Friday, September 6, 2002

by Jeremy Schifeling
Gazette Section Editor

Both Yipes Communications, Swat’s internet service provider (ISP), and
Adelphia Business Solutions (ABS), the College’s local telephone carrier,
have managed to keep Swatties connected despite bankruptcy filings this past
spring.  And while Information Technology Services is investigating possible
alternatives for the future, each service will continue to contract with
Swat through this academic year.

Mark Dumic, the College’s Manager of Networking, Systems, &
Telecommunications, says that the two companies traversed unique paths in
staying afloat through their respective summers of financial discontent.

In Yipes’ case, a group of the company’s original investors banded together
to salvage some of its largest markets, including the Philly area.  “The new
company received $40.8 Million in new equity financing which would allow it
to continue operations for the next two years while they implement their new
business plan and, hopefully, become profitable,” said Dumic.

Dumic blamed Yipes’ difficulties on an “overly optimistic and aggressive”
business plan that was symptomatic of many of the firm’s start-up peers in
the 90s.  After rapidly entering into costly long-term leases of fiber-optic
cable in 25 metropolitan areas, the company discovered that the demand for
the use of such cable lagged behind its own appetite for acquisition.  Thus,
Yipes’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy declaration in late March was arranged to allow
the firm to dispose of its surplus assets.

ABS, on the other hand, was a former subsidiary of Adelphia Communications –
the cable giant which spent most of the summer in the media spotlight as one
financial scandal unfurled after another.  However, the phone service became
an independent entity last year and was not involved in its parent company’s
recent fiasco.  And as such, ABS “is now emerging from it’s chapter 11
reorganization,” according to Dumic.

With both firms apparently unscathed, at least as far as their ability to
provide service to Swat is concerned, Dumic said that no alternative company
provided better solutions.  Regarding internet service, a team of Tri-Co ITS
folks conducted a lengthy summer investigation, only to conclude that other
providers were less adequate and more expensive than Yipes.  And in ABS’
case, no other firm provided significant advantages, making the complex
transition process (“several days at best,” according to Dumic) unnecessary.

However, Swat’s commitment to each company may not extend past this year.
Yipes, in particular, which is in the last year of a three-year contract
with the school, may be replaced by a home-grown alternative next year.

“One discovery that we [the Tri-Co ITS staff] made is that the cost to the
Tri-college of directly leasing our own fiber between the colleges and to
Center City Philadelphia ISP’s has come down now that there is excess
supply,” said Dumic.  “We may be able to operate our own metropolitan
network at costs only somewhat higher than what we are now paying but
providing significantly more bandwidth.”

So while Yipes and ABS are both financial survivors in a summer when many
were not so lucky, even their days may be numbered at Swat.

*****

by Pei Pei Liu
Gazette Section Editor

Forget about the same old parties this weekend. How about a little hypnosis
instead?

In fact, hypnotist Dr. Steve Atwood is only one of the somewhat unusual
options available for students’ entertainment. Comedian Dave Russo and
“visionary acoustic soul” duo The Day will also be making appearances at
what the administration has dubbed “welcome weekend.”

“The idea of welcome weekend came from the fact that we wanted to offer
fun, non-alcoholic events for the students during the first weekend of
school,” explained Student Activities Coordinator Jenny Yim. “Since not a
lot of clubs and organizations are organized yet, the first weekend back
can be awkward (especially for first year students) as to what their
‘social events’ will be.”

After the traditional deans’ ice cream social on Friday afternoon, Atwood
will kick off the weekend with a hypnosis show at 9:00 p.m. in LPAC Cinema.
Atwood has performed in Hollywood and Las Vegas, and has toured in numerous
resorts, theaters, and clubs. In addition to his shows, he has been
practicing hypnotherapy for over 15 years.

Saturday will feature a performance by comedian Dave Russo, also at 9:00
p.m. in LPAC Cinema. Russo, a semi-finalist for Comedy Central’s Laugh Riot
and a runner-up in the 25th San Francisco International Comedy Festival,
claimed top honors at last year’s Boston Comedy Festival with his “rapid
fire beat of outrageous hijinks, forehead slapping insights, and hilarious
bursts of insanity that speak to everyone.”

Wrapping up the weekend, The Day will perform from 9:00-10:30 p.m. in the
Kohlberg Coffee Bar on Sunday. According to their website, the duo,
composed of singer/songwriter Donn Thompson and guitarist Wes Mingus, calls
their sound “hip-hop injected ‘folk-funk’.a melting pot of soul, jazz, R&B,
acoustic folk, and spoken word poetry.”

All events are free and open to all Tri-Co students.

The weekend events were planned by the Office of Student Activities over
the summer, with Yim basing her selections on acts that she had seen
previously or that were recommended to her. Two of the three acts are
familiar to the area: comedian Russo gave a performance at Haverford last
spring and The Day will be performing at Bryn Mawr later this fall.

“We’re hoping for a good turnout for each event,” Yim said. “Depending on
the success of these events and feedback from students, we’ll see if this
becomes a ‘tradition’ at Swat.”

———–
For more information on this weekend’s performers, visit the following
sites:

* The Afghan cities of Kabul and Kandahar were the scenes of two violent attacks
yesterday,
the latter featuring an assassination attempt on the life of President Hamid
Karzai.  Karzai
survived the attack on his motorcade after a US bodyguard shot and killed the
assailant, and
then returned to Kabul, where a deadly car bombing had killed 26 and injured 150
earlier in
the day.  The President’s administration blamed both attacks on the al Qaeda
terrorist
network, but could offer no evidence of a connection between the group and the
violence.
However, the would-be assassin was identified as hailing from an area in
southern
Afghanistan that has been a well-known Taliban stronghold.

* The Senate voted 87-6 yesterday to allow commercial pilots to have guns in the
cockpit,
despite a few qualms put forth by the Bush administration.  Although it
ultimately changed
its opposing stance, the White House still called for the implementation of a
thorough and
expensive training program, as well as cockpit lockboxes to secure the
firearms.  Many of
the major pilots’ unions were in favor of the bill, while the airlines were
generally
against it.  It is not known when the first pilot will be ready and trained to
carry a gun
onboard.

* With an all-time record of 58-0 since it began featuring NBA players, it seems
like the US
men’s basketball team would have been a pretty safe bet entering this week,
right?  Wrong –
the squad lost to Yugoslavia 81-78 last night, just one evening after its
first-ever loss,
to Argentina on Wednesday.  With its two-game losing streak, the best that the
Americans can
now finish in the ongoing World Championships is 5th.

*****

Today:

Rosh Hashanah
Bond Memorial Hall, 5:30 p.m.

Dr. Steve Atwood, Hypnotist
LPAC Cinema, 9:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:

Rhythm N Motion Mini-Show
Upper Tarble, 2:00 p.m.

Rosh Hashanah
Bond Memorial Hall, 5:30 p.m.

Contra Dance
Upper Tarble, 7:00 p.m.

Dave Russo, Comedian
LPAC Cinema, 9:00 p.m.

First Show of the Year: Enon, Aloha, The Boggs
Olde Club, 10:00 p.m.

Sunday:

Sunday Mass
Bond Memorial Hall, 11:00 a.m.

Movie Night: Films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Kirby Lecture Hall – Martin, 6:00 p.m.

Swarthmore Students Advocating Life Meeting
Kohlberg Coffee Bar, 7:30 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

Today:
Women’s tennis at Mary Washington

Tomorrow:
Men’s tennis hosts Swat Invite, 9:00 a.m.
X-country hosts Alumni Meet, 11:00 a.m.
Men’s soccer at Valley Forge Christian, 11:00 a.m.
Women’s tennis at Mary Washington

Sunday:
Men’s tennis hosts Swat Invite, 9:00 a.m.
Women’s tennis at Mary Washington

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”
–Rudyard Kipling

*****
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