Tuesday, January 21, 2003

by Greg Leiserson
Gazette Reporter

“Some students just feel that they are entitled to take what they want
without paying or looking at the financial consequences,” says Dining
Services Coordinator Linda McDougall on the issue of theft from Sharples
and Essie Mae’s.

While all students agree that food and dishes are stolen from Sharples on a
regular basis, opinions vary as to whether it is actually a serious problem
or not. However, McDougall estimates that replacing stolen dishes,
silverware and trays costs Dining Services about $12,000 every year and
that the food stolen from Sharples and Essie Mae’s combines to cost a few
thousand more. McDougall lists lunchmeat, tea bags, paper products, cereal,
loaves of bread and fruit as problem areas.

An informal survey revealed that the most prevalent form of theft by
students is either short or long-term “borrowing” of dishes. Said one Mertz
freshman, “I steal more because I’m too lazy to wash [the dishes] I already
have.”

Students also mentioned having stolen large quantities of dishes for study
breaks, but having returned them soon after. It is also the widespread
belief among students that, while they frequently hide food and dishes in
backpacks when leaving Sharples, they could also simply carry the dishes
out in plain sight, and the checkers would not care.

While McDougall wants to remind students that Dining Services’ policy is
that students may not take food with them after leaving Sharples, many
students also feel that the specific ways in which they practice theft made
it a fair activity. One ML student remarked that he had stopped going to
dinner at Sharples regularly and just picked up food for dinner at lunch
that he took back to his room with him. Students on the 17 or 20 meal plan
who do not eat their full allotment of meals in a given week suggested that
it was not unreasonable for them to take a few extra pieces of food with them.

Despite students’ attempts to rationalize the legitimacy of their thefts,
in a time where the college is looking to cut costs and has set its sights
on Dining Services already, it would not be surprising to see some sort of
action taken to curb theft in the future.

*****

As announced during finals period last December, Nancy Burkett has been
named the new Director of Career Services.

A history and political science major from the University of Tennessee,
with a masters degree in history, Ms. Burkett worked for ten years in
Career Services at William and Mary. She was appointed Associate Director,
but eventually transferred to Wagner College and became Director of Career
Services there.

In an email to the Swarthmore community, Dean Bob Gross said, “The Search
Committee was impressed with Nancy’s enthusiasm and obvious interpersonal
skills, and her understanding of the role Career Services can play in a
liberal arts college. We also appreciated her experience with all
constituencies: students, of course, but also in developing new employer
relationships, reaching out to alumni, and establishing connections with
faculty.”

Ms. Burkett will begin her duties at Swarthmore on February 1.

*****

* Street clashes between police and protesters led to gunfire on both sides
that killed one person and wounded 33 others in Venezuela yesterday. Two
other people were injured by rocks hurled in the riots, which were sparked
when supporters of the leftist president Hugo Chavez attacked opponents
marching in protest of Chavez in Charallave, a city about 30 miles south of
Caracas. Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter is in Venezuela, urging peace
talks and meeting with Chavez and the opposition.

* Seven skiers are dead and another confirmed injured after an avalanche
buried their 20-person skiing party on Durrand Glacier in the Canadian
Rocky Mountains. Selkirk Mountain Experience, the company operating the
tour, declined to release the names and hometowns of the victims until
their families could be notified, but most of the dead skiers are believed
to be Americans. Details on the conditions of the 13 surviving skiers were
also unavailable, although reports said that several had been hospitalized
and transferred to larger towns. The cause of the avalanche is unknown.

* Coretta Scott King, the widow of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.,
spoke out yesterday against the looming U.S. war with Iraq, urging the Bush
administration to follow Dr. King’s peaceful and nonviolent practices in
dealing with Iraq. “We commemorate Martin Luther King as a great champion
of peace, who warned us that war is a poor chisel for carving out peaceful
tomorrows,” Mrs. King said at the memorial service held at Ebenezer Baptist
Church in Atlanta. “May his challenge and his example guide and inspire us
to seek peaceful alternatives to a war with Iraq and military conflict in
the Middle East.”

*****

“The Urban Space of Edo in East Asian Context”
Professor Tetsuo Tamai, Department of Design and Architecture, Chiba University
Scheuer Room, 4:00 p.m.

German Film Series
Kohlberg 328, 7:00 p.m.

Vagina Monologues rehearsal
Trotter 215, 7:00 p.m.

Scottish Country Dance class
Swarthmore Community Center, 7:30 p.m.

Tango dance lessons
Upper Tarble, 9:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

Despite a 20-point game from David Pearce ’03, the Garnet fell to Moravian
76-67 in overtime last night. The Garnet are now 6-9 on the season.

Opening with a 10-0 run, Swat held Moravian scoreless for the first 5:30 of
the game, but the Greyhounds fought back to within three at the half. The
second half was much closer, with the teams swapping leads nine times and
tying the score seven times. Moravian led 54-53 with 1:27 remaining when
Chris Loeffler ’04 scored and added two free throws to give the Garnet the
lead, 57-54. The teams traded baskets and fouls to push the score to 59-56
in favor of Swat with 3.1 seconds left on the clock, but Moravian’s Lucas
Malishchak took the inbounds from a Blair Haxel ’05 free throw and nailed a
3-pointer at the buzzer from 24 feet out to send the game into overtime.

In the extra period, the Garnet were outscored 17-8 as the Greyhounds hit
8-of-9 free throw attempts, including seven in a row in the last 48 seconds
to seal the victory.

Matt Gustafson ’05 finished the game with 18 points and five rebounds,
while Loeffler posted nine points. Pearce needs just six more points to
reach 1,000 points in his Swat career. He will get his next chance when the
team travels to Ursinus on Wednesday for a Centennial Conference game.

*****

Today:
Women’s basketball hosts Ursinus, 7:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Men’s basketball at Ursinus, 7:30 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Eggs are just cheese that comes from chickens.”
–Scott Adams

*****
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