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
Monday, February 9, 1998
Volume 2, Number 76
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) Jones takes up crusade against Dining Services
2) Pamphlets in mailboxes tout Holocaust revision
3) So what’s the big deal about El Niño?
4) World news roundup
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Swimmers finish with style
2) Men’s track and field victorious in five way meet
3) Women’s track and field performs strongly
4) Women’s basketball defeats Bryn Mawr
5) Men’s basketball team matches losing streak record
6) Wrestling loses three way meet
7) Men’s tennis team falls to Columbia
8) Schick Super Hoops 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament
9) Intramural scoreboard
9) Upcoming contests
WEATHER FORECAST
Today: Sunny, light winds. High near 50.
Two sunny days in a row? Seems like the first time this year.
Tonight: Clear. Low around 25.
Don’t be fooled by the sun– its not exactly a tropical heat wave.
Tuesday: Sunny early, becoming cloudy in afternoon. High of 50.
NEWS REPORT
1) Jones takes up crusade against Dining Services
Vincent Jones ’98, along with several members of Student Council, are
heading up an effort to make some major improvements to dining services on
campus. Yesterday’s meeting was intended to inform the student body about
this effort and to show the administration that the movement has student
support.
Between 40 and 45 students gathered in the Parlors and listened to Jones’s
ideas for a few manageable goals to improve the food service at Sharples
and Tarble. He said that he wanted to “lay out what [he] thinks, then get
feedback from the students.” Student Council and Jones presented three
possible changes that they think are important: 1) to extend to 10:00 p.m.
the $3.75 credit in Essie Mae’s (which now ends at 8:00 p.m.),
2) to assure that Sharples has hot, plentiful food available until at least
7:00 p.m. in consideration of athletes, and 3) to alter the Dining Services
Committee such that it is a forum for positive feedback and goal
achievement instead of a “bitch session”.
Ryan Peterson ’00, Student Council co-chair, summed up his thoughts by
saying, “I think that we got a lot accomplished because a group of students
figured out that they had to be more pro-active and we actually sat down
and got some real ideas on paper.”
*****
2) Pamphlets in mailboxes tout Holocaust revision
Sometime on Friday a pamphlet was placed in the mailboxes of many
Swarthmore students in a seemingly random manner. The pamphlet — produced
by Bradley Smith of the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust (CODOH)
— argues that the Holocaust is an exaggeration. While it may be within the
Committee’s rights to distribute these pamphlets, they contain
misinformation and are offensive to some people.
Smith’s organization couches its argument as revisionism, a well respected
process of historians. Matt Van Itallie ’98 commented, “It was
fascinating…that the gas chambers were for ‘delousing,’ which was one of
the most brutally horrible misrepresentations I’ve ever heard. Fascinating
but horrible.” Nicole Bensoussan ’01 reacts,”[The Holocuast] was clearly
systematic murder, not incidental…it was orchestrated in a very
deliberate manner. Yes, it makes me angry.”
CODOH has been distributing pamphlets and publishing advertisements at many
colleges across the country for several years. The Anti-Defamation League,
a foundation created to combat anti-Semitism and misinformation of all
kinds, specifically addresses all of CODOH’s points in their web page at
http://www.adl.org/Holocaust. Looking ahead on this issue at Swarthmore,
Ruach plans to bring Dr. Fred Katz, a survivor of the Holocaust, to speak
in honor of Holocaust Memorial Day on April 23.
*****
3) So what’s the big deal about El Nino?
(This is the first in a three part installment explaining this mysterious
meteorological manifestation. Please note that the word “El Nino” includes
a virgula over the second n that, for technical reasons, cannot be included
in this text)
Drought-induced forest fires in Indonesia and the Amazon. More hurricanes
in the Pacific. Fewer hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. Droughts in Africa,
Australia and Brazil. A new fashion of surfing without wetsuits in
Washington State. Strange tropical fish caught off the West coast of the
U.S. All caused by… El Nino, of course!
El Nino is an occasional (every 2 to 7 years) gigantic warm spot in the
Pacific that moves eastward wreaking havoc on a global scale. Dubbed “El
Nino” in the 1890s because it usually peaks in December around the birthday
of the Christ child, this climatic phenomenon has captured everyone’s
attention. The last really big El Nino year was 1984-84, which caused over
$8 billion damage. Since that time, climatologists and oceanographers have
amassed a great wealth of observational expertise. More expertise, of
course, yields more information — hence more news of El Nino.
Next…what exactly is El Nino?
4) World news roundup
1998 WINTER OLYMPICS BEGIN IN NAGANO, JAPAN
The Olympics games opened on Friday, February 6. Medal results to date:
30-kilometer classical cross country skiing (men)
Gold–Mika Myllylae of Finland
Silver–Erling Jevne of Norway
Bronze–Silvio Fauner of Italy
5,000-meter speedskating (men)
Gold–Gianni Romme of the Netherlands, breaking his own world
record by 8.5 seconds
Silver–Rinje Ritsma of the Netherlands
Bronze–Bart Veldkamp of Belgium
15-kilometer classical cross country skiing (women)
Gold–Olga Danilova of Russia
Silver–Larissa Lazutina of Russia
Bronze–Anita Moen-Guidon of Norway
Giant Slalom snowboarding (men)
Gold–Ross Rebagliati of Canada
Silver–Thomas Prugger of Italy
Bronze–Ueli Kestenholz of Switzerland
AFTERSHOCKS, WEATHER, AND WAR DELAY AID TO AFGHAN EARTHQUAKE SURVIVORS
Details continue to emerge about an earthquake which occurred at the
junction of the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges in a remote region of
Afghanistan last Wednesday. The quake, which measured 6.1 on the Richter
scale, caused massive landslides, destroyed about a dozen villages, and
killed somewhere between two and five thousand people. Aftershocks continue
to kill hundreds, as roofs already strained by snow collapse, and mountain
roads are blocked. Meanwhile, bad weather, mountainous terrain, and civil
war have kept international relief organizations from reaching the disaster
area thus far. Approximately 15,000 families are estimated to have lost
their homes, and temperatures are below freezing.
IN OTHER NEWS …
US Defense Secretary William Cohen said that in the event of an attack on
Iraq, the US would not launch flights from any Saudi Arabian military
bases, although such flights could still be launched from Kuwait, Bahrain,
or from aircraft carriers in the region. … Californians are drying out
between storms, although a state of emergency has been declared in 27 of
the state’s counties, and more rain is expected tomorrow. … Riots over
rising food prices caused by the Indonesian currency crisis occurred on
that country’s Flores and Sumbawa islands over the weekend. … Russian
Marines, border guards, and private citizens had to rescue more than 640
ice fisherman who were fishing in the Gulf of Finland when their ice floes
broke off from shore and began floating out to sea.
*****
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Swimmers finish with style
Both the men’s and women’s team were victorious versus Ursinus in their
final home meets of the season. Saturday’s competitions began with a short
senior recognition ceremony to honor seniors: Mark Friedberg, Ryan ‘P.J.’
Kennedy, Molly Marino, Andy ‘Shaft’ Robbins, Kristen Robertson, and Carl
‘Peaches’ Sanders.
The men’s team beat Ursinus 126-65. Friedberg was a double winner in the
1650 and 200 Individual Medley and Robbins won the 200 freestyle. Tsong
‘Bull’ Lin ’00, Nik ‘Superfly’ Johnson ’01, and Kevin ‘Flash’ O’Neil ’01
had tremendous performances after resting for the meet. Johnson qualified
for the Conference Championships in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
Lin ’00 also qualified in the 100 butterfly and O’Neil qualified in the 50
freestyle.
The women’s team beat Ursinus 124-65 with personal and season best times
too numerous to mention. Both teams will face tough meets at Washington on
Saturday for their final dual meet of the year.
*****
2) Men’s track and field victorious in five way meet
The men’s track and field team scored 73 points in defeating four visiting
teams. Mary Washington finished second with 65.5 points, New York
University was third with 44.5 points, Muhlenberg was fourth with 16
points, and Allentown finished fifth with 10 points. In the field events,
Julian Haffner ’98 won the long jump and Steve Dawson ’00 won the high
jump. On the track, Mason Tootell ’99 won the 55 meter hurdles, David
Brenner ’98 won the 400 meter dash, Wyndam Strodbeck ’98 won the 800 meter
dash and Graham Lucks ’98 won the 1500 meter run. The men’s 1600 meter
relay squad of Tootell, Brenner, Gordon Roble ’99 and Keith Gilmore ’01 was
victorious, as was the 3200 meter relay of Strodbeck, Lucks, Mark Nierman
’01 and Lorrin Nelson ’00. Both the men’s and women’s teams will be in
action Friday when they host a five way meet.
*****
3) Women’s track and field performs strongly
The Swarthmore women’s track and field team placed second out of six teams
Saturday afternoon. They were narrowly defeated by Mary Washington, who
scored 136 points to the Garnet’s 120. New York University placed third
with 76 points, Allentown was fourth with 26 points, Muhlenberg finished
fifth with 19 points and Bryn Mawr rounded out the field with 17 points.
The women were led by Danielle Duffy ’98, who won the open 400 meter dash,
and Catherine Laine ’98, who won the 55 meter hurdles and the 55 meter
dash. Both Laine and Duffy were also on the victorious 1600 meter relay
along with Stephanie Herring ’99 and Desiree Peterkin ’00.
*****
4) Women’s basketball defeats Bryn Mawr
Jean Quinn ’99 had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Saturday, as the Garnet
defeated Bryn Mawr 58-40 in Centennial Conference play. Kristin English ’01
and Heather Marandola ’01 each had 13 points in the win. The women improved
their overall record to 6-12, 2-9 in the Centennial Conference. They will
next be in action on Tuesday when they travel to Washington for a
Centennial Conference game.
*****
5) Men’s basketball team matches losing streak record
The men’s basketball team fell to Ursinus 93-72 on Saturday. The game
pushed the team to their 21st consecutive loss, matching the school’s
losing streak record set in the 1959-60 and 1960-61 seasons. Joe Culley
posted a career high 18 points. Tim Schofield ’99 also scored 18 points and
Cassidy Westbrook ’00 scored 14 points.
*****
6) Wrestling loses three way meet
The wrestling squad traveled to Middletown, Connecticut, Saturday for a
three way match against Wesleyan and Williams. The Garnet dropped the
opening match to hometown Wesleyan 28-15. Pete Balvanz ’98 won a 5-0
decision while Alec Stall ’98 scored a pin. Paul Willenberg ’00 won by
forfeit. The weekend brings the Garnet’s record to 8-15-1. They will next
be in action on Saturday when they host the Centennial Conference
Championships at 12:00 p.m.
*****
7) Men’s tennis team falls to Columbia
The Swarthmore men’s tennis team traveled to New York on Friday for a match
against Columbia University. The Garnet were blanked 7-0 by the Division I
squad. The third doubles team of Greg Emkey ’99 and Dennis Mook ’01 lost
the tightest match of the day 9-7. The Garnet host Kutztown on February
28th.
*****
8) Schick Super Hoops 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament
Thirty-two participants participated on Saturday in Swarthmore’s intramural
Schick Super Hoops Basketball Tournament. Seven men’s and two women’s teams
battled for the coveted Schick t-shirts. The women’s team of Charity Miller
’98, Laird Hedlund ’98, Rhiana Swartz ’00, and Mary McGuire ’00 defeated
the squad of Dana Lehman ’98, Kate Fama ’01, Joan Hoffmann ’98, and Sonya
Del Tredici ’98 by a score of 30-14. Men’s team of Brian Bell ’99, Prince
Achime ’00, and Charlie Parlapanides ’99 held off a strong effort from the
team of Bob Mack ’99, Megagar Kenney ’01, Mauricio Hernandez ’00 to come
through with a 27-20 win. Both teams will represent Swarthmore in a
state-level
intramural competition at Kutztown University on February 22nd.
*****
9) Intramural scoreboard
Volleyball:
The Loogies, Pacific Rim Organization, and the Hikers & Bikers were all
forfeit winners.
Soccer:
Joelie & The Pussycats 8, Faculty/Staff 3
Mink’s Marauders and Jimmy Z’s forfeit winners
Non-Comp Basketball:
Los Lobos 50, Skinny Awkward Tools 48
Fetter’s Follies 62, Hultgren’s Halfwits 30
B A Barakus 52, IC Loves Basketball 26
Comp Basketball:
No Code 45, Amar’s Army 37
Has-Been’s 72, Broken Language 59
Ultimate:
PPR squad was a forfeit winner.
*****
10) Upcoming contests
TODAY:
Men’s basketball travels to Drew for a 7:30 p.m. match-up.
TOMORROW:
Women’s basketball jets to Washington for a 7:00 p.m. game.
*****
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The Daily Gazette
Board of Editors
Mary Elizabeth Alvarez
Ross Bowling
Massey Burke
Fred Bush
Steve Dawson
Lorrin Nelson
Cathy Polinsky
Staff Writers
Elizabeth Weber
Aarti Iyer
Tamala Montgomery
Josh Bess
Nathanael Stulman
Weatherman
Rafi Dowty
Contributer writer
Amber Adamson
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Copyright 1998 by The Daily Gazette. All rights reserved.