Wednesday, October 27, 2004

by Greg Leiserson
Managing Editor

Calling the situation in Sudan the “world’s worst current humanitarian disaster,” students Emiliano Rodriguez ’05 and Mark Hanis ’05 have begun a process of education and action aimed at determining what holdings the college owns in companies operating in the Sudan and divesting from them in a way that “would have a direct effect in changing policies on the ground.” The UN estimates that roughly 10,000 people die each month as a result of the genocide, with possibly as many as one million already
dead. US Secretary of State Colin Powell dramatically raised the profile of the issue when he labeled the situation as genocide in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September.

In an increasingly globalized economy, international capital flows are an important source of investment for development. Both Hanis and Rodriguez believe reducing the flow of capital to Sudan is a key step in forcing change in the country. Hanis commented that in his view “the genocidal regime in Khartoum is only able to stay in power because of foreign investments,” while Rodriguez observed that the administration in power is able to use money from foreign investment to purchase
military equipment for janjaweed militias that are engaged in the genocide. Furthermore, he noted that the equipment being purchased includes some “of the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world.”

In addition to the divestment effort, Hanis and Rodriguez hope to engage in efforts to support HR 5061, the Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act, which has been passed in the House and is awaiting action in the Senate. As passed in the House, the bill includes provisions for sanctions as well as public reporting requirements for businesses engaged in commercial activity in Sudan. One of the challenges of the current campaign, according to Rodriguez, is determining which businesses have operations in Sudan and what they are, a challenge that would be greatly simplified with the passage of the legislation in Congress.

While they have no set timeline, Hanis and Rodriguez hope to get discussions started as soon as possible. They have already begun conversations with Sue Welsh, Vice President for Finance and Treasurer, as well as the student members of the Committee for Socially Responsible Investing which makes recommendations to the Board’s Investment Committee on proxy voting.

According to Welsh, one of the challenges in addressing this issue is the manner in which the college invests in international stocks. Roughly 20% of the college’s endowment is invested in international stocks, but the sum remains small enough that it is not efficient to maintain separate accounts for Swarthmore College with the college’s money managers. Instead the college invests in commingled portfolios in which financial firms pool Swarthmore’s funds with other organizations and then invest the pool of money. Because the investment is in a fund owned by a financial institution rather than owned by the college directly, Welsh wrote in a statement to the Gazette that “we cannot control whether an individual company is held or not.”

While the international nature of the investments may raise some challenges, Welsh noted that Rodriguez will be providing staff in the Investment Office with a list of companies about which he is concerned, after which the staff will open a dialogue with the college’s money managers “and discuss what their policies with respect to Sudanese investments are.”

Rodriguez commented that “the administration and the Board of Managers take these decisions very seriously,” and as the process continues, “[w]e are going to need a very solid case in favor of divestment for this to work out.”
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To read the full text of the legislation under consideration in Congress search for HR 5061 at: http://thomas.loc.gov/.

*****

by Lauren Janowitz
Gazette Reporter

After weeks of waiting around, Swarthmore’s DJs will finally be back in the studio on Monday, as WSRN resumes broadcasting after a tumultuous move.

According to General Manager Alexander Flurie ’05, broadcasting usually starts only two weeks into the semester. However, construction in Parrish forced the studio to move from the 5th floor to the 3rd, delaying the schedule. “We had planned on being up by the end of fall break,” admitted Flurie, but further complications with the move created more delays. The problem was mostly one of scheduling. “There are certain people who know what needs to be done, and it was difficult to bring everyone together at the same time,” he said.

The move also resulted in the loss of WSRN’s second studio. “It was a larger space, and cozier for guests,” said Flurie, “so we used it for a lot of talk shows.” The studio was also used as a space to pre-record shows. To compensate, extra mics will be added to the mixers in the main studio, but there’s not much else that can be done.

This semester WSRN has 160 DJs, and just over 100 shows. While the official start of broadcasting is Monday, there will be a special Sunday broadcast on a volunteer basis. Flurie and his “Vestra Culpa” co-host Andrew Abdalian ’06 have tentatively planned to celebrate the opening by bringing Coordinator of Student Activities Jenny Yim onto their show that night at 9:00.

The studio is currently in “working, but not optimal condition,” said Flurie. Features such as the webcast are presently down, but will likely be running by Monday’s start.

*****

With the election less than a week away and Swarthmore students engaged in a wide array of both partisan and non-partisan election activities, the Gazette begins today a series examining political action at Swat. Today’s installment provides a brief overview of activities planned by the College Republians for the weekend and the period after the
election. Check out Thursday’s issue for a profile of Swarthmore’s newly revitalized Libertarian organization and Friday’s issue for a profile of the organization at the heart of campus dialogue: the College Democrats.
———–
Part 1: College Republicans

by Lauren Janowitz
Gazette Reporter

Often the butt of many campus jokes, the College Republicans have been working hard this semester planning events for the upcoming election. The flurry of political activity this year has lead to an increase in membership from previous years; over 40 people on the mailing list, with 22 showing up at the last meeting.

Despite the name, not all members of the group are for the reelection of President Bush. “We’ve been pretty low key with regards to promoting Bush in the election,” said president Maria Macia ’07, “Our primary goal as a group on campus is to bring a conservative perspective to Swarthmore, not necessarily to support Bush,” She went on to note that many of the members are Republicans for Kerry.

The Republicans will be bringing Pennsylvanian Congressman Curt Weldon to campus to speak sometime this weekend; he will most likely be giving a speech on why it is important to reelect Bush. They will also be sponsoring a double screening of Michael Moore’s controversial film “Fahrenheit 9/11” followed by a second documentary, “FahrenHYPE 9/11”, which was written in attempts to point out inaccuracies in Moore’s
film.

Those members of the College Republicans who do support Bush have gotten together with the Borough of Swarthmore Republicans and have joined up with them on calling campaigns, and will be working at the polls this Tuesday.

As for plans after the election, the Republicans are hoping to bring more speakers to campus. “We’ve been in contact with Harvey Mansfield, a political science professor from Harvard,” Macia noted. They are planning on having him speak next semester on the constitution and conservative thought.

For more information on the College Republicans, contact Maria Macia at mmacia1@swarthmore

*****

* Congressional aides said Tuesday that President Bush would ask Congress for up to $75 billion early next year to finance military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as counterterrorism operations. According to CNN, General Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, said that his branch would need at least $35 billion above what has already been provided for operations through next September. However, White House budget office spokesman Chad Kolton said that “[t]here is literally no way to ascribe a final figure to what we will request” noting that administration officials are in the process of assessing the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

* By a vote of 67 for and 45 against, with seven abstaining, the Israeli parliament supported Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to pull back troops and remove settlements from Gaza and part of the West Bank on Tuesday. The plan calls for the removal of 21 settlements from Gaza and four from the northern West Bank. Parliament must first vote on the issue again “taking into account the circumstances at the time” before actually moving any settlers, according to CNN. In previous appearances Sharon has said that he wants all of the settlements identified in the plan evacuated by the end of 2005.

* Legislators in Taiwan’s parliament debating the addition of an $18 billion arms budget to the agenda for Friday resorted to a food fight on Tuesday when words were no longer sufficient to convey their emotions. According to Reuters, Chu Fong-chih of the opposition Nationalist Party threw a take-out box of chicken and rice at Chen Tsung-yi of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and screamed “[y]ou’ve got no shame!”

*****

Peace Corps information session
Parrish 159, 6:30 p.m.

Eyewitness: Venezuela
Intercultural Center, 7:00 p.m.

Indian film screening: “Akaler Sandhaney (In Search of Famine)”
LPAC 301, 7:00 p.m.

“Israeli resistance to militarism”: Noam Barat speaks about his experiences
Scheuer Room, 7:30 p.m.

Panel Discussion on Religion and American Politics
LPAC Cinema, 7:30 p.m.

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

“Bagels and VOX (Swarthmore Voices for Choice)”
Mephistos, 9:15 p.m.

Film Society movie screening: “24 Hour Party People”
Science Center 101, 10:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

by Jonathan Ference
News Editor

A Tri-College rivalry lived up to its billing Tuesday afternoon as the Garnet Tide gutted out a 2-1 victory over Haverford. In a game that saw several swings in momentum, the Garnet outlasted the Fords and weathered several tenacious attacks before Heidi Fieselmann ’06 put a picture-perfect feed from Lauren Sippel ’05 past Haverford keeper Amie Roe with just 4:12 remaining in the second overtime period.

The Garnet jumped out to an early lead just 1:35 into the first half when Chloe Lewis ’06 took advantage of confusion in front of the Haverford net following a penalty corner, scoring off a rebound that Roe had not managed to clear. The 1-0 lead would stand until late in the second half, as the two teams settled into a battle of transition games.

The teams traded possession and penalty corners for the rest of the half, with Lewis ably leading the defense with tremendous field presence and strong drives. Summer Spicer ’07, Emily Szydlowski ’05, and Fieselmann led the offense for Swarthmore, though their counterparts Vicki Mui ’06, Jen Chu ’07, and Sarah Walker ’08 kept the Garnet on their toes.

Swat goalie Karen Lorang ’07 was once again equal to the opponents’ challenges, stopping six shots on the day. One of her best saves on the day was a textbook kick save on a point blank try halfway through the first period. Neither team was very effective on penalty corners–Swat went 0 for 18, and Haverford was 0 for 10.

Though Haverford still faced a one goal deficit at the half, the Fords demonstrated a great deal of intensity coming out shooting in the second period. Their somewhat rowdy student cheering section attempted to become a factor in the game with chants of “Social skills!”, but an able crew of six Swarthmore students and several field hockey parents rallied behind the cowbell of Mary Mintel ’06 and the winning attitude of Katie Merrick ’05 to make sure that Haverford did not drown the spirits of the Garnet.

Later in the second period, Swat began to apply heavy pressure to the Haverford defense. Though the team was unable to convert a string of penalty corners, Haverford appeared ready to crack and allow an insurance goal for the Garnet. That was not to be the case, however, as Walker finally finished a chance for the Fords at 23:27 in the second, tying the game at 1-1. The epic transition game battle raged anew, though Swarthmore got a chance to put the game away with a penalty stroke at 5:40 remaining. Roe stopped the shot, off the ground to her right. Despite an intense effort by Swarthmore, regular time expired with the game still tied.

Fans bundled up and buckled down to watch two 15-minute overtimes of seven versus seven hockey. Swarthmore controlled play in both overtimes, though Haverford threatened several times with powerful counterattacks that required Lorang and the Garnet defense to make high pressure stops. The first overtime period expired with no change in score, and Haverford came out firing in the second overtime period, forcing Lorang to make a big save just 35 seconds in. The pattern of Swat control and Haverford counterattack continued, and Roe logged more of her nine saves as excitement on the sidelines and on the field grew.

As the sun began to set, the Garnet gained possession again thanks to the fresh legs of Lauren Sippel ’05, a substitute forward who revitalized the offense when she came into the game in the second overtime. Sippel and Fieselmann forced a two-on-one rush with less than five minutes to play, and Fieselmann had plenty of space to put Sippel’s textbook pass into the net. The rest of the Garnet squad stormed the field, the Swarthmore cheering section erupted, and the Haverford fan section quickly dispersed–though not without mutterings of sour grapes about Swarthmore students’ social lives
tossed over their shoulders. Fieselmann’s goal represented vindication for her as she had been unable to convert several breakaways earlier in the game.

This is the second time Swarthmore has defeated Haverford in double overtime this year, the first coming in a 3-2 victory at the Seven Sisters tournament in September. Haverford’s record is now 2-13 and 0-8 in conference, while Swarthmore moves to 3-6 in conference and 8-7 overall. The Garnet finish out their season with two home games, Thursday against DeSales and Saturday against Franklin and Marshall.

*****

This last Friday the Warmothers headed into the wilds of New Jersey to play under the lights at the Rutgers women’s Ultimate frisbee tournament. Friday night started off slowly against Rutgers Shakti, with Rutgers using an unfamiliar horizontal stack offense and talented longs to take the first round of the tournament 12-1. The ‘Moms pulled together for the second game, but were unable to shut down St. Mary’s SMUT’s endzone offense and despite some admirable play, losing 11-4.

First thing Saturday morning saw Swarthmore pitted against perennial competition Bryn Mawr/Haverford Sneetches, who despite being savage took the game 13-3. Swarthmore pushed them hard and made them fight for each point, featuring hot cuts and crucial catches by rookies Casey Reed ’05 and Elsita Kiekebusch ’07. The second round brought another familiar team, Princeton Clockwork. Despite a spectacularly scrappy recovered point block by rookie Emily Walz ’08, the unstoppable handler-long connection won Princeton the game 10-3. The third of five brought the Moms against the favored rivals University of Maryland College Park. They took the first half 7-4 with an admirably tight zone D. The Moms fought back hard the second half with tri-captain Eliana Bonifacino ’07 bidding and blocking all over the place, tri-captain Emily Schneider ’07 providing formidable deep defense, and several nice blocks in the cup by rookie Anna Ghublikian’08. UMCP soon gave up on throwing zone defense against the Moms’ skillful popping and handling, and could not break through the zone thrown on them. The Warmothers were victorious 13-10.

On a roll, the Moms took on Columbia, bringing the score to 9-7 in a game to 10 despite losing Reed and Ghublikian to injuries. Columbia scored two quick points to make it double game point, but the Moms prevailed with beautiful dump-swing offense to end it 10-9. Jenny Barry ’07 was on fire with numerous endzone blocks and long cuts, Reed scored with a breathtaking layout catch in the endzone, and rookie Ashley Werner ’08 seemed to catch every other throw. Exhausted after six games, they played one last fun round against the older and wiser club team Loca, falling short 6-2. Despite how the point differential may seem, this very young team performed extremely well. Every single player showed significant improvement and pushed herself beyond what she thought possible. Expect great things from their performance at Haverford this coming weekend, and Delaware in November.

Thanks to Sasha Laundy for providing the results

*****

The women’s volleyball team was defeated by Haverford yesterday 3-2 (30-25, 30-21,
26-30, 22-30, 15-9) through Swarthmore came back to win games three and four after being down two. Katie Gold ’08 had 12 kills and 31 digs, and teammate Erica George ’07 earned 18 kills and 29 digs. Emily Conlon ’06 led the team with 48 assists.

*****

Today:
Men’s Soccer at Ursinus, 4:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Women’s Soccer at Bryn Mawr, 3:00 p.m.
Field Hockey hosts DeSales, 4:30 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Furious activity is no substitute for understanding.”
— H.H. Williams

*****

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