Friday, January 23, 2004

by Jonathan Ference
Living & Arts Editor

As a new semester begins and the process of shopping for classes and
attempting to feel out professors and different subjects commences,
students
are known to use any means necessary to gain insight on potential
classes.
Recognizing that many Swarthmore students tend to give great weight to
their
peers’ opinions, three years ago, the Student Council commissioned
Brendan
Moriarty ’04 to create a collection of student evaluations of classes
that
could be accessed by any student looking for the thoughts of others.

Though the current incarnation of the class recommendation book is
an online
form page hosted by the College, Moriarty explained that it had humbler
beginnings: “Its first incarnation was actually a printed book, all RAs
had
one, for example.” For the book to become truly accessible, though,
Moriarty knew it had to be online and needed to be automated, and so he
enlisted the pro bono assistance of Todd Gillette, a student who
graduated
with a degree in computer science in 2003. As Moriarty went abroad,
Gillette continued working on making the current format a reality. The
two
continued their efforts, though Moriarty admitted: “ITS was never
involved,
though they should have been.”

Fast forward to winter break this year. Students received an e-mail
from
Moriarty via outgoing Student Council president Anna Morgan inviting
them to
submit reviews of their fall 2003 classes, then received another just
21
hours later letting them know that the system wasn’t working, namely
that
the correct classes weren’t being listed. Moriarty explained this week
that
the website has to be changed by someone with a certain degree of
computer
knowledge every semester, and when Gillette was still a student here,
“the
responsibilities were split”. Thus, this past semester, students were
only
able to access the shell, not current classes and other new ones that
needed
to be added manually. As the complaints rolled in, Moriarty contacted
Gillette, who explained the issues to him.

As of now, Moriarty has not gotten the newest class data, and is
working
with ITS and Registrar Martin Warner to resolve all of the issues. Even
though he will send out an e-mail when the status quo is reached,
Moriarty
is well aware of the current system’s shortcomings, and has his eye on
the
future: “practically speaking [the system] is not there yet”. Most
students
seem aware of the shortcomings as well: when asked, they were quick to
identify the manner in which the website requires a student to possess
the
exact professor-course pair to access comments as a major roadblock, a
problem that hopefully will be averted with new programming.

The other problem with the class recommendation book is that it
relies on
student input to be a good source. Of course, this is a cyclical
problem:
if students don’t see enough useful commentary on the website, then
they are
not likely to add their own. While most are aware of the website, usage
varies. Some have looked at it and deemed it not helpful until it is
more
extensive; others, like Lisa Gunaydin ’07, use it selectively: “I don’t
use
it if there are only two contradictory comments about a class, but if
there
are over ten comments that have some sort of pattern, it can be pretty
useful.” Popular classes may have that many comments at this stage;
most,
however, do not.

Moriarty saw two major areas for improvement for the book to become
a truly
useful tool like similar projects have become at other colleges, and
not
“just a model.” First, submitting commentary to the database needed to
become common practice among students at the end of every semester.
Secondly, Moriarty is looking for a replacement with both the
management
capability and computer skill necessary to see the book grow in usage
by
students. In the future, if these two conditions can be met, students
will
see a project that is currently at best a difficult-to-use tool with
limited
effectiveness become a true aide to Swarthmore students in the course
selection process.

*****

by Maki Sato
News Reporter

Approximately 450 people went to LPAC Cinema to hear Máiread
Corrigan
Maguire speak about her journey as a peacemaker on Tuesday night.
Maguire, a
Nobel Peace Prize winner and one of the founders of the Community of
Peace
People, works in Northern Ireland with that group to encourage dialogue
and
negotiation in lieu of war and violence.

Concerning Northern Ireland’s conflict, Maguire said: “The real
violent part
is over. but we have to create a just society to safeguard our future.”
She
also stressed the importance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s message
because, as
she said, now more than ever “we have a choice between violence and
nonviolence.” Maguire did not shy away from directly addressing
American
politics, telling listeners: “you are operating under fear politics.
You’ve
given up your civil liberties. You’ve given your president permission
to
take your country to war when there are alternate methods of
resolution.”

Maguire pinpointed fear as the main source of hindrance: “The real
war is
inside your own heart. We have to be honest with ourselves. Fear will
block
us from moving forward.” She then continued by sharing her own
experiences
in overcoming fear: “When I won the Nobel Peace Prize, I was petrified.
I
knew I knew nothing. But when you know you know nothing, you have to
have
the humility to ask for help,” and “that is why America has to have the
humility and say, “We don’t want to lead the world on our own.”

Next, Maguire expressed her concern about the billions of dollars
spent on
the military when there are starving children dying from completely
curable
diseases all around the world and even in this country. She lamented
the
lost opportunity of Americans to really unite after September 11th,
because:
“We had the chance to stop the violence after 9/11 when we had the
world by
our side, but we let that go because of fear politics.”

Overall, Maguire urged her audience to recognize that everyone, just
by
being a human being, is inherently interconnected, and thus in trying
resolve conflicts between countries: “our common humanity must be
the most important” thing to remember because “extreme identities are
extremely dangerous.” She encouraged everyone to give more attention to
building a just and peaceful human community, reminding listeners: the
first
and “the hardest work to do is with ourselves.”

*****

by Brendan Moriarty
News Reporter

Quick, before you fall behind in your course readings or start
sweating over
ten page papers, carpe diem! The first weekend of the new term has
arrived
and now is the best time to act like a normal college student.

If you prefer, treat yourself to some humor before life at
Swarthmore starts
getting serious. Tonight Bryn Mawr College is hosting stand up comedian
Robbie Printz at 8:00 p.m.. Head to the Campus Center Main Lounge for
fast paced
and relatively “clean cut” stand up good enough for appearances on NBC,
Comedy Central and MTV. Continue the festivities on Saturday at either
4:00
or 8:00 when Media’s very own Hedgerow Theater plays host to “The
Complete
Works of William Shakespeare.” The three-man troupe has condensed and
reinterpreted all thirty-eight of Shakespeare’s plays into two hours of
sex
and scandal. SEPTA can conveniently deliver you to within walking
distance
of the theater.

Continue to celebrate the frivolous lifestyle on Saturday afternoon.
For all
of our campus video gamers, put down the controller and change your
underwear for a trip up to the Science Center. Starting at 12:30 SCDC
will
show you how to modify your X Box.

If your more refined tastes demand culture, Sunday has several
events in
store for you. Music in Bond resumes at 2:00 p.m. with classical
performances by
current students and alumni. If you can stomach the nearly sixty dollar
ticket price, top off the weekend with B.B. King at the Keswick Theatre
in
northern Philly.

*****

* Insurgents in Iraq’s Sunni Triangle launched attacks that killed
nine
during a 24-hour period. The Sunni Triangle, an area north and west of
Baghdad, is Iraq’s most volatile region. In the most recent attack,
three
Iraqi police officers and a civilian were killed Thursday at a highway
checkpoint between the cities Fallujah and Ramadi, an Iraq police
official
said. Other violence includes a mortar and rocket attack on a U.S.
military
base north of Baghdad that killed two American soldiers and wounded
four
others Wednesday night, U.S. military sources said Tuesday. Also near
Fallujah, anti-coalition insurgents on Wednesday fired on and killed
three
Iraqi female laundry workers in a minivan, U.S. military sources said
Thursday. The number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war is 504, with
349
wounded under hostile circumstances.

* Once the scene of violent clashes between Catholics and
Protestants,
Belfast, Ireland, is now faced with a wave of racially motivated
attacks.
These have been fueled by the recent arrival of Asians, blacks, Indians
and
Pakistanis in Northern Ireland, which in 2001 was still 99 percent
white.
The number of attacks on foreigners has recently seen its highest
increase.
From April through December, 212 racist incidents were recorded in
Northern
Ireland, ranging from assault to arson, police statistics show. Five
years
ago, only a handful of such incidents were reported. Swastikas and
racist
words can now be seen alongside anti-Catholic hate and Protestant
murals of
paramilitaries carrying assault weapons. Politicians are planning to
toughen hate crime laws, and the city is trying to form new groups to
counter the newly prevalent racism.

* In outlining his vision of new era of space exploration, President
Bush
implicitly extended an invitation for international cooperation to
China.
Given China’s recent successes in outer space, many believe this will
signify a new space race. In the last year, China succeeded in becoming
only the third nation to put an astronaut into orbit. The Chinese plan
to
send more astronauts into space next year, to launch a Moon probe
within
three years, and are aiming to land an unmanned vehicle on the Moon by
2010,
five years before the deadline President Bush set for the next
Americans to
arrive there. Nations like Brazil and India are also taking bigger
steps
to intensify the pace of exploration by the developing world.

*****

Friday:

Bohemian Vivaldi Concert
Lang Concert Hall, 8:00 p.m.

Art Lecture by Judith Harold-Steinhauser
LPAC, 4:30 p.m., with reception to follow

Anime/Manga Club Movie Screening: Princess Mononoke
Kohlberg 228, 9:00 p.m.

Sunday:

Scott Arboretum Tour
Scott Arboretum Offices, 12:45 p.m.

Music in Bond: Coffeehouse for Chamber Music
Bond, 2:00 p.m.

WSRN ‘Big Meeting’
Upper Tarble, 9:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

The women’s basketball team was defeated by Muhlenberg last night 74
– 68,
despite the fact that four of the five starters scored 10 or more
points in
the game. This loss ended the Garnet Tide’s 3 game winning streak.

Swarthmore, known for their good defense, and Muhlenberg, putting on
big
offensive pressure, both played well. While the Mules held the lead for
a
majority of the game, the Garnet fought to keep the game close. In the
end,
the 16 points of Zoey Adams-Deutsch ’06 and double digit scoring of
Alison
Wolff ’05, Radiance Walters ’06, and Katie Robinson ’04 were not enough
to
overtake the Mules.

Swarthmore, now 10-6 and 5-4 in the CC, return to action on Saturday
versus
Ursinus at 3 p.m.

*****

Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Tomorrow:
Indoor Track & Field at Haverford, 11:00 a.m.
Men’s Basketball at Ursinus, 1:00 p.m.
Swimming at Drew, 2:00 p.m.
Women’s Basketball at Ursinus, 3:00 p.m.

Sunday:
There are no contests scheduled for Sunday.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must
also be well-mannered.”
–Voltaire

*****

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