Monday, September 29, 2003

by Josh Hausman
Gazette Weatherman

by Scott Blaha
Gazette Reporter

ITS has been trying to work out an issue causing public printers to work so
slowly last week. The problem came under control after ITS took steps to isolate
the print jobs that caused problems and delete them. According to Manager of
Academic Computing Eric Behrens, “The situation is already pretty stable.”
He suggested that any students still having problems seek help from Public Area
Consultants in McCabe or Beardsley.

ITS started looking into the problem two weeks ago, when it started to become
serious. Some PDFs were taking an extremely long time to print, causing every
print job behind them to back up like a traffic jam. ITS also observed some
students trying to print repeatedly after their original document did not print;
they have been actively deleting such additional print jobs.

The problem seems to have started around the beginning of the semester, after
the public Macs were upgraded to OS X. Behrens noted that “the problem
got critical last week.” Academic Computing Coordinator Douglas Willen
notified faculty last Tuesday by email, asking them to limit the size of their
documents. Students were notified by email two days later, and were asked to
be patient and seek help if they encountered a problem.

ITS has temporarily lessened the problem by removing Adobe Acrobat Reader
from public Macs, since Apple’s built-in Preview program has had a much higher
print success rate. The downside has been the lack of two-sided printing in
Preview, which increases the amount of paper used. ITS now requests that students
print only what they really need.

One likely cause of the issue seems to be the fact that the volume of documents
being printed from Blackboard has increased dramatically since the beginning
of the semester. Most of the items printed from Blackboard are PDFs, which can
have disproportionally large file sizes if prepared incorrectly. The librarians
have been working with faculty to ensure that problematic files are fixed and
new files are scanned correctly.

Another possible cause is the recent upgrade to OS X. Behrens said, “Anytime
you have an upgrade to a new operating system, there will be glitches. You never
know what the problems are going to be.” He cited Adobe Acrobat Reader,
the program that works with PDFs, as not working correctly with OS X. Although
ITS has contacted Adobe, there seems to be no permanent solution except to wait
for a new version of Acrobat Reader.

*****

by Melissa Phruksachart
Gazette Reporter

The Wrens, made up of band members Jerry Macdonald, Charles Bissell and Kevin
and Greg Whelan, are a four-piece rock band hailing from Secaucus, New Jersey,
who dropped in on Olde Club Friday night. The Daily Gazette snagged an interview
with band member Jerry MacDonald and caught a glimpse of the inner workings
of that quintessential college fixture–the indie music scene.

Daily Gazette: How has being from New Jersey influenced your music?
Jerry MacDonald: We all have mullets. No, I’m just kidding. We grew up in Ocean
City and down in Cape May. There was no music scene there, so when the band
was formed, in the early 90’s, we just concentrated on making the kind of music
we liked. When we graduated college, we moved to New York. There was really
no scene there that we were consistent with, so we just wrote what we liked
and we tried to write songs that sounded good to us, tried to stay original.
Jersey folks are pretty tough and resilient. We didn’t come from any scene and
we figured out on our own what we liked and what worked. Doesn’t mean we don’t
like a lot of great Jersey bands, though.

DG: What was your college experience like?
JM: It’s pretty funny. I got hooked up with the Wrens going into my senior year
of college. Some of the guys here were jazz majors, performance majors,and one
of the guys was a studying to be a lawyer. My college experience was pretty
frat-boyish, actually, but as far as fitting in with the jazz majors…I wanted
to play hard rock drums, so I was ex-communicated from the jazz department.
I was discovering the Pixies and getting into the Clash and all that good stuff.
So it was very frat-like until I joined the band, and we began traveling and
it became indie rock.

DG: Tell us about the band’s early days.
JM: We formed in the early 90’s because the two brothers in the band got a gig
opening for the band the Fixx. They got themselves a show and needed a band
and recruited us. The show fell through, and we just decided to stay together
and write some original music. We did some cover shows to pay for equipment
and make some money. We had it sort of bad. We were the worst cover band that
ever existed.

DG: What kind of bands did you cover?
JM: We covered the Smiths, the Beatles, you name it, everything–Pink Floyd.
It was kind of awful. We played ferryboats and gazebos, believe it or not. It
all came crashing down when we returned as the house band at [a restaurant]
after spending a full year in New York honing our sound. We returned after that
year and told them we had a new sound. They didn’t like it, and we were actually
fired during the show. We scrapped the whole cover thing and we got signed a
few years later.

DG: A lot of bands have rock ‘n’ roll dreams of one day returning to their
hometown and playing to a sold-out crowd. Do you guys have any similar fantasies,
and have any come true yet?
JM: That’s a great point. For a band that’s been around for a long time, we’ve
had our ups and downs. In fact, with this new record “The Meadowlands,”
we’re experiencing that right now. We’re playing larger venues in New York–we’re
playing Bowery Ballroom Monday night [September 22] with Cursive. It’s like
a homecoming. We all work in New York. We’ve been out here a long time, we have
a lot of people who are friends, and we have friends in the industry, so there’s
a lot of support. People are being so amazingly nice about it. We’re back after
four years, and [the band] wants to come back and show people that we didn’t
die; that we’re still doing well and we’re still making what we hope is good
music.

DG: Cursive is more of an emo band with teenage fans. Do you feel that you
fit their demographic?
JM: The whole Saddle Creek scene, they’ve been friends of ours for way back.
We’re excited to play a show with them…We have fans from back in the 90’s,
and thankfully we also get emails from new fans, freshmen and sophomores in
college. So I think we could fit that demographic pretty well.

DG: What was it like getting interviewed for the New York Times?
JM: The New York Times was one of the highlights of our career. Especially if
you’re working out of New York, there are just so many people that read that
paper–it means something. We got overwhelming response from longtime fans and
friends; no one had any idea that it had reached this level yet. The New York
Times was a fantastic experience. They couldn’t have been any nicer and we’re
really happy.

DG: What’s your opinion on the recent trend of bands with names starting with
“The,” i.e., The Strokes, The Vines, The Hives, etc?
JM: It’s been interesting. You see it in so many different cycles. You can count
the different trends. They’re doing a thing that’s cool. Unfortunately, a lot
of the labels try to snatch up these young bands that make that kind of sound
and try to massage them so they can get their hit too. It’s tough. They came
out with all the boy bands, and before that it was the grunge era, and now you
have this lo-fi indie sound. It’s fine; we tend not to fit into that. We don’t
try to. We listen to those records too. It is what it is.

DG: And finally, what’s in your CD player right now?
JM: “Death to the Pixies.”
Kevin Whelan: Manu Chao.
Greg Whelan: Naked Eyes.
Charles Bissell: Richard Buckner.

*****

Debaters from Johns Hopkins, Princeton, UPenn, Haverford, Fordham, and Bryn
Mawr congregated on campus over the weekend to compete in a novice tournament
hosted by Swat. The Garnet’s own novices performed well, lead by Elizabeth Oppenheimer,
who placed third among the individual speakers. Garth Sheldon-Coulson and Mae
Tobin-Hochstadt finished seventh and eighth, while Alex Braunstein and Nina
Thanawala were 11th and 12th. The team of Oppenheimer and Tobin-Hochstadt finished
second, while Chris Ford and Sheldon-Coulson placed sixth and Thanawala/Braunstein,
10th.

*****

* A bomb went off outside of a nightclub in Florencia, Colombia on Sunday,
killing 11 and wounding 48. The attack was blamed on the leftist group FARC,
and as such has cast doubt on President Alviro Uribe’s promises to end the 39-year
long conflict between these leftist rebels and the right-wing paramilitaries.
Colombia currently receives millions of dollars in aid from the U.S., but Urbie’s
government has so far made little headway in crushing its rampant fighting and
drug trafficking.

* Pope John Paul II announced on Sunday that he had picked 31 new cardinals.
Since it is these men who will pick the pope’s successor, the announcement seems
to send a message about the 83-year-old pope’s state of health. Already the
Pope has nominated more cardinals during his tenure than any other pope before
him, meaning that of the 130 cardinals who are under 80 years old (and thus
eligible to vote), all but five were handpicked by him. Archbishop Justin Francis
Rigali of Philadelphia was the only named cardinal from the United States, though
the list of appointees spanned six continents.

* National security advisor Condoleeza Rice joined other Bush officials on
Sunday in denying accusations by Congressional leaders that the administration
had gone to war in Iraq over vague and outdated information. In defending themselves,
the administration was gearing up for the fight when the House debates Bush’s
proposed additional $87 billion for Iraq this week.

* Elia Kazan, an influential American director, died on Sunday at age 94.
A Greek immigrant, Mr. Kazan ended up being one of the most successful directors
in both Hollywood and Broadway. His credits include such theater productions
as “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Death of a Salesman”
and movies such as “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” and “Splendor in
the Grass.” He won several Tony and Academy awards.

*****

Talk by Judith Truestone, author of “Celling America’s Soul: Torture
and Transformation in our Prisons”
Swarthmore Community Center, 12:00 p.m.

Visit by Harvard Divinity School
Kohlberg 115, 2:00 p.m.

“Guns, Crime and Deterrence” Talk by John Lott, American Enterprise
Institute
Science Center 101, 4:00 p.m.

Center for Progressive Leadership Information Session
Scheuer Room, 4:00 p.m.

Deloitte Consulting Info Session
Bond, 7:00 p.m.

College Bowl Meeting
Kohlberg 202, 7:00 p.m.

Empty the Shelters Meeting
Kohlberg 226, 8:00 p.m.

WRC Open Hours
WRC, 9:00 p.m.

SAC Meeting
Kohlberg 330, 9:00 p.m.

SWIL Movie Night: “Edward Scissorhands”
Science Center 101, 10:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

by Alex Glick
Gazette Reporter

The Swarthmore men’s soccer team lost a close game to the Gettysburg Bullets
1-0 on Saturday in Centennial Conference play.

The Garnet Tide played a solid first half. The one and only goal of the game
came at 15:56 into the half when Gettysburg’s Chris Borcik headed the ball into
Swarthmore’s goal off of an Andrew Smith assist. Swarthmore came back after
this to pressure the Gettysburg defense but was unable to score after being
fouled twice by Gettysburg; the Garnet was fouled a total of 12 times in the
game. Heavy rain soon began to fall on Clothier Field, which sent many fans
away, but this had no effect on the intensity displayed by both teams. Swat
would later receive two corner kicks but was unable to score off of them, so
the Bullets led by one goal at the end of the half.

The second half was also very evenly played as control of the ball passed
back and forth between the teams many times. Gettysburg came close to scoring
on several occasions but couldn’t thanks to the remarkable skills of Swarthmore
goalie Nate Shupe ’05, who recorded five saves on the game. The game ended with
a score of 1-0.

The loss brings Swarthmore’s record to 2-7-1. The Garnet will face Washington
in Centennial Conference play this Wednesday at Clothier Field.

*****

by Saurav Dhital
Sports Editor

The Garnet Tide fell to the Gettysburg Bullets Saturday afternoon on Clothier
Field in a Centennial Conference encounter.

The Garnet dominated possession for the first half hour of the game, but they
seemed to lose their touch when they got near their opponent’s penalty area.
Meanwhile, Gettysburg retaliated with swift counterattacks.

The Bullets scored at 10:54 when Maggie Cirito kicked the ball in from the
right side of the goal. Heartened by the lead, Gettysburg got their fluent game
back and attacked the Swat goal. Thanks to goalie Catherine Salussolia ’04,
though, the Garnet did not concede another goal in the first half, although
Gettysburg’s Jenny Line was scorching the left flank with her speed.

But in the second half, the Garnet wilted and conceded two more goals, with
Line and Leah Hyde getting on the scoresheet.

The Garnet next play at Muhlenberg on Tuesday, September 30 for a 5:00 p.m.
match.

*****

The men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the Tidewater Fall Classic
at Salisbury University, with the men placing first out of 10 teams and the
women, third.

Juniors Lang Reynolds and James Golden led the men, finishing second (26:21)
and third (26:27) in the 8K course. Garrett Ash, also ’05, placed eighth with
a time of 26:58, while Adam Hunt ’06 finished 16th (27:25) and Keefe Keeley
’06 ran 18th (27:31).

Sophomore Debbie Farrelly was the front runner for the Garnet women, running
the 6K course in 23:30 to place 10th. She was also the first Division III runner
to cross the line. Elizabeth Gardner ’05, Lauren Fety ’06, and Caroline Ritter
’06 finished 16th, 17th, and 18th, respectively, while Njideka Akunyili ’04
rounded out the scoring with a 28th place finish.

*****

Gettysburg continued to plague Swarthmore over the weekend, shutting out the
field hockey team 5-0. The Bullets outshot Swat 15-4 and took the game with
three goals in the first half. Karen Lorang ’07 made six saves in the first
half but gave up two to Melissa LaVan in the second to cap the scoring for Gettysburg.

*****

Despite hard-fought games, the Garnet finished last at the JHU Invitational
over the weekend.

Swat fell to the Hopkins Blue Jays 30-25, 30-23, 30-27, with Natalie Dunphy
’05 recording 10 kills, Emily Conlon ’06 notching 28 assists, and Patrice Berry
’06 adding 15 digs. Erica George ’07 led the attack in the second match with
11 kills, while Conlon had 18 assists and Berry another 17 digs, but the Garnet
fell to Mary Washington 30-20, 30-18, 27-30, 30-13.

In the consolation game, Mary Washington again prevailed, winning 30-19, 31-29,
30-16. Emma Benn ’04 had seven kills in the match, while Conlon had another
18-assist game and Berry recorded 12 digs. The Garnet are now 7-11 on the season.

*****

The doubles team of Anjani Reddy ’04 and Sonya Reynolds ’07 will compete today
in the doubles final of the 2003 ITA Southeast Regional Tournament at Mary Washington
College. The No. 3 seeds defeated the No. 1 seeds Browder/Nakamura of Washington
College 8-4, and will play the No. 2 seeds Hagerman/Mabry of Washington &
Lee.

The Garnet were less fortunate in singles play, with ninth seed Caroline Celano
’04 leading the squad by advancing to the quarterfinals, where she was defeated
by Browder. Surprisingly, two of the top Garnet players, Reddy and Kristina
Pao ’04 both lost in the round of 16.

*****

Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Tomorrow:
Field hockey hosts Bryn Mawr, 4:00 p.m.
Women’s soccer at Muhlenberg, 5:00 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Laughing at our mistakes can lengthen our own life. Laughing at someone
else’s can shorten it.”
–Cullen Hightower

*****

Interested in reporting or writing for the Gazette?
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Just want to tell us what you think?

Contact the staff at daily@swarthmore.edu

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