Monday, February 23, 2004

by Josh Hausman
Gazette Weatherman

Summary: Temperatures will remain seasonable this week with highs
mainly in the 40s and lows in the 20s. There is chance of snow
(probably nothing significant!) on Tuesday and Tuesday night.

by Greg Leiserson
News Editor

Starting today, the Swarthmore Living Wage & Democracy Campaign
begins its Week of Education and Action for a Living Wage. Harris
Kornstein ’06 outlined the five major goals of the week as being “to
encourage the entire campus to continue to engage in dialogue about a
living wage…to educate both supporters and non-supporters about
certain aspects of the issue…to provide outlets for those who do
support a living wage to voice that support in a creative way…to show
the administration that this is an issue that students care about and
understand…[and] to request an efficient yet thorough process, which
will end in a vote by the Board in May.”

The SLWDC has been a significant presence on campus for the past few
years and with the coverage in campus news media, information sessions
organized by the ad hoc committee, opportunities for discussion
organized by Student Council and the reserved-students email sent
containing a link to an online copy of the report it would be nearly
impossible for students to be unaware of this high profile issue.
However, as Kornstein noted, students “seem to be discouraged that they
can have no impact on the decision-making process…being aware of
something, and even ‘supporting’ it, doesn’t mean too much if you’re
not going to vocalize it.”

The week of action will culminate in a rally in Kohlberg Courtyard
next Saturday which will feature live music, a spoken word performance,
cheers from the Radical Cheerleaders, and a Giant Puppet Pageant funded
by Drama Board. Said Kornstein, by vocalizing a position “you gain a
certain amount of power that ultimately does affect the decision-making
process” which led him to “encourage everyone who’s not sure if their
support will really make a difference to come out for these events,
because if they don’t, they’re really just showing their complicity
with an unjust wage plan at Swarthmore.”

Swarthmore Living Wage & Democracy Campaign
Week of Education & Action Event Schedule

MONDAY, F23. 8:30 p.m. Science Center.
Film screening: “Occupation”. The living wage movement at Harvard.

TUESDAY, F24. 4:15 p.m. Parrish Parlours.
Tea Time with the Administration. Chat, ask questions, and discuss your
concerns with members of the Senior Administration and the Campaign.
Tea & snacks will be served.

WEDNESDAY, F25. 8:00 – 11:00 p.m. Old Tarble.
Puppet-making & Rehearsal for Saturday’s Pageant.

THURSDAY, F26. 8:00 – 10:00 p.m. outside McCabe.
Call-in & Letter-writing. Tell the administration what you think
about this issue.

FRIDAY, F27. 1:15 p.m. LPAC Cinema.
Collection lecture: Beth Shulman. Lawyer and author Beth Shulman speaks
about her recent book, “The Betrayal of Work: How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30
Million Americans and their Families”.

FRIDAY, F27. 8:00 – 10:00 p.m. location TBA.
Concert for a Living Wage with Kierstin Gray.
Chill out with guest artist (and Bryn Mawr grad) Kierstin Gray. Opening
performances by on-campus musical groups Trio Agua Fría and more.

SATURDAY, F28. 11:00 a.m. Kohlberg Courtyard.
RALLY FOR A LIVING WAGE.
Giant Puppet Pageant. Musical performances by ACRONYM, Trio Agua
Fría, and other students and staff members, spoken word by Emma
Benn ‘04, cheers by the Radical Cheerleaders, speakers, a puppet parade
and more.

*****

* Rebels seized Haiti’s second-largest city with little resistance
on Sunday. The capture represents the biggest success in a two-week
uprising that has driven government forces from half the country. Rebel
leader Guy Philippe, who also vows to take the capital city
Port-au-Prince, has told reporters there already are rebels in the
capital waiting for the signal to attack. In taking Cap-Haitien on
Sunday, rebels said their force of about 200 only met resistance at the
city’s airport. They said eight people were killed in fighting with
militant civilians loyal to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
“Aristide, wildly popular when he became Haiti’s first freely elected
leader in 1990, has lost support since flawed legislative elections in
2000 that led international donors to freeze millions of dollars in
aid. Opponents accuse him of breaking promises to help the poor,
allowing corruption fueled by drug-trafficking and masterminding
attacks on opponents by armed gangs–charges the president denies.”
(NYT) “Our mission is to liberate Haiti,” said gang leader Buteur
Metayer. The victory leaves more than half of Haiti beyond control of
the central government. Panic has begun to spread, and sources close to
the government told The Associated Press that several Cabinet ministers
were asking friends for places to hide in case the capital is attacked.

* Despite urgent calls from his own friends and Democratic leaders
to not do so, Ralph Nader announced yesterday that he would run again
for president this year. Mr. Nader, in an interview on Sunday, said he
would seek to get his name as an independent candidate on the ballot in
all 50 states. Since Mr. Bush’s election, Democrats have regarded Mr.
Nader as the spoiler who helped Mr. Bush win in 2000. They argued that
his showing in at least two states, Florida and New Hampshire,
undermined Al Gore’s presidential campaign in 2000. Al Sharpton, a
Democratic presidential candidate this year, provided Mr. Nader a
platform at his headquarters in Harlem in 2000. But Mr. Sharpton said
in a telephone interview yesterday, “I’m going on a national crusade to
stop Nader. This is only going to help Bush.” He added, “The only
reason he’s running is either he’s an egomaniac or as a Bush
contract…What’s the point? This is not 2000 when progressives were
locked out.” As reported by the New York Times, “the two leading
contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senators John
Kerry and John Edwards, said they thought they could appeal to enough
independents and Democrats to negate the Nader impact.” Mr. Nader said
his campaign would be an unconventional one, using volunteers to
collect signatures and relying on his website to broadcast his message,
and does not expect to broadcast television advertisements. Mr. Nader
said he would press to be included in any presidential debates. He also
intends to link up with existing independent parties in states like New
York, California, Florida and West Virginia.

* Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria and became an
American citizen in 1983, said on Sunday that he would support a
constitutional amendment that would allow a foreign-born citizen to run
for president. Current law makes the office available only to
native-born citizens, but Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah has introduced
a resolution proposing an amendment that would allow a foreign-born
person who has been a United States citizen for at least 20 years to be
a candidate. Schwarzenegger made his announcement on the NBC News
program “Meet The Press,” saying, “I think that there are so many
people here in this country that are now from overseas, that are
immigrants, that are doing such a terrific job with their work,
bringing businesses here.” He referred to the Henry Kissinger and
Madeleine Albright, two former secretaries of state who were born in
Europe and were therefore prevented from running for president. After
being asked if he would consider it, Gov. Schwarzenegger said he “no
idea” whether he would run for president should the Constitution be
amended. “I haven’t thought about that at all,” he said. “I tell you
that I’m so busy with our state. You know, California is a big state
and a very complicated state. Right now I concentrate just on that.”
During the interview, Mr. Schwarzenegger also reaffirmed his opposition
to the San Francisco law that has permitted more than 3,100 same-sex
marriages in the past week and a half. Mr. Schwarzenegger on Friday
directed California’s attorney general to stop the marriages. Mr.
Schwarzenegger said the state’s law against same-sex marriages needs to
be obeyed. “We cannot have all of a sudden now mayors go and hand out
licenses for various different things,” he said. “Maybe the next thing
is another city that hands out licenses for assault weapons, and
someone else hands out licenses for selling drugs.”

*****

Career Services Information Session: The State PIRGS
Bond, 7:00 p.m.

Living Wage Screening: Occupation
Science Center, 8:30 p.m.

Film Screening: Anne Choi
LPAC Cinema, 9:00 p.m.

SWIL Movie Night: Donnie Darko
Science Center 101, 10:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

by Lauren Janowitz
Gazette Reporter

Basketball fans were treated to an exciting game on Saturday, as the
Garnet women pulled out a narrow victory against Gettysburg, winning
60-54.

The game started off at a fast pace, with Swarthmore’s Radiance
Walters ’06 scoring 2 points almost immediately. Gettysburg followed
suit, and the two teams spent much of the first half in a deadlock,
finishing even with a score of 27-27.

The early game was riddled with numerous calls that set the
Gettysburg spectators in a fury, and both teams gained about half their
points from foul shots. Walters was the top scorer for the first half,
accounting for 7 of the 27 points.

The Garnet took control right away in the second half, with
superstar Katie Robinson ’04 contributing 8 points within four minutes,
placing the Garnet in a commanding lead. After trading baskets back and
forth, Gettysburg plunged ahead around the 7:00 minute mark, tying the
game up with just a few minutes remaining.

Robinson came to the rescue again, making two critical baskets in
the last minute, putting Swarthmore solidly in the lead and securing
the win. She led the team in points, scoring 19 in the course of the
game, with Walters right behind contributing 9.

The Garnet’s chances of making the playoffs were ended this weekend,
however, as Franklin & Marshall earned the fourth and final spot
with a win over Washington. The women, now 15-9 (10-7 in the
conference), will play their final match of the season this Tuesday
against Haverford at 6:00 p.m., in Tarble Pavilion.

*****

by Alex Glick
Sports Editor

The men’s basketball team held a seven point lead over Gettysburg at
the start of the second half, but roaring would be heard from the
Bullet’s bleachers at the games end as their team defeated the Garnet
67-63 at Tarble Pavilion this Saturday. Almost 900 people were in
attendance to see this crucial Centennial Conference matchup as both
teams were tied for the fourth and final playoff spot going in.

Gettysburg was the first to score, but the Garnet quickly took a 4-2
lead early on in the contest off of a Chris Loeffler ’04 shot, which
followed one of seven rebounds by Jeff Maxim ’07 and a well-placed pass
by Jacob Letendre ’04. The Garnet held the lead the entire half, which
was certainly helped by their missing only one of sixteen free throws
in the half.

The Garnet had superior defensive and offensive strategies in the
first half and did hit four of their nine attempts at three-pointers.
Maxim and Loeffler gained key offensive rebound that led to points on
the home side of the scoreboard. Jim Dalton ’06 played well on defense
in the half and hustled when his teammates needed it, which helped
Swarthmore to a 37-30 lead at half time.

The fans cheered as the home team came back from the locker rooms;
this gave the team some momentum early on, but luck seemed to be on the
side of Gettysburg in the second half as the Bullets slowly began to
catch up to their rivals. Fans became riled up when the Garnet squad
seemed to be on the losing side of a few close calls; Swarthmore had to
play a bit more cautiously at the game’s end as three of their players
were in foul trouble.

Gettysburg took the lead for the final time with 5:22 remaining in
the game, and a chance at the victory slowly became outside of
Swarthmore’s reach. In a show of support, the Garnet fans were on their
feet and cheering for the final minutes of the game, but this and an
unbelievably long three-pointer at the buzzer from Chris Casey ’07 were
not enough to secure a win for Swat.

Matt Gustafson ’05 scored a game high 18 points, and Letendre,
Maxim, and Loeffler were also in the double digits. Loeffler also
pulled down 13 huge rebounds while Letendre added 5 assists.

With the victory, Gettysburg (14-10, 10-7) pulls a full game ahead
of Swarthmore (12-12, 9-8) in the conference standings. Haverford, who
pulled off a victory on Saturday, is now tied with Swarthmore for fifth
place. In order to have a chance at making the playoffs, the Garnet
need a victory over Haverford on Tuesday night along with a Gettysburg
loss to Dickinson. You can catch the Haverford game at Tarble Pavilion
at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, which will be Senior Night and your final
chance to see some of the Garnet men in action.

*****

With strong showings by both individual swimmers and relay teams,
the Garnet Tide swam to 4th place this past weekend in the last CC swim
meet of the season. Swarthmore had 536 points to Franklin and
Marshall’s 810, Gettysburg’s 730, and Dickinson’s 558.

Outstanding performances included silver medal wins by Andrew Koczo
’07 in the 100 breaststroke and Eric Shang ’04 in the 200 breaststroke,
and bronze wins by Koczo in the 200 breaststroke, Jason Horwitz ’07,
Koczo, Mike Auerbach ’05, and Anders Taylor ’07 in the 400 medley
relay, Horwitz, Koczo, Auerbach, and Taylor in the 200 medley relay,
and the 800 freestyle relay.

Many other Swat students did well, and with the strong showing of
underclassmen, next season is something to look forward to.

*****

The Swarthmore women swam to a 4th place finish at the Centennial
Championships this past weekend, with 463.5 points compared to Franklin
and Marshall’s 748, Gettysburg’s 562.5, and Dickinson’s 497.

The Garnet did especially well in relays, with the 400 freestyle
(Martyna Pospieszalska ’06, Leah Davis ’04, Melanie Johncilla ’05, and
Patricia Funk ’06) placing bronze, along with the 800 freestyle relay
(Pospieszalska, Katherine Reid ’05, Johncilla, and Funk). Tara Trout
’04 also picked up a bronze medal in the 1650 freestyle.

*****

Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Tomorrow:
Badminton at Haverford, 6:00 p.m.
Women’s Basketball hosts Haverford, 6:00 p.m.
Men’s Basketball hosts Haverford, 8:00 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Diplomacy is the art of saying ‘Nice doggie’ until you can find a
rock.”
–Will Rogers

*****

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

The Daily Gazette is published Monday through Friday by an
independent group of Swarthmore College students. The Daily Gazette Web
Site is updated regularly, as news happens. Technical support from the
Swarthmore College Computer Society is gratefully acknowledged.