Monday, January 27, 2003

by Josh Hausman
Gazette Weatherman

Summary:  Today will leave no one in doubt that it is still winter, but
after Wednesday, Swarthmore will receive a respite from the cold weather of
the past couple weeks. Highs today will be only around 20, but will warm to
around 30 on Tuesday and will be around 40 for the rest of the week. Lows
tonight may well dip into the single digits, but will warm into 20’s for the
rest of the week, and perhaps even into the 30’s by next weekend. Some snow
is possible Tuesday night, with some rain possible next weekend.

by Pei Pei Liu
Co-Managing Editor

A worm known as “SQL Slammer” did just that on Saturday, shutting down the
Internet from approximately 12:30 a.m. until about 5:00 p.m. on the
Swarthmore campus but also affecting worldwide Internet traffic.

According to ITS’ Mark Dumic in a reserved-students email released to the
college community, “The worm infected a server on campus running Microsoft
SQL Server 2000 at 12:34 AM. This server proceeded to attempt to infect the
rest of the Internet producing a volume of Internet traffic that
effectively overwhelmed everything else.”

“The server has been removed from the network,” Dumic wrote, “until we can
get in touch with the owner and arrange for the system to be disinfected.”

According to the Associated Press, several thousand ATM machines were
disrupted and networks across Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America
were swamped by the self-copying program, which targets a weakness in
Microsoft’s SQL Server 2000 database software to shut down powerful
servers. Technology experts called it the worst attack on the Internet
since the Code Red worm struck in the summer of 2001, and warned that more
destructive version of the worm could soon appear and wreak havoc on global
systems.

The origin of the attack is still unknown. Some experts believe the worm
may have originated in the U.S., while others suspect Asia. The FBI is
currently investigating.

Though the worst of the problems seem to have been resolved by Saturday
afternoon, experts are expecting additional disruption today as businesses
log back on.

*****

* The UN security council is expected to receive the 60-day progress report
from the Iraq tomorrow. Hans Blix, the Chief UN weapons inspector, and
Mohamed El Baradei, of the International Atomic Energy Agency, will report
on whether Iraq has complied with UN Resolution 1441. Colin Powell,
speaking before the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, told world
leaders that armed conflict may in fact be necessary.

* Twelve Palestinians were killed as Israeli forces thrust into Gaza City
yesterday, their deepest incursion in two years. Armored vehicles and
helicopters attacked from three sides, closing in on a stronghold of the
militant group Hamas. Approximately 40,000 Palestinians later gathered to
march at a mass funeral for the victims, vowing revenge on Israel.

* Superbowl 2003 was won decisively on Sunday by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
With a score of 48-21, the Buccaneers used a strong defense and a new coach
to help them capture the title over the Oakland Raiders. It was the first
Superbowl victory ever for the Buccaneers.

*****

Wellness events
Scheuer Room, 12:00 p.m.

Swarthmore Weight Watchers meeting
Parrish Parlors, 12:00 p.m.

Women in Science dinner
Sharples Room 4, 6:00 p.m.

Swing Dance lesson
Upper Tarble, 9:30 p.m.

SWIL Movie Night: “Planet of the Apes”
Kirby Lecture Hall, 10:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

by Saurav Dhital
Gazette Reporter

After dropping their last home game against Moravian in OT, the Garnet
battled their nerves to win their Centennial Conference game against
Muhlenberg (6-9, 0-5). They won 83-79 to climb to 7-10 overall and 3-2 in
the CC.

Matt Gustafson ’05 led all scorers with 30 points in a 12-21 shooting. Jim
Dalton ’06 had his career high 19 points in a 7-9 night. David Pearce ’03
had 10 points including a game-winning lay-up with 00:6 remaining in the
overtime. Toomey Anderson had 26 and Aaron Holden had 24 for Muhlenberg.

Muhlenberg sank two free throws with 11 seconds remaining to tie the game
at 68-68. The Tide missed their last attempt, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, Dalton drained a three to give the Garnet the advantage.
Anderson countered with two free throws to cut the lead to one. Like in the
regular time, the lead kept switching hands, but Holden scored a two with
less than a minute to go to put the Mules on top 78-77. Pearce then
converted two free throws with 37 seconds left. In the next play, Anderson
was fouled. He missed the first but made the second free throw. But that
was the last basket for the Mules as Pearce took over to give the Garnet
their first victory over the Mules since the 1996-1997 season.

The Garnet next play Haverford on Wednesday.

*****

Katie Robinson ’04 led all scorers with 23 points, including the 1,000th of
her career, but the Garnet’s late rally fell short in Allentown as the
Mules clipped them 55-53.

Down 35-19 at halftime, the Garnet fought back, with Robinson hitting
7-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the line, then scoring eight
consecutive points during a 10-0 run that brought the score to 54-53 with
under two minutes to play. But that would be all for Swat, as a Muhlenberg
free throw with 23 seconds remaining sealed the game.

Robinson is the fifth player in Swarthmore history to exceed the
1,000-point milestone.

The team is now 11-4 overall, 5-1 in the Centennial.

*****

As if winning three events weren’t enough, senior John Lillvis also set a
Ware Pool record in the 400 IM (4:20.33) en route to a 124-77 victory for
the men’s swimming team over Drew University. Lillvis swam on the winning
400 medley relay team with Kaena Horowitz ’06, Eric Shang ’04, and Seth
Jacobsen ’04, and the winning 200 freestyle relay team with Mike Dudley
’03, David Whitehead ’03, and Chris Bussard ’03. Sophomore Mike Auerbach
was a double winner, taking the 1000 freestyle and the 100 freestyle.

The women’s team was also victorious, led by sophomore double-winner
Kathryn Stauffer and six individual winners. Stauffer won the 50 freestyle
and swam on the winning 400 medley relay team with Christine Tomm ’05, Erin
Dwyer-Frazier ’05, and Patricia Funk ’06. Mae Tobin-Hochstadt ’06 captured
the 1000 free; Katherine Reid ’05, the 200 free; Tara Trout ’04, the 400
IM; Davita Burkhead-Weiner ’03, the 100 free; and Laura Fox ’03, the 200
breaststroke.

*****

Sophomore Jessica Zagory cleared 4’10” to claim the women’s high jump at
the Haverford Invitational on Sunday. Other results were not available at
the time of publication.

*****

The men’s tennis team lost to the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday,
6-1. Individual stats were not available at the time of publication.

*****

Today:
Women’s basketball at Eastern, 7:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
There are no contests scheduled for tomorrow.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We are, each of us, angels with only one wing; and we can only fly by
embracing one another.”
–Luciano de Crescenzo

*****
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