Wednesday, February 25, 2004

* Launching his election campaign, President George W. Bush told
American voters they faced a choice between two competing visions: An
America that leads the world ‘with strength and confidence’ or one that
is uncertain in the face of danger. In his first full-scale assault on
the Democrats, he warned voters that choosing the rival camp would mean
higher taxes, stifled businesses and weakened defenses. Mr. Bush made
it clear that he will portray his likely contender, Senator John Kerry,
a decorated Vietnam War veteran, as an unworthy successor as
commander-in-chief of the war on terrorism. A USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll
of likely voters showed last week that 55 per cent would support Mr.
Kerry to 43 per cent for Mr. Bush and 54 per cent would support Senator
John Edwards to 44 per cent for Mr. Bush. Bush also sought to project
the image of a world leader unafraid to risk international condemnation
to ‘defend America’ and repeatedly invoked the Sept 11 attacks, and US
success at ousting Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Mr. Bush also vowed to
work for more job creation and to help more Americans own homes and
businesses.

* Additionally, on Tuesday Bush announced his support for a
constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in the US. According to
Bush, such an amendment would “prevent the meaning of marriage from
being changed forever.” While Republican leaders said such an amendment
was needed to protect the foundation of American society, Democrats and
a gay civil rights group said purpose of Bush’s announcement of support
for the amendment is a device designed to draw attention from his
record as a president. Such a constitutional amendment would require a
two-thirds majority vote in each house of congress in order to be
passed, and would then have to be ratified by three fourths (38) of 50
states. According to an assistant to Speaker Dennis Hastert, the
necessary two-thirds majority vote is unlikely to be attained in the
House. However, the issue will no doubt serve to shape voters’ choices
this November.

* Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, has called for
reconciliation in the country’s Muslim south where 40 people have died
in a spate or violence in the past month, Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra said yesterday. The King’s words carry considerable weight
in mainly-Buddhist Thailand, where he is revered as almost divine, even
in the south where mos Muslims are ethnic Malay and where some resent
rule from Bangkok. The government has pledged to shower the region –
home to most of the nation’s six million Muslims – with 105 development
projects worth 22 billion baht (S$961.4 million) over the next three
years, a spokesman said. At least 40 Muslims and Buddhists, including
three monks, have been killed in 96 separate incidents from Jan 4 to
Feb 18 in the three southernmost provinces, the army said last week. In
response, police said yesterday that they were recruiting 24,000
officers to send to every village in the relatively impoverished
region, bordering Muslim Malaysia. Patrol teams will be sent to 1,600
villages in three southern provinces, where martial law was declared
after the raid on the army base.

* In a bold demonstration of his power, President Vladimir Putin
yesterday dismissed Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and his Cabinet
less than three weeks before the country’s presidential elections. He
made the move in order to reshuffle the Cabinet ahead of the March 14
polls, Mr. Putin said in a live TV broadcast. However, speculation had
persisted for months that Mr. Kasyanov, the last major holdover from
the Boris Yeltsin era, was on his way out. Mr. Putin’s four years in
office have been marked by growing power among aides from his circle,
sidelining figures from Mr. Yeltsin’s years. Mr. Kasyanov is known to
have links with the oligarchs – the super-rich businessmen who made
their money during Mr. Yeltsin’s post-communist privatization era but
have fallen out of favor since Mr. Putin’s election. Mr. Kasyanov had
said that the intense government probe of the Yukos oil giant,
including the jailing of its head Mikhail Khodorkovsky, had set a bad
precedent for the country’s recovering economy. The Yukos probe is
widely believed to have been Kremlin-driven and Mr. Kasyanov’s
criticisms likely irritated Mr. Putin and his aides. The dismissal of
the Prime Minister also means the dismissal of the rest of the
government ministers, although any of them potentially could be
reappointed. Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko, a known reformer
and former economics lecturer, was named acting Prime Minister.
According to the Constitution, Mr. Putin cannot sack the Prime Minister
without firing the whole Cabinet. Kremlin officials declined to comment
on why Mr. Kasyanov had been fired.

*****

Study Abroad Meeting: School for International Training
Sharples 6, 12:00 p.m.

Catholic Ash Wednesday Mass
Bond, 12:30 p.m.

Bios Club Screening: The Private Life of Plants
Science Center 101, 7:30 p.m.

Faculty Panel: “What is Feminism?”
Scheuer Room, 7:30 p.m.

French Film Festival
Kohlberg 115, 7:30 p.m.

Living Wage Committee: Puppet Making
Old Tarble, 8:00 p.m.

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

Film Society Screening: “She-Bop”
Science Center 101, 10:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

by Alex Glick
Sports Editor

The Swarthmore and Haverford men’s basketball teams stayed with in
three points of each other for almost the entire game last night at
Tarble Pavilion, but in the end, it was the Fords who came out on top
59-55.

The packed and lively crowd never looked down for a minute in this
heated contest between the two cross-town rivals who were looking to
keep their playoff hopes alive. The Garnet struck blood first with a
Matt Gustafson ’05 two point jumper, but the Fords were quick to
counter, as both teams did throughout the night.

Throughout the half Swarthmore had some very good passing that led
to baskets, and these plays led to key baskets, keeping the score close
and tension very high. The half ended with Haverford’s holding a 29-27
lead; Gustafson and Chris Loeffler ’04 lead the way for the Garnet with
8 points apiece in the game’s first 20 minutes.

Fans were treated to much of the same tight playing in the second
half. Quick rebounds led to bigger points as the half went on. The
Garnet held its final lead of the night with 2:28 left on the clock,
but the Fords were able to obtain the lead and take possession for most
of the game’s final two minutes. This forced Swarthmore to foul their
opponents three times in the final 25 seconds as they chanced losing
points off of free throws in order to gain possession. Haverford sunk
five of their last six from the foul line to Swarthmore’s four points
in the same period, so the visiting Fords took the win as the Garnet
did when they visited Haverford earlier in the season.

In other conference play tonight, Gettysburg fell to Dickinson
74-59. Although Haverford and Gettysburg both hold 10-8 records in the
conference, it is Gettysburg that earned the fourth and final playoff
spot as they swept the Fords in their two game series this year.

The Garnet end their season with a 12-13 record overall, with an
even 9-9 in conference play. The Haverford game was the last for senior
co-captains Loeffler, Jacob Letendre, and Jared Passmore, all of whom
played very hard last night and certainly deserved all of cheering they
received as they were honored by Coach Lee Wimberly before the contest
began.

This game brought an end to the basketball season, which was
certainly an exciting one! Fans will miss this year’s seniors but will
have a lot to look forward to next season with many talented players
returning. First-year players including Jeff Maxim, Dillon McGrew, and
Chris Casey have experience in starting roles. Most other top teams
this season did not give as much playing time to freshmen, which is
certainly an advantage that the Garnet will have next year!

*****

The women’s basketball team had little trouble last night in their
final game of the season as they doubled the score of their opponents
with an 84-42 victory over Haverford. Senior Katie Robinson ’04 led the
way with a season-high 31 points, but nine other players, including
fellow senior Jerusha Rodgers, also added big points to lead to
Swarthmore’s victory. The Garnet finish with an 11-7 conference record
(16-9 overall), which leaves them in fifth place and one game removed
from the playoffs.

*****

Today:
Women’s Tennis at Penn, 3:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
There are no contests scheduled for tomorrow.

[note: Tuesday’s badminton results were not available at press time]

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

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

*****

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