Wednesday, February 5, 2003

by Pei Pei Liu
Co-Managing Editor

There’s a new face in the back office at Parrish 140, and even though that
office is barely set up, Nancy Burkett took the time yesterday to chat with
the Gazette about her past experiences, her plans and goals for Swat, and
how she’s settling in.

With today just her third as Director of Career Services, Burkett says
she’s still in a transition phase, gathering information about Swat by
reading everything from “Small Craft Warnings” to the bulletin boards in
Parrish. “It’s a way to get insight into the college community,” she
explained. “I’m also hoping to talk one-on-one with more students in the
upcoming weeks. It’s a matter of making myself visible and talking to
people, both individuals and student groups, to get a sense of their needs
and how Career Services can help them.”

Burkett acknowledged that this is a tumultuous time to be starting her new
position, as students are busy with summer and long-term job applications,
but said that the Career Services staff has been an enormous asset in the
adjustment. “They’ve really given me a warm welcome and a great
introduction to Swarthmore,” she said.

Burkett’s agenda for the near future involves “understanding what the
office is doing now in terms of programs, services, and priorities, and
where the resources are going. That allows us to explore what students have
responded well to in the past, and what needs to be enhanced.”

One area that Burkett would particularly like to develop is alumni
relationships and networking. “I think alumni are really critical,” she
said, “especially at a small liberal arts college. They are key partners.
It’s one of the things I evaluate schools on when I’m looking at their
Career Services opportunities–I look to see if the school has a strong,
active alumni base. I’ve been so impressed with Swarthmore,” she added.
“There was a very evident interest among the alumni for who the new
director of Career Services was going to be.”

“I feel that students can really connect with alumni, and how alums’
Swarthmore experience has influenced or translated into their work
experience outside of Swarthmore. There’s an authenticity to their remarks
that students respond to. Right now I’m working on understanding how this
relationship is working now, and then I’d like to look at ways to enhance
opportunities between alumni and students.”

 From her previous positions at The College of William & Mary and Wagner
College, Burkett has plenty of experience facilitating communication
between alumni and current students. At William & Mary, she helped develop
an alumni-based externship program similar to Swat’s winter break
externship program. She also organized local internships within the
community, such as assisting physicians in the local clinic or
participating in demonstrations at colonial Williamsburg, to foster a link
between the community and the College.

Wagner College was similar to Swarthmore in terms of its size, and there
Burkett focused specifically on programs to meet the needs of students at a
small school. Such programs included alumni dinners with current students
and a consortium with other local colleges to attract interviewers who
might not typically recruit at small schools.

As for her plans for Swarthmore, Burkett would like to examine the
possibilities for a local internship program like the one at William &
Mary, building off of Swatties’ initiative for community service. She also
expressed interest in creating a Career Services support framework for
faculty advisors and establishing a relationship with Admissions and
prospective students. “The idea is to open up many different opportunities
for students to get involved with Career Services,” she said. “That’s what
makes my work fun and interesting, to learn about the individual students.”

But Burkett also took time to reflect on some of the challenges of working
in Career Services. “I think the biggest challenge is outreach, and getting
students involved early,” she said. “There’s a misconception that Career
Services is just for senior year, but it’s everything leading up to that,
too. A career search is a lifelong process, not something to be postponed
as long as possible.”

While Burkett acknowledged the importance of post-graduate internships and
experiences, she emphasized the importance of seizing opportunities before
graduation. “Even just coming in and talking to one of us about your major
can help bridge the gap between college and the ‘real world,'” she said.
“It can help dispel some of that anxiety. You know, it’s incredible that
some students can spend more time researching for a paper than they spend
researching for their life. Some of that is probably a procrastination
factor, but some of it is fear.”

Still, Burkett urges, a visit to Career Services “can be fun and enjoyable,
not a chore, and not something to be apprehensive about. This is about
finding fulfilling, lifelong work. It’s more than a job, it’s your life!”

by Sanggee Kim – Gazette Reporter
additional reporting by Christine Shin

An epidemic seems to have hit Swat. Groups of people with paper hats.
Students in Sharples with balloons. And best of all, happy Swatties talking
about the new Krispy Kreme down the Pike in the Target parking lot.

The first time I went to New York, my friend Mike raved about the wonders
of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and insisted that I get one while I was there.
Although I did buy one at Penn Station, I culdn’t see what all the fuss was
about, until I happened to drive by the new Springfield Krispy Kreme on
opening day last Friday. The line of cars for the drive-thru swiveled all
around the parking lot. A police officer was in place to direct traffic.
Although I was busy that day, I made a promise to myself to check this
place out.

So I went back with Mike. After walking through the makeshift tent to find
the entrance, we stepped into an aroma of sugar and dough. Standing in
line, I watched the creation of a Krispy Kreme Original Glazed doughnut. As
Mike stood drooling over the sight, an employee kindly asked if she could
help us, then handed each of us a doughnut. With that first bite, I finally
understood why people went crazy over Krispy Kremes.

The new store, which is the 274th in the nation and only the second in the
Philly area, will employ 130 workers and make at least 50,000 doughnuts a
day, in 24 varieties. The doughnuts are shaped, fried, and sent through a
waterfall of sugar before arriving warm into each customers’ hands. Krispy
Kreme has been making doughnuts since 1937.

According to a woman who lives just three blocks from the store, people
stood in lines all night waiting for Friday’s opening. The store promised
doughnuts every week for a year to the first customer in the store and the
first drive-thru customer, as well as other prizes for its first patrons.
Tim Folkomer, who teaches at a junior high in Yeadon, and his friend Eric
Brady spent over 27 hours in the car waiting and took home the grand
prizes, while other happy customers contented themselves with stomachs full
of gooey doughnuts.

Not everyone is thrilled by the new store: according to the local woman,
neighbors across the street have been complaining about the red light that
signales the production of the doughnuts.

Krispy Kreme is open Sunday through Thursday from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
and Friday and Saturday from 5:00 a.m. to midnight. The drive-thru is open
24 hours. So there’s no reason why you can’t spare a little time to sample
one of these delectable doughnuts. Every Swattie will rejoice to welcome
into their mouths the new business in town that works the same hours we do.

by Evelyn Khoo
Living/Arts Editor

Picture this: a roomful of tasteful, minimalist furniture, crisp paper
lanterns, clean white lights, tea bubbling in little pots and groups of
people lounging casually on an assortment of pillows around low black
tables engaging in soft conversation. No, this isn’t a Japanese restaurant
in Center City, but a place right here on the Swarthmore campus.

This is Qub, a café/lounge started by Akira Irie ’03, Wynn Xiao Wu ’04,
Christian Atanasiu ’05, Dan Yue ’05, and Joey Roth ’06, who are hoping to
add another option to the menu of weekend activities on campus.

Says Atanasiu, “If you don’t like to drink or don’t like smoky places,
there are limited options on the weekend at Swarthmore. What we hope to do
with Qub is provide another place for Swatties to hang out at on a Saturday
night.”

What they also hope to do is expand the list of food choices available.
Most of their menu will include Asian-style cooking (details were withheld,
but we did overhear mention of peanut noodles and made-to-order sushi),
done in a professional style.

Irie and Roth are Qub’s main chefs and will be doing most of the cooking.
Explains Atanasiu, “We’re really hoping that people will like our food and
come back for more. We’re thinking if we get really popular, we might even
do delivery and takeout!”

Jokes Yue, “Yeah, we’re thinking we might get a Qub golf cart, maybe
borrowing one from the school.”

Jokes aside, the group was eager to pay special tribute to Tedd Goundie,
for being one of the main proponents of Qub.

Says Atanasiu, “We gave him a rough proposal in August last year and he was
really excited about the idea and asked for a full proposal after
orientation. He really pushed for it and convinced the administration.
Through him we managed to get funding from the President’s Office.”

Yet, despite all the success in actual turning their idea into reality, the
group is still, at heart, Swatties, with tongues firmly in cheek and
liberal doses of self-deprecation. Atanasiu describes their name as
“trendy, monosyllabic, misspelled and with an accent.” Says Yue, “After all
this we sound like pretentious arseholes, but really, this is all just in
good fun.”

Qub is located in the Kaori Kitao art gallery, between Olde Club and the
frat houses. Qub will be opening on Valentine’s Day and will be open from
Thursday to Saturday, 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

*****

Between 10:30 p.m and 11:00 p.m on February 1st stereo equipment was stolen
from a car parked on Ogden Avenue. The value of the equipment is not known.
Office Maginnis is investigating.

*****

* Secretary of State Colin Powell is preparing to unveil a multimedia
presentation in front of the UN Security Council on Wednesday. The
presentation will outline the evidence supporting the US’s claim that Iraq
has been deceiving the weapons inspectors. After Powell speaks each member
of the UN Security Council will be allowed to present his country’s opinion
on the issue. Last to speak will be the Iraqi ambassador to the UN.

* Two architectural teams have been named as finalists in the competition
to design buildings to be placed on the site of the World Trade Center.
Both teams proposed plans that would make the buildings the tallest ones in
the world. A committee is expected to announce the winner of the
competition by the end of the month.

* The country of Yugoslavia was officially abolished by lawmakers on
Tuesday. Under a deal brokered by the European Union, the republics of
Serbia and Montenegro will continue to be allied in a loose confederation
with one capital but otherwise almost complete sovereignty for each. Serbia
and Montenegro were the last remaining of the six original republics that
once made up the country of Yugoslavia.

*****

Tuck School of Business Summer Bridge Program information session
Sponsored by Career Services
Bond, 12:30 p.m.

Physics & Astronomy Colloquium
“Temporal and Spatial Control of the Radiative Emission of a Molecule”
Jean-Francois Roch, Department de Physique, Ecole Normale Superieure de Cachan
Dupont 133, 4:15 p.m.

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

JP Morgan Application Delivery Program internship information session
Sponsored by Career Services
Bond, 7:00 p.m.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 screening
Sponsored by the Anomalous Picture Show
Trotter 203, 7:30 p.m.

Isha Prayers
Sponsored by the Muslim Student Association
Parrish 3rd classroom, 9:00 p.m.

Movie “Spectres of the Spectrum”
Sponsored by the Film Society
Kirby Lecture Hall Martin, 10:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

Surbhi Gupta ’04, Jessica Larson ’06 and Ay Jy Phoun ’04 all won their
singles matches yesterday leading the Garnet to their victory. Liz
Leininger ’04 and Sachi Uchimaru ’03 also defeated Jess Eisenhart and
Melanie Gries of Albright at first doubles. Gupta defeated Nicole Huber
11-9, 11-4, Larson defeated Teresha Miller 11-0, 13-2, and Phoun defeated
her opponent 13-12, 11-4. The second doubles team of Anjali Aggarwal ’06
and Wury Morris ’04 had to forfeit because of a shoulder injury suffered by
Aggarwal.

*****

Today:
Swimming at Ursinus, 6:00 p.m.
Women’s Basketball hosts Washington, 6:00 p.m.
Men’s Basketball hosts Washington, 8:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Badminton hosts Bryn Mawr, 7:30 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.”
–B.F. Skinner

*****
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