Thursday, April 4, 2002

By Karla Gilbride
Section Editor

Cynthia Lee ’02, an English literature major and dance choreography minor,
was named as one of 60 college seniors nationwide to receive a Thomas J.
Watson Fellowship for next year. The program, which pays for students to
pursue an independent research project while traveling outside the United
States, sends students to countries on six continents to work on projects as
disparate as women’s responses to domestic violence and the history of
blacksmithing. Lee’s project is entitled “Dancing the Body Divine: Religious
Dance,” and will take her to Brazil and India.

In Brazil, Lee hopes to study candomble, a traditional dance with African
and Yoruban roots. Her subject in India will be kathak, a classical North
Indian dance with historical influences from both Hinduism and Islam. Lee
already has somewhat of a background in kathak, as she has been studying it
at Swarthmore with dance professor Pallabi Chakravorty. “I’m not sure yet
whether I want to go into dance as a career,” Lee said, “but next
year
should give me a better idea of how someone would accomplish that.” While
abroad Lee also plans to teach English, although she will have to do so on a
volunteer basis because Watson fellows are not allowed to work for pay
during their year of study.

According to Lee, the emphasis of the Watson Fellowship Program is to give
students just out of college an opportunity to pursue their interests and
learn about other cultures outside of an academic or institutional setting.
“You have to submit a proposal explaining where you want to go and what
you
want to do, and they pay for your travel and any costs associated with your
study. At the end of the year you have to give some kind of report, but I
don’t think it’s anything too formal.”

Lee described the application process for the fellowship as rigorous,
commenting, “I worked a lot harder than I expected to, which probably paid
off in the end.” She explained that applicants must initially submit a
ten-page proposal and be interviewed by a Swarthmore committee. From the
initial applicant pool, ten students are selected for a second interview,
four of whom have their applications sent on to the Watson committee for yet
another round of interviews. “It was so much work that I don’t think I
would
have stuck with it if there wasn’t a project that I really wanted to do,”
Lee said, “but as it was I learned a lot about the dance community and
what
it would be like to live in the dance practitioner world.” She concluded,
“Even if I hadn’t gotten the fellowship, the application process itself
would have been a very positive experience.”

*****

* The U.S. confirmed yesterday that a prisoner being held at Guantanamo Bay
as a suspected al Qaeda fighter was in fact born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
making him the second American Taliban to be captured from the fighting in
Afghanistan. The first, John Walker Lindh, was captured in December and is
currently awaiting federal trial in Virginia. Television reports have
identified the detainee as Yasser Esam Hamdi and claim that the Justice
Department is deciding whether or not to try him in civilian court. Neither
the Justice Department nor the Pentagon would confirm those reports.

* Two men filing sexual abuse lawsuits against Catholic priests in Florida
and Oregon yesterday also named the Vatican as a defendant, claiming that
the Holy See was part of a conspiracy to transfer child-molesting priests
in order to protect them from prosecution. The plaintiffs both claim to
have been molested as teenagers. The Florida plaintiff is seeking damages
of over $15,000, while the Oregon plaintiff seeks damages of over $75,000.
Both suits are just the latest in a string of accusations against pedophile
Catholic priests after Boston priest John Geoghan was convicted of child
molestation. No one has yet successfully sued the Vatican under sex abuse
charges.

* The parents of several autistic children in Atlanta are filing lawsuits
against various drug firms and dental associations, alleging that vaccines
and mercury-based dental fillings exposed the children to the disorder.
Among those being sued are the American Dental Association, Georgia Dental
Association, Johnson & Johnson, and Armour Pharmaceutical. The families
claim that dental companies did not tell nursing and expecting mothers that
amalgam fillings contained levels of mercury that could be toxic to fetuses
and infants. Similarly, the drug companies allegedly failed to warn of the
dangers of mercury poison from certain vaccines. Although some scientists
have linked mercury to autism, the FDA has approved amalgam fillings as
safe, with the exception of occasional allergic reactions.

*****

“Creolization in French Caribbean Literature: Are New Theories So New?”
by Gerty Dambury, Visiting Professor, Swarthmore College
Caribbean Identities On the Move Series
Scheuer Room – Kohlberg, 4:15 p.m.

Living Wage & Democracy Campaign Rally: “Keep On Moving Forward”
Parrish Beach, 4:15 p.m.

Passover
Bond Memorial Hall, 5:30 p.m.

“Crum Creek Watershed Protection and Restoration: Current Projects and
Opportunities for Involvement”
by Art McGarity
Kohlberg 115, 7:00 p.m.

Hong Kong Movie Night: “Brother”
SCCS Lounge, 7:30 p.m.

———————-

RED SKY NIGHT

* After playing a career-low 12 minutes and scoring a career-low two points
in Tuesday night’s 113-93 loss the Los Angeles Lakers while suffering
problems with an injured left knee, Michael Jordan decided yesterday to take
the rest of the season off. Jordan had rushed his return from arthroscopic
knee surgery in February, missing just 12 games and serving as a reserve off
the bench in each of the Wizards’ seven games since his return on March 20.
“I think Michael realizes he pushed the envelope trying to come back too
quickly,” Wizards coach Doug Collins said. Jordan has maintained that his
early exit from this season does not mean that he is bowing out of
professional basketball for the second time. “I signed a two-year contract
to play,” he said. “Obviously, my health will always determine my
playing
status. But at this time, my plan is to play next season.” Jordan leaves
this year with a 22.9-point scoring average, the second lowest in his
career.

* With a three-run blast and a solo shot, each traveling an estimated 450
feet into the right field pavilion at Dodger Stadium, Barry Bonds became
only the second Major League player ever to hit two home runs in each of his
team’s first two games, joining Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews, who achieved
the feat in 1958. Bonds’ two homers helped the San Francisco Giants crush
Los Angeles, 12-0. The four home runs Bonds has hit in the past two days
bring his career total to 571, just two behind Harmon Killebrew for sixth
place on the all-time list. Bonds set a new record for homers within a
single season with 73 last year.

* The Houston Texans announced yesterday that David Carr, a quarterback from
Fresno State University, will be their No. 1 pick in the NFL draft scheduled
to take place the week of April 21. In his 37 games at Fresno State, Carr
completed 62.8 percent of his passes for 7,849 yards, 70 touchdowns and 23
interceptions. Carr also finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and won
the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the nation’s top senior quarterback.
Carr’s agent Mike Sullivan confirmed that contract negotiations with the
Texans are underway but would not discuss the terms in any detail. Carr is
expected to purchase a home in Houston this weekend for himself, his wife
and two-year-old child. Texans general manager Charley Casserly has said
that the team is still looking for a veteran free agent quarterback to help
run the offense while Carr adjusts to the NFL.

*****

Today:
Women’s tennis at Johns Hopkins, 3:30 p.m.
Softball hosts Widener, 4:00 p.m.
Women’s lacrosse hosts Widener, 4:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Golf at Widener, 1:00 p.m.
Baseball hosts Ursinus, 3:00 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere
in
the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.”
–Bill Watterson

*****
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