Tuesday, November 21, 2000

Tuesday, November 21, 2000
Volume 5, Number 48

Now you can tip us off on news you think should be covered!
Tell us whatever you want, on or off the record.

Our news tips page can be accessed from anywhere on our web site, or simply
go to http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/daily/newstips.html

Visit the Daily Gazette website at http://daily.swarthmore.edu

NEWS IN BRIEF

1) Bandwidth proposal comes under fire from SC
2) Student Council meets with Mayor, Curriculum Committee
3) ITS staff to visit dorms after break
4) World news roundup
5) Campus events

SPORTS IN BRIEF

1) Tufano named Conference Co-Player of the Week
2) Wrestling coach resigns
3) World sports roundup
4) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests

WEATHER FORECAST

Today: Possible snow flurries after the early morning. Highs in the upper 30s.
Memo to the Admissions Office:

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 20s.
You know what’s wrong with Swarthmore?

Tomorrow: Windy with near-freezing temperatures. Highs in the low 30s.
We just don’t have enough people who complain about Swarthmore.

TODAY’S SHARPLES MENU

Lunch: Beef stew, cornbread, *broccoli-mushroom stir-fry, spinach crepes, corn, brussel sprouts
**Falafel bar

Dinner: Fresh fish, couscous, bow tie pasta, *mushroom medley with spinach, broccoli, vegetable blend
**Chicken patty bar

NEWS REPORT

1) Bandwidth proposal comes under fire from SC

In response to last week’s proposal by Steve Maurer (Professor of Mathematics and Associate Provost for Information Technology) and Mark Dumic (Manager of Networking and Systems) to allow students who want more bandwidth to pay for it on an individual basis, Student Council drafted a letter to the Computing Services Committee detailing their reservations about such a plan.

In the letter, SC Co-Chairs Jordan Brackett ’01 and Jen Pao ’01 stress the sentiment that we should be focusing our energies on increasing the school’s total bandwidth.

“It is our worry that implementing a plan which puts the onus on individual students to purchase bandwidth would undercut our ability to argue that more bandwidth for the entire student body is necessary,” the letter says.

SC expressed concerns that a dangerous precedent could be set in which the idea that a minimum bandwidth level is acceptable because students who want more may buy it themselves could become institutionalized.

The letter goes on to ask ITS to table any proposed plans to charge students for additional bandwidth on grounds that the proposal would not be in the best interests of the student body.

– Jeff Heckelman

2) Student Council meets with Mayor, Curriculum Committee

In other Student Council news, the entire council met last week with Swarthmore Mayor Bill Cumby to discuss the current state of the relations between Swarthmore College, its students, and the Ville of Swarthmore.

According to Will Ortman ’02, members of Student Council asked the Mayor about the seeming lack of desire on the part of the businesses in the Ville to cater to Swarthmore students.

Student Council Co-Chair Jordan Brackett ’01 said Cumby agreed that the Ville doesn’t cater to students and he agreed that it is a problem.

One suggestion that was brought up is the possibility of the college buying another C-Bord card-swiping machine and entering into an agreement with Renato’s, allowing students to use points off their meal cards to buy food at Renato’s. Ortman said Student Council is looking into the logistics of such a move.

Cumby further suggested that Student Council talk with the managers of the Business District itself. As a result, SC has a meeting with the Business District managers scheduled for sometime in February. In the meantime, they welcome student input regarding this important topic.

They are also currently embarking on a quest to change the deadlines for declaring and withdrawing pass/fail options. Recent meetings with the Curriculum Committee have shown that there is the possibility that the faculty may support moving the deadline for withdrawing a pass/fail option from the seventh week of the semester to the ninth.

Furthermore, there is talk of doing away with the current deadline of two weeks into the semester for declaring pass/fail options and having that moved to the nine-week mark as well.

This discussion comes after numerous complaints from students that the deadline for withdrawing a pass/fail option came before they had gotten any feedback from the professor in terms of a midterm grade or a paper.

Student Council feels that rather than attempt to tell professors that they must provide feedback by a certain point, it would be much more feasible to attempt to have the deadline for declaring or withdrawing the option moved back two weeks.

– Jeff Heckelman

3) ITS staff to visit dorms after break

In an all-campus e-mail Monday, Robin Jacobsen, Manager of Client Services and Special Projects, announced that in the weeks following Thanksgiving break, Information Technology Services will place one staff member in each residence hall for a day to provide on the spot technical assistance.

In the e-mail, Jacobsen said during the visit, “ITS staff will be available to hear your suggestions, solve technical problems, answer questions, and assess the ability of student computers to make maximum use of bandwidth.”

The staff will roam the residence halls from noon to midnight of the assigned day, and will be assisted by dorm consultants. If problems can’t be solved, they will be documented and reassigned to appropriate staff soon afterwards. If the program is a success, Jacobsen says, a second day will be added to the schedule.

– Jeff Heckelman

4) World news roundup

The Florida recount battle continued on two fronts yesterday. In the State Supreme Court, lawyers from both sides battled over the legality of the hand recounts currently underway in several contested counties. Though the Court is not expected to reach a decision until Wednesday, the counties were busy considering how to go about recounting the disputed ballots. Topics debated ranged from how to count incorrectly marked ballots to the tallying of overseas military ballots that lacked sufficient postage. In any case, George W. Bush started Monday with a 930 vote lead over Al Gore, and by an unofficial tabulation based on county reports, the Vice President gained 175 during the course of the day.

An American Airlines flight en-route to Haiti from Miami led to the death of a crew member yesterday. Shortly after take-off, the pilot noticed trouble with an engine and had to make an emergency return to the airport. The crew member then opened the hatch before the cabin had depressurized and was fatally wounded when sucked out of the plane.

Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori’s resignation has led to a highly uncertain political future for the South American nation. Though Fujimori’s opposition has already gained control of Congress, it is till possible that his successor could come from within his regime. First Vice President Francisco Tudela, who resigned from office in October, was seemingly still interested in the position since Congress has yet to accept his resignation. Meanwhile, Second Vice President Ricardo Marquez has announced that he will not seek the presidency, leaving the door open for opposition politician and head of Congress Valentin Paniagua. Regardless of the temporary replacement leader, general elections are scheduled to take place in April.

And in a Daily Gazette update, it should be mentioned that Charles Ruff, the White House counsel who represented President Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky controversy and who passed away over the weekend at the age of 61, was actually a Swat alum. He was a member of the Class of 1960.

5) Campus events

“The Chordate Engrailed Locus: Insights into the Evolution of the Genetic Pathway” by Dr. Michael Schubert, University of California, San Francisco
Kirby Lecture Hall, 4:15 p.m.

Career Workshop
Trotter 301, 7:00 p.m.

“Economic Apartheid” by Felice Yeskel ’79, Co-Director of United for a Fair Economy
Bond Memorial Hall, 7:30 p.m.

Swarthbucklers Practice
Upper Tarble, 7:30 p.m.

Animal Rights Coalition
Trotter 303, 7:30 p.m.

Scottish Country Dancing
LPAC Dance Studio 3, 8:15 p.m.

Ballroom Dance
Upper Tarble, 9:30 p.m.

SPORTS UPDATE

1) Tufano named Conference Co-Player of the Week

Sarah Tufano ’03 was recognized as the Centennial Conference Co-Player of the Week Monday for her impressive performance in this past weekend’s Swat Tip-Off Tournament.

Leading the Garnet to wins against Randolph Macon and Beaver College, Tufano averaged 16 points per game, while shooting 81.3% from the field. In addition, the sophomore center had six rebounds, four blocks, two assists, and one steal as Swat captured the tournament.

2) Wrestling coach resigns

Ron Tirpak stepped down yesterday as head coach of the wrestling team. He will be replaced by assistant coach Fred Gruhler.

Tirpak is a former champion wrestler who has received the Coach’s Silver Certification, the second highest level of recognition awarded by USA Wrestling, placing him in the top 5% of coaches nationwide.

Tirpak was Gruhler’s high school coach.

3) World sports roundup

The Philadelphia 76ers extended their franchise-record season start to 10 games with a 114-90 win over the Boston Celtics Monday. Allen Iverson had 26 points and 8 assists in the victorious effort… The Florida State Seminoles were rewarded for their weekend win over arch-rival Florida by being ranked second in the the Bowl Championship Series standings. This ranking pushed Miami into third place, while Oklahoma maintained its grip on first in the system that will determine who plays for the NCAA national championship to be held at the Orange Bowl… Joe Smith, the Minnesota Timberwolves power forward who was involved in the illegal contract arrangement that cost the T-Wolves a number of future first-round draft picks, was signed by the Detroit Pistons yesterday. As a result of certain outlawed aspects of Smith’s offseason negotiations, his contract with his former team was nullified by the NBA, allowing him to field offers from numerous teams before choosing Detroit.

4) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests

Today:

Men’s swimming hosts Widener, 6:30 p.m.
Women’s swimming hosts Widener, 6:30 p.m.
Men’s basketball hosts Gwynedd Mercy, 7:00 p.m.
Women’s basketball at Eastern College, 7:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:

There are no contests scheduled for tomorrow.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Fundamentally, people are suckers for the truth.” – Donald Sutherland