OCTOBER 6, 2011 • THE CAMPUS NEWSPAPER OF SWARTHMORE COLLEGE SINCE 1881 • VOLUME 134, ISSUE 7
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PHOENIX
Inside: Inn project progresses amid complaints ‘In the Heights’ writer shares success story Women’s soccer falls to undefeated Blue Jays
Coming Together for a Cause
Students team up with local designers to raise funds for The Trevor Project during Coming Out Week’s fashion show p. 7
The Phoenix
Thursday, October 6, 2011 Volume 134, Issue 7
The independent campus newspaper of Swarthmore College since 1881. EDITORIAL BOARD Amelia Possanza Editor in Chief Menghan Jin Managing Editor Marcus Mello Managing Editor Adam Schlegel News Editor Patrick Ammerman Assistant News Editor Parker Murray Living & Arts Editor Preston Cooper Assistant Living & Arts Editor Reem Abdou Opinions Editor Tim Bernstein Sports Editor Allegra Pocinki Photo Editor Peter Akkies Webmaster Eric Sherman Webmaster
Allegra Pocinki The Phoenix
An earthen wall has been taking shape between Beardsley Hall and the Science Center. The project is a joint effort of Massey Burke ’00, who has has been working in sustainable building for eight years, and over 40 student, faculty and staff volunteers.
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PAGE 7 of the sovereign debt crisis McCabe celebrates free- Following the plight of Greek’s fiscal disDanielle explains why austere dom of speech in Banned integration, European economics may pose a threat to the American economy. Inn project begins, debate Books Week Beginning September 26, the annual PAGE 14 continues banned books week exhibit at McCabe Supreme court to reignite There are finally tangible signs of prog- library allowed students and librarians ress with the Town Center West project, alike to reflect on the value of books that health care reform debate but concerns remain among students and Swarthmore residents. PAGE 3
have often been challenged and censored at schools and in libraries because of their portrayals of violence, homosexuality and other controversial subject matter. PAGE 8
Tyler tackles healthcare legislation that mandates the purchase of insurance, arguing that the subsequent potential rise in premiums will lower the quality of coverage for all Americans. PAGE 15
ity” and “Sex in the City 2,” Johnny warns against the temptation (and the financial incentives) to turn popular TV shows into feature-length films. PAGE 8
Mountain Justice explains its efforts to involve the campus in a dialogue about Swarthmore’s questionable investments. PAGE 15
Letters in student mailboxes address Swarthmore’s When TV hits the big screen Money letters: explanation investments Mountain Justice hopes to begin a campus … to film or not to film? and call for justice wide discussion about where Swarthmore’s Looking at the flaws in the films “Serenmoney is being invested. PAGE 4
Living & Arts The vision behind ‘In the Heights’ comes to Swarthmore
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the man who wrote and starred in the Tony-award-winning musical “In the Heights” came to the college on Thursday September 29 to talk about the passions that drove him to represent the diversity of the Latino community onstage. PAGE 6
Zane Booker brings LGBT activism, dance to campus
Choreographer Zane Booker and his company presented “Joe Beam,” a piece bringing together movement, spoken word and doo-wop to show the realities of living with HIV. Booker worked on this project during a two-week summer residency at the college through the Swarthmore Project. PAGE 6
Scoping out the most serene study spots in Philly
Jen goes hunting for the perfect study spots in Philadelphia and shares her list of cafés that offer the best off-campus environment for hitting the books.
Reading at Swarthmore in the digital publishing age
Susana spies on students and staff members who use e-readers to find what devices are most popular, what types of reading community members do on those devices and what the digital reading experience is like on campus. PAGE 9
Opinions
Sports In heartbreaker loss, women’s soccer finds things to celebrate
On the brink of overtime, Johns Hopkins stunned the Garnet in the final minutes. Though disappointed, the team’s outlook on the season remains high after a hardfought defeat. PAGE 17
Occupy Wall Street needs Men’s tennis shines at ITA more than occupation Regional Tournament The Phoenix offers its perspective on a commendable social movement that exhibits valor but lacks in cohesive objectives. PAGE 13
In the conclusions of their fall season, the Swarthmore men’s tennis team traveled to ITA Regionals. In both singles and doubles, the Garnet can be proud of the results. PAGE 18
current Administration has failed to respond with efficacious measures of alleviation. PAGE 14
After losing consecutive games for the first time in three seasons, it was business as usual for the Swarthmore men’s soccer team as they finished the week with pair of conference victories. PAGE 19
STAFF Sera Jeong Living & Arts Writer Steven Hazel Living & Arts Writer Nolan Gear Living & Arts Columnist Jen Johnson Living & Arts Columnist Lauren Kim Living & Arts Columnist Vianca Masucci Living & Arts Columnist Susana Medeiros Living & Arts Columnist Johnny Taeschler Living & Arts Columnist Naia Poyer Living & Arts Artist Tyler Becker Opinions Columnist Danielle Charette Opinions Columnist Olivia Natan Opinions Columnist Peter Gross Opinions Columnist Shimian Zhang Opinions Columnist Emma Waitzman Political Cartoonist Ana Apostoleris Sports Writer Paul Chung Photographer Simone Forrester Photographer Cristina Matamoros Photographer Elèna Ruyter Photographer Holly Smith Photographer Renee Flores Chief Copy Editor Shashwati Rao Copy Editor Sophie Diamond Copy Editor Taylor Hodges Copy Editor BUSINESS STAFF Business Manager Ian Anderson Advertising Manager Paul Chung COVER DESIGN Amelia Kucic CONTRIBUTORS Victor Brady, Julia Carleton, Koby Levin, Chris Nam, Yared Portillo, Sam Sussman, Chi Zhang OPINIONS BOARD Amelia Possanza, Menghan Jin and Marcus Mello EDITOR’S PICKS PHOTOS COURTESY OF: (clockwise from top left) 1. china-028.com; picturesofpandas.net; effyeahpandas.tumblr.com 2. sunclipse.org 3. sunclipse.org; relaxing-pictures.blogspot. com; kongregate.com 4. animals.nationalgeographic.com TO ADVERTISE: E-mail: advertising@swarthmorephoenix.com Advertising phone: (610) 328-7362 Address: The Phoenix, Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, PA 19081 Direct advertising requests to Amelia Possanza. The Phoenix reserves the right to refuse any advertising. Advertising rates subject to change. CONTACT INFORMATION Offices: Parrish Hall 470-472 E-mail: editor@swarthmorephoenix.com Newsroom phone: (610) 328-8172 Address: The Phoenix, Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, PA 19081 Web site: www.swarthmorephoenix.com Mail subscriptions are available for $60 a year or $35 a semester. Direct subscription requests to Amelia Possanza. The Phoenix is printed at Bartash Printing, Inc. The Phoenix is a member of the Associated College Press and the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. All contents copyright © 2011 The Phoenix. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.
Three years later: responsMen’s soccer back on wines to the financial crisis Sam reflects on the economic collapse of ning track with 2-0 week 2008 and provides his analysis for why the #Euromess: the inevitability
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Events Menu Today Classics Lecture Grace Ledbetter from the Classics department will be giving a lecture entitled: “Ballet and the Greeks.” Ledbetter specializes in Ancient Philosophy and Greek Poetry and is at work on a new book on the Greek Philosophy of Neoclassical Ballet. The lecture will take place from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.in the Scheuer Room.
Inn project begins, debate continues
McIntire School of Commerce Info Session Currently ranked #2 best undergraduate business program by Business Week, Come to learn about programs at the University of Verginia’s McIntire School. The event will take place from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. in Parrish 159. Dance Class/Lecture Alice Bloch will be holding a lecture/class on Isabella Duncan in the context of her time and her significance in dance today. Those who attend can learn some of her characteristic movements. The event will be 4:30 to 6 p.m. in LPAC’s Troy Dance Studio. Sex Selection Talk Correspondent for Science Magazine and award-winning author Mara Hvistendahl will speak on the practice of sex selection across Asia and Eastern Europe and the gender imbalances in those places. The lecutre begins at 4:30 p.m. in SCI 101. Not One Less Movie Night “Not One Less,” a film about a 13-year-old substitute teacher in China who must find a missing student. Pizza and drinks will be provided. The screening will be in Sci 101 from 7 to 9 p.m. Tomorrow Poster Design and Printing Workshop The Media Center in Beardsley Hall will be offering a workshop for all interested staff, students and faculty on design and printing of posters. The workshop will be 10:30 a.m to 12 p.m. Monday, October 17th Creatadelphia From 4 to 6 p.m., Campus Philly will be holding their first annual creative industry fair. The fair is open to all current college students interested in graphic arts, fashion, entertianment, and other fields of design. The fair will be held on the concourse level of the Comcast Center on JFK Boulevard. Quaker Activist Alumni Panel A group of Swarthmore Alumni will be sharing about how their Quaker faith has inspired activism in their professional and personal lives. The event will be 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Kohlberg’s Scheuer Room. Email submissions for the events menu to news@swarthmorephoenix. com.
Holly Smith The Phoenix
Construction on the Inn has recently begun, bringing a radical trsnsformation to the landscape of the athletic fields by PPR. While the initial signs of construction are all too glaringly evident, the date for the project’s completion has yet to be finalized. By Koby Levin jlevin1@swarthmore.edu
After more than a decade of intangible progress, a physical advance has finally been made on the Town Center West project. Construction on the project, more widely known as the Swarthmore Inn, began this summer with the rerouting of utility lines in the field behind the Palmer, Pittenger and Roberts dormitories (PPR), which has turned the previously grass-covered field into a plane of exposed soil. The development has come in spite of a variety of reservations voiced by both Swarthmore residents and students: concerns range from the potential traffic issues in the borough to labor conditions in the proposed hotel. Concerns about labor conditions come primarily from the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), a social action organization on campus. SLAP, as defined by is official website, is “a group of students dedicated to supporting workers rights locally, in Philadelphia, nationally, and internationally.” Within the context of the Inn’s construction, SLAP has focused on ensuring that the hotel’s employees receive wage and benefit guarantees consistent with those received by other college workers. The labor debate will not be resolved for a while, however, since any labor agreement will have to be reached through the hotel operator, who will not be chosen by the college for at least another year. Residents of Swarthmore have even longer to wait for resolution. Many are concerned about the impact the project will have on the town, something they won’t be able to assess until after the project is actually completed — by 2014 at the earliest. Several residents echo the concern that the project will increase traffic in the downtown area. The official website for the project points to a traffic study being conducted by a private firm to
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assess the impact of the hotel, but residents expressed little faith in the study. “When I asked them what the study is going to do, they said ‘it’s going to count cars,’” said Will Stanton, a carpenter and resident in the area. “It’s not going to interview commuters or local people who use the road, and it won’t get into the issue of diversion [ i.e. drivers avoiding the intersection by going through neighborhoods],” Stanton said. Some worry that if traffic increases, businesses in Swarthmore, which are already struggling with unfavorable economic conditions, could feel its effects. “How many of the patrons of our business district will decide to shop elsewhere because it’s easier to drive and park [there]?” asked Swarthmore resident Bob Hall. “The majority, I suspect,” he said. Residents also expressed concern that the bar in the new restaurant will allow students access to alcohol. “One of the most incredible things [about the debate] is that no one is raising concerns about bringing alcohol onto a college campus,” Stanton said. “I doubt that anyone will be able to show me any other college that wants to actually bring alcohol onto its campus,” he said. This viewpoint, however, was met with skepticism from students. “The fact that alcohol is so readily available on campus means students won’t go to a bar to purchase it,” said Matt Heck ’13, an RA in Pittenger. Even if students don’t go to the bar, though, of-age drinkers will. The administration believes that the people the hotel and restaurant will bring through the area will boost the town’s economy. “The Town Center West project will contribute new tax revenues to the Borough, generate jobs, and foster increased foot traffic to the Borough’s existing commercial district,” said Maurice Eldridge ‘61, Vice President for College and Community Relations. This view was dismissed by several
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residents. The inn complex will bring little financial benefit to the town,” resident Joan Urban said in an email. “Not only will it provide negligible financial boost to shops in the ville, but it will provide almost no tax benefit,” she said. Some residents wondered how the inn could act as a bastion of economic success for the town if it wasn’t successful itself. New hotels “are being built five minutes away in Media and Ridley … and our local Bed & Breakfasts are at 50% capacity now,” said Hall. Despite doubts, the project was actually born from the “Swarthmore Town Center Revitalization Strategy,” a 1999 study that made proposals for the economic regeneration of Swarthmore’s town center. The college took six of the 34 proposals and created one project — Town Center West. In 2000, the Phoenix published an article that laid out preliminary plans for the project, reporting that the hotel would have 80 rooms, cost $10 million, feature a multi-level parking garage and be developed by the Haverford Hotel Group. Since then, the specifics have changed — according to the website, the hotel of the current plan would have 4045 rooms, be designed by Cope Linder Architects and be developed by the college — but the basic concept remains the same: to provide an economic anchor for the west side of town (hence “Town Center West”). Despite the first steps of construction having been initiated, it is still not certain when the project will be completed. “The college must undertake a series of reviews and approvals with the Borough of Swarthmore and other government entities,” said Eldridge. “For example, the proposed realignment of Field House Lane, which is required to create a more direct entrance to the south campus, will require approval of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.” The process of approval is scheduled to begin in early 2012.
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Letters in student mailboxes address investment of Swat’s endowment
Week in pictures
Responsibility is charged with taking positions on certain social issues that various companies have and voting Looking in their mailboxes earlier on them at yearly shareholder meetthis week, students found a mysteri- ings. “It’s primarily the goal of [the ous note from the chair of Swarth- committee on investor responsibility] more’s Committee on Investment Prof- to come up with recommendations of itability. What may have confused how the college should vote on these many, along with a photo-shopped im- particular issues,” Welsh said. Committee members include stuage of Parrish Hall adorned with four dents, investment smokestacks, is committee memthat the Commitbers, a member tee on Investment of the Investment Profitability does We hope people will Office and Welsh not actually exist. . . . start questioning herself. “Over the The satirical years, our comnote informs stuwhere the college’s mittee has voted dents that Swarthmoney is going. on resolutions more College has having to do with been making “exKate Aronoff ’14 equal employment cellent returns” on policy, labor poliMJ Member its investments in cies, labor stanenergy companies dards, environsuch as Exxon Momental standards, bil and Northern Oil and Gas Corp. “This economic reporting of political contributions… security is what allows us to be one things like that,” Welsh said. However, when asked about the of the nation’s finest institutions of higher learning and an advocate of possibility of divesting from these the common good” read the letter. energy companies, she indicated that The letter is signed by a fictional com- such a campaign would be unlikely. mittee chair: Cole O. Ciddit (occidit “Because of the fact that the funds from the endowment were given by being Latin for “(it) kills”). These letters were distributed by donors to support the college’s acathe group Mountain Justice, who seek demic mission, these investing guideto begin a dialogue among students lines say something to the effect of, about the way in which Swarthmore’s as a general policy, the endowment is endowment is being invested. “We managed to create long term returns to support the hope people will college mission think it’s sort — not with any of funny, but We have this very particular soalso…[we want] cial purpose in to get people to effective apparatus mind,” she said. start questionWelsh is to be a proactive ing where the aware of only college’s money shareholder, and that one instance is going,” Moun[creates] responsibility. when the board tain Justice has approved a member Kate Suzanne Welsh divestment poliAronoff ’14 said. cy, and that was According Vice President over the issue of to informafor Finance the Apartheid tion from the in South Africa Swarthmore in the 1980s. Investment Of“It was a long process, but the fice, approximately 22% of the school’s endowment is invested in domestic board ultimately decided that Swarthequity or stocks. Information about more would divest because of the the amount invested in each company importance of that issue, because it is not available to students. However, was an international movement, and a list of stock holdings updated Feb- because it could result in positive ruary 23 of this year indicated that change. However, it was a very conthe school was invested in Exxon, tentious issue with the board,” Welsh Northern Oil and Gas, and a handful said. For the present, Welsh believes of other energy companies (the list of which is available on Mountain Jus- that the school can be socially responsible by continuing the current practice’s website). According to Vice President for Fi- tice of participating in shareholder nance and Treasurer Suzanne Welsh, meetings. “We have this very effecthe school is conscious of the actions tive apparatus to be a proactive shareof the companies in which they are in- holder, and that [creates] responsibilvested. The Committee on Investment ity [for us],” she said. By Patrick Ammerman pammerm1@swarthmore.edu
Simone Forrestor The Phoenix
Two members of the Harlow Ensemble, Rebecca Simon on the flute and Cristina Emata on the piano, play various pieces for a concert in Lang Saturday night.
Julia Carleton The Phoenix
Massey Burke ‘00 returns to Swarthmore on Tuesday afternoon to give a talk about her work with Vertical Clay, a sustainable building group.
Cristina Matamoros The Phoenix
The library’s display cases are filled with frequently banned literature for McCabe’s banned books week.
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News IN BRIEF
Around HighEr Education
Valuables stolen from student car in parking lot Last week an unidentified burglar broke into a student’s car parked in Cunningham parking lot and stole some valuables. “I know of at least one student who had their car physically broken into,” said Jessica Cannizzaro ’12, an RA on Willets Second North who was among the first to be notified of the incident after it was discovered. “He had his car parked in Cunningham, and when he went to take it for a drive he found that the lock had been cut into and his GPS and iPod had both been stolen,” Cannizzaro said. Cannizzaro promptly sent out an email notifying residents and the other RAs in Willets. In the process, she discovered that several other people mentioned signs of attempted entry on their vehicles as well. At least one student – Brandon Snuggs ’13 – has been confirmed to have had valuables stolen from his car. While several other cars in the parking lot had shown signs of attempted forced entry, there were no other reports of missing valuables or other belongings. Swarthmore generally doesn’t suffer from this type of crime. When asked what the college or its students and staff could do to improve campus safety, Cannizzaro placed much of the responsibility for safekeeping personal belongings on the owner. “All I can say is what I told all of my residents: don’t keep your valuables inside your car! For the most part this is a remarkably safe campus, but we do have to take some measures to protect our belongings and ourselves,” Cannizzaro said. All students are encouraged to call Public Safety at (610) 328-8333 in emergency situations of any sort. by
Chris Nam
Universities’ admissions seek out students of means, survey shows decision. Therefore, we have no conBy Courtney Thompson crete information about a student’s temple-news.com, Oct. 4, 2011 family’s financial situation.” With slimmer portions of expenEconomics Professor William Stull ditures allotted to financial aid, uni- said that the influence of money in adversities are increasingly opting to missions is a “balancing act.” admit students of financial means, a “Universities have to pay their Inside Higher Ed 2011 survey of college bills. When they are short on money, and university admissions directors they gravitate toward students with shows. the ability to pay. It’s inevitable–the The survey, which polled more only thing that holds them back is than 450 admistheir long-term repusions directors tation,” Stull said. and enrollWhile both public ment manag- Our country is the land and private universiers, found that ties face constrained of opportunity, and more than half education it’s education policy budgets, of admissions professor Corrinne officers at pubCaldwell said it is should reflect that. lic research uniprimarily private Liz Jiang, high versities were universities that are paying more atselecting candidates school student tention to findbased upon their ing students ability to pay. who can attend “Publics do not the college by paying the full price. discount tuition on a regular basis… Similarly, more than one third of the so the parents’ ability to pay does not officers at four-year colleges said the play directly into any tuition calculasame. tion. Privates set the tuition at a high Twenty-two percent of the admis- level, knowing that they will have to sions officials at four-year institutions discount the tuition through many difsaid the financial downturn had led ferent strategies at about a 40 percent them to pay more attention in their de- rate overall,” Caldwell said. cision to applicants’ ability to pay. The issue arises when there are an However, Senior Vice Provost for inadequate number of parents who are Enrollment Management William capable of footing the entire or the maBlack said there are other methods jority of the bill, creating the potential public universities employ to compen- for a deficit. sate for budget cuts, such as recruiting Private universities develop legal more out-of-state and international methods of eliminating financially disstudents. advantaged candidates. “We have rolling admissions, which “They have all sorts of ways of means that we make an admission de- screening out students. If a workcision based on a student’s credentials, ing class kid has a job at McDonald’s inform the student of that decision over the summer, and the affluent kid within four to six weeks, and only cre- spent the summer fence building with ate a financial aid award for those stu- [American] Indians in North Dakota, dents who are admitted,” Black said. immediately, they are going to turn “We do not wait for a student to apply down the applicant who wrote about for financial aid to make an admission his experience at McDonald’s,” Stull
said. Stull said that, due to reduced state budgets, public universities are beginning to choose more candidates on the basis of financial privilege to rectify institutional debt. Caldwell said this tactic would “not even be effective” for Temple. Private schools with such policies suffer by not having a “diverse” incoming class, Caldwell said. Prospective college applicants also take objection with this tactic, stating that it will limit opportunities for their peers. “To base value solely on money is a corruption of the ‘American Dream’s’ meaning. Our country is the land of opportunity, and its education policy should reflect that,” said high school junior Liz Jiang. There are strategies that can be implemented to prevent public universities from excluding students of limited financial means, Stull said. “Public school admissions could be contingent upon meeting certain targets of income classes. State legislators, however, want to get out of business of higher education,” Stull said. Still, Stull said financial decisions can’t overlook figures like SAT scores. Despite a typical debt load of approximately $23,000 to $30,000, Caldwell said, a college degree may continue to serve as a catalyst for social mobility, increasing the importance of colleges finding sustainable ways to fund the educations of low-income students. “College graduation is still the best predictor of future economic stability and affluence but not by any means a guarantee,” Caldwell said. “There still will be mobility, just not with as much disposable income. One thing that we know for sure is that not graduating from college has even more of a negative influence on every aspect of employment and earnings than it has ever had.”
Over 1,000 Philadelphians plan Occupy Philly protest By Sara Schonfeld dailypennsylvanian.com, Oct. 4, 2011
Penn students stood alongside lawyers, anarchists and the unemployed at an Occupy Philadelphia meeting on Tuesday night. “Solidarity forever,” they sang. Over 1,000 people filled the Arch Street United Methodist Church on 55 N. Broad St., voting to begin their protest outside City Hall at 9 a.m. this Thursday. The upcoming protest was sparked by Occupy Wall Street, a rally which began on Sept. 17 in New York’s financial center as a reaction against social and economic inequalities. The protest has spread throughout the nation and the world, according to organizers.In addition to voting on a location, organizers also clarified goals, discussed concerns and prepared protesters for possible arrests. “This is a democratic process,” College junior Julia Graber said. “[I] never felt that voting was going to change anything [but] now, I think this movement has … brought a sense of renewed potential.” “Effecting change in the way our political system is structured … is going to turn out to be one of the main goals of this movement,” Graber said. 150 legal observers from the National Lawyers Guild
have already pledged their support, according to a representative at the meeting. Although Occupy Philadelphia was inspired by the movement in New York, organizers hope to infuse a distinct style to the protest. They hope their movement will show Philadelphia residents how to actively participate in a democracy. Michael, a Philadelphia resident and Eco Justice Organizer for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, said he plans to take part in the protest “because our economic system needs to shift towards [democracy and equality].” Tuesday’s meeting marked the second time that College junior Meghna Chandra had been involved in the Occupy movement. Chandra and several other students traveled to New York last weekend to protest on Wall Street. She recalls walking across Brooklyn Bridge with other protesters. “We just felt incredible being on this symbol of New York and [being heard],” said Chandra, who is a member of the Student Labor Action Project at Penn. While Chandra narrowly avoided being arrested last weekend, her friend from New York spent a night in jail. “Regardless of political affiliation, people can feel united by this cause,” Graber said. For Chandra, everyone can make a difference. “We
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really don’t have a leader … everyone’s a leader.” Many protesters from New York — including ones who have been arrested — were present at the Philadelphia meeting to share their experience. “[We want to] get physically out and present,” said Sally Eberhardt, who took part in Occupy Wall Street and plans to protest at City Hall on Thursday. Graber said she hopes to set up teach-ins that will bring Penn professors to the protest on Thursday. However, not all Penn students see merit in the Occupy movement. While Wharton sophomore Ken Beierlein, who hopes to pursue a career in finance, acknowledged that greed in the industry is a problem, he believes that the Occupy movement is “misguided” for attacking Wall Street. Instead, Beierlein said the real problem lies in businesses that forge illegal deals. Chandra admits that, like Beierlein, she was at first skeptical of the movement since it seemed ambiguous. But she emphasized that “now is not the time to be cynical — we have a bunch of people mobilized,” which is a chance to make a difference. “I’m really excited — [Occupy Philadelphia] really has potential to make change [happen],” Chandra added.
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The vision behind ‘In the Heights’ comes to Swarthmore by steven hazel shazel1@swarthmore.edu
Many students come to Swarthmore with driving passions — to explore the sciences, to debate, to play an instrument. But one of the goals of a liberal arts curriculum is for students to sample a wide array of fields and departments, so that they can define what truly interests them. Students graduate not just with a degree but with an idea of what they want to pursue for the rest of their lives. In 2002, a Wesleyan University student graduated with all of that — plus a play on Broadway. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who visited Swarthmore on Thursday, September 29, began writing “In the Heights” when he was a 19-year-old sophomore at Wesleyan. In a packed Lang Performing Arts Center Cinema, Miranda, along with organizer Ana Rosado ’12, Professor Luciano Martínez and Dean Rafael Zapata, talked about “In the Heights” and Latinos in the United States before taking questions from the audience. Miranda described his start as a writer and actor, performing in several high school plays and even writing a few twenty-minute plays of his own. It was not until college, however, that he was inspired to write about his home. “When I started writing, I was just writing a story,” Miranda said. “As the show developed, I was conscious of how Latinos have been portrayed on stage. There were things I didn’t want to represent — for example, Latinos and crime … I wanted it to feel honest to my experience growing up in a Latino neighborhood.” “In the Heights” describes three days in Washington Heights, an area of New York known for its Dominican population and explores themes of community and questions what the idea of “home” really means. The play opened on Broadway in March 2008 and was nominated for
thirteen Tony Awards, winning four for Best Musical, Best Choreography, Best Orchestrations and Best Original Score. “In the Heights” was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2009, with Lin-Manuel Miranda having written the music and lyrics as well as played the part of Usnavi, one of the main characters. “He’s one of my heroes. He was not afraid to do exactly what he wanted to do. Even though he was writing for Broadway he managed to tell a story that was meaningful to him in a way that was meaningful to him,” said Claire Graham 2014, a member of Enlace, after the talk. After writing the play, Miranda and two other Wesleyan students — John Mailer and director Thomas Kail, assembled a cast. They picked Miranda to play Usnavi, a character named by his parents after a US Navy ship they saw as they entered the United States for the first time. “I chose the name Usnavi because his parents gave him the most American name possible and he’s still crazy Dominican … [this] represents his parents’ aspirations for him. [Usnavi] is a guy who is so happy to get to where he was all this time, which resonates with me and my childhood,” Miranda said. One striking element of “In the Heights” is the combination of styles: musical, dance, and even of languages. Characters speak English and Spanish, switching between languages rapidly and authentically. “[In the Heights] was remarkable because the characters spoke the way [Latinos] do in everyday life. Their speech reflects their experience of community, of home,” Assistant Dean Zapata and Director of the Intercultural Center said. Miranda described his acceptance speech at the Tony Awards as one of the most memorable moments of his life. He pulled a Puerto Rican flag out of his pocket, reflecting his identity and connection to home. Following the Broadway pro-
Julia Carleton The Phoenix
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ana Rosado ‘12 lead a discussion in the Lang Performing Arts Center Cinema about “In the Heights” and Latinos in the United States. duction, “In the Heights” toured Puerto Rico to critical acclaim. “To have the play received very well in Puerto Rico was a dream come true,” Miranda said. “I would come out with the flag every night. For me, having grown up away from home, [the recognition] was overwhelming on a personal and professional level.” The conversation as well as the audience question and answer session afterwards helped students, many of whom had seen “In the Heights,” develop a deeper understanding of the play. “When he came and spoke, he spoke about how closely [the play] paralleled his personal experiences and how much thought went into it. It became more than just a fun show — it became an examination of life in New York City seen through a less harsh lens. [For me] the show became far
more subtle and more realistic,” Graham said. The show and the talk both highlighted the diversity and multiple definitions of identity for Latinos. “The term Latino is an umbrella for different languages, historical diversity where there are many ways of showing different circumstances of Latinos in America,” Martínez said. “People who came [to the United States] in different times have different understandings of identity. “ “In the Heights” aimed to reconcile some differences.“I don’t consider myself a political writer,” said Miranda. “My goal is to make the audience happy and joyful. Any comedian can make you laugh by making fun and drawing lines separating people. It’s harder to draw a Venn diagram of what we have in common.”
Zane Booker brings LGBT activism, dance to campus
By brad lenox blenox1@swarthmore.edu In the latest installment of the Window on the Work series on Friday evening, the Swarthmore Project and the Departments of Music and Dance highlighted Zane Booker’s current piece “Looking for Joe Beam.” His choreography looked to represent the realities of living with HIV/AIDS. After the members of the audience were requested to remove their shoes, the evening’s performance began with a short introduction by Jon Sherman of the Swarthmore Project. The Project, which began in 1995, brings artists to the campus for two weeks in the summer and provides them with resources, such as space, to work on projects that they have an interest in pursuing but might not otherwise have had the ability to. This year, the participating artist was Zane Booker, who is the founder of The Smoke, Lilies and Jade Arts Initiative. Described on its website as a “socially conscious multi-media dance theater production company,” SLJ was founded in 2006 after Booker’s experiences abroad as a way for art to address issues facing the African American and LGBT communities in America. Booker described how the piece began initially as a commission for Bucknell University, but in its current form expanded much beyond that, addressing many issues in the African American and LGBT communities, as well as the intersections between the two. The performance itself was done in a simple space: bare floors and walls and little else. Three dancers were involved, all dressed in solid button-down shirts and pants. Initially, the audience was struck with aural absence; the dance was presented with no music, but
instead, one of the dancers began with a spoken word piece. The dancer addressed the audience with excerpts of poetry adapted from an anthology that included works such as “Tomb of Sorrows” by poet Joe Beam, a gay rights activist from Philadelphia who wrote in the late 1980s. In the foreground of the stage area as the third performer spoke, the two remaining dancers began a visceral and physically charged duet. Like any well-performed duet, the two dancers displayed a remarkable familiarity with each others’ bodies, muscles and motions. The dance was both acrobatic and extremely sensual, with moves that required intense coordination, deftness and physical intimacy. One could feel the immense tension on stage, coiled in the taut muscles of the dancers as they carefully maneuvered and shifted their body weight around one another. The words of the poems were intimate, almost painfully personal. They spoke of past loves and pains but also seemed much broader, as if speaking for an entire community or period of time. As the duet ended, the spoken word gave way to a doowop concert, and the movements of the dancers shifted accordingly. Davon Williams, the speaker from the earlier movement, began singing a soulful and almost loving pop song, suggesting something along of the lines of The Temptations or The Supremes. The other dancers followed suit, and formed a choreographed group, snapping and dancing in time. This shift was startling, not only in its tone, which went from meditative, remorseful and longing in the spoken word to a significantly more upbeat pace. However, the audience was not allowed to get comfortable for long. The dance and song collapsed, and the dancers scattered across the stage area in seemingly
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random points, facing away from one another. Staying still, the dancers counted off a series of increasing numbers, which they translated into slow paces around the stage. Soon, they reassembled for more spoken word, finally forming a line straight facing outward from the stage area, and gave the audience a long and sharp salute before taking their concluding bow. The performance itself, which lasted for roughly 30 minutes, was followed by an informal questions and answer session with Booker as well as the three dancers involved. The director explained their creative process in producing the work, as well as the inspirations he drew upon. Aside from the aforementioned work by Joe Beam, he also listed poet Essex Hemphill and the films “Tongues Untied” and “Black Is, Black Ain’t” by filmmaker Marlon Riggs as sources. The dancers added to this discussion, and they spoke about how the work focused on the experiences of the people within these communities, and the feelings of shame, tensions from expectations from family or society, and “parks as discrete but violent spaces for personal interactions.” Booker said that he was attempting to “take the spirit and words of these other artists, and translate these issues into something relateable and universal.” When asked, he added that dance is a perfect medium in which to explore these concerns because it “translates how people feel” into non-linguistic communication like body language. Further, he noted that movement connects us all and speaks to the “validity of being alive,” and dance as a navigation of space can sometimes be seen as the “navigation of mercurial life. The evening ended with this meditation on life, but also on the beauty of human movement and interaction.
THE PHOENIX
Living & Arts
swarthmorephoenix.com
Scoping out the most serene study spots in Philly F a l l break is intended as a time of rest, a reward for six weeks of hard work, and a promise that the semester is halfJen Johnson way over. In-town, Off-Campus (Which is not quite true; there are a couple extra weeks in the second “half.”) But the arrival of fall break also represents the arrival of midterms, essays, applications, recommendation solicitations and, for those seniors doing their comprehensive assignments first semester, the beginning of Work-in-Earnest. Whether you’re writing a thesis or facing a long mid-semester problem set, sometimes it’s hard to escape the distractions and habits that familiar faces and places bring, to change gears and buckle down when everything around you feels the same. If you find yourself in a study rut that insists to persist, bite the bullet, buy a train ticket and give yourself a little spatial separation from Swarthmore: go study in a café in Philly. Here are some favorites, organized by train station. 49th Street/University City Stations Green Line Café. The Green Line Café is probably the best-known cafe in University City for a reason: it provides variety, quality and atmosphere in each of its three locations. The name comes from the “green line” trolleys that run through West Philly, and two of the three branches are located along green line routes. All of the Green Line’s coffee and tea is organic- and fair trade-certified, and many of the foodstuffs that aren’t housemade are from top-quality local producers. The baked goods are all exceptionally tempting; the vegan and gluten-free cupcakes would test the resolve of even the most ardent Crisco-and-wheat purists. As “West Philly’s neighborhood stop for coffee, culture and conversation,” the Green Line isn’t the quietest place to study, but it has a nice energy and community feel. The Baltimore Avenue location is catty-corner from Clark Park, and the larger 45th & Locust branch has free live music on Saturdays, as well as on some weeknights. Of the three, only the Baltimore Avenue location does not have free wireless internet access. The local art on the walls, which changes routinely, is available for purchase. Three locations: 43rd & Baltimore Avenue, 45th & Locust Street, and 3649 Lancaster Avenue. Earth Cup Café. The Earth Cup Café feels like the smaller, more spartan cousin of the Green Line. Like its neighbor, it offers fair trade coffee in a cup or by the pound, as well as local and house-baked goods, including some for people with dietary restrictions. Unlike its neighbor, it doesn’t have much seating, a broad menu or wireless internet. It does have some creative tea drinks, however, and, more importantly, an ele-
vated wood patio next to the restaurant where, on a nice day, you can sit under a tree and feel the autumn breeze, at once in a city and far from the hustle. 405 South 45th Street, between Osage and Pine. Milk & Honey Market. Two blocks west of the Baltimore Avenue Green Line, Milk & Honey Market promotes itself as an old-fashioned neighborhood grocery store, where you can get dry beans and fresh bread, local milk, eggs, meat and vegetables. It also has an impressive charcuterie case, a well-curated selection of local and imported cheeses and all of the offerings of a good café. The quality and variety of the ingredients Milk & Honey stocks for purchase logically extend to their sandwiches: You can build your own sandwich from Metropolitan Bakery bread, Shellbark Hollows cheese, Prosciutto di Parma … all the best, as you like. If you’re not in the mood for coffee with your studies, try a milk & honey steamer or the hot apple cider in season. Outdoor seating is available when the weather is fair; if you go during a less busy time, take advantage of one of the spacious, low wooden tables to spread out your study materials. Free wireless internet. 4425 Baltimore Avenue. Kaffa Crossing. Up in the 4400-block of Chestnut, Kaffa Crossing is smack in the middle of a cluster of falafel and hookah houses. One side of the street is residential and the other commercial. Waves of traffic make Chestnut feel full, and then empty and then full again. In other words, the immediate neighborhood can’t quite make up its mind. Kaffa Crossing embodies this tendency but does so in a way that feels much more coherent than its environs. Whether it’s primarily an Ethiopian restaurant or a coffee shop is up for debate, but it is certainly the only Ethiopian restaurant in West Philly where you can order a fair trade Ethiopian macchiato. Stay in the large, bright front windows all day and watch Penn students and faculty and members of the local Ethiopian community come, study, relax and eventually go. You’re assured a good cup of coffee here, as well as a meal. All of the vegetarian dishes are also suitable for vegans, but there are no gluten-free options here. Free wireless internet. 4423 Chestnut Street.
Market East Station La Colombe Torréfaction. This center of the Philadelphia boutique coffee world is in the middle of it all: if you prefer suits as the target of your people watching, this is where to be. The coffee is top notch and the environment is urban and energetic, but the location and the popularity of this café make it better for study stretches of less than three hours; the average cafe patron turnover is a little faster in Center City. No wireless internet. 1414 South Penn Square — even the address has swagger. Other location, 130 S. 19th Street. Cake & The Beanstalk. Just three blocks away from Market East Station, this is a place where you could spend the day before meeting friends for an evening in Center City. While it’s still close to the action — in the boutiquefilled area west of Washington Square — it doesn’t feel nearly as chaotic as the city around it, and unlike at La Co-
THE PHOENIX
Photo courtesy of visitphilly.com
lombe Torréfaction, it gives the sense that lingering is encouraged. Cake & The Beanstalk features coffee from the local Chestnut Hill Coffee Roasters, but the highlight might be the pastries: this is a bakery-café, and the owner has serious pastry credentials. He has applied his skills to vegan & gluten-free baked goods as well, with delightful results. If you spend the day here, you may have to pace yourself on cupcakes as well as coffee. Free wireless internet. 1112 Locust Street. Market East Station & Broad Street Line (South Street & further south) Café L’Aube. In the quieter, 50-seatrestaurants section of South Street, Café L’Aube is an ideal study spot for French majors. It’s fairly quiet around noon; the background buzz is French music, French speakers, and the delicate preparation of good French crêpes. Even if your intent is not to linger and study, Café L’Aube would be an excellent place to stop in for a modestly priced lunch on South Street. Free wireless internet. 1512 South Street. Brew (formerly Ultimo). This
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South Philly gem associated with the South Philly Tap Room can boast of being the only boutique coffee and beer shop in the city. To get there you’ll have to pick up the Broad Street Line at Walnut-Locust Station and take it down to Snyder Station (or Tasker-Morris– it’s three blocks instead of two). Brew is two blocks back towards center city, and one block west, at the intersection of 15th and Mifflin. Once you’re there, you’ll be decidedly a world away from Swat — though whether artisan beers and a single-origin fair trade cappucino remind you of Swarthmore or make you feel a world away will depend on your perspective. Brew is bright and clean inside without feeling sterile; as the only coffee shop with this bent in the neighborhood, its modest seating area is usually well populated, but you should be able to find a seat. 1900 S. 15th Street. For more information about train tickets, maps and directions, as well as more recommendations of places to eat, shop and explore, please visit In-Town, Off-campus on The Phoenix website at swarthmorephoenix.com.
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Living & Arts
swarthmorephoenix.com
When TV hits the big screen ... to film or not to film?
The trend of continuing a popular television series as a feature film is by no means a new phenomenon in the entertainment industry. After all, the bizarrely successful “Batman” series of the 1960’s spawned its own equally bizarre 1966 movie starring the legendary Adam West. Nevertheless, does seem to be an Johnny Taeschler there increasing move to transViewer Discretion Advised plant beloved shows onto the big screen. At a time when studios are looking to maximize profits by slavishly adhering to brand names (see the relentless onslaught of terrible sequels and remakes flooding the multiplex — who exactly was clamoring for a fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie?), it appears to be a financially sound decision to rely on the established popularity of a long-running series. As a result, numerous showrunners, some more foolishly optimistic than others, have recently announced plans to revive their old shows. To name just a few, the creators of “Entourage,” “24,” “Arrested Development,” and “Friday Night Lights” have all expressed interest in expanding their series to a feature-length format. These promises, however, have left me with feelings of dread rather than hopeful anticipation. Past forays into this conversion process have repeatedly proven that there can be too much of a good thing. While I do agree that the creative minds behind a television series need to adapt their storytelling approach to fit the demands of a two-hour film, such modifications have more often than not been a detriment to the quality of these movies. Consequently, the resultant films only serve to tarnish the reputations of shows that had strived for hours to win over viewers. Here are two shows that for different reasons have produced lackluster results on the big screen and serve as a warning for showrunners who are currently in danger of running their successful series into the ground. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, two new
shows would come to define HBO as the home of quality cable programming, free to air without the scheduling and creative restrictions imposed by the broadcast networks. One was “The Sopranos,” the brilliant New Jersey mafia saga that quickly became a critical and commercial success. The other was “Sex and the City.” Yes, some might scoff at the comparatively frothy “Sex and the City” being mentioned in the same context as the dramatic powerhouse of “The Sopranos,” but the former show managed a careful balancing act over its six-season run. Deftly flowing between moments of absurdist comedy (a politico suitor, played by a pre-“Mad Men” John Slattery, revealing a secret urine fetish) and touching drama (Carrie walking the single Miranda down the aisle at her mother’s funeral), “Sex and the City” beautifully juxtaposed the wild tumult of dating in a modern city with the ladies’ steadfast bonds of friendship. I will concede that “Sex and the City” did have some minor flaws. At times, the show could be overly materialistic and frivolous; the dating frustrations of four welloff women can only carry so much gravity. Rather than addressing these flaws, which the first movie largely succeeded in accomplishing (hello Jennifer Hudson!), “Sex and the City 2” took the opposite approach and indulged them. Filmed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the second movie’s primary storyline about the ladies taking a lavish vacation to Abu Dhabi bordered on insulting. It’s true that the original series also reveled in the allure of an opulent lifestyle (pairs of Manolos aren’t exactly cheap), but it never displaced the emotional dilemmas of its main characters, and if you really wanted a brutally realistic show in the first place, you should have been watching “The Wire.” In “Sex and the City 2,” the hardships that the women are forced to overcome are basically reduced to dealing with the boredom of married life (after only 2 years!), and in the case of Samantha, trying to have sex in the socially conservative society of Abu Dhabi. What was presumably designed as a light escape in actuality became a self-indulgent, occasionally xenophobic, and utterly unnecessary undertaking. Whereas the second “Sex and the City” movie maligned the reputation of the original series through sheer awfulness, “Serenity,” the film continuation of
the underappreciated space opera “Firefly,” drastically changed the show’s tone to fit the requisites of the big screen. During its one season on Fox, “Firefly” distinguished itself as a straddler of genres, a sci-fi western with the sly sense of humor characteristic of its creator Joss Whedon. Even though “Firefly” boasted sharp writing and a fantastic ensemble cast led by Nathan Fillion as a spaceship captain in the vein of Han Solo, the series ultimately proved to be too outlandish for a mainstream audience (see the recent box office failure of the similarly themed “Cowboys & Aliens”) and was swiftly cancelled after a mere twelve episodes. “Firefly” ended its brief run in 2002, but Whedon gave despairing fans new hope when he announced that a film version would be released in 2005. “Serenity” is by no means the critical debacle that “Sex and the City 2” represented; in fact, it’s quite entertaining. My main complaint is that Whedon, whether of his own volition or under pressure from studio executives, decided to alter several elements that had made the television series so compelling. In comparison to the frequently lighthearted “Firefly,” the humor in “Serenity” often takes a backseat to the exigencies of the action, a likely product of the studio’s attempt to market a typical space adventure film. Moreover, the roles of several supporting cast members are severely diminished, most noticeably Ron Glass’s Book and Alan Tudyk’s Wash, so that Nathan Fillion could take center stage as the movie’s hero. I totally agree that Fillion has the talent to assume such a role (I’m thrilled to see him working steadily on ABC’s “Castle”) but not when it reduces previously nuanced portrayals to simple stereotypes. So please, Kiefer Sutherland, reconsider stepping into Jack Bauer’s shoes once again. The show is called “24” for a reason; changing that concept will turn it into just another action movie, and the last time I checked, “The Sentinel” wasn’t added to the National Film Registry. And Mitch Hurwitz, “Arrested Development” worked so well because it explored areas normally considered taboo on a broadcast show (incest, physical handicaps, shamelessly unsympathetic characters, Cornballer injuries). Is it really worth sterilizing such biting comedy to find a larger audience? Both creators and fans will benefit in the long run by leaving these shows on the small screen where they belong.
McCabe celebrates freedom of speech in Banned Books Week Head of Reference at McCabe Library, explained the purpose of this event. “We want to use this chance to remind people Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” topped the value of the freedom of speech and The New York Times Best Seller List in how important it is to protect all opin2005 and impressed readers with both ions, even when they are the ones we the superhuman abilities of its super- don’t agree with,” she said. “We hope to natural characters and the budding have all perspectives available for peoromance between a seventeen-year-old ple to look at so that they can make up young girl and a vampire. However, this their own lines.” Most of the books are banned for their novel, which enjoyed great popularity around the world, is now listed as one of sexual content or for religious reasons. the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of Sometimes, graphic description of vio2010. This annual challenged-books list, lence and controversial views on racial released by the American Library Asso- issues also cause opposition to certain ciation Office, is based on the complaints books. Harris points out that banned about the books from students, parents books still have great value for readers. and organizations. Some of the books They can sometimes change readers’ on the list are removed or restricted in perspectives greatly. “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison, is a some public schools or libraries. Saturday September 24 marked the novel based on the true story of a woman who escaped beginning of the slavery in 1856. annual Banned Because of its Books Week, organized by We want to ... remind people brutal description of the abuse the American of the value of freedom of of humans and Library Association. Students speech and how important it the mention of bestiality and who come to the is to protect all opinions. sexual abuse, MaCabe library Pamela Harris, Librarian this book has during this time been banned. period can read “This book or get to know changed my life,” the books which have been banned in other places. It’s Harris said. “It changed the way I saw an annual event, usually held in the last history. The way I had been taught histoweek of September. Pamela Harris, the ry is very different from the way history By Chi Zhang czhang1@swarthmore.edu
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is taught recently. This really opened my of their responsibility to provide inforeyes. It makes slavery look as horrible as mation and enlightenment.” it really was.” She also thinks that there are better Catherine Park ‘13 read “Brideshead approaches to books that contain diffiRevisited,” also a banned book, in an cult or controversial subject matter. “InEnglish class at the college. This book stead of banning books, if people have an has been banned because of its portrayal issue with what is printed in a book and of homosexuality. However, Park be- the book is very popular, they should lieves the book’s read the book value lies in this and talk about portrayal. what makes them Libraries should challenge “It’s imporuncomf ortab l e tant for people censorship in ... their respon- rather than preto realize that tending it doesn’t homosexuality sibility to provide information exist,” she said. is not the only The library, as and enlightenment. perspective that well as the whole Library Bill of Rights we should look at college, provides in the book. We students with a should acknowlplatform to lisedge that while ten to all kinds some people may be opposed to the ho- of voices and shows how the freedom of mosexuality context, there are also other speech is respected. things in the book.” Shawn Noh ‘14 agreed. “Students The college will not ban any kind of can freely talk about their ideas all the book. Instead, starting this Monday, time,” he said. “On academics, for exam40,000 new titles are available to stu- ple, students don’t need to agree with the dents on Tripod. Covering a wide range professors.” of topics, this resource of electronic Park also believes that open discusbooks brings students a great number of sions on campus provide space for mulnew opinions in an efficient and conve- tiple viewpoints. nient way. “There is more than one side to look Harris states that it is her duty to at ... Rather than just saying I know question censorship. She agrees with about something, I am trying to underthe the Article Three of the Library Bill stand all the different reasons behind of Rights which states, “Libraries should the issues,” she said. “This way helps me challenge censorship in the fulfillment look at things objectively.”
October 6, 2011
THE PHOENIX
Living & Arts Reading at Swarthmore in the digital publishing age
swarthmorephoenix.com
Like a Triple-A creeper, your beautiful columnist has hunted down the people on campus who use e-readers, invading their personal space for your edification. I talked to these individuals with the goal of discovering 1) What devices they used, 2) Their e-reading experience and 3) Whether they Susana Medeiros use them for school. By checking in with SwatFour Eyed Literati ties, Swattie staff and my handy Google eReader, I hope to provide all the latest news in college e-reading preferences. What Swatties use: The iPad reigns supreme on campus, at least from a visibility standpoint, as the most popular e-reading device students use. This might change with the release of the magnificent Kindle Fire in November, so don’t subscribe to the Apple fervor anytime soon, folks. But in the meantime, iPad users, enjoy your supremacy, even if it doesn’t really seem to involve a whole lot of reading. Fruit Ninja et al. indeed has a place in the luxurious iPad lifestyle, though news feeds and e-books (mostly from the Gutenberg Library, where one can download books in the public domain) were also largely featured. I interrupted one student reading The Economist, the only paid subscription he gets on his iPad. He recommended using Pulse, an aesthetically pleasing and free app that allows you to look at various news feeds side by side (our friend liked comparing the Huffington Post and Fox News, with predictably hilarious results.) Another student, whose iPad featured a nifty USB keyboard, admitted that she mainly uses the device to check up on her RSS feeds (a convenient conglomerate of articles or blog posts from a specific website) not books, so now I’m trying really hard not to judge. The Nook, produced by Barnes and Noble, appears to be a favorite for at least one student and one staff
member I spoke with the other day — that is, as long as you ignore the Nook color, which is slow to refresh, and has some of the same glare problems beach readers have found using the iPad. They lauded the minimalist features, automatic updates (as opposed to the Kindle, which requires you buy the latest version for any improvements/updates/patches or the like) and customer service. It was reassuring, they felt, to purchase this expensive ticket item (currently $249 for the Nook color, $139 for the standard) at a brick-andmortar store, where sales associates could offer suggestions and provide tutorials. My Kindle correspondent, a close and particularly “scandalous” friend of mine, admitted that she only uses her Kindle on vacation. Whether downloading trashy, free e-books on the beaches of Spain or wirelessly uploading PDFs and documents from her laptop in Berlin, my Kindle girl — unlike many a good Swattie — knows how to relax. Take note, my friends: all work and no play makes Phineas a dull phoenix, so what better way to take a break from all your required reading than picking out a book to read for fun? Swattie e-reading experience: Even the eco-friendly side of me can’t get past the fact that e-publications are depressingly digital — how do I tab pages, take notes, highlight passages, or draw little hearts and exclamation points in the margins of touching prose? What does an e-reader have to offer that print books don’t? For that matter, what makes people purchase this bastard child of the laptop with a smartphone, MP3 player and computer already in tow? The Swatties I talked to didn’t have the same concerns as I did, seeming to favor their devices as a supplement to — and not a replacement of — their other devices. One iPad-wielding first-year admitted that the device was “better for consuming than producing,” and could never replace his laptop. Digital note-taking also appears to be more daunting to technophobes than eReader owners, who didn’t neglect to mention that their devices have the capabilities to highlight, take notes, add post-its, etc, often with the click of a button or a touch of the finger (though some eReaders won’t allow you to highlight PDFs). Like magic, you never have to worry that you mis-
spelled ‘weird’ in your textbook, dooming you to eternal shame should you resell it to the Bookstore. E-textbooks and Swarthmore resources There has been a huge effort by e-reader and tablet producers to encourage college students (that’s us, guys!) to buy e-textbooks, and thus sucker a bunch of young, smart consumers into the e-reader market. Personally I’m not psyched by the prospect of etextbooks, largely because I feel like the ability to lug around a 2,000-page volume of “The Complete Works of Shakespeare” is what distinguishes the best from the rest. Besides, studies have shown that students, even when provided free eReaders and textbooks, find navigation and note-taking so hazardous (a study last year at Princeton and UVirginia tested the Kindle) that they’ll use and/or purchase the physical thing. However, should you choose to take advantage of them, there are a bunch of resources at Swat that lend to the e-reading experience. I’ve used plenty, in fact, without ever needing one of those newfangled technologies. Tripod offers a ton of e-books across a wide range of subjects, which is really awesome as an alternative to waiting around for that one greedy person to please return the frickin’ reserves book. The college bookstore’s new rental policy may have overshadowed some of its other offerings, namely, the fact that (last year?) Swarthmore was invited to participate in a pilot program for delivery of digital books for colleges & universities, which means if you go on the Swarthmore website, you can download eReader software (Adobe Digital Editions) and start reading Kafka and Oscar Wilde like a pro. You can get eBooks for certain required schoolbooks too, which is awesome because they come with a 40% discount perfect for justifying the purchase of a stuffed microbe. If to eRead or not to eRead is the question, then I’m too indecisive to answer it. Both require sacrifice, and both have their flaws. But if you can allow me to get gushy, the important thing is that you read, no matter how you achieve that captivating experience. McCabe is open seven days a week, and I’d like to see a few more smiles on all those dull, tired faces. Susana is a sophomore. You can reach her at smedeir1@swarthmore.edu.
Around HighEr Education
Haverford alum reflects on prize-winning poetry Pollock began to find answers in poetry, especially that of the AfricanAmerican poet Robert Hayden, that Iain Haley Pollock ’00, with dread- would help lead him in the right direclocks falling expressively onto his shoul- tion to carving out his own place in the ders and a deep, melodic voice, seems to world. possess all the qualities of an archetypAlthough stylistically it doesn’t play al poet. Yet Pollock, whose debut collec- a large role in his poetry, the music of tion of poetry won the 2010 Cave Cane Bob Dylan and contemporary hip hop Poetry Prize, manages to transcend this also affected his artistic outlook. In simple classificaProf. Rich Freedtion. man’s class, he Pollock, the developed a proson of an AfricanThere are just too many found appreciaAmerican profestion for jazz which words in fiction. The sor at Hamilton continues to influCollege and an ence him to this challenge of poetry is 5th Grade teacher day – one of the from England, that you just have to pick poem titles in his originally strugbook derives from out those few words. gled to forge a a John Coltrane Ian Haley Pollock clear identity. In song. fact, the title poem Though he Haverford Alum from his book wrote sporadi“Spit Back a Boy,” cally during high recounts his childschool and colhood desire to transform his “almost lege, he didn’t begin writing in earnest white skin” into a more classifiable until he graduated. Nonetheless, his “four shades darker” by throwing him- studies as an English major at Haverself into his “mother’s embrace – that ford served as a major impetus for his brown embrace.” later writings. By Matt Fernandez biconews.com, Sept. 25, 2011
THE PHOENIX
“I think I perversely loved Junior Seminar [taught by Prof. Rajeswari Mohan].” Pollock says referring to his favorite class at Haverford. “That’s where my deep engagement in poetry began.” Certainly his stark poetry, which shies away from ornate language, reflects Haverford’s Quaker ideal of simplicity and plain-speak. The conciseness of poetry partially inspired him to take up the art as opposed to other means of expression. “There are just too many words in fiction,” he says. “The challenge of poetry is that you just have to pick out those few words.” He notes that part of the reason many people believe there is a lack of interest in poetry is because of its current “lack of clarity.” Though he admires the ability of T.S. Eliot, he finds fault with much of the “elitism” present in Eliot’s work. Pollock enthusiastically supports the recent movement in some circles toward a “more plainspoken” poetry. “I don’t really think that poetry has really moved out of the shadow of modernism yet.” But Pollock is anything but anti-intellectual. Though indebted to Haverford, much of his education in poetry
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came from Syracuse University, where he received an M.F.A. He defended the M.F.A. system at his reading last Friday calling the criticism that it’s producing clones of banal poets “bunk.” Pollock believes that better readers make better poets. And while becoming educated as a poet may temporarily leave the student writing like the professor, the knowledge gained allows the writer to utilize more tools. “Those who are reading poetry are reading it a higher level than ever before now,” Pollock says of the M.F.A. system. Although the well-balanced Pollock was studious at Haverford, he wasn’t always holed up in the library. Though not an athlete, the poet spent a lot of his time in college hanging out with the baseball and basketball teams. “They were more prone to having fun.” Pollock says smiling. Pollock, who also teaches 7th and 8th grade English at Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia, may write for a few hours 5 days a week, but he’s not in any hurry to put out another book. “I’m not in a rush,” Pollock says. “I don’t want to put out another book just to put out another book out.”
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Living & Arts
swarthmorephoenix.com
First fashion runway show raises over $1,000 By preston cooper pcooper1@swarthmore.edu
a Julia C
Last Friday, over a hundred fashion enthusiasts flocked to Upper Tarble for Swarthmore’s first-ever fashion show and auction to benefit the Trevor Project, America’s leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention network aimed at LGBT youth. Hosted by the QueerStraight Alliance (QSA), Fashion Forward 2011 saw thirty models take to the runway sporting the finest items on the fashion scene today. The event involved the actual construction of a fifty-foot-platform in Upper Tarble flanked by rows of chairs on either side, evoking images of the famed runways of New York and Paris. Ian Perkins-Taylor ‘13, treasurer for QSA, noted that the scene backstage during the event was chaotic as ever. Whether the dozens of models and backstage hands would be able to pull everything off was in doubt. “When the models started to walk and the crowd started cheering,” Perkins-Taylor reflected, “that’s when I realized, ‘Wow, it all actually came together!’” The actual show lasted about twenty minutes, durPhoenix rleton The
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ing which the models elicited laughter and applause from the audience with their enthusiastic and swaggering walks. Many also wore glittering face makeup or blew kisses at the audience. The final model on the runway, clad in nothing but boxer briefs and a pair of high heels, closed out the show with an especially raucous round of applause. In all, about forty clothing-producing entities agreed to contribute their merchandise to the auction. Maya Marzouk ‘13, the QSA Events Coordinator, was in charge of sending out a multitude of emails to designers and retailers worldwide asking for donations to the auction. Items received included merchandise from several renowned names such as American Eagle and Levi’s. After the show, audience members had the opportunity to purchase the donated articles, as well as a collection of other items. Some items carried a flat price and could be purchased on the spot, while others were sold at silent auction. All of the prices were significantly reduced from retail, making them available to parsimonious fashionistas. Perkins-Taylor estimates that the sale of clothing brought in around $1,300. The final numbers are yet to be determined, as some items have not been sold. QSA also received several donations from clothing designers and retailers that didn’t make it in time to be showcased in the auction. Marzouk says that in the coming days QSA will set up a website so people still interested in purchasing designer clothes at reduced prices can do so. Funds from the auction and subsequent sale of clothing will benefit the Trevor Project, which QSA describes as “the leading national organization focused on crisis intervention and suicide prevention
October 6, 2011
efforts among LGBTQ youth.” It was founded in 1998 by the makers of the short film “Trevor,” which follows the struggles of a gay 13-year-old boy. The Trevor Project hosts many programs to help LGBT youth, including a 24-hour suicide prevention hotline and many online resources. The institution also holds workshops and seminars at schools and colleges to further understanding of diversity and crisis prevention. “Planning for [the Fashion Forward event] started right around when Tyler Clementi killed himself,” Marzouk said. Clementi was a student at Rutgers who committed suicide in September 2010 after a video of him having a sexual encounter with another man was made public. “We started talking about how lucky we are at Swarthmore where you can be really open about your sexuality,” Marzouk explained, adding that that is not the case in most of America. Perkins-Taylor added that Fashion Forward also commemorated the death of Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old boy who took his own life because of bullying due to his sexuality. “[Events such as that] kind of prove the need for organizations like the Trevor Project,” Marzouk said. Asked about whether Fashion Forward will recur year after year, QSA leaders agreed that it was certainly a likely possibility. “This event was a really fun way to effectively raise money for charity,” said Perkins-Taylor. “So we are considering doing another.” Marzouk echoed Perkins-Taylor’s sentiments. “We weren’t originally planning for this to be an annual event,” she said. “But then Friday happened, and now we are.”
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Living & Arts Alum Massey Burke builds earthen clay wall at Swat swarthmorephoenix.com
by henry kietzman hkietzm1@swarthmore.edu
ally constructive community endeavor,” Robertson said. Once finished, Carpenter hopes the wall will stand as an emblem of Swarthmore’s commitment to innovation, imagination and creativity, especially in terms of sustainability. “I think it’s going to be a focal point; I hope it’s something that has some kind of iconic representation to it that students can identify [with]. Similar to the Adirondack Chair, now we have a Wall,” Carpenter said.
When Massey Burke ’00 attended Swarthmore, she craved practical applications of the things she was passionate about. Ten years later, she’s working to provide just that for today’s students. In conjunction with the Art and Engineering departments, Burke is working to create an adobe plastered earthen wall — made from all sustainable materials — between Beardsley Hall and the Science Center. Burke has been working in sustainable building for eight years. She currently works as an earthen building contractor in California. “I wear a bunch of hats, but they’re all connected to earthen building … I build and teach. I build things for people, and then I work for [University of San Francisco and Santa Clara University], as well as for some non-profits,” Burke said. Last year, Burke got a call asking if she could offer internships for undergraduates. She was then featured in the alumni magazine, The Swarthmore College Bulletin. When Art Professor Syd Carpenter saw the profile, she thought it would be a good idea to bring Burke to Swarthmore to work with her class “The Container as Architecture.” “When I heard what she was doing with vernacular building, and clay, it just seemed like a natural match. It seemed like an imperative to bring her back to campus,” Carpenter said. Burke agrees completely, being incredibly excited to be back on campus. “My intentions are to first of all, come back to Swarthmore, which is great, and second of all, to really begin to explore the possibilities of using earthen architecture as an artistic medium, especially in big installations,” Burke said. She added that she is intrigued and excited about the combination of sustainable engineering and an art project, and also just happy to be back home. Carpenter believes that this project could fuel a conversation cross-campus and cross-disciplines. “I’ve been delighted by how much participation this has generated from students from all over the place,” Carpenter said. She quotes not only Swarthmore students from every department, but also local area students from Tyler School of Arts as well as Swarthmore faculty members. Kenyetta Givans ’12, a biology major, became interested in the project after seeing Carpenter’s email to the student body. “I love doing hands-on stuff and I thought that the project itself was really cool. So I thought it would be fun to be a part of the process and to learn how things can be made from earthen materials and persist over time,” Givans said. She is one of over 40 volunteers that work for Carpenter. They come from diverse academic backgrounds. This list does not include the several employees from Swarthmore’s facilities and the Scott Arboretum that have also lent a hand. Students in Carpenter’s class have been designing the wall for weeks, and now are volunteering to help build it. Taryn Colonnese ’13 is one of the students in Carpenter’s class. “We began the process by talking theoretically about what a wall could mean — what types of representations could it have and specifically what did we want it to represent on campus?” Colonnese said of the project, specifically Over 60 Graduate & Certificate Programs in: emphasizing the collaboration between students in the class in the design of the wall. • Applied Statistics • Human Resource The project will ideally be finished by October 7, after which Development Burke and her assistant, Kieran Fitzsimmons, will be leave campus. • Biology Carpenter believes there may be some overlay but has no doubt that • Liberal Studies • Chemistry the volunteers will finish the wall on their own. Burke hopes that this small-scale project will display a more lo• Mathematics • Classical Studies cal, hands-on display of sustainability. “Earthen building is a very • Political Science accessible, practical application of a lot of different principles of eco• Communication logical design. It’s also a very tangible one, you get instant gratifica• Psychology • Computer Science tion,” Burke said. She hopes the project will inspire students to get creatively engaged with sustainability. • Public Administration • Counseling Colonnese believes that the project introduces earthen sustainability to Swarthmore perfectly, providing a means to transfer in• Software Engineering • Education formation and ideas. “This kind of sustainable building isn’t really • Theatre something most people are familiar with — I had no idea how it • English worked — so it’s so nice to have a project that is so visible to the com• Theology • Hispanic Studies munity. Anyone can walk by and ask questions, watch the process, or get involved in building,” Colonnese said. • History Carpenter agreed. “Immediately, the students themselves have been participating in going to get the material, on campus, and seeing that it’s here, and actually using it on site,” Carpenter said. She believes it to be important for students to see this sustainability in action, engage with it and talk about it in a genuine, detailed fashion. “We literally dug down into the ground and the stuff was there under our feet,” Carpenter said. She hopes that her students will take responsibility for their projects and the materials and resources used. Camille Robertson ’13, an environmental activist, is also involved 610.519.7090 with construction and is excited about this local grassroots display. gradartsci.villanova.edu “Environmental activism is often construed as a series of prohibitions or restrictions: turn off the lights, use less paper. Massey’s earthen wall project presents sustainability as a creative, fun, liter-
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Staff Editorial
Occupy Wall Street needs much more than occupation On Tuesday, several labor unions joined the Occupy Wall Street protest, adding force and credibility to the two-week-old movement. But while it is easy to keep up with the protest’s participants, timeline and even its location — young protesters have camped out in Lower Manhattan’s financial district and spilled onto the Brooklyn Bridge — it is harder to pin down the movement’s vision. We know that those demonstrating are against something — their chants of economic dissatisfaction are a symptom of broad opposition to greedy bankers, perverse corporations and a market system that they believe has already failed. Drawing inspiration from the Arab Spring, those occupying are essentially revolting in the spirit of what they believe should be a mandatory, yet often non-existent, line between money and politics. Like young protesters in Egypt, Syria and Tunisia, Americans have chosen to rise up against what they feel is an oppressive regime of capitalism — their Tahrir Square is our Zuccotti Park. But nestled in the compelling narrative of foreclosed homes, low wages and tax inequality is a gaping hole where a well-organized objective should be. The ambiguous, and ever amorphous, mass of protesters have found themselves The Voice of every sort of financial grievance possible. This poses problems for making good on a commitment to direct democracy — how can a continually evolving organization simultaneously represent all issues and missions, no matter how divergent? Unity under the common goal of “holding Wall Street accountable” isn’t enough to address each individual’s concern, and further, it doesn’t really make room for consequential reform. The fragmentation within a movement as diffuse and diverse as this one can potentially render any sort of tangible change impossible. And while it’s incredibly important to expose injustice, it’s even more critical to present the terms with which to combat that injustice in a consensually-coordinated manner. Moreover, all involved in that consensus must be cognizant of the grounds for those terms. In this particular movement, participants of Occupy Wall Street need be economically literate. To stage a widespread boycott against the fundamental framework of our financial system is to reveal a rather naive and temperamental understanding of the way the economy works — while we might need to fix it, that fix isn’t going to be quick. The democratic tableau — young and old, impoverished and middle-class, Swat alum and celebrity — is an appealing one. We are inspired by general assemblies, roused by picket signs and moved by the rhetoric of disenfranchisement and demoralization. But can those things actually inspire change? Can we truly rouse politicians and compel bankers? Can we really restructure the basic economic principles that have guided our nation for centuries? Can we actually make a meaningful difference, besides inciting a democratic dialogue tainted by police brutality and ineffectually vague intentions? Perhaps. But maybe Occupy Wall Street needs to reflexively seek reorganization within itself before it can turn to the bankers and corporate systems that have unquestionably damaged our economy. Our generation has often been criticized for its apathy, for not protesting our nation’s wars the way that students in the 70s demonstrated against Vietnam. But what made those anti-war and peace movements so memorable, so entrenched in our legacy of citizen activism, was that they were asking for something specific: the end of the war. This could be our chance. What — exactly — are we asking for?
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Letter, op-ed and comment policy Letters, opinion pieces and online comments represent the views of their writers and not those of The Phoenix staff or Editorial Board. The Phoenix reserves the right to edit all pieces submitted for print publication for content, length and clarity. The Phoenix also reserves the right to withhold any letters, op-eds or comments from publication. All comments posted online and all op-eds and letters must be signed and should include the writer’s full name. Letters are a minimum of 250 words and may not exceed 500 words. Opeds are a minimum of 500 words and may not exceed 750. Letters and opeds must be submitted by 10 p.m. on Monday, and The Phoenix reserves the right to withhold letters and opeds received after that time from publication. Letters may be signed by a maximum of five individuals. Op-eds may be signed by a maximum of two individuals. The Phoenix will not accept pieces exclusively attributed to groups, although individual writers
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Three years later: responses to the financial crisis
BY SAM SUSSMAN ssussma1@swarthmore.edu Once or twice a century, there is a watershed moment in American politics in which the bankruptcy of the present arrangement is laid naked, and gives way to paradigmatic transition. During the Great Depression, 25% unemployment set the stage for the New Deal. In the late 1970s, stagflation brought the New Right and its ‘government is the problem’ ideology to power. By all rules and reason, the 2008 financial crisis should have been such a moment. Last week I chronicled how the collapse represented the cherry on top of a laissez-faire nightmare that replaced an industrial, socially mobile society with an economy defined by a financial sector too large for its own good and income inequality unseen since the 1920s. Yet, three years later, it is unclear that the lessons of the Great Recession have been translated into needed reform. On the three defining issues of our time –the size of the financial sector; income inequality; and the gross influence of money in politics–adequate reform is yet to be achieved. Let’s start with the financial sector. Excessive risks absorbed by investment banks, which sent shocks throughout the entire economy, called for regulatory reform. The reforms needed are simple: a small tax of 1/10th of 1% on financial transactions to dissuade volatile highfrequency trading; the separation of risk-prone investment banks from commercial banks on which families and
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individuals rely for mortgages and student loans; and leverage requirements to reduce risk in the unregulated derivatives market. Most disinterested economists agree on this. Yet, instead, the Obama Administration was able only to achieve watered down reform that fails to regulate derivatives or increase leverage requirements. The transaction tax was never even on the table. These shortcomings speak to the immense influence of Wall St. in Washington– but more on campaign finance reform later. Next, income inequality that undermined consumer purchasing power, exacerbating the recession, must be addressed. In the short term, this means job creation and mortgage relief. Despite the February 2009 stimulus, which created or saved 3 million jobs, the Administration’s jobs policies have been lacking. As profitability returns to Wall St., it is troubling that the Administration has not exercised more political capital, and taken a more populist tone, in advocating a New-Deal like public jobs program. Similarly, given the speed with which the federal government responded to hopelessly indebted banks, there should be greater effort to aid troubled homeowners. In addition to these short-term steps, long-run policies are needed to address structural inequality. These include large-scale investment in the clean energy sector, which can create significant numbers of middle class job; jobtraining for communities struggling through deindustrialization; expansion of Pell Grants; and increases in both the minimum wage and progressive taxa-
tion. Here the Administration deserves mixed reviews. The President certainly gets credit for expanding health care to thirty million citizens. Yet the Administration disturbingly extended the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy while embracing the false ‘Seniors are the Problem’ rhetoric of the far right by indicating willingness to slash Social Security and Medicare. Equally troubling, the President missed an opportunity to rekindle the historic alliance with organized labor, whose influence counterweighs that of corporate money, with his silence during this year’s state-level attacks on unions. Underlying each of these shortcomings is the corrosive role of money in politics, which brings us to campaign finance reform. Most Americans support public campaign financing that compensates state and federal candidates in the amount they have been outspent by opponents or independent attack groups. Yet implementation requires flouting the ‘contributor class,’ which is sure to hurt the party associated with reform. Thus, if public campaign financing is ever to be achieved, it is likely only to be in a ‘watershed’ moment, such as Obama’s inauguration. Yet instead of moving forward, we’ve moved backwards since the financial crisis. In 2010, in a decision 80% of Americans opposed, the Supreme Court struck down the most important law on election spending. Corporations are now more empowered to influence elections than they were in the years preceding the crisis, when they bought deregulation, tax cuts for the rich, and the crippling of organized labor.
Overall, the response to the financial crisis has been underwhelming. Regulations necessary to avert another calamity have not been implemented. Efficacious short and long-term steps to reduce inequality have not been pursued. Nothing has been done to rein in the influence of money that skews our political process. At this point a historical conjecture is useful. While FDR deserves credit for the New Deal, reform was only made possible by a mobilized public. In 1932, 20,000 veterans participated in the Bonus March on Washington. In 1934, a million and a half workers struck for higher wages. Unemployment councils spontaneously formed to advocate for public assistance. If we emerge a more prosperous society from this winter of our discontent, it will be because a mobilized citizenry has decided that the status quo is unacceptable. The ultimate irony of the Obama Presidency is that, because the President’s immediate actions prevented a second Great Depression, he eroded the urgency necessary for systemic reform. Now, even as the economy slowly recovers, core structural defects –an all-powerful financial sector; income inequality; the unhealthy influence of money– remain unaddressed. These cracks, painted over for the present, are sure to bulge again. When they do, the question will be: Can public outrage and presidential leadership translate into reform? History offers this tidbit: Without a mobilized citizenry, the answer is unlikely to be yes. Sam is a junior. He can be reached at ssussma1@swarthmore.edu.
#Euromess: the inevitability of the sovereign debt crisis Unless y o u ’ v e been living under a rock, you have likely heard about the European debt crisis. I don’t mean to come off as patronOlivia Natan izing, but most SwatThe World At Large ties are busy and thus lack the time to pay close attention to world news all the time. So, let me give you a brief rundown. A sovereign debt crisis can occur when investors begin to think that a government has borrowed more than it can feasibly repay given the state of the country’s economy and the size of the government’s deficit — especially relative to its growth. This causes the returns on government bonds to rise, rise and rise until the cost of borrowing is so high that the government has to pay more just to keep borrowing, and ratings agencies repeatedly downgrade the debt. All of this exacerbates the panic on the part of private investors who would be buying the bonds. In the case of Greece (and Ireland and Spain and Portugal), multiple bailouts by
other members of the Euro zone and the from falling into a recession, though as International Monetary Fund (IMF) still the Washington Post’s Wonkblog noted, have not been enough to stave off more the tenor of current bailout discussions downgrades. tends towards preventing a long recesThe European sovereign debt crisis sion rather than a recession in general. differs from previous debt crises because This is bad news for the US economy bethe countries incause, in recent volved use the years, the US and Euro, which preEuropean econovents an individual mies have tended That push for austerstate suffering from to be highly correity is by far the scariest lated, as shown in the rising cost of financing state debt a recent Citigroup takeaway from the enfrom using indereport. pendent monetary That push for tirety of the European policy to devalue. austerity, though, sovereign debt crisis. This is what previis by far the scarious sovereign debt est takeaway from crises have resultthe entirety of the ed in — Argentina’s crisis in the late 90s European sovereign debt crisis. I thought is a prime example. The country allowed we’d moved past the Washington Consenthe peso to lose value by unpegging it sus at least a decade ago. But for counfrom the US dollar and ended up default- tries whose fiscal health is, well, Greek, ing on its debts to other sovereign states Keynes is somehow forgotten. and lenders. If Greece wasn’t on the Well, John Maynard, you are missed. Euro, it could have devalued its currency While the huge structural deficit in the (printed money) to pay back its debts, suf- case of Greece resulting from relatively fered some inflation and focused on mak- low taxes with relatively high social ing meaningful reforms, which would spending is unsustainable, suddenly cutprevent such a situation in the future. ting all that government spending during However, the inability to use monetary a recession (and lower tax receipts and policy left Greece struggling to follow the higher levels of safety net spending) and advice of its lenders, advice that saw aus- a debt crisis (where borrowing is harder terity as the only answer for countries in to do) is purportedly a good idea. In realboth good and ill economic health. Now, ity, Greece does need to work on having over a year later, Euro zone countries are a long-term balance in spending, but ausstill trying to keep the whole of the EU terity is never the answer during a reces-
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sion. It’s basic liberal macroeconomics that cutting government spending when the economy is already struggling to get out of a recession is not going to suddenly spur growth, especially in the face of financing the rising cost of government debt. Even in Euro countries without debt problems, the idea of austerity is touted as a cure-all. This is particularly disturbing given that most of these countries have a large welfare state that cannot suddenly be abandoned without serious damage to their economies. And with American policymakers weighing in on the discussions in Europe, I can’t help but worry that this movement towards austerity is going to make its way across the Atlantic in a very harmful way. Growth estimates for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2011 (which ended in September) were not met, and unless governments realize that they need to raise taxes to finance greater spending, this austerity lesson is going to turn the US back on the road to recession. The #euromess is coming to America. In some ways, it’s already too late. I don’t put a whole lot of faith in Twitter as evidence of social trends; nonetheless, the very existence of a hashtag for the sovereign debt crisis belies an understanding among the American media and public that what happens in Europe doesn’t just stay in Europe. Olivia is a junior. She can be reached at onatan1@swarthmore.edu.
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Opinions Supreme Court to reignite health care reform debate
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The Affordable Care Act, one of President Obama’s signature legislative achievements, is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. And it’s about time. The constitutionality of the law’s provision mandating Americans to purchase healthcare coverage or face a penalty is highly suspect. Can the governTyler Becker ment force Americans to buy something? The Swarthmore On September 28, the Conservative Court decided to place the case on its agenda for this session due to appeals filed by the Obama administration and twenty-six states. Previous rulings have turned in mixed results as to the law’s constitutionality. One ruling upheld the law, while another struck down the health care coverage mandate as unconstitutional. Another ruling stated that it was too early to challenge the law and the mandate, which does not go into effect until 2014. The law’s constitutionality has been questioned ever since its passage in March 2010, as it should be. One argument for the law’s individual mandate is that it’s similar to car insurance. If you own a car, the government can mandate that you purchase car insurance to be able to register and drive the car. But, it is not a requirement that people be able to drive a car. So, such a mandate does not cover the entire population. The mandate only covers those who desire to drive, a discretionary activity. Health insurance is extraordinarily different from car insurance. Everyone in the country is alive, so a law forcing people to buy health care coverage would apply to the entire population. The previous defenses to the law have centered on the “Commerce Clause.” The Obama administration will argue that the federal government has the right to “regulate interstate commerce.” According to Jon Healey, a writer for the Los Angeles Times, the Supreme Court has ruled in the past that
health care is “a form of interstate commerce that Con- the law that expand the insurance pool and, naturally, gress can regulate.” So, the argument goes, by imple- cause a rise in premiums. These include measures that menting a measure obligating Americans to purchase seem positive, such as eliminating insurance compacoverage, Congress is just changing how health care nies’ denial of coverage due to preexisting conditions is paid for since every individual needs health care at and allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ some point. health plans until age twenty-six. This defense is not clear as to the limit of Congress’s This increase in the cost of having insurance will power to compel Americans to buy, well, anything. likely force many Americans to change their coverage, Could the Congress use its power under the Commerce resulting in less actual coverage in the end. If this hapClause to force Americans to eat three servings of fruits pens, the legislation gives more people coverage, but and vegetables a day, as Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) less of it. asked now-Justice Elena Kagan during her confirmaIf the Supreme Court rules the mandate in the Pation hearings? tient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known If Congress is allowed to mandate people to buy as “Obamacare”) unconstitutional, the Court will have health insurance, then we do not know where Congress’ to determine whether the mandate to buy insurance is power over Americans ceases. so essential to the law that the whole act is unconstituIn the Eleventh Circuit case, which was won by the tional, or if the law can exist without the mandate. The opposition, the government argued that health care entire law is based around the mandate, which increascoverage was “unique,” justifying a mandate to pur- es the insurance pool in hopes that costs will still be chase the coverage. manageable by spreading In the opinion, the judgout the risks. es write that if Congress Without the mandate, If Congress is allowed to could mandate Americans Obamacare is essentially to purchase health insurover. There is no way for mandate people to buy health ance, “a future Congress law to exist without insurance, then we do not know the similarly would be able the mandate, even if the to articulate a unique mandate is legally the where Congress’ problem requiring a legonly unconstitutional aspower over Americans ceases. islative fix that entailed pect determined by the compelling Americans to Court. purchase a certain prodOnce Obamacare has uct from a private company.” This, the judges argued, been overturned by the Supreme Court, we can get on grants more power to Congress than the Founding Fa- with real health care reform in this country. President thers envisioned. Obama’s political standing will be further diminished, The mandate to purchase coverage is the most and Republicans can start proposing new plans that likely part of the law to be found unconstitutional by actually reduce cost such as tort reform. Healthcare the Supreme Court. But, the mandate is not the only reform can be done piece-by-piece, rather than in just negative aspect of the legislation. Writing in the Wall one omnibus bill that costs billions (and with new estiStreet Journal, Dan Danner mentions the new “health mates, trillions) of dollars. insurance fee” that taxes “insurance companies based There is a good chance the Supreme Court can make on their market share.” The problem with the tax: it this happen. I believe the Court will overturn Obamis paid by small business and individuals who do not acare’s individual insurance mandate. After all, Conhave “self-insured plans,” like corporations and labor gress can’t mandate that you eat your broccoli. unions. Tyler is a sophomore. He can be reached at tbecker1@ There are also many other new requirements in swarthmore.edu.
Money letters: explanation and call for discussion BY kanayo onyekwuluje and Pat Walsh konyekw1, pwalsh2@swarthmore.edu
It’s not every day that you get free money in your mailbox! The ‘gift’ in your mailbox, as well as the letter from the bogus “Committee on Investment Profitability,” may have been confusing at first, but hopefully they were also entertaining. This week’s gift giving was organized and executed by Swarthmore Mountain Justice (MJ) — a student group formed last year dedicated to stopping mountaintop removal coal mining as well as other forms of environmental harm. For MJ, environmental work should operate under principles of coalitionbased environmental justice. We understand that environmental harm not only destroys the physical ecosystem, but it also impacts communities and people’s ways of life. We also realize that environmental issues affect people disproportionately. MJ is dedicated to privileging the voices and agendas of affected “frontline” communities, or those more severely affected by environmental harm, often due to factors such as race, class and geographic location. We recently posed the question
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amongst ourselves: What is Swarth- waste in both the U.S. and most recently more’s role in helping thwart environ- in South America, evading taxes by mental injustice? It made us think — keeping them in a tax shelter in overwhat keeps the global warming machine seas accounts and being responsible for churning? What else besides the obvi- deadly natural gas explosions in addious attributions such as personal and tion to contributing to climate change. collective behavior, consumer choice, Science on global warming indicates energy use, buildings’ carbon footprints that fossil fuels need to stay in the and where we get our energy from — we ground, starting yesterday — however, wanted to get even deeper. We realized fossil fuel commodities are supposed to that climate change is also exceedingly remain economically competitive for a while in com‘fueled’ by masparison to cleaner sive economic inSo, vestments needed [Swarthmore Mountain alternatives. how are Swarthto finance projects of extraction and Justice] hoped to start a more’s investpart of this the burning of foscampus dialogue about ments story? sil fuels. By sending the This made the political dimension letters in the mailus think about of our investments. boxes, MJ hoped Swarthmore’s to start a campus investments ... dialogue about the so, we decided to “follow the money!” Last semester, we political dimension of our investments. inquired about where Swarthmore in- By investing in fossil fuel companies, vests its money, and we’d like to share isn’t our community enabling destructhat information with you. As it turns tive extraction projects and climate out, Swarthmore is currently investing change? And how does this jive with in eight fossil fuel companies — includ- our purported values? We claim to be an ing Canadian Natural Resources, Cloud institution dedicated to environmental Peak Energy, Concho Resources, Devon sustainability and social justice. In her Energy, EOG Resources, ExxonMobil, inaugural address, President Rebecca Northern Oil and Gas and Occidental Pe- Chopp said, “[C]an there be any doubt troleum Group. These companies com- that we must do all we can to sustain mit injustices such as illegally dumping the beauty of this good earth; together,
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in this collection, can there be any question that we must care for one another and, equally important, for those who live without our resources?” We are doing some wonderful initiatives on campus to realize those values, but are our values in line with what our investments support off campus? We as students feel we have not fully realized the potential for investor responsibility and this is an avenue we aim to explore. Our efforts to be more “green” are completely negated by the stocks that make up our portfolio. Changing the light bulbs in Sharples is a wonderful initiative, and one that Swarthmore should accomplish, but it does not motivate real change on a broader scale. Maybe a look at our investments will present an opportunity for the College to break ground as an institution of higher learning, and further realize our goals of achieving environmental and social justice. We hope you enjoyed your gift, and we invite the entire campus to join us in this discussion about our investments. If you would like to learn more about MJ, contact the group, or to look at research on climate change, mountaintop removal and other extraction practices, please check out our website: https:// sites.google.com/site/swatmountainjustice/home.
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Around Higher Education
Death penalty leads to cruel and unusual punishment By sam kramer collegian.psu.edu, Oct. 5, 2011
A few days ago, I watched “Law Abiding Citizen,” an overly dramatic thriller about a man who, after witnessing two men murder his family, takes revenge on the entire justice system when one of the murderers is set free after a plea bargain agreement. The movie is entertaining though kind of a stretch, considering Gerard Butler plays a genius, professional killer that somehow outsmarts the entire court system of Philadelphia. But the message the movie sends is that America’s justice system is flawed. It’s a system we blame every year, whether it’s in cases like Casey Anthony’s or personal issues, like that unfair speeding ticket you got just because you really, really had to go to the bathroom. Two weeks ago, Troy Davis — charged with shooting and killing a police officer — was executed in Georgia. The case received national attention because the evidence stemmed from eyewitness testimonies, some of which, according to Davis’s defense attorney, had tried to recount their testimonies years later. It’s one of many cases that are adding to the debate over eyewitness reliability. Scientific studies have shown that human memory can be surprisingly faulty, and many are arguing that in cases of the death penalty, eyewitness testimony should be reconsidered. But the debate shouldn’t be over eyewitness reliability. Instead, we should reconsider why we’re still even using the death penalty in the United States. According to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund’s “Death Row U.S.A.,” from Jan. 2011, there were 3,251 inmates on death row.
Davis insisted until his execution that he was innocent. His last words to his loved ones and Benjamin Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, were to keep fighting until Davis’s name was cleared. First, imagine Davis actually is innocent. There’s no number for how many people are wrongfully executed (the courts usually aren’t interested in declaring innocence when the defendant is already dead), but there are estimations in the thousands, since there’s an average of five exonerations from death row per year. According to the Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney, since 1976, 1,271 people have been executed. Though Pennsylvania has not had an execution since 1999, there were 219 prisoners on death row as of Jan. 2011, according to “Death Row U.S.A.” Pennsylvania has freed six inmates from death row and 139 people have been released from death row nationwide, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania. But shouldn’t it only take one? Just one case to prove someone’s innocence, one case to show our capital punishment system should be thrown out the window to spare lives in the future? If we hate to see guilty people go free, shouldn’t we hate it even more to see innocent people punished? The Eighth Amendment gives us protection from cruel and unusual punishment. I can’t think of anything more cruel and unusual than killing an innocent person and leaving their family members behind with such a memory. If you’ve seen “Shawshank Redemption” (is it that obvious that I watch a lot of movies?) you’ve had a glimpse of how terrible prison can be. Not that I ever planned on committing a felony, but
the thought alone of a life spent in prison will always keep me on the right track. I think such a terrible life is a much harsher punishment than death itself. It’s something I couldn’t even bear to imagine. But that’s just me, and I know the friends and families who have lost a loved one because someone has taken their life may think differently. Yet by implementing the death penalty, we’ve shown that our generation hasn’t progressed like it needs to. We’re fighting fire with fire, but in this case, we’re lowering ourselves to the same level of those criminals. Why is it fair to kill someone when we’ve just shaken our finger at him for doing the exact same thing? The justice system isn’t perfect, and it’s impossible that it ever will be. There will always be faulty evidence, unreliable eyewitnesses, false confessions and biased juries — and there’s nothing that we can do about it. But what we can do is act justly. This means listening to the hundreds of thousands across the country plea not to enact a death penalty during a national case. This means watching the pain of the many who attended Davis’ funeral in support of abolishing the death penalty, and then doing something about it. I have full faith in the system. There is, however, a fine line between murder and punishment. We’ve made mistakes in the past and have learned to correct them; let’s hope the remaining 34 states who have yet to abolish the death penalty can change their minds soon. Sam Kramer is a senior majoring in print journalism and is The Daily Collegian’s Wednesday columnist. Email her at skk5068@psu.edu.
One more thing your phone can do.
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October 6, 2011
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In heartbreaking loss, women’s soccer finds positives
Justin Toran-Burrell The Phoenix
Hannah Deming and the women’s soccer team are confident that if they maintain the level of play they showed against Johns Hopkins, they will be tough to beat.
BY TIMOTHY BERNSTEIN tbernst1@swarthmore.edu The Swarthmore women’s soccer team fell to undefeated Johns Hopkins in gut-wrenching fashion on Saturday evening, allowing the winning goal in the 88th minute on the way to a 3-2 loss. With the loss, the Garnet fell to 6-4 on the year and 2-2 in Conference play. The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays improve to 9-0 and 3-0, respectively. As the game’s final minutes ticked away, it appeared that the equalizer off a free kick from Amber Famiglietti ’14 in the game’s 81st minute would send the Garnet’s bid for an upset into overtime. Seven minutes later, Hopkins defender Jessica Hnatiurk put her team into the lead with a well-struck header off a corner that found its way past Swarthmore’s goalkeeper Marie Mutryn ’12. The goal all but ensured that the Blue Jays would leave Clothier Field with its undefeated season intact, and that the Garnet would drop its second straight conference match. The intensely competitive match opened with twentythree scoreless minutes of back-and-forth defensive play. Johns Hopkins failed to convert five shots on goal until Hopkins forward Hannah Kronick rebounded Paulina Goodman’s shot off the post and sent it into the right corner. Kronick’s goal gave her team a lead that it would hold for all of twelve seconds, as first-year forward Emma Sindelar ’15 tied it up off an assist from Megan Brock ’14,
barely giving the scoreboard a chance to catch up. Just three minutes later, Hopkins midfielder Erica Suter put the Blue Jays up 2-1 with an unassisted goal from the right corner of the box. The goal gave the Blue Jays a lead it would take into halftime. In the second half, the 2-1 score held despite a strong offensive push by the Garnet, which just missed scoring the tying goal three times in a three-minute span. Sindelar was denied a goal on an impressive save from senior goalkeeper Kristen Redsun, and Brock sent one shot high, then another wide in the 69th minute. Finally, in the match’s final ten minutes, Famiglietti’s goal evened up the score, and for seven minutes the Garnet was going to take the Blue Jays and their undefeated record into overtime. Then came Hniaturk’s header. In the game, Redsun saved three of the five shots taken on goal. Mutryn was also tested five times, making two saves. Brock led the Garnet in shots, taking five of the team’s twelve, while Hopkins took a total of twenty shots. The Blue Jays’ three goals were the second-most Mutryn has allowed this season after a 4-0 loss to Messiah in the Messiah Classic on September 3. Though disappointed with the outcome, the Garnet players have found positives in the level of competition they displayed against a top-tier opponent. “We are upset with the loss, but not with our efforts,” Brock said. “If we continue to strive to play our best soc-
THE PHOENIX
October 6, 2011
cer, we will be tough to beat. The Hopkins game showed that, and although we didn’t come away with a win, we were proud of the way we played.” Though ultimately falling short, Swarthmore gave Johns Hopkins one of its toughest matches in years. Against the elite Blue Jay defense, Swarthmore’s two goals were just one fewer than Hopkins had allowed cumulatively in the first eight matches in the season. “I’ve seen Hopkins play a bunch of times over the last several years,” head coach Todd Anckaitis said. “And there have only been two teams that have given Hopkins that good of a game from start to end — TCNJ & Messiah last year. [Hopkins has] had one game where the score has been close but nobody has even been close to playing them that tough this year.” “Our outlook for the rest of the season is extremely positive,” midfielder Alyssa Bowie ’12 said in an email. “If we can compete at a similar level against all our remaining conference opponents, we should find a lot of success. “Getting better is just a matter of tightening up the little things, both tactically and technically, and never settling for ‘just okay’ when what we’re really striving for is excellence.” On Wednesday, the Garnet rebounded from the loss with a 2-1 defeat of Washington College. The Garnet next travels to Gettysburg on Sunday for their sixth Conference match of the season. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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Men’s tennis shines at ITA Regional Tournament by timothy bernstein tbernst1@swarthmore.edu At the University of Mary Washington this weekend, the Swarthmore men’s tennis team participated in the ITA regional tournament with a great deal of success. In the singles draw, four members of the Garnet — Max Bressman ’12, Zak Kelm ’12, Irving Stone ’15 and Max Sacks ’15 — all defeated their first-round opponents. Kelm defeated Washington College’s Vishu Rajes by the score of 6-4, 6-2. Bressman beat Haverford’s Andy Dougherty 6-2, 6-2. Sacks defeated Aaron Elison of Washington College 6-4, 6-3, while fellow firstyear Stone beat Seth Rybak of Salisbury 6-4, 6-4. “The tournament this weekend was definitely a success both individually and collectively,” Kelm said in an email. “The ITA tournament is always difficult not only because of the strong competition but also because of the early match times and grueling match schedule. I think the team did a terrific job of overcoming these challenges. The tournament was definitely a confidence booster for the whole team, helping us to gain early season match experience and giving us an idea of where we are relative to the competition.” Kelm and Bressman both reached the quarterfinals of the championship doubles draw, highlighted by a 9-8 (4) defeat of Salibury’s fifth-seeded Barnas/Rybak team. James Wieler ’13 reached the finals in the blue 2 singles draw, losing a tight match to James Lee of Roanoke, 8-6. Despite the impressive showing, Wieler admit-
ted he had been aiming higher. “I was a bit disappointed I was not able to win the championship of my flight after having a couple of solid wins in the earlier rounds,” Wieler said. “Unfortunately, I think nerves got the best of me in the finals, and I wasn’t able to come out on top.” In the blue 1 consolation draw, Christian Carcione ’14 won three consecutive matches against Salisbury’s Curtis Quandt, Haverford’s Jake Weisenthal, and Muhlenberg’s Daniel Lakhman to win the draw outright. Sophomores Anthony Collard ’14 and Preston Poon ’14 both won matches in the championship singles consolation draw. Collard beat University of Washington’s Riley Bayer by a score of 8-5, while Poon found the quickest way to Swarthmore glory with a decisive 8-2 victory over Natty Sergay of Haverford. Collard also paired up with Sacks to notch a doubles victory over a team from Christopher Newport University before dropping a close match against the topseeded team in the round of 16. “I think this tournament was the best result as a team we’ve had in years,” Bressman said. “We showed that Swarthmore is a team that can play well with anyone.” With a positive finish to the fall season, the men’s tennis team will regroup and prepare for the spring season, scheduled to begin on February 25. Expectations among team members are already high. “We have the whole winter and spring to prepare for our big matches,” Bressman said. “By the time spring comes, we’ll be ready to make a big push.”
SPORTS IN PHOTO
Garnet athlete of the week
Nia Jones
SOPH., FIELD HOCKEY, FREDERICKSBURG, VA. WHAT SHE’S DONE: Jones scored two goals to key a 4-3 victory over Johns Hopkins on Saturday. FAVORITE CAREER MOMENT: [This season’s] Ursinus game. Yes, we lost, but compared to last year, it was night and day. It was really the first time our team finally clicked. WHAT SHE WANTS TO DO: We set little goals for each game specific to what needs to be improved on from the previous game.
Justin Toran-Burrell The Phoenix
Sophomores Maggie Duszyk (3) and Danielle Sullivan (serving) gave a valiant effort, but the Garnet fell to Johns Hopkins 3-2.
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Cristina Matamoros The Phoenix
IF SHE COULD ONLY WEAR ONE COLOR: Something that’s not too boring but not too over the top - so probably yellow...not super bright, but a more pale yellow.
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Men’s soccer back on winning track with 2-0 week BY VICTOR BRADY vbrady1@swarthmore.edu
It had been three seasons since the Swarthmore men’s soccer team lost consecutive matches, so following road defeats to Stevens and Dickinson two weeks ago, the team gathered to reflect and recommit. “Our real emphasis on the little details was starting to get a little bit sloppy,” said head coach Eric Wagner, whose team had the second-fewest losses in all of Division III over the past two seasons. “We’ve addressed it and are moving in a very positive direction. The other thing was complacency, feeling like ‘we’re undefeated and can do no wrong,’ and we got off the bus at Stevens without a lot of energy or enthusiasm.” The energy, enthusiasm and attention to detail were on display this past week as Swarthmore rolled to a 2-0 week with a pair of Centennial victories over Muhlenberg at home and McDaniel on the road to snap the miniskid. With these results, the Garnet jumped three spots to No. 11 in the D3soccer.com national poll. “The two losses were a reminder that winning isn’t just going to happen for us,” Noah Sterngold ’14 said. “After the season we had last year and the first five games this year I think we may have become a little complacent and began thinking that we wouldn’t have to put out a ton of effort to win every game. Now, after the losses, we all recognize that we’ll have to work and fight for every win.” Last Wednesday’s matchup with Muhlenberg was a rematch of last year’s Centennial Conference Final, won by the Garnet 2-1 in double overtime. After Fabian Cas-
tro ’12 put the Garnet on the board first by finishing a rebound after a shot by Geoffrey Stewart ’15, the Mules tied it in the final ten minutes of regulation. Off of a bizarre sequence at the top of the Swarthmore box, Muhlenberg midfielder Josh Luiginbuhl headed a ball away from keeper David D’Annunzio ’12 and finished into the empty net. So, the teams went to overtime again, where in the second session, striker David Sterngold ’12 took another feed from Stewart and buried his 10th career game-winner, off the inside of the post, to send the Mules packing with another stunning loss. Despite getting three points with the positive result, the Garnet conceded a goal for the fourth consecutive match. “We are not as rock solid, especially defensively, as we want to be. That is attention to detail. Defending is about hard work, concentration and attention to detail. When we do that, we do it extremely well,” Wagner said. On Saturday, a first-half goal from Jack Momeyer ’14 and second-half penalty from Micah Rose ’12 proved plenty for the Garnet as the team, secured its first shutout since September 14, 2-0 over the homestanding Green Terror. With the shutout, the 25th of his Swarthmore career, D’Annunzio tied the program record for career shutouts held by Andrew Cavanaugh ’91. “After the four games without shutouts, I started to care a lot less about the shutout record,” D’Annunzio said. “There was definitely a feeling of accomplishment after we got the shutout at McDaniel, so it means a lot to me, but I would be completely content with winning
every game for the rest of the season 2-1 and winning a National Championship.” Though goaltenders are credited with shutouts, clean sheets are usually a reflection of the entire team’s performance, and D’Annunzio has been aided by the quality of the backs in front of him. “David has an unbelievable group of defenders and a team that defends in front of him,” Wagner said. “You’ve got an All-Conference player in Pierre Dyer ’12, a threeyear starter and captain in John Pontillo ’13, last year’s Freshman of the Year really in Noah Sterngold, and either Toby Heavenrich ’12 or Cameron French ’14 who are just outstanding athletes. But if that doesn’t translate through the midfield and into the forwards, then it is not a real defensive effort.” Sterngold and his fellow defenders have recommitted to doing the little things in order to play the lock-down defense which surrendered just 12 goals in 21 matches last season. “We need to recommit to doing what it takes to keep a clean sheet,” Sterngold said. “I think we as a team didn’t prepare ourselves every game for what it would take to keep a clean sheet and thought it would happen for us easier than it was ever going to.” The Garnet’s streak continued Wednesday with a 1-0 win at Manhattanville. They will play three matches over the October break, a Sunday tilt with Gettysburg from Clothier Field and road contests at Scranton and Ursinus. Gettysburg currently sits tied atop the Centennial standings at 3-0-1 while the Garnet is one point back at 3-1. Kick-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
AROUND HIGHER EDUCATION
Team Philly upsets LeBron, Team Melo at Palestra
BY BRIAN KOTLOFF thedp.com, September 27, 2011 The sight sent the Palestra crowd into stitches: a bald, portly referee performing a shimmy to signal a first-quarter travel call on the NBA’s “Chosen One,” LeBron James. Back and forth, he wobbled, bumbling over to the scorer’s table with 8,722 pairs of eyes agape. To most, the act came as a shock — an official not only standing up to but stealing the thunder from James, playing court jester to LeBron’s king. But to “Battle for I-95” architect Rahim Thompson, it was just Keith “Showtime” Saunders flashing the crowd-pleasing persona that made him a no-brainer choice as the game’s referee. “That’s just a part of his makeup,” Thompson said. “No matter if it’s the championship game … or 1-on-1, he always brings entertainment.” Though just as colorful off the court — Thompson’s “very boisterous” label only begins to describe his personality — Showtime does not view his own animated refereeing as a show at all. It’s just a second job. For over 30 years, the former Philadelphia Naval Hospital and Pathmark employee has officiated basketball games on the side, touring his home city from the Sonny Hill League on 50th Street to Thompson’s “Chosen League” at 10th and Olney. He recently finished a
stint with (surprise) the Harlem Globetrotters. Along the way, he’s brought his unmatched flair, which sometimes confuses fellow officials, but always sends crowds into hysterics. “Basketball today — it’s taken too seriously,” Saunders said. “Nobody has fun anymore.” The limitless experience has in turn made him a Philly hoops encyclopedia. Sunday night, he galloped, shook, flailed and whistled with a fatherly pride. After all, the entire Team Philly roster “developed under my whistle,” Saunders boasted, including leading scorer Kyle Lowry “since he was a baby.” From Friends’ Central standout-turned-NBA journeyman Hakim Warrick to Chester-born star Tyreke Evans, they returned to the Palestra all grown up. “To see them in high school with their mothers and fathers … and to be as successful and educated as they are [now], it makes me feel good,” Saunders said. All of the local pros greeted Showtime with hugs, handshakes and rubs of his shiny dome. But the first person to embrace him pregame? That would be Penn coach Jerome Allen or, as Showtime knows him, “Pooh,” from the Jerry Richardson League on 25th and Diamond Streets. “I love Pooh!” Saunders said with a chuckle. “He’s been a great inspiration to the children and a lot of the referees.” After sharing the court with local legends over a long
career, Saunders’ Sunday night gig pitted him against global icons in James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. But at no point was the referee starstruck. “When I get on the court, I block out who it is,” he said. “I just see colors.” So the show went on and Showtime stuck to his four tenets: stay in your area, call it how you see it, don’t take any nonsense and, above all, entertain. His performance added an extra sizzle to a night which proved that, even during an NBA lockout, basketball never stops. “When they get on my floor, I want them to feel free,” said Saunders, who lamented the business his beloved game has become. “Just enjoy the game and don’t worry about what’s going on outside.” That outlook led to the uproarious scenes that played out at the Palestra. Tops among them for Thompson was a “hilarious” charge call on Anthony that Showtime indicated with a series of hip thrusts and fist pumps. Even LeBron shared plenty of locker-room laughs with his superstar teammates, Thompson said. NBA refs routinely award James an extra step on drives. Not Showtime. Showtime put his stamp on the Palestra and left a mark on the night’s main attraction. According to Thompson, LeBron gave Saunders the ultimate tip-of-the-cap after the game: “Rahim,” James reportedly said. “I couldn’t intimidate him!”
GARNET IN ACTION THURSDAY, OCT. 6
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9
Swimming, Garnet and Grey Meet, 5:00 p.m.
Golf, McDaniel Fall Invitational at Bridges Golf Club, TBA
SATURDAY, OCT. 8
Women’s Soccer at Gettysburg, 1:00 p.m.
Cross country at DeSales Invite, 10:30 a.m.
Men’s soccer at Gettysburg, 2:00 p.m.
Golf, McDaniel Fall Invitational at Bridges Golf Club, TBA
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11
Field Hockey at Gettysburg, 1:00 p.m.
20Volleyball at Gettysburg, 1:00 p.m. THE PHOENIX
September 29, 2011 October 6, 2011
Volleyball at Dickinson, 7:00 p.m.
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Field hockey streak hits three with win over JHU BY TIMOTHY BERNSTEIN tbernst1@swarthmore.edu This has not been a season without obstacles for the Swarthmore field hockey team, a condition that was reflected in their record for the early part of the season. Faced with an inexperienced roster — five juniors and zero seniors — the Garnet has been forced to coalesce on the fly, a process which can take years to get down. The growing pains reared their heads from the outset, as Swarthmore dropped four of its first five matches of the season. The low point came in a 6-3 loss to conference rival Ursinus on September 21, when the Garnet allowed four second-half goals and fell to 1-4. Since then, the results have told the story of a different team. Two days later, the Garnet halted its losing streak with a 4-2 Centennial Conference victory over Dickinson, defeated Eastern in an overtime thriller on the road, and reached the .500 mark by defeating Johns Hopkins for the first time in five years in front of a home crowd. “This win was huge for us,” forward Taryn Colonnese ’13 said. “[It] shows the conference how strong of a team we are, and it helps us prove to ourselves that we can play with any team out there.” It can be just as easy (and just as dangerous) to look too deeply into a positive stretch as a negative one, and the team has not even reached the midway point of the season. However, the team that held on for a 3-2 victory on Saturday against a conference opponent barely resembles the one that stumbled to a 1-4 start. “We’ve been improving so much as a team over the past weeks — especially in working to stay calm and
composed and to make smart decisions with the ball,” Colonnese said. “We’re also becoming so much more cohesive as a team, which is awesome since we have so many new players this year. “We could still work on being more aggressive — going for interceptions and really making the most of our chances in the circle — but that’s definitely coming with the confidence we gain from each game.” The Garnet came out firing early. Forward Nia Jones ’14, a bright spot all year long, fired into the left corner off an assist from midfielder Sophia Agathis ’13 to put Swarthmore up 1-0 two minutes into the game. Ten minutes later, Jones once again made the most of a good assist, this one from Aarti Rao ’14. Jones’s second goal hit the right corner of the net, and the Garnet quickly jumped to a 2-0 lead. The defense kept Hopkins off the board in the first half. Goalkeeper Gabriella Capone ’14 led the way with three first-half saves including an impressive stop in the 16th minute that would turn out to be the difference in the game. Capone was named the Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week for her impressive performance. “I’m not quite sure how I made the save because even though she was pretty close, my reaction was a bit late,” Capone recalled. “I was trying to keep it in play by trying to push it back, but instead it got deflected just over the top of the goal.” The defense even managed to get in on the scoring as well, as Allison Ranhous ’13 scored on a long blast off an Abby Lauder assist in the final minutes of the first half. The goal was the first of Ranshous’s career. “I usually don’t take shots on the corner, so I had to turn around get up a little bit, stop the ball outside the circle and take a quick shot.” Ranshous said. “Know-
ing from what we had practiced, the best thing to do there is take a quick shot. “It was just kind of an unnaturally calm moment for me, where I just took a shot, and fortunately it went in.” Hopkins fought back in the second half, controlling the pace every bit as much as Swarthmore had controlled it in the first thirty-five minutes of the game. The Blue Jays took twelve second-half shots to Swarthmore’s two, and their offensive pressure finally led to results. In the game’s 48th minute, sophomore forward Meghan Kellett made it 2-1 with her team’s first goal, the assist coming from junior midfielder Liane Tellier. Swarthmore struggled to control the ball offensively in the second half, and forced replacement goalkeeper Elizabeth Peijnenburg — taking over for Kim Stein after the first half — to make only one save off a shot by Jones in the game’s final minutes. As the match was winding down, the Blue Jays came within one goal, as junior forward Maggie Phillips scored off an assist by senior Ali Bahneman in the game’s 67th minute. Phillips’s goal, however, proved to be the last shot Johns Hopkins would take, as Swarthmore held on to preserve the victory. They move to 4-4 on the year and 2-2 in conference play, as Johns Hopkins drops to 5-4 and 2-1. “I think [the recent success] comes from dedication to the team and to each other,” Ranshous said. “Our greatest asset is that we don’t have that one star player who rises above everyone else. we’re a very evenly matched, well-rounded team and that’s one of our strengths, that we work off each other so much.” The Garnet’s next match comes Saturday at Gettysburg, also a Conference game. Play is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Justin Toran-Burrell The Phoenix
Aarti Rao provided the assist for the second of Nia Jones’s goals and Katie Teleky added a shot on goal and inspired play as the Garnet defeated Johns Hopkins 3-2. THE PHOENIX
October 6, 2011
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