Wednesday, February 11, 2004

by Greg Leiserson, News Editor
and Maki Sato, Gazette Reporter

In the inaugural James A. Field Memorial Lecture, noted historian
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. outlined the history of war-time presidents and
their policies on civil liberties and argued for increased discussion
of current foreign policy changes. Schlesinger approached the topic by
examining three issues: the history of war-time dissent in America, the
role of dissent in America today, and the nature of patriotism. He
derided Attorney General John Ashcroft’s current policies, saying that
his “attempt to outlaw debate is in the deepest sense un-American.”

Schlesinger approached the topics from a historical perspective,
noting that “History is to the nation as memory is to the individual”
and that it serves as a source of wisdom in times of crisis. After
introducing his motivation for the historical approach, he launched
into an attack on the policies of President George W. Bush with regard
to the War on Terrorism and preemptive war in general. The War on
Terrorism is genuine and necessary, Schlesinger said, and should be
made our highest priority. However, he argued that Bush has focused
instead on a manufactured war against Iraq.

The War on Terror has become a unique war in American history,
according to Schlesinger, because citizens “feel a sense of personal
vulnerability that they have never felt before.” Europeans are familiar
with these fears from a history of involvement with ETA, the Red
Brigades, and the IRA, but the fears are new to Americans. Bush has
manipulated this fear, he said, and “whenever calm impends, they raise
the color level.”

Showing his roots in the discipline of history, Schlesinger engaged
in a summary of dissent during war in previous administrations, from
John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts to Lyndon Johnson and the
escalation in Vietnam. He listed a succession of presidents who saw
their approval ratings fall, saw their parties lose seats in midterm
elections, or who were forced from office because of their military
decisions. Schlesinger attributed Bush’s ability to avoid these fates
to his ability to “play the politics of fear” and what he characterized
as unbalanced media coverage. He argued that healthy debate is
necessary for maintaining democracy, and that any small benefit the
enemy received from internal American dissent would be more than
outweighed by the increased vitality of American democracy resulting
from “frank and uninhibited debate.”

Schlesinger concluded with an attack on the policy of preventive
war, saying “you don’t prevent anything by war except peace” and noting
that in engaging in such wars we “make our nation the world’s judge,
jury and executioner.” He reminded the audience that Americans make up
only six percent of the world’s population and that “we can not impose
our will on the other 94%.”

In a brief question and answer period, Schlesinger clarified some of
his positions on war and terror, and also responded to one question
about his prior work on multiculturalism, saying “sex and love will
arrest the disuniting of America.”

Sponsored by the history department, the James A. Field Memorial
Lecture series commemorates the Isaac H. Clothier Professor of History
and International Relations of the same name who taught American
History during a nearly 40 year tenure at Swarthmore College from 1947
– 1986. Schlesinger’s talk last night will serve as the basis of a
chapter in an upcoming book titled “War and American Presidency.”

Reaction to the lecture was generally positive. Aude Scheuer
commented that while “his views definitely agree…with the majority of
Swarthmore students, he added an interesting element to it by
actually…comparing [the Bush administration] to previous American
governments.”

*****

by Ken Patton and Victoria Swisher
Gazette Reporters

The Ad Hoc Committee on the Living Wage released their report
yesterday with recommendations for enacting a living wage at
Swarthmroe, calling for an incrase in the minimum wage to $10.72 per
hour. In this report, the 15 member committee provided a proposal that
they hope will be discussed within the community and submitted to the
Board of Directors in October.

by Megan Mills
Communications Editor

To the immense shock of coworkers and students, administrative
assistant to the Music and Dance Department Judy Lord passed away
Friday morning. Though she had been out sick earlier in the week, she
was back in the office on Thursday and reported feeling fine.

Lord was 67 years old and had been working at Swarthmore College for
over 25 years. Over her tenure here she also worked with the Cooper
Foundation and the Staff Advisory Council even as her duties within the
Music Department grew. Over time, she became a fixture of Lang Music
Building in her office at the top of the stairs, often taking time out
of her busy schedule to talk with prospective students.

Tom Whitman, Assistant Professor of Music, said, “I feel a profound
sense of personal loss, and I feel a profound sense of professional
loss–she was the center of this department and brought a sense of
community, which is irreplacable.”

To the students at Swarthmore, Lord was an indispensable resource.
Andrew Hauze ’04 remembers, “She helped us navigate the stressful
uncertainties of requirements and rules, and was above all concerned
about us not so much as students in the institution in which she
worked, but as people in the world in which she lived.”

However, Lord was not only a member of the faculty to students; she
was often described as a caring parent. Emily Shrader ’04 recalls,
“Judy was essentially the maternal force behind the music department:
she called us all “honey,” she made sure we didn’t work away our
vacations, and she showed a genuine interest in our safety and
well-being.” Hauze agrees, “She was a sort of mother-away-from-home for
many of us in the Music and Dance Department.”

Whitman concurs with the familial characterization. “Staff, faculty,
and students were her family in a very real sense–because she made
them her family. She loved this place.” He added that, in contrast to a
typical Swattie’s tendency to “go off in corners and do their own
thing,” Lord was vehement in her insistense on the importance of
community. “She taught us a lot about how to be better members of the
community.. she poked and prodded us and wouldn’t let us stay in our
corners.”

While being remembered as a very caring individual, “she was also
one of the feistiest and most vigorous characters around,” according to
Shrader. “We all would have thought there were at least a couple more
decades of Judy to come. It’s incredibly saddening that we were wrong
about that.”

Lord had previously requested that her memorial take place outdoors
and in the springtime, and in accordance with her love of Swarthmore
College, the memorial is set for Sunday, May 2nd, in the Amphitheatre,
weather permitting. Also, there will be an open house on Wednesday,
February 18th from 4:00 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. where friends may gather.

Donations may be made in Judy Lord’s memory to The Chester
Children’s Chorus, c/o Department of Music and Dance, Swarthmore
College, Swarthmore, PA 19081; The School in Rose Valley, 20 School
Lane, Rose Valley, PA 19086; or Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals,
Upper Gulph and Arden Roads, Radnor, PA 19087.

*****

*Al-Qaeda is training hundreds of Islamic radicals in Pakistan and
Kashmir for ‘sleeper cells’ in the United States, according to US and
foreign officials. As many as 400 radicals have been trained or are
undergoing training in special camps, and dozens have already been
routed through Europe to Muslim communities in the US. US intelligence
officials said the camps operate in remote regions of western Pakistan
and in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, and are financed by various
terrorist networks, including Al-Qaeda and sources in Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan’s Ambassador in Washington, Mr. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, denied
the existence of such training camps in his country or in Kashmir.
According to the officials, sleeper cells of Al-Qaeda, the terrorist
network of Osama bin Laden, are believed to be operating in 40 states,
awaiting orders and funding for new attacks in the US.

*An overwhelming majority of France’s National Assembly voted
yesterday to ban religious emblems in state schools. Deputies voted 494
to 36 to ban Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian
crosses from state schools and threaten pupils who insist on wearing
them with expulsion. Muslims complain the law targets them and is
discriminatory. President Jacques Chirac himself has come out in favor
of the law, which will make it illegal to wear clothes or insignia that
‘conspicuously’ display religious affiliation in state schools. The
government hopes the measure will keep tensions between Muslim and
Jewish minorities out of public classrooms. Members of France’s
five-million-strong Muslim population have demonstrated against the
Bill, as have some of the generally discreet 7,000 Sikhs living in the
country who fear their traditional turbans will be banned. Foreign
organizations have also interpreted the move as a blow to religious
freedom.

* With the initial outbreak of bird flu in Thailand on the wane,
officials have warned a second wave could be on its way. They issued
the warning on Monday – 24 hours before the World Health Organization
(WHO) moved to allay fears that avian influenza could be passed from
human to human. More than 26.4 million birds in Thailand have been
culled to control the flu which has struck chickens and other poultry
in 40 of Thailand’s 76 provinces. The H5N1 strain of the avian flu
virus has killed five people in Thailand and 14 in Vietnam. So far,
health experts believe humans have been infected only through contact
with sick birds. The disease has prompted 10 governments in the region
to slaughter more than 50 million chickens and other fowl. Despite the
rising death toll in Asia, WHO officials said yesterday it was unlikely
the virus could be transmitted from human to human. They admitted
having jumped the gun in saying tests on Vietnamese victims had shown
some evidence that bird flu could be passed from person to person. The
latest information showed it was too early to make that conclusion.

*****

Study Abroad Meeting: Swedish Program (University of Stockholm)
Pearson 113, 12:00 p.m.

Bios Screening: Microcosmos
Science Center 199, 7:30 p.m.

GenderROOTS (formerly GenderPAC) Meeting
IC Big Room, 7:30 p.m.

SAC Valentine’s/How to Throw a Party Study Break
Science Center, 9:00 p.m.

SWIL Screening: Star Trek Episodes
Hicks Mural Room 312, 9:00 p.m.

Film Society presents: An Invitation to Stand Me Up
Science Center 101, 10:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

The women’s basketball team lost its game at Muhlenberg last night
103-56 in Centennial Conference action. Zoey Adams-Deutsch ’06 and
Radiance Walters ’06 led Swarthmore in scoring with 10 points each.
Katie Robinson ’04 had eight points and also added a career-best 10
assists. The Garnet falls to 12-8 (7-6 in the CC). They will play their
next game at home this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. when they take on Bryn
Mawr.

*****

Today:
Swimming at Washington, 6:00 p.m.
Men’s Basketball at Muhlenberg, 8:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Women’s Basketball hosts Bryn Mawr, 7:00 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Those who dance are considered insane by those who can’t hear the
music.”
— George Carlin

*****

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