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, September 18, 1997
Volume 2, Number 14
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) Tibetan monk creats sacred sand mandala in McCabe
2) Remaining Student Council members plan to stay despite “B.S.”
3) World news roundup
4) Upcoming movies on campus
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Rough day for Swat Soccer
2) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
Weather Forecast
Today: Cloudy early, becoming mostly sunny. High near 85.
Gray skies are gonna clear up. Put on a happy face.
Tonight: Clear. Low of 60.
Gray skies are clear! What more do you want?
Friday: Mostly sunny and nice. High around 85.
NEWS REPORT
1) Tibetan monk creates sacred sand mandala in McCabe
The Venerable Lobsang Samtem, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, worked on a Kalachakra
(Circle of Light) mandala in the lobby of McCabe Library today. He began on
Sunday, and will complete it today from 10 am to 4 pm. Tomorrow at 1 pm, it
will be ritually destroyed and carried to Crum Creek in a procession.
Mandalas are symmetrical designs of geometric patterns measuring about five
feet in diameter. The Kalachakra mandala is a sacred symbolic diagram of
the universe, which contains the yidam (meditational deity) Kalchachakra at
the center.
The outline of the mandala is drawn out on a flat surface by the monk-artist,
and the bright colours are filled in with sand (mixed with mineral
pigments) tapped onto the drawing with cone-shaped funnels with fine tips
that produce precise lines and patterns. “Lobsang allowed me to try to fill
in a section of the sand mandala,” said Gabe Cumming ’00. “It’s a lot
harder than it looks, and believe me, it looks quite hard. I found it was
almost impossible to make a straight line, and he was making these
intricate curly-q’s.”
A mandala is used to aid monks in their visual meditations; it is believed
to intensify the imagination and stimulate creativity. “It’s pleasing, it
was just very impressive,” said Will Nessly ’99.
Several observers watched the construction of the mandala yesterday,
including residents of the Ville, area photographers, and a group of students
from Swarthmore Elementary School, as well as numerous College students.
Ven. Lobsang Samten is the founder and Spiritual Director of Tibetan
Buddhist Centers in Philadelphia; Hartford, Connecticut; Southern
California; and El Paso, Texas. Residing in Philadephia, he is the first
Tibetan Buddhist to have demonstrated the creation of the sand mandala in
the United States.
This event is part of “Focus: Tibet,” a series funded by the Wiliam J.
Cooper Foundation, and co-sponsored by Asian Studies, Music and Dance,
McCabe Library, Art, Peace and Conflict Studies, Religion, and the Pacific
Rim Organization.
*****
2) Remaining Student Council members plan to stay despite “BS”
After the resignations of Mandara Meyers ’99 and Trang Pham ’00 earlier
this semester, no more Student Council members plan to resign, according to
a Gazette phone poll. With one exception, remaining members who spoke to
the Gazette characterized themselves as never having thought about leaving
Council.
“I seriously considered resigning over the last two weeks, but decided not
to,” said Josh Kramer ’00. “I definitely won’t be running again.”
Kramer said that he ran for office because he wanted to be involved with
student groups and student organizations, “not for student government
B.S.”. He hoped that with all the new members on Student Council, there
would “be no more B.S., but now, I don’t think the B.S. will go away.”
Nevertheless, he plans to complete his term on Council.
*****
3) World news roundup
BAN ON LAND MINES PASSES DESPITE U.S. OBJECTIONS
A treaty banning land mines was endorsed Wednesday by delegates to an
international conference in Oslo, but President Clinton announced that the
United States would not sign the accord. U.S. delegates to the conference
had sought several exemptions, including one for the Korean Peninsula,
where they said mines were needed to protect South Korea from North Korean
attacks. Diplomats from Canada, which has led the drive for the pact,
announced that before the official treaty-signing in December they would
step up efforts to win support from the United States and other countries
now opposing the ban.
CLINTON URGES CHANGES IN TOBACCO SETTLEMENT
President Clinton asked Congress to pass legislation that would raise the
price of cigarettes by up to $1.50 a pack if tobacco companies fail to cut
teen smoking. The tobacco industry would face potentially unlimited
penalties under the proposal, in contrast to this summer’s $368 million
landmark deal, which, if approved by Congress, would have capped fines at
$2 billion. Clinton also said Congress should not approve any settlement
that does not give the Food and Drug Administration full power to regulate
tobacco. He made no mention of provisions included in the settlement that
would have given the tobacco industry immunity from some lawsuits.
*****
4) Upcoming movies on campus
ADDICTED TO LOVE Friday, 9/19 7:30, 10:00 LPAC
A jilted lover (Matthew Broderick) travels to a new city to gain revenge on
his lost love, but finds romance anew with Meg Ryan. Shots of Sproul
Observatory.
LOVE JONES Saturday, 9/20 7:30, 10:00 LPAC
A young black poet in Chicago starts dating a photographer, and hi-jinks
ensue when she decides to test the strength of his feelings.
BRAZIL Monday, 9/22 10:00 Kirby
A minor functionary in a surreal totalitarian police state becomes involved
with a sexy revolutionary and a dissident electrician and decides to
challenge the system. Terry Gilliam (Time Bandits, 12 Monkeys) directs.
*****
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Rough day for Swat soccer
Wednesday afternoon spelled bad news for both the women’s and the men’s
soccer teams. The men’s team hosted Millersville (Division II), and was
defeated 3-0 by the Marauders.
The women’s team traveled to Ursinus for their first Centennial Conference
game of the season. The Bears took an early 3-0 lead, but goals by
co-captain Sarah Jaquette ’98 and Kirstin Knox ’99 brought the final score
up to 3-2.
*****
2) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
TODAY
Field hockey hosts Widener University for a 4 p.m. game.
Volleyball travels to Widener University for a 7 p.m. match.
TOMORROW
Football travels to Johns Hopkins where they line up against the Blue Jays
at 7:30 p.m. for their first Centennial Conference game of the season.
*****
Interested in reporting or writing for the Gazette? Just want to tell us
what you think? Contact the Board of Editors at
gazette-management@student-publications.swarthmore.edu.
Got a news tip for us?
E-mail gazette-news@student-publications.swarthmore.edu.
Want to contact our sports editors?
E-mail gazette-sports@student-publications.swarthmore.edu.
The Daily Gazette
Board of Editors
Fred Bush
Kate Doty
Aarti Iyer
Jennifer Klein
Karen Lloyd
Lorrin Nelson
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl
Weatherman
Rafi Dowty
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.
To subscribe to the Gazette, free of charge, send e-mail to
requests@student-publications.swarthmore.edu with the words “subscribe
daily” as the subject of your message. Use the words “unsubscribe daily” to
cancel a subscription.
Back issues are available on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/daily
This concludes today’s report.
Copyright 1997 by The Daily Gazette. All rights reserved.