Wednesday, February 20, 2002

by Pei Pei Liu
Section Editor

In order to address student concerns over financial aid,
Student Council sponsored a fireside chat on Tuesday night
with Laura Talbot, Director of Financial Aid, and Jim Bock,
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid. While no new policies
or decisions were revealed, the event provided the opportunity
for Talbot to clarify the financial aid process and for students
to ask specific policy questions.

An early question concerned the college’s policy regarding
the recent federal decision to withhold financial aid from
students with prior drug convictions. Talbot answered that
the board was in the process of reviewing its stance on the
decision but that currently the college was still committed
to meeting all students’ demonstrated need.

“Swarthmore plans to offer alternative aid from our
funds if a student has to forfeit federal funds,” she
said.

In response to general questions on the decision process,
Talbot explained that, in determining each family’s need,
the office expects contributions from students’ earnings and
savings as well as those of their parents. She said that expected
payments are determined through estimated long-range income,
rather than monthly or short-term payment ability.

Talbot also clarified that the college keeps a specific reserve
in the budget for financial aid, so that the amount of aid
available to students would never be compromised by other
projects.

While Talbot did acknowledge that the “cold facts”
of an application are not always representative of a family’s
practical situation, she also emphasized that the office can
only analyze a family as it presents itself on the application,
which includes several opportunities for parents to explain
any unusual circumstances. Talbot also stressed that the office
measures parents’ capacity to pay, not their willingness,
as parental motivation cannot usually be conveyed through
the application process. She advised students with any personal
issues or questions to visit the Financial Aid Office or have
their parents call in.

With regard to the “appeal” process, Talbot explained
that the Financial Aid Office is the body that re-examines
the applications in dispute and that there is no separate
review committee.

“It’s not so much an appeal as the normal process again,”
she said. Talbot did mention, however, that the President’s
Office formed a committee composed of Bock, Dean Bob Gross,
and Vice President of Finance Paul Aslanian to deal with families
who strongly request a second group of reviewers.

Bock then stepped in to shed some light on policies for international
students, calling them the “toughest pool for admissions,
whether they need aid or not.” Bock said that many international
students choose Swarthmore over other schools because of its
generous aid program. He went on to explain that 10% of the
financial aid budget is devoted to international students,
allowing a certain number of students to be admitted on a
need-blind basis. The remainder are considered under what
Talbot called a “need-conscious” policy. On average,
however, international students do receive more scholarship
aid than domestic students: about $26,000 for foreign students
versus $19,000 for U.S. residents.

Talbot also explained that although scholarship money exceeding
the amount of tuition is federally taxable, Swarthmore will
help pay the taxes-an unusual policy among colleges, she said.

Bock gave some numbers for this year’s financial aid yields
versus general enrollment yields. 50% of the Class of 2005
applicants who were offered aid accepted admission, he said,
which is up from past numbers of about 45%. Of all accepted
students, about 42% chose to enroll.

“That’s competitive but lower than other schools,”
Bock said. “So the high financial aid yield is a positive
for us.”

*****

By the numbers: Swarthmore financial aid

3,075 incoming and returning students applied for financial
aid for this school year.

50% of Swarthmore students receive some financial aid package.

The Financial Aid Office receives about $21 million from
various scholarship, loan, and work-study programs sponsored
at the federal, state, local, and college level.

This year, the College will spend $13.8 million on Swarthmore
Scholarship, an average of $18,920 per aided student.

Incoming students are expected to contribute $1,450 in summer
earnings toward their education expenses. Returning students
are expected to contribute $1,890, due to college students’
longer summers.

The average income of families receiving aid is $74,220.

The average contribution from parents receiving financial
aid is $10,158.

*****

by Shavaugn Lewis
Gazette Sports Writer

May 20, 1993:
Rita Dove becomes the first African-American Poet Laureate

Born in 1952 in Akron, Ohio, Rita Dove had a passion for
books early on and was encouraged to read by her parents.
Her thirst for knowledge continued throughout high school
and led her to Miami University, where she graduated summa
cum laude. In 1977 she published the first of several chapbooks
of her poetry, focusing on family life, personal struggle,
and the African-American experience. In 1987 Dove was awarded
the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. Six years later she was named
Poet Laureate/Consultant in Poetry of the Library of Congress
(1993-1995), becoming the youngest person ever appointed to
that position as well as the first African American ever appointed.
Dove has been awarded several honorary D. Litt. degrees from
colleges and universities such as Dartmouth and Columbia.
She is currently the Commonwealth Professor of English at
the University of Virginia.

*****

* The hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage, begins today. Some
2 million Muslims gathered in Saudi Arabia’s holy city
of Mecca on Tuesday night, where they will begin the journey
that mirrors the path traveled by the Prophet Muhammad. After
performing night prayers at the Grand Mosque, the pilgrims
depart for nearby Mena, where they will spend the night before
climbing Mount Arafat for the climax of the ritual. In the
wake of the September 11 attacks, this year’s pilgrims
are protected by the tightest security ever imposed.

* Grade school teachers who are accustomed to having students
grade one another’s quizzes and homework may continue
this practice, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday. In a 9-0
decision, the judges ruled that the custom does not violate
the 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which
authorizes the withholding of federal money from school districts
that permit students’ education records to be released without
the written consent of their parents. The issue at hand was
not whether it is good or bad to be judged by one’s peers,
but whether peer-graded classroom work and assignments should
be considered education records. The full opinion can be viewed
online at www.supremecourtus.gov.

* Drug lords felt the effects of a new U.S.-Panama agreement
to crack down on drug trafficking on sea routes on Tuesday
when authorities seized a 3,520-pound shipment of cocaine
on its way from Columbia to the United States via Central
America and Mexico. The shipment, wrapped in green and brown
paper parcels and hidden in fruit and vegetable trucks, is
estimated to have a U.S. street value of about $30 million.
“This significant seizure is the result of good collaboration
with the United States and an efficient exchange of information.
We will continue to work together to continue this process,”
said technical judicial police officer Javier Cherigo. Last
year, 80 percent of illegal drugs were smuggled through Panama
by sea.

*****

Campaign to Save the Environment Info Session
Bond Memorial Hall, 9:30 a.m.

Wellness Talk on Osteoporosis with Donee Thomas-Patterson,
Physician at Crozer
Trotter 301, 12:00 p.m.

Faculty and Staff Health Insurance Open Enrollment Meeting

Parrish Parlor East, 12:00 p.m.

Campaign to Save the Environment Info Session
Upper Tarble, 1:00 p.m.

Lecture by MLL Candidate Katie MacLean
Kohlberg 330, 4:15 p.m.

“Odysseus: Narrator, Storyteller, Poet?” by Deborah
Beck, Penn State, Classics Job Candidate
Trotter 301, 4:15 p.m.

Campaign to Save the Environment Info Session
Bond Memorial Hall, 5:00 p.m.

MST3K Showing
Trotter 203, 7:00 p.m.

Internship and Summer Job Search Workshop
Trotter 301, 7:00 p.m.

Film Showing: Geronimo
Kohlberg 226, 7:00 p.m.

Russian Study Abroad Presentation
Trotter 315, 7:00 p.m.

College Democrats Meeting
Parrish Parlor East, 8:00 p.m.

Film Society Film Screening
Kirby Lecture Hall, 10:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

Just two days after being crowned champions of the Northeast
Collegiate region, the badminton team suffered a tough home
loss to Bryn Mawr last night, 4-1. The Mawrters, who finished
second behind the Garnet in the Northeast, overwhelmed Swat
in just about every match. Olga Rostapshova notched the lone
Garnet victory at third singles. The team will next be in
action when they take on Albright tomorrow.

* Michelle Kwan leads the single’s figure skating competition
after outperforming rival Irina Slutskaya in the short program
Tuesday night. Kwan, skating a technically simpler routine
than the Russian, earned high marks for her artistry, giving
her a 5-4 edge over Slutskaya at the end of the evening. They
were both trailed by Americans Sasha Cohen and Sarah Hughes,
in third and fourth places, respectively. The contest will
conclude on Thursday with the free skate session – which counts
for two-thirds of the total score.

* The American women’s bobsled team stunned their competitors
yesterday by winning the gold medal in the inaugural offering
of the event. Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers were not expected
to be in the medal competition, let alone win the event outright.
Yet they did so, beating out bigger and stronger competitors
from Germany, as well as a second, more heavily-favored US
team. In winning, the duo has brought America its first bobsled
medal in 46 years, and Flowers has become the first black
athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Games.

* The Chicago Bulls and the Indiana Pacers negotiated a blockbuster
deal yesterday that sent Jalen Rose and Travis Best to Chicago
in exchange for Ron Mercer and Ron Artest. In addition, the
Bulls get rookie Norm Richardson and a conditional second-round
draft pick while the Pacers pick up Brad Miller and Kevin
Ollie. Rose, who is the Pacers’ leading scorer, had said that
he didn’t want to be traded, but his ongoing difficulties
with Indiana head coach Isiah Thomas have been identified
as a likely reason for the mega-swap.

*****

Today:
Men’s lacrosse hosts Stockton – Scrimmage, 3:30 p.m.
Women’s basketball at Franklin & Marshall – Conference
Semifinals, 6:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Badminton at Albright, 7:30 p.m. ) World sports roundup
*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The secret of creativity is knowing how to hide your
sources.”
–Albert Einstein

*****
.
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Contact the staff at daily@swarthmore.edu

Section Editors: Karla Gilbride
Pei Pei Liu
Jeremy Schifeling
Photo Editor: Casey Reed
News Reporters: Mary Harrison
Evelyn Khoo
Sanggee Kim
Natacha Pascal
Kent Qian
Alexis Reedy
Chiara Ricciardone
Sportswriters: 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.