Wednesday, September 15, 2004

by Andrew Quinton
Gazette Reporter

Diana Furchtgott-Roth ’79, Chief Economist for the United States
Department of Labor, spoke about the successes of and challenges for
the labor force in today’s economy.  Over 100 students packed SCI
101 and were offered an assortment of statistics to show that the
American labor force has seen plenty of success in recent years, then
were cautioned that there are still several areas for improvement.

Virtually anybody who spends any significant amount of time at
Swarthmore soon notices a certain common trait of most of the student
body.  They tend to have political views that lie ever so slightly
to the left of those of our current president.  Mr. Bush appointed
Furchtgott-Roth to her post, so there was considerable muttering before
the presentation about how she would merely be a mouthpiece of the
administration. Indeed, the economic picture she painted was quite
rosy; however, the data presented was quite valid and the presentation
focused on facts rather than rhetoric.  In response to one
question about what the 2001 decrease in occupational injuries should
be attributed to, Furchtgott-Roth asked whether the asker wanted the
official answer or the real answer before offering both.

Furchtgott-Roth began with an explanation of her job, saying that she
primarily advises Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao on economic
matters.  She moved onto a set of graphs showing the recent
successes of the U.S. labor market, showing that our country has one of
the lowest unemployment rates of any industrialized nation (and that
this rate is dropping.)  Furthermore, only 11.8% of the unemployed
have been so for more than a year, much lower than the rates in Japan,
Canada, and industrialized Europe.  Nobody in the audience was
surprised to hear that the tax burden on labor has dropped sharply in
recent years (though they might not agree that this is a good thing),
and that improvements in technology have improved both employee
productivity and safety.

She then proceeded to address the less attractive facets of the state
of American labor, including presenting a chart that was deleted from
the official publication of the Department because of its discouraging
information.  Several graphs showed that America’s spending on
unemployment benefits and job training as a percentage of GDP lag far
behind other developed nations.  Rapidly rising health care costs
are also a concern, as are the effects of frequent job changes on
traditional employee pension benefits  Furchtgott-Roth closed her
speech on a positive note, saying that our flexible and dynamic force
is a big part of the strength of the American economy, and asserting
that “America is still the best place in the world to work.”

A question-and-answer period followed the presentation.  Several
students (and one professor) asked questions about issues of interest,
such as childcare, environmental protection, and employee ownership of
businesses. Furchtgott-Roth was usually able to either provide
information directly or indicate where the questioner could find the
relevant data.  Unfortunately for one inquisitive individual, the
Department of Labor does not keep statistics on levels of employee
happiness.  With several hands still in the air and the crowd
slowly leaving in twos and threes, Furchtgott-Roth noted that anybody
who wanted to leave could pick up an informational book on their way
out and that she completely understood if people had lots of work to
do.  There was a sudden rush for the exits.  Diana
Furchtgott-Roth may now be on the inside of the (mostly) hated Bush
administration, but she hasn’t forgotten what it’s like to be a Swattie.

By Anya Carrasco
Gazette Reporter

Event-planning Swatties, faculty and staff who once viewed space
reservation as their biggest challenge, can now look forward to “a new
and much more efficient space reservation system” that comes out today.

For two weeks the Facilities Management Department took down the Events
Listing site and worked hard to develop Virtual EMS (Event Management
Systems), whose biggest changes include a listing of all reserved
spaces and therefore conflicts that may be avoided, and more room to
submit specific requests.

Virtual EMS will allow students, faculty and staff to browse all campus
events, including classes, for specific dates and times. 
Facilities Coordinator Barbara Tumolo compares it to an online
calendar.  On this calendar, event planners will be able to see
the availability of rooms for the times they need them, and can, like
in the old system, go in and reserve the space through the
website.  This will speed up the process for both students and the
Facilities team.  Tumolo says she will be able to process requests
much quicker, because as soon as they come through, she can meet with
students to discuss further logistics.

Virtual EMS will include many improvements of the old system.  It
will particularly expand the specific requests section.  There
will be fields for requesting chairs, tables, etc. and a comment field
for any special, particular needs. Fulfilling these individual demands
will be expedited by an immediate confirmation of a space reservation,
as the Facilities team can go on to send an e-mail to catering,
environmental services, etc.

The motivation to revamp the system comes from the lack of conflicts
represented in the old site.  The new software will show
conflicts, and will avoid having to turn people down for a space. 
“Now you can go in, see what’s available and request what’s available,”
says Tumolo.  Especially during add-drop periods, coordinating
classrooms will no longer be the challenge that it was.

For a person who receives up to 60 – 70 requests a day, the new system
will help Tumolo and her team operate more efficiently.  She looks
forward to working more closely with students, faculty and staff with
actual event-planning.  She is “hoping that it will give her more
time to help students plan their events.”  “I am waiting for it to
be so easy–and I’m not saying that it is, because there is still such
a high demand–but you’re going to be able to view much more of what’s
going on.”

Just as Barbara Tumolo is thrilled about the extra time to meet with
students, students have also expressed excitement about the
system.  Among students groups most affected by the new software
is the Student Activities Committee (SAC), which makes decisions on
student events proposals.  Charlie Sussman ’05, Co-director of
Student Activities Committee (SAC) says that the committee spends a lot
of time debating whether or not they should provide funding for groups
without confirmation of a reserved space.  Recognizing the site as
a “central space for reserving space on campus,” he looks forward to
“eliminating the hurdle” of trying to fund parties that are unsure if
they will have a space.  SAC Secretary Emily Nolte ’07 also looks
forward to the conflict-showing aspect of the new software.  “It
will help avoid any confusion of two groups coming in proposing an
event for the same night in the same place.”

Virtual EMS will help solve many of the problems faced by both current
event planners and will motivate those who previously viewed it as a
logistically impossible feat.  Students, faculty, staff and the
Facilities Team alike can now rely on a new system that will expedite
one of the most important aspects of planning an event, thus leaving
time for other issues.

by Lauren Janowitz
Gazette Reporter

While classes have been in session for over two weeks now, a number of
students still do not have consistent internet access. The biggest
problem registered is from students who are requarantined each time
they restart their computer. According to Robin Jacobsen, director of
Client Services at ITS, “We reported the problem to Bradford Systems
(makers of Campus Manager) and earlier this week applied a fix from
Bradford to prevent systems from getting requarantine.” The software
was modified to check whether computers are currently online, and also
to increase the scan interval from 14 hours to every 48 hours.

Despite this, some computers are still having trouble connecting. As of
the 14th, “we have 1232 student systems registered safe and on-line and
54 who are in quarantine,” said Jacobsen. She went on to explain that
the majority of the systems in quarantine have had severe system
problems, mostly caused by viruses. “During the last 10 days we have
detected and blocked over 350,000 viruses on compromised systems,” she
explained. ITS is still working on fixing individual students’
computers and hopes to have the entire campus on the network as soon as
possible.

In other ITS news, many students may have noticed trouble accessing the
wireless network in McCabe. The problem is due to a broken antenna,
which should be fixed sometime this week. ITS also has plans to add
wireless connections to other high usage areas this fall, like Kohlberg
coffee bar, the Science Center commons, and the outdoor areas around
these locations.

Says networking director Mark Dumic, “The College’s strategy with
regard to wireless has been to slowly add wireless in high impact areas
like public spaces rather than incur the large expense and support
costs of putting wireless access all over campus.  I believe that
this will continue to be our strategy for the short-term.” However, for
those hoping for wireless access in their favorite spot, there’s still
hope: Dumic went on to add, “It should be possible to add a few
additional high usage areas if there is consensus from students on what
areas would get significant usage.”

*****

* Officials in the US State Department announced on Tuesday that they
will shift more than three billion dollars that had been earmarked for
reconstruction projects in Iraq into security and oil related projects.
Said Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman,
“[w]ithout security, there’s no possibility, as many power plants as
you have, to actually get electricity, water, sewage, power to
Iraqis….And so that’s why so much of this money and the reallocation
that you see is moving toward security.” Spending on water and sewage
projects will be reduced by 1.9 billion dollars and spending on
electricity reduced by 1 billion dollars. $450 million will be
redirected for projects to increase Iraqi oil capacity in the next six
months in an attempt to recoup some of the income now being transferred
out of reconstruction accounts. Highlighting the security concerns, 47
people were killed in car bombing at a police recruiting facility in
Baghdad and 12 police officers were killed in a drive-by shooting in
Baquba on Tuesday. The organization Unification and Jihad, which is
affiliated with militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has claimed
responsibility for the attacks, but the claim has not yet been
independently confirmed.

* Israel’s security cabinet approved a proposal on Tuesday that would
pay Jewish families who agree to leave the Gaza Strip under Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan roughly $200,000 to $300,000. The actual
compensation would vary based on a number of personal characteristics,
including the size of the current residence and income. Sharon hopes to
see all 8,000 settlers in Gaza evacuate by the end of next year in his
“unilateral separation plan.” Before going into effect compensation
legislation must also be passed by Parliament. In addition, the cabinet
must formally vote again next year on the actual removal of
settlements, despite having already agreed in principle in June.

* Results from the first ever national time use survey, conducted
throughout 2003 for the Department of Labor, were announced on Tuesday.
According to survey results, the average American spent 8.6 hours a day
sleeping, 3.7 hours working, and 5.1 hours engaged in leisure
activities, half of which was spent watching television. The survey
sample included 21,000 people over the age of 15. Because the study
averaged together Americans of many different types, including
teenagers and retirees, the results, particularly for work, are skewed
significantly so as to not represent anyone’s actual day. Sex was
counted under a “personal care” category rather than leisure, and was
not quantified individually.

*****

Study Abroad Visit: Internship in Francophone Europe, Paris (IFE)
Sharples Room #5, 12:00 p.m.

IC Brown Bag Lunch Series: Central American Independence
Intercultural Center, 12:15 p.m.

Rosh Hashanah services
Bond Memorial Hall, 6:15 p.m.

Indian film screening: Pather Pachali
LPAC Cinema, 7:00 p.m.

Tai Chi class
Upper Tarble, 8:00 p.m.

PA Meeting
Science Center 199, 8:00 p.m.

Charlie Chaplin Shorts
Science Center 101, 9:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

by Alex Glick
Sports Editor

Swarthmore’s volleyball team fell to the Diplomats from Franklin &
Marshall last night by a score of 3-0.  The team was full of
energy and had plenty of support from the crowd, but the loss brings
their record to 2-7 on the season (0-1 in the Centennial Conference).

The Garnet played well in the first game, and at one point held a 15-5
lead over the Diplomats.  Swarthmore used a combination of power
and strategic placement of the ball to gain the lead.  F&M was
soon able to recover and tie the game.  Players from both sides
kept it close, but the visiting Diplomats ended up winning the game
32-30.

Swarthmore led Franklin & Marshall by a score of 5-1 in the second
game before the Diplomat offense began to pick up.  The Garnet
stayed in the game, mixing in some softer hits in order to score on
their opponents.  The Garnet fell behind and later took at 22-20
lead after a five point run, but F&M became much more aggressive at
the end of the game to win 30-24.

It was difficult for the Garnet to catch a break at the beginning of
the third game.  The Diplomats were winning 18-8 when Swat went on
a seven point run while Erica George ’07 was serving.  After the
run, the Garnet were only able to score 2 more points to the Diplomats
12 in the visiting team’s 30-17 win.

Senior Natalie Dunphy had 13 kills and freshman Karen Berk had
10.  Patrice Berry ’06 earned 28 digs, while George had 23. 
Swarthmore hosts the Garnet Classic in Tarble Pavilion starting on
Saturday morning.  Their first match will be against Cabrini at
9:00 a.m.

*****

The men’s rugby team went 3-0 to win the red division of the annual
Media Rugby Liberty Cup this weekend.  They beat Westchester B by
12-0, with Brandt Rakowski ’06 scoring two tries.  Then they beat
division two powerhouse St. Joseph’s by 3-0, with a last minute penalty
by Jon Fombonne ’05.  They went on to win by beating Ursinus
College 5-0, with a try by rookie Wing Sharif Raouf ’08. 
Particularly great performances came from Tev Kelman ’06, Emiliano
Rodriguez ’05, John Turcik ’05 and Brendan Bond ’05, though it was with
brilliant collective effort and tough defense by everyone that
Swarthmore was able to go undefeated and concede no points.

Thanks to Jon Fombonne for providing the results

*****

Swarthmore’s golf team earned eleventh place this past weekend at the
Franklin & Marshall Invitational.  Zach Moody ’07 scored a
career-best of 73, which led the Garnet at the tournament.  Moody
tied for the seventh best individual score at the tournament. 
Junior Mike Cullinan earned a 77, and the Garnet recorded a team score
of 325.

*****

Today:
Women’s Soccer at Richard Stockton, 5:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
There are no contests scheduled for tomorrow.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to
make me happy.” – J.D. Salinger

*****

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