Wednesday, April 11th, 2001

Wednesday, April 11th, 2001
Volume 5, Number 114

NEWS IN BRIEF

SPORTS IN BRIEF

WEATHER FORECAST

Today: Cloudy with rain likely. High 56.
All these naive prospective students want to know, “Is Swat really that hard?”

Tonight: Cloudy with rain likely. Low 47.
I’d love to set them straight: “No, it’s actually quite manageable. You decide exactly how much work you want to do.”

Sunday: Cloudy with showers. High 63.
Unfortunately, I’m stuck in McCabe with two research projects, a presentation, and a headache.

TODAY’S SHARPLES MENU

Lunch: Chicken croquettes, 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) Swat Police arrest two in weekend assaults

Early Sunday morning, two reported incidents of assault took place on campus within hours of each other.

At approximately 1:30 am, Swarthmore Police and Public Safety officers responded to a reported disturbance in Worth courtyard. According to Brian Craig, Swarthmore Borough Police Chief, a large, disorderly crowd had formed in the courtyard.

“We found a male student who had apparently been involved in a confrontation with a young woman. Apparently, they had been arguing,” Craig said. “The student reported that the young woman had assaulted him several times with a closed fist,” he added. Witnesses outside corroborated the man’s claims.

The officers discovered the young woman, a Bryn Mawr student, inside the residence hall, sitting in the corridor. She reportedly yelled obscenities at the officers and claimed she had been assaulted by the male student outside. However, she had no signs of injury and refused medical attention.

As she appeared intoxicated, the officers attempted to calm her and led her outside, where she reportedly saw the young man again, ran towards him, threatened him, and attempted to assault him. After a brief struggle, Craig said, she was placed under arrest.

The woman was transported to Media and held on $2000 unsecured bail. She was charged with attempted simple assault, disorderly conduct, public drunkenness, underage drinking, and resisting arrest.

At approximately 3:30 am, Public Safety and the Borough police received word that a second incident had occurred on campus, an assault on the same male student who had been involved in the previous incident.

The student reported that he had been in bed in his room in Mertz when he heard a knock on the door and a man asking for him by name. Three men then entered the room; the first reportedly said, “I got him, hit him,” and struck the student multiple times in the face while the other two men punched the student repeatedly on both sides of his head. They then fled the dormitory, according to Craig.

Although the same male student was involved in both incidents, police have no evidence that the incidents were directly related.

“It seems that the young men had met earlier in the evening at the Delta Upsilon fraternity party, where they had been involved in a verbal confrontation,” said Craig.

The victim was transported by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was treated for multiple lacerations and contusions on the forehead, ears, and hands. He was then released.

According to the Public Safety bulletin released on Monday, the three assailants are described as:

1) African-American male, long “afro” style hair, wearing an orange fleece jacket

2) African-American male, dark complexion, 5’10”, 225 lbs., hair worn in tight “corn row” style

3) African-American male, navy blue or black fleece jacket

Swarthmore police report that one suspect is currently being held pending identification by the victim, but the investigation into this incident is ongoing. Anyone with relevant information is urged to contact Public Safety at x8281, or Swarthmore Borough Police at (610) 543-0123.

– Pei Pei Liu

2) World news roundup

The US is drafting a formal statement of regret for the unauthorized landing of its EP-3E spy plane on Chinese territory, contingent upon release of the plane’s 24 crew members, currently being held on the island of Hainan. Earlier Tuesday, Chinese President Jiang Zemin reaffirmed his nation’s demand for a US apology in the incident, but offered confidence that a solution would be found. Meanwhile, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has helped to free prisoners in Syria, Iraq and Yugoslavia, offered to assist US officials in negotiating a compromise, but was told by Secretary of State Colin Powell that the offer was appreciated, but not currently needed. Additionally, a Pentagon official released news yesterday which indicated that the US plane had been on auto-pilot at the time of the collision, conflicting with China’s report that the EP-3E had swerved into the Chinese fighter jet.

Fighting broke out yesterday between Israeli troops and Palestinians near the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The violence, which injured 23 Palestinians, came after a Palestinian mortar hit a Jewish settlement in the area earlier in the day. The renewed fighting cast doubt on a US-brokered meeting between Israeli and Palestinian security officials scheduled for this afternoon.

New forecasts for the Red River flooding situation show that the river is likely to crest a foot higher than had been expected. In response to this change, crews are rushing to raise dike levels all over the affected area, including in Grand Forks and Fargo, ND. Hundreds of homes in rural areas are already being evacuated in anticipation of more rain on Thursday.

3) Campus events

Passover Dinner
Bond Memorial Hall, 6:30 p.m.

Mental Health Committee Information Session
Intercultural Center, 7:00 p.m.

French Movie Night
Kohlberg 115, 7:00 p.m.

MST3K Showing: “Fugitive Alien”
Trotter 303, 7:00 p.m.

Soc/Anth Movie Night: “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”
Kohlberg 226, 7:00 p.m.

Film: “Eat Drink Man Woman/ Yin shi nan nu”
Directed by Ang Lee. 1994, Taiwan, Mandarin with English subtitles
LPAC Cinema, 8:00 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.

Folk Song Sing-Along
Parrish Parlor – West, 10:00 p.m.

SPORTS UPDATE

1) Women’s tennis still undefeated in Centennial

The women’s tennis team continued on their path towards Centennial Conference dominance yesterday with a 7-2 victory over Muhlenberg. Anjani Reddy ’04, Caroline Celano ’04 and Kristina Pao ’04 all took their singles matches. Meanwhile, in doubles action, the teams of Jennifer Pao ’01 and Laura Swerdlow ’02, Kristina Pao and Katherine Voll ’03, and Reddy and Celano were all victorious. The team’s record now stands at 10-2 overall with a perfect 8-0 in the Conference.

2) Women’s lacrosse defeats Chestnut Hill

The women’s lacrosse team put on an offensive exhibition yesterday in beating Chestnut Hill 16-6. The Garnet fireworks were ignited by junior Katie Tarr’s five goals and four assists, as well as three goals and three assists for Kristen English ’01. Their performances were supplemented by the strong play of Erika Williams ’01, Jackie Kahn ’04, and Amber Adamson ’01, who each had two goals and an assist. Lucy Lang ’03 added two goals in the win. The team is now 6-4 overall and 1-3 in the Centennial Conference.

3) Softball loses extra-innings heartbreaker

The softball team hung tough against Muhlenberg yesterday, but were ultimately defeated when the Mules pushed across a run in the top of the 12th, to take the contest 3-2. The Garnet started strong, taking a 1-0 lead in the first when Stephanie Wotjtkowski ’01 scored on a single by Gretchen Heitz ’04. Unfortunately, the team did not score again until the bottom of the 10th, when a Pam Lavallee ’03 sacrifice fly knocked in Heather Marandola ’01. The loss drops the team’s record to 1-15 overall and 1-6 in the Centennial.

4) Baseball falls to Washington

The baseball team was defeated by Washington College yesterday, 18-7. Scott Kushner ’02 went 3-5 in the loss, with three runs and a two-run homer, while Josh Lindsey ’01 also went 3-5 with an RBI. The team’s record now stands at 2-12 overall and 1-7 in the Conference.

5) World sports roundup

Despite a statement by Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin yesterday indicating that the basketball great would return to NBA, Michael Jordan told the press that he is still 99.9% certain that his retirement is permanent. Nevertheless, Mario Lemieux, Jordan’s golfing buddy who is involved in a pro sports comeback himself, said that he had talked to the former Chicago Bulls star recently and believed that a return was imminent.

The NCAA management council passed measures yesterday that will allow student-athletes to deal with financial difficulties while staying in school. The measures include provisions for athletes to receive payments for teaching sports lessons and would allow them to get bank loans based on potential future earnings, up to an amount of $20,000.

In his first game since pitching a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles last week, Hideo Nomo and the Boston Red Sox beat the Orioles again last night, 10-1. Nomo allowed just four hits in six innings and Brian Daubach hit two homers, as he did in Wednesday’s no-hitter.

6) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests

QUOTE OF THE DAY