Thursday, December 2, 2004

by Micaela Baranello
Gazette Reporter

The contest to name the new dorm has closed, and Student Council received 60 suggested names. An anonymous donor gave sufficient money for naming rights, but proposed the contest. A Student Council committee has selected five finalist names, and will submit them to President Al Bloom, who will send them to the donor. According to Student Council Co-President Jyoti Gupta ’05, the whole process may be done by the end of the semester. The finalist names have not been disclosed.

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by Micaela Baranello
Gazette Reporter

After an extensive search, conductor Richard Fletcher has been hired to lead the Swarthmore College Orchestra, succeeding Daniel Alfred Wachs. Fletcher attended Julliard and the New England Conservatory of Music, and has previously taught at Harvard, Julliard, New York University, and other colleges. His professional background includes conducting positions with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony and New York City Opera. The New York Times described him as “one of the most thoughtful young conductors around today.”

“We’re lucky to have him,” said Music Department Chair Tom Whitman. “It’s the first time we’ve had a conductor who was very active professionally.” Most of the previous conductors have come from graduate school to Swarthmore and moved fairly quickly onto professional careers, such as Wachs (who left for the Minnesota Orchestra). Fletcher is already well into such a career, with many guest conducting credits, awards and publications on his resume. Originally from Massachusetts, he has studied composition, double bass and trumpet as well as conducting.

Whitman called the nationwide search “thorough and painstaking.” It attracted 93 applicants, many including conducting videos; the previous search only had received four applications. Three finalists were brought to campus, where they auditioned by conducting the orchestra. This proved to be an interesting experience, including some surprisingly fast tempos from the first candidate and a timpani demonstration by the second candidate. Fletcher, the third candidate, was the most popular of the finalists among the orchestra members, who expressed their opinions at a discussion over lunch with Whitman.

Bassoonist Aaron Hollander ’07 supported Fletcher during the search process. He was extremely impressed by Fletcher’s audition, citing his intelligence and passion for music, even apparent in a brief and tense audition. “I wanted to go into the music with him,” Hollander said. “His musical expression and talent are extraordinary … he’s going to bring a lot to the orchestra.” Whitman agrees. “We’re delighted with the outcome [of the search],” he said.

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Micaela Baranello is a member of the Swarthmore College Orchestra and
participated in the search process.

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* An agreement was reached on Wednesday in Ukraine regarding the November 21 elections, in which there were wide accusations of fraud. A new election now seems likely once the Supreme Court rules favorably on the fraud accusations. Viktor Yanukovich, who won the election 11 days ago, is quickly losing favor in the country and is likely to lose any new election to his
challenger-Viktor Yuschenko. Demonstrations in support of Mr. Yuschenko have been running daily since the election ended and Mr. Yuschenko said that the demonstrations would continue “until it is decided that the revote is scheduled for a certain date.”

* A Palestinian prisoner has now entered the race for the presidency of the Palestinian authority. Marwan Barghouti is currently incarcerated in southern Israel-accused of murdering five people. The announcement of his candidacy has shaken up the election-as many assumed that Mahmoud Abbas, the official candidate of the dominant Fattah movement would face only token opposition in his candidacy for the presidency. But some in Israel see Barghouti’s running as solely a move to extract concessions from the Fattah leadership. Unlike Mr. Abbas, Mr. Barghouti represents a younger generation of Palestinians, who are genearlly more restless and more likely to take to the streets rather than deal with backroom negotiations. It thus seems likely that Mr. Barghouti simply aims to open up the Fattah leadership to more of his generation-and so would pull out of the race after securing that
concession.

* President Bush worked to reach out to Canadians on Wednesday with a speech in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In particular, the president thanked the neighboring country for being hospitable to American travelers-about 33,000 of whom were stranded when US airspace was closed-in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The president’s speech read in part, “Thank you for your kindness to America in an hour of need… Our two peoples are one family and always will be”.

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Fall Student Dance Concert
Pearson Hall Theatre, 4:30 p.m.

Kwanzaa Celebration
Bond Memorial Hall, 5:00 p.m.

Panel discussion: Peace in the Streets
Science Center 101, 7:30 p.m.

Karla Halloway: “Exploring Rituals and Ceremonies of Death and Dying in African American Culture in the 20th Century”
Science Center 199, 7:30 p.m.

French Film Festival: Rue Cases Nègres
LPAC Cinema, 7:30 p.m.

Karen Joy Fowler: author of “Jane Austen Book Club” lecture
Kohlberg 228, 8:00 p.m.

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SPORTS UPDATE

Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Tomorrow:
Women’s Basketball in Seven Sisters at Bryn Mawr, 8:00 p.m.
Swimming at Franklin & Marshall Invite

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.”
–Viktor Frankl

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