Tuesday, December 12, 2000

Tuesday, December 12, 2000
Volume 5, Number 62

This is the final issue of the Daily Gazette for this semester. We will, however, continually update our web site with all the latest news and information regarding all things Swat. So keep checking our web page for updates, and as always, drop us an email with your thoughts at gazette-management@student-publications.swarthmore.edu.

Thanks for supporting the Daily Gazette.

The Editors.

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

NEWS IN BRIEF

1) Bloom, et al, meet with badminton team
2) Students draft report criticizing ARC methods, Swat athletic statistics
3) World news roundup
4) Campus events

SPORTS IN BRIEF

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

WEATHER FORECAST

Today: Cloudy and windy, with possible rain in the early morning. Highs in the mid 40s.
As this is the last Gazette of the semester, we’d just like to thank you for your continued support of the publication.

Tonight: Clear. Lows near 20.
And for your incredible tolerance of our weather jokes.

Tomorrow: Mostly sunny and colder. Highs in the lower 30s.
Yes, they were supposed to be jokes…

TODAY’S SHARPLES MENU

Lunch: Open face turkey-ham sandwich, curly fries, *vegetarian chili, open face vegetable sandwich, French cut green beans, mixed vegetables
**Asian chicken salad bar

Dinner: Catfish with Creole tartar sauce, corn pudding, *broccoli-mushroom stir-fry, tomatoes provencal, brussel sprouts
**Cajun bar

NEWS REPORT

1) Bloom, et al, meet with badminton team

Representatives of the women’s badminton team met last Friday with President Al Bloom, Provost Jennie Keith, and Athletic Department Director Bob Williams to discuss the fate of varsity badminton at the college.

According to co-captain Karen Lange ’02, the meeting was “friendly and helped clear some things up…it was good to meet, although nothing really happened in terms of concrete decisions.”

At the meeting, it was agreed that since the badminton season has already begun, no changes would be implemented this year; the team will be able to finish its season with varsity status, but it remains to be seen whether the details of relegating a sport from varsity to club status – notably, team funding – can be worked out during the off-season.

Club sports are not supported by the athletic department; they are technically student-run and funded by the Student Budget Committee. “Currently, the infrastructure to support [women’s badminton] as a club sport doesn’t exist,” said Lange.

In response, the administrators expressed their desire to increase the college’s support of club sports as a whole, but the specifics of how the college would accomplish this are still unclear.

One of the major issues raised at the meeting was the confusion as to why badminton, which takes up no recruiting slots in admissions, was cut. The administrators present at the meeting revealed that their goal in cutting all three sports was to implement a new plan for varsity athletics at the college.

Currently, there are varsity sports, such as badminton, which do not take up recruiting slots; however, having slots would help improve these teams, one of the administration’s main goals in making the changes.

Therefore, the proposed plan was to provide recruiting slots for all remaining varsity sports, and since it was believed that badminton could retain their competitiveness as a club sport, the decision was made to drop their varsity status.

“Basically, their intent was to keep everything the same for us but make things a little better for other varsity sports,” said Lange, who also confirmed that the team can continue to play in their conference as a club sport, something which was not known when the Board of Managers’ decision was first announced.

Despite the administration’s apparently benign intentions toward the team in making the decision, captains Lange, Siobhan Carty ’01, and Jane Ng ’01 maintain that badminton’s varsity status does significantly affect their team.

Although the college does not officially recruit for badminton, they argued, some students “self-recruit” for the sport and may not be as interested in a school without varsity badminton, thus causing a decline in the team as an indirect result of its demotion to club status. Removing the team’s varsity status would also take away from many walk-on athletes the opportunity to participate in varsity athletics.

“Most of our players are walk-ons,” said Lange. “We teach them how to play, we give them a chance to compete on a varsity team, earn varsity letters, and go to Nationals. There aren’t a lot of other sports here that can offer that.”

Although nothing conclusive came from the meeting, Lange described it as a generally positive experience. “It was small and intimate, and more productive than the question-and-answer format of previous meetings between the administration and the entire student body. We finally got to express why we were concerned about the cuts to our team in particular.”

– Pei Pei Liu

2) Students draft report criticizing ARC methods, Swat athletic statistics

Four students presented a critical analysis of the Athletic Review Committee and new statistics on Swarthmore athletics to the Board of Managers in an attempt to convince the Board to reconsider last week’s controversial decision.

Joe Corso ’02, Matt Asano ’02, Delonte Gholston ’02, and Lucy Lang ’03 co-wrote a petition to the Board last week, attaching a packet of information that contained both their reviews, as well as the opinions of students, coaches, and faculty.

The analysis of the ARC criticizes members of the body for acting without the consensus of the entire group. It claims that the proposal which was ultimately submitted to the Board was drafted by only three members, and was drastically different from the two plans previously considered by the committee, both of which called for the elimination of the swimming teams.

The final plan, written by Economics professor John Caskey, Philosophy professor Hans Oberdiek, and Mark Dingfield ’01, captain of the men’s lacrosse team, was approved in an emergency committee meeting called by ARC head Jennie Keith, at which all members were not present, according to the report.

The section covering athletics statistics contends that because more than 50% of football players take part in other varsity sports, the program’s cutting would be devastating to other teams as well.

Furthermore, because there is such a high rate of crossover participation amongst Swarthmore athletes, Keith’s assertion that the school would need to yield a freshman class of at least 30% athletes is inaccurate, write the review’s authors.

Additionally, head football coach, Pete Alvanos, is cited as saying the football program needs only 13-15 new players each year to remain competitive, and not 20-24 as the ARC declared in its report to the Board.

Corso is a member of the ARC. Gholston is the Student Council’s Board of Managers Observer. The full report can be found online at http://www.saveswatsports.com/Student_Review.htm .

Meanwhile, alumni will have their chance to meet with President Bloom and others tonight in the Friends Meeting House starting at 7:30 p.m.

– Jeremy Schifeling

3) World news roundup

Lawyers for Al Gore and George W. Bush answered questions from Supreme Court justices today as the highest court in the land attempts to decide whether the Florida Supreme Court overstepped its jurisdiction in ordering ballot recounts last week. The justices appeared firmly divided over the “federal question,” deliberating over the validity of the Court’s intervention into the Florida judges’ interpretation of state laws. The Court is expected to announce a ruling soon as the US Constitution cites today as the deadline for the selection of Electoral College voters.

Committees of the House and Senate of the Florida Legislature proposed a slate of Republican Electoral College voters yesterday. The proposals will be voted on today by each of the chambers, in an attempt to ensure Florida representation in the presidential election should the Supreme Court not achieve a decision with enough time remaining. Legal scholars spent the day debating the authority of the Legislature to select College members should the normal method fail.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak attacked former PM Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, calling his term a failure and criticizing him for offering empty promises. The two are slated to compete for election to the PM position, culminating with a vote in February, though Netanyahu’s candidacy has yet to be certified by the Knesset. Barak trails heavily in early polls due to the violence that has erupted between Israelis and Palestinians since late September.

A Chilean appeals court overturned charges of kidnapping and homicide against former ruler General Augusto Pinochet yesterday. The case will now move to the Supreme Court. Pinochet, 85, is accused of ordering the killings of thousands during his dictatorial regime from 1973-1990.

4) Campus events

Greening of Campus presentation and discussion
Scheuer Room, 11:00 a.m.

“Democratization and Integration: The European Union in an Undivided Europe” by Milada Vachudova
Trotter 301, 4:15 p.m.

“Overturning the Culture of Violence” by Penny Hess and Gaida Kambon
Hicks Mural Room 312, 7:30 p.m.

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

Swarthmore College Chamber Players with Alyson Jones ’02 – Director
Lang Concert Hall, 8:00 p.m.

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

Queer and Questioning Small Group Discussion
SQU Room – IC, 9 PM.

Swing Formal
Upper Tarble, 10:00 p.m.

SPORTS UPDATE

1) World sports roundup

Free agent shortstop Alex Rodriguez agreed to a 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers, the largest in sports history. Though slightly below below the per-season record set by the final year of Michael Jordan’s contract with the Chicago Bulls, it almost doubles the previous total record of $126 million created by Kevin Garnett’s signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1997… The NHL has approved a bid by Wayne Gretzky’s business group to buy the Phoenix Coyotes. Though the process is not yet final, its completion would mark Gretzky’s first return to the league since his retirement as a player… The New York Mets signed free agent pitchers Kevin Appier and Steve Trachsel yesterday. The team also signed all-star outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo, the second Japanese non-pitcher to make it to the Majors.

2) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests

There are no contests scheduled for today or tomorrow.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” – T.S. Eliot