Friday, March 19, 2004

by Jonathan Ference
Living and Arts Editor

That first week after break is always the hardest. Your brain is
just a bit sluggish, homework is a foreign concept, and the last 15
minutes of those Tuesday-Thursday classes are bruuuuutal. What better
thing to do than kick back? Worry about getting back into the swing of
things NEXT week…the weekend roundup is here!

* Pakistani troops believe they may have cornered al Qaeda’s
second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri. al-Zawahri was one of Osama bin
Laden’s top strategists and is suspected to have played a large role in
planning the attacks on September 11. The troops have someone cornered
in a mud fort in Waziristan, a remote area on Afghanistan’s border, and
due to the fierce resistance encountered they believe it to be
al-Zawahri. The capture of al-Zawahri would be major boon for the U.S.
and divert attention away from the controversy surrounding the war in
Iraq.

* City officials in San Francisco have put in a request to the
California Supreme Court to continue to allow gay marriages until the
issue is resolved in court. Court justices had recently stopped the
marriages, arguing that the court needed to decide whether San
Francisco mayor had overstepped his boundaries by defying state law and
issuing the marriage licenses. A decision on the issue would need to
work its way through the lower courts first, a process that would take
over a year. The California Supreme Court will resolve this at a
hearing in either May or June.

* A recent study on wildlife in Britain has led researches to
believe that species are becoming extinct at a much faster rate than
previously thought. As part of the study, over 20,000 volunteers in all
parts of Britain, Wales, and Scotland surveyed the populations of
numerous native wildlife and plants. In the majority of the cases the
populations were lower than expected, and in a few cases the species
were missing altogether. The scientists heading the experiment theorize
that the impact of humans may lead to the sixth major extinction event
on Earth.

* On Thursday evening, a 100-foot diameter asteroid passed within
26,500 miles of the Earth-the closest flyby on record. The asteroid,
known as 2004 FH, was first spotted during a routine survey on Monday
and was quickly determined by NASA to be harmless. The announcement
created a flurry of activity for professional astronomers, many of whom
spent Wednesday preparing for the event. The asteroid will pass within
the moon’s orbit, allowing astronomers an extremely close view. NASA
officials have not yet determined is 2004 FH will collide with the
earth in the future, but if so it will most likely burn up in the
atmosphere.

*****

Friday:
Living Wage Panel Discussion
LPAC Cinema, 12:30 p.m.

Earthlust Crum Clean-Up
Meet in front of Martin, 1:00 p.m.

Lecture: The Mobilization of Nature
Science Center 101, 4:30 p.m.

Shabbat Services and Dinner
Bond, 5:30 p.m.

“Changing Careers”
Science Center 101, 6:30 p.m.

Ellipsis Coffeehouse
Paces, 7:00 p.m.

Movie Screening: The Last Samurai
LPAC Cinema, 7:30 p.m. & 10:00 p.m.

Sixteen Feet Concert
Lang Concert Hall, 8:00 p.m.

Anime/Manga Club Screening: Revolutionary Girl Utena
Kohlberg 228, 9:00 p.m.

Love Stories Screening: Jane Eyre
Science Center 101, 10:00 p.m.

Saturday:
Pre-Screw Vertigogo Show
Science Center 101, 7:30 p.m.

Emergent Cinema Film Marathon
Science Center 101, 9:00 p.m.

Screw!
Upper Tarble, 10:00 p.m.

Sunday:
Student Breakfast and Quaker Meeting: Krispy Kreme, fruit, and drinks
Quaker Meeting House, 9:30 a.m.

Catholic Mass
Bond, 11:00 a.m.

Jonathan R. Lax Conference on Entrepreneurship
LPAC, 11:00 a.m. (keynote)

Music in Bond
Bond, 2:00 p.m.

Living Wage Campaign Meeting
Trotter 303, 8:00 p.m.

The women’s lacrosse team easily dispatched Neumann College 15 to 4
on Thursday night, scoring eight times before Neumann was able to score
once. Jackie Kahn ’04 led the Garnet with five goals, while sophomore
Heidi Feiselmann contributed three goals and three assists.

After Neumann scored for the first time with 7:31 left in the first
half, Swarthmore extended its lead to 12-1 with 22:19 left in the game,
before trading points with Neumann to finish it out.

Senior co-captain Kahn marked her 100th career goal at Swarthmore
with her fifth of the game. She currently holds the 11th all-time spot
in school history. Additionally, freshman Athena Samaras impressed
spectators by scoring three goals in her first appearance at Clothier
Field. Swat goalie Jenn Hart fended off seven shots in 52 minutes of
play, allowing three points.

The women’s lacrosse team next plays at Gettysburg in their first
Centennial Conference match of the season at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

*****

Adding to a growing list of cancellations and postponements this
week, the softball game scheduled for today against Widener was
postponed until April 27 at 4:00 p.m. The Golf team’s match at USP was
cancelled and has not yet been rescheduled.

*****

Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Saturday:
Softball hosts DeSales (DH), 1:00 p.m.

Sunday:
Men’s lacrosse hosts Manhattanville, 1:00 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“A strong passion for any object will ensure success, for the desire
of the end will point out the means.”
–William Hazlitt

*****

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