Wednesday, March 3, 2004

by Lauren Janowitz
Gazette Reporter

After a few initial setbacks, the Large-Scale Event committee
finally has a performer–comedian Mitch Hedberg, who is scheduled to
perform on Tuesday, May 4th.

Hedberg, who is relatively new to the comedy scene, is quickly
rising in fame due to his comedic style: his jokes are genuinely funny,
rather than relying on ironic humor or innuendos. He has released two
comedy albums “Mitch All Together” and “Strategic Grill Locations,”
both of which garnered positive reviews.

Hedberg has also been a guest on “The Late Show with Dave Letterman”
over 10 times, and has been named one of the next generation of comedy
stars by Time Magazine.

However, the road to securing a performer for the LSE was a rocky
one. According to the chair of the LSE committee, Jeff Traczynski ’04,
the committee had initially made offers to a few groups, most notably
the Flaming Lips, but all of these groups were unable to appear for
various reasons–the Lips will be in the studio this spring, and thus
not touring.

After that fell through, the committee then looked into the prospect
of a DJ show, to be headlined by Ferry Corsten. They again ran into
problems of availability, both with the performer and with obtaining
space on campus. The group then decided to check out comedians. “Mitch
Hedberg was a popular choice when the committee tabled at Sharples,”
noted committee member and Coordinator of Student Activities Jenny Yim.

Although the announcement is being made much later this year than in
previous years, Traczynski argues that the process has not drawn out.
“From the beginning, we were looking to put on a show around the time
of reading week during final exams. In previous years, the large-scale
event had been earlier in the year, but our finalization is now
approximately the same amount of time (2 months) before the event as
for prior years’ events.”

However, a few changes will be made to the process for next year,
according to Yim. “Mainly to book the space on campus in advance.”

* In yesterday’s Super Tuesday primaries, Sen. John Kerry claimed a
projected 9 out of 10 possible wins, including the prized primaries of
New York and California. In light of this news, Kerry is now poised to
focus his campaign primarily on defeating Bush, rather than on
distinguishing himself from his fellow democratic candidates. In light
of Tuesday’s results, Kerry’s chief rival Sen. John Edwards is expected
to announce his withdrawal from the race for the democratic nomination,
throwing his support behind Kerry.

* Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said on Tuesday that
extra-low short-term interest rates will eventually have to go up, but
didn’t discuss the timing of any such move to raise rates. He made his
comment about short-term rates after delivering a speech to the
Economic Club of New York. Mr. Greenspan said a weaker dollar
eventually should help narrow the swollen US trade deficit. ‘The
currency depreciation that we have experienced of late should
eventually help to contain our current account deficit as foreign
producers export less to the United States,’ he said. ‘On the other
side of the ledger, the current account should improve as US firms find
the export market more receptive The federal funds rate is
accommodative…but at some point, it will have to rise to a more
neutral state,’ he said. The value of the US dollar, compared with the
currencies of the US’s major trading partners, has declined about 12
per cent from its peak in early 2002.

* The Bush administration plans to station American inspectors at
airports in Europe, Asia and elsewhere to screen passengers headed for
the United States. Customs officials said on Monday they would be
looking for terrorism suspects who may be using fraudulent travel
documents. The plan, still in its preliminary stages, is seen as one
way of avoiding the repeated flight cancellations that have disrupted
travel between Europe and the US in the past two months. Officials at
the Department of Homeland Security have begun discussions with foreign
counterparts to determine whether they would agree to American
inspectors at their airports helping with the screening of US-bound
passengers. The airports involved are Amsterdam, Warsaw, Heathrow and
Gatwick in England, Narita outside Tokyo, Charles de Gaulle in Paris as
well as airports in Frankfurt and Mexico City. Six or seven American
inspectors would probably be posted at each airport that agreed to take
part in the program.

* Unknown gunmen have shot dead key adviser to Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat, Khalil al-Zaben, outside his office in Gaza City. Zaben,
a prominent journalist who also advised Mr. Arafat on human rights, was
struck by a dozen bullets. The killing comes amid fears of growing
lawlessness and chaos in Palestinian areas and eroding central control.
Relatives quoted by Reuters news agency said the man was gunned down
after troops surrounded his house and ordered him to come out. An army
spokeswoman said the man had fled the building and had not responded to
soldiers’ commands in Arabic for him to stop. Palestinian officials
have not commented on a possible motive. The local union of journalists
has also condemned the attack and demanded an inquiry. Mr. Zaben became
an Arafat ally in the 1960s and returned to Gaza along with the
Palestinian leader and other exiles in 1994, under the terms of
Israeli-Palestinian interim peace accords.

* A visiting UN envoy, Razali Ismail, has met Burma’s pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Prime Minister Khin Nyunt in a new attempt
to bring both sides together. He visited Ms Suu Kyi for an hour at her
Rangoon home where she is confined, after talks with the prime
minister. Mr. Razali has been trying to get talks started between Ms
Suu Kyi and the military junta, which has put forward a seven-point
“roadmap” to democracy. Ms Suu Kyi was detained in May last year after
a bloody clash between her supporters and government supporters. She
was kept at an undisclosed location until September, when she was taken
to hospital for an operation before being allowed back to her lakeside
home. She remains there under house arrest.

*****

Film Society Screening: Le Fils (“The Son”)
Science Center 101, 10:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Tomorrow:
There are no contests scheduled for tomorrow.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Men of genius do not excel in any profession because they labor in
it, but they labor in it because they excel.”
–William Hazlitt

*****

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