The Phoenix by The Phoenix

APRIL 14, 2011 • THE CAMPUS NEWSPAPER OF SWARTHMORE COLLEGE SINCE 1881 • VOLUME 133, ISSUE 25

PHOENIX

Inside: Examining Title IX changes, sexual assault at Swat Kenneth Turan reﬂects upon college experience Men’s golf team eyes NCAA tournament

MORGAN LANGLEY Senior soccer star signs with Harrisburg City Islanders p. 20

The Phoenix

Thursday, April 14, 2011 Volume 133, Issue 25

The independent campus newspaper of Swarthmore College since 1881.

Page

Allegra Pocinki Phoenix Staff

Representing Student Concil in the fifth annual Mr. Swarthmore competition, Simon Zhu dresses Sarina Lowe in the talent section.

News

After observing the treatment of Chinese and Arabic immigrants in Hungary, studyabroad columnist Maki remarks upon the treatment of Asian immigrants in Hungarian society. PAGE 9

Sports

Kenneth Turan, writer and film critic for the Los Angeles Times, will talk on Monday about how his experience at Swarthmore has influenced his career. PAGE 10

reflects on the athlete’s career and his carefree “Manny Being Manny” nature. PAGE 15

The rise and fall of MannyAdmittance rate dips for being-Manny Ramirez 2015 class With the recent retirement of MLB star Kenneth Turan speaks on Admissions results are in for the class of Manny Ramirez, a 12-time All-Star and 2015, and with the largest applicant pool in Swat experience two-time World Series champion, Tim the college’s history, it is no surprise that this year’s acceptance rates are the lowest on record. PAGE 3

Examining the connection Nationwide spotlight on sexual assault now hovers Weather makes students between improv and sports Andrew explores the relationship between over Swarthmore improv comedy and team sports, sampling manic as Sunday In light of President Obama’s decision to IMG Academies as an example of a trainmark April as Sexual Assault Awareness homework piles up ing institution that merges the two. PAGE 17 Month, the present time is one of reflection for the campus community. PAGE 4

Living & Arts Mr. DU takes home Mr. Swarthmore title and tiara At the fifth annual Mr. Swarthmore competition hosted by LaSS, many gentlemen competed for the honor of the title, but only Tramane Hall ’11, representing DU, claimed the tiara. PAGE 6

Original play explores body image and loneliness “The Body You See in the Mirror,” an original play by Samuel Swift Shuker-Haines ’14, pushes boundaries in its exploration of body image and destructive relationships. PAGE 7

Steve says: beware the perils of multitasking Like any good Swattie, multitasking is the only way to balance an unhealthy sampling of classes, extracurriculars and social life. Steve tells you why multitasking is bad, and how you can more efficiently get your work done. PAGE 8

When the weather is gloomy and homework that didn’t exist on Saturday suddenly materializes on Sunday, there is absolutely nothing else to do but band together and stay strong with your favorite humor columnist. PAGE 11

Opinions In light of budget debacle, Obama offers prudent fiscal plan

Garnet golfers aiming for NCAA tournament

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

The Garnet golf team has been performing well at various tournaments throughout the season. The team has its sights set on making the NCAA tournament. PAGE 18

Lacrosse teams face difficulty against Diplomats

TO ADVERTISE: E-mail: advertising@swarthmorephoenix.com Advertising phone: (610) 328-7362 Address: The Phoenix, Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, PA 19081

The men’s (3-9, 1-4 CC) and women’s (8-5, 2-4 CC) lacrosse teams battled the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats over the weekend with both teams dropping their games. PAGE 18

Baseball defeats Hopkins and Washington, third in Budget compromise shows CC The Garnet baseball team saw a solid week, desire for less government sweeping Centennial Conference opponents Johns Hopkins and Washington. The team is now third in the Centennial Conference standings. PAGE 18

Morgan Langley signs with Institutional factors Harrisburg Islanders exacerbate crime, poverty Swarthmore soccer star Morgan Langley America’s urban minority poor suffer greater injustices due to improper attitudes surrounding their situations and institutions that systematically disadvatnge them, Jon claims. PAGE 14

STAFF Patrick Ammerman News Writer Sera Jeong Living & Arts Writer Steven Hazel Living & Arts Writer Steve Dean Living & Arts Columnist Alex Israel Living & Arts Columnist Maki Sakuma 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

EDITORS’ PICKS PHOTOS COURTESY OF: (clockwise from top left): http://tiny.cc/kb0gj http://tiny.cc/vr5zb http://tiny.cc/8oqb1 http://tiny.cc/trfyx httP;//tiny.cc/6k27a

Reducing the budget deficit must be tackled with both spending cuts and tax increases. PAGE 13

Tyler argues that the recent agreement reached by Congress reflects Americans’ skepticism of large government — and large debt. PAGE 14

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

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 Mail subscriptions are available for $60 a year or $35 a semester. Direct subscription requests to Camila Ryder. The Phoenix is printed at Bartash Printing, Inc. The Phoenix is a member of the Associated College Press and the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. All contents copyright © 2011 The Phoenix. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.

’11 has signed a professional contract with the Harrisburg City Islanders, a USL Pro team. PAGE 20

Hungary poses challenges to assimilating ethnic groups 2

April 14, 2011

THE PHOENIX

News

swarthmorephoenix.com

events menu Today Dr. deLisle: Using Law to Rule the Country A Law professor of UPenn and a distinguished China scholar, Dr. Jacques deLisle will be in Sci 199 at 7 p.m. to discuss how China’s government and its people deal with social unrest.

Admittance rate dips for 2015 class

The Body You See in the Mirror Experience the opening night of “The Body You See in the Mirror,” an original play exploring the lives of freshmen at MIT. The play will contain nudity and sexual violence. Come to Olde Club at 7:30 p.m. if you dare. Additional showings will take place on Saturday and Sunday nights. Tomorrow 2011 HAN Spring Barbecue It’s that time of year again. Swarthmore’s Korean culture group, HAN, will be in the WRC Courtyard at 6 p.m. serving authentic Korean food. Come early to leave satisfied.

Rhythm and Motion dance performance Looking for a good time tonight? Head on over to LPAC Pearson-Hall Theatre at 8:30 p.m. for a night of spectacular dance performances by members of the R ’n M dance company. Seating is first-come, first-seated. An additional showing will be held on Saturday night at 9 p.m. Saturday, April 16th Orchestra Concert Enjoy pieces from Barber, Bach and Dvorak performed by the Swarthmore Orchestra in the Lang Concert Hall at 8 p.m.

Village Education Project VEP will be offering a preview of items up for auction in Shane Lounge at 3 p.m. for its upcoming Talent & Art Auction on April 22. Gift certificates to local businesses, meals with President Chopp and Dean Braun and a serenade from an a cappella group are among some of the items. Featured Alumni Speaker: Kenneth Turan ’67 Kenneth Turan will share how his experiences as an undergrad at Swarthmore has impacted his work as a film critic for the LA Times and NPR’s Morning Edition. The lecture will begin at 3 p.m. in the LPAC Pearson-Hall Theatre. Sunday, April 17th Gamelan Semara Santi Concert Philadelphia’s only Indonesian percussion orchestra devoted to performing traditional compositions from Bali, Gamelan Semara Santi, will perform in the Scott Amphitheater at 3 p.m.

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

tHe PHOenIX

Paul Chung Phoenix Staff

Following recent trends for most colleges and universities in the U.S., Swarthmore's acceptance rate declines to 15 percent, with an increase in the number of applicants. BY ELI SIEGEL esiegel2@swarthmore.edu Nine hundred and seventy seven prospective students have been accepted to the class of 2015. These students were admitted out of 6,547 total applicants, the highest number ever, for an acceptance rate of approximately 15 percent. The admitted students come from six continents, 64 nations and 50 U.S. states as well as the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. Among them are an accomplished trick water skier, a ballroom dancing champion and two prospective engineers who have built hovercrafts. This year saw the highest number of applications on record, with the largest increases coming from California, New York and outside of the United States. Jim Bock ’90, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, believes that the college is better able to attract international students due to the increased number of people abroad who want a liberal arts education and see Swarthmore at the top of the rankings in this category.

The class of 2013 has about 28 international students. This number rose to roughly 44 for the class of 2014. “Many international students are interested in a small supportive liberal arts education,” International Students and Scholars Advisor Jennifer MarksGold said. “Sometimes they don’t have family or extra support [in the US], I help them get acclimated [to Swarthmore].” Joyce Wu, a member of the class of 2015 from Hong Kong, said the communicative academic environment drew her to the college. “A big [reason I liked Swarthmore] was the atmosphere of learning for the sake of learning and not for grades.” Anushka Mehta, an admitted student from Egypt, was attracted to the range of different students on campus. “I wanted a college with a large international community where diversity was embraced, so I could meet people from different countries and maybe fellow Egyptians and Indians,” Mehta said. Out of the admitted students, Bock hopes to yield a class of 383 members, a

April 14, 2011

slightly lower number than in the past. “We want a smaller class this year because the outgoing [senior] class is slightly smaller [in size than last year’s senior class],” Bock said. However, predicting the number of students who will accept the college’s offer of admission is not easy. “I don’t know where a student has applied or been accepted or what his or her ultimate choice will be,” Bock said. “It’s hard to predict what a seventeen year old is going to do.” Even if the college were to overenroll, Bock said, the aggregate number of students who plan to attend Swarthmore each year drops during the “summer melt” when some students may be admitted off of other school’s waitlists and subsequently change their plans to attend. Then there are others who decide to defer enrollment for a year, often in order to pursue personal interests, travel or raise money before entering college. In the event that the admitted class size is not large enough, or underenrolled, admissions would move to the waitlist to look for additional candidates. About 950 people were offered a place on the waitlist this year. In general, Bock said, about one-third of these students accept the offer to be on the waitlist, another third reject the offer and the last third do not respond. However, it is rare to be admitted from the waitlist. Last year, only seven students were accepted. “We’ve taken as few as zero, but as many as 75 [from the waitlist],” Bock said. When deciding whom to take from the waitlist, admissions is looking more for students who really want to be here, rather than for students who would fill certain needs of the college, such as members of athletic teams or musicians. As students decide whether to come to Swarthmore, Bock hopes that they will take note of the unique community. He said that the external pressures, such as class ranking and GPA, are pulled off and instead students work in collaboration to succeed. Additionally, professors take an active interest in their students, working with them oneon-one and challenging them to be real scholars. “I’ve never met a more accessible student body or faculty,” Bock said. “Some of the best conversations I’ve ever had have been with Swarthmore students and faculty.” Ben Grandis, a member of the class of 2015 who has already accepted the college’s offer of admission, said the collaborative academic atmosphere attracted him to the college. “Swarthmore felt right to me because it really felt like the kind of school where the academic challenge would ultimately be worth it. It is full of the intelligent peers necessary to truly inspire me and enrich the future of my education,” Grandis said. Other admitted students, such as George Price from Pittsburgh, are attracted to the college’s campus. “Swarthmore has an epic walk in the middle of an amazing arboretum and a fast train into Philadelphia.” Price said. Students have until May 1 to accept the college’s offer of admission.

News

swarthmorephoenix.com

Nationwide spotlight

Week iN pictures

Opportunities Officer. According to Dean Henry, the letter may change some aspects of On April 1, President Barack Swarthmore’s policy on sexual Obama officially declared April to be assault. For example, Swarthmore Sexual Assault Awareness Month. may be obligated under the new clarVice President Joe Biden spoke ification to pursue every perpetrator recently at the University of New of sexual assault. Hampshire to encourage colleges and Currently, Swarthmore allows the universities to take on new responsi- survivor of the assault to decide bilities in enforcing Title IX guide- whether further action is taken or lines regarding the handling of sexu- not. “A student who comes forward al assault and rape. This nationwide might not have control about focus on issues related to sexual whether we investigate,” Henry said, assault and misconduct provides the who worries that students may be Swarthmore community with an less willing to report cases under the opportunity to facilitate further dis- new stipulations. cussion regarding recent and past At Swarthmore, students and the incidents on campus. administration use programs like “Even though it’s Swarthmore … ASAP workshops for first-years and sexual assaults do happen [here], and the Clothesline Project in the fall to they happen every year,” raise community awareness of sexuSwarthmore alum Ally Grein ’10 al assault and rape issues on campus. said. Grein made public that she was The ASAP workshops, organized a rape survivor here at Swarthmore primarily by students, are specificalduring her first year. ly utilized as a tool to provide inforDuring her time at the college, mation to the incoming first-year Grein ran Swarthmore’s Clothesline class. Project for four years and ran sever“The reason that we do it during al Acquaintance Sexual Assault orientation is that the number of sexPrevention (ASAP) workshops for ual assaults that happen during the first-years, in addition to being a first semester of a student’s first year Sexual Misconduct Advisors and on campus — they [have the] highest Resource Team (SMART) member. risk,”Henry said. The Clothesline Project attracted The workshop is aimed at informaround 200 shirts every year during ing students about school rules and her time at Swarthmore, Grein said, state laws concerning consent, facts and many participants do not even that many first-years may not have make shirts every year. According to given much consideration. Grein, this demonstrates that “in However, Will Hopkins, one of the each class … even seminars — at organizers of ASAP, fears that the least one person has probably been a workshop does not engage students Survivor of sexual violence in some in an ongoing dialogue. “It’s pretty way.” successful at getting people starting According to Dean Karen Henry, to talk about [sexual assault] … Gender Education Advisor, there Whether or not those conversations were four reported cases of sexual continue is up for debate. I think misconduct in 2009 and one in 2010. there’s a good momentary increase While sexual misconduct can range in awareness, but I don’t think it from acts of physical sexual abuse to really results in much of a continued acts of sexual conversation intimidation, on campus,” sexual assault, Hopkins said. as the college Outside of “Even though it’s defines it, is the ASAP workSwarthmore … sexual any sexually shops, the violent behavClothesline assaults do happen ior. also [here], and they happen Project “The numaims to probers that I have mote conversaevery year.” are probably tions about Ally Grein ’10 only a small rape and portion of the domestic abuse sexual assaults issues. “It startthat actually happen on campus, ed out of a lack of conversation of because, in general, it is something these issues, and the goal is to make that is under-reported,” Henry said. people more aware,” Adriana Massi The commonly reported statistic ’12 said, one of the current coordinais that 20-25 percent of women will be tors of the Clothesline Project. sexually assaulted while in college. A According to Grein, the project 2007 survey by the Justice gives survivors of sexual assault a Department also found that 1 in 5 means to communicate what they’ve women and 1 in 16 men in under- been through while allowing those graduate universities have experi- who wish to remain anonymous. enced attempted or actual sexual However, the project can be emoassault. tionally difficult for those who have A letter sent out by Vice President been survivors. Biden to schools and colleges across “It’s an uncomfortable week, it the country last week attempts to can be a triggering week,” Massi clarify the role of administrators in said, referring to flashbacks that complying with Title IX. “It has a lot some survivors suffer from after in it…so we’re going through it very being assaulted. carefully to see what the implications are for the college,” Sharmaine See ASSAULT, p. 5 LaMar said, Swarthmore’s Equal

BY PATRICK AMMERMAN pammerm1@swarthmore.edu

Allegra Pocinki The Phoenix

Comedian Corey Marshall performed alongside five professional stand-up comedians and Swarthmore’s Tarit Rao-Chakravorty in the 2011 Richmond Comedy Swatdown on Saturday.

Paul Chung Phoenix Staff

Members of the Good Food Project sponsor a garden party on Saturday to advocate sustainable food issues on campus.

Jakob Mrozewski Phoenix Staff

In response to the recent attack, members of the community march through campus and the Borough on Friday in a show of love and solidarity during the Love Walk.

April 14, 2011

tHe pHOeNiX

News on sexual assault now hovers over Swarthmore swarthmorephoenix.com

The administration strives to do all it can for the survivors of sexual assault. “The school provides many avenues for survivors to take in the aftermath of an attack. I think our philosophy has really been … first and foremost, supporting the survivors and making sure that they’re aware of all the different options. I think it’s really important that all the survivors know,” Dean of Students Liz Braun said. These options include available support from the deans, SMART team members, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), Worth health center and the RAs. CAPS members are available to students 24/7 and provide therapy sessions with complete confidentiality. “I think it’s very important that clinicians not have an agenda for what a student should do. We’re there to help the students unpack this experience, “ CAPS director David Ramirez said. CAPS not only provides support for students who seek it but also helps to train RAs so that they can provide another dimension of support for survivors of sexual assault who come to them. Students can also seek help and advice from the deans and SMART team members. Members of the deans’ office and SMART team members officially report any incidents brought to them, and Dean Henry tries to help the survivor take whatever steps she or he wishes. “Some of the first things I do is to try to attend to the student’s medical needs … and then we talk about various options for resolving the situation. We encourage students to go the police, to go to the student judicial system, and any variety of informal ways resolve an issue of sexual misconduct,” Henry said. However, some survivors have not been satisfied

with how they were treated once they came forward are] trying to advance the best interests of the colto report an attack. "I think the main reason why lege by making it a safe place. B, they’re trying to incidents of sexual violence at Swarthmore aren't make the survivor feel safe, and [the survivor] is stareported to the dean's office is that previous individ- ble … and they also have to address the fact that uals who have gone to the dean's office have had very there’s a student who potentially has a problem.” mixed experiences, some very positive, and others, There also may be feelings of frustration that, very negative and,” Grein said, “the chance of hav- even after the survivor makes the decision to go ing a negative experience has discouraged survivors through the painful experience of reporting the incifrom seeking assistance from the dean's office, dent and deciding to pursue further action, the perbecause they don't want to risk feel unsupported.” petrator is not punished. “At my time at “The real weakness is that there are a lot of peo- Swarthmore, I can think of only four or five cases of ple who care very much about this issue and are someone actually leaving Swarthmore of their own doing a lot of work on campus … I think that then it volition or being formally sanctioned by the [College leads to conflicts where Judiciary Committee],” people are both trying Grein said. to serve the instituAt present, the stan“We encourage students to go the tion’s needs and trying dard procedure for tryto serve the needs of the alleged sexual perpolice, to go to the student judicial ing individual … I don’t petrators is for the sursystem, and any variety of informal vivor first to issue a think those interests should really be put forformal statement of ways resolve an issue of sexual ward as much as they what happened, then misconduct.” tend to be,” another the assaulter is asked source said, who wishes to give his or her own Dean Karen Henry to remain anonymous. written account of Gender Ed. Adviser That source went on what happened. Yet, if to add, “Dean Henry the accused decides to has a really good underdrop out or transfer to standing of the legal process and I do think she is another institution before submitting the account, very aware that it can be a harmful or traumatizing the incident will not follow him or her. process to a lot of people.” Nevertheless, most students feel safe on campus. The source also acknowledged the difficulties fac- “Swarthmore does care and does have institutional ing deans in addressing sexual assault issues on support … I think we really do need to look to each campus: “It’s very hard because the dean has so other as students to form that safe campus,” Hopkins many interests the deans are trying to serve. A, [they said.

around higher education

Urban farms surge throughout Philadelphia

Courtesy of Dan Nessenson/DP Staff Photographer

The Marathon Farm in N. Philadelphia’s Brewerytown neighborhood will both ship food to the six Marathon restaurants throughout the city and sell produce to local residents. BY HAYLEY BROOKS dailypennsylvanian.com, April 13, 2011

City and country are no longer mutually exclusive thanks to Philadelphia’s newest attraction — farms. Multiple groups have brought urban farms to areas of Philadelphia to provide widespread accessibility to fresh food. Marathon Restaurants — a

the PhoeniX

Philadelphia chain with six locations, including 200 South 40th St. — recently acquired 15,750 square feet of land at the corner of Master and 27th streets. The formerly vacant urban spot in North Philadelphia’s Brewerytown neighborhood has been transformed into “Marathon Farm.” According to a statement from Marathon, “as part of the urban agricul-

ture movement, which involves cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around a city, Marathon Farm will serve as a much-needed link between the local community and fresh, just-picked food.” The farm’s opening day was held on March 21 with a press conference led by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. Marathon Grill’s owner Cary Borish and farm director Patrick Dunn are currently working to establish a nonprofit organization, The Marathon Loves Philadelphia Foundation, to support their efforts. “Our motto has always been ‘serving the neighborhood,’ and with our new farming initiative, we’re making it literal,” Borish said in the statement. “This garden is more than just a means of supplying our restaurants with terrific fruit and vegetables; we will offer half of what we grow at an affordable farm stand on site and to a local food cupboard.” Farm manager Adam Hill explained that, for the residents of Brewerytown, there is no option to receive fresh vegetables. “There’s not a grocery store near here,” he explained. Hill said he hopes to establish outreach programs with the surrounding elementary and middle schools and to bring fresh produce to the elderly and handicapped in the area. “It’s a great location for involving people, it’s a community farm,” he said. Marathon Farm chief engineer Michael Parnell noted the obstacles he and Hill endured, given the urban location of the farm. “We’ve had to do raised beds to protect the soil from the lead in the city soil,” he said. Dunn’s plan for the farm includes a

April 14, 2011

small orchard, as well as raised beds for herbs, berries, tomatoes, carrots, spinach, zucchini, squash and other vegetables, according to the statement. The Triscuit Home Farming Movement — which teamed with nonprofit Urban Farming to plant 50 community farms nationwide last year, including one at 401 South 42nd St. — also aims to increase access to fresh vegetables in urban environments. Urban Farming executive director and founder Taja Sevelle explained that the “mission of Urban Farming is to create an abundance of food on unused land and space and help uplift communities.” To help farmers connect and share experiences, Triscuit has also created a social network for farmers called Homefarming.com. Many Penn students have gotten involved in urban farming. In an Alternative Spring Break trip sponsored by the Jewish Renaissance Project, 18 students assisted at the Tierra Miguel Farm outside of San Diego. Penn Hillel director of engagement Emily Perl, who led the trip, said she enjoyed its educational value. “We talked about the connection between Judaism and agriculture and food,” she said. College sophomore and urban studies major Sophie Feldman attended an ASB trip in Richmond, Va., where she observed and helped out on an urban farm. “We had to sift through compost in the morning, which is kind of disgusting,” she said. “But now I understand how it helps the environment.” As for the urban farming boom as a whole, Feldman said, “It’s largely a result of the fact that people are more and more concerned with urban sustainability.”

Living & Arts

swarthmorephoenix.com

Mr. DU takes home Mr. Swarthmore title and tiara BY HENRY KIETZMAN hkeitzm1@swarthmore.edu

Last Friday, April 11, Swarthmore gentlemen battled for the pride, honor and bragging rights of the Mr. Swarthmore title and tiara. The competition was judged by three faculty members: Alcohol Education and Intervention Specialist Tom Elverson, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Diane Anderson and Associate Dean for Student Life Myrt Westphal. Each representing a particular campus organization, the contestants included Simon Zhu ’11 as Mr. StuCo, Erik Heaney ’14 as Mr. Dare 2 Soar, Lucas Zullo ’13 as Mr. Top Soccer, Philip Chodrow ’12 as Mr. WA, John Flaherty ’14 as Mr. Swimming, Yashasvat Kashyap ’14 as Mr. Deshi, Kevin Terusaki ’14 as Mr. SAO, Gerardo Limon ’14 as Mr. Parrish, Tramane Hall ’12 as Mr. DU, Malik Mubeen ’13 as Mr. Tennis and Kojo Boateng ’14 as Mr. ABLLE. At the end of the night, Hall, Mr. DU, won the competition and the title of Mr. Swarthmore. The Ladies’ Soiree Society (LaSS), a women’s social group on campus, hosts the event annually. This year the group and its president Carmen PerezLeahy ’12 prepared for this event by recruiting contestants and advertising. Mr. Swarthmore serves as a fundraiser for Women’s Way, a Philadelphia-based organization which supports women’s reproductive rights and advocacy through education. “We picked Woman’s Way this year because its goals fit LaSS’s really well … and because it’s a Philadelphia-based organization,” Perez-Leahy said. This year, the event raised $329.83 for Women’s Way in the pageant’s clothed Dash for Cash. In previous years, Mr. Swarthmore took place over Family Weekend, so usually parents contributed a substantial amount of the money raised. “I was happy. I was not expecting to get that much because we’re all poor college students,” Perez-Leahy said. Five years ago, LaSS founders Jessica Hamilton ‘09 and Claire Melin ‘08 approached Elverson to judge in their preparations for the first Mr. Swarthmore. Ever since the event’s creation, Elverson has served on the judging panel. He describes the judging process as “a mix of subjective and objective.” For each act — Swimsuit, Talent and Q&A — the

judges award a point value from 1 to 10 based on how know not to try to beat up Phil Chodrow in a dark the contestants present themselves, the quality of alley, because he’ll break me in half! I thought Kojo their answers and the audience’s reaction. Elverson was really good ... Anyone could have won; it was a enjoys the opportunity to judge the competition, but great group of guys.” This year’s Mr. Swarthmore coincided with also to recognize the various competitors' talents.. “It’s really the highlight of the year for me,” Elverson Genderfuck as well as Fuck Gender Friday (sponsored by SQU, Colors and QSA), which highlight gensaid. In considering past winners, Elverson believes der and sexuality issues and encourage exploration Hall is “the best [Mr. Swarthmore] yet.” In particular, of gender roles. In light of the weekend’s events, Zhu he was thoroughly impressed by Hall’s “Single chose to compete in drag, garnering laughs from the Ladies” dance. “That guy exudes talent,” Elverson audience by flirting with Elverson, which Elverson claims “was really a hoot.” said. Elverson believes that the event acts as a good repHall promised Perez-Leahy last semester that he would participate when she approached him. For resentation of Swarthmore’s values. “I’d like to think weeks prior to the show, he practiced his “Single that Swarthmore has an open attitude towards all oriLadies” dance routine. “I was up at six in the morn- entation, all lifestyles,” Elverson said. “I think that ing learning the moves. I’m glad I did it because was reflected in Simon’s comfort level to be able to everyone was so good; their talent sections were get up there and perform as he did.” In reaction to Zhu’s choice, Hall feels that Zhu amazing,” he said. For the Q&A portion of the competition, Hall looked amazing and his comfto with doing the entire show in drag is representabelieves he got lucky not tive of Swarthmore’s values. only in the questions he “Ultimately, it shows that at got asked, but also due to the order of the questions. “Anyone could have won: it was Swat you can be yourself,” Hall said. “It shows the cul“I didn’t have to be down a great group of guys.” ture that we try to create on myself or I didn’t have here of — not necessarily tolto think about any huge Tramane Hall erance, because I ‘tolerate’ a world issues,” Hall said. lot of people — but acceptInstead, one of his quesance.” tions asked what celebrity With his new title, Hall hopes to “not make a fool would play him in a movie about his life. Without hesitation, he responded with pop singer Ke$ha and of [himself].” “Hopefully the school and everyone said, “If she wakes up in the morning feeling like a who was there got to see my personality.” Though he black guy, why shouldn’t it be me?,” referencing the is unsure just how seriously students take the title outside of the competition, he hopes to use his victofirst lyrics of Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok.” During the competition, Hall admits that he felt ry as a means to connect with more of the incredibly intimidated by the other competitors. Swarthmore community. “I wish I did have magical Other acts included everything from singing to danc- powers that came with the tiara, because I would try ing to standup comedy. Chodrow used his martial to end all the bad stuff in the world,” Hall said. The Mr. Swarthmore competition seemed to please arts skills to break through five wooden planks with one hit. Boteng created a poem, while simultaneous- the audience. Hannah Gotwals ’13 felt “really ly crafting a sandwich to demonstrate the fundamen- impressed by Kojo’s Sandwich Poetry Slam.” Also, she enjoyed Hall’s “Single Ladies” routine. “As a tals of poetry writing. “Behind stage I was freaking out, because I did not swimmer, it was fun to see four of my teammates, think I was going to make top five,” Hall said. He [Limon, Hall, Flaherty, and Zullo,] up on stage. It was believes it must have been difficult to choose which a great performance, and it was hilarious to see all six to eliminate in the first round. He said, “I [now] the guys let their hair down.”

Allegra Pocinki Phoenix Staff

Contestant Zhu (left) competed in drag throughout the entire pageant and Chodrow (center) showed off martial arts skills during the talent portion and Hall (right), later crowned Mr. Swarthmore 2011, struted on the runway as Mr. DU, representing his fraternity.

April 14, 2011

THE PHOENIX

Living & Arts original play explores body image and loneliness swarthmorephoenix.com

alienation during the first few weeks of college.” they stick with the script for the nude scenes. The process of producing and perfecting the play The experience of being nude in public in front of a was exhausting, with the actors and directors — group was simultaneously frightening and enlightenOn Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in including stage manager Marta Roncada ’14 — some- ing. “This play has completely redefined what I think Olde Club, the Swarthmore community will have the times working grueling hours to fine-tune the per- about nudity and what society thinks about nudity. opportunity to see “The Body You See in the Mirror,” formance. The actors built connections, both with [The play] makes you think about what you’re trying an original play written and directed by Sam Swift each other and with the ideas and message of the play. to hide,” Grunwald said. Shuker-Haines ’14 and performed exclusively by “I have never felt more ownership of a show than I The actors have also been able to connect with their Swarthmore students. have with this one — roles on a personal level, concurrently developing Written for a playwriting and I've directed a cou- their character within the play and their greater class last semester, “Body,” ple. This isn't Swift's understanding of nudity and sexuality. “[My characabout MIT students work“[The play] has very directly play. It's our play. He ter] has a lot of me in him in a very direct sort of way. ing through their loneliwrote it, but through the I’ve been able to draw on my experiences in what I changed me and it will change ness via ultimately destrucway he directed it, he's bring to the stage,” Schwartz said. tive methods, attempts to anyone who comes.” allowed us as actors to The production will open on Thursday, giving tackle some often ignored obtain ownership of our prospective students a chance to see the play when Hannah Grunwald ’14 topics. Indeed, nudity is a characters and of the they arrive for Ride the Tide. focal point addressed in the show as a whole,” Sands “I want people to show up for it for the same reason play. “Contemporary said. people have been going to theater for millennia: American culture has really strong injunctions Shuker-Haines, in giving the actors a certain because stories are beautiful,” Shuker-Haines said. “I against nudity. At some point in our past, the human amount of freedom in improvisation and interpreta- think we have the chance to touch people with the body became disgusting, and I don't know why or how, tion of their roles, aided their development with con- story we are telling, and that's what's beautiful about and it makes me so frustrated, because we are nothing structive suggestions, only directly stipulating that the process.” but a human body,” Shuker-Haines said in an email. Shuker-Haines drew inspiration for the play after reflecting on his own experiences in front of the mirror. “‘Body’ came out of a longtime fascination with physicality. In a very real way, we are our bodies and that's it. [The play] grew out of a moment alone, naked ACCIDENTALS 12. Cyclist Armstrong don’t work out in front of a mirror, where I was just looking at myself, 13. See 27-Down 39. _____ Moines as I truly am, not trying to hide myself with cosACROSS 21. Competed in a 10K 40. Abbott and Costello, e.g. tumes,” Shuker-Haines said. 22. Give a grand speech 44. Place of rapid growth The auditions drew together six actors, Ben 1. Shut loudly 25. Midwife’s instruction 45. Some Paper Mate pens Schwartz ’12, Hannah Grunwald ’14, Erica Sands ’13, 5. Dr. J’s alma mater 26. Arthur of tennis 46. Category in which the singleSusana Medeiros ’14, Brent Stanfield ’14 and Caleb 10. Emerald _____ 27. With 13-Down, a certain type season record is 191 Jones ’14, who together comprise the three romantic 14. Colorless of auto accident 47. “_____ Called Wanda” relationships that form the centerpiece of the play. 15. “GoodFellas” group 28. Goof up 48. Quench The actors and actresses were drawn to the novelty of 16. Read a bar code 29. Sportscaster Musburger 49. Worker with circus lions performing an original play as well as to the themes 17. Stratford’s river 30. Simplicity 50. Citi Field mascot that “The Body You See in the Mirror” explores. “I had 18. Perjurers 31. “_____ better to have loved 52. Outback birds been reading drafts of the play last semester in play19. Hourglass fill and lost…” 53. Have a meal writing class. I hadn't been planning on doing 20. Oil or coal 33. 1982 Disney movie remade in 54. “Voilà!” extracurricular theater this semester, but I could tell 23. Mozart’s home: Abbr. 2010 55. Mary’s pet that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a 24. Send elsewhere 34. CPR experts 56. Giant fair part of something really beautiful and meaningful,” 25. Class-trip chaperone, usually 35. Walk or trot 57. Study, as text Sands said. 29. Bug-ridden software releases 36. Word before a discounted 58. Kill “The Body You See in the Mirror” centers around 32. One at a computer price the marginalized and underrepresented topic of 33. Characteristic 38. Alternative strategy if things BY BEN SCHNEIDERMAN female-on-male rape, which is often not considered as 34. Self-esteem serious as other kinds of rape or sexual assault. “[In 37. 1983 ZZ Top tune writing the play] I started wondering why there 41. Part of H.M.S. weren't ever depictions of male rape. It's less reported, 42. Sierra _____ but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen, or that it's not 43. Gas or elec., e.g. incredibly destructive,” Shuker-Haines said. “I started 44. _____ a clue (doesn’t know) thinking about rape as a violation of the implicit hon45. Snowman of song esty of nudity.” 47. _____ Martin (James Bond In addition to depicting male rape as a serious and car) damaging event, the play also focuses on the some50. Org. for Mariners times vast disparity in how different people see their 51. Some cargo haulers relationships, both as physical and emotional connec59. Poetic foot tions. “Although I'm not like [my character], in some 60. Dolphins’ home pretty important ways I can really understand where 61. Rink leap she's coming from. She's lonely. She deals with her 62. _____-Ball (arcade game) problems in unproductive ways. All of us have experi63. Completely anesthetized enced this at one point or another,” Sands said. Indeed, 64. Film rating org. the three couples in the play all have disagreements 65. Cattle group over what kind of connection matters in a relationship 66. Theater reservations and deal with these disagreements in ways that res67. Factor in a wine rating s onate with real life experiences. “Body” explores how the little pieces of life come DOWN together to create rich meaning in unexpected ways. “Life is more than the sum of its parts. It’s the little 1. Stretch over tiny pieces that create your world and build up to be 2. Molten flow your life. [The play] has very directly changed me and 3. Oodles and oodles it will change anyone who comes,” Grunwald said. 4. Waiter’s handout Shuker-Haines pointed to the mumblecore film 5. One seen in Häagen-Dazs movement, which focuses on films and dramas that 6. Drops in the letter box eschew more complicated production aesthetics in 7. Many miles away favor of an emphasis on characters and their relation8. “Your Majesty” ships within the story, as an influence. He also men9. Impudent talk tioned the work of English playwrights Harold Pinter 10. Debate subjects For the solution to this week’s puzzle, see The Phoenix’s online edition at and Sarah Kane, but mostly, “my most direct influ11. Winter neckwear www.swarthmorephoenix.com. ence, I like to think, was the people around me right now and my vague feeling of disappointment and

BY STEVEN HAZEL shazel1@swarthmore.edu

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THE PHoENIX

April 14, 2011

Living & Arts Steve says: beware the perils of multitasking

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complex tasks, we have to learn to shut out distractions and resist the urge to multitask. How can we accomplish this? F o r

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your professor says something interesting that you want to take thirty seconds to look up in Google, your concentration won’t be too adversely affected. However, if you choose to explore further and watch a 2-minute YouTube video of it, your concentration and class performance will suffer. If we truly wish to be productive in our multitasking, we have to know when not to multitask. This may well be the most difficult — and yet most necessary — change we need to implement in order to regain our personal autonomy and efficiency. When writing a paper, do you typically check your e-mail after every new paragraph or so? Even in the interim, do you catch your eyes unconsciously flicking over to your G-mail tab, ever-wary of a potential update? This physiological compulsion to multitask can wreak havoc upon your academics. A 2006 Time article notes that routine multitasking conditions your brain to an overexcited state so that even when you want to settle down and focus, you can’t. Patricia Wallace at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth likens e-mail checking to a gambling addiction in that they both operate on a variable schedule of reinforcement. You never know when or whether you’ll get an email, but the mere possibility of getting one keeps you checking back every few minutes. If we really want to be productive in

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We are the multitasking generation. On any given day, we can expect to find ourselves sitting in front of our computers with multiple browser tabs open, music Steve Dean playing, cell Life Tips from a Dean p h o n e s buzzing with new texts or email updates, friends walking in and out of our rooms and, of course, the obligatory Microsoft Word document with an ominously blank essay that we “should have finished already.” Did I mention the ever-growing stack of readings on your desk that you haven’t even looked at yet, probably because of some combination of the aforementioned factors? I have been a devout multitasker for as long as I can remember. During the three minutes I spend brushing my teeth in the evening, I empty my trash, recycle my bottles and compost my fruit. Whenever a professor has to warm up the projector to start a presentation, I utilize those seconds to check a few news sites and sift through my email inbox. However, the mere fact that we are good at multitasking does not mean that multitasking is good for us. During my four years at Swarthmore, I have routinely encountered scenarios where multitasking backfires, sometimes catastrophically. For example, sleep multitasking is a myth. If you find yourself waking up at 3am to check your e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, etc., I regret to inform you that you are not multitasking — you are simply being needlessly masochistic. The general rule of thumb, which we incessantly fail to realize, is that as tasks grow more complex, our ability to effectively multitask disintegrates into oblivion. Anyone with a cell phone probably knows by now that if you need to concentrate on something complex like a problem set or a seminar paper, your cell phone is one of your worst enemies. Time and time again, just as you get over the hump of distraction and truly begin to concentrate, your phone will vibrate, selfishly beckoning your attention. Smartphones are particularly devious, because they not only notify you of text messages, but also of e-mails, Facebook and Twitter updates, instant messages, new updates for your apps and, I swear, half the time these phones vibrate just to let you know they’re getting lonely in your pocket and want some attention. Even something as simple as iTunes can send your productivity to zero. When you’re deep in thought, constructing a sentence for a paper, how many times has iTunes started playing a song you didn’t like, and you suddenly had to stop everything and switch songs or playlists? It’s not just the complexity of the task at hand that matters to our productivity. Studies show that the proportion of time you spend doing other simultaneous tasks matters, too. If you’re following along in lecture and

starters, if you’re about to write a paper, turn off your phone and Internet. Close all open tabs and windows except the ones you explicitly need for your work. You have to trust that the world will not end if you isolate

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yourself from it for an hour or two. You also have to accept the unfortunate fact that answering every email within 30 seconds does not constitute productivity. Restrict your e-mail checking to once per hour, or less. You will work immensely more effectively if you can get into a state of “flow” than if you allow yourself to be needlessly distracted every few minutes in the name of “multitasking.” Also, don’t multitask with people. Your friends are not tasks — they are worthwhile individuals! It may be comforting to have a friend nearby while you write your paper, but in reality, you’re doing both your paper and your friend a disservice. There are other times and places for group study. Plan a solid 2-3 hour block of focused independent work, and then reward yourself with time to truly relax and give your friend your undivided attention. Attention is a hot commodity these days, but not all tasks should have equal buying power at all times. When we divide attention equally between simple and complex tasks, it’s the complex ones that invariably suffer, and as a result, we become less productive and less capable of focusing our attention on the things that count. Steve is a senior. You can reach him at sdean1@swarthmore.edu.

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Living & Arts Hungary poses challenges to assimilating ethnic groups

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A friend from Georgia Tech e-mailed me about her latest Google search for information regarding the experience for Asians living in Budapest. Her seemingly unusual search was in preparation for her study abroad in Budapest this summer, as she was trying to determine whether Maki Sakuma she would be discrimiQuest for the nated against. She asked Hungarian Identity me about my experience as an Asian in Budapest. To be honest, I had nearly forgotten that I am an Asian living in Budapest, since there has been no such experience against me that reminded me particularly of my racial identity. However, as I consider my past three months in Budapest, I have definitely explored the general issues of diversity and tolerance in Hungary. The first time that I encountered issues of diversity and tolerance in Hungary was in Pecs, an old town in southern Hungary. In the center of the town, there is a Catholic church that resembles a mosque with Turkish epigraphs and Islamic decoration preserved on its walls. The building is truly extraordinary, and I’ve never seen a Catholic church embedded in Islamic artistic traditions in such a way. Historically, there was a church of St. Bartholomew in Pecs during the Middle Ages, but the Turks destroyed the church and then turned it into a mosque when they conquered Pecs in the 16th century. After the Turks were driven away, the mosque was given to the Jesuits who chose to preserve the remnants, rather than destroy the church

as the Turks did. In the breakfast room of the hotel that my landlady’s family and I stayed in, there was a stone plate on the wall that commemorated the laborers who actually built the villa in the end of the 19th century. My landlady told me that the last names indicated that not all of the people were (originally) Hungarians, and that many had Russian, Polish, Jewish, Romanian and German last names. My landlady told me she has a German last name too, as her father was a Swiss. During my stay in Pecs I got the impression that Hungary is religiously tolerant, diverse in nationality and has respect for ordinary laborers. However, modern Hungary seems to face new challenges. Impressed by this diversity I had discovered thus far, I mentioned to a Hungarian friend that Hungary is much more diverse and tolerant than I had originally believed. Yet, he cut me off to clarify and said, “Well, diverse, but not necessarily in a good way. As you see their restaurants everywhere, there is a growing Arabic and Chinese population, but they are not really integrated in our country.” His comment surprised me, as the diversity I was speaking of referred to the people of German, Jewish and Russian descent. However, for a Hungarian, the first people who come to mind in consideration of diversity were the Chinese and Arabic populations. I realized my friend was right, specifically in regards to the difficulty of assimilation of the Chinese and Arabic population, which I noticed firsthand. There is an Arabic family near my neighborhood who aren’t completely integrated. They emigrated from Palestine more than ten years ago and the husband sells gyros near the house where I reside. He is very nice, and understands English but doesn’t take my order unless I speak in Hungarian

and teaches me some Hungarian words whenever I visit his gyros shop. Though my landlady seems to like him, the manner in which she and her husband talk about him suggests that they do not consider him as a true Hungarian. The major reason is that his Hungarian is not perfect. On the other hand, I remember an instance in the Japanese conversation club I attend where a gentleman, who spoke Hungarian so well that everybody (including the Hungarians) believed him to be Hungarian, revealed he was Italian. Such stories do not suggest any sort of racism, but suggest to me instead that language ability and appearance are two of the most immediate and apparent features used to identify nationality. Thus, these characteristics become the keys to appearing “integrated.” Another group of people who do not seem to be completely integrated in society are gypsies. I was asked by a Japanese teacher to read and comment on some of the Hungarian Japanese-majors’ discussion posts online. The second post I read discussed a criticism of prejudice and discrimination against gypsies in Hungary. The student addressed stereotypes of gypsies as uneducated and unwilling to work hard, but the student explained that such social prejudices are simply unacceptable. This is what I’ve observed as to diversity in Hungary and the problems Hungary has seem to be ones characteristic of most multi-ethnic countries. In general, the challenges of assimilation and particular stereotypes for certain populations within a country are not easily resolved. However, in Hungary’s case, a possible resolution that a differentiated person can have is to be optimistic, since that is sarcastic diversity to the legendary pessimistic and sarcastic Hungarians. Maki is a junior. You can reach her at msakuma1@swarthmore.edu.

ARTS WEEKEND PREVIEW Thursday, April 14 - Sunday, April 17 A few event highlights: Writing Digital Nature Stories Thursday, April 15th 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. LPAC Lobby Based on a Writing Nature seminar taught by professor of English literature Elizabeth Bolton, a studentmade digital story collection will be featured in LPAC. It will incorporate the images, music, narrative and voices needed to highlight characters, insights and moments of change as reflected through the class’s focus on nature through imagery of Crum Woods. Contemporary Chernobyl Photography Exhibit Friday, April 15th 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. McCabe Library Documentary photographs of contemporary life in Chernobyl, taken by Michaeal Forster Rothbart ‘94, will be on display throughout the weekend. Hour-long tours of the exhibition will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Poetry Reading Friday, April 16th

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2 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. Kohlberg Lounge Students from the advanced poetry workshop and recent poetry award recipients will share selections of their work. Orchestra Concert Friday, April 16th 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. Lang Concert Hall Directed by Andrew Hauze ’04, assistant professor of music, this performance by the College Orchestra will include Samuel Barber’s “Music for a Scene from Shelley,” J.S. Bach’s “Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor” and Antonin Dvorák’s “Symphony No. 9 (New World).” Rhythm-N-Motion Dance Performance Friday, April 16th 8:30 p.m. - 11 p.m. and Saturday, April 17th 9 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. LPAC Rhythm-N-Motion — a Tri-co student group featuring dance styles from the African Diaspora community — will celebrate contemporary dance genres including hip-hop, jazz and dancehall. Theatre of Witness: Art for Social Change Saturday, April 16th

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Sci 101 Former Professor Teya Sepinuck will introduce Theatre of Witness, a form of performance she developed during her time at Swarthmore that gives voice to those who have been marginalized, forgotten or are invisible to society, citing her own experiences working with prisoners, refugees, victims and other marginalized peoples. List Senior Art Exhibition Saturday, April 16th 12 p.m. - 5 p.m. List Gallery Clay relief sculptures by Zoe Davis ‘11 and oil paintings and animations by Hannah Schutzengel ‘11 will be on display, created under the aegis of Logan Grider, assistant professor of studio art. Gamelan Semara Santi Hands-on Demonstration Sunday, April 17th 2:30 p.m. - 3 p.m. Scott Amphitheater Associate professor of music Thomas Whitman will present Gamelan Semara Santi, a percussion orchestra based on Gamelans from Indonesia comprising bronze-keyed xylophones, suspended gongs, bamboo flutes and drums. Audience mem-

April 14, 2011

bers will be invited on stage to participate. The Swarthmore Follies 2011 Sunday, April 17th 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. LPAC Frear Ensemble Theater The theater department’s Advanced Directing Workshop presents a night of farcical scenes including “The Mystery of Irma Vep” by Charles Ludlum, directed by Michelle Fennell ’12, and “Boston Marriage” by David Mamet, directed by Jeannette Leopold ’13. Jazz Ensemble Concert Sunday, April 17th 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. Lang Concert Hall Directed by associate professor in performance Drew Shanefield, the Big Band and several jazz combos will perform an assortment of pieces, including an original composition by Ben Kapilow ’13 titled “Oops!”, as well as “Isfahan” by Duke Ellington, “The Flight of the Foo Birds” by Neal Hefti, “Filthy McNasty” by Horace Silver and “Minuano (Six Eight)” by Pat Metheny. For information on more events, please visit the Arts Weekend website http://www.swarthmore.edu/artsweekend.xml.

Living & Arts

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Kenneth Turan speaks on Swat experience BY DINA ZINGARO dzingar1@swarthmore.edu This weekend’s first Arts Weekend will host Kenneth Turan ’67, writer and film critic for the Los Angeles Times and film critic for National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.” To avoid giving too much information away, the alum kept the description of his lecture — “Swarthmore Made Me: A Critic's Secret Life” — brief yet intriguing. “There were events that happened to me at Swarthmore that I think were critical in where my life ended up and both in my becoming a writer and a film critic,” Turan said. Following graduation from Swarthmore with a B.A. in history, Turan received his Masters from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Afterwards he worked as a sports writer and feature writer for the Washington Post, and has worked as a film critic since 1991 for the Los Angeles Times, Director for the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes since 1993, and provides movie reviews for NPR’s “Morning Edition.” Professor and chairperson of film and media studies Patricia White considers Turan a personal role model and admires his presence as a daily film critic “right in the belly of the entertainment industry,” as a weekly voice on NPR, and as an author of numerous books on film and theater. “That’s striking a balance between being constantly ‘on’ and taking the time for reflection that longer works require,” White said in an e-mail. “I think being an intellectual in the public sphere, bridging entertainment and politics, is a worthy post-Swarthmore goal and something the college prepares you for.” When questioned about his career “journey,” Turan described the experience as a gradual process of figuring out what is right for you. He said, “When you are on journeys like that, you don’t think of them as journeys. You are really just trying to figure out what to do next and that’s what I was always trying to figure out —what would happen next.” Sans a grand plan, Turan simply knew that he “loved journalism and wanted to be a part of it.” Teaching film reviewing and nonfiction writing at the University of Southern California, Turan sees a lot of himself in his own students. “I’m excited by the field and I was hoping there was a place for me, which is exactly how my students feel,” he said. The academic atmosphere of Swarthmore influences Turan’s own teaching style, which he feels is “an attempt to make my students get as much out of my class as I got out of the classes I took at Swarthmore.” Any film review will yield disparate reactions whether readers are nodding in agreement or pounding their fists with anger and irritation. In response to Turan’s 1997 review of “Titanic,” entitled “‘Titanic’ Sinks Again (Spectacularly),” director of the film James Cameron angrily demanded that Turan be fired by the Times. Whether positive or negative, Turan believes it is best to refrain from thinking about the outcome of a review and “not to try to second guess yourself ahead of

the fact. You just write the best, most honest review you can do — that’s what you have to do. You can’t think about who might either be upset or happy about it — you have to be true to your own ideas and not think about how people might react to it,” Turan said. In consideration of Turan’s work, White admires the writer’s dedication to the field. “[Turan’s] work is populist without ever dumbing things down. He’s passionately committed to independent film, to world film culture, and he takes the responsibility of a film critic for establishing a filmmaker’s reputation or the viability of a film very seriously,” she said. Each movie critic approaches films in their own style and hones in on particular qualities that they believe are essential to the film. To critique any film, Turan explains, is very personal and thus for him, he considers whether or not a film is what he had hoped it would be. Is the comedy making him laugh and is the thriller provoking excitement for him? Also, Turan relies on a second piece of criteria. “I’m basically looking to see if the film is fulfilling its potential — living up to its aspirations for itself,” he said. Few movie critics would be successful or even entertaining in the long run without a levelheaded and sensible approach to their critique. Reviewing a film merely to lambaste it as ‘the worst film ever’ or exalting it as ‘the finest piece of work ever produced’ is neither helpful nor insightful. Turan explained that though he would instinctively watch films and analyze them, he had to fine-tune this “inborn tendency to being a good critic” and being levelheaded through practice because “practice is a good things, practices makes you better.” Turan does have a favorite film — the French 1945 film “Les Enfants du Paradis” (Children of Paradise), which tells the story of a young courtesan and the four men who love her, set in the Parisian theatre scene of the 1820s and ’30s. Along with appreciating foreign film, Turan appreciates foreign cultures and believes that if given the chance to rewrite his Swarthmore days, he would enroll in many more foreign language courses. Since he did not have an affinity for languages, he kept his distance from them as much as possible as a student. However, since his profession requires him to travel to film festivals and interact with people who know several tongues, Turan has grown to appreciate language skills. “It’s not just something to know, it is a way to communicate. I wish I had more ways to communicate,” Turan said. This weekend’s first Art Weekend will replace the customary Family Weekend in the spring semester, which was moved to the fall semester. With a successful career in the arts and with broad appeal, Director of Advancement Services and Arts Weekend organizer Drusie Sheldon believed that Turan would be a fitting speaker for the weekend. In addition, Turan’s own desire to give something back to the community inspired Sheldon’s selection. “[Turan] was more than someone we just wanted at the college, but we know he is ready to come and do something himself. It’s a wonderful combina-

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tion: he wants to do this for us just as much as we want him to do it for us,” Sheldon said. Along with Turan’s lecture, this weekend will also feature exhibits, lectures and performances including Rhythm and Motion, the theater department’s Advanced Directing Workshop’s Swarthmore Follies 2011, and also a talk by former faculty member Teya Sepinuck who taught in the Dance department for more than 15 years. Sepinuck is the founder and artistic director of the Theatre of Witness Programme, which performs a form of theater (called “Theatre of Witness”) that Sepinuck developed while on the faculty of Swarthmore College. She spent the last two years in Northern Ireland working on Theatre of Witness productions where she draws from her work with prisoners, refugees, survivors and perpetrators of violence to create a safe place for audiences to explore issues of social justice. Since two students have interned with Sepinuck abroad, Sheldon believes the lecture “brings the opportunity to not just hear about faculty member’s work, but also how that links into internships and experiences for the students.” Also, Sheldon hopes that the weekend will encourage students and parents to “understand one another a little better” and open up dialogue about the benefits of the arts in the College’s curriculum. The College’s arts programs draw students from various departments, which Sheldon believes emphasizes “the value that the arts brings to the whole educational experience and helping [students] to think more creatively.” In anticipation of this weekend, Turan appreciates its objectives and purpose to promote the arts and said, “I think that the arts have not always been at the forefront of how the college presents itself and I’m really happy to see that changing.”

Courtesy of http://tiny.cc/su7jq

Kenneth Turan is a famed film writer for the Los Angeles Times and NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

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Living & Arts

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S watStyleSnapshot Name: Alexander Hollender Year: 2011 From: Charlotte, Vermont Current Residence: Wharton What He’s Wearing: Hollender is wearing a grey wool cardigan over a buttoned up blue Oxford shirt, along with floral-printed white denim shorts and off-white Superga shoes, sans socks. Usually, he opts for plain items of clothes, while mixing and matching different fabrics and colors. Featured in his outfit, his white shoes have been a staple in his wardrobe for many years. “No matter what I’m wearing, I’ll feel alright if I have white shoes on … it just does it for me,” he said. How He Describes His Style: Steering away from expensive garments, garish colors and shiny fabrics, Hollender prefers muted colors and simple, classic items. “I usually try to pick generic items like jeans and shirts, and I will find one thing to wear that is more fun, interesting and breaks the monotony,” he said. Occasionally, Hollander will choose to wear pieces unconventionally, such as buttoning up his shirt to the top and describes peoples’ irritation with this style as “the top-button phenomenon.” “People are always trying to correct the way you dress which is kind of a funny thought,” he said. “People definitely notice.” Fashion Inspirations and Influences: Aside from being influenced by his mother’s taste for subtle styles, Hollender is inspired by photography in creating his outfits. “Old photographs [are] where you can find some of the best fashion and style,” he said. Citing the black-and-white works of renowned American photographers such as William Klein and Robert Frank, Hollender enjoys studying how people dressed in the past. “The further back you go in time, the more uniformly people dress,” he said. In particular, he is inspired by the trends of the ’50s to early ’80 and by looking at photography, tries to identify the “standard” item worn during this period. Then, he tries to recreate the iconic looks, albeit with a modern flair. Also, Hollender has an affinity for “Trad,” a style of men’s fashion displayed by Ivy League college students during the late 1950s. Often interchanged with “preppy,”

the “Trad” look is currently showcased by American brands such as Brooks Brothers and J.Press. Despite his penchant for Americana-inspired looks, he feels he most identifies with a European sense of dress. Fashion and His Interest in Art: For Hollender, who is an art history major, both fashion and art have a lot in common. “[Fashion is] an outlet of creativity. It includes a lot of the same processes that art does,” he said. For him, dressing up echoes creating a collage since both require selecting and compiling materials to make a cohesive whole. “When you’re interested in art and in touch with the art world, it turns fashion into a fun game,” Hollender said. On Creating Fashion: Instead of pursuing typical extracurricular activities at college, Hollender became an entrepreneur by heading a fashion label. Collaborating with two friends, Jordan Boyea and Jesse Zorski, Hollender established a T-shirt company entitled “Create Build Destroy” three years ago. “I don’t wear that many graphic t-shirts anymore, [but] they used to be a huge part of my wardrobe. I think that led me wanting to do a t-shirt company,” he said. With internship experience at Helmut Lang, Hollender’s connections with the prominent fashion brand influenced and assisted in the production and construction of his company’s garments. He describes the style of the graphic, printed t-shirts as being “edgy and iconoclastic.” Hollender said, “It didn’t turn into so much a business endeavor than a creative and experimental endeavor.” Despite his creative intentions, “Create Build Destroy” garments are now sold internationally in locations such as France, Italy, Denmark and Hong Kong.

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

Weather makes students manic as Sunday homework piles up There tend to be very particular m o o d s that pervade our campus. Students will oscill a t e between happiness Ariel Swyer and glumLet’s Be Serious ness, optimism and exhaustion, at any time. Sometimes we will experience the feeling that arises when the Swiss chard plant one has been growing in one’s dorm room is eaten by a mouse (mouse-eaten-swiss-chardness, as they say). From what I have gathered, these collective moods are based on a combination of the weather, astrological planetary motion and what manner of offerings Sharples has produced. This whole month is going to be skewed by the fact that Mercury is in retrograde, of course, and there is little Sharples or the Weather can do about it. Last week, Sharples and the Weather got together to talk a bit about it over lunch and decided that things were going

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to be grim. And they were, in fact, quite grim. Classes were grim, professors were grim, the walls themselves looked a bit grim and the few squirrels that have been hopping around the place were doing so grimly. Students, of course, felt very grim. And that was just Monday. By Wednesday things had progressed from grim to dire. Friday was explosive and Saturday was ridiculous. On Saturday it was really best not to go outdoors or, for that matter, to get out of bed at all. In what was a grand stroke of luck, this also happened to be the night of Genderfuck, so students got to wander around a lot in their underwear and be drunk. If you did not know, being drunk and in one’s underwear is known to be one of the most effective ways to deal with dining hall food, astrological problems, poor weather and most other things. Sunday was calmer but the standard sense of misery that characterizes all Sundays took over. Really, Sundays are miserable. The campus as a whole becomes depressed because every single person develops 85 hours worth of homework. This homework, mind you (which of course does not exist on Saturday) comes into being over the course of Saturday night. Sunday morning, therefore, always induces shock. “AAAGGHH!” you may hear people shout out dorm room windows. “Where did this come from?! I don’t even take biochem-

istry!” The weather wasn’t so terrible this Sunday but things were grim as ever anyway. This was largely because everyone was so disappointed to discover that they were no longer drunk and were wearing more than their underwear, a jarring realization under any circumstances. Yes, this particular Sunday was not so good for anyone. I have often examined the effect of Swarthmore on campus wildlife, but have not previously looked at what it can do to technology. This is because I do not get along with technology. You know how people who are not very good with computers are always talking about how computers shut down in their presence? I’m one of them. “Computers don’t work when I’m around,” we say. “They catch fire! They become convinced that they’re dishwashers! They leave suicide notes and throw themselves from fourth story windows! Just get that computer away from me!” I’m worse than average. Seventy percent of the time I don’t even recognize computers and start treating them as though they’re cats. I am however very fond of my computer. It is true that the poor thing leads a pretty weird life with me and sometimes it becomes overwhelmed. On Sunday, with the feeling on campus being what it was, my computer actually became so distressed that it gave up entirely and refused to do anything but play the song “Blame it On

April 14, 2011

The Girls” by Mika. (This is completely true — ask at the ITS help desk.) I wasn’t particularly surprised as, by this point, most of the student body was in the same state — refusing to do anything but play “Blame it On the Girls,” by Mika. On Monday the weather was such that the student body was thrown into a sort of baffled manic episode. We flocked out of doors in disbelief and drifted around clutching our homework to our chests, hoping readings would be read and problems would be solved without any help from us because there certainly wasn’t going to be any. No one knew what was going on — many were suspicious. Most were simply short-circuited. By midnight a substantial number of students had ended up in Crum Creek dancing around and chanting “Too little sleep!! Too Little Sleep!! Whoo!” (Alright, it must be admitted that there may not have been a substantial number of students doing this, but there were at least two, which is notable. Not that this columnist knows those people or anything.) Ah well, alas. It seems that we at Swarthmore remain helpless victims of the weather, the stars and the dining hall. There’s absolutely nothing anyone can do but band together and be strong. On Tuesday it is raining. I’ll see you in the Crum. Ariel is a first year. You can reach her at aswyer1@swarthmore.edu.

swarthmorephoenix.com

s t e p s

“2 Billion More Cars”

Lecture on the future of humanity as our planet tries to accomodate global changes

RHYTHM-N-MOTION Friday, April 15 at 8:30 p.m. - 11 p.m. Saturday, April 16 at 9 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. LPAC

Friday, April 15 Sci 199 2 p.m. - 3 p.m.

editor’s P I CK S By Dina Zingaro

GRAPEVINE SPRING A CAPELLA CONCERT Saturday, April 16 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Amphitheater

Thursday, April 15 Sci 101 4:30 p.m.

Forbidden Stories:

Sex, betrayal, forbidden love, lust and murder

s e c r e t s

s o n g s 12

A talk by writer Marta Veneranda of “The Forbidden Stories of Marta Veneranda”

April 14, 2011

THE PHOENIX

Opinions

swarthmorephoenix.com Staff Editorial

In light of budget debacle, Obama offers prudent fiscal plan As members of Congress look to congratulate themselves for avoiding a complete shutdown of the federal government, they overlook the fact that the real possibility of the federal government closing should never have been on the table. For mere hours to stand between legislators and a shutdown demonstrates the irresponsibility of those preventing another stopgap budget from passing. Furthermore, the concessions made by both Democrats and Republicans reflect poorly on both parties. Democrats let some of their favored programs and campaign selling points receive cuts, such as the President’s high-speed rail initiative and Department of Education programs. Republicans let social programs, such as federal funding of Planned Parenthood, be left out of the more ideologically indiscriminate short-term project. Some of the cuts made to prevent a shutdown were not controversial and entirely reasonable. For example, Congress cut unspent money in funds for projects that have been completed or won’t be completed, such as $1.7 billion from the Census fund and $2.5 billion from highway funds. However, other targets veer towards potential dangerous defunding — $700 million was taken away from clean and safe drinking water programs, while $276 million was cut from programs to prevent pandemic flu. Federal workers luckily escaped taking any direct pay cuts, and last week’s budget agreement didn’t stop some longevity-based pay increases. Nonetheless, the aggressive cuts Congress will be making in the future will undoubtedly strain federal workers further as entire programs, and thus jobs, are cut. As the jobless rate shrunk in March, the potential for Obama in the 2012 election looked up. However, with the negative press surrounding the budget and the elimination of federal jobs looming, this gain could easily be reversed. The concessions made by Obama and the Democrats could be used as a major selling point for the Republicans in 2012, when they would have the opportunity to portray their opponents as weak and poor advocates of their own ideals. On the other hand, Democrats could portray the

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GOP as cutting programs that are pro-future (proinvestment programs such as the high-speed rail program) and helpful to those who cannot completely support themselves (such as the potential cuts to Medicaid). President Obama looked to do just that in his detailed speech on fiscal policy Wednesday. He rightfully acknowledged that the cuts made last week are only part of the solution to dealing with the U.S.’s mounting debt. The President warned Wednesday that “this rising debt ... will prevent us from making the investments we need to win the future.” For this reason, Obama presented four steps as part of “a more balanced approach to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over 12 years.” The first step is the deal agreed upon last week. The second step is to further reduce defense spending, continuing the work Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has done in the past 2 years cutting $400 billion of wasteful spending. The third step is to reduce health care spending. The President aptly pointed out something Republicans seem to be missing: the poor and the elderly should not have to pay more for their health care. Rather, the government should spend less by reducing the cost of health care itself. This approach accounts for the fact that the existence of entitlements is not a problem, despite what many conservatives may say. As Obama emphasized in his speech, the American spirit is critical of excessive government while recognizing that the government should provide a safety net — one that includes Medicare and Medicaid. The fourth step is tax reform. Obama pledged to allow the Bush tax cuts for the wealth expire, citing improvement on the progressive logic of our income tax system. While raising taxes is never popular, cutting spending alone will not sustain this anti-deficit and debt craze. Obama also correctly noted that these cuts must be phased in over the next decade. The economy’s fragile recovery would be severely disrupted by sudden drops in spending, and growing the economy lessens the deficit, so it is in all parties’ interests to promote

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growth. Austerity in the near future will not solve any problems. The President’s emphasis on the government as a protector is not a view shared by all, or even most members of Congress. The budget compromise last week has forced a broad discussion on the proper role and size of the federal government, a discussion that will likely remain prevalent in the 2012 election. Though many voters have articulated in polls that cutting the deficit and reigning in the federal government is a priority, they hesitate to support cutting any programs from which they benefit. Accordingly, the Democrats may have the upper hand on the issue of the deficit and debt if they follow Obama’s tenets laid out in Wednesday’s speech. Republican members of Congress will have to face the music with their constituents when they insist on cutting popular programs rather than, for example, fixing the underlying problem with health care, namely its rising costs. Nonetheless, both last week’s budget battle and the upcoming mudslinging over raising the debt ceiling will reflect poorly on both parties in 2012.

Courtesy of http://tiny.cc/8rn9v

Many policymakers don’t see the real problem: rising costs.

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Opinions Budget compromise shows desire for less government

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First, it was Governor Chris Christie’s (R) fiery, no holds barred approach to the budget in the liberal state of New Jersey. Then, it was Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s (R) tough stance on public sector union bargaining rights that he passed despite state senate Democrats leaving the state and massive protests at the state capitol. Now, Tyler Becker Republicans have been successful in forcing President The Swarthmore Obama’s hand and slashing Conservative the budget by nearly $40 billion at the federal level. This is a welcome change. The past couple of years have seen a rapid expansion of government with the bailouts at the end of the Bush administration and President Obama’s stimulus package and healthcare reform legislation. Even earlier on in the Bush administration, Republicans were abandoning their principles and spending without balancing the budget. This budget victory for the Republicans has shown that the country is ready for a smaller government. America elected Republicans, including many members of the Tea Party, to cut the budget and reduce that deficit. And that is exactly what is going on. Even President Obama appears to recognize this fact, evidenced by his decision to compromise. Obama went as far as calling the cuts “historic,” and he attempted to take the spotlight away from Speaker John Boehner, whose leadership was more instrumental in bringing about the compromise. This is a far cry from the days of the $787 billion stimulus package. While some Congressional Republicans, including Tea

Party activist and potential GOP presidential contender Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), are complaining that the budget was not cut enough, they need to understand that this was a step in the right direction. Last year, we saw a 14 percent increase in domestic discretionary spending. In 2011, this spending will be reduced by 4 percent. We cannot undo the major expansion of government that has taken place over the last few years overnight. Any step in the right direction must be celebrated. We have seen that both President Obama and the Republicans can work together and pass legislation. The Republicans are no longer just the party of “no.” They should use this advantage as they debate raising the debt ceiling, an action that will need to be taken soon. Legislation should be attached to any bill about raising the debt ceiling to make sure that this does not need to be done again in the near-future. The Wall Street Journal’s April 11 editorial has a few ideas for this legislation: preventing Congress from allowing the debt to go above a certain percentage of GDP, making Congress start with a budget framework that does not have “automatic increases” every year, etc. Republicans should not make the mistake of tying social issues to budgetary matters in Congress. While I take issue with government-funded abortion and the amount of money we give to Planned Parenthood, these are issues to be dealt with as a separate matter. There is a much larger contingent of the American electorate that favors cutting spending and reducing the debt than there are opponents to funding for Planned Parenthood. I do not agree with Governor Mitch Daniels’ (R-IN) call for a “truce” on social issues. I just think there is a time and place in legislation to deal with those types of issues. Budgetary matters are not one of those places. The government could very well have shut down last week over the Republicans’ desire to defund Planned Parenthood. This move would not have net positive effects for the

Republicans. Republicans have found a winning issue in being serious about slashing government spending. Prior to the threat of a shutdown last week, public opinion polls found that Obama and the Democrats would be blamed for the shutdown about as equally as Republicans. It is likely that the President would only have allowed a shutdown to happen if it was politically savvy for him to do so. Once it became clear that this was not the case, Obama came around and went along with the budget the Republicans were offering. Republicans have returned to being the party of limited government. Over the next year as the party assembles a new budget in the House and votes to raise the debt ceiling, Republicans should continue to flex their budget muscle. Republicans must look for waste in government and eliminate it. Find programs that are duplicates and combine them. End programs that do not accomplish what they were meant to do. This would not only reduce the size of the federal government. It would also make the government more effective. We all know that it is not possible to reduce the deficit only by decreasing domestic discretionary spending. Republicans and Democrats alike are going to eventually have to reform the Medicare and Social Security systems. Now is the time to offer solutions to solving our Medicare and Social Security problems while the country is in the mood for a smaller government. Republicans have finally listened: be the party of fiscal responsibility, and the public will reward you. President Obama cannot stop an American electorate looking to change the face of government. Republicans should take small strides toward reducing the deficit and the size of government, reveling in their accomplishments each time. This is going to be a long process, and each move toward fiscal sanity is a step in the right direction. Tyler is a first-year. He can be reached at tbecker1@swarthmore.edu.

Institutionalfactorsexacerbatecrime,poverty T w o young men, both 17 years old, were shot and killed at a teenage party in Chester last Friday. Police currently have one suspect, Jon Erwin-Frank also 17 Sensible Socialist years old, in c u s t o d y. While the age of the victims and the setting of the incident make this case particularly poignant, what is perhaps most tragic is how quickly it will be forgotten. Last year Chester saw 24 homicides. After four killings in just eight days last June, Mayor Wendell Butler declared a state of emergency. Incidents like this one should remind us of the terrible consequences of doing nothing about our American underclass. These incidents should move us to contemplation and to action. Instead, people in places like Swarthmore will pause, shudder and move on with their lives. Most observers in safer, more affluent communities treat these stories like horror movies — they’re gripping, appalling, shock-inducing but common enough to be mundane and far enough away to feel less than real. It’s telling that it’s become a cliché to point out that a hundred killings of poor men in urban ghettos get less attention than the murder of a few white women by a serial killer. Part of the reason for inaction is that even the most ardent do-gooders feel helpless. In the battle against urban poverty and violent crime there’s no obvious enemy and no movement to join. Even a

diligent student of the urban underclass literature could be excused for thinking that crime and poverty in today’s urban ghettos has more to do with a lack of personal responsibility or impersonal structural forces — deindustrialization, suburbanization and the concentration of poverty — than people and institutions. Maybe getting rid of concentrated urban poverty is like building a competitive third-party or passing single-payer healthcare; it won’t ever happen, so why bother trying. Part of the problem is an ahistorical or historically misguided perspective. A few common myths should be decisively rejected. The experience of blacks and Latinos that make up the majority of today’s urban underclass has never been comparable to that of poor white ethnics in earlier periods of American history. Thomas Sugrue’s “The Origins of the Urban Crisis” describes the unique obstacles faced by blacks in urban Detroit. Hyper-ghettoization was the direct result of local and federal officials’ success in excluding blacks from New Deal housing subsidies and homeowners and community members’ success in barring blacks from moving into their neighborhoods. Meanwhile urban renewal projects lessened the already minimal pool of housing stock available to poor blacks while decisions on public housing ensured an increased concentration of poverty. Employment discrimination, endorsed by politicians and permitted by unions, left African Americans with the least-skilled, lowest-paying jobs. Deindustrialization and suburbanization merely compounded the disadvantages wrought by systemic, governmentendorsed discrimination. Lacking seniority and working lessskilled jobs more easily replaced by technology, more African Americans found themselves without dependable blue-collar work. Suburbanization not only

reduced the tax base that supported invaluable public institutions like schools and parks, but also created a spatial mismatch between work and residence for the urban minority poor. Personal responsibility has little to no explanatory power in describing the rise of today’s urban underclass or in distinguishing today’s urban minority poor from the white ethnics who came before them. As a framework for conceptualizing potential solutions it may have some use, by, for example, suggesting the importance of strong role models and high expectations at school. But as the single or one of the most important causal factors for the state of today’s urban ghettos, it is nothing more than the academic codification of a racist ideology rooted in the politics of white backlash. To suggest that today’s urban minority poor are somehow less responsible than others would be living in the same context with exactly the same history is to suggest that there’s something qualitatively different about “those people.” The strong association between race and class in the minds of most Americans today has made this contention even more salient. Throughout all of American history it has been used against both minorities and the poor. In this context it should be unsurprising that many middle-class and upperclass conservative minorities have jumped on the personal-responsibility bandwagon. To what extent housing and employment discrimination still impact black opportunity in America is subject to debate. Although grass roots community resistance may have lessened, white flight remains prevalent and public housing policy still does little to promote real integration. Minorities that look and talk like “normal” middle-class people may face fewer obstacles, but those who invoke deeply ingrained stereotypes of the minor-

April 14, 2011

ity poor may face significantly more. Yet even if we pretend that there is no systemic discrimination in housing and employment, there remains — on top of the legacy of the processes discussed above — the monstrous, brutal and completely legal institutionalized discrimination of the criminal justice system. The mass incarceration of America’s minority poor largely for non-violent drug use shows us that institutionalized racism is alive and well in colorblind America. Last week the NAACP released a report entitled “Misplaced Priorities: Over Incarcerate, Under Educate.” It shows in detail how the prioritization of ineffective punitive criminal justice strategies over quality education has undermined poor urban communities. The angle is smart and the argument powerful, but equally important and comp≠elling is the impact of today’s system in exacerbating violent crime. Today’s drug policy not only creates an underground market that advantages thugs and drives desperate addicts to crime, it wastes invaluable resources that could go toward protecting people from real dangers — from fists, knives and guns. Whether you’re a radical member of the new Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) or a principled conservative, the racism, inefficiency and moral bankruptcy of our criminal justice system should appall you. That marijuana is illegal but handguns and assault weapons given special legal protection should strike you as not just bizarre, but disgusting. Those looking for a concrete enemy in the struggle to relieve the urban underclass should look no further than the American criminal justice system. It’s time to organize, march, protest and maybe even take our turn in jail. Lives depend on it. Jon is a senior. He can be reached at jerwinf1@swarthmore.edu.

THE PHOENIX

Sports

swarthmorephoenix.com

The rise and fall of Manny-being-Manny Ramirez My favorite Manny Ramirez story is the one I heard two or three years ago. I can’t remember who told it, and I’m almost glad I can’t. That makes it seem that much more like something out of legend. It’s the one about how there were times when Timothy Bernstein Manny used to actually swing and miss on purBullet Points pose, just so the pitcher would throw the ball in that same spot again. He was like one of the genetically altered velociraptors in “Jurassic Park” that turned out to be smarter than the humans: He set traps for pitchers. It’s my favorite story because it says everything you could want to know about the “Manny Being Manny” guy — the one who made phone calls during pitching changes, who stopped a spring training game to look for his diamond earring along the third-base line, who jumped the Camden Yards wall to high-five a fan after a running catch — without letting you forget that, once upon a time, there was no other hitter like him. Goofy, childlike, innocent, juvenile, pick whichever word you want. In his prime, no hitter’s at-bat was an event quite like his was, even before the L.A. exile/redemption that spawned “Mannywood” and 20,000 fans daily shelling out $35 to sport the trademark dreadlocks in Chavez Ravine. In Boston and even Cleveland before that, no one could clear the bathroom and beer lines like him. The reason? People were afraid they’d miss something special. But there’s another part to that story, and I think it explains our fascination with him better than anything else. There is not one person who hasn’t, at some point, dreamed of being able to set his own rules on how to live his life. Imagine deciding how you would act in school, how you would act at work, how you would behave with your friends, parents, everybody … and getting away with all of it. That was Manny’s life in baseball. Whether it was choosing to miss on certain pitches, when to run hard to first base, when to bother playing or take the afternoon off, he dictated his terms on a level that was extreme even for an athlete. Not many people

can afford to live in their own world, and for a long allowed others to project an image onto him to the time, he was the exception. Maybe it’s not possible degree that he allowed it. Once in a while, we got the to live like that forever, unless you were on “Two sense that he enjoyed being an enigma, and he borand a Half Men” and now live with two porn stars. rowed the “Manny Being Manny” phrase for his Sorry, a porn star and a model for High Times mag- own use every now and then, but it was mostly us azine. You just know she would bring a libel suit. doing all the work. Which makes me wonder But back to Manny. All that seemed to come to an whether maybe it’s going to be him who, to the end for him this past week, when it came out that he agony of every journalist he ever didn’t talk to, gets had tested positive for a the last laugh once banned substance during again. spring training. It was his This is not to say “In Boston and even Cleveland second positive test, he left baseball on which meant Manny, now own terms — hitbefore that, no one could clear the his a one-year rental for ting an anemic .059 bathroom and beer lines like him. Tampa Bay, would be susto start the season, pended 100 games. nearly all of the The reason? People were afraid Instead, he chose to prodigious bat speed they’d miss something special.’” walk away, hanging his finally gone, the new team out to dry and prospect of another leaving everyone else drug suspension with the task of deciding just how baffling it is that, hanging over his head — but if there was ever somein a sport when players know exactly when they will one who wouldn’t put as much stake in his own legabe tested, someone managed to fail that test ... twice. cy as the rest of us, wouldn’t it be him? In the words of another childlike man who made While we put aside the crisis in Libya and the his own rules, “Fool me once, shame on … shame on government shutdown to argue about what really you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” But mattered, isn’t it easy to imagine that he’s already Manny wasn’t having any of it. moved on? It’s like the riddle about the tree falling In the press, the reaction to his retirement was a in the forest if no one hears it. We can burn him in bizarre cross between “what a shame it had to end effigy until we’re good and satisfied, but how much this way” and “good riddance.” It isn’t difficult to does it really accomplish if he isn’t around to care? see an undercurrent of grim satisfaction underneath When the Red Sox would play the Yankees, there the columns devoted to slamming him for the second was no one who put the fear of God in Yankee fans failed drug test. Forget about the Hall of Fame; he like Manny Ramirez with runners on base, and it might not even get the five percent he needs to stay wasn’t just because he could hit as well as just about on the ballot for a second year. It was almost as if any right-handed hitter in the history of the game. Manny had gotten away with doing whatever he There was that other part to it, the same part that wanted for too long, and the writers were just wait- made him so interesting to me in that story: the idea ing for the moment when he fell back to Earth. that he was, in his own way, above it all. For better You could see it coming; he had waited far too or worse, it rarely seemed to matter to him whether long to accept retribution for the cardinal sins that he came through or not, and maybe that was why he every sportswriter is obligated to loathe — failure to did so often. Either way, he was going to do it the play hard every minute, failure to be appropriately way he wanted. Maybe that’s what will separate him devastated about his team’s struggles and, of course, from all of the other stars, forced to leave the game failure to make himself available to the media when- having to live with the fact that what mattered most ever they might want him — that they wouldn’t col- to them — their place in baseball history — was lectively jump at the first chance they got. “Manny compromised forever. They cared deeply. I’m not Being Manny” had lived an intolerably long life, and sure he will, at least any more than he ever did. now it was time for him to meet his maker. Leave it to the rest of us, then, to rip him apart — The one person who has yet to weigh in has been what are the odds any of this is going to change? Manny himself, which is incredibly appropriate. No Timothy is a sophomore. You can reach him at other contemporary athlete sat back in silence and tbernst1@swarthmore.edu.

around higher education

Penn baseball wins with small-ball approach BY JOHN PHILLIPS dailypennsylvanian.com, April 13, 2011

It’s the top of the second, with a man on second and no outs, and Penn freshman Rick Brebner is up to bat. He digs into the batter’s box, stares out at Dartmouth’s junior ace Kyle Hendricks… And squares around to bunt. Brebner gets it down a few feet in front of the catcher. A few seconds later, he gets thrown out at first while junior Derek Vigoa takes third. Mission accomplished. When the NCAA announced before this season that the size of the barrel of regulation bats — the ‘sweet spot’ — would decrease, the necessity to find creative ways to manufacture runs increased. Facing an ace in Hendricks (2.12 the PhoeniX

earned run average) two weekends ago, the Quakers knew that runs would be at a premium. They handed the hurler his second loss of the season, 3-2, by scoring the deciding runs on a bunt single and a sacrifice fly. Today, when Penn (15-12, 6-2 Ivy) takes on La Salle (18-13), the Quakers may have to return to small ball if they want to avenge their 6-4 loss to the Explorers earlier this season. In that contest, the Red and Blue stranded 13 baserunners and couldn’t climb out of a 5-0 hole due to the strength of the back end of La Salle’s bullpen. To avoid that same fate, the Quakers will have to methodically advance runners, especially late in the game. The Explorers’ closer, Pat Christensen has allowed just five runs in his 25.1 innings pitched.

“If you’re facing a good arm, you have to have a way to beat him,” coach John Cole said. Recently, the Red and Blue’s offensive versatility has allowed them to do just that — Penn has gone 6-2 since that loss to La Salle. While they lead the Ivy League in home runs, what differentiates the Quakers is their ability to focus on the game’s details. Penn is at the top of the league in walks, hit by pitches and stolen bases. The Quakers are also second in sacrifice bunts. “The structure of our offense is to have enough bullets for every occasion,” Cole said. Power hitter Jeremy Maas, one of the focal points of the offense, leads the league in home runs and is third in batting average. Due to the respect teams must give Maas as a hitter, it

April 14, 2011

allows him to bunt for hits. “Sometimes, you have one strike and the third baseman backs up, and you know you’re good to go,” Maas explained. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get on base. A hit’s a hit.” Maas has six bunt-singles on the year, tied for the team lead with freshman Brandon Englehardt. “Very few teams have a guy like Maas who can hurt you out of the ballpark and in the ballpark,” Cole said. “He can run. He can bunt. And he can take you out.” And for senior Adrian Lorenzo, who leads the league in sacrifices with eight, ego doesn’t get in the way of the team. “It’s not hard at all to give up an atbat, not even a little bit,” Lorenzo said. “None of that matters to me as long as we get wins.”

Sports Examining the connection between improv and sports swarthmorephoenix.com

We came roaring out of driveway hellbent on making it to Philly and back to New York again for a 5:40 flight to Arizona by way of Chicago. It was me and dad. We had no music and no sleep. I had four days’ worth of clothes for a 12 day trip and a backpack full of schoolwork I’d have a hell of a tough time getAndrew Greenblatt ting done during a 10 day hike into the desolate pits The Life of Greeny of the Grand Canyon. GO. It’s been months since I picked up a hitchhiker but I figured why not. He was a taciturn young man and all I was looking for was some deed out of the abstract mush pile of “random acts of kindness” to talk about during the family reunion, God knows I wasn’t looking for conversation. GO. Each of the above paragraphs are tiny worlds of stories, the type of thing that to an improv comedian can materialize into a rich and funny scene. There’s depth, suspense, conflict, and most importantly, real people. Improv scenes can last a few seconds, a few minutes, or sometimes over a half an hour. While there’s a considerable amount of skill that goes into improvising and even more guts, at the heart of every improv scene are two elements that if grasped by an athlete could pay major dividends : a concrete set of rules and a whole lot of practice. In his book “Blink,” Malcolm Gladwell looks at our brain’s ability to make snap judgments from a variety of angles, one of which is through the lens of improv and sport, he writes: “Improv is an art form governed by a series of rules and they want to make sure that when they’re up onstage, everyone abides by those rules. ‘We think of what we’re doing as a lot like basketball’ [the improv comedians] said, and that’s an apt analogy. Basketball is an intricate, high-speed game filled with split-second, spontaneous decisions. But that spontaneity is possible only when everyone first engages in hours of highly repetitive and structured practice — perfecting their shooting, dribbling, and passing plays over and over and over again — and agrees to play a carefully defined role on the court. This is a critical lesson of improv too.” Down in Bradenton, Florida, the game on team is smiling. Steve Shenbaum, Blair Bloomston and Chris Friday are holding down the improv fort at IMG Academies, the 400-acre sports megaplex that boasts 56 tennis courts, a 10,000 square foot weight training facility, soccer fields, basketball courts, baseball fields, a vision training center, a cafeteria, a full team of nutritionists, dozens of dorms, “mental conditioning coaches”, an outdoor pool, medical facilities and game on. IMG is the kind of place, given its location in sleepy Bradenton is sufficiently in the middle of nowhere, that has created an all-encompassing world for itself. From the Under Armor sponsored T-shirts, shorts, shoes, socks, hats and wristbands that every employee is wearing down to the logos on the golf carts used to shuttle the athletes back and forth between their practices IMG rules. It’s like a jocked-out Disneyworld. game on’s space is nestled in between mental conditioning and some tennis courts (it’s really tennis’ world down there and we’re all just living in it), and among pictures of former clients in the office like Carmelo Anthony and Pete Sampras. The orange walls are adorned by Shenbaum’s cell phone graveyard, a line-up of every cell phone he’s gone through since they were invented, and his award for Sportsmanship and Patience: a golf club he once broke mounted wryly on a wooden plaque by a few of his buddies. What game on does is to conduct mini improv workshops. Why they’re there is because they’ve figured out improv’s relationship to sports and are experts at teaching it. Each session is a grouping of games where the athletes are challenged to think like an improv comedian, something that most of them aren’t aware that they’re already doing, but more where the real learning occurs is in the actual rules of improv. The cardinal rule of improv and by extension of sport

is an idea called “yes … and.” Acceptance and Addition. must accept, but rather than focusing on making the The reason that a comedy troupe can create a 30 minute right basketball, or soccer, or football play, game on is scene from nothing is because improv comedians must focused on making the right improv play. accept every idea that their stagemate offers them and In the world of “yes…and” the only wrong play is disthen add to it. In an improv scene there is no room for rupting the flow: only adjustment and adaptation can dissention, and no room for push back, it’s all pure flow. survive, it becomes pure reaction. Ever wonder how To borrow an example from Gladwell look at this some players seem to always be in the right place at the improv scene: right time (i.e. Butler’s Matt Howard with his ever so A: I’m having trouble with my leg. timely tip-ins this March) or how some people are flat B: I’m afraid I’ll have to amputate. out easy to play with and always seem to win (like A: You can’t do that, Doctor. Robert Horry who won a total of seven NBA champiB: Why not? onships with three different teams? Or how some people A: Because I’m rather attached to it. seem to be able to flat our score, no matter the circumB: (losing heart) Come on, man. stance. The way some players continue to make the A: I’ve got this growth on my arm too, Doctor. right plays and be in the right spots isn’t a coincidence. While A was able to land a funny joke, (I’m rather It’s the product of accepting every action during the attached to it) the scene doesn’t move anywhere because game and reacting instinctively. It’s a product of “yes … A shrugged off B’s suggestion in order to land his one- and.” liner. He broke the cardinal rule of acceptance. The game on is on to something down in Florida: a novel actors became frustrated and the scene fell apart. way to teach a priceless intangible. Now take a look at Now consider a parallel situation on the basketthat same improv scene, but this time with agreement ball court: (also borrowed from Gladwell): A: Brings the ball up the floor A: Augh! B: Runs down the floor B: Whatever is it, man? and establishes post posi A: It’s my leg, Doctor. tion (on the block with B: This looks nasty. I shall Like improv, team sports has a his back to the basket have to amputate. A: Sees him but continA: It’s the one you amputatflow to it governed by basic ues to dribble on the ed last time, Doctor. principles and understandings perimeter B: You mean you’ve got a B: Continues to post up pain in your wooden leg? that the players must accept. A: Sees a quick opening A: Yes, Doctor. and drives towards the B: You know what this baseline, away from the means. middle A: Not wormwood, Doctor! B: Vacates the block to give space B: Yes. We’ll have to remove it before it spreads to A: Beats his defender but B’s defender helps off to the rest of you. contest the shot, play results in a missed layup. (A’s chair collapses) In this example A is breaking the cardinal rule by B: My god it’s spreading to the furniture! looking to make a one-on-one move when the proper No dissention, no push back, just acceptance and play would be to enter the ball into the post. An other- addition, and look what happens. A and B actually wise good play, driving past his defender turns into a become funny. The humor grows out of how steadfastly missed shot. B’s defender is in perfect help position the comedians adhere to this rule. It’s something no because A is trying to drive while the offense is stag- ordinary person would do, but it’s an opportunity to be nant. The play falls apart. an extraordinary teammate. Like improv, team sports has a flow to it governed by Andrew is a junior. You can reach him at basic principles and understandings that the players agreen3@swarthmore.edu.

garnet athlete of the week

Nicko BurNett fy., BaseBall, aNaheim hills, ca.

What he’s doNe: the first-year, who currently yields a .389 batting average, ripped three doubles in the Garnet’s win over Washington, driving in three runs. Burnett, a designated hitter, was also pivotal in the Garnet’s Game two victory over Johns hopkins, going 3-for-3.

favorite career momeNt: “all year i have been hearing about how good Johns hopkins has always been, so my favorite career moment has got to be sweeping them last weekend, especially when one of the wins was against a pre-seaon allamerican pitcher.”

seasoN Goals: “our season goal is to host and then win the centennial conference playoffs. We have put ourselves in a good position to have a shot at winning the conference, and we want to keep up that good play throughout the rest of the regular season and then win playoffs.”

favorite thiNG to do oN parrish Beach:

Allegra Pocinki Phoenix Staff

April 14, 2011

“Being from california, i don’t get much snow at home so i think my favorite thing i did on parrish beach this year was a snowball fight.”

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garnet golfers aiming for ncaa tournament BY RENEE FLORES rflores1@swarthmore.edu

The Swarthmore golf team has had a great season so far. On March 26 and 27, the team played in the McDaniel Tournament, finishing second after St. John Fisher, but first among the Centennial Conference opponents. This was the first time in program history, and the team is now in great shape to head into the NCAA tournament if the Centennial Conference Championship is rained out. This past weekend, the team traveled to Moosic, PA to play in the Glen Maura Tournament, finishing ninth after the first day of play, and tying for seventh after the second day. Day One saw Kyle Knapp ’14 shoot a team-low 73,

Jared Brown for The Phoenix

Paul Weston, one of the Garnet’s top golfers, takes a bunker shot. Weston has an average score of 78.5.

tying for second after the first round of the day, just Cabrini, Harford C.C. and Richard Stockton. The missing the school’s individual scoring record of 70. team has also broken the school 18 hole team scoring Alex Nichamin ’12, who has been named All- record this year. “During that entire day, I had a Conference, shot 80, followed by Jeff Wall ’14 (81), feeling that we were going to break the record Sam White ’14 (85) and Paul Weston ’12 (87), totaling because the course was playing fairly easy,” Knapp 319 for the team, to finish ninth in the 11-team field. said. This year, the team boasts However, the team turned it around when a deeper roster than in previous seasons, with two they improved to a 315 to tie for seventh place. “Our team is probably having returning keys players in the starting lineup and six Knapp led again on the its best season ever ... It is second day, shooting 80 in members of the first-year class. “In the past the team the final round to tie for only a matter of time before lacked good 4th and 5th spot ninth out of 55 golfers. we all start playing to our full players,” Price Ferchill ’14 Wall improved the second potential ...” day by two strokes, shootsaid. With such a strong team playing for the Garnet, ing a 79, finishing second Kyle Knapp ’14 the team is feeling confident for the Garnet at 28th place. about their chances going into the remainder of the Weston, who has also been named All-Conference, shot a 77, the lowest for season. “We’re one of the favorites to win, and we the Garnet, while White posted a 79, improving by could be automatic qualifiers,” Ferchill said. “It is only a matter of time before we all start six strokes from Day One. Both Weston and White playing to our full potential and possibly break 300 tied for 34th place. Head coach Jim Heller is happy with the team’s and/or break the school record again,” Knapp said. Next up the team plays at the Rutgers-Camden performance. “[The team] is up and coming. We didn’t play as well as we should have, but we didn’t play Tournament and the team is expecting to place well as bad either,” he said. Knapp agreed with Coach in the tournament. “We have a better chance of winHeller, saying “Our team is probably having its best ning that tournament,” Heller said. Knapp seemed season ever. However, I feel that the team has not optimistic, saying that if all of the starters play in the tournament, he thinks the team is capable of played to its full potential.” In the fall, the team played in four tournaments, breaking the school record for the second time on with limited practice time. However, once the spring the same season. The Swarthmore golf team returns to play tomorseason began, with regular play, the team has performed well in the season, including a 2nd place fin- row when it takes on Rutgers-Camden. Tee-off is ish in a tournament with Philadelphia Biblical, scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

around higher education

Former softball player takes aim at mental health BY JENNIFER SCUTERI dailypennsylvanian.com, April 11, 2011

Although former softball ace Jessie Lupardus is no longer on Penn’s roster, she continues to support Penn Athletics — albeit in a different manner than most. In February 2010, Lupardus opted to leave the team in order to focus on her mental well-being. While she had a successful career with the Quakers — the left-handed pitcher was named 2008 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, and struck out 268 batters in 271 and one-third innings with an ERA of 1.96 — Lupardus was unhappy. “My specific story has a little more nuanced complications,” she said. “In a lot of situations, there are sometimes a lot of minor aggravating factors that create this perfect storm — that happened in my case.” But the Birmingham, Ala., native didn’t let this storm overcome her. Instead, she used it as a tool to address issues she believes plague other Penn athletes as well. Last spring proved to be a pivotal time for Lupardus. Following the April death of football captain Owen Thomas and the annual Take Back the Night event against sexual violence, Lupardus was inspired to encourage athletes on campus to break the silence surrounding mental health issues in the athletic community. the PhoeniX

“I was so moved by the bravery in people telling their stories and how important it was for that community as well to not stay silent,” she said, “and to let their own voices be heard, if not to the people that were there … but to themselves.” Lupardus, a senior psychology major, used a program created at the University of Tennessee’s athletic department as a model to put her idea into action. Tennessee’s Team Enhance, a comprehensive program comprised of clinicians, social service workers, physicians, athletic trainers and coaches helps female athletes recover from mental health disorders and injuries. She then approached senior associate director of Athletics Alana Shanahan, who put her in contact with Counseling and Psychological Services deputy director Denise Lenksy and director of the Center for Sports Psychology, Joel Fish. The group worked together and created a message to present to leaders of athletic teams. “Jessie really played a pivotal role and just took so much initiative,” Lenksy said. “She was just really instrumental in speaking from her experience as a member of a team here, just having such valuable perspective on what would be the most important kernels of information we could impart in a brief concise for-

mat.” Lupardus said she believes the philosophy invoked in sports cliches like “suck it up” and “no pain no gain” may be effective on the court or the field, but is detrimental in dealing with personal problems. “They get you through conditioning when all you have is adrenaline and lactic acid; they work. But when that extends outside the boundary of the field or the court, that’s when its dangerous,” she said. “We’ll think that we can handle it and be Superman and suck it up and do it because that’s part of the essence of being a great athlete. But you can’t suck up psychological symptoms.” According to Lensky, there is an obstacle associated with the fact that athletes want to “keep things within the team.” Fish, who has worked with the Penn athletic community for 11 years, had a good feel for the culture and also provided information about the effects of depression in athletes. Ultimately, the message presented at the monthly team leaders meeting consisted of a need for visibility, validation and support of student-athletes suffering from these mental health issues. According to Lupardus, once the silence surrounding these issues is broken, athletes can then seek external resources and gain the support of

April 14, 2011

their teammates and coaches. Following the presentation to the student-athletes in October, Lupardus and her colleagues were given the opportunity to speak at a coaches meeting in November. “I think the fact that the athletic department was willing to take hold of this idea and run with it and be fully supportive was definitely a testament to the fact that people here care,” she said. Neither Lupardus nor Lensky are aware of any increased student-athlete participation at CAPS, but both said they feel the message was wellreceived by its intended audience. Lupdardus will graduate in May and may continue working on this project before attending graduate school. She said she hopes people both inside and outside the Penn community will continue to embrace her message. “You can see what silence does, we can learn from it. We can learn from [Owen’s] silence and speak out now. And I hope that people take that to heart. I hope we have no other athletes that commit suicide,” she said. “It really is indicative of how hard it is to be a Penn student and an athlete and what these pressure situations can do. We’re only human — we hate to admit that as athletes, but we’re human.”

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Lacrosse teams face difficulty against Diplomats BY DANIEL DUNCAN dduncan1@swarthmore.edu Both the Swarthmore men’s and women’s lacrosse teams suffered tough Centennial Conference losses this weekend, as each fell to Franklin and Marshall. The losses put the Garnet in a tough position for making the conference playoffs. The women looked strong going into the weekend, demolishing Wesley 21-11. After a tight first 20 minutes, the Garnet went on a 9-1 run to close the first half and take a 14-6 lead into the locker rooms. The lead only grew in the second half. Several players put up staggering offensive numbers, led by 10 points from Annalise Penikis ’13. She scored five goals while adding five assists. Marie Mutryn ’12 had eight points off four goals and four assists. Corinne Sommi ’14 (five), Nicole Vanchieri ’13 (four), Emily Evans ’11 (two) and Beth Martin ’13 (one) also got the ball in the net for the Garnet. But the offensive show ran into trouble against one of the top-ranked teams in the country, as then#7 F&M ran over the Garnet 20-9. The Garnet fell to 8-4, 2-3 CC, while the Diplomats improved to 12-1, 6-0 CC. After falling behind early 5-0, the Garnet fought their way back into contention by scoring three of the next five goals in the game. But F&M, led by six goals from Erin Dunne, pulled away towards the end of the first half, and held a 17-5 lead late in the game. Swarthmore went on a 4-0 run, but it was too little, too late to pull off the comeback. Sommi led the offense with three goals, helped by two goals each from Mutryn and Evans. Penikis had a goal and three assists to continue her steller season. Her 31 assists this season rank in the top five season totals in school history — and the Garnet have four games to go. Penikis’ 77 points on the season rank in the top 10 in school history. “Though F&M is one of the best teams nationally, they are definitely beatable,” Caroline Murphy ’14 said. But she added that although the “team did a lot of things well Saturday, such as transitioning the ball to the offensive end of the field,” the Garnet “did not play to the best of our ability, and the score reflected that.” Last night, the Garnet traveled to Muhlenberg to try to keep their playoff hopes alive, suffering a tough 15-7 loss. Penikis and Sommi led the offense with two goals apiece. The Garnet men took to the pitch against F&M in possibly their ugliest game this year, falling to the Diplomats 11-5 on Senior Day. Swarthmore fell to 3-8, 1-4 CC, a loss that all but eliminates them from the Centennial playoff chase. It was a disappointing final home game, and Richard Brode ’11 said it was a bittersweet moment. “The requirements of such a physically demanding sport coupled with this school’s notorious academic requirements have been at times incredibly rewarding and incredibly frustrating.” “I have always cherished the opportunity to play for my teammates,” Brode said, but he feels “mixed emotions that I’ve represented Swarthmore as an institution, due in large part to a student body and administration that is seemingly apathetic towards athletics in general.” The Diplomats jumped out to an 8-0 lead by the third quarter. Until Steve Selverian ’13 got the Garnet on the board about halfway through the quarter, Swarthmore had given up 12 unanswered goals, a streak dating back to their loss to McDaniel last week. After trading a series of goals for an 11-3 score in the fourth quarter, the already physical game took a turn for the worse. An earlier scuffle among players that the referees didn’t penalize gave way to a minor fight after some hard fouls from Garnet players. As a stick went flying, players gathered and the situation threatened to escalate before the referees took over. After the refs sorted out what happened, five penalties were handed out in all, including an ejection for an F&M player who left the bench to join the fray.

Justin Toran-Burrell for The Phoenix

Members of the Garnet women’s lacrosse team surround a Franklin & Marshall opponent in the Garnet’s 20-9 loss to the Diplomats.

Paul Chung Phoenix Staff

The Garnet offense enters the defensive zone of the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats. The Diplomats defeated the Garnet by a score of 11-5.

Everything turned out for the best though, as the Garnet seemed to be a little energized after the skirmish, going on a 2-0 run to close out the game. But the improved second-half performance was overshadowed by the other events of the half. Max Hubbard ’12 had two goals to lead the Garnet offense. On defense, Geli Carabases ’14 led the way with four caused turnovers. Brode said the game reflected how injury-depleted the Garnet are. “Our offense played with a sense of anxiety, leading to an uncharacteristic amount of unforced turnovers and other errors,” he said. “On the defensive end we came out in a zone which proved ineffective against their feeding oriented offense.” April 14, 2011

“We lacked the intensity and drive that it takes to win a conference game,” Aaron Stein ’11 said. While disappointed with how Senior Day went, he concluded nonetheless that “I would not trade my lacrosse experience for anything.” The Garnet traveled to Drew University last night in a non-conference matchup. But Swarthmore found no love outside of the Centennial either, as Drew pulled away late in the third quarter to a 9-5 win over the Garnet. Max Hubbard led the offense with two goals. Swarthmore plays away this weekend, traveling to Dickinson College in a Centennial Conference matchup. The men face-off at 12 p.m., while the women follow at 3 p.m. THE PHOENIX

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Baseball defeats Hopkins and Washington, third in cc earned him his fifth save of the year. Walker added his sixth save in Game Two and now holds the single-season History has been made, the program record with more than two Centennial Conference is on alert and weeks left in the regular season. the 2011 Swarthmore College baseball “Breaking a single season record team has boldly gone where no Garnet this early in the year is really someballclub in recent memory has gone thing special,” Walker said. “I really before. Roaring back from a rough four- have to give credit to the team as a game stretch against Gettysburg and whole … all I have to do is throw one Haverford, Swarthmore turned the good inning, those guys have to play Conference on its ear by sweeping the great the entire game to give me the nationally-ranked Johns Hopkins Blue opportunity.” Jays in a doubleheader on Sunday, and His record-tying save was perhaps finished off a two-game season sweep of the biggest of the year, as the dormant the Washington Shoremen on Monday. Hopkins bats had started to stir, putting With a 16-8 overall record and a 7-3 the go-ahead run on base against a tirConference record, the team is tied with ing Rodriguez. “As I got warm in the Hopkins and is just one game behind co- bullpen, I could tell I didn’t have my A+ Conference leaders Haverford and stuff, so when I got the call with one out Franklin & Marshall. and the bases loaded I knew I needed hit O n my spots,” S u n d a y , Walker said. pitching, “I had a lot of offense and movement on “I think [the wins] solidify us as defense came my fastball a real force, not only in the together to and it was a hand the Blue big difference Centennial Conference but Jays their from Ignacio also in the region.” f i r s t to me in Swarthmore [terms of] our Ignacio Rodriguez ’12 defeat since arm angles. 2000 and their H o p k i n s first inc o u l d n ’ t Conference sweep since 2007. In Game adjust in time.” One, Ignacio Rodriguez ’12 continued The Blue Jays had not been shut out his consistent domination by shutting by a Conference opponent for five years. out the potent Hopkins offense, 2-0. He In Game Two, the bats and gloves struck out six over 6.1 innings to pick went to work to pull off the improbable up his fourth win of the season; he now sweep with a 9-4 win. The offense sports a 1.93 ERA, third-lowest in the exploded early, opening up an 8-0 lead Conference. by the end of the fourth inning. “He has to be in the conversation [for Designated hitter Nicko Burnett ’14 and best Conference pitcher],” head coach shortstop Thomas Nakamura ’11 each Stan Exeter said. “He’s our top guy, and recorded three hits in the explosion, we’re one of the top teams, so he has to while left fielder Rory McTear ’13, secbe in the conversation.” ond baseman Anthony Montalbano ’12 “I’ve always had the confidence that and catcher Mike Waterhouse ’12 picked I could be an effective starter,” up two apiece. Rodriguez said. “I’m flattered that peoThe Hopkins pitcher, Alex ple are … thinking of me [as a top start- Eliopolous, led the Conference in ERA ing pitcher, but] personally, I think I before Sunday’s start. need to improve greatly in certain parts Starter Kyle Crawford ’12 pitched of my game.” capably, holding Hopkins to three runs He claims that his numbers, however on six hits over seven innings, and the exemplary they are, are not his primary outfield defense kept the Blue Jays at focus. “To be honest, I don’t pay much bay, as late-inning diving catches by attention to stats,” he said. “I just try to McTear and centerfielder Ben help our team win any way possible.” Schneiderman ’11 quelled a few wouldRodriguez’s win was closed out by be rallies. Ramsey Walker ’13, whose two-strikeout Hopkins again attempted a lateperformance to get out of a bases- inning comeback, but with the bases loaded, one-out jam in the seventh loaded and two outs, it took Walker only

BY ANA APOSTOLERIS aaposto1@swarthmore.edu

one pitch to get the third out and notch his record-breaking save. “These were two great wins for the program,” Exeter said of the sweep. “But [Monday’s game] was really the one that helped us in the standings.” On Monday at Washington, the offense picked up where it left off, pounding out thirteen hits to rout the Shoremen, 13-4. McTear, Burnett and first baseman Mike Cameron ’12 each had three hits; Burnett and McTear both drove in three runs. Waterhouse went 2-for-5 to raise his average to .394, fifth-highest in the Conference. McTear stole his 13th base of the season, third-most in the Centennial. Starter Neil Mejia ’12 pitched a complete game, striking out six over nine innings. The win moved Swarthmore past Washington in the standings and into a tie for third place. While obviously pleased with the winning streak, the team knows that

the stretch run is still ahead, and that dwelling on past victories is not an option. “We still have a lot [of games] left,” Exeter said. “[But] we’re fielding incredibly these last five or six games, compared to where we were. We need to continue to pitch like we are and field like we are.” “I think [the wins] solidify us as a real force, not only in the Centennial Conference but also in the region,” Rodriguez said. “We can’t dwell on what happened last week, though. We need to continue playing good baseball. It’s important that you never get too high or too low.” The Garnet will attempt to bring their win streak to five today as they go on the road to take on Muhlenberg. First pitch is set for 3:30 pm. Disclaimer: Ben Schneiderman is a crossword writer for The Phoenix. He had no role in the production of this article.

Paul Chung Phoenix Staff

Center fielder Rory McTear went 3-for-5 in the Garnet’s 13-4 victory over Washington, driving in three runs. McTear also contributed four hits in the Garnet’s sweep of Hopkins.

Garnet in action ThuRsday, apRIl 14 Golf at Glen Maura Tournament, TBA Softball vs. Ursinus, 3:30 p.m. Softball vs. Ursinus, 5:30 p.m. FRIday, apRIl 15 Golf at Rutgers-Camden Tournament, 12:30 p.m. Baseball vs. Muhlenberg, 3:30 p.m. saTuRday, apRIl 16 Men’s track & field at Greyhound Invitational, 10 a.m. Women’s track & field at Moravian Invitational, 10 a.m. Men’s lacrosse at Dickinson, 12 p.m.

tHe PHoeniX

Baseball at McDaniel, 12:30 p.m. Golf at Dickinson, 1 p.m. Softball at Dickinson, 1 p.m. Women’s tennis at Dickinson, 1 p.m. Baseball at McDaniel, 3 p.m. Softball at Dickinson, 3 p.m. Women’s lacrosse at Dickinson, 3 p.m. sunday, apRIl 17 Golf at Richard Stockton, 1 p.m. Softball at Arcadia, 1 p.m. Softball at Arcadia, 3 p.m.

April 14, 2011

Monday, apRIl 18 Golf vs. Drexel, Rutgers-Camden, Penn St.-Harrisburg at Rolling Green Golf Club, 1 p.m. Baseball vs. DeSales, 4 p.m. Tuesday, apRIl 19 Golf at Ursinus Tournament, TBA Softball vs. Washington College, 3 p.m. Softball vs. Washington College, 5 p.m. Wednesday, apRIl 20 Baseball at Ursinus, 3:30 p.m. Golf at Washington College, 4 p.m. Men’s lacrosse at Washington College, 7 p.m.

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Morgan Langley signs with Harrisburg Islanders

Parker Murray, Jakob Mrozewski and Olivia Natan Phoenix Staff

BY ANA APOSTOLERIS aaposto1@swarthmore.edu

As a first-year in 2007, forward Morgan Langley ’11 didn’t start a single game for the Swarthmore College men’s soccer team. In 2008, he worked his way into the starting lineup for the majority of the season, recording the sixth-highest single-season assist total in program history. He broke out his junior year, scoring 31 points (second alltime) and 14 goals (fourth all-time), resulting in Centennial Conference First Team and All-Region Second Team honors. Langley’s swan song last season earned him AllConference, All-Region and All-America recognition, and now he’s taken his game to yet another level, signing a professional contract with the Harrisburg City Islanders. “Every kid that starts playing a sport dreams to one day play that sport professionally,” Langley said, who holds Swarthmore’s school records for career points (95), career assists (27) and single-season points (42). “It feels awesome. I’m very excited.” The Islanders are the USL Pro affiliate of the Philadelphia Union, a major league soccer team. As a member of the Islanders, Langley will be eligible for a call-up to the Union at any point during the season. The Langley-led Garnet has made NCAA tournament appearances in each of the past three seasons. During his four years at Swarthmore, the team has won more games than in any other four-year period in program history. Langley counts the recent turn of events as something of a surprise, as he considered his competitive soccer career to be on the wane. “In the fall and early spring I was interviewing for financial firms and banks. I was driving to [New York] and interviewing on Wall Street,” the Honolulu native said. “I thought that’s what was in store for me.” It was his coach, Eric Wagner, who set the chain in motion by initiating contact with the Union. Wagner, who has guided Swarthmore’s soccer program since 2002, called Langley “one of the best players I’ve been privileged to work with.” “I’m thrilled to see that the work we have done together has helped [him] develop to the point where he was able to get … offered a contract,” he said. “It’s a wonderful affirmation of our player development, and of our program as a whole.” Langley is the second Swarthmore player to be signed professionally this year, as Ladulé Lako Lo Sarah ’09 signed with a 1st Division Macedonian team in the fall of 2010.

Swarthmore’s reputation for a low-key athletic environment geared towards player development was what attracted Langley to the school in the first place. “I was small [as a first-year] and wouldn’t be able to play [regularly] with a [Division I] school,” he said. “They would not [have allowed] me that time to develop. DIII allowed me to grow and develop as a player at the perfect pace for me.” Ironically, he viewed his choice of a Division III school as mutually exclusive with a professional future. “[Playing professionally] was definitely not a goal coming into college,” Langley said. “I looked at choosing a DIII school as basically saying goodbye to such a dream. But it turned out that [it was] what I needed.” According to Adam Hertz, Swarthmore’s Director of Athletics since 2001, Langley made the most of the opportunities he was given to develop as a player and as a person. “I think what has been so special about Morgan’s development at Swarthmore has been his overall maturation,” Hertz said. “He … learned to recognize what was and was not in his control, [and] he became a stronger, more disciplined player who worked better as a member of his team.” Langley’s journey to the pros began in December, when Langley said Wagner contacted the Union about playing possibilities for the soon-to-be graduate. He was invited to a joint tryout with the Union and the Islanders, where he was tagged as a prospect of interest. After a month and a half of weekly tryouts, he was invited to the Islanders’ preseason to compete for a spot on the team with other prospects whom Langley referred to as “high quality players.” He was offered a contract midway through the preseason schedule. His departure will leave a significant hole in the Garnet lineup, which has relied on him heavily for the past two seasons. “Teams, I believe, regularly planned their defenses around Morgan,” Hertz said. “His speed and ability to take a game over were a constant distraction to the opposition.” Wagner called the signing bittersweet. “We’ve invested lots of time and energy and emotion … to help Morgan achieve a level of ability, maturity and mental tenacity that has put him in a position to be one of the best players in the country,” he said. “Now we have to say goodbye to him and let someone else enjoy his talents. But that’s what our program is all about.” The Islanders open their regular season schedule on Saturday, April 16.

April 14, 2011

THE PHOENIX