Tuesday, February 12, 2002

by Alexis Reedy
Gazette News Reporter

Dozens of adults went back to school yesterday, as Swarthmore
began its new
“Lifelong Learning” pilot initiative, a continuing
education program for
alumni, their spouses, partners, adult children, and members
of the local
community.

At present, there are two classes offered: Aristotle, Galileo,
and Einstein:
Space-time, Gravity, and Black Holes, taught by physics professor
John
Boccio, and Homeric Models of Heroism, taught by classics
prof Gil Rose. A
third class, investigating the aftermath of September 11th,
was canceled due
to a lack of interest. The curriculum was originally supposed
to include one
class from each division, but because of the cancellation
of the September
11th class, only the Natural Sciences and the Humanities are
represented.

Gil Rose, director of Lifelong Learning, says that he came
up with the idea
for a continuing education program for two reasons. First,
he had noticed
that parents of current students and alumni that visit the
school seem
genuinely enthusiastic about learning. He has noticed that
most people after
they graduate begin to miss the intellectual stimulation of
sitting in a
classroom and discussing ideas. Secondly, he thought it would
provide an
opportunity for older faculty member to try something new
by teaching older
students.

The program will last for about 8 weeks (until April 18,
with one week off
during the College’s spring break). Classes will meet once
a week for two
hours in Dupont. Students in the program must pay $500 tuition
for each
enrolled course, with additional expenditures for course materials.

After the announcement of the program, alumni groups from
New York and San
Francisco asked if there were plans to set up similar initiatives
in their
communities, but Rose says that he doesn’t see that happening.
“Part of the
appeal of the program is to have Swarthmore teachers teaching
alumni at the
school,” he says. As for plans to have a distance learning
program, he says
that he doesn’t see the current program being replaced by
a distance
learning program: “I feel like older students are really
missing the contact
with teachers and students. The interactions that happen in
a classroom.”

*****

by Jeremy Schifeling
Section Editor

Looking to expand on the success of its wilderness orientation
program last
semester, the Tri-College Outdoor Orientation Program (TrOOP),
will be
holding a conference tonight to review the issues involved
with its
initiative.

Running from 7:30 to 10:00 in the Scheuer Room, the event
will include a
panel discussion on outdoor education and a TrOOP presentation
on the
program that it has created. Panel participants will range
from school
representatives to experts in the fields of experimental education.

According to Joe Florence, one of the Program’s leaders,
the panelists “will
discuss the merits of creating an outdoor education program
to facilitate
both freshmen orientation backpacking trips as well as other
leadership and
experiential-based activities throughout the year.”

Florence is encouraging all interested students, faculty,
staff, and
administrators from throughout the Tri-Co community to attend
the event.
All participants will have the chance to “express their
ideas in an open
forum,” he says.

*****

* And the search continues: Investigations into the results
of the U.S. air
strike on Zawar Kili in southeastern Afghanistan may have
produced evidence
that Osama Bin Laden, along with other top Al Qaeda officials
were present
during the attack. Military investigators have discovered
documents, weapons
and human remains on the site of the strike. A forward military
base in
northern Afghanistan will be conducting DNA tests to confirm
these
speculations.

* The 23rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran
was marked by
heated denunciation of President Bush’s remarks made during
his State of the
Union address that singled out Iran as part of the “axis
of evil,” along with
Iraq and North Korea. Angry Iranians flooded the streets of
Tehran’s
Freedom Square, burning effigies of Uncle Sam, likening President
Bush to
apes and donkeys and chanting “Death to America.”
Iran’s president,
Mohammad Khatami condemned Bush’s statements as unwarranted
insults and
retaliated by suggesting that U.S. foreign policy was partly
to blame for
the September 11th attacks.

* Chinese New Year, which starts today, has, for the Chinese,
always
represented a time to sweep out the misfortunes of the past
year and
welcome in the good luck and prosperity of the new. For residents
and
businessmen of New York City’s Chinatown, America’s largest
enclave of
ethnic Chinese, it is especially true this year, as the September
11th attacks
had hit an economy already on the decline, costing almost
half of the area’s
17,000 garment workers their jobs and precipitating a 30 percent
fall in
business revenue.

*****

“Aloe Zimbabwe” bag-lunch lecture
Harold Sweetman, Director of Jenkins Arboretum
Scheuer Room, 12:00 p.m.

Math and Statistics Colloquium
Kohlberg 116, 4:00 p.m.

Career Services Interview Prep and Practice Session
Trotter 301, 4:15 p.m.

“Which Traits are Meaningful? Citrus Scents of Seabirds
and Other
Outrageous Ornaments”
Candidate for Animal Behavior in the Biology Department
Julie Hagelin, University of Connecticut
Kirby Lecture Hall, 4:15 p.m.

“Music and Activism” Workshop with Lis Harvey
IC Big Room, 4:30 p.m.

Synygy information session
Bond Memorial Hall, 7:00 p.m.

Lis Harvey concert
IC Big Room, 7:00 p.m.

Empty the Shelters meeting
Kohlberg 115, 7:30 p.m.

Tri-College Wilderness Orientation Program
Scheuer Room, 7:30 p.m.

Sexual Health Counselors Film Series: “Jeffrey”
LPAC Cinema, 8:00 p.m.

Argentine Tango Lesson
Upper Tarble, 9:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

* Olympics Update: U.S. snowboarders Ross Powers, Danny Kass,
and J.J.
Thomas swept the medals podium in the men’s halfpipe event
yesterday. The
sweep marked the first for the U.S. in the Winter Olympics
since 1956. With
six medals, the U.S. is now tied with Germany and Austria
for the lead in
the overall medal count. In other action, the Russian team
of Elena
Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won a controversial pairs
figure skating
title over Canada’s Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. Despite
wowing the
crowd and skating a clean program after some technical fumbles
from the
Russians, Sale and Pelletier had to settle for the silver
on a 5/4 judges’
split. In the men’s single luge, Germany’s Georg Hackl, the
reigning
Olympic champion for the past three Winter Games, slipped
to silver behind
Armin Zoeggeler of Italy. Austrian Markus Prock took the bronze,
while
American Adam Heidt finished forth, the best finish in U.S.
team history.
The women’s downhill was delayed due to weather conditions
and will take
place tomorrow, with American Picabo Street hoping to me in
her third
straight Olympics.

* Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig called off
the scheduled
meeting for owners to approve the sale of the Florida Marlins
and Montreal
Expos. Instead, a conference call will take place on Tuesday
for the vote.
John Henry is selling the Marlins to Jeffrey Loria for $158.5
million,
while Loria is selling the Expos to the Baseball Expos limited
partnership
for $120 million. The sales are expected to be approved. Meanwhile,
Selig
is not expected to testify at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s
Wednesday
hearing on whether or not to strip baseball of its antitrust
exemption.

* Tomas Kaberle scored twice to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs
to a 5-4 win
over the Atlanta Thrashers in their final game before the
team splits and
heads for the Olympics. Along with Robert Reichel, Kaberle
will represent
the Czech Republic in the Winter Games and will play against
several of his
teammates: Curtis Joseph and Pat Quinn will represent Canada,
Aki Berg and
Jrki Lumme are on the Finnish team, and Mikael Renberg and
Mats Sundin are
playing for Sweden.

*****

Today:
Badminton at Bryn Athyn, 7:30 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Swimming at Washington, 6:30 p.m.
Women’s basketball at Muhlenberg, 7:00 p.m.
Men’s basketball hosts Muhlenberg, 7:30 p.m.
Badminton at Haverford, 7:30 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I don’t want any yes-men around me. I want everybody
to tell me the truth
even if it costs them their jobs.”
–Samuel Goldwyn

*****
.
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Section Editors: Karla Gilbride
Pei Pei Liu
Jeremy Schifeling
Photo Editor: Casey Reed
World News: Evelyn Khoo
Campus Sports: Shavaugn Lewis
World Sports: Pei Pei Liu
News Reporters: Mary Harrison
Evelyn Khoo
Sanggee Kim
Natacha Pascal
Kent Qian
Alexis Reedy
Chiara Ricciardone
Sportswriters: Muhsin Abdur-Rahman
Shavaugn Lewis
Pat Quinn

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