The Phoenix by The Phoenix

MARCH 31, 2011 • THE CAMPUS NEWSPAPER OF SWARTHMORE COLLEGE SINCE 1881 • VOLUME 133, ISSUE 23

PHOENIX

Inside: New housing policies generate controversy Students artists unveil new Kitao exhibit Corbett must stop hindering tax on fracking

EARTHALUJAH! Social activist and environmentalist Reverend Billy spreads the word about Earth’s dire state p. 9

The Phoenix

Thursday, March 31, 2011 Volume 133, Issue 23

The independent campus newspaper of Swarthmore College since 1881.

Page

Jakob Mrozewski Phoenix Staff

Jessie Cannizzaro and Erica Sands star in the Production Ensemble’s dystopian adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s “Farfetched Fables.”

News

Mercury goes into retrograde, communication on Earth is more difficult and everything is, if possible, even more confusing than it is normally. PAGE 10

test their knowledge of sports. Take a crack at it to see just how sports savvy you really are! PAGE 17

Swat prof-turned-CongressWomen’s lacrosse defeats Student exhibit explores Bryn Mawr and McDaniel, man returns A recent champion over the supercomput- complexities of 3-D form er Watson in Jeopardy, Rush Holt, a former “Introducing: The Tomorrow People,” a men gain comeback victory Swarthmore physics professor and current new exhibit opening at the Kitao Gallery over Muhlenberg New Jersey Democrat House today, features three student artists and Representative, returned to the college to speak about the importance of science and scientific education. PAGE 3

Housing policies controversy

stir

Among other changes to the housing process this year, special accommodation for students with disabilities has been modified in order to avoid unnecessary expenditures. PAGE 4

one established NYC artist whose works blur the line between art as a two-dimensional picture and a three-dimensional sculpture. PAGE 10

Japan tragedy sheds light on the Hungarian learning style Despite wins over Cabrini, After observing that the style of education in Hungary is similar to the Japanese softball loses four straight style, columnist Maki Sakuma finds that games both of their education systems emphasize exams and lack a cohesive learning environment. PAGE 11

Living & Arts Discovering the delicate art of pulling an all-nighter Feeling masochistic? Allow Steve Dean to give you the skinny on pulling an efficient all-nighter, perfect for a last minute study session. PAGE 7

Opinions Corbett’s priorities threaten PA’s environment, health Corbett should skip the double talk about drinking water safety and enact a severence tax on natural gas. PAGE 13

Multimedia production explores unanswerable questions Obama’s new support for The Production Ensemble’s interpretation offshore drilling a welcome of George Bernard Shaw’s “Farfetched Fables” was performed last weekend. The change show, which incorporated unique visual techniques, proved provocative and arresting. PAGE 8

Activist preacher addresses current “Earth-crisis” Reverend Billy, a persona created by performance artist Bill Talen, is a parody of the late-night televangelist through which Talen promotes anti-consumerist and environmentalist messages. He will be visiting campus this Saturday. PAGE 9

Columnist Tyler Becker argues that offshore drilling offers a needed step in the medium-run in reducing our dependence on foreign oil while we develop alternative energy sources in the long run. PAGE 15

Sports

The 2011 Pepcid AC0 With Mercury in retro- Swarthmore Sports Fan grade, disaster appears Quiz Columnist Tim Bernstein — unconvinced imminent that Swarthmore students don’t care about According to the field of astrology, when

The men’s and women’s lacrosse teams saw successful weeks as both teams won their games. The men defeated Muhlenberg in a close 7-6 game while the women picked up a pair of victories over Bryn Mawr and McDaniel, winning 19-5 and 11-9, respectively. PAGE 18

Now 4-12 (0-2 CC) on the season, the Garnet softball team defeated Cabrini in an away twinbill for the first time in program history, only to drop its next four games in consecutive doubleheaders to Rowan and Muhlenberg. PAGE 19

Baseball defeats Dickinson, falls 5-3 to Haverford The 11-6 baseball team won its first two conference games in a doubleheader over Dickinson, yet could not keep the momentum rolling. With the Haverford game tied in the top of the seventh, the Garnet nearly mustered a comeback, but ended up losing the game by a 5-3 score. PAGE 20

EDITORIAL BOARD Camila Ryder Editor in Chief Marcus Mello Managing Editor Menghan Jin News Editor Adam Schlegel Assistant News Editor Susana Medeiros Living & Arts Editor Dina Zingaro Living & Arts Editor Olivia Natan Opinions Editor Paul Chung Photo Editor Allegra Pocinki Photo Editor Julia Karpati Graphics Editor Peter Akkies Director of Web Development Eric Sherman Director of Web Development Jeffrey Davidson Editor Emeritus STAFF Navin Sabharwal News Writer Patrick Ammerman News Writer Sera Jeong Living & Arts Writer Steven Hazel Living & Arts Writer Steve Dean Living & Arts Columnist Alex Israel Living & Arts Columnist Ariel Swyer Living & Arts Columnist Aliya Padamsee Living & Arts Columnist Timothy Bernstein Film Critic Renu Nadkarni Artist Naia Poyer Artist Ben Schneiderman Crossword Writer Holly Smith Crossword Writer Tyler Becker Opinions Columnist Danielle Charette Opinions Columnist Eva McKend Opinions Columnist Jon Erwin-Frank Opinions Columnist Emma Waitzman Artist Ana Apostoleris Sports Writer Daniel Duncan Sports Writer Renee Flores Sports Writer Timothy Bernstein Sports Columnist Hannah Purkey Sports Columnist Andrew Greenblatt Sports Columnist Renee Flores Copy Editor Lauren Kim Copy Editor Susanna Pretzer Copy Editor Jakob Mrozewski Photographer Eric Verhasselt Photographer BUSINESS STAFF Ian Anderson Director of Business Development Patricia Zarate Circulation Manager GRAPHICS Julia Karpati Cover Design Parker Murray Layout Assistant CONTRIBUTORS Henry Kietzman, Rachel Killackey, Aaron Kramer, Anna Rothschild, Eli Siegel, Justin Toran-Burrell OPINIONS BOARD Camila Ryder, Marcus Mello, Olivia Natan EDITORS’ PICKS PHOTOS COURTESY OF: (clockwise from top left): http://tiny.cc/q8v9e http://tiny.cc/jjbsl http://tiny.cc/wzhjt http://tiny.cc/34qt9 http://tiny.cc/3id31 http://tiny.cc/8xp8d http://tiny.cc/8xp8d 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 Camila Ryder. 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

Corrections 2011

Mail subscriptions are available for $60 a year or $35 a semester. Direct subscription requests to Camila Ryder.

Last week’s article “Roose to discuss his experience at ‘Bible boot camp’” failed to mention that the Ofﬁce of Multicultural Affairs, the Serendipity Fund and the Forum for Free Speech also helped with the event (in addition to Joyce Tompkins, the interfaith interns, the Religion department and the Sociology and Anthropology department).

The Phoenix is printed at Bartash Printing, Inc. The Phoenix is a member of the Associated College Press and the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

FROM THE ISSUE:

MARCH

24,

For these and any other mistakes we may have unintentionally made, we extend our sincerest apologies.

sports — offers his readers a crazy quiz to

March 31, 2011

THE PHOENIX

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events menu Today Strategic Planning Sharples Takeover Indian bar won't be the only the only thing bringing everyone to Sharples tonight. Volunteers from StuCo and the Strategic Planning working groups will be present to answer questions and collect ideas for the process from 5:30-7 p.m.

Swat prof-turned-Congressman returns

Spoken Word Cafe Enjoy poetry? Come perform with other women or just enjoy a fun open mic night in the audience at the WRC at 7:30 p.m. Vietnamese sandwich parlor party Come make banh mi, a FrenchVietnamese sandwich, with pickled carrots, chili peppers, Vietnamese sausages, pate and other ingredients with SAO as they offer a preview of APIA month in Shane Lounge at 8 p.m. Tomorrow Swatties With a Testimony Night Join Lauren James, Michio Taya, Cecilia Jou and Josh Satre in Kohlberg 115 at 7 p.m. as they discuss their personal journeys in faith. All are welcome.

5 Animal QiGong: Cherry Blossom Celebration What better way to marvel at the cherry blossoms on campus than with 5 Animal QiGong, an ancient form of QiGong, on the Cherry Blossom Lawn across from the Wister Center at 2 p.m. Another session will be held at the same time on Sunday. Honors Dramaturgy thesis: Isa St. Clair ’11 Come to opening night of Isa St. Clair’s adaptation of Theophile Gautier’s novel, Mademoiselle de Maupin, a story of a tangled love triangle. The play will be held in the Frear Ensemble Theatre at 7 p.m. and again on Sunday at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 2nd Swarthmore College FacultyStudent Composers Concert Faculty, students and alums will be performing musical works composed by college faculty and students in a concert in the Lang Concert Hall at 3 p.m.

Global Neighbours Parlor Party Love dumplings? Come to GN’s parlor party in Shane Lounge at 8 p.m. to enjoy fresh-out-of-the-pot dumplings and to hear about GN’s unique mosaic project while making mini-mosaics with friends. Sunday, April 3rd Quidditch Stop by Mertz Field at noon to play or watch a game of Quidditch with the Quidditch Club. No previous experience required.

E-mail submissions for the events menu to news@swarthmorephoenix.com

tHe PHOenIX

Courtesy of usatoday.com

A former Swarthmore professor and only contestant of Jeopardy to beat supercomputer “Watson,” Congressman Rush Holt spoke on campus Monday night about the importance of education for the future of our nation. BY PATRICK AMMERMAN pammerm1@swarthmore.edu

On Monday, Democrat House Representative and former Swarthmore professor Rush Holt returned to speak at the college. Prior to attaining office in 1999, Representative Holt was a professor of physics at Swarthmore for eight years. Recently, he has received considerable attention after defeating IBM’s artificial intelligence supercomputer “Watson” in a round on the quiz show Jeopardy. Rep. Holt was brought to campus by a collaboration between Jim Moskowitz ’88 of the Swarthmore Alumni Council and the Swarthmore Democrats. According to Moskowitz, he was able to connect with Congressman Holt’s staff because he knew that Holt had come to Swarthmore twice before as a Congressman — in 2001 and 2005 — and had heard that Holt enjoyed the experience. Events like this have given Holt a chance to reconnect with old colleagues, so both Holt and the Swarthmore community have benefited from his returns. According to one of Holt’s staff members who spoke to Markowitz, “Rush had been working all day, but he was really looking forward to have a couple of hours to do things that had nothing to do with Congress.” Rep. Holt began his talk by humorously acknowledging his newfound fame as the congressman who beat the Watson computer. “I’ve worked for years on civil liber-

ties and environmental protection, science education and restraint of the military, and a number of other things. And what will I be recognized for but 20 minutes playing a game against a computer,” Holt said. Still, he said he thought that IBM’s creation was sending the right message to Americans. “[It’s a] really clever approach to highlighting the importance of research … I think we can use this … to talk about how we can, as a nation, in the President’s words, outinnovate, out-educate, out-build the rest of the world,” he said. One of the overarching themes of Holt’s talk was the importance of education, especially education in the sciences, for the future of our country. “We really do need science for all students. Every year. All sciences,” he explained. He advocated not separating the sciences from other areas of education, in order to avoid distinguishing between the “scientists” and the “not-scientists” in society, arguing that all citizens needed to know something about all sciences to make intelligent political decisions on issues such as reliance on nuclear energy. Holt also commented on the absence of more scientists like himself among America’s lawmakers. “We need more people thinking like scientists,” Holt asserted. “[He] definitely illustrated the lack of scientists in Congress and how that is hindering progress,” Peter Gross ’13, President of the Swarthmore Democrats, said.

March 31, 2011

Rep. Holt went on to discuss his stance on some of today’s important issues such as the federal reduction of Pell Grant spending and America’s intervention in Libya. He then opened the room to questions from the audience, comprised of Swarthmore students, alumni and community members, who bombarded him with questions on topics such as the War Powers Act, healthcare and partisanship in government. Holt also attended an informal reception afterwards for students only. “It was all very friendly, very warm,” Gross said. “He was very responsive to students’ individual questions,” Paul Shortell ’13, the secretary for the Swarthmore Democrats, said. “One of the things I thought was interesting … was the amount of respect he had for Congress and his peers.” Holt was moved on several occasions during his talk to defend some of his fellow representatives, whom he described as “intelligent, dedicated and generally altruistic.” Rep. Holt may face a challenge in upcoming Congressional elections, as the number of representatives in New Jersey will be reduced by one due to the results of the last Census. A committee of six republicans and six democrats will be in charge of deciding how to best reduce New Jersey’s number of political district. Holt said that he didn’t know what action the committee would take, but said that he would welcome a challenge.

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Housing policies stir controversy

Week in pictures

that was pretty significant. That’s where the new charges come from.” Still, some believe that the new As students prepare to fill out charges are not justified. “It sounds housing forms for next year, they like it doesn’t make any sense other may notice that there are some than a cost cutting measure by the changes in Swarthmore’s policies. College,” said Michio Taya ’13, who All dorms will now be gender neu- works with students with disabilities tral, students can now apply for at the Children and Adult Disability blocks online and when choosing and Educational Services (CADES). blockmates, any and every space “It just strikes me as unfair. The may be filled by a joint tenancy. College has done a great job of retroFurthermore, beginning in the fall fitting facilities for students with of 2011, the College will require stu- physical disabilities … This sort of dents approved for air conditioned seems to go against that and not be in housing due to a medical condition to their needs.” provide their own air conditioning In Taya’s view, the college is doing units and pay the bare legal for the enerminimum for gy and instalstudents who “We follow the guidelines lation costs need special themselves. accommodaset forth by the ADA “We probecause those are the tried tions. vide reason“We folable accomlow the and true guidelines that modations guidelines they’ve come up with.” for students set forth by for disabilithe ADA Rachel Head ties that b e c a u s e Assistant Dean for impact or those are the affect their tried and Residential Life daily life true guidefunctioning,” lines that Rachel Head, they’ve come Assistant Dean for Residential Life, up with . . .” Head said. According to said. The college is required to do so her, the College also independently under the Americans with takes an active role in accommodatDisabilities Act (ADA). ing students with special needs. Under Title III of ADA, Myrt Westphal, Associate Dean Swarthmore must provide accommo- for Student Life, believes that a coldations for students with disabilities lege’s disabilities services need to be and may not incur a surcharge on highly regimented because special individuals to cover the expenses. accommodations are often costly and There are two main statutes of need to be fairly allocated. limitations on this provision: that “Disabilities is a highly legalistic the accommodation does not cause thing … In order to be fair, it needs to an undue financial hardship on the be highly regulated,” Westphal said. institution and that the accommoda- “We need to make sure that the peotion not be a personal service or ple who are getting accommodations device. are those who really need it,” she Rocco Iaculla, a staff attorney for added. The number of students who the Disabilities Rights Network of request air-conditioning units has Pennsylvania, believes that air con- been rising as energy costs have ditioning units may fall under the increased. category of personal services and According to Head, those costs devices, which the college is not obli- have become unsustainable. gated to provide. Westphal expressed that placing Units range from smaller, portable the energy costs of air conditioning units costing a couple hundred dol- on the students may also make them lars to window units that run in the more energy efficient. thousands. According to Rachel Students who are qualified to Head, the college has chosen to begin receive special housing accommodacharging students for these units tions must submit the relevant because the costs previously paperwork by April 5. According to incurred by the college were signifi- Head, applications received after this cant. Also, the change allows stu- date will not be reviewed. An e-mail dents to choose the specific air condi- was sent to students on March 23, tioning model that best serves their two weeks before the deadline, needs. requesting documentation for special Swarthmore makes the distinc- housing accommodations. tion between student preferences and However, a late application may accommodations, and only guaran- be considered if a student becomes tees the latter. “There are students aware of a condition after the deadwho have air conditioning as a pref- line. erence, not required, but their physiAccording to Taya, the changes in cian recommended it,” Head said. “In housing accommodations for stuthat case we were historically gener- dents with disabilities slipped under ally able to accommodate those stu- the radar. “[The changes] seem dents. unprecedented … I think the issue The cost the college incurred from deserves more attention.” BY AARON KRAMER akramer2@swarthmore.edu

Paul Chung Phoenix Staff

Marie Rousseau, Bess Matlock and Jacob Phillips create seed bombs at the Flower Power Party hosted by Green Advisors and Environmental Justice last Friday.

Allegra Pocinki Phoenix Staff

Bevin Branlandingham, featured, along with the Lost Bois and DJ Shomi Noise, performed at Olde Club on Saturday as part of the Queer and Trans Conference 2011.

Paul Chung Phoenix Staff

Swarthmore alumni Linda Wang, Devi Ramkissoon, Ernest Le, Yusha Hu and Joslyn Young return to campus as part of the APIA month Life after Swat lecture on Wednesday night.

March 31, 2011

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around higher education

Caffeine may detract from effective study BY LAURA FRANCIS dailypennsylvanian.com, Mar. 30, 2011

As students gear up for the final push of exams and papers this semester, many choose energy drinks and coffee to get them through the stress. Despite common knowledge, however, extra caffeine does not necessarily improve studying. “That’s pretty much a false perception,” said Christina Calamaro, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing who received her doctorate from Penn in 2005. In the long term, she explained, “you have a harder time concentrating.” Increased nervousness, anxiety, heart rate and blood pressure are all potential short-term effects from caffeine overuse. Those who drink too much caffeine and do not sleep adequately also tend to gain weight, Calamaro added. “Pacing yourself [with caffeine] is really important,” she said. Recent media and medical studies have also been dedicated to studying the effects of caffeine consumption. According to a study published recently in the journal, Pediatrics, over half of America’s 5,448 reported cases of caffeine toxicity in 2007 occurred among people under the age of 19. The study found the average daily caffeine consumption for U.S. teens is 60 to 70 milligrams, though some consume up to 800 mg per day. According to Calamaro, two cups of coffee before noon — the equivalent of about 180 mg of caffeine — is the suggested daily intake of caffeine, but students

often do not stay within these guidelines. “I’ve only had [coffee] twice,” she said, “and I put a College senior Siler Bryan, who recently finished pack of hot chocolate in it. I don’t like the taste.” an international relations thesis, wrote in an e-mail Instead of caffeine, she prefers water and Sour that he recently became a “heavy coffee user for study Patch watermelon candy as study aids. purposes.” “I know people who are in the routine of a cup in “The need to simply not sleep and survive has the morning and a cup at night,” said Feigenbaum. caused me to switch to Red Bull,” he added. “[It] “Once you start drinking enough, you actually have worked amazingly at first, but seemed to have dimin- the shakes and headaches.” ishing returns.” “You’re supposed to sleep. It’s natural,” she added. Bryan said while writing his thesis, he had a can of According to general manager for Conference Red Bull every evening. “I started with the small size Services Pamela Lampitt, students at Penn use less and moved up through medium and large as they caffeine than is perceived. became less effective.” Coffee, tea, Red Bull and Full Throttle account for After handing in his thesis, Bryan said he planned six percent of sales at Houston Market, while bottled to go “cold turkey” and return to being a “casual coffee water and juice account for approximately 66 percent, drinker.” according to statistics College sophomore Lampitt provided. Craig Park said he has In addition, coffee and anywhere from one to tea account for 64 per“Once you start drinking enough, four cans of Monster to cent of sales at Mark’s stay awake during exam Cafe, while Red Bull and you actually have the shakes and study-time. Full Throttle only make headaches.” Park said that the about four percent. Monsters do not Lampitt used to work Natalie Feigenbaum improve studying itself, for the Hospital of the UPenn senior but “they definitely keep University of you awake.” Pennsylvania, where cofHe also said he tries fee orders were “10-fold.” not to drink Monster — or any caffeine — unless he Calamaro admits that caffeine in moderation is not needs to study, because doing so would lessen the necessarily bad. effect when he really needs the boost. “Caffeine — in some degree — can help you. I have Not all students like the rush of caffeine, however. my two cups in the morning, but then that’s it. It’s Studying is more about balance, college senior when you drink larger amounts that you have probNatalie Feigenbaum said. lems.”

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ArouNd higher eduCAtioN

NCAA to revise graduation requirements BY RYAN SHAUGNESSY pittnews.com, Mar. 27, 2011

Less than half of the players in the NCAA Tournament are required to graduate, a percentage that education officials want to change. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hosted a teleconference earlier this month to announce reforms to NCAA eligibility standards for playoff basketball teams. The conference was in response to a report that showed large disparities between the success rates of black and white basketball players in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Beginning next year, teams will need to have at least a 50 percent graduation rate to qualify for the tournament, which is a 10 percent increase from last year’s 40 percent. The NCAA will switch to the preferred metrics of the Academic Progress Rate for tracking graduation metrics instead of the Graduation Success Rate metric. The APR uses real-time data from four-year periods to keep track of graduating players. This would ban teams with an APR score below 925 — the equivalent to a 50 percent graduation rate — from playing in the postseason .The NCAA calculates the APR based on

the semester-to-semester eligibility and retention of athletes, rather than just graduation rates. Another revision would restructure the tournament revenue distribution formula, which currently rewards winning games, but does not reward academic benchmarks. “Over the past five years, $179 million — almost half of the money awarded for appearances in the tournament — went to teams who were not on track to graduate at least half their players,” Duncan said. “There are tens of millions going to programs where their players are not on track to graduate at least half their members ... that doesn’t make sense to me.” The annual report analyzed academic information for the 67 men’s basketball teams competing in the NCAA Tournament. It was issued by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida. Pitt would meet the new requirements by a margin of 15 percent or less. The Pitt men’s basketball team scored a total of 962 out of 1000 for its academic progress rate, graduating 60 percent of black student-athletes and 50 percent of white student-athletes in the past year. Pitt tied for No. 32 in progress

rates score for tournament teams. Overall, Pitt graduates 64 percent of basketball student athletes. “Graduating our student athletes has always been, and remains, the top priority for the University of Pittsburgh’s Athletic Department regardless of sport, gender or any other classification,” E.J. Borghetti, a Pitt Athletic Department spokesman, said in a statement. The 2011 report said that the Panthers tied for 29th place out of 67 teams for overall in a different measure, the graduation success rate, which measures the six-year graduation rate, with 81 percent graduating over six years. In the 2010 report — which refers to the Graduation Success Rate for the freshman classes of 2000-01 to 2003-04 — the Pitt’s men’s basketball team graduated an average of 67 percent of black players and 100 percent of whites over that six-year period. The 2009 report has Pitt graduating 70 percent of black and 100 percent of white basketball players, which is higher than this year’s rates of 60 percent of black and 50 percent of white basketball players. Pitt men’s basketball team’s numbers differ from the overall NCAA average, which shows different rates of suc-

cess between white and black players. Richard Lapchick, director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, said during the teleconference that 91 percent of white student-athletes from these tournament teams graduate, whereas only 59 percent of black student-athletes graduate within six years. And though these reforms were mostly directed toward universities, Ben Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, offered a different view in the teleconference, blaming the coaches for players’ failures. “The only thing failing schools have in common is lack of leadership from coaches ... The real madness is that we tolerate coaches who prepare students for victory on court, but failure in life,” Jealous said. The Pitt Athletic Department statement said that Dixon has had nothing but a positive effect on the Panthers. “Under the direction of Coach Jamie Dixon, the men’s program’s APR scores have ranked among the top 10 percent to 30 percent on the NCAA Division I level the past two years,” the statement said. “The most important victory our student athletes can achieve is earning a Pitt diploma, something that will serve them long after they play their final game.”

March 31, 2011

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Living & Arts

Discovering the delicate art of pulling an all-nighter In my last article, I outlined strategies for falling asleep and staying asleep. But this is Swarthmore, the land of academic masochism, Steve Dean so what sort of life tips Life Tips from a Dean columnist would I be if I didn’t provide you with a guide to pulling the perfect all-nighter? Most Swatties have suffered through the occasional all-nighter during their tenure here. I may have unique authority in this matter, as I have pulled an average of one allnighter per week for the past three years. Some do it out of painful necessity, but I have come to view allnighters as spiritual retreats during which I can engage in extreme and uninterrupted academic intensity. So without further ado, allow me to walk you through the planning, implementation, and recovery stages that constitute the delicate art of the all-nighter. First and foremost, you must think strategically about when to stay up all night. If you can get your work done during the day, or during the week before, then by all means do so. There is really no reason to put your body through an all-nighter unless you absolutely have to. I have found that all-nighters are most useful before major tests, especially when you haven’t had time to study beforehand. Four extra hours of studying could easily make the difference between a C and an A. Correspondingly, four fewer hours of sleep one night might have little to no effect upon your overall performance, especially if you were already well-rested the day before. When it comes to writing papers, I find that effective all-nighters can enable you to enter a Zen-like state of concentration where you can maintain unparalleled continuity of thought, free from outside interruption. After you determine that an allnighter is imminent, you should immediately begin your battle plan. Before you even think of touching your work, you must stock up and set up. Gather some fruit (apples, bananas, berries) along with dense, high-protein snacks like peanut butter. Oatmeal and energy-rich nuts are also worthwhile companions. You will likely crave sodium at some point as well, so be prepared to indulge in ramen noodles if necessary. If your work consists of dense readings, I highly recommend investing in what I call “movement foods” like puffed rice or unsalted popcorn. These snacks are very light and eating them will keep you in constant motion without distracting you from the readings. It is highly likely that you will require some amount of caffeine as well during THE PHOENIX

your all-nighter. I personally keep a jar most desperate of cases. As a baromeof instant coffee at the ready, so I can ter, if you space out more than twice in moderate my consumption based on five minutes, it may be time for a quick my particular need on any given night. nap. Never nap longer than ten or fifteen minutes during an all-nighter, lest Your planning your body isn’t complete until you’ve Renu Nadkarni Phoenix Staff enter a deeper sleep stage ensured your that could make total isolation you extremely from the outside groggy and world and from ruin your your own internal dynamic. distractions. If you’re in your F i n a l l y, room, lock your door and put regarding the a note on it saying not to work itself, always maintain knock. You complete autonomy. At no can play point should the work conmusic, but trol you. Even if you have limit it to two hundred instrupages to mental r e a d m u s i c , before preferably you can intense/inspis t a r t rational things like the Harry writing, Potter or Lord of the Rings never let soundtracks. Importantly, it discouruse headage you – phones just use your Swattie rather powers to t h a n reassert playing y o u r t h e intellectual music out dominance. loud. For Page through all readings before delvone, it ing in, and read all conclusions first. won’t bothKnowing an author’s main point ahead er the people next door at 5 A.M., and secondly, it ensures that of time will provide explicit clarity to you remain isolated from external the reading, thereby saving you the noises in the building that could dis- time and effort of stumbling through countless pages of potentially tract you from the task at hand. Once you’re seated at your comput- labyrinthine body text. er, close all browser windows that are irrelevant to your work. Sign out of all c a r t o o n b y of your instant messaging services and social networks. Ideally, turn off your Internet entirely. Turn off your cell phone. This is no time for external distractions. Once you’ve entered into your state of “flow,” nothing should be permitted to pull you out of it. Now it’s time for implementation! Sit up straight in your chair (do not even think of pulling an all-nighter from your bed), and resist the urge to slouch forward – it will only make you sleepy and strain your neck. Turn on your brightest lights, ideally the fullspectrum “daylight” lamps that keep your body thinking it’s daytime. Don’t keep your computer at maximum brightness because it can strain your eyes and make you think you’re more tired than you really are. If you are typing on your computer, use keyboard shortcuts to save your work after every few sentences. Nothing ruins allnighter motivation like lost work. Utilize breaks wisely. If you find yourself losing focus or feeling fatigued, you should first try a quick massage of your ears/head/neck and face contortions to loosen yourself up, or vigorously chew some strong mint gum. If that fails to restore you, get up and take a brisk 5-minute walk or throw a mini dance-party to your favorite song. You should only take a nap in the March 31, 2011

If you’re writing a paper, make sure you create a solid outline before you start writing, because without it, your sleep-deprived brain will be forced to repeatedly spend its precious resources recalling information and reconstructing your argument from scratch, which amounts to a complete waste of your efficiency. If by chance you finish with time to spare, do indulge in all the sleep strategies I provided in my last article. However, don’t be greedy with your remaining hours. Ninety minutes is all you need for one REM cycle, so more than that could make you feel terrible the next day. I’ll conclude with an important disclaimer. All-nighters are never the optimal answer. My goal through this article is not to encourage you to pull them more often, but rather to ensure that in the worst-case scenario, you come out on top. Make sure you avoid all-nighters prior to any planned physically engaging activities, especially driving. According to research by Dr. Charles A. Czeisler, a Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, “24 hours without sleep or a week of sleeping four or five hours a night induces an impairment equivalent to a blood alcohol level of .1 percent,” which would be over the legal limit. While sleep deprivation is certainly cheaper than alcohol, I nevertheless encourage you to be aware of your body’s limits, and sacrifice sleep strategically. Steve is a senior. You can reach him at sdean1@swarthmore.edu.

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Living & Arts

swarthmorephoenix.com

Multimedia production explores unanswerable questions BY HENRY KIETZMAN hkietzm1@swarthmore.edu Esteemed Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw wrote his final play, “Farfetched Fables,” in 1950, when he was 93 years old. The work is composed of six fables, all consisting of Shaw’s controversial and somewhat scattered thoughts on the future, covering overpopulation, atomic warfare, terrorism, eugenics and genetic engineering, among other topics. This past weekend, Swarthmore’s Production Ensemble drew from Shaw’s work as a foundation to build a dystopian multimedia performance that connected these post-World War II ideas to the concerns of today. Students involved with the play were enrolled in Production Ensemble I, a course offered by the theater department that is a general requirement for all theater majors and minors. To prepare for the performance, the class participated in a number of exercises to improve the group’s cohesiveness, as well as to familiarize the students with the 1950s mindset. “We would make up various ’50sstyle advertisements [to get into the times],” actor Elliot Weiser ’13 said. These improvisation workshops and icebreaker games occured throughout the beginning of the semester; the serious rehearsals began after spring break. The cast also included Lori Barkin ’12, Jessica Cannizzaro ’12, Ryane Disken-Cahill ’12, Michael Edminston ‘12, Michelle Fennell ’12, Katie Goldman ’14, Jamila Hageman ’13, Jeanette Leopold (Haverford) ’13, Sebastian Bravo Montenegro ’13, Erica Meryl Sands ’13, Sam Swift Shuker-Haines ’14, and Marina Tucktuck ’13. The faculty director of the play, Lars Jan ’00, cited 1960s television shows such as “Twilight Zone” and “Lost in Space,” as well as film noir, as influences for his direction. “You’d get a sense of a secret agency or government hidden behind the curtain that would be pulling strings. That’s what the text felt like to me, like there was some sort of coded language ... I was always trying to figure out, ‘what’s the moral of the fable?’” Jan said. Drawing from these sources of inspiration, Jan chose to frame Shaw’s fables within the idea of a focus group — a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes — contemplating the fables as censored 1950s TV episodes. Cannizzaro and Weiser portrayed the focus group leaders who interacted with the audience, acting as focus group participants, throughout the show. “[The text] needed some sort of frame because it was so deteriorated and inconsistent with itself. It wasn’t very thorough in its examination of a lot of provocative ideas,” Jan said. Jan’s idea for the focus group was incorporated in order to keep the audience involved through questions about themes presented in the piece. As the play continued, the focus group leaders became actual characters in the play, with one encompassing the role of the Teacher in the sixth Fable and the other transforming into Raphael, Shaw’s vision of a disembodied thought. Jan worked to emphasize the importance of this transformation to Cannizzaro and Weiser. “I felt that the focus groups were a good means to showcase the ideas ... We as focus leaders start off in a pretty normal way, asking the audience questions and getting answers. Gradually as the play goes on and the work progresses, we start being taken over by the ideas [of unanswerable questions and disembodied thoughts],” Cannizzaro said. The performance uniquely fused film and theater as the show featured multiple layers. The focus group leaders stood in front of LPAC cinema’s large screen to introduce each fable, the other actors performed the fable on the stage behind the screen — still visible to the audience — and multiple cameras projected the acting onto the screen to create a black and white teleplay effect. “[The media] put the show in context, to make it feel like a censored teleplay from the 1950s. It helps transport the audience into that sort of setting,” Weiser said. Some of the questions that the play addresses, Jan explained, include where thoughts come from and whether or not they can exist without bodies. “The idea of dissociation of the mind from the body, I thought, demanded a formal treatment. The audience experiences the acting and the body both in space, at a tremendous distance, and then gains intimacy and really see these images that flicker on the screen,” Jan said. The performance toyed with audience’s emotions, especially in transition to the second half of the play, when Cannizzaro’s heavy weeping follows a darkly comic scene featuring clowns, played by Barkin and Shuker-Haines, sarcastically and disturbingly preaching to four little children, played by Disken-Cahill, Tucktuck, Hageman and Goldman. This switch in emotions posed a challenge for Cannizzaro. “It was hard to not listen to [the audience’s

reaction to the clowns] and focus [instead] on using a lot of my own memories to get to the emotional space that I’ve been in at some time in my life. It was a lot of digging into the past and trying to remember those intense emotional feelings,” she said. However, she explained that being in such close proximity to the audience allowed her to feed off their discomfort. For Jan, the production was about asking questions that cannot lead to a satisfactory answer. “You realize that a teacher or your parent or nobody is going to be able to answer certain questions for you, and that you may never be able to answer certain questions for yourself,” Jan said. As an alum, Jan believes that Swarthmore was the perfect place to explore such questions about the student and teacher. “As you get to the point where students are at Swarthmore, you are at a place where you aren’t really answering questions in the same definitive way. You start to realize that there is a multiplicity of answers,” Jan said. “I wanted the audience to contemplate the moment when the ship really just sails on being able to get an answer — how scary it is and how much of a precipice it feels like. Is that what maturity is?” Jan said. For audience members, “Farfetched Fables” proved provocative and visually arresting. Yuwen Wang ’14 attended Friday’s showing and found it to be “really artistically done.” “Although sometimes a little unclear, the focus groups were effective in provoking thought about the prominent issues,” she said. The show’s multimedia

Jakob Mrozewski Phoenix Staff

The actors performed behind a large cinema screen to create a white and back 1950s teleplay effect. blew her away. “The visual effects allowed the audience to deeply observe the actors’ facial expressions. It allowed for two components working with and against each other: film and theater,” Wang said. Weiser believes that audience members were shocked and entertained by the performance. “I hope [the audience] got a little bit of a thrill trip out of it. It’s designed to blow some minds,” Weiser said.

Crossword EXCELLENT STUFF ACROSS 1. Rod at a pig roast 5. Biblical land with a queen 10. Cries out loud 14. Frau’s partner 15. “Give yourself a _____ the back” 16. Peter, Paul and Mary, e.g. 17. Word after Bay or gray 18. Choir voices 19. U.S. org. with over 39 million members 20. 1960 Sam Cooke hit 23. Dutch painter Jan 24. _____ Lingus 25. Vodka brand, informally 29. Sandwich with sauerkraut 34. “Fourscore and seven years _____ …” 37. Poetic Muse 39. Actress Hayworth 40. Time for a tailgate party, perhaps 44. Wash. neighbor 45. “Contact” author Carl 46. Ernie of the P.G.A. 47. Mold or yeast 50. One making overnight deliveries 52. Auburn’s NCAA conference 54. Calcutta’s home 58. Period of religious revival 64. Praise 65. Hackneyed 66. Data 67. Rock’s _____ Pop 68. Ex-Laker Baylor 69. Eager 70. Hail Mary, e.g. 71. Rock’s Guns N’ _____ 72. Not _____ eye in the house

7. Start of Caesar’s last gasp 8. When repeated, Yale’s fight song 9. Respond to a knock at the door 10. Movie rating unit 11. Not written 12. Ex-Celtic Larry 13. Soak (up) 21. Computer key 22. Miner’s find 26. Globe 27. Neighbor of Vietnam 28. “_____ a dark and stormy night…” 30. Funeral ashes holder 31. Patiently wait 32. List-ending abbr. 33. Senate votes 34. Up until 35. Expert 36. Dentist’s request

38. Olympic gymnast Korbut 41. Item scrambled or poached 42. _____ Andreas fault 43. Loosen, as laces 48. “Made in the _____” 49. English dog 51. Golf’s Sorenstam 53. Monte _____ 55. Had supper 56. Deduce 57. Intense pain 58. Lady _____ 59. Carpets 60. Alternative to Häagen-Dazs 61. Bald people may wear them 62. End in _____ (require overtime) 63. Barbies’ mates 64. Place to put gloss BY BEN SCHNEIDERMAN

DOWN 1. Playwright George Bernard and others 2. Ross who founded the Reform Party 3. Jim Carrey comedy “Me, Myself & _____” 4. Fantasy league deals 5. Exchange jabs 6. 50 percent

March 31, 2011

For the solution to this week’s puzzle, see The Phoenix’s online edition at www.swarthmorephoenix.com.

THE PHoENIX

Living & Arts Activist preacher addresses current “Earth-crisis” swarthmorephoenix.com

BY DINA ZINGARO dzingar1@swarthmore.edu Though he sports the trademark Elvis-pompadour and the clerical collar and suit of televangelist Billy Graham, Reverend Billy is far from a right-wing conservative religious leader. Instead, Reverend Billy, created by performance artist Bill Talen, is a parody of the latenight televangelist through which Talen promotes anti-consumerist and environmentalist messages. On Saturday, April 2, Reverend Billy and the Life After Shopping Gospel Choir will visit campus to deliver “The Church of Earthalujah,” a show that stresses cracking down on banks that finance CO-2 emissions through mountaintop removal, hydro-fracking, super malls and shipping sweatshop products long distances with fossil fuel-burning engines. Based in New York City, The Church of Life After Shopping is an activist performance group led by Revered Billy and draws from the form of revival meetings to urge consumers to abandon the products of large corporations. Also, the group preaches a broader message about economic justice, environmental protection, and anti-militarism. The content of this Saturday’s show, “The Church of Earthalujah!,” addresses the environmental emergency troubling our planet. According to Talen, our culture has been trained to perceive nature and the wilderness as outside of itself and thus, our society often takes the position of the entitled American or what he describes as the “chosen people syndrome.” Corporations strongly encourage this perception that the Earth is not a living thing. “[Corporations] have the free use of whatever they can extract from the Earth as they privatize the air, the water, everything. They try to make everything part of the market,” Talen said. Talen feels that humans have not only forgotten that the Earth is a living thing, but also that it is an intelligent living thing that thinks and speaks. Therefore, global disasters such as fires, droughts, earthquakes and typhoons are not natural disasters, but instead, are cries of help from the Earth. Talen explained that the media presents such disasters in a tabloid style with a hero, victim and villain, which is then complemented by a dramatic photo, a story of people arriving with aid and a great deal of sentimentality. However, Talen explains that such a narrative demotes the wilderness since the Earth remains “in the background and is not a character.” “All the media brings us news of these natural disasters and they are described as standalone tragedies and they act like they are accidents and that nature is vaguely responsible for it,” he said. Bill Talen invented his character Reverend Billy in 1996 as an appropriation of a preacher, an Elvis impersonator and the televangelist Billy Graham. He began in Times Square as a lone performer, preaching about corporate power and its harmful effects on strong local communities. After living in Hell’s Kitchen near Broadway and then in Greenwich Village, Talen witnessed the ruin of these communities as large corporations moved into neighborhoods and pushed out what he THE PHOENIX

describes as “vulnerable, smaller, longtime shops.” Talen identified the overwhelming force responsible as consumerism. The keystone of Talen’s theory on consumerism is that communities actually grant big corporations power through shopping. Thus, Talen decided to preach as a means to dissuade people from buying items from large-scale companies such as Disney in Times Square and Starbucks in the Village, that were destroying communities. Over time, Talen explained that he “got an education” out on the streets as spectators would leave behind their contact information on his pulpit to later speak with him over the phone about widespread issues such as sweatshops and union busting. During his “sermons,” the audience, who often began clapping and scatting (a vocal improvisation with random syllables) in unison with his messages, inspired Talen to incorporate a gospel choir into his shtick. Now, The Church of Life After Shopping is a radical performance community with a 50-performer choir based in New York City. The group’s profile is anything but uniform, featuring members of all ages who come from a diverse array of economic, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds. The project has expanded from the original one-man performance and has produced two professional CDs of original songs, a series of documentaries and also maintains a presence on the Internet through the posts of anti-consumerist fans on their website www.revbilly.com. Often partnering with large NGOs and advocacy groups, the Church negotiates and lobbies for policy changes and focuses on three interdependent initiatives: advocating for sustainable consumption, establishing strong local economies, and defending the First Amendment and public space. Similar to his approach to these political and social issues, Talen had to learn about the art of preaching, which he describes as "the craft of shouting” and similar to “any traditional American vocal form like the blues, auctioneering or hip hop.” Though he admitted he is still “a student to preaching,” Talen first learned by attending churches and experiencing the powerful homilies of preachers. He explained that since a large number of these preachers and televangelists are right-wing conservatives who use “homophobia and warmongering in their speech,” Talen learned “to love the instrument, but turn off the content.” Thus, he adopted these preachers’ style and gestures in order to become a believable preacher, but Talen held fast to his more progressive content. “And so, the concept is rightwing threads and left-wing mouths as I appropriated this iconic character,” Talen said. Talen believes that consumerism plays a large role in further advancing this Earth-crisis by persuading the community that the Earth is willing to negotiate with us, while he insists it will certainly not as we continue to deplete its resources. Talen’s view of consumerism is as a system — often a dishonest one — that wants to survive, a “parasite.” Therefore, consumerism will do whatever it deems necessary to distract the public and to continue

encouraging it to buy things. a “reclaiming” where people “speak up Though his sermons do not address for themselves, take the communities religious issues, the choir does operate back and assert control over their own off of one of Jesus’ teachings. “Jesus local affairs and define these corporate drove the money bearings that are chasers out of the intruding into temple, so we do [the] communities have a way in and into natural “So, while this crisis is which we are environments as scary, it is also an exciting well.” aligned with him,” Talen said. As a member of time to be alive.” Several public Mountain Justice, figures such as a group of environBill Talen M a h a t m a mental activists on Gandhi, Dr. campus, Lawrence Martin Luther feels that Reverend King, César Billy complements the student group’s Chavez and Malcolm X serve as heroes agenda, which focuses on direct action to the group. and environmental activism as a social However, Will Lawrence ’13, the issue. organizer of Saturday’s event, believes Though, as he describes it, this that Reverend Billy does possess a par- “Earth-crisis” can be frightening, Talen ticular spirituality. “There is some- feels optimistic about the future with thing very spiritual in watching him people taking control of their communiperform and seeing how deeply he and ties such as through the rise of organic the choir feel it,” Lawrence said. farming. “People are starting to roll up On Sept. 27 2010, Lawrence met Talen their sleeves and starting their own when he accompanied former Lang small shops and businesses. Visiting Professor of Issues for Social Corporations are becoming increasingChange George Lakey, along with ly isolated and desperate. So, while this Anjali Cadambi ’13, Alexa Ross ’13, Blaine O’Neill ’11 and Kanayo crisis is scary, it is also an exciting time Onyekwuluje ’13, to the PNC Bank in to be alive.” “Through performances and theatriWashington, D.C. Swarthmore students, Reverend Billy and other activist cal interventions, Reverend Billy tells groups joined forces as part of unapologetic truths about the daily Appalachia Rising, a mass movement to mechanics of consumer capitalism and persuade Congress to stop issuing per- climate injustice,” Cadambi said. “To mits for companies to completely all students interested in theater for remove mountaintops in search of coal. social change, his heartbeat-raising “[Reverend Billy’s] creative energy ‘Earthalujah’ show is not to be missed.” The performance will be at 7 p.m. in challenges me to bring a theatrical presence and determination to LPAC and is open to the public. The moments of challenging power and event is presented by Swarthmore Mountain Justice with the support of authority,” Cadambi said. Lawrence describes the Reverend’s the SBC Fun Fund, Forum for Free approach to direct action as pushing Speech, Drama Board, the Cooper the boundaries of what is considered Serendipity Fund, the Lang Center, and private and public — “what is owned by the departments of environmental studcorporations and what is trusted to the ies, sociology and anthropology, music, citizens.” Through blurring this line, peace and conflict studies, and political Lawrence explained that Talen inspires science.

Courtesy of http://tiny.cc/4t1hu

Reverend Billy leads peaceful and non-confrontational campaigns against large corporations with unfair wages that drive out smaller competition and pollute the environment, such as this one at a Wal-Mart in Solano County, CA on March 22, 2011.

March 31, 2011

Living & Arts

swarthmorephoenix.com

With Mercury in retrograde, disaster appears imminent Swarthmore College, I’m afraid I have some really incredibly bad news. This is news, which is not at all good, understand; it is very bad. Listen, the entire school is in trouble. This Wednesday, Mercury will go into retrograde. If you are reading this, it is already Thursday and Ariel Swyer yes, we’re in the midst Let’s Be Serious of it. You’ve probably lost track of what I’m talking about, because that is the way things are when Mercury is in retrograde. Some of you of course have had no idea what I’m talking about from the beginning and so, I will outline the basic facts. 1. Sometimes Mercury up in the sky appears to us on Earth to be going backwards. 2. According to the field of astrology, this makes communication on Earth more difficult and everything much more confusing than it is normally, which is quite confusing. 3. It also makes perception, mental processing and most of what is within the realm of education difficult. I think it has some other detrimental effects, but unfortunately the webpage I’m using to confirm my knowledge of what happens when Mercury goes into retrograde is being obscured by ads for California psychics. At this point, I assume many of you are turning to one another and saying “Ah yes, now we very much understand what she is talking about.”

Others of you are tossing your newspapers to the side so that they land in your companions’ orange juice, and going off in search of something normal, muttering vaguely about how you still don’t know what I’m talking about, you never will know what I’m talking about and, in fact, you’re certain that I don’t know either. To you, I say, “Well! This may indeed be the case! But believe me, Mercury is going into retrograde and it’s going to be bad!” I’m afraid that Mercury going into retrograde is going to be especially disastrous for Swarthmore. This is the sort of event which hits those who are in the habit of existing in the world of the intellectual with particular force. (“Ah,” you say to yourself. “Oh dear.”) The other factor — as you will know if you have read this column before — is that most Swarthmore students are already inclined to have trouble with communication. We do try very earnestly. In any given trip to Sharples, for instance, one will encounter at least eight people who will ask The Appropriate Question. The Appropriate Question, which you are all quite familiar with, varies according to what part of the semester we are in. We are just coming off of the “How was your spring break?” period and slowly approaching the dawn of “Do you have many exams?” This makes the fact that Mercury is about to go into retrograde even worse. These in-between times are unusually difficult and generally result in mildly incoherent but none-the-less, well-intentioned sentiments such as “How are the exams springing?” The answerer will make an equally well-intentioned effort at communication. “Well,” she might say, “Western Art, Astronomy, Existentialism, and German. And you?” With Mercury in retrograde our intentions will be noble

as ever, yet the results will be beyond redemption. “Um …” the questioner will inquire gesturing vaguely at his acquaintance’s nose “how was the, uh, bleugloofle?” “Deutch!” she’ll reply. “Astronomie, Ich bin ein banane untereinandersein pirat.” (Translation: German, Astronomy, I am a banana being-among-one-another pirate) Yes, it’s true, when Mercury is in retrograde, two thirds of the English-speaking population will at some point wake up speaking German. I would like to emphasize that everyone is at risk of this, even those of us whose only knowledge of German comes from a children’s book about pirates and Heidegger. In case you should encounter such a situation, it would be wise to familiarize yourself with this phrase: “Merkur ist rucklaufig!” Over the next month it will be completely legitimate for you to conclude any social interaction with the shouting of these words in the company of no prior or further explanation. That’s the nice thing about Mercury going into retrograde actually. It justifies such awkward tendencies as these, which many of us at Swarthmore practice regardless of what the planets happen to be doing. Never mind. The important question now, is what the blooming hell do we do about all this?! We don’t speak German! We don’t even remember how to say, “Raise the sails, matey!” We did, but we forgot! Oh no! There are two answers. First, we should panic. And then, when the dust has landed and we’ve found our shoes, we should give up. Mercury is in retrograde, we’re all a great mess and there’s nothing we can do about it. Ah well, segelboot tomate (Translation: sailboat tomato). Ariel is a first-year. You can reach her at aswyer1@swarthmore.edu.

Student exhibit explores complexities of 3-D form BY STEVEN HAZEL shazel1@swarthmore.edu Photography and other visual art forms are sometimes categorized as forms that can be examined and understood from one angle, placed in a frame, picked up and carried away. However, a group of Swarthmore artists have blurred the line between art as a two-dimensional picture and a three-dimensional sculpture. A new exhibit at the Kitao Gallery, titled “Introducing: The Tomorrow People,” will open today and will display three-dimensional artwork and videos by Alex Hollender ’11, Nick Brown ’13, Kate McNamara ’12 and Bruno Levy, who is an established artist from New York. As an art history major who originally studied business at NYU prior to Swarthmore, Hollender discovered his passion for art at an early age when he attended a Waldorf school. The institution, which focuses on fostering creativity, allowed Hollender to enroll in a many more art classes than a traditional elementary school. This translated to his time at NYU, where he created a clothing company called Create Build Destroy with two friends. Once at Swarthmore, Hollender began to explore different forms of artistic expression. “I came to Swarthmore and started studying art history and my first inclination was to paint, but I didn’t have time to learn so I started making different kinds of photo collages,” Hollender said. While Hollender was pursuing his art history major and interning at the List Gallery last year, List Gallery director Andrea Packard encouraged Hollender to

create his own exhibition. “I started just doing things,” Hollender said. “That’s what I recommend [for other art students] — you just need to find some little tool, some gateway that works — buying a camera or some paint, whatever works for you.” Brown, a photographer and one of Hollender’s creative partners, became interested in photography at a summer camp where he had access to a darkroom. The experience inspired him to take up photography as a hobby. Once at Swarthmore, Brown enrolled in a photography class with visiting professor of studio arts Jessica Harper, who strongly influenced his development as an artist. “I first learned the basic building blocks of the photograph: lighting, shape, form, framing, as well as the creative possibilities involved in the developing and printing process. And then [I] began to develop my own style,” Brown said. The inspiration for “Introducing: The Tomorrow People” emerged when Hollender visited New York and met Levy, an artist whose 3-D videos motivated Hollender to consider the contrast between the two-dimensionality of photos and the three-dimensionality of sculpture. An experienced photographer who received his B.F.A. from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts in 2001, Levy has photographed in locations from Nepal to French Polynesia. He has also worked for a variety of clients such as Sprite, Pepsi and Wired, and his work has been displayed at exhibitions at the Guggenheim, the MCA in Chicago and the Bronx Musuem, among many others. Levy’s videos will be screened as a feature of the

exhibition and the artist may speak at the opening Thursday. Hollender’s own work is inspired by Levy’s artistic considerations. “I was building on [Levy’s] notion of two- versus three-dimensional space,” Hollender said. “The art object is inherently this two-dimensional thing that you can hold and buy and sell. I wanted to break out of that paradigm and make something life size.” Along with Levy, other well-known artists also influenced the exhibition. For example, the Spanish painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso is famous for his involvement in the Cubist movement. In his work, Picasso experimented with the visual limits imposed by working in twodimensional space through drawings and paper collages. “[Picasso] complicated the idea of a two-dimensional surface by tricking your eyes and getting you to question what exactly you are looking at,” Hollender said. Another influence for the exhibition is artist David Hockney, a contemporary British painter, printmaker and photographer. An important figure in the pop art movement of the 20th century, he has often been compared to Andy Warhol. “[Hockney] is brilliant in his use of photographs and approximating reality and then messing with it. [All three Swarthmore artists] love his art, so that was a common ground for us to come together on,” Hollender said. In creating the actual exhibition, the student artists spent hours cutting out cardboard shapes and printing hundreds of pictures for use in the exhibition. The objects created, all made of cardboard, will be familiar images to students since

March 31, 2011

they represent objects commonly found in a dorm room. Also, there will be an ‘inspiration wall’ that displays collages and photographs the artists find appealing and interesting. Brown believes the artists have generated a sense of camaraderie. “Alex, Kate and I have been working closely on the exhibition every step of the way; we have been mutual inspirations to each other,” he said. The exhibition will be quite different from more traditional collections found on campus or in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, for instance. By mixing collage and three-dimensional cardboard creations, the artists hope that their work will broaden viewers’ perception of what constitutes art. “It is always exciting when a new exhibition opens up at Kitao or List [Gallery],” James Pao ’13 said. “Especially work that challenges my conceptions of art as oil paintings and twodimensional photographs that I usually see in museums and presents something different.” In order to create texture on the cardboard pieces, the artists pasted images of the desired texture to the object. For example, for a cardboard couch, the artists pasted pictures of various materials commonly used for sofas. With this technique, when each object is viewed from a distance, it looks completely real. However, when an observer approaches, they discover that the image is actually a collage of multiple, individual photos. “It was almost a joke on photography, on the fact that you can only get one angle from a picture,” Hollender said. “The photos are like pixels or paint — we’re painting the objects with their real textures.”

THE PHOENIX

Living & Arts

swarthmorephoenix.com

S watStyleSnapshot Name: Hillary Yee Year: 2014 From: Yangon, Burma Current Residence: Mertz

demonstrates a high topknot, which is the hairstyle of the moment with its nod to the ballerina bun.

What She’s Wearing: Yee is wearing a black, polka-dotted button-up blouse, which she purchased during her travels through Singapore. She then coupled it with white jeans, which are from Macy’s, and a gray, oversized cardigan from American Eagle. The beige patent shoes she is sporting are from Forever 21. Since it doesn’t yet feel like spring, Yee would coordinate this outfit with a long, black H&M coat to keep warm.

Her Wardrobe Staples: Yee’s staples include sunglasses, blazers and jeans. According to Yee, sunglasses are not only functional for preventing sun glare, but “they make you look really chic.” In terms of jeans, Yee likes their versatility and owns at least 14 pairs. “I actually like all cuts of jeans but skinny jeans go well with all outfits.”

Where She Shops: Her current outfit choice demonstrates that Yee often shops at chain stores even though her wardrobe includes some high-end pieces and few items she has acquired through her travels. “Shopping depends on my budget. If [I] want new clothes but am short of cash I’ll go to chain stores such as H&M but if not, then I’d choose Gilt Groupe.” Gilt Groupe is one of many members-only online shopping sites, popular for its flash — or time-limited — sales of designer clothes. According to Yee, it is common for Burmese people to visit nearby Singapore to go shopping. Unlike her home country, Singapore offers a great diversity and availability of clothes. “It’s basically a shopping destination for Burmese!” she said. How She Describes Her Style: Her eclectic wardrobe and versatility in following different fashion trends results in a style that is difficult to define. “I don’t have a distinct style, but it’s closer to being preppy,” she said. In Yee’s opinion, clothes are not the only component of personal style. “Sometimes it’s important that my make-up complements my clothes,” she said. To create a cat-eye effect, Yee often prefers dark eyeliner and sometimes she will coordinate the shade of her eyeliner to complement the colors of her outfit. Hair is another element that Yee considers in creating an outfit. She will usually wear her long hair straight and down, but in this photo, she

Fashion and Her Heritage: Looking back, Yee used to sport a more androgynous and casual look. “When I was in high school I wore skinny, torn jeans, Converse high tops and black T-shirts. I looked more punk-ish,” Yee said. This change in style reflected Yee’s growing interest in more feminine clothing. Often seen attending classes in highheels, Yee claims that such footwear is appropriate if her schedule does not involve a lot of walking. “I was inspired by people who can walk in high heels. It’s really not that bad if I don’t walk around all day,” she said. However, she admitted that heels are not as comfortable as other shoes and are not for everyday use. On Following Trends: Back home in Burma, Yee’s parents are in the clothing manufacturing business. “When my mom needed inspiration of new designs she would ask me to search for good looking clothes and trends online,” Yee said. Yee no longer keeps track of trends online, but optimizes her study breaks and browses through issues of Vogue and Vanity Fair while in McCabe.

Do you think you (or a professor) have great style? Then submit a photo of you in your best outfit to phoenixlaed@gmail.com. Please include your name and contact information. TEXT AND PHOTO BY SERA JEONG

Japan tragedy sheds light on the Hungarian learning style T h e w o r l d seems to praise the calm and orderly behavior of the Japanese, yet at the same time, there has been critiMaki Sakuma cism of its inefficient Quest for the bureaucraHungarian Identity cy and lack of leadership in settling and rebuilding the current state in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. These two observations of the Japanese people demonstrated what I believe to be the consequence of Japanese education: that is, the ability to follow orders but the inability to create order. In fact, when I asked my Hungarian friends about the typical Hungarian college education, I discovered a style of education in Hungary similar to the Japanese style. Both Hungarian and Japanese education emphasize exams. College admission is based solely on the applicants’ score on exams. Also, later in college, the credits are given based mostly on exam scores. I will describe later in

THE PHOENIX

this column what I think is lost due to this emphasis on exams, but I must stress that my intention is not to claim that these exams cannot adequately assess a student’s academic ability or that this style is all about memorization. Three years ago, as an ordinary high school senior in Tokyo taking entrance exam prep classes, I did a lot of past university entrance exam problems, and I believe that some of them were very good problems. For example, I remember an exam problem for Tokyo University that asked applicants to explain the culture of 14th-16th century Japan by referring to specific cultural performances and the situation of the local peasants. These problems do force students to analyze information and write clearly. I have heard that Hungarian universities require oral exams in addition to written exams, which I believe adds another dimension to assessing students. Thus, I do not believe that exams are necessarily bad. However, in Japanese and Hungarian education styles, nobody cares how you get there as long as you get there. Yet, the learning process is where the true learning takes place. Exams only look at the end product and do not consider the broader learning process. In fact, there are situations in which, in Hungary, it appears that you don’t even have to be in the country during the semester to get your credits. A Hungarian friend told me

that he received all his credits by simply returning to Budapest to pass his final exams at the Hungarian university, while during the semester he was studying in Japan. Another friend, attending a different Hungarian university, explained to me that there is a semi-official student organization that keeps and distributes class notes and past exams for students who choose not to attend lectures. This kind of system both in Hungary and Japan promotes a particular educational philosophy: to produce students who excel in a specific discipline. I can only infer from my program — since it is a program designed for American college students — the work is generally not easy; the level of difficulty of some of the classes I’ve taken is comparable to those of Swarthmore’s Honors Program. What is drastically different from Swarthmore College, however, is that there is no “learning environment.” The colleges offer lectures, but not a holistic learning experience. As a matter of fact, the idea of residential college is quite alien to both Tokyo and Budapest where students live with their family or rent an apartment. One of my Hungarian friends told me that even when there are dorms, academic departments have separate dorms for their own majors. In this light, I started to think that what makes Swarthmore so extraordinary is the learning environment. There

March 31, 2011

is no way to test that a student learned something outside of class because of the “learning environment,” but the college tries to bring in as many factors as possible that might make “something” happen. The college admits students with the hopes that the class year is balanced and diverse. As students, we live in dorms where we talk with people from different class years and majors on a daily basis. A greater emphasis is placed on homework, keeping students on campus and promoting student interaction. And I believe it is through these interactions that students understand and integrate their knowledge into real life and become creative, not just follow instructions. For example, I unexpectedly started a cold war with my (ex-) roommate last semester, but through my conversation with and observation on my ex-roommate’s responses I learned something invaluable about people. This experience really helped me understand and write a final paper on a French post-structuralist. How could this have happened if I only ever needed to commute from home to school, taking exams when I needed? I don’t think that the Hungarian and Japanese education systems don’t teach, but I do think there is an important human and social element missing within their system. Maki is a junior. You can reach her at msakuma1@swarthmore.edu.

swarthmorephoenix.com

t r e e s

Friday, April 1 Olde Club 9 p.m. - 12 a.m.

5 ANIMAL QIGONG

CHERRY BLOSSOM CELEBRATION Come to the lawn across from the Scott Arboretum Wister Center to celebrate the QiGong practice underneath the beautiful cherry blossoms.

d l w o Cr te wil ri m at o v fa rfor ock pe thst r Wo

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

Friday, April 1 Cherry Blossom Lawn 2 p.m. - 3 p.m.

editor’s P I CK S By Dina Zingaro

Sunday, April 3 Scheuer Room 4 p.m. - 5 p.m.

APIA month concert Saturday, April 2 Phi Psi 9 p.m. - 12 p.m.

SNOOKI TAKES ON SWAT To lecture on “The Art of the Hair Poof”

Decipher

Magnetic North t r i o

t e a c h e r 12

Taiyo Na

March 31, 2011

THE PHOENIX

Opinions

swarthmorephoenix.com Staff Editorial

Corbett’s priorities threaten PA’s environment, health As Japan’s nuclear crisis continues President Obama said Wednesday that to inflict suffering on the Japanese “we’ve got to make sure that we’re people, countries around the world are extracting natural gas safely, without concerned with radioactive material polluting our water supply.” affecting the well-being of their inhabAll the while, Corbett is encouragitants. Here in Pennsylvania, ing drilling for gas, touting it as an Governor Tom Corbett assured citi- economic elixir. He claims it will zens that their drinking water has not bring 200,000 jobs and $18 billion into been contaminated by rainfall con- Pennsylvania in the next decade, but taining iodine-131, a nuclear fission these figures do not even begin to byproduct. Though some rainfall in show the human and environmental the state has been found to contain costs of fracking. radioactive material, Corbett assured Many other states have attempted Pennsylvanians on Monday that “the to encourage safer drilling and to bottom line is the drinking water is decrease the use of hydrofracking by safe.” making drilling less profitable. The Though Corbett took time out of his most common means to attack the busy schedule to deal with concerns of problem is a severance tax — a tax on radiation from Japan adulterating the extracting any natural resource. drinking water, he has yet to acknowlThis is usually levied at the state edge a much level, but more local C o r b e t t source of maintains pollution — that he will A statewide severance tax t h e not allow a would allow some of the hydrofrackseverance ing of externalities from the extraction tax because Marcellus he thinks it of gas to be mitigated. Shale. will encourThe waste age drilling from drilling companies to for natural gas contains radioactivity, move elsewhere, such as West such as naturally-occurring radium Virginia, also home to Marcellus found deep underground, that does not Shale. Furthermore, the Governor get diluted in rivers. Rather, sewage signed a pledge with Americans for plants not properly equipped to Tax Reform promising to levy no new remove enough radiation and other state taxes. pollutants from the wastewater to On Wednesday, State Senator John meet federal standards sometimes dis- T. Yudichak (D-Luzerne, Carbon, charged “just miles upstream from Monroe) announced a severance tax drinking-water intake plants,” accord- proposal which has bipartisan support ing to the New York Times. in the Pennsylvania legislature. This Though there are no standards for support in some parts of Harrisburg is levels of toxins in wastewater, matched by two-thirds support from hydrofracking, an environmentally the states’ voters, according to several disastrous practice, has already polls. Corbett should listen to his legwreaked havoc on the quality of drink- islature and his voters. ing water in Pennsylvania. In 2008, However, though he’s repeatedly residents near one section of the said no new taxes, Corbett has stated Monongahela River in the Eastern that he is open to the possibility of part of the state were told to drink charging natural gas drillers impact only bottled water because of the dan- fees at the local level. Though he may gerously high levels of minerals and meet the libertarian standards of salts. Americans for Tax Reform, this propoFurthermore, the New York Times sition should not satisfy his state. uncovered E.P.A. studies showing that Drilling can span localities, so regsewage plants treating the wastewater ulating at such a small level would not from hydrofracking were probably have the intended effect. A statewide breaking the law by releasing so many severance tax, on the other hand, contaminants into Pennsylvania would allow some of the externalities rivers. from the extraction of gas to be mitiEven more disturbing was the gated, perhaps by developing methods dearth of testing at drinking water that are less harmful to the residents intake-plants. Ian Urbina reported of Pennsylvania and to its environFebruary 26 in The New York Times ment. that the plants “have not tested for This situation is further complicatradioactivity since before 2006, even ed by Corbett’s skewed motives. In his though the drilling boom began in campaign last year, Corbett received 2008.” over $800,000 from oil and gas compaSo, though Corbett is enthusiastic nies. It appears that Corbett’s prioriabout thorough testing for signs of ties are confused, or, at the very least fallout from Japan, the state of inconsistent. Pennsylvania and the E.P.A. haven’t If he is truly concerned with the even tested our drinking water for quality and lack of radioactivity in radioactivity, among other pollutants, our drinking water, he should join the in several years. state legislature in taxing the extracClearly, he isn’t as enthusiastic tion of natural gases, and he should about ensuring that contaminants also press for regulation of the treatfrom a profitable industry don’t make ment and disposal of wastewater from it into our drinking water. In contrast, hydrofracking. tHe PHOeniX

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Letter, OP-eD AnD COmment POLiCy Letters, opinion pieces and online comments represent the views of their writers and not those of The Phoenix staff or Editorial Board. The Phoenix reserves the right to edit all pieces submitted for print publication for content, length and clarity. The Phoenix also reserves the right to withhold any letters, op-eds or comments from publication.

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Opinions Obama’s new support Moving forward together for offshore drilling a towards committed action welcome change on the hotel project

swarthmorephoenix.com

We are headed toward an energy crisis in the United States. I am no conspiracy theorist nor am I a left-wing environmentalist suggesting the world will end in 50 years due to our use of fossil fuels. All hyperbole aside, I am a realist. With the current instability in the Middle East, the price of oil will keep rising, far above the current $100 per barrel it hovers around. In America, we need to decrease our dependence of foreign oil. Relying on energy from countries such as Libya, Iran and Saudi Arabia is not in our national interest, nor is it sustainable. The United States needs to develop its own sources of energy. And, yes to all environmentalists, this means drilling offshore. Tyler Becker This is only a temporary fix, but must be included in The Swarthmore our long-term energy strategy. I am for all kinds of alterConservative native energy: hydrogen, nuclear, wind, etc. Our methods for obtaining energy are not, however, going to change overnight. These alternatives need to be made economically viable. In the meantime, drilling for oil in America is the best alternative. President Obama even appeared to show some willingness to support offshore drilling upon taking office. Obama announced in March of last year that he would allow for exploration off parts of the Atlantic coastline, parts of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and in Alaska on the north coast. This was understood at the time as a policy looking to reduce the cost of energy and part of a long-term fix for our energy problem. In December, the administration changed its tune. According to an opinion piece published by the editorial board of the Washington Post, Obama’s reversal was meant “to keep the waters off the East and West coasts and the eastern Gulf of Mexico off-limits to exploration indefinitely.” This politically expedient position came following the disastrous Gulf oil spill that plagued the administration throughout the summer. The hypocrisy of Obama’s flip-flop came to light last week when he gave a speech in Brazil. Obama gave his support to the new offshore drilling planned off the coast of Brazil, even going as far to assure that country that the United States would like to get some of its oil from Brazil. Obama told the gathering in Brasília that “when you’re ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best customers.” On Wednesday, in a speech at Georgetown University, President Obama clarified his position on offshore drilling and offered his long-term plan for decreasing America’s dependence on foreign oil. This speech included support for offshore drilling exploration, a reversal of Obama’s previous position. While this flip-flop will anger environmentalists, the move will likely help Obama with independent voters worried about gas prices. Now, it is time for Congress to act and implement a longterm energy plan for the We need a more nuanced United States that includes offapproach to easing our shore drilling. Obama has that he is moving into dependence on foreign oil and shown reelection mode and is worried protecting the environment. about being viewed as a reason gas prices are climbing. Republicans should seize this opportunity to craft a clear plan for tackling the energy issue, taking advantage of Obama’s reelection worries. If Republicans choose not to take up the energy issue, Obama will be forced to implement his new approach by executive order, giving himself a great campaign talking point. Republicans in Congress must articulate that drilling offshore now and decreasing America’s dependence on foreign oil will provide a transition period as alternative energy is developed and made more market-viable. While Obama did change his position in order to support more offshore oil exploration, he focused a lot on “environmentally safe” drilling. This makes sense in light of the BP oil spill, but it sounds as though receiving permits will be a bureaucratic nightmare. A concise and coherent system needs to be developed to ensure these permits are granted, and this should be set up by the Congress. We need a more nuanced approach to easing our dependence on foreign oil and protecting the environment. President Obama’s remarks on Wednesday signal that he is willing to allow this to happen. The president understands that we are not going to end our demand for foreign oil or oil in general overnight. And, I give Obama credit for recognizing this. It is a nice change away from the cap-and-trade mantra the administration tried to get passed in Congress. President Obama has opened the door to developing a consensus approach to dealing with America’s looming energy crisis. One of the main criticisms I have of Obama — a criticism shared by some political scientists — is that Obama does not have the chutzpah to stand up and articulate a clear policy direction that he believes in. He is willing to alter his policy positions for either the purpose of getting legislation passed or political gain. Obama has shown that he is willing to change his position on offshore oil exploration, so this is the chance for Republicans to develop their own energy plan. Once alternative energy becomes more cost-efficient than using fossil fuels, alternative energy will prevail. We are not at that point yet, and I applaud the President for recognizing this. It is a welcome change. Tyler is a first-year. He can be reached at tbecker1@swarthmore.edu.

BY DANI NOBLE dnoble1@swarthmore.edu

As the college’s hotel project has materialized over the course of the past few years, SLAP has been engaging with the administration and campus community in order to ensure concrete protections for hotel employees, in large part because the hotel industry’s record of poor labor standards is in direct conflict with the college’s own standards and values. While an affirmation of the college’s principles of fair employment and compensation is encouraging, we feel that the college should specify how they will move these principles from paper to practice. President Chopp’s recent op-ed states that hotel employees “will be provided wages consistent with the college’s compensation policies.” However, does that mean that hotel employees will be fully covered by Swarthmore’s existing Living Wage Policy? If the college is truly serious about ensuring not only fair compensation, but also crucial components of the Living Wage Policy such as the childcare subsidy benefit and full HMO health coverage for lowest-paid staff and their families, then the administration should clarify in writing that this commitment applies to all employees of this hotel project and specify how they will uphold it. As the college continues to seriously consider hiring an outside hotel operating company to be the employer (in the absence of a hotel management school, the college lacks the resources), how will the college ensure that this employer will adhere to college’s “Statement of Principles?” In this same statement, SLAP’s efforts to ensure such accountability were misrepresented. In actuality, we have asked for a commitment from the employer to be neutral and agree not to We feel that the college coerce or intimidate workers should specify how they will regarding the pursuit of or interest in unionization. move these principles from We strongly support paper to practice. future hotel employees’ right to organize with any union of their choosing, whether that means forming an independent, site-specific collective bargaining unit, or, of course, not to form a union at all. This right is protected under the type of neutrality agreement for which we have advocated. SLAP has proposed that such an agreement be signed between the employer and UNITE HERE, as UNITE HERE is currently the main union organizing hotel workers nationwide; however, under the agreement we have proposed, workers would ultimately choose whether and with which union to organize. We also remain open to finding another way to implement this important protection. We have also advocated for the college to allow for workers to have the option of a “majority sign-up” process (sometimes referred to as card check) in addition to the legally codified NLRB process of forming a union. At a fundamental level, endorsing unequivocal support for elections overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) sidesteps the fact that a “neutral election” is hardly the realized norm in workplaces across America. To ignore the power that employers regularly exercise to influence an election would be a reckless assumption. In the period between when workers call for an election and when the election actually takes place, employers can and regularly do use all sorts of illicit and illegal tactics to influence the outcome of the vote: firing vocal leaders, intimidating workers, holding captive-audience meetings during work hours to present the evils of unionization, and, in some cases, buying off employee support. A 2005 study from the University of Illinois at Chicago reports that during union organizing drives, 30 percent of employers fire workers who want to exercise their right to form a union, 49 percent of employers threaten to close a work site when workers try to form a union and 82 percent of employers hire high-priced union-busting consultants to fight organizing campaigns. This culture of organizing is often the lived experience of workers in the hotel industry and is hardly the democratic process that the administration endorses. The rhetoric of President Chopp’s recent op-ed, eerily reminiscent of anti-union language one may find in books on hotel management, implies a vested interest in maintaining the hotel industry status quo — an environment in which employers have free reign to forcefully prevent workers from organizing freely and having a voice in the workplace. While we value the college’s public statements on their website and recent editorials stating their support for the principles of “fair labor standards” and “the right of employees to unionize,” it remains to be seen what positive, concrete steps the college will take to translate these words into practice. We have reached a consensus on these values and hope to move forward together toward committed action. Dani Noble is a member of the Swarthmore Labor Action Project.

OP-ED

March 31, 2011

THE PHOENIX

Opinions

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Mar. 24 editorial overlooks the agency of the Libyan people To the Editor: I refer to the editorial last week entitled “Intervention in Libya needs multilateral support.” Although the editorial is, on the surface, about multilateralism regarding the no-fly zone in Libya, I think it lacks a complete understanding of the situ-

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ation. A closer reading of the editorial leads me to three responses. First, the editorial does not show an understanding of the urgency of the situation. The editorial asks if “voting for the resolution without military support” would’ve been more prudent.

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The answer is, I think, an unequivocal “no.” The strictures of “multilateralism” meant that the Libyan resistance was in real danger of being destroyed by Qaddafi, who was making large territorial gains into rebel territory with superior military and weaponry. Second, the editorial confuses multilateralism and joint “great power” action. How much more multilateralism do you need, when you have virtually universal consent from the UN, Arab League backing, and a plea for intervention from the Libyan people? The editorial is foolish to think that Russia, China, Brazil or India would send jets to Libya — this is clearly not going to happen. Clearly, the BRIC countries abstained not to scuttle an intervention (they could've just voted no). BRIC will not be involved militarily but at the same time will not stand in the way of the international community. If joint “great power” action is not possible, does the argument support continued talk while Qaddafi sets his guns on his people? The question to ask is not whether BRIC military support should be a precursor to intervention, but given universal consensus on the necessity of intervention, how best to defend the Libyan people. Third, and most importantly, the editorial is written from — ironically, given its title — a very myopic perspective. This is not about America, its “two other messy wars in the Middle East,” budget cuts, BRIC or China’s state-owned media. This is not about you. This is about the Libyan people. The editorial completely ignores the will and agency of the people of Libya specifically and the Arab world at large. Nowhere does the editorial take into account the safety and security of the Libyan people — who have shown courage and action in their groundswell of emotion against a crazy, vindictive dictator. The “Allies” are not leading this insurrection; they are merely assisting the Libyan resistance, against the background of unprecedented political developments in the Arab world. For these reasons, I think the editorial’s arguments should fall. Andrew Loh ’11

around higher education

Troubling evolution in journalism seen in new paid online model BY MALCOLM-WILEY T. FLOYD thecrimson.com, Mar. 29, 2011

Earlier this month, I was one of thousands of NYTimes.com readers who visited the site’s homepage to learn that the publication would soon be introducing a pay model for its online content. As a devoted reader and fan of The Times, I must conclude that the step toward a pay model was regrettably inevitable, and indicative of not only a large change in the role The Times will play in the world, but also the continuing evolution of journalism in the digital age. In the business section, The Times reports that the paid online subscription was “in the works for years,” which speaks to its inevitability. The recession of the past few years hit many industries hard, but few were hit as hard as online advertising. Even as the world slowly recovers from the downturn, the now-former system does not seem to be economically sustainable, so it is hard to blame The Times for wanting to make a profit-minded change. With the failure of the PhoeniX

the Seattle Post-Intelligencer fresh in executives’ memories, the cost of doing nothing is clearly too large. However, it would be a mistake for us to accept this change as unavoidable without at examining the social cost. The Times’ online pay model is the beginning of a divide in journalism. On one end, there will be the high-quality, in-depth, comprehensive journalism that The Times has provided for years, and on the other end will be a lower-quality alternative. As readers realize that they must pay for high-quality content, fewer will be willing to do so. As a result, there will be more consumers in the market for low-quality journalism, and so the two varieties will diverge further. But it is clear that the New York Times Company did its best to mitigate this divide. It avoided the traditional pay wall model employed by other publications such as the Wall Street Journal. Furthermore, the flexibility of The Times model allows it to control the limit of free articles, so that in an emergency that limit might be lifted.

Lastly, they embrace social media by allowing access to all content through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. These aspects of the model demonstrate The Times’ understanding of the potential risks of the pay model, and should be commended. Despite these efforts, there will still be a limit on journalistic content, and the consequences of this limit and the resulting segmentation in journalism are potentially very serious. The average reader will likely be less informed. Perhaps worse, the poorer reader will likely be less informed. While there might be few differences between the news content on sites like NYTimes.com and other free alternatives, it is clear that these differences will grow as the divide between high and low quality journalism widens. This divide in journalism threatens to create worsen the information gap between the rich and the poor. On this level, it is socially inefficient to think of the New York Times Company, or any other company that engages in journalism as “just a business.” Whether this move will make

March 31, 2011

business sense remains to be seen (the company’s earlier venture with paid online content, TimesSelect, was quickly discontinued after an internal study deemed it unprofitable). However, The Times as a national leader in journalism has a mandate to benefit the public, as a well functioning democracy demands a open press. Therefore, it might be helpful to think of journalism as a type of public good, roughly akin to national defense. It is ineffective when one tries to exclude people from it, and its value isn’t diminished when more people consume it. Considering journalism a public good suggests that it might not best be provided by a profit-seeking entity like a company. For instance, the BBC, a world leader in journalism is run by the British government. Wikipedia, one of the most influential online information providers, operates as a nonprofit. Neither of these are suitable solutions now for The Times, but the evolution of online journalism suggests that these may be the socially optimal solutions of the future.

Sports

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The2011PepcidAC® SwarthmoreSportsFanQuiz They say that Swarthmore students don’t care about sports. Typically, ‘they’ are Swarthmore students, which strengthens their argument. I, however, remain unconvinced. To find out for sure, I have put together a 10-question quiz designed to test every aspect of one’s sports Timothy Bernstein knowledge. If you answer seven or more questions Bullet Points correctly, consider yourselves a sports expert. If you answer four to six correctly, you’re certainly holding your own. If you get three or fewer right, keep it to yourself. Answer key is at the bottom.

4. In a word-association game, you hear ‘Brett Favre’ and instantly reply ______: A. Penis B. Jeans C. America 5. “The Decision” was ______: A. The shift from a Special Major in Psychobiology to one in Neuroscience B. LeBron James choosing to play for the Miami Heat C. Pauly D’s roommate in Seasons One and Two

9. Last year, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter posted an OPS+ of 90, making him fairly below average at his job. If you worked as a high school teacher last year, approximately how many times greater would his salary be than yours? A. 150 B. 550 C. 350 10. You’re walking down the hall in your dorm at 2 a.m. when your best friend calls you into his room. “Look at what my dad let me keep over the weekend,” he says, looking excited. He pulls out a tiny baseball card. “It’s the T206 Honus Wagner card. From 1909” he tells you. In response, you:

A. Roger Clemens B. Alex Rodriguez C. Barry Bonds 2. A ‘swingman’ is defined as _______: A. Fred Astaire B. A basketball player who can play both shooting guard and small forward C. Any man at a party who puts his key in the bowl Courtesy of http://tiny.cc/m8iga

A. Get out of the elevator. Like, now. B. Strike up a conversation about how “Black Swan” wasn’t anything special. C. Say, “Nice to meet you,” and continue watching the stock market report on the TV. It’s one of those ele vators.

8. The most unrealistic depiction of basketball ability in a movie was _____: A. The dog in “Air Bud” B. Zac Efron in “High School Musical” C. The werewolf in “Teen Wolf”

6. What is this?

1. Put these national disgraces in order of their births, starting with the earliest:

3. You enter a hotel elevator by yourself. As you reach to press ‘Close,’ you hear a voice call out, “Hold the door.” You hold the ‘Open’ button and in walks a tall man in loose-fitting sweatpants. “Boy, am I excited to be back here,” he says. “I’m Plaxico, by the way.” Immediately, you:

C. What the forward for the Brigham Young basketball team did that got him kicked off the team.

A. The owner of an NFL football franchise B. That specially designed ‘super-orc’ from the first “Lord of the Rings” movie C. Whatever it is, somebody left it in the sun about forty years too long. 7. To “get Jimmered” is ______: A. To get so hammered that you start hallucinating Jimmie Walker, the “Dy-no-mite!” guy from “Good Times,” is sleeping in your bed. B. To get scored upon at will by the guard for the Brigham Young basketball team

A. Say, “I could care less who that is,” and return to studying moral universalism. B. Ask if he knows whether it’s pasta bar or Cajun bar that night, then go back to reading about Malaysian architecture. C. Check to make sure that no one else is out in the hall. Once you’ve done that, you sneak up behind your best friend and quietly bludgeon him to death with your Organic Chemistry textbook. When you’re absolutely sure he’s dead, you take his wallet, cell phone and the card, then discretely leave his room. Be sure to make a couple of phone calls around this time so it looks like you were busy. Once you leave the dorm, throw his cell phone into Crum Creek, then set fire to any ID you find in the wallet. Late, you contact an independent broker and put the card up for sale. You then make a fortune, drop out of school and give the eulogy at your friend’s funeral. Answer Key: 1-A,C,B, 2-C, 3-A, 4-A, 5-B, 6-A, 7-B, 8-B, 9B, 10-C Timothy is a sophomore. You can reach him at tbernst1@swarthmore.edu.

aroUnd higher edUcation

Sports columnist to pen book on PSU’s Paterno BY MIKE DUSASK collegian.psu.edu, Mar. 30, 2011

Joe Posnanski, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, announced on his blog last Tuesday that he has signed on to write a book on the life and impact of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. But it’s not just another foot note in his long sports journalism career. Posnanski called this book his “dream project.” “Joe’s career is so vast and fascinating and ambitious,” Posnanski said. “It feels to me as something larger than a sports story. It’s a great American story.” The former Kansas City Star columnist says that he has been thinking about doing a book on Paterno for a couple of years, dating back to when he wrote a feature titled “Top of the World, Pa” on Paterno for Sports Illustrated in 2009. “A new book is very exciting, both for the students and the alumni,

because when people think of Penn State, they think about Joe Paterno before anything else,” Artie Hinaman (junior-telecommunications) said. Posnanski will write the book for Simon and Schuster Publishing, and he plans to take about 18 months to write the book. To do so, he’ll be changing his area code to State College, moving to the area to indulge himself in the culture. He plans to continue to write and blog for SI while working on the book. Sure, this isn’t the first time someone has written a book about Penn State’s legendary head coach, but Posnanski says this one will be different. “I’ve read a lot of the books about Joe and several of them are really good,” Posnanski said. “I think there’s a larger story here, something more ambitious, about the man I consider the most influential person in the history of college football.” Paterno is the winningest coach in the history of Division I football. His

401 wins are the most in Bowl Subdivision, formerly D-1, history, and he’ll be roaming the Beaver Stadium sideline for an unprecedented 46th season in the fall. But Paterno’s impact on the university stretches farther than the 100 yards of playing field at Beaver Stadium, something Posnanski plans to focus on in the book. “As a coach, as a philanthropist, as a symbol, as an educator and as an icon he’s the most influential person to be at Penn State since the university was built,” Posnanski said. The coach and his wife, Sue Paterno, have contributed over $4 million toward departments and colleges at the university over the years, such as the Penn State All-Sports Museum at Beaver Stadium. They also helped raise money for the expansion of Pattee Library in 1997, the expansion was named in their honor, Paterno Library. Paterno has always been lauded for getting the most of his players aca-

March 31, 2011

demically, wanting to give them an education in addition to a football career. Penn State football posted an 85 percent graduation rate last year, second only in the Big Ten to Northwestern, and far exceeding the 67 percent FBS average. “He is the most influential man in the history of college football, not only because he won games, and not only because of his efforts to graduate players, and not only because of his attempt to raise young men,” Posnanski said. “But all of it, combined into one sprawling, ambitious, challenging and grand career.” Though he has no exact timetable, Posnanski said he expects the book to be done late next year and targets a release date around Father’s Day in 2013. “He’s college football’s Lombardi, only his ambition is larger,” Posnanski said. “Lombardi wanted to get his team as close to perfection as possible. Joe has wanted that and more.” the PhoeniX

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Storied former Lion retires from competition BY DAN NORTON collegian.psu.edu, Mar. 30, 2011

Gymnastics was all he thought about his entire life. For 23 years, former Penn State men’s gymnast and assistant coach Kevin Tan has been at it on the mats. As early as this season, the 2008 Olympian dressed, warmed up and practiced as a gymnast every day before the student-athletes arrived. The casual onlooker never would have guessed he was a coach. But one day, Tan came to the White Building wearing a polo shirt and khakis instead of a uniform. Tan formally announced his retirement Wednesday morning through the Penn State athletic department. The 29-year-old decided several months ago that his body couldn’t take the strain of gymnastics anymore. He was training to qualify for a spot on the U.S. Olympic roster for London 2012. He didn’t make his decision public until yesterday in case he changed his mind. “Look at Brett Favre and Michael Jordan,” Tan said regarding the delay of the announcement. “People have come back from retirement and still have done very well. But this seems to be the right decision.” Tan has passed the peak age of a typical male gymnast, which he said hovers around the early 20s. He would be 30 years old by the time he competed in the 2012 Olympic Games. Furthermore, Tan has suffered from a plethora of injuries since competing for the United States at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Shoulder surgery in late-2008 kept him out of the gym for over a year and other ailments have impeded his training regimen since

his return. “My body was starting to hurt quite a bit,” Tan said. “At that point, I saw my opportunities outside gymnastics more so than inside as an assistant coach, as a soon-to-be husband, and as the next chapter of my life in general.” Retiring wasn’t an easy decision for Tan to make. Gymnastics became a large part of Tan’s life while competing at the collegiate level. He was back at Penn State as a full-time assistant coach a year after graduating in 2004, and even then he wasn’t done competing on the international level. As reality began to set in, Tan realized that at his current level he wouldn’t make the Olympic team. He confided some of his frustration with head coach Randy Jepson. “A couple times came up when he was struggling and I knew it was really hard for him,” Jepson said. “I didn’t make it easy on him, it had to be his decision.” Jepson is not Tan’s superior anymore. As Tan transitioned from a student-athlete to an international competitor to an assistant coach at Penn State, his relationship with Jepson evolved. Tan found it confusing at times identifying Jepson’s role in his life. They were colleagues as fellow coaches, but when Tan trained, Jepson was the “boss” — although Jepson said it’s never really seemed like that. But the role confusion did not have a negative effect on Tan, considering all the success he’s had under Jepson’s tutelage. “It was a little bit nerve-wracking when I first came out here in 2005 to be that coach, because Randy was so many roles at that point,” Tan said. “I was afraid how we were going to keep

Friday, april 1 Baseball at Haverford, 3:30 p.m. Track & field at Distance Night, 5 p.m. Track & field at Danny Curran Invitational, 5 p.m. saTurday, april 2 Track & field at Danny Curran Invitational, 11 a.m. Women’s lacrosse vs. Gettysburg, 12 p.m. Baseball vs. Gettysburg, 12:30 p.m. Golf at Wilmington College Tournament, TBA Men’s tennis vs. Gettysburg, 1 p.m. Softball vs. Gettysburg, 1 p.m. Women’s tennis vs. Gettysburg, 1 p.m. Baseball vs. Gettysburg, 3 p.m. Men’s lacrosse vs. Gettysburg, 3 p.m. Softball vs. Gettysburg, 3 p.m. sunday, april 3 Baseball vs. Gwynedd-Mercy, 1 p.m. Golf at UPenn, 1 p.m.

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dream,” Tan said. “But it’s one thing to say it and another thing to do it. “If I didn’t give it that shot now, there would always be something in the back of my mind, and I wasn’t ready to let go of that.” Tan ultimately achieved his dream not only when he made the Olympic team, but also when he was named the team’s captain. He led the underdog Americans in Beijing to a bronze medal when most didn’t expect them to make the finals. “They put that medal around my neck and I looked straight up and I gave that big sigh of relief,” he said with a huge smile on his face. Tan has that medal at home, but has his countless other medals and awards sitting in his office in the White Building. In his prime, he always lived in the present, but now that he’s a coach, he can look fondly at those awards and reminisce. His memories are of successes he once never thought possible. He realizes his career is painted a clear coat of gold, silver and bronze. He is content. But at the same time, he is sad. He accepts that his career is over, and his time in the limelight has ended. However, Tan would never start a new chapter of his life without gymnastics in some capacity. He can now focus on coaching, and imparting his wisdom to a younger generation of gymnasts. He loves every minute of it. “I love being able to share the experiences which I hold so dear to me with these guys to make them the athlete that I believe they can be,” Tan said. “And to have them go through the process and realize that himself. It’s almost giving back to a program that has given me so much.”

garnet athLete of the week

garnet in action Thursday, March 31 Men’s lacrosse vs. Whittier, 7 p.m.

personal, professional and athletic life all separate. “He’s been above and beyond anything I’ve ever hoped for. I think that’s what made it so much easier to stay here and train rather than go somewhere else. I had a coach here who was dedicated to me and knew exactly who I was, and we trusted each other.” When Jepson first recruited Tan out of California in 1999, Tan had no idea the roller coaster ride that was in store for him during the following decade. All he knew was that he had some scholarship money to give, and Tan looked very promising. Tan’s mom passed away during the recruiting process, which made it difficult for him to focus on his college decision. “It was very difficult in the sense that I was drawn to family so much after that,” he said. “Being that life is unexpected that way and you never know what’s going to happen.” Tan ended up choosing Penn State because of the family aspect Jepson brought to his team. That sense of unity brought out some of Tan’s best gymnastics. He won one team national championship with the Nittany Lions and two individual still rings titles, etching his name into Penn State’s history books. It was during his time at the collegiate level that he realized just how much he loved the sport. He had planned to graduate with his major in finance and enter the job market, but that no longer satisfied him. Tan recalled making what would become the second-hardest decision of his gymnastics career — not retiring in 2004. He wasn’t done yet. He wanted to be an Olympian. “The Olympics have always been a

Spencer roSS

Golf at West Chester Tournament, TBA Men’s tennis at McDaniel, 1 p.m. Men’s tennis at TCNJ, 1 p.m.

Jr., BaSeBall, chappaqua, ny.

What he’S done:

Monday, april 4 Golf vs. Philadelphia Biblical, Cabrini, Harford C.C., Richard Stockton at Rolling Green Golf Club, TBA

the junior third baseman was named last week’s centennial conference baseball player of the Week. ross had a .667 batting average on the week, going six for nine. In the Garnet’s home twinbill sweep of dickinson college on Saturday, he tallied up three hits and one rBI in game one and two rBIs in game two.

Tuesday, april 5 Softball at Gettysburg, 3 p.m. Baseball vs. Washington College, 3:30 p.m. Women’s tennis vs. Ursinus, 3:30 p.m. Golf at Immaculata Tournament, TBA Softball at Gettysburg, 5 p.m. Women’s lacrosse at Neumann, 6 p.m.

FavorIte career MoMent: “My favorite career moment was sweeping Franklin & Marshall at home in the 2010 season to clinch a playoff spot for the first time in Swarthmore baseball history.”

SeaSon GoalS: “My main goal is team oriented. I want to win a centennial conference championship and anything else beyond that is just icing on the cake.”

Wednesday, april 6 Men’s lacrosse at McDaniel, 7 p.m.

FavorIte FaSt reStaurant:

go garnet! Jakob Mrozewski Phoenix Staff

March 31, 2011

Food

“My favorite fast food restaurant is In-n-out Burger. nothing beats a double-double and a vanilla milkshake from In-n-out.”

Sports Women’s lacrosse defeats Bryn Mawr and McDaniel, men gain comeback victory over Muhlenberg BY DANIEL DUNCAN dduncan1@swarthmore.edu The Swarthmore women’s lacrosse team got its first Centennial Conference win on Saturday against Bryn Mawr. The Garnet blew past the Owls with a score of 19-5. The Garnet improved to 5-2, and 1-1 in Centennial play. The Garnet never trailed in the game, with Samantha Panepinto ’13 striking first just 20 seconds into the game. Although Bryn Mawr briefly threatened, tying the game two minutes into the first period, the outcome was never in doubt. Swarthmore went on an 11-0 run to take a commanding lead and invoke the clockkilling mercy rule five minutes into the game. Bryn Mawr’s Natalie Chrismer tried to keep things interesting, accounting singlehandedly for all of the Owls points with four goals and an assist to Kathleen Magner’s goal in the first period. The Owls went on a 2-0 run late in the first half, but the Garnet responded with seven consecutive goals. Another Bryn Mawr run to close the game was too little, much too late. The Garnet saw four different players record hat tricks: Emily Evans ’11 (five goals), Corinne Sommi ’14 (four), Annalise Penikis ’13 (three) and Marie Mutryn ’12 (three). Two goals from Nicole Vanchieri ’13 and one apiece from Panepinto and Emma Sipperly ’14 rounded out the scoring. Penikis doubled up on hat tricks, adding four assists to her three goals. Mutryn and Sommi added two more. Swarthmore dominated almost every facet of the game, picking up three times as many ground balls as the Owls, and outshooting them by an almost 4:1 mar-

gin. The Garnet also caused 11 turnovers to the Owls’ five. Panepinto felt that thoroughly outplaying the Owls was a team goal. “We really wanted to emphasize playing cleanly and smoothly against Bryn Mawr,” she said. “When we play stronger teams, we build off of these game experiences, so it’s critical that we play smart.” On Tuesday, the Garnet traveled to McDaniel in their first Centennial road game, coming away with a thrilling 11-9 win in overtime. Swarthmore improved to 6-2, 2-1 CC. Penikis and Sommi again led the way, with Penikis scoring five goals and Sommi adding three more. Each had a pair of assists to go along with their scoring. Evans also added a hat trick. The men finally played on Tuesday after Muhlenberg experienced some outof-season snow during the uncharacteristically cold weather this past week. After warming up a bit, the Garnet left Allentown with a come-from-behind 7-6 victory. Swarthmore improved to 2-5, 1-1 CC. Down 6-3 going into the fourth quarter, Max Hubbard ’12 and Jonathan Molloy ’14 led a furious rally, scoring two goals each in the quarter alone. Molloy finished with four goals and an assist on the day. Brendan Conway ’14 rounded out the scoring, while Wes Marcik ’13 had two assists. Both Garnet lacrosse teams are home this weekend. The men host Whittier College from California in a nonConference game tonight at 7:00 p.m., and on Saturday there is a doubleheader against Centennial Conference foe Gettysburg. The women’s game begins at 12 p.m., while the men are scheduled to face-off at 3 p.m.

Courtesy of Swarthmore Athletics

Max Hubbard, along with Jonathan Molloy, helped put the Garnet, down 6-3 in the fourth quarter, back in the lead scoring two goals in the game against Muhlenberg.

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SportS in Brief

Justin Toran-Burrell The Phoenix

Zak Kelm and Malik Mubeen won 8-2 in a doubles match against Ursinus.

Allegra Pocinki Phoenix Staff

Brooke Wilkins and doubles partner Aliya Padamsee lost to Johns Hopkins, 8-4.

Men’s, women’s tennis lose to Hopkins Despite a 9-0 victory against Ursinus on March 24, the men’s tennis team fell 81 to the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays on March 26, placing them at 4-6. The men’s team faced a tough match-up against the defending Centennial Conference champions, as the Garnet fell to 1-1 in the conference. In doubles, Hopkins’ Jacob Barnaby and Casey Blythe defeated Zak Kelm ’12 and Stephen Youngblood ’12 8-5. In No. 4 singles, Bressman defeated Hopkin’s Blythe 6-3, 7-5, picking up the sole point for the Garnet. On Tuesday, March 29, the men’s team rebounded, picking up a 9-0 win against Muhlenberg, moving up 5-6 and 2-1 in the Centennial Conference. The Garnet swept through the singles, with Bressman defeating the Mules’ Jason Teitelbaum 6-2, 6-3 and Malik Mubeen ’13 knocked out Andrew Brod 6-0, 6-0. Kaye played a close match against Jordan Rutt and came out victorious with a 7-5, 6-3 win in No. 1 singles. In doubles, Bressman and Kaye defeated the Mules’ Rutt and Robbie Goldwein 8-3. Collard and Udelson knocked out Brod and Ben Cohen 8-1, while Kelm and Danny Park ’14 breezed through an 8-0 win against Teitelbaum and Ben Berkowitz. The women’s team also suffered a loss to Johns Hopkins on March 26, despite

March 31, 2011

picking up a 7-2 win against Muhlenberg on March 23. The No. 11 Hopkins and the Garnet faced each other again for Centennial Conferences, but the Blue Jays came out ahead, defeating the women’s team 8-1. In No. 4 singles, Katie Samuelson ’14 defeated Abby Clark 3-2, picking up the only point for the team. Samuelson lead the game, but due to an injury, the match ended early. In doubles, the Garnet almost picked up another point in the No. 2 match-up between Kelsey Johnson ’13 and captain Luann Cignavitch ’11 and Hopkins’ Courtney Boger and Clark. It was a close game, but the Blue Jays came out ahead, winning 9-8. In yesterday’s game against Washington College, the Garnet lost 5-4. In No. 5 singles, Samuelson defeated Kat Cohen 8-3 and Stephanie Chia ’13 defeated Bethany Daller. In doubles, Chia and Samuelson played a close game against Washington’s Cohen and Daller and came out with a win, 9-8. The women’s team is now 3-7 and 2-2 in the conference. Up next for the men’s team is a match this Saturday, April 2 against Gettysburg. On Sunday, April 3, the Garnet will also face McDaniel and The College of New Jersey. The women’s team plays Gettysburg this Saturday, April 2 at 1:00 p.m.

tHe pHoeniX

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Despite wins over Cabrini, softball loses four straight games another three runs in the bottom of the sixth. and keeping them there. The fifth inning saw an RBI “Considering the teams in our Conference generally double from Cushing cutting the lead to two. have decent pitching, I’m glad we got a chance to However, the Garnet would get no closer than that, Last week the Swarthmore softball team defeated face great speed and movement from Rowan before falling 3-1. Cabrini (9-2, 7-1) in a doubleheader away game for we move into the next leg of our season,” shortstop “I love the faster pace, greater pressure and highthe first time in program history, continuing the Liz Cushing ’12 said. er intensity that comes along winning streak they started with the return from “[In the second with [Conference] games. I’m Spring Break. However, the Garnet’s four-win game] we adjusted, especially excited to play streak did not last, as the team played in a double- started hitting off their Dickinson this year though; I “Every game we learn more header at Rowan University, losing 11-0 and 6-1. pitches and we were want a rematch of last and more, and we’ve been able really Yesterday, the team returned to play for the first much better defensiveyear’s Conference champiCentennial Conference matchup when they traveled ly,” Lowe said. to integrate what we’ve learned onship game,” Cushing said. to Muhlenberg dropping the doubleheader 11-3 and Cushing said that as The team will have a into our actual play. That’s 3-1. The team now stands 4-12 (0-2 CC) on the season. long as the team stays chance to flex their The first game was a slow start for the Garnet focused and does not Conference muscle this exciting. women, as they did not score a single hit in the worry about things weekend. “Individually, I Liz Cushing ’12 game. Rowan managed to score seven runs in the they cannot control, think we have more talent first two innings, effectively blocking any chance the game should turn than anyone in the conferthe Garnet had of gaining an advantage, and ending out the way they want ence, but we are not living up the game in four innings. it to. However, despite good pitching and defense, to our potential as a group. There have been some Pitcher Sarina Lowe ’14 took the loss for the team the Garnet fell to Conference rival Muhlenberg. In great individual efforts — amazing hits, catches, in Game One, pitching the full four innings, moving Game One, the Mules managed nine runs in the first bunts, and throws. When we string them all togethto 1-3 on the season. “They were extremely good. I two innings, taking the lead early and holding onto er, we will be a powerful force in the conference,” know in the past they it for the rest of the game. The Scheirer said. were nationally Garnet kept the Mules to only On Saturday, the Swarthmore softball team will ranked, and we knew six hits in the game with the play their first home game in a doubleheader “There have been some great it would be hard help of Jesslyn Lammerts ’14, against Centennial Conference rival Gettysburg. going into it,” Lowe Smayda and Lowe. Kira Kern This game will be the inaugural StrikeOut Cancer individual efforts ... when we said. Infielder Krista recorded two hits, while game in association with the American Cancer string them all together, we will ’11 Scheirer ’11 felt the Erin Curtis ’13 added the only Society and the National Fastpitch Coaches Rowan games were a RBI single in the third inning. Association. Pledges made for Garnet offensive hits be a powerful force in the good opportunity to “Every game we learn more and defensive strikeouts during the game will beneconference.” test the team against and more, and we’ve been able fit the American Cancer Society, which raises a really good team, to integrate what we’ve money to research and educate about cancer. Krista Scheirer ’11 and that “we did not learned into our actual play. The team is pumped for the StrikeOut Cancer take advantage of it.” That’s exciting. I think mental- game Saturday, and have high hopes for the day. “I Game Two found ly and physically we’re right am expecting my team to come out with a bang. We Melissa O’Connor ’14 on the pitcher’s mound, strik- where we need to be heading into Conference play. are going to push ourselves, and each other, so that ing out six batters. Rose Pitkin ’13 recorded two dou- I’m excited to start playing our Conference games,” we can compete at our level on Saturday,” Sheirer bles, leading the team offense. Kate Smayda ’13 con- Cushing said. said. “It is also our Strikeout Cancer day ... so I am tinued her impressive season recording an RBI douO’Connor pitched Game Two, continuing the expecting a lot of strikeouts from our pitchers and ble in the third inning, bringing in the only Garnet same level of play she has shown so far this season aggressive swings at the plate!” run of the day. It was not enough, as the Profs pulled surrendering single runs in the first three innings Game One is set to begin at 1 p.m.

BY RENEE FLORES rflores1@swarthmore.edu

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Women’s lacrosse at Penn: a true family affair BY JENNIFER SCUTERI dailypennsylvanian.com, Mar. 29, 2011

Sure, lacrosse is a team sport. But for the Penn women’s lacrosse team, it’s a family affair. In the Franklin Field stands, it’s impossible to miss the enthusiastic group of mothers and fathers demonstrating their unwavering support for their daughters on the turf. And make no mistake about it, this dedicated group enjoys every second of its time spent with the program. “The parents … love being together,” said Rose Leitner, the team’s resident photographer. Leitner, who is the mother of Quakers goaltender and Daily Pennsylvanian videographer Emily, posts videos and photos of the team online after each game. “Our daughters work so hard at obtaining such an amazing goal, so to be there and to see them play and be there to cheer them on is so important,” she added. These parents take their job very seriously. After every Penn goal, the members of the tight-knit cheering section perform an organized rally, complete with signs. The tradition has been passed down throughout the years, and while those holding the the PhoeniX

signs — and the sticks — have ents go above and beyond merely changed, the enthusiasm has attending every game. They show up sporting paraphernalia with their remained. “You have to brace yourself and get players’ names and numbers as well. Christina Poplawski, mother of ready for this whole new crew of families, but every year you fall in love all sophomore midfielder Maddie, conover again with a whole new group of tacted Under Armour to set up an women,” the elder Leitner said, refer- online store for the program’s supring to the players. “Some of them get porters to purchase team gear for on the field and some of them don’t, their friends and families. “Usually you end up buying them but they all contribute to this team in for the grandsuch a vibrant parents and the way and that’s aunts and true of the parents too.” “Everybody says that Penn u n c l e s , ” Leitner said. The parents is the happiest Ivy — well, “In our family, also make every effort to we are. We are the happiest I think we bought 20 see each away darn lacrosse team ... ” badges so game on the e v e r y o n e Q u a k e r s ’ Suzanne Brennan knows who [in schedule. UPenn lacrosse mother the crowd] Suzanne belongs to Brennan, Emily.” mother of junBut the parior co-captain Erin, has never missed watching one ents’ true dedication comes in the of her daughter’s games and doesn’t form of the tailgates they organize following the games. intend to. The parents have perfected the art While in Singapore, Leitner even streamed a game via of tailgating, down to the tablecloths, PennAthletics.com at 3 a.m. to watch fresh-cut flowers and toothpicks. They go beyond the standard burgers and her daughter play. But the Red and Blue lacrosse par- hot dogs. Parents who sign up to March 31, 2011

organize a tailgate provide foods ranging from filets to salmon for the postgame parties. “All the parents are really just terrific and just doing whatever they can do to help out,” Carol Giordano, mother of senior co-captain Giulia Giordano, said. “It’s really nice to win games, but I think a lot of us have a really good time getting to know one another, just making some wonderful friends as a result of lacrosse.” These profound friendships between the players and their families continue even after the lacrosse season ends. Former players and their parents often come back to cheer on the Quakers. Most recently, the parents of 2010 graduate Emma Spiro returned to Franklin Field Sunday to support the Red and Blue as they took on Cornell. And, as expected, they were welcomed back with open arms. “They just have friendships that they’ve made for life on this team,” the elder Brennan said. “Everybody says that Penn is the happiest Ivy — well, we are. We are the happiest darn lacrosse team and the happiest Ivy kids.”

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Baseball defeats Dickinson, falls 5-3 to Haverford

Eric Verhasselt Phoenix Staff

Junior second baseman Anthony Montalbano, along with Rory McTear, Mike Waterhouse and Niko Burnett, helped to tie the game 6-6 in the 6th inning against Dickinson.

BY ANA APOSTOLERIS aaposto1@swarthmore.edu In a short season, it only takes one or two important games to turn a young season full of question marks into one set solidly for a playoff run; and, in a nine-inning game, sometimes it only takes one or two well-placed hits to bring a team from the brink of defeat to a hardfought victory. On Saturday, the Garnet baseball team caught a case of good timing and kicked off its Centennial Conference season in fine fashion, sweeping a doubleheader against the Dickinson Red Devils, 7-6 and 12-9. Down four runs in the early innings of both games, the dangerous Swarthmore offense made the most of rallies and capitalized on Dickinson’s mistakes, winning Game One in a ninthinning walkoff and capping the Game Two comeback with a six-run eighth inning. “[Dickinson is] a very good team,” Garnet head coach Stan Exeter said. “We just got one more at-bat per inning than they did.” In Game One, Dickinson started lefthander Sean White ’12, whom Exeter referred to as the best pitcher in the Conference, and staked him to a 4-0 lead in the first inning as a dropped popup led to four unearned runs against Swarthmore starter Ignacio Rodriguez ’12. “I was expecting us to chip away,” Exeter said. “Not to roar back.” However, “roaring back” is exactly

what the Garnet offense did in the bot- rally. Down by one again in the seventh, the tom of the first inning, putting up a fivespot to reclaim the lead. The game, a offense started to roll, scoring six times scheduled seven-inning contest, went to as Nakamura recorded another go-ahead extras tied at six, as the advertised pitch- RBI. Reliever Sean Mangus ’13 pitched er’s duel would materialize after the the final 1.2 innings in relief to earn the explosive first inning, but Swarthmore save and give the Garnet a perfect first had the last at-bat and the last laugh in weekend of Conference play. “Winning this weekend felt like sunthe ninth. Third baseman Spencer Ross ’12 doubled with one out, and shortstop dae bar at Sharples,” Nakamura said, perhaps T h o m a s nursing a Nakamura ’11 sweet tooth wasted no time at the time of in bringing him “Even when we fall behind i n t e r v i e w. home with a early, we are confident that “Two scoops double of his of victory own, setting off our pitching and offense will are a delighta home-plate put us in a situation to win.” ful way to celebration as start the seaRoss slid in Thomas Nakamura ’11 son.” under the catchRoss, who er’s tag with the recorded six winning run. “Even when we fall behind early, we hits over the course of the doubleheader are confident that our pitching and and was named the Conference Player of offense will put us in a situation to win,” the Week, called the sweep a “great way Nakamura said. “We all know what we to start off Conference play.” Despite the superior pitching that the are capable of doing at the plate.” The walkoff victory made a winner team has already faced and are sure to out of pitcher Kyle Crawford ’12, who continue facing in Conference competirelieved Rodriguez with four shutout tion, the Garnet offense as it has performed thus far is sure to give no pitcher innings. Game Two was barely easier, as the an easy time. Swarthmore has scored 10 Garnet fell behind 5-1 by the end of the or more runs in eight of 17 games third inning. The climb back into con- outscoring opponents by a 145-112 martention was not as immediate as in Game gin. “We are mashing as a collective unit,” One, but with the score 6-3 in the sixth, Swarthmore took advantage of a pair of Ross said. “We are going to see [the Red Devil miscues to stage a game-tying Conference's] best pitchers … like we did March 31, 2011

this weekend against Dickinson, [but] we are all very prepared and confident that we can hit anyone throwing against us.” “We have a very good approach,” Exeter said. “Very impressive, top to bottom.” Going forward, Swarthmore’s schedule is no cakewalk, as another game against Haverford will be followed by a home twinbill with Gettysburg. Conference powerhouse Johns Hopkins will come to visit on April 9, and Exeter and his team have clear goals for handling increasingly challenging opponents. “We have to cut down on the freebies,” Exeter said. “Too many errors, too many walks [that] we won’t be able to afford.” “We need to keep up the intensity and drive from the moment we step onto the field until the moment we step off of it,” Ross said. “If we are able to keep mental focus for every single pitch, our talent will take over, and that’s just a fun way to play baseball.” On Tuesday, the Garnet almost made it three comebacks in a row, as the winning run came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth against the Haverford Fords; however, a strange 8-5-6 double play and a questionable display of umpiring sealed a 5-3 defeat. The team now stands at 11-6 on the season. Swarthmore and Haverford go at it again on Friday, as the Garnet hits the road this time for a rematch with its TriCo rival. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. THE PHOENIX