Thursday, December 7, 2000

Thursday, December 7, 2000
Volume 5, Number 59

NEWS IN BRIEF

1) Student Council clarifies position, drafts letter to faculty
2) Student Activities Fee increase approved
3) World news roundup
4) Campus events

SPORTS IN BRIEF

1) Women’s basketball closes out semester with a bang
2) World sports roundup
3) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests

WEATHER FORECAST

Today: Partly sunny. Highs in the mid 30s.
Now that we’re approaching the end of the year, I’m slightly disappointed that there isn’t much news about cults predicting the end of the world…

Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows around 20.
After all, everyone knows that the new millennium only begins in 2001…

Tomorrow: Cloudy with possible snow showers later on in the day. Highs near 40.
Surest sign that the Apocalypse is upon us: Swat badminton as a club sport.

TODAY’S SHARPLES MENU

Lunch: Tortellini with rose sauce, foccacia, *indian style chick peas, crinkle cut carrots, zucchini italiano
**Hoagie bar

Dinner: Student Council Dinner! Grilled flank steak, garlic mashed potatoes, chicken fingers, spicy Thai noodles, and Ben & Jerry’s amongst other goodies…

NEWS REPORT

1) Student Council clarifies position, drafts letter to faculty

After meeting daily since Sunday, Student Council reached consensus on what they saw as serious concerns with the process by which the Athletic Review Committee came to its recommendations to the Board of Managers over the last year and culminating last weekend. They drafted a letter to the faculty Wednesday morning (full text at http://daily.swarthmore.edu), outlining their concerns.

“We feel the veil of secrecy that the ARC adopted hindered its ability to have a productive and honest campus discussion of the issues and constraints with which it was dealing,” the letter states. “And in the past three weeks, the ARC sped forward to put a finalized plan before the Board in a process that shortchanged the Board’s ability fully to consider student opinion,” it continues.

It is of important note that Student Council, as representative of the student body, is not taking a position on the decision to remove football, wrestling and badminton from the varsity athletic program itself. Their stance is merely that there were flaws in the process by which the decision was made.

SC points out that the ARC made no effort to contact them in their capacity as representatives to the student body. Only after Student Council contacted them did representatives from SC meet with the ARC on October 24. At that time, they agreed on a process which would gather student input, starting with the student surveys handed out in early November and continuing on to the creation of student focus groups and at least one fireside chat for students to ask questions and voice concerns. The surveys were handed out, but were not analyzed before the ARC made its recommendations to the Board. No focus groups were created, and no fireside chats took place.

“We recognize the need to keep discussions about personal data and options for cutting specific teams confidential in order to maintain trust and confidence in the integrity of the committee,” the letter acknowledges. “Yet we believe that a frank discussion of the concerns and constraints that led to the committee’s creation in the first place would have allowed students to begin talking amongst themselves about these issues and therefore avoid the turmoil and confusion we are experiencing now.”

Student Council says it has been working with President Al Bloom to find a way to make public all the data the ARC took into account in making its recommendation, the minutes from the past year’s ARC meetings, and the minutes from last weekend’s Board meetings.

Furthermore, in an all-campus e-mail sent Thursday morning, SC said Bloom has agreed that it is necessary to, “institutionalize a means to ensure that adequate student opinion will always be a part of major policy decisions.”

Once again, the full text of Student Council’s letter to the faculty can be found on the Daily Gazette web site <http://daily.swarthmore.edu>.

– Jeff Heckelman

2) Student Activities Fee increase approved

Amidst deliberations over the sports cut controversy at last Monday’s meeting, Student Council sanctioned a boost in the annual Student Activities Fee.

The move was proposed by Treasurer Marvin Barron ’02 on behalf of the Student Budget Committee to compensate for inflation and to ease the financial difficulties of last semester’s 19% budget cut on campus groups.

The SAF is scheduled to increase from $250 to $287. The proposal came after Budget Committee received student input from last week’s fireside chat.

Student Council unanimously approved the increase.

3) World news roundup

With the deadline for the selection of Electoral College voters less than a week away, Al Gore seeks a Florida Supreme Court decision once again, in hopes that a favorable ruling will propel him to the White House. The Court will decide today on whether to overrule a Circuit Court judge’s earlier rejection of a recount of contested ballots. Additionally, the Gore camp has two suits pending in Martin and Seminole counties, challenging 25,000 absentee ballots based on allegations of counter fraud. Meanwhile, the Republican-dominated State Legislature has agreed to meet on Friday to appoint Electoral College in the absence of a decisive legal decision.

While awaiting the results of the Florida courts, George W. Bush has issued a warning to terrorists, saying that any hostile actions which attempt to capitalize on the election uncertainty will face severe retribution if he takes office. Bush made the announcement with Condoleezza Rice, who will likely be his national security advisor should he become President.

A Moscow court convicted American businessman, Edmond Pope, of spying on Russian naval secrets yesterday. Pope, who runs a maritime technologies firm, was charged with stealing the blueprints of a recently developed torpedo. The decision has been condemned by American officials who claim he was unfairly tried. It was the first time that an American had been convicted of espionage in the nation since U-2 pilot, Francis Gary Hall, was shot down 40 years ago.

4) Campus events

“Psychological Responses to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Cancer” by Charles Carver, University of Miami
Scheuer Room – Kohlberg, 4:15 p.m.

Fall Student Dance Concert with New Choreography by Swarthmore Faculty and students
Hall-Pearson Theatre – LPAC, 4:30 p.m.

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

Drug War Video and Speaker Series
Kohlberg 115, 7:30 p.m.

Anime Showing
Kirby Lecture Hall, 8:00 p.m.

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

Empty the Shelters Meeting
Kohlberg 116, 9:00 p.m.

QSA workshop discussion: “QUEER & RELIGION”
IC Big Room, 10:00 p.m.

SPORTS UPDATE

1) Women’s basketball closes out semester with a bang

Playing their final game of the fall semester, the women’s basketball team pulled out a 68-61 victory over Washington. The away contest saw the Shorewomen jump out to a 24-14 lead with only 4:35 left in the first half. However, a 17-2 Swat rally in the closing minutes brought the Garnet back ahead, 31-26, as the teams went to the locker rooms.

The run was led by Heather Kile ’02, who posted eight of her season-high 28 points during the rally. Completing an all-around super night, Kile was 9-16 from the floor, 10-11 from the line, and pulled down nine rebounds.

Her efforts were complemented by sophomore Ally Furman’s 18 points (going 5-8 on 3-point attempts) and freshman Katie Robinson’s nine points and team-high 10 boards. Center Sara Tufano ’03 also tallied nine points on the night.

The win closes out a superb semester for the team as they head into the break with a 2-0 Centennial Conference record, 7-1 overall.

2) World sports roundup

Ousted quarterback Brad Johnson, criticized Wahington Redskins owner Dan Snyder for being too involved with the football operations of the team. The comments came two days after head coach Norv Turner was fired by Snyder. The QB acknowledged that he would likely not be back with the team next season, following his demotion in favor of Jeff George. …The Los Angeles Dodgers signed pitcher Andy Ashby to a 3-year, $22.5 million deal yesterday. The two-time All-Star started for the Phillies and finished with the Braves last year, racking up a 12-13 record with a 4.92 ERA. …In a rematch of last year’s national championship, Michigan State beat Florida, 99-83. The win was the 17th consecutive for the reigning champs, who are currently ranked #2 in the nation. It was also the 34th in a row at their home court, the Breslin Center.

3) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests

There are no contests scheduled for today or tomorrow.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“When I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you.” – Samuel Goldwyn