Monday, November 8, 2004

by Maile Arvin
Gazette Reporter

If the only interaction you had with Deshi’s (Swarthmore’s Southeast Asian Association) just-ended Diya Week was getting handed sparklers as you left Sharples, you missed out on quite a lot. Diya Week, named for a special type of light, is organized each year as a chance to hold events where Deshis can interact and raise awareness of Deshi’s presence on campus. Deshi’s Diya Week had an impressive number of events—from a chai house to multiple film screenings, a fashion show, and even a Garba dance.

The kick-off event was a chai house on Sunday night in the Women’s Resource Center. Anisha Chandra ’06, a member of Deshi who helped organize the event, described the night as a success. “The concept was—it would be cool if we could [have a night to] read South Asian poetry,” Chandra said. About six students read poetry, their own as well as poetry by classical or contemporary South Asian poets, and the audience of forty or more enjoyed chai tea and mimosas while they listened.

Monday night in the Science Center, Deshi hosted a screening of “Final Solution,” a recently made documentary about massacres of Muslims in Gujarat, India. The filmmaker, Rakesh Sharma, was also at the screening and held a question and answer session afterwards. Deshi co-president Mamta Jhaveri ’06 described the screening as the week’s largest event, and said the film was “well-made” and “educational.” It was previously banned in India because of its controversial subject matter, and has won awards from film festivals around the world. (Read more about “Final Solution” at http://www.ektaonline.org/events/rakeshsharma/)

Deshi screened another film on Tuesday night called “Himalayas,” although it was not well-attended because of Election Day events. On Wednesday, there was a discussion led by a professor from Lehigh on South Asian women’s issues and the law, as well as the popular, annual Mendhi night, where participants decorated hands and bodies with henna.

A showing of “Summer in My Veins,” a documentary by a gay Indian director, was on Thursday night. This event was co-sponsored by COLORS, a group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning students of color. Deshi co-president Rozina Ali ‘06 described the movie as an “amazing” cluster of home videos about the director trying to tell his mom that he’s gay. She added that the event had “a nice atmosphere” and was followed by a short discussion.

A Garba dance was held Friday night in Upper Tarble. Garba is a cultural celebration in South Asia, and the dance (somewhat similar to square dancing) involves sticks called dandiyas. Jhaveri explained that they first held a brief workshop teaching the participants the dance, since only a few knew it beforehand. Fifty or sixty people went away with at least a little more knowledge of Garba.

Saturday night, Deshi returned to Upper Tarble to put on a dinner and fashion show. About ten models walked the runway during the dinner. Chandra described the fashion as including both infusion and traditional looks, and Jhaveri explained that students simply participated with any appropriate South Asian clothes they might have with them here at Swarthmore. The week wrapped up with a well-attended Paces party Saturday night. Chandra said the party was “packed” from about 11:30pm to 2:00am.

Ali described the week overall as “comfortable” and “more about fun” than anything else. For more information about Deshi, contact co-presidents Rozina Ali (rali1) or Mamta Jhaveri (mjhaver1).

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The debate team traveled to Washington DC this past weekend to compete in a tournament hosted by George WAshington University. Julie Baker placed 3rd out of 42 novice speakers and teamed up with James Casey to form the 2nd place novice team. Chris Ford was the 7th place overall speaker out of 100.

Thanks to Maria Macia for providing these results

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*American and coalition troops opened an offensive on the rebels of Fallujah, Iraq on Sunday. By seizing control of two bridges and a hospital, the troops hoped to hit at the heart of the insurgency. Hours earlier, Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi had declared a 60-day state of emergency across the country, which allows him to impose curfews and order house searches. Though an attack last April against Fallujah was called off because of reports of large civilian casualties, the streets of the city seemed deserted this time around.

*France sent more troops to the Ivory Coast on Sunday, only a day after nine French peacekeepers were killed by Ivorian government jets, and as loyalists to this government continue to terrorize the homes and businesses of French citizens. The government, headed by Laurent Gbago, accuses France of supporting rebels-a charge which the French deny. Meanwhile the United Nations Security Council continues to discuss penalties against the African nation, including a possible arms embargo.

*European countries procured a promise over the weekend from Iran that the Middle Eastern country would halt its uranium enrichment programs. But the agreement is unlikely to satisfy the US. If the Iranians in fact do not stop their nuclear program by November 25, then the EU will likely back the United States in its efforts to bring Iran before the security council for its violations of nuclear agreements. The security council could then decide to impose sanctions on Iran.

*A strong earthquake, which measured a 5.8 magnitude, rocked northern Japan early Monday. This most recent quake came only a month after the deadliest earthquake in Japan’s recent history. Since the two earthquakes occurred near to each other, scientists believe that the second was an aftershock of the first.

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Charles Altieri lectures: “Manner as Matter”
Scheuer Room, 4:15 p.m.

Film Studies evening screening: “Daring to Resist” and “History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige”
LPAC Cinema, 7:00p.m.

Study Abroad informational meeting for first-year students
Science Center 101, 7:00 p.m.

Swarthmore College Bowl
Kohlberg 202, 7:00 p.m.

Free Culture Fest: Eben Moglen lecture
Science Center 183, 7:30 p.m.

Swarthmore Chapter of Amnesty International Faculty Panel Discussion on Modern Genocide and Sudan
Science Center 199, 7:30 p.m.

SATO meeting
Kohlberg 228, 8:00 p.m.

Earthlust meeting
Kohlberg 116, 9:00 p.m.

Swing Dance Club Class
Upper Tarble, 9:00 p.m.

Feminist Majority meeting
Kohlberg 226, 10:00 p.m.

Swil movie: “Alice Through the Looking Glass”
Science Center 101, 10:00 p.m.

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SPORTS UPDATE

by Andrew Quinton
Gazette Reporter

On Friday night, the #3-seeded men’s soccer team traveled to Baltimore to face the #2-seeded Green Terror of McDaniel College at Johns Hopkins in the opening round of the Centennial Conference playoffs. The sort of close match that the Garnet always seemed to be able to win this season ensued, but Swarthmore couldn’t keep the magic alive, losing 1-0 in overtime.

The match started over 45 minutes late due to the previous match between Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg remaining scoreless through double overtime before Hopkins won in a shootout. Both sides had a sizable rooting section, and most of the early action was between the intoxicated Terror fans and the frazzled Hopkins security staff. On the field, McDaniel generally controlled play but was unable to generate much in the way of scoring chances. Garnet goalkeeper Nate Shupe ’05 did have to make one save in the 6th minute of play. The first scoring chance for the Garnet came when David Hoyt ’06’s shot went just over the goal in the 28th minute. Soon afterwards, team-leading goal scorer Andrew Terker ’06 aggravated his ankle injury and had to leave the game. He would return in the second half. Brandon Washington ’08 picked up a yellow card just before the half, and the teams entered the intermission with four shots and two goalie saves each.

Play became much more physical in the second half. It seemed that every contested ball ended with one or two players on the ground. Patrick Christmas ’08 was thrown down by Terror players on more than one occasion. Leon Mach, who was called for a foul after taking Christmas down, complained to the referee and picked up a yellow card in the 46th minute. Shupe was put to the test in the 53rd minute after a Swarthmore foul inside the box gave McDaniel a penalty kick. The senior goalie proved to be up to the task, diving to his left to deny Scott Morrow. The tough, physical, and low-offense game continued throughout the half. Kirk Ellison ’05 got somewhat open for a shot in the 74th minute, but the ball went right at Terror goalkeeper Andrew Wu. At the end of regulation, the match was scoreless and the Terror held a 7-6 advantage in shots.

Overtime was uneventful until the 8th minute. Shupe came out of the net after a loose ball but was unable to corral it, leaving a Terror player with a shot at an empty net. Unfortunately for him, Duncan Gromko ’07 moved into possession and stopped the ball with his foot just before it would have entered the goal. But the Garnet were not out of the woods, as a corner kick ensued, and it was off this corner kick that, after Shupe made a diving save on Will Talesnick, Peter Gaitens took the rebound and put it in the back of the net at 97:22. For the match, McDaniel held a 10-6 shot advantage. Shupe made 5 saves while Wu made 3 stops. The Garnet finish their season with a 10-6-2 record, having set several milestones, including beating Haverford for the first time in 11 years, along the way.

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Andrew Frampton ’08 led the men’s swim team to a 78-59 victory over McDaniel this past weekend. Frampton won the 1,000 and the 500 freestyle; his time of 5:02.61 in the 500 freestyle was 38.78 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Jeff Schneider ’05, Kaena Horowitz ’06, Wootae Min ’07, and Andrew Koczo ’07 teamed to win the 400 medley relay. Koczo also placed first in the 50 freestyle, an event in which Swarthmore placed 1-2-3. Anders Taylor ’07 was also victorious in the 200 IM, and Mike Auerbach ’05 placed first in the 200 freestyle. The Garnet (1-1, 1-0 in the Centennial Conference) will host Franklin & Marshall at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

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The women’s swim team defeated McDaniel 88-75 on Saturday to bring their record to 2-0 overall (1-0 in the conference). Erin Dwyer-Frazier ’05, Janice Yeo ’07, Franny Zhang 08, and Sarah Cotcamp ’07 swam to a victory in the 400 medley. Cotcamp and Zhang had individual wins in the 50 freestyle and 200 IM respectively. Whitney Nekoba ’07 (1000 freestyle) and Jennie Lewis ’08 (200 freestyle) also were victorious for Swarthmore. The Garnet will host Franklin & Marshall this upcoming Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Ware Pool.

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Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Tomorrow:
There are no contests scheduled for tomorrow.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”
–Henry David Thoreau

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