Tuesday, April 13, 2004

by Brendan Moriarty

Gazette Reporter

Ryan Budish ’04 has won the privilege of delivering the commencement
speech at the May 31st graduation of the Class of 2004. Delivered with
brevity at the Senior Class Speak Off last Friday, Budish sent the
message that amidst the reconstruction of Swarthmore’s image by the
college administration, the soon to be alumni should not be ashamed of
their “Swattie” inclinations.

Attendance was poor as about a quarter of the senior class attended the
Speak Off last Friday afternoon in Upper Tarble. With only 100 votes
cast, Budish won by a narrow margin over a more serious speech by Emma
Benn on challenging adversity and a lighthearted speech by Maria-Elena
Young.

Budish was incredulous when he heard that he had won through friends.
“I thought that just about any of the speeches could have won and would
have been great.  I’m really excited that I have this opportunity
and I just hope I don’t let my class down.” He expects to make only
minor changes to the speech before its final delivery.

Class President Matt Williams ’04 was impressed with the quality of the
speeches. “Some were extremely well done–both funny and meaningful.
They were from the heart, which is nice to hear.”

Williams was less sanguine about his class’ engagement in the
preparation for their own graduation. “I thought the turnout was
pathetic, but it was what I was expecting. People still asked me what
the Speak Off was or when it was the day afterwards, meaning that they
don’t read their e-mail or care about class stuff.”

The senior class officers are still struggling to raise funds for the
senior class gift. In an e-mail distributed to the class, it was
reported that only 9.6% of seniors had made contributions to the fund.
With a goal of $4,000 for Jake Beckman ’04 to construct a clock in the
new Science Center coffee bar, Williams described the $630 donated as
of Monday afternoon as a “dismal showing.”

*****

* Supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr relinquished
control of police stations in the Shiite holy center of Najaf, and
Iraqi police officers returned to their stations. The rebels also
retreated from government buildings in two other cities, enabling Iraqi
officers to regain power over Karbala and Kufta. The restoration of
Iraqi power in these cities may be a turning point in the conflict
between American troops and Mr. Sadr’s rebels, who along with Sunni
Muslim insurgents in Falluja, have presented the greatest opposition to
the American officials. One of Mr. Sadr’s representatives told Shiite
political leaders, “Al-Sayet al Sadr issued instructions for his
followers to leave the sites of police and the government.” Coalition
forces were prepared to strike back and try to regain control of Najaf
and Karbala, but the recent withdrawals rendered those actions
unnecessary. An American general announced, “The mission of US forces
is to kill or capture Moktada al-Sadr.”

* Three more Moroccans were arrested for involvement in the Madrid
train bombing. Fouad el-Mourabit, a 28-year-old aeronautical
engineering student, was charged by Judge Juan del Olmo with
“collaborating with an armed group,” after police found Mr. Mourabit’s
cell phone history showed that he had communicated with most of the men
identified to be at the center of the Madrid bombings last month. An
official from the National Courts said the calls “proved he had close
relations with almost all those who are under arrest or dead.” Mr.
Mourabit had spoken to these men beforehand on the day of the March
11th bombings. The official told reporters that Mr. Mourabit was good
acquaintances with Sarhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet, who was believed to
be the leader of the operation and who died in the suicide bombings
when police were nearing their apartment. Mr. Mourabit also shared an
apartment with one of the other suicide bombers and then moved in with
Basel Ghayoun, another man charged with involvement in the Madrid
bombings. Mr. Mourabit claimed on Monday that he was innocent and
ignorant of his friends’ plans.

* Last Tuesday, a 40-year-old pregnant woman in Mexico performed a
caesarean section on herself using a kitchen knife. Reuters announced
that it was “the first known case of a self-inflicted caesarean in
which both the mother and baby survived.” The woman lived in a rural
area without electricity or running water, and the nearest hospital was
an eight-hour drive. She had lost a baby before due to “labor
complications,” and thus decided to operate on herself when she could
not deliver this one naturally. Dr. R.F. Valle of the Dr. Manuel
Velasco Suarez Hospital in San Pablo, Mexico told the story to the
International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.  “She took
three small glasses of hard liquor and, using a kitchen knife, sliced
her abdomen in three attempts. . . And delivered a male infant that
breathed immediately and cried.”  The woman asked one of her
children to call for help from a local nurse, who stitched the cut with
a sewing needle and cotton thread. Then the unconscious mother and
child were moved to the nearest hospital and attended by Dr. Valle and
his colleagues. Valle continued, “This case represents an unusual and
extraordinary decision by a woman in labor who, unable to deliver
herself spontaneously, and with no medical help or resources, decided
to perform a caesarean section upon herself.” He commented that a
mother’s instinct to save her child can make her do some extraordinary
things, but also noted that sufficient medical care could have
prevented such an event.

* Yesterday a ban in the United States on the herbal supplement ephedra
took effect when a federal judge rejected arguments for allowing the
weight loss pill to remain on the market. The ban marked the first time
a dietary supplement has been banned at the federal level. The company
NVE, Inc. also filed suit in New Jersey to bar the government from
prohibiting the sale of the supplement, although the FDA will enforce
the ban until any ruling. According to Reuters, NVE argued that “the
government failed to prove ephedra posed an ëunreasonable risk,'”
supplements law requires. Generally manufacturers are not required to
prove their supplements are safe, and the products can only be
prohibited from the market when the government establishes it is
unsafe. However, the FDA has received at least 164 reports of deaths of
ephedra users, which can be used as an argument against the
questionable supplement.

*****

Lecture by Stephanie Takagawara: “Restoring History: Museums, Memory,
and Japanese-American Identity”

Trotter 203, 4:00 p.m.

Library Career Panel

SCI 101, 4:00 p.m.

Lecture by Tamara Nopper: “Not Black, Not White, but Something about Us
Fits In”

Kohlberg 115, 7:00 p.m.

Lecture by Yasmin Hern·ndez: “Looks and Sounds Like Revolution”

IC, 7:30 p.m.

Talk by Mattie Weiss ’01: “Why You and Your Friends Are America’s Best
Hope to Save Politics in the 21st Century”

SCI 101, 8:00 p.m.

Talk by Tamara K. Nopper: “Contemporary Asian American Politics in an
Anti-black World”

IC, 9:00 p.m.

Sexual Health Counselors Screening: “Y Tu Mam· Tambièn”

LPAC Cinema, 9:00 p.m.

*****

An article appearing in last Thursday’s Gazette on funding for club
sports caused confusion for some readers. The President’s Office has in
previous years provided $10,000 to pay for salaries for club sport
coaches. The office has decided not to continue with that funding for
the next school year, but SBC will be increasing its funding for club
sports to cover those costs. The $10,000 in question represents only
one portion of the total budget for club sports.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

In another impressive match, Garnet golf swung to victory over Cabrini
and Arcadia. Swat’s score of 324 easily got them first place over
Cabrini’s 353 and Arcadia’s 432.

Mike Cullinan ’06 managed a career low 75, while Zach Moody ’07 swung
another 79 and Eric Zwick ’07 got 84 to place them first, second, and
third, respectively.

*****

Today:

Softball hosts Washington, 3:00 p.m. (DH)

Baseball hosts Washington, 3:30 p.m.

Women’s Lacrosse at Widener, 4:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:

Golf at Holy Family, 1:00 p.m.

Women’s Tennis at F&M, 4:00 p.m.

Men’s Lacrosse at McDaniel, 4:00 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to
live.”

–Henry David Thoreau

*****

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