Thursday, January 31, 2002

* The General Accounting Office, which conducts investigations
for Congress,
is planning to sue the White House for refusing to turn over
documents
possibly related to the Enron scandal. The GAO had previously
demanded that
the Bush administration disclose the names of advisers who
worked with a
government energy task force led by Vice President Cheney,
but the
administration objected, citing executive privelege. Congressmen
who
initiated the investigation believe that private companies,
such as Enron,
may have used the task force to dictate national energy policy,
while
simultaneously locking out environmentalist groups. If the
suit is filed,
it will be the first such litigation of its kind, leading
the White House to
accuse the Office of overstepping its bounds.

* Major news organizations received an email yesterday from
the Pakistani
group which claims to be holding Wall Street Journal reporter
Daniel Pearl
hostage, in which the group threatened to kill Pearl in 24
hours if the US
did not release Pakistani prisoners from the war in Afghanistan.
The email,
which contained pictures of the journalist being held at gunpoint,
also
accused Pearl of being an Israeli spy, following previous
allegations from
the group that he was a CIA agent. Beyond the threats against
Pearl, the
message called for American journalists to leave Afghanistan,
saying that
many of them are spies disguised as reporters.

* San Francisco International Airport was the scene of the
latest bomb scare
yesterday, when powder in a passenger’s shoe was identified
as a possible
explosive. Thousands of people were evacuated from the terminal
in
response, but the suspect disappeared in the confusion. The
substance in
question, which turned up as a result of random shoe checks
started after
the arrest of suspected shoe bomber Richard Reid, was not
positively
identified, while the passenger’s identity is equally mysterious.
He is
described only as a white man in his 40’s.

*****

“Sexual Selection and Reproductive Behavior” by
Animal Behavior Candidate
Jill Mateo, Cornell University
Scheuer Room – Kohlberg, 11:30 a.m.

“Molecular Tug-of-war: What brute-force Biochemistry
can tell you”
Physics and Astronomy Colloquium with Andrea Stout, Physics
& Astronomy,
Swarthmore College
Scheuer Room – Kohlberg, 4:15 p.m.

“Mechanisms and Functions of Kin Recognition” Lecture
by Animal Behavior Candidate Jill Mateo, Cornell University
Kirby Lecture Hall – Martin, 4:15 p.m.

Internship and Summer Job Search Workshop
Trotter 301, 4:15 p.m.

Hong Kong Movie Night
Kirby Lecture Hall – Martin, 9:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

by Pat Quinn
Gazette Sportswriter

In yet another display of swimming dominance, the women’s
swim team more
than doubled Bryn Mawr’s score last night to win their meet,
177-82. The
remarkable depth of the team was hardly necessary in the romp,
which raised
the squad’s undefeated record to 7-0.

One event that displayed the uneven matchup between Swarthmore
and Bryn Mawr
was the 200 yard Backstroke, in which all four Swatties defeated
all
competing Mawrters. Junior Natalie Briones won the event while
Christie
Tomm ’05, Tara Trout ’04, and Davita Burkhead-Weiner ’03 came
in second
through fourth, respectively. Swat’s pool superiority continued
almost
uninterupted throughout the meet, though Bryn Mawr managed
to win two
events, the 200 yard Butterfly and the 1000 yard Freestyle.

In a career-breakout meet, Laura Fox ’03 earned personal
best times on all
three of her events. She placed second in the 50 Freestyle
and went on to
win her final event, the 200 Breaststroke. Another notable
performance came
from Erin Dwyer-Frazier ’05, who, despite losing her goggles
in the dive,
narrowly edged out a Bryn Mawr swimmer to win the 100 Butterfly.

The team, which has constantly improved throughout their
season, showed even
more improvement last night, in no small part because of their
training trip
to Puerto Rico during winter break. With a perfect record,
the women’s
swimming team will face Gettysburg, Dickinson, and Washington
prior to the
Centennial Conference Championships in late February.

*****

* New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick announced last
night that Tom
Brady will be the starting quarterback when the Pats take
on the St. Louis
Rams in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Belichick said that yesterday’s
practice
showed Brady was fit to start the game over veteran Drew Bledsoe,
who
stepped in last week’s AFC championship game when Brady sprained
his ankle.
The Patriots are undefeated in Brady’s starts for the past
two months.
Meanwhile, the Rams’ running back Marshall Faulk was named
the NFL Player of
the Year in New Orleans yesterday. Faulk led the NFL in total
yards and
touchdowns this season, and his 14-2 Rams had the best record
in the league.

* Hall of Famer Dick “Night Train” Lane, an NFL
legend whose career spanned
14 years, died on Tuesday night from a heart attack sustained
at the
nursing home where he lived. He was 73 years old and had been
plagued by
diabetes and chronic knee problems for years. A six-time Pro
Bowler with 68
career interceptions returned for 1,207 yards, Lane was one
of the greatest
defensive backs in NFL history. He was chosen as the all-time
NFL
cornerback in 1969 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame
in 1974.

* Two activists from Generation Life turned out in Salt Lake
City on
Tuesday to protest the free condoms being provided for the
2,500 athletes
participating in the Winter Olympics. The group says the Olympic
committee
should not be promoting “recreational sex-not even safe
sex” and argues
that condoms lend people a false sense of security. Caroline
Shaw, a
spokeswoman for the Salt Lake Olympic Committee, said that
condoms were
considered “good public health practice” and that
the International Olympic
Committee advises cities to supply condoms, though it does
not require them
to do so. Shaw also said that the condoms would be available
upon request
at health centers in the Olympic Village but would not be
freely
distributed amongst the athletes.

*****

Today:
Women’s basketball hosts Bryn Mawr, 7:00 p.m.
Men’s basketball at Washington College, 7:30 p.m.

Tomorrow:
There are no contests scheduled for tomorrow.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also
remembering my
reasons for them!”
–Friedrich Nietzsche

*****
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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

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