Monday, April 22, 2002

courtesy of Myrt Westphal, Dean of Housing

There was a buzz at the Worth and Wharton tables and only one room remains
in Worth–a two room triple in the coed section–and only three singles
left for women in Wharton, though a few quads and doubles remain there.

The concentration of remaining singles are in Parrish, Mertz, and ML, with
significant numbers still open in Willets, PPR, and Hallowell. Just pay
attention to the gender balance. Looks like 3 quints remain.

A pair picked into SH; no one picked into Willets.

Woolman is closed to women.

Don’t forget that about 100 juniors are going on foreign study, and several
are either RAs, are living off campus, or got rooms in the blocks or as
roommates with seniors.

Rumors still suggest a migration of SWIL to Mertz, but several seniors
picked into ML.

*****

by Alexis Reedy
Gazette News Reporter

The Student Council has recently appointed five people to the Forum for
Activism (FFA). Jeff Regier ’03, Celia Paris ’05, Bo Hu ’05, Sarah Dresher
’03, and Roxanne Yaghboui ’05 were all appointed to the FFA. The first
meeting of the Forum for Activism will be this Tuesday, April 23.

Of the people appointed, three are on Swarthmore Progressive Action Committee.

“Jeff contacted all of the activist groups and asked them to have
representatives of their group apply for positions on FFA,” said Yaghboui.

“We decided to start it up next year,” said Regier, former Student Council
member and organizer of the Forum for Activism.

The Forum for Activism was charted before Regier resigned from Student
Council. It was not funded during the recent Student Budget Committee
meetings, “because FFA did not submit a request for money,” said Kevin
Bovard ’03, Student Budget Committee member.

Within the coming year, the Forum for Activism homes to create a regular
newsletter. “We also need to develop general procedures to help organize
FFA for the coming years and a timetable to focus our efforts,” said
Reiger, citing “funding other activist groups as a long term goal. We have
a few months before we have to worry about that.”

Yaghboui said, “I hope to ensure that activism remains an integral part of
the Swarthmore community and that activist groups receive adequate funding.
I see the Forum for Activism as a liaison between activist groups and the
rest of the Swarthmore community.”

She added, “This should be a worthwhile experiment.”

*****

by Mary Harrison
Gazette News Reporter

Demonstrations on Saturday attracted a wide range of causes and protestors
to the streets of the nation’s capital. Issues raised by demonstrators
included support for Palestinian rights, a resolution of the Middle Eastern
conflict, and an end to globalization and brutal U.S. anti-terrorism
tactics around the world.

According to the Saturday edition of the Washington Post, D.C. police
officials set the number of protestorsat around 75,000. The demonstration
was conducted peaceably, without the sort of clashes with riot police which
marked last April’s World Bank-IMF protests in the District. The citywas
well prepared, withfences and roadblocks erected, trashcans and newspaper
boxes removed, and 3,800 D.C. police officers lining the streets, aided by
reinforcements from around Maryland and Virginia.

According to Steve Holt ’05, around 40 Swatties, mainly fromSPAC and Why
War?, figured among the thousands of college students from across the East
Coast. Holt attended the rally held by the National Youth and Student Peace
coalition, which focused on U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and its
domestic implications, such as the Patriot Act.

“There were about five different protests going on,” said Holt, “but once
the march started, they all came together.”

Micah White ’04, head of Why War?, was also present at the rally. According
to White, the demonstration was organized by the A20–Stop the War and
International Answer coalitions, concerned respectively with the war in
Afghanistan and the Palestinian conflict, and was endorsed by various other
groups represented at the demonstration.

Both Holt and White felt that the police presence was minimal, unlike the
last demonstration attended by Swarthmore activists in New York. “It was a
lot different than New York” said White, “because D.C. is so wide open, the
cops were less obtrusive.”

White also noticed a difference in the composition of the crowd. “There
were more middle-aged people there. It was a completely different
demographic, which was interesting.”

The event was marked by energy and creativity, with a multitude of signs,
puppets, and visual displays. White observed an anti-globalization group
carrying “figures symbolizing bodies, who would march and drum, and then
re-enact a plane bombing every once and a while.”

Swarthmore students carrying a sign reading “NOT IN OUR NAME–JEWS AGAINST
THE OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE” were approached by CNN. Rebecca Galaski ’05
and Jacob Hodes ’03 were interviewed by a reporter.

“We wanted to say that it’s not about religion, it’s about politics. Just
because we’re Jewish doesn’t mean we support Israel,” said Galaski.

After speaking to the students, CNN then interviewed a Muslim woman and a
group of Palestinians. “That was the nice thing about the sign in general,”
said Galaski. “It created dialogue.”

*****

* In a first round of French presidential elections this weekend that
featured a record-high field of 16 contenders and record-low voter turnout
(27.6% of the electorate abstained), conservative leader Jean-Marie Le Pen
captured 17% of the vote to finish second and qualify for the May 5 runoff
against current president Jacques Chirac. Le Pen, a former paratrooper who
has often campaigned on anti-immigrant platforms and who once referred to
the Holocaust as “a detail of history,” edged out current Prime Minister
Lionel Jospin by one percentage point, prompting the Socialist leader to
announce that he will retire from politics after the election’s second
round. Le Pen’s impressive finish sparked a firestorm of protests in Paris
and other cities throughout France, with thousands of people marching in
the streets chanting, “Le Pen is a fascist,” and “I am ashamed.” Party
leaders from across the political spectrum have urged voters to back Chirac
in the May 5 runoff to ensure that Le Pen does not come to power. Chirac,
whose one term in office has been plagued by allegations of corruption,
received just 19.6% of the vote, the lowest total won by any frontrunner in
the first round of a presidential election since the foundation of France’s
Fifth Republic in 1958.

* Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called for a new offensive
against the Abu Sayyaf terrorist network after they took responsibility for
three bomb blasts over the weekend which killed 14 people and injured 50 in
the southern city of General Santos. Claiming to represent Abu Sayyaf, a
man speaking on a Philippine radio station warned that this weekend’s
violence was “only a warmup” and said that the group would not relent until
the U.S. military presence is removed from the area. American troops have
been training Filipino soldiers to fight Abu Sayyaf guerillas on their
headquarters on Basilan Island, approximately 215 miles west of General
Santos. The U.S. has targeted Abu Sayyaf in its war on terrorism because of
alleged ties between the group and Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network. Abu
Sayyaf has also been holding an American missionary couple hostage  for
almost 11 months.

* Many residents of the northeastern United States were jolted awake early
Saturday morning by an unusually strong earthquake, which measured 5.1 in
magnitude according to the U.S. Geological Survey and 5.5 according to the
Canadian Geological Survey. The quake had its epicenter 15 miles southwest
of Plattsburg, New York, where it damaged houses and roads but caused no
deaths or serious injuries. The USGS reported in an earthquake bulletin
that the quake was felt from Buffalo, New York to Boston and as far south
as Baltimore. Residents of Ontario also called police with concerns about
tremors.

*****

Chinese Traditional Storytelling: Word and Performance
Scheuer Room, 4:30 p.m.

French Cinema Club video showing
Kohlberg 302, 7:30 p.m.

Class of 2004 housing lottery
Field House, 7:30 p.m.

Opera Scenes and Ensembles
Lang Concert Hall, 8:00 p.m.

Queer and Questioning Small Group: Talking about Labels and Coming Out
SQU Room, 8:30 p.m.

Good Schools Pennsylvania meeting
Kohlberg 226, 9:00 p.m.

Swarthmore Progressive Action Committee meeting
Kohlberg 228, 9:30 p.m.

Swing Dance
Upper Tarble, 9:30 p.m.

SWIL Movie Night: “HELP!”
Kirby Lecture Hall, 10:00 p.m.

———-
Tuesday April 23, 4:15 p.m.: EAMON GRENNAN, this year’s Charles A. Heimbold
Professor of Irish Studies at Villanova University, more usually the Dexter
M. Ferry Jr Professor of English at Vassar, translator of Leopardi, author
of “Facing the Music: Irish Poetry in the 20th Century,” and of nine
collections of poetry, including “What Light There Is,” “As If It Matters,”
“So It Goes,” “Relations,” and–out this month–“Still Life With
Waterfall.” Calvin Bedient writes of Eamon Grennan’s work: “He presents the
commonplace in so luminous a spirit that it spreads meaning, by analogy,
into our own lives.” Billy Collins writes, “Few poets are as generous as
Eamon Grennan in the sheer volume of delight his poems convey, and fewer
still are as attentive to the available marvels of the earth. To read him
is to be led on a walk through the natural world of clover and cricket and,
most of all, light, and to face with an open heart the complexity of being
human.”

Contact Nat Anderson (nanders1) for more information.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

The men’s ultimate team was victorious at this past weekend’s Eastern PA
Sectionals, taking the championship after going undefeated and beating
UPenn in an incredible final contest. On the road to the championship game,
the Earthworms beat Scranton, Drexel, Lehigh, and Haverford.

Then, in the finale, the squad played UPenn point-for-point for the
duration of the match. After falling behind 14-11 in the second half, the
Worms rattled off five unanswered scores, only to lose their game-point
edge following two consecutive Penn scores. However, the resilient Worms
refused to give up and after locking the score at 16 apiece, notched the
sudden-death win with a beautiful piece of disc artistry from Jeremy Slezak
’02, Pat Hagan ’02, and Paul Wulfsberg ’03.

With the 17-16 title game victory, the Worms earn a berth in the upcoming
Regionals tournament as the second or third seed. It is the second
Sectionals Championship for the squad in the past three years.

*****

After falling to Franklin & Marshall on Friday, 13-8, the baseball team
ignored the inertia of a ten-game losing streak and turned its fortunes
around with victories over Gettysburg in both ends of a Saturday
doubleheader, 5-3 and 3-0.

In the Friday contest, the struggling Garnet offense received a jump-start,
putting eight runs on the board behind a brilliant performance from Scott
Kushner ’02, who went 4-for-6 with two doubles and a run scored.
Unfortunately, their pitching, which has been the squad’s strength all
season, broke down in the ninth and allowed seven runs to give the
Diplomats a come-from-behind victory.

On Saturday however, the Garnet finally managed to bring solid pitching and
hitting together. In the first game, Jared Leiderman ’05 allowed just five
hits and Ryan Pannorfi ’04 went 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Then, in the
second contest, Matt Goldstein ’04 shutdown the Bullets, giving up just six
hits and striking out six, while Wes Sconce ’04 was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

With their strong weekend performance, the squad is now 4-20-1 overall and
4-12 in the Centennial Conference.

*****

The men’s lacrosse team, playing its last game of the season on Saturday,
brought its schedule to a rewarding close with a 9-8 victory over
Haverford. The Garnet never led by more than two, but managed to hang on to
the win thanks to a stingy defense and 10 saves by Steve Isbister ’04. John
Murphy ’03 notched a hat-trick in the finale and Jeff Donlea ’05 and John
Cleaver ’05 each recorded two goals as the Garnet finish up the season 6-8
overall and 1-5 in the Conference.

*****

Both the men’s and women’s rugby teams earned wins this Saturday.

On the women’s side, scores by Katie Merrick ’05, Aja Peters-Mason ’04,
Karly Ford ’03, and Maya Peterson ’02, along with a conversion by Sarah
Nusser ’02, gave the A-side squad a 22-5 victory over Bucknell. The B-side
dropped their contest 20-0.

Meanwhile, the male ruggers notched a victory of their own, in dramatic
fashion no less, as they defeated Lafayette 22-21. Brian Kasch ’02 and Axel
Neff ’02 scored the game-winning try, while Jon Fombonne ’05 completed the
conversion.

*****

The women’s tennis team thoroughly dominated the Green Terror of Western
Maryland this past Saturday, beating their opponents 9-0. Anjani Reddy ’04,
Kristina Pao ’04, Megan Speare ’05, Katherine Voll ’03, Katie Berry ’05 and
Tina Stancheva ’04 took their singles matches and the teams of Reddy & Pao,
Voll & Laura Swerdlow ’02, and Aparna Kishor ’05 & Keerthi Potluri ’05 were
victorious in doubles action. With the win, the team’s record improves to
8-8 overall and 7-3 in the Centennial.

*****

The golf team beat all challengers during a match at Edgemont on Friday.
Swat’s team-total of 286 gave it a narrow victory over Widener (288),
Alvernia (296), and Philadelphia University (299). The squad has now won
both of its team-scored matches this season.

*****

Hosting a tournament at Swarthmore for the first time in team history, the
women’s ultimate squad placed third in its home competition this past
weekend. The Warmothers began the tourney right, defeating Penn in the
first contest, but then fell to the eventual champions from Bucknell in a
close, second match. On Sunday, the Mothers again began the day with a
victory, this time over Carnegie Mellon, and then, after a narrow semifinal
loss to Penn State, destroyed Haverford 13-1 in their finale. The team will
next be in action at Regionals.

*****

The men’s and women’s track teams took a trip down the road on Saturday to
compete at the Widener Invitational.

On the women’s side, Claire Hoverman ’03 led all Swatties with a first
place finish in the 800. Meanwhile, Njideka Akunyili ’04 was fourth in the
400 hurdles, while Jessica Rickabaugh ’02 was sixth in the high jump and
Loring Pfeiffer ’02 was ninth in the 5000.

For the men, Kwaku Ntoso ’03 was eighth in the 110 hurdles and James Golden
’05 took 11th in the 5000.

The Penn Relays, which begin this Thursday, are the team’s last
competitions before the Conference Championships, scheduled for the first
weekend in May.

*****

The women’s lacrosse team, playing with the momentum of a six-game winning
streak, finally ran out of luck when it fell to Ursinus, 20-10, this past
Saturday. Katie Tarr ’02 continued to put big offensive numbers, scoring
four goals, and fellow senior Mavis Biss contributed a hat-trick in the
loss. The team’s record is now 8-5 overall and 3-4 in the Centennial.

*****

Playing in its second-to-last series of the year on Saturday, the softball
team was unable to notch its first victory, dropping both ends of a
twin-bill to F&M, 5-1 and 10-1. However, the squad did manage a few bright
spots, including junior Pam Lavallee’s 3-for-3 performance with an RBI in
the first contest, and frosh Sam Brody’s 2-for-3 outing in the second. The
team is now 0-22 overall and 0-14 in the Centennial, with one final
doubleheader scheduled against Haverford tomorrow.

*****

* The LA Lakers began their playoff journey towards a championship
three-peat yesterday with a 95-87 victory over Portland in Game One of
their first round series. Despite shooting just 42%, LA got big production
from its Dynamic Duo of Kobe (34 points) and Shaq (24 points). Elsewhere in
NBA Playoff Land, Boston spoiled Allan Iverson’s return with a 92-82 win
over the Sixers, the Pistons crushed the Raptors 85-63, and Dallas downed
the T-Wolves, 101-94.

* In Vancouver last night, the Detroit Red Wings avoided a 3-0 first round
hole against the underdog Canucks with a 3-1 victory. Meanwhile, Martin
Broduer notched his 13th career playoff shutout with a 4-0 Devils win over
the Hurricane. Elsewhere, the Blues beat the Blackhawks 4-0 and Boston
outscored Montreal 6-4 in a wild victory.

* In the NFL yesterday, the excitement was not relegated to the league’s
draft as the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots completed a deal that
sent QB Drew Bledsoe to Buffalo for a first-round pick in 2003. Bledsoe,
once the Golden Boy in New England, found himself out of a starting job
after getting injured this past season and seeing backup Tom Brady lead the
team to a Super Bowl championship. The Bills had been hesitant to part with
their #1 pick but after failing to snag a QB in the draft on Saturday, felt
that Bledsoe was worth the investment.

*****

Today:
Golf at F&M Invitational, 1:00 p.m.
Baseball at Neumann, 3:30 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Softball at Haverford (DH), 3:00 p.m.
Men’s tennis hosts Haverford, 3:30 p.m.
Women’s lacrosse at Haverford, 4:30 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I wish there was a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence. There’s a
knob called ‘brightness,’ but it doesn’t work.”
–Eugene P. Gallagher

*****
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