Friday, October 4, 2002

by Greg Leiserson
Gazette News Reporter

Former Massachusetts governor and Democratic presidential nominee Michael
Dukakis ’55 delivered the 2002 Thomas B. McCabe Memorial Lecture Thursday
night to an enthusiastic crowd in LPAC.

In the presentation, Dukakis advocated universal health care based on the
plan proposed by President Nixon in 1971, and mentioned the version
implemented by Hawaii in 1974 as proof of its feasibility. He also pointed
to the need for increased funding for modern rail transit and encouraged
students to become involved in political campaigns and the political process.

Titled “The Uninsured: Forty-Two Million and Counting,” the lecture
consisted of an approximately 30-minute speech followed by an hour-long
question and answer period. Students seemed engaged throughout, and only a
few students left before the talk’s conclusion. Dukakis’ comments were
interrupted multiple times by applause and laughter, and he finished to a
standing ovation.

Student reaction to the speech was overall very positive. Sophomore Nick
Guerette commented, “I thought it was great. He talked about national
issues that are important to a lot of us, and also mixed in some
interesting stories about what he did while [at Swarthmore].”

Jenna Adelberg ’06 remarked, “Not only was his speech well-prepared and
interesting, but the questions students asked promoted continued discussion
on the subject.” Many students suspected that the lecture would turn into a
discussion of the current foreign policy situation, but only a few passing
comments were made about it.

Dukakis started off with an anecdote from his days on the campaign trail in
1988, and immediately had the audience laughing. He also noted that while
there are options that a candidate who lost the presidential election can
pursue to maintain his reputation, he “had no interest in becoming the
national spokesman for erectile dysfunction.”

Dukakis then launched into his discussion of health care, summarizing the
history of national health care from Harry Truman through Bill Clinton.
Truman first proposed a universal health care system 50 years ago, but
could not get it through Congress. Subsequent attempts by President Kennedy
also met with no success. Eventually Lyndon Johnson did succeed in getting
Medicare for citizens over 65 years old. After Johnson, Dukakis noted that
the standard was carried by “that prominent left-leaning liberal Richard
Nixon” when he proposed a universal health care system in 1971. However, in
the subsequent Watergate scandal, Nixon’s health care proposal was lost. In
1993, Bill Clinton tried again but also failed to get his proposal through
Congress. Dukakis suggested that one of the main reasons for this was that
Clinton’s policy was too complicated for people to understand.

The specifics of the plan outlined by Dukakis are similar to those of the
plan advocated by Nixon and the one used by the state of Hawaii. All
employers would be required to provide insurance for their workers.
Employers would pay a fraction of the cost, and the employees would as
well. A government program would work to fill in the gaps for people who
are temporarily unemployed or who, for other reasons, do not have health
insurance. The means to provide the care would remain the same as they are
now. Since the costs of emergency room visits by the uninsured are now paid
by the insured in the form of increased premiums, Dukakis contends that it
is in the interest of businesses that do insure their employees to require
all businesses to provide health insurance, because it would reduce the
costs of their current insurance policies.

Dukakis said that this program would work with only a few regulatory
changes imposed upon the insurance industry. He would require that language
in contracts be standardized so that disputes over coverage could be
avoided and that insurers would be required to insure anybody who applied.
He asked what was wrong with our country when we spend twice the money per
capita that any other nation does on health care and yet do not have
universal coverage.

During the question/answer period, one student brought up the issue of
train travel. Dukakis has served in various capacities with Amtrak over the
years, and strongly supports increased funding for train travel in the U.S.
He commented that highways and airlines are both funded in large part by
the government, but Amtrak receives a tiny fraction of the money that the
other two receive. He pointed to the Acela Express train recently
introduced in the northeast corridor as an example of the possibilities for
train travel in the U.S., and suggested that with a modest increase in
funding, train travel could become an important part of the travel
infrastructure.

Dukakis closed by encouraging students to get involved in the political
process. He emphasized that voting does matter and does make a difference
and that if a “Greek kid from Brookline, Massachusetts” can become the
governor of his state for three terms, then anyone can become effectively
involved in politics.

by Aude Scheuer
Gazette News Reporter

College deans, Ultimate Frisbee and basketball teammates, old hallmates and
roommates, and other friends convened in the Rose Garden on Thursday
afternoon to remember Eric Johnson ’03, who was killed on August 20 after
stepping in front of a train in Andover, Mass.

A peaceful gathering intended to celebrate Johnson’s life and provide his
friends with some comfort, the memorial created a warm environment where
everyone felt comfortable remembering his vivid personality.

After a moment of silence, the assembly was encouraged to share some of
their stories about Johnson. An Ultimate Frisbee teammate recalled some of
Johnson’s quirks, “these little things that stay with you forever,”
including the day he collected a handful of Sharples mints in order to
count them when he was bored.

Another student shared the story of how Johnson used to say that all the
currencies in the world should be changed to donuts, and how he then would
likely have eaten most of his wealth but would be happy with that outcome.

Others remembered that, when teased about having blank walls in his room,
Johnson put up his initials E.J in duct tape on the ceiling above his bed.
Shortly after this event, his friend Paul Wulfsberg ’03, also getting
ribbed about his blank walls, followed suit and taped the letters E.J onto
his ceiling.

Later speakers mentioned how excited Johnson always was whenever his sister
Lisa signed onto Instant Messenger, how much he loved his family, and how
loyal he was to his friends. The memorial then closed with the opportunity
for Johnson’s friends to sign a card for his parents.

Most students reacted positively to the service. Krista Marshall ’03 felt
that “just by saying [your memories of Johnson] out loud, they are
imprinted in your heart.”

“It was good to be together with a community of people that cared for EJ
and were blessed by him and to feel connected to his memory together.”

*****

by Evelyn Khoo
Living & Arts Editor

Paces is back! Swat’s late-night social hub will have its grand re-opening
this Friday night, after a summer of renovations.

Gone are the beer-stained couches, grime-encrusted floors, smeared walls,
and broken benches. In their place is the smell of sparkling, professional
cleaned furniture.

The freshly washed feel will not be the only thing new at Paces this year,
according to sophomore directors Carmen Barron and Jon Fombonne.

“We’re trying hard to improve on its efficiency. Last year there was a lack
of communication and organization which caused food to run out,” said Barron.

To do so, Barron and Fombonne made their new staff go through a series of
training sessions and set up a more rigorous system of checks, such as
going in after Saturday night parties to check on the cleanliness and
ensure that the inner workings of Paces run smoothly.

“We hope to improve communication between chefs and buyers, so there’ll
always be enough ingredients and the right ingredients to make sure that
the food on the menu is available,” added Barron.

This new regime of order will not, thankfully, compromise the relaxed
atmosphere that was Paces in all its unkempt glory. Said Barron, “Paces is
all about the people. The night managers will be coming up with ‘theme’
nights like varsity jacket night where everyone comes in wearing their old
high school jacket, bringing in their own music, organizing student
performance nights; basically we want to have just as much fun as before,
just more efficient[ly].”

The Paces menu will also be sticking to its old formula of having weekly
menus with a special Sunday spread. Traditional favorites such as hummus
and ‘andres’ (“if you don’t know what those are, come to Paces!”) will
continue to be served.

So head out to Paces this Friday night at 10:00 p.m., where you can enjoy
the tunes of Paces director Jon Fombonne’s band, the Availables, while
soaking in the sanitized air of the new, improved Paces.

*****

by Ben Kligfield
Gazette News Reporter

The Party Associate (PA) program at Swarthmore has come under increasing
scrutiny in the last year. In reaction to several well-publicized
incidents–the most notable being last year’s accidental admission of local
youths to a party where alcohol was served, leading to three arrests–there
have been doubts regarding the efficiency and utility of the PA system.
However, the program coordinators have just trained a new crop of students
and are optimistic that this year will be a success for both the PA program
and partygoers alike.

The PA program was instituted seven years ago in October 1995 to assist the
college in conforming to Pennsylvania’s toughened drinking laws. It was
decided that Party Associates would be paid to stay sober at parties and
assist the hosts in maintaining a safe and (relatively) orderly
environment. This entailed checking IDs at the door, ejecting those too
inebriated to behave themselves, and in cases where the police show up,
acting as a liaison between the officers and the hosts. But the question
still lurked: could a few students really control a teeming mass of their
peers?

The answer seemed to be ‘yes’–for a while. However, incidents in the past
few years caused confidence in the PA system to erode. In April 1997, for
example, an undercover policewoman posing as an underage person entered a
Delta Upsilon party and was not asked for identification. In the ensuing
raid, 27 were arrested. However, Dean Bob Gross felt that hiring more PA’s,
possibly paying them more, and potentially changing the nature of their
duties would go a long way toward patching any holes in the system.
Unfortunately, last year’s incident with the youths entering a campus party
revived the issue.

In response to this, Dean Tedd Goundie asserts that the overall system is
healthy despite criticism to the contrary. Goundie disagrees with the
characterization of last year’s PA system as a failure and ascribes the
mishaps to a few bad apples. “The majority of students who served as PA’s,
paid or not, attended to their duties responsibly,” Goundie said.
Nevertheless, he acknowledges that “there may have been a couple of
instances where students who were required to be PA’s did not take it
seriously.”

Although there is nothing revolutionary about the PA system this year,
there are several factors that point to it being more of a success. First,
a large number of students have been attracted to the PA program this
year–Goundie estimates 25 new people are joining the ranks of the existing
PA’s. Student Activities Coordinator Jenny Yim estimated that about 30-40
PA’s would be employed on campus this semester. Administrators hope this
will go a long way in remedying one of the weaknesses of past years: lack
of ready, willing, and able people available to ensure that the PA’s could
perform their duties successfully.

Nick Menard ’06 believes there may also be an intangible but important
factor strengthening the PA program this year. “The PA’s are taking things
very seriously,” Menard said. “More on the side of being overzealous than
lax.”

This was demonstrated at a party last Saturday, where there was
insufficient food present to begin serving beer. Rather than letting this
infraction slide, the attending PA’s ensured that not a drop of beer was
consumed before an ample supply of snack foods arrived.

Goundie emphasized the difficult responsibility of PA’s to walk the line
between allowing students to have fun and seeing that the law is
satisfied–for everyone’s sake. “Students need to understand that PA’s are
there for a reason and should not give them a hard time,” he said. “It is
not a hardship to carry ID.”

Yim echoed this sentiment: “The program is only as good as the students who
work it.”  And with increased numbers of students apparently willing to
serve as PA’s and the greater emphasis on “taking things seriously,” there
is every reason to think that this year’s parties will go without a hitch.

*****

by Evelyn Khoo
Living & Arts Editor

Swat’s gearing up for the stress of midterm week next week, so of course we
have to have a weekend full of parties and events to prepare us for the
grueling time ahead.

On Friday, relax those tense brain cells by heading down to Olde Club for
the Multi party from 10:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. But before that, release all the
pent-up frustration over that impossible philosophy paper or econ midterm
by taking part in SWIL’s annual Pterodactyl Hunt, starting at 7:30 p.m. on
the Sharples patio. Wield those foam bats!

Take it easy on Saturday night with the WRC coffeehouse at 7:30 p.m., where
the artwork displays and student performances may help soothe your senses.
Later on, head over to Olde Club to see Non-Neck Blues, Tanakh, and
Skeleton Key perform at 9:00 p.m.

On Sunday, get your mind off the coming week by heading out to Marple to
catch Anthony Hopkins as our favorite cannibal in Red Dragon, MGM’s prequel
to the Silence of the Lambs. Or, if you prefer less bloodthirsty fare, make
the trip downtown to mull over the first series of the Challenge Exhibition
at Fleisher Art Memorial Gallery (709-721 Catherine Street) featuring
artists Nancy Sarangoulis, MarkShetabi and Linda Yun, as they “explore the
psychology of space.”

*****

* The U.S. military reported on Thursday that they have been dropping
leaflets over Southern Iraq. The leaflet campaign is part of a
psychological attack to undermine the power of Saddam Hussain, and warns
the people that they should not attack U.S. warplanes. Furthermore, the
leaflets warn “they could be next.”

* A shooting spree occurred in Montgomery County, an affluent suburb of
Washington D.C., on Wednesday and Thursday. In the space of 15 hours, five
people were killed. The police believe the killings are connected, based on
the weapon used, though they have no leads as of yet to why they occurred.

* Shipping officials and dockworkers finally began negotiations on Thursday
about the five-day port shutdown on the West Coast. Affecting 29 ports and
162 ships in California, Oregon and Washington, the strike is costing the
U.S. economy $2 billion per day. Asia, usually a major importer of U.S.
goods from the West Coast, has felt the strain of the strike as well. The
main issues on the table are pensions and other benefits, and the union’s
control over any new jobs created by technology.

*****

Friday:

Shabbat services and dinner
Bond Memorial Hall, 5:30 p.m.

Feminist Majority Film & Discussion: “A League of Their Own”
Kirby Lecture Hall, 7:30 p.m.

Film: “Star Wars Episode II”
LPAC Cinema, 7:30 and 10:00 p.m.

Pterodactyl Hunt
Sharples Patio, 7:30 p.m.

International Club Movie
SCCS Lounge, 8:00 p.m.

Tempeste di Mare: “Concerti for the Dresden Hofkapelle”
Lang Concert Hall, 8:00 p.m.

Multi party
Olde Club, 10:00 p.m.

Saturday:

Dialogue: “What does it all mean? Labeling in the African Diaspora”
Black Cultural Center, 7:00 p.m.

WRC Coffeehouse
Women’s Resource Center, 7:30 p.m.

No-Neck Blues, Tanakh, Skeleton Key
Olde Club, 9:00 p.m.

Sunday:

Breakfast and Meeting for Worship
Friends Meeting House, 9:30 and 10:00 a.m.

Celebration of Mass
Bond Memorial Hall, 11:00 a.m.

Protestant Worship
Bond Common Worship Room, 4:00 p.m.

Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East Discussion
Scheuer Room, 7:00 p.m.

Orchestra 2001: “From Mahler to Crumb”
James Freeman, conductor
Lang Concert Hall, 7:30 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Saturday:
Cross country at Dickinson Invitational, 11:00 a.m.
Volleyball at Muhlenberg w/Johns Hopkins, 11:00 a.m.
Women’s tennis at Kutztown, 11:00 a.m.
Field hockey at Dickinson, 12:00 p.m.
Men’s soccer at Dickinson, 12:00 p.m.
Women’s soccer at Washington, 12:00 p.m.
Men’s tennis at ITA Regional at Salisbury, MD

Sunday:
Men’s Tennis at ITA Regional at Salisbury, MD

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I have the heart of a child. I keep it in a jar on my shelf.”
–Robert Bloch

*****
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