Monday, October 7, 2002

by Josh Hausman
Gazette Weatherman

by Alexis Reedy
News Editor

The Council of Educational Policy (CEP) is considering changing the Primary
Distribution Course (PDC) system in the coming year.

Currently, the PDC system is a set of requirements that students must
fulfill before they graduate. All the departments at Swarthmore are split
into three divisions, Natural Science and Engineering, Humanities, and
Social Sciences. Students are required to take two classes designated as
PDC’s in each division. They are also required to take a class outside of
this requirement in each division. Each department is required to offer at
least one PDC class. As originally conceived, to be designated as a PDC, a
course must be limited to 25 students, include a significant writing
component, be conscious of the modes of discovery in the discipline, and be
suitable for majors and non-majors alike. PDC’s were first instituted in
1985. Before PDC’s there were four divisions, and each student had to
fulfill a distribution requirement in which they took a few classes in each
division.

Martin Warner, Registrar, likes the basic premise of the program. “It puts
students into classes they didn’t have in high school and that’s not a bad
thing,” he said.

“PDC’s were introduced to make distribution requirements accomplish more of
what they should do,” added Constance Hungerford, Provost.

Right now, Hungerford said, “I think that many departments are having
problems with the criteria of a PDC and are departing from them, which can
exasperate students.” For example, some of the science classes have begun
to separate their PDC classes into classes for majors and classes for
non-majors. Other departments do not abide by the 25-student cap. In still
other departments, the writing component is not what was originally intended.

“For many people, they are getting bored with the PDC system. However, that
is not a valid reason to change the system. Historically, though, that’s
why things change, sometimes,” said Warner.

“Another potential flaw with the PDC system is that each department is
allowed to define what classes are PDC classes,” he added. “So each
department has their own idea of what a PDC is but it is not consistent
across the board.

“The problem that I see with the PDC system,” Warner continued, “is that
every now and then I will encounter a student that has placed out of so
many PDC’s, they should get a waiver but we can’t do that. I would like to
have a possible waiver on a case by case basis. However, there are so few
of these cases that it’s not indicative of problems with the PDC system
itself. I don’t think the system is so broken that it needs to be fixed.”

In fact, Warner said, “An attempt to get away from PDC’s will probably
create a new system that is overly and unnecessarily complicated.”

He added, “Bigger and better is often times not better, just bigger. I fear
what will come from changing the current system. We will have to spend a
lot of time trying to fix the new system to get it working and in the end,
we will probably find that it works about the same as the old system. It’s
just different. It may relieve the boredom, but that’s about it.”

“CEP is starting to discuss freshman year seminars for entering students,”
said Hungerford. “Part of this change may entail getting rid of PDC’s.”

For Warner, freshman seminars “may be so wonderful as to warrant clearing
out the PDC program.”

Hungerford hopes the first year seminars will be small, only 12 students,
so that students can fully engage in intellectual discussions. She also
would like to see a writing component included in the classes and hopes
they will engage freshmen with their own education early on.

The details of what the first year seminars will entail have not been
decided yet, however. So far, the CEP has only met three time this year.

Even if legislation is passed this year in CEP, first year seminars
probably will not come into their full existence for another couple of
years. At the moment, only the History, Physics, Chemistry, and
Sociology/Anthropology departments offer first year seminars.

*****

* Law enforcement authorities continued investigation over the weekend into
a shooting spree in the D.C. area at the end of last week. Six people have
been killed and one seriously wounded. Police say that five of the
shootings have been conclusively linked by the bullets recovered from the
attacks, but the bullets from the remaining two shootings were damaged too
severely for the results to be conclusive. Police are working along with
the FBI to develop geographic and psychological profiles of the killer or
killers. 4500 calls to a police hotline have yielded about 900 leads,
according to officials. Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose said
that there would be an increased police presence on Monday as children
returned to school.

* The French oil tanker Limburg suffered an explosion and subsequent fire
in the Yemeni city of al-Shaher Sunday afternoon. The fire was
extinguished, but workers are still concerned about the possibility that
the tanker will run aground and spill large amounts of oil on a reef about
a mile from the shore. French government officials are scheduled to arrive
on Tuesday, and in the meantime, investigators are moving slowly. Some
witnesses have stated that they saw a small boat approach the ship before
the explosion and have suggested that it was a terrorist attack, while
others believe that it may have been an explosion in electrical components
within the ship.

* Preliminary results from Brazil’s presidential election indicate that
Workers’ Party candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has emerged victorious
in the first round, but with less than 50% of the vote. If that is the
case, a runoff election will be held in two weeks. Lula has been defeated
in runoff elections in the past when he ran on a radical socialist
platform, but has increased his political support during this campaign by
moving his rhetoric towards the center. The possibility of his victory has
worried financial analysts in Brazil as well as on Wall Street, but Lula
has pledged to continue free market policies if elected. He has announced,
however, that certain markets will see increased regulation. Lula’s
possible victory is also a concern for the current U.S. administration
because of his support for Venezuelan President Chavez and Cuban President
Castro.

*****

Career Services: Law schools presentation
Bond Memorial Hall, 10:00 a.m.

Career Services: Bush School of Government and Public Service presentation
Bond Memorial Hall, 12:30 p.m.

Women in Science dinner
Sharples Room 4, 5:30 p.m.

Career Services: Educational Resources Group presentation
Kohlberg 334, 7:00 p.m.

Mirror of Truth discussion and talk
Scheuer Room, 7:00 p.m.

Career Services: Lexecon presentation
Bond Memorial Hall, 7:30 p.m.

Virtuoso performance of Chinese qin music
Upper Tarble, 7:30 p.m.

Good Schools PA meeting
Mephistos, 9:00 p.m.

Student Council meeting
CRC, 10:00 p.m.

SWIL Movie Night: “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”
Kirby Lecture Hall, 10:00 p.m.

———–
Upcoming events

by Megan Mills
Gazette News Reporter

At the Rutgers Tournament this past weekend, the women’s ultimate frisbee
team went 7-1 with stunning victories over Drew, NYU, Georgia Washington,
and Salisbury. The Warmothers shut out Haverford and Princeton and lost a
close game to Yale. During the two days of grueling contests, many rookies
rose to the occasion, including Cassie Barnum with countless layout
defensive blocks, Reshma Pattni with two point blocks and a conversion to
score, and Dana Variano with a backup layout score and an amazing gravity-
and foul-defying catch. Senior veterans Sara Stanton, Alyssa Bell, and
Ilana “Lani” Luft also performed excellently.

The men’s team also made a great showing at the tournament, ending with a
record of 4-2. They defeated Johns Hopkins, Princeton, University of
Delaware, and Drew, losing only to Rutgers and Wesleyan in the semifinals.
The Earthworms finished in third place. Rookie Brandt Rakowski “impressed
opposing teams with his spirited but vigorous defense,” said teammate
Andrew Gregory ’04.

*****

The Garnet pulled off an exciting come-from-behind victory 3-2 over
Washington this weekend. Ele Forbes ’05 scored the game-winner on a corner
kick from Katey McCaffrey ’04 with 1:59 remaining in the first overtime.

Though Washington jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half, Catherine
Salussolia ’04 made 11 saves in goal to keep the Garnet within striking
distance. Tanya Hahnel ’05 scored with 2:49 remaining in the half, and Val
Maulbeck ’06 scored her first career goal at the 76:49 mark to tie the game
and push it into overtime.

The team is now 7-6 overall, 3-3 in the Centennial Conference.

*****

Carrie Ritter ’06 ran the 4K course in 15:49.68 to place fourth and pace
the women’s cross country team to a second place finish at the Dickinson
College Short Course Invite this Saturday. Teammates Molly Maurer ’06 and
Njideka Akunyili ’04 placed 10th and 11th, respectively.

The men also performed well, taking third place overall. James Golden ’05
finished in 12:56.39 to place fifth, while Joe Makin ’04 covered the course
in 13:12.45 to place 15th. Adam Hunt ’06 rounded out the Garnet scoring,
placing 19th in 13:25.93.

*****

The Garnet recorded a resounding victory over Kutztown this weekend, with
singles players Anjani Reddy ’04, Caroline Celano ’04, Emily Townsend ’06,
Katherine Voll ’03, Sonia Vallabh ’06, and Sonali Shahi ’06 winning in
straight sets. The doubles teams of Reddy/Townsend, Voll/Celano, and Katie
Berry ’05/Jenna Adelberg ’06 were also victorious.

*****

The doubles team of Brian Park ’06 and Jason Yost ’03 reached the
quarterfinals of the ITA Atlantic South Regional in Salisbury, Maryland but
were defeated by the second seeded Mary Washington team, 8-6. Park/Yost had
defeated teams from Haverford and Carnegie Mellon before falling in the
quarterfinal match. The team of Justin Durand ’05 and Zach Rodd ’06 fell in
the first round of doubles play.

In singles, Rodd reached the playoff round of 32 by defeating Haverford’s
Randolph moon 6-1, 6-3, but fell to Washington’s Rafael Martins 1-6, 7-5,
6-1. Durand, Yost, and Park lost in the first round of their respective
singles matches. Park and Durand reached the second round of the
consolation singles bracket.

*****

Kate Nelson-Lee ’03 recorded 13 saves but had her scoreless streak ended
with a goal by Dickinson’s Caroline Gouin with 9:23 remaining in the second
overtime. Nelson-Lee had held opponents scoreless for 305 minutes, 37
seconds. Dickinson outshot the Garnet 29-4 in the game and 18-0 in overtime.

The team’s record is now 5-5 overall, 2-1 in the Centennial Conference.

*****

Cam MacDearmid ’03 scored his first goal of the season on a Brendan R.
Moriarty ’04 throw in, but it wasn’t enough as Dickinson defeated the
Garnet 3-1. The team is now 4-7-1 overall, 0-4 in the Centennial.
Swarthmore will next host Lancaster Bible on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.

*****

The Garnet lost its Centennial Conference openers over the weekend in
Allentown.

In the first match, Muhlenberg topped Swarthmore 30-23, 30-18, and 30-15.
Patrice Berry ’06 had six kills and 12 digs, while Emma Benn ’04 recorded
five kills and six digs. Benn added five kills and 10 digs in the nightcap,
but the Garnet fell to Johns Hopkins 30-11, 30-21, and 30-26. The team is
now 2-9 overall, 0-2 in the Centennial.

*****

Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Tomorrow:
Men’s soccer v. Lancaster Bible, 4:00 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Anything not worth doing is worth not doing well. Think about it.”
–Elias Schwartz

*****
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