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, March 19, 1998
Volume 2, Number 99
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) Everett demonstrates linguistic fieldwork techniques
2) Sharples bagel cart vanishes mysteriously
3) Upcoming movies on campus
4) World news roundup
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Men’s tennis destroys Hartford
2) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
WEATHER FORECAST
Today: Cloudy, thunderstorms. High around 55.
If thunder scares you, wear earplugs.
Tonight: It will be a dark and stormy night. Low of 45.
If lightning scares you, wear a lightning rod.
Friday: Still cloudy, but rain unlikely. High near 60.
NEWS REPORT
1) Everett demonstrates linguistic fieldwork techniques
Linguist Daniel Everett, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, gave
a demonstration of linguistic fieldwork Wednesday during a lecture in Bond.
Everett, whose specialty is translating languages of the Amazon Rainforest,
tried to carry on a dialogue with a student who spoke Cantonese. Although
Everett was not familiar with the language he was fairly successful in
learning its the basic structures from the student.
“I don’t want to give the impression that you can learn a language in
twenty minutes,” said Everett. “Learning a language through fieldwork
necessarily involves humiliating yourself.”
Working in front of an audience of some seventy students and faculty,
Everett used objects in the room and body language to begin to understand
Cantonese vowel structure, word endings, and relationships among vowels and
between vowels and consonants, among other things. After the thirty minute
“conversation,” Everett was able to fairly accurately determine the
rudimentary structure of Cantonese.
“The goal is to understand the language from the perspective of the native
speaker. Native speakers don’t hear sounds that I might initially hear and
they do hear sounds that I would not,” said Everett, who has spent a total
of five years in the Amazon communicating with peoples who are monolingual
and for whom no known translators exist.
*****
2) Sharples bagel cart vanishes mysteriously
The cart which holds the bagels at Sharples has apparently been stolen.
Linda McDougal, Swarthmore’s dining services coordinator, discovered the
theft when she arrived in Sharples at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, said
Sharples office manager Rhonda Kirby. The cart was still in Sharples at
10:30 p.m. Tuesday night when the cleaning crew left, McDougal reported.
Sharples does have a security system which was properly turned on that
night. However, the back door, which is the only doorway through which the
bagel cart can fit, happens to be the one exit which does not have an alarm.
According to Kirby, public safety has been contacted and is keeping a
lookout for the cart. McDougal expressed concern the cart, due to its large
size, cannot easily be hidden away safely and may be damaged. Despite its
unassuming appearance, the cart is worth approximately eight hundred
dollars.
McDougal has announced that if the cart is not returned by Thursday
Sharples will stop serving bagels. Although at this point students are the
prime suspects in McDougal’s view, the threat is “not a punishment. I want
the bagel cart back,” said McDougal, “and that is how I got the CBord
machines back.”
The college administration has not yet been contacted about the issue. “I
am not going to Tedd Goundie until I have to,” McDougal stated. The bagels
which are served at Breakfast in Mary Lyons are a “separate issue” and will
be unaffected, assured McDougal.
*****
3) Upcoming movies on campus
GROSSE POINTE BLANK Friday, 3/20 7:30, 10:00 LPAC
A hit man (John Cusack) returns to his home town for a high school reunion
while being hunted by other killers. And what about the girl he abandoned
on the night of the big dance? (Black comedy, 107 minutes, 1997.)
EVE’S BAYOU Saturday, 3/21 7:30, 10:00 DuPont
In 1960’s Louisiana, a married doctor (Samuel L. Jackson) plays around with
some of his patients, and his daughters find out about it, leading to
violence and death. (Drama, 109 minutes, 1997)
LEAVING HOME Monday, 3/23 8:00 Kirby
A documentary examining the effects of free trade between the US and
Mexico, looking at workers on both sides of the border, and featuring
debate from advocates and opponents of free trade. (Documentary, 60
minutes, 1992.)
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS Monday, 3/23 10:00 Kirby
Stop-motion fable features Skellington Jack and a crew of Halloween
ghoulies kidnapping Santa Claus and taking over Christmas. Mind-blowing
whimsy. Director Tim Burton is at his craziest. (Fantasy/animation, 75
minutes, 1993)
FACES OF WOMEN Tuesday, 3/24 10:00 DuPont
(Drama, 105 minutes, 1985: Cote d’Ivoire)
DRUNKEN MASTER II Wednesday, 3/25 10:30 Kirby
Wong Fei-Hong (Jackie Chan) gets involved with folks trying to smuggle
ancient Chinese artifacts. Luckily, when he gets drunk, he turns into a
martial arts dynamo! (Action/slapstick comedy, 1994)
*****
4) World news roundup
YESTERDAY’S NCAA BASKETBALL SCORES
Men: Penn State 75 Georgia Tech 70
Minnesota 73 Marquette 71
Women: no games played
U.N. CONSIDERS ARMS EMBARGO ON YUGOSLAV FEDERATION
The U.N. Security council is considering placing an arms embargo on the
Yugoslav federation in light of recent police actions against ethnic
Albanians in the province of Kosovo. The proposal was developed by a
policy-making body on Balkan issues that consists of Britain, France,
Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States. The timing of an actual vote
is unclear. Sources said the Russians were seeking to delay a vote until
their foreign minister, Yevgeny Primakov, completes a visit to the Yugoslav
capital of Belgrade. A draft of the proposal calls for bans on arms
supplies to the Belgrade government and on “training for terrorist
activities” in Kosovo and for the Yugoslav government to take “immediate
steps to reduce tensions” in Kosovo. The text also calls on the leadership
of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian population “to condemn all terrorist action”
and pursue their goals by “peaceful means only.” More than 80 people have
been killed since crackdowns on Albanian separatists were launched February
28. The draft also expresses support for an “enhanced status” for Kosovo
within the Yugoslav federation — a veiled call to restore autonomy to the
Serbian province, which was taken away in 1989. China, as a permanent
member of the Security Council, has veto power over the proposal. Chinese
officials have maintained that the resolution of the Kosovo dispute is an
internal matter for the Yugoslavs to settle, but have not stated that China
will veto the resolution.
CUBA RECEIVES RELIEF FROM JAPAN
Cuba and Japan announced new financial involvements yesterday in Havana.
Japan is donating small grants to Cuban non-governmental organizations to
fund health projects. Caritas Cuba is a catholic organization set to
receive help to buy insulin and other supplies to treat adolescent
diabetes. While Caritas Cuba is a private religious organization, it works
through the Cuban Health Ministry, a branch of Castro’s government.
France’s Medicins du Monde will be funded in their project to provide
medicine for sexually transmitted diseases in the eastern province of
Camaguey. While the deal will only dispatch eight thousand dollars, it is
the first of its kind, going further than the emergency aide and training
scholarships given before. Japan’s ambassador to Cuba, Sabura Tanaka, said
Japan plans to continue with more grants for humanitarian efforts. This
announcement coincides with the Cuban government’s signing of a debt
rescheduling accord in Tokyo covering 100 billion yen (769 million dollars)
owed to 182 Japanese companies.
IN OTHER NEWS…
Russian President Boris Yeltsin is recovering from a serious infection that
hospitalized him this week. He goes off antibiotics tomorrow and should be
able to meet his appointments by next week. …Mayors in the San Francisco
metro area are asking the federal government for a moratorium on anti-drug
laws in order to facilitate the marijuana clubs that operate to distribute
marijuana for medical applications. A hearing is scheduled for March 24th
but no change in the laws are expected.
*****
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Men’s tennis destroys Hartford
The men’s tennis team defeated Division I University of Hartford 6-1 last
night in an indoor home match. Singles players Nicholas Slimack ’99, Sasha
Sheehan ’00, John Leary ’00, Greg Emkey ’01 and John Temin ’00 each won
matches. Also winning for the Garnet were the doubles teams of Leary and
Temin, Roger Werner ’98 and Slimack, and Peter Schilla ’01 and Emkey. The
team is now 4-3 for the season.
2) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
TODAY
Softball postpones its 3:30pm contest with Cabrini due to field conditions.
Men’s volleyball hosts Eastern in a 7:00 p.m. match.
TOMORROW
Men’s basketball hosts Eastern in a 3:30 p.m. game.
*****
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
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
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 1998 by The Daily Gazette. All rights reserved.