Wednesday, October 11, 2000

Wednesday, October 11, 2000
Volume 5, Number 23

Visit the Daily Gazette Web Site at:
http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/daily

NEWS IN BRIEF

1) ITS temporarily increases bandwidth
2) World news roundup
3) Campus events

SPORTS IN BRIEF

1) World sports roundup
2) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests

WEATHER FORECAST

Today: Mostly sunny and breezy. Highs in the low 60s.
Here’s two thumbs up to ITS…

Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows in the high 30s.
Even if we can’t handle the new bandwidth and have to go back a little bit…

Tomorrow: Mostly sunny. Highs approaching 70.
It’s nice to see they care, and that they’re trying to do something about it.

TODAY’S SHARPLES MENU

Lunch: Chicken croquetts, mashed potatoes, *homestyle tofu, peanut noodle, peas and onions, California blend
**Bagel bar

Dinner: Grilled flank steak, steak fries, *pasta sauteed with fresh greens, eggplant with feta, asparagus, corn
**Pasta bar

NEWS REPORT

1) ITS temporarily increases bandwidth

Earlier this week, Information Technology Services increased the school’s allotted bandwidth to 256 kilobits/second incoming, and 392 k/s outgoing. Since the beginning of the semester, it had been 128 k/s both ways. 

Mark Dumic, ITS staffer, said the change occurred this past Monday at 4:00 p.m. The increased bandwidth raises downloading speeds to about twice as fast as before. 

Steve Maurer, Associate Provost for Information Technology, stressed that this is a temporary move, though it may become permanent soon. “This is a trial period to see if the existing bandwidth structure can accommodate such full usage,” he said.

ITS is monitoring the effects that the increased per-student bandwidth has to see if it is still within the school’s allotted total bandwidth. Maurer stressed that the total bandwidth available between Swarthmore and the Internet has not increased.

“There is no guarantee that this current bandwidth level can be maintained,” Maurer said.

ITS plans to report on the results of the trial period after Fall Break.

– Jeff Heckelman

2) World news roundup

U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan appealed Tuesday to Israel and the Palestinians to get back to the bargaining table and end the cycle of killing. “The region has suffered enough,” he said.

The House of Representatives passed a bill early Wednesday morning that will allow auto industry officials to be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for hiding fatal safety problems from government regulators. The bill sped through the House in just under two months due to public outrage over the deaths of over 100 people and the injury of 400 others using Firestone tires.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the world’s first female prime minister and the matriarch of Sri Lankan politics, died at age 84 of a heart attack only minutes after voting in the country’s parliamentary elections Tuesday.

New Census Bureau figures show that Connecticut residents pay the highest annual taxes. One of the most affluent states in the country, Connecticut had a per-capita state tax burden of $2,932 per person, more than $1,000 more than the national average. After Connecticut, the states with the next highest taxes were Delaware, Hawaii, Minnesota and Massachusetts.

A new study may explain a flaw in sexual survey research that has puzzled social scientists for years. Surveys routinely show that men report having had more sex partners than women, but as Devon Brewer of the University of Washington explains, “The number of partners that (heterosexual) men have had must be equal to the number of partners  that (heterosexual) women have had. Each new partner for a man is also a new partner for a woman.” Brewer says either the results are flawed by male boasting and female modesty, or the results are skewed because the surveys never question prostitutes.

3) Campus events

Alumni Lunch Lecture with America Rodriguez ’78
InterCultural Center, 12:30 p.m.

“The Beauty of Cities: Cosmic Urbino and American Philadelphia” by Magali Sarfatti Larson, University of Urbino
Scheuer Room, 4:15 p.m.

Goldman Sachs Firm-Wide Information Session
Bond Memorial Hall, 7:00 p.m.

“The Hispanic Vote” by America Rodriquez ’78
Scheuer Room, 7:00 p.m.

Presidential Debate
Parrish Parlors, 7:00 p.m.

Film Society Screening
DuPont 161, 10:00 p.m.

SPORTS UPDATE

1) World sports roundup

Behind 6 2/3 innings of three-hit shutout ball from 24-year old Freddy Garcia, the Seattle Mariners beat the Yankees 2-0 to take Game 1 of the ALCS. …Philadelphia 76’ers star Allen Iverson met with members of a local civil rights group who were offended by the lyrics of his new rap album. The lyrics include violent references and derogatory terms about gays, women and blacks. He refused to change his lyrics, but the meeting was still a success. “It suggested more caring than I’ve ever seen from white rappers like Eminem,” said Rita Addessa, director of the Lesbian and Gay Task Force. “It suggests at some level Iverson may care about community.” …Eagles running back Duce Staley will miss the rest of the season after two pins were placed in his injured right foot during surgery Tuesday.

3) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests

Today:

Men’s soccer hosts Alvernia, 4:00 p.m.
Volleyball hosts Dickinson, 7:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:

Field hockey hosts Washington, 4:00 p.m.
Women’s soccer at Washington, 4:00 p.m.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The average person thinks he isn’t.” – Father Larry Lorenzoni