Wednesday, November 26, 2003

by Anya Carrasco
Gazette Reporter

That’s what they said in their audition flyers and that’s what they proved
this past Saturday, November 22nd at the Mainstage of Lang Performing Arts Center.
In front of a crowd of over five hundred people, Rhythm N Motion put on their
fourth show since they started in Spring 2001.

Rhythm N Motion wowed the crowd with a fusion of African, jazz, dancehall,
hip-hop and salsa. The show featured mostly dances choreographed by members
of the group and a couple of guest performances by non-members. These included
a surprise appearance by a local rapper named Andre and the Untouchables, and
a drill team from Darby, PA.

Even before it started, the show was very well received. “It completely
blew up,” said director Casey Lee ’05 in awe of such a huge turnout. “There
were people waiting in line 45 minutes before the concert,” and it was
the first time in the history of Rhythm N Motion performances that they had
to open the back seating area of LPAC.

The show opened up with a piece choreographed to Tito Puente’s “Para los
rumberos.” Aptly chosen to start out the show, it was characterized by
an explosion of big movements, smiling faces and bright red lights. The next
piece presented an interesting contrast of tone. “Black Paper Kites,”
choreographed by guest choreographer Dale Jennings ’04, was a more serious piece
that sought “…to speak to the physical brutality and emotional torment
experienced by victims of lynching [after the Reconstruction].” The effect
was achieved and enhanced by the singing of Audrey Pernell ’04, the interactions
between the four male figures, and the live drumming.

This interplay between plot and just plain fun was seen throughout the rest
of the show. The dancers of “Mambo Nights,” choreographed by Jennifer
Perez, seemed to be acting because their facial expressions communicated enjoyment
and high energy. The hip-hop pieces also included “more attitude than MTV,”
as the advertisements for the show said.

Another highlight of the show was the performance of the Darby Township Untouchables.
Kids of all ages, with their coordinated, routine-like movements got the crowd
literally moving. What began as a standing ovation turned into an audience that
remained standing and clapping to the rhythms created by the drill team.

The show ended with a finale that featured all the dancers of Rhythm N Motion,
and impressively combined comedy, drama, and dance.

Like all their past performances, this one presented a culmination of a semester’s
worth of hard work. But this fourth show was definitely special. When asked
how it was different than last semester’s show, founder-director Jumatatu Poe
’04 said, “It just keeps getting better and better.” Lee ’06 attributed
this to their learning process. “We’re learning so much more about the
other elements of performance, including the technical aspects, which we couldn’t
do without the help of LPAC…the group is also coming to point where the context
and the significance behind the pieces is just as important as the performance
aspect.” According to both, “the choreographers are honing their crafts.
Pieces are getting more sophisticated…It’s becoming more intense, but it’s
always going to retain that element of fun.”

The reaction of the audience certainly affirmed this. As director Jessie Dryden
’04 put it, the crowd was so loud, so energetic and showed so much support,
that she was scared she would forget her counts.

*****

by Scott Blaha
Gazette Reporter

For this week’s College Corner, the Daily Gazette was lucky to find a quiet
stretch at McCabe’s ever-busy Circulation Desk. We took the opportunity to talk
with Mary Ann Wood, night librarian at McCabe.

Daily Gazette: Why did you become a librarian?
Mary Ann Wood: I never did. I have a master’s degree in teaching foreign languages.
After I had my children, I decided not to go back to teaching for a time. I
stayed home with them for a while. When it was time to go looking for a job,
I decided not to go back to teaching. But I really liked books, so when it was
time to get a job, I went to work at Borders on Baltimore Pike. But, then I
found this job at Swarthmore, which perfectly combines my love of books with
the desire to work around students. But, in this job, I’d be considered a paraprofessional,
since I don’t have a librarian degree.

DG: What is one of the weirdest things you’ve ever witnessed in the library?
MAW: Finding various forms of contraband. I don’t think I should elaborate on
that – other students would copy it. But I do like it when the carolers come
and act out the 12 days of Christmas on the balcony. I’ve heard that the McCabe
mile is interesting, but I’ve never seen it.

DG: what do you like best about Swarthmore?
MAW:The student body always provides opportunities for challenging and interesting
discussions. I enjoy particularly meeting students from all over the country
and all over the world and discussing differences in culture and current events.
I especially enjoy talking about books and movies. I also enjoy getting to know
each freshman class.

DG: If you had to do it over again, would you become a librarian?
MAW: I would still study a foreign language, but I would consider doing a library
degree instead for my master’s. One thing I hope is that as my last child finishes
with college, that I can still feel in touch with incoming students. I’m hoping
that once he’s done, I’ll still have an inkling of what the popular books and
movies are. As my role at the circulation desk, I hope I’m teaching the student
workers and the students how to use the library and its resources to make their
academic life at Swarthmore easier.

DG: Any specific tips?
MAW: Definitely go to freshman orientation at the library. Learn how to use
Tripod, particularly the information on the homepage. Get to know the reference
librarian and always plan ahead to know when the library is closed and when
the reference librarians are on duty.

DG: Does McCabe have any deep, dark secrets?
MAW: It probably has a long history, but I don’t know of any deep, dark secrets.
With the introduction of the coffee bar, the main floor has become more of a
social place then when I first began working here. That’s a good thing – I don’t
think it’s a deterrent because if you want to find quiet space to study, then
you can. So the lobby seems like a crossroads for students, maybe more so than
other college libraries. I’ve been in the subbasement, but it’s just concrete
corridors and discarded equipment and shelving.

DG: What do you like best about McCabe’s collection?
MAW: I think one of the unique things about McCabe is the videos. I think it’s
neat that we have so many videos as diversions for the students but that we
also respond to professors’ requests for serious titles and documentaries. Many
of the video titles have been suggested or donated by students and alumni. But
of course it makes the traffic at the circulation desk on Friday nights quite
brisk.

DG: What is your favorite book?
MAW: I can’t say that I have a favorite book, but I’ve belonged to a book discussion
group for 25 years. Some of the best discussions were generated by books that
you’d least expect. One of the ones we still talk about is “The Chaneysville
Incident” by David Bradley, who was a former professor at Temple University.
It’s about a slave family in central Pennsylvania, and it has a haunting ending.
We were lucky enough to have invited the author to one of our gatherings and
he still wouldn’t answer us about the ending of the book.

DG: As somebody working in a library, how has your life been affected by the
PATRIOT Act?
MAW: Luckily, I haven’t witnessed anything directly happening to us. But I do
know that we’ve worked very hard to understand the implications of the PATRIOT
Act and have worked hard to prepare and inform the staff and student workers
about the law. I think anybody who works or frequents a library knows the importance
of the free dissemination of information. From day one student workers and staff
are instructed that everyone has the right to the privacy of what they choose
to inform themselves about.

*****

*A week after imposing quotas on textile imports from China, the United States
slapped anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made color television sets as trade tension
between the two nations continued to flare up. The US Commerce Department on
Monday accused television manufacturers in China and Malaysia of dumping television
sets in the American market, or pricing them below market value. While no ruling
was made on Malaysia, Washington imposed provisional anti-dumping duties at
between 28 and 46 percent on four Chinese companies. Chinese officials said
they saw some room for negotiation before Washington announces the final duties
next April, though news of the US decision caused shares of the four Chinese
TV makers to slump yesterday on fears their already-low profit margins would
be squeezed further. Washington’s latest move could affect US$480 million (S$830
million) worth of Chinese-made color TV sets. Central to the escalating trade
tension between the world’s largest and fifth largest trading nations is the
US claim that the Chinese currency, the yuan, is undervalued. Some US officials
and businessmen contend that the weaker yuan is giving Chinese exports an unfair
advantage, resulting in millions of manufacturing jobs being wiped out in the
US and a ballooning trade deficit expected to reach US$120 billion this year.
But a growing consensus among even non-Chinese economists and knowledgeable
observers dismiss that as unfounded.

*A video showing a masked militant firing the missile that hit a DHL civilian
cargo jet over Baghdad, setting its engine ablaze in the first successful hit
on a plane of the seven-month-old insurgency, was delivered to a French journalist
and shown to AFP on Monday. The six-minute-long footage, received by correspondent
Sara Daniel of the Paris-based weekly Le Nouvel Observateur, shows 10 militants,
with their faces concealed by chequered keffiyeh headdresses or white scarves,
carrying out the attack from scrubland south of the capital. Before the attack,
a US army helicopter is seen hovering in the middle distance, but the militants
have clearly chosen their target and leave the military aircraft alone. Nobody
was hurt in Saturday’s strike but the hit prompted the suspension by the US
military of all commercial civilian flights into the capital, severing a key
link to the outside world as the coalition tries to rebuild Iraq. The decision
affected both DHL, the only commercial courier to fly into Iraq, and Royal Wings,
a subsidiary of Royal Jordanian, that offered the only regular passenger service,
albeit not open to all.

*Britain is prepared to veto the new European Constitution if it fails to keep
national control of key policy areas, government sources were quoted as saying
in two British newspapers yesterday. Britain is fighting to keep independent
powers on tax, defense and foreign policy before talks on the Constitution enter
a crucial phase next month. A government source told The Daily Telegraph that
Britain did not want a deal at any cost and would defend its ‘red line’ issues.
The new Constitution is due to be discussed at an EU summit in Brussels on Dec
12 and 13. British Prime Minister Tony Blair sought to underline Britain’s commitment
to Europe on Monday after talks with French President Jacques Chirac on the
EU’s future. But in a speech to business leaders last week, Mr. Blair repeated
his pledge to retain many of Britain’s national powers. ‘Specifically on the
matters of tax, social security and the EU Budget, we oppose any move away from
unanimity,’ he said. Meanwhile, a report from Brussels said the EU had dropped
the term ‘pre-emptive engagement’ from a revised version of its first security
strategy to distance itself from the US policy of military pre-emption.

*****

There are no public campus events today.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

by Alex Glick
Gazette Reporter

The men’s basketball team defeated the Drew Rangers last night 71-60. This
victory was the Garnet Tide’s first of this season.

After winning the jump ball, Swat got off to an early start in scoring with
a Chris Loeffler ’04 3-pointer. Loeffler was very aggressive throughout the
game and made many jumping and diving plays to get the ball, and this playing,
along with 17 points overall, helped lead his team to victory.

The lead passed back and forth between both teams throughout the first half.
The Garnet’s defense was solid, getting many defensive rebounds and not letting
the Rangers get open or take many shots. In his first start of the season, Dillon
McGrew ’07 followed one of his team-leading 6 defensive rebounds with a 3-point
shot early on in the game. Jim Dalton ’06 and Matt Gustafson ’05 also added
3-pointers in the first half, which assisted the Garnet in coming up on top
28-26 at the end of the half.

The beginning of the second half was packed with great offensive and defensive
maneuvering by Swarthmore. The Garnet made many well-placed passes throughout
the half. The lead continued to pass back and forth between Swarthmore and Drew
throughout the half. The Garnet began to pick up the pace with less than five
minutes left in the game including one period where they scored 11 points to
the Rangers 2.

Gustafson and Jeff Maxim ’07 each contributed 12 points, and Dalton and McGrew
added 11 points to aid the Garnet’s victory. On top of his impressive overall
effort, Maxim also added 7 offensive rebounds.

Jacob Letendre ’04 had a team-leading 5 assists, which puts him only 11 shy
of being Swarthmore’s all-time career assist leader. Letendre can also set the
career steal record with just 13 more this season.

Swarthmore returns to action on Monday, December 1 at 7:00 p.m. against Philadelphia
Biblical at Tarble Pavilion.

*****

Although Radiance Walters ’06 scored a career-high 16 rebounds, that was not
enough to help Swat overcome McDaniel, who led from the early minutes of the
Centennial Conference opener.

Kristin Lee ’05 scored a three pointer in the first half, as did Katie Robinson
’04 in the second. The final score was 65-39, putting Swat at 2-1, 0-1 and McDaniel
at 3-0, 1-0.

*****

For all their effort, Swat fell to Kutztown 120-76 at their meet Tuesday and
now has a record of 2-3.

Wins for the Garnet included Brian Rose ’06 in the 200 breaststroke and the
relay team in the 400 freestyle with Anders Taylor ’07, Eric Shang ’04, Jason
Horwitz ’07, and Andrew McKay ’07.

*****

Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Tomorrow:
There are no contests scheduled for tomorrow.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“When someone asks you, ‘A penny for your thoughts,’ and you put your
two cents in, what happens to the other penny?”
–George Carlin

*****

Interested in reporting or writing for the Gazette?
Got a news or sports tip for us?
Just want to tell us what you think?

Contact the staff at daily@swarthmore.edu

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