Monday, January 28, 2002

* A Palestinian woman set off explosives on Jaffa Road in
Jerusalem
yesterday, killing herself and an 81-year-old Israeli man.
The blast
injured more than 100 people and comes in the wake of the
Palestinian
suicide bomber who wounded 25 people in Tel Aviv last Friday
and the
Palestinian gunman who killed two Israeli woman on the same
Jaffa Road last
Tuesday. Police are not sure whether the woman intended a
suicide bombing,
speculating that the bomb may have detonated prematurely.
Israel has
retaliated with missile strikes for both of the previous attacks,

increasing the pressure on Palestinian president Yasser Arafat
to check the
militant violence between the two countries.

* After interrogating five men suspected in the disappearance
of U.S.
journalist Daniel Pearl, Pakistani police reported yesterday
that they had
no new leads on the case. The 38-year-old reporter, in Pakistan
to research
a story on alleged shoe bomber Richard Reid, went missing
last Wednesday in
the southern city of Karachi. An e-mail claiming Pearl to
be a CIA agent
kidnapped in protest of U.S. treatment of Afghani prisoners
in Cuba was
dismissed by U.S. officials as a hoax. Meanwhile, on the eve
of interim
Afghani leader Hamid Karzai’s meeting with President Bush,
the U.S.
continues to deny POW status to the Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners
in
Guantanamo Bay, maintaining that they targeted civilians and
did not
represent a state military. As POWs, the captives would have
certain rights
of shelter and treatment under the Geneva Convention. The
U.S. insists that
the prisoners are being treated humanely.

* Thomas Junta, the Massachusetts hockey dad convicted of
involuntary
manslaughter, was sentenced to 6-10 years in prison by Judge
Charles Grabau
on Friday. Earlier in the month, Junta had been found guilty
of beating
another father, Michael Costin, to death at their sons’ hockey
practice in
July 2000. Costin’s emotional family, including the son who
witnessed his
father’s death, asked for a harsh sentence, while Junta’s
attorneys pleaded
for leniency, maintaining that Junta attacked in self-defense.
Grabau said
he based his sentencing decision on the brutality of the crime,
the
defense’s attempt to “make the victim the culprit,”
and Junta’s past
history of violence against his wife. The maximum sentence
for the case
would have been 20 years. Junta is ineligible for parole until
2007.

*****

“Social Imagineering: Community in Theory, Community
in Practice”
Dr. Keally McBride, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political
Science,
Temple University
Kohlberg 115, 4:30 p.m.

French Cinema Club video showing
Kohlberg 302, 7:30 p.m.

“The Trial of Lenin: Legitimating the Revolution Through
Political
Theater, 1920-1024″
Paul Beik Annual Lecture by Elizabeth Wood, Professor of History
at MIT
Scheuer Room, 7:30 p.m.

Swarthmore Progressive Action Committee meeting
Kohlberg 228, 9:30 p.m.

Swing dance
Upper Tarble, 9:30 p.m.

Spike interest meeting
Parrish Parlors – West, 10:00 p.m.

Student Council meeting
CRC (Parrish 2nd), 10:00 p.m.

SWIL movie night: “The Wizard of Speed and Time”
Kirby Lecture Hall, 10:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

by Pat Quinn
Gazette Sportswriter

In an unfortunate Saturday for men’s and women’s basketball,
both teams
lost to the Gettysburg Bullets. The women’s team saw their
undefeated
streak (7-0) within the Centennial Conference come to an end,
while the
men, who have been less successful in Conference play this
season, failed
to improve upon their record, which now stands at 1-6.

The men’s game, the first of the afternoon, featured large
and vocal
contingents of fans supporting each team. Beginning the game
well,
Swarthmore had several small leads thanks to a stingy defense
that more
than overcame offensive struggles. However, when the team’s
dismal shooting
percentage failed to improve sufficiently, Gettysburg took
the lead. Missed
shots were ultimately the deciding factor in the game, as
Swat’s field goal
percentage (37.5) could not compare with that of Gettysburg
(59.1).

The second half saw increasing Bullet leads and Garnet desperation,
as Swat
took more and more of what can only be described as ill-advised
shots. The
game ended with Swarthmore falling 69-51. Their record is
now 4-14, 1-6 in
the Centennial Conference.

After the first game finished, the women seemed ready to
avenge the men’s
loss. The team was visibly agitated and ready to play during
their
warm-ups. However, the women’s team shot poorly in the first
half, and,
along with less-than-excellent play by Gettysburg, the first
half proceeded
at a sluggish pace. Towards the end of the half, the team
picked up its
level of play, inspired by a Katie Robinson ’04 steal to lay-up
play. By
the end of the half, Swarthmore trailed 20-15.

The second half seemed, to many in the crowd, a different
game. Swarthmore
doubled their first half output in ten minutes, and gradually
caught up
with the Bullets. The lethal Heather Kile ’02 to Robinson
pick and roll
devastated the Gettysburg defense, and Swarthmore took their
first lead,
25-24, off an Ali Furman ’03 three-pointer.

Though Swarthmore had gained serious momentum, Gettysburg
engineered a
comeback of their own and the Garnet faced a two-point deficit
with 1:39
left on the clock. With seconds to go, trailing by two, the
team took the
ball on offense.

A pass inside to Kile, who along with Robinson led the team
with 16 points,
made for what seemed like a game-tying lay-up, but the ball
just bounced
off the backboard and into the hands of Gettysburg player
Elizabeth Ross.
She was fouled immediately, but made both foul shots, to seal
the contest,
53-49.

The women’s basketball team still leads the Centennial Conference
Eastern
Division with a record of 7-1 in conference play and 14-4
overall. Freshman
player Ali Wolff said of the contest, “it was a good
game; we never gave up
even in the end, but the clock just ran out at the wrong time.”

*****

Both the men’s and women’s swimming teams were victorious
over Drew this
past Saturday. The women won their match 134-71, while the
men took theirs,
114-91.

On the women’s side, Meredith Leigh ’04 led the Garnet with
two wins, in
the 1000 free and 200 breaststroke. Leigh’s performance was
bolstered by
those of Katherine Reed ’05, Tara Trout ’04, Amy Auerbach
’03, and Melanie
Johncilla ’05, who each captured individual races in addition
to
contributing to a winning relay.

For the men, juniors David Whitehead and John Lillvis were
both
triple-winners. Whitehead won the 200 freestyle and 200 butterfly,
while
also swimming on the victorious 400 freestyle relay squad.
Lillvis also
swam a leg in that relay and took the 1000 freestyle and 200
breaststroke.

Following the dual wins, the men’s record improves to 4-2
overall while the
women’s season tally is now a perfect 6-0.

*****

* The Super Bowl match-up is now set following Sunday’s Conference

Championship games, which saw the Patriots upset the Steelers,
24-17, and
the Rams squeak out a victory over the Eagles, 29-24. In Pittsburgh,

deposed quarterback Drew Bledsoe stepped in for an injured
Tom Brady to
help guide the Pats to victory, as the Steelers’ Kordell Stewart
tossed
three interceptions, including two in the last three minutes,
effectively
stymieing a comeback by the favored home team. Meanwhile,
St. Louis is
returning to the Big Game on the feet of its fleet running
back, Marshall
Faulk. Faulk, a native of New Orleans, where the Super Bowl
will be held on
Feb. 3, rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams’
victory.

* Marty Schottenheimer is on the verge of becoming the San
Diego Chargers’
next head coach, according to the Associated Press. Schottenheimer
was in
San Diego yesterday, apparently working out the details of
his contract
which are complicated due to the $7.5 million still owed him
by the
Washington Redskins. The Redskins fired him earlier this month,
with three
years remaining on his contract, after he had guided the team
to an 8-8
record, narrowly missing the playoffs.

* The U.S. men’s soccer team beat El Salvador yesterday,
4-0, to advance to
the semifinals of the Gold Cup. Brian McBride, recovering
from a blood
disorder that kept him out of action for five months, notched
a hat-trick,
recording all three goals in a 12-minute span. The US will
next face
defending Cup-champion Canada on Wednesday for the right to
play for the
Cup this Saturday.

*****

Today:
Men’s basketball hosts Drew, 7:30 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Women’s basketball at Washington, 7:00 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“At first I thought, ‘Go to the dance with a 35-year-old?’
But then I
realized, she’s really hot.”

–Toby Hocking, a straight-A high school senior from Tustin,
CA, who was
invited to his winter formal by Playboy Playmate Petra Verkiak
after she
read his college essay

*****
.
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: Mary Harrison
Evelyn Khoo
Sanggee Kim
Natacha Pascal
Kent Qian
Alexis Reedy
Chiara Ricciardone

Sports Writers: Muhsin Abdur-Rahman
Shavaugn Lewis
Pat Quinn

The Daily Gazette is published Monday through Friday by an
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This concludes today’s report.