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NEWS IN BRIEF
1) Athletics as Diversity discussed at Fireside Chat
2) World news roundup
3) Campus events
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Baseball drops Conference opener
2) World sports roundup
3) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
WEATHER FORECAST
Today: Partly cloudy. High 50.
Have you ever ridden a SEPTA bus before?
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low 35.
Those babies can really cruise. I’m talking hitting the Ville underpass at around 50…
Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy with showers. Highs in the mid 50s
It was just like “Speed” – except for that whole thing with Keanu Reeves and the mad bomber…
TODAY’S SHARPLES MENU
Lunch: Italian stromboli, french fries, cheese and vegetable stromboli, *butternut squash and sage orzo, broccoli, cauliflower
**Wing bar
Dinner: Turkey london broil, mushroom rice, *lentil stew, pasta with sauce, corn on the cob, whole green beans
**Pasta bar
NEWS REPORT
1) Athletics as Diversity discussed at Fireside Chat
Issues ranging from the contribution of student athletes to the Swarthmore community, increasing exposure and awareness of athletics within the college, and athletic recruitment in the admissions process were among the topics discussed at a fireside chat on Tuesday night about diversity and athletics at the college.
Approximately 30 students, along with Dean Bob Gross, Provost Jennie Keith, and Acting Dean of Admissions Jim Bock, gathered in the Kohlberg Coffee Bar for the discussion, held as part of this week’s Diversity Week.
The student athletes present stressed their sentiments that the presence of athletes in the student body improves the educational experience of other students, citing the importance of teamwork and cooperation in learning.
The administrators also voiced their support for athletics by expressing their desire to improve athletic facilities and increase budgets for athletic travel and materials. Keith revealed that a search, headed by athletic director Bob Williams and engineering professor Arthur McGarity, is underway for an associate athletic director.
“I hope and expect that students will also be involved in the process,” added Keith when several students said they did not want to be taken by surprise by any further administrative decisions concerning athletics.
Several ideas about changing people’s perception of athletes and athletics were also proposed. These included sending out more reserved student e-mails advertising sporting events and changing athlete profiles in college publications to include academic achievements and extracurricular activities as well as athletic statistics.
Another vital point in the discussion was the role of athletic recruitment in the admissions process. Many students stated that the stereotypes and prejudices concerning athletes may start at the admissions level, if non-athletes as well as the student athletes themselves believe that some students are recruited only for their athletic abilities.
There were strong responses all around to this, as students and administrators seemed to agree that a change in people’s ideology and perception of student athletes was more crucial to making progress than symbolic gestures like altering athletic publications.
The tone of the discussion was friendly and open, and at the end of the night, respect for others and self emerged as a key to achieving a better sense of community throughout the college.
“The only mistakes we make in admissions are with the people we don’t accept,” said Bock. “No one here is an admissions mistake…it’s very important that students believe firmly in their right to be here.”
– Pei Pei Liu
2) World news roundup
A path for the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill was cleared in Congress yesterday following the defeat of rival legislation sponsored by Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. The Hagel bill did not fully outlaw soft money, as McCain-Feingold does. Though there still remain many obstacles along the proposal’s path to passage, Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., is reporting that President Bush has promised to sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
A flock of 260 sheep in Vermont was killed yesterday after four tested positive for transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, a family of diseases that includes the “mad cow” disease which is currently plaguing Europe. The sheep were imported prior to a 1997 US ban on European livestock. Tissue samples from the animals have been sent to a U.S. Department of Agriculture for further testing. Meanwhile, in Great Britain, the latest outbreak of foot and mouth disease has been traced to meat imported from the Far East that was served as pig swill. As a result, the Agriculture Minister has placed a ban on swill and is looking into seeking vaccination for his country’s livestock.
One of the two missing U.S. Air Force F-15s and the body of its pilot were found yesterday by a search team on Ben Macdui, a Scottish mountain. A blizzard prevented the team from locating the other plane. The two F-15s, participating in a normal training mission on Monday over Scotland’s Cairngorn Mountains, are believed to have collided in mid-air.
3) Campus events
“How Does Your Religion Define Social Service?”
An Interfaith Discussion. Diversity Week Event.
Bond Memorial Hall, 4:00 p.m.
“Challenges of Sustainable Development in Europe”
Faculty Lecture by Wlod Wojcik, Engineering
Scheuer Room, 4:15 p.m.
French Movie Night
Kohlberg 115, 7:00 p.m.
“Images of Tibet in Contemporary Painting by Chinese and Tibetan Artists”
Lecture by Clare Harris
LPAC Cinema, 7:00 p.m.
MST3K: Eegah
Trotter 303, 7:00 p.m.
Reading by Eileen Myles, Author of “Cool for You”
Diversity Week Event.
Scheuer Room, 7:30 p.m.
College Democrats Meeting
Parrish Parlor – East, 8:30 p.m.
Dialogues Discussion Group
Parrish Parlor – West, 9:00 p.m.
Film Society Screening
DuPont 161, 10:00 p.m.
Diversity Week Study Break
Parrish Parlor – East, 10:00 p.m.
Folk Song Sing-Along
Parrish Parlor – West, 10:00 p.m.
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Baseball drops Conference opener
The baseball team had a rocky beginning to its Centennial Conference season yesterday with a 24-1 loss to Ursinus. Nevertheless, the team has chance to bounce back when they host Widener this afternoon at 3:15.
2) World sports roundup
Alonzo Mourning returned to the Miami Heat’s lineup for the first time since last season, after spending the first part of this season receiving treatment for a kidney disease. Mourning played 19 minutes and had nine points and six rebounds, but it was not enough to overcome the Toronto Raptors, who won 101-92 on the strength of Vince Carter’s 38 points.
With the addition of the new Houston franchise bringing the NFL’s roster up to 32 teams, the league is considering realigning into 8, 4-team divisions. This plan would involve creating an AFC North and a NFC South, as well as sending the Seattle Seahawks or the San Diego Chargers to the NFC.
The Cincinnati Red’s Ken Griffey Jr. will miss the rest of spring training after pulling his hamstring on Monday. Griffey, who strained the hamstring when he slipped in a game against Kansas City, is also uncertain for Opening Day.
3) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
Today:
Baseball vs. Widener, 3:15 p.m.
Women’s tennis vs. Johns Hopkins, 3:30 p.m.
Women’s lacrosse vs. Washington, 4:00 p.m.
Softball vs. University of the Sciences, 4:00 p.m.
Men’s lacrosse at Stevens Tech, 4:00 p.m.
Tomorrow:
There are no contests scheduled for tomorrow.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If little else, the brain is an educational toy.” – Tom Robbins
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