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, March 16, 1998
Volume 2, Number 96
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) Fire in Willets Saturday night
2) Spring service project continues winter break efforts
3) World news roundup
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Peterkin finishes second at NCAA Championships
2) Spring Break scoreboard
3) Upcoming Events
WEATHER FORECAST
Today: Predominantly sunny. High near 50.
Each day’s weather is unique, and should be judged accordingly.
Tonight: Clear, starry. Low around 25.
This message brought to you by Dean Tedd Goundie and the CJC.
Tuesday: Sunny early, increasingly cloudy in afternoon. High of 50.
NEWS REPORT
1) Fire in Willets Saturday night
A small fire caused the evacuation of Willets Saturday night. Around 10
p.m. Public Safety discovered the fire on the roof above the passage to
Mephistos. They attempted to extinguish the fire with a water extinguisher,
but it proved ineffective. The Swarthmore Fire Company was summoned and
three trucks were dispatched in a mode of lights and sirens.
The sounding of the Willets internal fire alarm, triggered by smoke wafting
into the second and third floor windows, caused Public Safety to order
residents to evacuate. Rich Vezina ’99 said that he and a fellow RA went
through the halls telling students to leave. Katie Vivalo ’01 stated that
“we thought it was just another prank, but when we saw the smoke, we
decided it was probably a good idea to leave.”
Residents were forced to remain outside for approximately 45 minutes while
the building aired out. In the end, “no one was hurt and there was no
damage,” said Vezina. The cause of the fire is still under investigation by
Public Safety. An official statement from Public Safety was unavailable at
press time.
*****
2) Spring service project continues winter break efforts
Sixteen Swatties and a Bryn Mawr student stayed in in the Puerto Rican
neighborhood in North Philly for four days as part of the spring service
project to Norris Square. In conjunction with Sister Carol and many of the
neighborhood residents, the participants in the project helped refurbish a
house that the center is in the process of purchasing. They also worked and
played with the neighborhood kids for two hours a day and were treated to a
Puerto Rican feast with traditional Puerto Rican music and dancing.
The service project, which takes place for half of each fall and spring
break and for a week at the end of winter break, is designed to enable
college students both to have a hand in the improvement of a struggling
neighborhood and to see their own lives in contrast to it. One of the best
parts of the project, according to the students, is that it is such a
complete immersion. “The work is so varied: we paint, we help with
homework, we cook, we sing, we do manual labor, we play with the
kids…It’s also very home-like. That’s partly why I keep going back” said
Prachi Patankar ’00.
Some of the tasks performed by the participants were a little startling.
Daniel Littlewood ’00, for instance, was dressed up as a baby by one of the
kids, who then directed him to suck his thumb and go to sleep in the middle
of the floor. Iris, one of the long-time workers and leaders at Norris
square, told the group that her favorite moment during the service project
was when she came out of the kitchen and saw a six-foot red-haired ‘baby’
curled up in a bonnet and a blanket. “Who else would come here and do that
for our kids?” she told the group. “I think it’s hard for you to realize
how much it means to us.”
*****
3) World news roundup
World News Roundup…
WHITE HOUSE AIDE TELLS “60 MINUTES” THAT CLINTON ASSAULTED HER
Former White House volunteer Kathleen Willey told a television program that
President Clinton assaulted her in 1993. Willey said that when she asked
Clinton to help her find a paying job because her family was having severe
financial problems, the president put his hands on her breasts and put her
hands on his genital area. Willey said that she told this story to Kenneth
Starr’s grand jury probe of possible presidential perjury on Friday; the
president has testified under oath that nothing improper happened during
that encounter. Starr is also reportedly investigating charges that Nathan
Landow, a democratic fund-raiser, pressured Willey not to testify.
15,000 ETHNIC ALBANIANS MARCH IN KOSOVO PROTEST
Ethnic Albanians marched in memory of those killed by last week’s Serb
crackdown in Serbia’s Kosovo province. The protestors also demanded
independence for Kosovo, which was an autonomous region until 1989. Serb
police forces have killed more than 80 ethnic Albanians over the past two
weeks, in an attempt to quash the guerilla Kosovo Liberation Army. A
delegation of Serbian officials arrived in the province to begin talks with
ethnic Albanians about Kosovo’s future, but ethnic Albanian leaders have
promised to boycott any talks which rule out the possibility of
independence for the province.
IN OTHER NEWS…
Peace talks between North Korea, South Korea, China, and the US, are
beginning in Geneva for the first time since South Korea’s left-wing
president, Kim Dae-jung, was sworn in. … Some of the 11,000 people
evacuated from flood-stricken areas along the State of Georgia’s Flint
River have been allowed to return to their homes. … SEPTA Union leaders
said that a strike by Philadelphia’s bus, trolley, and subway workers is
unlikely before Tuesday, although the workers’ contract expired at midnight
Sunday. … A California judge ruled that a man who stole 4 cookies from a
restaurant, with two previous felony convictions, should receive a sentence
of 26 years to life imprisonment under that state’s “3 strikes”
law.
*****
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Peterkin finishes second at NCAA Championships
Swarthmore women’s triple jumper Desiree Peterkin ’00 finished second at
the NCAA Track and Field Championship Meet held Friday and Saturday.
Peterkin’s jump of 38’6” was a full 6.5” ahead of the third place
competitor. Her second place finish is the highest ever for a Swarthmore
track athlete, earning Peterkin her second All-American title in two years.
Her performance gave the Swarthmore women a tie for 13th place in the
country, easily ahead of all other Centennial Conference schools.
*****
2) Spring Break scoreboard
**Men’s tennis**
Swarthmore 1 Davidson 6
Swarthmore 5 Wooster 2
**Women’s tennis**
Swarthmore 4 Transylvania 5
Swarthmore 5 Averett 4
Swarthmore 7 St. Mary’s of Notre Dame 2
Swarthmore 9 William Jewell 0
**Women’s ultimate frisbee**
Swarthmore 1 Florida State University 13
Swarthmore 2 University of Pennsylvania 13
Swarthmore 7 University of Rochester 10
Swarthmore 3 Diva 15
Swarthmore 13 Haverford 7
**Men’s ultimate frisbee**
Frostbreaker tournament:
Swarthmore 15 Flagler 8
Swarthmore 6 UNC Wilmington 15
Swarthmore 7 Clemson 15
Swarthmore 15 William and Mary 12
Isle of Palms tournament:
Swarthmore 9 RPI 15
Swarthmore 7 Haverford 5
**Men’s rugby**
Swarthmore 46 Bucknell 7
**Men’s lacrosse**
Swarthmore 8 Shenandoah 7
Swarthmore 4 Randolph-Macon 18
**Women’s lacrosse**
Swarthmore 12 Colorado College 12
**Men’s Baseball**
Swarthmore 6 Stevens Tech 2
Swarthmore 7 Concordia 3
Swarthmore 16 Norwich 11
Swarthmore 15 Anna Maria 16
Swarthmore 2 Penn State Behrend 13
**Results from Spring Break action for Women’s softball and Men’s golf will
be printed in tomorrow’s Gazette**
*****
3) Upcoming Events
TODAY
There are no events scheduled for today.
TOMORROW
Women’s softball hosts Neumann in a 3:30 p.m. contest.
Men’s baseball travels to Lebanon Valley for a 3:30 p.m. game.
Women’s lacrosse hosts College of Notre Dame in a 4:00 p.m. game.
Men’s lacrosse hosts Amherst in a 4:00 p.m. match.
*****
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gazette-news@student-publications.swarthmore.edu.
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gazette-sports@student-publications.swarthmore.edu.
The Daily Gazette
Board of Editors
Mary Elizabeth Alvarez
Ross Bowling
Massey Burke
Fred Bush
Steve Dawson
Lorrin Nelson
Cathy Polinsky
Elizabeth Weber
Staff Writers
Josh Bess
Joseph Genereux
Aarti Iyer
Tamala Montgomery
Nathanael Stulman
Maureen Vernon
Weatherman
Rafi Dowty
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This concludes today’s report.
Copyright 1998 by The Daily Gazette. All rights reserved.