Wednesday, October 9, 2002

by Megan Mills
Gazette News Reporter

Amidst enthusiasm both from the audience and the author herself, Sandra
Cisneros spoke at Bryn Mawr College about her new novel and her
inspirations at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday night.

After a florid introduction by the head of the creative writing department
at Bryn Mawr, Cisneros commented on the shock most people find upon meeting
her. “I know what you’re thinking; she sounds like a little girl. But in my
head, I sound like Lauren Bacall.” A small woman with bifocals, long dark
hair, and a large tattoo on her left arm, the author of the critically
acclaimed “The House on Mango Street,” “Loose Woman,” “My Wicked, Wicked
Ways,” and “Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories” appeared in front of a
full auditorium to read excerpts from her new novel, “Caramelo.”

To begin, Cisneros put to rest the idea that “The House on Mango Street” is
biographical in content. At the time she started writing the collection,
she was 22 years old and in graduate school. The stories and characters
stem mostly from her work with high school drop-outs and their stories.
Now, at 48, she has completed nine years of work on this full length novel.

Cisneros started with a chapter entitled “Chiante,” one that particularly
exposed her talent for dialogue and character. She continued with “Que
Elegante,” a brilliant descriptive piece, and “When I Was Dirt,” in which
the narrative voice changed from one of innocence to one of experience. The
author as a whole was extremely energetic and animated, at one point even
bursting into an old Mexican song, aided by some members of the audience.
She switched from English to Spanish to accented Spanglish at the drop of a
hat, never losing her rhythm. In the final chapter she read, “Cuidate,” the
subject matter delved deeper into adult territory and also delved into a
more serious commentary of growing up and femininity in a masculine society.

In the middle of the performance, Cisneros stopped to show the audience her
shawl, a particular Mexican type called a rebozo. This rebozo had a certain
intricate pattern and so was called a “caramelo.”

After the reading Cisneros took questions from the audience. In response to
one about the act of writing a full length novel, she described her process
as seeing “a foggy horizon and hoping you don’t fall off the end of the
universe.” When asked the difference between her poetry and fiction, she
explained that through fiction one can “change the way that people look at
the world” while her poetry had always been something more personal, a form
in which she could be politically incorrect. This line of discussion
resulted in an impromptu reading of her poem “Loose Woman,” met with
rousing response from the audience.

———-
On October 22 at 7:30 p.m., Umberto Eco will speak at Bryn Mawr College in
another installment of this same writers series.

*****

by Jeremy Schifeling
Co-Managing Editor

The Student Council voted 9-1 Monday night in favor of a plan that would
give students the ability to schedule their own final exams.

After debating the merits of allowing students to take exams at a time and
place of their choosing last week, the Council green-lighted a revised
system on Monday that would still let Swatties pick exam dates, but confine
their test-taking to proctored rooms.

Having already obtained the approval of Registrar Martin Warner, the
Council will now take its plan, along with similar academic initiatives
regarding the protection of reading week and increased flexibility with
Credit/No-Credit grading, to Provost Connie Hungerford.

As Co-President Ryan Budish ’04 notes, however, the “plan is a long, long
way from being implemented.”

“The power to implement any changes to the exam schedule lies with the
Provost, the faculty, and the appropriate college committees,” said Budish.
“Our goal is to express to these groups that this is something that
students support, and hopefully that can begin a dialogue that will bring
us closer to a better exam schedule for students.”

Nevertheless, Budish is confident that such a change would have dramatic
benefits for both students and faculty, including easier travel planning
for the former, a steadier stream of exams to grade for the latter, and
fewer exam-time conflicts for both.

“We know making major changes to the final exam system won’t be easy, but I
think this is one of those issues that is worth the effort to see if we can
make the system better,” said Budish.

*****

The annual DU blood drive is being held today in Upper Tarble, and there
are still openings for students, faculty and staff interested in donating
blood. Faculty and staff will be donating blood from 7:30 a.m. to 12:45
p.m. and students will be donating blood from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. There are
only a few minimal eligibility requirements, and donating itself is a
breeze. Interested students should drop by with questions or to arrange a
time to donate.

*****

* Two U.S. marines were fired on by Kuwaiti nationals on Tuesday. The
marines were taking part of an urban warfare exercise and had no way to
defend themselves. One of the marines was killed, while the other was
wounded and is expected to recover. The assailants were chased down and
shot immediately after the attack. Meanwhile, Kuwaiti officials are calling
it an act of terrorism, and have so far arrested 27 people with potential
ties to the assailants.

* The hunt for the Washington DC area sniper is still on. The attacker has
killed six and wounded two in the space of a few days. Police are having
trouble identifying possible suspects. The last attack took place on Monday
and targeted a thirteen year old when he was standing outside of an area
middle school. The boy is alive but in critical condition, and area schools
have suspended all outdoor activities for the time being.

* Scientists announced on Tuesday that telescopes aided them to see a
miniplanet at the very edge of the solar system. The last planet found was
Pluto, in 1930. Consisting of a ball of ice and rock about 800 miles in
diameter, the miniplanet is located about four billion miles from Earth in
a region known as the Kuiper Belt.

*****

DU Blood Drive
Upper Tarble, 7:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m., 1:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

French Film Festival
Kohlberg 328, 7:00 p.m.

Career Services: M&T Bank presentation
Bond Memorial Hall, 7:00 p.m.

Russian Folk Singing
Kohlberg 228, 7:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

The Garnet Tide soundly defeated Lancaster Bible 5-0 on Tuesday afternoon.
The team now has improved to a 5-7-1 record. Kirk Ellison ’05 and Anteneh
Tesfaye ’03 both scored a goal, and Nicholas Graham ’06 had an impressive
hat-trick and assist. This game marks the first time the Swarthmore men’s
soccer team scored 5 goals since 1994.

*****

Today:
Women’s soccer vs. Ursinus, 4:30 p.m.
Volleyball vs. F&M, 7:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Field hockey at West Chester (Scrimmage), 4:00 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it.”
–Garrison Keillor

*****
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