Tuesday, April 16, 2002

* Al-Jazeera, a Qatar-based satellite television station, broadcast
excerpts of a never-before-seen videotape featuring Osama bin Laden sitting

silently on a patch of grass while an aide praised the September 11 attacks

on America as a great victory. The network, which plans to run the tape in
its entirety on Thursday, said that the tape was old but had not been
broadcast before. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld revealed in a press
conference that he had also recently viewed a tape containing Bin Laden but

declined to comment on how the U.S. had acquired the tape or on whether it
was the same one being shown on al-Jazeera. It was unclear from the
sermonlike style of the tape’s speaker whether he was alluding to al
Qaeda’s role in the attacks or merely touting them as a victory for Muslims

in general. Also included on the tape and shown in the excerpt yesterday
was footage of Ahmed Alghamdi, a Saudi alleged to be one of the 19
hijackers who took part in the attacks. The film, which al-Jazeera
officials say was made in Kandahar six months before September 11, depicts
Alghamdi saying that “It is high time that we killed Americans in their

home.” Rumsfeld has said that the clip of bin Laden cannot b precisely

dated and that it sheds no light on the question of whether the hunted al
Qaeda leader is alive or dead.

* According to a Vatican official, Pope John Paul II has summoned American

cardinals and church leaders to meet with him in Rome next week to discuss
the pedophilia scandal which many are calling the worst blow ever to the
moral authority of the American Catholic Church. Church officials who are
to attend the meeting include Bishop Wilton Gregory, President of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Monsignor William Fay, the Conference’s

general secretary. Bishop Gregory expressed confidence that the meeting,
which will also involve senior Vatican officials, will help the U.S. Church

to come up with policies that will prevent cases of sexual abuse in the
future. The current scandal reached a climax last week in Boston, where
Cardinal Bernard Law said that he had no intention of stepping down from
his office even after court documents revealed that he had known of former
area priest and convicted child molester John Geoghan’s history of
pedophilia but continued to transfer him from parish to parish rather than
removing him from the priesthood. In the wake of the Geoghan case, priests
in Maine, New York, California, Pennsylvania and Florida have also been
removed.

* Studying napping techniques employed by Ellen MacArthur, who finished
second in the 92-day Vendee Globe single-handed sailing race last year,
neurologist Claudio Stampi of the Chronobiology Institute in Boston has
proposed that a “polyphasic sleeping method” could help people who
are in
situations which place them under constant pressure to remain alert and
optimize performance. The 24-year-old British sailor reported sleeping for
an average of five and a half hours per day during the solo race but said
that she distributed that sleep throughout an entire 24-hour period,
napping at least once during every hour with average naps lasting five to
ten minutes during the day and up to 30 minutes at night. “There are times

when if you sleep too long or at the wrong time, the results could be
catastrophic. And there are times when you simply can’t sleep, like when
you are sailing through icebergs,” Stampi said.

*****

Jin Shin Do Self-Acupressure Wellness Workshop
Scheuer Room, 12:00 p.m.

“Anchoring in Egocentric Social Judgment (and Beyond)”
Psychology Colloquium with Thomas Gilovich, Psychology, Cornell University
Scheuer Room, 4:00 p.m.

“Some Economics of Classical Music: The Market Facing Composers in the
18th
and 19th Centuries and Its Impact on Composing Productivity”
F.M. Scherer, Harvard University (more information below)
Lang Music Building 407, 4:00 p.m.

Animal Rights Coalition meeting
Trotter 303, 7:00 p.m.

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

Poetry Reading: John Ridland ’53
Scheuer Room, 7:30 p.m.

Public Speaking course for students
Kohlberg 330, 7:30 p.m.

Dining Services Fireside Chat with Larry Schall and Linda McDougall
Kohlberg Coffee Bar, 9:00 p.m.
**pizza will be served**

———-
F.M. Scherer to Speak on Economics of Classical Music

The Departments of Economics and Music and Dance will jointly sponsor a
lecture by F.M. Scherer of Harvard University titled “Some Economics of

Classical Music: The Market Facing Composers in the 18th and 19th Centuries

and Its Impact on Composing Productivity.” Professor Scherer will place

particular emphasis on the impact of the shift by composers from relying on

patronage of the nobility to a free-lance system and the impact of this
shift on musical creativity.

This lecture will take place on Tuesday, April 16, at 4 p.m. in Room 407 of

the Lang Music Building. Refreshments will be served before the talk.

With their five-game winning streak on the line against a tough Stevens
Tech squad yesterday, the women’s lacrosse team came up with a huge 15-14
victory, capturing the contest when Jackie Kahn ’04 netted the game-winner
with 2:26 to go in the second overtime.

Despite falling behind 5-1 early on, the Garnet came roaring back with four

straight goals from Mariam Levy ’02, Mavis Biss ’02, and Kahn to tie the
game at five apiece halfway through the first period.

Both teams continued to score at a frantic pace, and the Ducks took a 9-7
lead at halftime.

Then, in the second half, Katie Tarr ’02 tallied four of her game-high
seven goals to give the Garnet a 13-12 edge with 3:24 remaining.
Unfortunately, the slim margin would not hold up as a Stevens Tech goal
with 1:14 left sent the game into OT.

In the first extra period, the squads exchanged goals, including a Tarr
score with just 1:42 on the clock to ensure a second overtime.

Kahn, Levy, and Biss each scored twice in the dramatic win while staunch
goalkeeper Jenn Hart ’03 turned away 20 shots.

The Garnet, proud owners of a six-game winning streak–unparalleled since
1995, are now 8-4 overall.

*****

* It was a proud day for Kenya at Monday’s Boston Marathon as the top four

men’s finishers and the top two women all hailed from the East African
nation. Rodgers Rop beat out countryman Christopher Cheboiboch by just
three seconds in winning the men’s competition in a time of 2 hours, 9
minutes, 2 seconds. Meanwhile, women’s champ Margaret Okayo set a course
record with a blazing 2:20:43 time–good enough to force two-time defending

champion and world record-holder Catherine Ndereba to settle for second
place. This year’s race marked a return to dominance for the Kenyan men,
who had won the historic event for ten years in a row before Lee Bong-ju of

South Korea took the crown in 2001.

* They were cheering long into the night in Queens on Monday, while across

town, the Bronx faithful were mired in despair: The Mets beat the Atlanta
Braves 7-6 yesterday, winning on an Edgardo Alfonzo single in the 12th
inning. It was the fifth win in six games for the Mets, who used two Mike
Piazza homers to overcome a five-run deficit in the contest. Meanwhile, the

Yankees fell to the Red Sox 4-3, and surrendered first place in the AL East

to their arch-rivals by half a game.Derek Lowe was superb in the Boston
win, giving up just two hits over seven innings.

* Entrepreneur Curt Mueller outbid all competitors yesterday in an online
auction to win two wads of gum chewed by Arizona Diamondbacks’ star Luis
Gonzalez. Mueller, who is actually a gum manufacturer himself, will pay
$10,000 for his prize and hopes that the auction, whose proceeds will go to

a local high school, will generate publicity for his Quench product, even
though the celebrity gum was Bazooka brand. The auction has already
captured nationwide interest and produced its own scandal: A Diamondbacks’
security guard testified that the gum’s owner had not actually retrieved
the wad from Gonzo, prompting the slugger to chew another piece in front of

witnesses to ensure the authenticity of the celebrity cud.

*****

Today:
Softball hosts Washington (DH), 3:15 p.m.
Men’s tennis hosts Bates, 3:30 p.m.
Baseball hosts F&M, 3:45 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Men’s lacrosse hosts Washington, 3:30 p.m.
Women’s tennis at Ursinus, 4:00 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known.”
–Walt Disney

*****
.
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