Friday, March 8, 2002

* In a continuation of Palestinian-Israeli violence, an Israeli excursion
into central Gaza early today has left Major Gen. Ahmed Mefraj dead. Mr.
Mefraj, a top Palestinian security commander, is the highest ranking
Palestinian officer ever killed in combat with Israeli forces. Israeli
troops and tanks have also started to move into the biblical city of
Bethlehem under helicopter cover following three days of air strikes against
Palestinian Authority headquarters.

* Zimbabwe’s opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has vowed to overcome
barriers erected by the sitting President Robert Mugabe and win at the polls
this weekend. The situation in Zimbabwe has become increasingly tense ever
since Mugabe restricted freedom of press, encouraged hostile takeovers of
white-owned farms by poor blacks, and refused the entry of the head of UN
election monitors. There are reports of governments intimidation of
opposition supporters, rumors that the army will ensure that Mugabe stays in
power even if he loses, and even Tsvangirai himself had been charged with
treason by the government.

* New Scientist and the Wall Street Journal report that scientists in China
have created dozens of cloned embryos that are advanced enough in cell
divisions to extract embryonic stem cells. The lead scientist, Lu Guangxiu,
claims now that five percent of the cloned embryos have developed into
200-cell blastocytes. The procedure has not yet been published in any
peer-reviewed journals.

*****

Today:

Strath Haven Cantata/Taft School Choir Performance
with Paul Halley and Chris Norman
Lang Concert Hall, 8:00 p.m.

There are no events scheduled for Saturday or Sunday.

———
UPCOMING EVENTS

Women’s rugby opens its season tomorrow, so come cheer on your Swat ruggers
as they take on Bryn Mawr/Haverford at 11 a.m. on Cunningham Field.

———
LOOK AT YOUR BOOKS OVER BREAK!!
A. Edward Newton Library Prize – awards of $500, $250, and $150
for the best undergraduate book collections of 2002

To enter, send a bibliography of 25 titles, unified by a theme, that you own
& collected, with a brief commentary on each title and a page about the
meaning of your collection to Pam Harris, McCabe Library, pharris1 or
x2056. Examples from previous years available upon request.

THE DEADLINE IS MARCH 22

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

The first game of the 2002 season for the softball team turned out to be an
extra-inning loss, as they were defeated by the University of the Sciences
in Philadelphia by a score of 3-2. The Garnet scored the first run of the
contest in the second inning, and though the Devils tied it with an unearned
run in the fourth, the game remained deadlocked at the end of regulation. In
the top of the eighth inning, freshman Val Marone had her first career hit,
a home run, to give the Garnet a 2-1 lead, but the Devils came back to win
in the bottom of that inning.

The team will next be in action on March 11, when they will play Minot State
and LaRoche in Tucson, Arizona.

*****

* Az-Zahir Hakim, one of three strong wide receivers for the St. Louis Rams,
signed a $16-million, five-year deal with the Detroit Lions yesterday. The
Lions hope that by joining veteran receiverJohnny Morton, Hakime, who is
known as one of the fastest players in the NFL, will add speed to their
struggling receiving corps. In St. Louis, Hakime was the No. 3 wide receiver
behind Isaac Bruce and Tory Holt. The Rams are hoping to fill the space
vacated by Hakime shortly with another free agent, and officials from the
team are planning to meet today with Jacquez Green, formerly of Tampa Bay,
to discuss a possible contract.

* The New York Daily News has reported that in the aftermath of the 1989
scandal involving Pete Rose’s gambling history, Major League Baseball’s
front office conducted a secret investigation to determine whether any other
baseball officials were involved in gambling. This probe apparently produced
a written report that charged two of baseball’s most well-respected umpires,
Frank Pulli of the National League and Rick Garcia of the American League,
with “associating and doing business with gamblers and bookmakers,”
a
violation of the Major League’s “best interests of baseball” rule.
The two
umpires were put on probation for two years, but Pulli now works as an
umpire supervisor and Garcia is being considered for a similar position. MLB
officials have explained that these two men’s cases were not treated as
seriously as Rose’s because there was no proof that they ever bet on
baseball as Rose allegedly did. Rose has been banned from baseball and
denied admission to the Hall of Fame.

* In the quarterfinal round of the Big East tournament, the Pittsburgh
Panthers outscored Boston College 76-62, improving their record to 26-4 and
securing their place in the semifinals of the tournament for the fifth time.
Despite jumping out to an early lead and the impressive 25-point
contribution of Uka Agbai, BC suffered a scoring droughtin the second half
which enabled Pittsburgh to reclaim the lead. Low scoring has been a problem
for BC of late, as they set the dubious record of the worst shooting half in
Big East tournament history in their last game against Rutgers on Wednesday.
Pittsburgh will play their semifinal match tonight against the winner of the
Georgetown-Miami contest.

*****

Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Saturday:
Women’s rugby hosts Bryn Mawr/Haverford, 11:00 a.m.
Men’s lacrosse at Goucher, 2:00 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too
dark to read.”
–Groucho Marx

*****
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