Friday, March 21, 2003

by Roxanne Yaghoubi
Gazette Reporter

After the start of bombing Wednesday night, Swarthmore students decided to
set into motion plans for nonviolent direct action. Nationwide organizers
had long been planning for the day after the war started, or “Day X”, to be
a day of protest and Swarthmore decided to join the movement.  Coordinated
by Why-War and SPAC, the day involved both on and off campus protests.

On campus, unknown students hoisted a black flag to the top of Parrish Hall
sometime late Wednesday or early Thursday. The black flag, replacing the
American flag that usually flies there, was symbolic of the anger those
students felt toward the government’s actions in Iraq. However, the flag
only stayed up for a short while. By the start of classes Thursday morning,
the American flag was back up.

Also at Parrish, a candlelight vigil was held Thursday evening from 7-8.
About forty students stood on Parrish Porch, shielding their candles from
the fierce rain and wind. The group mostly stood in silence, though several
songs were sung and in the tradition of Quaker meeting, people could speak
up when they felt the need to.

Off campus, a group of students went to Philadelphia to take part in larger
actions organized by local groups. Throughout the day actions and protests
occurred side by side. Protests are defined by things that are permitted
and are not likely to lead to arrests. Non violent direct actions where
arrest may occur are not permitted. One Swarthmore student, Matthew
Armstrong ’05, was arrested and detained. However by early evening he had
returned safely to the college. Micah White ’04 was also arrested, but not
detained, in a separate action on Baltimore Pike the day before.

Many of these protests and actions took place in front of the federal
building and city hall, managing to shut down the federal building for much
of the day. Though there were events at both 7:30 am and noon, the main
part of the day was in the afternoon, which an estimated 500 people attended.

*****

by Evelyn Khoo
Gazette Living/Arts Editor

During their first meeting after spring break held on Tuesday night, the
student council made progress on some old issues, continued work on others
and worked on new issues that have come up for the rest of the spring semester.

Melinda Lee ’04 informed the Council that the Council for Educational
Policy has submitted a proposal seeking to review the college’s credit/no
credit policy. The situation currently is that students who opt for CR/NC
will only be allowed to switch it back to a grade nine weeks into the
semester. The proposal seeks to grant students the option to switch it to a
grade two weeks into the semester after the class was taken.

Jon Fombonne ’05, Emiliano Rodriguez ’05 and Joe Dickerson ’04 are
continuing to work on pushing for more financial support for club sports
from the Athletics Department, since, they argue, student demand for club
sports has increased and the costs of club sports have gone up.

Some of the new issues that the Council will be working on include
activities that the it will be organizing later in the semester. A
suggestion was put forth that Movie Night should be held in the
amphitheater this semester instead of on Parrish Beach due to complaints of
obscured vision.

The Council also considered putting their minutes and other relevant
information into folders on the network, which will improve communication
between current council members as well as providing a resource for future
council members.

They also considered the option of pushing the faculty to put their office
hours and syllabi online, to help students communicate better with
professors and aid them in their class search during add/drop periods.

Finally, the council also discussed the exceptionally high tuition raise
for next semester. According to Ryan Budish ’04, student council
co-president, although the council will probably not seek to change the
raise, it will definitely inquire into the way the process seemed to ignore
student input. Explained Budish: “The students on the College Budget
Committee agreed on 3.3% but somewhere between the CBC and the proposal
that was finally sent to the Board of Managers, it was changed to 4% then
4.5%. We want to try and get the process clarified.”

*****

by Charlie Buffie (Point) and Jeremy Schifeling (Counterpoint)

POINT

I love it when the Hollywood takes risks. For example, when Dreamworks
produces a Spielberg movie starring Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio about a
lovable conman antihero (DiCaprio) cavorting across the US pretending to be
a doctor, lawyer, and airline pilot with his serious-but-quirky FBI agent
adversary (Hanks) in hot pursuit, playing a lighthearted game of cat and
mouse roughly based on a true story. All of this, wrapped up in a nice
little PG-13 bow just in time for a Christmas release.

Ok, so maybe it’s not exactly the most unsafe bet.

Regardless of it’s inability to provoke any kind of deep thought (and
pondering what the hell Leonardo DiCaprio’s been doing since ‘Titanic’
doesn’t count), ‘Catch Me If You Can’ is still a very enjoyable movie.

I mean, just because it’s completely engineered to be a mass-market
crowd-pleaser doesn’t mean that it’s not a…er…crowd-pleaser. See how
this works?

Granted, if ‘Catch Me If You Can’ was a sandwich, it would be plain ol’
peanut butter and jelly. On white Wonderbread. Actually, maybe just peanut
butter. But despite its culinary shortcomings, a PBJ can be quite
satisfying. Especially with a glass of milk. However, in the end this
PBJ-like pleasure is short-lived, superficial, and easily forgotten five
minutes after you experience it.

So is it possible to enjoy “Catch Me” and not end up feeling like a total
tool? Yeah, but you’ll still be a tool. But don’t feel bad – just because
PBJ is generic doesn’t mean you are. Or maybe you are what you eat.
Whatever. Either way, ‘Catch Me If You Can’ isn’t a sandwich – it’s a
lighthearted, fun-filled romp of a movie. So go see it if you want to.
Maybe. Just bring a glass of milk to make things interesting.

COUNTERPOINT

It could have been worse. That’s my feeling about Leonardo DiCaprio’s
latest film “Catch Me If You Can,” as well as his career in general.

A lot worse, in fact.

Imagine if, instead of pretending to be an airline pilot, he had pretended
to be a penniless artist. And instead of flying around the country cashing
fake checks, he drew pictures of rich women and their diamonds. Yeah, that
would have sucked.

But, it definitely could have been better.

Like, what if they gave Leo a laser? And if Tom Hanks’ character had been
played by a giant monkey? And how cool would it have been if killer robots
had emerged from a time portal and made Christopher Walken their unholy
killer robot god? Yeah, that would have been cool.

So, I guess what I’m saying is that maybe you should see “Catch Me If You
Can” this weekend. After all, it’s not that bad. But then again, it’s not
that good either. And there are no killer robots….

*****

by Sanggee Kim
Gazette News Reporter

Spring is finally here! Bust out those flip-flops and shorts, and enjoy
that beautiful sun. This weekend spend some quality time de-stressing and
catching up on your work. But if you feel yourself getting sunburn on
Parrish beach, here are some activities to help cool off in the night.

Friday night, head over to LPAC with that girlfriend, or if you don’t have
one, go find a girl, and watch Catch Me If You Can. Despite what the other
Daily Gazette writers have written about it. I found it to be fun and
intriguing movie, and would definitely see it again. I think I mostly found
it interesting in the fact that it was based on a real man’s life, rather
than the acting, which was decent at best. Playing at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Saturday, we know you all love Sixteen Feet and their snazzy tunes. The
boys will be hosting their Spring Toe Jam at the Friends Meetinghouse at 8
pm. They’ll be singing your favorite pieces and showing off some new
melodies. Also, there will be performances by Stanford’s Fleet Street
Singers, Hopkins’ Mental Notes, and Swarthmore’s Sticks and Stones.

Later that night, the Sexual Health Counselors are hosting their annual
party with this year’s theme on Body Art. So grab some markers and
reminisce about those elementary school days, or maybe not. Regardless, the
SHCs will be serving yummy “orgasmic food” as well as distributing condoms
to help promote safe sex. So head down to Paces at 10 PM and get your freak
on until 2AM, as Chris said in his weekly SAC email.

Sunday, get some city action and go see Marcel Marceau at the Kimmel Center
at 2:30 pm. Celebrating his 80th birthday, he comes to Philadelphia on his
Farewell Tour. Marceau is universally acknowledged as the world’s greatest
mime, and brings to life imaginary stories with his stunningly animated
expressions.

*****

* A U.S. Marine helicopter crashed in Kuwait yesterday, killing 12 American
and four British soldiers, the first casualties reported among the
U.S.-allied forces. The crash, which occurred about 10 miles south of the
Iraqi border, is currently under investigation, but officials are reporting
no indication that the helicopter was hit by hostile fire. Meanwhile, as
American forces continued to move across southern Iraq toward Baghdad,
press correspondents are reporting large blazes on oilfields in the region.
It is still unclear whether the fires are the result of military action. As
anti-war protests continue to escalate in the U.S., with over 1,000
civilians being arrested yesterday in San Francisco, the government has
expelled three Iraqi diplomats and is asking other nations to do the same.

* Twenty-two people were hacked to death in Uganda yesterday, one day after
leaders from the warring tribes signed a cease-fire agreement. The
agreement called for Ugandan troops, which have crossed the Congolese
border to try to stop tribal violence and root out rebels, to withdraw at
the end of April, but officials have said that the troops will remain for
as long as necessary. Their continued presence in the area has raised
tensions with neighboring Rwanda, and over the past six months, hundreds of
civilians have been killed as the local tribes continue to fight over the
territory.

* Yesterday, Texas executed its 300th inmate since the U.S. Supreme Court
lifted the nationwide death penalty ban in 1976. Keith Clay was executed by
lethal injection for the 1994 murder and robbery of a gas station cashier
outside of Houston. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay to
Delma Banks ten minutes before his scheduled execution, on the grounds that
Banks, a black man accused of killing a white teenager, was subject to
racism, poor legal defense, and alleged prosecutorial misconduct. To date
Texas has executed the most prisoners of any other state in the country,
and has already executed 11 people this year.

*****

Friday:

Science, Values and Society conference in honor of Hugh Lacey
“Values and Social Science” by Elizabeth Anderson, University of Michigan
“The Social Role of the University” by Rodolfo Cardenal, University of
Central America
Scheuer Room – Kohlberg, 2:00 p.m.

Opening reception: “Sculpting Narratives: Recent Work”
An exhibition by Emily Almberg
Kaori Kitao Gallery, 4:00 p.m.

Biology honors poster session
Martin Biological Laboratories Main Foyer, 4:00 p.m.

Shabbat services and dinner
Memorial Hall – Bond, 5:30 p.m.

Movie: Catch Me If You Can
Kirby – Martin, 7:30 & 10:00 p.m.

Grapevine CD preordering party
Parrish Parlors, 8:00 p.m.

Movie: The Color of Paradise
Sponsored by the International Club
SCCS Lounge, 8:00 p.m.

Performance: Ian Thomas and David L. K. Murphy
Olde Club, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday:

West African drumming and dance workshop
Troy Dance Lab, 12:00 p.m.

Science, Values and Society conference in honor of Hugh Lacey
“The Political Economy of Agricultural Research” by Richard Lewontin,
Harvard University
“Values and Natural Science” by Ernan McMullin, Notre Dame University
“Science and Values of Popular Movements” by Marcos Barbosa de Oliveira,
University of Sao Paolo
LPAC, 1:00 p.m.

DJ Rekha lecture and Q & A
Sponsored by DESHI
Scheuer Room – Kohlberg, 5:00 p.m.

Movie: Catch Me If You Can
LPAC Cinema, 7:30 & 10:00 p.m.

Jazz performance by the Ken Schaphorst Trio
Lang Concert Hall, 8:00 p.m.

Spring Toe Jam featuring Sixteen Feet
Friends Meeting House, 8:00 p.m.

Body Art Party
Sponsored by the Sexual Health Counselors
Paces, 10:00 p.m.

DJ Rekha performance and party
Olde Club and WRC, 10:00 p.m.

St. Patty’s Party
Sponsored by DU
DU Lodge, 10:00 p.m.

Sunday:

Sunday Mass
Memorial Hall – Bond, 11:00 a.m.

Faulty Towers showing
Sponsored by SWIL
Trotter 203, 3:30 p.m.

Young Friends meeting for worship
Common Worship Room – Bond, 5:00 p.m.

Study with a SAM
Trotter 302 and 201, 7:00 p.m.

Mozart’s “Magic Flute”
Lang Music Building Lobby, 8:00 p.m.

The softball game scheduled against Neumann on Thursday was cancelled due
to rain.

*****

Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Saturday
Women’s lacrosse hosts Seven Sisters Tournament, 9:00 a.m.
Track & field at Ursinus, 10:30 a.m.
Men’s rugby at Ursinus, 1:00 p.m.
Women’s tennis hosts Gettysburg, 1:00 p.m.

Sunday
Women’s lacrosse hosts Seven Sisters Tournament, 9:00 a.m.
Men’s lacrosse at DeSales, 1:00 p.m.
Softball at DeSales, 1:00 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I’ve done the calculation and your chances of winning the lottery are
identical whether you play or not.”
–Fran Lebowitz

*****
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