JANUARY 19, 2012 • THE CAMPUS NEWSPAPER OF SWARTHMORE COLLEGE SINCE 1881 • VOLUME 135, ISSUE 1
THE
PHOENIX
Inside: War News Radio changes their tune Yoga programs reduce stress for students, faculty Ebose shatters school shot-put record
Censored:
[content blocked by SOPA/PIPA, pursuant to H.R. 3261 and S.968]
Sites like Wikipedia, Reddit, Craigslist, Wordpress, Imgur and even Google protested SOPA and PIPA by “blacking out” on Wednesday. How Swarthmore students can add their voices to the fifray, and what could happen if these acts do pass. pg. 11
The Phoenix
Thursday, January 19, 2012 Volume 135, Issue 1
The independent campus newspaper of Swarthmore College since 1881. EDITORIAL BOARD Marcus Mello Editor in Chief Camila Ryder Managing Editor Adam Schlegel News Editor Koby Levin Assistant News Editor Brad Lenox Living & Arts Editor Steven Hazel Assistant Living & Arts Editor Reem Abdou Opinions Editor Tim Bernstein Sports Editor Allegra Pocinki Photo Editor Cindy Luu Social Media Coordinator Peter Akkies Webmaster Eric Sherman Webmaster
John Flaherty The Phoenix
Both the men’s and women’s swim teams and the women’s basketball team traveled to Puerto Rico for their winter break trips, enjoying the beautiful weather and preparing for the 2012 season. PAGE 16
News College announces new VP appointments
Two administrators from Colgate have been selected to fill the spots of departing members of the President’s staff. Their apointment was announced by President Chopp in an e-mail over winter break. PAGE 3
WNR makes structural changes to operation In the face of spending cuts and competitors who have mimicked its tactics, War News Radio is undergoing changes in its structure and focus. Student projects will be increasingly self-directed, and coverage will be diverted from Afghanistan and Iraq to other, less covered issues. PAGE 4
Fire decimates Countryside Market
On the dawn of Christmas Eve, a fire destroyed the market and the living space above it. It leaves behind a hole in the Swarthmore culinary scene, one that will be felt by students and community members alike. PAGE 5
Living & Arts Students and faculty discover the benefits of yoga
Swarthmore offers a variety of yoga classes for both interested faculty and students. Instructors and dance professors offer their opinions on the rising popularity of yoga, as well as its many benefits. PAGE 6
New shows hit the main stage at the Players Club
A local theater group based in Swarthmore continues its long tradition of quality performance with its adaptation of the musical comedy “The Beaux’ Strategem.” PAGE 7
Rustie’s “Glass Swords” is
Wonky’s newest answer to Dubstep
The latest release of UK electronic musician Rustie challenges and evolves his Glasgow-based sound. The record’s ‘glitchy’ offerings navigate through labelistic and generic sounds to create its unique sound. PAGE 7
Four fundamentals for answering beer’s questions
Beer as an artisinal and commercial form is stronger than ever before. The basic ingredients that make beer taste the way it does as well as their historic usage offers a springboard for exploring further. PAGE 8
Dorm Dive: Delta Upsilon
Zach Schmidt ’12 opens up his room on the second floor of the DU house and shares his experiences living in that space and its long history. PAGE 9
Opinions
Sports Ebose sets shot-put record to highlight Gotham Cup First-year Osazenoriuwa Ebose broke a thirty-year school record in the shotput, as Swarthmore began the track & field season at New York’s Gotham Cup. PAGE 13
Men’s basketball loses seven contests to open 2012
The new year hasn’t been any kinder to the men’s basketball team, as the Garnet dropped their first seven games of 2012 over the winter break. PAGE 14
Patriots should clinch a Super Bowl trip vs. Ravens
A great offense will go up against the league’s best defense on Sunday in New England. Look for the Patriots to outlast the Baltimore Ravens to earn a trip to Indy. PAGE 15
Attacks on Romney’s business record are unnecessary
Tyler analyzes the Republican attack on Romney’s campaign, explaining why this tactic is both unnecessary and unproductive in a race that should value a candidate with extensive business experience. PAGE 12
Farewell to the Dear Leader: a window of opportunity
The passing of North Korean strongman Kim Jong-il provides a rare window of opportunity for United States re-engagement with North Korea on denuclearization talks. Shirhan explains why effectively managing the North Korea challenge should be seen as an important initiative of the Obama administration’s “strategic pivot” to Asia, as well as an indispensable means to preserve U.S. status in the Asia-Pacific. PAGE 12
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January 19, 2012
STAFF Amanda Epstein News Writer Charles Hepper News Writer Menghan Jin News Writer Yi-Wei Liu News Writer Sera Jeong Living & Arts Writer Samme Sheikh Living & Arts Writer Allison Shultes Living & Arts Writer Chi Zhang Living & Arts Writer Shimian Zhang Living & Arts Columnist Renu Nadkarni Living & Arts Artist Naia Poyer Living & Arts Artist Tyler Becker Opinions Columnist Danielle Charette Opinions Columnist Harshil Shai Opinions Columnist Shirhan Shen Opinions Columnist Sam Sussman Opinions Columnist Emma Waitzman Political Cartoonist Ana Apostoleris Sports Writer Axel Kodat Blogger Julia Carleton Photographer Simone Forrester Photographer Cristina Matamoros Photographer Holly Smith Photographer Justin Toran-Burrell Photographer Sophie Diamond Copy Editor Taylor Hodges Copy Editor Jaimi Kim Copy Editor Axel Kodat Copy Editor Margaret Lawlace Copy Editor Vija Lietuvninkas Copy Editor BUSINESS STAFF Business Manager Paul Chung Circulation Manager Emily Richardson COVER DESIGN Amelia Kucic CONTRIBUTORS Victor Brady, Amelia Dornbush OPINIONS BOARD Reem Abdou, Marcus Mello and Camila Ryder EDITOR’S PICKS PHOTOS COURTESY OF: (clockwise from top left) www.city-data.com www.gregvellante.com www.rebeccaisy17.edublogs.org www.guides.wikinut.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 Marcus Mello. 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 © 2012 The Phoenix. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.
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Events Menu Today Chester Youth Court Panel Discussion Interested in juvenile justice? The Chester Youth Courts were founded over a year ago as part of an effort to expand Chester’s youth court system by providing alternatives to school-run disciplinary measures. Members of the Courts will be speaking on their work and experiences at 4:30 p.m. in Sci 101.
College announces new VP appointments
Prescod-Caesar joins Chopp’s staff as VP of human resources By yi-wei liu yliu2@swarthmore.edu
Chocolates, Chai and Choosing Dean Myrt Westphal is hosting this event to kick off writing the sophomore paper. Whether you’ve planned every single credit from now until graduation or you have no clue what you’ll be taking next semester, let alone what your major will be, all sophomores should make their way over to LPAC at 7 p.m. to take part in this process. Tomorrow Study Abroad General Information Session If you plan on studying abroad during the Fall 2012 semester, attendance at a general information session is mandatory. Additionally, applications for off-campus study in the fall are due by February 17th. There will be a general information session held at the Cunningham House starting at 1 p.m. Logan Grider Exhibition Assistant Professor of Art, Logan Grider, will be showing his recent abstract works in encaustic at the List Gallery beginning today. Grider’s works have been reviewed by the New York Times, the Boston Globe as well as the Brooklyn Rail, and he has received awards such as the Skowhegan Fellowship from Yale University and a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation nomination. ‘Midnight in Paris’ Film Screening Woody Allen’s latest film is a romantic comedy that centers on a couple whose vacation in Paris forces them to examine and ultimately face the true nature of their relationship. There will be a showing at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. in LPAC. Monday, January 23rd Kick Off Your Job Search Career Services is hosting a useful career search information session for seniors to learn about recruiting events and networking at 12:30 p.m. in Sci 199. Philly Fellows Info Session The Philly Fellows program offers seniors one-year, post-graduate fellowships at non-profits in the Philadelphia area. Come learn more at a general information sesion at 6:30 p.m. in Parrish 159. Submissions to the events menus may be sent to news@swarthmorephoenix.com
Courtesy of the Communications Office
Pamela Prescod-Caesar will serve as the new VP for Human Resources.
Pamela Prescod-Caesar will become Swarthmore’s new vice president for human resources on Feb. 15, 2012, taking over a role previously held by Melanie Young. As vice president for human resources, she will be playing a vital role in helping to establish and communicate HR policies to staff and faculty as well as to members of the Board of Managers. President Chopp said that she was pleased with the college’s selection of Prescod-Caesar, after the search committee had reviewed applications from many candidates and brought them to campus to be interviewed by staff, faculty and students. “The members of the search committee and I believe she will bring significant leadership to HR and that she will join all of us in sustaining and improving our community,” Chopp said. Currently, Prescod-Caesar is associate vice president for human resources at Colgate University, where President Chopp also served before moving to Swarthmore. Her colleagues at Colgate were held her in high regard. “Pamela is a charismatic, creative leader
who has a great sense of humor,” says Lori Chlad, director of HR at Colgate University. “Pamela has strengthened Colgate’s Human Resources department and helped the staff achieve their full potential. We wish Pamela and her new staff at Swarthmore the best of luck as they embark on this new journey.” Her extensive experience includes holding posts such as a member of the Society for Human Resources Management, an international association devoted to human resource management, association devoted to human resource management, in addition to the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, a national association for higher-education HR. She was previously a member on the board of Roxbury Comprehensive Health Center and the Greater Boston YMCA Black Achievers Alumni Association. She was also a fellow in Harvard University’s Administrative Fellows Program. Prescod-Caesar and her husband Henry’s two children are currently completing their higher education. Nichole, 23, studies at Boston College, and Toren, 21, at University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Clauss to lead capital campaign, named VP of alumni relations By charles hepper chepper1@swarthmore.edu President Rebecca Chopp announced on Dec. 20 the appointment of former Colgate University colleague Karl Clauss to the position of Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, effective on Mar. 1, 2012. Clauss’s appointment will fill the vacancy left after the Oct. 1 departure of the former Vice President of Development Stephen Bayer, who had accepted the position of associate vice president for university development at Duke University. In her Dec. 20 e-mail to the student body in which she announced his appointment, President Chopp described Clauss as “an accomplished and articulate person of substance with a track record of success.” At Colgate, Clauss exhibited an exemplary performance as the associate vice president for institutional advancement and director of capital and annual support, where he played a prominent role in facilitating the success of two major capital campaigns. President Chopp listed in her Dec. 20 e-mail the numerous accolades Clauss recieved from both staff and donors for his work in fundraising and strategic planning at Colgate. Donors have praised Clauss’s intellectual depth, trustworthiness and creativity. Fellow staff members have cited his success in fostering college growth, his effective leadership, his experience in management, and his strategic thinking capabilities. The Development and Alumni Re-
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lations staff expressed positive sentiments about the prospect of working with Clauss. “I was impressed by the combination of his thoughtfulness, his strong communication skills, his demonstrated success in fundraising and his strong emphasis on collaboration and community,” Lisa Lee, alumni relations director, said. Clauss will serve as the principal leader of Swarthmore’s upcoming capital campaign, an intensive fundraising effort that will solicit financial donations from the college’s vast population of alumni over the next several years. The campaign’s success will be integral to maintaining the college’s renowned financial aid system in addition to the other invaluable forms of monetary assistance and contributions to community life that it provides. While the campaign’s definitive goals have not been made public, Gil Kemp ’72, a member of both the College Board of Managers and the search committee that appointed Clauss, stated that it would be the most ambitious campaign that the school has ever embarked upon. After his graduation from Colgate in 1990, where he majored in political science, Clauss began his employment there as the assistant director of the annual fund. He subsequently worked in capital support, regional development and as the director of major gifts prior to his appointment to his current position of associate vice president for institutional advancement and director of capital giving. Clauss will be living at West House
January 19, 2012
Courtesy of the Communications Office
President Rebecca Chopp’s former Colgate University colleague Karl Clauss will be the new vice president for Development and Alumni Relations beginning on Mar. 1.
on 550 Elm Avenue in Swarthmore along with his wife Anne and their two children, Gretchen and Walter.
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WNR makes structural changes to operation
2012 MLK Day in pictures
Julia Carelton The Phoenix
First-year Naudia Williams joined in the MLK Day discussions as a speaker on Monday in Bond Hall.
Cristina Matamoros The Phoenix
War News Radio, housed in Lodge 6 by Bond Hall, is re-envisioning itself as this semester marks the last period of formal college funding for the group.
By Amanda epstein aepstei1@swarthmore.edu
Julia Carelton The Phoenix
Professor of Political Science Keith Reeves participated as speaker in the 2012 MLK Day commemoration on Monday afternoon in Bond Hall.
Julia Carelton The Phoenix
Founding member of Temple University’s Inside-Out prison exchange program, Tyrone Werts, spoke on prisoners’ rights as part of MLK Day on Monday afternoon.
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In the past, War News Radio (WNR), Swarthmore’s award-winning student-run news group, traditionally produced 30-minute weekly broadcasts that were carried on numerous radio stations worldwide. Starting this semester, WNR is not only dropping their broadcasts for a more comprehensive, multimedia online platform, but it is also expanding the topics being covered. According to staff member Collin Smith ’14, WNR was originally partially funded by the president’s office. “When President Rebecca Chopp came in, she didn’t really understand why the president’s funding was going to this one student group every year, which makes sense because the fund is for temporary groups, and our group was clearly not one anymore,” Smith said. At that point in time, the radio show secured two more years worth of funding. Now, with only one semester’s worth of money left, the group decided it was time for a change. Because the Lang Center has funded WNR in the past as well, creating a more sustainable proposal could also help renew funding for the group, according to Amy DiPierro ’15, a contributing member of WNR. “We decided that it was better to totally rethink things than try to expand within the constraints that we already had,” DiPierro said. According to DiPierro, the changes were also implemented mid-year for various reasons. “We know each other and we have a good idea of who will be a major contributor. Plus I think that the start of a new semester renews the chance to recruit again and get people excited and interested in joining,” she said. This new online platform consists of two different elements, according to Smith. One is media aggregation — that is, taking a topic and searching the web on a regular basis, and then compiling all of the important and relevant information into one spot within the site. The second is individual productions. “We’ll interview people, create original content, just like before, but instead of patching it into a half-hour radio show every week, we’ll put it on the website as an article, possibly with audio and video supplements. It will be multimedia,” Smith said. Evolving for the sake of remaining a relevant and original source of news was also an important aspect of the decision to switch to an online platform for WNR. “In 2005, War News Radio represented one of the most innovative models in independent journalism, but with innovation becoming the standard across the media industry in recent years, we need to discover new strategies to distinguish ourselves,” Professor and WNR mentor, Jim MacMillan, said. WNR also plans to shift away from their current focus on events in the Middle East, specifically Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, in order to accommodate the original purpose of the show, which was to cover events lacking proper coverage by the mainstream media. “When WNR started, there was a lot of enthusiasm on campus about reporting on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” DiPierro said. “Over time, that enthusiasm somewhat understandably waned and while we still want to report on conflict when that’s relevant, we want to make sure that we are also covering other topics that are equally under-covered and equally important. Essentially, we are focusing on under-covered news through a social lens,” DiPierro said. MacMillan, like the other WNR contributors, wishes to make the group’s reporting more accessible to new audiences. “I hope to develop a more vibrant journalism community at Swarthmore, empowering more students to bring new knowledge on the issues that concern them to a wider spectrum of audiences,” he said. Although the site won’t be running for three or more weeks, War News Radio plans to undertake their new venture by tackling the issues surrounding income inequality and will consequently also be covering events like Occupy Wall Street.
January 19, 2012
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Around Higher education
Wikipedia, Reddit blackout to protest SOPA
and use it. Where it can be censored without due process, it hurts the speaker, the public and Wikimedia.” Many members of the Penn commuProcrastinating college students nity are also against the passing of the around the world lost their go-to source legislations. of information on Wednesday. Chris Mustazza, director of Social Wikipedia, Reddit, Wordpress and Science Computing and Student Techother prominent websites “blacked nology, wrote in an email that he saw out,” or shut themselves down, in op- the issue as a case of privacy versus position to two bills aimed to combat free speech, in which a delicate balance online piracy — the Stop Online Piracy had to be struck. Act, which is going through the House He said that “technical regulation” of Representatives, and the PROTECT such as SOPA and PIPA would not be IP Act, which is being looked at by the very effective without popular social Senate. support. He said the Wikipedia black“This is an extraordinary action for out is a great way to “spread awareness our community to take,” Jimmy Wales, about the issue” and to show people founder of Wikipedia, said in a state- “what living in a country with signifiment. “We simply cannot ignore the cant internet censorship would feel fact that SOPA and PIPA endanger free like.” speech both in the United States and Werbach saw the Wikipedia blackabroad and set a frightening precedent out as a symbolic measure as well, but of internet censorship for the world.” said it will be good to inform people SOPA and about the subject. PIPA would al“One issue is low copyright just the awareness holders and the level,” he said. Any censorship of free federal govern“There are a lot of speech as egregious as ment to get court online users who orders against SOPA and PIPA shreds ... have no idea this sites involved is going our constitutional rights ... debate with copyright on.” as a free people. infringement. The Penn students bills aim to punhad mixed reacPatrick Leahy ’13 ish sites that, for tions to the oneStudent at Wharton example, host ilday shutdown of legal songs or link some of the most to those that do. popular online Under the current proposals, courts sites.Beck Lu, an exchange student may order companies to stop dealing from Hong Kong, said the blackout with these infringing sites, require could be effective, but “a lot of users search engines to stop listing them and may find it inconvenient.” even force internet service providers to Wales joked on Twitter that students block them altogether. “should do their homework early.” The bills have garnered significant College freshmen Andrew Azzam opposition among students and popular and Nikhil Menezes, who both use Redwebsites. Just a few days ago, President dit avidly, saw the temporary suspenBarack Obama issued a statement that sion of one of their favorite websites as he would not support SOPA, but PIPA a “necessary sacrifice to spread awareis still going through the Senate, and ness about this important issue,” Azboth bills are currently being rewrit- zam said. ten. “It should always go without say“There certainly is copyright in- ing that any censorship of free speech fringement online, and copyright as egregious as SOPA and PIPA shreds holders are concerned about revenue both our constitutional rights and our losses,” Legal Studies professor Kev- most fundamental sensibilities as a free in Werbach said. But “the purported people,” Wharton junior Patrick Leahy cure” of SOPA is worse.Werbach said wrote in an email. the bills could raise issues of freedom English professor and co-founder of of speech. Laws like this “tend to have PennSound Charles Bernstein blacked unintended consequences,” he said, out Penn’s 24-hour online poetry and may lead to a “chilling effect” on stream today in order to symbolically online speech. support the efforts against the bills, Sites such as Reddit and Wikipedia even though SOPA would not directly are against the bills because the bills affect his website. allow for censorship of the entire sites He wrote in an email that the acts due to a single link that violates copy- would “stifle innovation and block acright laws. Reddit said in a statement cess to information.” He portrayed the that “piracy will still exist” after the two acts as slippery slopes to governact, but “the internet in the U.S. will ment censorship. For him, they are a have entered the realm of federal regu- way for “large corporate interest … to lation and censorship.” privatize knowledge: to gobble it all up Similarly, Wikipedia said in a state- (whether it is theirs or not) and sell it.” ment that “knowledge has to be pub“Don’t let Big Brother get away with lished somewhere for anyone to find this one,” he wrote.
By prameet kumar, tony xie www.thedp.com, Jan. 17, 2012
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Fire decimates Countryside Deli By koby levin jlevin1@swarthmore.edu The upturned Coca-Cola-branded umbrellas and blackened rubble, strewn about in what used to be an outdoor dining area, are testaments to the chaos caused by the fire that swept through Countryside & Deli on December 24th. The blaze destroyed the restaurant along with the residential space on the top floors that housed the owners of the Market, the Carrata family, all of whom escaped safely. “We received the call at 6:27 a.m. on Saturday the 24th saying there was a fire in the Justin Toran-Burrell The Phoenix kitchen,” said Swarthmore Fire Chief Bob Rubble surrounds the Countryside Deli Jones. “It was a first alarm fire, a very typiafter a recent fire tore through it. cal alarm response for a building fire in the borough of Swarthmore.” The building was made up of three parts: a house containing the dining room and living quarters, an addition built to hold the kitchen, and another addition stretching back from Yale street into the property. Of these, the house and 2nd addition remain standing – the kitchen burnt entirely to the ground, victim to an arbitrary architectural feature. Since it has no door to the outside, firefighters were forced to go through the only doors available. “Our approach was through the front and through the back, so it was easier to concentrate our efforts on those parts and then work our way toward where the fire was,” said Swarthmore Fire Marshal Tom Moleski. “There wasn’t an exterior door that led directly into where the fire was.” Chief Jones added that he was sad to see Countryside go. “I liked it there,” he said. “It had a nice atmosphere and good food.” The market will also be missed by Swarthmore students who counted it among the local dining options. “They had a very extensive menu variety and all the items were very interesting but delicious,” said freshman Brady White. “The service was great and accommodating, and the atmosphere was homey and comforting.” Though, the official police investigation into the cause of the fire has not yet been completed, Fire Marshal Tom Moleski suggested it would be sometime in the coming week.
January 19, 2012
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Students and faculty discover the benefits of yoga ticularly beneficial to the typical overworked, over- Participants vary from seasoned yoga-lovers to beginstressed student, can be enjoyed by all who engage ners, and the instructors work to ensure their pracin the discipline. “Yoga is an incredible option for tice can accommodate the range of abilities present. Taking five minutes to practice a corpse pose may students but also for everybody. Everybody’s lives Mattingly, like Arrow and Anderson, believes yoga seem — aside from slightly morbid — a luxury un- are busy. There are a lot of working parents, a lot of offers both physical and emotional benefits. Its effecaffordable to time-crunched students cramming for stresses.” tiveness in injury prevention functions as a result of exams or banging out the slew of papers. Those who Beyond witnessing yoga’s tangible benefits for increasing the flexibility of and relaxing the body, as practice yoga, however, view the exercise differently: their students, both Arrow and Anderson have found well as heightening body awareness. “When I hit a as an effective method to increase mental and physi- their practices greatly improve their own lives as hurdle and fall or fall [while skiing], I don’t get hurt, cal fitness while offering a much-needed escape from well. “When practicing, I find my state of mind more even when my side is black and blue from hitting the the stresses of day-to-day living. For stressed out stu- relaxed and, at the same time, more engaged with the snow so hard. I’ve never broken a bone,” Mattingly dents and their overworked professors, Swarthmore world. I certainly said. provides a variety of opportunities to explore the ben- am aware that my Student athletes from cross efits of yoga, from classes run by the dance depart- body, now 61 years country runners to basketball ment to independent student-led programs. of age, is more alive Many Swarthmore students have players to Frisbee members have With yoga on the rise, practitioners no longer fit and agile — and turned to yoga to supplement described to me how they had their training. Aside from physithe old stereotype of out-there, hippie-like chanters together, these reand ohm-ers, according to yoga instructor Mary Anne sults make me a benefits, the opportunity to become addicted to the stress cal Anderson, who teaches classes for faculty and staff on happier and healthdecompress was one of the prireduction effects of the yoga. campus. The demographics of participants are shift- ier person,” Arrow mary hooks for Mattingly. “[Afing: whereas yoga classes used to be primarily domi- said. “Curiously, a ter my Friday class], I’m good. Kim Arrow nated by women, many husbands and fathers are now knee ligament inThings are all right,” he said. beginning to emerge on the scene, introduced by their jury I had as a stuDance Professor If you would like more inforwives and children to the cultural phenomenon. In- dent in the ’70s that mation on classes or to be added creased marketing of the discipline, begun in t h e had to the email list, contact Travis periodically last few decades, has contributed to the Mattingly at tmattin1@swarthbothered me for 20 influx of yoga-goers nationwide. years, totally disappeared after that first month [prac- more.edu, or stop by the Wrestling Room in the LambDance professor Kim Arrow additicing] in India, […] along with the beginning of an Miller Field House during one of the following times. tionally credits the discipline’s curimminent sciatica problem.” rent popularity to its noticeable effecAnderson also notices yoga produces palpable bentiveness, among other factors. Arrow, efits in her own life. After she began practicing, her who teaches both a technique course children encouraged her to go to class even if she and a physical education course in had been too busy to attend for a while. “My own yoga, found students introduced kids recognized I was calmer and better able to deal to the discipline in his classes with uncomfortable [or] stressful situations [when Tuesdays 7:00 - 8:00 p.m., led by Paul experienced tangible outcomes. I was practicing],” Anderson said. Ahm “I’ve had athletes in class who For students not enrolled in Arrow’s dance have expressed to me surprising courses, independent practices led by Swarthmore Wednesdays 7:00 - 8:00 p.m., led by Bess results. For example: ‘My runstudents offer a viable alternative. The studentning time has improved’, and run program, begun with the help of Kelly Matlock ‘My coach measured our Wilcox, former Assistant Director of Stuheights again, I’m a halfdent Life, was initiated in 2009, with JuThursdays 7:00 - 8:00 p.m., led by Allison inch taller!’” Arrow said in lia Roseman ’11, Allison Stuewe ’12, and Stuewe an email. “One person who Travis Mattingly ’13 leading practices in had a bad back for several coordination with the Student Health and years, and tried several therWellness program. Stuewe, who practices Fridays 5:15-6:15 p.m., led by Travis apies, told me her back was virAshtanga yoga, later became involved in spearMattingly Renu Nadkarni The Phoenix heading the Ashtanga Yoga Club, which is still an tually back on track and that she could run distances again without active presence on campus. pain. Many Swarthmore students have described to Mattingly now serves as the yoga coordinator for me how they had become addicted to the stress reduc- weekly student-run practices; in addition to teachClasses are held in the Wrestling Room in the tion effects of the yoga.” ing his own class on Friday afternoons, he is also reLamb-Miller Field House. Arrow believes the turn to yoga has been facilitat- sponsible for reserving space, scheduling classes, and ed by greater amounts of stress imposed by society, managing an email list for interested participants. a new emphasis on sedentary computing skills and a decline in physical education and healthy dietary cartoon by naia poyer habits — trends which yoga can assist in combating, both through physical practice and the psychological components of the discipline. Beyond health appeals, Western attraction to Eastern culture since the rise of the Beatles and the camaraderie found within yoga groups additionally drive people to studios, according to Arrow. Further increasing the appeal of the discipline are the many different styles of yoga, which ensure that there is a fit for everyone, both in terms of physical demands on the body and lifestyle compatibility. Anderson, who has been teaching on campus since 2002 in conjunction with the Wellness Group for Faculty and Staff, leads classes in Vinyasa, Hatha, and Yin yoga for faculty and staff. Vinyasa, Anderson’s selfproclaimed “first love,” is the most strenuous and physically demanding of the three, whereas Hatha and Yin are gentler, more restorative strains. Anderson believes the different options are great for professors, who can choose a gentler variety in order to return to class sweat-free or a more intense version before returning home. She currently teaches five classes through the Wellness Center, and believes the benefits afforded by practice, while perhaps parBy allison shultes ashulte1@swarthmore.edu
Weekly Schedule of Student-Led Yoga Classes
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January 19, 2012
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New shows hit the main stage at the Players Club By chi zhang czhang1@swarthmore.edu
The Players Club of Swarthmore, a community theatre, built in 1911 and around a 20-minute walk from Swarthmore College, attracts large audiences and offers a wide variety of plays, ranging from musicals to dramas. With three hundred seats in the mainstage studio and an eighty-seat black-box theatre for second stage, the club puts forth great effort to have a show for everyone. It recently featured George Farquhar’s comedy “The Beaux’ Strategem” on Jan. 6 and the play is slate to run until Jan. 21. In “The Beaux’ Strategem”, Tom Aimwell and Jack Archer are two young men suffering from broken fortune. In order to marry heiresses to gain wealth, Aimwell pretend to be a master to his servant Archer. However, during the time of their cheating and disguising the two men fall in love with the daughter of Lady Bountiful, Dorinda, and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Kate Sullen, respectively. This affection leads to the confession of their true identities. “The Beaux’ Strategem” is a comedy written in 1707 that has since experienced several rounds of adaptation and restyling. George Mulford, the director of the show, describes in the playbill how certain assumptions would certainly have brought laughs in 1707, but lose their effectiveness in contemporary times. For instance, “Frenchmen are cowardly; all Irishmen duplicitous, and all servant women fair game for a gentleman’s dalliance,” Mulford wrote. However, in Mulford’s eyes, the update by Thornton Wilder and his son Ken Ludwig is very successful in translating humor for the modern audience. “I am always looking for comedies,” Mulford stated, “because plays of quality tend not to be comedies.” The adaptations mentioned above were used for the production of the show. It deleted
the archaic parts and kept the nature of the characters and the delightful, mocking and derisive tone of the original, which Mulford believes is valuable to show to the audience. “I want the audience to laugh.” Conveying a sense of humour is the center of the whole performance. The performers’ understanding of the characters, the show and the comedy as a whole enables them to bring comic effects to the show. Lady Bountiful, a country gentlewoman who is foolishly fond of her son, is played by Janean Clare, a long-time member of the Club. Clare described her character as possibly a “medical quack,” but Clare finds that Lady Bountiful “firmly believes she’s doing well. She is sincere but you can see what she thinks of herself and what others think of her are different. That’s where the comedy comes in.” Other plays are also set to be performed at the Players Club. “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” which will be showed from February 10 to 25, is a musical comedy with lyrics by Joe Dipietro and music by Jimmy Roberts. As the play’s tagline describes, its main themes of love and relationships demonstrate “everything you have ever secretly thought about dating, romance, marriage, lovers, husbands, wives and in-laws, but were afraid to admit.” According to the club’s history on its website, Dr. Andrew Francis Jackson, one of the early members of the club who directed and wrote plays and tableaux, describes the Clubs members as “all a little bit crazy.” Even today, this quote still echoes around the Club. Jim Carroll, one of the many directors, offers his understanding of this saying. “We are a little bit crazy because of the fact that we can’t help ourselves doing it. It’s like in addiction. We are always very busy and we come here and volunteer in our free time, at night or on weekends.” Almost all the
Courtesy of David Richman
George Farquhar’s comedy “The Beaux’ Strategem,” currently on the main stage at the Players Club of Swarthmore, will have three more performances from today until Saturday.
members are volunteers and perform as an expression of their passions toward theater. Anna Wilson is an audience member who attends every show done by the Club and also used to work as a volunteer along with her husband. She explained why she is so fond of theatre. “I think about Shakespeare’s words that all life is a stage, we are only players. And if I do it long enough, if I pretend long enough, what I want to be real can become real.” Carroll agreed with Ms. Wilson’s feelings on how theater connects with daily life. “It’s kind of like every aspect of life. It’s like a life profession. And also, it always changes. It’s not like a regular job and you do the same thin-
wgs everyday,” Carroll said about theater. “You work on a show and show ends, then you stop and you start again from the bottom of another show with new cast people and a new group. And that structure is always different. It’s constantly changing and it’s about constantly meeting people. It’s really a lot fun.” As for the future of the Club, Carroll believes with the high level sets, costumes and acting, it will continue to thrive as a theater of high quality. “There are very good people who continue to come and we get younger ones that replace the older ones. They bring in new life and new ideas to the theater. I believe that will carry through the next hundred years.”
Rustie’s ‘Glass Swords’ is Wonky’s newest answer to Dubstep It has been a couple of years since the Glaswegian wonky scene has made any noise on the international level. Also known as aquacrunk, the wonky sound has largely been recognized for its unstable synth patterns, blown-out bass beats, and its catalog of diverse influences. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that the main criticism Dylan Jensen surrounding wonky music is lack of direction. Within Music Now! the last couple of years, however, wonky music creators have worked towards a fuller, more developed sound that has produced some of the year’s best releases. Hudson Mohawke’s 2009 release on Warp Records, “Butter,” saw the 23 year old Glasgow DJ employ aquacrunk elements such as glitch hop, juxtaposed time signatures and smooth synth lines, but the album stills manages to come off more as underdeveloped than as purposefully brief. His 2011 EP, “Satin Panthers,” on the other hand, adopts a sound that maintains the complex genre elements of his wonky roots — Chicago juke, IDM, and g-funk - but does so without complicating things. The EP’s wonky sound remains, but as a backdrop rather than a focal point. With this apparent shift from one of Glasgow’s leading artists in mind, it was interesting to see where the wonky sound’s creator, Rustie, would go with his newest release, “Glass Swords.” After releasing various singles and EPs on Wireblock Records and later Warp Records,
Rustie was largely recognized as a Glaswegian party DJ with too many influences and no way to successfully employ them all. However, his “Ultra Thizz” EP on Warp Records, released early in 2011, saw Rustie follow in a similar path as his contemporary, Hudson Mohawke. Perhaps one of the years most anticipated releases, “Glass Swords” received largwely positive reviews upon its release from many of the go-to critics — Pitchfork gave the album an 8.0, comparing it to LFO’s “Frequencies,” and Metacritic currently has it rated as an 82. But like Hudson Mohawke’s newest EP, “Glass Swords” is not so much a wonky release as it as pure dance album. While there are obviously several nods to various genres, the album maintains a cohesiveness that lacks in Rustie’s previous releases. Ironically, however, it is this cohesiveness that perhaps best captures the Glaswegian party and rave scene that supposedly developed the wonky sound. Notorious for its stamina and lively hedonism, the Glasgow rave scene has long challenged London for the title of UK dance capital. But views as to what music epitomizes the Glasgow scene are nothing short of conflicting. On one hand Glasgow is very much a hip-hop city. On the other hand, Glasgow’s electronic and techno fascinations are undeniable. However, one thing is for sure, however, Glasgow likes to party. Maybe it was this confusion that lead to the creation of wonky. Perhaps it was the DJs themselves that were confused as to what they should play to quench the thirst of Glasgow’s diverse ravers, so they combined a little bit of everything, from Detroit techno to 80s synth funk to early Flying Lotus-esque dubstep. Naturally, this seems like it wouldn’t mesh and in many cases it doesn’t. Early wonky releases, even those as successful as Hudson Mohawke and Rustie, suffer from this fact. Of course they
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January 19, 2012
capture the diverse range of Glasgow’s party scene, but the lack of cohesion paradoxically prevents any true dance party from forming. Enter Rustie’s “Glass Swords” album. With trance strings, sci-fi samples and over-the-top bass drops, the album is nothing short of inspired. But instead of transitioning between samples and hooks like a kid without his ADD medication, he maintains them just long enough. In other words, he leaves us wanting what’s next but all the while wishing the current hook doesn’t stop. Tracks such as ‘Surph’ and ‘Cry Flames’ combine the soul and shimmer of R&B classics with patchwork drum patterns and dubstep bass womps, while ‘City Star’ sounds like a Soulja Boy track more than any type of electronic composition. This isn’t to say that this diversity lacks consistency, however. Quite the contrary. Every track on “Glass Swords” is a calculated, complex party of bass, synth, and samples. While the wonky sound has trouble helping any true rave form, Rustie avoids keeping it entirely put-down. In a dubstep world, dominated by the likes of Skrillex and other ‘bass-womp’ artists, Rustie is anything (and everything) but. In many ways, “Glass Swords” acts more like a dubstep parody record than anything else, teasing the listener with bass womps placed against IDM beats. But this isn’t Rustie’s intention. Rather, it is a record with no shame and no thought, simply a party soundtrack free from the restrictions of self-consciousness. Rustie most likely won’t make the same splash as Skrillex or fill up as many stadiums as Avicii, but for those seeking electronic music outside of the Billboard realm, there is certainly something here. Or, it’s at least something you can throw on at party. Dylan is a junior. You can reach him at pjensen1@ swarthmore.edu.
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Living & Arts Four fundamentals for answering beer’s questions swarthmorephoenix.com
Welcome to 2012, the year beer takes over. Slowly over the past two decades, beer as an artisanal endeavor and as an environmental and lifestyle Brad Lenox choice has made a triBrew’s Clues umphant return. Last year the Brewers Association, the nation’s largest trade association of craft and microbreweries, reported that America is now home to more independent breweries than at any time since before Prohibition — in 1913. It took the better part of a century to recover from the Noble Experiment of prohibition, but America has finally bounced back. For consumers, and U.S. college students, this means that there are more choices on supermarket and liquor store shelves than ever before — not only in terms of brands but also in the form of flavors that were almost extinct. Porter as a style was rarely found in its native British regions and it took the American brewing pioneers Anchor Brewing to reintroduce it to the world. Michael Jackson, a world-renowned beer critic not related to the pop star, remarked before his passing in 2009 that America brewed the best beer in the world — essentially warning European brewers to watch America to rediscover their own roots. However, how does one make sense of all these new technical terms, brands, and styles and turn it into an enjoyable and special tasting experience? This column will introduce readers to the complicated and often intimidat-
ing world of beer. Pieces will range from the brewing process. Fermentation had historical exploration, brand spotlights, to begin spontaneously and according to reviews and tasting notes and a survey the whims of nature; beer was often left in of brewing techniques, including home open containers overnight, exposing it to brewing. To begin exploring the art and wild airborne yeast. However in the modstory of zymurgy (the study of brewing), ern setting, brewmasters have the ability it is best to start with what seems to be an to tailor yeast to work according to their elementary question: what is beer? needs, like producing more alcohol or Beer is generally composed of water, unique flavors. hops, malted barely, and yeast — with a Yeast provides another important disfew stylistic and technical exceptions. tinction to make when talking about beer. This formulation has been the result of Regardless of what certain state governcenturies of tradition, chemistry, and, ments like Texas decry, ale and lager are surprisingly, civil cases involved in beer’s both two related but distinct types of beer. evolution. These two terms represent both stylistic For example, the Reinheitsgebot, a and biological differences deriving mainly purity law created in 1516 by the state from the types of yeast used in fermentaof Bavaria, acted as an early form of our tion. FDA, requiring brewers to restrict their Ale yeasts thrive at a higher temperaadditives to what was seen as healthy and ture range (between roughly 65 and 75 natural — namely degrees) and the first three live at the top of the aforemenof a fermenter To begin exploring the art tioned ingreditank, while lager and story of zymurgy, it ents. Yeast is nostrains sit on the is best to start with what ticeably absent bottom and work from this list due best at around 55 seems to be an elementary to the fact that degrees. These question: what is beer? its existence and differences have place in fermentahistorically retion was not to be sulted in unique discovered until 300 or so years later. brewing traditions along climate differYeast is the microbial workhorse that ences. For example, the cooler caves of the makes beer beer. Brewer’s yeast, a strain Rhein valley offered the perfect natural distinct from baker’s yeast, consumes storage for lager beers — pilsners, weizens sugars and produces ethanol and carbon and others. Tellingly, the industry term dioxide as its metabolic by-products. Until lager takes its meaning from the German the 19th century, however, this chemical verb “to store.” reaction had little scientific basis and was Alternatively, the warmer clime of explained by a variety of natural and su- Britain was the natural place for ales like pernatural causes. pale ales, porters, and stouts. In terms of Louis Pasteur, the inventor of pasteuri- flavor, ales tend to be a bit sweeter and zation, pioneered a process we now asso- fruitier due to the chemical compounds ciate with commercial milk production produced at these higher temperatures in an essay on beer, leading to the discov- while lagers are crisp, clean and bright. ery of yeast and its place in beer. Before The body of the beer, unfermented bethat revelation brewers had little control fore the yeast is able to do its work, is comover how and when they used yeast in posed of the sugars released from sources
like barley. Malt is a product of sugars from germinated cereal grains, usually plants barley, rye, wheat, and even oats. Barley provides the food for the yeast as well as protein and other nutrients that contribute in their own ways to beer’s flavor. The cereal grains are first steeped in water, or mashed, in order to release the natural sugars in the grain and then boiled, sanitizing the unfermented beer as well as the water added to the malt. Having a mixture of only sugar water would make for a sickly sweet beer as well as provide a breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria. Gruit, a mixture of spices, including coriander and orange peel, was used in many European countries as a flavor balancer and preservative for beer. This mixture was usually controlled by the Catholic Church in a manner similar to domestic liquor licenses. However around the 1500s, hops became the primary preservative additive to beer. As a conseuence, modern brewers now generally use the cone-like fruits of the Humulus lupulus plant, commonly known as hops in the place of historical gruit. These vines are actually cousins of the Cannabaceae family, which includes cousins Cannibus sativa and hemp. The cones when boiled with unfermented beer produce a resiny oil that containing compounds called alpha acids — the substance that provides bitterness along with preservative effects to beer. Different strains of hop flowers can create different flavor profiles, ranging from citrusy to grassy or spicy. These four elements are the basis for almost any beer you could see on a shelf and knowing what you’re find is the first step to finding something you like. The next column will discuss the history and flavor differences of beer styles and how these ingredients compose and define them. Brad is a junior. He can be reached at blenox1@swarthmore.edu
Living IN Photo
Students display their final projects for FMST 43 — visualizations of conspiracy theories inspired by film and TV — in the front lobby of McCabe.
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January 19, 2012
Allegra Pocinki The Phoenix
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DORM DIVE by Sera Jeong
A Quieter Side to the Delta Upsilon House Whilst the Delta Upsilon house is known to host fraternity meetings and events, it is less well-known that it also hosts a resident, Zach Schmidt, a senior who lives in a single room on the second floor. Traditionally, a DU brother resides in the house every year, an arrangement based on whoever is the first to volunteer. According to Schmidt, though, “usually people don’t really want to live in the room.” For Schmidt however, cost was a large incentive, as living in the DU house is cheaper than living in a dorm. He easily transitioned into living in the house this year, since he had lived in his room over the past two summers while he worked in Philadelphia. Initially, he thought noise would be an issue since the DU house hosts social gatherings on Thursday and Saturday, generally open to the entire campus. But being surrounded by people in the house has its benefits. “I don’t feel like I’m disconnected from campus in any way,” Schmidt said, despite being the lone resident in the house. Surprisingly, he claims the noise is barely audible as two floors separate his room and the basement where the music is played. As with any other dormitory, there are disadvantages to living in a frat house. “I miss having the dorm community,” Schmidt said. He finds an easy solution in frequenting Alice Paul and Wharton, where many of
his friends reside. Certain amenities that are fundamental to conventional dorms, such as laundry facilities, are absent in the DU house. Every few weeks, Schmidt utilizes friends’ dormitories to do laundry. “In the big scheme of things, it’s manageable,” he said. A microwave and a George Foreman grill which sits on his bookshelf replace the need for a kitchen. In terms of decoration, adornment is largely limited to the walls save for a large metal Don Juan lamp that Schmidt jokes is an “artifact of DU.” An American flag flanks the wall above his bed, and on the side opposite is a Chris Brown poster from Goodwill which he claims he purchased for a friend. Schmidt attempts to create a comfortable space to relax with his friends, with a large recliner and a television taking up some of the compact space. “I have stuff around [the perimeter of] the room. I want people to feel like they can come in here and hang out,” he said. Large windows brightly illuminate the room, and adjoining is a sizeable ensuite, which does not make Schmidt’s living arrangement all too unpleasant or atypical. Schmidt does not think living in the DU house has caused the fraternity to take over his final year of college. Since he also holds on-campus jobs and is involved with Learning 4 Life, he feels he can keep DU from burgeoning onto all aspects of his life.
Photos by Cristina Matamoros The Phoenix
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Living & Arts
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Pajama Palooza!
Friday, Jen. 21 & Saturday, Jan. 22 at 7:00 & 10:00 p.m. in LPAC
Saturday, Jan. 21 at 10 p.m - 2 a.m. Delta Upsilon Fraternity
Movie Committee Presents: Midnight In Paris
editor’s picks ‘The Dirrrrty South’ Featuring ‘Wes’s Fault’ Saturday, Jan. 21 at 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Olde Club 10
By Brad Lenox Saturday, Jan. 21. Men’s at 1 p.m., Women’s at 3 p.m.
Tarble Pavilion
Swarthmore Basketball vs. Ursinus College January 19, 2012
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Staff Editorial
SOPA/PIPA to make Internet a closed marketplace Unless you’ve recently embarked on an inexplicable hiatus from the World Wide Web, you will have seen the acronyms “SOPA” and “PIPA” plastered on the Wikipedia masthead, nestled in between memes on Reddit.com, or re-blogged amongst posts on Tumblr. Rallying together nearly every corner of interactive cyberspace in opposition, the proposed legislation (the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act) is being considered by Congress (SOPA in the House and PIPA in the Senate) in an effort to crack down on Internet piracy. Yet while the ostensible intent of the U.S. government is to give copyright and IP owners a greater capacity to go after foreign sites dedicated to the theft and sale of U.S. materials, the censoring impact these bills will have is self-evident. SOPA was introduced in the House of Representatives by House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R-TX) on October 26, 2011, while PIPA, its Senate counterpart, was presented by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on May 12, 2011. Both bills were put forward in their respective chambers with the support of about a dozen bipartisan co-sponsors who, since the Internet has erupted in seemingly unanimous protest, have lost one to two congressional supporters. Still, both pieces of legislation have thus far stood their ground in Congress, with “Hollywood” backing from the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America, and companies like Nike, NBCUniversal and the NBA. In fervent resistance and in an effort to notify and galvanize its users to take action, major sites like Wikipedia, Reddit, Wordpress and Craigslist staged a “blackout” on Wednesday akin to sit-in protests, while Google censored the logo on its homepage. Even smaller-scale blogs and personal websites have joined in the fray by either posting their criticism of the legislation or completely “blacking-out” their own areas of the Internet in defiance. If the two bills are indeed passed, this sort of online apocalypse could become indefinite. U.S. corporations and the government will have the unchecked right to seek legal action (without due process) against any website they determine to be either facilitators of or participators in copyright infringement. And while the underlying aim to curtail digital piracy seems to be noble in nature, the power granted to these entities will allow for the termination of any website that a private company (or the government) feels is breaking their copyright policies. This subverts any kind of Constitutionally-reserved right to trial and freedom of speech. So how does this affect us — a generation of tech-savvy bloggers, Googlers and plain-old Wiki users? For one thing, it may very well shut down any blogging platform or blog that has even a hint of copyright violation. Since U.S. government agencies and private corporations would have unimpeded discretion in deeming illicit the use of a particular logo, trademark, image, and so on and so forth, the possibility for litigation and subsequent liquidation is increased twentyfold. This means that major social networking sites like Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook are at risk. Additionally, sites that might host prospectively infringing content like Vimeo, Etsy and Flickr could also face legal action from any competing companies that could claim promotion of or engagement with copyright infringement. Entire sites could be shut down if any one user chose to violate copyright laws. If that’s the case, Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter will be no more. Even media minor-leaguers like start-up companies and small business might end up hurting if a company felt (however falsely) that they were either a likely challenger for consumer attention or actually functioning as piracy hubs. Moreover, the start-ups that use mediums like Facebook to interact and communicate with a broader audience in order to increase the economic endurance of their operations will suffer significantly. Working in tandem, SOPA and PIPA would also limit innovation in the online marketplace. Sites similar to Spotify, DropBox and MediaFire would be terminated at their inception simply as potential spaces for online piracy. To think that these bills would have existed in the days of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter is a harrowing thought — what is the Internet without novel endeavors in user interactivity but a vast network of legal restrictions and limited information? To have these bills pass would be to regress decades in terms of high-tech modernization. Legislation such as this prompts us to reevaluate what the Internet’s role even is and whether control of such a chaotic and truly transnational medium is actually feasible. What, then, is our part in preventing the passage of acts that would severely hinder online free speech and technological creativity as we know it? The answer is what our part has always been as Generation Y Internet users: an aware and active approach in fighting for what we believe is right. Becoming informed and informing others is the first and most crucial step in this undertaking, getting in contact with our congressional representatives and letting our discontent be heard loud and clear is a vital next step. Signing online petitions and utilizing the Internet itself to its global extent is additionally pivotal. Finally, we must remain aware and active. SOPA and PIPA will not be the first or last attempt by the government and corporations to tangibly challenge a free and open society, but it can be the first and last attempt to bring about widespread online censorship while expecting us to idly stand by. For more information and to sign a petition urging Congress to vote NO, go to https://blacklist.eff.org.
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Emma Waitzman The Phoenix
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, opeds 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 op-eds must be submitted by 10 p.m. on Monday, and The Phoenix reserves the right to withhold letters and op-eds 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 individ-
January 19, 2012
ual writers may request that their group affiliation be included. While The Phoenix does not accept anonymous submissions, letters and op-eds may be published without the writer’s name in exceptional circumstances and at the sole discretion of the Editorial Board. An editorial represents the opinions of the members of the Opinions Board: Reem Abdou, Marcus Mello and Camila Ryder. Please submit letters to: letters@swarthmorephoenix.com or The Phoenix Swarthmore College 500 College Avenue Swarthmore, PA 19081 Please report corrections to: corrections@swarthmorephoenix. com Letters, corrections and news tips may also be submitted online to the paper by clicking “Contact” on the Phoenix website.
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Opinions Attacks on Romney’s business record are unnecessary swarthmorephoenix.com
The onslaught of attacks on Republican presidential candidate and former Governor Mitt Romney’s (R-MA) record at Bain Capital, a private equity firm, began even prior to Romney’s New Hampshire primary victory. The so-called “antiRomney” candidates realized what political observers determined after the Iowa Caucus: with a small Tyler Becker win in Iowa and a solid The Swarthmore win in New Hampshire, Romney would be unstopConservative pable. The other primary candidates, led by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), started to criticize the business credentials that are at the core of Romney’s candidacy. Desperation had set in. Romney’s campaign has been focused on growing the economy and creating new jobs from the day he announced his candidacy in June. With unemployment above eight percent (closer to eleven percent if you look at the unemployed who the government excludes from the workforce due to the lengthy time of their unemployment) and almost stagnant economic growth, the economy will be the number one issue in the 2012 presidential election. America has come out of recessions in the past with robust economic growth, a characteristic we have not observed following the so-called “Great Recession.” Romney argues that it is the Obama administration’s policies that have caused this slow recovery. Dodd-Frank, Obamacare and other regulatory legislation have not provided the environment for strong economic growth to occur in. Using his private-sector experience, Romney has convinced many Republicans, including myself, that we need someone in the White House with business expertise. This is a trait that distinguishes Romney from the Washington politicians he is running against in the primary who have spent their lives in government. There are not any issues
in the other candidates’ records where Romney can point to times when their actions caused individuals to lose their jobs because the other candidates worked in government. Romney worked for a business that had to hire and fire people. Taking advantage of this fact, Gingrich and Rick Perry (R-TX) have criticized Romney repeatedly for the jobs lost during his tenure at Bain. Gingrich told reporters in December that Romney would not “give back all the money he’s earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over the years at Bain.” Charles Krauthammer, a neoconservative columnist, and other conservatives slammed Gingrich at the time for criticizing capitalism. The attacks on Romney’s business record subsided until after the Iowa Caucus. The Gingrich-supporting Super PAC “Winning Our Future, Inc.” purchased a film about Romney’s supposed job-killing record at Bain and began to air ads in South Carolina using “facts” from the film. Gingrich himself has also continued to attack Romney’s Bain record, as has Perry. Governor Perry went as far as calling Romney a “vulture capitalist” instead of a “venture capitalist.” The singular reason for this attack is political gain — nothing more. Romney’s record at Bain includes the firm’s successful funding of Staples when Bain was a venture capital firm. Romney was instrumental in the decision to go forward with this investment as head of Bain. Now, Staples has locations across the country and around the world, and employs nearly 100,000 people. Bain switched from being a venture capital firm to being a leveraged buyout firm more than twenty years ago, and this is where much of the criticism has come from. Leveraged buyout firms purchase a share of a company that exceeds 50 percent, with the intention of making a profit off of the money borrowed to buy the firm. Often, the companies that are purchased are on the verge of bankruptcy or face significant obstacles to continue producing and making a profit. Bain bought many different companies like Staples with the intention of making the companies profitable so that Bain could secure a larger profit. Under Romney’s leadership, Bain acted as a turnaround specialist. The goal was making the companies more efficient to make
them profitable and provide a return for the Bain investors. In order to turn companies around, production often has to be decreased for a period of time, resulting in the loss of jobs. This is an unfortunate reality of the business world, a place Washington politicians do not have experience in. Romney recognizes time and time again when pressed about his business experience that sometimes Bain’s investments created jobs, and sometimes they did not. He says “sometimes we were successful, and sometimes we were not.” In the cases where Bain was not successful in turning around companies, Bain had to do everything it could to turn a profit for its investors. The companies were already headed for bankruptcy, and Bain did all it could to make them profitable. A profitable company with more jobs added to keep up with increased production was a win-win situation for Bain. Romney’s rivals have focused on the times when Bain was not able to turn the companies around. In reality, Bain was one of the most successful private equity firms in the world, and while the success rate hovered around fifty percent, the major successes Bain had under Romney’s leadership far outweighed the failures. We need a turnout specialist to put the reins on the federal government and allow America’s entrepreneurial spirit to grow the economy. Gingrich and Perry need to stop damaging the person who will be the Republican nominee with dishonest attacks. They have opened the door for Obama to quote other Republicans attacking Romney in the general election. This gives the attacks more credibility, which could harm Romney. Gingrich and Perry should drop out of the Republican race for the good of the party. While Gingrich can claim he is second in South Carolina polls, there is no path forward for Gingrich without a win in the state. Perry has no path forward right now, and should stop bringing unnecessary anti-capitalist rhetoric onto the Republican stage. They, along with Obama, have spent the majority of their careers in government, while Romney was running a business. Going after Romney’s tenure at Bain is all about politics, not about moving America forward and improving our economy. Tyler is a sophomore. You can reach him at tbecker1@ swarthmore.edu.
Farewell to the Dear Leader: a window of opportunity
The passing of North K o r e a n strongman Kim Jongil on Dec. 18 aroused much fear among the international community about potential provocaShiran Shen tive behaviors from The Swarthmore a nuclearGlobalist a r m e d , hungerstricken North Korea bidding farewell to its Dear Leader. While his father became the Supreme Leader when he was 53, successor Kim Jong-un is believed to be only in his late twenties, though his recognition by the various factions in the North Korean political elite circle is highly questionable. Political instability inside North Korea is likely to lead to nuclear use when the North perceives itself as vulnerable to foreign powers. Despite potential risks on the Korean peninsula, the leadership transition may be more stable than many would think. The United States should be prepared to explore the upside opportunities. The internal change within the leadership provides a rare window of opportunity for U.S. re-engagement with North Korea on denuclearization talks, which can be aided by China. The rushed leadership transition from Kim Jong-il to his youngest son Kim Jongun is taking place at the worst time pos-
sible. If Kim Jong-il had survived until the end of 2012, his son would have better consolidated support from the country’s various factions. In a country like North Korea, where politics is nearly all about competition for control of the center instead of competition against the center, Kim Jong-un — as successor-in-training for merely two years — may risk losing his leadership role. Fortunately for Kim Jong-un, China is willing to back his leadership and to encourage a stable transition. Shortly after Kim Jong-il’s death, Chinese president Hu Jintao paid a visit to the North Korean embassy in Beijing to express his support for Kim Jong-un. This is a crucial signal to the North Koreans, who can rest assured that substantial Chinese aid would continue coming in under the leadership of Kim Jong-un and that it would be extremely costly for potential rebels to seize the reins. Knowing that the nuclear-armed North Korean regime will have a certain degree of staying power, Washington needs to get serious about drafting and implementing a sound policy to manage the North Korea challenge after Kim Jong-il. For the past two decades, U.S. administrations have largely followed the lion-lamb rule: they come in like a lion ready to demonstrate Washington’s resolve, but leave like a lamb getting little done. The Obama administration adopted the strategy of “strategic patience,” which in essence amounts to ignorance of North Korea in favor of other foreign policy priorities. Though eager to establish relations with the U.S. as expressed in the 2010 annual joint New Year’s Day editorial in Pyongyang’s newspapers, North Korea has been adamant about building its nuclear capabilities,
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which is closely related to the country’s distinct ideology. The juche ideology, introduced by North Korea’s founding father Kim Il-sung in the mid-1950s and best characterized as “self-determination,” dictates that North Korea can obtain what it needs from the international community, but nothing about North Korea is determined by any of the factors in the international environment. The connection between the fall of Qaddafi and the abandonment of Libya’s nuclear weapons program has only served to strengthen North Korea’s resolve not to denuclearize. However, the circumstances are different in the post-Kim Jong-il era. Reengagement is extremely important because North Koreans have a divergent understanding from Americans as to whether friendship or joint problem-solving should come first. For North Koreans, problem-solving should be done within the framework of friendship. For Americans, however, friendship is contingent upon whether the two parties can solve problems together. The Obama administration has done right so far to not follow the advice of some hawks to provoke the dangerous and endangered North, but that is not enough. It would be a poor strategy for the U.S. to treat the current situation in North Korea as if it were “normal.” Although it still remains unclear whether the new leadership is reform-minded or not, it is at least worth the effort to extend outreach to the North and demonstrate that the U.S. has no intention to provoke the North and is serious about denuclearization. There are signs of a window of opportunity to consider opening a new chapter in U.S.-North Korea relations: on Jan. 11, North Korea indicated that it was open to further negotiations with the U.S. A
January 19, 2012
spokesperson of the North’s Foreign Ministry recently expressed that the North “will wait and see if the United States has a willingness to establish confidence.” The Obama administration should not miss this opportunity to re-engage North Korea as part of its efforts of “strategic pivot” to Asia. The Obama administration should also consider enlisting the help of China, who shares the U.S. concern for a stable Northeast Asia. China is the only country that has leverage in North Korea, and Kim Jong-un has been formally introduced to Hu Jintao by his father and visited the Chinese capital on several occasions. It is wrong to believe that China wants to keep the North Korea nuclear problem alive and well to distress the U.S. With a regime overwhelmingly obsessed with stability to safeguard the ruling Party’s legitimacy and create a favorable environment to grow the Chinese economy, China is highly interested in preserving peace on the Korean peninsula, and denuclearization is a vital step towards this end. The U.S., as the supreme and sole superpower in the world for at least the major part of this century, should not miss the opportunity to re-engage North Korea with the hope that the North will halt and possibly dismantle its nuclear program in the foreseeable future. This can be aided by China, who shares U.S. interest in preserving a stable Northeast Asia. Effectively managing the North Korea challenge should be seen as an important initiative of the Obama administration’s “strategic pivot” to Asia, as well as an indispensable means to preserving U.S. leadership in maintaining peace in the Asia-Pacific. Shiran is a senior. She can be reached at sshen1@swarthmore.edu.
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Ebose sets shot-put record to highlight Gotham Cup best opening-year meets, in all my years, that we had as far as people coming back in shape.” A new school shot put record at the Among those who also excelled on the hands of first-year Osazenoriuwa Ebose women’s side was Melissa Frick ’12, who highlighted a number of strong perfor- finished the women’s 3000-meter run with mances by the Swarthmore track & field a time of 10:31.87, good for both fifth-place team in Friday night’s Gotham Cup, held and fifth all-time in Swarthmore history. at the Armory Track & Field Center in Rebecca Painter ’13 (10:50.94) placed fifNew York City. teenth in the same event. Senior StephaWith a throw measured at 37-1.25 feet nie Beebe ’12 ran a personal-best time (11.31 meters), Ebose won the women’s of 5:18.29 in the 1-mile run, enough for a shot put event for the Garnet while sur- third-place finish. passing the record of 36-11.25 set back in “When [the coaches] were handing out 1982 by Cristi Charpentier ’82. heat assignments at the beginning of the “I have such wonderful support from race, I had the lowest speed time of the my teammates and coaches, and this is 22-person heat,” Frick said of the 3000-mea wonderful achievement,” Ebose said. ter run. “The fact that it is a thirty year record hits “Coach said, ‘Just start it easy, stick me even harder!” to the back.’ The first lap through, I was Finishing seventh in the same event, the last, if not second to last, person at the Ogechi Irondi ’12 finished only margin- back of the pack, but what that allowed ally behind her first-year teammate with me to do was to kind of get my pace and a throw of 33-11.50 (10.35 meters). set my eye on the person ahead of me, “With the first meet of the year, I’m halfway through I was feeling great, and always hoping that people trained over ran the second half much faster than the break, so it’s about fitness and not just first.” talent,” Head Coach Peter Carroll said. “I Kenyetta Givans ’12, the Garnet’s vetthink [this weekend’s meet] was one of the eran hurdler, finished twelfth out of fifteen participants with a time of 9.23 in a 60-meter hurdles event that featured hurdlers from Divisions I, II and III. Among all national Division III competitors, Givans’ time currently ranks ninth. “It was a very fast field, a lot faster than in the past,” Givans said. “A lot of the top runners ran times I’ve never seen that early in the season.” Fresh off a spectacular cross-country season, Jacob Phillips ’13 continued to set the pace for the rest of his team with the eighth-fastest time in Swarthmore history in the men’s 3000-meter run. The time of 8:53.21 was a personal record for Phillips and enough for 22nd-place out of 52 participants. FelCourtesy of Swarthmore Athletics Jacob Phillips remained dominant in the 3000-meter run. low junior Aidan DuMont-
by TIMOTHY BERNSTEIN tbernst1@swarthmore.edu
Courtesy of Swartmore Athletics
Stephanie Beebe (left) set a personal best at last weekend’s Gotham Cup in New York. McCaffrey (9:00.71) was right behind Phillips for 25th place to make it a particularly strong showing for the Garnet men in that event. Swarthmore’s men did not fare as well in the relay competitions. In the men’s distance medley, the middle distance team of Henry Ainley ’12, Cariad Chester ’13, Jonas Oppenheimer ’15 and Travis Mattingly ’13 placed eighth of ten teams with a time of 11:02.79 (the eleventh, from Morgan State University, was disqualified). In the men’s 4x400 relay, Jason Heo ’15, Tim Vaughan-Ogunlusi ’15, Matthew Heck ’13 and Eric Verhasselt ’13 crossed the finish line in a time of 3:39.13, finishing 26th of 29 teams competing in the event. Verhasselt enjoyed a better day on the personal front, earning a personal-best mark in the shot put (28-07.75). While the all-around intense competition of the Gotham Cup may have cost several Garnet members in the short run, the team remains positive that it can only help them going forward.
“We had a lot of really good performances on Friday,” Givans said. “Facing stronger competition will be better for us as we prepare for the rest of the season.” Beebe, for her part, sees a bright future once a little more work has been put in. “Once we get a few more weeks of training in, I think we will have a strong middistance and distance squad on the girls’ side,” Beebe said in an email. The Garnet will travel to Ursinus this Friday for their first team competition against the Bears. For Carroll, the meet will be an opportunity to gauge the condition of his entire team leading up to February’s indoor championships. “These early meets are just steppingstones to February,” Carroll said. “I know where half my team is [right now], and the next meet’s going to deter-
mine where the rest of the group is. The better we are now, the better we’ll be later on.” The meet at Ursinus is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Assistant lacrosse coach Hoffman joins Philadelphia Wings Eric Hoffman, assistant coach for the Swarthmore men’s lacrosse coach team, has joined the roster of the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League for the 2012 season, the Wings officially announced this past week. Hoffman, who has also served as the strength and conditioning coach for the Garnet, is in his second season as the defensive coach for the Garnet. He will join the Wings roster as a defender on the practice squad. Growing up in Bucks Country, Hoffman, 26, attended Pennridge High School before attending Ursinus College. At Ursinus, he led the men’s lacrosse team in ground balls and takeaways during his junior and senior years while earning AllCentennial honors. After college, Hoffman briefly joined Major League Lacrosse’s (MLL) Philadelphia Barrage in 2008. Along with Jim Forsythe, an alumnus of Widener University, Hoffman is one of two players on the team that played their college lacrosse in the Philadelphia area, and is one of three Division III players on the Wings, albeit the only one from the Centennial Conference. An original member of the National Lacrosse League since its inception in 1986, the Wings have been one of the league’s most successful franchises, winning six championships with the most recent in the 2001 season. As of late, however, the team has struggled, managing a record of just 17-31 over the past three seasons. In an interview with Swarthmore’s Athletics website, Hoffman expressed his confidence that his experience as a coach could only help his performance on the
field. “I’m used to looking at the game from a coach’s point of view, so I’m now more analytical and not as reckless as I used to play,” Hoffman said. The Wings roster for the 2012 season features some of the top players in the NLL. The roster includes Tawaaraton Trophy winners Matt Danowski, Max Seibald, and Ned Crotty, as well as former MLL top picks Kevin Crowley and Pat Heim. “It’s cool to be on the field with all of those guys, some being Tawaaraton Trophy winners and All-Americans, knowing that I can compete at the same level as them,” Hoffman said. Last season, the Wings finished 5-11, good enough for a fifth place finish in the Eastern Conference. Yet, Hoffman believes that the team will show significant improvement this season. “I think we’re going to be good. I think this is going to be the year that we turn it around,” he said. “We brought in a bunch of offensive guys that we really needed, and the size of our defenders is bigger than most, and I think those two things combined will be good.” The Wings opened their season at home on Saturday, January 14 with a 22-12 loss to their division rival, the Rochester Knighthawks. They hope to rebound from that defeat this coming Saturday at home against the Washington Stealth.
THE PHOENIX January 19, 2012
BY TIMOTHY BERNSTEIN
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Sports Men’s basketball loses eight contests to open 2012 swarthmorephoenix.com
by ANA APOSTOLERIS aaposto1@swarthmore.edu The first half of the 2011-12 season was a time of change and transition for the Swarthmore men’s basketball team. Although the team showed fight throughout the first half, concluding with a seven-game stretch over break, it produced a 1-14 record, including an eight-game losing streak. With a new year comes a new beginning, however, and the Garnet was looking to turn the page as the spring semester heats up. The team, working under the new leadership of interim head coach Joe Culley, kicked off the winter break schedule at the Morris Cregger New Years’ Classic at Roanoke College on January 2-3. The Garnet hung tight in the first game of the tournament against Shenandoah, led by a 27-point showing from star junior Will Gates. Leading by a point at halftime, the team fought to the end but came up just short in an 81-77 loss. In the consolation game, Swarthmore fell to host Roanoke by a 74-48 score. A subsequent loss to Arcadia preceded a four-game stretch against Conference opponents. Although the Garnet lost all four, the week was highlighted by a tight 70-61 game against Johns Hopkins, currently ranked second in the Centennial Conference. The Garnet trailed by just three points at the half, and Gates again led the team in scoring with 21 points. Despite the current record, the team believes that success lies ahead. “Although our record may not reflect it, I believe we are improving every day,” Culley said. “It’s been a challenge taking over a college basketball team in the middle of a season, and one week later taking a 23 day break … but we have managed to stay together as a team through the adversity.” Culley’s optimistic sentiments echo those of Lee Wimberly, the man he replaced as
head coach. Speaking to the Phoenix earlier this season, Wimberly stressed the need for the team to “get healthy and continue to improve significantly as the season progresses,” while putting earlier losses behind them. Gates, whose 285 points and 19 per-game average place him as one of the elite scorers in the Centennial Conference, agreed with his coach’s assessment. “I think we’re much more talented of a basketball team than we’re showing,” he said. “We have played very well at times, but we haven’t put a full game together yet.” The season is set to close with ten straight games against Conference opponents, including two against Tri-Co rival Haverford, a February 4 rematch with Johns Hopkins, and a January 21 home game against Ursinus, whose 69-65 loss to the Garnet on December 3 represents Swarthmore’s lone win this season. “We have given away a ton of games this year in… the second half,” Gates said. “We’re capable of being a playoff team, but I think we haven’t had a game where everyone is playing well enough to win. We’ll have a game where a few guys play well and then the next game a few other guys will play well. We just haven’t put together a complete game yet.” “We still have a lot of conference games left to turn this season around,” Culley said. “Our guys continue to come to practice with the goal of improving every day and I fully expect to see us continue to get better each week and pull off a few upsets before our season is over.” On Wednesday, the Garnet traveled to Haverford to take on another conference rival. The Fords defeated Swarthmore by the score of 65-62 to leave them winless in the new year. Swarthmore looks to get back on track when Ursinus comes to Tarble Pavillion on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 3:00 pm.
Courtesy of James Rasp for Dickinson Athletics
Jordan Cheney and the Garnet have struggled to find momentum this season.
Garnet athlete of the week
Osazenoriuwa Ebose FR., TRACK & FIELD, SCOTCH PLAINS, N.J.
WHAT SHE’S DONE: Ebose broke the school’s thirty-year shot-put record at last weekend’s Gotham Cup. HOW IT FEELS: “I am completely amazed to have broken the record. The fact that it is a thirty year record hits me even harder!” WHAT SHE WANTS TO DO: “To just do well competitively. As a freshman I am not really aware of how the team did last year but I have no doubt we will do even better this year!”
Courtesy of James Rasp for Dickinson Athletics
Holly Smith The Phoenix
THE SECRET TO A GOOD THROW: “Do what works best for you. Whatever works for you is most likely your best bet at throwing well consistently.”
Jay Kober goes up for the ball against Dickinson, who defeated Swarthmore 66-45.
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January 19, 2012
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Patriots should clinch a Super Bowl trip vs. Ravens
Ravens on Offense: Is playoffs two years ago. If you have any doubts about that, against him, but his season numbers are worse than Wilthere a well-known quarter- here is Joe Flacco’s line from that game: 4/10, 34 yards, 0 liams’. Jimmy Smith, their rookie corner, has shown the back you’d be less likely to TD, 1 INT. Quarterback rating: 10, or twice the number on flashes of greatness, but has spent most of the year coming off the bench after he sprained his ankle on the first play recognize on the street than his back. Patriots on Offense: There are many different paths to of the season. Joe Flacco? He’s like that None of these corners, from a physical standpoint, has one kid in high school that having the number one defense, and for the Ravens that other kids would make fun path has been to scar the bad offenses for life (Jets, Rams) a realistic shot at defending players like Rob Gronkowski of for half an hour before re- while being surprisingly average against the good ones and Aaron Hernandez, which means that the Ravens have alizing he had been sitting (Chargers, Texans), none of whom could compare to New another impossible choice: Devote safeties Ed Reed and England’s. If New England executes its game plan, they Bernard Pollard to helping out with the tight ends and igthere the whole time. If you’ve watched the really can present a virtually impossible challenge for a noring Welker and Deion Branch, or try to have Terrell Ravens for more than five team hoping to stop them at every turn. If a defense is fo- Suggs and a diminished Lewis match up with them oneTimothy Bernstein minutes this season, you’ve cusing on Rob Gronkowski deep, Brady can hit Wes Welk- one-one and leave the middle of the field open for everyprobably learned exactly er on an underneath route. If a team somehow neutralizes body else? Bullet Points While the Patriots don’t run the ball all that much, they what stats could tell you both Gronkowski and Welker, then there is still Aaron about them: typically ex- Hernandez, who has lined up everywhere from tight end have been effective when doing so, lining up in the spread cellent defense, wildly me- to wide receiver to running back. If they draw coverage formation to create holes along the defensive line and diocre offense. Football Outsiders, a website which basi- back to Hernandez, then one of the other two will be free. then simply running through them. Baltimore, while they cally tries to do to football what the book “Moneyball” did It’s an enormous number of options for a defense, even a have certainly defended the run well, have struggled to to baseball (prove that you know nothing about it), has the really good defense, to contend with, and the Patriots can stop running backs at the line of scrimmage, which they’ll Ravens as the best pass defense in football and the 7th-best throw all of them at the Ravens at a pace which will test have to do if the linebackers will be busy covering receivrun defense. The Patriots, in the meantime, have started the endurance of a team that has shown its age at times ers man-to-man. Not to say that the Patriots will score at will.Like the playing wide receivers in their secondary. So there’s that. this year. Saints and the Packers, Question is: What will Joe Brady and the Patriots Flacco be able to do with the are playing at the level Can Tom Brady Overcome the Ravens? Can The Ravens Overcome Joe Flacco? terrible defense facing him? where defenses can only It’s anyone’s guess which terhope to keep the point torible cornerback Bill Belichtal manageable and hope ick will assign to Torrey their own offense can Smith, the Ravens’ only real match them. A defense as deep threat. However, whethgood as the Ravens is a er the horrendous player in great bet to deny the Paquestion turns out to be the triots extra chances with horrendous Devin McCourty missed tackles and blown or the horrendous-but-canassignments, and their make-picks Kyle Arrington, top-ranked defense in the he will probably get help from red zone indicates that one of the horrendous safeNew England may have to ties/receivers, just like the settle for a few field goals Patriots did with the Broncos’ along the way, although Demaryius Thomas in last it’s hard to think that they week’s game. If they do this, will be denied the end Anquan Boldin will have an zone entirely. even better matchup against Then again, there is New England’s attempt at a that more simple possibilpass defense. Great news for Courtesy of zimbio.com ity that the great Patriots the Ravens mitigated someTom Brady has faced Joe Flacco three times. Brady is 2-1. offense just might suffer what by the fact that Joe Flacan off-day, and that this co only completed about fiftymight be Baltimore’s best eight percent of his passes this chance of all. On paper, year — a level of competency At the same time, the Ravens do have the personnel they are not a good bet to kill themselves with turnovers best described as “slightly worse than Rex Grossman,” — and spent most of the win over the Texans looking like he to at least take a shot at dealing with the problem at the like the Saints or dropped passes like the Packers, but for chokepoint. Baltimore, like the Jets and Steelers, can gen- that matter, neither were the Saints and the Packers. The was trying to bounce-pass the ball to open receivers. Rice, for this reason and others, might be the most im- erate a pass-rush with only four linemen while dropping Giants defense had one of the best postseason performancportant player in the game for either team. A good per- seven into a man-to-man coverage. New England’s offen- es ever against Green Bay, and still the Packers’ offense formance from him will be the best chance Baltimore has sive line has been decent but not great in pass-protection put themselves in good position after good position, only of extending drives to keep Tom Brady off the field, and (losing Dan Koppen, their starting center, in the first five to squander those chances with dropped passes, fumbles, his ability as a receiver (second-most of any running back) minutes of the season didn’t help), and if Haloti Ngata and and off-target throws. As successful as the game plans of gives Flacco a screen pass option if New England has ev- Terence Cody can get consistent pressure on Brady up the the Jets and Giants were in pressuring Brady into submiseryone else covered. Incredibly, the one area in which the middle, he has shown in the past that he can be rattled by sion, they succeeded in tandem with two shockingly averPatriots defense has actually excelled this season was in constant hits (the Giants also did that once, a few years age games by his standards. In each case, he never looked ago. I forget what happened). quite right, and the teams took advantage. neutralizing the receiving threat of running backs. Where the Ravens get into trouble is that, unlike the The Ravens better hope that they get a chance like that, Even with Patrick Chung and Brandon Spikes returning to bolster the Patriots’ run defense, Rice will likely Jets and Steelers, they don’t have any really great corner- whether it’s from turnovers or an offense mysteriously pick up his share of yards on the ground no matter what backs who can jam receivers at the line (which the Jets out of sync. What’s more likely is that Brady won’t embarhappens. However, if the Patriots can hold him in check as have had success doing against New England) and play rass them on Sunday but will push the score high enough a bailout plan for Flacco, they’ll make it that much more one-on-one ball. Cary Williams would probably line up that Flacco and Rice won’t be able to reach it. The Ravens difficult for him to match Brady score for score. If the Ra- against whichever player the Ravens are most worried will put up a fight — they’re too good not to — but this isn’t vens want to have even a chance in this game, Rice must about, but teams have still managed to complete half of their year. Patriots 30, Ravens 21. Timothy is a junior. He can be reached at tbernst1@ pull out another performance like the 159-yard, two-touch- their passes against him. Lardarius Webb has shown indown sucker punch that knocked the Patriots out of the credible playmaking ability when T.J. Yates is throwing swarthmore.edu
GARNET IN ACTION FRIDAY, JAN. 20
SATURDAY, JAN. 21 (CONT.)
Track & field at Ursinus, 5:00 p.m.
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SATURDAY, JAN. 21
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25
Women’s basketball vs. Ursinus, 1:00 p.m. Swimming vs. Cabrini, 2:00 p.m.
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Men’s basketball vs. Ursinus, 3:00 p.m. Swimming vs. Washington, 6;30 p.m.
September 29, 2011
Track & field at Ursinus, 5:00 p.m. THE PHOENIX
January 19, 2012
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Sports
swarthmorephoenix.com
Traditional winter trip sends teams to Puerto Rico by victor brady vbrady1@swarthmore.edu A twenty-day break is an eternity in the middle of a college basketball season, let alone in the middle of conference play. But after just three days of two-a-day practices following a three-week hiatus for finals and winter break, the Swarthmore women’s basketball
Courtesy of James Rasp for Dickinson Athletics
Chastity Hopkins and the women’s basketball team ...
team embarked on a five day trip to Puerto Rico to play two matches, chip off rust, and continue preparations for the second half of the Centennial season. New Year’s trips are an annual highlight for the women’s basketball teams, but the one to Puerto Rico was a step, or several, beyond the previous trips to Washington D.C. and New York City.
Nicole Rizzo The Phoenix
The team soaks up the sun during their winter trip.
“This trip was definitely one of the major highlights of my basketball career at Swarthmore,” Nicole Rizzo ’12 said. “I know that I speak for myself and the rest of my classmates (Christina Duron, Genny Pezzola, and Brittany Schmelz) when I say that we’re extremely lucky to have gone on a trip to San Juan during our senior season.” Having departed from Philadelphia on Dec. 31, the team welcomed in the New Year with family and friends who joined the team on the trip and shared a unique experience the following day: formal practice on an open-air court at a middle school near the team’s hotel. Though the team failed to win either of its two matches, a scrimmage against Queen’s University from Canada and against host Puerto-Rico-Bayamon, an NCAA Division II school, the team was able to appreciate the global nature of basketball while learning a lot about itself in preparation for the final 10 games of the Centennial Conference schedule. “While the Canadian team spoke English, the Puerto Rican team did not and neither did our referees for both games. But, regardless of the language barrier, we were able to play fun and intense games of basketball both days,” Rizzo said. The trip was also an opportunity to play games on an open-air court. “Playing in an open-air gym really was a huge adjustment. Puerto Rico is very tropical and we definitely felt that while playing,” Madge Ross ’13 said. “It made both running and breathing a lot harder. However, it was really cool to be able to play in an open air court because we could hear all the sounds of the outdoors... parrots chirping, the breeze flowing through the trees, and all sorts of other creatures outside. That made it really special.” Elle Larsen ’15 added how it was difficult to practice at first with the humid climate. “However, these difficulties taught us how to toughen up and play on. This will certainly be an important lesson for the rest of our season, because as we have seen before, each game comes with its share of setbacks, and we must adapt,” Larsen said. Equally as important as the games themselves was the opportunity to bond, spending time on the beach, exploring Fort San Felipe del Morro, and even taking a kayak tour of a Bioluminescent Lagoon in Fajardo. For Ross, who missed the team’s preseason while abroad in Australia, the best chance to bond was an attempt to sample a local drupe. “The trip itself definitely brought us together. We got to work together to get a coconut off of a tree and then crack it open to drink the coconut milk.” Also in Puerto Rico over the break were the men’s and women’s swimming teams for their annual training trip. Unlike the women’s basketball team, the swimming teams had no matches while in Puerto Rico. Instead, they use the trip as a mid-season preseason. For senior Tim Brevart ’12, “the training trip is probably the most crucial part of our season, as it’s the time where we train at the highest intensity…we tend to hit the ground running with approximately 10,000 meters per day to help build up endurance, and then build from that over the first half of the trip.” In Swarthmore’s Ware Pool, that is the equivalent of 400 laps. By the end of the trip, the team swam up to 100,000 meters. That’s 4,000 laps if you are still counting. After building up endurance, the team then focused on the technical aspects of events, including starts, turns, and pacing while the distances decreased. “We finished the trip in the best shape we’ve been in all year, we are mentally refreshed after spending nine days in a tropical climate, and the team as a whole is much closer,” Brevart added. The team may be refreshed after the trip, but in Puerto Rico, the daily schedule was grueling. The first practice of the day begins by 6:00 a.m. which means 4:50 a.m. wake-up. After two hours of practice, the team had the chance to relax in the hotel or on the beach until the second practice of the
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day which featured an hour of cross-training and two more hours in the water. With the early wake-up and five hours of work-out, it is no wonder that nearly the entire team was asleep by nine. Carmen Perez-Leahy ’12 describes the trip as a great bonding experience. “[You spend] 10 days with
Courtesy of James Rasp for Dickinson Athletics
... spent five days in Puerto Rico for their annual trip.
only your teammates, plus it is the first time that we have the whole team together after all of the people who studied abroad are back, which was a significant number of swimmers for us this year.” After such a trip, the teams are confident in their ability for the second-half of the season. “I think everyone has a love-hate relationship with the training trip, but it’s that common opinion that brings the team together,” Brevart said. “The trip is our greatest test, both on an individual and team level. It is a character building experience, and everyone really comes together to help reach our goals and surpass our expectations.” On Saturday, the women’s basketball team will host Ursinus in a Centennial match on 1 p.m. from Tarble Pavilion. The men’s and women’s swim teams host Cabrini from Ware Pool at 2 p.m.
Nicole Rizzo The Phoenix
Team members enjoying the Puerto Rico winter.
THE PHOENIX