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
Friday, November 14, 1997
Volume 2, Number 50
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) Dorm consultants work to fix flaw in new Macs
2) Search for new Dean continues
3) World news roundup
4) Weekend party plans
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Men’s and women’s swim teams beat Franklin and Marshall
2) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
WEATHER FORECAST
Today: Rain and wind. High around 45.
A good day to show off your phat new rain gear.
Tonight: More rain likely early. Low of 35.
OK, stop showing it off now, but keep it handy.
Extended Weekend Forecast
Saturday: Cloudy, showers possible. High close to 40.
Sunday: Cold, chance of rain or snow showers. High near 35
CORRECTIONS
Thursday’s edition of The Daily Gazette listed an incorrect date for the
film “Transformers,” which will be shown Monday, November 17. In addition,
Tamala Montgomery should have been listed as a contributing writer.
NEWS REPORT
1) Dorm consultants work to fix flaw in new Macs
Computer dorm consultants sent e-mails to Resident Assistants Nov. 5
warning that several new models of Macintosh computers have a flaw in their
systems, which could cause their hard drives to “die unexpectedly,”
resulting in a permanent loss of data. Rumors have been circulating about
these potential problems for the past few weeks, but no official action was
taken by the Consultants until last week. The RA’s were to forward the
information to their halls, urging students to contact their dorm
consultants to solve the problem.
The problem is corrected by installing an updated version of a faulty
driver; all dorm consultants have the necessary software, and are updating
computers free of charge. There have been two incidents of malfunction
reported to date, neither of which has resulted in permanent data loss. A
complete list of affected models may be obtained by from any dorm
consultant.
“We should have been told about it earlier,” said Joanna Perry ’00, who
just purchased a Mac. “I still haven’t received any official information.”
Dan Marrin ’01 said that he “was shocked and appalled…they should have
registration of who bought which computer, and should have been contacting
those specific people, especially if it could crash the entire hard drive.”
Melissa Binde ’98, dorm consultant manager, said that the problem was not
addressed immediately because “it was unclear initially how serious or
widespread the problem could be.” She added that “there were a few
political and logistical issues to solve…and dorm consultant meetings are
only every other week.”
Dorm consultants had previously been encouraged to contact students in
their dorms independently, but the staff had concerns that they would be
swamped with a large number of calls. However, this has not been the case
so far. Since asking Hallowell RA’s to forward the e-mail to their halls,
consultant Rafi Dowty ’98 has only received a few responses from students,
though he estimates that many more computers are affected. Even now that
many students have been informed, “the response has been very poor,” said
Binde.
More information about the problem, along with a link to the updated
driver, can also be found by visiting
<http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/N22090>.
*****
2) Search for new Dean continues
The Dean Search Committee is making progress in its attempt to fill the
post of Dean of the College, vacated by Ngina Lythcott late last spring.
According to Mark Jacobs, Biology professor and chair of the committee, an
advertisement for the position appeared in this week’s issue of “The
Chronicle of Higher Education.” Ads have also been placed in the
publications “Black Issues in Higher Education,” “Hispanic Outlook” and
“The Amerasia Journal.”
To date, only one resume has been received. The application deadline is
listed as January 9.
Committee member Amy Albert ’98 said that the committee will release a
letter to the College community with an update on the search process within
the next few weeks.
*****
3) World news roundup
UNITED NATIONS ARMS INSPECTORS LEAVE IRAQ
Six American United Nations arms inspection officials were forced to leave
Iraq Thursday. To avoid segregating the U.N., the chief weapons inspector,
Richard Butler, has decided to pull out the remaining 68 international
inspectors; a skeleton crew of nine inspectors will remain to maintain the
U.N. building. The U.N.’s U-2 planes, however, continue to fly surveillance
missions over Iraq despite Iraq’s threats to shoot them down. Russia,
France, China, and Egypt have expressed their opposition to the use of
military force to make Saddam Hussein comply to UN’s demands.
TWA FLIGHT 800 CRASH CAUSED BY MECHANICAL FAILURE, FBI DECLARES
After a 16 month investigation, the FBI has officially declared that
mechanical failure caused the crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New
York. Investigators talked to over 7,000 people to end suspicions that the
crash was caused by an onboard bomb or a missile. FBI Assistant Director
James Kallstrom wrote a letter to the victims’ families announcing the
FBI’s results and assuring them that the FBI is still working together with
the National Transportation Safety Board’s to investigate the crash.
IN OTHER NEWS…
A witness for the prosecution in the second Oklahoma City bombing trial
named Terry Nichols as an accomplice. … President of Mexico Ernest
Zedillo conveyed Latin America’s dismay at the failure of Clinton’s “fast
track” bill. … Defense lawyers of Mir Aimal Kasi argue that he should not
be executed for killing two CIA agents in 1993 because his actions had been
provoked by a lifelong case of brain damage.
*****
4) Weekend party plans
The Social Affairs Committee is funding two events this weekend, SAC
members said. The activities are:
* A Paces party from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, sponsored by the Turkish Club.
* Performances by Pacololo and Strap at 10 p.m. Saturday, in Olde Club.
*****
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Men’s and women’s swim teams beat Franklin and Marshall
The men’s and women’s swim teams traveled to Franklin and Marshall Tuesday
and won the meet, 115-90 on the men’s side and 132-66 on the women’s. Carl
Sanders ’98 led the men’s team, winning the 50m and 100m freestyle, and
Claire Arbour ’00 led the women by winning the 100m and 200m freestyle.
Other first place finishers for the women included Molly Marino ’98 in the
1000m freestyle, Erica Rosenthal ’00 in the 200m individual medley, Jill
Belding ’99 in the 200m butterfly, Liz Blair in the 500m freestyle, and
Rebecca Howse-Mischel ’01 in the 200m backstroke. On the men’s team, Andy
Robbins ’98 won the 200m backstroke and Ed Sherer ’01 won the 200m
breaststroke. Both teams won the 400m freestyle and distance medley relays.
As captain Belding put it, “we kicked butt.”
*****
2) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
TODAY
There are no contests scheduled for today.
TOMORROW
Women’s and men’s cross country travel to Dickinson for the NCAA Regional
Championships.
Football plays at Washington and Lee at 1:30 p.m. in their last game of the
season.
Women’s rugby travels to Bryn Mawr for an 11 a.m. game.
Women’s and men’s swimming host NYU and Vassar in a 1 p.m. meet.
*****
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
Karen Lloyd
Lorrin Nelson
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl
Staff Writers
Julie Falk
Jennifer Klein
Trang Pham
Weatherman
Rafi Dowty
Contributing Writer
Josh Bess
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This concludes today’s report.
Copyright 1997 by The Daily Gazette. All rights reserved.