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 GazetteSwarthmore College
Thursday, February 26, 1998
Volume 2, Number 89
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) IC Round Table discusses hate speech
2) Upcoming movies on campus
3) World news roundup
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Intramural results from Tuesday, February 24
2) Today’s and tomorrow’s events
WEATHER FORECAST
Today: Sunny and breezy. High in the mid to upper 40’s.
Take advantage of the old axiom:
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low of 30.
‘Tis better to Screw than be Screwed.
Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy. High in the mid 40’s.
NEWS REPORT
1) IC Round Table discusses hate speech
The topic this week for the Intercultural Center’s Round Table discussion
was a recent incident of hate speech in which “Fuck fag” was scrawled in
shaving cream on a bathroom mirror in Willets. The details of the incident
have incited close scrutiny of the current Swarthmore hate speech policy.
Since the act was anonymous and (so far) unrepeated, the College under the
current policy was not able to take legal action. Furthermore, under the
policy, if the word had been “kill” instead of “fuck,” the treatment of the
situation might have been very different, even though, as one person
affected by the incident pointed out, the use of “fuck” instead of the
“kill” didn’t make him feel any safer.
The current hate speech policy is a result of the anti-African-American
graffiti chalked on Magill walk during the ’93-’94 school year. A
committee of students, faculty, and administrators worked for three years
on formulating a policy after the incident, and the faculty then voted it
into existence. One section of that policy which was not approved was the
establishment of a community council on hate speech designed to deal with
incidents such as the one last week.
This lack of an additional base for action came up several times in the
discussion Wednesday, and led to general questions about why the college
has not made a greater effort to move these incidents within its
jurisdiction. It was pointed out that the perpetrator of an act of hate
speech is hardly going to leave a note with a last name, phone number, and
e-mail address. Statistics were cited saying that 95% of hate speech
incidents are anonymous, suggesting that it would be nearly impossible for
the college under current policy to take any direct action at all.
Other suggestions proposed at the discussion included more attempts at
educating the community, stuffing mailboxes with the victim’s perception of
the Swarthmore hate speech policy, and making the college understand the
financial repercussions of these acts by forming ties with concerned and
contributing alumni.
Amy Albert ’98, who attended the meeting, said that she did not believe the
administration really understood what was happening. “When we held the
frosh orientation discussions on hate speech before fall semester ’96, I
went to one of the workshops held beforehand for the faculty, and the
question that came up the most often was ‘How are we going to make the
white people in the room comfortable?'”
*****
2) Upcoming movies on campus
DIRTY HARRY Friday, 2/27 7:30, 10:00 LPAC
Violent cop Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) tracks down the Scorpio Killer,
bringing his own brand of justice to the streets. Followed by four sequels.
Do you feel lucky, punk? (Action/Drama, 102 minutes, 1971)
COLD COMFORT FARM Saturday, 2/28 7:30, 10:00 LPAC
In 1930’s England, young orphan Flora Poste goes to live with relatives on
Cold Comfort Farm, where everyone is a stock character from a British novel
taken to a ludicrous extreme. (Comedy, 104 minutes, 1995:UK)
THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH Monday, 3/2 10:00 Kirby
Young Milo, trapped by his own boredom, learns to appreciate life in a
whimsical land. Based on the book by Norton Juster, directed by famed
animator Chuck Jones. (Fantasy/animation, 89 minutes, 1969)
SANKOFA Tuesday, 3/3 10:00 DuPont
A model in a sleazy photo shoot travels back in time to the times of
slavery in order to understand her heritage. . Rescheduled from
last week. (Drama, 124 minutes, 1993: Burkina Faso/Ghana)
THE WARRIORS Wednesday, 3/4 10:30 Kirby
A Coney Island gang heads deep into the heart of New York for a conclave of
all the city’s gangs, then must fight its way back to the ocean when things
go awry. Based on, of all things, Xenophon’s Anabasis. (Action, 94 minutes,
1979)
*****
3) World news roundup
SRI LANKAN TO HEAD IRAQ INSPECTION TEAM
Jayantha Dhanapala, the Sri Lankan diplomat in charge of UN disarmament, is
expected to lead the group that will inspect Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein’s palaces. An agreement negotiated by UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan in Baghdad over the weekend calls for a “Special Group” to inspect
the eight so called presidential sites or compounds. This group will be
headed by a UN commissioner, and Annan submitted Dhanapala’s name to the
permanent members. No objections are expected. The 59-year old Dhanapala is
an expert in disarmament affairs and won prominence in 1995 during the U.N.
conference that permanently extended the 1970 nonproliferation treaty,
designed to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, President
Clinton gave stronger backing to a U.N. deal with Iraq, but emphasized US
willingness for military action if Iraq breaks its recent promises.
CLINTON VISITS STORM-RAVAGED CENTRAL FLORIDA
President Clinton toured central Florida Wednesday after a string of deadly
tornados tore through the area on Monday. The storm killed at least 39
people in the worst Florida disaster since Hurricane Andrew hit the state
in 1992. Clinton stopped at several trailer parks, areas which were
especially hard-hit by the storm, and spoke with storm survivors. Clinton
has declared 34 counties eligible for disaster aid and said that the
Department of Labor would provide $3 million for temporary jobs to assist
in disaster recovery and rebuilding. Although no official count has been
made on the cost of the storm damage, experts estimate the damage to be
around $160 million to homes and businesses.
IN OTHER NEWS …
Elected Tuesday to a fifth term as president, Fidel Castro vowed during a
seven-hour speech that socialism in Cuba will outlive him and denounced a
U.S. aid proposal for the island. … In the first ever override of a
presidential line-item veto, the Senate on Wednesday dismissed a Clinton
line-item veto which had cut 38 military construction projects, totaling
$287 million, from a spending bill. … Carnival celebrations in Haiti have
left nine people dead and 242 injured, hospital officials said Wednesday.
… Naamat, Israel’s largest women’s group, condemned a rabbinical court’s
ruling that an ultra-Orthodox man must divorce his wife, a rape victim,
even though the couple wants to stay together. … This weekend the movie
“Titanic” surpassed “Jurassic Park” as the all-time top grossing film
around the world with an estimated $918 million in ticket sales, its
distributors say. … Famous comedian Henny Youngman, who originated such
one-liners as “Take my wife… PLEASE!” and “I have all the money I need
provided I die by 4 o’clock this afternoon,” died from pneumonia at age 92.
*****
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Intramural Results from Tuesday, February 24:
Volleyball Semi-finals:
Game 1: Over the Hill Gang 15, Loogies 5
Game 2: Over the Hill Gang 16, Loogies 14
Over the Hill Gang will move on to finals.
Competitive Basketball
No Code 62, Broken Language 61
Amar’s Army a Forfeit Winner over the Has-Been’s
*****
2) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
TODAY
No contests are scheduled for today.
TOMORROW
No contests are scheduled for tomorrow.
*****
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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
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Aarti Iyer
Jennifer Klein
Tamala Montgomery
Nathanael Stulman
Elizabeth Weber
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This concludes today’s report.
Copyright 1998 by The Daily Gazette. All rights reserved.