Thursday, January 24, 2002

* The chairman of Enron, Kenneth L. Lay, resigned from that
position
yesterday, citing the controversy surrounding his role in
the company’s
bankruptcy and the need for new leadership. Lay had been with
Enron since
1986, but his numerous relationships with political officials
had
complicated investigations into the firm’s failure and limited
his ability
to direct the company through its problems. Two congressional
committees
will begin their examination of Enron’s collapse today and
Lay is scheduled
to testify before them on Feb. 4th.

* Starting today, the 158 detainees being held in Guantanamo
Bay will face
interrogation by US investigators. The prisoners are not permitted
to have
lawyers present during the questioning and those who have
been interviewed
will be kept separate from their peers to prevent them from
conspiring in
their responses. The International Committee of the Red Cross
will attempt
to monitor the interrogations as the US has come under substantial
heat
recently in regards to the conditions of the prison camp.

* President Bush has asked Congress to increase military
spending by nearly
$50 billion dollars to aid the war on terrorism. The proposed
increase, the
largest in two decades, coincided with an announcement by
the Congressional
Budget Office that budget surpluses over the next decade will
likely be 71%
less than anticipated while the country will face a budget
deficit this year
and the next. Democrats used the news to attack the President’s
tax cuts as
fiscally irresponsible, although Republicans countered that
tax breaks would
spur the stalling economy and return the nation to the surpluses
that it
enjoyed in the late ’90s.

*****

Sociology/Anthropology Lecture: “The Criolian Contagion
by Roger Abrahams ’55, Hum Rosen Professor of Folklore and
Folk Life
Director, Center for Folklore and Ethnography at The University
of
Pennsylvania
Kohlberg – Scheuer Room, 4:15 p.m.

Empty the Shelters Meeting
Kohlberg 226, 9:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

by Jeremy Schifeling – Sports Editor
with reporting by Pat Quinn – Gazette Sportswriter

The women’s basketball team took a five-game winning streak
into last
night’s contest at Haverford, and despite some sloppy play
on both sides,
was able to extend their successful run with a 68-39 victory
over the Fords.

Coming off a huge victory against Muhlenberg this past weekend,
the squad
was sluggish early and committed numerous turnovers. However,
with
Haverford ice-cold from the field and unable to do much on
the glass, Swat
scrapped its way to a 37-14 lead at halftime by virtue of
a late 15-2 run.

The second half provided more of the same disjointed competition,
and with
the outcome largely predetermined early on in the period,
Coach Shibles
began to get her bench significant playing time. The tail
end of game even
saw frequent stretches with four first-year players on the
court at once,
allowing all eleven members of the roster to tally points.
Kristen Lee ’05,
in particular, was impressive off the bench, notching ten
points and five
boards.

In the end, Swat was simply too talented for their opponents.
Heather Kile
’02 led the team with 18 points and four assists, while Ali
Furman ’03 was
solid from downtown, connecting on four of seven three-pointers.

Despite the blowout win, the squad was disappointed with
its inconsistent
level of play. Said Katie Robinson ’04, “I don’t think,
as a team, we were
too happy with our performance tonight, but Haverford played
just as poorly,
and we’re just the better team.”

*****

by Jeremy Schifeling – Sports Editor
with reporting by Pat Quinn – Gazette Sportswriter

Playing in front of a packed house at Haverford’s Alumni
Field House, the
men’s basketball team was unable to capitalize on a late lead
and fell to
the Fords, 70-60.

Even before the contest began, a palpable sense of antagonism
between the
two competing schools developed as fans from both sides jeered
at each other
across the court. This charged atmosphere translated into
heightened
intensity in the early moments of the game as the squads battled
back and
forth to control the tempo of the contest. Eventually though,
the teams
settled into a physical style of play with neither squad gaining
a decisive
upper-hand and the Fords took a 35-30 edge into halftime.

However, the tide began to turn early in the second when
Swat’s starting
forward Bayne Heersink ’05 was forced to leave the contest
with an injured
knee. The absence of the the 6’6″ Heersink allowed Haverford
to control the
glass and put more pressure on the Garnet shooters to nail
their shots. For
a while, Swat held its own, even taking a lead with 13:32
to go. But
following a Kyle Lewis ’02 three-pointer that put the Garnet
up by four,
47-43, the Fords went on a lightning-quick run, rattling over
several
unanswered points and erasing the deficit.

Down 58-50, the Garnet attempted to stage a late comeback
with Heersink
returning to the court, but were hampered by fouls that caused
three
starters to foul out of the contest. Ultimately, the team
could not answer
Haverford’s inside play and attempts to fortify the interior
were met by
deadly threes from ‘Ford sharpshooters.

Still, Swat played admirably in hostile territory, and David
Pearce ’03 led
all scorers with 21 points. Matt Gustafson ’05 and Josh Loeffler
’03 each
contributed eleven in the loss.

The team’s record now stands at 4-12 overall and 1-5 in the
Centennial
Conference.

*****

* Defensive end Hugh Douglas of the Philadelphia Eagles was
fined $35,000 by
the NFL yesterday for his hit on Chicago Bears quarterback
Jim Miller in
last weekend’s playoff game. After throwing an interception,
Miller was hit
by Douglas and separated his shoulder. He had to leave the
game. No penalty
was called at the time, but NFL rules state that a defender
cannot make
contact with the quarterback until the quarterback becomes
an active pursuer
of the interception return. This was Douglas’ second fine
in two weeks; he
was earlier fined $5,000 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Tampa
Bay quarterback
Brad Johnson on January 12. Douglas plans to appeal the second
fine.

* At the Australian Open yesterday, Tommy Haas reached the
men’s semifinals
by defeating Marcelo Rios 7-6, 6-4, 7-6. He will face Marat
Safin, who
advanced when Wayne Ferreira, his opponent in the quarterfinals,
withdrew
due to injury. Thomas Johansson will face Jiri Novak for the
other semifinal
match. For the women, Jennifer Capriati defeated Amelie Mauresmo
6-2, 6-2 and will play Kim Clijsters in the semifinals today,
while Monica
Seles and Martina Hingis compete in the other semifinal match.
Hingis has
also reached the semifinals in women’s doubles with her partner
Anna
Kournikova.

* Jerry Stackhouse scored a season-high 40 points to end
the Detroit
Pistons’ eight-game losing streak with a 104-83 victory over
the Minnesota
Timberwolves last night. Stackhouse scored 18 points in the
third quarter
alone. Cliff Robinson contributed 20 points, while Kevin Garnett
added 19
points and 13 rebounds. Minnesota committed a season-worst
24 turnovers.

*****

Today:
Men’s basketball at Williamson Trade, 7:00 p.m.
Badminton hosts Haverford, 8:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Indoor track at Boston University, “Terrier Classic”

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable
at the top.”
–Timothy Leary

*****
.
Interested in reporting or writing for the Gazette?
Got a news or sports tip for us?
Just want to tell us what you think?

Contact the Editorial Board at daily@swarthmore.edu

Editorial Board

News Editors: Karla Gilbride
Pei Pei Liu
Sports Editor: Jeremy Schifeling
Photo Editor: Casey Reed

Staff Writers
News Reporters: Zhiling Gau
Evelyn Khoo
Sanggee Kim
Natacha Pascal
George Petel
Kent Qian
Alexis Reedy

Sports Writers: Shavaugn Lewis
Pat Quinn

The Daily Gazette is published Monday through Friday by an
independent
group of Swarthmore College students. The Daily Gazette Web
Site is updated
regularly, as news happens. Technical support from the Swarthmore
College
Computer Society is gratefully acknowledged.

Our world news roundup is compiled daily, using a variety
of sources, most
notably the Associated Press (www.ap.org), Reuters (www.reuters.com),
CNN
(www.cnn.com), and The New York Times (www.nytimes.com). Our
world sports
roundup is derived mostly from ESPN (www.espn.com).

To subscribe to the Gazette, free of charge, or to cancel
a subscription,
go to our subscriptions page on the web at
http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/daily/subscribe.html.

Back issues are available on the web at:
http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/daily/archive.html

This concludes today’s report.