Friday, February 22, 2002

by Jeremy Schifeling
Section Editor

Speaking before a full LPAC Cinema last night, Sherman Alexie,
celebrated
author and screenwriter, discussed life as a Native American
in the wake of
September’s tragedies, employing a frank brand of humor that
was sometimes
shocking but always unique and engaging.

Alexie’s remarks were preceded by a short, five-song set
from Jim Boyd. The
guitarist, who is a member of Rez Bound, a Native American
group, played
selections from his latest album, alterNATIVES, as well as
from the
soundtrack for “Smoke Signals,” the Sundance award-winning
movie written by
Alexie. He finished with a traditional song that got the entire
audience
involved, singing back-up to his elegant vocals.

With the crowd primed, Alexie jumped right into his comments
with an ease
that lent his speech a stand-up comedy quality. The author,
who has written
“Reservation Blues” and “Indian Killer”
in addition to his cinematic
achievements, began with an amusing anecdote about racial
profiling and the
patriotic reaction to September 11.

“Brown folks profile you too,” said Alexie, referring
to the highly visible
display of American flags after the attacks. “We know
to stay 100 feet away
from you for each square foot of flag waving.”

However, this comic forthrightness was tempered by frequent
dramatic
pauses, serving to emphasize the gravity of the issues being
discussed. For
instance, Alexie described the Otherization of minorities
that occurred
domestically after the events of September. “Every brown
person was every
other brown person,” he said.

This racial paranoia spread from the streets of Seattle,
where Alexie
lives, to the airports, which he passes through frequently
while promoting
his latest creations. The author questioned the randomness
of the “random
searches” conducted at security checkpoints, but semi-sarcastically
claimed
that a full-body search by a National Guardsmen made him feel
“really
safe.” Then, when on the plane, the close quarters further
enhanced the
sensation of difference.

“You feel like you’re in a parade. They’re all staring,”
said Alexie.

The writer described attempts at combating his fear of flying,
such as
listening to songs by rock stars who died in plane crashes.
“I’m not going
to be in a crash, ‘cuz God couldn’t be that ironic,”
he said. However,
suspicion still remained, even within himself. “I’m looking
around. We’re
all looking around. We’re all united in our fears. We’re all
looking for
the brown guy. And I’m the brown guy.”

Nevertheless, Alexie criticized these concerns as irrational:
“Why am I
giving up everything I believe in for fear… I didn’t see
any planes crash
into the rez. They didn’t crash into the barrio. Or Harlem.
Or a mining
town in Kentucky. They didn’t crash into a hockey rink in
Minnesota. It was
a very specific target: Corporations.” As a result, he
urged the audience
to reconsider the intentions of the terrorists and our government’s

response to their actions.

While prefacing his comments on the government with a brief,
patriotic
soliloquy (“I love this country. There’s no where else
in the world that
someone like me rises up from the basement level of the skyscraper
of
poverty to speak in front of upper-class college students
and insult their
values”), Alexie was straightforward in his critique.
“We’ve made some
serious errors, had some serious failures of morality,”
he said.

In particular, the author lambasted the singing of “God
Bless America” by
Congressmen the day after the attacks as being “totally
fabricated.” He
questioned the choice of that song over the National Anthem
and confessed
to being particularly skeptical of the scenes of Americans
of all races and
ethnicities singing the former tune, “unified in manipulation.”

From this point, Alexie went on to challenge all facets
of American
political life. The speaker labeled Al Gore a “hypocrite,”
for his family’s
involvement in questionable oil industry practices in Central
America,
while poking fun at the Green Party and its 2000 presidential
candidate,
Ralph Nader.

“Can you imagine him going to world peace conferences
in that suit?” he
asked the audience. “You romantic, deluded fools!”

However, Alexie saved his harshest words for President Bush,
calling his
election a farce, with America waking up to a “hangover
of hate” after his
victory. “What were we thinking?” he said. Furthermore,
the writer
challenged the President’s 90% approval rating, “because
it’s easy to
motivate behind fear and ignorance and hate. That’s what those
guys in the
planes are motivated by.”

Finally, the writer turned to his strongest argument of the
evening–that
hate and prejudice are derived from unquestioned beliefs in
our own
righteousness. Alexie began this segment of his remarks with
a hypothetical
query: “What if all of us are wrong about everything?
Entertain the notion
that we might be wrong–it’s liberating.”

To support his contention, he analyzed our society’s rationales
for what he
called the “only universally accepted hatred,” homophobia.
In short order,
he dispelled arguments about homosexuality leading to the

destruction-of-society (“Find me the country of gay men
that’s invaded a
country of straight men”), its natural deviancy (“That
doesn’t happen in
nature? Yes it does. I had a gay dog.”), and its anatomical
impropriety (a
largely unprintable discussion linking Jerry Falwell and the
prostate gland!).

“So who’s right?” he asked. “None of us. If
someone was right, then we’d be
able to convince other people we’re right and we wouldn’t
have wars. But,
we ‘re back here, still trying to convince others. Imagine
the freedom of
letting that go…We’re all fundamentalist and we’re afraid.
Bad combination.”

Having shown the irrationality behind bigotry, Alexie concluded
his remarks
with a story about the difficult birth of his child and the
anger that
surrounded him in the challenging weeks that followed. Considering
legal
action against the medical staff that botched the delivery,
he pondered the
nature of hatred and retribution.

“It’s easy to let hate motivate you. To let fear motivate
you. To let your
pain be all the pain there possibly is… What is a lawsuit
but revenge?
But we let it go. We let it go…”

With that final line, Alexie received a long, standing ovation
from the
robust crowd.

The author stayed to answer a handful of questions from the
audience,
including one directed at the subject matter of his future
projects–to
which he replied, in his now familiar fashion: “I’m kinda
getting bored of
the rez. The next one’s gonna be about Indians in space.”

Following the Q&A session, Boyd returned to center stage
and finished off
the night with two more songs, including a tribute to his
author friend,
entitled, appropriately enough, “Story Man.”

*****

by Mary Harrison
Gazette News Reporter

“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When
the Rainbow is Enuf,”
the groundbreaking dramatic play composed of several prose
poems strung
together, is coming to Swarthmore.

Written by renowned playwright and poet Ntozake Shange, the
play is known
as a “Choreopoem,” an assembly of poems, dancing,
and music. The unifying
theme is the experience of being a colored woman in 20th century
America.

“It’s the first of its kind,” said director Khadijah
White ’04. “It was a
collaborative effort. Shange developed it over a number of
years, basing
the characters on the members of a dance troupe she was working
with in San
Francisco.”

Originally performed in colleges, coffee houses, and poetry
centers in
California before moving to New York, the play will be staged
by five
Swarthmore students on Friday at 8:00 p.m., and Saturday at
2:00 and 8:00
p.m. in Lang Concert Hall.

White believes that the Swarthmore community can benefit
from the
perspective offered by the play. “She shows that being
colored is
significant–black woman have issues that people don’t know
about,” White said.

Victoria Silvera ’05, a member of the cast, was also enthusiastic
about the
piece. “It’s not one of those plays that you regard and
say it doesn’t
relate to you. In this play, everything relates to you. It’s
a play for
everyone.”

*****

Seniors: there are only 100 days left until graduation! So
don’t bother to
change out of those pajamas (though you should probably still
brush your
teeth)–wear your sweats or pj’s today with pride. You’re
almost there!

*****

by Shavaugn Lewis
Gazette Sportswriter

February 22, 1841: California’s first African-American painter
is born

Born of free parentage in Pennsylvania, Grafton Tyler Brown
followed the
lure of the West to California in the mid-1850s, participating
in the
expansion that would change the face of the nation. He was
able to find
work as a lithographer in San Francisco and eventually formed
his own
business in 1866. Brown is considered the first African-American

professional artist in California. His early work consisted
of illustrating
and documenting the emerging settlements, gold-rush towns,
and ranches that
were springing up in the territories surrounding San Francisco.
His work
served as part of the commercialization of the developing
nation. Although
his business as a commercial draftsman was successful, Brown
sold it in
1879 and in 1882 left the Bay Area for Canada, where many
people found a
more racially tolerant environment.

*****

SUNDAY
Sopa de ajo (garlic soup)
Risosolee Potatoes
Panfried Japanese eggplant in Beer Batter

WEEKLY SPECIALS
Fettucine with Roasted Peppers, Portobello mushrooms and Baby
Peas
Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Dill Spinach with Raspberry Vinagrette
Plough: Black Bean Smoked Chile Dip

DESSERTS

Sunday: Peanut Butter Fudge of Doom, Carrot Cake
Monday: No Fat Mocha Cake, Old Fashioned Apple Pie
Tuesday: Triple Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Peppermint Filling,
Maple
Mousse with mixed berry compote
Wednesday: Tarte aux pommes, Cherry Chocolate Crumble

*****

* According to U.S. and Pakistani officials, kidnapped American
journalist
Daniel Pearl has been murdered by his captors, though the
date of his death
is still unknown. A videotape showing an assailant slitting
Pearl’s throat
was sent to Pakistan and U.S. authorities, who described the
scene as
“gruesome, criminal, and barbaric.” Pakistan president
Pervez Musharraf
denounced the murder and has ordered a nationwide manhunt
for suspects
remaining at large. Pakistan and U.S. investigators claim
to have
identified the people involved in the murder and vow to track
them down.
Pearl’s body has not been found. The 38-year-old Wall Street
Journal
reporter leaves behind his wife, who is six months pregnant
with the
couple’s first child.

* Three Americans were killed when their army helicopter
crashed into the
Bohol Sea, off the coast of the southern Philippines. The
MH-47 helicopter
was flying at night to Mactan Air Base and was carrying a
total of ten
passengers. Three survivors have reportedly been rescued by
local
fisherman, but the remaining four passengers are currently
unaccounted for.
There were low clouds and choppy seas at the time of the crash,
but U.S.
officials say the conditions were not unusual. A Pentagon
spokesman said,
“There were no reports of hostile fire.” U.S. forces
have been stationed in
the Philippines since last month to help the Philippine military
track down
Muslim guerrillas.

* According to a witness on Israel Radio, a Palestinian man
was shot and
killed in a supermarket in Efrat, a Jewish settlement in the
West Bank. The
supermarket manager, Eli Shiran, reported the Palestinian
wore a belt of
explosives into the store and attempted to detonate them.
A customer then
drew a gun and fired twice, killing the alleged terrorist.
One woman
apparently received minor injuries. This is only the latest
in a string of
attempted suicide bombings in the West Bank; just last Saturday,
a
Palestinian bomber killed himself and two Israeli teenagers
in Karnei Shomron.

*****

Friday:

Engineering student projects in honor of National Engineering
Week
Parrish Parlours, 12:00 p.m.

“The Hero Dynamics of Malcolm X”
Dr. Christel Temple, African American Studies, University
of Maryland in
Baltimore
LPAC Cinema, 1:00 p.m.

“Astronomy at a Billion Electron Volts: Using Particle
Physics to See the
High Energy Universe”
Miguel Morales ’03, Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics,
University
of California at Santa Cruz
Dupont 133, 4:00 p.m.

Opening Reception for “Portraits and Nudes”
Photography Exhibit by Lauren Tobias
Kitao Gallery, 4:00 p.m.

Shabbat Services and Dinner
Bond Memorial Hall, 5:30 p.m.

Anime Club showing
Kohlberg 330, 7:00 p.m.

Swarthmore Christian Fellowship Meeting
Kohlberg 115, 7:30 p.m.

Film: “Apocalypse Now Redux”
Kirby Lecture Hall, 7:30 and 10:00 p.m.

International Club movie night
Kohlberg 116, 8:00 p.m.

“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When
the Rainbow is Enuf”
Lang Concert Hall, 8:00 p.m.

Saturday:

Jump Rhythm Jazz Project Residency Events: Tap Technique
and Jazz Technique
LPAC Dance Studio 3, 11:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When
the Rainbow is Enuf”
Lang Concert Hall, 2:00 and 8:00 p.m.

Film: “The Searchers”
Kirby Lecture Hall, 7:30 and 10:00 p.m.

7th Annual “Swarthmore Follies,” Advanced Directing
Workshop Night of Scenes
LPAC Frear Ensemble Theatre, 8:00 p.m.

Jump Rhythm Jazz Project Performance
LPAC Pearson-Hall Theatre, 8:00 p.m.

Purim Cocktail Party
Paces, 10:00 p.m.

Sunday:

Celebration of Mass
Bond Memorial Hall, 11:00 a.m.

Jump Rhythm Jazz Project Residency Event: Lecture Demonstration
LPAC Dance Studio 3, 11:00 a.m.

Protestant Worship
Bond second floor, 4:00 p.m.

7th Annual “Swarthmore Follies,” Advanced Directing
Workshop Night of Scenes
LPAC Frear Ensemble Theatre, 6:00 p.m.

Higher Ground Meeting
Kohlberg 115, 9:00 p.m.

———

UPCOMING EVENTS

Purim Cocktail Party
Paces, Saturday, February 23, 10:00-11:00 p.m.

Eat hamantaschen (yummy Jewish cookies!) and be served mixed
drinks at a
cocktail party in honor of one of the most exciting Jewish
holidays of them
all! (Free!)

Contact Susan Roth, Susannah Volpe, Sarah Goldberg, and Rebecca
Ennen for
more information.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

* 16-year-old American Sarah Hughes was the surprise gold
medal winner in
women’s figure skating last night. One higher mark in artistry
from the
Finnish judge enabled her to edge out Russian Irina Slutskaya,
who ended up
with the silver. Michelle Kwan, the leader going into the
free skate, fell
on a triple flip and made several other technical errors.
She had to settle
for a bronze medal, a disappointing finish reminiscent of
her loss in
Nagano four years ago to another American teenager, 15-year-old
Tara
Lipinski. The third American skater, Sasha Cohen, finished
fourth.In
another Olympic upset, the Canadian women’s hockey team defeated
Team USA
3-2, making them the first Canadian hockey team, men’s or
women’s, to win
an Olympic gold medal since 1952. The U.S. men’s team is scheduled
to play
Russia tonight, and the winner of that match will compete
with either
Canada or Belarus for the gold.

* At a press conference yesterday, Russian Olympic Committee
president
Leonid Tyagachev announced that he has told International
Olympic Committee
(IOC) president Jacques Rogge that his nation’s athletes would
leave Salt
Lake City under protest within 24 hours if what he considered
to be
systematically unfair rulings made against Russian athletes
were not
remedied. Tyagachev’s comments came just after Russian cross-country
skier
Larissa Lazutina, who already has two silver medals in these
Games, was
disqualified from the 20-kilometer relay due to abnormally
high levels of
hemoglobin detected in a pre-race blood test. Results of a
urine test are
expected today and will determine whether illegal drugs were
involved.
Pending that result, Lazutina is still scheduled to compete
in the women’s
30-kilometer cross-country race on Sunday. Tyagachev also
made repeated
references to the controversial decision in pairs figure skating,
in which
Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were eventually named
co-gold
medallists with the Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze.
In
addition, he alluded to what he described as an unusually
high number of
random drug tests performed on Russian athletes and an unspecified
suspect
ruling by a gold judge in ice hockey. “I think we are
seeing a witch hunt,”
he said. Vitaly Smirnov, an IOC vice president from Russia,
later tempered
Tyagachev’s remarks, saying that there would not be a 24-hour
ultimatum for
the IOC to respond, but he reiterated that if Russia’s complaints
were not
addressed promptly, they might leave Salt Lake City without
participating
in the remainder of the events and might also boycott the
next Summer
Games, set to take place in Athens in 2004. IOC officials
were meeting to
discuss the Russians’ complaints, but did not immediately
make any comment.

* Just before the NBA trading deadline Thursday, the Dallas
Mavericks
acquired Nick Van Exel and Raef LaFrentz, the two highest
scorers for the
Denver Nuggets, in a seven-player trade. The Nuggets also
sent Avery
Johnson and Tariq Abdul-Wahad to Texas. In return, they picked
up Juwan
Howard, Tim Hardaway, and Donnell Harvey, as well as some
cash and a
first-round pick in the upcoming draft. Denver general manager
Kiki
Vandeweghe had been trying for the past month to work out
a way to deal Van
Exel without having to give up LaFrentz as well, but in the
end the trade
with the Mavericks was his best alternative. The Mavericks
are hoping that
the new acquisitions will help them to clinch a playoff berth
this season.
They are in a fairly good position to do so, leading the NBA’s
Midwest
Division with a record of 37-17.

*****

Today:
Swimming at F&M (Centennial Championships), 11:00 a.m.
Indoor Track at Haverford (Centennial Championships), 5:00
p.m.

Saturday:
Indoor Track at Haverford (Centennial Championships), 9:00
a.m.
Swimming at F&M (Centennial Championships), 11:00 a.m.
Women’s Basketball at Western Maryland (Centennial Championship),
2:00 p.m.
Badminton at Albright, PA State Tournament, 9:00 a.m.
Men’s Lacrosse at Mary Washington, 1:00 p.m.
Men’s Tennis hosts Fairleigh Dickinson, 2:00 p.m.

Sunday:
Swimming at F&M (Centennial Championships), 11:00 a.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never
simple.”
–Oscar Wilde

*****
.
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 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
Weather: Kent Qian
World News: Pei Pei Liu
Campus Sports: Karla Gilbride
World Sports: Karla Gilbride

The Daily Gazette is published Monday through Friday by an
independent
group of Swarthmore College students. The Daily Gazette Web
Site is updated
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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).

Today’s Culture Corner
source:
http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Colleges/ARHU/Depts/ArtGal/.WWW/exhibit/98-9

9/driskell/exhibition/sec1/brow_g_01.htm.

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This concludes today’s report.