Thursday, January 29, 2004

by Greg Leiserson
News Editor

A small electrical fire in Clothier Hall drew two fire trucks and an
ambulance to campus shortly before 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning,
startling Danawell and Wharton residents as they rushed past. Students
passing Clothier could see sparks flying through the air, but the
impressive visual effects were more dramatic than the fire which did
not cause any serious damage before it was extinguished.

According to Owen Redgrave, Director of Public Safety, the fire was
caused when a heating element used to prevent a gutter from freezing
short circuited and a circuit breaker failed to cut power to the
element. Redgrave commented that electrical devices can fail in any
number of small ways and Tuesday’s failure was the only one like it he
could remember.

On hearing of a fire in Clothier some students expressed concern
that it might be related to the fire in Paces last spring and could be
indicative of a larger maintenance or safety issue, but both events
were chance occurrences.

*****

On January 21, a resident on Park Avenue reported that he heard a
noise while working on his house. Upon investigation, he found a man
holding two of his power tools. The man reportedly told him, “You got
me,” and fled, leaving the tools.

The suspect is described as a black male, approximately 6 feet tall
and 210 pounds, with a mustache and a puffy green jacket. He reportedly
fled in a red General Motors sedan. No injuries or threats were
reported. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Swarthmore
Police Department.

*****

This past weekend, the College Bowl team sent two successful squads
to compete at the University of Pennsylvania’s 50-team tournament, the
largest in the nation aside from nationals. The A team of Will
Schricker ’04, Jeff Traczynski ’04, Chris White ’05, and Emily Ullman
’06 went 9-2 in the prelims, beating eventual champion Yale A and
making the playoffs as the ninth seed. The B team of Ben Bagley ’04,
Adam Oleksa ’05, Arthur Chu ’06, Rachel Winer ’06, Alex Glick ’06,
Micaela Baranello ’07, and Scott Blaha ’07 also did well, going 7-4 in
their bracket. Chris was recognized as the thirteenth highest scorer in
the tournament, and Will was fifth among individuals in their first two
years of competition.

The College Bowl team returns to action Feb. 7 for NAQT Sectionals
at Princeton.

*****

* Presidential candidate Howard Dean has named long-time friend of
Vice President Al Gore, Roy Neel, as his new chief executive officer
after his former manager, Joe Trippi, abruptly resigned. Dean had hoped
to keep Trippi as a senior advisor, but after an emotional staff
meeting, Trippi walked out, “refusing to be side-lined.” Neel is the
“ultimate Washington insider,” a stark contrast to the “political
neophytes” that make up the bulk of Dean’s camp. But Neel’s strengths
lie in his ability to bring organization to Dean’s disorganized troops.
Currently, the Dean campaign is “scrambling” to collect more money, as
it has spent most of its money on television in Iowa and New Hampshire
that campaign officials said “they were only confident of having enough
money to compete through next week.” Dean has responded to this
financial crisis by eliminating commercials in every state except New
Hampshire. The fundraisers have not given up, raising $1.8 million
since the Iowa caucuses, and as much as $200,000 via the internet.

* David A. Kay, the former chief weapons inspector in Iraq, is
pressuring the Bush administration to seek an external investigation on
prewar intelligence of Sadaam Hussein’s weapons programs. The White
House, fearful of negative reports surfacing during election-year,
immediately “turned aside the calls from Dr. Kay and many Democrats.”
According to Dr. Kay, reports on Iraq’s weapons were out of date, but
administration officials “defended the overall performance of the
intelligence services in fighting the spread of nuclear, biological and
chemical weapons to so-called rogue nations including Iran, North Korea
and Libya.”

* China is killing tens of thousands of birds in an effort to
prevent further spread of the deadly avian influenza that has already
claimed the lives of 8 people, according to the World Health
Organization. While China is believed to be the source of the outbreak,
it has yet to report a human case of the flu. In an effort to allay
fears, Asian governments have promised to create a regional veterinary
surveillance network and “promote rapid, transparent and accurate
exchange of information and provide early warning.” The disease is
believed to be spread from birds to humans, not human-to-human contact.

*****

Internships in Francophone Europe
Sharples Room 5, 12:00 p.m.

Scott Arboretum Lunch Lecture Series
Scheuer Room, 12:00 p.m.

Albert Fishlow Economics Lecture
Kohlberg 226, 4:00 p.m.

Anthony Grafton, Classics Lecture
Scheuer Room, 4:00 p.m.

J. P. Morgan Information Session (sponsored by Career Services)
Kohlberg 201, 6:30 p.m.

Islam Study Group
CRC, 7:00 p.m.

Interfaith Panel Discussion
Scheuer Room, 7:00 p.m.

Peace-making Lecture by Kevin Clements
LPAC, 7:30 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

The men’s basketball team topped Haverford last night 74-70. Chris
Loeffler ’04 scored 16 points and Matt Gustafson ’05 scored 14, while
Mark Rohde ’07 and Jim Dalton ’06 reached double digits with 12 and 10
points respectively. The Garnet are now 8-9 and 5-5 in the CC. They
will return to action on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at home against Franklin
& Marshall.

*****

The women’s basketball team defeated Haverford 57-52 in a comeback
victory, in which they finally took the lead with less than a minute
left in the second half. Ali Wolff ’05, Jen Stevenson ’06, and Radiance
Walters ’06 led the Garnet’s offense with 14, 13, and 10 points
respectively. The women’s team now holds 12 consecutive victories over
the Fords. The Garnet Tide, now 12-6 and 7-4 in the CC, will play Bryn
Mawr on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Tarble Pavilion.

*****

Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Tomorrow:
There are no contests scheduled for tomorrow.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except
genius.”
–Oscar Wilde

*****

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