,” he said. “It’s for the
whole student body. So they should have to go through the processes just
like everybody else. Although they’re Student Council and should get a
certain amount of privilege, that doesn’t mean thousands of dollars more
privilege.”
But Barney believes SC is fundamentally different from other student groups
since it is elected by the student body. “Student government is a misnomer
if it doesn’t have the power of the purse,” he said.
SC Charter Chair Josh Kramer ’00 said that while SC should have more
authority since it is elected, it should delegate administrative details to
BC. “Either we are the appeals body, or we are the body that actually does
the work,” he said. “I think it’s excellent that we are the appeals body.
It’s the perfect place for an elected body to be.” Kramer, who as Charter
Chair sits on BC, said he would vote against the budget amendment.
Council will vote on the amendment next Thursday, April 24, at 8 p.m. in
Kohlberg 330. A two-thirds majority is required for passage.
*****
2) Senior wins second scholarship for foreign study
Katie Klingensmith ’97 has been awarded a Fulbright grant for study abroad
next year, the second major fellowship she’s won this year, Associate Dean
Gilmore Stott said Wednesday.
In February, Klingensmith won a Rotary Foundation scholarship to study
South American history at the University of Buenos Aires. Yesterday she
learned she’s also won a Fulbright grant to study early colonialism at the
University of Coimbra in Portugal.
“I’m amazed, totally overwhelmed and flattered and excited,” she said.
In Portugal, Klingensmith will take classes on early European expansion
and, expanding on a seminar paper she wrote last spring, conduct
independent research on the impact of slavery on Portuguese society during
the 15th through 17th centuries.
Klingensmith will travel to Portugal in August and stay there through
April, when she will move on to Argentina. She intends to enroll in
graduate school on her return to the United States, but has yet to choose a
specific discipline.
*****
3) Orientation Committee appointed
The students who will organize orientation for new students next fall are
considering adding community service and a camping trip to the program of
events, said Orientation Committee member Hugh Weber ’00.
Weber said nothing is definite yet, but next fall’s first-years may have
the opportunity to participate in community service projects in Norris
Square or go on a three-day camping trip.
The committee also hopes to make orientation run more smoothly in the past,
he said. And it wants to put new students in larger groups with two
upperclassmen CAs as leaders, rather than the traditional small groups with
only one CA, to enhance creativity.
Students interested in serving as CAs may contact Weber for more
information. Applications are due Sunday. Weber said that while the
position is unpaid, it’s still worthwhile. “They get to be back on campus
early, and they get to be at Swarthmore longer before all the madness
starts,” he explained.
In addition to Weber, the students on next year’s Orientation Committee
are: Solimar Salas ’98, Tracy McNeil ’00, Arun Mohan ’00, Victor Pineiro
’00 and Sanford Devoe ’00. They were the only group of students to apply to
serve as Orientation Committee, said Student Council Appointments Chair
Jeannie Gallego ’00.
*****
4) World news roundup
UN CENSURES CUBA
The UN Human Rights Council criticized Cuba for violating human rights and
voted to keep Cuba under scrutiny for another year. Nineteen countries
voted for the resolution, while 10 countries, including China and Japan,
voted against the resolution and 24 abstained. The United States gave
strong support to the resolution; many countries apparently abstained
because they wanted neither to offend Cuba nor to anger the U.S.
TOBACCO FIRMS LOOKING TO SETTLE
Tobacco giants Philip Morris and RJR Nabisco are negotiating with the
attorneys general of eight states about a possible $300 billion settlement
that would absolve the cigarette manufacturers of all further liability for
smoking-related health problems. In addition to paying damages, the firms
would cut back on advertising. This marks the first time that the tobacco
industry’s two largest firms have openly considered a settlement. It
follows a recent settlement between Liggett Group, the smallest major
tobacco company, and the attorneys general of 22 states.
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) Yesterday’s results
TRACK AND FIELD
Women: Swarthmore 70.5, Bates 65, Widener 19, Bryn Mawr 13.5
Men: Swarthmore 83, Bates 59, Widener 49
Swarthmore head coach Ted Dixon ran track for Bates as an undergraduate,
and was pumped to show up his alma mater. He got his wish.
Winners for the women:
Desiree Peterkin ’00 was a triple winner, taking the triple jump
(34’4.5″), long jump (15’11.5″), and 100m dash (13.5).
Stephanie Herring ’99 won two individual events — the high jump (5’0″)
and 400m hurdles (70.2) — and ran on the winning 4x400m relay (4:13.3)
along with Jill Wildonger ’97, Danielle Wall ’98, and Catherine Laine ’98.
Wall won the 1500m run in 5:01.8, and Laine won the open 400m dash in 62.1.
The 4x100m relay of Danielle Duffy ’98, Wildonger, Laine, and Peterkin
cake-walked to victory in 50.5 seconds.
Duffy won the open 200m dash in 27.5 seconds.
Winners for the men:
Mason Tootell ’98 was a double winner, leading the pack in the 110m high
hurdles (15.9) and the long jump (20’4″). Eric Pakurar ’97 also won two
events: the 400m intermediate hurdles (55.6) and the triple jump (40’5″).
Tootell and Pakurar easily won the 4x400m relay with Amber Thompson ’97
and Walid Gellad ’97 in 3:24.1, a season best.
Liam O’Neill ’00 out-distanced the pack by nearly three seconds in the
800m run, crossing the line in 1:57.5.
Jeremy Weinstein ’97 in the 5000m run also ran lonely in front, winning
in 15:52.2.
The field events saw many personal and season bests: Brian Baird won the
pole vault in a personal best 14’3″, Steve Dawson ’00 won the high jump in
a season best 6’7″, and Will Dulaney ’97 won the javelin (168’3″) with only
two weeks’ experience under his belt.
MEN’S LACROSSE
Washington 17, Swarthmore 0
The Garnet fell to the Shoremen, ranked second in the nation in Division
III men’s lacrosse.
SOFTBALL
Ursinus 8, Swarthmore 1
Ursinus 9, Swarthmore 0
*****
2) Tonight’s and tomorrow’s contests
TODAY
Women’s lacrosse faces a tough challenge at Rowan, 4 p.m. start.
The women’s tennis teams hosts Franklin & Marshall at 4 p.m.
FRIDAY (18 April)
The baseball team hopes to even its series with Muhlenberg in a 3:30 p.m.
home contest.
*****
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This concludes today’s report.
Copyright 1997 by The Daily Gazette. All rights reserved.