Wednesday, November 5, 2003

by Roxanne Yaghoubi
World News Editor

Student group SPAC is in the midst of conducting a week of action against the
Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). The Global Exchange network’s website
lists the top 10 reasons why activists like those in SPAC feel they should oppose
the agreement. These reasons range from “the agreement does not include
citizen input” to “the agreement will undermine labor rights and undermine
further environmental destruction”.

The week was planned in coordination with several national groups such as Oxfam,
as well as campuses across the country, to take place from October 29 to November
5th. These dates meant that the week of action could incorporate Halloween-themed
activities as well as include a ballot collection drive that would coincide
with Election Day.

The ballot collection drive, which took place both in the ville and in Sharples,
is just one of many activities planned for the week. Also planned were movie
screenings and activist training workshops. The culminating event of the week
is a panel of speakers, part of Global Exchange’s “FTAA Roadshow”
appearing on campus on Wednesday.

Though these activities will only last a week, coordinator Emily Wistar ’06
says that “fair trade activism is something that is on our long-term agenda.”
On November 20-21 Swarthmore students will travel to Miami, where they will
join with people from all over the country and the world to protest at the FTAA’s
ministerial meeting. SPAC also plans further events on campus revolving around
free trade, including a campaign to get more fair trade goods sold on campus.

*****

by Jonathan Ference
Gazette Reporter

This fall, a slightly different form of medicine has appeared on the Swarthmore
campus thanks to the efforts of Worth Health Center. Through two different programs,
massage has become highly accessible to students, faculty, and staff. Massage,
a technique dating to the earliest days of medicine, is viewed by many as both
a spiritual and mental treat and a great aide to reducing aches and tensions.
Sometimes looked upon as a chic fad, massage is becoming more popular as studies
reveal its positive effects on the human body.

The first massage program involves the widely discussed reserved-students email
sent on September 8th opening enrollment to a three-week workshop for students
to learn massage techniques. The class, organized by Jennifer Holzer, was taught
in Kohlberg by Carlton Ann Daily, a certified therapist. The response was so
overwhelming as to merit a second reserved email from Worth notifying the student
body that all 20 spots had been filled. Staff at Worth explained that the very
popular program had been offered before and was brought back this semester by
student request. With such demand, perhaps more such classes will be available
in the future.

The second massage initiative was to offer appointments with a professional
massage practitioner on Friday afternoons. The introductory price is $40 for
fifty minutes, though a brochure available at Worth lists a one-hour session
for $45 and a half-hour for $25. Though the therapy is mainly marketed to College
staff, students not on a tight budget might choose to indulge. The practitioner
is Barbara McGee, with whom appointments can be made from 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. on
Fridays through the Health Center. Ms. McGee is listed as having three certifications:
master of Reiki, a gentle Japanese massage technique; Shiatsu; and Swedish Massage.
She has been in practice since 1989, and according to her brochure Ms. McGee
“likes to bring to each session an integrated approach using those modalities
best suited for each individual at that moment…[striving] to create a nurturing,
peaceful and safe space to encourage the client’s relaxation and well-being.”

As far as this writer is concerned, that statement just makes him wish the
Gazette will be willing to pay for a trial massage sometime soon.

*****

On October 25, the College Bowl team sent a foursome of Chris White ’05, Will
Schricker ’04, Emily Ullman ’06, and Matt Fowles ’04 to the Terrapin Invitational
Tournament, where they came in fifth with an 8-5 record. The team more than
held its own in a very competitive field: all but one of its losses were decided
on the last question. Chris was ninth in individual scoring, and Will and Emily
were both in the top half as well.

*****

* Three members of the US-led coalition in Iraq, probably Americans, were wounded
in three explosions in Baghdad on Tuesday, US Defense Department officials said.
Department spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jim Cassella said the blasts left three
injured. The explosions occurred at about 7.45 pm (1645 GMT), close to the headquarters
of the Provisional Coalition Authority. It was not immediately known if the
casualties were military or civilian. There was no immediate confirmation if
they were American. The type of ammunition used was also unknown. Witnesses
in front of the main gate of the coalition headquarters said they saw two missiles
screaming into the compound.

* The Sri Lankan President fired the defense, interior and media ministers
yesterday, plunging the government into crisis and dealing a severe blow to
its peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels. The ministers have been working
to coax the rebels to return to talks to end a 20-year civil war. President
Chandrika Kumaratunga, who has wide executive powers, has been severely critical
of how the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has handled the
peace efforts. She argues the government has given too many concessions without
ensuring that the Tigers abandon their armed struggle. Her office said in a
statement that the steps were ‘taken after careful consideration in order to
prevent further deterioration of the security situation in the country’. The
shake-up came as her political rival, Mr. Wickremesinghe, was in Washington
on an official visit. He was holding an emergency meeting with other Sri Lankan
officials in the US early yesterday. It was not immediately clear if Mrs. Kumaratunga
would take on the revoked portfolios herself. There was no immediate reaction
from the rebels, who submitted a plan on Friday for an interim administration
in the war-battered north-east. The rebels signed a ceasefire agreement with
Mr. Wickremesinghe’s government last February.

* A man who was imprisoned by the US military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is suing
the Pakistani and US governments for damages worth over $10m. Pakistani cleric
Mohammed Sagheer was seized by US troops fighting in Afghanistan in 2001. He
spent roughly a year with other suspected al-Qaeda and Taleban operatives in
the US military prison. His lawyers say he is suing for the mental and physical
torture he endured at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay. Mr. Sagheer filed his suit
in an Islamabad court on Tuesday. Lawyers acting for him said the case could
be heard in a Pakistani court because Pakistan’s interior ministry is one of
the defendants. In the first case of its kind, Mr. Sagheer described his arrest
by American authorities as illegal and his treatment at the prison camp in Guantanamo
Bay as extremely inhuman. He says he was kept for more than a year in a prison
cell that was like a cage meant for animals. During this period he says he was
treated in the worst possible manner and was repeatedly interrogated about his
links to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Despite insisting that he no ties to
the Islamic militant group, Mr. Sagheer says he was punished by the authorities
for what they saw as his lack of co-operation. After being released by the Americans,
Mr. Sagheer says he was sent back to Pakistan, where he spent a few more days
in detention. The court has decided to hold a preliminary hearing for the case
in the third week of December.

*****

Medical School Application Info Session
Kohlberg 115, 4:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

Improvisation Dance Class with Yossi Yungman, former member of Batsheva Dance
Company of Israel
Troy Dance Lab, 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.

“Stop the FTAA Roadshow”: Panel of Speakers representing Global Exchange,
Rainforest Action Network, Student Environmental Action Coalition, and others.
Kohlberg 115, 7:00 p.m.

“People, Resources, Nature and Power: Conceptualizing Environmental and
Social Justice Concerns in India”: Lecture by Leo Saldanha and Bhargavi
Rao of the Environment Support Group of Banglalore, India
Science Center 101, 7:30 p.m.

SAC Snowflake-making Study Break
Kohlberg Coffee Bar, 9:00 p.m.

Film Society presents: Underground Film Shorts, curated by Ted Passon
Science Center 101, 10:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

Today:
Swimming at Ursinus, 6:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
There are no contests scheduled for tomorrow.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I know who I am. No one else knows who I am. If I was a giraffe, and
someone said I was a snake, I’d think, no, actually I’m a giraffe.”
–Richard Gere

*****

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