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, September 17, 1997
Volume 2, Number 13
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) Public Safety’s only female patrol officer resigns
2) Writing central to civilization, life, Allende says
3) World news roundup
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Field hockey wins 20th straight conference game
2) Volleyball loses to Franklin and Marshall
3) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
WEATHER FORECAST
Today: Clear early, increasing cloudiness in afternoon. High around 80.
Wear summer clothes while you still can.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, rain likely after midnight. Low near 60.
Everyone here is asleep by midnight anyway, right?
Thursday: Overcast, morning showers but clearing up later. High of 75.
NEWS REPORT
1) Public Safety’s only female patrol officer resigns
Kelly Dodson, the only female patrol officer in Swarthmore’s Public Safety
Department, has resigned. She said she was “very disillusioned” with the
department and wanted to leave because “if I can’t change things, it’s time
to move on.”
“I was told that I needed to sit and watch TV and not help students,” she
said. “I was often told that there was no room for women in the Public
Safety Department.”
Dodson said she “kept going to (Director of Public Safety) Owen Redgrave”
and met with Larry Schall, associate vice president for facilities and
services, and Maurice Eldridge, associate vice president and executive
assistant to the president, to “let them know what was going on.”
Leon Francis, assistant director of public safety, confirmed that Dodson
had resigned but referred further questions to Redgrave, who was on
vacation and could not be reached for comment.
Schall and Eldridge declined to discuss the specifics of the situation.
“The College can never speak in public about personnel issues,” Schall
said. “Kelly and I have had conversations, and that’s about all I can say.
It’s not fair to comment on this — not to Kelly and not to Public Safety.”
Schall added that “things are never as simple as they seem, especially when
only one person is talking.”
Dodson said she was not planning any legal action against the College.
Monday was her last day of work. She had worked for Swarthmore since 1995.
College officials are reviewing applications from candidates to replace
Dodson. Francis said the decision whether to hire another woman lies with
Redgrave.
*****
2) Writing central to civilization, life, Allende says
Chilean writer Isabel Allende captivated a capacity audience Tuesday night
at Haverford College’s Marshall Auditorium with a speech detailing the
intricacies of the art of storytelling.
Personal anecdotes about her family’s tradition of storytelling electrified
the crowd. Allende said her love for telling yarns developed early on when
she would try to scare and fascinate her siblings.
Allende compared storytelling to “embroidering a tapestry of many threads.”
She described each of her novels as “a living creature with its own
destiny.” In her case, life becomes real only after she has written it
down, she said.
She said storytelling is an integral part of civilization because “without
stories we would not have a collective memory.” For her, writing turns pain
and sadness into strength.
In fact, the loneliness and depression Allende felt after her daughter
Paula’s death are what motivated her to write the memoir “Paula.” It was
“word after word, tear by tear that the book was born,” she said.
Allende summed up her opinion of storytelling with an old Jewish proverb:
“What is truer than true? The story.”
*****
3) World news roundup
BOMB OUTSIDE BELFAST DISRUPTS TALKS
The Irish Republican Army denied responsibility for a bomb that exploded
Tuesday at a police station outside Belfast, but the Ulster Unionist party
again stayed away from peace talks and demanded that the IRA’s political
wing, Sinn Fein, be expelled from the negotiations. The Unionists want Sinn
Fein to explain how it could renounce violence, a prerequisite for
participation in the talks, when the IRA said it rejected that principle.
George Mitchell, the former U.S. senator who is chairman of the talks, and
representatives of the British and Irish governments spent the day
negotiating with the Unionists on terms under which discussions could go
forward.
CLINTON ASKS CONGRESS FOR ‘FAST-TRACK’ TRADE DEAL AUTHORITY
President Clinton on Tuesday unveiled a long-expected proposal that would
give him special powers to negotiate trade agreements and went to Capitol
Hill to convince fellow Democrats to support it. Under the plan, trade
pacts would be subject to a “fast-track” legislative approval process in
which Congress cannot amend deals but can only vote for or against them.
Some Democratic leaders in Congress want the plan to extend to
environmental and labor agreements, but Clinton’s proposal would leave
deals on those issues subject to amendment unless he enacts them by
executive order. The AFL-CIO immediately announced a million-dollar
advertising campaign against Clinton’s plan.
*****
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Field hockey wins 20th straight conference game
The field hockey team chalked up its 20th consecutive conference victory
Tuesday, defeating Franklin and Marshall by a 5-1 score in a home game.
Holly Baker ’99, Danielle Duffy ’98, Jen Hagan ’99, Lurah Hess ’99 and
Michelle Walsh ’98 each scored for the Garnet. Franklin and Marshall’s only
point came in the second half. Swarthmore is now 4-0 for the season.
*****
2) Volleyball loses to Franklin and Marshall
The volleyball team lost 15-8, 15-10, 15-8 on Tuesday night at Franklin and
Marshall. Lillian Marsh ’01 “had an excellent day blocking and hitting,”
said team captain Jordan Hay ’98.
*****
3) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
TODAY
Men’s soccer hosts Millersville at 4 p.m. on Clothier Field.
Women’s soccer travels to Ursinus for a 4 p.m. game.
TOMORROW
Field hockey hosts Widener at 4 p.m. on Cunningham Field.
Volleyball travels to Widener for a 7 p.m. game.
*****
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The Daily Gazette
Board of Editors
Fred Bush
Kate Doty
Aarti Iyer
Jennifer Klein
Karen Lloyd
Lorrin Nelson
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl
Weatherman
Rafi Dowty
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This concludes today’s report.
Copyright 1997 by The Daily Gazette. All rights reserved.