Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Long-time Swarthmore economics professor Bernie Saffran passed away on Monday morning. Saffran was the Franklin and Betty Barr Professor of Economics at the college and well known in the larger economics community for his regular “Recommendations for Further Reading” in the Journal of Eonomic Perspectives. He received his B.A. from the City College of New York and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Saffran edited the collection of articles entitled “Price Theory and its Applications” with F. M. Scherer released in 1998. His research interests included economic theory and public finance.

–compiled by Greg Leiserson

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The Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility has awarded the Lang Opportunity Scholarship to 5 members of the class of 2007. The 5 winners will receive funding for the execution of social projects that they have designed. Congratulations to Dan Hammer, Bella Liu, Maceray Sesay, Miguel Solano, and Anna Torres.

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* In a tape broadcast by the Al-Jazeera cable network on Monday, Ayman al-Zawahiri, a top aide to Osama bin Laden, pronounced that “there is no reasoning with America, but to force them to accept our position by force.” According to a CIA spokesman, analysts for the agency are studying the tape to determine its authenticity. The tape appears to have been recorded before the recent US presidential election, and included the statement that “[y]ou can elect Bush, Kerry, or Satan himself, it doesn’t matter to us. What’s important is the US policies towards Muslims.” While Al-Jazeera only broadcast segments of the tape, a summary the station released of the remaining portions included a condemnation of Saudia Arabia for providing staging areas for attacks against Muslims and condemnation of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s conciliatory treatment of Israel in a speech to the UN
General Assembly in September. Al-Zawahiri is indicted in the United States on charges of conspiracy related to the 1998 African embassy bombings.

* The US Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in a case challenging the federal government’s ability to enforce laws preventing the use of medical marijuana. Angel Raich and Diane Monson of California filed the lawsuit after federal agents confiscated marijuana plants from Monson’s yard. The legal basis for the case rests on Raich’s claim that since the drug was prescribed by a doctor, is allowed by state law, and was grown within the state and never sold, the federal government does not have the power to regulate its use through the Interstate Commerce Clause. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in favor of the two women, finding given the conditions of the case federal prosecution is unconstitutional. A Supreme Court decision upholding the lower court ruling would likely set off a chain reaction of cases involving other illegal drugs and federal regulation
of environmental activities, while a decision overturning the ruling would impact the 11 states that currently have medicinal marijuana legislation on the books.

* A Congolese presidential spokesman said Monday that the country would send up to 10,000 additional troops to its eastern border with Rwanda after reports that Rwandan troops had entered its territory. Park rangers and local chiefs in the border region confirmed that Rwandan troops had entered the country, while Rwanda refused to confirm or deny the action and the UN mission in the Congo has been unable to determine immediately whether Rwandan troops have entered the country. Rwanda has argued that a UN disarmament campaign in place for the last five months has failed to act aggressively enough to disarm Rwandan Hutu rebels in the region.

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Mathematics and Statistics senior conference talks
Science Center 199, 4:15 p.m.

Food Series on Food in Film: “The Court of the Pharaoh/La Corte del Faraon”
Science Center 101, 7:30 p.m.

Shaolin Kung Fu class
Upper Tarble, 8:00 p.m.

Amnesty International movie showing
Kohlberg 115, 9:30 p.m.

Tango class
Upper Tarble, 9:30 p.m.

Student Council meeting
Kohlberg 230, 10:30 p.m.

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SPORTS UPDATE

Matt Gustafson ’05 was named Centennial Conference Player of the Week of November 29th. Gustafson scored at least 35 points in the two games played by the men’s basketball team, averaging 36 points to go with 12.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists. The team lost both games in overtime and returns to the court tonight at Philadelphia Biblical.

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Today:
Women’s Basketball at Ursinus, 7:00 p.m.
Men’s Basketball at Philadelphia Biblical, 8:00 p.m.

Tomorrow
There are no contests scheduled for tomorrow.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“In mathematics you don’t understand things. You just get used to them.”
–Johann Von Neumann

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