Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Archives
The Daily Gazette
Swarthmore College
Wednesday, April 17, 2002
Volume 6, Number 118
Our new email address: daily@swarthmore.edu
Photo of the day: http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/daily/photo.html
Today’s issue: http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/daily/
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) McDougall, Schall answer student questions on Dining Services
at
fireside chat
2) Candidates for Student Council elections
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Baseball can’t hold lead, falls to Franklin and Marshall
2) Softball loses double-header to Washington
4) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
WEATHER FORECAST
Today: Mostly sunny. High near 93.
I think we should fast forward through the rest of this semester so that
the time of year matches the weather outside.
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low around 67.
It’d be July, all our exams would be over, all our papers would be turned in.
Tomorrow: Scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High near 84.
But we’d skip right over the moonbounce at Sharples! Never mind, bad idea.
TODAY’S SHARPLES MENU
Lunch: Turkey meatloaf with mushroom gravy, steamed rice, vegetable
lo-mein, spinach souffle, succotash, cut green beans, Asian bar
Dinner: Fresh fish, scalloped potatoes, Cajun black beans, pasta & sauce,
broccoli, mixed vegetables, pasta bar
**SC Sharples Carnival
Featuring cotton candy, popcorn, sandy candy, DJ Mark Angelillo, carnival
games with prizes, and… a giant Moonbounce out back!
NEWS REPORT
1) McDougall, Schall answer student questions on Dining Services
at
fireside chat
by Pei Pei Liu
Gazette Section Editor
At the Student Council-sponsored fireside chat on Dining Services last
night, students had the opportunity to ask questions and make requests of
Linda McDougall, head of Dining Services, and Larry Schall, Vice President
of Facilities. Most of the comments centered around the meal equivalency
rate (M.E.R.) between Sharples dining hall and Essie Mae’s snack bar, with
many students also voicing requests to keep Sharples open later.
Joined by Scott Tutton from Dining Services, Schall and McDougall began
with a brief overview of the evolution of the program over the past decade.
Schall, who has been involved in Dining Services for 12 years, and
McDougall, an 11-year veteran, explained that the department was formerly
run by an outside contractor. After student complaints about the food and
the management, however, the college decided to take on the dining plan by
itself.
“It was a big risk,” said Schall, adding that the program cost about
$2.5
million a decade ago and is now up to approximately $3 million. The budget
for Dining Services comes partly from students’ board payments and partly
from catering, summer camps, and other events. “The dining hall is like
its
own little business,” Schall said, although he was quick to point out that
it does not usually turn a profit and actually sometimes loses money, with
deviations of up to $50,000 from the set annual budget.
Some changes that Schall and McDougall have helped to implement since
joining Dining Services include the 14-meal plan and points, meal
equivalency at Essie Mae’s, continuous dining at Sharples from 7:30 a.m.
until 7:20 p.m., the bag lunch program, and most recently, the 17-meal plan
(http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/daily/archive/spring_2002/20020409.html#n1).
Launching the dominant topic of discussion for the evening, Ryan Budish ’04
asked how the meal equivalency rate at Essie Mae’s was set and why it did
not increase along with the snack bar prices. Schall explained that the
M.E.R. has been raised a few times over the past ten years, but that it is
intended to be only enough for students to purchase a meal. When students
pointed out that the M.E.R. often does not cover enough food items for them
to feed themselves adequately, McDougall answered that the snack bar’s
packaged food costs more than the bulk purchases for Sharples. Thus, she
said, the equivalencies between the two facilities cannot be the same.
Schall added, “It’s equivalency, but in another sense it’s obviously not
equivalent. We can’t make it equivalent [in terms of pricing and meal credit].”
According to McDougall and Schall, particularly expensive items at both
Essie Mae’s and Sharples include all the brand-named and packaged foods
such as yogurt, bottled and canned drinks (fountain drinks cost much less),
and bagged chips. Also on the pricey side are 100% juice, fresh fruit, the
deli line at Sharples, fresh fish, bottled water and chicken fingers.
McDougall and Schall did agree, however, to look into the possibility of
drafting a proposal that would increase the prices of these expensive
packaged items while also raising the M.E.R., so that students buying meals
instead of simply stocking up on snacks would be able to get more for their
meal credit. Several Student Council members suggested circulating a list
of the more expensive items to allow students to see their options and
choose which products they could either do without or pay more for in order
to increase the M.E.R. Both McDougall and Schall seemed receptive to the
idea; the preliminary stages of the proposal could come as soon as next fall.
Budish also asked about the feasibility of expanding the bag lunch program
to include Mondays and Fridays, in order to give students other options
besides the high-priced Essie Mae’s. Though McDougall said that increasing
bag lunches would obviously incur additional cost and scheduling problems,
Schall added, “We’re not opposed to it. Lunch is tough, with everyone
trying to eat at the same time. If it’s needed, I think we should try to do
it.”
Liane Rice ’03 then broached the idea of extending Sharples’ closing time
to 7:30 to allow student athletes more time to reach the dining hall for
dinner, since it is less expensive for Dining Services to provide meals at
Sharples than at Essie Mae’s. Both Schall and McDougall, however, seemed
doubtful that this would ever happen, predicting that team coaches would
likely keep their teams at practice even longer, knowing that the dining
hall would still be open when the athletes got out.
“Since I’ve been here, the coaches have been pushing it [Sharples closing
time] from 7:00 to 7:10 to 7:20,” said McDougall. “But the more we
give,
the more they want from us.”
“It’s not evil,” added Schall. “They’re just working up to the
deadline.”
Additionally, McDougall pointed out that employees’ schedules would have to
be reorganized in order to keep them at work later, and that many of the
employees have families, use public transportation, or are high school
students, none of which are conducive to working late. McDougall said, “I
think that athletes getting there [Sharples] at 7:15 and eating is fine.
It’s fair.”
Matt Rubin ’03 inquired into the possibility of allowing all students the
choice of not being on a meal plan. Schall judged it unlikely that this
could happen, explaining that the dining hall runs on a fixed cost due to
constant expenses such as employees, cleaning staff, and heat and
electricity for the building itself. “So it isn’t cheaper to feed fewer
people,” he said. Giving students this option, he added, would mean that
the students remaining on the meal plan would have to pay more for it to
subsidize the cost of running Sharples. Additionally, he pointed out that
at schools where students had more dining options, students often
experienced a “decreased sense of community” from the dissolution
of
communal dining.
In response to a request for more varied vegan desserts, McDougall answered
that vegan ingredients are more difficult to buy in bulk and are thus more
expensive. Still, she said, “I personally think we’ve made huge strides
in
veganism this year,” citing as an example one of the menu-planners’
conversion to a vegan diet as a way of understanding the obstacles and
experience of vegan students at Sharples.
Regarding this as well as other changes that Dining Services has
implemented in the past decade, McDougall concluded, “I think we deserve
some credit for what we’ve done,” a sentiment echoed by the Student Council
members and many of the other students in attendance.
*****
2) Candidates for Student Council elections
The following students have declared their intention to run in the upcoming
SC elections:
Co-President
Ryan Budish ’04
Campus Life Representative
Joseph Dickerson ’04
Educational Policy Representative
Esha Senchaudhuri ’05
Lester Tran ’03
Financial Policy Representative
Erik Munroe ’04
Kevin Bovard ’03
Youssef Soliman ’03
Student Groups Advisor
Doru Gavril ’03
Neil Cavanaugh ’05
Roxanne Yaghoubi ’05
Tomorrow’s issue of the Gazette will include “long versions” of
all of
the candidates’ platforms, so stay tuned!
*****
* Boston Cardinal Bernard Law announced yesterday that he recently discussed
the American Church’s ongoing child abuse scandal with Pope John Paul II.
According to Law, the pontiff is very concerned with the situation in the
States and his “primary emphasis… is upon the protection of the children.”
Law, the senior Roman Catholic prelate in the US, is currently undergoing
much criticism at home for his role in the scandal and is being called upon
to resign. He has said that he won’t step down, despite allegations that he
knew of abuse by priests and failed to take action.
* The Supreme Court overturned the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996
yesterday in a 6-3 decision. The law, which bans “virtual child
pornography” – the use of young adults and computer imagery to portray
children engaging in sexual acts, was ruled to be too broad in its scope.
Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority, argued that the statute would
interfere with the exercise of First Amendment rights, such as artistic or
political speech. He gave examples of a number of recent movies, including
“Traffic” and “American Beauty,” as well as Shakespeare’s
“Romeo and
Juliet,” to show that thousands of current works of art would be made
illegal by the law. The Justice Department and Attorney General John
Ashcroft were disappointed by the outcome, particularly by the fact that
the Court did
not recognize their contention that virtual child pornography has a close
link to actual child pornography and child abuse.
* Secretary of State Colin Powell is scheduled to depart the Middle East
today, following a week of negotiations in the region that failed to bring a
truce to the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Powell
plans to meet with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat once more before he
leaves, but since his trip has not succeeded in convincing Israel to pull
its troops out of West Bank cities, Arafat has been critical of the
diplomat. Meanwhile, Israeli president Ariel Sharon remains hopeful that a
US presence in the area will lead to a regional peace conference, perhaps by
June.
*****
CP&P: Juniors Workshop
Parrish 140, 12:00 p.m.
“What Do Migrant Birds Do While It Snows Up North?: Socioecology and
Multiple Habitat Use in the Tropics During the Non-Breeding Season”
by Len Reitsma, Plymouth State University, New Hampshire
Trotter 301, 7:00 p.m.
Lecture by Linda Darling-Hammond
Scheuer Room, 4:15 p.m.
MST3K Showing
Trotter 203, 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.
———-
Juniors Workshop: Intro to Career Services == NEW DAY, TIME & LOCATION
Wednesday April 17, 12 noon, in Career Services Parrish 140
Juniors! Smooth sailing into senior year – get acclimated to Career
Services! Topics include: Our Resources, Self Assessment, Recruiting
Procedures, Grad
School Applications, and Job Search Strategies. Refreshments and grand
tour of our Career Library included. Come with your questions, bring a friend,
and let’s meet! Individual appointments are available if you can’t make the
workshop. Please sign up with Career Services at x8352.
———-
LIBRARY WORKSHOP – IT IS NEVER TOO LATE
Last Minute Research: Using Full-Text, Online Resources for Those in a
Hurry – for students and taught by students
Paper crunch? Too much to do and not enough time? Eat pizza & find
quality information for your papers ! Unlock the mysteries of our private
databases.
McCabe Library, Computer Classroom, Level IV
Monday, April 22nd
7:00 – 8:00 PM
RSVP to ahershe1
*****
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Baseball can’t hold lead, falls to Franklin and Marshall
Franklin and Marshall rallied for seven runs in the top of the ninth inning
to deliver a heartbreaking loss to the baseball team yesterday afternoon,
13-8. Scott Kushner ’02 went 4-for-6 with two doubles, two runs scored, and
an RBI. Carlton Davis ’04 contributed a two-run double, but couldn’t hold
the lead for Matt Goldstein ’04, who gave up four runs, two earned, over
five innings and struck out two. The Garnet fall to 2-19-1 overall, with a
2-11 record in the Conference.
*****
2) Softball loses double-header to Washington
The softball team’s struggles continue as they dropped a double-header
against Washington yesterday, 14-3 and 4-2. In the first game, Pam Lavallee
’03 went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and Ariana Lindermayer ’03 went
1-for-2 with two RBI to account for an early 3-2 Garnet lead, but it wasn’t
enough to hold off Washington, who scored three in the top of the fifth and
broke it open with nine in the seventh.
In the nightcap, Lavallee and Mary Mintel ’05 each went 2-for-4 with an
RBI, but the Garnet fell just short as they stranded the tying run on
second base in a seventh inning rally. The team’s record falls to 0-21
overall, 0-12 in the Conference.
*****
* It was an exciting day in Major League Baseball, as Lance Berkman hit
three homeruns, Shea Hillenbrand extended his major league-leading hitting
streak to 12 games, and the Detroit Tigers finally won their first game of
the season. In Cincinnati, Berkman drove in five runs as he homered in his
first three plate appearances to lead the Houston Astros to an 8-3 victory
over the Reds. Second-year third baseman Hillenbrand went 2-for-4 with a
three-run homer as the Red Sox routed the Toronto Blue Jays, 14-3.
Hillenbrand is currently second in the league in batting with an average of
.413. And in Detroit, the paltry crowd of 13,000 gave the Tigers a standing
ovation as the beleaguered club finally won a game in the 2002 season,
beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 9-3. It was the first victory for manager
Luis Pujols, who replaced Phil Garner six games into the season.
* The Florida Panthers claimed the first pick in the 2002 NHL draft
yesterday, as one of the five worst teams last season. The Atlanta
Thrashers and Columbus Blue Jackets, which both featured worse
regular-season records than the Panthers, will pick second and third, and
Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh will pick fourth and fifth. Nashville, Anaheim,
Minnesota, Calgary, and Florida round out the top ten, with Florida
receiving another top pick through a deal with the New York Rangers. The
rest of the first-round draft picks will be determined after the Stanley
Cup playoffs.
* The Detroit Pistons defeated the New Jersey Nets last night, 103-98, to
claim the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Chucky Atkins
scored 21 points, while Jon Barry contributed 17 off the bench and Ben
Wallace had 14 points, 16 rebounds, and six blocked shots to lead the
Pistons. Kerry Kittles led the scoring for New Jersey with 30 points, while
Jason Kidd added 11 assists, giving him 802 assists on the season–a record
for the Nets. The victory guarantees homecourt advantage for the Pistons in
later rounds of the playoffs, should they advance. The first-round matchups
have yet to be determined, as Indiana, Toronto, and Milwaukee are tied for
the two spots against the Nets and the Pistons.
*****
Today:
Men’s lacrosse hosts Washington, 3:30 p.m.
Women’s tennis at Ursinus, 4:00 p.m.
Tomorrow:
Softball at Philadelphia University, 4:00 p.m.
Women’s lacrosse at Western Maryland, 4:30 p.m.
*****
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.”
–Albert Schweitzer
*****
.
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
Online Editor: David Bing
News Reporters: Mary Harrison
Evelyn Khoo
Sanggee Kim
Natacha Pascal
Kent Qian
Alexis Reedy
Chiara Ricciardone
Sportswriters: Muhsin Abdur-Rahman
Shavaugn Lewis
Pat Quinn
Photographer: Casey Reed
World News: Jeremy Schifeling
Campus and
World Sports: Pei Pei Liu
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This concludes today’s report.